Chapter 3
The Call Enters the Forest

Darkness was everything to the unconscious mind of Farea. Its icy black tendrils traced twisted paths into her dreams, her consciousness. She knew of nothing and was utterly alone—alone in her very own mind. Suddenly, she was aware of a violent struggling in her mind and began to vaguely ponder what that motion was. With a jolt, Farea realized it was herself—herself combating the shadowy mists to regain her consciousness.

Abruptly, the harsh truth of reality snapped back into view and horrid memories were summoned up deep from within her psyche to haunt her waking consciousness: the Hylians trampling over their way of life, the trees being slaughtered to feed their horrifying machines, the deadly fires spreading into their formerly peaceful home of Kokiri Forest. The fire! "Oh no! Great Deku Tree!" shouted Farea above the roar of the flames.

The young girl pulled herself from the ground and dashed wildly to the clearing where the patron guardian of the Kokiri lay firmly planted to the ground. Around her, trees collapsed to the ground—the flames having weakened them—and the tiny Kokiri huts imploded in on themselves. The single place where Farea had spent the last three hundred years was dying in a maelstrom of raging fire and crackling heat—and she paid no heed to it, remaining focused on her mission to save the Great Deku Tree. Tears dripping relentlessly from her cobalt blue eyes, she sprinted into the clearing and halted in horror at the incoming flames.

Rising above the canopy of the Kokiri Forest was a massive tree trunk—seemingly oblivious to the fire—etched with markings that created the appearance of a wizened old face. "Great Deku Tree! Please wake up!" Farea begged fervently, tugging on the tree's gnarled roots. Her bellowing did have some effect and the enormous tree shook suddenly, releasing several massive leaves to the ground. The huge eyes slowly peeked open and Farea jumped up in jubilation. "Great Deku Tree! You're alright!"

"Ah, Farea… Where are the others? Saria, Mido…?" rumbled the Great Deku Tree, his mighty voice vibrating through the mass of trees around him.

"I don't know, I think they escaped to the Lost Woods!" cried Farea, beginning to panic again. "Oh, what shall I do?" she muttered, pacing across the clearing in consternation.

"Farea, my daughter… you must follow them. I cannot bear for you to be consumed by these deadly flames," the Great Deku Tree told her, his face wrinkled up in despairing grief. "Please, Farea! Leave now!" he commanded, when the Kokiri child did not move.

"I am sorry, Great Deku Tree," apologized Farea, "but I must save you first. I will find someway!" She glanced around frantically, searching for something—anything—that could save the Great Deku Tree. When her rummaging about resulted in futility, she murmured under her breath, "How did it come to this?" Indeed, how had it? The memories that had returned earlier surged back in full force and Farea sat down to contemplate them and await her doom…

Six months earlier, it would have been extremely difficult—almost laughable—to explain to Farea that a fire would almost destroy Kokiri Forest someday. In fact, if anyone suggesting such a thing, that person would have been the laughingstock of Kokiri Forest for at least a week. Such was the happiness and joy in the forest that anything could be made into a source of enjoyment and fun to the tribe of eternal children. Including hunting for food, which was Farea's absolute favorite activity out of all things, though, this was a necessity instead of a recreational event much like other activities.

Farea stepped lightly upon the green forest floor, a large slingshot in hand. She glanced quickly toward a small rabbit leaping through the brush—its ears poking up each time it stopped to look around—and then turned back to steady her slingshot. Fortunately, the rabbit could not see her; Farea quietly thanked the Great Deku Tree that her tunic was such a leafy green so as to camouflage herself from any animals that roamed free in the woods. Then, placing a large spiked stone into the elastic band wrapped the slingshot and pulling it back, Farea prepared to release toward the rabbit.

Eyes narrowed, Farea peered around a great barky tree that rose above her and aimed her slingshot carefully at her still moving target. Careful… Careful… Now! At that instant, she removed her left hand from the slingshot swiftly and the potential energy stored in the tiny weapon was transformed into kinetic energy, propelling the elastic band forward—and with it, the rock. The stone soared cleanly through the air and smacked the rabbit loudly upon the head, likely giving it a deadly concussion or a massive bleeding, which in a rabbit would commonly cause death. "Yeah!" cheered Farea with glee, leaping up into the air. Her long, golden hair swung around wildly as she did so and her long green hat flopped onto the ground.

After recovering her hat, she came to retrieve her capture and with practiced skill, began to slice the skin from the dead rabbit with a small pocket knife. Afterwards, she placed the carcass into a woven hunting bag. All this was done in a period of less than five minutes. As she finished, Farea turned to a trickling brook that ran beside the forest clearing and cleaned her hands of rabbit skin and blood. Afterwards, she put her palms together and made a quick prayer to the spirit of the slain rabbit, offering it good luck in the afterworld.

Then, she turned to the west to honor the rabbit—for the west is the spot where the sun sets, representing death—expecting to see the beautiful orange light radiating through the countless trees filling the forest; instead, Farea caught sight of a group of tall and very strange giants wearing gray plates that almost completely covered their bodies. From a distance, Farea observed that they carried long silver spears, with metal points bright as illumination from the sun reflected from them. Who were they? Farea stood, placing her bag on her back and pondered this question. The issue of being afraid of these men never came to Farea's mind at this moment, she would later admit. As a member of a tribe of child-like joy, fear and anger—to Farea—were things heard of only in the great stories of the past or legends about heroes venturing in dank caverns or out for vengeance that they would tell around the campfire, not emotions that would be dealt with on a day-to-day basis.

She squinted as to better observe the giants who continued to purposefully stride toward her and calculated—from their great height and the distance from the little river near which Farea stood—that close up they would tower over her small child frame. Then, Farea realized she was wrong—the soldiers were not walking toward her. In fact, they were heading to a massive tree that loomed high above the ground. Farea, now utterly puzzled at their actions, stepped across the stream and crouched down behind a berry shrub, all the while continuing to watch the odd intruders. Still, she did not think of them as intruders—for that word was alien to her Kokiri mind.

Nearer and nearer they marched and as they did so, Farea was able to quietly count about a dozen of them. Why were they here? The answer—one that would be horrifying to Farea's nature oriented mind—was soon revealed in its harsh entirety. The group of tall lean soldiers parted suddenly and a much shorter and stouter one—though he would still greatly surpass the height of any Kokiri—appeared, heaving a heavy weapon on his back. Farea quickly focused on that object—what was that for? It was made of a thick wooden handle and an enormous sharpened stone that was rounded—an axe, realized Farea, which the Kokiri would often use to quickly topple ailing or lifeless trees, to end their suffering.

The wood was then used to build tools—such as Farea's slingshot—and their homes, but whenever a tree was killed for such a thing to occur a great ritual would be immediately held to thank the spirit of the tree for assisting the children of the forest. As such, trees were very rarely felled in the Lost Woods—perhaps only once every hundred years—allowing most of them to grow to immense proportions. Farea then realized what the soldiers intended to do, but still she did not realize exactly how frightening their objective was—as she automatically assumed that they had come to help a dead tree out. The stout man hefted the axe and with a mighty grunt, slammed the weapon into the bark of the tree. Suddenly, a piercing mental shout filled the clearing, bombarding Farea's inner forest sense. That tree was still alive!

To her surprise, another group of men appeared in the distance and again, another man wielded an axe. More and more soldiers strode confidently into the clearing and began to smack sharp axes into the sides of many trees—and with each strike, a shrill mental scream roared out and struck Farea's ears with great force. Farea watched in stunned horror as the trees—trees that had stood for at least 200 years—fell to a couple axes in less than ten minutes. As each died, an ethereal shockwave exploded in all directions—much more powerful than those of the ailing trees cut down by the Kokiri—showing Farea the clear and powerful vigor of the living trees compared to deathly ill trees. As more and more trees began to be attacked by these soldiers, Farea felt a strange sensation flood her body. She didn't know what this was, but it was certainly directed to toward those men for killing so many innocent trees that had so much more to live for—could it be anger?

She stood suddenly, and narrowed her eyes at the soldiers. How could they do this to those poor trees? Farea turned her eyes to the nearest squad of soldiers and suddenly darted out into the clearing, surprised at her own actions. Before she knew it, she had head-butted one of the soldiers directly in the stomach and knocking him to the ground. His startled scream quickly alerted the other scattered groups of soldiers who stood among the trees.

"Hey, it's one of them Kokiri kids!" roared a soldier. "Get her!" He lunged at her with both arms outstretched to grab her, but her short and slender figure dodged his attack and hurried off into the forest. As he slipped onto the ground, he ordered, "Go after her now!"

Others attempted to pursue her through the woods, but her speed and knowledge of the forest allowed her to quickly escape back to Kokiri Forest. As Farea weaved between the numerous trees filling the forest, her heart thumped anxiously against her chest. Glancing back, Farea searched for any sign of the horrible soldiers, but they had vanished into the forest. Good, there was no one left to follow her to the secret location of the Kokiri Forest. Then, as Farea's mind left this subject, it wandered onto a more pressing matter: these men were cutting down the trees, live ones at that! Farea felt that hot feeling rush through her body like a deadly stream once more at the thought of such terrible things happening. What would she tell everyone once she returned home?

She continued to run. Night began to cover up the sky and the glittering stars twinkled into being overhead. The moon rose up, the great white disc reflecting silver light to the world below.

At that moment, the Kokiri Forest came into view, with its crystal-clear and pristine stream gliding between the various unique huts filling the clearing that was the village. Farea immediately made a beeline to the hut of Saria, the most well-known and respected Kokiri there was in the forest. "Saria, Saria!" Farea bellowed urgently, her voice carrying across the village.

"Farea? What's wrong?" asked Saria evenly, her beautiful green hair almost glittering in the brilliant moonlight.

Farea tried to explain, "Saria! Men… trees… cut!" At Saria's confused look, Farea continued, "There were these men! And they—"

Saria was forced to cut in, "Hold on, Farea! Please, come inside and calm down before explaining. Agreed?" Farea nodded tiredly and entered dazedly, sitting down on a small stool. Saria continued to stand and told her, "When you are ready, start from the beginning, okay?"

Farea continued to feel the jolt of adrenaline surging through her body and searched for a focus point with which to calm herself. Her eyes scanned the room and unexpectedly fell upon Saria's tranquil green eyes, their serenity seemingly expanding to fill Farea's consciousness. She continued to look at their soothing hue and suddenly a strange blackness covered her eyes. It was only after awhile that she realized that her eyes had closed from relaxation. Then she opened them and began to explain, "Saria, I was out in the woods, and-and I saw these men—they were enormous!—who were they; do you know?"

"Hylians, perhaps?" muttered Saria. "Yes, they were most likely Hylians, from the land of Hyrule to the north. But why would they be here? I haven't encountered them for about four hundred years!"

"I know why they were here! They were cutting down lots of trees; I saw it myself! Really!" she added, at Saria's shocked look.

"Hylians… have always respected our ways in the past," Saria explained. "Why would they so blatantly trample over our way of life?" she asked out loud. She paced for a couple seconds, searching her memory for some answer, and then she snapped her fingers. "Yes, of course! It has been so long since they've heard of us, that they've forgotten all about our way of life! It must be so!"

"No, it wasn't! When I was there, one of them said, 'Hey, it's a Kokiri kid!' He knew I was a Kokiri! They know about us!" reasoned Farea.

"I see… We must go talk to them!" announced Saria.

"What?!" cried Farea in surprise. "No way; those—Hylians, right?—were scary, Saria!
We've gotta stay away from them!"

Saria halted in the doorway and sighed. "Farea, you were the latest Kokiri to be created by the Great Deku Tree, weren't you?"

"I-I think so. About three hundred years ago," answered Farea.

"Then listen carefully, Farea! I must tell you about the Hylians and how, many years ago, a Hylian helped save our great forest," Saria told her, turning back into the hut.

"Wow, really!" Farea leaned forward in interest. "I love hearing new stories!"

"You've never heard this before? Well, it all began when a Hylian mother brought her child to this forest. She was dying, Farea, so she had to give her child, Link, to the Great Deku Tree—who decided to adopt him and raise him as a Kokiri," began Saria.

"But, he didn't have a fairy, then," interrupted Farea. "Back then, all the Kokiri would have fairies, right?"

"Back then, yes—before they all left for a journey to a distant land. So, he grew up in the forest, thinking he was one of the Kokiri… and I was his friend. One day, an evil man from the desert came and cursed the Great Deku Tree with a terrible curse—and Link managed to kill the monster that hid within the Deku Tree—with the help of his new fairy, Navi."

"Cool!" cheered Farea.

"But it was too late!" continued Saria. "The Great Deku Tree fell to the curse, but not before warning Link of the evil man's goal and rewarding him with a magical stone. Link then had to leave the forest, to go find Princess Zelda who lived in a grand castle."

"What for?" pondered Farea.

"The evil man required three Spiritual Stones to earn the mystical artifact—the Triforce. Link had the Spiritual Stone of Forest already, but Zelda knew where the others lay hidden. And together, they gathered the three stones to gain the Triforce before the evil man, called Ganondorf."

"Ganondorf?" Farea whispered, the name sending a chill down her spine.

"Yes, Ganondorf… Link hurried back to the castle, but it was too late. Ganondorf pursued Zelda away, as he searched for her magical Ocarina of Time, which was a vital item required to reveal the Triforce! As she rode away with her nursemaid, she tossed the Ocarina to Link, who immediately proceeded to the Temple of Time and placed all three stones there. With the Ocarina, he opened the Door of Time."

"What was in there?" asked Farea intently.

"The legendary Master Sword, also called the Blade of Evil's Bane. He quickly drew it, which would open the Sacred Realm, where the Triforce had been sealed for many years.! He was almost there… but the one who wields the Master Sword is destined to be the Hero of Time and he was too young… So, the sword sealed him away in the Sacred Realm for seven years, until he was old enough!"

"What?!" Farea whined.

"Ganondorf took his chances and snuck in the Sacred Realm as Link slept… and he seized the Triforce with his filthy hands! Then, during Link's seven years asleep, he conquered the land of Hyrule and terrorized the people."

"Oh no!" cried Farea.

"Finally, Link woke up to see that he was an adult! Rauru, the Sage of Light, told him that he would have to collect Six Medallions from the Six Sages to defeat Ganondorf. Rauru gave him the first one—Light Medallion—and sent him on his way."

"Adult?" Farea wrinkled her face in confusion at the odd term.

"Oh, you see Farea, for Hylians, they… grow up. They don't stay kids forever, Farea. Then they… die," Saria tried to explain.

Farea's face showed an expression of sheer horror. "They die?" she whispered slowly. "That means—is Link dead?" Farea wondered. Then, she turned to Saria and was shocked by the great expression of sorrow that lay upon her face.

"Yes, Farea…" whispered Saria, grief choking her voice. "He was my friend, and I missed him greatly. Link was… different from everyone else in the forest and I—Well, he's gone now," she finished, her voice suddenly sharp as if to disguise her continuous centurial mourning.

"Sorry," muttered Farea apologetically. "Um, could you please continue?" she requested after a short moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah," replied Saria, wiping a single tear away with her index finger. "The first thing Link did was return to this forest to see how his home had changed over the years. To his horror, monsters of all sorts had taken over the forest. So, he proceeded to the Forest Temple and searched for the Forest Sage within. Eventually, he dueled with Ganondorf's servant, Phantom Ganon, awakening the true Forest Sage," Saria explained, her story-telling voice perhaps a tad bit less enthusiastic than before.

"Who was that?" Farea asked, curious to know what happened next.

"Me. I'm the Forest Sage that guards the Forest Temple," replied Saria.

"Wh-what?! You?" Farea's eyes widened in awed surprise at this revelation.

"Correct. But, I haven't had to perform many duties for a long time… Well, anyway, after he did that, he searched for four more sages, learning that each one was someone close to him, including me. Along the way, a mysterious person called Sheik assisted Link in his endeavors.

At last, the time had come to meet Zelda again, in the Temple of Time. To Link's great surprise, Sheik was revealed to be Zelda, in a disguise! Zelda hurriedly explained that Ganondorf had not acquired all the three shards of the Triforce, only receiving the Triforce of Power. The Triforce of Wisdom was granted to Zelda and the Triforce of Courage was Link's.

But then, a great and evil laugh echoed through the Temple. Ganondorf, hearing Zelda's story, snatched her up in a crystal, hoping to gain her piece of the Triforce. Link entered the castle with the help of the Six Sages and defeated Ganondorf in an epic battle! Swiftly, the Six Sages with the help of Zelda—the Seventh Sage—sealed the King of Evil away in the Sacred Realm…forever!"

Farea leaped up in her seat, shouting, "He did it! He won!"

Saria smiled slightly. "Yes. Yes, he did…" Silence filled the room, the only noise the popping and crackling of Saria's warm fireplace. Darkness enveloped the forest outside and Saria murmured quietly, "Farea, why don't you return to your home now?" Farea agreed and—going over the story of the Hero of Time once more—walked across the dark village, listening to the constant sound of crickets…

So, in this way, Farea learned the story of Link, the Hero of Time. Certainly, she enjoyed the story, especially since Saria was one of his friends—which Farea thought was neat. Yet, it completely bewildered her; the story showed to her how selfless and heroic a Hylian could be, but those that she had encountered earlier had no such characteristics. How could such a paradox exist? That question plagued Farea's dreams that night and the next day, the conundrum would grow larger in her mind…

A diplomatic team was organized by Saria to go confront the Hylians and demand to know what they were doing. Farea, still puzzling over the great question, insisted on following the group out into the forest—even amidst Saria's protests that Farea was not experienced enough to deal with such matters. So, the small group that included Saria; Farea; Mido, the tough and looked-up-to "leader" of the Kokiri tribe; and Joro, Loro, and Boro, together known as the Know-It-All brothers, marched off into the woods in search of the Hylian invaders.

At last, Farea cried, "Listen to that, guys!" She cupped her hand to her ears and heard a clear and continuous thudding noise. She shivered when she remembered that that was the sound of an axe striking the brown bark of an innocent tree. Again, Farea felt an odd heat rush through her body at the thought of so many tree deaths…

The others seemed to recognize the noise as well. Mido, upon hearing it, shouted out, "Cutting down trees? Here?! Oh no, they don't!" He ran forward, eyes grimly determined.

Saria lowered her head. "It is true then. The Hylians are murdering the trees… How did it come to this? Especially after…" She didn't continue the sentence.

"After Link?" muttered Farea quietly so the others would not hear her.

"Yeah. Especially after what Link did all those years ago…I just can't believe that anyone would do that."

"C'mon, Saria, Farea!" called Loro, running to keep up with his identical brothers. "You guys can gossip about girl stuff later!" The two girls nodded, but continued to speak together in hushed tones. Loro shrugged, and followed the rest of the diplomatic group.

"Saria, was Mido… angry?" asked Farea suddenly, as she tried to organize her new emotions. "Is that what it means? To be angry?"

"Ah, Farea. You haven't really had experience with anger, correct?" Farea confirmed this fact with a quick and silent nod. "After all, you are the youngest Kokiri in our tribe… Anyway," continued Saria, "anger is a dangerous emotion, really. It comes to you when… something bad happens—that you don't like—but especially when somebody else does it to you, or to someone you love. Why do you ask?"

Farea had on her face a sort of befuddled expression. Slowly, she asked, "I'm wondering… what does anger do? What can it make you do?"

"Make you do?" Saria repeated. "Sometimes, anger grows out of control and you might do things to relieve that anger or take it out on someone else. Did that happen to you?"

"I—um, yes. When they were killing so many trees, I just—well, I suppose I attacked them. Not that much, but they chased me," Farea explained. "I was confused, I guess."

Saria nodded carefully. "I understand how you felt. It happened to me 3000 years ago, when I was first created. Now, let us not dwell on such matters. Come, Farea, we must keep up with our comrades, alright?" Farea agreed, and the two children hurried to catch up with the other Kokiri, who were far ahead of them—hidden somewhere in the maze that was the Lost Woods.

The forest's cool air shivered through the leaves that eternally covered each and every tree. The leaves created a smooth rippling sound and Farea sighed suddenly, as she enjoyed the simple fact that they lived in such a wonderful place. Her memories reminded her then that there were these strange men, who had invaded their forest to murder trees, but Farea forced herself to suppress these thoughts; she believed that the matter would be resolved quickly and it would all be over.

Pillars of natural brown and leafy green shot up around them, creating a seemingly endless maze, but of course, the forest must end somewhere; and so it did, in a horribly abrupt fashion. The walls of trees suddenly faded into nothingness, save for the somber and lonely tree stumps—the devastating aftermath of the great battle between proud, giant tree and axe-wielding Hylian. Saria gasped in horror, while Farea clenched her fists, furious at the ugly image. Eyes narrowed, she peered around the area to search for the perpetrator. All at once, she noticed a cluster of tall soldiers in the distance, all wearing proud armor over their bodies for protection. Each man clutched a weapon of his choice as they anxiously argued with each other. Mido and the other Kokiri stood defiantly nearby, occasionally adding their own comments to the intense debate.

"Let's go," cried Farea. "I want to show them what happens when you mess with the Kokiri tribe!" she announced heatedly, marching forward.

"Hold on, Farea," interjected Saria calmly, holding out a hand to block Farea's way. "You might not have much experience with Hylians and I understand that, but I remember the times when they would be treated as guests in the forest or when they would simply respect our way of life. Before we fight, we must learn what it is that they want and negotiate." Saria moved ahead into the clearing, followed by a silent and grim Farea.

"I told you, you guys have to leave now!" roared Mido, stamping his foot onto the ground. "Now! GO!" He pointed irately toward the north—where the Hylians had come from.

"Sorry kid," answered the tallest soldier as condescendingly looked down up Mido as a naughty child. "These are the King's and his general's orders and we can't disobey on threat of death. We got no choice now!" Turning to a comrade, he muttered orders to cut down another tree that still stood by his lonesome amidst the sea of his fallen brothers. A burly man with a thick axe marched toward it, weapon raised for a death blow.

"Hold it!" cried Saria, her voice interrupting the tense situation. "I'm the leader of the Kokiri tribe and I wish to speak with your leader." She spoke firmly, yet calmly. The axe-wielding man halted and glanced hesitantly at the captain, shook his head slowly. The captain turned from the other Kokiri to scrutinize the newcomers. Saria waited patiently for some sort of greeting, while Farea resentfully glowered at the guards; she could still feel the depressed wisps of energy hovering around the area and she shivered at their cold touch.

"Hello there," greeted the captain uncomfortably, unnerved by Farea's glare of intense anger. Slightly frightened by the stare, he turned to Saria for her answer.

"Why are you doing this?" Saria immediately asked. "Hylians have always respected the ways of the Kokiri, haven't they?" Saria folded her arms, expectantly waiting for a response.

"Ways of life? The King never mentioned any thing like that!" muttered the captain, his massive eyebrows wrinkled up in confusion. "He only said that they weren't any sort of threat—"

"That's right," cut in Saria. "These trees are sacred to the Kokiri tribe and carry the life force of this entire forest—no, the world. Understand that the Great Deku Tree upholds all the life forms of this world, but his power is only as great as the strength of these trees. If you kill these trees, his magical presence will fade from the world and the life force of the world will slowly drain into the void."

The captain looked horrified and stunned for a short instant. He glanced quickly at his soldiers, and they all shrugged or looked down in fear. Then, the leader of the squad turned away from Saria and began to discuss matters with his teammates, while Saria looked on patiently. Farea took the moment of brief intermission to hurry over to check the condition of the final remaining tree.

"Sir, what do we do now?" inquired a soldier in a low tone.

His superior officer was silent for a brief moment, save for the nervous clicking of his tongue. Afterwards, he answered, "We must go ahead with our plan. The King's orders are law."

"But, Captain Belarn!" cried out a soldier in fear. "Didn't you hear what she said? The world may die because of our actions here!"

"You fool!" shouted Belarn, delivering a heavy, open-handed blow across the other soldier's face. "Do you really believe these pathetic superstitions?" When his soldiers did not reply to his accusatory question, he sighed in an irritable way. "We must remember! These were General Link's orders!"

Saria's eyes widened with sudden hope at the sound of Link's name and she suddenly cried out, "Link!? Link is alive?" Simultaneously, Farea—with great interest—glanced upward from the roots of the tree, listening carefully to the conversation that was unfolding..

"How do you know General Link?" demanded the captain, stepping forward threateningly.

"Is he the Hero of Time?" Saria demanded back, hoping to discover the identity of this Link: was it her long-lost friend, or was it another hero who had risen to fight evil?

"Hero of Time?" Belarn chuckled as if the answer was obvious. "He died at least 500 years ago. This Link is my superior, the Hero of the Twilight, and current General of Hyrule—second only to the King himself!" explained the captain.

"A new Link, then," whispered Saria. "Tell me this!" she cried, raising her voice for all to hear her proclamation. "Why would any such hero demand the blatant destruction of this forest? What kind of hero is willing to destroy our way of life?! Tell me that, and then we can negotiate!" Her voice became passionately energized and the captain took a few moments to take in her audacious speech. Mido and the Know-It-All Brothers nodded fervently in support of her statement.

"Very well," complied the captain. "I will—to the best of my ability—attempt to explain why Link has ordered us to do this. This…this is what he told me, in his words: 'An ancient evil is rising to cover our land in shadows, seeking to expand his empire. War… is soon to be upon us. Factories…factories of war must be created to combat this evil. Belarn, go to the south-east, past Kakariko Village and Ordon Village, until you find the ancient forest. There, you may use the greatly abundant lumber to power our factories. I will send workers with you…' And that was what he said, before I left," concluded Belarn.

Saria was silent after this story, trying to understand the implications of these orders. Her eyes softened and she spoke, "It is good that each side now understands the perspective of the other. If these trees—your factories—will help to save your land from destruction, then I will not and can not hold anything against you…" She paused for emphasis, and continued with a sharper tone, "However, I expect that you will respect our way of life and will not return to destroy any more of these trees for at least a year and a day. Once that day comes, then we negotiate again. Is that clear?"

"Very well. I suspect that this lumber is good enough for at least a year, anyways. And—I don't know how true the legends are—I believe that the trees in the forest grow extraordinarily quickly? The trees will be back in no time! Let's go men, back to the camp. They won't be hearing about us for a long time, isn't that right?" The men murmured with confusion, but seemed to agree with this, following their captain out of the clearing. In a few moments, there was nothing more of the Hylians that could be seen…

"Well, good riddance!" shouted Mido into the distance. "That's right; stay out!" Then, he marched back to the village, followed by the brothers. As they walked, they quietly discussed the meaning of what they had just seen.

"That's that, then," stated Saria, speaking to Farea. "The Hylians won't be back for awhile… and by then, the forest will have recovered. Besides, they won't need anymore trees."

"Was that a good idea?" Farea's eyes were concerned. "How do you know you can trust them?"

"I don't. The only things I have are the memories of Link and word of this captain. If he should prove untrustworthy…" The sentence remained unfinished, but Farea received the implication that in such a scenario, the only choice would be to resist. "Let us return home. This day has been long…"