Legacies
A Sequel to Crossing of the Paths

By MMM/AJ

A/N: Well, it's finally here! Again, I'm going to stick with the chunk system much like I did with Crossing of the Paths, with each chunk averaging 10-12 pages. There will be four different points of view you'll be reading this from, and I'll be introducing you to the first two in this chunk. The chapter naming system has been based around this alternating point of view system. I hope to make Legacies just as long as, if not longer than Crossing of the Paths. That means I've got another 280 pages of writing ahead of me with this story, and school's right around the corner. So sit back, enjoy, and be sympathetic with my poor writing speed. I hope you like it!

Part I-Two Descendants

Chapter I-A1

A young teenaged girl walked swiftly down a path through dense forest. Heavy rain seeped down through the canopy and lazily splattered her. The simple dirt path was speckled by the heavy, sparse drops that fell from the leaves above, and the girl scowled and walked as quickly as she could short of running. Her cumbersomely large backpack weighed heavily on her and her Trainer's belt seemed to constrict uncomfortably around her waist. Her long black hair was scraggly and filled with rats as if she hadn't combed or brushed it in days, and her jeans were covered in stains and patches that indicated many years of use. She grumbled incoherently as the path twisted and turned deeper into the forest.

Her name was Ashley, and she had been traveling the world as a Pokemon trainer for years now. Having beaten the elite four easily, she found new purpose in seeking and capturing legendary Pokemon. She was now on the hunt for one of the three Legendary Dog Pokemon; Entei. Her travels had been long and hard so far, Entei was an extraordinarily fast runner and one of, if not the hardest Pokemon to track. She was following his trail through a deep forest, the tracks were still relatively fresh in the sandy dirt of the path. But as Ashley continued and more rain fell from the trees, the tracks began to deteriorate. The rainwater soaked her hair and she growled at the shortsightedness of her selling her umbrella to buy a new pair of shoes. She looked down at them and as the rain slowly soaked down into the rest of her, they no longer looked as cool as they had in the store.

Turning a corner, the canopy overhead gave way to a hole in the leaves and branches. Ashley was drenched by the unblocked rainfall and she muttered a curseword as she leapt forward back under the canopy. She also saw that the tracks stopped at the pool of water under the clearing. The spattered dirt path ahead of her was absolutely pristine.

"Just my luck." Ashley mumbled. She bent down to look into the muddy pool. As she stared dejectedly at the muddy water, Ashley's wandering eye suddenly caught something in the periphery of her vision. There was a narrow path that forked away from the main trail and into the dense brush. She looked down this path and noticed that the tracks had turned down this route and disappeared into the thickets. Ashley sighed with relief and stood back up. Besides Entei's tracks, this fork looked like it hadn't been traveled in years. Grass was growing in it and the forest was intruding on it in many places. It looked dark as night in there, the light of the sun could not pass through the thick foliage. It looked a lot drier as well, the rain was having the same problem as the sunlight had, the flora was like a thick mesh that only air could pass through.

Ashley smiled at hey spontaneous change of luck. She guessed that Entei had stumbled into this column of rain, and being a fire Pokemon, decided to look for a more sheltered trail or maybe even a place to hide until the rain stops. She hoped for the latter as she pushed her way into the overgrown side path. Thorns from a plant intruding on the path snagged her jeans and branches whipped her in the face, but Ashley moved quickly and determinedly like a bloodhound on a trail. The path seemed to twist and turn randomly, almost looping in on itself but never quite making it. Ashley lost her sense of direction but knew it wouldn't be too hard to retrace her steps back along the path after catching Entei. She was too optimistic and determined to even consider the possibility of not succeeding in catching Entei.

As Ashley turned one final corner the trail ended abruptly in front of a small cave in a large rock face. Entei's tracks, although partially obscured by the overgrown plant life, were clearly seen heading into the cave. There were no sets of tracks coming back out of the cave, so it was obvious that Entei was still inside. At this point Ashley didn't care about the dangers of entering an unexplored cave alone, her ambition blinded her and she pulled out her flashlight and entered. The cave walls were uniformly drab and mud colored, there were hardly any formations that a natural cave should have had. It looked more like a tunnel that had been bored into the rock face. As Ashley walked deeper into the cave, the noise of the rain on the leaves faded away behind her in the distance. Her flashlight was a like a knife in the inky blackness, and a part of Ashley felt unnerved. She knew that something was not right about this cave, the floor was uniformly flat and there were no stalagmites or stalactites. But her mind was too occupied by the prospect of finally capturing the Pokemon she had spent her last three months tracking relentlessly.

Abruptly, the uniformly straight cave suddenly turned sharply to the right. Ashley shone her light forward to see that the turn was completely square, there were ninety degree angles in the walls where the turn was, and that finally brought her full attention to the fact that the cave was not natural. She began to entertain the idea of turning back and camping out at the mouth of the cave to catch Entei on the way out. She was almost ready to turn back when something distinct caught her ears. A deep, noble bark echoed down from the cave ahead of her, a cry that was easily recognizable as Entei's. Her mind jumped back into ambition mode and she sprinted forward with new drive.

A new sight met Ashley's eyes around another corner. The cave passage opened up into a large room that seemed to be almost spherical in shape except for the unnaturally flat floor. There were five different passages forking out from the rounded walls, each going in a slightly different direction. Ashley's mind howled in frustration. She knew that this was probably the end of her luck. No matter which passage she chose to take, it was likely Entei was in a different one. While she was exploring one, Entei would be able to escape out of the cave behind her unnoticed. Not only that, but it was now likely that she would probably get herself lost down here and die a slow death of dehydration. She had not seen a speck of water in the cave at any time, and she doubted that her luck would grant her any if she were to get lost either. She sighed in agonized frustration, yanking on her long black hair and sliding to the ground. She sat there, shining her flashlight on the floor of the cave, trying to see if she could see any tracks. But the floor was solid stone and there was no possible way for her to track Entei any further.

Ashley decided it would probably be a good idea to camp out here in the junction so that she could catch Entei on his way out. She twiddled her fingers in the partial darkness and hummed tunelessly, thinking how nice a good slice of pizza would have tasted just then. She idly fingered her flashlight, examining all the seams in the cheap plastic frame. And then her eyes caught sight of the battery power indicator and she panicked. According to the charge indicator, there was only enough power left in the batteries for two more hours, and then the light would give out. She sighed and stood up, deciding to move to the mouth of the cave and camp out there. She knew she would be possibly exposed to the elements again, but better to get frostbite than to be lost forever in a cave without a light. She picked up her bag and looked one last time down the five tunnels.

"You're a rival to be respected Entei." Ashley said to the tunnels, now knowing why no other trainers had ever caught Entei. "You are masterful in elusion and I salute you for it. But the hunt will be over soon. You can't stay in these catacombs forever, and I'll be waiting for you when you come out."

As if one Ashley's words, a sudden light flickered very faintly in the distances of the second tunnel from her right. It was a mellow, orange glow like that from a Fire Pokemon's fire, and Ashley's mind locked onto it like a steel trap. She immediately dashed down that tunnel, smirking and wondering if she had indeed managed to get Entei to reveal his hiding spot.

But Ashley didn't find Entei at the end of the tunnel, she found something that shocked and frightened her. At the end of the tunnel, the stone of the floor suddenly transitioned into a smooth, polished steel floor. The walls made the same transition as well, and in the ceiling there was a small recessed fixture that held a smeared and stained orange bulb. As Ashley looked up at it, the bulb flickered again, producing that same orange glow she had seen. The tunnel dead ended with a solid steel wall that had what appeared to be an outline of a door in it. Ashley was too confused and shocked to do anything but stand and stare for a moment. Breaking this, Ashley took a step forward, and suddenly the door sputtered to life. As if activated by some sort of pressure sensors in the floor, the door made an attempt to slide open. It emitted a sickening grinding sound and opened halfway, then stopped with the sound of metal screeching against metal.

Ashley wasn't sure what compelled her to, but she slowly squeezed herself through the half opened door and entered a new room. The room was fairly large, and as she scanned it through the darkness with her flashlight it told her its story. Laboratory equipment was scattered willy-nilly everywhere. Shelves and racks were covered in chemical beakers, most of which were empty or broken. There were several large computer consoles lining the walls. Five man sized glass tanks stood against the left wall, each empty and one broken. There was rust everywhere, although not a sign of moisture, and the steel floor was littered with broken glass and other unrecognizable debris. Ashley lifted her flashlight to cast the beam against the ceiling of the center of the room and it revealed something that caused her to lose all of the breath in her body. Hanging from the ceiling was a large glass tube, more than large enough to fit a full grown man, and there was something inhabiting it that Ashley found beyond description. Her flashlight revealed a large, egg-like head with two stubby horns, a pair of closed eyes and a tiny mouth and nose. There were lines of brilliant gold on its forehead in a swirling pattern. She saw its neck was remarkably skinny, almost unhealthily so, and that it had some sort of second neck that connected with its back. It had some sort of natural chest plate and a lower body that was bulb shaped and larger than its torso. A long, meaty tail emerged from its rear quarters and its legs were seemingly knobby and deformed with hips like tulip bulbs. All in all it gave the impression of being a fearsome, frightening monster. It simply hung in the tube, suspended in a dark liquid with wires attached to it everywhere.

Ashley fumbled backwards, trying to find the door which she had inadvertently drifted away from. She slid along the rusty steel wall, not taking her eyes or her flashlight beam off of the creature in the tank above her head. As she slid sideways along the wall like this, she didn't see the random curved piece of steel that was about to trip her. Her foot caught it and she fell sideways, clawing at the wall for something to grab onto. Her hand caught some sort of square protrusion and her fingers inadvertently flipped a small switch sticking out of it. Several things happened next; showers of sparks suddenly rained down from the ceiling in numerous places as electricity rushed into faulty or partially broken light bulbs. Many bulbs were simply burned out and gave no reaction at all. A scant few of the recessed lights flickered on, giving patchy, orange light to only a few sections of the room. Ashley stumbled onto her feet again and her head swiveled around to see if anything would jump out at her. She then stared right back up pat the creature in the tank. A small orange light now illuminated the liquid in the tank that it was suspended in, and Ashley could see it more clearly now. It was extremely large, almost seven feet tall, and its arms were long and spindly. It was in the fetal position, curled up into a ball with wires sticking out everywhere. A metallic helmet was attacked to its gold lined head with one large bundle of wires coming out. Every single one of the wires led up into the ceiling.

Ashley jumped suddenly when a sharp beeping sound came from across the room. She looked over to see a large computer screen had flickered to life and that the computer was rebooting. She walked over to it, carefully keeping a safe distance from the creature in the tank. She looked at the ancient computer in awe. It was using extremely old technology, a solid physical screen that projected light onto its surface via a cathode ray tube. It was a dinosaur compared to the modern day holo screens she was so used to. She watched as lines of code flicked past on the screen, activation protocols and boot up sequences. Ashley knew that its very operating system must have been at least sixty years old. It ran a set of self diagnostics before reverting to an idle screen. The screen showed a few sets of file folders and a small set of numbers in the bottom left corner of the screen. They were counting down to something, and whatever it was that they were counting down for, it was about to happen. It read seven minutes and 23 seconds and counting, and Ashley wondered whether it was a good idea to stick around to see what it was that the computer was counting down to. She looked over at the files and saw that there were four of them, entitled "Raw Genetic Database", "Experimentation log", "Computer Self maintenance files", and "Journal Entries".

Ashley reached out and touched the "Raw Genetic Database" file on the screen with her finger. When nothing happened, she sighed with frustration and wondered how to access it. She looked down at computer's control panel and there was a small plastic thing with a cord and two buttons. She sighed, remembering her old tech teacher used to use outdated hardware like this. She held onto it, dragging a cursor over the file and double clicking it. There appeared a myriad of different data files, and Ashley clicked one randomly. A window opened which contained a large chart, detailing and describing a single whole strand of DNA. She scrolled to the side, looking in awe at the code. The scroll bar went on for miles, and different sections of the code were highlighted in different colors. Ashley could not understand the meaning of any of it though, there weren't any explanations for which segments of code did which. She returned to the idle screen.

The counter on the bottom of the screen now read four minutes and thirteen seconds, and Ashley knew she still had time to check out one more file before high tailing it out of there. She double clicked on the file entitled "Journal Entries". Next there was a list of entries, the last of which was dated January 12, 2134, almost 21 years ago. Ashley double clicked it and frowned, expecting a video record. But instead it was a simple text entry.

-January 12, 2134-

Today is the day I'm leaving this plane, I'm sure of it now. My body has decayed to a point to where it's becoming impossible for even the Triforce to sustain my life. The humans once said, "You haven't lived unless you've had something to regret" and I've certainly had many things to regret over my life. But my main regret will be that I won't be here when Tanis will be free from the tank. I've spent almost half my life in dedication to make sure my legacy won't be forgotten, I just hope that Tanis will be able to carry the legacy for me. I have already said goodbye to all of my companions that I've known over my life today, including a short trip back to Hyrule. Ruru was sad to know I won't see her again, but she knew just as I do that nothing good can ever last forever. I wasn't able to stay there for long however, my energy was waning faster and faster. And now, I stand here looking up at Tanis and I wonder how his life will be. Will he have a journey as long and hard as mine? Will he get along with the humans? Or will tragedy befall his life with a short and untimely death? All I know is that I have given him a life and it is up to him what he does with it. My story is over, his has only begun. It will be good to see Ai again.

-Mewtwo

Ashley was astounded. She still clearly remembered her father's tales of an all powerful psychic Pokemon named Mewtwo. He had told her an amazing tale of how he had witnessed Mewtwo facing off with the criminal syndicate Team Rocket. He told her how Mewtwo had earned freedom for himself and several other Pokemon and then left the world. Apparently, he had came back, and this was his lab. She looked up again at the creature in the tank. She noticed it had slightly orange tinted fur, and the golden lines on its head seemed to merge down directly with its skin. As she shone her flashlight around its tank she saw a plaque that had been obscured from the other side of the room. It had one simple word engraved on it in bold, noble letters; "TANIS".

"Maturation cycle complete" The computer croaked from behind Ashley. She jolted around to look at the computer screen. The countdown timer had reached zero and was flashing. "Neural link disengaged, proceeding with revival procedures." The computer's lifeless metallic voice chilled Ashley to the bone.

Ashley turned around to look at the tank again, and as she watched the small interface on Tanis's head unattached and receded up into the ceiling and the wires that attached to his body popped loose and were withdrawn. The tank then began lowering, and Ashley vainly attempted to make her body run away. But she was paralyzed by fear and a small part of her was curious about what would happen. The tank came to a stop against the floor and Tanis sat on the bottom of the rounded bottom. A robotic arm extended down from the ceiling. At the tip of the metal appendage was a large syringe filled with a liquid Ashley didn't dare make a guess as to what it was. The needle stuck into Tanis's arm and the liquid was injected into him quickly. The arm then retracted as quickly as it had appeared and the tank made a strange humming noise. There was a loud click, and the whole tank rotated a small bit. With one more loud click, the tank was suddenly released from the ceiling entirely. The open end tipped over and poured all of the liquid as well as Tanis out onto the floor and Ashley jumped back reflexively as the orange liquid flooded the floor of the entire lab.

The orange liquid sloshed up around Ashley's ankles and subsided, flowing out the door and through other unseen cracks in the rusty steel floor. Tanis laid limply there, face down in the draining fluid that had sustained him for so long. His body didn't move, not even a slow rise and fall that would have indicated breathing. For a few moments, Ashley thought he was dead, but she nearly jumped he his body suddenly convulsed. He jerked violently as he erupted into a coughing fit. His lungs violently expelled the once oxygenated orange liquid and switched to breathing air. He coughed and coughed, and as his lungs finally cleared he wheezed and spat a few more mouthfuls of the liquid out. He pushed himself up with his arms and looked out the door to the lab.

"Is there anybody out there?" A voice whispered in Ashley's head. She gasped in surprise and Tanis's head jerked around to look at her.

Ashley and Tanis locked eyes, neither moving a muscle and each hardly breathing. Tanis's eyes were the deepest, darkest purple that Ashley had ever seen, and Ashley's amber eyes fascinated Tanis.

"Well met, Human Ashley." Tanis's voice echoed.

Chapter II-R1

"Some day, we'll meet again." Had been Mewtwo's words. They were the last words he had said before leaving Hyrule for the last time, and Ruru remembered them well. She remembered the first time she had met him so many years ago. He appeared in Hyrule field one day when she was making a trading run with her sister Kalana to Hyrule castle. She had thought him first to be a demon, and after he had spoken they slowly became acquainted. He told them his story, and she and Kalana had disbelieved him until he showed them what had laid just inside his body. He had shown them his life story then with his mind, played it out in visions for them to watch. It was all Ruru had needed to trust him, and they had soon became good friends. But he had only stayed in Hyrule for a few months, he said he had to return to his own world to attend to important business.

And 21 years ago, he had returned again to say goodbye to her. She had wondered what had kept him from visiting her in the nearly one hundred years he had been gone, and was shocked to see how much he had aged. She had aged only 20 years, but he had become as one who looked like a tribe elder. And now it had been another 21 years since he had said his goodbye and she still remembered his words fresh in her mind.

Ruru's mother Hadara had finally passed on from old age only ten years ago, she had lived for nearly 570 years, a good age for any Gerudo. Kalana was now the Tribe Elder, and Ruru was now her apprentice. Gerudo society had entered a Golden age, and the desert on which they lived was slowly receding. Gerudos were now trying their hands at farming and craftsmanship. Soon they would no longer be dependant on thieving and trade with the Hylians. The Hylians had also done some advancements of their own as well. Kakariko Village at the base of Death Mountain had grown into a full size city that rivaled Hyrule Castle City in commerce and population. Large farms had popped up all over Hyrule field so now its vast expanses were not only used for just cattle ranching.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Kalana called from across the bridge that spanned the chasm of Gerudo Valley.

Ruru sighed and pulled out of her recollections. She stood up and walked across the firm wooden bridge. The strong summer sun pounded down out of the sky, and the sound of the water rushing in the canyon below was clear and loud. Ruru's body was now 29 years old by Hylian or human standards, and she wore the traditional adult Gerudo garb. She wore the stone less silver Tiara that signified the Elder's apprentice just as Kalana had before their mother had died. Now Kalana wore the golden tiara with the Elder's Ruby.

"Do you think it's a good idea to be late for a Hylian Unity Council?" Kalana asked.

"No, you know I don't. I just got caught up in thought." Ruru replied.

Kalana sighed and shook her head. "You need to get your head out of the clouds if you want to be an Elder after me. Now let's get a horse and go, we don't have time to stay and talk."

So the two sisters took horses from the newly built stable on this side of the canyon and took their leave of the valley. The rode on out into Hyrule field and pushed their horses into a run. The wispy grass zoomed past them as the muscular horses propelled them across the field at an amazing rate. Acres of grains sped past in the sunlight, and small, scattered farmhouses dotted the field. They rode down roads between fences that demarked the farmlands and a few Hylians working in the fields looked up to watch them as they galloped past. The spires of the blue lined towers of Hyrule Castle rose in splendor in the distance. After more riding through the same landscapes, they neared the Castle's gates. Cresting one last hill, the white stone face of the City Walls rose up into view and they raced down to the great wooden drawbridge.

"Take care of our horses for us!" Kalana shouted at the Hylian gate attendant. She leapt down off of her mount and ran down into the city streets. Ruru smiled sheepishly at the attendant who looked thoroughly bewildered.

"Late for the council?" The attendant asked.

"Yep. Gotta go." Ruru said, climbing down off of her horse. She then dashed into the city to catch up to her sister.

"Wait up Kalana!" Ruru shouted as she wove in between the people of Hyrule Castle City. The city had grown massively since the times when Mewtwo used to visit. It had nearly doubled in size and the roads now carried many laden carts from building to building. People swarmed the streets, trading and making purchases with the new coined currency that Hyrule's government had minted. Ruru had to push and shove her way through a gaggle of crazed buyers that were clustering across the road where there was an especially popular goods stand. Passing through the crowd, Ruru sprinted down the street and turned left on a T junction. The road stretched out in front of her, but Kalana was nowhere to be seen. She turned around and looked down the other road, and there was no sign of Kalana down that path either.

Ruru growled a Hylian swearword and picked the path that she had looked down first. She dashed down the almost empty road , past a few Hylians who wondered what her hurry was as she passed. Ruru came to a four way intersection and again cursed, Kalana was not down any of the other paths.

"Kalana!" Ruru bellowed at the top of her voice. "Kalana!"

There was no answer, so Ruru again picked a path and ran as fast as she could. She wished she had taken the time out to learn Hyrule City's streets the way Kalana knew them. She passed through another crowd of crazed traders and arrived at another four way intersection. Seeing no sign of her sister, Ruru filled her lungs and shouted again. Waiting a few seconds, she let out another shout. A hand clasped around her shoulder in mid shout and she turned to see Kalana standing there with a hand drawn cart behind her.

"Come on, we're horridly late now!" Kalana said urgently, hopping back into the cart.

"You got us a cart? That's great!" Ruru said, jumping in as well.

"This will double the price." The man who was pulling them said.

"We'll triple it if you sprint the whole way!" Kalana said.

"Yes Ma'am!" the cart puller said. He took off as fast as he could and the wooded wheels clacked loudly on the cobblestone street. Ruru vaguely wondered why she hadn't heard them approach.

When the cart pulled up in front of the Castle's main inner gate, Kalana jumped out, pulling Ruru with her.

"This aught to cover it, keep the change!" Kalana shouted to the cart puller, throwing him a bag stuffed with the new Hylian coins. The man grinned broadly and bowed to the two girls as the ran through the main gate.

"A pleasure being of service to you!" The cart man counted.

Ruru and Kalana ran through the Entranceway to the Great Hall and when they entered the main hall, they found the delegates of all the other Hylian peoples sitting around the royal table waiting for them.

"You're late!" said Sirpala, the Queen of Hyrule. Sirpala was a direct descendant of the legendary Queen Zelda, she wore the same golden Tiara that Zelda had worn as Queen as well. To Sirpala's left was the Goron leader Dregar, who was a direct descendant of the ancient Goron Darunia. To Sirpala's right was Iona, the Queen of the Zoras and descendant of Ruto's royal line. Next to Iona was Abaim, leader of the last remaining Sheikah and descendant of Impa. And there was Saria next to him. The Kokiri girl had not aged a day over so many thousands of years, she was older than everyone else in the room combined and she still had a child's body. The Deku Tree had given her the ability to leave the Forest Temporarily for the Unity Council.

"I'm sorry Sirpala, but we were caught in the crowds in the city and couldn't get a handcart for the longest time." Kalana said, taking a seat next to Dregar. Ruru sat next to Kalana.

"It doesn't matter, we have important matters to discuss." Sirpala said. "I have recently come into contact with explorers who claimed to have traveled across the Western Sea. They have offered an alliance with Hyrule, and the Zoran Nation, but they have refused to acknowledge the Gorons, Gerudos, or the Sheikah as organized peoples and will not offer any alliances to them. They have even expressed hostility towards the Sheikah, and have refused to contact the Gerudos or the Gorons."

The great hall was silent for a few moments, and then Dregar broke the stillness. "Don't tell me you're even considering allying with these slime balls! They've insulted our people!"

"I can't believe this! It sounds like they're intentionally trying to divide us!" Kalana said. "I'm shocked you would even listen to them Sirpala!" Kalana said, her voice struggling to stay low.

"They have told me of a vast army they have been building, and can know if they're lying or not?" Sirpala said. "The Hylian army right now is disorganized and poorly trained, and a war of any kind could be disastrous for Hyrule. I'm not prepared to ignore their threats."

"Would you risk the Sheikah looting your storehouses at night?" said Abaim, rage glinting in his eyes. His face remained emotionless, but his feelings were obvious from the deadly sparkle one could see in his pupils.

"Do not threaten me," Sirpala said, her temper rising. "Hyrule has acted as a protector to your people for thousands of years now, and you needn't bite the hand that holds the sword which keeps you safe."

"Do not fool with me Sirpala, if you ally with these people now you will have abandoned this protector's role and given us cause to attack you as well. Do not underestimate our power." Abaim said, standing up out of his chair to look straight at Sirpala.

"Stop this now!" Iona chimed, "Should the need to fight these newcomers arise the Zoras will be ready to send their forces to your aid Sirpala!"

"You met with their leader, Rirsh, did you not Iona?" Sirpala asked.

"Yes, he met me to extend the hand of friendship and we had a pleasant discussion about what life in Hyrule is like." Iona said.

"Then he did not say to you that he has an army of over 30,000 men ready should a war arise?" Sirpala said grimly.

There was a stunned silence in the hall, all those in the room stared at Sirpala in shock. Once again, Dregar was the one to break the stillness.

"Do you think he is telling the truth? I find it hard to believe that an army that vast could be easily moved an ocean as vast as the Western Sea. I think he is bluffing. You should send him on his merry way."

"I think we should imprison them and interrogate them." Abaim said emotionlessly. His silver Sheikah hair made him look almost ghostly as he spoke.

"Stop this foolishness!" Saria said, being the first time she had spoke. "You do not need to have official recognition by these people in order to be friends with them do you? Government is just a façade designed to represent the people. Why do you need yours to be recognized when your people can just become friends with them directly?"

"This is more than recognition," Abaim said, "If these people were to attack the Sheikah, and if they were allied with Sirpala and her people, then there would be a conflict of interests! I will not let the Sheikah be put into this position!"

"Who's to say they will attack you?" Ruru suddenly burst out. All eyes turned to her, but she proceeded without a trace of nervousness. "Just because they've been unfriendly to you or your people doesn't mean they're going to try and attack you when they know that Sirpala and her people might act to defend you!"

"Does the number 30,000 mean anything to you?" Sirpala said angrily. "With an army like that they could do whatever they please. They don't have to be worried about Hyrule attacking them, because I cannot go to war with them without being destroyed!"

Kalana kicked Ruru in the shin, trying to get her to be quiet. Ruru frowned and let her head sink to the table in anger.

"Again you go thinking that this number they're touting might be real!" Dregar said. "They've insulted the Gorons and I will not stand for it! I will not accept an alliance from any of you with them, they are slime!"

"Can you not see the folly of your pride?" Iona said in an almost pleading tone. "You cannot let your anger blind you and cause a war! Surely, there must be a way to settle this peacefully!"

"There is." Saria said. "It is simple. We make no decisions now, but we wait and see what these people do. Sirpala, you will offer them a place to stay in the Castle, and try to milk as much information out of them as possible. Ask them why they have not accepted the Gorons, Gerudos or Sheikah, and avoid making any commitments. We will see what their reaction is."

"Again your wisdom outshines us all." Kalana said, smiling.

"Is this acceptable?" Sirpala asked the council. Everyone nodded except Abaim, who slapped his left hand on the table to abstain.

"Do whatever you will, but if I hear of you accepting their proposals, I will make sure my assassins slit your throat." Abaim said, and then got up and left.

Sirpala sighed, containing her rage. "Council dismissed then I guess." She said, and the rest of the council members left the room filled with discontent.

A/N: I hope this cleared up any confusion, seeing as how a couple of people didn't notice that I said "Mewtwo has passed out of this world" in the summary. This story will follow around Tanis, Ashley, Ruru, and one more character who will be introduced in the next chunk. To make it perfectly clear, Mewtwo lived for almost 110 years before dying, and this story takes place 21 years after his death. And I'm glad to see so many people reviewed the prologue, it's good to know I still have the gift of foreshadowing. And things are still the same, reviews help no matter how short and signed or not.