First off sorry for not updating quickly this time – I wouldn't mind but I wrote this chapter right after posting the last one. It needed some tweaking, however the upshot is that I aim to have the next chapter up by Thursday at the latest.
Secondly, and more importantly, thank you very much to Super Goat Grl, Yuleen75, Booklover13, QuinKilo1055 and la generala for reviewing! Thanks to everyone reading too – I've had over 1800 hits and have 52 reviews. I am absolutely delighted! Please continue to read… and review, of course!
Chapter Fourteen – Intermission
"There is something odd about her." Impa's voice was soft like the wind, as she spoke with Rauru. They had stopped for a late afternoon break. Kru was busy booking four rooms for the night at the inn, the Zelda wolf was safely tied to a tree and Tassia was nowhere to be found.
"I cannot deny that, but I…" Rauru sighed and showed Impa a rueful face, "I sometimes I wonder if I am too trusting or you are not trusting enough. Daphnes saw fit to employ her, and we should not question the reasoning of our leader."
"Our dead leader." Impa reminded him, dryly. "Don't forget that Daphnes also suspected he had been double-crossed."
"Are you suggesting that she killed him?" Whispered Rauru, glancing around nervously, in case Tassia happened to be nearby.
"I am not suggesting anything." Soothed Impa. "I just don't think it is a good idea to trust this Gerudo completely."
"This Gerudo has a name, Impa." Said Rauru, a little sternly. "You would do well to remember that. Sometimes you are a little harsh."
"I know." Impa smiled ever so slightly at her companion, "But at least I am not an idiot, like Kru."
"Kru is one of our members – appointed in his own right to the position of Justice to the People of Hyrule. Just like you and I."
"He was also rich."
Rauru met Impa's cold gaze with a bland look, "I could say the same about you, my dear."
"I am not rich."
"No, but you did live with Daphnes for a long time after his wife died. That too could be construed as suspicious."
"Are you daring to suggest that I…"
"No." Rauru hastily interrupted, not wanting to face the wrath of an irate Sheikah. "Not at all, I am merely comparing your situations and seeking to remind you that both you and Kru could be said to have purchased your rank. There has never been any doubt in my mind that you both earned your status with proper merit."
"Good." Snapped Impa. "And for your information, I only lived with Daphnes to help him raise Zelda. Nothing ever happened between us. I did it in memory of her mother. Iona was one of my dearest friends."
Rauru had nothing to say to this, which was just as well because Impa did not have any inclination to discuss Zelda or her deceased mother. She did not like to be seen as weak in any way, and in her opinion, giving way to tears over a long-dead friend, would be an unforgivable sin. Impa sniffed once, and banished the unhappy memory away. "It is in the past so it doesn't matter." She snapped, her irritation masking the wound that was still hidden in her soul, "What does matter is the present. And I do not trust Tassia."
"Well I do." Rauru snapped. "She cannot do any harm, that's for sure."
Impa snorted at this and stomped off in the direction of the inn. Rauru watched her go and sighed. She was as impossible as ever, he thought. He really did not see the harm of introducing the beautiful Gerudo woman to Hyrule's future king, Agahnim. In fact, he thought it would do some good to show the Gerudo what Hylians really wanted in their Kings. Whilst she had expressed her preference to Ganondorf's reign, she had shown the Judges complete deference and had listened to their wisdom with unfailing solicitude. She would no doubt come to respect their chosen leader when she saw how wise and considered he was. With this cheery thought in mind, Rauru followed his companions. Only hazily did he wonder where Tassia had gone.
Tassia was standing behind a nearby tree, listening to every word said about her. She was smiling, for now she knew Impa's weakness. Of all the judges, she was the tricky one to deal with. Daphnes had been easy - he had been blinded by anxiety for his granddaughter to realise the danger he was in. Kru was even easier. He was a shallow man, inflated by an over exaggerated sense of his own brilliance. He was susceptible to flattery. Rauru was wise, but was obsessed with the idea of being an approachable leader. He was easily swayed by perceived offence. And now she knew how to tackle Impa. Nabooru glanced at the drugged wolf currently chained to a tree and smiled again.
Impa would do anything to keep Zelda safe.
So now she knew how to deal with the three judges of Hyrule. Nabooru sighed as she watched two of her targets discussing what to do next. She hated all three of them with a passion for their role in his disgrace. They were the ones who had condemned him to a life of hardship and battle. It was their fault that he was not recognised as King, even years after Hyrule's conquest. They declared Ganondorf an impostor. They insisted that his battle had been unfairly won. They accused him of wrongdoing. They turned Hyrule against its rightful King. How could she forgive that?
For what they had done to her beloved leader, they deserved to suffer, just like he did. Just like she did because of him. Nabooru gritted her teeth and her fingers clenched involuntarily. Without his order she could not do what she wished – she could not skin them alive and cut out their blackened hearts – not yet anyway. Once they had served their purpose, then she would be given a free rein to do what she willed. Her King knew that she would exact revenge beautifully on his enemies. He also knew that she would do so only when the time was right.
Nabooru took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, forcing her tension away. She thought of her King, not with a sentimental smile on her mouth, but with a look of fierce pride in her eyes. He was the strongest man she had ever known – he was cunning and ruthless, decisive and powerful. Everything a Gerudo King should be. She renewed her vow in her mind. Even if he never did return her burning regard towards him, even if he never acknowledged her presence, even if he ordered her to degrade herself - To the death and forever beyond she would follow him.
Gerudo were loyal to the end. She was no exception.
King Agahnim (the First) frowned as he glared intently at the seven small pots before him. "Ack, why does everything always have to be in sevens?" He muttered as he tapped one of the scarlet-coloured pots before him with a long, bony finger. If it wasn't finding seven maidens to complete a ritual, it was finding seven stones to seal an evil away. Or if it wasn't sevens, it was threes – three sacred stones. Three temples. Three judges. Three Triforce pieces. Or eight. Eight was a lucky number too. If something broke it always broke in eight small bits. If a Triforce piece shattered, it was always into eight bits. Agahnim poked the little jar again and screamed in frustration. A small puff of smoke coughed from the lid of the pot but other than that there was no sign of life. Or more importantly, magic.
His glare only deepened. Things were never easy when he needed them to be. Here he was, on the brink of making the world's first love potion – guaranteed to work, and his stupid formula goes off and decides not to work after all. He prodded the offending pot again and sighed angrily. Really, he should have stuck to concocting those lovely sleeping potions he used to make.
His eyes squinted back down to the large print of the spell book before him. "Seven Octorok hearts, Three drops of Red Chu goo, Eight keese wings, a red potion, a blue potion, a yellow potion…mix evenly with the staff of stupidity and pour into seven ruby pots…" He glanced over at the pots and let out an exaggerated sigh. "I've done all that so what's wrong?" He read through the ingredients again and then said, "Octorok. Chu. Keese. Potions. Put in pot, yadayadaya…" He muttered to himself, checking off the ingredients on his extraordinarily long fingers. His nails were gnarled and yellow. "then add the essence of one small fairy…Ah-hah!" He exclaimed, "The fairy. Of course, how could I forget?" He used his powers to transport him over the vast few meter distance to his supplies cupboard and scrabbled around in it until he found a very dusty old glass bottle.
Even through the thick grime surrounding the bottle, a faint pinkish light could be seen illuminating the insides. He held the bottle up to his lifeless green orbs and smiled at the desperate creature trapped therein. "Wonderful, a healing fairy will be perfect. Now how to extract your essence…"
The fairy shouted something very rude and unprintable back at him. Unfortunately, as well as being short-sighted, Agahnim was slightly deaf and couldn't hear the desperate threats and curses heaped on his head by the luckless little creature. He could feel it bumping against the sides of the glass in an effort to escape and he shook the bottle briskly. The fairy squealed in fright and crouched into a corner, her little teeth chattering and her courage all but spent.
"Ah… of course, it is your heart I need – the part of you that forces to share your power with others against your will, healing them when their life is ebbing away, giving of yourself to save another. That is the love of the gods bestowed on their favourite Hylians. And that is the love that will be bestowed upon me by all the beautiful maidens from now onwards…ah devotion…" Agahnim sighed happily as he pictured the scene in his mind – thousands of beautiful Hylian women reclining at his table, sipping his special 'wine' and then falling hopelessly in love with him.
Of course, that was providing his latest potion worked. The last batch he made had been slightly unsuccessful. Sure, his servant girl had liked him at first, and then she had sort of turned into a goat. He hadn't used goat's cheese in this latest potion. He hoped that would iron out the problem. And, of course, experimenting with Fairies was highly illegal, immoral and was condemned by even that big fraud Ganondorf. If the judges found out they would throw him out, legitimate claim to the throne, or not.
He smirked to himself as he held the shining bottle up to his eyes again. The best part of being forced into hiding for fear of your life was that, (a) you got locked away into a castle, whose gates could only be opened with a combination of magical artefacts; (b) you got your own personal army of nameless, faceless, slightly inept guards as the security detail; (c) nobody really checked up on what you were doing; (d) the servants were more like slaves and one was quite within ones rights to turn them into hideous farm animals at the verilest hint of insubordination, and finally (e) nobody knew if you experimented on fairies.
He was quite irritated then when his lovely afternoon was so rudely interrupted by the sound of his stronghold being stormed.
His inept guards were as inept as ever. They failed to even warn him that there were intruders. Only one managed to dash to his doorway, panting heavily with the dire news that…"S…re…th…(huff huff)…the…j(huff)udges be (wheeze) here…"
The next moment, the guard was rudely shoved aside by a rather annoyed looking Impa. She was closely followed by Rauru, who was looking apologetic. Kru appeared a second later, looking as vague and distracted as ever and bringing up the rear was Tassia, leading a still-docile wolf.
"What are you doing with that fairy?" Demanded Impa, the second she walked in the room.
Agahnim glanced at the sparkly bottle in his hand, grinned sheepishly and quickly hid it behind his back. Impa was neither amused nor fooled by these antics. In a depressingly quick manoeuvre, she whisked the fairy from his hand, uncorked the bottle and let the creature fly away. It did, but not before yanking a handful of hair out of his long, dirty beard. He yelped.
"Shut up." Ordered Impa. Again, the power of her glare came in useful. Agahnim was reduced to a quivering wreck.
"I hope I do not need to remind you of the rules concerning fairies, do I?" Asked Rauru, stepping in now that their wayward King was under their firm control.
"I was not planning on doing anything untoward towards the harmless little creature. Why I was…"
He faltered under the stony red glare from the female judge. "Agahnim, we have a problem." She announced suddenly.
"Is it Zelda?" He asked hopefully. He hoped it was for it had been his dream for a long time to have Daphnes' beautiful granddaughter under his firm control. He had it all planned out – hence the reason he made so many love potions. He had last seen the girl on her seventeenth birthday and had been smitten by her good looks and disdainful attitude. Of course, he knew that was all due to embarrassment – she was a shy, retiring girl and was cold to those she secretly liked. At least, that's what he told himself.
"How did you know?" Wondered Rauru, astounded recalling Agahnim to the real world.
"Er…" One glimpse at Impa told him that stating that he had been dreaming of rescuing Zelda for some time would be a bad move. "It was a fortuitous guess…" He stammered. Impa's glare only darkened but she said nothing.
He was amazed to find that Zelda had been turned into a wolf, and agreed that it was of utmost importance to restore her to her former self as soon as possible. He was inclined to follow Impa's line of thought when confronted with the doped wolf – there was no way that this powerful, dangerous creature was Zelda. He didn't say this aloud though. Firstly, the most stunningly gorgeous creature he had ever seen (even including Zelda) had insisted that the wolf was indeed Daphnes' granddaughter, and she had started to cry when Impa disagreed with her. This made Impa even more unpopular with her companions. Of course, only Impa saw the look of pure mischief on "Tassia's" face over the heads of the three solicitous males in the room comforting her. The second reason was more straightforward – if the wolf was Zelda, then he could keep her for a few days. There was plenty of time to test the new love potion on her.
So it was agreed that "Zelda" would stay in the castle with Agahnim until he found a cure. Impa would stay with them as a chaperone (Agahnim could not think of an excuse to say no to this idea). Rauru would stay as a companion for Impa. Kru would stay because he decided he would. And Tassia would stay because Agahnim invited her. She was another guinea pig for his medicines. All in all it wasn't a bad deal.
Providing the wolf did not do anything naughty. Like, for instance, escape and go on a rampage.
Unfortunately, in Agahnim's case, fate was always a cruel mistress…
It was dark, moist and smelt of old socks inside the Deku Tree. Zelda could hear the muffled shouts of her companions behind her but she chose not to respond. She had been surprised when the Deku Tree's mouth slammed shut, but she had not been alarmed. Anything, even being trapped inside the trunk of an ancient tree, was better than being stuck in the open air being haggled over. She just wished she had taken the time to zap Tingle before she had made her escape.
Then she remembered she only seemed to be able to zap things with Link's "help". Of course, thinking about Link only made her more annoyed. By her reckoning, his rescue package was well overdue. He should have forced her to run away before the situation got out of hand, even if she had refused such an offer. So really, everything was his fault. This realisation made her feel a lot better. She almost wanted to go back into the outside world just to tell him so. She heard his voice calling her; he sounded a little panicked, so she felt even better. She decided that suffering a bit longer would do him a world of good.
That in mind, she decided to take a look around. She was surprised to see various torches protruding from the softened walls. She didn't think that trees and flames mixed very well. Clearly the Great Deku Tree was more of an idiot than she had initially suspected.
She was stood in a huge cavern, it's ceiling was so high up it was barely visible. Long, silken Skulltula webs dangled from the walls and across doorways. She shuddered at this sight. She had never really been a fan of arachnids. In the empty silence of the hall, she could hear them scratching around aimlessly. She shivered again. Some of the walls were covered in thick ivy and it seemed like a number of the Skulltulas had taken up residence there. She made a mental note to avoid the ivy at all costs. Ahead of her right in the centre of the room, there was a small pool of water.
Zelda shook her head in wonder again. The Great Deku tree went from strength to strength. First fires to light the interior of his body, or whatever it was, then bugs to burrow into the walls of his skin and now water right in the centre of this cavern. She wondered if he had ever heard of wet-rot? She strolled over to the pool and knelt down, gazing into its depths. High above her, she could see a patch of light. The water was probably a rainwater puddle, she reasoned. If the Deku tree was stupid enough to let water get into his precious insides when he was made of wood, then he deserved everything that befell him.
She couldn't help but look at her reflection again. Guiltily, she relived the moment, when Link had said she was beautiful. The memory made her blush. It had not been the words themselves that made her cheek's suffuse with colour, but the manner of delivery. He had been so sincere and gentle when he spoke, it was almost like he was another person. Not the brash, confident and crazy Link she had been used to. Of course, being attracted to a clearly dangerous maniac was not part of her life plan, 'but still' she thought, as she critically scrutinised her dark blue eyes and golden hair, 'it was sweet of him to say it'. She smiled at her reflection and said aloud, "he is the biggest fool I've ever met."
She allowed her eyes to focus on the rotting wood she could see beyond the surface, and saw the tiny water-dwelling bugs swimming about in the pristine depths of the little pond. In the silence of this great awning, she felt she finally had a chance to reflect on the last few momentous weeks of her life. A ripple scuttled across the still surface, as a tear slipped from her eye, adding to the waters there. She remembered the terrible moment when she had been told of her Grandfather's fate. Reality had not had the time to set in, and when her adventures were over, she knew she would have time to grieve properly. Right now, her loss felt like a little numb spot in her heart that would only hurt if touched in some way.
Next she thought about Ganondorf. Her eyes focused back on her own reflection. She didn't believe he had captured her merely because of her looks (which she didn't rate very highly anyway). In fact, Ganondorf had told his guard that there was another reason for her capture. He had said it was something to do with the Chameleon Stone, and indeed the Great Deku Tree had said she was the key to it, or something. So that begat the question – what exactly was the Chameleon Stone? And what did it have to do with her?
She sighed and flicked the water in the still pond with a hand, distorting her image. These were questions to which she had no answer yet. It was frustrating, she sighed, to be given hints and riddles but no real clues as to what she was. She twisted the emerald ring on her finger, and attempted to pull it off again. It wouldn't budge. She made an exasperated noise and thrust her hand into the cold water of the pond, hoping that the cool water would make it easier to remove.
With both hands in the water she attempted to yank, cajole and wrestle the ring from off her finger. Although she could get it to spin, it would not move up or down. It was like it was clamped on to her. The water was freezing cold too. She couldn't keep her hands in any longer. With a gasp, she pulled her hands from the water and dried them on her skirt. The agitated water stilled.
"Ack, stupid Link. This is his fault too. I am going to kill him. And whilst I'm at it I'll fry that stupid Tingle too." She muttered, as she tried for the last time to get the ring to move. It wouldn't but it was worth a try. She glanced back at her reflection and gasped and jumped to her feet.
"That can't be…" She gulped, her breathing was quickened and her heart pounded. She screwed up her courage again and took a glance down into the pool again. Sure enough, she saw what she had done before - a face, not her own, staring up at her. Fascinated but terrified, Zelda knelt down cautiously again and leaned over.
Gazing up silently out of the water was a face she had never seen before - a woman - beautiful and terrible, her skin was twilight blue and her hair midnight black. It swayed around her face lazily. Her eyes were as dark as her hair and were endlessly deep and calm, and her lips were full and stained cherry red. On her head was a crown of scarlet roses with twisted black stems and long golden thorns. She stared up at Zelda sombrely, no smile curving her lips or any recognition in her empty gaze.
Zelda sat back on her heels, not noticing that as she did, the face in the water disappeared. She wondered if it was some trick of her imagination. She was very tired and she had experienced quick a traumatic week. She leaned forward again. The face reappeared, silent and disturbing, staring right through Zelda but looking at her at the same time. It was eerie. The silence in the Great Deku tree was horrible. Not even the familiar (if unwelcome) scratching of the Skulltula's could break the quiet. Zelda slowly reached her hand forward, as if to touch the surface of the water. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to, but she felt as though her hand was being dragged.
As it touched the cold water, she gasped. A tiny smile curved the corner of the woman's red mouth as Zelda's hand got closer and closer. And then suddenly, as Zelda's fingers dipped under the trembling surface, she felt a strong clasp around her wrist. Her scream was cut short as she was dragged into the dark pool.
Link heard the scream and renewed his attack on the Great Deku tree, much to Saria's umbrage.
"Please stop hurting the Deku tree." She begged. She earned a particularly sinister glare for her trouble. Still she had fared better than Mido and Tingle had so far. Tingle had got in the way of Link's boot when he had ambled past muttering something about his 'precious ticket to wealth' and had been sent sprawling as a result. Although Link had not apologised for this action, on Saria's insistence, he had admitted kicking Tingle had been an accident. Mido had tried to protect the Great Deku tree by drawing his sword and attempting to swipe it at Link. Unfortunately, Mido had not quite taken into account their height difference. Link was almost twice his height and standing at well over six feet had certain advantages when facing off against a three feet tall Kokiri. Link held off Mido by the simple expedient of leaning by leaning his hand against the Kokiri's forehead. Thus as much as Mido kicked, and swiped and struggled, Link remained completely out of his reach.
Mido had collapsed into an exhausted heap moments earlier. Link had renewed his attack on the Deku Tree. He was trying to hack it's mouth open. The Deku tree remained blissfully asleep.
Saria watched this massacre with tears in her eyes. Whilst she could understand his frustration, she could not approve of attacking the benevolent protector of the forest. She had to protect the Great Deku tree in some way. But how? Her eyes turned towards the Maku tree.
The tree was clearly aghast at witnessing Link's fury. All her dreams of gentle, beautiful love were being shattered. Link was not the man she had thought he was. He was something else. Unfortunately for Link, this something else appeared to the Maku Tree as a sudden enlightenment. He was fighting to protect one he loved. And whilst to the uninformed, it would seem that his loving emotions were directed towards the fairy girl, the truly clever people would recall that the fairy girl had just about to help him marry the Maku Tree. Two spots of bright colour lit the Maku tree's cheeks again. Perhaps, she reasoned, Link was frustrated because his speedy marriage to the love of his life had been interrupted.
The more she thought about it, the clearer it became. Link wanted the Deku Tree to wake up, not because Zelda had been trapped inside his mouth, but because only when the Deku Tree was awake could he marry the one he loved. A happy smile spread across her face.
"LINNNNNNNKKKK?" She called, sweetly.
Link ignored her.
"LINKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE?" She called again. Since he didn't turn around again, she allowed herself a moment to admire his beautiful physical form. She liked the way she could see his muscles work as he repeatedly battered the Deku Tree. Of course, she didn't condone what he was doing, but it was a pleasant sight.
"LINKIPOO?" She tried again.
This did make him turn around. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead, and his mop of golden-brown hair was damp around the edges. His blue eyes were positively glowing with frustration and anger and his mouth was set into a dangerously thin line. The Maku Tree was so stunned by this vision of furious male perfection that she didn't even mind that Saria had also gasped at the sight of him.
"Don't call me that." He growled, glaring at her.
The Maku tree giggled, his voice was so rich and threatening, it sent a shiver of joy from her deepest root to her highest twig. "Oh, Linkipoo, you are so handsome when you are mad." She giggled, stupidly.
Link's face took on an even deeper expression of fury and his fingers curled around the hilt of his sword even tighter. For a second, Saria wondered if he was going to attack the Maku tree. He seemed to be struggling with some inner rage that was threatening to surge forth. Tingle wandered into view at this point, took one look at Link, and wandered off surreptitiously.
The Maku tree was oblivious to the danger she was in. Instead of seeing his flashing eyes as a warning, she saw them as an avowal of his love. The fact that he was glaring at her meant that he was frustrated at his ruined plans for wedded bliss. She had it all worked out in her mind. Link was not angry with her, but angry at the circumstances that prevented their union. Perhaps she could help him.
"Linkie?" She cooed, "Do you want the Deku Tree to wake up?"
Link was surprised by these words, and irritated. "Yes, you inept twig!" He snapped. He muttered something rude about stupid trees under his breath. Fortunately, the Maku Tree did not hear this.
"Okay, love." She sang happily. She closed her eyes and began to sing. Link was forced to cover his ears again, so vile a noise was coming out of the tree's mouth. It made Tingle's ditties seem like masterpieces.
"WAaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEee Upppppppppitytttttttttteeeeeeeeee upppppppp. Ooooooooooooohh GggggggggggggreEaAatt DeKKKKKKKKKKKKKKuuuuuu TreeeeeEEEEE." She trilled. A number of butterflies, fairies and small birds fell out of her branches as she attempted to his that last high note. Her attempt was impressively loud and completely off key. It did have its desired effect though. Not only did the Deku tree wake up, with a shocked look on his face, but her sibling, who had slept through wars, earthquakes, Tingle, Fire, Flood, Famine and his sister's crying, eyes shot open.
"Whateth was that dreadful din?" Exclaimed the Deku tree.
The other Maku tree, turned his accusing gaze towards his sister. "Have you been singing again?" He demanded. Link was amazed to find that this tree sounded almost normal. Plus he had to like the way the male Deku tree was glaring in contempt at his sibling.
"Y-yes." She stammered.
"I strictly forbade any more singing from you." Snapped her brother. "I hope you did not forget?"
"N-No…it's just…it's just…" Her eyes became glossier and glossier as she spoke and her bottom lip trembled. Link covered his ears again, just in case.
The male Maku Tree observed these signs of agitation with a sneer on his face. "Don't cry." He said, unkindly. That was it. No reason, no cajolery, no sympathy. Strangely enough, the stern words worked. The female tree sniffed but the threatened tears did not come.
"What happened to make you sing?" He asked.
"Link wanted to wake the Deku Tree up."
The Maku tree glanced around the clearing, establishing to himself which of the visitors was "Link". He knew the two Kokiri, and guessed that his sister would not help such an unattractive specimen as Tingle, with his big red nose and receding chin, so that meant the tall Hylian was Link. Judging by the fury visible on his face, the Maku tree knew his guess was the correct one.
"Why do you want to wake the Deku Tree?" He asked.
"My friend is trapped inside him." Snarled Link.
"Is this true, Great Deku Tree?" Asked the male Maku tree.
"Lamentably, the words of the Catalian of Hylian descent are trueth." Concurred the ancient tree. "Nevertheless, it was a necessary action on ones behalf. The great sage supplicated one for assistance and refuge. One could noteth refuse ones help."
"What do you mean 'great sage'?" Asked the Maku tree, confused.
His sister piped up, "He means that fairy that Tingle brought with him. The Deku tree said she was a great sage or princess or something. I wasn't really listening. She seemed pretty dull to me."
The Maku tree considered this. "Do you mean she is the Great Sage - key to the Chameleon stone?" he asked, rather ominously.
"That's what the Deku tree said." Agreed his sister.
"Ah. Then you have done something most foolish, Great Deku tree. You should never have let her enter into your inner sanctum without protection."
"What do you mean by that?" Link demanded, a dangerous edge to his voice.
The Maku tree was a little surprised by this question. "Did the Great Deku Tree not tell you who she was? Did you not know already?" Link answered this question with a couple of succinct words. "I see you care greatly for her," Said the Maku tree, smiling a little at Link's evident irritation. He ignored his sister's protestations that Link cared for her, and her alone. "How long have you known her?"
Link had to think about this. For a moment, he was going to say 'all my life', for that is what it felt like to him, but then he remembered he had known her for the grand total of four days.
"Four days? I see." The Maku tree was quiet for a moment, his eyes closed as he considered what to say next. "Link, tell me – has your friend behaved oddly recently?"
"Yes. All the time." He said, with a smile. "Although, usually it is my fault that she zaps people. And she did blame me when she turned into a fairy."
"She did what?" The Maku tree's eyes opened wide at this. "She transformed into a fairy?"
"Yes, right in front of us." Said Saria. "It was a bit weird."
"Was she wearing an emerald ring at the time?" The Kokiri didn't notice this, but Link knew the answer. He nodded slightly, his face a deathly white. The Maku tree's next words did not reassure him. "Then it is already too late…"
So what did you think? I promise in the next chapter you will (a) find out what the Chameleon Stone is, (b) leave the Deku Forest and Tingle forever, neither will be seen again. (c) Maybe I will add the essence of a Zelink moment...if I get enough reviews that is...
