Summary: The Yiga Clan finds a way to destroy Hyrule from within using transformation masks.

The morning sun lit up the room as Link opened his eyes, finally waking up. He realized he must have slept late.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," said Mipha, laughing. She had been sitting by his side, watching him. She rubbed her hand gently through his hair. "I love touching your hair. We Zoras don't have any, and I never get tired of the feel."

"Good morning," said Link, stretching. He gently stroked her forehead. "So, you don't mind I'm not a Zora then? It's funny, but I love just the opposite about you, how smooth and soft your skin is. It looks like I slept late, didn't I."

"Yes, a little," said Mipha. "The children are outside playing. I was thinking of catching some fish for us. Midon can come with me while Mila finishes some homework. You should wait for us to have breakfast. The fish will be nice and fresh."

"Alright," said Link.

Mipha left, and Mila came in.

"Hi, Dad," said Mila. "All rested?"

"Hi Mila, yes, I got a good sleep. Mom said that you had some homework?"

"Yes, I have a little left. Mido went with Mom to catch some fish."

Mila began her homework, and Link took out some papers and started organizing them. He stopped every now and then to re-read some.

"What are you doing, Dad," asked Mila.

She had finished her work and stood beside Link.

"While I have some free time, I'm organizing parts of my journal and the papers that go with it," said Link.

"Can I read your journal sometime?"

"Sure, after I have more time to organize it and maybe when you're a little older."

"Why do I have to be older?" said Mila.

"You probably don't. You're very understanding of people, Mila, and very smart. It's me that needs to be older. I still don't feel ready to organize parts of it yet," said Link. "But I promise you can read it soon if you want to."

"What part are you working on now?" said Mila.

"I'm organizing the story of the Hero of Time we just went through," said Link. "I have a copy of what's left of his journal, a copy of King Rhoam's letter, and a copy of a translated document from the Hyrule Castle librarian. I'm just putting all that together with my own notes."

"That was an interesting story, but sad in some ways," said Mila.

"Yes. I read his journal over again. It was happy in parts, too, though."

A few minutes later, Mipha and Midon arrived home.

"Hi, Dad," said Midon. "I caught the biggest fish."

"That's because they're the slowest, Mido," said Mila.

"Alright, Mila, no need to tease," said Mipha. "We caught some tasty fish, and Midon was a big help. We have a bit more variety than the local market offers. Link, I assume you'll cook yours with some rice?"

"Sounds good," said Link.

He selected one of the fish, a Hylian Bass, went to the pot and cooked his fish along with some Hylian rice, then returned. It was delicious and well worth the wait. This was starting out to be a beautiful day, he thought.

But as Link learned later, while he was enjoying a sound sleep in Zora's Domain, there had been trouble in Gerudo Town.

"Halt! What are you doing here, Fara?"

One of the Gerudo guards assigned to Chief Urbosa's quarters had just stopped one of her colleagues from approaching the Chief's residence. It was the middle of the night.

"Relax, Layna. The Captain ordered me to relieve you. She said you pulled double duty today and could use a rest," said Fara.

"Well, that's certainly true," said Layna, relaxing. "It has been a tough day. I'll leave you to it then. It's been a quiet night here so far, nothing to report. Thanks, and see you tomorrow."

Fara took Layna's position on guard duty as Layna waved and started heading home. As she passed through the marketplace, Layna stopped at one of the all-night stalls to pick up some food. She finished her purchase and was about to go home when she thought she should thank the night watch captain. She walked over to where the Captain was usually found in the evening.

"I just wanted to thank you, Captain, for having Fara relieve me," said Layna.

"What? I did no such thing! She told you that?"

The Captain immediately sounded the alarm, and a squad of Gerudo guards came running.

"Find and detain Fara at once," said the Captain. "She was last seen on guard duty at the Chief's residence."

The squad fanned out, and with the sound of the alarm, the guards on duty at Urbosa's residence also went on alert. Fara was quickly apprehended near Urbosa's sleeping quarters. One of the guards went to inform the Captain. By this time, Urbosa had awoken from all the commotion. She quickly dressed and walked out of her bedroom.

"What's going on?" said Urbosa.

The Captain was present by now, and Fara was there as well, restrained by two guards holding her upper arms.

"I'm very sorry, Lady Urbosa, but we caught Fara trying to sneak into your quarters," said the Captain.

"Is this true, Fara?" said Urbosa.

Fara remained silent.

"Answer the Chief!" the Captain shouted as she struck the floor sharply with the handle of her spear.

"I have nothing to say," said Fara.

"We'll see about that after some time thinking about it in your cell," said the Captain.

"Fara, I don't understand this," said Urbosa. "You have always been a loyal guard. What is wrong?"

"I have nothing to say, Lady Urbosa," said Fara.

"Then you leave us no choice but to arrest you," said Urbosa.

The guards took Fara away and brought her to a cell in the prison area.

"Let her rest tonight," said Urbosa. "Perhaps we can learn more from her in the morning."

"Very well, Lady Urbosa," said the Captain. Then she left.

The next morning one of the guards approached the prison area carrying a tray of food. The guard on duty at the entrance let her in, then they both started walking to the cell.

"Time to feed our traitor. I think the Chief is too kind the way she's being treated. You heard she tried to sneak into the Chief's residence last night? She was clearly up to no good."

"Yes, I heard. But nobody knows why she did it."

They got to the cell, and both guards stopped in dismay.

"What's this? She's gone!"

They looked through the cell bars. The cell door was still locked. But all that remained inside the cell were some rupees, some bananas, and a mask that looked very much like Fara's face.

"This is Yiga Clan doing, but how? I was on duty all night, and no one came near here. We'd better tell the Captain at once. And we had better not touch anything!"

The guard who had been carrying the food, ran off and informed the Captain, who quickly ran back with her to the prison along with two other guards. They inspected the cell. Then the Captain sent two guards to Fara's residence. Fara wasn't married and lived within Gerudo Town, so the guards quickly returned with the news that her room was empty.

"Ask around to learn if anyone noticed Fara yesterday," the Captain told the guards. "If this wasn't Fara, then who did we have locked up here? I need to tell the Chief at once."

After the Captain gave her report to Urbosa, they both returned together to visit the cell.

"This is obviously the Yiga Clan at work," said Urbosa. "But that mask they left behind is interesting. They couldn't take it with them when they teleported away, I guess. And it must have somehow enabled the Yiga spy to look and act like Fara. But how? And where is the real Fara?"

Urbosa thought for a moment.

"Isn't Prince Rudin still at Kara Kara Bazaar? I met with him a day ago," said Urbosa.

"Yes, I believe so, Lady Urbosa," said the Captain.

"Ask him if he would please remain there until I have a chance to meet with him again. This is important enough to alert the rest of Hyrule," said Urbosa.

It was midday before two of the guards found anyone who remembered Fara from the day before. It was one of Fara's friends, Lena.

"So, you spoke with Fara yesterday, Lena? What was she doing?" asked the guard.

"It was in the morning. Fara was planning to meet a voe for lunch at the Kara Kara Bazaar," said Lena. "It was someone she hadn't met before, and she was very excited about it. She wouldn't stop talking, asking me for advice, my opinion on what to talk about, and other such things."

"Did you see her after that?" said the guard.

"Yes, but only briefly," said Lena. "I saw her after she came back from her date, and naturally, I wanted to hear all about the voe she met. But for some reason, she was very quiet. I asked her if the date went well, and she said yes. But it was clear she didn't want to talk. I thought maybe the date hadn't gone so well and she didn't want to tell me. Anyway, she said she had to get ready for evening guard duty and went home."

"And that was the last time you saw Fara?"

"Yes," said Lena.

The guards reported their findings to the Captain. She told them to get a squad together, and when assembled, she addressed them.

"As you know, our fellow guard Fara has gone missing," said the Captain. "We learned she was meeting a voe for lunch yesterday at Kara Kara Bazaar. Go there and ask if anyone saw her yesterday or saw anything suspicious. And take Sand Seals, we need to find her quickly."

The squad headed out to the bazaar and began questioning everyone. Most people they asked didn't remember anything. But one of the vendors recalled seeing Fara with a voe.

"You recognized Fara?" said the guard.

"Yes, we knew each other slightly from the times she sometimes shopped here," said the vendor.

"And you say she was with a voe?"

"Yes, she was. But it was a little strange. The voe stood off in the shadow of the tree and not with Fara when she selected the food. Then they went off together and cooked and ate their meal. I heard them talking and laughing. They seemed to be having a good time. The last I saw them, they were walking arm-in-arm together toward the inn. But I don't think they went inside the inn, maybe past it," said the vendor.

"Sarqso, you've been very helpful," said the guard.

"Let's check the area in the back of the inn," said the officer in charge.

Three of the guards went that way to investigate

"The sand looks out of place over there," said one of the guards, pointing to a spot a short distance away. "The color looks wrong."

They headed to the disturbance. Pushing the surface sand aside, they uncovered the body of Fara. She had been killed by a blow to the head and been hastily buried in a shallow grave.

"We'd better report this to the Captain," said the officer. "You two take Sand Seals back to town and let her know. We'll stay with Fara's body here."

After the Captain learned of Fara's body, she informed Urbosa.

"So, what must have happened is a member of the Yiga Clan lured Fara to the bazaar under the pretense of a romantic interest, and when he got her alone, killed her. But now comes the strange and alarming part. Somehow, he was able to create a mask of Fara's likeness such that when he wore it, he took on the appearance of Fara well enough to fool everyone, including a friend, a fellow guard, and us. Once left alone in the cell, he must have removed the mask and pulled the typical Yiga Clan teleportation trick. I wonder why he didn't remain as Fara longer and conceal this plot from us?" said Urbosa.

"Not knowing our ways," said the Captain, "perhaps he feared we would torture him for information, something I'm sure the Yiga Clan would do if the situation were reversed."

"Yes, you may be right," said Urbosa. "I need to discuss this with Prince Rudin. I'm going to the bazaar now."

Urbosa went to Kara Kara Bazaar, where Rudin had been alerted to expect her. After exchanging pleasantries, Urbosa told Rudin what had happened and then got straight to the point.

"So, we are facing a perilous situation here that we uncovered by luck," said Urbosa. "The Yiga Clan has somehow developed the ability to impersonate someone using a magical mask they create somehow. In effect, they can take that person's place, perhaps knowing even their memories. And it seems that only they can detect and remove their mask. So, you understand what this means?"

"Yes," said Rudin. "We can't be sure who is who. You can't even be sure I am Rudin, and I can't be sure you are Lady Urbosa, for that matter. If this happens on a large scale, the fear and lack of trust will destroy us all from within. I will return to Hyrule Castle and alert His Majesty, who will, in turn, I am sure, alert all the other leaders. I hope the Yiga Clan has not gotten too far with this, and you caught the plot early. Can you give me the mask to take back to the castle? I would like our scientists to examine it and see if they can figure out how it works or perhaps a way to detect a real person from a fake."

"Yes, I will give you the mask. But I am assigning four Gerudo guards to accompany you and your guards back to Hyrule Castle. Just in case, as you said, you are not Prince Rudin," said Urbosa with a wink and a smile. But there was no smile in her eyes as she looked at the Prince. "Say hello to the princess for me."

Rudin, four Hylian, and four Gerudo guards left at once for Hyrule Castle, making as rapid time as possible, switching horses at any stable along the way that they could. They were all exhausted by the time they arrived back at the castle. Rudin was greeted by the guards on duty.

"Your Highness, welcome home," said the officer in charge as he bowed.

"Thank you," said Rudin. "Do you know where Princess Zelda is?"

"I believe Her Highness is in the library," said the guard. "At least that's what we were told."

"Thank you," said Rudin. He headed straight to the library and found Zelda there examining a book. He was carrying the mask with him.

"Hi, sweetheart," said Zelda. "Did you just get back?"

"Yes," said Rudin. He went over to her, and they kissed. "I'm afraid we have an emergency on our hands and need to meet with Father at once. I will give you the whole story when we are together."

"Alright, let's go," said Zelda. They walked together to where one of the guards indicated King Rhoam could be found, and then the three of them gathered in a small meeting room. Rudin closed the door after checking no one was in earshot.

"I'm sorry for the interruption, but we have a serious emergency," said Rudin.

He proceeded to tell them the details of what Urbosa told him had happened in Gerudo Town. Everyone was very quiet for a few minutes after he finished.

"So, we have no way at the moment to tell if someone is who we think they are or a Yiga Clan spy," said King Rhoam.

Zelda looked at Rudin and her father.

"And that includes the three of us in this room," said Zelda glancing from one to the other of them.

"Well, I have either been alone or in the company of more than one guard at a time," said King Rhoam. "So, I don't think you should worry that anyone could have killed me and taken my place."

"And the same is true of me," said Zelda. "Except for a short time, I was alone with Rudin just now, but we came straight here. There was no time for anything to happen to me."

"You think I could be an imposter?" said Rudin.

"I was merely making a point by scientifically approaching the question of whether I could be one," said Zelda. "But of course, if I was one, I could be lying about what I told you."

"Well, I was in the company of four guards my whole trip, and eight coming home if you include the four Gerudo guards," said Rudin.

"Alright, let's take it that all of us are who we say we are. But can you see what is happening? Even us, the Royal Family, may start harboring doubts about ourselves. Imagine this on a larger scale, the fear and mistrust that will occur. That is the mask there?" said King Rhoam.

"Yes," said Rudin. "With your permission, I want to bring it to the lab for study. But I think we need to take some extra precautions in the meantime."

"Yes," said Zelda. "We don't want to cause a panic, but I think we need to be sure we have no traitors in our midst. Perhaps we can arrange that none of our guards is on duty alone or in pairs, and we may want to shuffle assignments. I would think it unlikely a Yiga Clan impersonator would have been able to take over two out of three guards assigned together randomly. I think the key, for now, is to be sure no one is alone with anyone. But it may be hard to explain the need for that."

"Good idea," said King Rhoam. "Let's just say we are experimenting with a new security arrangement. But just as importantly, we need to alert the leaders of the other races. I don't think we have time to convene a meeting. I suggest we have a pair of Rito each separately carry a message to the leaders at once. I don't want to take a chance that one of the Rito is an impostor. Rudin, can you write up the alert, and we'll send it at once. And Zelda, perhaps you and the Captain of the Royal Guard should stay with Rudin. Tell the Captain to implement the new guard arrangements at once, too."

They asked a guard to summon the Captain, then the three of them went back to the library. Rudin worked up an alert message and arranged for duplicate copies to be flown at once directly to Zora's Domain, Rito Village, and Goron City. Then they headed with the mask to the Hyrule Castle laboratory, where Dr. Purah was in charge along with her student Dr. Robbie.

"Your Highnesses," said Purah when the three of them arrived at the lab. "What brings all of you here?"

"We have something critically important we need you to investigate," said Rudin. "This mask has the power to transform its wearer into a Gerudo guard, someone who was murdered by the Yiga Clan. We need to understand this, but more importantly, find a way to tell if someone is wearing it. But we also need to keep this a secret for now."

"Very interesting," said Purah turning the mask over in her hands and examining it. "It looks more like magic than technology, but that doesn't mean we can't use science to analyze it. I assume no one has tried to wear it?"

"No, definitely not," said Rudin.

"Do we have any real Gerudo here that we can use as a basis for comparison with the imposter one?" said Purah.

"Yes, four of Lady Urbosa's guards accompanied me here. I can ask one of them to assist," said Rudin.

"That would be useful as a baseline," said Purah. "Well, there is no time like the present."

Everyone gasped as Purah put on the mask. She screamed in pain for a brief moment, and then everyone watched as she transformed into a Gerudo warrior. Purah was known to be reckless with self-experimentation, and this was another perfect example.

"It's interesting," said Purah. "I know who I am, but I also seem able to know much of what this poor individual knew, her memories, and such. I can even remember her last moments at what I gather must be the Kara Kara Bazaar area. She felt shocked and betrayed. Robbie, will you record all my vital sign readings? I take it none of you can tell I'm wearing a mask?"

"No, not at all," said Zelda. "You look like a Gerudo to us."

Robbie proceeded to record her vital signs using one of the devices from the lab.