Though the Queen of Arachnids, Gohma, was dead, the forest did not celebrate her demise. No bird sang in spite, no wolf could ever kill in revenge, and carrion crows would never disrespect their food source. Only the Children of the Forest possessed these feelings, and only so they could be overcome, so the spirit could grow and learn from the trials of having a heart. It was their duty as Kokiri to uphold the siblinghood of life, the food chain, and the eco-web, to strengthen and appreciate the glorious bounty the seasons provided. All life is connected; one's effects invariably affects the rest. It was unstructured and fluctuating, dependent on the give-and-take mechanics of the universe. Prey flourished when there were fewer predators, and vice versa. There were no rules, but there were innumerable customs, and everything was constantly changing within the elegant order nature upheld. The Children of the Forest knew this, lived their lives by the seasons. They used hearty summer to rake in food, gathering the choicest produce and sun-ripened supplies. Autumn was spent in roving bands of hunters and curers, laying down stores of summer fat, elastic hides and pre-winter-thick fur. When it snowed and bare feet were covered in grass wrapped in waterproof leather, the Kokiri retreated into their thickets to work on winter projects like baskets, containers, rope, blades, wooden carvings and curing hides. Spring was the season to tweak and prune their living quarters. They were masters at manipulating vegetation, able to transplant, splice, clone and breed any plant in the forest and beyond. It was The Way Things Are.

Link would have set all that aside for a chance to choose his own path for a day.

At the moment, he followed Navi and Saria, both tight-lipped and sober, when they should have been raucously rejoicing his vanquished foe. The unaired threat still loomed in Link's heart; the echo in his head would not die out, "What have you done?"

The rain of leaves had not slowed noticeably when they crested the hill to the basin that was the Deku Tree's Meadow. It no longer seemed a pained flurry, but the letting down of a burden, a peaceful shush harbingering the end of a long service.

"Link."

The elf boy jumped, knowing immediately the Deku Tree had Spoken. It was in his head, and yet there was a leaf that drifted coincidentally towards him, unerringly.

"I have one more request of you."

The sun slipped behind a limb, shifting the light to highlight a faint path through the grass. Link padded softly over the herbaceous heather, low growing thyme and blue sweetgrass, carefully avoiding trodding on the tiny cobalt anemones and little golden elanor blossoms that peppered the Meadow. He followed a shallow gully down the hillside, coming in between two sloping roots. Above him the impossibly rotund trunk of the Deku Tree soared upwards into infinite limbs that shed their leaves like a beast in spring. Link stopped. His toes had found a patch of fine loess dust, warm brown in the sunlight, but there rested a curious pebble. It was a dull, round thing, no bigger than a partridge egg, dusty green and smooth except for a fringe of raw, golden ore that curled around like a protective little vine on the surface.

The wind blew into Link's face, prompting him to look upwards at the crown of the tree, which gave a semblance of a nod in the breeze. "A token, a gesture for you."

"Thank you," Link said aloud and mentally. He stooped and scooped up the pebble, immediately pleased with its weight and smooth, stone texture. He slipped it into his pouch on his waist thong, then looked up again at the tree.

A single leaf brushed against Link's cheek, falling slowly, when a playful breeze whipped it past his hand and butted the green scrap into his trunk. "Have courage, for I must show you what is necessary." The leaf plopped on to the ground.

Only in deepest communion on the Long Day was Saria permitted to share in the Deku Tree's vision. Link felt as though he might be violently sick. This was huge. Only the Wisest were supposed to be this close. What did all of this mean? A quick, sharp snap of a dry limb in the canopy distracted Link from his near-panic. Have courage. He was still holding the Kokiri sword, and the sticky blade reminded him of the moment when he faced down Gohma. Without hesitation, Link placed his hand on the rough, deep grooved bark of the Deku Tree.

Everything was dark. No, Link realized as his senses adjusted from elfin to floral, not dark. Night. Rain. Roots soaking and drawing in the excess moisture. Leaves shrugging droplets to the forest floor, algae moist where there had been in previous wet times. Link felt the entire forest web, and all the life that moved in it and through it. He was truly humbled to view the whole picture, to see exactly the notch the Kokiri filled in the ecosystem, and how very insignificant that notch was in the grand scheme. This he saw, knew without putting terms to it, and he also knew with the Deku Tree's gentle prodding, that there was a specific purpose to this vision. His connection to the flora alerted him to something rampaging through the Outer Woods, on the fringes of Hyrule's plains. He honed in on the intrusion. Two somethings, living, breathing, warm, inexperienced for sure in woodcraft: they stomped poor fragile herbs and green growth snapped under the onslaught of unwary feet and ripping, vicious elbows. Link was surprised at the strength of the Deku Tree's rancor, though it was only a momentary flash. The deeper the pair scrambled into the forest, the more information the plants picked up through their unseeing senses. It was a chase, like a wolf pursuing a deer, and the front-runner, a female two-legged was leaking spicy, adrenaline-laced blood. It was the latter's smell that attracted a nearby predator and pounced on the pursuing two-legged, allowing the leaky one to pull forward, ever farther into the black woods.

She was nearing the Old Forest; the deku babas all leaned towards her as she passed, drawn by her rank scent of death imminent. Now, similar flowers, closed for the night, marked her progress, the same Link brushed by on his way to the trunk, and the Deku Tree perceived her in person at last.

Lightning crashed not a mile away, and the woman fell to her knees before the commanding tree. "Why have you come?"

Recognizing her blindness to his Treespeech, he called forth a fairy to translate.

"Can you save me from my child?"

Link felt just as confused by her request. The rain slackened, dwindling to a light patter and the Deku Tree's limbs groaned questioningly.

"Explain."

It took several seconds for the woman to find vigor to speak. "It was…difficult. So hard. He did not come easily. And while we were…the Gerudo attacked. While we fled. So I ran. I ran. And now, after giving him life, he's taken mine, and I will take his."

The wind brought a warm, comforting breeze, shushing leaves encouraging her to expand.

"The story. The Great Deku Tree bestows life to the Hylian who finds him first. You need a life in exchange. Here it is."

The fairy watched as she held up her babe, still red and messy from his birth, expecting benediction. Her face was twisted into a mad ecstasy. Link was repulsed. Hunting animals for their life giving flesh and the goods their bodies begat was one thing. That was survival. Some beasts even ate their young, but Link had a fairly strong suspicion about who that baby would become, and that irked him fiercely.

"I have no such power. And now you and your child will die."

Branches stiff with indignation, the Deku Tree called out to another wolf who eagerly loped over the rim of the basin and ploughed into the woman, knocking her baby into the grass a few feet away. He sensed the easier target in the child and before he had a chance to sink his teeth in, the woman cried out.

"Then take me first in exchange for him! If you cannot give life, at least foster it!"

"He is Hylian," argued the fairy translator.

"He is a child," the woman sobbed as the wolf glanced speculatively between her and the tree.

"He will grow."

"Then let him stay only until he can live on his own! Please!"

The Deku Tree considered this request. His Kokiri had evolved into their habits and lore, along with the fairies' knowledge and guidance. Would a non-Kokiri child even be able to survive? Of course, no fairy could serve the boy. The technologically advanced Hylians had long forgone that honor. So. He would be a burden on another Child of his and the fairy partner…Or would he? He seemed to be a large as any who had been plucked from his branches, and newborns were raised the same world over. In the twilight of his life, the experiment the boy presented would be interesting, and give him New Things to ponder, for that was a Tree's purpose. Years meant nothing. Time was arbitrary. The progress of the world was much more important, and all of the tiny melodramas that played out were merely entertainment. Without another word to the intruder, he set the wolf on the woman.

Her throat was torn out, draining what little blood remained in her dry veins. Grasses and herbs were glad for the gift of iron-rich liquid.

Then Link was back to himself, standing very close to the Deku Tree, his hand barely touching shaggy bark. He drew back, trying to put this vision in context. His own thoughts were still overlaid with the impartiality of the forest in the events of his life, and his subconscious mind was absolutely screaming with revelation.

"Relax. Breathe. It's overwhelming. I know. You will be fine," cooed a voice behind him.

Struggling against the dream-like unbias of the plants he had fleetingly joined, Link tried to find his own consciousness in the tangle of energy.

"Just breathe. You are Link."

Just breathe. Link drew in a breath, deep, deeper, ribs cracking and his sternum strained to keep an excited, jumping heart in his chest. He concentrated on his body, flowing blood and pounding pulse, the dry mouth and sweaty brow, flexing muscles and stretching sinews. He was Link once again.

He moved his head enough to see Saria out of the corner of his eye. She was wet-cheeked and puffy-eyed. She was crying. He knew why.

"You've always known."

"I knew you were different than the rest of us…"

Link whirled and faced her directly. "Don't play that. You knew I was…am, I guess, a Hylian."

Her hiccupping silence told him truthfully.

"Saria…Why wouldn't you tell me?"

She hadn't met eyes with him since he took the Kokiri sword from her hand. Now, she fought to keep eye contact through waves of tears. "You…you might have…left sooner."

"Knowing how unhappy I've been with Mido and everyone else against me? Yeah, I should have," Link said callously, putting as much snarl into his words as Saria could bear. She winced but it wasn't enough. "I should have left the forest a long time ago. But I didn't because of you. I thought you cared, but obviously, I was just the Deku Tree's pet flower, growing me to see how I bloom! And you knew." Link stalked away, but paced back to Saria, back and forth, clenching his fists and looking for things to throw. His jaws clamped down, grinding his teeth, but avoiding tender tongue. He had suffered. He had been tormented his whole life. It wasn't his turn any more-

As an afterthought, he spun around, sword ready, when Navi was under his nose, her light filling his eyes. He recoiled, rubbing furiously at his star-punched sockets. When he regained a bit of composure, his inner dialogue had faltered. Where was he going with his speech? Better yet, was he really going to murder Saria?

For the second time that day, Link fell to his knees. He let go of the sword and wept into his hands.