Phantom Ganon looked at the imprisoned ninja for a while in bewilderment, then he sneered. "Nice try, little Deku! But ti will take more to fool me or my evil master! My master can FEEL the energy running through the veins of the Sages... he KNOWS that this girl is the Forest Sage!" He gestured at Saria.
"Me... a Sage?" Saria muttered in confusion. Could it be? Either way, this would be an explanation why she had always felt drawn to the Sacred Meadow and the Forest Temple...
"Can you be certain?" Konatsu tried one last time. "No one is perfect, you know? You master might have made a mistake!"
"If Lord Ganondorf were a person to make such mistakes, do you believe he would be Hyrule's greatest ruler today?" The Phantom shook its head. "No, no, this girl is the Sage, and after I have used her to lure that brat and his friends in here, I will get rid of her personally!"
Saria gasped with fright.
"But if she is the Forest Sage, wouldn't she have used her powers to escape by now?" Konatsu asked.
Phantom Ganon laughed. "I'd like to see her try that!" He pulled a glowing sphere out of his pocket. "As long as this sphere is in my possession, she won't be able to break free of her bonds. Only when it breaks would the magical shackle break apart as well."
"Thanks!" the Deku ninja smirked. "That's all I wanted to hear." He inhaled and suddenly spat a glob of Deku spit at the surprised creature's hand. It knocked the glowing sphere out of its grasp, and it fell down to the stone floor, where it shattered with a loud crack.
At the same time, Saria felt how her bounds dissolved into thin air.
"Run, Saria!" Konatsu shouted."Run for your life - and warn Link and the others!"
Saria didn't want to leave her friend behind, but she nodded, jumped to her feet and started to run.
"STOP!" Phantom Ganon shouted and raised his hand, firing a bolt of magical energy at the escaping Kokiri girl.
Saria winced as she heard the whizzing sound of the incoming projectile and braced herself for impact.
'Farore, help me...' she desperately thought, and suddenly, she got surrounded by a storm of green, flashing lights.
The room with Konatsu and Phantom Ganon disappeared around her, and instead, she found herself standing in one of the temple's overgrown corridors.
She stared down at her hands. "How did I...?" she murmured. It then began to dawn on her... those were her powers as a Sage. As long as she was inside her temple, she was under her goddess' protection, and Farore's Wind would bring her to every room of her domain she wanted.
She thought about it for a while, then she nodded to herself with determination. "I'm not going to let those invaders do whatever they want inside my goddess' temple... I will protect the sacred forest from whatever may harm it!"
She then looked towards the door in front of her, where she knew the Entrance Hall to be. "But first, I'll have to warn Link and Ukyo of that trap."
----
Princess Zelda sat on the branch of one of the old trees which surrounded the Sacred Meadow, in her disguise as the Sheikah Sheik.
"Am I a coward not to intervene directly?" she wondered. "Shouldn't I go and help the Kokiri and other forest creatures as well? Are Impa and her daughters right when they say that I have to think about my own safety first? Am I that important that I can't risk to be detected, not even if I want to help the inhabitants of my kingdom? What kind of princess am I, if I can't even protect those that can't fight back on their own?"
She sighed. "Would Impa be here, I know what her response would be: 'You are the Princess of Hyrule! If Ganondorf catches you, everything will have been in vain! You are helping by giving Link and Ukyo clues what they have to do... You have to trust into their abilities as the heroes of time...' Well, of course I want to help them, but... can't I at least tell them who I really am?"
But inside her heart, the princess knew that she couldn't risk that. Ganondorf had his eyes and ears everywhere, and would he even catch a glimpse of her true face, he would be able to catch her... And if he did that, it would be as disastrous as if he had his hands on one of the Sages... it was bad enough that he already managed to get his hands on the young Kokiri girl...
Hopefully her friends would be able to save her in time...
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the footsteps of two persons entering the meadow...
'Well, here we go again...' she mentally sighed. 'Okay, remember what Impa told you: Calm, imposing and mysterious, calm, imposing and mysterious...'
----
Link looked down at the old tree stump that was situated in front of the Forest Temple.
"This... this was Saria's favorite place..." he said in a small voice. "She would sit on this stump, playing her favorite melody on her ocarina, and it always seemed as if all of the forest animals would listen only to her music..."
Ukyo and the fairies noticed how sad he was.
Navi flittered onto her friend's shoulder gently. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm pretty sure she is all right. We will find her in time!"
"Yeah!" Ukyo nodded and grabbed the handle of her spatula. "And anyone who wants to lay his hands on her will have to deal with me!"
"Thank you, guys..." Link said. "I know I shouldn't worry too much... I know she is a strong girl, but... I can't help but think that something might already have happened to her. What if they caught her...?"
Ukyo just wanted to answer, when all of a sudden, someone jumped down in front of them.
"Sheik?" Ukyo wondered as she recognized the young warrior's garments.
The Sheikah looked at Link.
"The flow of time is always cruel...
Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it.
A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..."
Link seemed to understand what Sheik wanted to tell him, as he nodded.
Tatl, on the other hand...
"Does he have to recite bad poetry every time we run into him?" she muttered and crossed her arms. "That guy needs a hobby..."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Tue, 08 May 2007 13:15)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.