In Nayru's Palm

The village where he brought us was very small—it looked about the same size as Kakariko, the village where Impa was housed. I almost believed it to be deserted at first glance, since there was none of the hustle and bustle that I was accustomed to seeing in a gathering of homes such as this. Then a man came from within one of the homes, and he looked over our small group.

“Impa,” he acknowledged, with a bow. She inclined her head; I wondered if it was because she was of higher status than him, or because a bow would be too much for her in her condition.

“She is injured, headman,” interceded the boy. “She has a wound through her calf that needs healer’s attention.”

“Then why don’t you fetch our healer?” suggested the headman mildly. The boy nodded and went away. He looked to Impa again. “Are you here for sanctuary, Impa? Surely there is somewhere else to hide that would not have been such a trek.”

“I am not worried for my safety,” she replied. “She needs teaching, and skilled hiding.”

The headman looked down at me. I felt flustered—my gown was ripped, torn, and stained with grass and dirt, and my feet were bare and my hair was falling gradually out of its headdress. I had to smell terrible too; it had been two or three days since I had last bathed.

“Ah,” he breathed. He wasn’t looking at my face. For some reason, looking at my hand seemed to trouble him greatly. “So…”

“Yes,” she replied. “It must be true. Why else would it be on her hand?”

“But which…”

“It remains to be seen which. I know Ganondorf would choose that of Din, so it won’t be her…” She hesitated. “The door of Time closed over the boy. I do not know why that would have happened. If Ganondorf killed him…”

“What?” I pulled back from Impa. It couldn’t be. “Link…”

The pair of Sheikah looked at me with pity. I shrank back. If Link was dead…

“The prophecy,” I whispered. “Will it not be fulfilled?”

The two exchanged looks. “I think we should have a meeting,” the headman said slowly. “We will discuss what has passed, and what will come.”

I stood in silence as they left. I didn’t care what they decided. If Link had been killed by Ganondorf…

There was no hope.

The boy found me a bit later. I sat on the grass, staring into nothing. He shook at my shoulder. I refused to respond.

“Impa wishes to speak to you,” he said. When I didn’t reply, he shook me again. “Hey.” Hesitated. “Lady. Girl, c’mon, answer me!”

I looked up at him. My expression must have fazed him a bit, but not for very long.

“Lady Impa needs you,” he repeated impatiently. “You must go, not moon about like a child—”

“I am not a child!” I snapped, standing right to my feet. He didn’t falter, the insolent creature.

“Then don’t act like one,” he shot back. “Impa needs to talk to you NOW.”

I glowered at him. Then I turned and stormed off, to look for my attendant.

“Zelda, here,” Impa said gently, when I found her. She knelt in the middle of a grove of gossip stones. They seemed to be placed randomly about, but somehow being amongst so many made chills go up and down my spine even more than the one had before, in the cave. I sat where she indicated, right in front of her.

“Do you see the core stone?” she asked gently, but there was an underlying tone I did not recognize. I looked, and got a start when one of the stone eyes seemed to pin me to where I sat. “Look into it Highness.”

How could I not? It had me pinned like a butterfly…

“Focus on who you want to see.”

Who I want to see? He’s dead…

“Focus, Highness…”

Sand came halfway up my vision, but I could see an expanse of sand that stretched for miles. Several rocks of incredible size seemed strewn about the sand lagoon, and a couple of shabby crows circled the air. Odd trees stood at angles in some places, but there weren’t many. A bit to my left was a large, brown arch, formed by two tall stones holding up a horizontal third. The structure, random or natural, must have been almost three stories high. And under them…

My heart skipped a beat. Under them was a boy about my age, wearing green. Link!

He looked up at something that must have been facing away from me, because I could not tell what he was examining. He then looked around, and walked toward the small gathering of trees. He seemed to scratch his head for a moment, but then turned and looked right at me. He was far away, so I couldn’t even distinguish his expression through the mist of airborne sand, but he went about closing the distance without hesitation.

Something green and slightly cone shaped burst from the sand behind him. I stared in horror as it advanced to him, but before it reached him he spun and cut it halfway through with his sword, then hit it again and finished it with a quick spin.

Had he always been that capable with his blade? He had seemed much more awkward when I had talked to him. Surely getting the Spiritual Stones hadn’t changed him this much?

He finally reached me, and looked me right in the eye. His bearing had completely changed, no doubt about it. He carried himself with a surety that many adults I knew lacked. His eyes…I couldn’t have named how they were different, but yet, they seemed…

Older?

He reached into his pack and pulled out a red and white mask, and put it to his face. The mask startled me—it had the same pattern on it that the stones did.

“Zelda, enough!”

I was pulled back into awareness of my body by Impa’s insistent tug on me. I stared up at her bemusedly, until I remembered what I had seen.

“He is alive! Impa, Link is alive!”

“That he is,” she said slowly. Her tone puzzled me.

“Impa?”

“I will speak of this at the meeting. We need to learn more.”

“About Link?”

“Surely you noticed something different, Highness?”

“Well, yeah,” I said. Was it bad?

“We will talk with the other Sheikah. If the lad is alive, then this changes plans.”

Annoyingly enough, I was not allowed to go to the meeting. Never mind that I had gone to every single conference and meeting of my father’s and behaved, but I was too young to be exposed to the advanced, covert, cryptic meeting.

I sat in a room by myself, and waited patiently. I did not know why I was being kept away from everybody else, but there must have been a reason for it. Like the reason I was not allowed to attend their stupid, childish meeting.

“Zelda, come with me,” beckoned Impa, sticking her head in the doorway. I got up gladly, straightening my skirts, and followed her.

It appeared that the meeting was over, and Impa led me to another house, where a few Sheikah waited.

I found myself fitted for new clothes. I use the term loosely, for it was very unprofessional. They did not measure me or anything of the sort. They looked me over and took my dress off, and then they began throwing clothes over my head. The clothes I finally ended up in were baggy and shabby. They had tugged pants up over my hips and cinched them tight around my waist, despite my protests.

“You cannot dress like you did, Highness,” said Impa. She unwove my headdress, and my star-corona gold hair fell to the back of my knees. “We must make sure that we are not found by Ganondorf or any of those in his employ or control. Even here, you might not be safe. You will dress like a Sheikah, and we will teach you our ways as Kaepora Gaebora teaches you the things you need to know as one of the Chosen. Even many of the villagers here will not be informed as to who you are. The ones who did work for the king and me will know even without us telling them, but nobody else. You must not tell people who you are. Do you understand?”

“What about the boy?” I demanded. “He knows who I am.”

“He is getting this discussion as well.”

I thought this over. “I understand, Impa.”

“Good girl. Now, we are going to cut your hair—”

“What?”

“—and when you leave this village, you will be bandaged around your face. Nobody knows the Sheikah as well as they used to—we are a dwindling people. Your face is too pale to be completely Sheikah, but you inherited your ancestor’s eyes—”

“Huh?”

“—your great great grandmother was a Sheikah, Zelda. That is why you are able to use the stones. That is why the royal family is attended by Sheikah. You are Sheikah, even if your blood is diluted.” She met my gaze. I felt myself tremble—I was so overwhelmed…

“It will be fine, Zelda.” She kissed my forehead. “You are strong, you will make it. It will be fine.”

I nodded. I did not cry. I hadn’t cried since I was a babe. Crying was weakness.

They used a knife to cut my hair. I was shorn like a sheep, close to my scalp. My blonde hair fell to the ground around my bare feet, brushing against my skin with feathery touches. I barely noticed. I was going numb.

Impa brought me a mirror of polished silver. My hair looked like it belonged to a boy. It was a dusting of blonde up until it reached the pointed tips of my ears, and then it reached an inch and two inches long. I had hair tickling at my eyebrows, and hair harassing my ears. My head felt too light.

“There, now,” Impa crooned gently, brushing out what was left of my hair with the tips of her fingers. “That’s not so bad.”

“I look like a boy.”

“And that is okay. The goddesses know who you are no matter how you’re dressed or how your hair is cut, and the stones will recognize you. That is all that matters.” She smiled weakly at me, and I thought I saw her lip tremble. “If this is the price for your survival, are you willing to pay it?”

I felt naked—people could see my legs, and I had less hair than my father had. But if it was this or be killed…

I nodded.

“We can call her Sheik,” said one of the women. “It is a common, respectable name among our people.” The rest voiced their agreement.

“What do you think?” asked Impa.

I nodded. I could be Sheik. I would survive and fight. If I could survive under Ganondorf’s nose until I could help Link take him down…I would.

That was my choice.