By the time all other hunting parties had gone away beyond earshot, Link found himself fighting the urge to cringe every time that Coro made an unnecessarily great amount of noise. It wasn't only his clumsy footsteps, but also the fact that he was prone to mumbling nervously to himself, often ironically repeating how much he was not suited to be out in the woods and wished they could go back to town already.
After ten minutes of walking onward through the forest at a steady pace, Link pausing for a moment the several times he gauged their surroundings and made note of landmarks, they were deep in the forest shaded from the midday sun by the bare tree limbs, looming dark gray in the sky above.
Link was about to turn around and tell Coro to be quiet now, otherwise they would not be able to hope for any game, when he heard faint moans from the trees around him. He stopped, listening. After a second of silence, the sound came again, sounding just like the moaning of a wooden building when settling or when abused by unusually strong winds.
“What’s wrong?” Coro was asking, also looking around, clinging onto his crossbow awkwardly. “Are there bears out there? Or Wolfos?”
Link shook his head, saying, “No bears this time of year, and if there were any Wolfos, you would've heard them, too.”
As they continued along, Link let Coro go in front of him, letting some distance grow between them before he asked in a whisper to Truett, who was in his hat, “There's something strange about these trees.”
“Like what?” She answered, her muffled voice barely audible.
“They remind me a lot of the ones in the Forbidden Woods.”
“Oh. Well, they do feel... different than normal woods, I think. These trees, do they look like the ones in Forbidden Woods to you?”
Link hesitated, looking around at the thin, dark, tall trees about him, then slowly nodded. “They're less impressive, I guess, but they are similar.”
“Geographically speaking, do you think that these woods could be connected to the Forbidden Woods?”
Digging up the old maps of the area that he had seen some time ago that were still in his memory, Link shrugged. “It's possible.”
“Maybe, they have the same origin or their related somehow, because for some reason, these trees have fallen asleep only very recently.”
“So, they aren't awake like the ones in the Forbidden Woods?”
“Oh nah, definitely not.”
“They fell asleep very recently....how recently?”
There was a period of silence in which he could barely hear Truett whispering to herself before she answered, “Well, I don't know! Just very recently, just about 500 years or so. How my supposed to know the exact dates? All I know is that there sleep is very light right now, because they're still sleep talking and stuff.”
“Well, I guess that explains the sounds.”
“What sounds?”
Link stopped at the sound of Coro's voice, realizing for the first time that the distance between him and the younger man had greatly lessened as the terrain grew slightly more uneven. Coro was staring at him, frowning uncertainly, looking away wants to glance around the forest nervously before looking back, waiting for an answer.
“Uh, nothing,” Link answered, walking past Coro.
“Do you hear Wolfos or something?” Coro asked, fear creeping back into his voice. “I know you said that I would hear them too, but I've never traveled anywhere where they are...”
“Look...” Link looked back at him, trying for an encouraging smile. “I really don't think we're going to run into any bears or monsters or anything. How about we just concentrate on finding a good kill?” Coro nodded quickly, prompting him to add, “And to get that done, we need you to stop...stomping around.”
Coro stared. “I've been...stomping?”
“That and talking to yourself. We need to be as quiet as possible.”
“What? You were just talking to yourself!”
“That was a mistake. And from here on out, let's be completely quiet unless it's absolutely necessary to speak.”
“That’ll be easy for you, Mr. Talkative,” Truett whispered in a drawling tone. He ignored her.
Coro briefly pursed his lips unhappily, but he didn't object, and instead nodded quietly. Link nodded back at him and turned, leading him further into the woods, this time ignoring any sounds from the trees as best he could, instead focusing his attentions on any sign of wildlife.
Although the solstice was the following day, winter was still rather new in these woods, which were both in the southernmost region of Hyrule and on low elevation. Not everything had yet settled down for the cold months, despite the constant biting breeze and the snow, and although the woods were indeed largely silent, there were still signs of wildlife and the distant sounds of their presence. Link slowed a little as they passed over a fallen tree, looking to the forest floor, spotting the footprints of winter hares very faintly in the shallow snow. They kept going, and a few times the sound of snow and bare bushes being unsettled by something small came from very close by, so close that even Coro would notice and look around for the source of the noise, yet they never saw any of the actual creatures.
The sun was brighter, now at the midway point between the morning horizon and where it rested slightly off center in the sky above at noon this time of year. Coro, true to his word, had been silent and was clearly taking more care as he walked, though he was still wont to make excess noise, typical for someone unused to hunting.
Only now, as they drew close to a very small, snowy meadow did he speak up in a low voice, asking, “It doesn't seem like there any animals in these woods in the end, are there?”
“No, there are. And there are some places I've seen where I could set up traps, but it's only for small game. We could still find a deer or something.”
“Right, okay,” Coro said. He let out a small, tired sigh and made to catch up with Link, only to stumble on uneven ground, with a cry nearly falling face first onto the ground, only just catching his balance by waving his thin arms wildly.
After he regained his balance, Link suggested a break, to which Coro immediately agreed, nodding enthusiastically, his enormous curls bobbing back and forth. Quickly he Dusted off the nearby, low stone and sat down, putting his crossbow on his lap.
After a moment, he spoke up, asking, “you really seem to know you are doing, huh?”
Link tilted his head slightly, shrugging. “I have some experience.”
“Not from a merchant family, I’m guessing? I sure am. It's not that I don't travel or don't do anything, I'm just not really used it this kind of thing,” he explained, talking quickly without pause, as if to make up for the lost time, continuing, “But I guess this hunt is just part of the tradition, for some reason. But it was never such a big deal until this year, it's got to be the election that's doing it.”
He leaned forward, his round face thoughtful. “I bet it's thanks to that Brian Koru. He's a really smart guy, but a real traditionalist. You think is going to when?” Link barely had time to shrug before Coro went on, “He definitely will, I think. I only just came back to town the other day, but even I know that he has been working like mad for this election. I guess he's just really devoted or something? Well, it sure makes people like him. I mean, like I said, he is smart. Maybe that's what we need, or what the people need here need. I don't know. But I definitely think is going to win. It's like he knows this town inside out, and plus there's the fact that there's all the benefits that go with getting the Mayor's job. But he doesn't seem the type to him for the benefits alone, I think. But they are nice.”
He frowned and leaned back, continuing, “My sister was going on about the Mayor's house and the money and the servants, but it's not like there aren't that many servants, but having just a few more than just a cleaning lady sure is nice. But there's also things like getting into town secrets and something about a old magical medallion the Mayor has to look out for and take care of that has been around for hundreds of years.”
Coro kept talking on about Brian Koru and the Mayorship until Link realized that, if not undeterred, he would never stop, and said he waited for the young man to take a quick breath and interrupted, “We should get going again, I think.”
Coro had opened his mouth to speak on, and stared at him for a moment dumbly before snapping his mouth shut and nodding, standing up, saying, “Yeah, okay. Let's get this over with.”
They crossed the clearing and continued on at a steady pace for another few minutes. The walk was can quiet, and as they continued on into a more hilly, thickly thicketed area of the wood, even the trees themselves began to stop their moaning. The occasional noises of squirrels and hares ceased, and the wind died. Wondering if it was a sign of poor weather on the way, Link slowed, looking up at the sky to see that it remained unchanged, save that the sun was a bit higher.
The silence was broken not by Link or Coro or Truett, but by the close, dry, sharp sound of a deer barking. Coro let out a small, startled cry and froze, looking around wildly. Link stopped beside him, saying," Don't worry, it's just a deer."
Coro stared at him, still clinging with white knuckles to his crossbow." That was a deer? Deer don't sound like that!"
“Well, then, what do they sound like?"
Coro frowned, glaring at the ground, biting his lower lip in concentration as he thought.
After a few moments of this, Link said," That's what dear sound like when they bark. And it's not a monster, because nothing else sounds like that, I think. And it sounded close. Let's go check it down if we can so we can get back to town."
Not waiting for an answer, he turned, and began to walk as silent as possible towards the direction where the deer’s bark had come from, Coro following. The path led them up the snowy incline in the uneven forest floor, the dark trees so close together their branches all interlaced above them, all lined with snow. Glancing down as they turned to walk up the steeper area of the incline, climbing at an angle, Link spotted several deer tracks in the snow. He untied his sling from his belt, holding it tightly about his hand as they neared the top of the incline. Coro slipped a few times in the steepest areas, but continued to follow, quiet as he could manage.
Almost at the top the incline, Link looked back and gestured for Coro to stay down. After he nodded in understanding, Link turned back towards the top, crouched down to the frosty ground, and quietly crawled up. Peeking as head over the top the incline, he looked below.
On the other side, the frozen ground cut down sharply, leading to a wide flat area where the trees were much thinner and further apart. They were still silent, and so still was the wind, as if holding their breaths with Link as he spotted, in the sunny area below, a small group of deer. They walked slowly on tall, thin legs, their heads up, their eyes bright with life, health, and youth. There were both stags and does, walking along with a sense of order, circled around the largest of their group.
It was a stag, and yet he was vastly different than the rest of the stags in the group. It stood as tall as a workhorse, with a far heavier, fluffier winter coat and a thicker neck. What stole Link’s breath and even loosened his grip on his sling were the stag’s antlers. They were enormous, broad like a moose’s antlers, yet with a total of sixteen sharp points, a couple of which on each side were longer than his hand and pointed up at an inward arc. Its antlers were laced with snow, frost, and scars.
Yet, although the magnificent stag’s muscles were still full and it's eyes unclouded and sharp, it's red-brown fur was almost completely dull, fading into gray with age, and as it walked, setting the even, slow walking pace for the rest of the deer, it did not have the same spring in its step as the others.
Link reached up and tapped at his hat, poking Truett, who snapped a very low voice," What?! What you want now?"
“Take a look at this," he whispered back.
He could feel Truett’s wings fluttering inside his hat as she moved over to the side of this head that was away from Coro and looked out. After a moment, she whispered in an odd, unsteady voice that Link had not heard her use before," Good gods, he's ancient!"
"Is something wrong?”
Link looked down to see Coro, craning his head up, his expression concerned, whispering," Is there a monster out there? You were whispering to yourself again…"
He looked back to see that the deer were still walking along at the same slow pace, although they had begun to look around more, ears twitching for noise. A moment later, the old, large stag began to walk faster, although only those in front of and beside him hurried keep up with them.
At this point Coro had peeked his head over the ridge, and was gawking at the deer below, thankfully silent. As the old stag and his followers disappeared from the clearing, Link took out a stone and put it into the sling, shifting his weight slightly, getting ready to rise up. Looking at the remaining deer, he selected a young buck that was lingering at the end of the group. After waiting for it to turn its attention to a tall bush, Link sprung up swiftly, slinging the stone once before he let it go, the stone flying away from him as fast as a quarrel from a crossbow.
There was a sharp, sickening crack as the stone hit the buck solidly on its head, sending the other deer fleeing. The young buck fell, and ignoring Coro's surprised stammering, Link immediately hurried over the top of the ravine, sliding down the sharp, snow-covered incline into the clearing, rushing towards the fallen buck, his hand on his hilt, prepared to deliver the killing blow. When he got there however, he found that the creature was already dead, killed instantly by the stone.
Coro stumbled down the ravine behind him, rushing to clumsily, asking," How did you do that so fast? And…" He looked down at the kill, suddenly looking a little pale again, any other words dying on his lips.
"Let's hurry and take this back," Link said, tying his sling back around his waist, retrieving the stone that he had used to kill the buck and putting it back into his pouch. He reached down and tried lifting up the buck's head and chest, finding the animal a manageable weight. “It’s not heavy. We can take turns carrying it." He then grabbed the carcass, hefted it onto his shoulders, shifted its weight, and then headed back the way they came, Coro following.
As they left the heart of the forest and walked through the less uneven, more open outskirts, Coro, who had been silent the whole time save for a short, weak attempt at carrying the carcass, spoke up, asking, "Why didn't you kill that huge stag?"
Link frowned, unsure how to answer. True, such a large, impressive, and usual kill would have been viewed favorably by the townspeople, and might have been something to perhaps boast about, even years later. But something about how different and old and large the stag was made it seem untouchable. Even when Link thought about it now, he could not even imagine himself making the kill.
Realizing that Coro was still waiting for an answer, he said, "I'm not sure. I guess it would have seemed like a waste."
Immediately, Coro nodded. “True, it was so old and... yeah, it would have been a waste."
"Oh," Link slipped out, his eye brows raised." I thought you were disappointed."
“Oh, no." Coro shook his head fervently, his huge mass of curly hair waving wildly. “No, I didn't even want to go hunting in the first place. I just thought that someone who hunts would naturally go after something like that."
Link slowed for a moment, again shifting the carcass on his shoulders, saying, “maybe, if they hunt for trophies. But I never have. And besides,” he added as an afterthought, “something that old wouldn't have exactly been very tasty.”
Turning his attention back to the forest around them, he noticed the slight moaning from the trees had returned. Looking around, he spotted the next landmark he had selected as a guide on their way into the forest, a somewhat twisted tree with a large scar on its side.
Even if this forest is related to the Forbidden Woods, they are a lot easier to navigate, he thought. I never would've gotten out of there if it wasn't for Truett and that Fado leading us...
Recalling the small, smiling, green clad boy who he had talked outside of the Forbidden Woods, he frowned, trying to recall the conversation as he looked for their next landmark. Spotting the next landmark, a bush that looked like it had cleaved in two, he began to remember the request that Fado had made, asking for him to watch out for other forest children possibly lost in Hyrule.
As the trees began to clear and the white fields that led to Laryu and Lake Hylia came into view, he slowed to walk alongside Coro, asking, "Have you ever heard of the children who live in the forbidden woods?"
"Children in the woods?" Coro pursed his lips in thought for a moment, but his expression quickly cleared as he answered, "I think they are part of the legend of the hero. Why do you ask?"
“I just heard that some might be outside of the woods, somewhere in Hyrule."
"I've never heard anything like that, but then again, I live in the western mountains, and they’re pretty far from the Forbidden Woods. They could be around here, maybe, but I have no idea...if anyone knows, it's probably going to be that Brian Koru. Like I said, he's been working so hard to get elected; he knows basically everything that happens around here."
Link nodded slowly, turning his attention back ahead as they walked out from under the shade of the trees. They joined several other hunters leaving the woods with their own kills, all heading towards Laryu, where it lay nestled next to Lake Hylia, its waters that had not frozen over as dark as starless night under the midday sun.
The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo
"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan
