Two
A soft whicker roused him, Link lifting his head with a groan as the uneven path sent a jolt of pain up his spine. For a moment, he could only stare blankly at the forest around them, blinking and breathing and wondering why he wasn't dead, when he thought he certainly should have been.
//Where... what - Zelda?//
The caves, the temple and the doorway - and Ganon, always Ganon. He shivered, wincing, remembering how she'd shoved him to safety at the cost of herself - no, /no/, it wasn't supposed to happen like that. He finally noticed his right hand was touching something soft, with muscles that bunched and moved beneath his palm. He lifted his hand slightly, twining fingers clumsily in a long, white mane. Epona made another soft sound, turning her head slightly, making sure he was awake. Link looked down, amazed to find he'd tied himself to the saddle. He hadn't remembered doing that.
//The battle... did I win?//
Wishful thinking, surely. He could remember waves of opponents, crashing down on him without hesitation, a roar of fury and the clash of swords filling his ears. A moment where he had caught a spare breath without a sword coming down on him, shocked to still be on his feet. Surely he had to fall, too many in this trap, Master sword or no Master sword. He remembered striking at everything that came into range, blood and pain, swinging the sword through his opponents until he couldn't feel his arms anymore, just the heavy ache that let him know they were there, that he was still moving, still fighting.
Zelda. Zelda was in danger and he had to reach her, could not fall, could not lose even if there were too many and there was no way he could win.
A vicious blow to his left shoulder finally took him down to his knees - Link thought that memory must have been true, when trying to even shift his fingers now brought an excruciating jolt of pain all the way up his arm, scorching back down his spine. He'd nearly dropped his sword, somehow managing the strength and speed to reach up and thrust it backward through his opponent, before a second strike could hit him
Hoof beats, he'd heard the sound of a horse coming closer and knew, just knew it was Ganon, only to see a familiar flash of white and roan, grabbing for mane and stirrups. He didn't know how he'd gotten into the saddle, or kept a grip on his shield, only that he'd heard arrows bouncing off of it as he ducked behind it, Epona moving too fast for even most of those to find their mark.
He'd tried to get the horse to swing around the edge of the Rock, he still needed to find Zelda, stop Ganon - and then he'd woken up here, left arm frozen in pain and right hand shaking, wincing as it touched dried blood, wounds he never remembered receiving in the battle.
//Zelda's gone.// He trembled harder, the thought certainly worse than any damage in battle could be. He needed to get her back, /would/ get her back. Needed to find a fairy fountain, needed... to figure out where the hell he was.
A sharper, knocking sound beneath Epona's hooves, a hollow echo. Link looked up as the sun disappeared, blocked out entirely by the top of the hollow tree trunk above, and felt a sick ache in his stomach, knowing exactly where the horse had brought him.
Link had come to avoid Kokiri forest very early on, after Ganon had taken the Triforce of Power and sacked his way into Hyrule Castle - and discovered exactly where the hero he hated so had called home.
He would always remember that first battle, before he'd even known of the long fight to come. Defeating the darkness inside the Deku Tree only to learn it had all been in vain from the start. If there had been a worse way to begin his life as the Hero of Time, Link could only imagine it involved selling Triforce trinkets in the alley behind a pub in Hyrule proper.
//Official triangle-shaped belt buckles, three for fi' rupees.//
It was a very bad mistake, to laugh, and he felt Epona slow and stop as he bent over the pommel, each cough sending another spasm of pain through him - he was probably sick, or going to get sick soon, his skin feeling hot and stretched each time he moved, his bones aching. By themselves, each of the wounds was easy enough to fix, but compounded as they were it was all he could do to stay upright in the saddle, and even that was growing increasingly difficult. His vision kept blurring in and out, a dangerous darkness creeping in at the edges - and Epona had brought him to the last place he wanted to be.
Nothing left of the village or its inhabitants but the charred remains of houses, and small planks of red wood, the gravestones they had made, and then those he had made. The color blended in well with the rest of the dead land, but Link knew where to look. The tiny markers and rough-carved names caught his attention, a morbid detail, especially with the rest of the world so hard to focus on.
The fairies didn't even have graves, only names on the planks of their partners. Sometimes not even that, a few of them lost to his memory forever. One by one they'd grown silent, and still, and dim. He'd woken up one morning, and Navi was simply gone. He'd never known anything was wrong, she hadn't wanted to make him worry, even enough to tell him goodbye. She'd been one of the final ones to vanish, long after he'd buried the last of his friends here.
"You trying to tell me something, girl? Things looking a little grim for the Hero of Time?"
He grinned weakly, patting the side of her neck with his good hand, as Epona forded what was left of a once crystal pool, now little more than a few inches of stagnant, muddy water. So silent here, as the horse moved slowly forward, not even a wind to stir the dead leaves. Link reached for the reins, but even with them back in his hand, he didn't have the strength to turn her around.
He frowned, trying to force his thoughts together, for the plan he had to make. Shelter, that was first. A place to rest, but someplace warm and dry and inside. Out here, he wasn't going to make it, no water or food within reach. He would have traded every rupee he had for a mouthful of milk from the ranch - enough wishful thinking, time for that after Zelda was safe. Fairy fountain, he really needed...
//Always a tomorrow, always a new hero. If you die, Ganon still won't win.//
//It'll never end, will it?//
Link blinked, thoughts swirling to a sudden stop, an emptiness that left him reeling, as Epona came to a halt in front of the ashen, brittle form of the dead Deku Tree. He could feel heat against his back and side, couldn't tell if it was still leaking blood or if he was getting sicker. It took a long time to undo the rope holding him to the saddle one-handed, but his fingers on his sword hand had all but locked up, moving them more trouble than it was worth. At least the map was safely clenched in that fist, the path to the Chaos Glass. Zelda's map, the one she had sacrificed herself for.
//I can't die here.//
No, that wasn't going to happen. He was fine, he just needed... just...
The rope loosed around his numb fingers, but Link was already falling, eyes closed, hitting the ground with a hard, unforgiving sound.
Epona turned after a moment, when he didn't move, bending down to nuzzle his hair. He didn't rouse as usual, didn't reach up to pat her nose and greet her in a soft, warm tone. The mare's head raised quickly, at the sound of others moving through the forest, coming closer. Loud voices and loud steps, and Epona shied nervously sideways, uneasy but unwilling to leave her rider helpless on the ground.
The horse didn't move at all when, moments later, there was a loud creaking and splintering, branches of the Deku Tree slowly reaching down to wrap gently around the fallen hero, lifting him high into the air. Epona let out a soft snort, and stepped slowly around the side of the tree, so that by the time Ganon's minions arrived, there was nothing to see at all.
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The two Moblins left heavy tracks in the mud as they walked, snuffling with wide piggy noses, eyes almost lost beneath wide, black iron helmets and bulky armor. It was difficult to pick out any one scent beneath the overall smell of devastation. The wounded Hylian blended in too well here, and even the hoof prints from his mount had disappeared against the rock-hard soil at the base of the tree. Standing in front of it, one of the Moblins gestured down, to a smeared spot of blood, wide on the ground, and then up with its spear at the snarl of dead branches, finally jabbing the point into the bark of the tree, until the wood began to crumble.
Not exceptionally intelligent, these creatures were instead prized for their willingness to track their prey for as long as it took to catch. Having it suddenly disappear left them furious and vengeful, and when one black-armored thug let his spear drop, nicking a rock and sending a few sparks into the dust, both pair of dark eyes lit up brightly. It wasn't long before they had found a dry stick and got it alight, moving toward the ancient tree. Either their prey would appear, flushed out by the fire or the glade would burn and Ganon would know he had perished in the blaze. Whatever happened, they could not lose.
The fire was poised perilously close to the dry bark, only to stop suddenly, stick falling from the Moblin's hand as it staggered back, turning to reveal the end of a dart, piercing the thick hide in the juncture between helmet and shoulder armor. The pig-like beast fell with a soft groan, its comrade searching the surrounding trees wildly for a moment, before another dart struck it in nearly the same place, and it fell without a sound.
For a moment, there was no sound at all, and then only the faintest rustle, like wind through the trees, as a slim figure dropped down among the branches, landing silently on the ground.
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Malon hesitated, blowgun at the ready, checking the clearing carefully for any more intruders, before stepping out past the tree line. Strange, that there would be two Moblins here, though Ganon would certainly be cruel enough to send someone to burn down the Deku Tree, long after most had even forgotten about this place or those who had lived here.
//Thank goodness I came by.// A few components for healing potions still grew more plentifully on the high cliffs surrounding the glade than anywhere else in Hyrule, and she was always short on supply. She'd only heard their loud entrance just as she was about to leave, having collected all she could carry for the moment.
Malon scowled, watching the stick finally burn out harmlessly in the dirt. Even if the Deku's spirit was gone, Malon didn't want Ganon's thugs anywhere near the glade, or the old, dead tree. It hurt her to think of it burning, and she knew it would have hurt Link worse.
//I hope he's all right.// The last she'd heard, he and Zelda were searching for some new weapon - she hoped she'd heard it wrong, that they were traveling quite near to Spectacle Rock. At least she could trust Zelda not to let Link get hurt, the princess was always more careful than that.
The feathers at her wrists twitched nervously as she stepped quickly across the clearing, tugging a few auburn strands of hair back behind her ears. It had been years since she'd been able to stand with so much empty space at her back and not feel nervous. Taking a chance to poke the nearest body with her blowgun, Malon quickly retrieved both darts when the Moblins showed no signs of moving. Seven left poison-dipped, and even the ones she'd just used would be enough to slow an enemy, in an emergency. She sighed, it still wouldn't be long before she'd need to trap another Stinger for the poison to tip more darts with.
//Strange... they couldn't have done all this to the bark.//
Malon reached up carefully, tracing first the series of smaller, sharp cuts left in the bark by the minion's spear, and then much larger cracks, the bark splitting out in much deeper cuts, from where she could touch on tiptoe all the way up the side of the tree.
//Poor thing...// She glanced down, to see if perhaps it had been an earthquake, but the roots seemed entirely undisturbed. Malon looked a bit further past, to where the soil grew soft - hoof prints, moving toward the tree, pointed right where she now stood.
A soft sound made her turn sharply, short sword immediately in her hand, crouched and ready to meet her attacker. Malon's eyes widened, as the horse moved forward, knowing her for friend and taking no notice of the weapon in her hand. She resheathed it quickly, reaching up to brush a hand through the pale mane.
"Epona...?" She looked around, but there was no sign of anyone else nearby, no sound at all. "But where's..."
She gasped, moving toward the saddle, sword and shield still attached, and a dark stain of drying blood along the length of the leather. Malon lifted a few strands of the horse's mane, near the pommel, staring in horror at the red mixed with the white.
"Link?! LINK!?" She darted around the tree, expecting to find him at the other side, breath leaving her in a rush when there was nothing. She turned fast, looking for anything he could be hiding behind, any sort of shelter - and how long had he been out here, wounded like that and what had happened and where was Zelda...?
"Link, answer me!" Malon strained, listening for any response, praying he wouldn't be too weak to answer, or already unconscious. When the tendril brushed against her shoulder she jumped, short sword once again in her hand and no enemy to face. The tiny vine curled slightly, retreating the way it had come, and Malon stared at it in confusion, and then in disbelief.
//It can't be... the Deku Tree is dead, isn't it?//
It seemed to be beckoning her up, and Malon didn't hesitate to follow, finding easy footholds in the deep cracks in the bark, using her sword with a soft apology to the tree's vanished spirit, whenever she needed an extra handhold. If nothing else, climbing so high would give her a chance to look at things from a better perspective, and hopefully see Link no matter where he was hiding.
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Malon had long grown accustomed to moving among the trees, and it didn't take her long at all to reach the top, amazed when she reached out for a handhold and had it reach back for her, a branch coming down to help her slide through a wider opening in the bark, down into the insides of the once-living tree.
//No, it's still living. It...// Malon looked around in the dim light, amazed to see green leaves rising around her, and smooth supple branches beneath her feet. Astonished and delighted, she smiled broadly.
Where better, really, to hide a new Deku Tree than in the shell of the old?
Malon moved down even faster than she had gone up, the branches seeming to help her along, and though she had never been able to talk to the old tree, she could still feel its life beneath her hands as she crawled along the path it helped provide. Alive... and that meant that somewhere, however they came to be, there must have been a new group of Kokiri children just waiting to be born. Link would be so happy, he would -
Malon looked up, as a curtain of leaves pulled away, and felt the bottom drop out of her world.
"Link!"
He was resting in a careful netting of vines, pale as death against the vibrant greens, and for a moment she could only stare in panic, unable to tell if he was breathing. Malon stepped forward carefully, breathing a silent prayer of relief as she saw the slight rise and fall of his chest. He was still wounded, badly, more lines of blood than she could count beneath the slashes on his dark tunic, a bruise just to the side of his eye, another peeking just above his collar, suggesting further damage below.
She ran to him, reaching out, but the vines and branches contracted around him, pulling him away.
"No. Listen! I need to help him, he needs..."
Malon trailed off. Yes, Link needed help, but there was no way to do it on her own, and if word got back to Ganon, before she could reach a safe place... and could anyone even risk moving him, wounded as he was, or would it hurt more than help?
She frowned suddenly, eyes narrowing at a scrap of paper clenched tightly in his left hand. Slowly, she stepped forward, and this time the branches did not retreat, assured she was not about to try and take him from their grasp. Carefully, Malon peeled his fingers away, wincing as he moaned but did not wake. Finally it was free, and she spread out the badly crumpled page, revealing a map that was more blur than line.
"Chaos... chaos glass?" She frowned at the unfamiliar words, the series of lines and abstract forms finally coming together, a lake very far in the north. Peaceful, as far as she knew, nothing there for Ganon to conquer - at least, not yet.
//They must have been searching for this Chaos Glass., then.. and Ganon was too.// If Zelda was there, she might be waiting for Link, not knowing that he was too injured to come to her. If Zelda wasn't there...
Malon shook her head sharply, best not to think the worst of things until she knew what was true. Whatever had happened, the only thing that mattered now was making sure this Chaos Glass did not fall into Ganon's hands.
It was still so difficult to leave Link, even if she knew the Deku Tree would take care of him. Malon knelt down beside him, gently stroking the side of his face, the only part of him that wasn't bruised or cut.
"I'll complete your quest, I'll get this glass you need. You don't have to worry. Everything's going to be just fine." Hesitating for another moment, she bent down, pressing her lips gently against his brow. It was a great claim to make, to finish a task that the Hero of Time could not, but there was just no other way.
"I'll be back soon," she whispered, and climbed out the way she had come in, sliding quickly down the outside of the tree - it really looked dead, no hint of the new life inside, or of Link. He would be safe here, until she could return.
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At first, Malon wondered how she would ever convince Epona to leave the tree and her fallen master. It would be a much faster journey by horse than it could ever be on foot. It was a pleasant surprise, then, when Epona came to her, allowing her to put a foot in the stirrups and mount. She still winced at the blood on the saddle, and would wash it off as soon as she had a little water and a moment to spare.
The Moblin bodies were gone, the earth only slightly disturbed around the roots of the trees, suggesting where they had been dragged beneath the earth. Malon put Link's shield and sword near the Deku Tree, knew they would be returned to him when he awoke, and made sure to sweep away the hoof prints at the entrance to the forest. Once she and Epona were away, there was no sign remaining that anyone had been there at all.