Chapter 17: Shadow of the Yiga

It all started to come apart the next day, Revali and I decided to engage in a friendly spar to test my new skills that I had learned the previous 2 days from my ghostly mentor and refine his that I had been teaching them. I was using the Master Sword and my Hylian Shield, my 2 best weapons, I decided I would not pull my punches as much this time. All things considered, Revali was doing incredibly well. I caught one of his strikes with my shield, throwing it off before catching his next blow with my blade and hitting him with a shield strike.

"You're getting better." I said.

"And yet you still kick my tailfeathers." Revali said.

"Experience, Revali." I said readying my blade in a new position, "Experience and Training."

"Well if you're stronger, I guess I'll just have to be faster."

He charged as he said this, I simply sidestepped and feigned a fatal neck blow from the back.

"There is a fine line between speed and recklessness."

I lowered my blade.

"Shall we continue?"

He got back in stance.

"You tell me hero."

"Link!"

We both dropped our stances, it was Fyson. What was he doing here?

"Fyson! It's good to see you."

I ran up to him.

"Tell me, how is Tarrey Town?"

"Not good, I came to visit my mother and hopefully get some supplies from her. However, If I had known you would be here, I would have come sooner."

My smile fell, "Come sooner?"

"All of Tarrey Town's shops are being robbed nightly, 1000 rupees each every time. Whoever did it was very good at covering their tracks."

"How long ago?"

"A couple of days, we've tried to keep watch, but they always seem to manage to steal that much every night. Its irregular, Tarrey town hasn't even been inhabited for a year. We may have a Gerudo, but we still have yet to catch the thief. Will you please help us?"

I thought about it for a minute before making my decision.

"So this is Tarrey Town?" Revali asked.

"Yes, it may seem small now, but I bet it will grow to be quite an establishment given enough time." Zelda answered.

"Assuming Bolson doesn't enforce that stupid name rule." I added.

Revali looked at me in bewilderment.

"Stupid name rule?"

"Bolson has all the members of his company have names that end in "son". It's stupid if you ask me." I said laughing to myself.

Zelda and I dismounted as Revali and Fyson landed.

"So you said that the thief stole from all the stores and the hotel is that right?" I asked.

"Yes that is correct." Fyson said.

"Then let's go."

We looked at all the stores and the hotel for evidence of who the thieves could be. Even the way things were behind the counters of the establishments. As Fyson had said, they were very good at covering their tracks, either that or I had been lied to so as to draw me here. The whole thing was feeling more and more suspicious. I stood up from where I had been looking.

"Are you sure that there was a thief?"

"Yes, positive."

"I didn't see any evidence, other than things that show the items were once there."

"That's what alarms us the most. Please Link you have to believe that it happened. It may seem small now, but it is already beginning to damage the town's economy. Please help us."

I shook my head in dismay, what choice did I have?

"Fine, I trust you. But if I find out you were lying…"

Just then, Wolf Link (who had come with us) started growling.

"What is it?" I inquired.

I walked from behind Fyson's shop counter to see he was staring intently at two Sheikah looking people that I haven't seen before. My eyes narrowed and the fingers on my right hand twitched.

"Halt!"

They turned.

"Identify yourselves!"

They just stood there, I turned to them, eyes burning into them.

"I said identify yourselves!" I said taking an aggressive step forward.

They looked to each other and with a poof revealed their true selves. The Yiga clan! I should've known.

With one swift motion, I drew my sword and readied my shield. Revali pulled out his bow as well drawing an arrow as he brought it in front of him. Before the assassin could even get close, Revali had let loose the arrow with expert precision right into the head of the first assassin killing it instantly. He readied another arrow as I backflipped backward, avoiding the Yiga Clan member's blow and hitting them with a flurry rush, knocking him back. Revali let lose the arrow as I jumped to hit the assassin only for him to vanish resulting in us both missing. I readied and released a spin attack as he appeared behind me, knocking him down. Before he could get back up, I finished him off with an ending blow. Like most of my enemies after they were beaten, he vanished, leaving a small bag behind. After sheathing my sword and putting away my shield, I knelt down and opened it to reveal what I guessed was the stolen Rupees. Revali put the arrow he was about to fire back into his quiver.

"Well what do you know, they they are. That was easy."

I handed the bag back to Fyson. I didn't hear his thank you, as I received his gold rupee for thanks, as I was too deep in thought. It was true, the Yiga typically put up more of a fight then this.

"Too easy."

I knew something didn't feel right. I whipped around.

"We need to get back to the village. Now!"

They didn't need any more provocation than that. Soon as we could, we quick travelled to the shrine nearby Rito Village. Nothing was on fire, but the Yiga didn't tend to set things on fire preferring to come in, kill or complete whatever their objective was then leave without a trace just like they had in Tarrey Town and Kakariko. Sword and shield drawn, I ran through the streets looking for any evidence of the Yiga and hoping, praying I wasn't too late. We were alerted by a groan from the healer's household. I turned to see Saki despairingly nursing Teba and cleaning the wounds on his chest. They didn't appear to be fatal which was strange, but I could still tell that the wounds were debilitating and happened recently.

"Teba!"

I dropped my sword and shield as all 3 of us ran in.

"Link!" Saki exclaimed.

"Teba!"

"Link, where…" Saki said.

I ignored her, instead looking at the injured Rito warrior. I put both my hands on his chest, trying carefully to not stain them in blood.

"Teba! What happened!?"

"Tulin." He weakly responded.

No, there was no way that Tulin could have caused this.

"Link, it…" Saki tried.

"What happened?"

He answered exactly the same way, but this time I noticed a hint of sadness.

I grabbed him by his shirt, causing Saki to audibly gasp as I partially lifted him off his bed.

"Teba! What Happened!"

"It was the Yiga." Saki said, it was then I realized that she sounded like she had been and was crying. She continued, "They came without warning, Teba tried to stop them but they took him and took out anyone who got in their way. The only reason they said that their victims were alive was to deliver a message. They want you to bring the Master Sword to their hideout before the next blood moon or they will kill Tulin."

"I… I… No!"

I fell to my knees. I had failed. I was too late. Too late.

Not a lot of words were said that night. We ate dinner by ourselves as Saki continued to tend to Teba. Revali and Zelda could definitely tell something was wrong when the anger and feeling of failure cost me most of my appetite. Revali finally spoke up.

"So what are we going to do? I mean I know its obviously a trap, but we can't just leave the little guy to die."

I didn't respond at first, but then I spoke.

"We are going to do nothing. I, however, am going to infiltrate their base and pry Tulin from their claws."

Revali and Zelda both looked up in shock.

"Link don't be foolish! You're brave I'll give you that, but you can't take on the entire Yiga Clan single-handedly!" Zelda Cried.

I turned away.

"Link, I know you blame yourself for what happened. But going on a mission that would likely be suicide is not the proper course of action." Zelda said.

Revali then added his thoughts in his "gentler, non-arrogant" voice.

"The Yiga clan deceived all of us, you shouldn't blame yourself for this."

He then smiled slyly.

"Given the circumstances, this might call for military action."

Zelda composed herself.

"You are absolutely right. As Princess of Hyrule, I declare war on the Yiga Clan and command that United army of Hyrule be mobilized for a strike against them."

I looked up at the sky, according to the moon or rather the lack thereof, I assumed we had plenty of time, but not if we didn't hurry.

"Have that strike ready in one week. Once I've rescued Tulin, I'll signal with 3 bomb arrows into the air. Once a Rito scout sees them, that is the signal to attack."

Revali nodded in confirmation.

"Then its settled. Link will try his rescue mission and once Tulin is safe, he will signal the attack. I recommend you use it as a distress signal if you get in over your head as well."

"One more thing." I said. "Keep Zelda safe in my absence please."

Revali put his hand on my shoulder.

"It will be done. Just please try to come back alive."

I nodded.

Zelda came and gave me a hug unlike any I'd ever received from her. She had a sense of worry in her grip as her arms were wrapped around me.

"Be careful please."

After we separated, she gave me an unexpected peck on the cheek. I was surprised, but didn't show it, or at least, tried not to. I took her chin gently in my hand.

"Don't worry Princess. I'll be back before you know it."

I hoped I was right. But I knew my duty was dangerous, and in this task I knew the risk was particularly high. As I took those steps out of Rito Village, I turned to give one last look before taking to the skies, bound for a location and battle that would be the beginning of the end.