It was less bright this time when Link awoke; the dim light of evening it seemed. Again he noticed his painless state of being. Now it was beginning to catch his interest. He opened his eyes and examined the room; the same one from his dream, ok maybe not a dream. Can you fall asleep and wake up inside of a dream? He didn't think so…
He sat up with a quiet moan, his body was a bit stiff but that was still pain free. The slight euphoria he had felt early was gone, but he physically felt better than the last time. His head was in a much clearer state this time, though still terribly groggy. He looked around for the mysterious masked man, but didn't find him anywhere.
Who what that guy? Did he actually save link? No, that was impossible. This must be some kind of trick. Some kind of hallucination.
He pondered this silently while sitting the bed, unmoving. His head was now finally clear enough to try and attempt to understand the situation. He tried to think back on what he could remember before showing up here. He was in his room, well technically Ghirahim's room, but it is where he spent 95% of his time there, it was basically his as well. He had an injury… That's right, his ankle!
Quickly he removed the thick blankets off his form and noted his legs. they were clothed in casual looking pants, similar to the ones he used to wear in Skyloft. His ankle was bruised looking, but almost entirely healed. Last time he saw it with a shackle around it and it was grossly swollen and bloody. Now it just looked like he was bruised. Cautiously, he lifted his ankle and moved it gently, noticing it didn't hurt anymore. Not really anyway.
A wave of anxiety suddenly struck and his heart rate jumped. Was he really rescued as the strange man said?
You don't remember me rescuing you? Wait. He did recognize that man. All at once the memories of him showing up in his room and fighting Ghirahim dashed through his mind. He remembered seeing this man gazing at him with a strange look, his needles and electric …whip?
Just then the door creaked open, and Link saw the same masked man walk into the room with two large plates balancing on his arms, but he stopped when he saw that Link was awake and looking at him. He seemed almost startled at noticing Link's consciousness.
Sheik didn't say anything, quickly scurrying in and setting the two plates down on the table next to Link's bed. The plates held a small bowl of something that smelled like soup, and a separate small plate next to it with bread or something. Link uninterestedly eyed the food, but quickly turned away as a wave of nausea hit him.
"You're awake." Sheik said, sitting on the edge of the bed in the same manner he had previously. Link eyed him and shifted away slightly.
An awkward silence. "uhm. I got you some food," Sheik finally said after a moment. "You also need to drink, you are very dehydrated."
Link was getting a little annoyed. This person was caring for him, and he didn't know why. Is it true that this man had actually rescued him? The odds that this is indeed just another dream is dwindling as more and more reality takes shape around him. And now he even remembered this man fighting Ghirahim. And actually damaging him.
Link felt as though he should feel some kind of relief, or excitement, happiness… or any kind of emotional response as he finally began to allow this reality to sink in. It was still possible this was some trick of Ghirahim's, but… this would be quite the elaborate set up.
So… why did he feel nothing?
"You rescued me?" Link finally asked. Sheik eyed him carefully before answering.
"Yes." He said simply, before picking up a cup of water and offering it to Link. "Drink."
Link ignored the offer. Well, command really. "Why?" was all he could say.
There was a long pause as the masked man gazed at Link with a curious expression. Link waited for an answer. It wasn't a complicated question. Why would a stranger risk his life and infiltrate a Demon King's home for Link? How did this man even know Link was there? Or find the Ghirahim's castle in the first place? All these questions started to flood through his mind, but he silently stared back at the masked man, waiting for the first question to be answered.
The man shifted, and answered. "You were imprisoned by a Demon. You needed to be rescued."
Well, that answered absolutely nothing. Link grew even more annoyed and suspicious.
Sheik ignored Link's growing glare and nudged the water at him again. "Drink, Link." His tone was still soft.
"How do you even know who I am? Why would you risk your life?" Link scowled.
The other paused yet again, before seemingly making a decision and almost seemed to brace himself for his own answer. It was terribly strange.
"I was hired by Princess Zelda to rescue you." He explained, voice calm and steady. "I am an assassin whose expertise is infiltration."
Finally Link felt something; an emotional response. He had no idea what it was, anxiety, fear, happiness, excitement… All he knew is his heart jumped at the name Zelda. This lasted for only a brief moment however.
Link just looked at him, taking in his words. He wanted to demand further explanation, as there were many so many reasons why this is odd, but he felt himself become rather tired and slightly overwhelmed. Link looked away, not able to find words for further questions.
The man seemed to change the subject. "You were… very injured. I have been giving you several healing potions and sedatives, but your body is still recovering." His voice sounded the slightest bit strained as he explained this, but he was matter-of-fact in his explanation.
Link pondered this. Healing potions, well he had guessed as much. The sedatives was a bit of a surprise though.
"Sedatives?" He asked, sounding halfway interested, halfway exhausted.
"Yes…" Sheik paused. "Link, uhm." The man practically faltered. It caught Link's notice and he turned back to look at the man, who was still eyeing him intensely. The man seemed to change his mind about something, and held out the glass of water again. "You need to drink some water."
Geez. Link didn't want to. He wasn't thirsty. Well, he probably was actually. Probably hungry too. But he doesn't really notice those things anymore. Sheik seemed to notice the resistance.
"Drink something. I will explain more but I need you to recover." His voice became rather stern. Link reflexively responded the way has been taught to when demands are given to him over the past few months; obey.
He quickly took the water and sipped it without thought. Sheik seemed a bit puzzled by his sudden obedience, but was also visibly relieved. He watched as Link forced himself to drink the entire glass, before handing it back.
"you didn't need to chug it right away…" Sheik said, before setting the glass down. "Link I need to ask you something." His voice trailed off a bit, sounding… reluctant? Link wasn't sure. But it caught his attention.
"How long have you been…" He cleared his throat uncomfortably, his voice lowering to a concerned and serious one. "How long have you been having seizures?"
Link just stared, not quite understanding the question. "Seizures..?" He asked. He had to think for a moment as to what a seizure even was.
"Yes." The voice said firmly. Link waited as though expecting more of an explanation, but just saw the man still waiting for an answer.
"Uhm. Seizures… Aren't those the things where your body like, convulses or something?" He just imagined Ghirahim being electrocuted and seeing his body seize and shake disturbingly. But that was from electricity. Seizures are when your body does it on its own?
"It's a disorder some people have where your body's system doesn't work properly and seizes uncontrollably for periods of time." He explained. "It can cause your body to convulse like that, yes."
"I have never done that before. Not unless I was like, electrocuted or something?" Link had no idea where this was coming from. He didn't know much about seizures but he was pretty sure he would notice if he had them, wouldn't he? Body seizing uncontrollably? How strange of a question.
Sheik looked at him for a long moment, silently. Long enough to make Link shift this time, entirely confused as to where this was coming from.
"You had a seizure when I rescued you." He finally explained. "You suffered massive head trauma." Sheik looked away, his mask covering his expression. "I assumed it was just from the damage, but you had another seizure after I had given you a healing potion and your wound had healed. That is why you are on sedatives now."
Link stared. "I don't.. remember having a… seizure." He found this difficult to believe, but why would he lie about something like this? From what Link knew about seizures, they are terrible things to deal with for those with a disorder. But he did remember that they can be caused by head trauma, and he did get hit on his head very hard when he was apparently rescued by this masked man. But he had been hit on the the head many, many times since being Ghirahim's prisoner, and he had never had a seizure. Not that he was aware of anyway…
"I don't remember ever having them before either." Link finished. Surely Ghirahim would have mentioned something to him if he started seizing randomly. Wouldn't he? He always commented on everything Link did.
"I see." Was all the masked man could reply. Another long, awkward silence this time, however this time Link felt the discomfort from it.
"Are you sure I had a seizure?" He asked.
"Yes." The man said, before turning to the food he had for them both. He gazed at it, seemingly lost in thought before regaining his composure.
"You must be hungry." The masked man stated, sounding as though he was trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Eat something. If you don't like it I will get you something else. Whatever you want." He said gently, but again sternly.
Link looked over to the food, uninterested. "I'm not hungry…" He said. A pang of anxiety hit him as he said this. Quickly he looked up at the masked man, waiting for his reaction. There was a pause, and Link found himself suddenly stressed.
The masked man seemed to note Link's change in demeanor. "You don't have to eat now, Link." He explained, curious as to Link's sudden anxiety. He assumed Link would be starving and jump at the opportunity to eat. Link was simply way, way too skinny. Sheik had assumed he was being starved. But he noted his apprehension, and remembered his blindly obedient reaction to Sheik telling him to drink water, to which he appeared to force himself to drink it. It was apparent that Link was afraid of being forced to eat. How strange, Sheik thought.
He tried to ease Link's seemingly random anxiety. "I will leave it here in case you would like to eat later." He offered, trying to be gentle. Link was looking down and away, submissively, and nodded his head.
This submission disturbed Sheik greatly.
For a while the two sat in silence. Link watched as Sheik began to eat his portion of the food, eyeing him with mild curiosity as he pulled away his mask to reveal his face for the first time. He seemed a bit shy about it and didn't face Link the entire time he ate and had his mask down.
Link was expecting some kind of strange abnormality or something the way the man hid his face, but what he saw was simply a normal face of a boy their age. His features looked similar to his, though perhaps a bit feminine. That being said, Link has a bit of a feminine face too, as he was often teased as a child for looking like a girl. The only thing really strange about the man's face was his kind of creepy red eyes.
He wasn't able to get the best examination before Sheik had finished his meal and pulled it back over his face. Maybe it's an assassin thing. Link has never known an assassin before.
Link realized he really hasn't been pondering the situation he is in. He had become used to accepting whatever was happening around him and having no say. Most of the time Link had learned an altered state of consciousness; simply phasing out and not thinking. About anything. It made things easier once he simply gave up the need to understand. It was entirely different from how he used to be; always daydreaming and analyzing things, though usually quietly and to himself. But once he was captured, being attentive only brought him stress, and thinking only caused him pain. Soon his mind numbed itself, and it was the only thing that kept him sane.
But this wasn't Ghirahim; he didn't need to be passively acceptant of this.
It took effort to actually analyze his situation. It was as though he had to pull himself out of a foggy haze, desperately trying to focus on what was happening. Link had been… rescued. Really rescued? By an assassin sent by… Zelda?
However, even as he lulled this concept around his mind, he never received the grateful relief he expected, or felt in his dreams. Just numbness. Perhaps it was because the situation was a bit too strange. Why would Zelda send an assassin to rescue him? Since when did she even know assassins? Had things really changed so much sense he had been gone? Link realized that there were people dedicated to Zelda and would do whatever they could to protect her because she was a Goddess, but this was strange.
"Sheik," Link started, trying to focus. The sedatives he was (apparently) on were also contributing to his difficulty in focusing. "You said… she hired you?" Link asked, referring to Zelda.
Sheik turned, intrigued by Link finally speaking up. "She?" He asked. He waited for Link to explain, but he looked at him and nodded. "Zelda sent me, yes." Sheik confirmed.
"How…" It wasn't exactly a coherent question, but he was too tired to muster up proper questions. He hardly knew where to begin.
Sheik eyed him, a bit stumped at the vague question. He shifted, before getting up and taking his empty food bowls to the table across the room.
"She hired me." Sheik said, realizing he already said that before. "Zelda is… the goddess and gave me this important mission. She wanted to come herself, but… couldn't." His voice trailed off.
This sounded terribly awkward to Link. She wanted to come herself? What a silly statement. How ridiculous for Zelda to come to a Demon lord's domain for the sake of Link.
"You shouldn't have come either." Link said quickly. "I don't really know anything about assassins, but you are lucky you made it out of there." Link's voice was annoyed again, but also weak in his inflection. Sheik paused at these comments, and it was quiet for a few moments. Eventually he made his way back to the opposite bed and sat facing Link again.
"You needed to be rescued." The masked man said flatly, as if it were an obvious statement. Link scoffed in response.
"No I didn't." Link responded weakly. He wasn't looking back at the other, just gazing down at the blankets covering him. He noted his shirtless torso, and suddenly felt a bit exposed. Sure he was used to not being clothed, but that was around Ghirahim. He was never shirtless like this around others. He felt slightly uncomfortable, and tugged at the blankets a bit.
"What do you mean, no you didn't?" The masked man suddenly snapped, his voice sharp and offended.
Link jumped and eyed Sheik, noting visible aggravation in the man's eyes.
Link didn't respond. He just looked at the other, examining his sudden anger.
"You were a prisoner of a demon lord. You were dying when I rescued you!" The other yelled, sounding as though he were scolding a child.
After another moment of silence, Sheik noted Link's reaction. He was shrinking away, almost as though he were frightened. Another display of submission. This would have frustrated Sheik further if he didn't feel immediately guilty. He had yelled at Link, but it was only through frustration, not aggression. Perhaps Link couldn't tell the difference. He was a victim of a demon's torture for a long time, Sheik should have known better than to raise his voice like this to someone in his condition.
Sheik let out a sharp sigh, looking away. He felt bad for getting angry, but Link's statements…
"Did you not want to be rescued?" Sheik asked, gentler, but still lined with aggravation and sarcasm.
"No." Link said, his voice quiet and submissive. Sheik was taken aback by the answer.
"No?" He sounded as though he heard incorrectly. "You wanted to stay there as a prisoner?" He had to do his best to keep his voice from sounding too frustrated.
Link kept his head lowered and looking away. "There isn't any reason for you to risk your life to save me." His voice was quiet, emotionless.
Silence. Sheik didn't know how to respond to that. There isn't any reason? How absolutely, absurdly ridiculous of a statement. It was so ridiculous it was shocking. Again, he had to remember Link's condition. He must be traumatized by the torture he had received, impaired from the sedatives, and is probably still in shock. Sheik didn't know to what extent Link's stay as a prisoner of Ghirahim's was, but clearly it had messed him up a bit.
"The Goddess Zelda wanted you saved, just as you saved her." Sheik said as calmly as possible. He resided into gentleness again. Remember that Link is damaged. You have to be gentle.
Link didn't answer, but he winced at the name Zelda. His head was low.
"Link…" Sheik began.
"A friend of mine tried to rescue me, and he was tortured and killed for it." Link interrupted. "The same will happen to you." His voice was quiet and matter-of-fact.
Sheik faltered. "A friend? Who?"
"No one you would know. He actually did manage to rescue me, but we were found not long after." He clenched his fists. "I don't want to watch anyone else die on my behalf."
"I… I'm sorry." Sheik said, strained. "That isn't going to happen again."
Link sighed.
"I am to bring you back to Zelda, you will be safe with her there." Sheik offered. Link's head snapped up at this, before eyeing the masked man with shock.
"You'd bring me to her?" He asked, his voice cracking.
"Of course, Link." Sheik reassured. "No one will be able to get to you th-"
"Are you an idiot?!" Link shrieked, causing the other to jump slightly. "You will lead him right to her!"
Sheik noted the previous submissiveness disappear and was receiving a shocked and aggressive wide-eyed glare. It was enough to make him falter again. He expected Link to be happy at the idea of going to see Zelda, in a safe place.
"Link… Ghirahim will not be able to get to you there. It's protected by-"
"I'm not going with you." Link snapped. "He will follow me anywhere I go. He doesn't know where…she is and I won't let you show him the way by bringing me there!"
"He won't know where we are, he can't track us." Sheik explained. Despite Link's sudden anger, his voice was weak and cracking, and it was somewhat painful to hear. "I have a blessed pendant that makes our aura undetectable."
Link glared back, unimpressed.
"That is part of the reason I could enter Ghirahim's residence and get you." Slipping a hand under his giant scarf-like mask, Sheik fiddled for a moment and then pulled out something that looked like a necklace. It had a small red little crystal in the center of a coin-sized medallion that looked to be made of gold. It's fancy appearance contrasted to Sheik's somewhat rugged clothes. "As long as you are with me, he won't be able to find your aura."
"Am I expected to be around you forever then?" Link asked, analyzing the strange little necklace.
"Ghirahim hasn't been able to find Zelda for this same reason. There is a large blessed stone at the center of her residence. It is undetectable, much like Skyloft." He slipped the necklace back under his scarf where it disappeared again.
"I am not going with you." Link repeated, seemingly not understanding or caring for Sheik's explanation.
"Stop being difficult! My job is to rescue you and bring you to princess Zelda!" Sheik was cautious about his tone, but Link's sudden stubbornness was difficult to ignore. He did his best to keep it at a stern, yet un-aggressive way.
"Your 'job' is putting her at risk!" Link yelled back, his voice cracking. Sheik was half-way surprised that Link didn't fall back into his previous submissiveness; he was acting unafraid, which in a way relieved sheik. "He has other means of finding people! If I'm with him he is too distracted to search, otherwise he would have found Zelda by now!"
Sheik paused, pondering this statement.
"You aren't a true servant of the Goddess if you are doing something to put her in danger! And if he finds her then it's the end for all of us you know! Is that really worth a fucking payment?!" Link's face was turning red. His voice wasn't very loud due to his broken scratchy voice, but he was visibly angry. His hands were beginning to shake as they clenched the covers.
"Link… you aren't thinking properly! You can't just give yourself up to Ghirahim so he won't search for Zelda!" Sheik's voice was much louder, his self control beginning to give way to exasperated anger. "What is wrong with you to think that it's ok for you to endure the torture of a demon just to protect her?! Your life isn't just a sacrifice!"
"You don't fucking understand. There isn't even a point in saving me now, the damage has already been done." Link's voice got quieter. "He's already done… everything…." his voice trailed off suddenly, and his eyes grew wide.
Sheik quickly halted his anger in response to his sudden change in demeanor. "What is it?" He asked. Link didn't respond, only staring at him with wide eyes, his red face quickly lost its color, and his expression dropped to almost blank. A strained noise escaped Link's mouth as he sat motionless.
"Link?!" Sheik jumped over to him. By the time he reached Link, he saw his arms starting to jerk and shake in an unusual way. Sheik grabbed his shoulders, and could feel his body shaking almost as though he were shivering. Link's expression remained blank, until another pained noise left his lips, and his wide eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"Shit! Link it's alright..!" Sheik yelped, clutching his bony arms tightly. Link's shaking body quickly began violently convulsing in Sheiks arms, his head tilting back as though he were to scream, but all that left his lips was a painful sounding cough, while drool dribbled down his chin. "Shit! Shit shit… Link it's alright…"
As gently as he could with the convulsing body in his arms, he rested Link on his back on the bed, holding him down and keeping him from flailing as his body shook and convulsed. His face looked pained as he twitched, but his eyes indicated he was unconscious, though wide open. Sheik sat over top of him and adjusted a pillow under his head.
"Its ok… Its ok Link.. I'm right here…" Sheik said in a quiet, pained voice as he held his arms down gently, almost in an embrace, ensuring Link wouldn't be able to hurt himself.
Stinging tears made their way down Sheik's masked face as he held onto Link, waiting for the seizure to end.
"I'm here…"
I
Next one might be another flash back, Idk! thanks for reading :)
