* * *
April was not happy to leave the ranch, but she knew that if she intended to keep her to schedule, she would need to leave. Malon was not happy, either, claiming that the Princess was "abandoning" her, again. Still, she and the blonde both knew that there would likely be hell to pay if Zelda wasn't found in the morning. April already figured that there would be hell to pay, knowing that those she knew in the other Kakariko were very good at 'sensing' people.
As unhappy as she was about having to depart from Hyrule yet again, it was surprising that she didn't notice the tiny ball of light latch onto the hood of her cloak, and hide inside it. Odd that she didn't notice the very faint glow that came from the orb when she entered the dark domain known as the Shadow Temple. It was even more curious that she did not hear the tiny squeak as the fairy was pulled, through the mirror, into the other Kakariko along with the blonde girl.
Of course, April was muttering to herself the whole time she was going back, so noticing anything but whatever unlucky thing her glare was fixed on was basically out of the question.
Having landed on the other side of the mirror, April dusted herself off and turned to look back at said mirror. She stuck her tongue out at her red-eyed, royally dressed reflection and stalked out of the cabin in which had started her ordeal three years ago. She shut the door quietly, though, for fear of waking up anyone who happened to be near.
She resumed her march as she crossed the snow covered ground towards Impa's house. It had been her home for three years, one of the only comfort in this dimension other than the people. She missed the Hyrule landscape, but having spent so much time in training, she had grown used to the home Vaiya had made of the decently sized, cabin styled home.
April smiled remember some of the things that had happened there. Vaiya had been like a big sister to her, good and bad ways included. Sometime it made her sick for her own older sister, but she always tried to push thoughts like these out of her mind. Though, she was unusually nostalgic about the "real" world lately, as she had again reached the age of thirteen.
She also thought of the role that Impa and Sheik had taken in her life. Impa was almost like a mother, but more like a mentor and friend. She felt comfortable around the tall Sheikah woman, and was able to confess most of her dark secrets to her, even though some things had to be left unmentioned. And then there was Sheik. Sheik was... something that she had no single term for. Sometimes, he was like a little brother, annoying and someone she wished would pop off the face of the world. At other times, there was nobody she would rather be around than him. He could be oddly comforting in his sarcastic, vaguely empathetic nature. At those times, he was like a best friend. Or maybe something more, seeing as they were basically related by soul. Not quite soul-mates, as she was sure that privilege belonged to the Hero of Time.
Still spacing slightly, she opened the door and shut it again quickly to keep the cold air out of the house. The small orb was still chattering away in her hood, from the cold and partly from the fact that the tiny girl was sleep deprived.
April stepped into the house, not bothering to take off the cloak. Despite the fact that it was dampened with snow, she wanted to keep it upstairs in her room. This was partly due to the fact that she liked to have a "jacket" of some sort on hand, and more due to the fact that she didn't want anyone suspecting her of late night departure.
What she hadn't counted on, however, was the figure that ran into her head on as she approached the kitchen staircase.
April muttered something unintelligible and probably vicious as she grabbed her head and backed away. She opened one eye, annoyed, to get a better view of whatever or whoever it was.
"Good evening to you, too," said the figure somewhat painfully, whom she now identified to be Sheik.
She sighed heavily, half relieved that he wasn't someone else and yet still afraid of what he might think she had been doing in a wet cloak at ungodly hours of the night.
"Um..." was all she could manage, as she rubbed her head at the now forming bump.
"So where have you been?" he said, always straight to the point.
She rolled her eyes. "Why?"
"I've been sitting here for the last hour or so, and you weren't here. I heard the door open, and now you are here. So you were somewhere. Where was it?" He said this as he sat at the kitchen table.
"Damn your deductive reasoning," she said with a half smile, hoping that she would sound lighthearted enough that the subject would drop. However, this was not going to work to her advantage.
April looked down at him, and sighed as she saw his expression. "You look rather discombobulated."
He stared at her, eyes slowly rising to meet hers. "I wouldn't even have thought you would have known what that word meant. Let alone that you could use it in a sentence."
She simply stuck her tongue out and sat down at the table, across from him.
"Can you be serious for half a minute?" Sheik asked her.
"Can you?" the princess countered.
It was Sheik's turn to sigh. "I felt a disturbance a minute or so before you came back. I can think of only one thing that would have caused it; that you were in Hyrule and came back through the Mirror."
April let her head fall to the tabletop, feebly observing the dull 'thunk' that it made, muttering "I guess you can."
"So? Is that true?"
"Yeah," April acknowledged, somewhat exasperated, not bothering to lift her head. She knew now that she was doomed anyway, so she didn't see the point in any extra effort.
"Why would you do something stupid like that all by yourself!?" he asked, in a voice that was somewhere between irritated and worried. "You know what could have happened." The last bit was added in a softer voice, as he attempted to meet her eyes.
"But it didn't." This time she did lift her head. There was an odd fire in her eyes that Sheik had never seen there before. " I had to see... I had to see my friend. I didn't think..."
"That much is obvious."
She glared at him for a moment. "I did not think that I could stand to 'help' indirectly for another minute. But now I've done what I intended, and didn't get myself or anyone else hurt. And now you, Vaiya and Impa are going to flip out and I'm going to be in a mess of trouble, but I'll have you know that it was worth it."
April let a slow, smug smile pass when she saw that Sheik didn't have anything to say to that.
Then again, it is rather difficult to find many things to say when a small, glowing woman presents herself between one and one's friend.
Coherent, that is.
April squeaked and covered her mouth with her hands. Sheik backed away from the table without a second thought, almost knocking over the chair.
The fairy stood on the tabletop, with eyes alert and hands on hips, maintain a devilish smile as she saw the two reactions to her presence. She was lightly green in color, but the light made her appear more whitish yellow. Her hair was a darker shade of green, and went down to the tabletop. She was scantily dressed, but details were hard to discern and April supposed that fairy's didn't require much in the way of clothing, as they were creatures of nature.
"Hiya!" the fairy beamed.
April blinked.
"Not as talkative as you were a second ago, are you?" The tiny woman giggled.
"Uh..." Sheik managed.
"How did you get here?" April asked.
The fairy spun around toward the blonde. "I followed you, silly."
"... And why?" she asked.
The fairy suddenly became serious, solemn. Her eyes became half lidded, as if she were suddenly not there at all. "The Sage of the Forest is in danger."
Two pairs of eyes widened at that statement.
"What happened to Saria?" April asked without a second thought.
Without seeming to pay much mind to the princess, the fairy began to hover slowly from the tabletop. "It has begun. The forces of evil have taken their first step." She turned pointedly to April, as she already seemed to know what was going on. "Without the Hero of Time, the Sages are in a dire situation. There is no one that can save them from the Gerudo King and his black magic without him. No one."
"Then why bother saying this? I think we knew that much already," Sheik interjected.
The fairy met his gaze with questioning eyes. "You wanna hear this, or not?"
April snorted unintentionally.
The tiny woman continued. "No one, that is, except the Seventh Sage. You, Zelda."
The Princess's head fell to the side slightly. Not from the surprise that she had been told she was the Seventh Sage, but from the surprise that she had already known. She silently asked Nayru why she hadn't outright "known" this before, seeing that most of her knowledge of important destiny-related things came from the Triforce. All she got was a small voice in the back of her mind which said something sarcastically to the effect of "I cannot be responsible for everything, can I?"
The fairy smirked. "So, how about it? You just said you were sick of helping "indirectly." So, help."
"Can I pause for a moment?" Sheik asked.
The fairy stepped back, holding out her hand as if inviting him to speak.
"Zelda, you are the Seventh Sage?" But it was more a statement than a question.
She blinked, looking toward him. "Apparently."
"But you knew that already," he said, glaring slightly.
"Hey, I can't help this stupid Triforce junk all the time," the girl muttered.
"Sooooo," the fairy interrupted. "You ready?"
"Eh?" was the double response.
The fairy stared, slowly and deliberately rolling her eyes. "To help the Sages, you dimwit." She sighed a bit, almost disillusioned, it seemed. "Saria is in danger, indeed. But not directly, as of yet..." She looked up, large eyes practically screaming for pity. "Something's going to happen to them all, you know. The Sages. Before the Hero awakens, evil will darken their Temples, blocking the light of a Sage's call. Rauru has already tried to reach Saria, but has been unsuccessful as of yet. You can't do much in the way of awakening them, of course, but you can protect them."
"Rauru is the Sage of Light, correct?" Sheik asked, almost offhandedly.
"Yeah," April answered without much though.
"Protect the Temples, I mean," the fairy continued. "A seal can be placed on them, but you are needed to perform it. This will keep the Evil from completely overtaking the Sages or their Temples until the Hero can awaken them fully."
'So I can actually do something to help Hyrule!' April silently laughed in triumph.
"The Last Sage and the respective Sage is required for each seal. I'm sure you can handle the rest."
"I can-" April stared, but was cut off.
"You cannot do anything. We will tell Impa and see what she has to say about your going to Hyrule alone. She'll probably make you drag Vaiya along," Sheik said.
"This I was aware of," April deadpanned.
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***Jeeze, that chapter was long... Ahem, long for the tiny wanna-be chapters that I've been putting out, at any rate. So, review? By the way, I have the next chapter done already, but I'm holding it hostage. *pause* REIVEW!!!!! Thank you.