Time for Chapter 32, Link has arrived at Kokiri Forest, but just what is in store for him at his old home?
It took about half a day of traveling, but Link soon found himself standing at the entrance to Kokiri Forest, isolated from most of Hyrule by the nearby cliffs and mountains. He was now wearing his old green tunic and cap from long ago, something he hadn't worn since he arrived in Gerudo Town. Getting past the Hylian guards at the waterfall bridge was little trouble, as they just dismissed him as a traveler. Thankfully the prisoners they had rescued at the slaver hideout were good to their word and apparently hadn't told anyone about his up and coming status as the Gerudo King.
'Been a while since I've been in Hyrule Field now that I think about it...' Link thought, 'Not since our retreat at Lake Hylia.'
He closed his eyes, as memories of a certain Kokiri girl went through his mind. He took a breath and nodded to himself.
'Saria, please be okay, I'm coming for you.' he thought.
He was about to take his first step into the forest when...
"Woooaahh! Look out Link!"
Link looked up in confusion and saw a certain scrawny winged thing coming right down at him, he didn't have time to react as she collided right into his forehead.
"Gaaahh!" Link shouted, falling backwards and impacting to the ground. He sat up and shook his head, seeing it was of course Aviel who collided into him.
"Owie..." Aviel said with her eyes spiraling.
"Aviel?! What are you doing here?" Link exclaimed upon seeing her.
"Hey Birdbrain, watch where you're flying, you'll hurt our husband!" shouted another voice, as Link looked up to see two familiar mystic twins flying down on their broomsticks, landing perfectly to the ground.
"Kesuta and Korume? What's going on here?" Link asked looking back and forth between the three.
"What else?" Kesuta said, putting her hands to her hips and leaning forward with a grumpy look, "We're here to help you on your mission!"
"We couldn't let you just do this alone." Korume said simply as she started to lift Aviel by her arms up onto her feet.
"But what about the border?" Link asked.
"Duh, we just flew over them. As far as those dummy guards know, we were just some large birds going by." shrugged Kesuta.
"Tweet tweet." Korume said, holding up Aviel's wings and flapping them.
"I.. appreciate that." Link said, "But this could be dangerous, I don't know what's going on here myself exactly, and I don't want anything to happen to you girls."
"All the more reason why we needed to come..." Aviel said, shaking off her dizziness, "When you left, I got worried, so I asked Kesuta and Korume to come along since they can fly over the border too."
"You did...?' Link asked.
"Yeah, she burst into our tent shouting that we needed to follow you here to the forest." Kesuta nodded.
"Emphasis on the burst part." Korume said coldly, turning to the bird girl, "You still owe us for that vase."
"Ah heh heh..." Aviel laughed sheepishly, before turning to Link, "I'm your devoted bodyguard, and I can't let you get hurt, not just for your sake, but for your fiances' sake as well!"
Link smiled slightly, as small traces of tears formed in his eyes. He really truly had some great friends and loved ones he could relay on no matter what the circumstances, and in that moment, he felt more ready then ever to help Saria.
"Thanks girls." Link said, "I'll be counting on you all then."
"Right!" the three nodded.
With that, the four of them set out for their destination of Kokiri Village.
"No way, so you grew up here in this forest?" Kesuta asked.
"And this Saria girl is your childhood friend?" Korume added.
"Yep." Link nodded, as they traveled down the road towards Kokiri Village, Link took the time to tell the girls about his life as a child and the Kokiri, especially his childhood friend Saria.
"So does this mean we'll get to meet your parents?" Aviel asked excitedly.
"Um," Link looked a little distant and scratched his cheek, "My parents aren't there, in fact I never really knew them myself..."
"Wait, seriously?" Kesuta asked, "What happened?!"
"I'm not entirely sure on the details... I was told that I was left behind here in the forest shortly after I was born, and the Kokiri took care of me as I grew up..."
"So you... never knew your parents...?" Aviel asked with sympathetic eyes,. She looked downcast at hearing those words, as she squeezed her hand against her chest, "That's so sad..."
"You sound like you've lived a troubled life, my love..." Korume said, putting a hand to his arm.
"It's... fine." Link said somewhat sadly, before looking up at them with a smile, "The Kokiri did great to help me through my life, and they told me even after I left, that this place would always be my home. I owe them so much. Especially Saria, who always looked out for me... she'd protect me from bullies, teach me things about the forest, we'd have so many great times together..."
"This Saria sounds like she's really important to you..." Kesuta said with a smile of her own.
"Yep, she's my best friend." Link nodded, "That's why I have to help her."
Hearing those words, Aviel perked up and raised her bird wing, "Alright then, let's go!"
"We made it." Link said, as he, Aviel, Kesuta and Korume all stood at the entrance to Kokiri Village. The group took a look around the place and saw a vast clearing with numerous large tree stumps cleverly fashioned into houses, but oddly there didn't seem to be anyone around.
"Jees, not much of a welcome party is there?" Kesuta asked, putting a hand to her hip and looking around.
"It's really nice here though, you're lucky you got to grow up in this forest, Link." Aviel commented, taking a deep breath of the cool and soothing air.
"I always enjoyed being here, and it's good to be back." Link grinned.
"Strange... I'm feeling an unusual power coming from this place..." Korume muttered. "There's a certain whimsical and magical feeling to this forest... but there's something else as well..."
"Hey! What are you grown ups doing here?!" shouted an angry voice, all too familiar to Link.
"Hoo-boy." Link sighed.
Peeking out from his house was Mido, coming out and strutted up to Link and the three girls, with his adviser Vekai following after him, scribbling down notes as she observed Link and his comrades.
"Oh it's just you." Mido realized, he turned his head and called out, "It's okay everyone, it's Link!"
It was then Link, Aviel, Kesuta and Korume looked around to see numerous child-like beings popping out from houses, from behind bushes and fences, and out from the pond, all wearing green outfits similar to Link's.
"Hey, it IS Link!" shouted one of the children, as they all came from their hiding places and rushed forward to greet the Hylian swordsman, crowding around him and the Gerudo girls. They all started talking among each other about their old friend and his new companions.
"Oh wow, look at all of them! They're like little children, how cute!" Kesuta said cheerfully, looking down at the Kokiri.
"They're so precious..." whispered Korume longingly.
"These guys are all your friends, Link?" Aviel asked, looking left and right.
"Yep, I grew up with them for ten years of my life." Link said, rubbing one of them on the head with a grin.
"So who are these ladies you brought with you?" asked one of the Kokiri girls.
"Yeah, and why does this one hiding grapefruits in her top?" asked one of the boys, grabbing and squeezing Aviel's chest.
"WHA- HEY!" shouted Aviel, whacking the boy on the head with her bird wing, "Watch where you're touching!"
"Woah! She's part bird?!" the kids shouted enthusiastically, a lot of them crowded around Aviel and started asking questions about Aviel and playing with her wings.
"Ayayayaya!" Aviel stammered with dizzy eyes as the kids all swarmed her.
"Can all of you turn into birds then?" asked one of the Kokiri to Kesuta looking at her chest, "Do I have to squeeze those to turn you into one?"
"Touch em and I'll fry you kid." Kesuta said annoyed.
"I dunno..." observed one of the other Kokiri, "Hers aren't anywhere as big as the other one..."
"Okay, that's it!" shouted Kesuta in rage, about to ignite her fists, only to be held back by Korume.
"Don't do anything that'll get us in trouble here!" Korume scolded her sister.
Link finally settled everyone down and took that time to properly introduce Aviel, Kesuta and Korume to the kids, careful to leave out certain details like him being engaged to the twins, as it wasn't exactly something he was comfortable talking with such innocent ones like them about.
"Jees, a whole town of just girls? That sounds scary." said one of the boys.
"Yeah, you're tougher then I thought to put up with all of them." said another.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" shouted a female Kokiri bonking both boys upside the head.
"It's not as bad as you might think." Link said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, in fact he's eventually going to be our king someday!" Aviel stated..
"WHAT?" shouted all the Kokiri except for Vekai, who just stood there.
"Link... will be a king?!" exclaimed one of the Kokiri girls, with her hands to her cheeks blushing.
"Hey, don't go blurting that kind of thing out!" Kesuta shouted at Aviel, "The people of Hyrule aren't supposed to know about that yet!"
"Ha-ha, it's okay. The Kokiri keep to themselves, and don't have any connections to the Hylian Parliament, and even if they did leave the forest they wouldn't say a word about it." Link assured Kesuta, "Right guys?" he then asked the Kokiri.
"So this is your secret then?" one of the Kokiri children asked, "Alright, we'll keep it a secret among us then!"
They all nodded in agreement, and Link couldn't help but feel that close bond he still shared with all of then even back when he was a kid, knowing he could trust them all with this.
"So, you're. really going to be a king then...?!" Mido asked in astonishment, then laughed out, "Ha! If that's true, then that whole place is doomed!"
"Heh, I see you hasn't changed a bit, Mido." Link commented with a smirk, as he put his hand down on Mido's head, "In attitude, and height."
"What? Why I outta...!" shouted Mido, wiggling his arms in frustration, as the whole village broke into laughter.
"Listen..." Link said, clearing his throat and standing upright, with his expression turning serious, "I need to see Saria, where is she?"
The remainder of the laughter died down and there was an awkward pause, as all the Kokiri looked sadly downwards, and Link could tell how true his concerns turned out to be
"Saria... she... she's..." Mido looked down, with a look of sadness and concern in his tone, he clenched his fist and shouted up at Link, "She's none of your business! Now beat it!"
"Mr. Mido, please." Vekai said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Perhaps Mr. Link can help us."
"We don't need help!" Mido turned to Vekai and shouted, "He's never here for her anyway, so she's obviously not important to him!"
Link flinched at hearing that, as the words Mido spoke stung, the Hylian reflected on them and hung his head a bit, thinking to himself about how he had been neglecting Saria in the past months since he came to Gerudo Town, especially since he started dating the twins and Nemisa, and it tore at him to hear others, even a loud-mouth like Mido, call him out for it as well.
"Hey! Don't say that you brat!" shouted Aviel, "Link came all the way out here to help his friend!"
"Don t 'brat' me you grapefruit bird!" shouted Mido, "Now get outta here, and make those stupid girls unhand those two!"
Link snapped out of his daze and looked up to see Mido was pointing to Kesuta and Korume, who were holding up Kokiri in their arms, both of the forest kids wiggled around, helpless to get away from them.
"So what do you want to do with yours when you bring them home?" Kesuta asked Korume, "I want to train mine into a big strong fighter!" she stated holding hers up into the air with a big smile.
"...I want to make mine wear cute little dresses..." Korume giggled softly, holding hers closely.
"I'm a boy!" shouted the child that Korume held.
"Mr. Mido..." Vekai said calmly, putting a hand on Mido's shoulder, "If we're unable to do this ourselves, then perhaps Mr. Link can do something. At least give him a chance."
"Mido please, let me help." Link said, "Saria's my friend, and I'm willing to do anything I can to help her, please just give me this chance."
Mido paused, looking down before turning his gaze up at Link. As he did, Mido could see there was something in the way Link looked, he didn't waver in his stare, and he could see the same determination Saria had when she would fight off the monsters attacking the village.
"Saria..." Mido gulped and started, "She went out to her usual spot beyond the Lost Woods, but... she hasn't been back since last night..."
"We wanted to go out looking for her, but we didn't have any luck getting around the Lost Woods." one of the Kokiri explained.
"We're worried about her, but we don't want to get trapped in there either." said one kid sadly.
"Yeah, no kidding..." Link grimaced, recalling a rumor he heard about what exactly happens to Kokiri who get trapped in the Lost Woods, when a horrible thought occurred to him, 'There's no way Saria was...?' he thought to himself, before shaking off that feeling.
He then looked to Mido's expression, and just for a second, he recalled a past memory of the Kokiri leader making a similar face... in a different time...
"Listen Mido, I-"
It was then however, that the ground rumbled a bit, causing the Kokiri to freak out.
"Oh no, it's happening again!" said a Kokiri, "Everyone run!"
"Dang it...!" Mido said, she turned to Vekai, "Get our best fighters together on the double!"
"Yes Mr. Mid-" But before Vekai could do anything, it happened.
Bursting out from the ground were terrifying plant monsters, the Deku Babas and Deku Scrubs, all snapping and squealing, ready to attack the village.
"What the heck?" Link exclaimed, "How are these things here?"
"Everyone quit running and fight!" shouted Mido to the fleeing Kokiri, though they didn't listen to a word he said.
"Dangit..." muttered Mido, "Saria was our best bet for fending these monsters off... but with her missing..."
Link looked down at Mido, he wanted desperately to save Saria from whatever situation she was in, but realized the other Kokiri were in more immediate danger.
"Don't worry Mido, we'll handle this." Link said, he turned to Aviel, Kesuta and Korume, "Come on girls, let's take em on!"
"Right, Link!" Aviel said.
"Of course!" Kesuta and Korume said at once.
"Don t be ridiculous," Mido snorted, "What chance do you have against thes-" he turned to then see Link with his sword and shield, Aviel with her crossbow, Kesuta with a flaming whip, and Korume with an icy spear, "W-What?"
"Okay girls, defend the Kokiri, and the village!" Link shouted as the four charged into battle.
A Deku Baba lunged out at a cornered Kokiri, but Link ran in with his sword and sliced it at the neck, chopping off it's head. A few Deku Scrubs tried shooting Link with nuts spat from their mouths, but he quickly turned to use his shield to deflect the nuts back into the scrubs, who he then ran forward and cut through with his sword. Another group of Babas burst out from the ground in a circle around Link to entrap him, but he brought back his sword and pulled a devastating spin attack, cutting them all down in a single slice.
Aviel took to shooting various Deku monsters with her crossbow, before taking to the skies with her bird wings, surprising and exciting all the Kokiri, as she landed down on a bridge in the center of town and fired off arrows every which way at a better point of range. One Deku Scrub attempted to creep up behind her for a stealth attack, but Aviel brought up her crossbow and smacked the scrub with it, sending it off the bridge.
Kesuta charged in, whipping and striking at the Deku Babas and Scrubs with her flame whip, setting them ablaze and falling over dead in seconds. Another gang of Deku Scrubs went running after some kids, but some small embers formed around the scrubs, before a pillar of fire shot up, incinerating the scrubs to a crisp, Kesuta grinned at smoldering remains, but then saw the flames were starting to grow a little more due to the grassy field.
"Uh oh!" Kesuta said sweatdropping, before Korume came in and used her ice to extinguish the fire.
"Honestly sister," Korume said, "You need to be more careful with where you cast your fire, we're not in the desert." before she turned around quickly and impaled a large Deku Baba with her spear, freezing it solid before it scattered to the ground.
"Ah heh heh, sorry..." Kesuta said rubbing the back of hr head.
"Be sorry later, we have more to fight." Korume said, throwing a spear at a Deku Scrub through it's mouth, it pierced through the other side of the creature and skewered a few more scrubs in the process.
"Right!" Kesuta grinned, running out with her flame whips to fight more monsters.
As the battle was continued, Vekai was trying to analyze the situation to plan an attack by the Kokiri on the remaining monsters, when one more Deku Baba popped out form the ground and attacked her. Vekai screamed out in fear, only for Mido to run out in front of Vekai to protect her, which caught her off guard.
But before Mido would be hurt, the Deku Baba was chopped in half by Link and his sword. Mido looked up in shock to see Link standing before him with a determined look in his eyes.
"You two alright?" Link asked, seeing they were okay without a response, he then ran off to battle more of the monsters.
"Link..." Mido stammered, as Vekai put a hand on Mido's shoulder.
"I believe Mr. Link will be able to do it." nodded Vekai.
It didn't take long after that for the Hylian and three Gerudo to finish off the rest of the Deku plant monsters, the remnants of the creatures all laid around the forest floor, before they disintegrated into purple smoke.
"We did it!" cheered out Aviel, waving her bird wings.
"No way, they actually won!" exclaimed a Kokiri girl, coming out of hiding.
"That was so cool!" shouted a boy, "Did you see that one lady set those things on fire?!"
The Kokiri all crowded around Link and the gang again and started chattering wildly about their abilities.
"You've really come a long way since you had the Kokiri Knife, Link!" said one girl.
"Can you teach me to shoot arrows like that?" exclaimed one of the boys to Aviel.
"Hee hee, sure thing!" Aviel grinned, "I'm an expert in archery training!"
"Seeing all these kids around us is so nice!" Kesuta said, kneeling down and hugging some of the ones who were scared of the monsters in order to comfort them, "It's almost like having little ones of our own!"
Korume looked over to see Link holding up one of the Kokiri who had been hiding in a hollow log, as they were trembling he did his best to comfort them with a smile.
"Yes..." Korume said softly, smiling as well.
"You guys really did it..." Mido said, walking up to Link who set down the Kokiri he had been holding, "You defeated all of them... just like Saria usually does..."
"So this isn't the first time this has happened then?" Link asked baffled. He was even more curious about how Saria could defeat the monsters, as she was never the fighting type and never spoke about anything like it, but wanted to focus on the immediate situation.
"We've been under attack by those things for a while now," Vekai explained, adjusting her root glasses, "Usually Ms. Saria fends them off, but as previously mentioned, she went off to the Sacred Forest Meadow last night and has been gone since."
"All right then." Link nodded, "In that case, we're going to go out there to find her."
"Please Link..." sobbed one of the Kokiri, "Saria's worked so hard to keep us safe from those monsters, you have to save her!"
"I promise you we will." he said, he looked down at Mido in particular, "We'll bring Saria back."
"O-Okay..." nodded Mido, "Just be careful, okay? You're Saria's only hope!"
"No problem, just keep an eye on things til we get back." Link said, as the four of them set off for the Lost Woods.
"This place is really spooky..." Aviel said worriedly, as the four of them had entered the near endless forest known as the Lost Woods. There were trees everywhere, as forest usually had, as well as giant tunnels made from fallen trees, and they could hear the faint sounds of creepy laughter and creatures making strange sounds in the distance, though it was impossible to see any of them. Unlike what Link had seen before in his past times here, a dense fog was floating around that obscured everyone's vision.
"I've never seen fog like this before in the woods... " Link muttered, "What's going on here...?"
"I feel a strange dark power coming from this place..." Korume whispered, using her abilities as a mystic, "It's like what I felt back in the village, but it's stronger then ever here... we need to be careful."
"I can barely even see anything around here." Kesuta said looking left and right, "You have any idea where to go Link?"
"Yeah, I know the route by heart at this point." Link nodded, looking to his right and seeing the same tunnel that he took first in the past, "Come on."
Link lead the three through the tunnel, and followed the route he always took to get to the Sacred Forest Meadow, but for some odd reason it was taking longer then he thought to find the landmarks he usually saw on the way there.
"Hey, this stump looks familiar..." Aviel pointed out, "Didn't we just past by this a while ago...?"
"Um..." Link looked around in confusion.
"Didn't you say you knew the way, Link?" Kesuta asked putting her hands to her hips.
"I thought I did... something's not right here..." Link said.
"You don't suppose whatever power is at work here's manipulated the path as well...?" Korume asked.
"That would explain what the kids were talking about before..." Link realized.
"Then what do we do?" Aviel asked.
"I'm not sure... I used to listen for Saria playing her song, and it would guide me on the path to the meadow, but I can't hear it." Link explained with growing concern. "Maybe I should try contacting her again with her song"
The girls looked in confusion at what he meant as he pulled out his ocarina and started playing it. Aviel quickly recognized the bouncy and whimsical little tune that came from his instrument.
"Hey, I recognize that tune!" Aviel said with her eyes lit up.
"That's some cute music!" Kesuta said cheerfully, "And I'm getting a strange magical vibe from it!"
"Like it? Saria taught it to me, we use it to communicate with each other." Link grinned.
"That's amazing!" Kesuta gasped, "She was capable of composing a song that contains that much power to it?"
"Yep, she's even the one who gave me this ocarina back when I was a kid," Link said, looking down at the instrument he held.
"She really does mean a lot to you, doesn't she?" Korume said with a small grin on her face.
"Yeah like I said before, I've known her longer then anyone else, she's... my best friend." Link said with a smile.
Aviel in particular looked at the longing expression in his eyes, she could tell the two shared a close bond together, and the bird girl knew she just had to see Saria for herself.
It was then that Link finished playing the song, and he could feel a familiar sensation, much to his relief, he could hear a familiar voice call out to him.
"Link... Link... this is Saria... can you hear me?"
"Saria!" Link shouted, "Are you okay?"
"I-I... think so... for now anyway. I'm hiding out at the moment, so I'm trying not to talk too loudly..."
"No way, I can hear her too!" gasped Kesuta.
"This power... it's not unlike our mystic crystal ball we use to contact spirits..." Korume pondered.
"Hi Sammy!" Aviel shouted, waving her wing.
"Uh... who are those guys... and who's Sammy?" Saria asked curiously.
"I'll... explain later." Link said rolling his eyes, "The important thing is, where are you?"
"I'm in the Forest Temple, I don't know what happened, but something grabbed me and pulled me in here!" Saria explained with panic.
"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there!" Link shouted, "We're in the Lost Woods, but there's something odd going on, we can't find our way to the meadow."
"I think it's the curse those... things have placed on the forest." Saria said, "I'm not sure what they're trying to do but- uh oh!"
"Saria?" Link asked.
"Link, I'm sorry but I have to get away from here! Please leave, and don't worry about me, I don't want you to-!"
Saria's words were then caught off by her letting out a loud scream, and then silence.
"Saria?" Link shouted, "Saria?!" he lowered his head and clenched his fists, "Damnit, I can't get a hold of her anymore."
"Then what shall we do...?" Korume muttered.
"I'll try flying into the air and find out which direction to go!" Aviel said, turning her arms into wings and taking into the air. Everyone watched as she flew upwards and disappeared into the fog.
A few seconds later though, Aviel came walking in through the entrance to the Lost Woods. All four of them stood in place blankly, as Aviel herself looked around left and right in confusion.
"Uh... was I just here...?" Aviel asked.
"It would seem this curse's reach spreads out to even above the forest." Korume muttered looking up, "Her flying didn't even displace the fog one bit."
"Grrr... that's it!" shouted Kesuta, with flames forming in her hands, "I'll burn down all these trees and clear a path to her!"
"I think if you did that we'd have bigger trouble." Koume said flatly, "Like the entire forest becoming an inferno."
"Ugh... right..." sighed Kesuta with her flames dying down.
Link put a hand to his head in frustration, "There has to be another way to get through here..."
"Hey, is that who I think it is?" exclaimed a new voice, getting the group's attention.
"No way, it's really him!" said another smaller voice.
Link and his Gerudo friends all looked around to see who it could have been that spoke just now, whoever it was, they didn't sound hostile.
"Those voices..." Link said with the faintest of smiles, "They sound all too familiar..."
"Friend Link!" shouted a voice, as Link looked up to a tree branch, and saw appearing before them were three individuals.
Two of them were fairies, much like Saria's friend Faete and the fairies the Kokiri had, only these two in particular were yellow and purple respectively. While between them was a small child-like creature in a hat and ragged clothes, oddly his face appeared to be made of twigs or straw of some kind.
The creature then jumped off the branch and landed down before Link and his friends, with the two fairies following after.
"It really is you Link!" said the creature, dancing around, "It's great to see you again!"
"You too, old friend." grinned Link.
"Hey, don't forget about us!" shouted the yellow fairy, flying up and butting into Link's forehead.
"Um... hi again..." said the purple fairy meekly.
"Heh, of course I'm not going to forget you two." Link chuckled, poking at the yellow fairy, causing her to get more frustrated..
"Link, who are these guys?" Aviel asked.
"Girls, this is Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael." Link introduced them, "They're friends of mine from one of my past adventures before I came to Gerudo Town." He then introduced Aviel, Kesuta and Korume to the other three.
"So you're friends of Link...?" Skull Kid asked, moving up to the girls and staring at them intently.
"He's weirding me out..." Kesuta whispered to Korume.
"Kukuku... I think he's cute... like a little voodoo doll..." Korume said with a smile.
"Thanks for making it more weird." Kesuta said sarcastically.
"Well, if you're all friends of Link, then you're friends with us as well!" laughed Skull Kid.
"Yay! We're all friends then!" Aviel cheered out, as she started mimicking Skull Kid's dance, the two of them just went on doing that as the group watched.
"Oh boy, now they're in sync." Tatl said sweatdropping.
"Glad to see those two get along together at least." Kesuta said, taking a glance at Tatl who reluctantly nodded.
Link just grinned and chuckled to himself, it was great not just seeing old friends like them, but seeing them getting along with his new friends of Gerudo Town. It was times like these he could only hope the same could be said for more of the people of Hyrule he had come to know and befriend...
But enough about that, as Link decided to tell Skull Kid about their situation with Saria, the curse with the monsters and the Lost Woods, and the need to get to the Forest Temple.
"The Forest Temple?" Skull Kid exclaimed, "Why didn't you say so earlier? We can help you get there easily!"
"Seriously?" Link exclaimed.
"Yeah, the woods have changed quite a bit since last time, but I got a knack for the direction by now!" he said, "Come on, I'll guide you all!"
With that, the group followed after Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael into the depths of the Lost Woods.
With Skull Kid's assistance, it didn't take long for the group to arrive in the Sacred Forest Meadow, the fog wasn't nearly as thick there, and it was a straight line to the Forest Temple in the distance.
"We made it!" Aviel exclaimed, falling to he knees in relief.
"Eh hee hee, told you we'd make it!" Skull Kid laughed.
"Thanks to you guys. Alright, let's get to the temple then." Link said, and the group continued on down the path.
"Just out of curiosity... when we traveled through the woods just now, I saw some strange shrines or something like that along the way..." Korume said, "I sensed some kind of magical power coming from them... something familiar... what exactly were those?"
"Oh those?" Link said, "Those are portals to various locations in Hyrule. One leads to Goron City over at Death Mountain, and there's one that leads to the entrance to Zora's Domain."
"Amazing." gasped Kesuta, "This forest really has some impressive mystical power to it..."
"Zora's Domain... you mean where sister Ruto lives?" exclaimed Aviel, "Can we go visit her when this is over?"
"Might not be a good idea to do something like that just yet with the current political climate." Link said, "But it's definitely something to consider."
However, he knew this wasn't time to focus on that, as he had Saria to worry about. He took a deep breath and hurried up the stairs ahead of the others toward their destination.
"Come on guys, we have to hurry!" Link called out to them.
"Right behind you Link!" Tatl shouted.
"So what's a political climate?" Skull Kid brought up in thought, "Is that what happens when the land gets really really cold?"
"That..." Korume pondered, "...well I was about to say no... but that's not too far off in a philosophical sense..."
"Less talking, more walking, or Link's gonna ditch all of us!" shouted Tatl in her usual bossy tone to Korume, Aviel and Skull Kid.
"Yeah, let's get a move on you guys!" Kesuta shouted alongside the fairy.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Aviel shouted, flying off after them with her Roc's Wing.
"That's my sis, such a motivator." Tael said, floating around Korume, "She once helped Link save me and Skull Kid from a terrible threat a long time ago. I don't know what I'd do without her."
"Yes, siblings are great, aren't they...?" Korume said with a gentle smile, as she watched Kesuta and Tatl going off together after Link, before following after them.
Soon the seven of them arrived at the entrance to the Forest Temple. The stone structure seemed to tower over them all, covered in branches, vines and moss from thousands of years of forest growth, and maybe even longer then that. The stairs had broken away long ago, and most normal people could never hope to get in.
"There it is..." whispered Link.
He walked over to the stump where Saria usually sat, playing her ocarina. He slowly placed his hand on the stump and closed his eyes tightly. He thought back to the day he first came to this spot almost eight years ago, when he saw Saria there. The two of them were overjoyed to see each other after he first left to go on his quest. She taught him her song that day so they could always be in touch. It felt like she was always there with him as he talked with her through the ocarina, providing him with comfort, advice and companionship. While he attempted to contact her on his seven-year journey, he was unable to due to being so too far away, but vowed to talk to her more when he returned to reunite with his friends.
However, in the past months, he had been caught up in many different things over time. Meeting the Gerudo and Nabooru, making friends with those like Aviel, Nemisa and the others, battling fierce monsters and ruthless warriors, falling in love with the girls he had come to know...
...and yet in that time, he realized he had barely made an effort to speak to his best friend, and he couldn't really blame anyone but himself for it. Despite how much he cared about her, it seemed time and distance had made at least some effect on their friendship, and as a result he had become so distant from her as of late...
"I've been a real jerk." Link whispered.
"Link, you okay...?" Aviel asked, only to be startled when she saw tears running down his cheeks.
"I... have to do this..." he whispered, then looked up at the Forest Temple entrance, "I have do something to help her!"
Aviel and the others were at a loss of what to say, the way he was in that moment, it seemed like missing Saria had become like missing a part of his very soul.
"Link..." Aviel whispered.
"We have to do everything we can to aide Link.." Korume said to the others.
"Yes, we'll save his dear friend and bring her home!" Kesuta added, as everyone else nodded.
"Ooooh..." muttered a groggy voice, as everyone turned to see a small glow of light from the grassy area.
"Huh, what's that?" Kesuta asked.
"Looks like another fairy." Tatl observed.
Skull Kid walked over to the fairy in the grass and picked it up by it's wing, poking at it, "Hey you okay?"
"Huh...?" the forest fairy asked, only to see Skull Kid staring back at it, "Eek! A skull kid!"
"Wait, you're Faete, aren't you?" Link shouted, running up to the fairy and scooping her up from Skull Kid's hands.
"Huh...? Aah! It's you Link!" Faete exclaimed, she flew out of Link's hands and started bonking him on the forehead, "How dare you! Do you know how much you've been upsetting Saria all this time?!" she shouted, bonking him with each word she said.
"Gack, yes! I know that now!" Link exclaimed, "I'm here to save her!"
"You... are...?" Faete asked.
"Please, you have to tell us what happened to Sally!" Aviel demanded.
"That's Saria." corrected Korume.
"Oh... are you all friends of Link?" Faete asked, looking at the three Gerudo, the Skull Kid and the two other fairies, "I... can't really remember what happened... we were right here at the stump, Saria playing her music like usual... then... something came up and smacked me... I think I've been here out cold this whole time."
"Saria said she's trapped in the Forest Temple, do you have any idea what it could be that attacked the two of you?" Link asked in desperation.
"I-I don't know... it could be whatever is behind all the monsters that have been attacki-"
As if on cue, the ground rumbled and out from the earth came a pack of Deku Babas and Deku Scrubs.
"Oh crud." Aviel exclaimed.
"There's no time for this, we need to get into the temple and save Saria!" Link said, the determined look in his eyes caught Faete off guard. She had expected the worst of Link after what he had put Saria through, but he seemed so much different then she thought, that their friendship really did mean something to him...
"We'll hold these bullies off!" Skull Kid said with determination, stepping up in between his friends and the monsters, as Tatl and Tael both came up alongside him, "You go save your friend, okay Link?"
"Are you sure?" Link asked with concern for his other old friend.
"Don't worry about it!" Tatl shouted, buzzing with fury at the plants, "The three of us combined can handle this!"
"...alright, good luck, all of you! Now come on girls!" Link said, he pulled out his Longshot and used it to grapple himself up to the entrance to the Forest Temple, Aviel took to the air with her wings while Kesuta and Korume used their broomsticks to float in.
With Faete following after them all, the group headed into the interior of the Forest Temple...
...and to Saria.
And that ends the chapter. I hope the Majora's Mask fans were pleased to see Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael return, it was pretty fun bringing them into the story.
Next time though, Link, Aviel and the twins enter the Forest Temple to save Saria, the question remains however, is who is behind all this and why?
Thanks for reading everyone, leave a like, follow and/or review if you'd like!