Link shoved all his belongings in a small bag fighting with the zip to do it up. Slipping it into one of his pockets, he turned to Saria who was silently staring out of their room window into the bustling market below.
"Are you going to pack?" He asked breaking the silence.
Saria turned her head wondering what he was doing, weren't they coming back to the inn after the party?
"I don't think I'm invited." She mumbled grabbing her stuff from the floor tossing it at Link for him to put away.
"Hey, it's my party I can have whoever I want at it, you can be my VIP." Link grinned tucking her bag neatly away in his tunic. "But first I want my present." He gave her that lost puppy dog look he would always use when he wanted something back in the forest.
Taking out a small parcel, Saria placed it on the bed. Slightly saddened, she realised it probably wasn't much compared to the gifts he'd be getting from the various princesses he knew, but in the end it's the thought that counts, right? Eagerly opening it, Link marvelled at what he saw. A carefully crafted mini version of the Kokiri Sword crossed in front of the Deku Shield shaped into a broach, holding it up to the light, Link saw the tiny red stone set in the handle of the sword sparkle delicately.
"Wow, did you make this? He gave her a grateful smile clipping it proudly to his shirt.
Attempting to stop herself from blushing, Saria returned the smile. "It's amazing what bits and pieces you can find laying about the Forest Temple."
Pulling her into a hug, Link thanked her for the present promising he'd wear it all the time to remind him of how his very first adventure began.
After checking out of the inn, Link and Saria wandered around the market for awhile to pass the time before they had to head up to the castle. Stopping by the Potion Shop to stock up on supplies, Link asked Saria to wait by the door for him, but a funny looking building nearby caught her eye. Seeing it was only next door, she decided to take a peek inside. Pushing open the wooden door, the Kokiri girl was greeted by a strange sight. Masks lined all of the shelves, big, small, multicoloured, every mask imaginable had its own place in that shop. Stepping in further, Saria walked up to the large notice board sitting near the front desk.
"Hello there young lady." A mysterious voice drifted from behind the counter. Saria quickly turned around to see a slim man dressed in strange purple clothing, she couldn't tell if his creepy face was real or just a mask. "I have travelled far and wide to bring the people of Hyrule all of these wonderful masks, it has taken years to expand this business to what it is today." Glancing behind the counter, Saria stared at the variety of masks, each had a label in front of it telling customers what type it was. She recognised a few remembering the different races Link had told her about, Zora, Goron, Gerudo and many more. However, there was one in particular which caught her eye. It was securely chained to the wall, its large leering yellow and orange eyes glared right into her soul.
"Majora's Mask…" She whispered shuddering at the story Link had told her about the trouble it had caused the people of Termina. Luckily Link had destroyed the evil spirit that lurked within the mask. The salesman followed her stare nodding when he realised what she was looking at.
"Ah yes, that one is a tricky little fellow. A young customer of mine managed to save that mask for me but I must keep it chained up for safety reasons you understand. Even without the spirits living in it, no one can be sure what havoc could begin if in the wrong hands."
Leaving the Potion Shop, Link scratched his head hoping Saria hadn't gone far. Seeing the Happy Mask Shop's door slightly open, he suspected the fancy exterior of the building had attracted his friend to it. His suspicions were answered when he saw her browsing a shelf of masks. Grabbing her arm, he dragged her outside slamming the door after them.
"What did you do that for?" Saria asked rubbing her arm from where he'd gripped it tightly.
"You don't want to get involved with that place, the salesman has a funny way of making you do things for him." Link answered swiftly changing the subject of conversation.
Zelda sat by one of the castle's many windows surveying the evening activities. Not long after she'd sat down, Impa popped her head around the door to let her know the first of the guests were now arriving. Standing up, Zelda made sure her royal pink dress was in place then followed Impa to greet the guests.
Malon stood awkwardly in the ballroom wearing one of Zelda's elegant yellow summer dresses which suited her nicely. Sitting by one of the small tables Zelda had set out for those who didn't want to move about all the time, she sighed leaning an elbow lazily on it. Thinking back on the day's events, she thought about meeting Saria, she appeared to be a nice girl, someone who must have had a lot of influence in Link's life in the past and even in the present. Malon hoped she'd get to talk to her again soon.
Zelda hurried to the drawbridge where she caught sight of Princess Ruto being escorted up the lane by two Zora guards.
"Is Link here yet?" Ruto pressed waving her guards to go on in without her, Zelda subtly rolled her eyes briefly smiling at the Zora Princess.
"Nope not yet Ruto but he shouldn't be long, you should go in out of this draft." She advised gesturing for the Zora to follow Impa to the ballroom. A few minutes later, most of the guests had arrived, Darunia with some Goron friends, Nabooru with a couple of women from the Gerudos, Talon and Ingo and finally a rather big crowd of people from the market. Zelda tried to count them all but was sure she'd let some slip through without checking who they were.
Link and Saria ran up the lane towards the castle, Saria nearly bumping into Link when he stopped to shuffle his belt around.
"Do I look ok?" Saria asked self-consciously, she was quite nervous at the thought of so many people in one place but didn't show it too much.
"Of course, you look lovely." Link stated taking her hand.
Zelda spotted the pair coming up the path, it was time to truly meet this Saria in person properly.
"Happy Birthday Link!" She squealed giving him a friendly hug.
"Thanks Zelda." He replied thinking her hug was too forced for his liking. Putting an arm around Saria, Link pulled her to his side. "I'd like you to meet Saria, my best and lifelong friend."
Zelda put on a smile holding out a hand which Saria politely shook. "Pleased to meet you at last."
"Same to you, even though we met in the market and you ignored me." Saria smiled innocently back. Link smirked, he loved how Saria was so brutally honest with people, he'd have to teach her about using tact in the future though, because Zelda looked taken aback thinking it was meant as a snide comment. Shaking it off, she led them to the party ordering one of the guards to close the drawbridge until things were over.
Entering the ballroom, Saria gasped at the immense crowd of people who, as soon as they saw Link uttered birthday greetings. The people who knew him better crowded around eager to give him their gifts. Saria felt happy that Link had so many friends now but at the same time she felt pushed out, did he even really need her anymore?
Settling himself by a table, Link gratefully accepted his gifts. Malon presented him with a brand new top of the line horse saddle, very handy for riding Epona on those long adventures. Ruto pushed through the group to give Link a bag of fish all caught by herself which were now packed into ice she'd gone and hand collected also by herself in the Ice Cavern.
"They'll stay fresh extra long in that ice so you can use them up when you camp on your next journey, maybe we could go camping together sometime." She winked kissing him square on the lips. Wiping his mouth vigorously when she turned away, he put the fish next to his other gifts.
Nabooru strolled over handing him a fine Gerudo warrior spear used by many of her tribe for combat training and killing wild monsters.
"Use these to keep you warm at night Brother." Darunia chuckled giving Link his gift. Link raised a brow as he opened a pair of white pyjamas with little Gorons dotted here and there on them.
Next was Impa who silently slipped a few Sheikah throwing stars into his hands informing him to use them carefully. Thanking them all kindly for his presents, Link got up to stretch his legs, looking around he noticed Saria had disappeared. "Must have mingled into the crowd." He thought heading to the food table for a bite to eat.
Zelda finally caught up to him tugging on his arm. "Link will you come into the hall for a second? I'd like to speak with you." Stuffing some food into his pocket, he followed the princess out of the room.
Meanwhile, Saria had indeed mingled with the crowd but not of her own choice. A gang of kids from the back alleys of the market had somehow gotten into the party and were very interested in her. Questions such as 'Are you from the Forest?' and 'Is that a fairy?' were being thrown at her by the minute.
"Leave her alone!" Ruto snapped swiping the kids away with a fin. She knew Saria was a good friend of Link's and wanted to find out more about her and maybe find out more about Link in the process. "I don't know what scum like that are doing here. Anyway, I'm Ruto and you're Saria." She led Saria over to the banquet table insisting she try some blue tektite legs. Taking a bite, Saria was the one who turned blue.
"Oh well, they're not to everyone's taste. Now, tell me more about Link." Ruto said piling up a plate of seafood for herself.
Back in the hallway, Link could see that Zelda looked extremely nervous. "Here I hope you like it." She said handing him her present. Carefully opening the wrapping, Link revealed a small dagger which had a short golden handle. Upon the handle was carved a neat picture of the Triforce itself.
"This is great, I'm sure it will be useful sooner or later." Link smiled putting it away in his tunic.
"There's something else I wanted to ask you." Zelda continued, her confidence gradually building after each word. "I was wondering if you'd made a decision about living here?"
With everything that had been happening lately, Link had forgotten about Zelda's question but he already knew what he was going to say. "Zelda you know I can't do that even if I wanted, I've got responsibilities elsewhere."
Silently nodding her head, Zelda tried not to show her disappointment. "I understand." She smiled, gently touching his arm before re-entering the ballroom to prepare for her speech. "I'll always be here if you need me."
Sighing heavily, Link went back into the ballroom himself. He spied Saria standing by the newly set up pictograph stand where a professional was taking pictures of guests at the party. Sneaking up behind her, Link pushed her on to the seat sliding on next to her.
"Smile kids." The man grinned as he set up the pictobox. Not having a clue what this thing was, Saria just copied Link feeling warmer when he put an arm around her. "All done." The man said taking the picture out of the box, holding a pen, he wrote something small in the bottom right corner of the picture.
"Oh it's like those pictures in that book." Saria smiled looking at theirs with Link, turning her attention to the writing, she blushed at what it said 'Cute Couple'. Ruto peeked over Link's shoulder to see what they were admiring.
"Hmm I wonder if I could get 'Meant to be' written on a picture of me and Link." Hearing Ruto say that, Link shuffled off into the crowd with Saria leaving the Zora princess alone with her dreams.
Picking up a glass, Zelda gave it a short tap to get everyone's attention. Moving up on to the stage, she began to speak. "Now we know why we're all here, to wish Link, Hyrule's hero a happy birthday!" Her calm voice rang out over the crowd. "Without this incredible boy we probably wouldn't be here now." Zelda pulled him out from the crowd to stand next to her, Link really didn't want to be showcased like this even if Zelda did mean well. "So let's all-"
"This is a joke!" A voice interrupted Zelda mid sentence, narrowing her eyes, she saw the culprit, a cocky looking kid from the market. "The princess has got a crush on this average boy so she makes up some stupid story to make him look worthy of royalty when in reality he's nothing special at all!"
"What did you say?" Ruto screeched smashing her empty plate over the kid's head which led to his friends starting a fight with the rest of the room. Squeezing his eyes shut, Link ran through the crowd to the main door, he couldn't handle this anymore.
Impa grabbed two of the boys by their shirts demanding that they leave at once or be arrested. Calling some guards, she swiftly dealt with the problem making sure nobody else got hurt.
Zelda fell to the carpet in tears, it wasn't meant to turn out like this at all. Link probably hated her now that she had publicly humiliated him. Wiping away another tear, she stood up walking over to Saria and Malon who happened to be the only people left in the room since everyone had left in a hurry. Malon placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder while Saria felt a little out of place, she hardly knew these girls but didn't have anywhere else to go.
"Link hates me." Zelda whispered staring at the floor.
"Link most likely hates himself if anyone." Saria could see Zelda felt terrible about the whole incident.
Thankful for the support, Zelda gave her a smile which became a yell for Impa when Saria suddenly fell to the floor, her hands over her head again. Flashes of a gigantic dark castle flew through her mind, fire, monsters, storms, a green barrier pushing her back.
"Saria!" Both Zelda and Malon shouted worried that she'd passed out. Impa rushed to their side when she heard Zelda calling.
"Let's get her to a bed." Impa suggested moving to pick the girl up.
"No, I'm ok." Saria tiredly mumbled opening her eyes. Her face had instantly paled from the fright causing her body to shake. Being helped up by Impa, Saria rubbed her eyes hoping Link hadn't gone far.
He ran through the market shoving through a group of people chatting near the entrance. Staring at the sky, he groaned when a large grey cloud appeared above him; the weather described his mood perfectly. Playing Epona's song, he patiently waited for the horse to arrive glad to see someone who wouldn't answer back. Mounting Epona, he directed her to Lake Hylia, his favourite place to sit and think in peace.
The rain soon began to pour down bringing heavy thunder with it. Link ignored this sitting on the damp grassy bank near the lake. Those words kept echoing trough his head 'he's nothing special at all!' All of his life he had been told this by Mido, if it hadn't been for Saria he probably would have started to believe it. Thinking more about it, he wondered if he had never been chosen by destiny to do all those country saving tasks would Zelda even know who he was? Saria had always been around for him, never judged him for being different, her face would always light up when she saw him. Why was he thinking about Saria so much all of a sudden? Was it because now he was allowed to? Allowed to think of her as more than a friend? Jumping up, he realised he'd left her on her own back at the castle. First day out of the forest and he'd already abandoned her. What a great start.
After Zelda had seen Malon and her dad off home, she and Saria sat talking in one of the castle's many sitting rooms. It was plain to the princess that there was more to Saria leaving the forest than she was letting on. No Kokiri would give up eternal youth just to tidy up a temple even if they were destined to be the guardian of it.
"I hope he hasn't gone far," Zelda sighed playing with the tassels on the chair she was sitting on.
Saria silently nodded staring out one of the windows into the night. She understood why he had ran off but was a little annoyed that he'd left her in the castle with people she hardly knew. This jolted her thoughts about if she was really needed by him anymore.
Another ten minutes of silence passed before a drenched Link stumbled in through the door.
"Link…" Zelda stood up but was stopped by him putting a hand up.
"It's okay Zelda, I know you didn't intend for the party to turn out that way. It was good of you to set it all up for me." He turned his attention to Saria who gave him a weak smile.
Deciding they should call it a night, Zelda directed them to the guest rooms before retiring to her own quarters. On the way to the rooms, not a word was spoken between the two friends. Link began to wonder if Saria was annoyed with him for running off like he had done. After years of communicating with her via the ocarina, he had learned to enter her mind without the use of the song, but Link had only done it once or twice not too sure if Saria even knew he could do it. Playing out the song in his mind, he concentrated carefully attempting to open a link with her, a moment later he could slightly feel a connection. A sea of confusion and doubt appeared before him, images of the black past drifted through her mind. Suddenly it all went hazy, the link evaporated.
"Link, please don't do that." Saria said quietly hoping he hadn't seen anything too personal.
"Huh? You knew about that?" He asked a little ashamed for invading her private thoughts.
"Of course I'd know when someone was in my own head." She smirked. "It is a good way to talk without anyone knowing but make sure to ask next time. You might see something you don't like." That said, she reached her room, waving goodnight before gently closing the door. Link stood there dumbfounded, what did she mean 'might see something you don't like'? Shrugging it off for now, he headed to his own room which was next door.
Saria flopped down on the large double bed, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling, she sighed deeply.
"Is something wrong?" Nori hovered over her, a worried expression etched on his tiny face.
"I don't know." Saria mumbled taking out the picture of herself and Link from the party. She smiled; he was the most amazing person she'd ever known. His caring personality, his unique ability to always cheer her up when she was down, his gentle smile. But, lately he had been down a lot, he seemed lonely. "Why am I suddenly commenting on his looks?" She said aloud not realising Nori was staring at her. Rolling off the bed, she headed for the door. "I need some air, stay here okay?" Watching her swiftly close the door, Nori groaned, now he was locked in the room. Fluttering over to one of the large windows, he caught a glimpse of his charge wandering around the grounds in front of the castle.
It had been a funny couple of days. First finding she could leave the forest, setting out on some crazy quest just for a temple. But, thinking more into it she knew she hadn't left just because of that. Ever since that day when he had left the first time she had known she wanted more than the life she had been living for so long. She wanted to see the world even if that meant sacrificing her previous life. But she knew it was more than that, she knew she wasn't like the other Kokiri, she had always had strong feelings for him and now she knew what they were.
I can't feel like this. He's my best friend, anything more would surely ruin this friendship.
Slipping into deeper thoughts, Saria didn't notice she was still walking, turning the corner of the lane leading to the castle, she entered the market.
Still watching from the window, Nori panicked when she disappeared out of sight, anything could happen this time of night. Quickly scanning the room, he saw the door had a small gap beneath it, if he could just squeeze through he would be able to warn Link.
After a minor struggle, the fairy managed to exit the room. Flying to the next door, he groaned when it was closed but luckily there was another small gap. Looking up from his bed Link wondered what was going on when he saw Nori flutter in under the door.
"Something wrong?" He asked slightly yawning.
"I'm worried about Saria, she said she was going out for some air but has wandered into the market." Link knew the market wasn't a very dangerous place at night but there were occasions when the odd drunk would cause an uproar or one of the shops was broken into. Grabbing his sword, Link threw open the door slamming it behind him leaving poor Nori locked in again.
Running through the castle grounds, Link leapt off the hillside heading into the market.
She continued to walk totally lost in thought until she realised where she was. Turning around, she bumped straight into a large sweaty man who appeared to be losing his balance. "What's a pretty young thing like you doing out at this hour?" He slurred out hiccupping in between.
"I'm sorry." Saria said genuinely then carried on walking but was stopped when the man forcefully grabbed her arm.
"Why don't you stay with me for a bit cutie?" The man made a bad attempt at a wink not even noticing the terrified look on Saria's face.
"Get your filthy hand off her!" Link charged over to them, anger building inside him every second he saw that scum with his hand around hers.
"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." The drunk said spitting saliva that rained down over Saria's face.
Link was desperate to snap, drawing his sword he pointed it in front of him. "Just get out of it." He ordered not intending to actually use the weapon.
Deciding the fuss wasn't worth it, the drunk let go of Saria and stumbled off into the night. "Crazy kid." He mumbled tripping over some loose rubbish in the street. Saria rubbed her arm from the grip shaking slightly. Sheathing the sword, Link moved closer pulling her into a hug.
"Don't scare me like that." He whispered softly. Saria buried her face in his shoulder, she hated to admit it, but this new world was a little scary for her. Clinging to Link, she tried to hold back the tears. Taking a step back, he looked down at her catching a loose tear trickling down her face. The two remained in that position for a moment, the rest of the world blurred out.
She's so beautiful. Link thought to himself with his hands still around her waist. He felt a sudden urge to be closer to her, their faces were inches apart….
"There you are!" Nori shrieked flying into view. They immediately broke apart, the moment was gone. "Never do that again!" He shouted frantically at Saria.
"The moth speaks at last." Link grinned receiving a bonk on the head from the annoyed fairy.
"Let's all get some sleep." Saria smiled glad to see Nori acting like his usual self again. Taking Link's hand, they made their way back to the castle.
"What exactly were you thinking about last night?" Nori asked his charge as the two strolled through the castle courtyard.
"Just…something." Saria replied leaning down to admire a small cluster of red roses. "I think if you hadn't have gotten there when you did something would have happened."
"What do you mean?" The fairy asked landing on one of the rose petals to get a better view of her face.
"I'm not sure, something important maybe." She sighed biting her lower lip thoughtfully. "Hmm, come on we better go in. Link said we need to speak to Zelda before leaving."
Inside the castle, Zelda and Link sat waiting in the sitting room. They had discussed some of what the Poe Sisters had said but wanted to wait for Saria to talk in detail. As soon as she arrived, they spent the next half an hour putting together the information.
"So do you have any idea where Ganondorf may have taken the pendants?" Link asked hopefully, not knowing where to start if Zelda didn't have an answer.
Thinking for a second, she nodded. "Follow me to the library."
Swiftly leading them through the winding passages of the castle, they eventually came to a large wooden door. Pushing it open, Zelda casually entered while the others stopped to gasp in amazement. Rows and rows of aged books lined the room as high as their eyes could see. Large armchairs were dotted around the room for those who enjoyed a lazy afternoon with a good book.
"I've read most of these." Zelda said like it was an obvious thing. Fetching a stool, she clambered up it browsing the shelves for the book she needed. "Ah-ha! Here it is." She smiled jumping off the stool. Hurrying over to a table, she opened the book to a certain page motioning for the others to gather around.
"It's a map." Link stated glancing at it dumbfounded.
"It's a map of our major neighbouring country: Meldora. I believe Ganondorf travelled there from time to time severing my father's links with them. These days, the Meldoran empire despises Hyrule but ironically still trusts the Gerudo race. All of our trading routes were blocked off, however there is one route that still leads there. Go through Balbana Valley, if you make it across the wasteland from the war you'll be fine."
"If we make it?" Saria questioned nervously.
"Legends speak of a great war that took place on those grounds many decades ago between us and Meldora. After that war, things slowly calmed down between the two countries but many lives were lost, the souls of the dead have never forgiven their kings for taking such drastic actions." Zelda explained. Gripping the page, she neatly tore it out handing the map to Link. "Now, the Royal Family will send any people of Hyrule straight to the dungeons so don't get too close to the palace.
"Okay, anything else we need to know?" Link asked praying Zelda wouldn't go into one of her long speeches of explanation.
"Not right now, you'll find out more about the place when you get there. Just one more thing. Hyrule has a strong magical security barrier surrounding the border, to get through it you'll need the sceptre-"
"Let me guess, we need the Sceptre of Time." Link interrupted folding up the map to slip into a pocket.
"No, actually it doesn't have a name. I was just going to say you'll need the sceptre that my father used to create the barrier. Lucky for you, I have it ready, since only a member of the Royal Family can use it I'll accompany you to the barrier." Zelda brought out a long golden sceptre, the crest of the Royal Family was delicately engraved at the top. "The barrier is located at Lake Hylia so I suggest we travel there, camp out for the night then you can begin the journey."
"Right. We'll meet you in the stables." Link told the princess as he and Saria left the library ready to go. Meldora awaited them.