DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the Legend of Zelda-characters, locations, plot, etc. It is all property of Nintendo. I am only writing a story based off of the game.
Chapter seven
Prelude of Light
Sheik needed a distant place to think where he could be alone. Not just away from the Princess of Hyrule, but far from prying eyes as well. He just wanted to sit down by himself and collect his thoughts, and the one place he could think of when he panicked in Kakariko and warped away was the Temple of Time. The temple was peaceful and quiet: just what Sheik wanted.
Being here involved a very high risk, yes, but he figured being anywhere was now a risk in some way. He wasn't afraid to be here, even though it was very close to Ganon's Tower. Ganon had no desire to enter the Temple of Time. He had already stolen the Triforce of Power, and therefore, had no need to be here the place that acted as a gateway to the Sacred Realm. Once Link awakens all the Sages, Ganondorf, being the epitome of evil, could not step foot in here. He might send his servants to the temple, but that didn't scare Sheik.
Yes, Impa might scold Sheik for being here without direct orders, but he didn't mind. He knew his aunt only yelled at him when she was frustrated or worried. He was a lot like his aunt in that way.
—
Sheik walked up to where he was sitting before the Hero of Time appeared—behind the Pedestal of Time. He leant back against it and brought his knees to his chest, closing his eyes to think. However did he think this was going to work: getting close to Link like this? Sheik saw how Link reacted to when he found out Saria was gone! If Link believes Sheik is his friend—
—Sheik groaned and buried his head in his knees. By thinking that he was implying the Hero of Time thought of him as a friend.
That is so vain. I really think the Hero of Time would be upset when I leave? he thought. Please. The Hero knows I am just his Guide. And by the time I leave, he will have already reunited with Zelda. I'm thinking too highly of myself. Link isn't going to care...
A long time later, Sheik stood up. His plan to collect his thoughts seemed all for naught.
He was usually so good and steeling himself against thoughts and feelings like this, choosing to bury them in the fact that he was a Sheikah. He was a warrior that swore to serve Hyrule. Not someone who let petty emotions and stupid thoughts get in his way. But why couldn't he do that now?
Sheik turned to make for the entrance before he started throwing the Spiritual Stones, when something stopped him in his tracks. He finally realized that Link was no longer in Kakariko. In fact, he was—
The Hero came tearing into the Temple of Time and ran to the alter, but stopped dead upon seeing Sheik. He grinned sheepishly and turned a little pink when he realized he didn't wipe the panicked look from his face before entering.
"I couldn't find you," Link said softly, walking up the stairs and through the Door of Time.
Sheik didn't answer. He was still cursing himself mentally for not realizing where Link had gotten to. Some Guide he was. What if Link had already started up Death Mountain?
Have I really been in the temple long enough for him to reach it? Apparently so.
—
Now that Sheik could focus on other things—other than the fact that he was mad at himself and the Hero, he could say that he had spent close to an hour in the temple. For a normal person, it took at least two hours to travel from Kakariko to Castle Town.
Could Link's horse really be that fast? Or did he leave immediately after I did? Sheik wondered, and then the heat of anger rose up in him. What was the Hero doing here?
Link cleared his throat, interrupting his Guide. "Sheik?" he asked quietly as he came closer.
"It is very dangerous for you to be here now, Hero!" Sheik said harshly. Just like Impa, he was angry because he was worried, and he was mad because he was afraid for Link to be here. "Ganondorf seeks to kill you, and you think it wise to walk straight into the Temple where the enemy is less than a mile away!? I have already saved your life once today!" he continued, not meaning to shout.
"You're here!" Link replied, hotly, almost matching the volume of Sheik's voice.
Sheik glowered at him, as if daring the Hero to argue with an angry Sheikah.
After a few moments of staring each other down, Link dropped his gaze to his long feet as though he were embarrassed again.
"I just wanted to... I just... I came to f-find you," he muttered. "I'm sorry, Sheik. I-I'll leave if you want."
The Hero made no move to leave, though. He glanced up at Sheik from under his eyelashes and the cold wall around the Sheikah's heart melted.
Sheik sighed and shook his head.
"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice a little softer now. Why would Link ever want to come find me? And why would he come here? Does he not know how much danger he is in? Is he really that thick? The stubborn and oblivious Sheikah would soon realize how endearing the Hero was being.
Link looked away again. "I didn't get to thank you properly..."
Thank me? He doesn't have to thank me. It is my duty to protect him, Sheik thought. As a matter of fact, as his Guide, Sheik should've been slightly offended that The Hero of Time wants to thank him for doing such a small part of his job, but Sheik wasn't even close to being offended. No...he was touched that Link was grateful.
"There is no need to risk your life only because you wish to 'thank me'," Sheik said calmly.
Now it was Link's turn to shake his head, his soft blonde hair swishing around his face, along with his long green hat. "Not only did you save my life, but you took care of me," he continued. "You didn't have to—"
"I had to," Sheik interrupted, but his voice was still calm. "It is my duty as your Guide to protect you."
Link smiled slightly and slowly walked up to the Master Sword's platform. He then did something Sheik never thought in a million years he'd do: he descended on the Sheikah and swept him up into the tightest hug he had ever received.
The Hero of Time... was actually hugging Sheik. Link still thought of himself as a child, and this was the only way he knew how to express gratitude, so that's not what surprised Sheik. Should I hug him back? he wondered. Two sides of his brain started to argue, but he blocked them out. Truth be told, he would have preferred to hug Link under his arms, but the Hero's sword and shield wouldn't allow it; so he wrapped his arms around Link's neck.
The embrace melted all Sheik's cold feelings and worries away. He patted Link's back, enjoying the warmth his body offered—
Sheik gave a twitch when he realized what he was doing and released Link quickly, but the Hero would not let go.
"Thank you, Sheik," he whispered, and then backed away after giving him one last squeeze.
Sheik could almost feel the heat coming off Link's face, and he smiled under his cowl; glad he wasn't the only one blushing.
"It was nothing, Hero."
"No!" Link said, a bit more loudly than he had planned. "You saved my life, Sheik. How can I ever thank you enough?"
There was no hesitation in Sheik's answer.
"Save this land," Sheik said quietly.
Link's eyes widened for a moment, but then a determined look crossed his face and he nodded. He looked very different from the child that had hugged Sheik moments before. "I will."
—
"How did you find me, exactly?" Sheik asked, crossing his arms. There was no possible way Link could sense Sheik in the way the Sheikah sensed the Hero, right? That wasn't how it worked. Only Sheik's soul was bound to the Hero's. Link's soul wasn't bound to his Guide's... was it?
Link pointed behind him at the large Triforce platform. "I remembered that there's one of those platform things in here."
Sheik looked around him; slightly relieved about his answer. "Ah yes. Those are placed throughout Hyrule..."
"That's where I warped because of the Minuet of Forest you taught me..." Link muttered.
"And so you thought to look here first?"
Link nodded.
Smart boy.
"As I said: those platforms are placed throughout Hyrule. They mark the Great Temples," Sheik began. "You may have destroyed the wicked creatures that haunted the Forest Temple and awakened your friend as the Sage... But there are still other Sages that need your help. Therefore, you will find more of those platforms marking the rest of the temples."
Link was paying his full attention to Sheik, to which the Sheikah was thankful.
"In order to awaken all the other Sages, you must become even more powerful," Sheik informed him. "You must travel over mountains... under water... and even through time..."
"Through time?" Link echoed.
Sheik nodded. "If you want to return to your original time, return the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time. By doing this, you will travel back in time seven years..."
"I will?" the Hero asked, looking bewildered.
"But listen to me," Sheik said, suddenly becoming very stern. "If you are to go back in time, you cannot tell anyone what has happened in the future. Live life as it was before you skipped ahead seven years. Am I understood?"
Link put a hand on Sheik's shoulder and stared him straight in the eyes. "I understand completely. It could mess up the flow of time, right?" He grinned.
Sheik blinked. He didn't expect Link to understand so easily. Smart boy... "...correct."
Link beamed at him; clearly happy and surprised that he was right.
"Hero... you must also understand..." Sheik started, quietly. "That going back in time... will not bring your friend back. She has ascended, and is now a sage for life."
Emotion flickered across the Hero's handsome face, as if Sheik had crushed all his dreams, but then was replaced with a watery smile. "...I know."
Sheik looked down at his feet: wishing things could be different.
—
"Talon went back to the ranch," the Hero announced a few minutes of awkward silence later; desperate to fill it.
Sheik smiled back at him. "That's good to hear. How did you explain the fate of his ranch-hand?"
"Uh..." Link scratched the back of his neck, but before he could answer, his fairy appeared from his hat.
"Hey! You found him!" Navi squeaked, fluttering around Sheik.
"Yeah, I did," Link said to her. "And... I didn't tell him, Sheik."
Sheik's brow creased and he fell silent again. Talon might be another person to think of a Sheikah as a mindless killer, and now when he turns up at the ranch and Malon tells him that Sheik killed his ranch-hand—
"I'm sure Malon will tell him what happened," the Hero said softly, watching Sheik.
No response.
"Look, Talon hated the guy! He knew he was evil. He told me that the first time I ran into him in Kakariko," Link continued. "And if Malon tells him that Ingo tried to kill me, he'll understand."
Link put a gentle hand back on Sheik's shoulder, and that move made Sheik look up.
"What do you think they will do with his body?" he asked.
"Who? Ingo?" Link scoffed, removing his hand from Sheik to put it on his hip. "I don't really care! Feed him to the vultures, like you said." He winked.
Sheik fell silent yet again. He didn't know how to respond to that. That smile. Those eyes... That voice... He's just a child, Sheik, said the reasonable voice in the back of his mind. And he's just doing childish things. Like smelling my hair... hugging me... winking.
"So... I can really return to my original time just by putting my sword back?" Link asked, breaking their silence.
Oh, yes... that's what we were talking about, Sheik thought; he had momentarily forgotten. "Yes..." he said. I guess it wouldn't hurt to teach him the song that I wrote to warp here, would it? "...and I suppose you would like to know how to return here quickly?"
Link smiled brightly and nodded.
Sheik took a step back and called his harp into existence. Seconds later, the golden instrument appeared in a few soft sparks of light.
Link stared at it incredulously with wide eyes. "How did you do that?"
Sheik smirked from under his cowl. "Before I teach you the song to return you to the Temple of Time; know that you are not safe here. Not yet, anyway. But the time will come when you will return here quickly. This is the song... the Prelude of Light."
The song Sheik had written three years ago for the Temple of Time was played on the higher strings of his harp. It was short, sweet, and to the point, but also very beautiful. After Sheik had played through the song twice, Link picked up on it just like the last time: his ocarina playing soon following. But this time as the played together, Sheik watched Link. The Hero's eyes were closed, truly as if he had lost himself in the song. He swayed slightly side to side as he played, and a soft smile could been seen even though his lips were closed around the Ocarina.
Once the music ended, Link sighed and opened his eyes. He looked up at Sheik from under his thick eyelashes just like he did when he first entered, and put the Ocarina of Time away.
"That was just as beautiful as the last, Sheik," he said quietly.
"Th-thank you... Hero," Sheik stammered, cringing on the inside for stuttering. It was charming when Link did it, but not when his Guide did. It was very unprofessional. Link was just so—he couldn't even explain it. That just happened when you were around someone as important as Link, he guessed.
The Hero did not answer, he was staring unseeing at the floor.
"Is there something wrong?" Sheik asked him.
Link shook his head. "...no," he choked out.
"It would be better for the both of us if you voice what is troubling you, Hero," Sheik said in his familiar wise tone, he didn't like to see Link sad.
The Hero took a deep shuddering breath and looked up. It was obvious he was trying not to cry in front of the Sheikah again.
"It's just... everything."
"I assume... once you defeated the evil of the Forest... the Great Deku Tree has grown a sprout?" Sheik asked quietly.
Link nodded, looking away.
"And that sprout has told you... everything, has it not?"
"Yes," Link whispered to his feet.
Sheik closed his eyes.
Link was just a child. A child who has gone through things no one mentally ten years old should. First he wakes up completely grown and without a childhood. Seconds he sees the state Hyrule is in. Third he goes home and his friends don't recognize him. Fourth he loses his best friend. Fifth learns he's been lied to his entire life about his race... Will it ever stop? Probably not.
"I'm so sorry," Sheik whispered back, eyes still shut.
Link sniffed and tilted his head back to fight the tears, blinking hard. "It's not your fault, Sheik."
He's right, Sheik thought. It's the goddesses. They did this to him...to an innocent child... How could they?
"I'm okay," Link muttered. "J-just... dealing."
Before the Sheikah knew what he was doing, he had dropped his harp on the ground, took two steps forward, and wrapped his arms around Link's neck again. He heard the Hero gasp with shock and Sheik tried to back away, but Link was already hugging his Guide so tightly it prevented him from doing so.
The Hero's warmth—which Sheik could get used to—encased him again. He relaxed and felt Link do the same.
"You shouldn't have to deal with this," Sheik whispered.
Surprisingly, Link pulled away first and gave him another determined look. "But I am."
That made Sheik feel utterly foolish yet again. Link could deal with this on his own. He didn't need a hug from his Guide. His cheeks burned with embarrassment. Why in Hyrule did he think that would cheer Link up?
"But... thank you for that," Link added in that alluring voice only the Hero could pull off, staring at Sheik as if he could see that he was blushing. "That helps."
All this time, Navi hadn't uttered a word, which was strange for the little fairy. She merely observed from above their heads. She could tell there was something weird between them; and not weird in the bad way either. It was a sort of...tension...she couldn't explain it.
"You're welcome, Hero," Sheik murmured, waving him off and turning away to pick his harp back up; battling his blush to stay hidden. Idiot. You probably scratched it, and for what? he thought bitterly.
"You know you can call me Link, right?" Link's voice came up right behind the Sheikah.
Sheik spun around and took a step back. "Hmph..." was all he replied. No he couldn't. He had in the past, but he wasn't supposed to.
Link opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't, so closed it again. He wouldn't look at Sheik anymore. "Really, Sheik... I'd rather you call me by my name."
"And why is that?" Sheik asked, raising an eyebrow.
Link shrugged. "I mean, it's nice when you call me, 'Hero,' and all... I like it, thanks... But it's fine to just call me by my name... like a— a friend." He gave Sheik an uncertain grin.
Sheik just stood there, clutching his harp to his chest. "You... think of...me—?"
He couldn't believe it. The Hero of Time, bearer of the Triforce of Courage... thought of his Guide as a friend. Someone that important, someone with that much power over Sheik, really just wanted to be his friend. How sweet was Link?
"As a friend? Yeah," Link muttered, helping his Guide finish his sentence. "Do you... think of me as one?"
Oh, bloody hell, Sheik thought. Am I even allowed? Is he giving me permission? No. This is wrong. Link can find a friend somewhere else. Not his Guide.
"Link..." he whispered his name, deciding whether or not he should keep using it. It did feel good to call the young Hylain boy by his name, but as his Guide, Sheik shouldn't disgrace the Chosen Hero like that. It just wasn't right.
Link's head snapped up and he beamed when Sheik said his name. But the Sheikah had other plans.
He conjured up enough magic to distance himself as far away from Link as he could. "I'll see you again..." he said, and then slammed his magic down in a flash of light.
He was gone.
To be continued...
I should change the genre from Adventure to Angst. Just kidding, but really, Sheik—lighten up for once!
Thank you for the reviews! I know this chapter's short, but it kind of makes up for the novel that I posted the other day.
