Chapter 4: Unexpected Departure

Faron Woods, sometime before sunrise

Sheik and Link fled from the castle, with Link still suffering from a knife in his shoulder. The knife was still in there, as pulling it out would have made the wound worse. And so they rode, all the way from the castle to Faron Woods, where they eventually stopped at the Ordon Spring. Link sat at the edge of it, where the water touched the ground, and submerged only the most bottom part of his boots' soles. Though as calming as the ambiance of the spring was, it still didn't suppress the pain from the knife. That was a job for one of the dozen fairies flying throughout the spring.

"Those fairies. Bring one to me," Link requested.

Sheik nodded and walked into the spring to grab a fairy. When she got close to a few of them, they flew away from her. It was a bit odd, as Link had no trouble catching fairies to use for his healing purposes. So, Link stood up and approached Sheik. He placed his left hand on her right shoulder and gripped it.

"Pull the knife out," he said.

"But that would surely-" she said.

"Just do it. I know what I'm doing," he interrupted.

"If you say so," she said in a reluctant tone.

Sheik grabbed the knife, and with one swift motion, she pulled the knife out of Link's shoulder. He let out a scream that woke up any animals that were sleeping, and probably Coro as well. He shuttered and pulled away from Sheik, grasping his hand over the wound. Then, he turned towards the farther side of the spring, and walked over with haste. He held up the backside of his hand, and his piece of the Triforce shined. The fairies in the spring flocked towards him, like moths to a lantern in a pitch black night. One of them circled up and around Link's wounded shoulder, and then, to Sheik's surprise, the wound was healed completely. Link sighed with relief, and stood up tall and straight. After doing so, the fairies dispersed and flew back to where they were in the spring.

"I've never seen fairies do such things," Sheik said. "But why did they flock to you?"

"I suppose it was because I shined my piece of the Triforce," he answered.

The two of them and Epona rested at the spring for some time after. They rode all the way to Faron from Castle Town, so they wanted give Epona a rest before they made her do more. But that was another question: Where would they go? Out of the civilized places in Hyrule, they could only go to Kakariko Village or the Zora's Domain. But they couldn't avoid Taphinin's mad search forever. And there's no doubt that he'd already labelled Link and Zelda traitors to Hyrule, and did everything he could to vilify them to the people of Castle Town.

"Hey, is that you, Ordanian man?" familiar voice suddenly said.

Link and Sheik turned their heads to see Coro, the man who runs the lantern shop right before Hyrule Field. He was carrying a lantern, lit with the oil that he sells.

"Nice to see you again Coro," Link said.

"Same to you, Link. I heard someone scream real loud before, and it sounded like they needed help. I would have come sooner, but I had trouble finding my lantern," Coro explained.

"That was me. But I'm fine, don't worry," Link stated.

"Well that's good. And who is your companion?" he asked.

"My name is Sheik," she said. "I didn't expect there to be someone this far out in the woods."

"Yeah, I'm the only one here. On occasion I see this fellow here and another Ordanian man passing by my shop on the way to Hyrule Field, but I haven't seen the Ordanians for a while," Coro said. "Actually, not since the weird earthquake not so long ago. You two have any idea what that was all about?"

After a brief pause, Link said "Well, the bridge connecting the Ordon Province to here was destroyed in that earthquake. So, that's why the Ordanians stopped coming through here."

"Aw man, they're stuck over there then. The royal family should really get people on that then," Coro said.

"About that..." interrupted Sheik. "Don't trust any of the royal army or the council."

"Who? What council?" Coro questioned.

"If they're soldiers, or look like they come from the Castle, don't trust them. Don't tell them we were here," Sheik stated.

"I'm not sure why I should be doing that, but okay. If that's gonna keep you two safe," Coro responded. "I guess this is goodbye then. I have to catch up on some sleep before I open up shop. Goodbye, Link, and Sheik."

"Farewell, Coro," Link said.

Coro walked back to his shop, and Link and Sheik continued discussing their options. They'd potentially endanger whoever they hid with, even if it were the Gorons or the Zoras. It's not as if diplomacy laws were written between all of the races. They just coexisted and agreed not to fight each other. And that would have worked fine, if not for Taphinin. Ordon Village was out as well, since they bridge connecting them was gone.

"Wait. There's actually another option," Link said.

"What would that be?" Sheik asked.

"The Land Bridge. Ylisse," he said.

"But we'd be fleeing from the problem entirely! Are we just gonna abandon Hyrule and cower in Ylisse?" Sheik exclaimed.

"We could garner the help of Chrom and Robin," Link suggested. "Link, if we stay here, our only option would be to remain idle and hide. With Chrom's support, they could help us depose Taphinin."

"You're asking that we use extreme measures!" Sheik argued.

"Extreme measures are appropriate when dealing with such an extreme person as Taphinin."

There was a brief silence between them, which then broke with Sheik's response.

"I fear for what the citizens will think. Over the course of two years, it'd appear that our government is unstable. First, the Usurper King, then, the Last Interloper, and now Taphinin," Sheik responded. "Should news of this get out to other lands, a potentially belligerent kingdom could attack."

"To ensure that that doesn't happen, we should head to our Ylissean allies," said Link.

The Land Bridge, Early Morning

The two of them rode on top of Epona to the Land Bridge. They knew that it was going to take about a day to just get to the desert that was at the other end of the bridge. Nevertheless they kept going. One of them would end up falling asleep while the other remained awake. Sheik would fall asleep while resting on Link's back and vice-versa. Fortunately Epona was not moving so fast as to accidentally let the sleeping one fall off. Though, once each one of them got enough sleep, they'd have Epona go faster.

The clashing sounds of the ocean and the trot of Epona's hooves were the only sounds that rang through the air. For miles, all they saw was the barren ocean and the path in front of them. It surely wouldn't have been a good time to spot what appeared to be an island in the distance. "Great, a mirage," Link thought. He paid no attention to it after that, and looked forward.

Nightfall

Just as they thought, they'd reached the other side of the land bridge at nightfall. Though, they didn't arrive to an empty scene. At the Ylissean end of the Land Bridge was halfway built ship port. In the months that they'd been gone, Chrom must have had a port built there for travel purposes. But, it was still under construction, and there were workers building it at that moment. Ylissean soldiers were present as well, in the event of people approaching from either the Desert or from the Hyrule.

Both Sheik and Link were awake at that time, and stopped Epona when they reached the group of Ylisseans.

"You are Ylisseans, yes?" Sheik asked.

"We are. What business do you Hylians have at this hour?" the Ylissean captain asked.

"We are allies to the Exalt. We are Link and Sheik," Link said.

"Sir Link!? My, the Exalt has been wondering when you'd return!" exclaimed the captain. "Though, I do not recognize this Sheik."

"Sheik is as much an ally to Chrom as I am," said Link.

"We have urgent business with him. He is still in Ylisse, yes?" Sheik asked.

"If you were planning to meet with him at Ylisse, I'm afraid you're a bit too late. You see, he's leaving with a small expeditionary force tomorrow morning, to go to that island far south in the distance," he explained, while pointing towards where the island was. "The island might be a bit hard to see, but in daylight you can see just the top of it."

"So that island I saw before was real!" Link said.

"Indeed," the captain said.

"But why is Chrom himself going? Surely the ruler would send an expeditionary force to go in his stead, no?" Sheik questioned.

"That's part of the problem. You see, a merchant ship was sailing in this area, and it went missing a few months ago. Our ships patrolled around, looking for it, but they didn't find it. However, they did spot that island in the distance. We thought that the merchant ship might have gotten caught in a storm and stranded on that island. So a small search force led by Commander Frederick and Captain Sully was sent to the island. But they left weeks ago, and they haven't returned. There couldn't have been another storm, because we've been here since they left, and we've seen nothing. There's something about that island that isn't right," the captain explained.

He then asked "What was your business with Chrom? Actually, stay here until morning and ask him. The two of you look exhausted."

"We thank you for your hospitality," said Sheik.

"In the morning when Chrom arrives, you can tell him of your distress in Hyrule," the captain said.

Early Morning

Come morning, aside the crashing sounds of water against the ground, a steady rhythm of armor clinks approached from the west. Link and Sheik turned their heads to see a mass of navy blue and silver armor. They made their way to the port, and six people stepped out from inside the mass of Ylissean soldiers: Chrom, Lucina, Cherche, Gerome, Sumia, Lon'qu and Gregor.

"Link?! Sheik?!" Chrom exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"We bring dire news from Hyrule. In opposition to our thoughts of forming an alliance with Ylisse, a member of the Hylian Council has led an insurrection against the throne. He's probably turned most of the army against me and Link," Sheik explained.

"That's horrible," Chrom said. "If I wasn't already occupied, I'd immediately assist you. But we've already traveled here from Ylisse and across the desert."

"It doesn't have to be immediate. And, Frederick and Sully disappearing does sound urgent for you," Link replied.

"This council member of yours seems despicable," Chrom said.

"I never suspected it until it happened," Sheik responded.

"If you are seeking refuge, Ylisse's gates are open. There's also space on this ship if you wish to join," Lucina said.

"Lucina, don't just invite them to join the expedition, minutes before we depart," Chrom said.

"We can't help them while we're away, nor can we cancel this expedition. Neither should they remain in Ylisse while a mad tyrant increases his control over Hyrule," Lucina rebutted.

"There is space, but whether or not they come should be up to them," Sumia said.

"Having two more soldiers wouldn't hurt," Gerome said.

Lucina did have a point. Link and Sheik would have ended up waiting for Chrom and company to return, and then they would deal with Taphinin and Hyrule. Chrom would have to make the decision to have Ylissean soldiers support Link and Sheik. The military commanders, who were temporarily in power while Chrom and Sumia were away, shied away from making big, important decisions. Going on the ship would make Link and Sheik disappear for some time, which may have been what they needed.

After a short period of silence, Sheik responded "We accept your offer to accompany you on your expedition."