Chapter 2: Adventure Begins
Ten years have passed since the infant Zelda came into Sibela's care. The Kokiri tribe has not suspected her of not being one of them. Although the child has been ridiculed for being a "Fairless Kokiri" especially by the new head of the tribe, Mido. But all is well in the forest one clear, starry night. However within the confines of a very different place to the north, one boy does not sleep well. Within a stone room a boy laid in a lavish bed, decorated with gold and blue ornaments and sheets. The boy was probably the same age as Zelda if not a bit older and had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, although his hair was more of a dirty blonde. He tossed and he turned, freighted by a nightmare he was having.
Within the confines of his dream the boy saw dark clouds across a stone town, they expanded to the mountains in the east and to the valley in the west. While all the land was covered in darkness he heard a laugh towards the north of the stone town and saw a stone structure, grander than the buildings of the village, crumble and be replaced by a black tower. The boy cried out, distraught by the event showed to him and turned away from the north and to the south where the forest lay. He saw a light. The light shot into the clouds and parted them without hesitation. The ground lit up in response. The light turned into a figure, no, two figures of very different size. The larger figure was a girl with blonde hair, he could not see her eyes, and she was dressed in a green short dress. In her hand was a green gem surrounded by golden linings. Floating by the girl from what he could see was a simple blue orb with wings, a fairy.
The boy abruptly woke from his dream sweating and panting heavily. He sat up in his bed trying to remember every detail of his dream; once he did he breathed his final heavy breath for the night.
"That dream again," He spoke, slightly shaken, "Clearer than ever."
He tightened his grip on his sheets, "But what does it mean?"
He continued his thoughts of the dream until he fell into slumber once again, he did not have another dream for the rest of the night.
Far to the south within the Kokiri's village Zelda tossed and turned at a dream of her very own. It was night and she was in they sky, flying high above a glowing town made of stone. In the dream she noticed she had a sword and shield on her back, a boomerang at her side along with a slingshot and a large bag. What was inside of the bag she did not know, nor did she care for her attention was at the town, which was ravaged by flames and fighting. She flew over the fighting and to an extraordinary building, grander than the others and was about to land, her memory of the dream seemed to skip because she was then in front of the castle and holding another item.
She turned around to see a figure, she could not tell a thing about this figure or merely could not remember. All she remembered was being knocked to the ground and then the figure was gone.
Zelda woke up with a gasp the breathed almost heavily. Her now long, past shoulder height hair flared with the sudden movement and went past her shoulders to rest upon them. She was wearing a simple green dress that went to her knees and socks could be seen if one removed the bed sheets.
"That dream again?" A voice asked from her right side. It was Sibela, who hadn't changed at all over the last ten years. Zelda looked over to her caretaker for the past ten years and merely nodded.
"It's clearer than ever, but still the figure is a blur," Zelda said as she held her head as if she had a slight headache, "It's really getting annoying,"
"I suppose it's time to ask the Deku Tree about it again," Sibela said. Zelda sighed, "Every time I bring it up he says to think nothing of it,"
"Perhaps he has a reason?" Sibela got up from her own bed and sat with Zelda, hoping to comfort her.
"If he does I hope it's a good one," Zelda pouted, making Sibela laugh.
"We better get some rest, tomorrow is a good day," Sibela said with a smile. She then left to sleep in her own bed, leaving Zelda to stare at the wall.
"What good is tomorrow if I don't have a fairy?" Zelda thought before she fell back to sleep.
Morning rose through the leaves onto the forest floor, waking the Kokiri from their nightly slumber. Many went exploring or to play, others just to watch as the day passes by them. Zelda and Sibela had work to do; it was the day Zelda would reach "The Age of Immortality" and yet she is without a fairy. Never has a Kokiri been without a fairy on this day, and several Kokiri have already bullied her for being different. All of these cases were lead by the Leader of the Kokiri, Mido. The previous was lost in the woods never to return again so the child that he raised was now leader. Many did not like his snobby attitude; Zelda just did not like him for obvious reasons and who could blame her? He pulled something on her almost every chance he had, but thankfully the Deku Tree stopped the fighting many a time.
The day was treated like another day, almost like a birthday but it still was more than that. On this day, Zelda would be treated like an 'adult' in the Kokiri society. Some are summoned by the Deku Tree on this day, the discussion usually involved the future of the Kokiri as a whole, so usually only the Leader of the Kokiri was summoned. There have been a few other occasions, but they were special and before Zelda's time.
Zelda walked onto the balcony of the tree house and made a deep sigh, she was not completely happy about this day, but with some optimism she hoped her fairy would come today.
"Zelda!" A girl's voice cried from bellow. Zelda looked down near the bottom of the latter to see it was her good friend Saria. Saria was probably the one that was nicest to her besides Sibela. Zelda carefully, but swiftly, descended down the latter to greet Saria where Saria grabbed her but the hands and pulled Zelda into a hug.
"Now you're officially a Kokiri," Saria then pulled away from her hug and frowned, "And yet a fairy still has not come,"
"I think one will come today, I can feel it!" Zelda knew she was lying through her teeth, she actually felt a little depressed. Her mood swings from hopeful to depressive, especially when the subject regards her non-existent fairy. Saria gave a kind smile before they started to walk into the woods, escaping the town before Mido did something to Zelda.
"What's back this way?" Zelda asked as Saria guided her further and further into the Lost Woods. Zelda was starting to get nervous, she started to think that they might not make it back to the village and they would become Skull Kids! She looked to Saria's focused face; she did not look lost at all. It was almost as if she knew the woods by heart.
"It's my secret spot, I've shown it to Sibela and I wanted this to be your present for today." Saria said kindly, still focusing on the never-changing path. Zelda smiled at this, it was nice enough getting her away from Mido but this was something more.
They eventually made it to a wall of rock with only a small cave opening near the center. Saria led Zelda inside and spoke, "Don't worry, it's just on the other side."
Many questions kept popping in Zelda's head, besides the most obvious she wondered about if anything was inside the cave. Many Kokiri have died by things they could not see before it was too late. In truth the "Age of Immortality" is just when they stop aging, they could die from being alive for so long, getting lost, wandering out of the woods, and being killed by many things. Some simply disappear without a trace; those strike fear into the usually calm Kokiri. Fortunately all this is learned after a Kokiri stops aging, otherwise Kokiri would be scared all their life and wouldn't be able to care for the next generation.
Saria noticed Zelda's worry but quickly reassured her before they went inside the cave. When they were surrounded by darkness Saria made a turn, again seeming to know the way by heart, thankfully Zelda grabbed her hand long before the tunnel. Eventually they felt the grass come up to their knees and they heard strange rustling sounds. Soon after the sounds were heard they stopped, seeming like something surfaced from the grass.
"Don't worry, it's me. I'm showing my friend the spot, little Deku Scrub." Saria spoke, revealing the source of the rustling to be a Deku Scrub. Deku were not born of the Deku Tree, but are theorized to be somehow related due to them be made of a wood–like flesh. The Deku Scrub seemed to make a rustling sound then let out a calm chirp-like sound that seemed to echo for a few seconds before Saria continued along. They past by many Deku Scrubs in the maze-like cave before Zelda even saw a spec of light that formed into a green hill surrounded on two sides by rock walls. Many fairies were flying around the area as Zelda was led up the hill where the sun peaked through the trees, making the fairies glow even more. Saria smiled at Zelda as she gasped at the scene, but the best was yet to come. Once the hill ended Zelda saw an entrance to some ruins suspended in the rock face and held up by come crumbling columns. The rock was grey and covering in vines and moss, but looks like it could still stand for a long time. Zelda took her eyes away from the ruins to see a strange symbol on the ground, made by the grass.
"This is where I go to relax," Saria said, finally letting go of Zelda's hand and went to sit down on a nearby rock.
"Saria," Zelda paused, "Is this… the Forest Temple?"
Saria smiled, "It is. I can't explain why, but I feel so at peace here. It feels more like home than our village; sometimes I'm torn between the two."
Zelda sat down in the symbol in the grass and listened to Saria calmly as she continued, "But after seeing Mido do those things to you, I felt like all of the forest was home. I couldn't just abandon someone like that; it's cruel."
Saria then stood up and smiled, "Sibela made something for you,"
Zelda blinked her eyes in confusion as Saria reached in the tall grass behind the rock she was sitting on. She pulled out a simple wooden slingshot and a brown pouch. Zelda felt that the items were familiar, like she's seen them somewhere before. Saria handed Zelda the slingshot and the bag and opened the bag to reveal a bunch of small rocks and nuts, the ammo.
"Use this when Mido's getting to you. Right in the head, ok?" Saria said kindly. Zelda smiled in response and got a rock out from the bag and loaded it onto the slingshot. She faced a rock wall and saw a small hole. She fired at said hole and the rock filled up the hole, right on target.
"Wow, you're a natural!" Saria exclaimed, "I bet you could get some fruit from high up with that!"
"That's a great idea," Zelda commented in glee, "and I know just the place to get some!"
The two played for the rest of the day, gathering more rocks and nuts for the slingshot, taking a test shot at Mido, and gathering fruit from the treetops. Saria was right; Zelda was a natural! But their play ended and Zelda went back to her tree house at dusk for dinner. Sibela was waiting with some berries and fruit that Zelda helped pick because of her slingshot.
"You look like you had fun today," Sibela said in a motherly tone. Zelda smiled, nodded then set the slingshot on her bed, "Thanks for the slingshot,"
"You always had the idea of using one, took me quite a bit to find all those rocks. Not to mention I needed to find thick branch for it since I'm horrible at wood carving,"
Zelda let out a smile before she proceeded to tell about her day. The conversation took long enough for the sun to fully set, and for night to fully take hold of the forest. The Kokiri usually were asleep at this time, so they could awake at the next dawn.
Before dawn, something crawled its way into the forest and into the Great Deku Tree's Meadow. The Deku Tree immediately noticed the intruder and spoke in an angered voice, "Being of evil, you dare come to these lands?"
The Deku Tree heard a hiss in response, but still could not see it as it could only see one side of the meadow. Soon the hiss formed into words, "The ssstone, where iss the Ssscared Sstone?"
The Deku Tree was immediately on guard, but to little use; the creature used magic on the Deku Tree and seemed to crawl inside it. The Deku Tree still knew what to do so its voice boomed, "Navi the fairy, come hither!"
A blue fairy came down from the treetops and waited for the Deku Tree to speak again, "Navi, the time has come. It is time for the Kokiri without a fairy to begin her journey! Fly to her, quickly!"
The fairy went off without a word, seeing many Kokiri starting to wake as dawn approached. She even saw someone with what looked to be a saw at the house she was suppose to go to. She decided to ignore it for now, getting the Kokiri was more important. Navi flew into the house and screamed into Zelda's ear, "WAKE UP!"
Zelda woke up with a start and looked to see something glowing beside her. She looked at it as it introduced itself, "I'm Navi the fairy!"
"Are you… my fairy?" Zelda said, stunned. At long last, a fairy had come to her.
"What's going on?" Sibela asked as Tila flew over to inspect Navi.
"A fairy came to Zelda!" Tila said in joy. Sibela's face lightened up with joy and pride, "Oh Zelda, I knew it was only a matter of time!"
"Yea, but-" Zelda was about to say something about Navi being late but Navi interrupted her.
"We don't have time for this! The Deku Tree has summoned you! I think it's really important!" Navi cried, "We have to go now!"
Zelda jumped out of her bed and grabbed her slingshot and ammo pouch and made her way out onto the balcony of the tree house. She heard a creaking sound before it collapsed and she fell onto a heap of wood. She heard a laugh in front of her and saw Mido. She cried out a name of the person in front of her then saw he was still laughing.
"That's what you get for hitting me with that new toy of yours!" Mido cackled. Zelda was mad but then Navi flew down and pushed Mido over.
"You leave her alone! She needs to get going!" Navi yelled at Mido who looked at Navi stunned. Zelda go up and walked away, still wanting to hit him with her slingshot.
"Zelda…" Mido paused, still in disbelief, "Has a fairy?"
Within minutes Zelda arrived at the Deku Tree's Meadow. She felt a chill in the air, one that is not usually felt in the forest or meadow, the feeling that something is watching you. Though, this feeling has yet to be recognized by Zelda, instead it was just a suspicious feeling.
"You came swiftly," The Deku Tree said this as if it was in pain. Zelda's curious face turned to worry, "What's wrong?"
"You have sensed it these past nights in your dreams," The Deku Tree began, "evil forces are strengthening, thus I've been cursed."
Zelda gasped, "Who would do such a thing? I need to tell the others!"
Zelda turned to run but the Deku Tree boomed, "No! Only you can help me,"
Zelda turned back to the Deku Tree, confused, "Me? What could I do?"
Before the Deku Tree could answer something crawled out of the Deku Tree in what looked to be a hole of dark energy. Zelda looked at it, it was some kind of one-eyed creature; that's all Zelda could describe it as. It crawled out of the dark hole and hissed at her from the base of the Deku Tree, "The Ssstone! Give me the Sstone!"
It started to charge toward Zelda and she ran in response.
"QUICK! Use your slingshot!" Navi cried as she flew beside Zelda as she ran. Zelda was stunned by the idea but remembered that the creature had a gigantic eye. She wanted to find a safe spot first to fire from. She saw that the creature was too fast for her to climb, and it would climb with her and get to her before she could fire, and staying in one place to fire won't work at the moment. She decided to try something she hasn't tried in a while: running backwards. She could easily do it, but with the added pressure of firing her slingshot she didn't know if she could do it, until she thought of loading the slingshot before running backwards. She swiftly loaded a sharper rock, noted by her bleeding when grabbing it, and loaded it onto the slingshot. She then spun around and ran in the way her back was turned; she had lost some speed in this transition but enough to stay a ways from the hissing creature. She fired the shot into its eye and it screamed out in pain as both tears and streams of blood stained the grass bellow.
"You'll pay!" The creature hissed as it looked around, trying to find Zelda who found time to climb a few feet up the Deku Tree and sit on a growing branch. After about ten seconds, the creature charged towards Zelda, who continued firing at the eye. After five shots, it was apparent the beast was blind as it kept charging in random directions where sound was coming.
"Zelda, you need to kill it!" Navi said in a whisper. Zelda nodded to her fairy but responded, "A sling shot will only slowly get it. I need something else,"
"ZELDA!" A voice cried from the entrance to the meadow, alerting the creature and Zelda. It was Mido; he was shaking and holding something Zelda couldn't see what it was.
"Isn't that the guy I pushed down a while ago?" Navi asked, looking back and forth between Mido and Zelda.
"Yea," Zelda confirmed, "He's got something, and I can't see what it is."
The creature started to charge toward Mido, causing him to freeze while screaming. Zelda aimed at the creature's head and got its attention long enough for Mido to circle around to the other side of the Deku Tree that Zelda was on.
"Oh my gods!" Navi cried, "He has the Kokiri Sword!"
"You mean the sword that was hidden by our leader a few generations ago for safe keeping?" Zelda asked, "I could probably use it."
Zelda noticed the creature getting closer to her as Mido also tried to get close. She noticed Mido was raising his arms a bit.
"Oh no," Zelda said in realization, her eyes widening in shock.
"He's not going too…" Navi had the same reaction.
"CATCH!" Mido threw the sword and sheathe up to Zelda who caught it by the handle and fell off the branch. The creature was about to strike but Zelda quickly reacted by using the sheathed sword to block its clawed leg. She then tossed the creature away using said sheathe, distracting the creature as the sword was unsheathed. In Zelda's hand the sword felt so natural, like she had trained with it like a master; she had never even touched a sword in her life. It made her slightly curious after a deed was done.
When the sword was unsheathed she jumped, spun forward onto the creature's back and ran the sword full through. She heard a cry in pain then felt it fall down, moving no more. She didn't move for a few seconds, processing all that happened and how she did it. Navi came over to her and spoke, "That… was… AWESOME!"