Whooo! Have you guys ever heard of 'instant inspiration'?
Because I just got some! I received a review five minutes ago… and I absolutely had a brain rush. I'm sorry that I've put the Deku Tree story back one more to make room for this while it's still in my mind. I hope you like it!!!!
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Character- Zelda
Setting- Zelda and Impa are just escaping from the castle. They flee to lake Hylia, where Impa has a startling idea on who Zelda can hide herself.
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To Be no More.
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I run as fast as I can.
Impa drags me behind her.
I can't keep up.
Not for much longer.
My chest is stinging from running.
.
I try to draw breath.
But it hurts.
So I continue to gasp for it behind Impa.
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My wrist hurts from where she's held it.
She keeps on pulling me.
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I wince at every scream I hear.
We can't see anything from here…
We're in the secret tunnels.
But everyone else…
I don't understand why they couldn't have come too.
…
We just left them behind…
So that the Gerudo could kill them.
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The brick walls let every noise through.
That's why I have to be quiet.
So they can't hear us…
But I doubt they could anyway…
I bet all you can hear on the other side is people screaming…
That's all I can hear.
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My mother and father are whispering.
They sound as though they're arguing.
We're supposed to be quiet.
But they're talking.
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Impa stops.
She spins around to them.
I take advantage of this pause in our sprint.
I drop to the floor.
I gasp for air.
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"Your Highnesses," Impa hisses, "Be quiet. Or you'll ruin our escape."
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"I cannot leave my castle, Impa." Says my father, "I have to stay with it."
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"No, dear. Think of Zelda. The poor girl not having a father… and me not having a husband. We must leave." Says my mother.
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My father looks at her wildly.
"How could you just abandon everyone like this? Can you not justify staying to fight for your people?" He says.
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Impa grabs my hand again.
She pulls me off the ground.
"We have to keep going." She says calmly, "It's only a matter of minutes before they find the entrance to this passage."
She begins to run.
I have no choice but to follow.
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I look back.
To my relief,
My mother and father are running too.
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In the gloom,
I manage to just make out a door.
It's right ahead of us.
I'm almost there.
Then I can rest.
I won't have to run anymore.
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Suddenly,
Impa stops.
I run into her.
I fall on the floor.
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I look up to Impa.
Why did she stop like that?
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The rattle of footsteps comes from down the tunnel.
I strain my ears.
"This way." Calls a voice, thick with Gerudo accent, "They went this way."
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My stomach drops.
They found our tunnel.
Now what?
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I feel Impa's hand grasp mine.
I start to run again.
I sprint, full tilt, to the door.
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The footsteps get closer.
And closer.
I know they're gaining on us.
I'm too slow.
They get closer and closer…
Until…
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"There!" The same voice calls, "There they are! Kill them, quick!"
I don't dare turn around.
Impa brings me in close.
She shields me.
The door is only a few feet away.
I hear the whistle of arrows above me.
Then…
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"Oh Goddesses, no!" Cries my father.
I break free of Impa.
I turn to look at my parents.
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My father is desperately trying to keep my mother standing.
She's swaying all over.
Three long arrows jut out her chest.
Blood dribbles out her mouth.
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My eyes widen.
She's…
She's… going to die.
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Impa picks me up.
She puts me over her shoulder.
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No.
No I don't want to leave.
I can't leave her.
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I reach out my arm.
I scream out.
An arrow narrowly misses my head.
My father looks up.
He begins to drag my mother towards the door.
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Impa opens the door.
We go inside.
We're in the stables.
My father grabs the door frame.
He's still clutching Mother.
Then,
He looks at me.
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He looks at me with one look that explains everything…
This is best for you.
I'm sorry.
You know what I have to do.
…Goodbye…
…
All in just one look.
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"NO!" I shriek.
I know what he's going to do.
Please don't do it.
Please.
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My father puts his hand on his sword hilt.
He grabs the door.
He slams it shut.
Impa and I are all alone.
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"NO!" I scram again, "No, Daddy! Mother!"
Hot tears run down my face.
Impa carries me over to a horse.
I kick and try to run to the door.
But she stops me.
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Why?
Why did my father just leave?
I can't believe it…
I don't want to..
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Impa pushes me on the horse.
She mounts it herself.
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Everything around me seems to move in slow motion.
I don't care anymore.
I don't have anything to care about..
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The door bulges as the Gerudo try to push through.
Impa's hands pull the reins of our horse.
We run out from the stables.
…
But nothing matters.
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We speed through the market place.
Thick sheets of rain pound down on me.
All the people point at us.
It's too late for any horse to pass through here.
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I turn my head.
On top of the hill I can see the castle.
It's burning.
An orange glow envelops the town.
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Then I see someone silhouetted against the fiery castle.
Riding a black horse.
I see him coming closer.
I know who it is.
Ganondorf.
…
Then my dream was right.
How I wish it wasn't.
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He's chasing us.
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Impa guides the horse to the draw bridge.
The tower guard spots us.
It's begins to tilt down.
Our horse runs across the wooden bridge.
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We run out into the field.
We pass someone.
An eerie feeling passes over me…
Like we should have stopped to talk to him.
Awkwardly, I turn on the horse.
A flash of lightening illuminates his face.
It's Link.
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Why would he have come?
…
He must have finished collecting all the stones!
Then…
Then he's my only hope now.
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I dig into the bag I had prepared earlier.
I knew that Link would be coming soon…
So I got the ocarina ready.
Then, when he gave me the stones…
I could do the rest.
But now…
Now that this…
I don't think I'll be able to.
.
I need to let him do it instead.
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I pull out the ocarina.
I throw it across to him.
It lands in the moat.
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My task is done for now.
The motion of the horse makes me feel sick.
That tied with…
With Mother and Father…
I just want to go to sleep.
I just want to forget all this…
I just want it to be a dream.
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My eyelids become heavy.
I don't mind that I'm falling asleep.
Impa's arms are around me so I won't fall off.
I let me eyes close so I can be in peace.
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Strange dreams haunt me.
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I'm in the Temple of Time.
I'm giving instructions…
But to who?
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I see a face.
Cold eyes.
A young boy.
Then…
A tall man.
He has the same eyes.
Cold.
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Then all goes black.
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I wake with a jerk.
I look around me.
The peeling walls of a house surround me.
I'm laying on a pile of hay.
"Impa?" I call, "Impa, where am I?"
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Realization hits me.
My memory kicks in.
Everything that happened comes rushing back to me.
Tears fill my eyes.
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"Impa?" I ask again.
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Impa opens a decaying door.
She steps inside.
She looks down at me with pity.
"My girl, we are at Lake Hylia." She explains, "I was able to find this… lovely establishment for us."
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"Well, I'm glad I won't have to stay here for long." I say, "We have to get back to the castle. Arrange the Hylian army. We have to take back the castle."
Despite my mood,
I know that I am now the ruler of this country.
I have to make the decisions now.
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"We… can't go back. Not now." Says Impa.
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"Why?"
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"Because our army was killed… We have no forces. Ganondorf has hold of the castle." She tells me.
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I shake my head in disbelief.
We have to go back…
That's my home.
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"Instead, we can help here. After we collect all the sages, we can overtake the castle again. That should only take a few weeks now."
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I smile at this.
At least there was some good news.
With all the sages, Ganondorf could be gotten rid of and sealed away.
I want so badly for him to suffer...
After he betrayed my father.
"Right then… A few weeks it is. Let's get going." I say, motivated.
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Impa sighs.
"It won't be easy, my child, but I think we can manage. All right, first off… give me the ocarina please."
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My face falls.
I bring my hands together.
"Er…" I say.
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"What?" Says Impa, "You didn't leave it in the castle did you?"
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"No… I…"
How was I going to explain to Impa that I threw it to Link?
"I… gave it to Link."
I brace myself.
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Impa pauses.
"That ocarina was the only chance we had." Say Impa calmly.
It's much worse than her yelling at me.
I wish she would just yell.
But she looks at me as though to say;
'How could you have ever done such a stupid thing?'
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"What do we do now then?" I ask.
I feel the tears returning to my eyes.
I quickly wipe them.
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I watch Impa's face twist in thought.
She raises her hand to her mouth.
She paces across the ancient floor boards.
She turns and looks at me.
Her eyes jump about as though she were suspicious of something.
I become nervous.
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Silence.
Silence.
Creaking floor boards.
Silence.
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Impa licks her lips.
"We have to hide, child."
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Hide?
After all that,
We have to hide?
I stare at her, offended.
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"Because we no longer have the ocarina, we have to let its new holder do his job. We must wait for him to finish. In the meantime, it is unsafe for you to walk around like that. You will be hunted and killed." Impa says.
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"What do you suggest then?" I ask.
I don't know whether I like the idea of doing nothing…
But if I have to…
I guess I can handle it.
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"A disguise." Says Impa, "You need to disguise yourself."
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Oh.
All right then.
I guess that's fine.
I nod.
"Fine. That's all right. Just get me some old robes and I'll live in town… blend in." I say.
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"Not good enough." Impa says, "We need something better then that. That's too… predictable."
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My brow furrows.
Like what?
I can't think of anything better than that.
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Impa begins to pace again.
"I had a vision that this would happen." She says to me.
I begin to feel unnerved.
I know she has something big planned now.
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She continues on.
"I knew that soon I would need to teach you more than just manners."
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My brow furrows even more.
"Impa?" I ask, "What are you getting at?"
I'm beginning to get suspicious.
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"Zelda, my dear, I think that we'll be hiding for quite some time." She says.
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"No we won't be." I say, "Link will finish this soon."
I know he will.
I've trusted him so far.
And he hasn't failed yet.
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"All the same." Impa continues, "It will be a long time to wait. It is not safe for you- or any other girl for that matter- to walk the streets and land. Ganondorf will stop at nothing to kill the heir. That is why you must alter your entire self."
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My eyes widen.
What did she mean?
"How?"
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Impa looks at me.
Her red eyes flash.
"You need to become a boy."
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What?
Ew.
That's gross.
I don't want to be a boy.
Besides, how do you do that?
"Impa, don't be silly." I say with a nervous laugh, "I can't just become a boy."
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Impa sits down beside me.
She takes my hand in hers.
"It takes some very advanced magic to alter your appearance. But I'll teach it to you . You should be able to do it soon enough. And until then, we'll have to pretend."
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"But I don't want to!" I say, shocked.
There has to be another way!
I can't…
It's not possible…
I don't want to.
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Impa fishes into her pack.
She draws out a length of bandage.
"Remove your veil, girl." She tells me.
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Slowly,
I raise my hands and take off the white and pink cloth.
I don't want to do this.
My blond hair falls to my shoulders.
Impa quickly scoops it up.
She begins to wrap the bandage around my head.
Like a turban.
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My fringe hangs down into my eyes.
Impa tightens the bandages.
I look at her through the mass of hair covering my face.
Impa casts over me.
She whips out a knife.
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I shift backwards.
"It's all right, girl." She says, "Your hair's a bit long… That's all."
She raises the knife.
She roughly saws away at my hair.
An uneven line of blond stretches just underneath my eyes.
I wince at the hair laying on the floor.
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"Dress off, please." Impa commands.
I take off the silky pink dress.
I shiver in my underwear dress.
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Impa begins to wrap the bandages around my chest.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
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"Boys don't have breasts." Impa says shortly.
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"I don't either, Impa, I'm only ten." I say.
Is she blind?
What the point?
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"Just for now. Until you get the hang of the magic." She says.
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She digs into her pack again.
"Goddesses, we're lucky that I brought these. I knew somehow that we'd need them"
She pulls out strange looking clothes.
They're blue and very small.
She pushes them into my hands.
"Put these on."
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I take the clothes.
How…?
I've never dressed myself before.
The servants always do it for me.
I shake the clothes a bit.
How do I put this on?
It's not even a dress.
They're pants!
"Impa… how do I work these. I've never gotten dressed before."
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Impa smiles weakly.
"Now's a good time to learn." She says.
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I put my legs in where I think they should go.
This grab is unusually tight.
I put my arms through the sleeves.
Again… tight fit.
I straighten it as best I can.
I feel so uncomfortable.
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Impa forces what looks to be a bag over my head.
It covers the lower part of my face…
Like a mask.
I feel hot.
And stupid.
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"How do I look?" I ask.
My voice is somewhat muffled by the mask.
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Impa eyes me over.
"Like a boy… A Sheikah boy." She says proudly.
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I try to make myself comfortable.
But I can't.
I sigh.
"This is ludicrous, Impa. These clothes are the worst things I've ever worn. How's the Princess of Hyrule supposed to rule her country, if she's in disguise?" I demand.
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"Firstly, you better get used to those clothes, mister." Impa states, "Secondly, you are no longer Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. You are a survivor of the Sheikah… your name is Sheik. You are my grandson… Got it?"
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Sheik?
What kind of a name is that?
Why do we have to go so far in detail for a disguise?
Why do I have to be a boy?
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"Yes." I say shortly.
I don't bother to hide the dislike in my voice.
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"Right then. Sheik, we need something for dinner. I think it's about time you learnt how to fish, young man." She tells me.
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With that,
We walk out of the house.
It's so weird not wearing a dress…
But…
I'm a Sheikah now…
A Sheikah boy.
And a boy would not complain about not wearing a dress.
.
I just hope Link gets a move on.
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Ta da! I like how incredibly long this chappy is. Well, read and review please!