The Lanayru Province is the second largest province in Hyrule. It is the easternmost region of the kingdom, stretching from the northeasternmost part of the kingdom, just east of Death Mountain, down south, where it lies just east of Faron Woods. The forsaking of Hyrule by the Rito five hundred years ago, as well as extinction of the Zora tribe years later, left Rito Village and Zora's Domain completely deserted. As such, it had become a popular tourist site for historians and those with similar interests. Another notable location is the Wilkshire Arena in Orial Village, where the arena's signature Monster Battles attract guests from all across the kingdom. The Lanayru Province is home to some of the most expensive homes in Hyrule. These houses are usually placed near Lake Hylia, another popular tourist attraction for lovers of all ages, as well as a popular swimming spot. As far at its population is concerned, this area is inhabited mainly by wealthy Humans, marine biologists, ecologists, those with an addiction to seafood, and merchants who deal in minerals that originate near water. Due to the popularity of the many locations in the province, it has the most traffic out of all the provinces in Hyrule, resulting in an almost non-existent wild monster population, with most monsters in the province living under captivity. It is in this province where the Temple of Time is located. The building is the most heavily guarded in Hyrule, even more so than Hyrule Castle.

Chapter 14

Repercussions; Part 2

About a day and a half had passed since Lana, Impa, and Midna attacked James's estate. It had been their largest scale attack to date. And so, in order to avoid mass-panic, the Disciples of Dragmire convinced Ganondorf to take action against the sorceress. The Six Saints of Power were now definitively convinced that the sorceress was using the Lost Woods as a base of operations. And so, Ganondorf sent Ghirahim and Volga to the entrance to the forest, in hopes of ambushing their enemy.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Midna, "Let's go get 'em!"

"Not so fast." Lana told her, "By attacking those two, we'd be deviating from our original plan. So we need everyone's agreement on this."

"You didn't ask everyone if Linkle could join us." said Midna.

"Not now, Midna. And besides, that's different. I'm fine with whatever you all agree to do, but I think it's important that you all know the risks."

"What risk? There's only two of them."

"Well that wouldn't be a problem if it were Zant with Ghirahim for example, because we already know their abilities and their weaknesses. The problem is Volga."

"What about him?" asked Darunia.

"We have no idea how powerful he is. If he's able to hold us all back, nothing would stop Ghirahim from going to get reinforcements."

"We're gonna have to fight them eventually," Midna reasoned, "Why not do it now?"

"I agree with Lana." Ruto said, "We already have a plan to deal with each of those so-called 'Saints', so I believe we should stick to it."

"I think that settles it." said Impa, "We're not all in agreement, so we're not going out there to fight them."

Midna shrugged, "Whatever."

That night...

"You're back." Thomas said as he opened the front door.

Malon nodded, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Come inside."

Instead of sitting in the living room like the previous day, Thomas took Malon straight down the hall that led to his room. But instead of the right room, the bedroom, Malon was taken to the left room. The first thing Malon could see upon entry was a chair positioned at a desk that sat against the left wall. On the far side of the room (to the right) was, of course, the window, surrounded by pictographs and what looked to be hand-written notes. In between were two armchairs. One against the wall Malon faced as she entered, and another against the opposite wall.

"I guess you can call this my 'workshop'." Thomas began, "It's where I come up with new lessons for my school, and where I make fliers and tickets for my events. Did you know I struck a deal with the owner of the Wilkshire Arena? I'm doing weekly shows now."

Malon kept her silence.

"I told you yesterday that my partner was handling fliers. But I forgot to ask him about the tickets. So I'll be spending the night making them myself. Better safe than sorry."

"What'll I be doing?" Malon asked.

"Come here."

Malon hesitated at first. She stepped further into the room, where she was shown the space underneath the desk.

"Get under there."

Malon crouched down and took a seat underneath the small table. This was certainly a confusing turn of events so far.

Thomas took a seat in front of her, and inched his chair closer.

"I want you to do exactly as I say." he told her as he reached for the zipper to his pants.

Ganondorf took a seat on his throne. The very same throne he wrested away from the Royal Family five hundred years ago.

Suddenly, the massive pair of doors on the far side of the room opened, and in walked one of the gatekeepers, accompanied by an older man with jet-black hair.

"Lord Ganondorf," the gatekeeper called, "there's someone here to see you."

"Why did you allow this commoner entry into this room?" Ganondorf asked, eying the man.

"This man is the head of the security firm that was working at the estate that was attacked two days ago."

At some point in the last five-hundred years, it became an unofficial rule to request an audience with the Disciples of Dragmire, instead of Ganondorf himself. This was mainly because the latter would usually refuse to meet with anyone without feeling the need to.

Ganondorf watched the man as he ventured deeper into the throne room, alongside the guard. "I see." he said, "What do you want?"

The man paused just before the short flight of stairs that preceded the throne, and kneeled, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. As you know, an estate in Eldin, where many of my employees were stationed was attacked. I would like to offer my assistance in hunting down the culprits."

"What interest do you have in offering me assistance?"

"The sorceress killed my son, Oliver, during her attack."

"You do realize what you'll be doing, right? This attacker is the White Sorceress. Her reputation alone has scared most people out of searching for her, and all those who have tried have all failed."

"With all due respect, Lord Ganondorf, as far as I know, the only people who have searched for this sorceress up until this point were fools whose dreams were bigger than their brain. Many people don't even believe she exists, and they explain her attacks away as slave revolts. I am willing to hunt her down to the ends of Hyrule, and I have the means to do just that, and then some."

Ganondorf watched the man in silence. He could almost see the hatred and anger he must feel over his loss emanate from his very being.

"Do you mean to lend assistance on your own?" he asked.

"No, Your Majesty. Many of my companions have volunteered to help."

"And how do you plan on hunting her down?"

"We've deduced that the sorceress may have made the Lost Woods her hiding place. If she had been hiding anywhere else, she'd have been found by now, and it'd be a convenient place to take the slaves she takes. What we plan to do is establish an outpost by the Lost Woods, and keep watch while we search for signs of her outside the forest."

"I see...the public isn't aware of this yet, but we've already begun our own search for the sorceress. We've come to the same conclusion you have. If you truly desire to find the sorceress, we would be willing to accept your assistance."

"Thank you, my lord."

Ganondorf rose from his throne, "Come," he said, "For us to effectively plan ahead with your assistance in mind, you will have to meet with the others."

"Linkle." Impa called, "Linkle, wake up."

The girl propped herself up on her elbow, still laying on her side.

"We're going to begin your training today." Impa told her, "If you want to stay here with us, this is what you'll have to do."

Linkle sat upward.

"Lana made you these clothes yesterday." Impa told the girl, handing her a stack of folded clothes.

Linkle was handed a white shirt, a brown skirt, short black tights, and a green, hooded, cloak. The outfit was accompanied by a pair of gloves.

"Where do I change?" Linkle asked.

"Here." Impa told her.

"Huh?!"

"Why the hesitation?" asked Ruto, who sat against a wall on the other side of the room, "We're all girls, aren't we?"

"...Sorry. I'm just used to changing in private."

Linkle spread out what would be her new attire across her bed. "I can have these?" She loved it - she was certain the outfit would look great on her, and truthfully, she was eager to try it on. She was grateful to Lana for having made it for her. However, a small part of of the girl felt that she didn't deserve this gift; that Lana's gesture was wasted on someone like her. She had no idea why she felt this way.

"You don't have to keep them on," Impa told her, "but you'll hear from Lana over it when she and Midna return."

"Where did they go?"

"Every morning," Ruto explained, "Lana takes Midna to town to get the morning newspaper. Though they're taking a bit long than usual today."

"What's a newspaper?"

"It's boring!" Agitha cut in.

Ruto sighed, "Paper with news articles on them. They tell you what's happening in the kingdom."

"You can read it once Lana returns." Impa said, "For now, we're about to begin your training. You'll have to wear those, too"

Linkle followed Impa's finger to a tall pair of boots that she had set on the floor, next to the girl's feet. "Are those shoes?" she asked.

"Don't tell me you've never worn shoes before." Ruto said.

"I've worn shoes, but...they were never this tall."

"Those are knee-length boots." Agitha explained.

"I was sort of puzzled as well," Ruto commented, "But Lana said they'd look 'cute' on you. Just put them on."

Linkle rose to her feet, a leg raised awkwardly. The others watched on as the girl stuck a foot inside one of her boots, and fell over.

"...I believe this is what they refer to as a 'fixer upper'." Ruto said, "Here, I'll help."

After receiving aid, Linkle stared down at the boots as they enveloped her legs. It was an odd sight for her to be certain. What grabbed onto her focus, though, was the outfit that had previously lied across her bed. She was right, she thought, it did look good on her.

"Well?" Ruto asked Impa and Agitha, "Does it look cute?"

"I know!" Agitha said with a snap of her fingers, "Let's go ask the boys!"

"'Boys'?" Ruto repeated.

"We don't have time for this." Impa precluded, "They can see while you're training. Let's go."

The spot that Lana picked for Linkle to train in was the mythical Sacred Forest Meadow. It was the very spot that many Humans attempted to brave the Lost Woods to find, only to never return home. Due to Lana's absence, Impa had one of the Kokiri lead them to the location. The child complied, though more out of fear for whom the Kokiri referred to as "the scary lady".

"Here," Impa began as she handed Linkle a pair of crossbows. The girl took the weapons, her heart beating nervously at the feel of the handles.

"These are the weapons you'll be using," Impa explained, "As you can hopefully tell, you'll be fighting from a distance using them. It was I who decided you should use these. Once you start fighting alongside us, you'll act as our cover in combat."

Just then, the bizarre sight of Lana's portal appeared before she walked into the meadow from her previous location. She was followed by Midna.

"What took you so long?" asked Ruto, who, alongside Agitha, accompanied Linkle and Impa.

"We went back to Eldin to get the morning paper," Midna explained, "We wanted to see how our attack on that mansion was being treated. You guys are gonna wanna hear this." Midna was unable to open the newspaper because of the length of her arms. As Impa held the opened papers out in front of her, Midna relayed the news as the others gathered around her.

"By now," Midna explained, "most of the people in Eldin know about our attack. And since it was our largest scale attack so far, the villagers, or at least the ones in the village we visited, are starting to panic. They all think the big bad sorceress is gonna get them or something. Anyway, what's really important is this article right here."

"You realize not all of us can see what you're pointing to," Ruto chided, "right?"

"Anyway," Midna continued, "apparently, the owner of that estate ended up killing himself."

Linkle's eyes grew.

"But that's not all. The article says that the guy was the second person to die after the attack. They found a body in one of the side buildings. It was some guy named 'Oliver Koffman'."

Linkle could feel her body freeze at the mention of that name. With all that had happened since her rescue, she had forgotten all about him.

"He had been killed." Midna explained, "Meaning one of us killed him. I tackled the main building so it wasn't me."

"It wasn't me either." Impa said, "So it would have to have been you."

Lana suddenly found herself in the center of attention. The sorceress's head had been lowered since the topic of conversation had been brought up.

"Did you do it?" Impa asked her.

Lana nodded.

"...It was you who said that we weren't to kill anybody. Do you realize the trouble that you've started for us?"

Lana eyes remained glued to the ground, still refusing to offer a word in response.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you had it in you," Midna commented, "Given the way they say his body was found, there would have to have been a lot of blood. And you always turn into Chuchu Jelly around blood."

"Which leads me to believe that the reason you killed him overrode your fear of blood. It couldn't have been self defense," Impa said, "so why did you do it?"

"She did it to rescue me." Linkle said, her voice so small it was barely audible.

"Lana's very capable of saving someone without drawing blood. I'm going to ask you again, Lana. Why did you do it?"

"...You wouldn't understand..." Lana finally spoke.

"Understand what?"

Lana turned her head away, looking to let the gesture speak for her.

"Why wouldn't she understand?" Ruto asked.

The violet eyes of the sorceress remained downward as she was probed for answers. It wasn't that she was unable to formulate a response, it was that she refused to.

"...If you can't follow your own rules," Impa said, "then I'll step in as the leader of our group. Linkle, let's get started."

Cia stared down at a colorful shrub and sighed.

"It must be nice to feel joy whenever you see flowers like these," she barely spoke. Her gaze rose to the sky, "Where are you now?" she asked, "Is your duty so important that you would turn your back on what you've wanted for so many years?" She looked back down at the flowers before her, "Or was that desire left to only me? Just as happiness was left to only you?"

Cia's eyes continued to wander the vegetation of the castle garden, her mind lost as she reached deep into the depths of her memories until she saw...her.

A good distance away stood Princess Zelda. She stood almost as still as the plants that held onto her gaze.

"I had no idea you were a flower person." Cia said as she drew close.

Zelda responded, her body language exhuming disregard as she reacted to Cia's presence in no other way. "There are many things you don't know about me." she said.

"Like your little alliance with the sorceress?" Cia accused, "Oh, I already know about that. I just need to prove it, then hopefully it'll be off to the gallows with you."

"...Tell me," Zelda said, "Did you harass my mother this way whenever my father brought her here?"

Cia smirked, "I sure did. I remember the very first time I saw the two of them together. They were just as old as you are now. Can you believe your father tried to stand up to me? Hah! He did so much to impress your whore of a mother. A lot of good that did him, though. Am I right?"

Zelda withheld any response to Cia's words.

"Oh! Are you angry? Should I watch my back from now on? Or will you let your retainer do your dirty work? Oh, wait, you can't! She's probably out with the sorcere-"

"What will it take?"

Cia leaned forward, her hand raising toward her ear as she let out a mocking "Hm?"

"I tire of these baseless accusations against my allegiance. What will it take for you to leave me alone?"

Cia pulled away, a scheming smirk spread across her face.

"Lady Cia!" a guard interrupted.

"What is it?" the irritated witch snapped.

"Lord Ganondorf wants you and the other Saints in the conference room. He says to come immediately."

After the meeting between Ganondorf and Oliver's father, Benjamin, Ganondorf sent summons to the Saints. Outside of Ghirahim and Volga, they and the Disciples met with Hyrule's ruler, where they met their new help.

"Who is this?" asked Herbert.

"He is the head of the security firm that was at the site of the sorceress's recent attack." Ganondorf answered.

"Benjamin." the man introduced himself, "It's an honor to be in the presence of you all."

"His company will be assisting us form here on. If he's going to help us, it would be better if he was put up to speed."

And so, the present situation with the hunt for Lana was explained to Benjamin in detail. The plan to capture the sorceress was updated. Benjamin and his team were going to establish an outpost around the Lost Woods, which allowed the Ganondorf and the others to focus their attention on other potential hiding places, as well as other potential targets for the sorceress.

"We'll be needing someone else to remain near the Lost Woods." Ganondorf explained, "Volga will be unable to travel between here and the outpost instantly in the event of an emergency. We'll be needing Ghirahim to help tighten security where the Hero is, in case that's where the sorceress will attack next."

"Where is the Hero, exactly?" asked Zelda, "We'll be able to plan to counter the sorceress better if we know where she may be headed."

"The fewer people know, the better." Cia cut in with a smirk, "If more people know, it increases the chance of the information leaking to ears not meant to hear it."

Zelda let out an irritated sigh.

"But that does bring me back to our earlier conversation in the garden. You want to prove you're not with the sorceress? Then come with me to check on Volga. You certainly seem eager to join the search for the sorceress, after all. You never know: we just might find the her."

Red-hot wings on Volga's back vanished as he landed on the ground. Yet again, he had flown over the Lost Woods in an attempt to catch the sorceress entering or leaving the forest to no avail. It would help if he could actually see into the forest from the sky, but a thick, mystical fog blocked the view of eyes even in the heavens.

Just then, Cia walked through a portal, with the princess following behind her.

"Hey." Cia greeted.

A short hiss passed through Volga's lips. "What do you want?"

"Just came to check on you."

Volga looked over at Zelda. "Do you think me a fool?" he asked Cia, "You're simply using me in your one-sided feud with the princess. Not that I blame you for mistrusting her." Volga looked right at Zelda, "One as treacherous as she can never be trusted."

Ignoring the two with her, Zelda looked up at the towering trees of the forest, letting out a silent sigh all the while.

"What?" Cia goaded, "Been here before? Perhaps the sorceress showed you her hideout?"

"How are we going to catch them if we stay in one spot?" Zelda asked, "You don't truly think that the Lost Woods has only one exit do you?"

"Hmph," Cia smirked, "then let's go."

The trio made their rounds of the forest's exterior perimeter. Volga led the two behind him, with Zelda trailing behind, her eyes venturing the depths of the Lost Woods as her expression remained blank, yielding no hints.

"Volga," Cia called, "could you come here for a second?"

"Unless you see the sorceress, do not waste my time."

"I need a witness."

Volga stopped in his tracks, lending the witch in impatient glance.

"Princess," Cia called.

"What is it?"

"If you truly wish to convince me that you're not with the sorceress, then swear to me right here - with Volga as our witness - that you will be ready to assist us once we find her."

"...Fine."

"And since you swear on this, if you are somehow unable to join us, we can assume that you are indeed with the sorceress, and we'll act accordingly."

"Fine."

Cia smirked.

This was the true reason Cia invited Zelda to accompany her. It could be said that she forced Zelda into this promise here, and not at the castle, to get away from Ganondorf and the others as their talks continued. However, it was more out of desire to inconvenience the princess, any way she could. Cia knew how difficult it was for she and the others to reach Zelda at any given moment, unless she was already with them, and planned to use this to her advantage. This meant that, regardless of what she was doing, if Zelda was unable to answer Cia's call to attack the sorceress at any given moment, she could use her inaction to accuse her of assisting their target. That was when, she hoped, Ganondorf would take some form of action against her. She looked to have the princess punished for assisting the sorceress whether it was true or not. This was how much Cia hated Zelda.

Volga watched on, his mind boggled as to why the princess would agree to such terms. "Are you finished?" he asked Cia.

"Yes," she answered with a smug grin, "I'm finished."

"You've gotta get used to the kickback." Lana said, "You'll never use those to their full potential if you're firing one shot at a time."

Linkle took a deep breath, both crossbows aimed out in front of her.

Lana and Impa had been training Linkle for hours by that point, while Midna, Ruto, and Agitha watched along.

"Hey!" a Kokiri girl called as she entered the meadow.

Lana let down the barrier that had been stopping all of Linkle's discarded arrows. "Yes?" she asked, turning to the child.

"The Great Deku Tree asked me to tell you something." the girl said, "He says two more people are outside the forest."

"Goodness." Ruto sighed, "They're still out there?"

The Kokiri nodded, "M-hm!"

Lana turned to look at her allies.

"Let's go!" Midna urged, "We still have them outnumbered!"

"We're sticking to the plan." Impa said, "If they're still out there by the time we're to leave, then we'll engage them in combat."

"...Let's take a break here," Lana proposed.

The group stayed behind at the Sacred Meadow as Lana went to retrieve food, as well as any allies the left in the village.

"Woah, Linkle," Darunia commented, "you look different."

"Cute," Lana interjected, "right?"

"Uh..." Darunia shrugged, "sure."

Lana feigned a frown, "Men, right?" she said to Linkle, "We need to introduce you to some boys your age."

Linkle stared at the apple in her hands, not sure how to respond.

"What?" Darunia asked, "Not a fan of fruit?"

"Oh! N-No! I-I mean yeah! I do like fruit!"

"Well if you really don't, I'm right there with you."

Linkle looked over at Darunia, concerned, "What are you gonna eat then?" she asked. All Lana brought for the group to eat was fruit.

"Rocks." Midna said, "He eats rocks. Can you get any dumber than that?"

"Probably not." Darunia chuckled, "Who knows? I might come for that junk on your head next!"

"JUNK?"

As the two traded verbal barbs, Linkle looked over at Agitha.

"...Are you...feeding those bugs?" she asked.

"Of course!" Agitha nodded gleefully, "They're gonna need their strength up if they're gonna complete their mission!"

"What mission?"

"Queen Ant's heading to each of her allies' homelands as she promised! It's gonna be a long, arduous journey, and they may bump into some new enemies!"

"Wouldn't it be cool if we went on adventures like those bugs of hers?" Midna asked her allies.

"I'd prefer not." Ruto said, "being away from my home for this long is exceedingly difficult."

"Hey, Linkle!" Lana called to her, "C'mon! I wanna show you something!"

Lana took Linkle's hand and led her to the group of white flowers. "Here," she said, "pick one."

Linkle looked down at the flowers. They were small...their petals boasted an unblemished white color, reminiscent of the ones she picked for her mother many years ago. She reached down and picked one.

"Just like her..." Lana said under her breath.

"What?" Linkle asked.

"Nothing. These flowers are pretty popular with the Kokiri. I'm not sure what they're called, but they seem to die when anybody touches them unless they have a pure heart."

Linkle glanced at the flower in her hand. It seemed to look back at her, congratulating her almost.

"Ooh, look at me!" Midna taunted, "I can touch flowers! Oooohh!"

"Midna's just mad 'cause she can't touch them!" Lana teased back.

"Oh, please! Who wants to prance around a bunch of flowers, anyway?"

"C'mon, Midna!" said Darunia, "Get in touch with your feminine side for once, will ya?"

"I'm gonna pulverize you!" Midna growled through gritted teeth.

Malon closed the door to her home behind her, letting out a sigh as she leaned against the fine wood.

Three nights, she thought to herself, three straight nights of sneaking out to see Thomas. She hated doing this behind her parents' backs, but each time she hesitated, she reminded herself why she was doing it in the first place, though, the guilt on her way to and back from his house was almost too much to handle. Her meetings with Thomas in themselves was somehow the least difficult thing she did nightly. Or at least it was on that particular night.

Yes... On that particular night, Malon shut her eyes and sent her mind elsewhere. It made her meeting with Thomas much easier.

Malon snuck up the stairs and to her room. She went to shut the door, but it stopped halfway with a sudden THUD.

"WAH!" the girl shouted as ahe jumped away, startled.

"Shh! It's me!"

Malon panted as she brought a hand to her chest, the familiar presence of her mother, Catria, beginning to calm her.

"Hi, Mom." she greeted, her heart still jumping to her throat with every beat.

Catria stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Sit down."

"...Okay..."

Malon took a seat on the edge of her bed while her mother followed her further into her room, pausing near its center.

"We need to talk." Catria told her daughter.

"About what?" Malon asked.

Catria watched the red-head closely, observing her in search of hints.

"Where have you been going at night?"

To be Continued!

Bonus Chapter

Mother; Part 3

"This one."

How did Onia get here? How did this happen?

Onia and her family had been taken to a trading post, where their owner either bought or sold slaves. The slaves were taken there once a month; for one time a month, Onia and Nima get to leave the forest, and behold sights they'd have never seen otherwise. In exchange for this, however, they risk separation from one another; they risk never seeing each other or their mother again.

Despite this, such an event was one they never thought would happen.

Onia's mother tried desperately to convince her owner to not sell Onia as the girl watched on, stunned by this terrifying happening. Her mother was struck for speaking out of turn, and the deal was struck.

Onia cried the entire trip to what would become her former home as her mother vainly attempted to comfort her. Her entire life she spent around her mother and sister. But now, by the day's end, she would be in a new environment - around people she didn't know, in a place she had never been to. She wasn't ready for this.

Onia was given no chance to say goodbye to her mother or sister. The two parties could only spare what seemed to be their final glances at one another as they were separated upon their return to the forest.

Onia was taken straight to the center of her owner's property, to a cabin adjacent to his home. It was here where the selling of she and the and the other slaves being sold that day was finalized.

Onia was placed with the other slaves in one of the cabin's rooms. If she were to give a retelling of this day, she would speak at length about how terrifying this ordeal was for her; how alone she felt as she awaited the unknown.

Just then, the door opened.

"Nima?!" Onia whispered, "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm getting you out of here!" Nima whispered back.

Her sister's words seemed to pump a shot of adrenaline into Onia. "What do you mean?!" she asked, "You'll never be able to get me out of here!"

"Yes I can!" Nina said as she untied her sister's restraints, a sly smirk on her face, "Because I'm taking your place!"

Onia turned back to look at Nima as her restraints fell to the floor, "WHAT?! You can't do that!"

"Yes I can! They can't tell us apart!"

"No! I mean you can't do this to yourself! Aren't-... Aren't you scared?"

"What I'm scared of is how you'll do without me or Mom there for you. We both know I'd get by better than you would."

Nima sat down next to Onia, "Now go!"

"...Why are you doing this?" Onia asked, "Don't you know what's gonna happen to you?"

"Because I'm your big sister, duh! It's my job to look after you!"

With tears brimming in her eyes, Onia turned and gave her sister a hug. "I love you," she said. She felt her sister take a deep breath in her arms.

"We're switching names from now on," she said, "I'll be Onia, and you're going to be Nima. Now go! Before someone comes!"

Onia rose to her feet and turned to look at her sister a final time as she backed toward the door.

"Go!" Nima rushed the girl, "Go!"