Chapter Six
“Best Friends Forever”
A gunshot rings out in a desolate forest. The birds instantly take off from their nests, flying far and away from the commotion below them. The cherry blossom leaves swirl around a blond haired 15 year old girl wielding a revolver. Around her neck, a white half-heart pendent hung. She wore black finger-less gloves. Her delicate index finger rested on top of the trigger. She wore a black short sleeved shirt; it was all unbuttoned, flowing freely in the breeze. Under the black shirt, there was a white sleeveless undershirt. She wore a short black leather skirt. Under the skirt, she wore long black pants.
She wore a red choker around her neck. It was originally a headband, but she tied it around her neck instead. The ends fluttered freely in the breeze that followed.
She narrowed her blue eyes and moved her thumb up and pulled back the hammer of her revolver. It clicked.
She pulled the trigger. The shot rolled around the mountains like thunder.
She twirled the revolver and placed it back into its holster. Which was strapped above the right side of her hip.
The moblin in front of her had a bullet hole in its head. It stayed standing, leaning its back against a tree. It stared lifelessly at the young deadly girl and finally, with another final breeze, it tipped over to its right and fell.
She walked past the corpse without a second glance, weaving her way out of the woods and back onto the road. She stopped suddenly and looked at her hand. It glowed with the Triforce of Courage, it was only half of the piece, but it showed that the gods recognized her valor.
She looked past the brush and at the seemingly normal foliage. She looked curious.
The girl lifted her revolver, snapped the chamber open and slipped in a single bullet. She snapped it shut, pulled back the hammer and aimed for a specific spot in the bushes. She fired.
The brush disintegrated slowly, revealing a castle. She smiled and walked towards it silently.
“Link...” Saria whispered. She was standing alone in the room with Link. Link stared at her with his piercing red eyes.
“...” Link stayed silent, taking in Saria’s mature form, her height, and her looks. Finally he spoke, “You’ve...grown into a beautiful woman, Saria.”
Saria didn’t let the words affect her. She knew Link wasn’t the same Link she knew. He changed for the worst. She shook her head and backed up against the cobblestone wall behind her.
Link looks at her disappointingly, “What’s wrong with you? I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Saria clenched her fists, “You’ve changed, Link...if we had met...under different circumstances...maybe.”
“You’re right. Silly me,” Link said, “I guess I’m the only one living in the past, then.”
“I never would’ve thought,” Link began, “That I’d meet you here. I never would’ve thought that YOU of all people would be the leader of a society hell bent on my destruction. Clandestine of Dusk indeed...it took me twenty years to find this place.”
“I know what you want!” Saria said, “If you want it, you’ll have to kill me first!”
“Don’t say things like that, Saria. I thought I meant more to you than that.” Link said, playing with Saria’s emotions.
“I...No! You’re not the same!” Saria shouted, torn between her old affections for Link and her duty to defend the world.
Link glanced at the door behind him, “Your daughter, she has that Zora Sapphire I’m looking for. She’s nothing to me. But she’s the world to you, isn’t she? You see? I know exactly where to hurt you, I know you, Saria.”
“You bastard! Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!” Saria shouted angrily, “You don’t know me! We’re strangers now! We’re enemies! I refuse to believe you’re the same sweet person I knew...the same person I-”
“Loved?” Link asked, tauntingly, he received a stunned look from Saria, “Isn’t it funny? I never knew so many girls wanted me back then...It must’ve had something to do with being the hero, eh?”
“It was...more than that. A lot more...” Saria said quietly.
Link smiled, “See? I know you inside and out...oh, and as for your little ‘agents’ I know about them, too. Ivan and Vincent, right?” Saria looked away.
Link continued to play his mind games with her, “I knew from the very beginning that they had ties to the Clandestine of Dusk, I just bided my time. I know about how they’ve kidnapped my daughter Marin. I know exactly where she is ever since she escaped. Ivan didn’t suspect a thing. Puppets on string, that’s how I came to find this place. So if you want to thank someone for inviting me here, thank Vincent. He took the torture for days before he finally cracked.”
Saria looked torn. Link laughed at this, “Don’t worry about Ivan, he doesn’t know anything about that.” He looks her over carefully, “There’s something between you two, isn’t there?” Saria stares at the floor.
He laughs, realizing the truth, “What a surprise! Don’t you see? Your efforts were all for nothing!”
“Your daughter, does she-” Saria began, Link interrupted, “Know? If course not. She has to remain innocent in all of this. She has the Goron’s Ruby, she’s in possession of the Triforce of Wisdom and made friends with the boy holding my crown and my Triforce.”
“And just what exactly is this plan, then?” Saria demanded. Link smiled, “To make history repeat itself. The pieces are all there. The hero. The princess. And,” he pointed to himself, “the villain. The Triforces will unite, and in that instance, I get to take part in the reenactment of that final meeting between Zelda, Ganondorf and I.”
“This is all...to relive the past?!”
Link smiled, “You could say that...but the plot runs much, much deeper than just that. There are only two things I need to know to make this the perfect plan...the location of the Kokiri Emerald and the other half of MY Triforce piece. I have a feeling you know. I want you to tell me...or your daughter, Vale, will die.”
Saria shook her head slowly, “None of this makes sense...you’re insane!” Link merely sighed and grinned, “Perhaps...”
“Vale,” Saria said, “you don’t know exactly where she is, do you? Otherwise, you would’ve brought her here already.”
Link smiles and puts his hands up in defeat, “Ah, you got me. I guess I can’t keep everything from you.” He glances back at the door behind him, “Nonetheless, I’m confident we’ll catch her. She’s in this castle, right? She won’t put up much of a fight against my men. We know she’s hiding somewhere, we’ll just have to start chopping heads until she shows.”
A gunshot rings out, echoing throughout the castle. Link turns to the door quickly, “Thunder?”
With Link’s back open to her, Saria runs towards him, drawing her knife.
Link turns quickly around and grabs her wrist. He twists it painfully, causing Saria to cry out and fall to her knees, she drops the knife.
He whispers into her ear, “You’d backstab me? You’re still full of surprises, Saria. Thankfully, you’ve also given me an idea. I’m sure your daughter will come if she hears her mother’s screams, won’t she? It’s like metal to a magnet, I’m a genius!”
Link leans in and kisses her hard on the lips; he pulls back and says, “Consider this death a gift, Saria. A gift from your best friend. Because,” he pokes her playfully on the forehead, mirroring her words from so long ago, "That’s what friends are for, silly!"
