Chapter Three: Hyrule Field
Link tried to argue, tried to convince Saria that the risk of her dying when she left the forest was not one either of them should be willing to take, that even if the Great Deku Tree was dead and couldn't protect the Kokiri inside or out anymore that the rest of Hyrule was unknown and potentially dangerous. But he failed to make any real argument at all, and deep down, he doubted whether he could have restarted his journey after pausing to speak to her, if she had not set out ahead of him, walking determinedly across the bridge and almost out of sight. But when she did, Link started to run, catching her up easily. The idea of a long journey, one where he didn't even know where he was going, seemed a lot less daunting with his best friend by his side.
Past the bridge, Saria and Link had nothing to go on but instinct as to which direction they should walk. Tall, dark trees ringed the outer edges of the forest for a while, casting shadows where the sun filtered through their dark leaves. But then, gradually, the trees began thinning out and a path emerged beneath their feet, reassuring them that they were on the right track. And then, before they knew it, they had emerged fully from the trees to come face to face with the rest of Hyrule for the first time.
Saria gazed out at the wide expanse of green before them. With no canopy of leaves above to shield them, everything seemed very bright. The sun felt like a different kind of warm too as it touched her skin. The sky above was a dazzling blue and the grass, devoid of the bushes, grasses, flowers and shrubs of the forest, was almost blindingly green, and short. She and Link had to take a moment to look out at it all. It stretched on further than their eyes could possibly see, and would be completely overwhelming had there not been pathways that showed where people had walked beginning just a few metres away.
"It's so… big," Link muttered, whether to Saria or himself she wasn't sure.
"Do you remember the lessons the Great Deku Tree gave us about Hyrule geography?" Saria asked him.
"I remember something about a lake and… a mountain, I think," He replied, his brow furrowing, "But this is, well, it's just like a giant field." Saria raised a small hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun, scanning the horizon. In the distance, she could see something- a dark shape in the sky, as it appeared from here, ringed in smoke.
"That has to be the mountain," Saria pointed. Link squinted over at it.
"Yes!" He said, sounding excited for the first time now, "I remember the Great Deku Tree saying it was ringed in smoke!"
"Aren't there towns, too? Villages?" Saria asked, trying to remember what they had been taught- it was limited, and they had never seen a map, but many stories the Kokiri children told each other were based on things the Great Deku Tree had taught them about the world beyond the forest and what they imagined it to be. Saria had always been curious about the idea of a town- bustling with people and activity, built up in stone and brick, the complete opposite of the peaceful forest which was all that she knew.
"Castle Town," Link said thoughtfully, "We need to get to Castle Town."
"Which direction?" And suddenly, once again, the full weight of the journey they were faced with hit them. After a while of dawdling near the fringe of trees, debating on what to do and which sprawling path in the grass they should follow, Link made an executive decision:
"The only thing we can see from here other than the forest is the mountain. We should head towards it. It's a landmark and we might find something along the way." Saria, at this point just relieved that they had a plan, happily agreed and they set off. By this time, the afternoon was wearing on. Every now and then one of them would glance up at the sky to check the position of the sun; incrementally, it began to get lower in the sky until suddenly, out of nowhere, Hyrule Field was bathed in an orangey-pink glow; it was almost night.
"We're going to have to stop," Saria announced finally. Although the field had looked flat from the entrance of the forest, it actually rose and fell gently in places, and traversing it had been exhausting on her small legs. Link looked around at her, coming to a stop. She could tell that he really wanted to keep going, but that he was also exhausted physically. Saria wondered how he was even still standing; he'd been in the Great Deku Tree overnight, fighting Queen Gohma.
"Where can we sleep?" They looked blankly around at the grassy land surrounding them. The sun was setting fast.
"High ground," Saria said thoughtfully, "It's like in the Lost Woods when you know there are wolfos; the more you can see, the better." They had no idea what might be lurking in the field at night. It seemed like an empty, harmless place when the sun was bright but Saria was already being filled with a sense of foreboding as the colour rapidly faded from the world around them. The fearful realisation that they knew nothing about Hyrule was never far away, but it seemed even worse in the dark. The pair of them settled on a spot at the crest of a low hill. It was not really enough to see much around them, but applying logic to their choice of resting place helped make both of them feel better.
A bright moon, which seemed larger out here than it did in the forest, provided some light for them to see. Hyrule Field was nowhere near as dark as the Lost Woods by night, and Navi and Juno helped cast some light around too. Saria gave Link a small serving of some of the food she had brought for them before eating some herself. Both of them were struggling to keep their eyes open as they spread Saria's cloak over themselves to sleep under. Luckily, the cloak was massive on her anyway, providing enough cover for the two children- though she doubted it'd be much help on a very cold night.
"One of us should keep watch," Link mumbled sleepily.
"I know," Saria replied, but she was asleep before the words really left her mouth- and so was Link.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep when she was awoken by something clattering nearby- not a familiar sound. She opened her eyes and for a second her vision was filled with stars as she looked at the sky. But then something swiped the air beside her right ear and she rolled over quickly, barely avoiding being gauged by a skeletal, white hand with claws.
"Link!" She screamed, jumping to her feet. There were two of them, whatever they were, no bigger than she was. They were like animated skeletons but worse, walking noisily towards her- unable to run, but making sure progress. Link didn't stir at the noise- he'd always been a nightmare to wake. Both Juno and Navi were screaming at him as Saria drew her slingshot, digging in her pocket for a handful of hard, round seeds. She shot one clumsily and it glanced off the shoulder of one of them. She was surprised it was fragile enough to be hurt by it- in fact, it's bony arm came off, but this didn't stop it moving towards her. She shot a second seed at it and it was knocked back a few steps. Meanwhile, the other one was getting closer to Link, who was finally stirring at the commotion.
"Aagh!" He yelled as he too was forced to roll to avoid being scratched by the creature, but he completed the roll and was on his feet, drawing the Kokiri sword. With two stabbing motions, the bones of the creature crumbled into nothing; at the same time, Saria finished off her one, with the same effect. Then the field seemed strangely silent, all the chaos done with.
"What were they?" Link gasped.
"Stalchildren," Navi piped up.
"What? Like… Stalfos?" Saria frowned at the white fairy. Her own, Juno, was the one to reply:
"Children who wander from the path in Hyrule Field become Stalfos," Juno informed her.
"Don't be afraid of them, though- they're not strong, or fast!" Navi added. Saria and Link looked at each other; it was difficult not to be frightened when something unknown startled you like that.
"Are there more of them?" Link wanted to know.
"It's hard to be sure, but maybe we should set up camp on the path," Juno chirped. Saria scowled at the fairy with her pale pink light.
"That might have been useful to know before we stopped to rest," She informed the fairy, as she and Link gathered their things and headed downhill slightly, to where they could see the grass had been flattened out by travel. She and Link settled back down under her cloak soon after, though Saria felt too nervous to sleep at this point. The field was eerily quiet. At night, the forest was just as noisy as in the day, just with different sounds. Hyrule Field's silence by night seemed imposing, making the place feel even lonelier than usual. Eventually, they fell into a light doze, though neither child slept properly again after the visit from the Stalchildren. Eventually, the stars began to vanish and the dawn greeted them with a cold grey light which slowly began to turn to yellow as the sun rose in the sky. Stiff from sleeping on the ground, Link and Saria ate a few mouthfuls of food and ensured they had everything with them before setting out once more for the mountain. From their position on the crest of the low hill though, Saria could see in the light that there were things on the horizon before the mountain though, giving them reassurance that this had been a good direction to head in.
They walked all morning almost in silence. The day before, Link had been full of adrenaline from his battles inside the Great Deku Tree and the giving of his mission, but today there was no hiding his exhaustion. There were dark circles under his big blue eyes; so now it was Saria's turn to keep them moving, though she felt little better herself.
Given they had set off so early, it was before midday that they finally came upon it; water, somewhere between the size of a stream and a river, with a small stone bridge leading across it. There, they could see a long stone staircase leading upwards, and behind the shapes of rooves, there was the mountain. In sight, too, further away, was a greater mass of stonework and building. Looking upwards, shielding her eyes from the piercing sun, Saria could see the very tips of two red turrets; the kind that the Great Deku Tree had explained castles had.
"It has to be that way!" She pointed excitedly. Link managed a smile, and they began to walk with somewhat renewed energy; it hadn't been as long or as terrifying as they had thought it might- and yet, they had made the journey from the Kokiri Forest to the outskirts of Castle Town unharmed and without a map, following instinct and common sense alone. Water ringed the walls of the town, guarding it, Saria supposed. A huge drawbridge allowed access across the water and led, apparently, into the town. She was about to happily skip across it, but then she looked around and realised Link had stopped.
"This is it," He said, "The bridge I saw in my dream…" Had it only been two mornings ago when Link had sat with her by the stream, telling her about his nightmare? It seemed much longer than that.
"Come on," Saria said firmly, grabbing his hand and yanking him onwards once more.
A/N: Thanks so much to everybody who has reviewed so far, you guys are lovely. We're getting into the meat of the story now, what with them finally arriving at Castle Town. I just thought it was important to tribute a little time to Hyrule Field, but I've tried to flesh it out more than in the game, made it bigger to traverse etc. Please leave me a review if you have the time, as feedback is helpful!
