Stunned, Mido could only stare dumbly as the outsider left with the fairy. The same fairy that had just informed said outsider that he was being summoned by the Great Deku Tree.
Him.
An outsider.
Not Mido. Not Saria. Not even that loser Link. Some random moron who stumbled into the village. It had to be a mistake.
...
Of course! That must have been it! There must have been some sort of mistake! Breaking free of his bewilderment, Mido rushed to catch up with the duo.
Eagerly, Ryouga followed Navi. He didn't know who this 'Great Deku Tree' was, but anything was better than getting kicked out of the village. Maybe he'd even get a meal out of this. It had been a while since he'd last eaten, and the local flora was unfamiliar to him. He preferred not to put together a meal from his surroundings without knowing what he was eating. Doing so had led to more than a few poisoned meals.
Lost in his thoughts, Ryouga failed to notice Mido approaching from behind.
"WAIT!" shouted Mido.
With a start, Ryouga spun around. Navi just groaned.
"What's your business with the Great Deku Tree?" demanded Mido.
"Navi says he summoned me," replied Ryouga.
"He did," confirmed Navi. "Now hurry up! Let's go!"
Turning, Ryouga started to follow Navi through a narrow path between two rocky walls.
Frustrated, Mido fumbled, looking for some sort of excuse. "I don't believe it! You aren't even fully equipped yet!" Mido knew he was reaching for straws, but he didn't care. How dare a mere outsider be more important to his leader than him! "How do you think you're going to help the Great Deku Tree without both a sword and a shield ready?" In all fairness, it was a legitimate point. The forest had grown more dangerous as of late. Monsters had even begun appearing near the village.
As if they had been waiting for Mido's cue, three monstrous plants abruptly burst from the ground around Ryouga. They looked somewhat like gigantic weeds, each ending in a humongous indigo bulb. Which were parted down the middle by snapping purple beaks.
"Link, watch out!" yelled Navi. Ryouga, busy dealing with the suddenly present monsters, failed to register what the fairy had just called him. Mido didn't, and would have said something, but he was too busy running.
"Those are called-" Navi started to say, but she was interrupted by three loud thumps as Ryouga landed three solid blows on the man-eating flora, soundly dispatching of them. "...Wow! No wonder the Great Deku Tree wants your help!"
"Er... Actually, what does he want my help for?" asked Ryouga.
"He'll tell you himself," replied Navi cheerily as she silently amended her opinion of 'Link'. "The Great Deku Tree is right around the corner."
"Alright." Instead of moving, however, Ryouga stared down at the dead plants.
"Is something wrong?" asked Navi.
"No," replied Ryouga as he continued staring. "It's just-" Ryouga's own stomach interrupted him with a loud rumble. "Are these things edible?"
"Great Deku Tree... I'm back!" shouted Navi.
Ryouga held back a gasp. When he had been told that he had been summoned by the Great Deku Tree, he hadn't actually expected it to actually be... well, a tree! (Ryouga was not the brightest crayon in the box.)
Before him stood a massive tree, the trunk of which somehow resembled the face of an old man. A sad, tired old man that was had lived far too long and been through far too many sad experiences. Ryouga almost expected it to begin talking. And then, much to his shock, it did.
"Oh... Navi... Thou hast returned..." said the tree in a tired, sad voice. "Link... Welcome..."
Ryouga stood quietly, too stunned to speak, let alone correct the giant talking tree. Or even process the mistake, for that matter.
"Listen carefully to what I, the Great Deku Tree, am about to tell thee... Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless and full of nightmares..." As Ryouga's brain rebooted, he had the distinct notion that he had just missed something important. "As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it... Verily, thou hast felt it... Link... The time has come to test thy courage..." Ryouga's brain hit a new stumbling point. His name wasn't Link. "I have been cursed..." Navi gasped, finally grasping the depth of the situation. Ryouga gasped as well, having just realized that he was being mistaken for someone else. "I need thee to break the curse with thy wisdom and courage." There was a pause, and as Ryouga tried to figure out how to tell the Great Deku Tree that he wasn't this Link person, the point was made moot.
"...Wait... Who art thou?"
"Uh... Ryouga Hibiki, sir."
"WHAT?!" yelped Navi.
"Navi... It seems an outsider has made his way through the Lost Woods..." Nervously, Ryouga scratched the back of his head. "Verily, every moment my powers weaken further... Navi the fairy... Thou must return to the village and retrieve Link..."
"Great Deku Tree, no!"wailed Navi, on the verge of panicking. "There's no time! We have to help you now! We can just get Ryouga to help instead."
"Don't I get a say in this?"
Ignoring Ryouga's complaint, Navi desperately forced her way onward. "If I have to go get Link, arm him, and bring him back here, you might not make it!"
To the Great Deku Tree, the denizens of the woods were like children. If it had the power to do so, it would spare Link the hardship it knew he would have to go through to achieve his destiny. It would spare Navi the heartbreak of knowing that she was too late to save him. And it would spare the Kokiri the grief they would feel from hos death. But no such power existed. Link had to leave the village, perhaps permanently, to save Hyrule. The Great Deku Tree had to die. And poor Navi had to go back and retrieve Link so that they could break the curse, even though it was already too late to save him.
Unless...
"Very well... Ryouga, thou may indeed possess the power necessary to break the curse that has befallen me... It may not be fair, but I must ask thou; dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?"
Ryouga paused. He was tired and hungry from his journey, and there was no guarantee that he would be able to find his way back to the village when he was finished.
"Ryouga, please!" begged Navi
If he were a smarter person, he would have considered that what was being asked of him sounded rather dangerous. If he was a more pragmatic person, he would have asked for something in return. There was nothing to gain from doing this for free, and he might end up hurt or worse.
But Ryouga was neither smart nor pragmatic. He was a marial artist. And it was a martial artist's duty to help those in need.
"Alright," Ryouga agreed.
"Then enter, brave Ryouga, and thou too, Navi..." said the Great Deku Tree, the 'mouth' of the tree sliding open to permit entry to within. "Navi the fairy... Thou must aid Ryouga... And Ryouga... When Navi speaks, listen well to her words of wisdom..."
For some reason, Ryouga suddenly felt that he would come regret the decision he had just made. Ignoring that feeling, he began walking forward.
"Wait, where are you going?!" shouted Navi as Ryouga began walking to the left of the tree. "Ryouga!"
