Chapter 14: The Lost Woods
Link had been through the Lost Woods on several occasions. He first found his way to the hidden grove at its center as a child, drawing the Master Sword from its pedestal. Then once more, a century later, reclaiming it after awakening in the Shrine of Resurrection. A third time, with Zelda, to return the sacred blade to its rest. And, most recently, with Zelda again – to take up the blade once more before venturing into Hyrule Castle.
He knew his way through the mist. He knew how to follow the subtle whispers amongst the trees and the drifting of sparks catching the wind.
Now as he approached the Lost Woods for the fifth time in his life he knew at once that something was wrong. The forest was eerily silent. Not a leaf or branch stirred. The ravens that usually guarded the border did not darken the ruined stonework with their shadowy forms. The rustling and whispering of the evasive forest spirits, the Koroks, was conspicuously absent.
And Penn had been right about the change to the mist. It hung dark and heavy over the forest, a deep violet cloud that seemed to stifle everything in its grasp. Link's right arm prickled uncomfortably as he and Ember neared, and his horse tossed his head, snorting uneasily.
Something's wrong. And it may very well be related to Gloom.
He had passed a Chasm, spewing angry tendrils of crimson mist, on his way up the road towards the Lost Woods – the first of so many worrying signs.
"Nothing for it but to continue," he murmured, patting Ember's shoulder consolingly and slipping off his back. Taking the reins under the horse's muzzle, he led him forward, towards the archway marking the first steps along the secret route through the woods.
At once the mist gathered thick and close all around him, and Ember recoiled with a shrill whinny, nearly tearing the reins from Link's grip and pulling him several stumbling steps back, away from the mist. Link's heart hammered uneasily, and he stared as the mist slowly gathered back into itself, leaving the archway just barely discernible. He swallowed. Well… well, that's different. The Lost Woods are blocking me out. Why… would they do that?
Was it the result of whatever evil curse had been placed upon the forest? Or was the Great Deku Tree purposefully forbidding him entrance?
The Great Deku Tree… roots reaching deep…
He grimaced, remembering Rauru's description of the lightroots in tandem with the overwhelming amount of Gloom in the Depths. How deep do the Great Deku Tree's roots reach? And… and would Gloom harm him?
The mist around the Lost Woods was generally deterrent enough to anyone who would wish harm against the ancient spirit. But, Link realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he did not know for sure that the mist extended beneath Hyrule's surface – that it served as a barrier in the Depths as well as up here.
The Great Deku Tree could be vulnerable to an attack from below, he thought. I could… I could check. That Chasm entrance isn't far.
But he felt physically ill at the mere thought of returning to that lightless place, his body remembering all too well the excruciating pain it had felt, engulfed in Gloom. He shivered.
And how would I get back up? There's no Robbie with a balloon this time.
Begrudgingly he remembered something Josha had said – "We've also seen a couple weird structures like big pillars going almost all the way to the bottom of the Depths and I think it's some sort of elevator but I don't know how it works…"
He let out a heavy breath. I figured out how to fix the Stormwind Ark. I… I could probably figure out an elevator, if I see one. Just look for a tall pillar. Besides, the Great Deku Tree has teleportation abilities – that's exactly what his mist does if you get lost. If I'm successful in helping him out with whatever's going on, I'll be fine.
Together with Ember he returned to the Chasm entrance he had seen. He packed up what supplies he could carry, double-checking to ensure he had the brightbloom seeds from Josha. Then he removed the rest of Ember's tack, hiding it out of sight from the road beneath several bushes. Ember whickered nervously, lightly butting his head against Link's back. Link managed half a grin. "Worried about me, are you?" he muttered. "I'll… try and come back for you. If not, well… you know how to be a wild horse. You'll… you'll manage."
He walked up to the edge of the Chasm, Ember watching anxiously behind him and pawing the ground fervently.
Last chance to turn back, he thought. Am I certain it's worth the risk?
The Great Deku Tree was a powerful spirit. The fact that something had happened to him did not bode well for Hyrule. And beyond that, he was the guardian of the Master Sword. It was likely that he either had the Master Sword still, or at the very least knew where it was.
And I need that sword. The blade of evil's bane. Even though it didn't… it didn't hold up well against the Demon King before, maybe I can strengthen it. And of anyone, the Great Deku Tree would know how to do something like that.
"Yes," he whispered. "It's worth the risk."
He leapt into the Chasm's maw, his stomach clenching tightly as air rushed past him, red and black slime coating the sides, those eerie glowing particulates flying like stardust all around him. He could see two points of silver light below him. In the distance he could see what appeared to be a hulking tree-shaped silhouette, illuminated by pinpricks of golden light, in about the same direction as the Great Deku Tree, from what he could tell.
That's my destination, then, he thought grimly, snapping out the paraglider and landing lightly between the two silvery light sources he'd seen first. They seemed Zonai in design; he remembered seeing lanterns with that same pinecone shape within the Shrine of Light.
He walked past the small area of the ground that they illuminated, letting darkness engulf him fully. Squinting, he could make out the dark shape of the Deku Tree in the distance, reaching all the way from top to bottom of the cavern. He set out towards it, ignoring the cold sweat down his back.
He found himself tripping over several roots and confronted by multiple shorter, spindly silhouettes around him. After stubbing his toe for the umpteenth time he decided to risk a little light – it wasn't Gloom impeding his progress here. Tossing a brightbloom seed to the ground he yelped in shock, jumping back at the sight of a grinning, toothy maw before him, but quickly he realized it was simply the same eerie kind of tree that grew on the surface above, in the Lost Woods – another deterrent, albeit weaker than mist to the strong-willed. Link swallowed thickly, a hand over his racing heart, watching the tree warily and reminding himself over and over again that it was just a tree, not actually a monster, that he was in a forest of the Depths.
He used the brightbloom seeds more often at that point, weaving his way through the dense, haunting woodland towards the Great Deku Tree. There was a lot of Gloom here, he realized, his skin prickling as if in warning whenever he got too close. But the trees were easy enough to climb that he was able to avoid it fairly successfully. He could see it glowing beyond the reach of the brightbloom seeds, a veritable sea of dark crimson, lurking almost hungrily all around him. He kept his focus on avoiding the substance, trying to push aside the deep-rooted fear that threatened his spirit and whispered about what would become of him if he was taken by the Gloom down here, without a single other soul to help him escape.
The trees thinned as he continued. He could see a thinner, much more uniformly-shaped pillar in front of the Great Deku Tree's base, illuminated on several sides by more of the silvery Zonai lanterns. Is that one of the pillars Josha was talking about? One of the supposed elevators?
It didn't seem to have any mechanisms at all that he could work with, as far as he could tell from the distance. More than an elevator, it reminded him of a chimney.
A flash of movement out of the corner stopped him in his tracks. Entirely still, he scanned his surroundings moving only his eyes, his breaths quickening. He saw it again, off to the right, and turned fully towards it. His stomach dropped to his toes.
There was a patch of Gloom on the ground – one of relatively few now between him and the Great Deku Tree. And it was moving somehow, slithering almost aimlessly, some distance away from him. Link swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. It… shouldn't be able to do that.
He took another step. Immediately there was a terrible series of shrieks and several elongated shapes wreathed in Gloom writhed up from the moving patch on the ground, slitted amber eyes flashing open, fixed on him. His heart leapt to his throat as they began to move towards him, and with a breathless cry he burst into a desperate sprint, his gaze trained on the chimney-looking thing near the Great Deku Tree – if it was indeed an elevator, he would find out.
He scrambled up a small rise and surged forward from the peak. He could hear a hollow, rasping sound like the dying breaths of some creature behind him, along with a slight sizzling as the pool of Gloom slithered over the ground. It's getting closer!
Link's skin prickled, a flash of pain spearing his right arm. He raced onwards, his gaze trained on the gentle yellow glow of seed pods around the Great Deku Tree's roots. His spine tingled; shrieks rent the air behind him –
His foot caught on something unseen, sending him sprawling painfully on the uneven ground. No! Heart pattering in nauseating terror in his throat he leapt back to his feet on shaking limbs.
Then the pool of Gloom was around him, faster than he thought possible, and for a terrible moment he was surrounded by the things that had spawned from the Gloom. Disembodied arms considerably longer than he was tall, with grasping, clawed hands at the end, all of them wreathed in wisps of Gloom, with the same leathery texture as the Demon King's corpse.
There was nowhere to run. Instinct sent him sprinting between two of the hands, trying for any escape. And both of them grabbed for him, massive fingers snapping around his waist from his stomach to his knees and lifting him into the air. Link ground his teeth together, eyes tightly shut, his mind flashing red with agony as his right arm felt almost split open by Gloom, as once more the corruption writhed inside of him, forcing paths through his veins. The fingers tightened, squeezing his body as one would squeeze an orange for its juice, and a grating scream tore from his throat as the Gloom within him seemed to pulse at the constriction, searing his body like acid from the inside out while Gloom from the hands seeped through his clothes and mail to attack the skin beneath – everything, every part of him that was alive, was under attack.
Panic-driven, Link clawed and pushed at the slimy, leathery fingers, fighting to get himself free despite the sheer pain that came from moving while infested with Gloom. His right arm spasmed violently, hardly any use at all; his left was trembling hard enough that he couldn't get any sort of grip. He was only distantly aware of the pained cries hissing out between his gritted teeth, drowned out by the eager, hungry shrieks of the other hands surrounding him. He could almost feel the Gloom surging towards his heart as the hand around him constricted further, could feel it hot and fierce in his chest, ripping him apart from within to reach its goal as he struggled to fight it with all of his strength –
With a sudden surge of what felt like adrenaline Link smacked his right fist against the hand with all his might. A flash of pure, white light – he crumpled to the ground, to the pool of Gloom below the hands that were now recoiling, screeching, twitching unnervingly.
I'm – I'm free –
Link clawed his way to his feet, his body nearly unmanageable, quivering violently and still wracked with Gloom's ferocity – his feet remained in the pool. He could practically feel his time to escape ticking down; the Gloom Hands remained upright, their eyes blown wide and unseeing, stunned by – by whatever that flash of light had been. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to take a step, his mind spinning at the flash of pain caused by the movement. Not – not enough –
He pushed himself to run, groaning breathlessly as his Gloom-tormented limbs stung fiercely and corrupted blood shot through them faster and faster. But he could hear the Gloom Hands recovering – he could hear the sizzling of Gloom over the ground, the hollow rasp of the Hands themselves – and managed an extra burst of speed, screaming through clenched teeth.
Clambering up a short but steep rise he reached a small, square platform beneath the supposed 'elevator.' The Gloom Hands were gaining once again, but in looking frantically around he could see no mechanism, no visible way to Ascend. The chimney-shaped thing wasn't even hollow; standing directly beneath it there was only a circular symbol with a ring around it.
A symbol Rauru had shown him weeks ago, on the Great Sky Island – a symbol that meant it was safe to Ascend.
He felt a moment of doubt – Ascending that high up? – and then the Gloom Hands oozed onto the platform. Terror surging through him, he reached up and Fused himself to the base of the pillar, desperately reaching up and pulling himself inward.
The grains of stone scraping against his insides made him feel raw all over, adding the extreme discomfort of Ascending to the agony of Gloom. Link clawed his way upwards, forcing his tormented body to move upwards, darkness and pressure closing in all around him.
He was stunned when suddenly he felt air on his face, hot, stuffy, but undeniably air, although he was still entirely enclosed in darkness. It was an empty space just large enough for him to emerge down to his waist – just enough for him to take a few unhindered breaths before continuing on. He found several more pockets of air throughout the Ascent, perfectly positioned so that he would encounter them just as his lungs felt about to explode from lack of air. His fatigue only grew as he fought his way upwards, his limbs shaking violently from pain and exhaustion, his mind hardly able to muster the concentration to preserve the Fuse spell.
After what felt like an eternity of climbing he felt cold air on his sweat-dampened face, heard a slight rush of wind through the trees. With a grunt he pulled himself free of the stone, into a bed of lush ferns, and collapsed at once, his arms and legs hardly strong enough by now to support him.
I'm… on the… surface…
He drew in a deep, painful breath, and let it out slowly, his eyes closed as he waited for the sunlight to ease the pain from the corruption in his body. But it didn't – as he lay still, his body wracked by agonizing convulsions, minutes dragging on, he could only feel the Gloom deepening, although not quite as fast as it had in the Depths. Tears squeezed from his eyes – a belated response to the fear, or perhaps simply a result of the pain still gripping him from head to toe.
With a quiet groan, teeth clenched tightly, Link pushed himself up to his knees and mustered the energy to actually look around. Ice spread through him, mingling with the Gloom.
He was in the Korok Forest – the sanctuary at the center of the Lost Woods. But it had changed, dreadfully so. Generally the Korok Forest was teeming with life, from the lush ferns, vibrant flowers, and full-leafed oak trees to the squirrels and birds filling the trees, the frogs chirping in little puddles and ponds, and of course the Koroks, the children of the forest. No matter the time of day, the weather was clear, and the way the sunlight or moonlight filtered through the canopy illuminated the grove with a beautiful, mystical glow.
Now the forest was silent, just as the Lost Woods had been. A dark cloud, that unsettling violet mist, hung heavy over the trees. Link sucked in a sharp gasp as he noticed, mere feet from him, one of the Koroks standing perfectly still, facing him. Once he noticed the first, others became clearly visible. There were Koroks stuck at the top of trees, a Korok standing near the Master Sword's pedestal – empty, he noted grimly – several along the Great Deku Tree's roots, all of them eerily still as stone.
And the Great Deku Tree himself was just as still and silent. He seemed to have a pained expression, and Link noticed in horror that there was Gloom seeping from his mouth like bile.
But there was also a Shrine of Light nestled between two of the Great Deku Tree's roots, emerald light spiraling gently up around its surface. Link exhaled heavily, glancing down at his Gloom-ridden hands, his body trembling as the corruption ate its way through him. I… I have to get this fixed, before anything else, he thought grimly.
Stumbling, his movements slow and halting, he staggered his way to the shrine, activated the dragon ring, and limped inside. Some improvement over last time – I can at least get myself in here, he thought, sighing deeply as the shrine's light seeped into him, turning the corruption away from his heart, at last bringing him relief from the pain. He slumped to his knees and then to his back; he closed his eyes and fell asleep in moments.
His dreams were different this time. The moment at which he had slammed a fist against the Gloom Hand and a flash of light freed him replayed in his mind, slow and deliberate. It was not the gold of Zelda's time magic; it was a purer, brighter white, closer to the color of her sealing powers – the powers she had used to ultimately vanquish the Calamity.
Light magic…
"May the Light of our blessing grant you the strength you seek," came the mysterious Hylian woman's voice, her tone seeming more insistent than before.
When Link awakened, he remained in the Shrine, gazing up at the drifting green auroras and distant sparks like stars, feeling the weight of all that had happened.
Those… those Gloom Hands… I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's causing all the trouble here, he thought. To find something so evil in the Depths below the Lost Woods…
Which means I have to destroy them somehow. If I could get above them, shoot at them below, maybe I could get somewhere. But on the ground, fighting them up close…
He shivered violently, drawing his knees close to his chest at the memory of the fingers snatching him up, wringing him out as though he were a damp cloth. The pain wrought by Gloom was unbearable, and he felt a fierce pressure behind his eyes and a tightening around his throat and heart at the thought of dealing with it a third time in his life. Never again, he prayed.
He would do his utmost to stay out of range. That seemed the safest way to fight them.
There had been the flash of light that ultimately freed him, something that confused him. He wasn't… magical. Magical things happened to him, but as far as he knew, there wasn't a magical drop of blood in his body.
Except… now I have a Zonai arm, and I've got evil magic zooming through my blood every chance it gets, he thought wryly. Not to mention I was magically locked in a bathtub for a hundred years so that my should-have-been-fatal wounds could heal.
He rubbed the side of his head. "So maybe I have more magic than I thought," he murmured. And I've been spending every night that I can in the Shrines of Light, with the same dream each time, except for last night. The Light of our blessing… may it grant you the strength that you seek… Strength, as in… light magic?
He had noticed that the Gloom wasn't as instantly decimating as it had been during his first venture into the Depths. He was able to escape on his own, after all. Perhaps he had gotten stronger, more resistant to Gloom, as a result of his time in Shrines of Light.
Link pushed to his feet with a grunt, stretching his arms back. Light magic or not, he had no idea how to actually use it. Zelda would know, of course… his heart twinged painfully. But that's part of the whole problem.
He left the shrine, walking out into the shadowed Korok Forest once again. There was no change in it now from when he had entered the shrine – no change in lighting to indicate time of day, and of course the Koroks remained eerily still, and the Great Deku Tree, if anything, looked even more ill, Gloom still pouring out from his mouth. Link exhaled quietly, closing his eyes for a brief moment. Time to find a way back to the Depths, he thought resolutely, tapping a hand against the hilt of his sword, stringing his bow, and double-checking that his quiver of arrows was ready at hand.
He walked to the hollow at the base of the Great Deku Tree. The Koroks had crafted it into a sort of shelter for visitors, with a bed, a cooking pot, and a statue of the Goddess. On his past visits, they had brought odds and ends they had found and piled them into one of the nooks to see if he would be interested in any of them. Now, the nooks were empty; the cooking fire was dead, and the bed unmade, in disarray. And beyond them all, directly beneath the Great Deku Tree's mouth, was a jagged pit spewing Gloom.
A Chasm entrance, Link thought, his stomach clenching with dread. Inside the Great Deku Tree. Well… that's straightforward enough.
Drawing closer, he winced at the sight of the Gloom splattering the sides of the pit, just like the other Chasm entrances. It wasn't quite as concentrated, but clearly it was still plenty enough to be causing the Great Deku Tree harm.
Inhaling deeply, he leapt into the hole; this one was much smaller than the others, barely wide enough for him to stretch his arms out. There was a great deal of Gloom at the bottom, he realized from a considerable distance up, and his lip curled. A section of it was undeniably moving. Gloom Hands. Just as I thought. But towards the small, round chamber at the bottom there were several knobbly ledges protruding from the wall; he flicked out the paraglider and landed on one of them without any trouble.
At once the five hands rose up on their withered arms from the puddle of Gloom, shrieking at him angrily, their amber eyes trained on him.
Quickly he pulled his bow and an arrow. What was it I told Harth? I could probably shoot five arrows at a time with this? He nocked the arrow and drew it back to his cheek, exhaling slowly as he took aim. Goddesses willing, it's enough.
He loosed the arrow, and it plunged into one of the eyeballs, Gloom spurting from the point of impact. The hand screeched terribly, twitching and flopping over as Link readied his next arrow. He released, and another of the hands went limp with a pained cry, although he noticed worriedly that the first arrow was now coated in Gloom and smoking slightly. Inhaling deeply, he drew back a third time, and a third hand dropped, his arrow through its wrist. Three out of five.
His shoulders and back were beginning to feel the strain of pulling back a hundred pounds of bowstring so quickly, so many times in a row. Ignoring the discomfort, letting adrenaline fuel him, he drew back a fourth time and released. Another hand recoiling, screeching in despair. One left.
But by then the first arrow he shot dissolved entirely, he realized with a grimace, and the hand was looking at him again, seemingly entirely unharmed. The second arrow he had shot was similarly coated in Gloom by now, smoking ominously. Got to be faster!
He pulled back faster than he should have and shot the fifth hand. Quickly he grabbed his next arrow, aimed at the first, and let the arrow fly – it clattered to the stone, a flat miss. Cursing, Link scrambled for his next arrow, his hands clammy with sweat by now; he pulled back once more, his back straining under the effort, and fired. This time his arrow struck true.
And now the second hand he had shot was waking back up, shaking off the last of the damage he'd originally inflicted upon it. And his third arrow was nearly entirely dissolved. Link drew in a sharp breath, striving to keep himself calm. Focus! Don't get sloppy!
He aimed more carefully, his arms beginning to shake from the effort. The arrow struck the hand's eye dead center, and then all five of them were shrieking, standing up rigid from their puddle of Gloom. Slowly their tremors eased, and they fell limply back into their puddle, which rapidly shrank and then disappeared altogether. Link let out a shaky breath, relief seeping through him.
But above the ground where the puddle of Gloom had vanished, specks of blackness drifted through the air, swiftly coalescing into an all-too familiar tall, imposing corpse with long, raging hair like flames, eyes that burned a deep red, a dark stone upon his brow. Link's blood turned to ice, and his mouth went dry.
The… the Demon King!
His heart lurched as the Demon King conjured a bow and drew back, aiming towards him. The bowstring made no sound as he fired, and Link leapt from his perch to the ground with a gasp, quickly drawing his sword.
The Demon King seemed almost to laugh condescendingly, his bow dissolving into a sword of his own – a long, elegant katana with a blade dark as night. Link swallowed, watching him carefully for any sort of tell. He found himself painfully aware of his own small stature in the face of this being; the Demon King had the height of a Gerudo, but the musculature of a Goron –
At once the Demon King lunged, and Link deflected the blow with a grunt. The Demon King flipped his sword almost lazily in one hand before launching another attack, one that Link countered swiftly.
This is a master swordsman. At least my equal – if not better.
The duel progressed, neither landing a hit on the other. Link managed well enough to stay away from the puddles of Gloom on the floor, away from the Gloom that seemed to ooze from the Demon King's feet. The Demon King's own calm confidence, the fluidity with which he moved, revealed his great skill, and as the fight continued with neither combatant gaining much ground, a slow smile spread across his skeletal face.
At last Link found an opening.
Time seemed to slow, and Link rushed forward faster than was humanly possible, delivering a fierce blow to the Demon King's chest and then leaping back – an ability he had worked hard to hone. Time resumed its usual flow, and the Demon King staggered back with a deep scowl.
The corpse attacked again, seeming fiercer than before, though the wound in his chest leaked Gloom like blood. Link dodged and parried his attacks, hissing as his foot landed in a puddle of Gloom and quickly retreating to bare wood – but the damage was done; his arm ached anew, the corruption awakened within him.
Corruption that had been placed there by the Demon King himself.
Determined, fire in his soul, Link ignored the pain, keeping his focus on his enemy. The Demon King attacked again – he was putting more strength into his blows, but though they were fiercer, they were also considerably sloppier. Link found an opening and rushed forward, landing a flurry of attacks this time before rushing back. The Demon King screeched and stumbled back, the very same sound as the Gloom Hands when they were struck. Gloom now oozed across his body, even from places that Link had not struck, and the Demon King's withered, mummified face regarded him with new hatred.
The Demon King continued his attack. The puddle of Gloom at his feet was smaller, the strength and cleanliness of his attacks now greatly decreased. Heart pounding hard within his chest, Link continued dodging, deflecting, attacking, parrying, until he twisted the blade from the Demon King's grip and plunged his sword once more deep into the corpse's chest before fiercely yanking it back out.
The Demon King screeched once more, crumpling to one knee, looking up at Link with utmost hatred across his face. Then at once his body exploded into a cloud of bright crimson mist that swiftly dissipated as it writhed upwards.
Link stared in astonishment, waiting with his sword held ready for any sign of a new threat, his heart hammering, his blood surging with adrenaline. That… that was it? he thought incredulously, slowly lowering his sword as the chamber remained silent. His eyes widened as the puddles of Gloom all around him began smoking profusely, crimson tendrils rising upwards with a low rushing sound like flame, and he watched them uneasily, holding his sword ready for whatever this was to begin its attack –
And then he realized that the Gloom was receding; after the red mist billowed for a few moments it disappeared and left behind mossy wood in its place. Link exhaled softly, tension easing in his shoulders as he gazed up the Chasm above him, watching as the Gloom there faded away as well.
Is… is that it? Is the Great Deku Tree… fixed, now?
He heard a faint whirring sound that quickly grew louder and looked up to find three Koroks coming down towards him using their whirligig fans to stay aloft.
"You did it, Mr. Hero!" the nearest one squeaked, immense relief in its tiny voice. "Thank you!"
"The Great Deku tree is waiting for you," another chimed in. "We can bring you back up, if you want!"
Link nodded, and the Koroks each grabbed his shoulders and hands before flying skyward through the Chasm, their whirligigs spinning rapidly to account for his much greater weight.
"Thanks," he said when they reached the hollow at the top of the Chasm, all three of the Koroks now panting and breathless.
"Any time," one wheezed with a wave of its little arm, sagging against the side of the hollow. "Actually… actually, maybe not any time, Mr. Hero."
Link chuckled. "Well, thanks for this time, then. I didn't really know how to get out otherwise."
He walked out of the hollow, into the Korok Forest proper, and relief warmed his soul as he saw the familiar golden light filtering through the vibrant leaves, the sky clear, the Koroks moving around, playing as they did among the treetops and in the ferns. Thank the Goddesses, he thought with a small smile, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Ah… so it is you," came a familiar deep voice from behind.
Link turned to find the Great Deku Tree regarding him from above, looking very tired, but there was no longer Gloom spewing from his mouth. "Glad to see you awake," Link said, nodding towards the forest.
The old tree chuckled wearily. "Yes… although I am still quite groggy, as though I am awakening from a bad dream." He squinted thoughtfully at Link. "You rid me of that unpleasantness, deep within me. It came up from below – from a place so deep, so long-empty, that I had not thought to place my usual protections there. A clever attack, indeed." He sighed deeply. "Yes… you went to great lengths to restore me. Thank you. It… it has been some time since last we spoke, I believe… have you been well?"
Link frowned. "Do you know how long you were… asleep?" he asked uncertainly.
The Great Deku Tree frowned. "I… I suppose I do not," he answered. "I can feel in my roots that some time has passed. Before the attack – quite shortly before – I felt a great evil presence awakening somewhere in Hyrule. After that, I… I was overwhelmed."
So this also happened at the same time as the Upheaval.
He explained about the corpse he and Zelda had discovered – the Demon King. How he had been attacked, lost his arm and the Master Sword, and awakened a month later on a sky island with a replacement arm from an ancient spirit, with Zelda missing.
"I'm trying to find her," he finished gravely. "But… she's hard to find. She showed up in Hebra, and sort of led me to the place where I could fix the blizzard plaguing the Rito – a blizzard created by the Demon King. Since all the other awful things have been caused by the Demon King, maybe I'll catch up to her again if I investigate them."
"That makes sense," the Great Deku Tree approved. "And, as the Hero of Hyrule, you are indeed uniquely qualified to deal with those other events. You've saved Rito Village, and now you've saved me and the Koroks. Zelda's actions are confusing to me as well, and I fear for her." He sighed deeply. "You are meant to investigate the Demon King's actions across Hyrule, and it will help you find answers. Of that, I am certain, though they may not be the answers you seek."
Link grimaced, his heart sinking at the ancient spirit's words. He could feel already no small amount of dread about what he would find. I know already that Zelda spent some time in the past. And then there's these… echoes, that might not be echoes. He shook his head slowly. "And… I guess it's too much to hope that the thing I fought inside of you was actually the Demon King," he said.
The Great Deku Tree hummed in agreement. "It was not him," he answered solemnly. "It was but a shadow, conjured to torment me, to keep me from giving you aid – from helping you find the Master Sword."
Link's heart leapt. "You know where it is?" he exclaimed. "Is it – is it fixed?"
"I can sense it, even now," the Great Deku Tree affirmed. His brow furrowed deeply. "It… it is not ready to be found. There can be no mistake – it is in the sky. High – far higher than even a bird could reach… how can this be?"
Link frowned, uneasiness churning in his gut. "It… it's in the sky, and it doesn't want to be found?" he repeated incredulously. He felt a pang of what seemed like guilt. "Why doesn't it want to be found?"
"It is not ready to be found," the Great Deku Tree said again, his voice kind. "There is a difference." He sighed. "You may have to be resourceful to reach the Master Sword, but you must find a way, when it is ready."
"And how will I know when it's ready?" Link asked skeptically, fighting down a wave of frustration. It… it was badly damaged. So it makes sense that it might not be ready now, barely a month later. It's… not that I'm no longer worthy of it. He swallowed. I hope.
"It is your sword, Link," the Great Deku Tree said. "You will know when the time is right."
There came a sudden familiar whinny from the forest, and Link turned in surprise to see Ember cantering through the trees towards him, two Koroks clinging to his mane and one dangling from his tail. His heart lifted at the sight.
The Great Deku Tree chuckled. "It seems my children have found a friend of yours," he said in amusement. "You must be on your way, Link – Hyrule is in grave danger, as you are well aware. Though I wish we could offer you our hospitality…"
Link nodded. "I have to move on," he said, turning towards Ember. He glanced back at the old tree. "Thank you for the conversation."
"You are always welcome here," the Great Deku Tree said. "Travel safe."
Ember nickered affectionately as Link reached him, head-butting his arm almost fondly. Link thanked the Koroks, who had also gathered up his tack and traveling supplies, and started getting the little black horse ready for travel once again.
"You know," he said quietly to the horse, slipping him a treat. "If I didn't know any better, I might start thinking you enjoy going on adventures with me."
Ember snorted, shoving his nose into Link's hand.
He smirked. "Or maybe you just like the treats."
Link stayed long enough to share a meal with the Koroks, all of whom were overjoyed to be free once more to rain mischief over the forest and insisted he at least get something to eat before he left. When the sun was high, he departed, leading Ember along the familiar path through the mist, some of the tension easing around his chest as the mist and the whispers of the forest children drifted all around.
It's all back to normal again. Goddesses willing, we can restore all of Hyrule that way.