#it's so amazing to me that these little tiny jumping spider slings

[kedreeva]

Saw a little guy sitting on Artemis, so I offered my hand and he jumped right to me. I let him go free next to my chair, and 20 minutes later he turned up again. So the second time I set him free on a sapling near my back door and turned around to find my good old boy on the frame.

[windskull]

The heart of a Hero: Chapter 3

For more information about this fic, check the links on my tumblr.

Chapter 3: Queen Gohma

Link had not expected the inside of the Deku tree to be so… hollow. As the trio entered, he took a moment to look around. The ceiling stretched far above him, so high up, that he couldn't even make out where it ended. Wood cut off at odd intervals, creating ledges that he could stand on and jump from. And vines grew along the walls, giving him a way to climb higher. A large hole opened in the floor, offering access to the Deku Tree's roots. Or it would, if it were not for the layer of a thick, web – like substance blocking access.

Navi flew ahead, zipping past a Deku Baba that popped up and tried to make a snack of her, stopping at a wall of vines leading up. "Link, you guys should be able to climb higher from here!" She called out.

Link nodded and raced ahead, swinging his sword at the carnivorous plant as he ran by. Skull Kid followed behind, blowing a dart through his flute at the stem to sever it and finish the job, but stopped to pick up the seeds the monster left behind before catching up. As Link carefully picked a handhold in the vines, his friend spoke up from behind him.

"See you up there!" Skull Kid responded, pointing to the ledge above before jumping, vanishing in a flurry of leaves.

"Wow, can you do that too, Link?" Navi asked.

Link shrugged before resuming his climb. "Probably," he voiced quietly. But he'd yet to manage to pull him off. Despite the magical abilities of his kind, he'd yet to manage to perform much magic. In fact, the only thing he'd managed to pull off thus far is making plants sprout just a little faster. But one day, he was certain he could be as good at magic as Skull Kid!

As he reached the top and pulled himself up, he caught notice of his friend a little further down the path, checking something on the ground out before sniffing the air. Navi flew ahead to check it out too, leaving him to hurry and play catch up this time.

"Do you smell that?" Skull Kid asked when he reached the two. He paused, sniffing. The air here was damp and earthy in scent but had just the edge of something not quite right. But he couldn't quite place it. His friend pointed up to the vines in front of them. "There's skulltulas up there," he reported.

Link glanced upward, catching notice of a something skittering on the wall in the dim light. Navi fluttered a little higher to check it out, then returned to them to confirm it. "There's several crawling along the vines up there. If they spot you, they'll attack. You should find some way to take them out from down here."

"Oh, I can do that!" Skull Kid responded waving his flute in the air. He took a couple steps back, and when Navi flew up to point out one of the spider-like monsters, he blew a dart through with a "pftweet" sound. The skulltula screeched, and dropped from above, dead by the time it hit the ground. "Hey, Link we could totally make a meal out of that, are you hungry? We never finished lunch."

Link opened his mouth to respond, but before either of them could move, the monster vanished in a small puff of flame.

"These monsters aren't your regular skulltulas," Navi chirped. "They're made from pure evil magic, instead of being natural born, likely a part of the curse on the Deku Tree. They just vanish when you kill them, since they don't truly have a physical form to begin with."

"Aw, that's no fair," Skull Kid groaned. "What if I'm hungry?"

"You eat bugs?" Navi asked.

"You don't?"

"Why would I? That's gross! Link, don't tell me you eat bugs too?"

Link stared for a moment, then just shrugged and gave a sheepish smile.

"Ew! Why?"

"I mean," Skull Kid interjected. "They can't eat us if we eat them first. A termite infestation is literally the worst thing that could happen to us skull kids. Do you have any idea how painful it is to have your wooden body eaten alive by those things? Do you know how hard it is get rid of them once they burrow inside of you? It's pretty gross, the burrow tiny holes to get inside and squirm-"

"Alright alright, sorry I asked!"

Satisfied with the reaction, Skull Kid turned his attention to something at his feet and gave it a nudge. "So, look what I found over here. I think we should keep it, we could totally pull some great pranks with this!

Link looked down to see a small, hand carved slingshot laying on the ground. As he leaned over to place his sword on the ground to pick it up, he could tell that it had been there a while. And yet, it was still in decent condition. He pulled it back experimentally, then gave his friend an enthusiastic grin.

Skull Kid seemed satisfied with the answer. He reached into his pocket, digging around until he found a few of the deku seeds that he had picked up earlier. "Here, try using these, I bet you can hit that other skulltulla up there!"

Link pocketed most of the seeds, keeping one out as ammo. Pulling the sling back, he took careful aim, then released. With a thwack the second skulltula fell to the ground and disappeared in a fire like the first one.

He looked back to give his friend an enthusiastic smile and, after pocketing the slingshot for later use, reached down to pick up his sword and began to climb the second set of vines. By the time he reached the top, Skull Kid was already waiting for him.

"Took you long enough! Link when we're done saving this big old tree, we're working on your magic skills."

Instead of responding, Link took a look around. The ceiling of the room was just barely visible in the dim lighting of the room. Far below, the floor was visible, light filtering in from the entrance. Most of the walkway was surrounded by the thick, sticky web from before. But there were a few open ledges visible around the path.

As the group approached one of the ledges, Navi flew up high. "Big skulltula up here," Navi announced, zipping around the bug.

"Don't tell me those are gonna disappear too," Skull Kid grumbled as they approached, waiting for it to drop. "Their legs make the best crunchy snacks."

Link gripped his sword tightly as the bug - a bug bigger than him - dropped down in front of him. It spun backwards in an attempt to knock him off his feet, but he sprang back just in time, before leaping forward with a battle cry. With one neat slice down the center of its exposed abdomen, the bug fell to the ground, dead, before disappearing in a puff of flame and smoke like the others had.

"Of course."

Link was the first to venture out onto the ledge. From his vantage point, he could make out the hole in the floor almost directly below him. And as he looked around to the other side of the path they had taken, he could not make out any other ways to go.

"I think…" Navi started, taking her time to consider her idea carefully. "I think if you were to jump, you would have enough force to break through the webs. And the webs would break your fall, so you shouldn't get hurt by it."

Link considered for a moment. But before he could come to a conclusion on if it was a good idea or not, Skull Kid sprang past him, pulling his legs up into his chest to do a cannonball as he fell through the air. Not wanting to lose the material to break his fall or be outdone, Link followed suit. Instead of a cannonball, however, he chose to jump while swinging his sword down in front of him.

The webs had already started to sag under his friend's weight when Link landed on them, and he only lost the tiniest bit of momentum before they broke under the combined weight and the two began to fall again. Fortunately, a shallow pool of water below them broke the remainder of the fall sending up two large splashes as they made contact.

It took a moment for Link to orient himself. Water was already seeping in through the gaps around his joints, soaking into his wooden body. As soon as he saw a raised ledge in the shallows, he swam over to it and then climbed up onto dry land, Skull Kid right behind him.

"Aw, water, really?" The child grumbled, shaking with a rattle, causing water to fling off his clothing in all directions. "I hate the feeling of getting soaked. It's good we got out fast, but it's still going to take forever to dry out!"

Link gave him a nod of agreement, reached down to wring some of the water out of his clothing, and then lifted his head to look around as a small puddle formed around him. They appeared to be in a cavern under the tree now, roots weaving between the rock and dirt surrounding the area. Across a small gap of water, he could see another room, blocked off by more of the same thick web they'd been coming across. To the side, there was a taller ledge across the water. Too tall to just climb up; the only way forward for the time being appeared to be beyond the webs.

Backing up a few steps first, Link steadied himself, then made a running leap to cross gap to check out the blockade. Skull Kid followed a moment after and looked them over.

"Do you think you could cut these down?" He asked.

There was only one way to find out. Link tightened his grip on the sword and swung with all his might. The strike made barely a noticeable dent in the mess of web, and when he pulled the sword back, bits of web clung to the blade. He shook his head.

"What about fire?" Navi suggested.

"Fire is an absolutely terrible idea." Skull Kid responded. "Do you have any idea how deadly fire is? Besides, where would we even get fire in a place like this?"

"You guys didn't see the torch behind you when you jumped?"

Link turned back. Sure enough, the ledge they had just came from had a single torch lighting it up. It was amazing that they didn't notice one of the few sources of light, really.

"Who just puts a torch under a tree? Why would we notice something like that?" Skull Kid responded.

"Because it's so out of place?" Navi answered with a slight frustrated edge to her voice, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As for who put it here. Probably some of the more intelligent monsters lurking around down here. Why though, I have no clue."

Link chose to just shrug; it did not matter much to him. All that matted is that they find a way to get the fire to the web. He started to walk back towards the edge, but let out a cry when he suddenly felt something snap around his ankle and pull him off his feet.

He twisted around, just in time to see a deku baba plant retracting, preparing to strike again. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet, just barely avoiding another bite. As it reared up to strike again however, a sharp, pointy object – one of Skull Kid's darts - stabbed it in the head, stunning it and causing it to stiffen up in shock. Link wasted no time in thrusting forward to cut it off at the base, sending it toppling over.

The head stiffened and shriveled, leaving behind a nut and several smaller seeds. The stem also stiffened, leaving behind something like a stick.

Skull Kid moved to pick up the nut - a favorite pranking item of his - while Link sat about the task of picking up the seeds for use as ammo.

Once he had all the seeds, Link too a moment to assess the damage around his ankle. There were small punctures in his bark, but the plant had not bitten down hard enough to break through the outer layer. It might sting for a little bit like a scratch, but he would be fine.

Satisfied with his condition, he glanced back to the stick, and an idea formed in his head.

Setting his sword aside for a moment, he reached down to pick up the stick, and with a running leap, jumped back across to the first ledge. "Stand back," he called out to his friend as he approached the torch. With a slightly unsteady hand, he reached out, keeping as much distance between his wooden body and the fire as he could, and lit the stick. As soon as it caught fire, he spun around and made a run for it, leaping back across the gap and sprinting to the web covered area.

As soon as the fire made contact with the webs, the webs burst into flame, spreading across until it all burned into nothing. Link immediately tossed the stick aside into the water and moved to pick up his sword again.

Skull Kid let out a sigh of relief. "Don't do that again." And with that, the three continued on into the formerly blocked off room.

This room was almost entirely empty, save for a single bush in the middle. Or, not a bush, as it turned out. When the boys drew close, the bush sprang up, revealing glowing orange eyes and a wooden body. But not the body of another skull kid. No, this one was one of the short, leafy Deku Scrub people.

The wooden creature eyed the boys warily, glancing up to the fairy flying behind them, and then to Link. "You," it began, addressing Skull Kid finally. "Why are you here?"

"Oh you know," Skull Kid responded nonchalantly, stepping out in front. "Playing hide and seek, causing mischief, normal skull kid things."

The scrub seemed to consider his words for a moment. "You should leave. It is not safe here. Unless… Perhaps, you're looking for a special kind of mischief?" The monster's eyes seemed to twinkle in the dim light.

The words seemed to catch Skull Kid's attention, and even Link seemed to perk up a little. "What kind of mischief are we talking about?" He asked.

"Oh, A very special type of mischief, I can promise you that. Queen Gohma can tell you all about what to do. But you'll have to get past my brother's first. If you speak to them in the correct order, they'll let you inside." The scrub stood up pointing in the direction of a passage behind him. "The order is two, three, one. Or twenty three is number one, if that helps you remember. Just follow the path, crawl through the little passageway, and then jump down the hole when you get back to the big room. You can't miss it."

And without another word, the scrub burrowed back into the ground.

The trio continued once again, Skull Kid leading the way with a spring in his step. "Wow, I was just joking about the mischief, but I bet we can do something really hilarious when we get to the bottom. Do you think there's some really cool pranking items? Do you think we can totally spook some of the kokiri?"

Navi hung back a little for a moment until they entered the next room. "You… you're not really planning on listening to him, are you?"

The Skull Kid paused, then looked back. "Why not? He seemed like a nice enough guy. Deku Scrubs aren't that bad if you get to know them. In fact, I'm sure they even have their own kingdoms out there! Sure they don't trust many people. But humans attack them too, why would they?"

"I'm not worried about that," Navi responded, flying in front. She came to a stop in front of a ledge. Water stretched out in front of them, and another ledge was just barely visible on the other side of the room. A large, floating platform akin to a raft sat nearby, and Skull Kid hopped down onto it, Link following after. Using his sword, he pushed off to make them begin floating towards the other side.

"I'm worried about this 'Queen Gohma,' and the type of mischief he was talking about." She lowered her voice as the reached the far side and climbed up onto solid ground. "I have a feeling this 'queen' of theirs is the cause of the Deku Tree's curse. We probably are going to have to fight her."

There was a small cliff up ahead. Link tossed his sword up to the top and then, with a running start, sprang forward in an attempt to grab hold of the top. He pulled himself up, but came just short. Skull Kid chose to instead use his teleportation magic again, then sank down to his stomach to offer Link a hand to help pull him up.

"Well, wouldn't fighting her still be mischievous anyways? Either way it's a win-win for me!"

Passing through another small room, the path curved back to the right, opening up to another large room. "Watch out, Big Skulltula up ahead," Navi warned, prompting the boys to each pull out a weapon and fire a shot above. The body dropped like a rock, and like those before, disappeared in a small burst of oddly colored flame. The room now appeared to be empty, as well as a dead end.

"Do you think this is where that crawlspace is?" Skull Kid asked, beginning to move along the left side of the room in search of a hole. Link took up on the idea, searching the other side. After a moment, his wall curved out, and in the dim light, Link could just barely make out the entrance of a hole. More light seemed to pour from the other side.

"Found it!" He called.

"Link! Watch out!"

At the fairy's sudden cry, Link whipped around, sword in hand, just in time to swing blindly at the monster charging at him. It bounced back, letting out a shrill shriek.

Whatever it was, he was not quite sure. It walked on two widespread legs, hobbling this way and that. A single, almost leaf shaped object grew off the top of its round body. And in the center, it had a single emerald eye. As he steadied himself and positioned himself for a fight, its eye turned red. The round appendage at the top also turned red and pointed towards him. Then it sprang. He responded with a thrust, sword driving into its eye. It let out a garbled cry before falling back, dead. It too, like the skulltulas, disappeared in a puff of flame.

But no sooner than he had defeated the one, he heard a crackling noise above. Glancing up, he let out a cry as he noticed another one, half hatched, dropping from above. Unfortunately, he had not noticed in time, and before he could move, the monster fell on top of him, knocking him off his feet.

The creature hopped away, and Link scrambled to his feet before it could strike again. Across the room he could see Skull Kid engaging with a similar monster.

The monster gave the same tell-tale sign of attack as the previous had. As it charged, this time he rolled to the side, already on his feet by the time it turned to face him again. It scrambled back as he charged. He swung wildly to the right, and then to the left, both blows connecting. While it was reeling, he charged forward, driving his sword deep into the monster's eye. With an anguished cry, it slumped over, then vanished.

Safe for now, he turned his attention back to Skull Kid, and the monster that he had been fighting. Fortunately, his friend seemed to be fine. In fact, he seemed more than fine, having made a game out of the fight. When the monster would charge, he would teleport away, leaving a few leaves behind in his wake. When he reappeared, it would turn, and he'd blow a dart into it's eye. It seemed almost blind now, green liquid oozing down its body.

With it focused on Skull Kid, Link turned to finish the job. With a loud yell, he sprang forward and struck from behind, bringing his sword down and cutting a neat gash into its body.

Like the first two, it gave a shrill cry, then vanished in flame.

Now safe, the adrenaline rush crashed, And Link sank to the ground for a moment, in need of catching his breath.

Skull Kid rushed over to his friend's side, lowering his weapon. "Link? Are you okay?" Navi, too, flew over to look the boy over.

Link nodded. On one hand, he ached all over from the impact of the monster. On the other, he wasn't in that bad of condition, all things considered. The only area that hurt a little worse was his right arm, which, when he held it up, he could tell had been scraped by the monster's claws when it hopped away. Fortunately, it just seemed to be a minor scrape; some of the top layers of his bark had been stripped away, but the injury did not reach the inner parts of his body. He couldn't even detect a sign of amber sap seeping out.

"I'm fine… what were those?"

"Gohma larva, I think," Navi explained, hovering close to check the injury. "I don't think we're going to get out of here without a fight."

Link gave her a nod. He should have expected as much. How ironic, that his friend stealing a sword had turned out in their favor.

"We should be getting close… Are you okay to get moving?" The fairy asked before flying up higher to bob up and down. When Link gave her a nod, she landed on his shoulder.

One last glance around the room for trouble, and Link stood up, leading back to the spot he'd found the hole. He got down on his hands and knees, and began to crawl his way through, Skull Kid following after.

"Hee hee, I see your butt," Skull Kid giggled childishly from behind him as they crawled along. Link too giggled in response.

Fortunately, the crawlspace was not long, and Link soon found himself back in the room they had first fallen into. He stood up, brushed himself off, and turned back to offer his friend a hand. Now that they were up here, they could see the big hole the deku scrub had been talking about. Glancing over the edge, they could see another dimly lit pool of water.

Skull Kid groaned. "Well, here we go again." Again, he jumped first, tucking his legs in to hopefully avoid injury in the fall. Link followed behind and landed with a splash beside him.

In front they could see dry ground, and the two quickly swam over, Navi fluttering behind. In front of them, at the far end of the room, they could see three bushes like before. The three scrubs.

After taking a moment to dry off a little, with a giggle, Skull Kid approached first, running for the middle one, and gave it a light tap on the snout when it raised up. "Hi!" He turned to the one on the right and tapped it as well. "Hello!" Then finally he cartwheeled over to the one on the left and gave it a light tap. "Hey, did I do it right? We wanna see your queen."

The scrub blinked, taken aback by the actions. "You… Are you one of us? I suppose you know the code but… He turned his gaze back to warily stare at the fairy resting on Link's shoulders. "Why does your friend come in kokiri clothing? Why the fairy?"

"Oh he's just a little odd is all." Skull Kid responded quickly, grinning and hoping his bluff came out as convincing. "She's just here in case we need a little pick-me up. Did you know humans sometimes catch fairies in bottles in hopes they'll heal them later? It's so weird. I saw a kokiri do it once. I think it was a kokiri."

The scrub considered his words for a moment. If he could, Skull Kid would have been sweating.

"Let me speak with the queen, you wait right here."

"Hold on just a second!" Skull Kid responded quickly, before the scrub could move. He reached his hand into the pocket. "Maybe this will convince you we mean no harm?" Suddenly, he whipped his hand out, tossing a deku nut onto the ground. There was a sudden flash of bright light.

"RUN!" he called to Link. Link did not have to be told twice. While the three scrubs were still recovering, the two dashed past, into the final room.

The room was dark. So dark, that the only light was the faint glow of Navi, and the two skull kid's eyes. And something dim, on the ceiling. Link looked up, and then cried out in alarm.

The monster dropped from above, landing in front of the trio. Although they could not make the features out well in the dark, it appeared to be similar in appearance to the smaller larval monsters they had battled earlier. Only bigger. Much, much bigger.

Gohma.

The monster's eye glowed red, and it charged, attempting to slam down on the two boys. They scattered, Link rolling to the side, and Skull Kid teleporting a short distance away.

"Okay, this is starting to get a bit tiring," Skull Kid called out, referring to the dodge. "I may have overdone it a little! I'm not sure how much more magic I can do right now!"

Gohma turned its attention to the other boy, and for a moment, he froze in place. She charged again, swinging out and sending him flying back several feet with an "oomph." By the time he scrambled to his feet, she was already rushing at him again.

"Skull Kid!" Navi called out from the other side as Link ran across the room. "Shoot its eye when it turns red, its eye!"

Skull Kid didn't have to be told twice. As it made another attempt at slamming on top of him, he sprang back, and then shot a dart into the monster's eye. The monster cried out in anger, then dropped to the ground, temporarily stunned.

Link, having reached his friend, lunged forward, driving his sword into Gohmas eye, then pulled it back out with a twist. The monster screamed in agony, green blood gushing from the wound. Blindly, it swiped out to try and sweep him off his feet. Link jumped, but wasn't quite fast enough, and found himself knocked to the ground. He just barely had time to scramble out of the way as the monster came charging, rushing past him to climb up onto the wall and then ceiling.

Gohma turned back towards them, blood dripping down onto the floor. Link motioned to Skull Kid to prepare himself, and the other boy readied another dart. As soon as Gohma steadied itself for another attack, he shot it, and, caught off guard, the monster fell to the floor, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Not wanting to waste another minute, Link rushed in, this time hacking and slashing at the surface of the eye until it seemed to be covered in bloody gashes. The monster tried to swing out at him again, but this time he was ready. And as soon as it finished its movement he jumped driving the sword as deep into its eye as he could with his momentum.

It screeched, and thrashed, and threw Link off, sword still buried deep inside. He rolled a couple times with an "oof," and got to his feet just in time to see the monster blindly crash into a pillar. It stumbled, once, twice, then let out a dying scream before falling to the ground, slowly disintegrating into flames and dust, leaving only Link's sword behind.

There was a long, tense moment of silence, then a ring of light appeared in the center of the room. Link limped over to pick up his sword. None of his injuries appeared to be serious, fortunately – just scrapes and possibly a few small cuts – but he would feel them for some time yet.

"We did it!" Skull Kid cheered before racing over to his friend to give him a hand. "That was so cool! Totally gross, but cool! Too bad its body disappeared, we could have made a week's worth meals out of her, if she was edible! Come on, let's get out of here and go celebrate!"

And with those words, the trio stepped into the circle of light, and relaxed as a gentle, warm light surrounded them.