A rush of water crashed down over him and in mere seconds he found himself being thrown around below the waves. Each time he caught his breath another wall of water sent him further beneath the surface, followed by a deafening noise which could only be described as some kind of roar from what he assumed was coming from that huge silhouette. Struggling to keep his head above water, Link anxiously scanned around for Saria in the darkness. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on contacting her but it was no use, something was blocking the connection. Not wiling to give up he started to think of an item he could use that would let him move in the water more easily. Taking out the Zora Mask Link was sure it would help defeat whatever this thing was, the darkness of the night hiding it from his view. Placing the mask over his face, he braced himself for the transformation. Nothing happened. Before he had a chance to take in the shock, a long, thick snake-like being wrapped itself around his body. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't reach any of his items, the thing that had grabbed him was gradually sucking the life out of him, dragging him down into the depths of the ocean.
"Why hello there, what's your name?" Amber spoke loudly in her sleep, obviously having some sort of delirious fantasy. Rolling over on the bottom bunk, she draped her arm over the shield which was lying next to her. "Oh, you're eager aren't you? Yes, you're right, names aren't important."
There was a loud roar as something bashed into the side of the ship, waking both the Gerudo and Sheikah with a start. Falling from her bed, Amber groaned.
"Whatever just woke me out of my dream is so gonna pay! Was it you Sheikah boy?" She snarled up at Taj who was leaning over the edge of the top bunk looking just as surprised as she was.
"I think whatever it was is far bigger than me," he said, slipping from the bunk to look out the window. "Look at that!" He gasped at the sight of the huge silhouette flailing about at the side of the ship.
"What the hell is that!" She shoved him out of the way to get a better look. The 'thing' was twice the height of the ship and probably twice as wide too, Squinting into the darkness, Amber screamed when the moon reappeared from behind the clouds to reveal the silhouette's true identity.
Seven silver tentacles glistened in the moonlight as they swung around the massive main body of the monster whilst an eighth tentacle remained holding something under the water. Turning its large head towards the ship, they were almost blinded by its glowing blue eyes which glared at them angrily. When it lifted one of its long tentacles over its head, Amber almost fainted.
"Saria!" She screamed, leaning at a dangerous angle out of the window.
Ignoring the girl's cries, the beast hurled the unconscious Kokiri through the air, slamming another tentacle down on top of her.
"We have to stop it!" The Gerudo grabbed her shield and before Taj could stop her, she had leapt out of the window into the ocean below.
"Don't worry Saria, I'll save you!" Amber exclaimed, thrashing about in the water with the shield strapped to her back. Feeling herself being pulled down by the weight of the weapon, she started screaming when she remembered she couldn't swim. "Help, somebody save me!"
A tentacle soon appeared and wrapped itself tightly around her, dragging the girl and the shield beneath the waves. Not wasting any time, the remaining tentacles crashed through the very centre of the ship, sending pieces of wood flying in every direction. Leaping off at the last minute, Taj tumbled headfirst into the middle of a newly formed whirlpool which had been created by the monster.
"This is terrible!" Madi yelled, grabbing Koda's arm. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I-I don't know…" the other fairy looked on in horror at the scene. He had always assumed that Link was some kind of superhuman who would emerge and save the day like he usually did. But he had disappeared and now there was no one.
And then it happened.
A stream of light tore through the silent sky, letting off a high-pitched shriek of a sound which scared the monster into letting go of its victims in a frenzied panic. A fountain of bright colours erupted from the noise, raining down over the fleeing enemy as it disappeared back beneath the ocean to escape the terrifying noises.
"Ugh, not again!" Zelda groaned when she heard another scream coming from the entrance to the Lost Woods. For the last few days the Kokiri kids had been screaming about some kind of monster roaming about in the Lost Woods but every single time she went to investigate, she found nothing. The princess was starting to wonder if the children often played pranks like this on each other; after all, they must get bored being in the village all the time for days on end.
Pushing herself up from her sleeping bag on Saria's floor, she tiredly walked towards the door to see that the sun hadn't even risen yet. Turning back into the house the girl looked over at the sleeping Nori who had decided he would help her out while she was staying there. It was funny to her, she'd always imagined having a fairy companion would be rather annoying but Nori was quite interesting when he wasn't moping around thinking about past events. She could imagine him as Saria's guardian, chasing her through the Lost Woods when she didn't listen to him, having long conversation all night about nothing in particular, living a life in ignorant bliss of the outside world. For a brief moment, Zelda found herself wishing she could have something like that, a best friend for life who would always be there no matter what she did. It was easy to understand why Link had been so upset when Navi had left him, she had been that part of him that he'd always longed for.
Putting on her boots, she thought it best to go and see what the problem was, just in case the unlikely event of a monster entering the village did happen. Picking up the emerald sword from the floor, she moved towards the door only to be stopped by a waking fairy.
"Are they at it again?" Nori yawned.
"Yeah, does Saria have to put up with this too?"
"Not really, some of the Kokiri like to play jokes but not to this extreme," the fairy flew up and landed on her shoulder. "And anyway, Saria would find it funny, having played her fair share of pranks in her time."
"Saria?" Zelda raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't seem the type."
"It takes a while to get to know all sides of her personality," he grinned. "Ever heard of a monster that has the body of a boy and head of a wolfos? She insisted to Mido that one had chased her through the Lost Woods once, he wouldn't leave his house for days after that! That girl has one crazy imagination."
Listening to more of Nori's stories about the antics of the children, Zelda made her way up to the cliff by the Lost Woods entrance.
"What's wrong Rela?" It hadn't taken the princess long to learn most of their names and she had been informed by most of the villagers that Rela was always up to mischief, although most of it was harmless and good-spirited.
"I just saw that thing again! Right in there!" The small girl pointed into the depths of the woods.
"Are you sure? I don't see anything," Nori said, squinting through the trees.
"Well you wouldn't out here, it's inside!" Rela insisted. "Just go see for yourselves."
"I did yesterday, more than once, but if it will make you feel better," Zelda mumbled, walking through the first hollow log.
Pushing her way through some low branches, she stood in the centre of a cluster of tall trees trying to spot anything suspicious amongst the leaves. Moving on to another area, she started thinking Rela must have been seeing things yet again when suddenly, there was a loud rustling noise above her head. Looking up in a flash, her eyes searched the braches for any signs of life but there was nothing there. Stepping back a few steps in total silence she almost jumped when she stood on a loose twig, the cracking sound echoing all around her.
Coming to the conclusion that there was nothing 'monstrous' of the sort in the woods, Zelda made to leave through the log tunnel. Walking towards the base of one of the biggest trees she got the fright of her life when something, or more likely someone, leaned down from the branch it had been hiding on and gave a loud piercing howl. Leaping back into a defensive position, she scowled when the 'thing' started laughing.
"Think you're funny, huh?" she smirked. Pressing both hands together she aimed them towards the sound of the laughter and sent a blast of magic straight for it.
The thing let out a hurt yelp before tumbling out of the tree in surprise. Untangling itself from a pile of leaves which had fallen along with it, the princess could see that their monster had been no more than a teenage boy. Remaining on his knees in the dirt, the boy put both hands on the floor in front of himself and started growling, his dark eyes focusing on an amused Zelda.
"What are you supposed to be?" She smiled. Looking at the boy closer, she could see that he didn't have any unusual features so he must have been Hylian, especially if the pointed ears were anything to go by. Moving a little closer she reached out a hand and patted his short matted brown hair. "Well, you're definitely human; one in need of a bath," she mumbled, taking her hand out of his dirty hair.
"Wolfoses don't take baths!" he snarled, flicking her hand away with his own.
"Right. What is a scary 'wolfos' like yourself doing scaring the inhabitants of this forest?"
"I wasn't scaring anyone, I'm just looking for my friend," the boy insisted, jumping to his feet so he could be the same height as this girl who didn't seem to be scared of him in the slightest. The sleeves of his filthy, long-sleeved jacket rolled down his skinny arms when he straightened them. The boy looked like he hadn't eaten much for days.
"Who is your friend?" Zelda asked. "Do you know who he's talking about Nori?"
"No idea," the fairy replied. "I've never seen this kid before so he can't be from the forest but he seems harmless so the Deku Sprout must have granted him access to the Lost Woods."
"He's a little brown wolfos," the boy explained. "He's different from most of them because he only has three legs. I know he's around here somewhere, I can smell his scent!" He threw himself down on his knees again, sniffing the floor as if he could actually smell his friend.
"Oh, I know who he's talking about," Nori whispered to Zelda. "Link and Saria found a wolfos like that a few weeks ago, they assumed he'd been abandoned by his pack so took him in."
"I see," Zelda started at the strange boy on the ground. "Do you know if Saria has any soap and other bath stuff?"
"Um, I think so. What do you want it for?"
"This boy needs a bath before going anywhere, whether he likes it or not."
The last thing she remembered was jumping into the ocean to try and fight that huge thing but it hadn't gone as well as it had looked in her mind. The Gerudo started to wonder if she was dead. The only thing she could see was darkness, so why did she feel so warm? Feeling her body slowly waking up, she moved her legs a little then struggled to open her eyes to find she was lying under a blanket on a beach. If this was the afterlife it wasn't so bad, at least she could sunbathe. Shifting her legs out from under the blanket, she blinked when she realised someone had removed all of her clothes. Turning to one side she could see a small fire crackling in the morning light, hers and Taj's clothes lying neatly next to it along with their weapons.
"Hey, did you strip me!" She wrapped the blanket around herself, wriggling over to Taj who had just woken up.
"Huh? Of course not!" He exclaimed. "The last thing I remember is falling off the ship and then I woke up here, without my clothes!"
"Relax, they're over there," Amber pointed towards the fire. "I'd like to know who did this though, I guess you could say they saved our lives."
"Yeah, but where are the others?" The Sheikah pulled his blanket tighter around himself.
"I don't know…" Amber glanced into the ocean, bits of the wrecked ship floated past her eyes. "What if they didn't make it?"
A burning sensation ripped through his chest as he struggled along the beach. Falling to his knees Link placed his hands on the dry sand to stop himself collapsing face-first, his body shivering from the feel of the soaking clothes he still had on. Bracing himself to stand again, he carried on stumbling along the sand in the hopes he would find someone soon.
"Saria!" He called again but got no answer. He had tried contacting her mentally but there was nothing, she must have been unconscious. He couldn't stop thinking about her or the others, if anything had happened to them he convinced himself it was his fault; after all, if the Zora mask had worked none of this would have happened. It was his responsibility to protect people and he'd failed.
"Damn it!" He tossed the useless mask on the floor, his ribs aching with every movement he made. "SARIA!"
"I knew you'd make a terrible guardian!" A familiar voice echoed along the beach. "Wait, did you just hear Link?"
"I'm a what!" Another familiar voice snapped. "She's not even my charge!"
"Shut up! I think I can hear Link," Madi ignored a furious Koda and fluttered away in the direction of the yelling.
"Madi?" Link picked up the mask as the fairy came into view.
"There you are!" She perched herself on his shoulder. "You don't look so good, maybe you should rest."
"Not until I find Saria. Have you seen her?"
"Um, sort of."
"What do you mean by that?" Link started walking in the direction the fairy had come from.
"Well, we found her passed out on the shore so we went to find help but by the time we got back she was gone. And we didn't even find any help." Madi could see the boy's expression change from being relieved when he heard Saria was alive to annoyed when she told him she had disappeared.
"She must be still unconscious since she hasn't contacted me, that means someone must have taken her somewhere." Link frowned. "Come on, let's carry on going, she can't be far."
She stood silently on the cracked stone floor, a lone torch flickered in the corner of the room casting a dim orange glow which caused small shadows to creep along the walls. In front of her were three large stone steps leading up to a solid wall, these were the first steps she would take when the journey finally began. Hearing footsteps coming from outside, she turned towards the entrance to see a silhouette leaning against one side of it, the daylight from outside flashed into her eyes stopping her from seeing the figure's identity.
"Looks like it's almost time for you to let everyone down, Alanna." The figure sneered in a confident male voice.
"What do you mean?" The girl recognised the voice straightaway.
"Didn't you hear? They found a girl on the beach, she's hurt pretty bad but they say she'll be alright when the healer is through with her. It looks like she's from another country and they found another two who look like they're from somewhere else too. That makes three, how many did your grandmother say there would be?"
"Four," she could feel her heartbeat increasing at the mere thought of the beginning getting closer.
"Only one more then," the boy smirked. "You should come back to camp, your father wants to see you." Leaving the place without another word, the boy left the girl known as Alanna standing in the darkness.
Walking out into the morning sun, Alanna placed a beige hat over her long, bushy brown hair and made her way back to camp. She didn't know why she always wore that hat, her mother had given it to her years ago saying it was similar to the ones archaeologists and explorers wore. The idea of exploring the country had always appealed to the teenager, it was a dream of hers to travel to as many different places as possible and draw the amazing sights she was sure she would see.
Entering the campsite, she heard her father calling her from within the healer's tent.
"Ah there you are Alanna, I assume you've heard the news by now?" Her father's deep voice asked as she entered the large tent. Even though he wasn't an elderly man, his rugged face and aging grey hair gave him the appearance of someone much older. The dark eyes he had passed onto his daughter looked warmly at her when she came in.
"Um, kind of," she blinked, pushing a pair of thin-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose. Alanna Laramie could only be described as an average girl. Her frizzy hair stuck out in all directions giving anyone who saw her the impression that she never brushed it. Walking further into the tent, she took off her long-sleeved jacket the same colour as her hat and placed it on an empty hook. The strong smell of healing herbs drifted into her nose from the corner of the tent where an elderly woman sat huddled in a cloak, a large cauldron in front of her full of homemade remedies. Next to her there was a girl she had never seen before unconscious under a pile of blankets.
"That girl has strong magical energy," her father commented. "It is what kept her alive after that attack."
"It's fortunate you had those fireworks, Akimaru has been so restless lately but has never attacked anyone like that." The healer said, stirring the ingredients of the cauldron.
"It can only one mean thing," the man turned to his daughter. "I sent Lucas to fetch the other two we found on the beach this morning, they should be awake by now."
"Dunno why he sent me out here to find them," the boy who had recently spoken with Alanna mumbled, making his way through a cluster of trees which led to the shore. Stepping onto the warm sand he got a shock when he saw a girl with orange hair completely naked in front of the fire, reaching down for her now dry clothes. Looking up half way through dressing she sent him an angry scowl.
"What do you think you're doing, you little perv!" Amber screamed, throwing the rest of her clothes on and rushing over to the boy with her fists raised.
"U-uh nothing! Not my fault you were stupid enough to get changed out in the open for anyone to see you," the boy defended himself.
"What's going on now?" Taj emerged from the trees in his dry clothes.
"This pervert thought he could spy on me when I was dressing, that's what!" Amber insisted, ignoring any excuses the boy threw at her.
"I don't think anyone would want to do that," the Sheikah smirked. Hearing movement behind, he turned his head to see a worn out Link trudging along the beach with the fairies trailing after him.
"I'm glad you two are safe," Link gave a weak smile. "Have either of you seen Saria?"
"Huh?" Amber forgot about the newcomer and walked over to Link. "You mean she's not with you?"
"If she was do you think I'd be asking about her!" Link snapped. He was tired, soaking, his ribs ached and the most important person in his life had disappeared, dealing with Amber being her usual self was something he was not in the mood for.
"Does this Saria girl have green hair?" The boy Amber had been arguing with asked.
"Yeah, she does." Link looked over at the boy. He was slightly taller than him with short copper-coloured hair which had been flicked up in the back. He had his arms crossed over a zipped-up red jacket and looked as if he wasn't amused at Amber's accusations.
"I'll take you to her," he said. "I'm Lucas by the way."
"I refuse to give my name to a pervert," Amber pushed past him, not willing to see reason.
"She's Amber, I'm Link, this guy is Taj and the fairies are Vain and Loud," Link smirked.
"Hey, I'm not vain!" Madi protested "Which means you think I'm loud? I'm hurt Link."
"Right," Lucas didn't know what to think of these people. Were they really the four? "You should wear this until we get there, you look like you need it." He took off his jacket and handed it to Link who took it gratefully.
"Found them and another," Lucas led the three into the healer's tent. "Looks like we have four now Alanna."
"Saria," Link said, not hearing anything Lucas was saying to the people in the tent. Moving past Lucas he made his way over to where she was lying, her usually cheerful face was pale and lifeless. He was still insisting to himself that it was all his fault. If the Zora mask had worked it would have been fine and no one would be hurt. Or if he had tried harder to defeat whatever that monster had been, Saria might not be in this state. "Will she be ok?" He asked the room, taking her hand in his.
"She will be fine after a long rest," The healer said softly. "Let me look you over boy."
"No, I'm alright," Link insisted but it was impossible to say no to the healer. An aged hand appeared from within the cloak and hovered over him for a few moments.
"Two broken ribs," she concluded without even touching the wounded area. "You'll need to sleep while I heal your bones."
"B-but-"
"No buts. You must rest before your injury gets any worse." Before Link could reject her offers any more, a pair of glistening yellow eyes appeared from within the cloak, deep spirals swirled inside them sending anyone who looked their way into a deep sleep. Ordering the rest of the group out of the tent, she prepared the spells ready to begin healing once again.
Outside the tent, Alanna set herself on a small bench in the centre of the campsite along with Lucas who had insisted on joining her.
"I wish Uncle wasn't so stubborn and would let me go in your place," Lucas sighed. "Because let's face it Alanna, even if you were capable of taking on such a task you don't look like you want to."
"We don't even know if they're the ones," she mumbled, trying to ignore her cousin.
Seeing Lucas harassing Alanna, Amber decided to stroll over to the bench to assist her.
"If this guy's your boyfriend you better watch it, he likes to stare at other girls while they're changing." Amber announced as loud as she could.
Alanna burst out laughing.
"He is not my boyfriend! Just my annoying cousin who thinks he's something special."
Swinging the shield off her back,. Amber let is rest in front of her, smiling mischievously at the two of them. Seeing the look on Alanna's face when she saw the shield, the Gerudo stopped smiling, something in the way the other girl was staring at her made her feel uneasy.
"W-what is that?" Alanna swallowed hard.
"This? Some shield I found. It's pretty cool but we have to take it back to some shrine or something. Do you know where it is?"
"So do you still think they aren't the ones?" Lucas gave his cousin a satisfied smirk. He loved being right.