"We have a winner! Step right up here, young man!"
Link awkwardly walked up the stage and stood next to the skinny man.
"Have a look at him, folks! The best shot in Plurbiocris, this little chap! Who'd have guessed it?"
An awkward chuckle was all that came from Link as he shuffled his feet. He was not particularly fond of these kind of situations.
"Well, I can tell you're itching to see your prize, so why don't we bring it up here?"
Two men, the same two who handed Link and Martha their arrows for sudden death, carted up a small pot filled with rupees, and the real prize, the two red tunics.
"One hundred rupees, and two nice new red shirts! You'll be the envy of the town in one of these! Take your prize, young man!"
Link grabbed the two tunics first, much to the man's surprise, then smashed the pot, also to the man's surprise, and then he began to shovel rupees into his wallet. Now that the event was over, the crowd had began to dissipate, and the energy died down. He took his opportunity and hopped swiftly off the stage.
"Don't forget to come again next year, lad!"
Before the boy could venture ten feet from the elevated platform, Martha stood dead in his tracks. She still grinned as she had previously, acting as though she had won the contest.
"You're welcome, forest boy. I figured you could use those more than me."
She expected a thanks, but Link only nodded. This seemed to tick her off.
"I'll have you know, I wouldn't have let just anyone have those. Do you even know what they are? They're not normal tunics, no sir, they've been enchanted!"
This was not new information, Link attempted to continue down the path, but she stepped in front of him again.
"I'll bet you're wondering why I know that, right?"
Link had places to be, he didn't have time for questions. The boy simply kept walking. Fed up with Link's indifference, Martha shouted something she was sure would get his attention.
"My bow was enchanted too!"
Sure enough, Link stopped and span back around, his curiosity piqued.
"Yup, I could have beat you by a mile! Quite frankly, I could have even beat you without the bow, but I let you win. Do I have your attention now?"
With a nod, Link locked his eyes on her. She had his undivided attention now. Martha smiled again as she continued.
"Those two tunics, and my bow, were enchanted by my grandmother. Aided by the fairies, she was a powerful sorceress. She brought life to all sorts of relics all across the land. But now..."
A tear rolled down Martha's cheek and she sniffled, her voice began to crack when she spoke again.
"Now, her time draws nigh... after the disappearance of the fairies, she fell into a grave illness... I fear, if they don't come back soon... she might..."
The girl took herself a moment, and wiped away her tears. When she spoke again, she attempted to put back on her smiling facade.
"I was going to try and extract the magic from as many of her relics I could find to try and save her, but I fear that will still not be near enough. It was something for me to try nonetheless. But then you showed up. You... I don't know what it is... but something about you... you seem like a real trooper. Never had I seen a forest child in our city before, but suddenly, during our crisis, I see two. In all the stories I've heard about forest kids, from my grandmother, they were always accompanied by fairies. Two kids meant to have fairies, two tunics and a town missing its fairies. I don't know about you, Link, but that sounds a lot like fate to me. I might just be crazy, but I want you and greenie to have these tunics, you probably need them more than me."
So that was how the girl knew so much of the Kokiri? Her grandmother was a sorceress, and any sorcerer or sorceress alike would find the magical Kokiri Forest interesting. Now the mischief of the girl began to slide into context.
"Woah... is that what I think it is!?"
Martha's attention quickly fell behind Link. What could have her so intrigued? He turned around, and saw a floating pink light buzzing toward them at a miraculous speed.
"A- a- a-... fair-"
"Link! Link! This way quick! I think Saria may have hurt herself!"
What had that girl gotten into now? Link sped off before the fairy could say another word, leaving her and Martha next to each other.
"You're a fairy..."
"Yes? And who are you?"
"Martha..."
Martha stared in awe at Mari's glow, watching her little wings flit as she hovered in the air.
"We haven't got time for google eyes, so either get moving or follow me!"
Mari buzzed off after Link, and Martha followed her mysterious twinkle.
"Hear me, sage of the forest, awaken."
Saria's eyes flew open, had she even closed them in the first place? She tried to put her hand on the floor to push herself to her feet, but then she realized she was already standing. She looked around herself to attempt to identify her surroundings. Everything seemed hazy, and oddly nostalgic. She had been to this place before, wherever it was. The walls and floor were made of stone, and elaborate sculptures and paintings adorned nearly every surface.
"Whe-"
The girl clapped her hand over her mouth, surprised at what came out of it. A voice smooth and rich, her own, but not the one she was familiar with. She tried again, still not sure what sound would leave her lips.
"Where am I?"
Slowly, a petite figure walked into her sight, she wore a lavish purple-pink dress, and had golden locks of hair. She knew this person, but she was not sure from where.
"Who are you?"
"Dear sage... have you already forgotten why we have sent you? I am Princess Zelda. Keeper of time and possessor of the triforce of wisdom."
In an instant, Saria's memories came flooding back to her. This was Hyrule Castle. Something felt different about it from when she last left, though.
"Forgive me, my princess, travel between timelines takes a heavy toll on one's mind. It has been three months since we last spoke, yes?"
"To you, forest sage. To us, it has been much longer."
"What? I don't understand..."
"I would not expect you to. Connections between timelines, be it physical or spiritual, are a difficult subject to handle. Every second you spend in the Hyrule of the Hero of Time, our connection narrows. When you left, your second was equal to our second. Now, a year later, your second is equal to a much larger period of time."
"Wait... then how long has passed since we last spoke in your world?"
"Dear Saria... I fear you may not be able to handle the answer."
"Tell me, please, my princess."
"So long has passed since we last spoke, that I am not the same Princess Zelda who you spoke to last, I am not even her grandchild."
"You don't mean..."
"Yes, several generations have passed since you last established connections. This is hardly the same Hyrule."
Saria fell to her knees in horror, though she hit the ground quite a bit harder than she would have wished. She had been wasting time, valuable time. All her friends there were now long gone, but she knew the implications of her mission when she accepted it, this would happen eventually.
"So... has... has the malice known as Ganon returned yet?"
"Miraculously, no, but his seal weakens every day. Evil has begun to seep into our realm. We need the Hero of Time. Hyrule needs him."
"I know... and I have located him."
"Is that so? Then why is he not at your side, standing before us."
"Because, currently, his soul is in turmoil, he seeks closure."
"Closure?"
"Yes, in the form of an old friend. His spirit will not be at rest until he finds Navi the fairy. I worry though... what if she has met her demise? What if the Hero of Time can't find her, and he forever remains in unrest? We cannot bring him back unless he is willing, correct?"
"That is correct, forest sage. We cannot pull him through timelines unless he wants to be pulled. You must help him find his fairy, or find some other way to put him at peace."
"I will not fail you, princess, I will do everything in my power to bring the hero to our aid."
"Was all your power enough when you sealed Ganon away?"
This again? Apparently, every generation was just as judgmental about that mistake.
"...You can attribute that failure as much to the other sages as you can to me. No one knows why our seal has weakened."
"If it hadn't, would we be in this mess?"
Saria could not bring herself to make eye contact with the princess. That man haunted her to no end. Though it was true she was no more at fault than the other sages, she blamed herself for the seal's weakening.
"Time is of the essence, princess. Even as we speak, does the evil not fester?"
"I am afraid you are right, forest sage. But that does not pardon you from the past."
"I know..."
"Before I send you back, I must ask you of one more thing."
"Yes?"
Saria stood back up and looked at Zelda eye to eye.
"Do not let your feelings get in the way."
"Why would you tell me this?"
"Because, you raised the hero as a boy, you were his closest friend. Is it not true that you had feelings for him at one point in time?"
"Yes... but that was a long time ago. It was wrong anyway, the Kokiri are not supposed to grow attached to anything or anyone."
"Yet, you are not a Kokiri anymore, are you?"
"If you are so uncertain about me, why did you send me in the first place?"
"I did not send you, my ancestor did. She sent you for precisely that; you were the closest to the Hero of Time."
"If she trusted me, then you should too."
"I don't, but I trust her reasoning. All of us have bore the triforce of wisdom, but not all of us use it in the same way."
"Mark my words. I will not fail you, Princess Zelda."
"Let us pray that will be so. Return, sage of the forest. Return your soul to your physical form in the reality of the Hero of Time."
Author's Note
I can finally say it; The plot thickens.
What's going on with Saria?
You will see... you will see...
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