Chapter Fifteen—Spirit

Hot.

The word lodged itself dully in my brain the instant I arrived in the middle of the desert. I was wearing my Sheikah clothes, and while these were all well and good while I was at Lake Hylia, where a breeze blew in from over the water, they were torture here. I understood now why Gerudo warriors dressed the way they did, but I could hardly change my outfit again and meet Link that way. I laughed to imagine the look on his face if I appeared before him as a woman—a Gerudo, nonetheless.

I quickly stopped laughing, though, when I realized what he would have to go through to get here. It could be several days before he managed to get through the Gerudo Fortress and the Haunted Wasteland; he was at a severe disadvantage, being male and unable to disguise himself as otherwise. Just as bad was the fact that I would have to wait for him here, sweating to death in the process. Of course, I could leave, but I would have to do it the hard way…and just the thought of tackling that desert again exhausted me. I made a face of displeasure directed at nothing in particular.

Looking around, for what, I couldn't have said, I spotted an old oasis. It consisted of a dark hollow in the sand, with a lone tree and a flat rock nearby, and I could tell it was dry. Knowing that there had once been water here and now wasn't made me notice that I was thirsty. I approached the small, dried-up puddle, hoping that close up I would find it filled with cool, clean water, but of course my wishes didn't come true. Desperate, I dropped to my knees on the rock by the pool and prayed.

Please, goddesses. I am Nayru's daughter. I need to survive here until Link comes. He is Farore's son. If You want Your children to be able to do Your bidding, please provide for us.

It was of course possible that the rain which began to patter softly on the back of my hot neck at that moment was a natural occurrence and a coincidence. I doubted it, though, and I was thoroughly convinced that the fairies which flocked to the new pool at that moment were a result of my prayers. They were pink healing fairies of the same type that had saved Link's life; they could help me, too.

Eagerly, I climbed into the small oasis, wading up to my thighs, and drank from it; the cold water slid down my throat and felt like life itself. I splashed it all over my body, sinking to my knees and felt my tired muscles relax. The fairies fluttering around the water were imparting the same renewed strength into me that they had granted Link to bring him back from death.

My mind cleared now that I was refreshed, as though the water had splashed the dust away from it, and I began thinking resourcefully. Those evil-looking black birds that glided around in circles would be fairly easy to catch and turn into food. I could light a fire with a couple of dry sticks from the tree I was sitting next to. I smiled.

There's a way to survive anywhere, if you look for it. Impa would be proud.

Guilt hit me squarely in the stomach at this thought. How long had it been since I had seen Impa? I remembered out conversation when I'd had the vision of Link defeating Volvagia, but that was ages ago. With a wave of nausea in my stomach, I wondered if there had been an attempt on her life that I hadn't been able to protect her from. What if her life was in danger right now?

I stared at my reflection in the water of the now full oasis, rippling as periodic drops fell from my skin and the free locks of my hair. There was fear unmistakably in those red eyes; I brushed some of my sopping hair over to cover one of them. I wanted to hide. For the first time in many years, I wished with all my heart that I didn't have to be the one doing all of this.

Even as I watched, my reflection melted in the ripples until it wasn't mine anymore. I stared into the infinite blue eyes of Nayru, as she had appeared to me in the Sacred Realm. Her face did not reflect her emotions; she communicated her thoughts directly to my mind. When she didn't speak, I addressed her.

"I don't think I'm going to be a very good leader."

She only looked at me, but I felt her telling me to have faith.

"I have faith in You and in Your sisters, and in Link, but not in myself."

Nothing changed; she sent me her thoughts in a steady rhythm.

:Have faith… have faith…:

Daring to say what I was thinking, I asked sheepishly, "Do You…ever make mistakes?"

:…have faith…:

"I just mean, is it possible that You were wrong to choose me for this?"

:…have faith…:

Annoyed, I cried loudly, "That's easy for You to say! Or think, or whatever You're doing! You know how this is all going to turn out, don't You! But I don't! Maybe You want me to have faith so that I'll become overconfident and fail! Maybe that's my destiny! You wouldn't be happy or upset one way or the other, would You, as long as I do what I'm supposed to!" My voice was cracking as it slipped out of my control, my face twisted to fight back tears of rage, to keep from collapsing and giving up. "Because You're immortal, a goddess, it doesn't matter to You! But it matters to me! It matters to me if I live or die, if Impa lives or dies, if Link lives or dies, because I love them! I loved my mom and dad, too, they mattered to me! But You didn't care, You killed them! You created Ganondorf and You made all this happen! You don't care about me! You say I'm Your daughter, but Mom would never—never—do this to me, not if she could help it, and You can!"

I violently slashed at her frustratingly calm reflection, shattering it into thousands of shards of light, but it recomposed itself into perfection again. I couldn't help it; I kept shouting at her.

"What are You trying to do to me! Are You trying to teach me something! Because I don't know what the lesson is! Maybe it's to know what pain and suffering really are! Or…maybe…"

My voice faded out, because something had occurred to me as suddenly as if Nayru had just said it.

"Maybe…" I continued, feeling my heart beat, slow and hard, in my chest, "this is all a trial. Maybe You want to show me what life is like at its worst, so that I can rule fairly over all people and empathize with them instead of sitting perfectly comfortable on my throne in my sheltered world—the way all the kings and queens before me have done."

:…have faith… You are more talented than you know.:

Nayru's reflection dissolved into mine, which let out a soft, slightly bitter laugh. Of course it would be something obscure like that, some profound moral lesson that a mortal like me would grossly oversimplify.

Not being able to contact Impa was by far the hardest part of living in the Desert Colossus. Whether that fact proved how easy survival turned out to be or how much I cared about Impa, I wasn't not sure. Maybe it was both. All I knew was that I got so wrapped up in my own life that I almost forgot about Link.

I didn't entirely forget him, of course. One of the first things I did, in fact, was enter the Spirit Temple myself to see what sort of challenges he would have to face. The first thing I found was that two of the pots flew at me, possessed of their own powers of motion, but I ducked and they shattered harmlessly on the wall behind me. Other than those, the main room contained nothing more than a stairway leading up to four perfectly still statues of horned monsters with swords and shields, a large block in the wall on my right and a small hole in the wall on my left. Far more interesting was what I found on the lower level of the room; two large, bird-headed frames that looked to be carved of bronze and held two massive stone tablets with inscriptions. One referred to needing the "power of silver," and the other, to the necessity of returning here "with the pure heart of a child." Obviously Link was supposed to come here seven years ago; correction, he had come here seven years ago, but he didn't know it yet. I wondered at first why this would be, until I remembered what had taken place then. Evidently he was to witness Nabooru's disappearance… but as to the "power of silver," I didn't have a clue.

Devoting all my time and energy to survival meant I lost track of time as it existed on any grander scale than sunrise, sunset. I learned to associate sunset with when a small band of Gerudo women came to perform guard duty or some such thing, and that I therefore had to stay well hidden at night. Other than that, there were no changes in the monotony of heat, dryness and dust.

So it was that I received a horrible shock one day when I returned from where I had been hunting behind the Temple itself and saw a figure covered in dust, dressed in a red hat and tunic, entering the Temple. Link had arrived, and I had nearly missed him!

Quickly throwing aside the bird I had just caught, I dusted myself off a bit, though I didn't think I could have possibly been any dirtier than Link; he was so covered in sand that his earrings didn't even catch the light of the desert sun, not to mention looking quite beaten and bruised. Apparently the Gerudo had not taken kindly to a male visitor.

I hid myself behind an arch of wind-eroded rock to wait. Link would come out when he realized he needed to return to the Temple of Time to become a child, and then I would catch him. Sure enough, only a moment later, he re-emerged onto the threshold of the Temple followed closely by Navi. She was the only thing in sight that sparkled, the oasis having long since dried up again.

Link was frowning as he tried futilely to brush himself off, saying to his companion, "So we've gotta return to the past again, I guess. But there's no way the Gerudo are gonna let a kid into their territory."

"Especially not a boy," Navi agreed.

"Yeah. And even if they did, there's no way I'm crossing that wasteland again."

"You're so little when you're young, you'd probably get blown away," Navi said, deadpan, but I knew she was teasing.

"Hey, shut up. Look who's talking!"

Navi giggled.

"I would have thought we'd run into Sheik by now," Link mused, looking around. "The warp platform is right there, and we won't be able to get back here without a song."

That was my cue. I stepped out of my hiding place and began my usual cryptic philosophy.

"Past…present…and future," I said softly. "Time is a current along which you travel. The Master Sword is your vessel, and you alone can use it to pass down the streams of time at will. Use the Requiem of Spirit when you wish to return here…with the pure heart of a child."

The song I played was reminiscent of Gerudo culture—deep, mysterious, strangely compelling and beautiful. Link copied it carefully. We both knew what was coming next, though I did hold out a little hope that he just wouldn't try.

"Sheik…"

Before he could say more, I stepped back. A sudden blast of wind blew a curtain of sand between us, and Link had to cover his eyes against it. While he couldn't look, I teleported in the Sheikah way to the top of the rock formation I had been hiding behind.

Link cast around for any sign of me, of course, when the wind died down, but the sand had obliterated any I might have left. He made an irritable noise in his throat before putting the Ocarina of Time to his lips again and playing the Prelude of Light. I let out a sigh of relief when he disappeared in a yellow glimmer. Now I could leave this place and, with luck, never return again.

This, however, presented the question of how I was going to get out of here.

Why, goddesses, did the Gerudo have to build a Temple in what is as close to the literal middle of nowhere as anything could possibly get?

I decided to confront the challenge in the morning.

"Hey! You!"

A voice woke me up in the middle of the night. It took several moments for me to remember where I was, why my bed was so uncomfortable, and who must have been jabbing a spear into my side. Apparently the Gerudo had found my little sleeping spot up in a niche of one of the rock walls. Two of them stood before me, armed with the traditional curved blades of their people slung at their waists in addition to the spears they carried.

Uh-oh.

"You are under arrest!" one of them barked. "You are trespassing on Gerudo territory!"

I started to palm two throwing stars, but stopped myself when I had a thought. If they arrested me, they would have to transport me across the Haunted Wasteland to throw me in prison. I was sure my cell would be easy enough to break out of; at any rate, easier than crossing that damn desert yet again. How convenient. Trying not to look delighted, I put my hands in the air.

"Fine," I sighed, making my voice sound as depressed as though my plans had been thwarted, "take me."

They tied my hands behind my back, slid me down the rock wall and led me to where they had tied their horses. I had to share with one of the warriors, and I sat in front so she could keep an eye on me. They looked mildly impressed that I managed without much difficulty to balance on horseback without the use of my hands, and I smiled to myself as we set off.

Basic Sheikah training—Thank you, Lekhan.

The horses were obviously trained to find the easiest way through the Haunted Wasteland and back to their stables, because they negotiated the quicksand and confusing expanse with an east that was more than a little annoying when I considered how much trouble I went through crossing it. They even found a place where the River of Sand was narrow enough that they could jump it. I'll admit I was pleasantly surprised at the speed with which we returned to civilization.

I attracted quite a few mistrustful glares, which were to be expected, as my escorts took me to my prison cell. They untied me before shoving me unceremoniously into it.

"This should teach you never to underestimate the Gerudo," snarled one of the guards. "You think you're so great, but it's only one in a million men who has enough skill to join our ranks."

I looked at her and frowned. "Does that mean there are some men in your ranks? I thought you were all female."

She didn't say anything; she simply glared at me suspiciously, daring me to ask for more information.

"Fine," I sighed again. "Don't tell me anything."

They closed the door behind me.

Within a minute, I was on the other side of the narrow gorge that separated Gerudo Valley from Hyrule Field.

Naturally, Impa had not remained in one place for the entirety of my trip. I knew this would be the case when I set out from Gerudo Valley, but I also knew her movement patterns well enough guess that she was somewhere around Kakariko, so that was my destination; I found her quickly.

Impa had set up a tent beneath an overhang over the waterway that ran into Zora's River from Hyrule Field. When she saw me approaching, I waved, and she smiled back, but her eyes betrayed her fear.

"Sheik," she said bluntly as soon as I was close enough to speak with her at normal volume, "we might be staying here for some time. I think we may be needed in the very near future."

"Why?"

I didn't waste time being emotional and concerned; that would help no one. I just needed the facts. I pushed down any uneasiness that surfaced at the thought of Impa in danger.

"Bongo Bongo is going to break out of the barriers I put around him," she said, still speaking in a flatly detached voice. "I know it, I'm resigned to it, it's unavoidable. We are now just waiting for it to happen."

"And then?"

Impa looked towards Kakariko. "Then…we attack," she sighed. "We defend the town against this evil."

At that moment, I wanted to tell her everything Nayru had told me. A wave of concern hit me, though I had been trying to hold it back, and I just wanted to explain, to warn her that her life was in danger, to tell her what Link was doing, to share all the secrets of my identity— I could never do all that. It was just too dangerous. I swallowed it.

"I'll be there behind you as soon as it happens," I promised. "Nothing could stop me."

Looking at me sternly, Impa said, "You have other duties."

"This is as important as any of those."

"You have another destiny."

"This is equally important."

She thought I was missing what she was trying to say; I knew she was missing what I was trying to say.

"Listen carefully," I said slowly. "I know that I have some very important things to do. I'm on top of them. I'm keeping track of them. One of the most important things for me to do is to support you and help you with what you have to do."

We stared at each other as though trying to read each other's minds. When she was awakened as a Sage, I reflected, we would be able to for real.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you?" I asked.

She was frowning at me with her eyes, contemplating.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

She was still contemplating.

"Yes," she finally said firmly. "Yes, I am sure. I didn't understand before, but now I do."

"Good."

We both tried to smile, to make light of a situation we knew was unpleasant and unsafe, but it didn't quite work. The knot in my stomach, which hadn't really gone away in over seven years, tightened.

Please, goddesses, give us the strength we need to do this.

Link had arrived at the Spirit Temple in the late afternoon, so I expected that, the next day, I would receive a vision any moment of him reaching its end. However, I had forgotten to account for time travel, other adventuring, and, of course, sleep. The entire next day passed without a sign from the Temple, although Link left his mark outside the Desert Colossus; the gossip on everyone's lips was that Talon had returned to power at Lon Lon Ranch, and I knew who had to be responsible for that.

Sure enough, when I visited the Ranch the next morning, I saw Malon beaming as though she had never known a greater joy than that in which she now lived. She waved brightly when I approached, and ran towards me with her skirts and hair trailing in the breeze like bright flags advertising her happiness.

"Hi," we said in unison when she stopped before me, brushing bright red hair off of her face.

"Did your hero save you?" I asked, concealing my smile.

She laughed, with a smile that of a girl who had more good news than simply the return of her father. "You know the answer to that. But I've been meaning to ask you…" her smiled faded slightly, "Did he come here…just because you told him to?"

I told her the truth.

"When I saw Link for the first time, I gave him an important mission. I also mentioned that if he could find the time, he should visit here. This was the first place he came after that conversation."

Blushing happily, Malon said, "Thanks. And he said… he promised he'd help me. And he did."

"Of course he did."

Malon paused, and dropped her gaze sadly. "He's hardly visited, though," she said quietly. "Only twice. Do you think—?"

"I think he wants to get his other mission over with," I said, swiftly cutting in before she could voice her concerns. "I think if it was up to him, he'd be here more often than he'd be out fighting."

"But it is up to him."

"It's up to destiny. It's up to the goddesses."

Malon was still looking down, thinking this information over. After a moment, she asked slowly, "Will you see him against soon?"

"Almost certainly."

"Can you give him a message from me?"

"Of course."

"Tell him…that I love him. For everything he's done for me and for Hyrule. For everything that he is."

"I will," I promised. Then, smiling, I elaborated, "A man is sure to fight with more heart if he is doing it for the love of a woman, and women like you are rare. You are the only one, out of the many who imagine themselves to be in love with the Hero of Time, who actually is. And I am quite sure you are the only one whose feelings he could ever return."

The warm smile had returned to Malon's lips. "Thank you."

Before the words were really out of her mouth, a vision struck and blinded me. I should have seen it coming. My body felt suddenly exhausted as all the energy was wiped from it, and I gripped Malon by the shoulder to keep from falling down. She quickly grabbed my arm and gasped, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… Ah… I need to sit down…"

With strength I wouldn't have expected from one of her small frame, Malon draped my arm over her shoulders, wrapped her own arm around my waist, and half-carried me into the house. Meanwhile, I saw glimpses of the vision mingled with glimpses of what was actually before my eyes.

I collapsed into the first chair I saw and dropped my head onto the table, burying it in my arms. I heard Malon ask shakily, "Do you want a drink or something?" but I couldn't summon the energy to answer.

Link was standing on a huge platform with his sword sheathed on his back and only his shield in use. It was a shield I had never seen before… It shone…. It was a mirror—

Two witches, hideous old crones, were circling on broomsticks… One was bedecked in flames, which licked from her hair, and the other in ice—

One shot a beam of molten lava at Link, who deflected it with that shield… The icy one was wounded—

Link was frozen in a blast of ice… His face contorted with pain, every muscle straining—

Fire…

Ice…

Blasts flashed back and forth… striking the witches… striking Link—

Navi flew between them, confused—

Suddenly there was one witch, a towering woman who needed no broomstick to fly and who wielded fire in one hand and ice in the other… Now, with a single target, Link could aim—

He took every blast with his shield… Nothing got past him—

The witch dropped out of the sky… Link slashed… I had never seen his blade fly so quickly—

The vision moved quickly… She was up— Elemental blasts— Down—

Link, shield… sword—

Two witches again, but this time they were colourless and transparent… ghosts… They floated away, yelling, bickering… and Link laughed at them as he watched them go, even as he gasped for breath and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Lon Lon Ranch didn't disappear again when it came into view this time. The utter exhaustion, which had so suddenly swept over me, dissolved away. I lifted my head and saw Malon standing across the table, white with fear.

"Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

"Yes… You don't look very well, though," I pointed out, trying to deflect attention from my own weakness.

"Me! I'm not the one who nearly— I don't know what! Oh, Sheik, you're shaking like a leaf and you're sweating… I've never seen anything like that."

Annoyed at myself for handling the situation so badly, I repeated, "Yes. Don't worry about me. It was just—nothing. I'm fine now."

Of course she didn't believe me. She was still staring, wide-eyed and concerned I might go into another fit.

"It's over," I assured her. "It was just…a vision."

Malon gasped and took a step back from me, her hands over her mouth. "You have visions?" she breathed. "Does that mean you're psychic or something?"

How much could I tell her without revealing my secret?

"No, I'm not, but the goddesses want me to help Link, so sometimes They give me visions to show me what he's doing and that I'm going to need to help him soon."

As soon as I finished my explanation, I realized that it wasn't going to alleviate Malon's fears at all.

"You have to— The goddesses were telling you Link needs your help?" she asked. Quite suddenly, she began hauling me to my feet and towards the door, so carelessly that I nearly tripped over my own feet. "Go help him!" she demanded. "It must be important and it must be bad! If that's what happened to you, what must have happened to him? You have to go!"

I tried to explain that Link was okay, but she was talking over me and not listening.

"Hurry!" she finished, shoving me out the door. I stood there for a minute, looking at the door she slammed behind me, and didn't know whether or not to laugh. I shook my head, then headed off towards Kakariko.

The next, and last, Temple was locate in the graveyard. I didn't like how my two tasks were folding into one, and I wasn't sure if Link would be able to figure out where to come.

Something unnerved me as I approached Kakariko Village. It was darker than usual, and there was more smoke pouring up from behind its high walls than the combined fireplaces of its people would usually emit… huge, billowing clouds of it, curling up towards the sun…

Fire!