**All Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Book Two in the Doppelganger Trilogy
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Shadow Kingdom
by The Wolfess

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Chapter Twelve: Duty of the Guardian

A dry wave of heat shimmered like a mirage over the Gerudo Desert horizon as the sun lifted to its morning perch. Dawn light painted the walls of the imposing prison complex bright white and gold and drove the Bulbins out into the open air for patrol. Within the compound, there was no change in light or tone. No indication that time was moving or standing still. The wolf pack stayed with their dying sister, a family curled together in sorrow while their Alpha male stalked the border of the room, his eye rimmed with worry and peering into the darkness of the haunted prison.

He was edgy. They all had picked up on that. His body was tensed as a wound coil, his eyes sharp and quick. Every twitch of tail, every brushing of sand, every hollow wind through the doorway drew his attention. Where were they, he wondered. Why had they not returned? He could no longer smell them deep in the temple. Their scent trail faded from his sight. But he had made a promise—he would stay with the wolves until Adrienne crossed over. He would wait patiently and trust the Sheikah to guard his princess in his absence.

At the foot of the golden statue of the Gerudo snake goddess, a single tile was missing. Stale, sandy air moved in and out of the opening like a sleeper's steady breath. If Link went to find his companions while their scent trail was still fresh, he would find that it disappeared in that hole. Far below the two females lay crumpled together in the vast darkness of a hidden chamber beneath the Arbiter's Grounds.

Ikal was the first to wake. She coughed, her throat dry and scratchy with sand and dust as her golden eye blinked open. When she reoriented herself, all she could see was blackness and a faint, tiny point of light far above their heads—the hole the two wolves had fallen through. She sat still and gently moved parts of her body one by one to see if she had seriously injured anything. By the time she finished, determining that she was a little sore but otherwise okay, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness.

In the faint light, Ikal could see that she and Zelda had fallen on the open palm of a large woman made out of partially-colored sandstone. The black wolf carefully inched toward the edge to peer over and saw that most of the light came from two torches flickering on either side of a large opened chest down on the tiled floor. In front of the chest, staring straight forward, was a figure in white that Ikal could not quite make out, even with her advanced sight.

Seeing that the figure didn't move, Ikal wrote it off as a statue and looked at the chamber they found themselves in. There were two stairways on either side of the room opposite them connecting to gated doors at the top and bottom of the stairways. In between the stairs was another door on the floor. Other than a few ancient Armos statues, the main feature of the room was the floor-to-ceiling sculpture of the same snake goddess featured in the room above. This rendition was a much older one whose body seemed to be wearing down. The face of the statue was simultaneously woman and snake. It seems to have been partially crumbed at some point, but mostly reconstructed. From the head, the body of a snake wound down the woman's length at such an angle that Ikal figured she and Zelda could slide down it and reach the tiled floor safely.

"Hn…ugh, Ikal?"

Ikal turned and nuzzled Zelda's neck. "I'm here Zelda."

"Why is it so dark? Where are we?" Zelda said, moving carefully.

"Your eyes will adjust soon, Princess. There are torches below, but their light is faint in the darkness of this large room. We stand on a small platform, so do not move far until your eyes adjust."

There was silence in the room for a moment, then a soft "oh, I see. Zelda stood up and looked around as Ikal had. "Oh my," she said. "I know where we are—but how could it be?"

Ikal looked over at the white figure to see if it had moved, which it hadn't. Perhaps it was just a statue. "Well, I assumed you were going to inform me."

"Forgive me," said the red wolf. "We appear to be in the main worship chamber of the Spirit Temple. Located deep within the Gerudo Desert, the Gerudo women used to worship their deity here. The Hero of Time located the mirror shield and the last sage in this temple."

"But didn't the Hero's Journal locate those two structures in different locations?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes…but he never went to the Spirit Temple in his returned life. Many things were different. The demonic carvings in the Arbiture's Grounds seemed older than the Hyrulian Insignias, and Hylians would never erect statues of the Gerudo goddess in solid gold throughout their prison complex. It is possible that either the Gerudo or the neighboring kingdom Hyrule merged with built the prison over the Spirit Temple, which Princess Zelda the First later claimed for Hyrule."

"Seems like a long shot, but possible. There are no other records of that time period?"

"None but the Hero's Journal and a few records containing censuses and royal ordinances," Zelda said. "No common history books to record minor historical points like the conversion of a temple to a prison. Such documents must have been destroyed either in the Hyrulian Civil War or the war against Ganondorf."

"I suppose the fact that this is here, hidden under the Arbiter's Grounds, is proof enough," Ikal said. She then gestured to the part of the snake tail nearest to them. "This tail has an incline gentle enough for us to slide down it onto the ground below. There is a white figure standing down there. I cannot tell if it is a sentient being or just a statue. There is something strange about it."

Zelda nodded and glanced at the figure. "Well, no use in waiting. Here we go," she said. The princess stepped onto the snake tail first, spreading the pads of her toes far apart as she slid down, her ears back and her tail held out of the way. She reached the bottom coughing, lungs full of sand and dust, but otherwise okay. Ikal followed after, shaking the sand from her black fur when she had regained her footing on the tiled floor below.

"Hai-žésaš, bi žavt," said a voice behind them. They turned to look at the speaker. Now that they were on her level, the torches lighting the room nicely from down there, the two wolves could see the white figure clearly. She was an average height Gerudo woman with chin-length red hair clad the white garb of a Gerudo Guard. Though in the Hero of Time's era this sight would have been nothing special, Zelda and Ikal had never seen a real-life Gerudo before and, therefore, were amazed.

"Kwitųt-samkir, bi müslaržésa, hash? Kat, va rekikon, kaléb, žavt bi?"

"What is she saying, Zel? I could make out something about staring." Ikal said, squinting her eye at the Gerudo. "I can't see anything in her, Zelda. I do not think that she is alive…."

"That is…unsettling news." Zelda said. "She said 'why do you stare, Chosen Ones? Have you not come to clear the trial?' To give a loose translation. "

"What does she mean by 'chosen ones' being plural and 'trial'? Can you ask her?"

Zelda nodded. "I will, though I will ask who she is first. It is customary in Gerudo society if I remember the textbook correctly." She cleared her throat of sand while she formulated the Gerudo words. "Yi. Zelda, Zayva žų Hayrųλ, sa ji aš. Pas ji aš kaf?"

The Gerudo woman smiled and bowed. "Kwítųt žų Ner, sųdet da. Nævų dali: Nigiri, sa ji kénčų. Va Kwotpríλ žų Trayfors žų Šidad, e'ata."

"Woah," Zelda said. She looked at Ikal then continued speaking with the Gerudo Guard. "Tisa sųde bi és ata. Noma mírekst, bi af…um, how do I say it… Bi, žino, eshi promín kaf?"

"Tčbéda va Kwítot žų Šidad žav: Va Rékikon yanųs, sa navųhasa, és e-éna. Ikal žų va Sheikah, ho bi, ésténüt, é'way. "

"Okay, would you like to clue me in on what you two are talking about Zel?" Ikal said, narrowing her golden eye in frustration. "I can't speak fluent Gerudo."

"Well, my friend," Zelda said, "This is the spirit of Nigiri, a Gerudo Guard. She lingers in the world of the living to guard something called the Trial until the Chosen of Power comes to undertake it—the Chosen of Power being, according to her, you."

"Can't be," Ikal said, shaking her head. "I am not powerful like the King of Hyrule or Ganondorf. I am not even the matriarch of my people. I am a guardian, nothing more. A shadow. I cannot be a Chosen."

Nigiri frowned and looked at Ikal with a stern gaze. "Nævų λomat aks aškia-e, šidad, b'af. Pas šidade aks aškia-müs-e , bi narų. Pas šidad, ho tanida da, bi ųk. Žų tíλag aks λomat aks yanųs, pas da šidad aš. Ho ra Rékikon, kaλ, daékš čibų bi, nat šake aš."

Zelda wagged her tail a little, clearly pleased by what Nigiri said. "She said 'You are powerful in knowledge and in skill. You know your strengths and limitations. You use your power for the good of others. Yours is a pure power of respect and knowledge and protection. There is no other who is better suited to take this challenge but you.' And I agree with her. True power is not the ability to rule over people and move mass armies. True power is knowing yourself and using the skills and talents you have to reaffirm, nurture, strengthen, and protect life rather than ruling or destroying it. You do all of these things without asking for anything in return. I know of no one else who is better suited to this task."

Ikal wanted to protest, wanted to refuse this mantel being placed upon her. It was so sudden. She was nothing but a simple servant to the Royal Family—nothing but a shadow of the Hylians. Her race had always guarded knowledge and mastered themselves, yes, but only to better protect their liege: those who carry the blood of the Family Hylia. Why would a servant be given power? Why her?

And yet, as the black wolf opened her grinning masked mouth to refuse their expectations, the Mask of Truth's power shone in her mind's eye. She could see the shape of her own soul as she had seen into Zelda's being in the Sacred Woods. The truth was clearly evident to the Mask's eye: there was a core of power within herself. It shone Sheikah red and pulsed. Like the blue core inside of Zelda, it possessed a unique feature: the ghost of chords of light wrapping around it. Whereas Zelda's soul was wrapped in the living power of the Triforce of Wisdom, Ikal's merely possessed a placeholder of sorts where the Triforce's power is meant to rest.

"I see," Ikal said, her tail drooping. "If it is my destiny, I will do what the Goddesses wish of me. What must I do?"

Zelda relayed Ikal's words to Nigiri. The Gerudo Guard said something to Zelda in response and the princess turned back to her friend. "Nigiri has asked me to translate for her. This is what she says:

"Chosen of Power, your people used to know how the cycle started. It is the very history of your race. As you have forgotten the beginning of the tale, I will inform you: the Sheikah tribe was chosen to protect the Goddess Hylia in her eternal battle against the Source of All Evil: a being called Demise. In that battle, the Goddess sacrificed her immortality to become human in order to maintain a seal on the Demon King until one could rise to finally defeat him. When this was completed, the Demon King Demise used his power to cast a curse: an incarnation of his hatred would eternally follow those with the Blood of the Goddess and the Spirit of the Hero. The Goddess's bloodline flows in the veins of the Hyrulian Royal Family. One of your bloodline, a blond-haired Sheikah named Impa, was given long life and a spirit that would likewise endure eternally in order to watch over the Goddess's descendant. She was your ancestor.

"In the time of the Hero of Time the destinies of those involved in the cycle became intertwined with the fate of the Triforce thanks to our king, Ganondorf, and Princess Zelda the First. Ganondorf was chosen by Demise to house his spirit. He stole the Triforce of Power. It was not meant to go to him. The Triforces of Courage and Wisdom went to their holders—the blood descendant of the Goddess Hylia and the boy who possessed the Spirit of the Hero—and so the tale goes.

"Had Ganondorf stolen a different Triforce it, too, would have gone to its destined holder: she who possessed the Duty of the Guardian. The Guardian is the only one besides the Hero with power enough to protect the Goddess and the Cycle itself. She manages the events of history behind the scenes, setting each Goddess-Descendant and Hero-Spirited-Child on the paths they must tread to fulfill their destinies. It is she who truly controls and manages the Cycle when it occurs. She is the puppeteer behind the stage. This is why she is also eternally reincarnated and why she is destined to hold the Triforce of Power.

"Now, Ikal of the Sheikah, Guardian of the Goddess's Descendant and Destined of Power, you must rise to claim your piece of the Triforce. When Ganondorf was slain in this life, he lost the Triforce's power. It must return to its destined holder until the end of this cycle, at which point the Triforce will reunite upon the deaths of the three chosen. However it will not go to you without struggle. You must prove yourself worthy of holding the Triforce in a trial. This is why I am here: to guide you to your Trial and remind you of what your destiny is after having been robbed of it for so long. When you are ready, your trial waits for you behind the face of Din, Goddess of the Desert."

"Wait," Ikal said, stepping backward and shaking her head. "I don't…this is so much. I don't understand. I have done none of the Duties of the Guardian. I know what my soul looks like, I see that you're telling the truth, I just don't understand. The Blood of the Goddess?" Ikal turned around and began pacing the room, walking from one large sandstone knee to the other and back. The Gerudo Guard looked straight ahead, her arms crossed over her chest as the black wolf paced in front of her.

"Ika," Zelda said, her voice soft. "Ika, please, talk to me. This is a lot for me to absorb too."

"What do you want me to say, Zelda?" Ikal said. "I knew you were out of my league before, I'm lucky to have been your friend at all, but you have the blood of a goddess! Your soul reincarnates, as does his. How can I count myself among such company?"

"You are my friend, Ikal—"

"That is not enough!" the Sheikah interrupted. "I must be more than your friend! I must be the one who guides you, the one who orchestrates this whole messed up cycle the goddesses have been content to leave in place. I can't do that!"

"Maybe you just do not know yet," Zelda said, tilting her head. "Maybe what happened with Ganondorf wasn't the real challenge of our lifetime. Maybe it was just the warm up act and the real challenge is starting now. I would say that seems true. If so, your destiny has found you and thrust you into a new form. It demands that you find what is inside yourself, find your inner power, and become the woman you are not. Become one who stands in the shadows but controls the light. Become the one who sets the events of our time in motion. Do not walk away from this call."

Ikal turned. Her eyes scanned the room, peering through the sand and the dim torchlight. Sighing, the Sheikah set her jaw and turned to Nigiri, red grinning face giving the determination in her eye a sinister look. "Fine. I will go to the trial. Just protect the princess in my absence."

The Gerudo Guard nodded. She spoke in Gerudo, her voice solemn, and Zelda translated. "I will return her to the Chosen of Courage. There they will await you, and I will finally pass into the green fields beyond the sun."

Ikal nodded, and then turned to Zelda. "Thank you," she said. "I will return as soon as I can. I will be safe."

Zelda nodded. "As will I. I believe in you, Ika. You are stronger than you have had opportunity to show."

As Zelda talked, Ikal began to scale the Goddess of Power."I hope that you are right," she shouted over her shoulder, peering above her for her next ledge.

When she reached the top, the face of Din glared at her, as if daring her to enter. The black wolf looked back over her shoulder to where the two others were standing. She locked eyes with Zelda and nodded her head. Nigiri placed her hand on Zelda's shoulder and, in a flurry of orange light, they were gone.

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Author's Notes:

A special thanks to Zelda F. Barrow, creator of "va Hai-Maλa-nív žų va Gérųdo-néλív" (The Desert Dialect of the Gerudo Language), for both inventing a wonderful, completely functional language for the Gerudo Tribe and for giving me permission to use it in this story. Also for her invaluable help on making sure the grammar and vocabulary are correct. Her website can be found simply by googling "Gerudo Language" or on facebook in the same manner.

Speaking of her website, if you go there and request a copy of the textbook you can learn Desert Gerudo for yourself and translate the little conversation that Zelda and Nigiri have in this chapter. How's that for incentive?

Now for another topic altogether. I have had a few questions lately from newer readers about the update schedule for this story that have been a little forceful. Some have gone so far as to suggest a schedule for me. In response to these inquiries, I have written my official statement on the update schedule for this story below my signature and will defer all questions to it from now on. I understand that it is out of enjoyment that such responses are made and that most people are more patient and understanding, so forgive the stern tone in the following update schedule policy.

That aside, thank you all for reading and please review! You can "like" the Doppelganger Trilogy on Facebook to get special progress updates in between chapters. It is also not limited to facebook users, as it is a fully public page, so you're welcome to check it out even if you don't have facebook. :-)

~The Wolfess

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3-11-2013 UPDATE SCHEDULE POLICY:

Many people start large fanfiction projects when they are in high school or early college when they think they have enough free time to work on them. As life progresses and people get more responsibilities, many abandon their stories due to lack of time. This is a common practice and a fear every reader has when following a long-term story. I, myself, follow a story that get updates so infrequently I worry that she has quit and will never finish, but she always pulls through eventually. I understand the frustration these kinds of delays can cause for readers.

Unfortunately, though I understand, I cannot change my own infrequent update schedule. It's no longer 2007 and I no longer have regular free time. I work a full time job, commute at least 4 hours twice a week to attend full time graduate school for my MFA in poetry, and have other obligations outside of these things such as a relationship, friendships, sports, internships, and other hobbies. Much of the free time I do have goes toward working on new poems to submit to literary magazines so when I graduate this June and apply to jobs long distance I will have some publications under my belt to look good on the resume.

I'm not complaining about how busy I am. I love every minute of it. Living the dream, as they say. :) I say these things so that those who have been requesting a regular update schedule can understand that I have a very busy, full adult life. I love writing this story, it is my favorite pastime, and I love the connection and communication I get to enjoy with readers. I write new chapters whenever I manage to shave off some time to work on it. These days it's usually during breaks (Christmas, spring, summer break, etc) when I actually have days off where I'm not having to drive four hours to school and can sit and write.

That said, I try to publish at least 4 or 5 chapters a year. If life is kind and gives me more time, then I try to do more than that. It's no regular thing, unfortunately, and can't be. Life will not allow me to update "every two weeks" as one person requested.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has followed this story for so long and has been so patient with me. I know it's a hardship, and I do not blame those of you who stop reading because of the infrequent updates. I understand. Still, I simply ask for your patience. In return, I promise you that this story will never be abandoned. I will continue until it is done, at which point I may never write another fanfiction again. I will revise and update this one, but the Doppelganger Trilogy will most likely be my last.

Again, to summarize, I may not update frequently or regularly due to my real life schedule, but at least you can count on me to never stop updating at all. Thank you for your understanding on this matter, and my deepest appreciation to those who stick with me to the end. It is for you that I continue pulling this story out. As long as people are reading it and enjoying it, even if it's just one person, I will finish this race.

~The Wolfess