Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join Hylian society. Along the way, he finds a family to call his own. Protecting and loving them, as a new threat emerges, he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

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[Time: 9:48 P.M. (Night)]

[Date- Month 4 'Late-spring', Day 12, 8th Era]

[Location- Hyrule, Forbidden Forest - Lost Woods]

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Entering the sprout's meadow, Link's eyes blurred from their rush of immediately darting to the husk of the Great Deku Tree's remains. Although there were lanterns and torches lighting the area, tears would have made the hero's vision even blurrier, so he tried hard to not cry. Instead, he lowered his eyesight and focused on the tiny plant stem in front which had broken free from the ground. Since Fado was standing there, it was obviously the Deku Tree Sprout. At a height of about two feet tall, it only came up to the waist of the blonde-haired kokiri girl. The sprout was definitely shorter than Link remembered it being during the events which took place in the future. As for its weight, it also seemed far skinnier as well; no longer resembling in shape that of an overgrown acorn. Now, it was much thinner, appearing as a beige deku stick with a face and twigs branching off each side of the shoot, both reminiscent of tiny wooden arms.

Positioned directly in front of its progenitor's looming shell, the sprout looked strange, almost diminutive as it gently swayed back and forth from the nighttime breeze. No matter how different the reincarnation was from when they met seven years in the future, Link was still filled with more overwhelming emotions that nearly brought him to his knees. Had Saria not grabbed him, the boy wasn't sure he would've been able to walk over on his own.

The motherly kokiri delicately pushed him into the direction of the Deku Tree Sprout. "Go on, Link. You've waited long enough." She said with a smile in advance of hanging back with her hand on Epona's rein.

With the newly given encouragement, Link walked off his limp as best as he could until he was standing in front of the Deku Tree Sprout. Fado, who had been quietly talking to the living plant, proceeded to turn around and walk away as soon as he arrived. In her hand was a small green medallion. Although she quickly closed her palm, hiding the jeweled object, Link had already gotten a small glimpse. For one reason or another, it reminded him of a Sage Medallion in terms of its shape. However, he had doubts that was what she had since she wasn't one of the seven sages. In spite of the initial curiosity, after the kokiri passed the hylian, he was left alone with the Deku Tree Sprout. This caused him to then immediately forget the unknown object as he stared at the plant instead.

The plant-god's face was lit by a standing torch, allowing its emotions to be seen. Although it didn't have a big bushy mustache of moss or dense foliage for thick eyebrows like its humongous predecessor, it was clearly watching Link since its beady eyes honed in on the boy.

Staring at each other for about a minute, it took a lot of courage for Link to say something. It wasn't that he didn't know what to say, rather he didn't know how to say it. Eventually, he chose to say the first thing that came to his mind. Like everyone else in the entire village, he too was tired of delaying the inevitable. "Umm… Hi…" He spoke tentatively

"Hi there! I'm the Deku Tree sprout!" Cheerfully, with a tiny voice that squeaked, the forest guardian introduced himself almost as if he didn't know who the boy was. He saw how taken aback Link looked, yet was glad the hero remained in place to hear out what he had to say. Thankfully, he proved he still had recollection of past events. "Don't worry, I know exactly who you are! You're Link! You're my only hylian child; more so than that, you're the Hero of Time!"

With that, Link found himself relieved of the stress. The fact that the sprout knew who the hero was, also meant it remembered who he was destined to be. Now, the boy could finally show his father figure how all the adventuring turned out. Giving in to primitive instinct, he leapt forward, falling to the ground and wrapping his arms around its base, trying his absolute best at giving a gentle hug. "It-… It's you! Great Deku Tree, I've waited so long to see you again-… I've waited so long. The last time we saw each other was so brief and it all feels like that was a dream. But, now I have you here and I never want to let you go!" That final long-winded sentence was structured like the child he truly was. There was a ten year old kid still inside him, yearning for the guardian who had been his father for so long. Now that the lost paternal role model had returned, his inner-child was resurfacing. "I missed you, I missed you, I missed you."

"Whoa! Be careful there, Link!" The deku sprout happily exclaimed along with a chuckle. "I'm still pretty young in terms of what I'll grow into. My stem is a bit too weak for anything strenuous." After watching Link let go of the stem with a sniffle and wipe the tears welling up behind his eyes, the sprout remarked on how the hylian felt. Like any father, the demigod cared for his children too. "Link… Don't be sad, it's okay." Smiling at the hero, he continued with "Besides, I'm very glad you're here because we have to talk. I'm sure you probably have questions for me as well and the good news is I'll likely have more answers than the previous time we met in the future."

Watching Link lean back in shock, the guardian knew the hero had caught on that it was aware they had met up during the boy's adventure in time, when he went seven years into the future. The deku sprout responded to Link's body language. "Yes, I know about you going into the future. I just don't remember precisely what I said. The flow of time doesn't work that way."

Sitting back on his legs and feet, Link asked, "What do you mean?"

The Deku Tree Sprout stared at Link as it replied "I mean that I don't remember exactly what I told you in the future because this is not the future. Compared to the future, this is still the past." The sprout chuckled as it wiggled back and forth from the momentum it generated. "Thankfully I have a feeling I know what I said, because I planned to tell you long before it ever happened." Narrowing his eyes for a moment, the demigod inquired about what Link already knew. "For example, I have a feeling that you're aware of being a hylian and not a kokiri. Is that right?"

"That's right…" Link let him know that he was correct. "I noticed how none of my friends had grown up even though I was seven years in the future." The Deku Tree Sprout seemed surprised to hear how many years into the future the hero had gone, nevertheless, it continued to listen to him. "You told me that there wasn't anything wrong with my friends, that it was me, that I was the different one. I found out the kokiri are ageless while hylians age." Link sighed as he looked away temporarily. "That meant I was aging because I was a hylian. I was progressing through growth and puberty while the kokiri stayed the same... It was rough... I remember being scared and unsure of what was happening to me." He tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear as he cleared his throat. "You know, I had speculated that I wasn't the same as them for a while. I thought stuff like 'Why didn't I get a fairy until so late?' or 'Why am I able to leave the forest when the rest of my friends can't?' and 'Why did they not recognize me whenever I came back looking like an adult?'. On the other hand, I don't think I ever expected to be a completely different race from all the people who had taken care of me all my life, almost a decade. In fact, if you hadn't been so upbeat about the whole thing, I probably wouldn't be as relaxed about the matter as I am today."

The Deku Sprout's beady little eyes blinked a few times as he swayed back and forth ever so lightly in the nighttime breeze. "I'm pleased that I was able to comfort you." He replied. "Then again, there was never a need for you to feel upset regarding a topic like that. Even if you're not the same species, the kokiri truly love you like family and I was and always will be there for you, no matter what happens to my physical form."

Link's eyes widened a bit as he realized the Deku Sprout had misinterpreted what he had said. "N-No…" He stuttered briefly. "I didn't mean it like that. I know you all love me-… I-….. Nghh… There's hylian children like me who are orphans, who never get to know the joy of a loved one; there's even hylian children who are beaten and abused by the ones who are supposed to lavish them with love… So, I wouldn't trade you or the kokiri for anything... As for what I was trying to say, I just meant that it was upsetting to be so different. I'm not that happy about aging and Saria staying the same. Sure our lives will both come to an end someday, but knowing I'll grow old and feeble one day while she'll still be running around here in the same body she's always had-… It's a bit weird and stressful to contemplate."

"I see…" The Deku Sprout took a sullen moment to think. "I was hoping you didn't think so deeply on the matter..." He looked up at the stars as he explained. "You have to understand that each race is different because each race is special. Being special is what makes us who we are. Think of it this way, the next time you feel bad that you won't stay the same age, think of how amazing it's going to be to mature into that strong body you had in the future or the joy of getting to explore and live outside of these woods. Aging is unique and the kokiri will never be able to experience that or life outside. But, that doesn't mean you have to pity the kokiri either; they're fine with it because it's part of how they're special, the same as you…" Returning its gaze to Link, the sprout continued "Another way you could think is that you're lucky to have two different cultures. There's not many hylians who learn kokiri ways."

Although it was a lot to take in, Link was able to understand the gist of what the guardian was attempting to explain. This was a subject the boy dealt with quite a bit ever since he figured it out. He'd spent numerous hours contemplating being a hylian and not a kokiri. Eventually, he came to accept it, so he wasn't sore from discussing it. If anything, he was just getting confirmation on what he had already known. Regardless, it was neat to think of life the way the Deku Tree Sprout told him to. Reflecting on things while thinking of them as being special did make the hero feel more willing to accept it, most notably whenever he thought of himself as being lucky.

The Deku Tree Sprout's lips curled into a smile as he saw the boy do the same in response to thinking about what had been said. "See? Feel better?" He asked. "You are lucky and special, Link. You're definitely special! You're the Hero of Time, you're destined for greatness!"

Link's smile grew bigger as the forest god expressed the emotion the hero had waited many years to receive from him. Proudness. Surprisingly, he actually felt slightly bashful.

"Tell me…" The Deku Sprout asked "How many kingdoms have you saved, how many people have you rescued and what races have you encountered? Tell me of all your deeds in detail. I want to know about everything that's happened since I lost my Great Predecessors form."

Giving one last sniffle, Link cheered up to tell the story, the story the hylian had been waiting a long time to tell. "Yes!" Joyfully rubbing his hands together, he moved closer, ignoring the twinge in his side from where the stitched wound grew sore. His attitude was too eager for him to be focused on pain. "After the Great Deku Tree told me everything, I followed his-… err… your advice to a tee. Navi and I departed the Kokiri Village in search of the princess you told me of. It was confusing to be outside of the forest, nonetheless, I continued onward with your memory guiding my way. Our first encounter was with a-… Well, we encountered this wise old owl that was giant and could speak. It told me its name was Kaepora Gaebora, then directed me to the town of hylians. As I walked, I saw a giant castle off in the distance and recalled you and Navi telling me that princesses lived in castles. Once I reached the town, it turned out to be the right place as I could still see the castle just beyond the town. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to walk right in and see the princess. I was pretty out of place, both in appearance and sociality. I didn't understand the ways of hylians and wound up getting thrown out of the castle courtyard by the guards a few times." The boy laughed lightly at his own foolishness. "I think I must have been lucky though, because I managed to catch the eye of a young hylian girl that was about my age-..."

The Deku Tree Sprout swiveled in emotion, then responded to what Link had said. "A young hylian girl? Is it perhaps someone you can grow more intimate with and live your days with?" Although the deity spoke ardently, Link found it embarrassing that the sprout would interrupt by only picking out the fact that he and Malon might go together as a couple. "Sorry!" The sprout chuckled as Link's face flushed in response. "I didn't mean to drag you off the subject. I'm merely pleased to know you met someone similar so early into your adventure. That had to help you understand things far better than you would have if you were completely on your own."

Nodding, Link resumed. "Her name is Malon and she told me a lot about hylian customs. She also helped me get over a gate in the castle courtyard. I helped her out by finding her father, which meant it was a decent trade off. From there, I not only found her father, I found the princess. Her name is Zelda, Zelda Nohansen. She told me she had expected me, exactly as you foretold. Zelda had dreams and premonitions foreboding a destructive future by the hands of an Evil King. Doing far better than just telling me, she even showed me the man who cursed and infected you with that parasitic arachnid, Gohma."

His fingers dug into the dirt as he recalled the man's face. "His name is Ganondorf, an imposing male gerudo with royal status amongst his own kind. He had ties with the King of Hyrule through a political alliance. Unfortunately, Zelda informed me that he was going to double cross the entire kingdom, that he planned to acquire the Triforce and use it to conquer the realm by any means possible…" As he thought about it, Link felt his heart speed up ever so slightly as he had distinctly memorized the events he was describing. Bringing up the experiences made him think about them all over again; all the success as well as all the failures. The increased pulse and sweaty palms proved it was in the past, but not completely out of the champion's mind. "Everything turned out to be true; everything I was told, suspected, or presaged. You told me straight from the start that the Triforce was sacred and that a man/monster wanted to use it to destroy the foundation of society. Because of that, I had a strong feeling he was the man-... the monster of a man."

"Sounds like you went from meeting friends to discovering who your worst enemy is." The Deku Tree Sprout concluded.

"Yeah… That's about right." Shivering with goosebumps, Link recalled "He saw me too. He looked right at Zelda and I with hatred burning a hole into us. It was then that I knew for sure this was definitely the person I was seeking, whom I now had to avoid." Shaking his head, he brought to mind how he was deceived without even knowing it. "Zelda told me the gerudo king was too strong to be brought down by conventional means, that I would need the Master Sword to kill him. The catch was that the Master Sword was located in the Temple of Time and was the seal plugging to the entrance to the Sacred Realm. To even get into that portion of the Temple of Time though, I needed three spiritual stones from the other races of Hyrule, all of which were entrusted to the highest rank of the corresponding race. Thank the Goddesses that I already had one. Turns out the Kokiri Emerald you gave me was one of them…" The hylian boy smirked as he suspiciously eyed the deku sprout. "Though, I suppose you knew that-…"

Giving a dismissive wave, Link proceeded onward with the rest of what happened. "Anyway, it took me a while to fulfill that part of my mission. I had to trek to other parts of the land, meeting both the Gorons and the Zora, Rock People and Fish People. The Gorons were in trouble, needing me to assist in eradicating monsters from the cavern they harvested their food from. I became great friends, 'blood brothers' with their leader Darunia. After that, he gave me the Goron's Ruby, their spiritual stone." Nodding to his own story, he crossed his arms. "The Zora's were a bit more difficult. Turns out they thought their princess, Ruto, had been kidnapped. Except, I found out she wasn't, that the girl lied to attract attention. Either way, I was tasked by their king into finding her and just to do that I had to crawl through this giant fish they worshiped. Along the way, the princess and I discovered that their Fish-God was sick from a curse similar to that which was put upon you. Clearing out the contaminated bane, we healed their 'Lord Jabu-Jabu' and I brought Princess Ruto back to her father, the Zora King. I was swiftly rewarded with the Zora's Sapphire, the third and final spiritual stone."

"Wow!" The Deku Tree Sprout exclaimed. "You did all of that?! I don't know why I'm surprised since you defeated all the enemies that resided within my Great Predecessor." It chuckled more with a look of amazement. "You got to meet Hylians, Gorons and Zoras; such diversity! Not to mention, you rescued the Gorons and Zoras, gaining their trust as well as their respect in the process!"

Hearing how proud the guardian was in him made it easier for Link to talk about. "Y-Yeah-… But, the problem is, I was tricked and in a certain way, outwitted. Whenever I used the three spiritual stones to unlock the Door of Time, I unknowingly gave Ganondorf the perfect opportunity to get into the Sacred Realm. The moment I pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal, I was entrapped, keeping me there for seven years until I was old enough to wield its full potential…" The boy stopped there for a breather. Taking a second, he sighed, hanging his head low as he thought about that incredibly dismal time period. It was a chapter of his life that did exist, but also hasn't existed yet. Confusing as it was, he often came to the conclusion that he was fortunate to be able to remember it at all seeing how most people were oblivious since they didn't experience the time shift from the same angle as he did. To be able to retell the tale was nothing short of a miracle in itself. "After waking up, I discovered the entire realm was in pearl. Ganondorf had taken over and anyone or anything that stood in his way had been reduced to ash. The castle and its town were destroyed, full of enemies. It scared me-…"

Stopping again, there was something Link wanted to say, but decided to keep it in his head instead of saying it aloud. 'Without Navi, I would've been too terrified to carry on with what I had to do.'

Moving on with the flow of retelling his adventure, the hero said. "During the seven years my soul was locked away, I was at some point awakened by an older heavyset man in a strange temple-like room that had no ceiling, consisted of a giant hexagonal platform and giant pillars that extended from the depths to a crystalline blue sky. He told me his name was Rauru and that he was one of the Ancient Sages. He was the one who told me about Ganondorf getting into the Sacred Realm and stealing the Triforce, that I had been used as the key for a door the enemy otherwise couldn't get into."

"Rauru is a very-very wise man, Link… I'm glad he was there to help you. It also sounds like Kaepora Gaebora worked as planned; so good on them both." The Deku Tree Sprout responded.

Link was interested in knowing how the sprout knew Rauru, but didn't put forth the effort into finding out. He merely assumed it was likely that deities and important sages were in contact with one another more often than not. "I'm glad too…" He interjected. "He explained a lot to me. Scared as I was, I wasn't lost in my destiny because of him. I learned of my new revised mission; needing to find five medallions and the respective sages who have their fate laying dormant within. When I departed from the Sacred Realm, I had one more surprise as I encountered a young Sheikah man who called himself Sheik."

"Sheik the Sheikah? That was his actual name?" The Deku Tree Sprout questioned.

"I know…" Link replied. "I thought it was strange too. On the other hand, he told me how he was one of the last of his race. He had been searching for me and in his quest had learned knowledge pertaining to the location of the five remaining sages. Sharing that knowledge was his primary purpose in attempting to locate me. 'One in the Forest, One in the Mountain, One in a Lake, One with the Dead, One with Sand.' He basically told me. It wasn't that hard to figure out where to start from there since I lived in a forest for the majority of my life. That's whenever I returned here while I was there in the future. It was terrible. The state of disrepair Kokiri Village was in, the wild animals or monsters in it, everything in the future was disheartening. It took me a while to find anyone, thank goodness it turned out to be a kokiri. Seeing they were still alive as well as their fairies gave me hope to keep going. They didn't recognize me, but I managed to learn that Saria and Mido had gone to the Lost Woods, where they were trying to find the Sacred Grove and thus the Forest Temple residing within it."

"Ah, the Forest Temple…." The Deku Tree Sprout abruptly reminisced in advance of coming up with an informative lecture. "There's likely much more to that temple than you're aware of. Did you know that long ago, the kokiri and a group of hylians lived alongside each other?"

"Lived alongside each other? Wait, wha-….. Great Deku Tree, are you going to listen to my story?" The hero playfully complained with a smile. "Gee-wiz."

The Deku Tree Sprout let out a relatively high pitched chuckle, far squeakier than his Great Deku counterpart. "What's the rush, Link? We've got time and this is all very much relevant to your story. Don't you want to know the past of the area you've grown up in? Besides, it explains the curse of the Lost Woods." He watched as Link settled down prior to nodding his head yes. The boy really did want to know why the curse of the Lost Woods existed. "Good. None of the kokiri have ever told you about back then for a good reason. You see, the Forest Temple isn't really a temple at all, it's a castle. About four hundred years ago, a group of wise hylians who called themselves oracles entered my forest. It had been the first time in a long while that humans had come as those before were mere travelers or explorers. But these people were not looking to walk through like those that came before. They approached me, scaring the kokiri. Still, it wasn't until they began to pray in front of me that I truly sought interest in what they wanted."

Its wooden lips creaked as the sprout pushed them out. "For the first time, the kokiri children made real contact with a hylian. You see, centuries before that, the kokiri were not as they are today. The Kikwi are the ancestors of all kokiri and those ancestors were inspired by the ways of hylians. Unfortunately, they were also well aware of how dangerous they could be, thus causing their skepticism." The forest guardian momentarily focused his vision upon the kokiri lined up to see him prior to continuing. "When they came under my protection, they were granted their current forms as a gift. Yet, they never got over their fear for those of your kind. Thankfully, this group of hylians didn't express malice or even greed, they proved that all they wanted was to worship Farore's creations in order to bring peace."

Thinking in his head without talking aloud, Link contemplated how this group of oracles sounded like the kind of sages he'd encountered on his journey, that or another group following the same tradition. 'Who were these people?'

"They erected a castle deep in the woods where they praised life together." The Deku Tree Sprout kept talking. "They developed a philosophy, a way of life based upon nature. They believed they should go with the flow, to take care of the realm and allow it to take care of them. It was beautiful, really. It was a religion Farore herself would be proud of." Gradually, his vision returned to Link. "Still, time passed and eventually all but one old man acting as oracle remained in the castle. The others had spread out to other towns and other kingdoms. That lone oracle brought forth a new generation of devotees. Soon, visitors from all across the kingdom were coming to the forest in search of learning the ways the oracles had mastered. The kokiri and these hylians were at peace, they respected and had much to learn from each other."

The Deku Sprout stiffened a bit as a particularly strong gust of wind blew through the air. "If you ever wonder why the store in Kokiri Village has a counter taller than the Kokiri, it's because a hylian used to sell his goods behind there. Both races prospered for hundreds of years, that is until the Hyrulean Civil War erupted." Suddenly, his voice grew sullen as he spoke. "The Civil War was meant to unify the land by eliminating forces that wished to do more harm than good. Unfortunately, to the dismay of many, this instead led to the destruction of places of harmony as poor leadership and corrupted leaders sought power to assist in their conquest, even going as far as to look for a way to gain control of the Triforce. When armies approached the Kokiri Forest, the last oracle and his people grew frustrated, fed up with the Civil War's hostility. The oracle knew the outcome for the weak would be grim. Defenceless Kokiri had no chance of warding off a hundred grown hylians in shining suits of clanking armor. So, with the help of his followers, the oracle converted his castle into a fortress, doing his best to help in preparation to defend nature…"

This time, the Deku Tree Sprout paused, not to catch his breath, rather for a moment of silence of things that had happened in that portion of history. The reason behind the tree-god's hesitation was revealed as soon as he resumed his story.

"An army of a hundred advanced into my sacred forest, defiling it with their bloodsoaked boots. In truth, they were looking for me. They had heard of me, the kokiri's demi-god, the Great Deku Tree and they wished to drain me of my energy, my lifeforce. With it, they believed they would harness immense power they could then use to destroy their enemies." This time, his wooden lips curled up in disgust regarding such selfishness. "I did what I could and cared more for my children than myself. Calling all the Kokiri and Fairies forth, I hid them within me, allowing them to take refuge within my insides. Sealing myself shut, the only thing I could do was what I was already doing. I had faith in the Goddesses that what happened was meant to be, yet I didn't foresee a happy end to it until I was able to truly see what had stopped the army from marching into my meadow and slaying me."

He looked happier for a moment, clearly glad things didn't turn out how he expected them to. "Using my magic, I was able to witness the oracle, his men and women, all engaging in combat with this metal-suited army. The people who had forsaken hostility were using their banned emotions for the better. In fact, because of their bravery, the mere act of beginning the fight had distracted the army from finding me. Instead the invaders followed the oracle and his people into what is now the Lost Woods, pursuing them all the way to what is now the Forest Temple. A solid day passed as the oracle and his men remained under siege from the encroaching soldiers and knights. They used their defenses and even fought actively in battle, however, it was always a futile skirmish. Eventually, even with using magic borrowed from me to warp rooms in their castle, the soldiers outnumbered the oracle's group by fifty men."

"Imagine it…" The guardian said "Those men and women must have been terrified and yet, they stuck to using their strength to defend those who lacked it. If honourable bravery like that was instilled inside everyone, an event like that never would have happened in the first place. Regardless, it was because of the bravery of those men and women that the oracle was able to escape the castle. Although he didn't want to, he left behind his people to entrap the soldiers as he left the Lost Woods unharmed." A flicker of regret could be seen flashing from within the sprout's beady eyes as he continued. "I called him and he came. Standing face to face, we both knew what would happen if and when the army broke free from the castle; they would return to the Kokiri Village, breach the path to my meadow, find me and destroy me. All magic inhabiting this forest would perish due to their malicious actions…"

Holding his tongue, he paused, likely feeling emotions in memory of these events. "Together, hylian and kokiri came up with a plan that would work, only with dire consequences. Before long, it was decided that living with the negative was far better than dying. We formulated a curse that, when put into effect over the Lost Woods caused any Adult Hylian within to wither and die. Their skeletal remains would rise up, taking up the arms they once used to harm us in order to now protect us."

Link's eyes slowly widened as he realized this was how the stalfos which exist within the forest came in existance.

"Although the curse worked exactly as we planned." The deku sprout resumed. "It was too late for the oracle's people regardless of what I did. According to plan, every last soldier in the Forest Temple succumbed to my magic, keeling over in a matter of thirty minutes." Stopping, he groaned a high pitched moan prior to exhaling a sigh. Looking straight at Link, he seemed to cheer up a tad knowing how things would ultimately turn out. "In spite of all the death, we were saved. The kokiri rejoiced in celebration. Everyone seemed content that they were safe from the harm of invaders."

A small grumble escaped as he again frowned. "Unfortunately, the lone oracle was the only one who did not smile. Alone and stricken with grief, the old man decided that it was his time to leave. I tried to convince him to stay, I tried to show him the joy in rebuilding his religion from the ground up. But, it was inevitably his choice to leave. It's just that, instead of leaving the forest, he went further in. To atone for his sins, he chose to return to the castle where he too became a fatality, his spirit leaving this realm next to his group of followers that sacrificed their lives for him and us…" Letting out a long-winded sigh, the demigod analyzed the hero's face for clues on how the boy felt about what was said. "That's pretty much it for my story. Without any of the oracles or even their religion, relations with hylian culture deteriorated. Those that came were turned away and those who were turned away spread rumors of the forest's new curse. Slowly but surely, the Kokiri Village and Lost Woods became known as the Forbidden Forest. Hylians stayed away in fear of their lives, leaving behind the oracle's castle to sit where it is now. Gradually, it became overgrown with nature and the kokiri passed it down into legend as the Forest Temple… It's a sad, long story."

"W-Wow!" Link exclaimed. "That's-…. Just, wow." He blinked from the surprise. "I never knew any of that." Knowing more of their history provided him better insight on the way the kokiri thought. He realized it was no wonder the forest children never trusted adults, much less hylians. Then again, knowing that he was the first hylian Saria and the others not only took in but raised, after suffering through such awful events, it was quite enlightening. Link found himself feeling luckier now that he ever did pior. The family he lived with was once put in danger by the very race the child they rescued is. Kokiri and the Great Deku Tree lived happily knowing that the hero was a hylian, they even taught him the ways of peace as well. He couldn't have been happier. Everyone was happy, that is until they were affected by Ganondorf's evil. The curse he put on the Great Deku Tree rang similar to what the rotten gerudo had done to all of the other temples around the kingdom. "I suppose that means that you had gotten used to the way things were after that. You started to think we were all safe until Ganondorf struck."

"I knew of his plan to kill me long before he put it into play, Link." The Deku Tree Sprout firmly responded, letting the young hero realize how much he knew what was going to happen in advance of it actually happening.

"Still…" Link began to steer the conversation back toward his adventure. "He's a monster. His curse wasn't for a better good like yours and the oracle. No. Worse than that, what Ganondorf did to you is exactly like he did to the rest of the temples that I had to find in order to look for the other sages Rauru requested I locate."

"Oh, do continue." The Deku Tree Sprout allowed. "I just figured you'd like to know about the Forest Temple."

"It's okay. I'm glad you did." Link relaxed. "The Forest Temple was important. Sheik told me which ones had been filled with dark magic from Ganondorf. The Forest Temple happened to be the first. Like how he cursed you, that jerk contaminated the location and left a monster to control it. It took a lot of skill for me to make it through the place, yet, it took even more out of me to fight the location's monster, the 'boss' known as 'Phantom Ganon'. This ghostly spirit was evil and looked exactly like Ganondorf. Once I defeated it, Saria was set free. She knew precisely who I was, noticing me instantly. We reconnected. She told me how she'd been awakened as the Forest Sage and then she assured me to continue my mission, giving me the first medallion, the Forest Medallion. That's whenever I encountered you, future you. You had just popped up from the ground and told me all about my destiny, how my mother left me with you and how I was a hylian who had been raised by the kokiri. It was the first time I had gotten answers pertaining straight to me about my history. It was shocking to know I wasn't who I thought I was."

Giving himself a few more moments of contemplation, the hero thought about what he had initially considered whenever he met the Deku Tree Sprout thirty minutes ago. "How come you don't look like you did then? You're-… pardon me, but you're much skinnier than you were then."

"Ha!" The tiny demi-god chuckled. "Most creatures would take that as a compliment! I think it's simple, really… Based on what you told me, when you broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I was probably finally able to grow and flourish. However, that was seven years into the future. Ganondorf had likely placed the curse on the Forest Temple as soon as you entered the Sacred Realm. Since he didn't enter the Sacred Realm in this timeline, there was no curse to keep me from being able to flourish from the very start. The whole reason I was likely thicker than I am now is due to the fact that I had more time to grow then, seven years in fact, even if they were long years spent underground with little nutrients… Don't worry, I'll fill in my form... Now, back to your story."

Satisfied with the answer to his question, Link spoke. "The next location on my list was Death Mountain. I knew that it was likely this was my next location since Sheik had mentioned a mountain. The Fire Medallion was another clue as it was the only location in Hyrule which has streams of flowing lava. Arriving at Goron City, the state of affairs there was just as bad as they had been here in Kokiri Village prior to my arrival and clearing out the Forest Temple. Darunia, my 'sworn brother' was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until I managed to find a single goron, help him out around there and convince him that it was me that he divulged information, allowing me to learn that Darunia had gone to the Fire Temple to fight Volvagia, a monstrous dragon with a large appetite for gorons. Apparently, Darunia is the ancestor of the hero goron that defeated Volvagia in the past. So, because of Ganondorf and his curse, the bones of the dragon had risen, dark magic giving it skin and fire-breath to haunt the Fire Temple and Death Mountain. Whenever I finally defeated it, the Gorons were freed and Darunia turned out to be the Fire Sage. He handed over the Fire Medallion as well."

As long as it was, the story continued. "The Water Temple involved a similar story, really. Since it involved water, naturally I knew the zoras were the best place to begin searching. Once more, things were different than when I last visited. Seven years had passed, now the Zora's Domain was abandoned, water no longer flowed and ice had formed atop it, preventing repopulation in the area. Searching the place, I found King Zora encased in red ice. I managed to thaw him using Blue Fire from the local Ice Cavern, but I couldn't save the rest of Zora's Domain; it was just too frosted over for me to fix in its entirety. Thankfully, King Zora told me what had happened. Apparently, Lake Hylia had dried up and the remaining water had mysteriously iced up. An unnatural ice drought had caused Princess Ruto, his daughter, to go investigate the problem from within. A place of worship known as the Water Temple was the likely location of where she was. Getting there, it turned out the temple had been cursed by Ganondorf as well. First, I was forced to go up against a shadowy version of myself. It was like a reflection. Fighting it was difficult, but I don't think it was really alive. It was more like a dummy mimicking me. Without a single word, it fought me; me fighting me until one finally prevailed. Obviously it was me-me… I?" He took a second to chuckle at his choice of words. "Second, A monster known as Morpha, an amoebic creature of unknown origins resided inside. Once I destroyed it, the water of Lake Hylia was allowed to return and I discovered that Princess Ruto was the Sage of Water. She gave me the Water Medallion now that her fate too had awoken."

The hero was getting closer to the end, so he was glad he'd be able to move on from the subject soon. "At this point, I had acquired the Forest Medallion, the Fire Medallion, and the Water Medallion, awakening the sages of each respective element. Carrying onward, leaving the Water Temple, I recall noticing smoke spewing from a village known as Kakariko Village. The smoke drew me to the village where I discovered Sheik standing by burning buildings. As soon as he saw me, he yelled to run. Ganondorf had awakened the spirit Bongo Bongo who had been imprisoned deep within the stone well the residents got their water from. That spirit sensed me, broke free from the well and went on to cause more destruction. Sheik told me he had learned the fifth sage was Impa, another sheikah who also happened to be Princess Zelda's royal nanny. I knew her in the past because she had taught me how to use the Ocarina of Time. Impa had gone to the Shadow Temple in hopes of finding a way to recapture Bongo Bongo. To my dismay, I wasn't able to get into the Shadow Temple without the use of an object known as the Lens of Truth, a mystical tool once used by the Sheikah to see that which can not be seen with the naked eye. What frustrated me was that the rumored location for the Lens of Truth was tucked deep within the well that Bongo Bongo had previously occupied. Of course, get this; only a child could fit down into The Well of Kakariko Village."

Seeing where this is going, the Deku Tree Sprout sighed softly. "So you had to return to being a child just in order to fit inside this well?"

Nodding, Link's lips pursed as he shared the sentiment. "I know, I felt the exact same way. It was ridiculous. What was worse was the fact that I had to give up the Master Sword and Triforce of Courage. The only possible way to return to the past was if I put the Master Sword back inside its pedestal. Returning to the shape I am now jostled around my insides too. I swear, it made my head feel funny to come back to being a child after being an adult for as long as I was. I really had to adapt to being this small again. Either way, I pulled through and did it. I went to the bottom of the well…" Suddenly, the boy stopped, unable to continue the story momentarily as he recalled the traumatic atrocities he witnessed in that terrible place. "It-… Uhh… It was absolutely nightmarish down there. It looked like a torture chamber and I could feel the malicious energy surging through the air. There were ReDeads, flying skulls, Keese, ghosts and some kind of soul sucking demon Navi called a Dead Hand. That thing made my knees quiver in fright from just looking at it. What a horrible-horrible abomination. It took a lot of bravery for me to defeat it, yet when I did, I finally had the Lens of Truth and was ready to return to the future and go to the Shadow Temple to save Impa."

"Returning as an adult made the process repeat all over again. It was my second time, so I was partially used to it. Once I had my bearings, I used a song Sheik had taught me to teleport myself to the Shadow Temple. This place was pretty crazy. I'm glad I had the Lens of Truth or else I would've fallen to my death numerous times. The puzzles I had to solve to make my way deeper into the temple were absurd. Spinning scythes, invisible bridges spanning an abyss, guillotines, pits of poisoned water, those were just four of the kinds of things I had to deal with, not to mention ReDead, Gibdo Mummies and Like-Like, these creepy slug creatures. Plus, there were these really disturbing disembodied giant monster hands. But, whenever I ran into another Dead Hand, it was just as terrifying as when I initially encountered it in the bottom of the well. But, I didn't give up. I used the strength of my bravery to overcome my fear once more and defeat it."

"That led me to descend down the temple until I reached the lowest depth. I fell upon a giant taut surface that reminded me of stretched hide, which turned out to be a humongous musical drum. It wasn't until I used the Lens of Truth to look around that I noticed Bongo Bongo. I don't know how to describe it other than freaky. It had a body, but its neck turned into a stump where an eye was watching me, its hands were severed at the wrists, yet still functional as if by magic. The battle was difficult, but I obviously succeeded. With Bongo Bongo dead, Impa was set free and awakened to her destiny as the Sage of Shadow. Now, with the Shadow Medallion in my possession, I was ready for my final temple and sage."

"The hinted location was somewhere in the Gerudo Desert, so that was my first plan of action. Heading there, I used Epona to jump the gorge and land on the other side of the plateau. I found a single carpenter pitched in a tent who warned me that his coworkers had been kidnapped and imprisoned by the local gerudo. I went in search of his coworkers or the Goddess of Sand whom Sheik had told me would be where I'd find the last Sage, the Sage of Spirit. I didn't particularly use much stealth, rather I actually made my presence known. The first gerudo I tried to introduce myself to tackled me to the ground until others arrived. They threw me into their dungeon near one of the coworkers belonging to the carpenter. I broke free on my own by escaping. Remaining undetected was my true goal at that point. On the other hand, I couldn't sneak around the guards standing by the jail cells of the captive carpenters, each one had a guard, totaling four. I'd never fought a gerudo until then, needless to say, it was quite the challenge as well as nothing like I expected. They are experts with their scimitars. Had I not been an expert with the Master Sword, I surely would have lost my head. In fact, my skills were so impressive with the Master Sword that when I defeated the final gerudo woman she offered me the chance to become a honorary male member of their clan. Males were not usually allowed in their culture, which explained why they acted as such upon my arrival. She invited me to train with them at their training ground and gave me a token to prove my right of being able to traverse their fortress freely, not needing to worry about them throwing me into their dungeon due to my gender."

"Talking to the gerudo, I finally learned of a Spirit Temple, a location deep in the Haunted Wasteland where they used to worship the Goddess of Sand. I put things together and figured it out by myself whenever they also told me that their second-in-command, Nabooru, was at the Sand Temple. I knew that Nabooru had to be the Sage of Spirit. Setting off on my final sage seeking adventure, I barely managed to find my way through the Haunted Wasteland as it was so sandy and my only guide was a spirit or old flags that showed the way. Eventually, however, I did come across the Spirit Temple. Turns out, it was futile. I couldn't progress any further in my current form."

"No…." The Deku Tree Sprout whined. "You're kidding. You had to go back to being a child for a third time?!"

"Yep…" Link confirmed the situation he'd been presented with. "Like the two times previous, I had to undergo the process of reverting from adulthood to prepubescent. After stabilizing, I used the Ocarina of Time in order to warp to the Spirit Temple. Here, in this timeline, I actually met Nabooru at the Spirit Temple, when she was first visiting it. She tasked me with finding Silver Gauntlets, gauntlets that adults could use to wield strength intense enough to lift massive boulders. As soon as I found and gave Nabooru the Silver Gauntlets, two gerudo witches, Koume and Kotake appeared, incapacitating in advance of kidnapping her. Without the Master Sword to combat the evil of witches, I had to return to the Temple of Time and once again draw it from its holy pedestal. My third time being a kid was done and I entered my third adult body."

"Wow… I'm stunned." The Deku Tree Sprout uttered in surprise. "I'm quite shocked you had to go back and forth so many times. I'm sure that had to be difficult for you to be two different ages at different times."

"It was…" Link replied. "But, I had a second wind of confidence since I could see the end of my goal. The Sage of Spirit was the final sage I had to rescue before I was powerful enough to take on Ganondorf. Once I was an adult for the third time, I wasted no time in using the Ocarina of Time to warp to the Spirit Temple. This was interesting; seeing the temple seven years later made things quite a sight, not to mention easier for me to navigate inside. Using the Silver Gauntlets as an adult, I was able to clear ruined rubble from the temple until I found a new enemy. Navi called them Iron Knuckles, large axe swinging armor-clad gerudo knights. I had to defeat three of them, but the final one had a surprise in store for me. I was close to defeating that third whenever I knocked some of its armor off, revealing a familiar face. It turned out the third Iron Knuckle was a brainwashed Nabooru. Me defeating her had broken the spell, leaving her free from Koume and Kotake's control. This left the two witches as my final objective. They put up a bigger fight than I thought they would, for they used their powers to transform into one large witch they called Twinrova. I found out that these witches had been Ganondorf's parents for years, so I wasn't in the least bit surprised with how difficult they were to defeat. Nonetheless, I finally did it. I defeated Twinrova and released the Spirit Temple from their command."

"And Nabooru?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked, likely having assumed the answer by now.

"She was awakened to her fate as the Sage of Spirit. The Spirit Medallion was mine at long last. I was so happy, I wanted to kiss each medallion." The young hero said with a smile. The event was still fresh. He felt so proud of himself and there weren't many moments like that prior to his adventuring. "Leaving the Spirit Temple, I was ready to fully utilize all the medallions given to me from the sages. Navi and I both psyched one another up to go face off against Ganondorf. Once we were ready, we made our way to Ganondorf's Castle, which was conveniently placed directly upon the old Castle of Hyrule."

"What did you need the medallions or sages for?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked inquisitively, as if he'd waited this entire time to ask that question.

Link furrowed his brow curiously as he wondered why the sprout needed to even ask those questions. For some reason, since the sprout was a demi-god, the boy assumed it was aware of these things. Then again, the forest guardian probably wouldn't have been too interested in hearing his story in the first place if it knew everything in the world. Link realized then that was probably what separated gods from demigods. "That's simple, really. The medallions were like links to me, Link." He busted out laughing at the two words. "I was able to use each of the six medallions to harness energy from all six sages, energy that assisted me in defeating Ganondorf once and for all. However, before I entered Ganondorf's Castle, I stopped by the Temple of Time at the request of Rauru. Arriving there, I met with Sheik instead of Rauru. He quickly engaged in conversation, telling me how he came to begin the conquest he had been on this entire time, how he wanted to stop Ganondorf from getting and then using the Triforce. Sheik explained how he acquired the Triforce of Knowledge. He showed me the symbol on his hand before exploding in a poof of smoke. In his place stood Princess Zelda."

"How riveting!" The Deku Tree Sprout exclaimed.

"I couldn't believe it either…" Link responded. "The whole time, Sheik had actually been Princess Zelda. She had transformed herself to resemble a male Sheikah in order to hide from Ganondorf. It worked too. Now that we had reunited though, it was Princess Zelda's turn to lend me her power. Although I wasn't sure what sage she was other than leader, I knew she was important in all of this. It was because of her that I managed to figure out how to prepare myself for all of this." For a moment, he stopped to sigh. "Unfortunately, it would seem that our luck had run out. Since she transformed herself back into Princess Zelda, Ganondorf was immediately able to locate her. He interrupted our reconciliation by imprisoning her in a crystal cage." Gritting his teeth, he continued. "This was the final straw. I followed the demon king to his castle and with Zelda's help as well as Rauru's, we used the power of the sages to cross a moat of lava, making a bridge made out of their magic so that I could enter Ganondorf's Castle." The hero's grip tightened as his fingernails dug into his palm. "Ganondorf must have prepared for me too. He had converted the entire layout of his castle into dungeons, taking the hardest elements from each temple I had encountered in my quest and including them into a series of rooms leading upward. I fought through everything that was thrown at me, never turning away and giving it all I had. My heart and soul was put into finishing. One hundred percent, I could feel destiny calling my name."

"Reaching the top of the castle, I knew Ganondorf would be my next encounter. Navi and I were overly hyped. I remember my heart was beating out of my chest. Finally, at very long last, the moment upon which I'd been both dreading as well as anticipating had come. I opened the doors and met the king of evil, the prince of darkness. He gave his big speech, one he'd likely been thinking of ever since he knew that I was after him. It wasn't anything new; I'd been fully aware of his lust for power since the very start of it. All he wanted was all three pieces of the Triforce; Power, Courage and Knowledge so that he could be in complete control over the entire realm. Going on and on, I wanted to tell him to shut up, but I listened. Once he was done, I let him know that I had nothing to say. I was going to defeat him, free Princess Zelda and rescue everyone in the kingdom."

The Deku Tree Sprout made a face of concern prior to asking "Was he as powerful as he claimed to be?"

Grunting, Link nodded in acknowledgement. "Honestly, it was hands down one of the most difficult fights I'd ever been in. Had it not been for healing magic, after the end of it all, I would've looked far worse than I do now, and this is from a pack of wolfos and a shadowy version of myself. Ganondorf was strong, so strong because of the Triforce of Power. The Triforce likely made the demon king more efficient in his skills than anybody else in the realm. Imposing as he was though, I went at him headfirst. In a certain sense, him using all those temple elements actually warmed me up for the fight. With those refreshers, I used all I learned in my quest to fight him. I had to win, I knew I had to win because losing meant the death and destruction of everything I held dear." A smirk slowly came to his face. "Another boost came from the sages, they continued to lend me their power throughout the battle, refusing to ever allow me a chance to give up hope of defeating such great evil. Little by little, I gradually overcame each attempt to crush me that Ganondorf could throw out. He saw this and tried to fight harder, it made him angrier, but also sloppier in his strategy."

"It wasn't long from there…" Link kept his smirk, thinking about the moment he succeeded in winning against Ganondorf. "The Hero of Time won. I struck him down with the Master Sword acting as evil's bane. Everything I'd done had led up to that point. Traveling through time, rescuing not six but seven sages, mastering my title; everything made that moment possible. The Goddesses themselves loaned me their strength in that final strike, I just knew it. I could tell. Ganondorf himself, the look of surprise and anguish on his face, it was a plus that made it all the worthwhile. All the power that monster held, everything he'd put into place to ensure his victory, none of it was enough to triumph over righteousness. Out of the battle between good or evil, I knew the outcome would inevitably be the same each time. Evil will never prevail over the forces of the Goddesses. It was one of the few times I truly wanted to gloat in my success."

Suddenly, his smirk vanished and he rolled his eyes instead. "Sadly, I had to hold off on the celebration just a while longer. Ganondorf was dead… But, part of him remained." Link said, watching as the Deku Tree Sprout's face turned to that of pure amazement. "That's right. While his physical form had perished at my hands, his soul mingled with the power that was left over from the Triforce, creating a horrible monstrous form Navi called Ganon. Ganon, a giant with a pig nose, demonic goat horns and hooves for feet, played the part for the devil Ganondorf was. Either way, standing twenty feet tall, I knew it was going to be even more difficult than fighting Ganondorf." Huffing, he shook his head as he was still shocked at what he saw. "The Triforce of Power was going absolutely berserk providing Ganon with the energy the monster was consuming. He made the battle sufficiently harder than his gerudo form possibly could. I was exhausted by this point, hardly able to swing my sword. Navi and Zelda were my only motivations; if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have won. Ganon nearly overpowered me repeatedly. It wasn't until I made my final strike and witnessed the death of the accursed Ganon did I feel a twinge of hope in my heart. I'd gone through so much, had to fight so many enemies, I honestly would not have been surprised if Ganon was going to turn into something else I had to fight. Thankfully, nothing like that happened."

"Ganondorf and Ganon were finally dead?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked.

"Yes…" Link's smirk returned. "At very long last, I had vanquished both Ganondorf as well as Ganon... The Kingdom of Hyrule, no… The entire realm was rescued from the claws of evil. The Hero of Time prevailed. The process of rebuilding would be long and strenuous, but possible now that the Demon King and his evil incarnation was dead. The entire Kingdom of Hyrule knew of my deeds, leading everyone to throw me a giant celebration. It was amazing. However, despite the joy, as it turned out, I wasn't going to be able to stay in the future because Zelda had come up with one last plan. Without my input, she decided it was best to send me back in time, seven years, to just before I ever acquired the Master Sword. Sheathing it in the pedestal of time, I was transported back then. Being a kid again, I was supposedly given another chance at life. Zelda truly believed that those seven years of my life that I lost being trapped in the Sacred Realm were going to be important enough for me to not want to miss. She wanted me to live my entire life and not miss anything."

"What of Ganondorf here in the present?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked.

"He was exiled." Link answered. "I returned to the King of Hyrule and informed him of everything that happened. At first, he didn't want to believe it. But, after Zelda and Impa backed me up as well as the great details I provided, he began to give in. Ganondorf definitely knew that his plan had been foiled, for I laid it all out in the middle of the throne room, yelling to everyone how evil he is and what he'd done, not to mention all that he planned to do. The gerudo made a move at me before the royal guards chased him off. As for The King, he ordered Ganondorf to be held under treason until 'further notice' and proceeded to dissolve their political alliance. For now, the demon's gone into hiding and I hope he won't be a bother ever again. Without me using the Master Sword and breaking the seal, there's no chance for him to ever get his hands on either three pieces of the Triforce. Without the Triforce, he's just a typical male gerudo lusting for power. Besides, if he ever got his hands on anything, I'll be there. I'll be there to put a stop to him just as I've done before."

Link finished his story with a huff. Long as it was, it was a good one, surely enough for the Deku Tree Sprout. Now, the boy took a break, letting his voice relax from getting so long-winded.

It took a few moments for the Deku Tree Sprout to pipe up in response to Link being finished. "Wow… Wow… Wow…" He continued to repeat himself a few times.

"What? Too stunned for words?" The hylian hero asked.

"Uhh, yeah! I should say so…" The deku sprout admitted. "That story was amazing, but what made it spectacular was the fact that it was all true, every last bit of it. I'm flat out flabbergasted. Since you first came to these woods, Link, I knew that you were special, I knew you were destined for greatness and I did everything within my power to ensure you were safe and prepared enough to embark on your conquest. Nonetheless, I never fully comprehend just how many deeds you'd have to do in order to fulfill your fate. It's hard for me to imagine such a loving and caring person as you having to do all that you said, muchless at the age you are or were." Giving the kid a good smile, he resumed. "I'm so proud of you, Link. Like you said, you proved your title as Hero of Time."

"Thank you, Great Deku Tree. That really means a lot coming from you. I waited this whole time to hear it, truly…" Pausing for a second, Link summoned the courage to tell him how he'd felt through the years. "You've always been like a father to me."

"I've always known that, Link." The Deku Tree Sprout admitted. "And just so you know, you're not only my son, you're my favorite son." He winked his left eye. "Now, let's keep that between us so the others don't get jealous." The Deku Tree Sprout and hero both chuckled in unison, enjoying the time together. A moment later, however, the forest guardian suddenly said something that took the boy off guard. "I think you should know, Navi loved you too." He spoke a bit softer as if he didn't want anyone to potentially overhear. "I might go as far as to say that Navi loved you more than even I do, even more so than Saria too."

Link's eyes narrowed in confusion upon hearing Navi being brought up out of the blue. Remaining in one place, he merely stood there, unsure of what to say and or do. The hero didn't really want to talk about the fairy because he'd get bummed out thinking of her. 'What Navi did to me was just wrong.' He thought to himself. 'Even now, after not having her with me for almost half a year, I still can't find it within myself to fully forgive her for leaving me in my time of need, leaving me at the very end, after all we'd gone through.' Link was offended and his feelings were deeply hurt from the fairy's actions.

For a particular reason, the boy had chosen to leave out the part of his story where Navi had left, but that was only because he didn't want to be reminded of the hurt. He wondered if perhaps the fact that he didn't want to talk about it was why the Deku Tree Sprout brought it up in the first place. The demigod was certainly wise enough to know what needed to be discussed. Either way, despite the need, Link still didn't want to think of Navi. So much as using her name the few times he had already brought back many memories they'd made together.

"I don't know if I'd say that…" Link gave his honest opinion. "I think she was just trying to get done with what she had to do. She only cared about my safety since, if I got killed, she'd never be able to complete the mission of getting rid of Ganondorf."

The Deku Tree Sprout's face contorted, frowning as he listened to the hylian. "Don't say that, Link… Navi cared about you very much, even if she did want to fulfill her reason for assisting you on your journey." Roping him into the conversation, the tree deity wasn't going to stop bringing it up until the boy talked it out with him. "You don't realize this, but Navi loved you since before she even got the chance to meet you or work with you on your quest. I know it sounds a little far fetched, so you'll just have to believe me."

"How can I?" Link responded questioningly. "How could I believe that she cared when she flew off into the stained glass window in the Temple of Time and was never seen again? It was like she just warped off into the distance. Literally. We got back from being sent to the past from future Zelda, only for Navi to tell me that she 'loved me' before leaving. She didn't even give me enough time to ask what was going on. How could that be love? That's more like an employee that you can't wait to get rid of."

"Liiiiinnk…." The sprout drew out the hero's name nice and slow. "Navi wouldn't tell you that she loved you prior to leaving had she not cared about you."

Link just rolled his eyes; not at the deku sprout, rather at the notion that Navi cared. It was too hard for him to believe she loved him. Although he used to feel as though they were family, he couldn't bring himself to see it that way anymore, not after she chose to leave without an explanation. "Still… I thought she was going to be there for me for the rest of my life… I just don't see it. Instead, I feel like she abandoned me in my time of greatest need. During my confusion, frustration and anxiety. She picked that as the time to leave without helping me… " The boy started getting slightly louder as his emotions took control, making his nerves shiver from stress. "Nobody told me anything about her leaving once everything was all said and done! Nobody said anything to me until I was forced to just sit back and watch it happen!"

The Deku Tree Sprout could sense Link's encroaching anger. Like a father would, he tried to calm his son down. "Please, Link. Don't get yourself upset. I know you're torn up inside, so let me talk to you about this and you'll feel better." He swayed side-to-side as his eyes narrowed sullenly in the hero's direction. "It's my fault for never explaining it to you beforehand. You have to know that whenever Ganondorf cursed me, I never expected the end of my life to arrive so soon. I know now that no matter how far away I thought it was, I still saw you growing and should have taken the opportunity. You were simply so happy and I didn't want to ruin your remaining days of peace by explaining your fate. I thought-… if you could be oblivious, you'll be happy with the kokiri." He let out an exhale of sadness as he continued. "It's because I waited until my time had run out that you don't know more than you do."

Link's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "W-Wha-…? What are you talking about?" He questioned the guardian with doubtful uncertainty. "Deku Tree, I'm talking about Navi, not you. She was with me on our journey the entire time, not once mentioning that she had to leave. That's on her, nobody else. Even if you had the chance to tell her that she should inform me before she left, it's on her now for not making that decision on her own. I mean, come on. Obviously, I wouldn't take to it very well that she was going to leave me like that. Who in the world would?" His fists clenched tighter as he grit his teeth. "Ughh! It-… It just doesn't make any sense why she'd abandon me like that after helping so incredibly much… That's why I say she only cared about killing Ganondorf. I don't believe she truly cared all that much for me in particular."

"Link…" The Deku Tree Sprout interrupted. "I know you're frustrated and that it feels better to have an answer, but coming to the conclusion that she didn't love you because she left; that doesn't really do anything to make you feel better." His thin branch swayed in a circular motion, mimicking an arm gesturing for someone to come. With a single soft sigh, Link scooted closer to the tree-god, leaning his head against the stem before it resumed explaining. "I think, if anything, Navi didn't tell you about her having to leave until the very end because she didn't want you to lose focus on your mission. If you became depressed, you wouldn't be able to do your normal activities; it's one of the reasons why 'I' didn't tell you about your fate either whenever 'I' had the chance, because I knew it would affect your normal day-to-day life and I wanted to prolong your happiness for as long as is possible."

Glancing up at the sprout, Link still felt confused. "You mean, she didn't tell me she was going to abandon me because she wanted me to be happy? That-… hardly makes any sense at all. She basically just dropped all the depression on me in one go instead of giving me time to think about it."

The Deku Tree Sprout pursed his wooden lips. "I don't think she merely chose out of the blue to abandon you. That doesn't sound like the Navi I grew."

"Then why?" Link asked dejectedly. "Why would she even leave then?" Throwing his hands up, he said "This is why I don't like how she left, because there's questions to be asked and I'm not able to get a single answer without her being here." His lower lip trembled a bit and he found himself being able to feel his wounds; stinging in agony. He knew he had to stop getting so irate about the entire affair.

Like he'd said, being without answers was the worst part. Then again, even with a throbbing side or injured head, he began to realize that he had a chance to try and get answers in a way that, up until now, he couldn't do. "Wait a second…" He said prior to thinking. 'I just recently regained contact with the Deku Tree Sprout. With him having created Navi, there's a decent possibility that he might know where she went, or at the very least, why she went wherever she did.' Then, the boy asked aloud. "What about you, Great Deku Tree? Do you know where she went or have any general ideas as to where she might be? I'd even like to know why you think she left." Although he called the deity the 'Great Deku Tree' again instead of 'Deku Tree', Link really didn't care. He just wanted to know where Navi went. Without actually being able to talk to the fairy, the forest guardian was the next best thing and the hero's only hope. If the sprout didn't know where Navi was or why she left, then he felt he'd never truly know unless he actually found her someday.

The Deku Tree Sprout closed his eyes for a split-second as if he was thinking intently on the subject. It was at that moment that Link's hopes were held at their highest, for he was unable to tell if the deity was getting ready to reveal hidden information to him or break the news that it didn't know at all. When the sprout opened his eyes, they zoned in on the hylian as he said. "I'm sorry, Link, but I don't know… Forest Fairies are independent. Even though we communicate telepathically so that I may better guide the kokiri children, I gave them freewill to make their own decisions in case I'm no longer able to assist."

Then and there, all the boy's hope fell to the floor in a heap of emotion running down his back with cold shivers. Continuing to hang his head in disappointment, he asked. "Like the time Ganondorf cursed you and it took this long for you to regrow?"

"Precisely…" The Deku Tree Sprout acknowledged. "I had to come back or else they'd be pretty clueless without me. It would defeat the purpose of them being guardians of the kokiri. After all, I made them that way so even though the kokiri can come talk to me as long as I'm here, no matter what happens, they'll always have someone they love watching over them." He stopped and then looked up at the sky where stars inhabited the darkness. For whatever reason, it seemed like he was contemplating something. "Navi had to love you because all fairies love their kokiri. They're family. Yes, I know you're a Hylian, yet it really honestly doesn't matter. Navi would not have cared if you were a Deku Scrub or a Skull Kid, she still would have loved you because she was assigned to you…" Chuckling in a deep voice reminiscent of the Great Deku Tree, the sprout continued. "You know, Navi was actually quite special, so was her love for you. It wasn't just due to the fact that she was the fairy of a hylian or the first Forest Fairy to travel outside the Forbidden Forest for such a long period of time either."

"What? She was the first fairy to accompany a hero like me?" Link said with a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice.

Oddly, the Deku Tree Sprout appeared relieved, as if he was glad the boy chose to ignore part of what he had to say. The sprout simply continued to talk about the matter instead. "No, it's not that… Navi-… Navi is-…. Well, she was-…. At one point in the past, w-when you were just a baby-…" Cutting himself off, it was clear Link still had absolutely no clue what the plant was trying to tell him. The young hero was even more confused when the tree-god seemed to stutter up a response before utterly diverting away from what he was attempting to get across. "L-Look, just know for a fact that Navi didn't leave you out of spite. If anything, Navi left you because she had to. Perhaps she thought you didn't need her anymore or perhaps she had something else she wanted to do, something she may have planned on doing all along… I truly don't know since she never made any contact with me. But, she might still be out there. You nor I will never know because she didn't tell us. The best you can do is live your life with the decision that she made."

Unsatisfied with his answer, Link felt the need to seek out more information. "So, you weren't even aware that she was going to leave?"

The deku sprout's face turned to sorrow once again as he slowly shook side-to-side, as if to notion no. "No, I'm sorry. Like I said, I gave her free will and the chance to exercise her own judgment. Wherever she went, it was on her own accord. In fact, my awareness of your situation was only due to lack of contact with her as well as her absence now. Regardless of that, you're missing the point of what I'm saying… Don't let it consume you… Take it as another face value lesson that, not only can you not control everything, you also never know when someone is going to leave your life unexpectedly. Relish the time you have with those you love."

Once again, the answer Link received was rather lackluster. He felt it was unbelievable that such a great deity as the deku tree wouldn't be in the least bit aware that one of his creations was considering leaving his command. Nonetheless, the boy chose to believe it because there was no reason for the guardian to lie. He had an ensured feeling his paternal role model wouldn't directly lie to his face. In actuality, getting down to the root of the solution, he was sure the answer was relatively correct. He merely had trouble accepting it. It was hard to let go without knowing for sure what happened to someone, especially when that someone was who he thought was going to be there for him every step of the way. Considering that, in the end, he had no option other than to accept the advice. "Okay… I understand. I'm not happy about any of it, but I understand."

The Deku Tree Sprout showed a soft smile prior to saying "Some things you don't have to be happy about, you just have to be able to move on from them." Letting what he said soak in for a minute, he resumed. "Don't forget that, Link. That's all I can tell you. It might not heal the pain in your heart, on the other hand, it's the best you can do for your head. Don't forget, since we don't know where she went, it's entirely possible you'll run into her again; especially if she left for a reason we can't think of…" He stared down at Link as the kid sat beneath him. "Do you understand everything I've said?"

Nodding, Link had to give it to the guardian that it had a better way of looking at the situation than he did. "Yeah… I do… It's still tough though. I know, I know… It's going to be tough, but going through the process doesn't make it any easier. I just-… I wish she wouldn't have done it the way she did." Sighing, he chose to let go of it all, to move on without any further thoughts on the matter. Since the Deku Tree Sprout had no knowledge on where Navi flew off to or why, it was futile to make any other attempt at figuring it out. Nobody would know. "I'll have regrets, but like you said, I won't let it ruin my life. I have other things to worry about, other things that need taking care of… I've survived up until now without her, so I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine until or if she ever comes back."

Now, he was beginning to think of other things, other events which the hero needed to discuss with a deity while he had the chance. "I actually went on another adventure after she left… I did it all on my own. Although it was because of her that I went on it in the first place, I followed it through all on my own." Watching as the sprout's interest steadily grew, Link decided that now, after explaining everything that happened there in Hyrule, it was time to talk about his adventures in Termina. "It's true… Once Navi left me, I didn't simply give up. Actually, I immediately embarked on my next quest; to find wherever she went. Using a horse, it didn't take me long to visit everywhere in the Hyrule. In a matter of a month, I had searched each region, including all of Castle Town and all around the Temple of Time where she had disappeared. Amongst everywhere, I probably spent about six days in the Temple of Time, investigating every square inch. No chunk of stone went unturned. The only place in the entire kingdom where I didn't search was the Forbidden Forest. I hoped that she had returned to you or was perhaps living amongst the woods with the rest of the Forest Fairies."

"Same as all the other places, I searched all over. Nowhere in the Kokiri Village could I find her. I had even asked other fairies if they had seen her, all to no avail. Following a thorough searching inside-… well-… Inside your Great Deku Tree remains, I knew for sure that she wasn't there. Nevertheless, there was one final location left to search… I didn't want to and yet it was the only reasonable place left for me to look." Right then, the Deku Tree Sprout's face warped to that of surprise, then dreadful anticipation. He likely knew where the boy was beginning to go with this. "Yeah… That's right, I decided to search the Lost Woods."

Shaking his head, the sprout groaned creakily. "Oh, no… Link-… You know that wasn't a good idea."

Not letting the guardian get carried away, Link interrupted. "I know, I know, I know-… I just couldn't rest without doing everything within my power to find her and that included combing the entire kingdom, no matter how hostile the particular area came to be. That means, yes, I was fully aware of the Curse of the Lost Woods. I knew that I needed a fairy to safely traverse the maze. Although I didn't know of the original creators of the Forest Temple, the oracle and his followers, without Navi, I risked a death very similar to theirs." Stopping himself for a moment, he contemplated what drove him to ignore that fact in the first place. Saying it aloud didn't sound like a logical thing to do. He chose to delve into an accursed woodland knowing full well of his inevitable demise. That was something that he'd definitely only do for his family. It was more proof of exactly how strongly he felt toward the fairy.

"I didn't care though…" Link started up yet again. "I remember doing it without hesitation. Maybe I thought I could look around and get back in time to not have any ill effects, either way, I crossed that threshold you'd warned me to stay away from all those years . Since I was using my horse, Epona, I was faster at moving. Nonetheless, time ticked away."

"Nothing was all that different from what I remember the Lost Woods being. It was daytime, I could see the fog and hear critters of the forest running around. As for creepy, it was as it always was. I had trouble finding my way and with the fog, could hardly figure out where to go." Memories resurfaced as the boy recalled holding Epona's reins tight. "Without Epona, I probably would've been terrified. Simply having another living creature that I could rely upon gave me a great deal of strength in order to carry on." Looking back, he smiled at Epona who was standing next to Saria; both of them were waiting for him. The equine had very much become his trusty ever reliable steed. "Now that I think about it, it seemed like I was hoping Epona would keep the curse from taking effect. Back then, I thought the curse was due to getting lost, like the reason for it being called the Lost Woods. I told myself that Epona, being a horse, would surely know the way back…" He chuckled at his desperate as well as illogical thinking. Back then, it was worth a shot no matter what happened.

"Navigating through the woods as best as I could, I managed to scour a decent size area within a few hours of time. Hearing your tale of the oracle and the Forest Temple, I'm shocked I made it that long. Everyone else succumbed to the curse within a short thirty minutes, precisely as you said would happen when you created it." Part of him wondered why the plant-god hadn't removed a dark spell by now. Then again, the hero chose to leave that matter be. He was sure there was a decent reason. He knew it certainly wasn't as if the sprout anticipated him going into a place it spent decades warding people away from.

"This… Well…" Link scratched the back of his head. "Great Deku Tree, this is where things began to get really strange. I can't ever recall feeling an effect from the Lost Woods. I mean, I predicted that at some point I'd begin to feel ill, but the moment never seemed to come." Shrugging, he kept explaining. "Since I was feeling fine, I decided to push further and further into the forest. One time, it seemed as if I'd been riding Epona in a straight line for over an hour and a half; that in itself was long enough to make me wonder if I was immune to the effects of the Lost Woods."

Thinking about it, Link tried to figure out how to explain what happened next. "Out in the middle of nowhere, you can imagine my surprise whenever I saw two fairies fly at me from out of sight. One was white, the other a dark purple. Both charged Epona head first, spooking her into throwing me off…"

The Deku Tree Sprout looked inquisitive. It was no surprise he couldn't resist asking about the very obvious vital detail. "Two random fairies out in the middle of the Lost Woods?" His eyes narrowed and it looked like he was deeply contemplating what had been said. "What were their names? That's just unusual for one of my Forest Fairies to be out in the middle of the Lost Woods without telling me."

Link had only just begun telling the story of Termina and the Deku Tree Sprout was already beginning to poke holes into it. Ever since that occurrence, he knew it wasn't normal. From right off the bat, it would appear that what had been interrogated out of the Happy Mask Salesman was correct. Termina, all its doppelgangers, the events which took place, all of it was simply in the boy's head while he was dying from the curse of the Lost Woods. He was just too delirious to ever have realized that it was happening in the first place. However, he decided to still tell the Deku Tree Sprout everything he knew seeing how it was his chance to explain it to a deity.

"I later found their names to be Tatl and Tael, but they weren't alone. They were with a Skull Kid who walked out from behind a tree as I got back on my feet. He donned an odd mask I'd never seen before." Link's mind had trouble seeing Timi as the antagonist of the saga. The Skull Kid who he'd encountered recently in the Lost Woods, the Skull Kid who had saved his life twice now; he felt there was no way the imp was the same as the one who took possession of Majora's Mask. There were no similarities between the two, especially not in action considering how harsh he was during the beginning. "It didn't take me long to realize that I was being robbed. The Skull Kid has used the fairies, working in tandem to accomplish their thievery. In a heartbeat, they stole my bag and then tried to steal Epona. Had it not been for her fighting back, they probably would have taken her with ease; instead, with her frantic kicking, they barely managed to run off deeper into the woods. I took off after them, running as fast as I could to try and catch up. I figured I'd have no problem catching up to them since they couldn't control Epona at all. But the deeper into the woods I went, I noticed things began to get really strange, different from what I had known the Lost Woods to look like."

The description he was giving was hazy, but he managed to recall the majority of it with perfect clarity. "All of us came upon a large downed tree that pierced the foliage. The Skull Kid and the Fairies fled inside it. I pursued right behind them, but when I came out on the other side I realized we were in a different grotto. Each time they traveled through a log, we'd come out in a strange meadow I'd never seen before. I wanted to stop and look and yet, I didn't have the opportunity to do so without risking losing the Skull Kid. Still, after the next few trees, I realized something was wrong with the world." Hearing him say that, the Deku Tree Sprout looked at him inquisitively. "Whenever I followed them into this tree overgrown with weird mushrooms, I found my feet falling out from beneath me. There was no ground inside the tree, leaving me to fall. Normally, you'd fall into a hole and hit the bottom within a few seconds. However, I kept going for a while, making me think I was certainly done for whenever I hit the bottom. Instead, before long, I started to see abnormal flashes of light. The lights popped and fizzled prior to transforming into random images of assorted colours. Some of the images looked like ocarinas or gemstones, others were faces; Zora, Goron, Deku Scrub. On the other hand, what I remember noticing above everything else was the mask the Skull Kid was wearing."

Little did Link know, at the point of falling, he had no idea how important that mask would turn out to be. "I don't know how, but I eventually fell upon a lily flower floating in water. It broke my fall and allowed me to get up and move. The Skull Kid had been waiting for me, floating in a mock-relaxed state as the two fairies watched. He told me he'd ditched Epona. Then, he claimed, he was ready to have a little fun with me. At first, I didn't know what he meant. I was two seconds from jumping off the lily flower into the water to bring him to his knees. Unfortunately, he made the first move. Laughing at me, the imp shook his head, wiggling the strange mask upon his face while chattering either his teeth or something else. Doing so made me feel ill. My head hurt and I had to look away for a moment in order to regain my composure. Looking back up to see the Skull Kid, I came to notice the horde of Deku Scrubs surrounding me, shuffling forward until they all pressed themselves upon me. Having such little time to think atop a cloudy head, I pushed them back, only to be shocked at my own appearance. Quickly, I looked down at the water to see I had transformed from a hylian boy into that of a Deku Scrub!"

The Deku Tree Sprout's mouth fell ajar in utter surprise. "W-What!? You turned into a Deku Scrub!? That-… That's just not possible! Are you sure!?"

"Trust me, I'm sure…" Link replied, knowing full well how hard it was to believe despite being the one who it actually happened to. "I wanted to freak out as every fiber of my being shook in fright. Instead, I gripped my fists tight. The surrounding Deku Scrubs faded into the distance, leaving me to wonder if they were ever truly there anyway. Either way, with them gone, I took the liberty to lunge forward, making my attempt to get ahold of the Skull Kid. My attempt failed whenever one of the fairies flew at me, knocking me down long before I was able to reach the little weirdo. The remaining fairy as well as the Skull Kid retreated, laughing the entire way."

Again, in advance of continuing with his story, for only a moment, Link contemplated if Timi and the Skull Kid he was describing were indeed one and the same. "Neither the fairy who knocked me down nor myself were able to react in time. Before we knew it, we were alone, separated by the forest. The fairy freaked out due to losing her brother who was with the Skull Kid. Once I got to my feet, I started to leave. Had the fairy not stopped me, I would have. She flew around me and yelled at me not to leave. She had a lot of nerve for trying to order me around right after hurting and stealing from me. Nonetheless, her halfass apology as well as the fact that we were stuck together made me change my mind. She told me her name was Tatl; with that, we teamed up in order to escape this strange overgrown catacomb, to find either civilization or the Skull Kid who took my stuff. No matter what, I had to figure out a way to get my hylian body back. I knew I couldn't run around as an adolescent Deku Scrub forever."

"It took a little getting used to. Then again, it was also fascinating what all my new deku body could do. With my new abilities, I escaped from the woods, only to find myself traveling down an ever stretching as well as spinning corridor. Nearly losing my footing, I stumbled into a structure at the end. Inside the structure, I found there to be large rotating gears, similar to what you would find in the windmill of Kakariko Village or any ordinary grain mill. The only difference was that they were large and far more commonplace there. There was also a stairwell in the corner, I remember walking up it, thinking that if I got higher I'd be able to see exactly where I was, not to mention the fact that I was interested in what this place was or why it was out in the middle of the woods like it seemed to be."

Chuckling, Link thought about how wrong he was. Little did he know, by that point, he wasn't even in Hyrule anymore. "I nearly collapsed in shock whenever a grown man's voice called out to me…" Now, his chuckle ceased. His smile disappeared as he wondered what information he could get out of the following topic from the Deku Tree Sprout. "I turned to see a person, a hylian upon whom I recognized from the town outside the Castle of Hyrule. The man ran a shop that only sold, or lent I should say, masks out to citizens for them to enjoy or be 'happy' as his motto envisioned. He called himself the Happy Mask Salesman. At the time, I didn't realize the significance of him being there. Instead, I discussed the entire state of affairs with him. Apparently, he knew my predicament. He even struck me a deal. If I could retrieve not only my own stuff from the Skull Kid, but his too, he would return me to my normal hylian body."

It sounded easy. Had the boy only known the stress he was dropping on himself by embarking on the quest, he might not have done it. "Once he revealed that the item was a mask, I knew immediately which mask it was. The very mask which the Skull Kid proudly donned happened to actually belong to the Happy Mask Salesman. It wasn't going to be easy, but I had no other option. I chose to accept the deal and departed the tower to find the Skull Kid, the Ocarina of Time as well as the mask that the Skull Kid had stolen from the Happy Mask Salesman." Here came the part that made it all worth the storytelling, the part Link had awaited telling in order to express how outlandish and different the world had become by then. "On the outside of the tower, I suddenly found myself in the center of a bustling city. From the woods, I came to be at the heart of civilization without any clue as to how I had gotten here. The tower I had come out of was still behind me and yet there was no indication of there being any form of dense forest behind it, simply more society… If you thought that was strange, it got even weirder. This place was vastly different from Hyrule, the people acted and went about their lives in a far more scheduled way, everything about it was slightly off compared to what we consider normal here."

The Deku Tree Sprout seemed lost, confused over what Link was trying to tell him. "I don't understand… How was it different? Them being on a schedule? Plenty of cultures do that…"

"It was different in that-… well-… It just existed elsewhere, like I was in some sort of extra vivid dream world. As I walked around the town, at first I noticed subtle changes, things like small, flat and circular clock towers that hung in every house; everyone was obsessed with keeping track of time using mechanized methods. The city, I learned, also had this place called a 'bank', where they stored money in giant quantities. There was even something called a mail system, where they deliver letters to people around town daily by a town official, different from the carriers we have here. Down below, the city had an interesting way of dealing with waste too, like a plumbing system, but way more advanced than the sewers here in Hyrule. Not to mention their royalty, or 'government', who elected a person to be their king, or 'Mayor'. This 'Mayor' took care of the entire town, including all its working. As for the science, later on I found out that on the outskirts of the town, there existed something called a 'telescope' that this old man had invented and with it, he used a series of focused lenses like eyeglass lenses to see objects way off in the distance. As for boats, get this, they had gears on the back of them which propelled them through the water on their own, without the need for any paddling or sails."

"Interesting…" The Deku Tree Sprout uttered.

"Eventually, I managed to find a map of the surrounding lands…" Link continued. "I couldn't find Hyrule on it at all. Nowhere was the Kingdom of Hyrule or even its surrounding lands found. It proved that I was far-far-far away. Not only that, whoever created the map had chosen the city I was in as the center. The place was apparently called Clock Town; which was no surprise since the clock tower they had in the middle of their city was enormous. Above the city was Snowhead, a treacherous icy mountain that provided shelter for Gorons, a far contrast to the Gorons here in Hyrule who enjoy the heat. To the left, I noticed The Great Bay, which led to an ocean where Zora's lived. This was strange since Zora here in Hyrule are freshwater dwelling. Directly below the town was a farm, Romani Ranch. Beneath that, Woodfall, a humid swampland that led to Deku Palace, where all the Deku Scrubs lived in a society of their own. To the right of the city, a place called Ikana Valley, a dry canyon littered wasteland where a proud race once existed."

Link furrowed his brow as he thought about the unusual beings. "I never fully understood that race. Perhaps they were known as the Ikanaian whenever they were alive. Yet, at the time I was there, they were all gone; deceased and remembered only by bones, old temples and a decrepit castle."

While he didn't want to get caught up talking about any particular race, the Ikanaians were a special case; they were one of the few races the hero encountered in Termina that were not present at all in Hyrule. "Their government was a monarchy. One of the only survivors I encountered was that of 'Igos du Ikana', the reigning king of Ikana. He was a stalfos, the same as with his two personal knights. The only other person that I was able to speak to was the king's captain, Captain Keeta. It appeared he'd been transformed into a Stalchild, along with the rest of his men, what I presumed to be the entire Ikan military. Beforehand, they were battling a rival nation, an army that had been spying upon their land, infiltrating it for unknown reasons. This enemy nation was that of the Garo, a tribe of warriors trained in a specialized art of stealth known as ninjutsu.

Aside from their environment or society, there was one other thing that stood out like a sore thumb and Link had a feeling it would catch the Deku Tree Sprout's attention the most. "The icing on the cake was the people throughout every region. Every single one resembled a person I had encountered on my adventures here in Hyrule. Despite looking like the exact same people, they went by different names and did different things for a living, mostly something fitting of the area they inhabited. Nonetheless, these people were identical down to every strand of hair on their heads. It really was the most confounding part about being there." Taking it further than that, the boy recalled Cremia as well as Romani. "Two individuals even looked like Malon; one as she does now, the other as she did in the future. They were literally a young version and an older version. Most who I had interacted with even held the same voice as their counterpart back here in Hyrule. There's nothing that could explain an oddity such as that."

"These people lived normally in their advanced society, most complacent with the inner workings of their day. In fact, they didn't even mention much about the gods or goddesses. It seemed to me as if they didn't focus very much on religion at all. They preferred technology over religion. However, at the very least, I did find out that they knew of gods and goddesses. It's just that, instead of worshiping Din, Farore and Nayru, they had a single goddess along with four giants. Although none were revered every day as our goddesses are here, the Terminian's seemed to have one day out of the year in which they focused on such deities." His eyes narrowed as they dropped to the ground. "As a matter of fact, there was even evidence of disdain for the Golden Goddesses. The reason I told you about the Ikana wasn't only because of how they were a unique species, I also told you about them because of a place they knew of nearby, a place that had been there since they inhabited the land. Stone Tower Temple, a desolate place that's only purpose is to be blasphemous. It had inverted Triforce symbols, depictions of the Four Giants licking the Triforce between their legs and even metaphorical notions of foreverness, mocking the process of time or mortality… Whoever built the temple were certainly aware of the Golden Goddesses, in fact, they were highly opposed to them."

"Heretics…" The Deku Tree Sprout muttered under his breath. "I've never heard of Four Giants. Regardless; displaying obscene imagery such as sexual degradation is pitiful." From there, he looked at Link and then asked, "Did you ever find out who made the place?"

Shaking his head, Link replied "No, not really. Though, I do have a little speculation of my own thanks to the help of two hylians-… No… Terminanians? Terminans? Whatever the equivalent is for that realm-… We learned that there may potentially be a connection between Stone Tower Temple and the Garo. What that connection might be, I never figured out, nor do I know if anyone else did. The Garo were no longer alive, no more than the Ikana were. On the other hand, unlike the Ikana, they existed differently. It had been discovered by researchers, that the Garo committed a ritualistic suicide upon either capture or death; the ceremony was to ensure they didn't leave behind a body. Nonetheless, by sheer willpower, many Garo spirits lingered, taking hold of the robes left behind as their physical form. Garo Robes, as they are known, are what remains of their consciousness now. Unfortunately, I never found out any more than that either."

The Deku Tree Sprout was puzzled. Not at all sure of how to respond. Link knew the guardian believed him, he knew that wasn't the problem. The problem was the plant-god clearly didn't know what to think. "I'm at a loss here, Link. I'm afraid there's no knowledge I possess that pertains to anything of this world 'Termina'. It sounds like a world similar to our own, such as you said. However, such a thing is completely unknown to me. Despite my status as demi-god, I'm no help in this matter." He raised one thin eyebrow made of moss. "But… I don't want you to think I'm not interested. How about you go ahead and tell me the rest of this story; how you traveled through the land of Termina in pursuit of the Skull Kid and the mask he was wearing?"

Link didn't want to spend much longer talking about Termina; not due to lack of interest, rather due to lack of ability. Growing weary, he knew he had to rest soon. He had already gotten the majority out of what he was trying to say about the land being different. So, for now, all he had to tell was what happened the rest of the time.

Adjusting his sitting, with a groan, the boy picked up where he left off. "I was still in Clock Town. The people were preparing for an annual festival called the Carnival of Time. Each year, they held the celebration, wearing masks to honour the Four Giants in hopes of prosperity and bountiful crops. They also honoured the Goddess of Time. To be honest, they had some magnificent fireworks later on at night." He snickered for a bit before returning. "While I was watching them, I noticed the Skull Kid atop the Clock Tower, looking at the fireworks on his own. Needless to say, I set out to climb the Clock Tower immediately. Confronting him, I learned that the mask, Majora's Mask, was the cause of all of the Skull Kid's powers. He was using his abilities to bring down the moon, letting it fall toward the city where it would devastate the entire land. For the last three days, the moon had been descending faster and faster. Now, it was about to crash into Clock Town."

"The Skull Kid and I fought a brief battle, where I was highly hoping to win not only the Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask as well. Although the skirmish was short lived, I managed to overcome the naughty little imp. He dropped the Ocarina of Time prior to running off as fast as he could." Smirking, Link shook his head at the recollection. "I wasn't able to get the mask though since he retreated before I could do anything. Either way, I did recover my ocarina. With the musical instrument back in my posession, I remembered a conversation I had with Princess Zelda here in Hyrule, before I departed to search for Navi. She told me to play a certain song if I ever needed help from the Goddess of Time. Reacting as quickly as I possibly could, I played the Song of Time right as the moon appeared to be nothing more than a few feet from hitting the top of the Clock Tower."

"Right then and there, Tatl and I were teleported back in time, 72 hours I think. We started right where we were back then, directly in front of the Clock Tower. Looking around, I was able to confirm that we traveled back in time. The moon was at its normal position again, yet that merely meant it was just then beginning its freefall. I had another three days before it would hit the ground, same as last time. So for then, I chose to go back to the Happy Mask Salesman. Sure enough, like he had said, with my Ocarina of Time he was able to teach me a new song that would return me to a normal hylian boy. Don't forget, up until then, I had been a Deku Scrub. I was thankful the Happy Mask Salesman held to his word. Using an organ, which I have no clue where he got from, he proceeded to teach me the 'Song of Healing'."

The hero's mind drifted for a moment as he thought about the song. Back then, he certainly was surprised. He wondered what would happen were he to play the tune now, what effect would take place upon him. "Playing the Song of Healing on my own, I felt a great warmth on the inside followed by a split second sensation of freezing. Everything went black, then before I knew it, I felt the need to open my eyes, not even realizing I had them closed. Opening them, I felt something slide off my face, only for it to hit the stone floor with a clatter. It turned out to be a mask, a Deku Mask." Link let it soak into the Deku Tree Sprout's mind following telling the rest of what happened. "The Happy Mask Salesman ensued to tell me how the mask contained the spirit of who it originally belonged to. If I placed the mask upon my face, the spirit within would transform me into the body of the individual inside… It was a lot to take in at first, considering how bizarre such a thing truly was. Yet, thinking about it, I knew the mask was going to come in handy and trust me, it did."

"I was glad to be Hylian again. It felt far more natural to have skin like this than wooden bark… No offense." They both shared a minor chuckle before Link resumed. "The Happy Mask Salesman, however, was not pleased that I had failed to recover the mask of Majora. He insisted that with that mask, the Skull Kid was too powerful for his own good. I pretty much agreed with that. What I couldn't figure out was why this mask belonged to the salesman. Any attempts to learn why he was there were met with him redirecting the conversation to getting back Majora's Mask and saving the land of Termina. Eventually, I went with that, choosing to make another attempt at finding the little imp. After all, he was the one who made the moon fall out of its celestial path. I might have been a hylian again, but that only made me easier to squash than the Deku Scrub version of me."

Never before had Link faced such a time limit as three days. He found it to be utterly annoying. There wasn't much he could have done though other than to face it the way he did by getting a move on. "Before getting started, I learned more about the land. At one point in time, Termina had not been separated into the five regions that it was. Long before my arrival, the region was together as one. Everyone lived where Clock Town currently stood, with the Four Giants residing alongside them as living gods. However, like the story of any civilization that has room to do so, they began to expand. Explorers set out to find and establish new cities, different species departed to claim their own regions; big chunks of Terminian society split from itself. Gorons took to the north, Zora took to the west, Deku Scrubs took to the south, and the Ikana took to the east."

The Deku Tree Sprout nearly looked as if he were enjoying the story more than Link's adventure there in Hyrule. It didn't matter much, but the boy found it humorous to see the forest guardian listening to him so intently. "As for Termina, in the present, things were different. The four regions had each been cursed; polluting, defiling, corrupting and destroying each one of them in a uniquely twisted fashion. The Southern Swamp, where the Deku Scrubs lived, was my first place of interest. Going there, I found out that its waters had been poisoned by a curse put on it from the Skull Kid. Touching the water would make you sick, getting in it would kill you. Nevertheless, I made my way to Deku Palace. After arriving there, it was interesting to see how the Deku Scrubs had made their own monarchy government similar to ours; far unlike the Deku Scrubs that you see here in Hyrule. Their palace was made of wood and yet it was amazingly decorated."

Grumbling, he proceeded to say "What took my mind off interior decorations was the fact that they had a captured monkey, a furry primate hanging in a cage. It had been taken prisoner and was in danger of being executed. I tried to help but the Deku King wasn't inclined to talk to me at that moment, despite using the Deku Mask to look deku like them. I soon learned their princess had been kidnapped and they were blaming the monkey. To get more answers, I was forced to sneak inside, to tiptoe my way over to it since the entire palace was on high alert. After gaining its trust with a song, it told me about how the princess truly got kidnapped."

"The Deku Princess went missing in Woodfall Temple, trying to investigate the cause of why the water was so tainted. Fearing for his life as well as the princess's life, the monkey begged me to go in search of her. Seeing how I was a hero, I felt obliged to do such a task; not only that, but it was my only option if I wanted to speak to the Deku King. He'd have to listen to me if I returned his daughter safe and sound."

Stopping for a brief second, Link looked back, only to see both Saria as well as just about every kokiri in the village waiting for him to finish. He felt bad that they were going to have to wait, because he couldn't speed up his story any faster than he already was. "After the monkey's explanation, it informed me that I needed to know a certain song in order to get in Woodfall Temple; the 'Sonata of Awakening.'. The monkey taught me the song and yet in doing so, had attracted the attention of the guards. With their spear-tipped Deku Sticks pointed at my neck, the Deku Scrub Soldiers escorted me out. Since they didn't kill me, I resumed my journey making my way through the Southern Swamp toward Woodfall Temple. Although I had to once again avoid the poisoned waterways, which was quite the hassle as the swamp was obviously full of water everywhere I looked. No matter, as I made it regardless."

"At the Temple, I played the song to gain access. On the inside, it was made entirely out of either stone or wood. Each room contained either poisoned water or complete darkness. By choice, staying in the form of a Deku Scrub beneficially assisted me throughout the majority of the time spent going through the defiled naturistic sanctuary. I floated across the tainted water and used my Hero Bow to make fire arrows, where I thus used them to light torches among the walls of the shrine. Speaking of the shrine; some of the torches atop the altars floating in the water seemed to drive gears when lit, propelling the altar to mechanically purify the tainted water. Each altar I lit purified the water faster and faster. Before long, however, I came across my main opponent, the temple's so-called 'boss', the being put there to ensure the pollution remained strong. It called itself Odolwa and resembled that of a masked tribal jungle warrior, complete with war cries and chanting. The battle with it was difficult. It used a sword and shield along with brute force. Towering above me by fifteen feet, it could have squashed me. In the end, as I'll always say in these stories, obviously I survived. I won and destroyed Odolwa, sealing his powers inside his remains in the form of a mask."

"Upon retrieval of Odolwa's Remains, Tatl and I found ourselves teleported to a misty world shrouded in clouds. Off in the distance, coming closer, I could see what was quite literally a long-legged head with lanky arms, yet lacking a torso. Its face resembled that of another mask. Turns out that it wasn't just a giant, it was one of the Four Giants. It told me that it had been locked away by the curse of the Skull Kid and Majora's Mask, that I had now freed it from the spell after defeating Odolwa as well as purifying the water in Southern Swamp or Woodfall Temple."

"With that, it also told me how the giants had departed from the center region of Termina long ago, to reestablish their connection with the other regions. But, they didn't leave the people defenseless. They taught the folk a song to play should they ever need their help. The song was then passed down upon me, the Oath of Order. After learning this holy tune, I was transferred back to Woodfall Temple, returning to a small room located at the back of the temple, where the Deku Princess was imprisoned. She was taken back to the Deku King in order to fully restore peace and order to Woodfall…" He smiled for a moment before looking upward. "On a side note, just before taking off my Deku Mask, the butler of the Deku King mentioned how much I looked like his son. It made me realize then that the mask contained his son's spirit."

"Although the deku butler's tragedy of losing his son was sad, I had forgotten about something more important. By then, after getting out of the Southern Swamp, a day and a half had passed. The moon was getting lower, closer to impacting the ground. I knew I didn't have much time to spare, so I didn't fool around for long in advance of departing for the next region."

"There were only three left and the one I chose next was Snowhead Mountain. The trail to the mountain village was just as treacherous as the trek to Death Mountain, only with snow instead of lava. Snow, snow, snow… There was so much snow. No matter where I looked, I would see a bunch of it. The snow built up and formed huge boulders I had to deal with while warding off some strange cold-loving version of a Tektite. It wasn't easy and I was cold as heck. Once I made it though, the rumors I overheard were correct. The mountain village was in ruins. It was supposed to be a spring weather oasis in the center. Unfortunately, instead of being temperate, the village was suffering a blizzard worse than the trail leading to it was." The entire ordeal made Link never want to see snow again.

The Deku Tree Sprout seemed surprised to hear this. "Wow! I'll let you in on a secret before you continue-… I always wanted to see snow with my own eyes. My great-great ancestor was lucky to have had such an occurrence. Nowadays, my predecessor and I, our senses can feel it from the other trees, but I'd like to see the snow one day too."

Link laughed, wishing he still had that spirit regarding snow. "Oh, not if you're in a blizzard. You'll hate it for a long time. The Gorons themselves were overcome by it. On top of the terrible weather, they also lost their great warrior leader, Darmani the Third. He'd lost his life trying to climb Snowhead Mountain in an attempt to figure out what was causing the fluctuation in temperature; the fall from which brought forth his death. After finding his soul lingering in the Goron Graveyard, I decided to free him of his regrets by using the Song of Healing the Happy Mask Salesman had taught me. In using the tune, Darmani eased up, realizing that I could be the one to rescue his people. He sealed himself inside a mask, the Goron's Mask. Possessing it was just like the Deku Mask; by placing it upon my face, I transformed into a Goron. This time, I realized how much I looked like Darmani. Soon after I received the Goron Mask as well as the Goron's Lullaby from the Goron Elder, I departed from the village in order to ascend higher into the mountain."

"Being a Goron was actually pretty cool. I was amazingly strong and could roll anywhere I wanted. It helped me on my journey up the mountain. Once I got to the top, I took notice of a giant shrine. Tatl sensed an unseen presence. It turned out that it was a humongous Goron, one just as big as Biggoron, another giant Goron that I met back in Goron Village of Death Mountain here in Hyrule. This Biggoron was the source of the curse; it was he who was causing the bad weather as Majora's spell forced him to expel unnaturally cold air from his lungs. His look of misery reminded me to try playing the Song of Healing. Upon doing so, his soul was soothed as he was freed of his curse."

"As much as I wanted it to be, it wasn't over though. While I had rid Snowhead Mountain of its overly winter conditioning, I'd also awakened another 'boss', as I like to call them. This overseer of the curse was a Masked Mechanical Monster known as Goht. Its name came in resemblance to a goat, which it happened to mimic greatly in terms of battle; charging, headbutting, stampeding. I had to use the power of the Goron's Mask to defeat it. In hylian form, I knew I would have been useless. Instead, I was able to stop Goht using my goron physique, forcing it to malfunction like a broken clockwork toy, where it proceeded to run into the walls of Snowhead Temple. The force of impact made the ceiling collapse, allowing enough rock and stone fall to crush the mechanical goat to death."

"Strangely, the remains of it went through the same process as Odolwa did. Goht turned into a mask, a mask which once I picked up, transported me to that same ethereal world of clouds and mist. There, I met yet another one of the Four Giants. This was when I actually learned that it was a guardian, a god. I had to tell you that earlier so things made a bit more sense. Nonetheless, I used the knowledge to continue pursuing the rest of them."

Link's demeanor changed now as he groaned, knowing how troublesome what he was going to say next was. "After departing from the misty world the second giant had been trapped in, I came to realize the moon had reached its peak velocity in falling from the sky. The Carnival of Time had arrived just as I had run out of time of my own. I was forced to play the Song of Time and send myself back three days into the past lest I wanted to get crushed by the lunar sphere. What made everything so much worse, the entire situation per say, was how I had to redo a lot of what I had already done. Woodfall Temple as well as Snowhead Temple had to be completed all over again." Sighing like crazy, the boy could plainly recall the frustration coursing through his being in those moments. Sure, it was better than being flattened like a hot cake, but it was irritating, not to mention time consuming to rescue two whole societies again. "I had no choice, quite seriously. It was tedious and yet I did it all over again. This time, although I said the same thing and did the same thing, I moved much quicker, knowing where to go and what to do. I was done with both the Deku and the Gorons in a little under a day. This left me with two days left to adventure."

The Deku Tree Sprout shook his head ever so slightly, receiving a creak from his wooden base. "That's-… That's incredible. You traveled through time here in Hyrule as well as this Termina place. But, it's also rather tragic that you had to repeat your actions like that."

The hero shook his head, agreeing with the tree-god. Then again, it wasn't by choice as there wasn't anything else he could do unless he wanted to be squashed. "Yeah, trust me… I totally agree… But, picking up where I left off, after once again leaving Snowhead Mountain in its temperate and spring-like state, I found myself traveling in the direction of a ranch. I'd heard of two ranches nearby; Gorman Brother's Ranch and Romani Ranch. By chance, I chose to go to the latter. For some reason, I recall thinking that it sounded like a safer place to rest and relax. After assisting in removing a boulder that was blocking the path, I made it to Romani Ranch. Instantly, I noticed a familiar equine grazing the field inside the ranch. Epona was there. I have no clue how she got there, but she was there. Once reunited, it was then that I discovered her temporary caretaker, Romani, was a look-alike of Malon, the girl here in Hyrule that works with her father at Lon Lon Ranch. Disturbed by it as I was, I still thanked her for keeping watch over Epona for me. It was a Goddess sent relief that we were reunited. Up until then, part of me was beginning to assume that the young filly horse was gone for good."

"Things grew even weirder whenever I met Cremina, an adult who ran the ranch in spite of the place bearing the name of her sister. Taking the icing on the cake, Cremina turned out to look like an older version of Malon. Confused as I was, like I said, I still thanked them. In return for having found and taken care of Epona, I decided to help them out with a bit of farmwork. While there wasn't much for me to do in the eyes of Cremina, Romani on the other hand, informed me of something that still confounds me until this very day. She claimed that, at night, the farm was invaded by beings that came from beyond the skies, from among the stars. She called them 'Them' or 'They' and that's all I really know about them, even now. I was skeptical since that mature part of me that came from having once been a seventeen year old thought it sounded like fantasy. I didn't honestly believe her. However, in order to help repay my debt, I chose to play along."

"Romani had set up a practice course for me by using balloons. Once I aced that with my heroic skills, she knew I could help her. The funny thing about it all was the fact that it turned out Romani was right. Even though nobody believed her, not even Cremina, the look-alike farmgirl hit the nail on the head with the 'They' or 'Them' beings. At midnight, 'They' really did show up and try to take cows as well as Romani. It was kinda scary. 'They' looked like hooded ghosts with light shining from their facial orifice. Whatever 'They' were, I defended the ranch by holding 'Them' off until sunrise, when 'They' then seemed to disappear in a hurry. Since I was literally chasing 'Them', I had a feeling 'They' wouldn't be back for a long time."

Link knew his story was starting to sound unbelievable, but he couldn't help it. "Things heated up even more whenever Cremina informed me she now needed help. Although she never would have admitted it had I not asked, I was sure she asked for my assistance only after seeing that I could handle myself. It made more sense when I learned that her request for help involved bandits trying to steal from the ranch." Chuckling, the young hero joked "With all that was plaguing the place, I was beginning to think that they should move to a different location. Seriously; first beings from the stars, now lowly bandits?"

They both shared in laughter for a second, during which the sprout agreed with Link prior to letting him continue. "The bandits tried to steal crates of milk from the wagon Cremina and I were delivering to Clock Town. Interestingly, while in the process of stopping them, I found out that the bandits were none other than the Gorman Brothers themselves, trying to steal profits and stir up trouble for their competition. Get this, the Gorman Brothers looked exactly like Ingo of Lon Lon Ranch. It's a real shame that they were such jerks. I'm glad I never bought anything from their ranch. Not only that, I didn't let them take a single thing from the wagon. Cremina brought her entire stock back to Clock Town."

Smiling and nodding his head as he felt accomplishment, Link said "Once all of that was done, I thanked them again for keeping Epona safe and then departed from Romani Ranch to continue onward with my true mission. My next location was the Great Bay to the west, where the Zora's resided. Using Epona, I jumped a few walls and found myself at a beach. Although I had to leave the equine behind for a while, I knew she'd be fine. Seeing a coastline for the first time was pretty exciting, I'll admit. I found myself dying to have fun in the crystal white grains of sand or splash in the deep blue salty ocean water. Oh, it really was quite the sight. If I could go back there, I'd take you with me so you could see." His happiness gradually waned as he resumed speaking. "What stopped my games of joy was whenever I noticed a body floating in the water. I swam out and helped what turned out to be a zora. We swam ashore and I got a good look at him. His name was Mikau, he was a member of a group that played music. He'd come to be beaten and left floating in the ocean whenever Gerudo Pirates stole eggs that he and another zora 'band' member reproduced to make."

Turning his head, it was a stark contrast to how he felt a few seconds ago. "Unfortunately, even though I played the Song of Healing, he didn't make it." Link choked out. "He died of his wounds and I was forced to bury him on the beach. I made his grave and honoured him with prayer. Truly, it was the only thing that I knew to do." Taking a moment, he had to stop himself from crying. Mikau was the first person to die in his arms, the first to give him such a mission as to rescue children for a surviving widow. The zora gave him a whole new meaning to life as he realized how short and cruel it could be. "For a while, Mikau certainly endowed me with purpose. I knew it from there that I had to rescue his eggs from these 'Gerudo Pirates'. First thing was first, however, I received from him a most important object, the Zora's Mask. With the Zora's Mask, I was able to utilize his spirit, thus turning myself into a zora with all the abilities of one as well."

"Finding the gerudo was simple. Their massive floating fortress was located in their lagoon; Gerudo Lagoon. That place, their ship, I must say that it was confusing to traverse. It seemed as if the entire place was one big puzzle. Eventually, I began encountering the pirates. Since they were gerudo women, I chose to not kill any of them. I didn't need something like that weighing on my conscience. It was difficult, but I managed to knock out a few while those who didn't get knocked unconscious were pushed overboard into the water. From there, I began attempting to locate the eggs. Once I had them all, I got out of there as fast as I possibly could. with the place being an utter deathtrap floating by wood, my exit couldn't have come soon enough either."

Sighing, he continued "Although I had the eggs rescued, I found it best to drop them off at the Marine Research Lab while I wrapped up unfinished business. I learned from locales that the ocean water had been rather warm lately, warmer than normal. This wasn't good news at all, for it spelled disaster for seafaring life. In fact, it was actually too warm for the zora eggs to hatch."

"Turning to the zora for help, I learned that the seas had been rough because of a disturbance at the Great Bay Temple. What was known as a 'Dragon Storm' had been circulating the temple, keeping anyone from approaching. At first, there was very little I could do. Thankfully, I discovered a Great Turtle, one who could ride out the storm. All I had to do was play Miaku's song, 'New Wave Bossa Nova'. Lulu, his partner whom he had the eggs with, sang along to the tune, calling forth the Great Turtle from the sea. The seafarer brought us to the Great Bay Temple with ease and we even got to witness what would happen had we not had him. A group of exploring gerudo were wiped off the map from the Dragon Storm as they attempted to enter the Great Bay Temple."

"The temple was more of a complex than a place of worship. Whatever had been done there, giant pipes gushed with water flowing through them, gears churned to force the water through filters, there were even entire rooms dedicated to progressing the flow of what had slowly become purified water. For some reason, it reminded me of a fully functional Water Temple back in Hyrule. Perhaps because of these similarities they were made with similar designed intent." Gazing up at the stars, Link continued "No matter, for I certainly managed to get through this place faster with the help of the Zora's Mask. Still, clearing out the place was quite the task as I had to fight those rock chunking squid-like Octoroks, giant frogs such as Gekko as well as other dangerous fish. There were two that were the most dangerous, the first being this monster known as Wart, which resembled a giant eye surrounded by what looked to be fish eggs. This freaky waterbreather forced me to kill its own young in advance of letting me finally get at it. Once Wart was destroyed, the last thing left to kill was the 'boss' of the temple. It turned out to be Gyorg, a gargantuan masked fish. I had to watch out too, for it repeatedly tried to knock me over and/or suck me into its mouth, where it would likely have attempted to eat me."

"Once I succeeded, Gyorg was killed. By destroying him, he bursted into a bright light, leaving behind its remains. Sure enough, once I picked up the remains, I was transported to that same ethereal realm upon which one of the four giants inhabited. Upon freeing him, I was told to, as the giant said 'Help our friend' and save the final giant." Looking back at the Deku Tree, Link recalled thinking about how simple or obvious the next location was. "Based upon my experience, I knew that the final giant was probably located in the one area I hadn't explored yet; Ikana Canyon."

"Ikana Canyon was the place where the Ikana people I mentioned to you earlier lived. Remember?" Once the Deku Tree nodded, the boy resumed telling his story. "First thing I noticed was Tatl warning me of nearby malicious spirits. She told me to use one of the masks I had acquired. When I used a Garo Mask, I could see the ghosts plain as day. There stood one of the Garo Robes, still moving around long after its master's death. It went on the attack, yet, once defeated, proceeded to tell me interesting information. Knowing well that I was in a deserted wasteland, whenever one of the Garo Robes informed me that I could restore the river by going to a cave up north, I took a look at the offer to see what I could do to help the area. Going to that cave, I had to play the Song of Storms on my Ocarina of Time. This made it rain profusely until the river had been restored. In fact, a deluge of water came from below, reviving the once dead soil surrounding it too. This brought forth the aspect of me, how I had to blow away the curse in order to free the land from the deathly scourge that had been placed upon it."

"Following getting my hands on a Mirror Shield down beneath an old dried up well, I began traveling to Ikana Castle. Although I had to deal with hostilities first, I decided to try and learn more about the curse. Inside the royal palace, I found myself face to face with the King of Ikana. He didn't like me much. Before I could get a word in, I had to fight his two servants. They were stalfos, but quite strong ones at that. Nonetheless, once I managed to vanquish them, I still had to go up against the king himself, King Igos du Ikana. Igos was a stalfos too, but quite some bit stronger than his two lackeys; having poison breath, a wide greatsword and a wicked ability to throw his own bones at me. Yet, it still wasn't enough to defeat me. The intimidation from him towering in height above my head wore off and after a couple of minutes in battle, I prevailed. Upon his surrender, he then gifted me with the majority of the knowledge regarding their culture which I told you earlier. Seeing as how he was one of the last true Ikana, it was befitting that I be allowed insight into their past. Not many people knew, so it was best thought of as a gift, a reward or bribe for conquering the battle and still allowing him to live."

"After being bested, the king also informed me of why he'd arisen from the afterlife in the form of stalfos. The cause of all of it was because the Skull Kid allowed evil to enter the Stone Tower Temple, a holy place to the land. With their rest disturbed, that evil drove all of the dead spirits in Ikana to come to life, forcing them to inhabit their old decayed bodies. According to the king, not even all of his warriors combined would be able to stop it. The solution, of course, turned out to be a song. This new melody allowed me to conjure statues of myself, useful for holding down switches that would later appear in the temple itself. Following learning about the curse, I proceeded to depart from the ancient Ikana Castle."

"Upon reaching Stone Tower Temple, I had to climb it. Most of the time it involved using my hookshot to ascend higher. Eventually though, I did come to the spot where I had to use my statues to hold down switches. Climbing higher and higher I finally made it to the temple portion of the tower. Arriving, I noticed that certain things seemed to be upside down. For this place, it seemed as if I had to use everything I currently had on me to progress through the stone shrine; every item, every mask, everything went toward making my way through it. Using my Hero's Bow, the Mirror Shield, Hookshot, Goron Mask, Zora Mask and the Deku Mask, I managed to reach a Garo Master who I was forced to go up against. He looked similar to the other Garo Robes, except there was a visible form inhabiting his robes, perhaps that which was reminiscent of its original inhabitant. Stronger and faster than the others, its swords were also hardened and refused to break upon contact with my shield. Nevertheless, he was defeated and I was given more insight into the culture of the Garo, alongside a gift of Light Arrows."

"In spite of having just dealt with the Garo Master, in the very next chamber of the temple I had to go up against another enemy. After that chamber, the next room proceeded the same way as well. First, a Masked Hiploop, which is a large beetle wearing a mask with wood-like qualities; it tried to kill me. Thankfully, I took it out with my hookshot. Second, an Eyegore, a large powerful stone statue with one eye. I couldn't hit it while it was in statue form or else it would cause my sword to recoil, leaving my hand in pain. However, its weak spot obviously turned out to be its eye. Once I defeated it, I was left on my way again. Next up, turns out, I had to flip the temple upside down. Truthfully, I don't know how it worked, all I know is that it did."

"Flipping the temple, I had to go back through it all over again, using the parts that were reversed from the first time I went through it. I fought more Masked Hiploops and even another Eyegore. Yet, the real threat was a being known as Gomess. Gomess was a phantom-like shadow creature surrounded by a swarm of bats protecting a vulnerable crystalline orb situated directly below its chest. This orb was the source of its power as well as its weak point. But, aside from the bats, it also had a large menacing scythe adorned with the skull of a stalchild. Although it usually moved slowly, whenever it attacked with its scythe, it rushed quickly towards me prior to trying to slice my soul out. If it wasn't successful in hitting me, it would send out the bats to try and bite me. This was difficult, but I managed to defend myself until I defeated it. Leaving behind a key to unlock the last chamber in which the 'boss' of the temple resided, I felt myself beginning to hype up as the last 'boss' would free the final giant."

"Traveling through more of the temple, I fought more enemies, including these jumping statues of unidentifiable creatures called Death Armos. There were also more Masked Hiploops and even one last Eyegore. But, eventually I made it to that final chamber, the bosses chamber where it resided. The chamber resembled a massive enclosed desert, while the monster evil entity that had taken over the temple and caused the curse to persist was actually two large, segmented worm-like creatures known as Twinmold. On each of their heads was a pair of large pincers and three large eyes. On their tail, they had what appeared to be a stinger. They were about ten times larger than me, so to go up against them was very complex. I had to avoid getting eaten, stung, mashed or bashed by the insectoid freaks. I had to focus on one segment at a time as they tried to kill me with each individual part. Once one was destroyed, it left behind a mask known as the Giant's Mask. Donning such a mask, I felt myself suddenly grow to tremendous size. Due to my immense stature, I was then easily able to crush the last Twinmold with my bare fists, grab it by the tail and then sling it around hitting it amongst the ground."

"Were you transported to that same realm afterward?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked.

"Yes…" Link replied. "I released the fourth giant from his imprisonment, allowing it to reunite with the others. Finally, with hours left to spare before the accursed moon came crashing down to the ground, I returned to Clock Town. Now, during the Carnival of Time, I didn't use the ocarina to go back three days. I simply let time progress as normal instead. Whenever the enraged moon fell from the skies, I played the Oath of Order to call upon the giants. As the population screamed in horror, they then suddenly stopped, staring up in awe as the Four Giants appeared; one coming from each corner of the map. Colliding mid-aid, the tall deities grabbed the moon, holding it suspended above Clock Town. The skull kid was knocked out, allowing Tatl and Tael to reconcile. However, as an inkling of speculation had guessed, the Skull Kid was being controlled by Majora's Mask, the mask itself being the true danger. Not needing Timi, the Skull Kid, it released him in preference of The Moon. Opening a portal, the mask fled to the celestial object with the intent of becoming ever stronger than before."

"Tatl and Tael argued for a bit, nonetheless, I knew that the Four Giants wouldn't be able to hold up the moon forever, not with the extra power Majora's Mask was giving it. Following a bit of reasoning, I convinced Tatl to come with me one more time and then we entered the portal to The Moon. On the other side of the portal, we found ourselves in a very interesting area. Counter-intuitively, The Moon was not a chaotic place at all, but rather the place we were teleported to was a peaceful grassy field with a large tree in the center. There were five children there, four of which were wearing the bosses' remains that I had collected thus far. The fifth child who sat in front of the tree donned Majora's Mask. Interestingly, the children themselves looked like younger versions of the Happy Mask Salesman. I wasn't sure what that meant and yet I had a feeling there was a deeper meaning to it."

"Did you ever ask him?" The Deku Tree Sprout inquired, referring to Mr. Happy.

"No…" Link replied. "He was always too vague, only telling me what he wanted me to know. As for the lunar children, each I spoke to asked me to give them some of my masks, one at a time until I had none left. Then they sent me to a portion of The Moon that appeared to have an area shaped with similarities to the location in which the remains of the masks the children wore were found. When I came back, the Odolwa child asked me a question that I'll never forget. The Odolwa Child's question was 'Your friends... What kind of people are they? I wonder, do these people think of you as a friend?'."

"The Goht Child wanted two masks from me. After appeasing his requirements, I entered another dungeon, which had use of my Goron form. The place kinda reminded me of Snowhead Mountain; narrow, winding and high up above an abyss. Nonetheless, once I returned, I was greeted with another question. 'What makes you happy? I wonder what makes you happy; does it make others happy too?'."

"The third child, Gyorg, wanted three masks and took me to a smaller dungeon, one which was very straightforward. Essentially, I used the Zora Mask to swim through a network of metal tubes. His question was 'The right thing, what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it make everybody happy?'."

"Following a pattern, the fourth kid, the Twinmold Child took me to a place where I was forced to defeat several enemies I'd already defeated. It was easy, so, no wonder I finished up fairly quickly, just in time to learn what the Twinmold Child's question was going to be. 'Your true face, what kind of face is it? I wonder, the face under the mask, is that your true face?'."

This was where things got interesting. "When I finally came upon the fifth child, the one wearing Majora's Mask, I had already given away all of my other masks. This child was alone, away from the other kids who were playing together. Sitting beneath a tree and looking depressed, once I approached, he seemed more interested in playing a game than sending me to a location to fight or travel. Unfortunately, this game he chose was 'Good Guys versus Bad Guys'. He told me to be the bad guy and then handed over a mask, the Fierce Deity Mask. This mask transformed me into a hylian-…. or… I guess it or he was hylian, or maybe something of a humanoid god. Either way, upon wearing the mask I felt so much power, such intense burning in my muscles. I felt like there was raw energy flowing through me. The Fierce Deity, whoever he was, was so powerful it felt as if I had acquired the Triforce of Power itself, maybe even then some."

"Playing the game with the last kid, as the Fierce Deity, I was ready to go up against anything. The Majora Child then showed its true form. The mask on the child's face grew, consuming the child until nothing was left other than itself. At around ten feet across, the mask was large enough to strike me as it used black magic to hover above the ground. From the front, it seemed to be invulnerable; but from the back, I was able to strike it. While attacking, I had to defend myself from its attacks too, watching out for it trying to saw me in half or shoot a flaming beam of energy at me. It took a while to do, but eventually I managed to pull it off and defeated Majora's Mask. After taking it down, I had high hopes that everything would go back to normal, that I'd won. To my dismay, it wasn't over as the mask began to transform into something else."

"Transforming into a larger form with two arms and legs, it stood up from the spot upon which I'd knocked it down at and took off running at me faster than I ever imagined it could move. Every once in a while, it stopped to blast energy at me, still trying to kill me. Using my mirror shield saved my life as I deflected the energy right back at it, stunning it long enough for me to attack. After playing around with this strategy for a while, I managed to win."

"Amazingly, it still wasn't done. That's right, I was forced to witness as it then sprouted a head, tentacle-like whips and some serious muscles. Using those whips, it tried its best to literally whip me to death. This was its last form, but by far the most difficult. Majora's Wrath, as I dubbed it, usually centered its attacks around creative use of its whip-like tentacles, which were often used to strike or grab me from afar to knock me down. Furthermore, it also spun around like a ballerina with its tentacles extended or unleashed a rapid-fire barrage from a standing position. Not to mention, after taking enough damage, it started throwing spiked tops that spun around the room and exploded upon coming to a rest. All these attacks forced me to stun it before I was able to officially attack it. Eventually, I did manage to vanquish it using that technique."

"With Majora, Majora's Incarnation and Majora's Wrath having all three officially been defeated, I felt as though the land of Termina was then at peace. Without Majora's Mask's dark magic in play, the Four Giants threw The Moon back into its place. But, after all was said and done, I still had some to learn."

"So, it turns out the skull kid used to be friends with the Four Giants and that's who they were referring to when I met them after each temple. Now that he was free of Majora's Mask twisting his thoughts, Timi, the skull kid, understood that the giants never meant to lose their friendship with him. Thankfully, they had already forgiven him for all the wrong he'd done to the people of Termina. After he cried for a bit, the Four Giants then returned to their respective temples. Following them going, the Skull Kid asked to be my friend as well. He sniffed me, then determined that I smelled just like 'the kid who taught him the song in the woods' awhile back. I realized then that back in Hyrule, I had played Saria's Song for an imp just like him and gave him the Skull Mask as part of a trading quest for the Happy Mask Salesman. Apparently, they were one and the same the entire time."

"After that, now that the evil spirit inside it had been destroyed, the Happy Mask Salesman took Majora's Mask with him, keeping the mask for himself. He rambled a bit about partings and then said I could keep the masks that I acquired throughout my journeys because they contained 'a good happiness.'. As he left, I remember him mysteriously fading away. It was strange, but at the time, after all I'd been through and seen, it wasn't enough to catch my attention."

"Tatl then pretty much told me to get lost and continue with my journey while she and Tael go celebrate at the Carnival of Time. It was rough considering she reminded me of Navi. Tatl and I had gotten close to one another, so to hear her tell me to move on now that she was reunited with fairy sister, it hurt. Nonetheless, deep down, on a certain level I had expected her to leave my side. I knew she wouldn't stay forever. She wasn't Navi and I knew better than to act as if she were."

"Leaving behind Clock Town, I wandered around for a while, trying to figure out a way back to Hyrule. I looked at maps, talked to people, I even tried to find my own way. Yet, no matter where I went or asked or looked, I found no mention of Hyrule. Nowhere could I find the way home. Ultimately, I began retracing my steps, trying my hardest to find my way into those strange winding catacombs I'd found myself in whenever I had first encountered the Skull Kid. Weird as it was, there wasn't much I could do and sooner than later, I just stopped asking people as they thought I was going crazy. Although I kept searching, it still turned out to be futile. The more I looked, the crazier I felt. That craziness actually turned into a sickness. Vividly, I can recall getting sickly as I looked for a way to the Lost Woods, any such signs of the place. The sickness mimicked the symptoms of the Lost Woods, but I didn't think of it like that seeing how I'd been outside of there for a while and wouldn't have speculated that such a thing were possible to happen outside of said location. Nevertheless, it did happen and in the end, I did quite similar as I apparently did here; I sat down in a cave out in the middle of the forest and merely went to sleep, growing sicker and sicker with each passing moment."

"I don't know where, why or how, but somehow this was where I managed to slip back into this realm and leave the other behind." Link conjectured.

"And, that's when Malon found you, wasn't it?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked, raising his small bushy eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Link replied. "Epona, who had seemingly never been affected by the curse of the Lost Woods here in Hyrule, went back to the ranch and got Malon's attention, enough to make her come try to find me. I was lucky, really. She's super smart, so it's no wonder she succeeded in leading the farm girl back to my location. Malon said she found me with Timi. The two spoke a bit and he agreed to hand me over in return for coming back to see him." Stopping for a breather, the hero looked around, still seeing the nearby kokiri getting restless. He was taking up too much time, but he didn't care. Not only was he almost done, what he was saying was important for the Deku Tree Sprout to know. "She, Malon, fought her return through the Lost Woods. I heard from her that she encountered Wolfos. Either way, she got me back to Kokiri Village and healed me. That's pretty much all there is to it. I have absolutely no clue how I got back here in Hyrule from Termina, but I did. I did it."

The Deku Tree Sprout had been staring at the young hylian, silently listening up until the end of the story. "That-… That's quite the adventure, Link. By the Goddesses-… Nobody can come close to you in telling an amazing story…" Taking another few moments to speak, he tried to gather the rest of his thoughts. "It's just-… Hmm… Although I can sense that you're telling me the truth, I do see why a regular person would have a hard time believing you. To say you traveled to a parallel world, to have used masks to turn into different species, to rescue Four Giants in order to save that parallel world from The Moon crashing into it-… It's hard to believe from an outsider's perspective."

Link's head hung as he sighed from dejection. He knew the Deku Tree Sprout wasn't saying that it didn't believe, it was just that the sentence merely reminded the boy of how all he did under his great title of Hero of Time was always either forgotten or too unbelievable. It made him sad; it even made him twinge, during which his wound quivered. The Deku Tree Sprout must have noticed the boy's down attitude, for he stared with a thin raised eyebrow, almost as if to say 'What?' without being vocal.

"I know, I know…" Link soon replied in advance of saying "You're just going to have to trust me on this, please? When have I ever lied to you?"

Continuing to stare at Link, a smile slowly crept onto the sprout's face. "There's a few times that I can think of…" Link groaned dramatically as the forest guardian proceeded to mention, in a list-like fashion, events which happened when the hylian was six to seven and a half years old. "You did steal that jar of peanut butter, which you ate all on your own and got sick; you also caught your bed on fire and said Mido did it, not to mention the time you at all those poison berries the Know-It-All Brothers were going to use in a tonic and your face swelled up like a balloon. Do you remember who you said made you eat all of those berries?"

"Great-… I mean, Deku Treeeeeee…" Link whined. "That was several years ago! I've changed a lot since then!" Grunting, with crossed arms, he then said, "And yes, I know I used to despise Mido even worse than I do now, but that was only because he was such a jerk to me." Jumping back to the main topic; he knew the sprout was kidding, on the other hand, he had hopes that it really was aware just how sincere he was being. "I'm telling you the truth. All that I've mentioned since I got here has been a living retell of my adventures. My memories are as close to being there as anyone will likely ever get again. Hyrule and Termina were both like this; they were both hard to comprehend. There were times where, had I not seen it with my own two eyes, even I myself wouldn't be able to hold it to be as true as I do."

"Link, Link, Link-…" The deku sprout butted in, getting Link to stop talking. "I never said that I didn't believe you. I only said that I see WHY it would be unbelievable to other people. In fact, I went out of my way to say that I know you're telling me the truth. It's easy for me to tell whenever you're not telling me the truth. To be honest, not only do I know you well enough after raising you as long as I have, you're also a bad liar. Your face gives you away each and every time. As for you being my son, I trust you. I know you wouldn't come to me with such a big lie. That wouldn't be very loving, now would it? No. I know you're telling me the truth. I trust you fully."

With that, Link backed off. He wasn't upset by any means. His shortness and resorting to being defensive simply came from the fact that the majority of people wouldn't believe his story if he told it to them. In reality, he was still lucky that those who did believe did so out of trust for him. "I'm sorry…" Link admitted. "I just-… I'm so used to people not believing me. It became the norm after I was sent back from being seven years in the future. Nobody other than Malon believes me and she doesn't even remember, not that I know of." Thinking about it, the hylian recollected the few people who he knew for sure were also aware of the future events. "In all actuality, the only people who remember all the way are Myself, Zelda and for some reason Ingo, the farm hand at Lon Lon Ranch here in Hyrule. Those are the only people who I know of who are mentally aware of what happened. I don't even think that Ganondorf has access to any memories stored from that time period…" Rolling his eyes, he moved on to the next segment of his journey. "And then, Termina was a whole different matter. After Malon found me, she nor anyone else believed me when I told them where I had been. They thought I had a crazy dream."

"You have to understand, it does sound pretty crazy." The Deku Tree Sprout retorted.

"I know…" Link responded to him. "But, it still made it difficult on me, you know? I mean, it was very difficult to move on and not feel like it really was just some figment of my imagination. Each time I looked at Malon, I thought of Termina, of Cremia and Romani. When I first recounted how she looked like two people in another land, she had to hold in laughter. She must have thought I was out of my mind. Talon, who was head of a bar in Termina, didn't remember anything and neither did Ingo, who resembled the Gorman Brothers. So, that meant nobody who looked like their counterpart in Termina actually was them. It was confusing, like they'd been duplicated and used for new tasks in a different storyline. Not even Ingo, who was miraculously able to remember a timeline he hadn't even reached yet, knew of this place called Termina."

"So that means, those really were different people in some far away land…" The Deku Tree Sprout pondered aloud. "What it doesn't prove, is that they didn't exist. Just because nobody knew of it doesn't mean it's not real."

Nodding vigorously, Link couldn't help other than to agree. "Oh! I know! I'm just grateful I found someone who did know what I was talking about!" At that, the Deku Tree Sprout seemed to sway closer into the hero's direction, as if he'd leaned closer in anticipation of what it was the boy had to say. "Remember the Happy Mask Salesman? Remember whenever I said that he had a shop in Hyrule Market? Well, when Malon and Talon were delivering their goods to the people in the city, I got a chance to pay the strange little man a visit." Smirking, Link continued to nod from previously, enjoying the thought of finally interrogating useful information out of someone. "That's right. He was my only chance at figuring things out. The guy always seemed so out of place in Termina, like he'd come from another land. It was for that reason I was so bound and determined to investigate whether he was my sole rememberee or not."

"At first, 'Mr. Happy' didn't say anything in spite of it being the first time we'd seen one another since the events in Termina. Then, when questioned, he flat out alluded to answering anything. He avoided my questioning until I fooled him by playing word games. Once he admitted to something only the Happy Mask Salesman in Termina would know, he broke down his facade prior to informing me of all that I needed to know. He told me that Termina was real, that it was a world located directly next to ours in something called the 'Multiverse'. Apparently, the realm was parallel to ours, so it was very similar. That's why some people looked the same but things were unusual. He also told me that it was a world made entirely for me while I was suffering from the effects of the Lost Woods."

Stopping for a second, Link winced from the pain of his wounds while attempting to describe what happened to the best of his ability. Outlandish and complicated, it was no wonder he found it so hard to relay. "The way Mr. Happy said it pretty much went like this. 'The Lost Woods made me fall ill, I began hallucinating as I fell from Epona and was found by the Skull Kid, Timi. Timi told me a story and I somehow manifested it in my head as a real world that I could interact with. This world was a sort of journey my spirit embarked on, one that I had to overcome five stages of grief in order to save myself from death…" He blinked a few times as even then he was still rationalizing it. "Although, in the end I was unable to find either masks with Mr. Happy; Majora, I figured, was probably a representation of the sickness of the Lost Woods and the Fierce Deity was my spirit struggling to regain power over life."

The Deku Tree Sprout shook its head in amazement. "By the Goddesses-… You've certainly been on more adventures than most people go on in their entire life…" The forest guardian made a small whistling sound, as if to express his astonishment. "Rescuing the Kingdom of Hyrule, only to go into another realm and save it as well as yourself? Sheesh… If someone wrote a book on that, everyone everywhere would read it." He chuckled before saying "I'm seriously proud of you, Link. You had to have been incredibly brave as well as strong to have done all of that."

"Thank you, Deku Tree…" Link smiled. "I really wanted to hear that from you… I might go as far as to say that I've waited to hear that from you for a really long time." Since the boy knew the tree-god couldn't hug him, he leaned forward on his own initiative to delicately wrap his arms around the base of the sprout's thin stalk. Squeezing it closely, he then let go since he didn't want to harm the plant while in its small fragile-like state. "I was brave and strong because I wanted to keep my family safe." Link's intentions were always pure. All he wanted was to keep the people he loved safe. Being a hero was what extended his caring nature over toward the rest of the population as well; the citizens of Hyrule or even Termina. "I suppose being Link, Hero of Time, is what made me able to be so unique."

Telling his story, reliving the moments of victory in his head as well as in conversation, Link soon came to the conclusion of his two epic adventures. Now there he was. He was supposed to be the normal individual Zelda wanted him to be. Then again, a mere few hours ago, he was fighting one of the most complicated enemies he'd ever faced in his entire life. Dark Link. The creepy shadow of himself; what connection it had to Termina or Majora's Mask, the boy didn't know. Feeling tired, worn out and fatigued, he decided to wrap everything up with one last topic.

"Here's what I don't get though…" Going back to events just prior, Link started using what Saria and Malon had told him. "After I was found by Malon, got some wolfos scratches and then survived Termina in my head, she brought me back here to Kokiri Village. Saria and the Know-It-All Brothers tended to my wounds while a bunch of people got together to retrieve berries for a potion I needed. I heard they went inside your old husk. No matter how scary it had to have been for them, they did it; they saved me by working together." It sounded like the start of more praising, but things quickly changed after that. "The potion the Know-It-All Brothers made worked. The curse of the Lost Woods left my body as I also succeeded in saving the world of Termina and thus my own soul. However, Saria also told me that as the curse left me, I coughed up a strange black substance."

At first, the Deku Tree Sprout curiously narrowed his eyes. "Hmm, well that kinda makes sense… I suppose the manifested colour would be a darker one. The more sinister the purpose of the magic, the darker in colour it will be."

"No, wait a second and I'll explain…" Link interrupted so the forest guardian wouldn't get carried away. "The Know-It-All Brothers said that it was 'My Death', so I already figured that much out. There's more to it than that though. There has to be. The black goo, Saria said, disappeared. She wiped it off my mouth as I coughed it out and then later when she went to wash clothing, she noticed how the cloth she'd used looked completely clean." That right there was unusual. But, it became much worse whenever he was reintroduced to his dark counterpart. "Not long after I'd awoken from my sleep in Lon Lon Ranch, far from here, I began encountering the very same entity I'd encountered in the Water Temple. That's right, I'm talking about Dark Link. However, this time, it spoke to me with a demonic voice atop a deeply wicked sounding version of my own." A shiver rolled down the boy's spine as he imagined it once more. "This time, things were much different. 'Dark Link' didn't resemble the same seventeen year old me who had become a man; it looked far more like that of a young boy such as I currently am. To my dismay, it taunted me from amongst reflections, mocking and laughing at me over all my failures. This was really stressful as it happened at random occurrences."

Getting even closer to the current moment, the hero spoke of events from a couple of hours ago. "It escalated further, going from taunting to threats of physical harm. It told me that it would consume all, the same as The Moon in Termina said when it was possessed by Majora's Mask. Once I came here to investigate the plague that had been covering the Lost Woods and Kokiri Village lately. I had a vague premonition that it might have been caused by Dark Link. Then again, I wasn't certain the entity was truly here until I actually encountered him. I couldn't be sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me until there were absolutely no chances of doubt."

"Ahh…." The Deku Tree Sprout wondered. "So, this must be exactly what you did earlier."

"Yep." Link replied. "Saria, Mido, Fado, Breena, Laila, Epona and I, we all went into the Lost Woods together not more than three and a half to four hours ago in order to investigate the plague. But, they were also to assist me in recovering the Ocarina of Time." Looking back at Epona as well as Saria, he wanted to take the ocarina out and show it to the Deku Tree Sprout. Nonetheless, it wasn't much of a concern at the moment. He could easily show it to the demi-god tomorrow before he departed. For now, he just resumed informing the sprout of what happened in the Lost Woods. "We could tell that things weren't normal right from the start. We certainly weren't in another realm, but things were still different. Normally the Forbidden Forest is quite desolate; this time though, it was utterly devoid of life, that is until we ran into a trail of dead critters. Each time we found a pile of them, they were different animals. First, it was a squirrel, then it was a bunch of birds, after that, a chupa...They were all in assorted shape of decay…" Holding onto his wounded side, he stated "And then, came the fog… It was more unnatural than the dead animals. It was thick, almost thick enough to grab and put into a jar. It made the kokiri feel ill, but I just felt annoyed by it as well as concerned with how Saria, Mido and Fado coughed more and more."

"My concern with the fog was minimized when a pack of wolfos entered the fray, ending the silent isolation." Something the boy could show the tree-god was the wolfos scratches. Lifting his bandages slightly, he bravely showed where the monster's claws ripped at his flesh. "They fought relentlessly. Needless to say, it wasn't complicated to overwhelm children and fairies when you're outnumbering them by thirty."

"Wow!" The Deku Tree Sprout exclaimed. "That's a super large pack of wolfos. Normally, they travel in pairs of two, but even when in a pack they still only usually gallivant around numbering near ten."

"Oh! Believe me, I know." Link acknowledged. "There were literally around thirty, if not more of those snarling beasts. It was odd, not only because of how many of them there were, but because I abruptly realized how these particular wolfos were frenzying WHILE attempting to use me as a test for one of their young initiates. Fighting them off or trying to get them to see that I wasn't going to be part of their natural hunting process only made them angrier, fiercer." The boy's disdain for such a creature's existence grew exponentially after that horrendous encounter. "Saria, Mido, Fado, Breena, Laila or Epona were of little to no help. I just wanted them to stay out of the way while I did the work. Regardless, I knew I couldn't protect them all at once, so I told them to use any means necessary to defend themselves. They gladly did so as I fought on for what seemed like a solid thirty minutes. I must have spent ten on the youngest wolfos; once I killed it, the others let their frenzy take over as they tried to slaughter us for the rest of the twenty minutes. Over and over I was forced to take out each wolfos that either ran at me, or the Kokiri."

"The pack got their licks in on me, as you can tell. I got my fair share of kills to compensate. Either way, I couldn't keep it up another twenty-something times. Eventually, my muscles were going to give out. My body was already growing tired from constant movement." Link continued to tell his story. "The only thing that managed to save us was the entire pack catching wind of a scent in the air."

Stopping to think about it, now that he was in the safety of Kokiri Village, he was allowed time to contemplate exactly what it could have been that scared the wolfos. Before long, he began to figure it was highly possible that the pack of wolfos sensed Dark Link in the area. 'Such an otherworldly monster would surely scare off even the mightiest of wildlife here in Hyrule.' Going further, it was probably true that the dead critter trail was all Dark Link's doing as well. Nonetheless, the hero had to stop thinking as he'd been standing there silent for the last twenty seconds.

"Sorry… I was thinking…" He admitted prior to resuming. "I think it was Dark Link who scared off the wolfos. I don't know why or how, but I think that it was him. I also have a feeling that the trail of dead animals I'd mentioned was because of it too. Perhaps, in its own sick and twisted way, it wanted to lead me to it." That feeling inside him grew as he almost assured himself that was what had happened. Otherwise, he would've been killed by the wolfos. Had Dark Link not intervened by making the wolfos pack defecate themselves in horror, the hylian would've been torn to shreds alongside the kokiri and fairies there with him. Epona would've been the only likely survivor as she'd probably get the chance to run off while their remains were being sucked dry of bone marrow. 'Why he chose to lead me with dead critters that emit enough putrid scent to attract a pack of wolfos, I suppose I'll never know or care to understand.' Shaking his head, he just said "... Sick and twisted way…" Uttering it under his breath.

Link was honestly surprised that he managed to make it to the location where he fought Dark Link, where he found the Ocarina of Time. Then again, the problem then was that, to go up against Dark Link after fighting a pack of Wolfos, it had already taken an incredibly large amount of energy out of him. "When I finally reached the area where I'd lost the Ocarina of Time, Dark Link had been patiently waiting for me. He increased the fog, smothering the kokiri into unconsciousness. The fairies and Epona fell as well, making me wonder what kind of evil magic he'd used to cause such a thing. With that spell, he got me alone, away from the others so that we could converse by ourselves. Truth be told, there wasn't a lot of discussion as he initially merely tried to scare me by talking strange, saying things he thought would spook me. When I didn't give up, appearing from the darkness was a wooden chest. It had to have been another scare tactic but it kinda worked this time. From inside, it demanded that I let it out. As I screamed no, the remaining light around me vanished, blocking out the sun. I heard snapping sounds and the wooden chest breaking. If it weren't for the Golden Goddesses granting me light to see, I wouldn't have been able to witness what I had. Standing before me was one of Majora's forms. It decided to come at me head on with two whips, moving identical to the original Majora's Wrath I'd gone up against in Termina."

"The fight didn't last too long really as I knew exactly how to beat it; by doing the same thing I did prior…" Link said while recalling the battle. "It wasn't long, but it still took a lot out of me. Every tactic from when Majora's Wrath went up against me was utilized, for it acted the exact same, even going as far as to use the same attacks as it did before… I still didn't like the spinning top-thingies that spun out at me. I actually hated them… Stupid beigoma or whatever he called them." Grunting, the hero shook his head in pain from remembering the objects crashing into him. "Once I managed to successfully subdue Majora's Wrath, it blew up into a haze of more black smokey ooze."

The Deku Tree Sprout looked like he was about to ask if that was it, but Link resumed speaking in advance of the guardian saying anything. "It still wasn't over. Even though I had defeated Majora, it seemed as if it was coming back together. I assumed it was going to transform back into Majora or another form of Majora, instead, it manifested as this monstrous enormous blob with little to no discernable features. It was far scarier than anything else I'd seen. It looked like a being straight out of a hellish nightmare, slinking toward me with a mouth similar to a mix between a ReDead as well as a Dead Hand. I knew, had it gotten a hold of me, I would've been shredded to pieces. I'll admit, I even contemplated retreating as I backed away from it. However, I couldn't leave behind Saria, Mido, Fado, Breena, Laila or Epona. I couldn't let them get killed by this freakish mutant of nature. Instead, I resisted the urge to run and gave a good plunge of my sword. Surprisingly, this is all it took as with that plunge, I pierced the abomination's body with the blade, watching as the metal came out on the other side."

"Again, I figured this would be it. Instead, it persisted as it erupted into another cloud of smoke. This time though, the cloud dropped the Skull Kid, Timi, who'd rescued me a month earlier. Apparently he had been stuck within the monster this entire time. I wanted to see whether or not he was alright, whether he was breathing or not. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to check either him or any of the kokiri, as the smoke was already beginning to reshape itself into another form." For a split second, Link closed his eyes. He didn't want to, yet he could hear Dark Link's voice taking shape, going from demonic to the more child version of voice. Taunting the hero more, it spoke, saying things that sent shivers down his spine. "It said things to try and weaken my spirit. Anything that it could say to freak me out, make me give up or depress me, it threw at me in a heartbeat. This is when I fully discovered who it really was. Majora and the blob were nothing other than distractions, disguises to keep me from knowing who it was."

"Dark Link…" Link uttered. "It reshaped itself into the same form I'd seen trying to terrorize me from any reflection I happened to look into. Here, it resembled me, only pitch black in colour with searing red eyes." Subconsciously, Link cracked his neck, getting nervous as he recalled himself tensing up, preparing for the skirmish of a lifetime. "I tried to stop it, I tried to make it put down its weapon. I didn't want to fight, I wanted to ask questions. I wanted to know what it was doing there, why it wanted to fight me and how it survived all this time going from future to past as it had done. Certainly, I should have known that it wasn't interested in answering anything, that it was evil and would rather die than help me understand anything in life. In fact, it seemed to relish me being left in the literal dark, like it very much enjoyed me not knowing. What it did let me know was how it was going to murder me for my failure to completely eliminate Ganondorf from not only the future timeline, but this timeline as well. When I tried to tell him/it to not worry, that I'd take care of it, he laughed. He was too intent on destroying me to let his passion end here."

"You're a real piece of work." Link recalled Dark Link saying to him, taunting relentlessly. "You want all the answers in the world, don't you? No matter what title you give yourself, no matter what era you inhabit, it's always the same. Always speculating, always wondering, always searching for what's hidden behind the curtains; anything that'll answer all of life's questions."

Shaking his head, Link averted his gaze for a brief moment to regather his thoughts. Once he wasn't concerned that Dark Link was still in his mind, he continued. "He tossed me a health potion. That's right, Dark Link did. Now, it might sound super generous, but on the other hand, I have a feeling he wanted me at full power so he could fight me while giving it my all. Again, he's a twisted shadow. It's no surprise he chose to do this. Then again, perhaps it was a part of me, a tainted part of me from within him that made him do this. Perhaps he had a smidgen of honor still left within him." The Deku Tree Sprout stared at Link curiously as he listened intently to the true tale. "Once that was done, he basically told me that it was time for me to go, that it was time to die, time to quote 'end this cycle of pain and torment.'. He unsheathed his sword, then stood at the ready. Standing there, his stance was identical to mine. Speaking of which, when I moved to get into a similar position, he instantly adjusted himself to match my style. I knew from that, it was going to be an incredibly complex battle. I'd never fought myself prior to encountering Dark Link, yet, I had thought about it playfully on occasion, figuring that it would be a deadset match, one on one."

"So… You did fight him?" The Deku Tree Sprout asked, unable to contain the question any longer. "I take it that's how you broke the curse on the Lost Woods, the one that was defiling the area by tarnishing the land?"

Nodding, Link went ahead and answered the forest guardian so he'd be happy. "Yes, I did. But, hold on, I'm getting to it right now…" Once the demi-god went back to listening, the hero informed it of how the battle between him and Dark Link went down. "Like I said before, the match turned into a stalemate, or at the very least, near the beginning it was all futile…" He cleared his throat and coughed before saying. "Dodge, slice, dodge, dodge, dodge, stab, stab, dodge, slice, dodge, dodge…" His tongue came out as he blew a raspberry at the thought of exerting so much energy. "Going something like that, the shadow proved how evenly matched we were. We couldn't get very good hits on the other person, no matter how hard we tried. On one hand, it was a good thing that neither of us could score a decent strike, since it meant that I wasn't in too much danger. However, it still sucked that we had to dance around the battlefield for so long, trying without a doubt to subdue each other while we mirrored one another's every move. Ultimately, seeing how we were so equal to one another in terms of skill, we began going outside of our comfort zone in fighting, trying new maneuvers or different abilities. This tactic of trying other things made it easier to fight, and yet, far more dangerous as well. Dark Link moved away from my fighting style, trying one of his own whenever I got a decent hit. Don't get me wrong, he got several good strikes upon me too…" He would have shown the wounds, but the bandages were wound tighter around the sword cuts and stabs, keeping them safe as the stitches needed him to keep the injuries clean.

"Slice, chop, stab, jab, cut." Chuckling, what he said was more or less how it went. "We tossed ourselves around, performing whatever move we thought would defeat the other until the moves began getting worse on both of us. Both of us started taking hits from each other, unable to block or simply didn't see it coming in time. Once I perceived that I was behind, that I was lagging and would likely be overcome before long, I decided to go all out in strength, exactly like he wanted me to do. Throwing all I had at him, eventually, it proved to still not be enough. He got my weapon out of my hand and I was down on the ground with him hovering atop me, his blade pressed directly to my throat. I figured that I'd lost here, that it was the end of me, just as he said it would be. Thankfully, in my moment of need, the Goddesses pulled through, assisting me one more time as they shaped reality to fit their needs. Awakening the Skull Kid, Timi must have seen me on the ground, watching as Dark Link was about to impale and likely decapitate me."

The Deku Tree Sprout listened with wide-eyes, eager to hear what happened. He flinched slightly as Link motioned a fake jump at him to demonstrate how Timi jumped.

"Saving my life, the Skull Kid lunged at Dark Link right as the evil shadow lifted his sword for the death strike." Link continued to motion. "Timi grabbed Dark Link's head and pulled back, covering his eyes and allowing me the opportunity to gather my composure. I grabbed my sword and stabbed that son-of-a-bitch right through his chest!" The young hylian's heartbeat sped up as he thought about the look of surprise on Dark Link's face. Although he wasn't happy about killing, as he never was, he was interested and excited that he was so powerful he could even defeat himself. Not to mention, the kid felt very important; for the Goddesses surely had a hand in rescuing him.

Even if Link never truly figured it out, he'd always lean toward the Golden Goddesses being the ones who awoke Timi. They had to because Saria, Mido, Fado, Breena, Laila and Epona were still unconscious. "With that, I knew that I had won our skirmish. There was no way that demon's physical form could heal from that. I was right too, because it ended the battle with a brief one-sided conversation regarding how he'd be back, how he would return to fight me many more times, how he would 'Always exist as long as I stay myself'."

Shrugging, he kept going. "After that, I had the opportunity to bear witness to the change in the forest as well as the air. Following the destruction of Dark Link, with it vanishing, it took with it all that had been plaguing the Lost Woods or Kokiri Village. The shadow's of daytime disappeared, leaving behind a sun stricken late afternoon, with rays shining down amongst the ground. Off in the distance, I could even hear wildlife surfacing for the first time, without it being a case of something getting eaten alive. No, it actually sounded peaceful." Smiling, Link felt happy at the thought, happy that he was able to rescue everyone. "Saria, Mido, Fado, Breena, Laila and Epona all stirred, coming to life for the first time in a solid thirty minutes or more. Seeing them alive made me fall to my knees. I remember doing it in front of Saria, crying as she awoke from her slumber. It freaked her out, but I was just so ecstatic to have her and the others safe. I was overwhelmed with emotions. Once they got up, we turned to Timi, who had more bandages, which we needed for me as I was bleeding like a stuck pig."

The Deku Tree Sprout seemed highly interested in the Skull Kid. "Tell me more about Timi. How did he react once you and the others awoke?"

"He reacted well…" Link replied. "He welcomed us into his home as he searched for the roll of bandages I so desperately needed. I must admit, the kid has amazing skills in architecture. His house was built into a tree, making it look like one of ours here in the village. Although, he lived alone and did everything on his own. His craftsmanship extended far beyond that of ours. I'd definitely say he'd made a living for himself." Moving on, he stated "It was here that I asked about whether he knew of Majora's Mask, but he told me it was merely part of the story he read me while I was unconscious. As for helping me for a third time, it proved that he had a good heart. In spite of the curse that made him look the way he does, on the inside, he's a big softie. He even understood whenever I told him that I had to leave. At that point, he got a bit ornery, but, after that, he calmed down and allowed us to leave, even going so far as to escort us a fair distance."

"As a reward for all that Timi did, I-… well-… I gave him a shortcut to leaving the Lost Woods." Glancing at the Deku Tree Sprout, Link's lips pulled down in sudden worry. "I realize now that you might not like that?"

The Deku Tree Sprout raised his thin strip of an eyebrow. For a moment, it seemed like he was about to get angry. Thankfully, he just laughed it off. "Well, look at you; rewarding others… Heroes usually rescue others, now you've taken it further by rewarding people? How very responsible of you, Link. Just make sure you've made the correct choice, otherwise it might come back to haunt you… As for Timi, I think you made the right choice. Perhaps he'll get another reward from me as well."

Shrugging with a smile, Link was simply glad that he didn't get in trouble or make the wrong choice. As for his storytelling, it was actually the Deku Tree Sprout who decided to delve further into the whole Dark Link thing. "In fact, perhaps I should reward you too…" The plant said. "I think I have a little knowledge that'll pertain to this so-called 'Dark Link'. I have a feeling you'll find it useful." Wiggling his mouth side-to-side he resumed with "Based upon everything that you've told me, it sounds as if he's a tulpa." Going into depth, the guardian explained "A tulpa is a being who is created through intense thought or spiritual achievement. When you first encountered this shadowy version of yourself in the Water Temple, it was probably just a mirror image of you, copying you like it was meant to. But, you say Dark Link returned to your shadow after its defeat? Well, it's quite possible that the Curse of the Lost Woods brought forth self-awareness to it. Your venture into Termina, as you tell me, was essentially a big spiritual awakening, one large enough to create a tulpa with great purpose."

With eyes widened in shock, Link couldn't believe that the Deku Tree Sprout had essentially explained away Dark Link in less than a minute. What the demi-god had said made a lot of sense too. It was true that the hylian was going through the five stages of grief during the events of Termina and that made it quite the spiritual quest. Such a trek could have breathed life into the mirrored version of me, just as the Deku Tree Sprout said. He hadn't thought of it that way prior to now. "A tulpa, huh? Does that make it more or less dangerous?" The boy asked, not even thinking of what he had said and how obvious it was. "Do you know any way to defeat a tulpa? Like, is there a special or secret way to destroy them? I've already defeated it, and yet, I have this feeling within me that it isn't going to be the last time that I'll encounter it. Besides, he even told me that he'd be back.

The Deku Tree Sprout gently shook its head as if to say it didn't know. "I honestly couldn't say. All I know is that it is most likely a tulpa based upon the description you've given me. If I were you, I'd find someone who knows more about them and learn all they know." His stem creaked as he swayed in the nighttime breeze. "Perhaps that 'Mr. Happy', the Happy Mask Salesman will know more about it. He seemed to be quite wise on matters such as those. With any luck, he'll know far more than myself and can explain it to you better as well. For now, just think of what I said. Dark Link was made by intense thought, likely when you were comatose and going through Termina."

'Intense thought?' Link contemplated in his head, not wanting the others to hear him. 'So, that means I created the current Dark Link and I don't even realize it?' Rolling his eyes, he huffed. 'Great… That makes me feel good about myself.' Sighing, he continued thinking about thoughtforms such as tulpas. 'I suppose I can't blame myself though. It's not my fault that Dark Link's creation was due to me being in the Lost Woods. Trying to find Navi is the only thing I'm guilty of. Not once can I say it was a bad thing to save Termina either.' Shaking his head, Link chose to inquire on something more important than whether it was his fault or not. 'I just wonder what this means will be in store for me; what Dark Link is going to do. Being a Tulpa, he must feel as though he is truly on a mission. It's not going to be easy the next time I fight him. The demon is going to learn and use his knowledge to grow stronger each time.' Pursing his lips, he thought 'The next time… I can't help but wonder, when will it be? When will I see him again and where is he now?'

The Deku Tree Sprout stared at Link, watching the boy silently think to himself. The tree-god seemed to eventually zone in on the hylian's wounds, looking at each individual scratch, cut, and bruise. Perhaps it was his care for the child that caused all the sudden concern for his well being; either way, he soon remarked on it. "Well, Link… I'm far beyond glad that you're doing above and beyond well. To see you come so far, to see you come from a young boy who thought he was a kokiri, all the way to who you are now, a hylian boy with a special destiny he's already fulfilling; it makes my bark swell in happiness. You also have more of my thanks than I can ever muster to say. But…" He stopped for a moment, waiting until the boy gazed up at the sprout in anticipation. "I think you should go back to the Kokiri Village and get yourself some well deserved rest. It's pretty easy to see that you want to pass out. Ehehe."

Blinking in surprise to what the sprout said, it hit the hero like a ton of bricks. Although he'd felt tired the entire time, he didn't feel utterly exhausted until now. "Oh… I know…" Link yawned. "I think the adrenaline from all my fighting is wearing off. Now that the amazement from you being alive is starting to fade as well, I feel the need to recuperate. My muscles are so sore from all the combat." In advance of standing, he leaned forward to give the Deku Tree Sprout one final gentle hug, putting all the remaining emotion he had left into it. "I'm so glad you're back and I don't care what form you're in. You're still the same GREAT Deku TREE who raised me." Letting go, he then stood up, forcing his legs to hold his weight before saying quite sincerely "I love you very much. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

The Deku Tree Sprout enjoyed the affection of his children, especially Link's hug. His branches perked up as his smile widened gleefully. "I love you too, Link. We're glad to have you back. Get some rest."

Link turned around and as soon as he began limping away, Saria knew he was done. The other villagers, those who didn't mind it being night time, they saw too.

One of the younger girls who made a jump for it, ran to the Deku Tree Sprout as fast as she could. "Yahoo! Finally, it's my turn!" She exclaimed while skidding to a stop and landing right next to the plant. "Hi, Great Deku Tree, remember me! It's DeBe!" The kokiri girl clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I missed you oh-so much, I almost didn't know what to do with myself without you. If it wasn't for my fairy, Rosa, I would've gotten into way more trouble than I'd admit too!" She held her hand to her mouth to silence herself, but giggled since it was too late. "Oops, did I say that!? I'm just so excited! Tee-hee!"

The hero smiled at the hyper kokiri girl and then allowed her conversation to be her own as he stopped listening. Epona nuzzled him when he got close enough, showing her own affection as well.

"How do you feel?" Saria asked with a smile on her face. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself a few times there, I could tell by your tone of voice."

"Yeah…" Link admitted. "I did. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time telling him what happened since he's been away. Then again, he did need to know and I have been wanting to explain things to him for quite a long period of time. So, I suppose that I can't complain. It's really good to have seen him again, even if it's like-... that." Turning to look back, he couldn't help but feel his heart pump faster in happiness as he once again took in the fact that the Deku Tree was back. "I wanted to stay longer, but he knew I was getting tired, he could tell just by looking at me. It's true too. I'm deadbeat exhausted. If it weren't for that though, I could probably have spent the entire night talking to him about things."

"I don't know about that…" Saria responded, pointing back at the crowd of kokiri still waiting for their one-on-one turn with the wooden demigod. "Another thirty minutes and the others would've drug you away." Giggling, she handed Epona's reins over to him, relinquishing the sleepy-eyed equine to her master. "I would've given you an hour before I'd have done it myself."

"How about you? What are you going to do?" Link asked, holding back a chuckle from the thought of kokiri pulling him away from the Deku Tree Sprout. "Are you going to talk to him after DeBe has her turn?" Since he knew Debe, he had a feeling the air-headed girl wouldn't have all that much to say.

"No, I'll wait…" Saria said with a smile. "Tomorrow will be a better day to talk anyway seeing how there's so many people already waiting. It just wouldn't feel right for me to take time away from their conversations." Even though the hero knew she was being too nice, he didn't say anything about it. She had the right to do as she wanted to do. For the time being, she seemed more interested in him than the deku tree. "If I've waited this long, the Deku Tree Sprout can wait a little while longer. Right now, I'm going to take you home and make you some of that soup you like so much… What did you call it when you were young? Kokiri Kurry?" She giggled as Link rolled his eyes with a smile at her callback to whenever he was five years old.

After that, they turned to walk out of the Great Deku Tree's Meadow, passing by the horde of kokiri waiting for their turn to talk. "Kokiri Kurry… Mmm…" Link moaned happily, already imagining it. "You know, I never thought the name would stick whenever I called it that. But, you should market it."

Saria shook her head with a smile. "Kokiri don't generally like spicy stuff. It's just a dish I make for you. But-… If other people were to tell me they liked it too, I suppose I could start selling it." She laughed, beginning to take a genuine liking to the idea.

Leaving the Great Deku Tree's Meadow to traverse down the little path that led to and from, they returned to the Kokiri Village. It was beginning to get late for the kokiri. Most who weren't at the meadow were relaxing in their homes, probably eating or working on hobbies until they grew weary enough to settle into their beds. As for Link, the boy couldn't wait to get back to his old treehouse. Getting off his feet for the night would allow him to recover enough to not feel like the worn out burlap bag he currently does. Each step started to hurt, forcing him to wonder how he made it that long to begin with. He should have gone directly to rest instead of talking. Nonetheless, he couldn't help himself from wanting to go see the Deku Tree Sprout, to tell the guardian his story. In fact, doing so likely gave him the energy. However, now that the strength was gone, he began to limp like he was earlier. His sides ached and the scratches itched. Not one part of him was feeling good. Others, those who resided in the village were lucky that they didn't have to go through what he did, or else they'd know what true pain felt like. Instead, his stab wounds were searing in agony because he chose to protect them. Despite that pain, it was still worth it.

As soon as they reached Link's treehouse, he nearly collapsed right then and there from delightful anticipation. The only concern he had was climbing the ladder. While Saria did it with ease, Link knew it would take more out of him. Prior to even attempting, he led Epona around to the side of the house. He'd set up a small makeshift area there a few months ago, just for this sort of occasion. Although it didn't have any food for her to eat, the trough he made had rainwater in it, which was more than good enough for the filly. She began drinking straight away. Proceeding a few pats for all her hard work, the hero gave his trusty steed a kiss on the side of the head to let her know that he loved her. Grabbing his bags, following that, he had to hold back on letting everyone know how uncomfortable it was to climb with cuts and gashes, trying hard to not curse loudly as his skin contorted from the movement. Before long, he managed to go up the ladder, moving slowly, one foot at a time.

Saria had already gone inside. Pulling back the curtain-like door to his tree-house, Link saw her lighting a fire in the firepit so they would have some light. Being able to see, she started cleaning up a tad, straightening the mess that had been made beforehand, prior to him going into the Lost Woods for a second time. Thankfully, it was mostly clothes strewn about as well as a few open chests and drawers. Once she was done, the room and bed were clean.

In advance of even getting the chance to thank her, the hero's feet hustled toward his kokiri cot. Once he was close enough and couldn't take it for one more moment, putting the Ocarina of Time down on the nightstand, he found himself leaping toward the bed, halfway landing on it sideways with the loudest groan he could muster. The soft mix of flowers, feathers and hay inside of the mattress made him want to close his eyes and go directly to sleep. Had it not been for the fact that Saria was staring at him plus planning on making him food, he would have done so without further hesitation.

"Someone's a huge sleepyhead right now. I can tell…" Saria teased while walking over, lifting Link's legs and pushing him all the way into his bed. "Are you sure you're up for dinner? I can always let you sleep for tonight and make you an extra large breakfast instead."

Groaning more from her pushing him all the way onto the bed, Link didn't need to answer her, for his stomach did so for him. Rumbling and tumbling, she heard how hungry he was, possibly hungry enough to beat out the tiredness. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest well anyway, not without a warm meal sitting in his tummy. Considering that, he shook his head. "No way… I'm starving for some of your food. I haven't had you cook for me in months." He watched then as Saria waved him off with a smile on her face, enjoying the given compliment. She sat on the side of the bed, rubbing his back for a few minutes. "I'm serious…" He said, "You brought up Kokiri Kurry, now you have to make it, you know the rules."

Hearing her giggles made Link smile each time. He was glad that they were able to do that, to relax without any other worries. Ganondorf was out of the picture and Dark Link was gone for now. All he had to do was spend time with his family the way he wanted to from the start. With the Deku Tree Sprout having surfaced, it was even better than he could have imagined it to be. When he closed my eyes, he felt as though that things never changed, that he never went on his adventures to begin with. A smile came across his face. He felt that safety again with Saria, like a mother watching over her child.

"I do know that…" Saria replied to what Link had said about Kokiri Kurry. "I shouldn't have brought it up, because I think you need sleep instead." Standing up, she stared at the hero more. "I have a feeling you'll be asleep by the time I come back with your Kokiri Kurry." She gave him a kiss on the forehead, tentatively brushing his golden hair back, being gentle with each combing motion her fingers made. His smile made her happy, even if he refused to admit his tiredness was beginning to conquer all other sensations. "I'll be back later on to change your bandages regardless of if you fall asleep now or not."

"Okay…" Link yawned, trying not to move anymore as he had finally gotten comfy enough for his wounds to not sting. "But, I want my Kokiri Kurry."

Walking away, Saria grabbed a few bowls from off the table, likely to be used to gather ingredients. "I know, I know… I'm going to go grab the stuff to make it and then I'll come right back. Okay?" The hero nodded as she started for the door. But, right then she stopped, turned and asked "Cabbage, spice, broth, and rice?"

Making Link chuckle, he knew what she was doing. Like all those years ago, he played along like he was the kid he was back then, continuing the rest of the saying he used to say. "It's nice, It's nice." She laughed and he did the same before watching as she walked outside and climbed down the ladder.

He was alone again. Yet, being there in his own house, he was relaxed and didn't mind that it was just him. He found himself glad that there wasn't anyone else nearby. For the time being, he could chill out without having to speak. The young hylian's mind could unwind from the stress of the day. Closing his eyes again, he rolled over, grabbing the pillow and hugging it close to his head. Exhaling, he figured he could get a bit of rest before he was awoken to eat. While trying his hardest to drift off into 'lala land', as Saria called it, he thought about all that had happened that day, all that he had accomplished. Turning his head to look at the Ocarina of Time on his nightstand, having only to check one last time, he then returned to closing his eyes. In the brief quest to retrieve it, he'd encountered an entire pack of wolfos as well as a dark version of himself that happened to have been created by him while he was in Termina. In spite of the unpleasantries, he still succeeded in defending himself against the vile monsters, not to mention cured the Lost Woods and Kokiri Village of its plague. Saria was also his greatest achievement. To have her back to normal meant the world to him. The Deku Tree Sprout though, having it back literally was the world. So, considering that a pack of wolfos or even he couldn't kill himself, he rescued his kokiri mom and rediscovered his deku father; all for the Ocarina of Time. It was totally worth it.

Drifting off to sleep, that's all he could think. It was totally worth it.