Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda
Five Times Link Was Homeless
two
There's one good thing to be said for the future at least, and it's that Hyrule Field sure is a lot nicer now that all those stalchildren clawing up out of the ground each night are gone.
"Don't you think it's creepy, though?" says Navi. She hovers above Link's hands while he picks a stone out of Epona's hoof, because somehow it's gotten surprisingly dark a couple hours ago while Link wasn't looking. "I mean," she adds, "how they've all just disappeared? Hey, Link, what if something even worse scared them off?"
Navi's probably right about that. But Link's not afraid, because he already knows what the something worse is. It's got to be Ganondorf, up in his tower where Hyrule Castle used to be, because he's the worst of all and probably the kind of monster that monsters are afraid of.
Link works the stone loose and flings it away into the darkness, where Epona won't get it caught in her shoe again, and sets her leg down.
He doesn't remember the dusk falling while they rode. But now that he looks up again, blinking Navi's brightness from his eyes, it's too dark to see the path across Hyrule Field anymore. It's too dark to see any landmarks, really, not even Death Mountain somewhere on the horizon, with only a half moon riding high between the clouds.
Link is a grownup now and grownups don't have bedtimes. But since they're already stopped, probably they should camp out in the field for the night.
"That's right! You need to be well-rested so you won't fall for Ganondorf's traps and you can fight the monsters and awaken the all sages. That's what Sheik's always saying, anyway," Navi adds.
Sheik says a lot of things, most of them weird and not really helpful, and as Link loosens the straps and buckles to get Epona unsaddled he wonders if Sheik is in bed for the night too. He knows that sometimes Sheik follows him and Navi around, even though he says he doesn't. So maybe Sheik's actually somewhere out in the darkness of Hyrule Field as well, settling himself down to watch them until morning.
Link grabs one of the soft brushes Malon gave him out of the saddle bags so he can brush Epona down while she grazes. Navi lights on his shoulder where he can see his strokes under her blue glow as he works.
Come to think of it, for all that Sheik tells Link not to be such a child and to get plenty of rest and remember to eat well, Link's never actually seen Sheik eat or sleep or do anything like that. Sometimes Link wonders if he even does.
"Well, he has to, doesn't he?" says Navi. "Sheik's a person too! He's just... shy," she hazards.
Epona butts Link's shoulder, because he's stopped brushing while he tries to think of the word that describes what Sheik is, because it isn't shy although none of the other words Link can think of taste right in his mouth either. He strokes Epona's nose and starts brushing her coat again.
Navi's probably right. But still, Link can't picture Sheik as a regular person, one who has a proper house he goes home to at night and everything. When he thinks of Sheik, he thinks of—of like Kaepora Gaebora, who probably just flies around Hyrule looking for good trees to perch in, waiting to swoop down on Link and tell him too many things at once.
Navi giggles. "Or like a skull kid, maybe!" she adds.
That's right, Sheik probably doesn't sleep at night any more than the skull kids in the forest do. He probably just sits in a tree somewhere, watching the moon cross the sky and waiting for the sunrise, plucking quiet notes on his harp.
Navi giggles again and tugs Link's earring. "Stop it, Link, we're not being nice."
Link's not trying to be mean, he's trying to be honest. If Sheik wasn't so busy following them around all the time, and covering up his face and being mysterious and saying weird stuff, then Link wouldn't think these kinds of things.
"Well," Navi says, "I think he's got to have a house. Sheik's job is to help you because you're the hero, right?"
That's what Sheik says, and he does know the song of the royal family, which means he must be helping Princess Zelda too. And he looks out for Link's well-being even though Link is grown up now can take care of himself. So Link thinks that's true, at least.
"Right! But until now you haven't been the hero, because first you hadn't left the forest and then we were stuck in the Sacred Realm for seven years. So Sheik must have been doing something else until then, don't you think?"
Link chews his lip while he thinks about that. And when he's gotten the Triforce back from Ganondorf and fixed everything, he and Navi are going to go back to the forest, so he won't be the hero anymore then, either. So this must just be like... an errand that Sheik's doing for a little while, a favor for Princess Zelda, until everything's back to normal.
"So Sheik's probably a regular person after all!" says Navi. "In fact, that's probably why he's so mysterious and covers up his face in the first place, because he's got to disguise who he really is. I wonder if we know him somewhere...?"
Those red eyes are really memorable, though, and Link's pretty sure he hasn't met any Sheikah besides Impa and Sheik. Still, maybe he uses some kind of Sheikah magic to make his eyes brown or blue or green or something when he's not on special missions for the royal family.
"You know, he's really good with that harp. Maybe he's a musician?" says Navi. "Or, you know how he's always quoting poetry, maybe he's a bard! I wonder if he's got a nice voice? We should ask him to sing for us sometime!"
Link grins as he sticks the brush back in the saddle bag. Sheik won't sing for them, he knows, but that doesn't mean they won't ask him. A lot.
He lays down on the undisturbed and stalchildren-free grass, and pillows his head on his arms. Navi wriggles up under his hat and nestles into his hair for the night. "I hope Sheik's still our friend after all this is over," she says.
Yeah, Link hopes that too. Sheik's weird and mysterious but he's alright. And then they'd probably even get to see his face.
