Chapter 8- Introductions and Grand Tours

Zelda had been organizing some loose pieces of parchment on her desk when she heard Tristan's voice. Looking up, she saw the blue-black portal swirling in largest area of the study. All at once, Tristan fell out of it and five other kids fell on top of him, burying him.

"Oooowwww…" came Tristan's muffed voice. Zelda realized the swords and the shield strapped across his back must have been crushing him and she gently started helping the kids up. As soon as Tristan could breathe again, he groaned, "That's the second time that's happened to me."

"I see your trip was successful," Zelda said helping Celina up.

"Completely," Tristan said enthusiastically. "May I introduce to you, Mr. Peter Woodson, Misses Susan and Jessie Youthan, and Mr. Jaimon Golra. Every one, this is my mother, Queen Zelda"

"It's a pleasure to meet you all and I assure you there is no need to show respect. I may be queen, but here we are merely friends."

The others looked at each other curiously then at Tristan, who was busy filling his mom in on what happened when they went to the other world. There was a knock on the study door and Laima entered. She stopped short when she saw all the other kids.

"Laima!" Tristan shouted from the other side of the room. He quickly made his way to her and led her into the room, making introductions. When they reached Zelda, she was smiling.

"Are these the others?" Laima asked. When Zelda nodded Laima relaxed a bit more and walked over to talk to Susan. Tristan turned back to his mom.

"There's one more thing," he said.

"And what might that be?"

"I made a promise to Peter's mom that we would come back when we had a chance and drive off the Black Phoenix group that had taken over."

"Black Phoenix? Who in their right mind would choose a black phoenix for their group's name?"

"A very evil one apparently. The entire land is covered with these red clouds that throw a red tint on everything. Even the pure spring waters look like blood. The trees have changed too. They have purple leaves and bluish-grey trunks."

"That's terrible! Of course you can go back to help those poor people. But, before that…" she turned to the group at large, "Tristan is going to lead you to the armory so you all can get some armor and weapons. Then I'll let Tristan show you around Hyrule. Since you're all gonna be here a while, I think it would be best that you get to know this land."

"You mean see our new home," Jessie said. "Right?"

"Sure Jessie," Susan said happily, "our new home!"

"Come on all of you!" Tristan said, laughing. "The sooner we get your stuff, the sooner you see it!"

Tristan gave Zelda a quick hug before leading the others out of the room. When they drew near the armory again, Tristan stopped.

"What's wrong," Celina asked. Tristan had that strange feeling like something was calling him again. Aria must have been uncovered while we were gone.

"Tristan?"

"It's nothing," he finally said. He opened the door and led them inside, trying as hard as he could to ignore those never-ending calls from Aria, who he now saw had indeed been uncovered.

Leaving Celina to supervise the others, Tristan wandered over to his father's sword. It seemed to know it had hurt him at their last meeting, for the calls remained soft. After several minutes, he heard footsteps behind him and saw the others coming toward him. They were all wearing chest-plates and shoulder pads. Peter had a flail stuck in his belt; Susan carried a couple of small axes; Jessie had a pair of daggers; and Jaimon had a lance strapped to his back. Tristan noticed that all of the weapons had similar markings around the handles.

"How did you guys find those so quick?" Tristan asked.

"It's funny," Susan said, "but we were all kind of drawn to them. Celina said it was the same thing with her bow and short-sword."

Tristan looked at Celina who quickly nodded. After a little thinking, Tristan said, "Well, there is the possibility that these all belonged to the original warriors. I guess you're supposed to have them. You'll start training in a few days to be able to master them. I'm not sure how long the training is going to take, but by the time it's over, we'll be the best warriors in the land. But that all happens later, right now we need to get to the stables so Celina and I can show you Hyrule!"

Everyone had their own favorite place. Peter was fascinated by Death Mountain and its swirling cloud, and talked excitedly with the Gorons for awhile. Jessie nearly wet herself in her excitement when she saw the Zoras in Zora's Domain. Susan was intrigued by the all female Gerudo clan, who, back in Ganondorf's time, had been a group of thieves. Jaimon actually enjoyed the peace of Lake Hylia. Celina still loved her home, Lon Lon Ranch. And Tristan loved the forest.

They spent quite a bit of time in each area. When they entered Kokiri Forest, Tristan was reunited with Saria. While the others went to go visit the great Deku Tree, led by Tala, Tristan and Saria wandered over to Tristan's old tree-house to catch up. The first thing Saria did when they were alone was give Tristan another kiss, then they hugged each other.

"I missed you," Saria said softly. Then she pulled away and punched him in the shoulder. "You said you wouldn't take that long! It's been almost two days since I heard from you! You could've at least played the song!"

"No I couldn't Saria," Tristan said, guiding her to the bed. "The communication magic wouldn't have worked where I went."

"Where did you go?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you."

They spent about an hour talking. Saria forgave him the moment she found out he had gone to another world. She kept looking at him in a knowing way whenever he started talking about Celina, so knowing in fact he changed topics as quick as he could. The sound of the others drew him outside for a minute, but after Tala said she'd show them the Sacred Forest Meadow, he came back in and Saria asked a question Tristan knew had been coming this whole time.

"So, do you like Celina?"

"Well… yes I do. I'm still not convinced she's the one, I mean come on I've known her all of three, maybe four days." Tristan said, slightly embarrassed. "And anyways, I'm only ten. I still have many years to make that decision."

"That's true. You still have a lot to learn about each other. She may not be the one for you at all. Don't worry though, like you said, you have many years to find out."

There was a slight catch in her voice that others would have missed, but Tristan heard it instantly. He knew she wished they could be together, but as she was a Kokiri, who would remain a kid forever, and he was a Hylian, who was bound to grow up one way or another, that could never be. The only way for that to happen was to collect all three Triforce pieces and use its power to make Saria a Hylian. But Tristan knew all too well that Saria was deeply in love with the forest, and he'd never take that away from her.

Saria stared at the floor. Tristan placed a hand on her shoulder and she immediately leaned against him. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close, savoring the moment. They stayed that way for some time, neither one wanting it to end, but end it did. They heard the other's voices again, and Saria stood up, wiping away her tears. Tristan stood as well and gave Saria one last hug. She in turn gave him one last kiss. Then they walked outside.