Note: For time and energy's sake, I am not going to bother describing things and persons already seen in the game. All of us Zelda fans know what everything is and what they look like.

Chapter Two: Of Faires and of Spiders

The duo, secretly a trio, made their way inside of the Great Deku Tree. While Link and Venom had never seen the inside of the Kokiri Forest guardian, it was nothing new to Navi. Instead, the fairy was warily eyeing her black-clad traveling companion. Before they went any further, she wanted some answers.

"…Link?" she nervously asked.

"Hmm…?"

"…When and how did this happen?"

"You mean Venom?"

"You mean Lord Venom, boy!"

"Be quiet!" retorted Link. He was still getting used to having the once mighty Spider King in his head, and outbursts like that got on his nerves.

"I beg your pardon!" Navi yelped and flew back several inches. Link noticed her shock and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"N…Not you, Navi... Venom interrupted me."

"Oh… Okay. You were saying?"

"Well, it all started this morning, when I was sleeping. I was having the strangest dream. It was a dark and stormy night, and I was in front of Hyrule Castle. All of a sudden, a bridge lowered and out rode a girl and woman on some kind of white… er… animal… thing…" There were no horses in the forest, so Link had no idea what it was.

"Horse"

"Thanks, Venom… Horse. The girl stares at me as they ride by. When I turn back to the castle, there's this big scary man with green skin, red hair, and black armor. He's on a black horse. He lifts his hand toward me. I try to run, but I'm just too afraid. All of a sudden, everything goes black." Navi flew back in fright once more as black ooze enveloped Link, taking on the form of Venom (once again, think Spider-Man's black suit with a pointed head).

"That's when I made my way into the boy's dream."

"Lord Venom?" Navi stuttered nervously.

"I explained to him that it was not a dream, but the future… A vision of what is to come should he not accept his role."

"His role…?" The fairy was now confused. Was there more to be expected of Link than what he was attempting now?

"…All shall be explained and make sense in due time, Navi the fairy… Suffice to say, I took over the boy's dreams and gave him an orientation in the new powers I have granted him. You will find that his strength and senses are now enhanced… What's more, as I'm sure you saw with Mido, we can now shoot web."

"We?"

"I'm afraid you shall have to grow used to us referring to ourselves in the plural when Link is in control, Navi. It is one of the side-effects of this symbiotic relationship?" Navi carefully considered everything the Spider King was telling her. While she was still somewhat disturbed by Venom's presence and his 'relationship' with Link, if he gave Link all of the powers he had mentioned,… then perhaps saving the Deku Tree would be easier than she thought it would be.

"What about weapons?" She asked. Slowly, being sure not to frighten the fairy further, Venom lifted his left arm. The hand slowly transformed, narrowing and lengthening into a sharper form and getting a black metallic sheen. It was now essentially a small sword (taking the form of the Kokiri Sword's blade).

"…Fear not, fairy. As much as I dislike this host, I will make sure that he is armed and defended. I can cut through almost anything, and few things are strong enough to penetrate me." Even more good news as far as Navi was concerned. In truth, Venom did not seem as evil or nasty as Navi had imagined. At least he seemed to have a strong respect for fairies. The Spider King was once a beast of the forest, and having heard all the stories of the forest from the Deku Tree, Navi knew all about dark creature of nightmares that was Venom, his rule over the forest and most of Hyrule, his seven monstrous mates, and his fall from grace at the hands of Demise. However…

"You said you don't like Link? Why is that, Lord Venom?" Despite Link's small outburst from earlier, the host and parasite seemed to get along alright. Hoping for it to remain that way, the fairy wanted her task to go as smoothly as possible, without dissention or dispute. Venom took his time in answering. She thought for a moment that she could see his black form shaking in anger.

"…Let's just say that I have an unpleasant history with Heroes."

"Heroes…!? As in…"

"As I said, all shall be explained. For now, I think I hear a Skulltula."

"A Skulltula!?" The Deku Tree had taught Navi to love and accept all creatures of the forest, but she was still deeply afraid of any kind of spider. Sure enough, she heard the clicking and scraping of a Skulltula coming from above. The arachnid with the skull carapace was slowly turning around from the vines lining the walls of the Deku Tree's insides. "That's a Skullwalltula. Be careful not to touch it." To her surprise, Link/Venom walked right by her and towards it.

"No… Touching on a first meeting would be rather awkward. I merely seek information."

"Meeting…? Information…? I don't understand." But he was no longer listening to her. Instead, he flicked out his left wrist and fired a strand of web at the vines, the end sticking right next to where the Skullwalltula was. In a mere second, the black boy-possessing symbiote was on the vines, using his hands and feet to stick to the wall. It was quite a while before Navi finally shook off her amazement and nervously flew to rejoin her charge(s). Meanwhile, Venom retracted from Link and reverted to his black tunic form, revealing the Kokiri boy still holding onto the wall. As Link crawled closer to the Skulltula, he heard Venom speaking in his mind.

"…Now remember, Link… Always start with the house creed when greeting a fellow spider. Do you remember the one I taught you?"

"I do." Link answered telepathically, then addressed the Skullwalltula. "Black the fur… Black the fang… Black the venom… Black the death." For a second, the Skullwalltula ceased its clicking and held perfectly still, its eight red eyes glaring at Link. Finally, it spoke.

"A purple skull before prey falls… Death comes to them along the walls." Venom felt a sense of nostalgia as he listened to the spider's house creed. Even though this one was new to him, he remembered how Skulltulas always spoke their creeds in rhyme. "You do have the scent of a spider on you, four-legged one… What's stranger is your creed… Such an old and noble one. Still, I have grown very familiar with it over the past few days. The queen chants it in her brief respites from her madness."

"A queen?" Link questioned. Was there a queen now living inside of the Deku Tree? If so, was she the cause of his suffering? Despite this, Link was not half as confused as Navi was. She saw and heard the discussion between Kokiri and Skullwalltula, but heard only the usual clicking from the latter's side of the conversation.

"Queen Gohma." At that, Link felt his symbiote grow frantic and uneasy. He had no idea why the mention of this queen set Venom off so. "She and her brood have nested in the roots. Do you seek an audience with her?" But by then, Venom had already taken over Link's body, leapt from the vines, and dove straight down through the trunk of the tree. He then pierced through a large wall of web covering a hole at the tree's bottom. Navi, growing ever more frustrated and confused, flew as fast as she could to catch up with her charge.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Next time, we learn the secret of Gohma. Please R&R and thank you all.