Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Climate of Evil

On some level, he knew he was dreaming, but he'd never had a dream like this one before. From the rain
that plastered his shirt to his body, to the dark storm clouds that swelled overhead, to the mud that sucked
on his boots and the torchlight spanning the drawbridge in front of him, everything about it felt real.

Especially his fear.

It wasn't a fear of drowning-or even of death itself. His friends in the forest were safe, too, but there was
someone else whose friendship he had come to cherish, and she was in danger.

Startled by the rattle of chains, he turned to watch the drawbridge fall. A white horse appeared through
the fog inside the city, throwing up bits of pavement, splinters, and mud as it passed over the drawbridge
and out into the field, giving the boy from the forest a fleeting glimpse of a rider and passenger.

The passenger…it was her! With gentle hands drawn white with fear, the girl held onto her escort as the
older woman drove the horse at reckless speeds. She had time only for one glance at the little boy
watching her. Then she was gone.

The boy glanced after the vanished white horse, then turned back, frightened by the snort of another horse
he had not heard approach. Black fur and crimson eyes lent this horse a demonic appearance, yet even to
the simple mind, its rider would have seemed far worse.

"You!" The rider spoke, turning his eyes on the boy. "The white horse. Which way did it go?"

The boy remained silent, suddenly afraid of death, too, for he saw it in this man's eyes and in the way the
man's red cape seemed to call, silently, for innocent blood.

His blood.

* * * * *

Dawn.

Fog lay over the forest. Silence hung in the air, but it would not last. Today, Kokiri Forest would wake to find that
its guardian, the Great Deku Tree, was dying.

"Navi. Navi, where art thou? Come hither…"

A small blue fairy appeared in front of the Tree, just within the shade.

"Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descends upon this realm. Malevolent forces even now are
mustering to attack our land of Hyrule."

A groan escaped the Tree's branches. "For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a
barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world. But before this tremendous evil power,
even my power is as nothing."

"It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey, the youth whose destiny it is to
lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth."

"Navi…" His voice faded, struggling to regain its force.

"Go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me. I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The
fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!"

* * * * *

Mido rarely dreamed, but when he did, it was always pleasant, and it was always of himself. He had spent hours
replaying the fight with the monster, dreaming of another world in which he, Mido, had saved the forest as Link lay
on the ground, unconscious from his wounds.

His desperate need to best Link had won out, of course, allowing him to believe that he had actually dispatched the
monster.

Now, as he sat on the edge of his bed, Mido recorded his epic deeds by reciting them and drawing them on the
wall with a flaming branch.

"So there I was," he said, "knowing that the fate of the forest depended on me."

Three images, all of Link's brutal torture and his own triumph, were already etched above his bed.

"The monster had tried to throw me off. It had tried to burn me." He paused. "It almost did."

The fourth image formed quickly as his thumb pressed the branch into the wood.

"But I didn't give up, even though Link had almost died."

Satisfied with his work, he snuffed the fire with his thumb and forefinger, then leaned back to survey the gruesome
panorama.

"I was never afraid. I knew all along I could win, and I did." Another pause. "I jumped off and ran to Link's body,
grabbed his slingshot, and aimed it at the eye." Dropping the branch, he turned to face the door and spread his
arms, encompassing an audience of three chairs, a bed, and an old wooden chest with its lid open.

"The shot was perfect," Mido said, pointing a finger at one of the chairs as a smile played out on his lips. "The eye
exploded, and the monster died in the fire."

He took a bow and waited to let his audience absorb the words.

"Hey! Listen!"

Mido jumped, looking up to find a pair of fairies, his own and a small blue puffball, hovering above the bed.

The puffball spoke first. "I need directions!"

Mido frowned at Pol, his fairy. "I thought I told you to keep everyone out."

"She came in so fast," said Pol. "I didn't see her!"

Mido shrugged, turning to the puffball. "I'm busy. What do you want?"

The puffball flew closer. "My name is Navi. I'm looking for the boy without a fairy!"

"Link?" Mido lunged out and kicked a chair that severed the lid from the old wooden chest. "What do you need
him for?"

Navi moved closer. "Please! It's important!"

"No!"

Navi's body turned a bright shade of red. "The Great Deku Tree is dying!"

The heat in Mido's eyes evaporated. "What did you say?"

* * * * *

Link awoke with a start, sure that something was terribly wrong. Vivid memories of a black horse and a rider with
dark eyes and a red cape clenched his mind as he tried to sit up.

The party. The monster. Saria!

The reality of last night's events hit him all at once. He moaned and swung a leg over the edge of his bed. "What's
going on?"

He held his breath to listen and heard voices nearby, below, in the clearing. One seemed familiar, but he had never
heard the other. Were they looking for him?

Suddenly afraid, he leapt back into bed and closed his eyes, willing the voices away. Reality could wait.

"Hey!"

Feet clacked up the ladder to his house. The shout had come from just outside the doorway.

"Wake up!" The high-pitched voice disrupted his thoughts, but he ignored it as if he were still asleep.

"Hey, Link!" The feet stopped at the edge of his bed. Both voices blended in his head.

Mido?

"Wake up!" The new voice came from one source, but it moved back and forth, up and down, its owner obviously
agitated. "Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Link curled up in a ball. "Leave me alone."

A fist grabbed his tunic from the back and yanked him off the bed. Furious, Link stood up and cocked an arm to
punch whoever had dared disturb his rest.

"Just try it." Mido glared back at him, chest thrust out, hands on his hips, unafraid.

Link let his arm fall back to his side. "What are you doing here?" Just then, he noticed there were two fairies
hovering at Mido's shoulder. "Who…?"

Navi spun a circle around Mido's head before stopping in front of Link. "I'm Navi the fairy. The Great Deku Tree
asked me to be your partner from now on!"

A soft gasp hissed through Link's teeth. "What did you say?"

"You have a fairy now…me!"

After years of yearning for just such a moment, only one word came to Link's mind. "Why?"

"I should probably take you to see him first."

"The Great Deku Tree?"

"Yes."

Mido had already turned to go through the door, but Link could make no move to follow. He couldn't get the
dream out of his head. Something was wrong. He knew it.

"Hurry!" said Navi.

"Wait." Link rubbed his temples. "This has something to do with that monster last night, doesn't it?"

Navi landed her tiny frame on his shoulder. "What monster?"

"I guess you wouldn't know."

"Come on, then. Let's go!"

Link nodded, dizzy with the feeling that the forest had changed since last night, that things would never be the same.
On a hunch, he picked up the Deku Shield Saria had given him, hooked his arm through its leather straps, and
followed Navi out into the clearing.

The forest stood silent, still as death in the morning light.

* * * * *

An hour before dawn, Saria had left her house for a hike in the woods, hoping for a chance to sort through her
thoughts. Her sleep had been dark and miserable, dreamless but rife with foreboding. She had taken her ocarina
with her, but not even its quaint notes could comfort her as they always had.

She wept by the stump where she had tended to Link's injuries, but none of the forest creatures joined her. Every
branch, leaf, and breath of wind had fallen silent. Only when the sun rose over the treetops did she look up at last,
grief clawing her face in the form of a dozen teardrops.

If this evil can kill even the Great Deku Tree, how can we possibly fight it? She watched as a single ant
skittered across the stump. And who will protect us?

Feeling like the ant, and angry at herself for her helplessness, she raised her thumb to squash it, but immediately
regretted the thought. No. She lowered her thumb and turned away, finally resolved to act. Even if he dies,
there is always hope.

She pushed herself up and eyed the trail that led back to her home. With a deep breath, she took a step forward,
and the more steps she took, the less she noticed her fear. Before she knew it, she had entered the woods.

"I must share what hope I have," she whispered, "even if I don't have enough for myself."

* * * * *

Nearly ten minutes after he had summoned her, Navi returned to the Great Deku Tree ahead of Link, Mido, and
Pol, Mido's fairy. By then, the sun had risen, but its light scarcely penetrated the gloom that clung to their hearts.
Even with half his leaves gone and a sickly mold eating at his bark, the Tree still represented everything they had
ever cared for.

"Oh, Navi, thou hast returned."

"Great Deku Tree." Navi dove from Link's shoulder and flew up to touch one of the Tree's branches. "I found him.
The boy without a fairy. His name is Link."

"Yes. Link."

Link freed his arm from the Deku Shield and left it on the hill at the edge of the clearing as he approached. Mido
kept his distance, trying to hide the pallor spreading across his face at the sight of the Tree's helpless state.

"I'm here, Great Deku Tree." Link bent to one knee, covering his face with his right hand, sensing it would do little
good to weep.

"Welcome, Link. Listen well to what, I, the Great Deku Tree, am about to tell thee." A shudder split three
branches near the Tree's highest point. "Thy slumber these past months must have been restless and full of
deadly nightmares. As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes
nightmares to those who are sensitive to it. Verily, thou hast felt the climate descending."

Link, too, shuddered. How could he forget? The man with the deathly eyes and blood red cape would haunt him
forever, long after the nightmares had faded.

"Alas, I had hoped to suppress the evil, but you can see where that has led. I fear there remains but one
hope for us all."

Link's control slipped, and a lone tear soiled the ground beneath his face. "What hope is that?"

"The time has come to test thy courage. I have been cursed, and I need you to break this curse with your
wisdom and courage."

Link shook his head. "I can't."

"You doubt the blood that flows in thy veins?"

"No."

"Then you are ready, for courage itself is in thy blood."

Link craned his neck upward. "What about Mido?"

The Tree did not answer, but Link knew. Mido had stayed on the hill rather than asking to be included. That was
answer enough.

"Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?"

Link replied without hesitation this time. "Yes."

"Then enter, brave Link, and thou too, Navi."

A hairline fracture appeared in the Tree's bark and grew until it had formed a mouth-like opening large enough to
step into.

Link returned to the hill for his Deku Shield, ignoring the hatred in Mido's eyes. Navi trailed at his waist, following
when he turned his back on Mido, on Saria, and on the forest itself.

Thus he entered the Great Deku Tree.