Whispers in the Forest

Chapter 2

So, things got a little weird right around this point. I got a bow, and an audience with the Great Deku Tree, but... I still had questions that needed answering. Like, why me? I was just the girl with no fairy, but at least Saria was with me, having been roped into helping cure the curse. But as it is... this is my tale.

Dost thou sense it?

A climate of evil is descending upon this realm...

Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land...

Of Hyrule...

I have to say, the inside of the Great Deku Tree is creepy. Vines everywhere, a giant pit leading to nowhere covered in... "Oh goddesses, those aren't spider webs, are they?" I asked, investigating the pit closely.

"I really hope not," Saria winced.

Our fairies hovered over our shoulders, laughing at us. We glared at her.

"Come on, you two, we have to break the curse on the Great Deku Tree," they said, pulling on our tunics. They wanted us to move away from the pit and start looking for clues. Well, I thought that the spider webs might be a big clue. I continued glaring at the fairy and pulled my tunic out of her grip. "Do you mind? Goddesses take you," I swore, stalking over to the nearest patch of vines growing out of the wall. Starting to climb, I began to notice the underlying sounds of chattering all around me. And it was getting louder the higher up I went. "Navi, what do -you- suppose put that webbing there?" I questioned as I climbed with Saria following behind me. "Spider's don't get big enough for webs that size, do they?"

"Not sure," she replied, setting down on my shoulder. "It could be a part of the curse on the Great Deku Tree, or it could be something else entirely." I do say now that I didn't like her answer all that much. Groaning, I continued my climb into the upper limbs of the tree. I wasn't looking much higher than where my hands were going, which means that I didn't see anything above me. Like the giant spider web surrounding the canopy of the Tree. When I put my hand in the webs the chattering stopped. I pulled back, hooking my feet and other hand into the vines to secure myself, and looked at my hand. Strands of spider silk trailed from my hand, threads floating to the ground far below me.

"Ew..." I muttered in disgust as I tried and failed to wipe the sticky silk from my hand. But no matter what I tried, it just wouldn't come off. "Navi! How the heck do I get this off?!" I yelled while trying to wave my hand around in an attempt to dislodge the sticky webbing.

Navi pulled on my ear. "Linkette, don't stop now, keep climbing! We can't let the Great Deku Tree die!" she cried, then pulling on my hair. I shrugged my shoulder, knocking the bothersome fae away from my hair. "Stop that, Navi, my hair is not something you can play with," I said. "It hurts when you pull on it." She replied to me, but I stopped caring as I wiped my hand clear of webbing and ignored her in favor of looking for somewhere to stand. I needed a better look around. The eerie silence all around me was starting to frighten me, and I would rather not find out what had been making the sounds. My luck was never that good, though. Setting my feet down on the nearest branch that could hold us, I helped Saria on the branch and turned towards the center of the tree.

Only to come face to face with the largest black and yellow spider I had ever seen. It was hanging by a thread from a branch above, and all eight of its beady black eyes were staring at me. There was a dark plate on its back that made the entire thing looking like a screaming face. Taking half a step back, my hands went for my bow "Navi," I said, my voice shaky, "what is that?"

My fairy flew closer, examining the spider. She hovered around, looking closely at it. I was almost afraid it would eat her, but all its focus was on me. "Oh! I know what this is!" she said. "This is a Skulltula!"