Sheik was thrown from the castle onto the land below, barely missing falling to her fiery death, instead only braking her arm.
After a few minutes Sheik dragged herself to her feet. Her body screamed at her to stop, everything hurt and she was getting dizzy, but Sheik slowly made her way to Castle Town.
It was deserted. Not a single soul was around. Sheik grit her teeth to stop from crying in frustration. She had hoped someone could help her and it would stop hurting. She was tempted to stop there and die, she wouldn't have to help Ganondorf that way, but she understood now why everyone was afraid to die, it was fear of the unknown. What came after this world? What if it was unpleasant? If there was a Heaven or Hell, Sheik was sure she'd go to Hell for making that deal with Ganondorf, so she fought back the oh-so-tempting darkness and staggered toward the Temple of Time, hoping to run into the priest who came to take care of it.
By the time she reached the temple, her brain had shut down in an attempt to stop the pain and Sheik was working on auto pilot. She staggered to the altar and collapsed onto the cool marble floor.
So much had changed in her time spent in the castle. The town was deserted, monsters were everywhere, and there was an evil aura blanketing the place like fog.
Sheik sat up again and looked around. At least the temple hadn't changed, it was still as ethereal and empty as ever.
Sheik was about to let sleep take over when something dragged her back, telling her to open her eyes and go through to the next room. Sheik hadn't known there was another room, but she decided to listen, maybe that way the voice would leave her alone. She dragged herself painfully back to her feet and went up the stairs and into the Master Sword's room.
The Master Sword stood majestically in it's pedestal, untouched by the thousands of years that had passed since it's making. Above it was a glowing blue crystal.
Wait, that wasn't normal was it? Sheik moved closer trying to get a better look.
Red eyes widened as she realized what had happened. The little fairy boy who had come to visit Zelda that day in the garden had really been the Hero of legend, he must have gotten the remaining spiritual stones and the ocarina, opened the door and tried to pull out the master sword. After that Ganondorf must have entered the sacred realm through the gate Link had created and taken the Triforce. That was what had caused the massive power surge Sheik had felt while in captivity.
She continued to stare until her vision blurred and she collapsed. This time nothing woke her up, and she slept.

-0-0-0-

Something flipped Sheik onto her back, causing burns there to sting painfully. Whimpering in protest, Sheik struggled to open her eyes and regain her hold on the conscious world.
"Why are you here?" someone asked, their voice sounded very dangerous. Sheik recognized that voice, and relief washed over her.
Trying to speak and finding it impossible, Sheik opened her eyes and blinked up at her master, trying to focus on her face. Thankfully, when Impa met her eyes she recognized her.
"Sheik?" she asked, hurriedly kneeling down next to her.
Sheik nodded, still unable to speak.
Abruptly Impa pulled her into a hug, which was very unusual for her.
"Thank the Goddesses your alive." then she let go of Sheik and glanced up at the hero.
"Nobody has come here, right?" Impa asked. Sheik shook her head and sat up, hating the way the world spun when she moved.
"Get up Sheik, we have to return to Zelda." Sheik stood, shaking slightly. Her vision was blurring and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to stay awake. Impa took her arm and cast Farore's Wind, teleporting them to the top of Death mountain.
"Before we return, we will visit the Great Fairy." Impa half dragged Shiek into the fairy's fountain and deposited her on the step in front of the water.
Pulling an ocarina from a hidden pocket in her armor, Impa played the song passed down by the royal family, unofficially called Zelda's Lullaby.
With a horrible screeching laugh the Great Fairy emerged from her fountain.
"Oh! Lady Impa! It's been a long time since I have seen you." Impa nodded acknowledgement and pointed to Sheik. The fairy looked at her and frowned.
"Is that young Sheik? Whatever happened? This is quite a large task and will take some time, but I should be able to heal her and erase most of the scars." the fairy offered.
Impa nodded and stepped back to allow the fairy to do her work.
About ten minutes later Sheik was healed. All the scars were gone except for the one on her face, which the fairy said was "stuffed full of dark magic."
After thanking the Great Fairy and picking up the unconscious Sheik, Impa teleported them to the Sheikah village.
Upon their arrival several Sheikah children about Sheik's age crowded around Impa.
"Hello Lady Impa!" they yelled, then they saw Sheik and began to question and panic about her state of health. A few who were not training to become warriors thought she was dead and started crying.
Impa mentally reprimanded herself for teleporting right into the middle of the village, and made her way back to her hut as quickly as she could.

-0-0-0-

The next day Sheik was up and moving again. Zelda had taken it upon herself to take care of Sheik while Impa helped with the other Sheikah warriors' training and other things around the village.
The first thing Zelda did when Sheik had eaten breakfast was show her what she had learned from Impa. Then they walked around the village so Zelda could show Sheik her friends, and in turn meet the few people Sheik considered friends. She hadn't lived here long, only four years, most of which she couldn't remember, before her parents had died and Impa had taken her to Hyrule Castle.
Three days passed and they received news from Kakariko that Ganondorf's army had arrived, and it was likely that the battle would begin at dawn the next day.
When Zelda heard she and Sheik began to gather the Sheikah with healing abilities to go down the mountain and help treat the injured as soon as the battle was over. They had remained in the Sheikah village to tend to the Sheikah returning from missions. Most were severely injured.
They could get to Kakariko through the Sheikah's secret passages in a day if the hurried, so Zelda took the medical team, three warriors, Impa and Sheik down to help.
They arrived just as the battle was coming to a close.
The stairs leading into Kakariko were covered with bodies of both monsters and humans, but it looked like the Hylian army was winning, and were pushing Ganondorf's army back and out into the field.
The Hylian force was small, so the thin passage leading into the village were their best defense.
Impa took Zelda to her house in Kakariko and stayed their with the medics until the battle was over.
As they watched from one of the windows, Sheik noticed a lizalfos sneak past the soldiers and run toward the well.
A single lizalfos could do a lot of damage since the people who could fight were on the steps.
"I'll be right back." Sheik said to Zelda before running out of the door.
She had gotten new armor and weapons from Impa, the fairy had entirely healed her, and with three days of rest she was sure she could fight. The other Shiekah warriors were fighting, and Impa was guarding Zelda, so she was the logical choice to go and eliminate this threat.
Sheik drew her two new dual long knives and charged the creature. Screams came from the houses where the inhabitants of Kakariko were hiding, mostly children and women, but some shop keepers too. It seemed like everyone from Castle Town had relocated here and were now panicking.
Catching up with the lizalfos, Sheik tried to stab it through the back, but it noticed her at the last second and threw itself to the side.
Sheik turned to face it, readying her knives. The two launched into a flurry of strikes and blocks, dodging blades and dancing around one another.
Zelda watched in awe from the window. It was amazing that a seven year old could fight like that. As she watched the lizalfos slashed Sheik's arm. She was a bit slower than usual, Zelda observed, but her armor stopped the attack from cutting her.
The lizalfos took Sheik's temporary pause in attack to run the last few feet to the well and throw something small and black down it.
A moment later Sheik ran her knife through the lizalfos' chest and into it's heart, killing it instantly.
Panting, Sheik returned to the house.
Zelda cheered, and Impa whacked her over the head.
"Idiot. You just recovered from near death, and are not at your best. You shouldn't fight such a dangerous creature. Lizalfos are very fast, you could be dead." Sheik nodded and apologized then went to fix the tear in her armor. The thin chain mail underneath had stopped the blade from going through, but her arm would be bruised and the leather was torn.
An hour later, the battle was over.
The Hylians had won, but there were many casualties.
Everyone had some sort of injury, and ten people had been killed. Impa said it was less than usual, and they should be grateful, but Zelda disagreed.
"In war there are always casualties." Impa told Sheik while the healers moved about tending to the injured, "The trick is making sure you are not among them."
Sheik had been horrified and had cried her eyes out over the many deaths, and after a half hour Impa had come over and said,
"Don't cry anymore after this. Before this is over there will be much more death." then she had walked away, leaving Sheik shocked and lonely.

-0-0-0-

Some time later Zelda came with dinner, her eyes puffy and red from crying as well.
"Impa told me not to cry anymore." Sheik said.
Zelda said nothing and Sheik accepted her silence without question.
The rest of the night was spent in silence. Zelda and Sheik shared the guest room in Impa's house, taking slight comfort in one another's presence.
"I hope the Hero wakes up soon." Zelda whispered.
Sheik hoped he would too. But that might take years. Impa said Link was really a Hylian and not a Kokiri, but it would still be a long time before he was old enough to take up the sword of legend and vanquish the evil plaguing the land, and Sheik may not have years.
The terms of Sheik and Ganondorf's contract flashed through Sheik's mind before she drifted off into an troubled sleep.
Oh well, Sheik decided, for now she was safe here with her best friend and the closest thing she had to family.

-0-0-0-

A/N
A kind of bad ending to the chapter I think, but for lack of anything better that's the way it is. It also doesn't flow quite right. Oh well.

Please review!