Link visits the Wind Shrine, which has two statues. One is destroyed, but the other is intact and has markings that look suspiciously like a tune to conduct with the Wind Waker. Link takes out the wand and waves it around to learn the Wind’s Requiem, a song that lets him change the wind’s direction. Given the name of the wand and the game, I would guess this will be one of the most important songs he can learn. Zephos, the wind god, comes by on a cloud to explain the mechanics to Link. He also mentions his brother, Cyclos, whose monument is the destroyed one at the shrine, and is annoyed about that and uses the wind to torment people. He leaves Link with a request: chastise his brother if he sees cyclones while sailing.
The King of Red Lions says the next destination is to the south, so Link changes the wind to a north wind, and they set sail. Before they can get too far away from the island, they’re interrupted by a fish. The fish can somehow see Link’s chart, and notes that it’s pretty sparsely filled in. Link opens up the chart, and the fish fills in Dragon Roost Island on it. He further tells Link there’s a peculiar cave on the island that can only be accessed by flying. That’s all he can do for Link, but he offers to spread word to his fellows who hang out by islands in the sea. If Link lures them with bait, they’ll also fill in locations on the chart, and give hints about other things to do on the sea. He tells the King of Red Lions that his debt is filled, and takes off.
The next island’s way to the south, giving Link a chance to explore the islands along the way, bait the fish, get his map updated, and learn some hints. The first island he passes is Fire Mountain, another volcano that’s rumored to have treasure inside. The fish says to get the treasure, he’ll have to go west of Windfall Island and get something that will let him freeze the flames. The next island is Eastern Triangle Island, where the fish talks about the power of fairies, and tells Link he can get a bottle on a submarine to the south. The final island to pass on the way south is Bomb Island, where the fish hints about something happening at sea on nights with a third (waning) quarter moon. The submarine the last fish hinted at is here, and Link finds a few Bokoblins and, indeed, a second bottle. Also, there’s one other feature of the grappling hook I didn’t document: it can be used to steal treasure from enemies, turning a random drop (Joy Pendants from the Bokoblins) into a guaranteed get.
Finally, Link arrives at his destination: Forest Haven. Here, he’s charged with getting Farore’s Pearl from the Great Deku Tree. First, the mailbox is bouncing around with a response from the mail helper’s mother with a heart piece. Also, the bait shop boat has made its way here as well, and Link can fill up his bait bag now that he knows how useful baiting fish is. Then, to get to the Deku Tree, Link has a long climb ahead of him. It’s filled with enemies, primarily Boko Babas, but there are a couple octoroks Link can kill by batting their rocks back at them. Finally, Link comes to the Deku Tree’s home, and when he finally gets close to the Tree, he finds it covered in chuchus. Link knocks them loose and kills them all, freeing the Deku Tree to speak.
First the Tree speaks in Hylian, to Link’s bewilderment. He lifts Link up, and apologizes; seeing Link dressed like the Hero of Time momentarily confused him. He already suspects that Link was brought to the island by the King of Red Lions, and Link confirms his suspicion. This also confirms what the Tree believes: that the monsters congregating around the island are doing so because Ganon has returned. He calls to the Koroks, a group of plant creatures who are hiding in his branches, to show themselves because Link is not their enemy. He says the Koroks used to have human forms – seemingly implying they were the Kokiri before. (The music in the area samples both the Kokiri Village and Lost Woods themes from Ocarina of Time.)
Link arrived at an important time – the Koroks are due to perform an annual ritual. The Tree promises to give the pearl to Link after the ritual, but before they can begin, Linder, one of the Koroks, comes in saying that another, Makar, fell into the Forbidden Woods. The Tree asks Link if he’d be willing to go rescue Makar. Before Link can answer, Linder reminds the Tree that Link can’t get to the Woods because he can’t fly. The Deku Tree comes up with a solution, creating an item high in its branches. Link needs to go up to get it, requiring a fun series of being tossed around by Baba Buds, with the occasional grappling hook swing thrown in for variety. Eventually, Link gets to the top and claims the Deku Leaf, allowing him to create gusts of wind on the ground, and can be used as a glider.
Link’s ready to enter the next dungeon – which, by the way, used to be the Kokiri Village, and is now a place of evil. This game just wants to break my heart into a billion pieces, doesn’t it?
Next: I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
