Chapter Text
Chapter 45: Nocturne of Shadows
When Link woke up, dim sunlight was the first thing to greet his tired eyes. He sat up, stretching his arms. Peeking through the gaps of the ruined house, he saw that the rain clouds had long passed. What's left of it was the smell of wet grass and puddles. A peaceful scene that clashed against the ruins now that Link knew the true story of this place.
Last night was certainly…a lot to take in. First, learning about the insane family history that Link had never known: Like having an ancestor who formed the Knight Academy. Said ancestor also had an uncle who served directly under Hylia herself! It was practically a miracle that Link managed to get some semblance of sleep after learning all that.
Yet despite learning the tremendous amount of insane information, a part of Link finally felt at peace. For most of his life, Link felt that a part of him was missing. The information that Fi shared with him partially filled all of that. However, there was still more he needed to know. Link doesn't know how & why, but he has an inkling that there was more than what Fi was sharing. He believes her claim that Hylia did not choose Link because of his family ties to Sir Link, and that part was a happy (debatable) coincidence. He knows that Fi would never withhold anything out of malicious intent. But he can't help but wonder what else Fi cannot share, and how big it was.
A sound snapped Link out of his thinking. It sounded like something, or someone running. He debated whether to wake his friends, but ultimately decided not to in case it was some random animal. His friends need all the rest they can get. The past few days have been a pain for all of them.
If they run into Ghirahim again, Link will especially give him an extra ass kicking.
With a hand on the handle of the Master Sword on his back, Link steps out into the village of ruins. Every step taken and glance made was done with caution. It was mostly quiet except for the occasional wind, buzzing bugs, and distant chirps of early morning birds. There wasn't any sign of a living being lingering around.
So why does it feel like he was being watched?
A burst of smoke suddenly clouds Link's vision like a flower bomb.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
The smoke cloud clears, revealing two figures ahead. Both were holding masks. On Link's left was a male-built person holding a mask resembling a hawk's or an eagle's face. The other on his right was a female with a yellow mask that looked like a canine species that she had spotted on his first trip in Faron, a fox. The garb they were wearing looked so familiar, but in the dimness of early morning, it was hard to make out. Nonetheless, Link raises his guard.
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"We're not supposed to be anything…" The male responded lowly.
The female peeks an eye from behind her fox mask. "But I'll tell you who we ARE." She flips her mask off, showing off her glasses and two braids. "Say it with joy, I'm Josha!"
The male peeks from his bird mask. "I may not look like much, but I'm not one to be taken for granted..." He then removes his mask to show his face, including his bang covering one eye. "But you can call me Grante."
With their masks gone, their faces reveal those of teenagers.
"And you-" Josha points at Link. "Suspicious Person in Green, are in OUR territory!"
"Only WE may come and go here as we please," Grante stated. "These ruins are under our tribe's watchful eye. What business do you and your merry band have to be here?"
Whoever these people are, they were clearly suspicious of him. Link could see the weapons these two individuals have. If Link doesn't act carefully, this could get really bad. The last thing he and his friends need is to pick a fight.
Link stepped closer, his hands in the air. Maybe he could negotiate with them. "Listen, we don't want trouble. My friends and I needed shelter from the storm last night."
The two teens glanced at each other with a skeptical look. "He does sound genuine…" Grante mentioned thoughtfully. "Could be one of those Sky People."
"Perhaps. That outfit is definitely not one of ours," Josha acknowledged. "There's just one small problem that brings that into question."
Link suddenly felt the cold metal of a blade press against his neck from behind. Glancing over his shoulder, Link saw another teen boy dressed in the same garb as the other two.
"You don't have your guardian birds…" The teen with the blade softly spoke through his mouth mask.
"You may not know this, but we know about the Loftwings that reside beyond that cloud barrier." Josha plainly laid it out. "Those birds' bonds with their riders are strong enough that if the rider fell into the clouds, the birds needed to protect them would temporarily allow them to breach in."
"Of course, sometimes they would break through the barrier completely, trapping them on the surface. And they would stick together for however long they live after that," Grante concluded.
"But as Sheik said, there are no birds down here. Just you and your merry band of underlings." Josh turns her attention to Sheik. "You found them?"
"Their little camp is gone. Probably already fled." The one called Sheik pressed his blade closer to Link's neck. "But I think he should be enough."
"For what?"
"Information we want." Sheik circles to Link's front, keeping the blade at his neck as Josha & Grante move to the sides. "Now tell us, where is your master?"
"Who?" Link barked.
"Don't play stupid. You know who we're talking about," Grante chided.
"Your master, The Demon Lord," Josha maintained.
"Ghirahim?" Link slipped out.
Sheik lets out an amused hum. "Ah, so you're on a name basis with him. I hear he's petulant whenever someone doesn't refer to him as Lord."
Link realized the spot he put himself in. "It's not like that! We're against Ghirahim! And from the looks of it, so you are you guys. Maybe we can work together?"
"Ha! That's a likely story!" Grante mocked.
"No, really! I can prove it!" Link inches his hand towards the Master Sword. "If you can just-"
Sheik pouches on him like a remit hunting an insect, pressing his sword harder against Link's neck so that he is sure he is a centimeter away from drawing blood. "Don't think we're stupid enough to fall for that! We know you're a construct of Ghirahim! Tell us! What is his plan?"
"This!"
A sudden gust of wind knocks Sheik off of Link and pushes the other two. Pipit stood with his arms stretched out, following behind Karane as they rushed over to Link.
"I don't know who you wackos are, but we're not in the mood to deal with this." Water from a nearby puddle floats around Karane's hands.
"Where's Fledge?" Link whispered.
"We told him to hide," Pipit whispers.
The three assailants gaped at the skyknights in perplexity, widening their eyes as they witnessed Pipit and Karane's abilities.
"You guys seeing that?" Grante wonders astonishingly.
Josha adjusts her glasses. "I've never seen magic like that before…"
"Those two also have symbols of Farore & Nayru too." Grante then whispers. "Sheik, maybe Greenie is telling the truth."
"Or it's a ploy by Ghirahim to catch us off guard. We can't take any chances." Sheik grabs his sword. "We'll subdue them and take them to Grandfather for questioning."
Josha and Grante pull out their weapons. A set of sais and a kuma, respectively. They charge at the others.
"I don't think these guys want to talk." Pipit pulls out his sword.
"So much for diplomatic solutions," Karane laments.
"Time for aggressive negotiations," Link pulls out The Master Sword.
Both teams of three clash, fighting the other party off in their own ways.
Hiding behind the ruins of a building, Fledge watches the fights play out. Silently wishing that he could help, but can't unless he wants to risk the effects of the red potion wearing off. They barely had a handful left.
"Wait until you need to jump in, Fledge. I'm sure my strength & fire magic can knock this stranger down a peg. What are those eye symbols, and why do I feel like I've seen them before?"
As Fledge muses over his thoughts, he is unaware of another figure hiding atop the ruined building. A woman with a large straw hat, face covered with a white mask with a painted red eye symbol, steadily prepares herself to strike like a Sabertooth Lion on a hunt.
Seconds later, the fourth assailant was flung across the ground. Sheik momentarily stops his fighting with Link to see her being tossed.
"Sister!" He calls out worryingly, only to get cut off by Link swinging his sword.
The Masked Girl groaned as she slowly got back on her feet. Meeting her gaze, Fledge marched over. "You're stronger than you look." She remarked.
"Trust me, I'm someone you should NOT underestimate. I've had an awful couple of days, and you just crossed the line." Flames emitted from both Fledge's hands. "You wanna get wild? I'll show you wild!"
Fireballs were flung in the Masked Girl's direction, who swiftly dodged them. Link could see Fledge trying to tough out his pain. In his condition, the Masked Girl would take him out. With a swift move, Link kicked Sheik onto the ground with such force that it put him in a daze. Hopefully, it would be enough time to take out the Masked Girl. The girl dodged over Fledge's fire attacks. It was clear that she seemed familiar with how his magic worked. Josha & Grante held themselves up well against Pipit & Karane's magic. Like it didn't phase them at all.
Just when these strangers couldn't get any stranger, The Masked Girl runs to Fledge, who is more than ready to defend himself. She pulls something out and flings it onto the ground. A small puff of smoke engulfs her. When it cleared, the girl was gone. Fledge scanned around, trying to find her. Unknowbeknownst to him, she appeared behind, prepared to strike.
Would've succeeded had Link not blocked The Masked Girl's Attack with his shield, sending her tumbling back.
"You good?" Link glances at Fledge.
"Yeah. Thanks." Fledge breathes out.
Link glares at the assailant, holding the Master Sword & his shield firm in his grip. "You want to keep going? I can do this all day!"
The Masked Girl regained her fighting stance. But then her line of sight locks on Link, frozen for several moments as she lets out a quiet gasp. Then she stands straight, putting her weapon away, tilting her head. "Link?"
Link's face twisted with confusion. There was something familiar about that voice, but who? "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"We met a little while ago in the Sealed Temple. My mother was with me, too." The Masked Girl removes her mask. It took Link almost a minute to click on him. The day he and his friend returned from their first trip to Eldin. When he went to The Old One to ask about Impa and met…
"Paya?" She nods to confirm.
"You know her?" Fledge walked from behind Link, keeping a cautious gaze.
"She's friendly."
Battle yells rang in the air again. All eyes widened, remembering that Pipit, Karane, Josha, and Grante were still fighting each other.
Link didn't get a chance to yell to stop when Paya stepped forward. "Josha! Grante! [They're not enemies! Stand down, NOW!]" She ordered in a gentle but loud enough voice in a language utterly unknown to Link.
The other two followed Paya's order and ceased, stepping away from a baffled Pipit & Karane. Sheik let out a groan as he sat back up. His eyes set upon Paya. "[What is going on?]"
"[These people are not our enemies.]" She walked up to help Sheik back on his feet.
"[How can you be so sure of that?]" Grante pressed.
"[Because Link is the Chosen Hero!]" Paya pointed to him.
The other three of Paya's companions blinked agape at her revelation. "[As in Hylia's Chosen Hero? That one?]" Josha spoke up after a bit.
"[Yes! The very same one mother & I met when we went to see The Ancient One!]" Paya exclaimed happily.
The knight students stood in awkward silence, watching Paya and the other three converse in a language they had never heard of. Frankly, they didn't even know if they should stay or leave.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on here?" Pipit whispered.
"Link apparently knows one of them," Fledge faces the green clade hero. "Is that right?"
"The tall girl. Paya. I met her after our first visit to Eldin. She and her mother were visiting the Sealed Temple."
"And didn't mention this before, why?"
"It wasn't relevant at the time."
Karane carefully scans over Paya's group with an inquisitive interest. "Golden hair. Strange clothes. Eye with a teardrop symbol. Just like Impa, and The Old One…."
"They're all part of the same tribe that lives here," Link revealed.
"There's no other civilization on The Surface," Pipit argued.
"I thought so too. Those guys prove otherwise."
Paya continues their discussion. Though it was in a language he had never heard of (but felt familiar), Link can pick up the tones. Mostly Paya's firm stance, pointing to Link several times, only for Sheik to respond with a skeptical tone. Finally, Sheik decided to make his way to Link's group. "You. In the green."
Link steps forward. Sheik removes his mouth mask.
"Paya tells me that you are Hylia's Chosen Hero." Sheik lay out. "While I don't believe her to be wrong, can you provide proof of her claims?"
"I can provide that proof." Five seconds was it that it took to hear Fi's chime, for her to fly out right in front of Sheik at a speed that startled him.
"A sword spirit…" Paya whispered in complete awe while Josha & Grante gaped from behind.
Fi places herself on the ground. Then locked a firm glare onto Sheik as she slowly marched to him. "I am the Sword created by Her Grace to aid her hero. If my presence doesn't convince you 100%, maybe the fact that my Master opened the portals in the sky. Or maybe Master Link completed the three sacred trials, received their gifts, and used them to find the Sacred Flames? Or many monsters that Link & his friends have defeated despite the odds?"
By the time she finished her rant, Fi was inches away from Sheik with her glare, staring directly into his eyes. Link swore that he saw him shiver. And it seems like Sheik's companions got the message.
"I'm definitely convinced!" Josha blurted
"Same here!" Grante followed.
Paya stared down Sheik with her hands on her hips, waiting for Sheik's answer. "You're right."
"Well, glad we got that sorted out," Paya said with an attempted smile. "Now, I guess we should properly introduce ourselves?"
"Right." Link turns to his trio of friends. "Guys. This is Paya." He turns to the girl. "Paya, these are my friends Pipit, Karane, and Fledge."
"This is Sheik, my twin brother. The other two are our friends Josha and Grante." Paya introduced.
"Nice to meet you guys." Josha greeted nervously.
"Sorry for…attacking you," Grante added with an awkward wave.
"I would like to know what prompted you all to believe my friends are agents of Ghirahim?" Fi sternly questioned Sheik. "I am 100% certain that my former tribe wouldn't attack first and ask questions later."
"Former tribe? So the legends were true. You're the High Mage who sacrificed her soul to become Hylia's blade." Sheik breathed out, shakingly, in awe.
"I was the High Mage known as Fima. That time has come, and now I am Fi. But you will answer my question if you know who I truly am. Why did you ambush us?"
Sheik lowers his head with a sense of dread. "You don't know, truly?"
"Until recently, I have been in a dormant state in the sky for the past one thousand years."
"Unfortunately for us, Ghirahim didn't do the same," Paya revealed glumly.
"Yeah, he found other ways to pass the time, and not a good way. And it usually involved our tribe," Josha chimed in. "He's been harassing our people anytime he wants for generations."
"Sabotaging hunts. Sending monsters & predators after our scouts. Or trying to hunt us down for sport. Just to name a few," Grante listed.
"Sometimes, he would make false puppets of members of our tribe to lure them into traps. Sometimes, even posing as Skylians that fell through the cloud barrier." Sheik elaborated further, turning his attention back to the quartet. "We've never seen Skylians in that attire, so we assumed it was another ploy to lure us out."
"So he would attack your tribe?"
Sheik nods to confirm. "Sometimes these attacks would leave our people dead…or worse."
"I shouldn't be surprised by what you all had shared, but the fact that Ghirahim would constantly attack the very tribe he was born into…" If Fi still had both hands, they would be clenched into fists. She quickly calmed herself down, bringing her attention back to Sheik. "I apologize for my accusations."
"If anything, we should be apologizing," Sheik bowed his head down with his hands clenched before him. Followed by Paya, Josha, and Grante doing the same.
"While I understand your actions, I appreciate the apology."
Sheik lifts his head to Link. "So you really are The Chosen Hero, huh?" Link nods. "I…apologize for my ambush on you and your friends."
"Hey, it's alright. I'm just glad we got everything cleared up."
"The Chosen Hero of Her Grace Hylia, standing right before us. What are the odds?" Josha pondered to herself.
"Pretty cool, if you ask me!" Grante lifts his fists to his upper torso with excitement. "A living legend from our childhood stories coming to life!" Then his posture is straighter, and he taps his head. "Though it begs the question: Shouldn't you be doing hero stuff and not be…here?"
"Yeah, the legends said we wouldn't meet you until your quest is done and the cloud barrier is gone. You certainly don't look done." Josha squints her eyes up to the sky. "...And the barrier is still there. Not to mention, I don't recall you being accompanied by three others." She quickly realizes the implications of her words. She faces the other knight students. "No offense to you guys."
"I am curious about that myself. What are you doing way out here, Link?" Paya questioned.
"It's…somewhat a long story, but let's just say Ghirahim has been giving us problems over the past few weeks."
"Huh. That would explain it," Sheik muttered.
"Explain what?" Fi inquires.
"Ghirahim hasn't bothered us for months. That's the longest he has left our tribe alone. Knowing that Hylia's Chosen is on his quest and he's been bothering you guys instead makes me guess he used that time planning for your arrival."
"That does sound like Ghirahim. Nothing else matters when something catches his attention until he has it taken care of."
A hesitant expression was painted on Paya's face as if she were afraid to ask. "What problems has he been giving you guys?"
Link pinches his nose bridge with a huff of air. "Oh, where do we even start? How about when he conjured a tornado to knock my friend out of the sky and is actively hunting her down?"
"Do we need to bring up the various monsters he brought to life to try to kill us, and all came pretty damn close?" Karane chimed in.
Pipit then joined in. "There's Scaldera that almost crushed us, burnt us to a crisp, and I think tried to eat us. There was Koloktos, who almost sliced Karane down. And there was Tentalus, who almost drowned me." He lifted a finger with each monster mentioned. "That's only the monsters he summoned that we had to deal with, by the way."
"The cherry on top? He also did THIS to me!" Fledge pointed to his diamond scar and sliced ear on the left side of his head. "He held me hostage, tortured me, and almost killed me! I'm still recovering, and our potions are why I can move!"
The Sheikah group did look surprised, if not horrified, by Fledge's scars. Paya had her mouth covered. "Oh my goodness."
Josha, Grante, and Sheik had their own reactions.
"That looks gnarly…."
"Definitely something Ghirahim would do."
"Almost looks like dad's-" Sheik cut himself off.
"Even after we all brought him down, he had to get the last laugh by destroying all of the Loftwing statues in Eldin."
Link places a comforting touch on Fledge's shoulder to calm him down. Fledge exhaled and crossed his arms, letting out a small apology for his small outburst. "Been a rough few days for all of us."
"That's why you're all out here," Paya concluded.
Link nodded. "It's either we get to Faron or Lanayru. The former was the closest region to the statues. That's where we're trying to go."
"How long have you all been traveling?"
"Goddesses, I don't know. A week, at least."
"This is now day eleven," Fi confirmed.
"Holy crap! You guys have been out here THAT long?" Josha exclaimed in shock.
"For Sky People, that's…pretty impressive, not gonna lie," Grante uttered in astonishment.
"The hardships of those days are pretty evident," Sheik stated. "Not many Skylians often last out here for that long without our intervention."
Paya let out a low hum. She whispered to her brother, "We can't leave them like this. We have to help them." Sheik nodded his head in agreement. Paya faced the quartet. "You've all endured some hardships. Why don't you all come back with us to the village?"
"I'm not sure…We don't want to impose," Link uttered.
"Please, it's no trouble at all." Paya held Link's hands comfortingly. "Our tribe would be happy to accommodate you all."
"It's at least the least we can do, after what I had done," Sheik insisted.
"We have everything a person needs. Comfortable beds. Great food." Josha sniffs in the air, scrunching up her nose and trying to smile politely. "And baths, something you all might need."
Some of the quartet sniffed parts of themselves, quickly agreeing with Josha. "A bath would be nice," Karane said as she pinched her nose.
"And some decent food. Nothing like that deer meat we ate from that monster camp," Pipit rubs his stomach.
"Oh, and Grante's parents are doctors!" Paya brought up. "They can help with Fledge!"
"Yep! My parents are the best doctors in our tribe. I'm sure they can help with whatever your friend needs!" Grante proclaimed happily.
"That would be nice," Fledge mused.
"Do you accept our offer?" Sheik questioned.
Link took a moment to think it over. "What do you think?" Link inquires to Fi.
"They are 100% genuine. Suppose my calculations are correct, and the Sheikah uphold the same values as they did one thousand years ago. I can't think of any other group you could be in safer hands with."
Silently, Fi retreats back into the sword. One by one, Link glanced at each of his friends. All shared that same look of agreement. And frankly, they have better chances with the other four than out there in the unrecognizable nature of The Surface.
Link faces the Sheikah teens. "We'll go with you."