The darkness had fallen upon the meadows and tree houses of the Kokiri Forest. Saria had once again dared to go outside of her small house. She had waited for the other girls to fall asleep, so they did not follow her into the night. The darkness of the night seemed thicker and heavier these days, but Saria was well aware of what was hidden amongst the shadows. Luckily, this also meant that she could roam around more or less freely without being seen. With a sigh, she started to move slowly across the open field.
The surroundings had changed, but the Kokiri were still the same. To see your home slowly wither had not been easy. As the grass turned brown and the plants died, creatures of evil spawned across the forest. Saria was not new to this as a frequent visitor of the Lost Woods, but these days you rarely saw the Kokiri children outside of their safe homes. Saria was an exception. As she sneaked through the darkness, she held her breath trying to remain as hidden as possible. This was a time where being of a smaller size came in handy. She had done this multiple times before since the downfall of the forest, but it was not easy. As she came close to a drowsy Deku Baba, she prayed to the spirits not to make a sound. If she woke this one up, she was sure she would not be able to make it anywhere near her goal.
When she was finally safe, she let out a sigh of relief while leaning closely up against the outer wall of Mido's house. She looked up towards the sky, knowing that she would only meet darkness. She had no time to dwell over the past. For the sake of the others, she had to remain calm and proceed.
She briefly shook her head to get herself together before straightening herself a bit to reach out for the small edge above her. Pulling herself up with a silent groan, she just managed to swing her leg up and roll onto the small plateau. For a moment, she did not move just to listen to the silence of her home, only broken by the snoring of the hidden enemies. She knew she had to keep moving, but the grass seemed unbelievable soft here so she could not help but let her tiredness sweep over her briefly.
In a moment of weakness, the image of her long lost friend popped up inside of her head. She pressed her eyebrows slightly together, creating a small frown across her forehead as she remembered the sunny days together with the problem free Link. She missed him so much. She knew she could not talk about him, because everyone thought the same of him. In the end, he was the last one to see the Great Deku Tree alive. She could not blame them, but if the only knew what he had done…
She clenched her first a bit, as she slowly opened her eyes, afraid to meet the darkness of the sky once again.
Come on, you cannot let it affect you. Think of the others, she told herself slowly getting up so she could crawl up the ledge on her knees well aware of the Mad Scrub waiting for her when she reached the top. Her movements were slow, but to her relief the snoring sounds from the red plant were so intense that she felt like speeding up a bit still moving on all four.
As soon as she got past the sleeping plant, she heard rustling of leaves behind her. She slowly turned her head around and widnened her eyes a bit when she saw the Scrub moving underneath the leaves.
It's waking up! In a matter of seconds, she got up and started to run. There was no way back now. The last thing she heard from the Kokiri Forest was a screech of anger.
She had never seen anything like them. Big and robust, tanned skin with a hint of orange, those horrible faces and their spears and clubs; their steps were so heavy that she could still hear them resonating far behind her. She knelt down in front of a small stump of tree, panting and gasping as she hid her face in her hands.
She had been in the Lost Woods multiple times. This was her safe haven. Even though it was far more dangerous than the Forest she came from, she felt like she knew the place so well that it could not harm her. She should have known that even this would have changed. She leaned forward, pressed her upper body towards the surface of the small stump. This was where she always sat, played her ocarina peacefully while watching the calm life of the Lost Woods go by. Slowly she regained her breath and pushed herself up. Her body felt heavy. Sweat was running down her face and neck and her hands were shacking just a bit.
Calm down. You have to. She took a deep breath and looked around the meadow. She could not help but raise her eyebrows of surprise: Besides the sound of danger that she had passed, her meadow looked completely the same. The darkness even seemed lighter. Small fireflies were flying about quietly. Before she had realised it, tears had found their way into the corner of her eyes and a faint smile lit up her face. The walls were painted with the light from the fireflies, creating the most beautiful scenario she had ever witnessed. She felt at peace again. The dangers that had swept over her world seemed far gone. She relaxed her shoulders and patted her pocket calmly. From that, another faint light came out, revealing her trusted fairy. She had clearly felt all the emotions that had went through Saria's head, but she seemed to have calmed down just like Saria had.
"I made it," Saria said with a small grin, as the fairy placed herself on Saria's shoulder. She could not comprehend this place. It seemed so odd in a way – like a mirage, but she did not care. It felt like she had found herself; as if she was ready to face whatever challenge came upon her.
Only then did she realise how tired she actually was. All the energy that had flown through her just moments ago had faded away. A yawn escaped her and she stretched her tiny body as much as she could.
"What do you say? Should we get some sleep before we continue?" She looked down at her shoulder only to see the already asleep fairy. Saria picked her up and put her onto the small stump and afterwards lay down beside her. She finally felt that this was the right thing to do – when she woke up, she knew what to do. As she closed her eyes, the meadow seemed to be overwhelmed by shadows, but she was too tired to stay awake. A final, small yawn came over her, before the shadows consumed over her.