The boy's heart lifted as the golden splash over the horizon announced the approach of dawn. It wouldn't be long now.
As the first hazy shafts of sunlight of morning filtered down over him, the song began. As it did every morning - a voice that formed no words, only a haunting, keening melody that drifted down into Kakariko Graveyard from the strange tunnel beyond the Royal Family's Tomb. It swirled around him, so beautiful, so sad, like a hundred flowers and a hundred tears all at once. Someday, he told himself, someday when he was bigger, he would find a way to reach that tunnel, and finally meet the one responsible for the song that he loved. He liked to imagine what it would be like when he finally met her... by then, he would be a warrior, proud and strong, his bravery already becoming a legend. And her... she would be more beautiful than Princess Zelda herself. She would be tall and slender, graceful as a bird in flight, her long hair flowing like pale gold and her eyes sweet summer blue. And if he found in those eyes the same sorrow that he heard in her voice, he promised he would make it go away forever.
He listened, swaying slightly with the haunting melody he knew so well, then brought his pipes to his lips and joined the tune as smoothly as flowing water. Her voice, his pipes... they countered each other perfectly, blending and weaving into each other like the splinters of light that gradually became day. He had never spoken to her, never seen her, never even known her name... but they were one.
She saw herself mirrored in the deepening darkness, great billowing clouds of black that swirled and churned in a monstrous whirlpool of nothingness. She fought against it, struggled to gain an inch of ground that would take her back toward the light from which she had descended, but it enveloped her and sucked her down, pulling her into its blackness. She saw a thousand faces whirl past as it took her - friends, enemies, complete strangers - young, then aging, then swept into the dark and consumed completely. She saw the world she knew - the world she loved as its ruler - destroyed, the towns lying in ruin, the forests burning to the ground, the people falling lifeless in wave after wave. She tried to avert her eyes, tell herself it was just an illusion, shut it out somehow, but it invaded her mind in barbed splinters, and stuck where she could not escape it.
"...Why?..." she was finally able to murmur in horror, her silent strength lost to the pain of what she was forced to see.
"Because you must find me..."
"Princess! Can you hear me?!"
The face gradually slid into focus above hers, forest green and sandy blonde and innocent blue sluggishly separating from each other and arranging themselves with sickening slowness into a recognizable pattern.
"Princess!" Link repeated, the apprehension in his voice replaced by relief as her eyes opened.
"... Link?" Zelda mumbled, wincing and raising one hand to her throbbing head.
"Who else?" He grinned. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine..." she replied haltingly. "... Just a headache... uhn... what happened?"
"A cucoo, remember?" He replied, helping her back to her feet. "It came flying out of nowhere, and scared the life out of your horse."
She nodded. "I remember now... she reared up and threw me..."
"Yeah... well, I guess they can't all be as reliable as Epona here..."
Suddenly, the princess remembered where they were, and glanced around. Sure enough, even the busy hustle of Hyrule Castle Town's marketplace had come to a halt, and every person in it was part of a hushed circle around she and her swordsman companion, their anxiety clear in their eyes. Link picked up on it a second later, and turned to assure the crowd that their beloved princess was just fine, as Zelda climbed back onto her horse.
"... No serious injuries, just a bruise or two..." Link was reporting to the anxious villagers as he swung himself back up onto Epona. "Please go back to your normal duties... thank you for your concern..." He glanced at said princess, who was leaning slightly forward and rubbing her forehead between arched brows with a thumb and forefinger. "You are okay, aren't you?"
"I... I just... I need to think," she stammered, shaking her head as if to clear it. Then, she turned her horse back toward the gates that led out into Hyrule Field.
"Hey, wait!" Link protested. "We were heading back to the castle, remember?"
"I need to think," Zelda repeated.
"Okay, then I'll come with you..."
"No."
The cold sharpness of her reply caught him by surprise, and he looked a little hurt. After all, he and the princess had been friends for years... and possibly more...
"No," she said again, but much more gently. "I need to be alone for a while. You go back to the castle, and tell my father."
He shifted uneasily in the saddle, one hand instinctively twitching in the direction of the Master Sword, strapped to his back. "That's probably not a good idea... will you be all right by yourself?"
"Link," she fixed him with an imperious glare, "as your princess, I order you to return to Hyrule Castle and tell my father of my decision."
The Hero of Time looked as if he might protest for a moment, but she was using her trump card on him. He had a hard enough time arguing with the woman in Zelda, and against the princess he didn't stand a chance.
"As you wish," he offered a stiff half-bow as he turned Epona toward the castle. Zelda nodded approvingly, and gave her mare a gentle kick to get her moving. She disliked having to 'pull rank' on Link, her best friend, but she really did need to be alone right now... and she could always apologize later, when she had her head together a little better...
Link scowled as the princess rode out into the field, and urged Epona to trot after her as far as the far side of the drawbridge. He didn't like this. He really didn't like this. For Zelda to use her royal status to deter him, it must be something very important to her, but there were so many dangers... so many countless dreadful things that could happen... and where would Hyrule (not to mention certain time-travelling heroes) be without its beloved Princess of Destiny?...
He was still wrestling with his conscience, an inch away from spurring Epona onward, when the sound of a soft footfall turned his head. A familiar figure, clad in varying shades of blue and gray and wearing the eye-like insignia of the Sheikah, stood alongside him. One solemn, red eye regarded him with its usual silent eloquence from beneath a blonde fringe and concealing headdress.
"Do as she says," Sheik advised. "I will ensure that she remains safe."
Link nodded, relieved that the Sheikah had taken the decision out of his hands. "Thanks."
The hooded Sheikah swung his arm back in the gesture that meant he would disappear in a blinding flash of light a second later, then spoke again. "And watch your back." Link didn't have time to ask what he was watching for as he shielded his eyes from the painful flare that followed.
"How does he do that?" Link muttered, gazing ruefully at the spot where Sheik had been standing and blinking several times to clear the spots swimming in front of his eyes. Then a soft whinny from Epona caught his attention as the horse pawed the ground, anxious to get moving again.
"All right, girl," he turned her toward the castle and gave her a small kick. "Let's go home..."
He never noticed the shadow that followed...
About halfway between the Marketplace and the Castle, the trusty warhorse suddenly reared up, ears back flat, and thrashed the air violently with her forelegs.
"Epona!" Link cried, struggling to keep his hold on the reigns. "Hey! Settle! What's wrong, girl?"
Epona whinnied nervously in reply, shuffling restlessly and rolling her eyes back to the whites in fear. Link's brow creased with confusion. Epona never behaved like this - even in the most dangerous combat situations, it took a great deal to scare Lon Lon Ranch's champion mare.
"Shhh," he patted her broad neck, at a loss for actions. For Epona to be this frightened, something unnatural must be going on nearby...
A sudden, shooting pain in his left leg drew a cry of pain, and he looked down to the startling sight of three long, shallow gashes that looked like claw marks. But what had hit him?! Not particularly wanting to find out, the young man dug his heels into Epona's sides, urging the horse toward Hyrule Castle. If he could make it that far...
He didn't even make it past that thought. Before he could act, he felt a pair of ice-cold hands at his throat, cutting of his breathing with abrupt sharpness. He grabbed at them, mercifully found them to be solid despite the fact that he couldn't see them. He tried desperately to identify his enemy as he struggled to loosen its grip and remain on his terrified horse's back. It was attacking like a wild animal, without weapons and with little strategy, but for a creature of that intelligence to know an invisibility spell just didn't make any sense...
Just as he managed to wrestle free of the hands at his throat, something hit him from behind, slamming him hard into the rocky ground. Winded, he rolled to his feet, trying to catch his breath and his horse both. But Epona, always so trustworthy, had panicked, and bolted.
"Fine..." Link snarled as he regained his breath. Whatever it was that was attacking him, there was a surefire way to deal with it. "Din's Fire!" The Hero of Time commanded, slamming one hand palm-down into the ground and watching the dome of magical fire roll out around him. Something cried out in pain as the spell caught it, and there was the sound of body he still couldn't see hitting the ground.
It brought an angry snarl from behind him, as well, and he turned just as a furious Stalfos stumbled through the flames, twisted sword raised for a killing blow. With the honed reflexes of a fighter since childhood, he rolled under the blow, springing back to his feet with his shield and the infamous Master Sword already in his hands. Relieved to finally be fighting something he could see, Link stabbed forward, cutting into the animated corpse's rib cage. Howling in rage, the Stalfos leapt at Link, slashing in a vicious downward arc. The young man nimbly dodged to the side, then retaliated with a jump attack of his own, delivering the blow that crumbled the Stalfos into a useless pile of bones, then dust.
"Very good," a female voice announced from out of nowhere.
"Who are you?!" Link demanded angrily. "Show yourself!"
In answer, there was a intense flash of light that left spots swimming in front of his eyes, then the sight of a tall, red-haired woman, much like one of Gerudo people, hovering above him. She looked upon him with thick-lashed eyes of pale mauve, set under arched brows in a shapely, angular face that was as beautiful as it was chilling. Her sleek, diaphanous garb was in dramatic shades of dark purple and a blue that was almost black, the colours of midnight, and accentuated by gleaming silver bands matching her many earrings and the necklace at her throat. One slender hand grasped a wicked-looking scimitar, while the other bore silver rings on the second and forth fingers, joined by a chain bracelet that looped up around her wrist and held the shape of a serpent over the back of her hand.
She looked at him with utter contempt, then laughed.
"I said, who are you?" Link repeated, his grip on the sword's hilt tightening in anger.
Without answer, she raised the ringed hand, silver serpent facing him, and spoke a word he didn't recognise. But, as the sparks of white lightning began to gather around her hand, her intent was clear enough. Link readied himself - easy enough to throw her own magic back at her, just as he had defeated Ganondorf...
She released the ball of energy, and he swung the Master Sword in a perfectly-timed arc to intercept it. Expecting the spell to be hurled back at its creator, Link was completely unprepared for what happened next.
The Master Sword vanished.
"Thank you," the mysterious woman grinned. "But you have one more little toy that I'd like. The Ocarina of Time, if you please."
Link stared at her outstretched hand in disbelief, then reached for his bow, the only weapon that he hadn't left back at the palace or in his saddle bags (this trip was meant to be a brief outing, not a quest).
"So you want to fight? Fine..." she flicked the jewelry-adorned hand, and suddenly he was holding his secondary weapon - the Goron blade that was so huge it became a two-handed sword in the hands of a normal Hylian. He didn't know how she'd put it there, but a weapon was a weapon.
He held the sword ready, and she laughed at him again. "I should warn you that you have no hope to defeat me, Hero of Time. For all you are, I am a thousand times greater."
"And apparently afraid to come down here and prove it!" The young man retorted.
"On the contrary," she raised her scimitar, "that was exactly what I had in mind."
She charged at him from the air, using her altitude to add strength to the attack. He raised the huge Goron sword to parry, and the two blades glanced off each other with a resounding clang.
"Well met, Hero," she grinned, falling into fighting stance. "Let's see if you can keep it up."
"Try me," he retorted, matching her arrogance with a little self-confidence of his own.
They circled for a few moments, plotting, feinting, testing each other for weaknesses. Neither seemed willing to strike first, lest they leave themselves open and give the other the advantage. It was she who finally broke the circling - but not to attack. Instead, she swung the ring-bearing hand up into the air and brought it down in a graceful arc, creating another flash of blinding light. Link snarled as he was forced to avert his eyes, the slashed out blindly, hoping that she would be charging forward under the cover she had created. A sharp cry told him he was right - but as the light faded, he saw only a small gash near her left shoulder, hardly enough to give him an advantage.
She glared at him, eyes narrowing further with hatred, then made another quick gesture with her hand. A faint purple aura surrounded her, and with stunning speed, she lunged forward, her scimitar slicing toward his torso. As he brought his own sword to parry, he knew he had played into her hands - her weapon, much faster to swing than his, easily turned the rebound into a second swing that cut overhand, down into his right shoulder. He cried out in pain, and with a speed that she rightfully shouldn't have, she swiftly followed through with a slash to his ribs that cut deep, then a forward stab to the same shoulder she had already injured.
"Uhn..." The Goron blade clattered to the ground as he lost the strength to hold it, hilt slick with the blood that flowed down his arm. Link sank to his knees a moment later, left hand gripping the opposite shoulder and features pulled into a grimace of pain. She grinned at him, raising the point of her scimitar to his throat.
"Cheap... tricks..." Link managed. He tried to stand again, but shooting pain caused him to crouch over, clasping his shoulder with one hand and his torso with the other. He snarled in pain, and she gave a snide smile.
"The first rule of combat, Hero. Honourable conduct will only get you so far. You use what weapons are at your disposal, however you best can." Then, she made another gesture with her free hand. "Girl, to me."
A second person - presumably female - appeared in the same manner the scimitar-wielding sorceress had, almost completely concealed beneath loose, sand-coloured robes. She stood with her head bowed and her hands behind her back, a hood pulled down to reveal nothing of her face or features.
The first woman looked down at the fallen Link. "You know what to do."
The hooded girl nodded briefly and knelt by him, quickly relieving him of his bow, pack, shield, and the Master Sword's sheath. The sorceress lowered her scimitar and stepped back, apparently satisfied that he wouldn't attempt escape. He guessed he could take advantage of that, injured though he was - the girl seemed slight, and he could probably throw her off him...
However, a moment after the thought came to him, he heard - if only barely - something whispered from underneath the hood. His pain-numbed mind struggled to process the words - to his surprise, the girl had spoken in ancient Sheikah, an old and little-used language that Sheik had taught him a little of over the past year. After searching his memory for a few moments, he identified her words as meaning, 'be calm'. And this confused him further - was she planning to help him, or was she merely warning him against fighting back? And where had a Gerudo (they looked like Gerudo, though he didn't know why they would attack him, technically one of their own) picked up ancient Sheikah?
"The Ocarina," said mistress pressed, impatient, pointing her sword at his throat again as the girl turned her attention to his pack. The girl nodded, and began to sift through his belongings.
"Who...are you?..." Link rasped.
They both ignored him. The cloaked girl turned to the supposed Gerudo, displaying Link's first ocarina, the one that had been a present from Saria.
"No, you idiot!" The woman swatted the fairy ocarina to the ground in fury. "The Ocarina of Time! It must be there! Find it!"
Link blinked. Of course it was there...
But the girl shook her head.
Glaring venomously at Link, the sorceress grabbed the collar of his tunic, viciously jerking him to his feet with a strength that a woman of her build really shouldn't have. "Speak! Where is the Ocarina of Time?!"
Even if he had planned on answering, he wouldn't have had time, because the faint sound of hoofbeats reached their ears. The Gerudo woman's head snapped up to survey the small cloud of dust in the distance. She seemed to think for a moment, then dumped the Hero of Time unceremoniously back to the ground.
"You will tell me," she stated coldly. "You will beg me to let you."
She made another gesture with her ringed hand, and the whole world seemed to light up around him with burning intensity. For a moment, the pain of his wounds escalated, increasing as if he were experiencing them all tenfold. Then, black.
"You're lagging, boy," the older man - a Hylian soldier, by the look of his uniform - taunted, as the two horses raced along the dust road. "Seems like that Biggoron Blade slows up your horse as much as your combat arm..."
"Is that so, Ihran?" The younger retorted, a man not yet in his twenties who wore unusual armour and loose blonde hair that was slicked back, but still flew wildly about in the wind. Then, after a moment of thought, he cried, "think fast!"
The soldier barely managed to duck the lightning-fast swing that followed, and swore at the other. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Proving a point, old man," the younger laughed. "My sword may be slow, but I could still take your head off without you even noticing the swing!"
"Then it must be that nag of yours," the soldier grunted.
"What?" The other cried defensively. "This horse is Lon-Lon stock! Had he twice the burden to carry, he wouldn't slow at all!"
To prove it, he kicked the horse in the ribs to spur it onward, gradually pushing ahead of his opponent. With an oath, the soldier tried to match him, but the older man's horse was beginning to tire, where the other still seemed fresh. They thundered through the recently-rebuilt gate a moment later, the younger man a full length in front of his elder. Triumphantly, he slowed his stallion to a halt, patting the animal's sleek neck.
"I win," he grinned to the soldier. "Pay up."
A red rupee was reluctantly flipped in his direction, which he caught and pocketed, as the old soldier glared at him. "A rematch! I'll beat you easy enough now that I've had a bit of a warm-up, boy!"
The younger man shook his head. "I have somewhere to be. Maybe some other time."
He faced to horse toward the marketplace, then turned in the saddle. "By the way, stop calling me that. You know my name, and I believe I've earned it by now."
"Aye, I know it. Begone, Ryouken, and take your accursed name with you!"
"'Bye!" The sandy-haired young man waved cheerfully as he continued down the road, rather pleased with himself. Foolish old man... Ryouken hadn't worked five years at Lon Lon Ranch to come out anything short of a superb rider. Nor had he spent most of his life wandering Hyrule to be slow in swinging his chosen blade. The nerve of those comments... he almost wanted to turn back and challenge Ihran to a sword duel, just to prove his superiority. But no - he wasn't going to waste his time or effort fighting the veteran soldier. He had places to go and things to do, and there was no real challenge in it.
Besides, he added in his mind, I'd only have humiliated him by winning...
As he rounded the corner in the hilly pass, he was instantly confronted by a blinding flash that left purple patterns swimming in his eyes, and caused his mount to rear and almost throw him. It was gone a second later, and Ryouken looked with confusion upon no more than bloodstains in the dust. And, once he had noticed it out the corner of his eye, something small and nondescript that was lying beside the road. Raising an interested eyebrow, the young wanderer swung himself down from the horse to retrieve the item - and found it to be a pearly-brown ocarina, broken into two pieces where the mouthpiece had once met the main body of the instrument.
"Hmm," Ryouken commented to his horse, turning the instrument over in his hand and appraising it. "Where d'you suppose this came from?"
There was apparently no reply forthcoming, other than a derisive snort and an impatient flick of the mane. With a shrug, the wanderer stored the broken instrument in his belt pouch, then inspected the red-brown stains on the ground. There were clear footprints - one set made by boots, and then another by significantly bigger and heavier boots... some he couldn't identify... two sets made by slippers, possibly of Gerudo make, that seemed to appear from nowhere... and hoofprints, shoes that he recognised as being made at Lon Lon Ranch. Of all these sets, only the hooves seemed to go anywhere - back to Hyrule Marketplace, from whence they had come. The others just seemed to vanish. And moreover, the marks - if not the blood - clearly indicated a fight. But there were no apparent victors nor losers, no bodies, nothing but the ocarina he had just picked up - if it had even come from the same people (people? Was that necessarily true?) as the prints.
Puzzling over the mystery he had been presented with, Ryouken mounted his horse again and headed toward the marketplace. The advantage to having a town as the only entrance to a castle was that if anything went in or out, it was practically guaranteed that somebody had noticed it...
"All right, girl... easy... c'mon now..."
The horse took another step back toward the fence, eyes narrowed. Ryouken could have sworn she was sizing him up, forming a strategy...
"Steady..." the wanderer murmured, eyes fixed on the reigns that dangled from the defiant creature's bridle. "Almost there..."
He dived for the swinging reigns - a second to late. The mare reared up on her hind legs and trashed the air with sharp hooves, one coming down exactly where his head would have been if he hadn't had the wits to move, the other just clipping his ear as he dodged the first. He sat down abruptly, dazed by the blow; with a triumphant whinny, the horse cantered a few feet away, then ungraciously turned her rump toward him and flicked her tail in the equine equivalent of a derogatory gesture. Ryouken's jaw dropped.
"Evil beast!" The swordsman cried, all attempts at 'soothing the savage beast' forsaken as he lunged at her. If he could just get a grip on those reigns...
The horse practically read his mind. She swung her head around at the last second, causing the reigns to lash out and whip him across the face, throwing off his perfectly-timed attack. He stumbled, almost falling, but just barely managed to keep his feet - until she spun and kicked out at his armour-encased midsection with her back legs, hurling him backward into the nearest wall with the sound of splintering wood and broken crockery.
"Nooo!"
Ryouken looked up to see the startled attendant of Hyrule's newest shop - the herbalist's - looking rather devastated. He then looked down to see himself more or less covered in several slimy, pungent-smelling mixtures, in various shades of green and brown, and containing various sizes of mysterious, chunky bits.
"Those potions are worth a fortune!" The attendant, a rather elderly man, cried.
Ryouken clambered to his feet, then winced as one or two of his ribs protested. "Ugh... uh... I'll pay for the damages... just... let me take care of something first..." Catching sight of a long coil of rope hanging on the wall, he snatched it up. "I'm gonna borrow this, okay?"
Leaving the shop assistant to gape in disbelief, he charged back outside, tying the rope into a hasty loop. The horse was caught unaware as Ryouken's lasso landed around her neck, then swiftly drew tight.
"Yes!" Rouyken exulted, looping the rope around his arm a couple of times. "Gotcha!"
The horse turned, calmly, and he suddenly caught the wicked glint in her eyes.
"... Oh..." he said, voice suddenly very small. "... Oh... crud..."
He didn't have the time left for another word as she took off with impressive speed, dragging the fragrant swordsman behind her. Ryouken then learned an important lesson about life - when one is being towed at high speed behind a decidedly bad tempered horse, the last place one wants to be is in a marketplace. Particularly a very busy marketplace complete with dogs, chickens, decorative plant boxes, and lovely cobblestoned streets.
Then, apparently bored with the game, the mare suddenly stopped - and, of course, the basic laws of physics went into effect. The battered Ryouken shot past the now-stationary horse, and, the rope finally coming loose from his arm, went flying into the fountain that stood in the center of the marketplace.
Stiff and sore, sticky and smelly and drenched, decorated with dust and mud and chicken feathers, Ryouken scrambled to his feet in the thigh-deep water. Instantly, his ears were filled with the enthusiastic cheering of the Hylian peasantry.
For the horse.
And, judging by the way the beast was prancing around and mock-bowing, she was loving every moment of it.
He swore as he clambered out of the fountain, burning with indignation. This was stupid! He, possibly the greatest swordsman in all Hyrule, was being beaten by a horse! He, who had all but grown up on Lon Lon Ranch! Why, he had even tamed the infamous Epona...
Epona. It hit him like a Megaton Hammer, and he wanted to kick himself for not seeing it sooner.
"Baka!" he muttered one of the few words he had ever learned in Ancient Sheikah as he fished out his pipes. "You idiot, Ryouken... you complete idiot..."
One of the horse's ears pricked up as the notes of the familiar melody met it. She looked confused at first, if a horse could - but judging by the calculating wickedness she had just displayed, Ryouken wasn't at all surprised. Then, she actually closed her eyes and started swaying in time to his music - yep, this was Epona, no doubt about it. The horse whinnied, then trotted over to nudge him gently with her nose, brown eyes big and apologetic.
"Sure," he grunted, wincing as a jolt of pain ran through his middle. "Now you remember me..."
"Hey, Malon!" Ryouken called to the quietly singing figure standing in the middle of the corral. "Hi!"
Her song pausing, the young girl turned sharply at the sound of his voice, her long, rust-coloured hair swinging out behind her. "Ryouken! You're back!"
He swung himself down from the horse's back, and caught up his childhood friend in a rough bear hug as she dashed over. "You been taking care of yourself, kiddo?"
She elbowed him playfully in the ribs. "You should talk, Ryouken - you're only two years older than me!"
"But wise beyond my years, don'cha know?" He protested with a broad grin. "So, how is everybody since I - "
He was abruptly cut off as a large furry nose shoved between them, greeting Malon with a big, sloppy, lick.
"Epona!" Malon cried, throwing her arms around the horse's neck. "Oh, Ryouken - you brought her back to see me!" The girl then attempted to hug both the horse and the wanderer at once, resulting in an half-strangled cry of warning from Ryouken, and a well-timed snort from Epona that coated the others in a fine, sticky spray.
"That's disgusting," Ryouken scowled, glaring sideways at the horse as he wiped his face.
Malon, brought up all her life with horses, looked more or less unfazed, grinning wider and stroking Epona's nose affectionately. Then, as she got over her joy at seeing her old friend again, she became confused. "But... where did you find her? Mr. Ingo gave her to that fairy boy years ago, and he's taken very good care of her."
Seeing that she'd realized he wasn't here just for a friendly visit, Ryouken turned serious as well. "Actually, that's why I'm here... Malon, you say Ingo gave Epona to that 'fairy boy'? That's Link, the Hero of Time, right? Do you know him?"
Malon nodded.
"Tell me," Ryouken continued, reaching into his belt pouch to retrieve the broken ocarina he had found on the road, "do you recognize this?"
She nodded again. "Yes - that's the ocarina that Link used to play, when he was just a kid. It was a present from his best friend. Ryouken... where did you find that? Has something happened to Link?"
The swordsman nodded, returning the instrument to his pouch. "It could be bad. When I was on the road to Hyrule Castle today, I found the signs of a battle - bloodstains on the ground, footprints. The thing was, there were no bodies. It was like whoever was fighting just vanished into thin air once they were done. The only solid thing I found was that ocarina, and the only set of prints that went anywhere turned out to belong to Epona here. When I asked around the marketplace, I heard that Link was there not long before I was - and he rode back toward Hyrule Castle. But if he had made it that far, I would have seen him. It looks like something - and I've got no idea what - attacked him on his way back."
Malon's previous happiness was banished now, as she frowned somberly. "What are we going to do? I suppose we should try to get a message to Princess Zelda, or at least one of the castle guards... but Link is a legendary hero! If something could defeat him, how can anyone else stand a chance?"
"I honestly don't know. But I guess we'll find out."
"Ryouken!" Malon cried, grabbing his hand tightly. "You're not going to - "
"To try and save him?" Ryouken finished. "Of course I am. Even heroes need a hand sometimes, Malon. And I've got the feeling that if someone doesn't help him out, things are gonna get a lot worse, and fast."
Malon shook her head, eyes pleading. "Ryouken, don't! It's too dangerous! Please..."
"Relax," Ryouken feigned confidence with ease, since he usually felt it. "I'll be okay. It's not like I'll be fighting Ganondorf or anything..."
Except in his eyes, she read the unspoken afterthought, is it?
Princess Zelda slowed her horse to a walk as they trotted over the wooden bridges to the small island that sat in the center of Lake Hylia. The sun was sinking over the mountains to the west, and shades of crimson and pink stained the sky from Gerudo Valley to Zora's Domain. The sight of Hyrule's peaceful beauty made her smile despite her mood as she surveyed it from where she sat, leaning against the huge, barren tree that still dominated the island after all the years.
To see it all destroyed... she wanted to believe that what she had seen earlier was just a hallucination brought on by her fall. It had been less than five years since Link had defeated the evil Gerudo King, Ganondorf, and saved Hyrule. For their hard-won peace to be threatened to soon was so... so unfair. She wanted to say it had all just been a bad dream... but she'd had these visions before, and to deny them would have proved disastrous. Something dreadful was about to happen... and this time, it seemed that it would be up to her, not Link, to stop it.
"You must find me..." she murmured as she gazed out over the water, gathering her blonde hair and hanging it over her shoulder. "Find who? Who are you?"
"Visions again... I thought as much."
Zelda started at the voice from above her, though she had already recognized it as belonging to Sheik, the enigmatic Sheikah who was Link's guardian. She had met him only briefly, way back when she had needed protection from Ganondorf as a child, and later when he had offered his body for her to 'borrow' in order to safely contact the adult Link. She knew him to be very serious and calculating, and suspected that, not unlike her, he often used this aspect of himself to cover up what was really on his mind.
He was standing atop the tree, arms folded, also staring out over the water.
"Sheik," she noted disapprovingly. "I suppose Link sent you?"
He didn't answer for a moment, instead stepping forward and dropping to the ground, landing with the catlike grace that had always been present in Impa, her own guardian Sheikah. "Link does not dictate my actions, Princess, and he had no part in my decision to follow you. However, I do believe I eased his mind by doing so."
"So you followed me of your own accord, then?"
Sheik nodded, now looking her fully in the eyes. She fought not to look away from the invasive red gaze that seemed to be reading her thoughts as easily as she might have spoken them.
"You had another vision, didn't you? Just as you did eight years ago, before Ganondorf's rise... if Hyrule is to be threatened again, it is your duty to at least inform Link."
She shook her head, turning to stare out over the water again. "These... these things I'm seeing... they aren't like what Link faced on his quest. He can't fight them, not the way he did Ganondorf's minions."
"Tell me what you saw, Princess."
"Death," she replied simply. "All of Hyrule destroyed by a terrible, ravaging darkness. Everybody I love wasting away into nothing. The world, burning. And when I had seen it all, somebody... something... called to me, told me I must find it."
Sheik nodded slowly as he considered this.
"I have to do something," Zelda continued. "I can't just let it all be destroyed, not after everything Link and the sages went through to save it... but what can I do? I don't even know what I'm fighting, much less how to fight it..."
"Perhaps I'm the wrong Sheikah to ask."
At this, she turned, but he was already gone.
Silently thanking him, she mounted her horse again and headed back out into the field.
Thunder rolled overhead, and there was a brief flash of lightning that illuminated the graveyard with perfect dramatic timing as Princess Zelda, in a swirl of dark purple light, materialized on the podium bearing the Triforce design. Shaking her head to clear the dizziness left by the magical warp (she had never quite gotten used to it...), she took a quick glance around to confirm her surroundings. Sure enough, the entrance to the Shadow Temple lay before her, a yawning, foreboding tunnel, made only slightly less fearsome by the torches burning not far inside. Impa - once Zelda's own guardian in much the same way Sheik was Link's, and now the Sage of Shadow who resided in the mysterious temple - expended a little of her magic to keep the torches alight. It didn't require much effort, since all of the six Sages had ultimate power within their own temple. Zelda, who herself served as the leader of the Sages, had often wondered why she didn't have a temple to maintain. She wasn't exactly fazed by it, though, because if she had, it would have meant leaving behind her beloved land of Hyrule. And, while she would have been living apart from it in favour of a much higher purpose, she would have regretted every moment.
As the princess made her way to the temple's entry, she considered for a moment trying to get through it on her own. But she decided against it - she might well have been able to make it, but the knowledge she alone currently carried was far too important to risk. She had to play it safe.
Clearing her throat, Princess Zelda raised her voice, easily following the notes of the song she had been hearing since birth. The secret tune brought back so many memories... it was the first song Link had learned as a child... the music playing in the castle courtyard on the fateful day she had met the would-be Kokiri... and before that, the mark of Hyrule's royal family for as long as anyone could remember. She wondered, briefly, where it had come from, who had composed it. How had they known which notes were the keys to the song's mysterious power? And the Song of Time, and the Song of Storms... who had managed to unlock the music's power, and how? It was an intriguing mystery...
In a violent flash of light, Impa appeared. As her eyes fell upon the princess, they became warm and friendly despite her somewhat fearsome appearance.
"Princess Zelda," she smiled. "I am glad to see you again. When I heard the melody, I hoped it was you."
"Hello again, Impa. I have missed you these years."
"Come, Princess - you must tell me of Hyrule," the Sheikah continued, and Zelda sensed that her old friend was missing her home as well. "I dare not venture far from the temple, lest the seal be weakened somehow, and I feel I have missed so much these past years..."
Zelda's face fell. "While I would dearly love to, I fear I have come on far more urgent business. It seems to be my curse to be the bearer of bad news lately."
"How bad?" Impa asked, immediately concerned.
"You remember when I was a child, and I came to you after having a nightmare? You told me it was something more, and together we deciphered the meaning of my dream. Now I need your help again."
"Another vision?"
Zelda nodded. Impa listened carefully as Zelda detailed her vision, immediately able to see the potential disaster indicated therein.
"I have not told Link yet," the princess finished. "Sheik knows, and I think he may have had some idea of what my vision meant, but he would not discuss it. He suggested I speak to you."
"Ah... yes... Sheik..." Impa stated, eyes suddenly looking vacant, as if she were somewhere else.
The princess nodded. "So... what have you to say about my dream, as Sage or Sheikah?"
"I am afraid I can say very little. It seems you must find out what it is that calls to you, and then the rest will become clear. But be careful, child, please, be careful. I can feel an evil threatening this land that is unparalleled by anything we have faced before, even Ganondorf, and your vision has only reaffirmed it. I can taste the fear, I can hear the screams. I can feel the betrayal and hatred as surely as I can feel your desire to prevent it. But do not act rashly. I can give you little direction, but I can at least give you this: if you have the patience to wait, and the wisdom to know when not to, then your path will become clear."
"I see. Thank you for your words, Impa."
The Sheikah paused, regarded Zelda. "There is another thing. The same sixth sense that enables the Sheikah to feel these forebodings is warning me of something else - a darkness in my own future. I may not be able to guide you much longer, my child."
Zelda suddenly looked afraid, more so than she ever had, even when she had faced the tremendous evil of Ganondorf. "Impa... you don't mean...no..."
"I cannot say," Impa placed a hand over the younger woman's. "It may or may not be my end that I feel. But I choose to warn you now of what may be, so that you might prepare yourself... if I have to leave you, I want you to know that this is the way it must be.
"It has always been a question, amongst both of our peoples, whether or not we have the power in us to create and control our own destiny. Many of us like to think we do, because our greatest fear is that the thing that affects us most is the one thing which is beyond our control. Others say we do not, often because they fear the responsibility, the duty that such control would place upon them. But looking at you, and looking at Link, and Sheik, and Ganondorf, I would rather say that both are true. I believe we all have a destiny, but the path we must walk has been defined as it has solely because of who we are, and the choices we were always intended to make. The tapestry of our lives is being woven exactly as it should be, and I am content to follow my thread as far as it goes, and no further. I want you to understand that if I should die, I am content that I have served my calling. And while I do not expect you to feel the same, I hope you can remember that your destiny is a far greater calling, and no matter what happens, you must be strong enough to live it through."
Zelda caught a sob before it could escape her throat, and replied very quietly. "I... I understand..."
Impa paused, as if she were carefully choosing what to say next. "We Sheikah are not supposed to speak of certain things with outsiders, princess, but if my end is near, there are things I wish to tell you before it comes to pass. But what I will say, you may not wish to accept. Will you hear me?"
"Of course, Impa..."
"Very well," she took a deep breath, and went on. "The truth of the matter is, the Sheikah are not as wholly devoted to your family as you have been led to believe. We are not, as you believe, solely the guardians of the royal family. True, we have been such for ages past, but it is not our only duty.
"Contrary to what you have been told, the Sheikah are in fact a neutral force, striving toward balance. As a whole, we work for neither good nor evil, light nor darkness, but for perfect balance between the two - only then can Hyrule exist as it was meant to. You know that the power of the Triforce revolves around balance, but you also believe the misconception that this means balance only between the three aspects of the Triforce - courage, wisdom, and power. It does, in fact, entail a lot more - the perfect balance of everything. Good and evil, wealth and poverty, age and youth, strength and weakness, life and death.
"The first race to exist on Hyrule were the Sheikah, alone in paradise. At that time, the world was in perfect balance, and the power of the Gods was open to all. But then, there came the common peoples - Hylians, Kokiri, Gorons, Zoras, Gerudo - and the balance of the world was destroyed. I mean no insult to your people when I say this, Princess, but the common races did not have the wisdom to understand the concept of balance, and so they started taking sides. Imagine Hyrule as a giant pendulum, if you will. Until it starts moving, everything is balanced. But as soon as it swings one way - toward good, light, peace, perhaps - it must eventually swing back in the other direction. It may not happen for years, for decades, for centuries, but it will happen. And the further the pendulum swings in one direction, the further it will swing back.
"In the midst of this apparent chaos, the Sheikah, long the guardians of this world, saw their duty as clear - they must be the ones to strive toward balance, to bring the other races into the light of understanding, no matter how long it took. If the races could look past their mortal shortcomings and accept the balance, then they would be worthy of the power of the Gods. The Sacred Realm would cease to exist, instead becoming Hyrule itself."
Zelda nodded slowly, never noticing the soft glow emanating from the Triforce mark on her hand. "I think I understand. In order to achieve the balance, the Sheikah work on both sides of the coin. While the individuals - like you and Sheik - might be stationed on the side of good, there must be others working on the side of evil."
"Precisely. The individual Sheikah who work on both sides are referred to as the Kageshi-ka, the Shadow Sheikah, because of how we bond with and watch over our charges. But we Shadows are just one part of a race that, as a whole, must try to maintain neutrality in a world of extremes. We must be both black and white, as well as every shade of gray in between. Which is why, when I first helped you escape Ganondorf when he attacked Hyrule Castle, I was almost unable to offer you sanctuary amongst our ranks. To aid the Princess of Hyrule, the very embodiment of light, and do nothing for the darkness - the Council, the governing body that dictates the actions of the Sheikah and assigns them their charges, would not think of it. It was deemed far too radical an action for a supposedly neutral race to take, and I reluctantly accepted this decision.
"I am ashamed beyond words to say that it was Sheik, not I, who went against them to save you. I saw my fear of the council and its laws as the wisdom of age, and the courage he displayed in defying them to be the impetuousness of youth. After all, Sheik was a worrying radical amongst the ranks of the Sheikah - he had spoken against the Council and the ways of our people on several occasions, and there had been further discontent when he had been appointed Link's Shadow. He was so young, and he had already taken it upon himself once to act independently of the Council by saving Princess Ruto of the Zoras. You may not realise it, but Sheik defied the council when he gave you his body to reside in, an action which I lacked the courage to try. To this day, I call myself a fool for that - it was only in retrospection that I realized how easily I might have lost you."
"You cannot be blamed for upholding the ways of your people," Zelda cut in.
"But I can be blamed for neglecting my sworn duty to protect you, and I can be blamed for giving up so easily on the person who needed me the most," Impa shook her head. "I apologize to you, Zelda, for everything, and I am glad I have finally found the courage to reveal to you what you should know. I can only ask you to forgive me for withholding it this long."
Zelda shook her head, clasping Impa's hand. "No. No forgiveness - there is nothing to forgive."
"Dear princess," Zelda's mentor gave a bitter smile, and the younger woman watched a single tear trail over her face. "I shall miss you. Wherever it is that we go once this life is finished with us, I will be waiting there for you, and I shall protect you once there as I did in life."
Zelda pulled her into a tight embrace, tears finally escaping the conditioned demeanor of a princess. "Impa... don't leave me..."
The Sheikah didn't speak; she just held the princess as she sobbed, and for a moment, they were a little girl and her nurse again, sitting in a garden in Hyrule Castle, long before anybody had mentioned destiny and heroes and death. Impa began to sing softly, the lullaby she had been singing for Zelda since she was a baby, and outside, the storm stilled for a moment, becoming no more than the quiet, comforting music of gentle spring rain.
"This world loves you, Zelda, just as you love it," said Impa. "You are not like the other sages, confined to our temples; you have the world. Hyrule is your temple. Remember that."
Zelda, tears spent, replied in a choked whisper, "I will."
It is not common knowledge amongst the peoples of Hyrule exactly what Sheikah do in their spare time. Of course, your average Hylian spends it talking or horseracing or what-have-you, and the Kokiri like playing music and dancing and other merry-type things. The Zoras seem to like swimming and diving and walking around inside giant fish, Gerudo steal things and practice in their training ground, and Gorons...well, it really doesn't take that much to amuse somebody who interprets fun as rolling down a mountain with a highly explosive plant in their hands. But Sheikah - specifically a Kageshi-ka whose charge was a highly energetic young hero who tended to wander from one side of Hyrule to the other on a regular basis - were always on the move, and far too antisocial to make friends for talking, dancing or other sorts of merrymaking. Horseracing was all well and good as long as you owned a horse, stealing things was out of the question, and getting into the Gerudo training ground required a membership card, which probably would have entailed stealing things anyway. And anything with an IQ higher than a rock would realise that blowing oneself up wasn't the most productive of pastimes.
Of course, Sheik was thinking over the situation in a far more serious manner. That was what he was like, despite his youth - a lifetime of looking out for somebody else tended to have that sort of sobering effect on a young mind. In fact, he probably wouldn't even have admitted to himself that he was bored. He was merely waiting, for either the nagging itch along the back of his neck that meant Link was in trouble or needed some manner of guidance, or a summons from the Council. Neither had come, and his conversation with Princess Zelda had been more brief than he'd expected, so he was all in all rather unoccupied. As it was, he was sitting atop the massive tree on Lake Hylia's island, cross-legged, chin resting on one hand in a pose that could only be thought or boredom. Of course, he'd have said it was the former.
He was still there when his ears caught the sound of hoofbeats. He sat up, alert, scanning the area for their source - a dark brown stallion carrying a male rider with a Biggoron blade slung over his back. Sheik ducked back behind the protruding part of the tree as the rider guided his horse out to the island...
...And suddenly, the world was exploding inside his head, realizing it couldn't escape, putting itself back together and then doing it over again. It took all his practiced restraint to keep himself from screaming and giving himself away as the pain cut through him in a single, jagged line of agony. Clutching his head, grinding his teeth fiercely, he forced the pain away, utilizing every ounce of training he had ever taken in mind-over-matter. When the spearing pain had been numbed to a dull throb, and he had managed to catch his breath again, he forced his thoughts into coherent order. What on earth had caused such a reaction from his Sheikah sense? Link might have been able to, or perhaps Zelda, but for such strong pain, the source would have to be nearby...
He looked down curiously at the rider. Was it possible? Who was this man, and what about him could possibly incur such a violent reaction? He summed up the man - young-looking, no older than Link... his hair was a rough blonde, cut messily to the base of his neck and slicked back but for a few loose strands that formed something resembling a thin fringe. He wore foreign armour that Sheik, despite his travels, had never seen before, and carried himself with the confidence of a natural warrior. His face, however, wore an expression that countered this to some degree; he looked concerned, as if he were deep in thought about something. Gently, Sheik reached out with his sixth sense, and touched the edge of the rider's emotions. There was a brief chill up the back of his neck, the hint of pain returning to his head, but he pushed it away, determined not to let anything stand in his way. He had to know.
Foremost he felt a sort of concerned curiosity, an urgency, as if something very important were on the man's mind. There was the hint of fear - fear that, despite his confidence in himself, he might not be able to handle whatever it was. Under that, there was a firm sense of duty - that no matter what he faced, he had to face it. And, as the intrigued Sheikah pushed further, he found the faint, underlying tone of a deep yearning, the passionate desire to recover something lost to him, long ago. Sheik couldn't say how this last emotion connected to the others, but it was so quiet under everything else that the Sheikah suspected the man didn't even notice it anymore. It was subconscious, probably - a driving force that was so buried beneath everything else that even he did not know it was in him.
As Sheik watched, unnoticed, the man settled down at the base of the tree and drew out a set of carved wooden pipes, lifting them to his lips and beginning a soft song. Sheik listened carefully - music could say a great deal about a person, and it might provide some clue to the reaction the man had triggered in him. The Sheikah felt no power in the notes the man played - it was just an ordinary, average song, if quite a nicely-composed piece. It was sad, haunting, perhaps bittersweet. Did it speak of that loss that he felt so deeply, or was it something else? Sheik longed to venture further into the mysterious man's feelings, find out who he was, what lay behind his emotions, and most importantly why he had caused the reaction. But there were rules against going that far, he knew...
Although he was by nature empathetic, and had amongst his Sheikah gifts a strong talent for sensing peoples' feelings, Sheik hadn't had any training in mind-reading. But that was only because nobody had - it was strictly forbidden, and not without good reason. The council at the time had decided that the risks they had found - not just of complete insanity, overexertion and discovery, but of your commitment to the ever-important balance being affected by your subject's mind - was far too great to be taken. The law against mind-reading had been passed, was one of the most hallowed of the Sheikah society. Even Sheik, who had gotten away with a great deal of rule-breaking in his young life, wouldn't be able to persuade the Council to overlook it, should they find out.
But Sheik was an extremely intelligent young man, even by the high standards of his people, and that sort of intelligence can lead a person to do things that other people would be far too smart to try. He also knew that he was naturally talented at knowing people, whether or not they wanted him to. If any Sheikah could manage such a task without training, it was him. And his Sheikah sense had reacted so strongly to the man! That had to mean something important! What if this man was connected to Zelda's vision somehow...
At that point, Sheik suddenly realized he had already convinced himself. There would be no turning back - he had to know. It didn't matter so much anyway - in his mind, the neutrality had already been disregarded. He had chosen to align himself with good when he had rescued Princess Ruto, when he had given Princess Zelda sanctuary. When the Council had set the test to ascertain who would be Link's guardian, Sheik had fought to win because he already believed, in his heart, in everything the Hero of Time stood for. He almost grinned at the thought of the Council choking on their condemnations if he ever told them as much.
Sheik folded his legs into a meditative position, calmed his breathing, steadied himself, and concentrated on the only one of his Sheikah gifts that he had never been allowed to use...
"By the way, Sheikah," the rider said calmly, not even glancing in Sheik's direction as he swung himself back up onto his horse, "you really should be more inventive with your hiding places. Goodbye."
Although it couldn't bee seen beneath his headcloth, Sheik's mouth fell open. The rider looked up at him and gave a small, cheerful wave, then urged the horse into a swift trot out onto the bridges. The Sheikah just stared in amazement, which turned seconds later into completely uncharacteristic indignance .
How the hell had he managed that?!
"Impa...sensei..."
The Sage of Shadow did not turn to acknowledge the visitor, for she already knew who it was. "I was wondering how long it would take you, Junpei-kun."
"Then you know why I am here... and you realize that your actions are unforgivable."
The Sheikah nodded calmly, holding her hands behind her back in submission. "Yes, I know. But I have spent a lifetime following laws I never truly believed in. This time, I have done as my heart willed me, and I have no regrets."
The second Sheikah, Junpei, hesitated for a moment. "Impa-sensei... you were my mentor. I... I don't want to do this to you. You could still escape - you could force me away from this temple and keep yourself safe."
"For what purpose? My time is already at an end. I could fight, I could flee, I could hide. But I am old, and I tire of running. I have already made my choice."
He lowered his eyes. "I see..."
Silence fell upon them after that - he bound her hands tightly, and she walked with him, unresisting, to the mouth of the tunnel. He raised his voice - so young and sharp and clear when she compared it to hers, and spiked with sadness. She would not have had it this way either - Junpei had been her student, her protégé, before she had been sent to Zelda, and she knew how it hurt him to be placing his former mentor under arrest. But he had worked hard to get to his current position as captain of the Honoshi-ka - the name for the Sheikah law enforcers just as the guardians were known as the Kageshi-ka - and she knew that her resistance would only endanger him as well as her.
She was surprised to hear, instead of the notes that would warp them home, the elegant Serenade of Water. Before she could ask why, they were disappearing in blue haze, and re-materializing at the base of the tree on Lake Hylia Island.
Right behind Sheik.
"Junpei-san!" The startled younger Sheikah yelped, half-spinning and half-jumping around. Impa was impressed - it was very rare that somebody should catch Sheik by surprise; he must have been very deeply concentrating. Then, he looked past Junpei and to her, with a dreadful recognition. "Impa... what..."
"Kageshi-ka Sheik-san," Junpei sighed reluctantly, "on the council's order, you are to return to Deepearth under my guard. I advise you to co-operate, or it may go badly for you."
"Am I being arrested?" Sheik tested, the one red eye that showed beneath his mask lit with a mixture of anger and curiosity.
"...You are being recalled," came the reply.
Despite his carefully-maintained calm demeanor, Sheik's breath caught, and the one visible eye widened noticeably. "What?"
"What?" Impa demanded, at exactly the same moment.
"You are being relieved of your charge," the Honoshi-ka continued, not allowing any emotion into his voice. "The council has determined that Link is no longer in need of a guardian, and you are required to return to Deepearth for a new assignment."
Sheik's eye narrowed. "You know as well as I do that Link still needs me."
"Surely the Council can see that!" Impa seconded.
"It is not our decision to make," Junpei asserted. "Your duty is to guard those chosen by the Council, and their word is law. Need I remind you that my duty is to uphold those laws?"
Link's Shadow paused. It was obvious, in his mind, what was going on - the Council had sensed what Zelda had seen in her vision, and they were taking steps to weaken the side of good... possibly even to ensure that it lost. But that meant the end of what he had fought for all these years... the end of Link, and Princess Zelda, and a great deal more. If he left Link now, the side of good might well lose... but if he disobeyed the Council's orders...
There was a brief moment of clarity, as he saw the simple-yet-impossible question laid before him.
Which side are you on?
Sheik stepped back, took a breath, raised a hand, and called his preferred weapon in much the same way he did his harp. The double-ended scythe appeared between his hands, golden blades shining like twin crescent moons. Holding it before him, the Sheikah assumed fighting stance, facial expression slipping back into the realms of obscurity. Looking on him with mingled regret and anger, Junpei summoned his own weapon - a wicked-looking battle axe that gleamed polished black in the sunlight. Sheik cursed himself for a fool as he weighed up the situation - he was quick, but Junpei far outweighed him in size, strength and experience. Though trained in his chosen weapon from childhood, as were all Sheikah, Sheik had fought very few physical battles, and those against relatively unskilled opponents. He was a Shadow, a guide and guardian, not a warrior. But Junpei was captain of the Honoshi-ka, and he hadn't made it there without earning his place. The younger Sheikah knew he stood very little chance.
"Sheik, no!" Impa begged. "It isn't worth it..."
"Isn't it?" He asked in reply. "Are you telling me you wouldn't have died for Princess Zelda?"
"Sheik..."
"This is foolishness, Sheik-san," Junpei informed him coldly. "You are just a Kage. You cannot defeat me. I will give you this chance to surrender... but if you continue down this path, I cannot overlook your misconduct..."
Sheik took another step back, dramatically silhouetting himself against the setting sun, and held his twinscythe out in front of him. "Gomen nasai, Junpei-san," he apologized softly in their native tongue. "This is the way I must go."
"Sheik!" Impa cried furiously. "Dammit! Sheik no baka!"
Battle cries were issued, blades flashed, weapons met with a clash. The charge was Junpei's, and Sheik met it smoothly, parrying with the long staff-section of his weapon. Swiftly, the Shadow trapped the older Sheikah's axe beneath one scythe, then angled the second upward in a lightning-fast slash at Junpei's neck. The Honoshi-ka leaned back and out of its path with trained reflexes, and yanked his axe back up again in a motion so strong it threw the younger man aside. While Sheik was momentarily off-guard, Junpei swung his axe in a vicious overhead arc. At the last possible moment Sheik's twinscythe came up to parry, held horizontally above his head. A test of strength ensued for a moment, a determined Junpei putting all his power into forcing the blade closer to the younger man's head, a desperate Sheik trying to hold it away. The pair stayed locked until Sheik, realizing he could never win by strength, managed to sweep his opponent's legs out from under him in a vicious low kick.
"All the Kageshi-ka are quick, especially the younger ones," Junpei commented, not seeming fazed. "But in power, in stamina, that is where they fail."
Impa watched, practically paralyzed, as Honoshi-ka and Kageshi-ka clashed, fire against midnight. She had never expected Sheik to go this far... but... she knew what the battle meant to the young Sheikah. All his life, Sheik had thought differently to his people. The Council had tried from the start to change him, control him, but he had kept fighting, determined to do what he believed was right. And now, now that they had tried to make him abandon Link, he was making his final stand. It suited, in a bitterly ironic way - a hero such as Link deserved nothing less than a hero as his Shadow.
But Sheik was not faring well. His main advantage speed, rather than the strength and stamina that his slender young body was lacking, the Kageshi-ka was already showing signs of weakening. Junpei, on the other hand, was still fighting like the trained warrior he was, tiring barely if at all as he dealt out vicious blows that Sheik barely managed to deflect. It was painfully obvious that the younger man was never going to last...
Just as Impa thought it, a sharp cry of pain from Sheik demanded her attention. He was in the process of pushing Junpei's weapon away from him, but there was an open wound on his shoulder that was bleeding, badly. Deep red washed over his dark blue garb and stained his headcloth as he tried to keep fighting, as the Honoshi-ka slowly forced him to his knees, blow-by-blow... finally, Sheik's injured arm gave out, and there was a resounding clang as his twinscythe was knocked out of his hand and skittered out over the grass, out of reach.
Junpei pushed the blade of his axe against the Shadow's throat.
"Kageshi-ka Sheik... you are guilty of high treason against your people," Junpei informed him calmly. "You shall now pay for this betrayal."
"Betrayal... betrayal is what our race did when we decided we were above others..." the Shadow Sheikah snarled breathlessly. "I would rather die than live as one of such a race."
"So be it." Junpei hefted his axe.
And then Impa was there, standing between them, her own Sheikah weapon - a morning star that trailed a long chain with a double-sided barb on the end - shining a defiant silver in her hands.
"No... Impa-sensei..."
"You will not kill this boy," she said simply.
Dazed, injured and near unconsciousness, Sheik was beginning to lose his comprehension of the situation. He had been so sure he would die, and then suddenly, she was in front of him... and now she was fighting Junpei, forcing the Honoshi-ka away... protecting Sheik...
In the dizzying semblance of consciousness that still remained, the young Sheikah realized suddenly that he had never been protected before. He had spent his life looking out for others. The feeling was... warm... but... frightening... so strange...
The next thing his failing mind registered was her voice, choked with emotion. The noise of battle had stopped, and the silence of night had begun.
"Junpei... kun..." she whispered. "... Gomen... gomen nasai... I am sorry..."
Then, hands around him, his head cradled gently. "... Sheik-chan...rest. I will protect you."
Night fell.
Link: Hey! That's the end?! What happens to me?!
Fox: You'll find out soon enough - this is only a preview, remember.
Impa: I'm going to die? But... but I'm an established canon character! How can you kill me off?
Ryouken: I don't like it. I shoulda fought with Ihran! And I coulda caught Epona much easier!
Sheik: I don't like it either, Fox-san. I think you're biased.
Link: Yeah! Me and Sheik both got our butts kicked!
Fox: Er... ^^; Okay, so I have a thing about beating up my favourite characters. Big deal! Trust me, it's good publicity!
Link: Say what?
Fox: Seriously! Cute guy getting beat up = instant maternal instinct! The fangirls will go crazy over you!
Ruto: Hmmph - they already are!
Saria: Yeah, it's true. There's even an online fan club! (Grins at Link) I'm the president!
Ruto: (glares at Saria) Only until the next election...
Link: ^^;; Come on, girls! Can't we all just get along? You don't see Princess Zelda acting so immature!
(Saria and Ruto glare black death at Zelda, who was minding her own business until Link opened his big mouth.)
Ruto: (points imperiously to Fox) You, author girl! I demand that in this fanfic, Link ends up with me! We are engaged, after all!
Saria: Only because you blackmailed poor Link into it! Fox, don't let her get away with it!
Malon: Hey, hold on! Link told my daddy he would marry me...
Nabooru: Silly little girls! Why would Link want hicks and fish-girls when he could have a beautiful desert princess?
Link: (quietly) Ano, Nabooru-sama, are you actually a princess?
Nabooru: (ignoring him) At any rate, if our romance had ever been given a chance, Link would never have thought of you lot again!
Zelda: (politely) Excuse me, but if there's been one constant throughout the series, it's been Link and myself. Legend of Zelda, you see? That's me. A sad as it may be, the rest of you are filler characters who may not even make it to the next game.
Ruto : (shreiking) FILLER?!?!?! Why don't you come over here and say that, you self-important little -
Link: Anoooo...^^;;;
Fox: See what I have to work with?...
Sheik: ...I'm cute?