-- CHAPTER 5: The Deku And The Kokiri --
authors note: There are indeed two Deku Trees throughout this chapter. Just to eliminate any confusion, whenever there's a new paragraph but it's still italicized (symbolizing a Deku Tree is talking) it's the other tree talking. I know I didn't distinguish between the two very well/often, but it's not really that important. They're both similar in character and everything else so it doesn't matter much which one is saying what. And with that, read on enlightened, never confused:
Link stared at the two trees in front of him. They were relatively the same dimensions: same height, same width. If he looked hard he could barely make out a face. He wondered if the faces would have been more noticeable if their bark had not been burnt of and their trunk not covered in soot.
Link furrowed his brows as he concentrated. So ... you're the Deku right?
What is the child doing, Kutswinde?
I do not know, Kwunestid.
Link furrowed his brows deeper still. I. am. try.ing. to. com.mun.i.cate. with. you.
"Good Din, This is so hard!"
Pardon Sir Link, but exactly what is so hard?
"Communicating with you! No matter how hard I try I can't..."
I do say, you are faring just fine...
"But... oh... I... see... I just... I thought... you only understood thoughts... or something..." Link looked down, face red with embarrassment, and watched his foot fidget back and forth as it dug a small hole into the ground.
Ho Ho! You mean correspondence through telepathic transmittance? No, nothing of the sort, we speak... oh how would you describe it Kutswinde?
I suppose the best way to describe it, so the boy would understand, would be to say that we speak... thru the wind.
Yes, I suppose, and, Link, you would do well to simply speak by your tongue.
Link was happy to hear this; he had a slight headache.
"So... uh... I was sent here to cut down some wood from a Deku Tree so Tingle could make a map." Then after a short pause he quickly sputtered, "a dead one of course!"
Tingle, ah, now your presence makes more sense.
"Could... could you tell me of any dead Deku Trees? Tingle said that it would be hard to tell the difference."
Yes, the Deku's voice was sad, Thull, brave Thull, he was closest to the stream when the fire... started. He drew the flames to himself... drew the flames away from the Kokiri.
Understand, his purpose, the purpose of all of us Deku, was to protect the Kokiri, you may know them better as 'elves', and that's what he did. The Kokiri were trying to keep safe from the flames by hiding in the stream. It wouldn't have been enough if it weren't for Thull. He bravely stripped off his branches and laid a path leading the fire from the edge of the creek to himself. After that the Kokiri were eventually able to douse the rest of the fire with the creek water.
Link glanced over and noticed for the first time the dried creek bed that wound thru the ashes.
They nearly didn't have enough water.
It was only by the grace of Farore that they managed to stop the flames... it hasn't rained since.
"How ... how long ago did this happen?"
Oh, let's see, just over ten years I would say.
Ten years and two months.
"Ten years! It hasn't rained here for ten years! But how?! How did you survive ten years without rain!"
Hmph! It will take more that a mere drought to end the ancestry of the Deku! Then with a sadder tone however, the Kokiri were not so enduring...
We, as the Deku, have failed.
There still is one...
He is lost to us.
But the Great Father said...
...The Great Father is lost to us too...
Go Link, find Thull, acquire your wood, and leave this Farore forsaken wasteland.
Link slowly turned around, he didn't know what to say. He scanned the dried creek. It didn't take long for him to find Thull. At about the height of Link's head a crack had split diagonally across the tree's trunk, everything above the crack had long since crashed to the forest floor. The fallen tree's branches were sparser than the other Deku's, only the thickest branches remained. Higher mounds of ash ran from the creek bed to the base of the tree.
He carefully crept over to the tree. Even though he knew it was dead it somehow felt wrong to cut off a chunk of Thull. Link stood above the fallen trunk for a while before he finally took out the saw and cut off a slice of the trees thick trunk. It was much too big for him to carry. It's diameter was at least twice the length of Link's arm span, so he cut out as big a size square from the slice as he dared. When he picked it up he found it amazingly light, at least compared to what he was expecting, having worked a fair share with wood before (well, for his age). Link looked back over to the two Deku he had met. He was about to leave when he was reminded of something. He slowly shuffled back over to Kutswinde and Kwunestid staring at the ground.
About three shuffles in he noticed something golden smudged throughout the ashes. He dropped the block, got down on his knees and surveyed it. He'd seen this before. Link was quickly reminded of the fairy that had saved him in the forest. And then he remembered brushing off some golden dust on his shoulder when he was wandering thru the forest (before he met the Wolfos). Fairy dust! Link exclaimed silently. He finally let himself think about what he had been blocking out of his mind since he decided to search for fortress of the healing magi. What if everyone was dead upon his return or were much too sick to make the journey back with him? He knew his journey would be long and that nobody in Koriki had much time left. Surely, he thought, surely this is enough Fairy dust to at least preserve everybody till I get back!
Link took off his hat and scooped as much Fairy dust in as could fit. He then took the rope that he used as a belt and tightly tied the hat shut so no Fairy dust would fall out. His tunic, no longer tight around his body swayed in the wind, something he generally conceded as annoying. But he was too ecstatic to be bothered by such a small nuisance. Grinning, he galloped back over to the two trees. He paused for a moment, realizing that his attitude was probably inappropriate for speaking with the somber Deku. When he had satisfactorily calmed himself down he began, choosing his words carefully.
"I... do you remember... when we first met you said something about nightmares that haunt my sleeping hours... what did you mean... when you said it a picture of a huge man dressed in black flashed in my mind."
Link, you bear the mark of the Triforce of Courage, as such you have a connection to all the bearers of the Triforce of Courage that have lived since the dawn of Hyrule. You remember their memories. You have not learned to become aware of this connection. Memories simply pass thru your dreams at night. It appears that you may also be picking up memories from the future. A rare gift...
and also a very dangerous one! The future is never certain since it has not yet happened. Any future one may see is merely a possibility. Some futures are more probably than others, but none are certain. It is very dangerous to become dependant on 'knowledge' of the future.
"and this man in black ... that was a vision of the future?"
I cannot say for sure, what I do know is that the man in black represents the enduring evil of Ganon, it may very well be a past memory...
But signs seem to suggest that it is, in fact, a possible future. Now go, you probably know more than you should. Knowledge with such potential as to complicate and confuse should not be heaved upon one with as important a mission as yours.
"What mission!" Link cried, "First Draiden, then Tingle, now you! What is so important that nobody will tell me!"
It is your destiny as the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. It will unfold in due time. Now go, you really must hurry back to Tingle.
Link thought for a moment. "Wait! Just one more thing, is Tingle really a Elf ... er ... Korik... I mean Kokiri?"
Kwunestid laughed heartily, No, Tingle is not an Elf. He is ... unique... and that is all there is to say. Now be off!
Link thought for a moment longer. "Wait! Just one more thing! This is the last question I promise!"
What? The tree's voice was sounded irritated now.
"I came across a tree when I was wandering thru the forest. It was huge and loomed over a crystal clear lake. I felt at home there. Was that a Deku?"
No, all of the Deku live in this imitated area. The tree of which you speak went by the name of Aonque. He withered away about a century ago. He was old, almost as old as the Great Father himself. I guess he had just seen to many winters. However, his spirit does seem to live on in some state.
You know, he once too bore the Triforce of Courage, I think you will always find yourself at home there. Now, for the last time, leave!
It only took Link about 30 minutes to find his way back to Tingle's tree house this time, and that was with a huge block of wood weighing him down. With great effort he managed to drag the piece of wood with him up the rope ladder. He stopped at the top of the ladder for a couple seconds to catch his breath. Then he kicked open the door and, smiling, cried out "I'm baaaaaack!"
"Tingle knew you could do it! Here, give the block of wood to Tingle."
Link handed Tingle the block, and watch him put it in a strange looking contraption.
Tingle noticed the confounded look on Link's face and explained delightedly, "This is Tingle's own invention! Watch!"
The machine started sputtering and there were loud sounds of razor blades scraping the wood. Then the machine groaned and spit out a thin piece of paper. Amazing! Maybe there actually is more to Tingle than meets the eye!
Tingle smiled, took the paper, pulled it taught with his two short, stubby arms, and cried out "Tingle – Tingle – Kooloo – Limpah" then he faced Link, "These are Tingle's special words. Do not steal them!" With that he handed Link the map.
Link stared at it amazed. At the end of the map there was a great forest. Everything was labeled: Kokiri Haven, Aonque Lake, even his home town Koriki Village. And, right on top a tree house marked 'Tingle' was a bright red arrow. Link turned his body to the side. The arrow moved to point in the same direction Link was facing! Link inspected the map further. There, at the bottom of the map was a flashing circle around a castle labeled 'Fenykes Fortress of the Healing Magi.'
"Very impressive Tingle!" Link beamed.
Tingle beamed back at him. Then his face turned more serious, determined but slightly saddened. "Here Link, take the block of wood. There is a wood smith in Hyrule Castle that can carve these into a decent shield and staff for a respectable price. Tingle reckons it'll come in handed." Tingle plopped the wood back into Link's hands.
"Th...thank you Tingle. I really don't know what to say. Thank you."
-- WRAP UP --
Well, not much action this time around. A lot of information and a bit of humor though. Sorry about the pathetic easy way out I took to unload all the addition information I wanted you to find out from the Deku Trees (about Tingle and Aonque) I honestly tried to fit those bits in to the conversations a bit better but, alas, I failed. Oh well, deal with it.
As always, any review will make my day! And have a good'un.
Ooh! And I gotta "Contest Thingy...Ok, Not Really...But Still Kinda-Sorta"
Anybody figure out the significance of the names Kutswinde and Kwunestid? First one to tell me gets a, well sorry, but you don't get anything. I suppose I could put you in the story... but that doesn't mean anything, because I'm offering that to anybody. You know, spending a long time coming up with names for short lived characters is really annoying. So, if you don't mind just be like "Yo, you can use my name Flabbster!" an' I'll be like "'K." I suppose if you want you could give me a brief description of some sort and I'll try to work it in. I dun care really.
Anywho, back to the CTONRBSKS! Yeah, it took some clever thinkin' to come up with those names. If your bored or sumthin' try to figure it out. Maybe I'll come up with some sorta' prize later... Anyways, if there's interest I was thinking about adding random puzzles here and there (especially when I get to the dungeons) for people to try to solve or ignore at their leisure.
And now I'd like to thank and respond to all the people that reviewed my story so far, because, well, because I'm thankful and want to respond:
Thag-the-upset: Hey, three for four, I'm not complaining. And yeah, I know, my grammars not the best. I know my English teacher would have a fit for all the comma splices, run-ons, and fragments I've been putting into the story thus far. But, yeah, I swear I don't do it on purpose. I'll try to get somebody to proofread it from now on. The only person readily available that's better at grammar than me would probably be my mom, and that shouldn't bee too much trouble. As far as the italics went, well the whole format was screwed up between switching between .doc and .html from two different versions of Microsoft Word on two different computers. I think I fixed most of that up. Anyway, thanks for reviewing so faithfully, you have no idea how motivational it's been.
DougS: Thank you much! And will do as long as at least one person is still sticking with the story, or, I suppose, until it's finished.
Snowsilver: Yes, it was a vague Star Wars reference. I meant to look online for a couple more lines to make it more obvious, but, alas, I'm too lazy. Sorry. Anywho, I am reading your story, it's a long'un and I'm a slow reader so give me a bit to catch up. Christmas break just started so I should have a lot of free time, with work being as slow as it is right now (I work in a ice factory, very slow during the winter).
And that's it I suppose. G'day!