It was not easy, hunting down a Unicorn, she thought absentmindedly as she lay, crouched under a bush. The beast was grazing, at the moment. The Unicorn's bright white body contrasted oddly with the dark, deadly Forest trees. It practically seemed like it was glowing, radiating a gentle light throughout the forest.
Tracking this thing down had been a nightmare. With little to go by, she had been forced to search for softly treaded Earth (The Unicorn, in all of it's grace, left barely a trace of a trail wherever it went!) Divine in which direction the Unicorn had to be moving from hair that was caught on small trees (The tail hair was prone to this, so the side of the tree the hair was stuck on was absolutely crucial to figure out... not to mention completely impossible) Ensnaring the thing was a no go. She may break a leg, effectively killing the poor thing.
She crawled forward, anxious to not make a sound. She was unsure of the hearing prowess of a Unicorn. She had heard stories of Unicorns and their unusual abilities, but the facts completely escaped her. They were not of her homeland.
She shivered. Her home was not hers. Not now. Not soon.
But it will be.
She crawled forward, again, ever so slowly leaving the cover of the bush to gain closer ground. The Unicorn shoved it's hoove into the ground, and she halted in her tracks.
It could trample me. She realized in fear. The speed of a Unicorn was unheard of for any other creature. She would not be able to dodge if it suddenly realized it was being followed. Reluctantly, she adjusted herself into a crouching position, and walked forward, her hands at the ready.
She stepped on a twig.
She cursed, as the Unicorn bolted from the spot. It was incrediblely fast... and barreling right towards her.
She had not even had time to dismiss her current goal. She simply didn't have time to think. She leapt forward instead of away, and grasped the mane hair of the beast.
It shrieked in pain and alarm as it took off again, this time even faster. She tightened her grip as she held on for dear life as the beast tried it's best to shake her off. Although her grip was like an iron vice, her arm itself could not take this kind of stress forever, or even for a length of time. Her arm felt like it was on fire as she pulled her self forward in order to grasp the hair with her other arm.
The beast thundered along, the trees whirring by so quickly they were little more then blurs. She screamed in pain as her arms started to give way: the force of the Unicorn moving at it's speed was keeping her lower body off of it's back. She couldn't let go, she was going too fast to land properly. She couldn't stay on, her arms might be torn off. She closed her eyes, hoping, begging, for this all to be some sort of bizaare nightmare.
The beast suddenly stopped.
"Woah, woah!" The man said. He waved his arms around. They were gigantic, enough to stop the Unicorn in it's tracks. She let go, falling to the ground.
She moaned, loudly.
"Sheik!" The man exclaimed, as he rushed towards her. "How did yeh get on that-"
He patted the Unicorn reassuringly, as if telling it not to run away. Sheik slowly got to her feet, massaging her aching joints.
"I thought Unicorn's preferred a woman's touch." Sheik said dryly. She pumped her left arm. The pain was unbearable. The right... not quite as bad, but still...
"I told yeh," Hagrid said, his tone soft, yet somehow stern. "That if you were to help me with finding a Unicorn, you wouldn't try to spook them. They do prefer a lady's touch, sure..." He patted the Unicorn again, this time on the muzzle. It closed it's eye lazily, as if enjoying it. "But they know me."
"I see." Sheik said. "I'm sorry..."
"Ah, don't mention it." Hagrid said briskly, as he patted the Unicorn on the behind, signalling it to move. "You went out to help me fetch a Unicorn for Professor Kettleburn, and you managed to bring it to me. Yeh're not hurt, are yeh?
"No. I'll live." She sighed. Beneath his tangled beard, Hagrid smiled.
"Ar, you're a good girl. Never seen anything like it."
Beneath her mask, Sheik blushed slightly.
"I should go deliver this Unicorn to Professor Kettleburn. He'll be needing it for his class."
"I'll go let myself into your hut, if that's okay." Sheik said. "I think I need to lay down..."
"I'll walk yeh that way, and hurry on back." Hagrid promised.
...
Sheik did not have long to wait. She sat, absentmindedly scratching Fang behind the ears as Hagrid came barging in the door.
"He was pleased, very pleased. A fine catch, he said. He didn't believe me when I said you were the one who found it..."
Sheik laughed as Fang bounded over to Hagrid and began licking his face.
"Ah, I'll miss having you help out, once classes start." Hagrid said absentmindedly, as he began making tea.
"I can still help." Sheik said. "It's no bother to me, really."
"Ah, you say that now." Hagrid said. "But classes are going to be more difficult then you think. At the very least, it will take out a lot of your time. You only go to school once, you might as well have some time for yourself."
But I actually like the Forest...
"I know you like tramping around wit' me." Hagrid said. "And I really enjoyed it. But there are other students coming in soon, and you are going to want to spend time around people your own age."
Sheik flinched. The last child her age she had spoken to was...
Please keep it a secret from everybody, okay?
"Are ye 'alright?" Hagrid asked, not unkindly.
"I'm fine." Sheik said shortly. Hagrid poured a cup of tea for himself and for her and sat down in his favorite chair. Sheik took the cup gratefully, turned so that her face was hidden from view, and took a quick sip. Rather refreshing, after a hard days work.
"Ye know... I was thinking it would make you less conspicious for you to not wear that mask at school."
"Yes. But I will not forgo the memories of my people just to extend my own safety.
Hahaha... is that why you left everyone back home to rot...?
"Well, it's not good to forget where yeh came from." Hagrid said gently. "But never forget who you are, Sheik."
"I know who I am, thank you." Sheik said, coldly. "I'm a fugitive with no where else to go."
"that may be true, but never forget you have friends here. Dumbledore, Mcgonnagal, me... you're also making new friends tomorro'.
The students are coming? I completely forgot!
"Perhaps I will." She stood. "I think I need sleep more then anything else right now. I'm sorry to leave you so early..."
"Ah, don't mention it." Hagrid said, waving his hand earnestly. "I mean, yeh'll be meeting your classmates for the first time tomorrow. I would go see Madame Pomfrey, if I were you."
"I will. Thank you." She bowed, forgetting for a brief instant that bowing in Hyrule was only seen as a sign of respect among noble houses. But Hagrid caught her meaning, and smiled warmly as he bid her farewell.
...
"You should have come straight to me!" Madame Pomfrey snapped. "Term hasn't even started yet, and you've had another accident?"
"I'm very accident prone." Sheik offered.
"Falling out of trees, breaking bones, capturing Unicorns... it never ends with you!" Madame Pomfrey muttered as she pulled out potion after potion. "I am honestly terrifyed at what you will manage to do yourself when you actually start learning magic!" She bustled about Sheik, checking her body for injuries.
"The Mask stays." Sheik said. "It's my arms and back..."
"Nothing worse then a few bruises... this time." She bristled.
Sheik shrugged.
...
Although she had arrived at Hogwarts more then a month earlier, much of the Castle was still unknown to her. It's size was not the problem, although it was overall far more grand then the rather modest Hyrule Castle. The problem was nothing was consistent.
Her current quarters were located in a guest room, usually kept reserved for examiners and the like. As such, it was not too far from the Entrance Hall. Yet the rest of the Castle was still a mystery to her. She had chosen to explore the forest far more vigorously then the Castle itself. She had spent her entire childhood imprisoned in stone walls, and felt no desire to do so any longer.
He was from the forest, too.
He had never spoken much himself, Sheik mused as she walked through the halls, eyeing portraits with an unthinking eye. He mentioned in passing that his father, the Great Deku Tree, and given him a mission to seek her out.
He was not-
Sheik shook her head. The past was the past. Nothing could be done to change it.
Nothing.
...
She ran around outside, the next day, as always. She threw stones at the giant squid, and it playfully wrapped it's tentacles around her, and dunked her in the lake. She emerged, screaming at the top of her lungs as the beast disappeared into the depths. She had the very clear feeling that it was laughing at her.
She had lunch with Hagrid, who proudly showed her his new friend.
"This here is Fluffy." He said cheerfully. "I"m taking him out on a walk, I don't think he likes cramped... Errr..." He coughed. "I need to keep an eye on him, is all."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Sheik said. She eyed the beast. It looked fierce. Far fierced then anything Hagrid had presented to her before.
"Er... No." Hagrid said. "Fluffy is a sweet thing, but... he's real, well, doesn't like strangers. Sorry."
Rather relieved, Sheik spent her afternoon fishing with the rod and reel she had made. The Giant Squid kept popping up to steal her bait, however, so she tried Fish tickling. Despite the fact she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, the squid made sure to dunk her in the water whenever she wasn't paying attention. She was ready to call it quits by sundown.
She trooped up to her room, dejected, wet, and misereable, and was not at all pleased to see that Professor Snape was standing outside of her door.
"Good Evening, Professor." Sheik said. "I need to get into my room, please.
He smirked slightly. "I am sorry to inform you of this.. but this is no longer your room. You shall be sorted into your house with every other student. Your luggage is on hold until further notice.
Sheik frowned. "I need a change of clothes, and a shower! What do you-"
"I'm saying, you're going to have to find the luggage cart if you want to be presentable for the opening feast."
"Okay. Okay." Sheik said. "Where would I...?"
He had walked away.
...
She had only managed to seize her luggage when the other students had arrived through the front gates. Wherever it was being kept, it had been moved to the front in order to prepare for transport to her dormitory. She tore through the halls to get to her old bathroom (Which, admittedly, might have been the only one in the building, for all she knew!) and washed all the filth and giant squid pus from her body. Her spare tunic was inside her bag, and her school robes as well. She strapped the tunic on first and fitted the Robes over it. This had been the first time wearing the school uniform, and Sheik looked herself over in the mirror.
"This is stupid." She said aloud. She then realized that she was most likely late and tore through the hall, back to the front door.
Most of the luggage had disappeared, but Sheik tossed her suitcase onto the floor and adjusted her mask anxiously. There were over a thousand students at Hogwarts (Or, at least, that's what they said) and Sheik was late.
She walked forward, and threw open the Great Hall Doors.
It was quiet. Sheik could hardly believe her eyes. Mcgonnagal was standing at the far end of the hall, reading a name from a list. Or at least, she was. She was glaring.
And everyone else was looking at her too.
Sheik hid her flushed face by refusing to look down as she walked down the alley, towards where the rest of the first years were being sorted.
Her sudden arrival must have been far more interesting then the sorting, because the next face to be sorted into Hufflepuff barely got any attention at all. She knew they were staring, wondering just who... or even what she was. She didn't glance over at any one of them. The list was dwindling down to just a few people, now...
Weasley... Zabini. And at least, Sheik, the odd one out, stood there, alone.
Dumbledore got to his feet.
"Yes, yes, welcome to all of you!" He said, beaming, as he gazed around his students. For the first time, Sheik was suddenly struck with the impression that Dumbledore really did love to teach. "Yes, well done to all of you. Now... for our final sorting."
He gestured to Sheik herself, and she stepped forward onto the podium.
"We have a guest in our halls." He boomed. "A new student, from a far away land." He did not elaborate further, and for that, Sheik was grateful. The hat was placed onto her head as she sat down, and...
Oooohh... Sharp Mind. Sharp mind indeed! Cunning... studious... willing to try new things...
Wise. Now... I think...
A Sharp mind had not saved her kingdom. In fact, it had doomed it. She had doomed her father, her kingdom, and her one friend...
and she had fled like a coward.
I'd like to brave, just once. Like he was.
"Gryffindor!
End
A/N: My exhaustion gets the better of me as I type this, so I shall keep this brief. I think this is decent enough to be published here, but it's nowhere near finished. I am planning on editing this first chapter when I have the time, as I think that key elements, like characterization, and... pretty much the entire last page are extremely lacking. Still, it was an enjoyable work to write. I had fun with it.
Now, any questions you have are welcome.
In the Name of Harman...