The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/The Lost Woods

Whenever you walk through a passage in The Lost Woods, you might inadvertently end up back in Kokiri Forest. It can be easy to get turned around.



Follow Your Ears
Kaepora Gaebora, the lighthearted owl, instructs you to follow the sound of the music. As you stand at each possible exit, only one has music emanating from it. Follow it into the next area. Listen for the music at each passage and follow the tune. Also, if you look down a path and there is a star of light, this indicates a path back to the village. Eventually, this will lead you into the Sacred Forest Meadow.

Note: If this is the first time after you get your sword and shield, you'll certainly get lost. If your intention is revealing the first part of the map, go right and forward to reveal a small part of Goron City. You can't go through because of the flower bombs on the other side. For directions to Sacred Forest Meadow where the Forest Temple is, go right, left, right, left, forward, left and right. It will foreshadow things you'll have to deal with later in the game.

Sacred Forest Meadow
When you reach the meadow, you'll see that a gate blocks your path. If you approach it, a Wolfos will appear. This beast is a tricky foe, but easy to defeat, and you must kill it to open the gate. Enter into the narrow passageway and use your shield to defend yourself against the Mad Scrubs throughout this area, and you will make it to the opposite side. Down a final, narrow passage is a pair of Mad Scrubs blocking a staircase. After dealing with them, you'll enter into a meadow where Saria sits on a stump playing her ocarina.

Special note: You can also do this when you first got your sword and shield. If you defeated the Wolfos prior to this, you can happily skip this section. Alternative method is after taking the Ocarina from Saria, you can go through Lost Woods and Sacred Forest Meadow to acquire the song that would importantly loosen up Darunia's bad mood.

A New Song
Speak to Saria and she will teach you Saria's Song. With it you can speak to her whenever or wherever you are.

Saria's Song 

To exit the Sacred Forest Meadow, go back the way you came, until you see a ladder that will allow you to to bypass the maze. Climb it and head to the hole in the middle. Drop down, and you will find a Fairy Fountain, handy if you happen to have an empty bottle. These fairies can revive you whenever you need them.

Sidequests (optional)
At this point, you can continue on your quest, or you may want to stop off at some of the other attractions woods have to offer.

More Deku Sticks
While in the forest, you may decide to explore a little. Taking the wrong path always leads you out to Kokiri Village. Do this and head back into the Lost Woods, then turn left. A boy Skull Kid is playing and dancing on a stump. Turn left again. Here is the bridge from which you left Kokiri Village earlier. Climb the ladder down the ledge nearby to the and move to the other side of the area and find a Business Scrub. After you defeat him, he offers to increase your Deku Stick capacity in exchange for 40 rupees. You'll be able to carry 20 instead of 10 from here out. It's not much, but it's helpful later on.

Target Practice: more Deku Seeds
From Skull Kid, you go right, back toward the Kokiri entrance, but then straight ahead. Here you find what appears to be a cymbal hanging from a tree. Aiming well with your Fairy Slingshot, you hit it dead-center three times in a row. A Deku Scrub emerges from the top of the tree and give you a larger bag with which to hold Deku Seeds.

Jam Session
Below the target practice area is another stump. Stand on it and two more Skull Kid-types appear. When you pull out your ocarina, they invite you to play some music together. You must repeat whatever they play.

There are three sessions in total. The first session ends after completing a five-note string successfully. For this, you are given a green rupee. The second session ends after completing a six-note string successfully. For this, you receive a blue rupee. The final session ends after you successfully play eight notes equal to theirs. Your reward is a Heart Piece.

Forest Stage: Mask Performance
Any time you have a new mask, drop by the Forest Stage. From the Goron Village entrance, take a right. You'll see a pool of water ahead. Take a left. Take another left. Here you find a meadow with a couple of Business Scrubs. There's a tree at the back. There to the left of the tree is a group of butterflies hovering around the same general area. Walk around this area until you fall through a hole. You've arrived at the Forest Stage.

Put on a mask (not the bunny mask) and approach the front of the stage (the raised portion with the sign on it). Many scrubs will pop up and dance around you joyfully. If you wear the Mask of Truth here, the scrubs will say that you have a most hideous face, but will give you a Deku Nut upgrade anyways. However, this must be done before Link pulls the Master Sword from the pedestal for the very first time. Otherwise the Deku Scrubs will only reward you with just a few rupees instead. And finally wearing the Skull Mask here will give you a Deku Stick upgrade. Wearing the same mask over and over will make them attack you or just stare at you.

See ../The Happy Mask Shop/ for more details.