Looking down, Samus saw that she was gradually picking up speed. Despite the safety features of her power suit, she knew that this fall would kill her. If she even survived that long. The Varia shielding could protect her from a lot of heat, but a full blown reentry? Probably not. Still, she had to do something. Transferring all available power to her shields, she looked around for a suitable landing area. It would have to be an ocean or a very large lake. She didn't think that anything in the Torvis Bog would work, but with her thrusters fused, her maneuverability, along with her options, were extremely limited.
Breaking the atmosphere, the friction of air moving past the suit began creating a startling amount of heat. She had entered the atmosphere of dozens of worlds, but always within the safety of her ship. Fortunately, the Varia suit seemed to be doing its job, but the temperature was rising quickly. As far as Samus knew, her suit could handle up to about seven hundred degrees. The hunter didn't know how much heat a reentry generated, but she knew it had to be more than that. The turbulence began to buffet her and she could see the energy of her shields attempting to hold back the intense heat. Based on how much she was sweating, it wasn't working. Then again, that might have been her nerves, she wasn't really sure.
Looking at the land mass before her, the only place with any water that she could see was the Torvis Bog. Doing her best to recall her H.A.L.O. jump training from her time in GFMC boot camp, see maneuvered herself over swamp as best she could. When she was reasonably sure that her trajectory was correct, she rolled into her morph ball form. Balled up as she was, there would be less surface area for her shields to protect. She prayed it would be enough. Her sensors told her when she was about to hit. She held her breath. Then, nothingness.
Princess Zelda marched down the hall of her castle. Whomever had woken her this early would regret it once they faced her foul mood. She turned a corner and pushed the door open with a force of will. The guards jumped when the heavy oak doors hit the wall, causing a loud BANG. She ignored them, instead marching to her throne and taking a seat.
"Bring in the parishioner," she called.
Her herald, a pleasant, likable fellow named Malikai, stepped forward. "Actually, Your Majesty,-"
Zelda held up a hand, cutting him off, "'Highness', Malikai. Not 'Majesty'. My father hasn't left the world of the living. He is still the king."
Malikai smiled sympathetically, "Of course, Your Highness. Forgive me. But I was going to say that the visitor is not a parishioner. It is a representative of the Gerudo. She says that she has an urgent message for you."
The Princess smiled a small, private smile, hiding it behind her gloved hand. Nabooru had been a valued friend and advisor as she was growing up. Though Zelda still remembered growing up under Gannondorf's reign, that life had been devoted to combat, hiding, and survival. In this life, Nabooru, along with Darunia, had been teaching her and Ruto about leadership, both from the throne and in everyday life. That life had been about making it to the next day, but this life was dedicated to her people.
"Send her in, Malikai," Zelda ordered. The older man nodded and signaled the guards. They, in turn, opened the doors. A tall, tan woman wearing the traditional Gerudo attire and carrying a bag began making her way across the throne room.
Zelda hoped the there wasn't any trouble. Nabooru had talked about a subversive group within her tribe, one that believed in Gannondorf's plans and ways. She worried that the group might take action. Between the plague in Kakariko Village, Princess Ruto's disappearance, and the crop failures, she really didn't have room on her plate for a civil war.
As the messenger came closer, Zelda could see a dark red stain on the bottom of the bag. The Gerudo, someone Zelda didn't recognize, stopped just before the throne. There, she untied the bag and unceremoniously dumped out the contents. A severed head fell from the bag. It didn't bounce or roll. It simply landed with a sickeningly wet plop before Zelda's throne. The swollen tongue protruded from the mouth and the dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the princess.
Zelda forced her revulsion to the back of her mind and instead focused on the head. There was no doubt. It was Nabooru. The Princess turned her eyes to the Gerudo before her. The woman smirked.
"Anashu wanted me to tell you that this isn't personal," she said, "Times change and so do leaders."
Before anyone could react, a flash erupted from the woman. The guards looked around in confusion, trying to locate her. Zelda, having experience with such tricks, looked above. She saw the woman, clinging with one hand to one of the tresses in the ceiling. In the other, she held a dagger. Suddenly, she shot like an arrow at her target: Zelda.
With a wave, Zelda activated several spells. An instant before the dagger touched her, she vanished. The Gerudo assassin rolled as she landed, looking around in confusion. Several guards came running, swords drawn. Zelda realized that she had to stop them or they would be killed. The assassin already had swords of her own. Zelda, in a desperate move, launched several daggers at the feet of her guards. The blades stuck in the ground, causing the solders to halt and look around for the source. Zelda, dressed as a traditional Sheikah warrior, dropped from where she had been hiding. Sheik of the Sheikah tribe landed before the throne.
"She's mine," Sheik said quietly.
The assassin smirked "You think you have what it takes to defeat me?" she asked.
Sheik smiled, though no one saw it through her mask. "You're a pathetic attempt at assassination. If Anashu were serious about killing the princess, they would have sent an actual assassin, not a pathetic little pretender like you."
"You bastard!" the Gerudo screamed, "I'll kill you, Zelda, and every other son of bitch in this castle!"
Sheik dropped a deku nut, creating a blinding flash. The Gerudo covered her eyes in a vain attempt to shield them from the light. When her vision cleared, the Sheikah was gone. Laughter echoed around the throne room.
"You are pathetic. Anashu didn't even tell you about me, did she?" the voice mocked, "I am the reason that the Zelda has remained safe all these years. No matter where the princess is, I will always be nearby. You really think that you are the first to attempt to kill her. You're not even the first to get this close."
The voice laughed again. It was infuriating. The assassin looked frantically around, trying to find the source. She would never admit it out loud, but she was terrified. Anashu had said this would be simple. Deliver the head, kill the princess, finish off the king, and get out alive. She didn't say anything about facing a member of the Sheikah.
"WHERE ARE YOU!" she screamed.
"Behind you," a voice whispered. The speaker was so close, she could feel their breath. She whirled to face her target, but no one was there.
Sheik dropped a hand with enough force to break stone. It hit the Gerudo at the base of her neck, knocking her unconscious. The assassin let go of her swords and dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Only after a several seconds of silence did the guards approach.
The head guard, an older man named Duncan, looked to Sheik. "The princess, is she…"
"She is safe," Sheik answered, slightly enjoying reporting on her own safety to her head guard, "She teleported away."
"The Gerudo, we should question her," Duncan declared.
Sheik nodded, "Yes, we should, though I doubt she knows anything."
Duncan looked confused, "Master Sheik?"
The warrior knelt beside the woman, "Anashu knows of my existence and the difficulty it would cause for any attempt on her highness' life. This pathetic attempt is a message. Anashu is telling us that she has control of the Gerudo now."
The Guards all looked nervously to one another, then back to Sheik. They had all been present for the various meetings she had held with Hyrule's power players. They all knew as well as she that Anashu in control meant war with the Gerudo.
"What should we do?" Duncan asked.
Sheik stood and thought a moment, "I know what I would do, but I must confer with the princess. For now, be vigilant. Be sure that no Gerudo gets past the outer walls."
Duncan inclined his head, "Yes, Master Sheik."
She began to walk toward the door, but stopped just before the throne. Nabooru's head still sat on the ground, staring up at Hyrule's seat of power.
I am sorry, my old friend, she thought. "Get rid of that before it starts to smell," she said to Duncan as she strode from the room.