Sheik rode ahead of the others, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, and his mind away from the fates of those behind him.

None of them had survived, but if he let anything, anything at all slip about that, their deaths would come back and haunt them forever. They would break them, slowly, painfully, like it had happened to the king, like it had happened to so many who kept their memories.

"Sir, are you sure we can get in the kokiri forest?" asked the youngest voice from the soldiers, and Sheik threw a short glance back to see Kildeth, young and naïve. Just like he'd been before ganondorf's soldiers burned him alive at the entrance of Kakaroto village.

"Shut up Kildeth. The skull kids are just a stupid legend." said Veriath. Olen trotted until he stood next to Sheik.

"So, we cross through the path just like nothing? I mean, if it has been closed off for so many years there should be reason, right?"

"Yes. The skullkids are real"

Olen laughed nervously.

"Ha, ha, so funny."

"What is funny?"

"You don't really mean that there are cursed children there, right? That if we pass the night there we will become reanimated skeletons, right?"

"I do."

Olen stayed silent for a moment.

"But then…" he said suddenly, and Sheik stopped his horse at the entrance to the forest. A big owl cooed on top of one of the trees, looking down at them.

"We need to talk to sage Saria" sheik told it. The owl cooed, and turned over it's head.

"Sir?...Are you…are you talking to an owl?"

"What does it seems like I'm doing?"

"Ah, Sheik, don't be so cold" said a childish voice, and a little girl with green hair and clothes walked around a tree towards them. She stopped some paces away from the edge. On the morning sun, she looked almost transparent.

"Lady Saria"

The sage giggled.

"Don't call me that, Sheik. There is no necessary protocol here. I know why you're here, so don't worry, just follow me and it will be alright." She gestured for them to follow, and Sheik guided the others.

"W-who is she? Who are these sages?" asked Kildeth, and immediately recoiled, as he reminded the princess' warning. "I mean, if we can know! That's all, I'm not…demanding anything, you know."

"It's alright" said Saria "it wouldn't make much difference now anyway"

Sheik narrowed his eyes and jumped down from the horse, giving the reins to Orel. He ran up to Saria, feeling a strange sensation on the air around her. She smelled like recent rain.

"So you know what is going on." He said, knowing that the others listened, but he didn't care much for what the princess would do to him, and right then, he was the boss.

"We all know. And though we understand Zelda's reasons for hiding it from everyone…perhaps she should have asked for help sooner. Of course, Link could have said something too. His work with the Time Roads was much better than hers, but also more destructive. Ah, Link, I don't blame him but why didn't he come to us?"

"Perhaps he didn't want to appear as a failure. He was always so...responsible"

"He was too harsh on himself. Always wanting to prove something not even he could understand. Gods, I can only imagine his pain. Perhaps now we are all paying for the way we hurt him."

"Perhaps."

"Is it true, thought, that his Shadow has returned?"

Sheik bit his lip for a moment, the irony of it almost making him smile. The only thing that still remained of Link's adventure was the rumor of a hidden hero who projected no shadow.

"I think it could be said, that it never did leave completely."

"…That's good. If it's here, then there is hope for Link."

Saria crossed her arms over her chest, where a soft light shone. She extended them and a harp appeared.

"I must say…I do want to know, what happens. But this will also allow you to communicate with all of us. Should you need anything, just call, and I will help you. This is also not bound to Zelda's power, which will free you whenever you must do something she might not approve."

"…Thank you …Saria"

"I only want to help Link. I hope he's alright…I hope he can come back to help, while there is still time."

"What is the real problem Saria?"

She looked down, and shook her head.

"It's…complicated. The time roads are hitting against one another. Too many things that shouldn't happen or that have been confined to another timeline, are falling into another. You see…time is like a road. There is the past, the present and the future, all in one single line. But to ensure that Ganondorf would never come back, Zelda had to close him off in an 'alternate' timeline, where he couldn't escape. But then…then, she as a child gave Link permission to alter time as he wanted, with the aid of the royal ocarina. Link did so, not knowing what he was doing, and altered the two timelines, turning them into many more, some that converged on a single point, like a knot, and others that followed certain events. Some timelines are sealed, some are not. And now the mess has become unsustainable. We don't know what will happen when the time lines crash, but I'm willing to believe it won't be nice."

"I'm sure it won't. But…I can't imagine Link acting so recklessly. There must have been a good reason for him to do that."

"Oh, I'm sure there was, and I'm pretty sure it had something to do with what is happening to him now. In fact…I think it might have something to do with us, which Link has been hiding from us. But…"

"Hiding from you? How could he do that?"

"Sheik, although we are Sages, we are nowhere near as powerful as he. You have to understand that we might have been able to use our powers and work beyond death. But Link has lived for much, much longer than us."

"But, the time alterations, It must be about ten, maybe fourteen years."

Saria shook her head.

"No. After investigating the Time Roads, we think he might have lived for decades, after decades. I won't put him at a hundred years yet, of course not…but far too long, for too short."

"I don't understand"

"Unfortunately, neither do us. The key, as we have investigated, lies in putting together all the lost parts of himself that Link left in the many places he went to. But the problem is that most of those places could as well not even exist in our current timeline. That is why you need to keep Link's Shadow close, to find out as much as you can about what happened to Link. Only then we can prevent the disaster that looms over us. This is the end. Beyond this point, the forest is no more. And I cannot go out of it."

"…I know. I'm…sor-"

"No. Don't be. It's alright. Just take care of Link, make sure he's alright."