The Great Deku Tree Incident

A black night dotted with bright stars hovered above Kokiri Forest.

Link slept in his bed, arm across his belly, legs crossed over the footboard, his head atop pillows, mouth open. He dreamt...

The Kokiri Forest.

This is a deep, deep forest that spreads over the eastern region of the Kingdom of Hyrule...

Saria appeared in his dream, left backhand on her hip, other arm raised with the hand open, her fairy hoving above her palm. Fado cutely leaned over from behind Saria, waving hi...

The Kokiris who live here each have their own fairy.

A boy happily ran with big steps, looking back to his fairy. Another boy stood on his heads. A third boy lied on his front, elbow on the prickly grass, chin on his hand.

But there was one young boy who, for some reason, didn't have a fairy. His name was...

"Zzz... Zzz..." ...Link.

Morning sunlight pierced openings in the canopy.

"Shall I begin?" the Great Deku Tree asked. "Long, long ago..."

An audience of Kokiris scurried to the Deku Tree, silently awaiting his story, their fairies hovering attentively.

"...Before the world had taken clear shape... It is said that three goddesses came down to Hyrule."

Little boots ran across the ground.

CLOMP

CLOMP

CLOMP

"One was Din. She brought fire and sculpted a red land," Deku Tree explained. "One was Nayru. With her wisdom she brought law into the world. The last one was..."

Link eagerly leapt across bushes and a branch.

R
U
S
TLE!

"WHEE!"

BONK!

He bounced off a boy's head, smooshing his face into the stone he was trying to pick up.

Link looked back as he landed on the ground. "Oh, sorry. The Great Deku Tree's story is almost over. I'm in a hurry." And he went off as if nothing happened.

"Hey, wait," Mido said, he and two of his brats stood in Link's way, their hands on their sides. "You can't go in there."

"Yeah!" the stumpy boy added.

! !

"Why not, Mido?" Link asked, thinking about the Deku Festival; Mido's ego only worsened. "I can go wherever I want!"

Mido's leaning friend didn't agree. "Nuh-uh!"

"'Cause I'm the head of the Kokiris." Mido crossed his arms. "We can't let a deceptive twerp like you listen to the Great Deku Tree."

"Yeah!" the stumpy boy added.

"What're you talking about?" Link demanded, leaning forwards and frowning. "Get outta my way!"

Mido leered against Link, lower lip hanging, his fairy joining. Link leaned back, frowning.

Mido wasn't moving. "HMPH! If you wanna get in, why don't you show us your fairy?"

Link tackled Mido head-on. WHMP! Mido turned mid-air, face widened, arms apart. Link landed atop Mido, pummeling him, Mido sticking his hand against Link's eye while kicking. Mido plump friend leered arrogantly, his other friend jumping in joy, their fairies excited.

Amid their scuffling, Link and Mido neared the pond. Mido fell face down into the dirt. Link sat over the back of Mido's legs, putting the bully in an ankle lock.

"How 'bout that?" Link angrily asked, frowning like a devil.

Eyes big, Mido clawed at the air with one hand, other arm smacking into the ground. "Uncle! Uncle!"

"That'll teach you to call me defective!"

Mido's fairy swooped into Link's face—SMAK—Link fell into the pond, SPLASH. Water rushed up his sinuses, his clothes soaked.

Mido crossed his arms, standing smugly. His mates were at either side, one waving, "Woo-hoo! Defective jerk!"

The stumpy friend added, "That's what you get for messing with Mido!"

Only Link's head, shoulders and knees were above the waterline, his pointy cap still on, hair sticking to his skin, one eye partly closed. "...Cheaters!"

"Who's cheating?" Mido mocked. "My fairy is just another part of me. Like my hands and my feet!"

"HEY!"

RUMMMBLE!

"What's going on here?" asked the Great Deku Tree, looking so much more gigantic when angry. His trunk creaked so heavily that Kokiri Forest shook, many birds flying out trees, many fairies shaken off branches.

Mido and his pals scurried with such rapidity their legs moved like humming bird wings, their fairies panicking mid-air.

"He found us! Uh-oh!" cried Mido. However, he couldn't leave Link any victory. Mido pressed his lower eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at Link. "Hmph! No-fairy loser!"

Link stepped out the pond, hand raised, but his bullies dashed away. "..." All wet, he just stood there, sadly.

Link was sitting crosslegged on the upper section of Deku Tree's root, cheek resting on his palm.

"Cheer up, Link," spoke the Great Deku Tree. "Don't pay any attention to Mido."

Link hopelessly looked up at the guardian of the forest. "Great Deku Tree, why am I different from everyone else?"

"You'll find out when the time is right."

Knees straight, feet down, Link put his hand on his cheek. "Hmph! That's what you always say."

"Link!" Saria called from below, waving.

His face brightened up. "Saria!"Link leapt down the Deku Tree's trunk, Tump! Tump! He landed before his best friend as she stepped forth. "Great timing! I've got something I want to show you!"

"What is it?"

"Ta-da!" He presented a Fairy Slingshot. "I made it myself!"

Saria examined the toy. "What's it for?"

"This..." Link said, retrieving his slingshot. He extended his arm while pulling the string back, BYOONG. "You can use it to get fruit that's too high up in the trees to reach."

"Oh, wow!" exclaimed Saria. "Hey, let me try!"

Unbeknownst to Link and Saria, Mido and his pal hid in nearby bushes...

"That creep!" Mido complained. "He's flirting with Saria again!"

"How nice..." Mido's pal admitted.

Link let go of the string, FWIP! The Deku Seed ricocheted off a branch then—GA-PLONK—bounced off Mido's face. His face widened from pain, teeth showing.

? Holding the slingshot, Saria turned her head.

Link's eyes went big, as confused as she was. "?"

Mido was flat on his back, red mark on his face, his fairy spinning above him to awake him.

No longer interested, Link sat on a stump and examined his slingshot.

Saria sat on a log, happy and impressed. "It's amazing how you think up stuff like this."

He remained focused on his device. "Hmm... I guess I am a little strange." He released the string; it flopped against his forearm. "Maybe that's why I have to wait forever to get my fairy..."

Saria slightly tilted, smiling pleasantly as usual. "Oh, Link! Even without a fairy you're my very best friend! ...Okay?"

He softly smiled back. "...Okay!"

She jumped to her feet. "I'll play my ocarina! We'll dance!" She and Link rhythmically moved their legs, Saria graceful despite closed eyes, Link hasty and beaming, both happy. Felicia went crazy in the air, enjoying the fun.

Eventually, Saria finished her last note. The pond reflected them; she lowered her instrument, surprised to see Link quite concerned.

"By the way," Link said, "...lately I keep having the same dream. The sky is completely dark. I'm standing before a huge house with pointy towers."

Saria listened. "Hmm... That sounds like a castle."

"A castle?" Link was confused. "What's that? Have you seen one? Is it deep in the forest?" He blinked; Saria sat on a stump, not interrupting, only listening. "Why does something I don't know even about show up in my dreams?"

Saria turned in her seat, looking at the setting sun. "The Great Deku Tree said it's something far away from the Kokiri Forest, across a great plain." Link just stared at the sunset. "He said the world is wide, with lots of different countries."

Unblinking, Link wondered. "The world?"

That starry night, Link strolled through the village. He stood, alone, stargazing. I wonder what the rest of the world is like... I wonder what's out there... ...All those things I've never seen...

His thoughts were unanswered. Perhaps, how the star twinkled...they wanted to tell him something?

Meanwhile, strange black clouds were gathering over the forest... ...But Link could not see them yet.

Link returned home, closing the drape just as the black clouds drifted over the moon. Hat off, he walked across his house, head low, alone. He sniffled as he went under blankets. If I told the Great Deku Tree I want to leave the forest, I wonder if he'd let me go.

He closed his eyes, briefly moving his shoulders to get more comfy. Probably... ...Not... "Zzz... Zzz..."

Dark clouds drifted across the night sky. FWOO... FWOO!

Something foreign lurked in the darkness. "Heh... Heh... Heh heh heh." The silhouette of immense pincers loomed. KLAK KLAK. "Hee..." KLAK.

A monstrous eye appeared in the shadows. "Hee hee... Hee..."

Wooden body creaking, the Deku Tree angered. "Who goes there? No evil may enter my forest! You will not pass!"

FWOOSH. "Heh heh." KLAK KLAK.

The monstrous eye glared intensely, glowing red; a raspy snarl echoed. The horrible silhouette leapt forth, WOOSH.

KLAMP!

"Heh heh... Heh... How sad for you that trees cannot move. HEH HEH HEH HEH." SKLLLKK SKLLLKK.

SKLK!

Pincers broke bark, claws ripping into the Great Deku Tree's heartwood. Gaping cavity made, the monster wormed through the host's body, eager to clutch and eat the soft interior.

Stoic, the Great Deku Tree remained quiet throughout the night.