A Note To New Readers:

Hey there! This story is currently undergoing some maintenance at the moment, and as such, what you have read up until this point may clash, be out of place or jump ahead/behind the chapters that follow. Please know that I am writing as fast as I can to rerelease these new chapters and believe me when I say that the story will be more concise and flow better, (not to mention be much more interesting from the get go). Please bear with me and enjoy nonetheless!

-Jack Knights

"Dagg! Link!" Sheik screamed when he saw his friends drop out of view along with the Bulblin Lord when he cut through the bridge's last supports. Their expression, ones of surprise and fear, were burned into his mind, along with the knowledge that he was to blame for their deaths. He dashed to the edge of the cliff, falling to his knees as his eyes caught sight of the bridge just as it disappeared into darkness. He felt tears well up in his eyes and he bit them back.

"Dagg wouldn't want me to cry," he muttered angrily as he rocked back and forth on his toes. "He'd call me weak, probably slap me too."

"If you don't help me up this instant I will throttle you, never mind slap you," his friend's gruff voice came, strained and worn. Sheik looked over the edge again and, much to his surprise, he spied Link and Dagg, swinging lightly on the end of the Claw Shot, which had lodged in a tree root growing out of the gorge. Link was grinning madly, no doubt amazed at his luck, as Dagg clutched onto the Hylian's belt, slightly green in the face.

"You guys! You're alright!" he cried excitedly. "How did you manage it? I mean, I could've sworn you'd fallen to your deaths when I—"

"How about less talking and more pulling?" Dagg shouted as the root the Claw Shot was gripped cracked with their weight. Sheik nodded vigorously, dropping to his stomach as he unhooked his chain from his belt and uncoiled its length, dropping the weight over the edge of the gorge. Link reached up with his handless arm, letting Sheik wrap it around his arms with a quick flick of his wrist. When it held, he retracted the Claw Shot, the root finally breaking off and falling away.

Slowly but surely, Sheik began pulling his companions back up. When they neared the edge, Link threw his arm over, which Sheik grabbed hold of, hauling the two men up. Afterwards, they sat in the dirt, winded by their daring attack. The pale blonde cast his gaze towards the Hylian, who grinned widely at him. Despite himself, he began laughing, which the other two soon took up.

"You are ten types of crazy, you know that?" Sheik said in between chuckles. "That nearly got you both killed! I still can't believe you two made it out of that one."

"I always was the daring youth," Link said, his grin falling away as he suddenly began to sulk. Sheik and Dagg exchanged questioning looks, but said nothing when the Hylian became silent and brooding.

"Let's get out here before anything else happens," Dagg said, his knees popping as he got to his feet. He offered a hand to Link, who ignored it and stood without help. The trio then quickly made their escape, ducking through the mountain path. If any of them had cared to look over the edge of the chasm that had nearly consumed them, they would have seen a green spec, clinging to the jagged wall as it struggled to climb after them.

They'd walked most of the previous day, stopping only when the sun had begun to descend below the hills. Between the three of them, they'd set up camp rather quickly below an overhang, a small fire the only source of light and warmth for many miles. Link had absentmindedly wondered if any passer-by that might happen upon them would ask if they could join them and what how he'd react now that he was seemingly a fugitive. When he'd prompted Dagg with his concern, the large man had frowned and told him not to worry. Apparently, any travellers they might come across would be during the day; no-one dared to move around at night, what with the hordes of monster on the prowl. If anyone was caught on the road with no town in sight, they'd shack up for the night with one of the many militia outposts set up by King Ganondorf.

He had then asked if they too would have to stop at an outpost, to which Sheik had burst out into laughter. While the pale blonde roiled away on the ground, Dagg explained that even if they had the money to rent a tent and the protection—which was a reputedly exorbitant amount of Rupees—they would risk being found out by spies. Sheik added that they'd be drawn and quartered because of their affiliation to the rebel armies. Link thought he'd have better chances against a pack of Stalhounds than an armed armada and left it at that.

It was barely noon now, the sun rising high into the cloudless sky. Resting below a bent tree with swooping branches in Eastern Hyrule Field, Link watched as Dagg and Sheik argued vehemently over where they should go next. The two had been hunched over the map laid out on the grass before them for the past hour and Link was growing weary of their constant bickering. Sighing to himself, he flipped the brass buckle on his knapsack and turned it over, emptying it of whatever he'd managed to find and cram inside in his haste. He quickly organized what little he had into two piles, that which was broken, useless or too troublesome to carry around, and that which he wanted to keep. Needless to say, both piles were very small, but his keepsakes were even fewer.

Is this really everything I own? he mused bitterly as he picked up a dusty jar. He'd never been one to keep mementoes, but what he did keep was no longer with him, no doubt long since gone after Ganondorf raided the palace. Somehow, he'd lost a great amount of time since he first blacked out after his encounter with the King of Evil and now nothing made sense. Although he knew every little of what was going on, Link could discern that Ganondorf was now King and on the verge of total conquest, while Link had suddenly become a fugitive, along with every other member of his race. At least he was being rescued by two agents of the only force openly opposing the King of Evil. Who knows how the rest of his kind had fared?

"Why can't anything ever be simple?" Link muttered to himself as he chucked the pile of garbage away. Sorting out my life's effects—this at least is simple, he realized sadly as he carefully repacked his bag. His task complete, he lay against the trunk of the gnarled tree and huffed. Within minutes he was bored once more and eager to move on, but Dagg and Sheik were still disputing. With a roll of his eyes, Link turned his head and yelled at them.

"What's the hold up, guys? Are we going to get a move on sometime today?"

"Someone's testy," he heard Sheik mutter, but Link ignored him.

"Sorry, but we're a bit in a bind. The path to our destination is dangerous and we can't risk ourselves more than we absolutely have to," Dagg apologized, casting a glare towards Sheik.

"And I'm telling you, The Fallen City is a necessary pit stop!" Sheik argued, glaring back at the older Gerudo.

"'Fallen City?' Where's that?" Link asked, getting up to join them.

"North, far into the mountains."

"And where is our general destination?" he continued.

"To the far West, on the other side of Hyrule," Sheik admitted, earning a haughty smirk from Dagg.

"If the plains are as dangerous as you say, then shouldn't we head that way immediately?" Link reasoned.

"Exactly," Dagg thanked him.

"Just hear me out!" Sheik interjected. "Look, you obviously don't want to be one-handed the rest of your life, right? If we got the Fallen City, I can get you a new right hand."

"Really?"

"The more time we spend out in the open, without reinforcements or allies to back us up, the more likely we'll get cornered and eventually killed," Dagg tried to explain. "We need to hurry; time is of the essence, and we don't have much to spend as it is."

"There isn't a mechanic in the Resistance and the only person I'd trust with a job like this is Trex," Sheik argued. When Dagg grumbled, the pale blonde shook his head in frustration. "Look, I know things are bad, but if there's a chance to give him his life back, wouldn't you want to take that risk? Wasn't that the reason we joined the resistance in the first place?"

Link made to interrupt, but his two companions weren't having it. Dagg ploughed on, ignoring him completely.

"It's not that I don't see your point, but it's like you said; things are bad. And they're getting worse. The sooner we can get him to the rest of his kind, the sooner we can disappear again."

"That's your reason for wanting to skip the Fallen City? You want your life back?" Sheik bristled. "You've got to be kidding me. We were branded traitors years ago; we lost that privilege, to have an ordinary life to have a home."

"And that's the real reason you want to go to Oocconia?" Dagg mumbled, his face growing wary. Sheik turned away, anger clearly etched on his features. Oocconia, as in the Oocca? But what about the City in the Sky? Link's head was full of questions, but he dared not ask them. Something was wrong, very wrong with the world and if he was a wanted fugitive simply because he was a Hylian, imagine what they'd do if they discovered he was the Hero of Light.

"Th-that's not… What I mean to say is," Sheik fumbled for the words, but Dagg raised a hand and stopped him.

"It's alright," he said with a shake of his head. "We'll go to the Fallen City, but we must make haste. I don't want to spend any more time than we absolutely have to out in the open."

Sheik nodded and Dagg sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Will we be using the portals?" asked now that they were quiet.

"What?" Dagg looked at the Hylian as if he'd sprouted an extra limb.

"The portals, the 'Sky Scars', whatever you want to call them," Link repeated himself. "Will we be travelling through them?"

"I don't that's such a good idea, Dagg," Sheik looked at his friend nervously. "The last time we did that I nearly threw up."

"Don't worry, we'll be going on foot," the Gerudo assured him.

"Wait, why should we go by foot when it makes more sense to go through the portals?" Link objected. Sheik glared at him acidly and Dagg raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What would make you think there's a portal anywhere near the Fallen City? You act on the knowledge of the Hyrule of old, yet you seem to know quite a bit about the Twilight portals," Dagg commented, eyeing him. Link gulped as he racked his brain for an explanation that would save him from further accusation.

"I don't, but seeing as you two do, I assumed we'd be travelling through them again," Link said as offhandedly as he could. "Besides, we did it once before, why not again? It would make travelling ten times quicker, would it not?"

"That's true," Sheik admitted. "So why are we travelling by foot? Not that I've got a problem with that," he added hastily.

"Yes, there is a portal that exits just east of Oocconia, and it's true, we could cut our time travelling to almost nothing by using it. But, there have been restrictions. The portals have been barred from use by the Resistance; they've been deemed dangerous and unpredictable in the past few years."

"Why, what happened?" Link asked, curious.

"There was a band of seven, escorting a family of Hylians, one of the last ones not under the Resistance's protection. They were cornered by a band of Moblins and in a last ditch effort, they utilized the portal above them. But something went horribly wrong.

"The few that made it through the portal were missing… parts. The others were never seen or heard of again. An investigation was held and they discovered that a tempest of sorts is brewing the Twili Realm, and that the portals were no longer interconnected as they once were.

"A notice was sent out, informing members to not use the portals under any circumstances. I'm only a novice—I've managed only a handful of spells myself—so imagine my surprise when the spell worked, and not only got us to our destination, but got us there in one piece."

"Jeez, if the damn things were dangerous, why'd you put us through one?" Sheik questioned, his face one of fear.

"We were going to be killed by those Bulblins!" Dagg protested. "So long as there was even the slightest chance of making it out there alive, I would have considered anything! Don't tell me you're angry at me for saving your life!"

"I'm not, it's just…" Sheik quickly apologized. "I didn't know. I was never told that the portals were now of limits."

"Sorry to have frightened you then," Dagg said. "The point is, we got lucky and we're relatively safe, for now. We're not taking the portals because it's forbidden and I'd rather not chance it again.

"Besides, even if they were safe, I couldn't take us through one," the Gerudo muttered. "That last trip drained me of everything I've got. I don't have enough energy to cast a spell of that magnitude. I'm surprised I even managed to cast the first time…"

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's get so rest," Link amended when silence descended among the three of them. "We've got a long couple of days ahead and we've got lots of ground to cover."

"Who voted you leader?" Sheik muttered, rolling onto his side, away from the fire. Link blinked at him, surprised. Dagg chuckled, tucking his bag under his head.

"So, if we're going into the mountains, where are we going to get our supplies?" Link asked later the next morning as they were packing up.

"Good question," Dagg huffed as he struggled to pull his boots on. "Sheik, what's the nearest town we can stop in?"

"There's Ruto, but it's at a three day walk from here," the pale blonde answered, braiding his hair. "We should be able to make it through most of the trip without too much trouble. The weather's warm and as long as there's wood to burn; the night won't be too cold."

"Why risk hypothermia if we can sleep during the day and move at night?" Link asked.

"Have you been living under a rock your entire life? Oh wait, you have," Sheik chuckled, earning him a cuff on the ear from Dagg.

"It's dangerous to travel at night," the Gerudo explained. "Most monsters travel in great numbers, and have become increasingly bold in recent times."

"The three of us could take 'em!" Sheik retorted.

"Maybe if I wasn't almost out of arrows and our Hylian friend here wasn't missing a hand, then yes, we could very well indeed protect ourselves from the nightmares that rise with the moon."

"But—"

"Say we encounter a pack of Stallhounds. They attack when you least expect it and herd travellers like sheep. An archer like me wouldn't stand a chance, caught unawares or not. And though Link may fight well with his left hand, he's still not fully recovered and would tire quite quickly. That leaves you, Sheik, and I highly doubt you could protect the two of us while fighting them off."

"Fine," Sheik admitted begrudgingly. "I was just trying to make a point."

"And you did, but once faced with facts and the cold hard truth, it crumbled to dust," Dagg said warmly, getting to his feet. "Shall we?" he said with a smile, offering Sheik the lead. The pale blonde narrowed his eyes at the darker man and with a huff, marched off ahead of Dagg and Link. The Gerudo chuckled and Link sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't be so hard on him," Dagg said with a warm smile. "He may be young, but he's skilled and his wits' sharp. You couldn't ask for a better fighter, friend of form of entertainment."

I suppose, Link frowned as they started off after Sheik, who was disappearing in the distance. "What is he?" he asked after a time.

"Beg your pardon?" Dagg furrowed his brows at him.

"He's not human, nor is he Hylian, I don't believe," Link explained. "Is he of mixed blood?"

"Sheik is… an enigma, wrapped in a mystery," Dagg said eventually. Link silently questioned his for more and he sighed. "I don't know much about his past, but he is a pure blooded Sheikah, that much I can tell you."

Ah, he's the same as Impaz then, Link noted, watching the pale youth march soldier-like several yards ahead. I wonder if they're related… "How did you two meet?" he asked instead. Dagg grinned then, his gaze distant, focusing on some unseen memory.

"It was years ago, when I was as you as you and Sheik was still a young boy. I'd been living in Kakariko for a while then, trying to begin my career as a medical practitioner. Despite being in short stock, and even though I was a skilled medic, if I do say so myself, no-one would take me on."

Link frowned. "If people of your profession were in demand, why would no-one hire you?"

"Because I'm a Gerudo," Dagg said simply, pursing his lips. "It's an unfortunate stereotype; if you're a Gerudo, you're a thief, a murderer and you would screw anyone over to get what you want. It's true, many Gerudo are crooked in one form or another, but I wasn't, aren't. All I wanted to do was help people, heal them and no-one would let me.

"And so, I was defeated. I would head home and beg my father to let me in. He'd always said that there was no life for me out there, as a doctor, or as anything else than what he wanted me to become."

"Which was?"

"A politician," Dagg said with a lopsided grin. "But I would never submit to that kind of life. I'd be in even less of a position to help people. I would become true to the stereotype, in way or another. So, I was caught between a rock and a hard place, something that seems to happen quite often in Kakariko. And that's when I found Sheik."

Down on his luck, out of a job and money, Dagg sat down heavily on one of the few unbroken benches surround the circular patch of brownish grass that attempt to pass itself off as a park. It was dotted with a few trees, most of which were in a perpetual state of abscission. Sighing at his sad state of affairs, the young Gerudo removed his glasses and shut his eyes, leaning back against the wood.

If I can't figure this out in the next two days, I've got no other choice, he realized. I'll have to go back, to him and that horrid place he calls home. Won't that be a laugh?

'Hey Dad, I'm back! Turns out you were right; no-one would take me seriously and I got thrown out on my ass nearly every time I applied for a job! So, is it too late to be a politician?'

Damn, I am so screwed! he frowned. I promised myself I wouldn't give up, but I can't take much more of this…

The sound of someone crying brought his attention back to reality and his eyes snapped open. Replacing his glass on his nose, Dagg scanned the area. He was sure someone had been sobbing. Grabbing his bag, he stood and listened intently. Again, the sounds of sobs reach his ears and he turned in the direction he'd heard them coming from. Squinting, he noticed a child sitting under a tree, head on its knees. Glancing around, he saw no-one who could be the parents or friends to the child and he sighed.

One day, my sense of justice is going to get me in serious trouble, he moaned inwardly as he walked over to the kid. "Hey there," he said softly, dropping to his haunches several feet away from the kid. He could now make out some of the child's features; shoulder length platinum blonde hair, pale skin and severely ripped clothing that once might have been a training suit of some kind. He also noticed the child had a broken arm and several cuts along his exposed skin that oozed blood slowly.

"Who did this to you?" Dagg demanded and the kid looked up at him, fear written clearly across his face. Deep red eyes stared at him, scared and primal, but Dagg could see the grim determination and daring underneath it all. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he immediately apologized.

"You didn't scare me," the kid said in the toughest voice it could manage.

"Let's get you some help," he said, extending his hand. The kid stared at him, wary until he slapped the hand aside, looking away.

"Get away from me, Gerudo slug," he murmured, sniffling. Dagg sighed, shaking his head. Instead of getting to his feet though, the sat down next to the red eyed child, his back against the tree.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said. The kid didn't run away and he could tell he was listening, despite his uncaring attitude. "I've got nowhere to go, so I might as well sit here under the shade."

Minutes passed by with neither saying anything to each other. "I've got no money so go away," the kid barked out, trying to sound tough despite the break in his voice.

"I don't want your money, if you had any," he replied calmly.

"Liar, all Gerudo think about is money and power."

"Most do, yes, but I'm fresh out of the energy to care about either one."

"Then what do you want with me?"

"Nothing," Dagg said simply. "I noticed your arm was broken though."

"So what if it is?" he said indignantly

"It's gotta hurt."

"A little," the kid admitted grudgingly.

"I can help it get better, if you'll let me," Dagg offered.

"What are you, some kind of doctor?" he accused.

"Yeah, I am," the Gerudo said easily. "OK, so I'm not technically a doctor, but I can fix a broken arm."

"I don't have any money," the kid said eventually.

"I won't charge you then."

"Can you really do that?"

"It's my life, I'll do what I want," Dagg shrugged. When the kid didn't answer, he looked over his shoulder at him and was surprised to find his round red eyes trained on him. "So, do you want me to fix you up?"

"Yes, please," he answered immediately. Dagg stood and dusted himself off, offering the kid a hand.

"Then let's go," he said with a smile. Without hesitation, the kid go to his feet without his help and looked up at him. "I'm Dagg, by the way. What's your name?"

"I don't have one anymore," the kid murmured.

"Well then, why don't you pick one out for yourself?" Dagg offered.

"Sheik," he said after a minute of thinking. "My name is Sheik."