The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time

Lost Woods

After galloping across the Hyrule Plain all afternoon, night was beginning to fall as Link neared the edge of the wood that he exited seven years prior.

"That was an incredible feat you pulled back at Lon Lon Ranch, Link." Navi had been quiet for very long.

"Not as incredible as the feats I'm about to attempt."

"You'll be fine... the way you rode the track... that was skillful."

"That was luck," he retorted, "I'm going to need plenty of it to complete the tasks that lie ahead."

They were ascending the ridge that currently hid the edge of the forest out of view. It was the ridge from which Link saw the kingdom of Hyrule for the first time. He halted Epona at the top so he could look around.

The vast landscape was unchanged; from afar, this was apparent, but the life within it had undoubtedly changed. The prairie losing its lush greenery was evidence of this. Even focusing on the edifices of Castle Town in the distance, the dull colors hinted at the ruin they suffered. Meanwhile, the sun was setting over the Gerudo hills, the home of the usurper looming over this land.

Link suddenly heard a familiar sound... a rustling sound he once heard at the moment of dusk. Down the hill, he spotted white bony figures digging their way out of the ground...

"Stalchildren!" Navi alerted.

The magical undead beings seemed to come out right at sundown. That time in the Death Mountain pass, there was a relentless herd... but burrowing out of the ground below the hill, there were hosts of them. More and more sprung up, surrounding the ridge where they stood. By now, there was a small army of them, advancing up the hill.

Epona grew restless with the foes closing in.

"Do something, Link!" Navi pleaded.

Link whipped the reins. Epona ran down the hill towards the forest. Link unsheathed the Master Sword, preparing to clash with the front line of adversaries. Swinging it like a mallet, he cleared a path for them to ride through... past the undead skeletons, kicking up clouds of magical ash.

They were able to take shelter in the woods. They travelled along, edging closer to Link's home. When they reached the chasm with the old rope-suspended bridge, the one that defined the border of the Kokiri territory, he paused. The memory of bidding farewell to Saria overwhelmed him, making him long for the days of being a carefree Kokiri kid, spending time with his childhood friend, whom was now allegedly a Sage needing awakening. Sheik said she was waiting for him in the Forest Temple. Link just needed to find where that was.

After such time had passed during his state of suspension in the Sacred Realm, Link prepared himself to see his childhood peers... in the mystical Kokiri forest where they roamed, in a village of treehouses where they lived. Instead, Link found the village covered in overgrown vines and shrubs, amongst which were a disarray of gigantic Skulltula spiders, and chomping Deku Baba plants... according to Navi.

As Link rode up to investigate, one of the shrubs came to life, revealing itself as a hostile Deku Scrub, like the one inside the Deku Tree. More sprouted from the other shrubs, as they were alerted by their comrade. Pellets flying, Link dashed out of there on Epona, heading off into the deep, thick forested area known to the Kokiri as the Lost Woods.

"Navi, what happened to the forest?" Link implored.

"With the Great Deku Tree having perished," she responded, "there's nothing stopping these invasive species from growing in the forest he once protected."