~ One more day ~
Dawn's first rays broke over Hyrule with an excited brilliance. The sun spread its eager fingers into the land; over the mountains, through the small break in the thick clouds, under the branches of the mighty forest and finally coming to rest on a pile of tattered rags at the base of a tree. The rags twitched and shifted slightly. Sheik was not in the mood to be awoken so early.
But no further rest would come to the princess-turned-nomad that morning. Two monsters approached at steady pace. The animated skeleton and armored lizard-man knew that no Hylian in their right mind would spend the night in the field. A quick slice with a sword would guarantee this one wouldn't do it again. The Stalfos drew its sword and raised it high above its head.
Sheik, lost somewhere in his dreams, knew subconsciously that something was wrong. He, however, had no desire to interrupt his sleep just to investigate. The sharp snap of a twig did that for him. His eyes snapped open and he rolled out of the way almost before he realized there was a sword coming at him. He kept rolling until he could get to his feet, drawing his own short sword. The Stalfos let out an angry roar as its blade sunk into the trunk. Now the Lizalfos made its move. It brandished its own weapon, nothing more that a sharpened blade on a pole, and swung at Sheik. Sheik blocked, but misjudged the strength of the monster and was pushed to his knees with a grunt. He tiled the sword slightly and the monster's blade slid off to the side. The Lizalfos, thrown off balance, hesitated for a few seconds. Sheik gained the upper hand and ran straight for the tree. He jumped toward it, then kicked up and away into a backflip. For a few brief seconds, he hung in mid-air over the creature. He aimed the tip of his sword downward and drove it with immense force into the neck of the Lizalfos. It swatted clumsily at him for a few seconds before falling over dead. It faded out of sight, until all that remained was its weapon. Sheik landed heavily on the ground. The Stalfos finally managed to withdraw its weapon and charged him.
Sheik brought up his sword in defense, but the monster wasn't as stupid as it had let on. It swung its sword upward, knocking Sheik's sword out of his hand. He swore under his breath and back flipped again, landing in front of the Lizalfos' weapon. He swept it up and blocked the Stalfos with it in one fluid motion. The Stalfos pulled back and swung again, this time wide and horizontal. Sheik threw himself to the right in a dive, barely dodging the swing. He hit the ground and kept rolling until he was behind the skeleton. With a loud yell, he swung the blade and cut off the legs of the monster. He jumped back to his feet and lopped off its head with another strike. The Stalfos let out a grunt and disappeared in a wisp of blue flames. Finally alone, Sheik retrieved his sword and replaced it in his scabbard while he caught his breath. A rush of exhaustion came suddenly and he bent forward, hands on his knees. And in that moment, Zelda felt herself resurface.
"Not how I like to start a morning," she wheezed. She leaned back against the tree and wondered just how Link lived the way he did.
Fighting did not come naturally to her. She was a princess, raised in splendor. She ate the grandest of foods, wore the finest of clothes, slept on silken sheets, dyed the deepest hue of . . . what color was it? Only five years on the run and already she was beginning to forget life in the palace. Whatever the case, she had most certainly not been taught to fight monsters by any of her father's courtiers. Impa had trained her to survive on her own, and done it in secret, with great risk to herself. And moreover, it was Sheik who did most of the fighting and surviving. Ah, her alter persona. Now there was a puzzle for the castle scholars. Born out of necessity and survival training, then shaped by her intelligence and magic. Sheik at times, seemed to be animated by his own will, rather than the will she directed him. She let him surface at nights, to sleep with one eye open, and during combat she often worked her mind along with his abilities. Rarely did she let him fight for himself, or rarer still, did she fight on her own. But Impa maintained that stealth was a far greater skill for the Sheikah that fighting. Zelda lived by Impa's words that, even now, still rang clear in her mind. Further sleep was unlikely, so she made her way into town. She needed to know where Ganondorf had last been seen, so she could stay out of his way. Far out of his way.
It was late morning by the time she crossed the moat of the castle. Every shop was open and the market merchants were already crying their wares. Zelda, in her Sheikah disguise, seemed out of place in the market, but no one noticed her as she made her way through the crowd. A tavern would be the best place to listen in on the conversations of travelers. She headed for the nearest one and slipped inside.
"Table for yeh, sir?" said the waiter, giving her a slow glance.
"Something out of the way," she said softly. "Near the back."
"Don't wish to be seen, do yeh?" said the waiter, a smile playing at his lips. Zelda held her gaze steady. The waiter finally shrugged and led her to a table in the corner.
"What'll yeh have?" the waiter asked.
"Nothing, for now. Let me rest a moment," said Zelda. The waiter turned and left, while she strained to pick up on a conversation.
"-you ask me, things will get much worse before they get better," said a woman two tables over.
"What makes you say that?" asked the man with her.
"I heard someone say they saw the Evil King on his way south. They said they saw him stop at Ingo's ranch, before he went to-"
"Something for yeh now, sir?" Much to Zelda's annoyance, the waiter had chosen that moment to take her order.
"Later," said Zelda, making an effort to keep the anger out of her voice. The waiter frowned and left again. Zelda strained to pick out another conversation.
"-causing trouble in the lake near the water temple. He's up to no good, I tells ya. I saw it meself!" insisted a man seated at a table behind her. "He's off to Lake Hylia to make life worse for those who live there. There's just no stopping Ganondorf. He goes where ever he wants, and anyone who opposes him gets himself turned into a monster."
Zelda let a sigh of relief escape her. Lake Hylia was where she had planned on heading next, but now she knew better.
All of a sudden, she found herself staring in the face of the man from the table behind her. He must have seen her staring at him. He didn't look happy.
"So, stare at me, will yeh?" he said gruffly. "What's under that mask of yours, I wonder?"
"A hideous deformity," she answered coolly. "Though I'm sure your face is worse." His eyes flashed and Zelda mentally kicked herself for going too far.
"Get up," he commanded.
"Leave me alone and I won't bother you anymore," said Zelda.
"No deal." The man shoved her out of her chair onto the floor. "Get up."
"You're making a mistake," said Zelda, rising and calling up Sheik at the same time.
"You made the mistake," the man said, drawing a knife. Suddenly, the waiter appeared as if from nowhere.
"Sit down. There'll be no fighting in my bar." He turned to Zelda, who fought to drive back her alter ego.
"And you," he went on. "I'll have no trouble makers here. Order something or get out."
"Fine. You charge too much anyway." She flipped her bangs back to reveal her crimson eyes. They shone and flashed in the torchlight. She looked at him long enough for him to get a good look, but too short for him to make any assumptions. Without another word, she left the tavern.
The street vendors were cheaper anyhow, she reasoned. All she needed was a few loaves of bread. Her hand wandered to her belt for the wallet. It had been many weeks since she had had a decent meal and at least two days since she'd eaten anything at all. Wondering why her fingers hadn't found the pouch by now, she looked down at where her wallet should have been. It was missing. Where exactly had she left it? Under a tree somewhere? In a house somewhere for safekeeping? Wait, something seemed wrong with that last thought. She, being a nomad, had no refuge. Which meant that if it wasn't with her, it must've been-
"Stolen," she spat ruefully. Now she remembered. She had been robbed in the dark a few nights ago, barely managing to escape with her sword and lyre. The scent of food hung much heavier on the air than it had a few minutes ago. Everything seemed so far out of reach. Her stomach growled and ached with hunger. Maybe if she explained her desperate situation to one of the vendors (omitting one or two crucial details) they might take pity on her. She chose a sleepy baker and headed for his stand. If he were as sleepy as he looked, he would be easily persuaded.
-It would be easier to steal it,- Sheik whispered at her. -He won't notice.-
She was shocked at what she had just heard. Steal from her own people?
-Your own people have robbed you, thrown you out of their establishments and scoffed as you pleaded for money on the streets.-
But to resort to theft? Her father would have given her the greatest of all thrashings if he knew she was even entertaining these thoughts.
-Focus on morality later. Right now, survival is paramount.-
She was now so close to the stand that she could not stop her mouth from watering. The smell was intoxicating. Sheik was right. Survival was far more important. She could always compensate him later when the land was hers again. The vendor drifted off and Zelda saw her chance. She chose a large loaf that was still warm.
"Stop thief!" the vendor yelled, wildly startling Zelda. She dropped the loaf and ran as fast as she could move. The son of a moblin had only pretended to fall asleep. So he could catch thieves, she thought ruefully. What should I do?
-Get on a roof! They won't follow you. You can jump higher than any Hylian guard.- She nodded once and leapt for the nearest house she could reach. Her fingers found purchase in the rain trough and she swung herself easily onto the roof.
"Where did he go!?" demanded the vendor far below.
The guard who had joined him replied, "I didn't see him. He's gone, and he didn't make off with your bread. Go back to your business and tell me if he you see him again."
Zelda meanwhile, was on the roof, fighting hard not to retch. The flight had sapped her of any energy she had left. Once the urge had left her, she collapsed into a trembling heap. She wished she had never been separated from Impa. Life was much too empty without her. Sheik was another facet of herself and didn't exactly count as company.
The night that Ganondorf had found her and her nursemaid was one she would not soon forget. The Gerudo man saw them together and knew that she was rarely separated from her guardian. He struck hard and fast. Impa had barely been able to keep Zelda from having her throat slit. She still had the scar on her jaw.
"Run!" Impa had yelled in the Sheikah language. She and Ganondorf exchanged heavy blows. "Run and don't look back!"
"But Impa…" she had protested.
"I said run! Go or die!"
Zelda fled for her life. She never found out if Impa was still alive and she hadn't been back to Kakariko. A year and a half had passed since then.
-Sleep, young Zelda,- Sheik insisted. –Regain our strength. We will have a new plan when you awake.- Not bothering to argue, Zelda fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
Much later, she woke to the strange sensation of something pricking her in the face. Her eyes flew open in a panic before she realized it was only rain. She sat up and reoriented herself. It was early afternoon and drizzling steadily. The merchants in town likely already knew about her. Word spread fast in the market. They would be on the lookout for her. She would not eat today.
-Perhaps you will find help in Kakariko. It has been over a year.-
His words made sense. The people probably hadn't forgotten what had happened, but she looked far different that she had at her last visit. She slid off the roof and dropped to the ground. Her head suddenly throbbed painfully. Had she stood too fast? No, it was accompanied with uncomfortable flashes of disorientation, a sure sign that a fever was on its way. Wonderful. Stealing bread was difficult, but stealing a potion would be well near impossible, especially if she fell sick. Her best chance was to head for Kakariko and hope that someone would take her in. The guards and merchants cast scornful looks at her as she made her way out of town.
-Wretched fools,- Sheik said disdainfully in her head. –How hard their hearts must be to ignore the poor.-
Zelda was going to argue, but she had not the strength. She let her other side grow in her mind to draw off his skills. Besides, at least for the moment, he was right. And, she thought, it also seemed like he was right far too often.
The sun hung low in the sky by the time she reached the gates of Kakariko. Her headache had grown worse, but it was almost pleasant compared to the agony in her stomach. She felt she would pass out from hunger at any moment. The scent of food cooking that pervaded the village only made things worse. She knocked softly on the first door she came to.
"Who's there?" a voice called from inside.
"A weary traveler," she answered. The door swung open, revealing a large woman holding a wooden spoon.
"May I have some food and lodging for the night?"
"How much money do you have?" she said.
"I have no money. I will earn my keep however you tell me."
"Sorry. No rupees, no bed. Good night." The woman closed the door in Zelda's face. She scowled and fought back the tears that threatened.
She asked at several other houses and turned away in much the same manner. No one in the village seemed to want her.
By late evening, there were only two places she hadn't tried. She knocked on the first door.
"I seek a bed for only one night," she told the man who opened it.
"I have no room for you, red eyes!" he shouted, promptly slamming the door. This time, the tears did escape. Were her own people really so awful to their fellow citizens?
She had one last chance. Perhaps she could spend the night in Impa's old house. Surely the guard standing in front of it would understand.
"Please sir," she said to him, "I am a dear friend of Impa. She has given me permission to stay here if I so needed."
"She said nothing to me about this," said the guard.
"Are you certain? Try to remember."
The guard shook his head. "I haven't seen her for over a year now."
"She hasn't been back since the attack from Ganondorf?"
"How do you know of that?" he demanded.
Idiot! You weren't there, remember? "As I said, I am a friend of Impa's. She told me about it herself and said that I could stay here if I had no where else to go."
"My orders come only from Impa. And she said not to let anyone in that she hadn't specified. I'm certain that you aren't one of them. Be on your way."
Zelda almost gave up right then. Maybe she could sleep in the cucco coop behind the house. She turned to leave.
-Let me try. Perhaps I can persuade him.-
Zelda considered it for a moment. Sheik was better at getting things done, anyway. She gave control up to him and let herself rest.
Sheik turned back around to the guard. "I think there's another reason that you aren't letting me in."
The guard frowned. "You are mistaken. I am only following orders."
"I thought the people of this village admired the Sheikah," said Sheik.
"Impa earned our respect because she founded this town. What have you done that we should admire you for? Leave. You're not welcome here."
Sheik drew his sword. "How dare you say such things! You will pay with your own blood!"
Something in his mind told him to stop. She insisted that this wasn't worth fighting for and, moreover, he didn't have the strength to win. He ignored her and charged the guard. The guard blocked his strike easily and pushed him back. Sheik regained his balance far too slowly. The guard charged again and shoved him off the side of the stairs in to a particularly deep mud puddle. Zelda felt her alter ego fade completely and she came back to life.
"Go, Sheikah," the guard spat, "you're not wanted."
He walked inside as the rain began to pour. True night had fallen, and she made her way clumsily to the cucco coop behind the house. If she hadn't gotten sick, maybe she'd have a better chance at falling asleep. She began to drift off, leaning against the stack of crates when another guard came over.
"I'm sorry sir, but I must ask you to leave," he said. "We have rules against loiterers here, not to mention the complaints I've been getting about you in particular."
"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked. "No one will take me in."
"That isn't my problem. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Off with you, then."
She slowly stood and plodded out of the village. A tree stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to Kakariko, but she couldn't sleep there. One strike of lightning and she would be dead. So she resigned herself to sleeping against the rock wall and wait for morning. The sky seemed to sigh and the rain fell even harder.
Well, this is just wonderful, she thought to herself, pulling her legs up to her chest. Cold, soaked, hungry, ill, tired, lonely and totally miserable, Zelda tried to remember how long until Link was supposed to come back.
Two more years, she thought. Two more years.
But five years had been hard enough. Two more seemed like an eternity. She put her head on her knees and wept in earnest.
Zelda snapped awake, knowing suddenly and completely that she wasn't alone. Strangely, she didn't even remember falling asleep, but that was the least of her worries. She was seconds away from being attacked by far too many Stalkids. Instinctively, she drew her sword and dropped into a defensive stance. She focused her mind and tried to draw out her alter ego. One Stalkid swiped at her and she blocked it clumsily. With dawning panic, she realized she didn't have the strength to draw him out in time. Another blow threw her to the ground. Her sword clattered out of her hand. Tears and rain ran in streams down her face as she realized that she was going to die. Five long, harsh years of living from day to day had led to nothing but failure. A third blow struck her in the head, hard and fast. She might have been imagining things, but she thought she heard the Stalkids let out cries of surprise. One of them had grabbed her sword. It swung it at her and it ripped a deep gash in her shoulder. She screamed and it drew back momentarily. The scream had taken too much energy and she let herself fade into unconsciousness. Just before everything went dark, she thought she saw another figure approaching.
Impossible, she remembered thinking. Who would be trying to save me?
She let the darkness fill her mind completely and waited for the monsters to kill her.
The next thing she was aware of was warmth and light. Much better than sitting in the cold rain. Perhaps she was dead and home in the Sacred Realm. Wait, she couldn't be dead if she was thinking so clearly. She opened her eyes quickly and instantly regretted it. The light was far too bright. She moved her hands to rub her eyes and realized she was in a bed under a blanket. Someone had saved her.
"Ah, there you are," said a voice, rich and kind. It seemed familiar.
"My dear child, how you have grown," the voice went on. It was female, Zelda noticed. Its wisdom and gentleness tugged at her heart's memory.
"A warrior's spirit burns within you, but you need to take better care of yourself. You have lost a lot of weight."
Zelda felt a wild thrill run through her. Dare she hope?
She turned her head and opened her eyes to see Impa smiling at her.
"I regret not being able to see you grow over the year, but I'm sure you will tell me how it went."
Crying with joy and relief, Zelda sat up and embraced her nursemaid as hard as her injuries would allow. Impa returned it with equal force.
"Am I to understand you missed me?" said Impa.
"You have no idea," whispered Zelda. She hugged her even tighter, trying to believe that this was real, that she wasn't dreaming again. Her wounds still hurt, but the pain came from far away. Everything felt right; the smooth metal of Impa's breastplate, the rhythm of her breathing against her, and the way her arms went around Zelda's shoulders. She was safe, warm and most importantly, no longer alone. Not quite satisfied, but too tired to hold on any longer, Zelda relaxed her grip and leaned back on her arms. A thousand questions ran through her mind, but one came through clearly.
"How did you find me? Were you even looking?" she asked.
"Of course. I've been searching ever since we were separated. I had to be careful to keep out of Ganondorf's path. His monsters chased me out of Hyrule nearly six months ago. Some traders let me stow with their cargo and I smuggled back in. That was two days ago. Kakariko was the first place I checked. You know the rest."
Zelda wanted to know more, but she caught the scent of something spicy. She suddenly realized how unbelievably hungry she was. Impa noticed her look of curiosity. She smiled at her young charge.
"I thought I should be prepared and made a pot of your favorite stew. It should be ready by now. Do you want some?"
Zelda opened her mouth to answer, but her stomach growled loud enough for both of them to hear it, even under the blankets.
"Does that answer you question?"
As Zelda dug into her first meal in what seemed like weeks, listening to Impa's stories, she once again remembered it was still two years until Link came back. It didn't bother her. After all, she had Impa to keep her company until then. Two years wasn't really all that long.
~ The End ~
That's all! Thank you! Oh, just to be sure: Link, Zelda, Impa, the land of Hyrule and other such related terms are characters belong to Nintendo. I'm not saying I own them, just the story I've used them in.