(ZGen/Rom/Drama)The Song of Saria (T)

A/N: I wrote this fanfic a few months ago, and while it only went through one revision, I still want constructive criticism, please! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy.

It is frightening to look Death in the face, is it not?

The Spirit of Ganon flies into my face and I send magic from my fingertips into His own face. If you can call His a face. All I can see is a black abyss, red lights for eyes…and my imminent death.

This Spirit is a blight on my beautiful woodland Temple, and He must be vanquished even if I lay down my life for it to take place. We all wait, the whole of Hyrule waits, for the Hero of All Time to awaken and purge our beautiful world of evil, but until then, sacrifices must be made. And Goddesses help me, I will be the first sacrifice if need be. I will do all I possibly can do!

The Spirit flings his long scepter with simple flicks of the wrist and throws magic my way once more. Once again, I summon my waning magic to my forearm and form a opalescent shield to buffet the ball of black magic back to him. He blocks the projectile and sends it back to me. This repeats until someone gets hurt. He is more experienced than I in the art of battle, and I’m the one who often absorbs the magic. Goddesses! How it shakes me to the core of my core and pains me more each time it hits me.

The evil Spirit sees that I’ve fallen down onto my hands and knees and takes advantage of my vulnerability. He once again slides His black magic my way and I desperately shield my face with an open hand, but I take in the shock and blink back tears of frustration, fury, and fear as I find myself flat on my face. I’m frustrated that I can’t get any hits in; I furious that he continues to be a blemish on my world; and I’m fearful of my imminent death. The Kokiri never die except in extreme situations.

Such as this one.

No Kokiri child has ever died before. I’m aware I may be the first.

No. I know I will be the first. And if it does anything to help fight the war against the Incarnation of Evil, then I should not be afraid of death any longer.

I pull myself up from my facedown position and ready myself for a final attack, no matter how weak it might be. The Spirit laughs a laugh so evil that it hurts me more than any of his physical attacks. He sees the blood on my face and clothes, He sees that there is a gaping whole in the side of my head where he jabbed the end of his scepter. He sees that I’m weakening, that my magic powers are almost out. But what He doesn’t see is that I have no fear in my eyes.

He does not see that the Hero of All Time came awake at the same time that I fell onto my face. I know that he is awake because I feel it in the very marrow of my bones. And the Spirit does not see that even if I do not defeat Him, then the Hero of All Time will.

“You…Will….Never….Conquer….Hyrule!” I scream in overwhelming joy to the Evil that swirls around my limp body. The Hero of All Time has awakened, and nothing shall be the same ever again!! All forms of the Incarnation of Evil will be destroyed by this great Hero, and evil will no longer be in existence for years to come.

And I rejoice that I’m the first to die in the name of freedom.

The Spirit notes that I’m no longer playing the martyr for the sake of my friends in the Kokiri Forest. Now he sees that I don’t care if I die. Now he sees in my eyes that He will be defeated. If not by me, then by the Hero of All Time himself.

The Spirit’s demeanor changes to one of freakish anger, and He hurls a ball of black magic toward me, but it’s much larger than the other ones He’s been throwing.

It hits me. And O, Goddesses above, it hurts.

The Spirit of Ganon has killed me. His bloody work done, he disappears into a wall.

But I am released from my physical body. I am released from the pain of this world, released from the cage that the Incarnation of Evil forced me into.

My soul is taken into the Great Soul of the Forest Temple, and there it will stay until the Hero of All Time comes and releases me into the white ocean that is for those who died fighting evil.

My part in this world is over.

Almost.

Here He comes.

The Hero of All Time.

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As I look around the Temple which had been so involved in my life on the earth, a flood of memories come back to me. Memories of playing in the Kokiri Forest, petty gossip with my girlfriends, my love for the Great Deku Tree, the sight of a newborn fairy, of breaking up fights between Mido and Link.

Ah. Link…I miss you, Link…

I played in the sand underneath the boughs of the Great Deku Tree, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation that the Great Tree was having with an outsider woman that had somehow come in with a baby. It was beyond me how the outsider woman had come into our Forest in the first place, but she looked awfully pretty. But there was a great amount of blood on her torso. I had never seen blood or the gashes they came from in my entire life. They deeply disturbed me. For some odd reason, I hoped that they were coming from the woman and not from the squirming baby in her delicate arms.

I could tell from a distance that the baby was a darling child. He had duck-fuzz hair, and his curled hands shook when he cried. I noted that for a young baby, he was very aware of what was happening around him. I believe that he was crying for his mother. Even as an innocent child that I was then, I saw that her injuries were fatal and that she did not have long to live.

As I finished this last thought, the woman collapsed onto her side, still holding the baby tightly.

“Saria.” The Great Deku Tree called me. “Take the child and care for him as long as he shall need it.”

I jumped up to obey, and ran over to the dead woman. But I hesitated as I approached. I had never seen an outsider before, let alone a dead one, and I had certainly never touched a dead outsider.

“Fear not, dear one. The woman cannot hurt you. Pick the child up.”

I gently slid the baby out from his mother’s arms. He was wailing, but as I looked beneath the blanket he was wrapped in, I could see no visible marks on his skin. He relaxed his tiny muscles the minute I cuddled him to my bosom and his cries dwindled to quiet whimpers.

I turned to the Great Deku Tree. “What do I do with a baby?”

“If he is hungry, feed juices him from the fruits of my branches. When he is sleepy, sing him to sleep with your song. When he is fussy, massage his neck and back until he calms.”

“Can he have a fairy?” I queried.

The Great Deku Tree sighed and his leaves rustled with the noise. “This child is special. I feel it in the Forest’s elements. I don’t believe that he should have a fairy until the proper time comes.”

This concerned me. “The other children will make fun of him. He won’t be whole until he receives a fairy companion….”

“I know, child, I know. But a special child takes a special fairy, and it will take time for me to create a fairy to match his gifts and strengths. It took two and ten years for me to create a fairy for you, little one.”

I sat down stunned. The baby in my arms was sucking on his fingers noisily and was starting to drift into sleep.

“Why did it take that long, Great Deku Tree?”

“Because it took that long to read your destiny and create you with the strengths you needed to fulfill that destiny.”

Now I was more confused than ever. As soon as Kokiri children were created, a fairy was quickly matched to them to be their companions for eternity. A fairy and a child were created simultaneously, and the fairy was made to reflect the same power as the child had. Did it take that long to create me?

“When will you start on the baby’s fairy?” I asked.

“I already have.” The Great Deku Tree answered.

I nodded, but I was not fully satisfied, and began to walk out of the Great Deku Tree’s meadow to bring him to my house. I remembered something.

“Does he have a name?”

“No,” came the answer.

“May I name him?”

“You may, child.”

I thought for a moment.

“He shall be called Link, because he came from the outside and now lives among the Kokiri. He is the link between our two worlds.”

“It is good.” The Deku Tree said.

I smiled, looked down at the baby, and walked to my house.
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Comments? Criticisms?

This Fiction is done pretty well, and you can actually put yourself in Saria's place. An excellent piece, keep on writing if that is what you wish to do. The characterisation is done very well, I would like to see more of your work.

A/NThank you, wolfer-2. I'm going to post a few more chapters. Thanks to everyone who read!

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The other Kokiri children oohed and ahhed as I brought little Link through the forest to my home. The female Kokiri squealed and leaned into Link’s face to coo and make baby talk. The male Kokiri rejoiced that they would soon have someone else to wrestle and box with. The other female Kokiri and I rolled our eyes and exchanged glances that said, ‘Yes indeed. Boys will truly be boys.’

Goddesses, how time raced by.

I met his needs whenever it was called for, and soon he was no longer a baby but a toddler, then from a toddler into middle childhood. One day, we celebrated his ninth birthday. That was the first time I cried. I looked at him across piles of the Great Deku Tree’s fruit and through dancing children and I saw how he had grown. All the Kokiri children had stayed the same including myself, but he had grown and would continue to grow.

There was something in my heart that had nagged me from the day I took him into my home. If Link continues to grow, then one day, he will leave the forest. He was an outsider when he came in, and he is destined to explore the land of his birth. He will leave one day. But I never told him he was not a Kokiri. That would not have been my place.

But this knowledge pierced me to the core of my heart. Link had rooted himself into me, and the mere thought of him leaving one day made me cry even on the sunniest spring day. I loved him, mostly because I had taken care of him so much as a young child, but increasingly more because…well…he looked as though the Goddesses had personally fashioned him. I was a girl, it was natural for me to notice such things as this. When we touched, my back grew hot. When we spoke, I often stumbled.

I know now that many people call this confusing group of emotions “first love pangs”. I’ll agree with that. Link was a handsome child to look at, and he had stolen my heart. Apparently he had also stolen most of the Kokiri females’ hearts’ as well, but he only returned affection (albeit the way most boys do when they “crush” on a girl) to me. He played with the other girls, but he liked me. I could see it in his eyes.

Link was such a quiet spirit. While he enjoyed rough-housing with his male friends, he tended to be on the shy side and blanched white as Maeve’s fairy whenever he accidentally offended or injured someone. He never imposed on anyone, rarely asked for favors, but he had a courageous side that often unnerved us all. Once, a rabid Gohma wandered into our forest, and without a second thought, he ran straight up to it and began beating it with a large stick. The Great Deku Tree quickly sent power to kill the little beast, but not before Link had badly injured it. The girls swooned all over him after that. And I’ll admit that I too fell a little harder for him. Mido, the self-titled leader of the Kokiri, couldn’t stand the attention being given to Link, but there wasn’t anything he could really do. Just make Link’s life a little more miserable.

Link now had his own house, and when he wasn’t playing with us, avoiding Mido, or talking with me, he often slept.

One morning, I climbed up the ladder to his tree home and peeked into his tiny room. There in the back of the house, Link lay on his bed, but he was thrashing. I put aside all manners and just ran in to try ease his agitation.

I put my hands on his shoulder and hip. I remember how dumbstruck I felt when I touched his sweat-soaked clothes. Link’s delicate eyelids fluttered in his sleep, and I could see through the eyelids at his wildly roving eyes. Something was wrong here.

The forest was supposed to offer protection against nightmares, Kokiri or no. For Link to have what was obviously a nightmare meant that shield was either wavering or no longer present. Something was very wrong here.

I decided to wake Link and try to break the dream. I shook him, gently at first and then not so gently. “Link, Link, wake up! Answer me!” He opened his eyes, and there were tears in them. “Whatever happened?” I asked urgently. Link shook his head, buried face into his pillow, and sobbed as though world were ending that very morning. O Goddesses above, help me. Something’s wrong and Link is receiving that wrongness through his dreams…

I crawled into bed beside him and held him tightly. He laid his head on my chest, much like he did when he was still a tiny babe. How he shivered! Link continued to sob, but more quietly this time. “What can I do?” He asked me brokenly. “I don’t know.” I answered. I held his head to my neck and laid my cheek on his golden hair. Why Link? Why, of all the children in this Forest, would something like this happen to him? Was it because he was an outsider? All he needed was friendship and shelter, did this wrongness begrudge him that?

“Link, can you try to go back to sleep?” I whispered. “I’m going to talk to the Great Deku Tree and see what he thinks is happening.” I felt him nod on my chest. I pulled the thick blanket over us and sang my special song until his eyes drooped shut again.

I made that song when Link first came into my home. Back then, I often pulled out my favorite musical instrument, a little wooden thing called an ocarina, and played until my fingers were sore from plugging up the various musical holes. Baby Link flapped his arms happily as I played a fast bolero, then gazed in wonder as I played a mournful serenade. But he sighed in real contentment as I played a song of my own making. It was a beautiful song that I had composed during my wanderings in the Lost Woods. The sounds of the forest lent themselves into my song, and I received my inspiration from them. The more I played it, the more…power…it seemed to have.

Link was finally in a deep sleep. I got up carefully, making sure not to stir him as best as I could. I tucked my side of the blanket underneath him so as to keep him warm. I stood back and gazed at my friend. There was such love in my heart for him, both in friendship and in something a little more. There’s that ‘first love pang’ again. I admired his back that rose and fell with his breath. The sweet face that was cushioned in the pillow couldn’t have been more beautiful.

There was nothing I wanted more than to get back into bed with him and kiss him on the lips with all my might. My heart beat painfully in my ribcage, and I forced my feet to turn and do as I had promised Link. I’m not sure if he would have appreciated some of my thoughts concerning he and I, but who knows. He might have been quite pleased and even encouraged the visions. To a certain extent, I believe that he had already.

With my firmly mission in mind, I ran to the Great Deku Tree’s meadow. The Great Tree knew I was coming before I had set out from Link’s house though, and He welcomed me warmly when I arrived, out of breath. I smiled and returned the welcome. The thoughts of Link had decorated my face in two bright pink spots on my cheeks. I held my hands up and felt the heat emanating from them. I know this did not escape the Great Tree’s attention, though he didn’t say anything at the time.

“My child, I see there is distress in your eyes. What has come to pass?”

“Link’s been having nightmares.” I needn’t have said anymore.

The Great Deku Tree sighed a pained sigh and the whole of him shivered. “I know. Then it is almost time.”

“Almost time for what?” I asked. I already knew the answer and I was afraid to hear it spoken aloud.

“It’s almost time for him to set out from the Forest.” I could only plop down in the soft grass in an overwhelmed state of grief.

“Great Deku Tree, forgive my selfishness please, but why must he leave?” I cried.

“Sweet Saria, Link has been destined from birth to purge the world, including this Forest of evil. That was what he was created for, and the Forest isn’t the only place where evil is starting to grow. Thus, he must leave here to save other places from evil. It pains me also to see him prepare to go. I too have come to love him dearly, but not as much, I think, as you’ve come to love him. And not quite in the same fashion, am I correct?” He ended so gently, I couldn’t help but look him in the eyes, smile and say, “You’re right.”

He smiled as well, making me blush harder than I ever have in my whole life. He saw right through me. His invisible gaze into my soul got uncomfortable, and I tried to change the subject.

“Is Link’s fairy almost ready to be born?”

“Yes, she is.”

“Do you know how much longer?”

“In a short amount of time. For Link to have nightmares this early means that his departure from the Forest will also come earlier than I expected. He will need his fairy companion soon. Would you like to see her?”

I grinned and nodded. I ran to the sacred bark of the Great Deku Tree and climbed up to his lower branches. He parted the leaves for me to see my way up. About midway through, I saw a glowing nest. I looked closer, and saw a tiny body and two pairs of wings that were dripping wet. She had just been born! She was so new that she hadn’t achieved her glow yet, and her head was cradled in her hands as she slept. I soaked in the scene and then reluctantly climbed back down, grateful for such a wonderful opportunity. I knew how much he had always wanted to be like me and the other Kokiri children in having a fairy of his own.

“She’s beautiful!” I exclaimed when I came to stand in front of the Great Deku Tree once again.

“Isn’t she?” He answered with a rare show of pride. “She shall be called Navi.”

Navi. It was perfect.

“My greatest thanks for allowing me this moment, Great Deku Tree!” I said as reverently and joyfully as I felt.

“I take delight in the joy of my Children, dear one, and especially in you. But I have something to tell you.”

I sat down again. There was more?

“Just as Link has a special destiny, so do you. In fact, your destiny is entwined with a part of his.”

I breathed out hard as I took this in. “Will I leave the Forest as well?”

“No. Your physical body will not.”

My physical body will not? “What do you mean, Great Deku Tree?”

“You are to become the Sage of the Forest Temple. Through your death in a time to come later, you will open the way further to aiding Link in purging evil from our world.”

My eyes involuntarily filled with tears. I was to…die? “What does it feel like to die?” I asked.

“It depends on the manner of your death.”

“And…how…will I die?”

The Great Deku Tree was silent for a time.

“You will hurt. But you will hurt only for a short while. And then you will be greatly comforted after your death. You will sleep until the Hero of All Time comes to awaken you.”

The Hero of All Time? That sounded oddly familiar to me for some reason. Or maybe it was just my imagination…

“Who is the Hero of All Time, Great Deku Tree?”

“He is the only one who can fully purge evil from our world. He will work in conjunction with Seven Sages, of which you are to be one, and he will also achieve victory alongside the Princess of Destiny.”

My head was spinning. I felt the need to lie down and sleep for a good while. Then wake up and clear my head further with my ocarina music. This was too much to handle all at once.

“My precious child, I have overburdened you. I deeply apologize. Please, go in peace, and do not concern yourself with the future. You will grow the character traits it will take to handle your future and Link’s, so do not worry.”

As he spoke, a blanket of quiet settled on my mind, banishing my wild thoughts. I heard myself say good-bye to the Great Deku Tree, and then went back to the Kokiri Village.
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After my discussion with the Great Deku Tree, I had gone to my house and laid down for a long nap. The subject matter and it’s complexities had demanded a good nap. I had awoken several hours later with Link sitting on the edge of my bed and leaning over my face, watching me carefully.

“So, you got to go see the Great Deku Tree, didn’t you? What did he say? Did he say when I was going to receive my fairy companion?” Link queried me curiously.

“Yes, I saw him. We talked about…things…” I ended lamely.

“Did he say anything about a fairy companion for me?” Link repeated.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, he did. She’s almost ready to come for you!”

The smile on Link’s face was priceless. A smile of relief, of heartfelt joy, of anticipation.

“The Great Deku Tree and I talked about you.”

“What exactly did you talk about?” Link said suspiciously.

“O, I can’t tell you exactly what we said, but I told him…how much I like you.” I couldn’t believe how easily that had spilled out of my mouth. Link didn’t look like he could believe it either. He blushed furiously and spun his head around to look at some pots in the corner.

I pulled out my ocarina to break the awkwardness. It had always been a tremendous comfort to my agitated mind when I listened to good music.

So I played my song.

Link turned to me and smiled. “That song has always been so lovely to me.”

I nodded and kept playing. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed beside him and tapped the bed frame with my heel to keep time.

I looked over at Link to see his eyes closed in obvious pleasure, swaying to the dips and hills of the song. I stared at him for too long and I missed a note. The reverie broke and we gazed at each other in a strange sort of shock.

As we looked at each other, I trembled as I fell into the depths of his velvety blue eyes. And as I fell, I received the sensation that he was falling into my own eyes. We had no desire to stop falling…we just silently agreed to suspend time and float in one another’s consciousness…our lips started coming together …to seal our fates…

Link and I jumped violently as something banged on the wall outside. In one of my rare shows of anger, I marched outside and focused on the source of the rude interruption: Mido. Apparently he had seen Link and I have our intimate moment, and in his frustration had thrown a fair-sized rock against the wall of my house.

I know that I shrieked at him, but I don’t remember what I said. I do remember the looks on the faces of the other children as they stared in surprised awe at the normally gentle Saria giving Mido quite the upbraiding. After the loudest tirade I’m sure I’ve ever given, I turned on my heel and marched back into the house with my head held high. Goddesses above, how insufferable Mido could be!

The anger surge had lit my body so that I was hot all over. My fists were tightly balled up against the sides of my thighs, and I could see red in my peripheral vision. I felt my mouth was tight and my eyes were narrow. This whole emotion was entirely new to me, and something wasn’t right. Things hadn’t been right since the beginning of Link’s nightmares. It just seemed like the wrongness had reached me.

The look on Link’s face as I walked back in brought shame on my head. Hurt was reflected in his eyes even though I had not screamed at him.

“Don’t do that again, please Saria. That’s not like you.” Link whispered.

I sagged onto the bed. “You’re right. I apologize.” I answered quietly.

The episode really had been out of character.

I wanted to sink into the cracks in the wooden floor, I was so ashamed. Link continued to gaze at me with those piercing eyes, as though he were trying to see where the wrongness was coming from and if I was feeling it as strongly as he. I just stared at the floor. I couldn’t meet those pure eyes. I felt dirty and childish for my outburst. And after such a beautiful moment with Link.

What I hadn’t realized at the time was that whatever evil had been affecting Link in his nightmares was changing me at the same time. This character change also brought about a new awareness of powers that none of the other Kokiri children could pick up. I’m not sure if Link also had the same new awareness, but something tells me he did. I don’t know because I never got the opportunity to ask him…

Some months later, I was dipping my feet in the little stream that ran through our village when blackness overtook my vision and I suddenly became very lethargic. I bowed my head onto my chest to try to clear my vision, but to no avail. I shook my head to shake the blackness, but it did not help.

And then as quickly as it came upon me, it quickly left. The forest was reilluminated and everything looked as it was before. But there was a feeling in my heart that evil had finally settled into my beloved Forest and that nothing would ever be the same again.

I looked over to the entrance of the Great Deku Tree’s meadow, and a blue fairy flitted out.

Navi.

The day has come.

I followed Navi as fast as my feet could carry me. She disappeared into Link’s house, and I waited at the bottom of the ladder to see my friend’s reaction. It was not long before he appeared, a combination of triumph and delight on his face, with the blue fairy hovering over his shoulder.

I jumped up and down and clapped my hands in delight. The other female Kokiri joined in with me.

Link has his fairy companion! At last!

Now the courses of our destinies can begin spinning…

When Link had climbed down the ladder he immediately began a steady stream of small phrases: “I have a fairy…the Great Deku Tree wants to see me…where do I find a sword?...what’s a shield?...am I dressed well enough to go see the Great Deku Tree?...what’s Hyrule?...I need something to eat…is Mido guarding the entrance to the Great Deku Tree’s meadow again?...where do I put this rock?...” on and on he rambled.

I quieted him and blew out a breath. Navi had apparently filled him in on too much for his mind to take in. I placed my hands on my hips and put on a look of mild irritation at Navi as a simple show. She shrugged apologetically and said, “What was I to do? Does the fate of Hyrule really depend on a boy that talks this much?” It was my turn to shrug and I looked at Link whose eyes were dashing around to take in the sights of a Forest that he had grown up in.

“We’re off to see the Great Deku Tree! I’ll see you later, Saria!”

“Good-bye…” I said quietly. I glanced up at my own fairy, Deidre, and sighed. Link would leave the Forest soon after this. I knew it. Evil had entered the Forest, and Link needed to leave to protect us. The rememberance of the knowledge hurt the same way it had when it was first revealed to me. Could I let go of all I loved, Link, my friends, and my own life for the sake of people I had never seen before, for generations that I would never even think of?
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Comments are welcome, even if they are criticisms

I like it can't wait for more.

This story is remarkable! You really should continue writing it.