Chapter 4

The Law of Opposites

As Zelda warped to the Keo Ruug Shrine, she was amazed, and a bit irritated with herself, to realize that she had never thought to ask the Deku Tree for advice. He was certainly one of the oldest beings in Hyrule, and probably one of the wisest, although she wasn't sure exactly what his scope of knowledge encompassed. Perhaps he had slipped her mind because there was so little written about him. The Koroks themselves did not write much; even the book of folk tales had been written by a human scholar who based it on their oral traditions. And very few humans or other races ever made it to the Korok Forest, especially before the recent activation of the shrine, since it was surrounded by the formidable Lost Woods.

As she made her way from the shrine to the Deku Tree's glen, she couldn't help but smile as Koroks began to draw near out of curiosity. Several of the braver ones called out, "Hello, Miss Princess!" and she greeted them warmly in return. Zelda did not like to admit that she sometimes had trouble telling the little creatures apart, but when she saw the taller one with a ginkgo-leaf face and a mushroom on his head, she recalled that he was Chio, the elder.

"Welcome, Miss Princess!" he chirped. "What brings you to the forest today?"

"Good morning, Chio!" she said. "I'm here to speak with the Deku Tree."

"Oh, he's asleep," said Chio. "He's been asleep for the past few days. But he always wakes up when he's needed!"

"Well, that's good," said Zelda. "I'm sorry to have to wake him, but it's rather urgent so I'm sure he won't mind."

The Koroks gathered around her as she stepped into the glen and knelt before the great tree. She suddenly felt a bit unsure of what to say.

"Great Deku Tree," she began, "please forgive my intrusion, but I have an urgent need for your help."

There was no response.

"Great Deku Tree!" Zelda repeated, louder.

The tree continued to stand as still as a normal tree, silent except for a soft, rhythmic creak that resembled a snore.

"Chio, dear," she said, "could you and your friends wake him up for me?" I'm not sure how."

"We can't wake him up," said Chio. "It's like I told you. He wakes up when he's needed."

"But I need him very badly!"

"I'm sorry to contradict you, Miss Princess," said Chio, "but apparently you don't. Because if you needed him, he would wake up."

Zelda was about to argue that this didn't make sense, but the more she tried to work out why it didn't, the less reason she could think of for it not to. How irritating.

"Well," she said when she finally gave it up, "perhaps one of you Koroks can help me. I'm looking for a cure for the poison from this mushroom." She sat down on the ground and opened the poison book, and the crowd of Koroks peered eagerly at the old illustration. "Are any of you familiar with it?"

"Natie, you're the mushroom expert," said one of them. "Do you know it?"

"I've never seen one like that," said Natie.

"It's a very deadly mushroom that grows from decaying Malice," Zelda explained. "I heard an old story about someone who was cured of it by a magician, and I came here because it seems that the magician was a Korok. Actually, it may have been a Korok from one of your stories—Chidia who lived with humans."

"Oh, Chidia!" several Koroks twittered.

"We all know that story, Miss Princess," continued one of them. "It's one of the Deku Tree's favorites! But Chidia wasn't a magician. She was just really wise, and good at the Law of Opposites!"

"The Law of Opposites?" Zelda frowned. "What's that?"

"The Law of Opposites!" squeaked Chio. "It's one of the best ways to solve problems! See, when something is causing you trouble, you can't just make it disappear. You have to get the opposite thing, to cancel it out. For example. If you have hate in your heart, you can't just stop hating. You need to get love, and if you get enough love then the hate will go away, because love is the opposite of hate. Or if you have fear, you can't just stop being scared. You need some trust, because trust is the opposite of fear."

"Well, that's good advice for things like love and trust," said Zelda, "but those are intangible . . ."

"No, it works for other things too!" another Korok piped up. "See, yesterday Peeks slipped and fell, right over there, because the ground was too muddy. Well, what's the opposite of mud? Stone! So we got a bunch of stones, and we put them in that part of the ground, and now it's not slippery anymore."

Zelda was still feeling very uncertain about this Korok logic. "Well, all right," she said, "but then . . . what's the opposite of a mushroom?"

The Koroks scratched their heads.

"You should ask Miki!" said the one who had spoken last. "He's the best at the Law of Opposites. He's really smart, and he practices it with the Deku Tree. He's the one who figured out that stone is the opposite of mud."

"All right," said Zelda, looking around, "which of you is Miki?"

"He's not here," answered Natie. "He went to pick berries. But if you go right down that trail you'll find him."

The "trail" was not what Zelda would have called a trail. It was more like a slightly-wider-than-average space between the trees, and as she picked her way down it, she found it harder and harder to tell where it was and where it wasn't. It also didn't help that she was nearing the edge of the Koroks' part of the forest, and mists were starting to swirl in the dimming light.

"Miki?" she shouted into the silence. "Miki! Are you out here?"

She suddenly noticed, just ahead of her, a bright yellow flower. As she approached it, it disappeared, and another one sprang up a few paces to her left.

"Miki! Is that you?" she called. "It's Princess Zelda! Please come out!"

The second flower also disappeared before she could touch it, and a third popped up several yards away.

"Miki, please!" said Zelda with increasing irritation. "I need to speak with you! It's urgent!"

When the third flower disappeared, Zelda looked around for the fourth, and found with great annoyance that it was on a tree branch high above her. Heaving a sigh, she made the climb with some effort, and finally sat down panting on the thick branch.

"Yahaha! You found me!" With a leafy twinkle, a small Korok with an orange maple-leaf face appeared on the branch next to her. "Hello, Miss Princess!"

Zelda's temper suddenly got the better of her. "Miki! Why didn't you come out when I asked you? I told you it was urgent, and still you make me climb all the way up here? Link is dying, he could die any minute, and I have to get him a cure before that happens! I can't waste time like this!"

When she saw how quickly and genuinely Miki's face fell from delight into shame and horror, she immediately regretted her words.

"Miki, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have chided you. It's not your fault; you didn't know. Please forgive me. I've been having a very hard week, but there was no need to take that out on you." She reached out to wipe a tear from his face, and now found her finger sticky with sap.

"Mr. Hero is . . . dying?"

Zelda suddenly realized that, of all people, Miki was the first one whom she had actually told about the reason for her quest. "Yes, Miki, but I've come here because I think you might be able to save him."

She told him all about how Link had gotten sick, and what she'd read about the killshroom; about Naqai and the Elderly Child, and how Link had remembered the Tale of Chidia; about the Law of Opposites, and how she didn't really understand it. By the time she finished, Miki had scooted closer and was hugging her around the leg, and had shed enough tears for her to wonder how she was going to get the sap off her trousers.

"And Miki," she finished, "I don't want you to feel bad if you can't save Link, because none of this is your responsibility, but I do hope you're willing to try."

"Of course I will," said Miki, standing and perking up a little as he took a deep breath. "Now let's see. The killshroom eats decaying Malice, right?"

"That's right."

"And Malice is liquid darkness, isn't it?"

"Um . . . more or less, I suppose."

"So what's the opposite of darkness?"

"Light. So we need to give him light?" Zelda guessed doubtfully. Link had already seen light, and all it seemed to do was make his head hurt.

"No," said Miki, starting to get excited. "The killshroom itself isn't darkness. It grows where darkness used to be, so . . . it's a memory of darkness. And what's the opposite of a memory?"

Zelda frowned. "Um . . ."

"The opposite of memory is anticipation!" Miki answered himself, too eager to wait for her to ponder. "So to cancel out the memory of darkness, you need the anticipation of light!"

He was now so excited that he was jumping up and down on the tree branch, staring at Zelda expectantly, as if it should be easy now for her to guess his meaning.

It wasn't. "Anticipation of light," she repeated, still thoroughly confused. "What does that mean?"

"BEAN LAMP SEEDS!" he exclaimed with delight, grabbing her hand and nearly pulling her off the branch before she caught herself. "Come on, let's go get some!"

Zelda never would have guessed that a creature with such short legs could move so fast. After floating down from the tree on a leaf propeller, Miki skedaddled through the woods so quickly that twice Zelda had to call him back so as not to lose her way. But as the light grew brighter and the trail wider, Miki ran through one last hollow log and then stopped next to a curved plant with two pods of glowing yellow beans hanging from it.

"See?" he squeaked as Zelda came up puffing. "Each bean's outer casing"—here he touched one gently—"glows with light to help the bean grow. It can't develop without light. But then after the bean is full-grown"—now he searched around the rest of the plant—"the light goes out and the casing cracks open, because the bean it ready to plant. Here's one!"

He pulled an unlit pod from the plant and held it up for Zelda to see. What she had thought were the beans were actually three round bean casings, each stuck to the inside of the pod, cracked open to reveal the actual beans inside them. Miki opened each casing further and shook the three greenish-tan seeds into Zelda's palm.

"See, that right there is the anticipation of light. There's no light in them now, but when you plant them, new bean lamps will grow! . . . But of course, this time you're not going to plant them, because you're going to feed them to Mr. Hero instead."

Zelda crouched beside the Korok and looked into his lopsided eyes. "Miki, I can't thank you enough. I'm still not sure I understand why this will work, but . . . I have hope that it will."

"You're welcome! Anything for you and Mr. Hero!" Miki beamed. "Do you have a bottle? We can fill it up with beans, in case he needs a lot of them, and we can soak them in water so they're easier to swallow."

"You think of everything, don't you?" said Zelda. "Yes, let's do just that."

"Miss Princess?" asked Miki.

"Yes?"

"May I come with you?"

Zelda had never warped two people at once before, but since Miki was not much bigger than a large knapsack, she was quite sure it would work. After warning him about the dizziness, she sat him on her shoulders and crouched down so as not to strain the warp range, and almost immediately the two found themselves at Hyrule Castle.

"Oh no," said Miki suddenly. "Oh no, oh no, uh . . . Oh. I'm all right now." He hopped down. "That was one of the weirdest things I've ever felt."

They made their way to Link's room, and just before she opened the door Zelda was hit by a wave of panic over the thought that Link very well could be dead already. But she took a deep breath and entered, and was relieved to find his face still uncovered and the medic still tending him.

"Can you sit him up?" she asked. "We need him to swallow something."

The medic sighed wearily. "I don't know if that's a good idea. If he vomits while he's unconscious, he'll choke."

"Please," said Zelda, "I know he hasn't kept anything else down, but this is our last hope of saving him."

The medic sighed again and propped Link up on his side against the pillows. Zelda hesitated as she looked at his limp form, but Miki seemed to know exactly what to do. Without a word, he took the bottle of beans from her and hopped up onto the bed beside Link. Uncorking it, he pulled out one soaked bean and set the rest down on the bedside table. He opened Link's mouth and carefully positioned the bean on his tongue. Then he pressed his mouth closed, tilted his head forward, and gently touched his throat.

Link swallowed.

Miki repeated the process with five more beans, finally saying that Link couldn't have eaten more mushrooms than that. They all waited for several minutes that seemed to Zelda like hours. Part of her expected him to throw up again, or else just die on the spot. But neither of those things happened; instead, he just lay still. After a while, however, sweat beads began to break out on his forehead, so much that soon they were running down his face. Then, after another minute, he stirred and opened his eyes.

Some silly, romantic part of Zelda had hoped that if Link woke up, the first thing he would say would be her name. But as it happened, the only thing in Link's field of vision at that moment was the expectant face of a Korok. So, naturally, the first words he rasped out were:

"Found you!"

Miki was so excited that, with a squeak, he jumped right over Link and started hopping up and down on the other side of the mattress. This allowed Link to see the rest of the room, and his eyes met hers.

"Zelda."

There it was. Zelda threw her arms around him, heedless of the sweat that drenched his body.

"Link. Oh, thank the Goddesses! Are you all right? How do you feel?"

"A lot better. Thirsty. Could I have some water? Zelda, why are you crying?"

"Link, I was so sure I was going to lose you again."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Well, you haven't. I'm going to be all right." He paused. "But even if you had, I know you'd be fine without a bodyguard. You're strong and you're wise."

"What? Don't be silly!" Zelda might have been angry if she hadn't been so happy. "Of course I'd be fine without a bodyguard. But not without you."

It took Link a few days to regain his strength, and his stomach could only handle small meals at first, but it seemed to Zelda that in an odd sort of way he recovered from the ordeal faster than she did. She slept nearly all day for two days, and even after that she found herself very tired and disinclined to make decisions. One evening she wandered out to watch the sunset, and Link, newly out of bed, found her up on the castle wall.

"Hello," he said.

"Well, look who's up and about. Hello."

He leaned on the parapet beside her. "So I was thinking, and . . . I want to let you know something."

"Yes?"

"I've been . . . saying I'm sorry a lot," he stumbled, rubbing his neck, "but . . . what I really should have been saying is . . . thank you."

"Link . . ."

"I've gotten to help people with a lot of things," he continued, "and when I do, they always thank me. It's not fair for me to hog all the thanks. I owe other people a chance to be thanked too. And you deserve it. So, thank you."

"Link, don't thank me," said Zelda. "I couldn't even figure out the cure. Thank Miki, and Muava, and Rotana and Ashai, and Chio and all the Koroks, and the Deku Tree, and Impa, and the medic, and . . . the Goddesses."

Link chuckled. "I intend to thank each of them," he said. "But I want to thank you too. Not just for your hard work—which you did a lot of—but for being there. For being you.

"Zelda, I could have died way before you and Miki brought me those beans. I felt death pulling me, but I fought it. At first I fought it because I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, but then I realized how strong and wise you are, so you don't really need one. Once I didn't have that to hold onto, I almost let go. It was pulling me so hard. But then I remembered that I just . . . wanted to see you. I didn't want to leave you, not because you need me, but . . . because I just didn't want to.

"Zelda, I'm still alive because of you. Not just because of what you did. Because of you."

The End

Hey everyone, thanks so much for reading all the way to the end of my first fanfic ever! I hope you all enjoyed it! I've been thinking of drawing an illustration or two for it. If that's something you'd be interested in, let me know in the comments which scene or moment you'd most want to see a drawing of. Thanks again!

Update: The illustrations are finished! See them here: lightmotif139. tumblr. kom/post/638258351661367296/two-illustrations-for-my-botw-fanfic-dubious-food

(Copy the link, delete the spaces after the dots, and change the k in kom to a c. Hopefully this will work.)

~ charaboogity