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.

22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

.

.

.

[Time: 7:45 A.M. (Morning)]

[Date: Month 8 'Autumn', Day 03, 8th Era]

(Location: Hyrule, Forbidden Forest, Kokiri Village - Fado & Mido's House)

.

Fado sat at the table on the right side of the home she and Mido shared, which was carved out of a tree. The girl used a spoon to sip carrot broth out of a bowl. She wasn't overly hungry that morning, so she decided to make a small breakfast. When she drained half her soup, she grabbed and took a crisp bite out of a piece of bread wrapped with lettuce. Other than the crunching of the food in her mouth, she could hear the birds chirping outside as well as a light breeze. She swallowed and then closed her eyes to enjoy the tranquility of the Kokiri Village.

It was far more peaceful outside since Link had come and fixed the curse polluting the woodland. Yet, Fado had an issue. Hanging her head, the blonde kokiri girl sighed. "I'm so bored."

Although she was glad to not have to worry about monsters invading her home, ever since the hero restored order, literally nothing else had happened since. Unlike most of those living there, Fado wasn't interested in a monotonous routine. More than anything, she wanted some excitement in her life, something that made her feel like she had a purpose. Comparatively, the most thrilling moment she had recently was when Mido found a snake in the grass out front of the house and that wasn't even a poisonous or big snake. In a sense, the bore had made her long for another adventure. Instead, she simply continued to hone her blowgun skills in order to better protect the village for whenever a threat bigger than a harmless reptile decides to invade.

"What are you complaining about?" Tessl, her guardian fairy asked.

Fado knew it was important to be a defender of the kokiri because Link couldn't always be there for them. "It's just so boring here." She replied

Finishing off her carrot broth soup, she then stood up with her lettuce wrapped bread in her hand, munching on it as she carried the bowl to her dirty dishes area. After setting the empty bowl on a table with several other used dishes, the kokiri girl felt a rebellious grin come to her lips as she thought about taking a trip out into the Lost Woods just for the fun of it. She knew she'd hear from the Deku Sprout about her escapades later on, but she felt she needed to do something gratifying to settle the boredom enveloping her.

Cramming the last of the lettuce bread in her mouth, floorboards creaked as she made her way across the room toward an old chest. In spite of being a relatively innocent girl, she had a mischievous side to her that coincided with a desire to collect things. While she certainly wasn't a kleptomaniac because she wouldn't dare steal from her friends, she had a hard time not taking trophies from places she'd been. She was sentimental and things often reminded her of what she'd done.

Once the chest she stashed all this stuff in was opened, it was stuffed to the brim, a clear indication that she had been doing this for a long time.

Inside the chest were all of her treasures. There were trophies such as a small bottle filled with fur from a wolfos, the skull of a Stalfos, eagle feathers, a turtle shell, numerous squirrel teeth, a bokoblin club and the spidery carapace of a gold skulltula. Aside from the mementoes were a few other items, such as a weird mushroom she'd only found growing in the Lost Woods and a Poacher's Saw. Her most recent prized possession, however, was wrapped in a rag underneath the eagle feathers. Picking up the rag, she opened it to see a green medallion with a strange design engraved on the front and back.

Although she didn't know what the medallion was, she found it inside the Forest Temple. The kokiri girl knew it had to be important just based upon its appearance. Now that she'd cleaned the grime from it and gave it a buff with a soft cloth, it shone when light hit it, showing that it was made of reflective metal.

'What is this thing?' Fado asked herself as she stared at it with a raised eyebrow as well as an inquisitive face. Examining it hadn't gotten her further than recognizing that the symbol was also on several pillars and walls inside the Forest Temple. On the other hand, each time she looked at it, she felt an odd sensation in her chest, one she couldn't quite pinpoint the reason for. In a way, it made her anxious. 'Is it a religious relic? It makes me lightheaded.' Shaking her head to snap out of the trance it kept bringing her into, she thought 'What does this symbol on it mean?'

She kept pondering if the Deku Sprout would recognize it and be willing to divulge information to her. But, she knew the fatherly demi-god would be more likely to yell at her for going to the Forest Temple. 'I think I'm going to be on my own figuring out what this is.' At first, even without the Deku Sprout's help, she thought she could ask the others there in the village, but its strange side-effect made her wary of exposing anyone else to it. She didn't want them getting sick if it was unholy. Then again, since she refused to part with the relic, that meant it was solely her responsibility of dealing with. If she wanted answers regarding what it was, she'd have to discover those answers for herself.

'I suppose a trip to the Lost Woods would also give me a chance to practice on live targets.' She thought as she stood up with the medallion in her hand prior to closing her treasure chest.

Going over to her bed, from off the headboard she grabbed her bandolier and put it on. Afterward, she bent down, reaching underneath the bed frame to pull out her blowgun. "There you are, my sweets." She joked in regard to how much she adored her weapon. "Ready for an expedition?" Once she made sure there were plenty of darts on her bandolier, she grabbed a satchel and placed it over the opposite shoulder. After opening the bag, she placed the medallion inside in advance of re-securing it by buttoning the flap closed.

Not wanting Tessl to know where they were going yet, Fado merely continued to speak to her weapon in her thoughts, 'We're going to find out what the Forest Temple has in store for us.'

After snuffing out the fire in her fireplace, she turned to the door to leave. She could tell the air was chilly just from what drifted inside. Once she actually got outside though, she felt the brisk breeze and was energized by it instead of being cold like most would have been. The sun had only been up for an hour and there were already rays of light beginning to shine through the thick foliage of the treetops, piercing across the village like illuminating pins. However, visibility wasn't the greatest as a thin layer of fog had rolled in due to the temperature change from night to day. To most, the scene would look eerie, but for Fado, she found the atmosphere serene. The village looked sleepy, yet at peace.

Only a few kokiri were awake. But, of course Mido was one of them. The boy was out front of their house doing jumping exercises by their little garden. Although he was occupied, he took note of his roommate and greeted her. "Good morning, Fado."

"Good morning, Mido." Fado replied as she ambled down the path that connected to the village's main street, staring at the orange-haired boy who was off to the side. "I see you're still focusing on calisthenics?"

"Yes!" Breena, his fairy confirmed.

"Of course!" Mido stated while jumping up and down, slinging his arms into the air as he did. "It's important that I stay in shape in case I'm needed again."

Stopping to tease the boy, Fado jokingly asked "And why do you think anybody would want you, especially again?"

"Hey!" Mido stopped his exercise to chastise her attempt at being funny. "That's not funny! I was a big help whenever we went into the Lost Woods. Now that I think about it, If it wasn't for me, Link probably never would've made it out of that place or have been able to fight off all those Wolfos."

The blonde kokiri girl forced air between her lips to represent her total dismissal of the boy's false reality. "Yeah right!"

Mido didn't bother to respond, simply choosing to wave off her truth instead. However, he noticed her gear plus her weapon and it made him ask. "Where are you going?"

"Just around." Fado gave a vague answer.

"With your blowgun?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" She immediately replied as to not sound suspicious. "I'm going to practice my aim."

Stroking his chin out of curiosity, he hummed skeptically. "Not on living targets, right?"

"Well, nothing worth being alive." She assured him.

"Fado!" He grumbled at her. "You shouldn't be killing innocent animals!"

Waving her hands to defend herself, she stayed calm while saying "I'm not killing animals. I'm killing monsters; they're not innocent."

Pouting, he eventually sighed as he knew he wouldn't be able to control her, that she was going to do what she wanted to do regardless of what he wanted to tell her to do. Since he believed himself to be the self-proclaimed leader of the kokiri, it was tough for him to have someone who was acting so unorthodox. "Okay, fine." He gave up and decided to make sure she stayed safe above all else. "Just don't go too far. You know the Deku Sprout doesn't like it when we leave the village."

"I'm not going to leave the village." Fado stated as she began moving down the path again. "I'll be around."

"I've heard that before." Mido rolled his eyes, knowing better than to believe the blonde-headed kokiri girl on that.

Waving at her roommate, Fado turned around and then carried on with her plan to visit the Lost Woods. To get there, she walked to the back of their house, following a smaller path that led there. "I'll be back in time for lunch."

Her and Tessl made it to the back of their home before the fairy piped up with "You're going to the Lost Woods, aren't you?"

Fado snickered as they approached the slope that led up the cliffside where the entrance to the Lost Woods was. "You know me too well."

"What I know is that I can't stop you." Tessl spoke in exasperation, having gone through this with the girl about a dozen times.

"No…" Fado confirmed prior to asking "But, are you going to join me?"

"I suppose." Tessl floated right behind her.

Together, they ascended the slope until they were at the top of the cliff. Before long, on their left, the hollow log which served as the threshold between the village and the Lost Woods came into sight. Heading toward it, they could feel the further drop in temperature between the two areas as the air coming through the log was far colder than that out there in the open. This time, she felt a bit chilly, but chose to push through it as she knew it would be warming up as the day went on. Before going inside, she made extra-sure that she had the unknown medallion as it was the entire reason why she was going out there in the first place.

Wiping the mouthpiece to her blowgun, she crossed over, stepping from the grass on top of the cliff to the wood of the hollow log. Since the place had a rather nefarious reputation for being dangerously unsafe, she was prepared to defend herself. Taking a dart from her bandolier, she loaded it through the mouthpiece, snugly securing it in the bore of the gun. Behind her, the chirping of birds and crickets grew fainter. Soon, her footsteps on wood and the sounds of her readying her weapon were the only noises she could hear while inside the fallen tree.

Emerging on the other side of the tree, she came out in the Lost Woods. It was much foggier there than it was in the village and the sunshine had yet to breach the abnormally thick treetops. While there were animal sounds, there weren't as many as in the vicinity of Kokiri Village and the rest of the Forbidden Forest. The atmosphere was thick like steam, but the portion she stood at was rather familiar to her due to all the times she'd been out there on additional expeditions. That didn't mean she could be free of worry though, as even the very beginning of the land was afflicted with The Curse of the Lost Woods.

"Oof, it's always so dank out here." Tessl observed her surroundings, always vigilant in defense of her child.

"Dank?" Fado enquired upon the term as she proceeded onward into the depths of the Lost Woods. "I think it's mysterious and otherworldly. It makes me want to explore its secrets."

"You shouldn't have a desire to explore here." Tessl added. "It's not normal." In spite of saying what she did, she continued to follow the kokiri while reprimanding her. "It's too dangerous. Who cares about some ancient medallion? It's not as important as your life."

Walking quickly, Fado scoffed. "Tessl. Stop it. I've already been over this with you."

"But you should know all of this." Tessl stayed firm in her belief. "You saw firsthand how deadly this place can be whenever you were here with Link just a couple of months ago."

Shaking her head, the blonde-headed double low bun kokiri girl resisted the idea that where she headed was too treacherous for her, countering with "And you should know that I made it through that journey unscathed. In fact, I proved to be of assistance to Link whenever we were surrounded by those wolfos because I was the only one there who'd even killed a monster before." Seeing movement to the left of her, she kept her eyes peeled until it turned out to be two chattering squirrels on a tree fighting over an acorn. "I'm not like the others, I'm not defenseless."

As they kept moving, Tessl flew in front of Fado and floated backwards so they were face-to-face. "What's so important about this medallion that you'd keep coming out here?"

Using her free hand, Fado held onto her satchel where the medallion was stored. "That's what I'm going to find out."

For the next ten minutes, the two traveled quietly, without saying a word to each other. For all intents and purposes, Tessl had given up on trying to convince Fado to turn around, to stop coming out there. The fairy did her best to fulfill her duty by at least keeping watch over the kokiri girl during their trek into the Lost Woods. She had to flutter her wings pretty fast to keep up with how swift Fado was walking. Together, they both stayed on lookout. Fado was going to be the primary source of attack as well as defense, but Tessle could always act as a first alert.

Fado kept her blowgun at the ready, expecting to have to use it at a moment's notice. Both her hands tightly gripped the barrel, with her dominant up close by her mouth and her non-dominant a quarter of the way down. At any moment, she could be ambushed by Wolfos or swooped upon by Keese. Yet, in spite of all the potential hazards, the kokiri girl wasn't afraid, she wasn't even nervous. To her, everything happening was totally exciting. In fact, as she carried on through the forest, she had a big smile plastered on her face. So relaxed was she, that the carefree girl didn't even have a problem with quietly humming a tune. If anything, it also proved precisely how familiar she was with the land she was walking on. After all, this was far from the second time she'd been out there.

Eventually, she occupied herself as she traveled by thinking about the strange green medallion in her satchel. The entire thing was an oddity. It appeared to be a relic of some sort and while she made a correlation between the emblem on it and the numerous same designs in the Forest Temple, that was as far as she'd gotten. It seemed obvious that it belonged in the Forest Temple, but what it did or why it was there was beyond her. The kokiri girl didn't even know what it was made of as the material refused to scratch, bend or break under normal means. For an object so sturdy, it didn't even weigh all that much.

The Sacred Grove was still quite a way away. Although Tessl seemed as though she was getting bored, the fairy was actually terrified of being so far away from the Deku Sprout. While Fado had her thoughts and humming to keep her occupied on the trip, Tessl only had concerns or horrid make-believe scenarios running through her head of what might happen if they got surrounded out there. 'This is ridiculous, Fado.' She thought to herself while fluttering her wings harder. 'Why are you acting so creepy lately? I mean, who would WANT to be out here?' Shivering, she kept close to the kokiri girl as she heard a wolfos howl far in the distance. 'It's soooo scary here.'

"Don't worry." Fado told her guardian. "It's far away and that wasn't a vicious howl."

"How do you know that?" Tessl asked as she landed in the girl's hair, taking a break for a moment as all the flying was wearing her out.

"I've been studying." Fado confidently replied.

Giggling at the thought of Fado studying in a library, the fairy asked "Studying what? There aren't any books on the Lost Woods, at least not any that I'm aware of."

Shrugging, Fado looked to her left and then to her right as she said "I could write my own guide on this place by now. I've been studying it through experiencing it. Now that I've been out here enough and watched the habits of the creatures that live out here, I've educated myself on what their noises mean so I can better understand them."

"When did you study Wolfos?" Tessle enquired with narrowed skeptical eyes.

Fado stopped hustling for a brief moment, holding the back of her neck and smiling anxiously as she realized she had spoken herself into a metaphorical corner. "Oh…. uhh…." Seething with hesitation, the kokiri eventually admitted "I came out here by myself a few times, just so I could move quickly without anybody slowing me down."

Huffing from frustration, the fairy flew off Fado's head and hovered in front of her face. "Let me get this straight, you snuck into the Lost Woods without me so you could go study Wolfos?"

Nodding, Fado made a face of disbelief and ridicule that the fairy had such trouble believing her. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"What's wrong with you?" Tessl asked.

Walking faster again, Fado acted as if she was unsure of what her guardian fairy meant. "What are you talking about? I'm fine."

Holding her tiny hands to her equally tiny hips, the sprite puffed out her cheeks to show her displeasure. "Ever since Link left the village, you've been acting differently than usual." Floating in a circle around the kokiri girl, she proceeded to voice her opinion on the changes she'd seen. "You've been quieter, withdrawn from the others, you're exploring the Lost Woods like it's a playground and this hunting you've been doing with your blowgun… kokiri don't hunt! It's-... It's unnatural!"

"What are you talking about? We eat meat. Not much, but some." Fado retorted, trying to wave off her guardian's concern.

"We trade for meat." Tessl sternly stated. "We don't hunt the animals of the forest, especially not for target practice."

"They were squirrels and birds!" The blonde kokiri girl started getting irate at the fairy's lack of understanding her point of view. "It's not like I hurt a horse or a dog or cat. I'm not a psychopath, Tessl." Grunting in frustration, she exhaled through her nostrils prior to sharing "Did you ever think, maybe we oughta learn how to take care of ourselves better than just by trading? We should know how to hunt in case hylian deliveries fall through."

Slapping her little hand to her forehead, Tessl growled "We already did that, remember? Before the Forest Temple was built?" All the fairy could do was try to remind the kokiri of their history. "It's not that we forgot how to hunt, Fado. We chose not to."

Growing tired of the conversation, Fado stopped in her tracks and spun around to face the fairy. "I wasn't born until after the Forest Temple, so what would I know about that?" Tapping her foot in irritation, she crossed her arms so she'd look just as serious as her guardian. "Now, are you going to help me figure this out or not?" Ending on a strong note, she questioned why the fairy wasn't aware of the answer herself. "If you're so wise on the matter, how come you don't know what the emblem on the medallion is?"

Tessl's arms dropped, going from pouty to uneasy. "I-… Uhh…"

"Because you don't know anymore than I do." Fado answered for the fairy as she started walking away backwards. "Now, come on. Let's go figure this out."

Inhaling as deeply as she could in the stuffy atmosphere of the Lost Woods, the fairy let out a long and extended sigh in advance of flying after the kokiri girl. "I'm right behind you."

"Good." Fado said. "There's a clearing up ahead where we can get a break from this dense flora."

Sure enough, they had made it to that very spot. The treeline opened into a quaint little glade; it was a true respite from the rest of the woodland's natural clutter. Other than the grass, the only other thing was a single fallen tree just off-center of the middle of the clearing. It seemed to be slightly safer here as the fog wasn't near as thick, being fought back by the blessing of several rays of sunshine. Fado made it clear the lone tree was precisely where she was going as she kept walking straight for it. Tessl didn't dally as she didn't want to be left alone in such a hostile environment.

When Fado got to the fallen log, she used it as a seat. Taking a rest, she decided to do a bit more inspecting prior to resuming her trek. Placing her blowgun right next to her in case she had to grab it, she opened the satchel hanging from her shoulder, removing the medallion. Staring at the relic, she examined the three concave markings on the front and back. They appeared to represent swirls of some sort. Plus, around the entire edge, circling the markings, was an inscription written in an unknown language the kokiri girl was unable to interpret. If she could read the writing, she was sure it would have shed more light on the medallion's purpose. But, she still planned to do her absolute best to discover what its purpose is as it isn't a normal object. It didn't take a genius to realize normal objects don't make people dizzy from holding them.

Running her hand along the side of the medallion, she felt the inscriptions, but couldn't note anything odd or out of place. Giving it a gentle knock assured her that it wasn't hollow in spite of its light weight. Sniffing it gave off a metallic scent, which was to be expected. Yet, tasting it made her lift both eyebrows as she found it to be tasteless. All of these proved to her that it was certainly made out of a superior quality metal, one she'd never held prior to now.

"Did you just lick that?" Tessl asked.

"Shh…" Fado ordered as she continued to think.

The breeze began to pick up in the nearby vicinity, seemingly only affecting the glade. While Tessl found it odd, Fado was simply glad as she had a particular affinity for wind. Not only did the kokiri girl find wind to be calming to her, she was always impressed by its strength whenever it blew through the trees.

"Do you think it's some sort of currency?" Fado wondered aloud.

Her fairy was too busy trying to pinpoint the reason for the odd sensation she had, the gut feeling she was getting as the breeze blew by them. "What?"

"This… thing." Fado pointed to the medallion. "Maybe they used it as money. I've heard of some races using metal instead of rupees."

Shaking her head, Tessl replied logically "It's too big to be currency."

Pondering the possibilities with her index finger to her lips and thumb on her cheek, the kokiri girl thought of alternatives before coming up with "How about a trophy?"

"That's…." Tessl started to dismiss the idea before stating "That's a possibility."

All around them, the wind abruptly picked up, making them notice as it audibly lashed at them. Tessl flew to Fado for assistance, landing by her neck and holding onto the kokiri girl's shirt to keep from being blown away. Fado narrowed her eyes as she shielded them from the sudden gust.

Frightened at the quick change in weather, Tessl pleaded with the girl "Fado please, let's get out of here."

"Are you seriously afraid of the wind?" Fado snickered.

The wind blew harder, hard enough to make Fado guard her eyes again. Out of habit and concern, she checked on her fairy, ensuring Tessl stayed where she was. Yet, when she heard a giggle, she rolled her eyes thinking the fairy had changed her mind on the wind.

"Yes, I'm afraid of the wind." Tessl yelled over the gust in response to Fado's question.

"Then why are you giggling?" Fado tried poking fun at her guardian as the wind died down.

However, instead of giving an explanation, the fairy pursed her lips in confusion. "What?" She asked as she furrowed her little brow. "I didn't giggle."

"Yes you did." Fado smirked, thinking her fairy was trying to metaphorically pull the wool over her eyes. "I heard you giggle during that last gale."

Beginning to get rather perturbed at what she was being told, Tessl jumped off Fado's neck and flew around to the front, hovering in the kokiri's face so the girl could get a good look at her serious expression when she said "Fado. That wasn't me. I didn't giggle."

"You didn't?" Fado's smile vanished, instinctually deciding to pick up her blowgun in preparation.

Sure enough, in the background, beyond the clearing of the glade, laughter could be heard echoing throughout the woods. This time, it didn't sound like a female, rather a male's voice. Nonetheless, it became harder to discern as well as locate when the unusually eerie wind picked back up, blocking noise from around the two. Although the small meadow they were in initially seemed safer, they suddenly found themselves feeling surrounded as the trees around them allowed the fog to hide anything moving behind it. The giggle wasn't cute anymore and now sounded nefarious. Each time one of them thought they heard it coming from one direction, it came in another, completely confusing them as to its location.

"Fado?" Tessl asked with a quivering voice.

"I know." Fado put the medallion back in her satchel in advance of readying the blowgun, holding it an inch from her lips. At a moment's notice, she was prepared to spit a dart at any enemy that might come out of the fog. "Just stick behind me or fly up above us."

Tessl shouted as she flew a few feet up above the girl. "I'll see if I can get a better look! Be careful down there!"

Holding the blowgun to her lips, Fado aimed it by using a notch at the end of the barrel. For a split second, the laughter sounded as if it were Link, but the kokiri girl knew better than to believe that the boy was anywhere around here. After all, if it were really him, he would've stopped by the village and not simply ventured into the Lost Woods without telling anybody. Thinking about it, she recalled him saying he fought a shadowy version of himself out there. She had to take his word for it due to being rendered unconscious at the time. Considering the possibility, she worried that the laughter was coming from the same entity. If it had all the strength of Link, she doubted she'd be able to take him down.

All around her, the wind increased, whipping and whirring in a strangely perfect circle. Some leaves and dirt were kicked up, flying in with the eerie gusts. Even though it made it more difficult to fight, Fado ignored the flurry. The blonde kokiri girl kept her blowgun aimed at every spot in the surrounding fog she thought the laughing entity was located.

'This isn't good.' She worried, fearing an imminent battle with a being more powerful than herself. 'Maybe I shouldn't have come here today.' On the other hand, instead of feeling sorry for herself or being regretful, the girl stayed calm so her nerves wouldn't affect her aim. Running ideas through her head of ways to make it through the current scenario, she wondered if she could use poison to incapacitate the entity. 'That might boost my chance of survival. But, I'd have to have the opportunity to retrieve the storage tube from my bandolier and dip the dart.'

From within the inside of her satchel, an intense green glow began to emanate forth, shining far brighter than the natural sunlight coming from the sky. Since the glow was so intense, it caught Fado's attention. She didn't want to look away from the battleground, but had to find out what it was that was producing such a light. Upon quick investigation, she discovered the glow was in fact coming from the odd green medallion. 'What is going on?'

"Are you seeing this, Tessl?" The kokiri girl enquired.

Following ten seconds, Fado glanced upward to see that her fairy was no longer there. "TESSL?!" She instantly called out, changing attitude as she feared for her guardian's safety. "TESSL, WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Directing her attention back toward the fog, she spun around to make sure she wasn't being ambushed during her call of concern. Glad she didn't see any doom headed her way, the kokiri girl went back to hollering out for her sprite. "TESSL!" When she tried looking around, she realized that visibility in the glade was greatly reduced, being rapidly overtaken by a strange vortex that sucked up and spun the fog in a circle around her. "WHAT IS HAPPENING!?" At this point, she began to get scared as she'd never been in a situation like this. However, no matter how loud she screamed, the flurry around her whirred far louder, beginning to sound like a monster roaring at the top of its lungs. "TESSL!"

The wicked laughter could no longer be heard, but neither could anything else. Loose strands of hair atop her head flapped from the strong wind as her double buns bobbed. Since she wasn't sure what was happening and remained concerned about the laughing entity, the girl refused to lower her blowgun; even though it would've been useful to do so as she could protect her eyes from the debris flying around like a whirlwind. Instead, she stared through squinted eyes, ever vigilant of what little treeline she could still see amongst the gusts.

When she tried to move backwards toward the fallen tree in order to take cover, she found herself being pushed back into place by the sheer force of the air pressure surrounding her. Her grip on her blowgun began to loosen from the upward thrust of each gust. So that she wouldn't risk losing her weapon, she finally lowered it, holding it flush and parallel to her torso. 'Is this magic?' The kokiri girl pondered. 'Is this like what happened to Link? He said dark magic rendered us unconscious…' Her heart began to beat faster as she worried about going to sleep an eighth of the way into the Lost Woods. She knew what The Curse did to people who got lost out there. While she found herself admiring Stalfos, the last thing she wanted to do was become one. 'That is, if this thing doesn't kill me first.'

As the gale intensified to a near unimaginable level, the gusts seemed to encapsulate the kokiri girl. Suddenly, she could no longer see outside the ball of wind surrounding her. The outside world seemed to vanish. All she could visualize was the fog, dirt and leaves violently spinning around her. Quivering in fear, she tried to escape the anomaly, but was once again shoved back into place. In a matter of moments, she started to fear a quick demise, knowing that she was rather defenseless. However, the glow of the green medallion distracted her, making her look down at her satchel as it brightened tenfold.

Normally, she wouldn't have removed a special relic to look at while in the midst of a potential battle. However, these were unusual circumstances considering her fairy had disappeared without a trace and she was being seemingly imprisoned by an impenetrable ball of rambunctious wind. Retrieving the odd medallion from her satchel, she held onto it tightly, making sure it wasn't blown away as she examined it. Straight away, she noted how the object seemed impervious to the strength of the wind, barely being budged by it. The green light coming from it was so bright she couldn't look directly at it. While it was unnerving, something about it was weirdly soothing in comparison to what was going on around her.

"What is this thing?!" She asked aloud in spite of Tessl having vanished in thin air. "What is it doing?!" She had to shut her eyes as the glow was so bright she could no longer look at it. Before she could get another peek at it, she heard a loud hum that echoed throughout the forest. Upon opening her eyes, she witnessed the light mixing into the vortex surrounding her, adding to the luminosity. "So bright!"

Out of nowhere, she felt her feet being lifted off of the ground. The shock of being gently propelled upward made her stumble forward toward the spinning sphere she was stuck in, only to be once again pushed back into her original place. Although it seemed turbulent, aside from being lifted off the ground, the girl felt as though she was simply being kept stationary by the unnatural event, not as if the wind was trying to move or hurt her. Still, now that her feet weren't touching the grass, the tornado-like circulation enclosed beneath her as well.

"THIS IS CRAZY!" She shouted in surprise.

After the medallion gave a single bright flash, the green light suddenly started to ebb off in intensity. The whirring of the wind around her diminished enough to hear herself think. Noticing that the whirlwind around her was lessening, even while being suspended above the ground, she readied herself for what was on the outside, quickly pocketing the dimming medallion in favour of her blowgun. Sealing her satchel shut, she lifted her blowgun to her lips as the wind died down.

Before long, she caught a glimpse of the other side only to realize she didn't recognize it. Without any explanation, she could no longer see the treeline to the small glade she initially resided in.

Sure enough, within the blink of an eye, the circling gale fell apart. Leaves and dirt fell to the ground as fog dispersed into the air. Unfortunately, it turned out that she too was a part of the debris as she also fell a mere foot back to the ground. Catching herself, she dropped to her knees without losing her aim. Quickly getting back up, she made sure there were no demons or monsters in the vicinity. When she saw that she was by herself, she started scrutinizing where she was. Instead of being in the clearing by the single fallen tree, it appeared she'd been mystically transported to a much smaller area she'd never been to before.

All around her, the grass was up to her waist. Instead of trees surrounding her, she found herself inside a strange stone structure built in a grotto. There were fifteen foot high walls made of earth around the perimeter. While most of the building appeared to be encircled by dirt, there was a stone staircase that looked as if it led upward. Stepping to the side out of a mixture of excitement and horror at having been teleported, the kokiri noted she could see the sky above the pit, indicating that she was still outside and merely down in a hole.

"I-… I-… " The kokiri stuttered in shock. "I can't believe it."

Going back up to the structure, she examined it, seeing that it appeared to be a gazebo made out of white marble. There were six pillars plus a dome roof. While it was significantly taller than the average hylian would make a building, it wasn't very wide, probably able to fit a couple of people. Fado wondered who made it. She knew modern hylians were ingenuitive, but it was far too well-preserved to be of their construction. No matter the vines and dirt that had accumulated on it, the structural integrity was completely intact. 'Is this ancient hylian?' She thought for a moment with narrowed eyes. 'I didn't think they were out this way before their ancestors or the Great Deku Tree.'

By chance, when a gentle breeze parted the grass she was standing in, she realized there was a floor to the structure, that it had merely been overgrown by foliage. Peeking around to ensure there were still no enemies, she began to let her guard down from both the ominous laughter as well as the abrupt teleportation. Unaware of how to reverse what happened even if she wanted to, she chose to investigate a bit instead.

Grabbing some of the grass by the beginning of the blades, she tore them from the ground, roots and all. After doing that numerous times, she had revealed a rather intricate shattered marble floor that once had a design in the center. Putting the two together, a spark of curiosity made her come to the conclusion that the place must have something to do with the extraordinary medallion.

Removing the relic from her satchel, she saw that it had completely stopped glowing. Nonetheless, she was able to analyze the markings on it and then compared it to what remained of the design on the broken floor of the ruins. "I knew it." She stated as she was able to see bits of the very same pattern on the marble floor.

Then again, now that she'd gone through the strange wind warping, just looking at the object made her come to realize that the three swirl design on the medallion vaguely resembled a pinwheel or a fan. 'Wait.' The girl mentally remarked as her eyes moved side-to-side in speculation regarding the relic's true purpose. 'If this thing has something to do with wind and this ancient gazebo does too, maybe the medallion just teleported me here.'

"I was teleported." The girl calmly responded to the situation in advance of getting a bit giddy. "That's amazing! I was just teleported to this place!"

As a wind gust blew through the air, it got her attention, making her stop prematurely celebrating. Instead of being happy about her discovery, she understood she needed to figure out where she was. Never was she afraid of it in the first place, but following all that had occurred, she wasn't anxious about the purpose of the wind anymore. In fact, the kokiri felt as if it was benevolent, as if an unseen force was protecting her. She didn't know if it was the medallion, something inside the medallion or just higher powers, all that she knew was that she was grateful to have such a useful tool in her possession.

"I guess I know it's not currency now." She retorted, joking to lighten the tension.

Like an answer, the wind blew harder, even down in the grotto pit where she was. The force of the gust parted the grass much further, this time seemingly showing a path toward the stone stairs. Now that she came to feel as if she was being guided by the blasts of air, she wasn't worried about being taken somewhere bad. Right away, she acknowledged what it was trying to tell her. "Oh… Umm… Am I supposed to go this way? Okay."

Returning the medallion to her satchel, she picked up her blowgun and pushed her way through the thick grass until coming to the stone staircase. Looking up, she saw that it went straight to the surface. For a split second, she glanced back at the strange excavated structure in advance of taking the hint from the wind and ascending the stairs. Even though she wanted to have an answer for everything, she'd have to do it one mystery at a time.

Successfully making it back to the surface, she immediately looked around to see that she was on top of a hill in an unfamiliar grove surrounded by trees and boulders. It was obvious she was still in the Lost Woods as the atmosphere was the same oppressive thickness, but it must've been relatively far from anyplace she'd ventured to. "Where in the Great Deku's garden am I?" Knowing that she was teleported by the medallion, she understood that she could be miles from where she initially was. Thankfully, she was prepared to make the trip back if she had to and it was worth it to get away from the spooky laughter that was encroaching her position. The only thing she wished she knew was where Tessl went.

"I have to figure this out if I'm going to get out of here." She knew the truth, not bothering to lie to herself.

Just when she was wondering which way to go, that same mystical wind parted the grass in front of her, revealing an ancient stepping stone path which led off to the right. Seeing this made her realize she was still being directed. Continuing to use the gusts as a guide, the kokiri girl followed the passage it made in the tall grass. Her brown leather boots scuffed against each stone embedded in the ground. Looking behind her, she saw the flora fill in, hiding the excavated grotto she'd just come from in a veil of green plants. Examining her surroundings again, she made sure nothing was around.

A crunch from a stick being broken off in the distance made her stop and crouch, ducking into the grass until only the top of her head was visible. Scanning the perimeter, she readied her blowgun for whatever it might be. After spotting movement behind a nearby boulder, Fado witnessed a Forest Deer come out, a stag accompanied by two doe.

Their stubby white tails wagged as they grazed on the abnormally high grass. Lifting its head high, showing off giant antlers, the stag smelled the air for the scent of any potential threats. It looked in Fado's direction, yet since she was obscured by the plants, the deer was unable to see her. All it did was huff as it picked up on the kokiri's scent drifting about. Turning towards the two doe, it made sure they were safe in advance of deciding what to do next. For a moment, it took a bite out of the grass and chewed it. While eating, it kept looking around until the wind began to pick up again. Smelling Fado even more, its ears anxiously perked up to hear any noises.

'Wow.' Fado thought to herself, staying quiet as she watched the deer graze in the peculiar meadow. 'I wish I had a bow and arrows.' Rolling her eyes, the girl realized that if Tessl was with her, she'd be chastised for thinking such violent thoughts regarding wildlife. Although Fado certainly found herself admiring how majestic the deer were, she also couldn't help herself from wanting the buck's antlers more than anything. 'Having those as trophies would be fantastic. I could even use part of it to make a unique handle for the knife I've been building.'

Regardless of what she thought, the moment she moved an inch, the stag heard the soil shifting beneath her feet and alerted the doe. As soon as they had appeared, they nervously vacated the area by hopping away in great bounds.

"At least it wasn't a wolfos or a demon." Fado exhaled in relief.

Blowing harder, the wind seemingly lashed at the kokiri with a reminder that it was still there. When she directed her attention back to the stepping stones, another gale parted the grass. This time, it revealed an additional thirty feet of pathway.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." She told the invisible guide.

When even the slightest ounce of doubt appeared in the girl's mind regarding if she was truly being led somewhere or not, the wind blew sideways with unnatural accuracy at showing the stepping stone path. It proved to her that it was a truly divine breeze leading her somewhere. She felt it was probably an important place, but would have investigated regardless considering she had no clue where she was at. Feeling the benevolence of the air flow, she figured it was trying to help her find an exit. Being fearful of staying there, it was her best bet and she had no problem in taking it.

Going along the new path, she was brought around a boulder before the wind adjusted yet again. This time, the stepping stones went out away from the giant rock and toward the treeline a ways away, two hundred feet. She wasn't too sure why the gusts were leading her far away from the initial structure she arrived in, but had no complaints she could voice.

Eventually, once she got to the treeline, the kokiri noticed a dip in the terrain. Coming closer, she verified her suspicions. She saw the ground sloping down. The ridge was rather steep for a location in the Lost Woods. Although there were trees growing up from the slanted surface, Fado was unsure if she could walk it without tumbling and hurting herself. However, as before, the gale guide showed her the way by revealing a set of stone stairs. These stairs descended the environment.

"Down there?" Fado enquired prior to carefully ambling down the ancient steps.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, now at the bottom of the ridge, the wind directed her to the left by revealing another stepping stone pathway. Knowing what to do, she wasted no time in traveling down it. To her dismay, after about a minute's worth of walking, she noticed the breeze beginning to die down on her. Assuming it was going to come back, she kept walking until she reached the end of the path. Ceasing her trek, she looked around for another sign. But, the grass merely closed in around her, caving in her narrow trench.

"What the?" She furrowed her brow with a grumble. "Okay, I made it to the end of the path." The kokiri spoke to the invisible gusty guide. "Now what?"

When she received no answer, she started to get antsy. Looking around at her surroundings, it was suddenly dead quiet now that the constant gales had disappeared. Without the guide, she didn't know where else to go. Peering back at where she came, the grass had covered the stepping stones. While she could likely retrace her steps well enough to locate the stairs that led up the ridge, it was improbable she'd be able to remember the entire walk back to the strange gazebo-like structure she'd arrived at.

Hearing an owl hooting nearby, Fado felt abandoned by her magical wind guide. Unable to find her way, she also felt lost. Her heart rate increased as she feared the consequences of not knowing where she was at in the Lost Woods. Terrified of going through the curse, she backed up a few feet. She tried her hardest to think of what to do next. For a brief moment, she pondered tearing up the grass so she'd be able to uncover the pathway again, yet she knew that would take an exceedingly long time to do. Besides, returning to where she arrived wouldn't help her in getting out of there as, even if she did find it, she wouldn't know where to go from there.

"Great…" She sarcastically replied to the situation. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Looking around for a clue, since it was dead quiet, she was able to hear what sounded like talking coming further down from the other side of the treeline. Although Fado wasn't sure who would be out in the middle of nowhere, without any other hints as to where to go, she had no choice other than to follow the noise in hopes that it led to some sign of civilization. Not knowing why there were people out there, she gripped her blowgun tightly. "Do I even have a choice at this point other than to investigate?"

Walking toward the talking, on the other side of the treeline she noticed the land dipping up. Before long, that dip formed into a rocky hillside. Keeping quiet, she made sure to not step on any sticks or leaves. 'Who could this be?' She asked herself.

Finally, she made it close enough to spot what appeared to be a primitive encampment set up in front of the opening to a rather large cave carved into the side of the ridge. A smile came to her face as she believed she found people who might be able to direct her back to Kokiri Village. To her dismay, as she approached she was able to see that it wasn't an ordinary camp. She should've known something was amiss by how basic in addition to shoddy the construction of the huts were. Hylians usually made cabins out of big logs or used cloth to pitch tents; these were made out of sticks and mud. It turned out, the reason was because the place wasn't inhabited by hylians, humans, skull kids or any other race that would be potentially willing to assist her, rather it was populated by the infamous bokoblin. What she initially believed to have been talking turned out to be guttural grunts and garbled nonsense spoken by the monsters.

'Crap…' She cursed while quickly crouching into the tall grass. 'Bokoblin? What are they doing here?' Her mind swiftly recalled being magically transported, making her realize the monsters were there because she'd been taken far from the regular portion of the Lost Woods. 'What am I doing here?'

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind rushed past her toward the bokoblin encampment. Even though it had disappeared until then, it was a clear sign that the kokiri was supposed to go to the camp.

"Seriously?" Fado questioned the purpose of the benevolent breeze. "Why do I need to go down there?" As the wind blew harder, it once again whipped at the kokiri girl's hair and clothes. Imagining as if the mystical airflow was embodied with personality, she got the feeling it was trying to make a statement in response to her hesitation.

Seeing and feeling the blast to her face, she grumbled. "Fine, I get it. But, I can't just go waltzing in there." Glancing over at the Bokoblin walking around their makeshift village, the girl counted how many of them there were. "There's at least ten monsters down there. Since they're bokoblin, they're not very fast or very smart. I should be able to take them down. But, just give me a few minutes."

Continuing to respond to Fado's attitude and things she said, the wind died down, temporarily leaving her to her own devices. On the other hand, instead of vanishing, it seemingly traveled on its own towards the village. For a moment, the kokiri thought it was still trying to show her where to go. However, she knew there was more to it as it moved through the tiny village. A good number of the bokoblin responded to the wind by coming alive with more throaty growls and crazy illogical yelling. Several members of their tribe grabbed their primitive spears while the others took their crudely made clubs. Running in the same direction, they followed the wind to the mouth of the cave where the monsters proceeded to hop up and down like they were performing some kind of barbaric ritual.

"What is-...?" Fado was about to question why the gale did what it did until she saw that the majority of the bokoblin now had their backs turned as they repeatedly jumped up and down while wildly waving their weapons. Only a few remained close by and they too were occupied with dancing or kneeling as if in prayer. "Ooooh, okay. I see."

Steadying herself, she readied her blowgun by holding it up to her lips. Not only was she being led to the cave, she also felt obligated to rid the forest of the blin menace. They were unnatural abominations to her who had no purpose there other than as parasites. As far as monsters went, they were fairly intelligent compared to other nasties, yet were still savages who'd sooner kill her entire race than establish any form of communication. Being humanoid they donned simple clothing to cover their shame and even styled their dirty kinky hair into buns. Yet, their body proportions were a bit off. Their long ears were in stark contrast to the beady eyes on their oversized heads. Their lanky torso and arms looked strange because their legs were short in comparison. They couldn't speak other than uttering gibberish, only ate meat, had no form of self-control and were incredibly aggressive.

Considering their atrocious tendencies, she knew she'd be doing her people a service by eliminating them. "Let's do this." The girl whispered to herself in advance of choosing a target. Scanning around, she found one of them kneeling off to the side of the main group of giddily jumping bokoblin. Seeing that the individual had its back turned, she took the opportunity to aim by using her finger as well as the small notch at the end of her weapon's barrel. Her finger told her the windspeed and direction while the notch acted as a sight.

Holding her breath, as soon as she had the best trajectory nailed down, she closed her non-dominant eye prior to staying completely still. Reading the surrounding atmosphere, she waited for the conditions to be absolutely perfect. When in-between gusts of wind, she inhaled until her lungs were filled before puffing all she had into the mouthpiece. In the blink of an eye, the dart was propelled through the barrel by the sheer force of Fado's breath in advance of flying out the end. Although it moved too fast for her to see, the dart whirled through the air.

The moment the girl opened her non-dominant eye to scrutinize her shot, she saw the bokoblin she was aiming at being pushed forward as her dart pierced the back of its neck. It didn't have any time to react to the attack and appeared to have been killed upon impact due to the tip of the dart stabbing into the base of its skull. The momentum of being pushed by the dart as well as losing control of its body made the monster lurch forward prior to sprawling out on the ground. Since it happened so fast and was out of the way of the others, none of its buddies took notice of its abrupt death.

"Nice…" She complimented her aim while reloading, barely able to hold back the excitement.

Unfortunately, since there were so many more, she had to carry on with picking the next target. Taking aim while remaining crouched, she swiveled side-to-side until she saw one of the dancing bokoblin moving back away from the others to break into a bop. It gyrated and shook a leg while capering behind its friends. Even though it was having fun spinning like a maniac, it had also left itself open to Fado, who tracked it and waited for the right moment in advance of shooting another dart with a big breath.

Same as before, the dart flew into the air. Except this time, instead of hitting the bokoblin in the head, her trajectory fell short as it pierced the side of the monster's calf instead. Fado winced as she watched the freak fall to the ground, knowing she'd messed up. Sure enough, right after falling with a thud, it shrieked loudly from the pain of having been stuck in the leg.

"Damn…" The girl cursed under her breath.

The other bokoblin took immediate notice of their injured friend and ran to him, forming a circle as they tried their best to investigate what happened. As their buddy screamed in agony, he managed to find the dart stuck in his calf muscle and quickly pulled it out, throwing it to the ground beside him prior to rocking back and forth like a baby in order to soothe itself. Around him, the others start sounding angry as they grumble and holler at the possibility of being invaded. Some hold up their weapons while others bounce and chant nonsensically. In only a minute, they became riled up, even more so whenever one spots the dead body of the bokoblin that had been shot in the back of the neck. Yelling, part of the group split off to check on their deceased partner.

Reloading her blowgun, Fado kept low in the grass so the evil beings wouldn't be able to see her. Seeing how they hadn't spotted where she was hiding, she decided to keep attacking from the bushes. Holding the blowgun up to her lips, she took aim at one of the bokoblin that had remained more still than the others. Giving the mouthpiece a strong blow, she sent another dart toward her target.

Staring at his fallen friend, the monster had no clue what was coming when the dart hit him right in the forehead. It was instantly killed before its body even hit the ground. But, when the corpse did hit the ground, all the others turned to it and freaked out. Thrashing their arms and yelling so loud their tongues protruded, the bokoblin were becoming enraged that two of them had now been killed. On the other hand, since they couldn't figure out where the darts were coming from, they were also terrified. Several of them were too frightened and demoralized to fend off ranged attacks from someone they couldn't even see, so they chose to hightail it out of the area, defecting or at least retreating to a safe distance.

When one of the three remaining bokoblin stared in her direction, Fado dropped to the ground. The tall grass had no problem concealing her petite stature. But, all she could do was pray the monster hadn't seen her. 'Uh-oh…' She pulled her lips back in shock with lifted eyebrows. 'I hope that freak didn't see me.'

Her question was swiftly answered whenever a spear came bursting through the foliage, the tip poking into the dirt a mere single foot away from her. Gasping from the close call and possibility of having been speared to death, the kokiri girl knew right away that her cover had been blown. Even as she rolled to the side and then dashed further away, she reloaded her blowgun knowing it would be the only thing capable of saving her. Once the next dart was chambered, she tried aiming only to see that the bokoblin that remained had completely changed their position. In fact, one was headed straight for her as it wasn't fooled by her attempt at moving from her original spot.

'They know I'm here now.' She mentally remarked while taking aim at the bokoblin headed for her. 'I better step up my game.' Knowing she had to stop the monster, she took a deep breath and then spewed it into the mouthpiece, forcing the dart out the other end. 'Maybe this'll show I'm not to be trifled with.'

As the bokoblin was in the middle of running, Fado's dart hit it in the chest. While skidding to a halt, the look on its face was of surprise that it had been hit. Slowly grasping onto its chest, it clutched the dart while looking down at it with blood-shot eyes and shrunken pupils. Falling to its knees, the monster stared in the kokiri girl's direction in advance of being hit in the neck by another dart she'd been reloading the entire time. While still grabbing at the first dart, the bokoblin gagged once before falling over sideways, twitching as it died of heart failure and aspirating on its own blood.

'Next.' Fado thought with a smirk. 'These friggin' punks are easier than Wolfos.'

Seeing what happened to their friend who ran toward the tall grass, the other two bokoblin backed off. Although they refused to rush at the girl, she knew they still needed to be dealt with as they continued to guard their encampment.

Figuring that the monster she killed had just given away where she was, Fado's first plan of action was to once again adjust her position. While reloading, she found herself being assailed by rocks as the two remaining bokoblin threw them in an attempt to find her. A stone managed to hit her boot and that was enough to make her remember she wasn't invincible, especially seeing how it nearly tripped her. Thankfully, after a bit of moving, the kokiri found herself back where she was earlier, next to a spear sticking out of the ground.

'Hmm…' She quickly came up with a plan. 'I wonder if I could use this to supplement my blowgun. It's certainly worth a try.'

Grabbing the spear from out of the dirt, she ran forth prior to stopping right at the edge of the grass, where all the rocks prevented it from growing. Letting go of the spear, she watched it fly through the air before hitting the bokoblin closest to her in the chest, impaling it against the side of its shanty. The monster grabbed at the spear as blood began to pour from its mouth. Unfortunately for it, nothing could be done as it had been skewered through and through. All the pathetic boogeyman could do was cry for help one more time, reaching for its last remaining buddy in advance of going into shock.

In the meantime, Fado reloaded and quickly fired up on the other bokoblin. Seeing how it was occupied panicking over its impaled friend, it wasn't hard to target. To her dismay, her shot drifted to the side, causing the dart to stab into the monster's shoulder instead of its throat. It turned away from its dying companion and back toward Fado before grabbing the dart in order to rip it from its shoulder. Screaming in pain, it threw the dart in the kokiri's general direction prior to running at her.

Reloading as fast as she could, when ready she tried to take a shot at the sprinting bokoblin. This time, her dart missed altogether as the monster ran toward the thick flora. 'Crap!' She angrily shouted in her head while fumbling to find another dart on her bandolier. Since she'd used so many, she had to search for a slot that still had one. 'Come on, come on, come on!' Reaching up to her shoulder, she found a dart further back on the belt. Using it, she reloaded. Targeting the bokoblin, she tried again only to receive the same result as that dart also missed. 'No!'

Gritting her teeth, her heartbeat increased when the monster made it to the tall grass and immediately disappeared into its density. 'Double crap! What is this bastard doing!?' Craning her head, she tried to look into the foliage only to instantly remember that it was too thick to see through. 'He's doing the same thing as me!'

Hearing the bokoblin rustling around in the grass, Fado hurried with retrieving a dart from the portion of the bandolier on her back. Once she got it, she loaded it into the barrel but didn't bother aiming. Instead, she decided to vacate her hiding spot altogether as it had been compromised plus turned against her. Doing just that, she dashed out of the tall grass and into the gap between it and the tiny makeshift village. Spinning around, she then took aim at that very same place she just was, knowing that she'd have to deal with the monster once it realized she was no longer in there with it.

'Exposed.' She thought while waiting. 'Link told me to never be exposed.'

A few snorts could be heard from the bokoblin as it searched for her in the waves of grass. Eventually, it seemed to catch on to the fact that Fado wasn't in there and could be seen moving toward the edge of the foliage; as evident by numerous plants being pushed aside by its ungraceful movements.

Using the moving plants to her advantage, the kokiri girl was able to easily track where and when the bokoblin was going to come out. Sure enough, the moment its head poked from the green curtain of foliage, Fado shot a dart toward it, watching as that dart hit it directly in its right eye. Instead of yelling out in pain, all the monster did was make a shrill yelp before falling backwards into the grass. Although only its feet could be seen sticking out of the foliage, they were trembling from the tip of the dart puncturing its brain, causing it to have a seizure as it died.

Now that she had dealt with that enemy, she quickly spun around to make sure nothing was sneaking behind her. Thankfully there was nothing. She didn't see anyone, yet she could still hear one of the bokoblin groaning from pain somewhere inside of their makeshift encampment. It took the kokiri girl a moment to remember that she had wounded one of them with a shot to the calf, but once she recalled it, she prepared herself to have to deal with at least one more monster by reloading.

Walking into the depths of the shoddily built village, she passed the bokoblin she'd pinned to the wall of a hut with one of their own spears. Stopping by the suspended monster's corpse, she ensured it was dead by giving it a poke. When she was sure it wouldn't come back to life on her, she quietly carried onward. More than anything, she was extra careful when traveling past the doorways of each structure because she knew it was the perfect place for any additional remaining bokoblin to hide.

'This is new…' She told herself as she snuck her way deeper into the camp. 'I've never had to do anything like this before. It's completely different from hunting animals.' Fado smirked as she thought 'Animals don't chuck spears, make crude communities or raid others for supplies.'

She swiftly peered into each shanty as she went by. Most were empty and seemed to contain nothing more than a dirt floor, a sad reality of how the mischievous beings normally lived. Although she checked, she must've missed a monster that was well-hidden as the moment she walked by the third shack, a bokoblin came sprinting full-speed at her. It had an old dagger with a surprisingly well-preserved blade for metal that was kept by a pea-brained monster.

Unlike Link, she wasn't able to take the bokoblin head on. She had to focus on defending herself more than the boy since her skills weren't nearly as developed as his. Regardless, she had a sense of self-preservation that forced her to spin around to face the charging bokoblin. When it got close enough to take a swing with its weapon, the kokiri girl managed to shoot a dart at it before jumping out of the way. The dart hit the monster in the chest as the freak skidded to a stop once it saw Fado had moved. Apparently none of its vital organs had been punctured. Grabbing the dart, it yanked it from its chest in advance of throwing the ammunition right back at the girl.

"Crap!" Fado cursed as she had to roll to avoid being stabbed by her own dart.

Not giving up, the bokoblin started walking toward the girl prior to breaking out in a sprint. It lunged at her, wildly swinging the old blade with very little grace.

Barely having time to get up from her roll, the kokiri had to act fast. Instead of reloading her blowgun, she had to jump off to the side. It was important she kept her eye on the tip of the enemy's sword in order to better avoid it. Even with the monsters incessant swinging, she managed to keep herself safe. After fifteen seconds of that though, she had to think of a way to deal with it.

Looking around, she spotted a club next to one of the monsters she'd killed. Unfortunately, it was beyond the bokoblin she was fighting. Behind her, she saw a pile of assorted animal bones lying by the firepit in the center of their encampment. Although they were gross, having the remains of rotting meat on them, there were a couple that were decent sized. Past the firepit was a hut that had numerous homemade spears propped up against the outside. As she dodged a stab from the bokoblin, she formulated a plan on how to access the spears.

'Gotta do this right!' She hyped herself up.

Waiting for the right moment, as soon as the Bokoblin stopped its wild attack to take a breath, the kokiri girl dashed to the hut that had the spears outside it. Like she expected, the monster ran after her as soon as it noticed her movement. Hearing it chase her gave the girl goosebumps from not being able to see it as she had no clue how close it was to her. From the sound of its footsteps, she thought it was directly behind her. Since it would probably catch her before she made it to the building, she enacted her plan.

Running around the side of the firepit, Fado made haste to the bone pile. Upon reaching the bones, she hopped over them, spun around and kicked at them with all her might. Her boot crashed into the skeletal parts, sending them spewing into the air toward the Bokoblin. The monster saw the attack coming, but barely had time to react other than to stop and shield its eyes. In the meantime, as the creep was halted by the flying bones, the kokiri resumed her sprinting towards the hut that had the spears. Upon reaching it, she dropped her blowgun in favor of grabbing one of the spears. It wasn't a kokiri spear, but a spear was a spear. She had no issues properly utilizing it by holding it with both hands. Hearing the bokoblin coming at her, she turned around and thrusted the weapon out with great force.

"Yhaaaaaa!" She let out a battlecry.

The tip of the spear pierced the stomach of the bokoblin. Instantly, the monster dropped its blade so it could grasp the shaft of the spear mercilessly poking into it. On instinct, she rotated the spear a bit, tearing into the flesh of bokoblin. It squealed in anguish as blood dripped from its mouth. Out of sheer shock from being impaled, the monster had dropped its weapon and yet it now decided to claw as well as snap its sharp teeth at the kokiri. There wasn't much life left in it, but it was going to try its best to injure her before it left the world.

"Die already." Fado bemoaned in advance of using leverage to stab deeper into the bokoblin. After that, she used all her strength to toss it to the side. Bending down, she quickly acquired the old dagger that had been dropped. Even though the bokoblin was utterly disabled by her attack, the girl went above and beyond by thrusting the blade of the dagger down into its skull to kill it. It wasn't really an overkill, yet a tad unnecessary as it was obvious the monster wasn't going to get back up. Nonetheless, she wanted to be absolutely certain it couldn't hurt her as she was on her own out there. "Finally."

Withdrawing the dagger from the bokoblin's skull, following a quick wipe of the blood on the monster's clothing, she stood back up. Now she was in the center of the encampment. Same as before, she couldn't see anything else that posed a threat. Still, she stayed prepared as she had already been ambushed from behind. Glancing down at the dagger, she chose to keep it. While sliding the blade between her tunic and belt, she went back over to where she hastefully dropped her blowgun, making sure to recover it as well.

"Now then…" Walking through the camp, she tried to be a bit more thorough as she searched each and every remaining structure. Once she checked all of them, she was satisfied that she'd eliminated all the capable Bokoblin from the camp. "Good."

Hearing a groan, the girl remembered she still had one more monster to deal with; the one who she had injured with a dart. In all honesty, she couldn't believe the creep was still there writhing on the ground in the same spot she'd incapacitated it at. "Oh, you poor thing." Fado sarcastically spoke with a smirk plastered on her face. Coming closer to it as she reloaded her blowgun, she started giggling. "You freaks put up the perfect fight to help me train." Dropping the dart into the barrel, she then wiped off the mouthpiece in advance of taunting the defenseless wounded bokoblin who tried crawling away from her. "That last guy almost got me too. Kudos on that."

Bringing the mouthpiece of the blowgun to her lips, she puffed on it hard, sending the dart hurling through the barrel and out the end. All the bokoblin could do was attempt to crawl faster. Its gnarly fingers dug into the dirt when the dart hit it in the back of the neck, piercing the base of its spine. The monster's whole body tense up prior to going limp. While its head lifted a few times, it soon dropped altogether when its breathing stopped.

Seeing that she had killed the last one around, she smirked at her prowess and then did a fist pump into the air to celebrate her success. "Yes! I'm getting better."

Without getting a chance to relax, the girl suddenly felt the breeze pick up until it whipped at her face. Her eyes closed to a squint as a few strands of her hair were blown back. Holding her blowgun close to her, she grit her teeth in frustration that the invisible force was unable to simply tell her what it wanted her to do. "What do you want?" She asked in frustration. "I already killed all the bokoblin that were here. What do you want me to do now?"

Blowing past her, the gale seemingly went toward the cave. Seeing that, she knew right away that she'd initially misunderstood her mission. She was wrong in thinking she was brought there to eliminate the encampment to restore order to the woods. In reality, her purpose was inside the cave and she was merely being slowed down by that tribe of bokoblin.

"The cave?" Fado enquired as she stared at the opening in the side of the ridge that delved into the depths of the realm. "I seriously have to go inside of a cave?" The kokiri girl made a face of disgust following a long exhale. If there was one thing she disliked, it was going inside of caves. She wasn't a fan of narrow corridors or small enclosed spaces. Even though it was a common trait for her race, she was always outdoors because she didn't like being cooped up. "Geez… Fine."

Making her way over to the cave, she passed the firepit, impaled bokoblin and the final makeshift hut. However, she saw what appeared to be a broken wooden sign as she neared. Getting closer, she was able to see that the sign had just been knocked down by the monsters, but not destroyed. Digging it out with her foot, she lifted the sign and wiped it off so she could read it. To her surprise, it was a warning to any Kokiri who might find it. 'If you are a kokiri, leave this place. The Great Deku Tree has forbidden us from entering the cave.'

"So I'm still somewhere accessible to the rest of the Lost Woods." Fado speculated while glancing over at the mouth of the cave. "I'm guessing that this was written by another kokiri. But who and why?"

Dropping the sign, she walked to the cave, standing in front of it in advance of noticing another clue. This time, there was a small plaque mounted to the stone. However, it was overgrown with nature and required the girl to pull away a few vines in order to get better access to it. After wiping away the dirt and dust, she was able to see three words engraved on the metal. "Farolittoral Pit Cave." She didn't know where that was and had never heard of a pit cave. Nonetheless, she at least had an indication as to her location now. 'Faro?' Her brain analyzed the wording of the name. 'I must be in part of Faron Woods. Geez, it's got to be right on the edge of the Forbidden Forest or I don't think I'd be able to be here since my kind can't leave our woodland.'

While Fado was still examining the sign, the wind blew into the cave, causing a whistling sound as if to suggest where to go next. Rolling her eyes, she did as told by the invisible guide. "I'm going, I'm going." Stepping into the cave, she frowned at the thought of going underground. But, since she didn't have a choice in the matter, she carried on.

The sound of her footsteps changed as she went inside the cave. As the atmosphere grew even denser than it was outside, instead of crunching on dirt and grass, her boots clacked against rock. Sunlight had enough trouble penetrating the fog, yet it vanished altogether a mere twenty feet into the cave. Fado made it fifteen before stopping in front of the darkness. While ensuring her blowgun was ready, she thought about what she might encounter in such a place. 'Probably more bokogoblins. But, there's always a possibility there's something worse.' Pondering the matter, she generated animals that might inhabit such an area 'What lives in caves? Wolfos? Skulltula? Boar? Keese?'

Her nose wrinkled as worried she might be strolling into the den of a beast she didn't want to trifle with. The bokoblin made their little village there by the cave, so she figured it was safe since they hadn't been eaten by anything dwelling from within. This gave her the confidence needed to assume she could make it through safely. Unfortunately, not being able to see anything in front of her was another matter entirely. She wasn't afraid of the dark, she just wasn't dumb and knew to be afraid of what's in the dark.

Considering the logic of her trepidation, she decided to heed it by retreating. Exiting the cave and holstering her blowgun, she stared at the bokoblin encampment while scheming of a way to solve her issue. Briefly walking around, the girl soon came to a hut that looked promising. Approaching it, she started searching amongst the monster's gathered belongings. Aside from a club and what looked like a human skull, there were a few rupees, a rabbit pelt, some twine, a bunch or really round rocks hoarded into a pouch, four degraded books and a jar with an odd mushroom.

Not finding what she was looking for, she went inside the structure. Hanging on the wall next to the window was a mounted torch. It was unlit, but still useful. Taking hold of the torch, she used her trophy dagger to cut the straps holding it, then pulled it from the mount in advance of going back outside. Since it was unlit, she made use of the bokoblin's fire pit, commandeering some of the flame for her own purposes. Holding the torch to the fire pit, in the blink of an eye, it lit aflame.

Having a source of light, she felt confident enough to carry on into the depths of the cave. Passing the hut, she once again came to the opening. Going into it, even without the sunlight, she was able to see the interior far better than before. About twenty feet in, she stopped close to the same spot as before. Her heart rate increased as she wondered what she'd encounter as well as where she was being led. Since she had no clue where she was at, all she could do was pray the wind was taking her somewhere she'd recognize. However, looking at the looming darkness enveloping the tunnel ahead of her, she wasn't sure how going beneath the ground was going to get her back to Kokiri Village. A frown came to her face as she concerned herself with the possibility of not getting back prior to nightfall. Then, she sighed with grit teeth thinking of getting lost and the massive repercussions she'd face if she did.

Looking down at her satchel, she remembered the situation she was in previously as well as being saved by the green medallion. 'The medallion teleported me here, plus the wind has been leading me.' Taking a single step further, she grumbled while thinking 'I'll only be lost if it stops generously guiding me, so I better follow it.'

Out of nowhere, before she had a chance to move any further down the cave, the kokiri girl felt a hand land on her shoulder.

"Fado." A girl's voice called her.

Although it scared her so much her heart felt like it flew up into her mouth, her muscles acted on their own without her brain having time to analyze what was happening. Automatically jumping forward, she then spun around screaming, ready to thrust the old dagger into whoever had somehow snuck up behind her. "AHHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Right when she was going to attack with a mighty flourish, she managed to comprehend who it was that touched her shoulder. Her muscles locked to prevent further movement as she suddenly realized she hadn't been ambushed by a bokoblin. Standing there looking terrified was Saria.

The green-haired kokiri girl was frightened by Fado's violent reaction, going so far as to stumble back and hold up her hands as if to try to defend herself. "Wait, Fado!" She yelled in response to her enraged friend being about to swipe her head clean off. "It's me, your friend! It's Saria!"

"Fado!" Tessl called out from behind Saria. "It's us! We found you!"

"Good Goddesses." Laila stated in response to seeing Fado so ready to kill.

It took a few moments for the anxiety plus the adrenaline to wear off. But, once Fado was able to calm herself, her muscles unlocked. Her pupils went from pinpoints to wide as dinner plates from being in disbelief that they had found her. She could barely believe it. Lowering the dagger, she immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" All of a sudden, her eyebrows furrowed as she couldn't help other than to place a bit of blame on them as well. "What are you doing sneaking up on me like that? I thought you were a Bokoblin!" Shaking her head, she stowed the dagger between her belt and tunic. "I was about to turn you into sliced cheese."

Saria made a face of confusion. "I called out to you a couple of times, but you didn't respond. You looked like you were totally spaced out."

"I-..." Fado was going to argue prior to realizing she had been in deep thought for a moment. "I was thinking about what to do next." Holding the torch off to the side so it wasn't in their faces, she asked "How did you know I was out here?"

The green haired kokiri girl pointed back toward Fado's own fairy. "Tessl told me."

Grunting, Fado crossed her arms. Although she was secretly ecstatic that she'd been located and couldn't get cursed since she now had fairies with her, she expressed frustration that her guardian thought it was best to get help. "You blabbermouth." She reprimanded the fairy with an insult.

Tessl rubbed the back of her neck as she looked away in embarrassment. "But, I was worried about you, Fado."

"I'm fine." Fado replied snarkily. "Can't you tell?" Pointing toward the bokoblin village, she snickered. "I took out all those freaks without getting a single scratch on me."

"You did that?" Laila enquired.

Still smirking, Fado nodded. "Yep. I shot two with my blowgun before they even noticed I was there."

"It's not normal." Tessl tried to talk sense into her kokiri. "You shouldn't want to be alone like you did. You shouldn't have run off like you did."

Fado cocked her head a bit in advance of informing the fairy. "I didn't run off. What are you talking about?"

Tessl floated around the blonde kokiri, being extra-sure to avoid the flame of the torch. "You vanished right in the middle of that creepy laughter and left me all by myself!" Shivering, the little fairy poked out her tiny lower lip. "It was super-scary! I stayed for like ten minutes calling your name, but you had just vanished! After that, I knew I had to get help, so I flew back to Kokiri Village to get Saria and Laila." Throwing out her fists, she pouted "It's not fair that you did this to me!"

"Come on, Tessl. Calm down." Fado tried to calm her fairy now that the sprite had gotten so worked up. "I promise that I didn't disappear." Sighing, although she wasn't entirely sure if it was a wise idea or not, she decided to let them know precisely what happened during that moment. "I didn't vanish or run away, I was teleported here… well, near here. I got warped to these strange ruins that looked like someone tried digging them up. After that, I walked here."

"Strange ruins?" Laila piped up.

"Teleported?" Tessle wanted to know. "You were teleported?"

"By what?" Saria added in.

"I don't really know." Fado lied since she didn't want to share information regarding the medallion or anything mystical that's been happening to her recently. "At first, I was in the Lost Woods walking around when we were accosted by this voice in the fog chuckling menacingly. Last I saw Tessl, she went up into the sky for a better look around." Dropping certain events, she changed the story to avoid mentioning her relic. "All of a sudden, for no reason, I saw this bright light surround me. I actually remarked on it to Tessl, but I couldn't see her. I thought maybe it was because the light got so bright I could barely see… That or the wind that seemed to swirl around me until it lifted me up and somehow brought me out here."

Tessl lifted an eyebrow in advance of staring at her child rather skeptically. "Nothing had to do with that green metal you were worried about?"

"What metal?" Laila chimed in inquisitively.

"No, Tessl…" Fado interjected disgruntledly. But, to distract them from their discussion as she didn't want to share information about the medallion, she started asking questions of her own. After all, there were a few things she wanted to know and hoped they could help with. "Wait a second; how did you find me in the first place? Where am I?"

Saria clacked her teeth as her head tilted to the side. For a while now, she'd held it a secret that she knew where this place was. It felt good to reveal to the others. "The Deku Sprout told me you'd be here many months ago, back when Link was around." Glancing back at the exit of the cave, she then told the girl "As for where you're at, you're really far from the Kokiri Woods. You're almost in Faron Woods. You're so far out, even though I was given the best route to take so I could get here the fastest, it still took me thirty minutes of solid running to get here." Clearing her throat, she rummaged around her possessions prior to pulling out an empty bottle, only to say "I had to use an endurance potion."

"The Deku Sprout told you? Why?" Fado asked.

"He didn't say." Saria shrugged. "All I know is I was told by him you'd be here and that I was to meet you here."

Inhaling deeply, Fado looked away from them as she contemplated why the Deku Sprout would do such a thing. She couldn't deny that the deity knew what it was doing and had its reasons for doing such things, but she also couldn't help other than to be perturbed that he made plans with Saria that were about her. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Saria nodded. "I'm guessing he told me so I could help bring you home."

Smirking, Fado calmly said "I'm not going home right now, I'm going into this cave."

Tessl flew in front of Fado before pointing her finger in the kokiri girl's face. Even though the pixie was the size of a human thumb, she had no issues with arguing when she had to. "I don't know what you're thinking or why you want to go into this cave, but you're going to knock all that off and come home with us right now. Do you understand me, missy?"

"No…" Fado disobeyed with a sense of satisfaction. "I'm going into this cave."

"Why!?" Tessl asked in frustration.

The last thing she wanted to do was tell them about the wind leading her around either. Everything was going to be kept secret until she deemed the time right. So, stepping away from them, the girl merely replied "Because I want to."

"Oh please." Saria butted in with an opinion of her own. "Who would want to go inside a dank cave for no reason? Come on, tell me what's going on."

While facing away from the others, Fado's left eye twitched from how bothersome they were being. At first, she was glad they were there. Now, she was beginning to feel as if they were merely a nuisance. Nonetheless, since they were so persistent, she came up with another idea on the fly, one that might satisfy their urge to know why she was doing what she was. "Okay, okay… Look… I just want to go in here so I can make sure there aren't any more bokoblin. I know it's not something you all understand, but it's important that I eliminate all of the vicious monsters." Pondering what else to say, she added in a bit of truth. "Who knows, maybe it's what I was teleported to here for?" After that, she simply started walking deeper into the depths of the cave as she had planned to do the entire time. "I'm going in whether you all want me to or not. You can come, or you can go back home."

Saria was in shock at Fado's actions as well as her attitude, but Tessl was completely fed up with it. "What's gotten into you?!" Her miniature voice echoed through the tunnel. "Why are you acting like this?!"

"Maybe I'm just growing up." Fado told her guardian.

Unfortunately, the sprite just shook her head before shouting "Kokiri don't grow up!"