Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Far Side of the Moon ❯ Gone Astray ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Ganondorf silently rode down the rocky path, a hidden dagger pressed up against a petite hooded figure sitting in front of him. “If you say a word, I’ll kill you,” he muttered, and the figure nodded silently.

The clouds darkened above Hyrule Castle, and blue eyes stared up at the cloudy sky. Just like my dream. Her gaze fell back down to her lap. Where is Link? Ganondorf is moving too soon. It isn’t supposed to be like this.

My name is Princess Zelda. No, that’s not right. My name was Princess Zelda. Now, I am Sheik, a spy for Lord Ganondorf and a warrior for the Dark World. I was forced, no, persuaded to join him, and in doing so I was given a new identity. I have no interest in what happens to my people. They mean nothing to me now. I have stolen from them, hid from them, even murdered some of them. I am wanted in more places than I can name, and most would rather I be dead than alive.

It has been hard, changing from someone that everyone loves and adores to someone who is hated. I’ve returned to my “father” with cuts and bruises stemming from fights with civilians. Somehow I always get away, but sometimes I wish they would just kill me. The world would be a lot better off without a princess turned spy running around.

“Sheik,” I heard him call from some room in the large castle. I found him easily due to the fact that I knew the castle up and down. It was different from the old castle, but I didn’t let my mind dwell on that. That was a whole other life.

“Yes sir,” I said, kneeling before him. I looked up at him, and I knew that he saw the large gash starting just inches from my left eye and running down to my jaw. They were expecting me to show up now. They were armed and, apparently, they knew how to wield a knife as well as a civilian should. I had used a bit of magic to heal the wound, but it was still painfully obvious that I’d been in a fight.

I found it a bit strange that nobody recognized me as the former princess of Hyrule. Perhaps it was because most people thought her to be dead. She had, after all, been taken silently by Ganondorf, underneath everyone’s noses. Why wouldn’t she be dead?

Perhaps it was because of the way my face looked. I didn’t look like a pampered princess anymore. My face was cut up and tense and I never wore makeup anymore. My hair was cut so short that I looked like a boy. I wasn’t even a teenager yet; my chest had barely developed at all. In everyone’s eyes, Sheik was a young boy thief. To most, I was a nuisance. To a select few, I was just a poor boy who was trying to live in this dark world.

There were people who would take me in, give me food and shelter, though I didn’t need it. I had Ganondorf, and that was more than enough for me. But in order to be an efficient spy for the Dark Lord, I had to feign helplessness. He wanted information; he wanted to know if anyone was plotting against him. If so, I was to kill them and silently leave the village.

“Did you need something?” I asked with as much politeness as I could muster up. I was still weak from the last fight I’d escaped from. He saw this and took my shoulders, pulling me up to my feet. Then he knelt down and stared right into my core. It was numbing.

“I don’t want you to get yourself killed, Sheik,” he told me, and at that moment I didn’t see him as a tyrant bent on taking over the world. I saw him as a human – I saw worry in his eyes, I felt the anger in his touch as he ran his finger down the side of my face where the wound was. I flinched. “You are to stay here for three days. I want you healed up before you go out again, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, bowing my head. He patted my shoulder and I walked past him slowly towards the room I slept in. I refused to call it my room, since I felt as if I was just a pawn in his plan, and didn’t deserve to have my own room.