{PROLOGUE}

War is a terrible thing, isn't it?

Lots of good men, sent off to do all the dying, while the self-proclaimed generals never hear a single crossbow bolt whistle past their ears, safe and nestled fifty miles away from all the carnage unfolding further on.

Well…

CRASH! BOOM!

Clippa-cloppa-clippa-cloppa-clippa-cloppa…

On her husband's command, a cloaked woman zoomed through the stormy fields of Hyrule, flaming arrows screaming after her, as was her husband.

"The Great Deku Tree! The Great Deku Tree! Remember! The forest and the Great Deku Tree!"

Finally, his wife vanished from his eyes. The enemy was circling him fast. Several soldiers wielding spears, shields, claymores, certain death.

"Right, you lot of traitors, taste the wrath of my blades!" shouted the man in the middle as his wife galloped off over the hills. Reaching behind him, he scratched two swords out of their sheaths, dual wielding them at the closing enemy soldiers. They growled and snarled like inhumane beasts as they charged at the wounded, dual-wielding man.

Even though he had two weapons, that wasn't enough. 23 spears, 21 shields and 17 claymores are better than two swords.

Within seconds, the horde stampeded through the battlefield, the man they fought now in a heap on the floor. He was now pincushioned by spears of red and silver. Even moving was a great chore for him.

"Link… I apologise… Please forgive me..." he muttered as the war raged on. His vision was swirling as he tried to remove his sharp chains binding him to the floor.

Not looking back, the horsewoman made a charge through a set of double trees and into the forest.

The Kokiri Forest.

The only place that had snaked around the deadly war.

Why?

Any outsider who went into the forest would die and turn into a plant in the process.

It was a big risk, but the woman was in critical condition. She was going to die soon anyway, so this risk was bound to pay off. All of her bones felt like they were about to snap in half. Her heart was erratically missing beats. Her throat lacked moisture of any kind. Her skin was turning pale. She was hearing voices in her head.

"Enter the forest."

"Do it."

"Yeah. No one will notice!"

Why did she need to go into the forest?

She was carrying another life with her.

A weak baby, wrapped up in a white bundle of towels.

Everything was silent. Eerily silent. To think that this baby would be living here, at best, for the rest of his life.

The lady uneasily stood up, shielding her baby against her. All her muscles felt like they were about to burst like balloons. When the child began to whimper, mum simply whispered comforts to him.

"Shh, shh, everything's all right. Everything's all right… Everything's… all right."

The lady gasped her way through the forest. Still no sign of life. Who was he going to live with?

The sounds of rustling caught her attentions. As she limped through the undergrowth, boys and girls in green rose from the vegetation. They had pointy ears, just like the baby's mother. Some wore green, floppy hats. These characteristics made them resemble elves.

"Who's that woman?" whispered one of the kids.

"I would answer you if I knew!" replied another.

One kid with ginger hair and a frown that appeared to be burned into his face crossed his arms and grunted a little. "Huh. Looks like a right old nutter!"

Not one person responded to this remark. In fact, they seemed slightly afraid of calling out the rude boy. The mother walked forward, around a little pond and through a tunnel that led through a rock wall.

The road to the Great Deku Tree.

Finally, the woman crashed into a heap on the floor in front of a great big oak tree. This was not like any other tree you would see on a walk through the woods. This was one colossus and a half. This was not its most distinct feature, though.

Its distinct feature was that… it had a face. Two giant bits of dark wood that formed eyebrows, a large part of the tree stuck outward for a nose and two more darker bits of wood formed a moustache. The giant plant seemed to lack eyes, as they were covered by its brows.

"Great… Deku Tree… I beseech you!" croaked the woman as her son dragged himself out of his towels, laughing with dissonant serenity. "My son… Please take him in."

The tree ahead of her stayed silent. Was her husband wrong about the Great Deku Tree?

"Do my pleas fall on deaf ears?" wept the woman. "Please, take my son in!"

There was another long pause by the tree. Maybe this was just a tree with a face carved into it by the children of the forest. Maybe their imagination led to them saying that it was alive. Maybe that was what that traveller overheard and told everyone.

"I seeth the promiseth in the one thee has't bought me."

It was all true. No overactive imaginations, the tree was really alive!

"Y-you do?" breathed the beaten mother.

"Thy son hath an important role in this forest in the future not so far hence. For yond, I shalt grant him shelter."

As the tree spoke, a slab of wood moved up and down as if it were a mouth in motion. Cobwebs and loose bark broke apart as it slid up and down, so this tree had clearly not spoken in a long time.

"Tell me, your highness, will he be able to live here?" asked the woman. "I have heard what happens to outsiders who enter this forest."

The tree spoke once more. "He is anon one of us. He is exempt from the beshrew."

"Thank you… Great Deku Tree."

The broken mother left her son at the base of the talking tree, crawling away with all the strength she could muster. Blood was dripping to the floor from several cuts in her body. Even moving was now a tremendous effort. Her son tried to follow her, but he was not yet developed enough to even crawl. Instead, he lay there and wailed and wailed and wailed.

As his mother tried to make her escape, her movements became more stiff. More and more wooden. It became tougher and tougher to move.

Finally, she was all wood and leaves.