Someone asked me if I could draw my OCs.
Oh god, I wish. But to that dear anon, I must confess that the sad truth is that I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. I'm terrible at drawing, so I must rely on my writing to do the visuals for you. However, upon your request, I asked a few of my much more talented friends to give it a shot, and they did quite nicely. They've all been uploaded to the old writing tumblr that I made a while back, tiger7210 dot tumblr dot com. From now on I'll be posting all sorts of random stuff, previews of the upcoming chapters and little oneshots that won't be included at all.
Even if you don't have a tumblr, you can still check it out.
ALSO: That fanservice I promised. Some of it is in this chapter. There is Sheikahn in this chapter as well, so get decoding! The first person to either A) give me the translation or B) tell me how to translate it gets a prize, as explained before. Once somebody gets it I will explain how, as well as all the hints.
Oh, and this will be the last hint!
~Alyssa
Hint #3: Think Erised.
Si autem nolueris vos non potestis te dicere de veritate de aliis.
….
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
Now
A month later, in the dead of winter in the middle of the night, Zenith had her baby.
Baxter came into my room shouting incoherent bloody murder, throwing me out of bed, as disorganized and confused and afraid as I had ever seen him, barking orders to get one of the maids or Kassia's mother or Kassia's sister or Kassia herself, anyone that was a female and wasn't him because he couldn't handle what was going on in there.
I did as I was told, and the midwife was called from the city.
At this point, Kassia and I had long since made up after our quarrel, her nearly breaking down my door the next morning, crying her eyes out into my chest. She apologized for jumping to conclusions, and forgave me for what I had done wrong, but she was never quite the same around me after that.
She wasn't her happy, outgoing self anymore, becoming cold, calculating, and much more reserved. It was evident that however much she loved me, trust was no longer there.
Which was fine with me.
I camped outside the bedroom with Baxter, having been kicked out of the room by Illiana on the claim that it was "women's work", something that outright frustrated me. If eleven year old Linden was able to contribute, why couldn't I? Or Baxter for that matter, who at that point was pacing a hole in the floor.
Four agonizing hours later, Linden flounced out with a smug grin on her face, declaring happily that we were allowed in, and "Oh Baxter, the baby is so cute, he has just your eyes and—"
But Baxter shot past her before she could finish, and I was quick to follow behind.
The first thing that caught my eye was Kassia, sitting a far distance from the bed, her face tinged green. I went quickly to her side after assessing that Zenith was alive and well, the baby a healthy pink and squalling in her arms.
She took a deep breath and leaned into me for support, her breath shaking. "I will never have children." She said in a weak voice. "Ever."
I smiled, chuckling lightly as I stood her up and walked to the bedside, eager to meet the newest addition to the Glaive, my brother or sister in every way that counted.
The child had been passed onto a beaming Baxter, the tiny thing barely the length of his forearm, even with the added bulk of the swaddling cloth. As though it was the most fragile and priceless thing in the world, he cradled it, gently reaching to touch his finger to its nose.
"Hey, little man." He said.
Two months after that, as the snow began to melt and the animals escaped bleary-eyed from their underground burrows, Kassia agreed to marry me.
It was not nearly as special or planned as my previous proposal. A week before we were due to leave, she came to my room, begging me not to leave.
"Father doesn't mind you here at all!" she pleaded, taking both her hands in mine. "He's more than happy to have you, knowing how much I love you, and—"
But I cut her off, refusing right away. I would never leave my family.
It was up to her to choose, come with me back to Hyrule, or be left behind.
And she chose.
Our plan of action was prepared soon after.
Archer, Wolfe, Kassia, and I would go across the mountains and see what was left of Kakiriko, salvaging what we could and assessing whether or not we would be able to go back to our normal way of life. In the meantime Baxter, Zenith, Garrett, Linden, and the new addition Finley would travel to Termina for a time, then taking the much safer route of riding the ferryboat back to Hyrule. We would meet at Castle Town for the Summer Solstice, and then, finally, go back home.
This plan called for us to be separated for several months, something that no one was particularly happy about, but no one would oppose Baxter.
We left later that week, Colin giving us two horses for an "engagement present", our bags stuffed to the brims with rations as well as luxuries as good as sleeping pads and spare clothes, even a nicely sized sack of gold. With the beasts we would clear the mountains in a week, two tops, giving us plenty of time to do whatever we pleased and the ability to dawdle on the way.
Nothing terribly exciting happened on our first few days of travel, I being sure to avoid the same path we had taken on the way over.
The last thing we needed was another wagon incident.
We fell into the same routine that we always had—Archer and I scouting out the area and gathering firewood, with Kassia filling the role of Zenith (though her job was much easier, considering our meals came pre-prepared with silverware and plates) and Wolfe fiddling with the map and compass.
It was just like the night with the wagon, actually, except we had ridden much later into the night, making camp when it was already pitch dark. Archer and I wandered off, talking about things of little importance, losing track of time…
And that's when it happened.
Then
"Attack!"
I twirled around, looking for the source of the noise, but before I could find it something hit me in the ribs, tackling me to the ground.
The wind was knocked out of me on impact, and in my shock I could hardly register the fact that it wasn't a Moblin about to kill me but a little boy, and Nox put your sword back in your sheath, no matter how annoying kids are you can't kill them.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he growled in a pathetically squeaky voice. His knees dug into my ribs, causing me to gasp for breath as I struggled out of his grasp.
I lifted my head, flailing my wrists helplessly. I had to give the kid credit; for a squirt he was pretty strong. "Get off of me!" I panted, horrified at myself for being taken down by a kid. "Archer! Little help here?"
I heard Archer cry out, and from the muted thump and the muffled, annoyed sound from beside me, I gathered that he was in a similarly tight spot.
The kid on top of me turned his head to the side. "Laupa. Beth!" he called. "Get Rubix! Tell her we caught somethin'!"
The two blonde girls he addressed giggled madly, running the way we came and disappearing into the dark.
The kid turned to his renegade team of children, congratulating them in a lofty, superior voice.
"Uh, excuse me, sorry if I'm interrupting anything," I said, and his head whipped back around to face me. "Did my brother and I do something to justify being manhandled like this?"
"You're on our turf!" he shouted proudly, and several other little voices exclaimed their agreement.
Din.
How many pipsqueaks were running around the mountains unsupervised?
"This is Death Mountain!" protested Archer, voicing my concerns. "Hylian Territory! Since when is it anyone but Hyrule's 'turf'?"
"Since the bad guys killed everyone!" said a girl off to my right smartly. "With all the grownups gone it's our job to keep our home safe!"
Another "Yeah!" resounded from the children.
I rolled my eyes.
"Fine. Let us go and we'll leave."
"Nuh-uh!" said the kid on top of me. "You're the first people we've caught in months! Rubix is gonna—"
"What will I do, exactly?"
The sharp, feminine—and not childish, thank Farore—voice came from my right, behind the kid where I couldn't see.
"Rubix!" he exclaimed eagerly. "Lookit what we caught!"
The girl stepped around him, looking me up and down. When she was closer, I could properly see what I was up against. She didn't stand very tall, five and a half feet at the most, with long ebony hair pulled up in a high ponytail, her scrutinizing blue eyes observing me warily. In the dark I could see the glowing crimson eye emblazoned on the front of her torso.
"Dammit, Norkix!" she groaned, grapping him by the scruff of his shirt and pulling him off me. "Can't you do anything right? I said Moblins. Not a couple of little boys!"
"Little!" Archer cried in protest, standing up and dusting himself off. "I happen to be nineteen years old. As for you, that uniform looks awful fresh. I'm guessing fifteen, sixteen at the most."
Rubix's ears turned red, but she continued to stare Archer down. "I'm seventeen, thank you." She replied stonily. 'But I'm surprised you caught that. Most Hylians don't recognize that.
"Us," Archer rolled his eyes. "I also happen to be a Sheikah." His lips twisted sarcastically, mimicking her stoic tone. "But I'm surprised you didn't catch the glowing red eyes. Most Sheikah would recognize that."
"Nice try." Rubix smirked. "There's not that many of us left. We don't lose track of our kind that easily. Just because some mage fixed you up with some fancy contacts doesn't make you a Sheikah. Now shove off, before I let the kids have you."
"Really, now." said Archer in an exasperated voice, picking at his fingernails carelessly. "Is that any way to talk to Hoan's son?"
I hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about, but judging by the way all the children all gasped and began to whisper, it had to be something big.
Rubix's eyes widened for a moment, but otherwise her face remained blank. I had to give her credit, she was good. "You're bluffing. He's dead."
Archer chuckled darkly with a demeaning tone, shaking his head back and forth. "Ah ah," he corrected. "Everyone thought he was dead. But really he went back to Kakiriko instead of committing himself to being poked and prodded and being looked at like an orphan. You can test me; I know everything about him, and my mother for that matter."
Something about Archer's words was funny to her for some reason. "Fine. I'll take you back to HQ." She relented, gesturing for the peanut gallery to disperse. "But I hope you know if you're lying, he'll kill you."
"Whatever," said Archer, crossing his arms and starting to follow her.
"Who's he? Who's going to kill us? I don't take well to being killed," I whispered frantically, grabbing the back of his shirt. "And Kassia and Wolfe are waiting for us back at camp. We can't just leave them!"
"Relax." Archer said complacently, patting me on the shoulder and pulling me forward. "I know what I'm doing."
"Yeah, you'd better."
We walked in silence, following the eerily soundless footsteps of Rubix up a steep slope, to a ledge on the mountainside, until suddenly, she disappeared.
Archer swore under his breath.
"She's testing us." He told me, feeling around in the dark, his hands roving the cool stone of the mountain. "I would be able to follow her, but you can't go through that way…Just a sec, I think I remember how to open this…"
His hand caught on something invisible to me in the dark, closing his eyes and whispering something to the mountain.
"Egas sap siht nepo."
Something creaked, the sound of heavy boulder shifting filling my ears, and Archer grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me through the rock. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for an impact that never came as I was pulled through the very mountain itself.
"It's a glamour." He explained quickly, grinning at my dumbfounded expression as we appeared in what seemed to be a cavern, the rich brown tones of the rock lit by flickering torches mounted on the walls. "Like the one we had at home. But a lot more complicated."
"Oh." I said dumbly, pressing my lips in a tight line.
Rubix then appeared in the hall, her arms crossed, her expression amused. "I'm impressed," she said in a disinterested tone. "I didn't expect you to—"
"Yeah, yeah." Archer cut her off, grabbing my arm and pulling me forward with him. "We're not here for games. We have two others that are expecting us back. Now take me to whoever wants to see me so I can prove my heritage, which by the way I have no idea why that matters, and we can leave."
"I thought you were Sheikahn. You should know the way." She strode up the hallway and made an abrupt turn into the wall, disappearing from sight.
I scrunched up my nose, making a noise of aggravation, but followed her nonetheless.
"The hallways are meant to confuse intruders," Archer clarified as we walked. "The Sheikah can see past glamours, see, so they don't bother us, but if a Hylian like you got caught up in here there's a good chance they'd never get out."
"How comforting." I rolled my eyes.
"A Hylian that didn't know the way." He corrected. "There's this nice invention called a map, you know. Not to mention if you pass some test they hook up your eyes with a spell or something. That's usually what they do if a Hylian marries a Sheikah."
I wasn't really paying attention to his explanations, warily feeling my hands along the walls and trying to differentiate what was fake and what wasn't, but like the walls and deadly twists and turns in the Shadow Temple, these glamours were perfect.
"Are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked, paranoid.
It was his turn to roll his eyes. "No, Nox. I just taunted our only way out of here and led us in the direction of certain death. I have absolutely no idea of where I'm headed to."
He turned another corner, looking back and grinning as I followed behind.
"I told you I'd find it." He said happily, gesturing to a set of grand marble doors that opened up into a giant room.
Like the hallways, the chamber seemed to be built directly into the mountain. Stalagmites decorated the ceiling, sometimes joining with stalactites to form natural support pillars. A ramp was carved into the wall, curving up and around the entire room and up again, creating several floors not unlike the way Zora's Domain was built. However, where Zora's Domain was filled with water, the cavern floor was alive with Sheikah—young Sheikah. In fact, no one there seemed any older than I was.
Archer and I attracted several odd looks as we wove through the masses, heading towards the giant archway that sat just below the first story of the ramp, above which was carved words in a foreign script. As we walked underneath it, I stopped to read them.
Reafon tfel sitfe lsiepo honer ehw
Sheikahn.
Making a note to ask what it meant later, I continued to follow him through to the much smaller antechamber, a circular room with doors leading in several directions. Archer chose the one directly in the middle.
To my complete surprise, Archer had actually succeeded in getting us where we needed to go. Rubix stood in front of a dead end, chatting with a slight blonde girl who sat in the middle of the hall. Once we came in earshot, she said goodbye, and disapeered through the wall for the third time that night.
The girl was at least our age, sitting with her hands folded in her lap, her eyes closed with a serene look on her severe face. As we approached she did not look up, or acknowledge us in any other way.
For a moment we stood there, me waiting for Archer to do something, until he cleared his throat.
"Hello," she said calmly, not surprised at all that we were there, a small smile curving her lips. With it, the features of her face did not look quite so sharp. In fact, she was actually quite pretty. "Rubix said you want to meet with the Patriarch?"
Archer seemed to recognize this as well, ignoring her question. "Didn't anyone ever tell that you're supposed to look at people when they talk to you?" he asked.
Something about the question struck the girl funny, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Yes," she agreed. "But I believe you would be rather uncomfortable if I did so."
"I have to disagree." Archer replied, and I rolled my eyes at his charming smile, wasted on the girl who couldn't see. "Something tells me you have beautiful eyes."
At this, she did laugh, her melodious soprano echoing through the hall. "Beautiful eyes, hm?"
"Prove me wrong." He challenged. "It's hard to flirt with a pretty girl if she can't see how handsome you are."
She jerked her head to the side as if to say, 'you asked for it', standing up and walking a few steps until she stood less than a breath away from him, leaning in as if she was about to kiss him, and then opened her eyes.
Dead-center in her irises were two deep stab wounds, red bleeding into the whites of her eyes, her pupils unfocused and ghoulish. Blind. Irreversibly, unequivocally blind.
Archer let out a strangled noise, stumbling a few steps backward in shock. At his reaction the girl burst into a fit of giggles. "I told you so," she muttered.
"Wh-what happened to you?" I managed, imagining the pain of being stabbed in the eye and involuntarily cringing, my hands balling into fists.
"My father. When I was a baby." She said matter-of-factly, tucking her hair behind her ear and stepping forward, reaching out a hand to help Archer up.
"How do you know where I am?" he demanded, waving his hand in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
She laughed once. "Just because I'm blind doesn't I don't have other ways of seeing. And five. Now, would you like me to take you to see the Patriarch, or not?"
Dumbfounded, he took her hand, hoisting himself up. "Sure." He said after a moment.
She led us through the faux wall and down another hallway, knocking on a handsome wooden door once and opening it for us, gesturing for us to go inside, waving merrily goodbye.
Archer smiled, taking her hand and kissing it once before turning towards the door, his gait confident and sure—
But then in the threshold, he froze, a strangled gasp escaping from his chest.
"…Dad?" he breathed.
So this Saturday is my very first homecoming, and I as a class officer have absolutely NO life this week. Float building and drama club and this and that and the other thing every day from the time school ends to about ten at night. 'Fraid to say that I probably won't be updating until sometime late next week, which is why I gave you a longer chapter this week. Sorry guys!
Hope you enjoyed your cameos! Did you find yourself? If you didn't, either A) You will be in the next few chapters, B) There was no way I could make any part of your penname into a semi-reasonable name, or C) you just missed it.
Leave a word if you'd like!