Chapter One:

The Mask

Late-afternoon light spilled down into Kakariko Village. The weather was sunny and cheery, with puffy white clouds— Too happy for Raine's current mood. It was her birthday, after all. Nothing to get excited about… She thought.

Every year it was the same: Raine woke up with a feeling of dread, and Mylei's torment was relentless, as usual. The day would pass, and Raine would do virtually nothing. She was aware that birthdays were a day to be celebrated. One of her neighbors, Lasli, had celebrated her seventh birthday a few weeks ago. Impa celebrated Mylei's birthday every year. But every year when it was Raine's time to shine, it simply served the rest of the Village as a reminder of the one year she had discovered her power.

Teleportation had its ups sometimes, but most of the time it just made everyone scared of her. Her sixth birthday would always be a day to remember…

"Raine!" Mylei had rushed into her room and jumped on her sister's bed and woken her up. "It's your birthday, it's your birthday!"

"I know it's my birthday." Raine had grumbled, but with a smile plastered to her face.

"You're turning six years old today!" Her sister sang.

"I am turning six today." Raine said. Six! I'm turning six!

"Quick, come downstairs!" Mylei was already skipping to the door. "Impa's already set out the presents."

"Already?" Raine asked quizzically. "Usually, she waits until after lunch."

"Well, not this year!" Mylei said, and revealed the small pile of gifts lying in wait for her at the foot of the stairs.

The front door opened, and Impa stepped inside carrying a basket of fresh-baked bread and Kakariko Village's well-known swift carrots.

"Mum!" She cried. "Thank you! Can I open them?"

"Open as many as you want." Impa told her, and set down the basket on the small table nearby.

Eagerly, Raine reached for a small rectangular box wrapped in pretty maroon-colored paper. Impa's eyes widened, and she reached to take it from Raine's hands. "Wait! Not that one, not yet."

Raine smiled. "I can wait."

Impa nodded and handed her a notebook bound in leather and tied with black ribbon. "Here, I hope you like it."

That was what she could remember from that morning. She hadn't gotten that present back, though. She often wondered if Impa had simply forgotten. Later in the day, she had been running around playing hide and seek with Mylei.

"One, two, three, four…" Her sister's voice faded into the background as she slipped behind the thick trunk of a tree.

After having breakfast and opening some presents, she and her sister had retreated back to their room, to braid and tie ribbons into her hair. Mylei had thick long dark hair, though she had cut it short when she turned eleven, and the classic ginger brown eyes of the Sheikah. Raine had short white hair, which she always pulled the right side into a short braid. After playing with Mylei, she had twin braids tied with pale blue ribbon, to match her eyes.

"... Ten!" Mylei called, bringing Raine back to the present. She clutched her new notebook Impa had gifted her in the morning close to her chest, smiling at herself.

Even though it was a game, when Mylei inched closer, Raine's heart started beating faster, her breath coming harder until she couldn't take it anymore.

Mylei was right on the other side of the tree now, and was about to peek behind it and find Raine. She spotted a shrub behind Mylei and was planning on making a run for it. If she was quiet enough, Mylei wouldn't find her, and she would win the game. As quickly and silently as she could, she crouched down and darted off towards the bush.

Looking back on it now, Raine could remember her feet lifting off the ground, and going numb momentarily. She remembered feeling like a million little invisible feathers were brushing over her skin, whisking her away.

She looked back at Mylei, but she was simply not moving, frozen in place. That's a bit weird… She thought, but turned to the shrub and crouched behind it. I'm hidden now, she won't ever find me.

And then, as if a veil between worlds had been lifted, her feet touched the ground once more and Mylei whirled around to look at her. "What was that? ONe moment, you were there, and the next you just… disappeared! What did you do?"

And no one in Kakariko Village had ever trusted her again.

Raine sighed. She still had that notebook from so long ago. The first entry she'd ever made was of that day. She often read it, to try to understand more about her powers. Why can't anyone else do what I can do? Often crossed her mind, as well as: And why does Mylei hate me for it?

On an afternoon on her birthday like this, when she was alone and the Village was quiet, she often teleported up to the top of the hills around the Village. The Pillars of Levia towered high above their settlement, concealing them from anyone and anything looking to cause them trouble. According to Impa's history lessons, their Tribe had moved to their current location ten thousand years ago, after the first Great Calamity that befell the land of Hyrule. Their technology had been shunned by the kingdom, even after aiding them to seal Calamity Ganon away, and some of the Sheikah had split off from the rest of the Tribe. Raine had never heard of what happened to the Sheikah that had split off, but she did know that the rest of the Tribe had cast away their technology and strived to lead normal lives, where they were now, in Kakariko Village.

She had learned since her sixth birthday to teleport in a more efficient way. The way she had discovered when she was younger made her travel to the exact location she wanted to teleport to. Her relatively new way was easier. As long as she knew where she wanted to go, as long as she could see the place she wanted to go in her mind, she would be able to teleport there instantly.

She thought of a quiet pong, with a tree tilting to the soft untouched surface of the water, which was dotted with small lily pads and flower pearls that had fallen from the tree that hung above it. She went there often, and enjoyed it most in the afternoons writing in her journal. There was also a cat that visited there often, and had made itself a small den in a bush that grew at the base of the tree, nestled in its thick roots. She had named the cat Thistle, after his exotic ginger and brown coat. She hoped to see him this evening.

She closed her eyes. For a moment, Raine couldn't feel her feet on the ground, as she often did when she used her powers. She always kept her eyes closed during the time when she couldn't feel the ground, though. She always had, and it wasn't exactly a habit she planned to break anytime soon. She also didn't really want to see the space she was traveling through, out of fear her concentration would break, and her feet would never touch solid ground again.

But they did. They always did. She opened her eyes to the pretty orange sky and undisturbed cool waters. She looked around, half expecting to see Thistle waiting for her at her feet. She took a few steps forward, towards the base of the willow tree and sat down.

She pulled out her journal and stretched out her legs, leaning against the knotted trunk behind her. All she had to do was wait for her little friend to show up. He usually seemed to know when she was there.

And sooner or later, he would show up.

Mrrow! She looked over her shoulder to see Thistle padding toward her. She smiled and reached out her hand. It was a treat to see him, especially this late in the evening. He never ventured into Kakariko Village as far as Raine knew. She only got to see him when she came up to her special place.

Thistle rubbed on her hand, and she gave him an affectionate rub on the neck. He replied with a nuzzle to her fingers, a slight purr bubbling up in his throat. Then he turned and padded away down the hill.

"Hey, wait up!" Raine called and started after him, stuffing her notebook in her satchel. "Where are you going?"

Thistle, being a cat, simply meowed and continued on. In front of them lay the forest near the Village. Why would he want to go there? She wondered. She laughed at herself when she realized the answer. He's probably going hunting. Why am I following him?

She knew one thing for sure, and that was that she wasn't going to spend her birthday afternoon alone. So she kept following the cat. There was also rumor going around of a sacred spring structure in the very forest she was about to set foot in. But it was only visible to those it deemed worthy.

Thistle continued on, farther into the forest, and Raine still followed. After a while, he departed into the brush chasing after a squirrel, leaving Raine alone in the forest with the dimming sunlight barely pouring through the trees. She knew the way back of course, since she could just teleport there instantly. But she knew the people of Kakariko Village didn't like it, so she only did it in private and as scarcely often as she could.

She stopped and listened for a moment, catching her breath. Some birds still chipped in the branches far above her, and frogs croaked in the puddles left by the rain the day before. Some crickets had even started their racket of a song around her. Among the sounds of the forest, she could barely make out the distant murmur of conversation. At first, she thought her ears were fooling her, but as she neared, she could see Impa.

Why is she out here? Raine wondered. She rarely ever, ever saw her anywhere outside the Village. So what was she doing out here?

Curiously, she listened in. She was talking to someone else, but from where Raine was crouched behind the bushes, whoever they were, she couldn't see them.

Impa reached for her kodachi at her waist. "— well, you can't have her. You can never have her!"

The person she was talking with stepped forward, so close that he came into view. Raine gasped slightly. He wore a mask over his face. It was white, with the Sheikah eye painted in red on it. There was something off about it though. It was upside down, and there was a slash mark down the left side of his mask. He was dressed in red, and black with eyes painted on his shoulders and a double eye belt hanging from his waist. Two long swords were encased in their sheaths hung from his belt. He reached for them, hands crossing his arms to grab their hilts. "She's here. This is the exact spot I lost her all those years ago."

"You want her back now, but you never came for her before now." Impa snarled. "She has a life here now. I won't let you have her."

The man faltered for a moment. Then he whispered something she couldn't hear.

Impa took a step back. "I– I'll tell her. But it's still her decision of whether or not she wants to find you. And she definitely won't be going alone."

The masked man nodded, stepped back, and did something completely unexpected. He teleported.

The same way Raine did. She could imagine him envisioning where he wanted to go, cloning his eyes, and feeling his feet lift off the ground. Reappearing somewhere familiar.

Impa stayed there, staring at the ground for a long moment, and Raine continued to watch her. Finally, she said something.

"Come out." She looked up to where Raine was hiding. "I know you've been listening."

Rine hesitantly stepped out from behind the brush to face her mother.

Impa turned to her. "Raine, there's something you need to know."