Sorry for the long wait, I decided to take some time off of this fanfiction. Also, for those who are wondering about the previous entry to my fanfiction, that was a poem written by myself about the history and story of the Hero of Time. It isn't necessarily needed in my fanfiction, but I felt like it deserved a place in it. I have also made a new "story" with only the poem in it if you are interested.
Ch. VIII
Woodfall Waters
Link blinked as he stepped into what Tatl called Termina Field. He had to purchase a map from a strange man named Tingle, who mistook him for Kokiri. He has claimed to be one as well, but judging by the wrinkles on his face, and the mustache on his face, Link easily guessed that he was about 30 years old. Link shook his head. There was no time for dawdling. He had work to do.
Tatl had described the way to Woodfall very clearly. She had told him to go to Termina Field, and into the swampy woods that were in the south. He had purchased some food and water now that he was no longer a Deku, and was carrying a heavy pack that had a sleeping mat on it. He had prepared for a long trip, but he missed his horse, Epona. She had been a good horse for a very long time, longer than Tatl expected in fact.
"Do you really think that the Skull Kid killed my horse?", Link said.
"I don't think so. Even with the mask on, I am sure that he would never even consider hurting an animal.". Tatl looked unsure as she said this.
"I guess that he managed to hide her somewhere. Maybe he hid her in Romani Ranch!".
Link's face brightened as this revelation cheered him up.
"That is it. I can feel that she is still out there, somewhere.", he said. He continued walking but spotted something jumping and wriggling around ahead of him.
"Watch out Link, that's a ChuChu!", Tatl exclaimed. It was a strange-looking creature. It had a jelly-like body with two eyes, and a wide mouth with blunt teeth. Link had heard of them before, but he had never seen or fought one.
As he stared at it, its eyes locked on Link, and it launched itself into the air and landed on top of link. Link gasped in pain. Its body was made of acid! As the ChuChu stuck to Link, he felt it burn through his sensitive skin. He pulled out his sword, grimacing from the pain. He swung his sword down with all of his might, and he was surprised to see that he cut straight through it. As he gasped in surprise, the remaining ChuChu jelly that remained on his body fell off and congealed into a green ball.
Link was heaving heavy breaths. He had become rusty, he realized. A couple of weeks ago, he would have used any of his many tools or weapons to kill the irritating creature, but he had been forced to store most of his equipment in his old house. Most of it he couldn't use because it was too large, and the rest of his items had too many bad memories. He took a deep breath, then let it out.
"Hey, I said for you to watch out! Pay more attention next time!", Tatl said. Despite her angry words, she had a worried look on her face. She sighed, then asked:
"Are you OK? Do you need to drink a health potion?". Link had bought several health potions from a shop owner in Clock Town and was determined to only use them in emergencies, as he knew from experience that there were many dangerous monsters and traps in his travels.
"I'll be fine. I have had worse injuries than this.", he said.
As he said this, he remembered many old wounds that had long since vanished from his body.
He remembered the freezing bite of a ReDead on his neck, sucking out his blood. He remembered the bloody maw of a Sheikah monster called Dead Hand. He shuddered as he recalled the bite of the Demon King Ganon's swords on his right side. He had been through many battles, but his final trip back in time had removed almost all of his scars.
Link cleared his head, then picked up the green gell that the ChuChu had dropped. You never know when you might need something, he thought. After hours of walking, he decided to stop and make camp in Termina Field. He had encountered only a few more ChuChu's that he had dispatched easily. He laid his sleeping mat on the ground and used some flint and steel to light a fire. As he and Tatl rested, Link ate some of the travel rations that he had bought. It was a simple meal, only of some jerky, dried fruit, and some flat crackers. It all tasted bland, but it was filling. After Link ate, he lied down and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Link woke up early and began to continue walking towards Woodfall. He only had two days left, and Tatl was grumbling at how slowly Link was walking. He knew that she was right, and he stared at the moon that was looming overhead. He decided to heed her complaints, and he hurried towards the south. Finally, after another hour of walking, he came to a large forest that had swampy water sprinkled on either side of the path. As he walked forward, he noticed that Tatl had stopped at a large tree with a drawing of a child with a large hat with two fairies on its base.
"I remember this… Tael and I drew this with the Skull Kid when we first met him. We met him a few years ago when it was raining heavily, and we met him under a tree. He was crying, so we decided to talk to him. He told us that he had been fighting with his friends and that they had left him all alone. I'm sure it was because he was always playing tricks, so nobody wanted to play with him. But to mug Halvard just because of that? And once he stole the mask, it got much worse.", Tatl said.
"I… see.", Link remarked. Tatl shook her head
"There is no need to worry about that now, we need to hurry before our time is up again!", she exclaimed. With that, she flew determinedly into the Woodfall Swamps.
After a while of traveling, the pair arrived in the middle of Woodfall in a small clearing. All around them were trees covered in vines and moss, and there was a river flowing through the center of the clearing with a wooden hut constructed above it. There was something wrong with the water though. It had a purplish color, and the water smelled acrid and decaying.
"There is something wrong with this water, Link. Don't touch it!", Tatl warned. Link nodded. After so much adventuring, he could tell that the water was filled with poison or some dark magic.
Link walked forward and climbed up the ladder that led him inside of the hut. He decided that there was no better option, so he entered the hut to find out what had happened to the swamp. Upon entering the hut, Link noticed a huge man with a thick black beard standing behind the counter.
"Hello there little guy, are you here for the pictograph contest?", the man said. Link was confused as to what a pictograph was and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, what is a pictograph?", he inquired politely as to not anger the large man. The man looked surprised, then replied:
"A pictograph is taken by a pictograph box. It takes instant paintings of whatever you point it at. Do you want one? I can give you one for free if you want to enter the contest. You can win Rupees, and even heart pieces if you take a pictograph that I like.". Link saw no harm in taking the strange box, so he put it into his magical bag.
"If I may ask, is there a way deeper into Woodfall?", Link asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Unfortunately, the only person who can help you has gone missing. She is an old lady named Koume, and she has not shown up for work today. If you can find her, then she can give you a boat ride through the water. For some reason, the water has been poisonous, and people cannot swim in it.", the man said. Link sighed internally. He had no time for sidequests, but he knew that he could probably find the missing woman in less than an hour.
Approximately an hour and a half later, Link made his way back to the boating hut while grumbling under his breath. He had found Koume in the Woods of Mystery that was eerily similar to the Lost Woods that he knew back home. He had gotten lost half a dozen times, then he had to give the old woman one of his health potions when he found her. She claimed to have been attacked by the skull kid, but Link saw no obvious injuries on her. He begrudgingly gave her a potion which she swigged down, then burped loudly. She then flew off on her broom, which she had the entire time! It didn't help that she looked exactly like another old woman he had met named Koume. In his world, there was a duo of witches named Koume and Kotake that raised his mortal enemy: Ganondorf. To put it simply, Link was in a bad mood.
He climbed inside and ordered a boat ride deeper into Woodfall. To his surprise, however, the old woman made his first ride free! That was a good sign, considering that he had only a few rupees left. He would soon need to smash some pots, which for some reason always gave him some rupees. He climbed down the ladder and hopped into the boat that the old hag was untying.
"Come back soon!", Koume called as Link left, then glanced up at the snarling moon then muttered:
"Come back before it's too late.". Link was not paying attention and was looking around him as he passed patches of algae, trees covered with moss, and dead wildlife floating in the poisoned water.
Earlier, when he helped Koume out of the forest, a couple of monkeys came to him when he exited the last lime and told him that their leader had tried to find the temple where the poisoned water was coming from but was captured by the Deku for some reason. Link intended to stop the poisoned water, and find the person who Tael appeared to be talking about earlier. Hmm, or was it later? She had told him that on the last day, but that was a day and a half ago. Link was no stranger to time travel, but he had confused himself. By the time he had shaken himself out of his musings, he realized that he had arrived at his location.
Link saw tall wooden walls painted with bright colors, and a large palace stood just behind the walls. He jumped onto the dock that was nearby, then walked towards the entrance until a shrill voice called out.
"Halt! This is the royal palace of the Deku Kingdom! Outsiders aren't allowed!", a Deku guard cried. Link tried speaking with them to let him in, but they refused to move. He was about to see if he could climb over the walls when Tatl spoke up:
"Hey Link, don't you remember the mask that Halvard gave us? He said that it retains its power to turn you into a Deku Scrub. Let's see if it really works.". Link shuddered at the pain that he remembered feeling the last time, but decided to try it. They were running out of time. Link walked out of the guard's line of sight then pulled the Deku Mask from his bag. It looked exactly as it did when he first put it into his bag, and Link could almost sense a faint power emanating from it. He gritted his teeth, then put the last to his face
Immediately, the mask fused to his face, and he could feel its power coursing through his entire body. He then began to feel his bones and muscles shifting once more. It hurt greatly, and Link screamed as there was a blinding flash of purple light in his vision. When his eyes opened again, he saw that his body had changed back into a Deku. he also noticed Tatl's anxious expression.
"Are you OK?", she asked.
"Other than the fact that my species and age just changed in under five seconds, I am just fine.", Link snapped at her. He already felt the pain fading, but his mind kept on feeling phantom pain of the experience. Somehow, his scream hadn't caught the attention of the guards that were still standing at the gate.
Link walked up to the guards, and this time they looked at him with interest.
"Nobody shall enter our King's sacred palace… However, you may come inside to watch the foolish monkey's execution for making the King angry.", one of them said. Link looked aghast.
"You are executing a monkey? Why would you do that?", he exclaimed.
"Ask the King himself, if you must know.", the Deku guard said with a huff. Link quickly ran past the guards, and towards the looming palace where the execution would be held.
