Chapter 16: Ancient Grove
"Say, Sylvan," Zelda said getting Sylvan's attention. "Do you know where Owlan Temple is, by any chance?"
"Sure I do," Sylvan answered gleefully. "I snuck there all the time with my twin sister Sylvia before…"
Zelda noticed Sylvan's face change from a happy smile to a subtle frown.
"What's wrong, dear?" Tera asked.
"It's nothing," Sylvan said shaking her head. "Anyway, I could take you there if you could…"
"Do what?" Professor Phosile said impatiently.
"Find my sister," Sylvan mumbled.
Everyone looked at Sylvan with surprise, including Link.
"How long has she been gone?" Link asked.
"I don't know," Sylvan replied. "We Kokiri never keep track of time since we never age, but it's been awhile."
"Where did you last see her?" Zelda persisted.
"In the Owlan Temple," Sylvan said as she started crying. "We were playing a game of hide-and-seek, but when I tried looking for her…she was gone."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Zelda said hugging Sylvan.
"Don't worry, young one," Professor Phosile said confidently. "We'll find your sister in our search for the Fused Shadow fragment."
"Really?" Sylvan said wiping her eyes.
"Of course, dear," Tera said. "My husband's very good at finding things, so looking for your sister shouldn't be too much trouble for him."
"You promise?" Sylvan looked pleadingly at Professor Phosile and Tera.
"Promise," Professor Phosile responded, holding out his pinkie.
Sylvan took out her own pinkie and shook it. Then she sniffled and said, "All right, then follow me to Owlan Temple!"
She bounded through a thicket of tall grass next to the trunk they had just come out of, with Zelda and the others following. At the end of the thicket was a tunnel-like trunk was similar to the one that led to the Deku Tree, and from there it was a maze of clearings surrounded by thick foliage with fallen down trunks that served as tunnels. After clearing the maze, the company came to a pit with tall trees whose branches obscured the pit's bottom.
"This is the Ancient Grove," Sylvan explained. "The Owlan Temple resides in one of the trees down there."
"How can we tell which one it is?" Professor Phosile wondered.
"There's a Triforce symbol carved into it," answered Sylvan. "My sister and I did that when we last came here."
"Well, that was very thoughtful of you but how do we get down to the Ancient Grove?" Tera said examining the area. "There doesn't seem to be a slope or a ladder."
"There isn't," Sylvan shook her head. "You have to climb down yourself. The sides of the pit are very steep, so I would use the tree branches if I were you."
"No problem," Link said holding up a Talon Clasp that was strapped to his wrist. "Zelda and I will use our Talon Clasps to get down and carry the Professor and his wife with us."
"There might be a problem with that plan, Link," Zelda said. "They're much older than us and probably heavier in weight so we'd have a high chance of accidentally dropping them. Instead, I propose we use our Talon Clasps as swinging ropes with us taking turns using them."
"I'm not sure I follow," Professor Phosile said scratching his head.
"Watch me, then," Zelda responded and pointed the talons at a nearby branch. She released the line and when the talons firmly clasped upon the branch, Zelda swung down and landed on a lower branch below the canopy. Next, Zelda unstrapped the Talon Clasp and tossed it back up. "Catch, Link!"
Though he could not see Zelda, Link managed to catch her Talon Clasp.
"Now, give it to either the Professor or Tera and have them swing down!" Zelda shouted from below the branches.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Tera asked nervously.
"Only one way to find out," Professor Phosile said and strapped the Talon Clasp to his arm.
Without hesitation, Professor Phosile leapt down through the canopy and swung to the same branch Zelda was on. However, he accidentally missed it and landed unevenly on the branch. He nearly slipped off, but Zelda caught him while holding onto the trunk of the tree.
"Everything all right, dear?" called Tera from above. "I heard you scream."
"No need to worry," Professor Phosile said as he unstrapped the Talon Clasp. "I just poorly landed on this branch I'm standing on with Zelda."
Then Professor Phosile tossed the Talon Clasp up which was caught by Link once more. Tera followed the same procedure as him though she screamed while swinging downward. Below the canopy, Professor Phosile caught his wife by the hand while Zelda had moved to the other side of the trunk to make room for them. Once Tera had unstrapped the Clasp, she was about to toss it up to Link when a thud was heard above them and Link came swinging down right afterward.
"Oh, never mind, then," Tera said as Link released the talons from the branch above him that was right next to the ones attached to Zelda's Clasp. "I'm throwing the Clasp up to you, Sylvan, so be sure to catch!"
"Don't bother," Sylvan replied. "I have my own way of getting down."
"If you say so," Tera said and tried to unclasp the talons but with little success.
"Let me do that," Zelda said stepping next to her.
###
After an uneasy climb down the trunk of the tree, the four found themselves in a grassy hollow with flowers and shrubs. It was there that they found Sylvan, who had dirt on her hands and feet. Not bothering to question her, the four followed Sylvan through the hollow which became thicker as they went along and there was an increase in Deku Babas and Mad Shrubs along the way. Eventually, they came to a very large tree that was taller than the others with a small Triforce symbol carved into it.
"This is it, the Owlan Temple," Sylvan said pointing. "That's the symbol I was talking about."
"Amazing," Professor Phosile mused. "This is almost as big as the Deku Tree, though it doesn't seem to have a face."
"Is there some way of getting in?" Tera asked. "I don't see an obvious entrance."
"It's here," Sylvan said and patted the place where the Triforce symbol was carved into. "Just knock here three times."
Though he was somewhat confused, Link tried it. There was a slight rumble and the section of the trunk with the Triforce symbol moved sideways revealing a dark hole. Zelda then reached into her satchel and pulled out a small lantern. Next, she took out a small box filled with small sticks inside. Link watched in fascination as Zelda brushed one of the sticks up against the side of the box, causing a small fire to bloom which she used to light the lantern.
"What are those?" Link asked, though he immediately regretted asking.
"Matches," Zelda answered. "You've never heard of – oh, right."
"How could you have never heard of matches, boy?" Professor Phosile said looking at Link doubtfully. "Have you been living under a rock or something?"
"You could say that," Link said nervously.
"Then let's not waste any more time and go inside," Tera said stepping into the hole. When everyone else stepped in, Tera noticed Sylvan was the only one who hadn't moved. "Are you not coming with us, dear?"
"I'd rather stay out here," Sylvan said. "But here's a map of the temple I drew from memory when I was here last."
Sylvan took a rolled up parchment of paper from behind her pointed ear and gave it to Link. He unfolded it and looked pleased. So everyone waved to Sylvan before traversing into the dark hole with Zelda's lantern providing the only source of light.
To be continued…