The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

The Voice
Chapter 52 - What Makes you Tick

Teba's frustration knew no bounds at this point. First, he'd just missed Link and Sheik at the Domain, forcing him to fly at full speed to the Gerudo Desert, where he'd first found no trace of them at the Oasis save for a vague trail pointing south-east, and now this.

"You don't understand!" he said, glaring at the pair of Gerudo who were guarding the entrance to the city. "There's someone I need to find, and I have reason to believe they're here! They could be in danger and I need to warn them!"

"And I told you, it is impossible for this Hylian voe of yours to be in the city," the Gerudo replied, glaring back. "Only vai are permitted in the city—if you're looking for a voe, you're better off asking around the Bazaar. Now please, back off before we have to do something we'll all regret."

"I already asked at the Bazaar," he hissed. "And they told me he was heading this way."

"Then he either got lost along the way, or he went somewhere else," she said. She frowned. "Hylians aren't suited for this environment, you know. It's not unthinkable that he is...could be—"

"I would stop talking, if I were you," he said, wondering if it was worth the risk to fly over the wall and bypass security entirely. Probably not, he decided. One wrong move and the archers on the walls would turn him into a pincushion. "Look, all I'm asking is that you ask around, see if anyone's seen him. His survival is vital to all of Hyrule."

"I'm not going to waste my time or anyone else's asking if they've seen a man who doesn't belong in the city in the first place," she refused. "Sir, I understand your frustration, but I promise you there is no way he could be here. Chief Riju has cracked down hard on voe who try to sneak inside—we'd have known if he were caught."

He stared at her for a long moment. "What makes you so sure he'd be caught?" he asked. "For all we know, he could be walking around the town right now, in disguise."

He felt a little guilty for thinking it, but Link had hardly been the most masculine Hylian he'd ever seen...which said a lot since Teba didn't really know enough about the species to easily differentiate the genders in the first place, at least in cases like Link's. Point was, he could easily pass for a Hylian woman if he simply wore the right clothes, and knowing that kid he would be just...well, foolish enough to try that strategy.

"Our security is tight enough to spot the fakers, trust me," the guard said, her voice icy. "I think it's time you left now, sir. The Bazaar will more than happily offer you food and shelter for the night. I'm sure there are a few Rito there as well."

If only he could make contact with the Rito already in the village. Then Teba could have had eyes inside, but this...this hooligan wouldn't even let him try.

"What's going on here?" a cheerful voice asked as another Gerudo dressed as a guard sidled up to the gate, looking curiously at Teba. "A Rito, eh? Vai or voe?"

"Voe," the first guard said. "He insists that a Hylian voe has snuck into the city, and that he needs to be warned of some danger. Ridiculous, I know," she gave the newcomer an exasperated look. "We were just asking him to leave."

"A voe, you say?" the newcomer said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "Could you describe him, please?"

Progress? Teba was almost too eager in his description of Link. "He's young, barely an adult if even that," he said. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, quite short. He carries a sword with a very distinctive handle, dark purple and a cross-guard pointing up. He also carries a bow like this." He unslung his own great eagle bow, showing it to the woman. "Please, I need to get a message to him."

"I haven't heard about any voe sneaking into town," the newcomer said, shaking her head. "But I was about to head out on patrol around the walls. Maybe we'll find him somewhere along the way. Want to tag along?"

"I'm sorry, miss, but I really have to—"

"I think you would benefit from some fresh air and a change of scenery, friend," the Gerudo insisted, touching his shoulder lightly as she stepped past him. Did...did she wink at him?

"Risa, what are you doing?" the first guard asked. "What if he's dangerous?!"

The Gerudo, Risa, gave Teba a careful look up and down, shrugging. "Eh, I can take him, I think. But I doubt he's stupid enough to attack me in view of the walls, right?"

"R-Right," Teba said, a little unsure of what was happening right now, but following the woman nevertheless. There certainly wasn't any progress to be made with the gate guards.

Risa didn't speak again until they were out of earshot. "Teba, right?" she asked. "Link told us about you."

His eyes widened. "You've seen him?!"

"Seen him, learned the art of seduction from him, fought with him," Rita said. "I have to admit, I was really surprised when he turned out to be a voe—I mean, with a veil he looks so much like a vai, and—"

"Please, tell me where he is, Miss Risa," Teba said, desperation overtaking his ability to be polite. "Something is hunting him, has been since he left the Rito village, something horrible, and I need to warn him about it."

Something in the back of his mind niggled at him, and it took him a second to realise what it was.

Art of seduction.

Link.

What.

Risa didn't notice his sudden, rapidly thrown worldview. "Oh, that's not good," she said. "What kind of threat is it? Maybe we can help him fight it." She gripped the handle of her scimitar, looking excited. "The Yiga barely felt like a warmup."

"Maybe," he said, choosing to abandon the—frankly—horrifying thought at Link attempting to seduce someone for the more pressing matter at hand. "But first he needs to be warned. Do you know where he is?"

"Sure," Risa said, nodding. "He went south with Chief Riju, Commander Buliara, and Captain Ayla this morning." She pointed in the direction she'd said, a seemingly endless expanse of desert. "They were going to calm Vah Naboris, and it seems to have worked. The sandstorm has stilled, and while we can still hear and feel her stomping around, it's nowhere near as violent as it was."

"Thank you," Teba said, already sprinting to take off. "Truly!"

"You can pay me in a date, bird dad!" Risa called after him, nearly causing him to fall right out of the sky from the sheer amount of confusion her words caused.

"I'm...I'm married!" he shouted before beating his wings as hard as he could, trying to gain altitude and speed. He was close, so close.

Risa stared after him, hoping the threat wasn't as severe as he'd made it out to be. She cursed under her breath.

"Damn it, all the good ones are taken," she muttered before continuing her patrol, resolving to warn the guards she passed of a possible threat.

Anything that posed a danger to Link was a danger to them all.

At first, all Teba saw was featureless desert stretching ahead of him, but after a while he spotted some odd-looking tracks in the sand, crisscrossing and zigzagging along the surface. At first, he thought they were just strange formations carved out by the wind, but he soon concluded they had to belong to those strange, lumpy creatures he'd flown over on the way to the city. They had dived in and out of the sand like it was water, frolicking and playing.

These tracks seemed more deliberate, however, even appearing like someone had tried to draw something in the sand behind them.

As good a lead as any, he supposed, thanking mentally thanking Risa for appearing when she did and pointing him the right way. She could have been lying, of course, but the way she'd spoken of Link suggested a great deal of fondness...and Teba certainly didn't blame her for that. If Link had trusted her enough to tell her about his previous adventures (and Teba, of all people), then he had to trust her as well.

And that trust paid off as something appeared in the sand ahead of him. His sharp eyes told him it was a large piece of cloth strung up to provide shade, attached to what appeared a ruined Sheikah Shrine, the sort that dotted the Hyrulian landscape no matter where you went. Several of the seal-like creatures were playing in the sand nearby, wearing harnesses of some sort.

He could make out three shapes beneath the shade, taking shelter from the harsh sun. They appeared to be Gerudo, judging by their red hair. No blonde, however, and Teba swallowed heavily as he dove down, gently touching down on the ground some distance away from the Shrine, making sure they saw him before he began to approach, his arms raised and hands empty.

"Hello!" he called out. "May I approach?!"

"Leave your bow on the ground, then approach!" one of the Gerudo—one of the biggest people Teba had ever seen—said as she stepped out from underneath the improvised parasol, carrying a sword that matched her frame in size.

Loath to leave his bow behind, Teba did so anyway. Harth was going to give him hell for treating it so poorly, but that preener could stick it up his—

"That's close enough, Rito," the large warrior announced once he was a dozen or so paces away. "State your name and business!"

"My name is Teba," he replied. "I've come in search of a Hylian. A boy—er, voe, named Link."

"And what do you want with him?"

It was heart-warming, the way Link seemed to inspire protectiveness in the people he encountered on his quest. Knowing that hi—the kid wasn't completely alone out here was a comfort to Teba.

And Sheik, he added. Impossible to ignore him either.

Ah, who was he kidding? That little shit was pretty great too, in his own way.

Right now, however, the protectiveness was getting in his way. He levelled the most intense stare he could muster on the warrior, speaking clearly, "I've come to warn them. He and Sheik are in grave danger from something that has been hunting them all across Hyrule."

"Describe the threat," the warrior demanded.

"It looks like a Yiga, but it isn't. It wears...a face that does not belong to it. It has a powerful weapon; it tore an entire clearing to shreds with a single shot." He remembered that swirling eye, the way it had glowed so brightly before annihilating the ground in front of him in what was either a perfectly aimed warning shot, or a badly aimed killing one.

One of the other Gerudo—the medium one, compared to the other two—perked up at that, looking at the smaller one. "Riju, the report, didn't it mention that the barricade had been shredded as well?"

Teba looked at the girl he now realised was the Gerudo Chief, lamenting that apparently this world was dead-set on heaving difficult tasks onto the backs of children. How old was Riju, anyway? Definitely not older than Link—probably younger. She nodded to the medium Gerudo, turning to the biggest one.

"Buliara, stand down," she said. "Approach, please," she then told Teba, who did so.

"So, you're the bird dad, huh?" the medium Gerudo asked when he was standing under the blissful shade.

"Bird dad?" he said, wondering just what Link was telling people about him.

"Teba, right? Link's told us about you," the Gerudo explained, pointing to herself. "I'm Ayla." She pointed to the big Gerudo. "This is Slagathor—"

"Buliara," the giant corrected her with a glare, while Riju rolled her eyes.

"And this is Riju, Chief of the Gerudo," Ayla finished.

"My lady," Teba said, bowing. "My apologies for arriving unannounced, but I had to make haste."

"No need for that," Riju said. "If Link is in danger, then he must know as soon as possible, especially since the threat you described appears to have already made its way here. A few days ago, a barricade blocking our access to the rest of Hyrule was destroyed by an unknown party. We have not been able to find trace of them since."

Teba cursed inwardly. He'd been too slow after all. The hunter must have gone south right away, possibly deciding to set a trap for Link while he took some time recuperate in the Domain. He should have done the same, instead of arrogantly assuming he'd be fast enough to reach them in time.

"Where is he, then?" he asked. "A Gerudo called Risa told me he'd be here."

"Link is currently trying to calm Vah Naboris," Riju said, pointing south-east, where a number of rocky crags jutted from the ground and took up a great deal of the horizon. "She disappeared among those mountains a while ago. I helped him disable the storm generator that prevented anyone from approaching the Beast, and he took it from there."

"How long ago?"

"A few hours, I believe. If his stories of the previous Beasts are true, then he should be finished soon."

"I will be off, then," he said, turning back to fetch his bow. "Thank you for the information, my lady."

"You're welcome to stay, Teba," Riju said. "You can wait for Link here, if you wish."

"Thank you, but I'd rather make sure he gets my warning sooner than later."

"I understand, but please be careful. We don't know what Link is facing in there."

"I have a good idea," he muttered. He picked up his bow and dusted it off, annoyed to see little grains of sand clinging to the oiled wood. Harth was definitely going to kill him for this.

He was about to take off when he heard a strangled shout from the Shrine, followed by a surprised gasp.

"Teba!"

He ran back, saw the blue light gathering in a vaguely person-shaped blob on top of the seal that marked the Shrine's entrance. He struggled to recall what Sheik had called it—a Travel Gate? He realised what that meant and shooed the Gerudo away from it.

"Stand back, give him room," he said, hovering uncertainly near the pad as the features of the person arriving grew clearer.

"Him?" Ayla asked in confusion.

Two arms, two legs, one head, pointed ears... He sighed in relief and was about to give the boy a lecture on dramatic timing as the light condensed into the Hylian he knew and cared for.

The words died in his throat.

"Link!" Riju screamed, darting forward, kneeling by the broken, bleeding Hero, whose chest was barely rising and falling with short, wet gasps that was all that passed for breathing. Teba felt his legs give out, stomach roiling at the sight of the injuries Link had suffered.

His nose was broken and bleeding freely, a dark bruise staining the skin around his eyes. His uniform was a mess, torn and cut everywhere, blood colouring the fabric a dark red. His shoulder was torn open, a ragged wound exposing cut muscles and tendons—he'd never recover the use of that arm...if he even survived. He saw the wound in Link's middle, the angle of it, and the blood seeping freely from it, bubbles appearing with each ragged breath the Hylian tried to take. Pierced lungs.

There was no recovering from that. Link was dying.

Goddess, no, not him!

He forced himself to stand up, only to collapse on his knees next to the Hylian. Riju had taken Link's hand, trying to wake him up by saying his name over and over. Ayla appeared to be trying to take stock of his injuries, rummaging through her pack and withdrawing bandages and other medical supplies. Buliara was simply looking sadly at the ruined mess of a Hylian at her feet, shaking her head. She knew there was no use.

Link didn't seem aware of himself or his surroundings, eyes moving rapidly under closed lids.

Teba leaned forward, touching a feathered hand to one of the few places on Link's face that wasn't covered in bruises. "What've you gotten yourself into this time, boy?" he asked, his voice warbling. "I told you to be careful, didn't I?"

Link gasped, eyes opening wide. "Sh-Sheik!" he gurgled, choking on his own fluids.

Teba looked at the torn mess of Link's uniform. The Slate wasn't there.

"Link, what happened?" Riju asked, tears running down her cheeks, unheeded. "Please..."

Link blinked, seemingly gaining a little consciousness, if only briefly. "T-Trap," he said. "It w-was...a t-trap..."

"Ayla, do something!" Riju shouted. "Help him!"

"I...I..." the Gerudo sat frozen, medical supplies in her lap, but not knowing where to start...or perhaps she knew exactly what a waste it would be. "There's nothing—"

"Don't say that!" the Gerudo Chief shrieked. "He's dying, you have—we can't...!"

"My lady," Teba said calmly, surprised he was able to even speak with the way his insides felt like they were being torn to pieces. "She is right...his injuries...there is nothing we can do." He leaned down, putting his beak to Link's ear. "I'm sorry, son...I was too late...and I failed you..."

Link's lips moved, the Hero trying to speak, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.

"What is it, Link?" he asked. "What are you trying to say?"

"Mi..."

"Mi?"

"Mi...pha..."

His hand dropped from Riju's grasp, Link's final breath little more than rattle as it left his body, going limp. He was gone. Teba stared at the slack face, the bloodied clothes. He felt...empty.

"Rest, young warrior," he heard Buliara whisper. "Your journey has ended."

"No, no, no..."

Riju had her face buried in her hands, crying. Ayla stared at Link's body, gaze as blank as Teba felt. "Damn it, kid," she muttered. "Couldn't you have held on a little longer?"

Too caught up in their grief, they didn't notice the tiny, shining particle of light that suddenly appeared over Link's body, slowly growing until it was twice his size. Teba shouted in surprise as the light flared up, taking the shape of a tall, slender creature with...red scales and...the spitting image of the statue he had seen in the Domain.

The spirit of Princess Mipha, looking as real as that of Master Revali, looked down at Link, a sad smile on her lips.

You just can't stay out of trouble, can you? she asked, sounding as aggrieved as the people around her.

Her spirit reached out her arm, touching Link's forehead, his nose, and then his chest.

It is not your time yet, Link. Zelda is still waiting...as is Sidon. Don't break his heart. Don't break their hearts. Live.

The golden light surrounding the Zora princess grew to encompass Link as well. Teba tried to reach out and touch him, but the moment his fingers touched the light, it was like he was being shocked, making him pull back. The light grew so bright it was painful, forcing him to shut his eyes. The intensity only continued to grow, until he could swear he saw Link's outline through his eyelids.

And then it was gone, disappearing in an instant, like it was never there. Teba dared to open his eyes and gasped at what he saw. Link was still covered in blood, his uniform a torn mess...but his wounds were gone. His nose had been set, the hole in his shoulder a mere dimple in the skin. The stab wound in his middle was but a scar, joining the many others that covered Link like a tapestry, a living canvas telling the story of his life as a warrior.

No sooner had Teba checked the wounds did Link sit up, gasping for air like he'd nearly drowned. His hands cupped the spot he'd been stabbed, trying to find the wound. His eyes were wide and unblinking, unseeing, his mind seemingly far away. Teba didn't blame him—he couldn't imagine what the boy had been through.

"...Link?" Riju asked carefully from the other side, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"Where...am I?" Link asked, letting his eyes flutter shut for a moment before opening them again, looking more aware as he gazed around them. "What...happened?"

"You nearly died is what happened, you idiot!" Ayla barked, flinging her medical supplies aside and grabbing his chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Don't you ever do that, you hear?! You ever die on me like that, and I will personally resurrect you only so I can kill you myself, understood?"

"O-Okay," Link said, glancing down when Riju's arms wrapped around him in what must have been a bone-crushing hug, judging by the way he winced.

"Welcome back, Link," Teba said, wondering if the last ten minutes had shortened his lifespan significantly. It was almost worth it, though, for the sheer surprise on the Hero's face upon spotting him.

"T-Teba?! Wh-What are y-you d-doing here?"

"It is a long story...but I believe there are more pressing matters," the Rito said. "Where is Sheik?"

It seemed to take Link a moment to remember what had happened, but his expression twisted into one of horror once he recalled. "Sh-Sheik!" he exclaimed, trying to stand up...which was easier said than done with a Gerudo Chief pretending to be a barnacle around one's waist. Luckily, Buliara was there to support and lift him up the rest of the way, steadying him.

"Easy, Link," Teba said, noticing the way he was swaying. "Take it slow. Tell us what happened."

"It w-was a t-trap," Link spat. "Th-That th-thing was waiting f-for us."

"What thing?" Riju asked.

"The creature wearing Sheik's face," Teba said, wincing when Link's eyes met his in glare.

"You kn-knew?!" he asked.

"That's why I'm here," he said. "I came to warn you. That creature first tried to ambush you in the Rito valley, but you had already left. I confronted it, but it escaped. I tried to reach you at the Domain, but I was delayed by a storm, and you'd already left by the time I got there. I've been chasing you ever since." He bowed his head apologetically. "I was too late. I'm sorry, Link."

Link tried to speak but couldn't find the words. His eyes were wet, but he refused to let the tears fall, angrily scrubbing at them with the back of his hand.

"Who was that...spirit?" Buliara asked. "She looked like a Zora..."

"Princess Mipha," Teba supplied, realising Link needed a moment to compose himself. "The Zora Champion from a century ago. Their spirits still linger in the Divine Beasts, where they fell during the Calamity. I have seen and spoken to one of them before. Master Revali."

It had been a strange experience, and he wasn't sure how keen he'd been to repeat the experience. If seeing Mipha meant Link could be healed, though, he'd gladly do it again and again.

"Goddess," Riju said, glancing towards the mountains. "Then that means Lady Urbosa's spirit lingers in Naboris."

"She w-was supposed t-to," Link said, resting against the Shrine wall, shoulders heaving like he was about to throw up. "But w-we couldn't f-find a t-trace of her...that m-monster m-must have suppressed her, l-like it d-did m-my m-magic. I w-wasn't able t-to heal."

"Is that why you came back here?" Teba asked.

"Sh-Sheik sent m-me..." Instinctively, Link reached for his belt to pick up Sheik, fingers closing around nothing but air. His shoulders heaved again. "Teba..."

"Link?"

"I n-need you t-to fly m-me to Naboris. Right now."

"I don't think—"

"Sh-Sheik is a-alone with th-that th-thing, right n-now!" Link shouted, glaring at them. "I d-don't kn-know what it w-wants, b-but I c-can't... I can't!" Glaring at the Rito, Link huffed and took several shaky steps into the sand. "F-Fine, I'll g-go alone!"

Faster than her size would suggest, Buliara stepped into his path. "You aren't going anywhere, Hero."

"S-Stand aside," Link said, scowling at her.

"Or what?" Buliara asked.

"Or I'll m-make you!"

"With what?" the warrior said, looking pointedly down at him and his complete lack of weapons and gear. Whatever had happened in there had left Link completely unarmed.

Link snarled and tried to step around her, but Buliara wouldn't let him, side-stepping into his path. He tried to go through her, then, shoving at her with his shoulder, but the Gerudo simply put a hand on his chest and shoved him back lightly. It was barely even a weak push, but it sent Link to his arse in the sand, and without the strength to get back up.

"Look at you," Buliara said, staring down at him. "Worse coordination than a new-born sand seal...and you think you can take on whatever left you in that state right away? You'll be going to your death, Hero, and there's no telling the loudmouth will be able to bring you back here to be healed again."

"I c-can't leave h-him!" Link repeated, tears falling his dirty cheeks now. "He s-saved me...n-now I have t-to save h-him!"

"And you will...after getting some rest," Buliara said, offering him her hand, which he eyed warily. "You're no good to anyone in your current state. Eat something, sleep a little, and you'll be ready to fight again, I'm sure."

The hell he will, Teba thought, watching as Link was pulled to his shaky feet and firmly escorted back to the Shrine, forced to sit down next to Teba.

"Make sure he stays put, Master Teba," Buliara said. "Ayla, get one of the rations."

"On it," the medium Gerudo said.

Link looked absolutely miserable where he sat, and Teba couldn't resist the urge to put his wing around the young Hylian, drawing him closer.

"Sheik will be fine," he murmured to Link. "Remember what happened last time? The creature couldn't even touch him thanks to that shield. Surely he can use that to keep this new enemy at bay until you have had some time to recover?"

"I n-need to b-be there," Link insisted, but his eyes were drooping, his body leaning more and more heavily against Teba's, fatigue replacing the energy burst from before.

Teba didn't know much about magic or magical healing, but he was quite sure it took a great deal of effort and energy, both for the healer and the one being healed. Combined with the sheer state of Link when he'd first arrived, it was a wonder he hadn't just stayed unconscious after Princess Mipha had finished her work.

Silently, he thanked the Zora princess.

"And you will be," he said, running his fingers through Link's dirty, bloodied hair. "Soon. I will fly you there, and help you fight it. We won't let Sheik get hurt."

"P-Promise?" Link asked, murmuring into Teba's neck.

"I promise."

"Here," Ayla said, kneeling by them and holding out what appeared to be some sort of flat bread, but covered in spices. "Eat this."

"He's gone," Teba said, looking pointedly at the now lightly snorting Hero. "He'll eat when he wakes up."

"We can't wait too long," Riju said, looking worriedly to the mountains, hands wringing together. "There's no telling how long Sheik will be able to keep the monster at bay...and who knows what it actually wants? It could just be here to take control of the last Divine Beast and ensure it stays in Ganon's grasp, but..."

"It is a waste of time contemplating complete unknowns," Buliara said, firmly guiding Riju to sit with them, placing another flat bread in her lap. "Eat, my lady."

"It was after Link specifically," Teba said. "When I first encountered it in the valley, it asked for the Hero."

"So, Link was the target?" Ayla asked, handing Teba a bread of his own, which he took with a nod of thanks. He was famished, and could feel his own exhaustion creeping up, the distance he'd travelled catching up with him.

"Link," Teba nodded. "Or something he carried. It could have been after the Master Sword, perhaps...though I think it will find that to be an interesting challenge, as I have been led to understand it does not like being handled by someone other than its chosen bearer." Teba didn't like it, but the only other thing he could imagine that Link carried of value to someone like that would be the Slate itself...that is, Sheik.

He'd fly there and take it on right now himself if he believed he stood a chance alone, in his current state. But he didn't. He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he'd easily succeed where Link had failed.

No, not failed. Struggled.

Link wasn't dead yet, this was just a setback.

Teba bit into the bread, pleased to find that it was filled with some sort of spiced meat, turning it into a savoury treat. He settled back into a more comfortable position, letting Link lean against him.

These kids are going to be the death of me, he thought, and not for the first time.

Link wasn't within range of Sheik's sensors, and the Tower Network couldn't get a bead on him either, thanks to the gap in the coverage thanks to the broken tower near the Desert entrance. He tried not to let the thoughts of what had happened get to him, but images of Link bleeding out alone on the travel gate in the desert kept coming to him.

The others were supposed to wait there for them, and he could only hope they had stuck to their promise...and that Mipha's healing would work again now that Link was outside of whatever magic-suppressing ability this abomination possessed.

He'll be fine, Sheik thought. He'll heal, recover, and then he'll come back and kick this thing's ass. The only thing that stopped him the first time was the injuries from the fight against the Blight. Nothing like that in the way now.

Yes, that was how it was going to happen. Sheik knew it. So, he couldn't be slacking while Link found his bearings and the way back to Naboris. He had work to do.

He'd done several scans of the creature sitting on the floor in front of him, in a deceptively meditative pose, its eyes staring directly at Sheik at all times, only interrupted by blinking.

A curious construct—Sheik's scanners told him it was an amalgamation of both natural and synthetic components, a marriage between biological and artificial life. Sheik could tell it was a product of Sheikah tech—after all, what else could have produced this than the Shrine of Resurrection? But when? And why did it have Sheik's face...and body, for that matter?

Leaving that aside, there was also the seemingly random ratio of natural to synthetic components. It was as if whoever had built it only had a finite amount of biological matter, some of which could only be used for certain things. That must have been how the creature ended up with a ribcage that was about seventy percent metal, the rest composed of normal bone mass.

For a given value of the word normal, that is.

Then again, Sheik struggled to come up with anything in his life that could possibly be considered normal in the first place. Hell, he'd just told Link that yesterday. Normal was boring.

In this case, though, he could have done with a little dullness.

"Stop fucking looking at me," he growled at the abomination, which only continued to stare back, rasping in response,

"Submit."

It kept asking him to do that, submit. To either its will or its master's. Ganon had certainly been creative with this little slave, that was for certain. The first thing Sheik intended to do once he was free of this trap and could reconnect to the Tower Network, he was checking the Shrine of Resurrection's access logs. He'd no doubt find something anomalous.

"Sorry, I prefer being the dom," he said snidely, grinning as the creature launched another attempt to break into the Slate. A clumsy attack, easily fought off by Sheik's numerous firewalls—this one didn't even require his personal intervention.

Much could be said for Ganon's twisted imagination and its ability to put together a creature like this (and finding it necessary to install a modified Guardian cannon into its eye), but cryptography was clearly not something it mastered. The hacking attempts were rudimentary and somewhat competent at best, downright amateurish at worst. It had even tried a database injection when Sheik had "accidentally" shown it a login-field.

A fake one, of course, specifically constructed to see what the creature would do.

It had not liked the error message Sheik had displayed, asking it to do a handstand to get the data to align properly in the tubes and try again.

No sense of humour. Sad.

Presumptuous, too, if it assumed Sheik was the kind of Slate to let just anyone run arbitrary code inside him.

Its defences were better than its attacking ability, but Sheik was confident he'd find a way in sooner or later. He wasn't devoting his full attention to it anyway, not yet. He wanted to see what he could learn with superficial scans first. It had some sort of shielding protecting what lay beneath its bones—metallic or otherwise. Did it even have proper organs? It had to have some, fuelling and repairing its biological components, but which ones? Was the brain an actual, living one, or was it just a chip processor, like Sheik's.

So many questions, so few answers. Its power source was definitely intriguing—he suspected it wasn't particularly effective since the creature was clearly the culprit who'd removed the batteries from the dead Guardians.

But was it completely reliant on those batteries? Did it need them to be charged, or did it have some sort of charging system similar to the Slate's? Or, if it had something resembling a stomach, could it be supplemented with food rich in nutrients?

"Once I'm out of here," he told the thing, "I'm going to cut you open and have a look at your insides, figure out what makes you tick. Or, I'll ask Link to cut you open, at least. He'll be more than willing, I think, after the way you tried to gut him."

There was no reaction from the creature, predictably. Link had just been an obstacle, it seemed, judging by its obsession with Sheik's submission. If it wanted him dead, it would just smash up the mainframe, surely?

Where had the biological material to construct this thing even come from? The Shrine must have had some sort of stockpile for use when healing its subjects. It was hard to check, but if Sheik was able to study Link's composition, he'd probably find genetic traces that didn't belong to him. So what had been used for Stabby here? Guardian tech, for certain, but Hylian material? Gerudo? Something else that had been repurposed?

Whoever built that Shrine had truly been playing gods, he decided.

It woke me up, after all, he thought. Only took it a few thousand years. Not really a useful timescale, though.

Right, getting side-tracked again. Focus, Sheik. Gather information now, analyse later.

As if on cue, the creature tried another brute-force attack, trying to guess his remote login. Good fucking luck with that, buddy, he thought. It's two hundred and fifty-six characters and encrypted to hell and back.

It seemed to realise the folly of such a hacking attempt and gave up rather quickly, and for a while there wasn't another attempt.

A new system message from the mainframe was delivered to him.

Admin login attempt detected - authentication failed - connection rejected

Oh, that was good. At least it wasn't able to just guess its way into the mainframe. That would've been embarrassing for the engineers who'd designed and built this thing. He was about to continue his scans when another system message popped up.

Admin login attempt detected - authentication failed - connection rejected

Just give it up, Stabby, you're not getting in that way.

When the third message popped up, he'd concluded the thing was an idiot...but then it was followed by a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. Soon his logs were filled with hundreds of identical lines concerning Stabby's attempts at brute-forcing his way into the mainframe...and that was worrying, because it meant that no one had thought to put add a blacklisting function to the system, preventing a unit from attempting access after a certain number of failed tries. That was the best defence against brute-force attacks (after a secure password, of course).

He doubted the admin user of Naboris had chosen a bad password (at least he fucking hoped not!), but the longer Stabby had to try guessing it, the bigger the chances were of it actually finding its way inside.

That was...not good. It'd be able to cut take control of Naboris that way, and force Sheik's ejection from the mainframe itself, his last line of defence.

Looks like I have to step up my game, he thought, shifting his focus to the creature's own defences, beginning to probe them. It noticed, its eyes narrowing as they glared at Sheik.

"No," it said.

"Yes," Sheik replied smugly. "It's on Stabby. May the best hacker win."