Aquila: Well, it's been a bit longer since the last time I updated. I've gotten busier recently, but I'm certainly not stopping.
"Will you at least either admit you find me useless or actually start using my help?" Vasheel snapped at Impa. His palms were already covered with crescent marks as he dug his fingernails into the skin. It was all he could do not to shout at her more than he already had.
Her stern look only added to the tension as she slowly crossed her arms, studying him. "I already told you that what you have done was incredibly helpful – we've sabotaged the group's efforts to steal food supplies multiple times. It's just that what we are involved in is too dangerous for you."
He huffed. "You mean just because I'm not one of you-"
"I mean that the situations have a high risk of escalating into combat and I cannot guarantee your safety." Impa was breathing a bit more roughly, trying not to let the boy's barely-halted insult get to her. Now that he had actually accepted the idea of being part of their mission, his stubbornness had switched to being used to insist that he be involved in everything.
Vasheel had just opened his mouth to say something else when Sheik stepped between them. He backed towards Impa almost instantly when he became the recipient of a glare, but remained facing the other boy. "Look, we think we're getting close to stopping them, and then once we get to doing more investigation work you can come again."
Growling in the back of his throat, Vasheel continued to stare him down. While the Sheikah had placated him multiple times over the past few weeks, the fact that the promises were always the same was starting to grate on him. At least Impa was being honest in her bluntness. "Exactly what kind of plans do you even have that take that long to work? At the very least, I could fix those."
Sheik chewed on his lower lip. "We're just trying to be careful."
"Oh, so it isn't because you're afraid after all."
"Impa pulled Sheik beside her and addressed the other. "I doubt any input on our plans would be helpful if that is your idea of being constructive." Continuing, she talked over his growing anger. "Considering how patient you had been, I was going to mention that you should accompany us on another search for a temple because I was worried there might be some thieves' hideout near there, but since you clearly can't control yourself…" Purposefully trailing off, she allowed herself a slight show of amusement as she watched his reaction.
Vasheel's first instinct was to shout at her about why she hadn't said anything earlier, but realized the intent behind the remark. He pushed down the rising heat and pressure building in his chest and breathed. His eyes only left her when he was sure he could contain himself. "You don't say." The calm was still strained. Another round of breaths, tensing and relaxing muscles. He tried again. "That certainly sounds promising."
She nodded once as if satisfied, then turned to her student. "Are you alright to go now?" When he agreed, Impa led them out of the underground cavern they were in, replacing the woven grass and vines covered in dirt, rocks, and more grass that hid the entrance.
As they walked, they fell into a rhythm of Impa guiding while Sheik varied from being right behind her to next to Vasheel. A few times he made some leading comment and once a direct question about some plant they passed, but Vasheel stayed quiet, only making minimal sounds in response. He was still more irritated than usual because of before. The edge was heightened by the fact that last time they had met up, Sheik had asked some seemingly innocuous question about his family and he had snapped at it. Only when they stopped by the edge of a river did Vasheel stop silently ignoring his surroundings and look at where they were.
"You're kidding," he muttered, wrinkling his nose.
Impa's forward gaze betrayed no emotion. "This is indeed risky, but we have no choice. The longer we wait, the more likely it becomes that Ganondorf will return, and at that point it will be impossible to safely get to the temple."
Sheik shot him a concerned look upon noticing the way he was backing up from the broken remnants of the drawbridge into what was once Castle Town. He had a lot of bad memories associated with this place himself, but the town itself shouldn't be anything to be afraid of.
"I'm not going in there." There was no trace of anger or irritation in his voice, although he tried to sound so. He couldn't hide the small tremors that his body made as he continued to back up.
Impa put a hand on Sheik's shoulder and shook her head at him. "Very well. Wait somewhere nearby for us. We won't be long." She thought for a moment, adding, "Then perhaps we can discuss our strategy for the lake town."
Once Vasheel was out of sight, Sheik turned to her. "Why did you stop me?"
She sighed. "I know you meant to help, but I can tell saying anything or pushing would only have made it worse." For the first time, Sheik thought she actually looked sympathetic towards the boy. "Besides, we're bound to have our own difficulties going through here." Offering her hand, Impa led him through the gate.
XXXXXXXX
The first thing that Sheik noticed was the noise. Or rather, the lack of it. Even in the relative emptiness of the fields, at the very least there were birds and insects. As they made their way around the buildings, he found himself unable to deny how even his light footsteps echoed around the area.
Impa tightened her grip on his hand the further they went through, increasing her pace as she led him on the most direct route she knew. Despite her mind telling her there couldn't possibly be any life in the area, she couldn't stop the sense that something was watching them.
A beam of wood slid off the roof, landing in front of them. Impa yanked Sheik behind her and dropped her weight, scanning the everywhere for any sign of other movement. When nothing else happened, she inched forward, every muscle tensed.
Sheik didn't even bother to try to get out of her grip, as awkward as it was to walk so close behind her that not tripping over her took all his concentration. He only looked up upon registering the change in the floor from cobblestones to smooth marble. They were in the Temple of Time. A few moments of standing inside the temple proper allowed enough of its light magic to soak into him that he felt secure enough to speak. "It's like the place is dead."
Impa frowned. She knew why he would think to call it that, since the princess's main experiences of the place had been views of its business from afar. But she had witnessed what a truly dead place was like. At this point, though, she wasn't confident that it would be better or worse than how absolutely empty Castle Town was. It was too perfectly untouched by anything but the weather for her liking. There hadn't even been any weeds growing in cracks in the street or sides of buildings. "We must keep our guard up on the way back. Thank Nayru we only have this one task to perform."
Taking her hint, Sheik walked further inside. This time, he knew exactly what he was doing, and they could be leaving in less than an hour. But the sight of the far wall, the open Door of Time beyond the altar where the Spiritual Stones sat, stopped him as he had to force himself to breathe. Memories of their last visit came to him, unbidden.
After the initial meeting with Link, she had snuck out with Impa's help to check on the place. Everything had seemed so sure back then. All they had to do was keep the stones away from Ganondorf, and he would be powerless to continue his plans. Even when the attack on the castle forced her to flee and leave the ocarina in Link's possession, she had never imagined that things could have gone so wrong.
She had been a fool then, to just assume that things would go so well, considering her ignorance of everything. That was why, this time, he refused to leave things up to chance. While the prophetic dreams he still had from time to time suggested his role should remain one of passively informing the hero, he wasn't so trusting in fate as before. But that would have to wait until the time was right.
Sheik finally choked down the urge to cry, bracing himself to walk around the altar and toward the Pedestal of Time. It was empty now, the sword being with Link as he waited out the years.
Pushing his bangs out of his face, he looked up into the stained glass above. What was it now, three years left? Maybe even closer to two. He could hardly believe he had actually lost track. Sheik stepped around the spot, whispering the name of each sage's symbol as he passed it. Shadow, Spirit, Water, Fire, Forest, finally stopping once he reached Light. It was the only one not to have its respective temple also serve as a dungeon since the sage was already awakened, being the only surviving member of those who had been called to attend to the land during the wars. Sheik could faintly sense him here, aided by recognition. They had briefly met when Sheik had awakened himself as leader of the sages.
"It's nice to have a visitor after so long."
Sheik startled in his meditative state. He had been concentrating on his magic again, practicing to try to break through and get his mind into the Sacred Realm. Now it seemed to have worked.
The voice came into his head again. "Why don't you open your eyes so we can speak face-to-face?"
He did so, with some initial difficulty as his body resisted movement after sitting still for so long. Or at least because that was what he expected would happen. His physical form remained in the cavern with Impa – this was a projection of himself. Vision revealed that he was in a semi-lit chamber, seemingly with no walls or ceiling. A constant stream of water fell from the sides of the platform, although the center area he sat on was raised above it. When he turned, there was an old man standing across from him on a circular gold platform. A name fell into his mind as smoothly as water over glass. "Rauru?"
The man gave a slow, graceful bow of his head. "Indeed. Although I must say, I was expecting the princess."
"I am the princess," he retorted, although it had less force than he intended. Sheik stood, gesturing at himself as if to justify his statement. Not that he looked the part, barefoot and dressed in an approximation of a child's Sheikah uniform, baggy blues and grays with the bold eye symbol in red. Although he supposed his body was the bigger detractor. The appearance-altering spell had been the first thing they'd worked on once in a place of relative safety. She'd insisted on being Sheikah, "just like you, Impa!" and had agreed to being a boy to enhance the disguise, although his lack of discomfort about it made him feel odd considering it as a false appearance. Even then, the changes on a ten-year-old weren't drastic; what took the longest getting used to was contrast of red eyes against his dark skin.
"Hmm, yes, of course." The way his eyebrows remained arched betrayed some hesitance, but he continued. "Well, it is an honor to finally meet our leader. You have a long path ahead of you, especially for one so young. Unfortunately, I have little to offer besides my trust and the hope the Goddesses will guide you to a path of peace." He smiled, the same kind of small, sad smile that Sheik had gotten used to seeing on Impa over the past few weeks, before bowing once more and fading away.
Sheik drew forth his harp again and played, using the presence as an anchor. Ages seemed to pass as almost-memories flickered past him, blossoming and fading with each note until the song ended. He shifted his sight from magical to normal senses and found himself back near the entrance, still on the Light symbol, just as part of another stone platform. A hand was offered to him, and he stepped off toward Impa.
She slid an arm over his shoulder in a side hug and led him out of the temple and into town. There, they switched so they were facing opposite one another, on alert for signs of life. This time, the silence was only broken when they reached the field and exhaled together.
Vasheel was easy enough to locate, sitting in the branches of a nearby tree. Close enough, but still hidden. He did jump at the sound of their approach, but recovered quickly enough to slide down to them as soon as they got there. The nervousness he had left them with was completely gone, replaced with his usual confidence. "I have a plan."
"Oh?" While Impa was wary of what he might suggest, at least this was more comfortable to deal with than the odd mood from earlier. She moved them behind a row of bushes that hid them from view and sat, indicating for them to join her.
Before they could properly settle, Vasheel pounced on them, spreading papers flat on the grass. "Show me exactly where you've intercepted them, with details of each encounter." The now-lit lantern joined the maps on the ground, its clunk on impact punctuating his enthusiasm.
She tapped two of the marks along the trade routes. "Here, a week and a half ago, and here a week before that, most recently. It's always been five of them aiming for small carriages of two or three, never anything they couldn't outnumber. We had scouted locations ahead of time and used what we thought to be dates," she indicated a few numbers written on the spots, "to find out when to strike."
"Not going to work for much longer," Vasheel mused, leaning over the paper to study all the other markings. "They're bound to be suspicious already, all these direct attacks."
"They weren't direct." Impa nudged the light closer. "We arrived earlier than them and waited. Then, we simply made it seem as though they were getting in their own way. Someone tripping at an important moment, a throw that just missed its target, being just a little too noisy not to be noticed." Her smile was amplified by the firelight. "Small things, but enough to ruin plans."
His eyes widened. "Make them think it's their own incompetence. They wouldn't even consider an outside force. You managed all that without detection?"
"The Sheikah aren't known as the Shadow Tribe for nothing. Years of training."
Vasheel's expression didn't change, but he nodded, eyes closed. "Yes, but is that enough to stop them permanently? What would you do if you felt it was your underlings' lack of ability that was hindering you?"
Impa frowned. "Increase their training. Ensure they gained the necessary skills before attempting anything else."
"Or get rid of them, but either way," he said, almost bored, "it's not going to stop their leader."
She sat up straight, crossing her arms. "And I suppose you know what will?"
Vasheel grinned, the kind that stood out brightly, even with his pale skin. It gave an impression of teeth slightly sharper than they were. "Of course."
XXXXXXXX
A small flame illuminated the interior of the hut outside the lake town, its flickering the only evidence the place was occupied. Vasheel stared the window down as he hunched over the edge of the hill, counting the seconds with the rolling taps of his fingertips. For this to work, the timing had to be right.
A few taps too many had him clenching his jaw until noises from the far end of the building signaled the first arrival. The door opened, barely long enough to have let someone out but still enough for the light to show. At this range, he could only make out shouting. But this was as close as he dared.
As it continued, he made a low growl under his breath. If the other didn't appear in a few seconds, they would have deviated too far from his calculations and the whole thing would be a loss. Tension spread through him as he raised his shoulders.
He was so wound up that when something moved next to him, Vasheel only managed not to scream and attack it because of how quickly he was restrained.
"Where's Sheik?" Impa lifted her hand barely an inch away from his mouth so he could whisper, still not letting go of his arms.
"I don't know, but if he's been found, this isn't going to work." His only movement was the continual drumming to keep time.
Her grip on the area just above his elbow tightened, to the point where he suspected it might start bruising. "We'd have more to worry about than that if anything happens to him." She pulled him closer to the ground. "And keep down; you're quite visible."
Vasheel started. "I'm far away enough that they couldn't possibly see me." A thought came to him, and he frowned. "I don't understand how you even found me so easily. It's not like I told you exactly where I-"
"Ssh." Impa covered his mouth again. "It's really only working because they're not looking this way. It takes skill to be able to hide from someone who knows what to look for." She tilted her head up slightly. "The other's here."
The resumption of shouts hid any other sounds until Sheik appeared in front of them, panting. "Done."
She nodded. "Alright. Second step. We need to be quick about it."
Vasheel slid out of her loosened grip as though he could have done so at any time, brushing his sleeves off and not looking at them. "I'm going with you this time. Things are messed up as it is and I'm not going to let anything happen that I could have prevented."
Impa stared at him blankly.
By this point, Sheik had recovered enough breath to interject. "No offense, but there's a reason why that wasn't part of the original plan. You're kind of a liability." The last part was said quieter, hesitantly. He mentally prepared for the other's reaction, and was therefore surprised when Vasheel simply tugged at the edge of his collar and said, "fine. You should hurry, though."
"…okay." Pausing as Impa left, Sheik glanced back at the other, who was intently studying the hut.
Not even bothering to look away, he waved a hand. "Shoo, go to your task."
Sheik shrugged before taking off, keeping to the far left of the path, stopping where it diverged towards town and the lake. He spent a few minutes appraising the area, then moved to a spot on the lake side that would be just within an average person's vision in the dark before stepping back off the road.
What was probably a few minutes passed as he waited for a signal to start. A rustling behind him prompted a jump that ended with landing on another person. He sighed. "Really?"
Vasheel made a noise somewhere between a growl and a hiss. "You honestly believe I would have chosen to stay? You're even more gullible than I thought."
"I'd be more surprised, but this is exactly something you'd do." Instead of releasing him, Sheik shifted his weight so he was sitting on Vasheel's back, effectively trapping him since his arms and legs had been curled under him. "Now be quiet and stop fidgeting. You're better off here at the moment because at least then I can make sure you won't be noticed." He leaned in close to Vasheel's face, smirking. "If you don't stop, then you won't even have the chance to blame me if this fails. In case you forgot, I'm supposed to be doing things besides looking after you."
As the continued struggles began to make it difficult for him to remain steady, Sheik pulled them both into sitting upright, making a few quick jabs at Vasheel before he could escape. Seeing the venomous expression he gave when he noticed the effects, Sheik held his hands out in front of him. "You haven't exactly given me a choice, okay. Besides, it's not permanent." With a quick glance to make sure he was enough out of the way, Sheik left Vasheel, hurrying back to his position by the road.
XXXXXXXX
No matter how hard he struggled, Vasheel still couldn't fight the sudden lack of sensation that had spread throughout his limbs. None of them were responding. It wasn't that they had gone numb; he wasn't even sure if he would notice if one of them was injured, there was so little sensory input. It was incredibly disconcerting, since it drastically reduced where he was receiving input from, and since he was using the same amount of attention, those sensations seemed amplified. In particular was the roughness of grass against the side of his face and neck, which was normally tolerable, but now made him want to scream. Besides that, his bangs had shifted and were now covering most of his face rather than just one side. Vasheel forced himself to ease his breathing. He had to distract himself.
How had the Sheikah even managed to do this in the first place? He had read descriptions of paralysis-inducing potions, but that had been the only way as far as he knew, and even then they could inflict permanent damage if made too strongly. Perhaps it had to do with the areas of the body. Sheik had appeared to be concentrating on accuracy when hitting, so it could mean that they controlled sensation, or at least those connections.
He growled. This wasn't really getting him anywhere besides frustrating him more, since it upset him that someone else had knowledge he didn't, especially in this area. How dare they use that against him to leave him like this. He wasn't some child who couldn't take care of themself. The plan was his, and they just-
A sudden flare of light froze him completely. Shit. It was awfully close to him, and he thought he could make out a number of figures. There was no way he wouldn't be found, and thanks to that headache, he was completely defenseless. His mind raced as he went through options. No matter who it was, he wouldn't be getting out of this alive. His breathing came in gasps as he tried to contain himself from completely losing over to panic, desperately trying to find a solution.
Then he heard the shouting. Had he been noticed? Vasheel found some of his energy turning to anger. He couldn't fight now, but they wouldn't kill him immediately, so there was always a chance…
The light shifted, gradually fading as it moved away from him, taking the voices with it. Vasheel laid there for a moment, confusion growing. By the time his heart had slowed towards normal, he remembered, breaking into a shuddering laugh. In getting so upset, he'd momentarily forgotten his own plan. He'd never been in danger.
Another while of stillness finally gave his rationality enough voice to start analyzing the situation again. As far as he could tell, things had worked on this side, which was promising. He was curious, though. Vasheel had thought he understood Sheik's abilities, but that illusion had to have taken massive amounts of magic to sustain, and considering where he thought the Sheikah's skills and magical capacity to be, it should have been impossible. The more he recognized how much he didn't know about both of those two, the more he was questioning continuing to be involved with them as he was. Besides, they had a lot of valuable information that he could certainly benefit from.
Vasheel did his best to stretch his neck and shoulders as he waited, his mind occupied with thoughts of how best to approach the idea.
XXXXXXXX
Sheik had felt slightly bad about just leaving Vasheel, but there hadn't been enough time to get through his head that he would be in the way. Especially once you factored in dealing with his reaction to said explanation. He forced the feelings to the side and concentrated on what was in front of him. No-one had appeared yet, thank the goddesses, but he had to be absolutely prepared for when they did. Hands clasped together, Sheik tried to concentrate on generating magic and ignore their shakiness. In a moment, he had a store built up, eventually pushing it to hopefully be enough to be sufficient for when he needed access to it right away. This was still new to him, and he prayed he hadn't messed it up.
Whispering and the sounds of hurried movement came from down the road. Probably on schedule, but Sheik had completely lost track of that a while ago. That didn't matter now, though. He began pushing magical energy into his open palms, shivering as the warmth in his body moved with it. Careful, not so fast. Just as the faint outlines of individual people appeared in his vision, he released the spell, casting an illusion around himself. The light forced him to blink rapidly to regain sight, but when he could see again, it seemed to be a passable construct. Not from where he was, but it would certainly convince the already-frightened observers from their distance. The spell gave the impression of a small crowd, distant and carrying lanterns. Mostly, it was large, dark shapes around a few spots of light.
The people had skidded to a halt, louder now. Nothing intelligible, although it seemed like they were arguing about what to do.
Sheik grinned and, with an effort that momentarily dizzied him, shifted the illusion forward, slowly approaching them. He had to contain himself as they bolted back the way they'd come as soon as they noticed, powering his continued efforts on that amusement. Once they reached the point where the road split and went back towards the hideout, he dropped the magic, stumbling. There was a moment when he considered going back for Vasheel right away, but decided he was exhausted enough. Sheik retraced his earlier route until he met up with Impa just outside the hut. "What's happening?"
She nodded in the direction of the building. "It's working out just as we'd hoped. Where's Vasheel?"
He bit his lip. "He followed me, so I kind of had to persuade him to stay put for his own good."
"I expected as much." Her mouth dipped into a frown as the sight in front of her. "Interesting."
While Sheik had been drawing all the thieves back to one location, Impa had gone into town and made it seem as though they were sneaking around there, alerting the townspeople, who followed it towards the hideout. When the group had realized they were in danger of discovery, they had tried to run out a different way, only to find it blocked by other approaching people. In this way, Impa and Sheik had kept them trapped long enough to be caught by the real townspeople.
At the moment, the village soldiers were being directed to arrest them by a tall, sharp-featured woman who stood in the doorway, occasionally turning to speak with someone searching the interior.
"Is she…?" Impa whispered, trailing off when she noticed Sheik paying attention to her.
Pointing to the woman, he explained, "That's the mayor's bodyguard. She's also in charge of the town's defense. I did some digging on her, since she was the one the leader was most paranoid about."
She hummed lightly. "I recognize her: she was a new recruit at the castle not long before. Brighter than most of them."
Sheik leaned forward. "You think she'll be alright dealing with them?"
"Likely." Her previous frown deepened and her nose twitched the same way as whenever he had tried to get out of something. "Considering their resources and having no-one to report to, they'll probably execute the lot. Entirely unnecessary, but they would see that as their best option."
"Good." He was scowling and his eyes were icy, distant.
It took a moment of closing her eyes before she could respond, in a warning tone. "Sheik, please dear."
He didn't move.
"Sheik." Impa put her hand on top of his left one, which was clenched into a fist. Nothing more was said, but as the townspeople left with their prisoners and her grip stayed firm, she felt his tension gradually ease. Once his hand loosened, she curled hers around it. Tilting her head towards his when he leaned into her shoulder, she sighed lightly.
"We should probably go get Vasheel."
XXXXXXXX
The final vestiges of paralysis were just leaving his body as the two Sheikah returned. Vasheel bounced his leg as he watched them approach. He hadn't been able to come up with a way of asking for information that didn't sound either forceful or apologetic. So, he had decided that he might as well be honest and hope they understood the benefits of actually listening to him. "Well?" His face stayed neutral, but the tone had a hint of expectancy.
Sheik stopped a ways from him, while Impa stood over him, inspecting his movements. "Everything worked as planned. They have all been apprehended, and won't be causing any more trouble."
He grinned. "Of course. My ideas always work out." Standing up and rolling his shoulders, he yawned. "Shall we, then?"
As they went, Sheik attempted to keep a faster pace without making it obvious. No doubt at some point Vasheel was going to confront him for what he'd done earlier, and he really wanted to avoid that for as long as possible. Therefore, he flinched when Vasheel nudged his side.
"I saw your spell," he murmured, "based on what I'd seen before, I wouldn't have thought you were capable of something on that scale."
"Well, since you told us your plan, I've been practicing it," Sheik admitted, still on guard for an outburst.
Vasheel took a step closer. "And I can't begin to imagine where you learned where to incapacitate someone so efficiently. Not to mention that I didn't notice you until you chose for me to."
"Alright, what do you want from me?" It was either that or he had accidentally messed with Vasheel's head when he hit him. This was getting ridiculous.
He scoffed. "You think I would bother with flattery if I only wanted something? I was simply admitting that I recognize your competence. Is that so hard to understand?" Admittedly, he understood why the Sheikah had said it, but he also took offense to the fact that the concept of him being capable of being nice was apparently so foreign.
Sheik paused. All of it had actually been said in a genuine tone, but it was so unexpected coming from Vasheel that he didn't know how to react. Noticing that Impa had started to pay more attention to the conversation from the way she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, Sheik did his best not to sound flustered. "Fine. While we're admitting things, that plan of yours was really well-thought out and smart."
Rather than throwing him off, the comment only made Vasheel shrug, giving Sheik a smug grin.
"Look, it's not as if I'm used to you acting like this," he stammered, beginning to think this was just his way of getting revenge.
Stepping back towards Sheik when he tried to move away, Vasheel smiled even more. He couldn't help himself, since Sheik's reactions were just too enjoyable. "Would you prefer it if I went back to criticizing you?"
"No!" He immediately closed his mouth upon realizing how he'd reacted. In an attempt to end the conversation, he crossed his arms and glared deliberately in the opposite direction.
They walked in silence for a while before Vasheel decided it was safe to continue. "Alright, look. I was serious when I said that. I also have to admit that you know some valuable skills, and I want to know how they work."
At this point, Impa decided to step in. She studied Vasheel. "Are you asking us to teach you?" When he reluctantly nodded, she huffed. "Well, then. I never would have thought you would want anything to do with Sheikah training." Her voice took on an amused tone at the way he startled at the word. "Very well, then." She continued ahead to them. "I'll just have to figure out how best to work this."
