A/N: I'm sitting here the night before I plan to upload this, nervously wondering how people are going to react to this chapter, as I am taking some story telling risks with it. I would greatly appreciate feedback, because I want to know whether or not I pulled this off well. My explanation will be at the end of the chapter.

As a quick note, I want to give a shoutout to ShinyKing on AO3, who has written an interesting alternate take on the events following Link's… corruption, we'll say. If you get a chance, be sure to check that out!


Blight


"I don't know if I like us sneaking around like this."

"I know," Sheik whispered to his companion, bringing a finger up to his face to signal for silence. "But you must understand. There's no guarantee that magic seal will hold. I have to be here in case something happens. But I don't want Link to feel like we don't trust him."

"Do you trust him though?"

Sheik took a long breath. "I do. I know he has good in him. He has a good heart. And because of the position I'm in, I can't be the one to wake the sages, only he can. But..."

Sheik came to a stop, pausing in front of the rising elevator. "But he's only a child. A child who can be easily influenced. That's how Ganondorf got him the first time, I think. And now that he's back in the waking world, Ganondorf will stop at nothing to get him back. Remember, Link holds something Ganondorf covets, even if neither of them realizes it yet.

"The Triforce of Courage?"

Nodding, the Sheikah continued as he stepped onto the elevator. "Correct. If Link were to find out before expelling the darkness inside him, he and all the sages would be in grave danger."

"But isn't he in grave danger now? You heard that poe he was fighting earlier. They've already figured out what's holding the seal."

For just a second, Sheik hesitated. "It's a risk we have to take. Otherwise, Hyrule is doomed."

His companion was silent for a moment. "He never asked for this, you know. He agreed to gather the sacred stones without question, perhaps because he respected the Deku Tree. Or perhaps because he was young, and the prospect of adventure excited him. But this? This never should have happened."

"I know. And I'm sorry." Sheik began to walk again, his footsteps muffled by the blue carpet.

His companion followed silently, either unwilling to talk anymore or too upset to. But eventually she spoke again. "I just… It doesn't feel right. It feels deceptive, taking a bunch of his memories and then just telling him to go save the world."

Sheik nodded. "I understand where you're coming from, honestly. But would you rather him remember what he did, and mentally shut down? Surely, that would be worse. Besides, Rauru was hesitant enough to send him out in this condition. But the time it would have taken to do a total purification would have taken years more. Ganondorf had already started to make a move against the new sages. We couldn't afford to wait any longer."

The fairy had nothing to say to that.

He sighed, pausing to look at one of the paintings lining the wall, and tried changing the subject. "It's a shame we don't have a way to take these paintings back right now, or a place to take them to, for that matter. So much history was lost here when the forest became twisted all those centuries ago."

His companion continued her silent treatment, moving ahead to wait by the door. Not wanting to wait any longer, Sheik followed and pressed his ear up against the door. Hearing music behind the door, he let out a sigh of relief. Link must have found the sage.

"Who designed these doors?" he grumbled as he pushed on the stone, it slid with a bit of effort, though for now he only opened it a crack. He could hear voices conversing quietly in the open room.

"See," his companion whispered, "you had nothing to worry about."

Perhaps she was right. Sheik couldn't deny that the mood in the room seemed positive. He even heard the sound of Link's laughter; a good sign for sure!

But alas, their luck couldn't last forever, could it?


"Link!"

Skull Kid let out a cry of alarm as Link went down, barreled into by the phantom. He had almost no time to react, only managing to spring out of the way as it flew close before rising back into the air. At once, he heard Mido race up beside him, drawing his sword. But the phantom was just out of reach, holding Link's bag by a torn strap as if to taunt them. Skull Kid clenched a fist and began to reach for his flute and darts, but a gasp from Link pulled his attention away.

He was laying on his side, eyes flickering dimly. One hand clutched at the fabric of his tunic around his chest while the other scraped against the floor. He thrashed once before rolling onto his stomach, then climbed to his knees, trembling.

The spirit watched as Link tilted his head to look towards the phantom hovering above them. He followed Link's gaze for just a moment, watching as the phantom tossed aside the bag.

Link tried to call out something, but it came out so garbled that Skull Kid couldn't be sure what he said.

Then he slowly climbed to his feet.

Unease gnawed at Skull Kid's belly as Link fell silent, leaning over to pick up his bow. No longer were his movements pained. But instead smooth. Almost too smooth.

The younger skull kid reached back for an arrow and carefully nocked it, raising it up to aim.

And then he suddenly whipped around, faced Saria, and released.

There was no time for Skull Kid to react, no time for him to stop the deadly weapon as it shot through the air. Mido screamed beside him, rushing forward towards Link.

Saria was going to be struck; there was no time to save her. No time to stop the arrow.

Saria's fairy yelled something, dashing in front of the arrow. There was a "thunk" sound, a high-pitched squeal, and then she dropped to the ground, silent, pierced through by the arrow she'd desperately stopped.

Link hadn't waited to see if his first mark hit, already prepping a second arrow. But Mido had gotten close enough by now to tackle him, knocking the skull kid off his feet. Link made no noise, but twisted and thrashed in his grip, kneeing him in the chest to knock him away. The Kokiri let out a yelp, sliding back just a few feet.

Saria startled alert at the sounds of a struggle, scrambling back from the edge. But she stopped when she felt her hand brush up against something. She turned her head, before letting out a despairing cry and scooping up Tali's limp form.

"Saria, run!" Skull Kid called out, rushing forward towards Link, who had climbed back to his feet. He ran into him shoulder-first, knocking Link off balance without losing his own.

Looking up, Saria let out a gasp before climbing to her feet, pulling Tali's body close. Then she looked up to see the phantom hanging above them, watching the events unfold silently.

The phantom turned to look at her and then, noting that Link was preoccupied at the moment, raised his spear into the air. A crackle of energy sparked above the tip, a glowing yellow orb forming. She looked back to the fighting boys, realizing Link was between her and the exit. Her attention jerked back to the phantom, watching in horror as the orb grew bigger and bigger. Then he swung his spear, flinging the orb towards her.

She tried to jump out of the way, to dodge the dangerous energy hurtling towards her. The orb hit the ground just to her side and exploded, bolts of energy spreading out, some striking her. She let out a pained cry and fell to the ground, gasping, her limbs spasming.

Skull Kid, hearing Saria cry out, turned back from his fight with Link. The distraction was just enough to let Link get a punch in. He felt a fist connect with his lower jaw, sending him sprawling backwards.

Only Mido was still on his feet, facing Link with his sword drawn.

"What's gotten into you?" He cried out, dashing forward.

Link did not respond, disappearing with ease in a flurry of leaves. Mido slowed to a stop and whipped his head around in search of the skull kid, shocked. Before he had a chance to find Link, he felt a heavy blow to his back. He stumbled, and before he could regain his footing, he felt his feet swept from under him.

Hitting the ground hard, Mido groaned before trying to twist back to look at Link. The skull kid stood over him with a playful, toothy grin. But he did not attack him again. Not right now. No, he instead began to walk towards where Saria had gone down.

"No!" Mido called out, trying to climb back to his feet. He turned his head slightly, catching sight of Skull Kid hastily loading a dart. He shot it, sending it whizzing through the air. But it never reached Link.

The ground seemed to rumble for a moment as the skull kid paused, turning. He raised a hand, and thick, thorny vines broke through the marble floor, separating them from Link and Saria. Mido barely managed to get to his feet. And began to stumble towards the vines.

But before he could reach them, there was a loud "crack!"

Smoke began to pour into the room, obscuring the ground in front of them. He felt someone push him to the side and cried out as he fell over the platform's edge, landing hard at the bottom of the stairs. Silently, he thanked Farore for his resilience.

A second later, he heard someone drop to the ground beside him. He groaned, trying to get back to his feet, then let out an alarmed cry when he saw a pillar of flame burst into the air above.

"Don't just stand there, move!"

Mido raised his head to see a fairy fluttering just in front of him. She fluttered down, grabbing hold of his hand and tried to drag him forward.

"Come on, we have to get to the elevator!"

"But - But Saria-" Mido tried to protest, but the fairy cut him off.

"Sheik's gonna get her. But we have to regroup!"

Mido hesitated just a few seconds longer, then turned and began to stumble forward. Satisfied, the fairy turned back to get Skull Kid, who followed a few seconds later.

"Hey, aren't you-"

"Not right now!" the fairy said before Skull Kid could finish that question.

They stumbled back through the empty hall, back into the marble-floored room with the blue carpet, and stopped just outside the elevator.

Neither of them would leave without Saria.

Fortunately, they did not have to wait long. Not even a minute passed before Sheik raced through the door towards them, carrying a limp Saria in his arms.

"Get on the elevator!" he shouted. "We don't have much time!"

Mido did as he was told, grabbing hold of and leaning against one of the pillars.

Skull Kid hesitated a few seconds longer, staring at Sheik with distrust, but climbed aboard anyways.

The elevator started to move. Sheik leapt the last few feet, just barely managing to land in time. He steadied himself and then turned back to the cracked-open door, where smoke was still pouring out.

A figure burst forth from the smoke, racing forward with a bow in one hand.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Mido called out in alarm.

Sheik looked back to the two boys, then to Link, who had stopped right inside the round room and began to draw his bow.

At once, he spun around. "Hold her for a second," he instructed before unceremoniously dumping Saria into Skull Kid's arms. The forest spirit sagged, falling to the ground from the sudden weight. But at least he cushioned her fall.

As soon as Sheik's arms were free, he spun around reached for a knife strapped to his thigh. He wasted no time hurling it at Link, catching the Skull Kid in the arm. It was just enough to throw off his aim, the arrow whizzing by harmlessly.

The last thing he saw before the elevator moved out of sight was Link wrenching the knife free, a wide, disturbing smile on his face as he watched them disappear.

An uneasy silence filled the air as they rode the last bit in silence, Sheik moving to take Saria back.

"Is she…" Mido started, trailing off before he could finish the thought.

Sheik shook his head. "She's still alive. But badly injured. If we keep her safe, she'll recover."

"Hey, what about Link?" Skull Kid said, stepping towards Sheik. "What happened, are you just going to leave him behind like that?"

"Yeah!" Another voice said. From behind Sheik, the fairy from before appeared, fluttering closer to Skull Kid. "We can't just leave him back there!"

Sheik turned his head away for a moment. "We won't have to. He's going to come to us." He turned his head back to face the three. "Listen, we don't have much time. Link and the phantom Ganondorf are going to be chasing after us to get to Saria."

"Why though?" Mido asked with an exasperated look.

The elevator came to a stop. Sheik hopped off first, moving away from the center quickly. Skull Kid, Mido, and the fairy followed after him after a few hesitant seconds.

"I didn't see exactly what happened in there, but why it happened…" Sheik let out a long breath, shifting on his feet. "Seven years ago, Link tried to stand up to Ganondorf, and suffered dearly for it. I wasn't there to see it, but Navi saw it firsthand."

"Navi?" Mido asked. He turned his head to the fairy.

Skull Kid spoke first. "I knew it! I knew I recognized that voice."

The fairy flew a bit closer. "That's right. I've been waiting seven years for Rauru to let him out of the Sacred Realm, but he doesn't know I'm here yet."

"He doesn't remember any of it, in fact," Sheik added. "When Rauru tried to seal the curse, he also tried to seal Link's memories in hopes of keeping him from being overwhelmed by what he did."

"By… what he did?" Skull Kid asked.

Sheik hesitated, averting his gaze down to Saria.

"They deserve to know," Navi insisted. When Sheik did not answer, she let out a huff and spoke instead.

"The previous sages had long ago left the mortal world, becoming spirits in the Sacred Realm. Under Ganondorf's orders, Link entered the Sacred Realm and, well, struck down five of the six sages. And now that Ganondorf has Link back under his sway, he wants to send them after their replacements."

Navi fluttered down to rest on top of Saria. "He's trying to kill the new sages before they awaken, dooming Hyrule."

All eyes turned to Saria's unconscious form. "But… Link would never hurt Saria," Skull Kid protested.

"I believe you," Sheik replied, "but Link isn't exactly in control anymore. I don't know exactly how his curse works, but…" He shook his head, his voice turning sharp as he jerked his head back to the descending elevator. "Listen, we don't have time to dwell on things. Both Link and that phantom will be here any minute now. We need to prepare for the fight."

He stopped near the edge of the room, near the front exit. "One of you will need to stay back and defend Saria. Both of our enemies have ranged attacks, and Link can get in close at any moment with his teleportation magic."

"How though?" Skull Kid asked. "Earlier today he couldn't use magic at all."

"It was linked to the seal. Any control over magic was a way for Ganondof's curse to strike. Any use of it would slowly give him more control over Link. Now that he's back under Ganondorf's influence, there's nothing stopping him. And Ganondorf is… overloading his magic as well. Making him use as much as he can, even if it hurts him. That's how he was able to summon the vines back in the other room."

"But that could kill him!" Skull Kid protested.

"Do you think Ganondorf cares?" Navi replied.

Skull Kid had no answer to that, clenching his hands into fists.

While they talked, Mido ran back towards the center of the room, returning less than a minute later dragging the shield Link had dropped. "This should help us defend against those ranged attacks," he announced. "I'll stay back and defend Saria. I dropped my weapon back there, but I can hold a shield just fine."

"But what are we going to do about Link though?" Skull Kid asked.

"Incapacitate him," Sheik replied. "Knock him out or hold him down. If you can do that, then I can do something to keep him from attacking, at least until we can retrieve the medallion." He paused, reached down for another knife, and handed it to Skull Kid.

"Here, you can use this to fight. It might be more effective than those darts of yours."

Skull Kid gave him a hard look. "Why should I trust you though?"

Sheik sucked in a long breath of air. "I get it, I really do. But you can see what happened to Link. Who do you believe more: me, or the phantom trying to kill you all? I promise I only have good intentions."

For a moment, Skull Kid stared, face stony. But finally, he begrudgingly took the knife before turning away. "Fine. But you better be telling the truth. Or I'll put a scorpion down your shirt."

Sheik said nothing, turning his attention to the center of the room. "They're coming," he announced, reaching for two more knives. He tossed one back to Mido before taking one for himself.

Sure enough, the top of the elevator had just crested the floor, raising up agonizingly slowly. Skull Kid stepped forward, his stance nervous, while Sheik stepped forward with more confidence. The elevator came to a stop.

There was a moment of hesitance as the two parties stared each other down. It was hard to see in the dim light, but Skull Kid could make out a gob of discolored sap oozing out of the wound on Link's arm.

Link lifted his bow. The phantom shifted backwards out of the elevator before raising into the air, the beginnings of an orb of energy sparking at the end of his weapon.

Skull Kid Leapt forward, disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Sheik zigzagged as she dashed towards the two enemies, making it harder for Link to take aim. Distracted by the Sheikah's movements, Link didn't notice when Skully reappeared behind him. He reached up from behind, hooking his arms underneath Link's, and tugged, trying to pull him back.

"Snap out of it!" He cried out. "Please Link, I don't want to fight you!"

Link did not answer. Instead, he jerked forward, dragging Skull Kid with him, and spun, slamming him into one of the elevator's pillars.

Skull Kid let out a pained cry but refused to let go.

Then he felt something wrap around his waist and constrict. Glancing down, he realized that one of the vines lining the wall had grown all the way out to him and was now trying to pull him away. As it squeezed harder and harder, he was forced to let go to hack himself free with the borrowed knife.

That was all the opening Link needed. Immediately, he spun around and delivered a swift punch to the gut, hard enough that Skull Kid heard his bark crack. He doubled over in pain, forced to warp a few feet back to avoid another strike. For just a second, he glanced up to see what Sheik was doing, then had to spring out of the way of another attack.

Sheik, meanwhile, focused his efforts on fighting the phantom. He threw one of his last two knives, managing to strike the phantom in the leg and draw its attention.

"Down here!" He shouted.

He heard the phantom grumble something unintelligible. Then it drew back its weapon and swung, hurling the orb of energy his way.

Sheik stood still, watching the magic fly closer and closer. Then, at the last second, he lashed out, striking it with his knife. The strength behind his blow was enough to send the projectile flying back towards Phantom Ganon.

The phantom, shocked, was just a second too late to respond. Electrical energy coursed through his form as he spasmed, drooping just a little lower in the air. Sheik took the opportunity to strike, rushing forward and lashing out at the spectral form.

Mido ducked behind the shield as Link broke free from Skull Kid's attacks just long enough to launch an arrow, the projectile clattering harmlessly against metal. Link had already begun to grab ready another, but a pitiful slash at his chest from skull kid stopped him, taking his attention away.

The Kokiri let out a nervous sigh, stealing a glance back at Saria before returning his attention back to the fight unfolding in front of him. He cried out in alarm, watching as the phantom swung out, catching Sheik with the blunt part of his spear. The man let out a pained grunt, knocked back several feet.

Were they losing?

A groan from behind him made Mido turn his head for a moment. He began to watch as Saria shook with effort, trying to sit up, but had to turn his attention back to the fight to block a magical projectile. Sparks flew off around the shield, and the force of the blow sent him skidding back a few feet.

"Mido?"

He looked back again and caught sight of Saria on her knees. There was a distant look in her eye as she looked at Mido, and then past him to the ongoing fight.

"Saria," Mido asked, "can you move?"

She looked over to him and nodded slowly. "I… think so."

Mido offered a hand back without taking his eyes off of the fight. "Then come on, we gotta get you out of here. They're after you, right?"

Saria carefully climbed to her feet, looking back to the battle. Link had lured Skull Kid near the edge of the room, forcing him to fend off vines as they grew and tried to wrap around and lash out at him. Sheik struggled to keep the attention of the phantom, but that, at least was not a losing battle.

Looking back to Mido, Saria shook her head.

"I can't leave."

Mido's face fell slightly. He turned back to give her a serious look. "Come on, you have to!"

"Mido…" Saria opened her mouth to say more but cut off when she heard a pained cry. Turning back, she caught sight of Skully being lifted into the air by vines as they wrapped tighter and tighter around his waist.

She turned back to Mido with a serious, determined expression, and uttered a single sentence.

"Do you trust me?"

Caught off guard, Mido stuttered, "O-of… Of course, I do!"

And then she smiled a serene grin.

"It's going to be okay, Mido."

She took a step forward, unsteady but determined. Mido tried to step in front of her defensively, but she held out a hand to stop him; he hesitantly stepped aside.

First, she focused her attention on the vines ensnaring Skull Kid, threatening to swallow him up. In her mind, she reached out to the magic of the forest, calling upon it, begging it to listen to her instead.

The magic responded, listening to her whispers, and the vines began to loosen.

But then something, some twisted and tainted burst of forest magic challenged her, trying to pull the sway back into its control. The vines began to grow stronger.

She glanced up towards Link, and saw that he had stopped fighting, his face twisted in fury as he tried to get the vines to obey him.

But his skill was clunky and unrefined. He – nor whatever held sway over him – hadn't spent years refining their connection to forest magic. With a loud cry, she raised her other hand, calling one of the unused vines forth. It flew from the wall, lashing out at the attacking skull kid, giving her just enough time to seize control.

Slowly, the vines began to weaken their grip. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, focusing harder, then raised a hand and at once, the vines went limp, giving Skull Kid a chance to warp free.

Link turned his attention towards Saria, realizing quickly who was interfering. He turned away from Skully, raising his bow again to quickly release an arrow.

Saria responded to the attack by raising a row of thick, tangled roots in front of her, drawing from the tree outside. Wood burst through the floor, sending a small shower of broken tiling scattering everywhere.

Nearby, Sheik let out a battle cry, dashing in the direction of Saria to catch a magical attack sent her way. With a single strike, he knocked the blow back towards the phantom. It responded by volleying it back. But Sheik still held his ground.

One of the roots snaked up behind him, knocking the magical energy back with surprising speed.

The blow was enough to send the phantom flying backwards, skidding against the ground several feet back. Sheik wasted no time rushing the monster, unwilling to let this chance go to waste.

The phantom's eyes went wide as it locked gazes with Sheik.

"This is for my people."

Raising a hand above his head, Sheik buried his knife deep within the phantom's throat. It let out a garbled cry, then went limp. Under his grip, Sheik felt the body began to heat up, and by the time he leapt away, it had burst into flames, the magical energy dissipating and being called back to its master.

He let out a relieved sigh. One less enemy to worry about. That only left Link.

Only… where was Link?

He looked back to where he had last seen Link fighting, and only saw Skull Kid sprawled out on the floor, attempting to get back to his feet.

A pained scream whipped his attention back to Mido and Saria.

The root wall still stood in front of Saria, but it was quickly receding. As it dropped further, the reason for its disappearance became clear.

Saria had fallen forward, a red stain quickly spreading on the back of her clothes. Mido stood nearby, frozen and horror with his shield raised, halfway between the steps he'd been taking towards her attacker.

And behind her stood Link, stand with a bloody knife in one hand as vines began to weakly weave their way around his arms. He strained against them weakly, but the vague expression on his face suggested shock.

"Saria!"

Sheik glanced back, noting that Skull Kid was trying to run towards his fallen friend, limping along and stumbling forward. At first, Sheik began to step towards him, to help him along. But then he turned away; no, he had to see to Saria first. If she were to die...

But there was something that had to take precedence even over that. The initial shock had worn off on Link, and now he had begun to fight back again, jerking erratically as he tried to pull free from the vines. But they held firm. If nothing else, it gave Sheik a little bit of hope. For the moment, Saria was still alive.

But he had a threat he still needed to neutralize.

As he stepped towards Link, he brought his hands together, taking a deep breath. There were many things he'd learned in his seven years of training, both physical and spiritual. But it seemed like he always ended up back at magic.

Closing his eyes for just a moment, he focused on drawing up the magic of light inside him. From there, he channeled the energy into his hands, opened his eyes and stepped directly in front of Link. For just a moment, the corrupted forest spirit paused in his struggles, staring up at Sheik with a look of curiosity.

Sheik placed one hand on Link's head and another on Link's chest. Then he uttered a short series of words.

"Spirit. Rest. Spirit. To Sacred Realm."

He envisioned himself sending out a pulse of energy through his hands. At once, Link's struggles ceased, his eyes going dim, then flickering out entirely. He went limp, held up only by the vines.

Sheik let out a relieved sigh. Hopefully, Rauru would be able to handle things from there. He had other things he had to deal with.

Namely, Saria.

Turning back to the fallen sage, he noted that Mido had fallen to his knees at her side, and that Skull Kid had reached her, but was standing back nervously a few feet away. Navi and Ren, too, had approached, one fairy fluttering on either side of Mido, whispering nervously to each other about their lack of healing magic.

It pained him, listening to Mido muttering things to the girl, begging for her to be alright.

But he could already see from here that Saria would not be alright.

The girl was still breathing, albeit shallowly. Her fingers trembled as she tried to reach up for Mido's hand. The boy reached down to take it, her fingertips lightly brushing up against his own.

Sheik approached slowly, kneeling down to get a better look at her wound, to see if there was anything he could do. He gingerly pulled at her clothing, opening the rip to get a better look.

If it had been a slash attack, a single slice across the back, she probably would have been okay. But no, Link - the monster controlling Link - had gone for a stab, burying the knife deep into her back.

He could hear Saria whisper as he tried to work, to stop the bleeding, though he knew the chances that it would save her were slim.

"M... Mido," the girl mumbled.

Mido responded by squeezing her hand. "Y-yes?"

She smiled slightly, a faint expression in the dying light. "I... know that... that this going to be... hard... but... It's going to be okay... When... When I woke as a sage I... Understood. I'm going to have to... go away. But I'll still be with you in spirit. Take care of everyone in the forest for me, will you? Be the leader you always wanted to be."

"S-Saria no I-I-" Mido tried to say something more, but she had already turned her attention to Skull Kid.

"Skully... Will you stand by Link for me? I... Think he needs a friend, now more than ever."

The forest spirit stared unblinking for a few seconds before her question registered. "Why can't you stay with us?" Skull Kid protested. "You weren't supposed to go away again!"

To that, she smiled again, but only repeated the question. "Will you stand by Link?"

Skull Kid looked away. But he did respond in a choked-up voice, "of... o-of course I will."

"Good..." She began to take her hand away from Mido but paused. "Rauru said that as long as my spirit returns to the Sacred Realm before I die, it can persist there. Sheik, was it? Would you... could you help me with that? I... don't think I can... focus on it right now."

Sheik jolted out of his thoughts, caught off-guard by his name. He looked down to the girl, realization hitting him. "Of course, I will. Please, stay still."

Just as he had with Link before, Sheik brought his hands together, drawing up the light magic from within. Then he placed his hands-on Saria, one on the head and one on the back. Then he mumbled the words, "spirit. To Sacred Realm." And with a pulse of magic, Saria's spirit separated from her body, and she went limp.

For a moment or two longer, Saria continued to breathe laboriously as her body tried to keep on living. But it grew weaker and weaker, until finally, her body stilled.

"Saria? Saria!" Mido shook her body. Gently at first, but then roughly in hopes of rousing her. But she didn't move, didn't respond. He let out a loud, anguished cry, then slumped forward.

Sheik was silent as he listened to the boy sob. Skull Kid had sat down in front of Saria's body, but he seemed hesitant to approach, a distant expression on his face. He turned his attention away from the forest dwellers and instead looked down to his own hands, stained in Saria's blood from his futile rescue attempts.

Ruefully, he wondered how much more blood was on the hands of his people. Even worse, he wondered how much of that blood was on his hands. How many people had he failed when Ganondorf took power? How many bodies burned to ash? How many left behind. How many restless souls?

A loud "thunk" from behind him roused Sheik out of his thoughts. As he looked back, he noticed Link's body had fallen to the ground, the vines supporting it already wilting away now that Saria wasn't there to channel magic into them.

It finally occurred to Sheik that he had important matters to handle. More important than dwelling on unknown things. He turned his attention to Skull Kid and cleared his throat.

It took the forest spirit - who had turned his attention to Link's limp form - a moment to realize that Sheik was trying to catch his attention. When he did finally notice, he gave Sheik an angry, distrustful look, but it soon melted away to sadness, or perhaps concern. "Is... Is Link going to be okay?"

Sheik hesitated. Would he be? Rauru had already expelled so much energy to seal the darkness inside Link the first time. And it had taken several years for him to reach this point, at that.

But he still gave Skull kid a reassuring nod. "He... should be. But... I need you to do a favor for me. For Link." When Skull Kid said nothing, he explained, jerking his head towards the center of the room. "I need you to go back and find Link's things. The medallion in particular is important."

Skull Kid's stare turned distrustful again. "Why can't you do it?"

"I have something else I have to do here," Sheik explained. "I... may have to vouch for Link's character. I need to start now. I promise I or Navi will explain to you later. Okay?"

Skull Kid continued to stare for another moment, a silence stretching out that made Sheik wonder if he was going to say no. But finally, he turned and gave a single affirming nod. "You better keep that promise."

Letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, Sheik nodded in turn. "Of course, I will. Good Luck, Skull Kid."

Navi rose up from consoling Mido, staring straight at Skull Kid. "Don't worry, I'll be right here to make sure nothing happens to Link, okay?"

"Sure, did a good job of that so far," Skull Kid muttered. Then he turned and left.

Navi turned her attention back to Mido, returning to rest comfortably on his shoulder and whisper to him. Sheik nodded his thanks before taking a seat on the floor; comforting and consoling people in these situations was not his strong suit.

He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sounds of Mido's sniffles. The child was going to hurt for some time, yes. But there was little more he could do without making the situation worse.

So instead he turned to introspection and meditation. After the Sacred Realm was opened, he had quickly learned about his affinity with its sacred grounds. And with time, he'd learned how to project his spirit there. It had become a useful tool, over time. There, he'd been able to meet with Rauru. There, he learned about what had happened to Link. There, they had hatched a plan to awaken the rest of the sages. And there, they concluded that they needed Link to do so. If nothing else, they needed him to overcome his curse, before the Triforce of Courage manifested within him.

He couldn't blame Rauru for his misgivings, for being hesitant to release the hero in this state, even if he understood Sheik's reasoning. In the end, he only agreed to do so if Link's memory was wiped. But after the curse broke free, those memories must have returned. That thought alone was enough to put a pit of unease in Sheik's stomach.

And as he broke the mental barrier into the Sacred Realm, he only hoped that he'd be able to convince Rauru a second time.


A/N: So, that just happened. I want to give a quick explanation. The idea of Saria making a heroic sacrifice was something that I bounced around in my head even before the idea of having Link get cursed, albeit under different circumstances. I went back and forth on it again and again, and decided that it added a flavor I wanted to the story and character arc for Link that I wanted to explore. Hopefully, it didn't feel too off or contrived. That's why I'd like to hear feedback. Was this something interesting that pulled at heartstrings? Or was it something that fell flat? Did you not like it at all? Let me know!

If all goes as planned, the next chapter should be up sometime between the 20th and the 23rd. Until next time.