Disclaimer:The Legend of Zeldais property ofNintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with these companies, or any legal proceedings concerning The Legend of Zelda. This story has been written purely out of enjoyment, and is not intended to make a profit, steal ideas, or offend anybody. Any similarities between my work and anyone else's is purely coincidental.
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"Elements of Hyrule" — Chapter Seven: Under the Tears From Heaven
By The Last Princess of Hyrule
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When he at last came to, Link found not on hard ground, nor within the heart of the Great Deku Tree, but lying in his own soft bed. The boy sat up and rubbed his head, mind full of confusion. Had his experience in the Great Deku Tree been a dream? It certainly seamed as if it were no more than a figment of his imagination. Unfortunately, a rush of pain across his back confirmed its reality.
"Link?" called a familiar, worried voice.
Link, who had, until he heard the voice, thought he was alone, turned and was surprised to see Saria standing in his doorway. She held a shallow bowl of clear water, some small bottles, and a length of white cloth. Upon seeing Link awake, the concern in her face turned to a look of intense relief.
"Oh, thank the spirits you're awake!" she exclaimed, coming in and setting her things on Link's table. "I was so worried."
Link shrugged. "How did you find me?"
"The Great Deku Tree summoned me this afternoon, a few hours after you left. It told me that you had been asked to fulfill some kind of task for it. I had no clue what it was talking about, but the Great Deku Tree told me to wait in its meadow for you to return. I waited for hours and it was almost when I found you."
Saria drew in a deep breath and went on. "I was about to ask the Great Deku Tree if I could leave when Navi suddenly appeared right out of nowhere. She was frantic and led me to a place by one of the Great Deku Tree's roots where there was a huge hole. I found you unconscious just outside, so I brought you back here. You've been asleep and in pretty bad shape ever since."
Link winced with the thought of his recent perils within the tree's heart.
Saria's relief returned to concern. "You took a pretty bad beating doing whatever the Great Deku Tree wanted. Let me take a look."
Link did not protest as the Speaker circled him slowly, examining his body. He didn't look in too good of shape, what with the Gohma slime, the torn tunic, the multitude of small cuts and bruises coming on, and four long, cruel gashes on his back.
"My spirits, Link, you certainly had some trouble." Saria walked back to the table, fetched her healing tools, and knelt behind Link. "What happened?"
"I kind of got into a little fight," Link explained. Saria dunked a rag in the water and rung it out.
"These gashes are huge," the girl pointed out as she pulled the shredded cloth of his tunic away from the wounds.
"I didn't do so well."
Saria pressed the damp rag firmly against his back. Link yelped. "What was that for? You don't have to scrub that hard!"
"You don't have to lie to me," she retorted simply, removing the cloth. Link winced.
"All right . . ." He hesitated. "But, if I tell you, do you promise to be more gentle?"
Saria smiled. "Of course."
Link took a deep breath. "Well, I was summoned to the Great Deku Tree because it had a job for me. I had to go inside it and destroy some curse."
Saria poured a thick salve from one of her bottles and began to rub it on Link's back. The cream felt cool and soothing against the fiery pain, but it was her presence that provided the most relief.
"I went in and looked around. The Great Deku Tree is really dark inside, and Navi and I were lost for quite a while until I fell down a hole. Inside was this huge monster!" The boy made wild hand motions to give Saria an idea of the size. "Navi said it was a Gohma. Have you ever heard of those?"
"Yes, Kyrian told me about them." Saria wiped her hands and picked up a roll of cloth. "I need to wrap this around your back. Off with the tunic."
Link's face became a vivid crimson. "No way!" he protested. "I'll do it myself, thanks!"
Saria sighed. "You'll do it wrong. Just take off your tunic and let me."
"Not a chance."
"Come on, Link," Saria said, exasperated. "It's not like I haven't seen you in your underwear before."
Link's blush deepened. "That was low, Saria."
"Link . . ." Her warning tone told him there was no more joking around. Link obeyed sullenly. "Good." Saria began to wrap the bandage. "So, what happened with the Gohma?"
Link gave her an indignant glare, but continued his tale. "Pretty much what you see here. That thing was loud, fast, and relentless."
"Sort of reminds me of you," Saria muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," she assured him. "What happened next?"
"The inside of the Great Deku Tree is alive, see, and there was this vine growing close by where I was fighting. It had these really weird nuts growing on it that flash when they break. You know, I wonder how they do that . . . are they magic or—"
"Link!"
"Sorry." He gave a little wince and went on. "Anyway, I grabbed one and threw it at the Gohma. I kind of missed, but the nut broke when it hit the ground and the flash stunned the Gohma. Then Navi told me to stab it in the eye. I did and got splattered with all this nasty goo. Do you want to know something else?"
Saria tied the knot. "What?"
"That dagger saved my life," he said, turning around.
Saria's eyes filled with tears. "There's . . . there's something I have to tell you about that dagger."
The serious tone in her voice told Link that whatever Saria was about to say was something secret from deep within her heart. Link leaned in closer. "Yeah?" he urged.
"It was . . . you are . . ." Under his expectant gaze, Saria's stern resolve to tell him the truth began to crumble. "I—"
But whatever she was about to say was cut off by a distinct shimmering. Saria's pale green Forest fairy, Mi, fluttered through Link's door and alit on Saria's shoulder. Upon until that point, Link hadn't noticed her or Navi's absence.
"Mi? What's happening?" Saria looked concerned.
"You and Link have been summoned to the Great Deku Tree," she said quietly. "You have to go right away."
Saria stood and tossed Link a different tunic. "Where's Navi?" the boy asked as he pulled it over his head.
"Already there."
Saria gave Link a worried look as they followed the fairy outside. She had never seen Mi so solemn in her entire life.
Heavy clouds had covered the forest in the time since Link had left the Deku Tree's clearing. Thick rain fell on the two Kokiri as they scrambled down the ladder from Link's house. The plant life drooped pitifully passed it and even the soggy branches of the trees looked sad. As they stepped onto the path that led to the Great Deku Tree's clearing, Link felt Saria stop. She stood with one hand at her neck, the other on her forehead, and a look of awe on her face.
"Saria . . . ?"
"The forest is . . . crying . .." she said in wonder. "Mi . . ."
Mi was instantly by her side.
"I feel death . . . and disease . . ." Saria closed her eyes and concentrated on the message. "Everything is sad and mourning . . ." She opened her eyes and looked up at the fairy, fair viseage consumed by fear. "Mi, what's going on?"
Mi hesitated, her eyes filling with tears that Saria, though could not see, knew existed. "You'll find out when we get there."
They started off again and soon reached the Great Deku Tree's meadow. The rain washed the once-bright shades of green with a sad blue hue. When the Kokiri arrived, Link saw Navi flutter down from the tree's branches. The boy could sense in his heart that she'd been crying.
"Link . . ." she began.
"It's all right,"he assured her, though of what, he had no idea.
Navi and Mi exchanged glances before shimmering through the drizzly air to the Deku Tree's branches. When their pale glows faded from view, the tree spoke.
"Well done, Link." The deep bass of the Great Deku Tree's voice boomed across the clearing. Link and Saria knelt on one knee, their heads bowed. "Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage. I knew thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes."
"My lord, may I speak?" Saria asked.
"Certainly."
Saria took a shaky breath. "I can feel the forest in great pain," she explained. "The trees and the spirits are weeping. What has happened?"
The tree let out a tired sigh. "I summoned thee to explain that. I knew thou wouldst sense that feeling quickly. Now, be seated, for this be a rather long tale."
Saria and Link sat back in the wet grass and looked up at the Great Deku Tree.
"Listen carefully," it began. "A wicked man of the desert, a lifeless wasteland far beyond the forest, came to me yesterday. It was he who cast that dreadful curse upon me, the one thou Link toiled so long and through so much pain and strife to break." The tree paused. "This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm, a perfect world connected to Hyrule. It is within that Sacred Realm where one shalt find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the power of the Goddesses."
Desert? Sorcery? Divine relics? Link's mind was a flurry of confusion as he listened. What was the Sacred Realm? How could it be connected to Hyrule? Who were the Goddesses? And most of all, what was this Triforce? Fortunately for Link, these same things were troubling Saria.
"Lord, I don't understand," the Speaker said. "What are all these things of which you speak?"
The tree creaked. "I should have known thou would not understand. Dost thou know the legend of Creation?"
"No, lord," Saria admitted.
"Then allow me to explain." The Deku Tree took a deep breath. "Before time began, before life and spirits existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule. They were Din, the goddess of Power; Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom; and Farore, the goddess of Courage. Now Din, with Her strong, flaming arms, She cultivated the land and created the red earth that burns far beneath thy feet. Nayru poured Her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. And Farore, with Her rich soul, produced all life forms that would uphold the law.
"The three great Goddesses, Their labors completed, departed for the heavens and the golden sacred triangles remain at the point where They departed the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our providence and the resting place for the triangles, the sacred Triforce, has become the Sacred Realm. For that reason, thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce."
The more Link heard from the great tree, the clearer things became in his mind. This man must be the man from my dreams—the one that came into the forest yesterday, that talked to me and put a curse on the Great Deku Tree. Link thought. He must be after this Triforce. But why would he come to the Great Deku Tree?
"Thou must never suffer that man with his evil heart to enter the Sacred Realm of the legend . . ." the Deku Tree concluded. As its words drifted away, a loud crash rang through the clearing. Both Kokiri turned to see a massive branch lying amidst the soaked, drooping grass. Though the branch had only been separated from the Deku Tree for a few seconds, its entire insides were brown and rotten.
"Lord . . .?" came Saria's quavering voice.
"Because of that man's evil curse," the tree said, "my end is nigh . . ."
The Kokiri gasped in shock at the news. Link's heart quickened and a sense of great fear suddenly came over him. This declaration of the Great Deku Tree was a jolting reminder of its mortality. The boy had always viewed the Deku Tree as a guardian saint in the forest. It had lived longer than anything else, providing it with a divine and exalted stature. To Link, the thought of the Great Deku Tree dying amounted to the death of a protective god—it filled him with the feeling of vulnerability as well as grief.
"Isn't there anything we can do, lord?" Link asked, silently begging for an alternative.
Sadly, the tree knew there was none to be had—no way to escape the inevitable. "Although thy valiant efforts to break the death curse were successful, I was doomed even before thee began."
Link's shoulders began to shake as he fought the urge to cry. Angry, unshed tears stung his eyes. "Then you . . . you . . ."
"Yes." The Great Deku Tree knew what he was trying to say. Saria hid her eyes. "I shalt pass on soon, yet dost not grieve for me, for I hath been able to tell thee of these important matters . . . This is Hyrule's final hope . . . Link . . ." Link looked up as he heard the deep voice utter his name. "I hath one last request of thee—that thou go to Hyrule Castle, outside the border of this forest. There, thou shalt find the Princess of Destiny. Thou art fated to meet . . ." The tree paused before suddenly addressing Saria. "Speaker of the Kokiri . . ."
Saria stood. "Lord?"
"Give Link the stone," the Deku Tree instructed. "That stone, which the desert man wanted so much he cast the curse upon me."
"Are you sure, lord?" Saria asked skeptically. "That is the forest's sacred treasure. Many lives where lost in the War of the Races so that we could keep it."
"Link shalt need it far more than the Kokiri forest ever will . . ." the Great Deku Tree declared.
Saria nodded slowly. "Very well, lord."
"I am most grateful, Speaker . . ." It paused. "Saria . . ."
Saria forced a sad smile out of respect, but inside her heart was breaking and unbridled tears ran down her cheeks.
"The future depends upon thee, Link . . ." The Great Deku Tree's voice was quavering with sadness, an emotion the boy never knew it possessed, though he realized it would be silly if gods and goddesses did not portray emotion. "Thou art courageous . . ."
With these words, the boy finally let his tears fall. At the sight of the distraught Kokiri, their guardian fairies left the canopy of the Deku Tree's branches to comfort them under the pouring rain.
"Navi, fairy of Water . . . help Link to carry out my will . . ." The tree's once booming voice began to lose its volume. "Mi, fairy of Forest, aid Saria in what lies ahead . . . thou shalt understand when the time comes . . ."
The fairies nodded respectfully.
"I entreat ye . . . Navi . . . good . . . bye . . ."
And with those last words, words only the tiny blue fairy understood the meaning of, the clearing was filled with utter silence. No longer did the steady hum of life pulse through its midst, life brimming from the Great Deku Tree. No birds sang, nor animals chattered. The weeping of the trees that only Saria heard became cries of intense despair. Tears from heaven mingled with tears bourn by mortal grief, falling to the ground underfoot of the same grieving hearts. The guardian of the forest, the patron of life, and the last relic of Creation—the Great Deku Tree—was dead.
Above the sorrowful crying, no one heard one Water fairy's tiny, heartfelt whisper. "Goodbye . . . Great Deku Tree . . ."
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