Part2

      Aria stopped dead in her tracks. She quickly turned around and went back into her house. She snatched up a small pouch. Inside the pouch, it was filled with Deku Nuts. These nuts could stun an enemy on contact, only for a short while but long enough to run away or hit it. On her way out, she grabbed five Deku Sticks leaning against the wall. She then ran out the doorway and into the starry night.

She reached the small hole and peered inside. She suddenly felt very tired and it was hard to keep her eyes open. But she forced herself to crawl inside the tiny hole, just the right size for a 12-year-old and scrambled through the cramped tunnel. As she reached the end of the tunnel, she felt exhausted and then everything went black.

Her very first thought as she woke up was, 'Oh! Is it morning? We're going to explore the hole today.' Then all her memories flooded her. 'What! I can't believe I fell asleep in the tunnel! They must be looking for me everywhere!' She looked around and she was right. It was morning.

She was also right about her friends looking for her. The three had agreed to meet at the tunnel at dawn and by the time the other Kokiri were up, they figured they would be in and out of the tunnel and back in their beds. But that was not the case; by the time they found her, she was crawling out of the tunnel, dirty and everything messed up.

See, what had happened was this: Aria had decided that since she was at the other side already she would either look for the sword or explore this place so they would know where to go later. She got up and looked around. It was exactly like the forest but had no trees and all around there were walls, like a maze. She started forward but then a huge shadow seemed to be coming forward. Aria ran toward the little passageway she had come through. But the shadow didn't move and she crept toward it. It was a humongous boulder but stuck in place. There was barely any room in between the boulder and the wall. She had to leave her sticks and her Deku Nuts behind. 'I just hope there aren't any enemies around the corner' she thought. Aria just made it through, her being a skinny, short, small child. She had to turn the corner and squeak past another stuck boulder. Then there in front of her was a chest. A small chest but with a little picture of a sword on the top buckle that snapped the chest shut. She swiftly opened it and inside was… the legendary Kokiri Sword taken by the first Link there ever was but had been returned magically when he had died.

Then the triumphant girl had sneaked past the two large boulders, grabbed her weapons, clambered out of the hole and into the just awakening world of the Kokiri. That was when her friends saw her and she happily produced the sword to them. They, at first, stared in disbelief but, a few minutes later, began hugging her and congratulating her on finding the sword. She then told them why she had gone and everything that had happened. They hugged her and said that it was all right but next time to tell them where she was going. She promised she would.

Since it was not really morning anymore, they decided to go talk to Ki, the youngest but definitely smartest, Know-it-all brother. They reached the Know-it-all brother's house, where all three of them lived, on the hill. Ki wasn't there. Keptu, one of the strangest Kokiri children, said he was at the shop. Kyru, by this time, had to get back to his guarding and the other two said they would keep him up to date with what would happen to the sword.

Sara and Aria met Ki, in the front of the shop, talking to Myra.

"What are you doing here?" Myra asked sweetly with every drop of sugar on her words. She knew that Ki admired Aria because she was capable of doing things the boys did and not afraid to ruin her clothes too much as some of the girls, including Myra, did.

"I'm here to speak to Ki. Not you." Aria answered just as sweetly and as fake as Myra had.

Ki immediately turned to Aria and asked her what she wanted. Myra pouted and stalked off, steamed that Aria had spoiled her chances with Ki. Ki had a lock of his dark blond hair repeatedly fall over his forehead which he kept brushing off as they spoke.

"Look what I found this morning," Aria said excitedly.

"What's that? Oh…I can't believe it! It's the Kokiri sword!" Ki exclaimed. "I always knew you'd find it. Especially after you kept talking about that old legend about…what was his name…Link?"

"Yeah, that's it," Sara chimed in.

"Oh. Well, what do you two want me to do with it?" Ki asked.

"We…I was thinking that maybe I could help out the boys in some work to earn rupees," Aria said slowly.

"Why…Wait. You want a shield to go with it, don't you? But why did you come to me?" Ki asked inquiringly.

"Yes, I do want a shield. You're one of the Know-it-all brothers and the leader other than Kyru, so naturally, I'd ask you," Aria pointed out.

"OK, fine. You can work with us. But there is a high risk you can get hurt," Ki warned.

"There was a high risk I could have gotten hurt knocking down those trees. And going through that unknown place was a big time risk too. Who knew what kinds of enemies could have been in there?" Aria said.

"All right. How much do you want?" Ki finally gave in.

"7 rupees an day. I'll work in the late afternoons; it's cooler, but spread out for 5 days. I've got other things to do, more working hours, so I won't be wasting any time. You can take it out of the Kokiri treasury," Aria told him.

Once every month, a Hyrulian merchant came to the forest to trade. The Kokiri traded Deku Nuts, found by the boys in the Lost Woods, and Deku Sticks that were fallen branches off of the Deku Tree. Also, they sold him seeds to plant vegetables. The land in the forest was so rich that anything could grow in it. The seeds were magic and would immediately adept to any climate, which was another reason food, was so plentiful in the forest. In return, the merchant gave the leaders, Ki and Kyru, 50 rupees each, for 30 Deku Nuts, 20 Deku Sticks, and 10 small packets of seeds. This they put into heavy bolted chests and no one was allowed to see it except for Ki, Kyru and the annually elected Kokiri treasurer. The treasurer this year was Michelle. Michelle was a nice, friendly girl and excellent at math. Everyone had been unanimous…well, except Myra, of course, who wanted to be the treasurer herself.

The next morning, Aria woke up bright and early. She was starting out the day helping Alohana organize his scrolls. She would receive 10 rupees per day she worked for him and she agreed to work four separate days. Then at the end of a week, she would get 40 rupees. At 10:00 each day, she was to go to Alohana's small hut at the top of the hill, next to the Know-it-all brother's house. When she reached the top of the hill, she saw Alohana going toward the well near his house for a drink.

"Alohana!" she yelled to him.

He hadn't seemed to have heard her yell. He was old and getting older, unlike the Kokiri children, and seemed to be getting deaf. Aria, shrugged, and walked into Alohana's home. She didn't think he would mind.

As she walked into his house, she saw dozens and dozens of scrolls, piled high on shelves. 'We have to organize all of these!' she thought in amazement.

Just at that moment, Alohana walked in. He smiled at Aria, seeing that she had taken the liberty of coming inside.

"O, I see you're here already. Well, let's get started. I'll explain it, then we can get started. I need help organizing these, as you can see. These are all stories I've collected over the years in Hyrule and other lands. We should start at the very top. There's a ladder in the corner. I'm too old to climb it, which is why I asked you to help me. First, we should organize the ones in Hyrule from the other places. There are more Hyrulian stories, which is why there will be a separate section. We can organize the others later," Alohana finished.

Aria would be receiving 10 rupees per day from Alohana. His scrolls were important; or else he wouldn't be able to tell good stories anymore, if they weren't organized. She carefully took the scrolls from the top shelf and climbed down the ladder.

"Oops!" One of the scrolls slipped and fell out of her hands. She hastily put the others down on a table and picked it up. Gingerly fingering the parchment scroll, she scanned it, as she placed it on the table with the others.

"The Legend of Link…Alohna?" Aria asked, "Do you have stories about Link in here?"

"Of course. He was the Hero of Time and had many adventures in Hyrule. Of course Kokiri Forest is famous is Hyrule also; his ancestor did live here you know," Alohana replied, looking surprised she didn't know that.

"O, I know he used to live here. I want to know where exactly, in what house, did he live in?" Aria said.

"Noone knows that, of course. But we can estimate where he lived. I'd say…o…that house right across from this training field," Alohana guessed, "Now, let's get to work. There's plenty of time for that later."

All morning, Alohana and Aria worked side by side, organizing scrolls into two piles, Hyrule and non-Hyrule. By the end of the morning, they had finished half of all the shelves. Aria waved goodbye and said she'd come the next morning.

Next, Aria set off for Ki's house. That's where all the boys met every morning. She stopped at her house for a second to grab a little snack, met Kyru at the Kokiri store and filled him in on what she was doing, then the two walked to Ki's house that was close to the Deku Tree's meadow. For two hours, they all worked, chopping down unnecessary trees and vines around the village and doing hard work. She would get 7 rupees per day for helping them and at the end of the week, the total came to 35 rupees. They also got logs to set up lookout posts and connecting bridges, which would connect the four main posts. By the time they were finished, they had a whole schedule worked out for the whole week, what they would do, who would do it, etc.

Kyru and Aria walked toward her house, chatting amiably on the way:

"You know what Kyru? This work stuff is a lot harder than I thought." She said truthfully.

"Well, yeah. I mean, why- would you want to work with us?" Kyru said.

"You know w__" Aria broke off abruptly. She looked blankly at the training ground.

"What's up? You want to go train there?" Kyru asked teasingly.

"No…" she pointed to an old looking house right next to the grounds.

Kyru followed her hand.

"What's so great about that? It's an old house." Kyru asked.

"It's where Link used to live! It's not just an old house," she said.

"Sorry. I didn't know, ok!" Kyru said grudgingly.

Sigh. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. You want to go explore it?" Aria asked hopefully.

"Well…didn't you have something to do with Sara?" Kyru remembered.

"Oh no! I forgot! We'll have to do it later and with Sara too." Aria hurried off to see Sara.

When she got to Sara's house, she found it empty. 'Now what was it I was going to do with her?' she wondered. 'O no! I'm supposed to help her at the shop for 5 rupees a day! I totally forgot! She'll be so mad at me!' And with that, Aria streaked to Sara's Deku Nut Shoppe as fast as she could go.

This shop was different from the Kokiri store. It only sold Deku Nuts, but in different sizes, unlike the Kokiri store which sold Deku Nuts only in 5's or 10's. Sara was the owner and ran it without any help. But now, competition with the other shop was fierce and Sara needed help, so Aria said she'd help for free; but Sara insisted on paying her, 5 rupees a day.

Sara understood that Aria was exhausted from working all day and wanted her to rest, but Aria insisted on working her shift. The sales were good but all Aria wanted to do was sleep. She tiredly trudged home. As she lay down in the soft bed, she suddenly remembered the house. 'Tomorrow I'll do it,' she promised herself, 'Tom-,' then she yawned and fell asleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she quickly finished all three of her jobs, got Ki to guard the meadow for Kyru, got Sara to take a break and all three went to the old house of Link, that nobody used. When they reached the house, they climbed up the strong rope ladder, one by one. Sara was the first to walk into the house. What she saw amazed her. The furniture was still intact; there was one bed against the forward wall, a table and two chairs to the right and a large tree stump in the middle where the rest of the tree was hollowed out to make the house. She was the one who figured out if it was the right house or not. Sara knew it was because on the wall was a yellowed, very faded, barely legible paper that listed times, dates, and pounds of things that the old Link of the Kokiri was said to have done, and all his accomplishments was listed on the paper. Aria ran over and read it aloud to the others:

"Largest Fish caught: 10 pounds
Most Horse Archery points: 1025 pts.
Most Bugs Squished: 10 bugs"

Thinking 'Eww! Bugs squished?'

"Let's look around for a little bit," Aria said.

Sara looked around the table and chairs. There was nothing different than the new houses. Aria looked near the paper of his accomplishment. There was nothing amongst the other furniture or his bed. Kyru searched along the line of the stump. There was nothing. Then he knocked on the tree stump and it was hollow, also, he saw a faint line on the top of it that looked like it could be pried open. The others crowded around him and he told them what he'd found.

"This is it!" he said excitedly. The others anticipated something great. He pried it open with a Deku Stick. Inside was a piece of paper.

It read:

The Triforce is hidden deep within and is your destiny,
Wisdom, Courage, Power,
If you have Wisdom, you will be superior,
If you have Courage, you will not cower,
If you have Power, you will be strong;

The chosen Ones must search,
Across fire and ashes,
Through dark green forests,
In light blue waters,
For the One and Only Triforce;

The Ones will not find it easy to get,
But will search until the Needs are met,
Help is not very easy to find,
But Hope, Faith, and Prudence are there if they pay them mind;

Over land of Old,
Through blinding desert lands,
Around trees of many,
Children come as the Keepers of Destiny.

"Well, obviously, whoever wrote this isn't a poet," Kyru grinned, breaking the silence.

"Now you've got to let us talk to the Deku Tree," Sara said, "So we can figure this out."

"No, I don't think so. Only one person is allowed to see the Deku Tree at one time, remember?" Kyru ordered, "Aria can but you can't. She is the one who started all this Link stuff, you know."

All this time, Aria had just been staring at the sheet of paper, reading it over and over again. Finally, she spoke, "No, I'm not going to talk to the Deku Tree."

They all stared at her like she was crazy.

"I'm going to get my shield first. We won't tell anyone but Ki, ok?" Aria said firmly.

The others grudgingly agreed and trudged out of the house. By the end of the week, Aria had worked up 100 rupees. She would spend 40 rupees getting her Kokiri wood shield. As she headed to the shop to get her weapon, she spotted Ki, Myra, and Kyru, who all seemed to be arguing. She was in such a good mood, she decided she could even stand Myra for once. As she approached, Myra turned to face her.

"Look who it is, the little sneak," Myra said.

"What's going on guys?" Aria asked, ignoring Myra.

Kyru sighed. "Myra saw you and the Kokiri Sword and insists that you stole it."

"I haven't! You know it!" Aria answered.

"You're keeping all the glory for yourself, selfish brat," Myra insisted.

"What do you want me to do?" Aria asked.

"You'll have to compete in something against one of the others, but not me, Kyru, or Sara," Ki answered.

"I'll go against one of the boys," Aria declared, "Then I'll get my shield."

Later that afternoon, Aria was in her house, getting ready for the big battle. She put on a new green tunic, hooked on a belt and sword sheath, and pulled on new brown boots. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a green tie and decided that she was ready to go.

"This is an obstacle course," Ki pointed over to where the boys had set up a little makeshift course that afternoon. "The rules are that none of the watchers or the players can help or hurt one another. And you must finish the whole course. Begin!"

With Sara and Kyru cheering loudly for her, she ran as fast as she could toward a wooden bar, erected for jumping. But the bar was too high for her to jump so she slid gracefully under it. Her opponent, Karon, was a tall, lanky boy and jumped easily over it. But he momentarily stopped for after his jump to get footing and Aria was in the lead. The next obstacle was jumping through little rope holes. The point was to be graceful and Aria did it cleanly, not even touching any ends of it. But Karon did it better and now he was in the lead. Then came another high bar, and they both did the same as before. They were now tied and all they had to do was sprint. At the last second, Aria pulled ahead and crossed the finish line. The Kokiri children cheered crazily for her; it was the first time any girl had ever beaten a boy in an obstacle race, even though they had accused her of stealing the sword. She was allowed to keep the sword and she proudly walked into the Kokiri shop to buy her shield. It was a proud day for her, but it became even better when she got to talk to the Deku Tree.

She stood in front of it, not knowing what to say.

"Uh…Deku Tree?" she barely whispered.

"Thou art worthy to see me, young Aria," the Tree spoke suddenly, "Like the legendary Link, many adventures await you. Be brave and strong, my child. Stay hopeful and faithful through your entire journey. It will be beyond your worst dreams. Here, take these two items to aid you in your journey," the Deku Tree said.

He gave Aria the Kokiri Slingshot and the legendary Fairy Ocarina, given to the Link of the Kokiri by his friend Saria, the Sage of the Forest.

"Go, help the Hyrulians get the Triforce back and restore peace. It is your destiny," the Deku Tree informed her.

Aria was so excited, she rushed out of the meadow and forgot to ask about the paper. She forgot all about it until the very next day, as she was getting ready to leave the village. She took a shoulder bag and flung it onto her green tunic clad back. In the bag were these items: 20 Deku Nuts, 10 Deku Sticks, the Fairy Ocarina, another green tunic, a canteen of water, and some food. She hooked the Kokiri Sword and the Kokiri Slingshot to her belt. Then, she attached her Kokiri shield to the bag across her back. As she tied her long blond hair up, Sara, Kyru, and Ki came into her house.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Ki asked anxiously.

"Yes, I have to. The Deku Tree said so," Aria answered. Her face softened. She turned around and hugged her friends tight.

"I'll come back, I promise," she said in the midst of the hug, "I'll miss you guys."

Then Aria, the 12-year-old Kokiri girl, moved to the edge of the village, to the part where none were supposed to leave the forest. She turned and waved to her friends, ducked, and went through the tunnel.

To be continued….

Note: Aria's story continued in the Keepers of Destiny

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