Author's Note: Hi! This story does not follow any cannon, and is written entirely for my entertainment. It's inspired loosely by the prompt "You live in a world where your soul-mate is unable to hurt you, intentionally or otherwise. You are fighting a war, when one of the enemy's knives harmlessly glances off you."
Pairing is Sheik/Link, but the story ended up not being romance heavy at all.
In this story, Sheik is gender non-binary. I use the pronouns they/them as is most popular for non-binary folks. I respect that not everyone agrees with this portrayal of Sheik, but ask that there is no hate. Or at least that it is done constructively. :)
Feedback on story content, grammatical mistakes, and formatting is always welcome! I'm really struggling with the site's text editing options so any advice on how to make this more legible and pleasant to read is appreciated.
Enjoy!
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Sheik lowered themself slowly off of the roof and onto the narrow window ledge outside of the prince's room. Peering cautiously inside, they could make out the outline of the man within, lying beneath a pile of blankets which rose and fell with each steady breath. Sheik pulled off one glove with their teeth and drew their dagger. Ever so slowly, Sheik worked the tip of the knife through the narrow space between the window panes and pried open the latch. It made a heavy click as it opened, and Sheik froze, pressing as close to the wall as possible. Inside, the prince didn't so much as twitch. After an agonizing minute, Sheik tugged their glove back on and eased the window open just enough to slip inside.
With the stealth of a cat, Sheik crept across the room. It was to be a quick job. Slit his throat and leave the way they'd come. Nothing but a corpse left behind. Sheik positioned themself to the prince's back as he lay on his side, snoring softly, and took a breath. No need to rush. With a smooth motion, Sheik drew the blade across the prince's throat, and went to wipe off the blade- only to find it was perfectly clean. Confused, Sheik leaned over to look at the prince's neck. No blood, no cut, not a single mark. Alarm bells immediately went off in Sheik's head. The prince's breathing shifted, and his stunning blue eyes opened. Unsure what else to do, Sheik slammed their dagger into the prince's back- only to feel it deflected as if by an invisible shield, again leaving no trace. Before Sheik could decide whether to run or make a third attempt, the prince rolled out of bed and elbowed Sheik in the gut, knocking them onto their back, yet causing no pain. The door was thrown open and two guards rushed in brandishing spears. Sheik rolled to their feet and ran for the window, but a sharp blow from a spear sent them sprawling again. Before they knew it, they were chained up in the dungeons of Hyrule Castle.
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Link paced the floor of his room, frowning in concentration. There had just been an attempt on his life. One that should have been successful. He'd felt the cold of steel against his throat in his sleep, felt the dagger impact his back, and yet here he was, completely unharmed. He touched his neck, searching for the tenth time for some sign of injury and finding none. His nerves were shaken, but otherwise, he was completely unharmed. It made no sense. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in," he called, hastily arranging himself at his desk to look as though he'd been reading one of the thick documents piled up there.
His sister, Princess Zelda entered, worry marring her otherwise perfect features. "I heard someone tried to kill you," she said nonchalantly, though the look on her face gave away her concern.
"Someone did," Link agreed, "and would have, if not for some strange and magical phenomenon."
Zelda raised an eyebrow.
"He cut me, and yet his blade didn't hurt me." Link showed her his neck. "It bounced off as though I'd been wearing armor."
Zelda's expression morphed first into one of confusion, then to epiphany, and then into horror.
"What?" Link asked.
"The blade bounced off of your skin, you say, and you were wearing no armor? It definitely hit your skin?"
"Yes," Link said, "By rights I should be dead."
"I think…" began Zelda with a deep frown, "I think I know what has happened." She took a seat on his bed and steepled her fingers in the way she did when thinking. "I read once that there was a phenomenon, a gift from the goddesses, it was said, that one's true love could never hurt one. Of course, few people ever find their true love, and even fewer ever attempt to cause them harm, and so it isn't certain that this legend is true. But if it were, perhaps that would explain your seemingly magical survival."
"Are you saying that the assassin is my "true love"?" Link asked, making air quotes with his fingers.
Zelda nodded solemnly.
"You've got to be kidding me." He sat down heavily next to Zelda on the bed. "What am I supposed to do? How do we know if that's true? I don't even know that person!" He pressed his palm against his forehead. "This is crazy."
Zelda shrugged. "Well, I haven't got a better explanation for why you survived. Perhaps we ought to go and find the assassin and get to know him a bit. He could be your soul-mate! How wonderful that would be? It would be like a good romance novel!" Zelda singsonged, clasping her hands together.
Link stared at Zelda. "Are you mad? He tried to kill me!"
"Well I doubt he knew that you were his soul-mate either. Imagine his surprise when his carefully sharpened blade wouldn't leave so much as a mark!" Zelda grinned in delight, obviously weaving some crazy story in her mind.
"Well he's going to be executed at noon," said Link, "So it doesn't matter anyways."
Zelda sprung to her feet. "Noon? That's in an hour! We haven't much time! We've got to see this assassin!"
"No way." Link waved his hand dismissively. "He's a criminal, and he will be punished according to law. We're not going to go visit him."
"He could be your one true love! Doesn't that mean anything to you, Link? Are you willing to pass up that chance without even trying?"
Link shrugged. "I don't even know him, and he tried to kill me. And he's a guy."
"Even so," Zelda insisted. "We have to know if he's the one!"
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Link had a difficult time saying no to his twin, and it wasn't long before he found himself in the dungeons, surrounded by guards, being led to the assassin's cell. The guards left them at the cell at Zelda's request, telling the royal twins to shout if they were needed.
Peering through the bars into the darkest corner of the narrow cell, Link could see a figure slumped against the wall.
"Hey," Zelda called, "Come here."
The assassin lifted his head, brushing long, blonde hair out of his face. Slowly, he stood. It was clear that the movement caused him pain as he limped the few feet to the bars. Zelda's eyes widened as she took in the bruised and bloodied face of the assassin, and the angry wounds covering the visible parts of his skin. He was clothed in an oversized grey tunic that looked more like a sack than anything else. The assassin gripped the bars to steady himself and looked up at the twins.
"Uh, hi," Zelda said, her confidence seemingly lost. She licked her lips. "We um, had some questions for you."
The assassin said nothing, just watched her with impassive red eyes.
Link found himself fixated on those eyes. They were unlike anything he had ever seen before. The color was unnatural, it was the color of blood, of a monster, and yet he found himself strangely enraptured by them.
"So, what's your name?" Zelda asked.
"...Sheik," Sheik said, after a moment of silence.
"I'm Princess Zelda," Zelda said, "and this is Prince Link. Though I suppose you already knew that since you tried to kill him and all…" Zelda trailed off, realizing she was rambling.
"Why did you try to kill me?" Link asked, picking up where Zelda had left off.
Those eyes shifted their focus to him, and he resisted the urge to look away from their intensity. "To end your line of descendants and the chain of betrayal and death." Sheik hissed.
"What do you mean?" Link asked, taking a half-step closer to the bars.
"Your ancestors betrayed mine. We fought for you, and you left us to die. And you... For hundreds of years we've been-" Sheik cut himself off, his voice lowering to a whisper "I'm going to break the cycle. I and those who come after me will not be bound by this cursed fate."
For a moment, the three stood in silence. "What are you talking about?" Zelda asked, anger lacing her voice. "You accuse us of crimes I've never heard of!"
Before any more could be said, the stamp of soldiers' heavy boots became audible, and six soldiers came down the corridor. Zelda and Link stepped back as the guards opened the cell and dragged Sheik out. The entourage turned, nodded to the twins, and marched off again, dragging Sheik between them.
