Last night gave me quite the scare. After I burned that stupid book that almost blew my cover, Sheik came back in. He hasn't noticed that it's gone yet, but he will later. If I can manage to keep him occupied with my training, he won't have a chance to look. We ate in uncomfortable silence, the scraping of forks being the only communication. Shortly after, we went to sleep. He sits in the chair again, in that meditation pose, far away in dream land.

I roll over in the sheets of his bed, and take out my mirror. Pulling the sheets over my head, I look down at the mirror. Should I call Luck this early? I don't want her temper to be aimed at me if I wake her up. But, now is a good time, right?

As if my question has been answered, it shakes in my hand. I almost drop the stupid thing because it scared me; but quickly tap it. Luck's sleep-deprived emerald eyes bore into mine. Behind her, it looks like she's in a wooden house.

"Hey," she says sleepily. "Thought I should call and see how...uh... How you were doing, yeah," she stumbles. This is why you sleep in, kids. "So, uh... How's it going?"

I laugh quietly, and say, "Good. They're playing into my hands. I'll definitely be able to attack in a month. But when you're done with the Kokiri, bring your Skull Kids here. I'll need the reinforcement. These people know how to fight," I whisper. I carefully peek my head over the sheets, and see Sheik hasn't moved an inch.

"Okay. I haven't started the army...yet. I need to...uh... Get their trust before I start to...to wander off, yeah. Or they'll think I'm doing something weird."

"Okay." My purple eyes dart over the top of the sheets when I hear shuffling, and see Sheik has actually started to move and fidget, and is seconds away from waking. My heart starts racing as his red eyes blink open.

"Luck! I need to go, okay?! I'll check in with you later!" I whisper-scream.

"What? Why?"

Sheik stretches his arms, and looks at me. My heart jumps to my throat.

"Bye!" I quickly tap it again, and it cuts off Luck mid-sentence. Jeez, she'll be angry when I call her next time.

He walks over to me, and rips off the sheets. A split second before that, I shove it down my pants, which is really hard because they're skin tight.

Without even saying anything, he rubs his eyes and takes off the bandages covering my stomach. Sheik gave me a potion last night, in hopes that we can start physical training. The scar looks like it has faded, and it barely hurts anymore.

My face must look absolutely guilty, trying to hide the fact that I was just talking to Luck. But, his sleepy eyes appear to be ignorant of that ever happening.

Thank the Goddesses, that was too close.

He yawns, and then stretches. I feel like a stalker watching him do that, but I want him to make the first move. Sheik looks at me for a prolonged second, and my heart freezes. Does he know? I feel a nervous sweat in my palms, and we size up each other.

...And then walks away.

I almost let out a sigh of anticipation, but I swallow it. His sleepy, stumbling figure sluggishly makes its way to the fireplace, and he grabs some oats from the cabinet next to him. He puts them in boiling water, hangs it over the fire; and adds some brown sugar and maple syrup.

Mmm, oatmeal.

He looks back at me, his red eyes appearing to be dead. Someone's a slow waker. But maybe in a month, I can kill him in the morning when he's uncomprehending.

He walks to me, and leans against the post of the bed.

"Today," he pauses, and yawns. I try not to roll my eyes. "We're starting physical combat. You know, like punching and stuff. Uh... That's it."

Sheik turns away, and goes back to the oatmeal. Him and Luck are alike in some aspects, I've got to admit. But in others...not so much.

I lay back down, and Sheik slowly starts to open his crimson eyes and walk faster. My eyes drift shut again, and I fall asleep. When I wake up, Sheik is shaking my shoulder.

"Breakfast. Get up," he says.

I roll off the bed, bringing all the sheets with me. I'm a human jelly roll, wrapped in blankets. My legs curl into my chest, and straighten out again like an inchworm. As I move like an inchworm, Sheik snickers. After about five feet my legs gets tired, and I roll my head down into the blankets. Footsteps echo through the floor, and then Sheik starts taking sheets off me.

When all my sheets have taken off, they lay around me. Sheik probably wants to make the bed, but I'm not moving. As if he knows what I'm thinking, he grabs my shoulders and rolls me off the sheets, until I'm a few feet away from the desk.

He throws the sheets onto the bed, not bothering to actually make it. I groan, and roll from my side onto my stomach, and my cheek touches the cold floor and my eyes start to close again.

I feel something prod my back, and I push it away. It pokes me again, and this time I roll over, to see Sheik standing over me.

"I said, breakfast. Get up."

My lips form a small pout, and I get up. Right when he thinks that I've finally woken up, I stumble back over to the bed. My hands grasp the sheets, and I pull it off and wrap myself in it. Now that I have a few layers around me, I walk to the table, and after some issues pulling out the chair, sit down.

Sheik puts some oatmeal in my bowl, and I yawn. He throws a spoon at me like a dart, and I catch it without even looking. He smirks, as if to say, "Good reflexes. You'll need them for today."

Once him and I actually wake up, he takes me into town again. Not many people like me even now, but they don't need to.

How many of you would adore the idea of becoming best friends with the person that'll kill you?

The whole town is surrounded by the tall wooden gates, with four entry points. One facing north, another south, third east, and lastly west. What I've noticed is that this town is perfectly circular, mostly. A walk across the diameter of the village would be about ten minutes.

I came from the north entrance, and Sheik leads me through the west entrance out into the forest surrounding. Not exactly a forest, but many fields on this side. The flat plain beckons us to roll in the grass, playfully swaying in the wind. Many other pairs of people are fighting, only the grunts of exertion and pain echoing through the expanse.

Sheik walks in front of me, turns to face me, and stops. I stop as well and we face each other. He looks a lot stricter today.

"Today, you're going to do physical combat," he starts. My specialty. "I'll be teaching you techniques, and demonstrate them. After that, you'll be fighting me. We'll be doing this until the edge of the sun hits the horizon."

What?! It's only around 10 a.m! That's several hours straight of fighting.

"Before we fight, you need to know the saying behind our Sheikahn fighting styles." My mind starts reeling with the possibilities.

"Expect the unexpected. Don't expect mercy."

Expect the unexpected... Don't expect mercy. Interesting, that's practically my motto for fighting.

Sheik gets a small smile. "First, punches."

This'll be a long afternoon.

After approximately six hours, we review kicks and punches, with his demonstrations. I'm about to die of boredom. Throwing knives and hand-to-hand combat is my specialty. This is a day wasted.

Luck uses her axe, and Hope somehow maneuvers her bow and arrows. I, prefer knives and punching.

Sometimes, I wonder what my parents think of me. If they saw me now, or are watching me now, what would they say? Are they proud of me for dishing out fair karma? Or are they regretful of the way they raised me, that turned their innocent girl into this killing machine?

I always pray that they never think it's their fault. I chose to live this way.

"Now, moving onto flips and throws," Sheik announces. I try not to "awww" in disappointment. "First, the judo throw."

He walks behind me, and raises his hand for me to grab, as part of the demonstration. Half an hour into training, I really stopped giving any effort. But he is demonstrating it well, for someone who is trying not to wring my neck.

And I think I just got a brilliant idea that I won't be blamed for.

"It's the simplest flip. To do this, you would take my hand—"

With the speed of lightning, I grab his arm and crunch my body down, thrusting my arms forward. Clearly unprepared, Sheik gets flipped over my shoulder and hits the ground with a loud thud, and enough force to crack a few ribs. He coughs and sputters, and I put my hands on my hips triumphantly; my silver hair dancing in the wind.

He rolls over and coughs again, clearly winded. He probably didn't even know what happened until the air escaped his lungs. Under my Triforce bandana, I give away a full-blown grin. With this grin, I state, "If you're going to come at me, do it seriously. I was taught self defense before, so I know the basics."

And much more beyond the basics. With a cheeky but deadly tone, I repeat, "Expect the unexpected. Don't expect mercy."

Sheik gives me a glare, and gets to his feet. He knows I'm here to get serious. Sheik flicks his wrist, and a knife slides into his hand. I cross my arms, and retrieve the black daggers from either shoulder. Two daggers and a combat genius against one dagger and an incompetent boy who's going to get his ass handed to him.

I think we all know who the winner will be.

Sheik runs at me, and I raise my daggers. An inch before our daggers clash, a bright, brief, flash of light takes him from my sight.

Behind me...

I whip around, and raise my left arm at the same time that Sheik's foot slams into it, a kick right for the head.

His arm reels back and flies forward to punch me, but I grab his fist with my right hand. One arm against his leg, and the other holding his fist. I need to make the first move, or he'll get me when my arms are busy.

With lightning speed, I drop my left arm holding back Sheik's leg and duck, and it swings over my head; but thankfully misses it. It continues to swing through the air. With my grip still on his hand, I pull forward and his twisted body topples.

He hits the ground, and I maintain my iron grip on his fist with my right hand. With his vulnerable hand still suspended and trapped, I launch my right heel into the space between his neck and arm, straight into his collarbone.

Sheik grunts in pain, and grabs my foot with his free hand. He yanks my ankle and I fall forward. He quickly regains his footing, and throws a dagger at my chest. I catch it between my fingers, and throw it back at him. While I'm down, Sheik dodges and takes the advantage, dashing at me.

When he does, I remember a dangerous move Hope taught me.

As he runs above me and prepares to jump in order to plant his foot in my jaw; I roll under his feet with precise timing through his footsteps. Unprepared once again, he crouches to jump where I used to be.

Just for kicks, I add onto that move.

As his legs straighten to launch himself into the air, I whip around and kick my leg up with all my strength, catching his right between the legs.

For a nice, below-the-belt kick to the groin.

Sheik falls out of the air, onto his front, clutching the mentioned area.

It's official, I don't think he's having kids as of now.

With Sheik laying on his front on the ground, I jump up to my feet, and hop to land on him.

But to my surprise, a poof of smoke makes him disappear, and I crash to the ground.

Something heavy lands on my back, trapping my feet against my back, my knees bent to an extremely small angle under his body. The air compresses out of my lungs, and something cracks in my back. A hand grabs my head, and thrusts my face into the dirt with force. Blood gushes from my nose, and my violet eyes glare with malice.

After he's brought my face down to the ground, he grabs my silver hair and yanks up, exposing my pale neck. I feel a cool blade against it, and my heart sinks a little.

I...lost.

He leans down, and I feel his warm breath against my ear as he whispers, "Know your place."

My fists clench in fury, and he gets off. I roll onto my back, blood streaming from my nose. It stains my white and yellow Triforce bandana a deep red. It drips down my chin, and onto the ground below. Metal is the taste that conquers my mouth, and I take my arm and wipe my bloody face on the sleeve of my Sheikahn outfit.

I don't want to take off my bandana. No one's ever seen under it, not even Luck or Hope. There's nothing wrong with my face, don't get me wrong, but I just don't like people seeing it. I'm a secretive person, and that's it.

Sheik looks at the blood still streaming from my face, and the red staining my light cloth covering my face. He looks like he wants to say that he didn't mean it, but I know he did.

Even if we called a truce, we still hate each other. And both of us are fine with that.

Clearly, I need to work on my skills. To kill these people, I'll have to build on speed, agility, and reactions. I learn something from every fight, and from this one; I learned that it doesn't matter how many hits you land. It's who gets in the finishing move that counts.

In a month, I'll be able to catch up with them if I'm already this adept in fighting.

Sheik starts to walk back to the village entrance, with a small limp that only I would notice. Of course, it was dealt by my foot meeting between his legs.

When I imaging him wheezing as I did that, a small smile comes to my bloody lips. But as we walk back, one thing never leaves my mind.

Expect the unexpected. Don't expect mercy.