Ah, Tantari Desert at night. Above, you can see all the stars in the sky, and the full moon's light allows you to see everything as if it was day, well, if the sun cast white light, that was. The coast of this little part of Tantari is silent, which is strange, as there would normally be some theives or Leevers around here, making short work of whomever decided to walk with little or no protection.

What is here, is burned down palm trees, the only evidence they were trees being the once or two leaves strewn around. There had been Leevers here, and some theives as well, but the burnt piles of ash, along with coal black bones and strips of cloth tell you that they shared the same fate as the trees.

Now, one must ask, why on such a beautiful night would this happen? The answer is found in the form of a man, around 5'8 in height, whom skin is so pale, you could see it even if it was pitch black, whose hair and clothing are a sharp contrast to him, as they are as black as a night with a new moon.

He looks off into the sea, where, if you squint your eyes really hard, and somehow gain telescopic vision, you can see the faint outlines of islands. A smirk can be seen on his handsome face, as if something, or someone, important is coming from there soon.

With a graceful spin, he turns, and sees the rest of the desert. "Pitiful. And they don't even know what is coming for them." he says, before twirling again to face the sea once more. He looks at it intently, his gaze not faltering.

The Sheikah thief Arrika came upon the burned, blackened area, treading silently on the ashes. The bright moon illuminated everything around her, and there was no place she could safely hide to spy on the pale, graceful stranger.

"Did you do this?" She asked quietly, surprising even herself at her boldness. She had a bad feeling that it hadn't been a good decision to travel around Tantari alone. "You burned them alive!" The Sheikah hissed angrily. "Have you no heart? Even I would have killed them first."

The man turned, to view the angry Sheikah girl. "Ah, another thief. You seem much younger than these...desert rats." he said, slowly making his way to the girl. "I did kill them. They have no use in this world at all, those dregs of society. But you...You are different, I can tell. You have met one not of this world, many times, and have shown to have a mind, compared to the scum that was thankfully removed from this...beautiful land." he said, now standing next to the girl, pale hand now tracing the outline of her face. Really doesn't have a clue about personal space, does he?

Arrika slapped his pale hand away impatiently. "Those [i[dregs of society[/i] had lives and names and people who care-" Arrika stopped herself. Those people were most likely loners struggling to survive in the gutters. In that kind of world, a world she had been familiar with, you looked out for yourself. Friendship only created an unwanted and useless bond that would only hold you back. The Sheikah gritted her teeth. "You talk like you know me. Have we met? Or are you another rogue looking for revenge against my old teacher?"

The man smirked. "I have no qualms against Kobas. I never met the man, nor have I ever met you, Arrika." he said, saying both their names without any prior knowledge of them. "And who cares if a few nameless die? There will be many more, I assure you, once the Three Kings come to dethrone those foul, damned women who control these lands now." he spoke once more, tone like that of a war-crazed maniac.

Arrika secretly agreed with the stranger, but did not show it on her face. "You dare question the Goddesses?" She said instead, an odd smile on her face. "You a member of some crazy cult? The Three Kings..." Her eyes strayed to the piles of ashes again and couldn't help but avoid the man's cold gaze.

He turned once more to look at her. "I don't fear those weaklings. Their world is overrrun with monsters, and they do nothing to stop them. The Three Kings are the direct opposite of them, and will come here to destroy them. I am one of their Knights, the only one true to them. I am Paladin, and I wait here for the music to begin." he said, vaguely referencing the Sheikah monster that headed for this land.

"The direct opposite of the Goddesses? Do you mean without life, law, or compassion?" Arrika said, and for some reason she still had the odd smile. Am I going insane? People need gods in their lives. Even if they don't exist, just believing in something gives them hope. Do I, by even considering the fact that the Three Kings of his may destroy the Goddesses, go against what I've grown to believe in? Not like I'm a crazy worshipper like this guy...

"So, Paladin.... if that is your name... what music do you wait for? A trumpet's charge so you can slaughter more? And have you considered the fact that your own Kings may turn and destroy you as well?"

"You fool. The kings cannot destroy their guardians, the Three Knights." he said, turning to her once more. "My three brothers, the Knights that follow the weakest of the Kings, are doomed for failure, while I, and my king, shall live. For the music, I await the beatings of the drum, one that hasn't been played in more than a hundred years, that of the Shadow Spirit, the one the foolish Sheikah believed they defeated and locked away those years ago. I await Bongo-Bongo, who shall come and take over the boy, Worru."

He grinned like a maniac. "He shall use the boy as a shell, one that will be used to act like the one known as Ganondorf once was. Death, misery, and pain shall follow him."

"So you'll use that kid as your personal puppet? Hah, by then, you'll be forgotten, and the boy will be their new favorite," Arrika said, sounding more confident than he felt. "The Hero will come back then to stop all of you. Or maybe a new one will rise. Who knows? I expect you'll now say something like, 'Watch your mouth. You'll have to pick a side soon, as there is no middle ground.' just to scare me. Good luck with that." The Sheikah tucked her long dark hair behind her ear and raised her hood, shivering a bit as the wind blew. "So what will you do after that? Have you ever wondered? Once you've acheived world domination, or whatever you'd like to call it, where would that leave you? After you've killed all the citizens of Hyrule? What would you do for the rest of your life?"

"Only one of them knows about the child. Even with the spirit, he is still tied to this world by the Goddesses. He can't enter their temples, though, with the daemon that resides with him now." he said, grinning. "As for what you know, there is a middle ground, but it is only for those who truely know the world, those who venture these lands with their own minds and sould guiding them." he sighed, "But after, *hehheh* I don't know. Can't do anything with a life that doesn't exist." he said.

"Don't think yourself so important that I won't kill you. In fact, I wait here for the adventurers that my foolish brother, Creator, has met, so that they will come here to 'destroy me'. I will let them, but only so that I can return."

"You'd kill me? I didn't think a man like you would have the heart," Arrika said with mock sweetness, tossing her hair back and fluttering her eyelashes. "And as for that middle ground you say exists, I assure you I won't be on it. I'll make my own way. So... are you going to kill me anyway, since I know your little secret about Worru? I'd like a warning first, you know, so I can say my last prayers and whatnot?" She added sarcastically, her hand slinking to the dagger at her waist from habit.

The man waved her off. "You're not even worth killing because you know the secret. Telling people will just get more killed, and it would be your fault for them learning. " he said. In a moment, the human form she had seen before was gone, replaced by a being clad in black and silver armor, blood red eyes, sharp claws gleaming in the light. "The form you saw before was merely an illusion, to allow me to blend in with ease. I sow the seeds of deception will like that. In fact, I hear the divorce rates go up by one third while I remain." he said, before assuming the form of the human once more.

"Can you shift into anything you want?" Arrika asked, secretly hiding the fact that she was glad she would get to see morning. "Just divorces? You must be bored already," she said, hoping she wasn't baiting Paladin too much that he would change his mind.

Paladin sighed, "I am here, only to bring Bongo Bongo to this world, as a herald, or in this case, a harbringer of a new age. Most consider what I say as madness, the ramblings of an insane man, but when it comes down to it, we shall see who dies, and who lives. Which is stronger, Fierce or Deranged Power? Loving or Painful Wisdom? Steadfast or Empty Courage?"