Chapter 8 – Into the Black

It was the dawn of day one in South Clock Town, just as Link, Tatl, and Argott had traveled back in time, from the eve of day two.

"Aaah! What just happened!" panicked Argott.

"Argott, I would tell you, but you wouldn't understand…" said Link.

"No! I must know! It was night just a second ago, and we were in Woodfall, now we're in…we're in…where are we?"

"We're in Clock Town."

"Right…and now we're in…Clock Town? Clock Town! We're in Clock Town!"

"Um…yeah…"

"Oh, I love Clock Town! I was only here for about 4 hours, but I loved it! That's why I got kicked out of the kingdom, though."

"Yeah, well I hate to spoil your fun, but we have to go back to Woodfall."

"What! But we just got here! Don't you want to go exploring?"

"We can later. We have priorities, you know."

"No, actually I don't know."

"Sorry, Argott. We gotta go. Come on."

Link grabbed Argott and quickly played the Song of Soaring, with Argott continuously panicking.

"Argott, don't panic!"

The voice saying that came from the "soaring sky". It wasn't Link, or Tatl. It was as if one of the goddesses was speaking to him.

Then within the next five seconds, Link, Tatl, and Argott were all back in the Southern Swamp.

"What was that, guys?"

"Nothing, let's go."

Link had a slight fear within himself when he re-entered Woodfall. The same feeling he got in the Forest Temple—and the Shadow Temple. There was something that those two previous temples had in common and was present in the Woodfall Temple…but what?

It had a similar appearance of the Forest Temple, and a similar notion of the Shadow Temple. He could feel the darkness inside.

There was Woodfall again, looking sick and dead as usual. Link donned his deku mask and began to head to the nearest lily pad.

"Come on, Argott."

Argott skipped onto the water and over to the lily pad…faster than Link. He seemed to be more experienced than Link was.

Then there was a platform, with some sort of escalating bridge up to the next one…not too hard, right?

Then there was a disgusting, humongous beetle on the bridge.

"Aaah! What is that thing!" said Argott.

"Don't worry, it's nothing."

Link powered up a bubble and let it go in the beetle's menacing face. It killed the beetle instantly. But then, Link saw a mean scrub at the next platform.

"Hey Argott."

"Yeah?"

"You can spit Deku Nuts, can't you?"

"O' course I can! I was taught to do that 4 years ago!"

"Well, what I want you to do is to fire one at that mean scrub up there."

"What? You want me to kill a fellow scrub?"

"He isn't a 'fellow' scrub! He's an evil scrub!"

"He is?"

"Yes!"

And then, the other scrub turned around, spotting Argott and Link.

"Now, Argott!"

Argott and the other scrub simultaneously let out a nut at each other. Unfortunately, they both collided in the air and destroyed each other.

"Argott, is that you?" asked the scrub.

"Yeah, who's that?"

"You don't remember me? I used to live in the palace; like 2 years ago. My name is Purk."

"Purk? I remember you! You used to be a guard!"

"That's me!" said Purk, as he got out of his flower.

Link was now confused. The scrub he was trying to kill supposedly did turn out to be a fellow scrub.

"So who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Link. He's not from the palace. We met in the swamp."

"Um…hello," said Link, hoping that Argott wouldn't tell that he was really human.

"Oh, hey there…so what brings you to Woodfall?"

"Tell him, Link."

"Um…I was sent on a mission. The Deku Princess is missing from the palace. They think a monkey named Knabb did it, but I'm pretty sure the Skull Kid hid her in the temple."

"Well, the temple has been dormant for generations. You can still see the tip of it," said Purk, pointing at the temple in the center.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Um, I don't think you do. There's only one way to summon the temple. And it's confidential. I can't tell you how."

"I already know how."

"What? How, then?"

"The sonata…duh."

"What? You know about the sonata?"

"Yes…"

"Well, who told you?"

"A special friend. Now may we please go by?"

Then Purk spotted Tatl, fluttering above Link.

"Hey, you have a fairy?" he said, irrelevantly.

"Oh, why yes I do."

"I thought only forest people had fairies. None live in the swamp."

"Forest people do have fairies. My original master passed away, so he passed me onto Link," said Tatl, trying to make something up to avoid trouble.

Purk grew suspicious, but he decided he didn't need to worry on. He just called all of the other scrubs in Woodfall.

"Attention all scrubs! Do not open fire on the incoming scrubs!...or their fairy!"

"Wow, that's nice of him, isn't it?" said Link to Tatl.

"Just keep it down until we get into the Temple."

"Hey, can I use your flower, Purk?"

"Yeah, go right ahead."

Link blasted off from the flower, as Argott followed. Strangely enough, he could sense that Purk still had his eye on him. He just decided he needed to play it real safe, and not to take his mask off until he reached the temple.

He only had to deal with a few more flowers before he reached the platform up ahead. He could easily tell it was where he needed to go, because it stood out so much.

Link and Argott finally reached the platform. On it, there were four pots, a little deku shrine, and another owl statue. Link's first instinct was to strike it with his sword, but he couldn't get it out because he was still a scrub, and he couldn't take off the mask because Purk was watching.

"Don't worry about it now, Link," whispered Tatl.

Link stood upon the shrine, logically guessing that was where he had to play the Sonata of Awakening. So then, he whipped out the pipes and began to play the melody.

This time the notes echoed like no other. They repeatedly reverberated off of the walls of Woodfall. Each of the mean scrubs reacted to it in a different way.

Then came the best part. Link could see the temple rising in the center of Woodfall, creating a gigantic tidal wave. The huge wave splashed all over the walls and completely drenched the entire place, only making it look even deader.

Then there was the temple. The venomous waters cascaded off of the walls and back into the pond. Sooner than he expected, the temple was bone dry. The entrance lay directly across the water from the platform, just waiting to consume him.

Argott stared at the temple in amazement.

"Wha- How- wha- what just happened!"

"I just awakened the temple."

"Oh my! What on earth did you just do?! How in the name of the Deku Deities did you do that!?" yelled Purk from afar.

Link just waved.

"Ready, Link?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Link blasted off from the flower and flew over to the Woodfall Temple with Argott behind him. He landed right before the door for Argott before proceeding. As soon as Argott landed, they both walked into the dark and cold temple.

The first room wasn't very pleasant, just as they all expected. It was dark- very dark, and cold. It smelled of trees rotting in the mud of a cold, dirty swamp. It was most unpleasant, indeed.

"Auugh! This is just as bad as I expected it to be!" said Argott.

"Um…Link," Tatl butted in.

"What is it?"

"I can sense something in here…and it isn't good…"

"Uh-oh."

"It's very dark, but I can't tell exactly what it is."

Then Link could actually feel it, too. He heard it more than he felt it now. It sounded like something…rustling.

"It's getting closer, Link…" said Tatl, nervously.

"Aaah! Now I can hear it, too!" panicked Argott.

Link was full of trouble, as the menacing noise got louder and louder. It was worse than the Deku scrubs' crunches. He closed his eyes and covered his ears, just like he did before.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

Then the rustling finally came to a stop. The noise calmed down, but he could still feel it. On the other hand, it felt better…until Argott spoke up.

"L-L…L-Link…L-Look…" said Argott, terrifyingly.

Link slowly opened his eyes, and he saw something absolutely horrific. No, they weren't simple forest monsters. They were something worse. They had small sinister eyes that seemed to pierce Link's soul. They were little black shades of nothing, but they seemed to define darkness.

Link screamed. But that just made things worse. Right then, the little pests began to leap at Link.

"Aaaah! Get these little hellish balls off of me!" exclaimed Argott.

Link doffed his Deku mask and began hacking like no other at these terrible balls of emptiness. He hit one after another, and they seemed to be countless.

"Die! Die, you fiends!"

Then, they appeared to all be gone; disintegrated into the hellish darkness they arose from.

"Argott, are you okay?"

Argott lay on the ground, barely moving.

"Argott, say something!"

"L-Link…those things…I've seen them before."

"You have?"

"Yes…they- they're called Black Boes. If they grab hold of you, they will team up on you and suck the life out of you, and watch you crumble into dust. They- they killed my best friend from scrub training, Willkum."

"I'm sorry…are you all right?"

"They got hold of me. Thanks to you, they weren't able to completely consume me."

"Well, get up. We've got to get a move on!"

"I-I can't, Link."

"But you've got to! I can't just leave you here! It's dangerous, and what if more of them come out!"

Argott didn't respond.

"Argott!"

"Link, look!" said Tatl.

There was a pinkish fairy, who fluttered out from behind a pillar and over to Argott.

"Tatl, can you speak to that fairy?"

"I'll try!"

Tatl was speaking another language…some sort of fairy dialect.

"Berr nautti likk mal ferr a keih?" asked Tatl.

"O, vini quim hei," replied the fairy.

"What? What did you say, Tatl?"

"What do you think? I asked if she could help Argott, and she said yes!"

"You mean she can revive him?"

"Of course."

The other fairy fluttered above Argott, and sprinkled an enchanting dust on him. It awakened him immediately, but before Link could say anything the fairy was off.

But that made him wonder, why didn't Navi ever say anything about the fairy's dialect?

"Are you okay, Argott?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…what ju-- Link?"

"What?"

"You...what happened to you?"

"What do you mean 'what happened to-'"

It just dawned on Link that he had taken of his Deku mask for the first time after he had met Argott.

"Who are you, Link?!"

"Argott... listen to me..."

Argott, being the jittery scrub that he is, backed away from Link in shock and dismay.

"Are you... a deceiver?"

"No. Argott, that Deku form of mine... it was a... mask."

"What?! Oh, quit that! Everyone knows that masks can't make you morph into a different species! If it was possible, everyone would be wanting those masks!"

"What if I am the only person who has such a mask?"

"That's impossible! How could you get a mask like that! Just quit this! What did you do with the real Link?"

"I am the real Link, Argott! Look!"

Link pulled out the Deku mask from his arsenal and showed it to Argott.

"No... that is impossible!"

"Believe it."

Argott had a hard time grasping the concept. He could not believe that the one scrub who was willing to befriend him wasn't even a scrub after all. He was just some person expected to be from Clock Town.

"Okay, fine! I believe you! Now tell me what just happened!"

"Tatl got another fairy to revive you."

Argott gave a perplexed look.

"No time to explain. Let's go."

Link donned his deku mask again and got into the flower that was straight ahead and blasted off. He looked down, but it was far to dark to see the ground. He definitely did not want to go down there, though.

He landed on some sort of "natural" platform, made of grass. Argott landed behind him.

"Look, there's the door. Pretty soon we'll be out of this horrid room," said Link.

"Yeah, and I bet the next room is even worse," said Argott.

"Don't panic."

Link flew over to the platform where the door was. What he didn't expect was two large Skulltulas waiting for him. Those things always shot down from the ceiling and startled him. He hated them, so much.

Then they both fell. Since they were stupid enough, Link fired a bubble at the left one's weak spot, killing it. Then, he turned to the right one, and began to blow up a bubble—but then a deku nut fell on it and killed it. Then Argott landed.

"Argott, was that you?"

"Yep. I'm not bad with airborne fire."

"Cool. Let's go."

Then Link and Argott ran through the door. The next room was most unpleasant.

"Ack! This room smells terrible! What is that smell?" said Tatl.

"I don't know. Must be the water…" said Link.

Link and Argott held their noses.

Then Link saw something odd in the center of the room. It was some weird looking platform-like flower. It looked just like a flower, and there was an unlit torch in the middle.

"Hey, Tatl. Look."

"I wonder what that is…"

Then Link got an unexpected vision. He though Gabourri was sending it to him.

A Deku Scrub warrior with a lit Deku Stick flew in from another platform and down into the center of the flower, lighting the torch. Then, the "flower" spread its petals out and began to revolve in a counter-clockwise rotation. The poisonous water purified the room was cleaned. The fire of the flower changed it all.

"That's what we've got to do! We've got to light the torch!"

"But how?" asked Argott.

"Hmm…well I sure wish I still had my Fire Arrows from Hyrule…"

"We'll find a way. Let's just go into the first room."

There was a little walkway down to the left leading into some random room. Link walked down it, but with caution.

"Um, you guys? Are you sure this is safe?" asked Argott.

"We're never sure if anything is safe. That's what we do. We take risks and hope we don't get killed. So far, so good," said Link.

Argott got nervous.

Then they entered the room. It wasn't much different from the previous room. Link took off his Deku mask.

The poison pierces your body
The darkness pierces your soul
The fire conflagrates your all

"Fire? There's fire in here?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"I can…I can sense it."

"Hello!" yelled Link.

"Are you stupid, Link? Why did you do that!?"

"Shh!"

He thought the echo would have some effect. But an effect on what?

Then the all heard something coming from the upper lofted floor.

"Link, what is that?"

"Just stay quiet…"

Then it came. They weren't exactly sure what it was…they just knew that it wasn't good.

Then, a shadowy, ghoulish figure swooped down, and went through Link and out the door. The dark impact of the unknown shadow made Link fly against the wall.

"Link!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Why did you do that, Link?"

"I was told to."

"What! By who!"

"A voice."

"Don't listen to those voices! Whatever they are, they're trying to hurt you!"

"It's okay. I knew that was going to happen."

"Well what was it?"

"I don't know, but I could sense it."

"Guy's, I'm a little scared. Can we just leave?" asked Argott.

"Argott, I know you're scared, but now isn't the time to bail."

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Neither do I."

Link began to walk forward, on a little bridge over the water. There was a block in the middle. Link walked up to it, as if going to push it out of the way.

He began to push it forward.

Feel the heat…

He kept pushing.

Of the flame…

He pushed it over to the other side, so that he could then move freely across the intersecting bridges.

It will be the one light

"Hey, Argott, come across!"

That will guide you in the dark.

For some reason, those two sentences continued to bother Link.

"Link, look! Up on the loft!"

There was a torch there. But it didn't seem just like a normal torch. It felt hotter than any other flames.

"I'm gonna go get a bit of it…"

"I don't know, Link…it looks somewhat…menacing."

Link seemed hypnotized by the fire. Maybe it was because he had seen nothing but darkness for the past few hours, and finally saw an eminent light. Link pulled out a Deku Stick and got a bit of the fire.

It wasn't good.

Rabid moths suddenly came from the fire and hurt Link.

"Aaah! I hate bugs!"

"Link!" said Argott.

Then Link threw his Deku stick in the water, as the moths followed the flame.

What was it about the flame? Did it attract certain things to it? After the stick landed in the water, the moths flew back up to the torch.

Then Link saw a way to another room, but it was sealed off by spider web.

"I'll just grab a stick and throw it."

"No, that's too risky. Just jump over and light it, and then throw the stick away."

"Right. Okay."

Link got a stick out and got some fire, jumped to the other side, burnt the web, and threw the stick away.

"I have a feeling that was just a bit too simple," said Link.

"Don't worry about it. Just keep going."

Argott jumped across and ran with Link through the corridor.

Feel the heat
Of the flame.
It will be the one light
That will guide you in the dark.

He began to hear the voice again. But contrary to what he expected, the voice wasn't trying to menace him. It was trying to help him. Was it the legendary Gabourri?

The next corridor wasn't any better than the rest of the temple. It just continued to get darker, and darker.

"Tatl, I can't see!"

"Well, what did you do with that stick?"

"I threw it somewhere!"

"Well, you should probably get out a new one. Who knows what sick creatures could be hiding in here?"

Link ran back to the beginning of the corridor and whipped out a fresh Deku Stick and lit it on the torch, and then he ran back into the corridor.

"Much better," said Link.

Really, it didn't get much better. The walls were covered with Deku leaves and several bloodstains. The light just made the experience more grueling.

Hey there…

"What?" said Link.

You'd better watch your step.

"Link, who are you talking to?" asked Tatl.

Without even answering, Link looked down and saw a small, black, ball-like creature with sinister red eyes and a smoke-like substance around it. It was just staring at Link.

"Uh… T-Tatl… what is that?"

Link lifted up his torch.

"Those… those things."

"Shine your light on them again.

Link shone his light on the creatures, but this time there wasn't only one, but five or six more had come.

Link was startled and screamed.

Then all of the creatures suddenly lunged at Link.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Link swung and hacked his sword at the creatures until each one of them disseminated. Then, his Deku stick burned out.

"Oh, this is just great!" said Link.

See the light.

Follow the flame.

For it is your guide through the dark,

And sometimes your only hope.

The voice was back again. Link didn't even think, and just began to run forward through the corridor. It began to get colder and it began to smell worse. He heard the rustling of the malevolent black creatures.

"Link!" said Tatl.

"Yeah?"

"Where did Argott go?"

"What do you mean—wait, where did he go?"

"Argott!"

"Yeah? I'm up here!" Argott yelled from ahead.

"He's all the way up there? How did he get past those sick black creatures?"

"Oh, those Black Boes are attracted to flesh and blood. Since Argott is a tree, they don't notice him."

"Oh… the more I know… Hey, Argott! Is there a way we can get a little light in here?"

"Just give me a second!"

About four seconds later a torch lit up ahead.

"Come towards the flame!" yelled Argott.

Link just walked towards the fire.

"Gah! That was terrible!"

"Uh… Link… I sense something in here, and it—it isn't good," said Tatl.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about those little th-"

Right that second seven Black Boes lunged at Link and covered his body. Link screamed in Agony.

"I…I can't get to my SWORD!"

"Link! Put on your Deku Mask! Now!" yelled Argott.

The Deku mask was on his right-hand side hanging. Link managed to grab it and put it on his face. He felt his body morphing into a Deku scrub… again.

And then the Boes looked around for a few seconds, wondering what had just happened, and then disappeared into the black.

"That… could have been real ugly," said Link.

"Yeah, just keep it on for now, and let's go into the next room," said Argott.

"Wait a second," said Tatl, "What's that?"

Link looked in the direction Tatl was leaning towards. There was something on the ground right in front of the torch. Link tried to squint and see what it was.

"Is that..."

Then Link recognized it. It was just like old times in Hyrule. It was a new bow. Not like the one from the Forest Temple, but a different one. It seemed to have a Terminian taste to it.

"Tatl! A bow and a quiver of 30 arrows!"

"It's about time we found something useful in this disgusting dungeon!"

Unknown to Link, the bow had been left in the temple by the scrubs. It was used by Argott the first, the warrior who slayed Odolwa; it was commonly referred to as "Argott's Bow." The legacy of the bow had been passed down for two centuries, and was now being utilized by another epic hero...

"We haven't any time to waste! Let's go into the next room."

Link looked down at his watch. It was about noon of the second day. He was halfway through his timespan.

Link and Argott walked into the next room of the Woodfall Temple. It wasn't really what he was expecting.

This room was a lot brighter. He could actually see. It was a room with very shallow water and little grassy islands with deku flowers on them. Then he looked across the room and saw a large, orange and green frog hopping around.

"Tatl, who is that?"

Tatl did not respond, but that second, the frog spotted Link and Argott and got a furious look on his face.

"Uh… Link, get out your sword," said Argott.

Link took off the Deku Mask and whipped out the sword, but he could not act fast enough.

This was no happy frog. Apparently, this was a rabid frog from the eastern sect of the swamp. He seemed disgruntled and vengeful. Not to mention, evil. The amphibian spotted Link and Argott and was startled, but overcame his shock by rapidly hopping over to Argott and snagging him before Link could react.

"AAAAHHH! THE FROG GOT ME!"

Link tried to run over and slash him with his sword, but the frog was too fast. The frog ran over to a large hole in the ground and tossed Argott down the hole.

"ARGOTT!" screamed Link.

He was gone.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Tatl, where does that hole lead?"

"I don't know for sure! I would assume to Odolwa's lair!"

The way through the dark
Is the way to the end.
The opening to nothing
Is the portal to everything.

The voice was back. Was it Gabourri again?

No time to think. The frog was back and didn't look all that happy. Things didn't get any better. One of the spike-spinning tortoises from the Woods of Mystery came out of nowhere. The malevolent frog hopped atop the tortoise and gave off a loud shriek. The tortoise hid inside its shell and released the spikes and began spinning.

Link began to panic as the tortoise hurdled towards him. It hit him and sent him flying.

Link screamed in agony.

Hey you,
sometimes your original form
isn't your best.

Those were words of wisdom. His only other form was the Deku Scrub form. He donned the Deku mask and made a straight run for a flower.

He burrowed into the flower until the frog had lost him.

Catch him by surprise.
Hit his one place
that has no defense.

The stomach. Hit the stomach. The place uncovered by a hard shell. This voice was really helping Link now.

Link did just that. Just as the spinning turtle was above his flower, he leapt up and sent the turtle into a flying tailspin, landing on his back. As he did that, the frog went over to the wall and began to climb all over it for some reason.

"Your arrows! Shoot him with your arrows!" said Tatl.

Link pulled out the bow and hit the frog square in the black.

The frog shrieked and then hopped down onto the ground and back onto the turtle. The turtle began to spin again and hurdle towards Link.

"Oh, great!"

Link put on the Deku mask, but was too late. He was sent flying again.

"Link, are you all right?"

Link wasn't doing too well, he was badly injured.

"Just hide in a flower again!"

Link managed to make it to the closest flower and burrowed in it. But .7934 seconds later the tortoise was above him again.

Link used his quick reflexes to nail the turtle again.

The frog did his same old thing again, and Link nailed him with another arrow. But the frog was just getting more and more mad.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" screamed Link harshly.

Link sprinted over to the frog and hacked at him with his sword. He got one good hit, but the frog yelled something at the turtle, to go over at attack Link.

Link dodged the swift reptile, and shot another arrow at the frog.

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY FRIEND?!"

The frog did not respond and just got back on the turtle and went into his spinning rampage again.

Link hopped out of the way and nailed the frog in the head with an arrow.

The frog gave off one final shriek and then shriveled up and fell into the puddles of water. The turtle shrunk up into its shell and disintegrated.

Link was exhausted. He was breathing deeply. Everything had gotten quiet, and a new door had opened.

"Is he gone?" asked Link.

"I think so…"

"What… what was that all about?"

"I don't know… he must have just been a natural enemy who lurked in Woodfall."

Link ran over to the hole Argott had fallen through. He bent down on his knees and looked down.

"ARGOTT!"

No answer.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Silence.

Link pulled out an arrow from his quiver and dropped it, hoping to hear a sound, but after he dropped it, it disappeared into the black and made no sound at all.

Link began to worry even more. He had no idea where that hole may have led, or if it led anywhere, and was not willing to take a chance by jumping down it.

"Link, there's nothing we can do now except go into the next room."

"I guess you're right."

Link walked out of the room through the recently opened door. He was back in the big, disgusting room with the flower in the middle. He was on a lone platform where he could not reach before. There was a very short, lit torch in front of him surrounded by moths.

"What do I do now, Tatl?"

"Link, don't you get it? There's a short torch in front of you and that weird, unlit one behind it. You obviously need to light the central torch in the room."

"How?"

"I thought you had done stuff like this before!"

It was so obvious. It was as if the temple was asking him to light the central torch. All he had to do was shoot an arrow through the torch, aimed at the center.

"I know what you're thinking, Link… do it!"

Link pulled out an arrow from his quiver and shot it through the flame and to the central torch. It immediately became engulfed in fire.

The platform it was on expanded into a flower-like structure and began to spin in a counter-clockwise direction. Then it rose up to Link's level, conveniently there for him to jump on and go to other parts of the temple he could not reach before.

"Link, look at the water!"

Link looked down on what used to be venom water. Now the water looked as pure as the water from Zora's Domain in Hyrule. The disgusting stench had faded away as well.

The flame will be your one companion,
It will pierce the darkness,
Eliminate the cold,
and brighten up a new way.

Link hopped onto the flower and rode it to the nearest platform on the right-hand side. He jumped off and walked through the door.

Now, this was a different room. He was on a lone ledge in a room with a bottomless pit. If you fell, you were done for. It reminded him of the final room of the Shadow Temple, just before Bongo Bongo's lair, except the platforms weren't invisible. There was a large summit of rock in the middle of the room, only accessible via flying.

Link looked down into the black.

You'd better watch where you're going
You never know where these pits could take you,
… or if they would even take you anywhere at all…

Link donned the Deku Mask and flew out of the flower and onto the main platform. But right as the landed a rabid lizard with two knives fell from the ceiling. Link thought fast and took off the mask, as he began to hack and swing at the lizard.

He got to good hits, but so did the lizard. It slashed Link in his ribcage, sending him flying nearly off the platform.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Link, your arrows! Use your arrows!"

Link pulled out his bow and shot two arrows at the lizard's head. Right then the lizard lost its strength and fell off the edge.

Link looked over the ledge as the monster fell deep into the black He then sat back down on the platform and took several deep breaths.

"Tatl, this is harder than I thought it was going to be."

"You can't just give in, Link. Keep going."

Link stood up and burrowed in the next flower.

Meanwhile, back at the Deku Palace, the situation had gotten worse. The Deku monarchy was getting restless.

"Knabb! I'm not going to do this much longer, now tell me where the Deku Princess is!"

Knabb was tied to a wooden post above a small fire in the central pit of the palace. The scrubs were ready to roast him, even though they were vegetarians, and would not eat him.

"I don't know, sir! I promise you I did not kidnap her!"

One of the Deku warriors whipped Link with a Deku vine furiously.

"Take that, you little scoundrel! That oughta teach you not to mess with the Deku Royal Family again!"

Knabb screamed in excruciating pain.

"Knabb, if the Deku Princess is not here by tomorrow night, we will feed you to the Woodfall Wolfos!"

The Woodfall Wolfos were the meanest ones known to Termina. Even meaner than the snow wolves. They never stop attacking, and they give absolutely no mercy to their victims.

Knabb began to have a nervous breakdown, and hoped to all that is holy that somehow, the Deku Princess would be able to escape the Woodfall Temple.

The Deku Princess herself thought about the palace every minute. She knew how worked up her father could get, and knew that he had surely done something drastic not even an hour following her disappearance. Sadly, she could not do anything about it. She was stuck in the temple...

Only Link could save her, Knabb, Woodfall, and the giant imprisoned within the temple.