The Crossing of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
Part III: Of Darkness and Light

A/N: Like Part II, I plan on posting this one in chunks as well. This is Chunk FIVE. Can you believe it? I have had an isolated pocket of spare time between the end of the big projects and the beginning of the studying for the finals. I've got a good nine pages here this time, and you'd better enjoy it too, because as soon as exams roll around in a few days It'll be all study and no write for me.

Chapter VII

A child's voice echoed through the darkness, "I think it's waking up!"

Mewtwo slowly crept back to consciousness, and felt his entire body crampt up in a small cage, what felt like wood. He smelled the rich scents of the forest and children's voices whispered and shouted around him. As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was indeed imprisoned in a wooden cage, and it was barely large enough to fit him. Beyond the bars a gaggle of odd looking children, all dressed in green, were staring in at him with anxiety and expectation. One of them stepped forward and poked him in the leg with a stick, and he grunted in frustration as his limbs began to tell him that it wasn't a good thing to be boxed up like he was. The children quickly stepped back a few paces from the cage.

"What should we do with it?" One asked.

"It's a demon! We should kill it and burn it!" Another shouted.

"Let's release it back where we found it!" Yet another chimed in.

And from behind the crowd another child stepped in, she didn't stand much taller than the rest of the crowd, but her green hair was a stark contrast to everyone else's blonde and brown hair. She walked right up to the cage and looked in at Mewtwo with a discriminating eye.

"Don't get too close Saria, it might grab you!" Another child with blonde hair and a notably freckled face shouted.

"Be quiet Mido! I don't think it's dangerous. It almost looks intelligent."

Mewtwo finally snapped out of his daze and took action. "Could you kind children please release me from this box? It's rather uncomfortable."

The crowd of children gasped loudly, some stepped back, some stepped forward, but Saria just smiled.

"Sure, I'll let you out." She said, and reached down and pulled a few key sticks loose.

The whole cage flimsily fell apart and Mewtwo slowly clambered out of the pile of wood and stood. As he did, the children who seemed tall enough from the cage now were dwarfed below him, and he looked down at them curiously. They looked back up at him as those who are looking upon a newly risen god, or demon. Nobody spoke for a moment, and then Saria broke the silence.

"What's your name?" She asked.

Mewtwo stood silent for a moment before replying. When he told Saria his name, she smiled in a half frustrated way and turned to face the freckled boy named Mido.

"You see? He's not a demon! Not only does he talk, but he has a name! And you wanted to burn him! Idiot!" She said, and flashed Mido a scowl.

As the dialogue between the two children progressed, Mewtwo noticed the small white orbs dancing around their heads. They were little balls of light, and each one had a pair of iridescent wings like butterflies. His memory suddenly connected back to the boy in green he had seen inside the moon. He had dressed similarly and also had one of these odd winged things trailing him.

"What are those?" Mewtwo asked, interrupting Saria's conversation with Mido and pointing at the orb that was flitting around her head.

Saria looked up at it and smiled as if talking to an idiot. "Don't you know what fairies are?" She asked.

"He doesn't have one!" Another child piped up out of the crowd.

Saria scanned the air around Mewtwo's head and frowned as if confused.

"You don't know what a fairy is, and you don't have one! You're quite the odd fellow!" She said.

"Odd?" Mido suddenly growled, "He looks evil to me! I think we should throw him out of the forest to save ourselves the trouble!"

"Oh shut up Mido! You're always posturing all the time and making rash decisions and starting rumors!" Saria yelled.

"There's a way to settle this easily!" Another child said suddenly. He stepped up to them and spoke in an air of wisdom. "Let's take him to see the sprout!"

"Yeah! The Sprout will know!" Another child hollered from the back.

"Good idea." Saria said. "Follow me."

Before Mewtwo knew it, he was being led by the throng through the village. It gave him a chance to run his eyes over the landscape. There were hundreds of trees everywhere, trees that still seemed to be relatively young and thin, but at the same time toweringly tall. There were many little houses carved into trees and stumps everywhere around, the children must be living in them. There was a small waterfall and a pond, and the children lead him across stepping stones that crossed a small extension of the pond. Then they passed in between many tightly grouped trunks that twisted and turned so that he could not see what lied only a few feet ahead. As the passed the last corner, a sight met Mewtwo's eyes that hadn't in almost six years.

A grand and massive tree towered up through the canopy, many times larger than all the others, and on its front was a weathered old nose and two eyes. But something was different, and very very wrong. The wood was blackened, like it had been dead for months, and brown fallen leaves covered the ground around its sad face. It appeared completely devoid of life. But at the feet of its roots, a small tree sprout stood about five feet tall with a small smiling face. It was sleeping peacefully in the shadow of its predecessor, and it cocked one eye open as the procession of children approached.

"What a group of Kokiri approach me now!" the sprout said cheerfully, now opening both its eyes. "What is the occasion of this party and who is your scary looking friend?"

Saria stepped forward and spoke. "He says his name is Mewtwo, and we want you to tell us if he is a friend or foe, Deku Tree Sprout."

Mewtwo now had a clear memory reformed of when he and Kalana had met the Great Deku Tree. If this sprout was supposed to be a seedling of the great tree he had met those five years ago, then the time he traversed backwards must truly have been vast. Hyrule was a lot older than he had imagined.

"Come over here and let me look at you." The Deku Tree Sprout said to Mewtwo.

Once again the Kokiri were completely silent as Mewtwo stepped forward out of the gaggle. The Deku Tree sprout eyed him closely, and Mewtwo suddenly felt an intrusion on his mind. Suddenly realizing the direness of the situation, Mewtwo blocked the intrusion as best as he could. If this were the Sprout that would grow into the Deku Tree he had met, even being here in front of him was going to alter the time-space continuum even more, possibly worsening the paradoxes. He didn't need to let the Deku Sprout have such a glimpse into the future, or he could permanently damage or destroy the timeline of this entire dimension. The Deku Sprout's eyes narrowed in frustration as he tried with no avail to see into Mewtwo's mind.

"Why is it that you're resisting? I just want to see if you're trustworthy or not!" the sprout said in an upset voice.

"It's just that…" Mewtwo stuttered as he tried to think of an excuse. Even saying that he was from the future could damage the timeline. "I don't trust other people in my mind. I have secrets."

"Very well then, but that means that I can't trust you, and I don't expect the Kokiri to trust you either." The Sprout said, indicating the green clad children.

Mewtwo sighed, and then decided he needed to take the initiative. He sorted out a few positive images from his past in the Pokemon world that held no significance and sent them into the Deku Sprout's mind. The Sprout looked surprised but smiled a woody smile.

"So you can touch minds to? Very well then, I'll trust you." The Sprout said.

The crowd of Kokiri murmured in approval and began to disperse, and Mido pranced off growling in frustration. Saria walked up to Mewtwo as he turned to walk back to the village.

"I'm sorry we didn't get properly introduced. My name is Saria and I'm glad to have you here in the Kokiri forest."

Mewtwo smiled and as they walked out of the pasture where the sprout and dead tree stood, Mewtwo pointed at the dead tree and inquired of it.

Saria frowned as they passed through the weaving passage between trunks. "He was the Old Deku Tree. He was killed a few years ago by a wicked Sorcerer from the West named Ganondorf."

Mewtwo reeled at the recollection of the name. That was the name of the Gerudo King of Evil that all the old legends had mentioned. He remembered The Red Elder recanting the tales to him and reading about him on the inscriptions in the Spirit Temple. Soon they passed back into the village and Saria pointed to a lone stump that had a tree house carved into it.

"You can stay there if you want to. Link hasn't come back in almost a year now, and we're starting to think he won't at all." Saria said, suddenly sounding as if she were about to cry.

"Can I ask you something?" Mewtwo asked, adeptly changing the subject, "Where and how did you find me?"

"We found you lying unconscious deep out in the older more dangerous woods. I was the one who insisted we bring you here, Mido wanted to leave you for dead."

"Well I appreciate what you did along with your generous offer for hospitality, but I really should be going." Mewtwo said.

"Would you at least stay for dinner?" Saria asked.

Mewtwo's stomach grumbled loudly like a sea lion, and he smiled and nodded. "I haven't eaten in awhile, I'd be glad to." Saria grinned and lead him over to a large communal tree house where the other Kokiri were gathering. The sweet smell of roasted meats wafted out of the door and Mewtwo licked his lips.

Chapter VIII

After an unnaturally hushed and unenthusiastic dinner, Mewtwo asked Saria to show him out of the Forest. She led him to a hollowed out log and a bridge and told him to continue through to the other side.

"Would you come with me? You seem like such a nice kid." Mewtwo asked.

Saria shook her head and once again her facial expression was that of condescension. "If I or any other Kokiri leave the forest, we die on the spot." She said matter-of-factly.

Mewtwo contained his shock and frowned slightly. "Well, unless I find my way back home, I won't be leaving this land anytime soon. I might come back and see you again." He said warmly.

Saria smiled. "I'll look forward to it."

Mewtwo shook her hand and slowly turned to leave. He wanted to ask something more of Saria, if she knew anything of the Forest Medallion, but he hesitated as he walked through the dark and dank feeling of the hollowed out log. The wood was damp and soft to his feet, and smelled sweet with only a tad of age. He walked onward for almost fifty feet before emerging into a vast, wonderfully grassy plain. The sky was bright orange from a sunrise out on the Western horizon and the tall grasses swayed and whispered in the light breeze. Small trees were scattered across the field in an almost random pattern, and birds chirped cheerily in the pristine air. A narrow dirt road cut through the grass out into the field, forking many times and shrinking in the distance. Small hills caused the field to rise and fall gently like a breathing body as Mewtwo's eyes gazed across it. As he looked farther out in the distance, he began to scan the horizon. To the north loomed a gigantic mountain with a ring of what could be clouds or smoke encircling its peak. And to the west of the mountain a small blue pinnacle was blurred in the distance. To the direct East and South there was nothing on the horizon but the stretch of the field that met the orange sky.

"So this is Hyrule…" Mewtwo whispered to himself, "It's just as beautiful as I imagined." His memory flashed back to the dream he had a few nights ago, and again flashed to the vision he had seen when he had found the Spirit Medallion. Both of those visions were identical and matched this sprawling plain that now stood before him on the borders of twilight. And again, his thoughts turned to a way to get out of here so that the paradoxes didn't destroy this wondrous world.

Mewtwo idly strolled down the dirt path as he thought. He needed to get back to his time period, and the solution seemed so close yet so far away. The blue flute in his knapsack was the key, and yet he couldn't remember the song. He was sure that there wasn't a way to ascend the void back into the land of Termina, back where the child's grave with the songbook laid. He wondered if the heroic kid had come from this clan of Kokiri children he had just met, and if so, how had he entered Termina? Saria had mentioned something about a "Missing Link", but the term seemed nonsense to him. He didn't even realize that he was walking North as he thought. As he walked the sunset slowly disappeared over the horizon and the sky began to darken. The air chilled a bit and stars began to become visible. But because of the sheer size of the field and the slow stride Mewtwo was taking, he didn't get any closer to the mountain or the blurred blue point on the horizon.

Mewtwo's thoughts were jarred suddenly when a lone wolf howled out in the distance, signaling the passage between twilight and night. His train of thought crashed off the tracks and he shivered in the cool air. Thoughts of shelter for the night flashed into his mind and he tossed around the notion of turning back and going back to the Kokiri Village. He stopped walking to consider it when suddenly his ears caught an almost unnoticeable rustling sound from somewhere behind him. It wasn't too close, but it was close enough to alarm him. He turned and peered through the darkness. At first his eyes couldn't detect anything as they adjusted, but then he saw maybe 300 feet behind him a hunched form clawing its way up from under the ground. Two glowing eyes leveled as it stood and fixed on his. He shivered in fear and reached into his mind reflexively to charge his powers, but the Triforce in his right paw gave him a painful reminder not to. Suddenly, the shadowy figure began to hobble forward towards Mewtwo, and he heard it moaning slowly. He didn't need any more incentive to stay any longer, he burst forward in a powerful run and quickly outpaced the fiendish creature that was only limping after him.

After putting significant distance between the thing and himself, Mewtwo stopped to have a breather from all the running. He hunched over and gasped for breath as the night slowly settled around him again. He was too tired and panting too loudly to hear or feel the ground shifting under him. Slowly a clawed hand pushed its way up out of the ground and reached for Mewtwo's ankle. When he felt it grasp him, Mewtwo silently and slowly turned to look down and see a head emerging from the ground. His fear and panic exploded out of control and his powers erupted out of control. The zombie head that had scrabbled out suddenly caught a bright purple flame and it emitted a terrifying screech and let go of Mewtwo's ankle. Mewtwo's right hand was screaming in pain from the power drain like he had just dipped it into a smelting pot, and he only half noticed it as his legs rocketed him forward anew to escape the monstrosity that had grabbed him.

As Mewtwo ran and the forest sped by to his right, he did not stop to think until his body forced him to. His sides were splitting and his lungs burned from the exertion, and yet he still could not see any signs of progress of distance across the field. He shakily pulled the green potion out of his knapsack and uncorked it, prepared to take a brisk gulp when the next zombie would show his head. But as he waited, only silence and calm permeated the air. Then, as Mewtwo's heavy breathing slowly receded, he thought he heard what sounded like a stream rushing across rocks. He walked cautiously in the direction of the sound, getting closer and closer until he came upon the banks of a flowing mid sized stream which was steadily gurgling its way Northwest. It was emerging out of a large hilly area in the East and it smelled sweet and fresh like water that had just flowed down from a purifying mountain stream. The trees of the forest had ended maybe 600 feet back.

Mewtwo squatted down and took a handful of the water from the river. It was icy cold and felt pure on his hand. He then re-corked the green potion and stowed it. Using both hands to scoop water up from the river, he tasted it and found it to be pure, bracing, and a wonderful tonic to his dry mouth and throat. He then bent down even father and submerged his entire face into the water, taking greedy gulps and savoring the cleansing effect it had on his body and mind. He was rudely interrupted however, when a bony hand closed around his tail.

Mewtwo screamed into the water in surprise, fear, and pain. The bony hand was squeezing his sensitive tail like a vice and fiery pain was shooting up his backside. Without thinking, he lunged forward and dove all the way into the river. Luckily, the current was not strong and he bobbed to the surface and saw the skeletal form standing on the banks. The monstrous looking thing stared at him stupidly with its two yellow glowing eyes, and then stepped its foot into the river. What followed next was a bright display of blue flames as the spiritual energy sustaining the form was suddenly released by the essence of the river. The bones fell clatteringly to the bank and remained silent from that moment on. And the hand which had still grasped Mewtwo's tail even after being separated from its owner limply let go and floated away in the gentle slow current.

Mewtwo let out a long sigh of relief, trying to let the stress from the fear go, but by now he was beginning to become numbly cold from the frigid waters and he needed to climb out lest he contract hypothermia. He was reluctant to leave the safety of the river now though, seeing such an ample demonstration of the protection it afforded him from these things that were wandering Hyrule at night. When he was to the point of shaking violently from the cold, he crawled back up to the bank and clambered out of the water. The air around him didn't feel as chilled anymore, and his knapsack was lack a blanket on his back that was warm and welcoming. He became very sleepy as he started walking North along the bank of the river, trying to think of what to do next. His body was fatigued and the rapid temperature changes were making him drowsy. But he continued walking for almost an hour, keeping alongside the river's bank where the monsters did not bother him.

When at last a faint trace of sunrise peeked up over the trees to the East, Mewtwo was again jolted out of his trance-like state by a sound. A lone rooster crowed not too far away and suddenly a rapid scrambling noise erupted behind him. He turned and looked to see around four or five of the zombie creatures scraping holes in the ground and re-burying themselves to escape the sun. It was a jarring thought to Mewtwo that they had managed to follow him without him noticing for so long, but it was comforting to know that they would not come out in sunlight. He took off his knapsack and laid his exhausted body down onto the welcoming grass and slept by the calming sound of the cheerily flowing river.

Chapter IX

"Who are you?" A woman's voice echoed through the darkness, "What are you? Where are you?"

The familiar, elegant face of the crowned woman slowly faded into the dream again, looking straight into Mewtwo's mind with fear and curiosity. Mewtwo could almost feel her mind brush against his, it felt like dipping his toe into a vast ocean of wisdom and emotion. The woman's face suddenly jerked away in fear, and she disappeared into the stark blackness of the dream.

For the first time since he had left the Gerudos, Mewtwo awoke with by his own accord and without a feeling of unpleasantness in his mind or body. The sun was directly above him in the sky, and his body felt refreshed even after only sleeping around five hours. The air was just as clean and crisp as ever, the very environment seemed to have had a purifying effect on him. He yawned, stretched, and stood up. What used to be only a blue point on the Northern horizon was now visibly a spire on a tower, brilliantly colored to be so clear at this distance. And the ringed mountain loomed even taller over him as he looked to the North. He took another deep drink from the river to quell his complaining stomach, and then pulled on his knapsack and proceeded to walk North again.

As he walked he finally held a grain of certainty about his course in this time period. He knew he could no longer return to his time period easily, the way back to Termina was most definitely closed and the people would lynch him on sight if he did go back. His anxiety at following the Northward pull was now gone as well, it seemed to only reasonable path to follow. He could not remain idle and he could not turn back, so he followed the only course that lay ahead. He walked and walked for a good portion of the day. But he was stopped by his curiosity when he stumbled into a wooden sign that was scrawled with simple Hylian Script.

"Beware of….Pea Hats?" Mewtwo read aloud, wondering what in the world the sign meant. Maybe it was warning him to put peas in his hat? He continued along the path shrugging off the oddity. Maybe he hadn't read it right? He dismissed all thoughts of it as he continued.

As he reached the top of a larger than average hill, Mewtwo had a good view further out across the field. He could see a good portion of the Castle now, and he recognized it as the legendary Hyrule Castle that housed the Royal Family that presided over the land. He stopped to stare in wonder, the scale of the castle must be grand if it was so clear from this distance. Then a sudden ripping sound tore his eyes from the castle to a point at the bottom of the hill that he was standing on. What appeared to be a giant brown plant the size of an elephant was uprooting itself and hovering in the air. As it fully emerged, blades about three feet long protruded around its circumference and whirled like a helicopter. It then sped through the air toward him menacingly.

Mewtwo was again surprised out of his wits by the strange creatures of this land, he ducked back behind the hill and pulled out the green potion as quick as he could. He popped the cork off and swallowed 2 large mouthfuls. The spicy taste zinged down his throat and energized him. Just as he re-corked the bottle the helicopter-plant whooshed over the top of the hill above him and adjusted its course to come after him.

Mewtwo needn't think twice about his next action, he formed a gigantic, weightless energy blade and dodged to the side as the plant whizzed by. He put his sword in its path and cleanly cleaved it in half. The plant fell to the ground with a sickening wet splut and shuddered a few times before falling silent. Mewtwo approached the dead plant slowly and poked it with his rapidly fading energy sword. It did not respond, so he let the sword fade away to nothing as the green potion quickly dissipated in his system. He eyed the blades that the plant was armed with, and decided that he should finally carry a solid weapon with him for protection. With only half his green potion left, he would definitely need to arm himself with a more reliable weapon. Cautiously, he gripped the strange blade on its dull side and yanked as hard as he could. The blade resisted at first, but after three more pulls it loosened out of the joint that held it and slid out. It was embedded in the plant's body a lot deeper than it appeared, and two more feet of bone-like material slid out covered in green slime.

Mewtwo nearly dropped the blade in disgust, and quickly carried it over to the river where he washed every trace of the sap off of it. He then used it to cut a small slit in the bottom of his knapsack and stuck it in there as a scabbard.

Mewtwo continued walking the rest of the day, and as night began to fall his body complained with fatigue and sleep hovered on his eyelids. But the frightful faces of the night Zombies reared up in his memory and he decided to stay up through the night and keep walking. He remembered the trudge through the desert that he and Kalana had made so many years ago, and he could certainly do it again. And now he wasn't even going half as quick as he and Kalana had traveled, so it needn't bee to tiring. But as the lone wolf howled again at twilight's passing his body steadily ached and his eyes became leaden. He was jolted out of this sleepiness quickly though, when the familiar sound of the zombies crawling up out of the ground met his ears. Their yellow eyes reappeared and woke him anew into refreshed haste.

Mewtwo stopped occasionally that night to rest in the frigid waters of the river. The safety it afforded him allowed him to relax his tense muscles and to drink deeply again from the life giving waters. Only when he became dangerously cold did he pull himself out of the water to trudge on. The night passed slowly and agonizingly, and this time he was sure to check behind him before ever slowing his pace or stopping to rest. Most of the time he found the zombies following him, but the few occasions peace afforded him some time, he took it eagerly. By now his stomach was gnawing with agonizing hunger.

When the sun finally did rise in the sky with the rooster's crow, Mewtwo saw that he was very close to the Castle now. He could see the great drawbridge only a mile away. But he put the intentions of entering the Castle aside for the night, he was too exhausted to go on any longer. He laid down again in the soft grass as the zombies clawed their way back underground.

A/N: Yep yep yep, after nearly 170 pages of writing and 40 chapters, Mewtwo has finally entered Hyrule itself. But what will happen when he reaches the castle? What will they think of him? And how long will I be studying for finals? The answer my friends, will be coming in only a few weeks. Remember folks, Reviews + Me Happy Me and Faster writing!