A/N: Ri2, what do you mean? (Re:"I thought they were already grown up") Perhaps you are confusing my stories with other novelizations?
No, you will know when Zelda grows up. But that's a good way down the line. We'll be "briefly" covering the whole seven years while Link's away! But that's not yet. Now is hiding. Just remember Princess' Destiny and Hero's Path are being posted parallel to each other. This chapter you are about to read is parallel to Hero's Path Ch. 18.
Would it help if I said which chapter each was parallel to, or gave days? (like day 1 is when Link "finds" Navi and Zelda meets Ganondorf) I actually have my own personal timeline record to keep everything straight. Should I post that on my profile? Please review, everybody, and tell me how I can help work out confusion!
A Princess' Destiny
Chapter 12: Opposing Energy
Zelda stood in front of Link. They were floating in the sky again, but both were children. Link no longer bore his sword and shield, or his pack, or any of his belongings but his clothes and his ocarina. Zelda held the Ocarina of Time. "Link, play this song in front of the altar in the Temple of Time." She played the slow, sad tune she first learned from Link in her visions. Every note begged Link to remember, to play it just right, to enter the Sacred Realm and stop Ganondorf. Link began playing it now, just right...
Zelda awoke on the floor of the southern woods, something she had never seen with her own eyes. Not until last night. It all came rushing back to her. The prison, Impa, the guards, the Great Fairy, the rain, Ganondorf, the fire... What had happened to Link? She wondered that Ganondorf never caught up to them after they passed Link. They never even saw him after it. Ganondorf must have seen Link.
Zelda finally decided that whatever happened was at the will of the goddesses. Link had to be fine. Zelda was sure he was their chosen hero. He had to have triumphed by now.
"Good, you're up," Impa said.
"Why, we need to get moving again?"
"No. We're deep into the woods now. Ganondorf will never find us, even if he is still actively searching."
"You don't think he is?"
"I am unsure."
"A lot of unexplainable things happened last night..." Zelda started.
"It's alright, Princess," Impa said. "You have no control over that magic yet."
"I don't think I opened the drawbridge, where Link was."
"The goddesses were on our side, Zelda. That is all that matters."
"You were incredible, Impa!"
"I suffered much from it, too. But we will not worry over that. I am mostly better now."
"That is good."
"Yes. Now we will meditate."
"Meditate on what?"
"It doesn't matter. The Sheikah will meditate in the mornings to clear his mind. Then we begin training."
So they spent the next half hour in meditation. Afterward, Impa began to teach Zelda once again.
"From what you have accomplished, and what you have told me, it seems you have a small mastery over the manifestation of shadow. Now we will move to the next step."
"What is that?"
"Everything depends upon balance, Princess. If you are unbalanced, you cannot succeed. This is especially true for a Sheikah. We cannot deal solely with shadow energy or we will slowly become shadows ourselves."
"Literally?"
"No, it is not like that. Allow me to tell you a story. The Gerudos used to be a very peaceful people, very involved in artisanry and they became great warriors as well. But one Gerudo left the sisterhood and joined Sheik's school under Death Mountain. She began learning the attributes of shadow with her peers, but became impatient. She spent every waking hour training to become the best with shadow energy, even hoping to out-do Sheik himself."
"Did she?"
"No. When Sheik learned of her underhanded study, he told her she needed to spend some time with other ki. She became upset, saying he didn't want her to be better. Over time, the shadow energy had eaten at her soul and made it very dark. She challenged him to prove she wasn't better. They dueled, and Sheik won. So she left to return home and train harder, swearing she would one day beat Sheik. She never got to. He started getting old and weak. She found it to be a false victory if she were to win because he was aged. So she began teaching other Gerudos what she had learned. That is how the Gerudos know how to sneak around in the dark like they do. Their thievery goes back to the time when they stole from us, the Sheikah."
"Is that why the Sheikah hate Gerudos?"
"Yes. And Gerudos were never accepted as Sheikah again."
"Well that was a nice story. What does it mean?"
"It means there is an extreme, and it must be prevented. Shadow is the easiest substance to conjure, but it can ruin you even to the heart if you do not have balance. Now you must learn the opposite, parallel energy. Light."
Impa made a hand signal very different from shadow. Zelda tried to mimic it, but Impa had to help her. Once she got it, it seemed quite natural. Once it was right the energy came over her, channeled through her. It was warm and comforting, bright and cheery. It felt so good it almost made her sick.
"Alright, break it and mingle it with your ki," Impa instructed. Zelda did. "Now hold it as long as you can."
After a little bit, Zelda could hold it as long as she could shadow energy.
"Now we will attempt a manifestation," Impa said. Zelda went through the steeps with Impa, careful of how much of her own ki she used. When she released it through her palm, an orb like the shadow manifestation appeared, but instead of being dark and cold, it was very bright and warm. Zelda found she could not look at it directly, as it hurt her eyes. It was like holding the sun in her hands, warm and bright. And yet at the same time, it was much less solid than the sun appeared.
"Congratulations, Princess," Impa said. "You're well on your way to becoming a Sheikah warrior. Most Sheikah don't get to manifestation until they are atleast fifteen."
"You're always talking about Sheikah as if there are many still around, Impa."
"There aren't nearly as many as there were before the war, but they are still around. Just because you don't see them..."
"I see."
"Many have gone into hiding, some even to other lands. There were so few practicing Sheikah left in Kakariko that I had to open it to the public in order to keep it alive."
Zelda played with the light manifestation for a little bit before she released the light energy and it faded.
"You'll find that light is another of the most powerful energies, Zelda," Impa said. "But it is much harder to control than shadow."
"Why is that? I thought you said shadow didn't actually exist, so wouldn't that make it difficult?"
"Difficult to understand, yes. But it is foreign to this land, so it will stay with you until it fades. Light, like so many elements in Hyrule, has a natural place in the world. As you use it and maintain it, it will be naturally drawn to order. It will take more to hold onto it for that very reason."
"But, Impa. I thought light was everywhere. It's natural place can be anywhere, can't it?"
"Not necessarily. True light comes from the sun, and so its natural place is wherever the sun sends it. There is light that comes from fire as well, but in order to make full use of that you will need to learn the proper use of that element."
"It sounds like this is very complicated."
"Magic is very complicated, Princess. Only sages, witches, and skilled sorcerers can use it properly. The shadow arts are a way to bi-pass the natural rules of magic and give common people its power. It's para-magic. In order to get around the normal rules, which are much stricter but less complex, we must follow a very different set of rules that are less binding but there are many more of them."
"I see... I think. So can you make use of fire and mind-speaking like I can?"
"There is a way to control fire in the shadow arts, which you will learn soon enough, but I have never heard of a telepathy like yours. That sounds more like the dangerous elements used by Gerudos."
"Dangerous elements?"
"We'll get there soon. Now is not the time. Come, let's practice with light manifestation some more."
So they spent a while longer using the light energy and Zelda began growing stronger in her manipulation of the energy. Later in the day, Impa went out and hunted animals with Sheikah needles. She brought back a couple of rabbits and prepared them over a small fire. They ate and went to sleep when the sun had set.
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