Title: Zora Scales and Wizard Magic
Rating: T
Character(s): Harry Potter / OC!Zora
Summary: Harry Potter was introduced to the wizarding world around the same time a young Zora found himself lost. Voldemort is on the return and Ganondorf is steadily winning after the Hero disappears in the Temple of Time. Harry just wishes he can help his injured friend get home, no matter how many years are passed.
Disclaimer: Not Yaoi. This is a friendship fic. Just in case no one got the memo, I own no one.
I most definitely do not own Harry Potter or the Legend of Zelda franchise.
Warnings: We're in Hyrule again. I figured there needed a little more background of our favorite lands. Main warning here is that you might be confused with the scenes with Link. I couldn't explain anything much better than it already is. There's also a bit of Skyward Sword/ Twilight Princess reference only because I think it works. Seriously, what else would he have done? Sleep? Psh!
Also, this may not make up for the wait. Sorry!
xXx Chapter Six: Connection of the Souls xXx
Luna dreamed.
It was her favorite dream, which started before she entered Hogwarts and reoccurred nearly every time she slept afterwards, still happening even as a First Year. She first started out in a large field of beautiful green long grasses. Nature was the best gardener. As soon as she'd realize where she was – she called them the Everfields – she started her search. After all, she had napped in these dreams, and felt the pain of stitches in the side when running incorrectly. It may be a dream, but it was a real dream.
The Crumple-Horned Snorkack could not hide forever. She's seen them in these fields! What else could those long legged, flat faced, horned headed, hoppy creatures be who fled into the water...?
The water! How could she have not realized sooner! The Crumple-Horned Snorkacks are aquatic! With a grin and a happy cry, Luna dashed towards the direction she thought the lake was at. It was a large lake, and she sometimes arrived to the Everfields near the lake. It must have been a clue. How could she not realize this sooner?
"Dear Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, I won't harm you. Ever! Come on out!" Luna called as she peaked between grasses and bushes and around trees. She wondered if the creatures played hide and seek, because they were very good at hiding.
A flash of light, glowing slightly and barely noticeable, brought Luna's attention to an intricate ring of magic in the grass just a few meters from the pretty lake she had found.
"I didn't know they could do magical spells and rituals, though I suppose it makes sense. They are a magical creature..." Fearlessly, Luna stepped into the circle.
X
Link didn't know where he was or where Navi was either. He worried for Princess Zelda and the rest of Hyrule. He came to the Temple of Time like Navi said, and pulled the sacred Master Sword...
Now he was here, in a world of pale colors, no Navi, no sound, and maybe even without time as well.
He hardly cried when he left his forest, but here, he cried a lot. He didn't have his trusty collection of weapons; not even a Deku Nut. He didn't have his fairy, whom he's only just gotten and trusted as much as Saria. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, and he couldn't find anything to eat. He worried about that the most, until he realized he wasn't feeling hungry at all, and he began to think he had been tricked cruelly to being lost in time.
Mido wouldn't do something like this, but that Ganondorf guy seemed like a big enough bully to do so.
Link ran from the large seemingly stone creatures that suddenly chased him if he got close enough. If he woke one, it seemed that he woke them all, and he couldn't tell how long he ran and hid until he realized there were glowing orbs of liquid light that froze them all again if he picked it up.
He didn't know where else to go to look for more. It felt like he'd searched for months. He'd been wandering most of Hyrule Field, re-exploring hills and holes and a small cave he thought would make a good storage place. The water was always an instant way to wake up the statue guardians. He had thought that meant none of the liquid lights were underwater, it wouldn't be fair that way, until he noticed that the lake water drained and refilled. And there in the very middle was a liquid light, a small collection of statue guardians waiting for him to make a mistake in the lake bed.
Link frowned at the lake, sitting at the shore as the water level shifted higher and lower.
He couldn't hope to outrun the water in the muddy ground. He didn't know what the statues would do to him if they ever hit him, but he didn't want to be hit. There was a flash of light, and Link turned his attention to the glowing circle in the middle of the shore.
A girl was standing there.
There was another person here!
Excited and immensely relieved, Link headed towards her as fast as he dared without ending up startling her away. The girl was facing away from him, but she turned at the sounds of his steps.
"Tapmuni!" The girl chirped. Linked stopped, confused.
They stared at each other for a few moments, the girl waiting for a reply and the boy hoping she'd continue in a language he knew.
"Machi due ohfrud?" The girl asked. Link slowly shook his head, a hand heading towards his throat. He couldn't speak; had never been able to. The girl directed her gaze of surprise to his fingers. "Mmm, haj I fi..." She point to herself. "Lun!"
Link blinked at her. Lun? Was that her name? He bit his lip and crouched to the ground to draw in the dirt.
LINK, he wrote, pointing at the name before gesturing to himself. The girl looked at it and gave a small frown. She pointed to him.
"Pon!" Lun declared before suddenly realizing that there was a lake behind him. "Heio! Jos yugas!" She suddenly snagged his hand and pulled him with her as they darted to the silvery water.
"!" Link tried to stop her, but Lun was surprisingly strong for such a petite looking girl. He dug his heels into the dirt, tried to pull his hand out from hers, and tried so hard to scream before managing only a strangled gasp.
Lun made a sound of amazement as the silvery water receded from them. Link tried to pull her away, gesturing to the many guardians gradually surfacing from under the moving waterline. He made movements of swinging swords and eventually slipped against the smooth round stones of the lakebed.
Lun dragged him after her, murmuring to him in her strange language as if to chide him for making her do all the work of walking.
'How can she be this string!?' Link nearly despaired, trailing behind him the mud dragged up from his shoes at Lun's dragging of him.
Link whimpered when the water completely drained, leaving him and the girl halfway between safety and the middle of the lakebed.
"Gu dari naw?" The girl asked, letting go of him as she pointed to the light in the middle. Link shot to his feet and grabbed Lun's wrist to pull her to the shore. "Yifa hoi!" She said in sudden excitement as the water started to rise again.
Link cringed at the speed the water was rising, hoping they'd be able to avoid touching it. He had no idea where else he could find the liquid lights. The one in the middle was not an option.
It just wasn't. It was likely a trap.
"Yuni!" The girl suddenly refused to move. Link tugged, feeling a fear he hadn't felt when facing Ganondorf on his horse as Princess Zelda fled in front of his eyes. He pulled and moved behind Lun to push her, but she didn't move, intent on heading to the water.
Link didn't want to abandon her. He didn't want her to fall to harm. She was thin, and looked very fragile, ability to weight as much as a boulder notwithstanding. She seemed even more clueless than she may seem at first as well, and he wasn't trying to be annoyed or insulting with that thought. He just knew he was being pretty clear, and she was ignoring him for the 'shiny thing in the lake' that could make life difficult for them.
If only he could talk!
"Giri!" The girl yelped as the water touched her feet.
Link cringed, waiting for the air to become heavy with danger and the monsters to all come to life and chase him. The water rose to his knees quickly, and he tried even harder to pull the girl after him so they could run as far as they could before having to swim.
"Wuit on has?" She pointed to the water, her voice calm. Link glanced at the submerging statues, and blinked.
They weren't moving.
He let his attempts fall as the girl considered the thick silvery water that had replaced the lake. As soon as he let go of Lun though, he saw all the statues' eyes glow red as they honed onto him and started making their way to him.
"Hah!" Lun flinched.
"AH!" He yelped, startled by the delayed reaction before he reached for the girl Lun again and began to half run half swim to shore.
"Merru! Merru!" Lun tried to fight him again, gesturing towards the crowd behind him. Link wished he could snap at her, to tell her what she was doing and why he wanted her to stop. Then he paused again, noticing the distinct lack of a certain noise, and turned around extremely confused.
The statues weren't moving again.
Link floated in the water as he looked around them both. Lun floated close to him, hanging on his arm, seeming worried from the statues sudden movement.
"Pon?" She asked, sounding unsure. Link looked at her before looking at their hold on each others arms. He bit his lip. "Juy rta hau. Whupi krequ goru." Link had no idea what she said. She seemed to be talking about their hands, and she gently tried to have him let go of her. He worried, but complied.
"Ee!" She flinched again as the statues all simultaneously faced them and started to make their way closer one hop at a time. She snagged his arm, and Link could only stare in amazement as the statues all reappeared in their original positions.
She was like a liquid light.
"..." He stared at her in surprise at the discovery as the water reached the shore and started to recede again. Then he looked into her eyes and realized his mouth was open.
Her eyes, framed by wavy blond hair that seemed lighter in the water, were a silvery grey color. They could easily be the same color as the liquid lights he's been collecting if they glowed. She stared at him, and Link stared back until it became awkward. She didn't seem to blink.
Feet touching the ground again, Link pulled her to the shore and was relieved when she followed.
Sitting in the grass, the two considered each other.
"Wutik jo uvret?" Lun asked in a calmer tone than she had so far. Link shrugged.
X
The Goddesses watched, intrigued, as the little girl of white-blond hair and light grey eyes wandered the fields. She often wandered through the grasses.
"Ai hiode gti ftau?" She would call out or mumble to herself before suddenly peaking between bushes or darting around trees. She often wore a cloak that was dark blue and bordered in a pastel yellow color, and sometimes she had red vegetables hanging from her ears.
The child was not one of their own creation, but she had the blood of their own yet not. They conversed and considered and pondered how the girl came to be and her purpose. They wondered and theorized the way she arrived in the place where only a person's soul could enter of their self.
"Tinsi gsef louft es!" The girl would often giggle. She wandered for nearly a year of no change before her spirit suddenly did the impossible.
They watched, as the girl befriended their Hero of Time, bringing out from him a foundation of the courage his visit into his spirit realm hadn't accomplished as successfully.
Farore, Nyaru and Din all worried about the rest of the girl's abilities before they realized she was simply a curious and playful child. She was not their child, but she was a child all the same. How she arrived and came to be was not a question with an answer.
Farore watched as her chosen champion came to befriend this strange girl. He grew in spiritual strength as the girl continued to interact with him and force him to think of things and methods that he wouldn't have done before. She watched as her wielder became bold and confident as the girl made him react without second thoughts. He couldn't double guess himself as the girl wandered his spiritual plane with an open curiosity that made him take a different look at the world that looked like Hyrule yet wasn't. The girl was near his age, and she helped him grow to be courageous as he took on a protective role to her.
Din considered the girl closely. Her own spirit was what made her so similar to the Hero of Time. Yet, she was an opposite. She was alike to Wisdom's Keeper, yet so different the Goddess knew she was important. She felt an echo resounding from a faint magic around her, and it tasted familiar. It was faint, diluted rather than weakened, and it made her think of the time when the Triforce was created. She didn't quite recall details, and she couldn't remember the purpose of the different magic being included into her own corner.
She just couldn't think why, or how she had forgotten.
Nayru also recognized that the girl was alike to her Princess. To be full of enlightenment, and the ability to consider the consequences. The girls were alike, yet this one was so different! This girl thought in ways no other did, not for the purpose of a higher understanding, but for an understanding of a different direction. She was similar, yet so different. Like a mirror's shadow...
The goddess of wisdom suddenly looked upon the Triforce.
Three golden triangles, formed together in a larger triangle to symbolize harmony as well as the possibility for collapse. The control gifted to their people, divided between the three Goddess sisters equally. Three golden triangles, together...
And the space between them where a fourth would have been, to balance everything and keep it strong.
The three asked, called for, and sought their answers to the distance.
None came. There was silence as a response, and they asked louder and together, hoping to be heard. Hoping to be visited.
Hoping. Praying.
The forth remained absent, as disconnected as it has been since before the creation of their Hyrule and the Triforce that would have been a Golden Key to grant The Wish.
The Goddesses pined, remembering and mourning, before they comforted each other and focused on their Hero who shouldn't have been put to such tests as often as he had been. The soul of this courageous champion has been abused, as it continued its path again and again without change.
There was an unbroken cycle. The Three Goddesses tried to make their wielders change, to make them different, and hopefully persuade their bearers to their proper paths.
Courage remained to forge himself alone, made through necessity rather than purpose.
Wisdom continued to rule as she should, but she did so without meaning or happiness.
Power... Power continued to grow weaker as he grew stronger. Power never fit. Power never realized himself. Power did not accept the path he should walk. Power never heard Din, and if he did, he ignored Her.
Power always seemed to be finally passing the proper achievements, but he would always falter. Power was fractured. Power did not fit.
Din mourned for the soul her Triforce piece held. She did not know why he always wandered astray. Why he didn't hear her, despite being chosen. Why she could feel him less and less after each cycle. He was, after all, supposed to become better. To heal.
Now, this girl, who seemed to be from the Fourth...
The sisters hoped.
They watched closely, felt timid relief, and hoped.
The Triforce was incomplete, and separated and broken. If it remained this way for too much longer, their world will collapse.
This girl, this child not of their lands or magic, will hopefully help them save themselves.
"Kosfy, oserk faer looke aerh...?"
The Goddesses could not decipher this strange creature's language nor the method she continued to appear with. They couldn't understand. They had no doubt she couldn't hear them either. Thus, they had no way to guide her. They could only hope she would help.
"Hay!"
At least she was cute to look at.
X
"Sunbeam!" Luna greeted happily. She pounced the boy in a hug that once would have had them both topple into the ground. The mute blond grinned widely as he held the arms around his neck and spun in glee, her legs floating up at the momentum. Luna giggled before they separated and relaxed.
"!" The blond boy, whom Luna named Sunbeam for now, at least until he was able to speak to her, gestured excitedly to the middle of the beach. Luna nodded agreement and followed with obvious curiosity.
Her friend used to be looking for things similar to the teardrop lights, but finally implored her help in getting the one in the middle of the lake Luna had first thought would have the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks living in. He had been excited and reluctant, holding her hand tightly for reassurance as they made their way through the silvery water.
The teardrop light had disappeared as soon as he touched it, and his wrist glowed with a strange tattooed bracelet. A ring glowed, and there were six other rings that did not glow as brightly. All the scary statues disappeared, small pillars standing where they had been, and she and Sunbeam wandered the lake more before wandering out into the large fields. She wondered if he needed to complete the rings circled on his wrist. She wondered what he would gain from finishing that bracelet of light.
"Let's go back to the forest!" Luna implored, shaking his arm in her request. Sunbeam only smiled secretively at her and bid her to stand in the slightly glowing ring of light Luna stepped through before meeting him. She briefly wondered if he was trying to get rid of her.
She tried not to be hurt about that. There were plenty of people who simply weren't interested in being her friend.
Then he stepped in with her, looking slightly confused about the lack of reaction. The light glowed brighter, and suddenly the lake looked different.
The pillars were gone. The colors seemed brighter. There was an actual breeze!
"You brought us back!" Luna realized. It had been a long time where they had wandered the strange pale version of the world looking for the teardrop lights. She hugged him tightly and pulled his hand to run towards the fields. There were flowers, and she wanted to see them in their true bright colors again.
Sunbeam smiled widely.
"Tag, you're it!" Luna tagged his shoulder and darted away.
"!?" Sunbeam blinked at her in bewilderment. Luna giggled mischievously and ran up to him again, tagging him on the arm before turning around and running away once more. She stayed a fair distance away, waving her arms beckoningly.
"Come on! You're it!" The boy took a few steps towards her, and Luna giggled and hopped two steps back. He looked surprised as she grinned teasingly, but he stepped closer again.
"?" Sunbeam watched her carefully as he tested another step. Luna hummed as she crouched lower, feeling like a playful puppy.
"You can't get me." She sung. His expression took on a considering look, and he darted slowly towards her. Luna erupted in laughter and darted away.
"!" Luna heard his gasp and thought he stopped again. When she turned around, she let out a shriek as the boy was running towards her quickly.
"Hahahah!" Luna felt him tag her in the back and he continued running past her. His grin showed only halfway as he ran, and Luna gave chase.
She may not have friends at home or at school, but with Sunbeam, she was content. Now that she had hummed and hawed over his marvelous long pointy ears that reminded her of the high elves from the stories.
X
Link liked his newest friend. She was always willing to play, and was always happy to see him. He wondered if she was really Navi in human form, but her habits were not that of a fairy. And then, his most recent discovery;
Her ears were round.
Link knew about the citizens of Hyrule, and the humans that the Gerudo derived from. However, her hair was as bright as his, nearly white, her eyes were silver grey, her nose small and her skin was pale. Nearly the opposite of the Gerudo. But her ears were still round, and she wasn't a Hylian because of this.
He wasn't exactly sure what she was.
They were walking through the trees. After a long time of exploring only the lake and the fields, Link and Lun started exploring the forests that Link grew up in. He was excited to be going home, but with the realization that there were no Zora, fish or any other living creature, Link didn't have much hope to seeing Saria.
"Joi greftu del." Lun murmured.
"Hm." Link nodded in agreement. He didn't know what she said, but it sounded like encouragement. The girl hummed in her curious way, her eyes looking at every tree and small puddle that seemed to be from the rain. Link couldn't understand the land he was in anymore.
He didn't experience hunger. He didn't notice day or night shifting around him. He never saw any other season or weather pattern. The world, an empty replica of Hyrule, simply was. Yet, it could change if they visited an area again.
It was a lonely and scary existence. Link was glad Lun appeared. She was free from the prison this strange world was, yet she continued to visit him. In the moments Link wondered about his real sanity, she always brought to his attention a simple thing he wouldn't have thought of.
They unearthed various flowers and planted them in different areas and had noticed what the change of environment had done. They saw the homes of animals and monsters alike, and Link could understand a little better the way they thought and lived because of it. They climbed Death Mountain and picked their way across the lava bowl sitting on the top, and Link saw water and flowers and plants up there in the nearly suffocating spot of what should have been death. They swam in the rivers streams and small pools and found, mostly, the small and many openings and tunnels that seemed to come all from Lake Hylia.
Link learned about his world as much as Lun seemed to. The girl looked through everywhere and seemed to lack any sense of safety. Link took it upon himself to protect her, and he long ago refused to let himself freeze in panic or confusion.
Except...
'Everyone's gone.' He mouthed to himself as the two stood just outside the Kokiri Village. Lun normally would have darted into every single tiny house and explored, but Link stood frozen in place. 'I hoped... I thought...'
He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Not really. He hadn't wanted his home to be empty and void.
Lun grasped his hand and looked at him with her wide stare. He looked at the small bridge, wondering when it had gotten so small.
"Stofu hui dotenti skera." Lun said gently as she pulled him to the small river. Link looked over the edge and into his reflection. The water, clean and shimmering with light, showed the face of a boy he did not recognize.
'I hadn't realized it's been so long since I'd seen my reflection.' Link blinked. The boy, the young teenager with a thin neck, crooked ears, and messy hair blinked with him, frowning.
Link was ten years old (so Saria says) when he first stepped into the Great Deku Tree in hopes of saving the Forest Protector. He had failed, the Great Deku Tree still dying, and he had wandered the fields of Hyrule feeling as if he'd been banished to serve his punishment.
The struggles he suffered in each fight, only Navi's advice as his aid, certainly seemed thankless and sometimes pointless. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Saria and just bask in her warm hug. He wished he was stronger, smarter, faster, and better at fighting so that all the evil monsters would leave innocent people alone. He didn't want anyone to cry the way he did when the Great Deku Tree told him to leave the forest and then died. He didn't want anyone else to be looked at with a blame that wasn't fair for a death that wasn't their fault.
He didn't want fighting and hurt and pointless struggles.
He wanted to world to be brighter, and happier.
He knew, however, that no one was going to push for peace as firmly as he did. They were scared and Saria would call them weak minded. They had no will to add to their dreams. That was why being an adult was boring; they lost their imaginations.
Link wondered if he was slowly losing his as his body stretched and aged. Maybe that was why the world was so different than before he left the forest? It was still amazing and exciting, so maybe that wasn't it? He wasn't an adult, so he could still dream.
"Souki tompedd fer qindo. Hodek gruroe, monsentor fo duo." Lun said with a slightly stern voice. She placed her hands on his head and shook him slightly. It was her way of telling him to change his current train of thought, he supposed. Link wiped his face and sniffled. He faced the northern part of the village (and he knew now that it wasn't really north) and pulled Lun after him when he remembered just what was in that direction. "Jo yin toou?"
Link offered a grin to his friend and darted faster to his tree house. Her excited exclamation helped his mood lift higher, and he let his dark thoughts fade.
The past was over and done with. He could only live for the future.
'Wow, it all seems so small compared to the houses in Kakariko Village.' He noticed as he helped Lun up his ladder.
"Oooh." Lun cooed at the drawings, poking and touching his bed and furniture. Link smiled, spreading his arms in show when Lun faced him. Lun blinked once before smiling even wider.
Her fast babbling told him she realized this was his house, and she very much thought she liked it. At least, that's what Link thought she was saying.
X
Sheik watched with blank eyes as the villagers all wished the men luck.
Vegetables came from the farms and the small gardens in the people's windows. Meat, however, had to be hunted. It was more dangerous now than it ever had been.h
"Eh, Impa! Maybe next trip your Sheik can come with us?" One man, Rotar, suggested as the crowd slowly clustered to the gates. Impa gave her deep soothing chuckle and Sheik only blinked, a slight narrowing of his eyes betraying his thoughts.
"Perhaps. He is rather proud of his blade work."
Sheik wasn't. He hated the too light feeling of the weapon and the lack of resistance to his reach. He didn't like the thought of merely slicing at an opponent when you could stab them just as well. His blades were too thin to endure any real force for a well placed jab.
"Hahaha! As he should be! You work with him every day, yes?"
"Of course." Impa gave a calm smirk. Sheik kept his gaze at the ever shortening shadow of the tree in the main square. "In fact, it may be time for another session. Sheik, go grab your blades and meet me in the clearing."
Sheik glanced at her, his red eyes his only feature of expression between his messy bangs and the white scarf he wore like a mask. He didn't say anything before turning to the home he shared with her and walking away.
"Doesn't say much, does he?" The man sounded worried.
"Not anymore, no." Impa replied just low enough for him to hear, disappointed. Sheik refused to show he had heard.
Zelda used to be a very vocal child. She would talk to anyone who had time for a small chat. She knew all her infantryman by name and often questioned them about the going-on's of their life when their shift came up around her. She would sneak into the kitchens frequently and sit on the counter as Chef Basilo and his two apprentices conversed and argued. (She would very often tell them her own preferences of taste, to try to customize their menus to her tongue.) She sang almost everywhere, laughed very frequently, and would always be ready to smile prettily.
Sheik was not Zelda, though.
Sheik was not happy. He was very much angry and upset. He didn't think anything would make him smile as long as the war was still burning through the lands. He would never think of laughing, while the Hero of Time slept through the years, ignorant to the struggles in Hyrule.
The people were slowly starving. The danger of travel was ever rising. The seasons were steadily fluctuating.
He hated. He hated everything. He hated how Zelda hid, how the populace did nothing but wait out the end of the meager resistance, how Ganondorf allowed the land the drag through these dark times instead of continuing the strong assault he started with.
'I hate these short blades. I hate this village. I hate Impa.' He growled to himself as he swiftly walked out of the village front gates and followed the river until he reached the clearing used for training. Impa had still been in the village square talking with the hunting party.
Sheik went through his warm up stretches and dashes across the river stones.
The only thing he appreciated was the harsh training Impa put him through. He often ran along vertical walls, jumped in place to avoid having his knees swiped with a muscled leg, resisted the weights of stones along his wrists as he stood balanced on one leg.
The constant instruction and activities kept his mind blessedly empty.
He was tired of feeling hate, except he still had so much.
Sheik had been nearly done with his warm up routine when Impa arrived. She nodded in quiet approval to his slightly red face and obviously damp form. "Take a seat, Sheik. We will be going over tactics today." Impa took a seat herself, crossing her ankles and patting the ground in front of her.
"No." Sheik hated tactics. He knew all he needed and more with what he had available. Impa always used these discussions to lead into a conversation of his grieving. "I want to be drilled." Impa pat the ground again.
"Sit, Sheik. You are doing extremely well with your physical conditioning. It is time for a break. We'll go over your mental conditioning."
"You've already said I've mastered all I could." Sheik reminded her, catching the slight flicker of annoyance in Impa's eyes. It had been a comment she made when she didn't know Sheik had been listening. It only solidified her suspicions that the woman wanted to talk about her emotional well-being.
Sheik didn't need mental therapy. She needed to win the war.
"No, Sheik. Sit, now. We will be talking today."
"No." Impa gave a frown and slowly straightened from her relaxed posture. Sheik didn't move, refusing to be intimidated.
"Listen to me, Sheik. I am your Aunt, and I am responsible for you. Sit down, my nephew, and listen to me. Your father left you in my care and-"
"No! Be silent and say no more!" Sheik snarled, screaming louder than he should but not caring. His hands tightened over the hilts in his hands and his posture crouched slightly in defense. "You're not my aunt! You're not my mother, nor my father! You are not my family and I am not yours! Do not call me nephew! Do not call me yours! I am not yours! I am not your nephew! I shouldn't even be here! I don't belong here! I AM-!"
Sheik suddenly couldn't breathe, and he couldn't understand why his thoughts suddenly became empty as his balance seemed to float.
"Silence, Sheik." Impa's voice whispered lowly in his ear, nearly growling. Sheik blinked at the bright sun blinding him from above. Impa was half crouched over him, a single hand around his throat and her eyes narrowed and angry from next to the glaring sun. "The Princess isn't here anymore. Do you understand? Her absence is the only thing preventing Hyrule from falling to complete darkness." Sheik felt his anger build up through him as the light brought tears to his eyes.
He hated his tears.
"I refuse to hide anymore." He choked out.
He hated the lie he lived.
"You have no choice." Impa told him. She leaned on him as she stood up. "Do what you want. I expect you home tonight for dinner." She walked away. "If you're not, you're going to wish we had done mental exercises instead of what I'll put you through." Sheik stood up carefully, still unsure of how he had been restrained so suddenly. He rubbed his throat gingerly, coughing slightly to breathe.
He hated his weakness most of all.
X
Ganondorf watched with amusement as the young man, hardly fifteen by the looks of it, trained in obvious anger. From the mutters he was grumbling about, this boy was obviously a child of war.
He was amused by the confliction he could hear and see.
"She knows nothing. Nothing! She doesn't know what I am thinking, what I feel- She's not my mother! She's not my damned family! DAMMIT!" Ganondorf decided he simply had to know who this child was.
The boy, trained in the lost arts of the Sheikah, was going to be powerful. Judging by the lack of discipline Sheikah were renowned for, this boy was a rebel. The deceptively weak throws he used with his short swords to the dense rock cliff face was impressive enough to stuck the weapons to the hilt. The boy stood in place, glaring at his two weapons and shivering in sweaty adrenaline. So much potential; but he was a fool.
"Well now, I'm sure you can pull those swords out with as little difficulty as you used to throw them in." Ganondorf said as soothingly as he could. The boy was amusing, especially when he tensed, frozen as a statue, as Ganondorf's heavy steps sounded closer and closer. "Go on." He wanted to see. The boy waited a beat, head slightly tilted to listen behind him, before he walked forward and retrieved his weapons.
They slid out with a harsh sound, and they were not sheathed.
Another, cleaner sound of metal sliding on metal came out in the clearing. Ganondorf held his own sword out, a wide blade with an ornate hilt, and took a testing step forward. The boy spun around quickly, his weapons raised in defense, and his posture low in preparation. He looked startled to see him.
"You're, the Dark King." He said, his posture wary. He took a few obvious moments to come to a decision of how to react.
Ganondorf was as annoyed by the informal address as he was amused by the slight rocking in the boy's frame. He was a twitchy thing, knees trying to lower to a kneel as his back refused to bow. His posture was tense and ready, even as his hands laxed slightly with his weapons. His hair was a golden shade similar to wild wheat, and his eyes were a most intriguing red. His body was lean, and he could have been mistaken for a woman had his voice not been heard. Ganondorf was King, and he demanded complete respect. Especially if he had to beat it into his subjects.
He grinned at the pale skinned boy, flicking his blade once in invitation.
'Show me your power, boy.' He thought. As much as he hated disobedience and disrespect, he wanted this boy to amuse him.
"Rah!" The boy spun around with his angry energy and swept through a series of strikes that Ganondorf blocked with only needing to take a single step back. He parried easily, and he held his blade to the boy's throat. The boy swallowed before carefully stepping away. Ganondorf followed.
This was not a spar. He would let this child know that his life was in his hands, and Ganondorf was not inclined to be gentle. Reward, however, was an incentive he was known to give to those he dubbed worthy.
"Tell me your name, boy." Ganondorf ordered. Sheik looked at him in the eyes and didn't move another step away from the sharp edge at his skin. It wasn't through fear or lost hope though. No, to Ganondorf's amazement, the boy seemed to relax as he realized what had happened. It wasn't defeat; it was an understanding and a calculating acceptance. It was almost a trust; the basic knowledge that Ganondorf was not going to kill him, even with the edge of a weapon ready to kill him. It was astonishing to see happen.
No one had relaxed in his presence. Ever. Even the Gerudo women who raised him were tense and wary at the very least.
He was Ganondorf, and he was waging war with Hyrule for control of the Triforce and the lands. This boy had suffered his brutality, and he held a burning anger in his heart, yet he refused to accept defeat even as it held a blade to his throat.
"My name is Sheik."
"Sheik." Ganondorf echoed. He lowered his blade and stepped closer. Sheik didn't tense, and he didn't seem worried. He kept his gaze on Ganondorf, and the King found the unfaltering gaze daring to stare at him in his own eyes. Not even the Gerudo women dared do so for more than a moment. He circled the blonde, studying him and trying to see if he could read him better.
He couldn't. That made him smile.
"Tell me, Sheik, what do you think of war?"
"I hate it." The boy bit out. His red eyes glared through the golden strands of his hair.
"I see that." Ganondorf remarked, completing his circle as he recalled the boy's rage moments ago. "You're full of so much hate. Yet, you channel it remarkably well." Sheik said nothing, his eyes finding his own again and continuing to stare with a narrowed suspicious gaze.
'It's all your fault. I hate you. I want to kill you. I blame you. I dare you.' Those eyes said everything and nothing.
He had potential, but no purpose. He had plenty of reasons, yes, but no direction other than to gain his own power. Not for offense, no, he was a defensive creature, this Sheik. Ganondorf could see, easily, that if Sheik was a little more aggressive – if he was more liable to lash out than bristle and fester his anger – then he would have been a person he would have killed for his insolence. Instead, this was a bit of a refreshing change. Still insolent, yes, but not one that was a danger to him. Sheik wouldn't attack him directly.
"Is this the part where you offer me a place in your army? I'll just refuse." Ganondorf barked out a long laugh. The idea had crossed his mind, yes, but he hadn't truly considered it. The boy was too weak, too young. Too risky. He had been leaning more on the 'kill' decision, before now.
"Is that right?" He grinned.
"I won't fight in war. I will only enforce the peace created from it." The thought wasn't exactly a refusal to join him, and Ganondorf could already imagine the steps required of him to keep his reign over Hyrule. He could see the purpose Sheik could hold in his army, and he could see it working.
If he did win, and he will, there was still going to be opposition, won't there?
"That doesn't mean I can't still train you. You are correct; I will need a commander to control the patrols throughout the land to enforce my rule." Ganondorf wondered. This boy, a Sheikah, would not only be a great morale blow to the citizens against him, but he had so much potential.
Sheikah had always been the well-known secret protectors of the Royal Family. A Sheikah in his ranks would be a powerful addition to his forces, and this boy, the rebellious Sheikah that he was, was less likely to betray him than any other. From what he had believed, Sheikah were loyal to their family and to the Royal Family. This boy had no immediate family, and he resented his guardian for trying to fill that role. There was no Royal Family to be loyal to, either. Ganondorf didn't know when a Sheikah was assigned to their charge or how that entire system worked, but Sheik was probably as young as Princess Zelda was. He probably didn't have one, and would never have one.
He hated war. He was strong. He preferred to be an enforcer. He had no real ties to his loyalty. It was a perfect idea. He could see the reluctant interest glinting in the boy's red eyes. The boy's fists tightened, just enough to creak against the gloves he wore.
"I refuse. Keep me out of your war." Sheik turned to the side and tried to walk past Ganondorf to leave. Ganondorf simply couldn't allow that. He held an arm out, not directly blocking Sheik from advancing, but working just the same.
"Drop the swords." He demanded lowly. They fell without haste or hesitation. Ganondorf liked this obedience. He lowered his arm and didn't stop looking after Sheik as the boy continued to leave.
He watched from a distance as Sheik entered the village and headed towards a house. He didn't once see the blond look behind himself. He could see the heated argument between the boy and the woman Impa who had lost the Princess those many years ago. He couldn't make out the words, due to his distance and possibly the magic enchantments that the old Sheikah no doubt had. Ganondorf saw Sheik retreat to his room, ignoring the other woman's calls, and he saw the boy's room light flicker on in the early evening.
Ganondorf turned his thoughts to his armory, trying to recall his best swords. He grinned and disappeared.
Sheik found two short swords and a dagger, heavier and sturdier than his last weapons, in the clearing he practiced in when he returned the next morning to retrieve the short swords he left behind.
'I don't know what you expect from me,' Sheik narrowed his eyes at the very well crafted weapons. 'But you will not break me, and you will not trick me. You will not find Zelda.' Sheik carefully familiarized himself with the sturdier weapons, and he quickly decided to not let Impa know how he got them.
Sheik hated how powerless he was, but he was determined to not be as useless as Zelda. He didn't want to be a part of the war, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be involved.
He wasn't that naïve. The war made sure of that. And he hated it.
X
Link watched in awe, the girl Lun next to him. She was holding onto his arm in slight hug; her favorite way to stand next to him. They watched the desert in front of them for a long time.
'It's so pretty.' The winds couldn't be felt aside from the barest of breezes, but in front of them raged a sandstorm contained in the light brown desert dunes.
"Keroiy getsu fraqew?" Lun asked, lightly tugging Link forward towards the storm.
It seemed to be weaker than it looked, judging by the winds. It was so pretty though, and a small part of Link wondered why it wasn't as hot as he thought it should be. They were standing in a patch of grass, but surely the rocky land with sporadic greenery would be warming up to the dusty sandy lands in front of them?
It didn't feel too different than the weather around the lake or the forests.
"Nupi nupi!" Lun tugged him harder, pulling him towards the desert. Link walked, hand in hand (well, arm in hand) with his friend, and decided that weather didn't matter. Lun obviously wanted to explore this new side of Hyrule (and Link could admit he was curious too. He'd never imagined that such a dry harsh land existed, but as soon as he saw it he knew it was a desert).
After a few meters of travel, a familiar humming boomed behind the two. Lun exclaimed loudly as she darted to the way they came and Link let his head fall.
'Of course, why would this be any different?'
'This' being the familiar quest in a new terrain. The liquid lights that Link had to collect at the Lake also had to be collected in the Fields, when Link and Lun wandered deep enough into the southern part of it. He also had to find more again when Link tried to bring Lun to his and Saria's Grove. That last one had made him very angry at the desecration of his childhood secret, and Lun had saved him a few times by preventing him from lashing out at the giant stone statues that chased him sporadically.
Now, as they entered the desert, they were being caged in by a wall of rainbow lights and shadows. Within this wall, the desert they were trapped in, were the liquid lights Link had to find. Again.
"Pon! Guiren hatsu midjo fre free?" Lun babbled. Link turned around to try to decipher what she was saying, and startled when she looked slightly transparent.
'!' He darted towards her, reaching for her hand to try to keep her with him.
She had never disappeared when they had searched for liquid lights before! She was the reason he hadn't been caught (a part of him whispered the word 'die' in correction) by the statues. She was his friend, and a liquid light. They always looked together for the liquid lights since after the Lake!
"Pon, mou gretch." Lun said softly. She looked apologetic, and slightly determined.
'Please, come back soon!' He mouthed to her, knowing she didn't understand but could probably guess anyway.
The statues all rose from their places under the sand, as if they had been on platforms and were suddenly allowed to be revealed.
"Pon..." Lun faded. Link was suddenly pushed by the force of the winds raging through the sands. He felt a chill run down his back at the sounds of exclamations from around him.
The statues were awake.
"AAAHHHH!" Link ran, blindly, as he tried to keep away from the statues and hopefully towards a liquid light. 'Not fair!'
With Lun gone, and the desert without any shelter or peaceful weather, how was he supposed to collect what he needed to bring peace and calm back to the harsh lands?
X
The Gerudo Fortress was an amazing feat of architectural design and construction. Nabooru loved her home. She loved her sisters and cousins and friends, she loved the desert that she lived in, and she loved the lifestyle of adventure and whimsical purpose she lived.
She didn't understand why King Ganondorf wanted the humid green lands of Hyrule so much. The people were lazy and carefree; they had no purpose to their days. They lived too easily to appreciate the finer things in life. They struggled for nothing – well, they hadn't, anyway, until the war.
The resistance group, an estimated band of seventy and dropping, was pathetic. Nabooru could appreciate their will though. The strength they found within themselves to stand alone against the army that the Gerudo were was to be applauded.
'I think I'm the only one to see that though.' She sighed as her patrolling cousins snarked about the frailer Hylians walked past her. 'The pride of my people has made way for arrogance.'
She wanted her life back.
'And the Temple...' She glanced at the vague direction of the Desert Colossus; the Great Goddess of the Desert, Din. She tried not to let her anger show. 'It's blasphemy what that man has decided to do!'
Nabooru had been a Keeper of the Temple. She prayed daily to the Goddesses of Hyrule, favoring Din as the goddess of the Desert and protector of the Gerudo Tribe. She still prayed, even as she fought to avoid succumbing to the brainwashing her sisters and once best friend was forcing her to go through.
'Ganondorf, you fool.' She cursed in her mind as her cell door was opened and Natari beckoned her out. Nabooru did so quietly.
"Good morning, Natari, Halinne, and Gerana."
"Mornin', Nabooru. We're going to the Temple today." Nabooru grimaced inwardly as she offered a smile to the three. They all had their weapons, and she didn't. However, everyone knew that Nabooru was still skilled enough to taken them all down and successfully break free.
"How nice." Nabooru answered. She wasn't going to run away though. In the Temple, was where the twin witches who raised Ganondorf resided, known together as Twinrova. Those bitches, the warped senile and deranged old women, were the real reason Hyrule was in such a desolate state. They didn't see the balance between the lands and the magic the Trinity Goddesses bestowed. They were greedy, and sought to use the power of Din Herself to overpower the other two goddesses and spread the desert all over Hyrule.
It was insanity.
It was evil.
It was, unfortunately, working.
Her friend, the awkward boy born this century to the Gerudo, was a victim. His mother died in childbirth, and he was orphaned a Prince before he changed to a cruel King. No one else saw it that way. No one saw him as the victim he was.
Those many adventures they shared, the dangers and fun and games, were all forgotten now. The witches molded him into the very figure of Power, and then brainwashed him to their blind greedy view.
'Just as they are trying to do to me.' Nabooru grimaced, using the sudden winds to mask the expression of her thoughts.
"Nabooru?" Natari whispered. They were walking outside, but the patrols were too far to hear so the younger girl felt she could speak to her. "Why did you do it?"
There hadn't been any sort of investigation or questioning. Nabooru was automatically guilty and to be punished because the double-souled witch Twinrova said so.
"Because this isn't our way. We steal, we kill, we kidnap men for our whims. We do not, however, destroy other countries and nations. We have the desert; we don't need their forests, fields, lakes or mountains. We have our fighting prowess; we don't need to annihilate other peoples to prove it. We have our pride and customs; we shouldn't need to throw it away for more of what we are not."
"I see, but King Ganondorf said we deserve acknowledgement." Halinne said almost too quiet to hear. She didn't sound like she believed her words. It was dangerous to doubt nowadays, though.
"That's what those peace talks were to be. Then our King killed theirs. We didn't need this kind of acknowledgement." Nabooru said just as quietly. "We are now petty and immoral."
"As immoral as to use children for our gains?" Gerana asked aloud, not worried at all about her volume. The other two guards looked at her in alarm, but Nabooru wasn't worried. They couldn't do much else to her, even if the health and safety of her sisters was placed at her feet again. Her sisters could risk themselves if they wanted. Nabooru wouldn't risk herself for them. Not anymore.
She was ashamed to call most of them sisters now.
"I didn't force him into helping me. Nor did I trick or lie to him. I told him what I wanted, and asked him if he could and would help."
"He was innocent." The other two looked a little more relaxed. Gerana loved children. It was unfortunate she was barren. She was not looking to discriminate anyone. She felt indignant of Nabooru's use of a child.
(That gave Nabooru hope that some of her sisters still had their morals and limits. Ruthlessly, she ignored that hope. There was no room in her situation for hope.)
"I know of no child who holds their innocence in one hand and a weapon in the other." Nabooru replied truthfully. Their own race wasn't an exception. Girls were allowed their childhood until their first blood, at the very least. Then they were shown the rest of their lifestyle and made into a full blooded true Gerudo. You simply couldn't have both. In place of innocence, when considered an adult, you held your peace instead. Whatever that peace consisted of (a hobby, a memory, a habit, a friend) differed between individuals.
"Yet he didn't need to be involved." Which was true. Nabooru should have known better than to place so much hope on that little boy.
"Where is he now?" She asked, glancing to the harsh desert sands. Her dark skin had contrasted greatly against the boy's pale color. He was not a desert-bred person. Any torture or confinement that Nabooru was going through would be nothing he would be suffered. Her tribe was prejudice that way.
"We don't know." Gerana sighed softly, worried. Nabooru sighed, relieved.
"Then he is fine. That boy held a wisdom in his eyes, and a familiarity with the desert in his actions. Of the desert he was not. Stranger to survival he was not either."
"...I hope you're right."
They arrived at the Temple, and Nabooru watched the statue above the entrance as they walked up the steps.
Din, sitting with crossed legs and arms spread open. Her symbol of humanity, the serpent, wrapped around her. Legends tell of the human tribes the goddesses, like the Gerudo. Each goddess had a symbol, an animal. Din was of the serpent, and the guardian of the Gerudo.
Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom and water, held a feline. Her tribe was said to be a nomad tribe of fisherwomen. They didn't use boats, and it is believed (by those still aware of the stories) that their swimming abilities could rival those of the Zora.
Farore, the goddess of Courage and wind, held a falcon. They too were a nomad tribe. They hunted, following after the herds of their prey no matter where they were led. Their tracking skills were so great, it was impossible for them to be lost. Even though they themselves didn't leave a trail of their passing, they could always backtrack their steps to where they began.
The Gerudo used to be a nomad tribe as well. They specialized in cultivating vegetation in their mobile troupes. Traveling farmers, bringing their wares to many lands and gathering more as they passed. The snake had been a creature of protection for themselves and the plants they grew against the hunters who threatened them and the rodents who coveted their greens. No one was sure when they settled into the desert, and when they abandoned their private oasis and gardens for the thrill of battle and blood.
The Tribes of the Goddesses were traders. Traveling troupes of gypsies who traded their bounty throughout the land and cultivated friendships and spread news. They weren't meant to stay in one place for long, and Nabooru wondered if that was why the other Tribes were gone. They hadn't been coerced to find a home, and thus they were free from this war and corruption.
'Din,' She thought as she passed under the mountainside statue. 'are we forsaken? Can we be saved?'
Nabooru never knew the traveling lifestyle. It sounded so wonderful though to have the ability to walk away. This was her home, however, so she knew she would never abandon it. These were her family, and she desperately wished her family were whole.
"Nabooru, child!" Koume cackled in glee as they entered the doors.
"Do come in, dear!" Kotake beckoned. The two sisters, the oldest Gerudo witches of the tribe – the twin souls able to merge into their third persona Twinrova – circled the way they were wont to do from above the main foyer of the Temple. Nabooru walked up the steps and stopped in the middle of the platform.
"Good morning." She greeted distantly.
"Now now, don't be like that." Koume chided before flying lower to circle around her once and float above the three girls who escorted her here.
"Yes, yes! We summoned you for good news!" Kotake added, also circling around her before flying next to her sister.
"Good news?" Nabooru questioned, a sense of unease growing in her chest. Her little sisters, Natari, Halinne, and Gerana, were not blessed with magic. All the spells and compulsions Koume and Kotake threw at her in their powerful form Twinrova were strong and difficult to break. Her sisters, however, would never be able to break free. They were vulnerable.
'Din, please save them.' She prayed, trying to ignore her unease. She wouldn't try to help them. She literally couldn't. She couldn't. If she did, she would be putting herself in even more danger.
This was wrong. It was all wrong. The Tribe was family! They had found their purpose and lived a life of happiness! Why had it come down to so much violence and betrayal!?
"Oh yes, you see, we now know how you can be saved." One witch started. Nabooru flinched at the sudden burst of light.
Her sisters screamed, falling to their knees and convulsing to their sides as they clutched at their heads in torment.
"NO! Stop! STOP!" Nabooru felt her throat constrict in shock and horror. Her plans of remaining distant from her sisters fell apart as she realized she could never distance herself from them.
She raised a lot of them. Trained with all of the. She was the best friend of Ganondorf as they grew up. She was the official unofficial Princess of the Desert, to be Queen when their King finally decided to marry. These were her sisters. These were her family. And she could never ignore their pains.
The witches cackled with their spell casting, and they threw their spell at her. Then Nabooru saw white, felt everything in a painful myriad of sensations, and she couldn't breathe.
'Din, please save us.' The memory of that little boy she asked for help from flashed in her mind. His bright hair, wide confident smile, and eyes that glittered with innocence as he shuffled against his sword and shield with familiarity. She recalled the fairy companion of his, and wasn't that a sight, who spoke for him.
The fairy had mentioned hurrying up, because a 'Topa' was waiting for them. The boy, Link, was determined and willing to help her. They had failed, and Nabooru thought it was because she had been relying on a child. She could admit now that they had simply not accounted for certain facts. They were underprepared, and had not been careful enough. She was glad he got away.
'You can't hold your innocence in one hand and a sword in the other.' She had said. She had believed that, not as morbidly as she did nowadays, but it had been a fact to her since she realized herself what she was giving up learning their arts. She lost her childish interests and had seen the world as a more dangerous and unforgiving place as she experienced more of it everyday.
That boy, however, was doing just that. He had a purpose. He had been determined to complete it and go back to the life he was living when done. To go back to his 'Topa', whatever that was. He had no desire to fight and only did so because he had something he was trying to protect and save. He had a goal.
'Please, save us.' Nabooru prayed as she felt her heart slow and her breathing stopped. She prayed as she thought about her family and the beautiful lands of her home. She prayed as she remembered her best friend when he was a little boy.
Hyrule wasn't the only land with her people in danger of dying. The Gerudo Tribe was also in danger of disappearing forever, and being replaced by a group of people who had no sense of pride. Her heart wept.
'please…I'll do anything...' There was a sense of dark nothingness.
X
"There she is!" Nabooru startled awake. She sat up quickly and shut her eyes tightly against the bright sun. She had been asleep?
"Restrain her!"
"You won't be getting away, Traitor!"
"What?" Nabooru was roughly forced to her knees and shackled into warm metal shackles. She felt dizzy, belatedly realizing that she had been hit by a spell to prevent her from putting up a fight.
She wouldn't though, because she didn't have much left to fight for. The Hylian princess was missing, presumed dead, and the resistance against King Ganondorf was losing ground and people every day.
"Thought you could pull a fast getaway when we thought you weakened?" The grating voice of Koume spoke. Nabooru cried out in pain when the witches spell held her frozen and them positioned her arms behind her painfully. It hurt even more because she couldn't push her back to compensate.
"You're so weakened, Nabooru. You should surrender." Kotake advised.
"It would be a waste to kill you, you know?"
"Or perhaps you do. We don't want to kill you."
"Not really. We could do so, however."
"It wouldn't be a simple death though."
"Oh no, you're much too useful and skilled."
"You will aid King Ganondorf."
"Willingly, or not." Nabooru felt the blinding breathtaking pain again, and could feel the tendrils of magic creeping into her mind. She thought she was going to die. For a moment, the first time, she thought she had.
'Goddesses! Din! Please, save us! Save them!'
Rather than the warm reply that she had associated with Din in her prayers, she felt a cool firm touch in her mind. It lessened the pain and seemed to rumble deeply through her as if in apology for her being in pain. It was nothing like the warm bright touch of Din, the soft bubbly touch of Nayru, or the gentle soothing touch of Farore.
'Who are you?' The feeling, nothing motherly or sisterly, was comforting and full of safety. Protection. But it was not of the Three Goddesses. 'A trick?' she wondered.
There was a moment of indignant amusement, and that more than anything convinced Nabooru that this was the work of another goddess. No mortal can impress opposite emotions to others as well blended as the goddesses. The indignant amusement turned more gentle at her thought, and a feeling of peace surrounded her.
'Sleep for now.' Nabooru thought she heard. She did before she could think to ask anything else.
X
Link trembled with fatigue he normally didn't feel. He was lucky to find this cave in the sandstorm that surrounded the terrain he was looking for liquid lights in. He had ran for such a long time, he couldn't even guess how long it was. The living statues surrounded the entrance of his cave, and Link was too tired to worry about how he would get out.
'Can't get hit. Can't touch them.' He thought tiredly as he watched with unseeing eyes as the statues crowded around the only entrance and jumped in their attempts to push through and get him.
Dust coated everything, having been worn from the stone it had once been. He couldn't stay there forever. The statues would eventually break through. There was no waiting this out.
"Pon!" Lun's voice called out above the statue's angry grunts and the sharp whistling winds. "Pon!"
'Lun!' Link startled, throwing away his body's weakness and darting through the hole of the cave and through the small opening between the shifting statues. He ran out against the winds and honed in on Lun.
"Pon! What hera toom!?" She called out, coughing against the sand in her face as she clutched onto the flagpole she tried to use to keep on her feet. The wind tore at the girl, her robes whipping about harshly.
"!" Link cursed in his mind his inability to call out to his friend, but he managed a choked yell to grab her attention .
"Pon!" Lun was dressed in her dark robes, and Link was glad she was easy to spot against the harsh almost white sand around them. Her pale silver eyes seemed so dark against her pale frightened face and the nearly white blond of her hair. He crashed into her with a hug and held on as the winds died and the sounds of furious statues quieted. She was trembling, and Link realized he was too.
'Don't leave like that! Please don't ever leave like that again! I was so worried about you and then you go and appear in the middle of danger! It was storming and you could have been hurt and-!' Link stopped his mute rant when Lun sniffled and tried to rub her eyes. She didn't want to let go though, so Link sighed and had them both sit down in the warm sand. He kept one hand clutched tightly in hers as he rose his other one to run his thumb along the tear tracks on her cheeks.
She hadn't been frightened.
She had been terrified.
There was an underlying sense of sadness in her tears too, but Link couldn't begin to guess what that was about, so he hugged her tightly and waited for both their heartbeats to steady.
Navi wasn't here, but even if she was Link wouldn't have been able to hug her the way he could hug Saria. Saria wasn't here either, but she was a Kokiri and she was smaller than him now anyway. Malon may have been a good friend to hug for comfort, but Link didn't really know the sassy farm girl well enough to want to. Lun was his best friend. Lun was here. Lun needed a hug, more than he did any way, and he would hug her even if she was too shaken to hug back. It was enough that he could feel her in his arms and she wasn't pulling away.
"Pon, tianku." Lun murmured sleepily as she pulled away. She offered him a smile and hesitantly let go of the fists of his shirt she held. The winds were beginning to wind up and exclamations echoed through the large desert (the terrain he had to explore for these liquid lights was bigger than the field they searched through) so Lun quickly snatched his hand back, hugging his arm with her other hand. Link let her, placing his other hand over hers as he bid her to stand up with him.
'Come on, let's go find the liquid lights and get out of here.' He nodded his head to the now calm terrain.
It was routine now; find a new land, get trapped, avoid the statues by staying near each other (or holding onto each other like this one), find all the liquid lights, and leave to find a different land or stay and explore the calmer area.
Link didn't think they would be returning to the desert for a while.
X
Luna wondered about her dreams as she felt her body speed slowly through the heavens and above the lands where Sunbeam existed. She wondered about the Sunbeam boy she dreamed about too. Her magic flowed through her insistently when she held his hands, and it positively laughed when she was in the Everfield lands of her dream. She was beginning to suspect, after nearly three years of these dreams, that they weren't really dreams.
'Happiness. Content. Patience.' Luna tilted her head to concentrate, her eyes unfocusing so she could focus on her magic better.
Along with the dreams, were these feelings of connection to a greater being.
She didn't know who or what it was. This figure touched her very soul with a feeling of tranquility and an even pressure that almost couldn't be felt. They disappeared when she dreamed, but the echoing taste of their power remained even in such a magically saturated place as Hogwarts.
Then there was Sunbeam. (Now that she knew he wasn't a dream or a pretend friend, she wondered if she could/should rename him to a more respectable name.)
The boy wasn't able to talk. He mouthed things every so often, more often now than before, but he couldn't speak. He made sounds of surprise and happiness, but he never cried a tear or sobbed or anything else.
Regardless of what he seemed to want to say (and she knew it wasn't just that she couldn't hear him. He touched his throat in that way that said 'I can't speak. I wish I could. It wasn't fair.') she couldn't even begin to guess what he could be mouthing. He didn't seem to understand her either.
Language barriers aside, Luna loved her best friend and wished they could do more. Talking to each other was at the very top of that list.
Sunbeam was trapped, and lonely. It had been years, and he was slowly growing the way she was too. They had been small when they met. Now, touching true adolescence, Luna could recognize that her friend was not normal, and neither was he a figment of her imagination. And she wanted to know why.
'Patience. Anticipation.' Luna pondered the feelings that reverberated in her magic. It felt like magic, but more. She hadn't recognized the presence before, but now that she was aware, she felt a likeness of it in Sunbeam. It was in the Everfields. It was in the teardrop lights, and the statues, and the barriers that trapped them. It was stronger in her however.
Everything was connected somehow. She just didn't know how.
"Those Crumple-Horned Snorkacks are so very clever." Luna mused as she stretched in her bed and let herself relax. It was odd to feel herself both in her room and through the space above the Everfields. "They brought me to Sunbeam, somehow, through my dreams. If I find them, surely they can free Sunbeam? Or let me stay with him so he wouldn't be lonely anymore?" She murmured.
'Fondness. Amusement.' Luna smiled softly as she closed her eyes without closing them. The magic around her soothed her worries, and Luna tried to fall asleep quickly. It was only in her half-asleep state that she could float in the sky above the Everfields. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner she could see Sunbeam. Drowsily, she opened her eyes without opening them as the lands became closer and more clear.
She saw a land with vast green fields. There was a lake ahead, and a deep forest of green to the side. Vaguely across the water on the other side of the field was a mountain, a volcano, and next to that...
Luna frowned in a sad disappointed emotion.
There used to be a castle there. It had been a glorious white castle with a large town at the foot of the small hill it sat on. In its place was an ever spreading ring of lave, the castle darkened with bitter intentions and lack of proper care. It looked sharper, and evil. There was construction ever defacing it's walls to make it bigger and polluted.
'Abashment. Determination.' Luna almost startled. 'Guilt. Worry.'
"Is this your fault?" She asked the presence. The magic that flowed around her was indignant. It was sorry, and guilty, but not to be blamed. Luna pressed a hand to her heart, the strongest concentration of the feeling resting there. "I'm sorry." She continued to look at the dark castle as she was slowly brought to where Sunbeam was. The dark castle disappeared over the horizon, until she landed on a circle of glowing gold magic. Then she was again surrounded by life and green.
She always felt like she noticed something new when she did arrive. She felt she had explored so much.
Yet, the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks remained elusive. The sneaky things.
X
Impa watched the girl without expression.
'Foolish girl.' She tried not to think too negatively at the strange child. After all, she was just a strange child.
The small blond girl darted past, giggling and reaching to the side as it to pull along a friend. She then pushed at the air and darted away, her giggling echoing eerily.
Her long dark clothes and small bird symbol on her cloak once made Impa believe she was looking at the soul of Zelda in another form more than the similar giggle and long blond hair. Sheik was becoming more bitter and closed off, and Impa honestly didn't know what to do about her other than to never think of her as a boy. For Zelda's sake at least.
Except, no one else seemed to notice this blond spirit in the month it had been since she first noticed her. This was considered extremely odd in such a spiritual place as Kakariko Village. Ghosts were not unusual. In fact, it was more unusual that a ghost was haunting someone (ie Impa herself) without anyone noticing. Ghosts do not select who sees them. They just can't.
"EEEEeeee!" The girl shrieked in delighted terror before running towards the graveyard and fading away. Impa bit her nail in consideration. It was getting late, and Sheik had disappeared that morning. She didn't know if she had eaten at all today.
Impa wondered who the girl was though. She wasn't a villager. She couldn't be Zelda; the princess had never been able to explore and play in Kakariko before she fled the castle. This couldn't be an emotion impression. The fact that there was yet another ghost with this strange blond girl that no one could see at all was discerning.
It was time to seek council from the trapped Sheikah souls of the Spirit Temple. As soon as Impa figured out what was going on with this blond ghost.
"What?" Impa stared at the graveyard as soon as it came into view. She ran towards the main tomb, dodging the poes cackling everywhere. There, in plain view of where it shouldn't have been, was a Gossip Stone.
Gossip Stones did not move around. Ever. Wherever they were now was where they had been for generations. With the Sheikah wiped out as they were, no one had the knowledge to create them anymore. There simply couldn't be a new Gossip Stone where there hadn't been one before.
Impa found herself annoyed. A person looking to be cute no doubt crafted a statue similar to the magical fortune reporters.
"Talk to me!" She demanded, kicking the stone as she prepared herself for the disappointment of a fake. The chunk of rock flinched away and wiggled with a demented giggle back into its place. Impa gaped as it spoke.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before. The Triforce will soon disappear forever because of this person. Good or bad, who knows what will become of Hyrule and the lands surrounding us? The Goddesses seem to think this new addition should have been a part of the cycle already." The stone seemed to sulk.
Impa looked at it aghast.
"The Triforce will disappear? The Goddesses have been pulling for another player in this war? What? Repeat that!" She kicked the stone again, and it gave a high pitched cackle as the tear on its face seemed to cry.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before. The Triforce will soon disappear forever because of this person. Good or bad, who knows what will become of Hyrule and the lands surrounding us?" There was a pause. The stone trembled as Impa waited for the rest with a look of impatience.
"Well?" She barked. The stone remained quiet. "Talk to me!" She kicked it again. The stone seemed to stretch towards the sky as it gave off a high pitch scream or joy. The eye cried again, and seemed to whimper as it spoke.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before. The Triforce will soon disappear forever because of this person." The eye narrowed its eye in anticipation, looking worried and wary. Impa felt chills running through her back as she waited again.
"Why aren't you talking?" She asked, feeling anxious. "Talk to me!" She kicked at the stone again, a little harder than necessary. She would have settled for anything else at this point. What Ganondorf likes to eat, whether the weather would be delightful, anything. The stone whimpered as the eye took on a gleeful expression.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before." Impa felt her breath start to feel cold as the Poes surrounded her and her anticipation of the Gossip Stone's words rose. She gathered her magic and pushed it onto the ground with a harsh yell, eyes glancing momentarily to the Poes intent on preying on her. The spread of Din's Fire surrounded a larger area than necessary.
The Poes disappeared with a scream, and the stone flashed red and black as the soot was shaken off.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before." It didn't say anything more and Impa felt a surge of unreasonable fear.
Gossip Stones never withheld information, no matter how useless or useful. They just liked to Gossip. She kicked the stone as hard as she could, hoping it would say more. The crazy things responded oddly to abuse, so she could only hurt it more in her hopes.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before." It nearly closed its eye as it prepared itself. Impa lashed out.
"There's a member of the Triforce who hadn't been there before." It repeated. Impa waited, watching the surrounding Poes from the corner of her eye. They didn't seem to interested in her and the Gossip Stone wasn't saying anything more.
"What else! What else do you have to say!?" She demanded, feeling a desperation she hadn't felt in a very long time. She kicked at the stone and froze in agony as sharp pain rushed up her leg and through her body.
The Gossip Stone didn't budge. She had just threw her leg into stone.
"Gah!" She allowed herself to kneel on her uninjured leg to better hold her injured one. The pain in her shin and ankle was easy to ignore, but it gave her a reason to feel panic and show it.
The Triforce was in danger, and not just from Ganondorf.
"Zelda..." Her charge, the young girl she saw as her daughter (troubled as she was), was suffering in a war that may be for naught. Regardless of whether the Triforce were to be kept away from the Gerudo King of Evil, it was going to be destroyed.
The war and the suffering they had would be for nothing should that happen.
'I have to do something; anything.' She thought to herself. She cautiously put weight on her leg and determined she didn't break it. With a grunt of self-depreciation, she faced the direction of the Shadow Temple, hidden in plain sight with dirt, foliage, and cliff walls. 'I'll have to watch myself. I haven't acted so rashly in a long time.' Not since she was beginning training.
With a final glare at the Gossip Stone, Impa walked away with a minimal limp. The Gossip Stone bounced with a mischievous giggle and faded away as if a ghost in a burst of golden light. The picture of the Triforce glowed, and the ghost of a blond girl ran through it towards the direction Impa just left.
"Pon! Wairo ip!" She called out excitedly.
X
Sheik walked around the ReDeads at a calculated distance. He had read about them, and they were more frightening to see up close, but they were not hard to avoid. He did not need to hide in shadows or creep along walls. He made it through the Square without a problem.
The trail leading to the castle looked grey and dying. Sheik remembered a time where life grew in blankets of bright healthy green. The dirt was hard and slightly dry, but it had life in it then. Now, everything looked like unforgiving rock.
Zelda used to pick flowers over there. She would speak to the guards posted over there, and hide from them in that little nitch. She always tried to climb the tree that used to be there. She stopped trying before she got big enough to actually succeed.
Monsters patrolled the courtyard now. There were no friendly guards or gardeners. There were no small groups of people waiting for an audience with the King.
Sheik wondered if he would be expected.
"He wanted me here... Would I have to be caught as a prisoner to speak with him?" He wondered. He rested a hand on one of his blades, and centered himself before stepping close enough to be noticed.
The lizard like monsters snarled at him and charged.
"Of course you have to fight. Where do you think you are, Sheik?" He grumbled as he drew his swords and prepared to counter the other attacks. Easier than he thought, the other monsters' weapons were parried away and Sheik attacked their throats before they had a chance to try again. Two of the five fell down, and the other three gave him space as they surrounded him.
"Tresspasser." One hissed. Sheik looked at it in surprise; he hadn't thought they could speak.
"Weak little boy." Another snarled.
"You die here now." The last growled before Sheik was attacked again.
"I'm here to see Ganondorf! Back off!" The three roared at his words, and Sheik wasn't so sure he should have killed the other two.
"Our King! Our King!" The others put emphasis on the word king.
"He's not my king yet! Let me through and I won't kill you!" Sheik growled at them. He felt a heady rush through his body as he darted forward and kicked at one of the monsters. It yelped and fell to the side, dropping its large sword. The other two quickly swiped towards him as he tried to prepare another strike. He shifted enough to block, and then kicked another of the angry monsters in the chin.
There was a loud crack in the air.
Sheik jumped away as he tried to refrain from putting too much weight on his foot. He held his sword in defense and narrowed his eyes on the remaining monsters in front of him. 'That was a bad idea.' He scolded himself as he watched the other two monsters realize their friend was now dead standing up. 'Even if it did work.' He added as the monster remained standing, it's neck bent oddly and it's shoulder sagging too low to be natural.
"Die!"
"Die!"
Sheik snarled back at them, no longer caring if Ganondorf retaliated against him for killing his monster guards. He'll cross that bridge when it came, and he'll say it was in self-defense. There was no reason to make up excuses when the truth worked, after all.
Swiftly, Sheik sliced at the necks of his foes. The shining new blades from Ganondorf those many months ago gleaned red as he straightened himself and the other two monsters collapsed with gargling whimpers. The one who died standing slowly tottered to the side.
"Worthless..." Sheik growled at the corpses. He brought the edge of his swords to his eyes for inspection and made a sound of annoyance. "You were just cleaned too." He tried not to sound like he was whining at his weapons. He grumbled as he searched through the corpses for a cloth of any sort. He was surprised to find that they did indeed have clothes on that he could tear up for rags to clean the blades.
Without a second glance at the disappearing monster corpses, Sheik continued down the trail. There were no other guards outside, and only two more at the doors. Sheik scowled when the two standing guard spotted him and hissed threateningly.
"Oh shut up. Ganondorf said to visit." He told them, wondering if all monsters understood speech. The monster to the left (Sheik wondered what they were) stopped hissing, looking contemplative. The other barked at him and charged. Sheik let him come close before swiping his blade through the other's throat. The head bounced on the ground and the one monster still near the door hissed angrily with its weapon readied.
"Our King." He hissed, prepared to charge.
"Yeah, and I'm here to see him. I'm not here to fight." Sheik crossed his arms in annoyance. 'I really hope he'll believe me when I say it was all in self-defense. This is getting ridiculous.' A part of him wondered how the resistance was having so much trouble. The other wondered if this entire trip would be worth it.
"Lower your weapon." The other ordered. Sheik almost refused, but he complied with an air of impatience and mocking. The lizard thing walked close and Sheik let it circle him. Barely. It would have been stupid of him to let the thing leave his sight. The other stood in front of Sheik and put its own weapons away. "You stay here until rotation. I escort you to King." The thing said.
Sheik thought of the throne room, where the Dark King no doubt was lounging around like the pig he was. He knew exactly where it was and how to get there. If Ganondorf wasn't there and instead in the ballroom with the map of Hyrule over it (it was a strategic place, when not in use for parties) or the courtyard for whatever reason, Sheik still wouldn't need an escort.
"Thanks." He said instead, dropping to take a seat against the door where the dead monster used to guard. It would be less of a hassle if there was a monster vouching for him instead of being challenged at every turn. Sheik wasn't sure if he remembered all the ways to the dungeon, but he was confident he could remember if it came to that. At least he'd recognize when to run.
"Name?" The lizard prompted after a moment. He sounded disgruntled, and Sheik wondered how long until the next rotation of guards. Sheik probably killed the buddy he had been having a conversation with in whatever monster speak they grunted in.
"Sheik." He answered, not caring about becoming friends either way. After a moment more, however, he got a little curious. "Yours?"
"...Shrrkl." Sheik tried to sound that out mentally as he moved his mouth in practice.
"Any name you have I can pronounce?" The lizard monster made an annoyed hissing sound.
"King Ganondorf calls me Chief Sherr." He admit.
"...Do you mind if I call you Chief Sherr?" Sheik checked, becoming quickly intrigued by the personality being revealed of this monster.
"...Call me what you wish." Chief Sherr grumbled.
The two sat in awkward silence for about thirty minutes before a group of monsters ran up the path Sheik had come from. They stopped short, the other five monsters wearing armor and holding swords, and they grunted and growled and hissed in their monster language while threatening Sheik even as he remained sitting with his weapon on the ground in front of him - done at Chief Sherr's (un)kind suggestion.
Ten minutes later, where Sheik assumed the dead monsters were explained and he solidified his infamy at the castle, the last Sheikah was escorted through the castle to Ganondorf himself through crowds of jeering monsters. Sheik ignored their drool and spit, and kept his hand on one of his short swords, sitting on the hilt deceptively calm.
He almost wanted one of the pig like monsters to attack.
Seeing the home of Princess Zelda, once clean and beautiful, now dark and dead, made Sheik want to kill everything himself. It was a suicidle notion, but a nice thought all the same.
The doors of the throne room echoed ominously in a deep tone. Chief Sherr rubbed Sheik's back with his own shoulder, a gesture that may have been a warning or a comfort, and then Sheik was alone in the room.
"Well well well. Hello, Sheik." Sheik didn't flinch as Ganondorf suddenly rose in the cliché shadows that kept the throne of the King, and Queen and children, hidden from immediate view.
"Hello." He replied quietly, no hint of fear in his voice. 'Remember, this is for your safety, Sheik.' He recalled. 'Seem useful. Look the part of a being not worthy of being an enemy. Be strong to him. Do this, and never let him suspect Zelda is close.'
Hide in plain sight. That was what Impa told Zelda she was going to be doing when they first fled the castle when her father was killed. Let no one know where Zelda is. Hide her.
You are Sheik. You are Sheikah.
You are not Zelda. You are not the princess.
You are to hide Zelda. You are to protect her.
No matter how. Show no weakness.
"And particular reason I am being gifted by your visit?" Ganondorf prompted not unkindly.
"My aunt annoyed me. She's not training me... Will you?" The tall dark man of the desert stepped closer.
"Oh? You ask this of me after, what, a year since our last meeting?"
Sheik was sixteen and a half. He had met Ganondorf just before his fifteenth year. It had been a long time indeed. Impa had slowly stopped training him. She claimed she had nothing left to teach him, but Sheik knew this to be a lie. He told as much to Ganondorf.
"And you want me to train you? Why? So you could use those skills against me when the time feels right?"
Yes. "No. I told you, I won't be fighting in the war. I'll fight only to protect the decision of war." I'll fight to prevent you from coming back after the Hero defeats you instead.
Ganondorf looked at him, eyes narrowed slightly in intent study. Sheik didn't fidget. He didn't look away from those eyes that glowed like dark gold in the shadows. He didn't dare think of betraying this man.
He would join Ganondorf, and keep Zelda safe because of it.
"Follow me." Ganondorf finally said as he walked towards him and to the side doors of the room. Sheik did, the ache on his leg making him take smaller steps than he normally would. Ganondorf said nothing, not even bothering to look back at him to make sure he was following at all.
The risen members of the army, the skeletons of once foes, jeered and crackled their dry white forms at him in threat. Sheik refrained from doing anything other than sneering back at them. Ganondorf certainly didn't bother to reprimand anyone.
'I wonder if they have the ability of speech as well. They certainly seem to have enough dark magic to do so... Where is he taking me?' He wondered as he tried to ignore the sharp pain shooting up his leg with every other step. They approached the stairs, and Sheik flinched as he put all his weight on his bad leg.
"Rah!" One of the closer skeletons attacked upon seeing his weakness. Sheik didn't bother to draw his swords. He tensed his fist and managed to dart to the side of both Ganondorf and the skeleton to give him space. Then he pushed off the wall and punched the skeleton on the spine.
It collapsed.
Then it started to shake, trembling with the effort its dark magic was using to bring it back together. It never had the chance to, because with a wave of his hand, Ganondorf destroyed it. Sheik tried not to show how much pain he was in when those golden eyes focused on him.
X
Ganondorf was impressed. When he saw Sheik standing in front of him, fearless of the many monsters in his army and still refusing to bow and not adverting his eyes, he felt a small spark of grudging respect.
This boy was going to grow into a very strong individual, for mind and body. It would definitely be an advantage to have him under his control. Pondering, Ganondorf decided that he had to be in a more private setting to hash out all the details.
If Sheik were to show weakness in front of any of his monsters, they would attack. He had done remarkably well to have made it to him from the entrance of what was once Castle Town. That Chief Sherr was the one to escort him to the throne room, that was impressive as well. Sheik had to have communicated with the lizard, and not many people tried doing that with monsters who attacked at the hesitation or fear of their enemies.
Chief Sherr was one of the middle ranked soldiers. The highest ranked among his force were elsewhere in the lands. Chief Sherr wasn't the strongest in his castle, but he was one of them. Sheik must have impressed him. That was actually hard to do.
'Then again, he is a monster. They don't think like us.' He mused as he started up the stairs, listening as Sheik continued to follow a respectable distance away. He had started to wonder if what he had seen as respect really wasn't when they stared at each other's eyes. He had thought that Sheik had been viewing him as someone he planned to equal. Ganondorf could accept that. Sheik had a defensive thought process. He himself was very much offensive, and it was hard to recognize when to let up on his enemies to deliver the most devastating blow. He could use Sheik as his adviser. His second in command. Sheik would never be the kind of person to try and better him. Equal was just fine.
It was a more appealing idea than letting one of the Gerudo woman, or his Aunts Koume and Kotake, have the position. They didn't have a mind for control, only seeing this war or their lives as a game to be played. His Aunts would always criticize him, urging him to ridiculous schemes – their magic laced words were as addicting as they were poisonous and he wanted very little to do with them. A monster wasn't a very good idea either, no matter how strong. No, Sheik, when he became a man, would be best for the role.
'Sheik will be my right hand man.' He decided.
"Rah!" One of the skeleton guards he had, the Stalfos, suddenly lunged at the boy behind him. He turned just in time to see the entire attack.
Sheik darted to the side, closer to the wall of the staircase. The Stalfos's sword got caught between the stones of the steps, and Sheik used that moment to strike. The boy pushed off the wall immediately, and punched the Stalfos in the middle of the back with his strength amplified from the momentum. The armored form of bones collapsed, and Ganondorf could then see that Sheik was favoring his ankle.
He had been hiding an injury this entire time.
'Most worthy indeed.' He thought with satisfaction and eagerness. He will train this boy, and he will control the lands.
With a wave of his hand, Ganondorf stole the dark magic he used to rise the skeleton, and turned to the blond behind him. Sheik was standing straight, no slouch or hint of pain in his posture. He was watching him, as well as the monsters waiting in the hall. He showed no fear, and no remorse for attacking the stalfos who attacked him. Those red eyes waited patiently for his own decision.
He lifted the boy in his arms, the slim young man seeming very small in his arms. That body was tensed, surprised, and Sheik's eyes were blinking in disbelieve at his own state. He was held nearly sitting in one arm with the other used for support, and the Sheikah seemed unsure of what to do with his arms. Ganondorf continued to walk, slowly becoming – once again – amazed at this last young Sheikah.
With each step, Sheik relaxed. He loosed his stiff form and allowed Ganondorf to carry him, trusting he would not be dropped. Those red eyes darted up to his face, he knew even as he continued to watch the stair ahead, and his head rested on the bicep of his arm. Sheik curled into his arms, and relaxed.
'What is it about you that allows you to trust me even as you must hate me?' He wondered to himself.
It was a trust. Ganondorf may not have experienced such trust from himself, not that he remembered – the holes in his memory were ignored and promptly forgotten as they were unimportant – but he recognized it.
'What had I done to you? Surely your parents' deaths was my doing? You hate war, you hate me and all I've done, yet you trust me? Why? It can't be because you plan to kill me. You wouldn't trust me and show such sincere emotions. You mask does not hide a thing. Why?'
Sheik glanced at his face one last time before closing his eyes. Ganondorf could feel the exhaustion in the younger boy's body, and the fact that he was showing it to him was just as amazing to recognize.
"Why didn't you mention your injury?" He asked as they entered the dark room. With a casual wave of his hand, the candles were lit and Ganondorf headed towards the bed. Sheik tensed again, from the room or the question Ganondorf couldn't tell.
"It wasn't that bad. You didn't need to carry me." He said as he was sat on the edge. He looked like he wanted to walk away, or at least stand up again, but Ganondorf had already knelt down and had a firm hand on his injured leg. A little pressure, a moment's pause (a flinch), and Sheik gave a sigh with a stubborn sound.
"Humor me. Feel honored I'm bothering myself at all." Ganondorf warned. Sheik narrowed his red eyes directly into his own gold, but he said nothing. Ganondorf took off the other's shoe and pushed the legging up, and he looked back up into Sheik's face.
Sheik looked surprised too.
"Does this hurt?" Ganonbdorf asked levelly as he slightly ran a finger over the bruise. Sheik hissed as he jerked his leg away.
"Yes." He ground out.
"What did you do?" Ganondorf asked, focusing on the swollen and darkly bruised limb. His entire shin was nearly black in bruising and definitely swollen to a painful degree. His ankle was swollen too, now that the wrapping between pants and shoe was off.
"I kicked a lizard in the helmet." Ganondorf thought about his monsters, and a lizard who wears the helmet were among the rarer and stronger.
"That would probably be my Dinalfos. I would like to keep them available in my ranks, thank you." He said pointedly. Sheik continued to look at him, not looking contrite at all.
"They weren't listening. I was attacked. I retaliated with as much force as they were throwing at me." He argued. Ganondorf knew this was reasonable. He placed his palm directly on the swollen bruise. Sheik gave a stifled grunt, but he didn't pull away.
"I will train you. You will learn from me, and you will be in my army." Sheik's eyes flashed.
"I won't fight-"
"You don't need to." He soothed. Not yet. "But you will be under my command. Train hard, and all my monsters will know this. Do not kill anyone else. After a month, if they are still challenging you, then they're not smart enough to function in my army anyway." Sheik blinked, surprised. Ganondorf pat the leg under his hand and stood up. He had healed it with his magic as he gave his terms, and Sheik couldn't say anything as Ganondorf stood and headed to the door. "I'll have dinner sent up later for you. Stay in here for now. I need to set up your quarters." And he left.
"...What?" Sheik wasn't sure what Ganondorf was planning, but he hoped he was safe.
He would keep Zelda hidden from him, no matter what.
He tried to forget that glint in those golden eyes that spoke of pride. What was Ganondorrf planning with him?
'What did I just walk into?' He worried slightly.
X
Impa panted, holding her side. The Temple was overrun by spirits and darkness. It wasn't necessarily evil, but death was such a strong presence in the lands that the Shadow Temple was very overpopulated by the souls of the wrongly departed.
It was very dangerous.
"Hee hee hee!" Impa scowled at the Poe in front of her. It had started leading her through the Temple after the crossed the main foyer. When the monsters appeared or noticed her, then the cursed spirit snatcher would disappear with another giggle and only reappear when it was safe.
"Try anything on me and I will destroy you." She warned it. It giggled again and beckoned at her with its lamp. With a small huff, she pushed herself off the wall. The small splash of blood on her clothes had to be taken care of later, when she had time to tend to it. Her lungs were not pierced, and that had to be good enough.
Throughout the dark temple, where the Truth faded between her eyes in intermitted times, Impa wondered when she stopped visiting.
The Elders of the Sheikah encouraged communication with the other Realms. It was an honor, as well as a gift that should be used lest it disappear. She wondered if Sheik would be able to see the Truth.
She honestly didn't think he could at this time. The girl was rather closed minded and narrow viewed because of the war, and she was not getting any better.
'Not now.' Impa shook her head. She would think about her charge later, when she could afford a wandering mind.
"Hee hee hee!" The Poe floated to the middle of a room, and the floor looked rather unusual. It wasn't stone, not like the rest of the temple, and the room wasn't drowned by illusion. T looked rather familiar though, and Impa wondered if the floor reminded her more of a painting or an instrument. The material wasn't quite easy to name at the moment.
"You brought me here for what? The bleed my blood all over the Temple?" She asked the Poe. There was something in the room, watching her, but not aggressive. The Poe giggled one last time, echoing as it disappeared. The door then closed behind her, and she was sealed inside the room. The lights dimmed, and the presence in the room grew heavier.
Impa took out her short sword, tense and ready.
With a startled sound, the floor below her glowed, and Impa found herself standing in front of a person she didn't think she'd ever see again.
As her form disappeared in golden light, the circle began to form another body. The blond boy in her place looked confused before pulling a blond girl after him and they looked around the room.
They didn't dare think about approaching the walls, where souls sat in place, watching them with dark lifeless eyes. The ceiling was similarly darkened with bodies sitting in place, watching them.
"Well, this is rather unsettling." The girl said. The boy nodded in thoughtless agreement. They didn't leave the circle as the room grew dim and the shadowing souls all stood to scream in place. Great red eyes glowed from the ceiling, and the girl screamed as it rumbled threateningly to them.
The circle glowed.
When they too disappeared, the Temple remained dark and more treacherous to navigate. Outside, another ray of light beamed from the platform of the entrance. Impa opened her eyes to the darkened temple, whose candles had again been extinguished, and she sighed.
"Dear Goddesses, watch over the spirits of the living and the dead. War will arrive soon, and no one is prepared." She prayed before turning back towards the village.
She had seen Zelda, and she had seen Sheik, in the forms they would wear in the looming future, and she was not sure what her charge's expressions meant.
She had seen the Hero, as he had been and as he was now, and she still did not know who the blond girl was.
She had seen the Gorons as the Hero saved them in Death Mountain, and she had seen the Zora who fought against him in another Temple.
She had seen a dragon with eyes red in rage and with electric antlers on his head, preparing to attack with poison as the Dark King and the Hero of Time stood before it.
"I do not know what any of this means, but I will do what you bid of me." She said to the sky.
X
In a room, Luna woke again, and wondered what she dreamt about. It was getting more unusual than usual.
'Determination. Will.' The feelings she felt from a higher being echoed through her before fading, and Luna prepared for her last day of school and first day of summer.
xXx TBC xXx
HK: Luna's warbled words don't mean anything. They're just the letters my fingers tapped, so feel free to infer what Link had. Also, about Din, has anyone else wondered if the desert goddess the Gerudo's mold themselves after was supposed to be Din, the goddess whom Ganondorf was blessed by? The snake around her does in fact sit there, and I'm wondering if I'm telling too many hints too soon. ^.^ That said,
Thank you thank you thank you all for your wonderful support! Everyone who reviewed, followed and favorite are all very awesome people! Seriously! Any other Zora fans, I hope you get inspired to write more about our aquatic inhabitants of Hyrule! It'll inspire me too, you know! Hint hint.
Let me know if there is a character you want to see more of! I might be amiable to an idea! I think I touched on all the major characters of OOT, but I could be wrong. Zelda sort of took the scene as soon as I started thinking of her part. Might be making a side story of her escapades as Sheik... Maybe.
Posted: 04Aug13