In the glimmering emptiness that was not, the Goddesses clasped hands. Between the three pairs of hands, the nothingness disappeared, replaced with earth, water, wind, light, darkness, and love. They created a world, filled it with flora and fauna, lit the brilliant day and the more subtle night. They formed people - seven races - and presented them this land. Each Goddess presented a gift to her creation, to the people of her creation: power, wisdom, and courage. These were the virtues to live by, all in balance. To remind the people, the Goddesses formed a triangle of each, all of gold, and placed them in a sacred land. Then the Goddesses withdrew to the heavens, and kept watch over their creation.

“And that is how we came to be, Shimmer, Link.”

Lady Alorae smiled at her two children: the seven-year-old girl staring back at her mother with wide green eyes and the baby boy that looked more past his mother than at her, occupied with the tottery movement of an orange butterfly. Their outing to Hyrule Field had opened the opportunity for discussion after some play and a picnic lunch. The bright sunlight warmed them as they sat atop one of the gentle hills, a blanket spread over the soft grass.

“Really, Mother?” the girl asked.

“Yes, darling. All of the races: the Gerudo, the Gorons, the Zoras, the Kokiri, the Sheikah, the Faerie, and us, the Hylians. We are all the children of the Goddesses.” The mother paused in her narration to reach for Link, who had apparently decided that the butterfly was more interesting than his mother’s words (which for a three-year-old was probably true). The boy giggled quietly and settled in his mother’s lap, eyes now on his sister sitting across from him, watching her chestnut hair floating in the wind.

“So we get along with everybody!” Shimmer smiled, proud of her conclusion.

Alorae smiled a little as well at her eldest child, though the gesture was touched with sadness. “No, Shimmer.” Link, on his mother’s lap, seemed more solemn, looking upward at her, quite still and contemplative for a baby. “Not everyone can get along. I believe when we started, we all did, but then someone wanted more of something, something that didn’t belong to him or her. People became greedy, angry, and envious.”

The little girl’s smiled faded. She looked over toward the woods, towards Lake Hylia, Kakariko Village and the mountains beyond, toward the Gerudo Valley and the desert beyond, her gaze finally returning to her home, Hyrule Castle Town. This beautiful, peaceful place that was Hyrule, her home, couldn’t possibly hold any negativity.

“Oh, Mother, that can’t be,” Shimmer spoke plaintively, looking back to her mother and baby brother.

Alorae smiled gently. “You needn’t worry, my darling. Hyrule has been a place of peace since before my grandfather’s time.” The mother reached out a slender hand to touch her daughter’s cheek, making her smile. Link followed suit, leaning over and grasping his sister’s face in both chubby hands, laughing gleefully.

“Shimmer silly face!” the boy cried, giggling and poking her cheeks. Shimmer giggled and scooped up her brother, lifting him gently into her arms. They laughed together, half dancing across the thick, soft grass of Hyrule Field, the quintessential picture of Hylian children.

Lady Alorae, smiling at her children as they played, turned at a gentle touch on her shoulder and rose to the arms of her husband. The Knight of the Royal Guard, still in full armor and sword sheathed at his side, put his arms about her carefully.

“Hello, love.” Sir Lucas said, kissing Alorae gently and running a gloved hand through her flaxen hair. “What a sight you’ve set for me here. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful: my wife and children, in high spirits and safe. It makes me glad, Alorae.”

“I as well. They are a sight of perfection, are they not?” Alorae turned back to her children, who were now sitting in the grass, building some small structure with blades of grass and needles from a nearby pine.

“It was what I needed to see. Happiness.” Lucas’ voice was somber, more tired than usual.

“The day was well for you?” Alorae paused, turning to gaze solemnly at her husband. “His Highness is well...?” Her questions were laced with worry and doubt, like a shadow over her voice.

“I cannot lie to you, my love. His words grow stranger by the day. The Prince and Princess have left the castle and now reside in the summer mansion, in town.” He sighed heavily. “My regiment of the guard will stay with them. They will need our protection, I fear. More and more shadows are seen wandering the halls of the castle at night. The Advisor is one of them, and some are saying the shadows are his. We... We have sealed the passages from the mansion to the castle. But I still fear for them, and indeed all of Hyrule. The King’s words are not his own, and the Advisor never leaves his side.

“Not only that, Alorae. All of the races are sniping at each other, like spoiled children. Especially the Hylians, the wicked things they do to each other. I’ve seen beggars in the alleyways, and there have never been such folk before. Something is changing in Hyrule…”

Alorae said nothing, only turning back to gaze at her children, running freely: the little blonde boy and his brunette sister. Link was so quiet, Shimmer so thoughtful, and both of them so wise, for children. Her thoughts turned to them, to their strange ways. They were Hylian children, prone to extraordinary powers, both in childhood and even more so as they grew. But those powers were not to be simply glossed over as they manifested.

Shimmer, with her vivid dreams, worried Alorae the most. It was her questions that had brought about the recitation of the creation story that afternoon, the same story handed down from parent to child from the beginning of time.

Her too-specific queries on the races were unusual in their accuracy, for a child who had little personal contact with any of them, save her own. Indeed, there were more often than not Goron and Zora traders in the Marketplace, crying their own wares among the rest of the Hylian merchants. The Gerudo were not uncommon visitors and several had positions in the country as advisors. The Sheikah were active as protectors of the Royal Family. The royalty of each race was also present on occasion, in conferences and celebrations. The only race that had not been introduced to Shimmer’s world were the Kokiri, the fey wood children who kept mostly to themselves and their Faerie kin. They especially did she ask of, and her mother had fewer and fewer answers for those questions.

But even her visions could not dissolve all the childlike naiveté. She still could not comprehend the intricacies of society, adult relationships, war... She was still a child.

And their son... Link was so patient, and very strong for a mere babe of barely three. She wondered about his future.

“We have been peaceful for so long, Alorae. It has been almost three hundred years since we last saw strife in this country. The beauty of peace has dulled in the eyes of those who see it every day. They become impatient, grasping. I believe...” The Knight’s voice grew cold, almost... frightened? “I believe there will be war, my love. I am sorry.”

Alorae bowed her head, leaning back into the warm embrace of her beloved. “I foresee it as well. And... I believe Shimmer does also. Her dreams become more frequent, more vivid, and more volatile. She asks so many questions, and I cannot answer them any more.”

At that moment, the girl ran over, smiling broadly. “Mother, look! Does that look like a Kokiri house to you? Do you think one would like to move in?”

Lady Alorae and Sir Lucas looked at each other, and in a moment the dark shadows and uncertain future were abandoned to laughter.

“I wish I could see the village, Joia.”

“I wish I could take you there! But Mido would blow his top. Bossy Mido, never lets anyone do anything!” Joia grumped, folding her arms and frowning deeply.

Shimmer blinked at the Kokiri girl. “It’s like having a mother and father! They spoil the fun!”

“Yeah, jeez!”

Hylian and Kokiri sat pouting for a few moments, sitting cross-legged in the tall grass, stamped easily into a little nest around them. The Lost Woods hid their presence from all but Navi, the tiny faerie that lounged on one of the plaited coils tied into Joia’s silvery hair.

It was an unheard of meeting. Few had seen the Kokiri, these forest children who never grew up, who were accompanied by tiny faerie partners, who could navigate and tame the Lost Woods. They were an enigma in Hyrule, a single taste of untamed magic in their world.

But Shimmer took no note of these, only enjoying the company of her best friend. Their first meeting so many months ago had been far more than accidental. It had been destined...

The little girl rubbed the tears from her eyes. Crying would do no good now, Shimmer told herself, wide eyes blinking in the surrounding darkness. For once, she wished she’d listened to her mother, and not run off to play in the yard next to the Temple of Time. But she was curious, and the Temple made her feel so safe....

The hole high above cast a beam of gentle light around her but did little to pierce the shadows of the rest of the cavern. Sighing dejectedly, she rose, looking about the place. It was grown wild with plants, oddly enough, and she could hear the quiet splash of water deeper in the darkness.

She found no way to climb back out, as much as she tried to grasp the vines that clung tightly to one wall. She was simply not strong enough. Tears welled up in her eyes again, and the girl was about to sit and let them come this time when she heard a scraping at the far end of the cave.

She clapped her hands over her mouth, biting back the tears and the cry of fear that threatened to give her away. That was successful, but she needed to hide. Her vision was still very poor in the dim light, but she managed to make out the pale outline of a gray Sheikah Stone off to her left. She scrambled quickly toward it, crouching down behind, head on her knees. She trembled, hearing the approach of whatever it was that had made the noise. It stopped just behind her, on the other side of the stone. She held her breath, sure this was the last moment. Oh, her mother and father, and little Link. Oh, Link....

“Gossip Stone! What time is it?” Shimmer heard a shrill cry and felt someone hit the stone. Hit the stone? She barely had time to lift her head, eyes wide, before it bounced, flinging her away from it in a little somersault.

“The current time is fifteen hundred hours,” said a voice, neither male nor female, but strong and wise.

The Hylian girl scrambled up, turning to see the strangest of sights: a little silver head with twin buns tied into her hair, surprised pixie face, and brilliant green eyes, eyes that outshone the green tunic by far, even in the dazzling green light of the tiny faerie that illuminated the figure.

“Wow! I didn’t know Gossip Stones gave out Hylians!” The fey child grinned, running over to Shimmer. “Hi! I’m Joia!”

Shimmer blinked. And blinked again. “Um, hello. My name is Shimmer. I didn’t come out of the Sheikah Stone.”

“The what? Oh, I get it. That!” Joia pointed at the stone, the carved eye gazing placidly on the two girls. “We call it a Gossip Stone! They talk, you know?”

Shimmer smiled, shook her head. “No, I didn’t know they spoke! How do you do that?”

“Just hit it! Then it bounces!” Joia pulled the other girl over, giggling. “Just try it!”

Shimmer giggled, giving the stone a little slap with her hand. It bounced like she’d struck it with a hammer. “The current time is fifteen hundred hours,” said the voice.

She laughed, eyes sparkling with mirth and hit it again, harder. Booooiiiiinnngg! “The current time is fifteen hundred hours.”

Joia was laughing too, and the little faerie was flitting between the two girls. Shimmer quieted first, looking over Joia. She’d never seen anyone dressed quite so, heard anyone speak like her. Her ears were pointed, like Shimmer’s, the blessing to the Hylians from the Goddesses, but she was certainly not Hylian.

“Joia,” Shimmer started, and then paused to think. Perhaps she shouldn’t ask. But some part of her knew, felt that this meeting was important and.. right.

“Shimmer of the Hylians.” Joia smiled, and the faerie lit on her shoulder, returning to a gentle silver glow. “We were meant to meet here. I am a Kokiri.”

“Truly?” Shimmer’s eyes grew wide, and she stepped slowly up to the other girl. “I feel like this was meant to be. But why?”

The Kokiri girl smiled, taking Shimmer’s hands. Something moved between them, inside, like a light of gold. “We were meant to be best friends!”

There was no question. Joia had proven to be the best friend Shimmer could have ever asked for. From that first time, when she used her ocarina to send Shimmer back to the doors of the Temple of Time, she knew. Joia knew so much about the woods, about the little underground places like the one Shimmer had fallen into, about the lost places of Hyrule.

While their contact was not forbidden, it was virtually unheard of. Kokiri did not leave the forest. And anyone who entered the Lost Woods never came out again. Joia told Shimmer once that it was an accident, the first time she’d left, and had been so frightened of the death that was inevitable. But it never came, and she returned home with the secret of her discovery. Curiosity brought her out again and again, into the hidden places, where she learned about the world outside. She was the first of her kind to have traveled outside the forest.

They met as often as they could, in that first place, and talked and played for hours, until the Sheikah Stone told Shimmer it was growing close to sunset, and she reluctantly returned home. Soon, Joia started taking Shimmer to the Lost Woods through her own secret ways, and the girls spent their time there, playing with the Deku Scrubs and navigating the tunnels.

Today they stayed in the deep sylvan quiet of the Lost Woods, whispering their child’s talk and girlish secrets.

“My father came and saw us earlier today, when we had our picnic in Hyrule Field. He was still in his uniform and everything! We had to go home right away, though, after that. Something is happening in the castle,” Shimmer said, nodding sagely.

Joia nodded in return. “Yes, I think so too. I’ve had more visions. I see the Princess Zelda.”

“Me too! Except I’ve met her in person. The dreams are different.”

Joia smiled brightly, leaning forward. “You met her, really? Is she nice?”

Shimmer giggled and nodded. “Yeah, she’s nice. But she’s little, you know? She’s only four, not much older than my brother.”

“Really? In my vision, I saw her much older, with a young man, but he was wearing Kokiri clothes. I don’t understand why an adult would be wearing Kokiri clothes. But anyway, you and I were watching them from behind a gold mirror,” Joia explained, holding up her hands to demonstrate a mirror.

Shimmer blinked. “That’s not what I saw. I saw us all now, watching a puppet play at the Festival of Gathering. Oh yes! You are coming, aren’t you?”

Joia nodded enthusiastically, silvery head bobbing with the movement so that Navi was dislodged from her perch. The faerie trilled shortly in annoyance and retreated to a bellflower that drooped not far away.

“Of course I will! But what else happened in the dream?” A shadow passed over her emerald eyes before she spoke again. “I have a feeling that it’s important.”

“Oh, well, you and Zelda and I were all watching the puppets dance. Puppets of soldiers, and monsters, and even the King! There was lots of firelight and some of the magic lamplights with the blue flames. Then all the sudden, they went dark.” Shimmer paused in her narration, looking rather nervous. “And then the Eye of Truth burned red on the puppet that was the King, and all his strings broke, and he fell down in a little pile on the ground, all burned up.” She shuddered then, reaching up to wrap her arms around herself. “I was frightened. Do you know what it means, Joia?”

Joia considered her friend’s dream for a moment. “I am afraid for the King. The Sheikah Eye of Truth is important in Hyrule, to all the races. It’s not used lightly, even in dreams. Only magic can call it up. Strong magic.”

“Yes. Strong magic,” Shimmer murmured, looking skyward. “Sheikah magic..?”

“He is a disgrace to the Sheikah!” Impa spat, crimson eyes narrowed at the castle. From her place at one of the great windows in the town mansion, she could see the figure of the Advisor standing on one of the balconies, robes billowing. “I cannot believe that he still wears the Eye of Truth! It is a sacrilege!”

“Lady Impa, be calm! We all feel the same.” Prince Alexander placed a hand on the shoulder of the tall woman.

“But you are not Sheikah! He is an abomination!”

“What’s an abomin-thingie?” Princess Zelda, blue eyes wide, tugged impatiently on her nurse’s hand. Alexander and Impa both chuckled lightly, and the young Prince swept up his daughter to one shoulder.

“Something you’ll learn about when you can speak the word, my daughter. But now you should be learning how to read that book.” He pointed to the child’s reader on the table. Zelda pouted prettily, folding her arms.

Impa smiled quietly, offering her hand to the girl. The young Princess had such a way of calming the Sheikah woman, it was amazing. “Come, young Highness. The quicker you learn this reader, the quicker you move on to the next.” Zelda nodded her acceptance, and Alexander set her on her feet again. The attendant and child moved away, and the Prince turned back to the castle.

“We have happier things to think of now. The Festival of Gathering begins tomorrow...”

---

Beverly : Yes, so here is the beginning! My my, visions and such! Ok, the halfway off-topic question. Did anyone notice that Agahnim, in LttP, wore the Sheikah Eye of Truth on his robes? Ahh, makes you think, doesn’t it?

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