Child Of The Forest - Judy Colella (popular e readers .TXT) 📗

I won’t bother you any more today.”

He sighed. “You don’t bother me, Navi. Well, not most of the time. Besides, I guess it’s kind of nice to have a fairy with me. I don’t feel so…so alone. Thank you.”

The tiniest of sounds escaped the fairy, a sound that could only be a small sob.

If Link heard, he didn’t react to it, but continued on his way, stopping only long enough to scoop some water from the stream and slake his thirst, then once more to relieve himself behind some shrubs.

When he got home, he removed his tunic, boots and hat, washed himself, put on a fresh tunic used for sleeping, and grabbed the bowl of fruit and nuts from the table. He sat on the bed to eat, and when he was done, laid the bowl on the floor, snuggled down under his covers, and fell into a profound slumber. He’d said nothing, and true to her word, Navi kept her own silence.

His sleep was deep and blissfully free of the nightmares, although a voice did break through at some point, one that said, “He really is just a little boy, but a very brave one.”

That’s nice, he thought, turning over. Wonder who they’re talking about…

The morning was fragrant and as bright as it ever got in the Village, normal qualities which always, as now, wakened the boy. This day was no different. At least not until he sat up, saw Navi, and remembered everything that had gone on the day before. He got out of bed slowly, realizing his life had begun to change in ways he’d never imagined it could. He also had a strong feeling it would never go back to the way it used to be…and he didn’t mind one bit.

“Do you think we’ll be away for very long?” he asked over his shoulder, picking up his wash basin from its place by the wall.

“Yes, Link.”

Nodding, he went to the window. After looking out to make sure no one was underneath it, he dumped the water. “Probably shouldn’t bother filling this up again, then,” he muttered. He gathered all the food that remained in his cupboard, packing it carefully into the small satchel he’d used the previous day. The scabbard, its Sword, and three Deku sticks lay across the table; after tying the satchel to his belt and jamming the sling-shot in beside it, he strapped on the Sword, re-attached his bag of rupees, and without another glance at the room, headed for the door, picking up the shield where he’d leaned it against the wall.

“Do you need to tell anyone you’re leaving?”

“Why? No one will care.” He went outside and stared around. A few Kokiri were out, mostly either tending their gardens or shaking out rugs and window hangings. All of them were adults, none of them of any interest to him. The couple who had raised him no longer lived nearby, and nobody had bothered to tell him where they’d gone.

“What about that girl?”

He knew immediately who she meant. “Saria. Yeah, well, I don’t see her anywhere.”

“You could go to her house.”

Link started down the ladder. “Don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because, Navi.” He jumped the final few feet to the ground and shrugged the scabbard straighter. “She’s the only one who ever mattered, and I don’t think I can handle saying good-bye to her.”

Navi said nothing more about it. “Hyrule Castle,” she explained instead, “is on one side of Hyrule Field. We need to head west once we leave the forest, Link.”

He nodded, walking toward a huge opening in the trees at the far end of the village, not too far beyond the training ground and the home of The Know-It-All Brothers.

Someone was standing in the path near the upward slope toward the training ground, a pretty girl named Fado who seemed to think he was heroic for having crossed the wooden bridge that led to a lookout point in the village. Like Link, she had golden hair, but unlike Saria, she didn’t seem to have much of a personality. He really hoped she wasn’t there to accuse him of killing the Great Deku Tree.

“Good morning!” she chirped at him when he was close enough.

“Morning, Fado.”

“Where are you going so early?”

He shrugged. “What are you doing here on the path so early?”

“Nothing. Waiting. For Grog. He likes to wander around the Lost Woods too much. I’m trying to keep him in the village so I invited him to join me for a picnic later. I don’t want him to become Stalfos. That will happen, you know, if you wander too much. Like Grog does. Stalfos. Terrible fate.”

“Er, yeah. It…um, okay. Have a nice picnic.” He took off, thinking if he had to listen to her much longer, he’d get dizzy and fall down.

The opening in the trees was the only way out of Kokiri Village, and Link couldn’t remember ever having seen anyone use it. He and all the children had been endlessly curious about it, sometimes making up stories about what could be found there. None of the adults had told them anything concrete, only that a Kokiri could never leave the forest, and that going through there would mean certain death.

The lure of the forbidden had drawn a number of them to the opening, and for no logical reason, a Kokiri child could always be found pacing in front of it, as if on patrol. Today, a boy with orange hair named Diro was there. He was small for his age, at least for a Kokiri, but full of energy and mischief most of the time.

As Link approached, Diro stopped and put his hands on his hips. “Where are you off to, Link? I’m keeping watch here today.”

“That’s not…I …” He frowned. The last thing he felt like doing was giving an explanation of his plans. He looked through the opening, but as usual could see nothing beyond the first few yards.

“You aren’t going to try leaving here, are you?”

Link took a deep breath. “Yes, Diro. I am. Good-bye.”

“Wait! You can’t do that! A Kokiri will die if he leaves the forest!”

“Maybe not. I was told to do this by…by someone who never would have meant me any harm.” Except to fight off a few gigantic spiders…

Diro pursed his lips, putting his head to one side. “Well, if anyone can survive, I guess it would be you, Link. But come back if you can, and tell me what you saw?”

Now Link smiled. The little guy had rarely joined the others in taunting or bullying him. “Sure, Diro. I’ll do that.”

“Thanks! Good luck, Link!” He stepped aside, even though he hadn’t been blocking the bigger boy.

Link nodded, turned to the opening and murmured, “Okay, Navi. Here we go.”

As he walked, he found that the path somehow stayed bright enough for him to see it, which surprised him. Based on his view from the village, this part of the pathway should have been shrouded in murky shadows. The trees here were so thick, they met overhead, but the leaves were tiny and allowed just enough light to filter down to make travel possible.

Only a few minutes of walking brought him to a wooden plank bridge slung over a narrow gorge. He started across –

“Link!”

Startled, he turned around and saw Saria – what was she doing out here? He walked back toward her, confused and slightly upset. Looked like he’d have to say good-bye after all.

“Oh, Link, you’re going out into the world, aren’t you…I knew you would leave the forest some day.”

“You did? How?”

“Because you’re different from me and my friends.”

She’d noticed it, too, then. “I suppose I am, but I wonder why? What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing. And it’s okay that you are, because we’ll still be friends forever – won’t we?”

He nodded, uncomfortable. There had never been a question in his own mind about his friendship with Saria, but the way she said it made him think there was more involved, at least to her. “Yes, we’ll be friends forever, Saria. Really.”

She gave him a sweet smile and took something from a pocket. “Here. I want you to have this.”

It was her ocarina. He was utterly shocked. This fairy ocarina was her favorite possession, and yet she was willing to give it to him? How come? Did she know he’d secretly wanted one? That he’d watched oh, so closely when she played it to see exactly how it was done? That the earthy sounds of the small instrument calmed and soothed his heart like nothing else could?

“Please take good care of it,” she was saying, taking his hand and laying the ocarina into his palm.

“Huh?” He looked down at it, then back at her. “Saria - ”

“Shh! It’s yours now. I’m going to buy another, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” He raised the ocarina to see it better in the half-light and realized its smooth, rounded surface felt natural in his hand, like it had always belonged there. When he looked back at Saria to thank her, he noticed a tear had spilled from one eye and was making its way slowly down her cheek. He gulped back a sudden wave of emotion, at a complete loss with no idea how to react, what to say.

So he offered her a sad if somewhat frantic smile, took a step back, then another, and another…and fled, hoping she’d forgive his abrupt, wordless departure.

Too many things were happening at once, too much to think about. He was leaving the only home he’d ever known, the only people he’d ever known. He’d been told he had a destiny that he honestly doubted he could ever fulfill. Within a few short days he’d gone from being an unpopular, awkward little boy to being a little boy who could slay gigantic, deadly creatures, could wield a sword with surprising skill, and had a fairy companion to help him.

In addition the fact that he was being allowed to leave the Kokiri Forest with its people’s greatest treasure, he also had in his pouch the biggest emerald he’d ever seen, and which had some kind of great significance…why? It was all too much.

So Link ran, pushing away thoughts like the bushy branches obstructing his path, concentrating on nothing in particular except perhaps not tripping over something. The need to run was suddenly the most important motivation in his life, and run he did. Fast. At one point, he found his vision somewhat obscured by inexplicable tears, but he managed to blink them all away in the end and kept running.

He’d been a simple child of the forest until the morning he’d awoken to find the diminutive Navi fluttering in front of his eyes. A boy with nothing special to do, nothing exciting to anticipate in his future. A little boy who was different, disproportionate, uniquely Link. But once he left the forest’s protection, he’d become something else. Certainly no longer one of the forest’s own.

No, he would instead, and perhaps, become the person he was supposed to be all along.

Whoever that was.

 

END OF BOOK I

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Publication Date: 04-01-2013

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