Chapter 6: The story of the royal family
Something felt different today. Link mulishly kept his eyes closed even though he was already awake. His father's hands were strangling him as usual so at least in that case everything was normal… Wait, that wasn't his father's hands!
Link was about to scream when Impa put a hand over his mouth and dragged him out of bed.
"Okay, boy, you've had your fun!"
He could see through the window that it was early morning, very early morning. The sun hadn't even reached over the horizon. He tried to struggle free, which of course was pointless.
"If the princess wakes up I'll make sure you pay", Impa whispered, her voice fretfully low on the last words.
Her words, and even more so her tone, petrified him. Impa was without doubt the worst, scariest thing he had ever come across! His father would be comparable to a fairy next to Impa.
"Soon the servants will come to wake the princess. You have to leave now!" She removed her hand and Link was about to argue but before he had time to do so she threw him out of the castle window. He was so shocked he couldn't even scream. He prayed the goddess Farore to protect him as he fell. He closed his eyes and prepared for hitting the ground but never did. He opened his eyes and found himself in Impa's arms.
"H-how could you get here… I mean… you…." He stuttered and pointed at her with wide eyes.
"And here I assumed you could master fall technique!"
"Do you expect a seven year old boy to be able to land safely from that height?" Link shouted. By the look on Impa's face it was quite clear that it was exactly what she expected.
"I can't believe I let someone like you near the princess even for a second", Impa muttered loud enough for him to hear. Link glared at her and Impa glared back, her eyes just as scary in daylight as in the middle of the night.
"I don't like you!" They both said with one mouth, which caused them both to continue glaring for several more minutes.
"I better bring you home. You'll just get caught by the guards if you go by yourself."
Link wasn't too pleased that she though so low of him but he didn't have much choice than to accept.
Impa stopped behind a corner close to Links house. Link thought that the sight of his home never had been more joy bringing and began to run, completely forgetting that Impa was holding his wrist in a tight grip. He almost tripped when she pulled him backwards, but he remained in front of her with his back turned against her.
"I can't be seen here, if you're smart enough to understand that", Impa said and let go of his hand.
He growled and turned around to answer her but no one stood behind him. He looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. She was so creepy, he thought, and went inside.
Zelda woke up and was surprised that Link was gone. For as long as she had known him he had always been late to their meetings because he overslept. She herself woke up early.
She went out on the balcony and looked carefully on either side. Nobody seemed to be awake in any room that had a view of her balcony.
She jumped over the balcony-railing and carefully let the figurines decorating the castle walls serve as foothold. Right beneath her balcony a stone, with one lone eye carved into it, was located on a thin edge. It floated well into the design and was hard to notice. She carefully nudged at it with a finger and it told her the exact time of the day.
She had discovered it when she was practicing to play her harp on the balcony. Two fairy spirits had suddenly flown by as she was playing her lullaby. Now, you might wonder why that was so special.
Great Fairies could be met by anyone who could get to their fountain and fairies were told to exist in the Lost Wood. Fairy spirits, on the other hand, were very rare but could be called or found in most places of Hyrule, waiting for a moment to make a good deed so they could pass on to the Golden Land.
She had noticed that whenever she played her old lullaby fairy spirits would always show up and she tracked them to the stone. Her lullaby seemed to call them to fly freely over Hyrule. She soon noticed how useful the stone could be in other ways.
After checking what time it was she climbed back to her room to find Impa waiting for her there.
"I need to talk to you tonight Zelda so try to stay up", Impa said and left the room without giving further instructions.
Zelda sighed. She wished Link had said goodbye.
The day seemed to be longer than usual for Zelda. When she finally was back in her room it had started to darken. Exhausted she sank down in Impa's armchair. She almost fell asleep when she remembered that she was going to wait for Impa.
"Can't she just wake me up when she gets here?" Zelda mumbled as she changed to her nightgown.
Patiently she waited. She sat completely still in bed with her arms crossed. She frowned.
"Ready for bed?" Impa stepped into the room from the balcony. Zelda pouted at her.
"Can you never be more understandable Impa?"
"Then how will you, surrounded by the incompetent people in this castle, learn how to think by yourself?"
"It wouldn't hurt Impa if you were a little more exact at times!"
"I took it as my mission to make sure you got raised in a proper way. The people here think they know everything. I don't trust them enough to lay your life in their hands."
Zelda frowned at her.
"Well, Impa, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Tonight I'll tell you of some of Hyrule's history and about your parents."
"…My…mother?" Zelda said softly and stared down at her hands.
The queen had died when Zelda was very young and it was an unwritten law not to speak about her. Zelda had given up on anyone telling her anything. She herself only had a few unclear memories of her mother.
Impa sat down and cleared her throat.
"The first war that occurred in Hyrule's history was between the Gerudos and the Hylians. It all started with the many complaints about the Gerudos' behaviour.
Gerudo women only gave birth to girls except once every hundred years when one boy was born to lead them. They could always be recognized on their flaming red hair and darker tone on their skin. Second only to the Sheikah they were the most hated in all of Hyrule. That's why strength became important to them. Power meant safety.
Fighting and killing was a duty that Gerudos faithfully followed but they would rather enjoy themselves. They lived as if every day was the last and secretly people envied their freedom. When it came to men these strong-willed women refused to acknowledge them as superiors and this refusal to men allowed hatred to grow in their hearts until they came to only used men for as long as they needed them.
Since the Gerudo tribe rather chose to improve their skills and look for ways to enjoy themselves over working for a living, it drove them into criminality. They robbed people and tore couples apart with their cold way of keeping the tribe alive. Any man who fell in love with a Gerudo was cursed to fall into misery it was said.
The king of Hyrule decided to banish them. The Gerudo tribe was infuriated and didn't waste any time on trying to debate it. They declared war upon Hyrule and its king.
The Gerudo trusted their own strength but the Hylians had an impressive army and the loyal Gorons also joined forces with them. The Sheikah were also forced to fight this battle because they had sworn to serve the king.
The Gerudo tribe was driven into the desert. They were humiliated at their loss but could do nothing than accept their fate. They settled down in the desert and let the hatred grow ever deeper in their hearts."
Impa interrupted herself and frowned at Zelda. "Gerudos can be very sly so you have to be careful with them", she told the young princess before she went on with the story.
"When your father was a young prince he was a full-fledged swordsman and a remarkable leader. He was adventurous and proud. Being raised to live up to peoples expectations he was always ready to fulfill his duties. Thoughts of a different life had never crossed his mind.
My people, the Sheikah were in the service of the royal family, but as long as we weren't called we kept ourselves hidden in Hyrule.
I myself had reached an age that allowed me to leave one of the hidden villages where the Sheikah trained each other and could avoid the hateful stares of the other races. That village was where I had been kept since birth.
You see, it's important to get plenty of training but it's just as important to know every straw of grass and every droplet of water in Hyrule for a Sheikah.
I travelled through Hyrule with a childhood friend of mine. We journeyed through the land to get to know it to its most hidden corners as all of the Sheikah had done before us. The Sheikah always made sure they knew what was going on in Hyrule and we were worried that the Gerudo tribe would try something for revenge. It was a time of fear. The calm before the storm.
One day when I travelled with my friend through the Lost Wood we came across a wounded man.
"We have sworn our lives to the royal family and by doing so to the Hylians", said my friend and kneeled beside the wounded man, who indeed was a Hylian.
I was worried. When travelling through the Lost Wood it was best to keep yourself moving, to avoid letting any of the creatures lurking there get an opportunity to gang up on you.
She insisted that we should take him with us while I thought his life was already lost and that it would be no meaning to take him."
Impa made a short pause as she noticed Zelda was holding her breath but then continued.
"We had a fight and parted.
Three months passed before I met her again. She looked as healthy as ever with glistening eyes and rosy cheeks. When we reunited it was as if the fight had never occurred.
Once again we travelled together.
Soon worrying news began to spread among the Sheikah. The future ruler of Hyrule, the prince, who usually was very responsible, was running off more and more often.
Many were worried about this, now when this tension between the Hylians and the Gerudos was in the air. As faithful servants we weren't allowed to dig in this matter but the eldest of the Sheikah still selected my friend as the one to find out what kept the prince busy."
"She must have been very good", Zelda said. "I mean… if she was selected."
Impa smiled briefly. "Yes, she was more of a Sheikah than any other before her." Impa cleared her throat.
"Every time she came back she reported the same thing. That the prince went to a secret place to train combat instead of studying politics.
Since we all had the gift to sense if one was speaking the truth, many began to suspect that my friend wasn't telling us what the true matter was. I myself could not deny, even though I knew how high she valued truth and loyalty that something was wrong
When she had been gone for several months without coming back to report to us the eldest sent away three Sheikahs to find out what she was doing.
It took several days, but then the first one returned and kneeled before the eldest.
"She has fulfilled half of what she promised. She is by the prince's side but hasn't returned."
This we all knew and the eldest was very disappointed, but the messenger wouldn't say another word. After him the second one arrived.
"She has bound herself to her half mission in front of the goddesses."
If she had bound herself to stay at the prince's side in front of the goddesses it could only mean that it was an unbreakable vow and that she wouldn't come back. The eldest frowned when this news reached them. Then the third arrived.
"She split her mission into half and now carries a half."
If the Sheikah had been like the other races chaos would have broken out at those words. Instead it became death silent. A half."
"What does that mean?" Zelda asked.
"You must learn to stay quiet until the end Zelda, that's important", Impa said.
"The man my childhood friend had found in the forest was no other than the prince himself. They had felt drawn to each other as soon as their eyes met but she refused to stay with him because of their different lives. A Sheikah could never be with a Hylian. The prince thought she rejected him because he was a prince while she was considered less than a servant. He could not say farewell and kept swearing her his eternal love. His life in the castle was nothing in contrast to her.
In the end they couldn't resist and entered a secret relationship, forbidden by all sides. The prince did no longer care for his duties when it came to chose between them or her.
It was hard for the young couple to keep it secret and see each other. More than once one or the other of them had tried to end it but they never could. Their love grew stronger with every second that passed, whether it was with or without the other.
When the prince found out that the Sheikah could contact each other through mystical stones marked with their symbol, the All Seeing Eye, he begged of her to tell him how they could use it. She explained that only the Sheikah with their gift could use the stones. He begged of her to find a way he could use them but she refused, she had already betrayed her people enough. Instead the prince ordered the elder Sheikah to give him their magical gift. Many were against the order but they couldn't say anything against their master and so they granted his wish and created a magical mask. Anyone who wore it could see into people's minds, understand animals' thoughts and could here the whispers from the mystical gossip stones.
The Sheikah became more and more worried about the prince not taking care of his duties and his strange request. My friend became worried that they would be discovered and sneaked off to end the relationship once and for all. But when she met him she couldn't bring herself to speak a word. Instead, when her beloved prince was asleep she carved a single tear falling from the Sheikah symbol, the All Seeing Eye which adorned all gossip stones, into the stone he had in a box on his desk
The prince waited impatiently for his love to return but she never came. Soon he decided to contact her with the stone. As soon as he laid eyes upon it he understood her message. She was gone.
The prince's world turned into darkness. He locked himself up in his room and refused to do anything.
Far away his love suffered from the same heartbreak.
The Sheikah were still worried over the prince's opposition to take care of the country. That was when they chose my friend to find out the reason to the prince's irresponsibility. She thanked the goddesses for her luck and used the mission to reunite with her beloved and the prince welcomed her without any questions.
But still they had no idea how they could stay together. The prince was the only heir to the throne and still cared deeply for his people. She wasn't allowed to be in a relationship with him which would be taken as a betrayal to her people and she would probably be killed. And of course she loved Hyrule about as much as she loved him and, as said, he was the only heir to the throne. What right did she have to take him then?
Their love kept growing until they were so blinded by it that they thought they could marry and keep it secret until the day they died.
As usual she went on her mission to keep an eye on the prince but this time she didn't go back. In the dark night they ran to the Temple of Time where the light sage and priest Kaepora Gaebora agreed to marry them and to keep it secret from everyone.
When the Sheikah had sent their three spies and finally found out what had happened she was already married to the prince and was carrying his child. This was an awful betrayal. Through all the ages the Sheikah had only married each other. To not let the gift disappear and to keep their natural talents it was forbidden to be in a relationship with anyone that wasn't of the Sheikah. All Sheikahs should be completely pure.
This child that she now carried would be the first half Sheikah ever. It was a scandal that she had married the prince and done something like this. A half."
"A half Sheikah then", Zelda murmured quietly not to disturb Impa.
"I hurried to the castle to get an explanation before it was too late. I was supposed to be completely cold, a Sheikah's heart is frozen, but I could not keep the feelings inside me hidden. I needed to talk to her.
She told me about how she was powerless against their love and that she didn't regret anything. She would please the ruler of Hyrule and do her best to protect the Hyrulians, as the Sheikah had sworn the royal family so long ago.
After talking the whole night I found myself agreeing with her. But I knew that she, and the child she carried, had to die sooner or later for this.
It was only a matter of time before the Sheikah would come and claim her life. She also knew this and decided that her husband deserved to know. He was still in the dark of this matter.
In despair and in fear of losing her the prince decided to get rid of all the Sheikah. If he turned to someone else he would have to speak out loud, if it was merely a whisper there was still a risk that the Sheikah would find out. They were everywhere. He knew he had to do this alone.
There were no warriors that could defeat them in battle and they were trained to do the impossible. It would have to be a perfect plan.
Once again Hyrule's wellbeing was least important.
The people of the sea, the Zoras, who didn't have much contact with any other part of Hyrule outside their own domain, began to question the king. The Zoras traded wares and lived in peace with the Hylians, and the rest of the races, but they still had to correct themselves after what the king decided. Even though they lived isolated.
For the last years their business hadn't been taken well care of by the Hylians and the Zoras felt that they should have something to say in the matter. It didn't take long for them to agree that they should have their own monarchy and their own king who thought about their own welfare.
They tried to take care of this peacefully, but when they sent their demands they didn't get any answer. Neither a yes nor a no. Nothing.
Zoras are very friendly and noble but they are also very proud since they hold themselves in high esteem. If you insult them you better be on your guard.
For months the Zoras tried to get through to the king but were treated like air. They sent messengers to discuss the matter personally but they returned empty-handed.
A wise Zora saw how badly the Hylians treated his people. The Zoras were dependent on the Hylians and that was supposed to be their undoing? He gave all advice he could to the ones who had started a protest against the king.
The Zora knew that they had to break free from the king and still keep the Hylians as their allies. He himself wasn't fit to make a trip to visit the king and the king would never come to him.
If something wasn't done soon he didn't know what the future would bring his newborn daughter.
Meanwhile the king of Hyrule was too busy to find a way to protect his queen and unborn child to bother about the Zoras at all.
Finally he thought he had found a way and decided to visit the composers of the castle, Amy, Beth, Joelle and Meg.
He asked them for a really loud instrument and required a pair of Deku pipes. Now all he needed was a reason to give us, the Sheikahs, the order.
At midnight a letter arrived that informed him that the Zoras had declared war. He was shocked but not very worried. He trusted his men and knew he could count on the Gorons being on his side.
…And the Sheikah…
He ordered us that we should go to the Water Temple, which the Zoras guarded, to investigate. He himself accompanied us.
We looked around in the deepest corners and searched every path, every room. I myself stood at the lowest level in the main room.
The Water Temple is, as you know, built under water but there is usually no water inside of the temple. It has one big, main room, with a huge pillar in the middle, and several corridors and smaller rooms around that.
When I walked towards one of the four corridors at my level I heard tones echo throughout the temple.
Suddenly water began to fill up the entire temple at an incredible speed. It was the Zoras who had constructed the temple and since they only had contact with the royal family it was their passed down song they used to open the entrance to Zoras domain and to control the water level in their temple.
There were certain places in the temple you could activate to control the water level. However, they all affected the water level differently and the king would never have a chance to flee if he went to one of them.
Since the loud Deku pipes echoed throughout the whole temple, it activated all these places at the same time, causing the whole temple to be filled with water, and the king, who was playing the song, could stand near the exit and flee.
Outside he used a chain to hit the jewel that opened and closed the temple. Quickly he swam to the shore and took some time to catch his breath. If this didn't kill the Sheikah he, his wife and their child would be as good as dead.
Inside, we all took ourselves to the exit as fast as we could, only to find it blocked. Since we were Sheikahs we could hold our breath for a long time, but of course not forever. We did all we could to open the gate but it was futile, it could only be opened from outside.
Eventually it became hard to breathe and the most inexperienced of us began to panic. We weren't supposed to, it was against our ways to panic, but it was hard. My vision became blurry and my lungs felt as if they were about to explode. It hurt. I hit the gate with hands clenched into fists. The cold water was slowing down my useless punches. It wouldn't be long. I was about to scream and lose the small amount of air I had when I saw my comrades.
It was a sad sight. The woman next to me was grabbing her throat while she gasped for air which only filled her lungs with water. Some tried to concentrate more on holding their breath, their lips already bluish, while others focused on finding a way to get out, but most looked as if they would lose consciousness any second and several tried to dig through the cold stone or strike it down with their bare hands. I bit my tongue as I saw how their nails didn't leave a scratch on the cold stone.
I knew that several more probably were trapped or going through the same thing elsewhere in the temple. I think I cried but I don't know, everything was dizzy and my head began to ache too. The cold, the ache, the hopelessness forced me to wrap my arms around myself in a vain hope of comfort.
Some of us unbelievingly managed to get out, thanks to the most skilled ones and the eldest. We were few, we looked for others. We stayed in the temple for weeks and dove in and out to find all bodies. In the end, not even ten of us had made it.
We did our best to drag out all bodies from all places they had crawled into when they were still alive.
Soon enough Zoras arrived to the temple to pray to the goddesses for luck and to their own protector, the great Jabu-Jabu. When the found the temple flooded they played the song to reduce the water level to normal and then they entered.
As you might guess they found dead bodies spread out in the open in every room.
In shock and anger they left to tell the rest of the Zoras. The declaration of war was supposed to only help them dispute but now they would fight till the last one of them fell. Their pride would not allow anything else.
The ones of us that had survived suffered through great pain from the loss of our friends and the awful betrayal. We parted different ways but knew that we soon would have to meet and decide what to do."
"I don't want to hear anymore!"
Impa woke up from her faraway state and stared down at the little girl who looked up at her with eyes that would make your heart break.
"Please, my father wouldn't do that… he can't have…" Zelda stared pleadingly at Impa who only looked back plaintively.
"…And I don't think… I can… I don't…" Zelda's voice broke but she didn't cry, she wouldn't allow herself to.
Impa caressed the little girl and swayed slowly from side to side in a soothing manner.
"I'm sorry Zelda", she grabbed the little girl's shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.
"Tonight I must ask you, I no longer doubt that the blood of the Sheikah runs in your veins. Do you want to follow in your mother's footsteps and become the last Sheikah?
"I do, Impa…"
Finally! I've been busy with some big project at school and now when I finally got some free time we had visitors and birthday parties etc. for several days in a row. Besides this was a boring chapter to write and it is most background history so it's not moving forwards either (I still wanted this chapter in the story).
Now when I'm done it feels short (but it's longer than the other chapters)… And just to warn you… Next chapter will probably be much the same but about the war with the Zoras and it'll be Link's mother telling the story.
Then I can go back to Link and Zelda!
I still hope this was readable (I know that I hate it when I have to read crap that doesn't even contain the main characters!)
I like Impa, she is such a cool character! And in my story, yeah, she really is fond of Link. He is… hmm… the toy she never got as a child.
I had problem choosing who would be the old music composers (I didn't want to use young Flat and Sharp) and it was hard to come up with how the Sheikah would die too!
There, enough blabbering, see you next time.