Deku Days
By John Little
Chp. 2: Cry Of The Forest
Sneaking past the eagerly waiting Kokiri children was not the easiest task of Link's career, but it was certainly manageable. More difficult than sneaking past the guards in Hyrule Castle when he first attempted it, but less difficult than sneaking through the royal gardens of the Deku King when he was in Termina. He just wasn't up to talking to anyone tonight.
Link crawled into the bed in his treehouse and looked around. He'd had the sense to move the cow out of the treehouse as soon as he could have a decent stable built for it and Epona, which cleared up room for a good number of other mementos. On one side of the room, he had set up a weapons rack for all of his fancier weapons. The Biggoron Sword and the Fairy Sword had places of honor, as did his gilded sword that was strengthened by the golden dust in the mountains of Termina and a few other weapons that he'd picked up over the years.
There was a display case filled with masks, a remnant of his first trip to Termina. He'd sold many of the masks over the years (such as the Mask Of Truth, which he owned two of, and the Keaton Mask, which he had only been able to use once) to the Happy Mask Salesman, but made sure to hold onto a few for sentimental reasons. All four of his transformation masks, of course, as well as The Couples Mask, the Giant Mask, and any other masks that might potentially have some use in the future, were prominently on display.
Along with these and other items from his adventurers, Link's house could really only be described as crowded. Link was comfortable with all of this around him, though, as many of these treasures had helped him through some very difficult times. He knew that one of the Kokiri might see his light on, so he quickly turned it off and went to sleep.
Malon dove into the pool of water, narrowly avoiding the Deku Nut that had been shot at her. She quickly surfaced for breath and looked back at her attacker, grateful to see that the Scrub had chosen to sink back into its flower, and avoid Malon's presence.
"I really need to carry a shield or something," she thought to herself as she climbed out of the far side of the pool. She had never navigated the Lost Woods or Forest Meadow before, but she was glad that the first Skull Kid that she met was willing to give her directions (after she agreed to sing for it).
She continued to carefully stroll through the faux maze that led to the Forest Temple. While she didn't find it a simple task to sneak past all of the Deku Scrubs, she was relieved that many of them appeared to be either napping or apathetic to her presence. Both possibilities seemed to go against everything that she had ever heard about Deku Scrubs, but she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She eventually found herself at the new staircase that granted entrance to the Forest Temple. As soon as she stepped onto the first stair, it began to rain. "Here's hoping that Saria's up," Malon muttered as she hurried through the front door.
Princess Zelda awoke to the sound of thunder, accompanied by a torrential downpour from the sky. She ran to her window and looked to the Market located far below. It was still relatively early in the evening, so a few people were still conducting business when the storm began. No harm done, really, she thought. Most market stalls are waterproofed.
As she was about to return to bed, there was a soft knock at her door. "Come in," she called, prompting the door to swing open. Impa stood on the other side of the door, looking very concerned. "Princess, there is an urgent matter that requires your attention."
Though Malon had never been inside the Forest Temple before, she found it to be surprisingly easy to navigate. When Saria became a full-time Sage she had worked hard to make the place more welcoming for people. This meant removing nearly all of the dangerous creatures that lived within the temple, making a few architectural revisions to permit easier access to the more capricious chambers, and setting up small signs for visitors.
The greatest help in navigation, however, came from the torches that lined the hallways. Malon went with the simple strategy of following paths that had lit torches and avoiding those that didn't. That way, even if she couldn't find Saria, she could find her way back to the entrance.
The one problem that she hadn't forseen was the rain storm. The distant sounds of thunder and pouring rain made the already eerie Forest Temple seem much more malicious. She made it a point to find Saria as quickly as possible.
"No one knows Link better than Saria," Malon had mused earlier. "She'll probably know what he's going through better than anyone, so if anyone knows what it'll take to cheer him up, it'll be her."
Malon passed through a door and found herself in the large entrance chamber again.
"Okay, the torches don't help."
Malon wandered to the center of the room, near a strange four-pillared structure wondering what to do. She began to pace, looking around the dimly lit chamber, wondering just where to go next.
"If I were Saria," she mused, "I'd definitely stay somewhere that would be easily accessible. And I'd keep the lights on....but I've ruled out all of those places...."
Her pacing moved her to the exact center of the structure. She didn't have much time to continue pondering, however, as the structure quickly sank beneath the floor, taking her with it.
"Princess Zelda, I do apologize for meeting at this late hour, but I felt that it was urgent."
Zelda blinked in surprise to see Rauru, the Sage of Light, waiting for her in the Throne Room. She had barely seen the reclusive Sage since Ganandorf was sealed in the Sacred Realm. Only an occasional meeting with the other Sages, such as when Link had vanished a few months earlier during the Kidnastoff fiasco.
"Rauru? What's the matter?"
"A surprising magical energy, Princess. A very strong force or presence simply appeared in the Haunted Wasteland just a few hours ago, shortly before sunset. And it's moving towards us. Quickly."
Zelda nodded. This didn't sound like quite the disaster that she had been anticipating, but she could certainly see why it would warrant Rauru's concern. "Do you know anything about it?"
"No I don't. This is what concerns me."
"What?"
"I just sensed it appear. I couldn't tell where it came from, or even what direction it was coming from! As if there was no spatial component to its travel."
"So this is something that doesn't move as we would. Could it be Ganandorf? Is it possible that he found a way of escaping?"
Rauru frowned, shaking his head. "No, not Ganandorf. He's in another plane of reality, but it's still this reality. Even if an entity were to pass through an entire parallel dimension that would still constitute as movement in space. This presence was moving through time."
Malon stepped out of the stone elevator before it could rise again, looking around nervously. She was in a large circular chamber with odd stone protrusions sticking out of the walls. She was definitely creeped out by the scenery, though grateful for the fact that it seemed to possess its own unseen source of light.
More disturbing, however, were the sounds. The lightning from outside, while distant, seemed to reverberate surprisingly well this far beneath the ground. Along with this there was a distinctive moaning sound. The moaning seemed to exist all around her, though she knew for a fact that she could only hear it coming from the open passage directly before her.
Malon crept steadily towards the passage, desperately wishing that she had taken up Link's offer of basic combat training. She soon found herself at the foot of a staircase that turned as it progressed towards the upper area, preventing her from really seeing anything clearly. She could vaguely make out a few paintings on the walls of the room above her, but she couldn't see anything beyond that.
She silently made her way up the stairs, wanting desperately to run in the opposite direction. Something just wasn't quite right about the general mood. The eerie, persistant moanings were a fairly accurate tip, naturally, but there was something else.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she found herself on a large, circular platform, surrounded by a gate and large pictures. The pictures themselves were striking, most depicting an eerie, moonlit road, but other (and from the look of them, more recent) paintings depicted dramatic forest scenes. The paintings themselves were not what caught Malon's attention, however.
In the very middle of the platform was Saria. Dressed, as always, in Kokiri green, she was lying on her back. Her eyes were wide open, and glowing a darker shade of green. Saria also turned out to be the one responsible for the moaning, her face contorted in what looked like a cross between confusion, despair and anger.
More surprising was the fact that she was floating about three feet above the ground.
Author's Note: Sorry if this story feels edgy and rushed at times. I took far too long to write this chapter due to the end of my school year, and as a result this chapter is the product of several "fits" of writing as Lewis Carroll might have said (though there's no mistaking the fact that he's a much better author than I am).
By John Little
Chp. 2: Cry Of The Forest
Sneaking past the eagerly waiting Kokiri children was not the easiest task of Link's career, but it was certainly manageable. More difficult than sneaking past the guards in Hyrule Castle when he first attempted it, but less difficult than sneaking through the royal gardens of the Deku King when he was in Termina. He just wasn't up to talking to anyone tonight.
Link crawled into the bed in his treehouse and looked around. He'd had the sense to move the cow out of the treehouse as soon as he could have a decent stable built for it and Epona, which cleared up room for a good number of other mementos. On one side of the room, he had set up a weapons rack for all of his fancier weapons. The Biggoron Sword and the Fairy Sword had places of honor, as did his gilded sword that was strengthened by the golden dust in the mountains of Termina and a few other weapons that he'd picked up over the years.
There was a display case filled with masks, a remnant of his first trip to Termina. He'd sold many of the masks over the years (such as the Mask Of Truth, which he owned two of, and the Keaton Mask, which he had only been able to use once) to the Happy Mask Salesman, but made sure to hold onto a few for sentimental reasons. All four of his transformation masks, of course, as well as The Couples Mask, the Giant Mask, and any other masks that might potentially have some use in the future, were prominently on display.
Along with these and other items from his adventurers, Link's house could really only be described as crowded. Link was comfortable with all of this around him, though, as many of these treasures had helped him through some very difficult times. He knew that one of the Kokiri might see his light on, so he quickly turned it off and went to sleep.
Malon dove into the pool of water, narrowly avoiding the Deku Nut that had been shot at her. She quickly surfaced for breath and looked back at her attacker, grateful to see that the Scrub had chosen to sink back into its flower, and avoid Malon's presence.
"I really need to carry a shield or something," she thought to herself as she climbed out of the far side of the pool. She had never navigated the Lost Woods or Forest Meadow before, but she was glad that the first Skull Kid that she met was willing to give her directions (after she agreed to sing for it).
She continued to carefully stroll through the faux maze that led to the Forest Temple. While she didn't find it a simple task to sneak past all of the Deku Scrubs, she was relieved that many of them appeared to be either napping or apathetic to her presence. Both possibilities seemed to go against everything that she had ever heard about Deku Scrubs, but she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She eventually found herself at the new staircase that granted entrance to the Forest Temple. As soon as she stepped onto the first stair, it began to rain. "Here's hoping that Saria's up," Malon muttered as she hurried through the front door.
Princess Zelda awoke to the sound of thunder, accompanied by a torrential downpour from the sky. She ran to her window and looked to the Market located far below. It was still relatively early in the evening, so a few people were still conducting business when the storm began. No harm done, really, she thought. Most market stalls are waterproofed.
As she was about to return to bed, there was a soft knock at her door. "Come in," she called, prompting the door to swing open. Impa stood on the other side of the door, looking very concerned. "Princess, there is an urgent matter that requires your attention."
Though Malon had never been inside the Forest Temple before, she found it to be surprisingly easy to navigate. When Saria became a full-time Sage she had worked hard to make the place more welcoming for people. This meant removing nearly all of the dangerous creatures that lived within the temple, making a few architectural revisions to permit easier access to the more capricious chambers, and setting up small signs for visitors.
The greatest help in navigation, however, came from the torches that lined the hallways. Malon went with the simple strategy of following paths that had lit torches and avoiding those that didn't. That way, even if she couldn't find Saria, she could find her way back to the entrance.
The one problem that she hadn't forseen was the rain storm. The distant sounds of thunder and pouring rain made the already eerie Forest Temple seem much more malicious. She made it a point to find Saria as quickly as possible.
"No one knows Link better than Saria," Malon had mused earlier. "She'll probably know what he's going through better than anyone, so if anyone knows what it'll take to cheer him up, it'll be her."
Malon passed through a door and found herself in the large entrance chamber again.
"Okay, the torches don't help."
Malon wandered to the center of the room, near a strange four-pillared structure wondering what to do. She began to pace, looking around the dimly lit chamber, wondering just where to go next.
"If I were Saria," she mused, "I'd definitely stay somewhere that would be easily accessible. And I'd keep the lights on....but I've ruled out all of those places...."
Her pacing moved her to the exact center of the structure. She didn't have much time to continue pondering, however, as the structure quickly sank beneath the floor, taking her with it.
"Princess Zelda, I do apologize for meeting at this late hour, but I felt that it was urgent."
Zelda blinked in surprise to see Rauru, the Sage of Light, waiting for her in the Throne Room. She had barely seen the reclusive Sage since Ganandorf was sealed in the Sacred Realm. Only an occasional meeting with the other Sages, such as when Link had vanished a few months earlier during the Kidnastoff fiasco.
"Rauru? What's the matter?"
"A surprising magical energy, Princess. A very strong force or presence simply appeared in the Haunted Wasteland just a few hours ago, shortly before sunset. And it's moving towards us. Quickly."
Zelda nodded. This didn't sound like quite the disaster that she had been anticipating, but she could certainly see why it would warrant Rauru's concern. "Do you know anything about it?"
"No I don't. This is what concerns me."
"What?"
"I just sensed it appear. I couldn't tell where it came from, or even what direction it was coming from! As if there was no spatial component to its travel."
"So this is something that doesn't move as we would. Could it be Ganandorf? Is it possible that he found a way of escaping?"
Rauru frowned, shaking his head. "No, not Ganandorf. He's in another plane of reality, but it's still this reality. Even if an entity were to pass through an entire parallel dimension that would still constitute as movement in space. This presence was moving through time."
Malon stepped out of the stone elevator before it could rise again, looking around nervously. She was in a large circular chamber with odd stone protrusions sticking out of the walls. She was definitely creeped out by the scenery, though grateful for the fact that it seemed to possess its own unseen source of light.
More disturbing, however, were the sounds. The lightning from outside, while distant, seemed to reverberate surprisingly well this far beneath the ground. Along with this there was a distinctive moaning sound. The moaning seemed to exist all around her, though she knew for a fact that she could only hear it coming from the open passage directly before her.
Malon crept steadily towards the passage, desperately wishing that she had taken up Link's offer of basic combat training. She soon found herself at the foot of a staircase that turned as it progressed towards the upper area, preventing her from really seeing anything clearly. She could vaguely make out a few paintings on the walls of the room above her, but she couldn't see anything beyond that.
She silently made her way up the stairs, wanting desperately to run in the opposite direction. Something just wasn't quite right about the general mood. The eerie, persistant moanings were a fairly accurate tip, naturally, but there was something else.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she found herself on a large, circular platform, surrounded by a gate and large pictures. The pictures themselves were striking, most depicting an eerie, moonlit road, but other (and from the look of them, more recent) paintings depicted dramatic forest scenes. The paintings themselves were not what caught Malon's attention, however.
In the very middle of the platform was Saria. Dressed, as always, in Kokiri green, she was lying on her back. Her eyes were wide open, and glowing a darker shade of green. Saria also turned out to be the one responsible for the moaning, her face contorted in what looked like a cross between confusion, despair and anger.
More surprising was the fact that she was floating about three feet above the ground.
Author's Note: Sorry if this story feels edgy and rushed at times. I took far too long to write this chapter due to the end of my school year, and as a result this chapter is the product of several "fits" of writing as Lewis Carroll might have said (though there's no mistaking the fact that he's a much better author than I am).