All right, hello all of my readers, here is the next chapter!
Navi: Gees is it good to be out of that suitcase!
I know what you mean; airplanes can be stuffy when you're just sitting there.
Navi: What are we gibbering about? Let the story continue!
What you said! I own nothing of Zelda and never will, mind you; but everything that happens in this story is mine.
Chapter Fourteen: Freedom
Zelda raced down the stairs and Link was racing down after her.
"Zelda wait up!" He yelled after her, but Zelda paid no attention to him. She went down until she was at the bottom, which was much steeper, then the staircase that Kale had been haunting. But sure enough, at the bottom was a portrait of a sleeping young woman, she was holding a blue flame that was moving, her dark brown hair falling carelessly around her shoulders. Link came stumbling down the stairs, gasping for air. Lale came floating down the stairs slowly behind him peacefully, but when she saw the painting at the bottom she gasped.
"Oh my, it's Milan!" Lale cried out happily, the woman in the picture stirred but didn't open an eye. Zelda could feel Kale stir and move around with excitement, Zelda smiled, the first and oldest of the sisters.
'Kale, what must I do?' Zelda asked through her mind, now she felt Kale thinking.
'There is something in here that will trigger something that will free her; it is something that no spirit may touch. I think that it is located somewhere within the walls.'
"Ok," Zelda whispered as she looked around the walls, "here we go."
She walked up to a part of the wall and pressed her hands on it, sending her magic through the walls. The walls were filled with black magic, which was what was keeping the spirit trapped in the portrait, the way to undo it was to find out what the pattern of the magic was and then break it.
"Link." Zelda called out to him as she kept her hands and magic on wall.
"What?" He asked, she could still tell that he was out of breath.
"I need you to go on the stairs and stay on them, I'm going to need to brake the magic pattern in this room."
"What?"
"When you cast spells on walls or basically a solid object, it comes out as like a weaving. Every magic spell has a pattern to it that is unique, so if you ever want to break a spell you need to destroy its pattern."
"But what about when you battle?"
"When I battle, I just use my magic, if I cast a spell on a solid object like that charm I cast when I first told you that I have magic the magic itself will weave into the walls. So, when you use magic and you place it on something, it lays itself on it and creates a pattern on it. If a spell is simple, then it can come undone the instant you try to take it apart. If a spell is extremely powerful, then there is only a small place where you can make it become undone, it's like the stray string and when you pull it, it comes undone. Understand?"
"Sure, I think."
Zelda smiled and went to the center of the room; she sat down in a meditation position and straitened her back. She looked at Link and he went off to the stairs and stood there.
"Link, you might actually want to sit down, the spell on this room is the complicated I've ever felt in my life, this could take hours."
Link nodded and sat down on the stairs in a comfterable position.
"Ok, another thing Link, you can't make a sound, if you do, you might brake my concentration and I'll have to start over again. And make sure NOT to go in this room until I actually tell you that's it's safe, if you come in here, you could be trapped in the pattern and stay there until the Great Goddess come down and get you themselves."
Link nodded and lay down in the stairs and looked up, Lale floated over to the stairs and floated next to Link. Lale meet Zelda's eyes, and Zelda could see the hope and faith that she was placing upon Zelda.
"May the Goddesses be with you." She told to Zelda, and Zelda only nodded back. Zelda looked forward again and then closed her eyes; facing her palms up; she sent her magic through the walls and began searching. She felt the magic's pattern, it was complex beyond her belief, now that she was actually feeling and trying to penetrate it, it was at least ten times harder then what she had first thought of it. A headache was already beginning to form, but that wouldn't stop Zelda, she wouldn't let this get in her way.
She let her magical self flow on top of the spell, looking and analyzing, taking in as much as she could.
Link stared at the ceiling, Zelda hadn't been joking about this taking hours, she had been like that for about over eight hours, just sitting there in the same position. Link hadn't made a sound just as she had told him, he didn't want all of her concentration get ruined because of him. And he DEFINATLY didn't want her to start over, he had even fallen asleep a couple of times, and then wake up to find that Zelda was still focusing.
He looked at the ceiling far above him, it didn't have and tiles, and it wasn't wood, it was just plain gray stone, the same thing that he had looked at for a while. He quietly moved his head to look at her, but there she was, as still as a statue. He glanced at Lale, she was floating, her eyes closed. He could feel Navi's breath against his neck, in the pattern it would take whenever she would fall asleep. He looked at Zelda again, blinking his dry eyes. How long was this going to take?
He looked at the ceiling, and then closed his eyes; there was nothing better to do.
Another hour went by, and Link was still asleep, but he woke suddenly for no reason. He looked over at Zelda, and again, she was in the same position. He felt like he could scream, but like the Goddesses saw his frustration; Zelda's plank position suddenly slouched over. She slowly turned around and looked at Link, her eyes blood-shot red and her face pale and glistening with sweat.
"I'm finished."
Link jumped up, Navi flew out of his collar and stopped herself from crashing into the floor. Lale's eyes flew open and she looked wildly around. Link ran over to Zelda and wiped away the sweat on her head.
"Ok," Link told her as Zelda's eyes bent low, "Sorry for saying this, but you look like crap."
Zelda chuckled, and Link just gave her glare, she didn't faze at all, but usually his glares were never that good.
"No offence taken, my guardian tells me that after I come back from exploring and hadn't bothered to take a bath."
Link tried to help Zelda up, but her legs failed and she stumbled into Link's arms.
"Sorry." She mumbled in his chest as she struggled to stand on her own. Link didn't reply, but instead her pulled one of her arms over his shoulders. "Thanks." She told him drowsily.
"No problem." He told her as he looked at the portrait of the sleeping person, shouldn't she be free now? "Zelda, why isn't she free?"
"Oh, she is.... She just has to wake up and get out herself...." She yawned, and Lale zoomed down the stairs and over to the portrait. She placed her ghostly hands on the rim of the painting.
"Oh, Milan, please, wake up!"
The eyes in the portrait opened, and Link saw the shock in her eyes when the ghost saw him and Zelda, then her eyes flew over to Lale.
"Free?" she asked her, her voice was high and had a hint of noble birth in it.
"Yes, free!"
The ghost experimentally reached over, and Link could see the joy and happiness in her eyes and smile when her hand went through. She laughed and then glided out of her prison, she laughed and floated around the room, laughing with so much joy that Link couldn't help but smile himself. She finally spotted Link; she floated over to him and looked him in the eye.
"Are you the one who freed me?" she asked him with a happy voice.
"Nope, but she did." He looked at Zelda and found that she was fast asleep; the ghost leaned over and smiled at Zelda.
"Well, I have no idea what to say, I mean...." She was lost in speech as tears built behind her eyes; Link smiled at her and then put Zelda on his back. Zelda mumbled something under her breath that Link didn't catch, but he didn't mind. "What a beautiful young woman, what is she doing in this horrid place?"
"Well," Link told her as he looked at Milan, "If you said something like that to her, then it wouldn't be pretty."
"Oh, a stubborn one is she?" Milan asked him in delight, "Well, is she your lover?"
Link almost fell over, "Why is everyone saying that?" He asked himself aloud; Navi flew over to Zelda and landed on Zelda's head. "And how come you went to her and not to me?"
Navi giggled and her wings fluttered, Link smiled and then looked at Lale.
"Lale, do you know where to go next?"
"Well," She said as she floated happily over to Milan and then grabbed her arm. "Without our sorceress, what will be the point of going any farther? Perhaps we should rest until she wakes up?"
"Well, I've been laying on the steps for like nine hours, and I don't need a rest, and besides, what would Zelda say if she knew that we stopped just so that she could get her strength back? I don't think that she would be happy, would she Navi?"
"Nope! Not at all!" Navi replied happily as she smoothed out Zelda's hair.
Link looked at Lale with a smile, and she returned it happily. Lale let go of Milan, and then floated over to where a torch was. She pointed to it, and Link walked over, carefully reaching up and making sure that he didn't drop Zelda on the floor he pulled on the torch. The wall made a sound, and then rearranged itself to where a doorway appeared. Link looked into it cautiously before he ventured in, looking around to make sure that nothing snuck up on him. It was like all of the other halls he had been in here, torches on the side of the gray stonewall with a red carpet down the center. Nothing seemed to look like something that would eat him, in fact, the only things that would be able to hurt him were the torches, and they couldn't move.
It was just until then that he realized that the pink fairies that had healed Zelda weren't anywhere on sight. He gave a silent and mournful sigh, even though they had only been with him for a few minutes, he hadn't even been able to fully thank them for healing Zelda. But that was how fairies were, they would disappear without you noticing, that was their nature.
He kept on walking, he was getting closer to the end, but it still seemed like every step he took he didn't go anywhere. But every time he looked up to make sure that the end wasn't staying in one place it was always a little bit closer. What was wrong with him? A small groan came over to his ear, and he realized that he was worried about Zelda. That was odd, she would be fine, he knew it, and yet, he couldn't help but feel a little worried that something horrible was wrong with her. Funny, normally if it had been a person he had just barely meet and gotten to know like Zelda he wouldn't be as worried as he was now. But at the same time, he knew that he was wrong, he knew Zelda, and this was what he knew about her so far:
She was stubborn beyond belief
She was a definitely more beautiful then normal girls
She didn't take advantage over her beauty
She could protect herself
She could be wise when the time called for it
She didn't like it when men underestimated her
And she was brave
That was all that he had pulled together so far, but even so, it sounded like the kind of person that he would want to befriend. He had didn't have that many friends outside of the forest, but right now, he knew that he had a new one. He smiled dumbly to himself, how many friends outside of Hyrule did he have? There was Malon and Talon, and Dilla, a few men at the Bazaar knew him, but Link didn't go there often enough to learn their names, and of course, Zelda. That was it, but he wouldn't want to trade in any of them even if he got five more friends for just one of them, because, just one was one of those lifelong friends that you would protect for all of your life, and you knew that they would do their best to protect yours.
The door had come up so suddenly that he almost ran into it, and he heard Navi give a giggle.
"Haha, ya, very funny Navi."
"You almost ran into the door, how funny!"
"Anything can amuse you, Navi."
Navi just giggled, because she knew that he was almost right. Link opened the door, but then he made sure to check what was behind it before he went any father.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was just another circular room, why the hell was he running into so many of these? He walked in, and just looked around for another door, he needed to get out of here as soon as possible before anything could attack him, because with Zelda needing protection, he wouldn't be able to fight at his fullest. But instead of a door, something that he had just seen a while ago seemed to pop out of nowhere.
"Gees, great Farore, another portrait?"
In this one, two Korkori twins sat together, sleeping just as Milan had been. They were boys with the curly orange hair, their faces were covered with freckles, so much that it seemed like there would never be any room to have any more. One had his head on another's shoulder, and the other had his head on the others head. Each wore an orange tunic that didn't look that good on them, but you could tell it was to match their hair.
Now Link felt another headache come up, Zelda was knocked out, and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. What was he supposed to do now?
"Well this is just great...." He mumbled under his breath, Milan and Lale floated over to him and then pointed to an odd pattern that was on the wall.
"Over there!" They said at the same time, Link walked over and looked at the symbols on the wall, and then recognized that they were music notes. He smiled; here was something that he could do! He placed Zelda carefully on the wall, and then when he was sure that she was comfortable, he got back up and pulled out his Fairy Ocarina. He looked at the wall, memorizing the symbols; he played it on his Ocarina. The song filled his heart, and he could feel the power of the Forest Temple fill him, it was almost like Saria's Song, but Saria's Song was filled with life and happiness, this song filled him with the power of the Temple, and it made him feel like he could feel where every plant in Hyrule was. He began to glow a dark green, but he kept on playing the notes, the glowing on his seemed to fall off and form into green sparkles. It flew over to the portrait, it flew around its rim and then for a split second the whole portrait except for the sleeping boys glowed green and then it all disappeared.
Link pulled the Ocarina away from his lips, and then Milan and Lale flew over to the portrait.
"Milo! Kilo! Wake up!" cried out Milan, Milo and Kilo jumped up with a start and looked at Milan with shock.
"Milan! You're free!" cried out one of them, "But you're trapped, like us, how did you get out?"
Milan smiled, "You two are free as well, come, get out of that prison!"
The two boys looked at each other, then, taking each other's hands, they jumped out of their prison.
"We're free! It's true!" The other one cried out, they both hugged each other and shot up and swirled as they did so. They let go but their hands didn't part, they flew down to Lale and Milan, and they all embraced. Link smiled, this time, he had helped and had freed two ghosts this time. He quietly put away his Ocarina and then picked Zelda up on his back again. He went over to the happy ghosts and then looked at the two boys.
"So, your names are Milo and Kilo?" Both of them jumped and looked at him, Zelda, and then at Navi.
"It's alright," Said Lale soothingly, "he is the one who saved you, the young woman on his back is named Zelda, she is a magic wielder."
After Lale finished, Kilo and Milo's faces lit up and they flew over to Link.
"How did you free us?" One of them asked eagerly.
"Well, I played this song, and then, it just happened."
"Wow, was it that song over there on the wall?" One pointed over to the music notes, and Link nodded. "That song is called Minuet of the Forest, it allows you to teleport to the Temple whenever you need to, it also unlocks hidden secrets in this Temple, and you can just play it for fun. So, what did instrument did you use?"
"An Ocarina, a Fairy Ocarina, to be exact, I got it from my best friend, her name is Saria, I came here to save her."
"Oh-h-h, I get it!"
"No, I mean, she's a Korkori, and I'm well, just, a normal person, not a Korkori."
"Oh, Ok, so, is the girl on your back your lover?"
Blushing, Link answered in the best voice that he could, "No, she's just my fighting partner."
Oh," said the other one with curiosity, "But what good is she if she's asleep?"
"Well, she used up all of her energy freeing Milan, and, well, now she's asleep."
"OHH! She freed Milan? She's the coolest living female EVER!" exclaimed the other as he moved over and looked at Zelda. "She's really pretty too."
"Uh, by the way, which one of you is Kilo, and which one of you is Milo?"
"I am Kilo," said the one who was looking at Zelda, "The way you can tell us apart is by looking at our hair, mine is longer, and Milo's is shorter."
Link looked at their hair and saw what he meant, Kilo's hair was a longer then Milo's by at least half an inch.
"Oh, Ok, thanks."
"Sure!"
Link then looked around the room, there didn't seem to be an exit.
"Um, how do we get out?"
Kilo and Milo looked around the room, they flew over to each other and held hands again, Link saw this out of the corner oh his eye and his lips twitched before his eyes went back to searching.
"Hey, there isn't an exit!"
"Perhaps," said Milan as she inspected the music notes on the wall, "you need to do something about these marks on the wall?"
Link looked at the music noted, they were the only things on the wall besides the empty painting. He turned around over to it and looked at it with a careful eye, then he noticed that some of the notes were different colors, but what was that supposed to mean?
"Damn it," Link whispered under his breath so low to where only Navi could hear him. "Zelda, wake up, I need you!"
Zelda didn't wake up, but she whispered something under her breath, and it was: Fairy. But what was that supposed to mean? Navi seemed to move around in Zelda's hair, and then she went over to Zelda's ear and began saying something in her high-pitched voice, but so quietly it was obvious that Link wasn't supposed to hear. Link noted that and didn't try to try and listen to whatever Navi was saying, so he continued looking at the wall. He was looking at the colors when he noticed that the a red music note seemed to be pulsing, for a few seconds it would be a dark red, and then for a moment it would be a lighter red and then turn back to normal. He went over to it and put his hand on it, he felt his hand tingle, just the same as when he had felt when he and Zelda had teleported across the hall. There must be some type of magic in this music note, but not for music, it was something that you had to do.
"Navi, are you done?"
Navi flew over in front of his face, "What is it, Link?"
"Can you tell me about that red music note on the wall, it has magic in it."
"Ok."
She fluttered over and then touched it, then, her light changed from white to red.
"Navi!" Link cried out as that happened, but Navi fluttered back over to him.
"I'm alright Link."
"Don't scare me like that!"
"Ok, Ok, Mister Grouchy, I won't! Now put Zelda down."
Link did as he was told and put Zelda down softly on the floor, wondering what was going to happen.
"Ok," Navi said as she flew over Zelda, "Watch me, Link!" She flew around in circles over Zelda, and the red light seemed to fall off of her in small dots a light. When they touched Zelda they disappeared like she was a sponge taking up water. Navi's new red light drained until she was white again, then Navi flew over to Link and landed on his head. "All done!" she said, Zelda stirred and then looked up at Link.
"Oh, hi." She told him as she sat up and rubbed her eyes with a sleepy hand. "Is it morning?"
"No," Link told her as he knelt down next to her, "But then again, I don't know."
"Oh, isn't that nice. Where are we?"
"In the Forest Temple, I freed two ghosts."
That seemed to wake Zelda up as Link saw that look of remembering on her face, and then she looked at the group of ghosts that had gathered around then without Link noticing.
"Oh, so you two boys must be twins!"
Zelda got off of the ground and looked at the two new Korkori ghost in front of her.
"So, tell me, what are your names?"
"Mine is Kilo!" said the one with the longer hair.
"And mine is Milo, it's nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too." Zelda replied with a friendly smile as she held out her hand. Kilo took it and gave her a good a handshake, and then Milo did the same.
"Your really pretty you know!" Said Milo, Zelda did a slight blush.
"Thank you, I like all of your hair, you two."
They blushed this time, and then Zelda smiled one more time, and then looked around the room. She saw the music notes and looked at them with curiosity.
"Oh, isn't that song the Minuet of Forest?" She asked herself, but Link got up from his spot and looked at Zelda.
"You know that song?" he asked her, Zelda nodded simply.
"Yes, I know a lot of songs, I wish I could play it, it's such a nice song."
"What? Do you know what it does?"
"Nope, but I know that it's a nice song."
Link shook his head and looked at the symbols with her.
"Does anything look out of order to you Zelda?"
"No-o-o-o, but then again, why are the notes different colors? Let me see...." She walked over to it and touched a blue note; she could feel the magic going through it. She went over to a green note and felt more magic, then a yellow, and felt the same. She had to place magic in a note it seemed, and each one would do something different. She chose a yellow one and put magic into it, then, she felt it give a strong shock in her hand and she snatched it away. She looked at her hand and could tell by the new redness and the way it as already starting to peel that she had chosen the wrong one.
"What happened to your hand?" asked a ghost that she didn't remember meeting.
"Um, who are you?"
The ghost laughed and smiled at Zelda, "My name is Milan, I am the ghost that you freed earlier. The one in the portrait, you used up all of your energy saving me."
"Oh," replied Zelda as Milan looked at her hand, "Well, I guess, hi."
"Yes, hello. Did you just burn you hand?"
Link walked over to Zelda's side and then picked up her hand with gentle ones.
"Gees, Zelda, how did you do that?" he asked her as he looked at her hand.
"I touched the note and put magic into it and it shocked me, I guess that I picked the wrong one."
"Yeah, you did!"
Zelda smiled at Link and then gently took her hand away from him, "I'm fine Link, and it isn't like I'm bleeding to death."
Link's bit his bottom lip and didn't make any more noise, Zelda looked back at the music notes and this time she chose an icy blue one, using her bad hand she sent magic in through it and felt her hand begin to freeze. She pulled her hand off and saw the new frost that was on it, now it was stinging like it was on fire, she also noticed that even though she had pulled her hand off the frost was still getting thicker on her hand. She bit her lip and sent picked another note, this one was pink; she placed her bad hand on it and then put magic into it. This time, she felt a healing magic go through her hand and instantly the ice disappeared and the burn healed. The wall where her hand was moved around and a hidden door appeared.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." She said, Link went in front of her, and Zelda looked at his hair, and then thought if he had even noticed that he didn't have a green hat anymore. She would get him a new one, at least if she ever made it out of here.
"Let's go!" Link said as he went opened the door and checked what was on the other end of it. Nothing seemed to wrong to him so he stepped though, and Zelda followed. Then, Zelda noticed the hollow feeling in her stomach and then realized that they hadn't eaten since they had gotten here. She kept on going though, following Link as he kept his hand on his sword's hilt. But it was just another empty room, and on the other side was a door. Link walked forward but Zelda stayed where she was, there was something in this room.
She looked around her, and then saw a statue of one of the Great Goddess, this one had long hair, a face without a flaw, and Zelda already knew that it was Nayru. She quietly walked over to it and looked at it, then, she saw that the statue was holding a blue stone in its hand. Zelda reached out and touched it, she felt at it for a while, then tried to pull her hand away. But to her surprise, her hand stayed on. Zelda didn't panic, Impa had always told her that was the worst thing to do in situations like this, not matter how much you wanted to. She calmly tried again to get her hand off, and again, it stayed on. Then Zelda realized that it was because of her magic that it wasn't letting her go, it was charmed so that her magic would go stick to it like a magnet.
"Link!" she yelled after him, and then realized that he had already left the room. She sighed and bit her lip; she would get him for leaving the room without noticing that she wasn't there anymore. She felt Kale stir, and then Kale woke up.
'Oh, Zelda, when you fell asleep, I couldn't help but do the same, please, I am dreadfully sorry!'
'It's fine, but one thing that isn't is that I'm stuck.'
'Oh, how?'
'The stone that I'm holding onto won't let me go, it's my magic.'
'Oh, that doesn't sound too good.'
'How'd you guess?'
Then Link's head popped from the door on the other side of the room, he looked at Zelda and she looked at him.
"Uh, Zelda, what are you doing?"
"I'm stuck, what else?"
Link went over to her and put his own hand on the rock and to it away.
"Mine didn't get stuck."
"We'll, you don't have magic, do you?" she replied sharply as she tried to pull her hand away without success. Link didn't say anything but he put his hands on Zelda's stuck one and helped her try to pull, but again, it stayed on.
"Gees, it is stuck!"
"What, did you think that I was joking?"
"Well, no but still!"
They tried another pull, and not even the statue moved. Milan seemed to pop up out nowhere and both Zelda and Link jumped when they saw her.
"It's a stone for teleporting, there is one at the entrance of the Temple. So if you left, it would let you come back."
"Ok, so how do I get off?" Zelda asked in an impatient voice.
"Magic, put magic in the stone."
Zelda sent a small piece of magic in the stone, and it glowed an even brighter blue and Zelda's hand came off. She stepped back and Link followed her, the stone stopped growing brighter and then it began pulsing.
"Now you can teleport back to the entrance of the Temple if you like," said Milan, "It was put there so that way we could get around the Temple better."
"But we need to go!" Link said, and he made a move to keep on going, but Zelda grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned around and looked at her.
"Link, maybe we should stop and get some food and or packs, we need to get some supplies!"
She saw the look in Link's eye, he wanted to help someone in this Temple, but at the same time, she could tell that he knew that she was right.
"What about them?" Link asked as he pointed to Milan, Lale, Kilo, and Milo.
"We'll be fine!" said Kilo in a trusting voice, "If you guys fall asleep while doing this and something sneaks up on you, what will you do? Defeat it with snoring?"
Link sighed and then went over to the stone, Zelda followed him, she looked at all of the ghosts, and they all nodded. She smiled at them, and then Milan told them how to use to the stone.
"Just put your hand on it and then say, 'Empta, penara.'"
Link and Zelda placed their hands on the stone, and then at the same time, they said, "Empta penara."
Blue light flashed, and in an instant they were standing at the fake entrance of the Temple. It was pitch black again, and Navi flew forward making light. Zelda and Link cautiously went forward, and then to Zelda's surprise she found that they were right next to exit. She grabbed Link's hand and pulled him forward and then she saw the Lost Woods. She went over to the vines and began climbing down, and Link followed.
It was either dawn or sunset, but Zelda had a feeling that it was sunset. Together, Link and Zelda silently began to make their way back to the Korkori's homes. It didn't take that long to get back, and when they did, the Korkori children ran over to them, it was obvious that they had been looking for them. Zelda smiled as all of the girls ran over to her and began hugging her legs. Most of the boys went over to Link and gave him small hugs as well, then the girls went over to Link and began hugging him too. Zelda laughed, and so did Link, after all of the Korkori except for one boy had said their happy hello's and where were you's they began talking about something called the Great Deku Tree. Link's face turned serious when all of the Korkori began telling him that this Great Deku Tree wanted to see him. Zelda only listened; this seemed to be forest folk business.
Zelda silently walked away from Link and his little group, they needed to discus things that she didn't need to hear. She went over to the place where Zelda and the Korkori girls had been earlier, and then sat down in the middle of the space. She picked up a flower, and then noticed a Korkori boy with blond hair and a green tunic watching her. She put the flower down on her lap, and then patted a spot down next to her. The boy slowly went over to her and sat down where she had patted. Zelda smiled at him, but he just frowned and looked at the ground. "Are you a friend of Link's?" she asked him in a friendly voice, "What's your name?"
"My name is Mido, and I'm the leader of the Korkori." He huffed back at her.
"Oh, I didn't know that they had a leader."
"Yeah, well, they do. And I am not a friend of Link's."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Because he's an outsider."
"Because he's not a Korkori?"
"Yeah, just like you."
"Oh." Zelda picked up the flower on her lap and twirled it in her fingers. "But everyone else seems to like him, just because he doesn't have the Korkori blood, you don't like him?"
"All that he is, is a big show off, that's what he is!"
"How does he show off?"
"Well, he just always has."
"He doesn't show off to me."
"Well, you don't have to, he just does it, no one else sees it except for me."
"Oh, Ok. So are you his rival?"
"Yeah, that's what I am! In forest, I'm his rival."
Zelda looked at Mido, then she noticed that he blonde hair like Link.
"Wow, you and Link both have blonde hair."
"Yeah, so what? You do too."
"Yes, but, it's just finny since you're his rival."
"Oh, yeah, amazing."
"Do you have anyone who doesn't like Link like you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just 'cause, Ok?"
"Alright."
"Humph."
"Hey, who do you play with?"
"Why do want to know?"
"I don't have to, I'm just asking."
"Well, I don't like to play."
"Why not?"
"Just because."
"Oh."
"No one wants to play with me, but that's just fine with me, because I don't like to play."
"So if I asked you if I wanted to play with you, you would say no?"
"Yes."
"Oh, Ok, what about your friends, what do they say to you when you say that you don't want to play?"
"I don't have friends."
"Oh, you have to have friends here."
"No."
"Well, do you want a friend?"
"Why?"
"Just wondering."
"I guess, but no one wants to be my friend."
"I do."
"No you don't."
"Why not?"
"Just because."
Zelda looked away from Mido and picked a yellow flower, she held it out to him, and he looked at it and then snatched it from her hands,
"What's this for?" He asked suspiciously.
"A flower."
"So what, what's it for?"
"Just a present, for you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my friend."
Mido didn't say anything but put the flower behind his ear, then he just looked at the ground again. Zelda's smile widened, then she sent saw a firefly off in the distance. She watched the pattern it made, then, holding up her hand, she made the same flashes of light with her magic. She saw Mido look at her in the corner of her eye, so she made her light stronger. The firefly came over slowly, and it landed on her hand. She began to make more flashes of light, and more fireflies began to wander out of the trees around them and then they all flew over to Zelda and Mido. She could see Mido's eyes widen with delight, and she made more light and more fireflies came from the trees.
Link stepped into the Great Deku Tree's meadow, it was nighttime, and for some reason just before he was about to go the Great Deku Tree Zelda had been no where sight. But he didn't have to worry about her; she could take care of herself. He walked closer to the Great Deku Tree.
"Greeting's Link, Navi."
"Hello, Great Deku Tree." Link replied back, Navi zoomed forward and went into the Great Deku Tree's branches and then disappeared.
"'Tis been a while, has it not Link?"
"It has."
"It seems that thee has found out about the Forest Temple."
"Yes sir."
"As thee already has discovered, Saria has been caught within."
"Yes sir."
"It seems as if thyn destiny has begun."
"Destiny?"
"Thee has been always made for grand things, and it 'tas begun."
"What has begun?"
"Destiny. You have met the Sorceress?"
"You mean Zelda?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, we're fighting partners."
"What will happen after thee completes the Temple?"
"Well, I guess, she'll leave."
"Well, that is all that I have to ask of thee."
"Yes, sir, it has been nice talking to you."
Link turned around and walked out of the meadow, as Navi flew back down to him and followed once they were back in the circle of Korkori homes Link looked at Navi.
"What do you think he was talking about?" He asked Navi.
"I don't know, I've never known him to be so... odd like that."
"Yeah, but, right now, we need to find Zelda, where do you think she is?"
"The question is, where is everyone else?"
Link looked around and saw that no one was around, of course, it was night now, but the doors to the trees were all open. Then, he could hear laughing off in the distance, he followed the laughing, and then to his surprise, it was coming from the place where all of the flowers grew. He came out from the trees and saw more fireflies then he ever had in his life, then he could see all of Korkori in the center laughing and catching them. He went over to them and a few of them smiled and waved at him. He would always smile back, but at the same time, it was the only thing that he could do.
Then he saw Zelda, she was sitting down, her hands glowing with light in different patterns. He walked over to her, she smiled and looked up at him, and he smiled back.
"So," He said as he sat down next to her, raising his voice over the laughter that filled the air. "I guess that you did this?"
"Yes, isn't beautiful?"
"Yeah." Link looked around, and then Zelda's hand appeared in front of him, and on it a firefly was sitting on her hand.
"For you." She told him, Link gently took the firefly from her hand and looked at it as it blinked different patterns.
"Thanks." He told her, but she didn't hear him, she was looking at a group of a boys playing together. He looked over at them and saw Mido with them, his arms stretched out, laughing, and for once he was just playing like a normal kid should. He smiled, that was the first time he had ever seen Mido smile.
"Is Mido your rival?" Link looked over at Zelda, and she looked back at him with playful eyes.
"What? I guess, but that's what he thinks."
"But what do you think about him?"
"Well, he can be mean and rude."
"Do you ever play with him?"
Link blinked at Zelda, "Do I ever what?"
"Play with him."
"Well, no."
"Why not?"
"Because, well, he's mean."
"Well, Mister," she said to him as she plucked a blue flower and gave it to him. "Maybe he's like that because he never had a friend before."
"Before?"
"Yes, he's my friend, dumb-dumb."
Link looked at the flower, and then at Zelda, she smiled at him, and then the light coming from her hands disappeared but the fireflies didn't. She laid down and closed her eyes, curly up on her side. Link smiled, and then just enjoyed the sight of fireflies. But something was still on his mind, he had to get supplies the next morning and then he was going back to the Forest Temple.
Zelda woke up the next morning; she sat up and realized that she was in Link's bed, in his room. She stretched and then looked around and found that Link was nowhere to be seen. She frowned and then got off of the bed and then she went to his porch and looked around. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder; she spun around and met Link's eyes.
"Morning." He told her as he handed her a green apple, she told it and then bit into it, her hunger over coming her. "I'm going to get some arrows, I'll come back later when I finish re-supplying." She just nodded at him as he went passed her and out the door, Navi whizzed by Zelda and followed Link down the latter while crying, "SEE YOU LATER ZELDA!"
Zelda went back in, she needed to check her pack and make sure that nothing was gone. She found it in a corner and then she opened it and was more then relieved to find that everything was still in place. She felt like there was something that she had to do, and then remembered that she needed to make Link a new hat. But how could she do that? Then she looked down at her own tunic, it wouldn't be that bad, after all, she didn't like this color. She went through her things and pulled out a plain white tunic, she would figure out what to color it later. But first, she needed to clean this. Closing the door to Link's house, she changed clothes. Then grabbing her old tunic and some soap she went out of his house and went in search of a source of water. A lot of the Korkori greeted her on her way, but none of them asked where she was going.
She had been walking for a while until she finally found a small stream, settling herself down next to it. She put the tunic in the water and then set to washing it, this would take a while. After washing it for a while, Kasi appeared from behind a tree on the other side of the river.
"Are you washing your clothes?" Kasi asked when she jumped across the rocks and was sitting on her heals next to Zelda.
"Yes, I'm going to make Link a new hat."
"Oh! Neat, can I help?"
"Well, if you could get me some string and a needle, that would help."
"A string and needle? You want to sew it?"
"Yep."
"Ok! I'll be back soon!"
Kasi got up and then ran back to where the homes of the Korkori were, Zelda smiled after her. Then she turned her attention back to her clothes and making sure that it got clean. This was going to take forever, she needed to get this done faster, but she couldn't use her magic for this....
'Zelda.'
Zelda jumped when she heard voice, and she looked around wildly, but no one was around her. And it sounded like an adults voice.
'Zelda.'
She jumped again, where was that coming from?
'Zelda, it's me, Kale.'
Then it was when Zelda realized that the voice was coming from her mind, but why was Kale still with her? Shouldn't she be in the Temple?
'Kale? I thought that you left me when I left the Temple!'
'No, since I am inside of you, I can leave, that is why I wanted to go in your body. If you want to get that cleaner faster, then....'
Link came back from getting his supplies around noon, and right now, he wanted some food. He walked around the forest until he found a bush with berries on it. He gathered a couple of these and then went to another tree for some fruit, he picked some of these and then began heading back home. Navi appeared from a bush, eating some berries that were small enough for her to eat.
"What did you get, Link?"
"Some berries, and some fruit. That's what I always get."
"I know."
Navi fluttered next to him, busy with her berries. Link kept on walking, then he put a hand on his head, he missed his hat. There had always been a hat on his head, and now there wasn't. He had always had one since before he could remember, and now, it felt like a piece of him was missing. He sighed sadly and put his hand down, his hat....
He jumped when Zelda popped out from behind a tree; he almost dropped all of the food that he had gotten.
"Oops, sorry Link, I didn't mean to scare you."
"Yeah, well, you scared me!"
"He he."
Zelda pulled out something green from behind he back, and then Link realized with pure joy and happiness that it was a new hat!
"A hat! A hat!"
Zelda went over to Link and put it on his head, Kasi also came up behind Zelda and smiled at Link.
"It looks great!" said Kasi; "I think that it looks even better then your old one!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Awesome, thanks Zelda!"
Zelda only smiled at Link, and then she looked at the food that he had gotten. Link laughed and handed her some fruit, she took it and ate it happily. Link a hand on his head, a hat! He looked at Kasi, and then saw that she was holding Zelda's hand and talking to her with a waterfall of words falling out of her mouth. It seemed like Kasi and Zelda had been bonding when Link wasn't looking, but he was happy about that.
Together, the four of them went to Link's house, and Kasi had been talking the whole way there. He didn't mind, it was just as long as it wasn't he who she was talking to. It wasn't bad, but, sometimes other girls would go over and start talking as well too, and Link didn't like when they would all try and talk to him at the same time.
When they all settled down in Link's room, Kasi's mouth stopped making noise as she ate some fruit with them. Then, Kasi's fairy flew in and asked Kasi to come help some other Korkori with making another home to help replace someone's. Apparently theirs had rotted away by some bugs, and soon the other wanted get working on making other houses so that way they wouldn't have to make more later if others rotted. Kasi was off just as fast as she had come in, and then it was just Zelda, Link, and Navi.
"So Link, how do they make houses?"
"Oh, they get small rocks and start pecking at the wood like wood peckers and then they shape it. It doesn't take that long, it takes a few hours, but that's it. It seems like a long process, but they can hit pretty hard, and when they all do it together, it goes by fast. And as they do it, a few fairies help from the rocks killing the tree, so that's how they do it. Kasi's the best one at doing it, she goes the fastest and she hits HARD."
"How do you know?" Zelda asked him mischievously.
"Well, one time when I was way younger, me and the boys played a trick on this girls. What we did is when they were coming to play on a large rock; we poured some tree sap on them. And did we regret doing that gees; they came at us like wild animals! I got hit by all of them, but when Kasi got me, gees, she pounded me into the ground like a pepple! Man, she is strong."
Zelda laughed just after she swallowed something, Link waited until she finished and then put a more serious topic on.
"Zelda, have you gotten everything that you need?"
"Nope, I need to meditate to get all of my magic back, then I need to make some potions. That's it, after that, wait, I need to get some new clothes."
"What? What were you doing this whole time?"
"Making you a new hat, washing my clothes. It takes a long time to do that, you know."
"Oh, well, how long will all of that other stuff take to do?"
Zelda stopped what she was doing for a moment, deep in thought, and then she looked back up at Link.
"About half a day, so, we'll leave tomorrow morning, sound good to you?"
"Sure, just as soon as you finish, and then we get rested, we're going strait back to the Temple."
"Right, by the way Link, could you get more food, we'll need some if we're going to stay in the Temple like we did last time."
"Of course, you can count on me."
"I know I can."
Zelda got up and left after she had wiped her face. Link smiled as she left, she trusted him.
Zelda wandered around the forest, making sure not to lose her way. She still couldn't find the right plants or flowers for potions; maybe there weren't any here? She spotted a plant that she needed and knelt down and inspected it. It was spongy, was dark green with long leaves and purple flowers. She made a small dagger of magic and cut off two bundles of the flowers, and then she put it in a pouch on her back. She got back up and continued on, looking out for the plants and flowers that she needed.
She wondered on until she saw a few mushrooms that she needed and she knelt down and took some and then put it in her pack. She got back up and went on with her search.
She had kept on going until she came to a strange meadow with a large tree in the center. She looked at the tree with interest, it looked almost like it had a face, she looked at it and then saw some plants that needed nearby her. She walked over and cut some, and then put it in her pack. She got back up, then looked around and saw another plant she needed that was by the large tree. She went over slowly, looking at the tree, it was almost as if it was looking at her. She shook her head, she was imagining things.
"Well," she said to the tree, as she knelt down and began to cut the plant that she needed. "I hope that you don't mind me. I'm just getting this, and maybe if I see something some thing again, but then I'll be gone. I promise." Zelda kept on going, but then again, did that branch just move? She got up and stopped what she was doing and looked at the branch in front of her, hadn't it been that way? She heard a noise and she looked behind her, but nothing was there. She sighed as she turned around, this was stupid. As she turned around, the branch that she had thought had moved had gotten closer, in fact, it was almost touching her. She slowly gave it a small nudge, and just as she did that, the whole branch snatched her up like a giant hand.
She didn't scream, as Impa had told her, that would make her more frustrated and would make her struggle, and it would only kill her faster. The branch brought her up to where Zelda thought she had seen a face, and to her amazement, it spoke!
"Thee 'tis the Sorceress?"
She kept her tongue from moving, she shouldn't make a noise.
"I shan't curse thee for speaking, for I am the founder of 'tis forest. I am its creator."
"You are the Great Deku Tree?" Zelda asked and then shut her mouth as fast as it had opened. Why had she done that?
"Thee is right, no need to be frightened. And it 'tis all right to take the plants. Thyn needs them for potions, correct?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm.... So are thee the Sorceress?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm... thee doesn't have much magic."
"What? I have lots magic!"
"Not for what destiny has for thee."
Zelda felt angry course through her veins, what did he think that he was walking about?
"I have lots of magic, you talking junk of rotten wood!"
Zelda began to kick the branch that was holding her.
"'Tis stubborn, I see."
"Yeah, now let me go! Damn it you!"
She was getting her hands ready for zapping the tree, but suddenly the tree seemed to zap the magic out of her.
"That shan't work."
"What the hell did you just do?"
"We can't have a talk if thee is trying to destroy, can we?"
"Just shut up, let me GO!"
"Now, now, stop yelling, if you do, then you will disturb the animals."
"Kiss my ass!"
"Hmm, stubborn indeed."
Zelda continued to try and free herself, but no matter what she did, it only seemed like she would get stuck in it more.
"Shit!"
"I shan't like the Korkori to learn such vial language, do you speak like this often?"
"Oh, just shut your can!"
"Hmm, so stubborn."
"You BET! And after I get out of this, I will fry you until you're just a pile of dead ash, black, and DEAD! Let me go, Din curse you! Sweet Nayru let me go!"
"So, so, so, stubborn."
"WOULD YOU STOP TALKING LIKE DAMN SALESMAN!?"
"Hmm. Stubborn."
Zelda kicked harder, the tree just kept on talking the same calm tone, and how DARE he say that she didn't have all lot of magic? If he hadn't taken it away, then he wouldn't be saying that!
"Fuck you!"
"Hmm, are thee sure thee shan't talk like that in front of the Korkori?"
"Argh!"
"Calm, calm. Please, I would just like to talk."
"Then put me down! You stupid piece of crap!"
To her surprise, the tree set her down softly, and she almost ran off, but now, curiosity got a hold of her.
"Now, may we talk?"
"Yeah, I guess." She replied stubbornly, she was starting to feel like half of her soul was missing. She felt empty and hollow without her magic, and then, she noticed that Kale wasn't with her.
"Do not worry over the spirit," he said like he had read her mind, "she shan't be in any danger. Now, I have something for thee."
The tree slowly began to glow green, each leaf, branch, ever inch of it covered with green. Then, a green stone began to form in front of Zelda, then, as the tree stopped glowing, it began to drop down. Zelda grabbed it, and then looked at it, it was beautiful.
"'Tis called the 'Korkori's Emerald.' The Jewel of the forest, I entrust it with thee, for it contains magic that shall help you on your quest. Have a nice day, now."
Zelda's eyes shot back up at the tree.
"What about my magic?" she demanded in an angry tone.
"Oh, 'tis right."
The same branch came down and Zelda touched it, instantly she felt her magic return. But with it came even more, and she gasped after the tree finished giving her magic. She fell down, and she gasped as she grabbed her chest.
"That... you gave me more magic!"
"Correct, thee needs more magic, so I give."
Zelda caught her breath finally, she stood up and went over and got her pack. She walked away, feeling like she had far too much liquor then her body could hold. She felt herself sway this was, and then that way, and then as she entered the trees she kept on going until she just fell over and fainted.
Eventually she woke back up with a massive headache, and then realized that was because she had at least twice more magic then she had before. She got up, and began walking back to the Korkori homes, how long had she been out? She kept on walking while she rubbed her head, way too much magic....
"Zelda!" Navi popped up from behind a bush, she twirled around Zelda, and she only felt herself starting to get sick. "What's wrong?" Navi asked her in a concerned voice.
"I met a big tree, and now my head hurts...."
"Big tree?"
"Yes."
"How big?"
"Big enough to talk...."
"YOU MET THE GREAT DEKU TREE?"
"Yeah, ouch...."
"OH, IN FARORE'S NAME!"
"What you said...."
"OH MY! OH MY!"
Navi flew around faster then Zelda's eyes could manage, but that might be because she felt ill. Zelda just stumbled forward; she wasn't in a talking mood right now. But Navi saw this and just zipped past her, yelling. Zelda ignored that and just kept on walking. She felt the green stone in her hand, she held it up, and then, she felt the magic that hadn't been used in it for ages start going into her. At first she wanted to resist, but then she stopped when she realized that is was helping her headache. Then, it stopped, but Zelda felt her head clear and even though it had given her more magic she didn't feel like she going to explode.
She walked forward again, feeling better then had just been, then, she entered the place where the Korkori homes were. A couple of Korkori almost ran into her, it was obvious that they had been going to see if what Navi had just told them was the truth. Zelda smiled at them, and then they just gave her a confused look. Then, Zelda saw Link running to her.
"Zelda!" He cried out when he reached her, "Navi just said that you said that you had just seen the Great Deku Tree!"
"Well, I did."
Gasps spread through the Korkori, and Zelda almost blushed.
"YOU went and saw the Great Deku Tree? He called and asked for you?"
"Well, no, all that I saw was this huge tree that creeped me out in the middle of this meadow."
"WHAT?"
"Uh, yeah." Zelda was starting to regret for speaking so... violently in front of the 'Great Deku Tree.'
"Wow.... Come on, Zelda, I need you to tell me every thing that happened!"
Groans spread through the crowd of Korkori as Link led Zelda back to his home.
Ok, that was.... Twenty pages long, I hope that you're all satisfied!
Navi: That took FOREVER to write!
Ok, I have nothing to really say, but... I hope you like it and REVIEW! Because if you don't review after that... then it's just going to hurt. And another thing, have any of you noticed my little add on my Bio? If you haven't, then, oh well, I guess I suck. But, even if this does sound cheesy, I'm looking for online friends, because, well, I'm lonely! I have one person who answered, she reads my GoldenSun fic! Yay! And another thing, I have two quotes up on my Bio, there at the top.
So Until Next Time,
CrypticElf....
Navi: Gees is it good to be out of that suitcase!
I know what you mean; airplanes can be stuffy when you're just sitting there.
Navi: What are we gibbering about? Let the story continue!
What you said! I own nothing of Zelda and never will, mind you; but everything that happens in this story is mine.
Chapter Fourteen: Freedom
Zelda raced down the stairs and Link was racing down after her.
"Zelda wait up!" He yelled after her, but Zelda paid no attention to him. She went down until she was at the bottom, which was much steeper, then the staircase that Kale had been haunting. But sure enough, at the bottom was a portrait of a sleeping young woman, she was holding a blue flame that was moving, her dark brown hair falling carelessly around her shoulders. Link came stumbling down the stairs, gasping for air. Lale came floating down the stairs slowly behind him peacefully, but when she saw the painting at the bottom she gasped.
"Oh my, it's Milan!" Lale cried out happily, the woman in the picture stirred but didn't open an eye. Zelda could feel Kale stir and move around with excitement, Zelda smiled, the first and oldest of the sisters.
'Kale, what must I do?' Zelda asked through her mind, now she felt Kale thinking.
'There is something in here that will trigger something that will free her; it is something that no spirit may touch. I think that it is located somewhere within the walls.'
"Ok," Zelda whispered as she looked around the walls, "here we go."
She walked up to a part of the wall and pressed her hands on it, sending her magic through the walls. The walls were filled with black magic, which was what was keeping the spirit trapped in the portrait, the way to undo it was to find out what the pattern of the magic was and then break it.
"Link." Zelda called out to him as she kept her hands and magic on wall.
"What?" He asked, she could still tell that he was out of breath.
"I need you to go on the stairs and stay on them, I'm going to need to brake the magic pattern in this room."
"What?"
"When you cast spells on walls or basically a solid object, it comes out as like a weaving. Every magic spell has a pattern to it that is unique, so if you ever want to break a spell you need to destroy its pattern."
"But what about when you battle?"
"When I battle, I just use my magic, if I cast a spell on a solid object like that charm I cast when I first told you that I have magic the magic itself will weave into the walls. So, when you use magic and you place it on something, it lays itself on it and creates a pattern on it. If a spell is simple, then it can come undone the instant you try to take it apart. If a spell is extremely powerful, then there is only a small place where you can make it become undone, it's like the stray string and when you pull it, it comes undone. Understand?"
"Sure, I think."
Zelda smiled and went to the center of the room; she sat down in a meditation position and straitened her back. She looked at Link and he went off to the stairs and stood there.
"Link, you might actually want to sit down, the spell on this room is the complicated I've ever felt in my life, this could take hours."
Link nodded and sat down on the stairs in a comfterable position.
"Ok, another thing Link, you can't make a sound, if you do, you might brake my concentration and I'll have to start over again. And make sure NOT to go in this room until I actually tell you that's it's safe, if you come in here, you could be trapped in the pattern and stay there until the Great Goddess come down and get you themselves."
Link nodded and lay down in the stairs and looked up, Lale floated over to the stairs and floated next to Link. Lale meet Zelda's eyes, and Zelda could see the hope and faith that she was placing upon Zelda.
"May the Goddesses be with you." She told to Zelda, and Zelda only nodded back. Zelda looked forward again and then closed her eyes; facing her palms up; she sent her magic through the walls and began searching. She felt the magic's pattern, it was complex beyond her belief, now that she was actually feeling and trying to penetrate it, it was at least ten times harder then what she had first thought of it. A headache was already beginning to form, but that wouldn't stop Zelda, she wouldn't let this get in her way.
She let her magical self flow on top of the spell, looking and analyzing, taking in as much as she could.
Link stared at the ceiling, Zelda hadn't been joking about this taking hours, she had been like that for about over eight hours, just sitting there in the same position. Link hadn't made a sound just as she had told him, he didn't want all of her concentration get ruined because of him. And he DEFINATLY didn't want her to start over, he had even fallen asleep a couple of times, and then wake up to find that Zelda was still focusing.
He looked at the ceiling far above him, it didn't have and tiles, and it wasn't wood, it was just plain gray stone, the same thing that he had looked at for a while. He quietly moved his head to look at her, but there she was, as still as a statue. He glanced at Lale, she was floating, her eyes closed. He could feel Navi's breath against his neck, in the pattern it would take whenever she would fall asleep. He looked at Zelda again, blinking his dry eyes. How long was this going to take?
He looked at the ceiling, and then closed his eyes; there was nothing better to do.
Another hour went by, and Link was still asleep, but he woke suddenly for no reason. He looked over at Zelda, and again, she was in the same position. He felt like he could scream, but like the Goddesses saw his frustration; Zelda's plank position suddenly slouched over. She slowly turned around and looked at Link, her eyes blood-shot red and her face pale and glistening with sweat.
"I'm finished."
Link jumped up, Navi flew out of his collar and stopped herself from crashing into the floor. Lale's eyes flew open and she looked wildly around. Link ran over to Zelda and wiped away the sweat on her head.
"Ok," Link told her as Zelda's eyes bent low, "Sorry for saying this, but you look like crap."
Zelda chuckled, and Link just gave her glare, she didn't faze at all, but usually his glares were never that good.
"No offence taken, my guardian tells me that after I come back from exploring and hadn't bothered to take a bath."
Link tried to help Zelda up, but her legs failed and she stumbled into Link's arms.
"Sorry." She mumbled in his chest as she struggled to stand on her own. Link didn't reply, but instead her pulled one of her arms over his shoulders. "Thanks." She told him drowsily.
"No problem." He told her as he looked at the portrait of the sleeping person, shouldn't she be free now? "Zelda, why isn't she free?"
"Oh, she is.... She just has to wake up and get out herself...." She yawned, and Lale zoomed down the stairs and over to the portrait. She placed her ghostly hands on the rim of the painting.
"Oh, Milan, please, wake up!"
The eyes in the portrait opened, and Link saw the shock in her eyes when the ghost saw him and Zelda, then her eyes flew over to Lale.
"Free?" she asked her, her voice was high and had a hint of noble birth in it.
"Yes, free!"
The ghost experimentally reached over, and Link could see the joy and happiness in her eyes and smile when her hand went through. She laughed and then glided out of her prison, she laughed and floated around the room, laughing with so much joy that Link couldn't help but smile himself. She finally spotted Link; she floated over to him and looked him in the eye.
"Are you the one who freed me?" she asked him with a happy voice.
"Nope, but she did." He looked at Zelda and found that she was fast asleep; the ghost leaned over and smiled at Zelda.
"Well, I have no idea what to say, I mean...." She was lost in speech as tears built behind her eyes; Link smiled at her and then put Zelda on his back. Zelda mumbled something under her breath that Link didn't catch, but he didn't mind. "What a beautiful young woman, what is she doing in this horrid place?"
"Well," Link told her as he looked at Milan, "If you said something like that to her, then it wouldn't be pretty."
"Oh, a stubborn one is she?" Milan asked him in delight, "Well, is she your lover?"
Link almost fell over, "Why is everyone saying that?" He asked himself aloud; Navi flew over to Zelda and landed on Zelda's head. "And how come you went to her and not to me?"
Navi giggled and her wings fluttered, Link smiled and then looked at Lale.
"Lale, do you know where to go next?"
"Well," She said as she floated happily over to Milan and then grabbed her arm. "Without our sorceress, what will be the point of going any farther? Perhaps we should rest until she wakes up?"
"Well, I've been laying on the steps for like nine hours, and I don't need a rest, and besides, what would Zelda say if she knew that we stopped just so that she could get her strength back? I don't think that she would be happy, would she Navi?"
"Nope! Not at all!" Navi replied happily as she smoothed out Zelda's hair.
Link looked at Lale with a smile, and she returned it happily. Lale let go of Milan, and then floated over to where a torch was. She pointed to it, and Link walked over, carefully reaching up and making sure that he didn't drop Zelda on the floor he pulled on the torch. The wall made a sound, and then rearranged itself to where a doorway appeared. Link looked into it cautiously before he ventured in, looking around to make sure that nothing snuck up on him. It was like all of the other halls he had been in here, torches on the side of the gray stonewall with a red carpet down the center. Nothing seemed to look like something that would eat him, in fact, the only things that would be able to hurt him were the torches, and they couldn't move.
It was just until then that he realized that the pink fairies that had healed Zelda weren't anywhere on sight. He gave a silent and mournful sigh, even though they had only been with him for a few minutes, he hadn't even been able to fully thank them for healing Zelda. But that was how fairies were, they would disappear without you noticing, that was their nature.
He kept on walking, he was getting closer to the end, but it still seemed like every step he took he didn't go anywhere. But every time he looked up to make sure that the end wasn't staying in one place it was always a little bit closer. What was wrong with him? A small groan came over to his ear, and he realized that he was worried about Zelda. That was odd, she would be fine, he knew it, and yet, he couldn't help but feel a little worried that something horrible was wrong with her. Funny, normally if it had been a person he had just barely meet and gotten to know like Zelda he wouldn't be as worried as he was now. But at the same time, he knew that he was wrong, he knew Zelda, and this was what he knew about her so far:
She was stubborn beyond belief
She was a definitely more beautiful then normal girls
She didn't take advantage over her beauty
She could protect herself
She could be wise when the time called for it
She didn't like it when men underestimated her
And she was brave
That was all that he had pulled together so far, but even so, it sounded like the kind of person that he would want to befriend. He had didn't have that many friends outside of the forest, but right now, he knew that he had a new one. He smiled dumbly to himself, how many friends outside of Hyrule did he have? There was Malon and Talon, and Dilla, a few men at the Bazaar knew him, but Link didn't go there often enough to learn their names, and of course, Zelda. That was it, but he wouldn't want to trade in any of them even if he got five more friends for just one of them, because, just one was one of those lifelong friends that you would protect for all of your life, and you knew that they would do their best to protect yours.
The door had come up so suddenly that he almost ran into it, and he heard Navi give a giggle.
"Haha, ya, very funny Navi."
"You almost ran into the door, how funny!"
"Anything can amuse you, Navi."
Navi just giggled, because she knew that he was almost right. Link opened the door, but then he made sure to check what was behind it before he went any father.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was just another circular room, why the hell was he running into so many of these? He walked in, and just looked around for another door, he needed to get out of here as soon as possible before anything could attack him, because with Zelda needing protection, he wouldn't be able to fight at his fullest. But instead of a door, something that he had just seen a while ago seemed to pop out of nowhere.
"Gees, great Farore, another portrait?"
In this one, two Korkori twins sat together, sleeping just as Milan had been. They were boys with the curly orange hair, their faces were covered with freckles, so much that it seemed like there would never be any room to have any more. One had his head on another's shoulder, and the other had his head on the others head. Each wore an orange tunic that didn't look that good on them, but you could tell it was to match their hair.
Now Link felt another headache come up, Zelda was knocked out, and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. What was he supposed to do now?
"Well this is just great...." He mumbled under his breath, Milan and Lale floated over to him and then pointed to an odd pattern that was on the wall.
"Over there!" They said at the same time, Link walked over and looked at the symbols on the wall, and then recognized that they were music notes. He smiled; here was something that he could do! He placed Zelda carefully on the wall, and then when he was sure that she was comfortable, he got back up and pulled out his Fairy Ocarina. He looked at the wall, memorizing the symbols; he played it on his Ocarina. The song filled his heart, and he could feel the power of the Forest Temple fill him, it was almost like Saria's Song, but Saria's Song was filled with life and happiness, this song filled him with the power of the Temple, and it made him feel like he could feel where every plant in Hyrule was. He began to glow a dark green, but he kept on playing the notes, the glowing on his seemed to fall off and form into green sparkles. It flew over to the portrait, it flew around its rim and then for a split second the whole portrait except for the sleeping boys glowed green and then it all disappeared.
Link pulled the Ocarina away from his lips, and then Milan and Lale flew over to the portrait.
"Milo! Kilo! Wake up!" cried out Milan, Milo and Kilo jumped up with a start and looked at Milan with shock.
"Milan! You're free!" cried out one of them, "But you're trapped, like us, how did you get out?"
Milan smiled, "You two are free as well, come, get out of that prison!"
The two boys looked at each other, then, taking each other's hands, they jumped out of their prison.
"We're free! It's true!" The other one cried out, they both hugged each other and shot up and swirled as they did so. They let go but their hands didn't part, they flew down to Lale and Milan, and they all embraced. Link smiled, this time, he had helped and had freed two ghosts this time. He quietly put away his Ocarina and then picked Zelda up on his back again. He went over to the happy ghosts and then looked at the two boys.
"So, your names are Milo and Kilo?" Both of them jumped and looked at him, Zelda, and then at Navi.
"It's alright," Said Lale soothingly, "he is the one who saved you, the young woman on his back is named Zelda, she is a magic wielder."
After Lale finished, Kilo and Milo's faces lit up and they flew over to Link.
"How did you free us?" One of them asked eagerly.
"Well, I played this song, and then, it just happened."
"Wow, was it that song over there on the wall?" One pointed over to the music notes, and Link nodded. "That song is called Minuet of the Forest, it allows you to teleport to the Temple whenever you need to, it also unlocks hidden secrets in this Temple, and you can just play it for fun. So, what did instrument did you use?"
"An Ocarina, a Fairy Ocarina, to be exact, I got it from my best friend, her name is Saria, I came here to save her."
"Oh-h-h, I get it!"
"No, I mean, she's a Korkori, and I'm well, just, a normal person, not a Korkori."
"Oh, Ok, so, is the girl on your back your lover?"
Blushing, Link answered in the best voice that he could, "No, she's just my fighting partner."
Oh," said the other one with curiosity, "But what good is she if she's asleep?"
"Well, she used up all of her energy freeing Milan, and, well, now she's asleep."
"OHH! She freed Milan? She's the coolest living female EVER!" exclaimed the other as he moved over and looked at Zelda. "She's really pretty too."
"Uh, by the way, which one of you is Kilo, and which one of you is Milo?"
"I am Kilo," said the one who was looking at Zelda, "The way you can tell us apart is by looking at our hair, mine is longer, and Milo's is shorter."
Link looked at their hair and saw what he meant, Kilo's hair was a longer then Milo's by at least half an inch.
"Oh, Ok, thanks."
"Sure!"
Link then looked around the room, there didn't seem to be an exit.
"Um, how do we get out?"
Kilo and Milo looked around the room, they flew over to each other and held hands again, Link saw this out of the corner oh his eye and his lips twitched before his eyes went back to searching.
"Hey, there isn't an exit!"
"Perhaps," said Milan as she inspected the music notes on the wall, "you need to do something about these marks on the wall?"
Link looked at the music noted, they were the only things on the wall besides the empty painting. He turned around over to it and looked at it with a careful eye, then he noticed that some of the notes were different colors, but what was that supposed to mean?
"Damn it," Link whispered under his breath so low to where only Navi could hear him. "Zelda, wake up, I need you!"
Zelda didn't wake up, but she whispered something under her breath, and it was: Fairy. But what was that supposed to mean? Navi seemed to move around in Zelda's hair, and then she went over to Zelda's ear and began saying something in her high-pitched voice, but so quietly it was obvious that Link wasn't supposed to hear. Link noted that and didn't try to try and listen to whatever Navi was saying, so he continued looking at the wall. He was looking at the colors when he noticed that the a red music note seemed to be pulsing, for a few seconds it would be a dark red, and then for a moment it would be a lighter red and then turn back to normal. He went over to it and put his hand on it, he felt his hand tingle, just the same as when he had felt when he and Zelda had teleported across the hall. There must be some type of magic in this music note, but not for music, it was something that you had to do.
"Navi, are you done?"
Navi flew over in front of his face, "What is it, Link?"
"Can you tell me about that red music note on the wall, it has magic in it."
"Ok."
She fluttered over and then touched it, then, her light changed from white to red.
"Navi!" Link cried out as that happened, but Navi fluttered back over to him.
"I'm alright Link."
"Don't scare me like that!"
"Ok, Ok, Mister Grouchy, I won't! Now put Zelda down."
Link did as he was told and put Zelda down softly on the floor, wondering what was going to happen.
"Ok," Navi said as she flew over Zelda, "Watch me, Link!" She flew around in circles over Zelda, and the red light seemed to fall off of her in small dots a light. When they touched Zelda they disappeared like she was a sponge taking up water. Navi's new red light drained until she was white again, then Navi flew over to Link and landed on his head. "All done!" she said, Zelda stirred and then looked up at Link.
"Oh, hi." She told him as she sat up and rubbed her eyes with a sleepy hand. "Is it morning?"
"No," Link told her as he knelt down next to her, "But then again, I don't know."
"Oh, isn't that nice. Where are we?"
"In the Forest Temple, I freed two ghosts."
That seemed to wake Zelda up as Link saw that look of remembering on her face, and then she looked at the group of ghosts that had gathered around then without Link noticing.
"Oh, so you two boys must be twins!"
Zelda got off of the ground and looked at the two new Korkori ghost in front of her.
"So, tell me, what are your names?"
"Mine is Kilo!" said the one with the longer hair.
"And mine is Milo, it's nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too." Zelda replied with a friendly smile as she held out her hand. Kilo took it and gave her a good a handshake, and then Milo did the same.
"Your really pretty you know!" Said Milo, Zelda did a slight blush.
"Thank you, I like all of your hair, you two."
They blushed this time, and then Zelda smiled one more time, and then looked around the room. She saw the music notes and looked at them with curiosity.
"Oh, isn't that song the Minuet of Forest?" She asked herself, but Link got up from his spot and looked at Zelda.
"You know that song?" he asked her, Zelda nodded simply.
"Yes, I know a lot of songs, I wish I could play it, it's such a nice song."
"What? Do you know what it does?"
"Nope, but I know that it's a nice song."
Link shook his head and looked at the symbols with her.
"Does anything look out of order to you Zelda?"
"No-o-o-o, but then again, why are the notes different colors? Let me see...." She walked over to it and touched a blue note; she could feel the magic going through it. She went over to a green note and felt more magic, then a yellow, and felt the same. She had to place magic in a note it seemed, and each one would do something different. She chose a yellow one and put magic into it, then, she felt it give a strong shock in her hand and she snatched it away. She looked at her hand and could tell by the new redness and the way it as already starting to peel that she had chosen the wrong one.
"What happened to your hand?" asked a ghost that she didn't remember meeting.
"Um, who are you?"
The ghost laughed and smiled at Zelda, "My name is Milan, I am the ghost that you freed earlier. The one in the portrait, you used up all of your energy saving me."
"Oh," replied Zelda as Milan looked at her hand, "Well, I guess, hi."
"Yes, hello. Did you just burn you hand?"
Link walked over to Zelda's side and then picked up her hand with gentle ones.
"Gees, Zelda, how did you do that?" he asked her as he looked at her hand.
"I touched the note and put magic into it and it shocked me, I guess that I picked the wrong one."
"Yeah, you did!"
Zelda smiled at Link and then gently took her hand away from him, "I'm fine Link, and it isn't like I'm bleeding to death."
Link's bit his bottom lip and didn't make any more noise, Zelda looked back at the music notes and this time she chose an icy blue one, using her bad hand she sent magic in through it and felt her hand begin to freeze. She pulled her hand off and saw the new frost that was on it, now it was stinging like it was on fire, she also noticed that even though she had pulled her hand off the frost was still getting thicker on her hand. She bit her lip and sent picked another note, this one was pink; she placed her bad hand on it and then put magic into it. This time, she felt a healing magic go through her hand and instantly the ice disappeared and the burn healed. The wall where her hand was moved around and a hidden door appeared.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." She said, Link went in front of her, and Zelda looked at his hair, and then thought if he had even noticed that he didn't have a green hat anymore. She would get him a new one, at least if she ever made it out of here.
"Let's go!" Link said as he went opened the door and checked what was on the other end of it. Nothing seemed to wrong to him so he stepped though, and Zelda followed. Then, Zelda noticed the hollow feeling in her stomach and then realized that they hadn't eaten since they had gotten here. She kept on going though, following Link as he kept his hand on his sword's hilt. But it was just another empty room, and on the other side was a door. Link walked forward but Zelda stayed where she was, there was something in this room.
She looked around her, and then saw a statue of one of the Great Goddess, this one had long hair, a face without a flaw, and Zelda already knew that it was Nayru. She quietly walked over to it and looked at it, then, she saw that the statue was holding a blue stone in its hand. Zelda reached out and touched it, she felt at it for a while, then tried to pull her hand away. But to her surprise, her hand stayed on. Zelda didn't panic, Impa had always told her that was the worst thing to do in situations like this, not matter how much you wanted to. She calmly tried again to get her hand off, and again, it stayed on. Then Zelda realized that it was because of her magic that it wasn't letting her go, it was charmed so that her magic would go stick to it like a magnet.
"Link!" she yelled after him, and then realized that he had already left the room. She sighed and bit her lip; she would get him for leaving the room without noticing that she wasn't there anymore. She felt Kale stir, and then Kale woke up.
'Oh, Zelda, when you fell asleep, I couldn't help but do the same, please, I am dreadfully sorry!'
'It's fine, but one thing that isn't is that I'm stuck.'
'Oh, how?'
'The stone that I'm holding onto won't let me go, it's my magic.'
'Oh, that doesn't sound too good.'
'How'd you guess?'
Then Link's head popped from the door on the other side of the room, he looked at Zelda and she looked at him.
"Uh, Zelda, what are you doing?"
"I'm stuck, what else?"
Link went over to her and put his own hand on the rock and to it away.
"Mine didn't get stuck."
"We'll, you don't have magic, do you?" she replied sharply as she tried to pull her hand away without success. Link didn't say anything but he put his hands on Zelda's stuck one and helped her try to pull, but again, it stayed on.
"Gees, it is stuck!"
"What, did you think that I was joking?"
"Well, no but still!"
They tried another pull, and not even the statue moved. Milan seemed to pop up out nowhere and both Zelda and Link jumped when they saw her.
"It's a stone for teleporting, there is one at the entrance of the Temple. So if you left, it would let you come back."
"Ok, so how do I get off?" Zelda asked in an impatient voice.
"Magic, put magic in the stone."
Zelda sent a small piece of magic in the stone, and it glowed an even brighter blue and Zelda's hand came off. She stepped back and Link followed her, the stone stopped growing brighter and then it began pulsing.
"Now you can teleport back to the entrance of the Temple if you like," said Milan, "It was put there so that way we could get around the Temple better."
"But we need to go!" Link said, and he made a move to keep on going, but Zelda grabbed his arm and stopped him. He turned around and looked at her.
"Link, maybe we should stop and get some food and or packs, we need to get some supplies!"
She saw the look in Link's eye, he wanted to help someone in this Temple, but at the same time, she could tell that he knew that she was right.
"What about them?" Link asked as he pointed to Milan, Lale, Kilo, and Milo.
"We'll be fine!" said Kilo in a trusting voice, "If you guys fall asleep while doing this and something sneaks up on you, what will you do? Defeat it with snoring?"
Link sighed and then went over to the stone, Zelda followed him, she looked at all of the ghosts, and they all nodded. She smiled at them, and then Milan told them how to use to the stone.
"Just put your hand on it and then say, 'Empta, penara.'"
Link and Zelda placed their hands on the stone, and then at the same time, they said, "Empta penara."
Blue light flashed, and in an instant they were standing at the fake entrance of the Temple. It was pitch black again, and Navi flew forward making light. Zelda and Link cautiously went forward, and then to Zelda's surprise she found that they were right next to exit. She grabbed Link's hand and pulled him forward and then she saw the Lost Woods. She went over to the vines and began climbing down, and Link followed.
It was either dawn or sunset, but Zelda had a feeling that it was sunset. Together, Link and Zelda silently began to make their way back to the Korkori's homes. It didn't take that long to get back, and when they did, the Korkori children ran over to them, it was obvious that they had been looking for them. Zelda smiled as all of the girls ran over to her and began hugging her legs. Most of the boys went over to Link and gave him small hugs as well, then the girls went over to Link and began hugging him too. Zelda laughed, and so did Link, after all of the Korkori except for one boy had said their happy hello's and where were you's they began talking about something called the Great Deku Tree. Link's face turned serious when all of the Korkori began telling him that this Great Deku Tree wanted to see him. Zelda only listened; this seemed to be forest folk business.
Zelda silently walked away from Link and his little group, they needed to discus things that she didn't need to hear. She went over to the place where Zelda and the Korkori girls had been earlier, and then sat down in the middle of the space. She picked up a flower, and then noticed a Korkori boy with blond hair and a green tunic watching her. She put the flower down on her lap, and then patted a spot down next to her. The boy slowly went over to her and sat down where she had patted. Zelda smiled at him, but he just frowned and looked at the ground. "Are you a friend of Link's?" she asked him in a friendly voice, "What's your name?"
"My name is Mido, and I'm the leader of the Korkori." He huffed back at her.
"Oh, I didn't know that they had a leader."
"Yeah, well, they do. And I am not a friend of Link's."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Because he's an outsider."
"Because he's not a Korkori?"
"Yeah, just like you."
"Oh." Zelda picked up the flower on her lap and twirled it in her fingers. "But everyone else seems to like him, just because he doesn't have the Korkori blood, you don't like him?"
"All that he is, is a big show off, that's what he is!"
"How does he show off?"
"Well, he just always has."
"He doesn't show off to me."
"Well, you don't have to, he just does it, no one else sees it except for me."
"Oh, Ok. So are you his rival?"
"Yeah, that's what I am! In forest, I'm his rival."
Zelda looked at Mido, then she noticed that he blonde hair like Link.
"Wow, you and Link both have blonde hair."
"Yeah, so what? You do too."
"Yes, but, it's just finny since you're his rival."
"Oh, yeah, amazing."
"Do you have anyone who doesn't like Link like you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just 'cause, Ok?"
"Alright."
"Humph."
"Hey, who do you play with?"
"Why do want to know?"
"I don't have to, I'm just asking."
"Well, I don't like to play."
"Why not?"
"Just because."
"Oh."
"No one wants to play with me, but that's just fine with me, because I don't like to play."
"So if I asked you if I wanted to play with you, you would say no?"
"Yes."
"Oh, Ok, what about your friends, what do they say to you when you say that you don't want to play?"
"I don't have friends."
"Oh, you have to have friends here."
"No."
"Well, do you want a friend?"
"Why?"
"Just wondering."
"I guess, but no one wants to be my friend."
"I do."
"No you don't."
"Why not?"
"Just because."
Zelda looked away from Mido and picked a yellow flower, she held it out to him, and he looked at it and then snatched it from her hands,
"What's this for?" He asked suspiciously.
"A flower."
"So what, what's it for?"
"Just a present, for you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my friend."
Mido didn't say anything but put the flower behind his ear, then he just looked at the ground again. Zelda's smile widened, then she sent saw a firefly off in the distance. She watched the pattern it made, then, holding up her hand, she made the same flashes of light with her magic. She saw Mido look at her in the corner of her eye, so she made her light stronger. The firefly came over slowly, and it landed on her hand. She began to make more flashes of light, and more fireflies began to wander out of the trees around them and then they all flew over to Zelda and Mido. She could see Mido's eyes widen with delight, and she made more light and more fireflies came from the trees.
Link stepped into the Great Deku Tree's meadow, it was nighttime, and for some reason just before he was about to go the Great Deku Tree Zelda had been no where sight. But he didn't have to worry about her; she could take care of herself. He walked closer to the Great Deku Tree.
"Greeting's Link, Navi."
"Hello, Great Deku Tree." Link replied back, Navi zoomed forward and went into the Great Deku Tree's branches and then disappeared.
"'Tis been a while, has it not Link?"
"It has."
"It seems that thee has found out about the Forest Temple."
"Yes sir."
"As thee already has discovered, Saria has been caught within."
"Yes sir."
"It seems as if thyn destiny has begun."
"Destiny?"
"Thee has been always made for grand things, and it 'tas begun."
"What has begun?"
"Destiny. You have met the Sorceress?"
"You mean Zelda?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, we're fighting partners."
"What will happen after thee completes the Temple?"
"Well, I guess, she'll leave."
"Well, that is all that I have to ask of thee."
"Yes, sir, it has been nice talking to you."
Link turned around and walked out of the meadow, as Navi flew back down to him and followed once they were back in the circle of Korkori homes Link looked at Navi.
"What do you think he was talking about?" He asked Navi.
"I don't know, I've never known him to be so... odd like that."
"Yeah, but, right now, we need to find Zelda, where do you think she is?"
"The question is, where is everyone else?"
Link looked around and saw that no one was around, of course, it was night now, but the doors to the trees were all open. Then, he could hear laughing off in the distance, he followed the laughing, and then to his surprise, it was coming from the place where all of the flowers grew. He came out from the trees and saw more fireflies then he ever had in his life, then he could see all of Korkori in the center laughing and catching them. He went over to them and a few of them smiled and waved at him. He would always smile back, but at the same time, it was the only thing that he could do.
Then he saw Zelda, she was sitting down, her hands glowing with light in different patterns. He walked over to her, she smiled and looked up at him, and he smiled back.
"So," He said as he sat down next to her, raising his voice over the laughter that filled the air. "I guess that you did this?"
"Yes, isn't beautiful?"
"Yeah." Link looked around, and then Zelda's hand appeared in front of him, and on it a firefly was sitting on her hand.
"For you." She told him, Link gently took the firefly from her hand and looked at it as it blinked different patterns.
"Thanks." He told her, but she didn't hear him, she was looking at a group of a boys playing together. He looked over at them and saw Mido with them, his arms stretched out, laughing, and for once he was just playing like a normal kid should. He smiled, that was the first time he had ever seen Mido smile.
"Is Mido your rival?" Link looked over at Zelda, and she looked back at him with playful eyes.
"What? I guess, but that's what he thinks."
"But what do you think about him?"
"Well, he can be mean and rude."
"Do you ever play with him?"
Link blinked at Zelda, "Do I ever what?"
"Play with him."
"Well, no."
"Why not?"
"Because, well, he's mean."
"Well, Mister," she said to him as she plucked a blue flower and gave it to him. "Maybe he's like that because he never had a friend before."
"Before?"
"Yes, he's my friend, dumb-dumb."
Link looked at the flower, and then at Zelda, she smiled at him, and then the light coming from her hands disappeared but the fireflies didn't. She laid down and closed her eyes, curly up on her side. Link smiled, and then just enjoyed the sight of fireflies. But something was still on his mind, he had to get supplies the next morning and then he was going back to the Forest Temple.
Zelda woke up the next morning; she sat up and realized that she was in Link's bed, in his room. She stretched and then looked around and found that Link was nowhere to be seen. She frowned and then got off of the bed and then she went to his porch and looked around. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder; she spun around and met Link's eyes.
"Morning." He told her as he handed her a green apple, she told it and then bit into it, her hunger over coming her. "I'm going to get some arrows, I'll come back later when I finish re-supplying." She just nodded at him as he went passed her and out the door, Navi whizzed by Zelda and followed Link down the latter while crying, "SEE YOU LATER ZELDA!"
Zelda went back in, she needed to check her pack and make sure that nothing was gone. She found it in a corner and then she opened it and was more then relieved to find that everything was still in place. She felt like there was something that she had to do, and then remembered that she needed to make Link a new hat. But how could she do that? Then she looked down at her own tunic, it wouldn't be that bad, after all, she didn't like this color. She went through her things and pulled out a plain white tunic, she would figure out what to color it later. But first, she needed to clean this. Closing the door to Link's house, she changed clothes. Then grabbing her old tunic and some soap she went out of his house and went in search of a source of water. A lot of the Korkori greeted her on her way, but none of them asked where she was going.
She had been walking for a while until she finally found a small stream, settling herself down next to it. She put the tunic in the water and then set to washing it, this would take a while. After washing it for a while, Kasi appeared from behind a tree on the other side of the river.
"Are you washing your clothes?" Kasi asked when she jumped across the rocks and was sitting on her heals next to Zelda.
"Yes, I'm going to make Link a new hat."
"Oh! Neat, can I help?"
"Well, if you could get me some string and a needle, that would help."
"A string and needle? You want to sew it?"
"Yep."
"Ok! I'll be back soon!"
Kasi got up and then ran back to where the homes of the Korkori were, Zelda smiled after her. Then she turned her attention back to her clothes and making sure that it got clean. This was going to take forever, she needed to get this done faster, but she couldn't use her magic for this....
'Zelda.'
Zelda jumped when she heard voice, and she looked around wildly, but no one was around her. And it sounded like an adults voice.
'Zelda.'
She jumped again, where was that coming from?
'Zelda, it's me, Kale.'
Then it was when Zelda realized that the voice was coming from her mind, but why was Kale still with her? Shouldn't she be in the Temple?
'Kale? I thought that you left me when I left the Temple!'
'No, since I am inside of you, I can leave, that is why I wanted to go in your body. If you want to get that cleaner faster, then....'
Link came back from getting his supplies around noon, and right now, he wanted some food. He walked around the forest until he found a bush with berries on it. He gathered a couple of these and then went to another tree for some fruit, he picked some of these and then began heading back home. Navi appeared from a bush, eating some berries that were small enough for her to eat.
"What did you get, Link?"
"Some berries, and some fruit. That's what I always get."
"I know."
Navi fluttered next to him, busy with her berries. Link kept on walking, then he put a hand on his head, he missed his hat. There had always been a hat on his head, and now there wasn't. He had always had one since before he could remember, and now, it felt like a piece of him was missing. He sighed sadly and put his hand down, his hat....
He jumped when Zelda popped out from behind a tree; he almost dropped all of the food that he had gotten.
"Oops, sorry Link, I didn't mean to scare you."
"Yeah, well, you scared me!"
"He he."
Zelda pulled out something green from behind he back, and then Link realized with pure joy and happiness that it was a new hat!
"A hat! A hat!"
Zelda went over to Link and put it on his head, Kasi also came up behind Zelda and smiled at Link.
"It looks great!" said Kasi; "I think that it looks even better then your old one!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Awesome, thanks Zelda!"
Zelda only smiled at Link, and then she looked at the food that he had gotten. Link laughed and handed her some fruit, she took it and ate it happily. Link a hand on his head, a hat! He looked at Kasi, and then saw that she was holding Zelda's hand and talking to her with a waterfall of words falling out of her mouth. It seemed like Kasi and Zelda had been bonding when Link wasn't looking, but he was happy about that.
Together, the four of them went to Link's house, and Kasi had been talking the whole way there. He didn't mind, it was just as long as it wasn't he who she was talking to. It wasn't bad, but, sometimes other girls would go over and start talking as well too, and Link didn't like when they would all try and talk to him at the same time.
When they all settled down in Link's room, Kasi's mouth stopped making noise as she ate some fruit with them. Then, Kasi's fairy flew in and asked Kasi to come help some other Korkori with making another home to help replace someone's. Apparently theirs had rotted away by some bugs, and soon the other wanted get working on making other houses so that way they wouldn't have to make more later if others rotted. Kasi was off just as fast as she had come in, and then it was just Zelda, Link, and Navi.
"So Link, how do they make houses?"
"Oh, they get small rocks and start pecking at the wood like wood peckers and then they shape it. It doesn't take that long, it takes a few hours, but that's it. It seems like a long process, but they can hit pretty hard, and when they all do it together, it goes by fast. And as they do it, a few fairies help from the rocks killing the tree, so that's how they do it. Kasi's the best one at doing it, she goes the fastest and she hits HARD."
"How do you know?" Zelda asked him mischievously.
"Well, one time when I was way younger, me and the boys played a trick on this girls. What we did is when they were coming to play on a large rock; we poured some tree sap on them. And did we regret doing that gees; they came at us like wild animals! I got hit by all of them, but when Kasi got me, gees, she pounded me into the ground like a pepple! Man, she is strong."
Zelda laughed just after she swallowed something, Link waited until she finished and then put a more serious topic on.
"Zelda, have you gotten everything that you need?"
"Nope, I need to meditate to get all of my magic back, then I need to make some potions. That's it, after that, wait, I need to get some new clothes."
"What? What were you doing this whole time?"
"Making you a new hat, washing my clothes. It takes a long time to do that, you know."
"Oh, well, how long will all of that other stuff take to do?"
Zelda stopped what she was doing for a moment, deep in thought, and then she looked back up at Link.
"About half a day, so, we'll leave tomorrow morning, sound good to you?"
"Sure, just as soon as you finish, and then we get rested, we're going strait back to the Temple."
"Right, by the way Link, could you get more food, we'll need some if we're going to stay in the Temple like we did last time."
"Of course, you can count on me."
"I know I can."
Zelda got up and left after she had wiped her face. Link smiled as she left, she trusted him.
Zelda wandered around the forest, making sure not to lose her way. She still couldn't find the right plants or flowers for potions; maybe there weren't any here? She spotted a plant that she needed and knelt down and inspected it. It was spongy, was dark green with long leaves and purple flowers. She made a small dagger of magic and cut off two bundles of the flowers, and then she put it in a pouch on her back. She got back up and continued on, looking out for the plants and flowers that she needed.
She wondered on until she saw a few mushrooms that she needed and she knelt down and took some and then put it in her pack. She got back up and went on with her search.
She had kept on going until she came to a strange meadow with a large tree in the center. She looked at the tree with interest, it looked almost like it had a face, she looked at it and then saw some plants that needed nearby her. She walked over and cut some, and then put it in her pack. She got back up, then looked around and saw another plant she needed that was by the large tree. She went over slowly, looking at the tree, it was almost as if it was looking at her. She shook her head, she was imagining things.
"Well," she said to the tree, as she knelt down and began to cut the plant that she needed. "I hope that you don't mind me. I'm just getting this, and maybe if I see something some thing again, but then I'll be gone. I promise." Zelda kept on going, but then again, did that branch just move? She got up and stopped what she was doing and looked at the branch in front of her, hadn't it been that way? She heard a noise and she looked behind her, but nothing was there. She sighed as she turned around, this was stupid. As she turned around, the branch that she had thought had moved had gotten closer, in fact, it was almost touching her. She slowly gave it a small nudge, and just as she did that, the whole branch snatched her up like a giant hand.
She didn't scream, as Impa had told her, that would make her more frustrated and would make her struggle, and it would only kill her faster. The branch brought her up to where Zelda thought she had seen a face, and to her amazement, it spoke!
"Thee 'tis the Sorceress?"
She kept her tongue from moving, she shouldn't make a noise.
"I shan't curse thee for speaking, for I am the founder of 'tis forest. I am its creator."
"You are the Great Deku Tree?" Zelda asked and then shut her mouth as fast as it had opened. Why had she done that?
"Thee is right, no need to be frightened. And it 'tis all right to take the plants. Thyn needs them for potions, correct?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm.... So are thee the Sorceress?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm... thee doesn't have much magic."
"What? I have lots magic!"
"Not for what destiny has for thee."
Zelda felt angry course through her veins, what did he think that he was walking about?
"I have lots of magic, you talking junk of rotten wood!"
Zelda began to kick the branch that was holding her.
"'Tis stubborn, I see."
"Yeah, now let me go! Damn it you!"
She was getting her hands ready for zapping the tree, but suddenly the tree seemed to zap the magic out of her.
"That shan't work."
"What the hell did you just do?"
"We can't have a talk if thee is trying to destroy, can we?"
"Just shut up, let me GO!"
"Now, now, stop yelling, if you do, then you will disturb the animals."
"Kiss my ass!"
"Hmm, stubborn indeed."
Zelda continued to try and free herself, but no matter what she did, it only seemed like she would get stuck in it more.
"Shit!"
"I shan't like the Korkori to learn such vial language, do you speak like this often?"
"Oh, just shut your can!"
"Hmm, so stubborn."
"You BET! And after I get out of this, I will fry you until you're just a pile of dead ash, black, and DEAD! Let me go, Din curse you! Sweet Nayru let me go!"
"So, so, so, stubborn."
"WOULD YOU STOP TALKING LIKE DAMN SALESMAN!?"
"Hmm. Stubborn."
Zelda kicked harder, the tree just kept on talking the same calm tone, and how DARE he say that she didn't have all lot of magic? If he hadn't taken it away, then he wouldn't be saying that!
"Fuck you!"
"Hmm, are thee sure thee shan't talk like that in front of the Korkori?"
"Argh!"
"Calm, calm. Please, I would just like to talk."
"Then put me down! You stupid piece of crap!"
To her surprise, the tree set her down softly, and she almost ran off, but now, curiosity got a hold of her.
"Now, may we talk?"
"Yeah, I guess." She replied stubbornly, she was starting to feel like half of her soul was missing. She felt empty and hollow without her magic, and then, she noticed that Kale wasn't with her.
"Do not worry over the spirit," he said like he had read her mind, "she shan't be in any danger. Now, I have something for thee."
The tree slowly began to glow green, each leaf, branch, ever inch of it covered with green. Then, a green stone began to form in front of Zelda, then, as the tree stopped glowing, it began to drop down. Zelda grabbed it, and then looked at it, it was beautiful.
"'Tis called the 'Korkori's Emerald.' The Jewel of the forest, I entrust it with thee, for it contains magic that shall help you on your quest. Have a nice day, now."
Zelda's eyes shot back up at the tree.
"What about my magic?" she demanded in an angry tone.
"Oh, 'tis right."
The same branch came down and Zelda touched it, instantly she felt her magic return. But with it came even more, and she gasped after the tree finished giving her magic. She fell down, and she gasped as she grabbed her chest.
"That... you gave me more magic!"
"Correct, thee needs more magic, so I give."
Zelda caught her breath finally, she stood up and went over and got her pack. She walked away, feeling like she had far too much liquor then her body could hold. She felt herself sway this was, and then that way, and then as she entered the trees she kept on going until she just fell over and fainted.
Eventually she woke back up with a massive headache, and then realized that was because she had at least twice more magic then she had before. She got up, and began walking back to the Korkori homes, how long had she been out? She kept on walking while she rubbed her head, way too much magic....
"Zelda!" Navi popped up from behind a bush, she twirled around Zelda, and she only felt herself starting to get sick. "What's wrong?" Navi asked her in a concerned voice.
"I met a big tree, and now my head hurts...."
"Big tree?"
"Yes."
"How big?"
"Big enough to talk...."
"YOU MET THE GREAT DEKU TREE?"
"Yeah, ouch...."
"OH, IN FARORE'S NAME!"
"What you said...."
"OH MY! OH MY!"
Navi flew around faster then Zelda's eyes could manage, but that might be because she felt ill. Zelda just stumbled forward; she wasn't in a talking mood right now. But Navi saw this and just zipped past her, yelling. Zelda ignored that and just kept on walking. She felt the green stone in her hand, she held it up, and then, she felt the magic that hadn't been used in it for ages start going into her. At first she wanted to resist, but then she stopped when she realized that is was helping her headache. Then, it stopped, but Zelda felt her head clear and even though it had given her more magic she didn't feel like she going to explode.
She walked forward again, feeling better then had just been, then, she entered the place where the Korkori homes were. A couple of Korkori almost ran into her, it was obvious that they had been going to see if what Navi had just told them was the truth. Zelda smiled at them, and then they just gave her a confused look. Then, Zelda saw Link running to her.
"Zelda!" He cried out when he reached her, "Navi just said that you said that you had just seen the Great Deku Tree!"
"Well, I did."
Gasps spread through the Korkori, and Zelda almost blushed.
"YOU went and saw the Great Deku Tree? He called and asked for you?"
"Well, no, all that I saw was this huge tree that creeped me out in the middle of this meadow."
"WHAT?"
"Uh, yeah." Zelda was starting to regret for speaking so... violently in front of the 'Great Deku Tree.'
"Wow.... Come on, Zelda, I need you to tell me every thing that happened!"
Groans spread through the crowd of Korkori as Link led Zelda back to his home.
Ok, that was.... Twenty pages long, I hope that you're all satisfied!
Navi: That took FOREVER to write!
Ok, I have nothing to really say, but... I hope you like it and REVIEW! Because if you don't review after that... then it's just going to hurt. And another thing, have any of you noticed my little add on my Bio? If you haven't, then, oh well, I guess I suck. But, even if this does sound cheesy, I'm looking for online friends, because, well, I'm lonely! I have one person who answered, she reads my GoldenSun fic! Yay! And another thing, I have two quotes up on my Bio, there at the top.
So Until Next Time,
CrypticElf....