Chapter Eight: To the Temple!
Professor: And we are back folks! First chapter with any length/substance to it lol. By the way, for all of the Zelda fans out there reading this, I just started a Zelda Fanfiction about the timeline collapsing and about 10 of the games coming together in a massive Zelda crossover. It is called 'All of Us', if any of you are interested.
Anyway, I still don't own Legend of Zelda or Fairy Tail and please read and review!
To say that Wendy was caught off guard would be an understatement. Nothing could have prepared her for the hatred that this red-headed Kokiri looked at her with.
"U-Umm-" she stammered out, holding her hands to her chest.
He stomped up to her, annoyed at her stuttering, "I said, who are you?! I know every Kokiri in the forest and you aren't one of them!"
"I-I'm new!" Wendy squeaked out, leaning away from him.
Hatred was replaced with astonishment, "New?"
She nodded, unsure what to say.
"There hasn't been a new Kokiri here in over seven years!" A new look came upon his face and it seemed so strange that it took a few moments for Wendy to recognize it. Glee.
Even knowing him for only a few minutes, Wendy could tell that the happy emotion was foreign to see on his face.
A face that was suddenly very close to her own. She yelped and fell backwards.
"I'm Mido! Leader of the Kokiri!" he proclaimed, "What's your name?"
"M-My name? It's...uh…" she stumbled, trying to remember the username she had put down, "Sky."
"Sky, huh?" he looked thoughtful, "That's not a Kokiri name. I wonder why the new Deku Tree Sprout gave it to you."
"The...Deku Tree Sprout?"
He nodded enthusiastically, "Yep! Our new guardian! We've been waiting 7 years for him to grow. But I shouldn't judge names, after all, we once had someone named Link, if you can believe that."
"Ok…" Wendy said, but Mido talked over her, "He left a long time ago though." Mido almost sounded sad at the mention of the boy, but he shook his head and smiled at her again, "Anyway, I wonder why the Deku Tree Sprout made you in my house and not with him. Then he could explain everything like normal. Maybe he still has to get used to his powers?"
"Powers?" she asked.
Mido nodded, "Yep. As guardian of Kokiri Forest, he has special powers like making new Kokiri!"
Wendy thought about that for a moment, while Mido rambled on, obviously pleased with the new addition to the Forest. She didn't tune back in until she heard something interesting from Mido.
"I wonder if this has anything to do with Saria going off to the Temple."
"Temple?!" Wendy asking in surprise, eyes widening.
He nodded, confused at her sudden interest, "Yeah. The ancient Temple in the Lost Woods. Saria thought it had something to do with all the monsters in the Forest, but now that we have the Deku Tree Sprout that'll be fixed."
"C-Could I see the Temple?" she asked.
Mido immediately shook his head, "No way. The only reason we let Saria go there was because she already spent a lot of time there. The Great Deku Tree always let her go. Besides, it's been days and she hasn't come back. No way we're losing the first new Kokiri in 7 years. You don't even know the way there!"
"B-But-" Wendy tried again. She didn't know how to get the point across that the Hero would go to the Temples.
"No buts!" Mido crossed his arms again, "The Lost Woods are always filled with monsters. Stalfos and Deku Sprouts and such."
Wendy's face fell for a moment before an idea popped into her head, "What if I got permission from the Deku Tree Sprout?"
"What?"
"If I got his permission, I could go, right? That's what you said Saria used to do, with the Great Deku Tree?" Wendy sincerely hoped her logic was correct so that Mido would let her go. She didn't really understand all this 'Deku' talk, especially since Mido was speaking so quickly.
She also hoped she was on the right track. Hopefully this 'Saria' was the one who led the player to the Temple since she couldn't be the Hero herself. Wendy gave a silent sigh of relief that she could eliminate all the females in her search.
A thought crossed her mind as Mido considered her offer.
'What if HE was the Hero?'
He was a Kokiri after all. She grew determined to find out.
His voice though, interrupted her train of thought.
"I suppose...if he says you can, then you can go."
"Yay!" Wendy let out, excited. There was a way to the Temple!
Mido looked at her curiously, "You know, you are surprisingly focused on the Temple for such a new Kokiri."
"Umm…"
"Reminds me a lot of Saria actually," he smiled, "Let's get going."
He led the way out of his house, Wendy following only to stop at her first sight of the Forest.
A path ran through the little village where the houses were made out of trees and tree stumps. A bridge connected one house to two standing pillars and there were a couple of fenced in cliffs and hills around the edge of the village. Wendy heard the sound of water and turned to see a large pond on one side, near what she assumed to be a shop.
Mido let her look around for a moment before he pointed things out, walking slowly down the path.
"That's the Kokiri training grounds, and that's the shop. Over there is Link's old house, but, like I said, he left a long time ago, so I guess it can be your house now if you want."
Wendy saw a large tree with a ladder in front of it, the place that was now 'hers', for all intents and purposes in the game.
"What happened to Link?" she asked.
"I told you, he left." Mido huffed at having to repeat himself.
"Isn't he going to come back?"
Mido dropped his gaze to the ground, looking saddened, "No, I mean, he left the forest. To a Kokiri...if we leave this Forest, we die."
Wendy started in surprise, "What?!"
Her guide nodded before vigorously shaking his head, "Let's move on Sky. Plenty of other places to see."
Wendy noticed the sudden change of conversation, but didn't comment on it. She just let Mido lead her around again.
"Over there is Saria's house and up there is the entrance to the Lost Woods. Only Kokiri can go in there though, everyone else becomes a Stalfos after a while. And here is the path to the Deku Tree Sprout. That's where we're going."
Mido's voice grew fainter as Wendy stopped and stared at the entrance. That was where she needed to go. That was the way to the Temple, and, whoever the Kokiri was that she met there, that would be the Hero.
The Hero...she had to kill.
Wendy gulped, she still wasn't ok with the act of killing him, but that would be the only way to log out since he thought this was real.
For the first time, Wendy thought of something. If she found the Hero and finished the mission here, how was she supposed to let her teammates know? They hadn't arranged a place to meet or a way to contact anyone.
She wanted to facepalm at the idiocy. They had just jumped in without preparing anything. They didn't even discuss which races to choose so they could increase their chances of finding the Hero! For all she knew, the rest of her teammates could be anywhere in Hyrule, or they could all be wandering around this Forest with their own guides. Or maybe they were waiting somewhere else for her, thinking she was about to show up. She didn't even know what Carla and Happy were going to be since they were given different options!
This was so typical of Fairy Tail. How was Team Natsu going to get through this this time? They'd never been separated like this before.
Wendy felt herself be slammed into and fall to the ground, not only shaking her from her thoughts, but also leaving her crushed under some unexpected weight.
"Are you crazy?!" Mido yelled from where he lay on top of her, having been the one that pushed her. Nearby, a noise like a mix between a crackle and a pop was heard as something hit the wall.
"Why didn't you move?!" Mido yelled.
Wendy tried not to blush at their position as she answered him, "What are you talking about?"
Mido grumbled and rolled off her, letting her see what he was talking about.
What Wendy saw actually made her think that Vulcans looked normal. It was a bush, with a wooden face, and a short cylinder on it that seemed to act as either a mouth or nose. Wendy wasn't sure. The leaves on its head twitched as it looked at her.
"W-What is that?" she asked.
"A Deku Scrub." Mido said, also staring at the creature, "It shoots Deku Nuts that stun you and hurt like crazy. Why didn't you move out of the way?"
His voice had dropped to a whisper as they watched the Scrub. Wendy matched his volume when she responded.
"I didn't see or hear it." she really missed her Dragon Slayer senses right now, "Because I was thinking."
"More like staring into space." he responded harshly, "How do you not hear such loud rustling?"
"I...uh..." Wendy's mind blanked. She couldn't tell him she was thinking of her friends or the Hero she had to find. He didn't know that this was a game! Once again, Wendy was struck with the thought that Mido might be the Hero. Well...saving her had been something a hero would do…
He scoffed, "Who cares. We've got more important things to worry about." he turned his gaze back to the Deku Scrub, "These things should be gone if the Deku Tree Sprout has grown."
"What are you getting at?" Wendy whispered.
He looked at her again, eyes no longer full of friendship, but now of suspicion, "It means the Sprout hasn't grown. So...how are you here?"
Wendy gulped, mind blank at how to answer.
Luckily, she didn't have to. The Deku Scrub interrupted, shooting another projectile towards the Kokiri.
The two of them didn't need anymore motivation. Without even sharing a glance, they bolted, running out of the way of the attack.
Wendy had no problem dodging the attack, previous battle experience coming in very handy. However, instead of defeating the plant creature, Wendy kept running, dashing to a nearby cliff and climbing the vines that had over grown on it.
"Sky! Get back here!" she heard Mido yell, but she ignored him and kept climbing.
"That goes to the Lost Woods!" he called, his voice seemed closer. Wendy looked over her shoulder to see him climbing up after her.
'Come on Hero. let's get going.' Wendy smirked to herself as she continued her climb.
Wendy finally stopped running through this maze of a woods, leaning over and panting, hands on her knees. The logs that made up the pathways here looked the same as always, although a pool of water was on one side, a rare variation in this pattern.
Wendy made sure to take note of it in case she got lost...again. This place was very aptly named.
"Sky! A voice behind her yelled, his footfalls letting Wendy know that he had finally caught up.
"Yes...Mido?" she said between gasps for air.
"Why did...you come...here?!" he ended this statement by waving his arms around him, gesturing to the Forest.
"That's where the….Temple is, right?" the young Dragon Slayer had started to finally catch her breath, "I need to...go there."
"Yeah, I got that bit." his sarcastic tone was matched by his stance: hands on his hips and leaning forward to stare at her pointedly, "The question is why."
"I-I" Wendy stammered. She hadn't thought of an explanation for that yet. So, she tried the truth.
"I'm looking for a Hero that's supposed to save Hyrule. I was told he might be there."
Ok, well, close to the truth.
"A hero?"
She nodded.
He scoffed, "There's no hero in these Woods."
"Maybe he's on his way!"
Mido just shook his head again.
"W-Well I have to check anyway." she insisted.
The Kokiri narrowed his eyes at her, "Who told you to look for a Hero anyway?"
It took Wendy half a moment to come up with a complete lie, trying with all of her might to convince him,"The Deku Tree Sprout!"
"The Deku Tree Sprout?" By his raised eyebrow Wendy could tell he didn't believe her.
She nodded meekly, forcing herself to continue with her excuse, "He sent me to find a Hero to clear the Temple...so he could grow." she was practically whispering at the end, hoping that this would work.
For a long time, Mido watched her in silence, thinking over her words. Finally he said, "So the Deku Tree Sprout took 7 years to build up enough power to make a new Kokiri, you, so that you can find a Hero. This Hero is going to go through the very Temple where another Kokiri went missing and once the Temple is clear, the Deku Tree Sprout can grow again, is that right?"
Vaguely, even as she nodded, Wendy wondered where he had gotten the idea it had taken 7 years to make her.
"Why not just send a message to another Kokiri instead of making a new one?" he asked her.
She shrugged, "I don't know."
Mido took another moment to think it over, before he shrugged, "Stranger things have happened in this Forest."
Wendy's eyes widened in shock at his sudden acceptance. He took the answer that easily?!
Mido took her shock in stride, not even commenting on it, and instead, re-adopted his self-important attitude, "Well then, I guess you'll need my help!"
Her hope soared even higher.
"I'll stand guard!"
...And then crashed back to the ground.
"Y-You aren't coming with me?"
Mido scoffed, "You want me to walk farther into this death trap then I already have? No way! I'll keep guard here in case your hero comes along. Don't worry, I'll only let friends pass. You go ahead to the Temple in case he's there already."
"B-But how do I get there?"
"Just follow the music." he waved off her concerns, "Everyone knows that."
'Not everyone.' Wendy thought to herself.
He gave her a rare, genuine smile, "Hey, Sky, when you find Saria up there, say hi for me, ok?"
Wendy nodded slowly as Mido took his place as guard. She walked through the log, glancing at her would-be Hero who seemed quite content to stand guard, not looking back at her. When she had first met the guy, not one part of her would've thought he'd be ok with just being a guard. Looking at him now though, the role did seem to fit.
She sighed to herself, forcing her feet to keep moving forward through the trees. As she did so, a thought came across her mind.
'For a game, this didn't have much of a tutorial.'
Professor: I couldn't resist Mido in this chapter. Even though he's annoying in the game, after his character development, he becomes one of my favorite characters.
I would also like to apologize. I forgot the mention the Temples in chapter two, when the game is being explained. I have gone back and updated that chapter to include that information. So Team Natsu now knows that the Hero is heading to the Temples to try to unlock the Sages.
And finally, to the guest reviewer Captain Imaginat, as far as Team Natsu's standard abilities and magic attacks (such as the Dragon Slayer Secret Art and Dragon Force and Lucy's Star Dresses and the like) I do have a plan for all of that, but I can't guarantee that every Dragon Mode or attack will be included. Sorry :(