Alaia Skyhawk: Well here's the next chapter.
I don't own the Zelda series or anything associated with it. I do however own this story and any OCs, so please don't steal them.
A.N: A line of .~~~. means it's a scene from the past. Also details in the past scenes are not necessarily known to the characters in the present.
Chapter 29: Sages you've never known
Saria pulled herself to her feet, her eyes never leaving his face.
"Fado... it that you?"
Seeing the hope on her face, Makar hated to disappoint her. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"I'm not Fado, my name is Makar. Fado was my predecessor, my ancestor as it were."
Saria looked crestfallen, gazing at the floor she bit her lip to keep it from trembling. Darunia placed a hand gently on her shoulder to comfort her, all the while glaring at Makar for making her cry. Annoyed by this attitude, Makar glared back at him.
"Don't blame me, I'm Fado's reincarnation, his descendant. I'm not the one who killed him. So stop with the glaring and get a grip on your emotions. You'd think the Sage of Fire would know better than to let his emotions affect his judgement." Darunia growled, Saria looked up and began trying to calm him down while Makar continued. "In case you didn't notice, I'm one of the Kokiri and so I'm welcome within this temple, hence why the defences didn't trigger when I entered. Use some common sense, lest you wish to harm some innocent bystander who stumbles across you by accident."
Darunia clenched his fist, seeing this, Saria took hold of his other arm.
"Darunia, leave him be. Kokiri are never expected to be tactful, I know Fado never was, and Mido certainly wasn't. Besides he's right."
Silence reigned in the chamber for several minutes as Darunia glared at Makar, who simply gazed blandly back at him. Finally Makar rolled his eyes and shook his head at Darunia's attitude. That was all it took to push Darunia's smouldering temper over the edge. Makar's eyes widened as Darunia threw a ball of power at him in his fury, Saria desperately tried to summon up enough power in her weakened state to block it, but couldn't. She watched in helpless horror, as the blast headed right for Makar. After his initial surprise, Makar threw a hand up in front of himself and called forth a shield at the last moment, Darunia's attack struck it and shattered, leaving a rather irritated looking Makar standing there.
"What the heck did you do that for?!"
Darunia and Saria stood looking at Makar in shock. Eventually, Saria spoke.
"How did you block that? No Kokiri has the magic to stop an attack from a sage."
Makar sighed.
"I'm not a normal Kokiri..." He looked at them. "I'm the Sage of the Wind Temple, which lies far to the north-west, and I'm more than capable of stopping an attack from another sage."
Saria sank to the floor, her hands resting on her knees.
"But if you're a sage then that would mean..."
Makar came over and put a hand on her shoulder as she looked up at him.
"Yes, Saria. Like I said, Fado was my predecessor and served as the Wind Sage before me..."
.~~~.
The sun shone down on the forest clearing, a clearing dotted with large tree stumps carved out to form houses. The forest around it held an air of newness to it, the aura of new life was everywhere, even the land itself resonated with it. Children dressed in green ran around the clearing, watched over by their Father from another clearing nearby. A Father and Guardian as new to this world as they were. Newly created spirits sang within a forest unbroken and devoid of buildings. All that existed there was the trees and the creatures that lived among them.
A voice called out joyfully across the clearing.
"Fado, let's go to the pond!"
A boy with blond hair and brown eyes looked over at the girl from where he sat on a ledge. He grinned at the girl, with her leaf green hair and vibrant blue eyes.
"Hi, Saria, I'm coming."
In a single motion he dropped from the ledge to land on a slope beneath. From there he slid down to where Saria waited for him, clapping in delight at his antics. Once beside him, she grabbed his hand and towed him towards the pond where she stopped and pointed out the fish that were swimming in it.
"Aren't they pretty? Look at all the colours."
Fado leaned over to take a closer look, before falling into the water after being pushed from behind. Saria turned to frown at the red headed boy behind her.
"Mido, that wasn't very nice. Apologise to Fado right now."
She crossed her arms and stared at him, tapping her foot as Fado pulled himself out of the pond. Unable to take that stare, Mido looked down and muttered under his breath as Fado came over.
"I'm sorry, Mido but I didn't quite hear that." Mido muttered a little louder. "I still didn't hear you."
The red head glared at him.
"I said, I'm sorry."
Fado grinned.
"Now was that really that hard to say?"
Mido scowled and stormed off, while Saria looked at Fado disapprovingly.
"That wasn't very nice either, Fado."
Fado looked at her sadly.
"...I'm going back to my ledge."
As he walked off, Saria held a hand out after him as if to stop him, then let it fall to her side. She sat down by the pond once more, but this time taking no joy from the fish that flitted through the water.
Once back on his ledge, Fado turned his face to take the full brunt of the wind that blew past this high place. The highest in the clearing, it actually stood above the tops of the trees, where the wind blew past without being slowed by branches. He'd always liked the wind, there was something about it that meant more to him than the forest. He thought that maybe that was why Mido picked on him, because he was different. As he sat there, looking down at the other Kokiri playing in the clearing below, he couldn't help but feel separate from them.
"Why? Why do I feel like this?"
Fado...
The boy startled, leaping to his feet and looking around in confusion.
Fado... Come to me...
There was something in the call that he couldn't resist and he found himself walking as if to leave the clearing. He stopped and looked back, at Saria sitting by the pond, stirring the edge with what looked like a stick.
Come to me...
He couldn't resist it any longer. Without looking back again, Fado walked into the forest, following the voice that called to him. For days he walked until he reached the edge of the forest. Daunted by the open plain before him, he halted, only for the voice to call him once again. Fearful, he stepped out into the sunlight and began the trek across the expanse of grass before him, going ever northward. Days turned into weeks and still he walked, following the voice. Eventually he was confronted by a mountain, at the base of which he saw a door. Moments later a figure emerged, carrying a blue instrument in their hands. Golden eyes gazed at him reassuringly, eyes framed by silver hair.
"Greetings, Fado... I am Kaiayn, the Sage of Courage... Now is your time to awaken, for I have work for you..."
.~~~.
Saria closed her eyes, tears trickling down her face.
"That day... I never saw him again, I let him walk away from me and never saw him again... I didn't even get to say goodbye. When he didn't come back, we followed his footprints to the edge of the forest. It was because of him that we believed that any Kokiri that left the forest would die, because we believed that no Kokiri would ever leave the forest for good, that if they were alive they'd come back... but he never did." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "The others forgot him over time, but I never did. Through all the centuries, the thousands of years, I never forgot, while for the others memories faded from year to year. I guess that's why I became the Forest Sage, because I was the only one of the Kokiri who remembered the past, all of the past..."
Darunia looked at Makar with a small amount of respect, no longer holding any animosity towards him.
"So you're the Sage of Wind? What exactly does the Sage of Wind do? The Sages of the Sacred Realm guard it and also watch over the land, but what is it that you do?"
Makar looked a little unsure, the Temples of Earth and Wind had always been a secret from all but the Earth and Wind Sages and the Kings of Hyrule. He was about to say something when suddenly a touch of power carrying a voice brushed his awareness.
"Medli..."
Seeing his sudden distant expression, Saria got to her feet once more.
"What is it?"
Makar turned and began to run out of the temple. Darunia picked Saria up and charged after him, reaching the entrance just as Makar turned into an orb of light and soared up into the air, heading east. They followed, Darunia supporting Saria so that she could keep up. Throughout the chase the two sages tried to get Makar to answer them, but he either didn't hear them or refused to respond. In a matter of hours they saw a now familiar island on the horizon ahead of them and sure enough Makar raced towards the irregular peak. In a last ditch bid to get answers out of the sage, Darunia poured his power into getting in front of Makar and blocked the entrance to the cave. Makar glared at him.
"Move..."
Darunia set Saria on the ground next to him and held himself braced to take what ever Makar might throw at him.
"Not until we get some answers! Saria came here before and was attacked, that's why she's so weak. Do you seriously expect me to let you go in there without getting some kind of explanation?!"
Makar hesitated.
"She was attacked? Did she try to enter the temple?"
Darunia looked surprised.
"This is a Temple? But you said that yours was to the north."
Makar crossed his arms and regarded the two sages.
"And so it is... This is the Temple of Earth, the temple of my counterpart the Sage of Earth. Her name is Medli, and after what has happened these last few weeks she would likely be barely conscious due to exhaustion. If you entered her temple while she was in that condition she wouldn't have been able to sense you were a sage. You would simply have been an intruder and so she would have responded to you as if you were a threat."
Saria and Darunia looked at each other, before the Fire Sage stepped aside.
"Go... Do what you're here to do. We won't interfere."
Makar smiled and tilted his head.
"Come with me." They looked at him surprised. "Come on, you've gotten this far so you may as well come in with me. On a positive note, the fact that Medli called me means that she's fully awake, so there won't be any misunderstandings this time."
Still a little unsure, the two sages followed Makar into the cave. As he approached the barrier, it wavered and vanished allowing them to pass. At the bottom of the shaft, Saria once again found herself in the small room with the bridge, but this time the door was already open. Makar didn't react to this at all and when questioned he simply replied that Medli had opened all the doors for them. As if to confirm this, every time they entered a room the door they needed to go through next would open well before they got to it. This was the case for room after room, as Darunia and Saria looked around at the stone walls decorated with their various symbols and patterns. Eventually they reached a shaft deep within the temple, across the far side of which they could see a large ledge with a great stone door set into the far wall. Without hesitation, Makar flew over to it and turned to see if they were following, waiting until they had arrived before he opened the final door.
The room beyond was vast, it's ceiling high above them pierced by three holes through which rays of light shone. As Saria and Darunia looked around in wonder, Makar gave a small gasp and ran towards the centre of the room where the Triforce symbol glowed on the floor. There next to it, they could see a figure slumped on the stone. The distant head lifted wearily, red eyes gazing tiredly in their direction. She spoke, her weakened voice barely a whisper.
"Makar?"
Darunia and Saria watched as Makar helped his fellow sage to her feet. Once standing they could see that she looked much like a hylian, but with features that made her appear more like a bird. She regarded them for a moment, before frowning in concern at Saria.
"You're hurt, but I can sense traces of my power on you... Were you the one who intruded here a few days ago?" Saria nodded. Medli closed her eyes. "I am deeply sorry for any harm I have caused you. If there's any..."
Saria cut her off and smiled.
"It's ok, Makar explained why it is you would have attacked me. It's not your fault, you acted in the only way you could under the circumstances."
Darunia smiled at Medli as well. Finally accepting that it had all been accidental.
"I'm still curious, what is it that the two of you do? What role do you have in the protecting of the world."
Medli looked at them, with faint smile at the importance that Darunia implied of himself and his fellows.
"Makar and I play the most important role in the defence of the world." Darunia and Saria looked at her as if she was joking, but only until she continued. "We are the Sages of the Master Sword, who give it Power to Repel Evil... Without us the Sword has no power... Without us the world has no way to defeat the Great Evils that rise..."
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Alaia Skyhawk: Yay, 2 chapters in one day! I feel a lot better now, since I've kept you all waiting for 3 weeks. I'll definitely try to update next weekend. Happy Reading.
