Ecchar was easily the least pleasant town Sheik had ever stayed in.

The sewers stunk up the streets, there was trash everywhere, and every alley she passed by, she swore she could feel someone seedy waiting just behind the dumpsters.

In cities like these, Sheik was glad that her Sheikah ensemble made her look masculine. Terrible things happened to women in towns like these, after all. While she was happy to step in and prevent such things from happening where she could, she only had one body—and goddesses help her if her true form was ever found in this city.

To be found out as not only a Hylian, but a woman… Sheik shuddered at the mere thought.

No, she was happy enough to keep her red eyes and masculine ensemble. Even if her chest ached some days from the binding, and the glamour over her eyes gave her a headache some days, she was glad to have created this identity. Especially in towns like Ecchar.

She'd found a few halfway decent taverns, of course, and she was doing well for herself with the money she'd gotten from those stolen jewels, especially since Ecchar was so cheap to live in. But all the same, she'd be glad to move on just as soon as she could.

But the Hyrulean Army was heading for the desert, and they were well on their way there now. If Sheik tried to head back to Lanayru Province now, it was likely that she'd be found and captured. So she had to wait, and wait, and wait, until she was absolutely, beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt, entirely sure that they'd passed through to the desert.

Why they were heading to the desert at all was beyond Sheik—Hyrule was at peace, last she'd checked, and sending an army into a peaceful, long-abandoned wasteland didn't seem like a plan anyone but a total fool would make.

But then again, the Royal Family was full of fools, so Sheik wasn't surprised.

She just hated that she had to be inconvenienced by the foolish decisions of the ruling class.

So she spent her days and nights in Ecchar, roaming the streets. There wasn't much to do in a town as small and poor as this, and Sheik didn't have the luxury of visiting friends here. She knew no one—and she was happy enough to keep it that way, all things considered. The woman who ran the tavern she'd mostly stayed at was decent enough, Sheik supposed, but she didn't trust her with much other than cheap meals and a clean bed.

No, the only true company Sheik kept while staying here were the alley cats.

Children of the street had to stick together, after all.

Late her second night in Ecchar, though, Sheik tensed as she heard a cry from a few alleys over. The cats hardly stirred, and Sheik supposed they had to be used to it by now—but Sheik wouldn't allow herself to become used to it.

Sheik climbed up the ladder connecting the alley to the roof, then leapt from rooftop to rooftop till she found the source of the scream.

A young woman stood just a story beneath her feet, clutching her purse as a man twice her size closed in on her. Sheik wasn't sure if it was her purse the man was after, or the young woman herself. Either way, this was a scene she didn't want to see the end of. So she jumped.

The man came down with the force of her kick, the sickening crunch of bone intermingling with the sound of his heavy body hitting the ground. Sheik leapt off of him at once, not wanting to stick around to see if he'd been knocked out or just stunned. The young woman seemed to feel the same, and she ran beside Sheik all the way back to Sheik's inn.

Though Sheik wanted to ask the woman if she was alright, she knew that her voice might give her away as a woman—and after what she'd just done, it was better that she didn't reveal herself until they were safe inside.

Once they'd reached the inn, Sheik caught her breath and gestured for the woman to make herself comfortable at one of the table sets in the front entrance. While she got herself seated, Sheik made her way to the front desk, coming back with tea and ignoring the overly amused smile of the innkeeper.

Of course this wasn't a date—she'd saved this woman from being assaulted. The last thing she wanted to do was to make her feel uncomfortable or pressured into anything, let alone a date. So she ignored the innkeeper, grateful that her mask and scarf hid most of her facial expression, lest her irritation become obvious.

It was hard to be too irritated, though, as the woman before her still seemed so upset. Sheik wanted nothing more than to dismember the man who'd attacked her, but it would be too risky to go around picking fights.

Rescues were one thing—especially when she had the element of surprise. But if she went around looking for a fight, she knew she'd find one, and she had a feeling that the results wouldn't be pretty.

So she contented herself with sitting with this woman for now, and drinking tea.

Sheik had just started to relax when the woman across from her finally spoke.

"I'm Ilia," she said, fingertips pressed tight against her cup. Her eyes were trained on the table, and Sheik wished she could comfort her enough for her to raise them. But she supposed anyone would feel guarded after being cornered in the dead of night. Still, as she spoke, her voice was clear, and Sheik knew that she was trying to be brave. "May I… know the name of my rescuer?"

"It's Sheik. Pleasure to meet you, Ilia." Sheik watched as Ilia's head whipped up, suddenly, and she tried not to feel too scrutinized as the woman looked her up and down, clearly checking over her physical form.

However, Ilia must have realized that she was staring, because she suddenly looked back down into her cup. "My—my apologies, Sheik," she said softly. "I just didn't expect…"

"It kept him from coming after us," Sheik said, shrugging a shoulder. "We ought to get you home, though. Where do you live?"

It felt strange, somehow, to ask this girl where she lived—expecting there to be a defined answer, and knowing that there probably would be. Perhaps Sheik had just been on the move for too long, but she felt a bit odd to think that she was the strange one for not having a place to call home.

But, she had the sky, and the earth, and her inherited Sheikah ensemble.

Sheik beat away the homesickness (for a home she'd never had, nonetheless) and retrained her eyes on Ilia.

"Just a few streets down from here. I… I'm sure I can find my way if I look."

The young woman seemed ready to go, and Sheik didn't want to keep her away from home any longer than necessary. By now, the man had probably already left if he was conscious, so there was no need to hide any longer. Plus, Sheik would be with her—there was no way she'd let her walk home alone after what had happened.

"I'll stay with you till you're inside," Sheik said, voice soft, but she had long since lost a sense of comforting others; if anything, it sounded authoritative. Ilia just looked relieved that someone was coming with her, though, and she didn't protest, standing and starting for the door with her.

Their conversation died as they walked through the dark of the night. On the streets, conversation felt like a threat-Sheik didn't want her voice to give her away. It was all well and good when people assumed it was a man walking this young woman home, but it was different when they merely saw another woman walking beside her. Sheik knew of some criminals who merely viewed two women as a bonus—that they could be easily subdued for double the profit.

Sheik gritted her teeth at the mere thought, brows drawing together in her irritation. At least the face she was making would scare away potential assailants, she thought, though it didn't change the hot bubble of anger in her stomach. More than other thieves, more than thugs, even more than the Royal Guard, she hated men who targeted women. As far as she was concerned, they were less than the trash lining Ecchar's steets.

They're nothing more than the sewer water below, Sheik thought, as she and Ilia passed by a particularly pungent sewage drain.

But Ilia had meant it when she said that her home wasn't far; no sooner than they'd turned a few corners had she stopped in front of a small apartment.

"This is it," she said as she got out her keys. "Thank you for walking with me, Sheik. I…" She gulped, shaking her head. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come. I appreciate it."

Sheik merely nodded, glancing over the streets to ensure no one had followed them. It seemed empty enough, but Sheik knew she wouldn't be able to rest easy tonight unless she'd looked through the streets on her own, checking to see that the man who'd attacked Ilia hadn't found out where she lived.

Once the door was open, Ilia slipped inside, but just through the crack of the door, she grabbed Sheik by the hand, pulling her close to whisper. "Be safe. I know you're easily mistaken for a man, but it's not safe for young women at night anymore. They're looking for anyone our age—especially if they have blonde hair and blue eyes."

Before Sheik could even think to ask her about such a cryptic statement, though, Ilia released her hand and clicked the door shut.

It was, by far, the strangest encounter she'd had while staying in Ecchar.

But Sheik couldn't linger—not while there was still the potential of drawing attention to where Ilia lived—so she hurried back down the streets, checking every corner for the man who'd assaulted Ilia.

There was no sign of him, not even after she'd checked nearly a half-mile radius of the scene of the crime, but Sheik had a feeling that this wasn't the last she'd seen of him. Or, at least, this wasn't the last she'd seen of men like him.

As Sheik finally dropped into her temporary bed, she couldn't help but replay Ilia's words over and over in her head. There was something strange about them, though Sheik wanted to believe it was just a strange preference in assailants these days.

'They're looking for anyone our age—especially if they have blonde hair and blue eyes.'

Why the emphasis on hair and eyes? She could understand age—most young women in early adulthood were prized for their beauty, and were old enough that they no longer appeared as children—but were rarely trained to defend themselves.

But why the preference on hair and eyes?

Sheik furrowed her brows, staring up at the ceiling. Most Hylians had dark hair and darker eyes; perhaps they were just interested in the rarity of those they stole or assailed?

A victim was a victim, though; hair and eyes shouldn't have mattered so much…

Unless the criminals were looking for someone.

As Sheik stared up into the darkness, she thanked the goddesses for the magic that had altered her blue eyes. Red had always suited her more, she found—and now it seemed that they served as a protection.

A protection from what, she could only guess.

But she knew she had found yet another reason to be thankful for Impa. Protecting her, even beyond the grave…

A week passed, and Sheik didn't see Ilia once. That night had been the first time she'd seen her, of course, but with the circumstances, Sheik couldn't help but be concerned.

Despite her concern, though, and as much as she wanted to stay and make sure that Ilia was safe, she couldn't stay in Ecchar. Lanayru was calling, and Sheik knew she'd stayed in this town for too long. The Royal Soldiers sometimes did patrols of this area, too, considering its high crime rate and low quality of living—and every time they did a patrol, they always turned up a few criminals.

The odds of being found were still low, of course—and lower than most other towns, considering the sheer amount of criminals that sought refuge here.

But Lanayru was as close to home as Sheik could get, and she hardly wanted to push her luck by staying in Ecchar longer than she had to.

Part of Sheik wanted to visit Solen again, for the sake of it—but at least five soldiers knew of her, thanks to her stint in saving that boy.

She still didn't regret her choice in saving him, of course. Sure, it would make things difficult next time she was in Solen to pawn something (and she might even need to start pawning her goods elsewhere), but it would have been a waste of a life to not step in.

No one deserved to be beaten to death without a trial, no matter the crime.

And Sheik didn't know why, but she there was a strong, almost instinctive, feeling that she had done the right thing, saving him. But as much as she'd wanted to check on him and make sure he was still breathing, Solen was just too dangerous for her to visit without reason.

And yet, as she mapped out her route back through Lanayru, her hand hovered over Solen. Her final destination, Ardock, was almost a week's trip from Ecchar. And Solen was directly between them.

It would be a good chance to refresh her supplies, she knew—and it was always better to check sooner rather than later if her goods had been spotted and the pawn-broker had found out that she'd sold him stolen goods. After all, later she might be in a bind and have new stolen goods on her—and where would that leave her, if he recognized her as a criminal?

And, if she just happened to be in the neighborhood, there was no reason not to look for the boy she'd saved—just so long as he didn't hold up her travels.

Still, even finding him in a large town like Solen would be difficult—and who was to say he'd even be there? If he had any sense, he would have left just as soon as he was healed.

The guards had nearly killed him, after all—who knew what they'd do to him if they found him again?

A strange protective urge—similar to what made her wish to stay in Ecchar to look for Ilia—rose up in her, and after some hesitation, she finally put a notch on Solen.

It wouldn't hurt to stay for a day or so, would it?

She had to restock her supplies anyways, before she finished the trek to Ardock.

Surely it wouldn't hurt to check in on the boy?

On the way back to Solen, Sheik purchased a horse, for once, spending a fair amount of rupees on it. But it would be better than stealing them and constantly letting them go again, and the last thing she wanted was to continually add horses to her ever-growing list of thefts. At this point, she had lost track of what all she'd stolen—and it wasn't as if she could just write everything down to refresh her memory.

Really, if she was caught with that list, how would she explain it?

'Sorry, soldiers, I was just trying to catch the thief that had stolen all these things—and I somehow knew that it was this one particular thief that had been behind all of them.'

Right—very realistic.

So she did her best to just remember the ones she planned to return—like horses and clothes. Those she often stole from the middle and poor classes, and the last thing she wanted was to leave them even poorer.

If she couldn't return their clothes or horses, she tended to leave a satchel of rupees on their doorstep late at night, with a short note of explanation.

It wasn't much, but it always at least replaced what she'd stolen, more or less.

Still… Now that she'd paid so much for a horse, and lived in Ecchar taverns for over a week, Sheik's money was starting to dwindle. She'd have to take up odd jobs up in Ardock if she wanted to keep from going under.

She'd gone hungry before—she'd done awful jobs when she was starving before—but if she could avoid it, then she was happy to.

Perhaps she could work at a tavern in Solen—be hired help for a few days till she moved on. It would give her the funds to restock and not feel so scrapped for cash. Maybe she could even invest in some blankets for winter.

Lanayru was cool in these summer and autumn months, but once winter crept closer, Sheik's Sheikah ensemble wasn't much for keeping her warm.

No, the more blankets she could stock up on, the better—especially since she couldn't hide out on Hyrule Field anymore in the winters. Soldiers crossed it so often these days that Sheik knew it would be suicide to try to stay there. And Kakariko village was far too close to Castle Town…

Perhaps the Gorons would allow her to take refuge in the winter. Though Death Mountain was a mountain, and thus higher in elevation, it was still warm due to the volcanic activity in the area. Even if the Gorons didn't want her, there was really nothing keeping her from staying nearby anyways, so long as she kept a low profile.

It was a bit lonely, if she stopped and thought about it, how little of a plan she had for the rest of her life. When she'd just been a child, things were so much simpler. She didn't have to choose where to go and how long to stay—and while she'd had to stay hidden from the public eye, she'd never been on the run like this.

She'd had a home, and someone to take care of her.

It wouldn't do to dwell on it, though—there was nowhere she could stay now. She was an outlaw and a thief, and had been posing as a true Sheikah for years, despite only being raised by one. There was nowhere she could call home anymore—except for the sky above her, and the grass beneath her feet, and the last memories of her guardian around her.

And that, she sharply reminded herself, was enough for anyone to call home.

Solen was darker than she remembered.

Though it had only been a little over a week, there was a presence hanging over the town, and Sheik hesitated as she tethered her horse to the outskirts of the town.

There were clouds overhead, which wasn't strange in itself—but the people walked with their heads further down than she remembered, and there was no longer the sound of children scurrying about in the late afternoon.

It was a three day trip from Solen to Ecchar, and a three day trip from Kakariko and Castle Town to Solen—and she'd spent a week at Ecchar.

Was it possible that something had happened in Castle Town and she hadn't heard about it yet?

More than anywhere else, Castle Town was the town that caused the most grief for the rest of Hyrule. The King and Queen would make decrees, and Castle Town would enforce it and send out ambassadors to the rest of Hyrule—and then every other town, city, and village would have to abide by those decrees, even if the Royal Family hadn't cared a whit about how it would affect the rest of Hyrule.

Not to mention the soldiers must have stayed in this town on their way to the Desert…

Sheik frowned, considering the possibilities.

No one was particularly happy when the army came and stayed in the taverns and even the homes in the town. Though the lower ranking soldiers set up camp outside the city, the higher-ups weren't fond of staying anywhere so common. While they wouldn't eject people from their homes, they had no problem demanding a spare bedroom for themselves.

It was a frustrating ordeal for everyone involved—and even more frustrating when Hyrule wasn't even at war.

So what in the goddess' name had prompted the Hyrulean Army to march towards the Gerudo Desert in the first place?

It was abandoned—a wasteland! The only thing out there was the Arbiter's Grounds, and it hadn't even been visited for nearly a hundred years—and a passage to the desert had only been rediscovered fifty years ago.

There was no one in the desert anymore—only the memory of the once proud Gerudo Tribe, and they'd been vanished away for centuries.

Sheik shook her head, trying not to dwell on it. All she knew was that she didn't have a good feeling about the troops heading to the desert. Whether they were training, or conquering new land, or fighting some unknown force, it was always a bad idea to have your army far away from the land they were supposed to be protecting.

Despite being a criminal herself, Sheik couldn't help but wonder—

Would the people here be safe now that so many in the force had left to the desert?

Normally it was the soldiers and the Royal Guard that caught criminals and kept the streets safe. They'd never done a perfect job, and had often been a brutal force against criminals, but without them, it would be free reign.

Sheik knew she ought to be celebrating. There would be almost no threat of punishment even if she was caught for stealing. Not to mention, pawning stolen goods would become far less worrisome if no one cared to turn her in. With so much other criminal activity that went unpunished, no one would even care if she turned in obviously stolen property.

She could easily make several thousand rupees every week, if she wanted.

And yet, for all her relief at a lower chance of being caught, she felt bad at the mere thought of taking advantage of this opportunity. It left a bad taste in her mouth as she thought how the city might be affected. Though she tried to only steal from those that wouldn't miss it, she would still be among the thieves this city would live in fear of.

And that was someone she didn't want to be.

She'd just have to try to find a job, then—either here or in Ardock. One way or another, she had to survive—and she was willing to do whatever she needed in order to survive—but if she could do it honestly, she'd like to.

It was just that places rarely would hire a Sheikah, and Sheik wasn't going to ditch her disguise just because people felt threatened by a Sheikah warrior ensemble. It was all she had left of Impa—and she wanted nothing more than to make her guardian proud.

And she knew that her guardian would understand if she had to keep doing what she had to in order to survive.

Lost in thought as she weighed the possibilities of a real job, Sheik stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the sound of flesh hitting concrete just an alleyway down.

"I already told you," someone was saying, his voice strained as if he was having trouble breathing. "I didn't do anything!"

Sheik was quick to react, light on her feet as she climbed up the short building next to the alleyway. From her vantage point, she saw a small gang of men, as well as their victim. Two of the gang were but a few years older than her, and one was old enough to be her father—perhaps this was a family affair? Sheik couldn't see their faces well enough to tell, but all were dark haired and tall.

The man they were ganging up on had fair hair and was short, though, marking him as an outsider. And though he was fair skinned, he was tanned and dirty—

And his face, Sheik realized, was eerily familiar, though she almost didn't recognize it without blood on it.

"I don't care what ye say," the oldest man said, approaching his victim with a long metal rod. "My daughter's gone missin', and yer the only one who's been lookin' for a blonde haired blue eyed girl in this area. I've heard yeh, askin' about in taverns, constan'ly double-checkin' at inns—where'd you take my daughter once yeh found her?!"

"I didn't take your daughter!" the fair haired man said. "I swear to the goddesses I didn't! I don't know you, or her—I swear! I'm looking for someone, yeah, but I wouldn't kidnap anyone!"

"'s what a kidnapper would say," one of the younger men said, and Sheik noticed, a little worried, the knife in his hand. The other man appeared unarmed, but that was a small comfort considering he looked the strongest of the bunch.

Sheik gulped, staring down at the scene before her.

Though she had no idea what the situation was, and she wasn't sure who to trust—the man with the missing daughter, or the one promising that he wasn't the one who'd taken her—she knew that she hadn't saved that man's life for nothing. And there was that feeling again, that protective instinct, and the feeling that saving him was the right thing to do.

So she turned off her doubts and dropped to the ground below.

This time, she didn't aim to take anyone out with her landing. Instead, she hoped to resolve this without violence, so long as no one started any violence.

So she stood in front of the man they were targeting—shorter than her, she remembered, and hunched over, looking like he was having a hard time breathing. Either he'd been hurt recently, or he was still healing from the damage done to him just over a week ago. Either was likely.

"Drop your weapons," Sheik said, red eyes flashing in the light as she stared down the group. "If you have a quarrel with this man, take him to a court. But if you're targeting him here rather than taking him to a court, then you're either foolish, or have no real proof against him." She stood taller, relishing her strong stance as the group took an instinctive step back. "And I'm not overly fond of those who would take revenge on someone without proof."

There was a beat, then a clatter as the younger man with the knife dropped it and turned away. His brother followed his lead, and in seconds, the youngest of the gang had cleared out—the older man, likely their father, followed close behind him.

In seconds, the alley was cleared, save for Sheik and the man she'd saved again.

Sheik just hoped that it was worth it, saving him twice. But she had a feeling—strange, and deep within her—that somehow, she'd made the right decision.

"Funny how we keep meeting like this," Sheik said, attempting to lighten the mood as she offered a hand to the man. His nose was bleeding, she realized—and she found it was likely that the group she just found him with had been the ones to deal out his injury. There were bruises on his face of varying shades, and a cut she remembered from last time she'd seen him, along with a twin along the side of his jaw. Sheik couldn't help but wonder: was this a regular occurrence for him?

The man eyed her warily for a moment, but after being saved by her twice, he seemed not to question her presence too much. So he took her hand and shook it, just once. "Link," he said, and Sheik realized a beat too late that he was introducing himself.

Though she'd hoped to keep a low profile, and had only really wanted to see if this man was still alive on her visit through Solen, she couldn't help but be polite. And so, as she dropped his hand and nodded just once at him, so she offered the name she'd gone by for eight years.

"Sheik."

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