Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Zelda Franchise... I wish I did.

Chapter 12 - Reaching Inside the Mountain

"Y-You know... when you said 'we move first thing in the morning'... I didn't expect we would get on the road before the sun has even risen." One very sleepy and mildly annoyed Vahn complained, yawning in very exaggerated acting to convey his tiredness.

True to the words of the youngest in the new trio of adventures, their party, mainly Sheik, got up from bed at the earliest chirp of the morning birds. For Link, who is one used to a stricter way of traveling thanks to his younger years, found no problem in following the Sheikah's lead and prepared himself for the day ahead of them.

Their new companion, however, was not as conformed when a stoic-faced ninja came to his room and pulled away the soft blankets that felt so warm in this cold dawn of the day.

Now, following behind the two blonds, the poor Chronicler is hugging himself, rubbing his hands across his arms in a desperate effort to push aside the chilling cold.

"C-Can't we stop in some shop here and get a few cups of a hot tea or even a steaming soup?" Vahn whined between gritting teeth.

Rolling his eyes at the constant complaints of the red-haired boy, Sheik conceded just in the speed of his steps, only to turn and look at Vahn with his visible red eye. "The more you complain, the colder it gets. Just ignore it for now and soon enough you won't feel anything."

"Easy for you to say, Mister fifty layers of clothes." Vahn retorted while throwing a small glare at the red-eyed blond. "I won't feel anything because I'll freeze to death." This last part came more as a mumbling than an actual loud complaint like all the rest.

While the two of them continued in their banter about the colder weather and their personal taste for clothing, Link is quietly fiddling with his Ocarina. His mind still lingering in the small exchange he had with Sheik and the pretty song his...

'My what...' Link thought to himself, his blue gaze finally leaving his Ocarina to discreetly move towards Sheik, who is scolding Vahn about something.

The only thing giving the young Hero pause in his curious time with the magical instrument is this dilemma plaguing his thoughts.

What Sheik is to him?

His friend?

Sure, he cherishes the Sheikah's friendship, but they have moved way past that point.

His lover?

For some reason, this word sounds a bit off for Link. He hasn't met many 'lovers' over in his journeys, as he would always travel to the weirdest and desolated places on the quest Zelda passed to him.

How does someone understand if a person is their lover?

What should he call the other blond?

"Link!" Said blond called out for him, startling Link from his wandering thoughts. "Something amiss?" Sheik asked after noticing the unusual quietness of the green-clad warrior. "You're being strangely quiet today."

Link stared at Sheik for a couple of long passing seconds, this even weirder reaction making the Sheikah quirk an eyebrow at him.

"I'm just…" Link paused again, wondering if he should speak his mind. "I've been thinking about that song you played last night." He told the partial truth with a short grin. "It won't be long before I mastery it, just you wait."

A soft smile came to Sheik's lips, hidden behind his mask. "Have no haste, Link. Took me a little while to learn each of them." He then turned to face the town buildings coming just ahead of them. "Let's not linger here too much. I've chosen to cross Kakariko this early in the morning for a reason."

Picking up the pace and by proxy making the other two quicken their steps. Sheik led their party across the main road crossing Kakariko, ignoring the drunk and desperate lying on the cold ground of the bleak town.

With the Sheikah on the lead, Vahn very close behind him, and Link on the rear, the group crossed most of Kakariko in silence and the environment around them replied in kind; a soul-chilling silence accompanied their small stroll.

However, this gloomy mood only lasted for Link until they crossed the center of Kakariko where the sealed well resides.

Oblivious to the incoming wave of dread rushing his way, Link only continued to follow behind Vahn's steps while playing a few low tunes in the Ocarina. Then, as he decided to try and repeat the beginning of the song, his breath failed to raise past his lips.

'Guilty…' A river of voices flooded Link's head in the span of a second. Dark invisible tendrils clawing at his legs, rooting him firmly in place. 'Blood… Death… Misery…'

From behind this chorus of nightmarish voices, a low but frequent sound could be heard.

'Dum-Ba-Badump... Dum-Dum-Badump...' Rhythmic and captivating, yet feral and violent. A beating streak akin to the drums of war carrying forward this spiral of anguished cries.

And with the same storming suddenness this crashing sensation came, it faded to nothing, finally giving Link a moment to regain his breath.

Instantly shifting his gaze to where he imagined seeing this sea of dark hands washing towards him, Link stared at the old well with a horror struck look in his eyes. "W-What… was that?"

"Link…?" Sheik's voice called out to him again, this time the Sheikah turned fully to look at Link, worried about the look in the hero's face.

"Sorry… I'll stop distracting myself." Link replied with a goofy grin, brushing the back of his head with one hand.

Sheik, who didn't look very convinced about it, just nodded and turned to continue walking. Vahn, looking distressed himself over the large number of people living in the streets, didn't pay much attention to Link's odd behavior.

Lastly, Link still feeling numb over the harrowing event he witnessed shot a stern look over to the ominous well. Shuddering at the sight of the ancient-looking structure, the young hero decided to leave the well and whatever that was behind him, deciding that following Sheik is the best he can do for now.

A little while after leaving Kakariko, in which the old gatekeeper Flint held hostage most of their time in town with his remarks and ramblings, the group diverted their path towards the abandoned camp they visited yesterday.

Even if Sheik had insisted, they skip this trip in favor of sprinting towards the Dark Knights and the scholars they have kidnaped, Vahn argued with him that most of his belongings and tools were still in that camp.

At the boy's very firm insistence, the young Sheikah conceded and let Vahn lead them to that desolated place.

Much to his expectation, nothing had changed in there. The three Knights he dispatched the other day are still laying in there, dead. Unfortunately, even if much of the scenery hasn't changed, the same can't be said to the uncomfortable stench of recently deceased bodies impregnating the air.

"Hey, everything is here. Safe and sound." Vahn cheered loudly as he raised a dark green leather bag in the air, then his free hand flew just as fast to swat some annoying flies away from him. "Thank the Goddesses these tin-head brutes don't know value outside of rupees and sparklings."

A scornful snort flew from the Sheikah's lips, his red eye shifting ever so quickly to the worthless scum lying on the floor. "Don't be so quick to dismiss their nose for valuables. I've seen countless times their type invading a humble house in search of anything they may call 'riches'."

Giving his red-eyed companion a quirky look, Vahn wrapped the bag's strap over his shoulder, a content smile resting on his lips. Hearing the broken sounds of a few notes flying from an Ocarina, his gaze shifted to the green-wearing blond standing far away from them.

"Is he always like that?" Vahn asked Sheik as he pointed towards Link.

Giving a glance to Link himself, Sheik watched with a somber look as the Hero plays with his ocarina. "Distracted and easygoing? Most of the time. But that's not why Link is standing so far away for us." His ruby eye traveled to the dead knights close to him and frowned. "Link doesn't like violence."

"Well, most people don't like that." Vahn replied.

The Sheikah glanced back to the red-haired, shaking his head ever so slightly. "This is different… Link really doesn't like violence against people, even scum like this." He nodded down to one of the knights. "Two times already he has hesitated to strike down another person, despite his attackers being very willing to harm him."

Vahn looked back at Link again, this time a baffled look plastered on his face. "That's… not normal. He is the Hero of Time, right?" He asked the non-question to Sheik, who still did nod at him. "We've been in this war for almost eight years… how did he survive all of this without poking someone with his sword?"

'Because he was frozen in time…' The instant response came to Sheik's mind, but instead of replying to Vahn's question, the Sheikah just closed his eyes and sighed.

"We should go… It won't take long for Link to grow bored and start yelling at us." Sheik said, turning his attention back to the faint horse trails running along at the opposite side from where they came from.

Straightening himself up, Vahn looked at Link and snorted. "Yeah, that I can picture Link doing." He bounced cheerily behind Sheik, both of them leaving behind the wreckage to get their Hero back.

After accompanying Vahn to retrieve his belongings, the group of adventures followed in the shadows of the Knight's trails. Deciding to not waste their energies completely in a hurried march, they continued at a fast-strolling pace, with Sheik once again leading the charge with his skills and experience in tracking people.

This small travel lasted long enough for the sun to rise tall enough to wash away the cold morning breeze with a soothing wave of warmth. Even still, there is little sunlight properly passing by the heavy grey clouds, giving a strange sensation that the day is almost at the very late afternoon.

"This is it. Their trail ends here." Sheik declared, stepping over the heavy hoofprints left by the horses. Looking left and right, took little time for him to find the owners of these trails; a group of armored horses left alone next to a parch of very tall grass. "Without the horses, their trail is a lot lighter and more difficult to follow… but not impossible."

Walking past Sheik, Link brought one hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the barely existent sunlight. "Is that the secret entrance you spoke about?" He gave a short glance to Vahn and then looked back to the base of the mountain some meters away from them. "Doesn't look very secret to me."

As Link said, at the very base of the Death Mountain, the area almost too close to Hyrule's fallen capital city for comfort, lies a very large and deformed hole. Not hidden by grass or rocks to be called secret by anyone.

Having a hard time matching the Hero's ridiculously good eyesight, Vahn frowned deeply to try and get a look at the ugly cave entrance. "That's not right…" He grumbled quietly. Taking a small notebook from his bag, he flipped through a few pages and then shook his head. "According to master's notes, the entrance is hidden to anyone that doesn't have a connection to the Royal Family." He turned the book over to Link and Sheik, then tapped at a fairly good drawn sketch of a rocky door. "Look, his notes point to a sacred door… not a gaping hole."

"Whatever sacred door blocked their way was obviously destroyed by the Dark Knights…" He narrowed his eyes and then nodded. "By the disfigured way that hole looks they most likely bombed this door into pebbles."

A vicious snarl escaped the young Chronicler, an expression that doesn't match his pretty face. "What kind of animal would destroy something so ancient and important like that?"

"The kind that holds nothing as sacred." Feeling a bit of sympathy for the boy's outrage, Sheik felt his hands tighten into fists in anger. "Let's hasten our pace. We are very close to the Tyrant's minions and what they seek here."

"Race you two there!" Shouting cheerily in his outburst, Link true to this word raced as fast as the wind towards the open cavern, leaving an awestruck Vahn and unamused Sheik to follow behind the trail of dust he left behind.

Jumping like a happy puppy about how well of a job he has done, Link waited for the other two with a huge grin on his face; skipping from one side to the other in front of the cave.

After strolling his way to the odd passage, Sheik stopped right next to Link and gave him a soft glance; the blue-eyed blond returning his gaze with a bright smile. Then, the Sheikah kneeled beside the cracked and blackened edge of the unnatural-made entrance and reached to a small piece of metal laying on the ground.

Rubbing his bandaged fingers against the crooked and sharpened edge of the small piece, Sheik brought it closer to his nose and got the faint smell of sulfur. "My assumption was correct. This is a fragment of a bomb they used to blow this wall open."

Stepping a few paces down to the side, Vahn crouched next to a parched clump of grass. Taking a shattered piece of the ancient door in his hands, the young red-haired sighed and brushed the dust and black spots from the carved Royal Symbol painted in red. "Such a waste…" He whispered softly to himself, grieving for the loss of a cultural piece of history that will never come back.

Working fast in the spur of the moment, Sheik pulled a roll of spare bandages from his pouch, together with a small bottle of an oily-liquid. Then, taking a piece of hard dry wood he found lying around on the ground, he made a make-shift torch on the fly.

"Care to lead the way?" He raised the torch towards Link, who glanced down and grabbed it with his right hand.

Repeating one trick he has performed before, Sheik snapped his fingers against the moist bandage, creating a flickering flame out of nowhere.

Staring at the red-eyed blond in awe, like every other time the Sheikah does something out of the ordinary, Link raised the torch and pushed it against the darkness of the damp narrow passage.

"Gh… *cough* This will not be very fun… *cough*." Squeezing himself inside the tunnel, Link quickly disappeared in favor of a darkened silhouette with the wavering glow of his torch getting farther and farther away with each step he takes.

"Vahn," Sheik called out the spacing red-haired young man. Recognizing the look of hurt and sadness in those emerald eyes looking back at him, Sheik waved one hand at him and offered a sympathetic look. "There are people you can still save. But only if we move with haste."

"Y-You're right…" Vahn replied with a weak nod. Giving one last glance at the ancient piece of stonework resting in his hands, he put the broken fragment down on the grass with care and respect, to then raise back to his feet and squint the little glistering glow appearing in the corner of his eyes. "I should focus on what's more important right now… At least in the hope that we can find them in time."

As Vahn walked past him, Sheik raised his hand and surprised the boy by ruffling his bird-nest of a hair. It was a gentle but stiff touch, a bit awkward as if the Sheikah had never done something quite like this.

"Borrowing some words Link would probably say… We will find them, I promise you." Despite the turban, bandages, and mask hiding most of his face, a little streak of red could still be seen on his pale skin. "J-Just… let's go before Link stumbles across some sort of trouble only he can find."

Watching a mildly bashful Sheik turn his back and march in hurried pace inside the dark passage, Vahn felt a warm smile tug at his lips, then a little wave of giggles escaped him over the awkward but sincere attempt of the blond ninja into cheering him up. "Thank you… Sheik, Link. I'm so very lucky to have found you two." He then giggled again. "Even though it's more like you guys found me instead."

"Is that… light?" After treading in the dark in silence for so long, Link's voice came out as a bit raspy and low, which still surprised the other two at the sound of something that was not dust and pebbled crunching under their feet. "Look, right ahead of us." He waved his torch in said direction.

Squeezing his head between Sheik and Link, Vahn narrowed his eyesight enough to almost shut his eyes close. Even then he couldn't see anything but darkness in front of him. "Do you have owl-eyes or something? I can't see anything over there."

Before the very spirited red-haired could slip his way past the hero, a firm hand grasped him by the shoulder. "Shhh…" Sheik shushed him with a stern look. "There are vibrations in the air…" He whispered, making the other two trade glanced and them look back at him again.

"Voices?" Link asked, surprising Sheik with the very insightful remark coming from the usual dorky-head young man.

"Precisely. We should tread with the utmost care from now onwards," Sheik nodded his head forward, asking Link to continue the tiresome stride.

As Link pointed with the light source and Sheik on the voices, they finally arrived at the end of this gruesome dark passage. Since they first stepped inside this place, they have walked for a distance that feels twice the walk from the fallen capital to the isolated town of Kakariko.

To add more hurdle to their small journey, more than three sets of ladders were found in this darkness; with one of them so old, weak, and bruised that Link was forced to use his Hookshot to climb to the top with a strong cord attached to his waist giving the other two some way to follow the hero up the wall.

"Is just me or it is getting really warm out of a sudden?" Vahn whined quietly, pulling the collar of his shirt to ventilate a bit of air in.

"Sshhh." Sheik shushed him again, making the green-eyed boy glare at him. "Link?" He diverted his attention to the hero, who is pressed against a very dark structure blocking their way.

Waving his hand to his companions, Link pressed his hand against the heavy surface. One quick and careful push was enough to make the stone groan and shift ever so slightly forward, letting a very thin ray of light seep inside the dark passageway.

"Wherever this is… we're here." Link said in a hushed voice.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

Crashing the silence into a thing of the past, a violent wave of heavy noises flew from within the other side. It sounds as if something very heavy and very fast is bouncing wildly against the floor, considering the fluctuation in with the sounds comes and go, what is the cause of it is going in circles in its routine.

"THAT THING ESCAPED AGAIN?!" One very furious shout echoed from the other side of the wall, startling Link and Vahn into a straighter stance. "STOP THAT ACCURSED GORON! USE YOUR SPEAR TO NAIL IT AGAINST THE GROUND IF YOU HAVE TO!"

At the enraged cries of a vile person, any consideration to cautiousness flew right out of Link's head. Practically bashing himself against the heavy sliding wall, he pushed it open in one go, revealing in its fully the second-lowest level of the Goron City.

"Link!" Sheik tried to reach the blond hero before he could give away their presence, but his effort went completely fruitless as Link sprinted at full speed behind a dark-yellow ball rolling wildly from the two aggressors running after it.

"Oi!? Who in the blazes is that?" One very riled cry startled Sheik's attention away from Link's retreating form. "Do we have another escapee?"

At least five knights are standing at the corner end of the main staircase leading to the upper floors of the city. The one standing in front, owner of the livid shout, is pointing his broadsword at Sheik's direction, directing his companion's attention to the intruder.

"Great, a whole squad of them…" Sheik cursed his luck and a little bit Link's recklessness that landed them in this predicament.

Pulling his short sword from its sheath at his waist and taking hold of a sharp dagger in his left hand, the young Sheikah fully stepped out from the passage where he came from, doing his best to hide the other person still hiding in there.

"Stay here." He whispered an order to Vahn without looking back at him. "No matter what you see, stay hidden until Link comes back or when I'm done dealing with them."

Spinning his dagger at the palm of his hand, Sheik snatched at its handle as soon as the weapon rotated until its tip pointed down and backward in his hold. Weaving two sets of steps forward with unparallel grace, the young Sheikah began to move in a way that almost made it seem as if he was disappeared and reappearing in quick succession; moving closer and closer to the group of soldiers at each flicker of his image.

Owning up to the challenge presented by the fast-moving warrior, one of the Dark Knights holding a very long broadsword walked forward.

Swinging his black-painted weapon in the air, the invading knight whirled his upper body to put all this strength in his strike.

Sliding effortlessly beneath the ringing sweep of the heavy weapon, Sheik pushed the tip of his short sword against the large dull side of the knight's sword, reflecting the oppressive weapon in a messy crash against the wall.

Growling like an enraged Moblin, the Knight pulled his weapon from the spot it got stuck. "You little shi—ARGGH!" As his cursing was slipping past his lips, a flash of metal flew across his face, knocking the metallic helmet up in the air. "M-My eye! ARRGGHH, I CAN'T SEE!"

Completely disregarding his weapon and the position he finds himself in, the blue-haired dark knight brought one hand to his left eye, screaming in utter agony as lines of blood seeps from the gaps between his armored fingers.

Rushing headfirst in the rescue of his fellow soldier, the other four knights ran in front of him, swinging their weapons wildly in an embarrassing uncoordinated attempt of overwhelming their enemy.

Easily dodging each seeking blade coming his way, Sheik rolled and then leaped far away from the group. Reading his weapon in front of him at the hint of two soldiers stepping forward to sprint after him.

"Hold your ground, morons!" One of the knights yelled before the other two rushed in. "Look properly at your enemy. See the red-eye in his tunic? That one is a Sheikah. Can't take one of those freaks alone. Together we move, we circle and we finish him."

'How cute… he knows about my people.' Sheik allowed himself a short grin, feeling rather flattered to be recognized and feared by the goons of the Tyrant.

As boldly announced by the one in command, the group of four knights began to march at a synchronized pace. Not one of them took a step ahead of the other, all bearing their weapons high and ready to strike.

Glancing at each member of the incoming group, Sheik studied and analyzed each of them to the best of his ability in the limited time he has. Looking for any weakness or blind spot at the formation.

It was with the man standing at the edge of their group, right beside the ledge of this current level of the city, that he found the opening he was looking for. Little space to maneuver and how he favors the left foot in opposition to his right one.

A clear scenario played in Sheik's head, and as soon as he confirmed the possibility of following through with it, he acted.

Throwing his dagger in a sharp angle towards his target, Sheik made the man jump to the side, bashing himself against the soldier at his left. This made a cascading effect where the other two had to stand firmly to keep the tilting men from losing their footing.

One flimsy mistake that would cost dearly for all of them.

Reaching with his now free hand to the pouch at his waist, Sheik pulled out a small Deku nut.

Three steps away from their striking range, Sheik leaped as far high as the ceiling of this level, doing a nimble flip in mid-air as he tossed the Deku Nut in the middle of the four men group.

Blinding light exploded from the impact of the small nut, forcing the knights to shut their eyes close and shield their faces with one arm.

Moving silently between the ringing noise plaguing these men's ears, Sheik broke in their ranks like a soft breeze of wind. His retaliation, however, was akin to a powerful gush of a hurricane.

One slash upwards and he opened a terrible gash in between the gap of one soldier's helmet and his plate armor; a messy blow but painful death as the terror-stricken man reached for his bleeding throat.

Slinging his arm backward, his short sword flew in the opposite direction of its first target. Performing with a Sheikah's unnatural precision, Sheik left a ghastly perforation at the center of the second soldier's chest, instantly ending his life.

As the paralyzing effect of the Deku Nut began to fade from the remaining members of the knights. Their leader had only a split second to open his eyes and see the blurry image of a sharp object coming his way.

Working in pure instinct he swatted Sheik's sword away with his own weapon. Then in an effort to gain space to evaluate his position, he took a firm step to the left. Only to almost slip and fall at the floor stained with blood.

The sight of two of his men lying dead brought an urgent sense of danger to the acting leader of the knights. Any of his previous battle-stoicism washed away by strong self-preserving hysteria.

Reaching forward with one hand, the knight tried to grab the Sheikah in his hold. As his fingers clasped into nothing but air, his entire body jerked forward to power the force of his right arm thrust.

Sliding in a gracious arc beneath the knight's sword, Sheik simply let the crazed attack fly past him. His ruby eye already locked onto the next target of his strike. One very quick and powerful slash with his short sword and the leader of these hateful men will follow their fate.

However, before his right arm could properly push upwards in a swing, the man standing left of him aimed his halberd at the Sheikah's leg.

At the split-second decision between continuing his attack and probably losing one of his legs as a result. Sheik clicked his tongue in annoyance and leaped forward in time to avoid the second soldier's weapon.

"That's it! Your reach is the key to nail this cretin!" Bellowed the leader. "I'll engage the vermin head first, you cover my charge." He Branded his sword forward as he shoots wildly in a frenzied charge.

Positioning his left foot back to support the rest of his body, Sheik watched as the pair of knights came running towards him. The man with a sword a few steps ahead of the second one, using a basic concept to try and pincer a more agile opponent with a far-reaching weapon as that halberd.

A deep frown took hold of the young Sheikah's features, even if no one can see it behind his mask.

Something so basic and mundane serves very well in a close-up skirmish. As simplistic of a tactic as that is, in a high-pressure situation, one false move is enough for someone to lose their life. Having a gap closer as a back-up sure would serve like that and limit any normal warrior's movement against the primary target.

However, their mistake was to treat Sheik as any regular or simple opponent.

'In a engage of two fighters branding two swords… how many weapons do you have?' For a brief moment, Impa's teachings echoed in Sheik's thoughts. A lesson his aunt and master drilled very fervently in his head.

Matching the knights' charge with his own, Sheik met the sword-wielding man in a lock of blades. Crossing blows in two quick successions, as they parried and deflected each other's attack.

As more than expected the second knight jumped at the first opportunity to try and plunge the tip of his weapon onto the Sheikah's back.

This last act was their most severe and fatal mistake.

As the long halberd came flying with the ringing sound of air being pierced harshly by metal. Sheik whirled his body in a blurring speed, quickly weaving soundless steps from the spot in between the two knights to the back of the second one.

Jumping high in a spinning motion, the young Sheikah kicked the branding arm of the soldier, pushing his momentum twice harder as he had intended, hurling his attack directly at his commanding officer.

Before either of them could comprehend what transpired in front of them, the knight's halberd tore a wide hole at his companion's chest, exploding blood and metal pieces behind the man.

Then, as he fell onto the floor with one foot, Sheik took another nimble jump towards the last standing knight.

Took little more than a slash of his short blade to separate the man's head from his shoulder, propelling the heavy body to crash harshly against the blood-soaked tile floor.

As the last of his opponents lays neutralized on the floor, Sheik brushed the thin layer of sweat forming on his exposed forehead. Letting out a long breath, a form to cool down his body and leave the battle trance he always enters in a situation like this, his attention changed to the other end of this long circular floor.

"Where has Link gone t-"

A heavy force came from behind him unexpectedly, catching Sheik completely out of bounds.

His lips trembled and opened to let out a pained cry as his chest crashed against the floor and something very heavy and hard pressed his head against the bloody tileset.

"You're my little bitch to kill now, freak!" Snarled an angry and shaky voice; one that Sheik recognized as the first knight he had engaged.

Fighting with all of his strength, Sheik could only raise his head long enough to turn to the side and see the tall armored man sitting on top of him with a sword already aimed at his back, ready to deliver a finishing blow.

"Never killed a Sheikah or whatever the blazes you are." The man said with contempt, delivering a very forceful punch at the back of the slim ninja's body beneath him, who bit his lips fiercely to stifle his pained voice from coming out. "Let's see what your head will earn me with the big boss himself!"

Letting out a triumphant guffaw, the dark-clad soldier swung his arm down with the full intention of slaying his opponent.

Closing his eyes in expectation of the excruciating pain tearing at his torse, Sheik gasped in surprise when a loud sound of a muffled explosion came from above him; suddenly all the painful weight sitting upon him lifted off into nothing.

Rolling his back against the ground, Sheik poised his sword to defend himself, waiting for the knight to come at him again.

Yet, where he expected to see a towering figure coming towards him with a vile snarl in its face. His ruby eye only saw a light-blue spinning disk flying above him and returning to the waiting hands of a red-haired young man.

Taking a longer look at where the disk came from, Sheik saw a very nasty crater at the hard-stone wall of the stairs with a broken body at its center. Only then he could fully realize what happened at the moment where he would've been killed.

"I told you to stay hidden…" He breathed out to Vahn, giving the other boy a very stern look.

"Seriously?" Vahn cried back, frowning at the blond. "Not even a 'thank you' for saving your butt or something?" He angrily waved his metallic blue disk, pointing the strange object at Sheik in indignation.

Shaking his head, Sheik jumped to his feet and casually walked over to Vahn. "No time for that. We've to find Link."

At least this declaration was something Vahn could nod his head and concur. "I saw him running all the way to the other side of that bridge thing." He pointed to the only part of his floor that is hidden behind outside walls. "There were two of the tin-heads in front of him. Think he caught up with them?"

"That's what will have to find out." Sheik replied stiffly, poising himself to run after Link. Yet his curiosity held him back enough to point down at the strange weapon his red-haired companion is holding. "What kind of weapon is that? A boomerang?"

A proud little smile flashed at Vahn's lips as he showed his disk to Sheik. "Incorrect. This one here is a Chakram. And it's a special one." Spinning his chakram with more aptitude than Sheik thought him to have, Vahn conjured an unknown shining glyph above his sparkly disk. "Told you. I have a little gift with magic. I can't cast spells like warlocks or mages, but with this Chakram, I can use the power of ancient glyphs to emulate similar effects. Pretty cool, huh?"

Sheik smiled softly behind his mask. "A very interesting and useful ability," His gaze trailed to the deep crater Vahn made with his shining weapon. "Useful indeed… But you can share more about it at a later time. For now, let's focus on getting to Link."

Nodding his head yet again, Vahn unmade his glyph and put his Chakram away.

After leaving a trail of knights behind them, all that is left is to find their runaway hero. And then maybe get to the bottom of the Dark Knight's ploys.

Still, even with a lot occupying his thoughts at the moment. Sheik couldn't help but feel the strange quietness flowing inside this place. The lack of Gorons walking these halls is already a worrying sign, but not a single cry for help after all that commotion in the middle of their city.

Something really bad is about to happen, and every single one of his Sheikah's instincts is warning him this.