LEGEND OF ZELDA

The Yiga Hideout

The Yiga Clan hideout never truly slept.

Even in the deepest hours of the night, there was movement somewhere beneath the Gerudo Highlands. Footsteps echoed through narrow stone passages. Doors opened and closed. Voices drifted from chambers where masked soldiers gathered around tables, weapons, maps and whatever orders Master Kohga had decided were important enough to issue that day. Torches burned along the walls, their flames throwing restless shadows over the carved stone and the countless banners bearing the eye of the Yiga.

Everywhere you looked, there was the same symbol.

Everywhere you went, there was the same reminder.

Loyalty to the Clan.

Loyalty to Master Kohga.

Loyalty to Calamity Ganon.

It was supposed to mean something.

For everyone else, perhaps it did.

You had spent long enough among them to know how easily the others spoke of it. Some had been raised within the Clan. Others had joined willingly, drawn by promises of purpose, power or belonging. They treated the mask as something sacred. They spoke of the future with feverish certainty, convinced that one day Hyrule would fall and the Yiga would stand triumphant among its ruins.

You had never felt any of it.

Not truly.

The mask was just a mask.

The uniform was something you wore because refusing to wear it had consequences.

The hideout was not a home.

It was a cage with stone walls and hidden exits, except every exit seemed to lead straight back into the life you had been trying to escape.

You had considered running more times than you could count.

The thought had become so familiar that it barely felt like a thought anymore. It was simply there, beneath everything else. Every time someone spoke about glory. Every time Master Kohga demanded another display of devotion. Every time a group of Yiga returned from hunting down someone unfortunate enough to cross their path.

Leave.

The word followed you everywhere.

Leave.

But leaving the Yiga Clan was not as simple as walking out the door.

There were too many eyes.

Too many people who knew every route through the hideout.

Too many places to search.

And even if you managed to get beyond the mountains and disappear into Hyrule, there was always the possibility of being found again.

The Yiga were very good at finding people.

So you stayed.

You obeyed when you had to.

You stood in formation when ordered.

You listened to speeches about Master Kohga's greatness and kept your silence.

And all the while, you waited for something.

An opening.

A distraction.

A mistake.

Anything.

You had never expected the opportunity to arrive with half of Hyrule's most important people walking directly into the hideout.

The first warning came from somewhere beyond the main chamber.

A shout.

Then another.

The sound carried through the stone corridors, followed by the unmistakable crash of something heavy striking a wall.

Every head turned.

For a moment, the Yiga gathered around you simply froze.

Then someone shouted from farther down the passage.

"Intruders!"

The hideout erupted.

Footsteps thundered across the floor as Yiga soldiers rushed toward the sound. Weapons were snatched from walls and tables. Doors slammed open. Someone barked orders, their voice immediately swallowed beneath the sudden chaos.

You remained where you were for half a second too long.

Then the noise came again.

This time, closer.

A burst of blue light flashed at the far end of the corridor, followed by a sound like stone splitting beneath tremendous force.

Daruk.

You didn't need to see him to know.

Everyone in Hyrule knew the stories.

The Champions.

The Princess.

The Hero with the sword that sealed the darkness.

It seemed impossible that all of them would actually be here.

Inside the Yiga hideout.

The sound of fighting surged closer.

One of the soldiers beside you adjusted their grip on a sickle.

"What are you standing around for?"

You moved because everyone else moved.

That was what you had learned to do.

Not because you wanted to.

Because hesitation was noticed.

And being noticed was dangerous.

The group rushed through the corridors together, a flood of black and red uniforms moving beneath the flickering torchlight. The air quickly filled with dust, smoke and the sharp smell of burning oil. Somewhere ahead, another Yiga vanished in a flash of crimson light, teleporting directly into the fight.

You followed.

The corridor widened.

Then everything opened at once.

The central chamber was already in chaos.

Yiga soldiers appeared and disappeared across the room in bursts of red-black smoke, launching themselves from ledges and dropping from the higher walkways. Weapons flashed beneath the torchlight. Stone cracked. Dust rained from the ceiling.

And standing among the chaos were the people you had only ever known through stories.

Zelda stood near the centre of the group.

Even surrounded by the confusion of the attack, there was something unmistakable about her. Her blonde hair had shifted loose around her shoulders, and the royal clothing she wore beneath her travelling cloak was marked with dust from the journey through the hideout. One hand remained close to the ancient Sheikah Slate at her side while her eyes moved quickly across the chamber, taking in everything.

Impa was beside her.

The Sheikah woman stood with the controlled stillness of someone who had spent a lifetime preparing for danger. Her expression was unreadable, though there was no mistaking the focus in her red eyes.

Link remained close to Zelda.

The Master Sword was already in his hand.

There was nothing dramatic about the way he moved. That was what made him more intimidating than the stories had ever suggested. Every motion was deliberate. Every step placed him exactly where he needed to be. He didn't waste energy. He didn't show off.

A Yiga appeared directly ahead of him.

Link moved.

The encounter ended almost immediately.

You barely had time to register what had happened before another burst of smoke appeared somewhere else.

Urbosa stood several paces away, her Scimitar of the Seven catching the firelight. Electricity crackled faintly around her weapon before vanishing again. She looked almost calm amid the chaos, her golden eyes moving over the attacking Yiga with an expression that suggested none of them had yet given her a reason to be particularly concerned.

Mipha remained closer to Zelda and Impa, Lightscale Trident held firmly in her hands. She was graceful even while fighting, moving through the chamber with an almost impossible lightness. Whenever one of the others was threatened, her attention shifted immediately.

Daruk was impossible to overlook.

The Goron Champion was a force of nature in the centre of the room, enormous and immovable as Yiga soldiers attempted to surround him. His Boulder Breaker struck the stone floor with enough force to send cracks racing through it, and several attackers immediately reconsidered their decision to approach him.

Revali occupied one of the higher platforms.

Of course he did.

The Rito Champion had the advantage of height, and he used it without hesitation. His bow was already raised, sharp eyes tracking every movement below.

For one brief moment, you simply stood among the others.

Watching.

A Yiga appeared beside you in a burst of smoke.

"Move!"

The command snapped you back into motion.

The soldier vanished again.

You looked down at the weapon in your hand.

Then across the chamber.

There they were.

The people the Yiga spoke about constantly.

The Champions.

The princess.

Impa.

Link.

You had been taught to see them as enemies.

The sight of them standing inside the hideout should have filled you with anger.

Instead, all you could think was that this was the closest you'd ever been to something outside.

Outside the Clan.

Outside these tunnels.

Outside the life that had been chosen for you.

Another crash shook the room.

A section of the wall splintered as Daruk's weapon struck it, and dust rolled through the chamber in a thick cloud. Someone shouted orders from the far side of the room. More Yiga rushed forward.

Then, through all of it, another voice rang out.

Master Kohga.

Everyone paused.

Not for long.

Only long enough to turn.

He stood near one of the exits, his distinctive mask and robes immediately recognisable. He looked over the chaos with all the theatrical outrage expected from the leader of the Yiga Clan, apparently far more offended that the intruders had reached the hideout than concerned by the destruction surrounding him.

Then his attention shifted elsewhere.

There was something he needed to do.

Something more important than remaining behind to deal with the Champions himself.

You didn't hear every word.

The fighting was too loud.

But you heard enough.

Kohga was leaving.

And the order he gave before disappearing into the deeper passages was unmistakable.

The rest of you were to deal with them.

His retreat was almost immediate.

One moment he was there.

The next, he was gone.

The chamber seemed to absorb the fact for half a heartbeat.

Then every remaining Yiga soldier surged forward.

You did not.

The others moved around you.

Red smoke flashed to your left.

A sickle struck stone somewhere behind you.

Revali's arrow passed overhead.

Link turned sharply as another Yiga appeared near Zelda.

Urbosa stepped into the attacker's path.

Everyone was fighting.

Everyone expected you to fight too.

You could see the opportunity opening in front of you so clearly that it almost didn't seem real.

No one was watching you.

Not properly.

The Champions were occupied.

The other Yiga were too busy attacking to notice one of their own standing still.

And Master Kohga was gone.

Gone.

The thought hit harder than it should have.

For once, the person whose approval everyone chased wasn't here to see what you did.

You could disappear.

The familiar fear immediately followed.

Disappear where?

The Yiga teleportation technique wasn't an escape from the Clan by itself. You had used it countless times to move through battle, vanish from sight or travel between locations.

But this time, you didn't have to return.

Not immediately.

You could go somewhere else.

Somewhere beyond the hideout.

Somewhere that wasn't filled with masks.

Somewhere that didn't have Yiga banners hanging from every wall.

The thought was terrifying.

It was also the first thing that had felt like hope in a very long time.

Another Yiga appeared beside you.

"Why aren't you attacking?"

You turned your head.

For one second, the other soldier stared through the eyeholes of their mask.

Then a flash of movement drew their attention away.

That was all you needed.

You stepped back.

The soldier didn't notice.

A second step.

The chaos swallowed you.

You tightened your grip on the weapon once.

Then lowered it.

No speech.

No declaration.

No warning.

You weren't going to tell them.

You weren't going to give anyone the chance to stop you.

The Yiga technique came as naturally as breathing by now. You focused, letting the familiar energy gather around you. The first traces of red-black smoke curled around your boots.

Across the chamber, Link's attention shifted.

For the briefest moment, his blue eyes landed on you.

Not long enough for anyone else to notice.

Perhaps he thought you were preparing to attack.

Perhaps he had simply noticed the movement.

You didn't wait to find out.

The smoke rose.

A Yiga soldier rushed past.

Zelda moved farther behind Link as another attack came from the side.

Impa struck at someone attempting to circle around them.

Urbosa's lightning flashed across the chamber.

And then the hideout disappeared.

The last thing left behind was the sound of fighting.

Then even that was gone.

You reappeared somewhere far from the central chamber.

Cold air hit first.

Then silence.

Real silence.

Not the muffled quiet of the hideout.

Not the silence between orders.

This was open air.

Wind moved through the grass.

The sky stretched above you.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

No one appeared beside you.

No one shouted your name.

No voice ordered you to return.

You stood alone with the smoke from your teleportation slowly fading around you.

The Yiga mask was still on your face.

The uniform was still on your body.

Nothing had changed.

And yet, for the first time, you were somewhere the Clan hadn't told you to be.

The thought settled slowly.

You had left the fight.

You had left them behind.

You hadn't defeated anyone.

You hadn't made some dramatic escape through a hidden passage.

You had simply taken the first opening you had ever been given.

Far in the distance, beyond hills and forests you could barely make out from where you stood, Hyrule continued beneath the afternoon sky.

You didn't know where to go.

You didn't know how long it would take before the Yiga realised you weren't coming back.

You didn't know whether they would search.

There were still dangers waiting beyond the hideout.

Still questions.

Still the possibility that someone would find you and drag you back into the life you'd spent so long wanting to escape.

But none of that was happening now.

The Yiga mask was supposed to make everything easier.

Once it was pulled over your face, there was no room for anyone to see uncertainty. No one could read your expression, notice where your eyes kept wandering, or realise that every time you were sent into battle, some part of you was desperately searching for a way out. The painted eye gave you the appearance of another loyal member of the Clan, another masked soldier who would appear from a cloud of smoke, strike without hesitation and disappear before anyone could react.

That was what everyone expected.

You had become good at pretending.

You knew how to stand among the others without looking uncomfortable. You knew how to follow orders quickly enough that nobody questioned you. You knew how to handle your weapon, how to use the Clan's teleportation technique and how to move through the hideout without attracting unnecessary attention. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about you.

Inside, however, the same thought had remained for years.

You wanted out.

You had never wanted this life. You had never wanted to spend your days beneath the mountains surrounded by masks, weapons and banners bearing the Clan's symbol. You didn't care about Calamity Ganon, didn't dream about Hyrule falling and certainly didn't feel the devotion everyone else seemed to possess toward Master Kohga. You had simply ended up here, and the longer you stayed, the more impossible leaving became.

There had been moments when you thought about running. More than moments, really. The idea had followed you through every corridor and every training session, quietly sitting in the back of your mind whenever another order was given. But the Yiga Clan wasn't something you could casually walk away from. There were too many people watching, too many soldiers who knew your face beneath the mask and too many consequences waiting for anyone who betrayed the Clan.

So you remained.

Until the Champions arrived.

The warning travelled through the hideout in a matter of seconds. A distant shout became another, followed by the unmistakable sound of fighting. Footsteps thundered through the corridors as Yiga soldiers rushed toward the disturbance, weapons already drawn. Torches shook against the walls as people ran past, their shadows stretching wildly across the stone.

You were swept along with them.

There was no opportunity to hang back. Doing so would have been suspicious, and suspicion was dangerous. So you moved with the others, weapon in hand, mask secured over your face as the entire hideout erupted into chaos.

Then you entered the main chamber and saw exactly who had come.

Daruk was impossible to miss. The enormous Goron Champion stood in the middle of the room, Boulder Breaker in hand, his rocky body illuminated by the flickering torches. Several Yiga had attempted to surround him, only to discover that getting close to a Goron of his size and strength was a terrible idea.

Urbosa was nearby, her golden eyes scanning the battlefield with complete confidence. Lightning flashed around her weapon, briefly illuminating the chamber in white-gold before fading back into the orange glow of the torches. She looked almost calm despite the number of enemies surrounding her.

Revali had taken the high ground. His blue feathers stood out against the dark stone as he moved along one of the upper platforms, Great Eagle Bow already drawn. His arrows flew with precise efficiency, forcing Yiga soldiers to scatter before they could get close.

Mipha remained nearer to Zelda and Impa. Her Lightscale Trident was held firmly in both hands, and despite her gentle nature, there was nothing hesitant about her movements. She fought with the same quiet determination she brought to everything else.

Then there was Zelda.

The princess stood near the centre of the group, her blonde hair slightly dishevelled from the journey through the hideout. Impa remained close to her, watching the surrounding battle with the focus of someone who had spent years protecting the royal family.

And beside Zelda stood Link.

The Master Sword was already in his hand.

You had heard stories about him your entire life. The Yiga talked about him constantly, usually with some combination of resentment and contempt. He was the Hero. The chosen wielder of the Master Sword. Zelda's personal guard. The person most likely to stand between the Clan and whatever it wanted.

Seeing him in person was different.

He was quieter than you expected.

There was no unnecessary movement. No dramatic display of strength. He simply watched the battlefield, moving whenever someone came within range, his expression calm and focused.

A Yiga rushed toward him.

Link moved.

The encounter lasted seconds.

You instinctively stopped.

Then someone behind you shoved past.

"Go!"

You forced yourself forward.

Your weapon felt heavier than usual.

You knew what you were supposed to do. Attack. Force the intruders back. Protect the hideout. Prove that you belonged.

You raised your weapon and approached the nearest target.

Link.

Of course it was Link.

He noticed you almost immediately.

His eyes settled on the mask covering your face, then briefly on your weapon. His stance changed.

You attacked.

Or, at least, you made the motion.

The weapons collided.

The impact travelled through your arms, but you barely put any real force behind it. Link pushed your weapon aside with ease, and you stumbled backward.

He followed.

You retreated.

Another strike came.

You blocked it.

Again, you barely countered.

There was something wrong with the fight, and you knew it.

Link knew it too.

His eyes narrowed slightly behind the movement of his sword.

You disappeared in a burst of red smoke before he could press the advantage.

You reappeared farther away, breathing harder than you should have been. The fight had barely begun, yet you already felt exhausted. Not physically. Mentally.

Everywhere you looked, the same thing was happening.

Yiga attacking.

Champions defending.

You standing somewhere in between, desperately trying not to seriously hurt anyone while also avoiding making it obvious that you weren't trying.

Urbosa crossed your path next.

You raised your weapon.

She met it effortlessly.

The difference in skill was obvious, but she didn't need to know that. You weren't fighting her properly.

Your attacks were defensive.

Your steps kept taking you backward.

Every opening you had was ignored.

Urbosa's expression changed.

She had fought enough battles to recognise hesitation.

But a hesitant Yiga?

That was something else.

You vanished again.

A cloud of crimson smoke swallowed your figure before you reappeared on the other side of the chamber. Revali's gaze immediately followed you.

He had been watching.

You could feel it.

His eyes tracked your movements from above, sharp and analytical. He wasn't accustomed to seeing Yiga fight this way. They were usually aggressive, unpredictable and annoyingly persistent.

You were none of those things.

You looked as though you wanted to be anywhere else.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Clan didn't seem to notice.

Another Yiga appeared beside you.

"Stop standing around!"

You flinched at the command.

Then you moved.

You attacked again.

This time, Link was your target.

The Master Sword rose.

You struck.

He blocked.

You struck again.

He blocked that too.

Your movements became increasingly awkward as you tried to maintain the appearance of a fight without actually committing to one. Link's expression remained unreadable, but his attention was completely fixed on you now.

You couldn't tell whether he thought you were inexperienced, injured or simply strange.

Then a sudden impact came from your side.

You turned too late.

A Yiga soldier had appeared nearby, attacking another member of the Champions' group. Their weapon swung through the space between you and Link.

You instinctively stepped backward.

Link shifted forward.

Several movements happened almost simultaneously.

A weapon struck another.

You twisted away.

Someone collided with your shoulder.

Your mask shifted.

You reached for it.

Too late.

The fastening caught against something.

There was a sharp snap.

Your mask flew from your face.

It spun once through the air before striking the stone floor.

The sound was surprisingly quiet.

For a moment, the world seemed to slow.

Your face was exposed.

There was no painted eye hiding your expression anymore.

No mask to make you look like every other Yiga.

No barrier between you and the people you had been ordered to fight.

Link stared.

His sword remained raised, but his attention was clearly no longer on the mask.

Urbosa had turned toward you.

Mipha's eyes widened slightly.

Daruk looked over from the middle of the fight.

Revali had stopped moving on the upper platform.

Zelda and Impa both looked in your direction.

None of them had expected to see what was beneath the mask.

And certainly not this.

You didn't look angry.

You didn't look eager.

You didn't even look particularly confident.

You looked uncomfortable.

Deeply, unmistakably uncomfortable.

The expression on your face made the entire situation more confusing rather than less. You were a Yiga, yet you looked like someone who desperately wished the battle would end. Your weapon was still in your hand, but your grip had loosened around it. Your posture wasn't that of someone preparing for another attack. It was the posture of someone caught in a situation they had no idea how to escape.

Revali's eyes narrowed.

"A hesitant Yiga," he said, almost incredulously.

Daruk looked between you and the fallen mask.

"Well, that's new."

Mipha said nothing.

Her attention remained fixed on you, clearly trying to understand what she was seeing.

Urbosa's expression was more guarded. She had fought Yiga before. She knew how they behaved. She knew what their attacks looked like, what their ambushes felt like and how relentlessly they pursued their enemies.

You didn't resemble any of that.

Link still hadn't lowered the Master Sword.

He simply watched you.

There was no sudden act of kindness, no one stepping between you and the others, no dramatic change in the battle.

You were still a Yiga standing among the enemy.

They had no reason to trust you.

You had given them none.

All they had was what they could see.

A discarded mask.

A weapon held uncertainly.

And someone who looked far more miserable about being in the fight than anyone else in the room.

Around you, the battle continued.

Weapons clashed.

Smoke appeared and vanished.

Daruk shouted something as another Yiga charged him.

Revali's wings shifted as he prepared another arrow.

Urbosa turned back toward the fight, though her attention still occasionally flickered toward you.

Mipha remained alert.

Zelda watched from beside Impa.

Link stood only a short distance away, the Master Sword still in his hand.

And you remained exposed without the one thing that had always allowed you to disappear among the Clan.

The mask lay at your feet.

For the first time, everyone could see exactly how little you wanted to be there.