Hyrule's Requiem: Prelude
The First Symphony
Song II:
Link watched the stranger out of the corner of his eye, trying not to be too blatant about his curiosity. It had been three days since he'd woken, since Fi had demanded absolute silence. Link had obeyed her without question—it wasn't like he spoke a lot anyway—but it was beginning to wear on him. He was dying to ask the stranger, to ask Fi, how they knew each other so well.
But Fi refused to leave the stranger's side, and Link avoided leaving them alone as much as possible.
Batreaux was probably one of the most trustworthy people Link knew—he knew about Link's quest to its full extent, and despite being a demon he protected Skyloft from any other demonic creatures that could take up residence on the island, and he protected Kukiel—but his hatred of the stranger was damn near all-consuming. Link didn't trust him alone with the object of that hate.
They'd fashioned a sort of cot in one of the corners of Batreaux's home, piling bedding and as many blankets as Link could scavenge from the Academy's linen closets together for the stranger. Link snatched food from the kitchens for the three of them—Batreaux didn't need to eat but liked the taste of human food, and Link felt bad about imposing on him so rudely.
The stranger was curled up on it, knees to his chest, glaring at him.
The Sheikah, Batreaux called him. Link recognized the mark on the stranger's clothing as the same one Impa wore so proudly, save more archaic. He hadn't taken them off except to wash the blood off of them. Maybe the two were blood-related? The thought of Impa being the boy's relative was almost enough to make him wince—he wouldn't wish that even on Groose.
"…What…What are you called?"
He didn't respond immediately, staring at the red-eyed stranger in surprise. His voice was very quiet, very soft. Link's eyes fell to Fi, uncertain, but she appeared asleep—lying beside the stranger, eyes closed and head bowed and cape not fluttering like it did when she was awake.
"Link." He watched the stranger intently, seeking any sign of pain, of discomfort. There was a tension to his body, but that had been there before. His eyes flicked away from Link's momentarily, almost too quickly to notice. Nothing too bad, though.
"You know Fi?" Link finally asked, staring at Fi.
"...I wrote her song. Her soul." The stranger murmured, gently resting a hand on her head, smoothing the porcelain of her hair back. The tenderness and affection in the gesture wasn't lost on Link, though the explanation only confused him.
"…How'd you get to the Isle?" Link finally asked, softly. He knew the stranger wasn't from Skyloft—if he was, his bird would have been tearing down the walls of Batreaux's home to reach him and ensure his safety, never mind the fact that Link would have recognized him immediately.
"I was bound to Nayru's Silent Realm to sleep until Hyrule's need of me grew unbearable." The stranger murmured, head tilting to the side and strands of his hair cascading past his face. Link's alarm was immediate.
"…Are you saying-?"
"No. I wasn't supposed to wake this early. I've millennia to wait left…" Anxiety flickered in his eyes, and Link found himself wondering if there was another reason Fi didn't want noise—there were things the stranger could know that they weren't meant to hear.
He was young, though. Small, slight, and very, very, young. What use could he possibly have—and why in Hylia's name would he be bound to something so important as the Silent Realm?
"I entered Nayru's Silent Realm. Could that have woken you…?" Something seemed to relax in the red-eyed boy, and he rested his cheek on his knees as he gazed at Link.
"It shouldn't have. Nayru equipped it to deal with the stress of the dead. Your entrance was little more than a breath of air against its defenses." That, Link decided, was not meant as an insult. Though it did sting. Everything he'd gone through and he could barely poke at this Nayru's magic? What said that the Imprisoned would be any different next time they faced?
"…So Nayru was…an actual person?" Red eyes widened and the boy's body snapped to attention, suddenly seething with anger—and Fi was up in an instant, hovering between them and giving the stranger a hard glare.
"Master Sheik-"
"-No! She took her pets up here and left us to die-"
"Please-"
"-and just let them forget?" The stranger—what had Fi called him? Sheik?—was on his feet and glaring at her fiercely, one hand fisted at his thigh and the other grabbing onto the wall to keep him from losing his balance. Link himself was standing, Fi's sword halfway drawn from its sheath out of habit out of instinct.
"It was necessary." Fi's voice was almost entirely inaudible.
"In what way is that necessary, Fi? Explain it to me or so help me I'll kill her myself!" The stranger lurched away from the wall, eyes flashing dangerously. Link sheathed his blade and moved forward quickly, catching him when his strength gave out. The stranger was stiff and tense, but he grabbed fistfuls of Link's tunic tightly in his hands and sagged against him.
"…To protect the Triforce. It is the essence of the Three and if the people of Skyloft remembered them, they would remember it. Hylia is the only Goddess they know of, recognize, and worship. All to pave the road for Master Link's quest. You know-"
"-He already knows about it! He's been-"
"And the people of Skyloft don't. It has prevented any more problems from arising and kept the Triforce safe. The Three were fully willing and they accepted Her Grace's plan before they departed. And you agreed-"
"Not to this!" Link slipped an arm around the stranger's thin frame, hugging him without a thought. His voice had cracked and he sounded near tears, and he dropped his head onto Link's shoulder and let out a shaky breathe immediately. A long moment of tense silenced past before Link dared to break it.
"Sorry." Fi shot him an incredulous look.
"I didn't mean to start anything." Link said hesitantly, lifting a hand to rub the stranger's back like Zelda had so often done to him. Fi caught his glance and shook her head, warning him frantically not to do so—he dropped his hand quickly.
Why were people so difficult? He missed the days that he spent just smiling and nodding and following Zelda's lead. Then, if he had never done enough, at least he hadn't done something blatantly wrong.
The stranger's grip on him tightened for a moment, then he pushed away from Link, pressing his palm to his eyes.
"I just…Fi…" He sounded so broken…
"Come with me, Master Link. Let him recover alone…"
"Batreaux will kill him if we leave him alone. Not while he's up here." A short staring contest ensued, but Fi finally relented.
"Are you fit enough to travel to the Surface, Master Sheik?" The stranger—Sheik?—tensed, and very deliberately lowered his hand.
"We're in the fucking sky. How are we going to get down, Fi?" The calmness in the stranger's voice prickled at Link's nerves, at bad odds with his language.
"We jump."
"I am not-"
"Din herself-"
"Don't care!"
"The Goddesses' magic has a zero percent chance of fail-"
"I'm not jumping-"
"I have a sailcloth." Link interjected, looking at the stranger in bemusement. Immediately his eyes, blazing crimson, locked on him.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better how?"
"…Zelda made it?"
He really shouldn't have said anything. Not with the look the stranger was leveling at him.
"Her Grace-" Fi started, fluttering anxiously off to the side.
"Don't' care! I can-"
"No you can't! You don't know what Symphony you woke in and the Song is still hurting you!" He'd never heard Fi speak so informally before, so loudly, and he looked at her curiously. She must know this Sheik very well, he realized, far beyond the vague impression he had of their relationship.
He tried to ignore the pang that ran through him.
"You aren't safe here." Link's voice was soft. Sheik's eyes narrowed, focused on him.
"I don't care who you are. You're important to Fi. That's enough for me." He said firmly, not looking away from the boy's ruby orbs.
That seemed to shake him. The hostility in his posture drained away, though his body language remained stiff.
When Link reached out and touched his arm, he didn't pull away.
"He's waiting outside."
"Who?" Sheik asked.
Link's bird let out a cry, and tapped the door with its beak impatiently. His bird's excitement was infectious. Link couldn't keep a smile from crossing his lips.
"Have you ever seen a Loftwing before?"
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SO. This has been lying around for a while, thought I'd post it so you guys have something. I've got a ton of schoolwork to deal with, though, so this'll probably be it for updates for a while besides some other things that are almost done…mostly oneshots.
Anyway, SO THE PLOT THICKENS. This story will be shorter than most of my other multichapter things. I think. But that's bc it will stretch over three different stories (or Symphonies lol). This chapter would have been longer, but then it would have been stupidly complex, so I just split it up to make it easier. Hope you enjoyed reading it ;3