Somewhat of a History Lesson #3
"Look at these beauties!" Mara danced around excitedly. Sheik stared at her bundle nervously.
"Is there anything alive in there?"
"Close!" Mara would have clapped, but her hands were taken up by the large bag. "I'll give you a hint! It's an explosive!"
Sheik's red eyes widened. In them, Mara saw wonder, and fear.
"What?" he asked weakly.
"Bombs!" Mara cried merrily. "Hylians produced them as a man-made kind of the Goron's special crop! Pretty useful if you asked me! Here, I'll show you how…"
Mara chucked a bomb across the field, where it hit a rock. The rock promptly was blown to pieces, and Sheik stared with a dropped jaw.
"Why?" he asked, shaking his head in amazed horror.
"Because bombs are pretty damn useful sometimes, and-" Mara stopped, looking puzzled at Sheik shaking his blonde hair in disbelief.
"That's not what I mean!" Sheik told the Sheikah.
"Ah, so you'll be wanting to know why the Sheikahs use bombs, then?" she asked, as if this explained everything Sheik wanted to know. Once again, he shook his head.
"No, not that either."
"Then what do you want!" Mara yelled, thoroughly frustrated.
"I just want to know…" Sheik started, then paused. Shaking his head, he yelled, "Why is someone letting you run around Hyrule with bombs?"
Chapter 13
"Hello, my very dear Sheikah-wannabe!" Mara's annoyingly cheerful voice rang out. An uncomfortable feeling prickled at the back of Sheik's neck. What would her reaction be? He had met her out on the Hylian Fields a few miles from the Market that morning, dreading sharing the news that he had asked someone for help. She must have sensed his anxiety, so she said, "All right, Opal of my Heart, what is troubling you?" Hesitantly, Sheik told her what happened.
For a few moments, she stared at him in silence.
"What do you mean you asked a guard?" Mara yelled furiously. Sheik glared with his red eyes.
"I asked Kiro, and he said to come back and he might have information," he replied calmly. Mara looked ready to punch something.
"Do you… understand what we're doing?" she asked, with one of her gray eyes twitching. Sheik nodded.
"I couldn't find anything, though!" he replied angrily. Mara massaged her temple, as if she couldn't believe what Sheik was saying.
'That means you're supposed to look harder!" the Sheikah exploded. "He might be a supporter of Ganondorf who wants to know our plans!"
"I could tell by his eyes that he is loyal to the Royal Family," he muttered, knowing his saying this was useless.
"Eyes? This is coming from a kid with strange red ones!" Mara snorted in disbelief. Sheik glared at the older woman.
"Just tell me where to find the next sage," he grumbled. "We'll go back to the Market some other time… to see if Kiro found out." This earned him a glare from his mentor. Sheik glared right back.
"The next sage… this will be easier, I hope," Mara said slowly. "It's where Link was raised."
"The forest!" Sheik asked excitedly. Mara nodded.
"Here, you need to be very careful," the woman warned him. "These Kokiri are children, yes, but extraordinarily wise. They may be acting very cautious around this time, ever since their guardian, the Great Deku Tree, died. So seek out the wisest of them all. This Kokiri will have strong connections to the Kokiri Forest and Lost Woods. You may even have to venture far into the Lost Woods to find our sage. So, I give you the following advice if you need to go into the Woods: Follow your ears!"
Sheik barely had enough time to think about the words Mara said before she grabbed him around the neck into a headlock – probably out of anger – and threw a Nut down. He felt the familiar feeling of weightlessness, then they landed on firm ground in front of a small tunnel.
"This is as far as I can go," Mara told him. "Good luck."
"Wait!" Sheik yelled. "How's Impa?"
Mara paused, for once, looking unsure. That expression was soon replaced by her normal over-confident face. "She's good, busy, and sends her love," she said cheerfully. But Sheik wasn't sure as he watched the Sheikah vanished. What was she not telling him?
Slowly, he turned around to enter the tunnel. Hylians normally weren't allowed here- how would he be received? He stepped onto the old, mossy bridge, looking around. He was in a misty forest. No signs of any Kokiri – or sage – yet. He went through another small tunnel, and looked at his surroundings in awe with his red eyes.
It looked like a forest, but was obviously a small village. The trees had been carved out to make little houses, and the Kokiri children stood around chatting amongst themselves. A boy closest to the tunnel looked up, his eyes hidden behind clumps of messy hair. He gasped.
"Who are you!" he jumped back, speaking with the same carefulness Link did. Sheik looked around timidly. Other Kokiri were watching, some curious, some fearful. He looked small, but Sheik figured that the Kokiri was supposed to be his age.
"My name is Sheik," he said, trying not to stare. All of the Forest Children were dressed in green, with brown belts. They watched him, and he watched back. Would they attack him?
"Move along, coming through!" a very commanding, but young, voice said, pushing through the growing crowd. "Ah, yes. Who are you?"
It was a little boy. A green cap was crammed onto his mass of dirty blonde hair, and his smile-less face looked at Sheik disapprovingly.
"Didn't you just hear!" a little blonde girl with a green headband said. "He just said he's called Sheik!" The leader boy turned slightly pink.
"I mean… why are you here?" the boy corrected himself. The first boy Sheik had met giggled. The leader glared at him.
"I…" he began, but remembered how Mara was angry by asking the guard about the sage outright. "I am supposed to meet someone here."
"Who?" the boy asked suspiciously. Sheik blinked.
"Where's the Lost Woods?" he asked. There was a murmur coming throughout the crowd.
"Don't do it!" a girl with really light blonde hair in pigtails exclaimed. "You'll become a skull kid!"
Everyone looked to the leader, who also looked a little taken aback. "I don't want him to bug Saria!" he declared at last. "Go away, stranger," he commanded, and turned to leave. Everyone sighed, and followed the leader. However, the girl with pigtails remained behind.
"It's Saria you're looking for, isn't it?" she asked, her blue eyes wide.
"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "I was told to find someone wise, someone who had strong connections with the Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods."
"It's Saria you'll want, then," the girl replied grimly. "Mido won't be happy. He's our boss. My name is Jesy."
"Nice to meet you," Sheik said automatically, extending a bandaged hand. Jesy shook it, politely not asking about them or his eyes.
"I can take you a short ways into the Lost Woods, but from there, you're on your own. If you get lost, you will be turned into a Skull Kid!" she warned.
"I know," he replied. "I need to find this Saria."
"Then follow me," Jesy replied, and helped Sheik onto a ledge. He followed the girl up the vines, and saw another tunnel. He looked over his shoulder, taking in the full view of the Kokiri Forest.
"It's beautiful here," he commented. "Did Link really live here?"
Jesy looked surprised. "Link? Yes, yes he did, actually… he came to visit a few days ago… he acted very peculiar though…" Jesy said with a frown. "C'mon, let's go in… remember to keep your ears open!"
This was the second time he had received this instruction. He frowned, wondering what it meant, as he entered the tunnel to the Lost Woods. He closed his red eyes for a moment, listening with his long, pointed ears. Very faint music was heard. He opened his eyes.
"Hear her?" Jesy asked. Sheik nodded. It was a very lively song. "That's Saria's song. She plays it all day… and when she isn't there, the spirits of the forest take over. It's amazing- the forest completely follows what she says. It lets her go in deeper than it lets the rest of the Kokiri. It's like she's a part of the forest- even more a part of it than we are!"
Sheik now had no doubt in his mind that this girl was the Forest Sage. He followed Jesy confidently through the trees, with every step, the music getting louder. The forest was surrounded in a dense mist, making it hard to see where anything was. But Jesy guided him along.
About twenty minutes later, the Kokiri girl stopped. "I can't go any further," she admitted. "I'd get lost if I did. Just… follow your ears, listen for her song. Good luck!" With that, Jesy walked the other way, and was gone.
Now he was alone. Sheik listened again. The song was a bit louder. He walked slowly toward the music, stopping and retracing his steps every time the song stopped. This Saria better be worth it!
Finally, he realized he was out of the mist, and standing in front of tall hedges, and the hedges surrounded by ancient stone walls. He looked around the corners of the entrance, and saw a Deku Scrub. He ran quickly, avoiding the Scrub. It was then Sheik decided he hated mazes- every time he got past a Scrub, he'd hit a dead end and have to go past it again.
At last, he'd come to the end of the maze, and onto three Scrubs. All three snouts focused on him, and shot nuts at him. Startled, he was hit with all three. He groaned, and sent fire magic at all of them. Two were hit and killed, but the third was only angrier. It ducked into it's flower, and Sheik tried to make a run for it, but the Scrub popped up in time to project two nuts at him, both hitting him. Knocked over by the nuts, and still hurting from the first three, he now felt very battered. He feebly tried to use the fire magic on the Scrub, but found he was too weak to do so.
He tried to stand, but was knocked back over by the nuts. But he was too close to Saria to fail now! With this thought now in mind, Sheik stood faster, and leaned against the old stone wall that surrounded them, and whatever lay ahead. He was hit by more nuts, but sidestepped along the wall.
"You can stop, Scrub," a calm voice of a girl said. The Deku Scrub looked up, then vanished into its flower. "Are you all right?"
Sheik faced the speaker, startled, now relieved. He had found Saria.
Once again, a "Thank you" goes to a Miss Ophelia of the very long name that I can never remember! Just look back a chapter if you want to see her name again. She helped me edit my story/suggest the "history lesson"/listen to my whining. Speaking of history lessons, I'm not even sure if I can call it a lesson any more...unless anyone has a question about Sheikahness need answering? -is hopeful-
In other news... I kicked Ganon's ass... Go self!