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Chapter 9
"Saria, NO!!!" Link screamed at the top of lungs, hoping his best friend wouldn't jump off the bridge. But it was too late. She had already made the leap. Link went as fast as his Kokiri boots would let him and slid towards the end of the bridge, nearly falling off himself, and caught the Forest Sage by the arm.
"Link?!" Saria shouted. She was more than willing to take her life that night. But the last thing she expected to see was Link there to catch her. But now she had a look of fear on her face. She prepared to jump straight off, not dangle 70 feet above the ground.
It took nearly all his strength, but Link pulled Saria up. He fell to his knees and could have sworn he was having a panic attack. Never had he been so afraid, than at that moment. He had been afraid that the girl who raised him, his best friend, would fall to her death that night. Had he arrived a second later, it would have been too late. After a few seconds, Link managed to muster the words he wanted to say. "Saria, why? Why would you try to kill yourself?"
Saria turned around and walked towards the door Link came in and stopped. She had her back to him. She went through a mixture of emotions. She didn't know if she should be happy that the boy she raised back in the village had come to visit her, or if she should be angry that Link had prolonged her worthless life that in the end, she would find herself alone. Her eyes were still filled with tears. She had been crying nearly the whole night.
"Saria, please answer me," Link pleaded. "Why would you do this?"
Saria's sorrow began to turn to anger. "Why did you save me?! Why did you have to come here?! Why couldn't you just let me die?! I hate my life! I just want to jump and get it all over with. There's no use in me being around here alone." She got to her knees and began sobbing. She still had her back to Link.
Link approached the young Kokiri girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know what to think when I saw what I did. I thought it may have been a vision of the past, but clearly it was a vision of the future."
Saria sat down, looking confused. "What do you mean?"
"Saria, I had a dream a couple of nights ago…"
That night, she questioned her existence. "Is this really worth it?" she said to herself, "Does it really matter if I live or die?! Link was right! It isn't worth it! No one's going to invade to stupid temple! And as far as I'm concerned, my life ended five years ago!!!" With that Saria stood up. She looked down on the ground, which had to be at least 70 feet below her…and jumped.
And then…everything went black…
"I thought it was grim nightmare," Link continued. "But I knew it looked so real. As much as I didn't want to believe it. But it was true. Saria, I don't understand. Why did you jump? Why did you try to take your own life?"
Saria's face looked grim. She had so many reasons, she didn't know where to begin. "Link…you were right. You knew that my life would turn out this way. You knew that a life as sage would bring me eternal solitude. But I didn't listen. I was blinded by my loyalty. Loyalty to my friends, to you, and to doing what's right. Link, I really didn't believe it could be this bad. I didn't think I would become this…lonely…and be forced to stay here in this gloomy old temple for the rest of my life. I didn't know, until the first night when the Imprisoning War ended…"
Saria had never seen such a celebration before. Everyone in Hyrule had turned out to celebrate the defeat of Ganondorf, the King of Evil. People of all races had come to rejoice in Hyrule's freedom. She hated to see it end, but the sun was rising and the cucco had crowed. She prayed to God that she could go back and see her friends, if only for a little while. Five of the seven sages had left. She was left alone with Rauru, the Sage of Light.
"Rauru?" she began. "Now that it's over, what happens now?"
The old Sage of Light didn't know how to break it to young Saria, but he knew he had to tell her. "Each sage must go to his or her respective temple immediately. They must guard their respective domain from any evildoer who may disrupt the Sacred Realm."
Saria was crushed at what she was being thrown. "You mean I can't go see my friends? Even for a few minutes?"
Rauru frowned. "I'm sorry, child. But you must go to your temple immediately. I'm afraid you can never see your friends again."
Saria was beginning to grasp the reality of the situation. "Please Rauru. Just for a few minutes?"
Rauru's heart sunk, but he knew that the rules couldn't be bent for anyone. "I am truly sorry, young Saria. You cannot. It is the consequence that comes with becoming a sage."
The last thing Saria remembered was a flash of white light. She was being taken to her temple.
Chapter 10
"I knew I had to stay the rest of my life here," Saria told Link. "But I thought I'd at least get a chance to say goodbye. Link, you have no idea what it's like to leave your friends without even as much as a goodbye."
The reality began to hit Link. Yes, when he said goodbye to Saria that day in the Chamber of Sages, he was sad. But he imagined the state of the other Kokiri. Among those were Mido, who had changed while Link was gone, had just begun to cherish his friendship with Saria. Somi, her best friend, besides Link, was told by Saria that she would come back. And Sodo, whom Link believed Saria had a crush on since before Link ever arrived, must still be waiting for Saria to come back. They honestly believed that Saria would return. They didn't know if she was dead or alive and she couldn't tell them she was ok, or that she missed them. That must have hurt, more than Link could imagine.
Saria continued. "But I didn't know how bad it was, until I spent my first night in this awful place…"
The blinding light had disappeared. Saria now found herself inside the Forest Temple. She never noticed how big it really was. It looked a lot smaller with all the monsters lurking about. Saria began to cold. The atmosphere felt chilly. And Saria began feeling…lonely.
"Hello?" Saria said. It was a vain attempt, but she prayed to God that there was at least, someone outside the temple.
"HELLO!!!!!!!!!!" She nearly lost her voice on that cry. But it didn't seem to matter. The vast temple was empty. She wouldn't be talking to anyone.
It was eerily quiet. Saria could have sworn she could hear a pin drop. But the silence didn't last long. It began to rain. With most of the temple being open to the sky, she quickly scrambled to find cover. She began to face a harsh reality. It would be like this a lot. There would countless nights in which she would find herself alone and in the rain.
She decided to pull out her only form of entertainment in the dreary temple. Her ocarina. She placed her lips on the instrument and began to play a somber, mellow tune. She played for at least fifteen minutes until she could not hold it in any longer and began to cry.
"It was like that almost every night. For five years, that's all I could remember." Saria sadly looked at Link and hung her head down again. "I could only remember the rain. The darkness. The emptiness. I can barely remember how my song goes anymore, because I rarely play it. I only play it when I'm happy, and I haven't been happy since I've become the Forest Sage."
Link realized that that was why he hadn't heard Saria's song coming from the shortcut to the Lost Woods. She never really played it anymore. Link sensed that Saria had more sorrow to express, but his heart has already crumbled ten times over. He hoped to relieve some of her pain.
"Saria?" he asked. "In the five years that you've been here. Hasn't anybody visited you? Not even one person's even stumbled by this place by accident?"
Saria spent time thinking, but she suddenly remembered. "I do know one person…"
( Saria was sitting on the bridge. It was a bright day, which was rare in the time she spent guarding the Forest Temple. Unlike many other days, she actually felt in a good enough mood to play her ocarina. She took it out and began to play her song. So many days stuck in the temple and she decided to abandon all hope in any evil invading…or in getting a visitor.
But suddenly Saria was taken by surprise when a hand touched her shoulder. She tried to let out a scream and began to fall of the bridge. The hand suddenly grasped her arm. It was the hand of a Hylian. It was a young Hylian man who seemed to be equipped in the clothing of the Hylian army. The arm suddenly pulled her up and she found herself standing in front of the tall Hylian soldier. She was too overcome with fear to understand what was happening. Had he come to invade the temple? Was she actually ready to serve her purpose, which was guarding the Forest Temple from intruders? She quickly took action and began to wail her arms and glow with the power given to her. Unfortunately, she didn't really know how to use her power.
"Who art thou who invades t-this…s-sacred…uh…d-domain? I w-warn you. D-desist your evil intentions, b-before…a-annihilation d-draws n-near." She honestly didn't know what she was doing. Her fear rose about ten notches when the soldier unleashed his sword and pointed it at her.
"Whoa," he said, pointing his sword at her. "Ease up on the glowing trick."
"I'm warning you…" She didn't know what else to say. If she were going to be killed, she wouldn't fight it. 'It beats another lonely night,' she thought to herself.
Surprisingly, the Hylian put his sword away. "I mean no harm," he said. "I'm just after the music." He smiled and said, "I just stumbled in here, is that a crime?"
Saria lowered her arms, feeling a bit embarrassed. "No, I g-guess that's not a crime."
"I thought as much," he said. Saria could have sworn that the Hylian was just as nervous as she was.
"What were you doing in here, then?" she asked.
"Me?" he asked. He looked like he didn't know how to answer.
"Yeah, you."
He quickly tried turning the tables on her. "What are YOU doing in the Forest Temple?!" he asked her.
Saria almost giggled at the question. Wasn't it obvious? "I'm the forest sage, silly!" she answered.
He smiled at that. "Could have fooled me any day."
Saria didn't know how to take that. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
He walked a little closer to Saria and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is it just me, or did I have the element of surprise over you?"
"I could have seen you," she crossed her arms and seemed to pout.
"Oh really?" he asked smugly. "For a moment there, I could easily have plunged you into the pond here with my bare hands."
She didn't know what to make of that either. "Look, are you trying to threaten me or not?"
"No one threatened anyone till you started glowing your arms angrily with that green junk!" he shot back. "I didn't mean to raise alarm like that."
"Yeah, well, you startled me," she mumbled.
The Hylian soldier looked around and seemed overwhelmed by the size of the temple. "Just what are you doing here anyhow, little girl?"
Again, the cold reality of her fate struck Saria. "I live here," she said sadly. "This place is my domain...for as long as I'm alive. And for being a forest sage, believe me, I'm going to be living a LONG time."
"Must be horrendous."
"What?"
He clarified, "To be alone here....day after day. You are stuck in this Temple alone, right?" He was smarter than she thought. He nailed it right on the head. "Well....no," she said, sitting back on the railing of the bridge. "Usually, yes. But if the other sages intervene...and they rarely do...I might venture upon visiting their temples for a change. Oh yeah, I can also go to the sacred realm whenever I want to."
He face took a look of amazement. "Sacred realm?" he said. "You ARE the forest sage, aren't you?"
'Well, duh!' she thought. Of course the last thing she wanted was to offend her visitor. She just smiled and said, "I much prefer 'Saria'."
"Saria?"
She nodded. She thought now would be the time to find out who this stranger was. "And who might you be, mister?"
"Post Rapture."
"Post Rapture?"
"Uh huh."
Saria couldn't help but giggle. "That's a very interesting name."
"It's been an interesting life," he said. "But it could be made more interesting. That's why I came here."
"In search of adventure?" she asked.
He smiled. "My, you read minds, don't you?"
Saria was flattered by that remark, but she also knew the grim answer to that question. "No, I've just known a lot of minds in the past, so I can predict things pretty good."
He nodded. "Yeah, you know--"
She interrupted, "Especially since I'm here everyday. It's easy to remember the littlest of things when you've got no one to talk to. You know what I mean? You just sit around....waiting to show off your vast knowledge...the knowledge passed on by the endless vines of the overgrown walls and floors of this quiet realm."
Once again, Saria remembered the lonely nights she experienced. Nights like the first. Post Rapture began to walk towards the door. "Well, I'm sure you've got a much more important role to play here than I could imagine," he said. "Personally, I need to make it back to my ranch before sun-down. Not that I'll be punished for being late or anything, it just makes travel easier in the forest if I leave in daylight."
'NO!' Saria thought. This 'Post Rapture' may be the closest thing Saria ever gets to a friend. She couldn't let him leave. "Oh? You're going so soon...?"
He nodded and looked at Saria like she was crazy. "Certainly I'm leaving! A temple like this is no place for a mere Hylian like me to inhabit. God bless." He began to leave.
Saria's one visitor, the only visitor she had since coming into this life as a sage, was leaving. Saria decided to make one last desperate plea. "Wait!" Saria reached her hand out toward his. She had nothing to lose and could gain the friend she had desperately prayed for. "Wouldn't y-you like to st- stay....just for a few minutes more? Maybe talk? M-maybe share a few stories?" Saria was almost in tears. She didn't want to be left alone again. She couldn't bear that. Suddenly, she saw a look of pity in the eyes of Post Rapture, almost as if he felt sorry for her.
"Sure thing, Saria," he smiled. "I-I can do that."
The forest sage gasped for joy. She had the company she wanted so badly. "Oh really?! Magnificent! Here...let's go somewhere a bit more in the shade." Saria took Post Rapture by the hand and led him to another part of the temple. By the end of the day, Saria had made a new friend and for the first time in a long time, felt happy. )1
Chapter 11
Saria sat on the bridge with Link. Her tears had dried up and she was feeling a little better than she had been earlier. "I did everything possible to get Post Rapture to stay. I can only imagined how desperate I must have looked. But Post stayed and we shared stories. The worst part was when he had to leave."
Link almost saw a smile on the young sage's face, but it quickly disappeared into the look of hopelessness he saw in his dream.
"But a few weeks later, I realized something," she said. "Yes, I had a friend. But I was kidding myself. I don't hate Post Rapture. I love him. I love him for not leaving that first day we met. I love him for dropping by nearly every week since. But I can't forget them Link. My friends. No matter how much we try, Post and I can never experience the level of friendship I had with everyone back at the village. It's just not possible. He can never be a Kokiri or think like a Kokiri or have the innocence of a Kokiri or have the life span of a Kokiri. Yes, I remember that night clearly. It was the third time we'd met…"
( Saria sat down holding the necklace of Amanecera, the Hylian friend she once had in the village. She had held it all day and had a thought cross her head. 'Why did she like us so much,' she wondered. 'We were just an insult to her aging. The aging of a Hylian. And why does Post Rapture like me so much? I only insult his aging too.'
Suddenly, Post Rapture spoke. She had nearly forgotten he was there. "Why did you become the forest sage, Saria?" he asked quietly. "Why did you...if you knew that it was going to promise you this....this life....this reclusion..."
The question took Saria by surprise. She could barely remember anymore. She only sighed, "Because I wanted to save my loved ones. Somi...Mira...Mido...I wanted all of them to prosper. And I was so young then....still am young now. But then is when I had the ambition...the will to fight. And, in lieu of the absence of one particular child that I loved very much, I had the will to sacrifice. To sacrifice myself, and my life....without knowing what such an occupation as the forest sage promised. Without knowing that the very same entities I was saving would never again grace my vision. That I'd never see the ones I risked myself for. That I'd never again walk the Lost Woods with Somi, or attack Fala and Ralo for spreading rumors about me...or challenge Mido to leave me alone for the next few hours." Then a grim reality began to set into the young girl. "In fact, now...I don't know where my friends are. I don't know if my efforts turned out successful...or just sank in the deepest pond, never to be resurfaced. They could be slaves, for all I know. Maybe Miso took one step too far and insulted a tribe of ferocious deku scrubs who forced them to work in a rupee mind. I can just imagine right now...Fala would be complaining about the underground soot on her tunic...and Sofa and Dila would be screaming from their mining crawlspace for her to shut her mouth. But then again, I could be exaggerating. They're all probably just fine. Mido's forcing Miso to cut the grass in front of my abandoned house, wondering if I'll ever come back. Fala and Ralo are exchanging old tales about me and the way my hair used to look eerie in the moonlight, and Sofa and Dila are still stubbing their toes again in combat training."
But Saria's face began to fill with tears. She knew she was only kidding herself. In a cracked voice she said, "But what do I know? I know nothing. I don't know how they're all doing. I don't know if the village still stands...or if it was torn to the ground by a storm. Or by a flood. I don't know who's well or who's not...."
She couldn't hold it in any longer. She buried her face in her hands and began weeping bitterly. "I...," she muttered into her muffling hands. "I...I-I don't even know if Sodo's still breathing!!" As if on cue, it began to rain again. Saria began to believe that it was a symbol of her now. She had cried before, but this time she was breaking down completely. That's when she felt a friendly embrace, from her friend, Post Rapture.
"It's all right, Saria. Let it out....it must be unimaginable to live the way you do..."
'You have no idea!' she thought. What made it worse was that this is exactly what Link said would happen. She thought she was helping her friends, but she began to wonder if it would have made any difference at all if she became the Forest Sage or if she just remained a normal Kokiri girl. "Oh Post...it's so lonely in here. Day after day after day, it's me and the walls. I can't stand it, Post. I need someone to talk to. I need you....you've been my answer, Post. Thank you....oh praise God. Thank you....," she sobbed.
Saria was glad to have someone to express her emotions to. But she felt Post break the embrace and head towards an exit.
"Umm...Saria...the sun's gone down....I think I gotta--"
'NO!' she thought. She couldn't bear to go through this night alone. "Oh, won't you please stay a little longer?" she cried softly. "Please....just a little...just be here for a little longer...please?" At this point she was begging, but she didn't care. She didn't want to see her only friend leave.
Saria saw the look of pity come onto Post Rapture again, "All right, Saria," he said. "I won't leave you...if that's what you wish."
"Oh thank you, Post....thank you…" Saria wanted to smile, but she couldn't. All she could do was lay her head on Post Rapture's shoulder and continue sobbing. )2
Chapter 13
While Saria recalled that night with Post Rapture, Link began to lead down to the first floor. Not only would it keep them away from the rain, but also as much as Link hated to admit it, he honesty didn't know if Saria would try jumping again.
"Post Rapture ended up leaving around dawn," Saria said. "I can't tell you how much his staying meant to me. But lately…"
"Lately what?" Link asked with a quizzical look.
"Link…" Saria began. "He's not going to be there every night. In about 200 years, when I need to talk to someone, he won't be around. He won't even be alive. I'll just be alone. Alone again and forever. And when he asked me why I took this life, I didn't know what to tell him. I can't even remember anymore."
Link began getting frustrated. He couldn't stand to see his best friend in this much pain.
"I thought I could handle this," she continued. "The other sages could handle it. Rauru has spent most of his life in his temple watching over Hyrule. Darunia is the king of his people. He's never alone because the Gorons need his leadership sooner or later. Ruto is the princess of her people. They'll always visit her from the shortcut to Zora's Domain and she'll eventually get more visitors when she becomes queen of her people. Impa is the last of her species. She spent most of her life alone, but even she has Princess Zelda, who will visit her sometimes. Nabooru spent all her time in her temple before she even became a sage. It's the base of her operations. There's always going to be someone coming into her temple. But what about me? No one's going to visit me. I was never the leader of my people. I was never royalty. I was never a bodyguard or a protector. I was just a normal Kokiri girl…and…and…N- NOBODY EVEN KNOWS I'M HERE!!!" Saria buried her face in her hands again and wept.
Link offered his shoulder to his young friend. The Forest Sage had broken down again. Link had never seen her like this. He wanted to tell her that he would be the friend she needed. He wanted to say that he would stay and go through every night with her. But when he looked outside, he saw the sun rise. He couldn't even stay for another hour. He had to be going back to the ranch, he was already late. 'How is she going to take this?' he thought. He had to tell her sooner or later.
"Saria…" he began. "I-I'm sorry. I have to go."
Saria reacted instantly at the sound of those words. "No, please. C-Can't you stay a little longer?"
Link wished he could, but he knew Malon would have a fit if he took longer than he said he would. "I-I'm sorry. I can't. I'm late. I have to go back."
"But I don't know if I'll ever see you again!"
A thought then crossed the mind of the Hero of Time. "You will see me again. If it's ok, I'll come back in a week. And I'll stay a lot longer, I promise."
Saria still looked sad. She could only sigh, "Ok. A week. But remember, you promised."
Link was almost out the door, "Ok, but don't kill yourself. I'll come back." With that, Link left the Forest Temple and Saria was left alone…again.
Chapter 14
As Link left the Forest Temple, he couldn't help but think. He had never seen Saria like that before. She looked so depressed and even suicidal. He warned her. Why did she do it?
"Sissy…you saved my life." Those were the only words to come out of Link at that moment. He didn't know what else to say. Well, there was one more word. "Why?"
Saria almost looked shocked. "Why? Link, you're my friend. Friends stick by each other. I would've gladly put my life on the line to help you or anyone else in the village."
Saria had a solemn look on her face. "I know what I've done Link. I became the Forest Sage so that I could help those I love. You and everyone at the village. Link, I told you a long time ago that I would gladly lay down my life to help you. And that went for everyone else in the village. If the time came, I would sacrifice myself to save them. And it looks like the time is here."
Link remembered those memories clearly as he went to the shortcut he came in from. But before he went in, he remembered something else Saria said.
'I don't know if my efforts turned out successful...or just sank in the deepest pond, never to be resurfaced.'
'But what do I know? I know nothing. I don't know how they're all doing. I don't know if the village still stands...or if it was torn to the ground by a storm. Or by a flood. I don't know who's well or who's not....'
'I...I-I don't even know if Sodo's still breathing!!'
'I don't know…'
'I don't know…'
'I don't know…'
Those words echoed in the mind of Link. And that's when it hit him. He knew how he could help his friend. One of the things that led to her attempted suicide was not knowing how her friends were. She believed her efforts were in vain, because she didn't even know if everyone at the village was alive or dead.
Link decided to go find out. He wasn't far from the village. He could easily walk there and make it in a few hours. So he might be a little late getting back to the ranch, but so what? This was important. If he found everyone was all right, he could tell that to Saria went he went to the temple next week. Not wasting any time, he passed by the shortcut and continued on…towards the Kokiri village.
Chapter 15
It had been hours since Link began traveling towards the village. He was almost there but decided to rest. He had been up all night and hadn't slept since before he came through the shortcut to the Lost Woods. He had pretty much given up on getting back to the ranch in time, but he figured the worst he would get was a stern lecture from Talon and Malon. He left his tent back at the waterfall near Zora's Domain, so Link decided to sleep on the grass.
A storm. Dark clouds had set in that night. A storm began. The rain was pouring massively that night as trees were blown to one side and lightning shot down from the sky. It was a large building…the Forest Temple. It was the bridge. It was Saria. She was crying again, as she usually did on a dark and stormy night. But something about it was different. It almost sounded like…she was mourning. She stood up and looked down. It was 70 feet straight down to the ground.
"Link…" she began. "I know you meant well. But you confirmed my worst fears. The village was destroyed. There's nothing left of what we used to call home. I took this life as the Forest Sage to save my friends and help them prosper…but now I see that it didn't matter!"
She looked up into the heavens. "THIS IS THE LIFE YOU CALLED ME FOR, GOD?!?! A LIFE OF SOLITUDE I TOOK, BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WOULD SAVE MY FRIENDS?!?! THAT WAS JUST A CRUEL JOKE, WASN'T IT?!?! I TOOK THIS LIFE TO SAVE THEM AND YOU TOOK THEIR LIVES ANYWAY!!!! WELL I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! GET READY EVERYBODY, SARIA'S COMING TO JOIN YOU!!!!"
And she jumped…and everything went black.
Link woke up in a cold sweat. It was still the middle of the night. But what did he just see? He saw Saria again, committing suicide. But it was different this time. Saria didn't kill herself out of loneliness, she killed herself because her friends…
'OH NO!!!' The reality finally struck Link. He scrambled to get his supplies and head straight through the tunnel.
When he came out on the other side, he saw that his worst fears had been realized.
It was Kokiri village…and it lay in ruins.
Author's Note: The excerpt ()1 was taken out of Post Rapture's Kokiri Tales 1. It was different in the P.O.V., but it was basically taken out of his story. The excerpt ()2 was taken out of Post Rapture's Kokiri Tales 3. Again, different P.O.V., but basically the same scene. I give full credit to Post Rapture, as the last thing I want to do is plagiarize.
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