The

Demonbound Sheikah
by fleets
Hyrule manages to defeat Vaati, but rather than ending the sorcerer's life, they
decide to use him as a weapon against the remaining evil by rewriting his memories
for their own purposes. Vaati no longer remembers who he had once been, and
believes he is a loyal servant of the royal family. Vaati's old servants, however, aren't
so quick to forget his past and seek him out...
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure - Sheik, Vaati, Dethl, Shadow Link - Chapters:
11 - Words: 47,675 - Reviews: 75 - Favs: 17 - Follows: 25 - Updated: 8h - Published:
12/28/2015 - id: 11698810
URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11698810

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. The New Apprentice
2. Fuu
3. Sworn to Protect
4. Humility
5. Confrontation
6. The Unexpected Visitor
7. Shadow Link
8. The Water Temple
9. What Lies Beneath the Surface
10. Deception and Lies
11. The Slumbering Mountain

The New Apprentice

fleets: ...ok so for those of you who've seen my huge goodbye letter saying I was
officially retiring from writing fanfics...
I'M SO SORRY I LIED. Unintentional, since I had been happily convinced that I was
done and I was going to move on to other more lucrative hobbies.
Ugh. Seriously UGH. I told myself I would never get into this again, and look what
happened. I'm not going to make any promises about being able to finish this story
(even though my prior record of completion is at 100%), this just might be the story
that breaks that record. I don't know if I can finish this, but I liked the idea enough to
write a first chapter for it.
I'm going back to my roots and sticking with an Adventure story. While I did enjoy
writing romance with WIR and FaV, I guess I couldn't help but go back to the Rendesque Adventure style of plot progression.
So uh, thank you so much for your understanding, and I guess I'm baaaaack!
Chapter 1: The New Apprentice
"Are you certain this will work?"
"Doubting our magic, Princess Zelda? Oh, the Hylians love to insult us so, don't they
Koume?"
"Eeh hee hee hee! Well if this doesn't work then you spritely youngsters can hit him
over the head again, isn't that right, Kotake?"
"Twinrova, please, Vaati is an extremely dangerous individual. We're risking
everything by agreeing to let you do this."
"Shame on you, Sheikah guardian, placing the blame on our heads. We suggested
this ritual, yes, but you Hylians were quick to follow with our plans. Do not make it
sound like this was entirely our mischief. You need the sorcerer to be loyal to you,
and we know how to do so."
"But but what if he remembers who he was? Can we really trust that by
replacing his memories with new ones, ones that suggest that he is loyal to us, he
really will be trustworthy?"

"Princess, memories are what defines us. The power is now in your hands to mold
this sorcerer into anything you'd like, eeh hee hee!"
" Alright. Impa, please make sure that word of this never reaches anyone. Not
even to Link."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was a week since the decisive battle that had finally led to Vaati's defeat. She
should have been sleeping soundly for the first time in months like the rest of the
kingdom, but Zelda hadn't been able to sleep well last night. She'd been staring up
at the beige canvas of her tent, not being able to close her eyes as she lay on the
grass knit bedding. It wasn't the desert chill that bothered her, or the knowledge that
she was sleeping amongst the intimidating Gerudo warriors, far away from the
comfort of her own home. It wasn't even the occasional howling of the sand worms
that shrieked in the night as they leapt out of the sands in the distance. No, what
tormented her was the memory of what they had done last night, and of the
individual who slept quietly only a few tents away from hers.
Zelda's lips curled ever so slightly into a frown. Vaati.
Vaati, the infamous Sorcerer of Winds, was currently sleeping peacefully in the same
village she was staying in. All that was keeping him somewhat restrained was a
single set of chains around his ankles and wrists, but it was more like a formality
since everyone knew that, if he were to use his full power, no amount of chains
would be able to hold him. Even though they had emptied the village while they
housed the former villain, it didn't make Zelda feel any better about the damage he
could potentially do.
The Gerudo witches, Twinrova, had assured her that when he woke up, he would no
longer be the Sorcerer of Winds. She hoped they were right, and shuddered at the
thought of what would happen if they were wrong.
She remembered the smell of fire and and the sting of sparking ember as villages
burned from Vaati's destructive rampage. He, along with a legion of monsters, had
devastated much of Hyrule for months as he went from village to village leaving only
ruins in his wake. Link had suffered severe injuries trying to defeat Vaati, but had
been foiled by an unknown creature who they only knew by name: Dethl. Eventually,
it had taken the unification of the Gerudos, Gorons, and Hyrule to finally defeat Vaati.
She did not want their efforts to have been in vain if Vaati woke again as he had
been.
Zelda tried to close her eyes again in an attempt to finally go to sleep. She grumbled

unhappily when she noticed a small crack of dark orange snuck in through the tent
flaps. It was almost dawn, and she'd barely gotten any sleep at all. One down, she
whispered to herself, one more to go. Then I can finally rest.
One more. While they had defeated Vaati, there was still one more creature of evil
lurking about, waiting for its chance to retake the sorcerer's throne. It was the one
that had defeated Link, the one named Dethl.
And to do that, they were going to use Vaati.
What an awful plan. But if it works then
"Zelda."
The princess's eyes blinked open again, and she quickly jolted upright to face the
direction of the voice. To an untrained eye, it would have been nearly impossible to
see Impa in the faint light of dawn. The Sheikah warrior blended almost seamlessly
into the shadows, even with her conspicuous white hair, but the princess knew
where to look. "Impa," she replied back quietly so as not to alert anyone who may be
eavesdropping. Her guardian's next words sent a chill down her neck, and she really
wished she'd had better luck with sleeping last night.
"He's waking. Your decoy is getting ready at the moment, so if anything goes
wrong"
Zelda recovered from her initial hesitation. "I understand, Impa. As of this moment, I
am no longer Hyrule's princess. I am Sheik." Her eyes adjusted, and she could now
make out Impa's features. She noticed that the Sheikah's eyes were lowered as
though ashamed. Seeing this, she stood up from her bed and walked over to where
Impa was, taking her hand. "I know why I must do this, Impa, please do not be sorry
for me. If Vaati betrays us, then the first person he will strike will be Hyrule's
princess."
Impa sighed, and then gently hugged the brave princess. "I only wish there was a
better way. To be so close to your enemy" Impa trailed off.
Zelda laughed lightly, smiling brightly as though to take all of the burdens of the
world on her shoulders. "Well you know what they say, right? Keep your friends
close, and your enemies closer."
Zelda broke the embrace, regretfully then. It had been a farewell of sorts, because
the next time they spoke, it wasn't going to be as Zelda. The princess took a deep
breath, and absentmindedly brushed away the wrinkles of her nightgown. She began

to chant an ancient spell that had been passed down through generations in the
royal family, and her lids were finally tired and heavy. Just before her eyes closed,
she saw Impa watching her sadly.
The next time the princess's eyes opened again, they were no longer the bright sky
blue, but a piercing, determined red. Standing in place of the delicate princess was a
young, male Sheikah warrior. His face was covered by a thick white cloth so that
only his eyes were visible, and he was wearing a tight fitting blue outfit similar to
Impa's. As Sheik, the princess's voice was slightly lower, completing her disguise.
He nodded once towards Zelda's guardian. "Impa," he acknowledged.
"Hello Sheik," she replied.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A young man looking no older than eighteen groaned as he stirred from where he lay
sleeping. His head hurt like it had been smashed under an Armos statue. Several
times. Slowly, he tried to get up and he searched the floor with his hands, trying to
steady himself. His arms were stringy and thin from lack of exercise, and he spent a
few seconds brushing away his white-lavender colored hair away from his face.
"Ughhh huh?" The youth noticed the sound of metal jangling as he moved his
hands, and he winced at the sound as it made his headache worse. Starting to panic
a little from all of the stimulation in the environment and the worsening headache, he
threw himself to his feet in one swift moment and ran forward blindly.
"Augh!"
The youth was sent flying forward by the chains that bound his ankles, and he fell
with a loud thump on the floor. Sand whipped up into his eyes, and he yowled in
aggravation. It took him a few moments to notice that he wasn't alone, and that
someone else was standing by what appeared to be the entrance of a tent.
Sheik watched in silence at the former sorcerer of winds looking up at him from the
ground, his expression bewildered and his face full of sand. The warrior's face was
expressionless, but his muscles were tense as though they were ready to strike at
any indication of foul play.
"Oh uh, sorry I didn't know you were there," the youth said apologetically, wincing
and rubbing the side of his head, still bothered by the headache. Once he stopped
rubbing his head, he slowly, carefully looked around as though afraid to make the
headache worse. He briefly looked surprised by what he was wearing, a baggy plain
brown tunic, and then looked even more surprised by the chains around his wrists

and ankles. "Why do I have chains around my wrists?" he asked with a frown.
Sheik continued to watch the youth for a few more seconds, and for a moment the
confused young man thought that the Sheikah was just going to stand there and
stare at him for the rest of the day. Eventually, Sheik walked over slowly and knelt
beside him. "Do you remember anything?" he asked.
The youth looked into the warrior's eyes, red staring back into red. His eyes wavered
under Sheik's gaze, his confusion mounting. "I I can't. It's all very blurry and
and" he stammered. His eyes shot back towards the chains on his wrists again,
and his confusion was replaced with panic. "Oh Din, I didn't I didn't do anything
awful did I? Is that why I'm chained down like this?"
"Sh." Sheik put up a single finger to shush him. "Focus. Are you certain you don't
remember anything at all?"
The young man quieted, and the panicked look in his eyes dissipated. Eventually, he
slumped his shoulders and he sat on the ground, clutching his head again. When he
finally spoke again, his voice contained some kind of excitement. Of life.
"My name," he whispered with a smile on his face. His past came flooding back as
he clung to the memory of his name. He knew who he was, now. He knew who he
was. "My name is Gufuu."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Gufuu?" Impa asked when she had reconvened with Sheik again. Sheik appeared
unusually worn out from the conversation with Vaati, or rather, 'Gufuu.' Sheik noticed
Impa looking at him worriedly, and he waved his hand, indicating there was no
problem.
"It's fine, it went well. I just didn't get enough sleep is all," he said. "And yes, he says
his name is Gufuu, or 'Fuu' for short. It's uh" Sheik scratched his head, puzzled,
"well let's just say that no one will guess who he really is by his new name."
"Huh. I'd suggested to Twinrova that they pick a common name like 'Geoffrey' and
that didn't translate very well for his new memories," Impa said with an amused grin.
Her grin didn't last long, however, and she went back to her concerned frown. "What
about the rest of his memories?"
"It worked. He thinks he's a Sheikah warrior, sent here to train under you as an
apprentice. He even looks like a Sheikah warrior, and the more he talked about it the
more I almost believed it. Twinrova's magic is truly terrifying; I am glad they are on

our side," Sheik said thoughtfully. He remembered when he saw Vaati for the first
time this morning, and it had been difficult to tell that the young man in front of him
had only days before been a murderous, powerful sorcerer.
"Well, yes, we were fortunate to have a story for him that fit him so perfectly," Impa
agreed. "Saying he is a Sheikah allows us to keep a close eye on him, and his
appearance naturally fits our tribe's, including those markings under his eyes." Impa
snorted, "Though he does seem to be pathetic, physically, to be a true Sheikah."
Sheik shrugged, gazing back towards the tent where he'd just been moments before.
Vaati, or rather, Fuu, had gone back to rest under his suggestion. Sheik still felt
uncomfortable by the sorcerer's presence, but after speaking with him earlier, he
was almost convinced that a Sheikah apprentice had replaced the former wind
mage. "It was almost as though he was grasping at anything that remotely fit into his
idea of what his past was like. It was kind of terrifying, in an exciting kind of way,"
Sheik mused. "He accepted almost everything I told him, like how he had helped us
in a battle against the evil wind mage Vaati, and had suffered some mental trauma
during the fight. When I explained that he had to be chained down because he
almost attacked the healers in his delusion, he apologized sincerely and believed
everything that happened. Vaati is gone, Impa. What remains is a completely
malleable individual whose past is our own." Then, Sheik finished quietly, "What
remains is a weapon."
The two warriors watched the sun break over the dunes as they contemplated the
trials ahead. As the darkness left them, Sheik was, for a rare moment, afraid. The
bright, eager, and most jarringly innocent look on Vaati's face had him contemplating
whether or not they had done something terrible. In a sense, they were responsible
for creating a new monster. For Fuu's sake, he hoped that he would never find out
what they had done, and who he had once been.
Did we do the right thing?
fleets: Well, that's that. I hope you liked this (unfortunately short) first chapter. Vaati's
new name, Gufuu (Fuu), is based on his Japanese game name.
There's going to be a lot of Sheik in this story, and it'll be the first time I ever include
him in a story (so I guess that's exciting?). I'll be referring to Sheik as a 'he,' but it'll
be ambiguous (for now) whether you want to think of him as biologically male or
female in disguise (I don't think it's really that important for the story, but I was
reading some articles on Sheik and it looked super confusing?).

My hope with this story is that I get to use a larger cast of canon main characters
than for Rend (which was mostly Vaati and Link). Well, it's 2:00am now, so thanks
again, and I'm sorry I lied about retiring fanfiction writing (erk).

Fuu
fleets: last night I made the terrible decision to write at 2 in the morning. This chapter
is what was supposed to go with the first chapter, but because it was late at night
and I wasn't making good decisions, it didn't get uploaded.
It was wonderful hearing from people so soon! Hello again everyone :) I missed you
all!
Chapter 2: Fuu
The rest of the morning had been a chaotic one for Sheik, and he wasn't able to
catch up on as much sleep as he'd wanted. As soon as they'd heard the news about
Fuu, the Gerudo witches, Koume and Kotake, had wanted to speak to Sheik about
him. For the most part, it seemed like they had simply wanted to berate Sheik for not
believing that their ritual would succeed (in that annoying, disapproving, crony way),
and spent the better hour congratulating each other on how they were unequaled in
witchcraft. Afterwards, he'd had to speak with Impa regarding their next plans, now
that they were a little more convinced that Fuu wasn't an immediate threat.
Lunch hour came too soon, and Sheik found himself having to visit Fuu once again
to make sure he would get lunch. Sheik found Fuu lying on the bedding where he'd
left him earlier, but it seemed like he'd been awake for the past hour or so. Sheik
was tense again, and to be honest it was hard not to be, even though Fuu was no
longer Vaati. When he'd first stepped into the tent to see how the former sorcerer
was doing, his breath had caught in his throat at the sight of the young man of pale
complexion. Fuu's eyes had been open with a glint of resolve that was different than
the confused, apologetic one that he had encountered earlier in the morning. Fuu's
calculated, piercing gaze warmed when he noticed Sheik standing by the entrance
again. "Sheik, right? My memory is still a little fuzzy," Fuu laughed, and Sheik was
momentarily disturbed by how friendly the once-cold individual seemed to be. "So
what's the news, can you take these off now?" he asked, holding up the chains that
restricted him as he lay on the ground lazily.
"No," Sheik said, perhaps a little too quickly. He caught his mistake when Fuu's
friendly, expectant smile dipped into a slight frown. It was a difficult balance to treat
Fuu like an ally when he had been such a terrifying enemy not so long ago. That
demented, vicious smile, and the chilling laugh of the sorcerer of winds was still
etched Sheik's memory. The smell of fire, the smoke stinging his eyes, the
screaming

"It's ok, I know why I have to keep these on."

Fuu's voice brought Sheik back to the present time, though Sheik wasn't sure if he'd
left one nightmare in the place of a new one. The other teen sat up, this time without
any indication that his headache remained. "I would do the same to someone so
unpredictable. You don't know if I would go out and suddenly start murdering
everyone, right?"
This is Fuu, not Vaati. Fuu, not Vaati, Sheik repeated over and over in his head.
"What, you look like a poe possessed me or something," Fuu laughed nervously.
"Did I say something wrong? That was supposed to be a joke." Fuu sighed.
"Perhaps a joke in bad taste."
Calm down. Calm. Sheik took a deep breath. Fuu was, of course, referring to Sheik's
story earlier that he'd been restrained because he'd gone on a rampage from mental
trauma; he wasn't referring to the fact that he was actually Vaati. Fuu didn't know
that anymore. I have to stop thinking of him as the wind mage. Sheik wordlessly sat
down next to Fuu and then passed the other boy a sandwich. They weren't going to
have Fuu walking around the dining areas freely just yet.
"I was that bad, huh," Fuu continued as Sheik passed his lunch to him.
This question, Sheik could answer truthfully. "Yes." Awful. Horrible. The villages
reduced to burning rubble, the dead littering the fields and painting the grass red, the
thundering sky and in the middle of it all was a pale-skinned youth with the most
chilling grin. 'Surrender, Princess,' he'd mouthed.
"I guess Vaati left me with a scar, huh. Well at least we got him good."
We sure did. Sheik thought. He had half a mind to leave now that he'd done what
he'd come here to do: give Fuu some food so he didn't starve. Still the other seemed
to want to talk. From the occasional encounters he'd had with Vaati in the past, he
vaguely recalled that the sorcerer had been extremely talkative. He just loved the
sound of his own voice. At least that trait didn't disappear when Vaati turned into
Fuu, he thought grudgingly.
"What was the battle like?" he asked. Then, he asked somewhat sheepishly, "What
were his last moments like?"
"Who?" Sheik asked, even though he knew the answer.
"Vaati. How did he die? You were there, weren't you?"

"Yes."
Fuu bit his sandwich uncomfortably from the somewhat awkward pause. "If you don't
want to talk about it then-" he started, somewhat irritably, but was cut off by the
Sheikah.
"No I forgive me. I didn't know where to begin," Sheik said apologetically. I don't
know how to hold a conversation with you when I know who you once were. For the
first time, Fuu flashed a questioning look, as though suspicious of Sheik's guarded
behavior since the moment they'd met, but said nothing. The shadow warrior looked
lost in thought for a few seconds, and then began, "We were an army of about one
thousand strong, Gerudos, Gorons, and Hylians together. It was to be the final battle
to defeat Vaati. The princess had lured him into a trap: he hadn't expected Hyrule to
have the assistance of the Gerudo witches, and he'd become arrogant after the hero
had been injured. Our armies clashed, hundreds died. Our plan was to protect the
princess until she could unleash the holy arrow, with Twinrova being key to combat
Vaati's magic for just long enough." Sheik closed his eyes, reliving the battle. Fuu
listened intently, respectfully keeping his mouth shut for once as he didn't want to
miss a single word of the story. "The plan had worked." When Sheik opened his eyes
again, he had a thoughtful, leery look. "It had worked almost too well. Before the
princess had done anything, Vaati had collapsed in the middle of battle. I'm not sure
how many noticed in the chaos of battle, but I saw it. The sorcerer was in his demon
form, a floating black eye with red pupils burning with hatred. He'd been about to
attack the bulk of the army with something devastating, but just before he could do
so, something had attacked him first. Perhaps I had imagined it, but I thought I saw a
flicker of a shadow hover through the smoke, and strike at the demon like a snake.
In that moment, Vaati faltered, and in his hesitation he was hit by the princess's
arrow." Sheik glanced at Fuu briefly before looking away again. "Vaati will no longer
terrorize us ever again."
"And what about me? You don't think the thing that attacked Vaati was me, do you?"
Sheik couldn't help but raise a skeptical eyebrow at Fuu's sudden, eager question.
The teen was looking up at him with an inspired glimmer that was positively
beaming. "I don't remember where you were in that fight. You were protecting the
princess," Sheik added somewhat sternly, "as all of us Sheikah are ordained to do."
"Well I'd like to think that I made the decisive blow against Vaati, the one that helped
end the battle," Fuu grinned. He took a bite out of the sandwich, and then leaned
back again, looking upwards with a wistful expression. "Heh, I defeated Vaati, the
Sorcerer of Winds. I defeated the strongest sorcerer in the world." Fuu winked, "That
means I'm the best."

"We don't really know what it was that attacked Vaati and it is highly unlikely that it
was you," Sheik said, his composure breaking somewhat as exasperation crept in.
"How do you know?"
"I just do," Sheik snapped.
"Huh, so you do have emotions. For a second I was afraid you were an Armos
statue."
And that was when Sheik lost his voice for a moment. He could feel his cheeks go
red, and he was glad that half of his face was covered by a cloth, though Fuu's
cheeky grin suggested that it still didn't hide his reddening ears. He opened his
mouth to retort, but couldn't find anything to say to the youth who was chewing on
the rest of his sandwich in a gloating sort of way. This this little BRAT is definitely
not Vaati. Vaati was Vaati was
What had Vaati really been like?
Not like this guy, Sheik thought to himself. As Sheik fumed in the corner, half in
genuine annoyance and half in embarrassment, Fuu brushed the breadcrumbs off of
his fingers and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm glad, really," he began, and Sheik was
somewhat taken aback by the sincerity in the other's voice, "I feel like you were
really angry at me since I first woke up, but you kept hiding it. That was the first time
you showed annoyance," Fuu smiled, "the first time you were honest with me."
Sheik didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything, shocked beyond words
now. For a brief moment he felt the urge to apologize. It felt dirty, almost, to be
thanked for honesty when Fuu's entire existence was one big lie. But he didn't
apologize. He didn't owe Vaati of all people an apology for being dishonest. Who is
Vaati?
Who is Fuu?
"We'll come get you in a few hours," Sheik said curtly, standing up. It was obvious he
wanted to leave the tent now, away from Fuu. "We'll be escorting the princess back
to Hyrule Castle. We don't know how many monsters are wandering the roads right
now, but we'll want to be leaving soon before it gets dark again."
Fuu scowled, and grumbled sarcastically, "Guess I'll just sit here with my chains
again, then."
"I'll unchain you later." Sheik said as he left the tent, "You have my word."

Besides, they couldn't keep him locked up like that forever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Later that day, they readied the caravans that would take them back to Hyrule. The
decoy Princess Zelda was ushered into the center cart along with a few guards.
Sheik and Impa were the only ones who were aware that this Zelda was not the real
one, and the decoy played her part well. Impa took the caravan directly in front of the
decoy's and Sheik accompanied Fuu in the one behind it. There weren't many
people accompanying the caravan: there had only been a small group to make the
trek to the Gerudo Valley after the battle, and the rest had left for Hyrule Castle
proper earlier. This was fine, Sheik reassured Fuu, because without a leader the
monsters had dispersed. Impa and Sheik, along with a few extra guards, were more
than enough to handle anything they might encounter on the roads.
After unchaining him, Sheik had tossed Fuu a change of clothes. "It's my spare.
Wear it for now," he'd said. The spare clothes fit Fuu almost perfectly, since he and
Sheik were almost the same height, but there was some room around the shoulders
and arms: Fuu did have gangly limbs. Fuu wondered briefly about where his own
clothes had gone, but Sheik waved the question away as irrelevant.
Still, even though Fuu didn't quite have the physical build to pass as one of the
shadow warriors, his appearance was extremely convincing. His eyes were red like
Impa's, and his hair, which they'd tied back in a similar braded fashion as Sheik's,
was naturally pale like Impa's. Once his face was covered by a cloth so that his
occasionally confused expression was hidden, he looked exactly like what people
expected a Sheikah to look like.
Sheik noticed that Fuu had an extremely sharp eye for noticing subtleties, and once
again he surprised him by noting Sheik's usually unreadable expression. "You're
impressed?" Fuu asked.
"It fits you well," Sheik agreed. "Surprisingly."
Fuu, appearing pleased, made his way to the caravan he was assigned to, but then
suddenly stopped short, causing Sheik to nearly run into him. He took a step
backwards again, and then pointed at the person getting on the cart in front of them.
"Is that the princess?" he asked.
He was pointing towards the woman in a light pink dress who was being helped into
the cart by Impa. She held up a gloved hand to her lips, laughing about something
Impa had said. The decoy was doing an impeccable job playing her part: her bright
smile to the small mannerisms like the way she absentmindedly brushed her hair

when she laughed, everything was on point like how the real Princess Zelda would
behave. Sheik tried not to look too envious and motioned for Fuu to hurry up into the
caravan. "Yes that is her," he said, "and our duty is to do everything in our power to
keep her from harm."
Fuu ignored Sheik for a few more seconds, watching the decoy until she
disappeared into the caravan.
"You seem awfully fixated on the princess," Sheik noted, when Fuu was taking too
long. He wondered, briefly, if Vaati's obsession with Princess Zelda was still lurking
somewhere in this new personality's head. Sheik shuddered at the thought, and then
climbed into the cart, sitting across from Fuu who seemed lost in thought after the
encounter with the decoy.
"Yes," Fuu admitted, after they had settled into their seats for the long journey back
to the castle. "Well, no. It's hard to explain," he said.
Sheik waited for the other to continue, although somewhat guardedly.
Meanwhile, Fuu scratched his head, puzzled. "It's like I expected her to be more.
She was dull. Uninteresting."
"Yes, well, the stories get carried away. There's no such thing as a person who
literally shines like the sun and blinds the unworthy with beauty," Sheik muttered with
a bit of barely noticeable bitterness. He caught Fuu staring at him in surprise, and he
furrowed his brows in response as a silent "What?"
"You surprise me," Fuu said after a while. He was smiling, and Sheik could have
sworn that with every smile, Fuu's expression became increasingly devious. Maybe
he was finally settling into a personality after his head had been scrambled by
Twinrova. He just hoped that it was a personality that wasn't dangerous. "I
expected you to defend the princess, not agree with me."
Sheik scowled. "I'm not agreeing with you, I'm just saying the stories are ridiculous."
Fuu shrugged. "I think it's a shame," he said as he made himself comfortable on the
cushions inside the caravan, "To be honest, I think you fit the image I had of the
princess much better."
Again, with that devious grin. Sheik had never imagined that Fuu would be so
perceptive; they hadn't spent a day together and already he was making suggestions
that were much too close to the truth.

Sheik had known keeping Vaati 'leashed' was going to be difficult, but perhaps they'd
underestimated just how difficult.
"You're not going to ask me why?" Fuu pressed.
"I'm not interested," Sheik said bluntly.
"How boring," Fuu sighed, resting his chin against his hands disappointedly.
Just then, the horses stirred as the coach drivers ushered them to start the journey.
The caravans lurched forward, and Sheik was thankful for the momentary
distraction. After all, he was stuck, alone with Fuu, for the next few hours before they
arrived back at the castle. While there were usually more than two people occupying
a caravan, they weren't ready to let Fuu talk to other people as he pleased just yet.
No, not until they were absolutely sure that he was as safe as Twinrova assured
them he would be.
Sheik didn't know how long it had taken until he'd fallen asleep, or when he had
fallen asleep. Not getting any rest the night before had finally taken its toll, along with
the stress he'd had for most of the morning. It wasn't a very good sleep, since he'd
woken from time to time to keep an eye out on what Fuu was doing. The newly
accredited Sheikah, however, seemed to be interested in watching the scenery
outside rather than to cause trouble. Fuu seemed especially keen whenever they
passed one of the desolate skeletons of a ravaged village, the aftermath of Vaati's
terror. Sheik half-expected Fuu to bother him again with more questions, but the teen
kept his quiet, pondering the view on his own.
Just when Sheik finally allowed himself to rest, however, a hand shook him urgently
by the shoulders. Reflexively, Sheik's swift fingers shot towards his knife and with
lightning precision, pressed a blade against Fuu's neck.
"Out there," Fuu said, his eyes wandering towards the knife at his neck.
Just as quickly, the knife vanished, and Sheik looked out towards where Fuu was
pointing. He could hardly believe what he was seeing: at least two dozen monsters
were closing in on them in a way that was unusually organized. "A raiding party?"
Sheik hissed in disbelief, "but that's impossible. Monsters never get organized like
that without a true leader, and we just defeated Vaati." They weren't prepared for this
kind of raid. The most resistance they'd expected on the road was two or three
monsters wandering about. A dark cloud was rushing towards them swiftly, and
Sheik could make out black-furred wolves that were as large as a small horse. On
their backs were crooked-backed, leather skinned creatures with large, hooked
noses. Bokoblin wolfos riders.

"I'll protect the princess. Stay here, and hide if you have to," Sheik ordered.
"Hide? But aren't I a Shei-"
"Stay here." Sheik repeated sternly. He was about to leave, but then stopped. He
seemed to struggle against an internal argument, and then with a somewhat
defeated groan he tossed an object towards Fuu.
Fuu grabbed it and studied the item in his hands. It was a knife.
"Use it only if you have to," Sheik stressed. As he vanished from the caravan,
leaving Fuu all alone, he prayed that he hadn't made a mistake just now. Fuu was
now alone, unsupervised, free, and worst of all, armed. Only one day has passed
and this is already a mess, he thought. This will be a real test to see if Vaati is truly
on our side.
fleets: I have a confession to make - I have never played any game with Sheik in it,
so I may get characterizations wrong. I'm trying my best with the zeldawiki resources
though, and some rumors I've heard here and there. Apologies if my
characterizations become "off."
I'm still trying to figure out 'Fuu's' personality right now. Fuu is, too. I hope I'll be
better about developing him as the story progresses.
Spartan Yoshi 90: And I'm super duper excited to see such a warm welcome from
everyone. Thank you so much!
Cheza the Flower Maiden: Aw thank you so much! I hope I can finish this,
especially since I hate leaving things unfinished. I'm really thankful for the nopressure sentiment though, sincerely thank you! :)
Flufux: Hahaha hi again Flufux. I honestly did not expect to talk to people through
Author's Notes again (I'd been so ready to toss in the towel for fanfic writing, and yet
here I am again. I must be a masochist :P ). It was such a pleasant surprise to see a
response from people so soon! Also congratulations on finishing your first story!
That's an amazing accomplishment, one definitely to be proud of :D I'm sorry to say I
haven't really been reading stories lately (I don't really remember the last time I read
one...), but it sounds like you have some great ideas with Dethl! Dethl is such an
underrated character.
AquilaMage: Hi again, and thank you! I felt incredibly silly coming back after I'd

been so convinced that I was done... I guess you can't really know what you'll get
yourself into in the future huh? Haha yeah, Vaati's a little weird, isn't he? I felt really
weird writing him as such a friendly character this time around since that's not what I
was used to (did a double take a few times. Sheik's a little confused, too). We'll see
more of the Vaati I'm used to writing, don't you worry :3
Serpent Tailed Angel: And I'm super psyched to hear from you! Ugh what have I
gotten myself into again... At the same time, I'm pretty excited to be back at it again.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the sleepless nights and thinking about Vaati's
adventures 24/7... er, what I meant is I am enjoying writing fan stories again.
Sorceress V: Hi again Sorceress V, always nice to hear from you! Haha no, no
rampages from him. Yet. :P
SubZeroChimera: Hey thanks! :D ... Wait really? Nintendo is remembering Vaati?
When?! I thought they'd given up on him completely! :O

Sworn to Protect
fleets: WOW when was the last time I had 3 updates in less than a week? I haven't
had this much inspiration since... well... since Rend, maybe.
I am really, really thankful for everyone's amazing responses so far! They were a
delight to read, you guys are too nice to me (cries) THANK YOU
Not much really happened the last two chapters, and I guess I got impatient. Let's
jump right into the action, yeah?
Chapter 3: Sworn to Protect
Fuu didn't really know what had happened in the next few seconds after Sheik had
left him with only a knife to defend himself with. There were shouts mixed in with the
panicked screams of horses, and then the entire caravan flipped over without
warning. The world was a blur as cushions and wood and tent canvas tumbled all
around him, and Fuu waited helplessly for the chaos to subside.
Eventually, he was able to get a bearing on his orientation, which he identified as
upside down and slightly twisted to the right under a broken beam and dangerously
close to the caravan wheels, threatening to crush him with their weight. Groaning, he
dragged himself out from under the crash and tried to get a sense of what's going
on. He felt something poke him in the ribs; it was the knife Sheik had given him.
He grabbed the knife not a moment too soon, because he was suddenly face to face
with a row full of sharp teeth. Reflexively, his right hand shot forward, digging the
knife deep into the side of the creature's face. The wolfos sprung back with a yowl,
and then ran off, giving Fuu some time to clamber out and catch a breath.
He heard an earsplitting scream, and then a rush of wind blinded him. Blurry shapes
whipped past him, and before he knew what had happened, the wolfos and
bokoblins had retreated as quickly as they had come. Stunned by what had
happened, Fuu stumbled towards the direction where he could hear voices.
"She's gone. Gone!"
It was one of the guards. As Fuu climbed over the fallen carriages and sidestepped
some panicked horses, he saw two guards shouting about the lost princess while
Impa and Sheik stood calmly next to them. He joined them just as Impa replied
stoically, "Yes, they took her towards the mountain caves."

"It's clear they only wanted the princess. They left as soon as they captured her,"
Sheik recounted. "They could have easily overtaken us with their numbers if they'd
wanted to kill us." Then, Sheik noticed Fuu standing there with an incredulous look
on his face. The warrior ignored the fact that Fuu's face was gradually reddening. "I
told you to stay put, Fuu." Fuu couldn't tell, but Sheik was inwardly relieved that Fuu
hadn't decided to knife them all down in the chaos earlier.
"Why," Fuu stuttered, his temper visibly rising, "Why aren't you going after her?"
"We need to use caution," Impa explained calmly. "The way they organized
themselves is a cause of serious concern. It means that it's highly likely that there's
another powerful individual who is organizing them. We cannot simply rush into what
is potentially a trap." She left out the detail that the captured princess was, at the
brutal truth of it, simply a decoy.
Fuu's expression behind the cloth collar that covered his face was truly terrifying,
and for a moment Sheik recognized that look of unchecked, raw fury. He'd seen that
look a week ago, in the battle against the sorcerer It was something to admire, the
way the seemingly harmless teen transformed into someone with an aura of rage
that was so powerful that Sheik could almost feel the burn of its fire. Albeit
something to admire from a safe distance.
"We don't have time for this," Fuu snarled. Before anyone could stop him, he pushed
his way past the guards towards one of the panicked horses. The creature whinnied
in fright as he approached, but Fuu grabbed the reins and yanked them down, hard.
The horse squealed, but almost by miracle, decided that fighting against the
frightening Fuu was not worth dying for, and calmed down.
"I told you to stay where you are," Sheik demanded, his voice rising.
This time, however, Fuu refused to listen. He swung himself over the horse with the
comfort of someone who had a natural talent in riding. "Whatever happened to doing
everything in our power to protect the princess? Are those just empty words?" he
shot, "If you won't do it, then I'll bring her back myself." He was about to spur his
horse forward, when there was a sharp hiss through the air. Chains flew with
incredible precision from Sheik's palms, and before Fuu knew what was going on,
they wrapped around his body in tight coils. With a swift pull, Fuu was thrown off the
horse, tangled in chains. In the meantime, Impa had quickly taken control of Fuu's
horse, mounting it swiftly.
"Sheik, I will be up ahead," Impa announced, and then took off in the direction of the
wolfos riders.

Sheik nodded once, and then returned his gaze towards the stunned Fuu, who
appeared to be more in shock now than anger. "We did not say we will not go after
the princess," Sheik explained slowly, tightening Fuu's chains so that he could no
longer wiggle his way out of them. "To run blindly into a fight is arrogant and foolish."
Sheik left Fuu on the ground with some bewildered soldiers, and found another
horse of his own to chase after Impa. Upon realizing that he was going to be left
behind on the rescue mission, Fuu's anger dissipated into anxiety. "Wait!" he
shouted, "I'm a Sheikah! Let me save her-"
"No," Sheik brutally cut him off, silencing him. "You are a liability."
And with that, he left the stunned Fuu lying helplessly on the ground with the guards.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sheik left his horse tied to a bush next to Impa's, and then climbed up a ledge that
was hanging just over the dungeon entrance. Impa was already scouting the area
from above. Stone pillars lined the entrance to the dungeon doors, which were
embossed with the symbol of a single imposing eye. There was no doubt about it,
this was a dungeon that had been used by Vaati.
"They ran into there," Impa nodded towards the doors upon Sheik's approach. Sheik
scanned the dozens and dozens of monsters that were patrolling the dungeon
entrance. The sand kicked up under their feet as they moved back and forth, looking
for intruders. The guards were mostly lizalfos, bipedal, lizard-like creatures armed
with spears. Unlike their wetlands brethren, the desert variation had gold and brown
scales which shimmered in the sunlight against the sand.
"There's too many of them. We won't win against them in a direct fight," Sheik noted.
Impa nodded again in agreement. "We will find a way around." Then, after she briefly
surveyed the rocks to her left, she began to walk along the edge of the ledge they
were on. Sheik followed, his footsteps light like a cat's. "How is the sorcerer?" Impa
asked, quickly making her way towards a crack in the rocks up above the dungeon
doors.
Sheik, noticing what she was aiming for, was one step ahead now. He dashed ahead
and then leapt off of the edge of the overhang. He grabbed hold of the rocky surface
above the dungeon cave. He slowed his fall, his fingers clawing into the stone, and
then swung himself into the hole in the wall. As Impa joined him momentarily, he
took a look outside. No one had noticed that they were there. "I left him with the
guards. I think he got the message," Sheik informed Impa, and then the two

continued forward into the tunnel that led deeper into the dungeon.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fuu got the message all right.
He got the message that everyone was treating him like a child and he needed to
prove them wrong.
At first he'd been stunned to hear that he was a liability. They thought he was just
going to slow them all down. He'd had a moment of disappointment, but he didn't
wallow in self-pity for too long. He'd become outright furious. How dare Sheik treat
him like a child that needed hand holding. 'Fuu don't move, Fuu stay here, Fuu don't
touch anything,' for goddesses' sake he could take care of himself!
"Untie me," Fuu's voice cut through the air like a knife. The two guards who had
been left with the Sheikah apprentice exchanged glances uncertainly. When they
took too long, Fuu snapped impatiently, "Didn't you hear me? I said untie me."
The guards hesitated. They'd seen the entire exchange between Sheik and Fuu
earlier, and it didn't seem wise to listen to Fuu. Hesitantly, the guard began to
explain, "But the Sheikah said"
"And I am a Sheikah as well, so you will do as I say!" Fuu barked.
"But"
"Now."
The guards exchanged one last uncertain glance with each other. Neither of them
wanted to take responsibility for untying the angry Sheikah, but at the same time,
they recognized that there were only two options: they could either incur the wrath of
the controlled Sheikah, or incur the wrath of the unpredictable, easily angered (and
probably more violent) Sheikah. They decided the former option was a much better
alternative.
"That took you long enough," Fuu spat, rubbing his wrists where the chains had dug
into his skin. He stretched his limbs, and then walked around for a bit, looking for
something. He then noticed one of the guard's swords propped against a nearby
cart, and then claimed it as his own. The guard began to object, but his friend
shushed him. Fuu buckled the sword against his waist, and then rounded on the
guards, sending them scurrying backwards nervously. "I am sworn to protect the
princess," he explained to them slowly, for emphasis, "and nothing will ever stand in

my way, do you understand? Nothing." The Sheikah then mounted the few remaining
horses and rode on after Impa and Sheik. The dust clouds settled, and the desert
was at peace again.
A few minutes later, once the guards had taken some time to process everything that
had happened in the last hour, one of them turned to the other. "The princess," he
wiped his brow, "the princess is in good hands," he said, his voice cracking. All the
other good could do was nod in agreement.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subtlety had never been one of Vaati's strong points, and by extension, neither was
it Fuu's.
Fuu didn't bother surveying the area like the two Sheikahs before him, or finding
some way to sneak past the guards. Fuu came in charging on horseback, straight
towards the mob of monsters, alone and armed only with a single sword.
This should have been a laughably impossible charge. What could one person do
against a small army of dangerous monsters? For some reason, however, a wave of
distress spread amongst the patrolling monsters. They'd never seen anything quite
like the approaching Sheikah, yelling at them at the top of his voice. It was like an
unexpected storm, rushing forward without warning and leaving only ruin in its wake.
"Nothing will ever stand in my way!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been about half an hour later or so when Impa and Sheik finally made it to the
end of the tunnel. They had hit a few precarious areas where some serious
acrobatics had been demanded to continue forward, but they had made it
nonetheless. Sheik had a close call when an unsuspecting rope had slithered into
their path: the deadly snakes often liked to rest in the tunneled corners of Hyrule's
dungeons, and Sheik had nearly stepped on it. Even so, they had made it. It had
been a slow, careful process, but they had finally made it. Impa dropped down onto
the rafters of the dungeon, followed by Sheik. The captured decoy should have been
brought to the final chamber, where they were now.
Sheik felt a hand on his arm. It was Impa. Thinking she'd found the decoy, Sheik
looked over to where she was facing.
He was almost right. The princess was there, but someone he didn't expect was
carrying her.

"Fuu?!" Sheik exclaimed uncharacteristically, breaking his cover. Below him, Fuu
looked upwards to where they were in surprise. Sheik dropped down, aghast at the
other teen and the unconscious decoy in his arms. "What are you doing here?!"
"Rescuing the princess" Fuu replied flatly, as though it were obvious. His brows
knitted together in confusion. "Weren't you ahead of me?" he asked.
Sheik ignored his question. "I thought I told you to stay with the guards," he
reprimanded. Before an argument could start again, Impa joined them. Zelda's
guardian dropped down from the rafters between the two teens.
"More importantly," she extended an arm in front of Sheik, forcing him to back down.
Impa's voice took on a grave tone as she asked the question everyone was
wondering. "How did you get here?"
Fuu's brows knitted together in even further confusion. He had a look on his face
that suggested he couldn't believe he had to continue explaining the obvious. "I
came in through the door."
"How did you get past the monsters?" Sheik demanded.
At this, Fuu finally understood their questions. The puzzlement left his face, and his
eyes narrowed. A cold, faint smile could just barely be seen behind the cloth that hid
his face. Wordlessly, he walked over to the main door of the chamber.
"The Sheikah protect the royal family," he said, kicking the doors open. Before them
was a disquieting sight. Not a single monster was to be seen. However, the fresh
bloodstains that painted the walls suggested that the monsters had died and
dissipated to dust, as monsters do when they're slain. The most disturbing part of
the scene was how some of the blood went up towards the ceiling; a testament to
the brutality of the fight that had happened here. Well, no, this had been no fight.
It had been a slaughter.
"Nothing will stand in my way," Fuu finished, as Impa and Sheik stared at the former
sorcerer in disbelief.
They were so in shock that no one noticed a shadow flicker along the walls of the
chamber. They didn't notice anything even as the last person left, and the doors
closed behind them. The shadow bubbled along the walls, and then, as though it had
come to some sort of conclusion, darted towards the center of the room. Any
onlooker would have agreed that the shadow was alive.

It settled around the area where Fuu had been standing moments before. Then, the
shadow slowly rose up out of the ground, taking on the silhouette of a young man
with a pointed hat. An eerie smile appeared where the shadow's face would have
been.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Perceptive, talkative, impatient, quick to anger, and ruthlessly brutal in his methods.
The dungeon traps never activated for him, and he clearly remembers how to use
magic."
They had all safely arrived back at Hyrule castle with little further incident. The attack
had delayed them a little and it was well past dusk, and the party was extremely
grateful when they were finally able to retire to their own rooms to rest. Well, most
everyone, except for Sheik and Impa. They were currently discussing what had
happened back at the dungeon now that they had sent Fuu away to his own quarters
in one of the empty, unused barracks in the castle.
Sheik tapped a finger on his palm as he listed all of Fuu's characteristics he'd
observed in the last 24 hours. "He is too much like Vaati. I've been wary of this plan
from the start, and I'm less assured now that I've seen what he can do."
Impa leaned against the wall on the opposite side, the moonlight from the window
illuminating her features. She nodded understandingly. "It is prudent to be careful of
him, given his history. However, we cannot deny that he is enthusiastic about
protecting Hyrule's interests."
Sheik crossed his arms, and turned his gaze away to the side, somewhat ashamed
to admit that this was true. Though messy in his methods, Vaa Gufuu, had never
once indicated that he held any ill will towards Hyrule and had only become upset
when they had prevented him from helping. At the same time, the memory of the
blood painted dungeon had been all too familiar: Fuu had used the same sort of
magic he'd been capable of using as Vaati. "If he's serious about protecting Hyrule,
then why did he hide the fact that he could use magic from us?"
"Perhaps he didn't think it was worth mentioning? We associate his magic with Vaati,
but perhaps he does not, since he has no memory of ever being the wind mage. Did
you ever bother to ask him?"
Sheik turned his head away even further. Impa did have a point, though he was
loathe to admit it. To be honest, Sheik had been nervous to talk to Fuu after the
incident at the temple, and had avoided any sort of conversation for the remainder of
their journey.

Impa sighed sympathetically, and walked over to where Sheik was still contemplating
her words in silence. She placed a hand on his shoulder softly. "I think you've been a
little too harsh on the boy."
Sheik raised an eyebrow, but he uncrossed his arms a little, indicating that he was
willing to listen.
"Give him a chance," Impa said, "He doesn't know that he was ever Vaati. All he
knows is that he is one of us. He's very perceptive, and I'm sure he's picked up on
how we treat him like a venomous snake. If this continues, he will surely become
what we fear."
Impa was right, of course. She was often right, even as Zelda this was true, and that
was why Sheik was always grateful for her advice.
"What he really needs now someone to guide him," Impa continued. "He needs a
friend."
Sheik shook his head slowly, and then he shook his head even more. When he
spoke, he was no longer speaking as Sheik, but as Zelda. "Impa I don't I don't
know how." It was true, he didn't really know how to make friends. While Zelda had
an entire kingdom who adored her and knew of her name, she never really had
anyone she could truly call a friend. She knew how and when to smile the right way
to make people like her, and she knew how to keep conversations going and making
others feel comfortable. But they weren't real friends. Sometimes, she wasn't even
sure what a real friend was. Link was the closest thing to a friend that she had, but
because she was always busy with her work and Link was busy helping the smithy,
they spoke to each other maybe once a week if they were lucky. As Sheik it was
even worse. Sheik didn't know how to be close to anyone because the only way to
survive was to be paranoid of everyone. He was a spy: he couldn't have friends.
Zelda's ability to make friendships was one of her biggest insecurities, and now she
had to try and be friends with the last person she wanted to be friends with. And as
Sheik no less.
Sheik's composure broke, and his eyes searched Impa's for any sort of clarity. All he
received was a compassionate smile and words he wasn't sure what to do with. "Talk
to him, Sheik. That's all you have to do for now."
fleets: We're getting there, slowly, surely. We really haven't gotten to any sort of plot
yet, but I hope this chapter was a little more exciting than the other ones. Anyone
surprised that I showed my cards already, regarding Fuu's more... Vaati-esque

personality? I was really debating about this one, but I figured it would be a pretty
boring read if most of the story was reading about some guy named Fuu who had
zero resemblance to Vaati at all (except, well, his looks). I mean you must have
come here for Vaati, yeah, given that my entire collection is based off of this guy? So
yeah, Fuu still has all of those wonderfully awful traits that I've characterized in Vaati
in previous stories. He's not very cute :D
SubZeroChimera: Thank you! I'm enjoying writing this so far (my only fear is to
make this too similar to stuff I've written already). Also I saw your links! Nintendo is
totally referencing Vaati ahhh! I wonder if I should play Triforce Heroes now...
Cheza the Flower Maiden: Though he forgot about all of his motivations and
memories, his core personality is still there (and what an awful one it is haha)! Oh
hey I really like that idea you brought up (about him being nimble), it didn't even
occur to me! I might make a reference to it in the future, if that's o.k. with you (not
sure yet)? I'll mention you in the A.N. in the chapter I include it in (if I forget, please
yell at me!) It was nice hearing from you, thank you so much! :)
Sorceress V: Haha I don't know if he'll appreciate being called cute (just between
you and me, he's adorable XD ). He can do a loooot of damage. He's still Vaati after
all. Kind of.
Flufux: While memories are different, base personalities are pretty similar, and given
that Vaati had a pretty awful personality, Sheik has a lot of work ahead of him :P
If you do, let me know, I'd love to see it! :D I was doodling them earlier and I just
noticed that Vaati/Sheikah and Sheik is really similar in appearance if they're wearing
the same clothes (like, even their bangs are the same, except mirrored).
I love Dethl for the fact that he's one of the most flexible characters in the Zeldaverse. I think yours is the first female identifying Dethl I've seen! :)
The Dethl in this story will be similar (but not quite the same) as the Dethl I
introduced in Rend. I can't really say much because of spoilers, but I guess we'll get
there when we get there.
AquilaMage: Ohhh he definitely still has Vaati in him. Especially the part about
rushing into things without thinking (cough-MinishCapUltraFail-cough).
That's actually really helpful. So I guess I can't fail too horribly about making him
OOC.
Vesperupus: Yes I did! I did the thing! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't influenced by your
comment saying I should go for it :) I just hope it will be new and different enough
from the gen fics I've written so far. I think the struggle will be ebbs and flows. I see

Sheik as being paranoid by nature, which kind of exacerbates things. Maybe I should
warn people that I'll stomp all over their feelings for a few scenes in the story :P You
guys are used to my feels train by now though, yeah?

Humility
fleets: Happy New Year! How better to kick off my 2016 writing resolutions than to
submit a chapter? Also the website has apparently been suffering some glitches
regarding disappearing reviews, but I was able to see them via email. Hopefully I
didn't miss anyone's!
Chapter 4: Humility
Fuu had been looking forward to sleeping in and having the entire day to himself to
rest after arriving to Hyrule Castle from the Gerudo village. The trip had been a long
one, he'd had a headache for most of the day, and he'd had to rescue the princess
herself from a dungeon. He'd gone to sleep with a cocky smile on his face; he was
going to treasure the memory of seeing Sheik and Impa looking at him in shock
when they'd arrived late to the rescue. Sheik thought that he'd be a liability? Ha! He'd
gotten to the princess way ahead of them even after he'd gotten a late start. Ah it
had been such a great day.
But now he was tired, and he wanted to sleep past sunrise, past breakfast, and
maybe even past lunch. He felt he deserved having an entire day where he could
just roll around in bed and only get up when he had to.
Of course things didn't go the way he imagined it to go.
Something made a small "thock" sound sometime around dawn. Fuu wasn't sure
what time it was, exactly, but he knew it was Din damned early because the sun
hadn't even risen past the rooftops yet. He successfully ignored the noise, rolling
over in his sheets and pulling the covers higher over his head.
About ten seconds later, the clock hanging over the bed fell on his head with a
mechanical thrum, a last ditch wail as it broke from the impact. This was much more
difficult to ignore.
"ARGHHH!" Fuu shouted, springing out of bed. He yelled a string of profanities when
his face hit the arrow that had been lodged just above his head, and yelled some
newer curses when his flailing arm hit the wreckage of the ruined clock. He stopped
yelling for a minute, making sure there was nothing else that was going to bother
him, and then gave one last shout and broke a vase in the corner for no other reason
except that he was angry at inanimate objects.
After he calmed down, he noticed two arrows stuck on the wall. One was the one

he'd head-butted after being awoken unceremoniously by the broken clock. The
other had snapped the string that kept the clock on the wall. He frowned when he
saw that there was a note attached to both arrows.
"Ugh, what now."
Fuu pulled the first arrow from the wall. He stumbled around in the dark for a little
until he found a candle, and then stumbled around some more to find something to
light it with. The sun wasn't even up properly yet: why couldn't they just let him sleep
in peace.
Maybe he should have been concerned that someone had shot two arrows into his
sleeping quarters. However, he had a fairly good guess on who it was from, and he
was pretty certain he was right about his guess when he read the first note. "Training
today," he groaned, mumbling the note aloud, "come to the castle training grounds
immediately, without being seen by anyone. This is a test."
Great.
His day was off to a wonderful start. Did they always train so early in the morning?
Did Sheik and Impa have no concept of 'days off,' especially after a rather
excitement filled day yesterday? He ripped the other note rather forcefully from the
remaining arrow. He was already scowling before he saw the message. "Good
morning."
Wordlessly, he took crumpled the message into a tiny little ball and threw it out the
window as hard as he could. In an awful mood, Fuu changed out of his robes and
slipped on his new Sheikah uniform that he'd found ready for him in his room. It was
identical to the one Sheik wore. He started working on the bandages to wrap around
his ankles, fingers, and wrists, but deciding it was taking too long, he tossed them
back into the bedside drawers again and ran out of the house.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Although Impa and Sheik may have been skeptical about Vaati's physical
capabilities, Fuu was surprisingly nimble and sneaky. It was almost as though he
had a natural affinity for finding paths that weren't obvious, and quickly slipping
through the shadows. It could have had something to do with his Minish origins,
though he wouldn't have been able to remember it. The Minish were a mythical race
of creatures no taller than a thumb, and they were said to be responsible for hiding
various helpful items all around Hyrule. Naturally, they were very good at moving
quickly without being seen.

As soon as he left the barracks, Fuu took one look at his surroundings and quickly
gauged the best path towards the training grounds. Finding a line of ivy and a barrel
that could be used as a footstep, Fuu jumped up and climbed up the vines until he
was on the rooftop. From there, he could see where the guards were patrolling, and
anyone else he would have to be careful of. He didn't want to leave a bad
impression on Impa by failing this test: this was a good opportunity to show her and
Sheik that he could be relied on.
There. He saw a path he could take that would lead him up towards the outer
curtains, to the inner wall, and then up and over the other side where the training
grounds would be. By staying up above, all he would have to worry about would be
the guards patrolling the battlements and the outer curtain. Fuu dashed across the
barrack roofs, hopping from one to the other. He breathed a sigh of relief when he
nearly lost his balance during a particularly long jump, but continued onwards;
although he was nimble, relying heavily on magic as Vaati had made the muscles in
his arms and legs rather weak.
Embarrassingly, Fuu was almost out of breath by the time he'd cleared the first leg of
his path, and he had to stop and rest when he reached the walkway on the outer
curtain. While this should have been a clear sign to anyone that he'd overestimated
his own abilities, Fuu was stubborn. Upon catching his breath, he continued onwards
down to the end of the walkway, sliding past the occasional guards by making use of
the supply crates and barrels that were there. He reached the part of the wall where
there was some heavy ivy overgrowth, which he could use to climb down the outer
wall, and make his way towards the inner wall. He winced when the skin on his
palms were rubbed raw from gripping the ivy; his skin was soft from years of not
having to do any manual work, and he wished now that he'd taken the time to
actually tape his hands this morning.
He was a third of the way down when his tired arms gave way and he lost his grip.
Fuu fell down, clawing at the ivy for any sort of grip to slow himself down, before he
eventually fell on top of an unsuspecting pedestrian.
Smash!
"Ughhh."
" Owww."
The pedestrian recovered first, wiggling his way out from under the Sheikah that had
rained down from the skies. He was a teenager who appeared to be of similar age
as Fuu, and he didn't seem to be a castle guard even though he was armed with a

sword and shield. The boy was wearing a pine green tunic and a pointed hat of a
similar color, rather than the polished armor of the guards. He rubbed the side of his
head where Fuu had accidentally hit him, and brushed away his dirty blond hair that
had been tussled over his eyes. "Ouch," he repeated, and then crawled over to
where Fuu lay to help him up. "A-are you ok?"
Fuu wobbled onto his feet, steadying himself against the wall. He blinked in surprise
when he finally noticed the other teen. With a disappointed groan, Fuu covered his
face with his hands. "Damn it." He'd had such a good run, but he'd failed Impa's test.
This this fool wasn't even a guard. What was he doing here at this hour anyway?
"For a second I thought you were Sheik," the blond said, waving his hand towards
Vaati's outfit. "I haven't seen you around before. My name's Link."
"Gufuu, Fuu for short," Fuu grumbled, still upset at himself for his failure. Then, he
realized that he'd heard the other person's name before. "Link? Isn't that the name of
the hero who almost defeated Vaati?"
At this, Link laughed, scratching his head bashfully. "Almost, until he was beaten by
Dethl. Honestly I don't know why people keep saying I'm a hero. I barely did
anything."
It was then that Fuu saw things he didn't catch earlier, like how Link's face was
deeply scarred with claw marks running diagonally from his forehead to his chin, how
the dark bags under his eyes made him appear more aged than he really was, and
how he stood a little crookedly to the left as though his right leg couldn't support his
full leg. Fuu's disgruntled frown softened a little in sympathy, but he was still upset
that his test had been foiled by the wandering hero. "What were you doing here at
this hour, anyway?" he grumbled.
"Couldn't sleep," Link admitted, "I haven't really been able to since well" he
trailed off.
Since Dethl's attack, Fuu thought. He glanced up at the inner wall of the castle
where he had to go next. The training grounds were just on the other side, and he
probably should be heading over there rather than chatting with Link. At the same
time, he'd already failed his test completely, so did it even matter?
"And you? What were you doing, climbing around the walls?"
Fuu grimaced from Link's question. It had been an embarrassing screw up, and he
honestly didn't want to think about it anymore. "I was in the middle of a test," he
muttered.

"Oh. Did you pass?" Link asked carefully, though he could already guess the answer
from how upset Fuu looked.
"Probably not. I was supposed to get to the training grounds without being seen."
"Ah."
Now Link was looking awkward, since he'd been part of the reason that Fuu had
failed, and Link looking awkward made Fuu feel awkward. Before it could get even
more awkward, Fuu began to walk away in a random direction (awkwardly) so as to
end the conversation. "So, yeah, guess I'll go this way."
"Hey wait," Link stopped him. Fuu tilted his head to the side, somewhat annoyed, but
Link explained hurriedly, "I know you might know all of this since you're a Sheikah
and all, but I can help you get past the rest of the guards without being seen. You
won't have to climb any walls, either."
"I can climb walls just fine," Fuu frowned, his voice barely hiding his offense. Then,
he saw Link pointing at his raw red hands skeptically. "Fine. Even though it might not
matter if the guards see me or not since I failed anyway."
"Great! Thanks, Fuu, I feel bad that I screwed up your test. I hope this kind of makes
up for it," Link said apologetically. "We're actually pretty close to the secret tunnels,
so this shouldn't take very long."
Fuu was taken aback by Link's honest cheerfulness. The only two people he could
clearly remember in his muddled memory, Sheik and Impa, only treated him with a
guarded distance. He wasn't really sure what to make of Link's open demeanor.
Link led the way to a clump of bushes growing alongside the wall. They squeezed
past them until Fuu could see a hatch on the ground. Link pulled it open and jumped
in ahead. It was dark and clammy, and Fuu could barely see where he was going as
they made their way through the tunnel. Fuu had to crouch a little to avoid hitting his
head against the low ceiling, and his feet splashed a few puddles from the rainwater
that had gathered here a few times. There was a strong scent of wet dirt.
"I know a lot of the passages in and out of the castle," Link explained as they
continued forward.
"You're not a thief, are you?" Fuu asked, wondering why, exactly, Link knew about
secret tunnels that no one was probably supposed to know about.
"Haha of course not! I just like to explore," Link chuckled. "Sometimes you find

interesting things."
"Like things that don't belong to you and belong to someone else."
Link led him down a series of turns in the tunnel, and Fuu was glad that he hadn't
attempted to navigate the underground maze without a guide. He was pretty sure he
wasn't going to be able to go back from the way he came. At least, not without a
torch. Link seemed to have done this several dozen times before, from how
comfortable he seemed to find his way around in the dark.
"You're not really like the other Sheikah that I know," Link said, "When you first
appeared I half expected you to disappear after leaving me with a cryptic message."
At this, Fuu snorted. That sounded like something Sheik and Impa would do. Then,
he became curious. "What do you know about Sheik?" he asked. He was somewhat
disappointed in the answer, but at the same time, he wasn't surprised by it.
"Honestly, I don't really know much about Sheik at all," Link admitted. "He doesn't
say much, and he mostly keeps to himself. I've only ever seen him a few times when
he wanted to help me with something. Still, I can tell he really cares about Hyrule,
maybe more than anyone."
"I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm an idiot," Fuu added, muttering under his breath.
"I wouldn't take it personally," Link assured him, "He's like that with everyone. I think
he's just uncomfortable being around people." His tone suddenly took on a somber
note. "I owe him, too. He saved me when I was attacked by Dethl. I actually don't
remember much of what happened, except that I was trapped in some kind of awful
nightmare. Impa told me later that Sheik pulled me out from some monsters who
were attacking me while I was unconscious."
Link stopped, and then pointed at some light falling through the cracks in the ceiling
above them. "There," he said, "This ladder should lead up to the training grounds. I'll
leave here, so you can go on alone. Maybe you'll be lucky and they didn't see you
with me earlier."
"Maybe" Fuu said doubtfully. As the other boy began to leave, Fuu gave a small
cough. "Erm, thanks."
It was difficult to read expressions in the dark, but Fuu could imagine Link's bright
smile. "No problem! Good luck with your training."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Fuu made his way up the ladder, he began to feel somewhat hopeful about his
test. Maybe Link was right, and maybe no one had seen him talking to Link on his
way here. This tunnel seemed pretty well hidden: maybe, just maybe, he could trick
Impa into thinking he'd made it to the training grounds without being seen.
He pushed open the hatch, the light from the sun hitting his face.
Thock!
Fuu froze. He slowly dared to look up towards the top of his head where an arrow
had whizzed by. The cloth wrap that had been sitting on top of his head was no
longer there. He cautiously peered to his left, and saw the hat in question. It was
pierced to the wall by an arrow.
"I've been following your progress."
Fuu flinched at the sound of Impa's voice. Zelda's guardian dropped down from
seemingly nowhere, armed with a bow. Fuu scowled at it briefly, thinking about how
he'd been woken up this morning.
"You failed," Impa stated.
Fuu groaned, and then crawled out of the tunnel. He frowned when he saw that
Sheik was already there, practicing archery in the shooting range. Fuu kicked away
some branches that were in his way out of frustration, and brushed himself off of
leaves. "Do we have to train so early?" Fuu muttered unhappily.
Impa held out her bow and quiver, motioning Fuu to join Sheik. "The situation has
changed. It is much more serious than we initially believed," she explained. Then,
with a heavy voice, she added, "There was an attack on the Gerudo village last
night."
Fuu looked up sharply. If they had been there just a single day longer
Impa assuaged him. "No one was severely hurt. They have good warriors there, and
Twinrova are powerful witches. However, we can be sure now that there is definitely
a new leader within the monsters, especially with what happened when we were
attacked in the desert."
Fuu's frown deepened as he listened. He then pulled an arrow from his quiver,
turning it over a few times as though wondering what to do with it. He glanced over
at Sheik to observe what he was doing, since the other Sheikah seemed to be
having no trouble firing arrow after arrow, even splitting some that had already hit the

bullseye.
Impa continued to describe the current situation. "We only have guesses as to who
this new leader is. Whoever it is, they are keeping a much lower profile than Vaati
ever did. However, we have a suspicion that it's the creature that calls itself Dethl,
according to Link. Previously, there had been reports that Dethl was working under
Vaati, and although it was a target we intended to defeat after we had stopped Vaati,
we never realized just how big of a threat it could be. We assumed that it was simply
another titan, like Gohma and the Helmaroc King. Once the leader falls, titans
usually retreat back to their own dungeons. The recent attacks suggest that our
assumptions were wrong."
Fuu was now struggling to nock his arrow. The arrow kept wobbling even before he
started pulling back on the string. Sheik had already fired at least ten shots during
this time. "Why do you think it's Dethl? Couldn't it be something else?"
"It could be, yes," Impa said, her eyebrows raising somewhat from watching Fuu's
struggle with the bow. "But the attack on the Gerudo was similar to what had
happened to Link. The reports are still inconclusive on whether Dethl is working on
its own, or working under someone new. Either way, we are now certain that there is
a new threat, and we must prepare."
Fuu finally managed to keep the arrow steady on the bow. He took aim at the target
in front of him. His arms shook from the force of the bow even before it was pulled
halfway back. When he let go of the string, the arrow whimpered forward and
flopped sadly onto the grass, not even close to the target. Fuu tossed the bow and
arrows aside, frustrated. "Well, why aren't we going after Dethl then? We should be
bringing the fight to them, not waiting for them to attack us."
"We cannot attack because we don't know where Dethl is." Impa walked over and
picked up the bow that Fuu had tossed away. The apprentice had his arms crossed
over his chest, an expression of disgust on his face. When Impa smiled, it was sly. "I
am glad that you are eager to fight, because that is what today's training is for."
Fuu scoffed, waving her away. "I don't need to use bows," he said indignantly, "or
even knives or swords. You saw what I did at the dungeon yesterday. I am capable
of more than what anyone else can do. I should be practicing this," he snapped his
fingers, an insidious glint appearing in his eyes. A gust gushed past them, knocking
over a few of the target dummies and pads. Sheik looked up when his shooting was
interrupted.
Impa, however, did not look impressed. She reached into one of her pouches that

hung from her waist and pulled out a small apple. She tossed it to Sheik. "Alright,"
she said, "I will allow you to skip training," she held up a finger when Fuu looked like
he'd already won, "if you can use your abilities to cut the apple in Sheik's hand. I will
give you a minute."
Fuu's eyes narrowed, his grin widening. Cracking his knuckles, he pointed a finger at
Sheik who was watching him lazily, the apple sitting in his hand. "Guess I won't be
seeing you on the training grounds after this, Sheik," he cackled. Fuu pulled back his
right hand, taking aim at the apple. He squinted for a few seconds, taking aim, and
then suddenly whipped his hand forward to unleash a blade-like wave of wind. It
didn't hit the apple, however, as Sheik tossed it into the air out of the blade's way.
"Ha! I figured you'd do something like that," Fuu sneered. He threw a second windblade, and then a third and fourth.
The apple vanished, along with Sheik.
"Wha-?"
A leg struck out from under him, knocking him off balance. Fuu slammed into the
ground. Before he could get up again, his hands were swiftly tied together. Sheik
watched Fuu, unmoved, while the other swore profusely in a foreign tongue as he
struggled to get up from the ground. After about a minute had passed, Impa said
simply, "Time's up."
"That wasn't fair," Fuu spat as Sheik untied his hands. He grumbled, complaining as
he got up from the ground and dusted himself off, "Sheik had it easier because the
one on the defensive always has the advantage. I would've won if our places had
been swapped."
"Sheik," Impa clapped twice. Sheik nodded, and then tossed the apple back to Impa.
Impa handed the apple to Fuu, whose disgruntled brows were still furrowed. "I will
allow you to try again, this time with you on the defensive. Prevent Sheik from cutting
this apple and you will never have to come back for training ever again."
Color rose to Fuu's cheeks. With a glower, he snatched the apple from Impa's hands
and glared at Sheik. "Fine. This will be easy."
Sheik didn't even need a minute. As soon as Impa gave the signal, a dagger
appeared in Sheik's hands. With a quick movement, Sheik angled the sunlight, now
pouring over the castle walls, so that it glared into Fuu's eyes. Fuu winced from the
blinding light, and in his brief moment of hesitation, Sheik closed in on him. Once
again, Sheik kicked Fuu's legs out from under him with a swift sweep, and tied his
wrists so that he could no longer use spells. For the remaining time, Sheik slowly

quartered the apple into neat slices with his dagger.

Fuu didn't even bother yelling this time. He spent the time on his ground silently
glaring at the tufts of grass in front of his face.
"You see," Impa said while Sheik helped Fuu get out of his binds again, "fighting isn't
about being fancy, and it isn't about being fair. It is about being efficient, and using
every advantage. Every edge. While your magic is powerful, your fighting style
leaves you open to several vulnerabilities."
Sheik offered Fuu one of the apples he'd sliced, but Fuu angrily swatted his hand
away. Fuu made one last ditch effort to save whatever dignity he had left. "Hmph! I
bet the only reason why you want me to train using these silly little knives and bows
is because you don't know anything about magic."
"Sheik."
Later, Fuu would swear up and down that a bead of nervous sweat did not roll down
his nose when Impa called the younger warrior's name in that same, unimpressed
way. He would also claim that he didn't quite remember what had happened.
It had been the fastest contest yet. As soon as Fuu saw Sheik twirling a piece of
rope, he lashed out with a small tornado that roared towards the warrior. To Fuu's
shock, Sheik spun his wrist in a small circle, and magical sigils appeared in midair.
Fuu's attack rebounded with a flash of brilliant white light, back in his direction. His
own attack hit him squarely in the chest, and Fuu was sent tumbling backwards until
he hit the castle wall. Sheik didn't even have to tie Fuu's wrists this time before it was
over.
"I don't need magic to beat you," Sheik said when Fuu regained his senses. It was
the first and only thing Sheik said to him that morning, making the words weigh that
much more.
It stung.
Impa walked over, kneeling next to Fuu who was still sitting against the wall, stunned
by his series of, frankly pitiful, losses. "You never completed your Sheikah training,
Fuu," she said gently. "There is no shame in losing to Sheik."
Fuu bit his cheek, turning away. He looked up briefly when he saw Impa's
outstretched hand.
"We have high hopes for you. Come, I will do my best to train you in two weeks."

fleets: I know there's still a lot of questions that I haven't answered yet - I was hoping
to get around to addressing more this chapter, but I think it'll have to wait for the next
few. For instance, I didn't really talk about why Vaati would have been able to beat
Sheik but Fuu couldn't do a thing, and I didn't really get to develop anything more
substantial between Sheik and Vaati this chapter. Details like that, I'll address in the
next chapter.
Also thank you so much to Cheza the Flower Maiden! They brought up a point about
Vaati being agile because he was once a Minish, and I really liked that
characterization of him!
Lastly, Link - It occurred to me that I never wrote Link with actual scars, which is
weird since he tends to get in fights a lot. That has been amended in this story.
Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope I didn't miss any one's because of the
site-wide glitch, but please let me know if I missed responding to yours!
Serpent Tailed Angel: Hahaha yeahhh I've been updating quite quickly! I anticipate
it slowing down eventually...? (I mean there's no way I can continue this pace
realistically... I think?). This story has me excited though, I keep finding excuses to
write it.
SubZeroChimera: I think I might have messed up the pacing somewhere, because
as soon as you said that I hit my head with a d'oh! Well, I hope this chapter amended
that, kind of sort of. They don't really know what Dethl is, yet. Never encountered
anything quite like it. (between you and me, I bs'd that into this chapter after seeing
your comment to find a way to make it work. I think it works...? Anyways what I want
to say is thank you so much for pointing that out!)
And I'll definitely keep that in mind! I haven't really been playing any DS games
recently but I'll shoot you a message if/when I get the game! :)
Vesperupus: Hurray! As for the feels kit, you'll know when to get it when it seems
like things are going a little too well because I clearly hate happy things :P
Flufux: You'll see who that shadowy character was soonish :) I prefer Shadow Link
myself, too. I think I was influenced by the manga because they gave him a lot of
personality there. Haha yeah they are! If it ever happens definitely let me know, but I
enjoy the idea of it all the same :D
Cheza the Flower Maiden: Eh, I did it anyway :P I'm so thankful for my reviewers
though, because I can really see what people are noticing and keying in on when
they read my chapters :D

A confrontation of Zelda and Fuu would be interesting indeed ;)

AquilaMage: Ahahaha what a short story that would be! I had a kick out of reading
that (thinking of Vaati rushing in, instantly dying, and Sheik and Impa come back and
it's just "welp, there's that") XD
I can't wait for when I get to introduce Shadow Link! He's going to cause a storm
alright.
Lord Siravant: I thought you'd like the inclusion of Dethl :) I was actually inspired by
Star Wars (one of the games) for this story haha (the hype is too strong here!). That,
and I also really like memory problems.
Ai Star: Thank you! It's... probably not the best idea to have Vaati walking around
haha. Happy happy new year!
Reily96: Aaaah thank you! But imagine... magical wizard Ninjas. I am going to turn
Vaati into a magical wizard ninja. Although Sheik will still kick his ass in ninja-ing.
D'aww thank you! I can still proudly say that you were my original inspiration to put
stuff up here and write about Vaaters :3

Confrontation
fleets: I admit this chapter is not well proofread. I have an outline but I don't know
what the crapadoodle I'm doing. Not sleeping because of self-imposed Bad Ideas
also has something to do with my current state of ?
I don't really know where I'm going with this so I'll just be quiet now.
Chapter 5: Confrontation
By the end of the third day of training, Fuu was looking fairly exhausted. After day 1,
Impa had judged that Fuu needed a lot more physical training, and he'd also been
given extra exercises for failing his first test. Impa had him running laps around the
castle, running while carrying weights, and climbing up and down walls. On the third
day she thought he needed more motivation, so she had him compete with Sheik.
Even though there was no real prize for finishing laps first other than being able to
say he won, that alone made Fuu try even harder.
He didn't end up 'winning,' and he looked just about ready to collapse when the clock
struck 3pm. Sheik appeared fine even after they had finished running four complete
circuits around Hyrule Castle's rooftops, which included a lot of leaping, sprinting,
climbing, and jumping up and down obstacles.
"You did good today, both of you. Fuu, I can see much more improvement since
yesterday but you haven't pushed your limit yet. You should be able to complete the
run in half the time you just did," Impa said, to Fuu who was bent over with his hands
on his knees, breathing hard.
Fuu barely looked up just enough to return an expression that clearly said "Are you
serious?" before he went back to staring at the spot between his knees, waiting for
his breathing to slow.
"We won't do the evening runs today. I," she gave a heavy sigh, and Sheik tensed
briefly as though he already knew what she was going to say, "must leave castle
town to take care of some matters. There has been another attack, this time on
some merchants on their way to Death Mountain. I need to investigate what
happened."
This seemed to take Fuu by surprise, and he looked up momentarily at the news of
the attack. Crow's feet appeared on his forehead as he frowned at the news, but he
didn't say anything. He was disturbed by the news of an attack so soon after the one

on the Gerudo Village.

"Go get some rest tomorrow, and we'll meet again the day after." Impa gave a small
bow, which Sheik returned and which Fuu was too tired to do the same. Before long,
Sheik and Fuu were left alone under the afternoon sun. It was late summer, and the
sun was still high in the sky at 3 in the afternoon. Normally Fuu would have been
happy that he would have most of the afternoon off, but they had started training
early in the morning again, and all he wanted to do now was go home and take a
nap.
"She," Fuu gasped, finally finding some kind of air in his lungs, "has got to be kidding
me. Half the time? That's impossible." Sheik could tell that something about the
news of the merchant attack was bothering him, from the way Fuu redirected the
conversation back to something else. Fuu reached for a small goatskin bag hanging
from his waist for some water, looking irritated when it turned out to be empty.
"It is possible. I have done it," Sheik said, and then offered him his own water.
Vaati scowled, pushing the water away. He didn't need any pity. "No one asked for
your opinion." The loss against Sheik three days ago had utterly humiliated him, and
Fuu couldn't help but be somewhat bitter towards the other warrior. Besides, Sheik
was always showing off, doing everything better than him, saying he wasn't good
enough to help save the princess Hah.
"You can do it faster than I."
At this, Fuu seemed surprised. He hadn't expected Sheik to admit inferiority so
frankly. Didn't Sheik have any sort of any sort of pride? Fuu didn't really get it. The
two started walking back to the gates, and Fuu kept a thoughtful quiet until they
reached the wooden doors. He glanced up at the castle walls, where Impa had made
them run across and onto the roof to start the laps. Sheik had made everything look
so easy while he, as much as he didn't want to admit it, clearly struggled every step
of the way.
All of this wouldn't have bothered Fuu so much if he hadn't heard about the new
attack on the merchants. Normally, he could tell himself he was better, and that he
could easily beat Sheik if only he'd had more time. The attack, however, was a
reminder that he didn't have more time. Or rather, they didn't, and yet they were
wasting time on him. It was nothing but an insult to him for them to pretend that he
was actually important.
"I don't get it," he mumbled, and Sheik turned back to look at the other apprentice
who was staring at his toes. "Since you're so great at everything already, shouldn't

you and Impa just be going out and trying to figure out how to beat Dethl? We're
sitting here running around the castle in circles while Dethl continues to attack us.
You guys are," he gritted his teeth, finding difficulty saying the words that came next,
"wasting time trying to get me to be any good. I don't get it."
Sheik was taken aback, surprised by Fuu's outburst. For the first time since Vaati
had been redefined as 'Fuu,' a look of sympathy passed over for a brief moment on
Sheik's face. He never realized that Fuu had been taking his loss against him so
hard. For the first time, he seemed to be confronted by a normal young man who
was struggling with his own insecurities, rather than the inhuman monstrosity that
had been Vaati. The confidence had been battered out of him. The edges of Sheik's
steeled red eyes softened. "I do not think we are wasting time."
"I can't win at anything against you!" Fuu lashed out, his frustration over the past
three days finally spilling forward. After his humiliating defeat against Sheik with the
apple challenge, Fuu had been unusually quiet for the next few days of training.
Now, the exhaustion of the rigorous three-day training catching up to him, and it
seemed that Fuu was at his limit of bottling up his frustrations. "I'm a lousy shot with
the bow, I'm half as slow as you at everything, I get tired faster, and I can't even
knock a damned apple out of your hands without being made a fool!"
"You can't expect to suddenly be good at something after only three days" Sheik
tried to explain, but this only seemed to make Fuu more upset.
"Exactly!" he snarled, stomping over to Sheik. Fuu hated how the other Sheikah was
looking at him with that same stoic gaze. He hated it since the first day he'd met him;
it was like Sheik was always hiding something, or making fun of him. "Why waste
time on me, when we already have you? You, who can do everything better than I
can, and you even know how to use magic." Fuu waited for a response, but when
Sheik appeared hesitant to answer, he huffed and stormed past him.
" It's because you're the only one who can lead us to Dethl."
Fuu stopped in his tracks at the sound of Sheik's voice. He turned around, and saw
Sheik drop his bow and quiver on the ground tiredly to go sit against the wall.
Sheik's chest rose and fell, a sigh. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you
were feeling that way. It just didn't occur to me that you would feel that way
because" Because you were one of the most dangerous individuals Hyrule has
ever seen, Sheik thought, "because you are extremely talented." He thought back to
when he'd told Fuu to stay out of everyone's way, when he'd called him a liability,
when he avoided conversation with him, and when he told him he didn't need magic

to beat him. He also remembered Impa's warning that he was being too harsh. Sheik
couldn't honestly say that his behavior had nothing to do with his anger and
resentment towards Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds. He was angry and resentful. When
Twinrova had first suggested that they spare the sorcerer to use as a weapon for
themselves, Zelda had disagreed vocally. Vaati had hurt the people she loved. She'd
eventually agreed to go through with the plan out of necessity, but she had been
wary throughout the entire process. It hadn't helped that Fuu's personality reminded
her too much of Vaati's.
But Fuu wasn't Vaati. At least not now. This self-conscious apprentice was just
another insecure teen like him who was afraid of being unimportant. And finally,
Sheik realized he hadn't been fair to Fuu at all. He smiled to himself at this
realization. Fuu took the smile the wrong way.
When Fuu angrily began to walk away, Sheik stopped him. "Do you want to know
why I can lap the castle faster than you?"
"I get it already. You're better. I get it," Fuu spat, his hands already on the gate, ready
to push it open and leave.
"No. It's because I cheat."
The door creaked slowly. Then, the creaking stopped as Fuu froze, his eyes wide in
shock at Sheik's admission. He stared even more at the Sheikah who was shaking
his head slowly, chuckling lightly to himself.
"You can be much stronger than I'll ever be," Sheik continued. He moved over when
Fuu slowly came walking back to join him. Sheik didn't mention the part that he knew
for a fact that Fuu was more powerful than he was, because he knew what Vaati had
been capable of. "You can also do things none of us are able to do. Do you
remember how you were able to go through the desert dungeon without activating
any traps?"
Fuu was sitting next to him now. He seemed to have calmed down, and was thinking
over what Sheik had said.
"The dungeons in Hyrule allow you passage, and no one else. There are several of
these kinds of dungeons that we've found, but no one has been able to find a way
past their doors. For a couple, we've found alternative routes inside, but the
dungeons are often filled with traps. Myself, Impa, and Link are the few who can
navigate through them, but even then it's never a guarantee that we can get out
safely. As for the majority of the dungeons, they have proven to be nearly impossible
to go inside." Sheik paused. Next to him, Fuu's eyes widened, realization dawning

on his face. "However, you can go through them. We saw that at the desert
dungeon. Dethl is most likely hiding in one of them, and we can't find him without
you."
Fuu stared at his hands, opening and closing his fingers slowly while confusion
furrowed his brows. "Why me?"
At this, Sheik shrugged. "We don't know." It was a lie, of course. The reason why
Fuu could go into these dungeons without any trouble because he was their
architect, Vaati. But Fuu didn't need to know that.
The pale teen slumped back against the wall, then, staring up at the clouds rolling by
above them. He appeared less angry, and now appeared simply tired, like Sheik. He
didn't say anything for a while, and the two continued to sit against the wall of the
empty training grounds. Eventually, a bird flew by and landed by their feet, unaware
that they were there. Fuu tossed a pebble at it, shooing it away.
"I only have memories of being a lousy Sheikah," he said in a low voice. "I don't
remember a single mission I completed, I don't remember finishing training, and I
don't remember ever being included in anything important. Vaati messed up my
head, but I feel like I should have some kind of memory of doing something as a
Sheikah if I ever did anything that meant something." He smiled bitterly, tossing
another pebble. It hit the first one, centered. "It sucks, you know?" he laughed, "the
only real memory I have is the Sheikah mantra that was drilled into our heads, the
one that says I should give up my life if it would save the royal family. That, and my
name. I don't have any memories of family or friends." Fuu clenched his hands. It
was difficult to see what Sheik was thinking, as his face was shadowed and still.
"And the more I try to piece my life back together, the more I feel like it wasn't one
worth remembering. You and Impa would never have paid attention to me if it weren't
for the fact that only I can open these dungeons."
Their eyes met. Sheik tried to hide it but Fuu was too quick, too perceptive. Sheik's
brief flash of hesitation in his eyes only confirmed that what he suspected was true;
he wasn't needed if it weren't for his unique abilities. "I'm not wrong," Fuu muttered,
trying not to sound too disappointed.
Sheik tiredly covered his face with a hand. He didn't really know what to say. What
was he supposed to do? Was he actually feeling bad about what they had done to
Vaati, now? No, he was getting it all wrong again. He was feeling bad about what
they had done to Fuu, not Vaati. A few days ago he would have said that Vaati
deserved what had been done to him. But if Fuu was someone else, did he deserve
what he was going through now? Who was Vaati, who was Fuu?

What he really needs now is someone to guide him. He needs a friend.

He stole a glance towards Fuu again, and he thought he understood what Impa
meant now. He thought he'd understood her earlier, but after talking to Fuu today, he
realized he really hadn't. He hadn't really been seeing Fuu as, well, Fuu.
But he didn't really know how to be friends with anyone. Link was the one who
was good at making friends, not him. As Zelda, she considered Link to be her
closest, if not only, friend. As Sheik, Link was one of the extremely few people he
exchanged words with on more than one occasion.
How did Zelda become friends with Link? Or perhaps a better question, what would
Link do in this situation?
Sheik remembered, then, something Link had said right around the time when Zelda
had first met him.
Zelda! Here, hold out your hand like this
"Hold out your hand," Sheik said to Fuu, who returned a puzzled expression. "Like
this, and then follow what I do," Sheik held out his right hand, curled into a sideways
fist. Fuu looked confused, and at first it looked like he wasn't going to listen.
However, he slowly returned the gesture, holding out his right hand into a similar fist.
Without saying a word, Sheik hit Fuu's fist with his from the top, then the bottom, and
then they bumped knuckles. At the end, he opened his palms for a firm handshake,
which Fuu returned with an increasingly confused frown.
"It's it's a Sheikah tradition," Sheik lied, averting his gaze when they were done
with the secret handshake. "It is a secret message not to be shared lightly."
"A message?" Fuu asked skeptically.
"The Sheikah don't often work with others. They keep to themselves," Sheik said, his
confidence returning little by little with every word. He was making all of this up, of
course, but how he felt about it was as close to reality as any other truth. "However,
at times we must work together, and this handshake is an understanding of that."
"I don't really understand what this means?" Fuu cocked his head, wondering when
Sheik was going to let go of his hand.
"It means," Sheik picked his words carefully, so as not to get anything wrong, "that I
choose to trust you." He let go, then, and forced himself to look, really look, at Fuu
rather than avoid him. "It means that I am sorry that we started off on a bad foot."

Fuu blinked, Sheik's words catching him off guard once again. It was as though he
wasn't used to being offered words of kindness. Then again, how could he, when his
fake memories didn't have a single instance where someone had been nice to him?
After a while, Fuu huffed turning his back away as though he couldn't be bothered.
Sheik wondered if he'd messed up somehow, but then he heard a small chuckle.
"And that was the second time you were honest with me."
Fuu pushed himself off of the ground, jumping lightly back on to his feet. He
appeared a bit more energized now, with a little more life. He walked to the gates
leading out of the training grounds, and this time he waited for the other warrior. "You
still haven't told me everything," he said as Sheik got up to follow. "How do you cheat
running the castle laps?"
Something had changed between them in the last several minutes. Before there had
been an invisible cold wall between them both, and the atmosphere had become so
antagonistic that it felt like they were both holding their breaths, suffocating. Now the
air was clearer, and it was easier to breathe.
For once, Sheik's expression was something other than that cool, stoic, calculated
look. His smile was devious behind the cloth that hid his face. "I trust you, but I don't
trust you that much."
High up above them, Impa watched her two students with a smile of her own, except
it was one of relief. She was glad that she stayed behind for a while before she'd left
for her task, to see what Sheik and Fuu would do. She watched Fuu beginning
another heated argument with Sheik, but from where she sat on the rooftops she
could notice that his voice lacked the bitterness that had been increasing over the
course of the past few days. At least for the moment, the poisonous hate and
resentment that had been characteristic of Vaati had vanished. Not only that, but the
Princess, who had always struggled to open herself up to make friends, seemed to
have finally made one. The normally quiet Sheik, often mistaken for being callous,
was actually talking back and even laughing from time to time as the two retired back
to their own rooms.
As much as Fuu had surprised Sheik, he had surprised Impa as well, who had been
observing the entire conversation hidden up on the castle roof. When they had
initially agreed to go through with Twinrova's plan to use Vaati as a tool to win
against the remaining darkness, she hadn't anticipated that they could perhaps save
more than Hyrule. Perhaps they could also save Vaati, or rather, Fuu.
Impa, feeling a little more reassured about leaving Sheik to keep an eye out on Fuu,
leapt down from the roof and slid down the castle walls to make her way outside.

She'd heard some odd reports regarding the attack that had happened to the
merchants. Most troubling was that the report included a description of someone
who looked just like Link, which was impossible considering the hero himself was too
crippled by his last fight to have participated in the attack.
If the attacker was who she thought it was, it was going to be increasingly important
for Fuu to complete training, as well as for him and Sheik to trust each other.
fleets: Hey thanks for reading! Especially because I don't know how I feel about this
chapter. It's not that I don't like it, it just feels kind of meh? Maybe I just feel funny
about writing happy things. I don't think my writing style has a whole lot of "the power
of love and friendship overcomes evil blah blah rainbows and sparkles etc." and this
chapter kind of had that sort of vibe. Or maybe I'm just overthinking things. I had a
lot more which got moved to the next chapter because I didn't like where I would
have had to break it.
At any rate, I can't wait to build up a happy cute foundation and then smash it into a
million pieces. Enjoy the fluff while it lasts.
Serpent Tailed Angel: Yeah that makes sense. I guess I'd forgotten the feeling
since I haven't actually started a new story in a long time. As for Link, I was debating
about his role in this story, since I didn't want to make this story another Rend or AI
copy. Still, I wanted him to be around, and I didn't want him to be so invincible like I
used to write him. He got hurt, bad enough to be out of any real fights for a while. He
does limp somewhat, but it's not that noticeable now since he's had some time to
heal (definitely not where he used to be though).
Cattycheeno: Oh! I guess I didn't make it clear enough with Impa holding the bow,
but the one who shot the arrows with the notes was Impa, not Sheik. I like to see
Impa as someone who, while quiet, occasionally has a cheeky sense of humor.
I actually went hunting around for copies of Naruto because of your comment haha
Reily96: I'm actually struggling a little with this the more I progress the story. He's
still Vaati, but then I come up with something like this chapter and a part of me can't
help but be like "who is this guy and what's he doing in my story?" Bah I'll figure it
out. Maybe.
I never gave much thought to who I thought Sheik was until I was forced to in writing
this story. Currently I refer to them as 'he,' just to avoid confusion because other
characters address Sheik with a male pronoun, but in terms of whether or not I
actually consider him he/she/them/whateverthewhat, same/different as Zelda, I don't
know? haha. I guess that's another thing I'll figure out over the course of writing this.

Maybe. I still have strong VaaZel biases even though there won't be any pairings in
this story, which might affect how I write Sheik and Vaati, but would that make it
Vaaeik(??) (fleets go to bed...)
Flufux: I struggled a little on whether or not to include Link, but I knew I couldn't just
write him off since he does exist in this Zeldaverse that I'm currently using. He lost a
fight which he'd expected to win, and came out of it injured enough that he wouldn't
be able to do any serious fighting any time soon.
They fixed the review issue! I can see everyone's submission from the main page
now. :) And haha no worries! Just hearing that you thought of them made me happy,
don't worry if you don't get around to them! (I totally understand that feeling) :)
SubZeroChimera: It's really interesting to read what kinds of themes/ideas people
are leaving with when they read a chapter, because I didn't think of pulling the story
along in that direction. Now that you mention it, that would've made for some pretty
interesting dialogue/plot! I think one thing that bothered me about this chapter was
Fuu's fairly open admission that he thought he sucked compared to Sheik, which
didn't seem like something Vaati would have done (pre MC, and definitely not post
MC). If he'd been the kind of guy who could admit to how he was feeling, I think
things wouldn't have been as bad as it had been with Ezlo, because at least there
was some kind of communication about problems. I think the situation is different
here, though, because the age gap between Sheik and Fuu aren't huge (both late
teens in appearance), which changes the dynamic. I'm not sure I was able to justify
Fuu's potentially OOC behavior well in the actual chapter though.
AquilaMage: The way I characterize Link, I think he can be friends with just about
anybody as long as they haven't done anything obscenely horrible (then he'll kick
their butt). Haha yeah that sounds just about right. I don't see Vaati as someone who
is very mature. I have an image of him leaving Ezlo's apprenticeship around his
teens, and then he got sealed almost immediately afterwards, which means that
even though he's old he didn't have a whole lot of growing up to do.
Vesperupus: Hahaha I was hoping someone would get that reference XD I wasn't
going to let this story finish without Link making Vaati fail in some kind of way lol
I have a similar kind of idea as you, but probably more on the lines of dialect rather
than completely separate languages (mostly because I played some of my first major
Zelda titles in Japanese, and the differences in dialogue sound more along the lines
of how Japanese regional dialects differ, rather than language quirks that come from
learning English as a second language).
At the same time, I do like the idea that there are other languages outside of Hylian
(e.g. farther out in other kingdoms, for example), and it wouldn't be far fetched to say
that the Sheikah might have a language of their own. In that case, Fuu would

completely, utterly fail to understand the other Sheikah because what Twinrova did
was mostly to get rid of all of his memories and make him remember the core
Sheikah ideas. Anything else Fuu remembers were things he accepted as likely
memories (my research area actually happens to be in human memory so I really
love rambling about this sort of stuff, and writing stories about it)

The Unexpected Visitor

fleets: This chapter. THIS CHAPTER. I was dying to release this chapter. I really
enjoyed writing this, I hope you enjoy reading it!
Chapter 6: The Unexpected Visitor
The next day, it was Fuu's day off. For the first time since arriving back to Hyrule, he
would be able to sleep in for as long as he wanted without being rudely woken up for
morning training. He had been looking forward to sleeping in, staying in bed past
noon, and having the freedom to completely waste his entire day.
At least, that had been the plan, but Fuu was beginning to learn that there was
always something that ruined his plans. Around 10 or so in the morning, there was a
knock on the door. Fuu, still in bed, opened one eye and peered at the door, thinking
he'd misheard. He ignored it, rolling away and pulling the covers back over his head,
but then heard another knock on the door, louder this time. He was going to continue
to pretend that he wasn't home until he recognized the voice at the door. "Fuu? It's
Sheik."
Fuu jolted up from his bed, suddenly wide awake. He glanced at his clock, or where
his clock would have been if wasn't broken, and then scowled as he tossed his
bedsheets aside angrily. Still in his robes, he stormed towards the door and threw it
open, ready to yell at his fellow Sheikah for waking him up on his day off. As soon as
the door opened, however, Sheik pushed past him and slammed the door shut, his
back pressed against the wall. Instead of his angry tirade, Fuu asked uncertainly,
"Uh Sheik?"
"I need to hide," was the cryptic reply. Sheik peered over to the window from where
he was crouching, and then finally relaxed once he saw that the window shades
were still closed.
"Mind telling me why you decided to barge into my room this morning?" Fuu asked, a
somewhat impatient edge in his voice. He was not a morning person.
"The princess is missing," Sheik replied.
Fuu pulled a blank. He really needed to get used to Sheik surprising him. Ok?
he thought. Instead, he repeated slowly, "The princess is missing and you need to
hide."

Fuu wasn't sure if he should laugh or be concerned by the look Sheik had on his
face. He'd never seen the normally composed warrior appear so flustered and
frazzled. It was similar to the expression of a dog who was caught eating food off the
table. By now Sheik would have normally given a reply, but instead he seemed like
he'd completely lost all capability of speech.
Fuu helped him out. "Sooo shouldn't we be looking for her?" he asked, thinking that
there wasn't enough panicking given what sounded like an extremely urgent
situation.
Sheik finally pulled himself together. The focused gleam in his red eyes returned,
and he stood up. "She's fine. I know where she is."
"But didn't you just say-"
"She doesn't want to be found, I'm supposed to help look for her, and I left my post
so now Impa's looking for me," Sheik explained quickly. The truth of it was that
Princess Zelda was supposed to go to a socialite meeting which she found to be a
waste of time, and had snuck out of the castle as Sheik, causing an uproar. While
the decoy could substitute for her just to have some kind of presence in the castle,
the decoy couldn't take her place in large public meetings that involved speaking to
people who knew her.
Fuu seemed skeptical, but he was more worried now about Sheik going through his
things. Once again, he was interrupted before he could protest. Some spare clothes
from his closet were thrown his way.
"I can't sneak past Impa without help. I need you to distract her," Sheik said. Fuu
looked down at the clothes in his hands as Sheik motioned for him to get changed.
Again, before he could get a word of his opinion, Sheik had disappeared into the
washroom with some more clothes he'd found in Fuu's closet. At this point, Fuu had
completely given up trying to argue, and started to change into his clothes, muttering
under his breath.
"I was really looking forward to my day off but of course things can never go my
way." He slipped into the long sleeve undershirt, and then pulled the rusty red tunic
over his head. As Fuu put some boots on, Sheik came out of the washroom dressed
in a similar outfit, except in a dusty blue one. His head was covered somewhat by
the liripipe hood that shielded his eyes.
Sheik glanced nervously at the covered window again, as though Impa would come
through it at any moment. "Ready?" he asked Fuu.

"Wait," Fuu held up a hand. "I still don't understand what's going on here, and I'm not
helping until I do. Why doesn't the princess want to be found and why are you
helping her, against Impa?"
Sheik glanced at the window impatiently. With a somewhat irritated sigh, he said
quietly, "Impa thinks she knows what's best for the Princess, and she does, most of
the time. The Princess appreciates it. But sometimes," he shook his head, "she
doesn't understand that the Princess feels stifled. She wants to have a day off."
Fuu's lips flattened, still not convinced. "You sure know a lot about how the Princess
is feeling," he observed. He heaved a sigh, not noticing the momentary panic on
Sheik's face, thinking Fuu had figured out his identity. Fuu pinched the bridge of his
nose, crinkled in annoyance, before he finally threw both hands up in the air and
turned towards Sheik. "You really think I can distract Impa," he said flatly, "your idea
is going to get us both in trouble, and I really don't want to do additional castle laps
as punishment because of you."
"Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot of time to think of alternatives," Sheik said,
hiding his relief that Fuu hadn't figured out that he was actually Zelda. "I wouldn't be
surprised if Impa finds me here within the next few minutes."
"Please," Fuu snorted, "and to think I was upset that I thought you were more
capable than me yesterday." He stretched his arms, and then brushed back some of
his hair that was still somewhat messy after having just woken up out of bed. He
wiggled his fingers experimentally, and then snapped his fingers. The robes he'd
been wearing earlier, which he'd tossed aside on the floor, vanished from thin air.
"That's enough warm up, I think," he grinned. He flashed a devious smile towards
Sheik, who was watching him uncertainly. "Hey, do you want to see what I learned
how to do last night?"
Sheik didn't really want to, but Fuu's grin said he didn't have a choice.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Dang, I'm good."
Fuu looked around proudly, while Sheik was tense all over after teleporting out of
Fuu's house to some part of Castle Town. It took a moment to recognize where they
were. The two of them in the middle of one of the main paths, right in front of a
cookshop. It wasn't incredibly busy, and the few people who had been walking about
gave the two Sheikah strange looks; after all, it wasn't every day that people
suddenly materialized in the middle of the street. "That trick of yours attracted more
attention than to help me hide," Sheik noted the stares.

"We don't care about those people. We only care about Impa finding you," Fuu
scoffed.
"How did you learn how to do magic like that?" Sheik asked, beginning to walk
ahead quickly to avoid the public eye, "And let's keep walking," he added when he
noticed Fuu was still standing around in front of the cookshop. The former sorcerer
seemed to be taking his time going through the food that was available for sale.
Fuu waved his hand at Sheik, disregarding the blonde's urgency to leave. "Oh, I pick
it up naturally. I can't really explain it, I can just see spells. I've been seeing more
after we left the desert temple." He called over the cook who had been waiting
somewhat impatiently for Fuu to either leave or order something. "Are you going to
eat anything?" Fuu asked as he paid a few rupees in exchange for an egg on toast.
For a moment Sheik looked like he was going to refuse and drag Fuu away to
somewhere with less people. However, his expression brightened when he realized
where they were. Sheik was here, in the middle of Castle Town, without anyone
supervising him or telling him where he should and shouldn't go. Zelda had never
really been allowed to run off out of the castle freely without the supervision of Impa.
Her daily routine was either filled with meetings with other high class citizens and
nobles, or training. In her spare time, she wasn't so much as prohibited from
mingling with the commoners but heavily discouraged. Curiosity overcame Sheik,
and he sheepishly made his way towards Fuu and ordered some breakfast of his
own.
While Sheik observed the piece of toast in his hands with a sort of wonderment, Fuu
craned his neck to find a roof he liked. He finally found one with a tiny angle, not too
steep, but with just the right amount of angle for it to be comfortable to sit on. With a
swirl of his hand, he warped the both of them up on the roof.
"Can you warn me before you do that?" Sheik grumbled after nearly falling off the
edge in surprise from abruptly finding the change in scenery.
Fuu shrugged, grinning. He enjoyed seeing Sheik without his usual cool for once.
"Eh, I guess so." He made himself comfortable on the roof to eat, and Sheik did the
same. Fuu glanced over at Sheik who was staring out at the view of the town with
wonderment. "So you really don't know how to teleport like this?" he asked.
"I do, but not as far as you are able to, and it is much harder for me to teleport other
people with me," Sheik said, taking a bite out of the bread in his hand and
appreciating the fact that he didn't have to eat with any high-class table manners
today. He tossed some extra breadcrumbs to the pigeons that were waddling on the

roof next to them. Sheik rolled his eyes when a burst of wind sent them flying away
in a fright.
"Interesting," Fuu shook his wrists after casting the small wind spell, "So you don't
see the spells like I do?" He summoned an energy sphere in his palm, and then shot
it up in the sky where it climbed higher until it disappeared into the clouds.
"Most people don't," Sheik answered, shaking his head somewhat at Fuu's liberal
use of magic. "In fact, magic is extremely rare and few people have an affinity to it. It
often takes years of rigorous study to have the level of control that you have with
your magic."
Fuu brushed the breadcrumbs from his hands and leaned back against the brick tiles
that were warm from the sun. He held a hand up to the air, looking at it thoughtfully,
"I feel like I've always known how to use spells," he said after a while, "Maybe I just
can't remember it well because, well, my memory problems" He squinted, slowly
closing his fingers. Then, he spun his hand in a small circle, making the breeze swirl
a little. Sheik watched him create small swirls of wind, thinking about how quickly
Fuu was picking up on magic on his own. Twinrova had assumed he wouldn't be
able to remember most of his sorcery, but perhaps in Fuu's case magic wasn't
something that had been learned, but ingrained. Whether or not Vaati was a human,
demon, monster, or some miscellaneous creature was vague in the history books,
but demon magic was supposedly more instinctual rather than learned. Hopefully
Fuu's skills wouldn't be too much trouble. "I feel alive when I cast spells," Fuu
continued, "like it's not just a skill but it's a part of who I am. I want to rediscover
more spells.
Sheik nodded. "You were quite talented with magic." A little TOO talented.
The two of them watched the people passing by on the streets for a while longer. As
time passed, more and more people appeared until there was a steady bustle. Few
people noticed the two teens sitting up on the roofs.
"Vaati was a powerful sorcerer, wasn't he?"
Sheik looked away from the crowd of people below them, and noticed Fuu had that
pensive gaze when he was piecing together some kind of idea in his head. Over the
few days Sheik had known Fuu, he noticed that the former sorcerer was very
interested about Vaati, most likely because he believed that the wind mage was the
one who had "messed up" his memory. "Vaati wasn't human. He was a monster,"
Sheik said dismissively. He still felt uncomfortable talking about Fuu's other past.
Not one to be dissuaded so quickly, Fuu pursued the topic, "Tell me more about him;

the sorcerer that almost destroyed Hyrule."

However, Sheik was just as stubborn. "I do not like speaking about him," he waved
Fuu's question away with a hand, "Besides, that creature is dead."
Fuu sighed with a somewhat disappointed frown. He charged another energy sphere
in his palm and shot it up in the air. This time, it crackled like a firecracker in the sky,
causing some people below to look up, startled. "I want to become powerful with
magic. I want to become the most powerful person in the world," he muttered. Then
he flashed a grin towards Sheik. "Maybe I already am and I just don't know it yet."
Sheik rolled his eyes, "And here I thought you'd learned a thing or two about humility
when I beat you three days ago."
"If I was that powerful though," Fuu pressed, rolling himself over to his stomach.
There was a sly glimmer in his red eyes as he said boldly, "I could save the princess
from anything."
Sheik was taken aback, then, by Fuu's confident determination to protect the
princess. He wondered if this determination had something to do with Twinrova's
meddling, since their plan had been to brainwash Vaati into thinking he was a loyal
Sheikah. However, it was still flattering to hear such a confident declaration, and
Sheik had to turn away to hide his face, reddening from embarrassment. If Fuu knew
that Sheik was actually Princess Zelda
A familiar, stern voice, made both students spring up to attention. "If you want to
know how to protect the princess you might do well to learn how to lie low, first."
Impa towered over them, and she didn't look very impressed with her arms crossed
over her chest, a finger tapping her arm disapprovingly. Fuu and Sheik shrunk back
away from the older Sheikah who had snuck up behind them. They had gotten
distracted from food and conversation, and had forgotten that they were being
tracked by one of the best agents of Hyrule. "Sitting completely out in the open and
shooting off magical flares If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you
wanted to be found."
Fuu flinched and he grimaced; he hadn't thought about the energy spheres he'd
been carelessly shooting up into the air. He cautiously stole a glance towards Sheik,
who had his head hanging miserably.
"Fuu, I will speak with you later," Impa sighed, "Sheik, I need you to cooperate to find
the princess. Her absence is causing quite an uproar."
"Yes Impa" he mumbled quietly.

It was the first time that Fuu saw Sheik look so beaten, and the look on the blonde's
face couldn't help but make him feel a little sorry for him. As they slowly followed
Impa with slouched shoulders, Fuu held out a hand, his fingers curled into a fist.
"Next time," he said, grinning.
Sheik looked at the offered fist blankly, and then he broke out laughing as he
bumped it with his own. Thee three left for the castle together, and the voice of Impa
fervently explaining that there won't be a next time could be heard from the streets
below.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fuu returned to his quarters in the refurbished barracks within Hyrule Castle while
Impa spoke with Sheik. He was a little annoyed that Impa ordered him to stay within
Hyrule Castle until she came to talk to him about aiding Sheik disobey orders; this
was his day off, it wasn't even noon yet, and he wasn't allowed to leave to go
anywhere interesting. Of course it was his own fault for getting in trouble, but still. It
was annoying.
Fuu expected a rather boring rest of the day. What Fuu should have realized by now
was that things rarely went the way he thought they would go. As soon as he opened
the door and walked inside his quarters, he had a feeling that someone else had
been there. Or rather, someone else was still there.
His hands moving towards the dagger he kept with him at all times around his waist,
he cautiously stepped inside while he let his eyes adjust. He tensed when he saw
the silhouette of a person sitting in the middle of his bed. The silhouette waved.
"Hiya!" The person said cheerfully.
Fuu recognized the voice, and he relaxed just a tiny bit. "Link?" No sooner as he
said that, he realized that while the person was disquietingly similar to the hero, he
was not Link. The stranger's hair was a dark black, almost violet in color, and his
skin was also a dark tan. However, it was not brown like the skin of the desert people
it seemed as though a shadow dulled his skin from within, if such a thing were
possible. His clothes were exactly what Fuu had seen Link wearing a few days ago,
only they were black rather than green.
"That joke isn't very funny," the Link doppelganger huffed, "Just because half my
name is the same as stupid Link's doesn't mean you can suddenly leave out
Shadow."
Shadow Link? Fuu didn't know who this "Shadow Link" was, but it sounded as

though the other knew him. Fuu kept one hand on the hilt of his dagger while
Shadow babbled on.
"Anyways, I finally made it here. If y'all hadn't gone to distract that tall scary Sheikah
by having her look all over for you, I probably wouldn't have made it inside the
castle." Shadow flopped backwards across the bed, his arms dangling off the edge
lazily. "But y'all were so slow! Do you have any idea how boring it was, waiting for
you to come back? If you hadn't shown up when you did, I might have blown this
place up out of boredom."
Fuu's grip on his dagger tightened. He didn't know what to make of Shadow Link, but
there was a dangerous, unstable gleam in his ice blue eyes that made him uneasy.
He decided to play along, for now, to find out more about him. "What do you want,
Shadow?" he asked.
At this, Shadow beamed brightly. "What do you mean?" he snickered, "I came back
as a faithful servant should," his grin was wide from ear to ear, "Master Vaati."
fleets: Let's start some trouble! :D Shadow's going to make writing this story a whole
lot harder, but I am really excited to be finally writing this guy in after his absence
from my stories for... jeeze way too long (last appearance was in The Unresolved
yeesh). He's based off of FSA manga Shadow, and he's not to be confused with
Dark Link.
Thank you so much for reading!
SubZeroChimera: Relieved to hear you agree on that (I'll still have to get used to
writing him 'friendly' though oy). And ohhhhh yeah that is definitely another chapter
milestone that I cannot wait to get to. :D
Lord Siravant: SAME. Shadow might cause some trouble, but Dethl is a
catastrophe :D
AquilaMage: Relieved to hear that! I do characterize Vaati in a way that suggests he
wasn't awful to begin with, but I wasn't sure if I presented that in an o.k. way this time
(sounds like it wasn't too weird though). Haha we'll get to the cheating Sheik at some
point XD And YESSSS SHADOW I am so excited to be finally writing him now, he's
going to cause all sorts of trouble.
Flufux: Oh he's on the loose. He is definitely on the loose and I am so excited to
finally have him in the story to shake up the peace a little :D And aww thank you so
much! It is much appreciated Flufux, thank you for always being here :)

Shadow Link
fleets: Well I'm still somehow chugging along with these chapters (miracle?). I hope
you guys are enjoying the fast updates! It's been a really long time since I've been
able to keep a schedule like this... (this is abnormal and this speed should not be
expected for future updates hahaha)
Chapter 7: Shadow Link
"Master Vaati."
Fuu almost dropped the dagger in his hand as he stared at Shadow Link grinning at
him from his bed. What? He turned over his shoulder, wondering if the infamous
Sorcerer of Winds had risen from the grave and was standing behind him. There
was no one there.
Shadow Link rolled over and then rested his chin on his hands, arching an eyebrow
at the puzzled Fuu. "I expected more of uh I don't know, a more excited reaction
than that, Master."
Fuu turned back to Shadow, and then slowly pointed a finger at himself. "Me?" he
asked incredulously.
Shadow Link stared back, looking surprised. After a few seconds, he slapped his
hand over his face and shook his head in aggravation. "Wow. Wow. Master Vaati I
know you think I'm an idiot but sometimes I feel like you belittle me a little too much.
So can you please," Shadow bounced on the bed, making himself comfortable, "let
me in on your plans? You clearly have an amazing plan rolling with an amazing
disguise, and I hate that you're leaving me out of it."
"Get off my bed," Fuu snapped, getting irritated by Shadow Link hopping around on
his bed. He could see a mud splotch on the blanket from where some dirt from
Shadow Link's boots had rubbed on. Shadow Link didn't seem to mind in the least
about getting nagged at, and in fact seemed to have expected the reaction from the
way he snickered and flipped off the bed. The doppelganger then hovered in midair,
reclining against an invisible wall.
"Seriously though. You somehow got those Sheikahs to trust you so much that you
can walk around anywhere in Hyrule Castle without any trouble. I always did like
your grandstanding, flashy style, but this new, manipulative tactic is fantastic,"
Shadow flashed a thumbs-up.

"Were you always this big of an ass-kisser?" Fuu asked. He'd always imagined
Vaati's minions to be more quiet. At the same time, he imagined that ordering
someone like Shadow Link to shut up wasn't going to be all that effective. At this
point, Fuu didn't really know what to think. Vaati's former minion was in his house,
and had mistaken him as wind mage himself. His first thought was that he should
probably capture him and then report him to Impa. He was also intrigued as to why
Shadow Link had mistaken him for Vaati. After all, Vaati was dead, wasn't he? Had
the news never reached Shadow Link?
As strange as Fuu found Shadow Link, Shadow Link's cheery grin was beginning to
disappear as he, too, became suspicious about the situation. " Huh. I expected
some kind of speech about how great you are," he said slowly, sitting upright. He
gradually floated back down to the floor so that he was no longer hovering in midair.
He took a closer step towards Fuu, leaning forward and scrunching his nose as he
got a better look at the Sheikah apprentice.
Fuu, worried that Shadow Link was going to find out eventually that he wasn't
actually Vaati, threw out his leg for a swift leg-sweep, knocking Shadow Link over.
For good measure, he also fired a powerful gust of magic, causing the windows to
shatter from the force and sending Shadow Link crashing into the wall on the other
side. Before Shadow could recover, Fuu dashed over and pinned him down under
his knee, and then quickly tied his hands behind his back with a belt that had
tumbled out of the closet. Fuu had been quick to pick up on the leg-sweep
knockdown after Sheik had used it on him repeatedly a few days ago.
"Ow!" Shadow yelped, his cheeks pressed against the wood floor. He'd been about
to complain some more, until he came face to face with the blade of a sharp dagger.
His eyes followed the blade that then slowly pressed against his neck.
"A shame for you that you didn't realize sooner that you'd mistaken me for someone
else," Fuu said coolly, "Sounds like you didn't get the news that Vaati is dead."
"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. He tried to wiggle out of his binds, but Fuu kept him
pinned down with a knee in his ribs. "But but that's impossible! You're him. You
have to be-"
"Why?" Fuu demanded.
"What do you mean, 'Why,' you look exactly like him!" Shadow Link shot. He winced
when Fuu pressed the dagger against his neck a little deeper.
"How dare you compare me to the one who tried to destroy Hyrule," Fuu growled, "I
live to serve the royal family, I am nothing like him. I've been a Sheikah all my life:

you have the wrong person."

"But you have to be him! You have to be because you have you" Shadow Link
trailed off, his eyes widening as though he'd realized something important. He
stopped struggling, and he stilled as he became lost in his thoughts for a few
seconds. A million possibilities ran through Shadow Link's head. Then, that smile
that had vanished earlier reappeared again, small at first but gradually widening until
it was like a sinister crescent. "Huh," he murmured, "Oh I get it. Hehehe I see what's
going on."
Kneeling above him, Fuu clenched the dagger tighter, wondering what Shadow Link
was up to.
"Vaati's dead, huh?" Shadow Link chuckled. His blue eyes swerved up to look at
Fuu. Still grinning, he began to speak in a way that didn't sound entirely trustworthy.
"Look, I made a mistake," he began, grimacing only slightly when Fuu "accidentally"
jabbed him a little with the dagger, "I am really, really sorry, and I know you're not just
going to let me go but can you at least hear me out?"
"I don't know," Fuu drawled lazily, though his expression was frigidly calculating, "I
was thinking about killing you right here since you're a former agent of Vaati."
At this Shadow Link glowered unhappily. "Holy Farore, can you just chill the fuck out
please? I was going to offer you some inside information on how to defeat Dethl and
I can't do that if I'm dead!"
At Shadow Link's mention of aid against Dethl, Fuu hesitated. However, he
eventually decided that he wasn't having any of his nonsense. "And why would you
do that?" he asked, "You used to work for Vaati and Dethl, why would you betray
them now?"
At this, Shadow Link gave a heavy sigh, turning his gaze back to the floor boards
inches away from his nose. "Look, I was Vaati's servant okay? To be more accurate,
he summoned me to this world, which technically makes him something like my dad
but that's weird so I was his servant, okay? I had no choice but to listen to everything
he told me to do." Fuu wasn't sure if Shadow Link was being genuine or not, but it
was a fairly convincing act. The mysterious Link-lookalike actually sounded
ashamed, almost, from the way his shoulders drooped a little. "It sucked!" Shadow
exclaimed, "I can't tell you how much I wanted to be rid of him. He always had this
awful temper and he got angry over everything. But apparently he's dead, which
means that I'm free and I can do whatever I want now."
Fuu contemplated Shadow Link's words, trying to determine if he was being honest

or not. "Why did you bother looking for Vaati? Couldn't you just leave?" he asked,
pointing out how Shadow Link had come to him, first. At this, Shadow Link laughed
bitterly.
"You can't be serious," he snorted, "You can't run from Vaati. No one can. If I don't
report to him first, he would get angry, angrier than usual and" he stopped, and
then he scowled, snapping angrily, "The point is, I couldn't 'just leave.'"
"But why would you betray Dethl? You could still be working with him," Fuu argued.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Shadow was trying to appeal to his pity, to make
him feel sorry for him so he would let him go. Or was he being too paranoid, and
missing the truth? What if Shadow Link really was willing to turn against his former
Masters?
"Fine, I get why you would be paranoid," Shadow Link grumbled, and then flashed a
bright smile, "The reason is simple: I like you."
"Now I definitely know you're lying."
"It's the truth!" the doppelganger asserted. "I've been watching you since you came
to the desert temple: you're like the cooler version of Vaati. Maybe it has
something to do with the fact that Vaati's summoning spell inevitably links me to him,
and that you and Vaati have a similar aura or something I don't know. I find you
interesting, and I feel compelled to help you," he shrugged. Or, tried to shrug, since
Fuu had him pinned to the floor quite well. "I also don't give a damned about Dethl
because they give me the creeps and they yelled at me for listening to music too
loudly. Give me a chance, yeah?"
Fuu scoffed. He'd had enough of Shadow Link's story, which was most likely twenty
percent truth and eighty percent bullshit. There was no need to complicate things
when the easiest answer was to get rid of him. "Nope. You're lying. I'm going to kill
you and tell Impa that you were dead when I found yo-"
"Go to Lake Hylia. Down at the bottom of the lake you'll find the first of what you'll
need to beat Dethl. Without it, y'all don't stand a chance against him."
Fuu fell silent as he processed what Shadow Link had just said. He lifted the dagger
away from Shadow Link's neck a little, but he still kept it close as a warning.
Besides, he didn't really like that knowing grin on the other's face, as though he'd
picked the winning slip in the Treasure Chest lottery. "What's down there?" Fuu
asked, trying not to sound too interested.
The way Shadow Link chuckled suggested that he knew he'd caught Fuu's interest.

"I promise to tell you, as well as help you collect the rest of the pieces that you will
need to defeat Dethl, but only after you let me go."
"Or maybe we'll send you over to the Dark Temple for some quality interrogation,"
Fuu shot.
"Or maybe you'll let me help you get all of the pieces to beat Dethl because tick
tock," Shadow Link tutted, pointing at the broken heap of gears and cogs that had
once been Fuu's clock, "ya'll are running out of time, aren'tcha? Trust me, it'll be
faster if I help you."
All was still in the house except for the faint noise of breathing and the light patter of
water dripping from the faucet in the washroom. Fuu's hands shook slightly, and for a
few brief seconds it almost seemed as though he was going to plunge the dagger
into Shadow Link's neck. However, he eventually placed the weapon back in its hilt
and slowly released pressure off of Shadow Link's back. He still kept the belt tied
tightly around the doppelganger's wrist, just in case. Wordlessly, Fuu found some
more rope and tied Shadow Link to a chair.
"Hey, I appreciate how you decided not to kill me Master Va- I mean what is your
name again?" Shadow Link asked, happy that he was no longer trapped against the
uncomfortably hard floor and that Fuu had decided not to kill him.
"Gufuu. Fuu for short," Fuu muttered under his breath, pulling on the ropes to make
sure the knots were extra tight.
"Gotcha, pal."
"I can still make you quiet in a permanent kind of way, you know."
At this Shadow rolled his eyes, mumbling out of earshot, "And I thought you were the
'cooler' Vaati."
Fuu stood up after he'd finished tying Shadow Link to the chair. With his wrists
wrapped together with a belt and his entire body roped completely together with the
chair, there was little probability that Vaati's former servant was going to get out any
time soon. Fuu shook his head tiredly, wondering what he'd done to deserve this
mess, and then made for the door. "I'll be back soon," he said with toned that warned
Shadow Link to stay put.
Shadow Link watched the door close shut after Fuu. The chuckle that he'd been
suppressing finally broke free, and he wheezed and coughed from laughter. His form
melted away into a black cloud, and the ropes that had held him to the chair fell

loosely to the floor. The cloud melted into the shadow by the foot of the chair so that
there was a large black shadow on the floor. It scooted away before it rematerialized
into Shadow Link, now completely free of his binds. "Hahahahaha! I love it when
they think they can restrain a shadow with ropes," he laughed. He took a few
seconds to find a piece of paper and quill, and then quickly jotted down a few parting
letters to Fuu for when he returned. He wished he could see the look on Fuu's face
when he realized he'd left. "I'll see you at Lake Hylia, Fuu," the shadow snickered,
"Don't be late."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fuu needed to find Sheik. Or Impa. He preferred Sheik over Impa because he'd just
gotten in trouble with Impa and he'd rather speak with Sheik. He vaguely
remembered Impa telling Sheik to meet her back at the castle, so he figured he
would be able to find either of them inside. As he made his way to the greater
courtyard to the front gates of the main castle structure, he couldn't help but feel a
little self-conscious about what he was wearing: he was still dressed in his casual
outfit, the plain weathered brown tunic rather than his Sheikah uniform, and he had
never set foot inside the actual royal castle before as far as he could remember.
As he approached the gates, the two guards keeping watch blocked his path with
their pikes. "What business do you have?" one of them asked, looking at the teen
with an unimpressed expression. The guard wondered how a commoner like him
had gotten through past the guards at the main gate of the outer wall.
"I need to speak with Sheik. Or Impa," Fuu said hurriedly.
The guards exchanged glances with each other. "Never heard of Sheik," the first one
said, and the second one nodded in affirmation. "And it looked like Impa was busy at
the moment. She was trying to find the princess earlier and she hasn't come through
here in a while."
Fuu groaned. No doubt Sheik and Impa had decided not to use the main doors. "Ok,
well I'm pretty sure they're back at the castle and I really need to speak to them. It's
an emergency."
The guard shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry kid, we can't let you in unless
you have an official appointment here. We can pass word along to Impa the next
time we see her, though? What's the emergency?"
Fuu bit his lip, frustrated. He couldn't just tell these guards that Shadow Link had
mistaken him for Vaati and was currently sitting tied up in his house. These guards
were flighty: there was a high risk that they would misunderstand what he was

saying and think it would be a good idea to keep him temporarily detained as well.
No, he needed to tell Sheik or Impa directly. "Just tell her or Sheik that I was looking
for them, and that it's urgent," he said. Then, he ran off to find a way to reach Sheik
on his own.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
About an hour later, Princess Zelda was in her room, still somewhat upset that she'd
been caught by Impa. Her guardian had given her a short lecture, but thankfully
she'd been allowed to skip the meeting she'd been supposed to attend. She would
have been much too late to attend it by the time she'd returned to the castle, and the
best course of action had been to tell the nobles that she'd been feeling unwell and
needed to rest: to be fair, that explanation wasn't too far from the truth. Not even two
weeks had passed since the final battle against Vaati, and since then she'd been on
edge trying to keep Fuu under a tight watch. She picked up a book she'd been
reading and walked over to sit by the window. She glanced at the door, feeling
somewhat guilty that Impa was now tasked with doing damage control for her
irresponsible escape from her duties. When Impa came back, she would be sure to
thank her repeatedly, and perhaps send in a special order to Smith for a new set of
daggers made specifically for Impa, since the daggers she owned were beginning to
age.
Zelda turned the pages of her book, noting briefly how nice it was to have clean,
untapped fingers again. As fun as it could be to run around as Sheik, she also
enjoyed a quiet afternoon in her own room, undisturbed by anyone and with a good
book and hot tea to keep her company.
She reached for the tea that the castle servants had set aside for her. As she did so,
something out the window caught her eye. She nearly spilled the tea all over the
floor when she saw what it was.
It was Fuu. He had made his way up to the roofs of the main castle building. He
appeared extremely suspicious, from the way he went from one window to the next,
peeking in as though looking for something.
"Oh for Din's sake Doesn't he have anything better to do?" Zelda sighed, standing
up again and casting a disappointed look towards the tea and her book. It didn't
seem like she could have that relaxing afternoon after all, even after all of the effort
Impa had gone to after giving her a scolding. She opened the little drawer in her
desk and picked up one of a dozen or so stones inside. The stone was a light,
crystal pink, and it glowed when she tapped it. "Agnes, I need you to take my place
again. If you see Impa, let her know that I had to leave but that I will be back briefly,"

she said, and then she put it back in the drawer before locking it with a key. Then,
with a bright flash of magic, Sheik took the place of Princess Zelda. He peered out
the window again, shaking his head at Fuu who was determinedly making his way
from one window to the next as though on a mission.
Sheik flicked open the lock and pushed his window open. He jumped gracefully
down onto the roof below, the tiles chipped and cracked indicating that he'd done
this many times before, and then he jumped across to the next set of blue roofs. He
teleported a short distance towards the area where Fuu was, and he eventually
managed to sneak up on the other Sheikah who was too busy looking into windows
to notice. "Trying to get a look at the ladies?" He asked when he finally reached Fuu.
Fuu, startled, nearly fell from the wall that he'd been climbing below.
Fuu looked above where Sheik was crouching on a perch, and he shook a fist
angrily. "What? No! I was looking for you." He let go of the wall, and then he
vanished before he reappeared next to Sheik with a swirl of magic. Without
explaining what was going on, he grabbed Sheik's wrist. "Come on, we need to go."
"Go where?" Sheik had been about to ask, but before he knew what was happening
he found himself not on the Hyrule Castle rooftops but back in front of Fuu's house.
Phew, Fuu's getting better at teleporting: I barely noticed that he'd cast a spell...
Catching his balance, he rounded on Fuu. "Fuu, what's going on?" However, Fuu
had already disappeared into his house. He followed after him, and once inside he
saw Fuu standing frozen in the middle of the room as though petrified. Sheik
observed that there was something funny going on, especially the chair next to Fuu's
bed with a lot of rope pooled around its feet as though someone had once been tied
up but had escaped. He had a bad feeling about this. "What happened here after we
parted?" Fuu had found a note on top of the chair, and was muttering curses under
his breath.
"Goddesses damned it how could he have escaped?" Fuu scowled, crumpling up the
note and tossing it aside.
"Who?" Sheik asked, picking up the note that Fuu had tossed away and opening it
up. The note itself was not frightening in the least, and all it said was the following:
Come to Lake Hylia, alone, before I change my mind. However, the signature below
it caused a sinking feeling in Sheik's chest. He recognized the name, and he
remembered all of the terrible things it was associated with. "Shadow Link," he
murmured, reading the name aloud. Allegedly Vaati's closest henchman, the shadow
had been responsible for blowing up dozens of bridges and trade routes to cut off
remote villages, starving them slowly to death. His actions caused the blame to fall
on Link for several weeks before they could finally figure out what was going on, but

by then the damage had been done: the villages far from the central kingdom had
been targeted as they were more likely to pick up on any falsified rumors that the
hero was sabotaging them. Mistrust of Hyrule Proper was still high in some of these
targeted villages thanks to Shadow Link.
And then there was that one close encounter, when Shadow Link had encountered
Princess Zelda while she'd been travelling out on the road. They'd gotten into a fight,
which she'd eventually won with the help of Impa In fact, that was when they'd first
confirmed that Link had a doppelganger running about causing trouble.
"We need to let Impa know what happened," Sheik said, alarmed.
"No," Fuu took Sheik by the wrist again and led them out the door. "We'll lose too
much time if we do that. We need to find him."
Sheik's voice rose, and he became slightly panicked. He didn't know what kind of
conversation Fuu had with Shadow Link, but he couldn't let the two of them come in
contact any more. There was a dangerously high risk that Shadow Link would figure
out Fuu's real identity (if he hadn't figured it out already), which would potentially
lead to Fuu figuring out what had really happened to his memories. "This is too
dangerous for you. I'll handle it with Impa-"
"No," Fuu cut him short as he narrowed his eyes. "I'm tired of being left out of things.
You go find Impa if you want to, but I'm going after Shadow Link."
Sheik wavered. While he could try to immobilize and stop Fuu like he had done at
the desert temple, doing so would only break the still-fragile trust that had begun to
grow over the past few days. It didn't help that, logically, Fuu was right: going after
Shadow Link was top priority, and if Sheik wanted to find Impa then someone else
(Fuu) should be going after Shadow. Sheik gritted his teeth, and then pushed past
Fuu, making a run towards Lake Hylia. Between the choices he had, leaving Fuu
alone with Shadow Link was the most dangerous option: he had no other choice
than to follow Fuu to the lake. "Let's go."
fleets: As exciting as it would have been for Fuu to suddenly realize he's really mega
terror sorcerer, that would have accelerated the story so much that it would have
been boring. As it stands, this story will probably be... oh i don't know, maybe around
20+ chapters or so. We have a lot more crazies to cover first.
I realized that a few readers weren't familiar with FSA manga Shadow Link. If you're
curious as to what he's like as a character, you'll probably get a good impression of
him by googling 'shadow link manga' and looking at the images.

So what's Shadow Link up to, huh? Wish I could say more but that would be oh so
many spoilers and I do like my twists to stay extra twisty.
Also while I was getting a grip on the characters for this story, I really ended up liking
the idea that Dethl hates music of any kind (because of what happens in Link's
Awakening, for those of you who aren't familiar with that game) while Shadow likes
listening to a good tune every now and then.
Well not much else to say. Thank you again for checking this out! :D
Scarlet Firesong: Hahaha things are going to get a little rough now, that's for sure
XD
SubZeroChimera: Glad you liked it :D Aaaand the shit just keeps getting shittier.
Poor Impa. FFffff I have so much to say about Shadow Link but he's such a walking
talking spoiler machine D:
Serpent Tailed Angel: I'm glad you said that, since one of my worries was that this
story was going to be too similar in concept to either Rend or AI. Now that I'm writing
more of him, though, Fuu does feel very different to write than Gale. He's a little
more heroic and innocent-ish? And yesss Shadow Link! I enjoyed writing him way
back when he appeared in TU oh so oh so long ago. Thank you so much for your
comments!
Cattycheeno: Haha yeah I did sneak in an teeny tiny VaaZel there :P And Shadow
is great! He's not very interesting in the games (aside from the mischievous laugh
followed by some kind of epic bomb threat), but I liked his personality that was
depicted in the FSA manga. Hopefully I can represent it accurately here :)
Flufux: Shadow Link is one of my favorite characters, especially how he was
represented in the FSA manga. And hahaha that's fantastic XD I always thought of
him with a bit of a drawl (in the manga he says y'all) but I kind of like the british
version now that you bring it up.
And yes for trouble! It wasn't quite complicated enough yet, so we needed Shadow
Link to fix that :P
Lord Siravant: You got that right for sure XD
AquilaMage: The "see magic" thing will come into play again later :) And yup, he still
wants to be the best haha. I'm pretty excited about Shadow Link's role too!
Sorceress V: Shadow Link is here to bring in a whole new set of trouble :D Thank
you!

Vesperupus: Hahaha you predicted it right, the answer is they both got confused
XD The question now is how much Shadow Link figured out regarding what
happened :3
And thanks! This iteration of Zelda is slightly different than the Zelda I wrote in WIR
and FaV (the WIR Zelda took her duties a little more seriously than Demonbound
Zellie).

The Water Temple

fleets: I'm at my ALL-TIME record (I think) of submitting 8 chapters a day (almost - I
think I skipped one) in a row! Yes!
Not much to say other than the fact that I am extremely tired now hahaha
Chapter 8: The Water Temple
It was just past noon when Sheik and Fuu made it to Lake Hylia. It was a warm
summer day, and there were some people fishing from little canoes and children
swimming on the shores. It was not immediately obvious where Shadow Link could
have been, and Fuu wished he'd had a better idea of where to look for him rather
than "Lake Hylia." The lake was fairly expansive and there were plenty of places to
hide: Fuu could see small caves in the canyon walls that cradled the lake as well as
a few islets in the middle. While it seemed as though there had once been bridges
that linked the islets together, only the rotting wood of the broken beams remained,
and they stuck out of the water like pillars. Sheik and Fuu made their way down the
rocky slope that led down the cliff to the lake's shore.
"Do you have an idea on where we can find him?" Sheik asked as they walked to the
edge of the shore. The water lapped against the fine gravel and mud.
Fuu looked around, hoping that he could spot Shadow Link somewhere. The note
that had been left in his room suggested that Shadow Link would indeed be waiting
for him somewhere at the lake, but hadn't specified where. There was no sign of the
shadow anywhere along the coast. However, the good news was that he did have an
idea on where they could find him. The bad news was that he didn't like what it
would take to get there. "I think," he said slowly, looking out at the deep, glassy blue
of the lake, "he's underwater."
Sheik didn't seem all that surprised by the information, although he didn't look any
happier than Fuu. "So he's at the Water Temple," Sheik nodded. "The place had
once been used by the Zoras to pay homage to the water spirits, but has since been
taken over by monsters after Vaati's attack. That does seem to be a likely place to
find Shadow Link." He noticed a raft that had been tied to a dock nearby. He made
his way over and then examined the rope that tied it in place. Then, he quickly
looked around, making sure the raft's owner was nowhere nearby, and then he
quickly cut the rope to free the raft. Fuu ran over to Sheik, somewhat incredulously.
"We're just going to steal that raft?" he asked.

Sheik shrugged. "We're borrowing it. Grab those paddles next to that rock over
there."
"I never took you for the stealing type," Fuu grinned, tossing one of the paddles
towards Sheik who was already sitting on the wooden raft.
"We're borrowing it."
They paddled out to the center of the lake where the largest islet was. Although the
largest one on the lake, the islet was fairly small with only a single tree growing on it,
and it was big enough to accommodate a single shack and no more. Fuu was glad
that Sheik had agreed to come along, since the warrior seemed to know of the
underwater temple whereas Fuu would have had no idea where to start. When they
reached the islet, Sheik tied the raft to the single, lonely tree that grew there.
"The temple is directly below here. Keep swimming down until you see a cave
entrance and go through: you'll find a pocket of air once inside," he explained as he
made sure that the raft was secure. "Can you swim?" Sheik asked when he noticed
Fuu in a crouch, peering into the depths below with an unhappy expression.
Fuu's tone indicated that he was a little annoyed by Sheik's doubt of his abilities.
"Yes," he said, "but I don't enjoy getting wet." He added, "Shadow Link better be
there or else..." With a grimace, he pulled his boots off of his feet and he frowned
when Sheik jumped in ahead, splashing some water in his face. Silver scales
shimmered as startled fish swam away. Fuu slowly slipped his feet into the water.
The cool water should have felt nice in the summer noon, but they hadn't come here
for recreation and it was difficult to enjoy it. With a sigh, Fuu dropped into the water.
With a mutual nod, the two Sheikahs dove into the depths to the Water Temple.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fuu gasped for air when he broke the surface at the entrance of the Water Temple.
The underwater cave had been deeper than he'd thought, and he just barely made it
through the narrow tunnel to where there was air. He coughed, wiping his hair and
water out of his eyes to find Sheik, who had swum ahead of him. As he crawled onto
the turquoise tiles of the temple, he heard a scuffle nearby as well as Shadow Link's
taunting voice. He looked up, and saw that Sheik was restrained in a chokehold
against the wall with a familiar shadow holding a knife to his neck.
"I thought I told you to come alone," Shadow Link tutted at Fuu, tightening his arms
that were wrapped around Sheik's neck. "Or should I not have assumed that you
knew how to read?"

Fuu could see what was going to happen next from a mile away. After all, he'd seen
Sheik practice escape maneuvers with Impa over the course of the last few days of
training, and he'd seen that he was quite good at it. Fuu began to squeeze the water
out of his tunic while, with one quick movement, Sheik tripped Shadow Link off
balance with a short jab with his leg and then flipped him over, slamming him against
the floor.
"Ow!" Shadow winced, and then he scurried back against the wall when he noticed
that the knife that had slipped out of his hands was now pointed at his nose, instead.
He slowly raised both hands above his head as Sheik crouched in front of him
threateningly.
"You. We're taking you back to Hyrule for a nice, long chat," he said. He held up a
hand, and white magic crackled between his fingertips. "I'm sure Impa would like to
talk to the one who attacked those poor unsuspecting merchants a day ago."
"I was hungry, they had food, so I took some that's all!" Shadow said hurriedly, his
voice no longer confident. He eyed the sparks dancing around Sheik's fingers
nervously, and he seemed to be more afraid of it than the knife. "H-h-hey! Fuu! Help
me out here, will ya? I was good on my word, wasn't I?" he called out to Fuu who
was still squeezing the water out of his clothes. Fuu gave an unhelpful shrug. The
sparks along Sheik's fingers flashed with a blinding light, and when they dimmed
Shadow Link's hands were locked together with a shining rope made of magic.
"He escaped your binds earlier because he's a being of shadow. He can only be
restrained with light magic, or in a room with no shadow," Sheik explained when Fuu
approached to take a better look at their captive. Sheik's eyes narrowed as he faced
Shadow Link; the doppelganger was scowling miserably. "Now, perhaps you can tell
me what you were up to. For your sake I hope your answer is a good one."
Shadow Link glowered, trying to shake his wrists out of the binds without much
success. "Well your friend there," he gave a nod towards Fuu, "apparently forgot to
tell you that I was trying to help y'all by showing you how to beat Dethl."
"Well you shouldn't have escaped," Fuu shrugged nonchalantly.
"I was worried you'd go to the Water Temple without me," Shadow Link frowned.
"And I didn't want you to bring any friends along because I'd have to explain to them
all over again why I'm being so helpful. I don't like repeating myself, get it?"
Sheik stood up, twirling a dagger between his fingers. "All right, then let's get straight
to the point. I don't know the full story but from my understanding, there's something
in this temple that can defeat Dethl. What is it?"

A small smile appeared on Shadow Link's lips, and he looked pleased that he was at
least being given the chance to explain himself. He leaned back against the wall and
crossed his legs lazily. "They're shards. You can call them 'Dusk Shards.'"
Sheik was full of suspicion, and he interjected, "I've never heard of such things," he
said. He was pretty well versed in the various artifacts, real or no, that supposedly
existed in and around Hyrule. He knew of almost every legend and every tale related
to powerful artifacts, and he had never heard of the 'Dusk Shards' that Shadow Link
spoke of.
"Of course you haven't," Shadow Link grinned. "Master Vaati discovered them first,
and identified them as vulnerabilities. They have the ability to send creatures of the
Dark World back from where they came, including Dethl, who is itself a Dark World
being." He continued, pointing at the door of the Water Temple with his cuffed hands.
"Realizing their danger, Master Vaati broke the original piece into three different
Dusk Shards, and then sealed them away in three temples around Hyrule. They can
only be opened by Master Vaati, and strangely enough," Shadow's grin widened as
his gaze turned to Fuu, "You."
Fuu glanced at Sheik uneasily, while Sheik had tensed from Shadow Link's
suspicious, knowing grin. After all, dungeons that only Fuu could enter had been a
story he'd heard before. However, Sheik had never told him that Vaati could open
the dungeons as well. Were the dungeons Sheik had described, the dungeons that
only he could gain entry to, the same as the ones that Shadow described? Why
could they only be opened by him and the infamous wind mage? "Sheik," he asked,
a little more quietly than he'd intended, "could these dungeons be the same as-"
"You don't know that Fuu can open these dungeons yet," Sheik interrupted Fuu,
shushing the other Sheikah with a protective hand and rounding on Shadow Link
instead.
"I do. I saw him at the desert temple. The dungeons let him through where others
cannot walk," Shadow Link said simply, enjoying Sheik's unease. "Maybe that's why I
mistook him for Master Vaati?" he added with a chuckle, and gave a sly wink in
Fuu's direction. Fuu didn't notice, however, as he had a complicated expression on
his face and was staring at the blue-green tiles on the floor, lost in thought. With
another chuckle, Shadow Link suddenly hopped onto his feet. He walked over to
Sheik and placed his cuffed hands against the tip of the dagger that was pointed
towards him, and shook his head disapprovingly. "If you don't believe me, maybe I'll
prove it to you, here. This temple is another such dungeon that was used by Master
Vaati to hide a Dusk Shard, and it can only be opened by Master Vaati, who is dead,

and Fuu here. No one, not even me, can get into the chamber with the shard. We'll
go and get the shard together, and then we can leave. It's a win-win: I get to show
you that I'm true to my word, and you get to go home with something that can beat
Dethl. Sound good?"
Sheik's grip on his dagger tightened, and he said nothing for a few long seconds.
Logically it did sound good, but in his gut he had a bad feeling about this, and that
Shadow Link wasn't telling him everything. He needed to figure out Shadow Link's
motive, but he couldn't see it. None of Shadow's behavior made sense to him,
unless he was leading the both of them into a trap (highly likely) and the Dusk Shard
either a.) didn't exist or b.) wouldn't actually help to beat Dethl. At the same time, the
story about how Vaati had sealed some kind of artifact did fit with Sheik's own intel.
But if this was true, then why would Vaati go through the trouble of taking extra
precautions to seal these artifacts? The only story that seemed to make sense was
the one Shadow Link told them: that these artifacts were the key to defeating those
from the Dark World.
It was all very confusing, and they were running out of time.
"All right," Sheik finally said, though not lowering the dagger pointed at the darker
Link, "lead the way."
"Heh, glad you came around. I don't think I caught your name, by the way," Shadow
Link said, walking over to the door of the temple. It was covered in fuzzy, brownish
yellow moss, hiding the carving of a large snake-like leviathan. He pressed his
weight against it, and it groaned open.
"Sheik," Sheik said, keeping a close distance to Shadow. Fuu tailed them slowly, still
seemingly lost in thought about what Shadow Link had revealed. The door led them
to a large open chamber filled with the turquoise lake water. The sound of rushing
water filled the chamber, and Sheik could see a small waterfall in the far corner that
filled the pool. The path that they were on led to a white stone structure in the center.
Below in the depths of the water, there were several entrances into the white
structure.
"It's easy to get distracted about where to go," Shadow Link warned, noting Sheik
looking at the various doors that led to and from the chamber they were in. "The one
we want to get to is at the bottom of the water. There's a switch on the far side of the
room that will drain the water to the first level. Down there, we'll find a door engraved
with a large eye. That's where the shard is."
Shadow Link's blue eyes glimpsed over his shoulder to where Fuu was. Fuu had

fallen behind a little, looking around at his surroundings with awe. A sly grin passed
over Shadow Link's face, and he slowed down a little, letting Sheik come closer.
"You know," he said when Sheik was near, in a voice so low that Fuu wouldn't be
able to hear the conversation, "I know what you did."
Sheik froze, the dagger just barely touching Shadow Link's back. He said nothing.
"You indoctrinated him, didn't you? That's Master Vaati."
The dagger shook in Sheik's hands, clattering almost. Red eyes widened behind his
mask and they wavered with increasing panic. Sheik's silence was all Shadow Link
needed for confirmation.
"Heh," he laughed softly, "I knew it." He began to walk forward again, though still
speaking in his hushed tones. "Don't worry," he smiled knowingly, "I'll help keep your
little secret. Besides," he turned around to flash a quick wink, "I have my own
reasons for not wanting that ugly truth to come out."
Without warning, Sheik's hand shot out towards the surprised Shadow Link with
lightning speed. He slammed him against the wall and raised his dagger, ready to
plunge it into Shadow's neck. Sheik's eyes had glazed over with some kind of
panicked determination, but his shaking hands betrayed his uncertainty. "You" he
whispered, "you're too dangerous. You know too much."
Shadow Link stared at the shaking dagger, his eyes wide. He hadn't expected such
an agitated reaction. Then, he noticed some of the tiles beneath his feet were
beginning to sink. The tiles were coming loose. Well shit.
"Vaati cannot return. I refuse to go back to that nightmare again, do you
understand?" Sheik said, not noticing what was going on by their feet.
"Sheik!"
Fuu ran towards them, shouting at Sheik to stop. Before he could reach them,
however, the floor beneath Shadow Link and Sheik vanished, and the two fell down
into the depths below. "SHEIK!" Fuu shouted, doubling his speed. However, it was
too late. The floor closed in on itself once more, covering the hole with white tiles as
though nothing extraordinary had happened. Briefly, the symbol of an ominous eye
flashed over where the two unsuspecting people had fallen before it, too,
disappeared.
He slammed his hands against the tiles where Sheik and Shadow Link had
disappeared. He remembered how Sheik had mentioned the various traps in the

dungeons that stopped trespassers from continuing forward to the secrets they held.
And he also remembered how he was perhaps the only one who could enter the
dungeons without setting off traps.
Him, and Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds.
Fuu stood up slowly, his hand lingering where the eye had flashed red over the tiles.
He would have to find another way to find Sheik again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sheik tumbled down into the darkness with Shadow Link somewhere to his side. He
was pretty sure he'd elbowed Shadow Link a few times during their fall, which he
didn't feel bad about at all since the troublemaker deserved it.
Just when Sheik had begun to wonder if they had fallen into a bottomless pit, he
slammed against a pool of cool water. The force hit him like canon fire, and he had
to force his eyes open to keep from losing consciousness. Dazed, he frantically
clawed at the water with his hands, trying to find his way up. He felt for the bubbles
rising, and once he found some sort of direction, followed them up towards air. He
gasped, coughing up water and trying to clear his nose.
The first thing he noticed was that it was pitch black. He couldn't see a thing, not
even his hands. As such, he couldn't tell what kind of place he was in, how spacious
it was, or how deep the water was. All was deathly quiet save for the quiet gurgle of
water from the splashing of his arms and legs. Then, he remembered Shadow Link.
Where was he?
Sheik splashed around, though not too much: he was worried about swimming too
far in an unknown, potentially dangerous area. After a few seconds, his adjusting
eyes noticed a faint source of light somewhere below his feet.
It was the glow of the handcuffs around Shadow Link's wrists.
Without hesitation, Sheik dove into the water after Shadow Link, who didn't appear
to be awake and was floating deeper and deeper into the pool. His cuffed hands had
prevented him from swimming towards the surface.
Sheik managed to catch up to him just as the water pressure began to pop his ears,
and he dragged him as quickly as he could back to the surface. With swift hand
motions, he released the binds that cuffed Shadow's hands together, and pulled him
over his shoulder to keep his head above the water. Out of frustration, and nearly

drowning himself from carrying both of their weight above water, Sheik slapped
Shadow Link hard across the face.
There was a violent fit of coughing as Shadow Link jerked awake and began to
breathe again. "Cough, cough. Is that is that you Sheik?" Shadow Link's voice
asked weakly from the darkness.
"Yes."
At this, there was a pause. When Shadow spoke again there was genuine confusion,
"You try to kill me and now you're saving me why?"
Without warning, bright, electric blue lit up the water from below so that Sheik could
see every detail of Shadow Link's confused creases across his forehead. The
confused creases then slowly turned into fearful ones as Shadow Link turned his
head towards the depths. The blue lights began to move, snakelike, in a languid yet
predatory circle. Sheik recognized the silhouette made from the blue glow as that of
the legendary aquatic giant, Morpheel.
He smiled bitterly at Shadow Link, his expression glowing faintly in that ghostly blue.
"Maybe I only wanted to bring you back to another kind of grave."
fleets: I feel like I should have a lot to say but I'm pulling all sorts of blanks because
I'm sleepy. I'll probably end up babbling a lot anyway in another chapter update.
Cattycheeno: Yay! Glad you're enjoying this so far :D And yeah they really got him
good: Vaati was really awful in this story's "world" (it's not the same one as the other
stories I've written) and they definitely do not want him to come back in any sort of
way.
I really enjoy writing Shadow! I kind of wish I'd used him more in the past :)
Scarlet Firesong: Aw thanks! I figured some people might have similar
questions/comments as others and posting them all here would be nice :)
AquilaMage: I'm having a lot of fun writing him! He's different than the other
characters I've written so far. And you got that right! Shadow definitely knew more,
as was seen in this chapter. Old Vaati was more obnoxious to Shadow than Fuu was
for sure haha
Lord Siravant: hahahahaahaha i love that (I was laughing when I read your note)
XD

SubZeroChimera: Yuuup. It's too bad he didn't really know what Shadow Link could
do. More smug Shadow on the way, unless I kill him in the next chapter HA
Flufux: And that's why I like characters like Dethl, because they have so many
possible variations/interpretations. And ugh tell me about it: I too did not really like
Ganon's sudden appearance. I guess it kind of stayed true to the games, with him
stealing Vaati's thunder and all.
Serpent Tailed Angel: I literally just got your review as soon as I was about to
submit this :P Wow I really like your descriptions of Gale and Fuu. That's. So. Perfect
I love it! Yeah, Fuu definitely does not have that 'emo Vaati' vibe that Gale has. He's
a lot less sour. And lol I've written so much Vaati it's getting kind of ridiculous.
Sometimes I tell myself I should write a different character but I somehow keep
finding myself back to the one eyed purple bat grape. And ahhh I'm flattered thank
you ;n; (I think Rend took me for a spin with Fuu's characterization, too, since he's a
little different, though still kind of the same, as Rend Vaati)

What Lies Beneath the Surface

fleets: I started posting a few pictures related to this story on deviantart (I'm under
'fleetfleets') :)
Flufux also drew a comic featuring Fuu and my other Vaati-who-doesn't-realize-he'sVaati character Gale from Avilux Ignis, as well as his own Vaati (he goes by
Reptileman778 on deviantart if you want to check it out!)
Chapter 9: What Lies Beneath the Surface
Sheik and Shadow Link had disappeared, victims of the temple's traps. The only
guess Fuu had about where they could have gone was 'down.' Other than that, he
had no idea where to find them. This left him with little choice except to continue
onwards, and try to find his way down to the lower levels as fast as possible. Fuu
peered into the clear water that filled the grand chamber, and he could make out two
stories of doors within the central structure that was submerged in the water. He
recalled Shadow Link explaining how there was a switch on the far side of the room
that could be used to drain the water out of the chamber.
He quickly made his way down the rest of the walkway to the central building, and
then ran around it while being careful not to slip on the puddles. He half expected
another trap to pull him down into the black abyss, too, but with every step forward
he became more confident that the traps really didn't work for him. He had no idea
why, but the dungeon didn't seem to want to stop his progress.
He couldn't say the same for Sheik, and he hoped that he was ok.
Once on the other side of the structure, Fuu came across what looked like a raised
stone switch embedded in one of the white columns that rose from the pool. "That
must be the switch Shadow was talking about," he thought, and he pressed it. There
was a loud, lurching gurgle, and the entire chamber shuddered as the deep pool
began to quickly drain. Thousands of gallons of water disappeared, swirling into a
whirlpool until eventually all that was left were some shallow puddles on the lowest
floor.
Fuu teleported down to the bottom of the chamber once all of the water from the pool
had drained away. He grimaced a little when his bare feet stepped on a light film of
slimy algae that had been growing on the stone tiles, and he wished that he still had
his boots on his feet. Careful not to lose his balance on the slippery floor, Fuu began
his search for a "door with an eye."

It didn't take him too long to find the door. Or rather, it would have been more
accurate to say that he'd found a wall with a carving of a giant, ominous eye. He'd
found it along the side of the central structure, and the carving was about five feet
across in length. He took an additional lap around the cylindrical structure in the
chamber to make sure he hadn't missed anything, but there was nothing else he
could find that was remotely close to what Shadow Link had described. This had to
be it, but then why wasn't it a door?
"How am I supposed to get past this?" Fuu wondered aloud. He ran his hand along
the carving of the eye, trying to see if there were any secret mechanisms that would
reveal some kind of entrance.
As soon as he'd done so, something flashed in the corner of his vision. It was much
like how he could see spells, except the effect was much more powerful this
time. When Fuu had relearned some of the spells he could cast now, the best way to
describe it was that he could see them: it was kind of like how a skilled swordsman
could instinctively read an opponent's moves or how a master painter would know
just what colors to mix to create the perfect shade of hue. When he'd first woken up
in the Gerudo camp, he'd realized that he could see all of the illogically logical
nuisances and subtleties of the air around him. Of wind magic. Back then, it had felt
kind of like a tickle in his head, like a small spark of euphoria from an epiphany.
This time, however, the sensation hit him like the sudden nausea from drinking one
too many blue potions.
His vision became strange, like he could see but not see anything at the same time.
He could almost feel the cold stone of the carved eye with his vision, rather than
touch, if that were even possible. And then he became confused as to whether he
was still inside the temple or was somewhere else. He could see a hand reaching
out to him, and then it turned ashen grey as it cracked into stone. His vision changed
again, and this time he could see a faceless person, a young woman perhaps,
though he couldn't be sure. They were spinning on the balls of the feet, dancing, and
there was a slow, rhythmic heartbeat muffled in his ears. Another crack, and the
woman stopped spinning and the heartbeat died. Her stone frame toppled and
smashed into dozens of pieces on the floor.
A flash, a blink. Fuu's vision passed and he realized he'd collapsed onto his knees.
He hadn't noticed until now that his pants had soaked up cold water from the
puddles.
He touched his own face in alarm when he noticed that he'd been smiling gleefully.
The vision had been disturbing, and yet he'd been smiling. "What what was that?"

he asked hoarsely to the carving of the eye.

He looked around, wondering if he'd imagined the disembodied hand and the
woman who had turned into stone. Nothing remained changed in the chamber, and
he seemed to be completely alone except for the company of the occasional gurgle
of water from somewhere in the temple. Finally, he looked back towards the carving
again, and he noticed something peculiar. Nothing about it had changed physically,
but he had some new kind of understanding for it that he didn't have before.
He slowly pushed himself back up on his feet, and then he looked at his fingers,
wiggling them a little. After a few seconds, he lifted one hand until he was calmly
pointing at the carving of the eye.
He took aim, and then whispered, "To Stone With You."
Energy zapped from his fingertips straight for the carving. As soon as it hit the wall,
the entire chamber came to life with a bright red glow that spread along the walls.
Hundreds of thousands of the eye carving glowed red along every inch of the
chamber, lighting up the interior like the fires of Death Mountain. Fuu heard a low
thrum as the stone carving disappeared into a hollow doorway, and just as soon as
they had appeared, the red eyes vanished.
Fuu looked around cautiously for several seconds, wondering if he'd triggered any
kind of trap. After all, those eyes had appeared rather creepy and sinister. However,
nothing else happened, so he carefully made his way over to see what lay hidden
past the doorway that had just appeared.
As he did so, he couldn't help but think about his connection with these dungeons,
and with Vaati. Maybe it was a coincidence that he hadn't triggered any traps yet, but
both Sheik and Shadow Link had told him on two separate occasions that he had a
special ability to navigate dungeons without triggering their traps. What made him
special? On top of that, it was almost as if the carving of the eye had been waiting
for him, specifically, to show him the spell that could turn things into stone. And did
he learn that spell just now, or had he always known it? Even more concerning was
the fact that he shared the ability to go through dungeons unhindered with none
other than Vaati himself. He couldn't help but wonder if Sheik had known about this
and had decided not to tell him about it, but why in the world would he hide
something like that?
The room past the doorway that was inside the central structure of the chamber
wasn't very spacious, and only contained a single pedestal with a clouded yet
brilliant shard. Fuu leaned close, observing the shard with his nose scrunched in

suspicion, before he gingerly tapped it with a finger. Deeming it safe (though still
suspicious), he picked it up and placed it on his hand.
No doubt this was one of the "Dusk Shards" that would supposedly help them defeat
Dethl. It lay flat on his hand, and the oily blue yet metallic silver gleam reminded him
of a mirror. He had expected an evil-warding object to be more holy in
appearance, as the shard had an almost foreboding and calamitous aura. He
couldn't quite put a finger on why he sensed that it aligned itself towards Dark rather
than Light magic, but that was the feeling he got. Maybe it was the way it felt heavier
in his hand than it looked, as though it wanted to fatigue the one carrying it, or
maybe it was the way it seemed to reflect light back into itself rather than reflect it
out, so that staring at it made it seem like you were looking into perpetual, murky
darkness.
Or maybe he was just tired and was imagining all of these things.
At any rate, they could find out more about the shard once they got back to the
castle. Perhaps they could get Shadow Link to tell them a little more about it.
Fuu stopped in his tracks. Oh crud, he thought, I still don't know where Sheik and
Shadow Link went.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"That's uh that's a really big eel, fish thing," Shadow Link nodded his head
nervously towards the gigantic creature that had lit up the water with its electric blue
light. Its bioluminescence pulsed along its sides, as it swam in a large circle beneath
them.
From the length of the blue lights, Sheik guessed that it was thirty, no forty feet in
length, roughly fifteen feet below them. He began to paddle backwards slowly,
careful not to startle the monstrous eel. "You've never heard of Morpheel before?"
Sheik asked, keeping one arm out in the direction that he was moving in. He was
hoping to find the edge of the pool they were in. A wall would provide some kind of
direction as well as a bit of mobility to push off of it if the monster decided to attack
them.
"No. Vaati didn't tell me everything about what he put in his dungeons," Shadow
replied. He, too, began to swim away from the eel still circling below, trying to find a
wall that they could follow in the darkness.
"Can't you do anything about this?" Sheik asked, "Aren't dark places your comfort
zone? It's plenty dark here."

"Well yeah, but swimming stinks. And bombs don't really work all that well
underwater. If I could find a wall then I can phase into it as a shadow."
Suddenly, everything became dark again as the lights along Morpheel's sides
dimmed. The blue lights had been a sign of the monster's agitation from having
something foreign suddenly drop into its domain. The monster had apparently
decided that whatever it was that had dropped into its lair wasn't anything to be
afraid of, and now that it had calmed again, it disappeared back into the abyss.
Sheik prayed that it hadn't decided that they were food.
"Yes! A wall!" From the darkness, Sheik heard Shadow Link's voice exclaim from
somewhere to his right. Sure enough, Sheik's hand also touched the rough texture of
water weathered stone. He heard shadow Link cackled gleefully. "See ya, sucker!
I'm getting out of here." Then there was a soft 'pop,' which Sheik assumed was
Shadow Link melding into the wall as a shadow, leaving him alone with the terrifying
darkness and the leviathan lurking within it.
Once again, he was alone with nothing but the consuming darkness of the lair and
the faint splashes of the water hitting against the walls. He was alone, with nothing
but the chilling knowledge that a giant was out there in the darkness, circling the
water.
Sheik needed light. He could potentially use the spell for the Holy Arrow, but that
would greatly risk giving away his identity as Princess Zelda in front of Shadow Link.
He ran through a list of all the different spells he knew how to cast which would help
him with vision. He decided to go with the spell of Divine Shield, as it could be cast
underwater and it would leave him with a glowing blue shield that would last at least
five seconds so that he could see his surroundings.
Sheik, still keeping one hand along the wall behind him, brought up his free hand
and forward. "Nayru's love," he murmured.
SLAM!
"Ah!" Sheik exclaimed in surprise as something rammed him against the wall no
sooner had he cast the spell. He forced himself to remain conscious; losing
consciousness in water would lead to drowning. As he tried to figure out what had
happened, Sheik caught a glimpse of rows upon rows of huge teeth, half the length
of his body, which were pushed up against the magical shield he had summoned. He
could see every detail of the ridged scales of the creature as it thrashed against the
shield that it had crashed into. Sheik paled as he watched Morpheel wiggle back
angrily after being thwarted from eating his prey. That had been extremely,

uncomfortably close, from being impaled between the monster's teeth.

Sheik wasted no time pushing himself sideways from the wall to swim quickly away
from Morpheel. The lair lit up in the same electric blue again as the monster became
angered. "I guess that's one way to summon light," Sheik gulped.
He needed to find a way out of here, and fast. He was no match against a monster
of this size underwater. While Sheik was a talented fighter on land, the water was
Morpheel's domain; there was no way he could stand a chance against it. Worse
still, he could feel himself getting fatigued from paddling in the water: if Morpheel
didn't kill him, then he would surely drown to death. He scrambled to find a way out
of what seemed to be a large, dome-shaped cave filled with water. It was fairly deep,
as the lights from the mega eel barely lit the sand at the very bottom of the pool.
The light around him dimmed again as Morpheel swam away, only to circle back with
increasing speed. Sheik clutched the wall behind him tightly with both hands, getting
ready to leap to either side as Morpheel closed in on him. Just before the eel
consumed him with its enormous jaws of double-lined teeth, and just before Sheik
could jump out of the way, a tremendous force pushed him under water without
warning.
Gallons of water had suddenly come pouring into the chamber from above, raining
down on them heavily with an explosive roar. Sheik briefly saw the eel writhing
against the sudden current, twisting as it fought for control, before he lost his own
sense of direction from being tumbled further and further downwards into the pool.
He clawed for air, and his ears throbbed in pain from the sudden change in pressure,
but it was no use: the surge of water was too powerful to fight against. He tumbled
downwards until he hit the sand at the bottom of the pool, with little chance to return
to the surface until the influx of water was stopped.
Sheik almost resigned himself to his fate to drown in Morpheel's lair when it occurred
to him that the surge of water must have some place to go, or it will overflow the lair:
there was a chance that there was a way out of the lair other than the hole they'd
dropped down from above. He looked around wildly, ignoring the pain in his ears, for
some sign of a vent or tunnel that led out.
There. He saw it, about ten feet away against the wall at the bottom of the pool was
a steel grate that blocked the way through a tunnel. His only chance to make it out of
this alive was to get through the grate and through the tunnel to wherever in
Subrosia it led to. Sheik crawled along the bottom of the pool, pushing himself
forward as fast as he could against the current. As he closed in upon his exit,
however, Morpheel came around one last time, knocking Sheik away as it thrashed

about in a frenzied rage.

No Sheik reached out for his last chance of escape. His vision was blurring, and
his chest was beginning to burn as his lungs screamed for air.
As he lost consciousness, the last thing he remembered was a firm grip around his
numbing hands. It reminded him of a secret handshake. Like the one with Link. The
one with Fuu. I wonder if he's worried about me he thought, as darkness
overcame him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Surrender, Princess."
The voice was cold and ruthless. She'd heard it before, and it filled her with fear to
hear it again.
"Hyrule belongs to me now."
It was the final battle. The fire and smoke from the burning plains stung her eyes,
and it burned the sorcerer's menacing red eyes a much more terrifying red. She
could see him sneer as the ashes rose around him into a black storm. The legions of
monsters that rallied behind Vaati was truly overwhelming, their numbers turning the
field into a cover like pitch.
The soldiers behind her were not enough. They had not expected such numbers, but
they still had to try. This was perhaps their last chance to have the Hylians, Gorons,
and Gerudos fighting together. There were no second chances. Their only hope
today was to defeat Vaati, and the battle would be over.
She knew what was going to happen next as she replayed the events of the final
battle. She pulled back the string of her bow, charging the Holy Arrow that would
pierce through the darkness and reveal a path of light. As she did so, Vaati would
transform from the pale skinned youth into a monstrous black eye with pupils burning
in hatred and rage. He would end the lives of hundreds behind her with a single
sweep of his claws.
But that was not at all what happened this time. As she aimed her arrow at Vaati's
heart, he continued to stand there without transforming into that hideous demon. His
sneer vanished, only to be replaced with a concerned frown. "Sheik? Did I do
something wrong?"
Her fingers trembled against the string of her bow. No, no this wasn't what

happened.
"I trust you, Sheik. Because you trust me, too."
"Fuu." Her voice was hoarse and broken. The legion of thousands that Vaati had
commanded all turned their hungry eyes on him, and they were released from his
hold. She watched helplessly as the black storm fell over the sorcerer, devouring
him.
"betray you"
Her fingers slipped. The arrow flew straight into the center of the darkness, carving a
path of light through it. The storm parted, revealing the wind mage still standing in
the center. He fell as the arrow pierced his heart.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sheik gasped, jolting awake. He fell into a fit of coughing, and his throat burned,
screaming for air. A hand roughly slapped his back to help him cough up the rest of
the water that was in his throat. Once he recovered from his coughing fit, Sheik took
a few minutes curled up on his knees, trying to process what had just happened.
He'd been dreaming something horrible, and before that he remembered drowning
He stared at the tufts of grass between his palms. He slowly raised his head to see
that he was in the shade of a tree, in fact the very one on the islet where he and Fuu
had tied their raft to. When he looked up further he saw the blue skies of Hyrule
above him. A familiar face interrupted his view.
"Hiya," Shadow Link waved.
Sheik sat up, surprised by the identity of his rescuer. "I thought you'd left," he said
quietly.
Shadow huffed, and waved him away. "Look, let's not make this more awkward than
it already is. Yes I saved you. You're welcome," he squeezed some water out of his
black cap, and then pinched its ends a little so that it curled the way he liked it. "And
now you're probably going to ask me, 'But why, Shadow? Why did you save me? Are
you actually a Hero?' My answer to that is, I wanted to even the score," he crinkled
his nose irritably, "Now I don't owe you anything, got it?"
The corners of Sheik's eyes softened, and he turned away from the shadow to take
a look at his own damage. His back was still sore from being slammed this way and
that by the Morpheel, and his hearing was a little muffled from water in his left ear.

Nothing seemed to be broken, and all in all he'd come out of the ordeal alive with
just a few bruises and several sore limbs. He smiled to himself. "Thank you."
Shadow Link bit his lip, flustered by the genuine gratitude. He threw up his hands in
frustration, "Ugh, don't thank me. I only did it because you saved my ass first, and I
hate owing favors," he grumbled. "I don't even get why you saved me in the first
place. Weren't you trying to kill me earlier?"
Sheik flopped back onto the grass, breathing deeply. He closed his eyes to rest.
"Yes," he replied simply. "You are dangerous."
"Then why?"
Sheik opened his eyes again. He watched the clouds passing by. He was relieved to
see that they were white, unlike the ones in his dream. "I" he started, and then
hesitated. He didn't really have a good answer to that. He hadn't really been thinking
in the limited time he'd had to make the decision to save Shadow. "I should have let
you drown. You are a former ally to Vaati, and perhaps a current ally to Dethl. You
know our secret of what we did to Vaati. I should have let you die," Sheik trailed off,
"and yet I didn't. I do not know why."
Shadow Link burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Well I'm glad it wasn't for some dumb
reason like 'I saw the light in your heart,' or something stupid."
At this, Sheik chuckled and they both fell into a thoughtful silence again. It didn't last
long, however, because Sheik remembered something incredibly important. "Oh
Din," he sat up again, "We completely forgot about Fuu."
"I didn't," Shadow grinned, "I'm sure he's doing fine."
"I have to let him know that I'm all right," Sheik stood up to leave.
At this, Shadow Link cocked his head with a curious glimmer in his eye. He jumped
up onto his feet and stretched, still with that lopsided grin of his. "Hey, so I gotta
ask," he started, causing Sheik to turn towards him questioningly, "What will you do if
'Fuu' ever finds out what you did to him?" His grin widened, "He'll probably kill you."
Sheik's expression tensed, and his eyes narrowed behind the cloth over his face. "It
won't come to that," he said sternly.
Shadow Link, however, wasn't dissuaded. "But what if it does?" he pressed, hovering
playfully in the air, "What if he finds out that you took away everything he ever had
and gave him a lie?"

Sheik sighed, and began walking towards the water that lapped against the grass.
"What do you care, Shadow?" he asked. Then he asked the question that had been
nagging him since he first found out that Shadow was supposedly helping them.
"And what are you hoping to accomplish by helping us, as you claim you are doing?"
"To be clear, I'm not helping you," Shadow Link clarified with a snort. "I'm using him
to get something I can't without his help, which is exactly what you're doing. Unlike
you, however, I'm also looking out for Master Vaati."
"And yet you don't want him to remember who he was?"
At this, Shadow Link's expression became blank, as though he had to think about
the question a little. After a while, he shrugged dismissively. "You wouldn't
understand. You were never a servant. You can hate someone, and yet still feel
compelled to look out for them," he said, though avoiding Sheik's gaze. "I don't want
him to remember because I like him better this way." When he noticed Sheik looking
at him in a way that suggested that he didn't believe Shadow was telling the whole
truth, the doppelganger crossed his arms angrily and changed the subject. "Y'all are
so dead when Master Vaati finds out what you did to him."
Sheik watched Shadow Link who had his arms crossed over his chest irritably. "You
may not want him to come back, but you are still upset about what we did to your
master," Sheik observed quietly, seeing a bit of clarity of Shadow Link's motivations.
He wondered briefly about the complicated relationship between Shadow Link and
his former master. Perhaps he despised him yet respected him, wanted to escape
him yet help him against the ones who had wronged him. Sheik had been right all
along: Shadow Link had never intended to help them at all. If they weren't careful,
Shadow Link might eventually use Fuu against them. "If Fuu ever finds out what we
had done," Sheik said carefully, "then I hope he remembers me as a friend."
"And that's what I hate about you people," Shadow Link spat, his false cheerful
demeanor completely gone now. The faade had been a mask to hide all of the
anger and bitterness towards Hyrule, and this was perhaps the first time that Sheik
had seen Shadow Link. The real Shadow Link. It was the one who couldn't bear the
suggestion of lifting a single finger to help Hyrule. Shadow Link was definitely not
trying to help them, and Sheik had been extremely lucky that Shadow hadn't wanted
to owe him for saving his life earlier. Shadow hadn't saved him out of the kindness of
his heart. "You pretend that you harbor friendship and kindness towards everyone.
Even when you don't," he glowered, "Friends don't lie the way you do."
"What do you know of friendships?" Sheik asked, genuinely curious about the
answer.

At this, Shadow Link smiled bitterly. He almost sounded lonely when he replied
resolutely, "I don't believe in friendships."
fleets: Shadow Link in this story is probably the most complicated character I've ever
had to write. How he acts on the surface doesn't fit with what he really feels, and he
has at least 3 different motivations that I have to keep in mind as the story continues
onward. I don't know if this was actually good story planning.
I tried being clever with the title but probably failed miserably hahaha ('Lies' beneath
the surface, because we have several liars in the story/chapter, and also there's a
giant fish monster swimming below the water's surface, and then vaati magic
beneath surfaces... yeah i'm so witty and clever hahahaha *shot*)
The pacing is actually quite difficult for me, so I can only hope that it's o.k. so far. I'm
not really sure what it is about this story in particular that I'm finding trickier than my
other ones. Maybe it's because I haven't really written a story yet with a fairly equal
distribution of attention to three characters (like yeah, I guess Rend kind of had three
and OA had several, but in all of those stories Vaati still overshadowed the others).
And I haven't even introduced Dethl properly yet... I'm having fun with the learning
process involved in writing this though :)
Morpheel is one of the underwater bosses from Twilight Princess, and one of my
favorite battles! He got a little makeover with bioluminescent sparkles in this chapter.
I'm really fond of fights with giant water leviathans :D
Thank you again for giving this story a chance! :)
Serpent Tailed Angel: Hahaha yeah it is! Now that you mention it, I think I could
have played that up a bit more (about how Shadow was being obnoxious) XD
Shadow Link's motivations are... messy. I hope I can reel it out appropriately (not too
rushed, but not too vague) because he's probably one of the more interesting
characters in my lineup this time.
SubZeroChimera: I know right! He's infinite! In this case it was a good thing Sheik
saved him or this story will have to continue with one less character. And yeahhh the
updating was a little crazy. I skipped a few days between the last one and this one
so it's a little less crazy but... still pretty crazy for me?
AquilaMage: Or a mix of both, with helping and abandoning at the same time XD
Fuu's getting more and more confused, yeah. Even more so now with the temple
jogging his brain with one of his trademark spells. I like to think of this entire situation
like a game of Jenga - eventually it's going to come crashing down spectacularly.

Cattycheeno: The witches did a really good job at erasing his past, which is part of
why it's so horrible. I've actually never played OoT so I still haven't fought against
Dark Link who I've heard so much about!
Flufux: Wildcard: that's a perfect word to describe him :) Haha that's awesome! I
can't really imagine what a mix of Scottish and Spanish sounds like, but that sounds
wild. And yes! I saw it! :D Thank you for letting me know I loved the cameos! I posted
a memo at the top to let other people know as well :)

Deception and Lies

fleets: I can't think of good chapter titles right now blahh
Thank you for reading the story up to now! :D I didn't proof this really well, which is
bad, but I got really impatient :((( (hopefully there aren't too many errors)
Chapter 10: Deception and Lies
It was about an hour later that they started making their way back to Hyrule castle.
Shadow Link had gone back to the temple to find Fuu again, since his ability to move
across walls made it less likely that he would encounter traps. That wasn't to say
that he managed to avoid every trap in the temple: by the time Shadow Link had
dragged Fuu back out of the temple, he'd had a flesh-eating bonefish nibbling his hat
and some jellyfish stings across his legs. Fuu, on the other hand, came back with
two bags full of rupees and a peculiar magnifying glass with the Sheikah symbol,
along with the Dark Shard.
"And Sheik here thought you'd be absolutely worried about us," Shadow Link
complained irritably, waving a hand at Fuu's new finds, "but apparently you were
happily raiding the place for treasures instead." He rubbed the spot on his hat where
the bone fish had punched a hole through it. He had decided, to Sheik's surprise, to
follow the two of them back to Hyrule castle after he'd returned with Fuu. Sheik still
wasn't sure how much he could believe Shadow Link's words, but the doppelganger
claimed that he was merely following Fuu and it had nothing to do with being helpful
to Hyrule in general. He'd considered locking the shadow's hands together to keep
him under control during the trip back to the castle, but considering how Shadow
Link was under good behavior for now, treating him like a captive would be more
trouble than it was worth.
Fuu rolled his eyes, ignoring Shadow when the Link lookalike showed him his ruined
hat for the hundredth time. "I wouldn't have run through practically every single room
in the temple if I'd known you guys had made it outside," he waved a hand at the
magnifying glass that he'd found, which was now in Sheik's possession. The blond
warrior was examining it closely as they walked back to the castle, looking through
the lens at different objects they passed along the way. "At least some good came of
my search."
"Indeed," Sheik agreed, pointing the lens at Shadow Link who took a step back
uneasily. Through the lens, Shadow Link no longer appeared as Link's doppelganger
but a shade-like creature with no discernible form. "You somehow found the Lens of

Truth, an old Sheikah artifact that had been lost to us for hundreds of years."
Shadow Link leaned away from the magical glass. "You still haven't told us what it
does yet." He added, mumbling, "and y'all can stop pointing that at me, thanks."
They were almost at the main gates leading into Castle Town from Hyrule Field.
Sheik stopped, and with a faint grin he twirled the Lens of Truth between his fingers.
"How about I show you what it does?" he asked with what Fuu thought was an
unusually mischievous tone for Sheik.
"How about not."
Sheik tapped the glass with the back of his hand as though he'd seen something
important. "Ah. According to the lens, you haven't been very truthful to us."
"Obviously! Everyone has secrets they keep that aren't for nosy gossip seekers like
you," Shadow retorted.
"You're not going to help Hyrule,"
"Of course not! I already explained why I'm here and I've been pretty upfront with
you about it!"
"You're only here to help Fuu."
Shadow Link crossed his arms and nodded towards the castle. "You're just repeating
things I've already told you. Can we go now?"
"That's not everything the lens is showing," Sheik continued, and at this, he watched
Shadow Link's reactions carefully. "It says you're planning to betray not only Hyrule,
but Fuu, too."
Shadow Link's cheeks flushed crimson, and he stared incredulously at Sheik and the
lens in his hands. He glanced briefly at Fuu who had his gaze towards Sheik
questioningly, before he shook his hands defensively. "T-that's nonsense!" he cried.
"You're making that up! I'm going on ahead!"
With that, he ran off ahead through the gates and vanished, quite literally, into the
shadows. Fuu raised an eyebrow when he noticed the brief glimpse of a smirk on
Sheik's face. He'd gotten pretty good at reading the other Sheikah's fairly stoic facial
expressions. "Did you just" he trailed off, and then started again, "That's not what
the Lens of Truth really does, is it," he said flatly.

"Nope," the grin on Sheik's face became a little more noticeable, and he placed the
lens safely into one of the bags hanging from his hip. "I just wanted to see him
squirm."
"To be honest you were pretty convincing," Fuu shrugged as they made their way
after Shadow Link. "If I hadn't seen that little grin of yours I might have been fooled."
Then he said with a laugh, "You're an evil bastard yourself, you know that?"
"He deserved it," Sheik replied huffily.
"Can't argue with that," Fuu agreed with a smirk. The two Sheikah caught a few
curious stares their way as they made their way through the bustling Castle Town.
Up ahead, they could occasionally see Shadow Link running towards the castle. "Do
you think he'll betray us?" He asked, his voice thoughtful. The way he asked the
question suggested that he'd been thinking about the question for some time
himself. His hand absentmindedly drifted towards the pouch on his waist that
contained the mysterious Dusk Shard.
Sheik wasn't sure of the answer. He couldn't put together a full picture of what he
knew of Shadow Link. What he knew so far, or as much as he could actually 'know'
of Shadow Link, was that the doppelganger had no intention of helping Hyrule. He
was apparently loyal, for the time being, to Fuu, and he knew that Fuu was his old
master. It was unclear whether or not he actually liked Vaati, but he did seem to
respect him to a certain degree. The real question now was whether or not Shadow
Link had a new master, and if he liked Vaati enough that he wouldn't betray him.
Unfortunately, the answer for that question wasn't easy to determine. "I think he is
hiding something. Everything he says is too convenient," Sheik said after some
time. "He's lying."
"But what if he isn't?"
There was a hesitation in Sheik's steps when he heard Fuu's words. He was
surprised when he saw that Fuu was being completely serious about his question.
Sheik doubted that Vaati had ever been as willing to trust people as much as Fuu:
perhaps it was because Fuu didn't have any memory of experiencing the
consequences of trusting too openly. In this way, Sheik had noticed, Fuu was almost
like a child. Whether big lies or small lies, most adults have been disappointed at
some point in their life by the time they pass childhood. Without these experiences in
memory, Fuu could be naively trusting at times.
At this, Sheik couldn't help but feel guilt creep up on him as he thought about how
Fuu had no idea about the greatest lie in his life. If he ever did find out, what would

happen? To Fuu it would be one of the most shocking of betrayals "As a shadow
warrior, the cost of doubting all is much less than the cost of doubting none."
"But I can trust you, right?"
It had meant to be a jovial question, a small joke to Sheik's suggestion to trust no
one when it was obvious that they could trust each other. Sheik had to quickly turn
away to hide his almost pained expression, because what was obvious to Fuu was
not the real truth. The brutal scene from his nightmare echoed again in his head; the
scene where, just before he killed Fuu with his own arrow, the pale youth had said
confidently the most nave of words. I trust you, Sheik. Because you trust me, too.
Sheik lowered his eyes, and he also remembered Shadow Link's accusations.
Friends don't lie the way you do.
"You weren't listening to a thing I just said, were you?" he said eventually, brushing
the question aside jokingly.
As they laughed together, making their way back to the castle, Fuu never caught the
fact that Sheik had meant every word of what he'd just said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Impa was, as Sheik and Fuu had both anticipated correctly, not very happy with
them when they arrived back at the castle. It wasn't that she yelled at them or
threatened them angrily for causing trouble, no it was much worse than that. Instead,
she gave them what Sheik liked to call the "Final Impa" which involved being
exposed to the most disappointing of stares until it was so uncomfortable that you
ended up apologizing in a dozen different ways to make her stop.
What was worse was that Shadow Link had, in his distracted state from Sheik's
earlier accusations, gone straight to the castle gates without thinking about his own
position; namely that he was, according to Impa, an ally to Vaati and Dethl and
therefore an enemy. They were now in one of the meeting halls of the castle, and
Impa was silently watching the two Sheikah students with the Final Impa, with
Shadow Link sitting on the floor next to her sullenly, like a stray dog that had been
caught for the pounds.
Shadow Link looked up at them hopefully when he saw Sheik and Fuu. "Hiya," he
brought a hand up to wave, but then shrunk backwards when Impa shot him a
warning glare. "Uh help me out here before she kills me?" he suggested. "I already
told her how I helped y'all get the thing that will beat Dethl, and how we made it
through the Water Temple with amazing teamwork, and that I'm committed to helping
Fuu in any way I can. She doesn't seem to believe me, though, so I would really

appreciate your help?"

Sheik and Fuu glanced at Shadow Link, then at Impa, and then back at each other at
least so they could avoid Final Impa. The older Sheikah, with her arms crossed over
her chest, had tapped a single finger on her elbow in a way that had been so
intimidating that it put moblins to shame.
Sheik was a little more used to the damning stare, so Fuu broke before he did.
"We're sorry we didn't tell you, but we didn't have a choice," Fuu attempted to make
peace. He was able to meet her stare for two whole seconds before he looked away
awkwardly. "For what it's worth, what Shadow Link told you is true. For now," he
added lamely.
Only moving her eyes, Impa looked at Fuu, and then at Sheik who was nodding in
agreement. Eventually, she said slowly, "Even the part about how you promised he
would be a Sheikah in oath?"
"What? No!" Fuu exclaimed, while Sheik covered his face with his hands tiredly.
Shadow frowned indignantly when Fuu rounded on him. "What? How else was I
supposed to keep her from killing me on sight?"
"Maybe if you weren't such a liar," Sheik mumbled.
"I heard that! And you're one to talk!"
"Enough!"
They all fell to quiet attention at the sound of Impa's voice. Impa sighed heavily and
pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sheik, Fuu, I can't even begin to tell you how
disappointed I am to learn that you went after an extremely dangerous individual
without consulting with me first. Especially you, Sheik," she turned towards Sheik,
who hung his head in shame, "you should know better than to blindly follow
someone in what could be a potential trap."
"I'm sorry," Sheik said quietly. He knew that what Impa really meant was 'know your
position.' He was Princess Zelda after all.
Impa shook her head. "Never mind. I'm relieved that both of you came back in one
piece." There was a noticeable release of tension from the three teenagers in the
room when it was clear that they were finally going to move on to other matters.
"Now, about the Dusk Shards"

Fuu, who had anticipated the question, already had the shard in his hands and he
passed it towards Impa. "Here." Zelda's guardian took the shard, about the size of a
small plate, and turned it over in the light. As Fuu had already noted in the Water
Temple, the shard was dark and murky as though it absorbed the light that hit its
surface.
"That's it!" Shadow exclaimed, eager to prove that he was being helpful, "That's what
you'll need to beat Dethl. See? I told you I'm helpful!"
Fuu scoffed, voicing everyone's opinion. "I still don't understand why you're suddenly
helping us."
"I'm not," Shadow Link objected, taking offense, "Like I've said a dozen times by
now, I only want to help you, not them."
Fuu shook his head with a pitying tone. "Yeah, I don't understand that either."
Shadow grumbled, "I found you when I thought you were Master Vaati, but it turns
out that Master Vaati is dead. That means I'm not aligned to anyone, and I can do
whatever I want."
Fuu raised an eyebrow. "And you've decided to use your new freedom to follow a
complete stranger who just so happens to remind you of your dead Master?"
At this, Shadow Link's frown vanished, and was replaced by a faint smile. He sat up
a little with a slight tilt of his head. "You do remind me of him, it's true. Surely you
can't be surprised by that by now?" he chuckled when Fuu made a face. "I'm just a
lost little duckling, yeah? I'll follow anyone who fills role of my dead, dead Master
Vaati." He stretched his arms, appearing emboldened now that he didn't seem to be
in any immediate danger of being harmed. He disappeared momentarily into a
shadow cast by one of the pillars nearby and popped up again into the air a few feet
away. "Besides, maybe I also happen to want Dethl dead, too." He said, reclining
lazily in the air. He was chewing the tip of his pointed hat with a knowing grin,
observing the others' reactions. "Did you know that it was Dethl who betrayed Master
Vaati in the climactic battle? Dethl realized that you Hylians had prepared a trap
before Master Vaati did, but it never let Master Vaati know. It wanted to steal Master
Vaati's throne for a while now, but it knew it couldn't defeat him in a fair fight."
Shadow Link let the incredulous silence settle in. All three Sheikah was staring at
him, stunned. They were all familiar with how some mysterious black shadow had
attacked Vaati, granting them a chance at victory in the final, decisive battle. Impa
was the first to speak, though her normally level voice was faint. "That shadow that
attacked Vaati during the fight" she said, her arms uncrossing a little. "That was

Dethl."
Shadow Link nodded, winking. "I didn't think much of it at first, since I thought Master
Vaati hadn't actually died in that fight, and he would punish Dethl himself. But now I
find out that Dethl was responsible for Master Vaati's death." He jumped back down
onto the floor and then strutted over to Fuu, leaning on his shoulder. "As Master
Vaati's most capable servant, it's only fitting that I help ruin the one who betrayed
him, don't you think?" he asked, and then steadied himself when Fuu pulled away,
annoyed that his shoulder was being used as an uninvited armrest.
"Let's pretend for a moment that I believe you." Impa brought out the Dusk Shard
again, holding it out towards Shadow Link. "What are the Dusk Shards that you
speak of and how can they defeat Dethl?" She narrowed her eyes when the
doppelganger's answer wasn't very specific.
"I don't know what they are," Shadow admitted. "I just know that if you make them
whole again, then they can send Dark World creatures away from this world and
back into theirs."
"So what you're saying is that even with the Dusk Shards, we can't defeat Dethl for
good. It's only going to be sent back to where it came from?" Fuu asked.
At this, Shadow Link's grin widened deviously. "Sounds like y'all don't even know
what Dethl is," he snickered, wagging a finger tauntingly.
Sheik's brows furrowed a bit, annoyed. It was true, they knew very little of Dethl, and
the only reason they knew it existed was because of its one attack on Link when it
had revealed its name. Other than that, they didn't know anything about it, much less
what it looked like. They knew that it was no ordinary monster and therefore quite
powerful, but until its recent attacks in succession after Vaati's defeat, they hadn't
known how far its influence extended. Even with the recent attacks, however, its
appearance still eluded them and no one knew what it was like.
Shadow Link enjoyed their ignorance for a bit before he explained, babbling on
hurriedly in what seemed like a determined effort to appear helpful, "Dethl is
Nightmare incarnate. All of those bad dreams you have that make you wake up in a
cold sweat? Most of the time that's Dethl's influence. It's infinite, and it doesn't die. It
doesn't even have a physical form that you can stab a sword through. Well, I guess
that's only partially true. Master Vaati summoned it to this world first, letting it kind of
have a body of sorts. Dethl and I, we're both shadow creatures, in that our physical
forms are a little flimsy? Like I can't keep up this appearance for too long without
needing to go back into the floor to be a a shadow for a while." He noted Impa's

expression of surprise. "Yeah, I don't just disappear into walls because it's fun,
although that's a part of it. Anyway, you can't kill Dethl. You can try, but it'll just come
back over and over again. Your best bet is to send it back home with the Dusk
Shards."
A monster that can't be truly defeated, Sheik thought, turning over the new
information about Dethl in his head. What a troublesome creature you've unleashed
upon us, Vaati. He glanced over towards Impa who also seemed to be weighing their
options. "What do you think, Impa?" he asked.
Realizing that they were going to come to some kind of conclusion on what to do
about him soon, Shadow Link made one last ditch effort to demonstrate goodwill.
"Let me help, yeah?" he interjected, approaching the three Sheikah imploringly, "I'm
trying to do a good thing here. I'll tell you exactly which of the dungeons you need to
go to in order to find the last two pieces. I know exactly where you have to look in
these dungeons to find the shards. Without me you'll waste months bumbling around
the dozens of dungeons throughout Hyrule, and then even more months trying to
find the right chamber that hides the shards. Y'all need me. You're running out of
time."
Impa glanced back at Sheik as well, and for a moment Fuu thought there was some
kind of unspoken understanding between them. "Where are the last two shards?"
Impa asked Shadow.
"Well maybe I'll tell you if you promise not to kill me first?" Shadow returned. He
backed away slightly when Impa walked over. Impa was a fairly tall individual, and it
was intimidating when she leaned over towards Shadow.
"I don't think you understand your position," she said, her voice laced with a warning.
"Where are the last two shards?"
Shadow stared back into her eyes, and he almost wavered but he held his ground.
He gave one last sneer of determination. "Hmph. I'm not gonna just tell you."
"Tell us where the shards are, Shadow."
The voice cut through the air like a whip, and everyone turned to look at Fuu who
had spoken. It had been impatient, and cold like steel. Shadow Link, who had
managed to hold his composure even under Impa's scrutiny, betrayed something like
fear as his grin broke and vanished. For a brief second it almost looked like he was
going to get down on one knee like a servant before his lord, but he stopped,
remembering himself. Sheik didn't blame him: the way Fuu said those words just
now was eerily like Vaati's tone. Of course it couldn't be helped since Fuu actually

was Vaati. Shadow Link turned away, speaking in a low voice, " The Fire Temple in
the Goron Mountains. The last one is the Desert Temple by the Gerudo village."
"The Desert Temple?" Sheik asked, "We were just there days ago. We didn't see any
shards then."
"To the left when you first enter the temple is a wall with a carving of an eye, similar
to what Fuu should have seen at the Water Temple," Shadow replied, his voice still
quiet, "The shard is beyond that wall."
Impa nodded. "I see. Then it's decided. We make our way to both temples
immediately. Sheik," she gave a nod towards the blond. No sooner had she done so,
Sheik dashed forward on signal, his hands flashing with white magic. Shadow Link
fell backwards in surprise by the sudden attack, and he fell hard on his back as his
hands were bound together with Sheik's magic.
"Wh-?" Shadow began, but he couldn't finish his sentence when he saw the gleam of
a dagger arching through the air towards his head.
Shing!
A bead of sweat rolled off of Shadow Link's nose, and he dared to blink. Twice. He
brought a hand to his neck to make sure his head hadn't been lopped off. It wasn't.
His blue eyes raised slowly upwards, and they widened when he saw Fuu holding off
Sheik's dagger with a dagger of his own.
The daggers shook as they pressed against each other. Fuu glared behind their
silver gleam. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, his eyes narrowing.
The metal clanged as Sheik jumped back to disengage. He spun his dagger once to
readjust his hold, and then pointed it again at Shadow Link who was hiding behind
Fuu. "He told us everything we need to know. The fact still stands that he's a danger.
We can't keep him here."
"There's no need to kill him!" Fuu shot angrily. "If you really needed to, you can keep
him in the dungeons-"
"We cannot, unfortunately," Impa interrupted. "Sheik's magical binds is one of the
few things that can trap a shadow, but he cannot keep it up for more than a day."
"His dealings so far have been honest. To deceive him like that-"
"We promised him nothing. No deceit was involved," Sheik cut him off this time. His

voice was stern, but it contained hints of sympathy. "I take no pleasure in what I have
to do," he said quietly, "but we are still at war." He looked back at the other's burning
red eyes, and thought about the irony of the situation. Princess Zelda of all people
was being confronted by the former Sorcerer of Winds, a notoriously merciless
individual in his past life, for trying to eliminate a potential threat. Sheik bit his cheek;
it was shameful, really. But it has to be done.
"If you go through with this, I will never forgive you," Fuu snarled.
"Then what would you have us do?" Sheik demanded. "By the time he betrays us it
will be too late."
"I'll take responsibility for his actions. If he tries anything," Fuu said, his expression
contorted into one of terrible determination, "then I will kill him myself, and Hyrule
can do with me what it wills for reparation."
The tension was stifling, and neither of them moved for a while with their daggers
pointed at each other. Behind Fuu, Shadow Link was looking at him with a sort of
dazed awe. "Master Vaati" he mouthed quietly, forgetting that it was Fuu who
stood between him and Sheik.
For a few moments it looked as though Impa would have to intervene to force a
conclusion to the situation, but Sheik finally lowered his dagger. There was a
collective sigh as everyone visibly relaxed, their shoulders lowering and the edges of
their eyes softening. Sheik put his weapon away and glanced towards Impa for a
confirmation. When Impa nodded solemnly, he turned back towards Fuu. "Here," he
said, and extended a fist towards the former sorcerer. It took Fuu a few seconds to
understand what it meant, and he, too, sheathed his weapon. Their secret
handshake.
"You remember what I told you, yes?" Sheik asked as they clasped each other's
hands firmly. Fuu nodded silently. He remembered Sheik telling him about the
handshake on top of the roofs of castle town a few days ago. It means I choose to
trust you, he remembered Sheik saying, It means that I am sorry. "I wonder where
your faith in him will take us?"
"Our victory," Fuu replied, without any hint of doubt. So confident was he that it
sounded like there was no other possible outcome. He turned on his heel towards
Shadow Link who was still sitting on the floor, his hands cuffed together and a blank,
incredulous look on his face. "Release him," he commanded, and Sheik complied
hesitantly. Then, he extended a hand towards the dark haired teen, who took it
timidly as he stood up. "Don't disappoint me," Fuu warned Shadow with a chilling

glare. Shadow Link nodded earnestly, still dumbfounded by what had happened, and
then scuffled after Fuu who left the room with a nod and a brief "I'm tired. It's still my
day off, right?"
Sheik and Impa watched the door creak closed. Sheik sighed, and then scratched
his head. He hadn't expected Fuu to passionately stop his attack like that, but he
was also more surprised by how suddenly obedient Shadow Link had become the
moment Fuu had become assertive. Maybe they could keep some control over
Shadow Link after all. "Thoughts, Impa?" he asked.
"Admittedly I am relieved that no blood was shed today, especially by your hand,"
Impa replied heavily, "Unfortunately our task has now doubled."
Sheik nodded. Not only did they have to keep an eye on Fuu, but on Shadow Link as
well. Fuu was more manageable since he was at least predictable, but the same
could not be said of Shadow Link. At the very least, what occurred just now
demonstrated that Shadow Link did seem to be more willing to listen to Fuu. Maybe
there was some truth to what Shadow Link claimed after all. Sheik's hand touched
the hilt of his dagger. "Impa, do you think I did the right thing?" he asked quietly. "Did
I just endanger us all?"
Impa walked over placed a hand over Sheik's. "Even if you're disguised, you are still
Princess Zelda to me, Sheik. At times you have no choice, but your hand is not
meant to end lives." When Sheik raised his head, she smiled encouragingly, "You
placed friendship over wrath. There is no shame in that."
Sheik tried to smile, but it was somewhat bitter. He couldn't help but be reminded for
the second time within the last hour of what Shadow Link had said at the Water
Temple. Friends don't lie the way you do. "Thank you, Impa," he finally said, "I hope
you are right."
fleets: Ahh, the explanatory chapter. For any story I write, I always kind of hate
writing them, but I haven't really found a way around them. I don't really have much
else to say. My hope is that the chapter can speak for itself.
Flufux: No problem! :)
I liked writing that part too! I usually 'see' scenes before I write them out (apparently I
space out a lot when I do this haha) and I actually had a similar vision of sorts like
Vaati/Fuu did (the tricky bit was putting it all down on paper... er, screen).
As for Dethl, my biggest fear right now is that I'm going to build it up so much that it's
entrance is going to be a disappointment from the overhype :O

AquilaMage: I noted you already, but I just want to say again thank you so much for
the advice! It really helps to hear what readers are picking up on :D
Serpent Tailed Angel: I cracked up and lol'd so hard when I read your message.
lmao I didn't even realize that could be taken in that way XD (pfffftsnort)
Cattycheeno: This whole story is about trust and betrayal so those two themes are
going to get hammered down quite a bit. And hurray! I wasn't sure how many people
would catch that, and I was planning on noting it if no one figured it out before then
:D The title 'demonbound' does indeed apply to both Fuu and Sheik :3
Yup, that's a Vaati memory, though a distorted one at that :)
Vesperupus: Good catch! I actually discussed this a bit in chapter 6 when Sheik and
Fuu run away to Castle Town. Twinrova had assumed that he wouldn't remember
how to cast any spells, but Sheik deduced that Fuu's abilities are ingrained, just like
how magic is intuitive to demons (while most Hylians have to learn/memorize it). I
don't go into detail, but my idea here is that the Wishing Cap gave Vaati the ability to
cast spells instinctively.
He can't cast all of his spells yet, though, because he still needs some kind of idea
that he has that ability (here I'll cite my pet birds, who sometimes forget that they
know how to fly since they're so used to waddling around the house). He just needs
a bit of a push, or a trigger, to get him to remember his less obvious spells.
And yeah, Twinrova messed up his memory pretty badly. You can assume that they
did a really great job getting rid of anything related to his old life (which is part of why
what Zelda/Impa agreed to is so horrifying). Aspects related to something like
temperament, though, remains unchanged.
Fullmoon-senpie: Haha and I didn't realize I would actually come back to writing.
Welcome back! Thank you so so so much for your support it makes me so happy ;u;

The Slumbering Mountain

fleets: i like updates. do you like updates? i hope you like updates!
Chapter 11: The Slumbering Mountain
Fuu had trouble sleeping that night. Part of the problem was that he'd taken a nap
immediately after he'd left Impa and Sheik at the castle, and when he'd woken up the
sun had already set and he'd missed dinner. That wasn't all of it, however, because
he couldn't help but think about what had happened at the Water Temple. No matter
how many times he thought about it, it seemed like poor coincidence that he and
Vaati were the only ones who could enter specific dungeons without setting off traps,
and that only he and Vaati could open the doors with the eye carvings. Why would a
Sheikah student like him have any kind of connection with the infamous wind mage?
He stared up at the ceiling as he lay in his bed, waiting for some kind of epiphany
that never came. As much as he'd looked forward to lying around in bed doing
absolutely nothing before the morning's mess had started, he found no sort of relief
now. He decided to continue staring at the ceiling with an annoyed frown until his
body decided to get up. Eventually.
There was a rustle and a thud that came from somewhere to his left. Fuu slowly
turned his head towards the source of the noise, and came face to face with a
familiar shadow.
Shadow Link waved from the floor, where he'd spread some blankets and a pillow.
"Hiya."
"How," Fuu asked slowly, "did you get in here." He began to wish he could go back to
sleep.
"There's a crack under the door," Shadow Link replied.
"And what in Subrosia are you doing here," Fuu asked flatly.
Shadow Link shrugged, and he fluffed up his pillow. "No one gave me a place to stay
after they kicked me out of the castle."
"Just ask-" Fuu started, but then he cut himself short. He'd been about to say "Ask
Sheik," but he thought about the other Sheikah tilting his head slightly in a taunting
way and saying with that unflinching expression, "You said that he's your

responsibility." No, no, Fuu wasn't going to go through that. "Go sleep outside."
"Oh come on! I barely take up any space. I'll stay in this corner," Shadow Link
objected, lying on the blankets anyway and pulling the covers over his face.
With a loud, exasperated sigh and a snap of his fingers, Fuu sent Shadow Link's
covers flying off to the other side of the room. "I like my privacy. Get out."
"Pleeaaase I'll sleep in the closet if I have to Master Vaati, just don't make me sleep
outside in the sun."
"I'm not your master!" Fuu snapped, wide awake now.
Shadow Link scratched his head. "Oh yeah."
Fuu muttered under his breath as he flopped over onto his stomach to stare at the
wall instead. He tried his best to ignore Shadow Link as the doppelganger shuffled
off to grab his bedcovers again. In the darkness, Fuu could barely hear him as he
moved around the room. It was actually impressive how well Shadow Link could see
in the dark, since even the faint moonlight from outside was mostly blocked off with
the window shades. He thought about what Shadow Link had said. "The sun bothers
you?" he asked, curiously now. He glanced over to the barely visible outline of
Shadow Link on the floor. He saw the other teen's hat bobble up and down in a nod.
After a few seconds of consideration, Fuu relented. "Ok. You can sleep in the closet."
There was a disappointed pause, before Shadow Link asked, "Uhhh, can I sleep notin-the-closet and sleep out here, instead?"
"Nope, you suggested it. Closet."
Fuu could practically hear Shadow Link rolling his eyes in the dark. Vaati's former
servant stood up with a grumble, and began to drag his blankets towards the closet
on the other side of the room. "You're like, the cooler Master Vaati who's slightly less
cool than the cool Master Vaati," he grumbled.
"Deal with it."
Shadow Link disappeared into the closet, and there was a bit of grunting and some
banging accompanied by an "ow" from some objects falling in the closet. After a
while, there was an exclamation from the doppelganger. "Hey, this closet is actually
pretty roomy."
"They repurposed the barracks into a single quarter. That used to be where they

kept spare armor and weapons," Fuu explained.

"Nice," Shadow said approvingly, and there was a few more banging and moving
about as he made some space to lie down. Soon enough, however, there was
silence again, and Fuu was left to his own thoughts. It wasn't a good place to go
back to, since his thoughts were only filled with doubt and confusion. He couldn't
help but feel that Sheik wasn't telling him everything, especially regarding Vaati. The
sorcerer interested him. After all, he had been some kind of super powerful being,
almost like a god from what his memories vaguely informed him. Where had he
come from, and what had driven him to such destruction? Was it some hatred for
Hyrule, or something else? Fuu had tried asking Sheik more about the wind mage,
but he'd always evaded his questions.
"Shadow," Fuu spoke to the darkness. He heard a rustle from the closet as Shadow
Link shifted positions. "Tell me what Vaati was like."
It was quiet for several seconds, and Fuu wondered if Shadow Link had already
gone to sleep. Just as he was about to pull the covers over his head to try and get to
sleep himself, he heard the other boy's voice drift pensively through the closet doors.
"I respected him," Shadow Link said. "I didn't like him, and he wasn't always
someone you wanted to be around, but he commanded respect. I think a lot of the
more powerful monsters envied him for that, actually."
"You said that I was like him." In the dark, Fuu reached up to the ceiling, looking at
his hands.
He heard Shadow Link chuckle lightly. "You do. Kind of, but not really. Both of you
have this thing."
"Thing?"
"Yeah, something that makes people follow you. You have a presence people
listen to you."
At this, Fuu laughed, skeptical of Shadow's claims. "Ha! Tell that to Sheik."
"But you stopped him today," he said, stopping Fuu's bitter laugh. The Sheikah was
staring at the closet, surprised by Shadow's words. "He was going to kill me, and it
had been non-negotiable," Shadow Link was oddly quiet now, not like how Fuu had
seen him when they'd first met. "You stopped him, though. Vaati had that presence,
too. He could make people listen even before he lifted a finger to hurt them. Vaati
never bluffed. I don't think you do, either. You believe what you say, even if what you

say is sometimes stupid."

"Thanks I guess?" Fuu said, not really sure if that was a compliment or not. "Why
do you keep calling me the cooler Vaati, though?"
At this, Shadow Link laughed bitterly. "Vaati wasn't feared for nothing, you know.
What does it take to get the most powerful monsters in the world to fear you?" Then,
he added ominously, "Like I said before, Vaati never bluffed. Take that as you will."
It sounded as though Shadow Link was becoming increasingly uncomfortable about
answering this particular line of inquiry, so Fuu left him alone to think about this new
knowledge for a bit. Vaati sounded awful, but to be honest he was intriguing. He
thought he could understand what Shadow Link meant when he said that, though
Shadow didn't particularly like the sorcerer of winds, he had a certain respect for
him. Vaati sounded like someone who not only had the power rivaling a god's, but
the presence of one as well. Someone who went beyond the normal frailties of
mortal man; he was so unlike Fuu. Vaati was certain and grounded in who he was,
while Fuu was muddled and confused. Vaati was certain of himself and his words,
while Fuu was filled with insecurities about not being strong or important enough.
Vaati was despicable, but in a sense, he had everything Fuu wanted. Fuu cracked a
grin, and he turned towards the closet. "So basically I'm the cooler Vaati because I'm
his shittier double?"
There was a snort, and then a howl as Shadow Link cracked up in laughter. "Nailed
it," he cried, and it sounded like he was choking in the closet.
It took some time for the two of them to catch their breaths again. Eventually, with a
few hiccups here and there, Fuu went back to staring at the ceiling soberly. "I've had
this thought for some time now, and I was wondering what you thought of it," he
started slowly, after they had calmed down again. He took Shadow Link's silence as
a sign that he was listening, and continued, "I actually had this thought when I first
opened the hidden door in the Water Temple. When I touched the carving of the eye,
I had a weird vision of sorts."
"Weird," Shadow's voice floated from the closet again. "I've taken a look there before
myself, and I never had any kind of vision."
"It helped me remember a certain spell, and that spell was used to open the door.
Vaati and I are the only ones who can enter the dungeons. I think," Fuu's eyes
narrowed in the darkness, "I have the same kind of magic as Vaati does."
There was a pause from Shadow Link, as though he were wondering about what to
say. He eventually decided to be honest. "Yeah. You're right."

"I also started "remembering" all of these new spells after I had my memories
mucked up by Vaati. From what little I can remember, I don't seem to have known
how to use magic at all until I woke up at the Gerudo camp. This all points to one
conclusion," Fuu said, determination in his voice now.
Shadow Link didn't say anything. In the confines of his closet space, he bit his
cheek, wondering if his indoctrinated master had finally figured out what had
happened to him. For his own reasons, he didn't really want Vaati to learn about his
past, and he began to fear that he'd been too careless about obliging Fuu's
questions.
"When Vaati messed up my memory, he he must have affected me somehow,"
Fuu concluded.
What the dodongo dung? Shadow Link blinked. He'd braced himself for the worst,
but Fuu had taken the conversation into a completely unexpected direction. From the
other side of the closet doors, he heard Fuu's voice wonder aloud nervously.
"What if what if Vaati wasn't actually dead? He might have infected me, and is
waiting for the right time to take over my mind. You know, like a parasite or
something."
"Ahahahahahaha!" Shadow Link wheezed, clutching his sides. So close to the truth
and yet oh so very far!
"What? I'm being serious!" Fuu snapped irritably at the laughing shadow.
"I'm dying," Shadow Link wiped the tears from his eyes, "buddy, that's why I like you
so much better than Master Vaati." He snickered some more before he finally caught
his breath, aware that making Fuu annoyed might result in him losing his sleeping
space once again. "It's nothing. Nothing at all. You're right, I don't know why that was
so funny." he said between snorts.
Fuu ignored the snickering coming from the closet. He mumbled unhappily, a little
miffed by Shadow Link laughing at something he was seriously concerned about. "I
thought you'd know something about it since you were so close to Vaati. I think Sheik
might be hiding something about it, but I want to trust him."
Shadow Link stopped laughing, and there was quiet from the closet again. He
readjusted himself a little, pushing away a jacket that was hanging too close from his
face. When he spoke next, it was almost solemn. "Heh. Don't trust that blondie. In
fact, I'm going to give you a little advice because I like you, and I think you're cool,"

Fuu heard him say. "Don't trust anyone. Not Sheik, and not me. You can only trust
yourself."
Fuu frowned. "Why do you say that?" he wondered. It gave him pause to wonder,
and he had a feeling that Sheik was, indeed, hiding something from him, but he
wanted to believe that he could trust him. He brought a hand to his face and looked
at it wonderingly before he slowly curled it into a fist. It means I choose to trust you.
His frown deepened. How could he not trust Sheik?
In the dark of the closet, Fuu couldn't see Shadow Link's expression. It was a
knowing grin, one that invited caution. Shadow Link winked in the darkness.
"Because people will only betray you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was back to training again for the next three days. Impa was conspicuously
absent, which meant that Sheik was now the one to head Fuu's training. It was
mostly endurance training, as well as precision training. They'd abandoned bows for
Fuu since he was pretty pathetic with them, but they'd discovered that he was pretty
good at dagger throwing, especially when he used wind magic for pin-point precision
aiming. Fuu had hoped that Sheik would be a little more understanding about waking
up at the crack of dawn, but unfortunately the blond Sheikah stuck with routine. It
didn't help that Shadow Link often kept him awake at night, asking inane questions
and being irritatingly chatty in general.
Fuu was fairly sleep deprived by the third day. Shadow Link, on the other hand, was
completely unaffected since he never trained with them, saying it was tedious and
boring.
Day four rolled around. Fuu woke up when he felt the sun slowly burning his eyelids.
Still half asleep, he cursed whoever forgot to shut the window curtains last night to
block out the morning sun. His eyes fluttered open, annoyed at first, and then
panicked. The sun was already up above the rooftops, which meant that he'd
somehow overslept. He looked around wildly for an arrow of some kind, which
usually forced him awake if he'd overslept. No such arrow was to be found.
Is there no training today? Fuu wondered, still trying to shake away the morning
grogginess. He stretched his arms, sat hunched over on the bed for a few minutes
as he wondered if he should even bother getting up, and then plopped back onto the
bed when he figured he didn't feel like getting up yet.
No sooner had he done so, there was a knock on the door. "Fuu? It's Sheik."

Fuu scowled at the door on the far side of the room as he still lay in his bed. He
groaned loudly in response and then flopped over, facing his back to the door.
"I just wanted to tell you that you need to get ready to leave in fifteen minutes."
A louder groan this time, along with incomprehensible gibberish. Fuu climbed out of
bed and, still in his robes, stormed over to the door, slamming it open. "If you want
me to help you hide again," Fuu started, but Sheik shook his head.
"Impa came back from her errand. She's done making preparations to leave. We're
going to be gone for two or three days. We'll be leaving soon, so get ready."
"Uhhh, what? Leaving for where?" Shadow Link appeared, rubbing his eyes sleepily
and stumbling behind Fuu. He blinked, noticing Sheik, and then gave a tired wave.
"Hiya Sheik."
Fuu gave a "don't ask," sigh when Sheik raised a questioning eyebrow towards
Shadow Link behind him. "I'm going to hazard a guess that we're either going to the
Gerudo village or to the Gorons?" he asked.
"Yes. We're going to Death Mountain. Get changed, and bring your weapons. We've
already prepared everything else," Sheik confirmed. "You too, Shadow."
At this, Shadow Link perked up. He rubbed his hands together excitedly. "So you
finally need me to help you again, huh?"
"We're leaving for the second Dusk Shard."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The three of them met with Impa by the castle stables, and they left for Death
Mountain on horseback. Each saddle was equipped with extra luggage with
provisions and water to last them during their absence from Hyrule. As for weapons,
Sheik had brought a bow, Fuu brought nothing but his daggers, and Shadow Link
brought nothing at all, saying he had more than enough weapons on his person
already. Impa had what Fuu thought was the most impressive weapon: a gigantic
two-handed greatsword that was almost as tall as her and just as wide. Fuu had
never actually seen Impa fight, but he secretly hoped they would run into trouble so
he could see how she used such an outrageous blade.
It took them about an additional twenty minutes to saddle up and leave. They ran
into brief trouble with Shadow Link when his presence made the horses skittish, but
they eventually got them to calm down. Before long, they were making their way

through the vast Hyrule field and towards Death Mountain, where the Gorons lived.
" and he makes me sleep in the closet, how inhumane is that?"
Fuu shook his head, annoyed, while Shadow Link recounted to Sheik all of the
horrible things he'd had to endure while sharing the same roof with him over the past
few days.
"You don't have anywhere else to stay?" Fuu heard Sheik ask.
"I'm his responsibility now, aren't I?"
Another eye roll, and Fuu distanced himself from what he judged was an idiotic
conversation. Instead, he caught up with Impa, who was riding a few feet ahead to
lead the way to Death Mountain. The warrior's eyes never left their destination since
they'd stepped foot outside of the castle gates. Fuu looked up at the imposing
mountain, a veritable wall of rock that appeared to endlessly reach up into the skies.
He had to admit that he was a little excited about the prospect of exploring the
impressive mountain. His memory vaguely told him that he knew of this place and of
its strange mountain inhabitants, but none of those memories were clear. He couldn't
remember in what context he had visited here before, so everything was basically
new to him.
He wondered if he'd been as awestruck by the mountain the first time as he was
now.
"We're almost there," he heard Impa say as their horses began to gallop up the
rocky path that led upwards away from the fields.
Those three words would have been innocent enough to most people, but Fuu was
particularly good at catching nuances in tone, and he noticed that the way Impa said
those words just now had a faint tremor of dread. He looked at her questioningly.
"You're expecting trouble?" he asked.
At this, Impa returned a rare smile. "You are perceptive," she looked at him with
approval, but the smile didn't last very long. Their horses slowed when the road was
blocked by a tall vertical wall of rock. They dismounted, and tied their horses to a
convenient pole next to it. "This is the entrance to the Goron village but" she
paused, looking up at the top of the wall for signs of movement, "no one is here."
Now Fuu was frowning as he looked up at the face of the wall. It never boded well if
there was no sign of the people you were expecting. He followed after Impa who
began to climb the rope ladder that hung from the rocks to the left. Shadow Link

came after them, and Sheik took the rear.

Fuu knew that something was terribly wrong the moment he saw Impa reach for her
greatsword as soon as she'd cleared the top of the wall. He hurried to reach her,
pulling himself up for two more rungs before he teleported the rest of the way up. He,
too, reached for his weapons at the sight before him. What happened here?
Shadow Link popped up in the air next to them, followed by Sheik. The
doppelganger let out a long whistle, saying "Well, guess we found the Gorons."
Indeed, they had found them. Dozens of them lay on the ground as far as the eye
could see, none of them moving. None of them awake. Some of them had seemingly
collapsed on their way somewhere, such as a merchant who had fallen in the middle
of the path with his goods still strapped to his back. The rocky creatures, normally
holding an expression of pride and big-hearted welcome, now had faces that were
tense or contorted into a grimace, as though they had seen a nightmare.
Impa walked over to one of the fallen Gorons cautiously, a lumbering individual who
appeared to be one of the entrance guards. She checked for breathing, and then
placed a hand on his face. She tapped his face once, and then harder a second
time, but the Goron didn't wake. "They're alive, only sleeping," she announced, "but
they show no signs of waking."
"Impa, isn't this," Sheik began, but was interrupted by Shadow Link.
"Dethl. It's Dethl," the dark teen laughed nervously. A look of unease came over
Shadow Link as he turned from one unconscious Goron to the next. With an
apologetic smile, he suddenly vanished within Fuu's shadow.
"Shadow Link!" Fuu exclaimed, but Impa motioned for them to follow.
"Leave him for now. Let's find out what happened here."
Fuu frowned at the dark silhouette under his feet, and as though in confirmation, a
Link-shaped Shadow briefly emerged from his own shadow on the ground and gave
him a hasty wave before vanishing again.
The three of them, plus one shadow in hiding, pressed onwards carefully, watching
their backs as they made their way through the silent village. The scene was the
same no matter how far they made their way into the village: dozens of Gorons lay
fallen in an unwaking slumber as though interrupted from their daily routines without
warning. They eventually reached a narrow path that was shadowed by rocky cliffs
on both sides, which then opened up into a clearing. Geysers erupted from the

cracks on the ground, and the sparkling water vapor cast rainbows in the air. Beyond
the clearing was a cliff face that reached upwards to the summit of Death Mountain,
hundreds of feet above them through the clouds.
Along this rock wall was some kind of entrance with proud stone pillars lining the
side, but the entrance was blocked off with what looked like a rockslide. Large
boulders blocked the way to the cave entrance. In front of it, however, was the first
sign of movement that they had seen since they had arrived at the ghostly Goron
village.
It was a single Goron child, banging on the rocks blocking the way into the cave. The
boy banged on the boulders rhythmically with his tough, rocky fists.
"Hey!" Fuu started running towards the child first, but was stopped abruptly by a firm
hand around his wrist. He turned towards Impa questioningly, wondering why she'd
stopped him, and then he noticed how tense she appeared as she watched the child
like she might a venomous snake.
The commotion caught the child's attention, and he slowly turned around to look at
them, although he continued to hit the boulders with his fist. It was then that Fuu
noticed that something was horribly wrong; the child was moving as though he were
awake, but his eyes were closed and unseeing. "Help me clear the way," the boy
said in a strangely level voice, his fists hitting the boulders with a rhythmic thump.
"My friends are trapped inside."
"Fuu," Sheik whispered slowly as his fingers twitched towards the bow hanging from
his back, "use the Lens of Truth. Hurry."
Fuu understood what he had to do, and he reached inside his bag for the Sheikah
artifact that he'd recovered from the Water Temple a few days ago, when they'd run
after Shadow Link. He brought the purple framed lens, shaped into the Sheikah
symbol of a tear-dripped eye, up towards the eerie child in front of them who was still
banging on the wall.
"Please help me open the way."
Fuu squinted into the lens. At first, it seemed as though it revealed nothing more
than what they could already see: a Goron child hitting the rockslide, asking for help
to clear the path. However, the view through the lens buzzed with interference, and
what he could see through the lens was no longer a Goron child, but some kind of
murky cloud. He squinted harder, and the cloud began to take shape, slowly,
gradually

"HahAHAhaHaHAhahaHA!"
Fuu flinched backwards, accidentally throwing the Lens of Truth away from him in
surprise. Before he'd lost the lens, however, he'd caught a brief glimpse of what the
Goron boy in front of him truly was. He'd seen a charcoal black cloud as dark as a
hellish abyss draped over the boy. The cloud had appeared alive, as it twitched and
pulsed, tendrils flickering in and out of its core.
What had surprised him, however, was that the cloud had looked at him. There had
been eyes. Dozens and dozens of blank, pupiless black eyes.
Even as he recovered, he could still hear the demonic chorus of laughter ringing in
his ears, and he was disturbed to find that the laughter was coming from the little
boy, still banging away on the boulder. Without warning, the boulders blocking the
entrance to the cave began to crack, and the ground began to quake as though an
army of hundreds were banging back from the other side of the boulders.
Oh no. Ohhh no. Fuu thought, as he stared at the cracks along the boulders
becoming larger and larger. An insect-like claw burst through one of the cracks, the
rocks crumbling as whatever creature it belonged to tried to punch through.
"Our friends are trapped inside," the Goron child, now speaking in a terrible, demonic
voice laughed as the boulders began to break, "They need to be fed."
With that, there was an explosion of rock as whatever it had held inside the cave
broke free.
fleets: You guessed right if you guessed Dethl :D (i'm screaming with excitement but
I'm pretending to be calm for your sanity).
I also really enjoyed writing Shadow and Fuu in the first section of the chapter. It's a
real shame I'm not writing a ship-fic this time around (no official ships will be included
in this story, though imagining any is all up to you) because I think I can make a ship
work between any main character if I really wanted to. There's just so much good set
up I can include everywhere ugh (Sheik/adow? Sheik/Vaati? Vaazel? Zelimpa?
Sheikimpa? hmmm, maybe not Shadimpa or Vaatimpa, that would be trickier).
En Eee Way Anyway, I'm having all sorts of fun writing this story, I hope you guys are
enjoying reading it :) Thank you so so so much for your support!
Sub Zero Chimera: Post-demonbound Vaati is rolling in his metaphorical grave from
being unofficially known as Lord Fluuffy XD

AquilaMage: Hahaha that wasn't something that was planned originally, but ended
up getting included when I thought "what would Fuu do if left alone in a dungeon all
by himself?" XD
It actually connected nicely with what happened this chapter.
Figuring out what's truth and what's not in what Shadow Link is saying is going to be
pretty tricky to figure out. It's hard because I keep having to stop myself from
revealing too much about him right now lol. I promise it'll be clear when we get to...
the part where everything is made clear :P
icfehr: Hello, and thank you so much for reading! :D :D :D Hmm that's a really
interesting take on Vaati's magic, and magic in general! I like it :D I didn't think that
far regarding magic for this particular story :O
In this particular story world, Vaati's magic is similar to other monsters', in that it's
more innate than learned (like wizzrobes, those eye monsters like Froststare,
floating fire enemies like Bubbles, wallmasters). Because of this, he still knows how
to cast some spells even though his memories have been compromised by
Twinrova.
Lunamew: Exactly XD I wasn't sure if I should build that up (make it more obvious)
or not, but I couldn't find a way to include it in dialogue naturally. Writing Fuu and
Shadow are super fun right now though, I like writing them more than I thought I
would.
Serpent Tailed Angel: What is he thinking indeed? (it's 100 levels of hard right now,
trying to keep my mouth shut regarding Shadow haha).
Fuu can be pretty imposing at times. While Twinrova managed to clear his head of
key memories, his base personality (or maybe aura? not sure how to put it) that
made Vaati, well, Vaati, is still there somewhere. Of course he still acts like a trusting
cutie sometimes because he has no memories of experiencing betrayal. Yet.