"The Sheikah have returned!"

The second we reappeared in the Hidden Village, the words spread like wildfire. Granted, I was still in a bit of shock over the recent events and my apparent involvement, but I wasn't expecting such a spirited reaction from the Resistance fighters, mostly because I still didn't realize anyone even knew who the Sheikah were anymore. However, a lot of these people were from Castletown or Kakariko, so maybe that was the difference: their proximity to all those legends and legendary places and whatever. The moment people heard the news, their faces lit up and it was like someone had hand-delivered hope to them – that kind of bright, shining hope that I'd seen occasionally in the kid, and the people he'd helped, the kind that lit someone up like the sun – like a guarantee.

With the Resistance crowding around us, Zelda smiled and spread her arms. "My friends," she began, "we are joined in our fight by the lost Sheikah of Hyrule." The crowd erupted into cheers, in direct contrast to the silent, stoic Sheikah flanking the princess. "Together, let us prepare ourselves for the upcoming confrontation, and bring this terrible conflict to an end."

Zelda nodded, and the same woman who had spoken to me in the Mirror Chamber stepped forward, head bowed. "It is our honor to once again serve the Royal Family of Hyrule," she murmured. Her hair was bound in a long, silver braid like Impa's, although she had thinner lips and higher cheekbones, and seemed a little shorter than the Sage of Shadows. When Zelda moved towards the little cottage that had become our headquarters over the past day or so, the woman followed with an easy loping grace. I joined them a few strides behind, still moving sluggishly. I knew they had talked with one another in the Mirror Chamber, but since I hadn't been fully conscious, I tried to make up for it now by actually paying attention.

"We will provide anything your people require," the princess was saying quietly. "Food, shelter, medical supplies. Please, you need only tell me and I will see to it you have everything you need to live comfortably. The children will be cared for as well-"

"Your Grace," replied the Sheikah woman, "thank you for your generosity. We have waited for this moment for hundreds of years, and to see the sun again-" Turning her face to the warm rays, she shut her eyes and breathed in deeply. "I am sure you understand. Our warriors are at your service."

"Thank you, Impa."

I started at the name, and the woman slowed enough to walk beside me, a sly smirk twisting her face. "Yes. I am named after the Sage of Shadows, from the Era of Time – but also the first namesake, the chosen guardian of the goddess Hylia. We have awaited our savior for a very, very long time."

"Glad I could help," I shrugged with a small grin of my own, even though I rejected the mention of "savior" with every fiber of my being. It felt dirty, even in my thoughts. I also struggled with what I wanted to say to this Impa, because obviously, I wanted to know the how and why of the Sheikah's reappearance – and why me, most importantly. Was this all predestined somehow? Impa, the Sage of Shadows, had said something about a final test and how the Sheikah… how they had hope in me… but goddesses. It was just so much to comprehend, and I found myself floundering miserably.

We had reached the cottage, but kept walking towards the buildings at the very back of the settlement. Zelda cleared her throat gently, but asked telepathically, 'How are you feeling?'

Well enough, after opening up a portal to another world and having all of my magic sucked out and sucker-punched back in.

'You always were resilient.'

I mock-scowled at her amused expression. So what is it you want me to do? Her eyes darted away for a split second and I knew she was embarrassed to ask – or something like that. Impa just wandered along beside us, reveling in the sun. Supplies, right? Did you want me to just steal them from the castle?

Straightening a bit, Zelda nodded. 'Please. Will you ask Midna to accompany you?'

Sure, but she hasn't left that little house since we warped back.

"Your Grace," Impa interrupted softly, "may we discuss the conflict at hand?"

"Of course."

With that, Zelda and Impa disappeared into one of the buildings, and I spun around to head back towards the cabin, scuffing at the ground with my boot as I went, still in a bit of a daze. In the main part of the village, the Resistance crew bustled around, tending to the injured and preparing something that smelled fantastic lunch, which only made me remember that we hadn't eaten breakfast. Hopefully we could steal some food from the castle, though. However… was it really stealing if the supplies were technically Zelda's anyway? Goddesses only knew, but I did see the cleverness in taking the enemy's supplies for our own, and with magic shadow powers, no less. They'd have no idea what stole from them or how.

Ah, the looks on their faces when they see-

Never mind the looks on their faces.

"Can I help you with something, you useless dolt?"

I stared blankly at Midna, mouth hanging open slightly. "What in Din's name are you doing?"

She glared back at me from her seat beside Link's bed, her splayed hands still hovering over his prone form that only seconds ago had been engulfed in an orange energy field. "I'm trying to supplement Zelda's healing spell- He looks like he's got a fever now-"

"Oh." I joined her and glanced at Link's clammy-looking face, and the sweat coating his forehead. "Didn't Ren tell you?"

Midna still had that angry look on her face, like I'd insulted her. "He wasn't here when I came in. I know these are people Link has fought with, but- he's so vulnerable right now-"

Link definitely looked like he'd seen better days, although I could see Midna's anxiety shining through. Judging by the glint in her eye, she was probably remembering whatever had incapacitated him just before they were separated by Zant. And while all of that scared me, I still had this idea of Link as this infallible kind of demi-god – not to mention my own anxiety over the whole Shadow Temple thing, and the feeling of stabbing him with the Master Sword. It had been entirely too real, and as stupid as it sounded, I felt like I needed to talk to Zelda about all of it, in detail, before I could face my best friend. Right now, though, I was busy worrying about where my brother had gone. "Ren wouldn't have left without a good reason. Zelda asked us to go on a supply run to the castle-"

"I'm sure you can handle that yourself," she snapped back at me. "You know I can't leave him like this. I need to be here when he wakes up."

"You could technically just wake him up now, then." Ah, I'd missed that murderous look. "But for the record, I wasn't asking you to go with me. I was just telling you why I came to find you… and that I'm gonna go look for Ren, and then steal some stuff from the castle." I was halfway out the door when I turned around and caught her worried look, sad eyes fixed on our obviously ill friend, asking softly, "Hey, do you want me to get any specific potions or anything for him?"

Midna looked up for a second, completely void of any expression, before the words seemed to register. "Anything you can find. Just in case." She smiled gratefully but I could see the fear in her eyes, and I felt bad. Neither one of them deserved this.

Nodding, I shut the door quietly behind me and headed off towards what looked like an old general store, near the beginning of the village by the old sign. Most of the horses were hitched up there so I figured it might be a good place to start. Before the surprise party in the Mirror Chamber, hadn't Ren said something about helping Lieutenant Garmin? I vaguely remembered him as the lanky scarecrow-like figure I'd helped Zelda carry back into Ordon, once upon a time… but I hadn't seen him recently. As I approached, I hailed the young man resting on the stairs of the building.

"Hey, do you know where Renado or Lieutenant Gar-?"

"Burial party," he quipped back instantly. Now that I was standing right in front of him, I noticed the dirt smeared across the man's tanned face. He looked about Link's age but a little shorter and stockier, as well as utterly spent. Pointing towards the glamour at the entrance, he jerked his head. "Ren rode out of here a few hours ago in a hurry to fetch the Lieutenant."

I muttered, "Thanks," but I was already drifting towards the entrance. What burial party? For the skirmish Zelda had mentioned? Couldn't they have sent another messenger? I clambered down onto the main trail through the canyon and started following what looked like sled tracks over the torn-up dirt. Hopefully Zelda wasn't expecting the supplies at a certain time, because I was a little busy at the moment, and definitely a little annoyed at the whole situation. He must have had a good reason for leaving Link, right? Ren knew he was in bad shape, healing spell aside. None of it made any sense, and as I rounded the bend in the trail to see a massive landslide, and several corpses scattered around freshly dug graves, I wanted to scream in frustration.

Zelda.

A pause, but she fluttered back quickly, clearly sensing my anxiety. 'Link?'

Something's not right. I can't find Ren or Garmin and it looks like your burial detail was murdered recently.

'What? What do you mean? What-'

I levitated the bodies into the last open graves, and shoved the mass of dirt over top, followed by a few stone grave markers. I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm headed to the castle.

She didn't respond before I warped into the castle grounds, but I felt her presence more, like she was fully concentrating on our connection now. The place was deserted, and it raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I could hear some kind of fighting, probably in the main square, but we'd have to deal with that later… Right now, I needed to find my brother and the lieutenant, and maybe the location of the supplies, although neither task would be easy. This was a castle, after all. A really, really big castle.

I drifted in as a shadow and was a little surprised to see empty halls. No guards, no furniture – just like last time; it was like time had frozen in here, and in the throne room, I was sure to find Ganondorf once again. The thought made me sick. I also had a nagging feeling that I should check the dungeons, which only heightened that nauseous feeling, and made it that much more enjoyable wandering around a castle presumably full of people who would want to kill me if they found me. Excellent.

Still in transient form, I wandered the main floor, listening for anything other than complete and utter silence, broken only by my breathing. Instead, I found furniture covered in tarps, and whole wings that likely hadn't been explored since Link and I had rolled through here. Sometimes if I looked hard enough, I could even see our footprints in the dust… or maybe it was just my mind going crazy again. But the more I advanced, all I found was stillness.

"Maybe they're in the main wing?" I mumbled to myself, hopelessly lost. I knew I'd come in through the servants' quarters like last time, but- oh hell. "Zelda, can you help me find them?"

Her glow brightened instantly, and I felt a gentle tugging as she carefully guided me through room after empty room- 'Link. The… A hallway lies beyond this door, which is locked from the inside – your side. There should be another room in the hallway… you will see it-'

But instead of going through the door to just look, I received a sudden flash of images from Zelda, even as she tried to bury them.

"Hyrule has no need for a princess," sneered the councilman as he circled her like a predator, his teeth gleaming in the torchlight of the dim room. "You should have stayed dead."

Zelda watched him warily, desperately trying to overcome her dazedness. This was the man who had opened the castle gates to Zant's forces, and ushered in her surrender; he had shut her into the lonely tower room every night, taking the greatest pleasure in drawing the iron bolt over the outside; and he had stolen her throne and oppressed her people for two decades. Feeling the fury rise in her chest, she struggled to maintain her composure, but also to keep her fear in check. They were alone in a small side-chamber, just a short sprint from the entrance, and Zelda knew that there were guards posted outside. However, she knew now that they were not there for her protection: Hart had greeted her courteously enough in the courtyard, but the moment the door had shut behind them, his thick fist had slammed into the side of her head, nearly knocking her unconscious.

"Councilman Hart, it has been a long time since we have had the pleasure of one another's company," she allowed slowly, carefully.

Hart laughed bitterly. The booming sound echoed off the bare stone walls of the small chamber until she could hear it in her head, disrupting her muddled thoughts. "Zelda, dispense with the pleasantries. Did you honestly believe that you would march up the castle steps and reclaim the throne?" Laughing again, his large hand descended on her shoulder and squeezed painfully. "Ganondorf may be gone," he whispered in her ear, "but I am his servant, and I have learned so, so many things, Zelda…." Without warning, Hart suddenly grasped her around the neck with his other hand and shoved her into the wall, choking her with her own body weight as her feet struggled to reach the floor.

Help!

Gasping what little air she had left, she began kicking at the councilman until he released her with something akin to amusement. It made her nauseous. With difficulty, she managed to straighten, although her throat screamed from his abuse and she wondered vaguely if she would be able to speak. Oh, goddesses. Zelda gingerly shook her head in defiance and swallowed several times before rasping, "The people will not stand for it-"

"Won't stand for what?" he bit back, leaning in threateningly. "Won't stand for the return of the princess that abandoned them to the Twilight?" He raised his fist as if to backhand her, and Zelda flinched, instantly hating herself for it. "You will rot-"

"I'm going to kill him," I snarled. "I'm going to go kill him right now-"

'I-I did not mean-'

"How dare he- Oh for Farore's sake-" I was livid, and Zelda knew it. Yanking the sword out of my sheath, it blazed blue-green even in transience when I stepped through the door. "I can't even- I am going to kill that bastard-"

"I presume you mean me?" asked a voice full of amusement.

My neck nearly cricked as I turned to glare at the man standing at the end of the hall, dressed in a plain uniform of the guard. He had close-cropped dark hair and bright black eyes full of malice. I was about to open my mouth and tell him that yes, of course I meant him, when I caught sight of the people behind him, and my stomach fell through the floor.

Garmin and Ren were bound and bleeding, being held by several very dusty-looking Imperial Guards, still panting to catch their breaths.

And then it clicked.

The burial party had betrayed Zelda.

She felt this at the same time the realization hit me, and I sensed her panic and pain. I automatically told her, I'll take care of this, but I had no idea what to do.

"I have to admit," drawled the man I assumed to be Hart, "I expected Link."

"I am Link," I growled. "Release them, and-"

"Oh, I don't think so." Behind him, Ren's eyes were wide with terror. Garmin seemed to recognize me, but the look on his face definitely didn't inspire any confidence: he looked like he was trying to tell me something with the way his eyes kept darting around. But I could barely think straight as Hart wagged a finger, a wide grin stretching his face. "Oh no. I am going to send a message to Princess Zelda, and you are going to help me, shadow."

I felt someone lunging for me before I saw the attack, and I spun around to slice through the poor guard, blade positively blazing by now. However, when I turned back to face Hart, the guards beside Ren and Garmin had knives to their throats, and I felt a terrible, cold sickness coil in my gut; there was no way I'd be able to reach them and warp out before they were killed. And I had a particularly bad feeling about what Hart was going to do to send a message.

Zelda, I'm probably going to need some help in a bit.