Disclaimer: Hey, get away from those peanuts, curse you!
Zelda got up from the ground and calmly placed her hand on Link's shoulder.
"He's gone. Forget about him." She whispered into his ear, trying to drag his stare away from the recently vacated inn window. Link was rather overwhelmed at this point. One of his closest friends was trying to seduce him, and the man he didn't know whether he loved or not just disappeared completely. He HAD to try and sort out these thoughts. Zelda trying to feel him up was NOT helping. In fact, she had caused all this! It was her fault! His anger reaching dangerous levels for the countless time that night, he shrugged her arm off violently.
"Stop this childish game now, Zelda!" He shouted, his azure gaze fierce. "You can't just barge into someone's life and steal away all that they hold dear to them!"
Striding past her and away at an alarmingly fast speed, he heard her call out to him but ignored it. He needed time to think.
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Link had returned to his inn room to collect his things silently. He was geared up to leave and was about to exit the front door again, but was tapped on the shoulder. Whirling around, he thought it might be Sheik, coming back to Link, forgetting what had just happened. But to no avail. It was Milly.
Link exhaled, finally. "Woah, don't scare me like that," She grinned.
"I could say the same. Being woken up at this ungodly hour! The youth of today." The blonde in front of her looked away.
"I apologize for that. But I must be going." Milly had questions for him, but knew that they had better be left unanswered for the subject was still delicate for the man.
"I understand. Please take care on your journeys, there will always be a place here for you." Link gave a small smile and a quick hug before he said his farewell and exited the inn. He then made his way to the stables next door, quietly swinging open the rickety wooden door and finding the stall Epona was housed in. He was greeted by a whicker and a nudge from her.
"No, I'm alright." He said, understanding the 'Epona' language few did. "Except we have to leave, and now." She blew softly at him. Patting her muzzle, he slid into the stall and hoisted her saddle that was hanging on the fence behind him onto her back. Double-checking the cinches and buckles on the saddle and the saddlebags, he finally got into the saddle. It was a familiar feeling he missed, having been riding so often. Now... he got to do it again. Guiding Epona out of the stables (not before closing the gate behind them), he stopped her just before the steps at the exit.
He gave one last look at Kakariko before turning slowly back to his horse and clucking at her to continue.
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Blip.
Blip, blip, blip.
Blip.
Rocks skimmed quickly over the surface of the water (often not getting very far, but hey, no-one's perfect.) The source of this was a blonde sitting at the edge of the small lake, sitting next to a small mountain of flat pebbles. His features were darkened by the night except for a small red flash occasionally spotted in his reflection of the water in front of him.
Sheik, to put in the least, was not peachy. He didn't know quite what to think. There was an internal battle going on now, and he hadn't a clue who was winning, who was losing and who might call a draw. All he knew is that he was being barged with questions he had no answers to.
Why was Link kissing Zelda? Did he love her instead?
What did I do wrong? No, this was his fault! Don't blame yourself for it!
But... I can't help it. He's obviously more important than me, and...
He couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and let out a brief shout of frustration of not knowing what to do for once. This scared him a little, as he was always the calm one in debates. Well, he had to be, getting stuck with a Princess with a short temper... Princesses... fairytales... Always the one to delve into books when a child, stay up late asking for one more story before he was put to sleep... yet none of the stories entailed what to do in this sort of situation. Before he was assigned to the Princess, he was a sought after suitor, somewhat. The Sheikah girls were always giggling behind his back. He managed to escape them, 9 times out of 10, and on that 10th time he tried to fake an illness or injury to get out of it. It may have seemed harsh, but Sheik was the kind of man to sit inside, reading or writing. A scholar of sorts. Now it had come down to this...
What was he to do?
Walking into the forest from which he had came, he absorbed into the shadows, fighting the battles he had fought a million times over this night.
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Epona was eating grass. Damn fine grass at that too. It had rained a few hours earlier, and to this particular horse, there was nothing finer in life than wet, green grass. She kept one eye over Link, who had stopped under a shading of trees around half an hour ago. At the present moment, he was arranging firewood and trying to get it to catch. He was not using language that would be suitable for children. Noticing Epona's watch, he looked up and smiled lopsidedly.
"I'd use Din's spell, but I fear it'd start a small forest fire."
Epona just snorted. At least her master had a flickering of intelligence. Link struck the flint one more time over the wood and the spark caught in the kindling. Blowing on it to spread the fire, soon it was roaring heartily.
Link grinned. "Hallelujah!" Epona was not amused.
It was a good hour or so before a familiar ball of light made her presence known. Epona was snoozing, and Link was eating some bread he had picked up on his way out of Kakariko. He immediately stopped when he saw who was floating in front of his face.
"Navi!"
"That is my name, yes." The fairy wanted to snort, but refrained.
"What are you doing here?"
The ball of light with wings managed to look sarcastic. "What do you think? Link, I'm your partner. I care about you, all right? No matter what happens between us."
After this was said, Link immediately felt guilty about what he had said to her earlier. He looked down at the grass in front of him. It was mighty interesting, he granted it that. No wonder Epona ate the stuff by the truckload.
"Look, about earlier Navi... I'm really sorry about what I said." The fairy landed on his shoulder.
"Hey, no hard feelings, right? That's what friends are for!" She said energetically. Link had the strongest urge to start laughing at this cheesy statement.
"Right."
That was it; the fun of the moment was gone. Link went to the supplies and detached his bedroll from it, spreading it out in front of the fire. Slipping his boots off, he crawled in and stared at the orange flames in front of him. He felt so alone, sleeping without those protective arms around him... he felt... empty. No matter what he tried, he just could NOT get thoughts leading back to Sheik out of his mind.
"Sheik, huh?" Navi whispered, from her resting place in Link's hat. Link gave her a crazy look.
"Do you have a sixth sense or something?"
This time Navi really did laugh. "Hardly. It doesn't take an Einstein to piece together tonight's happenings and your feelings right now." Link visibly winced. "Oh, hey, I'm sorry... I didn't mean it like that."
The blonde shook his head. "No, it's alright. I just... ah! I don't know!"
"Want to talk about it?"
"What is there to talk about? How did you know about Sheik dis... Disappearing anyway?"
Navi sighed. "Let's just say I was close by. And there is plenty to talk about. Sometimes it helps, y'know."
"I just... don't know what happened tonight, Navi... or why Sheik ran off." Link thought aloud, moving further into his bedroll as the wind picked up a little. Navi looked at him.
"Don't you think you're being a little hard on him? He saw you, the person to which he confessed his heart to, kissing someone else. Reverse your places."
This took Link a few minutes. Seeing Sheik with someone else... would be worse than a sword directly to his chest. Is that how Sheik really felt when he saw him with Zelda?
Navi decided to continue. "When someone gives you their heart like that, they know that they are vulnerable and might be hurt badly. But few are often prepared for it to happen. Whether you were willing into that kiss or not, it hurt him a great deal."
Of course I wasn't willing! Link thought sadly, wondering where Sheik was at the moment. If all that he was told was true...
"Oh gods, Navi. I think I've messed up. Horribly." Link bit his lip. "How do I fix it?"
He's so naive sometimes, Navi thought jokingly, but still worried about her master and a person she had come to count as a friend somewhere out there.
"Well, Link... you know the Sheikah. They're a people bred for hiding. I'm afraid... unless you spend the entirety of your life searching for him; we won't find him again unless he comes back to us. After being wounded by someone you love so much, it may be quite some time if he does at all." Navi hated to say that, but Link was young and inexperienced. Not all bedtime stories are pretty. She could hear the blonde next to her choking back a sob, and she immediately whizzed over to his shoulder.
"C'mon, Link, it'll be alright... if the bond between you two is true, then you have nothing to worry about." She persisted, trying to reassure him. He looked at her and half-smiled, though he eyes were full of uncried tears. Tears he would never let fall, not the Hero of Time... he had to save face. Be strong for everyone else.
"Thank you, Navi." She grinned and nestled back into Link's hat.
"Now let's get some damned sleep."
Augh! I'm so sorry about the late chapter! It's been nearly a month since I updated. Yes, I'm a horrible horrible person. -avoids things being thrown at her- But here we are- the 10th chapter of the Needs of the Many xP I never thought it'd come so far! So thank you to everyone that has supported me along the way :D
nikyo: Thankyou :3 I'm not all for hating Zelda, sometimes she's a cool character, but not in yaoi stories xD.
Atanvarne: Cliffhangers are what makes the world go round.:D
sabre-chan: Link plushie?! Where's mine?
Koume: Getting caught in the act NEVER gets old, I agree xP Thank you!
DarkLink107: Poor Link, he's so naive and confused. Hmm, as I said earlier, Zelda can be cool, but for this fic... -puts on her SWAT team gear- Let's roll!
Chibi Sheik: Thanks for your reviews :D Yus, poor Sheik... he's all alone at the moment. TT
Esteban T. Rodriguez: I ALWAYS play as Sheik when I play Super Smash Bros, and I have only been beaten by three people, Roy, Marth and... ZELDA. Do you know of that move when you're Zelda that transports you practically all the way across the map? It's like, a quadruple jump. o-o Ebil. I love Star Trek :P I didn't realize that that quote was in here, until you mentioned it. Neat quotes, thank you! -files them away-
Everywhere Yet Nowhere: Thankyoou. Sorry for keeping you up so late last time, but I thought you should see what you helped me to write. Thanks again for the dedication you've given me. :3