A/N: Sorry for not updating last week. It was partly because Majora's Mask had come out and I was playing vigorously, but it's also due to the fact that this civil war is kind of killing me a bit (pun intended). I'm not entirely sure where to go with it :U Hopefully it'll come to me.

ERUDONE WAS A rather large district toward the northern side of Castle Town, where the inhabitants were made up entirely of Hylians. All fair-skinned, all pointy-eared—it was rather taboo for Hylians from Erudone to marry outside of the pureblood heritage and stay in their home district. Many Hylians who were less conservative moved anyway, but there were always the select few who resented the amount of outsiders who had migrated to the city. They stayed within Erudone's walled borough, rarely venturing outside.

General Vincent was somewhere in between: he wasn't quite as resentful for the other inhabitants of Hyrule swarming Castle Town, but he certainly wasn't about to let any Gorons or Zoras take over the country. Hyrule was a land designated by Her Grace for her children; that didn't make Gorons or Zoras or Deku or any of the other minor factions within the country not as significant. But Hyrule belonged to the Hylians, and if they didn't like it, they could leave to any of the other neighboring countries.

Vincent himself came from a family that was once very close to the Royal Family. But as the years went on and as Hyrule's borders expanded, the family became one of the many that served the King and Queen. Vincent's great-grandfather went on the expedition that discovered the desert far off to the west. His family had always felt a strange sort of fondness for the Desert People because of this fact—the Hylian settlement had been forged by their discovery.

But Vincent's thoughts were not on the Gerudo this morning as he rode down the dirt path leading from Lon Lon Ranch to Kakariko Village. He had spoken only minutes before with the ranch's owner, Talon, about a request from the Adventary army. Vincent remembered how Talon sat at the small wooden table within the ranch house, drumming the tabletop with his stubby fingers, large bulbous nose dipping up and down as he nodded at the general's words. The quiver in the man's mustache told Vincent that he was not so sure about the proposal.

"So you're sayin'," Talon said after Vincent had finished speaking, "you wanna have soldiers here?"

"It would be incredibly helpful," said General Vincent. "If the Adventaries are able to station units here, it would provide a safe checkpoint without making them travel all the way back to Castle Town's barracks between missions." He flashed a false friendly smile at the stout man. "It would also assure King Daltus that you are in support of his cause."

Talon never really met Vincent's eye as he continued drumming the table. Something about all of it—about war—pleased the Hylian general. He didn't know if it was his family's war-hero-studded history or not, but the conflict invigorated him. Sometimes people had to die in order for a resolution to be made. Even if he were to answer to the Golden Goddesses one day for his transgressions, he would not regret it.

Talon eventually shifted in his wooden chair and adjusted his blue overalls. "I suppose lettin' a few soldiers stay here wouldn't be bad."

The small meeting having gone over smoothly, General Vincent swiftly mounted his horse—he had also made a deal with Talon to provide the Adventaries with horses in exchange for large sums of rupees—and made his way to Kakariko. He now galloped up to the insignificant gates of the small mountainside village to see it rather bustling.

"A Hylian soldier?" someone croaked from right inside the wooden, rectangular arch. "What's your place in Kakariko?"

Vincent dismounted and held his horse's reigns, looking around at the busy village full of people of all races. The Hylians that were there didn't seem to mind as much as those of Erudone would have. He looked to the man who had spoken, a short man with a bald head and white mustache. His ears were pointed.

"What's your business?" he said again.

"I come on behalf of Castle Town," said the general. "Is there someone I can speak to? The mayor, perhaps?"

"You're speakin' to him," the man said. "Now what's your business here?"

Vincent stole another glance around Kakariko. The place had always been associated with the Sheikah, a town for them to call home. But it seemed as if it had been hijacked by anyone and everyone who wanted to live there. He certainly didn't expect a Hylian to be mayor.

"Could we speak somewhere more private?" said Vincent. "Do you have an office?"

The man grunted before turning and heading forward into the village. Vincent followed, leading his horse through the crowd carefully. Someone came up to him and offered to take it, but he dismissed them. He'd rather have the horse tied up outside the mayor's office, where he knew he could find it.

Kakariko was encased by mountains—Death Mountain to the north and the valleys before the forest to the south and east, past the graveyard. It simply didn't have room for expansion, and Castle Town was too close in vicinity for it to bleed into the Field. The mayor led General Vincent up the hilly terrain of the village until they reached a cottage-like building not far from the large windmill that gave the tiny town its name.

Inside, the mayor sat down at the normal-looking table; in fact, the "office" appeared to be nothing more than a small room for storage. It was somewhat disconcerting. Vincent didn't sit down with him.

"Actually, I was hoping to meet with the Sheikah," he said.

"The Sheikah?" The mayor let out a hoarse guffaw of laughter that made it seem like some large, angry goose were squawking at him. "The Sheikah don't live in villages and towns like us folk. Maybe if you Castle Town high-and-mighty citizens spared a moment of your lives to visit, you'd see that."

General Vincent stood with his back as straight as it could possibly go. He stared down at the short man sitting in front of him. "Where can I find one?" he said.

The mayor was still chuckling, and eventually it lead to a cough that didn't cease for several minutes. "You wanna find a Sheikah to talk to, go back to your castle."

Vincent sighed. He hadn't particularly wanted to speak directly to Impa—the stern woman didn't come off as easy-to-talk-to. Certainly not as easy as it was talking to the insubstantial ranch owner. He also hadn't planned on the trip to Kakariko going so…unexpectedly.

"I can see I'm not welcome here," said Vincent. He leaned over the table and stared directly into the mayor's watery brown eyes. "But from what I see here in Kakariko Village, things will not bode well for you."

The man snorted. "Make your threats, castle man. Kakariko will take no part in the deaths of hundreds."

Vincent held the mayor's gaze for another long moment, and it dawned on him. This man was no mayor. This closet was no office. The Kakariko villagers were hiding something, and everyone was in on it.

Turning swiftly, the general left the squat little cottage and untied his horse. He mounted right there and rode through the village, watching with no remorse as the people scrambled to get out of his way. From atop the highest point in the small town, Vincent saw a pair of blue eyes staring him down. They belonged to a young round-eared man with light brown hair, dressed in green. The image made Vincent sick as he rode straight through Kakariko, across Hyrule Field, and back to Castle Town.

Impa was sitting in her own private study when General Vincent knocked at the door. She closed her book, a green, leather-bound tome with golden letters on the spine, and told the knocker to come in. When she saw the general, her red eyes revealed no knowable expression.

"Lady Impa," said Vincent, nodding respectably as he stepped inside. "How are you?"

"Fine," said Impa. "What is it you want?"

Vincent, always so fond of his ability to charm the ladies, felt like a cold fish under the gaze of the Sheikah woman. But he did his best to stand as confidently as he could. "I was hoping to have a word with you concerning your people, and Kakariko Village."

Impa placed the book on the table beside her, and Vincent saw the words "Book of Mudora" on the cover. He wasn't sure what it was, but it didn't look like light reading. "Have a seat."

Vincent sat down on a cushioned chair across the table from Impa. He had taken off his armor upon reentrance to the city and was wearing a simple blue tunic. It was rare that he was seen around the castle in commoner's clothes.

"I visited Kakariko today," said the general. "Things seemed…a little out of control, if I'm honest."

"How so?" said Impa.

"I suppose it was always my impression that Kakariko was a village of Sheikah," said Vincent.

Impa tilted her head slightly in thought. "It is a home to the Sheikah," she said, "but not as you might think of the word."

"Either way," said Vincent, "it was cluttered with people from all over Hyrule. It almost seemed like a refuge for civilians, but there have been no battles yet to create any refugees."

"Preemptive, maybe," Impa said.

"Perhaps, but something told me everyone there had no intention of unifying Hyrule."

Impa didn't respond for a while. Finally, she said, "What does this have to do with the Sheikah?"

"I suppose it doesn't," the general said with a shrug, leaning his elbows on the table. "I'm only concerned due to Kakariko's proximity to Castle Town. If they're harboring any of our adversaries, we might have to be careful about who we let inside our walls from the village." He paused, regarding Impa carefully. She sat straight as an arrow in her cushioned chair, as if she experienced no comfort from the circumstance.

"Now about the Sheikah," Vincent continued, "well, you have already shown your worth in battle against the Dinerat rebels. And being the only ambassador we have to your people, I hope you plan on recruiting them for aid in this war."

"As it is our birthright," said Impa, red eyes emotionless, "the Sheikah will protect and fight for the Royal Family at all costs."

"Good," said Vincent, leaning back again. "We can't have our most trusted allies turning away from us now." His eyes sparkled in the flickering candlelight. "What can you tell me about them?"

"About who?"

"The Sheikah."

Impa's brow twitched in the slightest hint of confusion. "I'm not sure I follow, General."

"You're such a secretive people," Vincent said. "As evidenced by your lack of a proper home. How exactly can you protect the King and his family? I mean, clearly you are an experienced and skilled fighter, but you are supposedly one of many. Are we expected to blindly believe you will aid us?"

"As we blindly aid you, I suppose you are," said Impa. "But to give you more information, I can say that every member of our tribe is trained for combat, starting a very early age. By Hylian standards, we start our training as children."

Vincent nodded. "That's good to hear. When will we be able to meet our allies?"

"We only make ourselves known when we are needed, General," said Impa. "We are, after all, a people of shadow."

"That might need to change, Impa. Civil war is nothing to trifle with."

"I'm fully aware, General," said Impa. Her tone revealed a trace of annoyance, but it only made Vincent smirk. If he couldn't charm this woman any way he chose, getting the stoic Sheikah irritated would be a good replacement.

"I didn't mean to offend," he said, holding his hands up with an apologetic smile. "I only want to make sure you understand the direness of our situation, especially with Kakariko potentially inhabited by Dinerat spies." He stood, straightening his tunic with a few short pats. "I'll leave you to your reading. Sorry to interrupt."

"Not at all," said Impa, watching as he turned to leave the room.

"Oh, one more thing," said the general, halting to look back at her. "Could I ask you something secret?"

Impa regarded him curiously.

"I was wondering," he continued, "perhaps you could tell me about the princess." He mustered up as much charisma as he could and poured it all into his light-colored eyes. "Is she our Princess in Gold?"

Impa's face was set as stone as she looked at Vincent, but he could sense her wanting to tell him. It seemed as if even the Queen didn't know whether or not her child was the true reincarnation of Zelda, but Impa had to know. It was one of the reasons the Royal Family called a Sheikah to their side when a princess was born.

"The princess," the Sheikah said finally, voice quiet and laden with some unknowable knowledge, "is Zelda reincarnate." And then something happened that Vincent was sure hadn't occurred before in the Sheikah woman's lifetime: she smiled a pure, genuine smile. "Our Goddess has returned."

A/N: Vincent rolled a nat 20 for his charisma check.