Saria: Chapter Five

Skull Kid listened to the two play the song and felt betrayal rise with each note.
"Who does this "Link" think he is? Why did Saria teach him that song?" The Skull Kid did not understand and began to feel angry.
"Why Saria? Why?" Skull Kid asked then felt his eyes tear up, even though he was angry. He took his flute and broke it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground and then vanished into the forest, hoping never to see Saria again.

Saria heard a rustle off to the side of the bushes not long after Link descended down the stairs.
"Skull Kid?" Saria wondered, then ran over to the origin of the sound. She reached in and pulled out the broken remains of Skull Kid's flute.
She held it in both of her hands and cried for a bit, "Why did you break your flute? Where are you?" She called out to the woods, who gave only the sound of her echoes in response.

The Skull Kid never returned to the Sacred Forest Meadow, no matter how many hours Saria spent waiting. By now, the Kokiri were getting worried, they never saw Saria anymore it seemed.
Mido had completely changed during this time, without the Deku Tree or Saria, or even Link around, he had time to reflect on how childish he had been and decided to change. He became a better Kokiri, actually taking the place of the Deku Tree as a leader.
In addition to the Sacred Forest Meadow, Saria also visited the spot they had placed the seeds before, but there was no sprout, no indication of a new guardian. This disturbed Saria even more, no guardian to protect them.
"When will we be happy again?" She asked to the fertilized spot.
"When the Deku Tree is back." Mido said entering the area.
"Mido I..." Saria started, startled by his presence.
Mido raised his hand and said, "Don't worry. I'm just here to pay my respects."
Saria noted how different Mido sounded. He didn't have the bragging, self-confident voice he always had. He was quiet, and had a more steeled look in his eye.
Mido walked over and put a seed in the decomposing pile, a yellow one, with a fiddle design on it.
"I've been listening to you play, it's louder now than before." Mido said, "Did something happen in the woods?"
Saria looked downa nd thought about the Skull Kid.
"I made a friend, but he's gone now." She said, saddened by her words.
Mido looked sorrowful at her then asked, "Link?"
Saria shook her head then and said, "No, but I did see him. I had made a friend in the woods, a lonely Skull Kid."
Mido raised an eyebrow, "A Skull Kid?" The way he said it gave away the fact he didn't like that, but he didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry. I was teaching him how to play his flute. I taught him for days. But he's gone now, I don't know where he went."
Mido crossed his arms and sighed, "I'm not going to lie: I wish you stayed with us more, but I'm not going to tell you what to do. It's what the Deku Tree would say." He began to walk away when Saria's ocarina glowed a bit.
"It's Link." Saria said, "Hello Link, how are you? You need some help? The next spiritual stone?"
Mido watched her talk then said, "The Spiritual Stone of Water. The Deku Tree told us about it."
Saria looked at Mido then said to Link, "The Great Deku Tree told us about the Zoras have it. You should try them first."
With that, Saria put the Ocarina down and gave a long, sorrowful look to Mido who held out his hand to lead her back to the village with Puck and Breena both hovering silently overhead.
Saria stayed in her house for the next few days, not wanting to face the Kokiri without Link or the Skull Kid near.
"I've let them down." Saria said to herself often, Mido wished her back and she then realized that since Link left, she had shut herself away from her friends.
Breena did what she could to help but Saria didn't change: she still sat in bed and played a note or two on her ocarina.
"Saria, you can't stay in bed for ever, the others miss you." Breena chirped.
"I left them, without the Deku Tree or Link. They wouldn't want to see me."
There was a knock on the door after she spoke and moments later a sliver of light opened on the floor. Saria pulled the sheets over her head ready to ignore who it was.
The door closed and the person hummed a few simple notes; notes that matched Saria's Song.
"It's time wo get up Saria..." The person said, in a sing-song voice still keeping the rhythm of the song, "It's time to awaken..."
The voice was familar, as was the way the person hummed though Saria knew she had never heard anyone hum like that before.
Saria listened to the humming for a bit and wondered 'Awaken? I'm already awake.'
"Who are you..." Saria began removing the sheet from her face and lifting herself up. But when she looked where the voice was, there was no one to be seen, only the slowly dying humming.
Instantly Saria knew who had visited her.
"Fado?" She asked. The Kokiri girl Fado was the most mysterious of all the children. She was blonde haired and was known to vanish faster than any other. The voice fit her, though the humming was like someone was channeling through her.
Breena shook herself awake, as if clearing herself of dust and asked, "What happened?"
"Fado came and told me to 'Awaken'"
"You were asleep?"
Saria gave Breena sidelong look and sighed, choosing next to exit her house and finally go outside.

The air outside seemed to be heavier than she remembered, and the Kokiri were quieter than usual. A quick look around told her that Mido was not there and when she asked someone about it they told her that Mido was in the Lost Woods.
There was a strange sensation that kept getting more and more pronounced as if a thick blanket was beginning to smother the forest. Saria began to have a creeping feeling that something very big was about to happen.

That was when it happened.

A sharp sound rang through her ears and she saw Link standing with a sword held downward in suspended time, his face frozen without a moment's notice. He vanished into a ring of blue light that revealed a sinister looking man with cruel eyes and a wicked grin. He began to laugh as the vision began to disperse before her eyes.
"The Temple..." Fado said around Saria who felt like she was also frozen in time, "The sage is needed... The Forest Temple..."
Saria heard Fado speak in the back of her mind and instantly thought about the balcony she always wondered about.
"Link?" She asked the air when the voice vanished and she felt able to move, "What is going on?" She quickly pulled out her ocarina and swiftly played her song in hopes of reaching her friend.
But there was no response.