Chapter 9- A new evil rises.

“So. She has escaped.”

The messenger nodded nervously. “Yes, your lordship.”

“HOW DID YOU LET HER GET AWAY?!”

The messenger flinched. Even after he freed himself from the magical orb Nayru had put him in, he still had his anger.

“Sh… sh… she was r…rescued, milord.” The messenger stuttered.

“Rescued?” Abu asked. “By whom?”

“Ummmmmm. We don’t know their names, sire, but you might recognise their descriptions.”

Abu nodded, slowly.

“W…well. One was a woman. She was of the Gerudo tribe, definatly. The other was tall with a blue outfit. He wore a white turban and mask. He had blonde hair that hung over one eye. He was definatly a Sheikah because he had red eyes and bore the Sheikah symbol on his clothing…” He began.

“Ahh. Young Sheik has decided to play a part in this fiasco. No matter, he will die anyway. If not by me, but by the dark Lord himself. Carry on.”

“The third person was a man of 17. He wore green clothing and…”

“NO!!!!!!” He shouted. The messenger jumped a few inches in the air. Abu clenched his fist. “Looks like the Hero of Time wants to have a little fun too. Lord Ganondorf won’t be pleased to hear this!” He marched off, his black cape billowing his wake.

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Raven was awake, but wouldn’t open her eyes. The morning sun was slowly climbing to it’s perch in the sky, slowly. The morning birds twittered.

‘We must have fallen asleep out here.’ She thought. She was still lying in the position she had lain down in and so was Sheik. She shifted her weight slightly and felt him squeeze her waist slightly. She looked up at his face to see him looking at her, his normally fierce eyes, twinkling. She moved so she was facing him, but still leaning on his chest.

“Morning.” He whispered. She smiled at him.

“Same to you.”

“Come on. Fado and Makar will be wondering about you.”

She nodded. She sat up, letting him stand. He helped her up and they moved towards to door. He laced is fingers in between hers and she looked at him lovingly. They walked through the door into the other courtyard.

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked her.

“I don’t know.” She said. She loved playing –hard-to-get with boys, but Sheik was even more fun, even if he knew what she was doing. He was about to answer when Zelda walked outside. She looked at them and ran up to them. She hadn’t noticed them holding hands, so Sheik slowly took his hand from hers.

“Good morning, Princess.” Sheik said with a small bow.

“Good morning, Sheik. Raven, I’ve been looking for you all morning! Where’ve you been?”

“Sheik’s been giving me a tour of the castle. Sorry if we’ve caused you any trouble.”

“That’s OK. This message came for you.” She said, handing her a letter. She read it carefully.

“What does it say?” Zelda asked.

“It’s from Link. He says that they stayed in the Kokiri forest over night. Fado’s fine…” She reread it. “Usual.” She handed it back to Zelda to read. “Do you think we could go to the Kokiri Forest?” She asked Sheik.

He smiled and nodded. “Do you mind, Zelda?”

“No not at all! You go off and do what you want, but could you ask Link to come back soon?”

Raven nodded and Sheik took her hand. They walked off back into the castle. They split at each other’s rooms, so they could get dressed. Raven dressed and went down to the royal stables. Sheik had selected two horses and gave one to Raven. It was a chestnut brown with matching brown mane and tail. They saddled and mounted. Sheik went slightly ahead of Raven when they got onto Hyrule field. It was still early morning. They cantered along for a while and Raven settled into the ride as they rode. But suddenly her horse reared, knocking her off. As she landed, a sharp pain came to her elbow. She shrieked in pain and looked up. A figure in dark armour stood over her. Fear came crashing down on her like a tidal wave.

‘No! It can’t be!!!!! He’s dead!!!!!!!’ She repeated in her head.

The Dark figure leaned over, went to grab her, but froze. He turned to see Sheik riding at full speed towards them. The figure turned, ran to his horse and fled. Sheik rode up to her and dismounted. He bent down next to help and helped her up. He caught a look at her elbow, which had turned black.

“Are you ok? Apart from your elbow?”

She said nothing. She was still in shock. He helped her over to his horse, since hers had run off in fright, and helped her mount. He sat behind her and kicked the horse’s flanks. They rode as fast as the horse would go until they got to the Kokiri forest. He eased her off the horse and put her arm around his neck, to give her support. He left his horse by Epona, and they slowly walked into forest.

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After Fado and Makar had fallen asleep on his bed, Link had sent a message to Raven via- a bird. He didn’t mean it to be funny, it was just that he needed to get a letter to her somehow, and a bird was quicker and easier. He wrote in his letter that they would spend the night in the forest and that Fado was fine. He also said he would be back around late afternoon. He knew Raven would piece it together, without the letter, but it was just an extra. He had slept on his roof, stretched out under the stars. He hadn’t done it in a while, so it was refreshing. When he had woken up, he had gone to Saria’s house. She was awake, but couldn’t make them breakfast, since she had not enough supplies.

“Don’t worry, Saria. I’ll go get some.” He had offered. He would take one of the shortcuts in the Lost Woods. Maybe he would take one to Goron city, make his way to Kakariko village and get supplies there. That was his best bet. He was setting off towards the entrance to the Woods, when Sheik and Raven entered. Link smiled, but then he saw something was wrong with Raven. He rushed over to help.

“What happened?” He exclaimed. Just then Raven collapsed. Sheik’s knees almost buckled under the surprise of it, but he regained his strength. He picked up her legs with his other arm and he and Link ran towards Saria’s house.

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Saria had been surprised when a hurried knock came to the door. She opened it and Link rushed in, followed by Sheik with Raven.

“W…wha… who’s that? W…” Saria began, but she was cut short by Link.

“Saria. Have you still got that bed I slept in when I grew out of mine? You know, I slept in it while I built a new one.”

“Yes. It’s in the back room.”

Link hurried to the back room, beckoning Sheik to follow. Sure enough the bed was still there. It was the same size as a normal single bed, but compared to everything else in the room, it was massive. Sheik laid Raven on the bed.

“I guess you want to know what happened, don’t you?” Link and Saria nodded.

“But before you start, who are you?” Saria asked.

“My name is Sheik of the Sheikah race. Link and I rescued Raven here from a tower in the desert.” Saria nodded slowly.

“Oh I see. Please continue.”

“We were riding along in Hyrule field, towards here. I was slightly ahead, so she could follow easily. Everything was fine, when I heard a shriek. I cantered back to see Raven on the ground, with a dark figure standing in front of her. It went to grab her, but I scared it off. I have a feeling she’s got a fracture in her arm, because of the purpleness of it. But when I got over to her, she was in total shock. It can’t have been just from that injury. So we’ll have to see what happened when she wakes up.”

And as if Sheik’s words are magic, she opened her eyes.

“Raven! Are you Ok?” Sheik asked, concern coming to his eyes. She sat up and rubbed her forehead gingerly.

“Yeah. Fine, sort of.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Saria.

“Fine in body, apart from my arm. But mind and spirit, not so well.” She turned to Link. “Do you think you could get Fado up? There’s something I need to tell him.”

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Link returned a few minutes later, with Fado rubbing his eyes with sleep. Makar sat on Link’s shoulder. Fado looked up, saw Raven and brightened up.

“Hi Raven!” but quietened down when he saw the look on her face. “Raven?”

She sighed. “Come here.” He did so and sat on her lap. “There’s something I need to tell you about. It’s about mother and father.” And she told him, plus Link, Saria and Makar since they were in the room, about their father. How he had beat her and their mother up. How he had finally killed Megara, and tried to kill Raven afterwards, when she had refused to join him. Everyone was shocked, but not as much as Fado. He had tears rolling down his cheeks.

“But why now?” Fado asked. “Why are you telling me now? Why not a few years ago, or few years later?”

“Because, well. Because that dark figure in the field was Him. That was our father. He’s back.”