Disclaimer:The Legend of Zeldais property ofNintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with these companies, or any legal proceedings concerning The Legend of Zelda. This story has been written purely out of enjoyment, and is not intended to make a profit, steal ideas, or offend anybody. Any similarities between my work and anyone else's is purely coincidental.

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"Purhpciy fu hith Papuulcespi" — Chapter Seventeen: Link's Fate is Decided

ByThe Last Princess of Hyrule

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After several minutes, he at last spoke. "No."

"Mido, be reasonable!" Saria shouted. "We can't just turn him out cold!"

"Yes we can," argued the leader. "What if he was here longer than twelve years? How would we explain that to the other Kokiri?"

"We wouldn't have to because it'll never come to that," Saria said confidently. "The prophecy says after the nine year interim, the elements will be gathered and a great battle will be fought. Now, I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm sure the Child of Destiny will involved, and that means he'll leave the forest at the end of the interim."

Mido sighed. "Let's suspend reality for a moment and pretend I said yes. What if the prophecy is wrong and he does stay here after the interim?"

Saria thought about it for a moment. "If that happened, I'd take him to the nearest outside village and find a Hylian to care for him."

"Leave the forest!" Mido was outraged. "No, I won't let you!"

"Well, I could just keep him here after nine years . . ."

Mido's eyes narrowed.

"Besides," Mi added, "is it really hurting the Kokiri to have a Hylian here?"

Mido groaned. "This decision rests only in whether or not the Hylian will bring war."

"And we've made plenty of points to why it won't," Saria said. "Mido, be reasonable!"

Mido turned his back on Saria. Joseph and Sonya sighed simultaneously. The argument was going nowhere. There had to be another reason Mido wouldn't yield, but no one had any idea what it could be.

After several long, silent minutes, Mido faced Saria once more. He sighed deeply, regretting what he was about to say. "Very well, Saria. He can stay."

Saria's face mirrored her amazement at the statement and she ran up to Mido, flinging her arms around him in a big hug. "Oh, thank you, Mido! Thank you!"

"Just be careful," Mido warned ineptly. "I don't like this prophecy of yours anymore than that child. I sure hope you know what you're doing, Saria."

"Oh, Mido," Saria laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Mido felt his blood rise and stiffened. Saria smiled at him and he forced himself to smile back, hoping his cheeks hadn't grown any rosier than from the cold.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Mido said as Saria detached her arms. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and walked out.

"Goodnight, Mido!" Saria called after.

Out in the dark clearing, Mido let out his pent up breath in a sigh. He trudged through the snow angrily. How could he have given in to her? He was her leader; he should have been able to stand up to her. Did what had happened that night make him less than he was?

His fairy, Laralene, sensed his distress. "Mido?" she asked tenderly, a manner she only allowed herself to express when alone in his presence. "What's wrong?"

"Everything," he groaned.

"Is it Saria?" Laralene knew everything about him, his thoughts, feelings, emotions, and even those for the present Speaker of the Kokiri.

"Laralene, why does she have to be so stubborn?" Mido asked rhetorically. "Now I'll never have my chance."

"Yes, you will," she assured him. "You let her keep the child, didn't you? She'll never forget that."

"But she'll never forgive me for wanting to turn it out in the cold," Mido retorted sourly. He sighed deeply. "Oh, what does it matter? I'm just fooling myself."

He reached the door of his house, but didn't enter. "Lara, do you think the Hylian really is this 'Child of Destiny'?"

Laralene didn't answer for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "There have been whispers in the forest for ages now about that prophecy. I get the feeling that all the things it predicted are about to come to pass."

"Did it say anything about ruining lives?" Mido asked as he pushed aside the burlap door and entered his house.

"You think the child will take your place in Saria's heart?" Laralene asked presumptuously as he kicked off his boots and hung his dripping cloak.

"Shhhh!" Mido shushed the loud fairy, jerking his head in the direction of the sleeping form in the bed next to him.

"What are you worried about?" Laralene's voice dropped to a whisper as she fluttered over to Mido's bed and alit on the pillow. "It's not like Ringo is a light sleeper. He could sleep through a blizzard, I'll bet."

"But that Fire fairy of his wakes at a pin drop," Mido hissed. It was a proven fact in the Kokiri forest that opposites truly could attract. That was the way it was between Mido's roommate, Ringo, the trickster Kokiri, and his Fire fairy, Ciytan.

Mido quickly changed into his nightshirt and crawled into bed, Laralene curling up next to his face. "Now quit dodging my question: Do you think the child will take your place in Saria's heart?"

Mido nodded reluctantly. Much as he did not want anyone to know about his affection for Saria, he told everything to Laralene. Part of what made Kokiri and their fairies so close was that each knew everything about the other. If one could trust no one else in the world, one could trust their own fairy. That was how powerful the bond was.

"Oh, Mido," Laralene cooed gently. "In nine years, the child will be gone and that place in Saria's heart will be open for you."

Mido opened one eye. "Really?"

Laralene nodded as she pulled her long, pink hair into a thin plait on her back. She fluttered up and touched her lips lightly on his cheek, "Goodnight, Mido."

Mido yawned. "G'night, Laralene."

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Joseph and Sonya finally left Saria's house to tend to the triplets. The Speaker finally tucked Link into the basket Coquina had left. He looked so peaceful and innocent the way he slept, Saria realized as she watched him sleep. In her heart she couldn't help but pity the slight creature. He'd lost his mother that day, and father not far prior. It seemed unlikely to the little Kokiri that he had any other family, so it was only right to take him in.

Somewhere inside, Saria felt she owed Coquina a great dept. The woman had entered the forest hurt and scared, stumbling blindly to Sonya and Joseph's door. From there, the two Kokiri brought Coquina to Saria and it then that Saria offered to help. The Hylian had had faith in Saria's healing abilities, abilities which had not changed the path of fate at all.

Saria looked at the dagger in her hands, the one Coquina had left to Link. The hilt was made from gilded iron with an ovular sapphire pommel. Where the hilt connected with the blade was also set with a sapphire. Moving from inside out on each side of the sapphire were two emeralds, two rubies, and at the ends, two more sapphires.

She turned it over in her hands. The leather sheath was bound with thin strips of gold-polished iron. Firelight played off the dagger's steel blade brilliantly. Saria looked back at Link. The dagger must have held some special meaning to Coquina, if it were so important for her child to receive it when he was older, but Saria could only speculate about what it was. She voiced this thought to her fairy, Mi.

"Maybe it belonged to Link's father," Mi suggested with a shrug.

"I wonder . . ." Saria said. "Coquina told me he was a knight." Saria flopped onto her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. "He was a knight, she was a noble lady, and they were in love."

It pleased Saria to make up stories. She enjoyed entertaining the younger Kokiri with her tales of fancy and the outside world. The rest of the night the Speaker spent weaving a tale about a noble knight and a beautiful lady falling in love and having a son. When it was finished, Mi deemed it truly amazing and contemplated if Link's parents had really been like that. Neither ever knew their guesses weren't far off.

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In the morning the sun rose, though hardly noticeable through the fog. Throughout the clearing, the Kokiri emerged from their houses to play in the new fallen snow. Laughter rang through the meadow and it was this which finally woke Saria.

Mi fluttered up and stretched her wings."Morning, Saria!" she called energetically.

"Good morning!" Saria answered cheerfully. A small cry came up from the basket beside her bed. It appeared her new 'Kokiri' was awake as well. Saria lifted Link out. "Well, good morning to you too, Link!"

The baby gurgled happily and looked around. "Mah-mah?"

Saria didn't know what to say. How did you tell an infant child his parents were dead? You didn't.

"Dah? Mah-mah? Mah-mah!" He became more desperate as each look around yielded neither a Mama nor Da.

"Shhhhh, Link." Saria quieted him as best she knew how. "You're Mama's not hear right now. But I'll be your Mama."

Link looked at her blankly.

"Can you say my name? Saria . . ." she said slowly. Link remained silent, staring at her. "Saria . . . Sah . . . ree . . . yah . . . Saria . . . Come on Link, say 'Saria' . . ."

But Link didn't say anything.

Saria sighed. "You're hopeless."

She put him down on her bed, realizing that she was going to have to talk to Sonya and Joseph if she was to have any hope of raising this child properly. She opened the cupboards at the back of the room. They were full of fruits and vegetables she had gathered in the forest. "Well, I hope you don't need to eat meat, because all I have is vegetarian food."

Link was ignoring her again, looking intently at his surroundings, as though trying to memorize them.

"Looks like he's going to be a smart child," Saria commented, watching Link as he crawled around on the bed. "What kind of fairy do you suppose he'll have? Water? Sonya's Kettes tells her Navi still hasn't chosen a partner."

Saria pulled a squishy yellow fruit out of the cupboard and shut the doors. She grabbed a bowl and spoon and laid them on the table.

"Saria, he's a Hylian," Mi reminded her in a suddenly serious voice. "They don't have fairies."

"What!" Saria exclaimed.

Mi leapt into the air and flew over to Saria. The Kokiri ducked under her and went to rekindle the fire. "I thought you knew that!"

"Mi, without a fairy, the others will know Link's not really a Kokiri!" Saria said desperately to Mi.

Mi gave a shrug. "There's not really anything we can do about it."

Saria was silent for a long time, and Mi knew this meant she was planning something. "When do most Kokiri get their fairy partners?" she finally asked. "I don't remember."

"Anywhere between the second they're born to about the age of three," Mi answered. "But don't be thinking that really matters-a Hylian could never get a fairy partner. Only Kokiri are susceptible to our magic. Fairies and Hylians don't work well together."

Saria squeezed juice from the yellow fruit into the bowl, then tossed in several handfuls of oats. As she poured in some water, mixed it together, and nestled the bowl between the hot coals of the fire, the Speaker listened to Mi's words.

Then, she turned back to the fairy. "Is there any way to get a fairy to partner with Link?"

Mi shook her head. "Not a chance. And don't think you can trick us either. Fairies have a special intuition when it comes to choosing a partner."

"Then what can we do?"

"Hope the Kokiri never put two and two together and figure out Link is a Hylian," Mi offered. "Other than that, nothing."

Saria pulled the bowl out of the fireplace and set it on the table without further comment. Mi flickered through the air and beat her wings rapidly to cool the thick oatmeal. On the bed, Link smelled the scent of food and turned around.

"Sah-ree?"

Saria whirled around to Link. "Did you just say my name? Say it again! Say Saria!"

"Sah-ree!" Link announced triumphantly.

Mi burst into laughter. "Saree! Spirits, that child is a genius!"

Saria laughed with her. "Well, at least he calls me something."

"He won't have any trouble with my name, I'll bet," Mi said. "Come on, Link . . . Mi . . . say Mi!"

"Mi!" Link repeated. The child giggled and clapped his hands together. "Mi! Mi! Mi!"

Saria howled with glee. "Oh, what a child!" She picked up the cooled bowl of oatmeal and sat on the bed. "Soon he'll be speaking better than some of the Kokiri around here!"

She stirred the oatmeal with her spoon, sipping it slowly, and savoring the sweet flavor of the yellow fruit juice. "Mmmmmm . . ." Saria licked her lips and loaded the spoon again. "Okay Link, open wide."

Link obediently opened his mouth and allowed her to tip the food into it. He swallowed and looked back at her with a big smile.

"Awww . . ." Mi crooned. "That's so cute."

Saria finished feeding herself and Link, Mi taking a few nibbles for herself. She put the bowl into a wooden basin filled with water.

"It's really nice outside," Mi stated, looking out between the door flap and the wall. "Can we take him out?"

Saria shrugged. "Why not?" She wrapped Link in a blanket and swung on her own cloak.

Outside, most of the Kokiri were playing in the snow. Mido's housemate, Ringo, had built a large wall out of snow where he and his friends, the twins, Ressa and Tessa, were pelting Kolik and his sisters, Nicle and Faer, with snowballs. Sonya and Joseph were just immerging from their house with their triplets, Taorin, Ludean, and Kaoko. Mido was nowhere to be seen.

Saria walked over to Sonya and Joseph. "Good morning!" she called.

"Morning!" Sonya replied. "Guess what happened last night?" she said eagerly.

"What?" Saria asked.

"A fairy came to Ludean!" She inclined her head to the child in the middle, who was no older than Link.

"What kind?" Mi asked excitedly.

"A Shadow fairy named Nakia," Joseph replied. The small violet fairy hovering near Ludean's head bobbed in acknowledgement.

"I thought you would have chosen Kaoko, Nakia," Mi commented to the fairy. Nakia shrugged her shoulders.

"Once he's six, Kaoko's going to be the perfect angel," Nakia said.

"Think he'll have a Light fairy?"

"Without a doubt," Nakia agreed. "And I'll bet my pendant he'll have Seratt."

"Seratt? He's the one who lives in the branches of the Great Deku Tree, right?"

Nakia nodded. "He's the one."

"So Saria," Sonya started, ignoring the fairies. "Have you seen Mido today?"

"No." Saria shook her head. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, it's just that no one's seen him all morning."

"That's odd," replied Saria. "He's usually out here trying to keep Ringo from slamming poor Kolik's face in the snow."

"For your information," came a voice behind them, "I already did."

Saria turned to see Mido behind her. "Where have you been?" she asked pleasantly.

"Speaking with the Great Deku Tree," Mido answered. "About the child."

"Mido, I already told you," Saria said, exasperated. "The Great Deku Tree let me keep him."

"That wasn't what I had to talk to him about," Mido countered hotly.

"What was it then?" Sonya asked.

"None of your business!" he snapped. "Now get out of my way!" Mido shoved past Saria and stomped away to his house, the door flapping loudly behind him. Ringo watched his housemate leave and walked over to Saria.

"What's wrong with him?" Ringo asked, jabbing his thumb back at Mido's house.

Joseph shrugged.

Ringo scanned the group, his eyes falling on Link. "Who's this?" He stuck out a finger, which Link grabbed playfully.

"His name is Link," Saria explained. "He's the new Kokiri."

"Whose?" Ringo looked through the group again. "Yours?"

Saria nodded. "Speaker brought him to me last night."

"Through the blizzard?" Ringo was amazed. "Wow . . . You know, I bet I know who the Speaker is!"

Saria tensed. "Who?" she asked, trying to act normal.

"Mido!"

Saria breathed a sigh of relief.

"What makes you say that?" Joseph inquired.

"Ciytan woke up last night, when Mido came home really late," Ringo explained, referring to his Fire fairy. "Ciytan told me that he pretended to be asleep, but really listened to Mido's conversation with his fairy."

"And you know what?" Ringo leaned in closer to Saria. "I think Mido likes you." Saria covered her mouth as Ringo winked. It didn't make any sense. Mido didn't show compassion to anyone except his fairy.

"Ringo!" she snapped. "How dare you spread such a nasty rumor!"

"But it's true!" Ringo protested. "Ciytan heard it with his own ears!"

Saria could trust Ciytan's word, for fairies were completely unable to speak a false word. But Ringo could lie, and it was a well known fact that Ringo loved to play tricks on everyone.

"All right I believe you," Saria said, against her better judgment. "How many people have you told?"

"Just Ressa and Tessa." The biggest gossipers in the forest. By now, she could count on everybody knowing.

Saria groaned. "Well, none of that's true. Mido doesn't have a crush on me and he certainly isn't the Speaker."

"Then who is?" Ringo pressed.

"How should I know?" Saria declared. "Link was in my house when I woke up. It's not like the Speaker just up and handed him to me last night."

"Well excuse me." Ringo held up his hands defensively. "Don't get all offended." With that, he waked away to play with his friends.

"I'm going to go talk to Mido," Saria decided. She left Sonya and Joseph and walked to Mido's house. It was dark inside but smelled pleasant, like apricots in the summer.

"Mido?" Saria called.

"Go away," came the reply from the bed.

"Mido, what did you talk to the Great Deku Tree about?" Saria asked, sitting down next to him. "It was about Link, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Mido admitted. "That child is trouble, Saria, even if you don't see it. I tried to get the Great Deku Tree to understand, but the tree ignored me. Apparently, I'm wrong and your prophecy will come true."

"I have no doubt of that. The prophecy will be reality, word for word, but it doesn't mention the suffering you seem so sure will happen after the nine year interim."

Saria gave her leader a long, probing look. "How do you even know there will be suffering?" she asked. "Don't you think your fears are ill conceived?"

Mido shook his head. "One of the perks of having a Fairy of the Wind is the powers that come with. The Winds bring change, I'll admit, but they also bring warning."

Saria met his eyes. She'd never heard him speak like this, so full of wisdom, as if he were a prophet. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly, apprehension creeping into her voice.

"Last night I had a vision and I know it was real," Mido explained. "There's no doubt that it was brought about by Laralene's presence." He took a deep breath and began to recite."'Spirits shalt fade into Solemnity, as Shadows wilt falleth to Sun. Water Freezeth into Ice, and Fire become Rock. The Forest shalt perish, reduced to Ashes, and Light wilt assuredly become Dark. The great Wind stilith at last, whence the Evil King taketh the Throne.'"

Mido looked at her, pure dread burning in his eyes. "My fears are real. This prophecy is interlinked with Purhpciy fu hith Papuulcespi. I'm sure that the king in that one and the king in mine are the same person."

He turned away from her with a long sigh. "I tried to explain this to the Great Deku Tree, but it was credited only as a dream. The Great Deku Tree doesn't believe I can have a real vision."

"Can you, Mido?" Saria asked.

"You don't believe me . . . do you, Saria?" Mido looked hurt.

"This is almost as bad as Ringo's rumor about you having a crush on me."

Mido boiled with rage. "This is beyond that! Saria, you have to believe me! Would I lie to you? Especially if I liked you like that?"

He had a point, she realized.

"Saria, you have to get rid of Link. 'The Forest shalt perish, reduced to Ashes.' Did you hear that part?" Saria looked down at Link, who gave her an innocent smile. "Your Child of Destiny will surely kill us all."

Saria felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Mido, but I just . . . can't . . . You don't understand!" She looked up at him in anguish.

Mido sighed and turned away, unable to stand the tortured look he saw in her eyes. "You're right. I don't understand why you have to keep this child." He paused. "But I do know you're wrong to do so."

Saria met his gaze.

"By keeping him, Saria, you sign away all our lives . . . only to save this one. Now, at the end of nine years, we shall all perish for sure."

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To be continued in Book 2: "Elements of Hyrule" . . .

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