by N Felts
creates an illuminated path leading out of the cave, blinking between the sporadically placed light sources in short bursts. Quickly giving chase, Sheik extinguishes the torches left in the boy’s wake with rapid efficiency, his bridge of security collapsing behind him as she moves up the ramp and out of the cavern in hot pursuit. The graveyard is illuminated particularly well, the moon offering plenty of silvery light as it reflects upon the thin fog hugging the ground. The night has grown cold, the recent rainfall causing a dramatic shift in temperature as well as causing the wind from Lake Hylia to amplify greatly. Leaping off of the small cliff overlooking the gravestones, Rift steps off of Impa’s gravestone, dashing through the rows of monuments in a mad dash to exit the area. He couldn’t possibly know what the Sheikah wants from him, but he has no intention of finding out. Catching up to him in no time, Sheik leaps overhead, throwing an array of spikes into the ground and cutting off his escape route. With nowhere to run, he finally turns to engage her.
A vicious flurry of punches and kicks slice through the mist, Sheik’s agility like nothing the boy has ever seen as she evades his strikes with precognitive efficiency. Rapidly backing her against the large gravestone at the entrance, he sees his opportunity to capitalize, spinning into a devastating kick. The moment his foot collides with the stone, he knows he is in trouble, his appendage blasting a foot-sized hole through the rock, and leaving him temporarily vulnerable. Having ducked to the side, the ease with which the ninja is able to evade his attacks makes the battle seem extraordinarily one-sided. Sweeping the boy’s spare leg off the ground, Sheik immediately flips up onto his torso in a handstand while he tumbles horizontally. Arcing her back into an impossible maneuver, she stomps both feet onto the boy’s chest, stapling him to the ground as she gracefully soars atop the large monument. A brief grunt of pain is all Rift can offer, the wind knocked from his lungs in the sudden assault. Climbing back to his feet, his vision traces up past the small hole he punctured into the slab of concrete, and finally to the patient Sheikah standing atop it. Quickly losing his temper with the heightened class of enemy, the boy swings a wide kick to the side of the large monument, aiming to cause the ninja a temporary loss of balance. The slab of stone shifts over, the entire memorial cracking across its base just before Rift steps into a push kick at the bottom, shoving the entire accolade off of its base forcefully. The mildly clever attack takes far too long to catch Sheik off guard, allowing her to leap away from engraved slab of rock, kicking off at the very same moment the boy pushes the bottom. The end result is Rift’s ample force working against him, the large stone spinning toward him as if a giant crank were attached to the side.
Unable to move out of the way in time, the boy falls victim to the whirling stone, but a quick, reflexive gesture prevents any damage, breaking the large rock in half as he separates his arms within the hole he created moments ago. The two chunks of rock land on either side of him with a heavy thud while the ninja lands gracefully a short distance away. Starting to sense the drastic advantage she possesses, Sheik decides to wear the boy down as opposed to going in for the kill. Two more arrays of spikes fly past Rift at angles too easily avoided to be considered lethal. Though his sudden bursts of speed are formidable, the strikes that follow always arrive too late to inflict any damage upon the skilled assassin. Time and time again the boy dashes in and throws an impressive combination, only to be laid flat upon the ground by the infinitely more experienced warrior. One particularly overzealous punch flies past the Sheikah’s cheek as she steps forward and latches a hand onto Rift’s vulnerable throat for a throwing technique. The direct physical interaction jars the ninja with an overwhelming influx of information, causing her to stumble to the side. Assuming he must have grazed her with the blow, the boy quickly follows with a kick, desperate to finally gain the upper hand. His shin meets the bottom of the Sheikah’s foot, her absurdly limber form contorting to course the kick in a different direction while she spins on her back. A sweeping strike throws Rift’s other leg out from under him, and once again, he finds himself laying upon the ground while the ninja nimbly flips away.
Everything the boy has experienced, and all of Mai’s schemes envelope the Sheikah’s mind like a dense cloud of understanding. The potent revelations steal her breath away for a moment as the concept of a fourth goddess, kept secret all this time, finally comes to light. Nayru’s particular hatred of this guardian of the void shines through it all, a thoroughly biased version of historical events playing like a film reel in fast forward. All the years she has fought for the kingdom, and the world beyond, suddenly meaningless as far grander events have unfolded behind the scenes all the while. The one element pulling on her heart strings more than any other being the boy trapped in the middle of events eternally beyond his comprehension. Seduced by a companionship he would never find outside of his goddess, he has shed essential fragments of his humanity far too incrementally to have noticed. Now he stands on the precipice of the meaning of his existence without an ounce of the willpower he will need to make the right choice. Sheik knows the righteous path is to put him out of his misery, but even so, she cannot bring herself to such cruelty. The only thing left is for her to try and reach him, however impossible the task may seem.
“Rift,” she starts, walking toward the boy with her arms passively at her sides.
“Wh-what? How do you know my name?” He responds, hopping back a step and remaining on guard.
“I am sorry for my ignorance, but now I understand,” she continues, slowly stepping forward with no intention to attack. “You are a victim. You have been lied to and manipulated by the one you trust the most.”
“What are you talking about? Th-this is some kind of trick,” he decides, dashing forward once again. His one-two punch combination is slapped aside effortlessly before the ninja hooks the ankle of his lead leg with her foot, spinning so that her other heel lands directly behind his. While he struggles to keep his footing at the most critical moment of the maneuver, she pushes him over as if he has never known any manner of balance.
“She is lying to you, Rift,” Sheik continues, circling the boy as he scrambles back to his feet. “You know of whom I speak. You care for her deeply, but when the time comes, she will discard you like—“ she attempts to impart, the ninja’s head rocking to the side from a sudden punch before the final syllables can pass through her lips. Stumbling back a step, she finds what she had expected, Mai’s translucent form recoiling her fist as she glares with intense anger. Her attempts to tap into the boy’s mind with her vast knowledge has stabbed the goddess in a vulnerable place, and forced her to play her hand.
“Finally, I’m strong enough to help you fight,” Mai smirks, turning to her companion and giving him an assuring nod. “She’s not strong enough to take on the both of us. That’s why she’s trying to confuse you. Nayru’s never been much of a fighter,” she continues, turning back to the Sheikah and beginning to circle around her. “But if you think my chosen is naïve enough to fall for your mind games, you’ve got another thing coming,” she concludes, fading away once again.
“No, Rift,” the ninja pleads, holding up her hands in a surrendering gesture. “I don’t want to fight. Please listen.”
“I’ve heard enough,” the boy declares, dashing forward once again. His snap kick hits nothing but air, but the following question-mark kick causes Sheik to dodge predictably. Emerging from her chosen’s form, Mai takes shape just long enough to swing a leg kick, then continue into a spinning back-fist. Narrowly dodging both strikes, the ninja finds herself back-pedaling as Rift picks up where his goddess left off, launching a jab, cross, body-shot combination as Mai fades away. The first two strikes are evaded, but the hook to the body lands as the Sheikah missteps. Without an instant to breathe between the seamless attacks, Mai appears once again, mimicking Rift’s style, but with her own girlish flair. Faking a spinning back-kick, the goddess lifts her leg as she twirls, continuing into a to
rnado-kick to the head. The knockout-force attack flies just past the ninja’s head with an audible whoosh as the goddess vanishes. Seizing the opportunity, the boy manages to land a heavy leg kick, buckling the Sheikah’s knee as she struggles to remain elusive during the onslaught. The follow-up combo misses the mark, and the agile ninja slides between Rift’s legs atop the cobblestones. Only halfway through, Shiek grabs hold of the sectioned stone sidewalk above her head, spreads her legs and rolls backward, throwing the boy into the air as she springs athletically back to her feet. Before she is even able to properly gain her bearings, a heavy knee lands on her lower back just to the right of her spine. Toppling to the ground in pain, she remains on her hands and knees as Mai fades into the mist once again.
“Rift,” the Sheikah sighs, realizing her words thus far are only serving to strengthen Mai’s grip upon the boy’s thoughts. “You’re not a bad person. You’re not a killer. You only want to feel like you belong,” she explains, cut off when another furious attack commences.
“You