Child Of The Forest by Judy Colella (read an ebook week TXT) 📕

Wado narrowed his gaze and chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Huh. Maybe you are, Link. Maybe you’re…different for a good reason.”

“Different,” Link repeated, nodding. Disproportionate, strong in ways most other Kokiri weren’t. Yes, “different” was accurate. “Maybe. So what am I supposed to do now?”

Laughing, Wado pointed at a small opening at the base of the cliff. “How many times have I caught you trying to sneak in there, eh?”

“A lot,” Link admitted.

“But now I give you permission to enter.”

That surprised the boy. “Why now?”

“For one thing, you have a fairy who can guide you once you get to the other side. Without one, you probably wouldn’t make it back out. There’s something dangerous in there, young Link. There’s also a treasure.” He winked, but it was clear this was meant for Navi.

“Oh. All right.” He stared at the opening for a moment before approaching. He’d have to crawl through it, since it was barely half his height, and was suddenly very glad that tight spaces didn’t bother him.

“Hurry, Link!”

“Okay.” He went down on all fours, wondering how long the tunnel would turn out to be, and crept forward.

At first, he could see very little, and then he couldn’t see at all as the light from the entrance disappeared when he went around a corner. Even Navi’s light was too small to do more than cause confusing shadows. He knew the tunnel would have to eventually end, of course, so he kept going. After a few more turns, one of which was slightly painful (he’d found it by bumping head-first into the stony dirt wall), he began to see more clearly. A light dimly visible ahead grew steadily, until it resolved into an opening of identical size to the one through which he’d entered.

Out of the tunnel at last, he stood and looked around. This seemed to be a place of pathways dug deep into the rise yet open to the sky. Ahead was a high wall of earth and stone. To his right, the path continued a short way before ending in a semi-circular alcove that looked too symmetrical to have occurred naturally. The path also continued to his left but he couldn’t see how far it went.

What he could be sure about was the sound. Something that had to be incredibly huge was rumbling closer, then closer, only to stop, get even louder as it began to rumble once more, stop again, finally rumbling away in a kind of retreat. This pattern repeated several times while Link stood there, determined to figure out the cause before exposing himself to the reality. After a bit, he was able to picture something round, a boulder or an object like that, rolling along a pre-determined path. He couldn’t imagine what was giving it the momentum to begin rolling again once it had stopped, but the fact that it never came within his range of vision told him there was more than nature at work with this thing.

He waited until he heard it retreating, and stepped out onto the crossing path. The rumbling got louder again, and a few seconds later his suspicion was confirmed. A massive boulder that looked like it consisted of equal parts rock and rich, brown earth rolled into view from an adjacent pathway. It rolled toward him, only to stop at the next intersecting path, and then roll away in the other direction that would eventually loop back. This, he presumed, was the “something dangerous” to which Wado had alluded.

“Guess if I follow it, I should be safe, as long as I don’t slow down too much.”

Navi made no reply.

“Right.” He waited until the boulder appeared again and began its retreat, then ran lightly behind it. It turned left, then left again, but at this juncture, Link saw that if he turned right, he’d be in another alcove.

An alcove with a huge chest. Aha! At his shoulder, Navi made a jingling noise that he interpreted as approval. He ran forward into the space and knelt in front of the chest. It was made of wood and didn’t seem to have a lock. He tried lifting the lid, but it was terribly heavy. “Great.” He stood, tried again, and this time, the lid sprang upward, something inside giving forth a nearly blinding light. Eagerly, Link heaved himself onto the edge and leaned in, reaching for whatever might be there, eyes closing against the illumination. He felt sure that if anything dangerous happened to be in there, Navi would have warned him. His hands closed over something long on which he could feel the cold facets of gems at one end. He lifted it out and held it up.

He realized what a good thing it had been that he hadn’t run his hands along the other end of the thing. That might well have cost him his fingers…

“It’s the great Treasure of the Kokiri, Link! The Kokiri Sword!”

He nodded, somewhat awestruck. It seemed huge to him, impressive, glittering with several jewels on the hilt. He got the feeling he was committing some kind of crime by even holding it. “I really should put this back, Navi.”

“No, you should not! This was what the Great Deku Tree wanted you to have!”

He frowned. “Really? This? Why, Navi? I’m no-one.”

“You have a destiny, Link.”

He lowered the sword and tried to look at her, but her position so close to his left ear made this impossible. “A destiny.”

“Do you always repeat what others say?”

“No. Now what?”

“Now you go back out and learn how to use that thing! Hurry, Link!”

Thinking he’d get tired of hearing “hurry Link” pretty quickly, he nonetheless agreed, but then stopped. “Hold on. Where do I keep this? It won’t fit in my belt.”

“Silly boy! Look in the chest again!”

He did, and found a scabbard which Navi told him would hold the sword at his back. Good grief, he thought, why didn’t she say so in the first place? After a few minutes of struggle, he managed to put it on. “Like this, then?”

“Like that. Sheath the sword and let’s go!”

Carefully, he slid the blade into its holder (cutting himself in half by accident didn’t seem like a terrific way to fulfill whatever destiny he was supposed to have), and waited for the boulder to come by. Getting squashed flat wouldn’t be a very clever move, either.

This time, his crawl through the tunnel was a tad more difficult. The sword kept getting jammed when he turned corners, and his eyes were still somewhat dazzled by the inexplicable light in the chest. Finally, though, he made it out. Relieved, he stood and brushed dirt from his knees and hands.

Wado was waiting, arms crossed, and when he saw what Link carried, his face split into a big smile. “You got it! Not many Kokiri have ever even seen that sword, much less carried it, Link! Congratulations!”

“Um…thank you, Wado. So what do I do now?”

The next two hours were spent learning that there was a whole lot more to using a sword than simply swinging it around. Wado taught him how to target his enemy, what thrusts, parries and slashing attacks to use based on what he was fighting, how to use it to block objects, and many other techniques. When the lesson ended, he admonished the boy to practice on inanimate things, like the grass and shrubbery.

“I’m going to use the Kokiri Sword to mow the grass?” That somehow didn’t sound right to Link, shifting his shoulders against the ache of moving them in such an unusual way.

“Oh, for…you’re far too serious for one so young.” Wado shook his head and sighed. “Always were, too. Learn to relax, Link. Enjoy that sword, get to know it well. If mowing the grass, as you put it, helps you, it’s a worthwhile exercise, is it not?”

“I suppose.”

“Well, I don’t suppose, my boy – I know.” Wado patted him on the back. “All right – off you go. If you need further advice that goes beyond simple swordplay, go talk to the Know-It-Alls.” He was referring to the brothers whose vast understanding of life and everything in it had earned them a nickname that had eventually overshadowed their real ones. By now, no one could remember what they’d originally been called, and since they didn’t seem to mind, “The Know-It-All Brothers” stuck.

Link had spent many an afternoon plying them with questions, like why, if the Kokiri never aged, the village wasn’t overpopulated by now. Like why someone as obnoxious as Mido was allowed to guard the entrance to the Meadow. Like why he didn’t get a fairy when everyone else did – they claimed to be stumped about that one, but something about the way they exchanged glances told him this wasn’t necessarily true.

Unlike most others in the Village who reacted to Link’s questions with scorn, the Brothers were pleasant, and their answers always gave Link more to think about while satisfying his curiosity at the same time. What secretly pleased him, though, was that while the two invariably sounded somewhat haughty, bored, arrogant, or all three when answering questions posed by the other Kokiri children, they’d never sounded anything but kind when speaking with him.

“Link! You might want to talk to them,” Navi suggested as they were walking out of the practice grounds.

“About what?” He was eyeing a wooden sign that unnecessarily pointed the way to Wado. Was the Kokiri Sword strong and sharp enough to cut those boards? He took aim…

“Link! What are you doing? Come on!”

Yes, she was beginning to annoy him. “All right.” He sheathed the Sword again and headed for the large tree-cottage several yards past the last fence.

He found it interesting that the only advice the Brothers had to offer was that he get himself a Kokiri shield from Frega’s Shop. They didn’t seem at all surprised that he had the Sword, and for some reason, Link found that fact flat-out irritating.

“So now we go the Shop.”

“Yes, Navi. We go to the Shop and I can make old Frega happy by handing him back some of those rupees he’s been giving me for winning the Pathstone game.” He’d always known that the shop owner awarded the rupees so young Kokiri could use them later in life to buy things from him. “And I have a feeling he won’t be at all surprised that I have the Sword or need a shield.”

Navi jingled quietly, but said nothing, and he sensed this was her version of a giggle. His natural reaction to this would have been a scowl, only this time, he remembered Wado’s advice to lighten his mood. So he forced himself to relax, and despite sore arm and shoulder muscles, almost convinced himself to see that the situation was amusing.

As expected, Frega wasn’t surprised to see Link or his new companion. In fact, he already had a shield out and sitting on the counter when they entered the shop. He gave the boy a huge smile, put out a hand, and said, “Forty rupees, please.”

Forty. Link was sure he had at least that much, probably much more, but not with him. “Hold on.” He rushed out and back to his tree-cottage, took eight blue rupees