AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the point in the story where the post-Twilight Princess story begins to set in motion the pre-pre-BotW. This will have nothing to do with BotW, and it won't even include the "10,000 years ago" storyline, but there will be elements that start to lay the groundwork for the game.

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Title: Dawn's Early Light
Chapter 8: Vociferate
Author: Sailor Song
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VOCIFERATE (verb): shout, complain, or argue loudly or vehemently

… … …

"Zelda, you do not appear happy to see your king," Daltus said when she hadn't responded. "And after I exhausted so many resources, coming all this way to see y-"

"What are you doing here?" she interrupted to keep him from droning on. Her eyes were darting around the room for her tunic and the quickest route of escape, but her brother was blocking her from both. She was calculating whether or not to call out for Link, but decided that he would have come back by now if he wasn't busy with something. No, it was better to stall Daltus for now, especially since he had likely come with guards who were waiting for his signal.

"I'm hurt," he said, feigning a wounded look. "I was worried about you, sweet sister. I've had troops searching everywhere for you."

"Don't think you can fool me," she said. "You're only king because I'm gone. The second I resurface, you lose the throne."

"Now, that's where you're wrong," he replied. "I'm king because it's my birthright. You will never rule Hyrule for everyone believes your husband killed our father and you helped. The second you resurface, you will be sentenced to death for regicide and patricide."

"You know that neither Link nor I could have done that," she argued. "I was in my chambers and Link was outside of the castle when father-"

"Yes, I'm aware that neither of you killed him," he interrupted her this time. "Because I'm the one who did the old man in." She could only stare at him. Her brother could be cruel and manipulative, but he wasn't a murderer.

Was he?

"Liar."

"You don't want to know how I did it? Or why?" His voice deepened to one she hardly recognized. "Or how it felt watching him take his final breath?"

She started to shake and had to steady herself against the wall. He closed the distance between them, fully cutting her off from any hope of escape. "How?" she whispered.

He scoffed. "The goddesses are a joke. That they make YOU the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom, but you cannot even figure this out?" There was a pause as he seemed to take in just how uncomfortable he was making her. "This room stinks of sex," he said suddenly. "Is that all you two do now? Did he make you…"

His hand moved down to her exposed stomach, but before he could touch her bare skin, she smacked him across the face. Hard.

"Tsk tsk, sister. Striking your king; that's treason."

"What did you do?" she snapped. "What happened to our father?"

"Poison, you daft girl. Before I left for my tour, I poisoned him."

She knew at once it was the same poison that had been on the arrow that had struck Link. "That would have made him comatose, but it wouldn't have killed him."

"Suddenly the expert on poisons, are you?" he joked. "Yes, he slept through it all, and if you had known about the antidote, as you seem to have discovered to save your precious hero, you could have woken him up."

He had killed him then, it mattered not how. The real question was, "Why? Why do it?"

"Why? You of all people have the nerve to ask me why?" he shrieked. "I know you were scheming behind my back to steal my throne."

"What does that mean? You were the crowned prince. You already had everythi-"

"He was taking it all away, Zelda," he snapped. "Before I left, he revealed to me the point of my royal tour was to teach me to be a diplomat because he was taking away my crown. And then, he told me a story, about how your mother seduced him away from mine, breaking up our happy home."

He was insane. "What are you talking about? We have the same parents."

"I always wondered why your life seemed so much more carefree than mine," he said, ignoring her. "We have the same father, but our mothers are very different. Mine was fit to be a queen. Yours was nothing but a home-wrecking whore."

Zelda's hand flew across his face before she realized what she had done. She heard herself utter a gasp, but was even more horrified when his mouth curved upwards into a sadistic smile. All of the pent up years of anger and fear welled up within her and she raised her hand to strike her again. This time, he caught her by the wrist before she could make contact and wrapped his other hand around her throat.

"I warned you, Zelda. You shouldn't strike your king. Now decide your punishment for your treason; either I break your wrist or I break your neck."

She stared at him defiantly, but as he started applying pressure to both, her desire to survive kicked in and she turned her eyes to her arm to make her choice.

"So be it," he said. She only barely registered her neck becoming freed as in the next moment, an intense pain began in her wrist, radiating down her arm. For as long as she could, she kept herself from crying out, not wanting to alert Link or cause Daltus's guards to appear, but her silent defiance only made him squeeze harder. When she heard a sickening pop, she couldn't help but scream in pain.

She barely heard a "Watch out!" call from outside and mere seconds later, part of the wall was blown in by a giant metal ball. The crash caused them both to fall, which was enough to free her from her brother's grasp. As she crawled towards the newly made opening, she was stopped by a hand wrapping around her ankle. Struggling, she managed to get free when a metal claw collided with her brother, trapping him against the wall. A second appeared, further locking him in place.

"Zelda, get away from him," Link said as he handed over the double clawshots to Naboo.

She did, but had to curl her wrist against her barely-covered chest to keep herself from passing out from the pain.

"ZELDA! I order you to get back here! Do not walk away from me!" Daltus screamed at her, fighting to get free from the contraption pinning him to the wall. "Guards! Stop them!"

Link was just outside, firing bomb arrow after bomb arrow at the only entrance in or out of the hidden village, causing rocks to fall before the flank of soldiers could reach the opening..

"What are you doing?" she tried to ask, but only made it to "are" before sickness rose and she heaved on the ground beside her.

"Impaz," he said, putting his bow away and leading her to the Sheikah woman. "Whatever you are planning to get us out of here, you need to do it quickly."

"Patience, young man."

Zelda looked up to see the old woman fiddling with… she had no idea what to call it. Long and flat, it looked like stone, but it was alive, if that was even possible. She looked to Link, who had worried creases across his face. "Don't worry," he assured. "We're going somewhere safe."

"Link," she began, her voice strained, "what about that treasure chest of Queen Zelda's?" Between throwing up and nearly being strangled, it was now a challenge to speak through the pain in her throat.

"I don't think-"

"Please?" she asked. She had no idea why, but there was something important for her in there. She just knew there had to be.

He made a couple of glances around, first at the Sheikah then towards Naboo, before looking back and giving her a nod. "Fine, but you stay here," he said, pulling off his tunic, leaving only a thin undershirt. "Put this on, and when Impaz gets that… that thing working, you do not wait for me."

Seconds after he rushed into the home, Impaz cried out, "Ah ha! That's what I was doing wrong!" and moments later, a large circle appeared in midair. Inside was a blurred image that she could not make out. "After you, Princess."

"What is it?" she said horsley as she pulled on the tunic.

"It will transport you, all of us, to safety."

She had read about songs that could warp people around Hyrule and had heard of the Sheikah's technical prowess, but this was beyond anything she'd ever dreamed. "But, Link…" she whispered. He had said to go, but how could she leave him? Wherever this was going to take her, she didn't want to leave the others behind.

She felt dizzy. The pain in her wrist was undulating in throbbing waves, and her ears were ringing as Link reappeared beside her. She couldn't understand whatever he was saying, most likely he was scolding her for staying, but his arm wrapped around her all the same.

"Naboo, we're ready!"

"You took too long, hero," Daltus said, emerging with a dagger pointed at Naboo's throat. "There is nowhere you can escape to. Run to the edge of the continent if you dare, I will find you and retrieve that which belongs to me."

Zelda could see that the situation was becoming increasingly unraveled. Her brother was stalling for time, and after a glance to the nearly reopened caved in entrance, she could tell they had little time remaining to get away.

She reached down until she found Link's pack. With her injured wrist, she would be unable to draw a bow, but when her hand gripped another item that would only need one, she glanced at Link in the hope that he would try to predict what she was about to do. As she pulled back her arm and readied herself to launch the Gale Boomerang, he moved away to give her space and she let it fly. It worked perfectly, blowing around and disorienting her brother, he dropped his dagger and the grip he had on Naboo.

"Impaz, go!" Link shouted, and the next thing Zelda knew, she had been pushed through the travel gate before she could protest.

At first, everything seemed to be a big beige blur like before, but this time she could hear and smell the water all around. There was bustling all around her, yet her attention was solely focused on the travel gate that had not yet disappeared. Finally, Link appeared with Naboo in his arms, yelling for Impaz to close the gate, and within a matter of seconds, the opening had vanished.

A group of white haired people approached, and she was beginning to think they had found a senior citizen village until a white-headed child with striking red eyes came sprinting up to join the rest.

"We need help, please," Link said, and she noticed he was drenched in blood. It wasn't his, she realized, but Naboo's, who wasn't moving and had a dagger plunged into her stomach. A dagger she knew all too well as it belonged to her brother.

"Follow me, young man," one of the Sheikah women said. "You too, Your Highness," she said looking in Zelda's direction.

At this point, Zelda was far too sick from her injuries and concerned for her friend to make any decisions on her own or question how they knew who she was. They were led to a chamber which only contained a large, well, she wasn't quite sure what it was. It looked like it could be a bed, but it had water not a mattress.

"This is our medical center," the Sheikah said. "Young man, place your friend inside the resurrection capsule over there."

"What will it do?" he asked skeptically.

"Resurrect her, obviously. Now hurry before we run out of time."

He did as he was told, and knelt beside the Gerudo to gently hold her hand.

"As soon as you are ready, remove the weapon, and I will begin the process," the woman said.

Link once more did as he was told. Blood began pouring out of Naboo's wound, but before he could do anything, something began to lower from the ceiling, enclosing their friend inside.

"What have you done?" he asked, looking rather menacing covered in blood with a dagger in his hand.

"She will be fine in about a hundred years, give or take a year," the Sheikah said. "I'm sorry, just a little humor. Someone installed a button for slow restoration as a joke, but we never use it. There is also one for memory loss in the case of a… nevermind. She should be fully healed in a couple of days." When neither of them spoke, she filled the silence, "Shall I take a look at you next, Princess?" She looked nervously to the capsule which held Naboo and then to Link, whose gaze was focused on the weapon. "Don't worry," the woman reassured. "Your injuries do not seem so severe as to need such extreme measures. Before we start, may I ask, how strong are your healing powers?"

Considering the last time she attempted to heal someone, she had passed her powers and soul to another, leaving behind her husk of a corpse to be puppetted by a monster. Unable to talk somehow to relay all of that to the woman, Zelda shrugged at her instead.

"Very well. Come with me, and we'll get you patched up."

…

After attending to her wounded wrist and checking her throat, they brought her a meal, but the combination of pain and exhaustion made eating nearly impossible. They offered her a shot of medicine that had the added benefit of causing her to fall asleep in a matter of minutes. She awoke sometime later in the middle of the night, alone in a quiet room.

No, not alone. Sitting on the floor beside her bed was Link, his head resting in his hands, but he wasn't asleep. His breathing was too unsteady, too erratic.

"Link?" she attempted, surprised that her voice had somewhat recovered, and she was able to speak. When he didn't respond, she sensed he was still upset from earlier. "Are you angry with me?"

Beginning to think he was simply not going to answer, she turned away from him to try to get comfortable when she heard, "Yes."

She turned back quickly, crying out having forgotten about her wrist. Even with the Sheikah's healing medicines, she was still in a terrible amount of pain. Before she knew it, he had put his arm around her, sliding into the bed beside her.

"No. Not angry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Then what?"

"Zelda…"

"Please, tell me."

"Why didn't you call out for me?" he said, the same frustrated tone she had only heard once from him. "Why did you allow him to harm you rather than ask for my help?"

She made sure he was finished before she replied. "I knew you would figure it out soon. I was stalling him, trying to keep him from calling out for reinforcements while you put together a plan." She paused, and when he didn't say anything, she added, "I knew you wouldn't let me down. You never have."

He gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you," he said, and not expecting a response, added, "Try to get some more sleep. You should feel much better in the morning."

…

Feel better, she did. She stirred and felt herself being pulled into her husband's embrace. His scent, grass and earthy, flooded her senses. He was wild and he was hers. She could feel the words she'd been longing to say rising up from the flutterings in her stomach, and it was about to leave her when she heard a whisper on the wind. When she heard it again, she sat up and slid out of the bed, careful not to wake her sleeping partner. From the doorway, the voice on the wind was clear.

"Zelda. Come to me."

There was nothing menacing or ominous about the voice. As she looked out into the quiet stillness, she could feel a warmth coming from her wrapped hand, where underneath the bandage, the piece of the Triforce she bore began to glow.

"I'm up on the mountain."

She turned her head quickly, looking up the walkway to the large, snow capped mountain illuminated in the moonlight. Feeling herself being pulled, she walked barefooted toward the source.

"Zelda…"

"I'm coming."

"Zelda…"

"Zelda!" She blinked to find Link's hands on her shoulders. It was daytime and she was blinded by the sunlight reflecting off of the fresh-fallen snow. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

She was freezing, and he didn't look to be dressed any warmer. "I… I don't know," she replied through chattering teeth.

"Link, did you find her?"

"Over here," he replied. "She needs one of those elixirs."

A Sheikah male came running up to meet them. He handed over a small vial. "You'll want to drink it in one gulp, your highness. It is quite bitter."

"What is it?" she asked.

"You don't want to know," Link replied under his breath.

"A mix of bugs and monster parts," the Sheikah answered. "Now, drink up."

She scrunched up her nose, but did what she had been told and imbibed the drink. The taste was terrible, but the sudden warming effect she felt spreading from her head to her exposed toes soon made her forget how awful it had been.

"Another for you, sir," the monk said, handing Link an elixir. "Yours will wear off soon."

Link looked less than eager to accept the drink, but did as he was told. Wiping his mouth, he asked, "Don't you need another?"

He shook his head and replied, "I only took one before so you would trust me that it wasn't poison. As a monk of the Sheikah, I have trained my body to withstand the harshest, most extreme conditions. Much like the princess here, until she was snapped out of her trance."

Link looked at her. "You were glowing," he explained. "Golden. You didn't respond when I called for you and…" His voice trailed off as he looked up the mountain. "Where were you going?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I woke up and heard something calling out to me."

"What did it say?" the monk asked.

"'Come to me. I'm on the mountain,'" she replied. "What is up there?"

"For answers to that and many other follow up questions you will likely have, it would be best for you to speak with our elder."

Despite Link's insistence on carrying her, she was able to walk barefooted through the snow as they headed down the mountain and back to the village. In the daylight and without the pain from injuries, Zelda was able to, for the first time, fully take in the sights of the hidden Sheikah home. It was a community built into the canyon walls, all connected with immaculately constructed white stone walkways. Somehow both ancient and new, it looked as though it could last for centuries, perhaps millennia, more.

Both she and Link were led through a grand entrance and into a large room where they could hear water flowing. Sitting on floor pillows, they waited in silence.

"How is your wrist?" Link asked, adding quickly, "And your throat?"

She unconsciously swallowed, and though it still felt a little like she was swallowing tiny pieces of glass, she didn't want to worry him more. "Better," she replied, not really knowing what else to say. "Did I scare you?"

"You are never boring," he replied. "But if I had wanted a quiet life, I would have stayed in Ordon when you told me I could go home."

They could hear a shuffling of footsteps and the occasional tapping of a wooden cane upon the stone floor. A small, white-headed woman walked into the light. Beside her walked Impaz, who was now dressed in the same clothing as the other members of the tribe. The pair looked nearly identical standing side-by-side, but for the fact that Impaz was thinner from lack of nutrition.

The other walked up, and without a word, took hold of Zelda's hand, inspecting the back. A faint glow appeared, and she heard the voice again.

"Zelda…"

She pulled back in surprise.

"It called out to you, didn't it?" the Sheikah asked. "The voice on the mountain."

"What is it?"

"That is not for me to say," she replied. "We are only its guardians. You must climb up there and see for yourself, but you cannot go as you are."

"Do I need to seek out a special lesson or-"

"No, nothing like that," the woman interrupted. "Your clothing. It is too dangerous to rely only on potions to make your way both there and back. It would be better if you located clothing with warming properties."

She turned to Link, and could see him taking mental inventory of his special clothing. Underwater, fireproof, magic armor, sure, but none of those would help either of them in the cold temperatures. "What do you suggest?" he asked finally.

"Go north. There you will find a forgotten race that can make you the outfit you need to ascend to the peak."

He looked at her and nodded. "If it's what you want," he said. "I'm with you."

"I think we should," she agreed. "Thank you, Lady Impaz, and… forgive me, I didn't ask your name, Lady..."

"You can call me Lady Yiga, your highness. It has been an honor to serve the Royal Family in secret all these years, and we will continue to do so in the hopes that we can return to Hyrule in the role of esteemed advisors as it was in the past."

…

"Naboo?" Zelda whispered.

Now a couple of hours freed from the healing capsule, her friend was still asleep. The wound in her stomach had nearly disappeared but for a nasty scar.

She began to stir and amber eyes fluttered open, looking at her in confusion. "Who are you?" the Gerudo asked. Zelda could only stare in surprise until the girl let out a hoarse laugh. "They were right. That was funny."

"It wasn't," she scoffed, though secretly felt warmed by the sense of relief wash over her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was stabbed by your stupid brother," Naboo replied. "Is he still alive?" Zelda nodded. "Shame. I thought Link would have killed him for what he did to you. I've never seen someone look so angry before."

Zelda hadn't really noticed, but she had been out of it when they arrived. She turned to the doorway, looking to see if he had returned.

"You didn't let him leave, did you?" Naboo asked.

"No, he is getting directions. I wanted to make sure you were awake before we left. Link and I have to try to locate the Rita?"

Naboo laughed again. "Rito," she corrected. "You've never heard of them?"

"No."

"They look like birds, but they are actually distant relatives of the fish people, what do you call them?"

"Zora."

"Yes, them. Growing up, one of my best friends was a Rito girl. They let her fly until she was older and then they clipped her wings. She…she could not exist like that for long, and chose a different path." Naboo looked away. "You have to save them. Link promised to help my people, but I'd like to ask you to save all of those who have been enslaved. They are people, not property. Please…"

"Okay," Zelda whispered, grabbing her hand. "Okay, I'll do what I can, but right now, I'm not royalty. I'm no one."

"You're wrong," Naboo said. "There is so much more to you, but you've just been held back for so long."

Zelda was unsure what to say to this, so she sat quietly.

Naboo, for her part, was better at filling the awkward silence. "Hand me that yellow fruit over there."

She looked to the table and grabbed one of the mighty bananas, something new to her but the Sheikah were obsessed with the food.

"If you're hungry, I can ask for a more filling meal-"

"No," Naboo interrupted as she began peeling it. "Grab one and copy what I do with my mouth and tongue. I want to teach you something that I think will make your husband very happy."