The Will of the Sword
Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is property of the Nintendo Corporation,, this is a fan based work.
Chapter 2; The Green People
"What else are we supposed to do with him?" Hearing was the first thing to return to the young woodsman with the aching head. There was a clamor of voices in response to the first, confused and muttering.
"We can't let him go!" A second voice protested. "He's seen the Deku Tree, It'll be cut down within a week if he returns to the other lost ones." This brought up another round of mumblings from the other less distinct voices.
As his vision came back into focus, he saw an ant trapezing across a blade of grass. Looking up from the forest floor he found himself crumpled atop, Link paid witness to a very peculiar site. There was about a dozen or so of the forest children from the fairy tales, filling the small shaded alcove. That they were supposed to be the forest children Link was sure, the green tunics and little pointed hats clearly matched those from the stories, but there was something wrong about them; Forest children were supposed to be just that, eternal children that would never age. These were grown adults!
Link tried to get up, but found his arms and legs restrained by the rasping bite of rope fiber. The forest children were supposed to like playing tricks on wanderers, but he had never heard of them knocking you over the head and taking you captive.
"He's awake!" someone panicked, from what sounded to be in the direction of his feet. Suddenly, all eyes were on him.
"Perhaps we should remedy that." rumbled a burly man who looked a joke in his green shorts, gently striking an iron blackjack into his palm.
"Don't bother, I think we all know what needs to be done." came a voice, colder then all the ice of winter. Link turned his gaze to look upon a tall, thin man from which the voice had come. The sheer gauntness of his face, those eyes that looked better placed in the skull of a rabid wolf, somehow were enough to make Link forget completely the ridiculous clothing he wore. "He's seen the great Deku Tree. We can neither allow him to go back and report on what he saw, or hinder our movements by taking him with us. We can make it look like he was mauled by an animal."
A choking silence filled the air, unspoken dissents could be felt bubbling below, but they did not break the surface. Those sunken eyes turned hungrily to their potential victim. Link stared right back at him, refusing to be the one to break gaze.
"So, this is the woodsman you assaulted." A woman melted out of the trees, flanked by two men. She was caked with the forest grime like the others, and her green tunic was particularly worn. She wore a floppy green hat, under was just visible her honey-gold hair. Somewhere under the dirt that hid her cheeks, was a sense of regality, of leadership in that austerely set face. "Have you lost your mind Ethanos?" she spat at the tall man.
"This lost one, this tree cutter." The man retorted just as sharply, pointing his finger at Link like the crack of a whip. "Stumbled upon the Deku Tree, his filthy feet defiling the sacred grove. What would you have me do? Let him mark up the great lord of the forests with his pen? Allow him to start formulating ways which he may be cut down?"
"The Lord of the Forest left this place long ago." The woman stated. "Is that…shell in the meadow really worth betraying your oaths? We are to do no harm." Her words carried all the weight of command.
Link now knew what company he was amongst. Hope's Guard as they called themselves, radical defenders of the environment. It had undoubtedly been they who had sabotaged the Wild Hog cutting machines the night before.
"And what should happen when that 'shell' as you so callously call it." Ethanos challenged through clenched teeth. "Is destroyed and the Lord of the Forest has nowhere to go upon the return? Already countless amounts of sacred ground has been destroyed. Our protests accomplish nothing, even the most hardy resolve cannot stand to teargas or bullets. And what good does destroying their machines do? No matter how much we break, they always make it back tenfold in their profits. If we want to slow their progress, we need to make the sacrifices we might be afraid of. It may not be ideal, but if we do not do something soon, then we will fail."
"Do you think killing this man will stop them from reaching the Deku Tree?" she challenged. "Their machines are close, they will fall upon it soon enough regardless of what we do. To kill one is to say that we have the right to take human life, we do not! We are here to serve humanity, to see that he does not destroy himself with his own foolishness." The woman said. "The second we take a human life, that is when we fail." The two stared for a moment, it was Ethanos to concede. Not even rabid wolf eyes could challenge those ones forged of steel.
"What do you suggest we do, just let him…?" Ethanos asked in a broken tone.
"Yes." the woman confirmed. "Cut the ropes." She commanded to the two who had come with her. There was the whisper of a knife and a release of tension from Link's arms and then his legs. He sat up warily, coaxing feeling back into his limbs, but never taking his eyes off the scene before him. "All of you leave. You have your duties." She said, commanding them with but the flick of a wrist. The members of Hope's Guard disappeared into the forest behind them, of the implications this moment would have on the organizations inner workings, Link had not the slightest idea.
"Go with them." The woman said to her escort. "I'll be along shortly." When the final two had disappeared into a forest, the young woman walked over to a nearby stump and plopped herself down upon it with a restrained sigh. She proceeded to recline, looking past link as if she did not even notice the woodsman who's life she had saved was there. Whenever Link should look at her fully, she would return his gaze right back, saying nothing, until he looked away.
"Thank you." Link finally found himself muttering. The quiet had to be a very strong one for him to be the one to break it.
"I would have done the same for anyone." was her response. "My actions were motivated by principal, not by the personal."
"Yes, well thank you regardless." Link said, brushing himself off as he rose to his feet. He winced as the blood rushed to the agonizing spot where he had been knocked out.
"You're free to go you know." she said. "Its not like my people will shoot you down upon leaving." again there was that certain regality. That stump may as well have been a throne.
Link nodded, turning to go. "You know, for what its worth Miss, I've been cutting trees and plotting land my whole life." he said. "And I've never seen anything that resembles any of these…'spirits' your organization believes in. Whatever damage we do to the environment, the company is always very meticulous in synthesizing the balance back into the ecosystem. I know its not my place to say, but perhaps you folks should reevaluate your mission in life." It was with all possible humility that Link presented the argument against Hope's Guard that his fellow woodsmen were so fond of, the original version being peppered with much more colorful language of course. Constantly having to call in for repairs was a tedious task, and none could understand the ultimate purpose behind protecting some old trees."
"Your body is not synonymous with your conscious." The woman said, patting her leg. "But I doubt you'd like it if I threw it into a meat grinder. The mystical forces may have left this world, but it is with all due resolve that we hope to preserve these physical temples that they once occupied, for when they return." she tapped a tooth with a worn fingernail. "If they return." That part was much quieter, and Link was not sure if he was supposed to hear it.
"Well, perhaps its better that they don't return. The world seems just fine as it is." Link said. Not all the tales of the old times were nice, and he thought he'd be rather alright without dragons and talking trees.
"Comments the man who knows not the color red onto a field of roses." She retorted. "This world is a pale reflection of what it once. So much has been lost. The forest children, the shadow folk, countless others fantastical races beyond imaging simply vanished. Others like the familiar Gorons and Zora are more grounded in physical reality, but do not be fooled, they are not the same creatures they once were."
"We're still around too." Link volunteered.
The woman laughed, a strangely full laughter. "We humans lost the most of all." she said rising from her seat and stepping towards him. "Once we were called a different name, and had pointed ears, but oh we were so much more. We heard the secrets of the Gods, made ourselves like them. Now, we are reduced to some meager animation of life, mockeries of what we once were. Perhaps if we prove ourselves worthy one day, we shall hear the voices of the Gods once again." She was now standing an arms length away from him.
She laughed at his wary expression, and plucked the floppy green cap from her golden hair. "Here, I think we owe you a new hat." she said, imbibing the thing to him.
"Thanks." Link mumbled, turning the stupid pointed thing over in his hands. "Perhaps a new skull would do nicely to." he said, feeling the throb at the back of his head. She smiled and began to walk off in the opposite direction from him. "Hey wait." He called out. "What's your name?" he asked instinctually
She turned towards him curiously. "Names are a powerful thing, but I am not like Ethanos who believes in hiding in the shadows. If the world is to know the truth, we must be perfectly transparent in our holding of it. I call myself Zel." she said with a shrug. "Best I could do with such an archaic name." And with that, she was gone.