Fan Fiction Legend of Zelda: Sin of Sheikari
authordimitrius  

Sin of Sheikari Chapter 14

14: The Princess and the Shadow

The two witches hovered above the pair silently, regarding them with obvious amusement. Zelda didn’t want to make the first move, not before the Shadow made its appearance, but she was certain the witches’ patience was as thin as their blackened fingernails. 

Yet, between the four of them, it was Nabooru who took a graceful step forward, one curved blade now trained on the floating pair. “You know, I never liked either one of you.” 

Koume and Kotake simply laughed.

“Oh please!” Kotake screeched, the sapphire perched on her forehead glinting in the muted torchlight. “What can you possibly do, you traitor?”

Nabooru tightened her grip on her raised scimitar, veins bulging across her right arm. “You and Ganondorf have led the Gerudo to ruin! We shame the Sand Goddess!”

“Hmph!” Koume rolled her eyes. “The Sand Goddess has no need for your pitiful devotion!”

“Then perhaps she’ll prefer your cries for mercy!” Nabooru started to rush forward, but Zelda moved in front of her, blocking her path. 

“Wait Nabooru!” she called behind her. “I would ask these two a question first.”

Nabooru stopped, but she didn’t lower her blade. She stared at Zelda for a moment before sighing and taking a step back.

“And what would that be, little warrior?” Koume drawled, already bored with the interruption.

Still, Zelda lowered her hand and took a step forward, refusing to let the opportunity slip through her fingers. “There is a place deep in the wastelands. It is called the Arbiter’s Grounds where a cursed mirror can be found.”

Nabooru finally lowered her scimitars, her golden eyes growing contemplative, and that was when Zelda decided she must not know its location. So, she would have to rely on whatever knowledge she could glean from the witches.

The hags exchanged confused glances between their frog-like eyes, and Zelda sighed. One of them had to have some sort of idea. Her mother couldn’t have been the only person who knew how to get to such a place.

“What does that have to do with us?” Kotake gestured to them both. 

Zelda did her best to relax her shoulders and not give away her growing unease. “Nothing, as long as you tell me where it is.”

“And if we don’t?” Koume raised a white eyebrow.

Zelda shrugged while brandishing her own blade. “I will not force you to tell me now, but your king will soon fall by my hand. And, after that, I will return to ask again, and you will answer.”

The witches were silent for a moment before they both burst out laughing.

“You?” Koume screeched, between fits of laughter. “You can’t be serious!”

“The weak pretty boy thinks he can defeat our king!” Kotake added.

Zelda felt Nabooru inch forward. “You can’t reason with them. It’s no use.”

The witches continued to cackle for what felt like several minutes before finally calming down, each of them dabbing away tears with the sleeves of their robes. 

“Oh, very well…” Kotake sighed, though her voice shook from trying not to giggle. “I suppose we could tell you where that place is…”

“If you pledge your loyalty to Ganondorf!” Koume finished.

Zelda knew a fight was well on its way, but she had to continue to walk along the edge of this dagger of an interrogation if she wanted any chance at grasping a clue. She kept herself deadly still, searching for a way to convince either of them to give her some information she could use. 

“Enough of this!” Nabooru leaped up into the air and soared toward the witches.

“Nabooru, no!” Zelda shouted, reaching out in a futile attempt to stop her.

The witches drew their wands high as beams of fire and ice erupted from the air before dancing towards Nabooru. Within seconds, she was engulfed by the spells, and the hags resumed their cackling, clapping eagerly at the resulting explosion as if they were watching a fireworks display. They then slowly turned their attention to Zelda, certain she’d fall just as easily. 

But Nabooru hadn’t fallen at all. 

Streams of blue light tore through the billowing cloud of smoke, and soon Nabooru’s form could be seen, floating in mid-air and completely encased in the protective prism of Zelda’s spell, gifted to her by the goddess Nayru. Nabooru whipped her head around in amazement before fixing her gaze on the witches, who seemed to be just as astonished.

“What happened?” she asked as she drifted back down to the ground. Zelda closed her palm, and the magical barrier faded into a shimmering vapor before vanishing completely. Koume and Kotake angrily gripped their wands, crying out in frustration before narrowing their bulbous eyes as they glared down at Zelda.

“You!” Kotake pointed a dry, withered finger down at her. “Who are you?”

“That wasn’t the shadow trickery of the Sheikah, sister!” Koume hissed. “It wasn’t ordinary magic, either! It was bright and pure!”

“This guy isn’t fooling anyone!” Kotake screeched. “Let’s get him to show himself!”

The witches lifted their wands into the air again, and Zelda was certain they’d unleash their beams of fire and ice once more. To her shock, no such attack came, and that was when she felt it, a sense of being surrounded by something heavy yet invisible, as if the air was suddenly so thick she could grasp it as easily as a piece of cloth.

“Watch out!” Nabooru flinched and leaped back, and that was when Zelda saw the glowing white circle that had formed around her feet. Their eyes met, and Nabooru started towards her. 

“Never mind this!” Zelda shook her head and gestured for her to stop. “Watch the shadows!”

Nabooru was just about to open her mouth when the circle began to fill. Zelda braced herself as a pillar of light erupted all around her, the chamber fading into white. For several seconds, she was lost in its glow, unable to move or even think. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished, and Zelda opened her eyes, scanning the hall for any signs of the Shadow.

The witches and Nabooru all wore identical shocked expressions as they gazed at Zelda, and she was perplexed until she noticed her clothing felt different. She looked down at herself and saw that she was now wearing the formal dress and regalia of the royal family. She was no longer Sheik, the last remaining member of the Sheikah clan. She stood before them as Zelda, heir to the throne of Hyrule Kingdom.

“The princess…here?” Nabooru whispered in disbelief.

“Princess Zelda!” Kotake’s eyes might have popped out of her head as she spat.

“In a Sheikah disguise!” Koume drew back in surprise.

“You shouldn’t be here!” Nabooru sounded a lot like Impa as her features grew rigid, her eyes narrowing. “You shouldn’t have come!”

“My, my, my,” Koume purred, once again twirling her wand. “She’s delivered herself to us free of charge! We’ve saved Ganondorf the trouble of finding her.”

“You have to run!” Nabooru exclaimed as she grabbed Zelda’s arm. “They’ll kill you!”

“Don’t be foolish, Nabooru,” Koume cooed as she floated closer. “That honor goes to Ganondorf. We aren’t fools.”

“What are you waiting for, sister?” Kotake joined her twin as they continued to close the distance. “We must take her now!”

“Stay back!” Nabooru prepared to strike again, but Zelda called out to her.

“Never mind them!” she shouted. “Remember the shadows!”

Nabooru hesitated, and at that moment, the witches drew their wands into the air once more. The circle around Zelda faded into a murky brown color, as if it was rotting, before it turned completely black. Zelda tried to step out of it only for her foot to sink into what felt like a bottomless puddle of mud. Within seconds, she felt the world around her rising as she began to sink into it.

“No!” Nabooru cried as she ran towards the puddle, and that was when Zelda saw it.  One of the torches behind Koume flickered ever so slightly, just enough that she could make out a shadow leaping out at the witch. Koume cried out in agony as the shadow made contact, and she fell to the ground, instantly being reduced to ashes. Her broomstick clattered to the floor beside her.

It was here. She was too late.

“Sister!” Kotake cried as she raced to Koume’s side, hovering over her ashes in disbelief.

The Shadow turned to Kotake, and Nabooru finally reached the puddle. Zelda continued to sink, but she could still see the Shadow as it encircled Kotake. The witch’s screams echoed through the hall until they, too, were extinguished.

All was silent for a moment.

Nabooru helped Zelda rise up from the dark puddle, which evaporated into the air without its creators’ presence to sustain it. Zelda looked down at herself and found that she was now wearing her Sheikah attire, her face once again hidden behind a white hood and cloth.

“Nabooru, you must leave,” Zelda kept her voice as low as possible. “The Sage here refused to tell me who or what created that being, but it’s too dangerous for either of us to face now.”

They both turned at the sound of a hollow and ominous voice calling out to them.

“I am not a creation, spawn of Hylia,” the Shadow spoke, sending a chill down Zelda’s spine. “I am more ancient than your kingdom and your heroes. Cast aside. Abandoned. You think me to be a shadow, softer than a phantom, but I am very real.”

Zelda watched as its form swirled around itself as it struggled to maintain its shape, flickering like candlelight. It paused as if trying to tether its feet to the floor, before taking on the shape of a man with a long cap, tunic, and a dark, twisted version of the Master Sword. It once again resembled a dark version of Link, but Ruto said this couldn’t have been the Hero of Time, that he could never be corrupted by the darkness.

“I don’t understand why you take that form,” Zelda held out her hand, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what spell would work out best. “I only seek to stop Hyrule from being covered in darkness. Ganondorf –“

One moment, it was several feet away. When Zelda blinked,  it had already crossed the distance between them, its sword at her throat. Zelda gasped, ready to be struck down before she could react. She fell to the floor as Dark Link’s blade met something metallic-sounding. She looked up and saw Nabooru standing between them, her arms crossed with the shadow’s blade stuck to her gauntlets. Zelda inspected them and noticed they were silver-plated.

“You should have listened to me!” she grunted as she struggled against the shadow’s strength “You could have gotten away by now!”

She pushed with all her might as she uncrossed her arms, forcing Dark Link back. It swiftly recovered and brought its blade up again, and Nabooru prepared to meet it, once more fending off the attack as she did before.

“Your Highness!” Nabooru called back to her as Dark Link began hammering down on her gauntlets. “Your mother…she was one of the most respected women in the entire Gerudo tribe. I don’t know where the Arbiter’s Grounds are, but if anyone does it’s Ganondorf.”

Nabooru forced Dark Link back again, and Zelda saw smoke rising from Nabooru’s arm and cried out. Was the sword burning through the gauntlets, melting away the silver plaiting? Nabooru stumbled as she tried to reposition herself, and Zelda was overcome with dread. She was beginning to tire. They had to get away.

“Nabooru, please!” Zelda pleaded. “Don’t worry about me! You have to leave before it’s too late!”

“She knew…” Nabooru panted as the shadow charged again. “She always knew he was nothing but a wicked soul…and I believed her…”

Zelda hesitated for a moment before stretching out her hand, willing the Goddess Harp to appear before her. If Nabooru wouldn’t stop fighting, Zelda would have to lead the creature away from this place. She began strumming her harp, willing for the new melody to catch its attention. It seemed to pause for a moment before speaking again.

“She once called light down to the surface. Now she is forgotten.”

Zelda watched as Nabooru fell to one knee as the shadow’s blade finally pierced through her gauntlet and reached her skin. She cried out in pain, and Zelda felt every part of her body tighten in response as she willed her to get away, now accepting that her words wouldn’t be enough. Dark Link lifted his blade one last time, and Nabooru lowered her hands in defeat. The blade fell down upon Nabooru just as the light whisked Zelda away.

And Zelda found herself plunging into the light, Nabooru’s screams still echoing in her ears.

authordimitrius

Leave A Comment