Prologue - Lost in the Woods
Link wiped the rain from his eyes again as Epona galloped deeper into the Lost Woods.
"I still we should have turned left back there..." Navi said, glancing down the road behind them as she did. "I'm pretty sure this isn't the way back..."
Link rolled his eyes and shook his head, not even turning to the fairy.
"Oh don't you take that tone with me," the fairy replied in a huff, folding her arms in exasperation. "I'm not the one who got us into this mess..."
Link glanced over at her pointedly, before turning back as Epona whinied in an urgent matter as the trio emerged into a small clearing.
"See, there aren't any clearings on the wa..." Navi started, before locking her eyes onto the trees just behind Link. Her volume dropped abruptly, and she swallowed before continuing. "There's a pack of Wolfos in the trees..."
Link nodded slightly, drawing his sword and shield slowly, before turning to where the fairy had indicated, only to see a blur of shapes begin running aroundthe edge of the clearing. Link leapt down from Epona just in time to avoid her rearing in the air.
"Easy girl, easy," Navi whispered in the horses ear repeatedly. As she did, Link moved to intercept the first of the Wolfos, only to freeze as it did so. He had defeated many of them in his adventures across Hyrule and Termina. However, he had never seen one made entirely of living wood before.
He managed to bring his sword and shield to bear again just in time to deflect the creature's lunge, but before he could deliver a counter, two more of the creatures charged at him from both sides.
Navi watched on with fear as Link continued to lose ground to his opponents, before a howl sounded out from the opposite side of the clearing. The fairy watched in horror as two more of the creatures began to barrel towards her and Epona. She flew back to the horse's ears, screaming as hard as she could before rushing over to intercept the new monsters. "Epona, run! Now!"
Link, desperate to gain back some ground so he could help his friends, dropped his guard, and charged headlong at one of the monsters. As it pounced at him, he slid to his knees beneath it, forcing his sword up through its throat. As the creature landed, it took two shaky steps, before collapsing. However, Link had no time to retrieve his sword, as the other two descended upon him. He raised the shield to his right, hoping he could at least hold one of the beasts off, while drawing his old Kokiri Sword. The short blade and uncomfortable handle didn't inspire much confidence, but hopefully he would only need to strike one blow...
Meanwhile, Navi very quickly descended upon the other two wolves. Her small blasts of magic mostly washed over the bark of the monsters, doing very little damage. However, they did keep the two wolves squarely focused on the tiny pixie, who took great pleasure in weaving around the pair, delivering a few more quick blasts to their face whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Link winced as the newly impaled creature raked its claws across his side before falling still. He felt the other begin to push harder as the scent of blood started to permeate the air. He turned to face it, putting both arms into one push, forcing it off of him. He quickly ran towards the first of them to fall, drawing the Master Sword from its fallen body, before spinning back to face the last of his trio. As it leapt towards him, he swept it to the ground with his shield, then drove his sword through its head.
Navi quickly turned to face her friend when he grunted in pain, turning her back to her own opponents. She wasn't broken from her stupour until she saw one of them dart past her towards the swordsman. However, before she could move to intercept it again, she felt something sharp clamp down on her wings, and begin to shake. When she felt the gossamer tear, she screamed in pain, before being flung towards the trees. She tried to slow herself, but before her wings could move, the pain from even attempting it sent her vision blurry. She could feel the wind fly out her lungs as she hit one of the trunks, before curling into a ball as she hit the ground.
Link span at the scream. The sight of the pouncing monster didn't faze him. He simply let his momentum carry his sword through it in one neat cut, bisecting it from head to tail. It feel neatly into two halves at his feet, both slightly scorched from the friction. He quickly advanced on the final creature, which paused in its advance, seeing its packmates all destroyed. Before it could decide whether to attack or flee, however, the swordsman was upon it. Narrowly moving its neck from the path of his swing, it managed to avoid an initially fatal blow, a large gash appearing on its torso. However, its attempt to bite the figure in revenge merely resulted in Link's reversed slash cutting back through its head.
Before the final creature had even hit the ground, Link rushed over to where Navi had fallen, picking the injured fairy up in his hands. Seeing the torn wings on her back, Link winced. However, when her eyelids began to flutter, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"How..." Navi started, as she stood up in Link's hands. "How bad are they?"
When Link turned away from her eyes, Navi closed her eyes before the tears started.
"I'm sorry, Link..." she said, looking down at the forest floor. "This is all my fault..." she started, but Link just shook his head, before placing the fairy on his shoulder. She smiled warmly at him, before spying movement out of the corner of her eye.
***
Epona galloped down the rough path, doing whatever she could to try and find help for her friends.
It didn't take long for her to find a small hut dug into the roots of a particularly old tree in a small, dark clearing. A lone figure was sat inside, with the door left slightly ajar.
Epona ran over to the hut, placing her head inside the tiny doorway.
***
Zecora opened one eye, as she heard her door creak further open. The freakishly large newcomer started rambling rapidly, its head appearing and disappearing repeatedly. It took a few times before she managed to understand more than one or two syllables through the speed of its speech, and strange accent. "Friend help! Help now!"
Zecora reflected for a second or two, before rising to her hooves and responding. "It appears it is aid you want from me. Understandable here in the Everfree. I had hoped for a quiet day, but by all means, lead the way."
***
Epona stared at the strange sounds the zebra made, but her tone suggested she was intending to help. As the zebra rose, Epona breathed a sigh of relief, and moved back to the path toward the previous clearing, waiting for the newcomer to join her, hoping she wouldn't leave her friends waiting too much longer.
***
"Link, Watch out!"
Link spun to see the corpses of the defeated monsters crawling toward each other, assembling into a much larger beast.
"We fight together this time," Navi said, as she sat down on Link's shoulder. "There's no way for it to beat us then."
Link nodded in agreement. He brought his sword and shield to bear, as Navi began to chant. An eerie blue light surrounded Link as he charged at the wooden foe. Even as it bit down upon shield arm, the swordsman began hacking at one of its limbs. However, while the beasts teeth just slipped from Link's arm, the sword left many wounds on the creatures sides.
"Sheesh," Navi said, as the creature swiped at Link with its claws again. "This thing hits like a Goron..."
Even as she spoke, the creature pounced again, knocking Link to the floor, sending Navi flying. She struggled back to her feet, as Link desperately held the
creatures jaws at bay with his shield. However, its claws kept digging at his sides around the shield. Navi quickly rushed back into the melee, climbing the monsters arms. She heard a cry of pain from beneath her as she finally reached the creatures snout. Using what little Magic she had left, she blasted it right in the eyes. Having succeeded, she deftly jumped down to the forest floor.
Link leapt upon the opportunity he was given. Quickly channeling the magic of the goddesses, he placed a dome of fire around him and Navi. The monster very quickly moved back to what it assumed was a safe distance. However, Link just stared out through the flames at the monster, before extending his arms out. The dome expanded, enveloping the whole length of the creature in flames. It yelped in pain, before burning logs began to fall from where it once stood.
"Well, at least thats over..." Navi started, clenching her numb hands, before turning to Link, who had fallen to one knee, clutching the gashes on his sides.
"Hey, c'mon Link, those are nothing..." Navi said, moving over to the gasping swordsman. "You've shook off way worse..."
Link started to sway, as his vision fell out of focus. A few seconds later, he fell forward, and his eyes closed.
"No..." Navi froze in shock. "Not now... Not like this..." she said, climbing onto his back, rushing down his spine to his head. "Please... Get up..."
***
Epona and Zecora felt a hot breeze pass over them as they approached the clearing.
"That's probably them..." Epona said to Zecora, before sprinting off down the path.
Zecora started galloping as fast as she could, desperately trying not to lose too much ground to the much larger mare.
Once she reached the clearing, Epona looked around for a few seconds, moving over to her friends as soon as she spotted them. However, she slowed down rapidly when she saw Link laying prone on the ground.
"Link... Get up, Link..." she said, staring down at Link. She pushed him with her muzzle, trying to rouse him. After that failed, she turned to try and find Zecora.
***
Zecora moved across the clearing slowly, scanning the treeline. Once she had reached the three strangers, she knelt down by Link, gently rolling him over, before resting her head across his chest.
"Your friend is still alive, though out here, he will not survive," Zecora reported to Epona, before rising back to her hooves. "My hut will offer you brief respite. I welcome you all to stay the night."
***
Epona watched as Zecora began to wander off. Epona was about charge after the zebra, until she realised she was waiting for Epona to follow her.
After a good deal of struggling, Epona had Link laid across her saddle, and Navi perched in her mane. She rose to her hooves, and set off after Zecora.
