"Now to find a sword." Link said looking around, "Where would we find one?"

"I'm not sure." Replied Saria, "Should we ask someone?"

"Yeah, but who could we ask?"

"Well, there are two brothers in the front of the village that know a lot about the forest and stuff like that, so let's talk to them first."

"Ok."

Saria smiled and started for the front of the village. Link walked beside her with his shielded arm swinging at his side.

"That's a neat shield Link. May I see it?"

"Oh, sure, here ya go."

Link slipped the shield off of his right arm. He looked at it a bit then gave it to Saria.

"Hmmmmm..." Saria examined the shield. "I wonder what this symbol means."

Link looked over at the shield. A big red symbol was carved into the front of it. It was somewhat of a spiral figure in the shape of a six but it had a tail.

"It looks handcrafted," Link said, "I wonder if one of the Kokiri's made it...but I haven't seen any symbol like that anywhere in this forest."

"Yeah, it does make you wonder who made it or who delivered it to the shop."

Link nodded and Saria gave it back to him. He equipped it to his right arm.

They arrived at the front steps of an older looking tree house built into a large tree stump. A worn piece of cloth was used as a door. There were no windows and the bark on the stump was painted in a faded pattern. Link walked up to the cloth and examined it before he held it open for Saria. She kindly nodded and proceeded into the house. Link followed and paused after he entered. He looked about the room to find a lot of older materials strewn about. Off to his right were three small steps that led up to the brother's beds. One of the beds had been made but the other bed's sheets were draped over onto the floor. A small dresser holding a lamp separated the beds. Down in the middle of the room was a round wooden table. The table was cracked and chipped; some of the wood was split and broken. There were two small wooden stools at opposite ends of the table and they looked about as worn as the table itself. To the left of the room were some book shelves and a large chest covered in dust. A small fire burning in the fireplace at the back of the room gave off an orange glow that lit up room. Next to the fireplace sat two Kokiri, they looked about Link's age but their eyes held a sense of persons much older and wiser. Their hair was as red as the fire and their eyes were a deep blue. They, of course, wore green tunics and boots that looked as old as everything else inside the house. One brother had longer hair than the other and his bangs nearly covered his eyes. Saria had made her way towards the brothers while Link was still observing the room. He saw Saria motion for him to come over and he quickly walked over and stood next to the brother with long hair. The shorter-haired brother, on the left, spoke up first, "Hey Saria, what brings you and your friend here today?"

"Hey Grey, this is my friend Link." Saria turned toward Link, "Link this is Grey and his younger brother Faul."

"Hey." Link said tipping his head.

The brothers smiled and said hi. Then Saria spoke, "We came here to ask ya'll a question."

"Well, go right ahead. Answering questions is what we do best." said Faul.

Link asked the question, "Where can we find a sword?"

"Hmmmm... a sword?" said Grey.

"Yes." Replied Link, "You see, I was summoned by the Great Deku Tree to help save the land of Hyrule, and I need to retrieve a sword before I go."

"Well, isn't that something..." Faul said looking at his brother, "The Great Deku Tree is still alive and well, and he's finally summoned a warrior, one out of the Kokiri. That is something."

"Yes it is brother."

Faul turned back towards Link, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't believe the Kokiri make swords, and I haven't seen one for about forty years, when the Gerudos attacked."

"Exactly brother, but there must be some weapon left over from that fight. Let's see, some time ago, a brave Kokiri took hold of a sword that he made himself. His father was a blacksmith, but he died when the Kokiri was young. And since that Kokiri died in the Gerudo war, there haven't been anymore blacksmiths in this village. I do believe that his sword is still here, somewhere in the forests behind this house. You should go look, Link. Rumor has it that he hid the sword inside a chest then left it in the woods, right on the ground that he fought. I trust you'll find it."

"That's quite a story, brother."

"Indeed it is, and Link will be the right person to find that sword."

"Thank you." Link said, again tilting his head towards them.

"Thank you so much Grey." Saria said.

"Anytime Saria. Now ya'll be off, and be careful!"

"We will, and thanks again!" Saria said waving good bye as she and Link walked out the door. They turned around to the back of the house and saw a small path leading into the woods.

"Here we go." said Link.

"Yup, let's go find that sword!"

They both laughed and trotted into the forest.

"I'm thinking we have a lot of ground to cover since it's a big forest and all." stated Link.

"Yeah, but maybe it wont be too far back, and there doesn't seem to be many trees up ahead so it shouldn't take too long to search right?"

"Yeah, maybe you're right and look," Link pointed in front of them, "There's even a small trail we could stay on."

"Should we split up?"

"Nah, I don't think we should, I mean I don't care, whatever you want to do is fine with me..."

"I think you're right. Let's just stick together."

"Ok."

They continued their path down the trail, searching along the trees for any signs of a chest or a box of some sort.

"Hey Link, look at this."

Link walked over to where Saria was standing, and followed her eyes to the left of the trail. A small hole was inserted into the side of a dirt cliff.

"That cliff marks the edge of the forest but it looks like there might be something beyond that." Saria said.

"Yeah, I wonder what it is."

Link took a step forward, and then a rustling came from the trees behind them. They turned around, but nothing was there.

"What was that, Link?"

"I'm not sure."

Link slowly turned around to face the hole. He walked up to it and Saria followed as soon as she was done searching the woods for whatever made that sound.

"It's just small enough for us to fit through. I'll go first, but stay close."

"Ok." Saria agreed as she looked behind them once more.

Link took off his shield and laid it next to the hole. Then he got on his hands and knees and crawled through the small opening in the wall. Saria followed. On the other side Link stood up and helped Saria to her feet, then looked around at where they were. This part of the forest was lit up; the sun shone perfectly through the trees and every blade of grass could be seen as clear as the sun-filled sky. There weren't many trees around, and rocky cliffs aligned the sides of a narrow trail just to the left of them. Link motioned for Saria to follow him. They began to travel down the trail. It headed straight then took a right a few yards ahead of them. They followed the trail up to the corner, took a right, and then stopped at what they saw at the end of the path.

"How strange..." Link started.

"Yeah, it's a chest...but I wonder why...wonder why its here?"

Link looked up at the chest. It was mounted upon a stone in front of some wooden steps. The sun shone its brightest upon the chest, and a forest mist filled the air. The chest was dark brown and had a golden outline around the rounded top.

"Go on Link. Go see if it's the right chest."

"Alright, here goes."

Link walked up to the chest, and hovered over it a bit; inspecting the outside. He turned around and looked at Saria who nodded with and expression of excitement on her face. Link smiled and placed his hands on the chest.

"Here goes." Link said to himself.

He then pushed on the top of the chest. It slowly began to open, but it was too hard for him to lift, so Link let it back down.

"Hmmm..." Link scratched his head.

"What is it Link?"

"It's kinda hard to open. Do you mind coming to help me?"

"No not at all. I'll help."

Saria jogged up to Link's side.

"Here you grab that side." Link pointed to the right, "And I'll grab this side."

"Ok."

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Push!"

They both pushed up against the chest and it began to open.

"Just a little further, don't give up Saria."

"I won't, I'm trying not to..."

Link pushed the chest lid up with one last forceful motion, and it flew open. A "click" went off. They paused for a moment then looked inside. Sure enough Link saw a sword sheathed in a blue and yellow casing. Link's eyes widened, "Wow...it's the sword."

"Go on and take it Link, it's yours now." Saria smiled Link picked up the sword and held it. He smiled, but it quickly disappeared when a strange sound came from the cliff above them. A rumbling noise carried its way down to where Link and Saria stood.

"Link, what is that?!"

"I...I'm not sure...it almost sounds like..."

"Like what?"

Link looked at the wall above them just in time to see a huge boulder make its ways to the edge of the cliff.

"A boulder!"

Saria gasped and looked up. The boulder rolled off the edge of the cliff and plummeted towards them. Link had already started running with the sheathed sword in his left hand, but Saria was left in shock slowly backing away from the chest.

"Saria come on!!" Link grabbed her arm and ran her back. The boulder crushed the chest beneath it, but didn't stop there. It then rolled forward and began to pursue them at an alarming rate. Link ran as fast as he could to the hole where they came in. Saria was hurriedly trying to keep up, but the boulder was coming on too fast. They rounded the corner and the boulder followed.

"Come on Saria!" Link yelled back as he grabbed her arm again and ran with her to the hole.

"Hurry, Saria!! Get through the hole!!"

Saria scrambled into the hole and the boulder rolled faster towards them. She got into the hole and turned around, to see if Link had made it. Link threw the sword inside to her.

"Link!!"

There was no time for Link to duck down and crawl, he wouldn't make it. So he threw himself against the rock wall and hoped for his life. The boulder came closer and Link could feel it rolling behind him. He let out a loud cry of pain as the boulder crushed him against the rock wall.

"LINK!!"

Saria's tears could be heard through her cry.

The boulder passed and ran into another rock wall where it stopped its destructive path. Link kept against the wall, frantically breathing. He closed his eyes and fell back. At that time Saria had made her way back through the hole and watched as Link hit the ground. A breath of air escaped him.

"LINK!!"

Saria fell on her knees beside him, "Link, get up! Link please! At least say something! LINK!"

She began to sob.

"Link, please get up...please say something...please..."

Link laid in silence. A tear fell on his cheek. He slowly breathed for air and Saria sat watching with tear-filled eyes.

"I'm...I," Link paused before continuing, "I'm ok...just...just a little scratch...that's all..."

Link tried his best at a smile. Saria cracked a tearful smile and hugged Link.

"Ow! Wait...that hurts...my back...it hurts."

"Oh! I'm so sorry Link!"

Saria laid him back down, but Link pulled himself to sit up.

"It's ok...I'll live...I think."

They both smiled. Link leaned forward and Saria saw his back. His shirt had been torn and his back had been cut; the back of his tunic was spotted with blood. Link let out a moan of pain.

"Link we need to get you back now!"

"What is it?"

"You're badly hurt and we need to get you to the village fast!"

Link agreed and they both crawled through the hole. Saria carried the sword through to the other side and Link crawled on his stomach so that his back wouldn't hit the top of the crawl-way. On the other side Link stood up and picked up his shield.

"Saria, why don't you wear the sword for now?"

"Ok, how do I put it on?"

"Over your shoulder..."

"Like this?"

Saria placed the sheath strap over her right shoulder and under her left arm. Link nodded and placed his shield on his arm. They began their walk back to the village but Link had a bit of trouble walking. His left calf had been scraped as well and he was limping.

"Here, let me help you."

Saria moved over to Link and lifted his arm around her neck.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Saria smiled, her tears had dried up.

They both turned to get back on the trail for home, but what stood in front of them didn't make things any easier. Link looked up and heard Saria gasp. Both of their eyes widened in fear as a large hairy creature stood in front of the trail hunched over staring at them.