Alright, another temple. Well, half a temple. It's basically the same, just from a different perspective, and shorter. And I'm sorry to most of the reading population that wanted more Link and Zelda... They're next, I've already started writing the chapter... Also, I forgot to say, you see where the cover image fits in now? I like that picture :)
Thanks to DarkOppressor, Katia0203, xVocaloidianx, Sheikagal, StattStatt, pyrosavvy5, Jupsi, LauParisi, BlueMonkeyDoll, Guest, Evan, BrokaHydra21, and ShadowNinja1011 for your reviews on my last chapter!
I'm done talking. Let's get this party started!
~Leila
Chapter Twenty Five (Sheik)
"Aryll! Look out!" I yelled over the squealing of the- oh, what did Aunt Impa call them?- Bokoblins.
I sent a flurry of razor-sharp Sheikah needles flying towards the creature advancing on the Link's sister, watching it jerk with every impact before crumpling to the ground. Turning around quickly, my foot connected with the chest of another Bokoblin, hearing a satisfying crack accompany its squeals. Slashing it down with my knife, I turned to face the final Bokoblin, this one obviously a little smarter than the rest.
It regarded me with beady black eyes, and I hissed at it angrily. Its little band of demons had come too close to touching Aryll. With a loud battle cry, it charged at me with its large scythe raised above its head, poised to strike. Baring my teeth, I gripped my knife, not budging an inch as the creature barreled towards me.
"Watch out!" Navi cried, her voice shrill. Well, shriller. It's nice to have Navi around with her upbeat and constantly positive attitude, but sometimes I really want to hit her repeatedly over the head with a tennis racket.
"Thanks Navi, I know what I'm doing!" I snapped, my eyes never leaving the oncoming Bokoblin.
At the last second, I sidestepped out of its path and drove my knife upward into its stomach. The creature squealed a last time before collapsing to the ground and becoming still.
Breathing heavily, I sheathed my knife and turned back to face a pale Aryll. Her hands were clasped and her face was taut with worry.
"I h-hate when they attack you like that," she stammered. "I k-keep thinking that you're gonna d-die!"
I smiled down at her and reached over to tousle her hair.
"Hey, relax kiddo. I'm Sheik Umbra! Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris are just monkeys in tutus compared to me! Death and I go to the bar every other Thursday to grab a drink and catch up!" I joked, trying to cheer her up a bit.
"I-I know but... I get so worried and I..." she stopped talking and flung herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Y-Your Grace!" I stuttered, not sure if I should think of this as Link's kid brother hugging me or the mighty Goddess of the Skies.
"I get scared Sheik. I get really sacred," she whispered, looking up at me.
Her eyes are the color of the clear morning sky. Usually, they're full of laughter and mischief, but all that's gone now. They speak of fear, sadness, and a wisdom far beyond her age. Hesitantly, I hugged her back, trying to console her. Navi fluttered over and landed on her shoulder, stroking her hair softly. I smiled at the tiny fairy, who returned the smile half-heartedly.
Aryll isn't taking this temple well. The past two, she's managed to avoid danger and death and bloodshed. In the water temple, all the bad guys were waiting behind doors her and Impa didn't enter. They only had to go through one empty room to reach Lanayru's Spring. In the forest temple, we had closely trailed Link- I mean the Hero and the Princess, entering rooms to find all of the enemies already dead at our feet. This temple has been different. We entered to find two... not lizard men... Lizalfos guarding the next door. It soon became very evident that we had arrived first. The Hero and Princess had not yet arrived, and we had to take their place and figure out the temple ourselves. I suppose I should have known they wouldn't be here. In Dragon Roost, at the base of the volcano where this temple is located, there were whispers of a hero in green saving towns in Ikana Canyon from attacks and fires. I disregarded it, not thinking that this meant they wouldn't be here to do the dirty work for us. I suppose that was selfish of me in the first place.
"Are you ready to move on, Your Grace?" I asked the small girl whose face was buried in my stomach.
She pulled away from me, wiping her eyes with the long sleeves of her dress. "Don't call me 'Your Grace.' I don't like it. Just call me Aryll like you used to," she begged, looking up at me with her same blue eyes.
Like I used to. I try to remember the old Aryll I knew. The girl who insisted on wearing fleece footie pajamas in the summer. The girl who wanted to be a pirate when she grew up. The girl who always brought her leftover French fries to feed the seagulls. The Aryll before me is not the same girl.
"Of course. I like Aryll a lot better anyways," he replied, forcing a grin for her benefit. "Now, come on. We need to keep moving. It's not safe for you to be in one spot for too long."
I took her small hand in mine and gestured for Navi to take her spot on my left shoulder. The fairy nestled into my neck, and flashed me one of her blinding, minuscule smiles.
The next door led to a large room with a stream of lava dividing us from the door opposite. After a quick survey, I saw two Bokoblins wielding bows perched up in alcoves that were across from each other. Rolling my eyes out of annoyance, I threw a needle in both directions. My projectiles hit their marks, sending both monsters plummeting into the scorching lava below.
Sheikah needles have always been my weapon of choice. Every Sheikah has to learn how to use them, as well as learn hand to hand combat, teleportation, camouflage, and using Sheikah knives. Sheikah needles are not actual needles, though the name tells otherwise. The needles are thicker than average needles, made out of solid magic and sharpened until deadly. Their shape is streamlined, much like the shape of a swimmer as they push off the wall after making a turn. This allows them to be very aerodynamic and fly through the air at breakneck speed when thrown correctly. With much practice, one can also make them practically invisible as they sail through the air, striking their targets unaware as I had just demonstrated.
Pulling Aryll behind me, I progressed further in the room. There appeared to be no way across the oozing river of lava.
"HEY!" Navi cried, suddenly leaping up from my shoulder and fluttering inches from my face.
"AH! What?" I snapped, startled at her sudden outburst.
"Look! Up there? See that thing? See it, see it, see it?" she asked pointing wildly in like five different directions.
"Can you be a little more descriptive? As visually enticing as 'that thing' is, I have no idea what you're talking about," I deadpanned, pushing her gently away from my face. This is one of those times I wish I had a tennis racket.
"Well, it's almost perfectly spherical, just a little oblong at the top and it appears to be transparent, though I'd say it's safe to say that it's a very pale blue color, like a morning sunrise to be exact. It appears to be held in place by a green thing that looks kind of like a Venus flytrap, and it's a lime green. Wait, no, no, lime green is too bright. Maybe an evergreen? Or even granny-smith apple green... Actually, I think it's-"
"Too descriptive!" Aryll cut in sharply.
Thank Hy- Uh, thank her because I was considering throwing myself into the lava with the Bokoblins.
"Well, just look!" Navi cried, pointing a finger at something directly above the lava.
It did indeed look like a Venus flytrap, holding a large drop of water in its jaws. By all laws of gravity, the drop should have already fallen into the lava, but it wasn't so much as wobbling in the clutches of the plant. It held perfect still, suspended over the scalding hot substance below.
"Is that water?" Aryll asked, squinting up at the plant on the ceiling.
"Naw, it's vodka. It only looks like water so you can fool the guards," I told her seriously.
She glared at me. "Thank you. Thank you so much for that. I never would have guessed that it was vodka otherwise."
"You're welcome. You know, most people can't tell the difference between vodka and water. But I'm not most people. I'm a cunning, perceptive, wise, ninja Sheikah. You're lucky to have someone as vigilant and observant as me-"
"Stuff a sock in it, Sheik," Aryll huffed, crossing her arms and staring up at the ceiling. "I remember talking with Din about these... They're very clever little contraptions..."
"How is it not falling?" I asked as I stared at the unmoving drop of vodka. Water. Whatever.
Aryll turned to look at me. "What do you mean?"
"Is it not affected by gravity? Zero-gravity water drop from space!" I proclaimed.
"It's magic. There was some special purpose to it that I can't recall..." Aryll trailed off, still looking up at the zero-gravity water drop from space.
"It's too unnatural for me. I can't stand it," I announced, readying another Sheikah needle. I never have to worry about wasting them. They're very easy to craft; all they require is a certain spell in an ancient Sheikah language.
"Sheik, I don't think-"
I let the needle fly, watching as it hit the plant and sent the drop plummeting down with satisfyingly normal gravity. The drop of water hit the lava, there was a loud sizzle like someone licked their finger and stuck it on a hot pan, and there was rock. Solid rock.
"What in the name of all things holy is-"
"Ah, I remember now. Water and fire. Cooling. Very clever," Aryll mused to herself. "Now hurry across, the platform isn't very stable and won't be there for long!"
Nodding, I ushered her ahead of me, making sure she was safely across before I followed. Almost as soon as I stepped foot off the lava rock, there was another hiss, and the lava engulfed the once sturdy stepping stone, liquifying it back into molten magma.
"Well that was cool," I remarked with a grin, turning towards the door.
"Hmph! Not so much as a 'thank you' for my brilliant idea!" Navi said indignantly. "I might remind the both of you that I could have simply flown across and left you behind!"
"True, but you need someone to open doors for you," Aryll pointed out.
Navi's blue glow blushed red. "You- I- Touché, Your Grace. Touché."
Stifling a snort, I pulled open the new door, allowing Navi and Aryll to enter before me. Immediately after the door closed behind us, a grate slid down in front of it, confining us to the spaces of the room.
It was a long, oval shaped room with no ceiling and no lava. The air was pleasant and fresh, with a cool breeze to relieve us from the hellish heat in the volcano. The only thing keeping the room from being wonderful was the hulking beast growling at us from the center of the room. Its eyes were blood red, complimenting its flowing mane of lava. Two extremely sharp tusks protruded from its open mouth, which revealed several rows of tiny but needle sharp teeth. Instinctively, I pushed Aryll behind me and readied my dagger.
The thing began to grunt and paw at the ground. I watched its muscles tense up as it readied to charge...
"Aryll, run to the side!" I yelled, standing my ground as the beast came charging at me in a flurry of rage. Aryll obediently ran and hid behind a pillar to the left, while Navi stuck by me, hovering close to my ear. I have to time this perfect so I don't get shish-kabobed. A Sheik-kabob! Hah! I crack myself up.
"Jump... now!" Navi hissed as I threw myself out of the monster's way. The thing ran into the portcullis that guarded the door, becoming woozy and disoriented from the impact.
"Navi, status report! What the hell is that?" I asked, backing up as the creature regained its senses and turned back to me.
"Massae Canis, more commonly referred to as a lava dog. These creatures live of the heat generated by their fiery manes. If you put it out, they will die. Underneath all of the fur, a lava dog has an impenetrable armor that protects it. Its only weak point is its soft underbelly, where the armor doesn't cover," Navi relayed as I dove out of the beast's way a second time.
"Thanks Nav!" I huffed, my eyes never leaving the lava dog.
I have to somehow get to its underbelly, since I don't have anything to put its mane out with and unfortunately it doesn't look like rain. It turned and prepared itself to charge again, while I prepared myself for what I was about to do.
As the dog began charging, I began running towards it. This obviously threw it off; it didn't think I was dumb enough to throw myself at it. That second of confusion was all I needed. I fell to the ground and slid right between its legs, all while slicing upward with my dagger. I silently thanked Link for teaching me how to slide in baseball in first grade.
The dog let out a long howl, then fell in a heap on the ground and lay still. The lava that made up the dog's mane slowed to a stop and hardened into a brown rock.
Aryll peeked out from around her pillar, then rushed towards me once she had determined it was safe. She eyed the dog's corpse warily before turning to look at me.
"Thanks again Sheik for keeping me safe," she mumbled, shifting her feet. "Sorry I'm never much help."
Sorry she's not much help? She's the reason we're all here! She's the reason I have free will, a personality, and a sense of adventure! She's the reason Hylians exist, she's the reason the Sheikah exist! She's the reason we have air to breathe and the will to live.
"Never apologize for being 'useless' again," I told her sharply. My tone of voice caused her to look up at me curiously. I knelt down to her height and grasped her by the shoulder's firmly. "Ayrll Austen Carstairs, you are the Goddess of the Skies. You helped create the world. Without you, none of us would be here. You gave us air. I'm here because of you. Link and Zelda are here because of you. If anyone is not much help, it's me. I'm just scrambling to repay a debt I never will fill. So thank you, Your Grace, and I am glad to be in your service."
I released her from my grasp and stood up, leaving the small girl to work through what I just said. I meant every word of it.
The doors were unbarred now. I threw open the new door, stepping in to survey the scene before Aryll, then gestured for her when I saw nothing threatening. It was one of those puzzle rooms that Aryll likes to do. I gestured towards the series of torches and buttons in front of me, smiling to myself as she ran towards them excitedly like a kid on Giving Day.
I hung back with Navi, watching as she read the cryptic hints engraved on a stone, fervently trying to make sense of the clues.
"You're good for her, Sheik," Navi commented casually, coming to land on her spot on my shoulder.
"Huh?"
"You're good for her. She needs someone who knows her. You're good with comforting her, and you're helping her realize who she is. Sometimes I think she has problems with facing the reality of situations, and you help snap her out of her fantasy. She needs to realize that this isn't a movie, and she could get killed," she said, staring sadly at Aryll, who was fumbling to pull a burning stick out of the only lit torch.
"Um... You're welcome, I guess," I said dumbly, looking down on the tiny fairy. She nodded, then turned to watch Aryll again. Do I help her that much? I didn't feel like I had any affect on her at all.
"She likes you."
Sheik turned to face his friend, who was staring at him expectantly, waiting for a response.
"Wha?"
"She likes you," Link said again, motioning towards the eight year old girl behind them. She had been staring at them and immediately looked down at the sand, pretending to not notice them as they looked at her.
"Aryll? Don't be ridiculous. She never talks to me," Sheik scoffed, turning back around.
"Because she gets all red and tongue-tied!" Link justified. "Believe me when I say this, Sheik. That girl is in L-O-V-E..."
"Hey! Can you please come help me with this?"
Aryll's voice shook me out of my memory. She was staring at me expectantly, looking an awful lot like her big brother with her arms crossed and an impatient scowl plastered on her pretty face. Pretty? Since when has Aryll been pretty? I mean, she's not bad looking for a ten year old, but-
"Sheik?"
"Yeah! Yeah! I can help!" I burst out, walking towards the switches. I mentally kicked myself for sounding like a moron. "What do you need me to do?"
"Stand on that switch there while I stand on this one," she replied simply.
I nodded and did as instructed. The door was still barred.
"Oh, and light the torch right next to you," she added, passing me her burning stick.
"Aye aye, Cap'n!"
Link and I always called her the Captain. She was always bossing us around, so it made a heck of a lot of sense to us. As soon as I lit the torch, the bars retracted into the ceiling.
"Ta-da!" Aryll sang, stepping off her switch and smiling. I followed her and let the burning stick fall to the ground. I don't have to worry about starting a fire. The stick will just burn out and the flames will have no more fuel.
"Ladies first!" I drawled, sweeping in a low bow towards the door.
"Not when your ladies are in constant danger of being kidnapped and used in a nefarious plot to obtain the Triforce!" she reminded me, gesturing at me to open the door.
"Who the heck uses the word nefarious?"
"You sound so much like Link."
"Nah. Link sounds like me."
As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was wrong. I could sense the darkness and evil in the air. It was thick, clouding out the light. Something big and bad was in here. I positioned myself in front of Aryll and assumed my attack stance. Something was not right.
"Well, you certainly aren't the Hero and the Princess, are you?"
I bared my teeth at the sound of the sickeningly sweet voice. It was like someone took a rat and drenched it in honey. A shape materialized from the shadows, revealing the owner of the voice to be a Twili man. He wore long, dark robes. Turquoise marks were visible on the skin he had showing. Turquoise... there was something familiar about that...
"What do we have here? A little Sheikah boy, a puny fairy, and..." his already creepily wide smile stretched even further, threatening to jump off his face. "My, my. I do believe I am in the presence of a goddess. Excuse me for not recognizing you earlier, Your Grace, you're just smaller than I would have expected."
"I'm not short, I'm fun-sized!" Aryll squeaked from behind me, clinging to my leg. I fought back a laugh.
"Small and snarky, I see," the man growled. "This is, pardon my pun, child's play compared to what I was expecting. Hand over the goddess, boy."
I spread myself in front of Aryll. "Over my dead body will you be laying a hand on her," I hissed.
"That can be arranged, Sheikah!" he spat. "She is of no importance to you. I'll give you one last chance before I resort to violence. Hand over the girl."
"And I'll give you one last chance to get the hell out of here before I have to remove you personally," I snarled, stepping forward with my knife ready. The man looked amused.
"You are a persistent little one, aren't you? I think I'll offer you a deal, little Sheikah boy. Fight me. Fight me, and if you win, I'll let you and the goddess pass unharmed. For today. But if I win..." he grinned evilly. "I kill you and the goddess is mine," he finished in a whisper that sent chills down my spine.
"How do I know I can trust you? If I win and you don't die, how do I know you won't just snatch her away and slit my throat?" I demanded.
"What can I do to make you trust me?"
"Swear it. Swear it on Senja."
Senja is the most important goddess in Twili history. When the Twili were banned from the world of light, they were doomed to walk the lines between life and death. Senja felt pity for the poor race and created a realm of their own, one of shadow and darkness. She also created a mirror for them, a mirror that would allow them to travel between their land and the land of light. 'Senja' means twilight in their language, which is how they earned their name; the Twili. Swearing an oath in Senja's name is one of the boldest things a Twili can do. An oath on Senja is unbreakable, or your life is forfeit.
"And what will you swear on? Swearing on Senja means nothing to you," the man shot back, obviously trusting me about as much as I trusted him.
"I'll swear on her," I said, gesturing back at Aryll. "I swear on the mighty goddess Hylia that if I lose this duel, I will hand you my life and... the mighty goddess Hylia."
"Smooth!" Aryll hissed.
"I swear on the most beloved goddess Senja that if I lose, I spare your life and hers and leave you alone for this day," the man declared. "After today, you're both fair game."
"And I get to kill you?" I added.
"Of course."
I nodded and began to step to the center of the room, but a hand shot forward and grabbed my arm. I turned to see Aryll, her blue eyes brimming with tears threatening to spill.
"You can't do this, Sheik," she pleaded.
"Aryll, I swore an oath on you. I have to. This is the only way I can get you out of here safely," I told her, shaking free of her grasp.
"But what if you lose?" she asked, wiping her fear-filled eyes on her sleeve.
"I won't lose," I replied simply, joining the man in the center of the room. He was smiling at me in a way I found uncomfortable.
"Your bravery intrigues me, Sheikah. You're either very stupid or very loyal to that girl. Either way, I am curious to see if your bravery remains intact when you are begging for mercy on your knees," he hissed.
"Are you going to talk me to death or are we doing this the manly way?" I asked, raising my knife.
The man smiled back at me. "You're going down painfully, kid."
We paced backwards until we were the appropriate distance away from each other, and the duel began. We circled each other, each of us waiting for the other to make the first move.
I noticed a few things as we eyed each other. He carries no weapon, meaning he plans to fight with magic. Twili fight with dark magic, which can be counteracted by a bearer of light magic such as myself. He favors his left side. He appears to be left handed, and faces his left side towards me. If he is trying to determine my weak side, he will not find one. All Sheikah are trained to be ambidextrous from a young age. I'll play like I favor my right side for now, though. Never reveal your strengths to your enemy.
He attacked first, probably bored of me observing him. He sent a ball of energy flying my way. I easily deflected the magic off my knife, like hitting a ball with a bat. Licking his lips, he threw a series of magic bursts at me, wanting to test my limits. I hit them all away. He better step it up before I get bored.
As if he was reading my thoughts, he suddenly ran at me with blinding speed. Before I managed to comprehend what was going on, his foot connected with my chest, and I was forced against the wall. I felt the air squeeze out of my lungs like an accordion, and my head smack against the stone wall. His fingers crackled with deadly dark magic, ready to end my life then and there.
"This was all too easy," he murmured, more to himself than to me. "I was hoping you'd put up a good fight."
He raised his hand, ready to bring the magic down on my heart, but my hand shot out and grabbed his arm, wrenching it to the side and effectively flipping the man onto his back.
"You'll get your good fight!" I snapped, pointing my dagger at his throat. I thrust downward, only to find him gone. The bastard can teleport.
Quickly, I spun around with my foot outstretched, hoping he would have tried to come up behind me and catch me unaware. My assumption was correct, and my foot made contact with the soft flesh of his stomach. He let out a grunt as he flailed backwards, shooting a spurt of magic towards me as he stumbled. I managed to dodge the blast, but not before it grazed my forearm. I screamed. Blinding pain coursed through my arm, quickly replaced by a dull throbbing. Holy Nayru! I wasn't even hit full on!
Dodging another round of his blasts, I readied a set of Sheikah needles. Turning to see him charging at me, I jumped up, watching him run under me and sending my needles after him. Three struck him in the back, causing him to yell out and his anger to grow. I landed gracefully on my feet, and was there to greet him with a punch to the face as he turned back around.
He jumped back, holding his now bleeding nose and glaring at me venomously with his snakelike eyes. "I tire of these games, boy. You appear to be more talented than I expected. This has been fun, but now you must die."
"That's no way to end a play date," I grumbled, jumping away from him as he advanced towards me.
He conjured up a handful of spears, crafted out of raw, jagged dark magic. Proceeding to throw them at me a rapid speed, I was forced to throw myself to the ground. Quickly casting another handful of his little darts, the man smiled gruesomely down at me.
"Now I've got you!" he cried, sending another flurry of darts in my direction.
One struck me in the arm, causing me to cry out. Another wave of blinding pain passed through me, and I yanked it out as I rolled out of the way. Time to disappear. Concentrating my magic, I remembered the tricks Impa taught me. Clear your mind, and become one with your surroundings. And I was gone. Aryll screamed, and the man yelled a string of curses as I became invisible. I grinned to myself and stood up, watching as the man turned in all directions, searching for me.
Coming up behind him, I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, and I punched him in the face. Jumping out of the way as he stabbed a spear into the air in front of him, I tapped his other shoulder. He turned around again, the moron, and I rewarded him with another punch. Swiping his feet from underneath him, I sent him to the floor. Grinning to myself, I pinned him down and began to land punch after punch on his face, raining blow after blow-
Until his hands shot up and gripped mine with a surprising strength. My invisibility slipped as he flipped me over, pinning me down to the ground. His eyes were full of menace, looking truly terrifying with his bloody face. I struggled in his grasp, and he grabbed my head and slammed it into the stone floor. My vision blurred and everything became out of focus. I was vaguely aware of the man's fists slamming into my face, but I could only feel numbness. Darkness called to me, beckoning sweetly. The calls of darkness were so much better than the man's laughter, Navi's cries, and Aryll's screams...
Aryll's screams! I can't give up! I need to do it for Aryll! Regaining my strength, I brought my knee sharply upward, slamming into the man's stomach. He yelled and rolled off of me, and I managed to stagger to my feet. I wiped my hand across my face, barely noticing how my skin came back slick with blood. The man was glaring daggers at me, his arms outstretched and charged with magic.
"I grow tired of this," he hissed. Yeah, well you're not the only one, bud.
I barely had time to throw up a shield as his next onslaught of magic came crashing towards me. He was now resorting to using pure magic; magic at its purest form that does the most damage but requires the most energy. Gritting my teeth, I forced energy into my shield as his magic slammed against it. His attacks just keep coming! I need to break his concentration... Using one hand to hold my shield in place, I reached into my pack and groped around until my fingers wrapped around something round and smooth. Perfect.
I'll only have a few seconds after this is activated, so I'll have to time it perfectly... Waiting until he had just thrown another wave of pure magic at me, which was indeed beginning to crack my shield, I threw the object to the ground. A blinding flash of light instantly filled the room, and I leapt out of his range and crept behind him, making it just as the flash faded. Deku nuts are the best things in the world.
Blinking the confusion out of his eyes, the man began to turn, scanning the room for me. I made sure to follow his turns, all the while staying directly behind him. After I'd had enough of that game, I tapped his shoulder, and surprise, surprise, he turned. I punched him in the face. He roared in anger and attempted to grab me, but I ducked away and kicked at random, not my smartest move for he grabbed my leg and tripped me to the ground.
Grunting as I tried to writhe away, he began to send electrical pulses of dark magic through my body. I screamed as the charges of extreme pain coursed through my body, and quickly shot a strong burst of my own electrical energy through my leg and into his arm. He yelled out in pain and dropped me, and I scrambled to my feet.
I've had enough of this. I turned and tackled him to the ground, barely noticing a prick in my arm. I held his arms down and began muttering a binding incantation, watching as ropes of my magic tied him to the ground. He struggled and hissed, his eyes burning with hatred. Seeing that he was securely tied, I began reaching for my knife. But something made me pause. His gaze was no longer hateful, but intrigued. Following his line of sight, I saw he was staring at the necklace that hung around my neck. It must have come out from beneath my shirt.
The necklace isn't mine. It's my sister Teagan's. I took it with me when I left to have something to remind me of her. It's a flat, purple circle with markings that look like a triangle with a circle above each corner. She's had it forever, or at least since I can remember. The man seems absolutely fascinated with it.
Ignoring this, I raised my knife and-
"Enough!"
My bonds broke and he disappeared, reappearing behind me. I stepped back, still holding the knife in front of me.
"I am done with this. I cannot kill you." Normally, I would feel accomplished that a strong magic user couldn't defeat me, but his tone made it sound like he wasn't allowed to kill me.
"So I win?" I demanded.
"I suppose, by default. You put up quite the fight and I am impressed," the man said, his eyes still on Teagan's necklace. Aryll's face was instantly flooded with relief, and Navi zipped over to hover at my side.
"So I get to kill you," I said with a wicked smile. He grinned back.
"I never swore to that."
And he was gone, disappeared in a flurry of black squares called twilight. I opened my mouth an closed it, a sudden rage filling my mind. But I was too tired to act on it. The battle-high was gone, leaving me feeling drained, sore, and numb. A sharp continuous pain throbbed from my upper left arm, but I paid no attention to it. I just staggered over to Aryll, who's eyes were filled with concern and anger.
"You are never, you hear me, never doing that again!" she yelled, grabbing me by the ear and dragging me down to her eye-level. I winced and whimpered weakly, managing to nod. Her expression softened a bit, and she released my ear. "Sorry, I... uh, nice fighting. It was truly impressive," she told me, looking at the ground.
"Thanks," I murmured, suddenly feeling a little dizzy.
"You okay?" Aryll asked. She looked me over, then she froze and her eyes widened as she saw my arm. "Oh shoot. Sheik..." she trailed off and didn't finish her sentence. She just grabbed my arm and dragged me back through the room we had come through.
"Aryll, you're going the wrong way," I slurred, barely aware of her dragging me down a hallway and up some stairs. We soon found ourselves in one of the alcoves I had shot the Bokoblins from in the Venus-flytrap zero-gravity water room. She sat me down and turned to Navi, both of them whispering frantically.
"Secrets secrets are no fun, unless you tell everyone," I reminded them, agitated that they wouldn't tell me what was happening.
"Um, Sheik," Navi said.
"Yeah, what?"
"Look at your arm."
I did and almost threw up at what I saw. It was some form of Zant's magic; some hideous bug with its stinger buried straight in my arm. The area around the stinger was bleeding, oozing and swollen, and the bug looked up at me with beady eyes as if to taunt me. Nauseated by the sight, I sliced the bug off my arm with my knife. The bug shriveled up an died, but the stinger was still embedded in my skin, blood and pus still seeping from the wound.
"I- you- g-get it out!" I cried, reaching for it.
"Don't touch it!" Aryll screamed slapping my hand away. "It's poison, and you'll only spread it! There's a certain spell for removing poison, but it hurts. Just sit still and let me do this."
"It's poison?" my voice rose to a very unmanly pitch, and my face lost all color it might have had.
"That's what she said, didn't you hear her?" Navi snapped, her arms crossed and her face taut with worry.
"Can't you heal it? You're a fairy," I pleaded, watching as Aryll began muttering a chant and glowing an unearthly gold.
"No can do, mister. I'm a guide fairy, a navi-gator, if you will. I can only heal a person once, and that would be the last thing I would ever do," she told me gravely.
"If you healed someone, you'd die?"
"That's what I said!" she screeched. "Geez mon! Try listening for a change!"
I looked away, a little scared by her yelling and found myself looking at the stinger again. Aryll's gold hands were now positioned over it, and her face was expectant, looking up at me.
"You ready? This will hurt," she warned me.
I gulped. "Just do it."
She nodded and I watched as tendrils of gold magic dripped from her hands and wrapped themselves around the large stinger. Gently, they began to pull the singer out. I winced a little, but overall it wasn't bad. In no, time, the stinger was out, and Aryll's magic strands tossed it into the lava below. I exhaled and smiled at her.
"Well that wasn't so ba-"
My sentence was cut short as the magic strands plunged into the opening the stinger had cerated in my arm. I screamed out in pain. I felt like my innards were being sucked up a straw! The pain was lasting for years! Eternities!
"Sheik, I'm done."
Trembling, I opened one eye and looked at Aryll. The tendrils were no longer gold, but a purplish brown.
"I'm so sorry I had to do that, Sheik, but you would have died if I didn't. That was a clever trick that man pulled," she said bitterly, releasing her poison-filled magic strands into the lava and turning back to me.
"I don't think he wanted to kill me. He said so..." I trailed off uncertainly. He's evil. Evil people break oaths, even to Senja.
"He wanted you dead," Aryll said flatly. "Now, you had better rest up. I'm not letting you go anywhere until you've slept."
"Not unless you sleep. You've got to be exhausted Ary," I said, looking at the dark circles beneath the young girl's eyes. She sighed in defeat.
"I think a nice rest will benefit all of us. And maybe when we wake up, the Hero will have decided to do his job and I can get to Eldin's Spring," she mumbled, already cuddling in next to me.
We arranged ourselves in our typical sleeping pattern. Aryll lies next to me, and I sleep nestled up to her for body heat. I have an arm over her protectively, and I'm angled perfectly so I can jump up if necessary. I'm trained to sleep extremely light, so I'll be up if so much as a dragonfly beats its wings near me. Navi settles down in Aryll's hair, draping some of the blonde over her like a blanket. Now it's simply a stand-off to see who falls asleep first.
Aryll is the first to surrender herself to sleep. Her breathing slows and becomes even, and her body relaxes against mine. Navi and I smile at each other, listening to the silence and waiting for sleep to take us into its welcoming arms. Navi is the next to go, her tiny eyes closing and her rapid heartbeat slowing just a little bit. For a while it's just me. Then my eyelids begin to droop, and my yawns become frequent. I accept sleep willingly, glad for the chance to escape reality...
"...kind of nice, actually, if you think about it."
"It would be nice if I wasn't constantly terrified that a giant ambush is going to leap out at us out of nowhere."
My eyes snap open instantly at the sound of voices. I felt something dark. Carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl and fairy next to me, I crept to the edge of the overlook and peeked out at the room below.
The bad feeling instantly subsided, and my heart swelled and I felt a grin spread across my face. There was Link, standing by the door. My best mate since kindergarten. I opened my mouth to shout a greeting to him, but caught myself just in time. I'm not supposed to interact with him. I have to observe from afar like a stalker.
He looks different. There are very dark circles beneath his eyes. He's lost weight. Not that he was fat to begin with, but if it wasn't for his newly acquired muscles, he would be a walking skeleton. And his eyes. They aren't the smiling, mischievous blue eyes I've always known. They are hard and as piercing as steel. They are the eyes of a warrior.
Shuddering, I turned my gaze to the second person in the room. Well, fourth if you count Aryll and I. Four people and a fairy.
It was Zelda, dressed in a Sheikah garment similar to mine. There was something different about her, too. Not physically. Just... different. The way she walked, strutting like she owned the place. The way she talked, in a mysterious, flirtatious manner. Something about her was... fake. My eyes widened in realization.
It's not Zelda.
That girl parading around with Link is not Zelda. I don't know who or what she is, but it is not Zelda. Link is in danger, and I have no way I can help him without revealing myself. Watching helplessly as they figured out the water puzzle and entered the next room, I knew I could do nothing. But I have to do something. She is a doppelgänger sent by the Dark King. That explains the darkness I sensed when she entered. Whoever she is and whatever she's doing, it's not good. I have to warn Link before it's too late.
That girl is not Zelda.
There you have it!
1. I'm going to say that Hylia created the Sheikah, okay? Okay.
2. "Giving Day" is Christmas, I just thought that since they don't believe in Christ, it would not be called Christmas.
3. Senja is twilight in Indonesian. Indonesian is now going to be the Twili language. Latin is Hylian, Hawaiian is Setian, and Indonesian is Twili.
4. My battle scene is bad, sorry... I hate Zant...
5. I pronounce Sheik's sister's name Tee-gan, where gan rhymes with can. Teagan.
Anyway, please, please pretty please tell me what you thought! I know you all want more Link and not-Zelda, but please just drop me a review on the chapter! I know you are all physically capable of pressing the little button and typing "Cool" then hitting the little send button! I mean, there are 98 people following this story. 98. And some of you have never reviewed! Believe me, the favorites and follows show you like the story, but it helps me know how much you like it when you review. And they mean so much. I go back a reread to see what people have guessed and what people have said... Could some of you who have never reviewed maybe review? That would make me so incredibly happy... See, here's a smiley face. :)
After that overly-dramatic speech... next chapter soon!
~Leila
Oh! I've posted some summaries of stories I'd like to potentially publish! Check them out please, and tell me what you think!