BOTW: The Lonely Knight

The Stolen Heirloom

Link walked into Impa's house. Sure enough, what the villagers said had been confirmed. The glowing Sheikah Orb was gone from its resting place. Paya was on the ground crying, while Impa was sitting at her usual spot, deep in thought. Link walked up to her granddaughter.

"Paya?" he asked.

"M-master Link..." she stuttered, "I swear I only took my eyes off of it only for a second! What should I... What should I do?"

"Tell me what happened." Link answered bluntly.

"T-the heirloom... The heirloom was stolen! And just when I had finally discovered the heirloom's secret..." she managed to say, a trace of fear still in her voice.

"The hero, chosen by the Sheikah heirloom, will be gifted with the blessing of antiquity." Impa said, reciting the old verse from before, "Paya believes that the hero in the verse is you, so she stayed up all night researching the heirloom. She came to the conclusion that the 'blessing of antiquity' refers to one of the ancient shrines, and that the heirloom was the key to opening it. And just before she was going to tell you, it was stolen!"

"I had been cleaning the heirloom regularly every day, once in the morning and once at dusk." Paya explained, "Someone must have stolen during the deepest hour of the night."

"Do you have any idea of who stole it?" questioned Link.

"I-I don't know... This place is off-limits to outsiders... And no one from the village would do such a thing! Would they?"

"It is possible. But we cannot jump to a conclusion till we have enough evidence."

"Y-You're right... I can't believe someone with evil intent came into this sacred place... This house has been standing here even before the Calamity came. I'm glad Grandmother is safe, but I still feel so... violated." she said, before starting to cry into her hands again.

"Link... Paya is afraid the thief may still be nearby. Would you please stay by her side today? She'd feel a lot safer then." Impa requested him.

Link looked at Paya. He knew that he had to find the thief before the heirloom was lost for good. But at the same time, he understood Paya was scared and needed reassurance.

"Thoughts: I just need to stay by her side for the day. Maybe we can work together to find the culprit. Alright, this will work."

He nodded. Paya looked up.

"T-thank you Master Link..." she stammered.

"Well now, if you're going to be together all day, you might as well take advantage of it. Why don't you two walk around the village?" Impa told them.

"G-grandmother!" Paya stuttered with embarrassment.

"Now now, I need some time by myself to think. Don't worry, you go enjoy yourselves." she told them.

"A-alright..."

The two left the house and began strolling around through town. Dorian walked up to the two.

"Is everything alright Miss Paya?" he inquired.

"Y-yeah... I'm alright..." she told the guard. "Master Link will be by my side for today... I can't thank him enough..."

Dorian turned to the young Hylian. "Take good care of her." he said with concern.

Link nodded. The guard then walked away.

"S-so... U-um... Is there anything you would like me to show you in the village?" Paya asked.

"I have seen all that I needed to and that I found useful."