Chapter 3

 Ganon looked up at Princess Zelda, who was trapped inside a magic crystal. She glared down at him. “You won’t get away with this! Link will find me, and when he does-” Zelda started.

“Shut up!” Ganon roared. Zelda was silent, but still continued to glare down at Ganon.

“Well, dear princess, I suppose it’s time to tell you why I brought you here,” Ganon began. Under the watchful glare of Zelda, he continued. “Long ago, those seven blasted Sages and those two blasted ancestors of yours and that pest, Link, sealed me in the Sacred Realm. Many years passed. As you probably know, being the smart girl that you are, I carry the Essence of the Triforce of Power within me. The original Princess Zelda and Link carried the Essence of the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom within them. I needed them so that I could gain the True Force. However, I couldn’t defeat them.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Zelda snarled.

“Silence! Now that I have you, I know I can get that pest Link to come here, too. I’ve been waiting so long for a proper revenge. And now is the time for it. I will make it worth it, as well. I know something you don’t, Princess Zelda,” Ganon said, his voice taunting.

“ What might that be, you pig?” Zelda enquired, voice harsh.

“No need to sling insults, Princess. I happen to know that as of now, the Triforce has no real holder.”

“You liar! Link is the holder of the Triforce!” Zelda exclaimed.

“Not anymore, dear princess. Although he managed to defeat me and win the Triforce for his own for a time, I came back. Now, whoever gets hold of the Triforce shall be its rightful holder. However, there is one problem. I actually need you two for one special reason.”

“Which is?” Zelda said sharply.

“ Well, you see, princess, since your ancestor was the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom, that means you shall inherit the Essence of the Triforce of Wisdom. That blasted boy, Link, will inherit the Essence of the Triforce of Courage. Once I have him, the Triforce will appear to me, and you two will help me use it for evil!” Ganon cackled.

“Never!” Zelda raged.

“You are so stubborn, Princess Zelda. You have no choice in the matter. And once I have Link, he won’t either!”

“You’ll never capture Link!” Zelda said, outraged.

Ganon’s cackle filled the room in reply.

  Link shielded his eyes from the harsh effects of the noonday sun. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, he estimated. He had spent quite a few hours looking for Anna, but it seemed as if she had disappeared into thin air. “When I get my hands on her....” Link began to himself. He was frustrated. As well as there being no sign of Anna, there were also no clues as to where Zelda had been taken, no clues concerning the Tetraforce. He sighed. This journey was turning out to be one of the most baffling he had encountered yet.

Suddenly, a group of stalfos emerged from behind a few nearby trees, attacking him. He slashed at them with his sword, driving them back. The countered by slashing with their own stubby little swords. Link knew that he’d have to retrieve the three pendants from the chest in the Castle where they were now kept to retrieve the Master Sword. One of the stalfos, more daring than the rest, stepped foward. Link wasn’t paying attention, and recieved a slash on the arm. Wincing, he powered up his sword with a spin attack. He released the attack, finishing off the stalfos. He sat on a nearby tree stump, examining the wound. It was superficial, but it stung as he pressed some cloth over it. Continuing to hold the cloth over his wound, Link looked up at the rocky face of Death Mountain, silhouetted by the sun.

Maybe Anna’s there, he thought. It was a dangerous place to venture alone, but knowing his sister, she’d go there, alone or not. standing up, Link gathered his things and started up one of the trails that would take him to the mountain.

  Anna’s head pounded and her back felt as if someone had jabbed her with a dagger. Eyes still closed, she tried to sit up, but a sharp reminder from her head and back made her groan and lay back again. A cloth, cold with icy water, was rested on her forehead. She realized she was laying on something soft. A masculine voice said, “Just rest, everything will be okay.” Anna could tell by the voice that it was a boy about her age. The air smelled damp and musty, and she could tell she was in a cave, or someplace underground. Blurry images greeted her as she opened her eyes. The flicker of torchlight made the walls of the place she was in take on an eerie glow. As her head cleared a little, she could make out the form of a young boy crouching beside her. She estimated he was her age, but he wore some of the strangest clothes she had ever seen. His shirt was white, with a red symbol that looked somewhat like an eye. His pants, bunched at the ankles, were a deep blue. The turban he wore on his head covered most of his hair, except for some dark colored bangs that showed from underneath. He smiled down at her for a brief moment. His eyes were reddish.

“It looks like you had a pretty nasty fall. What were you doing up here, anyway?” he asked her. There was a teasing light in his eyes.

“ I was up here looking for the missing Tetraforce pieces. I was battling a soldier. He knocked me off the cliff,” she explained.

“I’m Istas, of the Shiekah. What’s your name?” he asked.

“I’m Anna. I’m the Legendary Hero’s sister,” Anna replied. She couldn’t help but feel a little pride in mentioning this.

“Wow, really? We Sheikahs may live underground, but even we have heard of him!” Istas said.

“Yes. I was trying to look for clues about the missing Tetraforce pieces. I left Hyrule castle without telling my brother or the princess. They’re probably angry with me.”

“Hey, you seem to know everyone who’s important in Hyrule,” Istas said. Anna shrugged and said, “Yeah, I guess.” She’d never really thought about it that way before. Link was her brother, and the princess was their friend. She never thought someone would actually think she was important just for knowing them.

“Hey, I thought the Sheikah dissapeared from Hyrule,” Anna said.

“No, not completely. There are very few of us left. We live in our underground village and hardly ever come out. If we do, it’s usually at night,” Istas explained.

“Then...how did you find me out during the day?” Anna asked. Istas turned red. “Well, I.....don’t exactly follow the rules all the time. Sometimes, just for fun, I sneak out.” Anna nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, a voice yelled to Istas. Istas replied in a language Anna never heard of.

“Well, it looks like I have guard duty again,” he sighed. He pushed some clothing over to Anna. “Here, get dressed in these. It’s what everyone in my village wears, and they’ll know you’re an outsider if you don’t wear them. The Sheikah don’t really accept strangers now. Ever since Ganon.....” Istas left his sentence unfinished. Anna nodded.

“I’ll wait outside. Get dressed fast. The head of the guards doesn’t like it when you’re late. Get a spear from over in that corner.” Istas pointed to a spear laying in a nearby corner. With that, Istas took up his own spear, slipped some armor over his clothes, and stepped outside. Anna dressed quickly. The clothes Istas had given her were a shirt like his, and the pants were similar to his, only they were royal purple.

After dressing and putting the extra armor Istas had given her on, Anna grabbed her spear and joined him at the doorway.

“Come on,” Istas said. He led her toward the village entrance. She couldn’t help but marvel at the way the Sheikah lived. Their houses were caves,and many torches were lit along the doorways. Young children, dressed in the same type of clothing the adults wore, played in the dirt and chased each other around.

Suddenly, a large man wearing dark armor strode up to them. He was a burly fellow with stern eyes.

“Who is she?” he asked in Hylian, pointing to Anna. Anna was surprised the Shiekah knew Hylian.

“She’s from....another tribe in the desert,” Istas lied quickly. Anna watched as the big man’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“All right. You and desert girl get out there and guard. Nayru help you if I catch either of you slacking off,” the big man said. Istas nodded in reply, then took Anna by the hand and led her to the village entrance.

“Don’t mind him,” Istas said of the big man. “He’s Hagen, captain of the guards. He can be a little straight-laced, especially with newcomers.”

For a time, both of them stood on either side of the cave that led to the village. It soon began to get dark, and Anna noticed they were on the side of the mountain she’d never seen before. The sunset looked beautiful, unobstructed by anything. Beyond that side of the mountains, there was nothing but endless fields.

“Shouldn’t this job be a little more.....well, exciting?” Anna asked. Istas shook his head. “Nope. The only excitement a couple of lowly trainees like us ever get to see is the occasional wild animal passing through. All the senior guards get to go off and fight....if it ever gets down to that. We don’t like to fight, but with Ganon around, we sometimes have to,” Istas explained.

“How come you know Hylian? I thought you spoke your own language,” Anna said.

“We do. Long ago, only privileged Sheikah got to learn Hylian. Now, almost everyone speaks it. Sometimes, though, we speak our own language because it’s more comfortable,” Istas replied. Anna sat down and yawned. “What’s wrong? Tired?” Istas teased. Anna nodded.

A few minutes passed. Istas watched as Anna fell asleep. Smiling and shaking his head, Istas continued to look out into the night.

  Link, in the meantime, was looking into every cave and crevice in Death Mountain. He sensed that Anna was up here. Now, it was only the matter of finding out where.....

 Link reached the summit of the mountain. He was close to the Tower of Hera. Walking behind it, Link could see the other side of the mountain, as well as the long stretch of field behind it. Peering down into the darkness, Link thought he could see a cave. Dimly, he could make out two forms beside it. Maybe the’ve seen her, Link thought to himself. Carefully, he started down toward the ledges near the cave. Jumping on to one, Link began to walk toward the cave.

Istas, in the meantime, was pretty close to falling asleep himself. “I hate this job,” he muttered aloud. Why did he have to stand here every night? It wasn’t like there were any intruders around, anyway. Suddenly, Istas could make out a dim form moving toward them.

“Anna! Get up, someone’s coming!” Istas hissed. He poked her with the blunt side of his spear. She stirred, opening her eyes.

“Huh? What?” she said, confused. She made a clumsy attempt to grab her spear. She finally got her fingers around it, then struggled to stand up. She thrust her spear out, sharp point facing toward the oncoming person. Istas fumbled for a whistle around his neck. He blew it, emitting a sharp whistle. In an instant, Hagen and half a dozen other guards rushed out, capturing the intruder.

“Hey, let go!” a familiar voice said with surprise. “Link?” Anna asked, dumbfounded. “Hey-” she said, trying to talk to one of the guards, but they rushed past her and into the darkness of the cave. Anna and Istas watched as they took the intruder, arms behind his back, into the cave.

“Wow,” Istas breathed,”that’s the first time anything like that happened while I was on duty.”

“Istas,” Anna began.

“This is great! I’ll get promoted for sure!” Istas interrupted excitedly.

“Istas, that was my brother, the Legendary Hero, we just put in there. What are they going to do to him now?” Anna asked.

“Oh, by Din, that was your brother? Looks like we made a big mistake. I don’t know how to get him out though....”

“What?! You mean to say my brother is going to be a prisioner?” Anna nearly screamed at Istas.

“I, um....I’m sorry, Anna. I’ll try to think of something. Don’t worry, it’ll take the Elder of our village awhile to get around to questioning him,” Istas replied.

Just then, Hagen came out. “Good work, you two,” he praised. “Just for that, I’m going to let you go to bed early. Make sure to get up early tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure, Hagen,” Istas answered, leading the way in. They arrived at the cave that was Istas’s. Istas rolled out two bedrolls. One was Anna’s near a corner. Istas situated his near the doorway.

“Istas, I’ll be back, I have to go see Link,” Anna said.

“All right, just be careful. Hagen may not want you wandering around,” Istas warned. Anna promised him she would be careful.

Creeping out, Anna peered around the village. There was no sign of any prision cells where they might be holding Link. Finally, she spotted a doorway with two guards posted beside it. She made her way over to them. They glanced down at her sternly.

“Yes?” one of them boomed.

“I just...wanted to see a prisioner,” Anna explained.

“Now why would you be needin’ to do that?” the other guard asked. Anna thought quickly.

“Well, it’s, um, my first capture.....” she stuttered.

“Ah, a matter of pride. Go in,” one of the guards said. They both removed the spears that blocked the doorway. Anna made her way in.

“Link?” she asked softly. She made her way among the cells, most of them empty. Finally, she found the one containing Link. He was chained to the wall by the ankles and wrists, and he glanced up at her as she walked in front of his cell.

“Anna? Is that you? What in the name of Farore are you doing here?” he asked.

“It’s a long story, Link. This whole thing is a mistake. I’ll try to get you out by tomorrow, Link. We need to find those Tetraforce pieces as soon as we get out of here. By the way, where’s Zelda? I thought she was coming with us to help us find the pieces.”

“She’s been captured,” Link answered. Anna sighed. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” she said.

“Anna, get me out of here now. We can run off before they know it,” Link said. Anna shook her head. “The Sheikah here think I’m one of them, so I can’t just run away.”

“These people are Sheikah?” Link asked in surprise. He looked at her clothes. “That would explain what you’re wearing,” he said.

“Yes, these people are one of the very few groups that remain in Hyrule. We never see them, they try to stay hidden,” Anna said.

Suddenly, a voice said, “Your time is up!” It was one of the guards.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Anna said quietly, then made her way back to Istas’s room. Istas was already asleep when she walked in. Making her way to her own bed, she lay down. How will I ever get Link out? she thought. Try as she might, Anna couldn’t think of any way to get Link out of this situation. It was going to be harder than she thought, that was for sure.........

Back to Story Menu