Chapter 5
Sheik was silent during the trek to Kokiri village. Twice Link attempted to strike up conversation, and both times he was met with no response. To his relief Navi filled the silence with endless chatter, asking him about Termina and Clock Town and everything he'd been doing since he left. Despite the interrogative nature of her questions, she actually did most of the talking.
After a few wrong turns, Link realized he no longer knew the way to the village and sheepishly asked Navi to lead the way. Sheik walked quietly beside him, eyes trained on the fairy as she weaved and bobbed in the air. The Sheikah seemed more lost in thought rather than angry now. He kept a tight hand on the dagger at his belt as they walked, as if he'd meant to draw it but forgot.
When they finally emerged from the wood and walked down to the village proper, the Kokiri were not pleased to see them. A few of the children waved shyly, but none of them approached. Link wasn't sure whether it was because of him or Sheik or if they'd been forbidden from interacting, but he found that he didn't mind all that much. His life here was over the moment he left.
"I'd ask if you wanted to see your old treehouse but…Mido lives there now."
"That little shit." Link said under his breath. Okay so maybe he minded a bit.
Navi giggled in approval and flew high up in the air before diving, a trail of light shimmering behind her. Her dive was interrupted when the ground began to tremor violently. Navi squeaked and redirected herself, flying straight up in the sky and away from the shaking earth below.
"What the?!" Link pitched forward, arms stretched wide in an attempt to regain his balance. The entire village was in chaos; Kokiri children running for their homes, tripping over each other and themselves. Stones rattled and bounced against the rumbling earth and trees creaked and swayed. Even the sky seemed to vibrate, the fairies flying wildly in circles, clinging to each other for support as they dodged stray stones and clumps of dirt that were launched into the air. High above thunder rolled, and the previously cloudy sky was growing dark.
His feet planted firmly and knees bent, Link relaxed his body and moved with the constant quaking.
"Sheik where…Sheik?" Link spun around in search of his friend, only to find him collapsed on the ground, body contorted and rigid. His hands were clinched into fists against his forehead, the knuckles turning blueish white. His skin looked ashen and pale compared to its usual golden brown. The sound of his screaming was barely audible above the roar of shaking ground and the thunder overhead.
Link stumbled over to him and quickly lost his footing, landing hard on his side with a grunt. Rolling onto his stomach, he dragged himself over to where Sheik lay. His screams had become ragged, his voice hoarse with the strain on his vocal cords. Tentatively Link reached out to him, grabbing him by the shoulder. Sheik's eyes flew open and Link drew back in surprise. His pupils were pinpricks, the red irises glowed like rubies.
"Get away from me". Sheik choked out.
"I'm not leaving you!" Link shouted at him. "What's happening?"
Sheik groaned and closed his eyes again, drawing inward on himself, knees pressed to his elbows and shoulders heaving. The ground shook harder, jostling them both. All around them the grass was beginning to separate, dirt cracking open to reveal dark chasms a few inches wide. The fractures were small, but that didn't mean they couldn't get bigger. Link dragged himself closer to Sheik, prepared to keep him safe if those breaks became something more.
His head was beginning to ache with the force of the tremors. He'd experienced earthquakes before in the mountains, usually accompanied with flaming balls of lava raining down on him. That had been bad enough, but this was infinitely worse. The growing darkness of the rolling clouds made him think that this must be more than a shifting of the earth. Watching Sheik cower beside him, he knew with certainty that it had to be related to the broken timeline, though he couldn't understand why. His thoughts had been jostled enough by the constant steam of new information over the past couple of days, and with the literal jostling of the ground, he felt like his head had been thrown into a barrel and rolled down a very steep and rocky hill.
Lightning crackled and sputtered above them. The air was thick with energy, and a loud pop sounded as his own sword shocked him. Link yelped in surprise and clawed at his belt, trying to pull it off. He knew he should keep his sword close, but the sharp pain in his thigh was enough incentive to remove it.
Finally, the clouds burst open and freezing rain poured down on them. Link swore angrily and curled up to try and retain warmth, but the infernal shaking forced his limbs outward. He tried to pull himself into a kneeling position but was knocked flat once more, the force of the jolt wrenching his neck.
In his lifetime Link had battled giant lizards, shapeless beasts that swallowed you whole, flying plants with spinning razor blades attached to them—even a shadow version of himself. Those fights were challenging, but at least they were fights that could be won. Right now he was at the cruel mercy of the land itself, with no idea what was even happening. Not to mention Sheik seemed to be locked in some kind of horrifying dream; his desperate screaming hurt worse than the icy rain.
And then everything just…stopped. No warning, no prelude. One minute every goddess damned thing in Kokiri village was in chaos, and then the clouds pulled away and the ground ceased its quaking, and the sun shone once more. Link lay flat on his back, his entire body still buzzing.
"What the hell was that." He said through gritted teeth as he waited for his vision to adjust.
Beside him, Sheik stirred. His voice was barely a whisper, strained from all of the screaming.
"It's the rift. Timelines colliding."
So his guess was right. Sheik looked completely exhausted. Tentatively he clamored up from the now steady ground and offered his friend a hand. The Sheikah grabbed onto him and Link helped him up, but as soon as he tried to take a step he gave a hoarse shout and started to fall again.
Link quickly wrapped an arm around his waist and slung Sheik's arm over his shoulder.
"Are you still dizzy?"
"No," Sheik grimaced. "It's my ankle."
"Is it broken? I can get one of the potions. The bag is around here somewhere."
"No," Sheik said again. "I am not wounded."
"For Din's sake Sheik, you can barely walk. You need medicine."
The fairies were beginning to return, many of them having difficulty flying steadily, their paths forming colorful zig-zagging trails of light through the village. Navi landed on Link's shoulder with an "oof". She shook her head and sent shimmering magic everywhere.
"Can you check his ankle?" Link whispered to her and she glared, clearly irritated by having to fly again. She glided lethargically to the ground, bouncing on the soft grass. She took her time poking and prodding at Sheik, hopping over his boots and fluttering around the circumference of both feet. Finally she launched herself upward again and returned to her perch on Link's shoulder.
"He's fine." She announced. "Don't you remember what I told you earlier?"
"Earlier…" His confusion cleared when he thought back to their conversation in the forest. "Do you mean he broke his ankle in a different timeline…and he felt it in this one?"
She nodded sleepily, stretching her tiny arms above her head.
"Probably."
Sheik made a little grunt of agreement, too tired to elaborate. His own head was lolling toward Link's chest, and he seemed to be having difficulty keeping his eyes open.
"Well this is good." Link muttered. "Barely half a day in and everyone is falling apart. Navi, is there somewhere Sheik can rest before we leave the village?"
"Deku Sprout's glade." Navi yawned and promptly fell asleep, snoring loudly.
Link rolled his eyes, nudged Sheik to wake him up and started moving in the direction of the glade.
By the time Link returned with their bags and his discarded sword, Sheik was passed out on the grass. It had taken forever to half guide, half carry him to the glade and Link himself was weary and aching. With Sheik sleeping restlessly beside him, Link sat before the Deku Sprout, legs stretched out in front of him as he took inventory of their supplies.
"You've grown." The Deku Sprout observed, watching him sort through the food. Thank goddess Cremia had packed it all in a leather bag that was waterproofed. Everything was still dry.
"That tends to happen to Hylians." Link said absentmindedly, unwrapping a block of cheese and taking a bite straight out of it. Lon Lon cheese was a meal in itself. "Hey Deku—"
"Eat with your mouth closed."
Link glared and swallowed the cheese. The Deku Sprout grinned innocently and fluttered its leaves, looking more like an imp than a great guardian spirit of the forest.
"Navi mentioned that people are beginning to remember what happened to them in another reality… one where Ganon took over and destroyed everything."
"Yes, that's true." The Deku Sprout tilted forward in what Link assumed was a gesture of affirmation.
"So…shouldn't you and the fairies be affected as well?"
"Link, I'm disappointed in you. Of all people, you should know that the spirits of the forest are ageless. We exist outside of time, preservers of the delicate balance between the realms and protectors of the mortal beings which reside within them. We have lived so long, so many lives that this new rift exists as a mere drop in the waters of our knowledge. But for those who are still young the memory of other times, other realities that oppose and collide, is too great for them to comprehend. Mortals are not meant to remember their other lives."
Link considered this as he ate his cheese and watched Sheik sleep. It was a lot to absorb. Alternate realities, other lives, nightmares that were memories rather than just dreams…yet again his understanding of the world was being skewed and bent. It made his head hurt. Well, his head already hurt from the violent earthquake. Looking around the glade, he could see no evidence of anything out of the normal. No cracked earth, no overturned grass or toppled saplings. Everything was peaceful and quiet, as if the forest had already forgotten.
"What will happen?"
"If you fail?"
"Yeah."
"Then the tremors will not stop. As the cycles of time continue to clash, the fabric of the realms, the very material from which the goddesses crafted the universe will fracture and break irreparably. After that, even I can't know. Maybe they will start again, reshape reality and bring life back to a shattered world. But maybe not."
It wasn't reassuring information, but then nothing he'd heard recently had been. Link sighed as he folded up the rest of the cheese in its cloth and shoved it back into Cremia's leather bag. He hurt, but he wasn't tired. He was restless and ready to push on, to reach the castle so that he could speak with Zelda and get more answers. She would know what to do. She always did.
Cool wind blew through the glade, rustling leaves and blades of grass. Beside him Sheik shivered. He looked very like a child lying curled up on his side. Link felt the urge to reach out to him, to comfort him somehow, to promise him that everything would work out and that whatever horrible things he had had to relive in the village would not come to pass. Instead he simply watched him, studying the expansion of his ribs as he breathed, the slight twitch in his right shoulder, the tilt of his narrow hips and the tapering line of his spine. He was beautiful in a sad way. The last of his people, the sole heir to a name that no longer had any meaning. Link wondered why he didn't see it before; this wasn't a well-preserved, wise man with the confidence of a sage. Sheik had been dealt a fate just as bad—if not worse—than him. They were slaves to their destinies, the errand boys of the goddesses.
"Link?"
He recognized the voice immediately and before he'd even turned around he was scrambling to his feet.
Saria giggled as he ran toward her. He scooped her up in his arms and spun around, not caring if he looked foolish—a grown man and a little Kokiri girl embracing for the first time in years. The last time he'd seen her, she was still in the Sacred Realm.
"How is this possible? I don't understand." He said breathlessly as she hopped back to the ground.
The Kokiri girl ran tiny hands over her emerald green hair to smooth it once more and smiled up at him. Even though he was short for Hylian he felt immensely tall. Once upon a time they'd been the same height, back in his childhood when he thought he too was a Kokiri.
"After you defeated Ganon, Zelda sent you back to the time before I became the sage of the forest temple. I wish you had said goodbye to me before you went wandering." She pouted, but couldn't hold it for long. They stood there for a moment, grinning like forest imps at each other.
"Are you not the sage…?"
"No, I am! In the universe where you defeated Ganon, I am still in the Sacred Realm. But here in this world you prevented him from enacting his plans. Well…besides the Great Deku Tree's death. That couldn't be prevented, unfortunately. But that's the way of things, and the Deku Sprout has taken good care of us these past years."
She reached out shyly to take his hand and he allowed himself to be led through the crevasse in the stone wall that protected the glade. They walked hand in hand to the village, ignoring the stares and whispers of the other Kokiri children.
"All of this is very confusing." Link admitted. "How can someone be in two places at once?"
Saria looked thoughtful, stooping to pick a flower from the ground and placing it under her headband.
"I think it works differently for other people—it's easier for those who live outside of time like the Kokiri. I have dreams about a beautiful place that glows with magic, and I speak to the other sages sometimes. Mostly it's just a feeling I carry around with me, like I'm not always only here." She released his hand and walked to the edge of the pond. Carefully she removed one shoe and stepped into the water, her other foot still in the grass.
"Do you see? I'm on land, but I'm in the water too! My feet are separate; one is dry and the other is wet, but I can feel both of them. If I look away from the pond I only see the foot that's dry and I can focus on the way the grass feels and the warmth of the sunshine through the trees. But no matter how much I pay attention to that feeling, my other foot is still wet and cold."
She withdrew her foot from the pond, swishing it around in the water first to clean the soft mud from between her tiny toes. Two of the Know-it-All brothers watched curiously from the other side of the pond, but gasped and ran away when they realized Link had noticed them.
"Don't mind them." Saria said, replacing her shoe and offering her hand again. "They're not used to seeing big people. It's weird to them that you've grown up. And…well."
Link watched the two brothers peer at them from behind a stone.
"They blame me for what's happening?" He guessed.
Saria gave his hand a tight squeeze and led him away from the water.
"They may be immortal, but they're silly fools. Living here in the forest they're protected from the rest of the world, so clashing timelines just mean a few bad dreams and hiding from the annoying tremors. They don't understand much more than that. They don't know all that you've done for them, Link. And anyways. You're not the one who broke time."
Link stared at her, surprised.
"I'm not? But I played the Song of Time in Termina. Sheik said—"
"Sorry Link, I can't tell you any more than that. All I know is that what's happening here isn't only the result of what you did in Termina. It's much more…complicated. I doubt Sheik knows the full story either. Now come on! Let's go shopping; you need more supplies before you go to Castle Town."
She skipped ahead, yanking on his hand with surprising strength.
They returned to the glade a while later laden with red potion vials, a small wooden shield that would last him until he could get a better one in the town—how could you come back without one?!—more arrows to placate Sheik's archery obsession, and a leather bag full of Deku nuts.
Sheik was finally awake, and talking in hushed tones with the Deku Sprout. Link tried to listen in, but when he and Saria got close the two of them fell silent. Sighing, he decided not to ask.
"I come bearing supplies." He dumped his haul on the grass, and Sheik began inspecting the arrows, turning them over in his bandaged hands, touching the pad of his finger to the wooden tips. The Kokiri were not metal workers, but they were masters at woodwork. It was where Link had learned the basics of carpentry, which had led him to his apprenticeship with Mutoh.
Link felt an unexpected surge of homesickness thinking about his carpentry shop back in Clock Town. It had become a sanctuary for him, an outlet for is nervous energy and a distraction from the nightmares that kept him awake at night. Impressed by his eagerness to learn, Mutoh had gladly handed him the keys to the shop after barely a year as his apprentice. Link split the profits with him—well, Mutoh received the majority of the money, but Link didn't mind. It was the perfect arrangement; the old man could spend his days yelling at his sons as they screwed up construction and repair projects around town, and Link earned enough to pay for his living expenses, and a quiet job that kept him busy.
He wondered how the shop was running now. Hopefully Mutoh's sons hadn't broken anything, or damaged the custom vanity he'd been making for Romani.
"Link, did you hear me?"
Sheik's voice cut through his daydream.
"Huh?"
The Sheikah raised a curious eyebrow.
"I asked if you were ready to go."
No, I'm not. I want to go home. I don't want to be the hero. I want to go back to my shop and play the guitar in the evenings and eat dinner at Lon Lon Ranch and have a normal life.
"Yes. Yeah. Let's go. We can get to Castle Town by nightfall if we leave now."
Sheik held his gaze for several very long moments with that same curious expression, as if he were trying to understand, or to read his thoughts. Goddess I hope not. But he wouldn't be surprised; the Sheikah had a long history of knowing things that were meant to be hidden.
They thanked the Deku Sprout for his hospitality. The guardian spirit of the forest wished them luck on their journey and advised them to make straight for the castle with no delay.
"Beware the lost children of the field," He said gravely, rustling his leaves for effect. "They too are affected by these grave times."
With that cryptic bit of advice, Link and Sheik left the glade.
Saria walked them to the bridge that led out of the village—the same bridge where long ago Link said his first farewell to her. It was bittersweet standing here with her again, holding her tiny hands in his. She was his first friend and for years, his only.
As he stooped down to hug her, a bright ball of light came barreling towards them both, crashing into Link's head with an explosion of blue sparkles.
"You were going to leave without saying goodbye!" Navi cried, tugging hard on his hair with every word.