AN: I was surprised this chapter got done so fast. This is mainly just plot setup, though, but I can promise some action in the next chapter! And trauma...

Chapter 2: How The Sun Rose

The morning of the day Voe was asked to help Father lead the 89th Battalion, he was standing at his bedroom balcony, wincing as gusts of hot desert air blew dust in his face and tugged on his sleeping tunic and hair. The horizon was glowing red with the beginning embers of a sunrise, and he could see in the dimness the guard posted at the front gates of the Keep switching out their night guard.

Vure the pocket cucco stirred in her nest of blankets, clucking softly to herself, before her little dark eyes popped open, and she shook out her feathers. Voe smiled and stroked her back gently, before offering his arm. Vure climbed onto his wrist, before fluttering the short distance up to his shoulder.

"Good morning, Vure," he said cheerfully. "I thought you were going to miss it today."

"Miss what?" the little white bird clucked.

"The sunrise, Vure," Voe whispered. "Shh, remember you can't let Father hear you."

"I know, Voe," the cucco replied softly. "How much longer until the sunrise, then?"

"Any minute now," Voe replied. He leaned against the balcony rail and watched the faint embers of red slowly brighten. The starry blue of the night sky slowly burned away into brilliant shades of orange and gold, brushed by dark wisps of clouds.

Then the sun appeared. First as a blindingly bright white-yellow sliver rising over the rocky horizon, that slowly grew bigger and brighter as more of it crept into view. Then, all at once, the sun bounded up the rest of the way, white-golden light shooting through the multicolored sky, so bright Voe just had to blink and rub his eyes. When he opened them again, the flaming tapestry of color across the sky was already fading to the hot, dusty blue of the daytime sky, and the unearthly moment of the sunrise was over.

Voe had tried, many times, not to blink, so as to catch that moment when the sunrise faded, but he never could. The sun was just too bright.

Voe turned away from the window and ducked back into his room, allowing Vure, still roosting on his shoulder, to nuzzle up under his chin.

"One day I'll be able to see the moment the sky turns from sunrise to morning," Voe whispered.

"That's an unusual goal to have, Voe. But I suppose we cucco don't understand these things. If it has nothing to do with food, warmth, and a nest, I don't see the allure," Vure chirped. "Speaking of, are you planning to go to sleep now? You've been up since before first light."

Voe shrugged. "Maybe. I…" he suddenly yawned, surprising himself. "Guess I was a bit more tired than I thought," he said with a laugh.

He offered Vure his arm again and allowed her to flap over to her nest, before flopping back onto his bed. He closed his eyes.

After a moment, he asked, "Vure? Do you know where the sun rises from?"

"... I don't know, Voe. I haven't been much further out in the world than you have since I was hatched. I've heard some of you humans say that it comes from the east Territory."

"The sun comes from there?"

"That's what I've heard. Mostly in the context of them squawking about how the east Territory got everything. The fertile rain, the life-giving wind, the perfect sun, the richest earth. It did them about as much good as a dud egg, though, from what I see."

"Huh," Voe said. "That reminds me, Vure, I had a weird dream last night."

"Weirder than the one where you had to stop a bunch of Poes from stealing cows?"

"Weirder than that," Voe said. He closed his eyes again, trying to remember it. "I dreamed… that I was flying. No, more… floating, I think. And around me there was just… nothing. No sand. No rocks. No monsters. No people, either. I was the only thing there."

"That sounds terrible," Vure said.

"It was… lonely. But I wasn't afraid," Voe said, sitting up in bed. "No… I felt… excited. Like something wonderful was about to happen. And it was wonderful, Vure. I saw… I saw…" Voe trailed off, trying to put into words what he was about to describe.

"You saw what, Voe? Tell me! I'm on the edge of my nest - what?"

"I saw a powerful woman, carving out the earth - canyons, mountains, everything - with the fire from her hands. I saw a loving woman kiss the ground, and all that land her sister created fell into order. I saw a brave woman send a shining wind down, creating animals, plants, and people. I saw the creation of the world, Vure! And it was beautiful…" Voe couldn't help the smile that crossed his face.

"And then what?"

Voe's smile faded. He was getting to the part he hated - the real reason, beyond just anticipating the sunrise, that he'd been awake so early.

"I… saw the three women create something. Three triangles. Three pieces. Even in a dream, I could feel the power pouring off of it. It was as powerful as them - the three women I saw. It… was them, I think. At least a promise they were still there."

"Why do you say that so sadly? That sounds incredible."

Voe shivered. Now was the part he least wanted to talk about.

"The women ascended back into the sky, leaving the gold triangle behind. But then the ground opened up and this… hand… came up from the ground and grabbed one of the pieces. It was horrible, Vure - dark and poisonous and angry… so angry and hateful…" He balled his hands into fists. "The piece the hand touched… it darkened, Vure. I could still hear the woman who made it, who embodied that piece, but her voice sounded so weak, nothing like before. The only thing I could feel was that thing's hate, using her like a puppet. Everything started to die, Vure. Monsters came out of the ground, and there was blood everywhere. And that thing… it broke that piece off the triangle and dragged it below the ground again, and I couldn't hear the powerful woman anymore. Then the whole triangle broke. One of the two remaining pieces flew off somewhere - I couldn't see where it went. But the other…" Voe trailed off.

"What happened to it?"

"It shrank down and landed in my hands. It felt warm. Energetic. Alive. But the monsters wanted it. They surrounded me and started attacking me. I tried to keep it safe, keep it away from them…But there were too many of them, and they knocked me down. They were about to take it when I woke up."

Vure clucked and shivered. "That sounds awful."

Voe nodded. "I don't understand what it means. But it gave me a horrible feeling… Like I'm in danger somehow."

Vure fluttered over and nestled into Voe's lap. "Do you want to tell the Twinrova about it? Or your father? I can't provide more than a listening ear, I'm afraid. Comes with being a cucco."

"...I want to. But… Father never really seems to have time for what I have to say," Voe replied.

"But you're the next Gerudo king! Divinely appointed by the Goddess of the Sand Herself!"

"I don't want to demand he listen to me, Vure," Voe replied quietly. "Anyway, I'm sure he has enough to worry about."

"I'm sure he'll come around to you soon enough," Vure said, catching onto what he meant. "And no matter what that dream means, you're safe now."

Voe smiled. "Thanks, Vure. You always know how to cheer me up."

"It's what I'm here for." The pocket cucco trilled in pleasure as Voe petted her. "Of course, I'd still like it if you told at least the Twinrova about what you saw. It sounds ominous."

"I know, I know. If they're not too busy."

The truth was that Voe kept getting the feeling all morning that he shouldn't under any circumstance tell Father or the Twinrova about this dream. It wasn't unfounded, either, as Father had been much more easily agitated by even the smallest bit of bad news for a while now, and Koume and Kotake were hardly ever sympathetic listeners.

Voe had a faint suspicion as to why Father was so bad-tempered lately. Even years later he remembered what he had overheard about the lost Sheikah tribe and Father's attempt at finding them when he was six, and the Gerudo army had been no more successful now than they were then. However, he had never broached the subject. He had guessed he wasn't supposed to know about the ongoing hunt for the Sheikah - for what reason, he wasn't sure - and the last thing he wanted was to attract Father's anger by revealing he knew about it.

Voe yawned again. "I should try to get some sleep before morning lessons," he said.

"Are you sure you'll be able to sleep after that dream?"

"Telling someone about it helped," Voe said. He gently petted Vure's cheek feathers. Then he climbed back into bed.

I'll at least mention it to the Twinrova and see what they say.

However, as soon as he fell asleep, he had that dream again.

Again, he saw the world being created.

Again, he saw the three women leave the golden artifact and fly up into the sky.

Again, he saw the horrible, black-clawed hand tear through the ground and seize one of the pieces. Again, he saw monsters tear free from the ground, and the world around him begin to wither and die.

Again, he saw one piece of the triangle fly off into the distance. Again he saw the last piece shrink down and come to rest in his cupped hands. Again, the monsters snarled and shrieked and came after him, trying to get it. He was knocked down in the dirt and swarmed by 'blins, Stals, Poes, and worse monsters he didn't recognize before he could even reach for a weapon. They clawed and tore at his skin and clothes, trying to pry his fingers off the glowing, gold object.

"I won't let you have it! I won't!" he screamed.

"Give it to us! Surrender the golden power!"

"No! You can't have it!"

"Your Highness? Your Highness! Voe Dragmire, what in the Sand Goddess's name are you babbling about!?"

The hundreds of grasping hands turned to white folds of linen, and Voe opened his eyes to find himself in bed, legs tangled in his sheets and hands gripping fistfuls of blankets, and Koume standing in the doorway, holding her fire broom.

"...Koume? Is that you?" Voe asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Of course it is, Prince, who else would it be? Now get up, you're wasting daylight."

Voe buried his face in his pillow. Even though he'd just been asleep, he felt drained, as if he really had been fighting for his life. "Just a bit longer, Koume? Please?" he asked, his voice muffled behind a layer of goose down.

Koume smacked Voe's knee, currently submerged in the tangled bedsheets, with her broom handle. "Get up!" she scolded. "Lord Ganondorf sent me to tell you that you're expected in the throne room at once! It is a matter of utmost importance, and being His Highness's heir apparent will not spare you the consequences of keeping him waiting!"

Voe had burrowed deeper under the blankets in response to the scolding before Koume's words registered.

"Father wants to see me? Really?" Voe asked in excitement. He hurried to disentangle himself from his bedsheets, ending up falling half-on, half-off the mattress in a heap on his face. He kicked the sheets off his legs and scrambled up, rushing over to his wardrobe to get dressed.

"That woke you up quickly, didn't it?" Koume said flatly. "I shall tell Lord Ganondorf you are on your way down to see him."

"Thanks, Koume!" Voe called over his shoulder at her retreating back as his bedroom door closed behind her.

Vure popped out of hiding under the covers, shaking out her feathers. "Phew! Finally! It gets really stuffy under there, you know!"

"Sorry, Vure," Voe said sheepishly. "But did you hear? Father wants to see me, personally! Koume said it was very important!"

"I heard," Vure clucked as Voe took off his sleep tunic and got dressed. "But isn't this a little out of the blue? First you have an ominous dream and next your father sends for you to have a private talk?"

"I know, Vure, but this could be it!" Voe said in excitement as he fumbled with the clasps on his overshirt. "My chance to prove myself to him!"

Vure looked as skeptical as a cucco could look. "I'm just worried about the timing. Something about it seems ominous."

"Don't worry, Vure," Voe reassured her. "I'll be right back after my talk with Father." He petted her cheek feathers, before filling a bowl next to her nest with seeds.

"Good luck!" Vure called after him as he hurried out the door.

Voe ran down the hall, dodging past soldiers and servants in his path and calling apologies over his shoulder.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" a voice called to him, making him stumble to a halt.

Voe blinked as he recognized Ealeke. The general had only become more decorated in the eight years since that fateful day when he was six, and Voe didn't really see her around the Keep anymore. "General? Father sent for me."

"Lord Ganondorf sent for you?" Ealeke asked with a slight frown. "Do you know what it's about?"

Voe shook his head.

"I'm sure it's important, though," Ealeke said coolly. "I won't keep you."

"Thanks, Ealeke!" Voe called over his shoulder as he hurried past her.

Voe didn't stop running until he reached the enormous double doors marked with the insignia of the Gerudo in gold plating that led to the throne room. There, he stopped to pant, hands on his knees.

"Ah, there you are, young prince," the guard standing at attention by the door said. "Lord Ganondorf is expecting you."

"Thank you, Tigos," Voe told the guard as the double doors swung outward. He squared his shoulders and tried to look less nervous as he strode into the throne room, completely missing the surprised look on the older Gerudo's face that he had remembered her name.

Father was sitting on his throne, looking impatient.

"Father," Voe said with a bow.

"Now, now, up with you, Voe," Father said. "There's no need for you to bow to me. You aren't a common foot soldier."

"Yes, Father." Voe rose, curious. Father seemed like he was in a pleasant mood today. That meant good news, at least, he hoped. "You asked to see me? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, far from it," Father said with a smile. Even still, his gaze flickered around the room, never looking Voe straight in the eyes. "You see, I just received word last night that campfires were spotted in the cliffs near the Zora's Domain."

"The Sheikah! You've found them!" Voe blurted out, before he froze as he remembered he wasn't supposed to know that was what Father was looking for.

Father raised an eyebrow. "You know about the search for the Sheikah?"

Voe bit his lip, tapping the toe of his sandal anxiously on the floor. He'd just dashed his chance before it had even begun, hadn't he? Father would demand to know how he knew, and for how long he'd known, and Voe would have to confess he'd played dumb for years-

"It was an accident, Father. I overheard some of the scouts talking about it - I didn't mean-"

Father surprised him, then, by laughing. "Voe, I am not angry at you."

Voe felt himself relax. "You're not?"

"Not at all. Although I assumed I taught you better than to interrupt."

"You did, Father. Sorry."

Father folded his arms. "You're aware of why finding those shadowfolk is so important, then?"

"It's because they're still loyal to the ancient royals, right? They might try to attack us."

"That's exactly right. Clever boy," Father said. "So, as I was saying, one of our spies in the Territory saw campfires burning near the Zora's domain. She tried to get close, however, she was met with a few of the shadowfolk and forced to retreat. There is only one reason those phantoms would show themselves openly to attack one intruder."

"They were guarding something. It's like we always thought, isn't it, Father? They have a hidden camp. Are they planning to invade?"

"I can't guess what they might be doing, only that they're getting bolder. And that hardly bodes well."

"But we know where they are now."

"Exactly, Voe. In becoming bolder, those cowardly shades have become careless. Finally, after centuries of searching, we have them in our grasp." Father clenched his fist, looking up at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought. "And I'm not going to repeat prior mistakes and let them slip away again." He turned back to Voe, again not looking him right in the face but enough in his general direction one could believe he was. "Today, I am sending the 89th battalion to look into this encampment. And you, Voe, are going to lead them."

Voe's heart stopped. "Me, Father? You mean it?"

Father nodded with a smile.

"I've never led a battalion before," Voe murmured, half to himself.

"Do not worry, Voe, I will be going on this mission as well, should you need me. Consider it… practice, for when you become king."

Voe beamed up at Father. "Thank you, Father! You won't regret this! I won't let you down!"

"Of course you won't," Father said. "You," he told Tigos. "Go help the prince prepare."

"Yes, Lord Ganondorf. Come, your Highness," Tigos said.

Voe managed to keep composed for all of the twenty seconds it took for them to cross the throne room and for the door to close. "Did you hear, Tigos? Father's putting me in charge of the scouting mission!"

"I did hear," Tigos said. "Congratulations."

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to boast about it…"

"You're excited," Tigos said. "I understand that. Come, let's get you ready."

Voe started to follow her, but stopped short. "Oh! Can I meet you in the armory? I think I left something in my room…"

Tigos looked amused. "Be quick about it," she said.

Voe hurried back down the hallway to his room, struggling with the knob in his excitement.

"Voe! Vure squawked, jerking up from her snooze as the door burst open. "When you said you'd be right back, I didn't think it'd be that fast!"

"Vure, it's amazing! Father's sending a scouting party to the Zora domain today, and he said I'm leading it!"

"A scouting party? Leaving today?"

"A scout saw a camp up in the cliffs nearby. Father thought it might be the Sheikah, so he doesn't want to waste time in looking." Voe grinned and pumped his fists. "I just can't believe he's finally letting me help! Maybe that means he trusts me now? And if I do a good job today, maybe he'll ask me to help more!"

"This really looks like that chance you've been looking for!" Vure chirped. "I'm so happy for you, Voe!"

"Thanks, Vure! I just… thought you should know before I left. I… kind of left Tigos waiting in the armory for me…"

"Well, don't keep her waiting too long," Vure said.

Voe scratched the back of his head, grinning nervously. "Right." He petted the cucco's cheek feathers. "I'll see you when I get back, Vure. Oh! I wonder if I'll meet a Sheikah…"

"Maybe, if it's their camp," Vure trailed off. "Be careful, Voe, okay?"

"I will!" Voe called over his shoulder as he hurried out the door.

Voe ran back down to the armory. Tigos was waiting for him, looking at him with mild amusement as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

"Sand Goddess, don't waste all your energy tearing around the keep, your Highness," Tigos scolded mildly. "Save a bit for the shadowfolk."

Voe nodded, before straightening and following her inside the armory.

"What kind of armor and weapon should I use? Something like this?" Voe touched a bulky suit of armor, wincing when the metal-plated arm fell off with a loud clatter.

"That might be too heavy for you, your Highness," Tigos said flatly, putting her hand to her face in exasperation. "Your father actually asked that a set of armor be made for you."

"He did? Really?" Voe asked in excitement.

"Yes. He expected you would need it one day." Tigos beckoned him to another part of the armory, where a smaller, lighter set of armor stood on display. "It appears that day has come."

Voe beamed in excitement, reaching out to touch the carved black iron chestplate, decorated with the Gerudo symbol.

Tigos quickly helped him put it on. He pulled the chain mail shirt over his head, and she helped him fasten on the arm, leg, and chest plates. Lastly, he slipped on the gauntlets and sat down to replace his sandals with riding boots. The armor felt heavy, but Voe tried not to show it as he stood up.

"Now, a weapon."

"Oh, yeah!" Voe said, all thoughts about how heavy and unfamiliar the armor felt leaving his mind in his excitement. "So what should I use? A bow? A scimitar, like the other warriors?" He flitted around the armory, inspecting the different weapons as he named them. "A… Hylian longsword? No, maybe not. Or maybe a trident like Father has!"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, your Highness. A scimitar will serve you just fine. You remember how to use one from your lessons, don't you?"

Voe nodded eagerly before accepting the scimitar Tigos offered him. He hefted it and gave it a couple of practice swings. Tigos stepped back to avoid the blade in flat amusement.

Huh. This one too.

Voe trained with weapons frequently as part of his lessons. And Captain Teltevul, who had been assigned to teach him starting at eight, had always driven into him the importance of a warrior finding the right weapon for them.

"You must consider your weapon an extension of your body, as one with you as your sword hand. A warrior who is disconnected from his weapon is destined to lose it in battle."

Teltevul had told him that when he found a weapon that was his, he'd know the feeling. But Voe had never felt anything like she was describing with any of the scimitars, bows, and knives he practiced with, and he didn't feel it with this one either.

Does that mean I won't be a good fighter today? Will I disappoint Father?

Voe shook off the worry. He would just have to fight even harder.

Tigos gave Voe a sheath for his scimitar, and he slid the blade into the sheath. Tugging on the strap of the sheath to ensure it was secured, Voe grinned.

"I'm ready now, right?"

Tigos smiled. "Almost." She handed Voe a decorated war helm. Voe took the helmet in his hands, looking into the impassive dark eyeholes. It looked a lot like Father's: a garnet set in the forehead and spikes protruding from it almost like small boar tusks. When Voe put it on, it only left his eyes, mouth, and chin exposed.

Wearing it, Voe looked older. Imposing. Even scary.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that, and took the helmet off, tucking it under his arm.

"Thank you for helping me, Tigos," he said.

"Just following orders, your Highness," Tigos said mildly. She then smiled slightly. "Good luck."

Voe nodded gratefully to her, before he hurried off down the hall to the courtyard, where Father and a group of several hundred Gerudo were waiting. They were all young - newly trained, Voe guessed - and some looked only a little older than Voe himself.

"Father!" Voe called out as he entered the courtyard.

Father was wearing his own armor and sitting astride his black charger, waiting. "Ah, there you are, Voe. You, fetch the prince's horse," he ordered the ostler, Fefigo. Fefigo nodded and hurried off toward the stables, returning leading Voe's dappled mare, Lunauku, already saddled with the saddlebags packed.

"Thank you, Fefigo," Voe said, accepting the reins. He gently petted Lunauku's neck to calm her, before leading her over to Father.

"Soldiers!" Father barked, snapping the crowd of Gerudo to attention. "You have been informed of the reason for this mission?"

"Yes, Lord Ganondorf!" the battalion said in unison.

"For this task, I have entrusted my son, Voe, with leadership of this battalion! You answer to him as you would to me!"

Voe raised his hand awkwardly, then put on his war helm so none of the soldiers could see how much his face was burning.

"Yes, sire!"

"Good. Voe?"

For a moment, Voe panicked, not sure what Father was asking, before he remembered.

Oh. He wants me to give the orders.

Voe coughed to clear his throat. "Open the gates!" he said as authoritatively as he could.

The gates of Ganon's Keep creaked open, and with the sound of chains, a drawbridge lowered over the moat.

"89th Battalion," Voe ordered. "Move out!"

With that, the soldiers of the 89th Battalion fell into step behind the two riders as King Ganondorf and Prince Voe led them over the drawbridge and out into the desert.

:

Miles away, as the morning sun rose over the eastern Territory that had once been called Hyrule, another young warrior was preparing for battle.

Sheik II adjusted the binders she had just tied tightly around her chest to make sure they were secure. The last thing she needed was for them to loosen or, Golden Goddesses forbid, come off in the middle of her scouting, when she would be several miles of monster-infested wilderness away from the village.

It was the lesson she had been taught since she was old enough to wonder about why she had to respond to being called male, cut her hair short, and carefully train her voice so not a trace of femininity slipped through. No one, not even her fellow villagers, could know that Sheik, the only son of Impani, the chiefess of the Sheikah tribe, was actually a girl. The consequences would be dire if they did.

Because of the heavy burden she carried on the back of her hand. The burden that could doom the whole tribe if it were discovered.

Sheik found herself staring at the back of her right hand, where, ever since she'd turned nine, a golden mark - three golden triangles forming a single, larger triangle - had glimmered on the back of her hand, one triangle more prominent than the rest.

The Triforce. Sheik had been raised on stories about its power. It had been created by the Golden Goddesses themselves, and the three triangles each embodied each goddess's virtues: Power for Din, Wisdom for Nayru, and Courage for Farore. It could grant wishes, so the legends said, and whoever touched it remade the world in their image. A pure, balanced heart brought peace and prosperity, while a corrupted, unbalanced heart brought darkness and destruction.

Centuries before she was born, the Triforce had been stolen by the Gerudo king, and, rather than answer the thief's wish, had split apart into its component parts.

Power had gone to the king - Ganondorf - and with it, he prolonged his life and his reign of tyranny, made Hyrule into a land of monsters, and sent her ancestor, the Ancient Princess, into hiding.

Courage had been lost with the fall of the Defeated Hero, and its current whereabouts - if it even had a bearer at all - were a mystery.

And Wisdom, the piece embodied by the Ancient Princess, had gone to her. After centuries of caution and preparation, Nayru once again had a mortal to embody her piece.

But that first sign of the goddesses' favor was also the greatest threat to Sheik's safety. It would be stupid to assume Ganondorf had stopped looking for the other two pieces of the Triforce. He would always be looking - his greed was too much not to - and, Impani was sure to impress on her, once he found them, he would kill the ones who carried them.

Thus, the mask of Sheik. Face wraps, short hair, binders when she got old enough to need them, arm wrappings obscuring her right hand at all times, voice training, the arcane arts of a Sheikah. They saved her life.

Now, Sheik stood in front of the mirror and tried to picture herself without Sheik. If Hyrule had never fallen, if she could openly call herself the name she had been given at birth - Zelda. If Ganondorf did not exist.

She would be dressing in a palace bedroom, instead of the upstairs bedroom of a hut in Kakariko Village. Likely in a gown like the Ancient Princess wore in the art of old books the Sheikah had recorded and hidden, saved from being burned in Ganondorf's war on all things Hylian and Sheikah. Her hair would be longer, instead of chopped short and ragged at her neck. She wouldn't need to wear binders or cover her right hand or put hours into practicing and maintaining a boyish monotone.

She'd be Zelda, the person Sheik was supposed to be, who she'd been cheated out of being by the actions of a man she'd never met centuries ago.

Sometimes she was able to picture it, even wistfully long for it.

Today was not one of those days. Sheik carefully adjusted her tunic, fastened her mouth wrap around her neck, and donned her turban.

Impani was waiting for her downstairs. "You remember what to do if you see anything suspicious?" her surrogate mother asked.

Sheik nodded. "I remember. Go back to the village and warn everyone to hide."

"See that you do. The magic of the Sheikah is powerful, but it alone wasn't enough to stand against the Demon King centuries ago and it alone won't be enough now."

Sheik pulled up her mouth wrap and followed Impani outside. A few people greeted Impani, but otherwise they were invisible as they approached the edge of the village.

They crested the hill, and Sheik could already hear monsters crashing through the underbrush, growling and moaning.

The two Sheikah plunged into the shade of the trees. Darkness was a Sheikah's ally after all.