Chapter Six—Heroine

For a few days, Impa said I wasn't myself and asked me what was the matter. I told her it was nothing; how I could I tell her that I saw the threat of Ganondorf and the fate of the young, innocent boy sleeping in the Sacred Realm, whenever I looked around Hyrule? That, when I saw her face, I saw only the danger she was in, and how it was suddenly my duty to protect the woman who had always protected me?

These images burned in my eyes, these thoughts smouldered in my mind.

Hyrule was falling apart around us. There were rumours among Hylians that those who dissented from Ganondorf's reign were being murdered; his army killed even women and children.

I also heard word that Big Brother Darunia of the Gorons was planning a revolt, because his people were no longer receiving the right of the equal citizens with the Hylians, which they had under King Churo.

Many of the Zoras were revolting unofficially, through more diplomatic means; these were the orders of King Zora, but Princess Ruto was insisting that aggression was necessary, and I agreed with her. This was probably the only time in the history of the world that we would agree on anything.

Nabooru of the Gerudo was still missing, and presumed to be an assassination victim; her followers lived in hiding from the members of Ganondorf's forces, who were hunting them down and killing them.

I had heard nothing of Saria and the Kokiri, or of Impa and the Sheikah. For this I was grateful, as it seemed I would shortly have to come to the rescue of Darunia and Ruto.

Preparing for my role as assistant Hero of Time, as I thought of it, I began doing what I had proposed to do several years ago: putting myself on the forefront of the world stage and solving the small crises which resulted from Ganondorf's evil reign.

One of the first problems I tackled was that of Lon Lon Ranch. Talon was its rightful owner, but Ingo the farmhand had driven him out, taken over, and begun dominating it cruelly. What bothered me most about the situation was how much it reminded me of my own; Talon's daughter, Malon, had lost what was hers because of a man loyal to Ganondorf.

I would have liked to bring Talon back into power in the ranch, but, unfortunately, I couldn't find him. So I would have to settle for limiting Ingo's power…under threat.

When I arrived at Lon Lon Ranch, it was sunset. Looking around, I found Malon putting the horses away for the night.

"Malon?" I asked, approaching her. She looked up at me, startled and confused.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" she asked, looking fearful. I could see, though her bright hair hung in front of her blue eyes, that her face was tearstained.

"I know everyone in Hyrule. My name is Sheik."

"You're…a Sheikah, aren't you?"

I nodded. I knew why she was looking awed; the Sheikah were dying out even more quickly than ever before.

"I am the most talented son of the Sheikah line."

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She was clutching the reins of her horses very tightly, and I could tell that life with Ingo had made her as jumpy as an abused pony. But she would never admit weakness.

"I am here to help you."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what do you want in return?"

This accusation surprised me, but I suppose young girls don't generally expect to get something for nothing from young men. "I know what you've been through," I told her, "and I know how much it hurts. The details of my past are easily as painful as yours. I simply wish to restore justice here, in the name of the goddesses."

She regarded me critically for a moment, as though trying to see through me to understand my motives. Finally, she asked, "What can you do for me?"

"Well… if I understand right, Ingo has been giving you some difficulties?"

She brushed her hair from her face and I saw several bruises; they only made me more viciously appreciative for my training in the use of weapons.

"Mister Ingo has always been a problem, but he's worse than ever lately," Malon told me carefully. "I'd be so grateful if you could…" Her voice faded out.

"I wish I could kill him," I replied truthfully. "But I can't find your father to take back ownership of the ranch, and I can't leave it in the hands of a child."

Malon stood up straighter and put her hands on her hips indignantly. "I can't be much younger than you."

"True. And I wouldn't leave the ranch in my own hands, either. Suffice it to say that I will ensure your safety. I have been trained in all the arts of the Sheikah, and Ingo will know it. Just watch."

Dropping the horses' reins, Malon followed me to the door of the house, which belonged to her but served as a residence to Ingo. I inspected, and found the lock a simple one to pick. Within seconds, I had opened the front door.

Ingo was sitting at the dining room table eating. He looked at me and frowned.

"We're closed. What do you want? And why did Malon let you in?"

"She didn't. But she didn't let you in, either."

"This is my ranch. Leave my property at once, or I'll contact your parents. Maybe even the great Ganondorf."

If I hadn't had a motive to kill him before, I did now; anyone who could call that murderer "great" deserved to die. I summoned a dagger to my hand from thin air.

"I am a Sheikah. I move like a shadow. I know your secrets, but you can never know mine."

As I began to move towards Ingo, he stood up sharply and backed away.

"You…you can't kill me!" he stammered.

He doesn't have any common human consideration or decency. He doesn't have the courage and selflessness of Link.

"I won't kill you now. But I will warn you. I know what has been going on here, and I don't like it."

"What do you mean? I run an…an efficient and productive business!"

Grasping my blade, I pounced across the room and pinned him against a wall, gripping his collar in both my hands. He gasped and squirmed weakly, but I was too strong for him.

"Pathetic," I spat. "You can't even fight off a child. No wonder you need to beat down someone like Malon in order to build yourself up."

"Malon? This is about her? Did she send you?"

"No one sends me. I act where I see defiance of the laws of the goddesses, and what I see here is a crime against nature."

My blade was dangerously close to his throat, and I was snarling in his face like an animal; he didn't dare to move. Swallowing, he asked in a voice that trembled slightly, "So what do you want from me?"

"This is your warning: If you lay a hand on Malon again, I will show no mercy. I will come in the night, and no one will ever see a sign of your existence again. Then where will you be with your 'efficient and productive business'? I will take pleasure in making you—one of the crawling, spineless, filthy creatures that squirms in the dirt and pledges your allegiance to the king of nothing but evil, Ganondorf—suffer before you die."

Before throwing him to the ground, I spat in his face. I couldn't resist giving him a swift kick in his midsection as well, one aimed just right to cause some minor internal injuries, before showing off my skill by disappearing in a flash of light.

I reappeared, silently, next to Malon outside the door. She had been watching what happened through a window, and she was beaming.

"Thank you," she said, embracing me. I hesitated before hugging her back; what if she wanted to kiss me next?

"I'll return if anything happens to you again," I promised, hoping she would let go of me. Perhaps she sensed my discomfort, because she relinquished her grip.

"I don't think it will," she said, smiling even wider. Then, becoming more serious, she added, "But I still really don't think I can thank you enough."

Please don't try to thank me anymore. "That's not necessary," I assured her. "Really, it isn't."

She laughed slightly. "Goodbye, then, Sheik."

Malon turned and began to walk away, humming a song I hadn't heard on Lon Lon Ranch since before Ingo had taken over.

Just as I was leaving, I heard her call back, "Sheik?"

I faced her again, nervously. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to let you know that, if you're looking for the job as my knight in shining armour… sorry. It's already taken." She grinned.

She must have found it odd that I smiled in return. "Of course," I said, knowing to whom she had to be referring. "By the forest boy."

Malon's grin dropped instantly; her face when blank with shock. "You know him?"

My stomach dropped, and I suspected I had made a mistake. "Yes…" I answered slowly.

"Have you seen him? Where is he? He hasn't— I haven't seen him in so long! Is he okay? Has he… Did he… Tell me! Please!" Her voice was desperate, fear was etched into her face, and tears sparkled anew in her eyes.

"He…can't come to you now," I said delicately, hating that I had to deliver this news. "But I've seen him. And he will return."

"Is he all right?"

"Completely."

She relaxed utterly, visibly. "I'm so glad. I'm so relieved."

"I can tell."

She looked at me for a moment.

"I thought—" She cut herself off and dropped her gaze. "Maybe it's stupid, but I thought… he would save me."

"Do you love him?" I asked in a quietly distinct voice. I knew it was a very personal question, but I wanted to know. She was a sweet girl, the type who deserved that sort of love.

Lifting her chin, her tears more visible in the light of the moon, she replied with a confidence that struck me as feigned, "Yes. And maybe that's stupid, too, but I don't care."

I shook my head. "It's not stupid at all."

He'll save the world.

Years later, when everything was over, Malon and I became friends, though she didn't realize at first that I was the Sheikah boy who had saved her. I remember in particular one conversation that we had about him.

"I always wanted to ask him," she told me, "and it drove me insane that I never did, if he thought Link loved me, too."

In truth, it had always bothered me, too, that she never asked.

"Does that matter now?" I asked her.

"I just would have liked to hear what he had to say," she said with a shrug.

"Well, I have a feeling he would have said that… he didn't know, but he was sure you would find all the love you deserved in life, and if the goddesses willed you to be with Link, then nothing could prevent him from loving you."

And so I would have.

The incident at Lon Lon Ranch put me on the map as a hero; that is, a very secret hero. Ganondorf was not yet skilled at establishing intelligence and espionage, which quickly put to rest Impa's initial fears that he would hunt me down as a dissenter. Rule-breakers under Ganondorf, apparently, died only if they gave themselves away.

Soon I was saving people all over Hyrule—families whom the Gerudo warriors had robbed, found their possessions mysteriously returned; children who lived on the streets received food and warm clothes from a shadowy stranger who visited them; monsters that occasionally got into Kakariko Village turned up dead or disappeared altogether… Because none of this really helped the overall situation, since there was always more suffering to replace that which went away, history would not remember it. It mattered, though, to the individuals living in the present, the people for whom this was more important than history. It was life.

I heard three whispered words on the lips of Hylians from where I hid and watched: "mysterious," "shadow," and "Sheik." I heard my own words quoted dramatically as villagers recounted their stories to intently listening audiences: "I am the most talented son of the Sheikah line," or else "I act where I see defiance of the laws of the goddesses." They became my slogans.

Impa and I discussed my new fame. I found it humourous, in a way, that people didn't realize their queen was the one saving them.

"I've heard that Sheik is quite the heartthrob," Impa told me one day, eyes sparkling with laughter though her face remained serious. "You should hear the stories girls are making up about you sweeping them off their feet and pledging your undying love."

I performed a mock faint and dainty sigh, "Oh, I can't go a moment without you!" I trilled. "You're the only light in my life, Sheik!"

We both laughed.

"Yeah," I said, recovering, "I've heard all the stories. You should hear some of the propositions these girls come up with."

"Oh, really?" asked Impa, a smile quivering on her lips.

I nodded, smirking. "Let's just say any guy in Hyrule would kill to be Sheik. But I don't have time for it. The only women Sheik loves are the goddesses… and the rightful queen."

Giving me a warning look, Impa added crisply, "Assuming she's still alive. Most don't think she is."

I frowned. "They should have more faith. Zelda is stronger than most, or else the goddesses wouldn't have chosen her to rule." I was acting more sure of this than I felt.

"They don't know that."

Her tone had a finality that suggested we should change the subject.

Lost in thought, I looked around. We were at the edge of Lake Hylia again, one of my favourite places to set up camp, drying out in the sun the clothes we had just washed. On the other side of the lake was no shore, only cliffs so high I couldn't see beyond them. Since the day I had first seen those cliffs, I have wondered what lay there, on the other side of the world. At first, I had a feeling it was either a land of blissful paradise or a land of horrific suffering, and whichever one it was, our world was the other. But if I couldn't even tell which side this world was, then what would be the difference between it and the other?

Before I could do more than open my mouth to articulate these thoughts, Impa said, "The Sheikah are in trouble."

"Why?"

"You know our numbers have been decreasing steadily. Lately, it's been at least ten Sheikah deaths a week. Even being able to move like shadows hasn't helped us."

My stomach felt suddenly cold and heavy. "But… Are Ganondorf's forces… His monsters couldn't possibly be stealthy enough to catch the Sheikah!"

"Most aren't. Some are." She sighed, looking at her empty hands where they sat in her lap. "Sheik, you have been the saviour of so many, but there is something I must do. It is my duty as the hero of the Sheikah, and I can't give up my duty just because there is another hero now."

"At least let me help you! What must we do?" I jumped to my feet as Impa stood more slowly.

"You must wait for me to return. This is my chore."

As I watched Impa start to walk away, the words of Nayru were running through my mind, about how all the Sages would be threatened and I had to protect them. Desperate, I called out, "Impa, please don't do this alone!"

Impa stopped and turned back to ask, "Why can't you let me go?"

"Because… I'm worried about you."

Impa smiled to reassure me. "I'll be fine."

I paced the shores of Lake Hylia all night like a concerned mother, waiting for Impa to return. At roughly two o'clock in the morning—I could tell time by the sun and moon now—I saw a silent figure approaching, and I recognized its gait.

"Impa," I sighed, letting out a relieved breath. When she came closer, I called, "I'm glad to see you're okay."

She didn't answer. She was looking in my direction, but her eyes weren't focused on me. When she drew level with me, she said shortly, "You should know better than to call out to me. What if I was a Gerudo?"

This was a strange comment; she should have known I could never mistake one of Ganondorf's minions for her.

"Impa, is something wrong?"

"Yes," she replied, still very shortly. "I don't think I succeeded."

She should have let me help her. The knot which had disappeared briefly when I saw her returning safely rematerialized instantly in my stomach. "What? What do you mean?"

Rubbing her face with her hands, Impa explained, "I was trying to deal with a monster that haunted the Sheikah people years ago. I trapped it when I was young, and it almost broke out last week. Today, I was reinforcing the barriers behind which I trapped it long ago, but I think it will escape soon regardless."

My eyes widened. "No, Impa, it can't be! I'm sure you did it, I'm sure!" I protested with childish firmness. "You're the hero of the Sheikah, the great Impa!"

Impa laughed sadly as she untied her horse; we had to move on that night. "Oh, Sheik. You don't understand. When I was the great Impa, I was young. I could do anything. I was more…nimble, fast, strong than I am now. The years haven't been kind to me as they have been to you."

"You're talking like you're old and on your deathbed," I told her bitterly, grasping Umikae's reins and swinging up onto his back. Impa laughed slightly again.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to be on my deathbed any time soon, but…" She paused, then asked, "Just out of curiosity, Sheik, how old do you think I am?"

I watched her mount her horse, considering. "Maybe thirty-four," I decided. "Thirty… seven at the oldest."

"You flatter me," she said with a smile, urging her horse on. "We're going to settle in the foothills of Death Mountain for a couple of days, just outside Kakariko. We'll have to stop midway late in the morning—"

"How old are you?"

Looking me straight in the eye, as she always did when she was about to tell me something I wouldn't believe, she said, "Fifty-four."

"You're…?" I cut myself off, trying not be so rude with my blatant shock. "Sorry, but that's a little hard to believe!" I said, slightly more civilly.

Impa laughed at my gaping expression. "I'll consider that a compliment."

It wasn't until late that afternoon, as we rode through the unguarded gate up to Death Mountain, that it occurred to me to ask Impa about the monster.

"What that thing?" I asked. "The thing you locked away today?"

"Oh," she sighed wearily. "It was a demon of dark magic that haunts the Shadow Temple. Once, the Shadow Temple was a holy place to the Sheikah, but the evil monster called Bongo Bongo turned into a place full of creatures like itself. I locked Bongo Bongo away, but still…" She sighed again. "Now the Shadow Temple is nothing but a reminder of the legacy of Hyrule's bloody history."

Shadow Temple?

Again, Nayru's words soared through my mind on faint wings: Temples…Sages…everything Link would have to do…and Impa didn't think she had truly locked the beast away…

"Sheik?"

I blinked, tearing my eyes away from the nothingness I was staring at to look at Impa instead, before saying eloquently, "Huh?"

"You looked like you were a little phased out."

"It's nothing. I was just lost in thought."