(A/N) Hello there! I've decided I want to get new chapters up every two to three days, so expect the next chapter to be posted either on Saturday or Sunday.

This story has my full focus for the moment, and also with my Wonder Queen Mother reading these I have a lot of incentive to finish it. ;)

As for getting chapters up in time, I always have the next chapter complete when I post the one before it, like right now, chapter five is already done and waiting to be posted. That way it's easier for me to stay ahead.

Additional notes: I'm going to put up a note on the first chapter about all the pairings(at least the ones that aren't a secret hehe) and games that are referenced, as well as how many OCs are in this and such.

And yes, I did change Riju's eye color to gold, but that's the color I associate with the Gerudo, so I'm sticking with it. (In game she has green eyes)

Shutting up now.

Happy reading!


A Breath of Life

Chapter Four: The Eye of The Yiga

Journal Entry: Number 735

I waited. It was nighttime, and the moon was blotted out by clouds, sending Castle Town and Hyrule Castle into shadow. But not the shadow of Twilight, oh no. This was natural; a beautiful, silvery display of the sun's refracted light.

Once upon a time I would have welcomed it.

But now, with the light press of a stone collar around my neck, I was reminded of the foolish decision I had made. Of course, it was made because I feared for my people's safety, but nonetheless, now I was stuck.

Stuck between light and dark.

In proverbial twilight, it now seems.

The return of the light meant one thing. Link had restored Lanayru's life force, the tears of light. It was an uplifting, happy, free sort of occasion.

At least it should have been.

But now, it brought a sense of forboding. Soon, the Hero would become powerful enough to save the land, but also destroy something I was soul-tied to.

Him.

I heard the door open behind me and a strangled sob erupted from my throat. I collapsed down on my knees, shaking. He approached me slowly, kneeling beside me and placing his hands on my shoulders.

No words needed to be exchanged. We knew what the light meant.

He was going to die soon, now that Link was close to achieving the sacred power. I wasn't sure if he had accepted his fate, or if he was still living in denial that it would happen.

I never found out.

I looked up into his gold eyes, once unsettling, but now my constant. I sniffed and slid my hands into his reddish hair, pulling his face closer to mine. Our lips touched and I pressed myself further into him, needing the assurance of his body there. My hands traced the contours of his strange greyish skin, knowing that this might be the last time I ever saw him.

His hands gripped my waist and pulled me to him, his own desperation just as loud as mine.

Still, we did not speak. I never heard the familiar rasp of his rough voice again, the rumble of his laughter- though rare -, or even the soft tune he would murmur whenever he was content.

Strange, how only months ago I had hated him, wanted nothing more than to drive my beautiful rapier into his skull, but now as I feverishly clung to him, I felt nothing other than love.

I assume it was the soul-bonding enchantment he cast on us, linking us together. Still, I think of him, though I am no longer locked away in that tower. Strange how before I had shied away from the term 'marriage', but now I want to openly call him my King, my husband.

I sit here on my throne and look around, wishing that I could see him one last time. But I know he is dead. He is completely and absolutely gone. Forever.

I am sorry to Link, who I love like a brother, for falling in love with your enemy. I am sorry to Midna, who I love like a sister, for falling in love with your enemy. I am sorry to Ilia, who has married my honorary brother, for falling in love with the man who set in motion the events that lost you your memory. I am sorry to the scholar Shad, who loves me like a husband would love his wife, for I cannot love you the same way. I am sorry to my mother and father, who I have loved since birth, for disappointing you.

But most of all, I am sorry to him, who I love as a wife loves her husband, for not loving you more while you lived.

May the Goddess smile upon you, whomever you may be, and may the light illuminate your path.

-Zelda Nohansen, a Princess who dreamt herself a Queen.


It was getting hotter by the mintute. We had passed Mount Nabooru and were heading to the canyon entrance when the heat started rolling in. Riju and Barta seemed perfectly at ease, and Link was fine since he was dressed in his Gerudo style voe armor, but the rest of us were burning up.

Actually, I'm not sure was Xan felt like, because his face showed nothing. A perfectly neutral expression on his usually very expressive face. Suspicious.

The Jee Noh Shrine could be seen atop a cluster of boulders, and I wondered just how many shrines Link had completed on his journey to defeat the Calamity.

"Herein lies the ancient clan of the living eye, those ones whose past is shrouded in material shadows," Xan said aloud, his neutral expression not breaking. "We should proceed with caution."

"What's the 'living eye'?" I asked.

"Beware, traveler, the eye of the Yiga," was all Xan said in response.

His words chilled me, and not for the first time I wondered if he was really trustworthy.

As we passed through the canyon, I got the strange feeling that we were being watched. Beware, traveler, the eye of the Yiga. Were the Yiga Clan watching us? I thought Link disbanded them after killing their leader. Strange.

We reached the area Link said was overlooked by the Joloo Nah Shrine at about midday, and we stopped to eat. Dorian and Xan were clearly on edge, their movements tense and their eyes flickering around worriedly. Barta was the same, and she didn't eat much besides a few pieces of bread and drank some water, insisting that she keep watch. Riju looked worried too, but I wasn't sure if that was because she was feeling watched or if she was just reacting to Barta, Dorian and Xan. Paya was cuddled against Link again, her large brown eyes wide and worried.

I noticed that Xan's ears were twitching; had he heard something? Dorian's face was set into a determined scowl, and the both of them stood up.

"The sons of the living eye are called to reveal themselves!" Dorian shouted, drawing his eightfold blade.

"The traitor of the blood has returned to the ancient clan," intoned a deep voice, seemingly from nowhere.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Riju.

"Yiga Clan," Barta growled and pulled out her scimitar and shield. "Show yourselves!"

"The sons of the living eye do not take heed the words of a foolish warrior of the sun." spat the disembodied voice.

"Do you heed the words of the father's son whose blood runs true?" called out Xan, not bothering to draw a weapon.

"The sons of the living eye have not seen reason to believe that a skychild would have true blood."

Xan deflated slightly.

"Beware, travelers, the eye of the Yiga!" roared the voice, and suddenly several Yiga blademasters appeared out of nowhere, flanked by footsoldiers.

"No!" cried Xan, as the Yiga warriors charged.

Link leapt to his feet, drawing the Master Sword and holding it aloft.

"You travel with the hero clad in the color of the Goddess," growled the voice again, which I assumed came from one of the blademasters.

I dove backward, grabbing Paya. We tumbled back until our backs were up against the stone, leaving us no escape. I watched as Dorian, Link and Barta fought valiantly, trying to find where Riju was.

When I found her, my heart leapt into my throat.

Riju was backed up against the wall, facing down a tall blademaster. She scrambled back, only to find no escape. The blademaster advanced on her, his windcleaver at the ready. My heart stopped, knowing that Link, Dorian and Barta were too far away to reach her in time, and neither I nor Paya were close enough to jump between Riju and the blade.

"No, no no no no no!" I thought, my eyes wide in horror. I was going to watch my friend die. After defeating Calamity Ganon and saving Hyrule, I still had to watch her die. "NO!"

Paya and I watched in absolute terror as the windcleaver was brought down, whooshing through the air with incredible force.

I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't, they stayed locked onto the form of Riju, watching the blade fall towards her.

Clang!

My eyes widened. Another blademaster had blocked the attack! I blinked, shocked. The second blademaster, who was slightly taller and seemed to be more regal looking- if that was a thing you could call a blademaster -drove the first back and I got a look at the the swords he was holding. Yes, swords. He had two, both the same size, that were black with some sort of design painted on in red, the ends an ethereal aqua. Strange. They appeared to almost glow, but I couldn't quite tell from here.

"The son whose blood is that of the first father commands you to lay down your arms!" a voice roared, one that I assumed came from the second blademaster.

Every Yiga soldier retreated quickly, sheathing their weapons and looking to the blademaster who had spoken.

"Return to the halls of the ancient clan who dwells within the rock, ye sons of the living eye." he commanded, his swords still drawn in warning.

The Yiga Clan warriors nodded and all disappeared, leaving not a trace of them behind.

"My Lady!" cried Barta, rushing to Riju and helping her up.

"I'm fine, Barta," Riju assured, standing up on her own. "Just a few scrapes from falling down."

"You," Barta addressed the blademaster who stood alone, swords still drawn. "I suppose I must thank you for saving the Lady Riju."

"No need," the blademaster said in a much less powerful voice. "I swore on the old mirror and the new gate I wouldn't betray you, didn't I?"

I stopped breathing. I hadn't even noticed Xan wasn't among us anymore. If I had, would I have seen him transform into the blademaster?

"Xan?" Riju gasped.

"Xantos, actually," Xan amended, waving his hands and vanishing his scimitars. "That's my full name. Xantos Shirimai."

"Did you know this?" Link asked Dorian, who was smiling.

"Of course I did," Dorian answered. "I knew Xantos when he was just a boy. I was part of the Yiga Clan, don't you remember?"

"Well, yes," Link rubbed his head. "And why did they all listen to you, Xan- Xantos?"

Xantos was silent for a few seconds.

"I'm the leader," he said softly.

"What!?" Link's eyes bulged. "But you're- b-but- but Kohga- I-I don't-"

"Master Kohga was my father," Xantos said, sighing. "I was banished by him for decided I didn't want to hunt the hero. I haven't been in the Yiga Hideout in years. My father told the Clan that I had simply gone away, as he was too much of a coward to admit that is own flesh and blood, the blood of those whose skin burns in sunlight, had defected. Now that I've returned, the Yiga answer to me."

"That's…new." Link muttered.

"What does 'the blood of those whose skin burns in the sunlight' mean?" Riju asked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively.

"It's just a saying," Xantos shrugged. "I don't know where it came from. It's been said about the Shirimai bloodline for centuries."

Just then I noticed something about the mask that Xantos was wearing. Instead of the typical Yiga eye, it was right side up, the Sheikah symbol.

"I think that's where the tradition of wearing a completely covering outfit, as it 'protects' you from sunlight." Xantos reached up and began to unfasten his mask. "I see no reason to continue to hide my face."

"You've shown your face before, though," Link frowned.

"You've seen my Hylian disguise," Xantos corrected. "My actual body and appearance is much different. Every Yiga member learns how to manipulate their appearance to...hide in plain sight so to say. I haven't reverted back to my actual form in a long time. I've mostly pretended to be Hylian and travelled the world, looking and acting like everyone else."

"Are the Yiga naturally larger than normal Sheikah?" I asked, walking over and sitting down back where I'd been originally.

"The tallest and strongest are always trained to be blademasters, while the smaller and lighter ones, usually the outsider Sheikah like Dorian was, are trained to be footsoldiers or bowmen." Xantos explained. "But yes, most of us are larger than normal Sheikah. The legend of our people says that we were descended from giants, though I don't really believe that."

"Interesting," I mused.

Xantos pulled his mask off, slipping the cords that tied it out of their knots and pulling back his hood. His skin was dark, not Gerudo dark, but darker than a Hylian's, with black tattoos in the shape of fangs underneath both of his eyes. His eyes weren't the typical Sheikah crimson, but instead a slight red-orange, and his pupils were not circular, but rather more slitted, like a cat's.

His hair was a dark red and pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. A few locks of hair framed his face, a little like Link's, though his were all the exact same length. As he swung his ponytail to rest over his shoulder, I realized all of his hair was like that. There were small sections cut to exactly the same length, giving his hair an almost geometric aesthetic. How strange. His ears were pointed like a Hylian's, but his were much longer and thinner. As I watched, his ears twitched slighty, indicating he'd heard something minute that our ears couldn't pick up.

"It's nice to finally be able to hear again," Xantos laughed, his ears tilting up slightly in his joviality. "With Hylian ears my hearing is a lot worse than with my normal ears. No offense to Hylians of course!"

Link grinned and I laughed. Paya smiled and leaned her head against Link's shoulder, content, while Riju examined Xantos with interest.

"I think we've tarried here long enough," Dorian announced, standing back up. "We ought to be on our way if we want to reach Gerudo Town by tomorrow evening."


When we reached the Gerudo Canyon Stable, the sun was directly in front of us, the light peeking through the fissure that was the canyon.

While we were on the road, Xantos had removed his outer tunic, leaving on the robe underneath that left his arms bare. His arms were covered in strange swirling black tattoos, almost like a pinto horse's markings, though these were much smoother. The black started at his neck, right behind his jaw, and continued down over his collar bone, disappearing underneath his robe. The tattoo swirled over his shoulder and bicep like smoke, before finally reached his hand, which was almost completely black.

I climbed down from Rhoam's saddle and led him over to the stalls, carefully removing his saddle and bridle and feeding him a few apples. I rubbed his nose affectionately, giving him a kiss before walking back to the others. When I reached them, the sun had set and twilight had filtered in, a peaceful peachy glow.

"Xantos!" Riju gasped, and I turned to look at the man she was talking about.

My eyes widened as I saw why Riju had exclaimed. There were strange aqua green designs snaking across the black tattoos on Xantos' shoulder and arm, glowing like the shrines.

"It is true," Dorian said in awe. "By the old mirror and the new gate, the son whose blood runs true is truly a son of Twilight!"

Xantos looked up, seeming a little embarrassed.

"I was born with them," he said softly. "The markings that is. They only light up at twilight, though."

"Indeed," Dorian mused.

Riju was looking more and more disturbed by the minute, so I figured I ought to go talk to her. I walked over, eyeing Link and Paya out of the corner of my eye. They were sitting by the cooking fire and Paya was trying to feed Link some rushrooms.

I looked away, the slight throb in my heart more pronounced.

"Riju?" I called. The Gerudo in question lifted her head.

"Yes, Zelda?" Riju tore her worried gaze from Xantos and stood up. "Did you need something?"

"I was wondering if you could spare a moment to talk with me?" I smiled, ignoring the jealousy that was simmering in my heart from seeing Link and Paya.

"Of course," Riju returned my smile with a knowing look.

We walked a little ways away, back down the canyon path until we reached the overhang.

"So, is it Link and Paya again?" Riju asked.

I looked down, embarrassed at being caught.

"Sort of," I shook my head, sighing. "I'll get over it. I might have been a princess, but that doesn't mean I get everything my way. Now, what I wanted to ask you about is why you looked so unnerved by Xantos?"

Riju shivered and looked back at the stable, where Xantos and Dorian were currently sparring.

"Those tattoos, the black ones," Riju whispered. "Nohansen has them too."

My eyes widened.

"Do his glow?" I asked, brows furrowing above my emerald eyes.

"I don't think so," Riju shook her head. "But it's just reminsicent of him. Same eye color too."

"Strange," I frowned, pulling at a lock of my golden hair.

We walked back to the stable in silence, myself pondering the connontations of this new development. I sat down beside Dorian, who'd gotten exhausted from sparring, and watched as Riju walked over to Xantos and said something I couldn't make out.

Xantos nodded and stood up, and the two walked away, probably to have a private conversation.

I headed into the stable to sleep before anyone else, tired from the excitement earlier. As I curled up in my blanket, I once again though about why Xantos would looked similar to Nohansen. And also why Zarikan's surname was Nohansen.

I drifted off around the time Paya and Link came in, and the last thing I remembered seeing before I fell asleep was Paya kissing Link's cheek.


"Zelda?"

I did not turn, I only continued to stare out at the hills of Hyrule field, bathed in the dying embers of twilight. I hated this time of day, mostly because it reminded me of him.

"Zelda, please," a hand brushed against mine.

I looked up to see Shad, his dark grey eyes swimming with concern. I did not need his concern.

"What is it, Shad?" I looked away, pulling my hand from under his.

"You are depressed," he stated, placing his hand over mine again. Why would he not leave me be?

"So I am," I agreed. "But it is not of your concern, scholar."

Shad flinched, though I was not sure if it was because of my rebuke, or because I did not call him by his given name.

"But it is of my concern," he protested, squeezing my hand. "Zelda, I care about you. I want to help you. It would be nice if you would let me."

I didn't respond, choosing to watch the twilight fade as the moon rose. Shad sighed, letting go of my hand. My hand felt empty and cold, but I ignored it.

"Please, Zelda." Shad whispered, his hands turning my face to his. "Let me help you."

I stared at him blankly.

"I do not need help," I said flatly, pulling my face away and walking back inside the castle. "It is best if you stop offering it."

I did not turn, because I did not want to see the crestfallen look on Shad's face. It did pain me to push him away, but I could not love him. Not how he wanted me to.

I was too in love with my enemy.

My dead enemy.

My dead husband.

What have I done?


(A/N) Such drama. Is Zelda Nohansen(Twilight Era) disturbing you yet? She's a strange soul, that's for sure.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review and tell me what you thought! (and also who you think Nohansen is, though from my perspective it's pretty obvious)

Thanks for reading! :3