Alright, Faron Woods! Let's see what mysteries lie within its depths, as well as what happened to Link's master, Kain!

Chapter 6

Into the Woods

Link drew his sword and shield and began carefully making his way into the woods, constantly looking around to stay aware of his surroundings, as monsters could lurk anywhere within these damned woods...

"You never know when a damn Lizalfos or worse could pop up out of nowhere..." said Link as he ducked under a branch.

"Worse?" asked Marze as he flew through the trees behind Link.

"Well, for starters, I could be dealing with Dinalfos, a stronger species of Lizalfos capable of inhaling air and exhaling flames," explained Link as he hopped off the large root of a tall tree. "And even worse than those are not things that struggle to live, but the ones that refuse death."

Marze's eyes widened as Link explained. "The undead?"

Link nodded in confirmation. "And likely the reason that so many have never left. There are creatures known as Stalchildren, the reanimated corpses of kids who died searching for their parents but never returned. Though weak alone, they always come in unholy numbers. But even worse are what became of their parents."

"Yeah?" asked Marze.

"As you know, only bounty hunters and knights ever tried to enter Faron Woods, skilled fighters. They became terrifying warriors of death known as Stalfos. They don't fear death as much as the living fear them."

Link heard rustling in the bushes to his right, quickly raising his shield in order to take whatever blow might be coming. To his relief, a squirrel darted out of said bush, running up a tree a few feet away. It quickly made its way to a lone branch standing over what would have long ago been a path used by hunters. The animal looked at Link with eyes that nearly pleaded for him to turn back before scurrying away, further up the tree and out of Link's sight.

"Not until I have my sister back," Link whispered to himself as he quickened his pace, ducking under branches that stood between him and his goal.

OOO

"Maybe we should take a break?" suggested Marze, as Link had been making his way deeper into the forest for a few hours. Link looked around but shook his head.

"I can't. We can take a break once we find a clearing, but no sooner."

The hunter continued his trek through the forest for a few more minutes before finally coming across a small clearing in the forest where the dwindling sunlight rained down from above. Link sheathed his weapons and reached into his pouch, gathering up a few things to set up a camp for the night.

"Alright, this spot will do. So long as we keep a fire going through the night, none of the Stals should try to do anything. I'll get a fire started."

Marze nodded, flitting around the treeless area. "I honestly wonder what Dark Link wants to do with your sister. I mean, according to your legends, it's the Princess of Hyrule that possesses a fragment of the Triforce, right? Not a commoner?"

"Yes," replied Link as he unraveled a bedroll for himself for the night. "There hasn't been a case that Hylian History knows of where the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom hasn't been royal. The Hero, however, is almost never of royal blood. Maybe once or twice the Hero was of even the slightest hint of royal blood. For example, the Hero of Twilight was descended from the Hero of Time, who later in life was knighted, making the Hero of Twilight a knight by blood, which in Hyrule is considered royal enough to marry into the royal family."

"That's pretty interesting," acknowledged Marze as he landed in the branch of a nearby tree. "Anyway though, you should get some sleep. When we find what we're looking for, we'll probably need you at your best."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Link as he lit the fire, setting his sword and shield next to himself in case the fire proved ineffective through the night.

"Just remember, if you see anything or hear anything, just wake me up. I don't care if it turns out to be a squirrel, I just need to make sure nothing tries to kill me before I get Ryla back."

Marze nodded as Link removed his sword and shield, setting them next to his bedroll, shortly after removing his armor, leaving only his white underclothes.

"I swear," said Link as he placed his clothing next to the bedroll, "if something happens to Ryla because I'm too slow, then there's going to be Hell to pay. I won't care what gods stand in my path, they'll fall if they so much as lay a hand on her."

Before Marze knew it, Link had fallen asleep, looking surprisingly peaceful after his outburst. Marze didn't mind though, and tossed another twig into the fire, hoping to keep the terrors Link spoke of at bay.

OOO

When Link finally woke, he saw the rays of sunlight in its early hours breaking through the woods. Sighing with relief, he regathered his equipment, plaving them all back in their proper places. Placing his weapons on his back, he felt ready to go.

"Alrighty Marze, let's be on our way. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so I want to start as soon as we can. Marze?"

Link looked around to see that Marze was nowhere to be seen, and that there was a path of broken branches leading further into the woods.

"Damn it! The fire didn't work!" Link shouted before running down the new path. Link deduced that it must have been something small that took Marze, as there weren't very thick branches broken when they got in its way. But that didn't stop Link. Not when Marze was the only one who could help him find his sister, so he had to soldier on.

It took Link a while to finally make it to the next clearing, seeing a familiar looking Stardrake being held in a make-shift jail cell made of branches suspended a good twenty feet above the ground, held in the air by the branch of a positively titanic tree not far from where he stood now.

"Marze!" Link shouted, hoping to get the little dragon's attention.

Marze looked around the area, eventually see the bounty hunter waving at him from the forest floor.

"Link, get out of here! It's a trap!"

Link's eyes widened as he looked around in worry, his eyes scanning the area for any possible signs of danger. It was only when he saw a bush in the distance rustle that he realized he was too late, and an arrow scratched his face. Quickly drawing his own bow, he let fly an arrow into the same bush the offender had shot from, hearing a cry of pain from within. Quickly switching from bow to sword, he sprinted past the bush and raised his sword, only to see a younger boy clutching his arm in pain with a boy by his feet. Link noticed that his arrow had merely grazed the boy's arm and embedding itself in the tree behind him.

"Who are you?" Link asked the younger boy, who looked at him in anger before grabbing a knife with his good arm.

"I should have known!" yelled the boy as he stood. "More bounty hunters. What do you want, huh? Want to try and find the secret of the forest like the others? Well guess what! You won't find anything! Only I'm allowed to find what made this forest special and get the reward! Everyone else is just trespassing!"

The boy tried to stab Link, though he easily sidestepped his attack and tripped, taking his knife in the process. The boy quickly got up, only then realizing he didn't have his weapon before reaching for his bow, but Link merely stepped on it, preventing the boy from attacking him any further.

"Just stop already. I'm not here for whatever made this forest what it is."

"Liar! My brother told all bounty hunters do is do what they want for money! He would know, he was a bounty hunter too!"

Link rolled his eyes and grabbed the boy, lifting him into the air such that he couldn't try to grab his bow anymore.

"Tell me, ever heard of a bounty hunter by the name of the Hooded Demon?"

"Goddesses, are you an idiot? Everyone in Hyrule's heard of the guy. He's currently the most successful bounty hunter alive."

"So, if you've heard of him, then you know how he operates, right? Either takes a bunch of smaller missions or one big one before lying low, am I right?"

"Yeah, your point?"

Link set the boy down, he himself leaning on a tree close by.

"Ever wonder why he waits a while before taking new missions? It's because he's protecting someone. He gets the money he needs for both him and who he is protecting to survive. He doesn't do it for the money, he does it to help someone live," Link explained.

"And how would you know this?" the boy asked, falling into a sitting position.

"Because," Link said as he donned his mask and hood, his piercing blue eyes staring at the boy through his mask, and the boy stared back at him in shock.

"I am the Hooded Demon."

The boy shook his head violently. "No, you can't be. The Hooded Demon never shows his face! If you were him, then why show me?""

Link narrowed his eyes, the boy wincing at the strangely convincing act. "Why show you? Because the person I've been protecting was my younger sister, and she's been taken. And as much as I don't want to admit it, I need help. I'm against the world here. So, can I ask your help?"

The boy fiddled with his fingers, finally believing him. "What's in it for me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Link thought for a moment, then smiled beneath his mask. "Tell you what; If you help me, I'll help you find out this forest's secrets. Best part, you get the reward. Does that sound good enough?"

The boy thought for a moment before a smile appeared on his face. "Okay, deal. My name is Abel, by the way. What's yours? Can't be calling you Hood forever if we're going to be working together."

Link managed a small chuckle as he removed his mask and hood, thinking for a moment. "My name is Link Valion."

Link was about to say something else when he was cut off by a certain Stardrake clearing his throat.

"Now that we have that all cleared up, can someone get me down please? I don't like enclosed spaces."

Link snickered for a moment before nocking an arrow, severing the rope with a single well placed shot. Marze was unceremoniously dropped on the ground and his cage shattered when he hit the ground, dazing him for a moment.

"Now I know why Hylians say... 'Seeing stars'..." was all the little dragon managed to croak out before falling unconcious.

"So, uhhh... What is that thing? Even when I took it from your camp, I had no idea what it was," asked Abel.

Link shook his head with slight annoyance. "That's a Stardrake, basically a little star dragon. He's helping me find my sister. His name is Marze."

Abel laughed at Marze's expense and stood up, wincing as he bumped his arm on a tree branch.

"We might want to do something about that," said Link as he reached into his pouch to pull out a bottle of potion. "Here, take a sip of this. It should have you feeling fine in no time."

Abel thanked Link before uncorking the potion, taking a rather generous sip of the red liquid before furrowing his brow in disgust.

"Oh my Goddesses, these are bitter," said Abel before checking his arm, which thanks to the potion's healing properties was already scarring over. "Thank you though."

"Not a problem," said Link before putting the potion back in his pouch. "So, Abel, what do you know about this place? How close are you to unlocking the secret of Faron Woods?"

"If you want me to be 110% honest with you... Not very. All I know is something is up with the Great Tree. Problem is, there's a door that I can't get past, and it doesn't look like it takes a key, so I can't even pick it."

"Well," said Link with a smirk as he re-donned his mask and hood, "I've had more than my fair share of otherwise impassible doors in my lifetime. Let's head out, yeah?"

Abel nodded and grabbed Marze, leading Link in the direction of the Great Tree, which to Link's lack of surprise was the leviathan of a tree he saw when entering the clearing. True to Abel's words, there was a huge stone door lacking a keyhole, meaning there had to be some other way it opened.

"Maybe some kind of hidden mechanism somewhere else opens it," whispered Link as he scanned the area. Then he got an idea. If there was anyone that had recently gone into the Great Tree, they must have used the door, right? So they must have also used whatever unlocks the door...

Luckily for Link, his days of bounty hunting have made a more than proficient tracker. Making his way to the door, he gave it an experimental knock to see if he couldn't merely cut through it with his sword, but it seemed extremely thick, so merely breaking it down was out of the question unless he had high power explosives.

Looking at the ground, Link saw tracks that led to the door, and were quite visible, thankfully. Following them away from the door, he was led to a suspicious-looking stone free of plant-life unlike the others, instead covered by a crude green paintjob to try and make it look natural. Moving the stone, which he found to be nothing but a craved piece of wood, he saw a divot in the ground filled by a lever that had been used recently, meaning Link had found his entrance. Pulling the lever, he heard the feint crunching of gears as he saw the door open, releasing a heavy gust that visibly moved Abel, knocking him over.

"Sorry, Abel!" Link called to his new companion, who gave a thumbs-up in response.

"I'm fine!" called the younger boy, standing up with nothing more than a fresh coat of dirt on his back, dirtying his clothes. "You got it open though, so we can get started. Let's head in and see what's up."

Link nodded and headed to the doorway, Abel following closely after. When Link stood at the entrance the the temple withing the Great Tree, he heard heavy growling and loud crashes, things that would deter even the most fearless of men. But it wasn't fearlessness that made Link strong. It was courage. The courage to overcome any obstacle put in his way regardless of how afraid he is. Because right now, these obstacles were keeping his sister away from him.

And nothing was going to keep him from saving her.

Without so much as a second glance, Link made his way down the stairs to the depths of the Great Tree, Abel now a bit hesitant.

"A-are you sure you want to do this? There might be something down there we don't know about," he asked unsurely, though Link merely kept walking, not even bothering to turn around and face him to speak.

"I've never been as sure about anything in my entire life. If I find so much as a clue to find my sister, then this will all be worth it," replied the hunter as he became swallowed by the darkness of the tree.

"W-wait for me!" cried Abel as he quickly ran down the stairs after Link, not wanting to be separated from his partner in such a dangerous place.

The staircase was surprisingly long, but that should have been expected considering it was likely a place of worship used by some faith or another in the past. But worshiping a tree? Link thought that was absurd. Regardless, when they finally reached the bottom, the place was huge. Link could tell even in the dim light that they were standing in a huge central corridor, leading off to many different rooms, most of which locked, meaning the keys had to be somewhere.

Link grabbed an old torch from the wall, and using a flint and steel from his pouch, lit it, providing light throughout the main chamber before handing it to Abel, he himself drawing his sword and shield. This was the very heart of the evil that has long plagued Faron Woods, so monsters were bound to be lurking around every corner.

"I've heard rumors about this place," stated Abel as he took a look around the room. "The Heroes of Old were supposed to have come here during their quests... They called it the Forest Temple, but that's kind of bland... You know what? From today on, I'll call this the Temple of Abel!"

Link sighed. This kid sure was interesting. "Why not Skyview Temple? There was one called that long ago, and it has a nicer ring to it," proposed the hunter.

Abel nodded, liking the idea. "Then it's settled. Skyview Temple it is!"

And with that, Link set off on the first challenge of his quest.

Skyview Temple.

Well, I'd say it's about time for a new chapter, yeah? And next chapter, we get into Skyview Temple, yay! I did like Skyward Sword's name for the Skyview Temple, so that's what this one will be called. I want to try and break away from the lazy naming Zelda dungeons have like Water Temple and Forest Temple. Skyward Sword did that pretty well, with only the Earth Temple and Fire Temple being the offenders. But who cares, you guys have this lovely chapter until next time.

There are no steroids in sports. Only players that Chuck Norris has breathed on.

OniHelix out!