Post by Mike/Rolaka on Nov 24, 2023 1:56:30 GMT -6
There were rumblings in the dark, stirrings and movements that would have awoken the smallest creature, and yet no human knew what was happening. In an unknown home on an unnamed avenue in Castle Town, a couple stirred in the still of the night with their lovemaking. Passionately pawing and playing as they have time and time again, away from the obligations of their normally separate lives. He, a man of the Hyrulean Army, sworn to his duty as any other; and her, a woman of the Sheikah clans, of which she belonged to the most important and secretive, lay in his warm bed together. They caressed, they kissed, they teased... and yet the Sheikah woman was crestfallen.
"Must you leave me next week?" she asked desperately. "Plead illness, plead a tragedy, plead anything so you are not taken from me." Tears welled up on the edges of her red Sheikah eyes.
The Hylian man pressed a finger to her lips. "I swore my duty to the crown, and so has your clan, my darling." He caressed her face. "This is the culmination of that oath."
"But the battle will be terrible."
"So will Ganon's reign if we fail."
"But must you be a part of that slaughter?"
"Aye, I am a superior officer, my troops will be lost if I am absent."
She wept on his shoulder, squeezing her lover's frame tightly. Soon was a crucial battle against Ganon and his evil forces, a tipping point in the war. Should the army of Hyrule fall, then the Demon King's will shall be law across the kingdom. This man's presence would be critical in the doomsday to come, and she, a lone young woman, was powerless to stop the inevitable. Her tears wetted and absorbed into the man's skin, and he petted the fine white hair on her beautiful, yet frail head.
"My love," he said. "It shall be my finest hour."
After a long pause, simply holding one another and feeling the other's essence, she finally spoke, "Just come back to me..."
"This battle will be long and drawn-out. A test of endurance and will for both sides... but I will ensure that a letter is sent to you during the conflict. You have my word on that, Keiko," he kissed her passionately and deeply. The warmth and comfort of his embrace washed over Keiko, she had never felt more safe and secure in her entire life, even in the remote village she called home.
"Oh, Michael," Keiko sighed. "Please tell me you will see the end of it. Come back-"
"I know, darling." Michael said. "I will come back to you."
And Keiko believed him, she believed every word the soldier Michael told her. She dreamed of the house they would own together, the children they would raise, the peaceful world they would live in, with no need to march off to war. Keiko's sweetest fantasies could possibly become reality, so close she was to living those dreams... just one more battle and her lover would be freed from his servitude to the Hyrulean crown, and she believed he would return unscathed and an even better man than he was in their bed that wonderful night.
On the day of his departure, Keiko was late to the farewell march to the soldiers. She ran hurriedly through the crowd, but she was just a moment too slow. She watched as Michael rode out with his comrades to the battle in the Gerudo Wastelands. Tears streamed down her face as she witnessed her lover go forth to an uncertain fate, without a final goodbye from either of them. But something far more important plagued her mind than a mere "farewell". The reason she was late was that she discovered she was pregnant!
Keiko missed the chance to tell Michael she was carrying his child... and despite the battle ending in a Hylian victory, his promised letter never arrived.
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~TWELVE WEEKS LATER~
Keiko collapsed on the main thoroughfare of Himitsu Village, a remote and secret hamlet only known to the Himitsu Clan and the Royal Family of Hyrule. The Himitsu Clan had the closest relations to the Royal Crown, and were the strongest and most capable of the Sheikah clans. The leader of the royalty's personal honor guard was always a member from this clan, swearing their life to the protection and service to the current Monarch of Hyrule, of whom currently was Princess Zelda. In order to continue the alliance between the Himitsu Clan and the Royal Family, the first King of Hyrule decreed that the Clan would live entirely in secret, completely exempt from Hyrule's written records outside of a few choice documents, those of which were entrusted only to the Family and the Captain of the Hyrule Guard. The Himitsu would live in secrecy, outside the turmoils of the present day, and in turn the Clan would provide a warrior of peerless prowess to personally protect the Royal Family, and carry out their will. The warrior of this time was none other than Impa, championed as the greatest warrior the Himitsu ever produced.
Keiko writhed and wailed in her agony, and was taken into the home of Clan Elder Mari who appraised her with a most discerning, if ancient, eye. Keiko had suffered a cramp in her abdomen, and a change in her glow and gait.
"You are pregnant..." the Elder realized, seeing Keiko's burgeoning bump in her belly. Her own wrinkled and decrepit skin showed a glint of concern for her fellow Clanswoman. That concern was overshadowed by her right-hand, a man in his late thirties, sworn to the traditions and secrecy of the Himitsu.
"A bad omen, this is not the child of a fellow Clansmen, is it girl?" He asked with a proverbial venom dripping from his lips. Keiko shook her head in response and remained silent, exactly as she was raised to while her Elders were speaking, despite every emotion inside of her telling her otherwise.
"Keiko..." old Elder Mari sighed in disappointment. "You have put the existence of the Himitsu at risk."
Keiko lowered her head so that she was face-to-face with the floor. "I am sorry, Elder..."
"Sorry?" The Elder's right-hand interjected. "You could have exposed us to the enemy, and you had an affair with an outsider on top of that?!" His blood seemed to boil beneath his pale skin, turning it a deep and furious red. He stomped over to Keiko's kneeling form and towered over her. "You forsake the teaching of your people with your amorous escapades and all you have to say for yourself is 'sorry'?!"
Keiko lifted her head to meet the red eyes of the man, but was only greeted by a firm slap to her frail face. Keiko fell to the side from the force and tried her damnedest to keep her tears in. But alas, the waters of sorrow streamed down her newly bruised face.
The Elder quickly intervened, "That would be all! Fumihiro, leave us!"
The man turned to face the Elder, "But this transgression goes against everything we-"
"I SAID ENOUGH!... Now leave."
Fumihiro lowered his fists and departed from the women's company, sliding the door shut behind him as he exited Mari's home. Keiko brought herself up as she wept over her current circumstances. Given the secrecy of the Himitsu, she had violated their code by not only straying too far from the village, but also bearing the child of an outsider. The Clan prided itself on the strength of their blood, which they believed was derived from its purity. To have that Sheikah purity tainted by the seed of a Hylian was a most terrible offense... an offense that Keiko had committed with full awareness.
"You know the consequences for this, Keiko..." Mari warned.
"But why, Elder?!" Keiko shouted. "We serve the Royal Family for Goddesses sake! Why would this be such a travesty?! Is it so wrong to have Hyrule's blood in me?"
"Is that blood from the Royal Family? Did you manage to court the King himself? I doubt so." Indeed, the only blood the Himitsu deemed more worthy than their own was the Royal Family's. "Who is your suitor anyhow? A bum off the street of Castle Town?!"
"He was a fine soldier of the Hyrulean Army and he-" Keiko shook and shuddered, desperately holding back her anguish from the Elder. But her misty red eyes betrayed her, and she was forced to break down. She buried her face in despair, "He was killed in the Wastelands..."
Elder Mari, slowly strode toward her, "Regardless, the punishment is ritual shunning throughout the village, ultimately ending when you give birth to that half-breed and give it up to the outside world. It will not be raised as a Sheikah, let alone one of the Himitsu. It will never know of its heritage or culture of birth, for it may compromise the secrecy of our Clan. Do you understand?" The Elder's gaze shot straight into Keiko's core. She had no choice, other than complete exile from her home, and there were far too many risks otherwise.
All Keiko could do was nod in agreement, and with that the village Elder's composure softened, her own motherly inclinations kicked in and she embraced her younger Clanswoman.
After a long silence, she said, "I will aid you as much as I can. And I hope your child is healthy when it is time." Keiko returned the hug she had been given and wept into the Elder's shoulder.
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~THREE DAYS LATER~
Keiko awakened from her slumber in a groggy, somewhat nauseous state. She had almost fully recovered from her fainting days prior, but the effects of pregnancy were truly beginning to manifest. She felt bloated, there was a hardness to her belly, and she was not hungry... she was ravenous. Elder Mari kept her in a side room within her own home, in order to monitor Keiko's health and daily activities. But now, Keiko's shunning had begun, and the first rule was ostracization; Keiko was not permitted to join the Elder and Fumihiro during breakfast and was forced to stay in her room until they finished eating. While disheartening at first, Keiko came to appreciate not having to deal with Fumihiro in the morning. The man was already seen as something of a stick in the mud, a wannabe Elder who wished to prove himself to Mari so badly, often following codes and orders too close to the letter. But now with Keiko being shunned, he became someone she wanted to avoid whenever possible. Almost every line he spoke to her was some form of verbal abuse, she would be reprimanded for the slightest infraction, and the threat of further physical punishment was all but assured by him. Thankfully, the Elder would rein in his more extreme behaviors. She had a firm stance on Keiko's punishment, but made sure it never devolved into downright torture for the poor girl.
Keiko heard the front doors of the large house slide shut, Fumihiro had exited to begin his daily duties. "Come eat!" Elder Mari called.
She opened her own door and slowly strode out to the dining area, clutching her belly from the uneasy combination of hunger and nausea. On the table were the empty bowls and plates where Fumihiro and the Elder ate their meals, but one spot still had food prepped and ready to eat, obviously Keiko's breakfast. What lay before her was an assortment of bread, rice, noodles, soup, and even some Hylian trout, as well as a cup of still-warm tea. The Elder was clearly taking Keiko's pregnancy into consideration when she cooked this hearty meal. She was in her dressing room at the moment, so Keiko seated herself and slowly picked at the rice. Once it settled into her stomach, she felt the nausea disappear and Keiko proceeded to chow down in earnest. The bread was soft and puffy, the noodles were thick and tasty, and the trout was seared to perfection. There was very little in the way of toppings or seasonings, a Hylian may have considered this meal rather bland, but to Keiko it was delectable, the Elder was the considered the best cook in Himitsu for a reason.
Shortly after the last drop of tea, Mari entered the room, "ah, good to see you up and about." Keiko immediately stood up and bowed respectfully to the Elder.
"Thank you so much, it was wonderful," she responded.
"And you finished all your food, good. You will need the energy. Plus, it will make washing the dishes easier." And there was the catch. "All of them, and not a spot leftover. When you are finished, it's out to the fields with you. Your workload will be higher, and the other farmers will not speak to you. I cannot guarantee that nothing else will happen from there, but such is your punishment, understood?"
"Yes, Elder..."
"You will return at sundown, and the rules are upheld for supper." With that, the Elder turned and exited to perform her duties to the village. Keiko turned to the stacks of bowls and plates before her. She wanted to protest and complain but kept it in, the only way this would go smoothly is if she cooperated. She brought the first stack of plates to the wash bucket, and dreaded what farming had in store for her.
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~FOUR HOURS LATER~
Keiko wiped sweat from her brow as she cut more Hylian rice from the moist soil. Carrying the bundle of rice stalks and the sickle for cutting them was cumbersome, but she made it work. She had to, it was harvesting season, and today she was tasked with both the harvest and the threshing of the stalks. Normally this would be just another day in the fields, only that her shunning meant double the workload for her. Tomorrow she would clean the Cucco coop and round up the loose birds. And the day after she would help bundle more rice for storage. The labor would be intense, and Keiko wondered if this was just added punishment for her, or if the village wanted to get as much work out of her before she became too pregnant to do so.
Keiko threshed the last of the rice she was assigned to, the sun began to dip below the hills to the west and its light painted a golden hue over the land it could still reach. She removed her farming hat and let out an exhausted sigh, she would need to wash before dinner. I bet the Elder is already whipping up something good right now, hope it's meaty, she thought, and her stomach growled in response. But before she could leave, another farmer came walking up to her. This farmer was also a woman, she carefully scanned the surrounding area to make sure the coast was clear. As he approached, Keiko recognized her as her good friend, Hiyori, a fellow peasant of sixteen years.
"Hey!" she half-screamed and half-whispered. "Just wanted to say you did great work today. I thought the Elder gave you too much work, but you handled it well!"
"Thanks Hiyori," Keiko said in a low voice. "But what are you doing talking to me? You will be punished too!"
"Only if they see or hear us, and the rest of the farmers are back home eating supper. That means I have to get going too. But..." she leaned in to whisper, "I want to talk to you after dark. Behind the oak tree at the edge of the forest. No one will see us, I promise."
"Hiyori, that is a terrible idea."
"Why not? You've been sneaking out for years, you only got caught cus you're pregnant now." Keiko hated to admit it, but Hiyori was correct. How else would she have been able to maintain a relationship with a Hylian man? "Look, I'll be outside your window after 2:00 in the morning. We can go together, if we get caught it's my fault." She heard her name called out in the distance, Hiyori perked up and turned. "Gotta go, see you tonight."
Keiko returned to the Elder's house to the smell of freshly cooked meat. Fumihiro had already retired to his own room while Elder Mari finished the prep for Keiko's dinner. While breakfast consisted of the traditional Sheikah palette, tonight's meal was of Hylian taste. Prime steak with honey glaze, finely-sliced hearty radishes mixed with steamed mushrooms, and a glass of fresh Lon Lon milk. Keiko dug into the vegetables before tackling the meat, and just like before, the dishes were divine.
Funny... she thought as she savored the juicy steak, I get shunned for diluting the bloodline, when our cuisine is already halfway Hylian. It was indeed a question for the ages when it came to the Himitsu. To be the strongest Sheikah clan, yet the one closest to the Crown, was a complex position to be in. The goal was to be the greatest Sheikah in the land, but ultimately serving the Royal Family as they were the ones keeping order and balance on the continent. Naturally, this led to a strange and unspoken conflict within the Clan: how Hylian should they be? One camp felt that their strength was derived from the old Sheikah ways, and the adherence to tradition is what created such fine warriors fit for the Honor Guard. Others felt the influence of Hyrule's prosperity and adopting it into their lifestyle is what made the Himitsu strong, that understanding Hylian culture enhanced their ability to serve the Crown and ensured the Clan's survival. And a third camp had emerged, which believed that the cultural cross-breeding had turned the Himitsu into their own people entirely, beholden to neither Hylian nor Sheikah tradition, only the will of the Royal Family, such was the Clan's purpose after all.
The prevailing sentiment of the village would fluctuate based on the Elder's own beliefs. Past Elders had championed Hyrulean innovation, while others embraced their Sheikah heritage. Elder Mari herself was couched firmly between the first two camps, adhering to the core tenets of the Sheikah while adopting aspects of Hylian culture she deemed beneficial. Fumihiro was a true believer of Sheikah tradition and uniqueness, even his dinner lacked the Hylian touches, an empty rice bowl and tea cup remained in front of his seat at the table. Keiko felt she had embodied the third camp, quite literally in light of current events, she had always thought the Himitsu were just that... the Himitsu.
Keiko finished everything on her plate and capped off her meal with one last gulp of milk. She was expecting to clean these dishes as well, but Mari was satisfied with all the work she had done today, and ordered her to turn-in for the night. With a respectful bow, Keiko left the dinner table, washed herself clean, and climbed into her bed. Her exhaustion from the day's labor plus the fullness of her belly carried Keiko swiftly into a deep sleep.
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~2:00 AM~
Keiko heard a tapping outside her bedroom window. She slid the panel over and as promised, Hiyori was on the other side.
"Dammit Hiyori," Keiko whispered. "I'm exhausted, and if the watchmen see us, we are both in deep trouble."
"They can't see us from here," Hiyori said with a sly grin, "and it's only a short jog from here to the oak tree. Now come on, we don't wanna wake Fumihiro."
Keiko couldn't figure out what was more stupid, Hiyori's plan for a private chat, or the fact that she was going along with it. Despite that in mind, she silently climbed out the window and closed it, just as she had many times before. The two young women scurried toward the edge of the forest behind the Elder's home, and once under the coverage of the treetops, walked carefully to the lone oak tree. It was said that the tree was planted by an early Elder who received it as a gift from an early Hylian king. It was the only tree of its kind in Himitsu Village and it provided brilliant cover for Keiko and Hiyori.
As they slumped against the great oak's trunk, Keiko spoke. "Well, you got me here. What did you want to talk about?"
Hiyori shook with giddy excitement, "Everything! I want to know who your lover is, how you got pregnant. Is it gonna be a boy or a girl? Did you pick out a name yet?" She let out a little squeal and hugged her friend closely. "Gah! I'm so happy for you! I don't care what the Elder thinks, or what Fumihiro says, my best friend is gonna be a Mom!"
Keiko reluctantly returned the hug. "Hiyori, I appreciate the sentiment, but this is not a happy occasion for me." Her voice grew grim, "they want me to send my baby away after it's born, being a half-breed and all... and... and the father is gone..."
Hiyori loosened her grip, but did not release Keiko, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were grieving. But how could I? This dumb shunning thing means I can't talk to you normally."
"It's okay. There's alot weighing on my mind right now... I mean, I did have a baby outside of the Clan, and out of wedlock. Hylians would look down on me too."
"So what? It doesn't make you a bad person."
"But I made a bad decision."
"Having children is not a bad decision!"
"Then I made it at the wrong time. And good people still have to pay the price when that happens." The two ended their hug, and Keiko looked downtrodden. "I broke the rules, Hiyori. Just like I am now being out here with you."
"But you can't just accept it, right? Being cut off from everyone just because of one misjudgement? I hope not! You're gonna hate being a shut-in, Keiko!"
Keiko took a deep breath and rested her head against the tree, she had to admit that Hiyori was right. She was always a social butterfly amongst the Clan, and when that ceased to be stimulating, she began making friends in Hyrule proper, and eventually found Michael. Even the past several days seemed like torture to her, and she was expected to be ostracized for many months more. That is why, despite her active protests in her mind, she agreed to join Hiyori behind the tree. This was the most social interaction she had had since collapsing in the street. And while Hiyori did not completely understand what she was going through, she appreciated her company regardless.
The brief pause was broken by a voice, "You are not as clever as you think you are..." The women jolted upright, they had been spotted, followed, and found out!
Hiyori spoke up immediately, "listen, this was all my idea. I strung her along, I broke the code and..." The owner of the voice rounded the tree trunk for the two to see. "Oh, it's just you," she said relieved.
A young man of the warrior class loomed over them, only about fifteen years in age. Luckily, he was very familiar with Keiko and Hiyori, and kept his volume to a minimum. He was dressed in the usual white Sheikah garb and armed with a wakizashi. His name was Tengen, and was training to become a warrior under Fumihiro's tutelage. He had watch duty for the night and saw the two girls running into the woods. As a watchman, it was his duty to report them for breaking the village code. But as a friend, he wanted to speak to Keiko just as much as Hiyori did.
Tengen crossed his arms, leaned against the oak and asked, "did you think no one was going to notice you outside of Keiko's window, Hiyori? Hahaha."
"I was hoping we weren't," she pouted.
"Heh. Well it's a good thing I was the one who caught you guys. Anyone else and you'd be shunned right along with her."
Hiyori was indignant, Keiko remained silent.
"So how are you doing, Keiko? Are you okay?" He asked.
"Oh I'm hanging in there," she replied. "Worked my butt off in the fields."
"Mari sure loves putting people to work there."
The three friends chatted on through the dead of the night. Hiyori explained Hylian agriculture and cuisine, Tengen updated them on the progress of his sword training, and Keiko, when she found the nerve, briefly shared details of her relationship with Michael. The conversation flowed from point to point, with plenty of jokes and laughter along the way, eventually reaching the point where they simply ran out of things to say. As the night rolled on, Hiyori got up and bid her friends goodnight, and promised Keiko that she would never contribute to her punishment, and to speak with her again soon. As Hiyori sauntered off, Keiko stood up herself, ready to head back to bed. But before she could walk away, Tengen grasped her arm and urged her to stay for another minute.
"Is there something you want to say, Tengen?" Keiko asked.
"Yes," his eyes trailed off as he summoned the will to speak his mind. "I... I beared a torch for you for quite some time."
Keiko was taken aback. "Oh... I had... no idea." Her face flushed red.
"It's okay, Keiko. I never showed it. And to be honest, I will probably be arranged with another warrior. 'Strongest blood' and all that."
"Right... I'm sorry if I-"
"No no. Don't be sorry. You're a hard-working and beautiful woman, and I'm sure Michael knew how lucky he was to have you."
Her eyes grew misty, "thank you..."
"And I too promise to never make your shunning worse, I'll lighten it if I can."
Keiko opened her arms, and the two shared a warm hug. There was more Tengen wished to say, but the words fled from his mind during their embrace. Keiko appreciated the goodness in Tengen's heart, while he mourned that his love would be unrequited. And yet, he accepted that her heart belonged to another, even if that other had passed. Though that devotion went unreturned, he silently swore to himself that he would protect this woman and her child, half-breed or otherwise. Keiko and Tengen released each other and he guided her back to the window outside her room. They were neither seen nor heard, and Keiko climbed back into bed and drifted to sleep as if she had never left.
The following morning brought much of the same as yesterday. More food, more dishes, more bitterness from Fumihiro. More labor, more rice, more sneaky chats with Hiyori. After a couple of close calls, the girls had decided to pare down their meetings. The days were long, the work was heavy, but Keiko followed the rules and code of her village faithfully, apart from the occasional moonlight rendezvous with her friends. As harvest season turned to winter, Keiko's baby bump had become all too apparent. She had gained weight, became prone to mood swings, and in several instances grew nauseous after eating. Fumihiro, to his credit, chose to be silent when Keiko's symptoms overcame her ability to remain composed. Elder Mari gradually lightened her workload as Keiko's pregnancy progressed, and by the time winter gave way to spring, Keiko was excused from all labor duties. While this meant more time cooped up in her room, it was absolutely necessary for the sake of her health and her baby's.
And then, after a spring shower transformed into a rainbow-adorned sunny day... the time had come.
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~SPRING~
Keiko screamed. Her body was wracked with pain, her breathing was hoarse and heavy, and her belly was stretched and veiny. She was surrounded by the village women, Hiyori included, and they urged her to push.
"You can do it, Keiko!" Hiyori said as she held her friend's hand. "The baby is almost here, just one more push and you're done!"
Keiko scream turned into a screech that echoed throughout the house... it was answered by a tiny squeal.
Her baby was here.
Keiko drew deep, deliberate breaths to stay calm and conscious. Hiyori's face lit up as if she had heard the Sun Song. "Oh. My. Goddess!!! It's- it's-"
The woman who held her baby wrapped it in a blanket and presented it to Keiko... it was a boy.
He had brown hair just like his father, and his eyes were an odd mix of hazel with a dash of Sheikah red. The baby's face seemed to take after his Hylian half, yet his eye shape showed his mother's heritage... Keiko's heritage. When his eyes met his mother's, Keiko cried. Tears of joy and of guilt glided down her face as she held her newborn son. He reminded her of Michael, in both the greatest and worst of ways. She spoke to no one, looked at no one. All Keiko wanted to do was embrace her son, and let him feel the warmth of his mother's love.
Keiko was showered with cheers and congratulations from her fellow womenfolk. Hiyori herself was in tears at the sight of her best friend being the mother to a beautiful son. She was checked and studied by the caregivers, who found that Keiko was in good health and could resume normal activity by the next week. Even Tengen entered the room to celebrate the birth of her child, the fact that it was a boy brought him much delight. This was, in Keiko's mind, the happiest moment of her life...
Then, Elder Mari and Fumihiro came through the door... and it all came crashing down. The final price Keiko would have to pay to end her shunning...
Motherly instinct immediately seized her, she held her son close in her arms, locked eyes with both of them, and a fire that she never knew she had inside of her came raging to the surface.
"GET OUT!" She roared. "HE'S MINE!" She began to hyperventilate, "You won't take him from me!... I- I..." The tears fell again, "I won't let you take my baby away-y-y-y." Keiko wept. Keiko bawled. A sadness she had never felt before gripped her heart and broke it in two. She had already lost the love of her life, and now, by order of her Clan, she would have to give up the only thing she had left of him, their son.
The Elder ordered the village women to leave immediately. Fumihiro slowly approached the mournful mother before being halted by Mari.
"Fumihiro. You leave us as well," she ordered.
"What?" He blurted out. The man turned back to face Mari, "my Elder, you cannot let your maternal inclinations blind you from our tenets. She must send this half-breed away to-"
"NOW! And so help me Nayru if you question my orders again!"
And with that, Fumihiro was gone from the room so swiftly it was as if he had blinked out of existence. Now it was just Keiko and Mari.
The Elder stepped calmly and casually and met Keiko's distressed face. "May I hold him?" She asked warmly.
Keiko trembled, uncertain if she would ever carry her son again after giving him to the Elder. But, something in Mari's eyes informed her that this was not the parting of ways just yet. She slowly brought him forward and offered her son to be cradled by the village Elder. Mari gently received the boy into her arms. Despite the changing of hands, the baby remained quiet.
"Ahh, a strong silent one, are we?" Mari mused. The boy squirmed slightly in his blanket and made a happy face. The Elder was touched by his sunny demeanor, and rocked him like a babe of her own.
Keiko couldn't help but smile at the sight. The Elder clearly had an affection for her son, even before he was brought into this world. And now, that affection was on full display for her to witness. Perhaps the Elder would let her keep him, or at least remain in contact with her son? The possibility was slim, but Keiko had to try and keep her own son with her. Her newly found maternal instincts urged her to speak when she previously would not.
"Don't take him..." Keiko demanded, her tears dried up. "He's my baby boy... if he must be sent away then exile me with him... He will NOT grow up without his mother."
Elder Mari's eyes locked with Keiko's. Mari's were soft and considerate, while Keiko's were sharp and resolute. "We will figure something out," Mari said. She handed the baby back to his mother and departed.
Keiko sat alone with her progeny, and brought him to the warmth of her breast. In the flood of emotions she was feeling, Keiko was certain of one thing... she would raise her child herself, even if it meant leaving the Himitsu. Perhaps the Elder could arrange for her to see her child on a regular basis, perhaps she had taken pity on the poor boy? Whatever it was that Mari had in mind... Keiko never found out.
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~THREE DAYS LATER~
Keiko slept in late that day. She had been woken up twice by her new son for a feeding and a change of cloth. Exhausted as she was, Keiko had accepted her new responsibility as a parent. She loved every moment she spent with her son. By order of the Elder, her child would remain nameless until he could be placed in a good home. Keiko prayed that Mari would let her see her baby, even on sparse occasions, as he matured. But alas, it seemed the Elder would follow the village code to the letter, much to Fumihiro's pleasure. Keiko was silently preparing for the inevitable separation from her son... but she never expected how that separation would play out.
Keiko awoke groggy and moody. It was already midday and she was certain she missed breakfast. Whatever food was on the table would be cold and stiff, for her and her son. But before she could throw off the covers, Tengen barged into her room.
"Grab your son, stay with me, and keep away from the windows," he commanded.
"Wha.. Tengen? What is..." Keiko sat up and clutched her aching head.
"We don't have time to argue, get up!"
"Oh... Okay." She moved with a quickened sluggishness. Her son was in his cradle sound asleep. She picked the cradle up and followed Tengen's order. He led them to the back of the house where there were no windows. It was a stuffy room filled with parchment and books, the Elder's study. Tengen urged them into a corner where they sat down. The young man was at a loss for words, he stared off into the ether before finally figuring out what to say.
"We've been betrayed. Exposed. Found out..." he said morosely. "The secret of the Himitsu has been compromised entirely... the Yiga are attacking!"
Keiko drew a surprised gasp, "them?! I thought they weren't a threat. Just a bunch of outcasts with no order or training?"
"I'm afraid they're much more competent than we thought. We made a grave mistake in underestimating them... the traitor has been confronted and put to death, you didn't know him, but he knew everyone."
"What does that mean?"
"He provided the Yiga with a full census of everyone in Himitsu Village. They know our names, faces, ages, everything. No one is safe!"
Keiko's mind raced a mile a minute, she could barely show emotion due to the suddenness of these events. "What about Hiyori? What about the Elder?" She held her son's cradle close.
"...The Elder is dead." Tengen said solemnly. "Shortly after we executed the traitor, an arrow flew and..."
"NO..." Just like that, Keiko's hope for a bright future with her son had been dashed.
"As for Hiyori, I don't know. But Fumihiro is out there fighting the Yiga as we speak. He wanted me to make sure you were alive."
"Him? Really?... I thought he wanted me gone from the village."
"Circumstances have changed, Keiko. Right now, everyone needs to be gone from this village. 'Tis a forsaken place now." The sounds of battle became more apparent to them as they conversed. Screams of anguish, of fear and death, penetrated the walls. It was only a matter of time before the Yiga found them as well. "Fumihiro told me to guard you and your son while he held them off. Once there's an opening, we make a break for it."
"And how will we know that will happen?" Keiko asked. "Where will we go?"
"To Hyrule Castle," Tengen replied. "Princess Zelda must be informed of what is happening here. Fumihiro said he would find us when the coast was clear, so all was can do now is wait."
And wait they did, through the cries and wails of war, through the sounds of steel meeting steel, and the unnerving cackle of the Yiga Clan surrounding them.
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~THIRTY MINUTES LATER~
Eventually, the hellish noise dissipated. Keiko's trembling and Tengen's focus softened, believing that the worst had passed and that they only need the all-clear so they may continue their daily lives. Their hearts lifted when a patterned knock came upon the door.
Tengen stood up and asked, "when does the crow call?"
A familiar voiced replied, "...at midnight, surely."
"Master!" Tengen raced for the door and slid it open. Fumihiro, battered and bloodied from the conflict, greeted them.
"We don't have much time. Get her and the half-breed out of here, reinforcements will be arriving soon," Fumihiro stepped in and grabbed Keiko by the arm. Keiko, however, did not believe this display of concern coming from him.
"Why should we trust you?!" She asked. "You wanted me gone from the day I was shown to be pregnant! All you've ever done despise my very existence. Why should I follow your order now?" She clutched her son's woven cradle close to her.
Fumihiro drew a deep breath and replied, "the circumstances have changed... dramatically." He ushered her over to the door. "If you do not flee with him now, all three of you will be dead within the hour. We have already lost the Elder, we must save whoever we can... even your child."
Tengen stepped between them, "where are we to go, Master? If the Yiga know our names and faces, then it doesn't matter where we run, they'll find us."
"You must go to the safest place in the Kingdom, Castle Town. There is a fisherman's shack located East of here, you can escape from one of the back windows. That man's shack is built upon a stream which leads to Zora's River. And Zora's River spills directly into Hyrule Field. You need only borrow a canoe of his. Forcefully, if you must." Fumihiro went over to a cabinet in the room and pulled out parchment paper and an inkwell with a feather. He spread out the rolled paper as best he could and wrote out a message:
Fumihiro then sealed the message with a special seal possessed solely by the Himitsu. Its insignia was only recognizable to Zelda and to a select few of her most trusted associates.
He handed the scroll to Tengen, "Deliver this message to Princess Zelda when you reach the town. I will stay and fight here."
Tengen grasped the paper with a sense of foreboding, "Master... will I see you again?"
Fumihiro stepped out of the room momentarily to fetch a long object. "Take this, my student." He tossed the thing at Tengen who only just barely reacted to catch it. It was a katana, resting in its saya. The sword Tengen would wield when he became a full-fledged warrior.
"But- But Master! My training is not complete!" he protested.
"It will have to do," Fumihiro replied. "We've spoken enough, you all must leave, now." He guided the young ones to a room with a window behind the Elder's house and slid it open. The first one through was Tengen so that he could confirm that the coast was clear. Then followed Keiko and her unnamed boy. Fumihiro remained on the inside, ready to fight off any more assassins.
Before they fled, Keiko asked, "why would you do this for him?... Not Tengen, him." She motioned with her baby.
Fumihiro sighed, "our Elder had a fondness for that child that I could not place. She loved him, just as you do now. It was her dying wish to see him to safety. But alas, I must stay and fight with our clansmen here. Making sure you flee with proper protection is your best chance at survival. Now go! Before the next wave arrives!"
Keiko drank in his words as he spoke. While she could not forgive him for the stress he put her through, she could appreciate the chance he was giving them. And with that she said, "thank you." Keiko turned and sprinted off with her son in her arms and Tengen leading the way.
Fumihiro closed the window, turned back to the interior of the house and said, "I am sorry for the way I've treated you... make sure the half-... the *boy* makes it out alive." He brandished his own katana, "..I will buy you all the time that I can."
He rushed forth back into the village and was never heard from again.
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~ONE HOUR LATER~
The pair puffed and panted from their protracted retreat from Himitsu Village. There was no trail to follow, only an endless array of leaves and branches on the forest floor. They ran like rats from a burning building, and scurried further than they thought the Yiga would pursue. Tengen's lungs burned, Keiko's legs tired, and the baby was miraculously still sound asleep. Just as her pace finally wavered, Tengen spotted a formation amongst the woods.
"There! The fisherman's shack is in sight!" he shouted.
"Ugh, hurry! My legs are about to give out," Keiko said with an exhausted voice.
After less than another minute of running (which felt like an hour), the two finally reached the shack. Tengen opened the door for Keiko and her son, and followed them through, shutting the door behind him. Keiko placed her baby's cradle on a nearby table and slumped down against the fine wooden wall. Tengen used whatever energy he had left to search the shack and found it devoid of human life. Back in the main room, several pieces of fishing equipment and minutiae were hung and scattered throughout the space. Tengen peered out the small window above the table, and saw a dock built along the stream. Unfortunately, it was empty. If there was a fisherman here, he was away for the time being.
"Damn!" Tengen cursed. "There's nobody here right now. And not even a raft on the water."
Keiko calmly tried to collect her thoughts and organize them. So much had happened since she had woken up just an hour and a half ago, it was like her whole life had changed in an instant. Slowly the pieces came to her, and when they clicked into place, they sent shockwaves through her very being. Her life among the Himitsu was over, just as she was about to be absolved of her wrongdoing against the Clan. Elder Mari, whom she looked up to and respected, who took her in when nearly every other villager would have thrown her out... was dead. Her village was ransacked and burned, her best friend Hiyori was left to an unknown fate, and Fumihiro, a man she hated, gave them a chance to survive and he too was presumably dead.
She sat in a daze, unable to cry, the shock of losing her home and everyone in it was too much to bear for Keiko. She silently stared off into the ether, nothing stared back, there was only emptiness. Her little one stirred in his cradle but did not awaken, which was good fortune, a baby's cry would give them away to the Yiga, and they could be anywhere at the moment.
Tengen leaned against the door frame between the rooms. His arms crossed, his head heavy, and his eyes were dim and sullen. He spoke not a word either. In his mind, he recounted the sequence of events that led them here, desperately trying to make sense of it all. Why were they betrayed? And how? How could that traitor have acquired such a compromising document which contained the personal information of everyone in Himitsu? And if the Yiga had thoroughly memorized that knowledge... what good was running away going to do for them? He and Keiko could migrate anywhere in the Kingdom, Termina, and beyond. The Yiga would have their corpses.
Keiko broke the heavy silence with a simple yet difficult question, "Are we going to make it?"
Tengen's arms dropped, his hands in fists, "I- I don't..."
"That message needs to reach Zelda... we have to make it."
"I know, Keiko. But I'm afraid it's not that simple." He slowly strode over and knelt down before Keiko. Her eyes were overflowing with worry, his were full of dread. "Not that simple at all. The Yiga have our names, our faces, our whole family trees for all we know. We're marked! All of us! And once the Yiga have their mark they don't stop until-" Keiko began to shudder in fear. Tengen realized his little speech was not helping and tried to think of a different approach. "We need to stay low... cover our tracks or something - I don't know."
"They... they can't kill all of us can they?" Keiko asked weakly. But Tengen's dour expression told her what the answer was going to be. "E-even my b-boy... b-but he doesn't even have a name..." She curled up her legs and buried her face in her arms, losing custody would have been bad enough, but the horrible thought of watching what the Yiga would do to her son nearly broke her.
Tengen's composure was cracking at the seams, it killed him to see the woman he admired in such a sorry state. Yet there was nothing he could do or say. If there was, he did not know it. He was still too young, too inexperienced, his training left incomplete for the dire threat looming over them. He felt small, powerless, inept. Given a grand task he could not accomplish. It would cost him his life, Keiko her's, and her son's life before it had truly begun. The Yiga would slaughter this defenseless boy who didn't even have a name!
"...He doesn't have a name. Only three days old and he didn't get to have a name," he lamented. "They have all of ours and he-" a spark from his mind set a fire in his heart. No one but the village women, Mari, Fumihiro, and Tengen had seen the baby at all. And by village code, he was neither named nor given so much as a birth certificate. "Your baby is not on the census and they don't know his face- Keiko! He has a chance!"
Keiko picked her head up and a glimmer of hope washed over her. "Really? Truly, Tengen?"
He picked up the cradle and lowered it into the young mother's arms. "Absolutely. Look at him! His brown hair and eyes are from his father. He looks indistinguishable from a Hylian baby to the untrained eye. It would take years of growth for his Sheikah side to start showing." Tengen gently yet firmly grasped her shoulders. "He can make it. I swear to you that your boy will live." But then came the hardest part. "But it still means you have to give him up... but not because of some code or punishment. Not as a way to re-purify the bloodline. But as a way to ensure his survival and, ironically, our blood as well. There's a strong possibility he will be the only one with Himitsu blood left after Impa passes. But the only way he lives that long is if... we part ways with him now. I'm so sorry Keiko, but it has to be done."
Keiko's eyes moved back and forth between Tengen and her son. Her heart pounded in her ears, but there was no more tears left to cry. She knew Tengen was right. If the boy was seen with them, then the Yiga would kill him too. It was never going to be easy, but Tengen showed great courage today, and now it was Keiko's turn to be brave. Her turn to do something right, finally.
She took a deep breath, the waves of blood in her veins slowed to a steady current, and a determination she had never felt filled her spirit. "Okay." She rose and her baby stirred again, the little one made a face and started to whine. "What will we do? Where will he go?"
Tengen stood up and motioned toward the window. "Out there," he pointed a finger to the stream running alongside the shack. "This stream flows into Zora's River. And Zora's River flows into Castle Town's moat. Someone will see him. Bring him ashore. He'll be clear of any Yiga." The plan was by no means perfect. In fact, it was hard to call it "good". The river could twist and turn at any moment, rapids could knock the baby into the water where it will most certainly drown, and relying on the good will of strangers to rescue the boy was far from ideal. But with the Yiga coming for their heads, and the unlikelihood of leaving this forest alive, it was the only plan they had. "I can build a small raft for him."
"How? With what?"
Tengen shuffled through the various boxes and cupboards the shack contained. "If that fisherman is out on the water now, he would need something to patch his boat if it ever leaked. Or a steady fuel for torches... he has to have some somewhere... a-ha!" He pulled out a bottle with a dark substance contained within. It was a thick liquid that seemed to absorb almost all light. "Pitch! We can take something small like a basket, plug the holes with this, cover the basket in leaves, and he's good to go."
"How long will it take?" Keiko rocked her baby as it fussed.
"Depends on how big the basket is. The pitch will make it float, but we need something long and shallow enough so it won't tip over." Tengen rummaged through the shack some more, and found a basket one might use for a picnic. "This'll work. I'll prepare this, you prepare him for his journey. I'll try to be quick."
Tengen went to work immediately, Keiko brought her son to the other room to feed him and change the cloth. The two savored whatever time they had to perform their tasks. Menial as it would seem, this could be the last labor Tengen enjoyed. And for Keiko, these were her last moments with her son.
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~TWENTY MINUTES LATER~
The floating basket was built, and the baby returned to sleep. Tengen's hands were black and sticky, yet he wiped his brow all the same. He had quickly tested the basket on the stream and it floated with no leaks. It was ready. Keiko approached from the other room where her son still slept. There was no sorrow on either face, but the determined scowl that came with a hard task that must be completed. The time had come.
However, before Tengen could fetch the baby, Keiko had a question, "what about the note?"
Tengen's eyes widened, he had forgotten the important item was in his pocket. "Oh right, uh... could you grab it for me? My hands are dirty."
Keiko rolled her eyes and pulled open the cloth at his side, she did not have to reach far to feel the folds of the parchment. She carefully pulled it out and displayed it to him. "If we aren't making it out of these woods, the Royal Family will never receive this."
"You sound like you have a plan."
"I do." Keiko opened a cupboard and searched it, she found exactly what she needed. An empty bottle. "You said the river leads to Castle Town. We may not make it... but he is."
"I see. The note goes with the baby."
"This bottle will ensure that the message arrives, at least." But before she dropped it in, Keiko paused. "Let me do one thing first. Did you see a pen and ink in here?"
"Uh, yes. Lower cabinet over there," he pointed across the room. The cabinet was small, with an unlit lantern sitting on its wooden top. Keiko produced the pen and the inkwell and carefully scrawled an addition on the outer roll of the parchment. It read: "Take me to Her Highness."
Tengen peered over her shoulder. "Is that all?"
Keiko hesitated, fiddling with the pen in her fingers. "...He needs a name. I know it's against my punishment but I need to give him something! Like- like Yukio, or Miyamoto or..."
Tengen placed a grimy hand on her shoulder, "Keiko... the village code, your punishment, none of that matters anymore. You can give him a name, you're his mother. But, if the Yiga try to search for him then he needs something different. A name that isn't Sheikah-like. Something they will gloss over and dismiss as just another Hylian."
Keiko smiled. "And I know just the name for him..." The pen returned to the paper, she wrote:
She picked up the rolled paper, slid it into the bottle, and corked it. The message was ready and the boy finally had a name. Keiko brought it into the other room and loomed over her son. She carefully placed the bottle in the boy's cradle, and wiggled it. Her son instinctively wrapped his little arms around the bottle as if it were a doll to sleep with. The sight filled her stomach with butterflies, she kissed her son's head and whispered, "I love you, Mike."
Tengen entered the room with the basket at the ready. Keiko slowly lifted Mike's cradle and brought him over, the cradle fit snugly in the basket as the leaves rustled in response. Her warm gaze doted on her sleeping boy. She wanted to say so much. Her goodbyes, her 'I love you's, her blessings to the Goddesses to see him carried safely downriver... but a distant cackle sucked the air out of the room.
They were out of time. The Yiga were near.
"Let's go," Tengen said quietly yet firmly. Back in the main room, Tengen peered out the window facing the stream. He noticed no movement, the Yiga were likely behind the shack, back in the direction they came. The situation was critical, if the Yiga spotted Mike floating on the water then he was dead for sure. Tengen paced back and forth, trying to come up with a plan. But only one was going to work... "I'm going to distract them. Keep them on the opposite side of the shack. You go, put Mike on the water. No words, no waiting, no nothing. Once he's out of sight, you run. Hard and fast as you can."
"Tengen I..." her voice cracked, she knew what Tengen was about to do.
"I swore I would get him out safe. And if this helps you escape too then I-" Keiko leaned in close and kissed him. It was Tengen's first, and about to be his last. She wanted to answer that long-unrequited passion he held for her. By making this basket float, he had already done so much for her. Now he was going to give everything he had for her safety and Mike's.
Their lips parted. "Thank you so much," Keiko said tenderly. She backed over to the side door facing the river, ready to go on his command.
Tengen, lovestruck and lost for words, brought his hand to the katana his Master trusted him with. A fire burned brightly within him, tightening his grip, renewing his vigor, and sharpening his focus. He simply nodded.
The young swordsman turned, opened the door, and charged out into the perilous forest.
"There's one!" A Yiga assassin shouted from the treetops. "Find the other!"
Tengen drew his sword and planted his feet. "YOUR MASTER IS A TALENTLESS LOUT WHO NEVER BELONGED IN THE HIMITSU!!! YOU WORTHLESS HAVE-NOTS DESERVE NOTHING!!! AND WILL ACHIEVE NOTHING!!!"
Several Yiga clanners appeared to challenge him. "You DARE speak of Master Yiga with that foul tongue?! Find the girl later! KILL THIS BASTARD!"
Meanwhile, Keiko slipped out the back door while Tengen drew their ire. She dashed as quickly as she could with her baby and the basket in her arms. Taking care not to splash, she waded into the water. The stream flowed against her legs with a deliberate strength. It would not capsize the basket, as long as this flow did not increase. She floated the basket but held it against the current. Tengen said not to hesitate, but Keiko's motherly instincts could not be ignored. She afforded herself the brief moments to lean in and kiss her baby.
"Goodbye, Mike. Mommy loves you very much." She released her arm. The basket, with Mike inside, was carried steadily down the stream. Keiko held in her anguish, biting her lip so she would not weep or cry out. She carefully waded through the water and crossed the stream. Reaching the other side, she chanced a glance back, and the basket was out of sight. Mike was away, safely. No tears fell, no pit opened in her stomach, her trembling stopped. Why, she did not know. She was a mother who gave up her son to the whims of the river, to the charity of strangers. She should be broken, writhing on the ground in a deep and terrible sorrow. Yet, that was not how she felt, not at all. A warmth filled her being. As if someone was telling her she did the right thing.
Keiko walked away from the stream, leaving the shack behind her. She folded her hands together and prayed, "Oh great Goddess Farore. Please, please watch over my son. Mike needs your guidance and your unwavering courage. That is all I ask of thee."
Her prayer was punctuated by a not-so-distant scream... it was Tengen. His words echoed in her mind, "run. Hard and fast."
Keiko sprinted ahead into the wild unknown before her. The woods surrounded her, seemingly unending. She ran like a frightened doe. She hoped she was alone, that she would not be found. However, the telltale cackle came from the trees. The Yiga had found her! Her efforts redoubled, her legs burned, breathing quickened, eyes wide and ready to react to anything that jumped out at her. The laughing grew louder, the trees rustled again and again. Footsteps came up behind her disturbing the leaves and crunching the branches. All she needed was for something or someone to appear. A shack, a caravan, a lone wanderer, something, someone! Anything to save her from...
A sharp searing pain penetrated her back, sinking deep into her body. She gasped... she fell... she hit the cold ground... and all faded away.
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~SEVERAL HOURS LATER~
Water flowed out and merged with the greater body of the Zora's River. Sediment roiled and billowed beneath the rippling surface before being dispersed and settling into the riverbed. Where the stream was murky, Zora's River was crystal clear, thanks to the care and watchful eye of the titular Zora who maintained and protected the river, which their home - Zora's Domain - was the source. One such Zora was swimming upriver, her strong leg muscles and hydrodynamic fins enabled her to travel briskly against the current. Ready to return home and feast upon some Roasted Staminoka, the Zora woman paid no mind to the odd litter or debris. After all, she had just finished her watch duty, and the cleaners were surely on their way to remove them from the river. She was hungry, a little weary, and deserved a fine meal.
That is, until a basket came gliding out from the mouth of a nearby stream. The woman let out a disgruntled groan, "fine, I'll take it out. What is with Hylians these days? Throwing trash in our river and treating it like a-". She saw the basket's contents. "...Holy- It's a baby!" A little infant, only a few days old, with a message in a bottle clutched in his stubby arms. The Zora caught the basket and examined it, it was made specifically to float this little baby away from its home. But why? Was there danger? Was it unwanted? "Poor thing." She took a closer look at the bottle and read the words written on the outer roll. "'To Her Highness'? To Zelda? But that's all the way in Castle Town." From where they floated, Castle Town was equidistant from Zora's Domain. While she protested internally, she knew she could not let this defenseless baby go. There were rapids further downriver that would surely spill the little one into the water. It was going to be a long swim back for the Zora woman, but she stiffened her lips and took off swimming with the basket. She would guide it through the river and deliver this baby safely to the town's gate.
She forgot her hunger, and her fatigue vanished entirely. "Don't worry, little one. I'll get you to Zelda."
***
Sunset was nearly upon Hyrule Field, golden rays washed over the landscape and painted the sky in a lustrous hue. As the shadows grew longer and the day winded down, a gate guard threw his head back in a drowsy yawn. He stood beneath the gatehouse with the drawbridge laid out before him. The time to pull up the bridge was gradually approaching. Once the sun peeked down below the horizon, entry into the town was not permitted. The guard, for his part, was ready to retire for the day and rest. He stood silent watch counting the minutes til sundown.
A figure appeared over the hills in the distance. This person was carrying something and in a hurry. The guard made a small bet in his head that the order to raise the bridge would come just moments before this stranger arrived. But alas, he thought wrong, and this stranger, a Zora woman, scampered across the bridge.
"Excuse me!" she cried to the man.
"State thy business please," the guard replied.
The Zora met the man and presented the basket to him. "I found this floating in Zora's River. Someone sent their baby away in this! And it came with a message."
The guard peered down at the infant. It appeared to be a Hylian boy, asleep and comforted inside his cradle. "Hmm, wonder who would do such a thing?" The man took the bottle out of the baby's hands and noticed the seal binding the parchment together. He did not recognize it, but it seemed peculiar to him. Perhaps the Captain would know more? "Thank you miss, you've done a great deed. I will make sure he finds a suitable home. Best get back to yours, now."
The Zora nodded and dove into the moat, gliding through the water back to the river. The guard turned strode into town, the usual hustle and bustle was present yet decreasing by the minute. Citizens concluded their dealings and meetings and made their way home. Shops were beginning to shutter, and the night watch was moving to their positions. The guard felt awkward walking through town with a baby that was not his, but he had hoped to reach the orphanage before it closed for the night. As luck would have it, the Captain of the Guard was walking through the main plaza and saw him.
"Captain Valmer! Captain Valmer, sir!" The guard rushed over, "a Zora woman came through the fields and handed me this!"
The Captain smirked, "a gift from the Goddesses, eh? Your wife was complaining your family was big enough, but clearly they thought different! Ha Ha Ha!"
"Yes, sir, very funny. But look at this, a message in a bottle! Sealed too."
"Let me see," Valmer took the bottle. "Huh, the baby is named 'Mike" apparently and-" he turned it and saw the Himitsu seal. The Captain's jovial nature turned dead serious like the flip of a switch. He received the basket and the boy from the guard, "you've done well soldier, back to your post."
"But sir, I was on gate watch and the bridge will be up soon."
"Then turn-in for the night! I must see Her Highness."
The guard was shocked at the sudden shift in Valmer's mood, nevertheless he saluted, spun round, and exited the plaza.
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~HYRULE CASTLE - SUNDOWN~
In the throne room sat none other than Princess Zelda herself with her signature pink dress and all her finery. Her steward was at her side discussing the state of city planning and economics when they were interrupted by the loud grinding of stone on stone.
Through the stone door, Captain Valmer barrelled into the throne room. "Your Highness! Your Highness! I bring you a message of the utmost import!"
Zelda cocked an eyebrow, "Captain Valmer. It is unlike you to show such distress. What troubles you?"
The captain ascended the stairs to her throne and knelt down before the princess. He bowed his head and presented the basket. "A Zora found this young boy floating in the river. This bottle was in his clutches," he leaned in close, lowering his voice to a whisper. "It bears the seal of the Himitsu."
Zelda took the bottle and popped the cork. Turning over the bottle, the parchment fell into her white-gloved hand. With a curious eye, she read the outer fold first. Her perplexed expression turned to serious concern upon opening the letter proper. She scowled and turned her head to her steward, "fetch Impa for me immediately." The man bowed and exited the room. She addressed the captain, "thank you, Valmer, for bringing us this message. I must ask you to leave at once, I'm afraid. This is a delicate, and private, matter."
"I understand completely, your Highness. What of the boy?"
"I will decide what to do with him. Now please..." she waved a hand, and the Captain was out of the room. Shortly thereafter, Impa came striding in. She was calm and collected, typical of her behavior unlike the Captain. Little did she know what Zelda was about to say.
Impa knelt before the princess, "ready to serve you, Your Highness." She spotted the basket at Zelda's feet. "Is... is that a baby?"
"Indeed. And what terrible news he bears. Rise, Impa." The Sheikah woman stood at attention. Zelda rose from her throne in kind. "Himitsu Village has been attacked."
Impa's strong and steadfast visage cracked immediately. "WHAT?" she hissed, balling her hands into fists.
"I received this note with the official seal. According to this, the Yiga Clan are behind the attack. They came into the possession of highly sensitive and classified census documents on the Himitsu. Knowing Yiga's tenacity and penchant for bloodshed..." Zelda grasped her protector's arm. "I am sorry, Impa. The village has been destroyed."
Impa was shaken, heartbroken, and deathly furious. Her fists trembled, her eyes became misty, and she gnashed her teeth. "DAMN THEM," she snarled. Impa broke Zelda's grip and turned her back, wanting to confront this revelation alone.
"I must say that I share partial blame for this. Those documents could only have been stolen from the Castle, likely one of the envoys. I should have been more mindful of their business here. And Yiga, I should have been more aware-"
"Don't, Your Highness," Impa interrupted. "None of this is your fault, none at all." She turned back to the princess with a red-hot rage behind her eyes. "This affront cannot go unpunished."
"I agree," Zelda seated herself upon her throne again. "Your mission, Impa, is twofold. First, travel to Himitsu Village. Study the area, learn all that you can about the attack. If you find any survivors, personally escort them to Castle Town. It is too dangerous if they go alone, the Yiga will try to pursue them. Secondly... eliminate them. The Yiga..." A fire burned in Zelda's eyes to match Impa's. "...to the last." Princess Zelda taking such extreme measures was almost unheard of in the kingdom. However, the Yiga had slighted the Royal Family in such a way that few others have accomplished. For the slaughter of the Family's closest ally, there was only one recourse: to be destroyed.
Impa bowed in accordance. "Yes, Your Highness. Thy will be done." Her words dripped with anticipation. "I will set out at once."
"Before you go," Zelda said, halting her. "I have a request for you upon your return." She bent over and lifted the boy into her arms. "This boy is from the village."
"Y-yes? I had heard of a woman in the village carrying a bastard."
The baby started to stir. "This must be him. Who was the father? Do you know?"
"From the reports Elder Mari sent to me, it was a Lieutenant in our very Guard... the, uh... 3rd Cavalry I believe."
"Ah, fine men they were, every one. The father was probably wiped out with the rest of the unit in the Battle of the Wastes."
"Yes, Your Highness. Such a shame. Um, what do you have in mind?"
"Impa. This boy is one of the only survivors from your village. He still has Himitsu in his veins, supplemented by some of Hyrule's finest, I must say." The princess was resolute."I want you to train him as he matures. Teach him the ways of the warrior as the Himitsu knew it. He will become a fine member of the Guard, and serve us well."
Impa was taken aback by this request. Half-breeds were to be cast out from the Himitsu, yet here was the Princess vouching for this infant, not even a week old! Her upbringing in the village did not endear her to the idea, but she would never question Zelda's methods or orders. If it was Her Highness' will for Impa to educate and discipline this baby, then so she shall when the time came.
"Yes, Princess. I will train the boy."
"This 'boy' has a name." Zelda turned the paper over to the scrawled text on the other side. "Mike."
"Very well, Your Highness. I will train Mike when he is ready."
"Excellent. Now go, the cover of night will shroud you from danger." Impa bowed, turned, and vanished from the throne room. Zelda gazed down and the baby in her hands. Mike's journey was nothing short of miraculous, but his arrival meant that the Royal Family was alerted to the attack far sooner than the Yiga had planned. Now, the Himitsu's finest warrior, Impa, was en route to the village with a wrathful vengeance. The Yiga Clan had made their last mistake, it would be their downfall. All because they failed to account for a single baby.
Zelda chuckled warmly, rocking him. "You have done well, little one."
Mike squirmed, woke up, and started to cry.
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~EPILOGUE - TWENTY YEARS LATER~
The teapot whistled and Mike picked it up effortlessly by the handle. He carefully walked over to where his dining table was and seated himself. With his left hand, he lifted a teacup from the table and brought it close to the pot. He slowly tipped the pot so the spout would pour. However, it was a few centimeters too far, a splash of boiling hot tea overfilled the cup and covered his fingers.
"Shit!" Mike nearly slammed the cup and pot down. He felt for a napkin and quickly wiped his hand off, hoping to preserve his skin from a nasty burn. The tabletop would have to be cleaned off as well, otherwise it would stain. Not that such a thing would matter to Mike at this point, this was his second year living with total blindness. Even now, Mike struggled to live as a normal man again. He couldn't even pour a cup of tea.
Mike's cottage was built along the slopes of the Snowhead Region. Wooden and all one room save for the little alcove that was the latrine. Sparsely decorated, a man with his condition needs not such things, and utilitarian in its setup, Mike dedicated much of his time to learning the layout of his own home. Counting steps, memorizing locations, and keeping everything within an arm's reach. This cottage would be a place that only Mike could live comfortably.
Despite living remotely, Mike had his share of guests every now and then. In fact, there was a knocking upon his door as he wiped down the table. He quickly discarded the wet paper rags in his rubbish bin, mumbling curses all the way to the door.
"State thy business," Mike called.
"Hello? Is this Mike's home?" It was a woman's voice, soft and folksy. Mike always asked who it was first before opening the door. His condition was driving him to paranoia.
The retired guard captain opened the door. "Yes, it is. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
"Oh..." the woman's voice faltered. Obviously taken aback by the cloth around his eyes. From the depth and accent of the voice, Mike assumed this was an older Sheikah woman. "Yes, I have been searching for you... I mean, I just wish to speak to you Mike. Sir."
"And who are you?" he asked again.
"I'm sorry. I am a Sheikah. My name is - well, my Hyrulean name - is Sharla... but my real name is Hiyori."
"Okay, Hiyori. You wanted to speak with me? About what?"
She leaned in and lowered her voice. "I used to be part of the Himitsu Clan."
Mike knew the name well. Apparently, according to what Impa provided him, Mike was birthed from this clan. He softened his posture and opened the door fully. "Come in, please."
Hiyori looked around the cottage, confused yet intrigued by its design. She never expected Mike to have lost his vision.
"Have a seat at the table. I apologize if it's a little messy, mishap with a teapot." Mike guided himself to the opposite side of the table from where Hiyori was seated. "Speaking of, help yourself. Sorry I can't pour your cup for you."
"Thank you, but it's okay. I don't need anything." She watched as the ramshackle man sat down, he shuffled in his chair trying to get comfy. Not exactly being the best host, but she could forgive it given the circumstances.
"So.." Mike said. "A Himitsu survivor, huh?"
"Yes. I was sixteen years old when the Yiga destroyed it. I hid away amongst the rice storage as the attack happened. The building was set on fire, I had to move, but thankfully I wasn't spotted. I like to think I'm good at stealth, but really I just got lucky. Since then, I was given a new name and a new life here in Termina."
"I was shown the reports of that day. Truly terrible. Apparently I was an infant when that happened?"
"You were. Your mother was my best friend."
A shock pulsed through Mike's body. He drew himself forward, arms resting on the table. "Wait, you knew my mother?! I don't even know what her name is."
"Really?! The Royal Family never told you?"
"They never learned it. And we never were able to retrieve the census papers that enabled the attack to begin with."
"Such a shame. A Captain of the Guard never knowing his mother's name-"
"So you've heard of me?"
"Many people have heard of you. When you became Captain, I tried so hard to write a correspondence to you. But I was told the citizenry couldn't have such private conversation with the guard captain. Especially since I've been in Termina all this time."
"I see... or rather, I 'understand', hehehe," Mike joked, pointing to the sockets where his eyes used to be.
Hiyori chuckled, "oh you. Haha. She would be so proud of you. And worried sick about your health."
"Oh right, hehe. Sorry, I interrupted you. What was my mother's name?"
"...Keiko..." he could not see it, but Hiyori was smiling.
"Alright, Hiyori," Mike leaned back in his chair. "Tell me about my mother."
"Must you leave me next week?" she asked desperately. "Plead illness, plead a tragedy, plead anything so you are not taken from me." Tears welled up on the edges of her red Sheikah eyes.
The Hylian man pressed a finger to her lips. "I swore my duty to the crown, and so has your clan, my darling." He caressed her face. "This is the culmination of that oath."
"But the battle will be terrible."
"So will Ganon's reign if we fail."
"But must you be a part of that slaughter?"
"Aye, I am a superior officer, my troops will be lost if I am absent."
She wept on his shoulder, squeezing her lover's frame tightly. Soon was a crucial battle against Ganon and his evil forces, a tipping point in the war. Should the army of Hyrule fall, then the Demon King's will shall be law across the kingdom. This man's presence would be critical in the doomsday to come, and she, a lone young woman, was powerless to stop the inevitable. Her tears wetted and absorbed into the man's skin, and he petted the fine white hair on her beautiful, yet frail head.
"My love," he said. "It shall be my finest hour."
After a long pause, simply holding one another and feeling the other's essence, she finally spoke, "Just come back to me..."
"This battle will be long and drawn-out. A test of endurance and will for both sides... but I will ensure that a letter is sent to you during the conflict. You have my word on that, Keiko," he kissed her passionately and deeply. The warmth and comfort of his embrace washed over Keiko, she had never felt more safe and secure in her entire life, even in the remote village she called home.
"Oh, Michael," Keiko sighed. "Please tell me you will see the end of it. Come back-"
"I know, darling." Michael said. "I will come back to you."
And Keiko believed him, she believed every word the soldier Michael told her. She dreamed of the house they would own together, the children they would raise, the peaceful world they would live in, with no need to march off to war. Keiko's sweetest fantasies could possibly become reality, so close she was to living those dreams... just one more battle and her lover would be freed from his servitude to the Hyrulean crown, and she believed he would return unscathed and an even better man than he was in their bed that wonderful night.
On the day of his departure, Keiko was late to the farewell march to the soldiers. She ran hurriedly through the crowd, but she was just a moment too slow. She watched as Michael rode out with his comrades to the battle in the Gerudo Wastelands. Tears streamed down her face as she witnessed her lover go forth to an uncertain fate, without a final goodbye from either of them. But something far more important plagued her mind than a mere "farewell". The reason she was late was that she discovered she was pregnant!
Keiko missed the chance to tell Michael she was carrying his child... and despite the battle ending in a Hylian victory, his promised letter never arrived.
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~TWELVE WEEKS LATER~
Keiko collapsed on the main thoroughfare of Himitsu Village, a remote and secret hamlet only known to the Himitsu Clan and the Royal Family of Hyrule. The Himitsu Clan had the closest relations to the Royal Crown, and were the strongest and most capable of the Sheikah clans. The leader of the royalty's personal honor guard was always a member from this clan, swearing their life to the protection and service to the current Monarch of Hyrule, of whom currently was Princess Zelda. In order to continue the alliance between the Himitsu Clan and the Royal Family, the first King of Hyrule decreed that the Clan would live entirely in secret, completely exempt from Hyrule's written records outside of a few choice documents, those of which were entrusted only to the Family and the Captain of the Hyrule Guard. The Himitsu would live in secrecy, outside the turmoils of the present day, and in turn the Clan would provide a warrior of peerless prowess to personally protect the Royal Family, and carry out their will. The warrior of this time was none other than Impa, championed as the greatest warrior the Himitsu ever produced.
Keiko writhed and wailed in her agony, and was taken into the home of Clan Elder Mari who appraised her with a most discerning, if ancient, eye. Keiko had suffered a cramp in her abdomen, and a change in her glow and gait.
"You are pregnant..." the Elder realized, seeing Keiko's burgeoning bump in her belly. Her own wrinkled and decrepit skin showed a glint of concern for her fellow Clanswoman. That concern was overshadowed by her right-hand, a man in his late thirties, sworn to the traditions and secrecy of the Himitsu.
"A bad omen, this is not the child of a fellow Clansmen, is it girl?" He asked with a proverbial venom dripping from his lips. Keiko shook her head in response and remained silent, exactly as she was raised to while her Elders were speaking, despite every emotion inside of her telling her otherwise.
"Keiko..." old Elder Mari sighed in disappointment. "You have put the existence of the Himitsu at risk."
Keiko lowered her head so that she was face-to-face with the floor. "I am sorry, Elder..."
"Sorry?" The Elder's right-hand interjected. "You could have exposed us to the enemy, and you had an affair with an outsider on top of that?!" His blood seemed to boil beneath his pale skin, turning it a deep and furious red. He stomped over to Keiko's kneeling form and towered over her. "You forsake the teaching of your people with your amorous escapades and all you have to say for yourself is 'sorry'?!"
Keiko lifted her head to meet the red eyes of the man, but was only greeted by a firm slap to her frail face. Keiko fell to the side from the force and tried her damnedest to keep her tears in. But alas, the waters of sorrow streamed down her newly bruised face.
The Elder quickly intervened, "That would be all! Fumihiro, leave us!"
The man turned to face the Elder, "But this transgression goes against everything we-"
"I SAID ENOUGH!... Now leave."
Fumihiro lowered his fists and departed from the women's company, sliding the door shut behind him as he exited Mari's home. Keiko brought herself up as she wept over her current circumstances. Given the secrecy of the Himitsu, she had violated their code by not only straying too far from the village, but also bearing the child of an outsider. The Clan prided itself on the strength of their blood, which they believed was derived from its purity. To have that Sheikah purity tainted by the seed of a Hylian was a most terrible offense... an offense that Keiko had committed with full awareness.
"You know the consequences for this, Keiko..." Mari warned.
"But why, Elder?!" Keiko shouted. "We serve the Royal Family for Goddesses sake! Why would this be such a travesty?! Is it so wrong to have Hyrule's blood in me?"
"Is that blood from the Royal Family? Did you manage to court the King himself? I doubt so." Indeed, the only blood the Himitsu deemed more worthy than their own was the Royal Family's. "Who is your suitor anyhow? A bum off the street of Castle Town?!"
"He was a fine soldier of the Hyrulean Army and he-" Keiko shook and shuddered, desperately holding back her anguish from the Elder. But her misty red eyes betrayed her, and she was forced to break down. She buried her face in despair, "He was killed in the Wastelands..."
Elder Mari, slowly strode toward her, "Regardless, the punishment is ritual shunning throughout the village, ultimately ending when you give birth to that half-breed and give it up to the outside world. It will not be raised as a Sheikah, let alone one of the Himitsu. It will never know of its heritage or culture of birth, for it may compromise the secrecy of our Clan. Do you understand?" The Elder's gaze shot straight into Keiko's core. She had no choice, other than complete exile from her home, and there were far too many risks otherwise.
All Keiko could do was nod in agreement, and with that the village Elder's composure softened, her own motherly inclinations kicked in and she embraced her younger Clanswoman.
After a long silence, she said, "I will aid you as much as I can. And I hope your child is healthy when it is time." Keiko returned the hug she had been given and wept into the Elder's shoulder.
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~THREE DAYS LATER~
Keiko awakened from her slumber in a groggy, somewhat nauseous state. She had almost fully recovered from her fainting days prior, but the effects of pregnancy were truly beginning to manifest. She felt bloated, there was a hardness to her belly, and she was not hungry... she was ravenous. Elder Mari kept her in a side room within her own home, in order to monitor Keiko's health and daily activities. But now, Keiko's shunning had begun, and the first rule was ostracization; Keiko was not permitted to join the Elder and Fumihiro during breakfast and was forced to stay in her room until they finished eating. While disheartening at first, Keiko came to appreciate not having to deal with Fumihiro in the morning. The man was already seen as something of a stick in the mud, a wannabe Elder who wished to prove himself to Mari so badly, often following codes and orders too close to the letter. But now with Keiko being shunned, he became someone she wanted to avoid whenever possible. Almost every line he spoke to her was some form of verbal abuse, she would be reprimanded for the slightest infraction, and the threat of further physical punishment was all but assured by him. Thankfully, the Elder would rein in his more extreme behaviors. She had a firm stance on Keiko's punishment, but made sure it never devolved into downright torture for the poor girl.
Keiko heard the front doors of the large house slide shut, Fumihiro had exited to begin his daily duties. "Come eat!" Elder Mari called.
She opened her own door and slowly strode out to the dining area, clutching her belly from the uneasy combination of hunger and nausea. On the table were the empty bowls and plates where Fumihiro and the Elder ate their meals, but one spot still had food prepped and ready to eat, obviously Keiko's breakfast. What lay before her was an assortment of bread, rice, noodles, soup, and even some Hylian trout, as well as a cup of still-warm tea. The Elder was clearly taking Keiko's pregnancy into consideration when she cooked this hearty meal. She was in her dressing room at the moment, so Keiko seated herself and slowly picked at the rice. Once it settled into her stomach, she felt the nausea disappear and Keiko proceeded to chow down in earnest. The bread was soft and puffy, the noodles were thick and tasty, and the trout was seared to perfection. There was very little in the way of toppings or seasonings, a Hylian may have considered this meal rather bland, but to Keiko it was delectable, the Elder was the considered the best cook in Himitsu for a reason.
Shortly after the last drop of tea, Mari entered the room, "ah, good to see you up and about." Keiko immediately stood up and bowed respectfully to the Elder.
"Thank you so much, it was wonderful," she responded.
"And you finished all your food, good. You will need the energy. Plus, it will make washing the dishes easier." And there was the catch. "All of them, and not a spot leftover. When you are finished, it's out to the fields with you. Your workload will be higher, and the other farmers will not speak to you. I cannot guarantee that nothing else will happen from there, but such is your punishment, understood?"
"Yes, Elder..."
"You will return at sundown, and the rules are upheld for supper." With that, the Elder turned and exited to perform her duties to the village. Keiko turned to the stacks of bowls and plates before her. She wanted to protest and complain but kept it in, the only way this would go smoothly is if she cooperated. She brought the first stack of plates to the wash bucket, and dreaded what farming had in store for her.
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~FOUR HOURS LATER~
Keiko wiped sweat from her brow as she cut more Hylian rice from the moist soil. Carrying the bundle of rice stalks and the sickle for cutting them was cumbersome, but she made it work. She had to, it was harvesting season, and today she was tasked with both the harvest and the threshing of the stalks. Normally this would be just another day in the fields, only that her shunning meant double the workload for her. Tomorrow she would clean the Cucco coop and round up the loose birds. And the day after she would help bundle more rice for storage. The labor would be intense, and Keiko wondered if this was just added punishment for her, or if the village wanted to get as much work out of her before she became too pregnant to do so.
Keiko threshed the last of the rice she was assigned to, the sun began to dip below the hills to the west and its light painted a golden hue over the land it could still reach. She removed her farming hat and let out an exhausted sigh, she would need to wash before dinner. I bet the Elder is already whipping up something good right now, hope it's meaty, she thought, and her stomach growled in response. But before she could leave, another farmer came walking up to her. This farmer was also a woman, she carefully scanned the surrounding area to make sure the coast was clear. As he approached, Keiko recognized her as her good friend, Hiyori, a fellow peasant of sixteen years.
"Hey!" she half-screamed and half-whispered. "Just wanted to say you did great work today. I thought the Elder gave you too much work, but you handled it well!"
"Thanks Hiyori," Keiko said in a low voice. "But what are you doing talking to me? You will be punished too!"
"Only if they see or hear us, and the rest of the farmers are back home eating supper. That means I have to get going too. But..." she leaned in to whisper, "I want to talk to you after dark. Behind the oak tree at the edge of the forest. No one will see us, I promise."
"Hiyori, that is a terrible idea."
"Why not? You've been sneaking out for years, you only got caught cus you're pregnant now." Keiko hated to admit it, but Hiyori was correct. How else would she have been able to maintain a relationship with a Hylian man? "Look, I'll be outside your window after 2:00 in the morning. We can go together, if we get caught it's my fault." She heard her name called out in the distance, Hiyori perked up and turned. "Gotta go, see you tonight."
Keiko returned to the Elder's house to the smell of freshly cooked meat. Fumihiro had already retired to his own room while Elder Mari finished the prep for Keiko's dinner. While breakfast consisted of the traditional Sheikah palette, tonight's meal was of Hylian taste. Prime steak with honey glaze, finely-sliced hearty radishes mixed with steamed mushrooms, and a glass of fresh Lon Lon milk. Keiko dug into the vegetables before tackling the meat, and just like before, the dishes were divine.
Funny... she thought as she savored the juicy steak, I get shunned for diluting the bloodline, when our cuisine is already halfway Hylian. It was indeed a question for the ages when it came to the Himitsu. To be the strongest Sheikah clan, yet the one closest to the Crown, was a complex position to be in. The goal was to be the greatest Sheikah in the land, but ultimately serving the Royal Family as they were the ones keeping order and balance on the continent. Naturally, this led to a strange and unspoken conflict within the Clan: how Hylian should they be? One camp felt that their strength was derived from the old Sheikah ways, and the adherence to tradition is what created such fine warriors fit for the Honor Guard. Others felt the influence of Hyrule's prosperity and adopting it into their lifestyle is what made the Himitsu strong, that understanding Hylian culture enhanced their ability to serve the Crown and ensured the Clan's survival. And a third camp had emerged, which believed that the cultural cross-breeding had turned the Himitsu into their own people entirely, beholden to neither Hylian nor Sheikah tradition, only the will of the Royal Family, such was the Clan's purpose after all.
The prevailing sentiment of the village would fluctuate based on the Elder's own beliefs. Past Elders had championed Hyrulean innovation, while others embraced their Sheikah heritage. Elder Mari herself was couched firmly between the first two camps, adhering to the core tenets of the Sheikah while adopting aspects of Hylian culture she deemed beneficial. Fumihiro was a true believer of Sheikah tradition and uniqueness, even his dinner lacked the Hylian touches, an empty rice bowl and tea cup remained in front of his seat at the table. Keiko felt she had embodied the third camp, quite literally in light of current events, she had always thought the Himitsu were just that... the Himitsu.
Keiko finished everything on her plate and capped off her meal with one last gulp of milk. She was expecting to clean these dishes as well, but Mari was satisfied with all the work she had done today, and ordered her to turn-in for the night. With a respectful bow, Keiko left the dinner table, washed herself clean, and climbed into her bed. Her exhaustion from the day's labor plus the fullness of her belly carried Keiko swiftly into a deep sleep.
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~2:00 AM~
Keiko heard a tapping outside her bedroom window. She slid the panel over and as promised, Hiyori was on the other side.
"Dammit Hiyori," Keiko whispered. "I'm exhausted, and if the watchmen see us, we are both in deep trouble."
"They can't see us from here," Hiyori said with a sly grin, "and it's only a short jog from here to the oak tree. Now come on, we don't wanna wake Fumihiro."
Keiko couldn't figure out what was more stupid, Hiyori's plan for a private chat, or the fact that she was going along with it. Despite that in mind, she silently climbed out the window and closed it, just as she had many times before. The two young women scurried toward the edge of the forest behind the Elder's home, and once under the coverage of the treetops, walked carefully to the lone oak tree. It was said that the tree was planted by an early Elder who received it as a gift from an early Hylian king. It was the only tree of its kind in Himitsu Village and it provided brilliant cover for Keiko and Hiyori.
As they slumped against the great oak's trunk, Keiko spoke. "Well, you got me here. What did you want to talk about?"
Hiyori shook with giddy excitement, "Everything! I want to know who your lover is, how you got pregnant. Is it gonna be a boy or a girl? Did you pick out a name yet?" She let out a little squeal and hugged her friend closely. "Gah! I'm so happy for you! I don't care what the Elder thinks, or what Fumihiro says, my best friend is gonna be a Mom!"
Keiko reluctantly returned the hug. "Hiyori, I appreciate the sentiment, but this is not a happy occasion for me." Her voice grew grim, "they want me to send my baby away after it's born, being a half-breed and all... and... and the father is gone..."
Hiyori loosened her grip, but did not release Keiko, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were grieving. But how could I? This dumb shunning thing means I can't talk to you normally."
"It's okay. There's alot weighing on my mind right now... I mean, I did have a baby outside of the Clan, and out of wedlock. Hylians would look down on me too."
"So what? It doesn't make you a bad person."
"But I made a bad decision."
"Having children is not a bad decision!"
"Then I made it at the wrong time. And good people still have to pay the price when that happens." The two ended their hug, and Keiko looked downtrodden. "I broke the rules, Hiyori. Just like I am now being out here with you."
"But you can't just accept it, right? Being cut off from everyone just because of one misjudgement? I hope not! You're gonna hate being a shut-in, Keiko!"
Keiko took a deep breath and rested her head against the tree, she had to admit that Hiyori was right. She was always a social butterfly amongst the Clan, and when that ceased to be stimulating, she began making friends in Hyrule proper, and eventually found Michael. Even the past several days seemed like torture to her, and she was expected to be ostracized for many months more. That is why, despite her active protests in her mind, she agreed to join Hiyori behind the tree. This was the most social interaction she had had since collapsing in the street. And while Hiyori did not completely understand what she was going through, she appreciated her company regardless.
The brief pause was broken by a voice, "You are not as clever as you think you are..." The women jolted upright, they had been spotted, followed, and found out!
Hiyori spoke up immediately, "listen, this was all my idea. I strung her along, I broke the code and..." The owner of the voice rounded the tree trunk for the two to see. "Oh, it's just you," she said relieved.
A young man of the warrior class loomed over them, only about fifteen years in age. Luckily, he was very familiar with Keiko and Hiyori, and kept his volume to a minimum. He was dressed in the usual white Sheikah garb and armed with a wakizashi. His name was Tengen, and was training to become a warrior under Fumihiro's tutelage. He had watch duty for the night and saw the two girls running into the woods. As a watchman, it was his duty to report them for breaking the village code. But as a friend, he wanted to speak to Keiko just as much as Hiyori did.
Tengen crossed his arms, leaned against the oak and asked, "did you think no one was going to notice you outside of Keiko's window, Hiyori? Hahaha."
"I was hoping we weren't," she pouted.
"Heh. Well it's a good thing I was the one who caught you guys. Anyone else and you'd be shunned right along with her."
Hiyori was indignant, Keiko remained silent.
"So how are you doing, Keiko? Are you okay?" He asked.
"Oh I'm hanging in there," she replied. "Worked my butt off in the fields."
"Mari sure loves putting people to work there."
The three friends chatted on through the dead of the night. Hiyori explained Hylian agriculture and cuisine, Tengen updated them on the progress of his sword training, and Keiko, when she found the nerve, briefly shared details of her relationship with Michael. The conversation flowed from point to point, with plenty of jokes and laughter along the way, eventually reaching the point where they simply ran out of things to say. As the night rolled on, Hiyori got up and bid her friends goodnight, and promised Keiko that she would never contribute to her punishment, and to speak with her again soon. As Hiyori sauntered off, Keiko stood up herself, ready to head back to bed. But before she could walk away, Tengen grasped her arm and urged her to stay for another minute.
"Is there something you want to say, Tengen?" Keiko asked.
"Yes," his eyes trailed off as he summoned the will to speak his mind. "I... I beared a torch for you for quite some time."
Keiko was taken aback. "Oh... I had... no idea." Her face flushed red.
"It's okay, Keiko. I never showed it. And to be honest, I will probably be arranged with another warrior. 'Strongest blood' and all that."
"Right... I'm sorry if I-"
"No no. Don't be sorry. You're a hard-working and beautiful woman, and I'm sure Michael knew how lucky he was to have you."
Her eyes grew misty, "thank you..."
"And I too promise to never make your shunning worse, I'll lighten it if I can."
Keiko opened her arms, and the two shared a warm hug. There was more Tengen wished to say, but the words fled from his mind during their embrace. Keiko appreciated the goodness in Tengen's heart, while he mourned that his love would be unrequited. And yet, he accepted that her heart belonged to another, even if that other had passed. Though that devotion went unreturned, he silently swore to himself that he would protect this woman and her child, half-breed or otherwise. Keiko and Tengen released each other and he guided her back to the window outside her room. They were neither seen nor heard, and Keiko climbed back into bed and drifted to sleep as if she had never left.
The following morning brought much of the same as yesterday. More food, more dishes, more bitterness from Fumihiro. More labor, more rice, more sneaky chats with Hiyori. After a couple of close calls, the girls had decided to pare down their meetings. The days were long, the work was heavy, but Keiko followed the rules and code of her village faithfully, apart from the occasional moonlight rendezvous with her friends. As harvest season turned to winter, Keiko's baby bump had become all too apparent. She had gained weight, became prone to mood swings, and in several instances grew nauseous after eating. Fumihiro, to his credit, chose to be silent when Keiko's symptoms overcame her ability to remain composed. Elder Mari gradually lightened her workload as Keiko's pregnancy progressed, and by the time winter gave way to spring, Keiko was excused from all labor duties. While this meant more time cooped up in her room, it was absolutely necessary for the sake of her health and her baby's.
And then, after a spring shower transformed into a rainbow-adorned sunny day... the time had come.
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~SPRING~
Keiko screamed. Her body was wracked with pain, her breathing was hoarse and heavy, and her belly was stretched and veiny. She was surrounded by the village women, Hiyori included, and they urged her to push.
"You can do it, Keiko!" Hiyori said as she held her friend's hand. "The baby is almost here, just one more push and you're done!"
Keiko scream turned into a screech that echoed throughout the house... it was answered by a tiny squeal.
Her baby was here.
Keiko drew deep, deliberate breaths to stay calm and conscious. Hiyori's face lit up as if she had heard the Sun Song. "Oh. My. Goddess!!! It's- it's-"
The woman who held her baby wrapped it in a blanket and presented it to Keiko... it was a boy.
He had brown hair just like his father, and his eyes were an odd mix of hazel with a dash of Sheikah red. The baby's face seemed to take after his Hylian half, yet his eye shape showed his mother's heritage... Keiko's heritage. When his eyes met his mother's, Keiko cried. Tears of joy and of guilt glided down her face as she held her newborn son. He reminded her of Michael, in both the greatest and worst of ways. She spoke to no one, looked at no one. All Keiko wanted to do was embrace her son, and let him feel the warmth of his mother's love.
Keiko was showered with cheers and congratulations from her fellow womenfolk. Hiyori herself was in tears at the sight of her best friend being the mother to a beautiful son. She was checked and studied by the caregivers, who found that Keiko was in good health and could resume normal activity by the next week. Even Tengen entered the room to celebrate the birth of her child, the fact that it was a boy brought him much delight. This was, in Keiko's mind, the happiest moment of her life...
Then, Elder Mari and Fumihiro came through the door... and it all came crashing down. The final price Keiko would have to pay to end her shunning...
Motherly instinct immediately seized her, she held her son close in her arms, locked eyes with both of them, and a fire that she never knew she had inside of her came raging to the surface.
"GET OUT!" She roared. "HE'S MINE!" She began to hyperventilate, "You won't take him from me!... I- I..." The tears fell again, "I won't let you take my baby away-y-y-y." Keiko wept. Keiko bawled. A sadness she had never felt before gripped her heart and broke it in two. She had already lost the love of her life, and now, by order of her Clan, she would have to give up the only thing she had left of him, their son.
The Elder ordered the village women to leave immediately. Fumihiro slowly approached the mournful mother before being halted by Mari.
"Fumihiro. You leave us as well," she ordered.
"What?" He blurted out. The man turned back to face Mari, "my Elder, you cannot let your maternal inclinations blind you from our tenets. She must send this half-breed away to-"
"NOW! And so help me Nayru if you question my orders again!"
And with that, Fumihiro was gone from the room so swiftly it was as if he had blinked out of existence. Now it was just Keiko and Mari.
The Elder stepped calmly and casually and met Keiko's distressed face. "May I hold him?" She asked warmly.
Keiko trembled, uncertain if she would ever carry her son again after giving him to the Elder. But, something in Mari's eyes informed her that this was not the parting of ways just yet. She slowly brought him forward and offered her son to be cradled by the village Elder. Mari gently received the boy into her arms. Despite the changing of hands, the baby remained quiet.
"Ahh, a strong silent one, are we?" Mari mused. The boy squirmed slightly in his blanket and made a happy face. The Elder was touched by his sunny demeanor, and rocked him like a babe of her own.
Keiko couldn't help but smile at the sight. The Elder clearly had an affection for her son, even before he was brought into this world. And now, that affection was on full display for her to witness. Perhaps the Elder would let her keep him, or at least remain in contact with her son? The possibility was slim, but Keiko had to try and keep her own son with her. Her newly found maternal instincts urged her to speak when she previously would not.
"Don't take him..." Keiko demanded, her tears dried up. "He's my baby boy... if he must be sent away then exile me with him... He will NOT grow up without his mother."
Elder Mari's eyes locked with Keiko's. Mari's were soft and considerate, while Keiko's were sharp and resolute. "We will figure something out," Mari said. She handed the baby back to his mother and departed.
Keiko sat alone with her progeny, and brought him to the warmth of her breast. In the flood of emotions she was feeling, Keiko was certain of one thing... she would raise her child herself, even if it meant leaving the Himitsu. Perhaps the Elder could arrange for her to see her child on a regular basis, perhaps she had taken pity on the poor boy? Whatever it was that Mari had in mind... Keiko never found out.
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~THREE DAYS LATER~
Keiko slept in late that day. She had been woken up twice by her new son for a feeding and a change of cloth. Exhausted as she was, Keiko had accepted her new responsibility as a parent. She loved every moment she spent with her son. By order of the Elder, her child would remain nameless until he could be placed in a good home. Keiko prayed that Mari would let her see her baby, even on sparse occasions, as he matured. But alas, it seemed the Elder would follow the village code to the letter, much to Fumihiro's pleasure. Keiko was silently preparing for the inevitable separation from her son... but she never expected how that separation would play out.
Keiko awoke groggy and moody. It was already midday and she was certain she missed breakfast. Whatever food was on the table would be cold and stiff, for her and her son. But before she could throw off the covers, Tengen barged into her room.
"Grab your son, stay with me, and keep away from the windows," he commanded.
"Wha.. Tengen? What is..." Keiko sat up and clutched her aching head.
"We don't have time to argue, get up!"
"Oh... Okay." She moved with a quickened sluggishness. Her son was in his cradle sound asleep. She picked the cradle up and followed Tengen's order. He led them to the back of the house where there were no windows. It was a stuffy room filled with parchment and books, the Elder's study. Tengen urged them into a corner where they sat down. The young man was at a loss for words, he stared off into the ether before finally figuring out what to say.
"We've been betrayed. Exposed. Found out..." he said morosely. "The secret of the Himitsu has been compromised entirely... the Yiga are attacking!"
Keiko drew a surprised gasp, "them?! I thought they weren't a threat. Just a bunch of outcasts with no order or training?"
"I'm afraid they're much more competent than we thought. We made a grave mistake in underestimating them... the traitor has been confronted and put to death, you didn't know him, but he knew everyone."
"What does that mean?"
"He provided the Yiga with a full census of everyone in Himitsu Village. They know our names, faces, ages, everything. No one is safe!"
Keiko's mind raced a mile a minute, she could barely show emotion due to the suddenness of these events. "What about Hiyori? What about the Elder?" She held her son's cradle close.
"...The Elder is dead." Tengen said solemnly. "Shortly after we executed the traitor, an arrow flew and..."
"NO..." Just like that, Keiko's hope for a bright future with her son had been dashed.
"As for Hiyori, I don't know. But Fumihiro is out there fighting the Yiga as we speak. He wanted me to make sure you were alive."
"Him? Really?... I thought he wanted me gone from the village."
"Circumstances have changed, Keiko. Right now, everyone needs to be gone from this village. 'Tis a forsaken place now." The sounds of battle became more apparent to them as they conversed. Screams of anguish, of fear and death, penetrated the walls. It was only a matter of time before the Yiga found them as well. "Fumihiro told me to guard you and your son while he held them off. Once there's an opening, we make a break for it."
"And how will we know that will happen?" Keiko asked. "Where will we go?"
"To Hyrule Castle," Tengen replied. "Princess Zelda must be informed of what is happening here. Fumihiro said he would find us when the coast was clear, so all was can do now is wait."
And wait they did, through the cries and wails of war, through the sounds of steel meeting steel, and the unnerving cackle of the Yiga Clan surrounding them.
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~THIRTY MINUTES LATER~
Eventually, the hellish noise dissipated. Keiko's trembling and Tengen's focus softened, believing that the worst had passed and that they only need the all-clear so they may continue their daily lives. Their hearts lifted when a patterned knock came upon the door.
Tengen stood up and asked, "when does the crow call?"
A familiar voiced replied, "...at midnight, surely."
"Master!" Tengen raced for the door and slid it open. Fumihiro, battered and bloodied from the conflict, greeted them.
"We don't have much time. Get her and the half-breed out of here, reinforcements will be arriving soon," Fumihiro stepped in and grabbed Keiko by the arm. Keiko, however, did not believe this display of concern coming from him.
"Why should we trust you?!" She asked. "You wanted me gone from the day I was shown to be pregnant! All you've ever done despise my very existence. Why should I follow your order now?" She clutched her son's woven cradle close to her.
Fumihiro drew a deep breath and replied, "the circumstances have changed... dramatically." He ushered her over to the door. "If you do not flee with him now, all three of you will be dead within the hour. We have already lost the Elder, we must save whoever we can... even your child."
Tengen stepped between them, "where are we to go, Master? If the Yiga know our names and faces, then it doesn't matter where we run, they'll find us."
"You must go to the safest place in the Kingdom, Castle Town. There is a fisherman's shack located East of here, you can escape from one of the back windows. That man's shack is built upon a stream which leads to Zora's River. And Zora's River spills directly into Hyrule Field. You need only borrow a canoe of his. Forcefully, if you must." Fumihiro went over to a cabinet in the room and pulled out parchment paper and an inkwell with a feather. He spread out the rolled paper as best he could and wrote out a message:
"Himitsu Village is compromised. The Yiga Clan has received stolen census documents. They've discovered our location and ravaged us. Please send your most capable assistance, Your Highness."
Fumihiro then sealed the message with a special seal possessed solely by the Himitsu. Its insignia was only recognizable to Zelda and to a select few of her most trusted associates.
He handed the scroll to Tengen, "Deliver this message to Princess Zelda when you reach the town. I will stay and fight here."
Tengen grasped the paper with a sense of foreboding, "Master... will I see you again?"
Fumihiro stepped out of the room momentarily to fetch a long object. "Take this, my student." He tossed the thing at Tengen who only just barely reacted to catch it. It was a katana, resting in its saya. The sword Tengen would wield when he became a full-fledged warrior.
"But- But Master! My training is not complete!" he protested.
"It will have to do," Fumihiro replied. "We've spoken enough, you all must leave, now." He guided the young ones to a room with a window behind the Elder's house and slid it open. The first one through was Tengen so that he could confirm that the coast was clear. Then followed Keiko and her unnamed boy. Fumihiro remained on the inside, ready to fight off any more assassins.
Before they fled, Keiko asked, "why would you do this for him?... Not Tengen, him." She motioned with her baby.
Fumihiro sighed, "our Elder had a fondness for that child that I could not place. She loved him, just as you do now. It was her dying wish to see him to safety. But alas, I must stay and fight with our clansmen here. Making sure you flee with proper protection is your best chance at survival. Now go! Before the next wave arrives!"
Keiko drank in his words as he spoke. While she could not forgive him for the stress he put her through, she could appreciate the chance he was giving them. And with that she said, "thank you." Keiko turned and sprinted off with her son in her arms and Tengen leading the way.
Fumihiro closed the window, turned back to the interior of the house and said, "I am sorry for the way I've treated you... make sure the half-... the *boy* makes it out alive." He brandished his own katana, "..I will buy you all the time that I can."
He rushed forth back into the village and was never heard from again.
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~ONE HOUR LATER~
The pair puffed and panted from their protracted retreat from Himitsu Village. There was no trail to follow, only an endless array of leaves and branches on the forest floor. They ran like rats from a burning building, and scurried further than they thought the Yiga would pursue. Tengen's lungs burned, Keiko's legs tired, and the baby was miraculously still sound asleep. Just as her pace finally wavered, Tengen spotted a formation amongst the woods.
"There! The fisherman's shack is in sight!" he shouted.
"Ugh, hurry! My legs are about to give out," Keiko said with an exhausted voice.
After less than another minute of running (which felt like an hour), the two finally reached the shack. Tengen opened the door for Keiko and her son, and followed them through, shutting the door behind him. Keiko placed her baby's cradle on a nearby table and slumped down against the fine wooden wall. Tengen used whatever energy he had left to search the shack and found it devoid of human life. Back in the main room, several pieces of fishing equipment and minutiae were hung and scattered throughout the space. Tengen peered out the small window above the table, and saw a dock built along the stream. Unfortunately, it was empty. If there was a fisherman here, he was away for the time being.
"Damn!" Tengen cursed. "There's nobody here right now. And not even a raft on the water."
Keiko calmly tried to collect her thoughts and organize them. So much had happened since she had woken up just an hour and a half ago, it was like her whole life had changed in an instant. Slowly the pieces came to her, and when they clicked into place, they sent shockwaves through her very being. Her life among the Himitsu was over, just as she was about to be absolved of her wrongdoing against the Clan. Elder Mari, whom she looked up to and respected, who took her in when nearly every other villager would have thrown her out... was dead. Her village was ransacked and burned, her best friend Hiyori was left to an unknown fate, and Fumihiro, a man she hated, gave them a chance to survive and he too was presumably dead.
She sat in a daze, unable to cry, the shock of losing her home and everyone in it was too much to bear for Keiko. She silently stared off into the ether, nothing stared back, there was only emptiness. Her little one stirred in his cradle but did not awaken, which was good fortune, a baby's cry would give them away to the Yiga, and they could be anywhere at the moment.
Tengen leaned against the door frame between the rooms. His arms crossed, his head heavy, and his eyes were dim and sullen. He spoke not a word either. In his mind, he recounted the sequence of events that led them here, desperately trying to make sense of it all. Why were they betrayed? And how? How could that traitor have acquired such a compromising document which contained the personal information of everyone in Himitsu? And if the Yiga had thoroughly memorized that knowledge... what good was running away going to do for them? He and Keiko could migrate anywhere in the Kingdom, Termina, and beyond. The Yiga would have their corpses.
Keiko broke the heavy silence with a simple yet difficult question, "Are we going to make it?"
Tengen's arms dropped, his hands in fists, "I- I don't..."
"That message needs to reach Zelda... we have to make it."
"I know, Keiko. But I'm afraid it's not that simple." He slowly strode over and knelt down before Keiko. Her eyes were overflowing with worry, his were full of dread. "Not that simple at all. The Yiga have our names, our faces, our whole family trees for all we know. We're marked! All of us! And once the Yiga have their mark they don't stop until-" Keiko began to shudder in fear. Tengen realized his little speech was not helping and tried to think of a different approach. "We need to stay low... cover our tracks or something - I don't know."
"They... they can't kill all of us can they?" Keiko asked weakly. But Tengen's dour expression told her what the answer was going to be. "E-even my b-boy... b-but he doesn't even have a name..." She curled up her legs and buried her face in her arms, losing custody would have been bad enough, but the horrible thought of watching what the Yiga would do to her son nearly broke her.
Tengen's composure was cracking at the seams, it killed him to see the woman he admired in such a sorry state. Yet there was nothing he could do or say. If there was, he did not know it. He was still too young, too inexperienced, his training left incomplete for the dire threat looming over them. He felt small, powerless, inept. Given a grand task he could not accomplish. It would cost him his life, Keiko her's, and her son's life before it had truly begun. The Yiga would slaughter this defenseless boy who didn't even have a name!
"...He doesn't have a name. Only three days old and he didn't get to have a name," he lamented. "They have all of ours and he-" a spark from his mind set a fire in his heart. No one but the village women, Mari, Fumihiro, and Tengen had seen the baby at all. And by village code, he was neither named nor given so much as a birth certificate. "Your baby is not on the census and they don't know his face- Keiko! He has a chance!"
Keiko picked her head up and a glimmer of hope washed over her. "Really? Truly, Tengen?"
He picked up the cradle and lowered it into the young mother's arms. "Absolutely. Look at him! His brown hair and eyes are from his father. He looks indistinguishable from a Hylian baby to the untrained eye. It would take years of growth for his Sheikah side to start showing." Tengen gently yet firmly grasped her shoulders. "He can make it. I swear to you that your boy will live." But then came the hardest part. "But it still means you have to give him up... but not because of some code or punishment. Not as a way to re-purify the bloodline. But as a way to ensure his survival and, ironically, our blood as well. There's a strong possibility he will be the only one with Himitsu blood left after Impa passes. But the only way he lives that long is if... we part ways with him now. I'm so sorry Keiko, but it has to be done."
Keiko's eyes moved back and forth between Tengen and her son. Her heart pounded in her ears, but there was no more tears left to cry. She knew Tengen was right. If the boy was seen with them, then the Yiga would kill him too. It was never going to be easy, but Tengen showed great courage today, and now it was Keiko's turn to be brave. Her turn to do something right, finally.
She took a deep breath, the waves of blood in her veins slowed to a steady current, and a determination she had never felt filled her spirit. "Okay." She rose and her baby stirred again, the little one made a face and started to whine. "What will we do? Where will he go?"
Tengen stood up and motioned toward the window. "Out there," he pointed a finger to the stream running alongside the shack. "This stream flows into Zora's River. And Zora's River flows into Castle Town's moat. Someone will see him. Bring him ashore. He'll be clear of any Yiga." The plan was by no means perfect. In fact, it was hard to call it "good". The river could twist and turn at any moment, rapids could knock the baby into the water where it will most certainly drown, and relying on the good will of strangers to rescue the boy was far from ideal. But with the Yiga coming for their heads, and the unlikelihood of leaving this forest alive, it was the only plan they had. "I can build a small raft for him."
"How? With what?"
Tengen shuffled through the various boxes and cupboards the shack contained. "If that fisherman is out on the water now, he would need something to patch his boat if it ever leaked. Or a steady fuel for torches... he has to have some somewhere... a-ha!" He pulled out a bottle with a dark substance contained within. It was a thick liquid that seemed to absorb almost all light. "Pitch! We can take something small like a basket, plug the holes with this, cover the basket in leaves, and he's good to go."
"How long will it take?" Keiko rocked her baby as it fussed.
"Depends on how big the basket is. The pitch will make it float, but we need something long and shallow enough so it won't tip over." Tengen rummaged through the shack some more, and found a basket one might use for a picnic. "This'll work. I'll prepare this, you prepare him for his journey. I'll try to be quick."
Tengen went to work immediately, Keiko brought her son to the other room to feed him and change the cloth. The two savored whatever time they had to perform their tasks. Menial as it would seem, this could be the last labor Tengen enjoyed. And for Keiko, these were her last moments with her son.
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~TWENTY MINUTES LATER~
The floating basket was built, and the baby returned to sleep. Tengen's hands were black and sticky, yet he wiped his brow all the same. He had quickly tested the basket on the stream and it floated with no leaks. It was ready. Keiko approached from the other room where her son still slept. There was no sorrow on either face, but the determined scowl that came with a hard task that must be completed. The time had come.
However, before Tengen could fetch the baby, Keiko had a question, "what about the note?"
Tengen's eyes widened, he had forgotten the important item was in his pocket. "Oh right, uh... could you grab it for me? My hands are dirty."
Keiko rolled her eyes and pulled open the cloth at his side, she did not have to reach far to feel the folds of the parchment. She carefully pulled it out and displayed it to him. "If we aren't making it out of these woods, the Royal Family will never receive this."
"You sound like you have a plan."
"I do." Keiko opened a cupboard and searched it, she found exactly what she needed. An empty bottle. "You said the river leads to Castle Town. We may not make it... but he is."
"I see. The note goes with the baby."
"This bottle will ensure that the message arrives, at least." But before she dropped it in, Keiko paused. "Let me do one thing first. Did you see a pen and ink in here?"
"Uh, yes. Lower cabinet over there," he pointed across the room. The cabinet was small, with an unlit lantern sitting on its wooden top. Keiko produced the pen and the inkwell and carefully scrawled an addition on the outer roll of the parchment. It read: "Take me to Her Highness."
Tengen peered over her shoulder. "Is that all?"
Keiko hesitated, fiddling with the pen in her fingers. "...He needs a name. I know it's against my punishment but I need to give him something! Like- like Yukio, or Miyamoto or..."
Tengen placed a grimy hand on her shoulder, "Keiko... the village code, your punishment, none of that matters anymore. You can give him a name, you're his mother. But, if the Yiga try to search for him then he needs something different. A name that isn't Sheikah-like. Something they will gloss over and dismiss as just another Hylian."
Keiko smiled. "And I know just the name for him..." The pen returned to the paper, she wrote:
"Call me Mike."
She picked up the rolled paper, slid it into the bottle, and corked it. The message was ready and the boy finally had a name. Keiko brought it into the other room and loomed over her son. She carefully placed the bottle in the boy's cradle, and wiggled it. Her son instinctively wrapped his little arms around the bottle as if it were a doll to sleep with. The sight filled her stomach with butterflies, she kissed her son's head and whispered, "I love you, Mike."
Tengen entered the room with the basket at the ready. Keiko slowly lifted Mike's cradle and brought him over, the cradle fit snugly in the basket as the leaves rustled in response. Her warm gaze doted on her sleeping boy. She wanted to say so much. Her goodbyes, her 'I love you's, her blessings to the Goddesses to see him carried safely downriver... but a distant cackle sucked the air out of the room.
They were out of time. The Yiga were near.
"Let's go," Tengen said quietly yet firmly. Back in the main room, Tengen peered out the window facing the stream. He noticed no movement, the Yiga were likely behind the shack, back in the direction they came. The situation was critical, if the Yiga spotted Mike floating on the water then he was dead for sure. Tengen paced back and forth, trying to come up with a plan. But only one was going to work... "I'm going to distract them. Keep them on the opposite side of the shack. You go, put Mike on the water. No words, no waiting, no nothing. Once he's out of sight, you run. Hard and fast as you can."
"Tengen I..." her voice cracked, she knew what Tengen was about to do.
"I swore I would get him out safe. And if this helps you escape too then I-" Keiko leaned in close and kissed him. It was Tengen's first, and about to be his last. She wanted to answer that long-unrequited passion he held for her. By making this basket float, he had already done so much for her. Now he was going to give everything he had for her safety and Mike's.
Their lips parted. "Thank you so much," Keiko said tenderly. She backed over to the side door facing the river, ready to go on his command.
Tengen, lovestruck and lost for words, brought his hand to the katana his Master trusted him with. A fire burned brightly within him, tightening his grip, renewing his vigor, and sharpening his focus. He simply nodded.
The young swordsman turned, opened the door, and charged out into the perilous forest.
"There's one!" A Yiga assassin shouted from the treetops. "Find the other!"
Tengen drew his sword and planted his feet. "YOUR MASTER IS A TALENTLESS LOUT WHO NEVER BELONGED IN THE HIMITSU!!! YOU WORTHLESS HAVE-NOTS DESERVE NOTHING!!! AND WILL ACHIEVE NOTHING!!!"
Several Yiga clanners appeared to challenge him. "You DARE speak of Master Yiga with that foul tongue?! Find the girl later! KILL THIS BASTARD!"
Meanwhile, Keiko slipped out the back door while Tengen drew their ire. She dashed as quickly as she could with her baby and the basket in her arms. Taking care not to splash, she waded into the water. The stream flowed against her legs with a deliberate strength. It would not capsize the basket, as long as this flow did not increase. She floated the basket but held it against the current. Tengen said not to hesitate, but Keiko's motherly instincts could not be ignored. She afforded herself the brief moments to lean in and kiss her baby.
"Goodbye, Mike. Mommy loves you very much." She released her arm. The basket, with Mike inside, was carried steadily down the stream. Keiko held in her anguish, biting her lip so she would not weep or cry out. She carefully waded through the water and crossed the stream. Reaching the other side, she chanced a glance back, and the basket was out of sight. Mike was away, safely. No tears fell, no pit opened in her stomach, her trembling stopped. Why, she did not know. She was a mother who gave up her son to the whims of the river, to the charity of strangers. She should be broken, writhing on the ground in a deep and terrible sorrow. Yet, that was not how she felt, not at all. A warmth filled her being. As if someone was telling her she did the right thing.
Keiko walked away from the stream, leaving the shack behind her. She folded her hands together and prayed, "Oh great Goddess Farore. Please, please watch over my son. Mike needs your guidance and your unwavering courage. That is all I ask of thee."
Her prayer was punctuated by a not-so-distant scream... it was Tengen. His words echoed in her mind, "run. Hard and fast."
Keiko sprinted ahead into the wild unknown before her. The woods surrounded her, seemingly unending. She ran like a frightened doe. She hoped she was alone, that she would not be found. However, the telltale cackle came from the trees. The Yiga had found her! Her efforts redoubled, her legs burned, breathing quickened, eyes wide and ready to react to anything that jumped out at her. The laughing grew louder, the trees rustled again and again. Footsteps came up behind her disturbing the leaves and crunching the branches. All she needed was for something or someone to appear. A shack, a caravan, a lone wanderer, something, someone! Anything to save her from...
A sharp searing pain penetrated her back, sinking deep into her body. She gasped... she fell... she hit the cold ground... and all faded away.
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~SEVERAL HOURS LATER~
Water flowed out and merged with the greater body of the Zora's River. Sediment roiled and billowed beneath the rippling surface before being dispersed and settling into the riverbed. Where the stream was murky, Zora's River was crystal clear, thanks to the care and watchful eye of the titular Zora who maintained and protected the river, which their home - Zora's Domain - was the source. One such Zora was swimming upriver, her strong leg muscles and hydrodynamic fins enabled her to travel briskly against the current. Ready to return home and feast upon some Roasted Staminoka, the Zora woman paid no mind to the odd litter or debris. After all, she had just finished her watch duty, and the cleaners were surely on their way to remove them from the river. She was hungry, a little weary, and deserved a fine meal.
That is, until a basket came gliding out from the mouth of a nearby stream. The woman let out a disgruntled groan, "fine, I'll take it out. What is with Hylians these days? Throwing trash in our river and treating it like a-". She saw the basket's contents. "...Holy- It's a baby!" A little infant, only a few days old, with a message in a bottle clutched in his stubby arms. The Zora caught the basket and examined it, it was made specifically to float this little baby away from its home. But why? Was there danger? Was it unwanted? "Poor thing." She took a closer look at the bottle and read the words written on the outer roll. "'To Her Highness'? To Zelda? But that's all the way in Castle Town." From where they floated, Castle Town was equidistant from Zora's Domain. While she protested internally, she knew she could not let this defenseless baby go. There were rapids further downriver that would surely spill the little one into the water. It was going to be a long swim back for the Zora woman, but she stiffened her lips and took off swimming with the basket. She would guide it through the river and deliver this baby safely to the town's gate.
She forgot her hunger, and her fatigue vanished entirely. "Don't worry, little one. I'll get you to Zelda."
***
Sunset was nearly upon Hyrule Field, golden rays washed over the landscape and painted the sky in a lustrous hue. As the shadows grew longer and the day winded down, a gate guard threw his head back in a drowsy yawn. He stood beneath the gatehouse with the drawbridge laid out before him. The time to pull up the bridge was gradually approaching. Once the sun peeked down below the horizon, entry into the town was not permitted. The guard, for his part, was ready to retire for the day and rest. He stood silent watch counting the minutes til sundown.
A figure appeared over the hills in the distance. This person was carrying something and in a hurry. The guard made a small bet in his head that the order to raise the bridge would come just moments before this stranger arrived. But alas, he thought wrong, and this stranger, a Zora woman, scampered across the bridge.
"Excuse me!" she cried to the man.
"State thy business please," the guard replied.
The Zora met the man and presented the basket to him. "I found this floating in Zora's River. Someone sent their baby away in this! And it came with a message."
The guard peered down at the infant. It appeared to be a Hylian boy, asleep and comforted inside his cradle. "Hmm, wonder who would do such a thing?" The man took the bottle out of the baby's hands and noticed the seal binding the parchment together. He did not recognize it, but it seemed peculiar to him. Perhaps the Captain would know more? "Thank you miss, you've done a great deed. I will make sure he finds a suitable home. Best get back to yours, now."
The Zora nodded and dove into the moat, gliding through the water back to the river. The guard turned strode into town, the usual hustle and bustle was present yet decreasing by the minute. Citizens concluded their dealings and meetings and made their way home. Shops were beginning to shutter, and the night watch was moving to their positions. The guard felt awkward walking through town with a baby that was not his, but he had hoped to reach the orphanage before it closed for the night. As luck would have it, the Captain of the Guard was walking through the main plaza and saw him.
"Captain Valmer! Captain Valmer, sir!" The guard rushed over, "a Zora woman came through the fields and handed me this!"
The Captain smirked, "a gift from the Goddesses, eh? Your wife was complaining your family was big enough, but clearly they thought different! Ha Ha Ha!"
"Yes, sir, very funny. But look at this, a message in a bottle! Sealed too."
"Let me see," Valmer took the bottle. "Huh, the baby is named 'Mike" apparently and-" he turned it and saw the Himitsu seal. The Captain's jovial nature turned dead serious like the flip of a switch. He received the basket and the boy from the guard, "you've done well soldier, back to your post."
"But sir, I was on gate watch and the bridge will be up soon."
"Then turn-in for the night! I must see Her Highness."
The guard was shocked at the sudden shift in Valmer's mood, nevertheless he saluted, spun round, and exited the plaza.
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~HYRULE CASTLE - SUNDOWN~
In the throne room sat none other than Princess Zelda herself with her signature pink dress and all her finery. Her steward was at her side discussing the state of city planning and economics when they were interrupted by the loud grinding of stone on stone.
Through the stone door, Captain Valmer barrelled into the throne room. "Your Highness! Your Highness! I bring you a message of the utmost import!"
Zelda cocked an eyebrow, "Captain Valmer. It is unlike you to show such distress. What troubles you?"
The captain ascended the stairs to her throne and knelt down before the princess. He bowed his head and presented the basket. "A Zora found this young boy floating in the river. This bottle was in his clutches," he leaned in close, lowering his voice to a whisper. "It bears the seal of the Himitsu."
Zelda took the bottle and popped the cork. Turning over the bottle, the parchment fell into her white-gloved hand. With a curious eye, she read the outer fold first. Her perplexed expression turned to serious concern upon opening the letter proper. She scowled and turned her head to her steward, "fetch Impa for me immediately." The man bowed and exited the room. She addressed the captain, "thank you, Valmer, for bringing us this message. I must ask you to leave at once, I'm afraid. This is a delicate, and private, matter."
"I understand completely, your Highness. What of the boy?"
"I will decide what to do with him. Now please..." she waved a hand, and the Captain was out of the room. Shortly thereafter, Impa came striding in. She was calm and collected, typical of her behavior unlike the Captain. Little did she know what Zelda was about to say.
Impa knelt before the princess, "ready to serve you, Your Highness." She spotted the basket at Zelda's feet. "Is... is that a baby?"
"Indeed. And what terrible news he bears. Rise, Impa." The Sheikah woman stood at attention. Zelda rose from her throne in kind. "Himitsu Village has been attacked."
Impa's strong and steadfast visage cracked immediately. "WHAT?" she hissed, balling her hands into fists.
"I received this note with the official seal. According to this, the Yiga Clan are behind the attack. They came into the possession of highly sensitive and classified census documents on the Himitsu. Knowing Yiga's tenacity and penchant for bloodshed..." Zelda grasped her protector's arm. "I am sorry, Impa. The village has been destroyed."
Impa was shaken, heartbroken, and deathly furious. Her fists trembled, her eyes became misty, and she gnashed her teeth. "DAMN THEM," she snarled. Impa broke Zelda's grip and turned her back, wanting to confront this revelation alone.
"I must say that I share partial blame for this. Those documents could only have been stolen from the Castle, likely one of the envoys. I should have been more mindful of their business here. And Yiga, I should have been more aware-"
"Don't, Your Highness," Impa interrupted. "None of this is your fault, none at all." She turned back to the princess with a red-hot rage behind her eyes. "This affront cannot go unpunished."
"I agree," Zelda seated herself upon her throne again. "Your mission, Impa, is twofold. First, travel to Himitsu Village. Study the area, learn all that you can about the attack. If you find any survivors, personally escort them to Castle Town. It is too dangerous if they go alone, the Yiga will try to pursue them. Secondly... eliminate them. The Yiga..." A fire burned in Zelda's eyes to match Impa's. "...to the last." Princess Zelda taking such extreme measures was almost unheard of in the kingdom. However, the Yiga had slighted the Royal Family in such a way that few others have accomplished. For the slaughter of the Family's closest ally, there was only one recourse: to be destroyed.
Impa bowed in accordance. "Yes, Your Highness. Thy will be done." Her words dripped with anticipation. "I will set out at once."
"Before you go," Zelda said, halting her. "I have a request for you upon your return." She bent over and lifted the boy into her arms. "This boy is from the village."
"Y-yes? I had heard of a woman in the village carrying a bastard."
The baby started to stir. "This must be him. Who was the father? Do you know?"
"From the reports Elder Mari sent to me, it was a Lieutenant in our very Guard... the, uh... 3rd Cavalry I believe."
"Ah, fine men they were, every one. The father was probably wiped out with the rest of the unit in the Battle of the Wastes."
"Yes, Your Highness. Such a shame. Um, what do you have in mind?"
"Impa. This boy is one of the only survivors from your village. He still has Himitsu in his veins, supplemented by some of Hyrule's finest, I must say." The princess was resolute."I want you to train him as he matures. Teach him the ways of the warrior as the Himitsu knew it. He will become a fine member of the Guard, and serve us well."
Impa was taken aback by this request. Half-breeds were to be cast out from the Himitsu, yet here was the Princess vouching for this infant, not even a week old! Her upbringing in the village did not endear her to the idea, but she would never question Zelda's methods or orders. If it was Her Highness' will for Impa to educate and discipline this baby, then so she shall when the time came.
"Yes, Princess. I will train the boy."
"This 'boy' has a name." Zelda turned the paper over to the scrawled text on the other side. "Mike."
"Very well, Your Highness. I will train Mike when he is ready."
"Excellent. Now go, the cover of night will shroud you from danger." Impa bowed, turned, and vanished from the throne room. Zelda gazed down and the baby in her hands. Mike's journey was nothing short of miraculous, but his arrival meant that the Royal Family was alerted to the attack far sooner than the Yiga had planned. Now, the Himitsu's finest warrior, Impa, was en route to the village with a wrathful vengeance. The Yiga Clan had made their last mistake, it would be their downfall. All because they failed to account for a single baby.
Zelda chuckled warmly, rocking him. "You have done well, little one."
Mike squirmed, woke up, and started to cry.
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~EPILOGUE - TWENTY YEARS LATER~
The teapot whistled and Mike picked it up effortlessly by the handle. He carefully walked over to where his dining table was and seated himself. With his left hand, he lifted a teacup from the table and brought it close to the pot. He slowly tipped the pot so the spout would pour. However, it was a few centimeters too far, a splash of boiling hot tea overfilled the cup and covered his fingers.
"Shit!" Mike nearly slammed the cup and pot down. He felt for a napkin and quickly wiped his hand off, hoping to preserve his skin from a nasty burn. The tabletop would have to be cleaned off as well, otherwise it would stain. Not that such a thing would matter to Mike at this point, this was his second year living with total blindness. Even now, Mike struggled to live as a normal man again. He couldn't even pour a cup of tea.
Mike's cottage was built along the slopes of the Snowhead Region. Wooden and all one room save for the little alcove that was the latrine. Sparsely decorated, a man with his condition needs not such things, and utilitarian in its setup, Mike dedicated much of his time to learning the layout of his own home. Counting steps, memorizing locations, and keeping everything within an arm's reach. This cottage would be a place that only Mike could live comfortably.
Despite living remotely, Mike had his share of guests every now and then. In fact, there was a knocking upon his door as he wiped down the table. He quickly discarded the wet paper rags in his rubbish bin, mumbling curses all the way to the door.
"State thy business," Mike called.
"Hello? Is this Mike's home?" It was a woman's voice, soft and folksy. Mike always asked who it was first before opening the door. His condition was driving him to paranoia.
The retired guard captain opened the door. "Yes, it is. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
"Oh..." the woman's voice faltered. Obviously taken aback by the cloth around his eyes. From the depth and accent of the voice, Mike assumed this was an older Sheikah woman. "Yes, I have been searching for you... I mean, I just wish to speak to you Mike. Sir."
"And who are you?" he asked again.
"I'm sorry. I am a Sheikah. My name is - well, my Hyrulean name - is Sharla... but my real name is Hiyori."
"Okay, Hiyori. You wanted to speak with me? About what?"
She leaned in and lowered her voice. "I used to be part of the Himitsu Clan."
Mike knew the name well. Apparently, according to what Impa provided him, Mike was birthed from this clan. He softened his posture and opened the door fully. "Come in, please."
Hiyori looked around the cottage, confused yet intrigued by its design. She never expected Mike to have lost his vision.
"Have a seat at the table. I apologize if it's a little messy, mishap with a teapot." Mike guided himself to the opposite side of the table from where Hiyori was seated. "Speaking of, help yourself. Sorry I can't pour your cup for you."
"Thank you, but it's okay. I don't need anything." She watched as the ramshackle man sat down, he shuffled in his chair trying to get comfy. Not exactly being the best host, but she could forgive it given the circumstances.
"So.." Mike said. "A Himitsu survivor, huh?"
"Yes. I was sixteen years old when the Yiga destroyed it. I hid away amongst the rice storage as the attack happened. The building was set on fire, I had to move, but thankfully I wasn't spotted. I like to think I'm good at stealth, but really I just got lucky. Since then, I was given a new name and a new life here in Termina."
"I was shown the reports of that day. Truly terrible. Apparently I was an infant when that happened?"
"You were. Your mother was my best friend."
A shock pulsed through Mike's body. He drew himself forward, arms resting on the table. "Wait, you knew my mother?! I don't even know what her name is."
"Really?! The Royal Family never told you?"
"They never learned it. And we never were able to retrieve the census papers that enabled the attack to begin with."
"Such a shame. A Captain of the Guard never knowing his mother's name-"
"So you've heard of me?"
"Many people have heard of you. When you became Captain, I tried so hard to write a correspondence to you. But I was told the citizenry couldn't have such private conversation with the guard captain. Especially since I've been in Termina all this time."
"I see... or rather, I 'understand', hehehe," Mike joked, pointing to the sockets where his eyes used to be.
Hiyori chuckled, "oh you. Haha. She would be so proud of you. And worried sick about your health."
"Oh right, hehe. Sorry, I interrupted you. What was my mother's name?"
"...Keiko..." he could not see it, but Hiyori was smiling.
"Alright, Hiyori," Mike leaned back in his chair. "Tell me about my mother."