Chapter 11: Going Up

Link:

After another half hour, we finally made it to the Sacred Forest Meadow. As we entered, I immediately noticed that there was something amiss.

"Saria, stay close to me," I said as I drew my sword.

"What's the matter Link?" asked a bewildered Malon.

"Too quiet."

Saria nodded her head, "Yeah, there's usually a lot more noise than this…"

Saria was interrupted by several loud howls.

"You were saying?" Zelda asked as she drew her kodachi with one hand and lit a fireball in the other.

Several wolfos sprung forth from the shrubs in front of us, snarling and snapping their jaws. We were turning to face them when I heard Saria gasp. I looked behind us to see more wolfos coming into the Sacred Forest Meadow.

We were surrounded.

"Now what!" Malon shouted as she notched an arrow and aimed for the wolfos coming into the meadow.

"Bet you're wishing you hadn't come along now, aren't you?" I said as I turned to face the wolfos in front of us.

"Quit gloating and start fighting," Zelda ordered.

At that moment, all the wolfos lunged at once…

Cody:

"We're almost t-there. H-hurry!"

I had to run to keep up with the exited fairy. We were going through the forest at an incredible speed. To my great surprise though, I was not running out of breath. I was still having trouble believing that the Dimensional Sword gave me a boost to my strength and stamina. I guess if anybody needed it, it was definitely me.

All of a sudden, Via came to a sudden halt in front of one of the tunnels, "If you go through this tunnel, you will r-reach the Sacred Forest Meadow. At the end of that is the F-forest Temple."

I nodded at the little fairy, "Thank you very much Via. I would have been lost for some time if it was not for you."

Via was silent for a little bit, then asked, "Where d-did you get that s-sword?"

"This?" I said, grabbing my sword hilt. Why would a fairy be curious about a sword?

"I got it in the Temple of Light," I said as I let go of the sword, "Why do you ask?"

"Well…"

Before she could answer, a loud ruckus carried through the tunnel. We both spun toward the sound. Howls and the sounds of battle could be heard through the clearing.

I guess they got there ahead of me.

I froze as I heard all the howls. There definitely were a lot of wolfos in there. And while I had mostly recovered from getting tossed by Aviosis, I was still a little rattled and did not relish the idea of wading directly into another battle…

I was broken out of my thoughts by Via as she started bouncing frantically in front of my eyes, "Aren't you going to help?"

"Oh… right."

I drew my sword and without further ado, charged through the tunnel.

Link:

I dispatched another wolfos, but whenever one went down, three more seemed to replace them. We were surrounded on all sides, forced into a tight circle. Saria stood in the middle, unable to do anything but watch in terror as the wolfos attempted to overrun us.

To my left, I saw Zelda shoot a fireball version of Din's Fire at one wolfos while simultaneously slashing at another wolfos that got too close. Malon was doing her best to keep the wolfos around her at bay as best she could with only her bow and arrows.

"There's too many!" Malon shouted as she dropped another wolfos. They were getting closer and closer to her.

Less and less wolfos were appearing, but it was starting to look bad for Malon. I could not help her because I would be leaving Saria completely undefended, and Zelda was also too indisposed to be of much help. I was almost frantic as I tried to kill the wolfos around me but there was no way I could kill them quickly enough.

Behind me, I could hear the wolfos closing in on Malon. I had just run another wolfos through when I heard a shout behind me.

I turned my head just in time to see a wolfos knock Malon down to the ground. Even if I made my move now, there was no way I would get to her in time. Two more wolfos charged me, and with a loud curse, I was forced to take care of them.

The wolfos standing over Malon raised a claw into the air, ready to strike…

Cody:

I rushed into the meadow, and beheld a gory sight.

The first little area of the meadow was filled with the corpses of several wolfos, and even more living ones.

But what immediately caught my eye was the wolfos that had just knocked over Malon.

All of my previous hesitation went sailing out the window as I charged at the wolfos. I was not going to let anything happen to one of the few friends that I had made in this world.

The wolfos raised his claw, ready to strike…

I grabbed the wolfos by the shoulder and shoved my sword through its back.

The wolfos gurgled as I twisted the blade, then I removed my sword and tossed its body to the side.

I looked down at Malon as she laid on her back, "You all right?"

Malon answered by notching another arrow and firing it right past me. I whipped around to watch the path of the arrow that had come uncomfortably close to hitting me… and saw it hit the wolfos that was sneaking up on me.

Malon looked back at me with a grin, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

I seriously need to pay more attention to what is going on around me.

I quickly pulled Malon to her feet and we got back to back as the wolfos started surrounding us.

"I'm thinking we have some things to deal with before we can talk," Malon said as she notched another arrow.

"I concur," I said, twirling my sword (when did I start doing that!), "time to get to it."

Between me, Malon, Zelda, and Link, we were able to take care of the wolfos in no time. As I gazed around at the carnage, I was reminded once again of the lizard monster I had felled in the Temple of Light. Just like there, the wolfos here were trying to kill me. I did not feel as guilty this time around though, but the wolfos here did not seem to have human like thoughts and emotions, which made dealing with them easier.

Of course, looking around at the mess in the meadow still made me feel a little queasy.

Malon dropped her bow and rushed over to me, "I'm so glad you're okay!" she said as she grabbed me in a fierce hug.

I could feel my face heating up. I had never been in a situation like this before. And she smells so nice too…

We heard someone clear their throats. Malon backed away from me fast, her face just as red as I was sure mine was. We both spun around to see Zelda and Saria grinning while Link just looked embarrassed.

"What?" Malon said, a little defensively, "I was just happy to see that he was alright is all. It doesn't mean anything…"

"Just keep telling yourself that?" Zelda said teasingly.

"So Cody," said Saria, coming to our rescue, "I take it Ami found you?"

"Actually," I said as I looked around, "Another fairy found me."

I looked around, trying to find Via. I frowned when I could not find her, "Um… I guess she did not come in here with me."

"Actually," said a voice that had came from behind me, "She's hiding."

We turned around to see Ami floating at the entrance to the meadow.

"Ami! So you did find him?" Saria asked, starting to look confused.

"I found him, but I was not the first," she said, "the one who led him to this place is still here though."

"She is?" I said.

I looked around and called out, "Via! Come on out! I'd like to introduce you to everyone!"

"Did you just say Via?" Saria asked, confused.

"Yeah," I said, not noting the tone of Saria's voice, "Via!"

"That won't work," Ami stated simply.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You see, there's too many people around," Ami said, rotating once to emphasize all of us standing in the meadow, "and she's extremely shy."

Ami floated right up next to me, "Maybe you should check your hood," she suggested.

I suddenly understood. I grabbed my hood and pulled it so that I could peer into it. Sure enough, Via, currently glowing a very bright pink, was hiding in my hood, and she seemed to be attempting to burrow even deeper into the fabric.

"Come on out Via," I said as gently as possible, "I promise that there is nothing to be afraid of. Everyone here is a friend."

I made eye contact with Link, "More or less."

Link rolled his eyes at me.

Via's color slowly faded back to green as she cautiously peeked out of the hood. Malon and Zelda waved cheerily, Link looked on curiously, and Saria just looked confused.

"Is that really you Via?" Saria asked.

Via ducked back into my hood briefly, before she peeked back out at Saria and nodded (at least, I think she nodded).

"It sure is!" Ami said excitedly as she took her place by Saria's side, "She actually spoke to Cody first!"

Via turned pink again and ducked back into my hood, this time refusing to come out.

With a sigh, I put my hood back into place, "I'm sure she'll warm up to everyone eventually," I said with a shrug.

And I thought that I was shy…

"Well," Link said shaking his head (I thought I saw a smile on his face as well), "I'm guessing we should head on up to the Temple of the Forest now…"

Link:

The maze had been completely cleared out. All the mad scrubs must have fled when the wolfos took over. Thankfully, we did not run into any moblins.

We finally made it to the entrance of the Forest Temple by noon. Due to all the attacks, the trek had taken much longer than usual. As with the last time I was here, the temple was inaccessible. Luckily, I still had the Hookshot I had picked up in Termina (it seemed to be just as good as the Longshot that I had picked up in the alternate timeline, and it could still hold my weight to boot), but that still left everyone else…

"So," Cody said as he looked up at the temple entrance, "I guess the caretaker has been lazy?"

I rolled my eyes, "We can still get up there. We're just going to have to get a little creative."

I pulled out my hookshot and shot at the tree hanging over the remains of the stairs. The hook lodged into the tree, and I was pulled up onto the ledge.

I turned around and tossed the hookshot at Cody (who almost dropped it), and said, "Just point and shoot. Easy."

We each came up one at a time (Zelda and Saria came up at the same time), and we turned to face the temple.

"Seeing as you have been here before," Cody began, "What do you think we should expect?"

"Anything," I answered. I then walked into the temple.

We made our way through the first room and the hallway without coming across any monsters. It was way too quiet. I had never seen any temple that was this empty of monsters or enemies.

We made it to the central chamber which had the elevator and the torches. I half expected the Poe Sisters to pop up and steal the flames once again, but it did not happen. They must have abandoned the temple as well. As we made it to the elevator, Saria suddenly came to a stop. She was surrounded by a brief green glow before she snapped out of it.

"I think we need to take the elevator."

"Do we have to go to the final chamber?" I asked.

"No," Saria said, "We have to go up."

"Up?" Cody asked, "There's nothing up there, except a stone ceiling."

I looked up as well and discovered that Cody was right. Unless…

I pulled out my Lens of Truth that I received in Termina and looked through it at the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a hole in the ceiling directly above the elevator.

"There appears to be a secret chamber above us," I said as I put the lens away, "but how do we get up there. From what I remember, the elevator only goes down."

Saria looked thoughtful, "I think if me and Zelda combine our power…"

"Then we could reverse the magic on the elevator!" Zelda said exited, "Brilliant, Saria!"

Saria smiled, obviously proud of herself.

Malon, Cody, and I all stood back as Saria and Zelda faced the elevator. They held hands (they looked almost like mother and child) while their outer hands were raised up. A light green ball of energy appeared above them. It swelled up quickly (much quicker than when Zelda opened the Door of Time) and flashed. The elevator briefly glowed green, then returned to normal.

Zelda turned and looked at us, "Well, you guys ready?"

We all piled into the elevator. It was a very tight fit; we could barely fit at all. We all finally got situated and waited… and waited…

And waited…

"Should somebody hit the up button?" Cody asked.

"You know," I said, "Nobody knows what you are talking…"

I was suddenly cut off as the elevator shot violently for the ceiling. It passed into the hidden opening and kept going, picking up speed. Before long, we were blinded by sunlight as the elevator shot out of the temple and kept going up. It was not long before we could see the entire forest below us.

I turned to see that all the color had drained out of Cody's face, and he had a death grip on the side of the elevator.

"You okay?" I asked with some concern.

Cody nodded, his face starting to turn a little green, "Just not a big fan of heights."

"Huh," I said, intrigued, "You did not seem to have a problem when you used the hookshot."

"That was not all that high, this however," he said looking around at the huge expanse of forest spread out below us, "is a little different."

The elevator started slowing down. I looked up around the ceiling of the elevator… and saw a giant building floating in the sky. We were so high up, it would probably only appear as a dot up in the air. We were heading towards a hole in the bottom of the building above us. After another few seconds, we came through the hole and wound up in the building.

Or what was left of it. The building only had some standing walls, and there was no ceiling at all. We stepped out of the elevator and looked around.

"Man," Cody said, looking around, "Finding the orb in this place is going to be a nightmare."

"Yeah," I said looking around at the debris lying everywhere, "Saria, do you happen to have any leads?"

But there was no answer…

I spun around to find that Saria was still in the elevator, collapsed on the ground. Ami was frantically trying to wake her. All the color had drained out of her face and her breathing was extremely shallow.

I was over in a flash, and I cradled her in my arms, "Saria!"

Everyone else also gathered around, looks of horror on their faces.

"What's wrong with her?" Cody asked, sounding alarmed.

As I held her, I cursed as I remembered something that was extremely important, "We are no longer in the forest."

"Of course not," Cody said, sounding irritated, "We're miles above…"

He stopped, his face becoming almost as pale as Saria's as he came to the same conclusion that I had.

The Kokiri can not take a step out of the forest…

Saria was dying.

"How long does she have?" said Cody, completely serious.

Ami answered, "According to what I know, any Kokiri that steps out of the forest is supposed to die instantly! I don't know why Saria is even still breathing!"

How could I have been so stupid…

As I held her, Zelda quickly got on her knees across from me.

"Hand her to me, Link," she said.

I did as she asked, and Zelda held Saria close. Zelda closed her eyes and began to mumble something that I could not hear…

Zelda and Saria were surrounded in an aura of light. Without opening her eyes, Zelda said, "I can prolong her life, but not for long. You must hurry and find the orb."

"No! We should leave! NOW!"

"The elevator requires both me and Saria to operate," Zelda said, her voice pained, "We could leave now, but we would never be able to get the orb. We must find it."

Damn. I wish we did not have to gamble with Saria life, but…

I was instantly on my feet as I turned to face Malon and Cody, "We need to move now, quickly!"

Malon nodded and turned around…

Cody on the other hand was already half way to the room's exit (he is prompt, I will give him that).

Cody was almost to the door when we heard a familiar shriek fill the air. A large blur slammed into the ground right in front of Cody, sending him flying back a few feet. I had the Master Sword already unsheathed as Malon notched an arrow into her bow. Cody has already sprung to his feet and was drawing the Dimensional Sword as well.

Aviosis peered down angrily at Cody, spreading its wings and trying to look threatening.

"I don't have time for you, you overgrown turkey!" Cody shouted at Aviosis as he charged.

"Cody don't!" I shouted, but it was too late.

Cody launched himself from a piece of rubble at the large bird-like creature.

Aviosis kicked up a violent gust that slammed into Cody and sent him flying.

"Cody!" Malon screamed as Cody was sent flying over the wall…

A/N: Poor Cody seems to be spending a lot of time being sent on involuntary flights.

Boss fight coming up next time. Stay tuned ;).