I'm reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllyyyyy sorry I haven't updated in an eternity! I got all caught up in other things! ...Like high school! I wanted to finish it! I also had really, really bad writers block. I shouldn't be making excuses though... (sorry ) I haven't abandoned this, I just wanted all you faithful (like there are any of those left) readers to know that, and thanks for reading and also, being so patient!

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Aryll had lived with her new 'guardians' for five days now. It had been decided that they'd keep her there for good on the second day of her stay. Their names were Soya, Zeltar and Cassandra, their daughter, they were nice people who were worried about her, she never said much, a "thank you" or an "excuse me" were the most she said the majority of the time. The other times were dedicated to horrific prophetic discouraging, most of which they thought were resulting from the traumatic experience, others expressed personal down falls and flaws of theirs' that were eerily accurate. They feared that she really had been touched by evil. They watched her constantly, fearing that her mental stability may impair her ability to function with others.

They didn't want to think that she was crazy, they didn't want to think that she was inept or impaired. They wanted to think that she'd get better. She showed no signs of improvement but then, she didn'tshow any signs of regression. They hoped that was a good sign. Apart from that, she was perfectly healthy. She had no bumps or bruises (credit to the potion she drank once a day) despite the labor she preformed. She did household chores, cleaning mostly. Neither Soya nor Zeltar asked her to do most of them, she did them out of reflex. Work had been so much a part of her life at her home, it was a comfort to her. She needed the therapy.

Soya would find her staring at Cassandra from time to time, and often she would offer to let her hold her, but every time she refused. As time progressed as Aryll gazed upon the child, she developed a solemn regretful look. When asked why, her response was just as somber:

"Because she's going to die. . ." Was the only thing she would say on the matter, she wouldn't give any further expiation. They couldn't keep the fear out of their thought whenever she said such thing, because, what if she was right? The days they were together grew in numbers, at least 16 days had passed since she came, but never did she relax. Never did she sit down and talk, never did she start to (even unintentionally) reveal her past, never cried, never screamed, never whinnied, she didn't even speak at all most days; so it was with reluctance that Zeltar brought to his new family the latest bit of unsavory gossip.

As he had come home, he was grim. Unable to find a suitable time to break the news. The evening was pleasant enough, Soya had even coaxed a smile out of Aryll earlier, but nothing could quell his anxiety. As "bed time" came for their infant daughter and their permanent house guest, he finally decided it was time. He looked sadly at his wife, humming a nameless tune and swaying her hips happily to the melody as she tidied up the mess created from the after-dinner rump about the house. He breathed in deep and steadied his sad heart.

"Soya." He called decisively.

"Hmmm, yes?" He sang contentedly back, still swaying even though she had stopped her humming. His resolve faltered at such a happy response. Perhaps the rumors really were only rumors after all... But no, he had seen the devastation, the injuries, the; well, the evil! He had seen it with his own two eyes! He had to go through with this...

"Soya, I thinkin' we should leave town!" He said quickly wanting to get it out before he changed his mind. She froze, looking confusedly at her love.

"But why?" She asked. "You said this was a great place to live and raise a family... We only just got here! And where would we go to now?" She had stopped bouncing about and put her arms down, which she had begun to wave to the beat of music only she could hear only moments before.

"We'll go to Kakariko, before..." His voice became weaker, "before anyone get hurt..." He finished quietly.

"Hurt?" Soya questioned alarmed, unconsciously protecting the door the children were sleeping behind. "What are you...?" She trailed off.

"Now, I know it seem unreasonable, movin' an' all... But, the rumors are enough to send any-a man packin'! But then I seen... I seen it, Soya! I seen it! There be a man... And then there be a beast! There be a chil' an' then there be not but their shoes! Soya, I don' wanna be no beast, and I don't wanna see no Cassandra or no Aryll be all gone but their shoes!" He was starting to cry now, making his already slurred speech worse. He was shaking and crying and somewhere in his tirade he had grabbed Soya's wrists and hugged them close to his chest. "And worse, Soya, it gotten worse! People start goin' to the castle and thems people don' come back. Somein' say some news o' Princess Zeld' bein' worried, an' they gone missin'! I don' know what to say 'round no one no more! Don' know where friends goin' to! I wanna see ya'll bein' 'live an' well. None you get hurt... None yo' lives taken... None you...!" He was rambling now, his white-knuckled fists relaxing grip on Soya's small wrists. Soya (in a surprising feet of strength) pulled her hands out of Zeltar's, the lack of pain around her wrists a testament to her own resilience to it. She calmly looked him in the eyes, she had to get to the bottom of this, knowing her husband was easily scared despite his rather burly appearance.

"Could it have been some street performers?" She asked in a slow, low tone.

"No'm, they be jus' walkin', jus' people, jus' walkin'." He said wide-eyed and through a now stopped up nose.

"Could this be the work of some clever Gerudos, trying to pick-pocket some startled passer-by?" She asked in the same tone.

"No'm, they be no Gerudo. Even if they be Gerudo 'bout, they cry'in' same as I... No majic of no thief... Evil majic, Soya, evil!" His hands started to shake again. Soya took them in an attempt to settle them.

"I believe you, we shall leave in the morning..." Soya let go and moved as if to leave Zeltar's side but Zeltar held her back.

"No, we leave now, before the man realizes we been missin' and take the chill'uns." Soya looked at him questioningly. "They say... They say the castle already been taken. The Thief King got 'em. And the Thief King hate Hylian, an' he kill all, an taken Hyrule." Soya just looked into Zeltar's eyes and knew the truth. She silently nodded her head and left to wake Aryll and retrieve Cassandra. They were going to leave now.

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Aryll writhed in her sleep, wordlessly calling for help like she did every night. In her mind, she saw the people, the people who didn't leave quick enough. She saw Zeltar and Soya and Cassandra in Soya's arms, screaming for all it's worth. She saw the monster, the one that plagued her every dream- a bowsman this time. She watched it load and pull back the bowstring, she watched it aim, she watched if fire. As she feared, as she knew, the arrow flew straight and hit it's target, the unhappy infant screamed one last time, but her screams were drown out by that of her mother's. She couldn't look away, she couldn't close her eyes. She saw the blood all over Soya's dirty pink dress, she saw the arrow stuck through the limp body of the baby, she saw the child being cradled by her mother; smearing the blood even more across her upper body, and then saw the child being dropped to the ground. She saw the bowsman vanish as Zeltar looked about wildly and tearfully for the one responsible. Trying in vein to find some one to blame. She saw, and felt their pain. Zeltar's eyes locked with hers and moved down to her left hand, his mouth screwed up in an attempt to with-hold a scream. Why couldn't she do anything? Why couldn't she move? She looked at her feet and noticed something horribly. She trembled at the thing she was clutching. A tear slid down her face. She was holding a bow. She was the one, she...

She woke up to gentle shacking. "Aryll." Whispered a woman's voice. "Aryll wake up..." She opened her eyes, realizing she not done so yet. The woman seemed satisfied and left her side, picking up the sleeping baby. "We're leaving, pack some clothing ands take nothing else, we won't need it."

"Soya...?" Aryll said. Soya turned around surprised and looked at her. She was not accustomed to Aryll speaking so.

"Yes...?" She asked breathlessly.

"I saw the rest of it... Watch out for a bowsman, he'll try to shoot Cassandra..." Was all she said and then she did as she was told, taking only the large tunic and leggings Zeltar had given her. Soya looked troubled and then snuggled the child closer, believing Aryll despite of herself. She then did something rather unusual, she smiled.

"Aryll, I think we will need something else..." She turned and left the dark room.

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They scurried out of their home, very few parcels on them to slow them down. They were not alone, many people were leaving before it was to late. All fearful of the same rumor. A man, a woman, a child, and what seemed to be two babies (each parent holding one to their chest) were the subject of the beast that soared the sky. It watched them leave, the little girl take a horse from the stables from just inside the main gates. Yes, this was the target all right. The demon (for that's what it was) disappeared into the shadow, as swift as the wind, in pursuit of it's victim.

They were fleeing north-west to the small village of Kakariko, or as it guessed, for they were moving in a north-western direction. The man and the woman clung to their precious parcels while the little girl galloped ahead pensively on a young horse, turning around nervously and racing back to the slow moving adults every once and a while. The demon slithered up to a hill, high above the little people, an easy perch for the skilled archer. The thing came as close to a smile as it's rotting lips would allow, and transformed, it's new shape a beautiful young woman with a bow. It looked down at them, doing exactly as was predicted of them. All actions perfectly choreographed to a point. All it (or she now) needed to do was aim and fire. As easy as that...

She pulled back her bow, an arrow materializing as she needed it. She looked down the hill at the woman, and aimed at her chest, or rather, at the bundle she was hugging to her chest, and fired. It flew, it hit, but the wrong target.

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Soya was shacking, what if it didn't work? What if her baby died anyway? What if she was fighting an unwinnable battle in Cassandra's stead? Better her then Cassandra. She had told nothing of her plan to Zeltar, and only told Aryll to the extent of her involvement. She had her doubts about wether she would make it to Kakariko, but she must! She must defy the death sentence that evil had ordered! Her heart was beating fast, she had a few fleeting thoughts about all the things she would never have again, all the things she had never done... But it was to late to regret. To late to worry about the future... She looked to the stars, she breather out, she let her eyes wander to the hill Lon-Lon Ranch was perched on. She saw the full moon making a halo around it. It was time...

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Ooooooooooooo, cliff-hanger! Actually, kinda not... I don't think it's a very good ending. I wanted it to be a cliff hanger but I don't seem to be able to do that very well with this story... Well, please tell me what you think! Leave a review!