Well it's time for the next new arc, this time around an old friend Link debuts, but what situation will they end up in? Also, how boring and vague could these introductions of mine get?
"Help! The Deku Babas are back!"
In the middle of a secluded village deep in the forests of Hyrule, a group of small people were fleeing for their lives, away from some plant creatures with snapping mouths.
This was Kokiri Village, home to the child-like forest folk known as, fittingly enough, the Kokiri. Normally the Kokiri lived peaceful lives, but lately they had been falling under attack by strange plant monsters, ranging from the flytrap-like Deku Babas or the nut-spitting creatures known as Deku Scrubs.
The Kokiri, not normally ones for combat, were reduced to either running away or throwing rocks and sticks at the monsters, in the hopes of fending them off. But while they took down a few, the creatures kept showing up.
"Dang it!" shouted a particularity angry Kokiri, he was the leader of the village, Mido. Usually known for being a bit of a control freak and bully around the village, he held a great deal of authority with everyone, but now he was in a situation out of his hands, "Quit running and fight back!"
"But Mido, there's too many of them!" said another Kokiri, gasping out from running, "We need help!"
"Mido, look out!" shouted another Kokiri looking out from the top of a tall stump, Mido looked behind him only to see a particularly big Deku Baba screech out, looking down at him hungerly.
"Uh oh." Mido muttered with his eyes shrunk down. The Deku Baba lunged out at him, ready to make Mido it's next meal...
Until someone jumped out from out of nowhere and smacked the Deku Baba backwards with some kind of long and narrow wooden staff-like weapon, before landing to the ground in front of Mido.
"Are you okay, Mido?" asked the person.
"I-It's you!" Mido exclaimed looking up at them.
It was a Kokiri, much like the others. She wore a teal sweater under the usual green tunic that the Kokiri were known to wear, and had short light green hair with a green hairband, and contrasting from all the green she wore was her eyes which were a gentle blue. In her hands she wielded a type of wooden staff that had vines and some kind of plant pods circling around it, as well as leaves and twigs sticking out form the sides. Despite it's odd appearance, the staff seemed to prove a powerful weapon.
"Saria's here!" cheered one of the Kokiri while coming over to help Mido up.
"You guys, get out of here!" Saria shouted, wielding the strange staff in her hands. The Deku Baba attacked her, but she leaped up and brought her rod down on it once more, smashing it to the ground and killing it.
"Kyyyaaa!" Saria then heard some Kokiri scream, and she turned to go help them as well.
She stopped in front of the pack of Deku Babas and Scrubs, who were getting more aggressive in attacking the Kokiri.
"Time to put an end to this!" Saria said, she closed her eyes and concentrated as she held her battle staff, when large spiked plant nuts grew out from the ends of the staff, attached to vines, she opened her eyes and swung the staff out, the spiked nuts swinging around, and she rushed right at the monsters.
Meanwhile far away in Gerudo Town, Link was laying back in his bedroom, on the bed of pillows he had taken to sleep on since the day he arrived there. He took a glance down beside him to see a beautiful Gerudo woman laying beside her, blushing softly as she was slowly rubbing his chest with her eyes closed.
"How was it for you, Nemisa?" Link asked.
"Amazing as usual," Nemisa opened her eyes slightly and gave a small smirk, "I'll have to thank Lady Nabooru for tutoring you so well in this."
Link chuckled, giving his bodyguard and lover a gentle kiss. It had been two days since the raid on the Wyvern Keeper's hideout and the freeing of the slaves, as well as Nemisa admitting her love for Link. The two had been spending the past days making up for lots of repressed desires they had for each other; they would either spend time talking about their lives before they met, going out and walking the streets of the town together, strengthening themselves at the training grounds, or in this case, making sweet, passionate love together.
Her leg was raised up over Link's own legs, and he took that time to rub her smooth thigh, causing her to swoon a bit. It felt like just about all the pain and suffering Nemisa had experienced over the years just melted away during these past couple of days. She was having a great time with Link; not just as a lover, but as a close friend, and sometimes wondered if she always felt that way over the months, but was just too stubborn to admit to herself that she was truly enjoying her time with him.
Nemisa stood up to her feet and stretched, allowing Link to take a gaze at her rear end, which despite all the training and exercise she did throughout her life, managed to stay quite large, round and soft, and her wide hips did a good job complimenting it. He was always catching himself taking note of her curvy figure more and more when he saw her dances, and he had a hard time taking his eyes off her even now after all that. Nabooru and Sarami would tease him that Nemisa's figure would be ideal for birthing children someday, and he had an especially hard time getting that off his mind since then.
This didn't go unnoticed by Nemisa, who turned her head to him and smirked lightly, "Pervert." she simply called him, but in a good-natured tone.
"Hey, that coming from the girl who can't keep her hands off my chest?" Link teased.
"Hmph, point taken." she said, somewhat annoyed at how quickly he was able to make a comeback. Nemisa then went over to where she discarded her clothes earlier and pulled out a small bottle from the pocket, filled with small black colored capsules, she took one out and ate it.
"What you got there?" Link asked, getting up and starting to put his red vest and green pants on.
"Black chu jelly capsules, I had Dr. Sarami make them for me this morning." she said swallowing it, "They're a form of birth control medication, if I eat one within seventy two hours of intercourse, it'll prevent me from getting pregnant."
Link was baffled hearing this, not so much how chu jelly could be used to prevent pregnancy, as he came to know how much of a medical genius Sarami was, but rather why Nemisa would take one.
"You don't want to have kids after all?" Link asked, tilting his head, after everything she had told him about the desire t have a family, it was odd to see her change her mind like that.
"No, it''s not that." Nemisa said shaking her head, "It's... just there's still a lot going on in our lives, even with the slavers taken down. There's matters like the rebels and the banishment law, and I still vow to be your bodyguard. I just think with all that in mind I'm... just not ready to have a daughter right now."
"I guess you have a point." Link nodded after some thought. He knew despite how much she had changed that she was very assertive about her duties, and he could respect her diligence.
"Though that said, I do look forward to the day that we get started." Nemisa said, looking down at her herself, running her hand along her bare slim stomach with a warm smile, as thoughts of her future with him were going through her mind, "You know I want a huge family, and by the time we finally start we'll have to make up for how long it took."
"Yeah..." Link said, thinking fondly about it himself while he was tying his vest together. "Those chu jelly things do explain why Nabooru hasn't gotten pregnant yet in all the months we've been at it." he realized, "I thought there was just a problem with me or something."
Nemisa laughed, "Believe me, there's nothing wrong with you." she strolled up to him and tickled his chin, before stopping his hands from typing his vest together, reminding him that she wanted him to leave it open to show off his chest not just for her, but the other Gerudo as well, "You know, aside from the more obvious things."
Link smiled at his newest fiance, it seemed she really had changed in many ways since the incident with Jayde and the slavers. Granted she still had her short-tempered moments, even going so far as to whack him for doing something stupid at times, but she'd react right after with hugs and kisses to make up for it. He was proud to have her as not just his bodyguard and friend, but his lover and fiance as well.
"Well I'm going to head off to work on writing my next dance, I plan to put on a performance over at the Dank Salamander tavern next week." Nemsia said, as she was putting on her typical red Gerudo outfit. She didn't bother putting her hair into a bun anymore, aside from when she was training or in battle. Link didn't complain, as he loved seeing her long hair out like that. "Have a good rest of the day, my love."
"You too Nemisa." nodded Link as she left.
Link's mind drifted to what kind of music Nemisa was going to write for her next song, when an thought occurred to him.
"Hmm.. maybe I should contact Saria, and tell her the good news about us." Link smiled, thinking of his childhood friend from Kokiri Forest.
He went to retrieve his Fairy Ocarina from his belongings. He took a deep breath, putting his lips to the instrument, then started playing a whimsical bouncy tune from it. The music was known fittingly as Saria's Song, a tune that carried magical power which allowed him to communicate with Saria when played in just the right tone. In fact, the ocarina itself was a gift from Saria just before Link went on his quest to save Hyrule, and he held onto it all this time.
After he completed the notes, he paused, waiting to see if she would pick up.
"Link... Link, is this Saria, can you hear me?" Link heard a voice coming from the ocarina, this was the power of Saria's Song, allowing him to speak to her no matter where he was in Hyrule.
"Loud and clear." Link said happily, "How have you been?"
"Um... quite well!" Saria said, "Things are... uh, very peaceful here as usual!"
"You okay there?" Link asked, "You sound a little worried."
"Hee-hee, I'm fine!" Saria giggled, "Just umm, Mido's been really ordering everyone around a lot."
"Sounds like him." Link said in a friendly tone, though he couldn't help but feel something was off about her.
"But enough about me, how about you?" Saria asked, "It's been a while since we talked!"
"Yeah, sorry about that, but we've been pretty busy around here lately. We just took down the slaver organization I told you about before." Link said.
"Oh yeah, those... what did you call them, Wyvern Keepers?" Saria realized, "Those sounded like really bad people... and you all took them down? You'll have to tell me more about it!"
The two spent the next hour or so talking about the raid on the slaver hideout, including what happened between him and Nemisa. Saria listened to everything intently, and was shocked to hear that Nemisa had become Link's newest fiance.
"Really?" Saria exclaimed, "Ms. Nemisa is going to be part of your family? That's so great!" she said cheerfully, "I'm glad things worked out with her! I wasn't gong to say anything but from the stories you've told me, but I could tell there was really something between you two!"
"Yeah, it's not going to be immediate, but Nemisa even said she wants to someday have children with me, like Ruto and the twins do." Link nodded.
"W-Wow..." Saria said, with a hint of uneasiness in her tone, "I'm glad to see you've made so many friends who are so close to you... even the Zora princess." she paused, "Someday I'd really like the chance to meet them, especially that Lady Nabooru you mentioned."
"I'm sure you'd get along with them well." Link nodded, "Maybe we can arrange to have you come and meet up with us once Nabooru is done creating the trade route with the Zoras I mentioned before."
"M-Maybe..." Saria paused, "Hey, so uh, I gotta go! Have a good rest of your day, okay?!"
"Okay, you too." Link said.
"And don't forget to call me!" Saria added.
"Haha, no problem." Link chuckled, "Have a good day, Saria."
With that, the communication between the two stopped, and Link smiled lightly, even though he didn't always have the time or the thought to call her as much as much he wanted, when he did it was always a pleasant experience. He'd felt the need to try and take the time to contact her more often.
"Well for now I better go see if Nabooru needs me to do any work." Link said to himself, and left out his bedroom.
Meanwhile, at Saria's house in Kokiri Village, the green-haired girl set down her own ocarina and let out a gentle sigh. She laid back on her bed and turned her head to look our her window, thinking to herself about her conversation with Link. She could have told her friend about what was going in Kokiri Forest with the monster attacks, but she knew Link had a lot going on in his own life, and didn't need to trouble himself with hers.
"His own life..." she muttered out loud.
"Hey Saria, you okay there?" asked a small voice, Saria glanced up and smiled lightly at what appeared to be a small ball of light with wings, but was actually a forest fairy, her companion of which like what all Kokiri had.
"Yeah... I'm fine Faete." Saria said, smiling at her fairy friend.
Though impossible for any normal person to see due to her small size and brightly glowing form, Faete frowned, She and Saria had known each other for many years, hundreds in fact, Kokiri having unusually long life spans compared to Hylians, and the fairy could tell Saria wasn't telling her the absolute truth.
"Is this about Link?" Faete asked, flying around Saria's head.
"...hee hee, can't keep anything from you, can I?" Saria giggled lightly and sat up, "I dunno, I guess I just miss him a lot. It's always great when I talk to him, and I'm happy to hear him enjoying his life so much with the Gerudo..."
"Yeah, you're always telling me about it after you talk with him." Faete said.
Saria nodded, "I mean, he's even said he's going to become their king someday, that he'll eventually get married to a bunch of the girls he's befriended since he came there, and even have children with all of them. It's weird to think of the idea that he's going to be not just a king, but a father someday... he's really grown up!"
Saria paused on that note, and looked down at her own body. Despite having such long life spans, Kokiri remained the size of children for the entirety of their lives. She remembered seven years ago when Link was the same size as her, how she'd hug him and protect him from Mido's bullying, and then how shocked she was when he returned from his seven-year journey to see him as a tall strong adult.
"Saria...?" Faete muttered.
"...I was worried about him back when he was on that seven year journey, I couldn't even get in contact with him using my song... and even though he's back in Hyrule, we barely get the chance to talk. With everything that's been going on in his life, it's makes me wonder if he really has any time for me anymore..." she said with a sad smile.
"Don't say that!" Faete scolded Saria in a fussy tone, "You two are best friends, and he'd never forget about you!"
Saria was surprised to see Faete raise her voice like that, which was a rarity for her. Saria sighed and placed a hand to her heart, then looked up at Faete and smiled.
"Y-You're right Faete, I'm just being mopey, sorry about that."
"It's fine, just chin up! Who knows, maybe someday Link will come here soon and the two of you can make up for lost time!" Faete spoke.
"...yeah, I'll look forward to that day Faete, thanks!" Saria smiled, she then stood up and straightened out her tunic, "Well come on, I need to go do some training so I can be ready for the next monster attack." reaching over and taking the staff she had used to fight off the monsters earlier.
"You've really stepped up when you found that thing by the Great Deku Tree's remnants." Faete said, referring to the late guardian of Kokiri Forest, who had been killed by Ganondorf and kickstarted Link's quest to defeat the evil Gerudo King.
Saria nodded, "The Great Deku Sprout says it was likely a gift from the tree, that he had chosen me to help protect everyone from the monsters." referring to the recently born successor of the forest that replaced the Deku Tree some time after Link had gotten Ganondorf imprisoned.
"I still wonder why these creatures are so rampant lately?" Faete pondered, "They didn't use to typically come into the village itself."
"We'll figure it out eventually." Saria said, "Now come on, I need to work on my battle skills!"
Saria stepped out from her house, taking a deep breath of the tranquil forest air. She heard a bit of struggling nearby, and turned to see one of the Kokiri boys pulling on a rock outside of her house.
"Eldow?" Saria asked the boy, "Don't tell me Mido's got you doing others' chores again."
"He... says it's... my duty..." Eldow gasped from exhaustion, "...since you're busy... protecting our village..."
Saria just patted Eldow's head, causing him to react with a deep red blush.
"Don't worry about Mido, you just go on your way, okay?" Saria smiled happily.
"Um, I-If you're sure... thanks Saria..." Eldow said, walking off embarrassingly.
Saria then made her way to the training yard of the forest, where she got to work and started to smack at a wooden training dummy with her staff. She performed some powerful horizontal and vertical swings of her staff, quickly sidestepped as if she was dodging some attacks, and then backflipped a few times, before sprinting forward and impacting the staff into the dummy.
"She's really getting stronger..." Faete said to herself as she watched Saria train. She couldn't help but feel it was Link and the tales he told Saria of his adventures who helped influence her to work so hard.
"Oh, there you are!" spoke out a new, irritated voice. Saria turned to see it as the Kokiri village leader Mido, standing along side a blonde Kokiri girl holding a pad of paper that she was writing things on. The girl also had some plant roots arranged on her face to look like a thin pair of reading glasses for some odd reason Saria could never understand.
"What's this I heard from Eldow about you saying to not worry about the rocks in your yard?" Mido spoke up.
"Ah come on Mido, cut Eldow a break, you work him too hard." Saria spun around and folded her arms behind her back, smiling to Mido.
"W-Well it's just that you work yourself too hard... and um..." he turned his head away to avoid looking directly at her, "S-Say something Vekai!" he shouted to the girl beside him.
Vekai, the girl beside him, adjusted her root glasses and spoke in a monotone voice, "Mr. Mido's just concerned for your well-being Ms. Saria."
"Not that kind of something!" Mido exclaimed, he turned back to Saria and fumed, "Look, j-just don't go stepping on my words, got it?"
"Hee hee, whatever you say Mido." Saria giggled, making Mido fume.
"Yeah, that's right, don't forget I'm the boss around here! As the most mature of the Kokiri, I have to maintain a strong influence with the people in this village!" Mido said proudly.
"By the way Mr. Mido," Vekai spoke up, "Your scheduled milk break is in approximately four minutes and fifty three seconds."
"Dang it! I told you not to say that in public!" Mido shouted at her, as he saw Saria was watching, "Why'd I hire you on as my adviser anyway?!"
"Because otherwise you'd lose track of everything." Vekai said calmly.
"Grrr..." Mido said, "Listen, I have... something to do, just don't go around acting like you're in charge or anything, got it?" he told Saria, he turned his head away, "And... um... you know, take it easy on yourself..."
"Okay, thanks Mido." Saria said smiling brightly, before going back to her training.
"Yeah yeah..." Mido grumbled as he started shuffling off to his house.
"Would you like me to prepare a napkin for you to wear in case you dribble again, Mr. Mido?" Vekai asked following him.
"SHUT UP!"
A few weeks past after that, and life for the future king Link continued as normal in Gerudo Town. While he tried his best to contact Saria as often as he could, he'd frequently get caught up in other matters, whether it be Nabooru helping him learn things about his up-coming position as king, spending time with the girls, and battling bandits, rebels or monsters that attacked the town.
And then of course there was his Gerudo fiances in particular, Kesuta, Korume and Nemisa, who couldn't keep themselves off him at times. Nabooru always made an effort to get in some time with him as well, so he had his hands full often, in more ways then one. Not that Link was complaining much about that, he found himself getting more into making love with them each time.
Nabooru's nights with him were mostly educational ones, teaching him all kinds of techniques to use and places on a woman's body to pleasure them, even going so far as to tutor him on various types of women's bodies; whether they be petite, large, muscular, pregnant, etc. He was quite frankly learning a lot from her.
She even dropped a bombshell that he'll likely take some other Gerudo into bed with him who won't necessarily become his royal wives, but would bear his children anyway to ensure the population grows. He recalled Sarami was originally a child-bearer of Ganondorf, so he admitted it made some sense. He did know regardless of the circumstances, he would love his future daughters all the same.
As for the others, Kesuta was just a flat-out wild woman in bed, while Korume mostly enjoyed close cuddle-style love making with him, the contrast made every night the three had varied and fun. When the two fused together into Duelsera though, it was a whole other experience; she took charge most of the time, and she was completely unpredictable with what she would do; as Kesuta and Korume's clashing personalities would create bizarre scenarios with him some nights when they united.
As for Nemisa, nights with her just seemed to be about pure unbridled passion. She would often start their nights with a slow and exotic dance, stripping off her clothes as she did, before pulling Link into a whole night of pleasure. She'd often whisper in his ear after their love-making about how she couldn't wait to start a family with him, and how much her body was craving to be pregnant. She even seemed to have decided on names for at least five of the children they were going to have and wanted to hear a few ideas from him for the rest. Link couldn't help but enjoy thinking of those possibilities himself as she spoke...
One night, Link was on his way to his bedroom. He still felt a little guilty about not contacting Saria very much as of late, and wanted to speak with her at that moment. When he arrived at his bedroom, he took the ocarina and put it to his lips. He was about to play it and contact Saria when he felt someone put their hands on his shoulders.
"Hello there, Link." whispered a voice into his ear.
"Nemisa, what's up?" Link asked, looking to her and smiling.
"I was just practicing the dance I'm going to perform at the night club tomorrow, do you want an early preview...?" she asked.
Link paused, he wanted to speak with Saria, but he had to admit he wanted to see Nemisa's newest dance. He weighed his options and decided to go with Nemisa while she was still in the mood.
'It's fine,' Link thought to himself, 'I'll contact Saria afterwards.' he then set down the ocarina and nodded to Nemisa, "Sure thing."
Nemisa smirked and pulled Link off to show him the dance she had been working on...
...with the intention of giving him a different show of affection afterwords...
At the far end of the Lost Woods of Kokiri Forest, there was a place known as the Sacred Forest Meadow, a calm and serene location that was home to the Forest Temple. While the origins of the temple were shrouded in mystery, the area itself served as a location for Saria to spend her time and relax, of which she was doing right at that moment.
She sat on a tree stump as Faete floated around her head, and she was playing her usual song on her ocarina. The music seemed to echo throughout the Lost Woods, and in the past it provided Link with a way to get through the woods easily and meet with her.
Today however, Saria seemed to keep slipping up with her notes, eventually making a particularly loud whistle from it that sent Faete falling over and hitting the ground. Saria eventually came to a stop and sighed.
"You alright there Saria? Never heard you mess up like that before." Faete asked flying back up to her.
"Sorry..." Saria said, "I guess I'm just still thinking about my situation with Link, I had a weird dream last night and I can't get my mind off of it."
"What kind of dream? Something like the ones you used to have seven years ago?" Faete asked with concern.
"Not... really I guess?" Saria pondered, putting a finger to her mouth, "I barely remember anything about those other dreams, mostly just that the Forest Temple and Link were involved in them..." she looked up at the entrance to the temple which was inaccessible for her since the stairs had broken away eons ago, "I haven't even had those dreams since around the time Link left for his seven-year journey."
"Then what is it?" Faete asked.
"I'm not sure, but these dreams are different, like Link may be in danger..." she closed her eyes and put her ocarina to her chest, "I feel like I need to do something for him..."
"Well you're being supportive of his new life, so there's that." Faete pointed out.
"Maybe, but I'm thinking more and more now that, maybe it's not enough. I missed him so much during his journey. When he returned I was happy to see him again, but he had changed as a person so much; not in a negative way mind you. He's become bigger, stronger, wiser and in some ways a lot kinder and more sensitive to others..." Saria said, "I feel like sometimes, I want to change more like he did as well."
"You think that's why the Great Deku Tree gave you the Deku Staff?" Faete suggested, gesturing to the wooden staff that Saria had beside her that she was using to fight off the monsters.
"Yeah, that's what I like to think, I've definitively gotten stronger thanks to it. The Deku Sprout believes this was given to me so that I can protect the village from the monsters, and I've been happy to become their guardian in place of the Great Deku Tree."
She paused, and Faete looked curiously at her.
"But... I feel like those dreams are trying to tell me something... that I need to do something for Link as well..." Saria said, "I'm worried about him, and... I..."
"Maybe you should just go visit him?" Faete asked, having a feeling she knew what Saria really wanted, recalling how excited Saria was at the possibility of it when Link brought it up earlier. However, Saria's reaction to that was now a lot different.
"No, I don't think that could ever happen, I have an obligation here to protect the village, I think it's what the Great Deku Tree would want from me." she continued, "Besides, we're too different now... I'm just a child compared to him, and Link has grown so big and strong, on his way to becoming the Gerudo King, and is even going to marry those friends of his and become a father..." Her voice sounded noticeably strained from saying that.
"...sometimes I wonder if we're just meant to be in two different worlds from each other. I know we'll always be best friends, even when we're separated like this, but is that all we can ever be...?"
"Saria..." whispered Faete.
It was then however, that Faete felt a strange presence and turned to see something coming up behind them. Faete tried to shout out to warn her friend, but was cut off by something smacking her away.
"Huh, did you say something Faete?" Saria asked, it was then she realized a large shadow was looming over her, something big was blocking off the glow of the moon above, and she turned up to see what it was. Her eyes widened in shock, as the shadow reached out at her with long creepy arms.
Saria screamed out, but it went unheard by anyone in the isolated area of the Sacred Forest Meadow.
Back in Gerudo Town's palace, Link had just watched Nemisa's dance, which ended with the two making out, then falling into passionate love making. Afterwards Link had decided to take a bit of a cat nap and drifted to sleep.
As he did though, he had a series of dreams, very vivid dreams that felt all too familiar to him...
"Link... ...please help me! I'm scared!"
"I just knew... we could never be in the same world together..."
"Remember Link, I'll always be your friend..."
"So... Saria's not ever coming back, huh?"
"Because Saria really... liked..."
As Link dreamed, he grimaced and shifted around in his sleep, bumping into Nemisa who was laying beside him reading a book, and almost causing her to spill the drink she had.
"Hey, watch where you're moving you idiot!" Nemisa shouted in frustration as she turned and brought up her fist to clobber him. Even though she had changed greatly over time after they had put an end to Jayde and the Wyvern Keepers, she still had tendencies to snap at people, though it was much more constrained now. While she felt she would never completely grow out of it, she had at least accepted it was still a part of her, and besides that, Link seemed happy to see she still had that side of her as well.
When she looked down at Link to punish him though, she gazed in shock at his expression.
She saw a look of pain and sorrow on his face, he was tossing and turning in his sleep, and she could have sworn she heard him saying some things under his breath like, "No... you're not... I won't... allow it to... you'll never have to... I swear I'll...!"
"Link?" she asked with concern in her tone, "Link wake up!" she shouted, shaking him awake. Link quickly got up and gasped out, drenched in a cold sweat.
"Link, what's the matter?!" Nemisa pleaded, putting a hand to his shoulder.
"I-I gotta talk to her, right now!" Link said, scrambling and reaching over to grab his ocarina, and he started playing Saria's Song.
"What are you doing...?" Nemisa asked in confusion, only to then hear a familiar tune playing, her worry about him went away quickly as her dancer instincts were kicking in, "Ah, I remember this from the caravan trip!" she stood up and started tapping her foot in tune to the music, doing a light dance in the hopes he'd look to her.
Only instead Nemisa saw that Link was concentrating on playing his music, and seemed to be listening for something as he did. Eventually he stopped and lowered the ocarina, and she looked to see there was a blank stare on his face.
"Link, what's the matter...?" Nemisa repeated to him worriedly.
"I think... she's in trouble..." Link said with a painful look in his eyes.
"Wait, you need to go where?!" exclaimed Nabooru, looking up from some work she was doing as Link had come to speak to her.
"I'm sorry, but I need to leave for Kokiri Forest as soon as possible." Link said bowing, "I'm... afraid a close friend of mine might be in danger, and I have to help her!"
"Well I suppose I can't stop you..." Nabooru said hesitantly, "But are you sure you'll be okay?"
"I should be fine." nodded Link. "I assure you I'll come back home soon."
"Wait a minute, you're not thinking of going alone, are you?!" Nemisa shouted with concern.
"Yeah, we're going with you, we are your bodyguards after all!" Aviel said, pumping her fists.
"Sorry girls." Link said, "But you two wouldn't be able to cross the border thanks to the banishment law, I'll have to go myself."
"Ugh... that's a good point..." Nemisa scowled, her eyes shut in frustration, "J-Just please don't do anything that could endanger your life, okay Link?"
"No problem." Link nodded with a soft smile, "After everything we went through together there's no way I'll allow that."
Nemisa opened her eyes and smiled deeply, giving Link a kiss on the cheek, causing Nabooru and Aviel to snicker and giggle with happiness at the two of them.
"Just go do what you need to do, and return home safe, you reckless moron." Nemisa said warmly.
"No problem Nemisa." Link nodded, "I'll be leaving as soon as I get my stuff then. Wish me luck, girls!"
As Link ran off to prepare for his quest however, Aviel herself stood still, looking worriedly at him...
And that ends the chapter. I'm not sure how popular Saria is with the Zelda fanbase these days, but I thought she was long overdue for some spotlight, plus I feel her character fits into some of the major themes I'm working with in this story.
I also found it kind of fun to depict Link using Saria's song to contact her like the equivalent of a mobile phone in Hyrule, maybe I'll figure out a way to implement that more in the future.
Also after writing my Ys VIII story a while back I got into the habit of accidentally calling her 'Sarai' in this chapter one too many times... maybe I need a break soon.
As always, leave a like, follow and/or review if you desire, your support is always appreciated!