Hiyaz! This chapter is pretty important, but it's mostly just leading into things to come. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Zelda=Not Mine, Get It?

Chapter 12

A half an hour later, we entered what at first appeared to be another clearing, but soon proved to be much too big for that. About the half the size of Kakariko Village, the glade was dotted with houses that seemed to be carved straight from a tree trunk, although the trees must have been enormous in their time. The villagers were yet to be seen, and I was immensely curious about these people living in the woods. All I knew was that they were called Kokiri or something like that, and their bodies never grew past the age of 10. The three of us dismounted and tied our horses to a tree on the border of the village, and Malon and I followed Link to the closest of the houses, on the top of a still living tree, a ladder leading up to a porch that no doubt led into the house. Link rested his hand on the edge of the ladder, looking up at the tree house.

"This is my old house, back when I lived here." He said, obviously lost in memories long past.

"You used to live here?" Malon asked. Link nodded.

"Yeah. I was always different from the other Kokiris, because I never had a fairy. Then one day, I was summoned by the Great Deku Tree, the guardian of the Kokiris, and…that's when this whole business started."

"What do you mean, you didn't have a fairy? You have Tatl," I pointed out. At this remark, Tatl flew out of wherever she stayed.

"Don't you know anything? Link found me in Termina. Here he had that annoying fairy Navi." Link shot Tatl a dirty look.

"Navi wasn't that annoying, at least not as bad as you." He said. I stifled a giggle as Tatl huffily disappeared again.

"What's Termina?" I asked.

"It's the country right next to Hyrule. Tatl helped me with some…business there." He explained.

"Another thing, why did not having a fairy make you different from other Kokiris?" I asked, wanting to find out all I could.

"All Kokiri have a guardian fairy to protect them from the Outside World," Came a new voice from behind us. Malon, Link, and I whipped around. A 10-year-old brown haired boy wearing green clothes, brown boots, and a sneer. Link sighed when he saw who it was.

"Hello Mido." He said. Mido looked at Malon and I with a raised eyebrow.

"How come you brought people from the Outside World?" He asked, not even bothering to ask our names or even say hello. I began to see why Link sighed when he saw him.

"They're here to help me, and it's called Hyrule, and there's no reason to be scared of it. Where's Saria?" Link asked, obviously wanting to get as far away from Mido as soon as possible.

"I dunno. Probably in the Meadow." Mido said nonchalantly. I noticed a few other Kokiri heads peeping out of doors and windows, which quickly disappeared when I looked at them.

"Did she leave any sort of message?" Link asked, exasperated.

"Why should she? She didn't know you were coming." Mido sneered. I decided I didn't like Mido at all, and the time had long past for being polite. Before I could do anything though, Malon chose this moment to be another one in which she totally shocked and amazed me.

"Listen Mido or whoever you are, we need to talk to Saria. Tell me where she is. Now." She said in a tone that would make a high school principal look like a kitten.

"Uh…in her house!" He stuttered before making an ungraceful retreat to one of the houses. The little heads peering at us disappeared just as quickly, making the glade seem empty once again. Link and I turned to Malon, amazed.

"What? Can't I be mean sometimes?" She replied to our shocked faces. Link shook his head and headed toward a house at the far side of the village, muttering something about being upstaged by a ranch girl.

* * *

Saria turned out to be a sweet-faced green-haired Kokiri, who immediately welcomed us in, indicating we should sit at a stump table and chair set.

"Was Mido giving you trouble again? That bully! He doesn't like what he doesn't know about, but he deals with it in the worst way. By the way, Link, I'm so glad you came. There's big trouble brewing. And who are your friends?" She added in a curious but warm tone.

"Uh, this is Malon, from Lon Lon Ranch-I told you about it. This is Evalyn. She's from someplace else-"

"Yes, yes, I know all about that. So, you're the Bearer of the Four?" Saria said to me, looking me over.

"Uh, yeah," Was all I could think of saying. Saria had a kind of motherly air about her, and obviously was very good friends with Link. She tended to change swiftly from one topic to another, without any warning. I decided I liked her.

"How many have you got so far?" She asked.

"Two, the key and the sword." I answered, surprising myself with the answer.

"Well, I can see you're all tired. It's been a long journey." Saria said.

"Well, not really that long, just from Kakariko-" Link started to say.

"I didn't mean physically! Something's bothering you, all of you, but I'm not sure if it's the same thing for all of you. I want you to all take a nap, then I'll see what I can do for you." She replied briskly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, in the now familiar confused state.

"It comes with being a Sage. If someone is willing, I can take a look around inside." Saria tapped my forehead, reaching up because of her height.

"Now no more arguing! I have plenty enough beds for all of you, I'm relatively used to visitors by now." Saria ushered us into a separate room that hadn't been visible before. It had 3 beds, surprisingly all of them the normal size. Suddenly, I realized to my surprise that I was exhausted. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was almost immediately in a deep sleep.