The Legend of Zelda- Saria's Song

Sage

Chapter 1: Sage

It was the silence Saria noticed first.

An icy chill settled over her as the Kokiri girl surveyed the moss-draped stone walls of the ancient temple. She had been here many times before, but today, something was different. It was too quiet.

Nothing looked amiss, but something prowled within the temple's depths, whispering in the wind, calling to her. Even as the oldest of the Kokiri, gifted in communing with the spirits that roamed the woods, Saria did not know what she was hearing. Was it a spirit? Or something else?

No. She could sense something that did not belong to the woods, neither Kokiri nor beast. It reminded her of the horrors she'd seen roaming the border of the Lost Woods, unable to thwart the barrier that kept them away.

A faint pulse thrummed deep within the old temple's heart, and not even the morning sun could dispel the gloom that had settled over the Sacred Forest Meadow.

'Is something watching us?' she wondered, feeling the urge to clutch the youngster sitting beside her, who was busily humming to himself, unaware of her discomfort.

Instead, her fingers unconsciously tightened upon the straps of her satchel, but she drew a breath and forced a smile. The boy, as persistent as ever, drew her attention.

"Sa?"

Link was looking at her, sitting upon the edge of the stump upon which they sat, his legs swinging with restless energy. He guarded two foraging baskets tucked beside the stump, partially filled with wild herbs.

"Yes, Link?" Saria asked.

"Why can't we go inside?" His words were like a splash of cold water as he pointed at the temple, the dread coiling within her growing so tight it was almost suffocating. Could he sense it, too?

"Can you..." she wasn't sure she should ask. "Why do you want to go inside?" Saria scolded herself for being irrational, certain that at any moment Link would spill the beans and she'd discover another Kokiri had dared him to go inside. "Who's been telling you scary stories again?"

"I just want to have a look!" Link whined. "Please, Sa?"

Saria nearly frowned as she glanced back at the temple's steps. She half expected to see some shape lurking within the shadows of the doorway, but nothing emerged. Link noticed her distraction, his eyes following hers.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a trace of uncertainty marring his enthusiasm.

"It's nothing," Saria said, perhaps a touch too quickly. Link looked at her, his intense blue eyes trying to gauge the truth of her words. "Saria's just a little distracted, that's all."

Was the temple truly calling to them? They both looked again at the ivy draped across the ancient stones, but nothing stirred; the vines didn't slither and move as they did in her recent nightmares. The Great Deku Tree had told Saria her powers were maturing. "They are a gift, Saria, one that will aid you in times to come. Do not be troubled at your discomfort, for it will pass, and you will be the stronger for it."

The two towering trees seemed like towering sentinels in that moment, their shadows reaching towards the intruders in the meadow. Saria blinked.

'Tired,' she told herself. 'I'm just a little tired.'

It was hard to keep up with Link some days.

"Sa?" Link sounded confused by her lack of response. "Why aren't we allowed inside?"

His head tilted slightly to one side, almost enough to make his floppy green hat fall off. He was so eager, so full of innocent curiosity. It was enough to make Saria's protective instincts surge to the fore as she clutched his hand in hers.