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Chapter 6: The Sisters of The Blade
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—Sheik's POV—
A moment's hesitation…
We size each other up, she is a bit taller than me but looks to be the same weight, she is well toned, and her feet are set lightly on the ground. She'll be quick, but her blows will also have power behind them. Both scimitars are held a bit differently so I can probably expect her to be able to attack with either and use both swords separately.
I had sparred a few times before, had to while training to become a Sheikah. After a while though, I was fighting the upper ages rather than others in my class. Impa had been my teacher, she showed my not only how to fight, but why you used different attacks and stances at different times. Fighting became my equivalent to dancing.
Once I learned the "steps", it came easy. Natural. I loved sword fighting, especially with people who are really good. The only thing I was worried about was whether the Gerudo had the same dances as the Sheikah, or if I was going to have to learn as I went, possibly getting my "toes stepped on" in one way or another.
…And then we jump forward and met at the middle, the sound of metal on metal ringing out past the circle through the trees and scaring some of the nearby wildlife.
A laugh escapes from my mouth as we lock up for a couple of seconds, pushing back and forth, testing each other's strength. We push off and jump back from each other, we wait a couple seconds and then get straight back into it, blocking and parrying. We are slowly circling each other as we fight.
There is something about fighting someone that can bring you closer to them than any number of conversations can. I felt this kind of bond forming between her and I. We are becoming sisters of the blade. My mind flies off to the side as a memory is called up. My body takes over on autopilot as I relive the memory until a strong blow draws me back to reality.
We step back one more time and just stand facing each other. We're both breathing semi heavily, only a few bruises here and there on our arms from being hit by the hilt of the sword. I have never been this equally matched before, it was either the sword masters that were better than me, or my peers who weren't as good as me, there usually weren't any people who were in between.
With this girl though, it's going to be my favorite duel I have ever been a part of. A smile shows on my mouth once again. Prisoners shouldn't be allowed to have this much fun. Surely there is some rule against it.
Enjoyment exudes off me, "Shall we dance my friend?" I ask with a wink.
A look of shock crosses her face before molding into a wide grin and she laughs, "Yes, we shall." Apparently she wasn't expecting me to call her 'friend'. My eyes lock onto hers as we dance back towards each other.
—POV Shift—
I had heard that the Sheikah were trained well with a sword but only the masters could take on some of our best warriors in a duel. This man is outstanding for his age. Ha, there are two things working against him; one he is a man, everyone knows men are weaker than women. It is why we are an all woman tribe, even the King, as a child, must prove himself worthy. If he does not, he may be king in title, but we have no respect for him.
The second thing he must work against is age. Unless the Gerudo had raised him, I wouldn't have expected any young man this age to be able to hold his own against me, let alone be an equal. I am still not considered one of the best in the tribe, but I am very close. With these girls surrounding us and bearing witness, they may see enough of my skills to suggest I move up finally.
I have always loved swordplay. There is something about the way the blade sings as it slices through the air. The flow as gravity takes over from your muscles and pulls the blade down faster. Killing is not enjoyable, but the fight always is. It's been years since I had been in a fight where from the beginning I knew would be good. I knew my sisters from the tribe too well now and could choose whom I dueled depending on what I wanted to practice that day. After a while though, it becomes too easy to read their usual feints and movement patterns.
This guy, is a totally different story, his movements are fluid, his attacks are a little on the weak side, but still very strong for how well he flows. His constant half crouch leaves less open room for attack and the way he moves while dodging and sidestepping is almost, feline…
If I didn't know better, I would say he was taught by a group of women to fight like them. His movements were more feminine than masculine. As we were testing each other's strengths, I felt a bond begin, much like the one I have with my sisters from the tribe. I had dueled many men before, some were almost as good as the young man in front of me now, but never had I felt this connection.
A smile is almost constantly on his face; Such a strange fixture for the situation we are in, I could even swear I heard him chuckling multiple times as we fought. He must be enjoying this as much as I am.
After I felt like I knew him well enough I moved back away as he did. We stood. Now we get down to business. I had just finished the thought when he called, "Shall we dance my friend?" Friend? I challenge him to a duel to the death and he calls me friend? He must be enjoying this as much as I thought, I laugh softly and smile, maybe more than I thought. "Yes, we shall."
We slowly walk towards each other, get within swords length and raise our weapons. We touch the sides of the weapons to each other and then spin away. I settle into a partially turned stance, my right foot as a base with my left foot leading. I have been trained ambidextrously, each week growing up, I would have to switch hands and do everything with that hand for the day, the next week, I was switched back. If I messed up, I was punished with one of the elders placing a cut across the palm of the hand I was not supposed to use that week. I learned quickly to say the least.
Nowadays, I can do anything with either or both hands. Since Sheik is fighting left handed then it would be easiest if I did also. I may switch later to throw him off a bit. I moved to make the first strike. I leapt towards him, both scimitars held above me, bringing them down forcefully at his head. The steel is met with the black blade, such beauty; I shake my head and dance back, just out of range, and recollect my thoughts.
A second of unfocused thought fighting him will be the end of me and I can't allow that. As nice as he has been and though the feeling of this bond is growing stronger, I cannot lose, I cannot be killed. I can't leave so many goals unaccomplished…
I square off once more with him, this time it is he who rushes over to me, the larger sword being drug behind him and the short sword angled across the front of his chest. As he gets closer, the short sword sweeps down and the black beauty arcs around the side of his body in a swiping motion, I turn, and block using both scimitars.
I push back his blade and then, we begin to dance closely, blocking, parrying, and counter attacking. We are so close I don't understand how our blades miss each other's bodies as we swing them, let alone how we both have time to block. I settle into a rhythm and watch his eyes for a second and I notice they are locked onto mine as he swings.
I'm held there for a moment, but my blocks do not miss even though I am not watching his swings. This is a different way to fight for me. As I watch, I see there are emotions under the surface there, but I can almost feel the attacks before they come. I look deeper, he has most of the match on his side planned out already, he plans each swing so that he can follow it up with another one, none are high powered in and of themselves, but they are hard hitters as a whole.
As soon as I realize this, my goal for the fight is to throw him off from that plan whenever possible. Up to this point I had been blocking and then attacking when he was open or slowed down, not really defending or being passive, but I was nowhere near as progressive or offensive as he was being. Our eyes still locked, I began moving before he started the follow up attack, his eyes shifted a couple seconds and then reset a bit firmer.
—Sheik's POV—
I had been staring openly into her eyes as I fought. Her mind was slightly distracted and so her attacks were easy to read, not that she was making very many moves in attack, more reacting and returning blows when I slowed for a time. I wasn't pushing her back or overwhelming her, I just fought differently.
She locked eyes with me though after a while. Realization dawn across her face and she stared intently. Almost instantly, she became more aggressive. A smile crossed my face, now we're talking girl, lets see how far we can take this. Determination rooted me in place; I wasn't going to give an inch unless I made her give two inches.
We were locked in, neither willing to give, neither willing to lose, and both trained well enough to hold our own. Those watching were sitting in stunned silence, the only noise were from our movements and the crash of blade on blade.
Neither of us have landed a true hit yet, there were scratches and more bruises, but they were small and inconsequential.
Our eyes still locked, we moved as one. There was no beginning or end to our attacks, no pauses for defense, nor was there any way to tell our given blows from our parries. The fight was one motion, flowing seamlessly from offense to defense on both sides. We spun multiple times whether because of momentum or trying to land a hit, but we were following each other too closely.
She spun once as I brought my sword up diagonally left to right but I was just out of range of her body. However, my sword did connect with the hair that was following her head around. I connected with it just a little below the clasp of the ponytail. The girls around us gasped as multiple feet of hair drop to the ground with a dull puff. She connects with my sword shortly after as she completes her spin, A brokenness showing in her eyes. That slowly turns to fire. We are locked in a pushing battle.
A Gerudo's hair is of huge importance to them, the longer it is, the more honor they have. Often times, rather than physical punishment, they would have to get a certain amount of hair cut from the bottom, showing the loss of honor. The hair that was cut off would then be burned. The blow, though not a true hit, would most likely hurt her more than any physical pain I could cause her. We break apart for a second and then launch back into our flowing, seamless dance.
I'm starting to tire, so, to try to break the equal footing, I spin out and away from her and then continue the spin for a second revolution back to her, sword held almost straight out from my body. As I come around, bringing her back into view I see she has shifted some, confusion and humor dancing along her eyes and mouth. I realize she is ambidextrous by the new stance she is in, her right foot leading and left as base.
Our swords clash once more, breaking the momentary silence. It's different for both of us but we are still too evenly and well matched. This is a dance that would rival any ball the Royal Family had ever thrown.
I noticed she still wasn't as progressive in her attacks, more like she was just trying to disrupt me from mine. Rather than giving her the satisfaction of disrupting my plans, I changed all of my plans right then. I did a backswing with my left hand and swung high with my main sword and let the momentum carry me around as she ducked, as my right hand with the short sword brought low across her body, I landed a soft blow to the side, opening her skin enough to cause a flow of blood. What I hadn't noticed however was her blade coming across my chest as I spun. She also landed a soft blow, cutting the fabric and wrappings there slightly and drawing blood as well.
She caught a sight of my chest and confusion swept over her. I took the moment of hesitation to level my sword across her shoulders. She snapped back from her loss of focus and just barely succeeded in getting both scimitars up, however, after the beating given and taken during our fight ad who knows how many other battles, the metal wasn't up for the task and broke, leaving only jagged edges the length of a good sized knife behind.
Startled, she dropped the handles and scooted back away from me on the ground. Fear and wonder spreading across her face. She was defenseless; sure, she had knives stashed away, but there was little she could do against my sword while on the ground. She knew and let her head drop slightly, still making eye contact.
There is only one thing left to do. I look at her, pain from the wound on my chest showing on my face. I flip my sword around so I am gripping it backwards and raise it above my head.
—POV Shift—
I don't have time to grieve the loss of my hair. When I felt it disconnect from my head, it crushed me, and made me unbalanced, that hair weighed so much more than I thought… I had never had my hair cut for anything. It was almost long enough to drag the ground a couple feet behind me if I left it down. When I put it in a ponytail, I had to double it back on its self, halfway down so it wouldn't hinder me while fighting. Though it is a dishonor to lose it through punishment, I lost it in battle, one that I could die from if I remain distracted. I am all about honor, I loved having long hair some days, but sometimes it seemed foolish to have that much hair just…hanging around…however, even with these facts taken into account, only the one with the longest hair could lead this group. I may be the best fighter of them, but there cannot be a leader without her honor, fight or not. Many would give up here and be struck down, but I am not like many others.
Aside from that and back to the fight, I knew a few blows back my scimitars weren't up for the challenge of a longer fight. I had switched my stance to even out the blows more, but it still didn't help. I could hear the steel protesting every time our blades met. I had to land a hit on him before this ended. I tried to read him for a chance that may come soon, but then his attack changed completely.
If I hadn't been looked in with his eyes and watching so closely, I would have never seen the change in plans. He was going to bring his sword across in a backhanded swing. I ducked and stabbed my left hand forward, and his momentum drew the scimitar blade across his chest. It wasn't deep but it was a true hit.
The next thing I know I feel a slice across my own side and realize I had taken a chance to land a hit and unknowingly left myself open to attack from the short sword he brought around on me, but that wasn't what held my attention for another couple seconds. The fabric across his chest covered some white wrappings; the cut in them was larger than it was when I first made it because there was pressure behind it. There was blood running freely, but it didn't disguise what the wrappings had hidden so well.
Sheik isn't a guy, she is a girl! She had wrapped fabric so tightly around her chest that it made her breasts look like a guy's chest; how and why, I didn't know, but this was crazy! How did we not notice this sooner, the whole time we walked around her, the whole time I fought her! Wait, I did notice, she moved like a girl would. What's next? She turns out to be Princess Zelda's twin sister?
A soft cry brings me back to reality, Sheik is bringing her sword across her body, leveled and apparently aiming for my head. Thankfully instincts kick in and my swords go up to block of their own accord. Unfortunately, with the sound of a crack, it is the last block for them and the top halves of each break roughly and falls to the ground.
I drop the handles and scoot back quickly. Somehow, I had ended up sitting on the ground in the middle of all this. A look crosses her face and I know I am at my end. I fought the best I could, enjoyed it, loved it, but I had lost, all that is left is to die with honor, well, as much as was left on my head. My head drops slightly, still watching her. She flips her sword around and raises it above her head, holds it for a second and then drags it down at me quickly. I close my eyes just before it reaches me, I cant watch, I almost cry.
Instead of feeling pain, I hear a soft slice in front of me. Sounded like a sword does when it's been stabbed into the ground. I look up, startled. She can't do this, no matter what; duels to the death cannot end with both combatants still alive…
Sheik straightens back up from sticking the sword in the ground and steps back.
"Don't do this to me or yourself," I start, "There is no honor in allowing me to live. You have beaten me fairly, I have no way to fight that would allow me to match you."
She looks at me, and smiles softly? She looks around at all the faces still in a circle around us, though they all seemed to be moving closer slowly, hands moving towards their swords. She lifts her hands to them and says, "Calm down, there is no shame or dishonor here." Turning to me she looks down at me and asks seriously, "What is your name?"
I look shocked, that's right, she still doesn't know my name. She doesn't know what she is talking about though, our culture and tradition says it is the highest shame and dishonor for the loser to live after a duel to the death, dishonor for both the winner and loser. The only thing worse is running from battle. "Gwyn" I answer and then start to continue, "but it—"
She raises a hand and stops me, "Your full name, please." She says, still softly, but seriously.
"Gwyndale Highrunner" I say, the first time in years I have said my full name. Those standing around us look at me with shock, none of them had heard my full name before, I realized. I've been traveling with these girls for three years and they didn't know this about me. Wow…
She nods, "I say there is no shame or dishonor, because as your culture and traditions allow, I claim Gwyndale Highrunner as my Sister of The Blade. I am not required nor even allowed to strike down one in my family. She fought honorably, skillfully and only lost because the steel of her blade was worn. We each landed a true it and may leave this battle on the equal footing we entered. If there is any who may deny me this claim speak, otherwise, tend to her. I have my own supplies in my bag that I can use."
I am startled and awed beyond belief. Not only is Sheik a girl, but she also knows some of the more obscure and sometimes forgotten traditions of our people. Just who is this Sheik? I wonder…
Those around me have expressions that seem to show the same line of thinking. A group of girls rush over to me to help me to my feet, but Sheik is already standing over me, her hand extended down to me. I take the offered hand and she helps me pull myself up, rather than letting me go, she pulls me closer,
"Say none of what you have seen or are thinking to those around you, come see me after you are recovered and I will answer your questions. Sister." She said the last word after pulling away from me, placing a hand on either shoulder, giving me a soft squeeze and a small smile.
She released me as the group got closer and then turned and was directed to where we set her things. She had her hand covering her wound, whether to stop the bleeding or keep those accompanying her from finding out her secret, I wasn't sure. There must be something big going on for her to be hiding as a guy.
I am led to our ring of packs and sat down on a nearby tree that had died and fallen over. I watch from a distance as Sheik walks toward the small stream not far from our camp. The girls move to follow but I call them back. "You can watch and be sure sh—he does not try to run away from here. Sheik!" she called out to me, "You may be my Sister of The Blade now, but for the time being they will still treat you as a prisoner. No offence, it just takes a bit to shift mindsets. Plus, I want answers." I call with a laugh.
She turns and waves back to me in acknowledgement.
I have drunk a large portion of the red potion from one of the bottles of it that we carry with us. It tingles as it flows down my throat and then I feel the warmth of it flowing through my body and down to my side, a tickling, and itching feeling spreading across the wound. I never can get used to this feeling.
For a little while, while I was still young and living in the fortress, I would get hurt just so I could enjoy the feeling again. After a few times of it, the people overseeing my training said I had to let any wounds I received over the next six months had to heal naturally, they would stop the bleeding and make sure I was patched, but I still had to train daily. After waking up two months into it, cuts and bruises covering my body, I decided I would never abuse it again, and I haven't, but I still enjoy the feeling.
—Sheik's POV—
I get down to the water's edge. What have I gotten myself into, and how much am I going to tell Gwyn? I may have some of her trust, but I don't know what the others will do if they find out I really am Zelda. What can my cover story be?
I used the water to wash away the blood as my mind whirls as fast as it can. I had already drunk some potion I always have with me, and the wound had closed and stopped bleeding. If I did anything too stressing or stretch the wrong way, it could open up again, but I think I'm good for now. Once all the blood was off, I rewrapped my chest and slid a new tunic over the wrappings and stepped out of the water.
Gwyn seemed to be the only one who noticed that I was not a guy, which is a great thing. Hopefully I can explain it in a way that she won't see any point in telling the others. Or find a way to have her feel like she shouldn't tell them…
This might be problematic…. I sigh and finish walking back up the hill to where the Gerudos are gathering. Gwyn is looking good, the wound is healed, but she looks very different without her long hair. It's actually pretty cute though. The right side goes down to just above her shoulder while the left side goes down to about her cheek. I think I might like they way she looks better than before with the long hair.
I go and sit down across from her, "Want to go for a walk?" I ask.
"Sure, sounds good," she replies, stands up then turns to those around us and says, "I think we can trust her, she could have killed me in the duel if she wanted to. We'll take a short walk and then be back later."
She walks over, links arms with me and we head out from the group. I'm startled some; this is very different from anything I have heard of the Gerudo before.
We are quiet as we walk away from everyone and for the first few minutes that we walk. After a bit I break the silence, "So, what do you want to know?"
—Gwyn's POV—
"So, what do you want to know?" She asked after we had gotten a ways removed from the others.
"That's a broad statement. I want to know a great many things." I say half jokingly.
"Well, before you ask, I will say this, if there is something that puts me or those close to me in jeopardy, I will not tell you. I will do my best to answer any questions you have, but some I simply will not be able to. I have claimed you as my sister, and I trust you, but there are some things I don't even speak of in the strictest confidences within my own people." She said simply, a slight ring of sadness to her voice.
"Then I will start small, what is your name?"
She laughed "If this is considered small then I'm not sure I want to hear the bigger ones later." She chuckled, "I have been Sheik to all of my association minus one these seven years past. As for who I was before. My personality has changed as much as my name. I am that person no more. I am Sheik." her tone suggested one of finality. To leave one's former self behind so completely…how has she not gone mad yet?
"Why are you disguised as a guy? Had we known you were a woman we would have left you sleeping in the tree." I said with a joking tone to my voice.
"And deprived me of gaining a sister? For that alone I am glad to have been disguised. I am terribly sorry for cutting your hair in our fight by the way. I did not have a chance to apologize since it happened. I know the importance of it to you and your tribe…" She looked away.
Pain filled my eyes for a short time before looking over at her kindly, "I could care less," I say dismissively and with a wave of my hand though there is much pain fresh just below the surface of the nonchalant movement, "Here's one you should be able to answer because this is something that I do care about right now, how do you know so much of the inner workings of the Gerudo? I feel foolish, but I was still in the mind that I would have to kill you if I won, I should have thought of it and…"
She was laughing softly, "I only remembered it just after we started the fight, and I felt a bond forming between us, and I thought of it as us becoming sisters of the blade. I was brought up learning much about all the people groups scattered across Hyrule, the Gerudo, Gorons, Hylians, Zoras, and even more about my own people. I remembered the phrase after I thought it and it fit. I cannot be your tribe sister, but we are so evenly matched. It fit what I understood about it. I still do not know everything it entails, only that those outside of the Gerudo tribe can offer it. Especially if it follows a well balanced duel that ends in a draw, but past that, I am mostly at a loss."
The mystery wrapped around Sheik only continued to get more and more thick the longer we spoke. She speaks refined almost, well versed, and very dodgy answers when needed. She would be a King's worst nightmare or best friend if she were in politics depending on whose side she was on.
"Alright, well you have the main part of it. Why were you in the field last night? Not to mention being in the tree?"
"I had just left an argument with one I consider my second mother. She was saying things for my benefit, meaning only the best for me, but it was a matter that was my choice, she did not fully understand that. I became frustrated, well, angry, so I left. It was late, I didn't want to stay in Kakariko so I ran out and continued running till I became tired. By that time it was late, I didn't have time or energy to set up a site, and the ground is no place to be with the stalchildren and the occasional stalkin wandering at night without light nearby. The tree was the safest and easiest place to go. I've slept like that before," she finished a bit lamely.
"I would have never thought of it," I said honestly, who thinks to sleep on one branch that is in between two others to keep you from falling out? Absolutely genius…. another question hit me, "How long have you been fighting? And who trained you to fight like that?"
A small smile crossed her face, "My second mother, as I call her, the one I fought with before running out to Hyrule Field, taught me. She is among the upper ranks of the Sheikah. She taught me most of the things I know, there were some other instructions given during my training by other leaders of the Sheikah. I have been fighting since I became Sheik, so seven years." Her voice had become quiet at the end. She spoke so firmly about being Sheik when questioned, but there was a wistful tone about her voice when she spoke of the time before or the loss of that time when she became Sheik.
"I think the last main one I have, is where did you get that sword, who made it, and how do I get one like it?" I playfully bump into her, we've been around each other for a day and only been speaking to each other for a matter of hours, but I felt like we had been friends since we were born. I wasn't usually this open; the girls around me had noticed it, and I think Sheik had noticed the Gerudo didn't usually act like this.
This time she laughed long and hard. Not in a mocking way for asking, but as if it were a big inside joke she was about to let me in on. She calmed down after a couple moments and finally told me, "You can't find it in any stores, and there is no business that I can tell you to go to for the design. Everything about this sword was thought of and created by myself. I found the metal, forged it, made the handle and sheath for it." She said, looking slightly embarrassed.
"That's amazing! You did the design too?" I asked, and she nodded, "Wow, its wonderful, how long did it take you to finish?"
"Oh it's still not done. I do the etching when I have free time during travel, and then when I have a decent amount done I pour steel over it and then smooth it out and wipe off the excess so it doesn't mess with the integrity of the blade or how it cuts through the air or the balance of it." I looked over and for the first time since we had started walking and I notice her shawl is still down. Even knowing she isn't a guy, I don't think I would have guessed she was a girl if she told me that she was a guy.
"So I lied, I have one more question." I said and she looked over at me with a questioning but open look, "Why do you wear the shawl? If you told me you were a guy, I would have never guessed you were actually a girl."
She looked down "I have been traveling with a person I knew before I was Sheik, he very perceptive to details." I gave her a confused look and so she continued. "He knew me before I became Sheik, and now I'm Sheik and trying to stay Sheik to anyone and everyone around me, I cant let my shawl down around him incase he notices some of the similarities between my face and the person he knew before. I have made adjustments to my face, you see, but not enough really to fool him I don't think."
This threw me way off guard, so not only is she disguised and acting like a guy, she is doing it around a friend of hers that doesn't know she is whoever she was before she became Sheik? This is almost getting too confusing.
I decide to try and find a subject with some stability before moving back and trying to unravel her more, "So does this guy have a name? And were you two close?"
She looks at me with a half grin that tells me sarcasm is on the way. "No," she says loosely, "He runs around Hyrule and answers to 'Hey you!' and I cant really say if we were close or not…" she trailed off with a slightly confused look on her face.
Though she joked, used sarcasm and laughed, there was always a hard edge to her as a whole. This small show of confusion was the first real glimpse I got to what was under the hard mask. "Don't I get a name at the least, I doubt you will say much about him, but at least give me a name," I said exasperated. "Do you have that little trust in me? I wont try to steal him. And shouldn't you know if you two were close? I mean really, though it may have been the you before Sheik, have you forgotten?"
We still hadn't started moving again. She crossed her arms almost self-consciously and looked off into the distance. She looked back over at me with a set expression on her face, "Can I trust you? As a whole; with me, there is no middle ground, I can tell you everything right now, or I can leave right here right now. I've tried to play around the edges like I usually do with people. If you wont have that though then I have to know, can I trust you?"
This must be huge for her... "I don't know…I'm tired of the same old same old with the Gerudo, I love our people, but weird things have been happening more recently the past couple years. We've been getting a lot of different messages from different people in the fortress. Our female leader Nabooru is mostly the same, she is as constant as she always was, but Ganondorf has just recently come back, well, he showed up ten years ago after being gone for something like sixty or seventy years. You can imagine our shock at finding out he was our long lost King, not to mention how young he looked for being almost seventy years old…more like forty-five…." I trailed off this time, so much has happened within the past decade, a large portion of which I don't fully remember or understand still since I wasn't old enough to know for a large amount of it.
She took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then said, "I am going to tell you what I know, and how I understand things to be, from there you can decide how you will proceed." She paused for a moment, motioned with her hand we should continue walking and launched into her memories from the time just before Ganondorf came to the castle, what he did, the attack on the castle, and then him breaking into the Sacred Realm and trying to take the Triforce.
All sounded crazy to me, but there was sincerity and openness exuding from her as she said it all, I found it impossible to not believe her. She wasn't just connected to this story, she was intertwined with it; whether by design or her own doing, her fate was tied to Hyrule's. It wasn't much unlike how royalty…oh my…surely not, it must be impossible…
I stopped walking, she had been done with her story for a short time and was letting me think through everything, she was ready for me if I stopped walking. She turned, "Princess Zelda." I stated. It wasn't a question; I had no doubt in my mind, despite the sheer impossibility of it being true.
"What about her?" Sheik asked, there was no waiver.
I half chuckled, "You play your part very well, my lady, however, you speak as one who is connected at the hip to her country, as though if it falls, you will die. I understand so much now, you must travel with the Hero of Time." I said, awe creeping into my voice, shock spreading completely over my face.
A matter of seconds later it was there for another reason, I was flat on my back with a knife to my throat and Sheik/Zelda on top of me. "As I told you, that is who I was, I am Sheik" an edge that could kill covering her voice, it was a lower growl than usual, almost animalistic. Not many things could strike fear in me these days, but this is and would always be something that did, even if it wasn't directed at me. It is a cold, calculated voice that expressed the capability to do whatever is necessary to accomplish any task, difficult or easy.
"I swear on my honor as a Gerudo warrior and as your Sister of The Blade, I will not tell anyone or anything the truth of your identity unless I have direct permission from you. Yes, you can trust me. I am no loyal subject to Ganondorf; he has ruined our people, possibly beyond repair. I had not mentioned it to the others, but I was hoping the Hero of Time might be in Castle Town, I was hoping to speak with him and try to help as I could… I love my sisters, but the things we are doing, by desire or command are usually not things of the Gerudo code. Most of our leaders have become corrupted and twisted. I was unsure how freely I could speak. Forgive me, my lady."
She shook her head and put the knife away, "If you wish to travel with me, you will have to stop calling me that, in private or otherwise. I am Sheik. For the time being, Hyrule can believe Zelda died on the day the castle was raided and destroyed. That is what Ganondorf must believe more than anyone else, that or gone over the mountains to escape from him."
"If I wish to travel with you?" I ask as she helped me to my feet, "What do you mean?"
"Well as lovely as your ladies are, I have work to do, Link should be finishing up at the first temple within another day or so, I promised to meet him once he came back out. If you wish to speak with the Hero of Time, you may join me and meet him. After that, if you desire you may return to your group, unless you would like to stay with us."
I looked at her in surprise, "You would ask that I join you two? Truly? It would be an honor. I have no true place among the girls I have been traveling with now. My leadership has been removed as fully as my hair and honor was, though it was a fair fight, the loss of hair is still the loss of honor. They will not see me fit to lead. However, there are those among them that can track a hawk on a stormy day, let alone the two of us on a soft field such as this. So we cant just run off…"
"What do you need from the camp?" she asked, I could see her mind working furiously behind her eyes.
"I have all my things in a sack back at the camp, as do you," I replied.
She shook her head, "No I have all my things with me," she patted a pouch the size of a head on her hip.
"No way, you don't have your sword or bag or any of the bigger things,"
"Yes I do, it's a very special bag," she said with a small wink. "Don't worry about that now, I have an idea but we will have to wait until your group goes to sleep."
"We always leave a watch, that we switch every couple hours," I said, doesn't everybody do that?
"Right, which is why you and I will take first watch tonight, to…continue our talk because we are still too energized from the duel to sleep. We'll leave after we are relieved." She said quickly. She must be used to doing these kinds of things. If we hadn't done anything today, I have no doubt she could have been gone by morning if she wanted to be…
"But why after we are relieved, why not while everyone is asleep?" I ask, it seems like after we are relieved we would have no chance of getting away unseen.
"Because by waiting until after we are relieved, it ensures your ladies are still guarded, and it also shows that we are still around while someone was awake. There will be no question that we never left the camp aside from the fact that we will be gone. Don't worry about being seen, it is taken care of. Now, we should head back, they are probably setting up for going to sleep, and they will probably get worried if we don't make it back soon." And with that, the two of us turn and head back to the camp of Gerudos.
