XV – A Bad Omen


Steam rose from the mug in her hand, and the scent of coffee filled the kitchen. Paya stared absentmindedly out of the window and at the snow-covered roofs and tree branches.

"The weather is crazy," Dorian, standing next to her chair with another mug of steaming hot coffee in his hand, commented.

"Dorian...what is happening here?"

The middle-aged Sheikah only shook his head. "Foul things are at work. This snow seems so unnatural. It has never snowed around this time of the year in West Necluda. Paya, have you been able to establish a connection with Impa?"

Paya shook her head and bit her lip. "She is not responding."

"She went to Castle Town for further research. I have a bad feeling about this."

"About what?" a voice said from the bottom of the stairs.

Paya and Dorian both turned around, and bowed politely. "Your Highness," they said in unison.

"What happened in Castle Town?" she asked, "why does everyone have a bad feeling but cannot give me facts?"

Before Dorian could answer, they were interrupted by a commotion outside the house, and before long, someone knocked on the door. It was Cado.

"Dorian, Paya. Your Highness. A bit of help please."


Link helped carry the wounded Sheikah into his own house, and lay him down on the bed, while his wife hurried to get a bowl of water, fresh towels and bandages. The other three who had arrived with him stumbled inside the house through the open door, and sat down on the kitchen chairs. Paya helped Claree take care of her husband's wounds, while Link and Zelda sat down in the kitchen.

"What happened?" Dorian handed each one of them a mug of hot tea and a warm blanket.

"We have fled Castle Town," the youngest said, pulling the blanket tighter around his shivering body, "evil has overtaken the castle."

"Evil?" Dorian asked and furrowed his brows, "what do you mean?"

The young Sheikah glanced at Link and then Zelda, and said somewhat sheepishly "the Hylian soldiers have turned against us. There was madness in their eyes when they attempted to slaughter us."

All colour vanished from Zelda's face and her knuckles turned white from gripping the edge of the table. "W...what?" she gasped.

The young Sheikah averted her gaze and stared at the floor.

"Hyrule field is crawling with guardians," said the Sheikah with tanned skin and black hair, "it's pure madness. Many of our people fell."

"What about Impa?" asked Paya, who had just entered the kitchen.

The tanned Sheikah shook his head. "I don't know. She was last seen with the king."

Zelda sucked a breath in audibly, and Link put a comforting hand on her arm, squeezing it slightly. He could see how hard she fought to hold back her tears.

"I...I need fresh air," she said and left the house, followed by her appointed knight.

"Zelda...wait," he said as he hurried after her, but she didn't stop until they had reached the pumpkin field.

"Link..." she said, tears now freely streaming down her face, "this is all my fault. If I had been able to harvest my power, none of this would have happened. I would have been able to protect my father. If it wasn't for me, he'd still be alive." She sobbed.

"None of this is your fault. We don't even know yet if anything has happened to him," he tried to reassure her, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Please...hold me," she whispered, and Link drew her close and gently wrapped his arms around her, feeling her tears wetting his shirt.

The sun, now high in the sky, slowly began to melt the snow.


It was midnight and the moon was full when Sheik woke. He felt considerably better and the fever was finally down. His body felt sore from spending days on the sofa, and he stretched his limbs while walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He cut himself two slices of bread, stuffed his mouth with it and chugged down the whole glass of water. He wrinkled his nose as he looked down on himself, and even more when he lifted the hem of his shirt to sniff at it. Dammit, I really need a bath.

He grabbed a warm coat from the hook next to the main door, put on some boots that belonged to Dorian, and went outside. The cool night air refreshed his skin, but it felt much colder than he had expected. As he stepped on the dirt road, he saw Dorian walking down from Claree's house.

"Oh. You're up," Dorian said as he reached his house.

Sheik nodded. "The fever is down."

"That's good. Good," Dorian mumbled, "Sheik, let's walk, I need to talk to you."

When Dorian finished telling Sheik what happened during his absence, they had reached the waterfall flowing down from Lantern Lake into the small pond behind Impa's house, and sat down on a wooden bench.

"Sheik..."

He looked up at Dorian and their eyes met.

"Why...why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Join the Yiga. You out of all people should know better."

He shrugged. "And you of all people should understand my motives. You know what happened to me and my family. You know that the Hylians have always looked down on us. Made us outcasts."

Dorian sighed, his eyes getting lost in the rushing water masses. "I have paid bitterly for leaving the Yiga. They took my wife from me. Killed her right in front of my eyes. Our own people."

"And Impa has sold us out."

"Is that what they told you? Impa is trying to provide us with a peaceful life."

"By bending the knee."

"Sheik, what is so wrong with wanting to live in peace in Hyrule? We offer our services for a good, safe life."

Sheik huffed. "Don't you have any pride? What happened to our race? Breeding with Hylians like that will only erase the pure bloodline. How many of us pure-bloods are left?"

"Yes. Our bloodline will die out some day. But that's how it is. Sheik...it pains me to see you like this," Dorian said, "you're a broken man."

Sheik said nothing for a short while, and stared down at his fingers.

"One more thing," Dorian added, "the Hylian knight who carried you into my house. You know each other. How?"

"I screwed up," Sheik answered quietly.

"Ah...so he was on the Yiga's radar."

"Not him particularly. His whole unit."

"But he lives."

"Yes. That was unfortunate."

"So you tried to kill him. And he carries you into my house. Did I miss something? Like the part in between?"

"It's a long story."

"I have time."

Sheik sighed. "Look. I didn't kill him. He didn't kill me. End of story."

"He's still here by the way."

"I figured."

"So is the princess of Hyrule."

Fuck.

Dorian got up and eyed the young Sheikah suspiciously.

"Take a bath tomorrow. You've smelled better. Oh, and hands off my wine cellar."

Sheik grimaced. He could really need a drink.


Sheik wiped the fogged mirror with the back of his hand and looked at his reflection, almost not recognising the man who stared back at him. His wet hair clung to his face and naked shoulders, his eyes looked redder than usual – fucking bloodshot – and his scar – this fucking hideous scar – made him feel even uglier than normal. He traced it with his thumb and it felt hard and uneven under his fingertip. Fuck it, he thought, and started to get dressed. Dorian had laid out fresh clothes for him, and they felt wrong on him, but he wore them nevertheless, only adding his shawl to cover the lower part of his face. It made him feel a little more like himself.


When he stepped outside later that night, the bright moon was already high in the sky. Now that he knew that the princess of Hyrule was in Kakariko, he wanted to avoid her at all cost. If the king still lived and knew where he hid, he was a dead man, and Sheik had decided that despite the mess he made, he wanted to live a little longer.

There was light burning behind the windows of a few houses, but most were dark, and the village empty. Sheik followed the main street, then turned left and walked up the hill leading to the ancient Sheikah shrine in the small forest behind Kakariko village. When the shrine came into sight, he noticed a person sitting at the edge of the pond, their back turned to the shrine. Sheik halted but he had already left the shelter of the trees behind and was now out in the open. The person lifted their head as they spotted him, and his heart dropped. For a long moment, the Hylian knight and the Sheikah just stared at each other, but then Link invited Sheik to sit with him, and Sheik was surprised at himself that his feet led him to the edge of the pond.

"Are you feeling better?" Link asked, and Sheik nodded.

After a long awkward pause, Sheik finally cleared his throat. "Why did you help me escape?"

The knight watched how the pale light of the moon reflected on a small ripple in the water, and saw a fish chasing another one, but he didn't answer. He didn't even look at Sheik.

"So...you've become a knight. Seems like you know now what you want to protect."

Link lifted his head and looked him straight in the eyes. In the pale light of the moon, his pupils looked even bluer than normal, his gaze intense.

"I'm princess Zelda's appointed knight. I've sworn to protect her."

Sheik felt a twist in his guts, but he couldn't explain why. Link still looked at him, and Sheik found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from him.

"I didn't want you to die. Even though there are people who might think that you deserve it."

"If they find out that it was you who bailed me out, we will both hang."

Link laughed softly, and it was a very pleasant laugh. Just as pleasant as his voice. It made Sheik's head swim, and he didn't know why. They both sat in silence for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

"How old are you, Sheik?" Link then asked curiously. He had thought about asking him where he'd gotten his scar, but figured that Sheik would probably be sensitive about it.

"Twenty-one."

"Ah. Almost the same sage. I'm twenty-three. Did you grow up here?"

"Yes. And no."

Link smiled. "You're shrouded in mystery."

Shrouded in misery would be more fitting, he thought bitterly, but instead he said "I'm a Sheikah. We're the Shadow Folk. Or rather, that's what we used to be."

Link noticed the resentful tone in Sheik's voice, and decided not to dwell on it. He looked at him from the side, his face once more hidden under some cloth, the red eyes darting over the surface of the pond as if they were chasing the rippled moonlight.

They didn't speak from that point on and just kept sitting next to each other in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

"It's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow...I guess," Link then said and got up, dusting his buttocks off. With a last glance at Sheik, he crossed the bridge and disappeared behind the trees.


That night, when Link was lying in bed and stared at the ceiling, he couldn't get those red eyes out of his head and all the pain and hurt buried behind them. Part of him wanted to know more about the secretive Sheikah, and part of him warned him to not get involved.

"Freak! You're an abomination and a disgrace to your family. Did I not raise you to become an honourable man? Is this how you repay me?" His father's hand hit him hard, right across the face. His mother gasped and clasped both hands in front of her mouth.

"You scarred that boy for the rest of his life. Stained his reputation. Stained MY reputation. I hope you know that what you did was not just utterly disgusting, but also blasphemous. You are no longer my son. I want you gone by morning."

His mother trembled.

"Nell...he is only thirteen..."

"If he's old enough to kiss boys, he's old enough to live on his own. He brought this upon himself. Link, I hereby banish you from this village."

Link groaned. The memory was still painful, even after ten years. Ten years in which he had sworn to never look at another man again. Years during which he had hardened himself in order to become a real man, had trained and joined the army, had slept with women to right his wrongs, and every time he would climb out of bed after having had sex, he would feel emptier than ever before.

Sheik's face popped up in his mind once more, that brief moment when he had stolen a glance at his slightly parted, surprisingly plump lips. Why are the goddesses so cruel, he thought as his hand slid under the cover and between his hot legs.


The dreams started the night after the encounter with the boars. Zelda believed them to be regular nightmares, but then they repeated night after night, and each time she would wake with a bad feeling that stayed with her until the sun rose.

She is walking, naked and barefoot, over a field of skeletons. The brittle bones crush under the weight of her feet, but she keeps walking on, towards the darkness. She wants to stop, but something pulls her to that black void. People stand at the edge of the field, calling out to her, but they seem far far away. Out of the black void, a figure starts to emerge, a man, but he is only a vague shape without a face. The man then starts to morph. Pink flames engulf him and shoot up in the sky, and the heat stings her skin. She raises her arms to cover and protect her face until the air cools down again. When she lowers her arms, she is facing a huge boar, towering over her, its red eyes glowing maliciously in its dark sockets. The pink flames dance around its enormous tusks and flow over its back like a fiery mane. And as it opens its snout to release a deafening growl, a pink-red sticky substance dripping down from its tongue, the bones under her feet begin to rattle and fissures appear in the ground. When the earth beneath her feet gives in, she feels herself falling, falling endlessly until she is caught by a green fluorescent light. When she opens her eyes, the field is gone, and she is standing in a dark cave, illuminated only by the pale light of luminous stones. From the altar in the middle of the room, the same pink-red substance is oozing out, slowly filling the cave, and as it touches her skin, it burns itself through her arm like acid. And she screams.

When she woke, she was drenched in sweat and panting. The dream felt so real and it took her a few moments to collect herself and breathe normally. She kicked the blanket away from her body, grabbed an overcoat and walked down the stairs into the kitchen, surprised to find it occupied. Paya lifted her head when she heard the princess' naked feet on the floor, and bowed slightly.

"Your highness."

"You don't have to call me that," Zelda said.

"Do you have trouble sleeping?"

Zelda nodded and sat down on a chair. She looked very tired.

"I made lavender tea. Would you like a cup? It's good for calming the nerves."

Zelda nodded again. "Since a few days, I have the same recurring dream."

Paya handed her the cup and sat down again. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Zelda eyed her. "Do you know where Link is?"

Paya shook her head. "He left earlier, but hasn't come back yet."

"Hm, I see."

"Princess, I know we didn't start off on the best terms...but I want to help. The Sheikah have always been loyal to the royal family."

"Have they?" Zelda raised an eyebrow. "What about the Yiga then? And the one who came here? Link insists he isn't a Yiga." The tone in her voice was suspicious, but also upset.

Paya bit her lower lip. "I do not understand Sheik's motives yet either. He...I...well I lived with the Yiga for a while, and Sheik joined us a short while ago."

When Zelda paled, Paya quickly added "oh, but it's not as you think. I was sent there by the lady Impa as a spy, to find out what they were planning. We used the Sheikah slate to communicate with each other. I have tried to contact lady Impa via the slate several times, but she is not responding. I think she is still somewhere in the castle."

"Paya, do you think they are still alive? Impa...and my father..."

Paya took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Yes. I believe they are still alive. It's hard to explain, but since lady Impa is my grandmother I have a strong connection to her, and I think I would be able to feel if she was dead. The connection still feels intact."

Zelda looked at the Sheikah girl for a long while, before she answered. "You are right. Father is still alive. Paya, what can we do?"

"If only I was able to make a connection to my grandmother, she would tell us what to do."

"Please, don't stop trying."

"Princess, you have my word. Please do not despair. Not all is lost."

Zelda could feel tears well up in her eyes, but she fought them down. Her jealousy and dislike towards the Sheikah girl suddenly seemed so unfounded, and she felt extremely sorry for her previous behaviour.


The slate lit up, the familiar blue Sheikah eye appearing on the screen, blinking on and off while trying to connect to another slate. The connection wasn't successful, however, and the screen went black again. Paya sighed and put it away on the shelf, growing frustrated.

"Who are you trying to reach?"

Paya winced. She hadn't heard Sheik coming, but he was standing directly behind her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sheik...why did you take the slate?"

"You should have hidden it better and act less suspicious if you didn't want someone to take it."

Paya's eyes narrowed. "What did you want with it? Did you tamper with it?"

"Relax. I wanted to know what it does. I barely had the time to even use it, so no need to get all worked up. I do know that you used it to communicate with Impa. Spill the Yiga's plans, right? See, I always knew you were a spy."

"What does it matter any longer?"

"You've lived long enough with the Yiga to know that they don't just let people disappear. They'll come back for you."

Sheik walked over to the bookshelf and skimmed the text on the spines, taking a book out every now and then, and putting it back after flipping through it.

"She's my grandmother."

Sheik turned his head to look at her, his red eyes surveying her sharply.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Paya shrugged. "I guess I have nothing to fear anymore. If they come back for me, they might as well come back for you. Why did you come to Kakariko, Sheik? Why not go back to Karusa valley?"

Sheik's brows furrowed in the same fashion they always did when he was angry or upset. "It's none of your business."

"It is though, isn't it? Something went very wrong. They took you to the castle, didn't they?"

He approached her, grabbed the collar of her overcoat and pulled her close.

"I said it's none of your business," he hissed, his eyes flashing angrily.

"And what about Link? He's a knight, he must have had access to the dungeons, right?"

"Even so, what are you hinting at?"

The slate then lit up and gave off a beeping sound. Sheik loosened his grip and Paya yanked free, quickly heading over to the shelf. As she took the slate into her hands, the screen went from light blue to dimmed and before long, Impa's face appeared.

"Grandmother!" Paya exclaimed.

"Paya...thank the goddesses you are alive. Where are you?"

"In Kakariko."

"Good...good. Listen child, something awful happened in Castle Town. A very evil force has taken over the castle and the capital, has corrupted the Guardians and somehow infected people. We are in hiding, but Hyrule has become a dangerous place. You must not come here at any cost."

"Is the king still alive?"

The Sheikah chieftain nodded. "Yes. I am trying to keep him safe for as long as I can. His daughter, however..."

Sheik stepped up to the slate and could have sworn that Impa paled at his sight. "The princess is in Kakariko."

"What a relief. Sheik...may I speak with you? Alone."

Paya swallowed but nodded then. "As you wish. Farewell grandmother, please be careful."

As she left the house, she saw Sheik sitting down on a cushion, cradling the slate in his lap.


Paya found Zelda and Link sitting under a cherry tree on a bench beside a small stream. She bowed slightly before them.

"Princess. Link. I have finally succeeded to make a connection to Impa."

Link made her sit down beside them and tell them all she knew. When she mentioned that the king was still alive, Zelda's glistening eyes reflected her relief.

"Did she give any instructions?" Zelda asked.

Paya shook her head. "Well...actually, she asked to speak to Sheik alone, so I left. But I will talk to her again and ask her what we are to do. As for now, I believe it's safe to stay in Kakariko."

The door to Impa's house then opened and Sheik jogged down the stairs, walking past them without ever so much as looking up. Link could feel Zelda tense up at his sight, and he put his hand on hers in a calming gesture. A minute later, Rola, a Sheikah woman who owned the Curious Quiver shop, came running up to them.

"There is something you should see," she said while trying to catch her breath.

Paya, Zelda and Link exchanged curious glances, and then followed Rola into the room behind the shop. Cado and Trissa were bent over an object lying on a table, a pair of large metal tweezers in their hands. Cado lifted his head when the small group entered, and greeted them with a nod.

"Please come closer. Link, this is the head of one of the boars that you shot outside Kakariko the other day. Do you notice anything unnatural about it?"

The head, half decomposed and rotting, seemed to stare at them through its hollow eye sockets, and Zelda gagged.

"I need to get out of here," she said and quickly made for the exit, followed by Paya.

Link stepped closer to the table, pressing the sleeve of his shirt against his nose to reduce the stench, and gave the head a closer inspection.

"Shouldn't it be...less decomposed? I only killed it a few days ago," he asked, furrowing his brows.

"Exactly," Trissa answered, "also, did you notice the pink-red colour on the streaks running across its cheeks? It's like some sort of acid burned its way through the flesh."

"I remember that something was off with them. They didn't act natural. And their eyes, yes, I remember their eyes. They had this eerie red-pink glow."

"Aha!" Trissa exclaimed, "it seems that they were infected with something. I just don't know yet with what." She pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose and touched her chin. "Thank you, Link. I want to have this examined. I have reasons to believe that all of this is connected."

Link shuddered as he left the house. The lynel. The snow. Sheik's arrival. The evil at the castle. The boars. Is all of this connected? Are we heading towards the end of the world? A black raven then flew over his head, cawing loudly. Its black eyes seemed to bore into Link's before it disappeared in the crown of a tree. Link could still hear it cawing and it left him with an uneasy feeling.