The New Chronicles of Hyrule: Shadows Joined

Eleven years had passed since the Sealing of Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. Rather, since Princess Zelda had used the Ocarina of Time to return Hyrule to the time of peace, before the Evil King's reign. This reverted Zelda and her ever-faithful Hero of Time, Link, to their ten-year-old selves, placing the Princess and Link at the age of twenty-one at the time of our tale.

As a result of Zelda's playing of the Ocarina, nobody remembered any of the battle against Ganondorf's evil ever happening. This is because, technically, it didn't happen. But those most involved in the turmoil did in fact remember, their memories, if not their bodies, immune to Zelda's magic due to the part they played; this meant Zelda, Link, and the Sages. While Zelda, now Queen of Hyrule, devoted her time and energy to maintaining the Seal and, of course, running her realm, the Sages led dual lives. From Light to Spirit, they aided Zelda in watching the Seal; when not doing that, they lived as they once had. Excluding Rauru, of course; the Sage of Light did nothing but dwell in the Temple of Light, because, come on.. what else was there for him to do?

The only other exception to this was Impa.

The supposed last remaining Sheikah, Sage of Shadow, Guardian of Kakariko Village, and Protector of Princess Zelda was unable to fulfill her duties for one reason. And a rather big one at that.

She was dead. But the Shadow Temple didn't go unprotected.

What few people knew, was that Impa was married. Her husband was Erik Demhri, Captain of the Hyrulian Royal Guard. They were married two years before Zelda was even conceived. And they had a daughter.

Elenna Lilith Demhri was doomed never to have a normal childhood. Being the daughter of a Sheikah and the Captain of the Hyrulian Royal Guard, she was taught to fight as soon as she was able to walk without falling over. Even when the Princess was born, the same day as Elenna just two years later, her training became almost solely for one purpose. To protect the future ruler of their land.

When Ganondorf made his play for the Triforce, Elenna fled with her mother and the Princess. She helped her mother train Zelda in the ways of the Sheikah, and watched over the future Queen even when she disguised herself as a Sheikah and aided Link in his quest to destroy Ganondorf's evil.

After all was finally right in the world, the Triforce restored and Ganondorf Sealed, the bond between the two girls deepened all the more. It was almost like being two survivors of a tragedy; they clung to each other in the aftermath, and Link as well, for it was soon discovered that he was Zelda's twin brother, thought dead when their mother fled the Castle and gave him to the Kokiri. She had known Link would do great things someday, and could only accomplish them being raised outside the Castle.

But back to the main idea here: The three were practically inseparable. Often, they could be found sitting in Zelda's courtyard together, laughing and trying to ease the worries of the Princess. And when that didn't do the trick, they would whisk her out of the Castle, to go riding in Hyrule Field, or swimming at Lake Hylia.

It was only a few days before Zelda and Link's nineteenth birthday, and Elenna's twenty-first, that tragedy struck. The group had gone out riding that day, but not alone; the King, a number of the Guard, and Elenna's mother and father had joined them. They were caught by surprise when a rare pack of Wolfos attacked. Elenna and Link had immediately moved to protect Zelda, so the young Princess escaped unscathed. The King and most of the Guard weren't so lucky. And neither was their Captain.

Erik Demhri died that day in Hyrule Field, with his wife and daughter crying over his broken body.

What none understand is that while the Sheikah are secretive people, they are not made of stone. They feel and love just like anyone else does. More than most people do, really. For when their love of something, or someone, is great enough.. and that thing is taken from them.. frequently, they will simply wither and die. This is what happened to Impa, not six months after her husband's death.

So Elenna Demhri found herself with an abundance of titles and responsibilities she was nowhere near ready to receive; Sage of Shadow, Protector of the Shadow Temple, Keeper of the Shadow Medallion, Guardian of Kakariko Village, and Advisor to the Queen of Hyrule. Her life had gotten exponentially more complicated.

No one was surprised when Elenna withdrew into solitude. She knew the Shadow Temple inside and out, and there were a plethora of hidden passages, a number of them stemming from the antechamber itself. One of these, which ended in a rather large room, she chose as her dwelling. She knew nobody would dare to disturb her there.. most still feared the Graveyard, and especially the Shadow Temple.

But of course, there are exceptions to every rule.

Nabooru, who had been named godmother at Elenna's birth, was one of these exceptions. She took great pleasure in stopping by unexpectedly and badgering the young Sage. Saria often accompanied the Gerudo Queen on these excursions into the half-Sheikah's domain, which was always such a great pleasure for Elenna. Quiet and withdrawn, Saria contrasted her in every way, being bubbly and exuberant; Elenna often found herself having to protect her kneecaps when the shorter Sage got angry.

Not even Zelda and Link stopped by that often, but that was to be expected; as the new Queen and Prince, they had many responsibilities, and couldn't always make time to see their sister. But their visits, as rare as they were, were all the more treasured.

Surprisingly enough, Elenna's most frequent visitor was Kaepora Gaebora. The great owl seemed to understand just what Elenna needed; often he gave her cryptic advice that turned out to be very useful. And other times, he would simply grab her up in his talons without warning and take her soaring across Hyrule.

Otherwise, Elenna spent most of her time alone. She tended to the Temple, watched over Kakariko Village, advised Zelda, went swimming at Lake Hylia, rode her grey mare Melantha through Hyrule Field, fought the remaining spawn of evil in all of the Temples when it was needed, and could frequently be found training at the Gerudo Fortress. But probably her most secret joy was dancing. The Sheikah could put water to shame with the sheer graceful fluidity of her movements.

It was not long after her twenty-second birthday when Elenna began noticing changes. Some of the monsters in the Temples started becoming more active. The Graveyard looked like someone was keeping it again.. which was strange, because Dampe had died when she was fifteen. And the powers she'd inherited from her mother, not only as Sheikah but as Sage, which she had thus far been unable to tap into, were becoming stronger.

Something was about to happen in Hyrule. And Elenna was going to find out what it was if it killed her.