“I told you, I’ll be fine, I can take care of myself! Get going already!”

Zelda let out an exasperated sigh as Link reluctantly left the clearing where the two had set up a makeshift camp to go find some food, eventually unfolding her arms. Ever since the two of them had set out on their trip across Hyrule to get Zelda acquainted with the state of her kingdom after her hundred years of containing Ganon Link had been particularly protective of her, even with Hyrule becoming much less dangerous now that Ganon had been defeated. She felt like she couldn’t walk ten steps away from him without him trying to babysit her, and it had brought out some of the irritation she had felt back during their original journey.

“You’d think he’d let me treat him as an equal after all this time.” Zelda grumbled, feeling like her status as a princess still kept her on a pedestal in Link’s eyes. In a way she was the one trying to pull him closer, rather than push him away, and yet they could never seem to break out of his relationship as her stalwart knight and protector. If only there was some way she could convince him to…

Zelda’s thoughts were interrupted by a nearby rustling sound, her eyes glancing over in the direction it had come from. Zelda cautiously rose to her feet, unsure if it were simply some passing animal or a lurking monster. If it were a boar or wolf, Zelda had more than enough skill with her magic and the functions of her Sheikah Slate to keep herself safe, but Zelda was admittedly drained after her time containing Ganon and helping defeat him, and had relied on Link so far for any serious action.

Zelda followed the sound out of the clearing, not seeing any signs that it was anything larger than a squirrel. While there were a great many trees around her, there were no signs of any obvious threat, and a bright yellow object caught her eye instead: a large bunch of bananas lying on the ground next to a tree. Zelda relaxed, figuring that the sound was just caused by the fruit falling, and supposed that she’d have another ingredient for Link to work with. She went to pick it up, and then hesitated. While apple trees were plentiful across Hyrule, bananas were a regional fruit, and the tree it had supposedly fallen from was quite clearly not a banana tree. Just what was it doing here in the first place? Hang on, wasn’t there something Link had mentioned about bananas…? Before Zelda’s brain had the chance to connect the dots, there were sounds of rustling from every direction, and a voice called out:

“Now!”

It all happened in one smooth, disorienting red blur of motion for Zelda, not even having time to cry out before a hand was slapped over her mouth to smother her voice, her arms individually seized and forced behind her back before she could reach for her slate or prepare a spell, and her legs were swept out from underneath her as she found herself staring up at the leaves before she even knew what was going on.

Zelda’s brain hardly had time to catch up before she was on the move, the red group of attackers dashing away with the princess in tow, Zelda taking a moment to try to reorient herself before trying to scream for help, but her muffled cries could be barely heard by even herself. She tried to bite the hand that covered her mouth, but the glove her teeth met was too tough and the owner too prepared to even flinch.

“Good job, everybody! Just like we practiced!” Zelda heard one of her kidnappers say far too cheerfully for her tastes. “Our trap worked perfectly, nobody could possibly resist the allure of a ripe mighty banana!”

“You know, it’s a lot easier to kidnap a princess than I thought it’d be.” One of the women commented, the others nodding. “We should do this more often!”

The banana had nothing to do with it!! Zelda wanted to say, refusing to admit to the embarrassment of falling for a fruit-based trap like that. Bananas, red outfits, incredible speed and sneakiness… Even before Zelda saw the distinctive masks her kidnappers wore, there was only one possible culprit: the Yiga clan, a gang of traitorous ninjas who had sided with Ganon during the great war, and harboured a great hatred for the Hylian royal family and ambitions of supplanting them. Link had mentioned that they were still around, but she had perhaps naively hoped that they would give it up after their dark master had been completely destroyed.

Instead she had been caught off guard by an incredible simple ambush, overwhelmed by simple numbers and totally at their mercy. Link could have fought off dozens of them at once, so it was no wonder they had waited until the two were finally separated to strike. Zelda felt ashamed of herself for talking big and then instantly being reduced to a damsel in distress, hoping that she would get the chance to apologise. Zelda struggled and tried to escape, but the grip of the group that seemed to number at least over half a dozen was far too tight.

“Alright, who’s got the mask?” One of them asked, looking around as the others shrugged. “Oh right, I do!”

He fumbled around on his person for a moment before producing an identical mask to what they were all wearing.

“Should we do it now or later?” One asked.

“Let’s get it over with, my hand is getting tired.” The one covering her mouth said, the group slowing to a halt and to her surprise, putting her down. Her hands were still held tightly, and Zelda gasped for breath as her mouth was released, glaring at the group as the mask was held up before her.

“Unhand me this in…stant…”

Zelda’s indignant bark trailed off as the mask was gently placed over her face, her head going all fuzzy all of a sudden. It was hard to think, and Zelda felt like she was in a daze, looking around at her allies who had… wait, allies? The Yiga clan were friends, weren’t they? No, not friends, she had meant to say… what was it again?

“Looks like it’s working.” The one who had placed it on her said, her arms being released, and instead of instantly fighting back, Zelda merely let them dangle at her sides, gaping vacantly through the mask which offered perfect visibility despite its opaque exterior. He extended a hand, Zelda staring blankly at it for a moment before taking it.

“This way, princess.” He instructed, the group simply walking to a nearby cave as Zelda’s head went completely empty, then started to feel like it was being filled by something new and unfamiliar, yet strangely comforting. The ninjas around her no longer seemed threatening, more like old friends, even though they had just met for the first time. She had a dopey smile under the mask, her eyes glazed over and unfocused, and Zelda likely would have just kept walking forward until she smacked into a tree had it not been for their guidance. She was sure that wherever they were taking her was the right direction, anyway.

“How do you feel?” One asked, Zelda pausing to think for a moment.

“A little funny, thanks for asking…” Zelda said, her head in the clouds.

“She should be ready.” They decided, and the group entered the small cavern, or at least half of them did. The women let Zelda inside and then blocked the entrance, standing with folded arms and what were probably stern expressions behind the masks. Zelda got the feeling that she could tell what faces they were making underneath, even though she couldn’t see past them.

“We’re going to undress the princess now. If any of you even think about peeping…!”

The woman who had spoken made a cutting motion over her throat, and the men awkwardly teleported away, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Zelda watched the hand motions they did to perform the spell and unconsciously began to imitate it, not realising that she had nearly performed it herself until her hand was gently slapped by one of the women.

“Not just yet, princess.” One said, Zelda nodding apologetically. She obediently raised her arms as they stripped her down to her underwear, feeling no shame as her clothes were removed piece by piece.

“You won’t be needing these anymore.” One informed her, tossing them aside into a crumpled heap, Zelda supposing that she wouldn’t. In the Yiga clan they had a simple dress code, and all dressed appropriately for their role. Once Zelda was in, she would do the same, and… hang on, who said anything about joining? Sure, it seemed like a good idea, but where had she gotten it from? Oh, it must have been the mask, Zelda’s sharp brain managing to pierce through the fog for a moment. It was this mask they had put on her that was making her feel strange, filling her mind with strange thoughts and unfamiliar knowledge, like how to perform special techniques, how to walk silently and hide her footsteps, how loyalty to the clan was more important than anything else in the world…

Aware as she was, Zelda didn’t resist as the friendly women held up a fresh new uniform for her, Zelda feeling slightly excited at the sight of it.

“For me?” She asked, getting a round of happy nods.



“Just slip this on and you’ll be one of us!” One said enthusiastically, Zelda hesitating for a moment. This was right, wasn’t it? There was a tiny voice in her mind that said that there was something off about all of this, but it was being quickly smothered by chanting voices that told her that this was obviously a sensible thing to do, and in fact a choice she had made for herself. The mask was simply preparing her for her new role, for her new place in life with her new allies.

The small voice vanished entirely as Zelda slipped her feet into the legs of the bodysuit, the tough yet comfortable material pressing tightly against her thighs as she pulled it up to her hips, her helpers doing up the various straps and bits and pieces that complimented the base suit. The suit had a curious material she hadn’t quite felt before, compressed tightly against her skin in a way that made her shudder in pleasure and was quite unlike the leggings she was used to. It wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t stiff either, and Zelda knew from the information being fed into her head that it was an ideal compromise between protection and flexibility, not to mention comfort.



Her arms were covered and she felt her breasts squish slightly against the chest of the suit, her individuality quickly draining away as her pale skin was completely covered up to the neck, Zelda experimentally flexing her fingers a few times to get used to the gloves. Although the suit had a subtle glossiness to it, it made no squeaking or creaking when she moved, Zelda eager to test it out and see if it truly lived up to the claims her newly informed brain was making about it. Although Zelda had perfect faith that every piece of information being fed into her head was correct, her naturally inquisitive nature wanted her to try it out for herself, and she looked forward to completing the process.

As the women did up various straps and checked to make sure it was fitted properly, something about the bodysuit just felt right, and it made her old outfit feel all wrong by comparison. The leggings had been too thin, the boots too loose, the top unnecessarily soft, unlike the perfect compression of this new outfit, more elegant and stylish too. It made her feel like her old clothes had been poorly fitted rags, and it would soon be difficult to go back to wearing anything else. Luckily for Zelda, she wouldn’t be expected to.

“How does it feel?” One asked, Zelda sensing the pride through the ninja’s mask. “Feels great, doesn’t it? There’s nothing like a nice, properly fitted uniform. Just tell us if it’s a little off and we’ll fix it once we get back to the hideout.”

“No, it’s alright, it feels quite wonderful.” Zelda droned, although her voice was starting to regain a bit of its clarity. It was very polite of her new ally to ask her that, but as far as she could tell her uniform was perfect, like it had been made just for her. Perhaps it had been, given that they had come to liberate her. It would be perfect for any missions she was assigned to, the perfect blend of stealth and protection. She could feel the ground perfectly through her thin soles, ideal for light footsteps. Her feminine silhouette was perhaps a little curvier around the hips and and her ass was distinctly larger and rounder, the material wrapped perfectly around it, but other than that, she could hardly be told apart from the others below the neck, and that thought excited her for reasons she hadn’t quite figured out just yet.

“Almost done.” One of the Yiga whispered as they reached the hood, Zelda realising that the tight, enclosed feeling that had enveloped her body was soon to become complete. Her mask was lifted for just a moment, and that was enough for some irritating thoughts to worm their way back into Zelda’s head, her conditioning needing a few more hours to squash those unnecessary voices asking her if what was happening to her was truly willing. Zelda could have jerked her head, tried to throw the unprepared group off and make an attempt to escape… but why? Her new friends were just helping her put on this wonderful uniform so that she could be just like them. It would be awfully rude of her to ask like this was something that she needed to escape from, wouldn’t it? She wouldn’t want to make a poor first impression as a Yiga.

Why did she even think of trying to stop it, Zelda wondered as her hearing was slightly muffled by the hood, her hair carefully fed through the hole left for the tuft of hair each Yiga seemed to have. She simply couldn’t think of a single good reason to. Instead of being bothered by the process, she was more bothered that her comfortable mask had been taken away from her even for a second. The mask was placed back over her face, Zelda raising her hands and carefully adjusting it back into place herself to make sure that not even a speck of her face was exposed, almost breathing a sigh of relief as those annoying voices vanished, never to return.

“And we’re done!” The group cheered, Zelda gazing down at her black and red form and thinking to herself that everything about it felt just right. The fog in her brain began to clear, and Zelda started to see through the mask so clearly it was like it wasn’t there, the sensation of wearing it and being completely enclosed almost feeling more natural than wearing nothing at all. Zelda rose her leg until it was nearly totally vertical, her body’s natural flexibility enhanced by her new skills as she perfectly balanced herself on one foot and moved it around, marvelling at how unimpeded her flexibility was by the hardy material of the suit. There wasn’t a single squeak or creak, and Zelda felt that were it not for her almost enhanced senses, tuned by the mask to pick up on any stray sound, she or any other Yiga could have danced right behind her back and she wouldn’t have heard them. Zelda ran her hands across her body, gently caressing her curves and even idly playing with the long ponytail-esque tuft that was her only natural body part showing, glad that she hadn’t gotten that haircut she had been thinking about.

“Do any of you have a mirror?” Zelda asked, insatiably curious about what she truly looked like to a casual observer. One handed her a hand mirror used for peering around corners, and Zelda held iit up, marvelling at how good she looked. Instead of her familiar face, an unfamiliar mask stared back at her, and as she held it up to include the other Yiga in the frame, she found that she looked no different from any of them, even to herself. Any one of them could have held up the mirror and the scene would have looked the same, the only difference being her blonde hair, which bothered her,  but that could be solved with a little dye once she arrived at her new home.

“You look great, princess!” One complimented her, the men hearing the cheers and returning now that the threat of grievous bodily harm was gone.

“Don’t call me princess.” Zelda found herself saying instinctively, the title no longer feeling appropriate, not for her or for anybody else. “I’m one of you now, right? That means we’re all on the same level. It’s kind of embarrassing to hear you call me that, actually. Please, just call me Zelda!”

The statement would have been insanity just a few minutes earlier, yet Zelda had said it without even thinking, and it sounded just right. In fact, saying it brought a feeling of immense relief in her as she realised the gravity of her words. She wasn’t Princess Zelda anymore, not now that she was a fresh recruit and logically at the bottom of the Yiga food chain alongside the other common soldiers, she didn’t even have to be Zelda if she didn’t want to! After all, who could possibly tell that this inconspicuous Yiga soldier was formerly the princess of Hyrule herself? Her favourite part of travelling across Hyrule had been the fact that nobody recognised her as Zelda anymore, allowing her to enjoy a brief moment of realising that this was what it must be like to be an ordinary person without the burden of the crown. Now Zelda found herself not only not wanting the crown, but outright rejecting it.

But now what? Zelda realised. Now that she had abandoned her goal of ruling Hyrule, what was there for her to do? She needed guidance, she needed leadership, a purpose, somebody to tell her what to do. It was an intense desire, Zelda longing to be a pawn in something greater than herself rather than stand at the top. Thankfully, the answer came quickly and naturally to her. Serving the Yiga clan was purpose enough, and their purpose was to take over Hyrule and serve at Master Ganon’s side. Of course, she had certainly screwed up that second part in her misguided crusade… she had believed that Ganon would destroy Hyrule, but if the Yiga believed it was the right path, they couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Everything seemed so obvious to Zelda now, all of the things she had believed or told herself falling away in the face of the truth. It was like she has woken from a dream, a silly dream where she had gotten it in her head that the Yiga clan weren’t the rightful rulers of Hyrule, and that a simple foot soldier like her had the audacity to declare herself to be a princess. Things hadn’t changed, they had merely been corrected.

“Actually, that would put all of you above me.” Zelda realised and corrected herself. “After all, I’ve only just realised what a fool I’ve been and joined you! Not to mention I fought against you for so long, and I even helped destroy Master Ganon! I’m going to have to do a lot to make up for something like that…”

“That’s all water under the bridge now. You were just misguided, that’s all. ” One of the men declared enthusiastically, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. “The Yiga clan are all in this together! I’m sure Master Kohga will be overjoyed when he finds out you’re one of us. After all, that’s why we set this operation up in the first place!”

“The important part is that the princess of Hyrule has admitted that she’s not the one who should be in charge, and all of those idiots who’d want to follow her are out of luck.” Explained one of the women. “In fact, they’ll probably start to think you never came back at all.”

What a relief, Zelda thought privately about those words. A hundred years of resisting Ganon and for what, just to be expected to carry an entire kingdom on her back after it hadn’t even had a government in the population’s lifetime? It was so much easier to just sit back and take orders, letting others who were wiser and smarter than her do all of the thinking. It wasn’t her place to think in the first place.

“By the way, what is this mask, anyway?” Zelda asked, pointing at it. “I’ve never seen an enchantment like this before, you just put it on me and it got rid of all of those silly ideas I’ve been having!”



“Well, traditionally the Yiga clan was a family business, but it’s been a long time and we’re always looking for new recruits. Some of our bright sparks came up with the idea of being able to recruit new members on the spot, fully trained!”  Another one explained, Zelda starting to be able to tell them apart by subtle differences in their bodies and mannerisms. She was confident that it wouldn’t be long before she’d be able to look at any one of the seemingly indistinguishable Yiga members and recognise them by now. “Did you know that we’ve got a one hundred percent satisfaction rate from the process?”



“I can see why.” Zelda laughed. “So… what now?”



“Now we get back to the hideout before your hero friend notices you’re missing.” He said, the others looking eager to leave.

“We’re not taking him too?” Zelda asked innocently, and the group seemed nervous.

“Well, you see, this whole operation only worked because he’s not around.” The group agreed, but Zelda put her hands on her hips and seemed to regain her royal presence.

“Link is coming with us.” Zelda said firmly. “Do you have any idea how much of an asset somebody like him would be to our cause? Letting him run around on his own will be nothing but a headache.”

“I mean, you’re right, but…” One said nervously. “I don’t think we could get one of those masks on him even with a hundred of us. It takes time to work, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can figure it out.” Zelda said confidently. “There’s nothing the Yiga clan can’t do when we put our minds to it!”



“Well, if you can pull it off, you can do whatever you want with him.” Another said reluctantly. “I suppose he’ll just come barging in trying to rescue you if he figures out what we did.”

 “All the more reason to do it before he catches on.” Zelda said, her hands moving swiftly as she performed the motions required for the Yiga’s disguise technique as if she had done it a hundred times before, and in a puff of smoke the old Zelda was standing there as if nothing had happened at all.

“It’d be a bit of a waste to change back right away, wouldn’t it?” Zelda smiled, glancing over at her pile of clothes in the corner of the cave. She frowned slightly as she checked her reflection in the mirror, hoping that it wouldn’t take too long to get out of this disguise and back to normal. The contradiction hardly occurred to her, Zelda already seeing her masked, anonymous form as her true self. Princess Zelda was now just a convenient disguise, one she couldn’t see herself willingly returning to besides to fool her former allies. Link didn’t count as former, of course. He had promised to follow her anywhere, hadn’t he? She was certain that he’d come around with a little help from her.

“Are you sure you can handle it? He’s gotten pretty good at seeing through our techniques.” One of her friends said nervously. “If anything goes wrong, just get out of there!”

“It’ll work, trust me.” Zelda reassured them. “Once this is over, it’ll be a fresh start for myself, for Link, and for the Yiga clan. Hyrule will be ours for the taking! Oh, by the way, I have one other thing I’d like to do with him…”



Zelda smiled devilishly as she recalled a certain technique the Yiga clan had at their disposal, having been sifting through techniques she might need to keep Link pinned down once he had been lured into their trap. Link couldn’t ask for more of a fresh start than that…