The Legend of Zelda: Wisdom and Courage

Chapter 23: A Little Fall of Rain

In the empty darkness of Hyrule Field, Sheik walked alone in a swift silence, feeling hopeful and guilty at the same time. Her regret came from her recent fallout with Impa, though at the same time she was still fuming about everything that had happened. The Sheikah guardian had lied to her; she had been lying to her for most of her life. And yet, Sheik couldn't help but feel ashamed of how she had acted towards Impa earlier, knowing that it was most likely not the Sheikah guardian's intention to do anything but help her. Perhaps, the princess began to realize, she had been wrong. Perhaps Impa had always had her best interest in mind, and that keeping those painful secrets of the past from her had been a way of showing it. Now that Sheik had time to think through the situation logically, she realized that she had been tactless and foolish in how she acted. At that moment, she made a personal resolve to make amends with Impa the next time she saw her. The princess could only hope that their next meeting would be sooner than never.

With her heart and mind finally at ease over her disagreement with Impa, Sheik found that she was now able to focus on her more hopeful feelings instead. Of course, she was anxious and excited about reuniting with Link, perhaps more than she ever had been before. In one beautiful moment, their longtime friendship had grown into something so much more, but the princess wouldn't take back a moment of it now just for the sake of having that mere friendship back. She knew that things would certainly be different between them now, but that was fine with her. In fact, she was certain that now, they could only grow closer instead of apart.

After recollecting her wandering thoughts, Sheik looked ahead and realized that she was still a good ways off from the destroyed Castle Town, and she had no idea of the time thanks to the dark cover of clouds. An unsettling stillness lingered across the landscape, sending the occasional shiver down her spine and causing her to glance over her shoulder every now and then to make sure she was not being followed. She was certainly thankful that the Bow of Light was securely strapped to her back and that she had a limitless supply of sacred arrows, so if danger were to befall her, she'd be able to ward it off. But all the same, getting to the ruined city was her ultimate goal, for it was there that the hero she loved so much was waiting for her, waiting for the two of them to embrace in love and joy once more.

As Sheik kept her sights set of the walls of the town, a distant howl sounded out with several more immediately following in response, breaking the thick silence of the field. The disguised princess stopped and turned to the east, towards the direction that the wild cry had come from, immediately positioning her bow and watching tentatively to see what would emerge over the nearby hill. As she moved her hand over the bowstring to form her first arrow, the first creature peered its head over the peak of the hill. Sheik took in a sharp breath when she recognized what the beast was: a wolfos. Its large yellow eyes cast a piecing glow through the darkness as they locked their hungry gaze on the princess, but she didn't miss a beat. Before the monster could even charge at her, she had sent the light arrow flying and it hit its mark squarely in the forehead.

No more than a second after the first wolfos collapsed to the ground in defeat, another set of shrill howls echoed across the landscape. Sheik already had another arrow knocked as several more wolfos took the place of the fallen one, this time racing down the face of the hill straight at her. She let several arrows soar in succession, taking down quite a few of them, but even so, the army of wolfos kept coming over the hill, their pack seemingly endless. Sheik knew that no matter how many of them she struck down, they'd eventually clear the distance between them and be able to attack her directly. And so, deciding that fleeing would be smarter than fighting, she took off in the opposite direction, her fast feet giving her a good advantage as she ran for the thicket of trees that was less than a mile away.

As Sheik ran, she didn't dare take a single glance back at the ravenous creatures, and unfortunately that was her fatal mistake. Something suddenly latched down painfully on her ankle, pulling her down to the ground. Finally looking back, she saw that one of the wolfos had entrapped her leg in its sharp fangs. In a panic, Sheik used her free leg to kick the beast in its snout, stumbling to her feet as the wolfos released its iron grip. She began to flee once more, only this time, she had to endure the intense pain of her bleeding ankle. Terrified and exhausted beyond reason, Sheik knew that truly escaping in this condition would be futile. And so, she continued to hurriedly limp into the thicket of trees, praying that she could find a few moments refuge there so she could come up with a plan before the monsters came to tear her apart.