Chapter One: Innocence Shattered

"Sheik! Sheik, Mama wants you!" a little girl shouts, as she 
watches her elder brother climb from branch to branch in his 
favorite tree.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming, Sallah! By Farore! Can't you be a little 
more patient?" a ten year old Sheik shouts back, as he carefully 
descends from the tree.

"No! `Sides, Papa's coming home today, remember?" Sallah asked, 
being her typical six-year-old self.

"Oh yeah! Papa is coming back from the Burning Wastes with news 
about the other Sheikah tribes that live there! Wait up, Sallah!" 
Sheik shouted, as he jumped from the last branch and landed 
gracefully on his feet, eager to see his father again. His father 
was the most powerful Sheikah in the land of Hyrule. In times 
past, he and King Harkinian had been said to go on grand 
adventures together, along with Impa, the great Sheikah 
warrioress. Running at breakneck speed, the two children rush 
home, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their father. Their 
mother was waiting for them at the doorway of their modest house.

"Sheik! Honestly, child! Can't you stay clean for at least a 
moment?" their mother scolded, gently.

"Sorry, Mama." Sheik replied, sheepishly. Sheik's mother sighed 
and patted her swollen belly. Sheik knew that the time was coming 
when Sallah wasn't going to be the youngest anymore. Out of 
impulse, he put his ear against his mother's womb and listened to 
the new life that was inside. He could almost see his little 
brother, several years from that point. It was a comfort hearing 
both the new baby's heartbeat and his mother's at the same time. 

"What does baby sister say, Sheik?" Sallah asked, as she listened 
alongside him.

"He says to stop calling him that, he's a boy, not a girl!" Sheik 
replied, knowing that his sister hated being told that she was 
going to have a little brother. Their mother sighed, as the usual 
girl-boy argument broke out between Sheik and Sallah.

"That is enough, you two! I am sure your mother is at wit's end!" 
a deep, jovial voice said, as its owner walked into the sunlit 
glen.

"Papa!" Sheik and Sallah shouted, at the same time, before 
gleefully running over to the warrior. 

"Welcome home, Sasaki. They have been waiting eagerly for your 
return for a long time." Their mother said, as she greeted her 
husband with a gentle hug and kiss.

"I have no doubt in that. They have grown since I have been away. 
Before we know it, it will be time for Sheik to learn the ways of 
the Sheikah Warriors." The father said, as he ruffled his son's 
golden blond hair.

"And your other son will also be a warrior, like his father." The 
mother said, with pride in her voice. Sasaki nodded, eyes aglow 
with pride.

"Meina, tell me all of what has gone on since I left Hyrule." 
Sasaki said, as they all retreated inside, escaping the cool of 
the encroaching evening. The mother nodded, gently telling her 
children to go play while they talked.

Weeks passed quickly, and another son was born to the Sheikah 
family. As always, Sheik had managed to be right about the new 
baby, much to Sallah's chagrin. Then, one particularly cold 
autumn morning, the unexpected happened. Sheik and Sasaki had 
been deep in the woods chopping firewood when the urgent alarm 
was sounded. 

"Sheik, stay here until I come for you." Sasaki said, knowing 
that the situation had to be grave when the alarm was sounded.

"But, Papa! I want to go back with you! Mama, Sallah, and Sunku 
are still in the cottage!" Sheik shouted, his ruby eyes filled 
with fear.

"Just stay put! I will be back with your mother and siblings in a 
few minutes!" Sasaki shouted, then was gone in a puff of smoke, 
leaving his ax behind. Sheik did as he was told and hid beneath 
some undergrowth, prepared for a short wait. An hour passed. Two. 
Three. When the fourth hour passed with no sign of his family, 
Sheik started getting worried. His father never took longer than 
intended. What could have happened? With a child's logic, Sheik 
started back in the direction of the settlement. When he was 
within twenty yards of the first house of the settlement, he 
smelled acrid smoke coming from it. The houses were on fire!

"What is going on?! Where's Papa? Why isn't he here?" Sheik 
wondered, then started going around to the other side of the 
settlement. Then someone stepped from the burning remains of the 
first house, and Sheik could sense death around this person.

"Ganondorf-sama, here's another Sheikah child. Should I go ahead 
and kill him off like the others?" a gruff female voice asked, as 
its owner approached the cowering child.

"Do as you wish." A male voice replied, the very sound of it 
making Sheik's skin crawl. With a scream of terror, Sheik started 
running, not daring to look back at the terrifying scenes that 
dominated what had once been home. For hours Sheik ran in the 
pitch black forest, not knowing where he was going or what he was 
going to do when he got there. His young mind was filled with 
terror; a terror he could neither comprehend nor contemplate. He 
wasn't even aware that his arms and legs were scratched up and 
bloody, nor did he know that his clothing was wet from dew and 
blood. All he wanted to do was get away. When the first signs of 
dawn made their presences known in Hyrule, he arrived at the edge 
of the forest, near the castle. A few guards noticed him stumble 
out of the gloom and rushed over to him, before he collapsed into 
a trembling, shivering heap. 

"Poor lad. He's scared out of his wits. Let's get him inside 
where it is warm and tend to his injuries there." One guard said, 
gently. The others nodded in agreement as their superior gently 
took the shaking youth up in his arms and carried him inside. 
Once inside, they were confronted by Impa.

"What were you doing away from your posts?" Impa asked, 
peevishly. 

"Lady Impa, we found this child out near the forest's edge. He 
looks scared to death, ma'am." One soldier said, speaking out of 
turn, but remaining polite, nonetheless. When Impa took a closer 
look at the trembling boy, she drew back in shock.

"It's my nephew! Sheik! Get him to my quarters immediately!" Impa 
ordered. 

"Yes ma'am!" the soldiers replied, as they rushed the boy to 
Impa's chambers.

When Sheik next awoke, a blue eyed girl was looking down at him.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, when the boy's eyes focused on 
her. Sheik shook his head.

"I want my Papa." Sheik said, as tears came to his eyes again. 

"Your Papa won't be coming back, Sheik. I am sorry, child." Impa 
said, as she came alongside the girl and gently tried to console 
the grief-stricken Sheikah child.

"Aunt Impa!" Sheik wailed, as he sat up and hugged his aunt, 
burying his face in the cloak she wore. The girl sympathetically 
hugged him from behind, knowing something of the grief he now 
felt.

"Someday.......someday, I hope somebody kills him....I hope 
somebody does!" Sheik sobbed, as the two females sought to 
comfort him in the only ways they knew how. They didn't need to 
know who `he' was. They already knew.