---Chapter Two---The Value of a Rupee---
"Well, those goblin lumberjacks won't be bothering you anymore. It 's all taken care of."
"Ah, thank you Zelda! You're a life-saver! How can I ever repay you?"
Zelda gave him a look and the forest spirit blinked. "Oh! Oh yes, the legendary treasure! Of course, of course! You can go and get it right now."
"Right now?" She echoed, amazed. Was it somewhere here in the forest?
"Yes, yes, right now!" He boomed happily, "Step on in and help yourself!"
Zelda's jaw dropped to the floor along with the Great Tree's. He wanted her to go in his mouth? "Are you telling me," She said slowly, "That the legendary treasure...is inside you?"
"Uh-huh."
"And you couldn't mention this before?" She wasn't shouting, since shouting wasn't in her nature, but she was upset. He had the treasure with him- in him- this whole time! Thanks a lot, you stupid tree!
The Great Baka Tree rushled his branches in his way of a shrug. "Sorry. I needed your help. So now, to make it up to you..." He opened his mouth again. "Go on!"
She sighed. "Fine. All right. Just don't swallow me, okay?"
"Oh, never, never!" The Great Baka Tree sincerely agreed. She cautiously entered his mouth and went inside. He kept his mouth wide open as she did, so not to frighten her. At first everything was dark. But her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and swept across her surroundings. She frowned, rubbed them, and looked again. No, her eyes did not decieve her. The inside of the Baka Tree looked very similar to that of a temple.
She turned back and ducked her head out his mouth, seeing the forest. Then she glanced back in; temple. She kept looking back and forth between the two; trees, stone walls, trees, stone walls. "Wha..ahh..but how...?"
"Don't think about it too much." The Baka Tree advised, careful to keep his mouth open as he much as he could when he spoke. "Let's just say I hired a bad interrior decorator. Go on now, the treasure's in the back."
"Right..." Zelda muttered and made her way through the temple-ish inside of the Baka Tree, heading towards the back end. There wasn't much in there, just grey stone walls and stain glass windows that you couldn't see out of. Several seconds later, she reached the back and immediately saw the legendary treasure.
It was sticking up right on a small pedestal, all bright and shiny with an elaborate Triforce design gleaming in the dim light. The great power emitting from it seemed to pull her closer and closer, until her hands took hold of its hilt and jerked it free. Energy coursed through her and, caught up in the moment, Zelda raised the Master Sword high above her head with one hand and struck a heroic pose.
Then she lost her balance and dropped it on her foot.
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"Geez, this thing's heavy. And hard to use."
"You'll just have to keep practicing then. I'm sure you will get the hang of it in no time!"
"Yeah right." Zelda swung the Master Sword once more, then jabbed into the ground and rubbed her arms. They ached soooo much! At least her foot was okay; when she dropped the sword earlier, it hit her hilt-down. Otherwise she might have been missing a toe or two.
Once her arms felt somewhat rested, she carefully lifted the sword and slid it into her new sheath. (Lucky her that it was lying inside the Great Baka Tree as well.) Unlike her previous, dinky sword, the Master Sword was extremely sharp and she knew that it definitely would not shatter on a goblin's head. Finally, she had a real weapon. Now she just needed to learn how to use it properly.
"Well, Baka Tree, it's been real nice. Thanks for the sword. I guess I better get going now. I have to get to..." She paused here, wondering just where she had to get to. "...to Ganondorf's fortress." Seemed reasonable enough, since she had to go there sometime or another.
"Of course, of course," the Baka said, "Ah, but do not forget: you'll need all four of his Gate Keys to get in."
Good thing he mentioned that, Zelda thought, Or I would've never known. She was about to thank him again but stopped and gave him a supisous look instead. "I don't suppose you might know where these Gate Keys are and want me to hunt goblins or something before you can tell me where, hm?"
The forest spirit laughed. "No, no, of course not. Actually, I have no idea where these Keys may be found, I'm afraid."
"That makes two of us then."
"True, true, but I have faith in you Zelda. You'll prevail in everything you do, I'm sure. Please feel free to come and visit me again. I much enjoy the company."
"Sure thing, Baka Tree." She said. Despite his manipulative ways and reiterated talk, she liked the forest spirit. Before leaving the forest clearing, she stopped and turned back to him. "Uh, Great Baka Tree...?"
"Yes?"
"Is this..he way things should be?" It was a vague and confusing question, if you didn't know what she was reffering to, and she didn't expect him to know. Yet he surprised her by answering, his voice now different somehow, not booming but smooth and soft. And kind of...familiar?
"Do not worry, princess," it said, giving her quite a start, "Everything is just right. You'll see."
------
Oddly enough, Zelda didn't worry about it. Although the whole situation was strange and confusing, she just couldn't be bothered about it anymore. It was as if she had suddenly become immune. Besides, she didn't have time to fret over strange situations; she had a kingdom to save. So the journey continued.
She was clear of the enchanted forest now, heading in the direction of the nearest town, Jehn. Zelda needed no map; she knew Hyrule like the back of her hand. Jehn was a river-side town, a good place to stock up on supplies, which she currently lacked. Besides the boomerang, in her pouch she only had an empty bottle, a couple of rupees, a half-eaten apple she didn't remember eating, and some type of weird beans. If she were to go up against the forces of evil, she had to be better prepared.
Just as the afternoon rolled around, Zelda came upon the town of Jehn. Multiple tiny stone buildings were squished together and lined up on both sides of the Arroz River. People were bustling to and fro, running errands, buying food, fishing, repairing roofs. Zelda walked through the town gate, her boots clopping on the cobblestone road, mixing in with the uneven beat of everyone else's footsteps around her. Looking over people's heads, she searched for a sign indicating a tradestore. A hanging plank of wood with the words "Tradestore" scrawled across caught her eye and seemed promising, so she took off towards that.
A bell tinkled softly as she swung open the door and stepped in. All sorts of wares for sale were piled up on shelves and on boxes, a price tag slapped on each one. Zelda went up to the front counter, where a large, brawny man with a scruffy beard welcomed her from behind. "Can I help you, miss?"
"Yes, thank you." She replied with a nod, "Let's see, I need one dozen arrows, three or so health potions, a hunk of cheese, a loaf of bread, a cartoon of Moo-moo milk, and a couple of bombs might come in handy too, so some of those please." The store owner collected the listed items and stacked them on the counter, checking to make sure he got it all, then adding up the total cost.
"That'll be two-hundred and sixty-two rupees, miss." He announced. With a frown, Zelda reached into her pouch and plunked down all the rupees she had.
"Will this be enough?"
The man stared at her, as if trying to decide whether she was joking or just stupid. She looked back at him uncertainly, then glanced at her four rupees on the counter with even more uncertainty. "Could I, uh, pay you back for this stuff later, maybe? That's all the money I have right now."
"I'm sorry miss, but no." said the man, a tinge of sympathy in his voice, "But what I can do is hold onto these for you, until you can scrape up enough money."
"Thanks. I'd appreciate that." She paused a moment, then asked, "Do you know how I might scrape enough money?" Zelda was used to always having money without ever really having to work for it, so this was a new thing for her.
"Sure, just go around and do some odd jobs." The store-keeper told her. "Actually, there's even a contest going on by the river today, if you wanna give that a try. Five-hundred rupee prize money, I hear."
Zelda grinned. "Sounds good to me."
------
It looked so easy.
It was a gliding contest. Everyone was given a special, giant leaf (generously donated by a certain talking tree) and had to jump off a platform above the river, using the leaf as something like a parachute to glide on down the river. Whoever made it farthest down the river the would win. Pretty simple, huh?
Zelda didn't hesitate. She signed up right away, received her gliding leaf, and got in line. She watched as, one by one, the people ahead of her climbed up the platform and took their turn in gliding. Leaf clutched tightly with both hands and thrust above their heads, they jumped off the platform and flew as far they could before hitting the water. At the very end, there was a lower platform where the winner would land, dry and victorious. So far, the farthest length gone was only halfway down the river. Zelda was confident that she could beat that and easily land on the winner's platform, no problem.
Finally, after watching countless people drop into the chilly water, it was her turn. She climbed up the ladder and onto the platform, readying her leaf and checking the wind. A nice breeze was blowing in the perfect direction for her glide. She stood at the very edge, lining herself up with the lower platform off in the distance, and took a deep breath. "Five-hundred ruppes, here I come!" Then, on the count of three, she made her jump.
I'm flying! I'm-I'm actually flying! She thought, gripping her leaf and grinning wildly. The winner's platform! I'm almost there! I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna--
------
"Hey, don't feel bad missy. Ya did well for yer first time. Here."
A soaking wet Zelda was ringing the water out of her ponytail. She happily took the towel offered to her by the contest offical and thanked him.
She failed miserably at the gliding contest. While she thought she almost made it to the winner's platform, it turns out that she only made it a third of the way down. She went so fast and lost altitude too quickly, thus driving right into the river. A ten-year old boy won the contest only a few minutes after her loss.
Now she needed a new way to earn some rupees. So she wandered about the town, asking various people if there were any odd jobs that she could do. A young girl pointed her in the direction of a Mrs. Jones' house, saying she heard the woman was in need of someone to baby-sit while she went to the market. Estatic, Zelda headed off to see Mrs. Jones. Baby-sitting, she could handle.
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"I should only be gone for an hour or so."
"Okay, but Mrs. Jones-"
"Their supper is all ready prepared, so just feed them it whenever they get hungry."
"I'm not really sure if I can-"
"They like rough-housing around a bit, which is fine, but make sure they don't hurt each other or break anything."
"I really don't have experience with-"
"You all have fun with Zelda, my wittle sweet-ums. Don't give the girl any trouble. Mommy will be back soon." And then Mrs. Jones went, basket in hand, off for the market. Leaving Zelda behind to baby-sit her children.
The "children" being cuccos.
Seven little cuccos all stared at Zelda with their black beady eyes, as if watching her every move, making her feel very uncomfortable. What were they up to? Telling herself that she was being silly, Zelda took a seat by the fire and tried to relax. They were just stupid little birds. How much trouble could they be? It was probably harder to watch actual children than cuccos anyway. They weren't staring at her now, just hopping around the room mindlessly. Kooky Mrs. Jones had nothing to worry about.
"Do you guys know how good you taste fried?" She said with a laugh, thinking of the many fried cucco wings she eaten in the past years. "But you taste even better cooked in barbeque sauce."
The cuccos all stopped dead in their tracks and turned to glare at Zelda menacingly. They no longer looked brainless; they looked pissed. She gulped. "Ah, I was just j-joking." She hurriedly assured them. "You're all way too cute to eat, heh heh." They went back to their clucking, normal cuccos again, but Zelda could feel their eyes on her and shuddered.
------
Apparenty it was supper time. The cuccos were bouncing around madly, clucking to no end. Zelda pushed her way through the birds and into the kitchen. Sitting in the corner of the tiny room was a burlap bag filled to rim with their dinner, yellow cucco feed. "I bet it took Mrs. Jones all day to make this for you." She said sarcasticly to the birds. They were going wild now, jumping around her ankles in super-hyper-active mode. "Hold on a mintue, geez!" She tried to scoop some feed into a bowl for them, but the hunger-crazed cuccos kept getting under her feet. Sereval times she came close to being knocked over because of them. "Stop that! Dumb birds, you're getting my way! Move it!" They paid no heed to her orders. Now at her boiling point, the irritated Zelda lifted a booted foot and kicked the nearest cucco away.
That wasn't a smart move when cuccos were involved. Talk of frying them they could forgive, but kicking them... You didn't kick a cucco unless you had a death wish.
In a sudden burst of fury at the horrible act against their comrade, the remaining six cuccos launched an attack at Zelda. They bit at her legs, smacked her with their wings, and two even managed to fly up to her head and peck at her face. She swung blindly at them and had to resist pulling out the Master Sword to fight them off. Kicking them again would only worsen things, so poor Zelda was left defenseless to their feathery vengance.
In a last attempt to save herself, Zelda rushed into the bag of feed, sending its contents spilling onto the dirt floor. Instantly, the attacks ceased. Each cucco, including the one she kicked, zoomed over to the food and began to inhale it. Thankful that she was still in one piece, Zelda went back into the front room and slumped into the chair with a heavy sigh, leaving the demon-spawn to their supper.
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"Aww, it's looks like you all had a good time together."
"I'm covered in bruises and cuts because your evilpyshco birds tried to kill me! It was not a good time!" That's what Zelda wanted to tell Mrs. Jones, but all she could do was nod. Just pay me so I can leave, she thought wearily.
"Here you go, dear," Mrs. Jones said, reaching into her purse, "Now don't go spending it all in one day." Zelda looked at what Mrs. Jones paid her.
Five rupees and a peppermint.
"You did a great job, dear. I'd love to have you come back and baby-sit again sometime."
"Why thank you Mrs. Jones," Zelda said politely as she pocketed her rupees and left. When the door shut, she added sourly, "But I'd rather jump off a cliff."
------
Sitting by the road with her head on her drawn up knees, Zelda admitted defeat. She was terrible when it came to working. She would neverget enough money for the supplies.
A passerby saw her and stopped to see what was wrong. "Ya okay miss?" The people in this town sure were nice, if somewhat insane. Zelda looked up at the fisherman (he was carrying a fishing pole, so she assumed he was a fisherman) and gave him a shrug.
"Yeah, I guess. Just have some money troubles is all."
"Money trouble, eh? Well ah know how to fix that problem right up!"
"You do?"
"Yeh, ya can make some money easy. Just cut some grass and rupees wall pop up like worms in the rain!"
She blinked. "Really? Just by cutting grass?"
"Ah wouldn't lie to ya, miss. And if ya still need some more money, ya can always smash some pots up too. Those are fill'd with rupees."
"Uhh, is that legal?"
"Ah dunno, beats meh. But nobodys ever got in trouble for it yet, so dun ya worry 'bout it."
"Hmm...okay. I think I'll do that. Thanks a lot for the tips, sir."
And that's how the rest of her afternoon went, cutting grass and breaking randomly placedpottery. True to what the fisherman said, rupees did come out from it. Why they did, Zelda didn't know, but she didn't care either. Money was money and by the end of the day, she had more than enough rupees to purchase her supplies from the tradestore. Also, by using the Master Sword to cut the grass, she had honed her swordsman skills a little. (So if any future foes were of the plant-type variety, they were utterly doomed.) All in all, it was a good day.
Well...not really.
But Zelda had what she needed now and could finally start her journey for the four Gate Keys to Ganendorf's fortress. And it was going to be one wild and possibly sanity-threatning ride.
--Chapter 2 Fin--
A/N: And there you have it, the much delayed Chapter Two! I'm sorry it took so long; it was a busy week for me. To make up for it, it's a little longer than the pervious chapters. ;)
Yes, the leaf gliding contest came from Wind Waker. And the loco cuccos were from Ocarina of Time. (I think you had to actually kill to a cucco to get them all to attack you, but whatever.) And of course, cutting grass in any Zelda game is always a sure way to earn rupees.
So now our princess knows what it's like to work for your money! What weird things will happen to her next? I dunno! I still have to write the next chapter! So stayed tuned for...-drumroll-...Chapter Three!