Trial of Keys

V2.2

By: (o'.')o

Disclaimer:

Nintendo is Property of Zelda…no wait….Legend of Zelda is property of Nintendo. Yeah, that's it.

******

Last Chapter :

The quest for the Keys of Forest, Fire and Water begins, and Link, Malon and Zelda head for Kokiri forest on a hunch. On their way, Link is greeted with a pleasant and unpleasant surprise; Saria! And she's no child anymore. Some things haven't changed though, Mido still hates his guts. Anyway, Saria and Link were allowed into the Kokiri forest, and after a talk with the Great Deku Tree, they look to their next destination: The Lost Woods.

*******

Link was jolted awake by some unknown force. He had no idea he was even asleep. Link guessed he must have dozed off after Saria had welcomed him into her old home. Link didn't care. He was more interested however in the figure lying beside him.

Saria was curled up next to him, tunic to tunic, on the floor of the tree-borne house. Link could feel nearly every aspect of her. He felt her slow rhythmic breathing, the rise and fall of her chest. Even her ears fluttered a bit in her sleep. Unconsciously, Link reached over to brush a stray strand of hair away from her soft face.

He caught himself though. Him and Esea, who was watching over Saria with vested interest. "Hands off!" she yelled. "Now get up. You two, lazy girl!" Esea buzzed in the girls ear. Saria groggily got to her elbows, then to her knees, smiling at Link and the irritating fairy.

"Thanks for waking us up." Link said sarcastically. He jumped to his feet and straightened out his tunic. "And thanks for meddling." Link thought viscously. As if hearing his thoughts, Esea let out a high-pitched giggle and returned to Saria's orbit. Link offered a hand to the girl, and she accepted, rising to her feet.

"We should go now." She said, holding on to his hand for a second longer. She then opened the door of her small abode, and ducked out the entrance.

Link followed her into the creepy silence of the Kokiri woods. It was obvious the Kokiri were still very apprehensive with Link and Saria around. All except for Mido of course, who was waiting for them when they came out of the house. The look he gave Link was purely murderous.

"Saria, I'd like to talk with him alone for a second." Mido said, not looking at the girl. Saria shook her head vehemently.

"Mido, this isn't-"

"Please! Saria…" Mido pushed, a bit forcefully. Link agreed, if they were going to have it out, it might as well be before the search. Saria looked at the two of them, shook her head sadly and went up to the entrance of the Lost Woods.

With Saria gone, Mido seemed to relax. He walked up to Link slowly in his old, bow-legged way. "So…." He began, "what's the plan?"

"Saria and I go to the Lost Woods and get the Forest Key."

"Then you leave?"

Link sighed. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to waste a second of your precious time."

Mido nodded. "Good. The sooner you're out of here the better." He looked Link up and down and spat. "You're a disease on the Kokiri spirit." He hissed angrily.

Link was going to try to keep his voice down, but they were going to have it out. "We've had disagreements in the past, Mido…but what's with all this hatred?" he asked seriously.

"You bastard." Mido hissed. "Don't act so innocent."

"Mido I don't kno-"

"You took her away from me!" Mido blasted. "She's lost because of you! You as much killed her as any Monster would have!"

Link shook his head. "Saria made her choice. I had nothing to do with it."

"Like hell you didn't." Mido got in Links face and continued. "Ever since day one you pulled her away from me. I don't know how…why it happened. But it did. You caused it all, and now she's gone." He leaned towards Link. "You enjoy this don't you?"

"No Mido, I don't." Link suddenly realized Mido was using 'me' instead of 'us'. Realization slowly dawned on him. "Mido…we were ..are…just friends."

"Friends!!??" Mido laughed. "You still think me an idiot don't you?!"

"I haven't seen her in years!!!" Link shouted. "I didn't have any influence on her decision! Don't put anything on me."

Mido leaned forward, frowning menacingly. It was clear to Link that pain was his friend for a long time. "Even when you left, all she would do was think about you. I could see it in her eyes." Mido snarled. "You weren't even one of us!!" Bloody elf! We welcomed you into our home! I allowed you to stay, gave you a home! Do we get gratitude? No! Instead you poison Saria's mind against me, against her entire race, against herself!

Mido backed off from him for a second, and stared Link straight in the face. "You bastard, you took her away from me. You don't know how much I hate you. I should have killed you when you showed up at our door."

Link was taken aback by Mido's viciousness. Mido may have been a jerk, but this was way beyond what he normally was. Link now realized that Mido was in love with Saria. He had never even considered of it. But what was there to be jealous of? "We're just friends." He thought to himself. "Just friends."

Link looked down at the Kokiri with narrowed eyes. Mido was right about one thing, he did cause Saria to turn on her race, even if in some small way. However, if Mido wanted to survive, he'd have to do the same thing also. Maybe it wasn't too late for Mido with Saria.

No…Mido would never leave the Kokiri. Even if it meant him his life. He was too proud. "Gee…" Link started quietly. " 'You should have killed me' …what a lovely thought. I can see what Saria could possibly see in you."

Mido took a step forward, but Link stood his ground, continuing quickly. "If you felt this way about Saria, you should have told her. Even while I was gone, you should have told her, Mido."

Mido stopped in his tracks. He was right. "I…I had other responsibilities." He said quietly. "I wanted to…but I couldn't….But you, you didn't have to take her away."

The two stared at each other for nearly a full minute. Finally Link spoke up. "Once I get the Key, you'll never see me again."

"And Saria?"

"Saria can make her own decisions." Link answered. " I wont do anything to overly influence her." He sighed and said, "I have to go." With that he hurried to the hill that hosted the Lost Woods.

Mido looked at him as he went. He then he looked down at the grass beneath him, and began to cry. Very quietly, but surely, he was crying. His fairy hovered closely around him, trying to comfort his lifelong friend and partner as tears flowed down his cheeks in a flood of pent-up emotion. Mido only prayed that the two of them would make it out of the Woods OK. Mido' only fear was that he wouldn't know what to do if they would.

*******

Saria waited patiently until Link arrived at the entrance. He looked a bit distraught, and she could only imagine what he and Mido could have been talking about.

Well, actually…she didn't have to imagine that hard.

"You OK?" Saria asked. Link nodded quickly.

"Let's get this over with." Link suggested. "You ready?"

Saria sighed, shoulders rising and dropping in exaggeration. "Ready." She said simply.

Again, Link nodded, then took Saria by the hand and entered the Lost Woods. Once inside, Link stopped in his tracks. The Woods was an enigma of nature. Every 2 feet looked exactly the same as the 2 feet to every side of it. There was no discrepancy, no originality, no natural effect. It was surreal. This disoriented, but had a more sinister effect to Link as a swordsman.

In the Lost Woods, Link had no bearing on his position. He didn't know if he was facing East or West. Sometimes he didn't even know if he was facing up or down. He dropped to his knees momentarily, thinking that he was upside-down for some reason.

He got back up and stared into the woods. He wouldn't be able to battle properly in conditions like these. Link also thought he heard some sort of chanting, like that of children to a certain beat. It repeated on and on and came from every direction. Link knew for a fact that at the mercy of these conditions, anyone would become a LostKid.

Saria held on to him, feeling dizzy herself. "It's the Woods." , She whispered. With that, she reached behind her belt and pulled out a small blue Ocarina. Link watched as Saria put her lips to the instrument and played, a small, steady note. Slowly, Links equilibrium was restored. It wasn't perfect, but it was manageable.

Link straightened and smiled at the girl. "Neat trick." He chided. "You do parties?"

"Ah, well it depends. Music lessons don't grow on trees you know." Saria returned. A bit more sure of themselves now, they pressed on through the woods.

After a while, it was pretty obvious they were completely lost. The music in he background played on and on, and Saria periodically played the Ocarina to counter the maddening effects. Still, this didn't prevent them from getting lost. There seemed to be three oak tunnels, each perpendicular to each other, that led to other parts of the Woods. However, these parts looked exactly like the last parts they were in.

Link put a hand on his hip and sighed hopelessly. There was going to have to be some strategy for him and Saria to navigate the woods. She couldn't keep playing that Ocarina forever.

They were now in a glade of very tall grass, it was exactly the same one that they had passed 2 tunnels ago. Link was about to turn to Saria to see what she thought, when he caught them in his sight. 20 feet to either side of him, two figures stood in the grass, smirking behind their strange, skull-like masks. They were around his height, stocky in built, and dressed in rags. They had large-curved Gerudo style swords strapped to their waists, and where whipping around long chains playfully in the grass.

"LostKids." Link thought desperately. Saria opened her mouth to say something, but Link put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her.

"Hee hee hee." One of the LostKids giggled incessantly. "Food."

"Hee Hee Hee.." the other imitated. "Stupid Food, come into Lost Woods. Be meal to LostKids." It laid out its tongue from beneath the mask and drooled in anticipation.

In a flash, Link whipped out his blade from his scabbard. With equal speed, the LostKid to his right flung out his chain. It smashed against the handle of Links sword and wrapped around his hand. The sword flipped through the air a few times, then landed, blade first, into the soft grass.

Link didn't have time to blink before the second LostKid flung his chain out at the boys face. He brought up his arm to protect himself, and the chain whipped around the length of his arm, locking into place.

Link's arms were pinned and he was disarmed. His first mistake was to walk around here with his sword sheathed. One of the LostKids clicked its heels in glee, and pulled out a second chain. It began to whirl it around again, and hurled it at Link's head for the killing blow.

That was when Link made his second mistake. He dodged. Link moved his head an inch to the right, and the chain whizzed by him, brushing his ear…

…and cracking hard against Saria's forehead.

Link looked at her wide-eyed as Saria's eyes rolled back into their sockets. She slumped down on the grass, and fell face first into the soft patch.

END.

Next: It is revealed what the Sage meant by Link being "No different than the Monsters he hunts." Plus, the 'boss battle' for the Forest Key! Hey, he's got to get it right? He's the hero! :/ And just how are Zelda and Malon keeping themselves busy while they're stuck outside? See ya next time!!!