Ocarina of Time

by EmilyAnnCoons

A young kokiri finds himself on a quest to save Hyrule, and to discover his true self. Rating changed to T after much thought.

7. Saria, the Sage of Forest

Chapter 7: Saria, the Sage of the Forest

"Go, Link!" Navi shouted as Link trained. Link and Navi were in the middle of Hyrule Plain. Link was surrounded a huge amount of Stalchildren, which were the kid version of Stalfos. They usually rose from the ground during the night, but ever since Ganondorf got the Triforce, they had been popping up all the time, both during the day and during the night.

Link pulled his sword behind him and smirked. "KaiTenGiri!" he shouted, spinning around in a circle. A blue light came from his sword, swirling around Link. It smashed into several of the Stalchildren, destroying them, but several were left. Link quickly pulled the sword close to him and swung hard against several of them, making them explode. "Ha!"

At that moment, a ghost-like monster appeared in front of Link. It laughed some, then spoke. "Well, what do we have here? The Hero of Time, are you not?"

"Get away from me," Link spoke, staring at the ghost-like monster.

"Poe not hurt you. Poe like you."

"Well, Poe better go away, or Poe find himself in big trouble."

"Poe stay right here!" The monster, now known as Poe, spoke, giving an attitude.

"Fine," Link said and held the master sword in front of his face. In a single swing, Poe screamed and exploded. Link growled and began to walk off. Navi followed him closely.

"Link, you've been doing good," Navi said. "You're getting better at using the Master Sword."

"But I'm not good enough," Link said, pushing Navi off. Navi growled.

"You may not be good enough, but you are good. Perhaps we should take a break?"

"We are, Navi."

"Oh, right!" Navi sweatdropped. She landed on Link's shoulder and sighed. "You know, Link. I just realized that I'm always glowing like this, and you've never actually seen my true form underneath this ball of light."

Link blinked at that. "Yeah, that's true…but I've never really thought about that either…I guess it's not that important to me. What's important to me right now is finding Zelda and making sure she's okay."

Navi growled. "Fine!" she spoke loudly. "I guess you don't care about me!"

"I care about you. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I'm just saying, right now I want to find Zelda, I'm not worried about what you look like underneath a blue bubble."

Navi growled some. "Fine…" She didn't care what Link said. She looked around for a moment, then the blue orb around her disappeared. Underneath the blue orb of light was a beautiful little girl. She had long brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue outfit as well, and the outfit matched her eyes perfectly. She brushed her hair from her face and looked around again. Perhaps I should just stay like this, Navi thought. I never did like being in the glowing orb, anyway. Sure, why not? I can stay like this! I think anyway.

Link continued to walk on, taking the occasional glance at Navi. He didn't really care what she looked like under the orb, but since she had already removed the orb of light, he figured he might as well look. He thought she was cute, but unlike Navi was hoping, it didn't make Link like her anymore then just a friend. Navi was a little unhappy about that, but she shrugged it off quickly.

"Navi, we're here," Link spoke suddenly.

"And…where exactly is…'here'?" Navi asked.

"The Kokiri Forest, Navi. We're back at the forest. I can't wait to see my friends again." Link smiled as he began to walk forward, the wind blowing in his face. Navi just about smacked herself over the head when Link told her where they were. She had completely forgotten about the forest. "Do you think Saria is okay?" Link asked, stopping in his tracks.

"I'm sure she is. Let's just go in."

"Right," Link said, nodding. He then walked forward, heading into the forest. It was a long trip through the forest, but they finally reached the long bridge that connected the outside world and the rest of the forest with the Kokiri Village. Link smiled and ran across the bridge. "Saria!" he shouted. "I'm back!"

Upon entrance of the small Kokiri Village, Link looked around. The forest seemed deserted, and his smile quickly changed into a frown. "What is this?" he asked. "Where is everyone?" He walked forward, looking around. "Why is it so silent? Shouldn't the Kokiri be enjoying themselves? What happened here?" An answer to his question soon came.

From the ground beneath Link's feet, a large Deku Baba appeared. The Deku Baba is a large flower-like monster that looks extremely old and decayed. They are also not a safe thing to be around, considering they have large fangs and have a tendency to eat anything they can reach. Link let out a scream as the Deku Baba pushed him off, then looked at him. It drooled as it opened its mouth, showing it's large fangs. "Dinner!" the Deku Baba spoke, then dived to eat Link.

Link quickly pulled out the Master Sword and swung, slicing the Deku Baba at the stem. Its head fell forward, slamming into the ground. It seemed to immediately decay, leaving a large stick in its place. "Link, those things do grow back, you know?" Navi said, reminding Link of the most important thing about Deku Babas.

"I know," Link responded.

"Then I suggest we…run!" Navi shouted.

"That might be a smart idea." Link quickly turned and began to run as the Deku Baba began to grow back. He had already made it halfway across the Kokiri Village by the time the Deku Baba had grown back completely. "That was close."

"Link, let's find Saria."

"Right." Link nodded and looked around. He rushed over to Saria's house and ran inside. "Saria?" he asked, looking around. His face showed fear when he noticed Saria wasn't there. His expression then changed to horror when he saw blood stained on the walls of Saria's house. Worry, fear, and even sadness were all flooding through him now. He was worried that Saria might be dead. He quickly ran out, finding himself running into a small Kokiri. He looked down and blinked. "Mido?"

The Kokiri looked up at Link. It was Mido, the stubborn Kokiri child that called himself the boss of the Kokiri. "Where is he!" He shouted suddenly. Link blinked.

"Where is who?"

"That creep who caused all this! He left us seven years ago, and he hasn't come back since him and Saria went off on their adventure. Saria and Navi came back, but Link didn't come back, even after Navi left to get him. He was out there, and you came from out there, so tell me where he is!"

Link realized who he was talking about and tried to think of something. Mido growled. "That creep…after he left…all of this happened. Saria ran off to the Temple to try and stop all of this, but she hasn't come back. It's all that jerk Link's fault."

"Saria went to the temple?" Link asked. "Please, where is the temple you speak of?"

Mido looked at Link for a moment. "I'm not telling you!" He then turned and ran off. Link followed close behind. Mido soon accidentally led Link to the temple. He didn't even realize that Link was behind him. He didn't even realize who Link was. He just thought Link was a man from outside, and not the man he actually was.

Mido got to the temple and quickly began to climb the rough cave wall that the temple was carved into. The stairways to the temple were in ruins, and the only way up to the entrance was to climb. Link followed behind him, and soon the two of them reached the entrance and entered. Mido still didn't notice Link, because he had already entered the temple before Link could climb up.

Mido looked around and picked up a nearby stick. "All right, I know you're here! Show yourselves!" At that moment, two large Wolfos appeared from above, pouncing on Mido. They growled and snarled, and soon found themselves howling in pain as Link's sword went through them. Mido looked up and saw Link standing there, his sword drawn.

"Mido, tell me where Saria is."

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time and began to play Saria's song on it. "That song…Saria plays that song a lot…she also taught it to only her best friends…" Mido looked around for a moment, then smiled. "All right, I trust you. Come with me. Saria's in the temple somewhere."

Link smiled. "Thank you, Mido." The two of them began to walk forward, venturing through the Forest Temple. The temple was dark and full of traps. Mido led the way, all the way to a large empty room.

"This is the last place I saw her," Mido said. "I was standing right here, and Saria was over there." He pointed to the center of the room. "I remember she walked over there, then she vanished into thin air."

Link blinked. "She vanished? What do you mean 'she vanished'?"

"I mean she vanished! One moment she was there, and the next she wasn't!"

"Now that's strange." Link walked forward. He walked right up to where Saria had disappeared, and immediately four torches around him lit. They each had different colors. Link looked at them, then the flames went out and four ghost-like monsters appeared. "Poes!" Link shouted. The Poes laughed and vanished. Link growled. "What have you done with Saria!" he shouted.

"Want the girl, find us," a voice said, apparently belonging to one of the Poes. It was a female voice, which meant at least one of them was female.

"Link, those were Amy, Meg, Joelle, and Beth. They're the Poe Sisters that guard the entrance to the lower level of the Forest Temple. Some say that a phantom lives there. No one is sure, though, since no one who has entered the temple has returned alive." At that, Navi shivered. "I'm scared."

"It's okay, Navi," Link said, then looked to Mido. Apparently, he hadn't heard anything, so he walked back.

"So…what just happened…?" Mido asked.

"The Poe Sisters captured Saria, I think. I'm going to go get them."

"Let me come, too. Please, aniki, please let me come." Link blinked a bit. He couldn't believe that Mido was calling him "aniki." He smiled and nodded, letting Mido know he could come. "Thank you. I have to do something to help. I want to save the forest and Saria."

"I do, too, Mido." Link turned and began to walk off. Navi followed behind, with Mido following right behind her. The three of them ventured through the large forest temple. The temple was really big. It had about three floors, and even included about three courtyards; each was about the size of the courtyard from Hyrule Castle. The main room, where they had met the four Poe Sisters, was large, around the size of what the three courtyards would be if they were all one courtyard, which meant it was pretty big.

The three of them soon reached one of the courtyards. Link looked around for a moment. "Poe Sisters! Come out!" Link shouted.

"We'll come out, but first you find us," one of the Poe Sisters said. Link looked around, then looked up. High above him was one of the Poe Sisters. She was floating over the top of the doorway they had just come through. The doorway was big, though, so Link couldn't reach her. "I see you, you see me. You want your girl, you fight!" the Poe Sister, Amy, said.

"Fine, then we'll fight you, and we'll fight the others as well if we have to."

Amy laughed. "Prepare for death." Amy flew forward at him, then disappeared, the only thing that gave away her location was her small torch. Link pulled out his sword and watched the torch fly around.

"You won't be able to harm her until she appears," Navi whispered into Link's ears, then whispered the same thing into Mido's ears.

"Right," Link said, nodding. He watched for a moment as the torch flew around. It began to spin, then began to come at them. Link quickly did a back flip, jumping out of the torches path. Amy growled and appeared into view. Mido then sent his foot into Amy's side, as she had appeared right next to him. The kick did nothing, however, and his foot passed right through her. Amy laughed and looked at him.

"You no hurt me!"

"But I can!" Link spoke, jumped into the air, then brought his sword down in front of him. The sword collided with Amy, who let out a shriek of pain. She exploded, and a red fire shot off, heading back into the main room. Link followed the flame, noticing it had gone and lit the torch in the center of the room. He smiled and walked across the main room, heading through another door.

This door led to another courtyard, and again, there was a Poe Sister in here. "Poe Sisters! Show yourself!" Link shouted.

"I am here, but can you find me?" a Poe Sister spoke. Link looked all around, trying to find her. He then looked up, just like last time. She was there, high above him. She was on a balcony that was overtop of the doorway. Link growled and grabbed some of the nearby vines, climbing the best he could to get to the balcony.

"Aniki, be careful!" Mido shouted up to him.

"I will!" Link shouted back. Link climbed more, working harder and harder to get to the balcony. It was hard, and the Poe Sister just watched. She laughed a little as she touched her torch against one of the vines. The vine slowly began to burn, then snapped apart. Link could feel the vine snap as he held it and several others in his hand.

The Poe Sister laughed as she burned another one, making it snap as well. Link could feel the support in the other vines weakening because of the increased work they had to do. Another snapped, and the vines grew weaker still. Another snapped, this time without having to be burned. Link growled, noticing he didn't have much time left before the other vines would also give way.

"Climb down, now, or you will surely die when you fall."

"I…will not…fall…" Link said, straining to climb. The vines were growing weaker, and he could feel their strength weakening. The Poe Sister burned another one, making it snap. A couple others caught fire at the same time as the first snapped, and they, too, after a moment, snapped. Link now had to climb with only one handful of vines. He could feel that handful weakening as the weight they were forced to carry increased.

"Give up, now, or fall to your doom!"

"I won't!" Link shouted. The vines snapped as Link pushed himself up, quickly grabbing onto the balcony. Mido watched in horror as Link dangled from the balcony.

"Come on, aniki, you can do it!" Mido shouted. Link growled and pulled himself up onto the balcony. He looked right at the Poe Sister and smiled.

"I made it up. Now give back Saria!"

"You want her, you fight!"

Link sighed. "Fine." He drew the Master Sword once again. The Poe Sister, now notified as Beth, vanished, like Amy had done, her torch the only thing visible. Link watched the torch fly around for a moment, then did a back flip, carefully dodging the torches attack. Beth growled and then appeared. Link quickly swung the Master Sword, striking her. Beth shrieked in pain, but quickly shook off the pain, going back to the battle.

Beth twirled her torch around in front of her as she vanished. She then moved forward, moving the torch closer to Link. Link quickly struck the torch with the Master Sword, and the torch exploded, forcing the Beth away and onto the ground. Link quickly tossed the Master Sword, striking her. She shrieked in pain, then exploded. A blue fire shot from her and went straight to the main room. Link carefully climbed back down the remaining vines.

Link was almost on the ground when the last few vines snapped, and caused him to fall down, landing on his back. "Ow!" he shouted. He had barely fallen, anywhere, but he had fallen onto his sword's hilt, and it struck his back hard. It hurt some, but not as bad as it would have had it been the other side he landed on.

Link stood to his feet, holding his back. He straightened and his back cracked. He moved some, cracking his back some more. He then turned, bent down, and grabbed his sword. Upon bending down, his back cracked again. He straightened again, making one final crack, which set his back into place once again.

Link looked to Mido. "You okay, Mido?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mido said. "What about you?"

"I'm fine."

"So, that makes two of the Poe Sisters down. That leaves two more, right?"

"Yeap, two more, and we'll be able to end this."

"That's good." Link and Mido walked off. Navi watched for a moment, then pushed her brown hair out of her face as she flew forward, landing on Mido's head. The three of them journeyed on, heading to the last of the three courtyards.

"Poe Sisters! Show yourself!" Link shouted as they entered.

"Find me, fight me, your girl you get."

"Let's do this." Link walked forward into the center of the courtyard. Immediately, the third Poe Sister, Joelle, appeared. She flew above him, then came down next to him.

"Can you find me? I don't think you can." Joelle vanished, not even her torch was visible. Link growled and looked around. The courtyard was huge, she could have been anywhere. Joelle laughed. "You can't find me!"

Link quickly turned his head in the direction the voice had come from. "Are you so sure of that?"

"Yes, I am," Joelle spoke, and Link began to walk towards the voice.

"We'll just see about that!" Link held the Master Sword in his hand as he grew closer to a nearby wall. There was a large painting on the wall. It was a picture of Joelle. Link walked up to it and put his sword behind him. It lit up in a pink light, and he spun the sword around. "KaiTenGiri!" he shouted as he spun around. A beam shot in a circle around him and Joelle screamed as the picture was destroyed, revealing her.

"You little wretch! You will die!" Joelle threw her torch at Link, who quickly hit the torch with his sword, like a person would hit a baseball with his bat. The torch exploded and Joelle let out a shriek. "No! My lovely torch!" Link stepped back, readied his sword, then ran forward. He jumped into the air, and brought his sword down on Joelle. She shrieked in pain as the sword struck her and she exploded. Like the others, when she exploded, a flame shot off to the main room, this one was yellow.

"Yay! Way to go, aniki!" Mido shouted. "Only one more left."

"Yeap, so let's go do this." Link, Mido, and Navi all walked back into the main room. Link immediately drew the Master Sword when he saw what was in front of him.

"Aniki, isn't that…the last Poe Sister?" Mido asked.

"Yes, that's Meg," Navi responded. Mido looked at her. She looked more dangerous then any of the others. Link walked forward, sword in hand.

"Release Saria!" Link demanded.

"You want girl, you beat Nightmare first," Meg said.

"Nightmare? Who's that?"

"You need not know, for you no survive this!" Meg vanished, then, when she re-appeared, Link found himself surrounded by four Poes, and they all looked exactly like Meg.

"Link!" Navi spoke. "One of those is Meg, while the other three are copies."

"That's not much help, Navi! Which is which?"

"I have no idea! You expect me to know! How am I supposed to know!"

"All right! Just shut up, Navi!"

Mido blinked at the whole conversation. The fairy apparently was named Navi, and the guy was named Link. Suddenly, it hit him. That jerks name was Link, and his fairy was Navi. I wonder if these two are the same people, then, but how can they be? They've both gotten older, and Kokiri don't age. No, it can't be him. It's just a coincidence that these two are named the same.

Link looked at the four Megs. He had to pick one, and fast. He readied his sword, then jumped at one of them. It vanished, and the real Meg laughed and spun around. "You can't figure out which one I am," the three Megs said in unison.

"Yes, I can!" Link said, seeing Meg spin around for a moment. He quickly ran up to her and sliced her with his sword. She shrieked in pain, then vanished, taking her copies with her. She appeared again, after a moment, once again with three copies of herself. Link watched them, waiting to see which one was real.

"You can't find me, now!" all four of them said in unison.

"Are you so sure?" Link put his sword behind him and it lit up. He held his sword there for a moment, then he spun around. "KaiTenGiri!" he shouted as he spun, and the three copies were immediately destroyed. He quickly looked at the real one, then ran forward, slicing her with his blade. She let out a shriek of pain once again. She exploded, and a purple flame shot up at the last unlit torch.

"Yes!" Mido shouted. "Way to go, aniki! You did it!"

"Yes, but it isn't over, yet." After a moment, the ground under Link shook, and a large platform rose from the ground. He quickly hopped onto the platform and waved for Navi to come with him. Mido followed along as well, and the three of them went down to the lower level.

The platform stopped when it touched the ground and Link looked around. The room they were now in was enormous. It was full of skeletons, and Link felt very uncomfortable. He knew the skeletons could come to life as Stalfos at any moment if they were enchanted, and Link didn't want to stay around to find out. Link began to walk forward, towards a large picture he saw in the room. Mido looked down, then began to dig through the bones. He had spotted something, and he didn't know anything about Stalfos.

Link walked right up to the picture and looked at it. The picture was of Ganondorf, and Link stared at it. "Ganondorf has hold of this temple right now. We need to find the one that Meg was talking about so we can free it."

"I'm right here," a voice spoke.

"Who's there!" Link shouted.

"I am!" Straight from the picture came the head of a horse. As the horse came out more, a rider was seen on it. "I am Phantom Ganon, and I will destroy you!" The rider looked exactly like Ganondorf, except his face was a flaming skull instead. Even the horse looked like Ganondorf's horse.

"Phantom Ganon, huh?" Link asked. "Well, I'll still defeat you, even if you are a phantom form of Ganondorf."

Phantom Ganon laughed. "Foolish boy. I shall be the one who destroys you!" Nightmare, the horse, neighed and rode off towards the picture he had come out of. He slammed into it, and then disappeared inside of it.

"What the heck?" Link asked, watching. "Fine, I'll still defeat you, even if you want to play it that way." Phantom Ganon laughed and a small circle of black appeared on the picture. Suddenly Phantom Ganon launched out of it, then, without time enough to react, Link was struck by Phantom Ganon's staff, and then Phantom Ganon was back in the picture. "That's…not fair…I can't even touch him if he does that."

"Aniki!" Mido shouted. "Look what I found!" He held up a bow in his hand. In the other hand was a quiver of arrows.

"Throw those here!" Link shouted.

"Right!" Mido shouted back and tossed them to him. Link quickly strapped on the quiver and pulled out an arrow. He aimed it at the picture as the black circle appeared once more. Link waited a moment, then released the arrow at the last moment. The arrow shot forward and struck Nightmare, just as it came out. Phantom Ganon was thrown back into the picture, and Nightmare began to move around a lot, knocking off a part of the picture frame.

"No!" Phantom Ganon shouted. "You will pay for this, Link!" The frame of the picture fell apart causing the picture to fall to the ground and break. Nightmare burst into flames, and, after a moment, the horse was completely gone, and so was Phantom Ganon.

Link smiled and looked to Mido. "Thanks, Mido," he said.

"No problem, aniki. I'm just glad I could help." At that moment, a glowing light appeared in front of Link. Link watched the light take form in the shape of Saria.

"Saria?" Link asked.

"Link?" Saria asked as she looked up and opened her eyes. "Oh, Link! You're still alive! I waited for you for seven years. I thought you were dead."

"No, Saria, I'm alive."

"Thank the goddesses." Saria smiled. "Come with me." Saria held out her hand. Link looked at her hand, then at her. He reached forward and took her hand. There was a flash of light, and Link found himself inside the Chamber of Sages. In front of him was Rauru and Saria.

"Link, I thank you for awakening Saria," Rauru said, then looked at them. "I shall leave you two alone now." Rauru closed his eyes, and, in a flash of light, he was gone. Link smiled and looked at Saria.

"Link," Saria began. "I'm glad you're alive."

"I'm glad you're alive, too, Saria."

"I love you," Saria said, hugging Link.

"I love you, too, Saria," Link said, hugging Saria and holding her firmly.

"Link…" Saria spoke, sounding almost scared.

"What is it, Saria?"

"Link…you know that we can't be together now. You're a Hylian, I'm a Kokiri and a sage. We can't be together, because we don't live in the same world."

"Saria, don't say that. We can be together."

"No, Link, we can't." Saria broke from the hug, looking into Link's eyes. "We don't live in the same world. I won't grow up, and you will. I won't die, you will. We can't be together."

"Saria, please, we can try to be. I know we can be if we try. I love you too much to give you up."

"If you love me at all, you will give me up." Saria was almost crying when she said that.

"I can't, Saria. I just…can't…"

"Link, there's nothing you can do. There's nothing I can do. I want you to have this, then I want you to go." Saria held out her hand. In her hand was a small medallion with the symbol of the forest. Link took it and looked at her.

"Saria, I will find a way to get us together."

"There is no way!" Saria said, about to cry.

"Yes, there is, Saria. I will prove it to you. I will find a way to bring us together."

"Just…go!" Saria shouted and turned. She began to cry and Link walked forward, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Saria…"

"Go!" Saria shouted again and Link nodded. He turned and walked off, stepping on the Triforce symbol in the center. He stepped into the center, and he disappeared. Saria was left there, still crying.

"Saria," Rauru said.

"Rauru," Saria said, looking up at him, tears were in her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"You know the truth. You know the way to make it so you and him can be together again, why do you not tell him?"

"Because…I can't…I don't want him focusing on me his whole life. I love him, but he has a place to rescue. Maybe…when this is over…I'll do something…"

Rauru sighed. "All right, Saria."

Meanwhile, back in Hyrule, Link appeared near the Forest Temple. Mido had already gotten out and was waiting at the front of the temple. "Aniki! You're back!" Mido spoke loudly.

"Yes, I'm back," Link smiled.

"What happened to Saria?"

"She's in another world now. So she won't be coming back."

"You mean…she's dead now?"

"No, not dead, just in another world. She's still alive, and very alive at that."

"Well, as long as she isn't dead, then that's okay." Mido smiled.

"Mido, I have to go now, okay? I'll see if I can come back time from time, but I'm going to be extremely busy now, and I might not be able to return for a long time."

"Okay, aniki. I'll guard the forest for you, don't you worry."

Link smiled. "Okay," he said. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the slingshot, the boomerang, and even the sword that he had when he was a kid. "A friend of yours wanted you to have these."

"A…friend of mine?" Mido blinked. "You mean…he considers me…a friend…even after all the fighting we did?"

"Well, seven years has taught him a valuable lesson," Link said, smiling. "Mido, if he ever comes back to the forest, will you be his friend?"

"Yes, I will," Mido answered and smiled. "After he said that he wanted to be my friend, and even after all we've been through, the answer would be yes."

"Good, I'm sure he will be happy." Link smiled and stood to his feet. "May Saria aid you in protecting this forest and its temple." Mido smiled and Link walked off. He left the village, and, just before crossing the bridge, he waved to Mido.

"Shouldn't you tell him who you are?" Navi asked.

"Nah, he doesn't need to know. This way, when I come back, it'll be as friends. Perhaps one day, I will tell him, and maybe one day, he'll figure it out on his own."

Mido waved back and looked at the items Link had given him. "Seven years…" he looked up. "I guess he really was different from us. I feel bad for all the mean things I said. He aged, and I didn't. He got wiser, and I didn't. If I ever see him again, I know we'll be friends."

Link walked on, now. He had another job to do. After awakening the forest sage, he had to go awaken the other sages. This would prove to be an interesting time indeed. Seven years had passed since he pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, and now he was stronger, older, and wiser. He had to complete his task, and he would do it at any cost.