Sorry for the late update guys. I'll have another chapter ready by this Friday, but school is in full swing for me, and I have many other creative projects that I am pursuing. That being said, this story is not on hold, it'll just come around a little more slowly. Sorry (but not really sorry) for the delays. Thank you for reading, and I hope you've been enjoying so far!
The 14th Day of Winter
The village horn of danger filled the air with dread. Kokiri poked their heads out their windows stepped out of their homes to see what could possibly warrant the horn to be blown for the first time ever. Snowfall from the previous day covered the ground with a thin film of white snow. The full moon made the ground gleam like a sea of crystals. The beginning of the winter season dropped the temperature gradually, but that seemed to bother no one. The imminent threat of danger was present through everyone's mind, not the cold air.
Perhaps it was a mistake. Only the Protector had access to the horn, and if she believed that the village was in danger, then the warning must have been serious. Dozens of Kokiri closed their windows, but Topah instead grabbed his trusty wooden sword and ran outside. This was the moment he was waiting for. All that training from the Protector, all the time spent carving and crafting his weapon, would finally be used to defend his home from the first attack ever. The grip on the wooden handle tightened as Topah anticipated the imminent danger.
But who could attack the Kokiri? The Great Deku Tree isolated the Kokiri Village by expanding the forest outwards. Mido and his friends were the only ones who interacted with travelers and merchants outside of the village so that the village's location could remain a protected secret. That only left the Deku, who were the only people to regularly visit the village for the seasonal celebrations.
Another horn sounded, but this time it wasn't the Kokiri horn of danger. The ominous, mysterious sound blared from the direction of the Lost Gate. The distant sound of trampling could be faintly heard too. Topah's blood froze. So too did Miro Miro's. Smoke began to poke through the forest tops, and the smoke was approaching too fast for the disaster to be a raging forest fire. What was going on? seemed to be the question on everyone's face.
The trampling grew louder and louder, making each heartbeat feel like a thousand bells were being pounded in his heart. A fairy's unseen cry escaped from the forest into the village, "Bokoblins! Bokoblins!"
Supposedly angry creatures as tall as a Kokiri, Bokoblins were one of many dangerous neighbors of the Kokiri. But because the Great Deku Tree was successful at keeping the swarm of invasive threats away, not a single Kokiri knew what they looked like. Some fairies mothers who had come from outside of the village would describe them at the bonfires, such as green, wrinkly skin with a hooked nose, red skin with miniscule eyes and droopy ears, skinny and gray with long ears, but the inconsistent details made it hard to put an image with words.
Another deafening horn filled the soundscape. The trampling had stopped. Birds were fleeing and calling out danger. Every heart in every Kokiri's chest stopped simultaneously for what seemed like five, long heartbeats.
Arrows on fire whistled through the air and struck the dry foliage of the tree houses. The panic spread more quickly than the fire did. The Kokiri instinctively began running for the ladders and the stairs to escape the death trap that was once their homes. The fairies, panicking as well, did their best to guide the Kokiri in orderly fashion to no avail. Children got hurt on their way down. One was pushed over a third story bridge and would not get up after she landed. Her guardian fairy dove towards the body of the black haired girl and tried to wake her up. When that came to no avail, the fairy glowed into a bright light and melted her energy into the sister, who then stood up once again.
Instead of getting stuck in traffic, Topah used his favorite way down which was by climbing down the tree directly across from him, so too did many other of the athletic types. "Topah! This is no time for doing anything reckless!" Miro Miro called out to the eager child. It was too late. When that fire behind his cool blue eyes ignited, there was no stopping him. He swung from branch to branch just like he always did, with one hand to climb and the other to hold his wooden sword. Miro Miro sighed and powerlessly followed him down.
As soon as he touched ground, Topah gripped his sword with both hands. Those who were not panicking and running around were gathered in the village square, looking up at the Lost Gate for the first sign of the enemy.
The first Bokoblins poked their heads, many different colors and shapes of heads, just over the cliff's lip. They were small, humanoid creatures with ugly faces, and their diverse appearances almost made the tiny army look like a dancing rainbow. But despite the variety in their outward appearances, each wore a loincloth, each had war paint, and each carried a club, or a net. They formed a tight line, shoulder to shoulder, and began to hop up and down and whoop at the Kokiri.
Then the big Bulblin strolled in riding his Bullos, a furry creature as big as a horse, but had a big ugly snout and two long tusks. The fairies said that these blins were unmistakable. Green skin, built like a man, and his distinguished Bullos tusk helmet, a cone shaped piece of metal that had two gigantic tusks, even longer than his Bullos', pointed straight up. He held a large, wooden club with metal strips wrapped around the tip.
Pointing at the crowd of children and roared so forcefully that Topah could smell the stink of his breath from such a great distance. "Take them alive!" the evil creature commanded using fractured Deku to communicate, "For every child that dies, I shall take one of your heads!"
His war cry echoed throughout the village space, and the Bokoblins began to climb, or tumble, down the steep cliff. The cliff was not tall by any means, falling down could at worst break an ankle. The Bokoblins that safely reached the ground began their charge forward with their clubs poised to strike.
The Kokiri began to repel the assault with their slingshots. Deku nuts flew past Topah's ears and blinded the approaching Bokoblins. Concentrated flashes of light in the enemies' eyes were devastating on the enemy when aimed at the cliff. In great waves, they fell down the cliff, and those who fell blindly were slow to get up, or did not at all. But alas, these were non lethal effects, and those who did eventually get up picked up their weapons and slowly began their assault on the village.
This was where the several dozen Kokiri appeared in battle with hand crafted wooden shields and weapons. Topah followed the crowd and built up as much courage as he could muster in his heart. Each step brought him closer to his potentially last moments of his existence. Not a single thought was made in consideration of his life. Only that he had friends and a village to protect.
The biggest Kokiri of the group, Curry, stood at almost a head taller above all the others. With his unusually large stature, it was only natural for him to lead the charge. When Curry got close enough, he took a gigantic forehand swing and landed the dulled blade squarely on the crevice between a Bokoblin's neck and collar. Next, he used his shield arm to knock away any Bokoblin too close to his left.
Topah's first action to follow Curry's inspiring attack was to swing his two handed sword horizontally, making use of the extensive reach and crack the wooden blade across the face of his first foe. The next, blue skinned Bokoblin behind his felled compatriot laggedly reoriented himself as he stood up from the fall, and he could not raise his weapon in time top prevent Topah from striking the top of his head with Topah's blunt, heavy weapon. Not heavy enough nor sharp enough to puncture skin, but certainly enough to crush an extremity beyond usage.
There were more coming. The longer it took for the Kokiri warriors to knock down the initial wave of attackers, the longer the second wave of attackers had to recover and push the assault forward. Topah would not retreat a step! With renewed vigor, he prepared to another strike to down another foe.
But a Bokoblin saw the incoming attack and raised his club, stopping the momentum of the sword completely. Topah tried again, but this time diagonally from the other side. The Bokoblin raised his club to block the attack again, but that left his belly open. And just like the Protector drilled with him, Topah shuffled his back foot up, raised his lead leg, and thrust his foot out, sending his enemy backward.
The Kokiri was about to follow up his kick with a downward strike on the fallen body, but he felt wood crack across his side, and before he had time to recover, another hit knocked his head across.
Miro Miro cried out, "Topah! Get out of there!" but she wasn't sure if she got through to him.
He fell over onto all fours. The painful blow to the head left a terrible, dizzying headache. His concussed mind was seeing double. Two Miro Miro's floated in front of him and were yelling something at him. As the two fairies drew closer and closer, her voice became clearer and clearer, "Say something!" until the two merged into one, panicking Miro Miro saying, "Follow my voice!" He did as was told without thinking.
Curry was faring no better. As big as he was, there was simply no way he could fight dozens of Bokoblin at a time. As Topah followed Miro Miro towards safety, wherever that may be, he looked over to Curry and saw a pile of colored cretins on top of the poor child. Topah had three Bokoblins in quick pursuit. Seeing Curry go down drained his nerve. There were too many. The Bokoblin charged forth with his weapon raised. Topah's courage had fled like all the rest of the Kokiri at that moment. He dropped his sword so he could retreat faster from the onslaught.
His foot suddenly caught a rock. He tripped over and slid across the snowy ground. "Come on Topah!" Miro Miro flew in to rescue her companion by pestering the oncoming Bokoblin's face. It did little to slow down the creature with bloodshot eyes as red as his skin. Miro Miro watched in horror as the Bokoblin swung his club downward at Topah's ankles, but breathed relief when Topah retracted his foot just in time.
He lifted himself off the ground and picked himself up off the ground and went back to retreating, Miro Miro was only too happy to follow him. But suddenly he stopped.
She is here.
Like a mother running to protect her children, the Protector emerged down the main path leading to the Great Deku Tree with the Kokiri Sword in her hand. She armed herself with a wooden shield like all the rest, but her blade was the one capable of ending life. She dashed past Topah to meet his pursuers head on.
The green Bokoblin had no choice but to engage her with a hungry look in his eyes. As he cocked his club back, the Protector already leaped forth and began her attack. The Kokiri blade's long reach and wide girth reached her foe's throat and severed it before the Bokoblin even had a chance to react.
No. Topah and several Kokiri gaped at her unexpected decision. She was willing to face her fate as a Skull Kid in order to protect her village. She reaffirmed that decision again when she swung her sword around and split open another Bokoblin's leather helmet and anything underneath it.
Two more invaders approached the Protector and recklessly lunged for an attack. But the Protector's superior footwork carried her out of harm's way. As she spun around, her sword hand followed the twist of her torso, forcing the upward blade right into flesh.
A third Bokoblin charged at her. She lifted her foot and kicked it straight into the attacker's stomach, sending the Bokoblin tumbling backwards into another. By the time the other was turning around, the Protector was already in mid swing. With an exerted, "Hyaah!" the Protector separated the Bokoblin's head from his neck cleanly. With another, the other's head was also separated.
Now she had the other Blins' attention. At first, three began to cautiously circle around her. And then there were five. Then eight more joined in and became aggressive. But no matter how many surrounded the Protector, she would cut through flesh, and her agile movements made her untouchable. She danced around each attack and countered each with fatal combinations. More joined in to take down the fearsome killer. She would eventually tire out.
The rest of the defeated Kokiri volunteers were fleeing from the carnage, or being dragged away. The Bokoblins sent in two groups: the first group had clubs and beat their victims until they could no longer walk, and the second group had nets and followed the assault by netting the downed Kokiri. Three Bokoblins dragged a Kokiri across the battlefield with each net. Aside from the Kokiri Sword, the wooden weapons and the slingshots made no impact against the assault. The defenseless Kokiri could do little more than run from the Bokoblins' fearsome clubs and sheer numbers.
The Protector did not need to be reminded of the consequences of failure and death. A downward slash almost caught her off guard, but her shield deflected the attack just in time, allowing her, just as she had once shown Topah, to thrust the tip of her sword into the exposed belly of the beast. No one knew that the Protector, let alone anyone, was even capable of such efficient killing. Quickly dispatching another three attackers within a single heartbeat, the Protector unintentionally turned her back to a scrappy looking brawler charging straight in.
By the time she felt his arms locked together, it was too late. The stick thin, blue Bokoblin drove her into the ground. She tried to wriggle free, even stabbing the blin holding her. More of his comrades began to dogpile her until she could no longer move underneath the crushing weight, and only her head was exposed.
Topah anxiously watched the big Bulblin leader ride towards the pile of Bokoblins and unmount from his Bullos. Up close, the amazing size, standing over twice Topah's height, and the mean looking two front teeth protruding from his underbite petrified all of the Kokiri into submission. He walked over to his next victim casually and swung his stone club a couple times on the way, whetting his appetite for blood. This was going to be it for the Protector, if Topah didn't have anything to say about it. He scanned the field for anything to throw at the enormous leader...
Like the unused Deku nut lying next to a deceased Kokiri brother. His name was Rundo, and they had participated in the Deku dance season round. Topah would have grieved over this loss longer had he not remembered that the Protector was in real, imminent danger. Topah crawled over to the Deku nut and swiped it from the ground.
He rose up onto his two feet and took aim for the dogpile of Bokoblins. Topah was no stranger to throwing Deku Nuts, and his decades of playing Kokiri sports guided the projectile exactly where he wanted it to go.
FLASH! The harsh light was not as bad from Topah's distance, but everyone within the critical radius of the flash was groaning in pain. The big Bulblin leader reeled back, covered his eyes, and roared fiercely, instilling a terror to every soul in his vicinity. Topah had a closing window opportunity to run in.
The Protector was also temporarily incapacitated, so Topah had to dash past the other blinded victims and guide her out on his shoulders.
She rubbed her eyes one last time and then looked at him. "Wow, that unpleasantly helpful!" Once they recovered, her eyes focused back onto the Bulblin leader. If he went down, the rest would scatter. "Topah," she said to him as she regained her posture and readied her mind for the battle, "You need to get out of here."
"But you need me!" protested an eager Topah, who was also terrified to his bone. But if the Protector was not willing to back down, then neither was he.
The Protector shook her head and gently placed her right hand on his shoulder, "No, I need you to be safe more than anything right now. It is the only way I can focus on winning. Run for the Great Deku Tree. He will keep you safe." She beckoned Topah to leave and picked up the Kokiri blade once more. Then she turned to lead another one-girl assault on the invaders' leadership.
"Hey you! Slug breath! I gotta bone to pick with you!" screamed the Protector threateningly at the Blin leader. He grunted with amusement and snarled. The last Miro Miro ever saw of the Protector was when the group of Bokoblin pawns surrounded her to prepare for the big battle.
Miro Miro other problems and grabbed her companion's attention again, "Topah! We need to get out of here!" He whipped around and followed her as she flew down the familiar path to get to the Great Deku Tree.
He failed. His failure to help his friend and mentor meant that she was going to die. Topah cursed himself for being so helpless. The feelings of guilt and doubt grew the further he ran away from the Protector. It felt like a growing weight on his heart. Then the first tears began streaming downward. His run slowed into a walk as he became more occupied with expelling his emotions.
And then suddenly he lost the will to walk. He just wanted to cry and wish all the bad guys would go away. What had now grown into an inferno was consuming everything that the Kokiri built over the past hundred years. Two Bokoblins took turns breaking a Kokiri sister's legs before dragging her away. Cries of pain fell on deaf ears. All around, the destruction and chaos rapidly exterminated everything that was once called home.
Topah started to bawl. He wanted the nightmare to be over. Tears gushed down his face, and his cry halted Miro Miro in her tracks, "What now!? Come on! We gotta get to the Great Deku Tree!" But no matter how urgent she sounded, Topah would not budge. He shook his head and cried even louder.
That was when Miro Miro noticed that a bunch of Bokoblin heads turn towards Topah. Uh oh, she thought to herself. She had to think of something fast.
"Um, Topah, now is not the time to cry," Miro Miro's calmer voice was still not enough to make the boy cease his tears. Perhaps she could distract him from his thoughts? "Do you want to play hide and seek?"
The child slowed his crying down and nodded his head. His frown instantly and innocently curled into a cheery smile, "Okay!" She could always rely on Topah's favorite game to instantaneously change his mood.
"Okay, follow me," Miro Miro began to lead Topah away from the approaching Bokoblins. But as soon as Topah started walking away from them, the Bokoblins started running. Miro Miro needed to speed up..
Topah looked behind for one heartbeat and panicked upon realizing he was being pursued. He knew he was in danger this time, so he quickened his pace. "Miro Miro, where are we hiding?"
"Follow me into the woods!" The dense woods that were meant to provide a natural boundary would now hopefully be their one chance of losing their pursuers.
Miro Miro plunged into the dark cover of the thick foliage, hoping Topah would follow. But since the trees were so close together, she had a hard time turning back around to make sure Topah could even keep up with her. After all, time and speed was of the essence. But her pursuers kept at them. Even though it was dark, Miro Miro could still hear the footsteps gaining after them.
She looked behind her and saw Topah struggling to fit his body through the dense trees. But she needed to focus on lighting the path for Topah. Only a few heartbeats after she turned around, she heard Topah's call, "Miro Miro, help me, I'm stuck!"
Her blood froze. She turned back and saw Topah trying to fit through a gap between the roots. His arm and his head were through, but the rest of his torso and his legs were caught underneath. Worst of all, Miro Miro had no strength to The Bokoblins were going to catch up in no time. She had to divert their attention somehow. She was the only light source in the forest. The Bokoblins were not necessarily chasing after Topah, they were chasing after Miro Miro.
She was about to do the unthinkable, and Topah needed to know that. "Topah!" said Miro Miro as she flew around the roots to find a way to get Topah out. The boy had his head and one arm through the hole, and there was no way to either pull his head out or to push his body further through the hole.
Topah began to cry again, "Miro Miro, I want to go home!"
"Shh, it's okay," she whispered, "I am going to keep the bad guys away from you."
"Noo! Don't leave me!" he tearfully pleaded to her.
"It's the only way to keep you safe. I'm going to get help so we can come back and find you, and then we can go home." The boy sniffled and nodded his head. "I will find you! Fairy's promise!"
Miro Miro zipped through the trees, not thinking about where she was, as long as the Bokoblins were following her it did not matter. As long as she heard the Bokoblin sniveling behind her and footsteps encroaching, she would continue to fly forward.
Night turned into day. Miro Miro could clearly see in front of her, and when she turned around to see if the Bokoblins were still following her, she counted three still jogging briskly on her trail. They simply would not quit! She kept her course and tried zig zagging a path through the trees, but it was no use. The footsteps may have slowed down, but they never stopped coming after her.
Day turned into night, back to day, and then back to night. Tendos passed. The footsteps never relented. At some point, the fairy stopped checking behind her. As long as the sound of feet followed her, she knew she had to get away. After more tendos of being chased, the sound soon faded into likeness of white noise. She could no longer tell whether she was being chased or not.
Only when she finally looked around to check and see if the Bokoblins had continued following her did Miro Miro realize that she was staring at nothing but trees, and she had no idea where she was.