Hey hey hey!
Another day, another chapter! Introducing a new character and revealing identities uvu I feel the need to say that, all out of character-ness behaviours will be explained in due time. You'll understand once you get to the second part of this chapter. And remember that everything here happens for a reason!
Inspired by Assassin's Creed Unity, Ubisoft's inability to make playable female characters, Hyrule Warriors, and headcanons for Zelda U. Shoutout to Lorde for making a cover of the song which this story was named after.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to tell me what you think!
Chapter II
In the morning of the following day, Ilia stayed in Ordon whilst Zelda and the other assassin went out into Hyrule Field, dressed in commoner clothes and riding dun horses at a moderate speed towards Lake Hylia. They left early in the morning, before sunrise, but only arrived at the pool of water by the time the sun was nearing its peak in the sky, and the equines were left to nibble on a portion of tall grass as the two assassins sat on the shore with their legs dipped in the cool water.
Zelda leaned back on her hands, brown hair tied in a loose braid and stray locks tucked behind her pointed ears, eyes squinted at the bright light and lips twisted in a frown, nails digging into the soil. "He never told me if they were taller than Death Mountain."
Her friend turned in her direction. "Your Highness?"
"My father." She explained, chin tilting up towards the rocks on the other side of the lake. Nothing else was said, there was no need to say his last words one more time to the one person who had heard them coming from Zelda's mouth various times in the past, still the other lowered their gaze to the sparkling water.
"As long as you have your mother's crown-"
"There is still hope," Zelda finished, "I know... I know." Her fingers curled around the blades of grass, nails dirt and brown, and pulled at the plants, drawing them out from the soil with root and all. "Too bad getting what is rightfully mine will not bring them back."
"Your Highness-"
She sunk down lower by placing her bare elbows on the ground, and her eyelashes cast long shadows on her cheeks when she closed her eyes. "There is no need for formalities." They inhaled in unison, "I do not know why you are still here."
The other assassin glanced down at her, a serious look taking over their expression. "I promised your mother I would protect you."
"I am no longer royalty," Zelda lowered her back to the ground and lied there, hands clasped over her ribcage and sun shining on her face. "You do not need to be here."
Her friend mimicked her, slowly rolling back to lie beside the one who should be sitting on the throne in Hyrule Castle, and kept their red eyes open, staring up at the cloudless sky. "I am still your friend."
A smile touched Zelda's lips, eyelids fluttering open to the outside world. "Thank you, Impa."
The queen of Gerudos, and now of all of Hyrule, walked towards the castle library, dressed in fine fabric and head held high, crossing well lit hallways with a deadly sort of elegance. Servants bowed as she passed, forms shaking, but still not as much as when they bowed before her husband. She went on her way without acknowledging them; over time she learned that a simple glance in their direction could cause them to breakdown, and their reactions no longer bothered her.
Upon entering the library, she spotted General Link, his future advisor Shad, both accompanied by the ever present Captain Ashei. The trio was circling around a table with maps and strategy books open and placed about, drawing exes on random locations with red ink, murmuring information and plots under their breaths, and stopped to look up from their work when the door clicked shut behind her back. The Gerudo dismissed their bows with a flick of her wrist as she approached them with quick, long strides, and walked up to the bespectacled man to the right, cupping his face between her hands and tilting it down. "Here you are," kissing his forehead, she held him at arm's length for a moment to regard him fondly. "How are my boys doing?" She moved on to the other man, placed her palms on his cheeks and pulled him closer to kiss his forehead as well, which caused him to groan.
"Mom..." Link whined as she pulled away, and ran a hand through his hair. "Not in front of other people."
"What?" The queen asked with a laugh as she lowered her hands to his shoulders. "I need to check on my boys, you two skipped lunch again." She stressed the last word by giving him a light and quick pinch on the lobe of his ear, right beside the blue earring. "Besides, it's not like Ashei is going to tell the other guards. Right, Ashei?"
The knight gave her a firm, reassuring nod. "Maybe one guard or two," she joked, or tried to, in a serious tone, much to the queen's delight, who laughed softly; Link grumbled, turning away.
"Mother," The eldest son pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "We were planning a new form of attack and forgot about the time. Forgive us."
She turned to him as he picked a book from the table top, and smiled. "How can I not forgive my two successful sons?" Her fingers threaded through his copper colored her like she had done many times in the past when tucking him to sleep. "Keep studying, my son, someday you're going to aid your brother and lead this kingdom to prosperity."
Shad parted his lips to speak, but decided against it. He licked them and averted his gaze; the Gerudo's hand fell from his hair to rest at her side, and she stepped away from the trio as she moved for the door. Prosperity; what kind of prosperity, he was about to ask, for the world outside the castle was in chaos. It was prosperity for his father, but it wasn't prosperity for him – and certainly not for Ashei, or so the queen believed. Link, on the other hand, young, brave Link, would do whatever to make his parents happy, regardless if he believed in their ideology or not.
The Gerudo opened the door and stopped by the threshold, back turned to the trio of Hyruleans. "Ashei," she heard as the armor shifted and the knight saluted, and continued. "Please, watch over them. Shad especially."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
Nabooru exited the room.
"We should head home soon, Zelda."
The princess hummed slowly, hands gently squeezing the fruit in her grasp, and replied, almost absentmindedly. "We still have time."
Impa corrected her instance and turned her back to the modest fruit stand, eyes watchful for the crowd. Yes, she knew they still had time, the gates would only close at sunset and it was still mid-afternoon, but the Sheikah, designed to protect the rightful princess of Hyrule since birth, did not want the subject of her worries to remain for too long in Castle Town. Her fear was not that Zelda would be recognized; the attack had happened when she was only six and at that time the princess still had blonde hair, but the sight of her people, poor and suffering and begging for money and food would destroy her, as if the mere thought of it did not already.
Zelda turned the orange in her hand, fingers tracing the darkened skin of the fruit, eyes hooded and lips twisted in a frown. It saddened her; overripe fruits, just one step away from being inedible, were being sold to the townspeople for an incredibly high price. Kids and their mothers searched the curbs for anything that could be eaten, while fathers and husbands tried to find someone who would hire them. Like most of the guards, the Hylians that chose to have one Gerudo as lover, either for the benefits or for the sexual pleasure, were allowed to live in the best homes and to maintain their jobs; some left their families in hopes they would be able to sustain the other parent and their kids, others left because the need to maintain a high social status was far greater than the well being of their families. Knights that vowed to protect the kingdom and the Royal Family turned their backs and sided with Ganondorf when faced with the possibility of death; leaving families behind shouldn't be much different, Zelda mused.
She returned the fruit to the stand, ran by one fidgety Hylian that watched the others with wide eyes, and whirled around on her heels to join the Sheikah, but she was nowhere to be seen. Fearing the worst, Zelda went ahead and searched the small crowd of townspeople, aware that finding Impa would not be an easy feat given she was trained to hide and not to stand out, but she would appear sooner or later. Having Impa beside her was the only thing Zelda could count on at all times.
For being so focused in trying to find the Sheikah, she ran straight into a firm body, as tall as her but perhaps three inches shorter, and took two steps back to find her balance. "Please, forgive me, miss. I was not looking at where I was going." The woman stood straighter, lips parted and ready to speak, but the words died in her throat at the sight of familiar round glasses and auburn hair, and her breath left her lungs. "Miss?" He asked, tone hesitant, and her mouth worked but nothing came out. "Are you feeling well?"
"Shad!" She half exclaimed, half hissed with urgency and looked around, feeling like an outlaw trying to hide from the guards – which was partially correct. "Shad, it's me! Zelda!" Her fingers curled inwards so she would not grab his shoulders and shake him, and he seemed to doubt her as his brow furrowed and he took one step back. "Zelda IV Harkinian Nohansen Hyrule, daughter of King Daphnes and Queen Rosenna!" Her shoulders dropped when he seemed to doubt her still, "Shad, please, it's me!"
He stared at her for a while, taking in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her nose, things that made her so recognizable before, but it was when she knitted her eyebrows that he saw the young princess from back then standing right before him. "Goodness!" He exclaimed breathlessly, then cupped a gentle hand around her elbows to guide her to the side of the street. "Zelda!" He whispered as urgently as she had, fighting back the urge to touch her and see if she was real, "How did you survive? Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly as her fingers twisted together. "I am, I am! My mother, she..." Zelda swallowed and pressed a fingertip to the inner corner of her eye, pausing momentarily. "Impa saved me! I am fine."
"I am so relieved! All this time I thought you were dead!" Shad took a sharp intake of breath and reached for her hand, which she took eagerly, fingers too tight and shaking, but his were exactly like hers. "Zelda– Ganondor– I– Things are so–"
"I know, I know. Look Shad," hand detangling from his and hid it behind her back, Zelda inquired, "Can we talk tomorrow?"
The man seemed to want to step forward, but went backwards instead, knowing it was best to keep some distance. "Of course! Where?"
Zelda fixed her gaze over his shoulder and spotted a familiar figure approaching at a fast pace. "Lake Hylia." She said quickly, blood rushing in her veins. "Can you go?"
"Yeah," he breathed, and in seconds she had her back turned to him and was several feet away. She was fast, he thought, and skilled enough to evade other civilians, barely brushing past them as she went on her way. Shad accompanied her with his eyes until a tall and slender figure joined the princess, and he turned his head away before they could make eye contact.
"Who was that?"
The scholar nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his adoptive brother's voice. Heart hammering in his chest, he spun around quickly to face the shorter Hylian and searched his mind for anything to say, swallowing hard under the hard gaze. "No one!" Link squinted his eyes at him, and Shad played with the cuffs in his sleeves whilst he bit the inside of his cheek. "Look at the time, it's getting late, mom must be worried. Let's go, Link."
Shad quickly walked past him, headed towards the castle, and didn't wait for the General to follow him. Link, oblivious to the fearful looks the population was shooting in his direction, stared off at where the girl had gone, but saw no one as tall as her or even similar in appearance. With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he went after his brother, chin high and confidence in each step he took.
Zelda was alive.
Zelda was alive and he had seen her with his own eyes.
Shad ran a hand over his mouth, which felt dry despite the fact that he had just sipped his drink. Had Link not appeared there at the moment, he would have thought his eyes were deceiving him. He cleaned his glasses a couple of times after the incident, washed his face even, and spaced out for the remainder of the afternoon until a servant was sent after him lest else he would miss supper. And that was where he was found at the present moment, sitting to Link's left, the furthest seat away from both king and queen, Ganondorf and Nabooru, not that he minded, he never did. Link had always been favored by the Gerudo man, taught to be a great swordsman to one day take his place in this kingdom that wasn't his, and Shad was always just there, taught to be his brother's advisor when the moment came.
But Shad didn't want that. He never wanted help rule a kingdom that belonged to his dear friend, and now that he knew she was alive he didn't want to take part in it. Link, on the other hand, had no recollection of Zelda, Shad doubted he remembered the princess and her family, it was unlikely that the young Hylian remembered his life before the attack. Link would do anything to make his surrogate father happy, the one who taught him the laws of this world and how to wield a sword, how to be brave and how to get the things he wanted. He would go to great lengths to ensure that things remained this way, that Hylians and humans and Zoras and Gorons were put under Gerudos and Ganondor's minions and allies, because that was normal for him, that was how he grew up.
"You haven't touched your food, dear." Nabooru commented, and Shad felt two pairs of eyes on him as Link snorted. He swallowed thickly.
"Shad has a girlfriend."Link teased around a mouthful of grilled fish, and his brother cursed silently under his breath. Shad swore Nabooru's gasp could be heard from the top of Death Mountain, and Ganondorf's gaze now seemed to be completely focused on him for once.
The queen lowered her silverware to the tabletop, yellow eyes shining bright, hopping on her seat, and reached her hands across the table. "Who is she, sweetie? Why didn't you invite her for dinner?"
Shad took her hands and gave her a nervous and hesitant smile, a visible contrast with his mother's wide grin. "She's not my girlfriend. She's just a friend."
Link snorted again, fork midway to his lips. "Yeah, right." The other Hylian scrunched up his shoulders as his mother swung his hands from side to side with hers. "He's got a date tomorrow."
"Link!" Shad recoiled his hands to bury his face in them, skin bright red. Nabooru wrapped her fingers around her husband's wrist, shaking his arm and gaping at her son whilst Ganondorf didn't seem to be phased at all. "Don't say such lies."
"That's wonderful! Bring her over sometime; we would love to meet her, right, dear?"
Ganondorf's gaze seemed to harden as he sipped his wine, and as he lowered the crystal goblet he clicked his tongue. "I don't see why she wouldn't be welcomed here." Shad felt his muscles go lax, but still managed hold a composed stance, even as Link chuckled and his mother shot him a million questions, and the scholar cleared his throat whilst he pushed his chair back.
"May I be excused?" No answer was given as he bowed his head in respect and left the dining room. The queen called out for him and demanded answers, Link pulled his brother's untouched plate of food a little closer, and the king went back to his meal, as unreadable as always.
As he walked to his bedroom, Shad debated whether or not he should share this newest information with Ashei.
"What are these?" Zelda wrinkled her nose and tapped the book repeatedly, causing Shad to direct his squinted eyes at the figure object of her scrutiny. The boy gave her a slight apologetic shrug and resumed cleaning his reading glasses, rubbing circles on the lenses with the soft fabric of his scarf.
When his spectacles were perched upon his nose bridge and cheek bones, the princess pushed the book towards him for analysis and sat back on her chair, kicking her legs and fiddling with her fingers, and Shad adjusted his glasses one last time before cracking a grin. "Ah, these... These are the Oocca."
"The what?"
"Oocca." He smiled at her evident confusion and flipped through the pages until he found what he wanted. "Says the legend they are the closest species to the gods, even closer than us." He passed the book to her hands, open on a page depicting various sketches of what said creatures could look like. "Some say we are their descendants."
Zelda stuck out her tongue in distaste; such odd little creatures, half chicken, half human. "I'm prettier than that."
Shad chuckled, and her eyebrows pinched at the sound. "So confident in our looks, are we?"
"Mama says self love is the best kind of love."
"She's right," he agreed with a nod, running his fingertips on the edge of the pages. "There's this thing called evolution. From here," one finger tapped the chicken-like figure, "to here," then gently poked her on the nose.
She blinked, amazed. "Fast like that?"
He shook his head, "It takes time."
The princess closed the book and scooted closer to the edge of her seat to place it on the table, small hands giving it a push and making it slide closer to the pile of books placed in its center. "You're so smart, Shad." Zelda admitted in a cheerful tone, not noticing the blush that crept on his cheeks. "I wanna be like you."
"No, Zelda." Her eyes fell on him, and he patted the back of her hand affectionately. "I wanna be like you."
