-Awakening-
It wasn't meant to be like this.
But a child, torn from his life to save a world he barely knew.
Not yet an adult, taken away by those with machinations of evil.
Not yet a hero, chosen before his time by those above.
Never a villain, yet treated as such by those in rule.
… I'm sorry…
It had happened so suddenly. While it certainly wasn't unplanned (in fact, he would say it was premeditated), he still felt quite the shock upon waking up like this. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the light again and found himself sitting against a tree. He appeared to be in a clearing, possibly no more than 50 lengths apart from the furthest tree to the one he was sitting on, with a crystal-clear pond in the middle. Gingerly testing his arms and legs, the boy hauled himself up and stalked towards the pond, intent on checking his appearance in the reflection.
Mercifully, the pond was shallow and as long as he stayed conscious he was in no danger. As he approached, he steeled himself for what he might find looking back at him. He barely knew how long he had been asleep for, only that it was quite some time, and his appearance surely would have changed slightly, right?
He stared into the pond, and what he saw came as a surprise - or did it, really?
White cloth wrapped around the top of his head. Dull red eyes, dusky rubies framed in a desert of blonde hair and tan skin. A nose that bent ever-so slightly, a reminder of a fight long ago, and a white cloth that obscured any other details.
Sheikah.
He recoiled. It had really worked, then. He wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or not.
Quickly, he checked the cloth around his forearms for his daggers. Finding them buried there, he relaxed slightly before quickly unsheathing them to test how fast he could arm himself. After practicing until he was satisfied, he hid them away again and began to pace the clearing, thinking about his purpose.
"A hero has just been put to sleep. Your job is to watch him until he awakens, and then guide and protect him once he does. The king of evil's power grows stronger by the hour, and we must wait for the hero to be ready before we can fight."
This had been simple enough. This hero was a child, no older than twelve years of age, and he would certainly need a bodyguard who was more than capable of handling fighting. However, he inwardly questioned the sanity of sending a mere child to fight the king of evil, chosen one or not. A few months of rest wouldn't make a difference either way.
But in the end, his destiny had been made for him, and he was bound to it unto death or release of contract. Such is the way of the Sheikah.
He moved towards the centre of the clearing, pulled a Deku nut out of his equipment, and threw it downwards.
Link…
Link…
Wake up, Link…
The boy named Link opened his eyes, then instantly closed them again, unaccustomed to light. He put a hand over his eyes, and used his other arm to push himself into a sitting position, opening his eyes towards the floor.
And he screamed.
The floor was made of something like water, but not wet. And there were two people staring back at him in the reflection. One was an old man in brown robes. The other looked like him, but different. For one, he was wearing brown leather gloves, white tights, and a belt in addition to his Kokiri tunic and hat, which he did not remember falling asleep in. For two, he looked way older. He would've thought he was staring at his older brother if it wasn't for the fact that this was a reflection. He wasn't broad-shouldered by any stretch now, but he appeared to be solidly built, and his face looked somewhat similar to his own, with no facial hair, but with more adult proportions. Shockingly, his hair was only slightly longer than it had been when he last checked it. And… was that an earring?
"You've been given quite a fate, haven't you?" Spoke someone. Link jumped. He'd forgotten the old man was there.
"What?" He asked. His voice was far deeper than he remembered it being, too. "Who are you? Where am I?"
He looked up at the man, who looked up at him as well.
"I am Rauru, one of the Seven Sages." The man responded. He spoke slowly, with a gravelly voice that felt like time itself seeping into his ears. "You are Link, the hero chosen by the Goddesses. This is the Sacred Realm, resting place of the Triforce… initially."
Link stared at him blankly. He faintly recalled something about a hero chosen by the Goddesses, and even more faintly remembered that it was him. On the edge of his mind sat his memories, shrouded in a dense fog. Rauru noticed and stopped.
"Ah, yes. This can happen when one goes to sleep for seven years. Allow me." Rauru opened his arms, and a warm feeling came over him as the fog cleared. Instantly, he remembered everything. He remembered being teased for being the only Kokiri without a fairy, until the Great Deku Tree had given him one in his dying days. He remembered venturing in to save the tree, only to fail and learn the truth of who he was. He remembered being sent out into a world he didn't know, alone and afraid with only a small fairy for company. He had fought monsters, ventured through caves, temples, and fish, made and lost friends, and done what was told of him. He had pulled the sword and…
Link gasped as the realization hit him.
"Yes, you remember it now? You were to be the one to defeat the King of darkness, Ganondorf. However, you were a mere child. You were hidden away in the sacred realm until you came of age, and Ganondorf took over the kingdom." Rauru continued. "But that time has come, hero. You are of age now, and you shall save hyrule."
Link put his head in his hands as Rauru spoke, letting the words sink in. Not only was his job not even done, but he had failed the job he was given. Ganondorf had taken over, and from the sound of it he had to go fix it. On top of that, he had his entire childhood taken away from him as his reward for doing the job the Great Deku Tree had given him in the first place.
Link looked up at Rauru, angry now. The sage stopped his lecture.
"No." He said.
"No?" Rauru looked at him, seemingly surprised. "Hero, you have been chosen by the Goddesses for this duty. You cannot refuse."
"Well, it's not my fault that Ganondorf took over!" Link shouted, petulantly. He felt like a child, but he didn't care. He still might as well have been one, anyways. "I didn't even know who he was until a month ago! Well, seven years and a month, I guess…"
Rauru's eyes narrowed. "Hero, are you aware of why nobody has stopped Ganondorf as of yet?"
Link paused. For all the fear he had put into Link in their first meeting, he was just a man. "Why?"
"You were not yet ready when you pulled the Master Sword and opened the sacred realm. However, when you opened it, Ganondorf entered and took a piece of the triforce as his own. His piece is the triforce of power, and he cannot be challenged by mere men anymore. You, as the one chosen by the Goddesses, are the only one in the realm with enough power to defeat him now."
Link just stared at him for several seconds, letting this information sink in. "So what you're saying is, I'm the only person qualified to do this."
"In essence, yes." Rauru stated. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I am sorry, Hero. But this is the only way.
When Ganondorf entered the sacred realm, he inadvertently awoke the powers within six sages scattered across the land. Gather us all, and we can seal Ganondorf in the sacred realm with the triforce should he be weakened enough."
Link nodded. He was too upset to do anything else.
"My time runs short, Hero. But you will not be alone. I shall return you to the realm from which you came. Farewell…" Rauru spread his arms once again, and a light washed around Link.
When he came to, Link was lying on the pedestal he had pulled the Master Sword from, what felt like only yesterday. Had seven years really passed? He lifted up his hand and saw the leather glove still on it, confirming his suspicion, and cursed. Loudly.
"Ah, you're awake." A voice said. Link quickly stood up and reached for the sword on his back. He looked and saw a figure in the doorway. It made no move to approach him or run away, instead it cradled a stringed instrument in its hands. From a distance, Link couldn't tell who or what it was, but it looked like a human. Still, he kept his blade up.
"At ease, Hero." The figure said, stepping into the light. "I am Sheik of the Sheikah, and I have been sent to assist you."
Notes:
Hello, new story! I wanted to start something new in hoping doing something else writing related would fix the massive writers' block I had for Locked Away, and this was basically done and more or less just waiting for Locked Away to be done before I went ahead and started it. I'll try to balance both of them out as best I can.
I figured that I should probably actually delve into my favourite genre (Romance) at some point, so that's what I did. This is one of my favourite ships and possibly my favourite Link ship in general (this, BotW!Link x Zelda, SS!Link x Zelda, and Link x Marin are probably my favourites), and one I already was passively storyboarding, so this got the green light over some of my other ones. I'm pretty sure the plot's going to feel fairly samey at times, since "Sheik adventures with Link in OoT" isn't exactly a new thing in fanfics, but hopefully there'll be enough difference here to draw people in. It's probably not apparent in this chapter, but I do have plans that hopefully set this apart. If not, hopefully I write the characters and romance well so there's something here.
Lastly, Sheik is referred to in-canon as male. I do not have an issue with female Sheik, if that's your preference, but I have always thought of Sheik as male, even growing up with SSBB, and that is how he will be presented in this story.
Enjoy!