"About time you two showed up, we've got some food to cook!"
Saria walked back to camp with Mari hovering alongside her. In her arms, she carried small logs, a few sticks, and some other tinder to start the fire. A sharp damp wind blew from the northeast, no doubt signaling the storm to come. The sun had just fallen below the horizon, and the sky was a blueish purple.
"Let's get this fire going, I'm freezing!"
"What did I tell ya? A pair of shorts, a tunic, and a turtleneck aren't gonna cut it on the mountain."
Piling all the wood in one spot, Saria set to work making a campfire. First, she cleared nearby leaves and pine needles to make a safe area, but when she started to rub two sticks together, Link stopped her.
"What? This is how you make a fire, is it not?"
With a coy smile, one that seemed to say 'watch this', Link pulled a shiny piece of rock from his bag. Using his sword, he scraped the flat side of the stone with the blade, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
"Woah! How did you do that?"
Moving the flint closer to the base of the pile of wood, Link struck it again. No sparks caught, so he struck it once more, yielding a small flicker on a piece of a leaf. He crouched down and blew on the flame lightly, venting it more oxygen, festering it into a bigger fire. Soon, more of the tender caught on, until finally, they had a good campfire.
"I need me one of those rocks."
Hung over the fire, Link was carefully tending to his hog, making sure it wasn't overcooking on either side, turning it over about every thirty minutes. The delicious meat would not be ready to eat until just before midnight, so until then, everyone stayed around the fire to keep warm, sharing the occasional story.
"And then, just when everyone thought they were finally safe, the wild bokoblin bashed everyone with his club, and ate them all alive!"
In an awkward moment of silence, Saria waited for Martha to go "Just kidding!" or perhaps "But then..." however, no such words arrived.
"...That's it?"
"Yup."
"But... whatever happened to stories with happy endings?"
"Pfft, greenie, everyone knows the best campfire stories don't have happy endings. Why don't you tell one now?"
"I don't know... I've never been the best story teller."
"Are you kidding, Saria? Whenever it was your turn to tell stories, none of the Kokiri ever missed it."
"Come on, greenie. Even your fairy says otherwise. Won't you tell us a good one?"
"Alright fine, let me think of one... something without a happy ending... have you ever heard the tragedy of the Hero of Time?"
Link turned his head. Was this a story about him?
"No, sounds like it might be a good one though."
"Well, here goes. Not too long ago, there was a forest. In this forest, a great tree watched over all the children, and took care of them. At the command of the tree, each and every child had a fairy. Every child, of course, but one."
Saria's words clearly piqued Link's interest. The boy removed his attention from his meat for a moment, and listened to the story.
"One fateful day, the great tree sent one of his servants, a fairy named Navi, for the boy. She brought him to the tree, and the tree told him that a curse had been laid upon himself by an evil wizard. In the end, the boy alleviated the curse, but the great tree died anyway. With his last words, the tree sent Navi and the boy off into the world, to deliver a magic emerald to a princess. The fate of the world depended on it."
"Interesting... I'd like to see where this is going."
Through the hours of night, Saria shared the story of Link's adventure with such detail, that she may as well have been there herself. Of course, it was because of Link that she knew the story so well, he spared no details whenever they communicated over their ocarinas. With each twist in the story, Link felt as though his heart was being wrenched. He had been foolish enough to let Ganondorf slip into the sacred realm, and get his hands on the triforce of power. Several people had lost their lives at that man's hands, and by extension, his own. Why had he been so brash years ago? Could not the entire conflict have been prevented if he and young Princess Zelda had taken the time to think things through?
As Saria went on, things only got worse. As she told about the boy's exploits in the forest temple as a man, he knew what was to come, but he still couldn't bear to think about it.
"As it turned out, the hero's best friend as a child was the Sage of the Forest. Though they were to be separated by destiny, she still uttered six heartfelt words..."
Looking directly at Link, even Saria seemed to go a bit teary-eyed when she quoted herself.
"I will always be... your friend..."
"The hero stabbed his sword into the beast's head, and for the briefest moment, the monster's soul left its body. In this instant, the six sages sealed the evil wizard into an inescapable void, rendering him powerless forever. With his duties done, the hero looked around himself at all the ruin. The world had been brought to ashes at the hand of the wizard. The princess offered the hero a chance to go back in time to fix it all. Using the magical ocarina of time, she sent him back to his child body seven years ago, before they had even met. The boy found the princess once more, and they had the wizard executed. However, since he had traveled back in time, the hero's legacy was forgotten. Her task now complete, the boy's fairy, the only other person to know of his deeds, left him, and flew into the far reaches of the unknown. They say that the Hero of Time still searches through these woods to this day to find Navi the fairy, and with her, closure."
"Wow... wow greenie. How long have you been working on that one? That was good. Really good."
"Longer than you could know."
Though he tried to hide it, Link's face was now covered in tears. He wasn't sure that it was because he felt regret and remorse for his past actions, that everyone had forgotten him, or how true it all was, that he really was still looking for Navi. Sometimes he would tell himself 'She left you, does she really want to see you? Maybe you should just move on.' Though he wanted to move on, something inside him always shouted back 'Keep looking, you're so close!' After an audible sob, Link unintentionally gathered the attention of the others.
"I mean, I wouldn't call it a tear-jerker. Is he okay?"
"Maybe... it wouldn't hurt to give him a minute."
"Well, as long as he's good by the time the hog is done. I'm not slicing the meat off of that thing."
Link tried several times to regain his composure, but he could not bring himself to do it. Now sorry that she told the story, Saria sat down and tried to comfort Link.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I know a lot happened, and I'm sorry I put that through your head again. But mark my words, Link; after we find all the harp pieces, we will find Navi. She's out there, just like Mari was. Somewhere, someplace, she's going to be waiting for you, whether she knows it or not. But until then, I'm here for you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call my name. Or better yet, if I'm not around, play my song. I'll always be able to hear you."
Between sobs, the boy whispered three simple words.
"Thank you, Saria..."
"You're welcome Link, we will always be friends..."
After letting them enjoy an extended tranquil silence alone, Mari sighed and interrupted the quiet.
"I hate to kill the moment, but is that hog almost done, Link? We need to have eaten before the rain comes, and it's coming pretty fast."
With one last sniffle, the boy stood up and returned to his meat tending duties.
"Mmm, man, this was worth the wait! Where did you learn to cook like this?"
"Heehee, I think we can both agree that growing up in a forest has its perks. Good luck getting any recipes out of him though, a good chef never reveals his secrets!"
"I thought that was magicians?"
"Close enough."
"Not really..."
The three kids chowed happily on their cuts of ham. For only children, the meat of a small boar would be way too much, so Link saved the extra cuts in his bag.
"Y'know, I've always been a bit leery about eating meat, since it comes from living creatures and all, but then I taste it, and I can never get enough!"
"That's the way it is, isn't it greenie? Nobody wants to kill the turkey, but everyone wants a piece of it."
"Yeah, that's a funny way of putting it."
"It's something my grandmother likes to say... you two... you are doing something about the fairies, right?"
"Of course! That's why we're going to the mountains, after all."
"Good, because ever since they left our valley, things have gotten progressively worse. Farms have been having lower and lower turnouts, making the food prices go up. Sickness has been spreading around. The land itself is loosing life. I do hope you two do something about it... because I don't know what's going to happen if the fairies never return."
"We're doing everything in our power to see to it that they do. Link here is missing his own fairy, after all."
In an instant, something in Martha's head clicked. He had been crying, hadn't he? She whispered low enough so that only Saria could hear her.
"Wait a minute... your story... is he?"
With as much subtlety as she could manage, Saria nodded and snickered. Lost in awe, Martha glanced back and forth between the green haired girl and the blonde boy, her mouth agape. Unaware of the inaudible conversation between the two, Mari spoke.
"Well, does anyone want more meat before we call it a night? This stuff is always best when it's freshly cooked."
"No thanks Mari, I think I had way too much as it is. I'd really hate myself if I had anymore."
Saria rubbed her lightly bloated stomach to accentuate her point.
"Well, how about you two?"
"Nah, as tasty as that stuff was, I don't want another bite."
Link put his hand in the air and shook his head. He was full too.
"Well, you three had best get to bed then, that storm looks like it's coming quick."
"Try to get as much rest as you can, climbing a mountain is no cakewalk."
As the children flocked into the tent, a cold wind from the north swayed Mari in the air.
"I hope Martha has the tent staked down really good, this storm looks like a rough one."
"Arise and speak, Sage of the Forest."
Saria awoke, her surroundings felt different than she last remembered. There was no leather covering, no taste of ham lingering in the back of her mouth. Instead, she was surrounded by stone brick, and her throat felt rather dry. Though she was standing, she felt as though she had just woken up from a nap.
"I am here, who has summoned me?"
A girl, scarcely older than twelve, walked into her line of sight. She wore purple robes, fit for royalty.
"Oh, are you Princess Zelda?"
"Yes, I am."
"Pardon me... but I was kind of expecting you to be a bit... well..."
"Older?"
"Yes. Quite frankly."
"My mother died when I was young. It's quite a pity isn't it, a child to take on responsibilities no adult should have to?"
"Yes, I know the way that can be."
"You seem to have lived through it, that gives me hope. Last we heard from you, the Hero of Time was in your company, correct?"
"That is correct."
"Is he still by your side?"
"Yes, right by my side."
"Is the boy any more ready to depart than he was last? Have you found a way to put his soul at ease?"
"No. If I am to be honest, he is probably more upset than before."
"And why is that?"
"He still grieves his past, and it was recently put through his mind again."
"In what way?"
"Well, I told his story at a campfire, thinking it might cheer him up, but-"
"A campfire? Dear sage, is this task a mere joke to you?! Why are you wasting your time with telling stories and other leisures? You should be on a one track quest to prepare him for what is to come! Put away childish things, and deal with these matters firsthand!"
"Funny thing to hear from you."
"Just because I am young does not make me immature. I bear on my shoulders more responsibility than anyone in all of Hyrule."
"Right, right. I will have you know this is no small task I have been assigned either."
"I do know, but I am beginning to question your ability to perform your job. Are you truly worthy to be placed in stained glass among the other sages?"
"What? Why would you ask that?"
"Are you?"
"Y-yes, your majesty!"
"Then prove it. Next time one of royal blood calls, they will be expecting results. Do not fail us, Forest Sage."
"I won't, my princess."
"Or the blood of the entire kingdom will cover your hands, and your head may well roll."
In a flash so brilliant the sky turned to day, lightning struck down upon the forest. With a terrific *CRASH* Saria jolted back to life, frightened both by the noise and the words that rang in her mind. '"Your head may well roll?" Is she... threatening me? What happened to the kind and wise Princess Zelda who sent me?!' Putting a hand to her throat, the girl feared the implications of the statement. She tried to put herself back to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, visions of people bringing blades down to her neck would appear.
With another *BANG* and a jump from the child, thunder rumbled throughout the valley once more. The storm was clearly in full swing, the leather of the tent vibrated with the wind, and rainfall echoed as long as the ear could hear. Looking around the small shelter, Saria determined the others must still be asleep. 'How can they possibly sleep in this kind of weather? It sounds like a war is going on outside!' Hoping for some help getting to sleep, Saria whispered the name of her fairy guardian into the air.
"Mari! Mari!"
"Nnngh... what is it Saria?"
"I can't sleep!"
Without bothering to get up, Mari offered her advice.
"Think of something that makes you happy."
Lazily, the fairy drifted back off into her slumber, leaving the green haired girl alone. Happy? What memory made her happiest? Saria thought through her plentiful years, and searched her mind for the right day. When a thunderbolt struck in the distance, the sound brought to mind a very particular moment in time, several years ago.