Waking Delirium

Day 1.

After ridding the village of the threat of enemy assailants, most everyone had retired to their houses as the storm had picked up again. Some of the men were still outside clearing up debris and keeping watch to see if any more monsters decided to visit.

Link and Vaati had pulled back to their house with Marickiya who was still out cold. They laid her out on Vaati's bed to keep an eye on her. Link was the one who cleaned her bloodied knuckles and the mud off of her face. The two hadn't spoken since Vaati's outburst.

Link turned away from his work to look over at the mage. After unleashing his magic on the monsters, he had fallen to his knees in an exhausted heap. He had been helped inside by some of the villagers that were brave enough to approach him. After setting down Marickiya, Link grabbed a blanket and handed it to Vaati, who took it wordlessly. He looked paler than usual and was soaked to the bone. Then he went back to Marickiya's side and for a while hadn't heard anything from the other occupant of the room. No words or even movement, though when he looked over he saw that he was sitting at the bottom of the stairs facing him with the blanket draped over his shoulders. He just stared ahead, unseeingly, with his arms resting on his knees, clutching the covers. Link wasn't sure if he was simply tired or if there was something else going on in his head, and wasn't confident enough to ask him about it.

He wanted to thank him for what he had done to save the townsfolk earlier and he was sure everyone else felt thankful for him as well. He wanted to talk, but by the looks of him, Vaati wasn't in a chatting mood. He would have to do it later. He switched his attention back to Marickiya.

Though she appeared fine now, the fact that she wasn't awake distressed him. He had definitely felt no heartbeat when he checked her over at the grave site. Whatever Vaati had done had brought it back but Link had never seen anything like that done before. It was amazing. At the same time though, he wondered if it had something to do with why she had not yet opened her eyes.

She had gone through quite an ordeal and he understood that she needed to rest. All he could do was wait.

...

Vaati felt cold. It pierced every inch of his skin and nothing he did could warm him. He was vulnerable in many ways. If they were to be attacked, he was unsure if he would even be able to defend himself. That frightened him.

He had overdone it. The power he displayed was just about as powerful as he got without seriously hurting himself. He felt weak. Even Link had noticed. He kept glancing back at him with a concerned expression that was unbecoming of him. He never cared before, why would he suddenly begin to show he cared? It probably had something to do with the outburst of magic he had displayed. He couldn't decide if he believed Link was afraid of him, or thankful for what happened. He settled on deciding what he thought later.

He wasn't just physically vulnerable, his emotions were running rampant in his weakened state. He had been rattled severely.

Marickiya had died. She had been utterly lifeless. And he had been connected to her when it happened. Remembering the shift of life to death it chilled him to his soul. It felt as if an icy blade was slowly penetrating him through his chest.

If he hadn't managed to kick start her heart into beating again, he would have been haunted by her stillness for the rest of his life. It was already agony for him and he guessed it would stay that way until she opened her eyes again.

Night fell without missing a beat. Marickiya hadn't stirred once. He thought someone had stopped by to offer food. He had barely noticed until Link set a bowl of some warm liquid next to him, still without speaking. It was several more hours of darkness before any words were spoken. Link's head was nodding as he sat back in his chair with his arms crossed. Vaati stood, his legs feeling as if they were made of the densest stone. It was such a struggle to make them carry him over to the Hylian. He walked up quietly and placed a hand on Link's shoulder to rouse him. Link started, his eyes opened and stared at Marickiya with the same blank expression he imagined he himself bore earlier.

"I will watch over her, Link. You can sleep if you need to." All he received in response was a bleary nod, then he ambled off to his bed and plopped down on top of the covers.

Thunder rolled through the sky outside to go with Link's soft snoring. It would have been another sleepless night anyway.

Day 2.

The storm had let up, but in its wake was left annoyingly dull clouds that hung tauntingly low in the sky. The very air stuck to the skin.

Vaati's mood hadn't lightened in the slightest during the night, even with the storm's absence. His body hadn't yet fully recovered from the day before, and was still feeling weakened. That, coupled with the fact that he was going on about two days with a very minimal amount of sleep, put him in a very sour mood.

Link had gotten up just as the sun was shining its first light of the day, not looking rested at all. He approached the mage and Marickiya and with a look, asked of her condition. Vaati gave a small shake of his head.

"Do you want me to take over watch?" Link asked. For a reason unknown to him, Vaati felt the pit of his stomach burn. Memories of Link belittling him, looking down on him, punching him, were all that went through his mind. Without showing it, he shook his head again.

"No. I will stay." He said finitely. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Link stiffen for a moment, then he walked to the kitchen table and took a seat.

Throughout the day, Link tried making small conversation. Vaati knew he was feeling very uncomfortable about the situation they were in, but he just couldn't contribute anything worthwhile to the exchanges. He would either give very curt replies or just hum to show he was listening. Link, at least two or three more times, suggested Vaati take a break from his watch, which caused that fire to flare in his chest. After continually declining out loud, he just stopped responding to Link's propositions entirely.

By mid afternoon, they were both very much sick of the others' presence, even more so than before.

"Would you just stop?" Vaati snapped when Link said something about him needing sleep. He blinked a few times then looked aggravated.

"Stop what?" This riled the mage even more.

"Stop being so concerned with my well-being. It is unnecessary." Vaati attempted to go back to brooding with his arms crossed, but Link wasn't finished.

"All I am saying is that you have not slept since yesterday and there's no need to push yourself." Vaati clenched a fist that held the blanket around his shoulders.

"I do not need your sympathy."

Vaati jumped, his heart racing, when Link slammed his fists on the table.

"Your attitude is starting to piss me off! It isn't doing anything to help," Link shouted at the sorcerer's back.

"And you believe yelling at me is helping?" Vaati still refused to turn around. Link walked over to him and lowered his voice.

"What's really bothering you?" It wasn't a concerned question, he commanding him to talk. Vaati wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Nothing bothers me." The Hylian rolled his eyes.

"Do you think I believe that? Because I don't." Link crossed his arms and stared determinedly at his concealed face. "Judging from how you normally act, she's one of the only friends you have and I think you blame yourself for what happened." Vaati stood so quickly, his blanket fell and the chair he was sitting in tumbled to the floor.

"You think I care? You think I feel responsible?" He felt sickened by his own words, but they just kept spilling out. "It would make no difference if I left now and never came back. I do not care!" Link looked furious at this.

"You don't mean that." He pointed an accusatory finger at Vaati's chest. "You can talk yourself up all you want. Get angry at me, at yourself. But don't think for one second that she wouldn't be hurt if she woke up and you weren't here." Link dropped his hand but not his ire. "I won't let you do that to her."

They stared each other down, both with tempers running high. It wasn't long before Vaati was feeling too suffocated to stay in the same room. He stormed off toward the door. He heard movement behind him before he felt a firm grip on his upper arm. Link had lunged to grab him, staying true to his word about not letting him leave. Vaati bit his lip to keep from lashing out again. If he wasn't so spent magically, he might have used it then. He took a silent breath.

"Stay with her." He stayed facing away from the other man. "I will not leave." He conceded.

The pressure remained fixated for a second longer, then Link released him. Vaati walked as calmly as he could out of the door.

...

Taking solace in the solitude of the roof, the outside air helped to quiet his nerves. The wind blew across his face and with a few deep breaths, he was able to relax. He closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing for a few moments, though he knew he couldn't escape from his troubles for very long. For the time being, he drew strength from the nature around him.

Link had been right. He cared too much to leave them. Not that he would be allowed to anyway. He had a job to do and they were part of it now. He wasn't socially inclined by any means, and it had been a long time since he had this kind of a relationship with other people. To say the least, he was unaccustomed to it. Link read him too well.

Link. The name reverberated in his thoughts. Link, the hero; the title seemed to follow the name around. For the first time in what felt like several lifetimes, his thoughts fell on his early years. Back when he was only training to become a sorcerer. If only his former master could see what he had become. A servant. A slave.

He couldn't complain too much. His life was most certainly not boring. It was the fact that all of his actions were guided by a higher force that made him feel that way. Of course, he thought, that was probably the way he was supposed to feel. These tasks that were appointed to him were, after all, a part of his atonement.

Many years ago, about four he guessed, he had been pulled from his realm of Hyrule and brought before those who sought to punish him for his trespasses against the peaceful kingdom. Just as a final decision was to be made, however, he was given a choice; to live or die. He was given a chance to choose his own punishment. It didn't take him long to find that he wanted to live, and he voiced his choice. That was what brought about his current position. Instead of death, he was sent to right the wrongs wrought by those who threatened the innocent, whether that happened centuries after his time or in another dimension.

Apart from the hero of his past, the one that had felled him, he hadn't met another individual like him until now. You could imagine his surprise when he caught wind of another Hero by the same name upon his arrival. At first, he did not think there was any connection between the two, but that changed when they met. The similarities were numerous. He was forced to think that it was possible they shared some amount of lineage.

Vaati did once think to himself that, had the circumstances been different, he would have liked someone like Link to be his friend. Forced to grow past this notion because of his situation, the thought of fellowship with anyone felt out of reach. All the people that he could call 'friend'... he would have to leave them eventually.

Yet he allowed this Gerudo girl a place in his life. Years ago, he might have let people get close to him. He had long since been done with that. It became too complicated when it was time to go. He still questioned why he was even interested in the girl. Perhaps some unknown force was drawing him to her. He sighed loudly.

Then there was Link. Despite their rocky start, Vaati could sense camaraderie developing between them. He blamed Mari for that. The feeling of having someone to call a friend was nice, he admitted, even though it would be hard later. He decided to allow it to happen.

When he opened the door back into the house after retreating from the roof's isolation, he found Link leaned against the kitchen table. He had waited for him. Vaati couldn't look him in the eye. He opened his mouth to speak, but he saw Link hold up his hand in a silencing gesture. When he saw that he had the mage's attention, Link refolded his arms.

"Firstly, I want to apologize for the way I've treated you. I should have listened to her when she said you were trustworthy. I'm sorry for that." Link began. Two apologies in two days. It was too much. Vaati gave him a nod anyway.

"You had your reasons." Vaati was silent until he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling. "I am sorry for shouting at you. You were correct in that I need rest. I have gone far too long without it."

"I can imagine how exhausted you must be; no sleep after that feat you pulled yesterday... That was amazing by the way." Vaati studied Link as he said this. His eyes avoided looking directly at him and he rubbed at the back of his neck. He was good for admitting wrongdoings but compliments seemed as difficult as swallowing back vomit. He almost laughed aloud at his analogy and decided to cut him a break.

"Those monsters had overstayed their welcome." He tried to give his quip a little 'Marickiya' spin to it. He wasn't sure he had done it justice but Link noticed the change. He smiled genuinely.

"I'm glad you're here and fighting with us." He held out his hand invitingly and the mage took it.

Day 3.

The two were restless again. Link couldn't help but feel like it had been too long since they'd heard anything from the enemy. He needed to do something. While they sat idle, who knew what Ganondorf was doing? And if they were attacked, would it be safe to leave Marickiya alone when she had already been targeted once? Vaati was equally as worried. They had lapsed into silence the night before and hadn't broken it since. Vaati, at Link's suggestion, had taken the night to sleep. Though he slept through to the morning, he felt anything but refreshed.

The quiet haunted them as the day wore on without incident. Vaati had a feeling they were in for another uneventful night.

...

Mumbling pervaded the stillness of the darkened room. Vaati fell in and out of the realm of sleep. Exhausted, but unable to find the right state of mind for slumber, he had elected to stay up again in Link's stead at Marickiya's side. His head was aching, keeping him from focusing. It was an ailment that his magical abilities could not remedy. He decided to lay his head on one of his arms and close his eyes for a few minutes, believing that if she were to awaken, his proximity would be enough to alert him to it.

He was uncomfortable. That was the very last thing on his mind, however. He replayed the events from the last few days. He was sure that he could have seen this, could have prevented this from happening. He felt responsible for what happened to this girl.

'I am responsible,' he chided within his thoughts. He hated himself for it. Of all the stupid weaknesses to have, being unable to predict the enemies' moves was, to him, the worst. Now that there were others involved, it wasn't just costing him anymore. He snarled angrily.

He was so furious, it hurt him physically. He had these tasks appointed to him, they were simple even, and he was already failing. It should be easy to protect one's allies, and yet he allowed harm to come to them. What was he doing? He wasn't anywhere close to his main objective, the defeat of the King of Evil, and he didn't even have a clue as to what this 'second threat' could be. He clenched his teeth.

The lights had been dimmed earlier and the moon was shinning in through the window like it did when the sky was clear. He barely spared any glances to the cot he usually slept in. All that was there was a perfect illustration of his failures in the form of an unconscious Marickiya. He couldn't bring himself to watch her pale face, without expression, without life, while she slept. He was beginning to think that it wasn't sleep at all, though he couldn't think of what else was happening to her. She wasn't peaceful by any means. She exuded anxiety and fear from her being which in turn made him agitated, not knowing what he could do.

He roused from a light slumber with a jolt. Had he really fallen asleep, he mused without opening his eyes. He rarely fell into unconsciousness involuntarily. He must be more tired that he originally thought. But why had did he suddenly wake? He did notice a slight difference in the air. He no longer felt distress coming from Marickiya.

The smell of blood filled all his senses then like a slap to the face.

His eyes shot open and his head was up in an instant. Marickiya was gone.

It felt like all his muscles tensed up at once which caused his tired body pain. He ignored it and wrenched his senses open to try and locate the missing girl. He saw her light coming from the loft where she usually resided. His first thought was relief that perhaps she had finally awoken on her own. There was something else within him that thought otherwise. Looking up, he saw a hunched shadowed figure. He lurched from his chair and raced up the steps, trepidation rushing through him. The taste of iron in his mouth became more pronounced as he approached, making him increasingly queasy. He paused at the top of the stairs and a chill ran through his spine.

He sucked in a breath. In the subdued light, he could see her, sitting on her pallet that she slept on, a knife in her left hand. The blade was digging into her other arm which was drawing copious amounts of blood onto her sheets and the floor. His eyes widened.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled as he launched himself forward to grab at her hand that held the dagger. Her grip was extremely firm, however, and wouldn't let up on cutting her free arm. He tried pulling her hands away from each other, but that only resulted in a sickening grinding noise that he recognized as metal scraping against bone. He could hear shuffling from below the loft and knew that his shout must have alerted Link.

"Link," he called with alarm in his voice, "Help me, please!" There was some 'thump, thump, thump's' that signified Link rushing up the stairs.

"What happening?" He said aghast. But the scene before him, though surprising as it was, was answer enough. He leapt forward and tried helping to pry Marickiya's hand from the blade she gripped. He managed to pull her fingers from the hilt one by one and the bloodied thing fell to the floor with a crash. It was then that her frame finally went limp.

They both sat back in an exhausted heap.

"I am so sorry. I fell asleep for only a moment," Vaati faltered as his voice cracked.

"What the hell happened?" Link swore.

"I don't know," Vaati said, trying to calm his racing heart. "Get a light. I need to see the damage." He assumed Link nodded from the quiet whiff in his direction. He felt Link move away down the stairs, then heard some scrambling and the torches were one by one brought to life. With each lamp lit, the pit of Vaati's stomach dropped further and further. He was holding Marickiya's limp body and held her arm up to slow the flow of blood somewhat. The stuff was everywhere. Her sheets were drenched in the thick dark liquid and it was an unsettling sight.

"Gods," Vaati gave a constrained moan. Link having finished lighting the room had grabbed some cloths and rushed back up to the loft. When he reached the scene, he paused as if not knowing where to start.

"Here," he offered her bloodied arm, "Hold it for a moment." Link took one towel and took her arm tentatively. He began wiping the blood away. Vaati, meanwhile, was lowering her closer to the ground with her head lying on his thigh. He gingerly took her arm back as Link was finishing and inspected it.

It was all the way to the bone as he expected, more of a gouge than a cut. Had she been left alone any longer, she could have lost her hand. He swallowed hard.

"We have to make it stop bleeding. Now." He said. Link took a towel and pressed it hard against the wound. It wasn't any good as the cloth simply soaked up more of her precious life.

"Use your magic!" Link said. Vaati was stricken by the demand. "Heal her, please..."

"I..." Vaati wanted to say anything else. He didn't want to admit his one fault. "I cannot" He grimaced at the defeated look the Hylian gave him.

"Why not?" He was distraught and Vaati couldn't blame him. He decided to tell him the truth,

"My blood magic... It will not heal others. Only myself." He was disgusted with himself for speaking these words. Link, instead of starting a tirade about how useless a mage was that could not help others, as he expected, took a calming breath.

"Can..." Link spoke up. He looked revolted by what he was about to say. "Can you cauterize it?"

Vaati had been considering it but wouldn't suggest it. He didn't know how Link would react. Giving him a gruff nod, he started immediately. His thumb lit up with a fiery glow and set to work.

It didn't take long to close the wound as it was more deep than wide. He worried about any internal damage that he could not see. The skin bubbled and looked a sickly charred red where the hole used to be. It nauseated him. With the immediate danger of her bleeding to death having passed, they both sat in silence collecting themselves. Then Link made a revelation.

"She was crying," He pointed to her face. Vaati's gaze swept over to her closed eyes where he saw what Link was referring to. He did not know if it was the physical pain that caused her to cry, or something else. The 'something else' thought gave him an idea.

"Let's clear this up and wrap her wrist. Then I would like to talk." Vaati said and then closed his mouth into a thin line. The sight of so much blood was making his stomach do flips. Link obliged by kneeling beside Marickiya and lifting her up off the floor. She hung limply, barely any life left in her. She had nearly turned utterly white since the last he saw her face in the light. Link carted her back downstairs while Vaati used some of the remaining rags and Marickiya's sheets to wipe up the red fluid.

It was done quickly, he wasn't much for gore and wanted it over with. He tied up the bloodied cloth in the sheets. There was going to be a stain in the wood that he would be unable to remove. He turned away and took the sheets outside. He didn't think he'd be able to calm his nerves until every last trace of red was gone. The only thing he could think to do to get rid of it was to burn it. He held it in the air and set a fire to it. When there was finally nothing left but cinders that floated away into the night, he took a steadying breath.

Back inside, Link had bandaged Marickiya's wrist tightly. He looked up at the mage with a tired expression.

"It's not that bad, is it?" He sounded like a lost child, grasping at a small hope. Vaati looked grim as he regarded the girl's wan features again.

"We will not know the extent of the damage until she wakes. For now, I can help her replenish some of the blood she lost." He rummaged into a belt pocket and withdrew a small vial of a bright violet liquid. He uncorked it, placed a finger to the opening and tilted. Taking the finger away left a small drop on his finger tip. Link eyed it warily as Vaati placed what he assumed was some sort of potion to the girl's lips. Vaati noticed.

"I guess you still do not completely trust me." He mused quietly. Link did not react initially. He watched Marickiya for a moment longer. When he saw the pallor fading, he let out a shaky breath.

"I suppose not." He replied.

Vaati was beyond being angry at Link. He didn't have it in him anymore. He just felt an emptiness at Link's words. He wasn't sure if he wanted to befriend Link anymore. There was too little reliance between them. He didn't know what else to do, what else to say. He was giving up.

"She does, though." Link never looked away from Marickiya as he said this. "It's enough."

Vaati pulled up a chair next to the Hylian. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. For the moment he would disregard Link's trust issues and get to what he wanted to talk about.

"She has nightmares on a nightly basis, as I am sure you already noticed." As he spoke, Marickiya's eyelids fluttered and she breathed in deep. They watched without a word until she returned to her stillness that they had grown accustomed to.

"I have noticed." Link said slowly.

"I have reason to believe her unconscious state is self-induced." Link furrowed his eyebrows and finally faced the sorcerer.

"You mean you think she's doing it on purpose?" Vaati shook his head.

"No. Not exactly. I believe she has suffered something traumatic and her mind is trying to protect itself by locking up." After stating this, they grew quiet in thought.

"Can she wake up on her own?" Link asked.

"That is possible. It is just that if she stays like this any longer, her body will start shutting itself down. She won't survive more than a few days longer."

"Is there any way we can wake her up?" Link knew he sounded like a forsaken man gasping for air, but he didn't care. Vaati let out a slow breath.

"There is only one way that I can think of." Link looked expectantly at him. "It..." he wasn't sure how to continue, "I could probably wake her, but the consequences for doing so I cannot be sure of."

"What kind of consequences?"

"They are endless. Permanent memory loss is one of them. There are also far worse things..." Loss of basic cognitive functions, or an irreversible shift in morale were just a few of the possible side effects that he wouldn't mention just then. Those possibilities were small anyhow. Link seemed like he didn't want to think about it any more than he did.

"If you aren't sure, then we won't do it." Link stood up. "We will wait first." He walked back to his bed before Vaati could respond. Vaati idly wondered how Link was going to get back to sleep after what they just experienced. But Link wouldn't be sleeping. He wanted some time to think things through on his own. He didn't want Vaati to see him break...

Day 4.

Vaati was betting against himself. He could not recall the color of Marickiya's eyes. Hazel. Olive. Auburn. It was one of those but he could not be sure of which one. His bet was being able to correctly decide on one before she opened them again.

She was beginning to show visual signs of dehydration. Chapped lips, sunken eye sockets, fever; it was becoming dangerous for her to continue with this persistent unconsciousness.

Just after the sun rose was when Link reemerged from his blankets. He looked as tired as ever.

"How did you sleep?" Vaati asked disinterestedly.

"I didn't." Vaati hummed as a response and tucked his knees under his chin, closing his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

He was being polite. Vaati chanced a sideways glance at him. He had a hardened face, his sockets almost as sunken as Marickiya's. He closed his eyes and hummed again.

"What is it exactly that you would do to wake her?" Vaati had a feeling this was what his question would be.

"I can connect our spirits and speak with her inside her mind. All I would do is try to talk to her." He tried to make it sound less intimidating than his first explanation. The thing was, meddling inside someone's mind was extremely tricky. They could lose memories or their identity... Anythign could happen if the one doing the meddling wasn't careful.

The two sat, motionless, for a long while. Vaati could see Link's mind whirring with alternatives to waking her. He knew that Link didn't like the idea of him infiltrating her subconscious.

Finally, Link moved. He brought his hand to his face and over his eyes, a sign of defeat.

"I trust you to do this. I know you won't do anything to hurt her." Link felt a hand on his shoulder and he moved his hand down to his mouth, giving Vaati a determined stare.

"Link," Vaati's stare was equally as resolute. "Thank you for your trust. I am undeserving."

Without any more words or wasting any more moments, Vaati reached over to Marickiya's hand and intertwined his fingers in hers. He could not think of the benign notion of being able to hold her delicate hand in his. He pushed the feeling deep down and emptied his thoughts of all else to concentrate. He closed his eyes, fixated on the cool skin that was enveloped by his warm hand and lost consciousness to meld with hers.

Link was left with a stunned look at his last words.