The withered forest was brown and stained with a black, thick ichor. Bodies of various beasts and monsters littered the ground with stab wounds and blackened skin. A lone figure stepped from the the dry brush and wiped the very same ichor off his blade. Daphnes sheathed his sword and strapped the shield to his back as he went to inspect the bodies. This was no ambush by ganondorf or a band of marauders. Simply a random assortment of beings trying to find a new home. Unfortunately for them, this home was already taken.<br/><br/>The great land of Hyrule was a land of shadows and demons. Far from the golden paradise it once was, stories of fertile land and vast cities is all but a memory to some, and legend to most. Daphnes knew otherwise however. Urged on by his repertoire of stories and legends from his new family.<br/><br/>Finding nothing of interest among the corpses, He made his way back to this home. An outcrop of lush green, maybe the last in all Hyrule. Even this is a shadow of it's former days. The Kokiri woods once spanned the entire withered woods. Magic alone however, was not enough to sustain something so large in a world with so little sunlight.<br/><br/>Branch after branch snapped as he made his way back to the outcrop, but soon the snaps faded to the soft padding of green. Leaves grew, grass poked upwards, and fruit was plentiful. It was a last paradise, and to Daphnes it was a false one. He pushed through the softer brush as he did the dryed, and it all gave way to his girth.<br/><br/>Few kokiri played in the distance. Once a childlike people of whimsy and laughter, the immortal kokiri have had to grow up, literally and mentally, the magic of the forest keeping it alive, instead of its people. Living an eternity as a child, only to suddenly age and go through puberty was a very trying time for their psyche.<br/><br/>Seeing them all finally put a smile on Daphnes' face. The people of this forest had become his family over the years, and many of them saw Daphnes as a makeshift father-figure in this time of struggle and change. Though more often than not the kokiri would retell their stories of ages past. He particularly enjoyed Mido's tale of the first hero, and how he aided his best friend the hero through his trials. They would not be his destination for now though.<br/><br/>The Great Deku tree, a sentient goliath of an oak, was who he came to see. The canopy of it's branches could be seen throughout the withered forest, like a great beacon to the living as a last ray of hope. As Daphnes could see however, it was a beacon with no moral compass towards good or evil.<br/><br/>Upon the tree now he greeted it as an old friend. "Good morrow old friend. I've cleared the outskirts once more so we shouldn't see any trouble from the wild ones for today at least."<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-family: Triforce;">"The presense of evil is gone from my roots. You surprise me in your age Daphnes. Unfortunately I cannot let you rest. Though evil is gone, faces creep into the forest from many sides. Faces I have not seen since this darkness began. Go south and greet the guest off the coast, I will send kokiri to greet the others."</span></span><br/><br/>The urgency in the trees booming voice was not missed, but Daphnes could hear something that he had never before. He could not place it but the great tree's tone was different. Perhaps he would ask about it on his return, as the prospect of the new faces he spoke of was very interesting. With a bow instead of words, he left the clearing once more towards the coast, ready for anything, or anyone for that matter, that he might find in wait.