Lunnaei trudged down the 'road' her feet hurt and her new boots were still not quite broken in. They'd already walked most of the morning without a break. Her stomach grumbled, but she had no wish to stop. The woods all around were dark and so thick she wanted to be out of them and fast. The mist that rose up from the forest floor partially obscured her feet and had a mossy smell that made her want to sneeze. The only sounds beyond their footfalls were the croaks of frogs, the buzz of some unseen insects and the occasional squawk of an angry bird.
Her nervousness was not helped by the fact that even though they had arrived on the outskirts of these woods early the day before, her Grandpa insisted that they wait until morning before going in. He had gotten her up just before dawn and gave her a list of specific instructions.
One: She was to stay on the road at all times.
Two: She should avoid looking behind them until they left the forest.
Three: And most importantly, she was not to stop for any reason.
Of course, he did not give her a reason when she asked. He only parceled out some rations and they ate as they walked. Her grandfather neither slowed nor looked back since they entered. "Are we there yet?" she asked as she scanned the woods to her left. Did something just run by? Not wanting to find out she picked up her pace a little, "Grandpa," she repeated "are we there yet??"
"Nope."
"Well how much longer?"
"Haven't we had this conversation?"
"Yeah, but this place is creepy."
"Remember my instructions Lunnaei, stick to the road and we'll be out in no time."
She snorted, the 'road' was nothing more than a thin dirt trail that meandered this way and that through the forest. It was barely wide enough for them to walk side by side. "Yeah, you keep saying that, but we've been walking all morning." He only smiled in reply, "Are you sure we're not lost?"
"Pretty sure."
She sighed and continued down the road. "Since you won't tell me why we can't stop, can you at least tell me a story?"
"Which one?"
"The one about the fairy." She noticed he almost paused mid-step, almost. Still, he never took his eyes off the road.
"Why that one?"
"It's always been one of my favorites and since you probably left all the juicy details out of the first version you told me, I figure there might be some other stuff you left out cause I was too young."
"Really."
"Yeah, so make sure you tell me everything."
"You're sure there isn't there something else you'd rather hear? "
"Nope."
"Alright Lunnaei, I'll tell it as long as you keep your questions to yourself until the end."
"Okay, you got it, not a word outta me." She said as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
The old potter laughed a little and began his tale.
In the months that led up to the beginning of the Hero's quest, the boy Link, was living peacefully within the Kokiri Village. The forest children were special creatures, for they never aged beyond the appearance of a ten-year-old child and were always childlike in their thought and manner. Unaware that his dying mother had entrusted him to the care of the Great Deku Tree, he could not know his quiet existence within the forest was about to end. The passage of time was meaningless here and he was free to exist without the burdens of regular children, for he thought of himself as one of them. He dressed in the Kokirish style, green tunic, heavy leather boots topped off with a green cap. He looked for all outward appearances to be one of them, with one very obvious exception. He had no Fairy.
This was unusual and always puzzled him. All the other Kokiri had fairies and it was, at times, a source of great torment. For though the Great Deku Tree bade the others to accept him, there were still a few among the group who did not. Referring to him as 'Mr. No Fairy' or 'Fairy-less boy'. Worst among them was Mido, self-proclaimed boss of the clan. His red hair, freckled face and turned up nose made him look angry most of the time. He was also a little shorter than Link and seemed to take offense to it. Often, he would lead others of the group into teasing the boy without a fairy.
Though he accepted the fact that he had no fairy, he never felt at ease with the others because of it. All except for one. Of all the children in the woods, she was the one who never teased or bullied him. She accepted him and loved him as he was and her name was Saria. She had a green tint to her dark hair that almost exactly matched her eyes. It was often at her intercession that the teasing would stop and she would frequently cheer him by playing a special song for him on her ocarina.
His home, like all the others in the village was a hollowed out tree. Sparsely decorated, he lived alone. This was okay because of late Link had been having nightmares. The evil that had brought him to his life with the forest children was gaining strength. Because the hero was Hylian, he was sensitive to this change of climate and could sense the evil as it seeped into Hyrule. This brought images filled with things Link had never seen before and did not understand. Every night the frightening visions came. He was never even sure if the boy he would see standing in the rain was him, for this child had a fairy.
What he saw though was always the same. It would be raining furiously, lightning and thunder everywhere. A large wooden door would lower from a massive stone building. A woman on a beautiful white horse carried a young girl and they would gallop by at top speed. The horse would speed past him, the girl would look at him with fright-filled blue eyes. Within them he always thought he heard a silent plea for help. A sound behind the child would draw his attention back to the wooden door. He would turn around and see the nightmare that followed them. A large muscular man in black armor would ride out. He would stop his large black horse and look down at him with gleeful cruelty. He was frightening with sallow skin that looked green against his red slicked back hair. Always the man would say something in words he did not quite understand. There would be a flash of light and he would wake up crying.
The Guardian of the Forest also knew of the evil. The foul King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf, had entered his woods and demanded the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. When he was refused, he grew angry and, using his black arts the thief of the desert cast a deadly curse upon the Guardian. Vowing to return and collect what was rightfully his. Being a rooted thing the Guardian Tree could do nothing to stop the parasite that now burrowed down into its roots. Sensing his time was short, the Tree called to one of the last of the fairy folk that inhabited his branches.
Navi... Navi, where art thou? Come hither... Oh, Navi the fairy... Listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree... Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm... Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule...For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world... Alas before this tremendous evil, even my power is as nothing... It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey... The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth... Navi...go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me... I do not have much time left.
Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Grandpa, it's a tree!" Lunnaei cried in disbelief forgetting her promise not to interrupt, "Trees don't talk."
"Well this one did," he said and kept walking down the road.
"That's just nuts!" she said. "He would have run away for sure, I sure the hell.... uh...heck," she looked at her Grandpa to make sure he had missed that last slip, "...uh...would." He did not look over at her but he did heave a sigh. Nope didn't miss it. Damn.
"Lunnaei..."
"Yeah, I know, no cursing."
He did not say anything for a few minutes and she was worried he was not going to finish the story. When he did speak again, he did not start up where he'd left off, instead he said "You're forgetting he grew up with the Tree so why would it speaking make any difference?"
"I guess...are you sure you're not making this up?"
"Pretty sure, though the details have gotten fuzzier over the years."
Lunnaei listened as they walked, while Grandpa's stories about the hero were the best. She still didn't believe the tree could talk, but Grandpa was gettin' up there. She remembered she'd once asked her Grandma if he made up all the stories about the hero. Her Grandmother had only smiled and said 'Grandpa never lies.' When she returned her attention back, she heard a voice, which was not her Grandpa's say, "Hey lady how'd you get so deep into the woods and not turn into a monster?"
Lunnaei realized she must have stopped walking. Her Grandpa was nowhere in sight and the 'road' on which they had been traveling had vanished as well. She got a sinking feeling and said to herself, "Oh crap."
