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

down in front of the door, locking him in, another set secured a door on the far side of the area, and something leafy with a face had popped up from the ground. Not a plant, exactly, but not a person.

“That’s a Deku Scrub!” Navi informed him in an exaggerated whisper.

“Is it dangerous?”

“It can be. It shoots Deku Nuts through its snout!”

Since he had almost been struck by one a second before Navi said this, he simply nodded and unslung his shield.

Ploomp! Thunk! The first sound was that of the creature shooting, the second that of the Deku Nut striking the shield.

After fending off a few more of these, Link noticed that he could control the direction in which he deflected the projectile. He planted his feet farther apart and crouched a bit lower. The Scrub looked to be the same height as Link, so he was able to approximate where to aim in order to make the Nut strike the creature’s mid-section. He shifted slightly to the left and – there!

The Scrub emitted a squeak that seemed to contain as much outrage as it did pain, and began hopping backward. Link followed, raising his Sword, determined to make sure the animated shrubbery didn’t bother him again.

When Link got within striking distance, the creature stopped and began to tremble. “Wait! Spare me, little master! Spare me, and I’ll tell you something you can use to survive in here!”

It could talk? “Why should I spare you? You attacked me!”

“I always attack when something I don’t know comes through that door. There are so many enemies in here these days!” It made a face that almost looked…cute.

“You’re weird,” Link muttered, but lowered his weapon. “Very well, then. What can you tell me?”

“Ah! There are many ledges and such here, and you may need to jump from them!”

Link nodded. “Thank you, but I probably could have figured that out myself.”

“Yes, but did you know that there is a way to do that from the higher places without getting hurt?”

“There is?”

“Oh, yes! When you near the ground, tuck your head in by your knees and roll as you land!”

It sounded awkward. “I’ll try it. Thank you. May I continue now without getting shot with a Deku Nut?”

“Yes, little master!”

Link frowned at the title, but before he had a chance to ask the Scrub why it was calling him that, it sank back into the ground.

“That was very strange, Navi.”

“It was?”

He rolled his eyes and moved forward – as soon as the Scrub disappeared, the bars had slid back up into the ceiling, unblocking both doors. He went to the one on the other side, and like the first, this opened when he was close enough. As soon as he was inside, he noticed a large, stone-like platform suspended somehow over open space in the middle of the chamber.

“Er, Navi – ?”

“Look, Link! There’s a platform in front of you!”

“Thank you, Navi.” Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I’m blind, deaf, and dumb, after all, and would never have seen it. He bit his tongue and put away the Sword and shield, readying himself. The distance between the edge and the platform looked manageable, so he took a deep breath and leaped.

The second he landed on its surface, the thing began to move forward. It also began shaking in a most alarming way, and as soon as he could, he jumped off, grabbing the top of the wall on the other side and pulling himself up. He turned back to peer over the edge and noticed two things. One, the platform had shattered and lay in chunks on the ground. Two, the ground itself wasn’t nearly as far below him as he’d feared, which made him feel a little better.

He backed away from the edge and turned. Another large chest and not a spider in sight. Nice. He hefted the lid, pulled himself halfway onto the edge and leaned in.

What he took out of this one actually made him smile. A sling-shot. He knew a lot about those, having made more than one in his short life. He’d taught himself to use them with pretty deadly accuracy, if he did say so himself. And he did. “Look, Navi!” Oh, good heavens, he was starting to sound like her, now!

“What is it Link?”

And she was beginning to sound… “A sling-shot!”

“I know. A fairy sling-shot, in fact. I thought you had something else you wanted to say.”

“No.” He began looking around for small stones or some object like that which he could use for ammunition.

“Cut some grass, Link! Deku seeds sometimes hide in it!”

He was impressed – she’d figured out what he was thinking! “Are they anything like Deku nuts?”

“No, they’re much smaller and don’t pop when they hit something. They act more like very hard pebbles.”

 He went to the nearest patch and swished the blade over it. Sure enough, a handful of round, golden-brown objects tumbled onto the grass. He picked them and shoved them into another small bag he had at his waist. “So now what, Navi? How do I get out of here again?” Without the stone platform to carry him back to the side with the door, he would be stuck here, and he really hoped she had a solution.

She did. With a jingle, Navi zoomed away from him, across to the other side of the chamber and up, where she promptly began to glow bright green. His eyes followed her and he noticed for the first time that a wooden ladder had been suspended over the door. If he was right about the way it was hanging there, it should, if dislodged, land on the recessed floor and provide a way back up to the door.

But how to reach it…ah! It didn’t seem to be secured very well, so he fitted a Deku seed into the slingshot and took aim.

Zing! Whack! And down came the ladder, landing exactly where he thought it would. He clambered over the side of the ledge, then dropped to the ground below, landing easily on his feet.

“Hurry, Link! There’s got to be lots more to do before the curse is broken!”

I expect there is, thought Link. He crossed the remaining distance to the foot of the ladder and climbed.

FIVE

 

Link’s next big challenge involved direct dealings with the giant spiders scratching among the vines above him; he was beginning to loathe the creatures with a passion that bordered on fanaticism. Never, in his entire spider-hating life, had he felt such deep dislike for the arachnoid race. Then again, never had he encountered any this large before. The ones that occasionally explored the corners of his tree-cottage seemed in retrospect almost adorable. Well, not quite, but still nothing like –

“Link! Listen!”

“What is it Navi?”

“You can’t stand there staring at the ‘tulas all day! We have much more to do, remember?”

He nodded. After leaving the room where he’d gotten his sling-shot, he had followed the ramp to its end. Finding nothing else of interest, he’d concluded that the only way left to go was up. So he’d returned to the beginning of the ramp where the vines would provide a means for climbing.

Which meant dealing with Wall-tulas near the chest that had contained the map. Despite Navi’s urging, he continued to stare up at the spindly-legged things as he considered the situation. He didn’t think he’d have a problem hitting them with the help of the sling shot. No, that wasn’t what was worrying him, or what had spurred his mental side-road about all things spidery. The problem was actually rather basic – what would happen if he knocked one down? Would it land on him? Would it be dead? Would it fall in front of him and still be alive? And should that be the case, would it then come after him?

“Link!”

“Navi!”

“Hurry, Link!”

Shut up, Navi! “Okay.” He took aim at the nearest one after backing away a bit further.

Zing! Whack! Thud-thud-thud. Silence…poof!

Link felt a little overwhelmed by the the chain of sounds echoing around him. The triple thudding one was the Wall-tula hitting the ramp on its back and bouncing a few times. But then it laid still, and a moment later, disintegrated in a big yellow puff of light. There was no other way to describe it, really, even if “puff of light” made no sense in any other context.

At least there was no question about it being dead. He stepped closer and saw a green rupee sparkling on the floor where the ‘tula had been. Cool. He picked it up and pocketed it, then stepped away to take aim at the next beastie.

Within moments, the last three were dispatched, each leaving a green rupee behind. That part was okay, as long as he didn’t think too hard about where the massive bugs might have been keeping these gems.

“Here I go, Navi. How far up is the next level? I can’t see any access from here.”

“Climb, Link. You’ll know when you get there.”

How helpful. “Okay.” Grabbing the first ropy tendril, he began to pull himself upward. This part was easy. Before very long he’d gotten as far as he could go, the vines having come to an abrupt stop. From what he could see, the only way to go now was sideways.

“Link! Climb sideways!”

So glad you thought of that Navi…He nodded and clambered to his right, and a few seconds later, saw the vines had ended again. Before Navi could give him any more unnecessary instructions, he began heading back down. To his delight, his feet met a hard surface not very long after this, and he leapt lightly from the wall.

He was on a curving wooden ramp that ran parallel with the one below. A rather uncomfortable difference between this and the lower ramp inspired him to move more quickly – while the edges of the previous level’s walkway had been exposed to the ground far below, this one was fenced along its edges by the thick, nasty webbing that covered the hole in the floor of the main room.

Okay! he thought with false cheer. Now to see what fun things I can find up here! He’d tucked the slingshot into his belt before starting his climb, and yanked it out again quickly, convinced that any enemies that might be lurking about would probably attack without warning.

“I’m getting hungry, Navi,” he announced a while later, having dealt with more Wall-tulas and a new version, the Gold-Skulltula, not to mention a bevy of giant ones that dangled at him from their thick web strands. He’d also collected a number of golden medallions, which in reality were what the Gold ‘tulas turned into when slain.

After killing his first one, he’d watched from a safe distance as it collapsed into itself until its entire being was the size of a skull-shaped medallion that would probably fit very nicely in a pocket. The question was, did he actually want an imploded spider corpse in his pocket?

“You should collect those, Link!” Navi had told him.

Well, that answered it. “Okay.” Unable to keep from grimacing, he’d picked it up with two fingers and shoved it into one of the pockets of his tunic. “Blah!” He’d shuddered again. “Do they stay like that, or can they open up