After all the years of teasing, a fairy has finally come to you! She’s asking you to come with her to go see the Great Deku Tree, so something important must be going on. You’d better listen to her, or else she’ll never shut up…
Your best friend, Saria, is waiting for you at the bottom of the ladder that leads to your loft. She’ll tell you about the Deku Tree and remind you that you should go to see him straightaway. Your house is smack in the middle of the village, so it’s pretty easy to orient yourself. Just head along the path, take the right branch at the fork, and leap across the pond until you see a weaselly fellow standing guard.
This guy’s Mido, the Kokiri boss, and he doesn’t like you one bit. He’s surprised to see your newfound fairy friend, but he still won’t let you see the Deku Tree until you grab yourself a sword and shield and prove you’re a real man. Of course, in a village full of kids this is kind of an odd demand to make, but you have no choice but to acquiesce. Better start looking…
The equipment is actually pretty easy to find. There’s a shield in the forest shop, but as you don’t really start with any money, it might help to pick some up as you look for the sword. From the path Mido’s got blocked off, head back the way you came, but instead of turning back towards your house keep on the westward trail until you see an incline on your left. At the top of the hill is the Forest Training Grounds, a place for kids to play and train to fight the monsters that sometimes come out in the forest.
If you follow the maze of fences to the main field at the back of the grounds, you’ll see a small hole. Approach the hole and press the A button and you’ll crouch down and crawl through it. Crawling is easy - just push the Circle Pad forward to crawl forward and backward to move back.
On the other side of the hole is a small “labyrinth” - although it’s a pretty pathetic one, without much opportunity to get lost. There’s a large boulder rolling around the circuit to the left, and while staying away from giant boulders is usually advised, here you’ll have to defy your intuition and let reckless bravado guide you forwards. The boulder moves counterclockwise, so you’ll want to start off by running to the right.
Follow the circuit and you’ll see a small dead-end on the right that hides a treasure chest. Inside the chest is the Kokiri Sword, the legendary treasure of the Kokiri!
You need 40 Rupees in order to purchase a Deku Shield from the forest shop, so you’d better get searching for some spare change! Luckily there are plenty of places around the forest where you can pick up loose Rupees. Some of the better ones are listed below:
As you approach the forest shop, a young Kokiri girl will call to you, asking you to look over at her using your fairy. This is called L-targeting and is a valuable skill you’ll need to learn if you want to be successful in your quest. Check the Quest Hint below for details on L-targeting.
The forest shop sells all kinds of goods, many of which you can’t use quite yet. You’re here for a Deku Shield, so pay your 40 Rupees (and you should have at least twice that if you followed all the Rupee hints), equip it in the Equipment Subscreen, and go.
With your sword and shield equipped, Mido will have no choice but to let you through to see the Great Deku Tree. On the path beyond, you’ll run into your first-ever enemy: the Deku Baba. Check the enemy hint below for more details.
At the end of the path is the Great Deku Tree. Apparently he’s been cursed, and he beseeches you to enter his hallowed trunk and vanquish the source of the curse. You’re just a kid, but since he believes you’re ready you should probably just suck up your confidence and just do as he asks…
Ocarina of Time screenshots courtesy of AceofSuns. Screenshots will eventually be replaced with 3DS version images, which are not presently available for hopefully obvious reasons.