As requested, the second installment of Sanctuary in the Harem? is now uploaded. This is the editted version by the way, as there is an explicit sex scene in this chapter and I felt that, while it was needed for the plot (as well as for the enjoyment of my (now) two friends Ms. Spider and Mr. J who wanted a lemon XD Along with an absolutely wonderful reviewer Boska.) The uneditted version is available on my deviantart account: (http :// okami-hime. deviantart. com/ art/ SITH-Ch-2- Uneditted- 132914246)

WARNING: As usual, there is strong language, adult situations etc. Gay sex in this chapter, don't like, don't look. It may be a bit confusing as to why Sheik refers to the man in the last chapter the way he does, but by the time you get to the end of this chapter, you'll figure out why.

I snuck a few OoT references in here, they are pretty blatant though. Anyway, disclaimer time: I do not own Sheik, Nabooru, Saria, etc. they belong to Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto. I'm only credited with making up a AU fan-plotline for them.

I've seen the rope connected to a horses bridle spelled as 'reign' and 'rein' I have no idea which is right....

Enjoy~!

Previously in SitH:

The woman, Nabooru, had clamped a collar around my neck, and by the sharp tug from behind I assumed it had a leash on it as well. Great, more chains and collars... I gave a growl, unable to properly turn and kick the woman or punch her in the small hallway of the staircase, her spear nudged me in the back again as she urged my forward, the little girl sighing, grabbing my hand again to lead me towards the main house while Nabooru trailed behind me, the end of the leash secured on a metal bracelet she had on one of her wrists. I thought darkly in my head as I was lead on, 'I've just become the bitch.'

As they walked, and I was lead, to the main house's door I glanced furtively at the other figures that were milling about, smiling, even laughing while they carried baskets of food that had just been brought from the farmer's market to the kitchen or to the storage huts, or servants carrying baskets of laundry to and fro, men dotting behind them to help take down the drying lines before night fell upon the estate. The helpers of cooks ran quickly between the small huts that were lined up in neat rows, the storage sheds, and the large cottage-sized building that I assumed was the kitchen given the numerous chimneys and the heavy smell of cooking dinner that permeated the air. I tried to block out the smell, it would be horrible to be even dragged down further in embarrassment than I already was if my stomach growled angrily.

Instead of focusing on not noticing the smell, I locked my gaze with the prancing figure of the girl dragging me by the hand to the Triad-knows-where, for some reason miffed that I had not met her expectations. I supposed it was the idea of letting an innocent down that had rattled me, 'It wouldn't have been the first or the last time though...' I thought sullenly. I spared a glance over my shoulder, coming face to face with the tip of the spear, and the red head smiling with painted lips from where she held the end of the spear and the slack of the leash at eye level. I simply turned my head away from her, straightening my posture and walking with a bit more confidence and purpose. "I'm not a mutt."

I spoke clearly in Sheikah, hoping the woman didn't know the language like the man from the selling hall did... I assumed he was one of the attendants to the estate, not the actual owner though, considering that by the obvious wealth of the estate's owner, he would not be bothered to travel to get a bed mate. I bristled at my own thoughts, having to school my features again as my mouth twitched, itching to pull lips back and snarl. But by now we had reached the door, which opened as some servant or other walked through it, pausing to open the door wider, holding it open for the three of us to pass. While Gorons were not a strange species to see nowadays, as they had become more sociable and maintained trade with the capital, it WAS strange to see one on the property of some high-class slave owner...

The two women that were leading me paused to chat momentarily with the large man (I assumed it was a man given I had never seen a female Goron, or if I had, then I had not noticed the difference in gender) and in this small lapse of time, I noticed the position I was in... being led by one girl in the front, leashed and walked at spear point from behind.... it was the walk up to the dais to be sold all over again... only this time instead of being sold...

I had an idea of were I was being taken now, as the sun set, dinner was soon to be served, and afterwards......

Afterwards, I'd be 'dessert'.

My eyes focused on the intricate stone vine edging on the door as the conversation drew to a close, Saria tugged on my hand and turned to stare at me quizzically, probably wondering why I didn't budge, staring off into space, legs locked even as Nabooru nudged me hard with the butt end of the spear, my body frozen up in tension to the point I barely swayed. A small stinging sensation alerted me that the sharpened blade end of the spear had pricked the back of my neck and it set off a chain reaction of events as follows: I grabbed the pole of the Gerudo's spear, thrusting the butt of it into her gut hard while my other arm lifted the small girl to my left and tossed her to the Goron, the girl giving a high pitched scream as she became airborne, but was caught by the man while I made a dash to the stables.

The horse that had just been brought in was luckily still out, the servant to the mare's right having just finished rubbing her down it seems as I leapt quickly onto the mare's back, the horse neighing loudly and rearing, nostrils flaring as the red-haired girl shouted, having to back up to escape the flailing of hooves as I clutched the mare's reigns tightly, my calves pressed to her sides as her saddle had been removed, leaving me to ride bareback on the chestnut mare as she galloped and bucked wildly. I had broken in stallions before, and though they couldn't compare to her agility and strength given the mare had the appearance of a cart horse, war horses were even harder to break... or so I thought.

The ground whizzed by as she ran on, trying to shake me off with rapid turns and stops, while the house we were quickly leaving behind was in a panic. I spurred her on, clinging to her sides and jabbing her ribs with my bare heel, encouraging her maddening pace, the inner gate getting closer and closer, there was an arch in the tall fence where two guards stood in front of the gate which was notably smaller than the surrounding fence. I uttered words of encouragement and challenges to mare that continued to zigzag wildly, occasionally bucking in the air to try and throw me off, to which I had to wrap my arms around her neck and hold on with my legs for dear life, for when we came back down to the ground my teeth rattled and the mare whinnied, before running again at full throttle, closer and closer to the gate.

We were almost there, all she had to do was jump over the gate! The gate was getting closer and closer, and I could see the guards leap out of the way of the charging horse mere meters away. And she jumped, higher than ever in her attempts to buck me off, and it was so exhilarating, the winds whipping at my long hair, making it swirl up and over my head as my loose clothing ruffled and it felt like I was flying, I was free, finally FREE! But as the mare's front hooves touched the ground on the other side of the gate, a piercing tone whistled through the air. The horse's ears immediately shot up as she ground to a stop, ears flicking as she snorted, pawing at the ground in irritation, seeming to pace this way and that, her ears still rotating around, I tried to urge her towards the next, final gate in the distance, after which she could go off wherever while I escaped, it was only one more gate for her to jump...

I yanked hard on the reigns, kneeing her, trying to get her to turn and run as the guards at the gate recovered and started shouting. I cursed lividly at the be-damned horse before deciding to hop off and run for it, she wasn't co-operating and was wasting my time. I was already shifting to throw one leg over the side to get off her when 6 quick notes pierced the air, coming from the direction of the house, and the horse whined at that, and started a dead bolt run back towards the house, I felt a half-formed scream tear at my throat as I gripped for dear life at her hair, reigns, sides whatever I could use as a grip to keep from falling off the horse and to the grass covered ground that was whizzing past even faster than when she was trying to shake me off! If I fell, I would definitely not be able to recover....

I threw my arms around her neck as she jumped back over the gate we had just cleared, making a beeline for the house. Unfortunately, when you clear a gate while riding a horse, you are supposed to lean back to keep from falling forward over the horse's neck, or to keep from smacking your face into the muscled neck and shoulders of the steed. Because of my grip around the chestnut's neck to keep from falling backwards off of her, when she thudded on the other side of the gate, my forehead collided painfully with her shoulders, making me see stars and whip backwards, my white-knuckled grip on the reigns the only thing keeping me from falling off the horse at this point and time.

My vision swam as my head pounded, I didn't dare take a hand off the reigns to check to see if there was blood or not... as the mare started to slow down I began to sway from side to side, having to blink away the blurriness to look down to my right as someone tried to take the reigns from my hand, I saw the hands connected to a red blur and reeled away from what a believed to be that desert wench, I cursed at her to get away from me, probably slipping in an obscenity about fucking herself with that spear of hers as I rambled off in Sheikah, my head pounding in agony as I heard the red and pink blur squawking. I could feel myself tipping towards the side away from her though I was probably dipping to the left too much and would soon fall off.

I felt a familiar arm wrap around my waist while a hand eased my own out of their grip on the wide leather reigns. The mare snorted and paced as I let go of them, sliding sideways even more as my head lolled, ending up on the shoulder of a man as I was lifted/slid off of the horse, before being lifted up be draped over one of his shoulders I supposed. Instead I clung to the man's front, my arm and leg muscles still tensed from the ride with the horse, and feeling jittery at the lack of something physical to hold onto. I pressed the front of my body as close as possible as I wrapped my legs around the trim waist of the man, at least he wasn't fat I mumbled to myself, my arms sliding under his own to clutch at the back of his shoulders.

The man barely tensed, and I probably rambled of 15 reasons why he shouldn't around a Sheikah warrior, my brain and mouth obviously not talking to each other as I couldn't seem to get my mouth to stop talking, the filter in my brain going haywire as I rambled on and on while I was carried, one of the Hylian's (for I assumed it was the same man that was at the hallway... he smelt the same) arms was idly scratching my scalp while the other was slipped under my rear-end, the forearm supporting me incase my legs gave out. But given the way I occasionally tightened my thigh muscles, and the quick tensing and gasping that came from the man, I believed my legs to be in fine condition.

I smirked into the man's covered neck, giving a small laugh at his uncomfortable grunt. I was elated at his vivid reactions to such simple actions and if gave me a sort of grim satisfaction to tease the man, in a place where I had little over control over what was happening to me... it then occurred to me that I should take advantage of the current situation to find some way to sneak out, it would be nightfall soon, and then it'd be harder to spot and capture me... I just wouldn't attempt riding off on a horse this time...

I craned my neck to get a look at the person holding me and as I saw them glance sideways at me, abashed.

.....I felt the need to get a drink of water hit me full force as my mouth went dry. He looked just like...

A thin blonde eyebrow was raised at my intense scrutiny of his face, a bit of color rushing to it as I straightened up in his hold around me, my arms shifting so my forearms rested on the tops of his shoulders. He gave a small cough before looking past me a bit to ask for someone to open the door, to which my ears twitched while I twisted around, noting the muscle spasm of the forearm beneath my ass as I studied the servant that stuttered at our position before opening and holding a tall door for us to pass through into what looked like a sitting room, with a simple table, couch and chairs. The door closed with a quick click and I turned to stare at the man holding me still, red eyes flashing in anger.

I tightened my grip on his shoulders, fingers digging into the green vest and white shirt he wore, hissing slightly as I glared his confused face. "Yo- you bastard! You were the one that got me into this whole mess! It's a bout time you came for me! What in the Triad's name took you so long?! Huh?! A year, a fucking YEAR. That's how long I waited for your punk ass to bust me out of that hell hole, that man could've had his way with me huh? I doubt you'd care though, Shadow. You had to wait till I was already sold to some aristocratic Hylian prick before you came to get me, geez... and your disguise isn't even that good, I seriously doubt that a magic spell to change your hair and eye color would trick many.... I mean, I recognized you...." I gave a gasp, panting and inhaling air as I finished my tirade of a speech, laying my head in the crook of his neck, sighing and relaxing, wrapping my arms around him as I gave his waist another squeeze.

During my tirade the man I thought was my lieutenant and part-time occupant of my bed roll during the war, had carried me into the next room over, I spotted the bed in the corner of the room and smirked into the cloth around his neck, pressing my body closer to his, only a simple layer of thin white cotton on my on tanned form while his were a bit more ornate, a white cuffed shirt under a sleeveless tunic that I had mistaken for a vest given the embroidery on it, thick leather boots and a pair of tights. A gave a laugh, full and uncontained given my present company. "You still take to wearing those silly tights of yours hmm Shadow? Then again, they are easier to take of than pants..."

His eyebrows shot up at that, surprise plain on his face at my comment, red dashing across the bridge of his nose, his ears even turning the color. I gave another laugh, burying my face in the side of his neck licking at the exposed underside of his jaw. He jerked at the contact, his arms for a second leaving my form as he tensed, and I was glad that I was still holding onto his form otherwise he'd have dropped me. I voice my observation with a smirk tugging at my lips as I nipped my way up his jaw line pausing to nibble his ear, I remembered he always did have sensitive ears...

And judging by the quick inhalation and arms wrapping around my hips I was correct, and his ears still remained a soft spot for him. He was unusually nervous, shifting from side to side as he shuddered slightly, head tilting away, though to give me more access or to escape I could never be quite sure. Of course, it had been a year since I had last seen him, and he'd seen me, and back then I was less... assertive. I had learned more Hylian in the hopes of being able to better communicate with him... of course he had always shoved me out of his tent once we were through but... there were moments, were he was so warm and real that made me crave to sneak back in that tent of his. And right now, as I nudged him in the butt with my feet to coax him to the bed, it felt like one of those moments where I just wanted him to be back lusting over me again. His attention alone was wanted; those of the slave sellers and riffraff meant nothing to me...

I voiced my concern over him turning me into a woman at times like these, threading one hand through his hair, my eyes turning the blonde to the usual dark black, eyes shifting from the blue of the sky to hell fire red, as he lowered me onto the bed, my mouth kissing from the tip of his ear back down and over high cheek bones and down the curves of his cheek, slipping along the dimple marks as he smiled shyly at me, eyes at half mast as our breath mingled.

The bed was soft and gave way under my back, a lot more comfortable than the previous flat surfaces we had fucked on... and as I dragged him down with me, our lower halves brushing excitedly, I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips and the throaty sigh that came with them, the breath I exhaled crashing over dusty lips that were opened in a dragged-out groan. My eyes drifted over his face as it flexed in elation before I leaned forward nervously, we had never kissed in our acts of lust... I had always wondered... it was barely a kiss I supposed, I was too nervous to fully attach our lips, mine ghosting over his as he breathed in shakily, both of us were tense, not sure if we were straining to keep from touching or to straining against ourselves so we could touch and feel. A low hum came from the man above me as he took charge, leaning forward completely so that our lips met and molded, pressing against each other as his hands rested on my hips, pushing them down while rubbing small circles on them through the white cloth.

As I was pinned I gave a groan into the lips above me, inviting and coaxing as my lower body steadily rose in temperature, my arms curling around his back, clawing at him to give me more. And in a way he replied eagerly, a tongue being thrust into my open lips, roaming over tooth and gum before dancing around my own, he pressed closer to me, joining my sprawl on the bed, my legs hooked around the back of his thighs as he straddled me, but kept his groin out of the reach of my own when I arched off the bed, groaning for needed friction and growling when he pushed me, albeit he somehow did it gently, back against the bed, hands clenching on the sides of my hips, kneading them while he pulled away from my mouth, instead nipping at my lips, bruising them with more kisses and licks, before he turned to my neck, one hand temporarily leaving my side to unclasp the collar that had been locked around it. My lust-filled brain barely paused to wonder where and how he got the key before he latched onto my neck biting and sucking, marking me as his in such a more permanent way than that horrendous collar and leash. The metal and leather contraption was simply tossed to the ground.

And we reclined in the pillows; my head lying over his shoulder while he ran fingers through my knotted hair, gently working the ties and twists out while scratching my scalp pleasantly. It was warm under the covers, and in his arms; the night having set well in by the time our "activities" were over. We had been too preoccupied to notice the drop in temperature, leaving us shiver and huddle closer, the heat and afterglow of sex, the gentle petting down the spine of my back... it was perfect in my mind, but my gut still twisted nervously, leaving my to press my face into his shoulder hoping he couldn't feel the very tiny droplets that fell that night. It had been the first time I cried in over 8 years, and I didn't know why the tears fell, I just squeezed my eyes further closed while listening to his heartbeat as it thumped on, steady, level, and slow, lulling me to a half-content sleep.

I awoke the next dawn to red twilight streaming through curtains and filtering onto the bed, a significant pain in my ass being present as I shifted slightly against warm flesh, going to swat the person breathing on my neck, tickling my prickled skin. I shifted very carefully, to slip out of the bed without waking my partner who snored quietly on as I slipped under his arms, replacing my body with that of a lush pillow as I backed out and off the bed, grimacing at the dried rubbery substance covering my lower abdomen and all along the insides of my thighs.

The smell of sweat and sex hung heavily in the air as I glanced around in the barely lit room, limping over to my shirt that had been flung halfway across the room; I cursed the blonde man in bed under my breath as I leaned heavily against the wall to pull on the loose material, my legs still wobbly and my butt aching, pain shooting up my spine while I pulled on the loose shirt, hands fumbling with buttons while my eyes searched the room for my pants. I breathed another curse as I undid the buttons, having skipped one in the beginning and having realized my mistake when there was one more hole left at the bottom, but no button.

I redid the buttons as my eyes caught the vibrant white of the pants, my eyes narrowing when I realized they were on the other side of the room as well, near the singular window between the door and bed. I limped across the room, not caring enough to hide the fact I'd been fucked since there was only an unconscious, disguised Shadow in the room, and I could barely hear the walking and talking of servants starting to rise. I cast a look over at the pale man in bed, still breathing deeply in sleep and I couldn't help the nervousness, the fear and for some reason... the guilt, that coiled deep in my gut, making me antsy and worry. I scowled then, having to bend over to pick up my pants and slid them on, trying to limit the number of times I needed to do the action, as it stretched sore and stiff muscles, both on the outside, along my back and on the inside where the sex was the roughest.

My spine gave several clicks as I righted myself, pulling the loose white pants up over myself, tying them tighter around my waist, noticing the bite marks that had bruised over, my fingers brushing slightly over the marks. I lifted the shirt higher, suddenly self conscious as I fingered the numerous marks over my body, even going so far as to untie the pants, to check the darker, larger bites that littered the inside of my thighs. For some reason I was embarrassed by the marks, even a bit proud of them in a way... I had never really paid attention to any marks given to me my Shadow, since they required red potion to heal most of them, no longer being classified as a 'love mark' or something of the like, no, they were always injuries to me... Injuries that I disliked, I hated being injured, feeling vulnerable and like I failed. Everything was so different now... the looks he gave me, the way he physically looked, the way he held me and ... made love to me because it could be called that, last night it was as if we were actually lovers, instead of to war-hardened generals looking for a night of pleasure, usually coated with more pain than I had ever experienced on the battlefield.

It was so different, and my gut dropped even more as I realized that in my slightly panicking moment of wondering 'what if this isn't Shadow?' someone in the hallway had walked up to the door, their steps echoing as I hastily pulled my shirt down, hands fumbling to pull pants up as I tried to press myself against the wall, hoping to be unnoticed and for Shadow to wake up from his lazy slumber. I hissed his name twice, glancing back and forth from the bed to the door that led to the first sitting room, it having been closed, and apparently locked sometime in the night since the door jiggled slightly before the jingling of keys hitting each other pierced the quiet dawn air.

"Good mornin' Sheik, time for you to giddup! You've got a bath waitin' for ya filthy back and we got a lot of questions for ya to... to..." it was Nabooru, laden down with towels, who was gapping at the bed, where the drowsy blonde man was sitting up, yawing and rubbing his eyes. The Gerudo had an amusing facial expression as she gaped at the man, the bed sheets only covering his hips, leaving his chest which was dotted with marks I had left in my blind passion last night, for all the world and Nabooru to see.

Her nose twitched as she glanced over at me, her eyes widening even further as she took in my appearance. I assumed my tussled hair and posture along with the still-yawing man on the bed and the heavy smell of sex added together quite quickly in the woman's head as she glared fiercely at me. "You sly lil' fox! You seduced 'im have ya? You've robbed the poor boy of his innocence, that you 'ave! Oh Link! You poor, poor boy, what did he do to you?!" The woman rushed to the bed, pulling a very flustered 'Link' out of bed, the man barely having enough time to grab a sheet to cover himself with as the woman pulled his face to her chest. I supposed I would have been amused by the situation had I not been sickened by the sudden terror in my stomach at her familiar behavior towards who I thought was...

I barely registered the sounds of hurried footsteps and the door of the sitting room open as I pressed myself against the wall, eyes boring into the face of this 'Link' person. I heard calls of that man's name as several more people stepped into the room; I ignored them, even as curious gazes bored into the side of my head, a few questioning me. I felt my mouth move without my consent, voicing the obvious.

"You aren't Shadow, are you?"

All eyes were on me then while I stared at the man in front of me, my expression schooled into a deadpan while Link carefully pushed Nabooru out of the way, rewrapping the blanket around his middle section as he opened his mouth to supposedly speak. But the Gerudo woman intervened, possibly angered at having so easily been pushed aside. "Like hell he's that bastard! This here is his brother, the owner of the house, the estates, the servants and you. Geez, do you know nothin' Red 'yes?"

Bastard. Brother. Owner. Thoughts swiveled through my head, making me dizzy and nauseated as stared at some point in the wall past the red head's face, lost for a moment as I digested the new information. I crooked smile formed on my lips as I leaned up and off of the wall, calmly turning to dip my head in the blonde haired man's direction. I was moving automatically, my mind seperate from my body as it opened its mouth.

"Well, glad to know that I was fucked by the one who bought me for that purpose instead of some stable boy. I believe you mentioned a bath before questioning Nabooru..." I trailed off, turning away from the two figures near the bed, coming face to faces with the other Sheikah, Impa, the Goron I had tossed Saria to and to a new face, it was a Zora, with quite the ferocious expression on her face as her fins twitched in what I supposed as anger. I tilted my head politely to my blood sister, her red eyes trying to look into mine, and I glanced at the Goron as I strode past her, the rock-eater stepping out of the way as well to let be pass to the door, where the Zora stood, blocking the exit.

"You... How dare you sleep with my husband!" was the first sentence I ever heard from Ruto's mouth, followed by a high pitched declaration that I was a whore and some other obscenities that had the other occupants of the room quaffing as I simply stood there, eyebrow raised as I waited patiently for her to finish some long rant about how she was supposed to be the one with Link, not me. I almost laughed at the sheer stupidity of the Zora; I voiced my opinion, hoping my Hylian was as clear and understandable as I hoped.

"I just did what I was bought to do, and I can see why he bought me if you really are his wife, how do fish reproduce after all?" I might have meant the comment to bite but I had kept it monotone and bored, my eyes flicking here and there as I spoke, the motion of her hand in my peripheral alerting me to her action to slap me or something. I grabbed her forearm with my right hand, my left grabbing her thigh as I simply swung her around and tossed her to my 'owner' who fumbled, nearly tripping over the bed sheet around his waist in order to catch her. The Zora was fuming, screaming her head off as she threw a temper tantrum about punishing me or something;

Offering a simple smirk to the outlandish looks I received from the occupants of the room, "You, Link was it? You need to keep a better leash on your whores. Soon they'll be thinking they own you instead of the other way around." With that I swiveled on my heel, walking briskly out of the room and out of the sitting room, out into the hallway where life was already springing up all over the place. First stop: bath. I needed to get the scent and seed of that man off of me. I questioned a male servant quickly, the man eying me warily before answering me and walking off. I followed his directions further into the house where there was a wooden carved door, decorated with scenes of mystical water creatures and the like on its surface.

The door was slipped aside, I creeped in and closed the door behind me, glad that no one had been bothered to follow me after the escapade with the Zora. All except my fellow Sheikah of course, she had been keeping a stern eye on me, probably giving me a harsh frown or something of the like while I looked around the open air bathing area, the wide pool set up to look like a small spring or something, or maybe it was natural, the house having been built around a spring? Regardless, the tree grew over a section of the bath, its roots making innate seats to rest against.

I spotted a small showering area, the ground giving way to nicely laid tile and a small hand pumps lined the walls to get the water pumping through the pipes and out of the shower heads. I strode quickly to one of the stalls, the walls coming up just over my waist line as I stripped quickly, folding the spoiled clothes. I placed them on the ground outside of my open shower stall before turning back to the hand crank, grabbing the handle and began pushing it down and pulling up to get the pump working. The water clicked on, cold and brisk as I continued working the crank so that the water wouldn't stop halfway through my shower. I glanced over the different soaps and such that had been left in the stall from previous users, picking up and sniffing some of the wax-made soaps, picking out ones that had no scent. I tried to shower quickly, plucking off the rubbery strings of cum.

While I scrubbed the substance off of my abdomen and thighs I glanced about the open air bathing courtyard, looking around briefly for that Sheikah woman, that had followed me, she hid herself well, that was for sure. It took about 3 minutes of scrubbing my body clean to locate her finally; she had hidden herself within the tree's vast tangle of branches, the shadows cloaking her form easily.

Unabashed by her presence I stepped out of the shower stall, grabbing a towel in passing before I walked over to the spring, laying the towel by the side of the pool before slipping in to the cold water. I was comforted by the fact that she seemed to be a hardened Sheikah warrior, serious, and would only comment or question me in a flat, business tone, instead of teasing me or something. She waited for about 5 minutes until I spoke to her in our tongue, asking her to come out of the tree and to question me.

The woman landed gracefully on a rock across from me, crossing her legs and sitting down to make herself comfortable. She was quick to the point, her blunt questioning was a relief from the beating around the bush I had seen many a Hylian use to try and get around reporting a troubling affair on the war front or a failure on their part.

"How do you know Shadow?" her crimson eyes bored into mine and I tilted my head slightly at her question, I had expected something along the lines of 'Why did you join Ganondorf's army?' or 'Why are you not bound by Blood Oath, you bare no marking of it on your body.' Something about me, rather than him.

Our eyes were locked with each other, waiting for the other to submit or lose focus for a second, a silent battle of wills and power, all conveyed from the eyes. The door leading to the room creaked open, though I didn't move, neither did the other participant of this staring contest. The tension in the air was thick, and eventually I found myself wanting nothing more than to relax in the cool pool and go get some sleep. I blinked slowly at the woman, my posture slacking as I gave a deep sigh, relenting from the battle for now.

I began in Sheikah, it was easier for me to speak in, and less thought put in to spit out the words quickly and to be done with the matter. "I assume you've already searched for information on me?" It was best to know how much she knew before I went off, I held no ties to either side of the war, Ganondorf was simply the first to request my services, the Royal Family having either been killed or put into hiding, not sending any calls for Sheikah protection.

Her answers troubled me, she said they knew of my birthparents, the location and circumstances of my birth in Kakariko before I was shipped off to the Gerudo in the neighboring country Termina at age 7. She even rolled off a few of the fields I excelled in before I journeyed back to Hyrule in time to join the invading Gerudo army at age 17, quickly rising through the ranks as I left a bath of blood behind me. She charted off major battles I had been in, the execution of the Hylian King that I witnessed, the fall of Death Mountain where I had lead a smaller band of warriors around the crags of the mountain to attack the mobilizing forces of the Gorons who had been coming to the aid of the Hylian forces. She spoke in a slow monotone, letting it hit me in the face just how many battles I had been in, how many people I had killed, how many innocents fell by my blade. But I didn't regret it. Not one bit. It gave me purpose, when I had no master Ganondorf came along, he gave me a goal and a job and it filled the boredom of peace.

"Well, you've certainly done your research, but you should be able to answer your own question. He was the Lieutenant General of the Third Division; I was the Brigadier General of the Special Operations Squads, the Thirteenth Brigade. As such we often consulted with each other and the Fourth and Fifth Divisions before a major attack. The Fifth usually ran distraction, the Fourth kept the remnants of the opposing army under pressure whilst the third invaded enemy lines to retrieve insurgents and the likes: basically to grab the Thirteenth Legion operatives and escort them back to base."

It appeared that the staring war had begun anew as her eyes bore into my own, trying to intimidate me into admitting something. But I hadn't the faintest clue as to why she or anyone besides the ashen-skinned warrior's brother would want to know about my affairs with him.

A small cough from the side interrupted our leveled gazes, Impa turning slightly to properly face the offender. One of her thin white eyebrows arched slightly, cuing the person to speak. They answered in our tongue, "Impa, let's leaving that kind of questioning for another day... okay?" It was Link that had spoken, I had forgotten that he knew our tongue, the woman simply nodded before rising to her haunches, magic stirring through the air as she whipped a small object at the ground, the teleportation sending her to wherever she wished.

I envied her a bit right then, the pathways in my body that allowed magic to flow through and be used in spells had been burnt out in the taking of the kingdom do the south, there had been mages stationed and my Squad had gotten caught in the crossfire of their casting, I ended up having to draw too much from the ethereal river, the semi-physical magic runoff from the River of Time which powers all forms of spell casting, and ended up burning the pathways closed.

I could no longer tap into the river, but I could still feel it surge slightly when Impa used the Deku Nut, the magic stored within the small kernel allowed more energy to be taken from the river and to be used for the complicated, magic-consuming teleportation.

By the time I finished running through the small memory and observation, Link had managed to slip into the spring, the ripples against my skin being what brought me out of my thoughts. I had been staring intently at the rock where Impa had been for the last 10 minutes it seemed. I briefly pondered getting out of the bath at his arrival but instead I twisted slightly, swimming deeper into the roots of the tree above me, my warrior senses didn't like the position, it would be near impossible to escape should Link or someone corner me in the roots, though the spring was deep, I could probably just swim under the roots... I was cut out of my distracted thinking by more ripples as the blonde floated towards where I had previously sat, he was staring up at the clouds above as he started to speak.

I'll start responding to reviews here from now on as the system of sending private messages here on ff is weird, confusing, and irritating for me. Plus, I'm in pain from my new braces that are wearing holes in my cheeks and tongue so I really can't be bothered with it.

Namari: Thank you, I hope I don't get the block either ; Though usually what happens is I plan too far ahead and I like it in my mind and can't be bothered to write it down XD And it does seem that we torture the ones we love (Sheik is my favourite character in OoT and I play as him all the time in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl I never lose :D)

Boska: Can I hug you? You made me cry tears of joy with your amazingly long, nice review and critique! I'm glad that you don't mind my version of 1st person point of view, I knowI personally hate most 1st pov Sheik fics because they are angsty with Sheik cutting/stabbing himself of having a mope-fest because he's having an exsistential crisis our is unsure if Link likes him or not. I tried to avoid this overly used pattern like the plague, I really haven't found any kind of fic where that is proper behaviour. I'm glad you could feel Sheik's emotion, I was worried I had overdone it, but I'm comforted that it got all the feeling and hate across nicely.

I wouldn't know if I'm a prude or not, but I managed to write the sex scene in about 2 nights full of much blushing with Mr. J explaining male anatomy and mechanics to me so that it was realistic and not as fakely sugar-coated as many fanfictions make it out to be. Your review was a delightful chocolate-chip cookie reward :3 I'm astounded that I made you break your habit of reviewing on the 3rd chapter and WIPs, I'll try not to let you down! Thank you very much, Tsuchi.