Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo, I'm merely borrowing them.

Hello, one and all. This one-shot is dedicated to Aeri-Diablo, who has been reading Soul Mates for a long time, and was the 400th reviewer. Originally, this was supposed to only be for her, but she wants me to share it with you as well, so you can all thank her for this (or curse me if you don't like the story, hee!).

Anyway, a few things before you read. One: Sheik and Zelda may be very young in this story, but they have both been raised in incredibly strict environments (Sheik as one of the last Sheikah and forced to act with dignity, and Zelda is to be the queen of Hyrule and must therefore be fluent in diplomacy. We can all assume that a large vocabulary is a part of this). Two: the Sheik in this story is the same Sheik who appears in Soul Mates--and therefore his own person rather than Zelda in disguise, so please don't complain about this.

Enjoy.


The Beginning of the End


It was a glorious day. There truly was no other way to explain it. There was not a cloud in the sky, a perfect blue vista stretching over Hyrule. The sun shone brightly, bathing the land in a pleasant warmth, enough to make most of its inhabitants roll up their sleeves and just enjoy the weather. The water in Lake Hylia sparkled like a billion suns and stars, and the fishermen were all lazily dipping their feet in the lake rather than doing their jobs. Birds flew, frolicking in the air, playfully swooping down on unsuspecting people in Castle Town and the guards at the castle itself.

It was Sunday, the day in the week set aside for rest and recreation, and the inhabitants of Hyrule did not have to be asked twice. Whether it was taking a nap under a tree or playing a game involving a ball and two goals, the Hylians thoroughly enjoyed their day off. Indeed, the only ones who did not spend the day lazing about were the guards at the castle, although they were visibly relaxing, their postures slouching slightly and their helmets off, on the orders of the king himself. There was one, however, who could not fully enjoy the day. Not because he could not, or was not allowed, but because he simply did not wish to.

This one sat on the roof of Hyrule Castle, almost at the very top of its highest spire, staring out at the land. Or, more specifically, at the commotion in Castle Town. While most of the stalls and shops had closed, some stubborn merchants were taking advantage of the visitors to the town on this monumental occasion. Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo Tribe, had come to Hyrule to negotiate an alliance with the Hylian kingdom, after centuries of bloodshed. While the king himself and his advisors were holed up in the castle, discussing with the king, many members of his entourage were getting acquainted with the culture of their up-until-recently mortal enemy. And the Hylians were more than happy to show them, although the pointy-eared people's motives were perhaps…less than noble. Lecherous males drooled over the bronze-skinned women of the desert, and those who did not preferred to take advantage of their heavy rupee pouches.

The thieves seemed to take no notice of this, however, and happily purchased whatever caught their fancy at what were certainly outrageous prices. All in all, first contact between the two previously warring peoples was positive all around, though for different reasons. The Hylians were ripping the Gerudo off, and the Gerudo were enjoying a culture that had been denied them previously. It sounded less than ideal, but as long as swords weren't drawn and arrows weren't flying, all was good. For a time, anyways.

The roof occupant sighed, his ruby-coloured eyes shifting to look at the gate below, the only area where the guards were not slacking off. He did not like it, this obvious laxness in security. It opened the door for unfortunate events and other less-than-desirable happenings. But then, who was he to argue against the king's orders? He brushed his blond hair out of his eyes and stood up, stretching his cramping muscles. The morning's training session had left him more tired than usual, and his aunt was notorious for wearing out whoever dared to take a fighting lesson from her.

Light footsteps approached him from behind, though he did not turn around. He knew who it was.

"What are you doing up here, nephew?" asked Impa, her eyes—just as red as her nephew's—shining in the sunlight. "You should be out and about, enjoying the rest of the day. I will increase the difficulty in this week's training, and having a good rest before it starts is something I wholeheartedly endorse."

Her nephew finally turned around to face her, giving her a small smile that clearly conveyed his worry. "I find it hard to rest when there are so many holes in security."

Impa shook her head at her nephew, wondering how he had turned out this serious. He was even worse than his father sometimes. "You are imagining them, Sheik."

Sheik looked out at Hyrule again. "And the unfocused guards? Is that my imagination as well?" he asked.

"Unfocused or not," said Impa, standing beside Sheik, "they are given the honour of guarding this place for a reason. Within half a second of something going wrong, they will snap into action and eliminate the threat." She looked down at her nephew. "Or are you losing faith in the hand-picked veterans?" she asked.

"Not losing faith," said Sheik. "Just…worried."

"Your worries are unfounded, nephew," said the elder Sheikah and ruffled Sheik's hair, the nine-year-old huffing in annoyance. "Now run along and find something more entertaining to do than sitting here and glaring at soldiers."

"But—"

"That's an order," Impa interrupted her nephew's protest. "I will not have my sister's son turn into an emotionless drone. Go, practice your lyre, find Zelda and have her teach you a game. Just do something fun."

Sheik stared at her, wondering if it would be worth the trouble arguing with Impa for a few seconds. Probably not. His aunt could be stubborn as a mule sometimes. Sighing again, he nodded and started edging down to the balcony he had climbed up to the roof from. "Very well," he said, "but I still think it's worth being careful."

"Duly noted, nephew," replied Impa, taking up his position, though probably for a wholly different reason than his.

"Duly noted…" Sheik mumbled as he wandered down the hallways of the castle, passing by the many busts and paintings dedicated to past rulers, people of notice and so on and so forth. He really couldn't understand why his aunt wasn't worried with all the strangers currently inside and outside the castle. Gerudo were not exactly the most trustworthy of the races inhabiting Hyrule, and that this Ganondorf had suddenly, as if on a whim, decided to make peace with the kingdom they had been at war with for the past two centuries just seemed to…convenient.

But, he supposed Impa was right. The guards in the castle were the elite of the elite, after all. They knew what was at stake, and would never allow their relaxation to conflict with their strong sense of duty, even if the king himself had ordered them to.

As he passed the windows facing the courtyard, he noticed that the doors to the king's court were closed and heavily guarded, no less than two pairs of guards standing in front of it. Two armour-bearing soldiers of Hyrule, and two robe-wearing scouts of the Gerudo. The negotiations were heavily under way, then. The soldiers—who knew who Sheik was—nodded at him, but the two women—their yellow eyes seemingly intent on burning through the Sheikah eye on his shirt—merely glared at him.

Taking the hint, Sheik turned around and walked in the opposite direction, feeling a sudden urge to spit at the two desert thieves. He did not, however, and instead found the door that opened out to the courtyard. The sun shone here as well, its light unhindered by the many spires of the castle. The fountain in the middle of the small, artificial grassy field gurgled happily, and the flowers were in full bloom, dazzling whoever entered the courtyard with the many colours of the rainbow.

But it was not for the flowers he was here. No, the subject of his quest was currently spying through the window into the king's court, her attention so focused on what was going on inside that she did not notice Sheik's footsteps approaching from behind. Sheik stood there for a minute, wondering if she would finally notice him. When she did not, he cleared his throat slightly. No reaction. Rolling his eyes, he coughed loudly, finally getting her attention.

The eleven-year-old Princess Zelda of Hyrule gasped, whirling around to face whoever was spying on her spying on her father. Her face of shock quickly melted into one of slight, playful annoyance when she saw who had startled her. "Sheik!" she exclaimed. "Don't do that!"

Sheik inclined his head in apology. "I am sorry, Your Highness," he said earnestly. "I did not mean to frighten you—"

"You didn't frighten me, Sheiky," Zelda said, smiling at him. "And don't call me that. I don't like it."

"I'm sorry, Zelda—"

"Hm? What did you call me?"

"…Zelly…"

"There we go."

Sheik rolled his eyes, wondering how long Zelda was going to persist in her quest to get him to refer to her by that nickname exclusively. Sure, she could assign any and as many nicknames to Sheik as she'd liked, but for him to do the same…it wasn't proper. Not that Impa or the king minded very much, but there were certain protocols to uphold nevertheless.

"Why aren't you wearing your mask today?" asked Zelda, studying his face intently. It was not often that the Sheikah revealed his face. "And where's your uniform?"

"Impa insisted that I wear something casual and light today given the joyous events taking place inside the court today," he said, feeling slightly out of place. Not that the clothes weren't comfortable. The shirt was quite loose-fitting, light and soft, and his shorts were non-restrictive. But still…

"She's right," said Zelda. "No one should be forced to wear anything heavy today."

"…says the girl who is wearing what must be her biggest dress," retorted Sheik, finally able to loosen up. It always took him some time to do that around Zelda, and the results were sometimes…dire.

"It's different for me," said Zelda. "I am the princess, and I have to look beautiful for everyone!"

"If you say so, Zeld—Zelly," said Sheik.

"Your hair is getting quite long," said the princess suddenly, changing the subject abruptly. "Shouldn't you cut it?"

Sheik touched his bangs, which were just about to reach his nose. "I suppose…but I cannot help but feel that it is a waste of time since the hair will only grow back out again."

Zelda touched her headdress, in which her blonde hair lay nestled safely. "I suppose you're right…" She stopped, looking at him closely. "What's wrong, Sheiky?" she asked.

"Pardon?" asked Sheik.

"You're annoyed, I can see it," the young princess said, poking his forehead as if to make her point. "Your brow is furrowing."

"It's nothing, really," said Sheik. "I am merely…agitated by the presence of the Gerudo."

Zelda's slight smile faded, which worried Sheik greatly. "I…must say that I am not especially calm at the moment either."

"What is it?" asked Sheik, recognising the mood she was in. "Did you have…one of your dreams again?"

That was one of the things about Zelda. She seemed to have a certain psychic ability to dream of events before they happened. Usually, they were little events such as a horse tearing loose from its wagon, or a man slipping on something said horse had previously deposited on the cobblestones. But sometimes…she dreamt of fires that wiped out entire streets in Castle Town, of thunderstorms that turned Death Mountain into a death trap for anyone but the native Gorons. Her widened eyes right then did not help alleviate Sheik's worry.

"I dreamt…of the…I think the Gerudo are up to something," Zelda said, looking around, as if worried that someone was listening in on their conversation. She leaned closer, whispering now: "I think it has something to do with the Triforce."

"The Triforce?" asked Sheik, almost snorting. "It is safely locked away in the Sacred Realm, Zelly."

"Yes, I know, but…I dreamt of a boy in green as well," continued Zelda. "And King Ganondorf…he is not what he appears to be."

Sheik did not say anything. He had been there when Ganondorf and his entourage had arrived the day before, had even greeted the man formally at Zelda's side. The man had been quite pleasant, albeit somewhat coarse. But Sheik had seen something in his eyes…something primal, untamed. At the time, he had merely brushed it off as a result of growing up in the most hostile of climates, the desert, which could certainly scar the ones who lived there, both physically and mentally.

"The negotiations have barely started," continued Zelda. "Ganondorf hasn't arrived yet, his second-in-command, a woman named Nabooru is doing an introduction, it seems."

Sheik looked inside the court, seeing only a pair of guards. "I see nothing."

"She and father are walking about the room," explained Zelda. She grabbed Sheik's shoulder and turned him around to look at her. "I'm worried, Sheik. What if something happens? What if the Gerudo are here for the Triforce?"

Sheik wondered just how he was going to respond to this. On one hand, Zelda had never been wrong with her dreams before, but on the other, this sounded too far-fetched. A boy in green? The Gerudo after the Triforce? The first peaceful king of the Gerudo in years being something else? Admittedly, the last part held some grain of truth in it, Sheik suspected, and he supposed there were several boys in green in Hyrule—including him, his shorts were a pale shade of green, contrasting highly with his white shirt and blood-red Sheikah eye on his chest—but the Triforce…

As far as he knew, gaining access to the Sacred Realm was impossible. But then again…Zelda's prophecies always came true.

"Zelly…do you honestly believe that Ganondorf is capable of taking the Triforce?" he asked.

"I don't know," answered Zelda. "All I know is that he has an…intense aura around him, and he has skill with magic."

Ah, so the man knew magic. Then he most likely had one key component in opening the Temple of Time and entering the Sacred Realm, but did he have the other four? "This boy in green," said Sheik. "Who is he?"

"I don't know," said Zelda. "He…has a fairy, if I remember correctly."

"A fairy? He is a Kokiri?"

"Perhaps."

"I think he is on his way here, Sheik," said Zelda, looking at the arched entrance to the courtyard, which was decorated with pure-white stones. "And I think…I think he will be important."

Sheik looked at the entrance as well. They could both hear footsteps quickly approaching. With a glance at Zelda, he picked a deku nut out of his pocket and slammed it into the ground, disappearing in a white flash, reappearing on the roof overlooking the courtyard. He looked at the spot where he had stood some time before, but Impa was nowhere to be found. Most likely, she was inside the court, protecting the king, though how she had gotten in there, he did not know.

He shook his head, focusing his gaze on the entrance to the courtyard, wishing that he had brought a dagger or two with him. If someone attacked Zelda—as was his greatest fear—he would have to improvise.

However, the person that entered the courtyard seemed anything but threatening. He was indeed clad in green, as Zelda had said, and a fairy fluttered gently around him. His head was covered in a ridiculous, forest-green cap, though hints of blond bangs peeked out from underneath them. His eyes were an electrifying shade of blue, big and innocent, taking in every detail of the grand courtyard. Sure, he had weapons on his person—a small sword and a wooden shield—but he did not exactly have an imposing figure. Even so, Sheik tensed slightly as the boy approached Zelda—who had, at some point, turned her back to the entrance and continued to spy on the court through the window—and prepared another deku nut, wondering how quickly he would be able to put himself between the princess and this newcomer. How had the boy even managed to get inside the castle? He knew that the gate guards were anything but slacking today, but this one seemed to have eluded them all.

As the boy finally stepped on to the slightly raised platform where Zelda stood, the princess deigned to turn around and act surprised at his presence, despite having discussed it with Sheik mere minutes before.

What followed was one of the most complicated and incomprehensible conversations Sheik had heard. Apparently, the boy's name was Link, and the fairy was called Navi, and the Great Deku Tree of the Lost Woods had sent him to the castle just before he died, as well as giving him a precious gem, the Kokiri's Emerald, one of the keys to opening the Temple of Time. Zelda told Link about the threat the Gerudo posed in much greater detail than she had with Sheik, though if this was because she simply did not want to tell her guardian or if Link had triggered something within her, the Sheikah did not know.

He wanted to snort when Zelda had the boy agree to fetch the other two Spiritual Stones—Goron's Ruby and Zora's Sapphire—in order to ensure that Ganondorf would not get to them. They were both too trusting of each other, Sheik decided. Link took everything Zelda said as fact, and Zelda seemed to believe that Link was capable of anything, even stealing from the stubborn and fierce Zora.

However, when Impa suddenly appeared in the archway, and taught Link the melody that only members of the Royal Family and those connected to it were allowed to know, he knew something was up. Impa was in on this as well, but why hadn't she told Sheik, her own nephew. As his aunt and Link left, Sheik gently dropped down from the roof into the courtyard.

"You heard it?" asked Zelda, looking tired.

"I must admit…I found it hard to believe…and that boy, he barely even spoke! He only nodded and told you his name," Sheik said. "I don't trust him."

"We have to, Sheik, we have to," said Zelda, looking up at the sky. "He holds the fate of Hyrule in his hands."

Sheik didn't answer, only looked at his princess, who had just handed over ancient secrets to some boy she had only dreamt about. He hoped she was right.

Damn, damn, damn!

These were the thoughts echoing through Sheik's mind as he raced through Castle Town, jumping across the rooftops, skidding down and climbing up walls that stood in his way. He could still hear the thundering hooves of Zelda's horse—Aeri—as she carried the princess and Impa to safety. Another loud thunderclap boomed over him as he finally cleared the rooftop that prevented him from getting an overview of the situation. The streets were empty save for the pure-white mare racing through them…and the black stallion that followed her.

It had happened too fast for anyone to react. The negotiations for peace were ending, Ganondorf agreeing to the king's terms, and the king agreeing to Ganondorf's. Then, as the Gerudo had moved over to sign the parchment, he had drawn a wicked dagger, plunging it into Zelda's father's chest, eliciting a small, pained groan from the elderly man before he fell dead. And then all hell had broken loose. The Gerudo guards started attacking the Hylian soldiers, who were speechless and frozen from their king's assassination happening right in front of their eyes, and were quickly cut down.

Sheik had not been in the room to witness the event, having spent some time playing—or guarding, as Impa would have preferred it to be called—with her, when Impa had suddenly burst into the princess' room, covered in blood from the Gerudo she had slewed on her way there. Quickly explaining what had happened, she had insisted on taking the princess to safety herself, telling her nephew to teleport away from there with a deku nut. Sheik had refused, wanting to help Impa, but the elder Sheikah had refused, telling him to obey her orders. Then she had taken Zelda and disappeared down the hallway, flanked by surviving Hylian soldiers.

Sheik had hesitated, not wanting to teleport away until he knew for sure that Imp and Zelda were safe, and had snuck outside, observing the stables until he saw the familiar form of Aeri with two riders charging out of the building, the remaining soldiers staying behind to cover their escape.

However, they had not counted on Ganondorf himself suddenly appearing on a steed of his own—midnight black with mad, red eyes and mane—and blasting them away as if they were nothing more than specks of dust. Sheik had frozen for a few seconds, witnessing for the first time just how destructive magic could truly be, but had quickly snapped out of it and followed the two horses, worried that his aunt and Zelda wouldn't make it.

To her credit, Aeri was fast, but Ganondorf's horse seemed to be driven forward like the flames of hell itself were licking at its rump. The way the streets of Castle Town were laid out did not help either, consisting of mostly meandering, narrow streets not really suitable for fast movement within. Luckily, Sheik was able to move faster than either of the two horses due to his rather direct way of movement, but another thought—in addition to the aforementioned curses—kept niggling at his mind as he moved.

What can I possibly do to help?

It really boggled his mind. Ganondorf had finally revealed his nature, and the sheer magical energies the man exuded were enough to make anyone start doubting their abilities. All Sheik had was his throwing daggers, with which he was not yet fully proficient, and the strength of a just-turned ten-year-old, which simply could not be compared to the beastly Gerudo currently doing his best to chase down and annihilate the princess of Hyrule.

Still, he did his best in order to put himself at a comparable distance between Aeri and Ganondorf's steed, hoping that he would not be forced to get involved. Both because of the fact that he would most likely be killed if he did, but also because Impa would be angry. No, make that absolutely livid!

One did not get raised by Impa and not learn a thing or two about her frightening temper. Or her inclination for corporeal punishment.

There was one positive thing about the current situation, though. There were no civilians out in the streets. The day had been dark dreary since dawn, but it had not started raining until about an hour into the day's negotiations, and most of the inhabitants of Castle Town had decided that today would be a very good day to enjoy a book written by another of the countless, talentless writers that inexplicably could afford living in the high-class districts. Most of the Gerudo soldiers had been called to the castle for the finalising of the alliance, which meant that most of the fighting was taking place up there, endangering no civilians, thankfully.

Here and there, Hylian guards tried stopping the Gerudo king in his pursuit, but were simply ridden down by the black-armoured man, further dissuading Sheik from interfering. But he still had to do something.

That was why he did what he did. Just as the gatehouse for the drawbridge over the moat to Castle Town came into view after cutting a corner, Sheik withdrew a dagger from his belt, cursing his lack of room for more weapons, and threw it at the Gerudo's steed just as it was about to close in on Aeri. While the throw missed spectacularly on Sheik's intended target—its eye—it hit Ganondorf's right gauntlet.

Perhaps the man had not expected something like that to happen, but the Gerudo nonetheless looked up in the direction the dagger had come from, apparently causing his horse to lose focus and slow down slightly, giving Aeri the upper hand again. As they crossed the square adjacent to the Temple of Time, the pure-white mare's speed just exploded, easily outrunning the Gerudo's jet-black steed.

Ganondorf had spotted him, Sheik knew. But the man lost interest, apparently, as he noticed that his quarry was escaping him. With a loud curse—he had an impossibly deep voice—he sped his horse on, desperately trying to catch up to Impa and Zelda before they crossed the bridge, after which their capture would be impossible due to Aeri's uncanny ability to simply disappear among the hills surrounding Castle Town.

Sheik supposed this was why Impa had insisted on Zelda picking Aeri as her personal horse, as if his aunt had expected a day like this to come. It was a blessing, for sure. Sheik had to stop at the last house before the gatehouse as the gap between the two buildings was too wide for him to make the jump, but he smiled when he saw Aeri taking off into the distance, leaving the Gerudo king fuming at the gate.

Sheik was about to fish out a deku nut from his pocket in order to teleport to the established safe house when he noticed Ganondorf was talking to someone. He tried to get a good look at the person, but Ganondorf's considerable bulk was blocking his view. Suddenly, the evil king laughed and blasted the person with a weak shockwave. And then Sheik heard the person's scream. A young boy's. Remarkably similar to the one whom Zelda had sent on a quest to find the remaining Spiritual Stones…

No! If Ganondorf gets the stones…

The Gerudo king seemed to suddenly lose interest, however, and suddenly rode off, following the direction in which Aeri had disappeared, leaving the boy—Link was his name, if Sheik remembered correctly—to pick himself up from the dust, groaning all the while as his fairy companion started to chatter his ears off.

He does not have the stones? Sheik thought as the boy rubbed his eyes. Then he froze, turning as stiff as a board. For a few minutes, Sheik stared at the boy, wondering what was happening. Had Ganondorf's spell turned the boy into stone? Just as he was about to climb down to street level and investigate, the boy loosened up and, after a moment of hesitation, dived into the moat.

What the…?

The boy dived deep, and reappeared with an elated cry of triumph. He was holding something in his hand. It was blue, vaguely shaped like a flute…

The Ocarina of Time? Sheik thought.

He had seen the supposedly magical instrument before, on display in the castle, nestled in a section dedicated to the Goddesses. Zelda had told him that it was one of the tools required to open the Temple of Time and enter the Sacred Realm, and he had no reason to doubt her. But how had it ended up in the moat? The last place he had seen it was in its glass container back in the castle.

Impa must have taken it for safekeeping, he thought as he observed the boy slowly climb back up on the bridge and slowly head into the town. But why throw it in the moat? For Link? Surely it would be safer with the princess unless…

The thought struck him like lightning, a loud thunderclap booming the same time, as if to punctuate the severity of what he was witnessing.

Zelda believes he is the Hero of Time!

His theory was strengthened by the fact that Link had suddenly started running, tearing across the square on a beeline toward the Temple of Time.

Sheik hurried after him, doing his best not to be seen. He could hear the screams and sounds of battle from the castle, but knew that it was a lost battle no matter what the Hylian soldiers did. The Gerudo soldiers had infiltrated it too deeply, if the number of dead Hylians he had seen on his way out was any indication.

He followed Link through the massive doors of the large, marble-white temple, keeping to the shadows and not making a sound as he observed the older boy reading the inscription on the altar in front of the massive, immoveable and indestructible blue stone block. He watched as Link withdrew all three Spiritual Stones from his pockets, placing them in the appropriate indentations on the altar. All three stones floated gently into the air, hovering just a few inches above the altar. Then Link drew out Ocarina of Time, gently putting the instrument to his lips, and blew.

Sheik had heard the melody hundreds of times. The Song of Time, the melody that was almost continually being sung by the monks in the temple—who were conspicuously absent today—sounded much better coming from the Ocarina than any other instrument, including Sheik's own lyre. To the young Sheikah's amazement, the massive blue block seemed to…disappear, fading from view, revealing the room behind. No one had seen this room ever since the Goddesses themselves had built the temple. The temptation to step forward and look closer was strong, but Sheik managed to fight it down, knowing that he should not interfere. If Link was indeed prophesised Hero of Time—which meant that the equally prophesised Great War had just begun, to Sheik's horror—then he would be able to not only lay his hands on the fabled treasure within, but also draw it from the stone it was set in.

As Link slowly, almost fearfully, entered the room, Sheik emerged from the shadows and followed him, eager to see what would happen next. He saw Link approach the treasure within—the legendary Master Sword, forged by the Goddesses. Link carefully touched the sword's handle; as if afraid it would burn him. When it didn't, he sighed loudly, his fairy companion silent for once, and gripped it as tight as he could. With a grunt, Link pulled.

Sheik felt his jaw drop as the sword came loose from its pedestal, showering the room in blue light—and then disappeared, along with the boy who had drawn it.

What…just happened? He thought as he ran inside the chamber behind the altar. Link had…simply vanished, along with his fairy companion—Navi, he remembered her name was. Silence reigned inside the temple as Sheik could only stare in confusion at the empty pedestal, on which the mark of the Triforce had been carved.

The doors to the temple slammed open for a second time, causing Sheik's entire body to give a jump as he whirled around to see who was entering. Black armour—

--the mere sight of him prompted the young Sheikah to leap into the nearest shadow, hoping that his sudden, quick breaths would not give him away.

Ganondorf strode inside the temple, muttering all the way.

"Damn princess…lost her again…"

But at the same time, Sheik could hear a strange sort of…chuckling issuing from the man's mouth, imagining an ever-widening grin spreading on the evil man's face as he saw that the temple had finally been opened.

Sheik tried to hold his breath as Ganondorf finally set foot inside the hidden chamber, observing the empty platform and pedestal. Then he chuckled louder. "I knew it," Ganondorf muttered. "He opened the portal…thanks, kid."

Sheik didn't understand what the Gerudo was talking about, but it could certainly not be good. If Link had opened a portal, the only place Sheik could imagine it would lead to would be the Sacred Realm…

The Sacred Realm…where the Triforce dwells… Sheik thought, his eyes widening. No!

Exactly what prompted the reaction he had right then, he did not know. Despite his brain quite logically trying to tell his body that attacking such a powerful opponent would be folly, his limbs moved seemingly on their own. Before he knew it, he had launched two daggers at the Gerudo, already drawing his fourth and final one—blade pointing down—to use as a melee weapon.

But the Gerudo was more aware of his surrounding than Sheik thought, and the man turned around, projecting some sort of shield around himself, knocking the two daggers out of the air, the knives clattering to the floor uselessly. By that time, Sheik found himself unable to halt his charge, and quickly found himself hoisted into the air by his throat by Ganondorf, who grinned manically as the final dagger fell to the floor.

"So, you're the one who ruined my chase," the man said, grin growing wider as Sheik made choking noises as he tried to breathe. "I didn't expect you to be this young…but then again, you Sheikah have always been fond of sending children into battle." He tightened his grip on Sheik's throat. It felt like his windpipe was about to crack! "I owe you a great deal of pain for ruining my plans!" Ganondorf roared and hurled Sheik into the wall.

His entire body screamed in pain as Sheik felt something in his back crack as he slammed against the stone wall. He tasted blood in his mouth, the coppery taste as familiar to him as the feel of wind blowing against his face. He groaned, trying to stand up, finding the task quite difficult. He heard the approaching footsteps of Ganondorf as he tried to find the only item that could save him in his pocket.

"Usually, I do not enjoy killing children," the Gerudo said, crouching down to Sheik's level. "But for you, I will make an exception. Sheikah are vermin that must be wiped out." Just as Sheik felt the man's around finding the scruff of his neck in an attempt to pull him up, his fingers closed around the object of his salvation.

Without a word, Sheik slammed the deku nut into the ground, focusing as hard as he could on the safe house. The boy disappeared from Ganondorf's hand, leaving the Gerudo gripping air.

"Hm," said the Gerudo, standing up. "Annoying little pest." He turned back to regard the empty pedestal. "The Triforce," he whispered, slowly stepping forward…

So, there we have it. I hope you liked it.