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Chapter 4: Saria
As he rode, Link pulled the gem stone he had most recently acquired out of his tunic. For a moment he wondered if accepting the sapphire had been the best of ideas. It wasn't that he didn't like princess Ruto or anything, but the prospect of marrying a fish girl wasn't especially attractive to him. Besides, from what he knew about how fish reproduced he wasn't entirely sure it would work out. Maybe I should have just sneaked in at night and stolen the stupid thing while she was asleep, or something, he thought to himself. Maybe if I return it when princess Zelda is finished with it, she won't make me go through with marrying her.
"Link! Slow down! I can't fly fast enough to keep up!" screamed a tiny, breezy voice from behind him. Link sighed, and brought Epona to a gentle trot, allowing Navi to catch up. He thought back to when the Great Deku Tree had first assigned her to be his fairy. He'd been so excited, so grateful, so… happy. Now he sometimes wished she would go away. All those years of being without a fairy had taught him to value his privacy, and with Navi he no longer had any. She was always bothering him; trying to tell him about monsters when he was trying to concentrate on not getting chopped in half by the monster she was yammering about; telling him to look at some stupid fish or rock that had no discernible importance. She was always reminding him to hurry up and collect the stones, as if he didn't remember that Zelda had sent him on a mission that would save Hyrule, not to play in the woods.
And it was so damned embarrassing having to ask her to wait on the other side of the tree while he relieved himself.
As long as he was thinking about things females did that bothered him, what about Zelda's quest? Why would a princess entrust a mission that would determine the fate of her kingdom to a little boy with a fairy and a green rock who had just broken into her castle? Why wouldn't she send one of her father's knights, or simply send envoys to ask for the stones? There was no way she could have known that one would be inside a giant fish and the other would only be given in return for the destruction of a lizard behemoth. It had been nagging him for days, ever since she had first asked him to undertake this journey.
It was getting dark now, and Link was tired. He looked around. They were near Kokiri Forest, and Link did not feel like fighting reanimated skeletons tonight. Besides, it would be nice to sleep in his own bed again. And he could go see Saria. He missed her badly.
He turned Epona towards Kokiri Forest and spurred her into a faster pace, but still slow enough that Navi could keep up with them. He couldn't wait to play all the new songs he had learned for her. She would be impressed, he was sure. And she would probably laugh out loud when he told her about how Darunia had danced to her song. He chuckled under his breath, remembering the scene.
They were outside the entrance to Kokiri Forest now, and Link slid off Epona's back, and gave her a friendly pat on the nose.
"Go on home Epona. I'll call you in the morning and we'll go to the castle." he said drowsily. "Good night." Epona gave a quiet whinny, then turned and began to trot away, building up speed into a gallop.
"And say hello to Malon for me!" Link cried after the retreating mare. He then turned and headed into the woods. "What do you think Navi, should I sleep first and talk to Saria tomorrow, or find Saria now and sleep later?"
The little ball of light that was Navi floated down from above his head and landed on his shoulder. "I'm tired," came her minuscule voice. "Let's sleep now."
Link nodded. "Alright, Saria first then!" he said, smirking.
"You're awful, Link." said Navi, taking to the air once more. Link grinned even wider, and advanced into his hometown.
The entire forest was quiet. The Kokiri were generally not night people, and the forest generally went to bed almost as soon as the sun went down. This had really thrown Link off when he left the forest. In Hyrule Market for example, it seemed like no one ever slept, and even in rural Kakariko Village people stayed up considerably longer than the Kokiri. Climbing up the ladder of his tree house, Link gazed out over the forest and sighed contentedly. He didn't really care that much about the better part of Hyrule; this was what he really wanted to save. The rest was just a bonus.
No, that's not true. he thought. I also care about Malon and Epona and Ruto and Darunia and Zelda. He further considered this. Actually, I don't really care too much about most of the people here either, especially not Mido. But… the forest itself… that is worth saving And Saria.
Contented with his newfound insight, he climbed the rest of the way into his tree house and removed his equipment. His shield, his sword, his slingshot, deku nuts, potions, goron bracelets, and all the rest; and set them down beside his bed. Then the Spiritual Stones. These were too important to just leave lying around, so he laid them in his bed and covered them with his pillow and blanket. Satisfied, he picked up his ocarina and headed back outside.
Saria's home was empty, and there was nothing indicating where she had gone or for how long. Link knew Mido would probably know. Somehow he always knew where Saria was. Link had never liked that, but at least this time it would come in handy.
When he reached Mido's house he hesitated. He had never been here before, at least not when Mido was actually around, and he had never asked Mido for a favor before. It was not exactly something he had ever needed, or rather wanted, to do and he wasn't entirely sure how to go about doing it.
Aw, screw it.
Link knocked on the trunk of Mido's house, and when nothing happened he knocked harder. Still nothing. He knocked once more, and when there was again no response, he pushed aside the flap of cloth the served as a door and went inside. Mido was lying on a large bed made of loam and moss, and snoring loudly. Link wondered briefly at how he hadn't been able to hear Mido from outside. Shrugging it off, he crossed the room and gently shook Mido.
Nothing. He shook Mido again, harder. Still nothing.
This guy could sleep through a goron rock orchestra. No way I'm going to wake him up like this. Time for plan b.
Link left the house and returned a moment later with a deku nutshell full of water, which he began to dribble on Mido's head. After the first few drops, Mido stirred in his sleep, then sat up, blinking his eyes.
"What are you doing here? You've got a lot of nerve being here after you killed the Deku Tree." he said, once his vision had cleared. "I thought you left the forest. You didn't, did you? I knew it!" he proclaimed, triumphantly. Link rolled his eyes.
"Shut up Mido. Where's Saria?" Mido's expression turned to one of annoyance.
"What makes you think I know where Saria is?" Link leaned down, closing the distance between their faces.
"Because you always know where Saria is." Mido considered this.
"Alright, better question. What makes you think I'll tell you where Saria is?" Link moved closer.
"Do you want to find out?" Mido considered this too.
"Are you threatening me?"
"I never said that."
Mido pulled back, and turned his head to look away from Link.
"Saria said to tell you she'd be at 'your special place.' It was almost like she knew you'd be looking for her tonight."
Link nodded an acknowledgment of Mido's unwilling aid, and left the Kokiri leader's home.
Our special place… that must be the old ruins in the Lost Woods. he thought, and headed for the entrance to the path through those same woods.
Now was it left left right straight or left right straight left? No, right right left straight right left? He stopped for a moment, thinking, before it came to him. Oh yeah, right left right left straight left right. He hurried on towards what he would one day learn to be the Forest Temple, but for know was only his meeting place with Saria. Already he could hear her singing in the distance, and he smiled to himself as memories of that song came to his mind.
"Link! Slow down! I'm tired!" wailed Navi, somewhere behind him. "Slow down before I loose you!" Her pleas fell upon deaf ears, though, and Link ran on paying his fairy no mind. Finally, he reached the meadow before the place at which his friend was waiting, and his progress was blocked momentarily by a gateway of vertical steel bars. Only for a moment though, as a minute's searching located the switch which lowered them again.
Finally, he reached the end of the maze and stood at the end of a corridor of trees which had grown so close together as to effectively form a wall, and he headed down it, Saria's song growing clearer and less faint with each step. When he reached the end of the corridor, he saw Saria sitting on a nearby stump with her back to him, singing her song to herself. Deciding to surprise her, he stalked up silently behind her, barely even drawing breath until he was only inches away from his unsuspecting friend, and putting his arms around her, pulling her into an strong embrace.
At the initial contact, she yelped and tried to break free of his embrace, twisting herself around in his arms and suddenly stopping all motion as she saw his beaming face, and broke into a wide grin.
"Link! You're back!" she squealed, her eyes seeming to sparkle. "I missed you so much!" She returned his hug before they broke apart. "So how did it go? Did you get all the stones? C'mon! Tell me all about it! You must have gotten a lot stronger to have beaten the wolfos outside the gate without even getting a scratch!"
Link's smile faded.
"What wolfos?" he asked, just before he heard a snarl from the natural corridor from which he had just come. "Oh, that wolfos."
He sprang away from Saria, reaching to draw his sword and shield before remembering he had left them in his tree house. Quickly, he cast his gaze about, searching for something to use as a weapon when he heard Saria scream.
"Link! Help me!" she screamed, as she tried to escape the wolf monster which had cornered her. Without a second, or even a first, thought, Link threw himself on the wolfos, trying to reach around its neck to cut off its air supply. But the creature just threw him off and returned its attention to Saria, who was trying to climb one of the ancient stone pillars in order to escape the beast's reach. She wasn't high enough though, and the wolfos leapt at her, knocking her to the ground and driving her into another corner.
Link was back on his feet now, and he charged the wolfos, throwing himself into a headlong tackle to the wolfos's side and knocking it way from Saria, who was now running for the tree corridor. The fall had injured her leg though, and she was limping and bleeding a little. The wolfos which was struggling to its feet while trying to throw off the boy who had latched onto its mid-section, redoubled its efforts now that the scent of blood was in the air. Snapping at Link, it dislodged the boy and bounded off after the retreating Kokiri girl until Link grabbed it by the tail. Giving the wolfos's tail a hard jerk, he redirected the creature's attention momentarily, before the wolfos kicked him with its powerful back legs, sending him flying. Forgetting Saria, the wolfos now snarled and stalked towards Link, who was trying to regain vertical status. As it approached him, Link thought At least Saria's safe.
Ironically, it was right at this moment that Saria threw herself on the wolfos mimicking the bravery Link had shown in his attempt to rescue her, with much the same results, as the wolfos threw her off even more easily than it had Link. Beginning to grow angry, the wolfos pounced at Saria, but Link rushed forward and tackled the monster once more, before the wolfos kicked him again, sending him slamming into the stone pillar Saria had tried to climb. As his head cracked against the hard stone laid down by ancient peoples in an age long past, his consciousness was enveloped in darkness.
* * *
He awoke to the sound of Navi screaming his name.
"Link! Link! What happened here?" came Navi's shrill little voice. Link did not answer, instead sitting up groggily and trying to remember himself. It came back to him quickly. Ditching Navi, sneaking up on Saria, the wolfos… Saria!
"Where's Saria?" he asked, jumping to his feet and feeling nauseous for a moment as his blood suddenly had to pump harder to reach his brain in sufficient quantity. As soon as it passed, he began darting around the clearing, looking for some sign of his friend, and finding nothing encouraging.
The most obvious thing was the blood all over the ground, trailing off back the way Link had entered the clearing from. Link presently realized that he too was covered in blood, though a quick touch test revealed that it was his own, as there was a minor gash on the back of his head, the blood from which had pooled around him while he had laid unconscious. The rest of the blood was not is though. And neither was the tiny hunk of carved wood near the stump Saria had been seated upon. He picked it up. It looked like it was meant to be opened, like a wooden locket or something, but he could not get it open. He turned it over in his hands. This side bore Saria's tiny ornate signature, the little trademark she put on everything she made. There was no doubt that this was Saria's.
But the girl it belonged to was no where to be found, and Link was still alive. If there had been two people and a hungry wolfos, and now there was only one person, there was little doubt in Link's mind as to what had happened to the other person. Saria had saved his life, though unintentionally. And now, she was gone.
Link collapsed to his knees, and stared off into space as Navi circled him, still asking the same question.
"What happened? Link? What happened? Where's Saria? Link?"
Through eyes brimming with tears, Link screamed out
"Shut up Navi!"
The fairy recoiled in shock, then floated closer to her charge and nudged him gently. "Link?"
Link jumped to his feet, fighting back tears, and took a wild swing at her.
"Get away from me! Go! Get away from me before I get angry!"
Navi flew back away from him, hurt, but not physically.
"Link…" she started, then changed her mind. "Fine! I don't like hanging around you anyway! I'm always getting attacked by something, even the kid I'm supposed to be helping!"
"Get out of here!" shouted Link, barely able to restrain the reservoirs behind his eyes from bursting.
"I will! Good Bye!" she returned, not fully comprehending what was happening, and flying off over the wall of trees towards the former site of the Great Deku Tree.
Now the tears came, and Link cried until his eyes were so dry it hurt to keep them open, and fell asleep where he lay.
When he awoke it was morning, and he sat up feeling sick to his stomach. He felt an empty spot deep in his chest that had not been there before he had returned to Kokiri Forest, and knew what was supposed to be filling it. As he stood, the feeling of nausea returned to him, and his legs felt like rubber beneath him. Still, somehow he remained upright. He needed something to take his mind off of the matter at hand. The Spiritual Stones, yes, those would do. He staggered to the tree corridor, and paused at the top of it, looking back and his gaze fell on the little hunk of wood that was all Saria had left behind. He picked it up, and stuffed it into his tunic.
I'll never forget you, Saria. You, you're my best friend. You still are, you, you always will be. He felt tears beginning to well up again, and pushed the thoughts from his mind, staggering off back towards Kokiri Forest.
* * *
Link awoke feeling sick to his stomach. Once again, his dreams had not been kind, choosing to show him a scene from his past once again. A scene he had never wanted to recall again.
The empty space in his chest throbbed. It had never left him, but he had learned to ignore it; another thing he had Ganondorf to thank for. Now though, he could not ignore it.
He climbed out of his bed and treaded over to the large chest at the end of his bed. Then, after opening it, he dug down to the very bottom where he removed a tiny bundle of green material, which he unrolled to reveal the tiny object it had protected. He did not look at it yet though, and instead replaced everything in his trunk very carefully. Then, sitting on his bed, he looked down at the tiny hunk of wood he had found that day, and began to cry for the first time in almost seven years.
