Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with my story. I especially want to thank 4th Triforce Piece for his ideas, I have taken many of them into consideration, and I hope you will give me good ideas in the future.

I have a grotesque dream sequence near the end of this chapter. If you think its too much for younger readers, I'll go back and tone it down a bit. I don't want to raise the rating to M anytime soon. Still, the entire thing is in italics so if you don't want to read it, you can skip over it.

In other news, the poll on my site has officially closed and with a result of 9-2, you guys want a female OC added to the story. I've already got a general idea for her character, but she won't appear for a few more chapters. If you have any suggestions, send me a PM, I'm all ears.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda of any of its characters. However, I do own Tristan.


The Passage of Time

Chapter Six: The Great Deku Tree

The storm suddenly grew in intensity. Lightning lit the cloudy sky, wind blew from multiple directions, and blankets of rain relentlessly pounded the exhausted search party. A young boy, about ten years in age lead the way cursing under his breath as yet another branched whipped his freckled spotted face. Stupid Saria! Wandering through these stupid woods by her stupid self!

Two other boys, similar in age, trailed behind, unable to muster the vigor to maintain Mido's fierce pace. A fairly pudgy child fell behind the group; he was the shortest of the three, which only served to promote his fat cheeks and portly waist. Already, he was out of breath and asking to take a break.

The person ahead of him was barely in better condition. While he was much leaner and taller than the child behind, raising even a half inch taller than the boy up front. The torrential rainfall was matting the hair that always hung across his face. He tried to pull it away, but it just swung back to place, splashing his face with cold water.

The two boys in back couldn't believe they let Mido talk them into this. Saria went into these woods everyday and she always came back. So what if she was a little late today, it didn't mean she wasn't coming back at all.

One of them yelled, his voice dampened by the thick rain: "Mido, maybe we should turn back!"

"No!" Mido said stubbornly, "Were not leaving until I find Saria!"

"What makes you think she's even out here?! She could already be back at the village!"

"Just trust me, I know I'm right!"

If they had a deku nut for every time he used that line…. The brothers huddled together to converse in private. Mido was being irrational; they'd been wandering these woods for hours. They were cold, hungry, and miserable and so far, they had just been wandering in circles. This was starting to look like another worthless quest to make Mido look cool in front of the villagers.

They started slinking away while Mido was kicking a tree, when a voice howled through the night.

"Tristan!!"

The shrill had everyone standing on end. The brothers were dumbfounded, that was Saria's voice. Saria was really in trouble? Before they could even turn their heads, Mido had disappeared into the forest.

"Wait for us!" They shouted desperately but Mido had already disappeared into the woods. He couldn't have gone too far, but where did the scream come from? More importantly, which way did Mido go?

Mido was beside himself. It was a good thing Saria screamed when she did, the way they were headed, they would've missed the area altogether. He jumped into the clearing heroically, hoping to save Saria just in the nick of time. But what he saw only made his heart sink. Saria was shacking something desperately, clutching her tunic with her other hand.

"Saria!"

She looked relieved for only a moment before turning back to see him: "Mido! Thank Naryu you're here, -ugh." She fell to her knees, clutching her swollen abdomen tightly. The front of her tunic was stained with blood.

"Saria, what happened to you?!"

"Don't worry, I'm, fine," She panted, her body quivering with every breath.

"No, your not," Mido said, grabbing her free arm, "I'm taking you back to the Great Deku Tree right now!"

"I'm, not leaving, without Tristan."

"Tri-stan? Who's 'Tri-stan'?"

Saria pointed towards the tree, allowing Mido's eyes to follow their path. Mido was left gasping for words at the gruesome sight.

It was a "round ear". Its left side of his chest was completely mangled, his adjacent arm too. A bluish-purple bruise could be seen between the tears in its clothes. He wasn't bleeding like the injury should allow. The only blood he saw was crusted on his lower lip and the spots that stained his strange clothes.

Anger quickly overwhelmed Mido. Stupid thing! This was probably why Saria was hurt so badly. He lifted his boot and kicked it with disgust. It let out a gurgling cough and fresh blood trickled from its quivering lips. The clear weakness didn't faze Mido for even a moment. Saria had to grab his foot to keep him from a second strike.

He turned around, amazed by her persistence: "What are you doing Saria?"

"Please, don't hurt him."

"You would stand up for this, this, thing?!" He said spitting at Tristan's feet.

"He… he saved my life."

"What, this?!" Mido said, restraining a laugh, "Round ears like this would kill you as soon as look at you!"

"Please, don't, hurt him. I'll do anything!"

Mido hoisted her up, raising her eyes to meet his: "Listen to yourself! These things are even lower than the skull kids! You couldn't even compare them to the birds in the sky or the grass beneath your feet! What makes you think he wouldn't kill us as soon as he's recovered?!"

Saria was stunned at first by Mido's blatant anger. She never knew how heartless he could be, she could barely stand to look, but the courage came in time.

"Because," Saria said, conviction shining from her dim eyes, "He's my friend." Her limb body fell into Mido's arms.

The brothers stumbled out of the trees panting for breath: "Mido, did you find Saria?"

Mido turned around, holding the unconscious girl in his arms: "Yeah. Come on, let's get back to the village."

"What about him?" they asked, pointing to Tristan.

Mido thoughts clashed furiously. What did Saria see in that thing? She was so adamant in her request. Did she actually think of it as afriend?! He could just leave him there to die, tell Saria that they couldn't save him in time. She'd believe that right? No, she'd hate him forever, even if it were true.

He bit his lip hard, trying to suppress the bile in his words: "Bring him with us. He's… Saria friend."

"Whatever you say Mido!"

Tristan thrashed wildly in the Kokiri oak bed, his body covered in a cold sweat. For the entire day, and late into the night, Saria had attended to the tormented child, committing herself to a tedious and seemingly endless task. Tristan's sheets and clothes had to be changed almost every hour. Luckily, Link had agreed to help fetch new linins and sheets and clean the old ones in the nearby river.

There wasn't any need for bandages. The Great Deku Tree's magic was amazing, they barely got him there alive and still, he healed his wounds instantly. Not even a white mark remained where the chest had collapsed and for that, Saria was thankful.

But the Great Deku Tree could not soothe his mind.

He told her to keep close watch on Tristan until he woke up. He said that even now, Tristan was fighting and only he could vanquish him. She gripped the hard fabric of her tunic, wrinkling the garment between her fingers.

If only there was more she could do

The forest faded between the realms of existence as Saria pulled him along by his arm as the giant skeleton followed them through the woods.

For miles they ran through the contrasted mono-colored world, losing the grizzly ghoul only for it to dart around the next corner. It was an eternal game of cat and mouse that was driving him mad. And all the while, Saria pulled him on.

But then she stopped. Before Tristan even realized, they were surrounded by hundreds of skeletons. The closest one grabbed Saria by her hair, and hoisted her to chest level. She desperately kicked and screamed to get away.

"Saria." Tristan screamed, but the words didn't come. He tried to hit the thing's shins, but the thing knew neither pain nor remorse. With one swift kick, he knocked him aside, revealing a wicked smirk as he turned back to the girl. The army withdrew their swords.

And the slaughter began.

Countless blades whirled through the air, cutting through the girl's flesh like paper. Black blood contrasted with her white form, random parts being amputated from her delicate form. And all the while, she screamed louder and yet softer than a helpless newborn.

"Stop it! Please stop it!!" His lips moved but the words didn't come. Already, the girl was indistinguishable from a pile of meat, her blood spilling from a thousand cuts like water. Her life was already gone, and still the assault continued, staining her gray hair with a dark, spotted black. Tristan felt the urge to throw up, but nothing came. This couldn't be real. It just couldn't be!

The torture stopped when only the head remained. The bored skeleton dropped the trinket and it hit the ground with a blood-curdling splash. Her sad, empty eyes, cried with regret and sorrow. He couldn't stand those horrid eyes. Why did they stare with such sorrow, like she had been betrayed?

The army menacingly encircled the broken boy, their blades still black with the forest girl's blood.

"Stop it," he said weakly, his voice quivering. The skeletons marched ever forward.

"Please, no more." He felt the cold fist grasp his hair and knew the fate that waited.

"Please,please, Stop it!!!"

"Saria!!" A frigid chill, similar and yet unlike the wind, swept through him like a sickness. It felt like his very soul was crying and his body soon followed suit. He buried his face in his knees and the tears poured freely. This had to be a dream; all he wanted was for all of this to be a dream so why did it hurt. Why was this happening to him?!

"Tristan, haRu inuseh?!"

He felt a smooth hand fall on the small of his back. He turned his head, his face still swollen and puffy and saw Saria sitting on a small footstool, her face showing a short of motherly distress. He almost lunged at the startled girl, gripping her like she was about to fade away.

"Saria," he chocked, newly formed tears streaming down his face, "You're alive! I can't believe it, I thought you were… oh Saria, I thought I'd never see you again."

He felt light headed; he wasn't breathing right with his broken ribs. He tried a deeper breath and almost gasped when it went completely in. His right hand reached instinctively across his chest. There was no wound or depression. He stroked it gently, hardly believing his own fingers; the wound had completely healed, but how?

His thoughts were interrupted when a slight breeze blew through his exposed legs. He quickly let go of Saria, turned around, and wrapped the blanket around him, all in one smooth motion. Feelings of modesty and shame raged through his head. He couldn't believe he just broke down like that in front of a girl.

He looked at his new clothes, hoping it wasn't Saria who had changed them. It was pretty simple, consisting of a solid forest green nightgown and a pair of slightly itchy underwear. It was like something straight from a hospital. He could feel the crude stitches beneath his armpit, slightly torn from rugged use.

His eyes continued to span the room. It was fairly spacious, spanning almost fifteen paces in either direction. A thin layer of bark coated the walls and floor. It seemed to grow into the bed, dresser, and anything else that was bolted to the floor. If he wasn't mistaken, it felt more like the inside of a tree than anything else.

The room was big, but hardly large enough for an adult. There was only one bed too. Did that mean Saria lived here by herself?

"Hey, where are your parents Saria?"

Saria didn't respond. He kept forgetting that they didn't speak the same language.

But surprises seemed to follow him at every turn "Tristan," she said, staring at a piece of paper, "Here."

Tristan spun around: "You can speak English?!"

Saria handed him the parchment and turned to leave. It was a strange piece of paper, almost like a really thin piece of wood. He looked at it, wondering what she was up to.

Tristan

I know you're probably scared and confused. There are clothes on the dresser. When your finished come outside, I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my knowledge.

This was written completely in English, and not broken English like he expected. Could Saria speak English? It didn't make sense. If she could speak his vernacular, then why didn't she do so sooner?

Like the note said, there was a pile of assorted accessories pressed underneath a pair of leather boots. He quickly got up and put the attire on. There wasn't another shirt, just a belt he used to tighten the nightgown around the waist. More and more, this thing was looking like a dress and he felt slightly humiliated wearing it.

There weren't any leggings to go with the boots so slipping his feet in proved difficult. They weren't the best boots he ever wore, but it was better than no shoes at all.

Finally, there was a triangular piece of cloth that folded out into a pouch. The other items were pretty clear, but what was this used for. He put it on his head but quickly took it off. This thing would blow off with the slightest breeze; and besides, who would wear a hat like this anyway? It was probably a pouch of some kind for collecting things. The dress didn't have any pockets so it made sense, but how was he supposed to carry it?

He looked over the entire thing with the polished shield, propped upright on Saria's dresser. He saw a small child stare, younger than Saria even, stare back at him through the ancient war piece. It was the first time he had seen himself since coming to this world. He couldn't believe how alien he looked in those clothes.

The outfit was embarrassing, considering it didn't come with pants; he wasn't used to feeling the wind around his privates. He looked around for a moment for his old clothes, but they were nowhere to be found.

He went back to the mirror and found a wooden brush lying on the dresser. He remembered his hair and ran his fingers through it, finding it surprisingly clean and well groomed. Sure there was still mud between his follicles, but he thought it be much worse.

With that settled he walked through the empty arch, surprised it had no door and stepped out onto the railing. He couldn't believe his eyes, trees everywhere, all lined with similar railings. He turned back to look at Saria's house again in surprise, this house really was a tree. Amazing.

A yell came from below: "Oi!!!, Niua diBn?!"

He looked down and saw Saria waving her hands, gesturing him to come down. It didn't take long, as a ladder was placed just in front of the door. From there it was just a simple slide to the bottom where Saria waited eagerly.

"Alright, lead the way."

Saria firmly gripped his hand and guided him to the wisest thing in all of Hyrule, the Great Deku Tree.


Authors Note: Thanks for reading. I feel a little better about the end of this chapter than the previous ones but tell me what you think. And remember, spelling and grammar have always been a challange. Any specifics you can tell me would be greatly appreciated.