Thievery

Disclaimer: .....I can't even be bothered.....

Well, last chapter re-cap. Our heroine gallivanted (I've been wanting to use that word for ages!) off and found Artemis in order to preserve what's left of Sheik's sanity. And then she came back, and they all trekked merrily to Kakariko (I say merrily.....they really squabbled all the way, but we won't go into that).

:: :: = Ganondorf's thoughts, [] = Alexis'/Blaise' thoughts, {} = Navi's thoughts and italics = memories

"Are you quite done?" Sheik asked about ten minutes after I had sat down to my meal. The boy was out of sight, no doubt patrolling the perimeter to check for any weaknesses in the house's boundaries, and patch up any he found. I put down my fork, sighed, and pushed my chair back from the table.

"We'll be back in a couple of hours or so," I said to Catherine, guessing (rightly) that Sheik hadn't bothered to fill her in on our plans yet again.

"Where are you going?" she asked, also dropping her fork, but in surprise. "You're leaving me behind again? Can't I come with you?" I walked in front of Sheik in order to block any scathing comments, and did my best to try and look comforting and stern at the same time.

[I wonder if this is the same kind of dilemma mother's have when disciplining their kids?] "I'm sorry, but you can't come. I know it's annoying, and hard to believe, but you're so important to us, we can't risk you being hurt. To be honest, all that training we have given you is not intended to be used – it's just as a last resort, if you find yourself in danger, and we're not close enough to help you."

"Not that I'd be much use though," she murmured, looking downcast. I just shook my head.

"You'd be able to hold your own until someone came to help you out, and that's all we wanted you to be able to do. I truly am sorry, but we don't intend for you to see battle. We.....we just want you here so that you can help, and, well, it's nice to have another girl on the trip," she laughed weakly at this, and picked up her dropped fork. [Demons, that girl can eat more than I can!] "That guy you saw earlier – whatshisname – urm, James," Sheik confirmed this with a curt nod. "James will be guarding you whilst we're gone. And – heh, this time, you shouldn't worry about being attacked again."

"It wasn't so bad – Firen and Delia managed to get me out."

"All the same, it's only precautionary because black-cloaks aren't even allowed in Kakariko. All right?"

"Of course. Now, go on, and do whatever it is people who save places do!" She pointed sternly at the door, and I felt a weird sense of pride. I could almost see a bit of my younger self in her.....she'd grow up well, no mistake about that. Following her finger, I turned to the door, and Sheik followed me through it, and out into the musky evening light. Being now, as I guessed it, getting into the swing of spring (it rhymes!), the evenings stayed lighter longer. For which I was glad, especially as we walked away from the main village and towards the graveyard.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not scared of graveyards.....[how could I be, I see them enough in my line of work!] But, at nighttime, they're just a little spooky. And, since Hyrule is a world in which I have known the dead to speak, I wasn't relishing the idea of walking around a graveyard in the pitch black. [Who would?] Furtively looking around, and checking that Sheik wasn't about to turn around and speak to me, I lifted up my left hand, and focused on the old scars there. It wasn't strictly illegal to use magic on- world – frowned upon, but not actually against the laws of the Angel Warriors.

The five-point star residing inside the deeply carved pentagon formed David's casting symbol, and I traced the shaped with my eyes, not once breaking the pattern to look at the path. Still not looking, I crouched down as I walked, and managed to catch myself a dry and rather hefty stick from the ground. [I love using magic when it's like this!] I thought gleefully as a little ball of fire appeared above my hand, flowing from the five points of the star and then converging in the centre. Hurriedly, before anyone could see my feat, I bought the stick to the ball, and it took immediately. Then, I doused the spell, shuddering as the magic leaked away. [Demons, the withdrawal is bloody awful on this stuff.]

I then looked up again, holding my makeshift torch happily, and continued after Sheik. The path to the graveyard had changed since I was last here, and now it looped around an entire new section of graves (no doubt bodies found after the war was over), and took us up two long flights of steps to come out right before the entrance to the Shadow Temple, right at the back of the graveyard. As we went, I was thinking about my spell, and trying to think how I had decided to learn fire summoning in the first place. I had this strange feeling that it was something to do with Hyrule, but I couldn't pin it down.....

"There," Sheik said suddenly, in a husky voice. "What Hyrule has become – what it must remain. And for it we fight." He stared reverently at the view the elevated ground gave us, and I looked too. It was magnificent! New settlements had sprouted all over the great field, littering it with dozens of clusters of lights – the Zora river had cut wider meanders, giving water to vast areas of farmland, and had also been channelled in irrigation gulleys to water the land farther away. To the South, I could even make out the twinkling lights of fairies and forest spirits in the greenery of the forest, and lake Hylia was visible just upon the horizon, reflecting the night sky in all it's radiant glory.

"I hope heaven is as beautiful as this," I said, awed. Then I blinked and came out of the stupor, and blushed at the excessively corny line I'd just uttered. Sheik, however, just hmmed, and carried on looking over Hyrule, studying it long and hard. I lamented over my declining sanity and control of emotions, and then decided to stir things into action. Why should I have to wait around for Sheik to give the orders anyway? It wasn't like I was in his army, after all.

"Sheik? Shouldn't we get moving? The light's almost gone, and we still need to figure out how to light all those torches at once....." [Of course, if I were to bend the unspoken rule, I could do it myself no problem.]

"Let's go then." He turned around sharply and made his way into the cavernous abyss which marked the entrance to the Temple. I hefted my torch into a more comfortable position, and followed, plunging into the icy dark. I expected to be torn to shreds the minute I stepped foot inside, but was surprised when not even voices deigned to greet me. Sheik was standing on the dais at the centre, scratching the back of his bandaged head and frowning, obviously trying to solve the torch problem.

"How did we light them last time?" he pondered aloud, only half directing the question at me. I frowned and searched my memory, before stumbling across the method,

"Navi called a favour from the Great Fairy of the Mountain."

"Ah – blast. Well, back to square one then." I struggled with the idea of either telling or not telling him about my magic, and finally decided that telling him would save a lot of time, and perhaps, in doing so, a lot of lives as well.

"Well, I've learned magic in the past few years."

"Anything that could light all of these?" he gestured to the couple of dozen or so torches.

"Maybe..... It'll take a lot of concentration though."

"Something you lack?" he jibed, but I ignored the comment, and sashayed defiantly over to the dais. I vaulted up onto it, and then gently pushed Sheik out of the way.

[Here goes nothing,] I thought with a worried frown. Raising my left hand just as I had done so earlier, I began to trace the pentagram scars. I had to go over them many times to call the magic back, and it flooded through me, quite literally sparkling across my skin in swathes of multi-coloured light, all travelling to the scars on my hand, which glowed first red hot, then white, and then to blue. I'd never in my life called up so much magic to glow blue before.....it was an exquisite feeling. [Perhaps this is what heroine would be like] I thought mistily, as I rose my hand above my head.

[Light all the torches.] I thought. [Light all the torches. Light all the torches.] The mantra went around and around in my mind, and vaguely, I could see Sheik quite literally cowering away from the bright light I exuded. Finally, I couldn't hold the magic anymore, and I had to let it go, a great surge of it exploding outwards like the shockwaves of a bomb. With a roar of air as the magic tore through it, all of the torches lit as one, and heat radiated throughout the cavern, adding to the sweat pouring down me from the sheer power of the spell.

"That was a doozy," I smiled in a sort of daze, and collapsed to my knees. Drawing in a lot of air in a very short time, I managed to come out of possibly the worst after-spell withdrawal I'd ever had in my life.

"Mother?" Sheik called out hoarsely, looking at the lifting stone doorway which led into the Shadow Temple. I looked up, and saw Impa standing there, Saria clutching onto her for dear life, and two fairies floating above them. One was sunbeam yellow, and the other one was pure white.

[Navi?]

{Aye, it's me. Alexis? Or is it Blaise again?}

[So you heard.....]

{Of course – everyone in the Realm knows about you. I had a feeling you'd be back to help us.}

[It's good to see you..... Link!]

{I know, I have to see him. But, there are other things to do first.}

[Of course.] I left the link open, having nothing at all left to hide from the fairy. Sheik and Impa were allowing themselves a restrained embrace, lacking in tears or hurried talking. They pulled apart after only a few seconds, and then Impa looked around. I'd never really met the woman, apart from that one time when she fled with the Princess. Only now was I able to appreciate her full imposing stature of about six foot, all clad in highly polished armour, and with a fierce, wise face. The sort of face that could, and probably had, propelled people into battle.

I had almost forgotten Saria, when she flew over to me, and hovered thankfully in the light of the torch I still held. "You're Link's friend aren't you? The Angel girl?" I nodded, and smiled down at her. "Good – at least I know there's someone slightly less.....Sheikan here....." she grinned guiltily. "They're just all so – cold."

"It's their way," I whispered back to her. "Though....." my eyes misted over, and the Kokiri Sage had to wave her hand in front of my face to wake me up. "Sorry, what was I saying?"

"We must get back to the house," Sheik commanded. "We have to move on."

"Move Catherine again? She'll have just gotten settled," I objected.

"Well, she'll have to get unsettled again then, won't she?" I repressed the want to hit him really hard, and extended a hand to Saria.

"I can't go out there!" she exclaimed, terrified.

"Oh, for Goddesses sake!" Sheik growled, and stomped out. Impa came over, and bent down to be on eye-level with the girl.

"Do not worry – you are already out of your forest, but as a Sage, you still live. Now, come on, and quickly." Saria nodded, and clutched more firmly on my hand as we left the Shadow Temple and hurried after Sheik, who was stalking away towards the village.

{So, I see his mood swings haven't improved with age?}

[Sadly, no.] Leaving Saria in the care of the two fairies and Impa, I sped forwards to fall into stride with Sheik. "Why've we got to move the girl? Surely, as you said, she'll be safe enough here."

"It's not just a matter of her safety," he answered cryptically.

"Then, what is it for then? For demons' sake, can you not stop talking in riddles for one moment?"

"I suppose not," he answered with an infuriating singsong voice.

"Sheik, I'm warning you!" my voice was beginning to rise, and he stopped, and looked behind us. Impa and Saria had stopped to survey the new Hyrule from the top of the hill. Sure that we wouldn't be overheard, Sheik glared at me coolly.

"We must move her, because, whilst the black-cloaks cannot enter Kakariko, both Aghanim and Ganondorf can. And, well, judging from what Impa told me,"

"Your mother Sheik," I cut in, and he made a grunt of annoyance.

"Yes, my mother – not that it's important. As I was saying.....whilst she was in the Realm, she was exposed to the powers of Dragmire.....and she believes the vile creature has the ability to spy upon us, so it would be best to move to a place where his prying eyes cannot see us."

"A Sheikan camp?" I guessed, and he seemed shocked.

"Aye," he answered, covering up the bewilderment with more information, "And if we're to get to one before we're discovered, we must hurry." Again, he sped forwards – looking over my shoulder, I could see Impa watching the two of us with eerie understanding in her eyes. She nodded once to me, and I returned the gesture – she and the other three started to descend the hill. I too carried on, walking in between the two parties who belonged here.....

::This Desert is vaster than I remember:: Ganondorf thought as he shaded his eyes from the glaring moonlight. The dunes were shifting in a light easterly breeze, individual grains of the red sand being plucked from their resting place and twirled about in the air. Ganondorf wasn't sure how long he had been travelling – but, what did it matter? He wasn't thirsty, or tired, or hungry, and he wouldn't be, unless he decided he wanted to be. And how likely was that to happen? He grinned at his own power as he got bored of wading through the sand, and rose himself to float a few millimetres above it instead.

To his great surprise, his magic suddenly faltered, and he collapsed to the cool sand with a grunt of pain. Rolling over, he could feel his Tri-Force piece throbbing, and he looked at the back on his hand, on which his Tri- Force of Power was shining brightly at the top of the magical Triangle. However, the bottom right piece (the Tri-Force of Courage) was also stuttering slightly, and Ganondorf's lips curved into a smile. ::So the Hero's life begins to fail him.....::

With a chuckle of pure, blissful glee, he conjured another of the misty pictures he had been using to watch Hyrule. There lay the one. The one who had done it. ::The one who killed me. And look at you now, boy!:: But boy wasn't exactly the right term. For the Link that Ganondorf now watched was old, and frailer than he made out. Even his protestations against treatment for whatever illness it was that ailed him, were weak. ::Well, that should make things exquisitely simple,:: Ganondorf thought as he switched the picture off, and then got up, and dusted the sand from his clothes. He settled on walking once more, putting to use the muscles that had not been used for half a century.

Back at Impa's house, we found Catherine and the guard boy sitting before the fire, Catherine snoozing lightly, and the boy in the process of dropping off. When he sleepily looked up at Sheik, he nearly jumped out of his skin, and leapt up from the chair so violently that it fell over backwards. "Just resting my eyes for a moment sir!" he said breathlessly, saluting. Catherine woke up with a small scream, and then looked around.

"Blaise, who are.....? Is that a Kokiri? And what's that? Is that a-?"

"Fairy?" Navi guessed, flitting over to the awed Catherine. "That I am – my name's Navi," Navi settled on top of Catherine's head, and Catherine beamed.

"Wow....." Saria's fairy also went over, and settled next to Navi. "So, urm, anyway.....are you going to introduce me and James?"

'Who?' I was about to say, when I remembered that was the guard boy's name. "Oh yes. Well, this is Impa, this is Saria, and those two fairies on your head are Navi and....."

"Murl," Saria supplied.

"Navi and Murl. Everyone whose name I just said, this is Catherine, and this is James."

"Now that we're all introduced," Sheik said sarcastically, "perhaps we can get going."

"Going? Where?" Catherine asked. But Sheik had already walked back out of the door, and was waiting outside in the deepening night. "So helpful, isn't he?" she muttered to me as she walked past to the door, stretching as she went. The two fairies were still on her head, and I smiled as it hit me..... Murl in Hyrule was a boy's name.....

[Navi's got a boyfriend!]

{Ack, sod off! We're busy!}

[I will merely say I'm shocked.]

{Mmm.....} Navi lost coherency as she and her fairy man no doubt continued whatever I had interrupted. Thank Demons they actually left Catherine's head quite quickly after this exchange, or I think the girl would have been scarred for life to think what was happening on top of her head.

Well, apart from that, nothing else amusing was going to happen that night. As soon as we were out of the door, Sheik managed to silently slam it shut (which is a feat in itself.....), whilst simultaneously grabbing my collar and throwing me to fall into stride with James at the front of the group. The boy's face was a mask of fear, and I patted him on the shoulder to try and calm him. It worked, but only a little. Sheik then appeared, and took the lead.

Looking back, I could see that Catherine was in the capable hands of Saria and Impa. Above them were Navi and Murl (now thankfully separated again). James, being a guard, would be able to take care of himself, so I managed to catch up with Sheik without feeling guilty at leaving the others behind. "Now, where are we going?" I hissed with what little breath I had left for talking.

"I can't tell you."

"Why, by demons, not?"

"Because I am not entirely positive that you will not give our position away," he answered. "Now, just follow, like a good girl." Yet again, I had to repress the urge to hurt him in some way. I did, however, concede, as always just trying to make life as easy on myself as possible. What was the point of even bothering to start a fight with the man? He wasn't sensible enough to row it out properly, and I didn't want another scar to add to my collection.

Sheik led us out of the village and upwards, onto the basalt and granite that made up the foot of Death Mountain. Again, I began to gauge how long it had been since I had last trod this road, preferring my memories to the reality of the present. Memories were so much easier to put up with. Even the exceptional beauty of Hyrule, which I had admired not so long ago, couldn't deter me from my obstinate desire not to notice the things around me.

It was when we began to actually have to climb that I had to force myself to be aware again. If the climb the first time around had been arduous, it was nothing to this. The thing hadn't erupted for a long time, so the outer layer of volcanic rock had been worn away by the wind and rain of half a century. Coupled with rock falls, floods and freeze-thaws, the mountainside had changed miraculously in a very short period of time. Which, of course, meant I couldn't reside in the past.

Catherine was finding the whole experience difficult, as was Saria. Impa nonchalantly picked Saria up after one of her many falls, and placed her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I could do no such thing with Catherine, but I did help her as best I could, making her climb in front of me, and stopping her from literally spiralling away from the mountain every so often.

And then.....the rain started.

Good old spring rain – you can always rely on it to make things just that little bit more dangerous. "Sheik!" I yelled up, and he stopped again to wait for us to catch up. We'd been going like this for perhaps an hour, and Catherine was direly in need of a rest. "Sheik, you insane cretin, how much farther?"

"Well, if you'd climb faster, then we would be there by now!" he yelled back down, and a shower of small stones fell as he shifted his feet, eager to move off again. James was next to him, and also looked down.....and I don't know. Something below us must have shocked him, because, the next thing I knew, he was falling. Falling past Catherine and I, towards the ground many thousands of yards below. Impa reached out a great arm to try and catch the boy, and missed him by inches. Navi and Murl, however, were quick off the mark, and flew like speeding bullets of light after him.

{That,} Navi gulped {was close}.

[You don't say,] I replied shakily. The two fairies bought James back to the cliff face, to which he clung for dear life.

"Sir – sir," he stuttered, shivering. "I believe we should get going again as soon as possible....." the rest of the sentence was drowned out by the rain, and I saw Sheik's eyes widen at whatever the end had been.

"Hurry up – keep up with me, and it'll be about five minutes more until we can stop." And with that, we set off again. Catherine only moved because I lifted one of her hands, and dragged it upwards to another handhold in the rock. Otherwise, I believe she would have stayed glued to the spot, shocked by what she had just seen. I was busy wondering what it was that James had just told Sheik, whilst helping her to carry on in the climb.

True to his word, about five minutes later (slip free and with the slope getting gentler as we went on), we reached the top of our climb. However, on seeing a bare rock face in front of us, I wondered what game Sheik was playing. I watched with mistrust as he fumbled under his cloak for something. Was his plan to bring us up here and then go off with a Deku- nut?

No – he bought out a sort of amulet, embossed with (surprise) the eye of Truth. This, he laid against the cliff face, shivering slightly, and held it there. The rain was getting heavier, and the wind blew it straight into us, soaking us through. Catherine let out a loud sneeze, and then clutched onto me, for fear that she might fall over the edge due a particularly large gust. Again, I could grab a memory from the past of Hyrule to relate to.

When Sheik had been in a period of mistrust with me, and we were climbing Death Mountain (using a path then) in order to get to the Fire Temple. Back then I had been the one liable to be blown away – thank Demons Link had been so kind to help me back then..... Realising the fear Catherine must be feeling at that very moment, I placed an arm around her, and held onto the rock with the other.

Finally, something happened. Actually, it happened so suddenly that I missed it by blinking. One moment, the rock face was solid, and the next, there was a gaping hole, from which warm light emanated, as well as a gust of hot air. "So this is where they moved camp to," Impa called to her son above the wind, and he nodded, concentrating as he made his way down into the mountain. James followed, and stood at the mouth of the cave to help the rest of us down.

When we were all in, James held the amulet up, and immediately, the rock returned to cover the doorway, blotting out the wind and the rain, and most importantly, the noise. We no longer had to shout, and had gone to other extreme, talking in whispers. "Are you all right Catherine?" I asked, letting go of her, and walking behind her down roughly hewn steps, getting ever closer to the heat and light.

"Yeah, I'm – achoo!" she sneezed loudly, and it echoed from the stone. "Sorry. What I meant to say was 'I'm OK now'."

"Good," I smiled, patting her on the shoulder. "Couldn't have you getting ill on us now."

The Sheikan 'camp' beneath the mountain, was just that. Dozens of brightly coloured tents resided in a series of huge caverns, and fountains of both hot and cold water spouted from the cave floors, to fall into specially carved pools. Thirsty and tired, I left Catherine, who wanted to explore the whole place, and was following the boy, James, about the place. Going to one of the pools of water nearby (one that I judged to be cold, as no steam was rising from the surface), I dropped down, and trailed a hand into it.

[Demons, it's freezing!] I exclaimed in my mind, and withdrew my hand immediately. Droplets of the icy fluid clung to my frozen fingers, adding to the moisture already there from the rain. Still thirsty, I transferred these few drops to my mouth, but they didn't nearly sate my thirst.

Everyone else had already left this first cavern (which, compared to the one I could see through the arch that the others had gone through, was tiny), so I was comfortable at least in the fact that I was alone. With this in mind, I stood up again, and moved closer to the pool, kneeling down before it. Stooping down, I caught a quick reflection of myself, but it was soon gone as I literally dropped my head to the water, and drank that way.

The water running down my throat and into my stomach was so cold that it succeeded in making me splutter, and I had to sit up again to get the coughing under control. {Alexis? Is that you coughing?} Navi suddenly launched herself into my mind.

[Aye, it's me – a bit of water went down the wrong way, that's all,] I assured her.

{Oh.....where are you anyway?}

[In the first chamber – don't worry, I'll be along in a minute.] She made a noise of understanding, and then a thin veil was drawn over the link. I sat, and looked at the ripples I had made on the water, not really relishing the idea of getting up. With any luck, Navi was the only one who had noticed my absence, and I'd be allowed to rest in peace and quiet.

"Blaise!" Sheik's voice thundered from the second cavern. Perhaps not then.....

Getting up from my seat, I strolled through into the second cavern – I had underestimated its size, I thought, as I craned to see through the shadows on the ceiling, and judge how high the place was. But, it was impossible. The light of the dozens of strongly burning torches held on the walls couldn't penetrate the gloom that hung above. A flash of moving indigo told me where the others were, and I hurried over, wondering what exactly was so urgent. "Yes?" I asked, slightly out of breath still from the mountain climb.

"Just making sure you hadn't run off," he said quietly, narrowing his eyes at me.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not going to!" I hissed back. I was about to carry on and ask him what it was that James had seen back on the mountain-side, but he turned away. Catherine, Impa, James, Saria, Navi and Murl looked between the two of us inquisitively. Noticing, I smiled half-heartedly, "Don't worry, we always fight."

"You don't say....." Catherine muttered with a sly grin on her face, and she nudged James. Both of them laughed silently – luckily, I don't think Sheik noticed, as his attention had been caught by other things. The other things in fact being the very Sheikah we had seen earlier that same day.

"Sheik, you and your companions travel fast," Artemis smiled, and gracefully leapt from the shadow of one of the many tents about. He was closely followed by Firen and Delia, who were also smiling in that infuriatingly demure Sheikah way. "How long do you suppose you'll stay?"

"I'm not sure my friend," Sheik answered, voice suddenly calm again. "As long as needs must I suppose. This is the only place where Ganondorf's wondering eyes cannot pierce, so perhaps it would be best if the child were to stay here until she is needed." Catherine coughed very loudly at this, but was ignored. I looked at her sympathetically, and then Impa caught my eye with a serious stare. Sure that I was looking at her, she beckoned me over, and walked away from the others, back towards the first cavern.

Unsure of what it was she would have to tell me, I followed, straining to hear what Sheik and Artemis discussed. "Stay as long as.....wish. We'll give.....and tents to stay....." Artemis said that.

"Thank.....friend. I'll need to.....Kakariko.....morning. Guard.....monsters on field."

I had to stop listening when Impa paused, and turned to look at me, again pinning me with that calculating gaze. "I take it you already know the relationship between Sheik and I?" she demanded an answer, rather than asked for one.

"Aye," I nodded.

"Then, you will understand if I show some concern about whatever it is going on between you two." This was certainly a surprise.....

"I'm not sure what you mean," I said slowly.

"It is obvious that there was once something between you – however, when you betray the trust of a Sheikah, it is not easily won back. I would suggest you do not break trust again, or you may find something other than a relationship also breaks." With that final warning, she turned her heel and returned to the others. I wanted to reach out and pull her back, but I didn't. She had obviously said all she wanted to say to me.

With a feeling that the time we spent here would not be at all enjoyable for me, I too returned to the group, which was chattering quietly – the Sheikah to one another, Saria to her fairies, and James to Catherine. As I looked at the two of them, I fondly remembered the old days as Catherine said something that made the Hylian guard blush scarlet. Then, looking at Impa, the old days were blown away like dusty cobwebs, and I stood alone, looking aimlessly around the cavern.

When I was finally acknowledged, it was only because Firen kindly made his way over to me closely followed by Artemis, to inform me of the arrangements that had been made for us. "We'll be setting up a few new tents for you in the third cavern – that's the one that is most easily defendable should we come under attack," he said, gesturing towards another arch in the stone, at the top of which I could see a wrought iron portcullis ready to drop down at any moment.

"Firen!" Delia called, and Firen, after a curt bow, hurried off. This left only Artemis, who stood surveying me with his good eye.

"Impa spoke to you?" he asked suddenly, so quietly that I could almost have imagined it.

"Yes, she did," I replied distantly, as I found myself nigh on unable to stop looking at Sheik. [Blast it..... I'm supposed to hate him!]

"Don't worry about her.....she has always been protective of her sons," I returned my attention to him, interested to see a pink tinge enter his pale cheeks. "When she learnt of my relationship with Shadow,"

"Shadow? Sheik's brother?"

"Yes.....well, she was in the Realm at the time, but she did threaten to come back and ritually cremate me if I did so much as one thing to harm him," Artemis chuckled at the memory. I was confused, and he must have seen the confusement on my face when he looked up, because he added. "All I'm saying is, don't mind Impa – she just wants to make sure that her son isn't hurt. And, well.....sometimes her advice can be useful." He smiled, and, feeling it polite to do so, I returned the smile.

"Now, I believe we should go and get those tents ready – I suppose you can just meander around by yourselves whilst you wait?" I nodded, adding another smile – this cursed Sheikah man seemed to be a lot more cheerful than most of his kind, and he didn't even have any reason to be. Before he left, he placed a small hand on mine. "Don't worry." And then, he went off, collecting the other Sheikah on the way, so that only the forest sage, Navi, Murl, James, Catherine and I were left.

"Blaise, there you are!" Catherine literally bounced over. "I was beginning to think we'd gone and lost you."

"Worse luck, we didn't manage it," Navi said with a twinkling laugh. I suppressed the urge to snatch her out of the air just as Link had done many times, remembering the reprimand she had given to him on such occasions. {Good idea!}

"Yes, thanks Navi," I said sarcastically. "Artemis said we could just look around to our hearts' content, so....." I quickly flickered my eyes back to the first cavern, and Navi, seeming to catch my drift, immediately began to shepherd James and Catherine away, talking loudly and animatedly about what they might find if they 'went over this way a bit'. Thankful for the fairy's – tact? – I made my slow way towards the first cavern, Saria following behind, just as I had hoped. It was about time I got the full story on what had happened whilst I was away from Hyrule, and no one else was likely to give it to me.

Again, I sat down by the pool from which I had drunk, and Saria did the same, crossing her legs daintily as she settled down beside me. Murl was sending flashes of sunbeam-like light through her hair as he moved up and down in time of his wing-beats, and I stared absently for a couple of seconds whilst I tried to think of something to say. "Navi said you might want to talk to me at some point," Saria said quietly, and I was surprised and thankful that she had spoken first. "So, if you want to talk, then I'd be happy to," she smiled sweetly, and brushed a hand through her green hair, nudging her fairy as she did so.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in annoyance. Saria jumped.

"Murl! I thought you'd gone with Navi."

"I was supposed to?" he said.

"Yes, you were," Saria said firmly back, and the fairy obediently flitted off. "Sorry about that.....sometimes I can forget I even have a fairy, he's been with me so long!"

"That's all right," I told her, laughing a little.

"Now, what do you want to talk about?" Saria asked, leaning forwards, and lifting her knees up in order to rest her chin upon them. Her arms were encircled around her knees, and she tilted her head to one side. "Go ahead, anything you like. I haven't spoken to anyone apart from Navi, Murl and the other sages for quite a while, after all!" Even with her child-like appearance, I could tell her age well – and it was one much, much greater than mine. Which was slightly intimidating.

I wondered where to start. What should I ask? More importantly, what could I ask, and know that she would answer? I looked away, and cast my eyes helplessly over the pool of cold water beside us – the bottom, about ten feet down, was easily visible through the crystal clear water – a few coins and precious stones lay scattered on the bottom, perhaps thrown in for good luck.

"What if I start at the beginning then?" Saria asked after a few minutes of this tense quiet. "From when you left?" I drew my eyes away from my study of the paraphernalia at the bottom of the pool, and looked down at her.

"I – uh – yes, that would be good.....I am not sure exactly what I want to know, so the beginning would be as good a place as any to start." Saria nodded, and dropped her legs, so that she now sat cross legged. I copied the gesture, finding it much more comfortable than the way I had been sitting (legs curled beneath me).

"From the start....." she said, more to herself than me, and she screwed up her eyes as no doubt she thought of what to say. "Well, at first, we Sages didn't get to see much, because we were still sealing Ganondorf away – I think that must have taken us a good few weeks at least. But, when we were able to look out at the world again, we found that we all sort of – knew – what had happened whilst we'd been sealing him. If that makes sense?" She looked up, and I nodded; I knew the feeling of knowing something and not having learnt it all too well.

"Well, what we – or, rather, I, since the others weren't really all that interested..... I found out that Link and Sheik had learnt all about who you were from the Gerudo woman Xenia. And, after finding out that they could do nothing to help you, Sheik disappeared for a few years, and Link was rather subdued for many moths after the end of the Great War. Then, he was graced with the position of Lord Protector by Zelda, and was married to Malon shortly after." All of this I had known, but it was nice to be told it at length.

"Malon and Link lived long together, and they had many children (I cannot remember all of their names I'm afraid!) However, Malon was only alive long enough to see their first grand-child born, and then she died of a fever. This left Link much alone," Saria's voice wavered slightly, "As, though Sheik had returned but a year after he disappeared after the Great War, he left again, and hadn't been seen for many years. To cap it all off, the esteemed majesty Zelda had.....taken her own life years before. The only comfort Link had were his children and his grandchildren, and the knowledge that Hyrule would be safe because of all that he had done....." she trailed off, and stared hopelessly into space.

"And yet, here we are again, saving Hyrule, because Ganondorf has broken free," I finished the thought aloud for her, and she nodded.

"Exactly....." She came to, and looked straight at me again. "That wasn't really a lot of information I'm afraid.....what else would you like to know? I can tell you of Sheik, if you want me to." I looked around, to check that we wouldn't be disturbed, and then bent down slightly so that my head was on a level with the Kokiri girl's.

"If you would, I'd be grateful indeed."

"Well, I know a little, but not much mind!"

"Anything you know will do."

"OK – after he left the world for the second time, he travelled to the ports, and went over the sea to the North, to the land of elves and nymphs. There, he worked as a mercenary for many years, and came across his brother, Shadow, who had gone with the princess Zelda and Impa, his mother, when the whole War began. Shadow and Sheik had not expected to see one another ever again, and Sheik was more than surprised to find that Shadow had a....." Saria blushed. "It feels strange talking about this when one will always be a child," she giggled nervously.

"Urm – 'Sheik was surprised when he found that Shadow was having a relationship with Artemis' – would that wording be comfortable?" I asked, with a semi-grin. She blushed again, and nodded.

"Yes – what you said. And, even though Sheik didn't at first approve, when he realised how much love was shared between the two, he came to accept it. And, he also came to realise that there were many other Sheikah in the North-Lands, who had not returned after the Great War; they believed that Hyrule would no longer need them, as the danger was passed.....however, they were wrong.....

"Sheik's mercenary work would oft take him into dark places, filled with monsters, which is why he fights so well now. But, whilst he was fighting all these dark creatures, darkness was coming into Hyrule by way of that sorcerer, Aghanim!" She scowled at the name. "He's an evil creature, through and through! And I cannot see how Thelia, the fool, cannot tell it!" Her fists were clenched, and her breathing heavy, and I began to see the side of this Sage that must have made her the perfect choice for helping to seal Ganondorf. "Excuse me," suddenly she was the calm, sweet Kokiri child I had come to know again. "But, as I was saying – Aghanim was pervading the court, and bringing his black-cloaks with him – and as Thelia was queen, nobody could object to it.

"On hearing of the presence of a sorcerer, of all things, Sheik returned to Hyrule, with his brother and Artemis in tow, as well as a platoon of twenty other Sheikah. They arrived back to Hyrule about ten years ago now, and kept themselves hidden – a few people glimpsed them now and again, but most people believed that the Sheikah were gone forever.

"A sort of – how do you say – gang warfare?" she looked to me for confirmation of the phrase, and I nodded. "Gang warfare started up between the Sheikah (more of whom were returning to Hyrule week on week as Sheik, the son of Impa, and therefore their new leader, called them),"

"He's their leader?"

"Well, he was.....now, I am not sure that there are even enough Sheikah left for them to need a leader. You do know that he's a general in the Hylian army though, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Bother, where was I?"

"You were telling me about gang warfare – sorry for interrupting."

"Quite all right. This gangwarfare was all fought out quietly, out of sight of the everyday Hylians, and almost always at night. The black-cloaks would use magic, and the Sheikah would use every Sheikah trick they had – magic and physical."

"That's what he meant about the spell marks....." I remembered suddenly his comment.

"Indeed – both he and his brother were grievously harmed in one of the later battles, and whilst he survived, his brother did not. Soon after that, Artemis was cursed, and that really brings you up to date. After all of that, things settled down again, with just the occasional fight between the two sides. Sheik, Artemis, Firen and Delia took to living in the catacombs, and the other Sheikah spread out over Hyrule, intermarrying with Hylians, and setting up home."

"Now I can understand his hatred of those black-cloaks," I murmured, turning over what had just been said in my mind. Saria just made a small sound of agreement, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her head suddenly snap upwards. I followed her gaze, and saw that the Sheikah were returning from the third cave, and Firen had obviously seen us, as he was walking over. Quickly, I sprang up, and Saria did the same. Looking down at her, I smiled broadly, and mouthed 'thank you'.

'You're welcome', she mouthed back, and then Firen was there, calling us back into the second cavern.

Well – oh, sod it, I've nothing witty to say, so just tell me what you thought.

Soda