Hello wonderful readers. I've decided to update a little bit early as I'm trying to dedicate the next few days to finishing some assignments. I also felt a bit bored since none of the stories I follow have been updated this week. Warning: I do question some Zelda logic at the start.
Chapter 9: Mistaken Identity
The flight to the woods was uneventful to say the least. Over the roaring of the wind, it was difficult to have an intelligible conversation so Link, Midna and Groose flew in silence. Within the first hour the whole of Hyrule was visible; the towering Death Mountain in the east, the vast Gerudo Desert of the west, the freezing cliffs of Snowpeak to the north and dense, green forests towards the south. At the heart of the kingdom was the crystal-blue Lake Hylia and if they looked carefully, they would see the tiny mass of stone buildings that was Castle Town. Seeing the land from this point of view was truly a sight to behold.
Once they were over the forests in Faron Province, they began their gradual descent. Groose shouted that the forest canopy was too thick further on so they needed to find a place to land. Link pointed when he saw the outcropping where the entrance to the Lost Woods was. The space was far too cramped for all three loftwings to land at once, so their riders took it in turns to dismount. As soon as Link's feet touched solid ground, he scanned the familiar woods and inhaled its fresh air, reliving part of his previous adventure.
"I don't understand why we didn't simply warp here," Midna commented as the giant birds flew away. "It would have been much faster that way."
"I get what you mean," Groose said, readjusting his sword belt as he spoke. "But nothing beats flying a loftwing when going off on a mission. It just feels right, y'know."
"I guess," Midna crossed her arms. "It was fun, but it still feels like we're wasting time."
From where they stood, they could see the giant tree that was the first temple Link and Midna had ever explored. Suddenly a thought popped into the Hero's head. "Hey Groose, isn't the place we're looking for called the Forest Temple?"
The red-haired boy turned towards him. "Yeah. What about it?"
"Well isn't that place over there called the Forest Temple?" Link asked as he pointed to the giant tree. "I don't want to sound like I know more than the Order, but that's what everyone's called that place as far as I've heard, and I'm pretty sure it's not that difficult to get into."
Groose gave a short laugh. "I guess so, funny that. You see, that temple over there was constructed by humans long ago, but it's really more of a tomb that was used to seal away the Fused Shadows. The Forest Temple we're going to we have no idea who built it, though it's supposedly where the Sage of Forest is supposed to be at their most powerful. Few people other than the Kokiri have ever been there and come back alive to tell about it."
"So why do they have the same name?" Link asked.
"Well if you think about it they're both temples that are in the middle of a forest," Groose replied. "Since the Kokiri never leave their home and not many humans get to meet them, nobody really noticed that there were two forest temples. Guess folks in ancient times weren't very original when it came to naming important places."
"That makes sense," Midna said, nodding in understanding.
They then entered the woods, which possessed a strange stagnant air that made the quiet forest seem timeless and ancient. The canopy above was so thick that no sunlight could penetrate it, cloaking the area in darkness. The three searched the immediate area in hopes of finding the childlike being that dwelt there but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where do you think that little twerp is?" Midna wondered out loud. If they were unable to find the Skull Kid then their chances of finding the Forest Medallion were looking slimmer and slimmer.
"I don't know," Link replied. "This is where we usually see him. Maybe we should..."
He was interrupted when an ill-omened blare of a horn echoed from the treetops. Almost instantly a group of skeletal puppets dropped down and proceeded to attack the intruders. With a short, startled cry, Link drew his sword and hacked the menaces to pieces in a single swing. Once the puppets were dispatched, a small figure in moldy-orange clothes jumped down to the ground. The Skull Kid looked at the Hero with a creepy grin.
"Hi," the sprite greeted with unmoving lips. "I wasn't expecting to see you here again." He looked towards Midna and sniffed. "I remember you. You look different now; taller, and a lot less ugly." Midna's face contorted in fury but the tiny pest only giggled. "Let's play," he declared.
"Hold on," Link said before Skull Kid ran off. "If we play with you, could you please take us to where the Kokiri live? You know who the Kokiri are don't you?" He prayed that the answer to both questions was yes.
The sprite held a silent gaze that made the Hero feel uncomfortable. "I know who the forest children are." Skull Kid said ominously, "and I know where you really want to go... I'm not allowed to go to that temple anymore, not after the mask... But I can take you to the forest children. Try to catch me." The glee returned to Skull Kid's voice as he disappeared in a burst of falling leaves.
Not wanting to lose the sprite, Link and company ran through the only path leading further into the forest. They could not see Skull Kid anywhere and only had the sound of his horn and the light of his lantern to go by. More than occasionally their guide blew a long, inharmonious note which was followed by the appearance of more puppets. There were many more showing up at once than the first time so all three of the group had to fight together to dispatch them.
Hours passed on by and the three Peacekeepers were reaching the point of exhaustion, yet they kept going. They could not afford to lose track of the Skull Kid. Link was beginning to get really sick of their guide's song and hoped that their destination was close by. Another hour may have passed, it was so hard to tell in these sunless woods, when at last they caught up to the Skull Kid. He was standing on top of the trunk of a dead tree, looking down upon his playmates imposingly.
Suddenly the tiny creature growled and stamped his feet, the impacts resonating throughout the clearing. From Link's earlier experiences with the sprite, he knew that they were very close to the Kokiri village and that Skull Kid would not let them continue without a fight. The forest child disappeared again and popped on top of a nearby stump then blew his horn with all his might. More puppets descended from the treetops and approached the Hero's company slowly. Midna and Groose raised their swords, waiting to intercept their attackers.
Knowing that their master was the source of the skeletons' life force, Link summoned his bow and aimed an arrow right at Skull Kid. The puppets were dangerously close when Link let the arrow fly. With a 'hiss' and a 'thunk', the projectile slammed right into its target, who cried out in discomfort. Every last one of the creeping skeletons fell to pieces with the interruption of the enchanting music.
Skull Kid vanished once more, reappearing on a high branch with no evidence that he had been wounded. The sprite called for more minions and Link notched another arrow. Shot after shot, the conflict reiterated itself until the Skull Kid gave out a cry that was louder and more definite that before. When the sprite picked itself up, it looked at Link and laughed.
"Heehee. That was fun. Bye," he said as he departed back into the trees. A wall of tree trunks up ahead split apart with a groan, sunlight pouring in through the gap. Not wasting a second, the team sprinted towards the light and were blinded as they escaped the darkness of the woods.
When their eyes adjusted, they found themselves in a beautiful clearing. Huts made out of living trees dotted the glade. The atmosphere still carried the sense of timelessness but there was also life in this peaceful space. Everywhere they looked there were small children dressed completely in green, each followed by a fairy of various colors of blue, red and yellow. One boy took notice of the three strangers and studied them in interest.
"Hey everybody, Link's here!" he shouted enthusiastically. More children appeared from within the huts and ran towards the Hero excitedly. In less than a minute, the Hero of Light and his companions were surrounded by little Kokiri.
"Hi Link, where have you been? Who are your friends? Did you come to visit us? Are you going to see Saria? Can you play with us?" the children asked all at once.
Link froze, unable to process what was going on. Why were these kids being so friendly towards him and how did they know his name? He turned to Midna with an expression that pleaded for help but she was just as stunned as he was. Turning back to the children, he racked his brain trying to come up with an appropriate response.
'Master Link,' said a voice in his head, it took him a moment to realize that the voice was Fi's, speaking to him from within the Master Sword. 'It appears that the Kokiri have mistaken you for someone else, most likely the Hero of Time. I predict that there is a 94% chance that the Kokiri will escort you to the Forest Temple if you play along with their assumption.'
Could that be right, Link wondered. Did the Kokiri really think that he was the Hero of Time? It made sense; the Hero of Time was said to have been raised by the Kokiri as a child and since Link wore the exact same garb as the previous Hero had, it was reasonable to assume they looked identical. The Hero of Time's name was also Link so that explained how the forest children knew the current Hero's name. Link, the Hero of Light, decided to follow Fi's suggestion.
"Hey guys, how are you?" He asked, trying his best to sound familiar with the unknown faces. "Sorry that I haven't visited in a while but I've been a bit busy."
The ruse appeared to be working as the forest children continued to cheerfully ask numerous questions. Link bluffed answers to most of them and pretended to not hear the ones he thought were too dangerous to reply to. He heard one voice ask how long he was going to stay for, so he decided to make his move.
"I can't stay for very long," he told them. "Something bad is happening outside of the forest and I need to stop it. I need to get to the temple as soon as possible but I don't quite remember how to get there." He prayed that his gamble about not knowing the way to the temple would work in his favor.
One of the Kokiri, a girl, laughed. "Silly Link, forgetting how to get to the temple." The other children laughed too. The girl continued, "I'll show you and your friends the way, but we'll have to go tomorrow. It's getting dark now." It was true; the sky had turned deep orange as the sun began to set beyond the treetops.
Travelling in the forest at night could be dangerous so Link, Midna and Groose decided to spend the night in the village. They used the Hero of Time's old house, which they only determined by reading the sign in front of it reading 'Link's House'. The small single-room home was remarkably clean despite the fact that no one had lived there in what may have been a hundred years or more. Satisfied that they were out of earshot of the forest's residents, the group discussed the recent events.
"What the heck was that all about?" Midna asked heatedly, referring to their unexpected reception. She kept her voice to a whisper in case any of the forest children were right outside.
"I think that the Kokiri believe that I'm the Hero of Time, who was once a friend of theirs," Link replied. "But what I don't understand is how they could possibly believe I'm him when the real Hero of Time's been dead for ages."
An expression of deep thought spread across Groose's face. "Well, the Kokiri don't age and they're essentially immortal. Plus, I don't think that the climate changes much here so it may be that the Kokiri don't quite understand time. They probably don't realize that a hundred years have passed and that the Hero of Time would be an old man by now even if he was still alive."
Midna nodded, agreeing to the theory, before turning to Link. "What did you think you were doing back there? If they found out you were lying then it would have been seriously bad for us," she hissed.
"Well they didn't," Link retorted. "Besides, it wasn't my idea to begin with. Fi told me it might be helpful if I let them believe I really was the Hero of Time. We're only going to be here until tomorrow so it doesn't matter what I tell them."
"Fi?" Midna exclaimed in a mix of surprise and annoyance. "So she's been whispering in your ear and telling you to lie to people, is that it? How long has this been going on for?"
"Just now was the first time," he snapped. "And don't talk about Fi like that, you're not much better. Remember that you did the same thing back in Hyrule and I had to do a number of dishonest things for you like cheating the Gorons at wrestling."
"Oh so now you're taking her side over mine now," she bit back angrily.
Sensing that a row was coming on and not wanting to get caught in the middle of it, Groose left the hut muttering that he was going to report back to Skyloft on their progress, not that they heard him though.
"I'm not taking anyone's side,' Link argued. "I only took advice from a friend because I didn't know what to do at the time."
Midna scoffed. "A friend is she? You only found out she existed in that bloody sword three weeks ago and since then how many times have you spoken to her?"
"Arrgh! Why are we even arguing about this?" he said exasperatedly. "Look, I'm sorry if I upset you, but what's done is done. I took a risk and it payed off so no harm done. Now can we please just let it go?"
Midna looked away from him and huffed. "Fine. Whatever." In truth, she was not even sure why she had reacted the way she had. Link posing as the Hero of Time would have been exactly the kind of thing she would have suggested if she had thought of it. But there was no way she was going to admit that to him now so she maintained her dark mood.
That night Link and Groose gave the only bed to Midna and slept on the floor. Finding that he was unable to sleep, Link pulled out the scrying mirror he had been given when he received full Peacekeeper status. On a whim, he thought of his old home of Ordon and looked deep into the reflective surface as it portrayed the scene of the little village.
It was nighttime there as well and everyone was in there homes. He altered the focus of the image to see within each family's house. First he viewed Rusl's house; Rusl sat in the living room with his baby son sleeping in his arms. Uli was in Colin's room telling the boy a bedtime story, most likely one about one of Hyrule's ancient heroes. Next he saw into Ilia's house. His childhood friend was playing a silent tune with a whistle in her room while her father slept downstairs. Link could tell that the fat mayor was snoring loudly.
Fado was having dinner with a woman that Link did not recognize. He had to assume that sometime after he left, his old work partner had found himself a lady friend. Link smiled and hoped that things worked out for them. He then checked on Talo and Malo who were both asleep as their parents snuggled up in front of the fire. Finally, Link focused on Beth's family. The little girl was also asleep while her father fed the cat. In the other room, her mother was soaking in the... 'Oh goddesses!' Link hurriedly put away the mirror.
Link sighed. He missed his friends terribly and though he knew that he could never see them again, it helped to know that they were all still safe and happy. He looked over at Midna, sleeping peacefully on the bed. He hated that they had a fight over something so trivial. It was not unusual that they disagreed from time to time but never like this. He promised himself that he would find a way to make it up to her after they completed their mission in the forest. With that thought, he attempted sleep again and after a few minutes he was out like a light.
I have to be honest about something. This is not the first story I started. I've got this other Twilight Princess story that somehow evolved into being one mainly about Colin, though Link and Midna play a crucial part. It's unfinished so I haven't published any of it and I had to put it aside for a number of reasons.
The story itself is very long and complex so it takes a while to get anywhere with it, took me 3 months just to write the plan for it. I was also concerned that it wouldn't be received as well as my other ideas because it was mostly based around a minor character. I wanted to wait until I built up a reputation for myself before I continue it. I do plan to finish the story because it believe it will be brilliant, but it'll be a long while until I complete it. Another issue holding me back is that the story starts with an unconventional idea that closely matches how I plan to finish another story. This means I have to wait a little longer to publish the first one, otherwise it'll ruin the surprise of the second.
The reason why I'm bringing this up is because I recently found out there was a LoZ story that had the same name as what I gave to my first story. I won't say what it is to avoid an argument, but I am pretty cheesed, especially since I started the project long before that other story was first published on this site. That's the problem with my writing style; if someone uses the same idea as me first, I'm the one who has to change what I've done. Fortunately I have a backup name, though it's not as good, but I would like to say to that other author; I hope you step on a Lego brick.
I apologize for my rant and I do not hold grudges for long, I will get over this.
Until next time,
EquinoxWolf