The Legend of Zelda: Blood and Spirit

Chapter 20: War in the Sky

Chapter 20: War in the Sky

Sheik stood high atop the rocky battlements that hid Kakariko Village away within the valley, her thoughts not lingering on the hero for once as she watched the light of the rising sun start to shine upon the empty field that lay before her. She had been watching the outlying field all morning, waiting for her spy to report back to her. Though Veress would likely refuse to admit it, Sheik was every bit of a perceptive planner as she was. The Sheikah leader hated being any amount of steps behind her enemy, and so, over the course of the past week, she had developed a new strategy. After noticing that the Dark Interlopers had been strangely quiet lately, not so much as even trying to launch any sort of attack, she surmised that they were obviously planning something, and something big. And so, Sheik had sent in one of her most trusted braves into the Interloper ranks as a spy, to figure out their plans ahead of time so those still loyal to the goddess could act accordingly.

Since it was about the appointed time for her spy to return back with word on the latest Interloper plans, Sheik had not moved from her post since dawn. While the majority of the village slumbered silently, including Link and Zelda, the Sheikah leader kept up her diligent watch, deciding to once again fully commit herself to her main priority of keeping her people and both the goddess and the hero safe. And her diligence was about to pay off, for a small smile crossed her face as she saw her spy, a loyal Sheikah woman who was only a little older than Sheik herself named Leri, approaching from the distant hills afar. Sheik gave Leri a small nod in greeting as she quickly scaled up the battlements to report to her leader.

"So," Sheik said, wasting no time. "Did you find anything out?"

Leri frowned, though her usual professionalism did not vanish. "It's my unfortunate duty to report that you were right, Mistress Sheik. The Interlopers are planning something very big, something that they plan on setting in motion today, which is why I hurried back here as fast as I could."

"What?" Sheik asked suddenly worried. "What are they planning?"

With as much detail as she could, Leri explained the Interloper's newest strategy to Sheik, or as much as she knew about it anyway. She didn't know every tiny little point of their plans, as those closest to Veress did, but she knew enough. And as the Sheikah leader learned of the Interloper's next move, her eyes grew wide in shock, anger, and dread as she thought of the two people who needed to know this information more than anyone else.

A thin stream of warm morning sunlight streamed in through the small bedroom window, its glistening brightness waking Zelda up the moment it touched her as she lay wrapped in Link's arms, the same position she had fallen asleep in. She smiled as she woke up though, silently reaching a hand out to gently caress his face while he slept. Even though the hero's face was marked with the ever-clearer signs of the corruption that haunted him, it was in these still, peaceful hours of the morning that the girl was able to hide them out of her sight and see her husband the way she wanted to see him. She did not see a veteran hero fighting against an unseen force tainting every part of his being, simply trying to maintain a semblance of himself at the end of each day for her sake. She did not see the fresh hero who had toiled through the dangers of an unknown land and stuck down countless foes just to rescue her. She did not even see a hero at all. Instead, she only saw the boy who had been her best friend since they could barely talk, the boy she had always been able to confide in and trust, the boy who had always been there to comfort her when she was sad and laugh along with her when she was happy, the boy who she had slowly but surely fallen in love with over their many years of companionship. She saw a boy who was youthful, innocent and kind, yet at the same time, brave, strong and determined. She saw the boy who she had wanted since she first met him, who she now finally had, and who she desperately did not want to lose.