#linkwild

"So what's our plan now then?" Legend asked, before spooning in a mouth full of stew.

The group sat either side of a long table in the guards mess hall. Bowls of stew and thick slices of buttered bread were passed along the table along with mugs of water and juice.

"Yeah, do we keep searching for these researchers? Or do we keep to our original quest to find Zelda?" Hyrule asked.

"If the Yiga symbol we found was an indication that they've been in the castle recently. They could have kidnapped the researchers," Wild said, staring down into his mug.

"Do you have any idea where they might have taken them?" Time asked.

"My father was looking for Yiga hideouts with my brother. If we can find them they might know what the Yiga have been up to." Maari spoke up. The others looked along the table in her direction.

"Do you think we could find them? I'd rather not take us on a long detour if possible." Time stressed, thinking about how they had already been drawn into local issues. When their real goal lay far ahead.

"I know where they were headed. Father told me he was going to scout out the Great Plateau. During the upheaval there was a lot of Yiga activity there around the old ruins."

"I cleared out the Yiga from the Plateau," Wild stated, gripping his spoon a little too tight.

"I don't know if they went back, but my father was searching for my mother."

Maari paused, as she realised she was going to have to share some more of her story with the heroes. Wars sent her a sympathetic look from across the table.

"My mother disappeared six years ago. She was fighting the Yiga when she vanished. Father hoped that if he went in search of the old Yiga hideouts that he might be able to find her."

"Do you think you could find them of we went to the Plateau?" Four asked.

"I believe so. Sheikah are pretty good at finding our own tribe," Maari replied firmly.

"Let's not forget we have a pretty good tracker of our own!" Legend beamed, as he grappled Twi with a one armed hug.

"Le'me go you crazy vet!" Twi protested, easily pulling free of Legend's smaller form.

"It's not my favourite place in Hyrule," Wild began. "But, it isn't far from the Gerudo Desert. We wouldn't be making much of a detour on our path," Wild said, as he looked up at Time.

The older hero considered for a moment.

"I think we should get to the bottom of this mystery," Time stated, talking slowly as his mind churned. "If we can rescue those people we have a responsibility to try. And perhaps we can slay some monsters on the way!"

The rest of the gang agreed on the plan and once supper was over they retired to their shared dorms in good spirits.

***

Early in the morning Maari and the heroes left Castle Town. They spent the morning trekking across Hyrule Field towards the Plateau. They encountered a handful of bokoblins and lizalfos setting up camp in the woods around Lake Kolomo. However they provided little challenge for nine heroes and a Sheikah warrior. They stopped for a break at the bottom of the plateau cliffs.

"So this is where you began your first adventure?" Sky asked Wild, as he stared up at the cliffs. Wild nodded.

"The Shrine of Resurrection is hidden up in the hills behind the old Temple of Time." Wild replied, waving his hand in the general direction he was talking about.

Time's ears twitched and he looked up at their conversation.

"The Temple of Time? " he said.

"Yeah, it's a ruin, but there's a giant goddess statue inside. But then I found a different temple of time in the sky islands. And Sky said he had a temple of time in his era too." Wild began to ramble, as he pulled another apple out of his pack.

"Another temple of time?" Time asked, his voice was laced with fascination and intrigue. "Can we go see it?" He asked, almost sounding like a child at a fair.

"Weren't you the one who wasn't sure about this detour in the first place?" Wars reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

"That was before I knew there could be a connection between this Hyrule and my time." The old hero retorted, hands on his hips imitating his wife.

"Hold on, hold on, we came here with a mission in mind. Let's see if we can find Maari's father before we go exploring old ruins, okay Time?" Twilight prompted.

Time sighed and nodded at last. "You're right pup, I guess we should get back on task. Maari, do you think you can pick up their trail?"

"There's a place they might have started. An old ruin in the woods," Wild interrupted before Maari could reply. "Sorry, Maari. But I routed the Yiga out of the plateau after the upheaval. I should be able to find their old hideouts again."

"Okay but we should all be on our guard, the Yiga never like to abandon anything if they can help it." Maari agreed, urging the others to draw their weapons and shields.

They climbed the long slope up between the collapsed stone walls towards the plateau. Eyes and ears alert as they walked towards the lowlands of the plateau. Small pools and ancient ruins littered the area. In the distance they could see the trees at the edge of the woods where Wild was leading them.

The trees were old and gnarled, and in such dense cover the group grew uneasy about the possibility of an ambush waiting for them. Every bird brushing through the leaves, every twig breaking underfoot sounded like potential danger. After they had been walking in silence for a while Twilight lifted his head and sniffed the air.

"There's a campfire up ahead," he whispered, so as not to alarm the group.

"Where?" Asked Time. Twi pointed ahead of them. Although there wasn't any smoke visible.

"Through that thicket there. I can smell the smoke on the wind."

"Could be Yiga," Wild pointed out.

"Could be my father and brother," Maari reminded him.

"How should we approach?" Warriors asked.

"I can get closer undetected much easier alone than if we all go together. If they're Yiga I can deal with them. If it's my family I'll call you." Maari suggested.

"Absolutely not!" Time protested. "If it's Yiga and they're as bad as Wild has said they are, you should come and get us and we can deal with them together."

The boys couldn't accurately describe the look on Maari's face because her nose and mouth were covered by her mask. But the glare she gave Time should have burnt him to a crisp where he stood.

"Old Man," Wars said, as lightheartedly as he could manage, "we've all seen that Maari can hold her own in a fight. I think we can trust her to take care of herself."

"I don't need you to argue on my behalf Captain!" Maari rounded on Wars, who was a little taken aback by her outburst. "Oh whatever, just stay here and don't make a sound."

Maari then did whatever the equivalent of silent stomping was and disappeared among the trees. Silence decided over the group and no one seemed to be able to make eye contact, especially Time and Wars, who were usually quite close.

Maari on the other hand was focused on herself and her surroundings. She blocked out the background noise of the boys and the other animals in the woods, and listened to what was going on ahead of her. Now she could smell the smoke she had a better idea of where the camp might be. Maari decided to stay down-wind and use the smoke as cover. However, staying low meant her view was blocked by the trees and undergrowth. She scouted around for a better vantage point and spotted a fallen wall which she could climb to get higher into the canopy.

From higher up Maari spotted the camp fire between some more crumbling walls. There were signs that someone had been there recently. A pile of fresh firewood, and a kettle had been placed next to the fire. And a tarp was pitched and strung against one of the walls as a shelter. But there was no one to be seen. The were no obvious signs of who the camp belonged to so Maari remained cautious as she moved closer.

She kept to the shadows provided by the walls and the slowly descending sun, moving slowly and with precise movements. Just as she got close enough to feel the heat of the fire she felt a movement in the air behind her. Her muscles tensed ready for action. In a flash she drew two daggers and spun around to face whoever had snuck up on her.

"Maari?!" Her brother exclaimed, beaming while holding a spear alarmingly near her head.

"Karu?!" Maari looked up at the face of her little brother. "I nearly killed you!" She replied, jamming her daggers back into her belt.

"I'm sorry, I was just coming back to camp and I saw someone by the fire. I didn't know it was you." Karu retorted, stabbing his spear into the ground.

"You know that's bad for the blade," Maari pointed out, getting to her feet.

"Yeah I know."

"Where's father? Is he with you?"

"We spotted a group of travellers headed our way, he went to spy on them," said Karu.

"Huh, that figures. Wait here," Maari insisted, as she turned back the way she had come.

Meanwhile the boys had taken the weight off their feet as they waited for Maari to return.

"Why are you so mistrusting of Maari?" Wars asked Time, while he picked dirt out from his fingernails.

"I'm not mistrusting," Time replied shortly.

"You sure are prickly about it though," Legend pointed out.

"What do you want me to say. The people I trust most are my wife and the eight of you. Not only are you all chosen heroes but you've earned that title in my eyes ten times over. Forgive me for not implicitly trusting someone we only met a few days ago."

Again they fell into silence until Time sighed.

"But you're right, she volunteered to help us and she's given us no reason to distrust her so far. I'll apologise when she gets back."

"Ahh, Wars is just sticking up for her because he likes her!" Four teased, elbowing the Captain in his arm.

"So what, she's nice. I thought most of you liked her too," he replied, rubbing his arm and preying he wasn't blushing too brightly.

A rustle in the bushes caught their attention and all conversations stopped. Maari appeared through the trees and raised her hands.

"It's just me," she said. "AND THESE GUYS ARE WITH ME!" She shouted, confusing everyone.

"Maari who are you shouting at?" Wild asked.

"That would be me," an older man replied, as he dropped down from a large oak tree near by. "Apologies for dropping in on you like this, but I had to make sure you weren't a threat before you reached our camp."

"Everyone this is my Father, Gartan," Maari introduced him.

He appeared to be in his late forties, wearing traditional Sheikah clothing and a woven hat. He had an eightfold blade at his hip, which he held as he bowed to the group.

"Maari, I didn't expect to see you out here. I thought you were with Paya," Gartan frowned, as he approached his daughter.

"I'm still in Paya's service. I'm helping these heroes solve the new monster problem," Maari replied.

"Indeed, come through here and we can talk by the fireside," Gartan gestured for the others to follow.

They soon found themselves in the little clearing surrounded by ruined walls, where Karu was tending the fire.

"Maari, who are all your friends?" He asked, as they appeared from the forest one by one.

"We can talk about that later. Right now I have some important questions for you both about the Yiga, and what they might be planning." Maari replied, as she crouched by the fire.

During the following hours the gang listened as Maari spoke with her brother and father. They discussed what they had found as well as the new information Maari had found out about the Yiga. Gartan wasn't surprised by the missing research crew. In fact while staying over at the Outskirt Stable they had learned about some missing villagers.

"We assumed it was due to the recent resurgence in monster activity. But the Yiga sigil you found suggests otherwise." Gartan mused. He sat on a log by the fire, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his coiled fingers.

"When we set up this camp we found evidence that some Yiga had been here recently. I was lucky enough to find a lost notebook in the trees," Karu announced, producing a small black leather bound book from a pouch in his kimono. "I thought it might hold some clues. But it's written in code so no luck there."

"Can I see that for a moment?" Wild asked, reaching out for the notebook.

"Sure, but like I said, it's unreadable if you don't know the code." Karu insisted, shrugging as Wild took the book.

He took it to a quiet corner of the ruin and pulled out his Purah Pad. Curious to see what he was doing Four followed him. Gartan meanwhile pushed himself to his feet and sighed.

"Maari, why don't you come do a perimeter check with me," he urged, turning away from the fire and walking out of the circle of firelight.

Wordlessly Maari followed and soon the two of them had walked a small distance from the camp.

"I hope you can help us get to the bottom of these kidnappings Maari. But why don't you ask the question you really want to ask?" Gartan asked, giving Maari a reassuring smile.

"I'm afraid to ask. The fact that you've been away for so long makes me suspect what your answer is going to be." Maari sighed, looking up at the trees overhead as she walked.

"You'll always be afraid if you don't ask the hard questions Maari."

"Alright. Have you found any sign of mum?"

"Did you ever wonder if Karu and I had been away so long because we were following a lead?" Gartan uttered.

Maari's eyes flared wide and she had to take a deep breath to keep her heart from pounding.

"You found something? Something about mum?"

"That notebook wasn't the only thing Karu found. We ran into some Yiga disguised on the road near the Crenel Hills. Only a few soldiers trying to move supplies. Once we dealt with them we looked through their manifests, which were not written in code. There was a name of a commander written at the top. The person who seemingly had ordered the movement of the supplies. The name was Commander Melyn."

"Mum," Maari whispered to herself.

"Of course, Melyn is not an unusual name," Gartan continued.

"But it is a Sheikah name," Maari pointed out.

They had come to a stop in a circle of sunlight between the trees. Father faced daughter as she looked up at him, a glimmer of hope growing in her eyes.

"Yes, it's a Sheikah name."

"But if her name was on the list... Then she's..." Maari stumbled over her words, as her thoughts rushed by too fast for her to comprehend them.

"We don't know what it means. It's one clue that lead us to this camp." Gartan replied, still speaking in a slow measured tone. "The manifestent mentioned they were moving the supplies to the old Yiga hideout in the Gerudo Mountains. We wanted to check a few more hideouts before coming back. I didn't want to bring back news without following it all the way to the end. I didn't want to give you false hope when you couldn't come and help."

"The Gerudo mountains?" Maari asked. "The heroes are travelling to the desert to find Zelda. Perhaps I could travel with them as far as the mountains." Maari was almost talking to herself now.

"No Maari, it's one thing travelling and fighting in a group. But alone, against the Yiga, as your father I can't allow..."

Gartan was interrupted as two of the boys came crashing through the trees towards them.

"Twi, Captain? What's wrong?" Maari asked, as the two young men approached them.

"It's the Old Man. He got itchy feet waiting for you to come back and ran off." Wars explained, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Where would he...?" Maari started to ask. Then she remembered how interested Time had been in the temple ruins. "No wait, I can guess where he went."

Maari stayed awake all night, observing the boys as they changed watch shifts through the darkness. Each taking turns to tend the fire and keep a look out for monsters in the woods.

Dawn was just becoming visible in the inky sky and Maari sat up and stretched. Link and the youngest member of the group (Link referred to him at Wind) were on watch together. Maari's movement caught Link's attention from where he sat near the fire.

"Morning," he said quietly, poking some of the flickering ashes with a stick.

"Good morning." Maari shuddered slightly at the feeling of the morning chill. The fire was beginning to die down and the last of the cold night had started to creep into the camp. Maari shuffled a little closer to the fire and warmed her hands over the flames. She glanced up at Link and cleared her throat.

"I feel I should apologise for last night, if I had known it was you guiding this group I wouldn't have been spying."

Link shook his head and gave Maari a half smile.

"No need. I should have guessed the portal would have drawn attention. But we were more concerned about monsters than possible friends."

"Maari nodded, that makes sense." She glanced around the camp at the sleeping forms on the ground. "Who are your companions? I don't recognise their faces."

"Dont you?" Link asked, in an almost playful way.

Maari considered what she had observed last night. She had to admit there were striking similarities between most of the young men and boys travelling with Link. She thought the young man who wore the scarf, the dark haired boy and the eldest shared many features. Again she wondered if they were relatives of Link.

"Are they relatives of yours? Cousins maybe?" Maari asked.

"You could say that. In fact, I'm fairly certain Twi and Time are directly related somehow. But the rest of us, our connection goes beyond blood."

"I think I am starting to understand," Maari said slowly, the cogs of her quick mind turning. Each if the boys were fighters, that much was obvious. And if they were following Link.

"They all share the Hero's spirit, don't they." she said, turning her gaze back at Link, who sat across from her. The fire crackled between them, sending sparks dancing up into the slowly brightening sky.

Link smiled warmly and the two passed the rest of his watch in silence as dawn broke around them.

***

Maari was surprised by how organised the boys were when time came to pack up their little camp. Bed rolls were packed away, the remains of the fire doused and biscuits passed around as a quick breakfast. They all travelled light, carrying small packs and their own range of weapons. Maari had nothing of her own to carry save for the clothes on her back and her own weapons. She kept her mask lowered as she was now in good company.

The boys introduced themselves to Maari one after the other as they broke camp, and started to make their way through the woods towards the Dueling Peaks. She was surprised to learn they were all called Link. Every one of them. However they had give each other nicknames. The youngest gave her a deep bow and said his nickname was Wind. He had a bright energetic way about him that Maari found endearing. But even though he was the smallest and clearly the youngest, he always insisted he carry his own weight and the others rarely offered to help him.

Then there was Legend, the boy who wore the scarlet tunic. Hyrule, who was sweet and a little shy. Sky, who wore a beautiful hand sewn cloak with the royal emblem emblazoned on the back. Four, whose tunic bore four different colours, and a face which always appeared inquisitive. Twilight, who Maari had had the pleasure of meeting in the woods in his other form. Warriors, the scarf wearer. And finally Time, the eldest. The marks on his face reminded Maari of an illustration she had seen in a very old text in the castle library. But she could not remember the legend that accompanied it. Time was the quietest of the group, besides Link (or Wild, as his companions called him) he looked out for the others and walked at the back of the group to guard against them being approached from behind.

They passed the Dueling Peaks and the stable without incident. However, once they crossed Kakariko bridge Warriors and Time appeared on edge. Maari guessed it was the lack of cover provided by the canyon walls which troubled them. Though she knew the path well, a few monsters still clung to the dark places of Hyrule. They were right to be on their guard, and she urged the others to keep their eyes open as well.

"You know," said Warriors as he fell into step with Maari. She noted how even though his sword was drawn, he seemed fairly relaxed. "In my time the Princess had a Sheikah protector named Impa. She bore the same insignia you have on your clothes. The red weeping eye."

"That does not surprise me. The Sheikah have always had ties to the crown and offen served as advisors or protectors of the royal family." Maari replied, wondering how far back in Hyrule's history Warrior's time was.

"She even trained the Princess in the ways of the Sheikah. She used to fight in disguise as a soldier called Sheik." Warriors continued.

"I would have loved to have met such a woman. Our Princess, Zelda, is more of a scientist than a warrior, but she holds the Sheikah in high regard." Maari explained. "She did much for the people of Hyrule after the upheaval. Helping to rebuild and educate people."

Warriors was fascinated by Maari's words and listened intently as she spoke of Wild's Zelda. He had mentioned her on a few occasions, however he always gave the distinct impression that their relationship was complicated. It was nice to get a different perspective. He was about to open his mouth to ask another question, when they all heard the scream.

Two bokoblins dropped down from a high ledge, their wailing screeches echoing off the canon walls. Time was the first to defend the group. His long sword cracked the head of the red bokoblin in one quick movement. Maari had just enough time to be impressed before two more appeared ahead of them, blocking their path. Wild and Legend, who had been at the front of the group, held them back with practiced ease.

Maari scanned around, quickly finding a route up a pile of fallen boulders. She moved with unearthly speed, sure footed, barely touching the ground as she skipped up the rockface.

"Typical Sheikah," Time muttered under his breath as he shook his head.

"She moves like an Ordonian Goat!" Twilight proclaimed, half watching Maari as he blocked the swing of a bokoblin club with his sword. The bokoblin roared in his face and Twilight growled back at it.

Maari gripped a ledge with her fingertips, looking down on the canyon from 12 feet in the air. The first two bokoblins were dead, the second two were being dealt with, but three more were approaching from the bottom of the path. She swung herself forwards, rolled in the air over the heads of the men below and landed on the path a little way ahead of the advancing bokoblins. She drew her daggers and replaced her mask.

The first monster had no time to react to her appearance and walked straight into the path of her twirling daggers. She stabbed it in the eye and the throat for good measure. The other two continued charging towards the group. One jumped on Time, the other began attacking Four and Wind. Maari threw her daggers one after the other. Both found their targets, lodging in the heads of both monsters. The first collapsed over Time's body and the second keeled over just as Four struck it in the side.

Quiet settled over the canyon once more and Maari sighed, recovering her stance and lowering her mask. As she walked past Time back towards the group she looked down. He pushed the dead bokoblin off his body with a heave and looked up.

"Typical Sheikah ey?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

Time chuckled and shook his head.

Maari checked on some of the others. Wild was going through the bokoblins pockets, Legend was nursing a bruise on his head, but the others appeared none the worse after the encounter.

"Everyone sound off!" Warriors called, though not so loud as to make an echo. The boys all called out their nicknames to Warrior's satisfaction.

"This region was cleared of monsters before I left this Hyrule," Wild said to Maari as they started to move along the road once more. "I made sure of that."

"I have seen a few here and there over the last few months. We believed they had all perished after the death of the Deamon King, but this proves otherwise. Impa has been concerned and after the portal appeared, she feared the worst." Maari explained, as she pulled her daggers out of the dead bokoblins." We should keep moving on towards the village. I'm sure the scouts have spotted us. Impa and Paya will be expecting us by now."