Chapter 1
The breath of life flowed through the vast forest of Hyrule, throbbing, weaving, taking, and giving. The trees inhaled the air of the world, and exhaled the breath of life upon it. The small stream that ran among their roots and fallen leaves danced, its riches all clad in silver scales and white shells. The water drew the air to its cold surface, and then released it, new, with the cold blessing of awakening for more than the dreamers. All was in balance; those who lived in that wood learned to understand the Forest's moods, its voice, and its warnings above all.
But now the Forest thrashed, the bitter winds buffeting its upper branches, and the rain, though the leaves were many layers strong, pounded down in frequent shafts. The dwellers there hid for they were not willing to ignore the storms warning, even for the wretched creature that ran unevenly through the tree's vast trunks.
The Sheikah woman ran, feeling her legs, which once were able to run for miles without stop, falter and pang with protest. More than mud and leaves spattered the lower half of her body, but she did not stop to wipe it off. Dented metal plates covered her wrists and shins. Underneath them she wore the traditional black, blue, and silver body suit of a Sheikah, though it was torn in many places to reveal ugly wounds.
Finding a small shelf of rock that boasted a meager overhang, she took shelter, all but collapsing under the comparatively dry ground underneath.
In her left arm she clutched a small bundle of fine green linens. The bundle did not move often, but she held it close to her breast. The weave looked as if it once might have been rich, from a lord who favored the Sheikah's family with gifts from his hold. But the woman did not care of the cloth, only for the small being wrapped tightly inside of it, a small girl, whose fate was unknown. Green eyes, darker than those of her mother's, looked up at Cameo, half closed. Copper-brown hair was mussed on the top of the baby's head like a mass of soft wire. Cameo smiled down at her daughter, for a moment the past hours dulled.
She had lived in the busy town of Kakiriko at the time that her daughter was born. She had no name for her, as was the custom of her people. Her daughter would choose her own name, or the leader of the place that she lived would.
Her husband, Kaus, Messenger of the Royal Family, had gone to take a trip on Death Mountain without her, saying he needed to speak with someone "man to man." Cameo had bitten her lip, and watched him go.
After several days of his absence, Cameo began to worry, so she strapped her daughter to her back using a soft, wide leather strap and the green linens, and passed the old gate that led up to the mountain trail. The going was hard, showers of rock often had to be avoided by the skin of her teeth. The hike had taken her the better half of the day, and by night, she was exhausted.
Ahead of her, she glimpsed the flicker of firelight, and hurried towards it, thinking that her husband was perhaps the owner of it. But, before she had taken twenty odd steps, a strange voice rose, one much lighter than her husband's. A large protruding angle of the cliff edge provided cover enough for the Sheikah woman to lurk in the thin shadows to see the speaker.
A band of Gerudo thieves sat around the blazing fire, leaning close for the warmth it offered, though the night was relatively warm to one who had lived in Hyrule all her life. Many held rough wineskins, the others hunks of bread, which they roasted over the fire using the tips of their curved swords. Their laughter rang, not quite feminine, yet not quite masculine either. Cameo saw the bread, and licked her lips. Her daughter slept noiselessly on her back.
"Cursed Hylian weather." One of the women muttered, leaning a little closer to the fire. "I'd rather give birth in a sandstorm." She thrust her bread close to a patch of live coals.
Several other Gerudos nodded, and Cameo shivered in sympathy with them, as they wore slight clothing, meant to make the desert heat bearable. Looking at their brown skin was evidence enough, to where they came from, but if not for their short, round ears, so unlike the Hylian and Sheikah's long, pointed ones, someone might have thought them merely burnt from the sun.
One of the thieves, a woman with darker hair than her sisters looked suddenly to the side, resting her bread on one knee. The woman who had spoken first stood, throwing the burnt bread aside and sheathing her sword fluidly.
Cameo strained to see or hear what they had so obviously sensed. At last, she picked up the muffled sound of hoofbeats coming down the trail. Shortly, she saw a stallion, dark as the night around it, ridden by a tall man with flaming red hair. Though he did not look at her, she saw his eyes, and shivered, for the night seemed to become much, much darker.
The Gerudo who was standing immediately raised her wineskin, smiling coyly in welcome.
The silent woman with the dark hair frowned at the former.
The Desert man dismounted, hardly having to fall any distance from the saddle at all, and took a place at the fire. The silence was so thick, Cameo thought it might choke those that took part of it. The tall man's face brooding, and he raised a dark hand to massage a beardless chin between his thumb and forefinger. Cameo held her breath, and silently prayed to Farore that the beating of her heart would not betray her before she had the opportunity to leave. The Gerudos were famed for their powress in battle, it was even said that they knew of a two bladed strike that would lay the best warrior at their feet without killing him. And indeed it would make sense for this strange race to keep the men alive.
Please.. She prayed. Give me a chance to get by them safely.
In the carrying bag on her back her daughter began to stir. Cameo willed her to be still, oddly enough, the baby obeyed. Hylian's sense. The back of her mind mused. Must get it from her father.
By all of Daa'in's hells, where is he? She bit her lip.
Her thoughts tuned quickly back to the scene before her. The dark man, a scowl darkening his face ever-so-slightly as he spoke.
".He did not have it." He said, his voice a deep, smooth baritone that reflected his face
".The Ocarina? Or the-" One of the Gerudos who had not yet spoken asked carefully.
"Neither!" The man with the evil eyes growled. "And the Gorons know nothing of any others. Their calculating leader may have some information. but he will not say. yet. But, by Din. I did it once, I can do it again!" He added darkly.
The Gerudos were silent, all but one, who leaned forward. "My King.a-are you sure there are no other descendants in Hyrule?"
"Yes. The Hylian Kaus, Kaus SilverArrow, up on this mountain was the last."
Cameo's breath caught in her throat, it felt as if a part of her had been torn out of her at this news. Her hands shook, the very structure of her being cried out in agony, and she did not realize that the cry had manifested in a choked sob.
Almost instantly, the Gerudos were on their feet, two reached her before the other four did, their scimitars drawn and flashing in the firelight.
The Gerudo man stood. "I want whoever that is alive!"
Cameo twisted, desperately trying to reach the pouch of smoke balls at her waist, but the foremost of the Desert women leapt, bowling the Sheikah over and preventing her escape. The right side of Cameo's face scraped against the rocks, and she instinctually kicked outward with her legs. She had landed on her side, intentionally, for the baby in the bag on her back would not have survived the crushing weight. The other woman went flying back, to land three feet away, on her back, but Cameo had no time to see this, for two more Gerudos grabbed her arms, trying to twist them behind her back. While she was restrained, a woman snatched the carrying bag with the crying baby from her back. The leather snapped, cracking against her back sharply. With fluidity born of years of practice, she slipped out of their hold, and twirled to face them, teeth bared in a snarl. One woman danced away, taking the baby, the other leapt, dropping her sword, reaching for Cameo's throat.
Raising her hands, Cameo caught the Gerudo's lower arms, and fell back with the momentum of the other's leap. She hit the ground like a war hammer, skidding back, she managed not to hit her head, but her right hip and side suddenly felt numbingly raw. Meanwhile, as Cameo tried to stay in one piece, the Gerudo kneed her hard in the stomach.
Cameo struggled to free herself, rolling downhill, and taking the cursing, spitting Gerudo with her. The other Gerudos followed, and managed to stop them before they gotten to far, grabbing Cameo by the feet, and the Gerudo woman by the hands. Cameo, the whole right side of her body throbbing with pain, twisted in a futile attempt of escape, but the woman held her feet in a grip of iron. At the speed of thought, three sword points were at her neck, another at her chest. The first woman, who she had kicked in the beginning, pushed the blade until it almost pierced Cameo's flesh. Her eyes flashed with anger, but her lips curved into a smile. She drew her elbow back, until she could thrust the cold steel into the Sheikah's chest.
The silent Gerudo with the dark hair stepped up close to the other, and fixed her with a piercing stare.
"Beru!" One of the Gerudos barked. "Alive! He will decide whether or not to kill her, not you!"
Beru drew back her blade, but glared down at Cameo.
"Give me my daughter.!" Cameo fumed, but the baby was nowhere in sight; she could only look straight ahead. She could hear its wails, however, and it gave her strength born of desperation.
The Sheikah's eyes were blazing, as were her opponent's, but she did not struggle as she was dragged bodily up the hill, until she was thrown callously at the tall man -- Ganondorf's -- feet.
With a snort, Beru placed her foot in the small of Cameo's back, so that she was forced to breathe in the dust in a bow.
Ganondorf sat back, slightly smiling at the scene before him. The woman before him on the ground, with the headstrong Beru's foot on her back, looked to be a Sheikah, from what he could see of her clothing-through the dust and blood. Silver hair was tied in a tight little pony tail that reached to her shoulders, no more, but black-brown eyebrows gave evidence of younger days, though she was not over forty. Ganondorf motioned for the silent Gerudo to raise the woman's head. The most startling feature was her eyes, a blazing dark green that seemed to meld with the black pupils. They had a reddish tinge of bloodlust from the battle, but they were not turned on him, they sought the child that the youngest of the Gerudo warriors held, trying to make it stop crying.
"Give me back my daughter!" She repeated, swallowing against the tightly pressed sword point at her throat.
He sneered at her boldness. "Who are you to demand things of me?"
"You, you killed my husband!" She said, and immediately regretted it.
Ganondorf blinked, taken by surprise for a moment, but then, he smiled, dipping his head so that his eyes were shadowed in the dawning light.
"Your husband? How surprising, we were just speaking of this matter."
Cameo was silent, gritting her teeth.
Ganondorf waved his hand, and, reluctantly, Beru removed her foot, and the sword tip disappeared like smoke on the wind. Crouching down once more, Ganondorf fixed her with a stare that made her feel as if her blood froze, and she could not move. Her spine prickled with a sixth sense, one that warned her that something dark and otherworldly was about to strike like a cobra, while the other half of her conscious, her logic, told her that her fate was already sealed. She fought against it, but the icy grip only held her mind even more firmly, giving her a shake that left her lungs empty of air for a long moment, filled with the sudden urge to retch and cough violently.
"Who is that child?" He asked softly, so that she could barely hear him. She choked out an answer, a false one, but she herself could not even make sense of it. Suddenly he stood up, gripping her throat in one massive hand that brought her up, and held her feet off the ground.
"She. is my.daughter.!" Cameo managed to squeeze out.
"Wrong!" The grip tightened. "Who is her father?" Cameo's hands both flew up to the hand at her neck. Where it gripped, her flesh burned, white hot pain flashing to the bone. The reek of black magic hung heavy in the air.
Whose child is that Answer me
Cameo's head rang with the voice, it reached into her will and grasped it, twisting and tearing like a carrion bird at meat.
Suddenly, like the blessed touch of cool water, her vision became black and the sound of her own pulse resounded in her ears. Calm
Ganondorf frowned.
Cameo's eyes snapped open.
Without thinking, she unsheathed the slim knife whose scabbard rested on her lower back. Striking out wildly, she felt the cold steel slow as it struck warm flesh. Ganondorf bellowed, and released her. She dropped to her feet, located where her baby was, and dashed for the woman. The Gerudo was too confused to move, and the small hostage was relieved of her quickly.
Before the band from the desert valley could retaliate, Cameo was running down the mountain trail as fast as her shaky legs would take her.
But as she crouched now under the rock's overhang, her knife brandished before her and her baby child hugged close to her chest, her victory seemed a mere triumph of luck, instead of skill. Watching the rain drip methodically from the rock's edge, Cameo snuggled back until her back hurt from the constant crouching position. She let her head fall back, and her eyes slowly began to close.
Against her side, the baby girl stirred, and made small cries of delight, making Cameo open her eyes again to see what the baby could possibly find enjoyable about all of this.
A small, blue-white Faerie hovering over the small child like a candle flame, casting its warm, blue light on her and Cameo's face.
The Sheikah inhaled sharply.
A Faerie?!
The small being looked to be a perfectly round sphere of blue and white light, out of which came four wings, rather like a dragonfly's, only larger, and white, with tiny gray lines that made them look like glass pieced together by silver wires. It laughed quietly, its voice very much like a small girl's, but very quiet and soft, like butterfly wings.
The Faerie turned, or so Cameo thought- she couldn't really tell, and looked at her for a moment.
"What are you doing in the forest?" It asked simply, as if Cameo had no reason to be surprised at its presence at all. Seeing the Sheikah's surprised expression, the Faerie laughed again, coming very close to the woman's face.
"Do you want to follow me? There's shelter nearby. The Deku tree heard you, so he sent me!"
"The Deku Tree-what?"
The Faerie's glow dimmed a little. "Never mind, follow me!"
Cameo lurched to her feet, holding the baby in the crook of one arm. The Faerie set off at a fair pace through the woods, and Cameo hustled to keep up with her. Slowing down so that the Sheikah could travel at a walk, she dipped back, so that she flew just to the side and in front of her.
"My name is Lai, what's yours?"
"My mother called me Cameo."
"What a sweet baby," The Faerie said gently, flying in close. "She almost looks like-"
The Faerie never finished her comment, for suddenly, the rain stopped, only second hand rain pattered in odd beats. They had come to a small clearing, thick mist covering the ground up to Cameo's knees. The air was cold and biting, but the whole area for as far as the Sheikah could see was absolutely silent and still.
Not liking it at all, Cameo followed the silent Faerie into the clearing. Her skin crawled with some sixth sense, but she could neither see nor hear anything to give her the feeling. In her arms, the baby started to whimper fitfully; something was very wrong in this clearing.
To the left of her, a twig snapped, the small sound loud and echoing in the deathly silence. Cameo whirled at the sound, searching the area quickly with her eyes, but she saw nothing. Then, a bush moved, Cameo stared, and threw her knife with deadly accuracy. The bush was still once more, but a bird, a small thrush fell out, with the knife impaling it. Lai turned to look at Cameo with what was supposed to be a questioning gaze, but Cameo only exhaled, relieved, and half laughing at her own jumpiness. The silence seemed to become even more oppressing than before, but Cameo hardly noticed.
Who.
Who is that child.
Cameo's heart skipped a beat, did she just hear that?! She stood, frozen, like a deer in the light of a hunter's fire.
"Who is that child?!"
The lone Sheikah woman spun around on her heel at the voice, to see Ganondorf standing not three inches away from her, so close that she could feel the man's evil, cold breath on her face. He caught her wrist as she turned to run, crushing the fragile bones in one hand.
"Answer me!" He growled, ignoring the woman's cry of agony as her wrist was shattered in his iron grip.
A blast of magic tore into her, and the most excruciating pain she had ever known savagely ripped at her mind and body, and her mind screamed at her to answer the question before she died a horrible death. Her arms went limp, and she faintly heard her child drop to the ground with a thump. Ganondorf saw this, and his attention was momentarily diverted.
Cameo twisted, trying to reach her child.
Lai darted in, landing on the child without a sound, but as soon as they made contact, the sound like a sword being drawn from a metal sheath rang loudly and pierced their eardrums horribly. A bright flash of white-blue light erupted from that spot, making them both turn their heads and shield their eyes.
When they looked again, the child and Faerie were gone.
Cameo's dark green eyes turned on Ganondorf, reflecting a mixture of challenge and joy, the pain there only a faint glimmer in the background. Then, with a slight, shuddering gasp, she was very still.
With a snarl, Ganondorf threw the Sheikah's empty body away, to hear its flight ended in the branches of a tree with a sickening crack, then a heavy bump.
The forest slowly came back to life, as the evil presence had already left.
The breath of life flowed through the vast forest of Hyrule, throbbing, weaving, taking, and giving. The trees inhaled the air of the world, and exhaled the breath of life upon it. The small stream that ran among their roots and fallen leaves danced, its riches all clad in silver scales and white shells. The water drew the air to its cold surface, and then released it, new, with the cold blessing of awakening for more than the dreamers. All was in balance; those who lived in that wood learned to understand the Forest's moods, its voice, and its warnings above all.
But now the Forest thrashed, the bitter winds buffeting its upper branches, and the rain, though the leaves were many layers strong, pounded down in frequent shafts. The dwellers there hid for they were not willing to ignore the storms warning, even for the wretched creature that ran unevenly through the tree's vast trunks.
The Sheikah woman ran, feeling her legs, which once were able to run for miles without stop, falter and pang with protest. More than mud and leaves spattered the lower half of her body, but she did not stop to wipe it off. Dented metal plates covered her wrists and shins. Underneath them she wore the traditional black, blue, and silver body suit of a Sheikah, though it was torn in many places to reveal ugly wounds.
Finding a small shelf of rock that boasted a meager overhang, she took shelter, all but collapsing under the comparatively dry ground underneath.
In her left arm she clutched a small bundle of fine green linens. The bundle did not move often, but she held it close to her breast. The weave looked as if it once might have been rich, from a lord who favored the Sheikah's family with gifts from his hold. But the woman did not care of the cloth, only for the small being wrapped tightly inside of it, a small girl, whose fate was unknown. Green eyes, darker than those of her mother's, looked up at Cameo, half closed. Copper-brown hair was mussed on the top of the baby's head like a mass of soft wire. Cameo smiled down at her daughter, for a moment the past hours dulled.
She had lived in the busy town of Kakiriko at the time that her daughter was born. She had no name for her, as was the custom of her people. Her daughter would choose her own name, or the leader of the place that she lived would.
Her husband, Kaus, Messenger of the Royal Family, had gone to take a trip on Death Mountain without her, saying he needed to speak with someone "man to man." Cameo had bitten her lip, and watched him go.
After several days of his absence, Cameo began to worry, so she strapped her daughter to her back using a soft, wide leather strap and the green linens, and passed the old gate that led up to the mountain trail. The going was hard, showers of rock often had to be avoided by the skin of her teeth. The hike had taken her the better half of the day, and by night, she was exhausted.
Ahead of her, she glimpsed the flicker of firelight, and hurried towards it, thinking that her husband was perhaps the owner of it. But, before she had taken twenty odd steps, a strange voice rose, one much lighter than her husband's. A large protruding angle of the cliff edge provided cover enough for the Sheikah woman to lurk in the thin shadows to see the speaker.
A band of Gerudo thieves sat around the blazing fire, leaning close for the warmth it offered, though the night was relatively warm to one who had lived in Hyrule all her life. Many held rough wineskins, the others hunks of bread, which they roasted over the fire using the tips of their curved swords. Their laughter rang, not quite feminine, yet not quite masculine either. Cameo saw the bread, and licked her lips. Her daughter slept noiselessly on her back.
"Cursed Hylian weather." One of the women muttered, leaning a little closer to the fire. "I'd rather give birth in a sandstorm." She thrust her bread close to a patch of live coals.
Several other Gerudos nodded, and Cameo shivered in sympathy with them, as they wore slight clothing, meant to make the desert heat bearable. Looking at their brown skin was evidence enough, to where they came from, but if not for their short, round ears, so unlike the Hylian and Sheikah's long, pointed ones, someone might have thought them merely burnt from the sun.
One of the thieves, a woman with darker hair than her sisters looked suddenly to the side, resting her bread on one knee. The woman who had spoken first stood, throwing the burnt bread aside and sheathing her sword fluidly.
Cameo strained to see or hear what they had so obviously sensed. At last, she picked up the muffled sound of hoofbeats coming down the trail. Shortly, she saw a stallion, dark as the night around it, ridden by a tall man with flaming red hair. Though he did not look at her, she saw his eyes, and shivered, for the night seemed to become much, much darker.
The Gerudo who was standing immediately raised her wineskin, smiling coyly in welcome.
The silent woman with the dark hair frowned at the former.
The Desert man dismounted, hardly having to fall any distance from the saddle at all, and took a place at the fire. The silence was so thick, Cameo thought it might choke those that took part of it. The tall man's face brooding, and he raised a dark hand to massage a beardless chin between his thumb and forefinger. Cameo held her breath, and silently prayed to Farore that the beating of her heart would not betray her before she had the opportunity to leave. The Gerudos were famed for their powress in battle, it was even said that they knew of a two bladed strike that would lay the best warrior at their feet without killing him. And indeed it would make sense for this strange race to keep the men alive.
Please.. She prayed. Give me a chance to get by them safely.
In the carrying bag on her back her daughter began to stir. Cameo willed her to be still, oddly enough, the baby obeyed. Hylian's sense. The back of her mind mused. Must get it from her father.
By all of Daa'in's hells, where is he? She bit her lip.
Her thoughts tuned quickly back to the scene before her. The dark man, a scowl darkening his face ever-so-slightly as he spoke.
".He did not have it." He said, his voice a deep, smooth baritone that reflected his face
".The Ocarina? Or the-" One of the Gerudos who had not yet spoken asked carefully.
"Neither!" The man with the evil eyes growled. "And the Gorons know nothing of any others. Their calculating leader may have some information. but he will not say. yet. But, by Din. I did it once, I can do it again!" He added darkly.
The Gerudos were silent, all but one, who leaned forward. "My King.a-are you sure there are no other descendants in Hyrule?"
"Yes. The Hylian Kaus, Kaus SilverArrow, up on this mountain was the last."
Cameo's breath caught in her throat, it felt as if a part of her had been torn out of her at this news. Her hands shook, the very structure of her being cried out in agony, and she did not realize that the cry had manifested in a choked sob.
Almost instantly, the Gerudos were on their feet, two reached her before the other four did, their scimitars drawn and flashing in the firelight.
The Gerudo man stood. "I want whoever that is alive!"
Cameo twisted, desperately trying to reach the pouch of smoke balls at her waist, but the foremost of the Desert women leapt, bowling the Sheikah over and preventing her escape. The right side of Cameo's face scraped against the rocks, and she instinctually kicked outward with her legs. She had landed on her side, intentionally, for the baby in the bag on her back would not have survived the crushing weight. The other woman went flying back, to land three feet away, on her back, but Cameo had no time to see this, for two more Gerudos grabbed her arms, trying to twist them behind her back. While she was restrained, a woman snatched the carrying bag with the crying baby from her back. The leather snapped, cracking against her back sharply. With fluidity born of years of practice, she slipped out of their hold, and twirled to face them, teeth bared in a snarl. One woman danced away, taking the baby, the other leapt, dropping her sword, reaching for Cameo's throat.
Raising her hands, Cameo caught the Gerudo's lower arms, and fell back with the momentum of the other's leap. She hit the ground like a war hammer, skidding back, she managed not to hit her head, but her right hip and side suddenly felt numbingly raw. Meanwhile, as Cameo tried to stay in one piece, the Gerudo kneed her hard in the stomach.
Cameo struggled to free herself, rolling downhill, and taking the cursing, spitting Gerudo with her. The other Gerudos followed, and managed to stop them before they gotten to far, grabbing Cameo by the feet, and the Gerudo woman by the hands. Cameo, the whole right side of her body throbbing with pain, twisted in a futile attempt of escape, but the woman held her feet in a grip of iron. At the speed of thought, three sword points were at her neck, another at her chest. The first woman, who she had kicked in the beginning, pushed the blade until it almost pierced Cameo's flesh. Her eyes flashed with anger, but her lips curved into a smile. She drew her elbow back, until she could thrust the cold steel into the Sheikah's chest.
The silent Gerudo with the dark hair stepped up close to the other, and fixed her with a piercing stare.
"Beru!" One of the Gerudos barked. "Alive! He will decide whether or not to kill her, not you!"
Beru drew back her blade, but glared down at Cameo.
"Give me my daughter.!" Cameo fumed, but the baby was nowhere in sight; she could only look straight ahead. She could hear its wails, however, and it gave her strength born of desperation.
The Sheikah's eyes were blazing, as were her opponent's, but she did not struggle as she was dragged bodily up the hill, until she was thrown callously at the tall man -- Ganondorf's -- feet.
With a snort, Beru placed her foot in the small of Cameo's back, so that she was forced to breathe in the dust in a bow.
Ganondorf sat back, slightly smiling at the scene before him. The woman before him on the ground, with the headstrong Beru's foot on her back, looked to be a Sheikah, from what he could see of her clothing-through the dust and blood. Silver hair was tied in a tight little pony tail that reached to her shoulders, no more, but black-brown eyebrows gave evidence of younger days, though she was not over forty. Ganondorf motioned for the silent Gerudo to raise the woman's head. The most startling feature was her eyes, a blazing dark green that seemed to meld with the black pupils. They had a reddish tinge of bloodlust from the battle, but they were not turned on him, they sought the child that the youngest of the Gerudo warriors held, trying to make it stop crying.
"Give me back my daughter!" She repeated, swallowing against the tightly pressed sword point at her throat.
He sneered at her boldness. "Who are you to demand things of me?"
"You, you killed my husband!" She said, and immediately regretted it.
Ganondorf blinked, taken by surprise for a moment, but then, he smiled, dipping his head so that his eyes were shadowed in the dawning light.
"Your husband? How surprising, we were just speaking of this matter."
Cameo was silent, gritting her teeth.
Ganondorf waved his hand, and, reluctantly, Beru removed her foot, and the sword tip disappeared like smoke on the wind. Crouching down once more, Ganondorf fixed her with a stare that made her feel as if her blood froze, and she could not move. Her spine prickled with a sixth sense, one that warned her that something dark and otherworldly was about to strike like a cobra, while the other half of her conscious, her logic, told her that her fate was already sealed. She fought against it, but the icy grip only held her mind even more firmly, giving her a shake that left her lungs empty of air for a long moment, filled with the sudden urge to retch and cough violently.
"Who is that child?" He asked softly, so that she could barely hear him. She choked out an answer, a false one, but she herself could not even make sense of it. Suddenly he stood up, gripping her throat in one massive hand that brought her up, and held her feet off the ground.
"She. is my.daughter.!" Cameo managed to squeeze out.
"Wrong!" The grip tightened. "Who is her father?" Cameo's hands both flew up to the hand at her neck. Where it gripped, her flesh burned, white hot pain flashing to the bone. The reek of black magic hung heavy in the air.
Whose child is that Answer me
Cameo's head rang with the voice, it reached into her will and grasped it, twisting and tearing like a carrion bird at meat.
Suddenly, like the blessed touch of cool water, her vision became black and the sound of her own pulse resounded in her ears. Calm
Ganondorf frowned.
Cameo's eyes snapped open.
Without thinking, she unsheathed the slim knife whose scabbard rested on her lower back. Striking out wildly, she felt the cold steel slow as it struck warm flesh. Ganondorf bellowed, and released her. She dropped to her feet, located where her baby was, and dashed for the woman. The Gerudo was too confused to move, and the small hostage was relieved of her quickly.
Before the band from the desert valley could retaliate, Cameo was running down the mountain trail as fast as her shaky legs would take her.
But as she crouched now under the rock's overhang, her knife brandished before her and her baby child hugged close to her chest, her victory seemed a mere triumph of luck, instead of skill. Watching the rain drip methodically from the rock's edge, Cameo snuggled back until her back hurt from the constant crouching position. She let her head fall back, and her eyes slowly began to close.
Against her side, the baby girl stirred, and made small cries of delight, making Cameo open her eyes again to see what the baby could possibly find enjoyable about all of this.
A small, blue-white Faerie hovering over the small child like a candle flame, casting its warm, blue light on her and Cameo's face.
The Sheikah inhaled sharply.
A Faerie?!
The small being looked to be a perfectly round sphere of blue and white light, out of which came four wings, rather like a dragonfly's, only larger, and white, with tiny gray lines that made them look like glass pieced together by silver wires. It laughed quietly, its voice very much like a small girl's, but very quiet and soft, like butterfly wings.
The Faerie turned, or so Cameo thought- she couldn't really tell, and looked at her for a moment.
"What are you doing in the forest?" It asked simply, as if Cameo had no reason to be surprised at its presence at all. Seeing the Sheikah's surprised expression, the Faerie laughed again, coming very close to the woman's face.
"Do you want to follow me? There's shelter nearby. The Deku tree heard you, so he sent me!"
"The Deku Tree-what?"
The Faerie's glow dimmed a little. "Never mind, follow me!"
Cameo lurched to her feet, holding the baby in the crook of one arm. The Faerie set off at a fair pace through the woods, and Cameo hustled to keep up with her. Slowing down so that the Sheikah could travel at a walk, she dipped back, so that she flew just to the side and in front of her.
"My name is Lai, what's yours?"
"My mother called me Cameo."
"What a sweet baby," The Faerie said gently, flying in close. "She almost looks like-"
The Faerie never finished her comment, for suddenly, the rain stopped, only second hand rain pattered in odd beats. They had come to a small clearing, thick mist covering the ground up to Cameo's knees. The air was cold and biting, but the whole area for as far as the Sheikah could see was absolutely silent and still.
Not liking it at all, Cameo followed the silent Faerie into the clearing. Her skin crawled with some sixth sense, but she could neither see nor hear anything to give her the feeling. In her arms, the baby started to whimper fitfully; something was very wrong in this clearing.
To the left of her, a twig snapped, the small sound loud and echoing in the deathly silence. Cameo whirled at the sound, searching the area quickly with her eyes, but she saw nothing. Then, a bush moved, Cameo stared, and threw her knife with deadly accuracy. The bush was still once more, but a bird, a small thrush fell out, with the knife impaling it. Lai turned to look at Cameo with what was supposed to be a questioning gaze, but Cameo only exhaled, relieved, and half laughing at her own jumpiness. The silence seemed to become even more oppressing than before, but Cameo hardly noticed.
Who.
Who is that child.
Cameo's heart skipped a beat, did she just hear that?! She stood, frozen, like a deer in the light of a hunter's fire.
"Who is that child?!"
The lone Sheikah woman spun around on her heel at the voice, to see Ganondorf standing not three inches away from her, so close that she could feel the man's evil, cold breath on her face. He caught her wrist as she turned to run, crushing the fragile bones in one hand.
"Answer me!" He growled, ignoring the woman's cry of agony as her wrist was shattered in his iron grip.
A blast of magic tore into her, and the most excruciating pain she had ever known savagely ripped at her mind and body, and her mind screamed at her to answer the question before she died a horrible death. Her arms went limp, and she faintly heard her child drop to the ground with a thump. Ganondorf saw this, and his attention was momentarily diverted.
Cameo twisted, trying to reach her child.
Lai darted in, landing on the child without a sound, but as soon as they made contact, the sound like a sword being drawn from a metal sheath rang loudly and pierced their eardrums horribly. A bright flash of white-blue light erupted from that spot, making them both turn their heads and shield their eyes.
When they looked again, the child and Faerie were gone.
Cameo's dark green eyes turned on Ganondorf, reflecting a mixture of challenge and joy, the pain there only a faint glimmer in the background. Then, with a slight, shuddering gasp, she was very still.
With a snarl, Ganondorf threw the Sheikah's empty body away, to hear its flight ended in the branches of a tree with a sickening crack, then a heavy bump.
The forest slowly came back to life, as the evil presence had already left.