Chapter Nine

~Link's POV~

I hold Nicole as she cries. It's all my fault. If I hadn't left, none of this would've happened. She might have died if I hadn't gotten to Salazar first. Although she wasn't doing too bad with that knife.

Eventually she stops crying. I realize she's fallen asleep from the exhaustion.

I sigh. This is all my fault.

I gather her up in my arms and walk over to Epona, who neighs affectionately. I mount her and make sure Nicole is in no danger of falling off, and we start off to the Pirate Stronghold again.

When we reach it, Sheik sits on his horse waiting for us. He stayed behind to get rid of the rest of the pirates. Smoke drifts from the stronghold, and fires dot the windows. He must've used a bomb.

He looks at me with worry and relief written on his face. "I was getting worried. You've been gone for at least a half hour. What happened?"

"I killed Salazar," I say. I really don't want to talk about his death. Thankfully Sheik can see that and doesn't push the topic.

He nods his head at Nicole. "She okay?"

"She's fine. Cut Salazar with a knife, actually."

He smiles. " I like her. Okay then, let's start off to that next temple of yours."

"You're coming too?" I ask surprised.

"Sure. I don't have anything else to do. I can't get to Zelda yet, because of all the high security surrounding the castle. I can't even get through the front gates. Me! Besides, you're my best friend. I wouldn't let you go face your almost certain death all by yourself."

I grin. It'll be nice having Sheik along for the ride. "Welcome aboard."

~Normal POV~

Two voices whisper softly to the left of me. One of them laughs. I'm pretty sure that one is Link, but I don't quite recognize the other one. He's male, that much I can tell. The heat of a fire warms my face, and the lack of other light behind my eyelids suggests it's night. How long have I been asleep?

I open my eyes, which burn a little because of my crying. One of the many reasons I hate crying. I frown and rub at them. I'm lying on the soft earth with a scratchy blanket draped over me. The two boys have their backs to me. The other voice turns out to be Sheik. They laugh again. Woah. I didn't think Sheik could laugh...

I slowly sit up. Link hears me and turns around.

"Good! You're awake! I was beginning to get scared that you were sick or something."

I get up and walk over to them with the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders. It may be scratchy but at least it provides a little warmth. I didn't know the woods could get so cold at night. "No, I'm fine."

Sheik turns around and my jaw drops. Oh no way... "Hi Nicole. I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Sheik." He holds his hand out.

I take it, gaping at his exposed face. He took his scarf off! No way! He never does that! He looks similar enough to Link that they could be brothers. Both have blue eyes, blonde hair (his is a more sun bleached though), even similar facial features, except he's way tanner. I guess it's a Sheikah thing? But Sheik seems a little older, and he's more muscular. He raises his eyebrows in confusion. Probably at my staring. Woah again. He has facial expressions?

"Umm, is there something on my face?"

I snap out of my surprise at seeing his face. "No, sorry! Yeah, it's nice to meet you. It's just that you've never taken your scarf off before. It's kind of weird."

He looks at me with a confused expression. "We've met?"

Link laughs. "She's met you, but not the other way around. Remember how I told you that this is a video game in her world? You're a character. Sorry, should've explained that better."

"Oh," Sheik says, suddenly understanding. "I never take my scarf off? That's weird. I take it off all the time. Well, I mean, not in public, but I still take it off. It isn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world."

"Well, you know there's a reason."

"There is?"

I turn to Link. "You didn't tell him about his dual roles, huh?"

Link shakes his head. "I was saving it for you to tell him. You can explain it better than me."

"Explain what?" Sheik asks, confused once again.

"Wait I don't want to explain it to him. You said you're BFFs, you explain it." I say.

"What does BFFs mean?" Link asks.

"Wait, explain what?" Sheik asks again, sounding a little frantic.

I turn back to him. "Uh, well this may come as a bit of a shock, but you're a girl."

He frowns at me. "Excuse me?"

"Not right now!" I add hastily. "I mean, you don't look feminine in any way! Definitely a guy! I meant in the game."

"Excuse me?" He says again, frowning deeper.

"Oh, and not just any girl," Link adds, seeming to enjoy Sheik's confusion. "Zelda."

"What?!"

I awkwardly explain to him about how Zelda turned into him in Ocarina Of Time to hide from Ganondorf. He's shocked, but doesn't totally freak out. He gets close though. Then I tell him that in Super Smash Bros. Brawl he actually appears as a girl, as well as Zelda's other identity, and he loses it.

"I'm a girl?! And not just any girl, but the girl I'm engaged to?! What idiot came up with that idea?!" He cries. Link's laughing hysterically at him.

"Yeah," I tell him, trying hard to not laugh myself. "I'm sorry, I know it's super weird."

He shakes his head. "I can't believe this."

Link gets up takes the pot off the fire, still chuckling and wiping tears from his eyes. It smells wonderful. He hands a bowl to me. This time the soup has meat in it, and it is wonderful. I never thought that Link would be a good cook.

"Where's Navi?" I ask Link as we eat.

"Where else would she be?" He points to his hat. "As soon as we told her you were okay she was out like a light. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to sleep that much before I met her."

I laugh. Speaking of sleep, I notice for the first time that the two boys look absolutely exhausted. Especially Link. They both have circles under their eyes, which are getting bloodshot. I realize that Link has barely had any sleep within the last 24 hours, if at all. He's probably running on fumes. And yet he insists he takes the first guard shift.

"No you're not, Link." Sheik says. "You've had almost no sleep in the past day. Or in the past week, I'm sure. For Hyrule's sake Link, how much sleep have you gotten since you started this whole thing?"

"Okay, okay Sheik!" Link holds his hands up in surrender. "Yes, I haven't gotten that much sleep in the past two months, but I'm fine."

"Yeah, judging from the circles under your eyes I bet you're just a walking ball of energy."

"You look just as tired as me!"

"Yeah, but I'm a Sheikah. We're trained for days without sleep."

Link sighs in annoyed defeat. "Okay, fine, Sheik, you can take the first watch. Happy?"

"And the second."

"No. I'll take the second."

"Neither of you are taking the watch." They both turn to look at me. "Honestly, you both look like the undead. I've been asleep basically all day, I feel great. I'll take all the watches, however many there are. You're both going to sleep tonight."

"Absolutely not!" Link says. "You don't have any experience with weapons."

"Oh come on, I know how to handle them! I got Salazar in the cheek! I control you killing monsters all the time!" I reply. I meant for it to be a joke, but Link obviously doesn't catch on and still looks doubtful. "If I see or hear anything weird I'll just wake you both up. Easy peasey. I'll be fine."

Link still looks like he wants to argue, but Sheik beats him, obviously eager to get some sleep. I bet he's been up for about a week too. "Okay, I like that plan. Get us up the second you see anything wrong. Night!" And with that he gets a blanket from his pouch and settles on the ground. Within three minutes he's snoring.

~X~

I've watched the woods for a couple of hours. Straining my ears for any unnatural sound, but the only thing I hear is Sheik's snores and Link's slow breathing. It's pretty peaceful. No monsters yet.

I don't really feel tired. The events of the past day run through my mind. I almost died. If it wasn't for Link I probably would've died. Yes, it scared me half to death, but at the same time it was thrilling in a way. Talk about an adrenaline rush. Not that I'd want to do it again, but it was interesting to experience what I put the video game Link through every time I played the games.

I really need to take some kind of lessons from Link on how to use a sword, though. I don't want to be caught in that kind of situation again unprepared.

I start humming softly to break the monotony of Sheik and Link. Or, maybe just Sheik.

"That's a nice song," I hear Link whisper from behind me.

I jump. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

He shakes his head. "No, I've been awake for few minutes. I told you I should've took watch."

I smile. "Well, you've been asleep for about four hours, so as far as I'm concerned it was a good choice."

Link gets up and comes over to sit by me. "So, what does BFFs mean?"

I laugh. "Best friends forever."

"Oh. Not as epic as I thought it would be, but okay."

"What did you think it meant?"

"I don't know. Battle familiar fiends? Best freaking fighters?" I laugh again. "Maybe one day I'll be able to see your world, play the video games."

"Are you sure you want to? You'll basically be playing yourself."

He scrunches his eyebrows together. "Yeah, that's a good point. That would be awkward."

"Very."

"But still, I want to try that drink you told me about."

"Soda?"

"Yeah. I still don't believe it tastes better than pumpkin soup."

"Oh ye of little faith, don't knock it till you try it."

We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"Link?"

"Yes?"

"Was that the first person you've killed? Besides monsters, I mean."

Silence. Then, "Yes."

"Was it hard?"

"Yes." Then he turns to look at me. "And no. He would've killed you. But still, I'm not proud of it."

"Thanks, by the way. For everything."

He smiles. "You're welcome."