Chapter Nine—Forest
Every few hours, I checked on Link, because I had to meet him when he arrived at the Forest Temple. I also had to follow his lead to get there, since he knew the ins and outs of the Lost Woods, and would be able to get past Mido as well.
Link remained at Lon Lon Ranch long enough to acquire some skill at riding—although I would have been surprised if the goddesses hadn't enhanced his talent at least a little. When I visited him next, he was riding a horse outside the ranch. And it wasn't just any horse; to my surprise, it was the prize mare of Lon Lon Ranch, Malon's own personal favourite, Epona. She may have been the fastest horse in Hyrule, but she was also the most wildly independent, obeying only her mistress. I was impressed that Link had earned her trust.
My next visit to his consciousness was strange. I sensed he was somewhere in Kakariko, but it was nowhere that I recognized. He was running through some kind of underground cave, following a trail of small fireballs floating on the ground. I wondered what on earth this could be, but as none of his other senses yielded any helpful information, there wasn't anything I could do to find out.
Roughly two hours after this, I found him in Kokiri Forest, and I set off after him. Rather than traveling on horseback, I teleported myself in short intervals, something I could do using Sheikah magic to cover large distances quickly if I knew them well. In this way, it took me only a few minutes to arrive at the place where the Lost Woods met the Forest. Hiding in the uppermost branches of the trees on this border, I could see some of Link's activities as he explored the town. He talked to a few people, though I couldn't hear the conversations, and visited a few houses. There was one house, built entirely in the branches of its tree, for which he apparently had particular affection; he cleared away all the monsters near it before inspecting it thoroughly, inside and out. When he finally made his way to the Lost Woods, I saw him up close, and I wasn't surprised that his face was tense with dark unease. I wished I could give him some reassuring words, but there weren't any to say in this world.
Things have changed. You are not a child.
I climbed lightly through the branches of the canopy above him, relieved to see that my theory had been correct and Link knew exactly where he was going. He walked with direction, as anyone would navigate the streets of their hometown, turning at particular places that must have been landmarks to him, though I certainly couldn't see what made them special. He found Mido even more quickly than I had; the presence of the Kokiri boy was apparently the first thing in the Lost Woods that surprised him.
"Stop!" said Mido bossily, in the same tone he had used on me before I had scared him. My stomach squirmed slightly at the memory, but the self-proclaimed leader seemed no worse off for the encounter.
"Oh, what do you want?" asked Link irritably, folding his arms and looking down at his old enemy. If it was possible to look less intimidated than Mido at that moment, Link managed it.
"You may wear Kokiri clothing, but you can't fool me. You aren't one of us. No one is allowed past here. Saria said so."
Link said nothing for a moment as he considered the child who had once been his leader. Then he asked evenly, "Not even Link?"
Mido made a small gagging noise as he cut himself off from speaking. "No… What? Who are you?"
"You're not the first one who didn't know," Link grumbled bitterly, patting himself down as he looked for something.
"And you're the second grown up to come here!" Mido went on, regaining his composure. "And you're the second grown up who knew about Link! Do you know some person… some Sheikah person?"
Link stopped and looked up at Mido; no doubt he realized who the boy was talking about. But he simply glanced back down and muttered, "No, I don't."
Before Mido could launch any further protests, Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time.
The song he played on it was one unlike any I had ever heard before. It was upbeat and delicate, calling to mind images of children laughing, birds singing, wind in tree branches… No music of Hylians or Sheikah sounded like that. This was the song of the forest.
Mido stared at Link blankly. There was something like awe in his face as he examined the man before him.
"That's… Saria's Song," he choked. "She never taught… I…" He blinked. "Yes," he said finally, "you can go through… But…"
He stopped again, still staring carefully at Link, but seeing past him.
"What?" asked Link uncertainly.
"It's just that…" Mido said in a vague voice, half talking to himself, "you remind me of… him…" Clearing his throat, he said more fluently, "Listen, if you know, uh, someone named— If you know Link—"
"I do." Link's voice was not quite controlled.
"Could you please, um… Tell him I'm sorry I was so mean to him. Please. Tell him that from me."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Link didn't move, and Mido shifted guiltily where he stood.
"I will," Link finally said, in a surprisingly gentle voice. He and Mido avoided looking at each other as he walked past silently. I looked between them as I followed. What I had just witnessed seemed much too personal, and I knew that I would never tell Link I had seen it. Even if someday I told him the truth. Which, I insisted to myself, I would do.
Link continued on his way just as he had done before, arriving relatively quickly at a place that looked familiar…
Silently as a cat, or, more accurately, as a child of the forest, Link approached an open gateway between two rock walls covered in greenery. He peered around the corner, and saw a large monster that looked like a cross between a pig and a bull—a Moblin. It was patrolling the aisle, and didn't look like something to be trifled with. Link would have to either kill it, or simply dodge it, but either way, it would take him time.
I left the Hero to this, creeping through the tree branches above him and dropping silently onto the walls of rock that flanked the gateway in which he stood, timing his next move. More of these walls formed a simple maze, on the grassy top of which I now stood. More of those hideous monsters patrolled the maze, all dressed in chain mail armour and wielding large spears. I was glad that crossing this maze was, for me, a simple matter of hopping across the tops of the stone walls. For Link, it wouldn't be so easy; I doubted he could climb up here with all the equipment he carried.
On the far side of the maze, I found a more difficult challenge. Two more stone walls stood before me, so high I couldn't see their tops, reached up into the sky amid some of the tallest trees I had ever seen. Between these walls ran a corridor at the far end of which stood one of the Moblins—a particularly large one, with a club held up in its massive hands, ready to crush intruders. I couldn't simply skip over this one's head.
I palmed a throwing star and released it; it hit the brute in the hand which held the club, but he didn't seem to notice.
As I tried to think of more long distance attacks in my repertoire, since I definitely didn't want to risk hands on combat, I heard a loud cry of pain. I turned sharply, and saw that the last of the beasts patrolling the maze had fallen with a great, gaping hole in its back. Link approached where it had fallen, holding in his hand an odd blue object with a large and intimidating point at the end, off of which the monster's blood slid easily. Link stepped over the body, unconcerned. I was impressed.
That's why he's the Hero. I wondered how he would deal with the thing I was facing.
I watched as he paused before the corridor, considering the situation. The club-bearing monster didn't move, and I suspected its vision was so poor that Link, dressed in green, blended in against the grass and the moss- and ivy-covered stone walls. It didn't do anything when Link calmly raised his weapon, squinted one eye shut to aim, and pulled the trigger.
Suddenly, quickly, the deadly point of the tool shot out, and I saw that it was at the end of a chain. It could have been deadly, except that it wasn't long enough to reach the great beast. Link frowned and slid the hookshot back into his tunic.
Apparently the only thing left for it was to run. So he did.
The monster's attack consisted of slamming his club into the ground so that it sent vibrations in a line along the ground. Link wove back and forth along the corridor, dodging the earth-shaking blows that would have knocked him backwards, until he slipped past the thing to the short staircase its other side. He then turned back, whipping out his hookshot again, and shot it in the back of the head; just on principle, I think, to prove that nothing and no one gets past the Hero of Time untouched. It was lucky for me, though, because I could get past the now-paralyzed beast safely. The instant Link had turned his back, I jumped down and nimbly darted after him.
When I reached the other side of the corridor, I realized what this place was; the knowledge hit me like a blow to the head. I had seen pictures of it when Impa taught me the ancient myths. It was called the Sacred Forest Meadow, and in the days before the first Great Deku Tree, all races of people had come to the Forest Temple here to worship the beauty and power of the natural world. The Temple itself was atop another high stone wall, which was now overgrown. The stairs which led to it had long crumbled away, and a single large tree overhung what remained of them. This was not, however, what Link was looking at.
His attention was on an old tree stump. It was perfectly ordinary to me, but Link's whole body had grown tense. He looked shocked and dismayed at the sight of it, and slowly approached to kneel with his hand on its smooth surface; lowering his head, and I heard him say heavily, "Saria…"
Of course. This was "the usual spot," and Saria wasn't here. I barely had time to be impressed that Link's favourite old hang out was an ancient holy temple before it occurred to me that I had a job.
When I dropped silently out of the trees, Link jumped to his feet and whirled around aggressively, prepared to defend the heart of his world. He relaxed when he saw me.
"The world has changed," I began. "Nothing is constant except that fact, and one other thing—the power of friendship.
"The friendship of children grows and matures, as they do, into something deeper. Something more. It remains unbreakable, though the world around it may break down and rebuild.
"You have seen your world become a different place, but your friends are now and shall remain just that… your friends." I took out my small harp and added, "This song is dedicated to the power of friendship."
Nayru had told me this, and now I understood why it was true.
The song I played was slower than the one Link had earlier, but it had the same youthful spirit of life. He didn't hesitate to copy it on his Ocarina.
"When you wish to return to this place, play the Minuet of Forest," I explained. Link nodded slowly.
"Sheik…" he said, still staring thoughtfully at the Ocarina. "There's something I don't understand. Everyone here is still a child. Why was it only me and none of them who—"
He looked up and saw that I had gone. If he had thought to look into the canopy, he would have spotted me hanging above him. But he merely sighed, and turned his attention to the Forest Temple.