Different.
I always hated that word. Everyone always called me that. Though, they wouldn’t say it to my face, no, they would whisper it amongst their friends. After learning to listen at doors and eavesdrop on conversations, that’s all I would ever hear. Different. Every time I walked in, the people would always hush. Not that this was new to me. This happened back in Hyrule as well and everywhere else I’ve been to. I don’t know who I am or what I am, just that I’m different from everyone. In Hyrule, there were others just like me who got lost in the Lost Woods, but I was somehow different from them still and they stayed away from me. Everywhere else I ventured off to everything was always different from me, making me become even lonelier. But, I’m getting too far ahead of myself, let’s start at the beginning.
My name is Solus. I’m not just a skull kid; I’m my own individual even though everyone else thinks we’re all the same. My first memory was being in front of the Great Deku tree. Back then, I was as normal as all of the other Kokiri kids. The Deku tree was telling me that I was an orphan and that my parents were killed by Ganondorf. I was too little to actually know what that meant, so I continued living in peace in one of the houses by myself.
Everyone in the village was friendly, except Mido, he always wanted to bully us. I made a few friends like Link who was just like me in which he was an orphan. We all played in the grass with our fairies and lived a great life. I was still normal and people acknowledged me as an equal. It was a good place to live. I didn’t question anything about myself and I indulged in my time, not knowing how bad it could get.
Then, I was so bored one day that I wandered into the Lost Woods and got lost. The Deku tree and the kids always told me that I shouldn’t go, but I went. Who cares about their warnings? They’ve never been in there themselves. I wandered in there, going into the entrances and other areas before realizing I was going in circles. I tried to go back out, but I lost my way and soon I was just stuck in there. Hallucinations of water cropped up and I would make a mad dash, only to despair as it disappeared. I collapsed on the ground in a clearing on the third day, and saw my Kokiri friends and the Deku tree before me. They all laughed at me, telling how foolish I was while I kept croaking my need for water. Dark spots enveloped my eyes until I was in a blissfully unaware of my state. I thought I had died.
Then, the darkness faded and my eyes fluttered open. I looked up and saw a ton of skull kids. They giggled and surrounded me. I croaked, “Water,” again and this time they used a small bag to collect water from a pond. Two skull kids lifted my head and the skull kid with the small bag put it on my mouth and slowly poured it into my parched mouth. Each drop was like sweet nectar and I tried not to choke on it as I tried to swallow each precious drop. The other skull kids around me stripped me until I was naked. They brought some clothes I had no idea where they came from that matched theirs and roughly pulled it on me. Soon I must have resembled a skull kid as well. What were they doing? Then they were busy chatting about me in some language I couldn’t decipher. They left me lying on the ground and I was suddenly aware of my hunger.
I stayed there until they returned with a mask. It was a mask of a skull. I tried to raise my hands and block them from making me wear it, but they came on me and roughly forced it on my face. All of a sudden, I could feel the mask contorting my face and my body. Pain writhed through my body and I could literally feel my bones changing shape and my skin morphing. I convulsed on the ground for what felt like hours, while the other skull kids giggled maniacally around me. Finally, once the transformation had finished, nothing felt different, though I could tell everything had changed.
My first look on my new self was when I put a hand out against the ground to prop myself up. They gloved my hands, so I couldn’t exactly tell how my skin had changed, but I could tell that my hand had somehow shrunk. Glancing at my arm, I noticed that it was skinnier than normal. I quickly stood up and noticed that my body was much lighter than before. I ran over to the pond nearby as the skull kids cleared before me. I stooped over the water and saw my weird skull kid costume. I was draped in a red cloak and I could feel some other clothing underneath made of straw. Worst of all, was my mask felt looked like a skull of some demonic creature. I couldn’t even see my eyes behind this atrocious mask. I tore it off, only to see my hideous face.
I growled, dropping my mask beside the pond and lunged at the other skull kids waiting to see my reaction. Most of them managed to dodge out of the way, but an unfortunate one wasn’t as quick to pull away. I grabbed his cloak’s collar and lifted him up off the ground. All he did to react was to hang limply and continue giggling. The other skull kids snickered along with him. I glanced at the others.
I gazed back to the one in my hands. I shook him roughly, but he continued chortling along with the others. “You think this is funny?” I asked angrily, still shaking him, “You think changing me into this monster is funny?”
I tore back my left hand from grabbing him to trace the contours of my face. Even with one hand, this skull kid was really light in my grip. My face had somehow transformed into a wooden watermelon shape with a yellow beak. My eyes frightened me most of all. They were one solid color. Orange. Instead of having parts of my eye white, black, and brown; it was all orange. These eyes were also a perfect circle for some reason. My vision stayed the same, so the eyes must have been all right despite the aesthetic change. I didn’t even want to know how the rest of my body must have changed.
“Change me back!” I continued, screaming into the skull kid’s face. “I don’t care what you guys did to me; just make me go back to my normal self.” The skull kid kept giggling and his body shook with laughter instead.
I dropped him back down to the ground. He lay there still shaking from laughter. The freak. I ran on over to another skull kid and grabbed at his collar and lifted him up as well. “How about you? Do you know what the mask did to me? What’s with this strange costume anyways?” I looked at mine and noticed that it was the same as everyone else’s. I was struck by the sudden impression that they were preparing me to be a skull kid with them. The skull kid I was holding saw the realization on my face and started cackling.
I dropped him on the ground as well. Enraged by my discovery, I attacked the mass of skull kids gathered. They sidestepped me deftly and no matter how many times I tried to hit one of them, they would always avoid me, giggling as they did.
Eventually, I got so tired that I gave up and collapsed on the ground on my hands and knees, panting heavily. The skull kids gathered around me in a circle, dancing while they did. One of the skull kids stepped in front of me. “Didn’t mommy say not to go to the Lost Woods?” The skull kid taunted, wagging his finger.
Cursing, I swiped at him. He dodged as well, signaling to the other skull kids around me. Together they left the clearing, taking a few second glances over their shoulders at me. I stayed there on the ground, before collapsing again and letting the bliss of darkness take over me again.
I don’t know how long I was out this time, but it couldn’t be too long since it was around noon and the skull kids were here in the morning. I opened my eyes again and I noticed I was lying face down. The skull kids must have stayed away because they weren’t anywhere near the clearing. I was suddenly aware of my hunger that gnawed inside me. Wondering where I could find some food, I stood up.
I stretched a little and glanced around the clearing until I noticed the skull mask right next to the pond with a hat. It looked like something an eccentric wizard would wear, with colorful feathers sticking out of the brim. I walked right up to the hat and the mask and a sudden wave of bitterness ran through me. I took them and threw them into the pond. They sunk quickly and soon they disappeared under the grime of the water. Good. I wasn’t about to let them turn me into some monster like them.
I took the chance to look back in the water. Unfortunately, everything that had happened hadn’t just been another hallucination. The horrible watermelon head looked back from the water, looking delirious. Sighing, I turned away.
I set off into the forest, wondering where I should go. If I stayed in the forest, that would mean more time for the skull kids to convert me to their weird ways. On the other hand, if I went back to Kokiri Forest, the other people might try to force me out. Considering these options, I wandered the Lost Woods, hoping that I could somehow convince the kids that I was one of them, even after my transformation. Maybe my voice hadn’t changed too much and they might be able to recognize me.
I kept my pace, looking about me at my surroundings. Dark trees loomed over me, trying to make me become even more lost than I already was. Roots reached out of the ground to trip me and animals flicked within sight momentarily, before getting lost in the forest again. Occasionally, I could swear that a few skull kids were watching me, but when I turned my head in their general direction, nothing was there. The entire forest was extremely dark, as the sun was blocked by the uniformity of trees. But I just kept going forward, hoping that I would find my way out. Clearings passed by on my right and left, but I paid them no heed, just continuing on my path.
Eventually, after a few hours, I saw a light on the edge of the forest. This one didn’t seem like a clearing, it was far too big. Getting excited, I ran toward the light. My feet pounded the ground faster and faster. The light grew bigger and soon my wary jog turned into a full-on sprint. The light was so close now.
I burst into Kokiri Village and lingered by the trees. The familiar buildings surrounded my view. My friends ran through the village without a second thought about what may have lay outside of their little sanctuary. Just how I left it. Only, my friends don’t seem to be worried about what might have happened to me. That was strange, I was gone for a few days. Surely the Deku Tree and the people would have wondered where I might have wandered off to.
Ignoring my paranoia, I jogged on over to the closest person I could find. Saria. Panting a little, I rested my hands on my knees when I stopped in front of her. She stopped walking immediately and took a long look at me, before backing away to a safer distance.
“You’re a skull kid aren’t you?” Saria asked inquisitively, bending over to get a good look at my small skull kid state. “Shouldn’t you be playing in the Lost Woods?”
I tried looking up while still hunched over from exertion. My eyes met hers and she flinched back, standing up straight again. I tried standing up to stay level with her, but still remained too short. “I-I’m Solus. Remember me? I’m your friend. I haven’t been here for a few days because I got lost wandering the Lost Woods. You remember me, right?”
Saria perked up at my name. “Solus? You’re trying to tell me you’re Solus?” She laughed. “Yeah right, he left three days ago because he wanted to go live in Hyrule castle.” She rolled her eyes and continued walking.
“Wait!” I ran in front of her again, raising my arms to bar her path. “I wanted to go live in Hyrule Castle? I would never do that. Who told you?”
Saria raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. “A week ago, he told us that he decided to go to the castle because he wanted to pursue his career as a tailor or something. We all told him not to leave or else he would die, but he was dead on pursuing his dream. He left and didn’t die, surprisingly, and now he’s probably living it big in the castle. That’s fine by him. He can stay there. What’s that have to do with you?”
I looked at her, dumbfounded. What in the world was she saying? It didn’t make any sense. Why would I go to the castle? I didn’t say anything about such a crazy dream. “But-but, I would never go to the castle. M-maybe you’re just confused with someone else. Or-or...” I trailed off.
“I get it,” Saria deduced, wagging a finger at me. I looked up hopefully. “I bet Solus told you to say that you were him to confuse us into thinking he became a skull kid. Too bad, kid, I’m not falling for another one of his pranks.”
I gulped. I never thought for a second that my harmless pranks would come to bite me in the butt. “No, this is Solus. I didn’t leave to go to the castle. I just got lost in the woods and here I am like this because I got transformed by other skull kids.”
Saria chuckled. “Yeah, right, like I’m supposed to believe that. Tell him that this prank is too conspicuous; he must be getting out of touch. Also, tell him I said hi. Must be great living in the castle of all places. Oh well, I’m happy here.”
I held my head in my hands. How ironic that my own pranks would be my own undoing. I started scratching my bald, wooden scalp, worrying about what would happen now. Staring at the ground, I couldn’t help but feel pathetic about my situation. Saria must have felt sympathetic for me, because she said, “If you need any help, you can talk to our Great Deku Tree. I’m sure he can be of assistance.” I looked up to see her looking worriedly at me.
The Deku Tree? I hadn’t thought of that. It might be able to figure out a solution to this conundrum. Hopefully, it would know why I turned into this form and why Saria thinks I left to the castle. “Thanks,” I said, and ran off to the path to the Deku Tree. I could just feel Saria’s eyes burning a hole in my back.
“Umph!” I fell on the floor with something heavy pinning me down. Mido.
“What’s a skull kid doing here?” Mido sneered. “What’s your business here? Shouldn’t you stay in the Lost Woods?”
“Mido!” I was glad I could see him for once. Maybe he could tell me about Saria’s eccentric ways. “It’s me, Solus. Remember me?”
Mido relinquished his hold on me and jumped to my side. Swiftly, he jumped up and I followed suit, glad that I wasn’t hostile to him anymore. “Solus? He left a few days ago. Why would it concern you? You can’t possibly be him. You’re just some random skull kid nobody cares about.”
I opened my mouth, only to close it again. My head spun, making the world around me distorted. I was hoping that Saria was somehow delusional or mistaken. Now, Mido only confirmed what she said, which didn’t make any sense at all. “But,” I tried to explain, “I got lost in the Lost Woods and the skull kids turned me into one of them. I didn’t go anywhere else. I came back after that and here I am now.”
Mido scratched his chin, looking at me skeptically. “Nah, I bet he just told you to say that to mess with us. He was always annoying by tricking us into believing strange things.”
I smiled for a minute, thinking about how I made Mido believe he could become stronger if he drank undiluted sap from a tree. He was crying later on about stomach pains and diarrhea. Remembering myself, I shook myself out of my trance and stared at Mido. “Thanks, I guess,” I continued toward the Deku Tree.
“Hey, where are you going?” Mido asked.
“To the Deku Tree, if anything can figure this out, he can.”
I looked back. Mido looked as though he was about to protest or chase me down, but he bit his tongue and headed to harass someone else. Heaving a sigh, I trod onward.
Soon, I stepped through the narrow passageway to the Great Tree. I avoided all of the Deku Babas and kept going onward. The passageway opened up and the Deku Tree towered over me. The Tree appeared to be taking a nap, as he always did. Shaking my head of the distracting thoughts, I focused on my task.
“O Deku Tree, awaken!” I cried.
Leaves fell to the ground. Branches shook furiously while the tree shifted from side to side. A deep growl was emitted that sounded like a huge slab of granite being scraped along sand. The face of the tree became more visible as the mouth opened. Slowly, the eyes poked out and his mustache was pronounced.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Solus. Do you remember me?” I asked hopefully.
The Deku Tree remained still for a few moments, which told me it was probably inspecting me closely. “Yes, you’re Solus, right? It seems thou has been tangled in the Lost Woods.”
I was so glad the Deku Tree still knew me for who I was that tears formed in my eyes. “You still know who I am? Even after I changed? Oh thank Faron. Everyone else thinks I went to Hyrule Castle for some reason and that I was just another one of my pranks.”
The Deku Tree made deep hems. Leaves shook off of his branches. “Oh, I told you not to go into there, didn’t I?”
“That’s not important now is it? We need to know why everyone has this delusion that I left to the castle.”
“But this is important. For becoming a skull kid means that every Kokiri kid will think you left for a different reason. A powerful magic surrounds that mask that made you the way you are. It made sure that your friends’ memories altered to think you have sought out Hyrule Castle, without a second thought to them. It does not matter if thou heart is pure; thy folk shall never know the truth. I did warn you, didn’t I?”
A surge of blackness overtook me. I became so dizzy that standing up straight became an effort in itself. I sat down to prevent the possibility of me falling over. The Deku Tree’s face remained as impassive and pensive as ever. My mouth felt like cotton and I tried to speak, but ended speaking with a rasp. I coughed a little and began again, “So no one will know that I am me anymore? No one can recognize me? Everyone will think I went to the castle for the rest of my life?”
“Aye, ‘twas a horrible fate every skull kid had to suffer. Every one of them ignored my warnings and foolishly got helplessly lost in the Lost Woods. The only ones who could help them were already converted skull kids, who in turn for helping to lost travelers, had to make the lost into a skull kid along with them in return. That has been their system that has worked for many an age. Many people like you who have been changed have come to me to ask the same things you ask. It’s not in my power to grant thy wish. You must travel your own path.”
I opened my mouth, about to ask one of the millions of questions before shutting it. I did this a few times before I finally asked, “Can’t you turn me back?”
The Deku Tree shook a little, dropping even more leaves. “I can’t do that. As I told you, the mask’s power is irreversible. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I gain nothing out of it, the skull kids would be most angry, and it’s your fault. No point.”
I stood up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The Deku Tree sighed, sounding more like the wind blowing through fallen leaves in autumn. “Go live with the other skull kids. There is nothing else for you to do here. Go now.”
I rubbed my hands on my new pants. “Fine, I’ll do that,” I said, contempt dripping in my voice like bloody knives. “I don’t need you guys to dictate how I want my life to be. I’m fine on my own.” My voice grew to a shout. “In fact, I’ll be happy if I never see this horrible village for the rest of my life!” I ran out to the narrow passage.
The Deku Tree sighed again behind me. Running away, I could vaguely hear the remnants of its monologue to itself. “The youth never learns, always thinks that the elders can be used as a tool for their own satisfaction. Decisions made are later regretted and apologies for mistakes almost never heard. Brash impulsiveness flows in their veins. Arrogance and ignorance is valued as a solution for everything. Dreams sidetracked, carelessness present, and lack of understanding. The bliss of the youth must always be covered by those of the wise, for they will be crushed in the torrent of life. Are they the ones to become adults? What changes must they go through to enter the higher level? Such is life: a mystery.”
The Deku Tree ended on that philosophical note that only made me angrier in retrospective that he could think I am inferior to him. I’ll show him. I’ll show all of them that I can fly and that they’ve only been dragging me down. I ran back to the Lost Woods, ignoring everyone who was looking at me curiously.
I burst through the dense leaves impeding my way into the maze of a forest. I didn’t care where I was going, as long as I was going somewhere and it was away from that forsaken village. My heart was pounding so hard, I could feel the pulse in my head. Still, I didn’t feel tired at all. My feet kept pounding furiously against the ground. Nothing could stop me.
Finally, I sprinted into the same clearing I was in and immediately collapsed on the ground next to the pond. Everything was a blur as I tried to catch my breath. I lay there for several minutes, just trying to recuperate from such a traumatizing experience.
I managed to gain enough energy to push myself into sitting up. I glanced around. No skull kids to ruin my day even further. I noticed a notepad and a pen next to me. On the notepad, it read, “You’ve been asleep for two days. Become one of us.”
I growled. I was about to throw that into the pond as well, but thought against it. Writing down everything would help me pass away time. The notepad could help me stay sane. It was awfully grateful of them to give me this. I ripped of the page with the writing and threw it in the pond.
For the next half-hour, I wrote down all of my experiences in this notepad. There was nothing else to do, so I kept writing until around the part where I left the Deku Tree. I don’t know who will find this or what they’ll do with it, but I hope I can keep my memories here. I hope I can still be remembered even after knowing I’m pretty much a nobody.
After writing, I noticed I wasn’t hungry anymore. I just felt that I was innately satiated from the environment around me. It was a weird feeling, but I gladly accepted the fact that I wouldn’t have to scavenge for scraps of food.
I guess I’ll stop here. Here in the woods with all of these crazy skull kids around me. Who knows what’ll become of me now that I’m in the forest secluded from my past life. Who knows what’ll become of my future life with no Deku Tree and skull kids wanting to convert me.
All I know, is I have myself, and that’s all I need. This concludes the first chapter of my life.