Mi tilted her head up slightly before placing it back against the floor again. There wasn't much else to do. There was nothing else she could do.
"You were crying in your sleep." A voice said from somewhere.
Mi sat up immediately to ask, "did you hear me?"
"No. I just saw you. Though you were saying someone's name ..." Mi could tell it was a female voice now, and she crawled over to where there was a barred space on te wall. As she peered in she saw a girl near to her age in the next room. "Silent tears ..." The girl thought out loud; turning to look at who she was speaking to.
"Who're you ... are you a Hylian?" Mi said softly, not sure what they took as insults here.
"Yes. I am princess Zelda." She said, smiling as if she expected Mi to know. Her smile faded as she noticed the lack of recognition from Mi.
"You are not ... from ‘here' are you?" Zelda said tentatively.
"No. I'm not." Mi said, sliding down to kneel on the floor where Zelda could not see her face. Mi recalled her ‘discussion' with Link.
"He said I had no purpose here ..."
"It takes more effort to close your eyes than to open them. But when they are closed you are reluctant to open them again; thus it's harder to escape the dream then to enter it."
"What?-"
"It takes a strong person to believe in themselves. It takes a stronger person to believe in others." Zelda said as if she were talking to the wall, not Mi.
"I ..." Mi started, but broke off as she really had nothing intelligible to say. She then muttered to herself, " ... just wanted to be useful."
* **
Makera looked over at the Kokiri she was speaking to. It seemed like ... like it WAS just yesterday to her when she had been the same age ..the same height. But unlike herself, the Kokiri were eternally young. They would never grow up. "If I'm like this .. I'm not a Kokiri am I?"
Corqren walks up to her yawning, "where's Mai?"
"Hmm?" Makera looks away from the girl. "Haven't seen her kid." And she smiles happily. "That means you're all mine tonight!" And she grabs him up in a clingy hug.
"ack! Let go of me will ya?!"
“Oh fine... " Makera says in mock sadness.
He gets out of her hug. "and what do you mean by 'you're all mine tonight'?!"
"oh nothing ..." Makera says with an evil grin. Just be glad your not my alter-self’s ... she'd NEVER let you go! And you think I’m clingy .. he he!"
He looks at her weird expression. "ewww! that's like sleeping with Ruto!!" He runs off to puke.
"HEY!" Makera yells angrily as he runs away.
Temperamental as always Makera." the Kokiri says to her. "That's why you got kicked out, remember?"
"No, it's because of HER." Makera says bitterly, remembering all the times Mikara had wrecked her life. She was surprised the Kokiri even allowed her party to stay here this night.
Mai stood before the Lost woods, peering into the depths of Blackness that is all that is apparent from the entrance, listening to it's strange music. She walks in just as Corqren notices her.
Corqren taps Makera on the shoulder watching Mai. "What is that place?"
Makera looks in the general direction he points, and says with the same bitter mood still, "That's the Lost Woods."
"The...Lost..woods?" he looks frightened. "Are you sure it safe for anyone to go in?"
"Well ... if she goes the wrong way, which she probably will, she'll just wind up outside again ..." She pauses for a moment. "But if she goes the right way ..."
"Then?" He looks at her. "Then what?"
just stares towards the woods. "Only Saria and Link had ever been that far in ..."
Corqren already starts for the entrance. "I'll be back..."
"Oh, Deku Tree! Support me, okay?" Makera says as she runs back to wake the others up.
* * *
"What do ya mean they went in there alone?" Mi Shen growls as he kicks Ax awake
"Don't blame me! I didn't say anything." Makera partially bluffs. "He just ran off!"
Ax groans and turns over getting a swift kick in the ass, sitting up with a MAJOR case of bed-head.
"Just hurry up and follow me! It's easy to get lost in there. in fact, it's near impossible not to!"
Mi Shen pulls him up. "Alright mister I'm-going-to-see-what's-to-eat-around-here-only-to-come-back-at-4-in-the-morning-with-a-major-stomach-ache, come on!"
Makera shakes her head in that "oh brother" way.
"Just shutup and stop bickering!" She yells, making them stop dead in their tracks Makera looks at them, then shouts, "get up already! They could already be to the Sacred meadow if they went the right way!"
Mi Shen pulls on his shirt and pulls Ax, still drowzy along with him. "alright already!"
* * *
Corqren walks slowly through the woods, yelling out periodically, "Mai! Mai!" and then the occasional, "Where are you?" With only the answer of his echo. As he pauses for a moment to stop yelling he notices for the first time the melody that flows through the forest. The melody might be the forest itself ... He begins to let his ears guide him and goes further into the woods. He enters into a clearing where a young girl-no, a kokiri is playing an ocarina.
The Kokiri looks over to him while still playing the ocarina, not stopping the entire time. Her fingers move at the same time as the music around him. Could the music have been her? Or did she merely follow along with the forest?
"What... is this place?" Corqren says looking at her.
The Kokiri girl sets the ocarina down in her lap, looking towards him as if she knew or just expected him. "The sacred meadow forest." she says simply.
"She's inside." she says before he can say anything more.
"Th... thank you...." He stammers.
* * *
"So if I walk into any one I want I'll be back in Kokiri forest, right?" Ax says.
"Yeah." Makera says slowly. Ax bolts for it, but Makera catches on to him and yanks him to a standstill, making him fall backwards.
Mi Shen rolls his eyes. "idiot...."
Makera takes her turn to drag Ax now.
Mi Shen stops her, turns ax around and puts ax's ponytail in her hand. "There-now drag him."
"Thank you" Makera says, then snickers.
"At your service...... don't even think that..."
"Aw you took the fun outta this before it was even there!" Makera says with mock-whiney tone. What she was really thinking was, "Fan-service, hehe!"
Mi Shen shrugs and follows the music.
They stroll into a meadow (after having gone through a maze to get there) and surprisingly see Ki there. "How'd you get here already?" Makera cries out.
Ki shrugs, "I dunno ... I don't even know how I got here ...” Ki still has Yu's wings on ...
Mi Shen goes over to her and shakes her. "hey Ki wake up."
Ki responds, “I .. am .. awake ... Mi Shen, STOP!” In an unevenly wavering voice as she moves back and forth.
Makera looks up at the broken off staircase. "That must be the forest temple!"
Mi Shen nods. "I guess so. Well. What're we waiting for?"
Ax starts to climb up a vine. "come on!"
Mi Shen rolls his eyes jumps up to the top and grumbles. "he's awake now.... wow..."
Ki looks at them, and As they are climbing up, glides up to the top of the stairs quietly.
Ax grumbles as he reaches the top. "oh will you just shut up!"
Mi Shen steps on Ax's fingers. "don't tell me what to do!"
Ax pulls his fingers out from under Mi Shen's boot, sticks them in his mouth and then spits. "ick!"
Ki looks down at the "grown-ups" with embarrassment.
Makera is the last to climb to the top, and she looks into the temple along with the other three. "It's another temple. That's reason enough to enter." She picks up Ki by the back of the shirt. "You too kid." And hauls her along with.
"Hey! I can walk y'know!" Ki says angrily, attempting to kick Makera.
Mi Shen and ax go in. Corqren is inside the temple, chasing after the poes which continue to evade him. One torch is lit, an that's it.
"Damn it come back here!" He tries to swipe at one but his sword is too short.
Mi Shen looks around, wacks one on the head, and it's lantern falls into his hand
Makera gets the picture from Mi Shen and slices one in two, catching it's lantern as well. The last poe is squished between Ax and Corqren as they run into each other.
They set the lanterns atop the torches and the flames all light. As they do a door opens beyond them. Corqren starts for the door as it opens, not even saying thank you. The door closes just as Corqren clears its threshold and all the poe lanterns dissipate instantly and at the same time.
"This ain't good..." Ax states as he stands on guard with his axe.
"For once I agree with you..." Mi Shen readies his staff.
Ki gets dropped to the ground as Makera readies her sword, and Ki whines, "Why me?"
Out of the darkness the ghostly whiney of a horse is heard, and They notice for the first time the paintings lining the wall of the strange octagonal room. From one painting steps the horse from which he noise was heard, as if the painting itself was not even there. On the horse a rider is seen, and Makera's grip on her sword loosens momentarily. "Link?" She says in shock.
horse comes completely out of the painting, puffing small spurts of steam from it's nostrils as it paws the ground restlessly. Link kicks up his heels and the horse bucks, then charges straight towards the group.
"Move!" Makera says as she ducks out of the way, pulling Ki with her quickly.
* * *
Mai looks up as the door slams shut. Looking over to see what had happened, she sees Corqren as she wipes her face of the tears that had accumulated there.
"M..Mai? Are you alright?" Corqren steps towards her.
"Yeah. I guess. Maybe."
"Phew.... at least your not psycho..." He says, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Phyco ...?" Mai says, at first not understanding, but then remembering the other temples. "Nah .. I'm not phyco."
"what a relief..."
"But .." She sniffed between tears. "That means I'm not a sage. I'm even more useless than before ..."
"No no you're not..." he says, hugging her. "you never were useless..."
"But even if I had a use, I put too many people in danger! I could have KILLED you!"
"How?" he frowns slightly.
"Even if I didn't hit you, even by missing you I could have. You might have drowned in the time it took me to finally shoot the arrow into that blob-thing." She felt herself crying now. She felt stupid to be doing so, and pushed her head against her knees.
"Oh Mai...." he hugs her again. "It's ok... I knew you guys would save me... I believed in you..."
“Stop believing in me then!" She mumbles against her knees. "I don't want to be relied upon!"
"You can't make me... I will weather you like it or not..."
She looks up at Corqren, blushing. "But I don't want to HURT anyone .. I don't want to hurt YOU."
"You think I want to hurt anyone? Have you seen me really try? That's because I've hesitated all the time... excepted when you told me to go for it like in Jabu Jabu and when you were in danger...." He blushes.
"Danger?" She laughs, feeling better because of him. "I think you were in more danger than me-" She stops, realizing because of what she was saying what he had meant. "You don't have to hurt yourself though-to stop me from being hurt ..."
"But... I couldn't think of anything else to do... then take Mi Shen's assault for you..."
Mai looked down at her feet in a pathetic attempt to hide how much she was blushing, and the smile on her face.
"I.. I wish I knew more about you so that I could figure out why you feel so useless..."
She looks up, and wiping her face a final time before saying, "I'd like to know you better too." She couldn't help but give a small smile. "But I don't fell useless. I just feel weak." Mai says, leaning against him.
He rubs his head. "well you're stronger then me... one crack to the noggin and I'm down.. bet you can take more hurting then I can."
"There are different type of strength." She says sleepily. "And ... different kinds of hurt." She says as she closes her eyes.
He holds her. "I know..."
* * *
Makera slammed against the wall, followed a split second later by the softer thud of Ki. They had dodged the first charge of the ghostly pair, steed and rider, but had yet to defeat him.
Mi Shen dodges out of the way as both make another pass. "Damn! Ax!" Ax takes a swipe and is blasted back by a electrical blast.
"Ouch" Ki says, looking on without and idea what to do about this.
"Damn!" Makera says, knowing she only has her sword and shield to use herself.
Mi Shen whacks a bolt back at link. "Makera! Hit the bolts!" he yells as it dawns on him. Makera knocks back the bolt, and it comes at her again, but after a few more times Link misses his own cue and takes the bolt himself.
Makera and Mi Shen nod to each other, and they rush towards The phantom Link at the same time. They jump into the air, staff and sword cracking into the ghost, dissipating the phantom into only an eery scream of the temple's air. As Makera and Mi Shen look around expecting more of a fight from the guardian all they see is a light over their heads beginning to grow.
"That was kinda easy..." Mi Shen says wiping a trickle of sweat from his brow.
"Here we go chamber of Sages." Makera says seriously.
Ax says grouchily, "I didn't get a single hit!"
"Join the club." Ki says, annoyed.
* * *
Mai looks up, realizing two things. First, that she was no longing sitting on cold ground, and two, that Corqren was not so near as he was before. She opened her eyes expecting some sort of dream, only to find the chamber of sages. As close to a dream as she'd had since she'd been here.
Corqren opens his eyes as he realized he was no longer holding Mai and was sitting on his seal instead.
"Soooo ..." Yu draws out the word, looking over at Mai with a sneaky expression. "What were YOU TWO doing to have such glazed expressions?" Yu's eyebrows rise noticeably.
Corqren gets up. "We were talking."
Ax grins. "so that's what Zora's call ‘it’ huh?"
Mai's face goes red, and she seems to lose her balance slightly, looking ready to fall on her face at any second. "We weren't doing ANYTHING!" Everyone's eyes drew towards her as she raised her voice. She soon regretted it. People always suspect "nothing"
Mi Shen frowns. "Leave them alone. Whatever they were doing it's their business not ours."
Yu stops laughing for a moment to look around the chamber of sages. Each person's eyes glowed a unique color expect for two- Ki and Makera. “Well. This means only one temple left to go.”
"Hmmm... I guess it's time to find Ki's temple..." Mi Shen shrugs.
Mai uses this to take herself away from the center of attention. "Yeah! Then we'll kick Link's butt!"
Makera looks at them all excitedly, “Yeah! Finally!”
Ki looks down at her feet, rubbing one shoe against the ground distractedly.
"I can't go back there ..." Ki says in a slightly whiney tone.
Why?" Yu says, surprised at Ki's reaction.
"They kicked me out ..." Ki says, obviously embarrassed she hadn't said so before.
"It's not like we're gonna be stopping by to say "hi" anyway, kid!" Ax says, a bit annoyed.
Ki looks up, still sounding insecure, "OK."
Corqren flashes a quick smile at Mai. Mai smiles back to Corqren, blushing slightly.
The light of the chamber grows once more as they are transported. From the light Makera sees an image begin to appear. She recognizes the outline of a Kokiri figure.
"Saria?"
Saria doesn't look directly at her, but does stop playing. "I was going to give this to Link, but he is not himself. It would be best in your hands, and I feel it would help you on your journey." She raises the ocarina to her lips and begins to play the same melody as before.
"That's your song, Saria!"
"Yup. Saria's song." She says simply, and tosses her the ocarina, looking at her directly now. And one more thing-And she tosses a bow at her. "You'll need this" She smiles as the light brightens again.
Saria looks towards Mai. "You've got more gut than you think kid, you should learn to stop thinking and start acting. And remember this melody, it will help you, I'm sure." And the melody plays as the light brightens around Mai.
