Repaying a Debt

Disclaimer: [Sniffle] the shares in Nintendo cost so much! I want one! Anyone want to lend me about a million dollars or so? I'll pay it back when I get famous...lol...for example, never.

OK, for those who have shorter memories than my goldfish, who has circled its tank about twelve times since I began typing, the last chapter was all about the marvellous water temple. They came back to Kakariko and saw that big shadow thingy, and now they're going to make their winding way to the bottom of well thing. I still have no idea what to do about the time travelling thing. Eek! I'll just have to figure something out in the next few lines...

Well, obviously, this is going to get a lot more a/u in the next few chapters. That's kind of the whole point really [grin]. Lots of bonding and sappy stuff, as have been watching too many romance films recently. And, this one is for Ranma Higurashi (don't hurt me, or I won't be able to write anymore!) and Cassidy dell, my faithful reviewer. [Sends her some Sheik merchandise - hell, have him for a while, I need a break.]

Sheik: HEY! O.o

Cassidy: YAY!

Sheik: Oh Goddesses...

[] = Alexis' thoughts

{} = Navi's thoughts

~/*\~/*\~/*\~

I blinked open my eyes, and immediately knew that I wasn't in fact waking up. "Hello Loki," I greeted him meekly, shuffling slightly as he came over to me.

"Hello there little one," he answered back, and I could tell his mind was somewhere else. "I've just come to say well done for what you have accomplished so far."

"I could not have done it without the others - and my sword has helped greatly. Again I have to thank you for that." He just waved his hand and hovered sitting down in mid air, so that he was on my eye level.

"Well, I wished to speak with you on two accounts," he told me, and I could see worry in his eyes. "Firstly, the case with Lucifer has been bought before the council."

"And...?" I leaned forwards.

"And - they say that it is viable to go through." I leaned back again, and clenched my dream fists, the blood pounding in my ears. "I know - I am trying to appeal against it, but if it does, rest assured I will do everything within my power to prevent you going to that...that devil place." He was completely and utterly serious in his tone, and I knew he'd fight until the bitter end. Though I suspected that it would be hopeless.

"Secondly, and more importantly right now," he stood up and landed to start pacing back and forth, "is what you must do in order to save the land of Hyrule. You will need to go back in time seven years; but that is the time when..." he trailed off that sentence, and then steeled his resolve. "Well, I will be there when you must go back in time, and I shall cast a spell over the portal to give you a younger form. I just thought I ought to tell you so that you would be prepared."

"Aye - thanks for thinking of that - and why must we go back in time?"

"There are spaces that can only be reached by children, so therefore you must become them." I nodded - that made sense. "And now you must go - that shadow you fought is strong, but it will be contained until it can be destroyed by the sages you have already awakened." I stood up and bowed to him, then turning to leave. "Be careful."

"I always am," I said, waving my hand behind my back before the images disappeared into blackness.

*

When I truly awoke in the morning, it was to find Sheik sitting right in front of me, a bucket of water in his hands. He looked at me sheepishly, and tried to hide it. "Oh, uh, you're awake!" he said brightly, then noticed my gaze at the bucket. "Oh - no, I wasn't going to - uh," he trailed off guiltily. "Well - we need to try and get into the Shadow Temple. I was shown it as a child, so we at least know where it is."

I was about to tell him that we would need to go back in time first, when Link's voice drifted up. Which was lucky, as it would have been difficult to explain how I knew what we had to do. Somehow, I didn't think he would believe an angel had told me. Anyway, Link called up to us from a few branches below. "No - we've got to go to the Temple of Time first - we must go back to our original time."

"Why?" Sheik asked, leaning over the branch we sat on to look down at him.

"Rauru came to speak to me about things - he said all I have to do is return the Master Sword to where I found it." There was no arguing with advice from a sage, so that was where we were to go. It was merely a point of scaling the tree, collecting our horses and making our way out to the field. Or it would have been, had the attack from the night before not completely decimated the whole village.

"Oh Goddesses," Link looked around in horror at what the shadow had done to the village - it was almost completely empty. Only a few people stumbled over the rubble here and there, grabbing important belongings and looking fearfully at the well every so often. "Everything's completely ruined," his face darkened, "and it's all that bloody Gerudo's fault!" He took a deep breath, and then turned towards the direction of the stables. "Come on - I just hope the horses are all right."

I hadn't thought about that - what would we do if the horses had been harmed? It would take at least half the day to reach the Ranch to get more - and we couldn't afford to waste time after seeing what the shadow had done in a few short minutes.

I picked my way over the remnants of a storage shed, and saw some movement beneath the large splintered wooden door. Looking ahead, I saw that Link and Sheik were too far ahead for me to call. [Navi?] I thought instead, as I moved over to the large door. [Can you get the other two to come back; I think there's something or someone under this piece of rubble.]

{Oh, of course - we'll be right back,} she said, and then closed the internal door, obviously to tell the other two. Looking down, I could see the slight movement again, and slid down the small hill of shattered wood.

"Hello?" I called, hooking my fingers underneath the heavy door and trying to shift it. But, when I say heavy, I mean really, really heavy, so obviously I couldn't.

"Hello?" a weak voice came from beneath the door, and now I could see a hand waving feebly from the other side of the door.

"Hello - stay still, my friends are coming to help me get you out," I called, moving round and clasping the hand reassuringly.

"Thanks," they said, and squeezed my hand. "I've been here since the attack began!" I squeezed their hand back, and then looked up to see that Sheik and Link were drawing nearer.

"Hey guys," I said to them as they came up next to me. "Help me move this will you," then to the person beneath the door, "Don't worry, we'll have you out in just a second." We spaced ourselves around the door and heaved it up, before dropping it down again away from the person. "Eloise?" I exclaimed, eyes wide. Link hooked his arm underneath her back and helped her to her feet.

"Yes dear, it's me - thank you so much, I thought I'd never get out from under there!" She dusted herself off. "Now, I take it you will be trying to get rid of whatever it was that attacked the village?"

"As soon as we can," Sheik nodded. "Will you be alright here?"

"Of course dear - whatever it was only got this part of the village - I'll go and stay with some friends on the outskirts for a while." With that, she turned, and plodded off good-naturedly; seemingly unfazed by all that she had been through in the last twenty-four hours.

"Well...I suppose we must get on then," Link urged, and we pressed on towards the stables. From a distance, we could tell that they were still intact, and hurried on to collect our horses and make our way to the Temple.

*

It was just as amazing as the first time to step into the Temple of Time. The white marble looked just as pristine, just as perfect. And yet again, the only change in colour was the three spiritual stones that floated above the altar at the far end. "It's sure going to be weird being a kid again," I said in an attempt to break the silence.

"Yeah," Sheik agreed. "Though I suppose it'll make for an interesting time trying to wander around in Kakariko after night fall."

"Huh?" Link wondered.

"Well, there'll be more of my people around - and they don't let us young ones out after dark," Sheik explained, and he smiled fondly at the memories. I hoped he wouldn't replace his facemask as a child - he was probably a cute kid.

{You're doing it again Blaise!} Navi scolded. {Keep your mind on the fact that you're saving the whole of Hyrule!}

[Sorry Navi,] I grinned back.

"Well, it won't be much better for us two," Link mused. "I know for a fact that adults don't think kids should be out after dark."

"With all the monsters around even back then, are you surprised?" I interjected. Looking up, I saw that we were nearing the pedestal where the Master Sword needed to be replaced. Link hurried up the steps, and withdrew the legendary blade. When Sheik and I were standing with him, he plunged it into the slot, and a great blue wave of magic surrounded us.

"Hold onto me," Link advised, and Sheik and I each took one of his arms. With a tight smile, he managed to whisper, "here we go!" before the magic consumed us entirely. I could still feel the other three with me, I could even see Navi clinging onto Link's belt. Slowly however, the scene became darker, and they all faded from view.

*

I could now see only a misty blackness, and knew that this must be my detour for Loki to make me into a child again. Indeed, his tall figure sauntered over, and I was surprised to see that he had a smile on his face. "Hello little one," he said cheerily, looking down at me. Obviously seeing the confusement in my face, he explained his mood, "The council have rejected Lucifer's challenge after seeing my appeal - it looks like you're off the hook."

My mouth dropped open. "Are you sure?" I could hear the disbelief in my own voice. He nodded, and I couldn't help it - I literally threw myself at his chest, and hugged him for all I was worth. He must have been quite surprised, but he returned the hug all the same. Then, he backed away slightly, and his face was serious again.

"You didn't think I would let him take you, did you?" he asked, his brow knitted in horror at the very idea.

"Of course not," I assured him, then added, "though I would understand if you had. I haven't exactly been the most co operative person have I?"

"You're telling me," he snorted rolling his eyes. These quick mood changes of his always kept me on my toes. I was glad he was there though - it was nice to see a face I at least knew well again. Sheik, Link and Navi were all right, but they had so many suspicions about me. They'd never understand; I didn't really plan on telling them when it was over. I'd just disappear like I always did.

"Now," Loki was rolling up the flowing sleeves of his council robes - he must have come straight from there. "We've got to figure out what to make you look like," he suddenly had a pen in his hand, and was holding it up like an artist does to scale a picture in my direction.

"Hadn't you better hurry?" I asked. "And don't make me too geeky!" I scolded. He just shook his head, letting out an impatient breath of air.

"Don't worry, I've slowed time sufficiently so that I can actually make this thing look real. And, you're geeky already!" Ah, there was that smile I had almost forgotten - the one he had usually saved especially for David. He must have been in the best mood I had seen him in since that day...no! Now was not the time to remember that. Loki was again surveying me, and with a snap of his fingers, he held his Mithril staff - all council members held one. They were used to focus magical power.

"Right - this may take some time," he warned. "Sit down, and stay as still as you can, alright?"

"OK," I sat down on the almost substanceless floor, wondering how it was that without wings I could still sit upon clouds. I couldn't dwell on it for long, as Loki had begun casting, and I had to stay focused on keeping still. Over the noise of casting, I could hear him humming a cheerful little tune, and recognised it as the very same one I had sung on the top of Death Mountain. Tears jerked at the corners of my eyes, and a small sparkle of magic reached one, dazzling my vision with a rainbow of refracted light.

"I've been wanting to speak to you about the Water Temple," he said, as he completed a complicated series of symbols in the air with his forefinger.

"Aye?" I prompted warily, being careful not to move too much.

"Yes - that creature you fought for the long shot weapon. It was very powerful; however, it was not commanded by Ganondorf like the other three." A shock jolted through me, along with the slight tingling already there from the magic spinning threads around me. I wrenched my eyes to look at him. He looked pale and drawn now, the smile and buoyancy from the news of the council completely gone.

"Who commanded it?" my vocal chords were beginning to shrink, and my voice was higher than it had been. I could see his throat move as he gulped. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out - his hands were still moving in complicated patterns, and I lost sight of him for a few seconds as his long draping sleeves got in the way of my vision.

Finally he seemed to master his own vocal chords again, having finished adjusting mine. "Diabola," he managed to mutter, and then he put his staff down. "Done." I stood up, and had to crane my neck a lot more than I did earlier.

"Diabola?" I winced at the squeak of my voice - it was however perfectly akin to how I had spoken at the age of nine. "But - how; she's in exile isn't she?" [Oh boy, it's going to take forever to get used to this voice].

Loki couldn't seem to speak - he just waved his hand, and his staff disappeared. His dark eyes were covered with a brighter gleam than usual. Tears? Whatever for? He waved his hand again, and he disappeared, a full- length mirror taking his place. On the side bar of it was a small rolled up scroll. I didn't take much notice of that though. I fell backwards in shock at what I saw. The image in the mirror stared back at me from where she had fallen hard on the cloudy floor.

She stood up again warily, and tested the solidarity of her face with her small child hands. Then, she stood on the very tips of her toes to reach the scroll. The scroll was unravelled, and the image looked desperate to open it. I looked at her, seeing that she had eyes too old for her body. Finally, she had broken the seal, and held it up so that I could see it too - it was a portrait. A portrait of a young angel girl with grey wings, messy black hair and violet eyes.

I dropped to the floor again, and again, my mirror image followed me. The portrait and I and my image were identical - the only difference was that my image and I had no great wings of mottled grey. No wonder Loki had fled - oh Demons, the memories were flooding back in great flashes for me. What must they have been like for him? I shuddered, and gave way to a blissful black, waiting to fall back into the timescale of Hyrule. With a small clatter, a pair of dark glasses fell to the cloud floor next to me, and I put them on just before the portal whisked me away to the others.

~*~*~*~

We came out on the other side, and were dropped onto the pedestal with three heavy thuds. There was a small "Ow!" from Link's hat, which went spiralling off onto the altar where the three spiritual stones floated. Navi buzzed out of it, and flew over to us, taking time to look each of us up and down. With a jolt, I noticed that the world was a few shades darker - I had my glasses back again and it was strange.

"Youch," I heard a treble voice moan next to me, and looked over in surprise to see who I presumed to be Sheik, going on the blue body suit and eye of truth. I hadn't really noticed how deep his voice was until hearing this squeaky child's one.

"Youch," Link agreed, and I noticed that he too had a high-pitched voice. I wasn't really sure whether I wanted the others to know what voice I had, but I spoke anyway.

"Come on, we've got to get going," I sounded all right for a nine year old, I suppose. My voice wasn't much higher pitched than theirs; it was much softer and quieter though.

"Yeah," Sheik nodded, and I noticed that he didn't have the facemask on. He had a round boyish face, and a mischievous grin in his eyes, which instead of bright vermilion were a dusky maroon colour. Link, however, was almost a perfect replica of himself as an adult - his face was slightly softer, and he didn't have a stubble problem, but apart from that and the obvious growth for an adult, not much had changed.

As we walked, I began to pull my hair out of the braid I had had it in the past few days. "Eurgh - my hair really needs a wash," I moaned, looking at the lank strands. My mind was becoming more childlike as I walked along - I knew what it was we had to do, but everything now had a more innocent edge.

"No kidding," Sheik said, laughing and pulling out a strand of his own hair before his eyes as well. "I think we all do. Let's make a pact to actually have a bath sometime really, really soon. After all, what would the storytellers make of it if the Great Hero of Time smelt like a pig pen?" Link whirled around, a look of annoyance on his face. Sheik just smiled sweetly, and Link turned back. Then Sheik took a deep intake of breath, and said offhandedly, "I wonder what that smell is."

That did it - fight time again. I had to dive out of the way as Link launched himself on top of Sheik, yelling in between laughs, "TAKE IT BACK!"

"Never!" Sheik shouted as they tumbled over of the floor. "Blaise smells too! So does Navi!"

[Does he have a death wish?] I wondered, taking note that my telepathic voice was also childish.

{Seems so} Navi also seemed a little more childlike, though when I looked at her, I could discern no difference in her appearance. "Let's get him!" she yelled, and dived in to throttle the poor Sheikah, who Link had grasped in a nasty looking headlock. Not only did we look like children; we behaved like them as well - it was an interesting experience. After shedding my pack and sword, I too launched at the battling trio, creating a dog pile effect.

"Don't smell!" (Link)

"Do!" (Sheik)

"DO NOT!" (Me)

"Do so!" (Sheik)

"Take it back crazy Sheikah, before I gotta really hurt yo-" Navi was cut off as Sheik snatched her out of the air. Was he insane? {Sure seems that way} I could hear the outrage in Navi's voice, and wondered for a split second what she might do. However, I didn't have long to wait.

There was a loud squeak as Navi bit Sheik on the ear. [Navi!] I was surprised. [That was a bit vicious!]

{It's the only way these guys will learn,} she insisted. {Eurgh - Sheik *really* needs a wash - he tastes like mud!} I sniggered internally, and was bought back to the real world when I felt a pair of arms pinning me to the marble floor, and another pair tickling me to death. I wriggled to try and get free, laughing helplessly.

"Hey, let go!" I managed to get out between laughs. I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe when they finally released me. "That was so evil!" I announced, giving Sheik a noogie and poking Link viciously in the side. They looked apologetic, and both stood looking down at the floor guiltily. "Right - now, let's get to Kakariko and um...what did Rauru say we had to do Link?"

He looked up again. "We've got to go speak to this weird windmill guy who knows this song that will dry up the well. And then we have to go down and get some magical thing that allows us to see 'the truth' or something like that," he scratched his head and looked slightly baffled. "It's hard to think with a kid's brain," he whined.

"I wouldn't have thought it'd be so bad for you," Sheik began, and even though Link couldn't see where it was going, I could. "Since you've still got a kid's brain in seven years." I cringed and waited for the resounding crash as they began to fight again. Eventually, after they were done with another round of playful scuffling, we made our way out of the temple and into the market place.

I was surprised by how busy it was; I knew that it would be back to normal, but until now, I hadn't actually appreciated how large the population of the castle town had been before Ganondorf came. There were brightly coloured market stalls set up all around the edge, and around each of them was a large crowd of bartering people. There were also a lot of people just milling around - a few couples were dancing to a street musician. Sheik was looking down wistfully at his lyre, and I tugged on Link's arm.

"Can we stay for a while? It couldn't hurt, could it?"

"Well, for every day here, it's only an hour in the future, so I suppose we can stay for a little while." His eyes really did look odd in that face - like mine, far too old for what the rest of me looked. Sheik jumped for joy, and went over the street musician, who on closer inspection I noticed was also a Sheikah. No wonder he had wanted to go over there so bad. Link tapped me on the shoulder and I looked back around at him.

He was holding out a purple rupee and grinning. "Since we're stopping, I thought you might want to look around and stuff. It's pretty interesting, just be careful of the back alleys, they're easy to get lost in." I raised an eyebrow at this, and he grinned sheepishly. "Heh - that I only know from running away from the guards so many times." I laughed, and then he turned off and I soon lost sight of him in the crowd.

Pocketing the rupee, I looked around and wondered where to go, and what to do first. There were so many choices it was almost impossible, but one stall caught my eye. It was half in the shadows at the corner of the square, and had a fine purple and green cloth roof slung haphazardly over the two vertical wooden struts at each end of it. A boy of about twelve was sitting to one side, whittling something that I couldn't quite make out, and a well built red haired woman stood, rearranging her products.

As she swished around to the opposite side of the stall, I glimpsed rounded ears, and knew this to be one of the Gerudo. The very thought set my teeth on edge, but then I reasoned that it was not a good idea to pick a fight with someone twice as big as you, in the middle of a crowded market place. It could get nasty. And I was very interested in the items on the stall - musical instruments galore.

I walked over, and looked with interest at the many different instruments. There were large wooden flutes, obviously hand carved by the boy sitting behind the table. Also, ocarinas, varying from tiny to about the size of my two clenched fists (adult) together. The woman was looking at me with interest. "Is there anything here that takes your fancy?" she asked. Her accent was soft, sounding vaguely like the Australian accents that some of my fellow warriors had had great fun trying to impersonate a while back.

"I'm just looking to be honest," I answered back, delicately picking up what I recognised as a tiny guitar. "May I?" I asked, poising my fingers over the strings. She nodded and smiled encouragingly. So, I trailed my fingers over the strings, delighted at the sound that they made. I wondered whether I could still remember how to play one. Lifting my foot to rest on a nearby crate, I rested the body of the guitar on my knee, and then placed my left hand upon the frets.

Squinting up my eyes, I pushed my fingers down in what I hoped were the right places, and hit all of the strings at once. They rang out clearly, and sounded right. Opening my eyes again, I could see the Gerudo looking approving. "You're obviously someone who knows their stuff young lady," she commented, as I laid the small guitar back down on the table.

"What? You are not buying it?" the boy sounded incredulous.

"Hush Quentin," the Gerudo woman raised a hand. "The young lady has made her choice - and woe betide you to try and challenge a girl!" she scolded, but I could see a grin in her eyes. She dropped me a wink, and then took one of the tiny ocarinas, no bigger than about half of my child fist, and attached it to a leather cord, before giving it to me. I moved my hand towards my pocket, but she shook her head. "You have some talent, but I see it would not be wise for you to carry such a large instrument with you. It's on the house dear."

"No, I couldn't," I reached my hand out to give the ocarina back. The boy, Quentin, reached out to take it back, but the woman reached to knock his hand out of the way.

"Take it," she insisted, closing my hand around the ocarina, and I could feel her trying to bore into my eyes through my glasses. Her eyes conveyed a deep wisdom. "I know I'll see you again; this will be proof of our meeting when that time comes."

"Yeah, and next time, you'd better damn well buy something," the boy muttered, and she cuffed him round the ear good-naturedly.

"Shush sour grapes," she chuckled, and then looked back at me. "Ask for Xenia," she tapped her nose, and then turned away to another customer. The boy glared at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him - he looked surprised, and then returned the gesture.

The ocarina still held tightly in my palm, I wandered through the gathering crowds towards the sound of Sheik's lyre playing. Maybe I could accompany on the gift I had just been given. It was quite a chore to push through the mass of people which was semi-circled around the musicians - a space was taken up by some people who were brave enough to carry on dancing before the large amount of people. I broke away and weaved through them to go and sit on a crate next to Sheik.

"Hello," he said without looking up, concentrating on the many strings of his lyre. I too watched as his fingers fluttered quickly between notes, and finally struck the final one. He rested his lyre down on the crate, and the other Sheikah music makers carried on. "Where are Link and Navi?" he asked, and I shrugged. "Hey, where'd you get that?" he was looking at the ocarina in my upturned right palm.

"A Gerudo lady at that stall over there gave it to me," I pointed over to the stall, and he followed the line of my finger.

"Why'd she do that?"

"I don't know - there was a guitar there, and I looked at it, but I couldn't really buy it. I mean, how would I carry it around?" He nodded musingly. "And she just gave this to me, saying she'd see me again." Sheik's eyes widened slightly at that, but he just nodded again.

"Can you actually play it though?" I just raised the ocarina to my lips and blew out a few notes of the 'song of Dreamers'. (The one from Death Mountain). "I'll take that as a yes," he smiled. Then, loud enough to be heard over the music, his stomach growled. "Food!" he said in a panic, jumping off the crate and racing over to a food vendor. I followed him at a more leisurely pace, and also purchased some food. It was strange how food became a second priority sometimes.

"Yum!" Sheik said through a mouthful of bread, melted cheese and chicken.

"Oh, gross Sheik!" I exclaimed. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to eat with your mouth open?"

"Nope," he said proudly, and then opened his mouth wide to show me the wonderful sight of his half chewed lunch. I just pulled a face, and carried on walking through the market place - he followed me, greedily guzzling his lunch - I ended up giving him half of mine just to stop him whining. I perused the stalls for a while, before we both decided to go back to where the musicians were still playing away, and wait for Link there.

It was late in the afternoon when Link and Navi came back, laden with many bags of shopping. He dropped it onto the ground, and a few Deku-nuts rolled out and cracked open with bright flashes of light. "Whoops," Link said, looking embarrassed, and bending down to prevent any more cracking open on the floor.

"What is all this?" Sheik looked through the bags, and pulled out two small slingshots.

"Well, I thought since we're so much smaller, we can't carry on using the same weapons all the time," he said, and I could see his logic. I felt glad that my sword changed size with me - it would feel strange with another one. Link opened the bags, and handed out the new weaponry. I ended up with quite a lot more weapons that I had had as an adult - as well as a new shield since my one had simply disappeared in the portal.

I had: - Deku-nuts, two Deku-sticks strapped across my back, the slingshot and seed bag attached to my dagger belt (magically smaller), a bottle of red potion and a strange bracelet. "What's this?" I asked, holding it up where it glinted brightly in the light. It looked like it was made out of gold, but didn't feel as heavy as gold should.

"A Goron bracelet," Link said simply, helping Sheik tie his new shield onto his back. He then turned to me, took my hand and the bracelet, and snapped it around my wrist. "It makes it easier to pick heavy things up - like bombs and stuff." I looked down at the bracelet and noticed that Sheik and Link had ones as well.

"Shall we get going now then?" Link and Sheik nodded.

"Now commences the hardest part of the whole quest," Sheik whispered as we left the castle town. Link and I looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Sneaking past Sheikah parents," Sheik shuddered, and I laughed.

*

Sheik hadn't been exaggerating about the after dark rule in Kakariko. There was a patrol of Sheikah warriors walking around the streets, looking out for any children who shouldn't have been out after dark. The whole population under the age of fourteen was under a curfew from sundown to sunrise. Sheik was heading the group, and turned around with his finger to his lips to tell us to be quiet.

"I always used to sneak out after dark, so I know the patrol patterns," he whispered as we crouched behind a pyramid of milk crates. Two Sheikah men walked past, carrying spears limply in their hands, and chattering away animatedly.

"Yeah, I 'eard that Gerudo guy's after the Tri-Force," the tallest one said, shifting his spear into his other hand. Some of Sheik's hair was tickling my nose, and I had the urge to sneeze. Quickly, I pinched my nose to stifle it.

"There's no way a Gerudo could get their hands on it - they're way too dumb," the other said scornfully. "They only train their bodies, not their minds."

"Well, the bodies are pretty well trained," the first man nudged his partner, and they both sniggered. They turned the corner, and Sheik signalled that we could carry on now. We wove in and out of the thin streets of Kakariko, ducking and diving behind various crates and walls to evade the patrols.

At last, we reached the town square where the well was. High above, at the top of a great flight of steps, was the windmill. The sails were turning slowly in the gentle breeze; and a large congregation of Sheikah, each of whom were carrying a lantern and spear, blocked our way. The two men we had seen from earlier were standing right by the well, leaning on the side and chucking rupees in, laughing.

A figure emerged from the shadows, and all the Sheikah stood to attention - it was on a pure white horse. Link gasped, and Sheik reached out quickly to cover his mouth. His eyes were stern, and he shook his head angrily. Then, he turned back to look at what was happening in front of us.

I noticed that it wasn't just one person on the horse - there was another, smaller figure; a young girl snoozing quietly. The hood of the rider flew back, to show a proud face of a Sheikah female. Silver tears were tattooed across her cheeks from the corner of her eyes, and silver/white hair was scraped back from her face by a leather ribbon. It was Sheik's turned to gasp now; luckily, the sound of the horse's hooves as it moved forwards covered that.

"It's Impa," he whispered. "And - Goddesses, the princess!" That was said just a little too loud. The two men whirled around from the well, and advanced towards us. "Uh oh," Sheik rocked back on his heels, and got onto his feet in a crouch. "C'mon, let's get out of here," we turned to run, and were confronted by three Sheikah warriors. "Run!" Sheik yelled, and we ducked under the open arms of the three, only to be confronted by another line of them.

I tried to duck away again, but was grabbed by the shoulder, and taken into the well square. I could hear the other two struggling behind me, and Sheik was cursing in words that a normal child would never ever use. The Sheikah in the square all looked at us with disbelief.

"What are you doing out so late children?" a tall man with a half moon on his forehead scolded. "Sheik?" his red eyes narrowed. "Haven't I warned you about this before lad?"

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to-" Sheik began, but was cut off when the woman on the horse raised her hand.

"Shush Derek - or you shall wake her." She looked down tenderly at the child in the saddle before her. "Put those children down - they are here because they must be here." We were all set down gently upon the ground, and then the Sheikah who had caught us backed away from the woman respectfully. On impulse, I bowed my head to the woman before looking back up. Her face was drawn and afraid, yet strong and beautiful and deadly as a panther.

"Impa?" the girl stirred, and blinked open amazingly vibrant blue eyes. Impa looked down worriedly, and brushed a few strands of golden hair away from the small face.

"Yes Zelda, I'm here. We're safe now," she whispered to the child, then looked up at the gathered adults. "I think you can all guess why I called you here - Ganondorf is after the grand Princess Zelda, and we must protect her from him until such time when he can be defeated." Her eyes flickered to Link quickly.

{She knows it's him,} Navi said reverently. {She's wise - very wise.}

[I can tell - but how on earth could she know?]

{All the legends are known well to the Sheikah. It's part of their everyday teachings. And Impa; she is the wisest of them all.}

Zelda was more awake now, and she too looked at Link. "I remember you! You're the boy from the forest!" Everyone was looking at Link now, and he shuffled uncomfortably.

"Yes, that I am Princess," he answered. Zelda looked overjoyed.

"I'm so glad! I was afraid that that nasty Gerudo man might have hurt you!" Link shook his head and she clapped her hands. "Good!"

Impa spoke again now. "Princess, with your permission, I would wish to take you over the sea to the South until such time as it is safe to return."

"Do I really have a choice?" Zelda asked, and I knew she already knew she didn't. Her small face was sad, frightened; and she too had those eyes. Those eyes too old to be a child's.

"Very astute - you do not," Impa smiled grimly. "Now - I shall need the help of all of you," she addressed the assembly again. "To get to the ports will be arduous - Ganondorf has spies everywhere. Who will come with us?" A group of about twelve raised their hands, including the two men from earlier. Impa nodded. "Then, we shall go at once."

"What about these children?" Derek queried, rubbing the half moon on his forehead wearily.

"Let them be," Zelda said, and her voice was commanding. "They must be left to do what they must do." He bowed his head in assent, and we were free to go. The crowd of Sheikah dispersed to carry on patrolling. Impa wheeled the horse around, but before she and the twelve left to take the Princess to safety, she turned to Sheik.

"Good luck youngling," she rose her hand to her forehead and gave him a sharp salute, which he returned. "Hyahh!" she snapped the reins of the white horse, and they sped off.

"Farewell Impa," Sheik stared after them.

"May the Goddesses protect them," Navi added sombrely. "Well at least now we need not worry about sneaking around."

"That's true. Let's find this 'mill guy' then." Sheik, Navi and I moved forwards. Link however stayed where he was, staring unseeingly in the direction in which the Princess, Impa, and the travelling party had gone. "Link?" Sheik's voice was tentative. "Link, we have to get going." Link shook himself like a dog, and turned to face us. Tears were on his cheeks.

On impulse, I walked over and hugged him softly. "Shh - they'll be all right. We already know that Ganondorf doesn't find her." I could feel his tears soaking into the shoulder of my tunic. He gave one final sniff, and I let go. He wiped his shining cheeks with the backs his hands and gave us a watery smile.

"Yeah, I know. C'mon then." Another loud sniff, and then he turned towards the mill. Navi landed on his shoulder, and I could hear her reassuring him in a soft voice. This was yet another side that I hadn't yet seen her display. It was amazing to say the least.

*

The 'windmill' guy was weird. Very weird - I think he was the oddest thing I had ever seen. Even odder than the time I had awoken to find myself strung upside down from the rafters in the training grounds by my bootlaces. He stood with a brightly coloured music box, turning the handle frantically to make the tune sound loudly in the echoing expanse of the mill. When we entered, he smiled at us cheerily.

"Hello there!" he called, still turning and turning that handle. "Welcome to my lovely, lovely windmill!"

"Uh - thanks," Link muttered, looking up at the ceiling on the mill high above, where you could see the cog being turned by the sails, which in turn turned the centre axel, turning the grinding millstone at the bottom. He was fingering his ocarina anxiously, and I wondered why it was we had to come and see this strange man.

"Oh, you all have instruments!" the man's voice was even more cheerful, though I don't know if that's possible. "Would you like to hear a song I just made up?" I was a little dubious, but Link nodded with a strange enthusiasm. "Oh good!" the man put down his music box, and pulled a harmonica out of what seemed to be thin air. "This is how it goes - join in as soon as you pick it up!" He tapped his foot on the floor in a jaunty rhythm, and then began to play a nimble melody.

Link nodded his head in time to the music, and then bought his ocarina to his lips. Sheik hadn't moved to get his lyre, and I decided just to leave the playing to Link. He was doing quite well, and after the fourth run through, had it perfected.

There was a loud crack of thunder overhead, and as I looked up, a bolt of lightning whipped across the sky. The 'mill guy' looked up in surprise. "That's funny - it didn't look like a storm earlier." The sails screeched as strong winds blew along with the storm, and the axel and millstone began to rotate at a ridiculous rate. "Oh no! The well!" The man dropped his harmonica and leapt over the millstone to run out of the door.

When we followed him, it was to look down at a fast emptying well. He was jumping up and down, pulling at his hair and screaming the longest stream of swear words I had ever heard. He didn't even repeat himself once, and carried on going for five minutes before he ran out of steam. Then, he rounded on Link. "What did you do you crazy kid? Look at that well!" then, he pushed Link out of the doorway, and stormed back into the mill, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him with a resounding 'bang'.

"Touchy," Link muttered, rubbing his elbow where it had connected with the wall. "Well, Rauru said that should happen, but he never told me the 'mill guy' was a psycho." I chuckled slightly, and Sheik just shook his head grinning. "Well - I guess it's down we go," Link motioned towards the well.

"How though? You think you're gonna lower us down in a bucket or something?" I asked.

"No, don't be stupid - look, there's a ladder," Sheik pointed, and indeed, there was a ladder running down into the dark depths of the well.

"That makes sense - a ladder in a well," Navi said sarcastically. Then, without a second thought, she flew down, and lit the first few rungs up for us. Link swung himself over the edge of the well first, and put his feet on the first rung.

"Hang on!" Sheik grabbed his arm. "What if some of the rungs aren't stable?" Link blanched.

{I hadn't thought of that.} Navi admitted shakily. "I'll check," she offered. Link nodded, still slightly pale, and Navi disappeared within the well.

A few minutes later, she came back out. "They're all still there - and they don't look too bad," she said. "You should be alright - and there's a small tunnel at the bottom. It's a good thing you're kids, I doubt you'd have gotten through as grown ups." Now I understood Loki's comment about there being some places only a kid can go.

"Right then - down we go." This time, Link flew down the rungs, Navi following him and lighting the way.

{Wait there, and I'll come back and do the same for you two.}

[Good plan]. "We should wait here - Navi can light the way when we go down as well," I advised Sheik.

"Good idea," he nodded, and then leant on the stone side of the well, throwing his head back to look up at the stars. I too looked up, amazed at the brightness of them all. I was used to worlds full of neon lights at night. Or ones where no one dared step beyond their own doorway after dark. Stars weren't a big area in life for me, but I couldn't help but be awed by the masses of tiny, sparkling dots.

"Do you know any of the constellations?" Sheik asked out of the blue, looking at me. I shook my head,

"No - no one ever thought to tell me any," I shrugged, and then craned upwards again. I felt a hand creeping towards my own, and then Sheik lifted my whole arm to point at a cluster of stars towards the West.

"Well, I'll tell you some now," he offered. "That one there is the 'Zoran songster', a great voice of legend. It's said that thousands of years ago, when all the races were still young, and everyone was scared of everyone else, a young Zoran boy sat on the island at the centre of Zora's fountain, and sung of his woes at having no friends of his own." He paused to breathe, and I wondered how it was that even with such a childlike voice, he still managed to sound so grown up.

"His voice echoed around the cliffs, and was caught by the waters of the River. The River found the sound so beautiful, that it took it, and spread it across the whole land of Hyrule. Everyone who walked by the water heard the sound, and was captured by it. So, many peoples followed the river into Zora's domain. Creatures of all sizes gathered around the banks of the fountain, and called to him. 'Come, come sing for us over here,' they all called, but he could not. He was caught up within his song, and the creatures and the people couldn't reach him.

"Finally, the sun came up; many of the creatures and the peoples had fallen asleep to the sound of the boy's voice. And when they looked up, it was to see that he had disappeared." Sheik stopped.

"But - what happened to him?" I prompted, dropping my arm and looking around at him.

"No-one knows. Some say the Goddesses took him away to sing for them; that they cut him out in the stars so that everyone could remember him."

"And others?"

He laughed. "And others say that he lost his voice and was too embarrassed to come out into public ever again." I snorted, and pushed him playfully. He pushed me back, and we had an intense shoving match, which ended up being broken up when Navi appeared over the lip of the well, and yelled,

"MOVE IT!" We both jumped, and looked at her sheepishly. Sheik moved forwards and started down the ladder. I looked back up at the stars, and wrapped my arms around me. A small smile crept across my lips, and I hummed a tune. This time, it wasn't the 'song of Dreamers'. I wasn't quite sure what it was; a few words came into my head, and I knew it was from one of the world's I had saved. Though I could not remember which one.

Softly, I sang the words I could remember. "Time now to spread your wings

To take to flight

The life endeavour

Aim for the burning sun

You're trapped inside

But you can still be free

If time will set you free

But it's a long, long way to go." I stopped, and swept my eyes over the star-studded sky one last time. If only time could set us all free; life would be an easier game to play, that was for sure.

~/*\~/*\~/*\~

And that's the end of another chapter - next up, we'll get the well and then the Shadow Temple. Did you like that little legend about the Zoran singer by the way? I kind of stole the whole cutting him out of stars thing from the Disney film Hercules [face burns in shame]. Yes, I know too much about Disney, I admit! But, the group bonding is fun to do! [Bounce]

Alexis: You have no idea how hard it is being me! I'm randomly in love with everyone!

Soda: RUBBISH! I'm in love with three guys right now, I know how you feel!

Sheik: You are? [Sidles over and grins] Who are the other two?

Soda: I don't think you heard me right, I said three - what d'ya mean the other...oh...

Sheik: [Cries] Fine, I'm going back to Cassidy, even if she does want to do naughty things to me!

Soda: [Sheepish look] Whoops. Must go apologise to Sheik - need muse help, and badly!

Good-bye everyone until next update, Soda.

PS: So far, this story takes up 119 pages on word, size ten Tahoma. O.o is all I can say to that. See how dedicated I am to my fan fiction? WHOOP! And Untold Tales : Sheik was 72! [Falls over] Whoo, I write way too much!

PPS: The song at the end is not mine. I just borrowed it from 'You Can Still Be Free', the second verse, by 'Savage Garden'.