The Legend of Zelda- Ocarina of Time

Song of Storms

Chapter 26

Song of Storms

It had been a long trek back to the Kokiri grove. Many of the Kokiri were malnourished and suffering from a variety of ailments, from horrible rattling coughs to blistered and infected feet. Moriko provided healing to those who needed it, while Link carried one girl who fell asleep as they neared the grove. Others required coaxing from their fairies to keep them moving at all as they kept glancing off into the trees as if certain they were being pursued. 

When Link approached the Great Deku Tree's grove, he saw Forenz perched anxiously amidst the lower branches of a tree on the clearing's edge. The boy gave an ecstatic whoop and scrambled to meet the others equally pleased to see him. The sight of their tired but happy faces, rejuvenated a little by the sight of their home, left Link with a feeling of elation that seemed almost foreign. 

The celebration was short-lived. Some of the Kokiri soon settled down to sleep around the Sheikah's fire, while others either made their own fire or found a niche amidst the knotted roots of the trees surrounding the glade. Before long, the clearing quietened once more, and left to his thoughts, Link's brief relief slowly drained away. He found the silence oppressive and stifling, even though it was one he knew he should be accustomed to. He should have felt proud, and he had, for a brief time, but now, he found himself preoccupied by recent memories. He tossed and turned on the bedroll he'd laid out beneath a tree. Sleep came eventually, but his mind refused to be silenced as nightmares plagued his dreams. 

A spear, not stained with Mido's blood but Saria's. Running through an endless fog, the Phantom's laughter echoing around him. Running... suddenly, he was running not through woodland but ruined buildings. Crackling flames rose around him, and the mocking laughter was replaced with screams. He stumbled, tripping over the body of a young girl. Only she wasn't dead this time. She looked up at him, her eyes angry and accusing.

"Why didn't you help me?" she demanded. "You left me to die! What kind of a hero are you?"

"I'm sorry," Link cried out, stumbling back and turning to flee. He had to get away. To escape the smoke, the flames, and the corpse-strewn street that was slick with blood.

Link screamed and ran, desperate to escape, but he didn't get far. He almost ran headfirst into Saria, stopping just short of crashing into her. He would have been relieved to see her if she hadn't been looking at him with a death glare that she never reserved for him (or anyone else, for that matter).

"Why didn't you save her?" Saria demanded with stinging reproach. "You left her to die!"

Link stepped back. There was no warmth in Saria's face now, no smile, and her voice was colder than winter's chill. Link took an involuntary step backward. He heard a structure groan, the sound rising above the crackling flames. He looked to his left and saw a wall leaning dangerously toward him. The groaning intensified, and with a resounding crash, the wall gave way. Burning timber and blackened stone rushed towards him. He screamed out a warning, seeing Saria standing in danger's path, but then the debris slammed into him and sent the world into blackness.

Link woke, gasping for air, his heart racing frantically. It took him a moment to realise that he was safely within the confines of a Kokiri grove, and instead of flames, he beheld a star-speckled sky bathed in silver moonlight.

Sheik stood against the tree he was sleeping under, and the moonlight cast a faint glow upon her face, revealing the concern in her red Sheikah eyes.

"Are you well?" she asked. "You were yelling like the demon king himself was after you."