Chapter Seven—Revolution
For two and a half years, I was the hero of the oppressed people of Hyrule—but the world under Ganondorf remained cruel. I could not help with the overwhelming problems, the grand scale social upsets and traumas, and though I had always known this, the innocent citizens of my kingdom were only just finding out. The talk about me changed; instead of hailing me as a saviour of all people, they now considered me the last good man, the symbol that Hyrule would not go down to evil without fighting. They were all convinced, however, that in the end, it would go down.
I tried to restore people's faith by adding a new line to my repertoire: "Long live Queen Zelda." It did little, except give people further cause to call me a wishful thinker, hoping in a world without hope. It was truly ironic how much that sentence came to be Queen Zelda's epitaph.
I was the only one still praying, and I did it with all my heart. Someone had to. Hyrule would not go down.
There's hope as long as the goddesses reign…
Link will come when he is ready…
Oh, please, Link, hurry…
As the months until Link's foreordained return ticked away, I felt as though I was on my last gasping breaths before my death. Then, as if to signal that Ganondorf was reaching the peak of his power and was ripe to be overthrown—it happened.
First, the Zoras were targets. Their protests were becoming less and less peaceful, to culminate with a march up to Hyrule Castle. Except it never happened.
I had a dream the night before it was to take place, in which I saw Ruto, trapped and unable to move. As Link fought off minions of evil, I knew it was futile, for the Sage of Water was trapped.
I woke up knowing that Ruto was about to need my protection, and after hastily telling Impa that I was needed, I rode as fast as I could to Zora's Domain.
When I arrived, I found what looked to me like every Zora in Hyrule, all congregating in the middle of their realm. They surrounded a platform on which stood Princess Ruto, speaking loudly to them. I perched on a high rock ledge, out of sight, and listened to her impassioned speech.
"We have served the good of this world for centuries by guarding its water, its source of life! Ganondorf has not given us the respect we deserve! He has polluted and destroyed the lifeblood not only of our people, but of all people! Today, let us rise up against him and reclaim our rights!"
The crowd cheered, but the sound died away quickly. A loud voice boomed out over it. I hadn't heard that voice for nearly seven years, but I knew it; I would never forget it.
"YOU WILL NOT DISSENT TO MY RULE!"
The Zoras murmured in fearful confusion, looking around uncertainly. Only Ruto was remotely confident now, glaring around as if daring Ganondorf to say that again.
"ANY WHO QUESTION THE AUTHORITY THE GODDESSES GAVE ME WILL DIE FOR THEIR TREASON!"
As his words echoed away, there fell a ringing, horrifying silence that quivered with a suspense so complete I could feel it crushing my heart.
Suddenly, a Zora screamed. Then came more cries of terror and panic as all realized what was happening.
Frost was forming at the edges of the water, and spreading quickly, its intent unmistakable. The entirety of Zora's Domain was freezing over, and its people would be trapped. They moved to climb out of the water, but blasts of arctic wind sprang up, blowing them fiercely about, tossing the water and their bodies. They would all be sealed away.
With a jolt of horror, I heard Ruto shriek, and saw her blown easily off her feet to be thrown into the water; I reacted on impulse, flinging myself from my ledge into the violent waves of the grotto which was usually so calm.
"Ruto!" I screamed, trying desperately to fight towards her and not lose her in the confusion. "Ruto!"
I saw her hand—I don't know how I knew it was hers, but somehow I did—sink beneath the waves. I dove down, swimming under the thousands of kicking limbs of the Zoras trying desperately to escape. The water shut out their screaming.
There was Ruto, caught underneath her own people. She wouldn't drown, but she would be frozen in the fast encroaching ice, and then my nightmare would come true.
She saw me swimming towards her and cried out with joy, "Sheik!"
She reached for me, and I for her… the water grew suddenly colder… above us, some Zoras had stopped moving… I could see ice spreading towards us, crackling, crystalline, too fast…
Sheikah magic wouldn't work underwater; I couldn't transport us the short distance I would have been able to on land. I grabbed Ruto's hand and pulled us both further down to the underwater doorway that led to Lake Hylia. She was growing weak and lethargic; I could feel her dead weight behind me. Zoras cannot cope for long in low temperatures.
I was struggling to make it. My lungs felt on the verge of exploding. Finally, I saw light above me, and I pushed off the bottom of Lake Hylia. The feeling when my head burst through the surface was one of the most beautiful ones in my life. The air was cold and seared my lungs, but it was beautiful…
I lifted Ruto's limp body in my arms and lay her down on the shore, then collapsed next to her. Exhaustion struck me in a wave.
Ruto recovered first from our difficult journey, and rolled over onto her back as I was still choking, spluttering and coughing, bent double, my head spinning. When I had managed to pull myself together enough to pull myself up to a sitting position, she spoke first.
"Thank you, Sheik," she said quietly, staring at the sky.
"You're welcome," I replied hoarsely, noticing that it didn't strike me as much of a surprise that even Zoras knew who I was.
Ruto remained lying still as I stood up and tried to wipe the mud and grass off of my clothes. Then she spoke again, in the same quiet, dull voice.
"Everyone's trapped."
I paused to glance at her, but saw no discernible emotion on her face. I coughed again convulsively. "They're alive, though, aren't they?" I asked, for lack of anything better to say.
"Yes. But what's the good in living sealed under a sheet of ice? That's not life, by anyone's definition. It's no better than living as…as disrespected slaves."
I didn't know what to tell her. She was right.
Abruptly, she shifted to a sitting position and shouted, "Damn him! What is he trying to do?! Why does he want to make everyone suffer?! What did Hyrule do to deserve him?!"
She stood up turned around, screaming out into the wind that blew northward from over the lake, "DAMN YOU, GANONDORF! Do you hear me?! I hope you die! I hope the goddesses punish you for this! I hate you! I hope you suffer forever! You deserve it!"
I was tempted to shriek a few wishes of my own onto the breeze: I hope you endure the pain I have. I hope you endure the pain my parents did. I hope you get back what you've given out, three fold.
"I hope Link twists the Master Sword in your heart," I growled, fists clenched.
Ruto turned sharply to me, angry tears glittering in her eyes. "Wh…what did you say?"
"Nothing," I said quickly.
"No… You said something about Link…"
I didn't answer. Ruto fiercely wiped her tears away and said, "Tell me where he is. He left me, and we're engaged to be married. Tell me where my fiancé is!"
She put her hands on her hips bossily, and I couldn't help thinking that Malon stood a much greater chance of winning Link's affection that Ruto did.
"You can't know," I said flatly. With Sheikah magic, I disappeared in a flash.
Ganondorf didn't stop with the Zoras.
His next targets were the other rebelling race, the Gorons. I was prepared for him to seek vengeance against them; it seemed likely after what had happened to Ruto's people. So it was that I stationed myself for several days outside Goron City, waiting…
Nothing happened, but I was not fool enough to get my hopes up with each uneventful moment that passed. I was the most talented son of the Sheikah line, and I would not fall into a state of false security. I kept my senses tuned, like a predator watching for prey. Or like prey watching for predators.
"Come on, we're almost there!" called a voice. It was a female, speaking with the distinct accent of the western desert. It was time; I darted into Goron City to make my way to the throne room and warn Darunia.
Unfortunately, the daughters of the Gerudo race are at least as talented as the sons of the Sheikah race.
No sooner had I entered the city than dozens of warriors on horseback had stormed it; I flattened myself against a wall, hidden in a shadowy niche, and watched them fly past me. By the time I deemed it safe to emerge from my hiding place, the underground fortress was a battlefield.
The Gorons were fighting mightily against their would-be captors, who were attempting to knock them unconscious and bind them, but many were losing the battle. I saw more than one fall from a Gerudo arrow to the back or a swift blow to the head; the women were treating their limp bodies like luggage, piling them up to take them away once the fighting was over. They had no regard for the Gorons' well-being; they were treating them like animals. I had to get to Darunia before it was too late.
Ganondorf's troops were so involved in their fighting that getting past them unnoticed would have been easy even without my stealth skills. As it was, I slipped through cracks, hid behind rocks, jumped along ledges and made my way, uninhibited, to the throne room. I hoped Darunia was still safe.
Of course, I was forgetting that his name mean's "mountain's strength," and he was living up to it. He was outside the throne room, fighting more viciously than any of his people, taking on several Gerudo at once with surprising success. He began barking orders the instant he spotted me.
"Sheik! Don't worry about me right now! Save my son!"
With an almighty effort, he slammed his shoulder into a Gerudo standing between us, nearly toppling over next to me. In a low voice, he explained quickly, "His name is Link. Find him and get him out of here. Take him to the place where you've been hiding all this time."
"You knew—?"
"We both knew this would happen. Go!" he bellowed, as he had to resume the fight; the soldiers he had knocked back only moments ago were on their feet again and apparently still ready for a brawl.
I went; Darunia was one of the strongest leaders the Gorons ever had, the type of person whose mere presence commands respect, loyalty and obedience from everyone who encountered him, be they Goron, Hylian, or anything else.
"Link!" I cried as I ran. "Prince Link!" I didn't know if that was his title, but it seemed good enough. He was bound to know what I meant.
"Sheik!" called a quiet but distinct voice to my left. I stopped instantly and whirled around. Behind me, hidden in a small, dark crevice in the wall that looked like simply a large crack in the wall, was a Goron. Judging by the pitch of its voice, because it was difficult to use anything else, this was a female.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Link is here," she whispered, crawling back and disappearing into the crevice; apparently it led somewhere, though it didn't look like it. I followed.
She took me to a hidden chamber, a small and simple room inside the wall that didn't appear to ever be used. Other than the Goron whom I'd followed, there was another, a small one, very clearly a child, who was looking around fearfully and positively trembling.
"Link?" I asked, smiling kindly.
The small Goron flinched and shrank back. "Who are you?"
"Your father asked me to take you somewhere to protect you. I think the best thing to do would be to just stay here, though."
Tears in his eyes, Link nodded.
"Darunia asked you to look out for us?" asked the female Goron, frowning.
"Well, he did only mention Link, really…" I explained awkwardly. The Goron sighed.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
When she didn't offer any further explanation, I began, "If you don't mind my asking…"
"Oh," she sighed, sensing my question. "I'm Link's mother. Darunia wanted to marry me, years ago, but I wasn't raised to be a queen and it wasn't something I wanted. I consented to give him an heir and to raise the child, but not to be his wife."
There was a wistful undercurrent in her voice, and she was looking out at nothing. I wanted to ask more, but suddenly—
"It was coming from here."
"It's quiet now."
"Of course it is. They heard us coming."
Gerudo voices were just outside. I cursed myself for not staying silent and warning the Gorons to do the same. Now all I could do was draw my dagger and prepare to defend the three of us.
I crept to the edge of the chamber, to a place where I could see out of the crevice through which I'd entered, without being seen. There were three Gerudo standing there. With luck, I could stay where I was and I wouldn't have to use my dagger at all.
I palmed some throwing stars and aimed; when all if them were facing away. I moved sharply—three hits, and they went down. I let out my breath and returned to Prince Link and his mother.
"I took care of them," I said in a whisper. "But we should be quiet. More will come, they'll find those three, and we don't want them to put the pieces together."
Waiting was agonizing. It was a sign that I was becoming a true Sheikah that I couldn't stand to sit still. Finally, I heard in the distance a voice I recognized. Link obviously did, too.
"It's Dad!" he squeaked, I nodded, we listened in silence. I knew they, like me, were hoping that this sound meant the siege was over.
When the voice came closer, I heard what it was shouting: "Kokiri! Kokiri!"
Before I could ask, Link exclaimed, "It's the password!" He clambered quickly out of the chamber in which we were hidden without waiting for permission. His mother and I followed.
"Link! There you are!"
Darunia ran up to us as we emerged and embraced Link, then held him at arm's length to look him over.
"You're all right. Praise Din. And you, Sheik," he turned to me, "thank you for protecting him."
"Thank Queen Zelda, if you will thank a mortal, for it is through her righteous will that the goddesses speak and act. She is the true queen and the goddesses will not allow the usurper who took her title to remain in power."
Speaking in a lofty, spiritual way was a habit I had developed in order to keep my identity elusive.
Darunia gave an approving grunt. "I hope and pray you're right. Faith tells me you must be, but it's hard to believe when I see things like what just happened here… all my people imprisoned, and myself left powerless to help them…" His teeth were gritted, and his face clenched with self-loathing.
"It was no fault of your own," I said to him. "Even the greatest kings cannot prevent some victories for the king of evil itself. Though he may have won this battle, so long as there remain those people in Hyrule who pledge allegiance to Queen Zelda and the goddesses, Ganondorf shall have no victory it the war."
Darunia sighed and murmured, more to himself than to me, "Are there any such people left?" More loudly, he said, "I would like a private word with you, if I could."
"Certainly."
We walked out of earshot of Link and his mother, whom I heard saying something about going home, and Darunia said, "You speak often of Zelda as the true queen of Hyrule."
"Indeed, for she is."
"I had heard she was…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "cruelly murdered by the Gerudo in Ganondorf's Coup when she would not submit to be heir under him instead of her father. I may even have heard, though I'm not sure, that you yourself saw them disposing of her body."
"Ah… The truth has been manipulated," I said carefully; I took care to avoid mentioning who had done the manipulating.
"Then she's not dead?"
"I was a mere child during the coup. I heard Ganondorf say that he or his forces might kill Her Majesty. I saw what I believed to be her dead body but now doubt truly was."
"Do you remember it clearly enough to be sure?"
"No, the fact is that I do not. But I simply do not believe that the goddesses would allow the true queen to die, and my own shaky testimony is not evidence enough to say that she has."
Darunia looked down and didn't reply. Something about his silence made me think that he felt sorry for me for believing in a pipe dream.
"Do you know why I named my son Link, Sheik?"
The question was a surprise. I couldn't think of an answer that would be consistent with my story as I had presented it to him; yes, I had told some people I knew Link, but when different people had contradicting stories about me, it helped to conceal and confuse the truth. I had to make sure that I personally, however, only told people things that fit.
Carefully, I asked, "Is it not a Goron name?"
"No. It is Hylian. I named him after the hero of our people, a boy who came from the forest and saved us all from starvation years ago. Perhaps you know him?" Darunia looked at me quickly, his eyes widening in hope.
"To a certain degree," I replied, still watching myself. "I have heard other speak of him. He is a Kokiri, I believe, if he came from the forest?"
Darunia paused. "Yes," he agreed. "But, if so, why does he have a Hylian name? And why is he able to leave the forest?"
His apt observations surprised me; no one else had pointed out such things, and I hadn't really noticed them, either. "I couldn't say," I said honestly. I still didn't understand how Link could be a Hylian.
"Link the Kokiri is my sworn brother," Darunia continued. "We pledged to help each other always. Yet I haven't seen or heard anything of Link since Ganondorf's Coup. In my time of need, where is my brother?"
I could tell, though Darunia kept his voice casual with only a hint of curiosity, that he felt betrayed.
I could have made up some story—he was only a child, he didn't understand what "sworn brothers" meant, he had been killed in some adventure or another, he had returned to the forest and could no longer escape. I could have simply said that I didn't know Link and couldn't guess where he was. Except I couldn't; Darunia needed the truth.
"Many people have asked me if I know why Link, the boy who helped them, saved them in the past, has done nothing to help them now. To them I can say only this: I cannot tell you why he has not helped you, other than to say it has been beyond his power. I can say, however, that he will soon come, and he will not turn in fear from any challenge, however great. As They are with the true queen, Zelda, so are the goddesses with Link."
Ganondorf had now made moves against three Sages: Nabooru, Ruto and Darunia. I presumed that Rauru was an exception and would remain untouched, since he was safe in the Light Temple in the Sacred Realm. That left only Saria and Impa in danger.
Saria… I didn't know who she was. I would have to go to Kokiri Forest to find out; meanwhile, the time until Link's return was disappearing. Only a few weeks remained.
Entering Kokiri Forest is deadly to Hylians; the air is permeated by the pollen of the Great Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest, which causes horrifying damage to our lungs. It sticks to them on the inside, at once preventing them from taking oxygen into our bodies and tearing them so that they bleed. I knew this even then. I had heard horror stories of entire armies, sent to conquer the forest, killed in hours as they suffocated, drowned in their own blood, coughed it up until their lungs collapsed… I didn't want this to happen to me.
Fortunately, the goddesses didn't, either. I experimented with combinations of real magic and potent medicinal herbs whose secrets were known only to the Sheikah, until I found away to create a sort of filter or shield around myself through which I could breathe. Though it was strong and wore well, it was also quite complex, and left me wondering even further how Link could move so easily between the two worlds and survive equally well in two such different atmospheres.
With my shield intact, I left for Kokiri Forest. Impa, with whom I'd been spending less and less time since I'd acquired more heroism duties, didn't even ask where I was going. It worried me that we were drifting apart, but I tried to put it out of my mind. I reassured myself that Impa and I would never be separated; we could always find each other, because there was a force that connected us like the poles of magnets and could never break.
Though I knew I was protected, I was still nervous about entering the forest. My only experience in this area was one brief encounter with Link, and I didn't know how he fit in to the picture of this society. What would it be like? What were the Kokiri people like? What was Saria like? The arts of the Sheikah are not designed for the world of the forest, and I knew I would be distinctly misplaced there.
I tied my pony outside the entrance to the mysterious, mythical place and went ahead alone, expecting… I didn't know what.
I could never have expected what I found.
Kokiri Forest was largely cleared, and filled with the houses of children. These houses were carved into the trees without killing them, and these children wandered around the open space freely. They were all dressed in green, in a casual manner similar to Link's, and I saw a sparkle fluttering by each head—fairies. The whole place was so…civilized!
There stood a guard by the entrance, and as soon as he saw me, he stepped out in front of me with arms folded stubbornly. He wasn't at all intimidated by the imposing and mysterious profile of Sheik.
"What do you want? No grown ups are allowed here! Great Deku Tree said so! He said so a long time ago, before he died."
"The Great Deku Tree is dead?" I gasped. This was about the worst thing Ganondorf could have done.
"You didn't know that? He died long time ago… Link killed him."
"What?!" It was lucky that none of these people knew my character, because I all but dropped it in shock at these words. Link, a murderer? A traitor? But he was a hero!
"Yeah, it's true! Mido was guarding the Great Deku Tree 'cause he was sick, and Link said he was s'pposed to go talk to the Great Deku Tree, and Mido let him, and when Link came out the Great Deku Tree was dead! Link said the Great Deku Tree died on his own, but Mido doesn't believe him because right after that Link left and he hasn't hardly been back since."
"When was the last time Link was here?" I asked suspiciously. Maybe there was a different Link; the one I knew would never kill the Great Deku Tree, I was sure of it.
"Dunno," answered the guard with a shrug. "Long time ago. Years ago. Not long after the Great Deku Tree died. Saria misses him. Mido doesn't."
Saria… That confirmed it, there was only one Link, but I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Who's Mido?" I asked, to change the subject.
"Our leader. He doesn't like Link because Link never had a fairy, so Mido figures he's not a real Kokiri."
He's right. "Can you tell me where Saria is?"
Considering me, the guard said, "She told me she's in the usual spot, and that that's what I should tell Link when he comes back, 'cause he'll know what it means. But I don't think he's gonna."
"Know what it means?"
"Come back."
I wanted to tell the boy the truth about Link, just as I had wanted to tell everyone, but I couldn't. Even though my motivation here was simple human kindness, to tell his old friends and acquaintances that he was alive, it still wasn't my place. Link hadn't told me anything about this world; it was a side of himself he had kept to himself, so I shouldn't interfere where I didn't have to. I now understood why he had been secretive.
"Where's the usual spot?" I asked.
The guard shrugged. "Dunno. Lost Woods, somewhere."
The Lost Woods? Where children who can't find their way turn into monsters, where one wrong turn can send you into a maze that will drive you mad…
I can't do it, I thought.
"Is there anyone who might know where in the Lost Woods?" I asked nervously.
"Mido, prob'ly. He's in the Lost Woods, too, but I don't think he's in there very far. You could find him okay."
"So you're going to let me in?" I asked with a shrewd smile.
Nodding, the guard said, "The Great Deku Tree told us that if a grown up comes and they don't get sick or anything right away, then they're okay. So you can come in."
He stepped aside.
"Thank you."
Immediately, I noticed that Kokiri Forest was not as idyllic as I had thought at first glance. Oktoroks were visible lurking in even the shallowest pools; Deku Babas stood at attention, waiting to strike, blending with the harmless greenery; Deku Scrub nests dotted the landscape like leafy molehills. These creatures no doubt had not been present here when Link had been growing up. They were the products of Ganondorf's malignant power.
Also, the children weren't wandering as freely as I had thought. Although a few Kokiri were outdoors, they remained close to their houses, walking quickly when they had to cover distances, and didn't stay out for long; a few climbed into the higher branches of their homes, where the earthbound monsters couldn't touch them.
My initial ideas had been wrong. Well, I supposed that I, of all people, should have known better than to judge by first impressions.
"Excuse me," I called to one small boy, who was crouched in a circle of rocks outside of a house. "Could you tell me where the Lost Woods are?"
The boy looked at me, wide-eyed and perfectly still. "Who are you? Are you…a Hylian?"
"I'm a Sheikah."
"What's that?"
The Kokiri had never heard of the Sheikah? "It's another race, another type of people besides Kokiri and Hylian."
This explanation was good enough for the child, apparently. "You're a grown up," he informed me. "You shouldn't go in the Lost Woods. You'll turn into a monster!" Looking fearfully around his home, he added, "We don't need any more monsters."
I nodded sympathetically. "I can see that you don't. But don't worry about me." I'm going to help get rid of the monsters.
The boy looked at me a moment longer, then wordlessly pointed in the direction of a path that wound up a hill towards a hollowed tree trunk much like the one that connected Kokiri Forest to Hyrule Field. Presumably, this was the entrance to the Lost Woods.
"Thank you," I said politely.
As I was walking away, the boy called after me, "Hey—if you're from outside… do you know someone named Link? A Kokiri like us?"
Hesitantly, I replied. "Yes. Not very well."
"If you see him, tell him… tell him we don't all believe Mido. We don't all really think that he's a mur— that he killed the Great Deku Tree. Tell him that. And ask him… to come back home."
"I will," I promised, feeling a sudden sadness ache inside me. "But I think there's going to be another grown up coming here soon, one who knows Link better than I do. Why don't you give him the message?"
"Okay," he boy squeaked, suddenly shy. "I hope Link doesn't… I hope he didn't leave because he thinks we hate him."
This conversation froze immaculately in my mind, as a reminder of… I could really be sure what. But from then on, I always turned to it in times when I couldn't remember the basic goodness of people. And of children… If there were no children, where would we be?
"Only Kokiri with Saria's personal permission past this point!"
Finding Mido's post inside the Lost Woods had taken a manner of minutes. However, the freckle-faced, bow-legged, red-headed little brat stood stoutly before the only route into what was obviously Saria and Link's "usual place," and he wasn't about to move for anything. He wasn't any more intimidated by my towering height and mysterious air than the guard to Kokiri Forest had been; to someone who was used to people talking about me as a living legend, it was more than a little disconcerting to find myself surrounded by people who really couldn't have cared less who I was. Their blind fearlessness was truly remarkable.
No wonder the goddesses had chosen a boy raised in this culture to hold the Triforce of Courage.
"I'm on an important mission," I insisted. "I have to protect Saria!"
Mido snorted. "Saria can take care of herself. The only person she said I could let by is L— Is the boy who's…who's never coming back," he mumbled quietly, glancing down.
"Link?" I demanded snappishly. This little idiot had been holding me up for too long; I was losing my patience. If I had to hit a nerve, I would.
For a moment, Mido's jaw dropped when he snapped his face up to look at me, and he was obviously utterly shocked that I knew the name, but he quickly pulled himself together, folded his arms and said in a would-be casual voice, "I don't know who—"
"Of course you do, it's Link, he's her best friend, isn't he? And he hasn't been here in years, since the incident with the Great Deku Tree that you framed him for, didn't you, you little smart a…uh, aleck," I corrected myself hurriedly. "But anyway, it's not because of you that he hasn't come back, though Nayru knows you made his life enough of a horror that he'd be perfectly justified if that was the reason! He's not here because he can't be right now, even though I'm sure there's nowhere else in this world or any other that he'd rather be! But he will come back, and until then, I need to talk to Saria!" I put my hands on my hips and glared at the little bully. Small wonder he and Link didn't get along.
Mido was gaping at me, his eyes popping. He stammered helplessly, yet somehow still stubbornly, "No… You can't… She didn't… Never… Link is… He killed…"
"He killed no one, you stupid little liar!" I yelled, shaking with rage. I refused to believe what this boy had been saying about Link. It simply couldn't be true. I whipped out my blade and spat, "I, on the other hand, am a Sheikah and I—"
"You're one of Ganondorf's!" cried Mido suddenly, cowering away from me.
Ganondorf… I suddenly remembered why I was doing all of this. I remembered my own terror upon seeing Impa kill someone for the first time. Almost without noticing it, I let my blade slip from my fingers and covered my face with both my hands. Ganondorf.
There was more, I realized. I had been telling everyone I knew Link, even though I knew the dangers of doing so, even after that argument with Impa years ago. And during my emotional outburst against Mido, it would have been all too easy for the king of evil to slip into my thoughts undetected and see something that was supposed to be a secret.
I lowered my hands and looked around as if I thought I could find reassurance somewhere; I was taking deep breaths to calm myself, my mouth hanging half open. Tears pricked my eyes.
"Are… you okay?" asked Mido meekly, still shrinking back. He was flat up against a tree, and his eyes were even more filled with terror than before.
"I'm not one of Ganondorf's," I told him quietly.
"Then…what are you?"
"I…"
My initial impulse was to say, I'm one of Zelda's, but I couldn't. For some reason, I just couldn't.
"I have to go."
I disappeared in a flash of Sheikah magic.
Impa was already asleep when I returned to our temporary camp near Zora's river. This was fine with me; I needed time to myself. I simply sat down, leaning my arms on my knees, and stared at nothing.
Link…Link… Mido… Everyone I've talked to… Not just Malon and Ruto, but others. A few people in town knew him… I told everyone… I got so carried away… How could I?
I had betrayed Impa, betrayed both of us, and she didn't know. I had to tell her.
"Sheik?"
Impa was awake. I could sense her standing behind me. The most reply I could manage was a hoarse, "Uh-huh."
"What's wrong?"
Without moving, I explained slowly, dazedly, "Kokiri Forest… I went and talked to a boy in the Lost Woods… He mentioned…Link…"
"You don't know anyone named Link," Impa told me sternly; I would have bet anything that if I'd turned around, there would have been fear in her eyes.
"But I do… I never told you… I told everyone else… People knew him… they wanted to know if he was coming back, because he left… they miss him… I told them he would come… and I never told you."
Impa was silent. "I see," she finally said quietly. "And… why? How could you know this boy and tell everyone except me?"
I knew what she meant. How could you reveal this one secret? How could you risk everything we've been living for? How could you be so careless?
There was no adequate answer; there was only the truth.
"Because he's my friend… and their friend, too."