Author's Note: Why is Link such a terrible fighter? You'll soon find out if you haven't been paying attention.
Chapter 4: The Boss of the Forest
Link wiped his nose with his arm, and found blood all over it. "Aargh! That booger gave me a bloody nose!" He looked around and found they were trapped in this room. Then he noticed a strange eye on the wall staring at him. He started to pull out his slingshot. "Navi! What is that?"
"Stop, Link!" she said. "The Great Deku Tree monitors what's happening with those eyes!"
"Oh." Link put away his slingshot. The eye made a nodding motion, and the wall under it opened to reveal a passage. Link and Navi went through and entered another circular room. They heard a low growl. Suddenly, a ball of web-like substance fell on the ground.
"What?" Link said.
"Link! Look out!" Navi cried. Link looked up and saw the most horrific thing he'd ever seen.
A large, dark brown and green monstrous bug was crawling on the ceiling. It had several legs, but two very large ones that were its main support. It had a strange looking tail. Out of it, another web-ball dropped to the ground. It turned and looked at Link, and Link gazed into its one, large, red eye. It hissed at Link and dropped one more ball, then scurried away, squeezing through a small crack between the far wall and the ceiling.
"W-w-wh... What was that, N-Navi?"
"Link, they're eggs," she said, frightened.
"What do you mean?" he asked. His gaze was set on the crack in the ceiling. "How do you know?"
"They're hatching, Link! Look out!"
Link snapped out of his trance and turned his attention to the web-balls on the ground. Smaller bug-like monsters were pulling themselves out of them. One pounced at Link and knocked him on the ground. It tried to bite Link, but he kicked it off of himself. It squealed in pain. Pulling himself up, he reached back with his right hand and drew his sword.
By this time, the other two larvae had finished getting free of the eggs. All three prepared for the attack. Link got his shield ready for the attack. All three creatures pounced at him at once. He put his shield up and deflected one of them. Another pounced on his face and clung to it. Link slashed wildly and felt it hit something. He could hear Navi screaming, "Link! Link!" He dropped his sword and shield and started trying to pull the monster off his face. Its small fangs had pierced his skin and the creature began sucking blood. Link fell to the ground and felt around. He found the first monster that had dazed itself on his shield. He punched it and kept feeling around. He found his Deku Shield. Wedging the shield between the monster and his face, he tried to pry it off of him. After he applied enough force, the creature popped off, leaving a fang buried in Link's face. Link shouted in pain and disgust as it came off, and the creature cried out as well.
Looking around, he saw that one of the creatures was dead; its eye was sliced open and it was bleeding all over.
"Link!" Navi said. "You slashed its eye and it died!"
The one Link had punched was getting up. Link groped for his sword and quickly jabbed it in the monster's eye. It cried out and fell to the ground. The face-hugger was trying to get up, but was in too much pain. Link walked over and stabbed it in the eye. Squealing one last time, it fell down, motionless. Link grabbed the tooth in his face and pulled it out, screaming in pain as he did it. He kicked the larva several times, saying, "Stupid, ugly, no-good baby monster-demon-evil-bug-monster thing!"
"Link! Calm down! It's over!" Navi said.
Link's heavy breathing slowly calmed down. He picked up his shield and put it and his sword away. He gave a cry of anger as he ran at the far wall. When he came close, he jumped and tried to climb to the crack the monster had crept through. He couldn't grab anything to climb, and fell on his bottom. He jumped again and slid down to the floor. "No!" he cried, beating the wall.
"Link!" Navi said again. "Calm down. The monsters are gone."
"No they're not!" Link said. "That thing makes the monsters! I think that monster is Queenie, and I think Queenie made the curse!"
"The queen of the spiders..." Navi said. "Gohma."
"What?"
"Gohma. There's an old tale about Gohma, the queen of the spiders. She would infest an area, and breed Skulltulas, until the entire place was barren. A curse was said to follow her, that anything she touched would die shortly."
"Gohma... Navi, we have to stop her! If that thing was Gohma, she'll kill the Great Deku Tree and infest the Kokiri Forest!"
"That's what we're here for," Navi said. "We'll stop her, and save the Great Deku Tree!"
"But we have to get to her, first!" Link said. He got ready to jump, but Navi stopped him.
"You can't make that jump, Link. Even if you could, that could just be a thin tunnel and she's waiting for you where you can't put up a fight!"
"So what do we do?"
"They say Gohma would set up a nest underneath her feeding grounds. We need to get lower, down to the Great Deku Tree's roots."
"How do we do that?" Link asked. He looked around the room and noticed another monitoring eye. Suddenly, a wall opened up for them to go through.
Walking through, they came out in the large room they fell into earlier, but they were on the raised section they couldn't reach before. In the middle of the platform was a webbed up hole. The spiders that had chased him were still hanging out at the passage that had closed.
"Shhh..." Navi said. They crept over to the hole, and Link slashed the web with his sword. Once he'd cleared his way, he started to jump, but Navi stopped him. "What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Down to the roots," he whispered in reply.
"Shouldn't you check and see how far down it is?"
Link peered down, but couldn't see, because it was too dark. He picked up a nearby rock and dropped it. After about three seconds they heard a faint splash sound. "Good, water."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? It seems like a long drop."
"Yeah. It's the only idea I've got." He jumped down and fell for a very long distance, then hit the water. He wasn't sure how deep it was. All he knew was that his feet just touched the bottom as the water slowed him to a stop. He rushed to the surface, and gasped for breath when he got there. He looked up and couldn't see all the way. Suddenly, he got hit in the head with a rock. He ducked into the water to escape the rock-thrower. As he did, he noticed he'd dropped his slingshot. He grabbed it and swam along the floor as it sloped upward. He came to shore and got out. There, he found three Deku Scrubs, and they all spat rocks at him. He jumped out of the way and drew his shield.
"No time for that!" Navi said, directing his attention back at the hole he'd fallen through. The Skulltulas had heard Link splash and were climbing down. "Remember what the Deku Scrub said?"
"What? Oh, three-two-one, right?"
"No! Twenty-three is number one!"
"Oh, right!" He prepared his shield as they spat more rocks. They hit the shield and fell on the ground.
"That's not gonna work!" Navi exclaimed. "Use your slingshot!"
Link pulled out his slingshot and shot the second scrub from the left, followed by the one on the right, then the one on the left. Each one shrieked in a high-pitched voice.
"He knew the secret code!" one of the scrubs shouted. It grabbed a torch off the wall and burned down a giant web behind the scrubs, revealing a passage through the soil, formed by a large root resting on the floor. The Skulltulas were close behind. "Close a wall, Deku Tree!" Link cried as he ran.
"We're not in the Great Deku Tree anymore, Link!" Navi said. As Link and Navi ran further, they found the passage would soon end in a large cavern. As they drew close to the opening, the root they stood on raised up. Link jumped into the cavern, Navi flying ahead, and the root crushed all the spiders on the ceiling. The dirt passage collapsed over the root, blocking Link and Navi in.
"Great! Now what!" Navi cried. "We're trapped."
"Yeah, well, we had a good run," Link said, optimistically.
"Yeah... Hey, I meant to tell you. That fight with the baby Gohma's... that was cool, Link. I have to admit, I got a little worried, but you pulled through just fine. And just now with those scrubs... you sure are a sure shot with a steady hand, even in intense situations. Especially for someone who can't aim his sword very well. Link?" She realized he wasn't listening.
"Shhhh..." he said. "Listen." They heard a shifting sound. Looking around, Navi saw that the cavern was formed by roots, and dirt was just waiting to fall. The floor was really bumpy.
"Link, this place looks unstable. Let's see if we can go anywhere else."
Link took a step forward, and the ground gave way. He shouted in surprise as he fell, and then stopped. He looked like just a head, because he only fell up to his neck. "Uh-oh, Navi," he said.
"You can climb out of there!" Navi said.
"No, not that." He hadn't been standing on dirt at all. "This isn't dirt. I'm stepping on eggs!" He whipped out his sword and started hacking apart eggs. Each one made a nasty squishing sound. Suddenly, several eggs started hatching.
"Link! They're hatching!" Navi cried from above.
"I know!" He drew his shield and continued destroying eggs. Each hatchling he came across got stabbed in the eye. After about three or four more minutes of this, the whole slaughter stopped.
The large, armored arachnid from before dropped from the ceiling, squishing the last of the eggs. She stared down at Link, still three times his height, with her one eye. He was covered in egg webbing, embryo, blood, and bug guts. She screamed in disgust of him, Link, the murderer of her babies. Link glared right back at her with the same fierce look that scared Mido away, even though on the inside Link wanted to spew in his own boots. Gohma, as there was no doubt in his mind that she was Gohma, was the kind of thing nightmares are made of. Except Link felt most of his own nightmares were like Kokiri plays in comparison. And yet, he gazed into her eye, determined to slay her and save the Great Deku Tree and the forest.
Gohma roared and stood up on her tail, making herself even taller. Raising her large, talon-like legs for the attack. She smashed down into the ground, trying to crush Link, but he rolled under her and sliced at her tail. A loud clang deafened him as the sword bounced off.
"She's heavily armored, Link!" Navi said. "Go for the eye, like the babies!"
Link pulled away and Gohma turned to face him. She charged forward, and Link prepared to stab her eye. She came too fast, and tried to chomp Link with her large fangs. He jumped backward as she snapped, avoiding her attack, but landed on a root and fell down. Gohma hopped up on her tail again and prepared to crush Link, but he rolled out of the way as she came down. As Link stood up, he realized he'd lost the Kokiri Sword. He must've dropped it while he was on the ground!
"Be more careful, Link! I know you like to stand your ground, but if she bites you, it's over!"
Link tried not to visualize the concept Navi brought up, but it was a good point. He backed away from Gohma. What was he supposed to do without his sword? The only thing to do would be to use his other weapon. He put away the shield hesitantly, then pulled out the slingshot and prepared some ammo.
"What are you doing!" Navi cried.
Gohma turned toward Link and charged. "Sure shot, steady hand," he said, and fired a seed at her eye. It bounced off, but she fell on the ground for a moment. He shot her eye again, but the seed bounced off again.
"That's not working! Get your sword!" Navi cried.
"I know! I know!" Link knocked another seed and circled Gohma as she got up. He saw it: the Kokiri Sword, lying by the root he'd tripped over. He shot the seed. Perfect shot, but she blocked it by closing her thick eyelid. He dove for the Kokiri Sword as she charged. He was on the ground, and she was over him, on her tail, preparing to crush him again. He had jumped too far, and the Kokiri sword now lay on his left. It was now or never. If he dodged this, he'd have to go back to the slingshot, which she could block. One clean shot. It was his only chance. She dropped, claws open, fangs bared. 'I'm gonna die,' thought Link, but all he vocalized was a crazy, adrenaline powered roar as he took the sword in his left hand and stabbed her straight in the eye. She fell on him, and then rolled on her side, freeing him.
"Link, are you okay!" Navi cried. Link rolled away from Gohma and stood up, brushing himself off a little.
"Yeah. I'm alive." Beside him, Gohma incinerated and they turned to watch. "Cool," Link said. He pulled the Kokiri Sword from her ashes. "Let's never do that again." They laughed.
As they laughed, a small, circular section of the dirt ceiling caved in and bright light shone into the room. Link went to stand on the mound and Navi flew beside him. A thin branch dropped in front of Link.
"Link, grab hold," he heard, and so he did. The branch pulled him out and set him in front of its owner, the Great Deku Tree.
The sunlight seeping in between the Deku Tree's leaves seemed brighter than the morning sun to Link and Navi after spending so long underground. The warmth of the sun made them feel tired and happy, and they knew they had done some good.
"Well done, Link..." the Great Deku Tree congratulated. "Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage..." The Great Deku Tree's pauses for breath hurt Navi, as she realized he wasn't immediately healed.
"I knew thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes... Now, I have even more to tell ye, wouldst thou listen..."
"Great Deku Tree..." Link said, still trying to regain his senses for so quickly changing setting. "We did it? So, what is there to know?"
"Listen carefully..." the Deku Tree began. "A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me..."
"Desert?"
"Yes, it is a sandy place far from here, hot and dry... This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule... For it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods..."
"You lost me at vile," Link said.
"In that case... We will start at the beginning... The very beginning... Before life began, before the world had form, three goddesses descended upon the chaotic land that was Hyrule... Din, the goddess of power... Nayru, the goddess of wisdom... and Farore, the goddess of courage...
"Din... With her flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth... Nayru... Pouring her wisdom onto the earth, gave the spirit of law to the world... Farore... With her rich soul, created all life forms that would uphold the law...
"These three goddesses then returned to the heavens, leaving behind the sacred golden Triforce... Since then the Triforce has become the basis for Hyrule's providence, and where the Triforce stood became the Sacred Realm..."
"Whoa, cool story!" Link said. During the tale he had laid himself on the ground to listen. "Tell another one, please!"
"Link..." the Deku Tree said.
"Sorry."
"Thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce..."
Desert man in black armor... Link was suddenly reminded of the man from his dream. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and returned to listening to the Great Deku Tree. "Wait, me?" Link said. "I must never allow him? Why me?"
"You will learn in due time..." the Tree responded. "Until such a time, know this: thou art special, and very different from the other children in the forest... Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil hands, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend... That evil man who cast the death curse upon me and sapped my power..."
"But we stopped it right, Navi?" Link said, but Navi was silent. "Right, Great Deku Tree?" The solemnity of the Deku Tree's face guided Link to the truth, but the Great Deku Tree explained anyway.
"No, Link... Because of that curse, my end is still nigh..."
"No," Link tried to shout, but it came out a whisper as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started..."
"No." It was even quieter this time. Link practically only mouthed the word. A single tear fell down his cheek.
"Yes, I will pass away soon... But do not grieve for me... I have been able to tell you of these important matters..."
Link wiped his eyes. "All that work, for nothing?" he asked.
"No, not for nothing... You have been found; your abilities have awakened... And had the two of you not broken the curse, my corpse would have been the catalyst, through which the Kokiri would all have been destroyed... Now, Link... Go now to Hyrule Castle... There, thou will surely meet the Princess of Destiny... Take this stone with you... The stone that man wanted so much, that he cast the curse on me..."
The Great Deku Tree's leaves shook, and a jewel fell out of them. From right over Link it fell, and stopped in midair in front of him.
"That is the Kokiri's Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of the Forest... I have safe guarded this treasure for longer than thou hast lived... Now I entrust it to thee... Deal prudently with it... One more thing, Link..."
"One more? You mean...?"
"I know that the curse was carried out by means of that parasitic arachnid, Gohma... Listen, Link... That monstrous queen of spiders was a parasite, living only through sucking the life of others... Therefore, she was not well defended... Queen Gohma will be one of the weaker creatures you may face in your journey ahead..."
"Weak? Weak! I nearly died! Are you sending me to stronger things, to my death!"
"Link!" Navi piped in. "Don't talk like that to the Great Deku Tree!"
"No, Navi... It's alright... It is but natural that the boy should worry for his own life... Link, I tell this unto thee as a warning... Take it to heart and become stronger, if thou willst stop this evil man... The future depends upon thee, Link... Thou art courageous... Navi the fairy... Help Link to carry out my will... I... entreat... ye... Navi... Good... bye..."
The Deku Tree's mouth stopped moving as it was almost closed. Leaves started to fall, and the whole tree changed from warm greens and browns to an uninviting dark grey. Link and Navi sat silently for a minute. Finally, Navi spoke.
"His dying wish was that we see the princess in Hyrule Castle... Come on, Link! Let's got to Hyrule Castle!"
"O-Okay," Link agreed. He stood up and they started off for the village. As Link headed down the path, Navi stopped and turned back to the tree.
"Goodbye... Great Deku Tree..." Her one and only friend was gone. No. One friend was gone, and wished not to be grieved. Her one and only friend was Link. She noticed another fairy fly off down the path.
She hurried down the path to catch up to Link, who had been stopped by Mido.
"What are you saying, Skittle?" Mido was saying to his fairy.
"The Great Deku Tree is dead!" Skittle said.
An expression of great terror and sadness crossed Mido's face. "D-dead? The Great Deku Tree... dead?" His countenance quickly changed to one of great anger, and he glared at Link. "What did you do! How could you do a thing like that! It's all your fault!" Tears streamed down his face, and he drew a sword from his belt.
"Mido? Where'd you get that!" Navi questioned.
"I'll kill you!" he shouted, and swung at Link. Link jumped backward and pulled out his sword and shield.
"Link! No!" Navi shouted.
"I didn't do it, Mido," Link said. "I did everything in my power to stop it!"
"You liar!" Mido swung at Link again, and Link blocked with his shield.
"Drop the sword, Mido," Link said. "I don't want to fight you."
"Yeah? Well I want to fight you. How about that! Murderer!"
By this time all the Kokiri had gathered around the pond to watch Link and Mido fight. All but Saria, who was nowhere to be seen.
Mido continued to strike at Link, who continued to block. Finally, after hacking at his shield for a while, Mido stabbed, piercing the sword and poking Link's left arm.
"Ow!" Link exclaimed, dropping his shield. He ran to the side and dipped his hand in the pond. Blood floated on the water. The wound wasn't deep, so it wasn't too bad, but it hurt. Mido charged at Link and Link stood up. The only way to stop Mido at this point would be to disarm him.
Mido slashed and Link blocked with his sword. The clang of steel against steel reverberated through the village, and everyone was in high suspense. Though neither competitor had much experience with the blade, the Kokiri had never seen a sword fight before and were entranced. After a long exchange, it was clear that Mido was stronger. He took his sword in both hands and batted at Link. Link blocked with his sword, but the assault was too strong. The Kokiri Sword flew up in the air and Link fell on his back. The sword fell back down, and everyone gasped as it stuck in the ground right to the left of Link's head.
Mido now stood above Link with his sword aimed down at him. "This is more like it," he said, and thrusted downward. Link grabbed his sword with his left hand and knocked away Mido's attack. It was Mido's sword's turn to fly up in the air, and Link caught it in his right hand as it came down and he got up.
"I didn't do it, Mido," Link said and walked off. Seeing all the Kokiri around, he ran to his house and Navi followed.
"Time to go, Navi," he said. He started packing a bag, but then realized all he had to take with him was his spare tunic, which was oversized. He took it and the bag he was going to put more into and started to leave.
He stormed his way all the way to the village exit, but Vick stopped him. Vick was a boy who felt it was his responsibility to enforce the Deku Tree's law that no Kokiri can leave the forest. The Great Deku Tree had convinced the Kokiri that they would die if they left the forest, but now he had told Link to go.
"We Kokiri will die if we leave the forest!" he said.
"Yes, but it's something I gotta do," Link answered. "The Great Deku Tree told me to."
"Okay, if the Great Deku Tree said to, go ahead."
"Wait," Link said, pulling out his rupee bag. "I got some of the taxes Mido has collected. Will you return the money to the other kids?"
"No, Link. You take it. Out in the real world, you'll probably need it."
"Thanks."
"Link! Look!" Navi directed his attention to Corey, who was running up.
"Are you leaving, you big chicken?" he said. "Where do you think you're going?"
"The castle," was Link's answer.
"The castle? Where's the castle?"
"I don't know."
"Well here, take this." Corey handed him a new shield. "You'll probably need it. You take care now."
"I will."
"Hey. If you lose your shield again, will you come back?"
"Sure. I'll even pay for it." They laughed.
"Hey, Link!" Sama shouted. "Good luck on your quest!" He and the other two Know-It-Alls were standing on their hill.
"Come back and play Deku Ball sometime!" Jeran said.
"Hold onto that sword!" Micah added.
"Oh, that reminds me," Link said. He handed Mido's sword to Corey. "Give that back for me, please."
Link looked around for Saria. He really wanted to tell her goodbye, but he couldn't find her. Finally, he left for the exit.
Link and Navi entered the forest itself for a moment. There was a clear-cut path that led to a bridge crossing a lower section of the forest. Link started to run across, when he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, you're leaving..." Saria was climbing onto the bridge from below. "Weren't you... going to say goodbye to me?"
"I wanted to, but I couldn't find you."
"I felt danger and dark, so I went to the Sacred Forest Meadow. I always feel safe there. I knew... that you would have to leave the forest... someday, Link... Because you are different from me and my friends..."
"That's what everyone is saying," Link answered.
"It's only because you are, and everyone feels it... Everyone knows... But that's okay, because we'll always be friends forever... won't we?"
"Yeah. Friends forever."
She held out an ocarina, a musical instrument that she was known for playing. "I want you to have this Ocarina... Please take good care of it."
"I promise I will," he said, taking the instrument in his hands. Tears once again welled up in his eyes, but he saw them in Saria's too. It was quite an emotional day.
"When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit."
"I... I will." He slowly backed away. They stared at each other for a moment. She was his oldest friend. When he couldn't find her to say goodbye, he was somewhat relieved. But now, he had to leave her, Saria, his best friend, watching him go. He turned and ran, heading further from home, the Deku Tree, every memory he'd ever had. Away from Saria.