In Nayru's Palm

I held the Wolfo pup to my chest all the way home, escorted by those who had supported me. It nipped at my finger, and I tapped its nose with a firm “No.” When it tried again, I remembered my master of hounds, and I took both sides of its mouth and pressed, repeating, “No.” It growled, but calmed.

“What is it?” queried the Kokiri-like girl, trotting up along next to me. I frowned at her.

“What’s its gender?” explained Ralt. He had been quiet ever since the fight with Pyrrna and Garren.

Flustered, I carefully turned the pup over in my arms. “Female.”

“Well, crap,” swore a boy behind me. “Would’ve been cool to have a tough one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded the girl. “Girls can be just as strong as boys.”

“When they’re a bit taller, maybe,” jibed the other that had defended me. He grinned lazily at the girl. She puffed out her chest.

“Soun, you—”

“Pretending you’ve got boobs doesn’t help you much.” He laughed as she stomped over to him, slithering out of reach when she jabbed at him with her fingers. I stared at him, revolted, remembering that word spoken by a peasant boy in the market, and getting punished by his mother for his language. I wasn’t sure what it meant, though.

“Din burn you!” she yelled, laughing, as he evaded her again. “Soun, you’re an ass.”

He bowed to her, and everybody laughed again.

Still confused, I continued after the group until we made it back to the village.

Apparently, disappearing for awhile and returning with a Wolfo pup is not a good thing.

“Sheik!” scoffed a woman, seemingly appalled. The woman turned to Soun. “How could you let him bring that home? Where did you get it?”

“Pyrrna made him do it,” Soun replied cooly. Another woman moved to me, and I shied back, clutching the puppy to my chest. She whined, and I stroked her back.

“Obviously not,” said the first woman. “If she had made him get the creature, he wouldn’t be protecting it so.”

“She wanted him to kill it!” protested Ralt.

“Pyrrna was a smart girl then!”

“No, she was not,” I said levelly. A large hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Lad, give me the pup,” ordered a man with a gravelly voice. I tried to pull away, but he was strong and grasped at my arms. Rage boiled in me like Din’s flame, and I pulled back. The puppy yipped. The girl came in and grabbed at his hand, peeling skin away with long fingernails. The man grunted, but didn’t release me. “That pup will grow up to hurt people, lad. Let go, Creen!”

She didn’t. A couple of other people started joining the scuffle, and I curled my body around the puppy, shielding it and falling to my knees. Hands grabbed at my clothes and arms, but there were enough kids on my side that kept most of those hands from getting ahold of my charge.

“What in the name of the goddesses is going on here?”

My body relaxed a bit with relief at that voice, knowing they would listen to her, but I still held my position.

“Sheik.” Voices sounded all around me, but this was the one I would listen to. “Sheik, what do you have?”

I carefully raised my head, and straightened until the pup was visible. Her silver-ridden face showed no surprise, no horror. “Explain to me, Sheik.”

I did, but I realized that I made it sound more like most of it was my idea, except for Pyrrna. I told her that Pyrrna had suggested it, and I told her that it was her that had tried to take the pup away to kill it. By the time I had finished, the people were quiet.

“Why wouldn’t you let her kill the pup, Sheik?” she asked gently. I swallowed.

“All lives are revered in the eyes of the goddesses. To kill without reason is wrong.”

I knew I looked terrified. It didn’t affect my voice, but I was anyway. Impa could take her away from me, and I couldn’t disobey Impa. She hesitated minutely.

“She is your responsibility,” she ruled. Several of the audience protested, but fell silent as she said, “The boy speaks the truth. To kill needlessly is against the will of the goddesses.” She turned to me again. “Come, Sheik.”

I followed her.

We fed the puppy some of the dodongo meat. She tore into it vigorously, obviously uninhibited by my qualms with the stuff. Even when the meat was gone, she still gnawed resolutely on the bones with her tiny teeth.

“Zelda, I ask that you don’t do something like this again,” Impa said softly. When I looked to her, she continued, “It is already against the desires of the village to allow residence to anybody not raised in our ways. You have already alienated more than half the people here. Those people will not show you any kindness. Loyal as we are to the royal family, they do not know of your blood, and therefore have no reservations for you.” I bowed my head, still noticing how my hair fell forward and clung to my eyebrows. Her hand came to rest on my head.

“So what shall we name her?” she asked, her tone much lighter. I turned and watched the puppy try to drag her bone under the table. I drew nothing but blanks.

“Let’s see,” mused Impa, crossing her legs and sitting next to me. The puppy had managed to get the entire bone in the air, and staggered with it under a chair. “She is strong. We could call her Din.” I shook my head—it didn’t seem to fit. The bone struck one of the chair legs and fell out of her mouth. “The villagers would take it amiss if we named her Hylia. We could call her Zelda—”

“No.” Impa looked to me. “If I am truly to leave that name behind, I cannot name her that.”

My attendant studied me. “If that is so…” She reached over and slid the bone under the chair with her forefinger, much to the suspicion of the creature there. She cringed as she moved back, presumably due to her leg. “Why not Nayru?” I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off. “Ever since I’ve seen you guard her, I have heard nothing but reason behind your voice. If not for that, she would have been taken from you. It is also wisdom that prevents you from naming her for yourself.” I quieted.

“How about Rue?” I finally said. “It is still Nayru, but this way the villagers will not believe we are trying to sway them by naming her for one of the goddesses.” When Impa did not immediately answer, I peered at her through my bangs. She seemed thoughtful.

“You prove my point,” she told me. “Yes, her name will be Rue.” She stood. “I am proud of you, Sheik.” Before I could even attempt a response to that, she said promptly, “But now you need to play with her a bit, and tonight you have a lesson. You are to give your tutor the utmost respect.”

“All right,” I said, wondering why she told me that. I had never been disrespectful to any one of my tutors.

“Tomorrow, you will be trained by one of our elders. You will be taught to use magic. You have the capacity for that, I believe. Then you will go to another, and he will teach you to fight.” She paused. “You will need that skill, I believe. After that, you will have until dusk to do as you wish, within reason, and then you will go to your tutor again.”

I nodded, then pulled off my gloves. The triforce on the back of my hand made me flinch, since I had forgotten it was there.

“You need to wear those gloves as often as possible.” Impa stood in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at me. “I can get you a pair that will not cover your fingers, but you must keep that mark hidden.”

“Do you not trust your people?” I asked.

She hesitated. “I do not trust that they would be able to keep that information from Ganondorf, should he come to any of us. That is also why you are to act as a boy. It makes you less likely to be the Hylian princess if you are a Sheikah boy.”

I stewed this over. “But what will happen when I get older? I will start…” I didn’t know how to describe it. Speechless, I gestured in the vague area.

“Growing?” She smiled. “Luckily, being large is not something in your gene pool, even in your mother’s family. It shouldn’t be hard to bind you flat.”

“Will they not notice, though?” I persisted. “Men go shirtless often, do they not?”

“Not all of them,” she replied. “I need to go check the stones. I will be back in time to see you off for your lesson. Teach Rue to trust in you. She must if she is to remain welcome.” And with that, the door opened and she left.

I turned to the puppy. She noticed my gaze and stared back. Puppy fuzz still riddled her back, but in some places a black and silver pattern was struggling to emerge. Her eyes were green, and they followed me wherever I moved.

“Come here, Rue,” I cooed to her. She watched me for a moment, then returned to her bone, ignoring me. Pursing my lips, I reached over and snatched her bone. She was on her feet immediately, growling at me. I held the bone in front of my knees. “Come here, Rue.”

She glared mutinously at me. I stayed where I was, every so often repeating myself again. Finally, she inched toward me. Her head was low, and she watched me the whole time. I didn’t move. When she reached me, I dropped the bone and held my hand under her nose. Momentarily affronted, she finally deigned to sniff at my grubby fingers. She didn’t try to bite them again. Obviously, she was smarter than everybody believed. Satisfied, I pulled my hand back. She stalked up to her dodongo bone and grabbed it, but did not try to move it. With a last suspicious glare at me, she dropped to her belly and resumed her gnawing.