A note from the Hime no Argh herself-
Hello everyone, here's another chapter. I feel this story is progressing pretty smoothly for the most part. I'm just having some trouble coming up with chapter names. It's dificult when they're all one word. Good thing I already have my last five or so chapter names already planned.
Hey, anybody want to help me out with that? It would basically mean that you get to read the chapter before anyone else and help me think of chapter names (and beta if you want, that would certainly be helpful too). Well if you're interested send an e-mail my way. I'll save you the trouble of having to look in my account settings. ^_^ I'm xlilyofharmonyx@aol.com.
Don't own Zelda. Or Sheik, unfortunately. *cry*
* * *
Encounter
It made me sick to think of never seeing sunlight again, save that which streamed through the precious few windows, but Rauru forbade me from stepping outside the Temple of Time.
"Be patient," he told me when I became restless. "At least wait until things have died down a bit. Then we'll go about the proper methods of disguising you so that you can venture outside safely."
This did nothing to improve my mood, so Rauru, who after all had no insane tyrants intent on killing him, ventured out himself and brought me news of the outside world. Kakariko Village was safe- Ganondorf had indeed arrived at the village, only to be told a half-lie that I had been there, but was driven out by the villagers to the mountain. Ganondorf had anticipated that I would somehow make my way to the Temple of Time. Kakariko pledged loyalty to Ganondorf and remained safe.
In the castle town my people were quietly going about their business. A few soldiers remained to guard the town for however long they could, but several squads of the Hylian Guard had fled south to seek help.
"From who?" I demanded when Rauru reported this news, and he could provide no answer.
Ganondorf, oddly, was keeping very quiet. Weeks passed, and he was neither seen nor heard from. No one dared to see what was happening at the wreckage of the palace, but wild rumors were flying among the castle town residents- rumors of an army of horrible creatures, pig-men and giant lizards and skeleton warriors crawling about the site, doing what, the goddesses only knew. But my people had a guess, as the daily pounding of hammers and dragging stones woke them. Ganondorf's monsters were building something. Perhaps a new castle. My blood boiled to think of it.
Every day I asked Rauru if there was news of Impa, and every day he gave me the same answer.
"I've not heard a word about her."
"Where could she have gone?" I moaned. It was beginning to seem hopeless that Impa might ever return and take me from this goddess-forsaken sanctuary.
"She is probably seeking her temple."
I started and stared at Rauru in shock. "You know that she-?"
"Is a sage?" Rauru said calmly. "Yes, I know. She told me long ago, when we were both young. Impa and I were close friends."
There was a misty look in his eyes as he said this, and I did not care to pursue the matter. Sometimes I got the feeling that Rauru was much younger than he appeared, just as I had oftentimes thought that perhaps Impa was older than she looked.... Rauru wasn't Sheikah, but Impa had come to Hyrule at a young age. Perhaps they had been closer than anyone knew. Anything was possible.
* * *
There was no news of my father. By now the rumors were saying that he had left Hyrule and gone on to safer lands. It made me sick and angry to hear it, just as it made me sick and angry to know that the gossipers could be right. My father was a weak ruler who did not have the gall to stand against someone with Ganondorf's power. I knew this, just as everyone knew this. I simply didn't like to think about it.
The Temple of Time was not the place for a restless princess with too much to think about. It was eerie, silent, and cold, and I wanted to scream every time I imagined how long it might be before Link woke. At the same time I was drawn to him, my sleeping hero- I began to shadow him, to sit next to him for hours at a time and stare at his face. It was maddening, how peaceful he looked in sleep.
One day, during another of these sessions, Rauru came in. He took one look at my pale face and wide eyes and dragged me out of the room.
"It won't do to dwell on the boy," he told me firmly. "You'll drive yourself crazy. If you need something to do that badly, you might want to take a look at this."
He showed me a corner of the temple to the right of the altar, where a discolored stone rolled back to reveal a ladder leading to a cellar of some kind. Rauru lit a candle and we went down- it was not a cellar, after all, but a dark, cramped, and extremely dusty library, so filled with stocked bookcases that there was barely enough room for a table in the center.
Rauru swept what looked like at least ten year's worth of dust off the table before placing the candle down. "I don't get down here much," he said casually.
"Farore's mercy, what do you do to pass the time?" I demanded.
He quirked a brow at me. "When you're as old as I, little princess, a bit of peace and quiet with yourself is valued."
I shuddered at the thought and went to look at a yellowed, fading map of Hyrule that was tacked to the wall. I heard Rauru sit heavily at the table behind me, but he said nothing. I examined Hyrule in silence.
"Our problem is division," I said abruptly to Rauru, as if answering a question he'd asked.
"Oh?"
"When Ganondorf...if Ganondorf conquers all of Hyrule, there'll be no one to blame but ourselves. Hyrule is vast, so it's difficult to keep track of what's going on in it all the time. All our peoples- the Gorons, the Zoras, the Kokiri, even the Gerudo- we all receive news at different times and all concern ourselves with what's going on in our own territories. But if someone had kept a closer eye on the Gerudo, would we have known what Ganondorf was planning?" I lifted a finger and traced the outline of Hyrule, starting at my kingdom, far north on the map. I made a decision and turned to Rauru.
"When I am queen, our neighbors will know one another," I declared.
Rauru nodded slowly. "Indeed, a unification may strengthen us. Then, it could also result in more disputes between races."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." I turned back to the map and pursed my lips, studying it.
"Rauru?"
"Yes?"
"Where are the Sheikah?"
Rauru didn't speak for several moments. Finally he said, "They're dead."
"The clans outside Hyrule, I mean." I turned to Rauru. "Surely there must be some still alive."
Rauru was staring at me, as though he found it very strange that I was questioning him about Sheikah- and for some reason, so did I. It didn't make sense, though. Why shouldn't I be interested in Impa's people?
"I don't know where they are," Rauru said at last, and having my answer, I forgot my bewilderment and turned to other topics.
* * *
A few days later, Rauru woke up and decided to clean out the library, mostly for my benefit. He worked on it after noon, dusting and sweeping and organizing the many books. I did not offer to help him. I was grateful, certainly, but not enough- having been told that morning once again that I could not step outside the temple, I was moody and temperamental. I paced angrily around the temple's main hall, muttering and kicking the altar in complete irreverence each time I passed it. Rauru, busy below, ignored my quiet tantrum.
Finally I decided to defy Rauru's word -at least partly- and open the temple's doors. Surely there was no harm in standing in the threshold to bask in the sunlight. I checked to make sure that Rauru was still in the library below, then went to the doors and flung them open.
Its lizard-like head swiveled immediately, gleaming yellow eyes locking on mine. Its jaw fell open as if shocked to see me, revealing a mouth full of pointed, blood-stained teeth. We stared at each other rigidly. Then I broke the silence.
"RAURU!"
"What?" I heard him say crossly a moment later as he climbed from the library. Then, "Oh, Din..."
The lizard thing stepped toward me, oddly light and jaunty on its hind legs, its head cocked sideways. The eyes gleamed with a predatorial hunger.
A tense minute passed, then I felt Rauru's hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin. "By Nayru, what is that thing?" I cried.
"One of Ganondorf's creatures, I expect," Rauru replied. I glanced sideways at him. He was staring calmly at the lizard monster, bearing a small dagger in one hand. I looked back to the lizard and saw its eyes focused on the weapon.
"Now you see why I forbade you to step outside," Rauru said, and threw the dagger.
The lizard didn't even have time to cry out before the dagger imbedded itself directly in its throat. Dark blood spurted down its front and then it crumpled to the ground, the gleam leaving its yellow eyes. Rauru had closed the doors on it before it was completely dead.
I gaped at him. "What did you...how did you...?"
"Very easily," Rauru said. "I learned how to properly throw a dagger when I was just a cub- why, only your age."
I only shook my head, still astounded.
Rauru's gaze fell on me thoughtfully. "Would you like to learn?"
"Me?" I stared at him, flabbergasted. "Goddesses, what would father think? What would Impa think?"
"I think she'd be pleased. Good to know some way of defending yourself. Impa's no wilting flower, that's for certain."
True, but Impa was Sheikah, after all. "Ladies don't learn those things," I said, sounding every bit the proper royal female. "Certainly not princesses."
Rauru shrugged. "It's your choice. Still, I suggest you learn something if you ever want to see sunlight again. Do you think I'm going to let you out there with those things running around otherwise?"
And he went back to the library before I could come up with a response, leaving me with plenty to think about.
* * *
Continued in Chapter 13.
Hello everyone, here's another chapter. I feel this story is progressing pretty smoothly for the most part. I'm just having some trouble coming up with chapter names. It's dificult when they're all one word. Good thing I already have my last five or so chapter names already planned.
Hey, anybody want to help me out with that? It would basically mean that you get to read the chapter before anyone else and help me think of chapter names (and beta if you want, that would certainly be helpful too). Well if you're interested send an e-mail my way. I'll save you the trouble of having to look in my account settings. ^_^ I'm xlilyofharmonyx@aol.com.
Don't own Zelda. Or Sheik, unfortunately. *cry*
* * *
Encounter
It made me sick to think of never seeing sunlight again, save that which streamed through the precious few windows, but Rauru forbade me from stepping outside the Temple of Time.
"Be patient," he told me when I became restless. "At least wait until things have died down a bit. Then we'll go about the proper methods of disguising you so that you can venture outside safely."
This did nothing to improve my mood, so Rauru, who after all had no insane tyrants intent on killing him, ventured out himself and brought me news of the outside world. Kakariko Village was safe- Ganondorf had indeed arrived at the village, only to be told a half-lie that I had been there, but was driven out by the villagers to the mountain. Ganondorf had anticipated that I would somehow make my way to the Temple of Time. Kakariko pledged loyalty to Ganondorf and remained safe.
In the castle town my people were quietly going about their business. A few soldiers remained to guard the town for however long they could, but several squads of the Hylian Guard had fled south to seek help.
"From who?" I demanded when Rauru reported this news, and he could provide no answer.
Ganondorf, oddly, was keeping very quiet. Weeks passed, and he was neither seen nor heard from. No one dared to see what was happening at the wreckage of the palace, but wild rumors were flying among the castle town residents- rumors of an army of horrible creatures, pig-men and giant lizards and skeleton warriors crawling about the site, doing what, the goddesses only knew. But my people had a guess, as the daily pounding of hammers and dragging stones woke them. Ganondorf's monsters were building something. Perhaps a new castle. My blood boiled to think of it.
Every day I asked Rauru if there was news of Impa, and every day he gave me the same answer.
"I've not heard a word about her."
"Where could she have gone?" I moaned. It was beginning to seem hopeless that Impa might ever return and take me from this goddess-forsaken sanctuary.
"She is probably seeking her temple."
I started and stared at Rauru in shock. "You know that she-?"
"Is a sage?" Rauru said calmly. "Yes, I know. She told me long ago, when we were both young. Impa and I were close friends."
There was a misty look in his eyes as he said this, and I did not care to pursue the matter. Sometimes I got the feeling that Rauru was much younger than he appeared, just as I had oftentimes thought that perhaps Impa was older than she looked.... Rauru wasn't Sheikah, but Impa had come to Hyrule at a young age. Perhaps they had been closer than anyone knew. Anything was possible.
* * *
There was no news of my father. By now the rumors were saying that he had left Hyrule and gone on to safer lands. It made me sick and angry to hear it, just as it made me sick and angry to know that the gossipers could be right. My father was a weak ruler who did not have the gall to stand against someone with Ganondorf's power. I knew this, just as everyone knew this. I simply didn't like to think about it.
The Temple of Time was not the place for a restless princess with too much to think about. It was eerie, silent, and cold, and I wanted to scream every time I imagined how long it might be before Link woke. At the same time I was drawn to him, my sleeping hero- I began to shadow him, to sit next to him for hours at a time and stare at his face. It was maddening, how peaceful he looked in sleep.
One day, during another of these sessions, Rauru came in. He took one look at my pale face and wide eyes and dragged me out of the room.
"It won't do to dwell on the boy," he told me firmly. "You'll drive yourself crazy. If you need something to do that badly, you might want to take a look at this."
He showed me a corner of the temple to the right of the altar, where a discolored stone rolled back to reveal a ladder leading to a cellar of some kind. Rauru lit a candle and we went down- it was not a cellar, after all, but a dark, cramped, and extremely dusty library, so filled with stocked bookcases that there was barely enough room for a table in the center.
Rauru swept what looked like at least ten year's worth of dust off the table before placing the candle down. "I don't get down here much," he said casually.
"Farore's mercy, what do you do to pass the time?" I demanded.
He quirked a brow at me. "When you're as old as I, little princess, a bit of peace and quiet with yourself is valued."
I shuddered at the thought and went to look at a yellowed, fading map of Hyrule that was tacked to the wall. I heard Rauru sit heavily at the table behind me, but he said nothing. I examined Hyrule in silence.
"Our problem is division," I said abruptly to Rauru, as if answering a question he'd asked.
"Oh?"
"When Ganondorf...if Ganondorf conquers all of Hyrule, there'll be no one to blame but ourselves. Hyrule is vast, so it's difficult to keep track of what's going on in it all the time. All our peoples- the Gorons, the Zoras, the Kokiri, even the Gerudo- we all receive news at different times and all concern ourselves with what's going on in our own territories. But if someone had kept a closer eye on the Gerudo, would we have known what Ganondorf was planning?" I lifted a finger and traced the outline of Hyrule, starting at my kingdom, far north on the map. I made a decision and turned to Rauru.
"When I am queen, our neighbors will know one another," I declared.
Rauru nodded slowly. "Indeed, a unification may strengthen us. Then, it could also result in more disputes between races."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." I turned back to the map and pursed my lips, studying it.
"Rauru?"
"Yes?"
"Where are the Sheikah?"
Rauru didn't speak for several moments. Finally he said, "They're dead."
"The clans outside Hyrule, I mean." I turned to Rauru. "Surely there must be some still alive."
Rauru was staring at me, as though he found it very strange that I was questioning him about Sheikah- and for some reason, so did I. It didn't make sense, though. Why shouldn't I be interested in Impa's people?
"I don't know where they are," Rauru said at last, and having my answer, I forgot my bewilderment and turned to other topics.
* * *
A few days later, Rauru woke up and decided to clean out the library, mostly for my benefit. He worked on it after noon, dusting and sweeping and organizing the many books. I did not offer to help him. I was grateful, certainly, but not enough- having been told that morning once again that I could not step outside the temple, I was moody and temperamental. I paced angrily around the temple's main hall, muttering and kicking the altar in complete irreverence each time I passed it. Rauru, busy below, ignored my quiet tantrum.
Finally I decided to defy Rauru's word -at least partly- and open the temple's doors. Surely there was no harm in standing in the threshold to bask in the sunlight. I checked to make sure that Rauru was still in the library below, then went to the doors and flung them open.
Its lizard-like head swiveled immediately, gleaming yellow eyes locking on mine. Its jaw fell open as if shocked to see me, revealing a mouth full of pointed, blood-stained teeth. We stared at each other rigidly. Then I broke the silence.
"RAURU!"
"What?" I heard him say crossly a moment later as he climbed from the library. Then, "Oh, Din..."
The lizard thing stepped toward me, oddly light and jaunty on its hind legs, its head cocked sideways. The eyes gleamed with a predatorial hunger.
A tense minute passed, then I felt Rauru's hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin. "By Nayru, what is that thing?" I cried.
"One of Ganondorf's creatures, I expect," Rauru replied. I glanced sideways at him. He was staring calmly at the lizard monster, bearing a small dagger in one hand. I looked back to the lizard and saw its eyes focused on the weapon.
"Now you see why I forbade you to step outside," Rauru said, and threw the dagger.
The lizard didn't even have time to cry out before the dagger imbedded itself directly in its throat. Dark blood spurted down its front and then it crumpled to the ground, the gleam leaving its yellow eyes. Rauru had closed the doors on it before it was completely dead.
I gaped at him. "What did you...how did you...?"
"Very easily," Rauru said. "I learned how to properly throw a dagger when I was just a cub- why, only your age."
I only shook my head, still astounded.
Rauru's gaze fell on me thoughtfully. "Would you like to learn?"
"Me?" I stared at him, flabbergasted. "Goddesses, what would father think? What would Impa think?"
"I think she'd be pleased. Good to know some way of defending yourself. Impa's no wilting flower, that's for certain."
True, but Impa was Sheikah, after all. "Ladies don't learn those things," I said, sounding every bit the proper royal female. "Certainly not princesses."
Rauru shrugged. "It's your choice. Still, I suggest you learn something if you ever want to see sunlight again. Do you think I'm going to let you out there with those things running around otherwise?"
And he went back to the library before I could come up with a response, leaving me with plenty to think about.
* * *
Continued in Chapter 13.