"I knew he was supposed to resemble him Zelda, but this guy, he's like an exact replica! I mean, he was even dressed the same!" Link exclaimed to the princess.
"Is it really that striking?" She cocked her pale fair face.
"Everything, the real question is, what's different. I mean, they both have the tattered cowl, the bandages, those red eyes, okay, maybe his skin's a little darker but...that's just a tan!" Link shook his head, baffling himself as he really thought about it.
"Calm down Link, please, you're overreacting. This Sheik isn't the old Sheik you once knew, he's a completely different man. He doesn't know you, nor will he act the same way. After all, the old Sheik was just me in disguise, was it not? This Sheik isn't your friend, and that's what worries me." Zelda sighed.
"Yeah, I know, I know. But it's sad. The old Sheik, we were buds ya know? This Sheik though, he's so....I mean his eyes looked so..." Link trailed off, unable to grasp a more suitable word.
"Heartless?" Zelda offered.
"More like, he lacks a soul." Link let out a tired sigh.
"Link, it's like...Impa...said. He hasn't had human contact for over two years. He just, doesn't know how to get along with others anymore. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe some time to adjust is really all he needs." She reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly.
Link blushed at the touch, a reaction that could always make the princess smile. But even her touch for once, did not comfort the young hero.
"Why don't you get some rest, you look tired." Zelda suggested, taking note of the weariness in his normally bright blue eyes.
He turned to leave, but Zelda did not release her grip. He looked at her curiously, wondering what else she had to say.
"Be...be careful Link. Sheik really doesn't care about you right now, and if you run into trouble, I don't know..." She looked down at the ground with worry and fear.
"Hey, this is the Hero of Time you're talking about. The hero always triumphs." He grinned cockily.
"Must I remind you of tragic heroes?" Zelda though was smiling, happy she had gotten a grin out of the teen.
"I don't want to know about them, or have anything to do with them." Link waved off with his free arm.
Zelda gave his hand one last squeeze, and then leaned in and gave the hero a soft kiss on the cheek. His face of course flushed a deep red, but the smile he gave her was gentle. Then he turned and left, Zelda reluctantly letting him go.
She let out a soft sigh once he had left the room. She longed to go off and join Link to ensure his safety, but she was restricted to governing her country. Hopefully Link would turn out okay in the end like he always did, but if life had taught her one thing, it was that there were always room for exceptions.
*****
Sheik sat on the horse he had been given, supplied and ready before the sun had even crept over the horizon. The stallion he had been given was soft gray, with a pure white mane excluding a few black streaks that shot through them. On its forehead was a black upside-down tear, which the Sheikah found slightly ironic.
At his side was Link, who seemed rather groggy as he sat upon his red mare he called Epona. The horse's dark eyes turned up to the Sheikah warily, not trusting him so close to her master.
Adjusting his cowl over his bandaged face, he turned his crimson gaze up to Link, who briefly met it before quickly darting his bright eyes elsewhere.
"Erm, shall we go then?" The light blonde teen asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
Sheik briefly nodded, and allowed the younger man to take the lead. Thankfully, the earliness of morning meant that not many bystanders where present, and blessed the Sheikah with not having to deal with staring crowds. Not only were crowds obnoxious, but they could hinder an escape, or an escaping target, if the case may be. The few people they did pass had looks of admiration as they looked at Link, but when their gazes fell to him, they grew unsure or suspicious. He closed his red eyes, not wanting the stares from the bystanders. Luckily his horse was well trained, and was happy to just follow Epona and Link through the city.
He cracked an eye open, looking down at the creature he rode. The soldier that had given him the horse had not told him its name. He furrowed his brow as he pondered a suitable name for the stallion. He fully snapped his eyes back open as he settled on a name of his liking. The horse's name would be Laban, simple but it suited the creature.
They urged their horses to a trot as they left the city gates; Sheik's eyes instinctively scanned their surroundings, searching for any sign of possible danger or threat.
"Well uh, we'll be heading west for a while, so we won't have to worry about the sun getting in our eyes for quite some time, won't we?" Link appeared to be trying to strike up a conversation.
Sheik just nodded, rather than just outright ignoring him. A discouraged look crossed Link's face, and he went to just staring straight ahead, giving Epona an occasional pat. Only twenty minutes had passed when Link looked back at him again.
"So, how old are you?" Link asked.
"Seventeen." The Sheikah answered, turning his eyes away from the young man.
Link's eyes grew troubled as he saw Sheik's lack of interest, as well as his emotionless gaze. Sheik rubbed his earring uncertainly, not accustomed to being analyzed so deeply. Growing more uncomfortable, Sheik urged Laban into a canter, making the Hylian scramble to pick up his own steed's pace. He did not slow the stallion until he was certain Link wouldn't try analyzing him again.
As time passed, Sheik finally managed to truly look at his surroundings, rather than just scanning them for danger. The wide open grassy plains of Hyrule were actually rather calming to the eyes, and allowed the Sheikah a moment of rare relaxation. His wrapped hand idly stroked Laban's neck, and he actually didn't notice Link's returned gaze.
The young hero smiled to himself, happy to see Sheik wasn't completely void of emotion. At the very least, he was interested in the green that surrounded them. At noon, they stopped alongside a stream, allowing the horses to drink and rest. Link offered him some food, and the Sheikah took it, though examined it carefully for a moment. Link inhaled his portion, and judging by the look on his face, longed for more.
Link turned away to saddle Epona back up, and once he was done, he turned around to see Sheik already up on his horse, his food nowhere to be seen. Link raised an eyebrow, wondering how the man could have eaten so quickly and tacked up his horse. From what he knew of the old Sheik, he had ninja like stealth and speed, so the hero had no choice but to accept that this Sheik probably possessed the same ninja abilities.
With a skilled jump, Link sprang up onto Epona's back, and the pair headed off again. Every time Link tried to start up a conversation, the Sheikah would either nod, shrug, or simply ignore him.
"Uh, your horse got a name?" Link finally asked, running out of ideas.
"Laban." He answered simply.
This got a smile out of the teen, like he just got a reward after a very hard competition. Sheik began to wonder if Link just viewed him as a challenge. Link opened his mouth to ask another question, when suddenly both their steeds faltered, rearing back slightly. Sheik held firm to his mount, and immediately began scanning for the cause of their horse's unusual behavior.
An arrow whizzed out of nowhere, and grazed Sheik's arm. His skin tight armor though protected him from its bite. He looked towards the source of the arrow, and saw a group of troll like creatures mounted on giant hogs coming running at them from behind. How Sheik hadn't noticed was beyond him. Instinctively he pulled out his throwing needles, lacing them through each finger. Link pulled out his own sword, which was a rather grand sight.
"If we run towards the woods, we can lose them in the foliage!" Link suddenly pointed, appearing to be accustomed to fighting these creatures.
Sheik just nodded, knowing that it was usually wisest to listen to one with experience. They urged their steeds to a gallop, though the hogs were gaining fast. It seemed strange that such a brutish creature could run so fast, but as Sheik recalled, never judge something by its appearance. He had nearly been killed doing that once, and didn't plan on making such a mistake ever again.
The monster's arrow fire was poorly aimed, but a few fell uncomfortably close to the Sheikah. Link was close at his side, but suddenly the sixteen year old let out a pained cry, and threatened to fall off the galloping Epona. The mare slowed trying to keep her master on her back, but he fell none the less. Sheik's own horse galloped on, unhindered by the loss of his two companions. Sheik though, spun his head around to see the pair about to get trampled by the monstrous boars. He reacted without thinking.
Sheik leapt off of Laban's back, launching his spiraling body all the way back to Link's side, where he landed gracefully. With a skilled flick of his wrist, he struck the nearest beast in the eye, making it swerve in pain and collide with the closest hog. Sheik turned his attention on the two remaining monsters and their brutish steeds as they circled around the pair. Epona let out a whiny, and dashed away, though to Sheik, it looked more like she were chasing after Laban, like she were going to get him back.
The Sheikah sized up his two opponents. One was rather lean and wiry, while the other had a large gut. The wiry one suddenly pulled out a bow and arrow, and fired it at Sheik. He flipped backwards, dodging the strike, and at the same, providing him with some momentum while he threw another one of his needles, and struck the creature right through the neck. It fell from its steed, which took off blindly now that it lacked a master. Sheik glared at the only monster remaining.
This one had a blunt sword, and its gaze was more focused on the injured Link, who was lying on the ground rather motionless, gripping the arrow lodged in his back futilely. Sheik realized nothing was separating the hero from the creature. It charged atop its hog, a smug smile plainly written across it's grungy green face.
Sheik took off, running straight for the boar. He easily jumped over Link's crumpled form, but continued his jump until his foot touched down on the beast's snout, and then using that leverage sprang up into its saddle, kicking off the creature that was its master. He tugged sharply at the chains that were its reigns, and made the boar turn sharply at the last possible moment, and turn only to run over its fallen master, killing the thing instantly. Sheik sprang off, allowing the boar to run off blindly.
Letting out a small pant, Sheik sheathed the remainder of his needles, and glanced back at Link, still on the ground in pain. Cringing, the blonde haired boy looked up at Sheik with a strained smile.
"What do you know, one of them got lucky." He let out a sharp gasp, and appeared to be trying to dislodge the arrow imbedded in his back.
Sheik carefully knelt down beside him, and swiftly freed the young man of the sharp object. Link hissed, but did not complain.
"Thank you." He sat up, though somewhat leaned over from the wound. "For saving me."
Sheik tensed, surprised by the second part. He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen back up.
"Sure." He managed to reply, and then turned his gaze, seeing the two horses were now returning.
Epona actually had Laban's reigns in her mouth, and she was strutting rather proudly.
"Good job Epona." Link smiled at the mare, who nickered happily.
Dropping the reigns from her mouth, she stopped beside Sheik, and did something unexpected. She nuzzled him fondly with her snout, nearly off balancing the man. Link's smile broadened, despite his injury.
"Awe, she likes you now." He grinned, and began to stand up.
Sheik cocked a brow. Did this horse really alter its opinion about him after he had saved her master? It seemed strange to Sheik that only one thing would change the mare's behavior towards him so drastically, but on the other hand, he hadn't given the gentle creature enough credit on its intelligence. Epona did after all, go after and retrieve Laban.
Link strode over to Epona, favoring his injury. Sheik narrowed his eyes in disapproval. If something wasn't done for that wound, it could easily get infected, and infections were something Sheik was unhappily familiar with.
"We need to find a doctor." Sheik suddenly instructed, making the blue eyed teen look back at him in surprise.
"Awe it's not that bad. I'm not even bleeding that much." Link showed off his wound, which was indeed slowing down in blood flow. "I think I can make it to Kakariko. They've got a good shaman there."
Sheik just glared at the young man, not faltering on his opinion of Link needing to see a doctor. Link just rolled his eyes, and sprang atop Epona, though cringed with the movement. Sheik let out an exasperated sigh, not wishing to argue with the boy.
He swung onto Laban, and they continued along their way. Sheik though kept glancing in Link's direction, unsure of the extent of his injury. He was all too familiar with wounds getting out of hand, and if it weren't for luck, he'd have died long ago.
Only about a half an hour had past when Sheik noticed Link was beginning to pale. He very nearly face palmed himself.
"You need a doctor." Sheik growled, glaring down the stubborn hero.
Link darted his eyes away, unable to meet the blood red stare. Sheik groaned inwardly; why did he have to resist his advice? Did he like making his life that much harder?
"I'll be fine." He once again snuffed his nose up at needing a doctor.
Though Sheik was still trying to stare down the young man, it wasn't working, simply because Link refused to look in his direction anymore. Sheik got the gut feeling that in a few moments, he was going to be very desperately searching for help.
It happened even sooner than he anticipated. Link suddenly rocked dangerously in Epona's saddle, and then swooned to the other side. His eyelids fluttered momentarily, before his pupils suddenly rolled to the back of his head and he passed out, falling from his horse's back.
Sheik shook his head, and sprung off of Laban. Carefully but quickly Sheik scooped the unconscious sixteen year old up and slung him back over Epona with a bit of effort. With Link being both taller and more heavily built than him, this task was especially difficult. Then taking both horse's reigns in hand, he headed towards a nearby stream, hoping that if he followed it, it would lead to civilization.
Link let out a pained moan, and Sheik increased his pace. He knew that if anything happened to this hero, the princess would surely blame him. He did not want to live with another death under his belt.