Authors Notes: Hey, thanks so much for clicking on this fic! I'm Usagi, and I shall be your fic writer for this evening (I don't really care if you're reading this in the evening or not...so HA!). It's from Saria, the forest sage's, point of view in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I just felt like doing this cause I needed a serious fic, and Saria happens to be my favorite character! - (I even dressed up as her for Halloween...they all called me "peter pan" cries I'm so misunderstood!) Anyway, please read and review, but no flames (pretty-please!). Now, enjoy the show!
Disclaimer: I don't own any Legend of Zelda stuff. So THERE!
.:first:.
The day I met Link was one of the most horrid days in the history of Hyrule. The town surrounding Hyrule castle had been under siege by the Gerudos. Now, us Kokiris don't have anything against the Gerudos,don't get me wrong, but their leader Ganon was of an evil heart.
"Children!" The Great Deku Tree called to us, the Kokiris, "A young boy, a lost Kokiri, has arrived among us today. I bid you all to treat him as family, an equal. I should not have any of you looking down on to him!"
"Yes, Great Deku Tree!" We chimed in, gathered around him like small children. Well, we were small children, we'll stay that way forever.
"You may leave now," He said calmly, then quickly turning to me, "Oh, Saria, would you mind talking to me in private for a bit?"
My elfish ears perked up at 'Saria', my name. "Certainly, Great Deku Tree!" I said, quite happy that he was giving me the honour of talking to him personally.
"Good, good," He shook his leaves, obviously trying to make him self comfortable, "This young boy is going to be something great one day. He will affect us all." The Deku Tree sighed. "Don't ask me how I know this. All I am bidding you, Saria, to do is watch over him, care for him. I know it will take him a while to fit in, if he ever does. He is actually a Hylian. A baby Hylian."
I looked slightly stunned. How could a Hylian be admitted amongst the forest people?
"I will do my best, Great Deku Tree." I said, slightly hesitantly. The Deku Tree nodded and bid me to leave.
"Oh, Deku Tree?" I said, turning around on my way out, "What is this boy's name, if you don't mind I ask?"
"Link." He replied, with an air of finale, he was obviously finished talking to me.
"Link..." I thought to myself. The name swiftly registered in my heart and mind. Somehow I knew that I would think of this name many more times. I knew it would be important, if not just to Hyrule, then to me.
.:later:.
Later that afternoon, when the sun had almost set, the Great Deku Tree called us back to him. We gathered obediently, as always, in his grove.
"Children of the forest," He said, smiling proudly, like a father when his son is born, "Your new brother is now amongst us."
After a sweep of his branch, we all gasped. Some looked disgusted, others seemed horrified. I went with the horrified, as not to blow my cover.
"It's...a baby?" Mido, our leader, said, turning up his nose.
This statement was true. In front of us was a baby boy, wrapped in a traditional green Kokiri blanket. His large blue eyes turned to us, as if asking for some friends. When he saw me he smiled, with his newly grown-in teeth. My heart leaped.
Murmurs overtook the crowd. "A baby...?" "How could that be?" "Impossible!"
"Silence!" The Deku Tree roared over the crowd. We immediately obeyed, afraid to go against our roots. "Children, I said to you to be accepting and I expected you to do so!"
Link cried at this loud noise and we looked ashamed. How could we have forgotten? We should have been kind to this child.
"But, Great Deku Tree...why is he a baby?" A brave Kokiri piped up, "Kokiris are born the same age as we remain in the rest of our lives!"
The Deku Tree sighed. "The boy, named Link, is a quarter Hylian, from his grandmother." He half-lied, "So he starts out as a baby, like the Hylians. But then, he stops growing around the same age as you are."
We nodded slowly, still quite shocked. Mido sneered. It was obvious he did not want to take this baby into our care. I was angry at him, but, then again, he didn't know how important this tiny baby would be.
"Mido, would you take Link to his newly built treehouse?" The Deku Tree asked calmly.
"Yes, Great Deku Tree," Mido puffed out his chest and took the baby Link into his arms, in a not-so-delicate fashion.
He proceeded out of the grove, the Kokiris remembrance following him. Just as I was going to follow them, the Great Deku Tree called me back for another chat.
"Saria," He said, sounding unusually worried, "Please protect him. I know now he looks defenseless, but he will grow to be a capable young man, and even then he will need you." He sighed heavily, sadly. "Saria, even though you must be his guardian, please don't love him too much. Like all Hylians, he will die."
This shocked me with sudden rememberance. I had to remain stone cold toward the boy, unless I wanted an eternity of grieving.
"I will be his guardian, Great Deku Tree," I swore, hopefully truthfully, "Nothing more."
The Deku Tree nodded slowly, obviously unsure. "Thank you, Saria. But, really, do be careful."
.:later:.
All the Kokiri's had already gathered around the baby Link's new treehouse. I came up to the group soon after I had finished my conversation with the Great Deku Tree.
"Kokiris!" Mido called down to us, with cocky authority, from Link's front porch, holding one hand high in the air, leaving the other to support the new baby with a loose grasp. "Our new arrival will be staying in this treehouse, and we will take turns caring for him. I, of course, will take the longest shifts." He added this with sickening glory and sacrifice, not caring to notice that poor Link was about to fall out of his grasp. That's when Link really started slipping out, and if he would stay like that another second, he would be dropped to the ground...ten feet below. Link began to wiggle slightly, his body one inch from falling to almost certain death.
"No!" I screeched, stopping Mido's speech and scaling up the ladder as fast as my childish legs would carry me. I skidded to a stop at Mido's feet, catching Link just in time. I breathed heavily and clutched the surprisingly calm baby to my chest. Everyone else stared in shock. Their 'leader' almost let this baby be seriously injured, or even die! Quite a few moments of utter silence passed.
One of the crowd, my friend Midori, began to clap slowly. Soon, the applause picked up speed, and even some cheers and whoops followed. I turned around to face them. I let my legs dangle from the edge of the porch and smiled lop-sidedly. I didn't care so much for the applause, but more that the Deku Tree would be proud of me for already being such a good guardian to Link! I took Link in closer to me and let myself fully grin, I would have usually restrained myself. I looked back down at the tiny hero and truly took in to appreciation how calm he was. He had had a near-death experience at such a young age already.
"You're one brave little boy, Link." I whispered to him as he grabbed onto my index finger playfully, "One courageous little hero."
.:later:.
Day, after month, after year, slowly passed for Link. Of course, to the Kokiri's and I it seemed not very long. Before we knew it he was up and walking. We had to be very careful that he didn't wander to the Lost Woods and become lost himself. As Mido said, we did take turns caring for him. Now, I didn't trust Mido with Link, so I was always over there on his shifts. After a couple weeks, Mido seemed to get the wrong idea.
"So, just couldn't keep away from me Saria, could ya?" Mido said, desperately trying to flirt, "I noticed you're always here on my shift."
He wagged his eyebrows toward the heavens. I turned my back towards Mido and faced Link.
Idiot, I thought, rolling my eyes and refusing to respond.
"Aww, come on, don't be shy." He sat beside me and tried to drape his arm across my shoulder, "I know you're in love with me,"
"Go live in the Lost Woods!" I snapped, picking up Link to feed him a bottle of Lon Lon Milk and some mashed fish, imported especially for him.
"Ohoho! Playin' hard to get are we?" Mido giggled in a most annoying fashion.
I swear, if I weren't such a nice person I would have smacked him in the face. Then again, he probably wouldn't have gotten the message anyway. I sighed and chose to focus on feeding Link instead of the endless - meaningless - ramblings spouting from Mido. After an hour, I was finally open to say something to Mido.
"It's my shift now! Get the heck out!" I yelled, giving Mido a great push out the door.
"Hey, honey, you don't have to be so nasty," Mido sneered and winked, "But I kinda like that!"
"I would be any Hylian's honey but yours!" I finished, pushing him down the ladder.
I walked back inside and found Link splashing milk everywhere and giggling somewhat maniacally. I grudgingly cleaned up and calmed Link down. I mean, I love that kid, but really, sometimes he gets on my nerves.
.:later:.
While Link was growing, I found a magical spot in the Lost Woods. One day, I was wandering though, just greeting the Skull Children and speaking to the birds and trees. I kept wandering and wandering, soon to find myself lost. I passed many boulders and even a pond that went very deep down (I suspect it leads somewhere, but I never bothered to check). It began to get dark, and I became afraid. The nighttime is when the monsters awaken! I was afraid, jumped at the sound of owls, the wind and even my own footsteps.
After a while of this wandering I came to a meadow. It was infested with werewolves and ogres. They chased after me and bruised me badly, but I had nothing to do but move forward. Miraculously, I survived and came to beautiful grove. The trees grew tall there, with old crumbling brick walls, probably built before the Great Deku Tree. But most of all, there was a stump near a high-up entrance (I couldn't reach the entrance for a long time). This stump was perfect to sit upon, and even still had a log by it, which I'm sure is from the majestic tree that the stump used to be. I instantly knew that place would be soon important to me.
I sat down on the stump and curled up to sleep. When the sun came up again, I pulled out my tiny knife and began working on the old log. After hours of working on the inspirational log, I had finally carved my two masterpieces. Two immortal treasures. Two beautiful ocarinas. I decided to leave the natural colour of the wood. As soon as I felt the two works in my hands, I felt a kind of magic pulse between them. The one I held in my left hand seemed to call me. In an almost possessed movement, I put the other one away in my pocket.
I decided then I should leave the meadow to find my way home. Somehow, the ocarina sung me the direction of Kokiri Village. So, I began down the cobble steps of the meadow, only to be met by an ogre. It swung its hammer at me, but some wise, powerful being inside me took over and put the newly-carved ocarina to my lips. A tune so melodic, graceful and divine flowed out that, to my surprise, lulled the monster into a deep sleep. My eyes widened at my success, and I continued, using my ocarina, to navigate my way out of the lost woods.
I turned left, right, straight, right, right and left until I found my village. I almost cried with joy and the ocarina's spirit faded for that time. I ran into the village, and found there was a crowd around my house. I sprinted to them. Link, who's eyes were stained with fresh tears while he was sitting by Midori, first turned to me and saw me coming.
"Sa-i-aaaaa!" He laughed pointing at me, "Saa...Saa...Saria!"
The crowd eyes turned first to Link's first word, then to me running to greet them.
"Saria!" Midori cried, running to me with Link clutching her hand, "Saria! Are you alright? We were all looking for you!"
The crowd gathered around me, hugging me and cheering at my return. I was glad I finally found my way to my friends and neighbours. No, they are my family.
"I'm sorry," I said, slightly embarrassed, "I couldn't find my way back from the lost woods."
"As long as you're okay." Midori replied, "Link didn't stop crying the whole time you were gone!"
I smiled down at the little boy Link, who now had not a single trace of sadness on his face. I was glad I was becoming such a good guardian to him. I bent down to meet his eyes.
"Did you miss me, Link?" I said playfully. He hugged me at my knees.
"Saria!" He cheered, "Saria!"
I smiled warmly at him, my little hero.
"I missed you too, Link."
.:last:.
Usagi: Thanks so much for reading my fic! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review, and I hope to have the second chapter up soon! If you have any questions, please ask them in the review and I'd be happy to provide and answer. See you soon!