Link
by Wyna Hiros
Disclaimers: I don't own Zelda 64 or the characters (Nintendo does): no money is made off this. This story, and any/all original side-characters and monsters, however, are my property and may not be used without my permission. If you'd like to archive it (or whatever), please see the contact information in my profile.
Link
I sat down. Hard.
/ This isn't possible!/
At the sound of his name, he turned, blinking, his hand stopped mid-motion on his shoulder as he looked back. "Sheik?"
/No. This can't be him.../
I couldn't believe this. Refused to believe it, as I shakily climbed to my feet, favoring my ankle, my wounded arm throbbing painfully: with all the running, it hadn't had a chance to scab over, only opening even more.
Link waded closer, an amused grin on his face. "You know, that has to be one of your most ungraceful entrances ever."
/I must be seeing things...the fumes from the swamps...this.../
"Link..." I finally managed to find my voice, shaking my head. "No. This isn't happening. You can't be real!"
His eyes - so blue to the point that they were almost purple - widened in surprise. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"
I was backing away now, wavering on my feet. "You can't be here, I just saw you!"
He took a step forward, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What're you talking about? What's going on?"
Another unsteady step back, away from him, into the water. My injured ankle gave out and I found myself falling.
Only to find myself stopped as Link had quickly closed the distance between us and caught me before I fell, holding me tight enough against him to prevent me from breaking free. Vaguely, I saw him look at my ankle, my arms, my clothes, concern clear amongst the bewilderment on his face.
"You're hurt..."
I only stared at him, shakily reached out to touch his cheek, expecting my hand to pass right through it...
It was solid.
I shook my head furiously and pushed against his chest with my left arm, trying to free myself. It was becoming hard to breath; I was starting to hyperventilate. "No, no, no. How can you be here?! I saw you fall! I saw them carry you away!"
He grabbed my wrist, trying to calm me down as I struggled, saying...something...
I couldn't hear it; his mouth was moving but it seemed like nothing was coming out. My vision was graying, filling with static. The toll on my body, the wounds, miasma, exhaustion, shock...it all came crashing together, and I found myself rapidly sinking into the welcome void...
I slowly came to, disoriented, my eyes opening as the world spun for a moment. I blinked slowly, my head lolling, staring at the ground as it moved past me in slow, uneven intervals, barely managing to catch the almost distant rustling noises from the leaves on the forest floor, the sound strangely muffled. Another blink, and I lifted my head a little, dazedly looking out the corner of my eye.
Vaguely, my mind pointed out that Link hadn't vanished, like I'd half-expected. Instead he had gotten dressed, and was gamely half-carrying, half-dragging me through the forest. He had one arm wrapped around my waist, the other clamped down on my right arm, which he'd slung over his shoulder. The entire right sleeve and bandages of my clothes had been completely stained with blood, an odd pulsing sensation coming from my upper arm.
...The throbbing suddenly clarified, my vision clearing, sound coming back. and I nearly screamed, at the never-ending stabs of pain coming from the long stab wound on my arm, washing through me, over and over. It was all I could do to hold the cry of pain back as it started to bubble up: Link had accidentally gripped my arm to help him carry me, his fingers digging into the wound - he probably hadn't been able to tell where the gash was.
I nearly blacked out again at the rush of pain.
"L-Link..." I managed to gasp out, weakly. "...Your hand..."
I gritted my teeth as he blinked- for a moment not understanding- another wave of pain crashing over me. And then he hurriedly moved his hand, mercifully away from the gash, as realization set it. "Geez, Sheik, I'm sorry!"
I didn't say anything in response. Panting, I tried to take some deep breaths as the stabs of pain faded, back to the dull throbbing. He continued to carry/drag me through the forest, as I gathered my wits about me. Link. I had to focus on him.
I snuck a glance at him: for all I knew, this might not be him, but someone trying to masquerading as him.
There was only one way to find out.
It was early morning when Link stopped, although it was more for my benefit than his; I was beginning to feel chills going up and down my body, and a headache was starting to appear - I didn't want to even think about what my wound and ankle looked like.
Gently, he eased me down against a tree trunk, carefully avoiding my upper arm. For a moment, he only stood there looking down at me, a frown on his face.
And then, after a minute; "I'm going to find something to help your wound. I'll be right back."
Again, I said nothing, only watched him turn and vanish amongst the trees. I leaned back, resting my head against the tree at my back, and felt my forehead. A wince crossed my face. I was burning up, more so with each passing minute. Bacterial infection - from the swamps most likely, an insect bite possibly, as well as the sudden change in temperatures tacked onto that...
A minute passed, and another. I was growing uncomfortable, tensed despite the fever and the growing haziness in my head. Something was odd here...
Something about this forest wasn't right.
And that's when I realized what was wrong: the forest was dead silent - no sounds of animals rooting about, no birds, no insects...
Nothing.
A chill went down my back, and I felt my body begin to stiffen automatically, on alert. I'd noticed similar behavior several times before, especially during the Dark Ages...always in the proximity of a major predator or...
/...in the presence of something inhuman./
Link returned then, with a small bundle of leaves, causing me to start. My attention went back to him as he crossed the clearing, the sound of his feet seeming too loud against the eerie silence of the forest. However, I knew better than to dismiss the troubling observation so easily, even as he knelt by me to apply the herbs.
I looked him in the eye, my voice soft. "Who are you?"
He stopped and blinked, a startled look upon his face. "What?"
I struck then, the movement a blur, ignoring the wave of nausea and pain the action sent through me. In one motion, I grabbed his arm with one hand and pulled him close, my other hand going to his neck and pulling the collar down to expose the left side of his neck.
It lasted less than a second, and I'd released him before he even had a chance to make any sound of protest, sinking back weakly against the tree.
/The scar's there. /
My resolve wavered as I was overcome for a moment with dizziness. Only he and I knew of its existance, which would mean...
The world spun crazily, and I could feel the darkness pulling again at me. But I pushed it down for a few seconds more, resisting the lure that the fever promised me: a brief rest from the worsening chills and the pounding in my head.
"How did you get that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling.
Link, if anything, looked even more surprised, and confused. "You gave it to me, remember? When we first met."
Of course I remembered. I'd nearly attacked him inside the Temple of Time, thinking he was another of the Dark One's spies, somehow having managed to slip past the wards of the shrine.
/It is him./
The realization was too much. After so long...
I couldn't hold out any longer. My vision narrowed, static, sparks dancing across, blinding me even after I closed my eyes - my limbs had lost feeling, all sound fading, down to the roar of a nonexistent ocean, followed by the sensation of weightlessness...
I'd only passed out for a few seconds apparently, feeling even more sick in the stomach as my eyes opened to find Link righting me, propping me back against the tree trunk, if anything looking even more worried. I let him, slumped back against the rough bark, feeling uncertain, numb... drained all of a sudden and lightheaded.
"What happened...?" I asked hazily.
He blinked for a moment, then frowned, concerned and doing little to hide it. "I'm not really sure. You just ...You went pale all of a sudden. Your eyes just sort of rolled back and you started to fall over."
"Oh."
He continued. "You have to get to a town somehow. I mean, you seem really sick." And he glanced at the stab wound on my arm, still glistening with half scabbed-over blood. "And that looks pretty bad. I'll try to help it but...you'll have to let me."
I said nothing, only nodded.
Link resumed his position, taking several leaves and breaking them, squeezing the pulp out into his palm. He gave my arm a pointed look, and I gingerly pried the bloody cloth out of the wound and parted it for him, careful despite the returning dizziness. He dipped his fingers into the thick liquid in his hand, and began to rub it against the nasty gash. I hissed sharply, as he made contact with the wound, pain flaring up from the almost tolerable pulsing. Link ignored it, and continued to apply the rancid gel.
I watched him work, staring, the stench from the plant saps strong enough to keep me awake for now - it was still hard to accept that this really was him, solid, awake after so many years.
/But how?/
Something was going on here: by all means, he shouldn't even be walking around...
It was Link who broke the silence first however, though his attention was on my arm.
"What did you mean, with all that you said before at the fountain?" he asked. Hesitated for a moment. "When you said that...that I wasn't supposed to be here?"
I looked up, startled despite the growing nausea. "You don't remember?"
He shook his head, finishing up with my arm and wiping his hand on the grass to clean the blood and plant residue off. "All I remember is fighting Him. And then nothing," he seemed uneasy. "It was like this patch of darkness..."
"Just darkness?" I repeated, doubtfully. Although it sounded like a black out, I couldn't bring myself to believe it: one did not just simply pass out for several years and then wake up like this, out in the middle of nowhere.
Link shook his head. "No. I'd see these lights, every now and then. I think there were three of them... They seemed a lot like Navi, in the way they glowed and moved about. But larger, brighter. It seemed like they were saying something to me, but I couldn't make out what it was..."
My eyebrows furrowed.
/Could it be the Three?/
He stopped for a moment, looked me in the face, watching for my expression. "And the next thing I knew, I found myself outside this forest, with this feeling that there was something I have to do..."
I'd gone silent, trying not to shiver from the chills.
Link didn't let it drop. "You know something, don't you Sheik?" When I didn't answer, he pressed on even further, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Tell me. I need to know what happened."
I sighed. "You really don't know, do you?"
He only shook his head.
/The Goddesses can be cruel, can't they?/
I told him everything, of how Impa and I had come to the castle, how we had helped to anchor the Sages' power...all up to the point where he had suddenly collapsed...
The entire time, Link had listened carefully, looking more and more uneasy as I went on. Finally, when I'd finished, he frowned. "I don't understand. I don't remember that happening at all," he paused, realizing something. "Wait. How long'veI been like this?"
When there was no immediate answer, his brow furrowed. "I trust you, Sheik. Please. I need to know."
The words, so familiar, from long ago, made me start.
Still, I couldn't help but hesitate a little. "...It's been four years."
Link's face went pale. " 'Four years'?" He sat back on his knees, looking ill. "Four...years..."
"I'm sorry, Link." I said. The words seemed weak, shallow, useless. Once again, Link had been robbed of more time. For someone who'd supposedly mastered time, he was at its mercy more than the rest of us.
"I think...I think I need to be alone." He finally said. He was quiet, subdued, as he stood up, an unreadable expression on his face.
I didn't stop him as he left, his form quickly vanishing into the fading gloom of the forest. I only slumped back against the tree trunk, uncertain and feeling drained all of a sudden, as well as...pity?
I thought about that for a moment, with a small frown, not liking the direction my thoughts were taking. Link deserved my respect, not my sympathy.
And yet, I knew that deep down, regardless of what I tried to tell myself, I'd always pitied him. I'd always wondered how he could manage to keep his head... wondered even more how he'd almost always seemed to keep his spirits up, even with the knowledge that he was merely a pawn. That others were using him.
Even I was guilty of that, during those times...
/...It was necessary. You know that./
I knew it was. But I'd never liked it, even if it was for the good of Hyrule. It hadn't ever seemed right.
Even if it'd been to save Hyrule from the Dark One, no one deserved what Link had had to go through. He'd arrived at the Temple of Time as a child, wearing only the guise of a man. When he'd left to fight the Black King, he'd left as an adult. I'd to watch as the naivety, the innocence slowly died and faded from him, as he was forced to mature. And I let it happen.
Link knew that he was being manipulated. Used by all of Hyrule, one boy sacrificed for the good of the masses. He knew it, and still he'd smile, though sometimes it was unreadable, neutral; one had to wonder exactly what was going on through his head...
/...Stop that./
What?
/...Speaking of him like that, as if he's still gone./
It was still hard to think of Link as a person right now, here, now, real to the touch - not a half-living body lying in the care of the Forest Children, or a memory. The shock was still slow to wear off. Regardless of the fact that he was here and very much awake, it had been four years.
I blinked hazily, against the dizziness at the fringe of my consciousness, the rank odor of the sap starting to fade. Around me, the forest was still deathly silent: it was all I could do to resist my instincts and try to bolt.
I was still not too quick to accept that this was all happening. Although I'd touched him (he was no fever-induced hallucination) and checked, verifying the scar's location, I couldn't help but remain uneasy. Even his reaction was genuine.
And yet, Link's explanation didn't sit too well with me.
He said he'd felt as if he had drawn here, with the feeling of a task at hand, that he'd seen three lights in the darkness...
/...Four years./
/Four years, and the Goddesses decide to act now?/
Why now? Why did he collapse, only to wake up now? It didn't make sense. Could it be some form of divine foresight?
It was possible. Now that I thought about it, it might make sense. Impa'd told me of how Link had come from the Kokiri Forest to the castle, of how Her Highness had known that he would be the Hero of Time. And yet, it seemed the Three had acted, set this all into motion even earlier, long before Her Majesty's visions.
It all started with Link's mother. She'd fled to - of all places - the Kokiri Forest, had entrusted the Deku Tree with the care of her child, not even knowing if it would accept her plea or not.
The Triad had acted then - far earlier- to set the events into motion, to banish Ganondorf before he could plunge Hyrule into pure darkness.
/Yes, but why didn't they just strike down the Dark One? They have that power, don't they?/
The answer came immediately: the Black King had possessed the Triforce of Power. It had received the blessing of the Three, and even the goddesses themselves couldn't break the blessingthey'd set upon it. He'd been protected from their holy fury.
But they'd found a way around it. And had dealt with him, however indirectly.
/Their actions sometimes seem random, without sense./
/And yet, when you can finally see the whole picture, it all falls into place - each and every of the Triad's actions have a purpose./
Now I closed my eyes, leaned back. They must've seen this threat in the east as well.
Regardless, I remained uneasy with my answer. Something still bothered me about it: the whole situation in general...
The crack, of a twig under a boot, seemed to thunder throughout the silent forest. I jumped, my eyes snapping open immediately. Link had returned, his face carefully neutral as he looked down at me.
"Can you stand?" he asked.
I didn't move at first, staring up at him, inwardly taken aback by the question: I'd been expecting him to want to talk about what had happened...
Unless he was avoiding the subject. He probably wasn't ready to really face it yet. I didn't press the matter any further for now and just concentrated on standing up without passing out. After a few tries, I managed to brace myself shakily against the tree trunk and use it as leverage to get to my feet. I took an unsteady step forward, swaying, gingerly avoiding my twisted ankle, and another... The world spun crazily, and I found myself starting to tip over; it was only Link's quick reflexes that saved me from completely falling over. He slung my arm over his shoulder, though he was careful this time of the dully throbbing wound, wrapped his arm once again around my waist.For a second, I closed my eyes, pushing down the urge to throw up. Although my body could fight off the sickness here, I knew that doing so would take too long, delay the Queen's orders far more than they have been already...
And that couldn't happen.
I opened my eyes, just as the blackness seemed more than inviting.
"There'sa town, I think...a little south of here," I said. The chills going through my body were returning, sharp enough to take my breath away. "Rydel."
It took me a moment to realize that we'd begun to move - for carrying what might as well be deadweight, Link set a fairly good pace. He didn't look at me, just moved my body somewhat to make me easier to carry/drag.
"Which way?"
"It's a river town...just... follow the river south."
Link didn't answer, only altered his direction to the right, from where I could hear the distant sound of roaring water. Several long minutes passed in silence. Link's eyes were far off, a small frown darkening his face: I knew that he was thinking back, to that time outside the Shadow Temple.
/...But the Dark One is gone./
/There's no more reason to use him...right?/
I let my head hang, finding it easier on my headache, and closed my eyes again, trying to block that thought from going any further. I'd never enjoyed, or even forgiven myself for using him like that, no matter how necessary it had been. I knew that the Zora Princess, Her Highness, Impa even...I knew that they hadn't thought twice about the matter: to them, Hyrule needed to be saved. There was no need to question it.
They probably hadn't even realized they were using him.
"What happened to you?"
The sudden question jolted me out of my thoughts. He was looking at me -the worry clear in his eyes- the blankness from him faded ever so slightly.
"Fever...probably from the marshes."
Link blinked. "Marshes?"
I told him what had happened, of how we'd set out from Kakariko, of how we'd been ambushed, and my companions slain. For an insane moment, I had the fleeting thought to go back to the Marshes, at least find the bodies and lay them to rest...
It was brief. I knew that there would be no bodies, not even pieces: if the attack had been any indication of their normal behavior, those creatures would leave little behind... perhaps some scattered bits of armor that would quickly become engulfed by the swamp, until the next set of unwary travelers passed through..
/They didn't have to die. Not like that.../
Not even Nolan deserved such an end.
I didn't like the fact that it could've been avoided, that their lives had been wasted, taken so brutally... that if I did make it back, I would have none of their personal effects to give to their families.
But I couldn't go back, no matter my feelings. That much was clear-
"Wait, 'Her Highness'?" Link repeated, stopping me from going on any further.
I couldn't help but blink at the interruption: he almost...seemed to lose interest in what I'd been talking about earlier.
/...that can't be right...I must be seeing things.../
Link wasn't the type of person to just brush off something like this. The fever was starting to affect me...I was no longer thinking clearly...
"Queen Zelda," I clarified, forcing myself for a moment out of the groggy haze. "She took the throne shortly after they carried you away."
A look of sudden interest crossed Link's face, but he said no more of it. We'd come along the river-edge and he halted for a moment. I gestured vaguely towards the left, struggling to keep my eyes open: I wanted more than ever to close my eyes and sink back into the welcome void...
He turned, following the direction, and continued. A glance showed that the neutral expression - one I'd become so familiar with before he'd left to fight the Black King- had been replaced by an unusually thoughtful one. I let my gaze drift down, back to the forest floor as it moved unevenly beneath me, finding the growing morning light irritating to the eyes.
Still silent.
For a moment, I had visions of the creatures from before, shambling from the swamps and into the forest, the reeds slithering, the sound loud throughout the still trees, coming after us...
"Link..."
He made a little "mm?" noise, but didn't shift his attention from the river. I went on.
"I think... you might want to be on the lookout..." Swallowed, cleared my throat: it was becoming hard to stay awake. "...for a major predator or monster..."
"What do you mean?"
"I...Ever since I entered the forest...I haven't heard a single sound from the animals. Just this unnatural silence..."
He was looking at me now, waiting for me to elaborate, slowing a little.
"I've...only noticed this kind of behavior before...always when there's a large predator around..."
What he did next took me completely by surprise. He gave a small shrug, which I felt through my arm, and just resumed his pace, clearly unconcerned.
My eyebrows furrowed, as this slowly sunk home in my fevered mind: how could Link be that confident...?
Watching the forest floor (little more than a patchwork of scattered leaves covering the ground) pass underneath my gaze, shifting in irregular intervals, was starting to get more than a little mesmerizing...
/Unless.../
/...Something happened to him while he was in that darkness.../
+to be continued+
This chapter completed: 9/19/03
(Thanks again to Rydia for helping out.) Also, I just wrote "Senaii Liette" (see my profile for it, I guess), which serves as sort of a side fic for this one, since Sheik refers to some stuff that happened in it.
--Wyna Hiros
