PART TWO

And again I see

My yesterdays in front of me

Unfolding like a mystery

You're changing all

That is and used to be…

On a prayer

In a song

I hear your voice

And it keeps me hanging on

Oh, raining down

Against the wind

I'm reaching out

'Til we reach the circle's edge

And you come back to me again…

When you come back to me again…

Chapter Eight—Resurrection

Over the following weeks, I was unsure if Impa's silence was a result of mine or the other way around. For the first time in my life, I was also unsure about how she felt. Usually I could read her heart in her eyes, but they had become as steely and unreadable as the rest of her face.

When the day I had been looking forward to for seven years finally came, I woke up with a knot in the pit of my stomach. After all this waiting, suddenly I would have given anything to not have to see his face again. I didn't want to meet Link when he was the reason why Impa was so unhappy with me—not angry, which would have been easy to cope with, but just disappointed, reminding me why I was disappointed with myself. But destiny wouldn't wait for me to be ready. It never had done before. I had to go to the Temple of Time, to be the Wisdom that would guide the Hero.

I started what felt like the first conversation I'd had in ages with Impa, that day as we prepared breakfast. It was a cloudy and dark morning that looked more like evening—the cloud around Death Mountain which reflected the state of Hyrule was more a ring of fire than anything else, casting the only real light on the land other than the dull glow of the sun on the far side of the thick cloud cover, and that light was a disturbing red. The day felt ominous. This was the world Link would find when he awoke.

"Link's coming back today," I began, cutting right to the topic.

"I know," Impa said bluntly, not looking at me. She was chopping vegetables.

"I… I have to go meet him."

"I know." This time, her voice was quieter and faltered slightly.

"Is that okay?"

"It has to be." Some suppressed emotion was shaking her voice. This was uncharacteristic weakness from a Sheikah.

"Are you…furious at me?" I asked softly.

Impa lay down the knife with which she had been cutting and closed her eyes.

"No," she said finally. "I'm just worried about the world and everyone in it. And you're in the world."

"You're in the world, too."

"Yes, I know." She fingered the blade. "And so is Link."

These comments did not reassure me.

Putting back the dishes I had gotten out for myself, I said in my best attempt at a business-like tone, "It was early morning when Link took the sword, so I should go get ready to meet him. Just in case."

In case of what, I couldn't have said.

"I'll eat something when I get back," I added, trying to find something normal and matter-of-fact to say.

"All right." Impa had resumed cutting her vegetables. She didn't look at me.

Umikae, grazing nearby, gave a small whinny of displeasure when I swung myself up onto his unsaddled back. He never liked running early in the morning, but I cooed soft Sheikah words at him and we set off for the Temple of Time. I had taken to riding bareback recently; after all, I was a Sheikah warrior straddling a wild stallion, not a perfect princess sitting side-saddle on a delicately trained, decorated, pure-blood mare. Umikae preferred riding this way, too, even if it was early, and he was soon galloping with spirit and speed across Hyrule Field.

It had been years since I had visited Hyrule Castle Town. I dismounted Umikae and stood by the broken drawbridge, looking up…

Past the still Redeads and the hollow shells of buildings loomed a dark castle lit from below with an evil, red light. Once, that castle had been different. Once, it hadn't inspired in me this heartbreaking anger. Once, I had been able to look on it and smile, even laugh. Once, it had been home.

Once. A long time ago. A lifetime ago.

I waded through the river that gurgled past the dead town like blood flowing from a war. I played on my small harp an old song composed for the Royal Family of Hyrule, to calm the Redeads with sunlight, then walked past them, through the deserted town where a faint wind whispered angrily, to the Temple of Time. The sight of it took my breath away.

Though Death Mountain's ominous cloud hung in the sky behind it, the Temple of Time itself remained immaculate, even pristine. Its windows were unbroken, its doors stately, its marble flawless. By some miracle, its surrounding trees were still alive. It stood as a solemn reminder that the power of evil could touch all of life, but the power of good would remain true to its essence.

There is hope as long as the goddesses reign.

Inside, the Temple tingled with magical energy. It felt fortified against those forces which had tried to destroy it; it shone white. On an alter at the opposite end of its main chamber hovered the three Spiritual Stones. Link had collected them. As I approached them, I noticed they were emitting a quiet, mystical, humming music that sounded vaguely familiar… I had heard it resonating through the Chamber of the Sages. Somehow, the sight and sound of those Stones made me feel closer to Link, and to the goddesses, and to salvation.

Beyond this alter had always been the Door of Time, a solid stone wall with a design resembling a setting sun carved into its surface, and the image of Triforce carved into its arched frame. Now, the Door simply was not there, and the Triforce glowed gold. Through the door, I saw the small Pedestal of Time where the Master Sword resided. I had only ever seen it before in pictures, years ago; to see it in reality, without the Master Sword, it felt like a sleeping demon. It was a sign that all was not right with the world.

Approaching the Pedestal of Time, I found that it was on a raised dais, around the edges of which were six circles with designs patterned in them. These, too, looked familiar… I had seen them around the edges of the platform in the Chamber of the Sages, brightly coloured. Here they were only shaded stone. Thoughtfully, I circled the dais and examined the designs. Nayru had told me that the Six Sages had six medallions, and I reasoned that these circles must have been images of them.

What else had Nayru told me? I stopped in my pacing, trying to remember all the details. What if I forgot something important? I stared at the Pedestal of Time; a beam of sunlight was drifting innocently over it through the windows overhead, illuminating all the tiny motes of divine dust in the air.

Suddenly, a beam of blue light shot down into the Pedestal from nowhere, blindingly bright and ringing with that same music that filled the Spiritual Stones and the Chamber of Sages.

I jumped back and flung myself into the shadows, throwing my arms up over my face, though the light continued to shine through my eyelids.

In a few seconds, it subsided, and I looked up.

Link stood there.

He looked very different from when I had last seen him, but his identity was unmistakable. He wore the same green tunic, with a white body suit underneath, leather gauntlets that covered his hands and arms almost to the elbows, and leather boots that buckled just below his knees. His ears, both pieced with silver hoops that still looked masculine next to his strong jaw line, showed from underneath the blond hair on which sat his green hat. And his eyes… Those blue eyes and that face had lost the innocent, peaceful look I had last seen in them. Courage was now chiselled into the features I remembered so well, the image I summoned up in times of uncertainty, those features that were now alive with fire and as defined as every muscle in his body. The young, headstrong boy had grown into a man of skill, bravery, strength, and remarkable good looks. My mind stumbled at the sight of him.

Unexpectedly, a sparkling blue fairy swooped out of his hat and whispered into the silence, "We're back in the Temple of Time…but have seven years really gone by?"

Link didn't answer, but looked carefully over the Master Sword that he held in his left hand. He swiped his new weapon through the air, testing its weight and movement with casual grace, then sheathed it approvingly on his back, beneath his shield, before starting to walk away; the fairy darted back into hiding at his hairline, her glimmer disappearing with her. He hadn't noticed me, and I, in my awe at the sight of him, hadn't come forward. I stepped quickly up to the Pedestal of Time and said into the silence that easily carried my voice:

"I've been waiting for you… Hero of Time."

Link stopped; I saw his body tense. Slowly, he reached for his sword and shield as he turned around, his face guarded so as not to reveal his emotions. He drew his weapons sharply and faced me, prepared to fight. I wished the world could have been a place where he didn't have to behave that way to every stranger.

"Who are you?" he asked strongly. His voice, like his body, was now that of a man.

"I am Sheik, survivor of the Sheikah."

"Of the Sheikah? Then are you loyal to the Royal Family of Hyrule?"

I could see that he was ready to strike if I said no.

"My people have always served and pledged loyalty to the Hylian Royals. My queen is Zelda."

Link relaxed, but didn't put away his weapons. "Oh. What do you want?"

"I am to guide you on your quest. You seek to awaken five Sages, to combine their power with yours, to gain the ability to defeat the king of evil, Ganondorf Dragmire."

Apparently content that I wasn't an enemy, Link was letting his guard down a bit, and the formality went with it. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and said in a more natural tone, "And you can help me?"

"You must find the five Temples," I informed him. "One is in a deep forest… One is at the top of a mountain… One is at the bottom of a lake… One is inside a goddess of the sand… One is in the house of the dead."

I found I was shaking slightly. So much had been building to this moment. I had prepared my words so well, and I had tried to prepare myself, but I never could have imagined what being in his presence again, after so long, would do to me. I wanted to cry, to throw my arms around him to make sure he was real, really Link. I wanted to tell him the truth.

"What do I have to do?" he asked, at last putting his sword and shield on his back.

"The first Sage," I explained, wishing my voice would stop trembling, "is a girl I'm sure you know. She lives in the forest in the east."

"Saria!" gasped Link, eyes wide. "Is she okay? What's happened? Tell me!" His voice was as urgent as Malon's had been when she had asked me about him. I wished I knew what, if anything, had happened to Saria, but I had been unwilling to risk returning to Kokiri Forest. I had a horrible suspicion that my neglect had caused some harm to befall her. I tried to steady myself, and remembered my instructions. Just as thou did not learn thy destiny until necessary, so must Link only receive what information is necessary.

"Equipped as you are, however, you are not yet ready to face the challenges of the first temple," I informed him. "If you believe me, go to the graveyard in Kakariko Village." This was what Nayru had told me, though I didn't know what he needed to do there. I didn't attempt to answer his questions.

Link's teeth were gritted in anger, and his eyes flashed dangerously. "This isn't funny. No damn riddles. Give me a straight answer. Is Saria all right? Is she safe?"

"No one is safe from Ganondorf," I told him.

He didn't answer at first, but continued to glare pure venom at me. Then he muttered, "The Kakariko graveyard… Fine."

"Also," I found myself saying, "people have been searching for you. They seek the hero who helped them in the past."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" he said, holding out his arms to show himself to me. "But I've got kind of a lot to deal with already, what with trying to save the world and all. Can't someone else help them with their individual problems? Can't you?"

"I am helping them," I told him. I certainly didn't expect him to shoulder all the burdens of the world. "But there is at least one person who I know would give much just to see you again, alive and well. If you could find the time, it would be worth your while to visit Lon Lon Ranch."

"Visit Lon Lon—" He cut himself off, and a strange softness appeared in his eyes that made it easy to believe he had been sleeping peacefully in the Sacred Realm. "Malon…"

I did not feel at all guilty for giving him instructions other than those he needed right then to awaken the Sages; some things are just as important as world peace, and that is one of them.

"Hyrule is a very different place from the home you left," I told him simply.

Link nodded, a distantly pensive look in his face, and walked out of the Temple without another word. His echoing footsteps hailed the resurrection of fierce justice; I walked after him in silence.

I didn't exactly follow Link, but I did watch to see which direction he took after leaving Hyrule Castle Town; he first looked southeast, towards Kokiri Forest, then east, towards Kakariko. He then began to walk resolutely south, towards Lon Lon Ranch.

When I returned to the campsite where Impa had remained, I found her in a slightly better mood.

"So?" she asked by way of greeting. "You met him? And?"

"And I gave him his task," I told her. "He's taking a bit of time to catch up first. I mean, he hasn't seen Hyrule since…since it was happy, I guess." I paused, then added, "Right now he's at Lon Lon Ranch, I think. He and Malon were…friends when they were kids."

Impa looked at me sharply, to ensure that she had read between the lines properly, and I smirked. She, too, smiled slowly.

"Of course," she said. "Yes… It's important to stay in touch. You should keep an eye on him, though, so that you know how he's getting on with his task."

"I know. Don't worry. I've been working on my telepathy," I told her proudly. "I can get into his mind to see where he is."

Raising impressed eyebrows, Impa said, "You've learned intercorporeal sensory reception… without being detected?"

I smiled. "You haven't noticed when I've done it to, have you?"

Impa nodded approvingly. "All right, then. Let me see."

"Okay…"

What I had to do was spread my consciousness outside of my mind, so that it covered a vast area. When I found my target, Link, in that area, I would focus my attention on that part of my mind which was inside his. It would then be possible for me to receive information into my own mind from any part of his—but if I tried to read the thinking and reasoning parts, he would notice. It was, however, relatively simple for me to access the parts of his mind in charge of basic senses, though I could only do one at a time, and if I wanted to know where he was and what he was doing, it was most useful to access sight. So this is what I did. It took several minutes, but I was soon seeing through Link's eyes.

He was at Lon Long Ranch already; he would have had to run all the way there to arrive so quickly. He was looking around. He spotted Ingo, dressed in fine clothes he hadn't worn seven years ago, and stared for a minute. He approached Ingo, who spoke, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I switched into the part of Link's brain that received sound, and the visual cut out.

"…my horses?" Ingo was saying.

"Yeah, sure," Link answered.

"That will be ten rupees. And you have a limited time, so—"

"Before I go," Link interrupted him, "I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to Talon."

Ingo snorted. "Talon! He's a fool. No business sense. People will tell you that I cheated him out of this ranch and all his property, but it's not true! He was just a failure, but now I've turned all this into something successful! I, unlike him, was smart enough to curry the favour of the great Ganondorf, instead of insisting on following the old rulers."

"What about Malon? Where's she?"

"Why do you care?"

I couldn't help laughing to myself at Ingo's suspicious tone, remembering my threat.

"I'm a friend of hers," Link replied, a hint of warning annoyance in his voice.

"A… Malon doesn't… No one's come to visit Malon as long as I've ruled here. Almost no one. That I know of. Have you been sneaking onto my property?" His tone was aggressive, to cover his fear.

"No," Link answered coolly. "I haven't been able to visit. I've been indisposed. So is she here?"

"She works for me."

Link said nothing, but he must have done something, because Ingo elaborated hurriedly.

"She helps me keep the ranch, just as she did when her father ruled it. I treat her fairly, and she does good work."

"Right," Link snapped, his voice even colder. "Y'know, I think I'll pass on that horseback ride for now."

The conversation was over. My conscience was telling my I should leave his mind, but I was curious, so I simply switched back to visual reception.

He was walking around the ranch. He tried the door to Ingo's house, but it was locked. He turned around and tried the door to the nearby stables; it opened.

Inside stood Malon, who was watering the cows. When Link entered, she turned to face him, and her mouth dropped open in shock. Quickly, she concealed her obvious joy and relief at the sight of him. She began to speak, smiling warmly.

Here I bowed out, feeling this was none of my business.