The morning was peaceful, almost as if the events during the night were not but a dream. However, as Link swung the sword he held in his hand, he had little room to doubt anything that happened.

"Why didn't Rose tell me Strawkids protect the forest from monsters?" Link demanded as he tossed an apple into the air.

"If I had to guess, it might have been a tactic to keep Kokiri from wandering off. But since we're on an adventure, there's no point in keeping you afraid." Navi watched as Link sliced the apple in two before it landed on the ground. "Impressive."

"Thanks," Link used the sword to slice a small slither of apple for her. "Let me know if you need more."

Link continued his march following Navi's direction.

Chapter 5
A Breath of the Wild

Navigating the denser bushes became much easier with a sword in hand.
Link swung and chopped away at thorns, vines, and other obsticles that got in his way.

"You're having way too much fun with that, Link." Navi told him as she stayed clear of his reach. "It's worth me saying this now but, don't go swinging at people we met out there, okay?"

"I won't." Link saw a small fern growing up to about his waist in height. "Heya!" With one clean slice, the fern toppled in half.

Navi watched him play with the sword. As long as they were making progress towards the edge of the forest, she saw no harm in letting him enjoy himself.
With her eyes on him, however, she failed to notice what was up ahead.
"Stop!" Navi flew in front of him, trying to push him back.
There was no chance of that happening, but Link did back away from her.

"What's wrong?" Link looked over the moss growing on the ground. Navi seemed quite afraid of it.

"Go around, carefully." She instructed.

"Why?"

Navi knew what the moss was. She'd seen what it does. Link wouldn't know because the Deku Tree's roots dominate the forest. No plant life that could harm the Kokiri grows under his watch.
His influence must be too weak to reach this far out though.

"See that stone? Throw it under me."

Link kept an eye on her and the moss as he picked up the small rock. It wasn't very heavy. But would do damage if it hit Navi so, he carefully tossed it beneath her.
Navi backed away to watch with him.

The instant the stone hit the moss, a pair of cupped petals sprung forward from the centre before snapping shut like a hungry jaw.
Link got such a fright that he fell backwards on the ground, pointing his sword at the carnivorous plant as the viny neck started to pull the head back towards the centre, waiting for something or someone else to step on the moss.

"What the heck was that?" Link demanded as his fairy hovered by with her arms crossed.

"I don't know what they're called, but I've seen what happens to the poor souls who get caught by them." Usually, it's young animals caught by the plant's jaws. However, Navi wasn't willing to let Link test it with his foot. "If you step on the moss, it'll try to eat you."

Link stood tall near the edge. One pebble was enough to snap the jaws shut. Link pressed the tip of his sword onto the moss.
As before, the plant shot forward trying to bite him. The fleshy mouth got torn slightly from the edge of the blade, which continued to slide further as the plant pulled against Link.

"Careful!" Navi pleaded. "Get off the moss!"

Link didn't realise he was being pulled into the moss. If the plant wasn't already convinced Link was caught, it would be trying to grab his ankle instead.
Yet Link held on, using the handguard as a better grip, he pulled and pulled against the plant's strong neck trying to get his sword back.

"Let's go, Link!" Navi told him.

"No!" Link pulled the sword clean out, leaving the empty jaws to return to its nest in the middle of the moss. But now Link was standing on the moss. Taking even a single step back would call the jaws again.

"now what will you do?" Navi flew around, thinking of an escape strategy for him. "I, I'll touch the moss on this side, when it moves, you run the other way."

"It'll kill you." Link told her.

"Well, maybe you listen to me next time!" She spat back, stating that he is her Kokiri to look after. "What were you trying to do anyway?"

Link held the grip of his sword.
"I just, you said these things kill. I thought if I killed it first, then..."

"Heh, that's very nice..." Navi told him. "And if you fail, no one would ever know you tried because it eats you instead." She started to land at the outer rim of the moss. "it shouldn't be able to reach me from here, but be ready to jump away."

"Wait..." Link bent his knees, holding his sword in both hands. "it goes for you, I cut its neck."

Navi shook her head. Yet another stupid risk with the potential to get himself in more danger. "what if you miss?"

"Then we try again!"

"There's really no talking to you, is there? ... fine... on three! One, Two, Three!" Navi landed on the moss and summoned the fleshy jaws.

As death came charging towards her like a python, Link leapt forward and slashed the neck. Not killing the plant outright, but taking away any chance of someone else falling prey to it again.

"That was scary... I didn't think you'd do it in time!"

"Are there any more of these things?" Link asked as he put his sword away.

"Well, yeah. They're all over the place. Look." Following Navi's finger, Link could see at least three more moss patches. "You killed one, and that's good. But we have a job to do, Link. They'll still be here when we come back."

Link pulled a face. Navi had a point. Ganondorf threatens everyone, not just whoever walks within six feet of a plant.
"Okay, let's move on then."

"Gladly." Navi returned to his side, continuing their walk quietly for a while. "It was good of you to try. If even one rabbit or mouse gets to live a little longer because of you, then it was worth it, yeah?"

"Yeah." Link took another look at the other Mosstraps. Maybe with a few more people helping, they could come out further and set about getting rid of the killer plants.

As the trees started to look younger and less overgrown with weeds, Link was starting to feel like the woods were already a much different place from what he'd always known.
But Link kept going, watching his footing with every step so as not to be snapped at again, unaware of how close he was coming to the edge of the forest and leaving the cover that had sheltered him his entire life.

"It's just a little further, it's an easy walk just after these bushes," Navi kept overhead as Link chopped his way through even more thorns and nettles.

Once Link sliced the spiky vine caught around his back foot, he was free to walk at ease towards the exit of the woods.

Not a hundred feet away was a golden white wall of light, the silhouette of trees between Link and the outside.

Squinting his eyes, Link continued to walk with Navi at his shoulder.

The white rays got more and more intense before his eyes were able to just properly, then the wall of light faded into a sea of green grass under an orange sky.
With a hand to his brow, Link could just see Navi fly on ahead. But he was nervous to follow her. Scared to step out of the shade.
He looked back at the forest he's known his whole life, even if it was just a tiny part of a greater whole. It seemed so dark and eery after seeing the wide-open meadows of Hyrule field.

"Are you okay?" Navi returned, seeing the worried look on his face. "I was the same. Feels strange, doesn't it? Like you'll be exposed, but at least you don't have to worry about birds trying to eat you."

"y-yeah," Link wanted to take another step out, he did. But he was haunted by what the Strawkid said.

'Kokiri die if they leave the forest, don't you know?'

And then there was Navi's joke, about the Deku tree's true motives. 'Maybe he was just trying to get rid of a few pests.'

"Navi… is it true?" Link swallowed as he looked up to her. "Will I die if I leave?"

Navi blinked at him. She honestly didn't know because few Kokiri ever attempt it. "It's a known rumour, but again… I think it's a scare tactic to keep you kids in check. The Deku tree wouldn't send you on a quest that could kill you."

"okay…" Link took a deep breath, but he was visibly shaking.

"Know what I'm really excited about?" Navi asked. "When we come home, we'll have to tell everyone that you saw a Strawkid, that weird thing that tried to steal your food, and how you killed the snappy plant."

"I think Mosstrap sounds better..."

Navi floated around the open space, miming someone in deep thought. "Mosstrap it is!" She told him before flying close to hold his nose in both hands. "Everyone's going to want to know what you see out here. So you better start paying attention, and remember all the scary, exciting, fun we're going to have!"

"fun..." Rising his head to see the outside. Link took a deep breath.
The feeling of putting his foot beyond the forest was reminiscent of the first time he was loured into the deep parts of the river. Not having trees for shelter was like not having sturdy ground to walk on.
But he did it. One small easy step at a time. With each one, it became easier, faster.

"Any other circumstance, I'd be in so much trouble for allowing this," Navi joked as she followed his quickening pace.

Link looked up at the sky and wispy white clouds. In days before, he'd only see them from the river or in the small breaks of the trees. But this was like standing atop the Deku Tree once again.
The world felt so much bigger now like it went on and on forever.

"Is that a smile?" Navi tased, grinning with him. "You're excited, don't deny it!"

Link tried to pull his face straight, but it was true. His heart was pounding fast, but that feeling edging him on to keep going.

"That's the spirit!" Navi urged as the boy shot off into a run through the wild grass.

Sometimes he'd lose his balance when a stone appeared under his foot, but Link's stride didn't break for more than a moment before he got going again.
As he climbed to the top of a hill, Link looked back on the forest. It didn't feel it when he was running, but he'd actually come quite far already.
He couldn't even tell the spot where he emerged from.

"Which way is home?"

"Thhhhhat way!" Navi flew around to his face and pointed where she felt her sister's aura.

Link tried to see the top of the Deku tree, but there was no sign of it.

"Navi, what's that thing?"

Both had to squint to see it. It took Navi a moment to realise and she laughed when she did.

"That's the sun, Link. A little lower than you're used to seeing it, huh?"

"It's yellow,"

"It's only just risen, in a few hours it'll be the same old sun you saw yesterday." Navi wondered what Rose and the other fairies were teaching the kids. But then again, when in Link's life before now would he needed to know that the sun moves across the sky every day?
Perhaps in his mind, the sun douses like a flame a night, only to be relit the following morning.

"Let's try to keep the pace, we've got a long way to go."

"How far is it?"

"Um, not sure… I'd usually get there before noon."

Link hopped off his back foot and started running again.
As Navi followed, she noticed for the first time that Link had sheafed his sword in through the top of his bag.
He seemed like a real adventurer, it made her smile to see him looking so eager and ready for what lies ahead.

Sideways glare from the golden sun was casting his shadow far across the ground as he ran through the grass, reaching out to feel the taller blades under his fingers.
Trees had always protected him from the harsher elements before, but now he felt the strong wind at his back, pushing him to keep moving, and he could see floating seeds and dead grass blowing ahead of him.

"Feel free yet?" Navi asked, twirling in the breeze without even needing to beat her wings.

As Link ran up a gentle incline of another hill, he was able to get a view of the entirety of Hyrule field.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" The world seemed vast but stagnant atop the Deku Tree, but that view was only that of treetops.
From this hill, Link could see mountains and valleys. Navi pointed out farming towns and of course, their destination in the form of a tall castle in the distance.
With his goal in sight, Link felt that his mission might be over sooner than he thought.

Jumping down the slope, Link slid all the way down before continuing his run at the bottom.

No matter how much he ran, the excitement and adrenaline kept him from feeling tired, aided of course by how much running about he did in the forest in the years gone by.

Ahead was a small patch of trees that Link gravitated towards out of familiarity. But as he came closer, he noticed a bending break in the grass nearby.
'A chance to refill my bottle,' he thought expecting a stream. But as he walked over but was shocked to see no water.

Navi's smile grew wide.

"What do you think this is?" She asked, taking a moment to study his confused face.

"a stream…" Link was only confused how a stream, even one that had dried up, could have such shallow banks while flowing both down and up hills. "What's so funny?"

"I'm crying~" Navi laughed, holding her sides and trying to imagine how things will get once they're in a bustling city full of other things Link has no comprehension of. "It's not a dried river you dork! It's a road."

Link ignored her mocking tone as he gently placed a foot on the paved stones.

"It's safe, don't worry." Navi tried to get all her laughed out before they continue. "We can follow this road to town, I think. I've seen wagons use them."

"What's a wagon?"

"It's a thing that,-"

"food?"

Link and Navi froze in place. They heard a grangy voice like that before.

"Food… hal, he… Hal-e-an!"

Link turned to see the creepy, excitable creature staring at him from the trees as it hopped from foot to foot as it sniffed the air.

Navi recognised the short but slender body, the long leathery ears sticking out from its wide oval head and the pig snout above its large hungry mouth.
She's been chased by them before, they'll eat anything they can get including fairies or small children.
"L, Link…"

"I have food…" Link pulled his bag from his back, ready to offer an apple in hopes of satisfying the strange creature.

"D-Don't! It's a Bokoblin!" Navi screamed just before the creature charged forward, swinging a thick branch at Link's shoulder.

Link was clubbed hard, throwing him away from his bag.
His arm felt numb at first, but hurt a lot as feeling started to come back.

"why'd you hit me…?" Link wondered out loud through gasping breaths as the pain caught up with him.

When the boy looked up, he saw the creature coming towards him, but Navi was flying around its head trying to catch its attention.

"Fae, fairy is food!" Choosing its new meal, the Bokoblin started trying to grab Navi from the air.

"Leave her alone!" Link pulled himself to his feet before throwing his body at the Bokoblin to tackle it.

"Hal-e'n! De, dead!" The Bokoblin screamed and wriggled under Link's weight before finally throwing him off. "So'rd!"

"Link, get your sword!" Navi tried to distract the Bokoblin again, but it reached the sword before Link could even find his feet. "Run Link!" Navi flew over his body, begging him to get up before she had to watch him get killed and eaten for the second time this morning.

Link's right arm was too numb to fight with, so he listened to Navi's advice and ran into the small set of trees. He'd never lose the Bokoblin in there, but at least he could put some obstacles between him and it.
The Bokoblin screeched and snorted as it chased after him. Leaping and hobbling behind trying to catch the nimble boy that bobbed and weaved the trees.

"What are you doing?" Navi demanded. She'd watched him run around in circles, trying to double back on himself.

"I'm not leaving my bag!" Link told her.

The bag was replaceable as was the food inside, but the ocarina that Saria gifted him was in there, and he refused to leave it behind. As he approached the bag laying on the road, Link found the Bokoblin's club.
Knowing he'd never get away with his bag, Link picked the club up.

"Link…?" Navi's heart was in her mouth watching him prepare to fight the monster.

Link watched with tears in his eyes as the Bokoblin swung the sword at him. He backed away and kept backing away with each new swing.

"You have to run!" Navi kept telling him.

Link knew he should, but his feet were already planted. As the Bokoblin approached, he lifted the club high and struck it down.

The Bokoblin blocked, but the sword got stuck in the wooden club.

One hard yank was all it took for the Bokoblin to disarm Link, but inadvertently disarm himself.
When he pulled the sword, the club went with it and so the two weapons combined flew out of the Bokoblin's hand.

Taking this one-time opportunity, attempted something risky while the Bokoblin was watching the weapons fly away.
Link knew of a special attack that if done right has proven able to incapacitate around half of the Kokiri back home, Link hoped it would work here.

"Link, what are… Oh gosh…"

Link ran forward and kicked the Bokoblin so hard that Navi squirmed at her knees just from witnessing it.
The Bokoblin thrashed on the ground, screeching and holding his crushed grapes, giving Link a chance to reclaim his bag and his sword.
Rearmed, Link watched the Bokoblin for a moment. The sword was in his hand and the Bokoblin was hissing at him.
Raising his blade, Link charged forward ready to fight.

To his surprise, the Bokoblin turned away and retreated across the grass at full speed, screaming at the sky as he went.
Sword still in hand, Link gave a proud grin as he spun around and looked up to his fairy.

"You fight dirty…" Navi clapped her hands. "But I can't imagine most children could have fought a Bokoblin and lived to grin about it."

"Something to tell the kids back home, right?"

"Right~" Navi giggled.

Before venturing on right away, Link looked around the small patch of trees to see if there were any mushrooms or nuts to be plucked from the ground while Navi hovered on watch in case the Bokoblin returned.

With his bag secured to his shoulders and the sword back where it belongs, Link walked at a much easier pace than before as they followed the road.

The fresh meadow flowers swaying in the breeze had such vibrant colours that none in the forest could match. Navi even reached inside a few to pull out sweet nectar. Her only regret was she couldn't share with Link, but he was satisfied with an apple from his bag.

A windmill turning in the distance at a farm caught Link's eye and Navi had to think hard about ways to explain it to him while they stayed on the move.

The road soon came to a fork where one going to the left almost went back the same way they just came, only it led up towards the windmill.

"We're going this way," Navi encouraged, pointing him in the right direction.

"Okay…" Link followed her, but his eyes were stuck on the windmill. Watching the blades go round and round was hypnotic and made him want to find out what was making them move.

"How did these rivers get here?"

"Roads, Link. And I don't know, I guess people make them, don't ask me why. I've seen people follow roads around bends that would have been faster just to walk across."

"Are they afraid of the red monsters?"

"Bokoblins, and maybe. I've seen people get attacked, that's why I was scared you'd be eaten."

Link stared out across the field. He could see animals running in herds, flocks of birds in the sky, and bees hopping from one flower to the next. From vicious monsters to peaceful animals, Hyrule seemed to have no middle ground.

"This is a strange place," He kept a smile on. Apart from his hostile encounter with the Bokoblin and the Mosstrap, he was still enjoying his journey so far.

"whoa, there!" Called a distant voice from behind.

Link turned, coming face to face with another creature approaching quickly.

Author's Note: This one was late editing into the day. I think I improved at least a page of stuff while putting it here, thus the lateness.
Doesn't matter, I am interested though. How are you guys and gals finding this story so far? I don't mean to get all Youtuber on y'all but, posting feedback does help more than you think.

Know that scene in post-apocalyptic moves where a guy talks to a radio for weeks and weeks, then all Christmases come at once the moment he hears 'hello?'.
That's how I feel when I get a 'Someone wrote a review' I'm like Yey!

Navi: Pathetic.

Author: oh god... Not another co-host...