Hello. Heh, I'm actually updating regularly, shockingly enough. Although I might not be able to keep it up because exams are flying in real fast... damn, I hate exams. Don't you?
Anyways, review replies!
Louiii: Thanks so mcuh for the compliment! Sheik went off to plot some assassinations ;)
Healing Sword: Thank you. I'm glad you appreciate Lynda's personality, and don't worry, Sheik is okay. Sorta. Thank you again, and i hope you have a nice read.
Suethe: Yeah, Likelike skin. I just thought that with gerudos living in a barrne desert, they're going to have to be a little resourceful, you know? And I liked the patterns OOT used for their skin. I think it looked kinda silky. Savir is okay. he is not dead. As for Impa, I was trying to make her look like a I-don't-like-doing-this-but-i-have-to-because-you're-dangerous person, but... ah well. Evil taking all cookies is good too. And nothing much happened in the cliffy. Navi just came out and spooked the horse.
Somebody: Believe, I wouldn't have done it if i didn't have to.
Meg: Thank you so so much for such a long review! Your appreciation of my story was very kind, and I'm glad you've enjoyed my sotry thus far. Sheik's character will gradually be revealed (actually a lot of it has been, in this chapter...), and I hope I'll be able to do his mysteriousness justice. I was kinda tempted to join the bandwagon when it came to Evil Zelda, but then i thought, no, Triforce of Wisdom, must be careful. I'm hoping to give her a niver impression in future chapters. Sheik will find happiness... eventually. Long time till that happens, though (--;) Yes. Sheik definitely needs saving. And Lynda gets a chance to, here! Woot! I really like long reviews. Keep 'em coming! XD
HeroofTimes: Yes, Sheik is alive, perhaps not well, but definitely alive. The magic thing was my way of interpreting the properties of Hyrule, and as for the Gerudos having only women... I'll get onto that, evetually. Thankyou for your praise, I hope you like this chapter too.
The Ninja Squirrel: yeah, I originally put him in for that purpose, but then that meant an extra, rather meaningless chapter, so I thought, whatever, not doing it. But he does have some uses though.
P.s. to all readers: Bad language at the end!
Enjoy.
In the Limelight
Garth was reading rather happily that evening, the evening before he left for home, the castle servants having done his packing for him. He was glad that his talk with Lynda had worked out so well, and the way she had so easily accepted his… preference of lovers. It made it so much easier to spend time with her for weeks after and together they had declined the suggestion of their engagement their parents had brought forth, and he didn't even have to think about regrets and Lynda's unknown feelings, because, hey, they were perfectly known! Not only that, Ruth, his newfound love (by the request/order of Princess Lynda) was now in his service. He couldn't have been happier.
That is until all his candles had blown out at once, engulfing his room in the complete darkness of night. He shivered as he felt a presence that reeked rage and anger and evil enter his room with an ice cold breeze. He slowly turned in his chair to meet the figure that rested against his windowsill, a blade catching moonbeams on its length.
Garth sprang onto his feet in fright. An intricately carved blade sang against his throat. Dread flooded the merchant.
"What do you-?"
"Know? Perhaps about an interest you have in your new Stable-boy. Or the refusal to marry a younger Princess. Your father may not mind, no, not at all… ah, but what about your sister, always waiting for her sibling to be happily married, how devastated she would be if she knew your real passions, how she would rave and sob over you and your lost destiny… Need I say more?"
Garth whimpered defeat.
The entity snickered, pulling back into a flawless mocking bow, a shadow that had life, "Good, good… All I wish for is your silence in exchange for mine. A daily interest of loyalty suits me well. Give me your hand."
Garth didn't protest, because he knew he would've been murdered without a second thought if he disobeyed.
The knife flashed and pricked the centre of his palm, drawing blood. The red droplet glowed white as the unknown entity murmured words in an unknown language, pricking his own hand with the same bloodstained tip.
In the light Garth saw a thin veil of blonde hair half obscuring the spiral of pinprick scars on the entity's hand.
"Are you the King's…?"
A low snicker of black mirth crawled through Garth's ears. "No, I'm just your Secret keeper. This mark will leave you when I say so, or when you've breathed your last. Speak of me and your soul and life will be mine."
Then there was another word, harshly spat out, and complete darkness of unconsciousness swallowed him.
In the morning, Garth found a scar that resembled a freckle, only black as death, in the dead centre of his palm.
Garth briefly wondered whether the term 'Blackmail' came from the ritual.
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"This is stupid," Navi said contemplatively, swirling around the mug of honorary honeyed water.
Lynda had to agree, but she was busy trying to convince the man she was sitting next to that women were perfectly good at swords-play.
She was quickly becoming sick of balls, and the stupid people they tended to bring. Navi had made it a lot easier for her, and together they had spent a full day complaining about the pointlessness of polishing the skin of fruits, which, eventually were to be eaten.
Navi was in fact, delighted at the change Lynda had gone through. She still hated titles like Hero and Princess, she still complained frankly and whiningly about anything that made her want to roll her eyes, and most importantly, she had gotten her old spark back. She was talking to a wide range of people, and it warmed the Fairy's heart to know that Lynda was finally beginning to trust once more.
The fairy intended to thank Sheik from the bottom of her fairy heart and, just maybe, if he proved himself to be a real neat guy, a simple wish. Or friendly prank. She had to admit, she was leaning towards the prank a lot more…
Lynda gave up on talking to the idiot next to her, and the fairy sighed and perched herself on the rim of her cup, opening and closing her wings gently, "I miss Garth."
"Yeah…"
Lynda sighed. Worried too. He had been a good friend, an excellent friend, but there had been something wrong with that smile, the way he had said goodbye and looked around. He had looked… haunted.
Sheik might know what was going on… If he was ever here.
Lynda deliberately stabbed the fish on her plate harder than necessary, pretending it was Sheik's face.
Where was Sheik anyway!? He hadn't come to the training grounds for weeks, it was like he had suddenly turned to dust! Oh sure, he had said that because of his duties as Royal counsellor he had very little time to help her adjust, but this was completely stupid! He didn't even show up to training any more!
Oh sure, the soldiers' attitude towards her was much better now because they knew she was the stupid Princess (Navi had blown it by screeching instructions) but now they didn't know what to do with her. One had sort of shied away after saying sorry for taunting her in her early days, another had suffered a withering look from her by trying to ask her to step aside, and… Lynda stabbed the fish again. The only thing that hadn't changed was Ian and Pell. Pell was just as nice as usual, and just as quirky in her own little way, saying with a wink that she had known all along that 'Link' had been someone special.
That had dismayed Lynda a tiny bit, but after seeing Pell trip over a stuck-up, higher ranked noble servant from outside the castle with the broom, Lynda had given a sigh of relief.
It was a small nuisance changing the guards' schedule so Ian could teach her some traditional moves of the sword at the training grounds, but at least she hadn't lost the wise old man to talk with in the mornings…
"Hey Lynda…?"
"Yeah?"
"I just… you know… wanted to apologize for not visiting for a long time," the fairy circled around guiltily, and her glow flickered. Lynda waved a hand
"It's alright, Navi, it wasn't like much time's gone by anyway…"
Navi fluttered her wings incredulously. "Lynda… you remember when you left the forest? You remember it being the start of winter?"
"Yeah…"
"You know what season it is now?"
Lynda blinked hesitantly, horror dawning on her features. "… Oh damn. Damn, damn, damn, I don't! I… it's… holy crap is it… was…"
"It's been four months since you left." Navi explained gently, "We're pretty much in the middle of spring."
Lynda was simply thunderstruck. The first shedding of the wolfos pups and their winter furs, the tiny brave buds that popped up the purest green, the dances that the Skulkids of the forest had performed, the swiping of the Kokiri Honey from Mido as well as the bees, the unfurling of the flowers, the tiny little seedlings of the Deku scrubs, the plays Saria and the rest would've organized so they could perform to the Deku tree, the final goodbyes the crickets chirped before giving in to death for new life… she'd missed it. She'd missed all of it and more.
"Oh Lynda, here, hug vibes, hug vibes…" Navi began to swirl around her charge, gently encasing her in light and fairy dust. This caused a lot of attention her way, so Lynda excused herself from the table and made the painstakingly long walk towards the exit, the nobles sitting on the painstakingly long table watching her as she went.
She slammed the door shut. She refused to go to the ball.
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"Lynda are you sure this is a good-"
"Yes I'm sure," Lynda snapped, as she tied her hair into a ponytail, stuffing her long hair into her old, now magic-less hat, "These people have been brainwashing me long enough; I'm outa here."
"But Lyn…"
"Navi, I don't even like these people! I have realised, completely and utterly, that I don't like these people. It took me four months to realise, but now that I have… Din it's liberating!" Lynda threw her hands up, her old gauntlets flapping in her hands. "Hylians are a nuisance, they really are!"
"Lynda. You're Hylian." Navi replied in a deadpan,
"But I don't feel like it! Even if I was born one, the last thing I seem to be is Hylian! Ruto used to be my fiancé, Darunia's an actual sworn brother, I have a membership card from the Gerudos and Malon once gave me her best horse! My father is not the King, Zelda is not my sister, and that Goddess forsaken Queen is not my mother! You are my sister, Saria's my… mother-sister-aunt… person, the Deku tree's… a… I don't know. Uncle-cousin. They are my family, not these…"
Navi watched her sister wave her hands manically, trying to think up a term, "People?"
"Idiots! Thank you Navi; great suggestion. Yes, dear fairy mine, you may laugh as long as you like, but it will not change the facts: these people are nut salads in their own unique way. Salads, I am not sorry to say, that are not to my taste. We're off! To the harmless adventure that awaits us!"
"Harmless?"
"Oh, you know, stopping moons from crashing into cities, visiting cities in the sky, finding the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything in between…"
Navi chortled and said, "It's good to have you back, Lyndie…"
"Oh gods you did not just call me 'Lyndie'," the Hylian stuck out her tongue as she exited her room, a sack of things slung over her shoulder.
The sisters chortled together as they strolled through the hallways, talking about everything that came to mind. Complaints, tiny fancies, going back to see Saria, renewing old friendships with everybody around the country, magic treasures like the fairy crystals and the Lens of Truth…
The soldiers that tried to stop her got a glare that would've quelled a dragon and a clear statement about leaving. They didn't know whether to report her or not.
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Sheik was trying to get used to that all too familiar feeling of scars swathed over his neck and wrists, as if they were solid ropes chafing at his skin. They burnt when he closed in on places where he wasn't allowed to go, and strangled him whenever he strayed too far outside the castle. The scars around his wrists itched when somebody was around, begging to be revealed to flaunt his laughable position in the Castle Hierarchy.
And his Markings of Faith were making it worse. Magic wasn't permitted at his status; by gods, his whole arm felt like fire when he added a new mark, securing another man or woman under his control. But he needed them even more now, to get out of this prison, from these chains. He'd been stupid enough to believe that the relic in his hand would somehow break through the bonds, but Zelda had bound that part of his magic too. Her advantage of knowing exactly how the Triforce worked had been his downfall.
But she still couldn't control him, no, Power could never be completely held under rein and tether…
The blemishes around his wrists gave warning stabbings of pain as he neared a wall that lead to the magic corner of the Lesser Library. Sheik growled; he knew all too well where and when he couldn't go to parts of the castle, and it included all the parts of the libraries he ever visited. The section on sorcery and the fighting arts in the Lesser Library, and the Greater library was strictly off-limits. The secrets of magic were lost to him, and it drove him insane with fury.
And then Lynda had to show up.
That woman with her fairy beside her, giggling as if all was right in the world, with eyes that reminded him of the roiling seas, wearing that stupid hat again, and the tunic that reflected every part of her, her nature, her personality, her humility…
And the delight he saw when she noticed him cut deep into his chest.
"Sheik!" she cried, bounding over, grabbing at his forearm excitedly, "Furore I haven't seen you in ages! What happened, did you get kidnapped or something?"
The cheerfulness she emanated begged him for a lashing.
"Unlike you, Princess, some people have things to do," Sheik snapped, jerking his arm away from her grasp, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."
She looked like someone had removed the peg that kept her jaw to her face.
Then she scowled dangerously. "What's up with the ice?"
Sheik sneered as he made to turn. "Not everybody needs someone's hand to hold, Princess,"
Lynda grabbed Sheik's shoulder and whirled him around to face her, her expression one of a storm. "You did not just say that,"
"Then perhaps you could leave me alone and get on with business, as everybody else does." he replied, patronizingly, "Wait, right, sorry; as Royalty you really have nothing important to do, do you?"
"Well I wonder whose fault that is," she snapped, jabbing at his chest with her forefinger, "The only reason I'm even here is because of you and your mission for-"
"Oh do go on, Highness, there's nothing more enthralling than you whining pathetically over something you have no control over," Sheik dramatically rolled his eyes, sneering behind his mask, "You're all the same; complain and stamp your foot to get what you want, is that how you work now?"
"Hey! You listen buster; there is no way you're going to-"
"Ah, you even have your fairy to support you now! What, are you starting a fan-club with your motley crew of friends?" Sheik placed a hand mockingly to his chest, "Why, I feel rather lonely at not being invite-"
"Don't make fun of them!" she yelled, her hands balled into furious fists, "Say anything like that ever again and I'll kill you!"
"Oh I'm so scared," he drawled, watching her eyes go glassy, "What're you going to do, stab me with your hairpins?"
He dodged and dodged and dodged again as Lynda began to furiously try to punch his face. He ducked deep to avoid her roundhouse kick and jumped back to avoid another fist. Damn, he hadn't realised she could be so fast…
She was already in front of him and he had to roll away to avoid getting tackled.
An ankle grazed his side as she tried to get him in the forehead, he had to block a fist with his palm because there was no time to dodge bodily another foot lashed out and caught him in his ribs Sheik struck back but she dodged and attempted to swipe his feet but he jumped away again, and the two glared at each other, crouched on the carpet like wolves, tense and ready.
"Alright, blood-eyes," Lynda growled, "If you so enjoy taunts, maybe we should take this somewhere a little more appropriate,"
Sheik cocked an eyebrow. "'Blood-eyes'? I like that."
"You won't like it so much once I'm finished with you,"
"Blind me, will you? That might actually be useful in a demented sort of way…"
"Meet me in the Soldiers' Courtyard in half an hour. No limits applied. All magic, weapons and equipment allowed. Let's see if you're tough enough to beat me."
Sheik's scars recognised it as a command. He held back a cry of pain as the magic collar flared into life, burning his throat and heart. The power of his bond coursed through his body, finding the Markings on his arm, burning them. His divine power fought back at the intrusion, tearing his hand apart with agony. His chains worked at his muscles, trying to make him bow. They succeeded in lowering his head, but by only a smidge and nothing more. He lifted it up forcefully as he held back the bile in his throat, muttering, "You're handing out orders now. I'm so proud of you,"
Lynda's face flared at the comment, and she growled back, "Be there."
"Yes, your highness," Sheik muttered, for once happy to submit to his chains, because he knew it infuriated her.
Lynda stomped off to get all her equipment from the armoury.
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It was not unnatural to find a couple of men fighting with swords to settle a quarrel. It was not unnatural to have crowds, either. It wasn't really that unnatural to have women involved somewhere in the equation too.
But usually it didn't involve women fighting in the said swords matches.
It was a strange sight, really. Their Princess dressed in a green hat and tunic, the belt sporting a sling shot, a bag of shells, three pouches filled with some sort of stone each, and a strange device. On her back was a sword, shield, and a quiver of arrows, the bow slung over a shoulder. Even a boomerang poked out of the mass of weapons. A pair of gauntlets with plates of silver hugged her hands.
She fiddled with a knife as she sat on a decorative rock, waiting for Sheik to arrive.
"Lynda,"
"Yeah, Navi?" she coldly replied, watching the other side of the court,
"Why do you still have that?"
Lynda stopped fiddling with the blade, examining it instead. In all ways possible, it was unremarkable. A fraying wooden handle and a plain piece of sharpened metal: that was all it was. But it was a dark reminder to something that Lynda refused to speak of, something that had happened to her that day she'd come back refusing to be touched…
Navi's wings juddered in a Hylian equivalent of a shivering spine. Never again did she want to see her charge so bruised and bloodied, that wound that had bled over her eye and mouth, her clothes torn, an arm broken, and that knife, drenched in dark and dried blood… She'd been like that sometimes, in the Lost Seven Years, but never looking so haunted, so frightened, tears streaming from her eyes at the confusion of it all…
Lynda suddenly looked up and growled. Sheik had arrived, wearing black. Black leggings, shoes, tunic, and something like his usual scarf, only it hugged his neck and jaw flawlessly, as if it were a second skin. White bandages covered his hands instead of gauntlets, and like always his unruly hair covered his right eye. Somehow, despite the lack of face showing, you could tell that he was smiling. He had no weapons in sight.
As the Princess stood, Navi saw a shadow in Lynda's eyes, the same concealing darkness she'd harboured for so long…
She was reverting. She was becoming what Navi and Saria had sought to be rid of.
"Lynda please," Navi squeaked desperately, "I'm sure Sheik didn't mean it he must have been having a bad day surely he-"
"He insulted you, Navi," she growled back, hatred singing as she unsheathed her sword, "And everybody else I like in this damn castle. They were the ones that took care of me, they were the ones that helped me through all this crap, and he abused them. There is no way, no way, he is not going to pay for that!"
"How heroic of you," Sheik sneered, giving a sardonic bow, making the watching crowd tense with anger, "Maybe someone will write a poem about it."
"Or a bedtime story," Lynda sneered back, "With how my past has been, would you surprised?"
"No, not really," he replied contemplatively as he wrung his wrists as if to readjust his bandages, "But then, at this rate, you'd have two stories to contribute. I wonder, which would be more pathetic?"
He smirked under his face cover and crouched. Lynda moved to get the shield off of her shoulders, but realised with a sickening jolt that once she strapped her defence on, her arm kept shaking because of the weight. It was at these times she hated being a Princess; she never had the time to train with all her equipment.
Lynda threw the shield aside with disgust and spun the sword in her hand, testing its weight. She would have to thank the Gorons for this toy… "Any last words?"
Sheik cocked an eyebrow. "You intend to kill me? Why, I'm flattered."
The soldiers who had helped with Lynda's training made to move in on the impudent Sheikah with drawn weapons. "Don't!"
A captain with a lost eye looked stunned. "But Princess-"
"No! This is a fight between him and me. That includes you, Navi," she added more kindly, before returning to Sheik, "There will be no interferences."
"Ah, speaking of interferences," Sheik started, straightening up from his crouch, "I need your permission to perform magic."
Lynda seemed to surface from her hatred for a tiny bit, showing incredulity. "Huh?"
"You see, as a bound Sheikah, I have some restrictions. One of them happens to be thou-shalt-not-attack-his-or-her-royal-highness, and thou-shalt-not-use-magic. At all. So, as you can probably see, it's quite unfair. Care to help me on that?"
Lynda scowled suspiciously before saying, "What do I do?"
"Oh, just give me permission to do whatever I like, really." He said, shrugging, "Unless you want a desperate handicap to make sure you win?"
The surrounding crowd yelled in outrage but didn't step forward again, lest they suffered the wrath of either Princess or Sheikah. Lynda nodded and proclaimed, "Sheik, I, Lynda Harkinian, allow you to use your magic to full potential, and fight me in any way you like until one of us has either lost, or yielded."
Sheik winced when some of the runes on his neck faded with protests, strangling his windpipe. His fists clenched at the pain that scratched at his wrists, giving back most of his muscular control. Then magic swallowed him, his birthright, and some undertone of holy power, still not free from Zelda's shackles.
But it would be enough.
His raised his hands; power surged into his fingertips, ready to throw anything and everything through time and space. Gods, this felt good.
He flicked his wrists; purple flames burst from his hands. He noted the look on Lynda's face and smirked. Gods, this felt really good.
He summoned illusions. He summoned more fire. He summoned liquid shadows and the power of his people, swirling around him, billowing his hair, turning his eyes from rubies to dark, dried blood. Darkness surrounded him like a fog, smoky lights of fire and twilight and raw power swirled around him like fairy-lights, only dark, twisted, powerful.
Gods, this was freedom.
Lynda backed away slowly, sword held up in one hand, as the other one trailed down to the pouches on her belt, the ones that she had thought would be unnecessary. The three Sheiks that smirked at her frightened her, the swirling blackness that licked at his sides reminded her of predatory night, and flames that he fused in his hands, slowly turning into a sphere, electrifying, growing…
Lynda saw Ganondorf in her comrade's place, laughing like a maniac as he raised that cursed ball of solid energy above his head…
"LYNDA!!" Navi screeched, terrified.
Sheik fired: Lynda tapped at a pouch and begged, "Nayru."
A crystal cracked into existence, caressingly warm. The chaotic ball of destruction brushed out of existence once it touched the blue surface, and Lynda gave a shuddering sigh of relief. The crystal faded, but it was still there, protecting her, showing itself through fairy-lights and subtle cerulean sun-streaks.
Sheik hummed and experimentally flicked a couple of tiny balls of darkness at her as he glided closer, cocking his head to the side curiously as they sizzled into nothingness. Lynda tapped another pouch and ordered, "Din."
Fire burst and became a handheld sun; Lynda threw it with all her might. Black tendrils snapped and swallowed the sun. Sheik smirked.
Lynda threw again and again, small and powerful balls of fire rocketing towards the Sheikah as his shadows batted and ate them up, his own balls of energy crackling against her defences like menacing parasites. Sweat beaded in her forehead; Lynda was losing magic fast.
Navi couldn't help it.
"GO Lynda GO!! You better beat him you better or else you hear me I'll be the one cursing him so beat him up to a pulp die Sheik DIE get him get him GET HIM!!"
Navi proceeded to warble obscenities at the loudest voice she could produce and eventually reverted to Fay, warming Lynda's heart.
Lynda was limited to Din's Fire, but Sheik had plenty up his sleeve. Silver spears, summons of Shadow Vermin, darkness and raw power of all different shapes and forms, he threw nearly everything at her, knowing that this was his chance. His chance to show off and let them all know that he was something to be reckoned with, something to be feared. He may be chained again, but the fear would grow, giving him new leeway in the castle hierarchy. And Lynda, oh their precious Lynda, so oblivious a pawn in his game, so easy to manipulate and deceive…
But by damn, she was a good fighter.
The soldiers were beginning to follow her fairy's example, Sheik noted. They were starting to yell curses, encouragement, showing a sense of bravado that they didn't really believe in. Lynda rolled away from an exceptionally large ball of light and gasped for air, trying to think of a way of getting through Sheik's defences…
Something jerked through her magic and Sheik was right there, right there, his magic caging them both in smothering black and red and purple, darkness and twilight and shadow coiling at her being…
"So this is what an 'Honourable Fight' comes down to," he commented contemplatively, watching as her eyes widened in shock, "Entertainment."
"Furore!" she squealed, and swirls of green encased her and she vanished, finding herself kneeling at a distance staring at his back.
Sheik snapped his gaze towards the Princess and smirked. He cancelled his veil of magic and hissed excitedly, "Bring it."
She lunged up and threw; Sheik dodged, a long knife swiping the air noisily as he missed. Lynda jumped back and back and back, pelting him with deku as well as pumpkin seeds. He guarded his face as he charged. His knives he'd unsheathed out of nowhere glinted wickedly in the spring sun, and Lynda kept running back, waiting, waiting, her hands desperate for that larger pellet-
Now.
The string snapped and released. Sheik's eyes widened as he realised too late what was coming towards his eyes. The deku nut flashed and blinded him. He stumbled and something rocketed into his spine, forcing a loud grunt out of him. The boomerang dropped to the ground as he thudded to the ground in a kneel, trying to get over the pain.
Lynda ran towards him, sword already drawn.
With a yell she stabbed; Sheik jumped up and landed on the flat of her blade, a smirk of triumph clear in his visible eye.
Lynda shuddered in recognition of the move and tried to retract. She was forced onto the ground instead as Sheik used her shoulder as a platform to lift himself up, roll in the air, throwing four knives towards her back. She tumbled away and the daggers buried themselves all the way to the hilt in the grass.
They faced each other, both having earned and placed their first blow, the damaged shoulder and back throbbing madly.
"Even, aren't we?" Sheik said rather cheerily as he picked up the long knife he'd dropped onto the grass,
"Not for long," Lynda spat and lunged, blade out, yowling like an angry cat.
Jab, swing, block, block, spin, parry, stab, stab, stab, block, parry, parry, parry… Lynda pedalled backwards as she was forced onto the defensive, something she wasn't really good at. Sheik knew it all too well.
Sheik was agile, fast, and strong. Lynda found herself wondering why he fought her, when he could just as easily blasted her with his magic, what exactly drove him? They got into a rhythm, a violent one, Sheik always driving her back, Lynda always running, dancing out of the way now instead of blocking the blows, thinking, why does he fight, what were his reasons?
Sheik ducked down and brought his blade upwards, intending to get behind her sword and through to her abdomen. She parried it just in time, and they held, metal grating against metal, Lynda holding onto the sword only because of the magic of the Silver gauntlets.
"What do you have against me?" she growled, straining down on his long knife, "I thought we were friends," she pushed harder, and the magic of the silver gauntlets prevailed. He was driven back and her blade fanned in front of her, violently wrenching his blade from his hand. He cursed and flashed and teleported further backwards.
Lynda's hand shot to her belt and something blasted a hooked chain towards the Sheikah. It exploded through the thick air, biting his arm and rocketing the Princess towards him with sword aimed for his heart.
Lynda kicked the grass, sensing danger, gliding over Sheik's head as he swiped needle-thin blades at where she had been. He spun to meet her as she landed, pulling at the hookshot to bring her closer for a good stabbing but she pulled the hilt up to make Sheik's blades tangle with the flat of her sword. "I have everything against you," he replied calmly.
A flash and he was gone.
Hookshot retracting with a snap, it was returned to her belt and replaced with a bow, sword sighing in the sheath as the quiver offered arrows. Her eyes darted around the courtyard, passing over an invisible Sheik as he deftly pulled hidden knives from his sleeves. He grinned and jumped from behind; she rolled and avoided the slicing blades, notched three arrows and fired. He flashed and disappeared again as the arrows arced into the sky.
He materialized quite a distance away, cocking his head to the side questioningly. "Are you that intent on murdering me?"
He dodged, dodged, dodged again as she hailed down with her bow, laughing despite her extremely good aim. He caught an arrow and laced it with power, floating in front of his chest, turning to point Lynda's way. It shot through the air faster than any bow; Lynda back-flipped to avoid being pierced in the throat. Navi's scream and the soldiers' yells for Lynda's safety filled the air.
She gulped; trying to breathe calmly as she gently put down the bow and quiver onto the ground, placing the hookshot aside with them. Her hat lay abandoned somewhere else, revealing her long hair to be plaited into a long, golden rope. Sheik silently approached, a shadow with life, four needle-like razors protruding from both his knuckles.
Lynda warily backed away, sword raised, realising bitterly that she didn't know how those weapons worked and how she could defeat them. They didn't look so strong…
But then again, Sheik seemed to be all about misconception.
He lunged and stabbed. Lynda parried, and again they tangled. Only Sheik had that glint in his eye, primal and murderous, as he raised that spare hand with its deathly thin prongs pointed towards her throat.
She needed two hands for her weapon. He didn't.
She yelled in horror and dismay as she ducked down, untangling her weapon from his grasp. She whipped her head and her braided hair snapped up, attacking his eye mercilessly. He was blinded and stumbled. Lynda charged him before he could get his footing back, knowing that as soon as she was forced onto the defensive once more, she was dead. He dodged, ducked and jumped, seemingly surprised by her new drive.
He flashed with magic and disappeared, reappearing farther away to her left. It was really hard to tell whether he was tired or not, but Lynda definitely was. Her breath came in laboured gasps, and he just stood there, calm, collected, breathing long and deeply. Maybe that was his way of showing his tiredness, or maybe he was just taking in the nice, mid-spring air as if he were savouring it just to annoy her.
Again with resolve, she rushed forward, blade out, swinging and jabbing as she saw fit, Sheik all too easily blocking and parrying them away.
"What do you have against me!?" she hissed as he cackled, still easily keeping her at bay.
"Why do you think I'm here?" he suddenly asked, taunts gone, pushing her away but not moving in for the kill, "Why do you think I was appointed in the castle?"
Lynda refused to think. She stabbed, jabbed, lunged and swung, only wanting an answer, not a conversation that would distract her. "Just answer me!"
"I am," he replied simply, and began to attack with more fury than ever before, his hands a blur. All the princess could do was run backwards and parry all the blows away. Gods how she missed her damn shield…!
She swung her sword up and down. Sheik crossed his blades and they met again, weapons grating against one another. "Why do you think Impa was appointed in the first place?" Sheik hissed, pushing her harder, merciless, an unknown rage burning in his red eyes.
Lynda strained back and prayed. The silver gauntlets reacted and gave her extra strength; Sheik's blades shattered under the strain.
He flashed and disappeared; her sword buried itself halfway through the grass. He reappeared a distance away, plucking his blade from the ground. He looked over it gently, making sure that there were no chippings or cracks left behind, and satisfied, moved back in for the kill.
Navi screamed, "Get him Lynda! Go, go, GO!"
They danced again, parry, swipe, parry, lunge, dodge, jump, roll, swing, dodge, counter, jab, stab, whirl and clash again, always dancing, always fighting with that same ferocity of carnage and murder. But a more tireless Sheik murmured words to her in a tone that made her want to shut him out.
"That's what we are to you Hylians," Sheik spat as he slid his knife over her weapon, "Tools for sacrifice or entertainment. You think you're so great lording it over us, when all you do is strip us of our pride and force us deeper into the limelight, where we don't belong and don't want to be."
Lynda lunged back and stabbed once twice thrice before they locked again, always missing. "I'm not a Hylian," she spat back, gritting her teeth, "I am not one of them,"
"Oh really? You're still denying it?" he sneered as he twisted around her, teasing her tunic with swift cuts of his knife, eyes alight with wild recklessness, "If that's so, why would you hide away from the people that nurtured you? Why hide from the world you roamed so freely? Why shut away the friends that you claimed to care so much about? What's more, why would you fear a mere touch," he brushed his fingers through her fringe, cackling at her cringing face, "From a stranger?"
"Shut up!"
"You don't even know who you are anymore, do you?" he commented conspiratorially, driving her back, "Dragged into the light after hiding for so long, placed in a family that you obviously hate with every fibre of your gut, snared in a gender you so obviously despise… and for what?"
They locked; Sheik cocked his head to the side, looking almost bewildered as Lynda determinedly refused to meet his eyes, "What are 'promises' and 'honour' if they trap you?" he hissed, malice and anger clear in his tone, "How does the truth and respect set you free? What's the bloody point of friends when they don't know what you need most, when they only slow you down, Princess? You said you wanted to help people when you signed up for this… tell me, what have you done so far, Hero?"
Something split inside her; Lynda snapped her gaze and met his, blue fire roaring with rage.
"You think you're so tough," she snarled, driving him back, pushing him to his limits, making him frown in concentration behind his fringe and high collar, "Being alone doesn't make you strong, keeping promises doesn't hinder you and tolerating a destiny you don't want doesn't make me weak! I may be a girl, I may not be what I thought, hoped, wished I'd be, I may hate my life, it may have taken me way too long to take things into my own hands, but that gives you no right to abuse my friends! And you're right, I don't know who I am I don't know what I want to do I don't know why in fuck's name those stupid goddesses up there like to screw with me so much but there is one thing, one thing, I am damn well sure of!"
She swiped and made him take a step back. She stomped the ground and something flicked off the ground; another kick from underneath bruised her foot against the hard and heavy metal, but it lifted high enough for her to grab it by its straps.
Sheik retaliated too late as Lynda lunged forward, shield bashing him in the chest. He stumbled and fell, the sword cleaved the air loudly.
Thunk.
The Goron made sword protruded from the ground, the flat of the blade coldly caressing Sheik's cheek, having slightly cut the skin between his earlobe and jaw. A drop of sweat left Lynda's nose and dropped onto his wet cheek, his illusion of calm gone, leaving him just as tired and battered as she was.
She bared her teeth and gasped, "I am the bitch that beat you."
A moment of laboured breathing, Lynda's foot pinning Sheik down as she kneeled on the grass, her muscles shaking from exertion and magic, stings daring to reveal themselves as unknown cuts began to register.
Then she suddenly noted the horizontal cut she'd marked on him, the one dangerously close to his visible eye, and astonishingly similar in length. It immediately bled, a drop of blood trailing down the side of his face like a tear. She'd nearly blinded him.
Revolted and frightened at what she'd nearly done, Lynda staggered backwards, collapsing on the grass. She didn't notice Navi fluttering up to her, hugging her hot cheek with her wings. All Lynda could see was Sheik pushing the shield off him as he sat himself up, wiping at the bloody trail. But the cut was deep; it bled more, but not in a clean curtain of red. Drops like tears spilled over his cheek, more and more, as if he was really crying blood, that somehow she had unknowingly hurt him at a much deeper level that had nothing to do with physical injury.
She didn't know what or how, but she had done wrong. Guilt clenched her stomach and held tight.
Somehow, she had let him down.
The Purpose of his markings revelaed, and their relationship is now rock bottom! How's that for an update?
And, do you think i should change my title? I also need a better summary, I think, but I don't know to write. Help?
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