Whither Must I Wander

by thelegendarytoothpaste


Chapter 2wo

Link always carried two ocarinas: One was the Ocarina of Time, the instrument passed down through the Hylian Royal Family and a key to opening the path to the Sacred Realm. The Ocarina of Time was impossible for evil to corrupt and Link never noticed a speck of dirt on it no matter where he ventured. It was a priceless artifact given to him by Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Among other things, the Ocarina of Time was the only instrument capable of using the magic in melodies.

The other was, no offense to the Princess, far more valuable to him. It was an ocarina made from forest wood by his best friend before she went away, Saria. Though it was not capable of using the magic hidden within many of Link's special songs, it was more than capable of beautiful music that could bring tears when used by a well trained ocarinist. Though it could be broken and did indeed show signs of wear, Link loved it and promised to treasure it until he died.

He heaved a sigh, and brought the ocarina to his lips. He began to play his favorite song, a song he designed to take resemblance from the magical tune heard throughout the Lost Woods by the Kokiri and Fairies: The soul of the forest. Link called his abridged version of it "Saria's Song."

He smiled while he played. The song had, oddly, gotten him through many a dead end. It got the most stubborn Goron Link had ever met to change his mind about something. Perhaps it did possess some magic after all.

Link still recalled the promise the stubborn old Goron by the name of Darunia made him. Because of Link's assistance to the Goron people of Death Mountain, Darunia took him as his "sworn brother," which meant little to the young boy. All he knew was, being a sworn brother of the Goron people meant getting surprise "Goron hugs" from everyone on the mountain. When a "Goron hug" means a several thousand pound rock eating person squeezing the life out of a small child, it was best to never get within arms reach of that proud race.

Link smiled. When Navi heard him complain about the Goron's affections, she simply said, "Good-natured racism is tough to find." He asked her what she meant but she danced around it. Typical grown up...

Link sighed through his ocarina but ignored the shrill noise. Thinking of Navi's advice and words of wisdom made him think of his fight with Ganondorf. Though Link himself was far bigger than a forest fairy, he swore the fight felt as though he and Navi were battling back to back.

He still could hear Ganondorf's shouts echo through his skull. Ganondorf's powerful spells were always unusual. When he launched a sphere of energy at you, it was white, as if it were pure magic. When the strike made contact with something, however, it would result in an explosion of what appeared to be shadows. His deadliest attacks, ones that left Link badly wounded and alive only due to luck looked like harmless lighting spells. Link was left with a deep fear of simple light spells.

He remembered the end of his first fight with Ganondorf; how he used both feet to pin the evil king's arms as he drove his sword through his heart. Link had squeezed his eyes shut while he did it, though the feeling of forcing the blade into someone's chest as well as the screams of pain from the man himself forced the image into his mind. Link awoke with a start from many a nightmare.

They were the times he would miss Navi the most. When he had nightmares and Navi was around, she would not hesitate to stay up with him and give him comfort or tall tales until he fell asleep. So long as he had her, his nightmares did not bother him. She did teach him a technique to counter nightmares, which was usually to just laugh in their faces. As such, some of her stories were very funny, and always got a laugh from the boy.

He admired people with a sense of humor, and especially admired those in Termina with a comedic bone in their bodies. So many of the citizens were fearful of the moon overhead, sure, but they would always find something to laugh at, even at the very end.

He looked down at the troublemaking mask that had caused such grief to Termina with scorn. His ocarina had left his lips and was returned to a pocket. How he wished to destroy the cursed mask. From what little he knew about the entity that possessed it, Majora was supposedly a fallen Goddess of great power who was cursed into the form of a mask by her brothers and sisters. At her pinnacle, her power was immeasurable. It was only due to her first defeat at the hands of her fellow Gods that Link's victory in Termina was possible at all. Had he been forced to go up against a fully powered Majora... well, rending the moon from its orbit would have been the least of his worries.

Even now, the Majora he did go up against nearly defeated him. It was Ganondorf all over. The only real difference was the experience- Ganondorf was an extremely talented wizard, swordsman, and was brutally powerful in hand to hand combat. Majora was an ancient entity with far more powerful magic, experience, higher speeds, endurance, and a quick wit- and Ganondorf was far from dumb! Additionally, Majora's aspirations were for the destruction of Termina, but she had little other reason to do so beyond enjoying watching innocent creatures perish. At least Ganondorf had an ulterior motive beyond killing for the sake of killing.

Link gave his head a shake as a breeze found its way to his face. The air was brisk and refreshing, and the sun was shining. Link, puzzled, looked behind him at the expansive forest. Had he actually found a way out of the mystical woods? Before him he saw tall grass and scattered trees. This went against everything anyone knew about the Lost Woods. They had a way of turning wanderers around eventually. No matter how far you wandered in any one direction, you would end up back where you started eventually unless you listened to the forest spirits as they directed you. Link could feel them guiding him, though to where he would never know until he got there.

Link rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things. No. The plains were still before him.
A smile graced his face. This could very well prove a breakthrough for the Kokiri records of the magical woods!
Then, the smile left. Just over the hill before him, he could see the woods on the horizon once more. Perhaps he just found a small opening in the trees then. He mentally kicked himself for being so excitable, and continued his trek towards the woods in the distance.

Something changed. With each step Link took towards the trees, he could feel the innate magic of the Lost Woods slipping. The normal magic of the woods was benevolent but judgmental- when someone that was not welcome entered the trees, he or she only had a limited time to get out before the trees placed judgement. The unwelcome who dared enter the woods would become monsters if they failed to escape. Link knew. His mother had sacrificed her own life in the woods to grant him passage. She willingly let the woods consume her after the patron Deity of the Kokiri, the Great Deku Tree, had granted Link asylum.

He snorted. The nearest to a father he ever had was a tree, and the closest thing to a mother he had was a fairy who left him. Link wasn't sure if that was pathetic or not.

These new trees did not have the familiarity that Link was used to. He felt the magic within them go from benevolent judgement to completely unpredictable. They were as likely to hinder a traveler as they were to help. Link could not feel the woods poking and prodding at his aura, nor could he feel them trying to determine if he was worthy. Now driven by curiosity, Link continued his trek, a hand on his blade.

Little did he know, he really had found a way out of the Lost Woods.