Handing Saria a cup of soup, Tetra took a seat in one of Grandma's comfy chairs. Taking a sip, she glanced at the silent girl in green who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.
"So, you're one of those Sages huh?" Tetra broke the silence.
"I'm not sure anymore." Saria bluntly replied.
"Only Sages I've met are Medli and Makar. Of course, I've heard of Fado and Laruto…"
Saria looked up from her drink, "Fado's alive?" Her tone became slightly hopeful.
"He was killed by Ganondorf." The pirate bit her bottom lip, she guessed it wasn't something Saria wanted or needed to hear right then.
"Oh." Saria looked back down at the floor, "I should have guessed. You'll be telling me next that the Great Deku Tree got blown to pieces by that monster."
"The Deku Tree? He's fine, he's situated at Forest Haven." Tetra explained. Finishing her soup, she stretched lazily. Noticing the lift in Saria's expression she knew where they would travel to next, maybe the old tree had some answers about all this.
LinkW's grandma sat peacefully in the corner, humming a quiet tune she rocked her chair back and forth while admiring the serene view of the ocean through the only window in the small house. Following the woman's gaze, Saria nearly threw up; the ocean made her feel dizzy.
Entering the house, LinkW waved cheerily to his grandma and the girls.
"Link is going to stay with Orca for a bit, he really wants that sword." LinkW grinned, just as he was about to sit down his grandma interrupted him.
"Link dear, could you go find your sister please? She went flower picking in the woods, I'm worried she'll run into trouble."
"Trouble?" LinkW furrowed his brow, monsters were scarce around the island these days.
While Grandma filled her grandson in on the chu chus reappearing amongst the island grass, Saria fell back into her thoughts, she realised something. This new Link held the Triforce of Courage meaning there had to be a new holder for Wisdom too, and what of Power? Eyeing Tetra's hand, the Kokiri noticed the pirate wore a red glove over her right one, what did she have to hide?
"Better head up to the woods then, want to come Saria? I'll tell you about the new temples appearing on the way." Tetra offered.
Nodding, Saria stood up to follow them. Crossing the island, they walked by Orca's house where loud banging could be heard from within. Shouting over the noise, Tetra told the story of the mysterious temples on the ocean; Saria wondered if they could be from her time.
Reaching the island summit, LinkW lead them to the newly built bridge which provided easy entrance to the woods.
Grasping both ropes, Saria slowly made her way across behind the others. Closing her eyes, she tried not to look out to the ocean.
"Don't worry, you get used to the sea eventually." Tetra winked.
The woods were dark as usual, a slither of sunlight struggled in through the thick green canopy. Moving through the long grass, the trio glanced around for anything suspicious but there was nothing yet.
Saria had to admit, she felt more at home wandering through the trees than she did out on the boat or even in the small village on the island. It had been a long time since she'd felt truly at home.
Suddenly, there was a scream from deeper within. Recognising it as Aryll, LinkW swiftly drew his sword followed by Tetra who also took out her blade. Slicing through the plants, they were greeted with a scene of poor Aryll surrounded by what looked like a strange glowing ghost, scrawny claw-like hands swiped out at the young girl.
"What is that thing?" LinkW asked, he couldn't remember seeing one before.
"That's a poe." Saria pointed out, "they were a common sight in ancient Hyrule."
Rushing into the battle, LinkW boldly slashed at the mischievous poe. Dodging a swipe from its arm, he drove his blade straight into the mass of purple finishing the enemy off with a single hit.
"Guess I didn't need this." Tetra sheathed her weapon, "What a weak enemy."
"There are stronger poes out there." Saria mumbled, she hoped they wouldn't run into any in these woods. She found herself wishing Link was with them, she always felt safe when he was around. Wait, why was she thinking that?
Making sure his sister was ok, LinkW ordered her to go home; he and the others would check for anymore unexpected visitors.
Volunteering to walk home with Aryll, Saria turned to leave; not like she was much help to anyone at the moment.
Nightfall soon fell over the Great Sea once more. After a full hour of searching the woods, LinkW and Tetra decided to call it a day and head home. The poe must have been a one off.
Re-entering Grandma's, they looked around. Only Grandma and Aryll were settled in there chatting with cups of soup.
"Your new friend went to get some air." Grandma explained seeing their puzzled faces.
Saria sat swinging her legs over the wooden pier on the beach. She had been studying the sea for awhile now finding she didn't feel as sick the more she looked at it. Hearing a door close in the distance, she looked in the direction of the sound.
Link strolled out of Orca's house carrying a fine new sword in his hand. The blade shone dimly in the moonlight as he gently swung the dark blue hilt through the air. He had requested that colour to remind him of the Master Sword but of course, it would never be that weapon. He did wonder what had happened to it though, he'd need to ask someone about that. Moving over to a patch of grass near the house, he began practising.
Staring over at her lifelong friend, Saria sighed. She regretted the harsh words she'd yelled to him. She still didn't know why she'd said all those things, there had been so much hurt building up in the void that she'd been desperate to get it out, Link was just unlucky enough to be the person she took it out on. He probably hated her now.
Absorbed in his training, Link didn't notice Saria staring over at him. Performing a quick spin attack, he stopped to wipe his brow. Glancing towards the pier he caught her eye.
Realising he was onto her, Saria quickly turned her head only to look again when she sensed he wasn't looking. She knew it was rude to stare but how could she not look at someone so handsome?
"Ugh, what am I thinking?" She whispered to herself. She'd forced herself not to think of him like that long ago, there was no reason to start those thoughts again, or was there?
Seeing his friend was spying on him again, Link smirked; time to show off. Tossing the sword into the air, he expertly caught it with the other before pulling off a jump attack.
"Now to really give her something to gawk at." He began to back-flip in a circle over the freshly cut grass. However, there was something in the grass that the young man didn't bet on. A hungry little pig was searching frantically for scraps in the dirt, too into his showing off, Link accidentally flipped right onto the pig's tail. The animal squealed in pain causing a startled Link to go flying over. Twisting angrily around, the animal bit down viciously on his finger.
"Aaaaarrgghhhh!" He screamed in agony, shaking his hand like an idiot, he stuck the throbbing finger in his mouth trying to stop the pain.
Saria winced then burst out laughing, she couldn't help it; Link flailing his hand about crazily was too funny not to laugh at.
Hearing her laughing, he picked up his sword then headed over.
"It's nice to see you smiling, even though that wasn't funny." He sat besides her, putting on a fake upset face.
"I'm sorry." She rubbed her eyes free of the tears of laughter, "are you alright?"
"I'll live, never seen whatever that thing was before." He wrapped his finger in a piece of cloth. The light mood soon ended, silence fell between the two yet again.
"Listen Link, about earlier, I'm-" Saria was about to start a long apology when he placed a finger softly on her lips.
"It's okay." He removed his finger, "remember in the Sacred Realm when you told me I didn't need to explain anything to you? Well, now it's my turn to say that. We're best friends, unexplainable things happen sometimes but we understand each other so much it doesn't matter. I used to think you and I shared a strong bond, I still think that." He stopped there unsure of what to say next.
"I feel that too." She finally replied, a proper smile on her face.
Standing, the pair got ready to make their way back to the house.
"So, are you getting used to the mass of water?" Link asked before they'd moved anywhere.
"A little." Saria answered, "I'm getting used to having to see it."
"Getting used to it hmm?" A sly grin crept onto his face. With a sharp shove, he craftily sent her tumbling off the pier into the water.
"Gah, Link!" She cried in the shallow water, "I'll get you for that!"
"Now who's laughing?" He smiled from the pier. Not watching what Saria was doing, he didn't see when she reached up, grabbed his leg and pulled him in with her.
"I'd say we both are." For the next few minutes, the two friends splashed each other playfully as they had done all those years ago in the Kokiri village pond.
A rough storm roared over the northern Great Sea. Waves swirled up into the air as dark clouds crashed loudly against each other like a pack of wolfos fighting for a scrap of meat. Lightning flashed brightly lighting up a large floating silhouette on the gloomy horizon.
At closer inspection, one could see that the silhouette was a huge ship which was literally hovering above the lashing water. A shady figure stood on deck glaring over the angry sea. Raising its right fist in the air, three triangles glowed under the moon, the top one became the brightest.
"The Triforce of Power has finally returned to its true holder. My day has arrived at last."