The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 47 - Pruning

 ...towards the chambers in the back. If the room he had found had opened up, surely another one of the rooms would have opened. He just hoped there wouldn't be any more Wardens blocking the paths off.

Unfortunately, Link was out of luck on that front. Around the bend was a pair of Wardens, dormant, hanging from each wall of the building. While they weren't blocking the path, they were still there. Turning quickly, Link pushed the seed pod back down the hall until it was clear of the bend. Wudhi asked, "What's wrong?"

"More Wardens."

"All of them have been dormant so far though," Saruo pointed out. "And we haven't even faced any monsters. What are you so worried about?"

"That doesn't mean we should take any risks. What happens to this pod if we leave it out in the open?" Link pressed. Saruo grumbled something under her breath and turned away. Link continued, "As far as the monster part, we should consider ourselves lucky. Have any of you actually fought a monster?"

The skull kid continued to sulk at Link's remark as Kephe trembled with fear. "M-Mr. Hero is s-so brave."

"That wasn't-" Link stopped himself, leaving the subject. There wasn't really a point. He stepped around the corner, looking up at the Wardens. A small part of his wanted those things to turn on. At least then he wouldn't look like a paranoid nut case anymore.

After Link walked the length of the hall to check on the Wardens, the party kept moving. They turned the corner, only to find a Warden at the end of the hall, facing out. Link stopped as they neared the end of the hall. "We've gone in a circle."

"It's not a very big building," Saruo pointed out.

"Small temple too."

"Small people. Lack of thumbs."

Ignoring Saruo, Link sat down, his back to the wall. Kephe waddled over. "W-What are you doing, Mr. Hero?" Link pulled out the map, looking at the single floor plan.

"Trying to find anywhere in the building that this shadow is hiding," Link replied, running his finger over the map again, line by line, to try and find something hidden.

"With all these vines in the way, I'd be surprised if you could," Wudhi stated, nudging an arm of the length green plant that dangled in the hall. "Most of the Greenhouse seems to be buried in them."

"Sure, but how?" Link asked, more to himself than anything. There didn't seem to be anything special about this building. It was just a greenhouse. To be fair, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. None of the forest dwellers really seemed to think about putting defenses in place. These Wardens hadn't even been their idea.

Link rested his head back on the wall, holding the map up for a little more light. It was dark in the greenhouse. Not pitch black, but light was clearly struggling to find its way inside. There was no pristine beam of light filtering through to catch the dust slowly floating down. Nothing. The whole greenhouse was caught in a perpetual dusk.

"What did you do when the vines started growing out?" Link inquired.

Saruo shrugged. "Never did."

That was curious. "This plant took over this building in just a few decades, and it didn't grow out towards the forest? What's corrupting the Deku Trees then?" Link stood up and studied the vines along the hall.

"It's not about the vines."

Link looked up, recognizing that voice. Curled up on a knot of vines was a small, brown fox. One eye peered down to watch Link and his party. Link demanded, "What are you doing here?"