"Wow... that's a lot of trees..."

The group arrived at the entrance to the forest of confusion, marked only by a wooden sign, and two oaks forming an archway. The woods ahead of the archway were significantly denser than the woods behind them. The sun shone cleanly through the most of the woods, but inside, the trees created a thick shroud, blocking out most all sunlight. Needless to say, it was dark.

"That's a silly thing to say, Mari. We are in a forest, are we not? Heehee!"

"What I was trying to say was it looks easy to get lost, we had best tread carefully and remember our steps."

"Of course. Good thing you have me, I can navigate through any patch of woods! Ooh! I think I can feel where those mystic creatures are hiding, follow me!"

"Saria, wait!"

Saria ran off into the forest abruptly. Link dashed to catch up with her, to ensure he didn't get lost. Saria, however, did not seem to slow down for anything, be it tree roots, patches of mud, or even the occasional spider web. She breezed straight through the woods, jumping across ponds and hurtling stumps, all with the wind in her hair. After running for nearly three minutes straight, she spotted a dugout, what looked to be the entrance to a cave concealed within a massive tree stump. This must be it! She screeched to a halt, and cheered upward into the leafy canopy.

"Yahoo! That was fun! It took us no time at all, didn't it Link?"

No response. She turned around and realized that no one was behind her anymore. She had run too fast.

"Whoops... Link? Did I lose you? Link!"

Far across the forest, stuck in the overgrowth, was Link. He had been following after her as best he could, but the energetic forest girl was simply too fast. Link had only tripped once, and by the time he regained his footing, she was long out of sight. Now he was helplessly lost, and alone.

"Well that's just great... she got ahead of us and didn't realize it, now we're lost. Just like her to run off without thinking, I need to have a talk with her about this..."

Well, not quite alone, Mari couldn't keep up with her either. Link sat on a tree stump in defeat. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't seem to have her natural ability to navigate forest environments. She had no way to find them, and they had no means of locating her. Link pulled out his ocarina, the ocarina of time, and started to play long, sad notes.

"I guess we're stuck here for a while... I don't suppose you know any catchier tunes on there, do you? This sad tune is really getting me down... Saria would always seem to play something happy on her ocarina."

Happy tunes? Link did know a few, the Ballad of the Wind Fish, Zelda's Lullaby, Saria's So-... Saria's Song? The answer to their problem had been under his nose the entire time! Link played the familiar tune without effort, he had remembered it by heart.

"Oh, isn't that the tune Saria always played? I didn't mean you had to play that, but if you want to, sure! It always was catchy..."

Suddenly, inside Link's head, a voice sprang to life.

"Hello, Link? This is Saria, can you hear me? I'm glad you still remember my song! I think I got ahead of you, I'm sorry. I was excited, heehee! Do you know where you are?"

Link looked around himself. Just trees, trees, and more trees. There wasn't really an easy answer to that...

"Wait, that's a silly question, of course you don't! Hmm... I've got an idea, wait there!"

After the talking ceased, Link looked up and and perked his ears. Somewhere in the heart of the woods, someone had started playing the song, Saria's Song, back to him.

"Hey, wait a minute, is that Saria? She only taught this song to the best of her friends, so either someone out there has perfect pitch, or Saria is leading the way!"

Link jumped to his feet and began with a walk, which broke into a run. The irony of this situation hit him with a smile. He had first learned this song by following it through the lost woods, to find its creator, Saria. And now, he was using it to find his way through the woods and its creator yet again! Happy memories flowed from Link's mind as he hurtled a stream.

"Hey, slow down a bit! Don't get me left behind too! You kids haven't changed at all..."

Saria continued playing her song with utmost vigor. Despite having played it hundreds, possibly thousands of times, it always managed to brighten her spirits. The song was her very essence, cheeriness, playful thoughts, and even a pinch of mischief, all balled up into one. She played it from beginning to end repeatedly, without any breaks in the melody. It was like opening her heart up to sing all its happy memories, it was the song of her soul.

Link had arrived without her realizing it, even if she had, though, she would have kept playing. It initially took her by suprise when Link started playing a countermelody to her song, but she continued playing fervently, pouring her entire self into every note. Mari stared at the two impatiently, but knew it would be rude to interrupt such a wondrous song, despite having heard the song just as many times as Saria. After the two musicians made a dramatic end to the song, the fairy finally voiced herself.

"Bravo you two, bravo. You really ought to put on a concert sometime."

The sarcasm of the fairy's voice was lost on the children, the both stood and bowed.

"Saria, you're going to have to stop running off like that, if your own guardian fairy can't keep up, you're running too fast!"

Saria chuckled mischievously and grinned like a child on their birthday.

"Are you sure you're not just flying too slow? Hm?"

"I-... don't get smart with me! I'm here to protect you, to guide you, and to-"

"...and too keep me from harm, I know, Mari."

Mari did not take being interrupted lightly. Her normally pink color turned to a deep red.

"Saria! Listen to me! If you keep running off and leaving everyone behind, you're bound to get someone, or even yourself, hurt someday!"

"Alright alright, calm down Mari! I did not mean to get you two lost out there, its just that when I see a dense forest, I cannot help but take off. It's in my blood. In the future though, I will try to be more careful."

"Okay, I just don't want you or Link getting hurt because you get separated somewhere dangerous. I know Link can handle himself well, but I still don't want anything ill to befall him."

"Of course Mari, neither do I... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to him because of me."

Saria and Mari both stared at Link through worried eyes. Throughout the entire argument Link had remained silent, but now that everyone was looking at him, he couldn't help but feel awkward. He cleared his throat to break the petrifying silence, and then motioned up to the leafy sky.

"You're right, we can't tell what time of day it is with all these trees. It had only been midday when we set out here, it's probably nearing sunset."

"Oh my, does that mean we'll have to deal with the monsters everyone has been talking about?"

"I don't know, but regardless, it feels a bit compromising out here, we should head into that dugout."

The dugout. It had completely slipped Saria's mind. She had been so busy helping Link find his way and arguing with Mari that she forgot they had been standing right next to it! She cleared her mind and felt the cave. It was full of something living, whether it was hostile or not remained unclear.

"Oh, the tree stump! I feel... I feel that is where these mysterious creatures reside."

"Really? Is the harp in there too?"

"I can only sense that which has a spirit in the forest... though, oddly enough, I think I can feel it. I think I feel the mayor's son too... he feels scared..."

"That's both the things we are looking for! It's obvious that's the way to go! But... should we wait until nightfall, or go in now?"

A trying question indeed... wait, or go? Link looked up to the forest canopies as he thought, and noticed something. Something... disturbing. Above them, all the lower branches seemed to be snapped or torn off completely. His eyes traced down the rest of the trunk, and he found that from the low branch line to the ground, deep groves and slashes ran across the trees. He tapped Saria's shoulder and pointed to them.

"Yikes! Those look pretty deep... and fresh too. Maybe staying out for the night isn't such a good idea."

Mari flashed in astonishment as she studied the stripped bark.

"Whatever is hiding in there, they don't seem like fun playmates... we should get inside before nightfall."

"But the only cover for miles is this giant stump!"

"Well... I guess we're going in. Hopefully, they're asleep, whatever they are."

Link took initiative and walked in first. The other two followed reluctantly, but quickly, in fear of whatever fierce beast had torn up the surrounding forest.