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

to their normal size at some point?”

Navi had actually giggled. “Oh, Link! You’re so funny! That’s like asking if a berry can unsquish after you step on it!”

By this time, he had collected enough rupees to finish filling the small leather bag, enough Deku-seeds to keep his slingshot useful for quite a while, and several more Deku Nuts. Further, he’d found a compass that Navi had taught him to use in conjunction with the map.

He was also slightly injured from a run-in with one of the giant ‘tulas, which had knocked him flat after stinging him on his left leg. The pain wasn’t exactly debilitating, but it made the idea of more climbing extremely unattractive.

He was sitting now on one of the wooden projections that jutted out over the center of the Tree’s main chamber. Link had never had a problem with heights, and was actually enjoying his bird’s-eye view of the circular web far below.

“Did you bring food with you, Link?”

“I did. And I’m going to take a few minutes to eat it, if you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind. But don’t take too long.”

Link sighed and opened the third bag he had on his belt, the one in which he’d put a small store of edible nuts, a piece of fruit, and a slice of the bread he’d made two days earlier. It wasn’t much, but Link had never been a big eater so it hadn’t occurred to him to bring more than that. Besides, when he’d left that morning, he hadn’t realized this adventure would keep him away from home for so long.

“How are you feeling, Link?” Navi was hovering over the boy’s leg. His skin was badly bruised and slightly purple where he’d been stung.

“I’m fine, Navi. It doesn’t hurt as much now.”

“When you finish eating, I can show you something that will help.”

He nodded, took a bite of the fruit, and leaned back on one elbow to finish his meal. Putting something in his stomach had definitely been a good idea – his energy level had been waning, but now he was starting to feel stronger again. When he was done a few minutes later, he stood.

“See this grass?” Navi had flown over to one of the patches of long-bladed greenery nearby.

“Yes.”

“Cut it with your sword, Link, and pick up the blades.”

How odd… “All right.” He complied, then said, “Now what?”

“Lay them over your wound.”

He did, and instantly experienced a lessening of his discomfort. “Wow! I didn’t know grass could do that!”

“Cut another piece, Link, and chew on it.”

It tasted awful, but Link found himself filled with almost euphoric surge of vitality, and his leg stopped hurting altogether. Astonished, he looked down and saw no trace of the injury whatsoever. “That – that’s amazing, Navi!”

She twinkled at him, and then flew to the edge of the wooden projection. “That’s great, Link! Now you are ready to jump!”

“Wait, what?” His joy had suddenly turned to horror. Was she joking?

“Jump, Link! It’s the only way to break through the web down there!”

She wasn’t joking. “Navi, I…”

“Didn’t you tell the Great Deku Tree you had the courage it would take to break the curse?”

“Yeah, the curse – not my neck. He also mentioned something about wisdom, if you remember.”

“The wisdom to know when doing something uncomfortable is the right thing, Link.”

Crap. “You’re sure about this, are you?”

“I am. The enemy at the heart of all this evil has yet to be dealt with, Link. And you won’t find it up here.”

Of course not. That would be too easy. Too sensible. Too…crap. “I see.” He nodded, putting away his things and making sure his weapons were secure. “If I die, Navi - ”

“You won’t die, Link. You have a destiny! Now jump!”

Easy for you to say, he thought. You have wings! He backed up, eyeing the edge of the platform. He’d have to jump far enough to clear it…With a loud yell of surrender, he ran forward, leaped, and keeping his body straight, plummeted feet-first toward the thick, white web.

He was still yelling when he hit the water at the bottom of what had turned out to be a very deep shaft. He sank to the bottom, pushed upward with arms and legs, and broke the surface, spluttering and coughing. The water wasn’t exactly warm, but it wasn’t icy cold, either; he swam to the side and pulled himself onto dry ground, then sat for a moment to catch his breath.

“You did it, Link!”

He nodded and looked up. The circle of green light that represented where he’d come from looked very, very far away. Amazed at first that he’d survived a jump that far, he soon began to grin as a new sense of power and elation filled his being. He laughed. What an incredible thing! “Navi, that was awesome! Wow!”

She said nothing for several long minutes, apparently allowing him to enjoy his new-found pleasure. “You’re almost done with your task, Link,” she said then, her tone somewhat less strident, almost gentle. “You must start moving again.”

He agreed and stood. As he looked around at this new environment, he noticed several things: first were the vines growing up the insides of the shaft through which he’d fallen, and which would give him access to the main chamber once he was ready to leave. Of course, he should probably get rid of the Gold ‘tulla rotating there first…dang.

Second, a strange protrusion rose from the ground a few feet away that he couldn’t explain. Basically square, it was almost like a topless pyramid, and seemed to be made of some kind of metal.

Interesting. This new part of the Tree’s interior didn’t seem too threatening, and he was ready to start exploring again, until he heard something that stopped him in his tracks. Scratching, and not from the ‘tulla on the vines. The sound was coming from somewhere behind him.

“There’s a spider-thing behind me, isn’t there,” he stated aloud.

“Yes, Link! Go kill it!”

Or I could feed you to it, and maybe bribe it into leaving me alone… “How?”

“It’s a Gold Skulltula, Link. You know how to kill them.”

He turned. “Huh. Okay, I can get it with my sling-shot, but…it’s on metal bars – is that a drainage tunnel?”

“Yes, Link. After you kill it, jump at the bars to get the medallion!”

And since that will probably knock me out, falling into the water ought to revive me so I don’t drown, he told himself, glum. “Thank you, Navi.” He took out the sling-shot, fitted a deku seed into it, and took aim.

Zing! Whack!

The ‘tula glowed purple, a strange phenomenon he’d noticed the first time he’d killed one. It meant it wasn’t dead yet, and if he didn’t hit it again soon, it would revive.

Zing! Whack!

With a small poofing sound, the creature began folding in on itself, its transformation taking only a second or two. Link didn’t understand why it didn’t simply fall into the water, but for some reason – magic, maybe? – it remained suspended half-way up the bars covering the tunnel, explaining Navi’s instruction to hurl himself at the bars.

“Jump, Link!”

“I’m beginning to feel like your pet, Navi,” he grumped under his breath. He went to the edge and calculated the distance between where he stood and the medallion. A moment later, he backed up a few feet, then ran forward and leaped –

As he broke the surface of the water, he raised his left hand to show Navi that he held the medallion.

“Quick, Link! Get up here and step on this!”

Or I could step on you, and go home. He clambered out and eyed the metallic protrusion over which the fairy was hovering. It looked pretty unmovable. Still – raising one leg, he brought his foot down hard on its top, and to his surprise, it sank into the ground.

Somewhere to his left he heard a loud click. The space grew brighter, and he could see a large torch stand which now burned at the top with a steady flame. In this new illumination, he could also see something on the other side of a smaller stretch of water between where he was and another, similar platform-like area.

What looked like an opening of some kind stood at the far end, covered by more of the white webbing. How interesting!

“I wonder…Navi, would that web burn away if touched by flame?” He nodded at the opening.

“Yes, Link. Do you know how to bring fire to the web?”

He frowned. There were no hand-torches lying about anywhere that he could see, yet that was what he’d need in order to – aha! “What about the Deku sticks I’ve collected from those plant things?”

“You’re very smart, Link.”

He smiled and removed one from the scabbard (to his surprise, he’d been able to fit the Sword in with them quite easily, after all), and took a step toward the torch stand.

“Hiss!”

He groaned. Those plants were getting on his nerves in a big way. “Die!” he shouted, grabbing the Sword and slashing furiously at the nasty flower.

It died; he left the Deku Nut where it was – he had no more room in his bag for it – and approached the torch stand. The flame billowed far over his head, but the stick was long enough to reach. He touched its tip to the fire.

“Hurry, Link! The stick burns quickly!”

“Oh.” He turned and ran toward the edge, noticing at the last second that there was some kind of sand-bar under the water that would enable him to cross to the other side without getting immersed, extinguishing the flaming stick.

He jumped in, sloshing as quickly as he could to the other bit of dry land, and ran to the opening. He reached it, igniting the web seconds before the stick burned down to nothing in his hand. A door was there, of the same configuration as the ones on the upper levels. Hmmm.

“You didn’t open the chest, Link!”

A chest that looked small and light enough to lift had been near the wall on his left, and he’d ignored it on purpose. These, he’d learned from his experiences on the ramps above, generally held only a single rupee, typically a green one. He had more than enough of those already. “Later, Navi. Any idea what might be on the other side of this?” He nodded toward the door.

She made a non-committal sound which bothered him more than some of her warnings.

“Right.” He went to the door. When he opened it, he stopped, every sense tingling, and raised his shield.

Ploomp! Thunk. Ploomp! Thunk! Squeak!

Hitting this Scrub had been easy – his experience with the previous one had definitely come in handy. He raced after the hopping mass of greenery, cornering it with no problem.

“Wait! Mercy, little master!”

“Why do you call me that?”

“You have weapons! I must obey all who have weapons or I could die!”

Link almost laughed. “Fair enough. Now tell me why I should have mercy.”

“Because I can…I can tell you something…oh, dear. I have brothers, you see, but there are three of them where you’re heading, and only one of you, and besides, they’re protecting HER! So is it a betrayal if I tell you how to defeat them?”

“You’re a very confusing creature. I can’t answer that. But since I’m not killing any of you, they’ll probably forgive you, or…whatever. I really don’t care.” He hated walking around in wet clothes and it was making him a little grouchy.

“Oh, thank you, little master! Now here’s what you do – defeat them the way you defeated me, but in this order: they’ll be in a line, so hit the second, then the third, then the first. Good luck! Bye!”

Before Link could ask if the order began on the right or left, the Deku Scrub burrowed into the ground, effectively ending the conversation.

“Great.”

Now that the confrontation was over, Link looked around the room for the first time. Another door stood in front of him, but was blocked by more of the metal bars. The last time he’d been stopped this way,