Chapter 21: Temple of the Dark Forest
The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Ocarina of Time.
By Ganondorf8
December 21, 2014
Chapter 21: Temple of the Dark Forest.
" What in the world is that?" I asked.
" That would be a normal Hylian, but maybe not so much normal anymore seeing as he looks like he's been through better days," replied Spike.
" Why does he look like he's either malnourished, or trying to find a means of getting a tan but failing due to looking so pale?" I asked.
" Do you recall what happens to non-Kokiri who enter the forest? They transform into Stalfos and enter a state of eternal twilight where they protect the Forest Temple from any who would dare enter its sacred halls. I'd say that this man is about half-way through the transformation, so the chances of curing him are pretty slim," replied Spike.
" We might as well wake him up and hand over Cojiro to him before we venture forth into the Lost Woods," I said. I walked over to him who turned out was sleeping instead of being dead, and when I nudged him to wake him up, he kept on sleeping which was rather vexing. " Looks like he doesn't want to wake up, so perhaps we should go with something not-so-normal." Taking out Cojiro from under my hat, I held him out in front of me where he noticed the sleeping man, and immediately began to crow out loud which woke him up in an instant, but why did he look like he was cowering in front of me.
" Cojiro? Why? Only a nice guy like me is able to tame you. You....you must be a nice girl if you were able to make him crow. It's been a long time since I last heard him crow, but seeing as you were able to succeed at something that I believed was only meant for me, I suppose that you get to keep him now."
" Actually, I came all this way to return him to you," I said.
" Really? The only way you would have known to do that, would be if my sister asked you to find me."
" I have spoken with your sister very recently, and she said that she has missed you ever since you left Kakariko Village. When you left, you took nothing with you, and even left this little guy as well which is all she had to remember you by. She also told me that you had a falling out of sorts with your father. Anyway, here is your friend Cojiro....err....I never quite caught your name," I said.
" Grog....the name is Grog, and I thank you for giving Cojiro back to me nice girl. I have missed Anju a great deal ever since I left seven years ago, but my father is someone I can never show my face to ever again. He believed me to be worthless, and for that I resented him as he didn't care about my other talents as he wanted me to be a carpenter like him."
" Maybe he felt that being a carpenter was in your blood," I suggested.
" It certainly wasn't as I had no interest in the profession, yet he continued to force it down my throat. He said that I had to be a carpenter and nothing more as it was a family tradition. He wanted me to someday marry Mutoh, the boss of the carpenters guild as he said that she was a feisty one who would make me happy, but that woman is more interested in her work than wanting a commitment," said Grog.
" So you decided to just leave it all behind rather than deal with it?" I asked.
" Don't judge me on my decision," replied Grog.
" I don't really blame you for doing what you did, yet your father certainly had other plans. Maybe he was thinking too much about the prospect of you wanting to carry on the business of a carpenter? I know what it can be like being forced to do something when instead you had your own path in life that you wanted to follow," I said.
" You share the same problems as I do?" asked Grog.
" Not in terms of family, but rather with the notion of being forced to one thing over something you want to do of your own accord," I replied.
" Heh, I suppose that maybe I was being a bit too stubborn when I chose to leave the village as I did have a strong connection with my sister, but I'm afraid that it's too late for me to go back and make amends to her. Before you say something about it never being too late, let me just stop you right there, and show you exactly what I mean, but I warn you that I'm not a pretty sight," said Grog. He then stood upright, and I was shocked at the way he looked because his appearance was like he had lost so much weight, he was just skin and bones.
" You're turning into a Stalfos," I said.
" So you know about the curse too I take it? You look like you're unaffected which probably means you haven't been exposed as long as I have. Even if I were to return to the village in my current condition, they could never accept me as I look too hideous for them to want to have around. Nice girl, if you plan on traversing these woods, I advise that you do so as quickly as you can because the curse can afflict you without warning, and if that doesn't get you then the sentries will," said Grog.
" What sentries?" I asked.
" Deep in the Lost Woods where the temple is located, strange dog-like creatures have been patrolling the area for the last couple of years. Now that I think about it, I did see one girl somehow manage to make her way past them some months ago, but how she managed to pull that off surprises even me as no one else has managed to do so. That girl may have been destined to enter the temple which allowed her the means of getting by, or she was just lucky," replied Grog.
" Was she accompanied by another girl?" I asked.
" She was now that you mention it, but she told her companion to go back into the Lost Woods. I never saw either of them since then so I'm assuming that they succumbed to the curse. I hope that the girl who went into the temple is okay as I would hate for her to succumb to the same curse. Before leaving her companion, the girl said something about a song, and that she was hoping that her dear friend would make her way there," replied Grog.
" And that's all you know?" I asked.
" Fraid so nice girl, and if you are planning on going to the temple, you better have a pretty good reason! Before I go, I'm going to leave this behind as my way of saying thank you for returning Cojiro to me," replied Grog.
" What about your sister?" I asked.
" Tell her that her brother was stubborn to the very end," replied Grog as he walked through the tunnel I used to enter this clearing, and soon he was out of sight whereupon I started to cry a little as I felt sorry that he was going to suffer such a terrible fate by becoming a monster. It was something which I didn't want to see anyone go through as it's not a pleasant experience because I have been there myself, yet was lucky enough to be given a second chance which is something most people are never given.
I walked over to the tree stump where Grog was sitting by, and he had left some kind of saw which made me wonder why he had it to begin with. As I picked it up to get a closer look at it, it wasn't a typical saw as it had spikes all around it, it featured a handle at the bottom giving the impression that it was some kind of brush, and it was pretty small for a saw.
" What is this thing?" I asked.
" It's a Poacher's Saw! It's a specialized saw which carpenters use in order to cut wood carefully so as to not break it accidentally, and for doing finishes to make the final product look good. I know it's weird that guy would just give you this, but I suppose we should take it with us as it could prove to be useful. Okay, I really don't see how it could be useful as you're not a carpenter, and I am too small to be able to lift let alone use that saw, but it's your call to make," replied Spike.
" I'll keep it as Grog did insist on giving it to me in return for Cojiro, but I feel really sorry for him. I wish that I could help him turn back to normal, but you said he was half-way through the transformation, so the likelihood of him becoming normal is slim to none. I never realized that this journey was going to be full of so much heartache. I mean, I've experienced quite a bit of it already and lost seven years of my life as a result, but it feels like it has gotten much worse due to the evil that pervades across the land," I said.
" Will you be okay?" asked Spike.
" I'll be fine as I know that I need to be strong if I am to save Hyrule from Ganondorf's reign of tyranny, but it's going to get much more difficult from here," I replied. I then took a deep breath before taking the Ocarina of Time from the pouch I kept it in, and looked at it longly for a few minutes where I began to think about what would have happened if Rainbow Dash hadn't shown us that video game back before all of this started. I could be having a less stressful experience right now where I'm hanging out with my friends, and living life to the fullest instead of being where I am now.
This was something that I never really wanted, but now that I have it, it's something that I must do because of destiny. " To think that right now, I could be back in my world having dinner with my friends followed by a trip to the movies, but here I am in a world plagued with so many problems that need my help to resolve them. I've always dreamt of making a big difference, but this isn't what I was expecting to happen. Guess you can't always expect things to go as planned as you never know what fate has in store for you." Placing the ocarina to my lips, I played Fluttershy's Song which meant that I had finally mustered up the courage to speak to her through telepathy.
" Sunset Shimmer? This is Saria. Can you hear me?" asked Fluttershy.
" It's been a long time since I last heard your voice," I replied.
" You've been gone for seven years, and I was afraid that I would never see you again after you left the forest. It's good to hear from you again, but right now I'm not really able to talk about pleasant things with you. As you might have figured out by now, I'm currently inside of the Forest Temple which is a sacred place no one is meant to enter. The forest spirits were calling out for me to come and help them, and I just couldn't leave them alone while their lives were in danger," said Fluttershy.
" I heard that you and Mido went there several months ago, and things have gotten really bad since you two left. Monsters have infested the Kokiri Forest and have forced the others to remain in their homes. I've destroyed several of the creatures, but it does no good as they're re-spawning after a few minutes according to what Spike has said to me. Whatever is going on in the Forest Temple is the source of the problem, and I intend to go in there and deal with it," I said.
" While I appreciate the thought of you coming to the temple, you must turn back as it's far too dangerous for you. I've already been overwhelmed by the monsters that plague it, and have been accosted as a result," said Fluttershy.
" Fluttershy, I have to enter the Forest Temple as it is my duty as the Hero of Time to eradicate the evil that plagues it and awaken the Sage who shall aid me in my quest to defeat Ganondorf. Believe me Fluttershy, I'm coming to help you, and together we will restore the forest back to the way it was. If you have any kind of information regarding the temple, then I need to know if I am to explore it successfully and do what needs to be done," I said.
" That name....Fluttershy....I have missed you calling me that for such a long time Sunset Shimmer....I've grown rather fond of it even though my name is still Saria, but I appreciate it more now than I have done in the past. As for advice I can give you, there isn't much that I can offer seeing as the monsters captured me within minutes of my arrival, but I do recall something about the first chamber of the temple. This opening room is the actual entrance to the temple proper where two dead trees reside.
I remember seeing a glimpse of a small treasure chest on top of one of those trees, and I think it must be important if it was placed up there. The only other thing I recall was that there were a number of locked doors all over the temple," said Fluttershy.
" Locked doors? It sounds to me that the source of the darkness in the temple wants to make sure that no one comes along and flushes it out," I said.
" If so then this is not going to be easy for you," said Fluttershy.
" Nothing ever is easy Fluttershy, and I've had to learn that the hard way. There is one more question which has been bothering me for a while now, and I figured that you would be able to answer it for me. Of all the Kokiri in the village, why in the world did you choose Mido to go with you? Think about it for a second! She was the one who blamed me for the death of the Great Deku Tree which wasn't even my fault to begin with, and yet she accompanied you into the Lost Woods. What made you want to ask her for help when she has been nothing but trouble for all of us?" I asked.
" I chose Mido as I believed that she would be able to fulfill my request. I know that you two have had problems for a long time, and I still hold her accountable for what she put you through, so I am hoping that you will be able to put aside your differences. I must leave you now as the darkness is slowly consuming me. Good luck on your journey....and I hope to see you soon," replied Fluttershy, and that was when my conversation with her ended. While I was glad that she was okay, I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of having to deal with Diamond Tiara again especially after what she put me through back in the past.
I knew that it was petty to think about someone in such a negative fashion, but she deserved to be talked about that way. I really wished that Fluttershy had asked anyone except for her, but I guess I should have expected this. I sighed as I put the ocarina back in my pouch, and headed back to the original clearing before heading across to the clearing where I received that Fairy Slingshot Bullet Bag upgrade. The darkness was already starting to feel stronger, but I couldn't turn back now as Fluttershy and the forest needed me. That was when I noticed a pair of Big Deku Babas were blocking the next tunnel which caught me by surprise.
" What are those two doing here?" I asked.
" Normally, the only monsters that hang out in the Lost Woods are Business Scrubs, but seeing these here must mean the evil coming from the temple must be getting worse with every passing moment. I wouldn't be surprised if we were to encounter more of them along the way," replied Spike.
" So how did Fluttershy and Diamond Tiara make it through so easily? Did they get through before the monster infestation got out of hand, or did Fluttershy somehow tap into her Equestrian Magic without even realizing it. Either way, we need to go through that tunnel, so these two won't be much of a problem," I said.
" Uh, don't you mean five?" asked Spike.
" Five? I don't see five of them," I replied. That was when I turned around and noticed that three more Big Deku Babas had grown in front of the tunnel we just came out of, and that meant the other clearings we've been through must be starting to get flooded with these evil plants. Using my fire magic which has often been reliable, and combining it with Din's Fire because my own stamina isn't as reliable, I set fire to the two Big Deku Babas in front of me picking up some more Deku Nuts from their charred remains, and running through the tunnel into the next clearing. I found the darkness getting even stronger which made me wonder if I needed to light my way if I continue to go further." Is it getting darker the closer we get to the Sacred Forest Meadow?"
" That does appear to be the case as the further we progress, the darker it becomes, and also because the sun is more than halfway through its cycle in the sky meaning that it will be night in a couple of hours or so. I'm still bothered about the fact that there are additional monsters here where they weren't there before," replied Spike.
" Like the three Big Deku Babas in front of us?" I asked.
" Oh come on! This is starting to get ridiculous!" shouted Spike.
" Welcome to my world as I've been experiencing this from the very start, but I might as well get rid of these before more show up behind us," I said. It took no effort to defeat these plants, and once they were out of the way, I walked into the next clearing which featured the shortcut that connects to Goron City, and there were no monsters to deal with this time, but it was continuing to get dark which was really getting to me.
That was when Spike decided to shine as bright as he could because as a fairy, he is able to illuminate the darkness and act like a moving flashlight or lantern in this case. Seeing the shortcut made me realize that we were most likely going to run into the one person in the entire forest which I didn't want to see, and it made me feel really depressed about it.
" Something is bothering you isn't it?" asked Spike.
" You know me well enough to know based on my expressions huh? But yes, something is bothering me and you should know what it is," I replied.
" It has to do with Mido doesn't it?" asked Spike.
" Why did Fluttershy have to ask her to come along when she could have chosen someone else. Mido has done nothing but torment me ever since I started this journey, and apparently my entire life according to what you, Fluttershy, and even Mido herself have said. I know that I should bury the hatchet and maybe find a way to get along with her, but I just can't forgive someone who has mistreated so many others, and not once felt remorseful for her actions," I replied.
" Mido was acting out that way as she has been jealous of you for years Sunset Shimmer. In her eyes, you were the most popular of the Kokiri for being kind, compassionate, and willing to lend a hand and ask for nothing in return. For Mido, she only helped whenever she wanted to, and always had others do her work because she was busy trying to befriend Saria. No matter what she tried to do, she was never able to gain the popularity that she coveted," said Spike.
" Even so, she didn't have to treat like an outsider for such a long time," I said.
" That's because you didn't have a fairy partner whereas everyone else did, and she took advantage of that by ridiculing you to no end. You've changed since then by becoming the better person by not allowing her demeanour towards you make you want to get revenge, but I suspect that you've been thinking about it ever since you learned that she was here in the Lost Woods," said Spike.
" I'm just fed up with being treated like a monster by people who assume me to be one," I said.
" Which is why you need to be the better person by showing that Mido will never amount to anything due to her remaining the same immature kid that she has been since the very beginning. Besides, I don't think Mido is going to be insulting you any time soon because she probably won't even recognize you. The Kokiri that you talked to back in the village didn't recognize you and referred to you as miss which is an adult identification," said Spike.
I hope he was right about that otherwise I won't know if I can be the better girl, and not rely on wanting to have my revenge for all of those tormented years. I entered the next clearing, and sure enough there was Diamond Tiara standing in front of the next tunnel. She had a serious look on her face, and as soon as I walked close to the tunnel, she moved over to block my path which was already testing my patience.
" What are you supposed to be? While you indeed wear Kokirish clothing, and you have a fairy following you, you can't fool me for a second. Saria told me to guard this place, and not allow anyone to enter unless they happen to know her song," said Diamond Tiara.
" So you have no idea who I am?" I asked.
" You do look familiar to me, but I have no clue as to who you are, or why you're even here in the first place....unless....you want to go to the temple deep in the woods don't you? Why else would you even bother to come out all this way in the first place? Miss, I'll admit that you are brave for coming all this way, but if you think that you can get past me then you are sadly mistaken. I must remain here no matter what until Saria has returned," replied Diamond Tiara.
" Do you realize that you two have been gone from the village for several months? Also, you've been standing guard here for that same length of time? I don't know what to say about something like that other than you must be crazy for wanting to stay here for so long without any means of protecting yourself," I said.
" I'm fully aware of my absence from the village, and to be honest with you miss, I wish that I was there right now making sure that my fellow Kokiri are safe. You see, Saria received a message from the spirits that the Forest Temple had become corrupted with evil, and wished for her to go there. When she told me of what she was intending to do, at first I laughed at her for thinking that she could communicate with them. Never had I heard such rubbish in my entire life," said Diamond Tiara.
" Why does that not surprise me," I said to myself.
" However, when I saw that look in her eyes, I knew that she was telling me the truth. While I wish that I didn't have to leave our people behind, Saria insisted on me coming with her as she believed that I was the best person to accompany her, but why would she think that considering all I've done over the years. Sometimes I wonder whatever became of Link as it's been seven years since she was last seen anywhere," said Diamond Tiara.
" Who is Link?" I asked pretending to not know the answer.
" She used to be a Kokiri who lived in the village with the rest of us, but she ended up leaving one day and never came back. I claimed that she did something horrible to the Great Deku Tree which resulted in his death and the forest being plagued with evil, and while I still stand by my conviction about her, I'll admit that I do miss having her around as she was different from the rest of us.
There was always something unusual about Link in that she was perhaps destined for a greater purpose than the rest of us. But, that is none of your business as you aren't one of the Kokiri despite the way you dress. I'm sorry but you must turn back at once because there is no way I'm letting you pass unless you can prove it to me," replied Diamond Tiara.
" That can be arranged," I said as I took out the Ocarina of Time and played Fluttershy's Song.
" Hey....that song....that's Saria's Song without a doubt. You....do you know Saria miss? She only ever played that song to her closest friends as a means of always being connected to them. Okay, I believe you can be trusted, so I'll allow you to go through to the Sacred Forest Meadow. Hmmmm....you know something? I don't know why, but you remind me....of her," said Diamond Tiara. She then stepped aside and tilted her head to indicate that I could continue on.
As I walked into the next few clearings, I felt strange about what had just transpired. I was prepared for a verbal insult from Diamond Tiara, but instead she was rather civil about it, and maybe even regretful of the way she had treated me for so long. It was something which would be on the back of my mind as I continued walking along until I entered the Sacred Forest Meadow.
" It's really dark around here which proves our theory," I said.
" Not only that, but all of that walking around and being slowed down by Mido has allowed the sun to go through the sky and starting to go down for the night. I know it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of it, but if it becomes nightfall before we reach the Forest Temple, the darkness will get even worse due to the natural night making things more difficult to see," said Spike.
" We should be able to get there before nightfall since we're in the right area now, and the only things that stand in our way are those Mad-Scrubs we encountered when we came through here before. I wonder if they were the sentries that Grog mentioned to us before he left? If so then I don't see how they could be considered sentries when they weren't really much of a threat," I said. That was when I heard the sounds of snorting which reverberated throughout the entire area, and this was followed by me seeing some kind of muscular dog-like creature walking by armed with a large spear, and completely ignoring the fact that I was over here.
" What is that?" I asked.
" That's a Moblin, a rare creature of Hyrule and judging from the sounds coming from that maze, there appear to be a good number of them on patrol. You need to hit them from behind in order to defeat them, but this isn't going to be easy as they have an incredible reaction time. If you don't sneak up from behind, they'll turn around and make you pay for the blunder.
Your magic should do the trick or you could use the Hookshot, but why not stick with magic, and perhaps use something other than fire magic this time. Remember that you did gain access to other elements of magic thanks to the Great Fairy of Power, but you've yet to use them so maybe now would be a good time to see what they can do," replied Spike.
" I guess they must be the sentries," I said.
" Sure looks that way which means Ganondorf isn't playing around when it comes to maintaining the evil within the temples. Anyway, you need to be careful from now on as we're entering some pretty tight corridors, so here is something that I haven't mentioned to you before. If you stare straight at a wall and then strafe left or right, you can check out what's down a particular corridor without actually having to traverse it until you know it's safe. Sure what I just said may sound silly, but such a technique is sure to save your life when you least expect it," said Spike.
I walked forward and noticed that the Moblin had turned around and was walking the other way, and that was my chance to get behind it and use another form of magic. At least, that was my idea as I moved in too quickly only to discover it had immediately turned around, roared, and proceeded to push me with its spear all the way down the other corridor before launching me into a small pool of water. It eventually stopped charging, and walked back the other way leaving me very wet and very humiliated.
" That didn't go very well," I sighed.
" I told you that they have an incredible reaction, but you decided to rush in without thinking about it," said Spike.
" Yeah, I should have realized that straight away, yet a part of me wanted to see if I could maybe perform a sneak attack without having to rely on a more strategic approach, and that blew up in my face in an instant. If I try to get out of this pool and back over to the entrance of the maze, that Moblin will turn around and attack me again," I said. Knowing that I needed some time to get out of the water and back down the corridor, I used some earth magic and created a rocky bump on the path in front of the Moblin.
It tripped on the bump and fell over which is when I followed up by conjuring up a large boulder and flattened it which caused it to be defeated. " So with earth magic, I have the ability to control the ground itself and the minerals of the soil....that would have been useful to have used back underneath the graveyard, or even in Dodongo's Cavern. I wonder what will happen if I use water and wind magic as those are the remaining two elements."
" There are more Moblins that will attack you, so you can try it out on them," said Spike.
" Even though I've been given the ability to use other elements, fire is still my element of choice as it relates to my cutie-mark and because I have a strong connection with the sun itself," I said. For a moment, I was afraid that Spike was going to ask me what a cutie-mark was, but he said nothing which meant he either didn't listen to that, he did and didn't care, or he knew and didn't want to sound confused. In any case, the next corridor was safe, but the one after that featured a Moblin which meant it was time to try out some wind magic. This was a lot harder to do as there wasn't any wind around to use, so I had to create a small tornado that caused me some distress, but I managed to create one which hurled the Moblin into a wall where it was defeated, and I dropped to my knees due to how exhausting that was. " Okay, wind magic is going to be used only on rare occasions as that strained me an awful lot."
" So far you can use fire and earth magic without any problems, yet wind is a problem unless it's already there to begin with. Now all that you have left to try out is water, and there are more Moblins lurking about as I can hear their grunts," said Spike. As I ran around the next corner, there was another Moblin who was walking towards me, but he wasn't charging as though he were too far away to see me, or his eyesight was really poor. Thinking quickly, I pulled water from nearby water sources, and came crashing down on the Moblin causing him to be washed down the corridor and into a corner allowing me to sneak by and move onto the next section.
Hmmmm....water magic seems to be dependant on whether they is any water nearby as I can't exactly conjure any up. That means if there is no water in the vicinity, then I can't use any water magic. What I've been given access to via the Great Fairy of Power was a mixed blessing for the most part it seems. The remaining Moblins luckily were on the other side of the maze, so I didn't have to deal with them, but upon exiting the other side and running into the final stretch, another Moblin stood in the way, and this one was much different from the others.
" Judging from the shoulder pads and the fact that he is carrying a club, this Moblin must be their leader and is acting as a last line of defence. He hasn't charged at me yet, so I'm not sure what to make of that, but we need to get past him in order to reach the temple," I said. As soon as I took a few steps, the Moblin slammed his club onto the ground which caused a whirling shockwave to come from it in the direction I was in, and when it hit me, I was knocked back so far that it felt like being hit with a tornado.
As I picked myself back up, the Moblin laughed at me while swinging his club around. " That was completely unexpected, and while the damage was minimal, the knockback was ridiculous. Spike, let me try something first before we do anything else." I decided to try to run at the Moblin this time, and when his club struck the ground, I moved to the side only to get hit again when he changed direction and the resulting shockwave came in my direction. " I get how this guy works now. I have to dodge and weave between his shockwaves in order to avoid being knocked back, but he also looks to be pretty bulky."
" Why not use your magic from a distance?" asked Spike.
" That is an option but I would need to concentrate in order to strike from such a long range, and there is no telling if he will attempt to make his way over here and strike me with that club while I'm stuck flinging a spell. I think a close-range blast should do the trick, but I need to be almost on top of him in order to make it work," I replied. For the third time, I ran through the corridor and dodged by weaving inbetween the shockwaves which the Moblin got frustrated over, and when I was right next to him, I let him have it with my strongest fire magic which knocked him down and he was defeated.
" How about that? He left behind some blue and red rupees which could prove to be useful for future purchases." Once I pocketed the rupees, I ran up the staircase and found myself staring at the Forest Temple itself. It was just like it was the last time, but the difference was that Fluttershy was no longer sitting on the tree stump which is where I saw her last.
" It feels weird that Saria isn't sitting there anymore," commented Spike.
" She sat there often?" I asked.
" Whenever she came here, she would sit right there on that stump, and play her ocarina while talking to the forest spirits. She did say that this place was going to be important to both you and her one day, and it looks like that day has come. Somewhere inside of the Forest Temple, she is waiting for us to go and find her before it's too late," replied Spike.0
Just as I was about to pull it out, the same whooshing sound I heard outside of Kakariko Village filled the air, and Sheik dropped down from above and landed with grace before standing up and walking towards me.
" The flow of time is always cruel....its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it....a thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days....you were staring off towards that tree stump, and no doubt that it reminded you of the friend who would sit there and play her music.
No doubt that you feel so much pain knowing that you have been gone for such a long time. You remember the days before Ganondorf came yes? Those were days of peace where evil never existed, yet destiny had other plans and enabled him to achieve his destiny," said Twilight.
" It just feels weird knowing that she isn't sitting there anyone as that was where I last saw her," I said.
" And because of communing with the spirits that dwell within the forest, she felt obligated to enter the Forest Temple in order to deal with the evil that continues to flow freely from it. Now, she is in need of your help as you are the only one who can go forth and destroy the evil which plagues the temple. It may sound like a daunting task to you Sunset Shimmer, but it is your destiny to awaken the Sages and save this world," said Twilight.
" What do you know about the Forest Temple?" I asked.
" Once, it was a sacred place where many denizens of the forest travelled to rest and recover, but over time it fell into ruin and was abandoned, yet it remains a testament to the greatness that it once was. Now, this ancient temple has become plagued with evil as a result of Ganondorf's lust for power, and much of its former glory has been lost to the ages.
However, it was said that the temple housed a powerful weapon which served as a guiding light for those who stayed there, and that the weapon protected them from the evils of the world. Perhaps this weapon is destined to be in your hands, but you must find it if you wish to claim it as your own," replied Twilight.
" If it's as powerful as you say it is Sheik, then it's definitely something I could do with seeing as most of my weapons aren't available to me anymore," I said.
" And what of the Master Sword?" asked Twilight.
" The truth about that is I've never once wielded a sword in my entire life, and despite the fact that the Master Sword has accepted me, I have no intention of using it unless I feel that there is no other choice. Granted, I did use the Master Sword to fight against Ganondorf years ago, but that was because I tapped into a special magic which seems to only activate in times of desperation," I replied.
" What kind of magic?" asked Twilight.
" Back where I come from, the magic that I used was the power of a unicorn as my true form is that of a pony, but I assume this human form now. The magic of Equestria still exists inside of me, and when I need to rely on it during an act of desperation, I end up transforming where I get pony ears and a pony tail, and it was this transformation which enabled me to use the Master Sword for that one strike.
It sounds like I can only use the Master Sword under specific conditions, and you would be right about that because my preference is using my own natural magic and the other weapons which I've picked up during the course of my journey," I replied.
" You certainly are a mysterious individual," said Twilight.
" I don't get told that as often as you might think seeing as most don't even know what I am really capable of doing. By the way, what are you doing here Sheik? I take it that you aren't here to just drop on by and say hello?" I asked.
" That is correct. What I hold now in my hands is the golden harp, a treasure of my people, the Sheikah, which we use to commune to the divine magical energies of the world, and channel it for our own purposes. I shall teach you special songs which will enable you to warp to various locations through the use of the Sage Altars like the one situated right behind you. In order to come back here again, play the Minuet of Forest," replied Twilight.
She then played a series of six notes which wasn't a series of three and then a repeat which meant that this was a serious song. It took me a few attempts to figure out how to remember this song, but I eventually learned the Minuet of Forest which can warp me back here whenever I needed to. " Sunset Shimmer, I shall see you again." She then took a few steps backward after putting her harp away, and threw a Deku Nut which flashed a bright a light, and when my vision was clear again, she had vanished without a trace.
" With that song, you can warp here whenever you need to," said Spike.
" True, but it feels as though this song may not be as useful as Sheik makes it out to be because once we're done here in the Forest Temple, would I really have any real reason to want to come back this way apart from wanting to feel a case of nostalgia?" I asked.
" At least she took the time to teach it to you," replied Spike.
" Which I appreciate of course, but the practical usefulness of this Minuet of Forest has to be put into question. I suppose that if things were getting too intense for me inside of the Forest Temple, I could always play it to warp back outside to regroup, but the only problem is that no matter what happens, I have to go through those Moblins in order to get out of here unless Sheik were to teach me additional warp songs," I said.
" There is also Farore's Wind which you haven't tried yet," said Spike.
" Oh yeah! I completely forgot that I even had that spell. We're getting off-topic now, so let's get started with this temple, and it seems we're just in time as the night has begun, and I don't mean the darkness coming from the temple causing it," I said. Taking out the Hookshot and aiming it at the tree branch, I fired it and was pulled up to the platform due to connecting to the branch successfully.
Once I put it away, I walked into the Forest Temple where I found myself standing in front of what looked like someone's front garden complete with steps leading up to what looked like a mansion with a small door in front of it. " I guess this is the actual entrance to the Forest Temple itself, and it looks both beautiful and eerie because of all the vines dangling down from pretty much everything."
" Remember what Saria said about there being a small treasure chest on top of that dead tree nearby?" asked Spike.
" You were able to hear our conversations?" I asked.
" I am a fairy after all which makes me a spirit of the forest which is what she can communicate with. Now then, you can use those vines over there to climb up to reach the top of the other dead tree and walk across to where the chest is located. You can also use the Hookshot and latch onto the vines to get you up a little quicker if you're struggling with climbing, but if you decide to take the shorter route, make sure you hang on when you are pulled to your target otherwise you'll end up falling down, and will get hurt as a result of fall damage," replied Spike.
" This should be simple enough as I've climbed up other vine patches across the kingdom," I said with confidence. Walking over to the east wall, I started to make my way up the vines, and eventually reached the top and moved along before coming down and planting my feet on top of the dead tree. The branches were my means of a walkway, but they were very narrow and one slip would mean falling down, getting hurt from the landing, and having to climb all the way back up again.
What I really need is a stunt double to do this for me, but I'm the Hero of Time so I have to do this kind of thing. Inching along slowly and making sure to keep my balance, I took a leap of faith and landed on the other tree where the chest was located. While I could have opened it up with my hands, I decided to kick it open because I thought it'd make for a cool statement. Inside of the chest was a silver key which I picked up and examined. " Why would there be a key in a chest? Aren't keys supposed to unlock them instead?"
" Remember that Saria said that certain doors throughout the temple were locked? What you have there Sunset Shimmer, is a small key which is used to open a locked door whenever we encounter one. The one thing you need to know is that you can only use keys in the dungeons where you find them in. You can't take them out of one dungeon and hope to use them in the next one we come across. So, how do you plan on getting down from here?" asked Spike.
" By doing this," I replied as I jumped off the dead tree and landed on the ground with a thud upon which caused my knees to buckle for a moment before I managed to stand up straight. " That wasn't my best course of action and it did result in me suffering some damage, but I made it down here in a matter of seconds, so now we can enter the door and truly get started on exploring this place."
" You could have simply jumped back across and used the vines to climb down at a good enough pace, and avoid injury altogether instead of trying to be some kind of daredevil, but I suppose you needed to display some confidence," said Spike. I took that as a compliment at the very least and opened the door which lead into a small room where there were several giant spiders with skulls for faces hanging down from the ceiling.
I turned my attention to Spike who acknowledged that I did so in order to seek out his advice on what these were. " Those are Skulltulas who come down from the ceiling when you get close. If you hit their skull-like faces with most conventional weaponry, it just bounces off and they swing about, and if you get too close they will perform a spin attack which can damage you. Their weak spot is its soft underbelly, but you could use something unconventional like the Hookshot and just pick them off."
" That easy?" I asked.
" If there was a threat meter which indicated how dangerous a monster can be, these guys would be either a zero or a one. You still need to be cautious of that spin attack, but apart from that there are relatively harmless," replied Spike.
" I'll take your word for it and rely on the Hookshot method. Besides, I need to see if it can be used as a weapon like Zecora said back under the graveyard," I said. As each of the Skulltulas came down to my level, I fired at each of them with the Hookshot by striking their skull faces, and they dropped to the ground defeated before burning away to nothing. With that threat out of the way, I walked into the next room which was a massive area where several doors were located which must branch off to other parts of the temple, and in the middle of the room was a strange elevator surrounded by four different coloured flamed torches.
" This must be the central chamber of the temple, but what is up with that elevator in the middle of the room? It looks so out of place with everything else, yet I can't help but be swayed by how impressive it looks compared to the rest of the decor."
" Maybe we can use it to reach a lower level?" asked Spike.
" I suppose we could do that, but I would like to see what lies beyond those other doors," I replied.
" Yeah, I guess we do have to explore every inch of the temple in order to find that weapon Sheik mentioned, and it looks like we may have something else to find as look over there by those four coloured flames," said Spike. I looked forward and saw the flames suddenly disappeared, and quickly reappeared on the torches of Poes, but these were different from the regular ghosts as I've seen. That was when the elevator lowered itself into the ground, and the Poes went off in four different directions taking the flames with them and laughing as they disappeared.
The lack of the flames caused the entire room to get darker making it more miserable than before, and it left me feeling confused as to what just happened. " Those four Poes just took the flames away, and I have a feeling that elevator must lead to some place important if they were willing to stop us from going down it."
" And we need to find them and restore the four flames back to their rightful places which means we do have to explore the entire temple just to find them. Those Poes certainly were different from the regular ones we've seen in the graveyard and in Hyrule Field," I said.
" The Poes we just witnessed taking the flames away are known as the Four Poe Sisters, and they have been haunting the temple for years. No one knows where they come from, but they have been causing trouble for anyone who would enter this sacred place. I have no idea where they have gone, but what I do know is that they are prevented from leaving the temple, so we just have to locate them and flush them out in order to get those flames back," said Spike.
" So the question now is, which way do we go first?" I asked.
" Why not just go straight across and through that door opposite of where we are? That should be a good place to start," replied Spike.
" I'm not going to argue with you on that, but why do you want us to go that way and not the other directions? I mean, all of the directions we can access would make for good places to explore in order to get through this temple, but why go to the most obvious direction?" I asked.
" One of the doors is locked while another looks like something could be stuck in front of it, so that leaves us with the one that's straight ahead. I know that we have a key which can unlock the door on the left, but we don't we try to collect as many keys as possible? The more we have at our disposal, the less likely we'll need to backtrack through the temple and wind up getting confused in the process," replied Spike.
Well, I couldn't argue with that logic, so I agreed with his decision and walked across the large chamber making sure to check all around me in case one of those Poe Sisters decides to attack. Once I made it to the other side, I opened the door and was surprised by what looked like a floating skull with wings and covered with some kind of blue fire.
" Now what do we have here?" I asked.
" That is a Blue Bubble, a sort of spirit like creature which moves about, and attempts to ram into anything it happens to catch a glimpse of. If you use your shield to repel them, or stun them with either a Deku Nut or the Hookshot, they will lose their fiery protection for a short period and bounce around until their fire is restored. That is when you attack in order to defeat them, but be careful as they do move fast once they've detected their prey," replied Spike.
" So a defensive tactic?" I asked.
" Pretty much as what makes them a threat is that blue fire of theirs," replied Spike. I took the Hylian Shield off of my back and slung it onto my shoulder, and walked forward in order to attract the attention of the Blue Bubble which worked. It began to charge at me and bounced harmlessly off my shield losing its fire in the process, and made it easy to be destroyed with my magic.
When I opened the door to enter the next room, it closed behind me with iron bars covering the door. " Uh-oh Sunset Shimmer! This is something you've not experienced before when iron bars come down and block our only means of an exit. The bars will not move no matter what you try and do as they are too strong for you to lift with your hands. You need to solve the puzzle in this room in order to be able to escape."
" I wonder what kind of puzzle it could be?" I asked.
" It could also be an enemy," replied Spike.
" Hey! What are those strange shapes lying flat on the ground?" I asked as I pointed to what looked like two prints stuck in the ground. Suddenly, they popped up and revealed themselves to be skeletal armoured and well armed soldiers with twisted shaped swords, large bronze shields, and were clearly much larger than I was. They then began to laugh in an eerie fashion which made me feel really frightened as they began to walk towards me. I guess this must be the result of what happens to non-Kokiri who end up lost in the forest....
To Be Continued.
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This is a bit better, separate the paragraphs a little more and it will look great. Also is there a personal reason why Sunset is so adamant about not using the sword and not just the fact she doesn't know how to use it? I mean, if it were just that, she would've probably just said that she needs to find someone to teach her, not say she will only use when needed like it is a cursed artifact or something. Also don't just make Spike an audience surrogate to ask Sunset in the next chapter. If you have to keep it short and simple, like, "Is there some other reason that you don't want to use the sword? The way you talk about it makes it seem like you dislike it."
5424517
There is an emotional reason as to why she won't use it in addition to not knowing how. Originally, it was due to losing control of her emotions when Tirek pushed her to the limits, and the same thing is going to be happening again in Chapter 23. Once she has snapped, she can use the Master Sword....well....sort of if you consider a shield as being a good use for a divine blade. After the Forest Temple, Sunset realizes why she transforms in Hyrule the way she does and how she can suddenly use something so powerful, and it will take her on a dangerous emotional journey.
As for Spike, his explaining things is pretty much what Navi did except he makes a better Navi than Navi. Of course, Spike does keep pretty quiet whenever Sunset speaks to a major character.
Pinkie Pie is coming up very soon, and she may be able to teach Sunset Shimmer some fighting skills....if the latter's emotional state doesn't create some problems.
5424825 By audience surrogate I mean parroting the comments section's questions and is it possible for us to do all further in conversations in PMs to not spoil the story for everyone else?
5424886
Private Messages are fine with me. While I do read the comments and take their suggestions into consideration and even implement on some occasions, much of what Spike says doesn't involve me looking back on the feedback. It's a combination of the actual game script and my own ideas mixing together to produce something interesting. My method may not be the best in the world, but I'm liking the way its going although I suppose it could stand for some improvement.