"Why are you going that way?" Seraphina asked. She stood at the crossroads and pointed at the sign. "We have to go north, right?"

"We're not going north," the cloaked Sheikah answered, already walking away from her.

"But if we go north, we can go to my brother," she insisted. However, she followed the man south regardless, not wanting to lose him. "Percy will keep us safe."

"Your brother is probably dead by now," Sheik told her bluntly.

Seraphina gasped, stopping in her path for a moment. "He is not!" she insisted, running to catch up with him. "Percy is strong. And he has a magic sword. He's famous throughout the land."

"Really? I didn't even know we had two princes."

"Why are you so mean?" Seraphina whined, already close to tears again.

"Shut up."

That seemed to be Sheik's favorite two-word phrase. Seraphina had heard him say it another dozen times since they'd crossed Orsedd Bridge. Even though he'd saved her life, he didn't seem to like her very much. However, despite being grateful to him, she did not find his company particularly pleasant either.

"If we're not going to my brother, then where are we going?" Seraphina asked innocently, trying to ask him in a way that wouldn't make him angry.

"This way," Sheik said simply.

"Hmf." Seraphina pouted, toying with her newly-shortened hair in frustration. "Why did you have to cut my hair?" she asked. "Isn't it enough that it's white now?"

"I could cut it even shorter," Sheik suggested, pulling his cloak back to flash his knife. "You'll look even less like yourself if you look like a boy."

The disguised princess made another noise of disapproval, kicking a rock out of her way as she walked. She stayed quiet for a minute, but could not stop herself from talking. "What's your name?"

"Sheik," the man repeated.

"What's your real name?" Seraphina restated, annoyed that he was dodging the question.

"Eryck," Sheik replied.

The princess was surprised that he answered so easily. "Eryck?"

Sheik ran his hand over his face and through his hair. In an instant, he was a blond Hylian man with a long face. "Eryck," he repeated, his voice having changed suddenly. However, he soon changed his face again, becoming a middle-aged man with brown hair. "Or how about Quince?"

"What?" Seraphina was confused. She never felt like she understood anything when she talked to him.

"I could be Ozunda," he said, changing into a round-eared man with a mustache. "I was Ozunda for longer than usual last time. Or how about-"

"Stop!" Seraphina shouted. Seeing him change into different people like that was extremely unsettling for some reason. "Who are you?"

The round-eared man changed back into his earlier Sheikah guise. "We're nobody. That's the point of us. We are Sheik."

"But you must be someone," Seraphina insisted. "You must have a real name. What do your parents call you?"

"Same thing yours do now."

Seraphina stopped walking. She knew enough to understand what Sheik had meant by that. Remembering her father's face, and the portraits of her mother that she liked to stare at in the castle, her eyes began to water and her lips trembled. Moments like this had always been when she could count on Jeanne to give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay, but Jeanne wasn't there either.

As if to make a point, Sheik just kept walking, leaving her standing there on the verge of tears. She kept expecting him to stop and turn around, but he didn't. She considered turning around herself and going the other way, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Eventually, she gave in, chasing after Sheik until she'd caught back up with him.

They walked in silence for a while after that. Sheik had shown time and time again that he had no interest in speaking with her, and Seraphina was scared that anything she'd say would make him say something cruel again. However, as their journey progressed, she began to feel the fatigue setting in, and her feet were as sore as they'd ever been.

"Can we stop to rest soon?" Seraphina inquired. "We walked all night. I need to sleep."

Sheik did not respond for a moment. "Sleeping during the day will be a good idea. At least until we get out of the wilds. There is always more undead at night after the Blood Moon, and we don't want to get caught off guard."

Seraphina gave him a weary smile, somewhat surprised and somewhat relieved he'd given her a real answer without yelling at her. "So, yes? We can stop?"

"Not yet," Sheik replied. "We need to put some more ground between us and the capital."

Seraphina still had trouble wrapping her head around the idea that her home was no longer safe for her. Sheik had told her that her friends were the ones who wanted to harm her, and that she could trust no one.

But how? Why? Why are they doing this?

In the distance, Seraphina spotted three people on horseback coming over the hill further down the road. Having seen nobody else except a number of undead monsters since crossing the Hylia River, the princess was happy to see anyone at all. "Look!" she said aloud. However, before she could ask if they could talk to them, she felt herself being grabbed and lifted off of the ground. With Seraphina in his grip, Sheik dove into the nearest bush off to the side of the road.

The princess felt her heart racing, already frightened after being suddenly manhandled like that. She wanted to ask why they were hiding, but Sheik's hand was firmly clamped over her mouth.

Is it more of the traitors? Are they looking for me?

The three riders had been far away when Seraphina spotted them, so she and Sheik ended up hiding in the bush for several minutes. Seraphina's heart rate increased again when she heard the sound of horse hooves walking along the road, passing close by them. She did not hear any talking, so she had no way of knowing who they were or what they were doing.

Eventually, the riders passed without incident. Sheik still held Seraphina within the bush for several more minutes, waiting until they were further away before standing back up. "Who was that?" Seraphina asked nervously, still whispering in case someone might hear them.

"I don't know," Sheik replied, stepping closer to the road as he glanced about cautiously.

"You don't know?" the princess repeated. "Then why did we hide from them?"

Sheik looked at her like she was an idiot, which caused her to shrink under his gaze. "I was hoping there would be no one on the roads the day after the Blood Moon," he stated, ignoring her question. He looked around again, as if searching for something, eventually settling his gaze on the trees to the southeast. The treeline was flanked on either side by rocky cliffs, as if it was the entrance to a hidden, forested alcove. "We'll cut through there," he declared, pointing in the direction of the woods.

"Through there?" Seraphina asked. "But there are monsters in there." Jeanne had always told her to avoid certain places. Forests were one of them. Anywhere that had not been settled by Children of Nayru could have easily been the den of a monster just waiting to eat her.

"Monsters are safer than people right now." Sheik spoke with a kind of defeated indifference. Despite their dire circumstances, it was as if he were more irritated and tired than afraid. "Let's hurry. We should find a place to sleep for a few hours, then get moving again before sundown."

Although she was afraid of running into monsters in the woods, Seraphina was relieved to hear that. "Good idea," she said happily. "I need a nap."

The two of them continued down the road for a while longer before veering off of the road, heading for the treeline. The woods were at the foot of Mount Crenel, which Seraphina did not know much about. She'd heard there was some sort of temple up there, and that monsters lived all over the mountain, but that was about it. She was glad she didn't have to climb it, since they seemed to be going south still.

As they entered the forest, Seraphina was startled by a sudden rustling in a nearby bush, just before a small creature ran out of it. "Eek!" the princess shrieked, latching onto Sheik. However, a moment later, she realized the small creature was merely a squirrel. Sheik growled in annoyance, but Seraphina didn't notice. "Squirrel!" she shouted happily, letting go of the Sheikah and moving closer to observe. The squirrel was nibbling on something, which made Seraphina want to feed it. "Have we any food?"

Sheik ignored her and walked further into the woods.

"Hey! Wait!" The princess quickly followed after him, waving goodbye to the squirrel as she left.

"I never get to play with animals in the wild," Seraphina explained. "We keep dogs and horses in the castle. And there is a zoo in the city I like to go to. But Jeanne rarely let me play in the woods."

"Because she knew the monsters would eat you?"

Seraphina shivered, suddenly remembering they were someplace that was supposed to be scary. "But there aren't any monsters here," she said. "Just cute squirrels. And birds! Look!" The princess spotted a pair of colorful birds sitting on the branch of a tree. Excitedly, she skipped over to the tree and attempted to make a sound like a bird chirping. The birds tilted their heads, and after a pause, chirped back. Seraphina gasped. "Did you hear that, Sheik?" Looking behind her, she did not see him. "Sheik?" For a split second, she felt panicked, but she soon spotted him further into the woods, walking away from her. "Hey! Wait!"

The princess had to climb over a fallen log to chase him. She ended up tearing her clothing a little and getting it even dirtier than it already was, but she soon caught up with Sheik. "Why do you keep doing that?" she asked in frustration.

"Doing what?" Sheik asked without breaking his stride.

"Leaving me behind."

"You're still here, aren't you?"

Seraphina groaned in annoyance, but didn't have anything to say in response. She began to miss Jeanne even more. Jeanne hardly ever let the princess out of her sight. Seraphina always knew she could stop to watch a squirrel or sing to a bird for a moment if she wanted to, and Jeanne would stand behind her patiently, always watching her back. The idea of Jeanne abandoning her or walking away never entered her mind.

Why can't he be more like her?

"Can we stop walking now?" Seraphina asked. "I'm so tired."

"We need to find a good place to hide," Sheik explained. "A hunting lodge, a cave, a giant hollowed-out tree; anything like that."

"Okay," Seraphina nodded, looking around. "What about that tree?" she asked, pointing to her left.

Sheik looked. "What about it?"

"We could climb up in the branches," the princess explained. "There's so many leaves, no one would ever see us."

"That might work for you, but you're small," Sheik replied. "I'm not."

"Can't you make yourself smaller?"

Sheik stopped and turned around, a look of confusion on his face. "What?"

"You know. With your face-changing magic." Seraphina waved her hand over her face to demonstrate what she was talking about. "Couldn't you just turn yourself into a kid like me?"

"Oh." Sheik sighed, realizing what her mistake was. "No. I can't. I could make myself look like a kid, but the illusion would be broken the second anyone interacted with me and realized my body proportions don't add up with what I'm doing."

Seraphina stared at him blankly, not quite understanding what he meant.

He sighed again. "It doesn't matter. It wouldn't work here either way. Even if I looked small, I'd still be heavy. The tree branches would break."

"Oh." Seraphina smiled and nodded. "I get it."

I think.

They continued through the wooded alcove for some time after that, sticking close to the rocky wall along the west end of it to keep an eye out for caves. Seraphina had the thought that a cave might be a bad idea since that was where monsters liked to hide, but she was too tired to think about it much or voice a complaint.

"There," Sheik said eventually, pointing at the cliff face.

Seraphina squinted until she spotted what he was referring to. There was a small opening in the rock, partially covered by the bushes growing outside of it. "Great!" the princess said, excitedly stepping forward to head inside.

"Wait, you idiot," Sheik said, grabbing her by the collar to stop her. "Wait here. I'll check inside first. As if preparing for battle, Sheik pulled his face covering up over his mouth and nose, then pulled out one of his daggers.

"Be careful," Seraphina said worriedly as she watched him creep towards the cave. Making absolutely no noise as he stalked towards his target, Sheik slipped into the mouth of the cave, disappearing from sight. Realizing she was standing out in the open, Seraphina went to hide behind a tree while she waited, hoping it would make her harder to spot in case a monster came along while she and Sheik were separated.

This situation was not exactly new to Seraphina. On several occasions, Jeanne would insist on going ahead of the princess for a brief period of time to make sure the area was safe. She understood why it had to happen, but it still scared her sometimes. Seraphina was very rarely left alone, but Jeanne had always come back.

Will she come back this time?

"Awooooo!"

Seraphina flinched and ducked further behind the tree, startled by the sudden sound of a wolf howling. It had come from within the cave.

"...Sheik?" the princess called out cautiously.

She flinched again when the sounds of a struggle spilled out of the cave. There was growling and snarling, and grunts of pain from Sheik. Seraphina began to panic, and images of Jeanne battling against the soldiers in Hyrule Castle flashed before her eyes.

No! Not again!

The princess fell to her knees and curled up in a ball, covering her ears until it was over.

After a minute, she cautiously lifted her hands from her ears and noticed the sounds had stopped. Still shaking, Seraphina peeked out from behind the tree once more.

"...Sheik?" she whispered weakly, much too quietly for him to ever hear. She felt tense as she waited, unsure if the Sheikah man would ever come back out.

The princess yelped when she saw a figure emerge from the cave. She thought it was a monster at first, but then she realized it was Sheik carrying the corpse of the monster. Apparently, there had been a Wolfos in the cave. Sheik had killed it, and he was now hauling it out of the cave, carrying its top half over his shoulders while the bottom half dragged across the ground.

"Ugh…" the Sheikah man grunted. "Damn… beast…"

"Sheik!" Seraphina ran to him, relieved he was alive.

"Make yourself useful!" he commanded. "We need to dump this thing further into the woods so it doesn't attract scavengers."

"R-Right." Seraphina hurried to obey, although she wouldn't be much help. She grabbed hold of the dead monster from the back, but with her frail body, she was barely able to lift it at all.

Nonetheless, the two of them dragged it a fair distance from the cave where Sheik dropped it onto the ground. Seraphina got a good look at the Sheikah for the first time since he'd come back out. "Oh, Hylia," the princess said with concern. "You're hurt."

Sheik was covered in blood, although a good deal of it may have been the monster's. There were claw marks all across his arms and torso, however, and his clothing was well torn. "Yes, I am," he said dryly, as if annoyed at her for stating the obvious.

"Let me heal you," Seraphina insisted. She placed her hand on his wounded chest, emitting a brilliant light as she called upon the spell.

"Stop that." Sheik slapped her hand away.

Seraphina flinched, surprised by his reaction. "What?" she asked in confusion. However, Sheik provided no response. Unsure what else to do, she put her hand on him once more. "I need to heal you," she insisted.

Sheik did not refuse her help the second time. Almost begrudgingly, he stood still while Seraphina closed her eyes and prayed, enveloping the affected areas in a healing light. When his torso was no longer bleeding, the princess moved on to Sheik's arms, closing his wounds one by one.

"There," Seraphina said, smiling contentedly. "I'm glad you're okay."

Sheik's reaction was difficult to read. Seraphina had healed many people of their injuries in her short life. No matter how minor or severe their wounds, they were always grateful. And yet, Sheik had the same reaction he seemed to have with everything else. It was as if having Seraphina heal him were in some way bothersome.

"We're going back to the cave," he said, walking past her without commenting on the magic she'd just performed.

"...Okay." She hurried after him, wiping the blood off of her hands along the way.

Seraphina thought she would have trouble sleeping in a cave. She was used to traveling with a retinue whenever she journeyed elsewhere from the castle. At night, she would get to sleep in a warm bed in a nice tent in the middle of a well-defended camp. She would even get to take a nice relaxing rose bath after a long day of traveling. Sleeping on the cold, hard ground in a dark woodland cave was a completely new experience for her. And yet, she was so tired, she managed to fall asleep in minutes.

She'd been a bit worried about more monsters coming into the cave while they slept, but Sheik assured her they would be fine since it was daytime. He also took the precaution of covering the cave entrance with some foliage, and according to him, those in his 'profession' were trained to be light sleepers, so he would wake up at the slightest hint of a threat.

Her dreams were quite pleasant somehow. She dreamt she was in the gardens of Hyrule Castle, playing with Sabah. The Gerudo princess had never actually been there, but Seraphina had wished to show her around the castle one day. Jeanne was there, too, watching them play together. At one point, while the two princesses were wrestling on the ground, Jeanne walked over and put her hand on Seraphina, shaking her.

"Wake up."

The princess opened her eyes to find Sheik's face in front of hers. "Hmm. What?" Seraphina asked groggily.

"Time to keep moving."

The princess shook her head, shutting her eyes again. "I'm still tired," she whined, rolling over onto her side. "Can't we go later?"

"It will be dark soon," Sheik insisted. "You wanna be here when all the monsters come out?"

Seraphina sat up, suddenly worried. "Wait. There are monsters here?"

Sheik rolled his eyes. "Just get up." He grabbed the princess by the arm and yanked her to her feet, pulling her along.

Seraphina rubbed her eyes when they stepped out of the cave. The sun was well past its highest point in the sky, but it was still brighter than in the cave. She groaned in discomfort, wishing she were still asleep.

"We need to get out of these woods before sundown," Sheik reiterated. "And we want the sun to set by the time we get over the hill."

"Why?" the princess asked, her hand still clasped in Sheik's as he led her through the forest.

"The route we're gonna take cuts pretty close to Moor Garrison. We don't want to get spotted by any patrols."

Most of that went over Seraphina's head. She knew a garrison was a place where soldiers lived, but she didn't know there was one nearby, nor was she certain avoiding it was the correct thing to do. Nonetheless, she had to trust Sheik, and she was too tired to think for herself at the moment anyway.

After walking for some time, Seraphina and Sheik came across a pond on the edge of the forest. The water looked refreshing, and the flowers growing around it were so pretty. "Can I go for a swim?" the princess asked. "I could really use a bath."

"We don't have time for that," Sheik insisted. "Just splash some water in your face. That will wake you up." As if to demonstrate, Sheik knelt down by the water's edge, put his hands in the water, and purposefully splashed it upwards into his face.

Seraphina knelt down next to him, intending to do the same. When she saw her reflection, she gasped in surprise, not recognizing the strange, short-haired Sheikah girl staring back at her. "Oh," she said after a second, remembering the illusion spell Sheik had placed on her.

"You get used to it," Sheik told her. Without waiting for a response, he reached over and splashed some water into her face.

"Ah! Hey!" Seraphina complained, stumbling backwards as she raised her hands to protect herself. "That was mean," she said, pouting.

"But you're awake now." Sheik grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back to her feet. "Now come on. We need to keep moving."

Seraphina obediently followed him, but the face of the Sheikah girl in the water still bothered her. "How can you stand it? Not being you?" she asked, looking at her hands as if she expected them to look different as well. "Isn't it kind of… scary?"

Sheik scoffed. "I'm sure not being you anymore is terrifying, princess," he said, his voice dripping with bitterness. "But some of us were born nobody, so it's not like we're throwing away much."

The princess had no idea how to respond to something like that. Her cheeks burned with shame. She didn't fully understand it, but she could tell Sheik was mad at her for something. "I'm sorry," she said after a moment.

Sheik kept his eyes forward. He grunted in acknowledgement. "It doesn't matter." It was hard to tell, but from his tone, he seemed a bit ashamed of himself, too.

Why don't I understand anything he says?

Upon exiting the forest, Seraphina and Sheik next had to climb over a large hill. It was quite steep, and at certain points, they had to climb rocky cliff faces. The young princess, frail as she was, struggled with this part of the journey, which seemed to get on Sheik's nerves. Regardless, her constant apologies also seemed to get on his nerves, so she learned to stay silent until they reached the top.

By the time they'd made it over the hill and were on their way down the other side, the sun had set. The slope was a lot gentler on the way down, so it was not as strenuous, but they had to keep an eye out for monsters.

"So, where are we going?" Seraphina asked, trying to watch her step as she climbed down the hill, the path illuminated only by the light of the moon. "You said we weren't going to my brother, but you didn't say where we were going."

"Keep your voice down," Sheik said in a hushed growl.

"Okay," she whispered back. "But where are we going?"

"You don't think there's a reason I'm not telling you?" Sheik asked. As he spoke, he stepped closer to her. His head darted around, as if searching for some unseen foe.

Seraphina started to feel worried. "Are we…" she began before stopping to lower her voice. "Is someone following us?"

"No," Sheik said, shaking his head. "Not yet, anyway. But the second anyone sees us, we may be in danger."

"But why would-?" Before Seraphina could finish her sentence, she felt something grabbing onto her ankle, which caused her to trip and fall, landing face down in the grass. "Ow! What-?" Turning over, she saw a skeletal arm popping out of the ground, still gripping her tightly. Immediately terrified, she let out a high-pitched shriek.

Sheik quickly stomped his boot down on the skeleton's wrist, snapping it like a twig. Now free, Seraphina scooted backwards to get away from it. However, the skeletal hand remained firmly on her ankle, so she kept screaming.

"Shut up!" Sheik shouted, stomping on the arm again.

"It's got me!" Seraphina shouted, wanting Sheik to pull it off of her. However, Sheik was busy with the Stalfos. Another arm burst out of the ground, sending clumps of dirt flying. Clawing at the grass with its one remaining arm, the monster soon managed to pull its head up above the ground as well. The skull turned towards the princess, its empty eye sockets lighting up with an eerie red light. Seraphia screamed again.

Sheik raised his foot, then swiftly brought it down in an axe kick motion, crushing the Stalfos's skull. Pieces of bone splattered across the ground. Its arms stopped moving, and the hand on Seraphina's leg finally released its grip on her.

It was all over in a few seconds. Seraphina was left panting, still terrified. "Thank you," she told Sheik, grateful that he had once again saved her.

"Quiet," the Sheikah man insisted, grabbing her by the arm to pull her to her feet. "Next time, keep your-"

"Is there somebody out there?"

Seraphina jumped at the sound of someone else's voice calling out to them. Through the darkness, she could see the light of a torch growing brighter as it came up the hill. "Someone's coming," she stated.

"Stay close to me," Sheik ordered. "Your name is Sheik. Don't speak unless I tell you to."

Seraphina grew frightened at how serious he sounded. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself closer to him. To her surprise, he let his cloak drape over her, covering her slightly. When the torch got close enough, the princess could see there were four men dressed like soldiers. Sheik had mentioned a garrison being nearby, so they had probably come from there.

"Are you folks alright?" the soldier at the front of the group asked. "We heard screaming."

"We're alright now," Sheik replied. He turned and gestured to the shattered bones of the undead creature he'd just killed. "We were startled by that Stalfos when it climbed up out of the ground, but I took care of it."

The soldier with the torch came closer for a better look. "Ooh. Nasty thing, that one," he said. "Good on you for ridding us of it."

"Definitely not safe being out here after dark so soon after the Blood Moon," another guard commented. "What were you thinking?"

"We were meant to be in Goponga before nightfall," Sheik explained matter-of-factly. "We just got a little lost."

"Wow. Boy did you pick the wrong time to get lost," the guard with the torch commented, laughing.

"Goponga's still quite a walk from here, and you'd have to cross the sandbar," one of the other guards said. "Why don't you come back to the garrison with us? We can spare you a room for the night."

"The offer is appreciated, but that won't be necessary," Sheik replied. "We really need to get there soon. We'll just keep an eye out for monsters along the way."

"Now hold on just a minute." The man who appeared to be in charge held out his hand before they could go anywhere. He looked down at Seraphina, which made her grip Sheik tighter. "Are you alright, little miss?" he asked.

Remembering Sheik's orders, the princess simply nodded.

"The Stalfos grabbed her leg," Sheik told him. "It only scared her. She was not harmed."

"This your brother?" the guard captain asked her.

Without thinking, Seraphina nodded again.

"Why don't you step away from him for a minute?" he suggested. "I wanna ask you a couple questions."

Seraphina looked to Sheik, hoping he would tell her what to do. She noticed his hand reaching for his knife. Thinking quickly, she grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. He shot her an annoyed look, so she pleaded with him silently.

Please don't hurt them.

The princess nodded to the guard captain. Hoping she'd got her message across to Sheik, she let go of his hand and stepped away from him.

"What do you want?" Sheik asked.

The guard captain gestured for one of his men to step between him and Sheik. "I do apologize if this offends you, stranger, but when I see a man sneaking around at night and bringing a little girl with him, I get a little suspicious about his intentions. I just wanna make sure there's nothing going on here."

"Excuse me?" Sheik said, shooting the man a death glare. One of the guards drew his sword.

"No!" Seraphina said loudly, drawing everyone's attention to her. "He's my brother," she insisted.

"It's alright," the guard captain said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's your name, little miss?" he asked.

Seraphina opened her mouth, then hesitated. "Sheik," she replied. Every part of her felt sick as she lied about something as simple as her name, but she wanted to do what Sheik had told her.

The man nodded understandingly. "Alright. You don't need to tell me. But if he has done anything bad to you, I need to know so we can help you. Okay?"

"He hasn't," Seraphina said. "My brother helped me."

The guards all exchanged looks. Seraphina got the sense that they could tell she was lying in some way, but they weren't sure how or why.

"Satisfied?" Sheik asked, still glaring at the guards.

There was another moment of hesitation, but the captain relented. He nodded to his men, who sheathed their swords and stepped out of the way. Seraphina immediately ran back to Sheik, clamping her arms around him.

The guard with the torch laughed. "He's her brother, alright. My kid sister's the same way."

"My apologies, travelers," the captain said. "But still, I must insist you return with us to Moor. It's too dangerous for folks like you to travel alone at night like this."

"Thank you, sir," Seraphina said, taking her hands off of Sheik. "We would be honored to accept your hospitality." Even as she said it, she could feel Sheik's glare on the back of her head. But, as far as she could tell, these people were just going to keep insisting until either she accepted or Sheik harmed them.

I don't want that.

"Splendid," the guard captain said. "Let's be on our way, then."

The wind howled as they walked along the road. The guard carrying the torch led the way, taking them closer to the garrison. The other guards walked alongside them, attentively searching for monsters or other people. Seraphina was glad she and Sheik had run into them. They seemed like kind folk who were genuinely concerned for their safety, like the guards who had helped her get from Hyrule Castle to the Light Temple on the night of the Blood Moon.

However, Sheik seemed unconvinced. He was still paranoid that everyone they bumped into could be a part of the conspiracy that was trying to kill her. He knew way more about it than Seraphina did, so she had no idea how justified his suspicions were. Still, it seemed rude to be so suspicious of these friendly people.

"Are you still getting a lot of monster attacks in the area?" Sheik asked, sounding almost casual about it.

"You bet," one of the guards replied. "It's always this bad right after the Blood Moon. We'll probably hit at least six or seven clusters of Stalfos every night for the next month or so."

Seraphina shuddered and moved closer to Sheik. "Are we almost there?" she asked nervously.

"Don't worry, little one," the captain assured her. "We're not far now. If any more monsters appear, we will protect the two of you. That's our job."

Seraphina smiled. "Thank you." She looked up at Sheik, wondering what his plan would be if there was a monster attack. Would he join them in the fight, or attempt to conceal that he knew how? However, he did not seem to have any hints to give her. At the moment, he was staring intently at the guard with the torch.

I hope he's not thinking of hurting him or something.

"So, why are you headed to Goponga?" a guard asked.

"That's our business," Sheik said defensively.

The guard looked insulted, then shot a questioning look towards Seraphina. She did not wish to have the question directed at her now that Sheik had refused to answer. She'd never been good at lying, and she did not wish to upset Sheik by giving a different answer than he did anyway. So, she quickly clung to Sheik's side, hiding her face from the guard in the hope that he would drop the subject.

Sheik did not seem to notice or care. He was still eying the guards suspiciously, although Seraphina could not tell if it was because he was still wary of them or because he was planning something.

"What are you doing?" Seraphina whispered to him.

However, he said nothing.

For a short while, their walk proceeded without incident. The guards gave up on trying to ask Seraphina and Sheik any questions, so they began casually chatting amongst themselves instead. The atmosphere became less tense, and Seraphina was able to relax a little, despite Sheik's suspicious behavior.

"You think we can pop over to Mercay tomorrow?" one of the guards asked, stretching his arms over his head. "Maybe go to that game house for a bit. We could use a break."

"Don't even think about it," the captain replied. "This is not the time for days off."

"I don't mean all day," the other guard tried to bargain. "I just mean for-"

"Duck!"

Seraphina jumped at the sound of the guard behind her yelling all of a sudden. Before she could react, Sheik had shoved her to the ground, falling on top of her. It was difficult to see from her position, but the sound was unmistakable. Hundreds upon hundreds of leathery wings flapped noisily as a swarm of Keese passed over them. Seraphina poked her head out to see, only to duck back down when she saw the shadow of something larger within the swarm.

A few moments later, the six of them stood back up. The dark cloud of tiny bat monsters flew higher into the sky, then began to change direction.

"They didn't attack us," one of the guards commented.

"They're coming back around," the captain pointed out. "Everyone, torches and swords. Now!" He and two of his men were quick to obey. Each of them that wasn't holding a torch took one out and quickly lit it.

"What's the big deal?" the first guard asked. "It's just Keese."

"It's not just Keese," Sheik corrected.

"Huh?"

The Keese swarm had fully changed course now, coming straight towards them once again. As the bat monsters shifted position, Seraphina could make out something in the middle of the cloud of wings. It was as large as a person and had arms and legs, but it had bat wings extending from its back, and the rest of its bloated body's features were distinctly bat-like as well.

"A Vire?" the guard at the front of the group said, sounding frightened. "What the hell's a Vire doing outdoors?"

"The Blood Moon was last night," another guard reminded him, finally getting his torch to light. "It fucks with monsters in all kinds of ways."

"Should we run?"

"No chance. They're too fast, and we've got nowhere to hide."

"Stay behind us, civilians," the captain ordered, facing Sheik and Seraphina. "With any luck, our torches will scare them off."

Seraphina was shaking now, clutching onto Sheik tightly. She looked up at him, pleading for him to help. She'd been in the room when he fought monsters before. She knew he could help. However, he just stood there, staring into the approaching cloud of bat monsters. "Sheik…" she said, nearly in tears.

The flapping of the leathery wings got louder and louder. The swarm would be upon them in seconds. "For Hyrule!" the captain shouted, with his men joining in on the cheer.

Seraphina shut her eyes. She felt Sheik wrap his arms around her. Suddenly, she felt a familiar, odd sensation.

A moment later, the princess could feel water around her ankles. The sounds that had been all around them moments ago had ceased. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a completely different environment. All around her were wetlands. Her feet sank into a bed of sand covered by a layer of shallow water. Trees and bushes sprung up from little islands sticking out of the water, and behind Sheik, she could see the 'shoreline' of the mainland.

"What?" Seraphina asked in confusion.

Sheik fell to one knee, clutching his side.

"Sheik! What happened? Where are the others? The monsters? Where are we?"

"I shadowstepped us away, you idiot," he said, climbing back to his feet with a look of exertion on his face. "It still hurts to do it with another person right now, so be grateful for once, will ya?"

"What?" the princess repeated. Then, it clicked. "Like you did in the Light Temple," she said aloud. "Wait, but, the others!"

"What about them?" Sheik asked, already beginning his march through the sandbar away from the mainland.

"They helped us," Seraphina argued. "We need to go back for them."

"Helped us? No, they didn't," Sheik replied. "They showed up after I saved you. All they did was waste our time."

"They wanted to help us," the princess said with some conviction. "They're good people. The monsters, they might…"

"Kill them?" Sheik locked eyes with her as he finished her sentence. "Good. That means they won't tell anyone they saw us. It's better this way. Now shut up and follow me. We need to keep moving."

Seraphina didn't know what to do. She felt like crying again. So many people had died already, and now it looked like four more were going to die as well, and there was nothing she could do about it. She fell to her knees in the sand, splashing the water as she did.

Sheik kept walking for a moment, but he stopped when he looked back and saw her. Seraphina did not make a sound, but she stared at him pleadingly, wishing he would go back and save those kind men who'd only tried to help them. Sheik changed direction and walked back to her, which made her perk up with hope.

Is he going to help them?

"I couldn't help them even if I wanted to," Sheik explained. "I'm in no condition to shadowstep with one of them, let alone all four. And without the proper tools, I can't fight off a Vire with a Keese swarm that big."

This was not what Seraphina wanted to hear. "Can't you try?" she begged. "It's what the Hero would do."

Sheik gave an exasperated sigh. "You chose to follow me because you wanted my help. I just saved your life yet again. You want the Hero to help you? Go find him. Me? I'm going this way. Come with me or don't." With that, he turned around and walked away again.

It took the princess a few moments to decide what to do.

If I run back there myself, maybe they'll have defeated the monsters. If they're injured, I can heal them.

However, if they hadn't defeated the monsters, then she'd be running straight into them. The thought of those scary, leathery-winged creatures swarming around her again made her shiver.

In the end, Sheik's words got through to her.

I need him.

Standing up out of the water, she planted a foot in front of her, navigating through the sinking sand in an attempt to catch up with Sheik.

"Hey! Wait for me!"