The ninja stopped outside of a well. He looked up at Link and Navi, then nodded down the stone shaft.

"You're kidding, right?" Link said.

The ninja shook his head, taking Link's hand and pressing a small object into it. It looked like a small magnifying glass.

"How do we know we can trust you?" He asked. "You've helped us, yeah, but how do we know you're on our side?" The ninja just stood there, glaring at him with those steely red eyes. "I mean, you don't even talk. Can you even talk?"

He nodded slowly.

"Well, then, say something! Tell us who the hell you are! Seriously, at least tell me your name."

The ninja thought a moment before shaking his head. He pointed down the well once more, then bounded off into the night.

"Wait, you're not going to stick around to help us?" The retreating figure didn't even look back.

Navi shrugged. "Guess not," she said. "Think we can trust him?"

"We have no choice," Link said, examining the lens the ninja had handed him. "He seems to have some sense of what's going on. I just really hope he's on our side."

He started down the well ladder, Navi following him. The well was surprisingly well-lit. He wouldn't have expected the small electrical lights lining the wall. He reached the bottom and turned to look down the long hallway at the bottom.

Something dawned on him. The lights and hallway wouldn't be here if it was just a mere well. Wells didn't have the stone structure anymore, and they had never been designed with electrical lights or hallways. This was no well. This was something far more important.

"I think this is a sealing chamber," Navi said quietly. "Someone locked something down here." She looked at Link. "By the way, what exactly was that that he gave you?"

Link pulled out the lens and looked through it. "Not sure. I dunno, it just makes everything look a different color. Sort of a purple tint." He stuffed it back into his pocket. "I have no clue why he gave it to me."

They approached a door at the end of the hallway, a tattered scrap of paper attached to it. "Yeah," Navi said, examining the paper, "that's definitely a seal. I really don't think we should trust this guy, Link. I mean, it looks like he's telling you to break the seal."

Link looked back down the hallway. There was nothing else there. Just the well, the hall, and the door. "Yeah, looks that way."

"So now what?"

Link thought a moment. "Well, he helped us against Dodongo. I think I'm going to take a chance with this one." He drew his sword and kicked the door open. Navi swore and jumped back.

He slowly started into the room, looking around carefully. They were in a large, dimly lit chamber. The door behind them was the only portal in or out. Navi pushed out from behind him, stepping forward in confusion. "There's nothing here," she said.

"Yeah, guess the seal was old or something. It was probably some sort of test of loyalty."

"I just don't get it," she said. A moment later, she screamed as she was lifted into the air by some unseen force.

"Navi!" Link yelled in shock. He darted forward before freezing. How could he face an enemy he couldn't see?

"Link, something's got me!" she called, struggling against invisible bonds of some sort. "It's like a giant hand is squeezing me!"

"Just calm down, Navi!" he called to her. Even as he yelled it, though, he knew he was being hypocritical. It was impossible for either of them to be calm. The mysterious ninja had betrayed them and led them straight into a trap.

He stepped towards Navi cautiously, sword raised before him. He couldn't see what had her, but he at least knew the general direction.

That's when something slammed into him from behind. He swore. Whatever was down here, there was more than one of them. He turned and swung wildly at whatever had knocked him to the ground, his sword meeting no resistance. He was hitting nothing.

The force hit him from the side this time, sending him sprawling. His sword flew from his hand, clattering on the ground. He groaned and reached out for it, his hand landing on something. He grasped it instinctively, and found that it was the small lens the ninja had given him. Wait, is this the key? he thought, picking up his sword with his left hand. Maybe the ninja gave him the lens for a reason.

He peered through it, seeing immediately what he had not been able to before. A giant, wormlike body with a face consisting entirely of an eye looked back at him. A giant disembodied hand clutched Navi. The other….

He turned, lashing out at the hand approaching behind him. His blade slashed it across the palm. The appendage started writing in pain. He looked back at the main body of the creature. It looked back, suddenly nervous.

"Link!" Navi gasped. "Link, it's squeezing me!"

Link felt the heat of the two pendants around his neck as he charged forward. With a yell, he threw the sword as hard as he could. Through sheer luck, or perhaps divine providence, the tip pierced the giant eye perfectly. The body tossed its neck back, and the giant hand clutching Navi released its grip. Link was prepared, and managed to catch her now-unconscious body. He set her on the ground, waited for the creature to stop writhing, and yanked his sword out the body.

He wiped his sword off and turned back to check on Navi. The blue-clad ninja had materialized beside her. Dangling from his fist, at the end of his outstretched arm, was a small, blue orb.

The ninja tossed the Pendant of Wisdom to him, and he caught it. He slipped it around his neck, careful not to let his eyes off the masked figure. "Thanks, I guess," he said, slipping around to the chamber's door. "But seriously, who the hell are you? I'm really starting to wonder if I can trust you."

The mysterious man, in a quick motion, cast another deku nut at Link's feet. A second later, he felt a strong wind inside the chamber, and when his vision cleared, the ninja was gone. There was no way he could have gotten past Link with him blocking the door. He would have noticed. It was like he had simply vanished into thin air. Link groaned and hurried over to Navi. Wedged in the ground by the unconscious girl was a flechette, pinning a scrap of paper to the floor. Link ripped it off and read it.

Link,

I am Sheik, the last of the Sheikah ninjas. I know that you feel you cannot trust me. That is understandable. You wonder how I keep finding you. That is also understandable. Let's just say that I have access to information from Senator Zelda, and that's really all I can say at this moment.

You have all the pendants now, so the obvious next step is to visit the Temple of Time. I know you have maps there, and your guide could probably find it easily anyway. However, after you finish there, it is essential that you visit a place called the Happy Mask Shop. The owner will explain.

On the back was scrawled a crude map from the Temple of Time to the Happy Mask Shop. Link stared at the note, even less sure that he should trust Sheik.

At his feet, Navi stirred. "By Farore!" she gasped as she sat up. "Thanks, Link, I was sure I was a goner. Man, I just wish I could have seen how you beat that thing."

"Well, I could see it using that lens the ninja gave me. And then I threw my sword into its face." He grinned. "It was pretty cool."

"Sounds pretty cool, yeah. Did you get the Pendant of Wisdom?"

Link held it up. "That ninja gave it to me. Here, check this out." He showed her the note.

"Whoa!" she yelped in glee. "He's a Sheikah? That's awesome! I've only ever read about them! I didn't know they were still around!"

"Yeah, well, it sounds like he's the last one. For now, at least."

She shook her head. "Man, that's just so cool! So, Temple of Time?"

He nodded. "Temple of Time. I think I'm finally ready for the Master Sword."

A phone rang. The bald man who owned it sighed in annoyance, picking up the receiver with a gloved hand. "Yes?"

"I was just calling to check on your progress," came the voice on the other end. "Senator Zelda really must be taken care of quickly, before she catches on to me."

Sakon smiled. His employer. "Of course, Senator Ganondorf. I believe you will be happy to learn that I have set up a…shall we say a 'date' with the senator tonight."

Ganondorf chuckled. "Cole certainly did well to stumble across you."

"I'm happy with him. He finds fun games for me to play."

"Games, huh? Well, I certainly hope you beat the senator tonight," the man said.

"Of course," Sakon replied. "After all, I have never lost."

Link and Navi stood staring up at the cathedral before them. "So this is the Temple of Time, huh?" Link said.

"You bet," Navi responded. "The largest and oldest temple to Nayru, and the rumored resting place of the Master Sword."

Link nodded and pulled open one of the giant double doors, slipping quietly inside. He had no idea what to expect anymore.

He had no sooner entered than a large man near the front of the temple turned. "Link!" he called out. Link looked around. There was no one else in the temple, so the man had to be talking to him. "Link, we've been waiting for you! My name is Rauru, Sage of Light. Follow me. I'll lead you to the others."

"How do you know my name," Link asked.

Rauru chuckled. "I'm a sage. I have almost unlimited knowledge and wisdom."

Link felt like that wasn't the only answer. He looked at the man more closely. Something about him seemed strangely familiar. "Do I know you?" Link asked. "I feel like we've met before."

Rauru nodded. "We have indeed."

"When? I don't quite remember."

Rauru shook his head. "No, of course you don't. I'm sorry, Link. That's my fault. I know you don't remember anything beyond waking up with that sword you have there, on the streets, left to fend for yourself. I really wish it didn't have to be that way, but abandoning you was the only way to keep Ganon from finding you. I had hoped all your memories would have been gone, but it seems you can still recognize those closest to you."

Link stopped walking. This man knew his past. He knew why Link had come from, and how he had ended up on the streets. More importantly, it seemed like he was the cause for at least some of it. "Who are you?" he asked.

Rauru sighed. "Part of me had hoped to avoid this question. Another part has been waiting for you to ask it for years." The sage took a deep breath, turned to face him, and spread his arms wide. "Link…I'm your father."