Saria opened her eyes and looked around the room, the sun was still shining but now that part of the castle was totally silent. She slipped out of bed and walked over to the door to take a look outside the room. No one was moving about or yelling like they had been when Link had gotten up, all of the guards had moved to another part of the castle along with Link and Impa so Saria had no idea what was going on. She stepped out shutting the door quietly behind her and made her way to the main hall to see if anyone was there.
The great oak doors creaked open as Saria pushed them open, the scene inside looked quite normal, the large dining table was set up ready for breakfast to be served, all of the chairs were neatly in place but there wasn't a soul in there. She walked in and sat in one of the seats leaning both her elbows on the table, usually she wouldn't have done that but since no one was around it didn't really matter. The small clock in the corner struck 10 o'clock creating the only sound in the room until a light breeze swished into the room. Saria looked up in confusion wondering how there was a breeze with no windows open.
"The locket!" A soft hissing voice screeched out of nowhere. "Give me the locket!"
Saria literally jumped out of her seat scanning the room for any signs of life. She looked up to the ceiling and there they were, a pair of red eyes moving around.
"I….I don't have the locket, and even if I did I wouldn't give it to you!" Saria blurted out, she turned to run for the door but sensed something warm right behind her.
"Don't lie to me Forest Sage". The voice hissed, she felt something about to reach for her throat but the main doors burst open revealing Link and a few guards, at that the monster vanished from sight before anyone else could see it.
"Sar are you ok?" Link asked going over to her putting an arm around her while he held his sword in the other. She gave quite a convincing nod but he knew there was something wrong, they needed some time out of the castle away from all this trouble.
"There doesn't seem to be anything here, whatever it was must have gone." Link said to the guards who nodded in agreement. "But still keep an eye out just in case." He added taking Saria's hand and pulling her out of the dining room, out of the castle doors and into the market for some fresh air.
Saffron stood in the middle of the cave while Ebony sat down eager to hear of her sister's new plans. Saffron took out a small bottle filled with a clear coloured liquid.
"This is my next plan." She smirked giving Ebony a closer look at the bottle then continuing. "You will transform into a sweet looking little girl and get into the castle or at least make Link suspicious of you, once you've done that return here and our dear hero will surely follow, that is when we shall lure him to our real home." Saffron stopped at that and clicked her fingers to reveal a purple warp tunnel that led to the place they had originally come from.
"Wait, why do I need to transform?" Ebony asked standing up taking the bottle from her sister again.
"Because Saria has a very soft heart as we know and will surely help you, so think up what you're going to do and say!" Ebony started to think this was turning into a bad idea but decided not to say anything but she was annoyed that she had to do all of the hard work as usual.
"Now drink the potion." Saffron commanded pointing to the bottle Ebony was holding. Ebony paused for a moment then twisted the top off the bottle. A mouldy scent drifted out causing Ebony to hold it away from her face, Saffron rolled her eyes becoming impatient.
"Ok here I go." Ebony mumbled holding her nose and drinking the potion as quickly as she could. There was a bright white flash that surrounded the younger girl when she had finished the liquid, Saffron stared at her sister waiting for the flash to disappear.
"Ah excellent!" She shrieked as the flash dimmed to reveal a girl that looked about eight years old with curly golden hair and sparkling blue eyes, her clothes had also changed into a light blue dress with matching sandals. Saffron held up a mirror for her sister to see her new look.
"Oh my gosh! I look awful!" Ebony shouted turning away from the mirror. "I look like someone out of a fairy tale." Saffron sniggered then placed an arm around her now very little sister.
"Yes and it's perfect, now get going and find Link and Saria, don't come back until you know Link is following you." Saffron said pushing her sister out of the cave into the morning air. "Oh and don't fly, you don't want to look too suspicious." She added feeling slightly sorry for Ebony since she hated walking and didn't look very happy in those sandals. Ebony gave a small wave then vanished into Kakariko Village and out into the field.
The market was a much more peaceful place compared to the day before, only the usual inhabitants were dotted around doing random activities. Link and Saria had decided to go in the shooting gallery to pass some time. Link placed 20 rupees on the counter receiving 15 arrows from the owner. Saria stood admiring the room with its western scenery, she had only been in there once before and that was when they could only use a slingshot which was a couple of years ago. Link took out his bow and handed it to Saria.
"Ladies first." He grinned placing the arrows on the counter near her. She selected the first arrow and put it into the bow ready to start, a whistle blew and the first rupee appeared which was an easy target since it stayed in one place. Saria pulled back the arrow and sent it flying straight into the green rupee. Next two blue ones appeared which she hit perfectly too. Soon the last two appeared, Saria was about to shoot when the door burst open and in came Ruto and Mido. When she had turned to see who it was Saria had still shot the arrow but since she hadn't been looking it flew into one of the animal heads, bounced off it and flew right through Link's hat.
"Oh!" I'm so sorry Link." She exclaimed dropping the bow onto the counter. Link took off his hat to remove the arrow which had torn all the way through the material.
"It's ok." He smiled. "I have about a dozen spare." He then turned to Mido and Ruto who were waiting behind him.
"We thought we'd come into town for the day." Ruto piped up swinging a small bag of rupees in one of her hands then grabbed Mido's arm while gesturing for the others to follow her outside.
The market was now a little busier as it was later in the day, the four headed towards the fountain and sat on the edge, Ruto dipped a hand into the water enjoying the feel of it then looked up at the sun.
"Hmm looks like lunchtime, how about we go to one of the back alley cafes?" She asked standing up in front of the other three. Link and Mido nodded standing up with her, but Saria wanted to do something first.
"I'll catch up with you, there's something I want to look at before lunch." Link looked a little puzzled wondering what she was going to look for and offered to go with her but she pushed him in the direction that Ruto and Mido were heading saying she'd be fine, Link sighed and reluctantly went after them. As soon as they'd disappeared into one of the alleys Saria span around and made her way down the other alley heading towards the jeweller's.
"I wonder if my locket is ready." She mused dodging bits of rubbish and small boxes as she walked.
Ebony entered the busy town after a long walk through the field. The guard on standby gave her a funny look but she just ignored it and carried on moving focusing only on her mission. As she came into the main square she spotted Saria vanishing down one of the alleys and hurried after her.
Saria was just about to open the jeweller's door when there was a loud crash behind her, she quickly turned around and saw a young girl laying amongst a pile of boxes. Ebony had fallen when she had been running to catch up with Saria, it had not been a part of her plan at all but it seemed to have worked. Saria walked back down the alley and knelt down beside the girl holding a hand out to help her back to her feet.
"Are you ok?" She asked pulling Ebony up. Ebony brushed herself down then nodded.
"Yes I'm fine, thank you for helping me up, I didn't know there was so much rubbish back here." She said truthfully because the last time she had been there was the time she had stolen the locket and had never really taken a good look around.
"Hmm me neither." Saria continued. "Wouldn't think the market by Hyrule castle would be such a tip would you? Anyway what was a young girl like you doing wandering around an alley by herself?" Saria asked taking a few steps back as Ebony moved out of the middle of the boxes trying to think of a good enough reason, instead she decided to throw the same question back.
"I could ask the same to you." She replied trying to lead Saria back into the main market area.
"I was going to get something, but I guess it can wait, where are your parents?" Ebony froze at the question cursing her sister in her mind since she hadn't prepared for these questions and was close to ruining it all.
"I don't have any….uh I mean they've gone on holiday!" She blurted out and ran out into the main square and fell over again grabbing the fountain wall to stop herself from falling flat on her face.
"Damn these shoes!" She mumbled to herself in anger. Saria caught up with her and sat on the fountain wall.
"So let me get this right, your parents have gone away leaving you all alone to go where you like?" Saria asked in a slightly sarcastic tone that annoyed Ebony.
"Do you at least have a name then?" Saria added.
Ebony was mentally slapping herself for not thinking of these things beforehand.
"Um yes, my name is….Ellen." She lied, giving her real name would have been too much of a give away.
"Nice to meet you Ellen, I'm Saria and I was about to go for lunch with some friends, why don't you join us?" She smiled holding out a hand. Ebony really was hungry and this was the perfect start to her plan so she gladly agreed taking Saria's hand and being lead into the other alley.
A/N: Wheeee review!