Chapter 1: Navi
Even half-asleep, Link knew that something was different. He wasn't home, or even at Ganon's Tower, but the air around him felt…fuller. Livelier. He shook his head, abandoning the attempt to explain the difference to himself.
A rush of air swooped past him. "Oh, honestly! Wake up! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?" cried an exasperated, high-pitched voice, now nearer to, now farther away. Determined to discover what was happening, he opened his eyes, and sat up.
There was a glowing ball of blue light diving at him. Was he being attacked? Just a second ago, he'd been writhing under the intense pain of Ganon's energy attack, after all.
Now, he was, as Saria had put it, safe. Home, according to her. But, this ball of light wasn't Saria, or even Gatrice. It was…it was a faerie! And, it was all alone, in his house. What…?
"Well, you finally woke up!" snapped the ball of light. Then, in a pleasanter voice, continued, "Hello, Link. I'm Navi, the faerie. The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on. It's nice to meet you."
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Couldn't she wait for him to come fully awake and realise that Saria hadn't woken him before dumping all this new information on him? Where was Saria, anyway?
The faerie flew closer to him. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"
"Are you really my faerie partner?" he blurted, kicking himself mentally as he did. That's the way to make a first impression, Link! Way to go! He truly did sound childish.
"Yes, yes, I already told you that," said the faerie (Navi) in a rush. "The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you. So, let's get going!"
Link blinked at the abrupt change in direction the conversation had taken.
"Uh…I'm Link," he said. Which was an even stupider choice for something to say. She'd already used his name, after all.
"I know, I know," snapped Navi. "Let's just go, already!"
Great. First, he was bossed around by a talking boat, who turned out to be a king. Then, he was bullied and harassed by a man in the shape of a child. Now, a ball of light was snapping at him, and giving orders.
He nodded, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, and stood. He should be used to being ordered around by now. It seemed to be everyone's first inclination upon meeting him.
Navi followed him to the door, and he noticed that she seemed to move about in the air even when trying to stay still, as if it helped to keep her airborne. He was noticing everything about faeries, now—the way the glow obscured the humanoid form he knew lurked beneath, the shrill soprano of her voice, the audible buzzing of her wings. Were all the other faeries that way?
She gave a great huff, and he pictured a blue woman with crossed arms frowning at him. He reached for the doorknob, and opened the door with laudable calm.
As he walked out onto the balcony, he saw a very green figure striding towards him, waving at him. He smiled at Saria as she approached, calling out to him.
"Good morning, Link! Or noon, rather! You're up early, but no chores today, so you can sleep in!"
He smiled, just a little, to himself. He climbed down the ladder, Navi fluttering down behind him.
"Hello, Link!" said Saria, when Link came close enough. "I thought it strange that I didn't have to come wake you up! What's going on today?"
Link was sure his eyes were shining as he spoke. "I met my new faerie partner, and the Great Deku Tree wants to talk to me!"
Saria glanced over at Navi, noticing her for the first time, and giggled.
"Really? A faerie finally came to you! That's great, Link! Now, you're a true kokiri. Even Mido won't be able to mock you for that, anymore! And the Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you? It's quite an honour to talk to the Great Deku Tree! You'd best get going. I'll wait for you here."
"You must be Saria," Navi said. "It's nice to meet you, Saria, Gatrice. I'm Navi."
Link frowned. She was being a lot politer and pleasanter towards them than she had been to him. Had they already gotten off on the wrong foot?
"It's nice to meet you too…Navi," Saria said, with another smile for a tiny ball of light. The faerie in question swooped around Saria, and flew back around to Link.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she demanded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Saria cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. "The Great Deku Tree has summoned you. It's urgent!"
He walked up the trail leading from his house, waving a goodbye to Saria, who responded in kind. Just as he was getting used to kokirish life, along came the promised essential faerie. Now he had to adjust all over again. But, he knew that he could do it. Saria was right. Even the cruelest of kokiris wouldn't be able to overlook his sudden faerie-bound state.
…Which way to the Great Deku Tree, again? After all this time in the forest, he still had no idea where the Great Deku Tree was.
Link suspected that he might be in the Lost Woods somewhere—it was the only place he had been specifically forbidden to enter, on account of his faerieless status. ("It's too dangerous," Saria had told him, head bowed in regret.) But, Navi mist know for sure.
He took a moment to offer a fervent prayer to no one in particular that he at least not encounter Mido today. The man still seemed rather crueler than usual following Link's assault. And, while Mido was for once justified, Link had done everything possible to atone. He'd apologised, offered to help Mido in whatever way Mido needed help with for two weeks (effectively amounting to him to being Mido's unappreciated minion for two weeks), and done every humiliating and degrading task Mido had set him to. Still, Mido hadn't budged in his antipathy. It was a lost cause. Best just to avoid him, if possible.
"Say, Navi, where is the Great Deku Tree?" he asked, turning his head in an unceasing attempt to follow her movement. She huffed, and he imagined the blue woman with her arms crossed, scowling at him.
"What, you don't even know?" She sighed, as if he had asked her for some great favour. "Follow me," she commanded, and sped away ahead, leaving Link running after her.
"Hey, Link, what are you doing?" asked Hallu, as Link raced past. She stood near the stepping-stones that formed the swiftest path from his or Saria's house to the red-roofed kokiri store.
He paused. She was on neither Mido's side, nor his. She seemed to try to be polite and amicable to both parties. Mido's house was in the backdrop, behind her—Tago had been ordered to clear out the rock pile next to Mido's house, again, and he strained to lift one in front of the lowest of the cliffs leading up to the entrance to the Lost Woods, which was almost directly behind Mido's house, if at the top of a high cliff.
In short, if he stayed, not only did Navi leave him further behind, but he increased his risk of running into Mido. On the other hand, he was rather excited that he finally had a faerie partner, regardless of how childish his excitement felt—apparently being deaged deaged your psyche, too. He wanted to share the news with everyone. Only Navi's great desire for haste made him feel the need to rush and meet with the Great Deku Tree.
Despite that urgency, she flew back towards him when she saw that he wasn't following. She gave a quite loud huff, but fluttered around his head, examining Hallu.
"I was trying to follow my new guardian faerie, Navi," he said, pointing with his right hand, and trying to follow Navi's movement.
"Oh! You have a faerie! That's great! But, where were you going?" said Hallu, and it was strangely heartwarming to see how genuinely pleased she seemed to be at this turn of events, with a broad smile, and her hands clasped tight together. Perhaps, she was just glad that the Great Kokiri Conflict seemed about to end. Or, perhaps not.
"The Great Deku Tree wanted to speak to me about something…." He wondered if it was his "amnesia", that Saria was always asking him about.
"Really? Wow! It's an honour to speak to the Great Deku Tree! You're so lucky!" she seemed happy, rather than envious, of said luck, judging by her tone of voice, and broad smile. "Maybe he wants to give you something special. That's because he's the guardian spirit of the forest, our father, and he gave life to all of us Kokiri. And maybe everything else that lives in the forest. I've never been sure. I hope he gives you something really neat. You deserve it, after all Mido's put you through… er, I mean…. You deserve it, after all of your hard work!"
He turned to look at her, as she clasped her hands behind her back, blushing at her misstatement. Perhaps, she hadn't been indifferent, or perhaps she had changed her mind when she had seen Navi.
"Hello! It's nice to meet you! I'm Navi, the faerie!" Navi said, as if she hadn't been in a rush moments ago.
"Wow! It's nice to meet you, Navi! I'm Hallu, and this is my faerie, Kiean. He's a bit shy…."
He? All this time, and Link had never realised that there were male faeries, too. His mind failed to try to comprehend how a male faerie might possibly look. All the faeries he'd ever seen without halos were women. He'd assumed (and now he didn't know why; it was a stupid assumption) that all faeries were women.
"Come on, Link," said Navi. "Let's get going." She sped off again, and Link waved to Hallu, as he ran after Navi again. He hopped across the stepping stones, to the store, pausing to collect the blue rupee the stepping stone spat out at him for a perfect score (Kokiri Forest kept track of the strangest things, and rewarded them), still following Navi, but then Mosia called out to him.
"Hey, Link! Up here!" She was basking in the sun atop the red awning of the shop roof. She waved a hand to catch his attention, as her pink faerie fluttered around her head. "Look over here, and send your faerie over to talk to me! Ha!"
Well, this was strange. Mosia was one of Mido's admirers and loyalists. Yet now, just because a faerie had come to him, she was being friendly? He frowned, and he had the sense that Navi turned to look at him (mostly because all but the tips of her wings were hidden by her halo, suggesting that she was facing him, as he assumed that her wings were on her back), before flying over to Mosia and her faerie.
"Yes, that's it! That's how you use a faerie! It's great that a faerie finally came to you! I'll teach you a bit about talking to people with faeries.
"Faeries are very observant creatures. If they notice a thing, they'll fly over to it, and wait for you to notice them—or call to you via faerie connection. They do the same thing with people, but when you focus on a person, or the faerie connection you have with your faerie, you can talk to them from great distances, no matter how far away they are—without even having to shout. Of course, your faerie has to stay right there next to them for it to work. Hey, what are you doing?!"
Navi flew back to Link, saying, "I knew there was something I forgot!" She fluttered close to his face, and spoke to him in a low voice, as if to avoid the attention of Mosia and her faerie. "You've got good hearing, I think, so you probably heard what that girl said, even though she assumed that you just heard through our non-existent faerie connection. Hold on while I fix that up a bit. I'll just have to learn how to serve as a channel. I can do that, I think."
"What's this about a faerie connection?" asked Link. Navi fluttered up and down in front of his face, and he wished that he could see her true form. It was impossible to tell what a silent ball of light was thinking.
"She's talking about faerie channeling." said Navi, bobbing lower. "Hang on. This might sting a bit."
She flew at his face, and he took a step backwards, and then checked himself. He had to learn to trust Navi at some point. He took a step forwards, again, and he felt something warm and smooth (skin?) against his forehead.
"There!" said Navi, only he was certain that he wasn't hearing it with his ears. "Now, we can communicate over long distances. And, I can serve as a channel to help you read things and speak to people from a distance. And, that's not all I know how to do! I can help guide your weapons, and better aim at enemies, and I even know all of their names and weaknesses…I think…! I'm the most knowledgeable among faeries! Here, I'll show you what she was talking about! This is very important, so I hope the Great Deku Tree forgives me for my delay…."
She flew back over to Mosia, hovering near the girl's unintroduced faerie.
"Link, go across the channel to the Twins' House. You need to be familiar with how this works."
Obedient, he backed across the trickle of water that separated the inlet the shop sat on from Wihei and Hallu's house.
"Hey, Link!" said Mosia's voice. "Navi explained the situation to me! What a forgetful faerie! Ha-ha! Still, I'm glad that I could guide you on such an important milestone! But, you'd better go see the Great Deku Tree. We'll talk later!"
This reminded him a bit of using the communication stone with Zelda. Link felt himself relax at the familiarity of the situation. Navi flew back over to him, as he waved goodbye to Mosia. She sat there, lounging against the roof, but she raised an arm to wave at him, and she was smiling.
They continued on, across the stepping-stones of the kokiri lake, pausing again to collect another five rupees for a good game of island-skipping, until they came to a hidden passage, a gorge cutting through what had appeared to be a solid wall every time Link had looked at it before.
Predictably, Mido had stationed himself to block the entrance to this path.
"Hey, Mr. No Faerie, what are you doing over here?"
Link became aware of a strange feeling coming from…somewhere outside of himself. He could feel Navi's anger begin to stir. Maybe this "faerie connection" bore an even closer resemblance to the communication stones than he had thought.
"Ooh…that man! That must be Mido!" Navi hissed. Link wasn't even sure that he was being addressed, but he nodded anyway.
"Yes. How could you tell?" he asked, and there was a brief flash of surprise that sank into irritation.
Meanwhile, Mido had noticed the obvious. "Wait a minute…is that…a faerie? You have a faerie partner?"
"That's right," said Link, unable to resist folding his arms and smirking. "Her name's Navi, and she—"
"The Great Deku Tree wants to speak to us," Navi interrupted, but through the connection, Link could barely make out a constant low murmuring of what sounded like imprecations against the kokiri leader. Link raised his eyebrows. Huh.
"…What? The Great Deku Tree actually summoned you? Why would he summon you, and not the Great Mido? Ugh!"
He lowered his pointing finger to peer at Link critically, one hand on his waist, the other keeping him balanced as he bent over sideways.
"You must be kidding! You're not even fully equipped yet? How does someone like you think they'll be of any use to the Great Deku Tree without a sword and shield handy? It's just common sense!"
"I don't see your sword and shield anywhere," Navi snapped. She was keeping unnaturally still in the air, only bobbing back and forth slightly, staying within the same cubic foot.
"Well…you're right that I don't have my equipment, either, but still! There's no way I'll let you pass unless you have a sword and a shield handy! Don't bother me until you're properly equipped."
He stared at Link, as if daring Link to object, but something seemed to be uncurling itself at the bottom of Link's stomach, and possibly arranging itself the better to constrict it.
Why would he need a weapon, and a means of defence? This wasn't the same as going to infiltrate the Forsaken Fortress. This was a safe zone—a village. Then why?
Brow furrowed, he turned around, headed back, seeking out Saria. She must have answers.
She was waiting for him, as promised, at the bottom of the slope before Link's house.
"What is it, Link? What did the Great Deku Tree want?" she asked, but he noted the concern in her voice.
"Mido is blocking the path, and won't let me through," he said, staring at the ground, any hint of pride at finally having a faerie partner gone. He was back to self-consciously scuffing the ground beneath his feet. He couldn't force his eyes to look up at Saria. "He said that if I wanted to go through to the Great Deku Tree, I'd need to prove that I had a sword and shield. We don't even have swords in the Kokiri Forest. Although I took Tago's advice and took a Deku Shield, that time Mido had us painting them…there's that…."
Saria frowned, putting her wrists on her hips, as she stared at nothing with quiet intensity.
"Oh! That jerk! Why does he have to be so mean to everyone all the time?"
She relaxed her stance, brow furrowed. Her hands fell back to her sides, but she raised her left to cushion her chin.
"He does have a point, though. Weird things…they've been happening in the woods, of late. Even the Sacred Forest Meadow, my special place in the heart of the Lost Woods, is filled with monsters. They're in the Great Deku Tree's clearing, too…. You have to be ready for anything…you'd better find that sword! We sell Deku Shields at the shop, but swords…well, they're not the sort of thing a kokiri can make.
"There's only one sword—the Kokiri Sword—hidden somewhere in the forest. I think Mido may have hidden it—but I know it isn't in his house! I don't know where else to look—look around Kokiri Forest, and don't venture into the Lost Woods just yet.
"If all else fails, come back here, and I'll guide you through the woods. Even though you have a faerie now, there's still plenty of danger for a lone kokiri in the woods, without any sort of protection. Those tools in your house won't help you, but I have a bow. Just…don't go in there on your own, without a means of defending yourself, and defeating monsters."
She gave him a small smile, and he returned it, climbing up the ladder to the entrance to his house.
"Link, why are we—?" Navi began, but he wrenched open the door, and ran over to the desk. He'd hidden the wooden shield behind the mirror of the vanity. He picked the shield up, and slid it into a familiar position on his back.
"Perhaps, I'll ask if anyone knows anything," he said, as Navi hovered silently near his head.
He walked back out, and nodded to Saria from the top of the ladder, before climbing back down, to make the rounds of asking around for any information about the whereabouts of the Kokiri Sword.
Everyone congratulated him on his new faerie partner—those on his team seeming particularly pleased with the news, but even Fado was…civil, when he had a faerie to support him.
Wihei had gotten sidetracked, trying to explain everything she knew about Deku Shields. He could tell that she was trying to be helpful, and couldn't bring himself to interrupt her explanation of things he did understand. Instead, he thanked her for the explanation, and turned to the shopkeep.
He continued on, speaking to Tiri, one of Mido's girls, standing at the bottom of the slope, and standing near Broznas, who perpetually guarded the exit to the Kokiri Forest. According to Saria, the exit led to a rope bridge leading to the true exit to the woods, but Broznas was taking no chances. Nor was his faerie, who ceaselessly hovered in the area not sufficiently protected by Broznas.
Link climbed the slope to the forest training centre, and thought of the Know-It-All Brothers. If anyone would know the whereabouts of the Kokiri Sword, other than Mido, it was they.
They told him of a secret maze hidden nearby, filled with traps. If you followed the outside of the maze, you would find the sword in a treasure chest on one of the paths shooting off from the main path. Mido didn't realise that they had followed him there, and watched him hide it.
They congratulated him on Navi's arrival (he was beginning to sense embarrassment from her side of the connection), and sent him on his way with their very best wishes.
Outside, Muldal, who was something of a kokiri loner, stood near a small tunnel bored through the rock in the same wall as that leading to the exit to Kokiri Forest. He punched and swiped and kicked at a nearby rock, focusing hard on it. As Link approached, he slowed, and then stopped; he looked over at Link, noticed Navi, and nodded to himself.
Link stared at the tiny crawl hole. Nothing important could possibly be there, right?
As he approached, Muldal launched into an explanation of various combat moves—how to roll, jump attack, backflip, and jump aside. Link already knew all of this, but he found that when he tried for the first time, that it was harder even to roll than he remembered it being. What? Why?
Instead of rolling, he fell, and he found himself peering at the hole in the wall. He got down onto his hands and knees, and peered through the hole in the rock wall leading to a grassy area. That was as much as he could see.
He shrugged to himself, and, for want of a better plan, he crawled into the hole, operating under the assumption that this place wasn't part of the Lost Woods. Perhaps justifiable, considering that it was on the other side of Kokiri Forest from those woods.
He emerged into a narrow passage cut into the rock.
He made his slow and cautious way through a maze chiseled through the rock of this part of Kokiri Forest, which he had never noticed before. Was it hidden, as with the Great Deku Tree's meadow? Or had he not had cause, before, and overlooked it?
He walked around the maze, keeping a constant ear out for the boulders that patrolled the corridors, after almost being crushed twice. He realised that there was a fairly lengthy gap between them, and that if he kept running, he could run out behind one, and be assured of his own safety. He twisted his head to look out at every passage they passed, off the main maze.
In truth, despite first appearances, it wasn't a maze at all, but merely a square with several paths branching off it. The boulders patrolled the square path, and avoided the offshoots. Try as he might, he could see no reason that they should move at all. They just did.
Navi fluttered to and fro beside him, keeping an eye out for boulders. It was thanks to her that he hadn't been crushed in the instances of his two near misses. She had replied to his earnest thanks with an embarrassed silence—which he only knew was caused by embarrassment on account of their connection—and waited until they checked the next offshoot before saying, "It was nothing. I'm your faerie partner! That's what I'm supposed to do!"
She couldn't hide the tremble in her voice. She must be as new to this as he was, he realised—only he had spent the past month and a half hearing tales of what faeries were supposed to do. Had she been informed of any of that—or was that how she had "forgotten" to connect their minds via the faerie connection? Now, he felt…guilty…for his earlier thoughts about her. He leant against the wall, beside the strange, yellowish tuft of grass, straightening as he resolved to make this partnership work. He'd gotten off to a bad start. Fine. He'd just have to prove to Navi that he wasn't what she thought he was.
He waited while the boulder rushed past, and then ran after it, keeping a constant eye out for a larger offshoot.
Finally, he saw one that continued for more than a couple of feet. It seemed to lead up into a sort-of natural hollow.
He and the boulder went their separate ways, and he climbed the short slope to a tree stump—or a rock that closely resembled a tree stump; as with the Forest Haven, it was strangely hard to tell—and approached the treasure chest that lay there.
Although it was probably only the same size as the treasure chests he had regularly encountered as he voyaged across the Great Sea, now that he was younger, it seemed much, much bigger. Standing before it, he realised that it came to his shoulders, and that there was no way that he could reach into it to pull to the sword, without diving in. This could be humiliating. How had Mido brought the sword here? Wouldn't he have had to lift the treasure chest? Or was this some sort of faerie or kokiri magic?
At least it wasn't locked. He braced himself, walked up to the chest, and prised the lid up, knocking it backwards, towards the wall. He could not, of course, see inside, but Navi squealed—a very undignified sound. He wanted to comment on this fact, but restrained himself. It wouldn't do for him to tease his guardian faerie.
"Ooh! Link, it's the Kokiri Sword! I've never seen it before! It's too small for a grown-up to use, but I'm sure a kokiri could use it just fine…lucky you're a kokiri, huh? We'll have to return it, eventually, but you can borrow it for now. Maybe you should hide it somewhere else when we've finished talking to the Great Deku Tree! Wouldn't that just serve Mido right!"
He leant over the treasure chest, and almost fell in. The world just loved humiliating him, didn't it? Still, this was better than hitting a giant stone fortress face first. He'd take what he could get.
He held onto the sides of the chest, lest he fall in, and reached into the chest with his weaker right hand, pulling out the Kokiri Sword by its brown wooden hilt, and then trying to ease himself back out. The deku shield made the going difficult, and Navi floated near his head, hovering as if she wished that she could do something.
At length, he managed to fall back out of the chest, awkwardly, still clutching the sword. That was highly dangerous. But, he needed the blue bandolier that was also hidden within the chest, and thus he braced himself (literally), after dropping the Kokiri Sword into the grass. The bandolier was even harder to reach, and Link scowled at the general idiocy of his current situation. Well, at last he managed to hook his right hand through the lop of the belt, swinging it up over his arm. This was tedious.
He rolled the bandolier up his shoulder by swinging it around in circles, and then leant back, relying on the weight of the deku shield to carry him backwards. Maybe he was starting to master how to do this. He was certain he'd encounter more treasure chests, and wanted to be prepared. He wouldn't be in as safe of surroundings next time, knowing his luck.
He landed on his feet, this time, which was something. He slung the bandolier around his waist and cinched it so that the loop for the sword and scabbard hung at his right, before reaching for the Kokiri Sword, and sheathing it at his side. Well, at least this was familiar.
"Are you alright, Link?" asked Navi, her voice higher-pitched than usual. "That looked really painful…."
"Nothing hurt but my pride," he said, with a small smile. She didn't seem to be laughing at him, anyway.
He waited for the boulder to pass before running after it, hoping that he'd be led back to the entrance…eventually. Naturally, said entrance was nearer than he'd thought—it was the very next offshoot path.
He climbed through the tunnel with greater care now, mindful of the sword girt at his side, and the shield upon his back. Navi flew through first, stopping at the other end, hovering in the air above it until he stood.
"Now, that jerk Mido should let us through! Let's go, Link!" she cried.
You had to admire Navi's single-minded focus.
He nodded, and left the Kokiri Training Ground, pausing as they passed the slope leading to his house, where Saria waited—but he didn't have any news for her, and she would want him to prioritise his appointment with the Great Deku Tree.
Navi flew ahead of him, leading him to the hidden path to the Great Deku Tree, at the moment barricaded by Mido's body.
"Back again already, huh?" Mido asked, pointing his finger at Link, as if he might have been speaking to anyone else. "I told you not to waste my time, Mr.—er, Link. You can't get past me! If you don't have a sword and shield, I'm not let—"
Link pulled the Deku Shield off his back with some effort, holding it out for Mido to inspect.
"So, you've got a Deku Shield…" said Mido, rolling his eyes. "You need—"
Link drew the Kokiri Sword with his free left hand, and Mido's eyes widened as he stared at it, hands on his hips.
"Is that—? How did you—? Is that the Kokiri Sword? Good grief! How did you come across that? Ugh…I give up. You can pass! I don't believe this… but hey, even with all that equipment, a wimp is still a wimp, right?
"But I, the Great Mido, will never accept you as one of us! You can't fool me!" he shouted, and then muttered to himself as he moved aside, "Darn. How did you get to be the favourite of Saria and the Great Deku Tree!" He moved to stand next the entrance, still muttering about how it wasn't fair. Link remembered his theory that Mido had some sort of crush on Saria. Well, nothing could be done about that.
"Come on, Link! Let's go see the Great Deku Tree!" Navi cried, flying ahead of him. Mido's faerie made an aborted move to follow them, and then flew back to sulk by her (or his!) charge.
They entered the narrow path, following it as it twisted its way between the two high rock walls.
They could see the area before them widen out, when a green sprout sprang out of nowhere, the blue growth at the end of its stalk snapping at them, with its red mouth and scalloped jaws, located on the outside of its head. A boko baba? Here? But, it wasn't fuchsia, or pretending to be a plant…it had appeared out of nowhere!
"Watch out!" Navi cried, flying over to the plant, and turning yellow. "I'll help guide you! This is a deku baba…they're plants that grow elsewhere in the world, but rarely in Hyrule, until recently. Kill it by crushing the head, or cutting the stem off. If you cut the stem when it's standing up straight, as it is now, it'll turn into a deku stick! They're very useful! Try it!"
He approached the deku baba (not boko baba), drawing the Kokiri Sword, and the Deku Shield. He realised then that he had no idea how well he could fight as a child. Sure, he'd been trained by Orca, but only with the sword, and he'd forgotten how it felt to even hold a sword when he was ten years old.
He stumbled, but then took up a better stance. He braced himself, and slashed with the Kokiri Sword, cutting the monster clean across, near its base. One of the good things about being a child, he supposed: he was short enough to reach the base of the plant-beast's stalk with ease, even with the dagger-sized Kokiri Sword.
There was another to his right. Navi was already hastening in its direction, turning yellow when she came near it. "I'll help guide your attacks. Just aim for me!"
He definitely had some misgivings about this plan of action. "Don't worry about me! Faeries are difficult to catch, and impervious to most attacks. You won't hurt me. I've got to be an easier mark to aim for than those thin stalks!"
This was true. Still, he hesitated. "Come on!" Navi cried, and he slashed with misgiving at the area she was hovering in—near the base of the second deku baba. He cut clean through the stalk once more. Navi turned blue, once more.
Sure enough, both of the defeated deku babas had left sticks standing straight up in the air. Link picked up the one on the left, and then paused. He no longer had a messenger bag in which to store items. On the rare occasion that Mido had sent him foraging, he'd been given a basket in which to put what he found, which he had to return to the kokiri shop afterwards. He hadn't had much cause to think about it before, but now he realised his lack.
"What's the matter, Link?" asked Navi, fluttering over to him. She hovered near his head, facing him, if he could guess.
"I know that deku sticks are useful—I've heard that they last longer when used as torches, and are tough enough to be used as clubs…but I don't have any place to put these, and carrying them around means I'd never have my hands free to wield the sword…."
"Is that all?" Navi asked, laughter bubbling up in her voice. "I'll teach you how to do this yourself, later, but for now, I'll put it away for you. If you want to put something away, just call for me, and tell me what you want to put away. If you want to take something you've acquired out, tell me what item you want, and I'll bring it back out for you. Try it now. Say something such as, 'Navi, deku stick!'"
Link frowned. He didn't like the thought of bossing her around, no matter how she'd already shown her willingness to give him orders. "Uh—Navi, could you put this away please?"
"Come on, Link! If we're in a dangerous situation, you won't have time for so many words!" Navi said, but despite her scolding, she alit upon the deku stick, and it vanished. She fluttered over to the second one, and he picked it up.
"Deku stick, Navi?" he asked, and he heard her sigh, without need of the faerie connection. But, she flew back over to him, and perched on the deku stick, and it vanished.
"Now, let's practise taking them back out, right?"
He frowned, bowed his head, and tapped his foot. Well, Navi seemed to feel that this was important, and he agreed. He folded his arms, and looked down.
"Navi. deku stick," he said, raising his head. Without warning, one appeared in his hand, and he hastened to clench his left fist around it. "Navi, deku stick," he said again, and she perched on it again, and it just…disappeared.
"Let's keep going," she said, eager to continue again. He was beginning to think that there was no rhyme or reason to her actions at all.
"Watch out!" she cried, after only flying ahead a few feet. A deku baba burst out of the earth, and Link sighed, drawing the Kokiri Sword once more. Navi persisted in hovering near the base of its stalk, and he hacked at the plant, cutting clean through the stem.
He was beginning to understand part of their movement, at least. When they first appeared, they shot up, twirling around on their ramrod straight stalks for a few crucial seconds before relaxing into crouches. He arrived just as the third deku baba was starting to relax, but he cut through it fast enough. He picked up the deku stick that remained, wondering if the monsters were enchanted sticks, or, if not, how it was that they turned into sticks when they died.
He shrugged. Maybe Navi knew, but now was not the time to ask her. Without needing to be told, he made his request of Navi, and then ran on, towards the exit of the narrow defile, where it opened up into a meadow. Navi followed him, but soon he had to run to catch up to her as she passed him by. Neither of them said anything at all; they just raced into the clearing.
Link stopped at the top of the hill, staring down at the forest giant that lay at the bottom of it, stretching tall limbs towards the sky.
So much for that plan. This was not the Deku Tree he knew. This tree was even larger than that one, taller, and with darker, rougher bark. All of its boughs, covered with leaves, were at the top, forming their own, broad carpet of leaves, high, high above. He had no chin; instead, his pained face seemed to be organic knotholes in the tree bark, as an oak with its hollows. It was as if a tree had grown tall in this meadow that just happened to have holes that could serve as eyes and a mouth, with an angular, hooked bump in the bark for a nose. The mouth was drawn into an anguished frown. All in all, it was not a pleasant scene.
Navi left Link's side, flying over to the Deku Tree.
"Great Deku Tree…I'm back!" she cried. Link had the suspicion that perhaps she wasn't entirely aware of when she was using her faerie channeling to speak, and when she wasn't, but perhaps she didn't want him to miss any part of the conversation to come.
"Ah, Navi…thou hast returned…and Link, welcome. I have much to speak to you on, and little time in which to tell it all…. Listen well to my words, the words of the Deku Tree….
"Link, thy slumber these past months must have been restless, and full of nightmares…" As he said these words, Link felt a strange tugging on the faerie connection. A series of emotions—confusion, horror, shame, regret—passed over the connection, tugging at his soul. Navi's sorrow. Navi's regret.
Even from this distance, and it was a great distance, he saw her turn to face him, start to fly back over to him, and then return to the mouth of the Deku Tree, who continued speaking, unaware. "A vile climate of evil pervades Hyrule, and causes nightmares to those sensitive to its evil influence. Nor is that all. For the moment, there is a more pressing concern. I have been curst. I need thou to break this curse, with thine wisdom and courage. Hast thou courage enough to undertake this task?"
Link nodded, reaching for the shield on his back, and the sword girt at his side. Then, he wondered if the Deku Tree could even see him. But, as he watched, the mouth began to drop open, revealing an entrance resembling the gaping maw of a cave. What? He had to go inside the Deku Tree? Oh, man….
"Then enter, Link, and thou too, Navi. Navi, help and guide Link in his quest. And Link, when Navi speaks, listen to her wise words. She is knowledgeable on a wide variety of matters."
Navi bobbed up and down, and flew back to Link, who was already coming down the hill.
"Let's hurry, Link! He doesn't have much time left!" she cried. Had that been the reason for her haste, before? His insides seemed to squirm at the thought of all those delays. What if…?
We'll just have to do our best, he told himself firmly, and ran into the open mouth.
Inside, it was well lit, in the mysterious manner of most dungeons. The inner chamber was, naturally, cylindrical, with a series of ramps around the edges making what passed for different floors. A dungeon, then. He could do that.
Straight ahead, the ledges of the upper stories connected to the one he was on now via vines (sure), and ladder (how?). There were two such ledges, with wooden bridges connecting them. And in the very heart of the entrance chamber, directly before him, a strange white substance stood out from the floor surrounding it.
He started to walk towards it, but was distracted by Navi, hovering near his ear.
"Link…I'm sorry for what I said when we first met. About you being lazy. I had no idea about the nightmares…I think anyone would be tired and hard to wake after months of nightmares."
Link shrugged, edging forwards, mindful of the fact that just because he didn't see any enemies didn't mean there weren't any there. Already, the words "curst" and "monsters" were inextricably connected in his mind. The other Great Deku Tree had mentioned being curst, and spoken of the curst Forbidden Woods. Only Jabun's Pearl had provided a curse that didn't come complete with dungeon, monsters, and boss.
"Don't worry about it. As you said: you didn't know."
He was glad of his caution when a deku baba sprang up next the ladder. He turned aside, curiosity driving him to examine the strange white film in the centre before heading up. It could be something important.
"Still," Navi said. "I will try to be more sensitive to your needs. But…Link, where did you learn to fight with a sword? I know that the kokiris are sometimes given chores using axes and rakes—and I saw those in your house, the way they weren't in anyone else's, but there is only one Kokiri Sword. Saria said that herself. How could you have learnt—and from whom?"
Link sighed. He should have expected such a confrontation to come. He had been told that Navi was wise, after all. What should he say? What could he tell her? Should he reveal his secret to another?
If she were an ordinary faerie, human, or kokiri, he wouldn't have even considered doing such. As it was, he knew that he would be spending the rest of his time in this strange alternate reality (or whatever it was) with her…or, at least, until the other Link came back, if he return. Link might be stuck here for the rest of his life. Was there cause enough to hide the truth of his past from her?
On the other hand, he didn't know her at all. Suppose she reacted the same way as Saria—or worse? What if she thought that he was crazy? What if she decided to break their connection? He'd be left alone again, back to being the outcast kokiri.
He'd see how he felt about her personality and trustworthiness after spending more time with her. At the end of this dungeon, he should have enough information, right? In the meantime…he should focus on said dungeon.
From closer to, the white film had holes in it, but resembled a thick white net. When he stepped onto it, it gave beneath his feet, but remained intact. Navi fluttered down towards the "net" without needing to be told.
"Link, look! You can see down through the spiderweb from here! Do you want me to try to squeeze through some of the holes, and see what lies below?"
Spiderweb? Link wondered, but aloud, all he said was, "Not right now, Navi. I'm sure that we'll see what lies below soon enough."
Navi flew back over towards him, and fluttered in his face, hovering almost in place. "Well?" she asked, after he had turned around, walking back towards the deku baba, already contemplating the…spiderweb.
"It's a long story, Navi, and I just met you. The last person I told didn't believe me. I'll consider explaining the whole long thing to you later, but for now, we have to focus on the task ahead."
"Right!" said Navi, accepting his words far too easily. She flew over to the deku baba, and he turned to look at her. She was almost not moving through the air at all. He drew the Kokiri Sword silently, and cut through the plant-beast with a single swipe. He was beginning to understand how to compensate for his shorter stature, and to become accustomed to fighting in the weaker, denser body of a child. It was still quite awkward, and disorienting, but he'd just have to get used to it. They'd only just entered the dungeon.
He climbed the ladder to the second floor, ran across the rope bridge, and found himself at a second ledge, with a patch of vines leading up to it, and another patch of vines conveniently growing up to the ceiling, and providing a path to the next floor up. Strange, eight-legged creatures scuttled on the wall, with jointed legs like spiders, and backs that resembled drawings of human skulls. Pleasant.
They were too high up to reach with the sword, or even the greater reach of a deku stick. However, there was a treasure chest—another of the big ones—standing right below the vines, flanked by the trailing ends of vines on either side. He glanced at Navi, who fluttered up to one of the spider-monsters, and the ball of light turned yellow. He noticed that she seemed to do that whenever she flew near a monster. Did all faeries do that? Well, there wasn't any way to tell, now was there?
"It's called a wall skulltula! They crawl around on walls, but can't move on floors or ceilings the way ordinary skulltulas can. I'd suggest that you try climbing these vines, but you do need to get rid of them, first. I don't think you could outclimb them—they move fast, and their bite is very painful. You'd almost certainly lose your grip and fall. We need a projectile weapon!"
Wall skulltulas, huh? He'd never encountered any of those, before. And, a projectile weapon? Dared he to hope that the Deku Tree would provide one?
Just what was in that big treasure chest, anyway? Well, if the skulltulas could only move on the wall, then he was safe as long as he was on the floor. He approached the chest, and managed to flip the top open, bracing one leg on the ground, and hooking his right boot on the outside of the chest to keep from falling in.
He reached into the chest and pulled out…a dungeon map. As with the ones before, it was shaded in (if in blue!) for the room in which he now stood—and the entrance room, below him, and one floor above him. According to the map, there were two floors below him, in addition to the one above. They must be accessible by somehow breaking through the spiderweb.
There was also a series of corridors each leading off the floor he was on, and the one above.
Oh, and Navi was saying something. What was she saying?
"That's the dungeon map!" she said, unaware that he already knew this. "The inside of the Great Deku Tree, where we now are, is what's called a dungeon. They're intricate places filled with traps, monsters, and puzzles. At the end of the dungeon is the boss monster, the lord of the dungeon. If you defeat him, the monsters in the rest of the dungeon usually disappear—or their power is greatly reduced. So, that's the goal. If we defeat the boss leading these monsters, the Great Deku Tree's curse should be broken.
"And this dungeon map tells you where you are, and what other rooms there are in the dungeon. Use it to keep track of your location, and the rooms you've already been to. Dungeon maps are inherently magical items, and they keep track of where you have and haven't been!"
Somehow, Link managed to keep from arousing more suspicion, biting his tongue to keep from pointing out that he already knew most of that information. Navi flew close to the map, perhaps studying it closer, or perhaps not. Her wings were beginning to droop.
"Thanks, Navi," he said, instead. "Oh, can you put away the dungeon map? And then, if you want, you can rest on my shoulder, or something. There don't seem to be any enemies nearby except for those wall skulltulas, and it must be tiring, being airborne all the time."
Some sort of warm emotion washed over him via the connection. The dungeon map disappeared, first, and Navi settled on his shoulder, wings drooping. She crawled into his shirt, until he couldn't see her anymore. That was somewhat awkward, but he doubted a faerie would realise that fact.
He peered at the ramp leading around the side of the main chamber. There was a gap leading to the final ledge. He'd have to hop across, but on the other side was an alcove, and that alcove had a door. As he approached the door, Navi spoke up again.
"Dungeons…or most any building…they in time develop what you might call a mind of their own. Even a door with a handle will usually open, if you just stand before it, and tell it to open—unless it's locked or barred, of course. Try it now. Stand in front of the door, and tell it to open."
Link found himself remembering the last two dungeons he had encountered—not to speak of Ganon's Tower, and how the doors had behaved just the way Navi was describing. Was that all it was? If he'd told the doors in the Dragon Roost Cavern to open, would they have? Huh.
"Thanks, Navi. That's amazing! Er—open," he said to the door, and the door rose into the air. It waited until he was safe on the other side before slamming shut again. There was a ledge on the far side of the room, and another ledge, upon which he stood, and a floating platform between the two. Coming to the edge, he saw a shallow pit—too deep for him to climb back to this ledge if he fell off, but not so deep that he would be hurt if he did.
He backed up to the door, and ran for the platform, timing his jump to catch the edges of it, and pulled himself up. It started to shake, and he worried that it was about to break. He ran to the edge, jumping across to the far ledge just in time, as the platform he had just stood on fell to pieces behind him. There was a big treasure chest in this room, too.
He nodded to himself, and pushed the lid so that it fell open, bracing himself on one foot while he hooked the other around the outside of the chest. It had worked last time, after all. He reached inside, and pulled out a strange contraption the likes of which he had never seen before. He held it up, frowning, as he considered it from every angle.
"Huh? Oh, that's the faerie slingshot!" Navi said. "There should be a seed bag, too. You hold it by the thick, sticklike part. You put a seed against the string, and then pull back on the string, taking care not to lose the seed, and then release the string, and the seed will fly at whatever you aim it at. That's not the best explanation, but I hope you understand, anyway.
"Look!" she said, sounding a bit less winded, as if she were recovering her energy. "There's a ladder hanging from the wall above the ledge by the entrance. Try aiming for it! Your seed satchel carries up to thirty seeds, and it's full to the brim—you might as well practice! I'll help!"
She flew out of his shirt, turning green as she came to the ladder. "Because this is a long-distance weapon, I can help guide it on its course. Aim for me! I'll make sure it hits the ladder, as best I can! There's a limit even to my ability to correct a shot, though…."
Link braced himself against the treasure chest, and reached in again, pulling out the aforementioned seed satchel.
He pulled out a small, pale brown seed the size of one of his knuckles, slit with two diagonal crisscrossing lines seeming cut into it. It was possible that they grew that way, however. But who had put this here? Who had filled this bag? Was it possible that…the Great Deku Tree had somehow generated them, the way the other Great Deku Tree had created the leaf Link had used to glide through the air?
He wanted to ask Navi, but was very aware of the fact that he had given her no information about himself, yet, and was in no position to ask favours of her.
Instead, he peered at Navi, patiently hovering by the ladder, and held up the slingshot, setting a seed to the string that connected the two prongs of the weapon. He held the seed in place with his finger as he drew back the string, thinking of bows and arrows. True, his aim wasn't as good as it had been, but he'd still hit the target more often than missed, those rare times Saria had been able to find the opportunity to train him. He could do this even without Navi. Maybe.
He carefully aimed for the rungs of the ladder, and let fly. Via their connection, he could see where the seed would end up as he aimed. It was better than sighting. The ladder fell to the ground, neatly landing straight up, as if supported by holes dug into the ground, and clamps binding it to the ledge. He was certain that it wouldn't even wobble.
"That was amazing, Navi," he said, as she returned to him, flying to land on his shoulder. There was a sort of warmth emanating from the faerie connection again. He dismissed it as unimportant, and jumped off the short ledge, heading back to the ladder.
He returned to the door through which he had entered, told it to open, and made his way back to the main chamber. The slingshot was a projectile weapon. Now, he could climb the wall. He just had to get rid of the skulltulas, first.
Navi flew out of his shirt, again, turning yellow as she came near the lowest skulltula making scratching noises as it spun around in slow circles. He pulled out a seed, and raised the slingshot, aiming for Navi.
Again, he could clearly see where his seed would end up as he fired them off. By default, the aim gravitated to Navi, as if she were exerting a pull on his slingshot, guiding it—
Oh. Guiding it. It had been harder to tell in the room with the ladder, but he thought the same pull had been at work there, too—it would otherwise have taken much longer to aim this weapon, which he had never even heard mentioned before.
He fired the seed, and it hit, and the skulltula fell off the wall, bursting into blue flames as it did. A bit different from black smoke, but somewhat similar, too.
He now took aim at the second lowest skulltula, as Navi flew over to it, setting a seed to the sling even as Navi flew over next to it. He pulled back the string, and killed the middle skulltula. One more scratched away, audible despite how much higher up it was. Navi flapped her wings energetically, rising up to the skulltula, turning from yellow to blue back to yellow in swift succession.
Once again, he had no problems aiming at and hitting at the skulltula. Indeed, figuring out how to work the contraption was the hardest part. It felt as if Navi were doing all the real work—as if she were the one wielding the slingshot. He was thankful for her help. He had to agree with the Deku Tree—she was very knowledgeable.
He agreed more strongly when he entered the only room off the main chamber on the highest floor. He'd entered the room, and bars had shot down across the door whence he had just entered, although there were no alternative exits to the room. To his right was a fancy torch stand, with a fire burning bright in its brazier. To his left was a wrought iron torch, unlit, which somehow looked far less ornate than its companion.
"Yeowch!" said Navi. "I think this torch was burning before we entered here!" Navi said, flying over to touch the side of the brazier.
"Navi!" he cried, "what were you thinking?!"
"Well, faeries are less sensitive to extremes of temperature than kokiris and the other races. I hadn't expected it to be quite that hot, though…. Look over here!"
She zipped past him, fluttering near a step-on switch Link hadn't noticed, too busy watching Navi.
"There are four basic types of switches in dungeons. The first are these kinds, where you step on the switch to activate it. Some of these are active only for a limited time, and when that time runs out, the switch pops back up, and whatever effect it caused ceases.
"The second kind are diamond-shaped switches set into the walls, with eyes in the middle. If you hit them with a projectile, it will trigger the switch. Hit them again to undo the effect.
"The third kind are crystal switches, in the shape of diamonds, and can be triggered by just about anything hard and sharp. And also bombs—or that's what I've heard.
"The last kind are the hardest to spot. They're such things as lighting all the torches in a room, or collecting trigger coins. And then, sometimes, the only way forwards is to defeat all the enemies in a room. Those are magic switches based on magic traps deactivating under specific conditions.
"In this room, I suspect that our switch that raises the bars is either that step-on switch, or this burning torch. I'd say it's the latter, as the torch is still hot, and the door was unbarred when we entered."
Wow. He'd never heard anyone talk about switches before. It had never occurred to him to categorise them, but Navi made everything sound very clear. Except whatever she said about "trigger coins". He had no idea what those were. Navi was very knowledgeable.
He took a moment to memorise the four categories, and walked over to the switch. If Navi was right, and the torch was what unbarred the door, then he ought to start with the step-on switch. He was reassured by the familiarity of the scenario. Just as with Niko's "super hard pirate entrance test". Only even simpler. All he had to do was jump across from ledge to platform to platform to ledge. He could do that, without a problem. Presumably even within the time limit.
He raced across the risen platforms, jumping from one to the next, and not ceasing in his run until he stood before the treasure chest. It was another of those big ones, and he thought of what remained. The compass was probably next, followed by the boss key. And, sure enough, he pulled the compass out of the treasure chest, with an accompanying explanation from Navi.
"The compass is a magical design that you can fit into the hole in your dungeon map, which will reveal to you the locations of chests, and the boss's lair! Also, it constantly tracks your location in the dungeon; as long as you have the compass, you can't get lost!"
And, hadn't Navi just neatly summarised the functions of the compass. He gave her a smile, and a nod, to show that he appreciated her advice, and then turned as a pair of snapping jaws landed near his feet. Try as it might, the deku baba in the corner couldn't quite stretch itself far enough to bite him. He kept an eye on it, as he made his requests of Navi, to pull back out the dungeon map, then to put away the dungeon map, now with the compass slotted into it. How a three dimensional cylindrical object the size of his hand turned into a flat embossed image of one the size of his thumb, was anyone's guess.
He made his request that she put the dungeon map wherever she usually put things, and drew the Kokiri Sword. Navi, as soon as she had put away the map, flew over to the deku baba, turning yellow once more. He cut clean through the stem, and here was another deku stick. He sheathed the sword, and picked up the stick. If one was out in the open air anyway, there was no need to pull one out of storage, was there?
He jumped into the lower, now-level area beneath the two cliffs he had crossed to via rising column. He ran to the other side, and climbed up the vines leading to the top of the wall. From there, it was easy to light the second torch. He had a deku stick, and a ready source of fire, which were all he needed. Navi was proven right when the bars shot up from over the door.
He carried the torch over to the spiderweb-wall that encircled most of the uppermost floor, as if a second wall. There were several platforms sticking out into the air, facing towards the centre of the room, which were not yet overgrown, but other than that, the spiderwebs cut him off from the rest of the main chamber.
He wondered if they were flammable. These, at the very least, were not; he held the deku stick to it until it burnt down too low to be safely held, whereupon he dropped it, and it burnt out as it fell towards the bridge upon which he stood. The webbed wall also didn't so much as dent when whacked with the Kokiri Sword. Pushing against it, he found it as solid and unyielding as stone.
He'd have to climb back down the vines, hoping that there weren't any more wall skulltulas. Or, he could look at the protruding wooden platforms. As he approached the end of one, he noticed Navi turn yellow and fly into the air just as he also noticed the shadow, with no recognisable caster, lying on the floor below.
He looked up, and saw a segmented brown mass surrounded by the familiar eight jointed legs. This must be the other kind of skulltula—the ones that didn't cling to the walls.
"These are regular skulltulas! You want to strike at their bellies—their carapaces are hard as stone!" Navi confirmed for him, unwitting, a moment later. "It'll drop down on you suddenly, so be ready to move back!"
And sure enough, the skulltula dropped down without warning in front of him, Navi following close behind. He backflipped backwards, out of habit, but lost his balance and fell to his knees. Right. He was a child now. He'd forgotten that, temporarily.
He stood up, glad that he'd sheathed the sword to try pushing against the webbed wall, and hacked at the spider in the brief instant between its landing, and its turning to face him. The carapace's resemblance to a giant human skull (if flattened) was somehow made worse by the enormity of the creature, which was taller than he without considering the legs.
It twitched, as it prepared to face away again, and he backed up, giving it a wide berth. He moved back in as it exposed its belly, and sliced it in the opposite direction from before. It dropped, "face" up, disappearing in blue flames. It left behind a handful of deku seeds, or the Great Deku Tree did. Were these enchanted seeds? Or did every enemy he defeated help the Great Deku Tree to track him, or else enable him to offer what assistance to Link that he could? Or maybe it was just the nature of monsters, that defeating them created something new, and less malevolent.