Hello all! Here is the update I so promised you. In which Link meets Sheik, and Zelda plots. Be sure to check out my new Dragon Age oneshot, Call of the Earth, if that suits your fancy.
Enjoy!
Zelda's car was too conspicuous. Malon had road rage. Link owned a horse.
Thus, Ilia drove.
Zelda's directions took them through broad stretches of countryside and into the hill lands separating the Fields from the lake provinces. After a good twenty minutes of pasture, goats, and pumpkins, Link began to space out, hanging one tanned elbow out the window and letting the wind ruffle his nubby ponytail. The girls' endless chatter lapped against his ears.
He knew little of the Sheikah outside of what was taught in history class. They were still nomadic, traveling between designated camps spotting the Hylian countryside. In the winter, he remembered, they disappeared off…somewhere. In the heat they returned in their dusty old cars, towing trailers, revving motorcycles. Most of what he did know, he knew from music. There was something so compelling about sitars and the high whining flutes. The Enchanters, The Hidden Ones, Kakarigogos - some of his favorite bands took influences from the mysterious culture.
There. I have common ground.
"Turn left," Zelda said, pointing across Ilia's lap. A dirt road stretched between thin trees, winding up into the hills. Link shook off his daze. Malon elbowed him.
"Look, you can see their flags." Following her finger, Link spotted a series of red-gold sickle moon flags dancing in the breeze above the tree line. Ilia cruised slowly around the winding curves. As they left the Fields behind the trees thickened, their branches stretches out across the road to create a natural tunnel of bark and sunny leaves. Link craned his neck, whistling lowly. Dozens of small flags, silvery bells, lanterns, and prayer ribbons adorned the twisting branches. Some were faded, some were new. The effect was dazzling.
"Why do they do that?" he found himself asking.
Ilia chirped, "To ward off spirits from the Dark Realm. Hylians used to have similar traditions, but they've pretty much died out."
"How do you know this stuff?" Malon asked, picking at the ends of her hair.
"I did a history project on Sheikah cultures and traditions-!"
"Super. Don't need details," Malon said, sticking her head out the window and letting the wind toss her hair like a contented, albeit ADHD, puppy.
The tunnel spilled them out in a wide clearing, flat and rooted of all grass. Several permanent wooden structures ringed the edges, creating a narrow circle of huts that blended almost perfectly with the trees. A few old trucks were parked out of the way. Many flags matching the large one flapping from the flagpole nearby hung from porches and the sides of houses. In the middle of the clearing a huge fire pit stood white and ashy, still smouldering from the previous evening. A gang of smaller children kicked a small leather ball back and forth, sending it arching skillfully over the empty pit.
"Just park over there," Zelda ordered. Ilia complied, as she always did, calmly and with much grace.
Pulling to a stop next to a dusty black car, Ilia turned off the ignition and for a moment the four of them sat perfectly still, glancing at one another.
"Well," Malon said, reaching for her door handle. Zelda held up a manicured finger.
"Wait. We've got to establish some ground rules."
"Such as?" Ilia asked.
"No mentioning politics, the civil rights movement, or their portrayal in recent films," Zelda said, citing a movie in which a Sheikah was portrayed both villainously and with much cultural inaccuracy. The remaining three flinched, and nodded.
"And no leaving Link by himself," she concluded. Link sat up indignantly.
"Why? I'm a grown man-!"
"Who can't hold a normal conversation without mentioning horse breeding or the nutritional advantage of carrot over artificial treats," Malon cut in, reaching over to pat his hand mockingly. "Trust us, sunflower, it's for your own good."
The other girls nodded. Link glowered.
"Zelda!" A voice boomed, scaring the four Hyrulians out of the car. From across the clearing an incredibly tall woman with pearly white hair emerged from the largest house. Tight fitting pants, a white tank, and a denim jacket covered her frame. She marched towards the four. The children cleared immediately out of her way, hovering around her as if they feared a scolding. Zelda's face brightened, and she ran to meet the woman.
"Aunt Impa!"
"It's been too long, kid," Impa said, enfolding her in a deep immediately noted the family resemblance: the similar white blonde hair, the angular nose, the aura of authority. Zelda stepped back, grabbing Malon's hand. The redhead waved and grinned.
"Remember me?" she asked.
Impa laughed. "Who could forget the lovely Malon. You broke a lot of hearts at the spring dances."
Link grew confused and a bit scared. "Dances?"
Ilia leaned over and said kindly. "It's tradition. Remember? History project? The White Rites?"
Impa overheard. "You should talk to Sheik," she advised Ilia. "Last year, if was our prince."
"Where is Sheik?" Zelda asked, a bit too casually. Impa grinned, jerking her thumb towards one of the side buildings.
"Up top, as usual," she said to all of them, as if that was supposed to make sense. "Follow me."
Link trailed after them. Feeing hopelessly lost in his own skin and wishing, faintly, that he knew things about Whites rights and princes, instead of how to cure pink eyes in a cow or prever heat stroke in rabbits. Ilia lingered, as she always did, giving him an encouraging smile. Link smiled back, gratefully, and stood by her when they reached the cabin.
"Sheik!" Impa called, facing skyward. "Your cousin in here?"
"Is he a bat?" Link whispered out loud. Ilia elbowed him, and giggled.
"Not quite," Impa said, having overhead. Link flushed. Impa smiled and gestured towards the roof. The four craned their necks around the edge of the building. For a moment Link expected to see some kind of roof worker (most sedentary Sheikah held down such jobs, on account of being so nimble.) Instead, he say the tightrope, and thus, the tightrope walker.
The Sheikah was poised on the flats of his hands, the rest of his long body poised in perfect suspension perpendicular to the rope. A long blonde braid swung around his ears; bathed in the remains of the sunlight the tightrope walker was golden, almost statuelike. The skin exposed between the hem of his skinny jeans and loose black take was smooth, muscled as the sleek, bulging muscles of his arms.
Link shut his mouth and swallowed his excess saliva. That was pretty cool, pretty cool, he guessed, if you were into that kind of skin - stuff.
"Sheik," Impa hollered again. "Sometime before we grow old and die, please."
The head snapped up as the body tumbled forward and curled upwards into a crouch further down the wire. Bright ruby eyes fell on Zelda while a full mouth offered her a small smile. "Hey, Zel," he called, so quiet Link almost didn't catch it.
Zelda waved back. "Come down here where I can hug you! Did you grow taller?"
"He's always growing," Impa said fondly, as though the acrobat were still the small boy stealing Deku nuts.
The Sheikah had disappeared, climbing into some side window of the house. Moments later he appeared in the downstairs doorway, upright and a bit sweaty. He immediately embraced Zelda, who tugged his braid affectionately and kissed him on the cheek in Hylian greeting. "Good to see you again," she said, smiling. Sheik did not return her smile in full; just with a half-twitch of his mouth, as seemed his custom.
Zelda released him, motioning to her friends.
"This is Malon."
"I remember," said Sheik. Malon grinned.
"And this is Ilia, of Ordona," Zelda said next.
Ilia offered him a polite handshake as one of her cute, calming smiles. "We spoke on the phone once."
Sheik nodded. "I remember. The White Rites."
Zelda cleared her throat, gesturing a bit more grandly than necessary towards Link. "And this is Link, that friend I mentioned."
The slender acrobat glanced towards him. Ruby eyes locked with sapphire blue. He was shorter than Link, and thinner; athletic without being overly muscled. He probably ran a lot, Link immediately concluded. He was sleek and peachy tan and-!
Silence fell, and Link realized he was staring.
"Um," he forced out awkwardly, wincing at how weirdly deep his voice sounded. He swore Malon snorted.
"Hello," Malon enunciated, rolling her eyes. "Try that one, cowboy."
The Sheikah's mouth twitched, but only slightly. "Hey."
"Hey." Link shoved his hands into his pockets, then immediately pulled them out again, and repeated the motion in rapid succession.
Impa cut in. "Are you guys hungry? Thirsty? Have you eaten? We were about to light the fire again."
"Thanks!"
"Sure."
"Um."
This time it was Malon who fell back beside him as they followed Impa and Sheik towards the fire pit. The sun sank down below the tops of the trees, striping the clearing with orange dappled sunlight. In the shadows of their porches more Sheikah emerged to enjoy the crickets and the peacefulness of the night. They waved and bowed at the visitors.
"Speechless, Link?" she asked casually.
Link flared his nostrils and pursed him lips. "Don't say anything. You know how I am."
Malon's face contorted, as if she were trying very hard to not say anything. Instead she rested - rested, no smacked - her hand on his shoulder and said stiffly, "Just relax." Before Link could say anything, she hurried ahead to join Zelda and Ilia, busy talking to Impa about their migration from the north. From what he overheard, the tribe would camp here for a few weeks before moving onto their more permanent summer village, where they would be joined by their western cousins for the summer festivals. Then it would be back to migrating, this time south through Ordona, into the Woods, where they would spend the winter.
At the campfire a few children were stoking the flames, scampering back and forth from a woodpile and tossing their loads into the fire. The sun vanished quickly behind the treetops, leaving the clearing in smoky shadow. Around the fire there stood a number of smoothly sanded log benches, carved along the bottom with images of birds and other various wildlife. Link lingered until everyone ahead of him settled, choosing a unoccupied log across the fire from Zelda, hoping that a visit from the High Princess of All Hyrule would be sufficient enough distraction from him.
It worked for five seconds, until the Sheikah noticed the Hylian boy sitting alone, and came to sit with him.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing towards the empty bench beside Link. The firelight made him seem more bronze that golden, edged in orange and yellow. Link swallowed thickly.
"Sure," he found himself saying. The Sheikah almost smiled, and sat.
"So tell me something," the Sheikah said easily, resting his elbows on his angular knees. The steady yet quizzical way he looked at Link set him on edge. An unfamiliar, pulse-quickening edge.
"What do you want to know?" Link asked slowly, wary of a trick question.
Sheik shrugged. "Anything."
"Um."
"Anything else?"
Link winced at his own stupidity, wondering why he was alone. Looking around the circle he saw Malon and Zelda gossiping with a gaggle of tattooed female Sheikah, admiring their piercings and elaborate braids and discussing fashion. Ilia was in deep conversation with an elder Sheikah, probably deep in discourse about some historical event. Meanwhile Link was stuck with this strange, gorgeous boy, with nothing to say and no genuine idea how to maintain a conversation without sputtering and falling over. Isn't this one of the rules for a reason?
The Sheikah broke the awkward silence. "Do you dance?"
"Do I what."
The Sheikah blinked. "Dance."
"Um, no," Link said, stumbling over his words. The very thought of dancing was usually enough to make him leave a party, or at least go and stand somewhere where he sad attempts couldn't injure anyone.
The Sheikah's supple mouth twitched again, and he shrugged. "Too bad. I was going to ask you."
"To dance?"
"Is…this a bad thing?"
Link shook his head furiously, fighting back the growing sensation in his stomach that he was being socially stupid. Again. "No, I just, I'm terrible. At, er, dancing."
The Sheikah considered this for a moment. It was a bit of a foreign concept to the boy who had grown up among the most acrobatic of Hyrule's races, one that celebrated all major cultural events, from births to weddings to funerals, with some manner of movement. "What are you good at?" he asked finally.
Link's response was immediate. "Horses."
Two delicate golden eyebrows raised, ruby eyes alight with genuine interest. "Horses?"
"Yep. I have one. A horse."
"We used to keep horses," Sheik said with a kind of sad fondness. "When I was younger, we had a few. But cars and campers make for easier travel, and horses cost a lot to upkeep on the road."
"They are expensive," Link agreed, finding it easy to discuss horses and equestrian finances. Unaware - or rather, too aware of Sheik and little else - he failed to notice how Zelda watched their exchange. "I actually work on Lon Lon Ranch in exchange for Epona's board. It's hard, but I don't mind it. I like horses."
The Sheikah watched him with an odd, mysterious look in his eyes. "You enjoy their company more than people."
This put Link off, and gave him pause. "I - yes, I suppose I do."
Sheik stretched casually, reaching his arms towards the sky. He closed his eyes as he did so, sighing peacefully. "I understand."
Link blinked. "You do?"
"Sure," the Sheikah shrugged. "The Sheikah have a proverb: to ride a horse is to ride the sky. It must make humans seem awfully one-dimensional."
"I guess," Link said, a bit in awe.
The Sheikah watched him closely, looking as though he wanted to smile but didn't, was afraid to. "I would love to see your horse."
Right on cue, Zelda appeared around the fire, smiling innocently as she slide onto the bench on the other side of Link. "What a wonderful idea, Sheik! You should come over sometime. I'm sure Link here would be more than happy to take you on a trail ride."
Link's poor brain malfunctioned briefly, imagining a different kind of ride with the gorgeous boy. Struggling to regain his composure as his broad cheeks flushed a million shades of red, he sputtered, "Um. I. I mean. Yes?"
"Great!" Zelda said happily, leaning forward to give her cousin a winning smile. "When are you free?"
The Sheikah's eyes darted briefly to Zelda, then back to Link, whom he seemed to enjoy watching. "Tomorrow."
This seemed to please Zelda greatly. "Tomorrow it is, then," she said, elbowing Link sharply in the side. "If that's okay with you, cowboy?"
Link glanced helplessly at Zelda, who look at him with that look, the one that said that it really didn't matter if it was okay with him, it was going to happen anyways and he was expected to live with it. "Sure," he said, somewhat sullen.
Zelda clapped gleefully. "Excellent!" Gracefully she rose, a great air of accomplishment about her. Turning again towards her cousin, she said, "Impa has gone to fetch some musicians. Shall we see how much of this dance I remember?"
Sheik rose and laughed, a short yet brilliant sound. "Of course, Your Majesty." There was a bit of mocking taunt in his voice. Zelda grinned, and led the golden boy off to a small clearing on the west side of the fire, leaving Link alone to contemplate exactly what, in the name of the Golden Goddesses, he had gotten himself into.
Please review! It's very encouraging. :D
Eternally,
Greeny