fleets: Not much to say. I make status updates and ramble about random life events on tumblr.
Chapter 7: Arbiter of the Wastes
The Arbiter has forbidden my direct involvement.
I know not what came over me. The others say my close observations of our subjects have made me too attached to the mortal world. I have come to my senses. My quill is steady.
The Arbiter was, however, taken with the idea of my INDIRECT involvement. While I am pleased to be able to help those poor souls, I am hesitant about the Arbiter's intentions. I cannot help but find their methods to be cruel sometimes, though I understand why they do it. I do not have the constitution to do what they do, which is exactly why I am the Grand Scribe, and they are the Arbiter. Empathy is inappropriate for what they must do.
They have requested pages from my book, though for what use they intend them, I know not.
- Grand Scribe Phact
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Sheik glanced at Vaati uneasily while Vaati himself watched the man in the Keaton mask with narrowed eyes. They had just discovered that there had been others like them to make the same journey across the desert, and that nothing worthwhile awaited their journey's end.
"And who are you?" Vaati asked with a low growl. He had a growing dislike for the black Keaton who refused to give them straight answers, and he was gaining a similar dislike for the man with Thuban's mask.
The man barely shook his head in response, like he considered it too effortful to move. "My name, like my existence, is inconsequential," he said tiredly. His voice was laborious and mumbled, and he appeared disinterested in his two visitors and their questions. He'd seen the same scene and heard the same questions too many times before.
Vaati, however, was determined to get answers whether the man wanted to give them or not. He approached him with a menacing glower, slowly pacing forward and looking just about ready to grab him by the collar and fling him across the chamber. "What is this place? What are you doing here?" he continued to press, ignoring the man's reluctance for conversation.
The robed man, however, was equally stubborn, and he simply shrugged Vaati's question away with another unimpressed sigh. "It is not worth telling you." Then, when Vaati looked just about ready to storm up onto the platform and start a fight with him, he held up a withered hand. "The moment I tell you anything, the black Keaton will simply take your memories of our conversation away, and we will be back to the same questions. I tire of the repetition. You are not the first ones here with the same aged questions."
Vaati stopped, his argumentative expression instead turning into one of grudging frustration. Sheik, on the other hand, was unsurprised by the man's explanation. After all, he'd seen firsthand how Thuban had completely rid Vaati's memories of what had happened at the bottom of the well in Kakariko, and the man's explanation was consistent with what they already knew of the Keaton's resistance for them to find out the truth too soon. Sheik observed the man for a little while in silence, and then his eyes widened when something dawned on him.
"You're not with Thuban," he said, realizing how the man, despite wearing a mask that was in the exact likeness of the Keaton, spoke of them with something close to aggravation. He'd assumed that the man was with the fox because of the mask, but there was something about his attitude that suggested otherwise.
For the first time since they'd met, the man displayed emotion, confirming Sheik's suspicions. He gave a harsh laugh. "I despise that fox," he said bitterly. "I am not here voluntarily," he admitted, but he did not elaborate more, either because he did not want to talk about it, or more likely, it was a topic he was forbidden to discuss with them.
"Is there nothing you can tell us?" Sheik asked, while Vaati appeared much more sympathetic now that it was revealed that both he and the man had a mutual dislike for the black Keaton. Vaati took a few steps back to give the man some space, standing next to Sheik. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he still flashed him a cold glare, but he seemed willing to grudgingly listen at least.
The man nodded his head towards Vaati, acknowledging their dislike for Thuban. Then, he took a deep breath and gave a long, thoughtful hum. Although he'd been too tired to be helpful before, Sheik's observation that the three of them were not on Thuban's side seemed to have sparked a renewed interest in helping them. It was the sigh of someone who had lost all hope in trying to help others, but was willing to give one last shot to see if this time, something might be different. "The number of wanderers has increased in recent times," the man mused softly. "Not many make it here, and fewer survive the path ahead. If the desert doesn't kill them, then Ammit usually does."
"Ammit?" Vaati interrupted. It was a new name.
"The serpent," the man replied. It was the first confirmation that the enormous serpent that Sheik and Vaati had seen had not been something they'd imagined. "Your greatest enemy, however, is neither the desert nor the serpent. It is something much closer to you than you realize."
"And what does that mean?"
Vaati's question was met with silence. Though the man's advice was too vague on its own, the two travelers couldn't help but be reminded of a similar word of warning that they had heard a night ago in the Grand Scribe's book: keep your friends close, your enemies closer. Vaati clenched his fists, but he kept his silence. It had to be more than just a coincidence that two different sources were telling them that their enemy was something very close to them. Or… someone. Vaati wanted to demand more information from the man, but he knew that any attempt would be futile.
"Won't you join us?" Sheik asked, and waved a hand at the food and water that was laid out before them in the cave. "There seems to be more than enough food and water for all of us here, and we can help each other escape the desert."
Again there was that harsh, cynical laugh from the man. His answer surprised them. "I have already seen the end. There was nothing for me there," he said, causing both Sheik and Vaati to look at him with furrowed brows. "I was once like you, hopeful and determined. I made the journey, thinking the truth was what I wanted. I would tell you to turn back now, but I already know that you will not listen."
The fate of the others had been despair, Vaati thought back on what the man had said to them earlier. If he had made it to the end, then why is he all the way back here? Is there truly nothing worthwhile waiting for us? He glanced at Sheik, who was looking downwards with a complicated and troubled expression on his face. Why are all of us here in the first place? Then, he turned back towards the man who was looking at something behind them.
"They're coming." The man said it like he was expecting the arrival.
"Who?" Sheik asked, turning around to see what the man was looking at.
The question seemed to trigger something within the cave. Before the man could say anything, a hot wind blew in from the entrance, bringing sand with it. The small grains stung their eyes, forcing them closed, though Sheik tried his best to watch what was going on between his fingers that shielded his face. He nearly lost his balance, still exhausted from the trek across the desert, but was surprised when he felt Vaati grip him roughly by the arm to keep him standing upright.
The robed man raised his head slightly as the sand whirled around him. Sheik watched, surprised, when he thought he saw a dark, vulpine shadow within the sand. He wasn't sure if he'd imagined it, but he thought that the two of them exchanged some words, though he could hear nothing of the conversation. A pair of golden eyes flashed within the whirling sand, and the wind picked up, forcing him to close his eyes.
You've heard enough for the time being…
Sheik held his breath. Thuban.
The wind suddenly subsided, and the sand fell back to the ground in a dusty shower. When the two of them were able to open their eyes again, they found that the man with the black Keaton mask had vanished. Thuban, who Sheik was sure was the one he'd seen in the shadow of the sandstorm, was also nowhere to be seen.
Beside him, Vaati was still gripping his arm. His fingers were wrapped tightly around it, and he didn't seem to have noticed that he was still holding Sheik. Vaati stared at where the robed man had once been, his eyes wavering and distracted.
Sheik tapped him gently on the shoulder, to which Vaati immediately snapped around. Then, he saw Sheik pointing to the grip on his arm, and Vaati's taut expression relaxed. His fingers loosened, but not before he helped Sheik sit down in front of the platform where the man had been, and passed him water from the pile of provisions left to them.
Vaati dropped himself down to sit next to Sheik, and then he cradled his head in his hands arduously. Next to him, Sheik wordlessly drank water from the canteen.
There was too much to think about.
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Sheik wasn't sure how much time had passed since the robed man had vanished within the sand storm that had come gusting through the entrance of the cave. The light coming in from the entrance had dimmed, and Sheik had already started a fire for the night.
The two of them had been tired from the walk across the desert, and not much conversation had passed between them while they both rested with open eyes in the shelter of the cave. Not only were they physically drained, but they were emotionally drained as well, and Vaati especially seemed to be affected. He'd retreated into himself, hunching his shoulders with a body language that clearly said he didn't want to be bothered by anyone for some time.
Sheik didn't blame him. He, too, was also distressed upon hearing from the man that nothing awaited them at the end of their journey except 'despair.' Thuban's promise that they would be granted answers at the end of their journey was the only thing that kept them going; the looming thought that perhaps it wasn't worth it certainly destroyed any motivation and hope.
He exhaled. He could hear the sound of the slithering starting up in the distance outside; a signal that the serpent, Ammit, was awake. He wasn't looking forward to the walk tomorrow which would undoubtedly be the toughest yet. Sheik rolled over on his stomach. They were going to need sleep in order to have enough energy for tomorrow, but he was hesitant about allowing himself to rest, unsure if he was ready to face the glimpses of his past after all the hints so far that suggested he wouldn't like what he saw. He glanced over at Vaati who was still sitting huddled up in a corner, poking at the fire with a stick from time to time.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who was having trouble falling asleep.
Vaati looked up, and their gaze met. He stopped poking at the fire for a bit, tossing the stick into the fire with a sigh. He'd been mulling over some thoughts, and his lips flattened as he turned away again, wondering if he should say anything or not. He looked like he wanted Sheik to say something first, but Sheik wasn't one to force conversations.
Vaati stood up and walked over to where Sheik was lying on the ground and sat next to him. "I need to make something clear," he said eventually. His words were slow and deliberate, like he was going over what he wanted to say several times in his head before he finally said them.
Sheik sat up. This was the first time since they'd encountered the man with the Keaton mask that Vaati seemed like he wanted to talk, and he wanted to let him know that he had his full attention.
"I don't care what he thinks of the truth," Vaati said. His voice had been uncertain at first, but they became more assured with time. He spoke now with that stubbornness that had gotten him this far across the desert. "We're going to keep going until we find out what in Din happened to us."
Sheik blinked, and he watched as Vaati's eyes narrowed into a determined glare as he stared into the fire. Then, Sheik smiled to himself and he nodded in agreement before he rested his chin on his knee.
Vaati was right; they couldn't give up. This seemed like an obvious thing, of course, since it wasn't like the two of them had anywhere else to go except forward. However, the conversation with the man earlier had caused a cloud of doubt to hang over their heads, their hearts heavy with the destructive thought, "what was the point?" It had been eating them up until now.
Vaati was right. They couldn't give up. It didn't matter if there was no point. They weren't pursuing their final destination for a happy ending: they were pushing onwards for the truth. It might be frightening, and it might not be something they wished they'd learned, but their past was their own and they deserved to reclaim it. Who were they, without their pasts?
From this point onward, they weren't going to let anyone, not Thuban or any mysterious masked people, to dissuade them from pursuing the truth.
"We'll keep going," Sheik affirmed. "I admit I had doubts, but we'll keep going."
"We're not giving up."
"No."
The heavy atmosphere between them seemed to lift, then. They weren't alone, they were in this together, and the task of making it across was less daunting with that thought. Until now, they'd both had some level of caution about the other: they were strangers, and they were both obstinately independent, not wanting to rely on anyone but themselves.
However, something had changed. Sheik wasn't entirely sure what had changed in this moment, but if he had to look back and think of when they started seeing each other as part of a team, this was it. Vaati was no longer just a 'stranger chained to his leg,' but a partner. Undoubtedly they were going to encounter more things that would try and break their resolve, and they were going to need to remind each other that they would earn the truth no matter what. It was them, together, against the strange and dangerous desert.
Sheik felt his neck nod down and his eyes were becoming heavy lidded. The fatigue was starting to hit, and his body was telling him to rest. "We should probably sleep soon," he said. They had a long walk ahead of them tomorrow. He looked over to where Vaati had sat next to him by the fire. Vaati's expression was still set in a glower, but his eyes were becoming unfocused. At the same time, he seemed determined not to fall asleep, and with every slow blink his glare towards the fire intensified. Vaati looked so focused on not falling asleep that he didn't seem to have heard what Sheik had said.
It took a while for Vaati to notice that Sheik was waiting for a response. He gave a small shake of his head, and then muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Haggard and worn, he rubbed his head against his knee, and he appeared reluctant to fall asleep regardless of how much he looked like he needed it.
Vaati rubbed his shoulders and shook his head again. It didn't escape Sheik's notice that there was a tremor in his shoulders, though he tried to hide it. "Damn it, it's cold," he muttered.
The desert night was cold, colder than it had been any night before, but Sheik had a feeling that there was more to it than the chill in the air: Vaati's fingers were digging into the folds of his tunic like claws as he sat huddled in front of the fire.
Sheik remembered the night before, with Vaati gripping on to his arm, tormented by something in his dreams.
Don't trap me there alone.
Sheik stirred, and tilted his head towards Vaati who was still hunched over by the fire, trying to remain awake for as long as possible. Then, the blonde took a small breath, and came to some kind of conclusion. No longer with the cautious hesitation that he'd had the night before, he reached across with a swift movement and draped an arm over Vaati's shoulders.
The action surprised Vaati, and he jerked away, trying to throw the arm off of him in a gut reaction.
"… It's cold," Sheik lied, ignoring Vaati's surprised scowl that demanded to know just what he was doing.
For a moment it looked like Vaati was going to shove him away, but time passed and he never did. Instead he went back to glowering at the fire with tired eyes, allowing Sheik's arm to rest around his shoulders. He made a show of being annoyed and he grunted irritably, but he acknowledged the gesture and seemed almost grateful for it. His shoulders became less tense, and the mistrusting glow in his eyes dimmed. His fingers were no longer claw-like or digging into his own arm.
After some time, Sheik felt a tentative weight press against his chest as Vaati's exhaustion got the best of him. He'd forfeit the cautious space that he'd maintained around himself, and had slowly, unknowingly, leaned against Sheik as though he were too tired to hold himself upright. He was so quiet that the only reason why Sheik knew that he hadn't fallen asleep was because he was still awake as well.
Sheik moved his arm in a more comfortable position around Vaati's shoulder, and then rested his own tired head back on his knee. Sheik tried not to drift off into sleep first, no matter how much his body demanded it, because he knew the reason why Vaati was determined to remain awake for a while longer.
"… Sheik."
Sheik opened his eyes. The gravity in Vaati's voice was concerning, and he lifted his head slightly to acknowledge that he was listening.
"I think we were enemies, once."
And there it was, the thought that both of them had been avoiding ever since the Grand Scribe's warning, and the confirmation from the robed man that their greatest enemy was neither the desert nor the serpent, but something much closer. Sheik's silence confirmed that he agreed with Vaati's suspicions.
Rather than create a rift between the two of them, the admission instead seemed to clear some of the air, to release the breath they'd both been holding. It was no longer suffocating.
Sheik buried his face into the shoulders leaned against him. He still said nothing in response, but instead gently tightened his hold around the other. He didn't understand why they were here or what they had done, but the fact that they had probably been enemies before was irrelevant now when they needed to get through this ordeal together. Vaati seemed to understand this as well.
He still hadn't pulled away yet.
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"I have been watching your progress. I am pleased how far you have come so far. Not everyone makes it as far as you have."
Sheik looked around wildly when he heard the hollow, echoing voice with the undertone of a growl that he identified as Thuban's. Vaati was no longer with him, and he felt an emptiness where the warm companionship was now missing. The chain around his ankles were no longer there. He stopped looking for him when he realized that there was something wrong with where he found himself.
He was floating in a black expanse dotted with what he assumed were stars. Within the dark murk of the void, he saw the same pair of golden eyes that he'd seen earlier within the sandstorm that had taken the robed man away. As soon as their eyes met, the outline of the black Keaton became clearer, until he was looking at the same fox he'd met when he'd first woken in the desert.
"Is this a dream?" Sheik asked Thuban, understanding that what he was seeing was not real. The last thing he remembered was fighting to stay awake, and he vaguely recalled succumbing and falling asleep. He'd fully expected to continue seeing more pieces of his past tonight, and was apprehensive to find instead the black Keaton before him.
Thuban confirmed with a nod. "I've decided to do something a little different tonight. I understand that your conversation with the Drifter had cast some doubt on the worth of travelling across the grueling desert to learn the truth. I wanted to give you another offer that would allow you to learn the truth without making the difficult journey across the sands. However, before I talk to you about my offer, I believe you have earned yourself a proper introduction."
With this, Thuban squared their shoulders and looked down their pointed nose at Sheik. Instantly there was an intimidating aura about them, kind of like the dry crackle of air just before a thunderstorm. It was the kind of aura that demanded attention, and for the second time Sheik had a passing thought that Thuban must be at least some kind of powerful spirit. Their gold ringed tail was curved slightly upwards, like a scorpion.
"I have many titles, but you may know me as Thuban, Arbiter of the Wastes," Thuban revealed, "I am the reigning deity of this place, and I have brought you and your companion here so I can judge your worth."
Sheik couldn't hide his frown. A god. This was worse than if Thuban had simply been a powerful spirit of some kind. He didn't remember anything about gods of course, but creatures that powerful could never be good news. This revelation didn't make him feel any better about their situation, and he was left with as many answers as he'd started with. What had he and Vaati done to gain the attention of a god?
"Am I allowed to ask just what kind of deity you are?" Sheik asked, already predicting the Keaton's answer. The response was exactly what he'd expected.
"You may ask, but do not expect answers."
Oh well. At least he'd tried.
"Now, for the offer," Thuban said. "The path ahead will become more difficult with every night. You are not guaranteed to survive, and very few ever make it to the end. However, I am willing to help you."
Sheik probably should have felt grateful about the prospect of help from a god, but he was having a hard time being sincerely enthusiastic about it. Perhaps it was because he, a mortal, couldn't understand the mannerisms of a god, but the stone-like stillness of the Keaton's face and the golden eyes that seemed to look past him, not at him, struck him as creepy and untrustworthy.
"I will return your memories and all the answers you seek in exchange for something I want. Not only that, but I will allow you to escape this desert. Normally I only extend an offer for truth, but because your actions have intrigued me, I will also allow you to find a way out of this place."
During the conversation, Thuban had leaned closer towards Sheik, scrutinizing his every reaction with curiosity. They watched Sheik's brows furrow in increasing unease, and their lips pulled back into the gold-fanged grin.
Sheik did his best not to appear rattled, but being that close to a supposed god that was highly unsettling. He wondered briefly just what kind of actions aside from simply trying to stay alive had piqued this god's curiosity, but his thoughts became distracted under the Keaton's golden gaze.
"And what is it that you want me to do?"
Suddenly, Sheik felt something cold touching his fingers, and he looked down to see that he was now holding a small object in his hands. It was a beautiful knife, with gold swirls following the gentle curve of the obsidian blade. He looked up again towards the black Keaton, his red eyes searching for an explanation regarding the weapon that was in his hands.
Thuban's unnerving grin hadn't shifted once during this time. Their fangs clacked together when they explained to Sheik the conditions of escaping the desert, as well as learning the truth.
A pit formed in Sheik's stomach when he heard Thuban's conditions.
fleets: I wrote this while I was at the airport (or, several airports…) on my way back home, and it took me until now to clean it up a little. Now that I'm far away from sand-land, I'll probably go back to focusing on Soulbound until that story is done before I come back here (maybe). I was writing this story until now because inspiration for this story was at an all-time high because I was living atop a sand dune for the past few weeks. I am no longer on a sand dune. Thank Thuban.
Thank you so much for reading!
SmashQueen: Make that a Keaton god :P
Serpent Tailed Angel: Ahhh I'm glad you like! I kind of got the idea for it halfway through writing Demonbound, and I wanted to incorporate that in a story somewhere :)
Icfehr: This story is definitely different from my usual stuff: I don't think the 'Adventure' tag is appropriate this time (unlike the rest of my stories) because it focuses more on the relationship/conflict between the protags than, uhhh, idk tangible events or something. Definitely a niche story.
AquilaMage: It does make me happy :D :D. All the gushiness is giving me that usual itch of wanting to instantly destroy my characters' happiness though. RIP.
(you mighttt be onto something).
