Chapter 3

The Tale of Chidia Who Lived with Humans

"How is he? Is his soul still with us?" Zelda entered Link's room more softly than she had since his illness started. Since there was nothing more she could do, she had decided she just wanted to be with him during his final moments.

"It is," answered the medic, "but I'm afraid the fever is taking him. He's been slipping in and out of consciousness, but even when he's awake he's been muttering nonsense. Going on about cats and pirates and magic flutes . . . I couldn't make heads or tails of it. He did wake up a little while ago and said he wanted to tell you something, but I still couldn't tell what he was saying. He insisted on writing it down for you. After that he faded out again and hasn't been awake since."

Zelda sat on the bed beside Link's unconscious form as the medic traded the cloth on his forehead for a freshly chilled one. She picked up the note from the bedside table, feeling reluctant to read it. It would probably be another apology, or a goodbye, or both—heart-wrenching no matter what. But as she squinted at Link's feverish scrawl, she realized that it was neither of those things; rather, it was just a phrase.

"The tale of . . . something? . . . who loved—no, lived, with hom— . . . with humans," she read.

"I wouldn't read into it too much," said the medic. "He wasn't lucid."

"The Tale of someone Who Lived with Humans," Zelda repeated. "That sounds vaguely familiar. Like something I might have read a long time ago."

"A folk tale, maybe?"

"That seems right, but . . . it can't be. I've just been through every book of folk tales in the library. Anything I might have read as a child should be fresh in my memory right now . . . unless it was lost to the Calamity . . ."

"What about that one?" The medic gestured with her foot toward the floor under Link's bed.

"Hmm?"

Zelda got up and saw that there was in fact a small, old book lying haphazardly under the bed, just within its shadow. She crouched down, picked it up, and read:

Korok Folk Tales

"The Koroks!" Zelda gasped. "Of course! Link was reading this the evening before we went to Kakariko; he must have taken it to bed with him and that's why I never saw it in the library!" She sat down on the floor and flipped through the pages with the eagerness of someone opening a treasure chest. "Here it is!" she finally said, and began to read aloud:

The Tale of Chidia Who Lived with Humans

Long, long ago, too long for anyone to count, the Koroks did not have bodies of wood, but of flesh like humans. When the world became too dangerous for them and they transformed into creatures of wood, most of them lost the recollection of their human forms. However, in the years that followed, there were a very few Koroks, only the most skillful and thoughtful, who kept the ability to transform between wood and flesh, and learned to do so at will.

One of the last of these transformers was a clever Korok girl named Chidia. Though she lived long after the Transformation, she loved to learn of the days of old, and found that she still possessed the old talent which her siblings lacked. Being the only one in her forest able to take on human form, Chidia became fascinated with humans, and would often wander far from her home just to make sure that any human who got lost in the forest received her aid.

One day, while in human form, Chidia struck up a conversation with a human whom she was helping find his way out of the woods. She became so engrossed that she followed him all the way to his village, where she found children of her own size playing in the square. Chidia began to play with the children, and they quickly became friends, but she did not tell them she was a Korok. In those days, many humans thought of Koroks as tricksters, so Chidia was afraid they would not trust her if they knew who she was.

When dinnertime came and the children realized that she had no home nearby, a young brother and sister invited her to come home and eat with their family, and she accepted. The children's mother and father were kind, and they welcomed her eagerly. Chidia was unused to human food, but she was so delighted to be welcomed by a human family that she ate it with a smile. After learning that her family was far away, the parents concluded that she must be a daughter of busy merchants who had little time for her and often left her alone to wander. Believing that all children deserve love and attention, they welcomed her to come back as often as she wished, and even to sleep in their home if she wanted to.

Chidia was overjoyed. She had always dreamed of having a human family, but had never thought it could happen. She began to visit the humans often, for longer and longer periods, until eventually she was spending more time in the village than in the forest. Chidia still loved her Korok family and the Deku Tree, but when she explained to them how much she felt at home among the humans, they gave her their blessing to live there, as long as she would continue to visit the forest regularly.

Of course, Chidia was grateful to her new human family, and she did not want to be a burden to them. So she made sure to help them in the garden, using the skill that all Koroks naturally have with plants. Their garden produced triple its usual crop that year, and continued to do so for as long as Chidia lived there.

But despite how much she felt like a human, Chidia was not one. For humans grow old very quickly, whereas Koroks stay children throughout their entire long lives. Soon, she began to notice that the brother and sister, who had once been just her size, were getting taller, and their voices were changing. The parents, once young, were getting wrinkles around their eyes and streaks of grey in their hair. Soon, Chidia was the only small child in the family, and she began to feel lonely.

This also did not go unnoticed by the family. They wondered why Chidia was not growing, and when she provided no explanation, they began to insist on taking her to a doctor. Finally, afraid of what might happen, she gave up and told them she was a Korok in human form. She explained that this was why she was so good at gardening, and she even showed them her wood form to prove that it was true.

"I am sorry," Chidia said. "I have lied to you, and I regret that, for you trusted me. I am the only Korok in my forest who can take on human form, and so I came here because I love humans. But I am not one. And now you may send me back to my own people, for I am not what you thought I was."

"Chidia," said her human parents, "do not say such things. We love you like our own daughter, and the fact that you are a Korok does not change that. If you want to return to your forest because you cannot grow old with us, you are free to do so. But please know that we will be happiest if you stay and continue to be our daughter."

At this Chidia wept, and she told them she would always see them all as family no matter how old they grew. After that, she divided her year between the forest and the village, spending time with her two families and learning the wisdom of both Koroks and humans. She learned more about planting, herbs, and remedies, and she became very wise. The rest of the village thought it rather strange that she did not grow, but as she helped their crops prosper and showed kindness to both adults and children, they accepted her strangeness.

Her human siblings continued to grow, and after a few more years they each married and moved into different houses. Chidia missed having them as playmates, but she was glad to have them as elders and to see how happy they were. Soon, however, they each had children of their own, and when those children grew old enough to play, Chidia found herself with siblings of her own size once again.

So it continued for many human generations. Her original adoptive parents finally died, and she grieved them, but she had come to see her former siblings as new parents. And when their children grew up, they became like parents to her, and Chidia became playmates with their children. She found her life to be beautiful and bittersweet, feeling the loss of each generation that passed on, but having the joy of knowing each new generation and watching them grow up.

One day, after many years, Chidia began to grow weak. This surprised her human family, for normally she was the one who knew the herbs to cure others' illnesses. As she grew weaker and weaker, her human brother picked her up and carried her into the forest. He had to brave the dangerous Lost Woods, but she had just enough strength to tell him where to go, until finally he brought her to the Deku Tree himself.

"O Great Deku Tree," said the boy, "your daughter Chidia, my Korok sister, is ill, and we cannot find a cure. Please, can you tell me what herb or medicine will restore her health?"

"Nay, good lad," replied the Deku Tree. "Chidia is not ill; rather, she is old. She has lived a long and blessed life, and has blessed many others as well. Now, it is time for her spirit to leave us."

At this, the boy shed many tears, as did the other Koroks who were gathered around. Finally, he said to the tree, "I shall leave her here so she may die among her own people, and be buried according to your customs."

"Nay," said the tree once again. "Chidia is our relative, but she is yours as well. She should die among humans and be buried according to your customs, for it was among humans that her heart found its home."

So the boy carried her back to his home, where she died. On the day of her burial, all of the village came out to mourn her, for she was very loved. Her Korok family loved her deeply as well, and they wished to pay their respects, but they were afraid that the humans would fear them or shoo them away if they were seen. So they arrived at the graveyard early and disguised themselves: an out-of-place stone here, a flurry of leaves there, a hole in the wall here, a mismatched flower there.

The adults of the village noticed nothing at first, for they were being solemn. Children, however, are prone to playing even at inappropriate times. And Koroks, of course, are children too, so when the human children began to find their hiding places, they could not resist popping out to reward their curiosity. Soon, a great game of hide-and-seek broke out throughout the graveyard. Some of the adults found it disrespectful, but others, especially those who knew of Chidia's lineage, joined in the game, saying, "What better way to honor the life of a child than through play?"

And so it was that humans began to realize that Korok mischief is not of the harmful type, but of the type that brings joy and wonder. And from that day forward, many Koroks started traveling throughout Hyrule to play hide-and-seek with humans, rewarding even adults for showing childlike curiosity.

Zelda unexpectedly found herself blinking back more tears. She was unsure whether they were caused by the story itself, or thoughts of Link being the one to die, or relief at finding a next step, or amazement at how it had happened. Probably all of those things at once.

"Thank the Goddesses," she mumbled as she wiped her eyes, standing up and slipping the book into her pocket along with the other one. "Please," she said to the medic, "I know the elixirs are useless, but please just do anything you can to keep him alive another day. I have one more trip to make."