Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or any other LoZ properties. They are the property of Nintendo and any other owners. Nor do I own undeadpenguin37's fanart, I use it with permission.
Betaed by: Zim'smostloyalservant, Trackula, and a friend.
Chapter 4
Shadows of the Past, Signs of the Future
The Lost Woods were much as Saria remembered. The Forest always had a certain twisted feel to it, the green outnumbered in the trees by autumn colors, regardless of the season. Even winter never fully settled here. The Great Deku Tree had told them that even the seasons lost their way in the Lost Woods.
Though it wasn't quite the same; the pipes of the Skull Kids were oddly silent. And some of the beasts were more aggressive, Saria noted, as she pulled Fi from the Wolfos' chest. Cleaning Fi off, she glanced at Mido, who was refilling his Deku nut pouch. He'd managed to drive two more off with only the nuts. Smaller ones, but still.
"Here, Mido," Saria said, setting her own pack down. Rummaging through it, she pulled out the old sword.
"The Kokiri Sword! How'd you hide it from Fado?"
"I didn't, she must have been too busy threatening to cut off my toes to look through my stuff," Saria said, kneeling next to him. He kept talking as she strapped the Kokiri Sword to his belt as his pack made his back not an option. Mido was just barely tall enough that she was able to make it work, hiking the belt up.
"Fado's been having a hard time," Mido said, as Saria pulled his pack off to strap the sword on. He already had a Kokiri shield. So much lighter than the Hylian shield Malon had dug out of the ranch's storage for Saria.
"It seems you all have."
"Well, aside from me and Fado, no one leaves the village anymore. I mean, we lost a few to the Biggest Bigs. And the Deku Babas growing where they shouldn't… Acorna tripped running from a group of Bigs and it bit her right in the face. Walla got her back, and Fado fussed over her for days. She's fine, but her eyes were all broken, and her face there is all messed up. So now Walla keeps them tied together around the waist, and they mostly stay in their house, actually encouraging the rot so they can grow mushrooms to eat and drink the juice of."
And so it went, with all the Children of the Forest.
"And me and Fado, we've been trying to do something. Fado, I think she thinks she had to have answers like the Great Deku Tree did. She hardly ever goes to her home now, stalking the woods, killing monsters, trying to trap and scare off Bigs. And she actually wants the others to stay in the village. She listened to her fairy and hid when the Biggest Big attacked and, well, I don't think me and her could have done much. But there were so few of us to find after, she stopped even listening to her fairy and started obsessing over Bigs taking stuff from the Forest. She ranted to me for hours once over them taking mushrooms. Mushrooms, Saria, those grow back."
"She still thinks I killed the Great Deku Tree?" Saria asked, putting Mido's pack back on after making sure he could reach the sword.
It was Mido's fairy that answered instead.
"Who cares what she thinks? She was never the straightest sprout to come from the ground, and she's just gotten more twisted."
"Maybe it would help if I introduced her to some nice Bigs later? I wonder if she'd like cheese?" Saria muttered.
"Nice Bigs? Saria, what have you been up to?" Saria smiled as they made their way through the Lost Woods' futile efforts to disorient them, and started by telling him about the unusually large owl she and Tuia had met.
X X X
"Wait, so what happens to these other temples?" Mido asked as they hid behind a tree, Saria peering toward the Sacred Meadow's entrance.
"Well, once I'm done here, I'll be going there. Fire, probably. I want to find Darunia," Saria muttered. The big strong Goron seemed able to take care of himself, but Ganondorf had frozen all of Zora's Domain. She wanted proof her big friend was okay.
"Wait, so you're leaving!? Again!" Mido gasped.
"Mido, hush," Saria said. She narrowed her eyes, catching sight of some of the so-called Biggest Bigs. They were big, taller than even Ruto, with skin the color of dark mud, beady red eyes over mouths with pointy teeth sticking out. Arms thick like a Goron's, with bronze shoulder guards and leather gloves. It wore a chainmail skirt, boots, a broad collar and spiked helmet of bronze. Finally, it was carrying a spear nearly as tall as Saria, with dull bronze head.
"But why can't they take care of their own temples? We need you here, Saria! You need to be here too!"
The monster turned its head in their direction, stepping away from the hedge gate.
"Mido-"
"No, as Boss I forbid you to leave. You did enough to help those out there!"
"RRRRR!" the monster roared, making Saria shudder even as she grabbed Mido by the pack and tossed him into the brush.
Saria drew Fi and took a few steps toward the charging Moblin, putting herself in front of the tree they'd been hiding behind. Eyes narrowing at the thundering howl, her knees unbent and she leapt away from the spear point as it sought her, and hit the ground rolling.
The spear struck the tree, carving out a gash and the shaft snapping. The monster grunted and growled, pushing itself off the tree and staring at its broken spear.
SHUNK
The big brute stumbled and touched his unarmored chest, where a tiny tip of metal was sticking out. The blade twisted, and he gasped with blood coming out of his mouth. He dropped his spear, tried to brace himself on the tree, and slid to the ground dead.
Saria pulled Fi from his back and started wiping her off on the moss-laden ground.
"Good. Mistress. You. Remembered. To. Twist. It. Makes. A. Proper. Stab. To. Twist. First."
"Fi, do you like stabbing people?" Saria asked, holding the sword up to her eyes.
"Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Yes. But. I. Like. Cutting. More."
"I'll have to remember that when we need wood for the fire."
"Yea."
"Saria, that was amazing," Mido said, stepping out of the bushes.
"He was big, but that means more to stab, and he charged way too fast, right? Now let's go, more where he came from. Hmm, I'll boost you up onto the maze top; you can spot them for me. Maybe we can get them all from behind."
"What, like that, with you sneaking up?"
"Problem?" Saria asked with a smile that made Mido swallow his objection.
"Uh, should I use my slingshot?"
"No, if we have you spotting them, Fi and I should be able to handle this."
Saria set off with a bit of a spring in her step, leaving Mido and Otvil to look at the monster corpse.
"Maybe it's better off she doesn't stay after this?"
"Shut up, Otvil."
Later:
Saria emerged from the last of the lean-tos dotting the Sacred Meadow.
"So, nothing odd, but what did they use to maintain their armor?" Saria asked, looking over the camp of the monsters on the far end of the Sacred Meadow's labyrinth. Her plan had worked well, with Mido signaling her to where the monsters were patrolling and her taking them out one after another.
Fi was a better sword than the Kokiri Sword, Saria had decided, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.
Now Saria was done looting their camp, which was lacking most anything useful. They seemed to chew Deku nuts as food; Kokiri had to bake Deku nuts before eating them, otherwise they were only good as weapons.
"Saria, I don't think we'll be able to sneak up on the last one," Mido said, walking up to her and pointing to the staircase that led to the path carved in the cliff face. The last leg of the road to the Forest Temple.
"He's up there?"
"And he doesn't look happy. I think he caught on and ran up there as we reached the camp. It's the one with the club and the big helmet. He's tougher than the others."
"Well, you stay back then," Saria said, drawing Fi and walking over to the stairs.
X X X
She saw him as soon as she reached the top of the stairs. He was bigger than his followers, and his armor was black instead of polished bronze, and the horned helm much bigger. And as Mido said, he held a massive club studded with iron spikes. He glared at her, flaring his broad nose and baring his teeth.
"You picked your spot well," Saria noted. The path cut through the cliffs, unlike many things, seemed as big as she remembered it. They were both cast in a half light, with only the sun directly overhead ever able to fully light this place up. The path was not wide for her, but narrow for him, and it looked like the monsters had cleared the debris Saria remembered littering it. No cover then, but it also meant little worry for tripping. Saria slid her shield off her arms, and without taking her eyes off him, strapped it over her pack.
Two more steps into the ceiling-less corridor, and the club-wielding monster gave a war cry and slammed his club down with both hands. The ground broke under the blow, and the breaking surged out toward her, like an invisible plow was flying like a slung stone threw the ground.
Saria dodged to the left, and watched it pass. The ground torn up was fresh, not that she recognized the pattern from the village even, with time and growth taking the edge off.
"You wrecked my village," Saria said, leaping forward and to the side from the next swing.
He was fast, but not that smart; he kept to the same tactic till she was in close enough, and he swung that club to the right, taking two hulking steps. Saria hadn't leapt that time, though. She rolled.
Her blade didn't slide smoothly into his back. He staggered, but didn't fall as she pulled Fi free. Whirling around, he swung the club blind, roaring with fury. She slipped between his spread legs and heard his confusion when he saw nothing. This time, Fi sheathed near fully through his left knee. He went down with a yell, falling forward on his knees. She leapt onto his back and cut deep into his thick neck.
"Mido? Was there more?" Saria called. Mido peered up the stairs as Saria stood on the monster's large corpse.
"Uh, no, that's it. I just snuck by them before. It could get pretty scary," he admitted, carefully waking over the torn-up ground. Saria smiled and rested the flat of Fi's blade on her shoulder.
"Well, that's much less for you to worry about then! Now let's go."
X X X
Saria paused at the square before the Forest Temple door. The door was out of easy reach; the stairs had been broken since the time before her time, maybe before that. She'd never really considered the ruined state of this area with the broken column and forest moving in on the carved stone. This had simply been the way of this place.
Now she wondered, had this place been like the temple in Hyrule once, with people living here and coming and going in large numbers? That did not seem to fit with how the Forest worked, but maybe the Forest had been different once?
Who built it? Outsiders gathering in mass to do it seemed weird. Had the Kokiri done this? If so, why had they stopped?
She drifted over to the tree stump that had been her favorite spot to practice her new ocarina songs. Taking a seat, it occurred to her the Great Deku Tree would have had those answers. But he was gone now, petrified or rotting, and the questions she'd never thought to ask made her feel like a late autumn leaf.
The stump cracked under her, and standing she saw it had cracked a bit under her weight. Probing the surface with her thumb, she felt the rot in it. Even this seat wasn't going to last.
"Did you think time would stand still here?" a voice called.
"Huh?!" Mido said, pointing the Kokiri Sword awkwardly, with two hands gripping it. Saria turned and smiled softly as Sheik dropped down from somewhere to land with a crouch and a hand on the ground.
"Even before the Great Tree passed, time never stood still here, it only seemed like that to those who lived here."
"Not true," Saria said, sheathing Fi, "We marked the seasons passing and mourned the falling of leaves and gathered the dead wood for our use and harvested the land and our gardens."
"…You sheathed your sword. Are you prepared to trust me, then?" the masked man asked, red eye considering the green-haired Kokiri.
"Not really."
"Gah! Well, why not?" Sheik asked, flinching at the quick answer.
"Malon has her doubts, and really, I only just met you twice."
"Wait, so you want to be Saria's friend?" Mido asked, scooting up next to Saria, who stepped to be partially in front of him, the Hylian shield slipping naturally onto her arm to cover him. Sheik noted Saria's action, and his shoulders slumped, even as Saria gave a cute smile.
"Well, I would like her to see me as an ally. She has a lot ahead of her, and it will be easier with help."
"I already found help. Ruto is waiting for me. We already saved a really big sacred fish together."
"Wow, so the walking fish is still around?" Mido asked.
"She certainly is, even bigger than me now too," Saria said to Mido, holding a hand up to convey just how enormous the strange fish of her story was.
"Wait, I think Fado met her years ago. We thought she and Walla made that up. Like the time she claimed to have been able to steal a Skull Kid's mask but it crumbled too fast when dawn came."
"Ruto acted like she'd been to the village!"
"Well, we don't get out much, so she might have and only met Fado and Walla."
"Ahem," Sheik coughed.
"What?" Saria asked, annoyed at her inquiry regarding Ruto's honesty or tall tales being interrupted.
"So, boy, you are willing to trust me?" he addressed Mido.
"Well, Bigs haven't been that nice, and I'm not sure they belong here. But not only is Saria kind of a Big now, but apparently Fado's Big Walking Fish is real, so that's at least two trustworthy. So I'm willing to give you a chance, so long as you don't try anything funny!" Mido threatened, waving the Kokiri Sword. His waving smacked the edge of the Hylian shield, making him squeak and almost drop the sword.
"So what am I going to have to do to get her to trust me?" Sheik muttered. Saria's ears twitched and she smiled, eyes closed.
"I don't know, I'm not even sure why I'm not supposed to trust you in the first place."
"That was a rhetorical question, Chosen One."
"Well, I hope that was a rhetorical answer."
"…Well, good luck with the temple, I guess. Be warned, Ganondorf's own power circles these temples. By interfering with it, he will become aware someone is working against him. I do not think he will stir from his fortress lightly, with so much of his power tied down in curses, but the King of Evil is cunning. Brace yourself for him to throw obstacles in your path. Until next time," Sheik said, whipping out another short-fused bomb and dropping it at his feet.
"What's that?" Mido asked. Saria grabbed him and threw him behind a log, before jumping after him.
BOOM
The Kokiri woman and boy peeked back over the log, seeing Sheik was gone in the dispersing smoke.
"Well, at least there were no cows to scare this time."
"What's a cow, Saria?"
"Oh Mido, cows are wondrous sacred animals that give wonderful milk. And from milk we get cheese. Beautiful, wonderful cheeeeese," Saria recounted, cheeks reddening and a bit of saliva gathering at the corner of her mouth.
"Uh, so, the temple?"
"Right! Once we get things back in order here, I'll be able to comeback with enough cheese for everyone to try in the tribe! Now, let's climb up there and start killing monsters," Saria declared, hands on hips.
X X X
"It doesn't look so different from what I remember," Saria said, looking over the first chamber of the Forest Temple. It was like the outside had come inside, which she supposed she had not fully appreciated until she saw others' ideas of grand structures. Mido was climbing to the key's hiding spot on one of the trees growing in the chamber.
The Temple was a strange place that seemed to return to its previous state when unwatched. The Great Deku Tree had preferred them to not mess around with it, but light exploration had not been forbidden.
She knelt to stroke one of the Wolfos corpses.
"Two, it used to be just one nesting here. And she was friendly."
"Well, there's more of them around, and the Stalfos are awake too. And all of them angry," Mido said, jumping down with the key.
"Anything else?" Saria asked, as they entered the great chamber.
"Well, the torches lit up years ago," Mido said.
In the center of the great chamber, with its moss-adorned walls and spots of broken grey stone, was a little chamber without walls, whose purpose had baffled the Kokiri for generations. And around it were four stone torch holders. Even Saria had tried to light them once, but they never took any flame. Never.
But now they were not only burning, but the flames were oddly colored. Well, one was red, so not that far off the mark. One was weirdly blue. Another purple. And finally a charming green flame.
"Well, that's pretty."
"Wait for it," Mido sighed. Cackling filled the air, and Saria raised her shield. The flames disappeared. They didn't go out; in the blink of an eye, they were gone, and the wall less chamber descended into the ground. The flames reappeared in new, smaller torches, and ghastly blackened hands appeared, gripping them. Saria barely had time to take in four lady Poe spirits, garbed in tattered robes of matching color to the flames they held, before they scattered to the corridors, laughing all the way.
"Yeah, I've never been able to track them down, and it gets a lot scarier from here."
"So we need to get them to give back those important-looking flames? Well let's get to it, that door ahead has the Stalfos in it, right?"
"More than one now. I spent most of the day clinging towards the top till they gave up and went back to sleep opening the door," Mido grumbled. Otvil grumbled something back at him. Saria nodded and, stepping on ahead over the descended chamber, she entered the discussed door.
"Wait! I should go to watch your- and she's locked in there now."
"Was she always this impulsive?" Otvil wondered.
"I don't think it's that," Mido remarked.
"What then?"
"Maybe she just really knows what she's doing."
X X X
"How did you do that?" Mido asked as he rubbed the ground that was bare, showing where the thick black stone had stood for as long as he could remember. Saria had just played a song and it vanished in a wave of blue light.
"I recognized that symbol from the Door of Time. It opened when I played that song, so I tried the same song. I always knew music was powerful, but I didn't realize how literal," Saria chuckled, polishing the blue ocarina she had been using.
Mido glared at it a bit. He did not care much for that fancy ocarina. It might sound nice, but her old one, he could remember when she made it here in the Forest. It had not been fancy, but it was good, and here it had been replaced by something from out there, and she didn't seem to care.
Saria blinked as Mido stomped past her and threw the door that had been revealed open, and went on without her.
"Hey, it's dangerous to go alone," she protested, putting the ocarina away to step hastily after him.
X X X
Mido threw down his Deku nut, stunning the Deku Baba, letting Saria step in to cut through its rigid stem.
"I could have done that," he griped. Saria nodded, picking up the new Deku stick.
"I know," she said, tucking the new stick into his pack, "Hmm, still no Poes. Want to take a break and eat something?"
Mido's stomach churned, but he adjusted his pack sternly.
"No, let's keep going."
X X X
"I've been inside a giant fish, fought monsters in its guts. Still, there are things that surprise me," Saria said, as they walked down the twisting corridor. Not only did the hallway twist, but now seemed to follow the floor as it became the ceiling. What's more their feet continued to go to the floor as it became the ceiling.
"Weird," Mido said, glancing up at the ceiling turned floor as if it was about to bite.
"I. Have. Seen. Weirder," Fi commented.
As Saria chatted with the sword, Saria thankfully doing most of the talking, Mido looked around. He'd never admitted to being afraid of the Temple, but he wasn't like Fado, poking into creepy stuff for the sake of poking. He couldn't help but wish the blonde Kokiri was here with them.
Which was very weird; time alone with Saria was something he had always prized since they were both Smalls. Saria almost always seemed to either want to be alone or in the center of some group thing.
He drew the Kokiri Sword, remembering the spring festival. For the traditional play, he'd almost always been able to get the role of the Fairy Prince, and Saria and Fado competed for the princess role. Well, most everyone agreed Saria was better, but Fado had been more insistent than the boys that the roles shouldn't just be the same Kokiri every year. He smiled, remembering the year he'd tried to impress Saria in the crowd with a grand speech before fighting Grub, who was wearing the monster mask. Fado apparently got bored, so she kicked him off the stage and "slew" Grub herself. Saria had checked to make sure he was okay, even tying bandages around his head, so he'd still seen that festival as a success.
'She kissed me earlier,' he thought, oddly insistent even to him. The Great Deku Tree had told him of kissing and stuff from the outsider tribes. There had been two pairs of Kokiri of their mentor generation that had always hung out with their friend, even living together. Mido had been curious enough to ask, and the Great Deku Tree had tried to explain.
Saria was obviously the one for him, he'd decided, and he'd set out to impress her enough that she'd see it was so. After all, who else might she bond with? Fado was always bugging him and seemed to always be annoyed with Saria, and the twins and brothers preferred each other's company. No, the Tribe, even back when it was bigger, it seemed like Saria was bound to pick him if he just kept going.
Doing this should be affirming that, but even next to Saria it almost felt like he was further behind her than standing on the bridge, watching her go seven years ago.
Saria turned, stopping in her tracks, glancing around. Her eyes met his, and widened in horror. Had it just gotten darker, he thought, as the hairs on his neck stood up.
Saria practically leapt into Mido, knocking him aside.
"Ugh!" she cried out as something smacked down on top of her.
"Saria!" Mido yelled. A giant purple hand was holding her down on the floor. No arm was attached, just a horrid hand. And before his eyes, it began to rise up like one of Acorna's old puppets on strings.
"Gah," Saria strained against the grip, and the sound spurred Mido to grab the Kokiri Sword from where he'd dropped it.
"Hiyah!" he yelled, taking a swing at the rising hand and missing as it rose out of his range.
"Mido, don't-" Saria called, struggling against the hand's clutches. Only to cut off as it passed through the ceiling like mist.
"Saria!" he screamed up at the ceiling.
He and Otvil were alone in temple.
"Well, perhaps we should take our leave?" Otvil remarked.
"…No way, we press on and find her," Mido said, drawing the Kokiri Sword.
X X X
Mido bared his teeth at the giant hand, crawling on its fingers like some odd spider. It had no eyes, but he could feel its hungry gaze on him.
Mido raised his Kokiri shield as it glowed and rose slightly off the ground.
"That can't be good," Otvil remarked. The hand lunged at Mido, fingers spread wide. Mido sidestepped it and, feeling the wind tugging at his hat, grinned a moment as it slammed into the wall.
"Hiyah!" he yelled, raising the sword over his head and bringing it down on the monster as hard as he could. It shuddered, then in a burst of green smoke it split and reformed into smaller but still too big monster hands.
"Huh?"
"Kill them!" Otvil shouted. Mido barely brought his shield up to catch one of the hands on it. Stepping closer to the wall, he slammed the shield, weighed down by the hand, onto the wall. It burst into green smoke under the impact, and he acted on a feeing and swung wildly. Two chunks of monster hand battered him before they fell to the ground and poofed.
The last hand skittered on the ground facing him. Then turned and started running down the hall.
"Hey!" Mido yelled. Running after it, he raised the sword.
"This is for Saria!" he said, bringing the blade down on it so hard it cut through to land against the stone floor.
Mido let out a breath as it disintegrated.
"Okay, I can do this," he assured himself, looking deeper into the temple. Polite clapping drew his attention back the way he'd come. Saria was standing in the doorway, applauding him.
"Very good, Mido," she said, cheering him. Mido rushed over, throwing his arms around her waist in a hug.
"You're okay!"
"What happened?" Otvil demanded.
"Oh, hand thing dropped me outside the temple. Annoying, but I just made my way back."
"How long were you standing there?" Mido asked, letting Saria go and clearing his throat.
"I got here just as you started to fight that other hand. You did great."
"Wait, you watched that?"
"I thought it would be good to see how you did. Fi said I should give you a chance to prove yourself."
"Please don't make a habit of that," Otvil groaned.
X X X
"Well, this is different," Saria said, looking over the dank, majestic chamber.
"Someone was a lazy painter," Mido agreed, standing next to Saria by the door.
The room had two levels, with a staircase leading up, and from the door they could clearly see four paintings, two to each level, framing the stairs. Three were simply painted black, while the fourth to the top right showed the green Poe woman.
"I'm pretty sure it's some kind of magic at work," Saria said, walking up the stairs, Mido following. As she drew close to the Poe painting, she stopped and watched as the Poe in the painting faded away, leaving that painting black too. Saria rapped a knuckle on the frame, frowning.
"Saria, over here!" Mido said on the other side of the stairs.
"You're right, some mischievous magic is at work," Otvil called.
Saria sprinted over to find, another black painting.
"Mido?"
"It disappeared over here, too!" he waved at the black canvas.
Humming thoughtfully, Saria grabbed his shoulder to gently turn him around, and they went back down to stand by the door. There was the Poe woman, in another painting.
"So, we can't get close. Mido, hit her with your slingshot."
"Right!" he said, pulling out his trusty weapon.
The Deku nut flew and struck the painting of the Poe between painted eyes. Blue fire erupted, and the painting vanished, leaving not even ashes in seconds. And the Poe sister faded into sight in one of the remaining paintings.
"Keep going Mido, we'll flush her out like a tanuki in the bushes," Saria said.
And sure enough, when the last painting burned, the Poe appeared in a flash behind Saria, shrieking in anger and swinging her lantern as Poe fire erupted from it.
Saria turned to catch that blow on her shield, and the three to follow as the Poe spun herself around like a top.
Coming out of her spin, the Poe huffed audibly and turned its attention to the awed Mido. Her glowing eyes narrowed, seeming to know full well who had been shooting nuts at her.
And showed she was not very wise, as Saria slashed through her with the Master Sword.
Shrieking in anger, she spun away, her ragged and foggy form knitting itself back together. It took three more strikes before Saria dispersed her, seemingly for good, Fi stating the restless spirit had been sent on.
"Not a fair player, she kept going after you," Saria huffed, sheathing Fi and patting a stunned Mido on the head.
"Ha! Well, she didn't know how tough I am," Mido puffed out his chest, eyes closed. And opening them when he heard Saria open the door.
"Hey, wait for me!" he shouted, rushing through the door she held open for him.
Later:
"So, since the second Poe Sister was like the first but with different coloring, they should all be like that, right? Nothing you can't handle?" Mido asked as they made their way through the temple on the trail of the third Poe Sister.
"Maybe? Things don't usually repeat like that," Saria admitted, as she stepped in to disembowel a giant Skulltula through its exposed belly.
"Doing alright, Fi?" Saria asked, cleaning the sword.
"I enjoy. Being of service," the sword answered.
X X X
"Say, didn't we have something like this when we were smaller?" Mido asked, standing on top one of the blocks where Saria had put him. They were arranged in the middle of the chamber, coming up to Saria's chest, with paint on top.
"I don't know, you have the view, remember?"
"It's a puzzle," Otvil said, "No one in your generation showed much interest, so I suppose they were left to gather dust or rot somewhere in a closet."
"We did that? Shame," Saria noted. She recalled the puzzle now, a simple game of putting a picture together, drawn on pieces of wood. When she was a new Small, it had been used in her education to remember what things were, but it had not taken her well. Instead, they had taken her to see and touch the stuff instead.
It had been so long since she thought deeply on the generation that brought her up. When was it again they had all left?
"Right, let's put it together then!" Mido proclaimed.
As soon as the puzzle was completed, Saria leapt into action. Mido stayed close to the wall, watching her. She'd always been amazing, but now she was so much more amazing.
'Is that part of becoming a Big? But the other Bigs are not so amazing,' Mido thought.
He was surprised the fear he'd felt earlier when Saria had gone against the Bigs outside wasn't there now. Mido knew she wasn't invincible, but she'd done so much, this Poe didn't seem like much.
As she dispelled the Poe with a final swing from Fi, a horrid thought occurred to him. What if the tribe and Forest didn't seem like much to her now, either? If she could take on something he, one of the best Kokiri would have likely failed at, maybe she was in a way too big for them now?
Otvil settled under his hat, sensing a need for comfort, and Mido quietly let Saria take his hand and lead him out of the room as they resumed their quest.
X X X
Meg floated forlornly between the lit flames over the lift in the chamber her sisters and her had haunted these years of freedom. Three flames had been lit, only the purple flame captured in her own lantern had not returned to its sacred post atop the ancient brazier. Her sisters were defeated, and worse, driven to the other side.
It wasn't fair, she moaned, her own purple flames rising high in mournful fury.
She could remember little of the life that had once been hers, but Meg knew as the elder sister she had looked out for her sisters in life. In life, they had struggled, though against what and for what she could not recall, and in death she had let them be separated, gathering them up from flesh or lingering over the grave to gather the lingering spirit.
A Poe's existence was not merry or bright, but she preferred it over the mysterious beyond which could cleave them apart.
And taking what joys a Poe can have had led foolish mortals to seal them away. Thankfully sealed in a single vessel, together still even if imprisoned. Until the King of Evil had freed them and bound them to these flames and this temple. Granting them dominion and power here. She was grateful, but he had lied, it turned out.
She watched through her torch's mystic light as the intruders approached. She would not hide anymore, this room would be where she made her stand. And yes, the King had lied; a race of mere children was all that was supposed to threaten them. Pathetic brats, shivering and weeping under withered branches and rotting roots.
But this was no forest girl child that had struck her sisters down. It was a woman, strong, young and brimming with power and life. More than that, a word twisted her dusty guts, igniting flames anew as it came to her thoughts — a mother. Yes, that was what she saw between the destroyer and the forest boy. A mother had come to the forest children, and now fought for them.
None had been there for them, she recalled, having long forgotten. Theirs had been suddenly taken away, and then things had gone so wrong. She had not been enough, and tragedy had followed tragedy until it all came to this. A miserable Poe awaiting battle alone in a strange place, caught in a conflict she knew was not hers.
She could only weep until her foe arrived, the presence of an enemy letting duty's fire burn away the despair. With a swirl, she cast forth phantasms. Three illusions of herself, but each could harm with her fire.
Yes, four, four Poes together to snuff out this life and drag it away from the daylight forever. This woman would be the first of Meg's new sisters, and would devour the boy's light alongside her!
At first, she focused her efforts on the woman alone, spinning amidst her copies full of righteous fury. But the mortal was unnaturally quick. Was that what a forest mother was capable of? It couldn't be a failing on her own part. And that shield was all bound in metal. Even when her lantern struck it, the flames gained no purchase on it, and if the heat bothered the foul forest woman, she showed no sign.
After two hits to her undead body, Meg turned her attention to the boy. He was weaker, and if she sucked him dry, even swiftly, she would regain the energy she just lost. Leaving her copies to the woman, she surged across the room to where the child watched. There was a faint tugging of hesitation as the boy flinched at her approach, the shadow of memory trying to avert her from harming a child.
But it was a faint wisp, blown away by her indulgent anger, and his shield was just wood. Oh, how bright it burned. Though to her stunned surprise, rather than cower and await her feeding, the boy threw the shield right into her. Her own fire couldn't harm her, but the impact, it was something, as the Deku nuts burst one after another in her face. Shrieking, she swept out with her lantern, blind and thoughtless. And a hail of Deku seeds slammed into her, striking her eyes. Her power diminished.
Impossible, she couldn't fall to this child! The dagger he struck her with just prior to the sword sweeping through her back begged to differ.
The world fell away, or rather she was pulled away. She shrieked voicelessly, calling out to her King through their connection. She begged him to save her, anything to escape the long denied current of mortality.
In a distant castle, Ganondorf looked out a window upon the decaying realm and whispered his answer.
"No."
Then it was gone. Hyrule, the world, even the darkness fell away, her ragged form dissolving.
The end had come.
And an end it was, until she felt three sets of hands grab arms that now were, and pull her gently forward. Meg's eyes opened, and her existence as a Poe vanished like a nightmare forgotten in waking as she saw…
X X X
Ganondorf shattered the mirror of magic with a gesture as the final Poe Sister was exorcised.
"Useless shades. They were gathering dust in a jar, a collector's complete set until I freed them and granted them power and purpose," he grumbled, walking across his study to pull a scroll from a cubby hole.
Twinrova chuckled, looking down on him from their brooms.
"Yet you choose them to guard the way to the Sanctum of Forests. You left the malice to decay there, formless."
"He assumed the Kokiri would never get that far, and no one would aid them."
Ganondorf unsealed the scroll and, waving his hand, conjured a portal of purple in the floor, the back of his hand glowing with the shape of the Triforce of Power.
"This was not a mistake. The Kokiri are that weak, and it was not an outsider who helped them get this far. The girl surviving and somehow growing is the result of the Light Sage's meddling."
"And the state of Hyrule is because of your meddling with the Triforce."
"Heh, the crow calls the keese black."
"Keese are purple, senile hag."
As Twinrova continued to bicker, Ganondorf bit his thumb to draw blood and smeared it across the scroll, which began to glow green, his shadow lifting off the ground, a wisp being pulled into the scroll.
"Formless Malice, grow legs and gain will to stand. Stand to obey your maker. Obey my command, crush those who oppose me. Arise, Phantom Ganon!" he declared, dropping the scroll into the portal.
"A rush job, but it should suffice," the Gerudo King said, wiping sweat from his brow.
X X X
Saria had half-expected something to pounce once they stepped out of the descending room. But the round room they entered seemed to be empty. Four rooms branched off, with altars with symbols resembling a Deku Scrub, Wolfos, Skull Kids, and Kokiri. It was supposed to be a sacred place, but this feeling of dread and uncleanliness had only grown stronger since they got here.
"Going up, I guess?" Mido said as they entered the last doorway, and instead of an altar were greeted with a winding corridor heading up a slope.
"If my experience means anything, there will be a big monster up there."
"Four Poe Sisters wasn't enough? Can't we just find the source of this trouble and you stick your sword in it?"
"My. Name. Is. Fi."
"Indeed, don't be rude, Mido," Otvil reminded.
"Well, usually I do stick my sword in it. But that's after fighting. Well, actually, Darunia killed that super icky thing under the well. So maybe we can just smash it lots, too? What the? Is this it?" Saria asked as they entered a round chamber adorned with paintings.
"Wow, these are way better than our paintings," Mido commented.
"Huh, this is like something the Hylians might have had in their castle, but why so many of the same thing?" Saria wondered. The paintings all showed the same scene, nighttime on a road through a forest of trees stripped leafless by the season, with the dark outline of a castle against the sky.
Then spikes popped up, sealing the way they had entered. Saria drew her sword and raised her shield, and as the hairs on her neck rose, she pivoted and froze.
"You…"
Ganondorf was before her. Atop a black stallion and armored, just like back then. Seven years, and he was unchanged.
He grinned, displaying yellow teeth she didn't remember, and lifted a three-pointed spear as his horse started to advance.
"Saria? Saria!?" Mido grabbed her leg and shook it as Saria stared at her enemy, who raised his free hand and clenched it into a fist, grinning wider.
"Mistress! Fight!"
"BACK OFF!" Mido dropped the Kokiri Sword and whipped out his slingshot, but rather than a Deku seed plopped a Deku nut into it. With a sproing, the nut flew, and Ganondorf's face barely shifted before it struck home. He let out a high shriek that made Mido cover his ears but Saria snap to attention.
"You're not him," Saria declared, stomping a foot and getting back into position, putting herself between the enemy and Mido as the horse recoiled. The Fake Ganondorf's face cracked, and with a high buzzing sound he put a hand to it and ripped it away. A skull was beneath, naked and white with glowing yellow eyes and two arcing horns sprouting from its brow.
"I am Phantom Ganon, foolish children. Spawn of the Void and the Great King of Evil. You will have the honor of being my first victims! HAHAHAHA!" the monster cackled and, spurring its mount, leapt over them and into the painting behind them. Not crashing, but as if the painting were an open window. Saria blinked as he galloped down the road toward the painted castle, getting small in the distance.
"He's running away. Did we win?" Mido asked.
"I doubt it," Otvil remarked. Saria glanced around at the paintings, and spotted him in one, galloping down the road, growing larger, spear raised.
"Here he comes!"
"There too. Are there two of them!?"
"What?"
Fi in hand, Saria looked back and forth between the phantoms galloping into the foreground of the paintings. Out of time, she picked one, ready to fight.
The phantom in the painting wheeled its horse and galloped back toward the painted castle, as the real Phantom burst from the other painting. Saria looked up as he leapt or flew through the air atop his horse, swinging his spear. A ball of glowing magic struck the floor, and Saria jerked as she was shocked.
Cackling, Phantom Ganon leapt into another painting, galloping out of sight.
"Saria, are you alright?" Mido asked, grabbing her shield to jerk her. Saria took a deep breath and flexed her shoulders. Her hair felt like sparks would fly from it.
"Don't worry, I can take a lot of hits like that."
"Please don't," Fi stated.
"Here he comes again!" Otvil cried. Two riders in two paintings again.
"You need to dodge that attack," Saria said, eyes shifting between the two.
"I can help!"
"Stay safe, that helps," Saria said, as the Phantom burst from one painting. Saria leapt up at the horse, her sword swinging. And falling short. Energy coursing over his spear, he whirled it in one hand and slashed Saria's shoulder as she passed below him. With a pained grunt, Saria landed in a crouch.
"Okay, Ruto would be nice to have right now," Saria grumbled, sheathing Fi and pulling out her slingshot.
Mido watched her take her shot as the Phantom sprang forth again. The Deku seed hit the Phantom right in his skull face, but he barely flinched, and his magic missile struck Saria square in the shield she raised. The shield didn't seem to work, forcing her nearly to knee.
"She needs to run," Otvil said.
"No, she needs help," Mido said. As Saria lined up another shot, Mido watched the paintings; the fake Phantom always turned away just before the real one emerged.
There, he thought, and ran forward with the Kokiri Sword drawn. He'd always been good at jumping, and today he made his best ever if he said so himself, leaping onto Saria's shoulders as she crouched to take her shot. And off her shoulders he leapt up, and slashed up to the hilt into the Phantom's horse. The beast exploded and sent him tumbling through the air. He hit the stone wall with a painful thud.
Things went murky; he heard more magic being tossed around, Saria's battle cries, metal ringing on metal. Then his own name.
"Wake up now!" Otvil screamed in his ear. Mido's eyes snapped fully open, and he rolled away from the spearhead striking the spot he had laid on, sending up a spark. He pulled his Kokiri shield out and held it up. And eyes widened as the shield shattered, the blade skewering him through the chest as Saria stabbed the Phantom through the back.
As the Phantom writhed in pain, burning away in blue fire, Saria rushed to Mido's side. The blood… she had to look away, and started fumbling in her pouch for herbs.
"Saria," Otvil floated next to her. His voice strained.
"Give me a moment, I have got some good stuff here. And a last red potion, you saw the wonders it works."
"Saria, it's too late."
"What?"
"A fairy always knows," Otvlil said slowly and landed on Mido. Saria felt a wave of strange air come over her, and Mido seemed to shimmer and darken at the same time. Then Mido was gone, dirt and seeds spilling out of his clothes.
"No…"
"From the Forest to the Forest. My Kokiri lived well, I- what?" Otvil's mournful chant cut off as the pile of seeds and dirt began to glow with a radiant green light. Saria didn't see, having turned away, her face taut and hand over her mouth. She couldn't help but see Phantom Ganon, now reduced to a pulsing mass of black and purple magic with blue flames still lingering over it.
"Well done, kid," the voice of Ganondorf echoed through the room. Saria growled, getting to her feet, tears flowing down her cheeks. "That Phantom was a swift creation, but you managed to defeat it with minimal loses. However, I was right, I need not fear you. You may carry the Master Sword, but you cannot activate its full power to cleanse the corruption of evil. You are not the true hero of legends meant to wield it! The Goddesses have blundered. All you have done is temporarily loosen my hold over these woods. So long as this essence remains, my power will reign supreme, however many times you defeat those invested with my power!"
Saria shrieked in fury and, dropping Fi, sprang with speed and nimbleness. Defying her battle fatigue, her hands clasped the mass of corruption and hauled it down to the door as she landed hard.
"What, think you can steal it? Naive fool."
It struggled against her grip, and even as her fingers dug in, she could feel it would break free quickly.
She needed to keep it from him.
Claim it.
Own it.
Purify.
Mido and everything wrong with the forest and her tribe. The Ranch being so wrong. The ruined Hylian city. And Tuia. It all ran through her mind, and an answer came unexplained from the deep roots of herself, shooting to perch in the leaves.
Her teeth tore into the heart of the Phantom. It was like a Heart Container, she realized, but twisted with a deep power. She was Kokiri, and a Kokiri that had shed childhood, a fell knowledge landed in her head. As Ganondorf shouted in confusion and fury, Saria feasted on her prey, teeth tearing and mouth forcing the convulsing pieces down, even as her nails dug in, making sure nothing escaped.
With the final bite, she collapsed onto her back, vaguely aware of Otvil calling out to her.
Ganondorf roared in fury but them trailed off.
"What? No. I killed you. You're dead. You cannot-"
"Heh," Saria muttered with a smirk as her body started to tremble, and a blue light began to spread beneath her, lifting her off the floor and vanishing into the light.
X X X
Saria awoke standing up. Or rather, hanging upright. The sound of falling water clued her in as she realized she was in the Chamber of Sages, the Temple of Light, again.
"Welcome Saria, and well done," Rauru said, blinking into sight with a snap as her feet set down on the Triforce symbol.
"Did I win? I ate the thing."
"Yes, I don't think anyone saw that coming. But it seems to have worked. The Forest Temple has been purified, Ganondorf''s power has been driven from that portion of Hyrule and renewed forces of the Forest already stand firm against his efforts to reassert control. But it was not without price," the Sage of Light said, nodding a bit while stroking his beard.
"Mido…" Saria sighed, eyes closing.
"Yes?" Mido said.
"Mido!?" Saria shouted, eyes snapping open. Turning, she saw Mido standing on his own platform as if he had every business being there; his clothes even looked freshly washed!
"Yes, young Mido in life and in death proved himself thus- oh," Rauru began, before Saria splashed through the coursing waters to Mido's platform and proceeded to pick him up in a hug, practically twirling the blushing Kokiri boy on the spot.
"You're alive!"
"Well, kinda, I sorta wasn't," Mido said. Saria stopped spinning, but didn't let him down as she planted her chin on his hat, pressing down on the top of his head.
"Explain."
"Well, I kinda saw three pretty ladies, not as pretty as you of course. And they said a lot of stuff I didn't get, but seemed like they thought the Boss of the Kokiri was pretty impressive. So basically they said while my life as Kokiri was over, I could live again as the new Sage of the Forest. I asked if that meant I could help you, and they said yes."
"Huh, so the point is you are not dead now?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's stick with that," Saria said, patting him on the back.
"Can you put me down? The chain is really starting to hurt my back."
"Chain?" Saria asked, dropping him. Sage or not, he fell on his bottom like a mortal with an undignified sound. Sairia held out her right arm and, sure enough, there was a chain on it. Her torn up sleeve let her see the links seemed to flow from her flesh, spiraling from her upper arm to just a few finger lengths short of her wrist before dangling.
And the hand… as she turned, it went from normal to strange, as if she could see through the edge. The other arm had no such chain, but it also faded. Focusing on the arm, she felt a certain chill, and with a frown she pushed the chill 'out' and the entire hand became misty, like an illusion. Surprise let the coldness recede, and the hand went back to the way it was before. Rauru silently summoned a mirror as Saria gathered up the chain to find a Poe lantern on the end. It plunked against the pedestal as she reeled it, and she winced. Tapping the chain, then the lantern, she frowned.
"I feel it. Both ways?"
"They are your chain and lantern. Like the restless dead that haunted the Forest Temple you vanquished. You won and Mido lives, but once again you have been changed, I am afraid."
Saria looked into the mirror. Aside from her clothes being ragged from the battle, her ears were like her hands, so were her thighs that she could see through her ripped leggings. Finally putting a strange hand to her face, she took in the blue of her eyes glowing slightly.
"Oh my," she remarked.
"It still looks okay," Mido assured her.
"I had hoped as the Master Sword-"
"Fi," Saria corrected, pulling her lid down to inspect her eye.
"Fi, accepted you, you would have access to the Sword's full power, but it seems that is not the case. This method of purification could take a toll on you, young hero."
"…Mistress, I am sorry," Fi said. Saria drew the sword from her scabbard.
"Fi, you're talking normally?"
"It seems I am. That evil was strong enough that it recharged me enough to speak unhindered. Most. Of. The. Time. It seems… I apologize, but you are not Master, and it seems even with my consent, you cannot unlock all the powers the Goddess Hylia endowed in me to serve the Hero in his incarnations."
"Well, let's see," Saria said.
She pushed against the cold feeling, and her flesh returned mostly to normal, save the tips of her ears and fingers. Wrapping the chain around her arm so the lantern could just dangle from her wrist, she looked at herself. Letting the feeling go, the ghostliness returned.
"I can work on this. Can you get me a cloak? And gloves?" Saria asked.
"I believe someone is waiting in the Kokiri forest who can provide what you need. But before you go, know this — Sheik is a friend you can trust."
"Oh, okay."
"Saria, sometimes I'm not sure if you're the smartest Kokiri around or…" Mido muttered. Saria chose to ignore that and ruffled Mido's hair through his hat.
"Well, it seems we need to get back to the forest, Mido. The Boss needs to announce the good news."
"Saria, I don't think I can go back."
"Huh?"
Rauru cleared his throat.
"A Sage's life is one apart from the 'normal' realm of Hyrule. Our life and purpose is of a more spiritual plane, only crossing over in certain circumstances, such as my time in the form of an owl. And young Mido will need years of practice before he can do that much. Mido, as of now, can only freely move between the Forest Temple and Temple of Light, and it would be best for him to remain here with me lest Ganondorf somehow manage to infiltrate the Forest Temple again. Like you, he is no longer only a Kokiri."
"I, already said my goodbye to Otvil," Mido said, looking to his feet. Saria gasped and looked to the elder Sage, who nodded, looking older than usual.
"But Saria, as Sage I can make sure the Forest returns to what it should be. I can't be the Boss, maybe I wasn't even that good at it, but I'll try and be a good Sage, so you won't have to worry about the Forest while you deal with those other temples," Mido said, raising his fist.
"Mido…"
"Tell Fado she's the Boss now, I know she can do it if she just promises the others to be a bit less creepy. And tell them all I can feel the Forest's heart beating as it hasn't since the Great Deku Tree withered. Take them to the Great Deku Tree's meadow, Saria. There's something wonderful waiting there," Mido said, smiling with his eyes catching the light a bit more than usual. As light engulfed Saria, she sheathed Fi and watched Mido fade from sight into the light.
"No matter what, you'll always be the best Kokiri as far as I'm concerned, Saria! There will always be a place waiting for you in the Forest," he called.
Saria blinked and found herself standing in the midst of Kokiri Village. Night was on the land, but she could see the sky lightening through the trees, and smell and hear the forest preparing for day. The wind blew through the trees, and she inhaled a scent of promise that had been missing.
Raising her lantern, to her surprise it grew brighter as she called out.
"Kokiri! Come out! Come out! Can't you feel it?! The monsters flee and the beasts return to what they should be! Come out and witness!" she called, walking slowly through the village, illuminated by her lantern. Eyes peeked through boards, and doors cracked open. A Know-it-All brother was the first to show himself. But Fado was the first to approach, mask and cloak still on, teeth bared but not attacking. Saria turned to shine the lantern light on her fully, and Fado jerked to stillness. Awkwardly ripping her mask off, Fado stared deep into the lantern. Lowering her hand, Saria let Fado take the lantern in her hands and smiled at the odd feeling as Fado held it close and rubbed her cheek against it.
A crowd formed, perhaps more interested in Fado acting stranger than usual, but Saria smiled at them all, her eyes aglow in the dark.
Fado let Saria take back the lantern and dropped her leaf cloak to the ground.
"To the Great Deku Tree!" Fado called, and her steps quickly turned into a run, with the other Kokiri running after. The twins, though, being tied together and one of them blind, were following at a more careful pace. Saria, feeling light on her feet and tears on her cheeks somehow making her more awake, pounced on the two, sweeping them up one each under her arms to chase after the tribe. The girls squiggled at first, but by the time she reached the meadow they were laughing at the strange new feeling of being carried along so.
The Kokiri had gathered at the very edge of the meadow. The withered remains of the Great Deku Tree loomed overhead, fallen branches of the last seven years littering the ground.
There was a spot though, before them, near but not too near the Great Tree. Saria wasn't sure why, but that spot was important. She took a step toward it.
'Not yet.'
She pulled her foot back, glancing around.
Fado broke from the crowd and made her way to the spot. Reaching it, the blonde Kokiri went to her knees and cupped dirt in her hands, making a small hole. Reaching into the soil, Fado pulled out a dirty leaf nearly the size of her hand and stared at it.
Dawn was breaking, but a piece of daytime decided to stop waiting. Sunlight lit up the spot in a column of light, cleaving the scene before them. The soil rippled, moving Fado back a few paces. And the leaf seemed to shake off the dirt, then with a jerk, a tree limb followed it from the soil, pushing up.
With a booming sound, dirt went flying and the crowd save Saria turned away, startled. The dust settled, revealing a plump trunk a bit taller than your average Kokiri, with short stubby branches adorned with big leaves growing from it. And its trunk held a small but clear face.
It also showed Fado face down in the dirt, her rear thrust up into the air and her skirt flipped, showing she still wore shorts under her dress.
Fado jerked straight on the ground, grinding her face a bit before somehow pushing herself up and onto her feet in a strange display of strength. Wiping dirt from her eyes, Fado sided up closer to the new tree, practically sniffing the air. No, wait, Saria could smell something too.
"Are you, the Great Deku Tree?" Fado asked warily.
"No, I am the Deku Sprout, but I hold in me the memory, power, and knowledge of the Great Deku Tree and all the Great Dekus to the First Tree. In time, I shall be the Great Deku Tree. It's good to finally meet you face-to-face, Fado. I am sorry to have kept you waiting so long in grief and confusion. Thanks to Saria and Mido, the grip of Ganondorf has been lifted and I have emerged anew."
"…Does that mean things will go back to the way they were?" Fado asked, the whole tribe listening, confused but clearly excited.
"No, the past does not return. I am sorry, what is gone I cannot return, but I will do all in my power to provide you with better times than you have lived since my father self was killed. The Forest will heal, the order of beasts will return, and the monsters who do not belong already flee in droves from this place. For know this, small as I am yet, it the nature of Great Dekus that each successor grows in strength from what ended their predecessor. Let the Usurper rage, the magic that courses through me was born to deny him the victory he gained over my father self. These lands are beyond his reach. Now gather, children, let us meet again for the first time."
The tribe lined up, and each Kokri spoke briefly with the Sprout, Fado hanging off to the side, seemingly drawing in the dirt with her shoe tip. The words were brief but seemed to be private; each twin actually covered her ears and turned away to let there be privacy while they stayed tied together.
With each talk, the Kokiri left back toward the village, until finally it was just Saria, Fado, and the Sprout. Fado seemed to take it as her cue to leave, but stopped next to Saria.
"You're really Saria?" Fado demanded, fists clenched.
"Yes."
"Dummy, why did you go and get big? I bet Mido was upset."
Saria had nothing to say to that.
"Mido, he's not coming back, is he?"
"If he does, it won't be to stay. He wanted you to be Boss."
Fado kicked up a chunk of dirt, another, then another, before sprinting off away from the village.
"Only just started, and already I feel like I'm failing," the Deku Sprout sighed. Saria walked up to him, frowning bit.
"So, you're the Great Deku Tree, but not?"
"Sort of. I have a lot of knowledge, but I'm still too small to have the thoughts to properly wrap around it, I think. Even my power, while great, is much cruder than it should be. Were I bigger, I would restore Walla's eyes, but right now I worry what would happen if I tried."
"Uh, any chance you can do anything about this?" Saria asked, holding out her lantern.
"Give me a hundred years to practice my magic, and maybe. Right now, I'd likely make it worse. Hmm, and I can't quite reach knowledge of what happened to you."
"I ate the monster so it couldn't come back. I think it was a curse too, or something."
"Hmm, I think this is not a new thing. When my father self barred the Kokiri from the outer world, I think it was in part to protect the other tribes from what the Kokiri tribe could be."
"But we're child folk, we're not dangerous."
"Children represent potential, I think. While Kokiri don't have to grow up, I think if they can, it can be, risky? Hmm, too much I still can't reach. But I can dedicate myself to healing the Forest and keeping Ganondorf's powers at bay. You need not worry for your homeland as you carry on your journey,"
"So, you think they will be okay?" Saria asked.
"Even aside from inherited memory, I am not here as a stranger. Though the dark forces held me back from sprouting, I have been aware for years now, observing much of the Forest and its inhabitants. They will make do. And I dare say there are others in Hyrule who now need you more. Hmm, and a Zora princess is loitering around the Forest's edge, still trying to get a mare to eat onion grass."
"Ruto, why onions?" Saria pondered, "Well, better rescue Epona, I suppose. There will be time later for a proper reunion."
"One hopes. Though perhaps in time you will not need to come to them. I will come to better understand my father selves' reasons, but I find myself questioning the isolationism of the Kokiri. Hyrule has been divided, and Ganondorf has taken advantage of that. Keeping the Kokiri perhaps too safe for all their lives has left them vulnerable…" the Sprout mused. Saria smiled, recalling how the Great Deku Tree could also trail off, losing her grip on the subject.
"So, anything I should do before going?" Saria asked.
"This might help," the Deku Sprout said. Green glittering magic surrounded Saria; with a pop, a dark green traveling cloak was on her, covering all her ghostly features save for the lantern in her hand and the glow in her eyes.
"Also, what happened to the Kokiri Sword? I was thinking it should not be locked away but be a regalia and tool for the Kokiri Boss."
"Oh, I guess I left it where Mido, uh, not died?"
"Well, maybe Fado would do better to have to fetch it in a quest of sorts?"
"Yeah, she'd likely prefer that to me handing it to her."
…
…
"Well, glad to meet ya, Deku Sprout, let's have a less odd chat when I get back," Saria said, turning with a wave to go.
"Heh, after all that, you can still be so confident you will return. I hope that ideal doesn't lead you astray, Elder Sister of the Forest."
X X X
Leaving the meadow behind, Saria ascended to a rise, letting her look out over the village. Day was in full glory, and it showed how wrecked and ruined so much still was. But pollen flecks were falling, and rather than being still in fear, it felt like the village slept.
Saria nodded, feeling it in her bones, and maybe the chain of her lantern.
Reuniting with their new Deku Tree was invigorating and confusing, maybe more for them than her. New hope could perhaps be hard to swallow after such dark times. So this day and night her people rested, and come tomorrow, life would begin to take a new shape.
Turning to look toward the deeper forest, Saria smiled widely. It would not be long, she was certain, before new Kokiri would begin to emerge. Otvil and likely any others would have new Kokiri, and the tribe would no longer shrink in sorrow.
There was nothing more to be done here now, and other places awaited. Saria of the Kokiri turned her back to where she started and resolved to return, and set her feet toward the valley of the fallen bridge.
X X X
Saria looked up at the cliff face of the valley, and frowned.
"Yeah, the bridge really was nice. This will be harder than climbing down was," Saria sighed, loosening up her shoulders.
"And what about you?" Saria said to her lantern. Fussing with the chain, she wrapped it so the lantern hung against the back of her shoulder. Taking a further moment to judge the cliff, she picked a likely spot and started climbing.
"Should have asked if Ruto knew how to take care of a horse. Horses can't go under water, and Zora seem to haul boats themselves. Maybe crops, it was not horses the Hylians seemed to use for a lot of stuff, what was their name, boxes? Do Zora have boxes?" Saria pondered, scaling the cliff. Then both of her handholds broke away.
"Uh oh," Saria winced as she fell back, feet slipping from her footholds. She tried to grab the cliff again, but her fingers closed over open air.
'Well, Phantom Ganon was like a Heart Container, so this shouldn't be too bad,' she thought hurriedly, having scaled most of the cliff.
Then the wind 'wasn't' rushing by as she fall.
"Huh?"
Saria opened her eyes from being screwed shut and saw she was falling, but quite slowly. Gently even.
A chill was spreading through her, and she rolled her shoulder, letting the chain run down and sliding the lantern into her hand. Her whole hand had the transparent look, and the lantern light was brighter now. It dimmed, and her hand regained some solidity as her feet touched the ground.
Frowning, she looked to a nearby tree stump Skull Kids tended to play their flutes on, and forcing the cold through her body, leapt. And sure enough, she did not so much leap as float like a bit of dust in the direction she leapt.
Alighting on the stump, Saria held up the lantern to her face, giving a small smile.
"Well, looks like you brought some useful stuff with you."
"That was amazing! Did you steal that Poe lantern!? Is it yours? Can you pierce ears that are so odd looking? Hey, is it true you are engaged to the talking fish? Engaged in what? Are your clothes messed up on purpose or have you just not made new ones!? Can you see in the dark with glowing eyes? Who did I lend my good chestnut to again?" Darrii the fairy said, practically ramming into Saria's face.
"Uh, can I get that in writing?" Saria asked, leaning back.
"Darrii," Fado called, standing up from a pile of leaves. The Kokiri girl did not look well; the red stripes on her face had gotten runny, especially under her eyes, and her hair and clothes were littered with leaves and twigs.
Darrii buzzed to her Kokiri, nuzzling Fado's neck and slipping into a pouch on her belt.
"So, leaving again?" Fado asked, looking at Saria sideways as she went over to the wreck of the bridge.
"Yes, lots to do out there. For starters, I need to make sure Ruto is looking after Epona right. She managed to lose Crimson, after all," Saria grumbled.
"So many names I don't know," Fado muttered, glancing up at the path mouth at the top of the cliff.
"Things will get better here," Saria said, walking over to her. Fado grit her teeth and glared at Saria.
"Better? You heard the Sprout, no one's coming back. And it's not even the real Great Deku Tree. And now Mido's gone, even if not all the way or something?! Why did you have to come back and he can't, huh? Saria. Saria. Saria! Everyone thought you should be Boss, but you didn't want to be. You could have convinced them the Great Deku Tree withering wasn't your fault, but you just left anyway. And Mido liked you so much he never noticed someone liked him. He liked you when you weren't even here, and you never even noticed!" Fado stomped her feet.
"Liked me? Like what? Like Juna and Morg used to?" Saria asked, puzzled. Fado's eyes twitched and she gave a shrill cry before ramming into Saria. Saria stumbled, mostly from surprise, but didn't budge as Fado began pummeling her torso with little punches and trying to stomp Saria's feet through her boots. It didn't really hurt at all.
Fado was crying now and ranting that Saria couldn't understand hardly a word. But sure enough, Saria just took it silently, and when Fado paused, breathing hard and face red with flush, Saria lowered herself, wrapping Fado in her arms and pulling her close. She tried to get the chain away from Fado, but the Kokiri girl actually wiggled toward it, rubbing her cheek against the metal links as her breathing slowed.
Saria held Fado, stroking her hair as she slept and plucking out bits of debris from it.
Saria woke with a start; apparently she had dozed off too. Fado was gone, she realized, but set down in front of her was a new slingshot and a neat pile of Deku seed ammunition.
"Mistress?" Fi asked.
"I think she'll be okay," Saria decided, gathering up the gifts to her pouches. This time, she didn't need her new abilities, ascending the cliff without issue to make her way back to the harsher but bracing air of Hyrule Field.
Elsewhere:
Raising a hand, he reached out once more for the power of the Phantom made in his image, and a brilliant gold and green aura enveloped the tips of his fingers, stopping the spell.
"How? She can't have awakened the true power of that sword," he pondered, clenching his fist as the aura dispersed.
"And she has not. She has sealed the power in herself."
"More than that, she has made it somewhat her own. Hohohoho!"
Ganondorf glowered on his throne as Twinrova flew into the room, mockingly slow on their broomsticks. Oversized heads on shriveled bodies, bugged out too large eyes and cracked wrinkly olive skin, their white hair and overly ornate Gerudo robes were the closest thing to respectable about the ancient hags. They barely passed as Gerudo. He wondered if they even truly were anymore.
"This should not be possible," he stated plainly.
"Hohohoho! There is always a joy to seeing a man who thinks he knows so much realize how little he knows."
"Indeed, sister. The girl is not the Hero reborn, and you see only what she is not."
"The Kokiri, they are weak. A race of children clinging from birth to death to their makers. They have nothing to offer or threaten with," Ganondorf insisted.
"Mmm, perhaps."
"Perhaps, indeed. But this Kokiri left the shelter of the trees and survived regardless."
"And has grown up besides."
"Yes, yes. Maybe the strength was not missing, merely unneeded."
"The Kokiri have existed longer than the Gerudo, perhaps even the Hylians. A mystery."
"Magic is not just power, it is also mystery. The one who presumes to truly be its master finds a fool in the mirror."
Just as he was about to demand clearer answers, they were engulfed in cold mist and smoke, disappearing.
Glowering at the empty room, the self-proclaimed King of Hyrule took a breath and closed his eyes. Opening them, he eased back on his throne and tapped his fingers on the arms of the great chair.
"Fine, this could work in my favor if I handle it right. All of my actions to date have not been able to provoke the holders of the other two Triforce pieces to appear. This girl may be one, but that's not certain. This new Deku Tree won't matter once I have the complete Triforce, then my will shall be paramount; even the Goddesses of Creation may be within my reach then. So why waste time raging over a minor setback? Instead, let us push matters along and see if this girl is merely a pawn or has one of the two. And perhaps she can draw out the final bearer if she is."
With a snap of his fingers, a bell rang and his Gerudo captain came in wearing the gold-adorned purple attire of her office, with twin swords on her back.
"My liege?"
"We are moving up the Volvagia resurrection. Take your best squad and the castle's Iron Knuckle force to Goron City,"
"We are claiming more sacrifices? How many, my liege?" Ganondorf considered and held up five fingers.
"Five times the usual, my lord?" she asked, eyes widening over her veil.
"No, you may spare five. Perhaps let our puppet Boss do the picking. A reward for his services. The Gorons may put up a fight; take all three hundred of the Iron Knuckles stored here. But remember, we need them alive to offer to Volvagia's spirit — the Ancient Ones are not easily awakened, and harder still to cloak in worthy flesh."
"It will be done my liege, my women will leave as soon as we are ready to ride."
"Very good, and send word to our patrols in the eastern region and mountains. Withdraw at once; any insurrection in that region will soon be a moot point," he ordered sternly.
Soon she departed, and Ganondorf sat alone on his throne, finding himself holding out a hand and extending his fingers, a small frown on his face, but his hand clenched into a fist, forcing the broken Triforce symbol to appear, the frown fading to a stoic expression.
Author's Note:
Well there you have it one temple down a tribe saved and a sage sadly ascended. And the consequences of Saria not being Link starting to show.
Which brings me back to thanking undeadpenguin67 on deviantart. Whose Saria art inspired this story; it would not exist without me encountering that art. I hope they find my usage of that idea a worthy adaptation. For a sample I used some of their work as cover art for this story.
Reviews are appreciated. Not sure when the next chapter will come.
Long days and pleasant nights to you all.