Zelda couldn't believe it, the arrow made contact with her target. The Yigas present in the training pit were stunned, unable to put words words to describe the performance of the new addition to their clan, some of them were good archers, some even only relied on archery as their main weapon, but hitting a target at this distance in a single try was like trying to catch a fly with a pair of sticks without killing it.

Khoga was ... impressed, shocked just as his pairs but overall impressed, the princess most likely didn't have any training with weapons, and yet she just showed that she had some kind of natural, or hell supernatural, abilities with a bow and an arrow between her hands.

Back when Sooga revealed that his travelling companion was in fact the princess of Hyrule Sooga was ecstatic, she was right here, right in front of them, they could do everything they wanted to her, hell perhaps even wait for the next blood moon and "bleed her out" for the Great Calamity ...

Though, he let Sooga speak, he didn't really care, perhaps it was just an act he thought ... but the story caught his attention anyway, and his plans regarding the fate of the princess took a very different turn. He pitied her, fate was cruel and double edged. She happened to cross Khoga's path, and Khoga happened to cross her path. The timing was specific, allowing this meeting, this understanding ...

And Khoga put a lot of thoughts into this, the princess wasn't here by hazard, she was here because the world had not been kind with her, she wanted to run away, she wanted to be here. He smirked under his mask, she was more than welcomed ...

If she proved herself that is.

"Do it again." The leader commanded. The Yigas gasped and began to whisper, this was absurd, it was already lucky shot and now Khoga wanted a miracle ? It worked though, the princess shivered at the request. "But this time, cut the rope that is holding the bell." He added.

Zelda knew a very deep and hidden part of her considered aiming at Khoga but it was most likely the stress giving her irrational ideas ... she had done the impossible already, it couldn't be the bad if she missed now, sure the Yigas would forget about her previous shot but they would still have some respect for her.

But she could use a bow, Zelda knew it now, she could do a lot of useful thing despite what her father tried to deny. The princess aimed at the rope as she was told ... perhaps a bit higher, last time her arrow was brought a bit toward the left die to the wind and she needed more penetration the cut the rope so ... instinctively or perhaps not instinctively she aimed away from her target at the last moment.

The arrow flew in the wrong direction, she could see it ... but then it seemed to be dragged toward the bell once again, the wind corrected it's trajectory, the arrow seemed to be gaining more speed as it traveled across the air and eventually it ended up hitting something. The pole in the cliff.

It seemed to shake for a second, the bell didn't move ...

And then it dropped down from a few inches, the arrow ended cutting throught the rope noose and it was now slowly losing it's grip on the wooden pole, a few seconds later the bell fell down.

This time the other Yigas let out all their excitement, the cheered, congratulated, applauded for their new comrade. Khoga was jubilant, he wanted to see more, perhaps destiny wasn't so cruel, the leader would make sure Zel- ... Sheik would feel at home here.

The leader applauded too, he went next to the princess which seemed to be stuck in her moment of success, putting his hand on her shoulder was enough to break her focus "I apologise, I guess I underestimated you ... you are strong, but do not try to push yourself above your limits, everyone here has it's place among their comrades, sisters and brothers. Be strong for the others Sheik, but let the others be strong for you."

As Khoga seemed to move away from Zelda the other Yigas swarmed around her, praising the princess for her performance, welcoming her in the clan ... but then some began to ask questions.

"Where do you come from ? I haven't seen your face yet !"

"Sheik ? Doesn't sound like an Hylian name ... is this your true name ?"

Zelda didn't know how to handle the situation, she never wanted such attention, she run away to disappear in the first place and now-

"Let her breath would you ?" Sooga arrived to disperse the crowd "Sheik has been through a lot, and while you are definitely giving her the best greeting the Yiga clan can provide, I do not think she is quite ready to socialize with you all yet." The tall Yiga gestured for the princess to follow him "I will escort you to your new apartments Sheik, for those who should be working I think you should resume your activities, and do not forget that we are starting the hunt for Moldugas in three days."

Some Yiga complained in silence, but Sooga's presence was enough to disperse them, the princess followed the right hand of the clan closely ... "I-I'm sorry, I just- ... I wanted to prove that I could achieve things for you and I-I ended up causing-"

"Troubles ? No ... you did what you felt was the best thing to do, you pushed everyone to acknowledge that you were a part of our clan, even Khoga was impressed ... you are a natural bullseye if I may say, but now I wonder, was that magic ?" Sooga meant to ask if she lied to him ... the question was genuine and justified.

"No, I swear I didn't, it just felt natural at the moment, I saw Revali practicing a few times during my visits in Hebra but I never handled a real bow."

Sooga huffed in response "I recovered your belongings and put everything into this bag, you didn't bring anything "compromising" excepted your "noble" clothes but it isn't exclusive to the royal family so you should be fine. I also found you one of our suit that should be the right size, if it isn't we will get you another." They were approaching from the residential area of the hideout so he decided to change the subject.

"Your form needs some work, but the basis is definitely in your blood somehow ... Khoga will most likely not allow you to go on any of our mission but it doesn't mean you can't help inside and outside the hideout for other tasks" The princess nodded, she preferred this situation ... she had no desire to go for ... wait, Moldugas hunt ?!

"Oh and I almost forgot, you won't be alone in your apartments." The princess sensed a shiver running down her spine, she had never shared a room without anyone ... well she did end up sleeping over her work a few times with Impa minding her own business near her but- ... having your personal space connected to someone else's space ? "Well we are here."

The residential part of the hideout looked like a big plaza, with doors and windows carved into the walls, Zelda pictured Kakarico under a mountain ... the architecture seemed to be mostly the same, the princess wished the castle had more traditional furniture like these, overall it allowed the members of the clan to keep some privacy despite the proximity to each others.

"Freya ?" Sooga called as he opened the sliding door. The room as small but warm, only two lanterns were lit but it was enough to fill the space with light, it was well furnished too, a few bookshelves which despite their lack of books were filled with baubles, trinkets or even simply clothes and equipment, two needs were installed at opposite sides of the room.

A woman with long strands of black hair was installed at a table, turning her back to Zelda and Sooga, she seemed to be deeply focused on her activity. "Uh ? Someone called for me-AHHHHH M-master Sooga-"

"Calm down Freya, not need to yell, this is Sheik, she will share this room with you from now on."

The young woman abruptly stood up from her chair and went to hug the princess paying little attention to her feelings regarding this unexpected and unusual behaviour ... "Ohhhh great Calamity be blessed we are gonna be besties !" Zelda had been hugged a few times, but not by a total stranger who immediately assumed that they would be "besties" ... what was even the meaning of this word ? the princess assumed to meant something similar to "friends".

"Well I will let you two get acquainted now. I trust you Freya to teach Sheik everything she needs to know regarding the hideout activities."

Freya let go of Zelda and bowed at Sooga "I will do my best." Before leaving Sooga gave Zelda her belongings, once he was gone though the atmosphere became tense. Zelda took a moment to examine her ... roommate. She looked young, probably about the same age as her, she had deep blue eyes and the side of her face seemed a bit dirty, she brought her attention to the table Freya had been working at when they entered.

Her new roommate noticed that she seemed a bit lost but that Zelda was interested into her activities "Oh s-sorry about my reaction earlier, it's just- ... people do not really like to hang here with me so I never really get any company, and apparently I end up mumbling a lot when I'm focused into my work but-but uh I-"

Zelda listened to Freya's explanation but only half of her consciousness was really available for that, the other half was amazed. Her roommate was experimenting with ancient technology, building, scrapping, improving, with her extended knowledge Zelda recognised a few relics, and the purpose behind them, but she bad never seen anyone attempting to reuse it. It seemed like Freya was currently working on some kind of claw ...

"You-you are an engineer ?" The princess interrupted, this was rude, she knew it ... but she didn't know how to "socialize" outside of nobility boundaries ... but starting with a topic they both liked should be a good option.

"Oh ?! Ah ! Yes ! I mean- ... I'm not an engineer as like a role inside the clan it's mostly a hobby but soon I will manage to make this work and everyone in the clan will be asking me to make one for them." Freya grabbed another chair and gestured for Zelda to sit next to her "Come have a look !"

The princess did as Freya asked, she could tell that her new roommate had spent a lot of time working on this, just like most inventions it's almost always about making one process of fabrication and just reproducing it after ... a book filled with drawings was open next to the gear, though the princess could hardly decipher what Freya had tried to draw or write.

"It's- ... a rope ?" The princess asked.

"Pretty close ! But not, it's a chain, ancient technology relies on some sort of condensed magic fuel, like blue flames from the antique furnaces, but this kind of energy source can't be carried easily so instead I managed to recover some of these smaller energy things from broken guardians, it took me a long time to figure out how it worked ... uh I still hardly understand how it does work but it works and it's stable so far so I won't complain- "

Freya stopped for a second and sighed "I got carried away I apologise."

"N-no do not !" Zelda may have used a misleading tone when she snapped at Freya "I-I mean, it's interesting really, I-I never thought the guardians- ... "core" could be reused if the guardian itself wasn't operational anymore."

"W-wait you know stuff about the guardians ?! Oh ! Were you working with the Sheika scientists ?"

Zelda bit her tongue, of course she did "Me ? N-no I just- ... I'm just an antiquity enthusiast that's all, but-but please continue your explanation."

"Wow you too ! Oh we are gonna have so much fun together !" She stood idle in front of Zelda for a few seconds, her face displaying a smile and the side of her lips twitching, perhaps she didn't hear Zelda asking her to continue ?

"Hum ... Oh y-yes sorry, I'm more used to people telling me to stop mumbling my science, as I was saying I'm trying to salvage an energy source to allow us to transport this tool during our missions. Almost anyone here can climb most surfaces even when it's raining but with this-" Freya dragged another chair next to her workstation and invited Zelda to sit, the princess felt comfortable enough near her ... and beside she was too curious about the device to refuse the invitation.

"-Is the future of displacement. I call it the claw shot! Basically a small pump is keeping a gear winded up inside the gauntlet with the chain wrapped around it and the claw at the end of the said chain. When the pump is released the claw is launched in the direction you are pointing. It stays open until it collides with anything solid, then the claw grabs the surfaces and you can use the gauntlet to rewind the gear or even extend it. My problem at the moment is to make it compact enough to be carried without handicapping the wearer."

"It's amazing ! I haven't heard of anyone developing their own mechanism using ancient technology just- ... for just how long have you been doing it ?" Asked Zelda.

"Oh w-well ... I wasn't on good terms with my family and to clear my mind I would spend most of my time playing around near some ruins, one day I found what I think was a storage area, I assume it was used to repair the guardians or do some maintenance in the past."

Zelda had knowledge about such places, in fact the Sheika scientists were convinced a massive storage for guardians was buried deep under central Hyrule but they never found it so far.

"No one but me knew about it so I could spend as much time as I wanted here ... and one day the Yiga found my hideout, so uh ... they kinda adopted me ? ... oh sorry that wasn't the answer you wanted, I would say about- ... since I was seven ?" Freya facial expression hardened despite her smile, Zelda noticed it immediately she had the same kind of reaction after all.

"I'm-I'm sorry if I bothered you with my question" the princess apologised.

"It's fine, I'm in a better place now, even if people think I'm a weirdo they trust my inventions ... as long as I or someone else tested it before ... oh but it's getting late" Freya pointed at a strange circular device with numbers written on it, it was some kind of pendulum but modified with ancient technology.

"I see you are curious, it's like a clockwork but compacted, it's about ... 8 PM now ... actually I think I forgot to check if this one wasn't advancing faster than it should, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep track of time when most of the hideout is underground ... oh yes I wanted to say that we should get some food."

"I-I don't have anything to pay or-"

"Pay ? Hahaha what are you talking about ? Come with me, Sooga didn't tell you anything about how the clan works right ? I will explain on the way." Freya grabbed Zelda's hand, the princess didn't forget to grab the mask that Sooga had dropped along with her uniform and put it over her face.

"Hey you do not need to wear your mask inside the hideout-"

"I'm-I'm kinda- ... shy ... I would rather keep it if it's ok"

Freya just starred at the princess for a moment, Zelda's identity was only partially protected when she entered the pit area with Sooga, her face only covered by her cloak. Yet no one seemed to be bothered by the color of her hairs ... did they even see it ?

"If-if it makes you feel comfortable I do not see the issue, come with me !" Freya grabbed Zelda's hand and dragged her across the hideout, the residential area quickly let place to some sort of shopping district, but as Freya explained that it was the workshop of the hideout ... and that she was banned to build anything around here that was using ancient technology, or anything that can explode, be set on fire, uses electricity or involves sharp objects.

Next was the cantina, it was a large square with tables, chairs, couches, dozens of Yiga were casually discussing together laughing, chanting, Zelda had seen this kind of ambience before, with the army of Hyrule, she couldn't take part in it ... sometimes she wished she could, just to talk with other people, forget about her role for just a few minutes.

Here it was a bit different, more warm and ... it gave a sense of family ? For a moment she forgot that they were all tasked to kill her. She was fine with that fact now ... at least Zelda forced herself to believe she was and it seemd to work.

There was a larger table with big baskets of fruits and cooked food placed on it, Yigas just had to come buy with a plate and serves themselves.

Freya immediately went for a portion of rice with fish and some cream sauce, Zelda wasn't feeling as hungry as her new roommate, instead of her she picked a few fruits and the two went back to their room.

"We have squads all around the provinces constantly gathering food and bringing it back here, usually we do rotations for this kind of task but some of use really like to spend their time travelling and enjoying the view. I wish I could return to- .. oh sorry, no sharing our backstories. It's not forbidden it's just- ... akward sometimes." Freya went back to her prototype eating and working at the same time.

Zelda was amazed and envious by Freya's ability to stay focus on her task while enjoying it ... she had lost interest for the kingdom management a long time ago, she liked to received emissaries, discuss with with or even go on visit herself ... but her father made it a living hell.

"You aren't hungry ?" Asked the engineer.

"N-no ... I'm not used to eat much anyway, fruits are fine though do not worry." She wondered how they could preserve exotic fruit for so long ... she ate without restraint.

"... I'm guessing Sheik isn't your real name right? " Zelda almost chocked on her food.

"Wh-what-I-"

"It's fine, Freya isn't my real name either ... we might as well all feel more comfortable with an identity that fits us ... I like Sheik, it's very- ... memorable, don't you think ?"

"Y-yes ... I-I'm gonna try to sleep, I feel like I'm carrying an anvil."

"Hehehe everyone does when they arrive, do you want me to wake you up tomorrow ?"

"O-oh sure, thank you Freya." The princess made herself comfortable as people would say, it wasn't a "princess sized" bed but she found it warm and cozy anyway. She layed down facing toward the wall while Freya kept working, the noise didn't disturb her ... it was almost soothing. About thirty minutes later her roommate stopped working and also went to bed.

Zelda thought about how far she went in a single day, she left the castle, abandoned her title and found refuge among the people who only seemed to desire her death ... well the only exception so far being Sooga, master Khoga and Freya. It made no sense ...

After an hour Zelda realised she simply couldn't sleep, was it because of the confined air of the hideout ? Because she was sharing a room with someone else ? Or because she was deep inside the Yiga clan's hideout ? ... she dressed up with the Yiga outfit Sooga brought her and put on her mask, she needed some fresh air.

The princess managed to sneak out without waking up Freya or encountering any member of the clan, she headed out into the pit area. She sat down on the sand and stared at the sky, the air of the desert was cold, and the only source of light was the moon, reflecting back the sun's light, with an intensity that she had never seen anywhere else in Hyrule.

"Are you having trouble to find sleep princess ?"

Zelda suppressed a scream, she stood up and turned around to see Sooga, standing firmly with his arms crossed, his voice wasn't menacing, but his presence, apart from being unexpected, was still carrying that overwhelming aura.

"I-I- ... I just wanted some fresh air I promise-"

"You do not have to apologise, I wasn't suspecting you of anything, I kept an eye on you since you met Freya. You are- ... oddly "genuine" princess." Zelda didn't understand what Sooga meant, the tall Yiga sat down and invited the princess to do the same. "I thought you would pretend to feel fine, to put on a facade but I can feel it clearly, you are feeling well here but your consciousness is screaming at you the contrary ... hence you feel sick, and as a result you are here taking some fresh air ... I do not think I need to ask if I'm right or not."

Zelda sighed "No you do not ... I like Freya, I like this place a lot, it's just- ... do you think I have lost my mind ? I shouldn't be feeling good, no one should, it's like- ... imagine yourself going to the castle and actually being offered cake and a free bedroom for the night-"

"I'm fine here thank you hahaha, the castle is probably filled with more rats and serpents than the most miserable house of the whole kingdom" Sooga interrupted the princess making her laugh too at the same time.

"I get your point ... Freya is really nice with me, even- ... even master Khoga has been more than generous, allowing me to stay here and- ... and somehow join the clan. I want to repay that "debt", but it feels like I'm lying to everyone."

"You heard Freya, most people here do not even use their true name most of us decided to join out of rage and fear, not malice ... the Great Calamity is the result of every evil committed in the world, eventually it has to be released one way or another, we do not serve it to destroy the land, but to cleanse it with it's own product. We take pride into our own rationality, our freedom starts and stops where someone else's does." Sooga placed his hand on Zeld shoulder in a comforting way.

"Perhaps assuming a new identity is what you need, Zelds is a part of you that you can never forget, but Sheik ? She had the courage to leave ... and, without playing on my own words, she had the courage to live." Sooga stood up and brushed of the sand from his clothes "I discussed with Master Khoga and we found something that you could help us with, it isn't a glorifying or enjoyable task, but he believes that you have to start somewhere."

Zelda also stood up and bowed at Sooga "Thank you, I won't disappoint I promise."

After this event and for the first time in month, Zelda managed to find sleep without any trouble.