And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof.
- Apocrypha, Wisdom of Solomon 2:4
Evening was cloudy and breezy.
A man walked through the easternmost forests of Hyrule. He was a heavily armored knight, his equipment slightly damaged from overuse. He wore a horned great helm so large it was supported by the shoulders; an arrowhead was lodged in the brow.
The knight's torn surcoat was red with a white cross, and underneath he wore a long-sleeved, knee-length mail shirt with integrated mail mittens, links broken here and there. Underneath the mail was gambeson. He also wore chausses, tops tied to the bottom of the gambeson. At the knight's belt were his longsword and dagger, longsword missing half its scabbard. Slung over the shoulders, his splintered kite shield held together only by its leather rim, front painted with a white cross on red background.
Wearing perhaps seventy pounds of equipment, he was obviously exhausted, stiff, overheated and sore. He trudged through the forest, body loose, mail jingling, his breath audible as it passed through the holes of his mighty helm.
Although his reaction could not be seen, he ignored his uncomfortable state and simply enjoyed the forest, in pain yet in peace. It was so much to hear rustling branches and flora.
The knight felt something, but what? He turned and saw a cluster of fairies before they dispersed amidst branches. He stared at the trees; their gnarly bark formed sickly grimaces. More fairies flew from the deformed trees then away from the knight.
The knight turned the other direction. Soft breaths sounded, yet he could not see who breathed, even though the breathing came from between him and some trees. Not even his helm could hide his bewilderment.
The deformed trees tilted towards him, their creaking mouths opened further. He placed his hand over his longsword pommel and looked around—the trees returned to normal.
"Damn forest." The knight went on.
The mysterious knight continued his painful trek eastward. He did not even lift his head, helm tilted downwards—he walked into a tree and his helm thudded. He made no reaction and his mindless journey commenced. He occasionally gesticulated as if he spoke to himself though never said anything.
Sometime later, the knight put his hands on an oak tree to support himself. His breathing sharpened yet weakened. He leaned into the tree, breaths audible as they went through the holes of his helm. Blood dripped down the front of his helm as well as through the breath holes.
The knight exhaled slowly then stopped breathing. He took off his helm, underneath a visorless bascinet worn atop a mail coif. He dropped his great helm onto its side, blood within visible.
The knight caught his breath. Something was clearly wrong with him, face red, skin mapped with deep cracks that bled. His eye sockets also bled forth from bloodshot eyes. He kept his eyes open, never blinked despite cataracts and blood.
The knight turned around and then sat, mail jingling. He raised his knees and placed his elbows upon them, head low. He just wanted rest but the trees creaked and groaned. Head up, he saw the contorted visages within the bark again. He grabbed his helm, wore it, then continued his walk.
"Where am I?"
He walked for an hour and heard that gentle breathing again. He stopped—the breathing ceased after a sharp inhale. The knight turned but could not see anyone. He cocked his head and a crow cawed somewhere.
"Who is there?" No one answered. "This damn forest..."
Sunset—the sky appeared bleeding. The knight reached a section of forest where the setting sun cast rays through the canopy and created shafts of light. He stopped and stared into the sunlight, eyes caked in dried blood.
As the dried-up blood crumbled, the knight closed his eyes—the surface of his eyes scraped against the insides of his eyelids. His breathing softened and slowed but he nevertheless kept going no matter how weakly.
"I can't...give up..."
Nightfall.
Every tree the knight passed grimaced. He unsheathed his dagger and occasionally poked the wooden beasts. They did not seem to mind, though they bled.
The knight ventured deeper into the magical forest. Fairies, few by few, appeared though avoided the knight. The farther he walked, the more fairies appeared and every one avoided him.
Eventually, the knight reached a large crater, perhaps two hundred feet wide. The rocky ledge all around curved inward. Within was a gigantic tree mostly rotted away, though another grew in front of it. The living tree was about a meter wide and ten meters tall and its bark slightly glowed.
At the opposite side was a zigzagged pathway that went through the rocky wall, perhaps carved, perhaps part of an ancient ruin long ago?
The knight walked to the ledge and sighed with relief. After an exhale, he sheathed his dagger and collapsed upon his back.
Dawn approached but not before a blonde girl emerged from the shadows... Fado stealthily approached the knight, her tongue bit, eyes big and eager. Her fairy jingled in her face.
"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat! I have to see what happened to him." Fado tiptoed to the unconscious knight. "I didn't follow him all day and all night just to leave!"
She stood before him, hands clasped behind her back. He did not react.
"Who is this odd metal-bucket-headed guy?" she whispered.
"Must be a Stalfos," her fairy wheezed.
Fado stuck her foot out and poked the knight with it—she skipped away from him. He remained motionless. Fado looked at her fairy, then back at the knight.
"Is he dead?" Fado grinned. Her fairy shrugged with an audible ting. "Hih-hih-hih, hee, hee-hee!"
Fado nudged the knight's shoulder. Nothing. She knocked on his helm, nothing. A few little kicks did nothing. She pushed him repeatedly for a few seconds. Still, nothing.
"Umm... I think the forest's curse sucked out his life?" Fado adjusted her headband and stared at her fairy.
"I think we should just go home," Fado's fairy remarked, then changed color from green to pink.
"We will, but I just want to see if this guy is cursed. I know that the forest has something that makes outsiders go undead. I always wanted to see how it happens...this might be my only chance." Fado knelt and grabbed the knight's helm.
"Just leave him alone!"
"Oof! Why is this so flippin' heavy?" Fado grabbed the helm by its horns, planted her heels, and reared. She fell onto her bottom and accidentally flung the helm somewhere.
"Ohh, ho ho ho ho!" Fado picked herself up and hopped to the knight. She knelt by him and tilted his bascinet back to see his face. Or at least what was left of it...
Dawn revealed the knight's face which was just enough to not give Fado a heart attack. She gasped upright from the knight's ghastly visage. His skin and flesh had peeled apart, left behind a meaty skull. He did not have lips or cheeks, his teeth showed.
Fado's fairy sat on her shoulder and clung to her neck. They remained dumbstruck. The knight lifted his head and looked at Fado with his bleeding, empty eye sockets.
"Umm... hi." Fado nervously waved then darted off—her fairy fell off her shoulder but flew after her.
Fado jumped down from the rock formation, landing like a cat. She then jumped over the tiny stream running from the pond, hopped across the three blocks along larger section of the pond though hadn't caught a Blue Ruppee, and ran through the village.
Nearby Kokiri wondered why she ran and several asked her. Fado ignored them and darted into Mido's house—Mido was about to leave and Fado ran into him and they both fell onto their bottoms; their fairies reared and Mido's hat slipped off.
"Ow! Fado, what the heck are you doing?" Mido exclaimed as he picked up his ht and himself.
Fado just sat there with puppy dog eyes. "I saw something scary."
"Did you? I thought you liked scary things."
Fado got up and fixed her headband. "Well, yeah... but this time it was different. I followed this outsider, a grown-up, who looked so weird. I knew he was cursed and that he would become a Stalfos. I always wanted to see what happens! He couldn't see me of course, only Kokiri can see other Kokiri from far away. I saw him transform into a Stalfos. His life exhaled out of him, his blood left him, and he became undead. He eventually lied down to rest, so I pulled a horned metal bucket off his head and saw his face, it was the worst thing I ever saw. It was just a skull, a meaty skull without eyes. It was very creepy. He then woke up, looking at me with that eyeless face of his, and... I ran away."
"I told you to leave him alone..." her fairy commented.
"Where did you see him?"
"Oh, right! He is behind the Great Deku Tree, on the cliff!" Fado cried—that caught the boss's attention.
"Really? Well, we'll have to do something about that." Mido looked at his wall full of hunting and war gear. "Hmm... how did he find us? The forest would have deterred the outsider. If this creepy guy made it all the way here, he must not be evil, but from how you described him... We need to be alert."
Hemet back on, the knight jumped down below. He walked around the huge dead tree until he stood before the living one. The knight sat on the ground, head low, breathing audible as blood dripped out the bottom of his great helm and its breath holes and eye slits.
"Great Deku Tree, I'm back," the knight said with a raspy voice. He slowly lifted his head, several tiny torrents of blood trickled down his front.
The Great Deku Tree was still young, definitely not as great as the previous one. Thicker sections of bark somewhat formed eyebrows and a mustache. The wood beneath formed the outlines of eyes and a mouth.
The current Great Deku Tree groaned, its timber and bark creaking as he awoke. The sentient tree stretched himself and yawned. Bark and branches expanded and contracted slowly, barky mustache and leaves writhed. The tree leaned over, his wooden body groaned and creaked, and his leaves shook from the vibration.
"Alencon, welcome," the sentient tree greeted.
"You have seen the vision, haven't you?" the knight asked. The sentient tree's body creaked acknowledgement. "That vision calls us into its destiny. Once we obey, our fates are sealed."
"Whoever created that vision surely has ties with the Royal Family...a dream that traversed into the sleeping thoughts of those sensitive to such forces. However, the author of that vision, as well as the first beholder... well, neither have appeared to me yet. They should have by now."
"Then they are already too late. Great Deku Tree, your realm...is the first line of defense for your world, to block outsiders from entering. Outsiders like me. But many realms are connected by these forests. These forests are a mighty shield to hide behind. If any foreign force were to take control, your forest would no longer be a bastion of defense...instead a stronghold that would shelter invaders, perfectly placed amidst the passages into other worlds. The children of the forest are in danger and subsequently all other realms accessible from here."
The Great Deku Tree's hull groaned. "Long ago, a hero left us to save Hyrule, so it is only fair for the people of the castle to repay that goodwill."
"You must understand that will not be enough."
"I will do everything to protect my children. I do not fear what is to come."
"You should."
"Fear and doubt do not affect us anymore. Even when we lost everything before I sprouted, we overcame, and we shall do so again. When you understand life, you do not fear the challenges of death." The Great Deku Tree's branches drooped. "A challenge you could not overcome. I am sorry the curse has come upon you...but I told you to go back to your home, Alencon, where you are supposed to be. Why did you return?"
"I allowed myself to become lost. I let the curse of the forest take me, to escape my enemies, to escape my brother-knights, to escape my old life, to escape unhappy memories... To start over, to begin again. There is nothing left for me. Everything I knew and loved has been lost so long ago."
"You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" the sentient tree asked, though the knight shook his head, his armor now wet and shiny from so much blood, gambeson and surcoat soaked.
"I have no regrets. I do not need to survive what is to come, and this curse your forest gave me...will guarantee it. I will do only what is necessary, and then fall apart and return to the earth. I want nothing more. But that's not why I came. I did not come here to talk about myself."
"Well then, Alencon, why did you come here?"
"You are expecting two visitors. You pieced this together from the vision. What you do not know is that they are controlled by the very forces they seek to destroy. You must not allow them to leave the forest. Even if they are innocent, it is expedient to treat them as expendable. When they come, I will kill them and sever this destiny."
"Wait, what? You wish to murder? I cannot tolerate evil in my forest. The children do not need to see that!" The Great Deku Tree leaned over more, his whole frame creaked and groaned with anger.
The knight got up.
"We both wish to protect the children of the forest, though you do not see the whole story, you are too young. I became undead to get here, I left behind everything to reach this place...I know what I have to do. You do not understand the risks involved. If you wish to stop me, then just try to stop me."
"Alencon," the Great Deku Tree called, but the knight ignored him and walked away, bloody footprints left behind. "Alencon!"
The knight stopped before the exit. Farther on was Kokiri Forest. He grasped some vines and pulled himself up, then wandered off into the woods.
The Great Deku Tree grumbled disappointingly.
A crowd of Kokiri and village guards appeared with their fairies, all of them with weapons and shields. The children chirped among themselves about what happened.
"Great Deku Tree! We were not summoned to see you, but we came anyways," Mido stated, loud and proud. The sentient tree tilted over to see what squeaked at him and then chuckled. His wooden hull creaked rhythmically.
"Oh, hello children! Nothing bad happened, nothing at all," the Great Deku Tree replied.
"Well, then who was that?" Fado asked—several other Kokiri repeated her question.
Silence.
"Great Deku Tree?" Mido asked.
"Not even he himself knows anymore. But he is an old friend, an outsider who comes from a faraway realm. He is on our side, he just does not understand our ways. Nevertheless, whenever you see him, stay indoors. But also remember what I am about to say, because something important is going to happen soon..."
"What's going to happen?" a few Kokiri asked nervously.
The Great Deku Tree went upright and he creaked aloud which caused some children to flinch. He outstretched his branches and leaned over.
"Ah, what will happen? Well, it is important to remember, children, that for a little while, only come to me when summoned, or if the situation is very, very important. I have to be alone, to meditate, because my friend who just left has a very important task to do. Our task is for everyone to be indoors upon nightfall, nobody goes out into the Lost Woods. I sense that danger and monsters are coming, so we must be ready."
"Monsters? Not again..." Fado said.
"We just had a big party!" Axel whined.
"Pssst! Will you tell him what happened?" one of the guards whispered.
"Tell him what?" Mido pondered.
"Well, you know...what happened."
"Oh, Luna..." Mido hesitated.
"Is something wrong?" the Great Deku Tree asked. Everyone looked at Mido, who kept his arms low at his sides, face frozen, eyes big.
"Well, um, we had a, uh, a little bullying," Mido mumbled, "But we took care of it."
"Glad to hear it! Did anything else happen?" the Great Deku Tree asked, Mido shook his head. They were all afraid of mentioning Luna in front of their guardian. "Why are you all so quiet suddenly?"
"Oh, we're just a bit spooked because of that guy who came, but he's gone now," Fado remarked with a voice lighter than usual. She rubbed her boot against a bloody footprint Alencon left behind. "Ew..."
"Yes, he's gone for now. He is no trouble for us, but he wishes to protect us. He will be good for us," the sentient tree assured.
"Um, we go now, right?" Mido asked nervously. The guardian chuckled.
"Of course you can go! No-one's in trouble, I just want everyone to be happy!" the Great Deku Tree heartily said.
"Yay!" Fado exclaimed artificially.
The kids and fairies took their leave. Some of them said Bye-bye or See you later to their guardian.
Nevertheless, the Great Deku Tree noticed their odd behavior. He did not seem to realize that Luna had run away, but there were more serious concerns. He turned around as his wooden frame creaked heavily. He looked at the old Great Deku Tree who died long ago.
"This time, evil and curses will not prevail."
