"This is where she was before I went to fetch you. She was gathering fruit, so she's probably near a fruit bearing plant."
"Uh huh, yeah."
"Mido, you're not listening to me."
"Yeah, that's right."
"She's my kid, don't you think I probably have a better idea how to find her than you do?"
"Obviously."
Whenever Mido got into one of those moods, he couldn't help but drive everyone around him crazy. Spoken words went in one ear and out the other, and all he gave were blank responses. Needless to say, Mari was fed up with the boy's behavior.
"Will you tell him to listen to me?"
"Sorry, when Mido doesn't care, neither do I."
Not only was the boy's ignorance a source of friction, but at that particular moment, Tika was about as intolerable as Mido himself. While fairies' personalities in general tended to reflect that of their child, there were occasions where Tika seemed to take it to the extreme. This was one of those occasions. Usually, the best way to catch Mido's attention was to either say something about him, or Saria. Mari decided she would choose the former.
"Y'know, for being such a terrific leader, Mido the great really isn't leading us in the right direction."
"Exactly! Wait- what?"
"You're not going the right way."
"Well then, do tell, Mari. Which way is the right way? Do you know? Hmm?"
He had her there. Saria could be anywhere in the lost woods. She was especially nimble, so she could cover a lot of ground in a very short period of time. If they were searching, they had better look in the right direction. In the moment of silence generated by Mido's remark, Mari caught an interesting sound in the wind. She crooked her head to listen, before the arrogant boy interrupted.
"Hah! That's what I thought! So we're going my way, come on!"
"Shut up, Mido!"
"Huh?"
"Listen, do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"If you would stop talking, you would be able to hear it!"
Mido too lifted an ear into the air. Some strange melody floated along the wind, an entrancing tune that almost seemed to embody the woods themself.
"What is that... it sounds like some sort of flute."
"It's Saria!"
Like an arrow through the sky, Mari cut through the forest like there was no tomorrow, leaving a dumbfounded Mido to run after her.
"Wait! How do you know? Saria doesn't even own a flute!"
"Because! Just listen to that melody! It's got to be her!"
"One more time! Please friend?"
"Oh, alright. One more, then I'll probably be completely out of breath!"
Saria placed her freshly crafted ocarina in her mouth once more, and played the brilliant melody she did before. Where it came from, nobody knew, but it was her own, and hers to keep. After so long, Saria had gotten comfortable enough playing her song, that she began to dance along with Skull Kid. The two pranced round and round, bouncing on their feet, and moving in whatever ways they knew how. Building into the ending once more, Saria jumped in the air and landed on her back in laughter. Grass rubbed against her bare arms as she cackled and tumbled, playing an instrument was more of a blast than she thought.
"Hahaha! That was so fun, wasn't it Skull Kid?"
Rather than the eerie voice of the child, only a breeze spoke up. Saria rolled over to sit up, and called once more.
"Skull Kid?"
Searching the nearby vicinity, Saria discovered that she was now alone. Skull Kid was odd, but there were few things that made him run off without a trace.
"Skull Kid? Where did you go?"
After examining the stump he had been sitting on, she found that her friend had even left behind his flute. Something was clearly amiss. Not even Skull Kid would leave behind something he had poured so much time into. A dark omen seemed to fill the air, an unwelcome feeling that would make one's hair stand on end. For the first time, Saria felt afraid of what the lost wood may be housing. In the nearby brush, something shuffled, startling the girl.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
"Oh, dear child... help me..."
Her muscles becoming tense as wood, Saria slowly crept over to where the voice came from, unsure whether it was friend or foe. Inch by inch she crept over, the closer she got, the more little details she would see that all seemed to say 'Stay back, this could be dangerous!' Tiny red droplets covered several leaves, snapped branches riddled the area behind. Picking up the nearest tool she could reach, a traditional carving knife, Saria tiptoed closer to the origin of the voice. Slowly as she could, she pulled back a limb from the bush. When she saw what lay within the brush, she jumped back, dropping the knife, and shrieked with all the power her lungs could muster.
"MA-REEEEE!"
Echoes of a bloodcurdling cry reached the ears of Mido and Mari, prompting both to start moving faster.
"That was Saria! Something must've happened to her!"
"You don't have to tell me twice, move!"
"It came from this way, come on!"
"Somebody, anybody! HELP!"
Saria began hyperventilating as she looked over the figure in the bush. A young Hylian woman, probably in her late twenties crawled out from the brush. Red liquid oozed down the poor woman's body, she was scarred all over, clearly injured.
"Don't you dare move! If you move, I'll... I'll use this thing! Oh yes, it's a very powerful magic relic, it can blow you to bits!"
Holding up her new ocarina like a weapon, Saria acted as if she were ready to attack, when in reality, she was frightened to death. What was an outsider doing in the forest?
"I... don't want to hurt you... girl. Please, I beg you... take me to the great and wise tree..."
"Wait... you know the Great Deku Tree?"
"Yes child... he is our only hope..."
Why should she trust this lady? The girl started to turn the other way to run, but then she heard a sound. Some sort of a cry, like that of an... infant's? Saria spun back around to find that the woman was carrying a bundle, inside that bundle, sat a young baby boy, with golden hair. The child whined and stirred, wrinkling his little nose into a prune as he fussed. Saria crawled closer, and observed the bundle of joy. When his fussing ceased, he opened a pair of deep blue eyes, much like her own. She immediately became infatuated with the miniature person, it was the cutest thing she had ever gazed upon.
"Please... help us..."
Saria looked back at the woman, unsure what to do. A strange outsider, covered in blood, carrying with her, possibly the most harmless being in the world. Against her better judgement, Saria held out her hand, and the baby's mother took it.
"This way."
Racing toward the presumed origin of sound, Mari and Mido stopped short whenever they saw a trail of red blood running across the meadow.
"Oh no, Saria!"
"Whatever it was, she wounded it. I don't see any of her blood, but I also don't see her."
"Hey, wait a minute..."
With cautious hands, Mido picked up a small knife from the ground.
"This is my whittling knife! What's it doing all the way out here?!"
"Hold on... this is the basket she was carrying, but why does she have so many woodworking tools?"
"There are wood shavings all over the place, was she making something?"
"Maybe it was this?"
Mido picked up a strange flute, and blew into it, producing a high note that felt as thin as a twig.
"No, the one we heard was a lot deeper."
"Well, then whose could this be?"
"I think I might know..."
Why did Saria always love to go off and play with Skull Kid when she wasn't looking? There always was something off about that child, and their surroundings seemed to evidence it further.
"...that naughty little imp..."
"Who?"
"Come on, what are we standing around here for? Follow the blood trail! She had better be alive when I get there, you little demon child!"
Though she had to slow herself to keep pace with the woman, Saria dashed through the lost woods towards the Great Deku Tree's meadow. She snuck the mother and her child around the village, afraid how the other Kokiri might react if they saw them. Normally, it was a serious dishonor to enter the Great Deku Tree's grotto without being summoned, the sole exception being emergencies. Unsure whether this really counted as an emergency, Saria entered the Deku Tree's realm with knots in her stomach.
"Umm... Great Deku Tree?"
"Goodness child, you have startled me! Did I summon you? Why are you here?"
Without another word, the girl helped the mother into the sight of the guardian. In a booming voice filled with contempt, the Great Deku Tree verbally chastised the girl.
"Saria, why have you brought an outsider before me? Have I not told thee several times, outsiders are evil, you are to stay away from them! Why was Mari the fairy not there to keep you from this monster? Even now, this being is covered in blood! Why have you gone and disobeyed my teaching?"
"I'm sorry! She said she needed you! And- and-"
"And what? Surely, your act will not go unpunished!"
Saria slumped down into a ball and began to cry. Why did she disobey the Great Deku Tree for something as bad as an outsider? Even if it were so cute and innocent looking, the baby would still grow up to be a bloodthirsty monster. Surely, she would be an object of ridicule amongst the Kokiri for years to come. As bruised and battered as she was, the woman stood on her feet and called to the tree.
"Please, save your wrath upon this girl! Oh great tree, she only acted by her heart! Is that so wrong? If you wish to rain down your anger upon someone, then rain it upon me!"
Surprised by how well versed the woman's response was, the Great Deku Tree eased his tone a bit.
"And why should you pay for her mistake?"
"Because, oh great tree, I know that anyone who ventures into the forest will be taken by the forest. My time is nigh anyway, I am not here to save my own life!"
"Then pray tell, whose life are you here to save? My children are already immortal."
"His!"
Hoisting the baby into the air for the Deku Tree see, the woman too burst out into tears.
"There is nowhere safe for him! You can take my life, but please! Spare his! This boy has done nothing wrong! Save my little Link!"
Astonished by the presence of the infant, the Deku Tree closed his eyes and took a long moment to think.
"Hmmmm..."
"Please..."
"This child... something about him... I can sense it, he is a child of destiny. He shall rise up one day, and affect the course of the entire world. Yes, I will take this boy. He will be safe here. You have my word."
"Thank you, great tree, thank you..."
"Now rest, make yourself one with the forest. Your journey is complete."
Relieved, the woman fell to the ground, completely limp. The baby stirred in her lifeless arms, looking around his self.
"Saria, come hither."
Getting up from her crying fit, the forest girl walked front and center of the Deku Tree. She wiped her tears from her eyes, and looked up to him.
"Yes, Great Deku Tree?"
"All that has transpired this day, about this woman. Let it not be spoken of again."
"But... but the baby..."
"We shall keep him."
"Wha- really?"
"Yes, we shall raise him as a Kokiri until the day of his destiny arrives."
With a squeal of joy, Saria picked up the child and coddled him in her arms. But, looking at his face, she couldn't help but feel sad about the woman laying on the ground.
"What about his guardian... will she be okay?"
"She is already dead. She was surviving purely by the force of her will. She was a valiant being. We shall remember her by keeping the name she gave the child."
"Link..."
"Yes. Now, don't grow attached to the boy, for he will depart some day."
"I won't."
That was a lie, already, the girl had grown desperately attached to the baby.
"Good. Now, you must handle this outsider. Bury her behind me, be sure that her body will never be discovered. Once you have done that, speak not of what has happened ever again."
"Y-... yes, Great Deku Tree."
"Oooh, when I find that little imp, I'm going to beat him to a pulp!"
"I hardly think you could pluck a blade of grass from the ground, Mari."
"You shut up, Tika! You know you'd feel the same way if something happened to Mido!"
"Yeah, but I also happen to know that Mido wouldn't get himself into trouble. He listens to everything I tell him."
"Because you don't tell him to do anything! You just let him do whatever he wants!"
"It works though, doesn't it?"
"Hey, you two pipe down! I think we're getting close."
Mido crouched down to his knees and watched as the blood trail abruptly ended at the Deku Tree's grotto.
"Huh? It just stops? What's it doing near the Great Deku Tree?"
Before he could look any closer, the voice of the Deku Tree boomed through the forest.
"Children of the sacred forest, hear my call and come hither."
Startled by the words, Mido tripped and stumbled into the grotto, the other Kokiri flocked in soon after.
"Hey! Ow! Quit shoving!"
"I wonder what he's going to say?"
"Shush! I want to hear!"
The Great Deku Tree chuckled as he watched the children rush in and bounce around with excitement. All the Kokiri were there, except of course, Saria. Mido was beginning to worry.
"Silence, please."
At once, everyone sat still, and stopped talking.
"Today, shall be a day long remembered amongst the Kokiri."
Mido had heard those words several times before, they always meant either something really good, or really bad. He feared for the worst, the Deku Tree may very well have been announcing Saria's death.
"This afternoon, one new Kokiri has joined our ranks."
All the children erupted into a murmur, until the Deku Tree silenced them once more.
"Bring Link forth, Saria."
"Huh?"
Saria stepped out from behind the Great Deku Tree, carrying a bundle wrapped in green cloth. The baby, Link, nuzzled against the skin of the gentle girl's bare arms for warmth. She gently smiled, and the waif cooed. A collective 'Aww' arose from the crowd of children, but one boy did not participate in the sound. Something about that baby seemed peculiar, but Mido couldn't lay his finger on it.
"Until he is of stature to support himself, you, my children, shall take care of him. He is one of the Kokiri, and therefore, one of you. Love him like a brother, for he is yours."
Mari buzzed over to Saria, with the original intention of chewing her out, but when she saw the poor little child in her hands, her heart melted. Seeing Mari next to Saria again allowed the thoughts in Mido's head to click. Before, every Kokiri he had seen welcomed to the woods, though they did start out as babes, had a fairy with them from the very second they were presented. This child, however, had no such sprite buzzing around his head. After following the trail of blood through the woods and hearing Saria scream as if she were being murdered, the lack of a fairy was more than enough to raise his suspicions.
"Hey!"
Every Kokiri turned their head towards Mido. Even the Great Deku Tree's attention was captured by the boy.
"Yes, Mido? Hast you something to say?"
"He doesn't have a fairy!"
"So?"
"Didn't you say all the Kokiri have fairies? Then where is his? Is he not a real Kokiri?"
As if he were expecting the question, the Great Deku Tree sighed and replied.
"One shall come to him one day, Mido. That day may be soon, or it may be later. You must help take care of him too, you know. He is everyone's responsibility."
"But... but..."
"Don't worry Mido, this little guy isn't as bad as he looks."
Deep within, Mido began to harbor a feeling against that child. Wherever he came from, he didn't seem to be a Kokiri, he had managed to capture the attention of the girl for whom he cared. Saria ran her hand through the baby's golden hair and looked deep into his blue eyes.
"Nothing will hurt you, Link. Not as long as you're in my arms."