Fan Fiction ❯ Wishful Hallucinations ❯ Chapter 5

"Listen buddy, you're going to put me out of business if you keep playing." The owner stepped from behind the counter. "You're really good, too good."

Link looked up from re-stringing his bow. He had returned to the Forest Temple to retrieve his friend. The Fairy Bow had been a source of joy. Instantly, he had mastered the weapon and decided he would return for it. Enemies no longer dwelt, with the exception of a few minor skullatas lurking in the shadows. The chest had been in exactly the same spot, only now there were no skeletons in armor defending it.

"You with me boy?" The burly man was snapping his fingers.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." Link shook his head and began to pack his arrows into the quiver.

The owner looked at Link with sympathy. "It's late, go home."

Nodding, the boy stood. "Thanks."

Outside, dogs continued to roam, stopping at random intervals, asking for a belly rub from the familiar boy sitting on the well's edge.

Home.. For four years, since he found he didn't belong in the forest, he had been living at various places. The ranch, abandoned cottages, the occasional inn. So where did he actually belong? Well, friends are thicker than innkeepers.

With that thought, the sun rose and the Hylian made his way to the forest.

* * *

The trees guarding the entrance seemed to recognize the former resident and invitingly persuaded him to enter. Creaking, the bridge swung under the boy's weight. The swinging no longer upset his stomach, what had put the rushing inside again was the anticipation, the worry of what the looks on the children's faces would tell him. But, the other children did not matter; he had not mattered to them. There was only one, and that one would be in the Lost Woods, sitting on her stump, playing an ocarina, not her favorite one though, that had gone to an old friend.

He smiled on moved onward through the second tunnel.

Mido wasn't guarding the entrance. Since the Deku Shrub had come into power, Mido hadn't held much authority over the forest people and, Link thought, all for the better. In fact, no one was anywhere near the entrance. Most were swimming over by the shop.

Perfect. Link snuck to his left and clambered up the vine and into the maze. Instantly, Saria's trademark song hit his ears and an overwhelming desire to dance overcame him. He had no rhythm, though, and now was not the time to find it.

The path's direction was engraved in his mind, impossible to forget. And, there underneath the first temple he had beaten, sat his first friend. She rocked back and forth, an ocarina at her lips.

Link leaned against a wall and watched her. Lost in her music, she was completely oblivious to her surroundings. The mysterious sparklings flew around her face and arms, her graceful fingers moved with each note that came out of the strange instrument.

She looked up and stared at Link. For a moment, there was no sign of recognition in her green eyes. Then all at once, her face lit up, she jumped to Link and embraced him around his waist. He felt a kind of fatherly love for the little girl he had known most of his life.

"Oh! Link! I thought I would never see you again, I mean all of a sudden you just left and I was so upset and.." At this point she burst into tears.

Link smiled. "I've missed you so much. How have you been?" He pulled away and looked down at the tear stained face.

"Just awful. I need you. I can't be happy without you. Stay with me, forever." She looked expectantly at the boy she had admired for years.

Link started. Was this why she had stuck with him? Because she had a crush on him?

"Saria, I.." He decided to avoid the subject, for now at least. "Well? Aren't you going to ask about me?"

"Of course! How's the Outside?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the stump. She sat down and Link followed. He began to tell her all of his travels, not from the past of course but since he left the forest the second time. Her eyes never left his, taking in every detail of the exciting life he had been living outside of the forest.

"…and I need a place to stay. But only for a few nights, just until I find someone." He looked down at his shoes as he said this, not wanting to explain Shokin.

"Yes, you can stay here, either in the meadow, but I'm sure you'd rather stay in a house. You can stay with me." Her face held a smile and her stark eyes stared at Link with longing.

"Um, ok thanks." The girl's gaze made him feel uneasy. I can't hurt her, not again. But we can't be together, it's just not meant, and besides, the feelings are all one sided. "Well, can I just meet you at your house in a little bit? I'd like to be alone." Saria snapped from her stare.

"Oh yes of course! I will see you there, and on your way back, do be careful and try not to let the other children see you." She stood up, and even with Link sitting down she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his cheek with a kiss, then ran off.

With a sigh, Link bent and put his head in his hands. For a long time he sat, wondering what to do. I'm not going to hurt her, not again. He debated whether to leave, no, worse to leave without an explanation. Staying would just, well, allow him to tell the truth for one. He made up his mind to go with the latter and walked off.

Purposely, he got lost on his way a number of times. Mainly to stall for time, putting of the unavoidable encounter with his old, lifelong friend.

It was dark, and a single light shone in the tiny village of the Forest Children. Saria's house looked almost as expectant as she had in the Lost Woods. Link hesitated for a moment then knocked

"Don't knock, just come in. This is now your house!" A jovial voice rang from inside.

My house? Oh Din... He opened the door and stepped inside. Saria was tending a pot by the fireplace and a delightful smell coasted through the petite cabin.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay. I owe you so much." Saria stopped and looked up in a false-annoyed manner. A blush was slowly creeping across her forever-young face and she quickly began to talk before Link would notice it.

"There's no need to be formal with me, Link. We've been friends for however long. Granted, we haven't seen each other in a while, but still! Do be comfortable. I have made you a mat to sleep on until I can have a bed made for you." At this she hurriedly turned to hide her reddening face.

Unfortunately, Link had noticed and he felt all the worse for it. "So..uh…what's for dinner?" He walked closer to the fire, the night had chilled him a small amount and was grateful that his food was actually going to be warm.

"Just some stew, I hope you like it. Everyone else does. It's become kind of famous in the past few weeks." She swelled with pride and began to blush once more.

"Great." Link smiled at his friend.

The stew was quite enjoyable after a fierce diet of anything he could scrounge up and Link went to sleep, for the first time since he-couldn't-remember, with a full stomach.

* * *

He woke the next morning with faint recollections of the terrible dreams he had had. But despite the nightmarish memories, he had slept well.

Saria still doze and when Link stepped outside, he remembered how late everyone had slept in the forest. Must be the air. He laughed at his little joke and moved on to the area where the Old Deku Tree stood.

Yes, everyone slept in until all hours of the late morning, but he had never. He hadn't liked to sleep. Nightmares had plagued him since childhood. Of course, the Deku Tree had said it was caused by the evil that had infected Hyrule, but there had been underlying reasons. What the reasons actually were, well, he couldn't or wouldn't guess. Nightmares of a woman escaping torment, but coming to a tragic end. Dark clouds had always been a prop. Vicious monsters and terrible men.

The leaves that seemed to come from nowhere drifted around his head. He looked at the dead deity and the small leader by the foot of his past mentor. Four years had not brought much change upon the sacred place.

"Hullo! What is your name? You dress of forest clothing but you are not a Kokiri." The shrub peered at Link.

No the Shrub had no memory of how he had come into existence either.

"My name is Link and I used to live here until…until the Deku Tree told me that I was truly a Hylian. I come to ask permission to stay with a child, named Saria for only a small while." Link bowed deeply at the small leader.

The Shrub smiled, "Of course, dear boy, but you must remember, if you stay here for too long of a time you will become a Stalfos. You wouldn't want that, nasty things those Stalfos are." He went on to tell of the armored skeletons, of which Link already knew.

"I do not mean to interrupt, sir, but I must be on my way. I do thank you." He bowed once more and took his leave from the forest for the day, only to return at night.