Chapter Twenty-four: The Sacred Grove
The open grotto of Faron's Spring materialized around them, the morning sun still too low to shine through the gap in the top of the cavern. It was now after dawn, and this part of Hyrule was no longer being pelted by rain. The water dripping from above and wet grasses just outside of the spring indicated that it had been raining not too long ago.
As soon as he finished teleporting in, Link lay down on the damp stone of the spring, shutting his eyes and laying his head down on his paws. This time he had the sense to put himself on the ground immediately instead of trying to stumble around. He wasn't all that terribly dizzy, but after throwing up in Kakariko, he wanted to take no chances.
A small hand smoothed back the fur on the top of his head, a motion similar to what she did to his hair when he was human. "I'm sorry. I wish the spell didn't affect you like that."
He sighed and continued to lay there, thankful for the comfort. What he really needed was to hug somebody. Over the past few days he had been fretting over Ilia, wishing he could hold her close and comfort her. He wanted that for himself right now, but no one would do that for a wolf. "It's all right. This is how it's going to be, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess." Midna sat down and leaned against his shoulder. "Link, I'm so..." She sighed and he felt her head rest against him. "It's everything. It's what Zelda did, it's the other things that are happening because of what we've done." She paused for a minute, and when she spoke again her voice was quiet. "It's how you were crying, knowing that I was going to die. I don't-" she began, and then she sighed again, her voice sounding close to tears. "Nobody has cared about me that much before, other than my father."
Link opened his eyes and turned his head to fix one eye on her. Her eyes were closed, and her face looked as if she was trying to control her emotions and was just barely managing. "We keep learning things about one another that break our hearts, don't we? I knew you were alone, Midna. I could tell by the way you were acting once we started to get along." Since she didn't open her eyes, he turned his head back towards the spring, where the Light Spirit was laying dormant for the time being. "You were alone even though you had people around you, just like I was after Kasuto. I can tell. Except you didn't have an Ilia, or a Colin, or an Uli. All you have now is me."
Midna turned her head to bury her face in his fur. When she spoke her voice was muffled, but she no longer sounded so emotional. "It feels that way. At least you're one of the most wonderful people I've ever met…" She lifted her face. "No. I can't talk about this. I'll cry."
"So what? You're afraid to cry in front of the guy who has turned it into a performance art?"
She laughed weakly. "I was raised differently than you were. I'm supposed to be...proper. Collected. I know that sounds contrary to my normal personality." The imp gave a light shrug. "I don't cry often because my mind works differently than yours. You do, and while part of it was the Fused Shadows-" She stopped and abruptly stood up, her eyes wide. "Link, what are we going to do about the Fused Shadows?! Zant took the fragments from me. All I have left is this piece I started with..."
The swirling patterns on the rocks of the spring lit up, as did the water at the top tier of it. The orb rose from the depths of its pool and Faron formed around it, grasping it with his hands and feet. "Hero, how can this be?" it said without any greeting. "The Fused Shadows has been taken by our enemy? And you are steeped in an evil magic, trapped as a wolf. What happened?"
"Zant was going to use some kind of evil spell on Midna, and I jumped in the way and got hit with it instead. I'm sure the spell would have been lethal if it hit her, but my piece of the Triforce stopped it from killing me. That's all that it could do, though. I'm cursed as this wolf, and the curse makes my head feel like it's going to explode, and drains my energy." He lowered his eyes. "I feel weak. I hate it."
"That is indeed troubling." It turned its face towards Midna. "What of you, shadow being? Why is your form of shadows gone and you no longer fear my light?"
"Zant wanted me to work along with him, and I refused. He did something to Lanayru, and used magic strong enough to control it. Then he made it attack me with its light magic, and it nearly killed me." She rubbed at her arms, shivering. The memory was traumatizing to her. "We managed to get to Zelda to see if she could use the Triforce of Wisdom to help Link, but she did something else." Midna shook her head. "I didn't want her to do it, but she put her magic into my body, and when she tried to do that, her soul went with it. Her body's in some kind of sleep now." She took a few steps forward, guilt clearly written on her face. "I told her not to! She didn't listen and now I'm here when Hyrule needs her instead!"
Faron uncurled its body from around its shimmering orb and wrapped its long prehensile tail around it, holding it high above its back. "Child of the Twilight...Midna...do not blame yourself." It stepped down from its spring to walk on the surface of the water on all fours, just as Ordona had done the day before. The lemur was large up close, just as the other Light Spirits have been. It extended a hand and gently touched at her small face with two long fingers. Link was struck by how much it resembled the way that Lanayru had tried to comfort him.
"If Zelda made that choice, it was with good reason. She had far more faith in you and Link than anyone else, I am sure." Much to his surprise, the spirit's near-human face smiled. Faron was probably the only one who could have human facial expression. "Each Zelda is wise, and she likely understood something that no one else could. She may have sacrificed herself, but take solace in the fact that she did it so you may exist in the light for a greater purpose. I am sure it was done not only for you, but for Hyrule as well."
Midna had trembled a bit when the Light Spirit approached her, but now she put a hand up to the long fingers the lemur had put on her face. "You're so warm. The light from you, the light in my chest from Zelda...it's all so warm. Is this what it's like to live in the light world?"
"You have been given a gift, Midna of the Twilight. Cherish it." It withdrew its hand and turned its attention to Link. "Hero, I cannot lift this curse. Perhaps if the four of us Light Spirits worked together with the power of the Triforce, it may be possible. We do not have that option."
"I know. Zelda tried to use Wisdom, and she couldn't. She told me I should go and find the Master Sword. It's the only thing strong enough to help me."
The great lemur was silent for a moment, looking down at him with its large round eyes. "If that is the case, then you will need strength. You are weak, as you said. Allow me to heal you the best that I can." It extended its long-fingered hand over Link's body and closed its eyes. He didn't realize they could close their eyes at all, since none of the Light Spirits ever blinked. "There is a concentrated evil that is directly in your brain."
"I saw it happen, Faron." Midna told it. "There was this orange and black thing that sunk into the top of his head. It was a little sharp object made of pure evil magic."
Faron opened its eyes. "Indeed? Then the nature of the curse makes sense. The soul is the source of one's magic, but the mind is the thing that controls it. This is likely why he cannot use Courage properly, and his body has become weak." It draped its large hand over Link's head and body, nearly covering him entirely. A light came from its hand and began to infuse his body.
It felt hot, just as when Renado had healed him. It wasn't painful or unpleasant, but it did feel strange. His splitting headache began to wane. "This is like when Renado used Eldin's power to heal my ribs."
"Hush and be still. I am attempting to give your soul a bit of my own power, if only for a little while. It feels as if you have used much of your magical reserves, and I do not believe it is only due to the curse." The Light Spirit pulled back its hand and placed it on the ground after a minute, and nodded in satisfaction. "It is fortunate that Farore is the patron goddess of us both, otherwise I do not think I would have been able to heal you as well as I did. I believe you will have enough strength to pull the Master Sword—if it accepts you. If it rejects you due to the darkness that clings to your soul, you will either be severely weakened, or you will perish. It remains hidden in the ruins of the Temple of Time, a place that once stood before the Gerudo War. The Demon King was unable to touch the Blade of Evil's Bane even though he loathed it, and so he reduced the Temple of Time and the city around it to ruins."
"I guess that's why nobody carries around the Master Sword and it stays stuck in some ruins, huh?" He stood, feeling much better. His body was one that still needed food and rest, but he wasn't as completely drained as before. "It makes sense that a magic sword would only allow somebody worthy to pull it."
"Not merely someone worthy, young Link: you. Your soul is the soul of the ancient hero. The Master Sword itself has a soul within, and that soul has a synergy with that of the hero. That is why only he may draw it. Your heart is pure even though you have suffered much in your life. I do not think that this evil will blot out the light you have within you." Faron lowered its head in a bow. One of the Light Spirits was bowing to him, even though he felt he didn't deserve it. "Go and find your destiny, Hero of the Twilight. Go to the Sacred Grove to the west of the Kokiri lands." It glimmered brightly and then disappeared in a flash of warm light.
Midna had a hand to her cheek where the Light Spirit had its fingers, a faint smile on her face. "It touched me. I thought that the Light Spirits would hate me for what I am, but...it did its best to make me feel better."
"I'm pretty sure everyone who has met you knows you're not with Zant." He stretched his limbs with a grunt. "The Light Spirits are kind, too. Lanayru did to me what Faron did to you just now, after it gave me a vision about the Interlopers and the Fused Shadows. The whole thing messed me up pretty good, and I think it felt a bit guilty."
She turned to him and floated up ever so slightly. "Messed you up? Link, you were screaming. I've never heard you sound like that before. You sounded terrified."
"I was." He shook his head. "We don't need to talk about that right now. Hop on and we'll make our way into the woods."
The imp rolled her eyes but moved to sit down on his back as she always did when he was a wolf. "Nice change of subject, there. I'll get you to tell me about it one day."
"And I'll get you to tell me how you tie in to everything that's happened, one day." He turned and trotted out of the grotto into the cool dappled morning of Faron. It wasn't all that long after dawn, and the sun was still at a low angle, shining through the trunks of the trees. The last time he had run through here as a wolf, he had hated the little creature riding on his back. Now it was the opposite, and he felt grateful that Midna was alive and with him as he began the run north.
"Is this what sunrise looks like to your eyes?" she asked quietly, looking to the east at the golden-orange light shining through the trees.
"It looks different now?" He hadn't realized that her vision was altered from her shadowy form.
"The colors of everything are so bright now, so vibrant. I thought they were beautiful before, but now it's all so much more amazing." He couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she was smiling from the tone of her voice. "The greens here are...I can't describe it. I didn't know that there could be so many different colors of green. The sky at sunrise is still paler than later in the day, but I can see the blue in it now. It's such a beautiful blue." He felt a pat on the top of his head. "So are your eyes."
"Don't you start." he grumbled, loping along with his renewed strength.
"Oh come on, I already told you blue's my favorite color. It's not my fault your eyes are a nice color of blue, all right?" She gave a happy sigh. "I can't wait to see what other people's eyes look like, or to see Lake Hylia...or the different colors of the Zoras. Your world is so beautiful, Link. You have no idea."
He chuckled as he ran along, finding joy in the wonder in her voice. It was surprising he could find joy in anything right now, after losing Zelda. Faron had said that she had sacrificed herself. She wasn't dead, but her soul was gone from her body which meant that she couldn't use Wisdom to help them. He had no idea what a missing soul meant for the princess, or for Hyrule. There had to be a way to return her soul to her body without hurting Midna, but he had no idea how. All he could do is try to remove his curse with the Master Sword and formulate a way to get the Fused Shadows back from Zant.
The gate near Coro's was still locked, but Midna was able to lift him up and over it easily enough. He hadn't wanted to push his way through the underbrush on either side of the gate anyway; where it wasn't blackberries, it was full of burrs. Having her carry him for a moment was a lot faster than having her pick burrs out of his fur.
They startled deer as he ran down the path, their white tails and rear ends marking their retreat through the woods. It wasn't long before he made his way past the ruins of the human town, which now that he ran through as a wolf, he knew were full of life. He could smell the chipmunks that scurried through the tumbled-down stones, and hear the cries of songbirds in the distance. A badger scuttled away from the road, not willing to take its chances with a large wolf. The woods were so full of life and far different than they had been the last time he had been through them. It was likely due to the unrest of the baboon clan that lived in the ruins of the massive tree. Now that the Fused Shadows were no longer influencing them, peace had returned to both their tree and the surrounding forest. Life had returned to normal.
He was thinking of what had happened in the Kokiri ruins and was somewhat distracted when Midna patted his head to get his attention. "Hey, hero. Look what's on the path up there."
Link was drawn out of his thoughts as he slowed down and looked ahead at what she was talking about. There was an animal sitting directly in the way, but this one was familiar. It was his size, his shape, and glowing gold as it waited patiently for him. He knew the identity of the wolf for certain now; Captain Jorvan had said something that confirmed it. It was not the time or the place to discuss it, however. He'd rather do it when the spirit came to his dreams.
"Greetings." the white wolf said as Link approached. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here in these woods again."
"That question is on my mind, yes." The green wolf sat down without warning his passenger, and she slid down his back with a startled sound. "Oh, sorry."
"If you weren't having a bad day, I'd give you a smack." she muttered, walking to stand next to him instead of floating. "Hello, Link's guardian spirit. Ancestor. Whatever you are."
"Hello, Midna. I appreciate you taking care of Link. Sometimes he isn't very good at it and needs a bit of help." The white wolf's lupine mouth curled up at the corners in a smile. "I'm not here to make idle chitchat. He hasn't slept since the two of you were hurt by Zant, so I had to come here to the world of the living in order to speak to him."
"That makes sense. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" He tried to use his second sight on the wolf, and could faintly see the bearded man in the same place. That was pretty much what he was expecting to see, so he ignored the image of the man and focused on the glowing wolf.
"I know that you are going to the Temple of Time to find the Master Sword." the spirit said. "While it does indeed lay in ruins, the magical safeguards protecting it are still in place. You must learn two songs of power if you are to proceed. Otherwise the guardians will not allow you to enter where the sword sleeps."
"I don't exactly have a musical instrument. Songs of power are supposed to be played, and in case you haven't noticed I'm a wolf right now." He had learned a bit of music and magic from his mother, although she hinted that his father knew something of the subject as well. He never got to ask him about it.
The golden spirit gave a short laugh. "You have an instrument and you have been using it without realizing it. It is your singing voice itself. Those who are skilled at singing may use their voices in such a way. Haven't you wondered why you've always been talented with song, even at a young age?"
"I never really thought about it. I can carry a tune, but I'm not a bard or anything." And it was still awkward to sing in front of others. He wasn't sure why that was, because it didn't bother him until he was a teenager.
"Don't be humble." Midna nudged him with an elbow. "You sing really well, you know. I've heard you do it a few times by now. You sing that horsey song to Epona a lot."
The spirit gave a laugh. "Horsey song? I like that. What a great name to give my family's song. That song in itself has power, because it was written as an act of love, from a mother to a daughter. " The glowing wolf shook his head. "However the heirloom song of the Lons is not the kind of song of power you must use; the ones you must sing are far older, and tied to ancient magic."
The knight was a Lon. He assumed as such, and it was another thing that helped confirm the spirit's identity. "Do you think I'm going to have that kind of vocal control with a wolf's voice?"
"Yes, since the inflection of your voice now is the same as when you are human. The songs I will teach you have no words, at least they do not anymore. When I learned them, I had an instrument. Now you will learn them, and you will howl in your wolf voice since you're stubborn about singing in front of others." He gave a bit of an embarrassed chuckle and lowered his one red eye to look at the ground. "And perhaps I would much prefer howling over attempting to sing as well. In life, my singing voice was...not the best." It was a very human admission, reminding him that this man was much like him while he was alive.
"Fine. We'll howl. That's no weirder than you telling me to do a backflip out of the blue." He lifted a paw to wave it at the other wolf. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"The first song is one passed down by the royal family, and those who sing or play it are tied to them in some way. You must use this song to identify yourself to the temple, since it lays dormant. It will wake when it acknowledges you." The spirit raised his muzzle and began to howl.
And thus started a short musical education, of sorts. The white wolf was able to howl the songs in a way that resembled singing, which was unusual to hear. It was even more unusual for Link to repeat them that way, even though howling in itself was not difficult to do. While he had figured out how to speak in wolf form, the instinctive sounds of a wolf came to him easily and innately. Combining that instinct with his human ability to sing felt a bit odd.
The two songs were short, and he suspected that they had more to them than what the knight's spirit was teaching him. Only the first few measures of each song were needed for the spells to work, or at least he assumed that it was a few measures. It wasn't like he was able to look at sheet music for them.
The song for the royal family was structurally similar to the song passed down by his family, three notes that repeated three times, the last time the tune continuing with a few more notes. Structurally, it was the same as Epona's song. It was easy to memorize, although he found out that the knight couldn't actually hit the high notes and was doing them an octave below as he howled. Link himself did it without too much difficulty. The second song was another one that jumped octaves, which Link was able to do just fine but the spirit of his ancestor awkwardly admitted he did not have the range. He had Link repeat the two songs a few times, and even Midna hummed along to them quietly, having learned them as well. This made the knight laugh his short, bark-like laugh.
"Good. I believe that you know them now." the one-eyed wolf said approvingly. "As does she. The second song is the song of the Temple of Time itself. It used to sing it, but I fear that it has fallen silent. The Door of Time will open to you if you sing or howl this song."
"I'm curious. Do these songs have any power if I sing them?" Midna asked. "I'm able to sing too, although I never tried using songs as spells."
"I cannot be certain, but I would guess that it is possible due to your magical aptitude. You are a sorceress so I doubt you have any need to cast spells in such a manner. The ability to use songs as spells has been limited to a few, and the only ones that I ever had known to be able to only use their voice for magical spells were of my family line." The large golden wolf fixed his single red eye on the transformed Hylian. "Faron may have sowed doubts in your mind on whether you can pull the sword or not, but even though you are practically coated in evil magic right now, your soul itself is strong. It is the soul of the ancient hero, born again into your flesh. Not every past hero held the Master Sword, but all were worthy."
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if the sword would have recognized the goodness in my soul, or whatever it is. Faron called it purity, but I don't know how pure I am." Unless the Light Spirit was talking about virginal virtue. If that was the case, he'd be able to draw the sword no problem. Being isolated on the edge of Ordon hadn't given him very much of a social life, and he hadn't had any interest in any other girls than Ilia anyway.
"It is purity, but it is the pure soul of the first hero himself. That is what the sword searches for when people attempt to draw it from the Pedestal of Time." The knight's spirit stood, his pale fur glowing softly. "That is why I know you can do it. Go, and make our family proud." Then he was simply gone, faded away in a flash. One moment he stood there, and the next he was nowhere to be found.
"And he's gone." Midna shrugged and turned to Link. "It was interesting to meet him. He has kind of a rough personality, but he means well."
"Yeah, he's a good guy." He stood and stretched his limbs. "Hop on. We should keep moving."
He had been running for nearly two hours before he came to the Kokiri ruins.
The mossy tree-homes with their suspended walkways seemed less gloomy and sinister this time, even though he was going through what was more or less a ghost town. Nobody knew what happened to the Kokiri, only that about two centuries ago, they abruptly stopped relations with the other races. It was as if they had simply vanished. The ruins here were not two hundred years old, that would be impossible. Nothing would be standing, outside of the much larger trees like the one the baboons lived in.
It seemed like the Kokiri withdrew into their forests to live in peace, only to suffer some unknown fate. It could have been disease, or a water shortage, or even attacks from monsters. Whatever it was, the ruins that they were running through were less than a century old. Rope and plank walkways would not last longer than that.
Yet the ruins still had signs of life other than the animals. Last time, there were glimpses of things that he was unsure of, that Midna hadn't noticed. It was different this time. Little swift creatures moved to hide, and even though his eyes barely caught a glimpse of brown and green, his lupine ears heard them far better. They spoke in whispers, their voices high and small like children's.
"It looks like a wolf but I don't think it is."
"It doesn't look mean, does it? Neither does the one on its back."
"We could play tricks on them."
"It has Faron's touch on it. Maybe we should leave it alone."
His ears told him that whatever the little creatures were, they were starting to tail him, hiding among the trees yet keeping up with him somehow. Their little voices speculated about what he was, what Midna was, whether they were mean or not, or why they were here. The previous time he was in these ruins, there was a feeling of not belonging, of being strangers in a sacred wood that were trespassing. Now it felt as if the forest was welcoming them, somehow knowing that he was the one who had returned peace to it. The little creatures or spirits that followed him were part of it, curious but harmless as they followed and whispered to one another.
"I just saw a little person with a leaf face." Midna said after a while.
"There's several of them following us. They've been doing that for uh...maybe fifteen minutes now?" He panted only slightly as he ran. Faron had given him considerable strength and energy, and it felt as if he had the stamina to run for miles. This was good, because he needed to do exactly that.
"She saw us!" There was a chorus of startled squeaks following this exclamation.
"He knows we're here! What do we do?"
"You don't have to do anything, if you don't want to." Link replied, hearing them clearly even if Midna could not. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I was told to go to the Sacred Grove, so that's where I'm going."
"Are you talking to them?" Midna asked, not hearing the little voices among the trees. She was speaking over more excited discussion from the little creatures.
"You're not supposed to go there!" one of them said firmly. Midna probably heard that one.
"I know that it's a sacred place, little uh...friend." He could have stopped to talk instead of speaking between panting breaths, but he had no idea how long Faron's strength would last. He needed to get to the Master Sword. "I've been to other sacred places so this one won't be any different."
"It's been to sacred places? It's probably not a wolf."
"Maybe it's a pretty lady."
"Nuh-uh! Look at him, he's a boy! He's got boy parts!"
If wolves could turn red with embarrassment, he would have been scarlet. Midna tittered on his back, able to hear the little creatures now. "I would appreciate if you didn't talk about that." he grumbled.
"Were you a pretty lady before and now you were turned into a wolf with boy parts?" That little voice in particular sounded none too bright, but at the same time it was innocent. All of the little voices were innocent, full of pure curiosity.
The imp on his back laughed. "He isn't a pretty lady."
"Thanks, Midna. See? I'm a he." He could see the fork in the path up ahead, where the occasional stones of the ancient road clustered together to form more of a solid path.
"He's a pretty man instead." she said with a giggle.
"Midna…" he growled. Admitting out loud that he didn't like it when people comment on his looks only gave her more material for her to poke fun at him.
"Oooh! Can men be pretty?"
"Why not? Anything can be pretty!"
"Well you aren't. You're covered in mud." The tone this one used reminded him of Malo and his blunt comments.
"Everyone, quiet! Mr. Pretty Wolf Man, stop running!" This particular voice shouted at him.
"I said I'm going." he said, rounding the bend and following the left path to the west. Mr. Pretty Wolf Man, indeed. He'd rather be called Alphonse.
"Oooh, you'll be in trouble!" The way this one spoke, it sounded as if Link was stealing cookies before dinner instead of entering an enchanted wood.
"Only the hero is supposed to go that way! You'll turn into a monster!" Said the voice that had told him to stop, sounding quite concerned. It really did not want him to keep running.
"But isn't he a monster already? Green wolves that can talk aren't normal."
"I mean the scary bone monsters!" said the concerned voice.
Link skidded to a halt not far down the western road, making Midna cling to the scruff of his neck to stay on. "Listen, I'm not going to turn into a Stalfos. I'm not a monster, I'm a human that's been cursed into a beast that reflects my true nature, or my soul or something." He caught his breath after running for so long. "I'm the hero."
The voices all began to babble at once, some excitedly, some in denial. "Is the hero supposed to have a wolf soul?"
"Heroes can't get cursed! They're too strong!"
"Are you sure you're the hero? You seem kind of stupid." said the one like Malo.
"He's green! That means that he is the hero! The last one was green."
"He was green like us. I mean his clothes were green. His skin was sort of pink. Some humans are like that." The dumb one had some interesting things to say, that was for sure.
"Does that mean you're not really a man and you're a boy? The last hero was a boy." The voices surrounded him now that he had stopped, all asking him pointless questions. He felt as if he was being surrounded by little kids.
"I'm an adult, and I do normally wear green. They're clothes given to me by the gods." He glanced around, but couldn't see the creatures. "My name is Link, and I need to get to the Master Sword."
"He's Link!"
"This one is Link too!"
"Aren't they always called Link?"
"Never mind that, he wants the sacred sword!"
"Oh, drat. What do we do now? We're supposed to keep people away, but he's the hero…"
"Listen, we should try to help." This voice in particular seemed to be more reasonable than the others. It was the one that told him to stop running, and had tried to warn him of danger. "I think grandpa won't mind if I talk to him."
"I'm gonna tell!"
"But he said grandpa won't mind."
"I'm gonna tell anyway!"
"Go ahead, but he's the hero and we shouldn't get in his way." said the reasonable voice. "Okay, here goes."
There was a sudden burst of leaves in the air in front of him, and one of the little creatures finally showed itself. It was humanoid and almost looked like a mandrake root, its body simple and formed out of wood, and covered in white striated bark. Its face was not actually a leaf, but was covered by an aspen leaf like a mask, and it had holes for its eyes and mouth cut out of it. Its actual eyes were barely visible behind its mask, but they appeared small and black. The little forest spirit hovered in the air by holding onto a long stem that ended in a pair of rapidly spinning leaves, almost like a deku scrub could.
"Hello, Mr. Hero!" the creature said cheerfully. "I like that better than Mr. Pretty Wolf Man."
"You and me both." Link said, looking up at the creature. He had no idea what it was. Some distant cousin of deku scrubs, perhaps? "You were all watching me the first time I came through here, weren't you?"
"Oh! You were the Hylian! I think I recognize your friend now, even though she isn't all dark anymore. She had that funny hat the first time." The little tree creature flitted around him, clinging to the strange spinning stem that held it aloft. It made a rattling sound as it moved, almost like bamboo wind chimes. "You went to the ruins of the old forest children, which was okay. The monkeys are better now, which has made the forest more peaceful. Thanks for doing that. The forest was crying because of the dark magic that had to hide away here for a long time."
"No problem. I'm supposed to help make things better. Of course, that's hard for me to do right now because I've been stuck as this green wolf." He looked down the path he was meant to follow, to the west. "Princess Zelda told me that I could break this curse with the Master Sword. Can you help me find it?"
"Hmm." The tree-person tapped at where its chin would have been with a limb that ended in a point instead of fingers. It looked like a short branch more than an appendage. "Well, Mr. Hero, the thing is...we aren't supposed to directly help. Grandpa told us not to." It raised its limb, and Link got the impression it would be holding up one finger, if it had any. "But! We can decide to not stop you. You see, we're supposed to use our magic to keep people out of the forest. It can be dangerous if a Hylian like you gets stuck in one of the more magical areas and turns into a Stalfos."
"Tell him about the ruins!" one of the voices nearby said.
The creature turned towards the speaker, who was still hidden. "I was gonna do that!" It huffed a sigh and turned its attention back to the wolf. "Mr. Hero, the area up ahead is special. They say that it was the place where Hylians first lived, and eventually it turned into a big city. But hundreds of years ago, a cruel man came with his army and wanted to hurt the Hylians…"
"He wanted to kill them. He was scary." said one of the nearby creatures.
"The city was destroyed by his magic, including the place where the Master Sword has always been. That sword is really important for a lot of reasons, so after the Hylians abandoned the city and the area around it, grandpa asked us to plant trees. Lots of trees." It waved its stubby little arm. "That way the forest would surround and protect the ruins. It isn't just the Master Sword that is there, Mr. Hero. A lot of Hylians did die here, and by protecting the place where they lived and died, their souls aren't all angry. They would turn into Poes and try to hurt everyone if we hadn't turned it into a forest. Grandpa knew this."
"Grandpa knows a lot! He's super smart." said the dumb voice somewhere behind Link. "He always knows the best thing to do."
"Uh-huh, he does." The hovering creature moved up a bit to look west, down the path. "That's why we need to keep people out of there, because it's kind of like a graveyard. The spirits are the real reason why we protect it. The Master Sword stood in a temple for hundreds and hundreds of years, and it was safe the whole time. It doesn't really need to be protected." It dropped down to look at Link again. "Nobody but a hero could use it anyway. And now you're here, Mr. Hero. Are you going to pull the sword out?"
"I intend to, yes." Zelda had faith that he could do so, as did the knight's spirit. Only Faron had its doubts, unsure if the sword would accept him or not due to the curse. Whatever dark magic Zant had used, it had somehow tarnished his pure soul. It was strange to hear that he had a pure soul in the first place; some of the things he thought about were certainly not pure.
"How is he gonna do that without hands?" one of the voices asked. When Link turned his head towards it, he caught a glimpse of a creature with a maple leaf over its face. It squeaked when it saw him looking at it and dashed behind a tree.
"He's the hero, so he'll figure something out." Midna said from his back. "He's pretty bright, so he should be able to solve this problem just like all the others he's taken care of."
"Yes, yes." The little aspen person nodded its head sagely as it hovered in the air. "Heroes are good at solving problems. That's why they're heroes, because they can do what everybody else can't."
"I'll bet that's not really true." one little voice said from directly behind them. It was the dumb one again, but this time it didn't have something dumb to say."I think it's more that a hero is willing to learn how to do those things that other people can't do."
Link turned his head to look over his shoulder, and saw a dark-barked creature that was tall and thin standing on the ancient road behind him. It had a chestnut leaf covering its face, and was staring at him through it with its tiny black eyes. He gave it a small smile, hoping that the facial expression worked well enough on a wolf's face. "That's actually pretty close to to the truth. I'm not the only kind of hero there is, you know. Many people can be heroes if they try."
"Ohh no! Fil, why are you out there? He can see you!" A voice came from the right.
Fil turned in that direction, putting its little stick arms at approximately where its hips would be. "He's not gonna do anything to me! This is the hero, dumdum. Although I still wish he was a pretty lady. I really would like to see a pretty lady sometime. I hear that they're just as pretty as flowers."
"I know a few pretty ladies, and I'd be happy to introduce you, but I really would like to continue on." The little creatures had distracted him with their childlike babbling and odd ideas. "If there are ghosts or spirits, I'll do my best to respect them and stay away." He didn't want to have another incident like Kasuto.
"It's okay, Mr. Hero!" the aspen-masked creature said. "We'll go with you so the spirits will be soothed. As long as nothing scary is there, we'll stay nearby."
"Penni…" whined the maple leaf tree person as it peeked around the tree it had been hiding about. "Do we have to?"
"You can go home and cry to grandpa if you want, but I'm going with him." The aspen spirit now known as Penni beckoned a pointed limb towards Link and Midna. "Let's go, Mr. Hero."
Finally. At least he had gotten a chance to catch his breath, but if he hung around here too much longer, it wouldn't be morning anymore. He really wanted to have a meal and a nap. Link trotted after Penni for a few minutes, and when the forest spirit seemed content to move alongside him with Fil, he broke into another easy run.
The other creatures followed, even the whiny one. They all had their own spinning leaves to cling to as they flew next to him, producing little chiming or rattling sounds when they moved. It looked like they represented different kinds of deciduous trees: birch, aspen, maple, oak, cherry, and all of them wore a mask made of a leaf from that particular tree. They came in various body shapes, some tall and thin like Fil, others were short and fat. The creatures were nothing like anything Link had seen before, and while he had no idea what they were, they appeared to be kind and pure.
The path went up a hill, the occasional worn step sticking out of the dirt of what used to be a staircase. Not too far beyond the remnants of those steps were the remains of a city wall, tumbled-down and coated with moss. The ruins of the city beyond were in similar condition, empty skeletons of homes and other buildings that lacked their roofs and doors. Trees grew out of the homes, planted there by the strange creatures that accompanied him and Midna, done to soothe the restless spirits of the people who had died there. Some of the trees looked like they had been there for over a century, so despite their childish behavior, the forest spirits were old.
Even though a war had come to this place, it felt peaceful. The canopy was full of birdsong, and squirrels scampered away from the group as they followed what was once the main road of the ancient city. A stag raised his head and gave a snort as he watched them move past, but the deer did not move.
They approached the mossy remains of a fountain, the top of it crowned with a chipped sculpture of the Triforce. Rainwater had pooled in the bottom level of the fountain, its drains no longer functional. He gave it only a small glance and began to move around it, but his tree spirit entourage began to squeak and shout in alarm.
"What's the matter?" Link stopped to turn and look at the creatures, and found that they were vanishing in puffs of leaves.
"Hero!" Penni cried louder than it needed to, hovering close to the wolf's face. "There's a mean guy here and we want nothing to do with him. Grandpa told us to stay away from those cursed by the forest. If you keep following this road, you'll come to the Temple of Time, okay? Good luck, Mr. Hero! We're cheering for you!" There was a flurry of green leaves that surrounded it, and the little creature disappeared.
"Well, they're gone. Flighty little things, aren't they?" Midna rose off his back to float next to him.
"They mentioned somebody cursed by the forest, so keep an eye out for Stalfos. I doubt it's my ancestor." The knight had appeared as a wolf, so it couldn't be him. He might have the energy to fight fine, but the wolf wouldn't be very effective against something that didn't have a throat he could rip out. Midna might have to take care of this one.
There was faint music that he realized had been playing once he came close to the fountain square, but for some reason he didn't notice it before. It was a slow, mournful tune played on a flute of some kind, although he couldn't place its source. It seemed to be coming from all around them.
"Wait...what's with this music?" Midna glanced around, frowning. "Stalfos can't play flutes, can they? They don't have lungs."
"Or lips. You kind of need those to play a flute." He scanned the area warily, trying to figure out exactly where the song was coming from. There was a pause in the music and giggle from his right, at the top of the fountain, and he quickly snapped his head around to look.
A little creature sat there, sedately playing the sorrowful song on a wooden flute, only having paused to laugh. Link figured it couldn't have been comfortable the way it sat on the pointed top of the stone Triforce that topped the fountain, but then he realized it wasn't actually seated on the fountain itself; it was sitting in the air a few inches above it.
The creature stopped playing and lowered its flute, fingers still poised above the holes carved into it. When it stopped, it opened its eyes and looked down at the wolf and imp standing at the side of the fountain. Its skin was dark gray and had a faint grain to it almost like wood, and its eyes were round and orange. The clothing it wore was ragged, made of tatters of cloth and grass, and looked like they belonged on a scarecrow. "Hello doggy. Hello goblin. Were you here to play?"
"Goblin?!" The twilight creature was indignant. "Excuse me, I'm a woman. I'm just transformed into an imp creature, which is most definitely not a goblin."
"Oh. That's not very interesting or fun. Imps are a kind of demon, so maybe I'll call you demon instead." It grinned when Midna scowled at it. "Now you're starting to be fun!"
"Easy…" Link told her when she opened her mouth to retort. Normally he was the one who lost his temper, but this creature seated on the fountain seemed to be more interested in harassing Midna. "Listen, we're just passing through. Neither one of us planned on stopping to play, since we're really busy." The creature was about the size of a young child, and it acted like one too. He decided he would speak to it like one.
"Well I plan on playing." It leaped into the air and vanished, re-appearing on the road several yards away. "Tag! You're it!"
He had every intention on ignoring the little scarecrow creature and continuing down the road, but it had other ideas. It raised its flute to its thin lips and played a light, bouncy tune while stomping one foot in time with its music. It blurred, and instead of one creature playing the flute, there were five. None of them were where the gray creature had been standing a moment before, and they all played their flutes in time with the music.
"Ugh, this is stupid." Midna rolled her red eye and turned to Link. "Let's continue on. I don't want to dance or whatever it it's expecting me to do."
He got the mental image of the two of them dancing in their cursed forms and almost laughed out loud, but then hurriedly looked around himself at the copies of the scarecrow monster that had suddenly surrounded himself and Midna. One of them stopped playing its flute and gave her a solid thump on the back, causing her to lash out with her hair in response. The hair went through the creature as if it was a ghost, and she growled under her breath. She reached out with her hair at another one, and it dodged to the side. It responded by smacking her right in the nose with its flute. She couldn't hit them, but they could certainly hit her.
He understood perfectly now. This child monster was an asshole.
If it wanted to play a game that was unfair and cruel, he'd do the same. He focused his power and looked at the copies dancing around the two of them. They faded until they were barely visible, which meant that none of the five were the real one. That also meant it was somewhere else. He looked around and saw it standing on a pile of rubble next to a collapsed house, standing still and playing its flute.
Link bunched up his legs and leaped over one of the dancing illusions, moving too quickly to be hit by the swing it took at him with its flute. He continued on, running at the raggedy creature as it continued to cast whatever musical spell it was using to annoy Midna. It would be cruel to actually bite the creature, so he decided to headbutt it. "Tag! You're it!"
The creature was knocked back to land on its rump with an angry growl. "No fair!" It stood up and stomped its feet angrily. "No fair, no fair! You used magic!"
"You used magic first." He stood a few feet away from the agitated creature, but was doing his best to not appear threatening. "I don't see how it's unfair."
"Oooh!" It stomped its feet one more time. "You're not a nice doggy. Not nice at all! Not fun at all!" It stuck its tongue out at him, which looked brown and wooden. "I'm not gonna play if you're not nice. Bye!" The scarecrow creature turned and ran down one of the ruined side streets of the old city, vanishing in the green shadows after a moment.
After watching it disappear, Link turned to Midna. "Are you all right? You got bonked in the nose."
"I'm fine." The imp rubbed at her nose. It was strange to see her regular features in the dappled light from the sun. "I'm a bit sore, but not bleeding."
"Why didn't you fly up? They wouldn't have hit you then."
"I was angry and I wanted to hit them." she admitted, crossing her arms. "As somebody who is angry about one-third of the time, I'm sure you can relate."
"I've gone from being angry one-half of the time to one-third, so maybe I can tell you how to manage your anger. Or at least give you some pointers on how to be pissed off effectively." He gave a faint wolfish smile when Midna laughed. "Let's keep going. It's down of this road, according to Penni."
"Do you think we'll recognize the temple when we see it? Faron said it was reduced to ruins, but so has everything else here." She sat astride his back again, even though there was no need for her to do so. Midna could have been floating alongside him the entire time, but she clearly liked sitting on the wolf.
"It should be a big building. There has to be only so many of those here." From what the tree creature had been saying, the Temple of Time had stood for thousands of years, so its architecture ought to stand out.
He trotted down the cobblestone street, the worn stones beneath his paws spaced by dark green moss. Even though there were supposed to be many people who died here, he did not see any bones. Considering the placement of the trees, the masked forest spirits probably had planted them on top of or next to the remains of the Hylians slain here. It was fairly damp here, as it was in most of Faron; it was possible that the bones of the slain had been reduced to dust and soil over the past two hundred and fifty years.
Link knew what war it was that had destroyed this city, and the man was who had done so. He remembered the history of this place, taught to him by his father. The name of Ganondorf Dragmire was not remembered by many, and he was simply known as the "Demon King", but the Knights of Hyrule and their descendants learned as much of the story as they could. As protectors of the royal family, they could look for subterfuge and false fealty like Ganondorf had used in order to invade beneath the king's nose. Instead, what happened was the Knights were killed or disbanded, only a few remaining to face Zant when he invaded.
If his parents were still alive, he may have become a knight himself by now. If he was a knight he may have awoken as the hero sooner and prevented the invasion. If the Sheikah had not fled, if the magic purge had not happened, if...
If nothing. What ifs did not change a thing. Hyrule was going through a crisis, and what had sent it down this dark road was going to happen either way. After seeing how easily Zant had stolen away the Fused Shadows from Midna, it became clear how powerful the King of Shadows was, and how little of a chance they stood at the time.
The Master Sword might change that.
The place where the sword slept came into view, beyond another open courtyard that split the road in two visible ways: to the right, where the ruined temple lay, and to the left, where the ancient city street went deeper into the verdant gloom of the forest. He followed the right road that went up to the ancient building, which seemed to be in far better condition than the rest of the city, its stones far more resilient. They were still scorched from magic, blackened here and there, but most of the building still stood, it only missing its roof and a few fragments of wall. There were no trees planted in it by the forest spirits, and the partly-cloudy morning sky was visible above the ruined building.
The Temple of Time had the remains of stained glass windows, pieces of the lead frame still in the windows themselves while fragments of colored glass lay scattered beneath them, smoothed by rain and time. There was once a double-door, but it was completely gone from the large archway that marked the temple's entrance. Link walked up the steps to go through that still-scorched archway, parts of the ancient magical damage likely done by Ganondorf himself hidden by the moss that clung to much of the stone in the ruined city.
"This place was burnt...but it wasn't a normal fire. Only a magical fire is strong enough to leave scorch marks on a place for centuries." She paused, and he assumed she was looking around as he stopped on the threshold of the temple to do so himself. "Whomever did this, they were a powerful sorcerer."
"It was a warlock by the name of Ganondorf, also known as the Demon King. You might have heard the Gerudo War mentioned a few times since coming to the light world, but most people don't remember too many details." He stepped into entryway of the temple, the place feeling more hushed once he stood within its walls. "He was a Gerudo, a tribe of people from the desert. He came to Hyrule under the pretense of diplomacy, and instead tried to double-cross the royal family."
"I remember hearing you tell Renado something about Ganondorf invading when Hyrule was recovering from a civil war." She floated up and off his back to look at a circular crest on the floor right past the entryway of the temple. "He must have really hated the Hylians."
"His reasons weren't really known. He could have been nuts, or a megalomaniac, or maybe he wanted our farmland and forests." Link looked down at the three triangles of the crest and touched the lower-right one with his paw, the one he knew he carried in his hand. "He was stopped anyway. The last hero warned the royal family and the knights of what Ganondorf had planned, and because of his actions the war wasn't as bad as it could have been. This place was still destroyed, and the Gorons and Zoras had their own problems caused by the war, but the races survived." He raised his face to look at a stone archway just beyond the crest. "That was about two hundred and fifty years ago. Now this city is just one of many ruins in Hyrule."
Midna followed his eyes up to the archway, and tilted her head to the side slightly. "There's writing on it. Some of the runes are shaped differently than the other ones I've seen in Hyrule, but I can still read it."
"Me too. It says 'Time Door'. Is this what the knight's spirit said I had to sing—uh, howl at?"
"I don't know, because if you look down that staircase, there's another circle on the floor with the Triforce on it, and it looks like a closed doorway is past it." She pointed at what she was describing. "There, between those two statues."
"I see it." He walked through the archway and down the stairs, which were still more or less intact. It looked as if much of the temple was made of gray and brown stone, with white marble on the interior, but time and moss had made the stonework look dull and dirty. Some of the walls were missing in places, and unlike the front windows, the narrow ones on the sides had no glass remaining.
He stepped up to the second crest of the Triforce that was set into the floor, the ancient stonework still fitting together snugly. Whatever skill the Hylians had to build this temple was extraordinary, and despite Ganondorf's best attempts to destroy it, much of it still remained. Past the crest was a smashed wide pedestal made of white and black marble, its purpose no longer evident. Beyond that was another arched doorway, this one had a carved stone door in it and was flanked by two mossy statues.
"This one says 'Door of Time'." he told Midna, still standing on the circular crest. The spot felt important to him for some reason. "That's right, the knight did say the Door of Time was the one I needed. I have to sing the first song to get the temple's attention, and then the second song to open the door."
"So that means the sword is in the next room…" Midna said softly. She alighted on the ruined marble a few feet away from him. "I'm curious to see how this works. Like you said, normally magical songs are played, not sung. Or howled."
"I guess we'll have to see if my voice will work?" He shrugged and fixed his blue eyes on the solid stone door ahead. "Time to wake the temple up. Here goes."
He took a breath and raised his muzzle skyward, and used the wolf's howl to produce the notes of the song belonging to the royal family. The song was short, only sixteen notes, but it had a noticeable effect. Link could feel an awareness form around him, a power that had been dormant for centuries roused from its deep sleep. The crest at his feet flashed a pale green-gold, the color of new leaves in springtime. Ahead of him the two statues lit up with the same light, the pale color shooting up their stony bodies in a web of runes.
The two statues took one step forward off the pedestals that were their resting places for millennia, and extended their two tarnished metal hammers to cross them in front of the Door of Time. Then they spoke, their voices deep and lacking emotion. "We are the guardians of this temple. One who stands before the Door of Time, if you truly are sent by the goddesses then you will know the key to unlock the door. How you proceed is up to you. Choose wisely."
"Choose wisely…" Midna said quietly to herself. It did sound like if they got things wrong, the statues may attack. Luckily, they did have the key to open the door.
Link howled the second song, the one that jumped octaves. Like the other one, he felt that there must be more to the song, but his ancestor only taught him a fraction of it. The rest of the song wasn't necessary, because the two guardian statues flashed orange briefly, and then pale green again. They both withdrew their long hammers and took one step back to their original places.
"You have chosen correctly." they intoned. "You may proceed." The carved door between them faded in a smattering of golden light that sparkled briefly before it was gone, and the green light faded from the statues, their purpose served. Beyond was not a room, but looked like a long hallway that was still intact.
"That was interesting. You were certainly using magic, but it's nothing like what I know how to do." Midna smiled and took a few steps towards him to pat his shoulder. "You continue to be a mystery."
He glanced at her and gave her a nod. A lot of of what he did simply...happened, without logic. At least without logic that either he or Midna had seen. It was part of being the hero. Having nothing to say, he stepped around the smashed pedestal and made his way through the archway and into the dark hallway beyond. The light of another doorway shone at the far end of it.
The end itself was an octagonal chamber with remnants of pillars and stained glass windows set into each flat piece of the wall, some of them still retaining pieces of blue or pink glass. Like the rest of the Temple of Time, its roof was completely gone, and the white marble that once made the floor was dingy with moss and dead leaves.
Except for the center of the room. At the very center of the room was a square raised dais made of pure white marble, etched with lines to create a faint crest of the Triforce, and that crest had a pedestal at its center. Thrust point-down into that pedestal was a silvery white sword with a flared purple hilt, set in with a large yellow gem. Everything else in the Temple of Time was covered in moss, scorch marks or the detritus of time, but the sword itself was unblemished and pristine. The Master Sword was beautiful.
"That's a pretty sword…" Midna said quietly as they came to stand on the dais, her voice awed.
The sun went behind a cloud, casting the temple and the two cursed people within it into shadow. When the light dimmed, the sword pulsed with a silvery light from its blade, startling them. A gust of magical wind hit them, knocking the two of them back. Midna flew clear across the room to back near the entryway, but Link only moved halfway before he caught himself by digging his claws into the worn stone. He realized that it wasn't wind, but a stream of pure energy coming from the sword. The energy continued to push at him as he struggled to slowly move forward towards the brightly glowing sword, breathing heavily from the pain he began to feel every time the shining sword pulsed brighter. The pain was similar to the one he felt when being transformed in the Twilight, yet somehow different. It felt as if his entire body was being seared by the pure light of the Master Sword, but the pain in his head was the strongest.
He cried out in pain, and then realized that it wasn't his wolf voice; it was his human one. Stumbling forward, he extended his now-human hand to shield his eyes from the bright light and saw that Courage was glowing just as brightly as the sword. Step by step he made his way forward, ignoring the pain that coursed through his body. His hand went back to a wolf's paw, then to a bare hand and arm as if he wore nothing at all, then to the familiar one clad in the clothing given to him by the gods, the images flickering back and forth to the point where he wasn't sure whether he was wolf or man.
Then his hand was on the sword, his fingers wrapping around the hilt, and the bright light from the blade and its mystical stream of energy stopped. Very faintly, he could hear a voice:
Purification complete.
Was that the sword? Faron said that it had a soul, so perhaps that meant it could speak. He looked at the yellow gem and the flared cross hilt, and was unsure if he had actually heard it or not. However...he felt something. Something was calling to him, asking—no, demanding that he draw the sword from where it had remained for centuries.
Link set his feet apart and placed a hand above his other on the green-wrapped hilt of the sacred sword, and began to pull. There was a brief moment where it resisted him, but then the pedestal the sword sat in made a faint click and the blade came free. Within his mind he heard the same click, as if a lock had been opened, and he could feel something different in his mind. Something else was there that was not his own consciousnesses, but it wasn't alien or frightening. It felt as if it belonged. The sword slid out of the pedestal easily with a steely sound, far lighter in his hands as he thought it would be.
Without understanding why, he looked into the diamond-shaped yellow gem in the cross hilt and slowly raised the blade to the sky. At that moment the clouds moved on and a sunbeam shone through the trees just beyond the temple, bathing him and the sword in warm light. He held it up in total awe of what had just happened, and as he did so he heard the voice again, far more distinct now. It echoed within his head clearly, and he knew that it was the Master Sword itself that had joined with his mind. Now it spoke to him in a voice that was female, precise, and ultimately not human:
Greetings, Master.
END BOOK ONE
To be continued in Book Two: Midna's Lament
Book one draws to a close, as does the first story arc. It will be a bit before I proof-read book two and post it, since I want to post at least three chapters at the start and need to make a buffer of chapters past that. As of writing this, I'm at the start of chapter 5 of Midna's Lament, so it shouldn't be too long.
When the next book is ready, I'll post an extra "chapter" at the end of this book to say so. That way if you've boomarked/followed the story, you'll know when the next part is ready to read.
Thanks for sticking with my version of Twilight Princess so far! I managed to outline, rough and write this thing in almost exactly six months; I started on December 28 2020, my birthday, and of writing this it is July 30, 2021. 310k words in that time, which is at least double what your average published adult novel is. I think I've proven to myself that I can crank out at least a book a year if I want to. :)
