A/N: So I honestly thought I would have at least one review by now. It's not really a big deal, I just have no idea how any of you feel about the story. As long as someone's still reading, I'll keep posting new chapters, but if there's something I can improve, or you'd like to tell me where you'd like the story to go, please leave a review. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.
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"Hey Link, long time no see," Saria said, looking exactly the same as the last time I saw her. She had the same short green hair, green jumpsuit, and green boots that she had back then. Seeing her almost unchanged triggered a flooding of emotions I had been holding back. I was happy to see her, sure, but I also felt extremely guilty for a number of different things.
"Yeah, sorry about that," I said, looking at the ground and shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Don't be," she said kindly. That was typical Saria, trying to make me feel better no matter how much I screwed up. "I've missed you a lot, but we live in two different worlds now. Mine is like a rock; it mostly stays the same while experiencing a few changes over time. Yours is like soft clay, constantly remolding itself according to the will and desires of its occupants. I guess that kind of highlights the difference between the two of us as well. I can tell you've changed. It's written all over your face."
"Just because I'm older doesn't mean-" I started.
"No," she said, cutting me off, "it's not that. You look... hardened, which is completely understandable given what happened to your world." Her formerly cheerful expression faded, and she looked at me with large, troubled eyes. "I'm so sorry, Link. You shouldn't have had to go through that all alone. I wanted so badly to go to you when I heard of the takeover, but you know what would happen to me if I left the forest. Besides, I'm needed here too badly."
My throat constricted, and I couldn't form a response. I had been completely consumed with my own pain at the time, while she had been asking and worrying about me. I didn't even come back once to check on my old friend.
"How did you learn about what happened to the rest of Hyrule?" Trenton asked after it was silent for a beat.
"Occasionally, people still pass through the forest, and they'll let us know what has been happening. The Great Deku Tree had that information in the past, but he's still recovering from the attacks of the creature that grew inside him. Also, we have not been totally unaffected by Ganondorf's rise. I assume you didn't come across any Kokiri before me?" We nodded our heads in confirmation. "That's not by accident. The sounds of laughter and chatter that are normally so prevalent in the forest, have all but disappeared. So has the carefree, playful attitude of most of the people. Something has infected these woods, I fear even the Sacred Forest Meadow itself, affecting the whole forest with an eerie feeling."
I thought I felt bad before. That didn't even compare to how low I felt now. Once again, I failed someone I cared about. In the past, I justified not coming back here by thinking that this place was protected, that the contagion that swept through the rest of the land wouldn't reach the Kokiri. Looking back now, it was a pathetic excuse. My absence was absolutely inexcusable.
I wallowed in self-pity for a minute more before I finally looked Saria in the eye, a new determination flowing through my whole body. "I will take care of whatever creature resides in these woods. This I promise you. I don't care what it takes, just tell me where to go, and I'll handle it."
"Link you don't have to d-"
"Yes, I do," I said, cutting her off. "I have to do this, okay? I have to."
Seeing that I would not be swayed, she sighed and nodded her head. "I don't know exactly where it is. Every time I've tried going very far into the woods, my feet feel heavy, and my heart fills with dread. I advise starting with the Sacred Forest Meadow though-it's a place of power. I imagine this evil might be drawn to it."
"Thank you, Saria." I started to leave to go deeper into the woods. Before I went in, I stopped and turned back to her. "I should've been here earlier. I should've stopped this threat before it even manifested. I'm truly sorry I wasn't, but I'm here now, and I guess it's better late than never, right?"
She looked like she wanted to argue with me, but instead she just said, "Please be careful Link."
I nodded my head in consent and motioned for my companions to join me. As we left, I noticed the eerie vibe in the air she mentioned that I missed earlier, and a sense of foreboding swept through me. It was going to be a long day.
"I told you to stay right by me!" I yelled at a sheepish Landon.
"I thought I heard something, so I wanted to check it out," he said weakly in his defense.
"No. This place is called the Lost Woods as in, even under normal circumstances, not everyone who wanders in manages to find their way out. Do not trust your senses here because they are being deceived. Chasing after a far off noise or a strange sight on the edge of your vision is the best way to make these woods your permanent home."
I had been in his face during my impassioned speech, but I turned and walked a short distance away when I finished to try and collect myself. I understood now what Saria meant about feeling worse the deeper into the woods we went. We were fairly close to the meadow, but now every step was an effort. Before we came in, I was sweating a little because of the heat, but now cold had penetrated through my whole body. I could tell I wasn't the only one affected, though. Landon can be hotheaded and rash, but he wouldn't normally go off on his own like that. At least, not when I specifically instructed him to stay close. We were all a little restless, I guess.
Trenton looked really concerned and asked, "If we can't trust what we see or hear, how are we supposed to find the creature?"
"I've been in these woods enough to at least somewhat successfully distinguish between what belongs and what doesn't. Besides, once we make it to the Sacred Forest Meadow, it won't be nearly as bad."
When we finally reached the meadow, there was a collective sigh of relief. Without the dense packing of trees that was prevalent in the rest of the woods, the sun was actually visible, though it was low in the sky. That combined with the beautiful flora and impressive stone structure (even if it had collapsed in on itself in certain sections) made it easy to see why Saria is so enamored with the place.
"Please tell me whatever we're looking for isn't in the creepy building," Landon said with wide eyes.
"I don't think so. Saria and I came here a lot when we were younger. We tried every way we could think of to get into there, but to no avail. We could never find an opening that was big enough. Let's just search around the perimeter to start. If we don't find anything, we can try getting into building then."
The clearing was pretty large, so we each took our own areas to check out. We couldn't have been going for more than ten minutes when I saw a blur of motion out of the corner of my eye. Before I could turn around, I heard a long, deep howl with which I was only too familiar. I raced over to it as fast as I could, but I was only halfway there when I heard a yelp of pain.
When I passed the concealing vegetation, I saw a large wolfos with shaggy gray fur and Trenton's arm trapped in its jaw. I drew a knife from my boot and hurled it at the beast mid-stride. Throwing while running doesn't ensure very good accuracy, and instead of sticking in its side, the knife just grazed across the wolfos' back. The maneuver did cause the beast to release Trenton and turn its attention to me though, which was what I wanted.
I drew my sword and stared into its glowing green eyes, waiting for it to attack. My attention was so focused that I almost didn't react to the warning shout from Landon. I turned to see a second wolfos leaping at me. I braced myself before it hit, and used the momentum of my fall to kick up with both my feet and launch the animal away from me.
"Stand at my back," I called to Landon, who finally reached us. "These beasts like to circle their prey before they lash out." Sure enough, they did just that as Landon pressed his back to mine.
"I've got that one," he called, indicating towards the wolfos with crimson liquid dripping from its mouth. Personally, I would have liked to take whichever one gave me an opening first, but I understood his desire to take down the one that hurt his brother, so I agreed.
We spun slowly, keeping track of our respective wolfos. I tried striking out at mine a few different times, but each time the animal was too quick for me, jumping out of my reach before my blade could reach it. Then it would start circling again, but never attack. It just warily looked at the sword I had protecting my body. Thinking of an idea, I pretended to stumble on a rock and threw my arms out for balance. The beast jumped at me, paws extended to claw at my face, the second it saw its opening. I waited until it was at the perfect point in its leap, and then I thrust my sword upwards, piercing its body all the way through. It got close enough to lightly scratch my face, but my blade struck the animal's heart. Its glowing green eyes dimmed to black.
As I pulled my blade free, Landon capitalized on the temporary distraction to slit his own wolfos' throat, effectively killing it. He then hurried to his brother's side to tend to his injury. The bite marks in Trenton's arm weren't as deep as I originally feared, but it spanned the majority of his forearm. He'd be able to make do with cleaning it and then wrapping it with gauze for now, but we'd need to find a healer when we get out of here.
Meanwhile, I scanned the area to check for any more of the beasts. We could not afford to be taken by surprise again. When my search came up clear, I grabbed my water skin to clean the three horizontal scratches across my right cheek. Luckily, the wolfos had barely been able to reach me, so the cuts were relatively shallow.
"Were those creatures the ones we are looking for?" Trenton asked me.
I shook my head. "No, wolfos are nasty, but they can be found all over Hyrule. I suspect that whatever is causing the dreariness in the forest isn't nearly as common."
His head dropped in disappointment. "That's what I feared. What's our next course of action then?"
I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun had almost descended below the trees. "Well, traveling through the woods at night in these conditions is basically a death sentence, so we need to set up camp here. In the morning, we can head back to the village to drop you off before Landon and I continue searching."
He was not at all happy with my plan. "I'm not going to let the two of you wander around here by yourselves while I sit around waiting. My injury isn't that bad. I can handle it." He crossed his arms to emphasize his point, forgetting his injury. His involuntary grimace and hiss didn't exactly help his cause.
"It's not a question of whether or not you can handle the pain. Your sword hand's the one that is hurt, so you can't defend yourself. That makes you vulnerable."
He started to protest again, but I just continued over him. "That not only puts you in greater danger, but Landon and I as well. If we have to worry about keeping you from harm, we will not be able to devote our entire focus on our goal. That not only lowers our chance of success, but also increases our own chance of injury. You know I like having you at my side during conflict, but right now you're a liability," I finished, trying to keep my voice gentle but firm.
After considering my words for a while, he finally nodded his head in defeat. "At least, let me go back on my own. You shouldn't lose all the progress you've already made because I was taken unawares."
"No," I said, absolutely unwilling to compromise on this point. "I'd much rather lose a day than send you to a certain death. Besides, this task seems as if it might take longer than I was originally expecting. I want to get some supplies from the village anyways."
"Fine," he said, sounding a little angry. After a minute the corner of his mouth came up. "I guess I should know better by now not to argue with the Mighty Link," he teased.
"Yeah," Landon jumped in, obviously happy with the lighter mood "don't you know Link's always right? Why else would he rather jump off a cliff than compromise once he decides something?"
I gave them both a rueful smile that quickly disappeared when I looked around. It had grown darker, and the sun had almost completely set. While we argued, I didn't notice the thick covering of fog rolling in that was starting to envelop the whole clearing. The hairs on the back of my neck started to rise as I got the feeling that something definitely wasn't right.
"Be on your guard," I called over to the twins. They must have noticed something was off as well because they were all too eager to comply. I strained my eyes, trying to find the source of my discomfort, but the fog was making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of me.
"Link, what's causing this?" I heard one of them ask fearfully. I had no answer, but I was becoming increasingly restless as the wind picked up, and the chimes set around the clearing began to make an eerie sort of music. My heart was beating rapidly. The suspense threatened to consume me. I didn't have to wait long to discover the cause, though. Chills ran down my spine as the creepiest laugh I have ever heard sounded directly behind me.