Saria sat on a branch high on the Deku Trees trunk playing music from a very old Ocarina. From this high up Saria had a good view of Hyrule, she could see the forest stretched out beneath her, in the distance she could see Hyrule Fields and at the edge of it Castle Town itself. She of course had never been there. But she'd heard stories about it from Link when he came to visit her some millennia ago. The only time she had left the forest was to dwell in the Sacred Realm as the sage of Forest, though in all fairest did that really count since it was another plane separate from Hyrule.

The Deku Tree didn't mind it when she played in his branches like this. Being a tree he was ground in one stop and even if his roots reached far through the land he had only the Kokiri to talk too, he always said her music soothed him. This high up the wind wiped through her hair. It was another thing she like about this spot. Down on the ground there were too many trees for the wind to ever get this wild.

Since she'd returned after being awakened at the Sage of Forest Saria had grown her hair out some. In the old days her hairband fashioned from bark was merely decorative but now she actually needed it to keep the wind from her eyes. She wasn't wearing it at the moment and her hair whipped around her face as if was tossed and blown.

Suddenly something changed somewhere inside her. It was not sudden, more akin to a silent wave that grows to massive peak. As it hit Saria her music faltered and she slipped from her seat on the branch in shock. As she fell she was buffeted by branches, she blinked twice and a voice came into focus. "Saria, grab something you're going to kill yourself." Saria was awakened from her daze and latched onto a branch as she fell. It bowed under her weight but held. It was lucky too, she was feet from the ground.

If there was one thing the Kokiri could always count on it was there climbing abilities, if Saria had been anyone else she may well have died. As it was she was covered in scraps and bruises from the leaves and branches as she fell. She looked up into the little light that have saved her life. "Thank you Laila," she said to her fairy. "You save me."

"Saria, you need to be more carful, what happened, I've never seen you lose concentration like that before." said the little ball of light. She was not yet old enough to exist in any other form. She had not been with Saria very long. The fairy that had chosen Saria had been called back by the Great Fairy, Laila was her replacement.

"I felt something strong, and strange. What about you Great Deku Tree? Do you know what this power was?"

The bark seemed to shift below Saria's fingers as if in a huge groan or yawn. she quickly let go dropping to the ground. Saria circled the great tree till she faced his front. There three knotholes had grown out of proportion forming eyes and a nose while the bark had bulged and darkened somewhat to form a truly impressive mustache.

"I felt it Saria," said the Great Deku Tree "Something is brewing. The Blade of Evil's Bane is unsheathed. But more than the cycle beginning again I feel another power, darker than that of the Demon King. It by no means matches his but it exists in the shadows, the gap where light does not reach. Alas the source of this power is in a land devoid of life, a place where my roots wither and die. I cannot be sure of what this is but it has plagued Hyrule before in ages past that I am certain."

Saria contemplated what the Deku Tree said. She had been alive long enough that little shocked her now but it did trouble her, this was information the Hero of this era could use. Saria could not be the messenger, she could not leave the forest, the source of life or the years she had lived would catch up with a body unable to process them. "What is to be done."

"That I cannot say Saria but I believe it would be prudent to consult Faron. I believe he will have more answers."

"But," Said Saria surprised, " Faron's spring is at the very outskirts of the Kokiri Forest Past the Lost Woods, and into the Faron Woods where the humans tread, these Ordonians. Is it truly wise to go so near there territory."

"Wise." the Tree contemplated "Perhaps it is not but it is necessary, there is much more to this story than any realize and if they are informed too late it may spell disaster for the Hero."

"Very well," the Sage mused more to herself than the Tree. " Come Laila, we have a long trek ahead of us."