A/N: This chapter took so long because 1) life 2) I knew what was going to happen, but not how I should write it for maximum deliverance of plot and all that. I declare this satisfactorily good enough. And 3) I'm thinking of starting a new fanfic! I recently completed a really good game, and I've been buzzing with ideas about it. You'll probably be seeing the first chapter soon!

Pineapple: I feel slightly bad for emotionally wrecking you... but only slightly X3

Guest: omg, that song fits Vaati so well!! Thanks for sharing - I love finding character/story music!

Thank you to Eien Dark for following!

Chapter 36

One week. The news buzzed across Hyrule of the demon who had captured the castle, and of the miraculous rescue of most of the guests. But everyone wondered: what exactly did the demon want? Eyewitnesses claimed he could teleport out of thin air; he'd kidnapped Zelda Nohansen, and made demands for the Hero to turn himself in as well. What would happen if his demands were not met? Nothing set foot outside the castle. The government was too timid to attempt to take it back. Hyrule held its breath as the days passed by. A demon... the Princess... and the Hero... the country's peace had been broken by the return of its oldest curse. What calamity awaited them?

"I pray this will aid you on your journey." The Great Fairy blew on her hand gently, and a shower of sparkling green dust floated down over the blonde standing in front of her. "Know that departing from a battle does not mean a lack of courage. Use this power to protect yourself and those dear to you."

The blonde youth bowed her head deeply. "Thank you. I will use it wisely."

The sparkles of blue sprinkling over her felt cool, yet rather than making her feel a sense of calm, she felt a sense of strength, like nothing could knock her over. Opening her blue eyes, the blonde smiled broadly. "Thank you, Great Fairy. This will definitely come in handy."

Nodding, pink ponytails swishing, the fairy waved a gentle goodbye. The blonde thought she heard something whispered as she left, but when she turned around, the fairy had already vanished.

"Awh, only if you promise to visit again, darling," the Great Fairy winked.

To her amusement, the blonde girl winked back. "Anytime! Well, when I'm not saving the world, that is."

With a giggle, the fairy held out her hand, red spots of glittering light floating from her palm and gently flowing over the youth. "I'll hold you to it... Hero."

She was spotted immediately. An arrow went whistling by her ear, embedding itself with a solid thunk into the stone wall behind her. A warning shot. She scanned the area carefully, but with the way the red sandstone canyon walls curved, it was difficult to see much. Still, she proceeded with blue eyes narrowed. If this was indeed the Yiga hideout, it wouldn't be long before more arrows headed her way.

Short, squat statues that resembled Sheikah Gossip Stones began to dot the path. The Sheikah symbol, however, on every statue was covered with a cloth, and on the cloth was painted the red upside-down Yiga marker. She was most definitely getting close.

"Took you long enough." The blonde tensed at the voice, which echoed disconcertingly off of the walls, making it difficult to pinpoint the sound's origin. "Master Ghirahim was beginning to think you'd just flat-out given up. But we all know you aren't the type. Right, Link Forrester?"

Wait. The voice was familiar. And they knew her cover name from the Academy? "Hey, Tiv!" she called out, letting her face slip into an easy grin. "Long time no... hear? Been wondering what happened to you!" She turned in a slow circle, still scanning. Another arrow whizzed by; she froze in place. "Not exactly the touching reunion I'd imagined."

"This is quite close to how I'd imagined it." Yet another arrow. She couldn't tell where they were coming from, not yet.

The blonde advanced carefully, on high alert, freezing or ducking slightly every time Tiv sent a projectile her way. "Guess you weren't kidding about being second place in the Gerudo Archer's Guild, huh?" One arrow nicked her shoulder, just barely enough to draw blood. She glanced at the cut. "But I have to tell you something about me..."

There was a startled cry as a rock shattered against the top of the sandstone wall. The blonde lowered her slingshot, smirking in satisfaction. "...and that's that I've got mad slingshot skills. Found ya!"

A moment of silence passed; then Tiv, face hidden under a Yiga mask, stood up from her hiding spot, looking down at the blonde. "You won't get far with a slingshot," she said in a derisive tone. "You'll be dead before you can deal any real damage."

She got a confident smile in return. "Thanks for the advice! Are you going to let me through, or are we gonna continue this game of hide-n-seek?"

The expression behind the Yiga's mask could only have been a disgusted frown, judging by her voice. "This was your warning to leave. If you want the Master Sword, you will have to fight for your life. We won't hesitate to try to kill you."

"Eh, same old, same old," the blue-eyed girl shrugged. "You guys haven't killed me yet, and you've had years to do it! The Master Sword is as good as mine." Her grin grew.

With an annoyed tsk, Tiv held up one hand, two fingers pointed up, and vanished into smoke. The blonde's grin faded somewhat. How did they do that?! She'd always wondered...

She turned back to the winding path that led deeper into the canyon. Sticking her slingshot into her back pocket, she rolled her shoulders and trotted forward. The walls gradually grew closer, the path narrowing. Soon she could only see a line of the blue sky overhead. Her steps slowed as she approached the end of the path -- a doorway cut into the sandstone wall.

The blonde inched through the door, pausing to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. It was a cavern of sorts, though the walls were too straight and even to be natural. Below, paths had been widened and smoothed around pillars of sandstone, creating almost a maze that could only be seen clearly from the high point near the entrance. A few lights on the walls shone dimly, casting strange shadows in the maze.

It was oddly empty of any Yiga agents, despite being their main hideout.

She kept her eyes open for traps -- tripwires, switches, cameras -- but other than the occasional harmless security camera, nothing nefarious lay in her path. That only served to make her even more cautious. There had to be some sort of trap... The maze through the cavern continued without any danger. A suspicious banana caught her eye, and she glared at it for a full thirty seconds before deeming it innocent.

What would she find at the end? The Master Sword, protected by the whole of the Yiga clan? Or perhaps surrounded by lethal booby traps? Or would Ghirahim himself be waiting? She felt her heart constrict for a moment - would Vaati be there?

She came at last to a door. Testing the knob gently, she found it was not locked, nor did it seem to be weighted or attached to a string that would activate a trap as soon as she stepped through. There were no cracks between the door and the frame, so she couldn't peek through to try to get a glimpse of what lay on the other side. Fingers held close to the hilt of her sword, the blonde turned the knob, backing as she pulled in open.

The sandstone canyon greeted her. The walls now were curved about in a great circle, however, not like the narrow path from before. Just a small opening above let light filter down into the area. In the center of the dome was what appeared to be a hole, though from where she was standing, she couldn't tell how deep it was.

This area was not empty.

"Master Ghirahim said to prepare a trial for the Hero," Tiv stated. She stood just in front of the hole, staring at the blonde from behind her mask. "We are fond of traps and trickery, but that has never stopped the Hero. Actually, I think it only fueled their love of puzzles..." she muttered. "So, I proposed a simple trial: defeat the Yiga Clan, and the Master Sword is yours."

The blonde raised a hand like she was a kid in class. "Um, isn't that, like, a little unfair? How many of you are there, anyways? I could take on 20, maybe."

"Then you'll have your hands full, won't you?" Tiv snickered. "You will have to defeat 50 of us, maybe more. One by one."

Her stomach twisted a little. So it was to be in the ancient style of battle - one on one, until either the enemy army was defeated, or the lone warrior fell. That would be pushing the limits of her endurance. At least she wouldn't have to tackle them all at the same time... She covered up her unease with a confident grin. "I accept your challenge! Will there be any audience today to witness the Hero take on his biggest challenge yet? No?"

There was a metallic shing from above, and she snapped her head up. Up on the rim of the hole in the dome's ceiling stood two familiar figures: one pale and with a bright red cloak, the other staring down at her with one red eye not hidden behind purple bangs. Her breath caught for a moment, her eyes seeking out her friend's gaze. But she couldn't decipher the stony expression he wore.

"We would not possibly miss out on such an opportunity," Ghirahim purred, leaning forward to smirk down at the blonde. "I wish to see the Hero at last prove his strength. Don't you feel a tingle, just imagining the overwhelming odds he is about to face?" He turned his dark eyes to Vaati. "Come now, no need to hide your excitement."

The Wind Mage looked away. She thought she saw him clench his fists. He muttered something that she couldn't hear clearly.

"Don't worry, Vaati!" she shouted up to him, ignoring the demon lord completely. He glanced down at her. She grinned. "I have something to talk with you about after all this, so I kinda have to survive and all that!" Vaati's eyes widened slightly when she winked at him and blew a kiss. Then she turned back to Tiv.

"Alright! Bring it on!!"

The Yiga nodded. She disappeared into smoke, only to be replaced with another Yiga, rushing towards the blonde. The sunlight glinted off the wickedly spiked sickle in the agent's outstretched hand. She quickly drew her sword and blocked the first strike. If she was going to get through 50 of them, she was going to need to end each fight as quickly as possible.

She disarmed him with a hit to the wrist, immediately following up with a powerful kick to his stomach. While he was reeling, she swung the hilt of her sword into his temple. He collapsed.

"Well, that was too easy!" she boasted. She turned her head up to grin at her audience. "Hey, Vaati! Did you see that?"

He was squinting at her, like he was confused. Her mouth twitched as she fought back a too-wide smile. Was she giving it away? Well, as long as Ghirahim didn't find out, it didn't matter.

While she was boasting over her victory, another Yiga appeared to her right. He didn't take her by surprise, though; as soon as his sickle swung towards her, she was ducking and rolling out of the way. This agent, too, she quickly incapacitated, and move right to the next one. It was her favorite dance: to see her opponent's movements and instantly compose her counterpart -- ducking, blocking, kicking, hitting, sidestepping. Her heart beat a rhythm in her ears that she moved to. It all felt so fluid and natural. And, boy, the adrenaline high was crazy.

The blonde spun around, ready for the next Yiga to appear and continue the dance. Her blue eyes squinted. No one was appearing. The racing of her heart was suddenly too loud when she could only stand still. Confused, she turned her gaze up to the two men watching her.

Vaati's eyes met hers, only to suddenly widen. He didn't say anything, but it was enough for her to realize.

Instinctively she leaped back. An arrow thudded into the ground where she'd been just seconds ago. Her eyes snapped up to the Yiga across the arena, holding a strangely curved bow. So it was long-range fighting now? She smirked and pulled out her slingshot from her back pocket.

"Link!"

The distressed cry jerked her from her focus on the Yiga. She looked up -- and in that same moment felt several deep, sharp pains in her back. She staggered forward, falling to one knee with a pained cry. Her mind filtered through questions quickly: How bad were the wounds? - Not too deep to be life-threatening. How'd she get attacked? - Ha, so much for no trickery; it was clearly a surpsise attack from behind. What was the best course of action? - Time to use one of her secret weapons.

She gritted her teeth against the pain and stood, throwing a look behind her at the four Yiga agents standing there. She could feel blood staining the back of her shirt. Thankfully, the thick material of her combat clothes had minimized the damage, but every movement still sent shocks of pain.

"This isn't what we agreed on!" Vaati shouted. He was facing Ghirahim, eyes bright with anger.

The demon seemed completely unfazed by Vaati's wrath. "I promised that I would not hurt him. I said nothing about what my servants may do. Unlike you, I keep my word, Wind Mage. You let him know just now about that surprise. Tsk tsk."

"'Tis only a flesh wound!" the blonde called, now fully on her feet. "I expected some tricks, so I prepared a few of my own! Now, how do I do this exactly... Oh, right!"

She widened her stance, pulling her arms back almost like she was holding a baseball bat, then lifted her left hand skyward. A bright blue light burst to life in her palm with a shimmering sound. Grinning, she stood there as the light glowed brighter, transforming into a diamond-shaped barrier around her. "Nayru's Love!" she shouted. "And this time it's not me swearing, even though these arrows are seriously hurting right now!"

She could see Vaati and Ghirahim staring down at her in shocked disbelief. But then the Wind Mage just smiled, shaking his head, as though it wasn't actually that much of a surprise to him.

Oh yeah. This was going to make the fight a whole lot easier.

The blonde whipped around to the Yiga who were still holding their bows at the ready. She knocked one down with her slingshot before they could react. The arrows they shot at her simply shattered against the magic barrier protecting her. Not that she could see their eyes - or rather, the fear in them - but by the way they instantly scattered after another one of their comrades was knocked out by her slingshot, she was pretty sure she'd inspired at least a little panic among their ranks.

Or maybe not that much, because they reappeared before too long. This time, two rushed at her to engage in close-range attacks, while one hung back with his bow. The girl focused on just one of the two, blocking his attack like usual with her sword. Her back was left exposed - but not vulnerable, as the other agent quickly found out. His sickle clashed against Nayru's Love, no matter how hard he struck.

There was nothing they could do against her, not as long as the spell lasted and blocked every single attack the agents threw at her. She was back in the dance again. At one point, she stopped and completely ignored her opponents to shoot a wildly excited grin up at Ghirahim and Vaati. The demon looked mildly murderous, while her friend watched with his mouth slightly open - in awe, she hoped.

Even with the shield, however, her stamina was slowly but surely running out. The arrows, still embedded in the muscles of her back, burned as she fought, blood and sweat making her shirt stick to her skin. The magic to cast Nayru's Love, too, had taken a toll. Had she defeated 50 yet? Her attacks grew sluggish, and she had to stop for breath.

"How many has that been, now?" she heard the too-calm voice of Ghirahim musing above her. "Nearly 50. I must say, I am quite impressed. But for the Hero, this must be too easy of a challenge. Why not try 50 more?"

She had a feeling it wasn't going to end at 50. The blonde lowered her sword. "Guess my turn's about up."

The blue magic of Nayru's Love around her gradually dissipated. She pulled her hands back as though to cast it again, but this time she swung both arms in a circle in front of her chest, then lifted them up. A round wall of green light shone around her now.

"See ya later, Vaati!" she called with a wink. And then she vanished.