This chapter was too much fun to write- no wonder I didn't accomplish much! But hopefully my next chapter should make up for any laziness(it's already about a third of the way done.)
Months passed at Lon Lon Ranch, each month more restless than the last. Impa always looked angry as she taught Sheikora her lessons in fighting, Ingo looked even more sneaky than usual, Talon slept more than half the day away, Malon grew more withdrawn as Sheikora stopped smiling and concentrated on fighting and music.
Not once had Sheikora's eyes turned blue again. This no longer seemed to bother the ranchers, but Impa was still doing everything in her power to figure it out, often leaving for days at a time to argue with the Sheikah Council.
It was during one such time that Sheikora dared to try to teleport herself to the Temple of Time. Impa had told her meditating somehow built up stores of magic to use without using your own life energy. So Sheikora had meditated for hours every day until she decided she was ready. She strummed the opening chords to the Prelude of Light.
"Sneaking away again, are we? I guess some people never give up what they enjoy… not that I would, either," a voice said from the rooftop above where Sheikora sat with her harp.
The girl jumped, dagger raised, harp left on the ground. "Who are you?" she spat.
A playful looking young woman with gray eyes raised her hands. "All right, you caught me!" she said with a grin, flaunting off straight, white teeth. She leapt down, landing crouched on the ground like a cat, only to straighten herself with a stretch. Four red marks ran down her arms.
"Who are you?" Sheikora asked again, backing away. The woman sighed.
"One-track mind, I see," she said. "Just like your Sheikah friend."
Sheikora stiffened. She tackled the thin woman to the ground, dagger raised. "What are you talking about?"
The woman chuckled, as if she almost expected this. "Oh, you know, your nanny. At least that got you off your one-tracked road."
Not wanting to be teased any more, Sheikora bit the side of her lip, glaring down at the woman, not wanting to ask her "one-tracked" question any more.
"So, kid, you look like a Sheikah, you know. In a way," she added, looking at Sheikora's eyes shamelessly. "I'm a Sheikah, if that makes you feel any better."
Sheikora slowly got off the woman, but the dagger didn't leave from its ready position. The woman dusted herself off as she stood. She was actually quite tall. She extended a hand.
"It may be too late for courtesies… well, at least in your case, but my name is Mara World-Walker. No, you don't need to tell me yours, Sheikora," the woman smiled as Sheikora hesitantly shook her hand.
"There. See? No biting from me… you're not my type," Mara smirked.
"I thought Sheikah were supposed to be mysterious and polite," Sheikora glared at her. She laughed.
"Not me. I may be mysterious, but in a different way… and the day I'm polite is the day I'm dead!" Mara quickly raised her thin, brown eyebrows up and down twice. "And I thought princesses weren't supposed to know fighting!"
One of Sheikora's bandaged hands reached out and clamped over Mara's mouth. "Why don't we talk in private…" she said, and felt a twitch of a smile under her hand. She led Mara, still silenced, to the cowshed, leaving her harp and dagger where they were.
"How do you know?" Sheikora demanded. Mara grinned toothily.
"Well, Impa's been arguing with the Council a whole lot more now, mainly because of your eyes… she thinks there's some connection with Swan's idiot brother… and I remember she brought that up before Ganon the Stupidhead took over once, so, naturally, I put two and two together," Mara shrugged.
"Are you on the Council?" Sheikora asked doubtfully. Mara let out a big, booming laugh.
"Ha ha ha! Shyes, I am indeed on the Council! However, I have no idea about your eyes, kid, so sorry," Mara said, stroking her nose ring. "Anyway… to the reason why I sought you out, my kitten," she teased. "Impa likes me to watch over you in her absence… so I suppose that I'm like a babysitter?"
"Shut up," Sheikora glared at the brown-haired Sheikah. This must have been who Impa swore about those months ago, the "wise" Sheikah who wouldn't shut up about asking for help.
"I caught you playing the opening chords to the Prelude of Light, and so I figured Impa had neglected to tell you how stupid and dangerous it is to try music magic on your own," Mara said. "Impa may not teach you, but I certainly can!"
"What?" It took a moment to register in the young girl. This new Sheikah who claimed to be a Council member, willing to teach her magic when Impa wouldn't?
"Well, if you're so slow you need it to be repeated a second time, I'm not sure if I have the patience for that…" Mara turned around slowly.
"Wait!" Sheikora said. Mara turned around, smirking. "Teach me magic… I want to disguise myself as one of your people… I want to learn at least the basics!"
"There you go!" the older woman beamed. "Now that you admitted your desire…" (At this, Sheikora shot Mara the dirtiest look she could muster.) "...I would be most glad to teach you not only magic, but Sheikah history!"
"What do you want?"
"Hm?"
"Why would you do all this for me?" Sheikora asked suspiciously.
"'Cause you're cute!" Mara winked. Startled, Sheikora stepped back, nearly falling over. The Sheikah laughed her famous laugh again. "Ha ha ha! I meant to say that you, the exiled, orphan princess of Hyrule and Sheikah wannabe, need a star in your life, so…" Mara took a deep breath. "I am willing to be your star!"
Sheikora stared at Mara, who just went "Ha ha ha!"
Mara was bizarre, Sheikora soon decided. The Sheikah was smart, she gave her that. But… Mara said some strange things at times, and never hesitated to speak her mind. This was new to Sheikora, who had grown up holding her emotions inside, as did Impa. There was also the laugh. She was bound to hear it whenever Mara had succeeded in cracking herself up. Mara also fought gracefully, and always seemed to know Sheikora's actions before she made them.
"Cucco, darlings!" Mara said in a sing-song voice as she crouched beside the chickens. "Let's give our dear Sheikora a hand for that dazzling move!"
Sheikora glared at her new instructor. Her hand had been sliced open with a dagger.
"Ha ha ha!" Mara laughed. "Oh, how I crack myself up!"
"I can tell," Sheikora replied irritably, shaking off her bandages and replacing them with fresh ones for the third time. Her hand really hurt. "How come I always get hit here?"
"Because you're not being careful. You didn't learn from your mistakes the fist two times, so you suffer the consequences. Let's move on to magic!" Mara said, rushing her words so quickly that Sheikora barely caught what she was saying.
"Magic? Finally?"
"Yes, finally! Patience and wisdom walk hand in hand, you know. Being the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom, I'd expect patience from you!" Mara said cheerfully.
The two stared at each other, Mara with a happy smile and Sheikora with an annoyed expression.
"You drive me insane."
"Good!" Mara clapped. "I only work with insane people!"
"On to magic, please…" Sheikora practically begged.
"Ah, yes, teleportation basics first!" Mara said, as if remembering a long forgotten thought. She handed Sheikora a sack of the black nuts Impa carried around. "See these? These are Sheikah Nuts!"
"No, really, what are they called?" Sheikora replied, earning herself a glare from Mara.
"They're called 'Fruits of the Third Breath Tribe', which happens to be my tribe, but it's too long a name, so everyone calls 'em Sheikah Nuts," the gray-eyed Sheikah replied. "All it takes to use 'em is a little bit of magic and a vision of where you wish to go."
"Really? That's easy!" Sheikora accused. Why was Impa and Mara so worried about the Prelude of Light?
"I know what you're thinking: If you can teleport with these, why can't you teleport with that harp?" Sheikora blushed and Mara grinned smugly. "It's because your magic is growing- it's too 'young' to be used to apply so much magic to an object! It's just like chopping an infant's head off.However, with Nuts, most of the complicatedmagicsaretaken care of in the Nut, and all you need is either Divine or Sheikah magic. You have Divine magic, so you can use it. Thank your little friend that lives on your hand," Mara nodded in the direction of her hand.
"The only reason I can teleport is because I'm the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom?" Sheikora was a little disappointed. If the Triforce was ever put back together, she wouldn't be able to teleport any more. However, Mara didn't reply.
"Just give it a try! But, please, don't teleport anywhere outside the ranch… First, show me if you can do it. Teleport to…" Mara looked around. "Teleport into the middle of the horse pen!"
Sheikora drew a Nut from out of the bag, and rolled it around in her palm. It was warm and smooth. "How do I apply magic to it?"
"You know how!" Mara replied sweetly. The younger girl shot the brunette an annoyed look and threw the Nut on the ground, gasping at the sound of its crack.
It was a short second of weightlessness, surrounded by what looked like the night sky as she pictured the center of the horse pen. She didn't realize she had landed with closed eyes until she heard Mara's infamous laugh.
"Ha ha ha! Great work, kid!" Mara clapped her hands together as Sheikora opened her red eyes. She was in the middle of the pen.
"I did it!" she said with amazement. Mara rolled her eyes, and held up a Sheikah Nut of her own, throwing it on the ground with a crack. It took the girl a moment to realize that Mara was finished for the day, but it didn't really surprise her that Mara didn't say good-bye.
I think I'm going to start off each coming chapter with a little mini-thing with Mara giving Sheikora a "history" lesson… I feel like I need to explain some things that just don't fit in the story, butI don't want the entire story to be an explanation with no plot! Plus, I really like Mara. Or maybe I just like how much Sheikora dislikes her... hee hee!