THE ABRIDGED IS UP. Links below and on my profile!
She really wanted to yell at them. But the chance never presented itself, and by the time it did, her anger had found other sources.
She had been the one to find Sheik. He'd been stumbling around in the graveyard, looking like shit and clutching the nastiest wound she'd ever seen—his shoulder had been a bloody pulp barely covered by bandages, and holy fuck, he'd been covered in decaying body matter.
He'd asked if she'd been the one to hit Link. She'd said yes. He'd said he wanted a bath, and then passed out cold.
She'd refused to wake up Link, so she'd had to drag Sheik to the Zora grave, and clean him up, and bandage his wound back up. By herself.
All while keeping Link from rolling into the water and drowning and keeping both boys on the tiny little sliver of land they were camping out on, and while keeping them separate because even unconscious, if Link got a hold of Sheik, she'd never be able to separate them. And Sheik's shoulder couldn't take much more stress.
On the bright side, Zelda had told her, she got to see Sheik naked before Link did. And while that was a high point—scarred as fuck or not, Sheik did look pretty good—it was so not worth it.
She was a fucking Queen, not a babysitter. She didn't have time for that shit.
She told herself that Zelda was the one worried, that it was Zelda's fault and not hers that she panicked every time one of the boys let out the smallest sound of discomfort. She told herself that she was angry, not afraid.
Fear and uncertainty were fine. She lived with them daily—Twilit politics were brutal and far less flowery than Hylian politics were—but not this sort. Defending her throne was different from seeing her boys broken and knowing that this time, they might not recover.
Link woke in the morning, though, and that calmed them down considerably.
"He's back?" She wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question, but she nodded when Link looked at her and every muscle in his body relaxed far faster than she thought physically possible.
"He seemed fine about the shoulder. Didn't even mention it before he passed out. But I'd get Renado to look at it anyway 'cause I'm positive I didn't get all the dead bits out of it."
"...What?" Link's expression was amusing, if only for a moment. She gathered up the pile she'd made out of Sheik's bloody clothing—he was dressed, but in Link's old clothes, because she wasn't even going to attempt anything with his bandages—and sent them into Link's shadow. They could pick through all of Link's shit later, but it was getting kind of cramped in there.
"Get him to Renado."
"But—" She reached out and grabbed Link's chin, jerking his head up to face her.
"Get him. To Renado. Now." He stared at her for a heartbeat longer before nodding, letting out a shaky breath.
He gathered up Sheik and she transported them into the cemetery because there was no way he was going to be able to get Sheik through the tiny fucking hole Ralis used when Sheik was injured.
And then she hid in his shadow, close to the surface. Link was still in bad shape, and she didn't know what Kakariko would bring. There was going to be a fight of some sort—and if she had to show herself, she would. Because she'd shown herself once already, why not to the rest of Hyrule?
Kakariko was awake when Link stumbled into the town, bruised and bloodied and disheveled, clutching an even more bruised, bloodied, and disheveled Sheik to his chest. All of Link's little brats had been playing tag or something in the main road, and they all froze and stared.
But the kids had seen a lot of shit since they'd been captured, and they immediately sprang into action. The girls ran towards Renado's home and the boys split up—the brothers running inside the hotel and Colin hurrying towards Link.
"Link! What—"
"I need—Renado's gotta—"
"C'mon! The infirmary's empty now 'cause Ralis is gone. But, Link, Shad's really really mad at him." Colin's gaze flickered to Sheik, his face pale.
It wasn't as if there was a lot of blood. Midna knew how to clean a wound, for fuck's sake. But there was only so much she could do, and Sheik had bled through his bandages.
And then Renado was there, expression grave, posture stiff.
"What is going on, Link?" The relief in Link's gaze when he looked up was nearly tangible, though it didn't sway the shaman at all.
"He got—I don't know. He got hurt. And I can't—please, Renado. It's just his shoulder—" Link would have kept rambling if Renado hadn't cut him off.
"Do you not realize the state you left Kakariko in the last time you came?"
She could see the change in Link's appearance when Renado didn't move to help, when he just snapped at him. Link's panic faded and he stood up straighter, arms tightening around Sheik's form as a cold sort of look came over his face.
Well, no. Sheik could look cold, hard as stone and uncaring. So could she. But Link wasn't like that. Especially lately. He might have known Renado, known he was a good man and a kind man and liked him, but in that moment, his expression made it very clear that Link didn't care. At all. And it was fury, rage. Heat of a sort Midna had seen on no one before, not even Zant.
"Nobody died. Ralis is safe. And right now, Sheik's hurt. I need your help. I've got something for Ilia and I need to talk to Shad, and then we'll go if you want. But if you want to stand here wasting my time while Sheik's bleeding out, I will fucking kill you."
Renado stared at him, eyes dark and silent. Hearing the Hero of his daughter and his town threaten to kill him should have rattled him, horrified him. And his expression did grow colder, but he didn't say so much as a word. Instead, he nodded and turned back to the hotel, calling back over his shoulder for Link to follow.
And any trust Midna had harbored in the elderly shaman vaporized.
He was more a threat to her boys than she'd suspected.
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"This looks like a bite mark, Link, but I know of nothing with teeth this long or a jaw this wide." Renado's voice broke the heavy silence that had filled the infirmary, and Ilia's already pale face whitened a she handed him a knife.
He'd almost told them that they couldn't use potion too late—Ilia had been reaching for the cabinet, the order just passing Renado's lips. He'd told them Sheik was allergic to some of the ingredients, and Ilia had accepted that almost immediately. Renado had just stared at him and then proceeded to work on Sheik's shoulder.
Link watched both of them like a hawk, just in case.
The memory of the thing that had taken Sheik, and its wide grin, resurfaced.
"I don't know how he got it."
"Link, this is not a normal bite. This thing—it should have bitten clean through. It did not even scrape the bone. This was intentional." Renado pressed.
That surprised Link, but he tried not to show that.
A distraction, Midna had said. Link had kissed him. Maybe the thing that had taken Sheik had thought of something different.
A flash of movement from Ilia caught his eye, and he saw her pull out a bottle he recognized immediately. Without so much as a word he got up and moved to the infirmary bed Sheik was sprawled out on, carefully maneuvering past Renado and sitting on Sheik.
Renado nodded his thanks, and began pouring.
Link had only ever felt the sting of alcohol once. He'd staggered down from Death Mountain into Kakariko without any remaining potion and a nasty would on his side. Renado had cleaned it with alcohol before sewing it shut. It wasn't he worst pain he'd ever felt, but it had burned.
Sheik's eyes shot open when it hit his shoulder, jaw clamping shut. He didn't scream, though his breathing became ragged, rough. Recognition flashed across his features when he saw Link, and Link very nearly wept with relief at the sheer murder in those ruby orbs.
He was fine. He'd be fine. Thank Farore, he'd be fine.
Sheik didn't stay lucid for long, though. Almost as soon as Renado was finished with the alcohol, he passed back out, and Link pushed himself off of him.
Renado finished up silently. Some of the puncture wounds needed stitches, but they were, once they'd been cleaned out, relatively clean wounds.
"I will not make you leave, Link. You both may stay until he is healed. But we will have a talk." Renado said softly, pausing in the doorway after he and Ilia had taken care of everything. She had already left.
"Thank you, Renado." He let out a soft hum and left, closing the door behind him. Link hesitated for a second before sitting on the edge of Sheik's bed, watching him intently. Sheik didn't look peaceful, but he did looked more at ease than he usually did.
All Link could focus on at the moment was that Sheik was alright, that he'd be fine.
"You're bleeding, Link." Midna's voice startled him, and he looked up at her sharply.
"Where?"
"Back of your head. Hold still."
Before he could respond she was touching it, and damn, it hurt. She didn't spend too long on it, though—she said she was getting his long-ass hair out of the way—and then made him drink some red potion. Link let out a noise of pain as his scalp tightened, flesh crawling as it knit itself up. It was the single most uncomfortable healing sensation he'd ever felt, even beyond his skull un-crushing itself in the desert.
"Your hair's getting long, mutt." She sighed, floating around to face him as she eyed him critically.
"So?"
"You need a haircut."
"…No."
Despite the fact they were bonded, and that Link could feel Sheik's mind, Sheik still managed to nearly give him a heart attack.
"…What?" He sounded very intelligent, but he couldn't help it. Sheik pushed himself up on his good arm, then reached out with it and tugged on a lock of his hair. His eyes were very very dark.
"I like it this length."
And Link's mouth was suddenly dry.
Sheik didn't let go, and he moved closer, swinging one leg over Link's lap and straddling him.
"Sheik…" Link's voice came out higher than he'd have liked, and the smirk that played across Sheik's lips told Link he heard it. He was warm, almost as hot as a fire, and Link shivered at his heat.
"Link?" Sheik leaned closer as he spoke, until there was barely a breathe of air between them. There was a barely audible squeak from Midna , but Link couldn't tear his eyes off of Sheik's. His ruby orbs were half-closed, studying him intensely.
He looked tired, still, but intent. Not a good combination, Link was willing to admit.
"…Yeah?"
"You kissed me." His stomach plummeted. He hadn't thought Sheik would remember.
"Uh—"
"You're fully aware of how much I dislike you touching me."
Shit.
"You didn't even know I was there and Midna said to distract you—" Link blurted out, as Sheik shifted even closer to him. He pressed his hips harder against Link, chest-to-chest. Holy fuck.
"So sticking your tongue down my throat was the first thing that came to mind?"
"You were out of it and it was the only thing I could think of that'd let you know it was me and that you were safe and—" He was nervous and his voice betrayed that very clearly. Sheik knew it full well as well, judging by the fact that he proceeded to make Link even more nervous, even more intensely aware of how close he was by shifting his weight, pressing harder against Link's left side. He drew in a sharp, shuddering breath, and his arms rose reflexively—and Link then remembered how very shirtless Sheik was at that moment.
"First it was sleeping. That I could have dealt with. This is something else." And Sheik's other hand rested on his hip, pressing hard against the bone. Link let out a noise that sounded acutely like a whimper, though it was most definitely not. Heroes did not whimper. Especially when their Sheikah decided to fuck with them.
Because that was what Sheik was doing and they both knew it. But Sheik was right—kissing him had been a very bad decision.
"But it worked." Sheik said, and he pressed his body against Link, hard, as his hand rose from his shirt and his fingers tangled in Link's hair. His mouth dropped, and Link let out another not-whimper when Sheik stopped just above his lips, his heart skipping a beat painfully.
Holy fuck. No. He had to be dreaming. This was—what?
"What?" And that was not a croak. Heroes also did not croak when their Sheikah decided to fuck them. Fuck with them—Farore damn it, he needed to stop thinking, because it wasn't helping the situation at all.
"You're not very good at hiding things from me. Your head just empties into mine. I can feel everything in here." Sheik tugged Link's head back, slightly harder than was really necessary but like fuck Link was going to complain about it.
"Can I kiss you?" The question came out because the only other option at that point was to kiss him, and Sheik had just told him he wasn't very happy about that, and if he was going to do this for one—well, one time kissing—then Link really didn't want to know what he'd do for a second. Or maybe he did. Fucking—fuck, he didn't know anymore.
Sheik's eyes were liquid, dark red, and his lips parted in a rough kind of smirk.
"No."
And that was most definitely not a mewl of protest.
"My head—"
As if Link weren't already aware of how close Sheik was, Sheik pressed his body even harder against his, hard enough to bruise.
"—Is exploding. And this drowns it out."
Link tried very hard not to jump on that little ray of hope Sheik was dangling for him, but his resolve didn't last very long.
"So—"
"This will break me. I think it already did, and that's why I don't remember it. But if I don't have you, it will break me again. So until this is sorted out—" And Sheik's mouth was hot against his, forceful as Sheik pushed him down onto the bed. His fingers splayed across Sheik's back, drawing him closer, holding him tightly.
It was one kiss, but it left Link breathless and mostly stunned because what the fuck?! Not that he was complaining, but holy shit. Was Sheik drunk?!
Sheik let out a soft, strained laugh, leaning down. His hair was loose, and strands slipped out from behind his ears at the movement.
"We're not fucking. And if you try anything, I'll cut your hands off."
And that really was a cry of disappointment, because anyone would have done the same, even if Sheik's eyes flashed dangerously at the sound.
"Soon as this is over, this stops." Sheik sounded almost breathless as he said it. Link opened his mouth to protest—and Sheik took full advantage of it.
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They'd forgotten she was in the room again.
Which was fine. She was used to it. Her boys were ungrateful sons of bitches, but they put on one hell of a show this time, so she didn't really mind.
It was a good thing Zelda didn't have a body anymore, because she was damn near hyperventilating in Midna's head and wasn't that uncomfortable.
"So…what the fuck?!"
Sheik winced, and didn't look up at her. Link had stumbled out of the room with a very large grin on his face not even five minutes ago, and all Sheik had managed to do was swing his legs over the side of the bed and sit up. His head was currently buried in the hand of the his left arm, his good one, and his gaze was locked firmly on the floor.
"It just...it hurt. And that made it go away."
"So the show…?" Another wince.
"I wanted the pain to go away. Stronger he's feeling, the less I feel."
"Well fuck that! I'll get some painkillers from Renado and break your leg, if that's all it takes. I mean, damn, Sheik." She was most definitely not grinning like a maniac.
He wasn't unattractive. If you were into scars, anyway. Fuck, some days—most days, if she was being honest—Sheik looked better than Link. To her and Zelda.
Though she didn't have the best judgment at the moment. While the form Zant had cursed her into wasn't exactly equipped for that sort of stuff, it did nothing for her desires. At all. So some shit was gonna go down hard when she got her true form back.
"I couldn't think straight." It was a pathetic excuse and it fell flat.
"You're a painkiller whore." It was out, and Midna realized after a moment Sheik could be very offended by that. Which hadn't been her intention at all. Zelda inwardly gasped in horror.
"I hate you." He sounded amused, and Midna cackled, Zelda sighing in relief.
"I'll be impressed if you last a week."
"I'm not fucking him!" Sheik sounded almost defensive, and his head snapped up to look at her. She couldn't hide her smirk.
"He's gonna fuck you."
"No—"
"Sheik, you're teenagers. Male. And you barely got him out of here before it got that far now." Which was true. Clothes had been in the process of being removed when Sheik had kicked Link out.
Aw, cute. He was blushing. She didn't think she'd ever seen Sheik blush. Even the tips of his ears were red—could Sheikah do that? Link could, but he was Hylian. And Sheik's ears were long, but not that long.
"I—"
"C'mon, painkiller whore. There's drama about to unfold, and Link's not gonna be able to handle it by himself."
"Stop calling me that." Sheik snapped, standing.
"Let me break your leg and we'll take." She countered, floating after him.
"Stabbing. No breaking. Get a knife, not a hammer, and then we'll take."
She followed him out, her grin so wide it damn near split her face in half.
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Sheik caught Link before he got downstairs and demanded a bath.
And for the second time felt his face burn when Link said Midna had already cleaned him up. Which Link didn't catch, because apparently she did the same to him when he passed out from blood loss and pain and he didn't think it was strange.
Fucking weird-ass Hylians.
Sheik didn't care, though, and so Link found himself sitting sullenly at the base of the path leading up to the bathing spring, to keep anyone from coming up.
After what they'd just done, there was no way in Hyrule Sheik was going to let Link up there with him.
The dead might have been nice, but Sheik could still feel blobs of Dead Hand decay on him, not to mention whatever other nasty stuff he'd managed to get on him during their trek through the Ninth.
He scrubbed until he was raw, and then some. And then some more, because ew.
Being squeamish wasn't the best trait for a Sheikah.
It took longer than it would have because of his wound, but he managed to finish and get dressed without anything serious happening in regards to his injury, besides the pain that went with moving.
He made it down the path and to Link before any of the drama Midna had warned him about happened, but his luck didn't hold out any longer than that.
He hadn't had time to brush his hair or braid it, and so he tied it back into a ponytail with a stray bandage he'd managed to pocket from the infirmary. He was still wearing Link's clothes, which made him decidedly uncomfortable. It was too loose—he felt damn near naked.
"You should wear your hair like this more often." Link said, eyeing him. Sheik glared at him.
"Shut the fuck up." Something in his tone must have made itself abundantly clear, because Link snapped his mouth shut and didn't say another word as he followed Sheik onto Kakariko's main road.
They'd opened a whole fucking can of worms and Sheik wasn't at all happy about any of it. Link seemed all aboard the shit, which just made it worse. Sheik wanted nothing to do with any of it—well, now that he could fucking think straight he didn't.
But he hadn't been lying to Midna. He'd known Link would make the pain go away and that was all he could focus on because he'd known it would break him in ways that couldn't be fixed. And it horrified him to no end because holy fuck, if his people weren't going to kill Link before, they sure as fuck were now.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"
Sheik turned, letting out a breath of relief. Thank Lanayru, a distraction from their issues.
Shad was storming towards them, looking all but ready to kill. Link moved to step forward and Sheik caught him with a hand to the chest.
"Go inside. Sleep. Bathe. Something. Don't argue with me." Link looked ready to, and he hesitated very visibly, but he did listen. Another sigh of relief escaped Sheik and dammit, why did Link have to fucking complicate things?
At least he was listening, for once. Although that, again, led back to what they'd done.
Which again brought another entirely unwelcome thought—that, fuck, if kissing him was all it took to make him so fucking submissive, then Sheik would have done that a fuck of a lot sooner had he known.
He fucking hated his own head.
"Hello, Shad."
It took a moment for Sheik to remember why Shad was so angry with him, but he chose not to mention that.
"You fucking—Auru is in jail because of you!" Shad stopped himself not even an inch from Sheik, very clearly holding himself back from punching him. Thank Lanayru Link had left—he'd have torn Shad's throat out if he hadn't.
"No, Auru is in jail because he threatened the safety of the Zora Prince and tried to murder me." And damn, showing so much attitude was most definitely not a smart idea, but he couldn't help himself. Shad's eyes flashed in fury.
"Auru would never—!"
"The reality is that Auru did. The son of a bitch played with fire and was lucky he only got singed."
Sheik wasn't going to just walk off. Shad had information they needed, and while he posed a larger danger than his friends in Castle Town, Sheik was fed up with trying to be diplomatic.
Look how that had fucking worked with Link. They were in the worst possible scenario, besides one or both or all of them—because he really had to stop underestimating Midna, the sadistic little bitch—being dead.
"You don't know what happened up there, besides I was there and Auru was charged and tried by the Zora. Drawing a weapon in the presence of their ruler is a punishment usually met with death. Because of his actions he nearly died—not once, but twice. I'm sure he's being treated like shit in the Domain, but until the Princess or Queen or whatever the fuck you call Zelda is free, they can't transfer him to a Hylian prison. Be glad they'll keep him alive."
Sheik swayed to the side when Shad's fist shot through the air by his ear, clumsy and off-balance. Shad's punch threw his body forward and he crashed into Sheik, sending them both onto the ground.
Sheik hissed in agony when his shoulder exploded in pain, but twisted out from beneath Shad without much trouble.
"Sloppy. I see why Ashei makes you stick to your books."
"How dare you—"
"We stopped by Castle Town a few days ago. Well, maybe a few days ago. I don't know how long I was out for. We…well, your friends gave us lodging and food for a few nights, even after this. They showed better judgment than you. I suggest you get all the facts, scholar, before you start swinging again." He sounded so nice. He hated keeping his tone so fucking even. He had no patience any more, and while he was furiously blaming Link for everything, he knew full well that not all of it was the Hylian's fault.
But, fuck. If he started blaming Shad, he was going to kill him.
"He raised me." It was spoken hoarsely, harshly.
He looked pathetic, sitting there in the dirt with a smear of dust on his cheek and the sudden lost expression on his face.
Sheik took no small amount of joy in the fact that he didn't give a shit. He'd almost feared Link had made him soft, but, nope. Only Link could look like that and make him feel guilty. Or pissed.
"He's alive. Safer where he is now than out and about, that's for fucking sure." Sheik stood as he spoke, raking a hand through his hair.
Shad blinked, and the stupid look was gone. He pushed himself up too, jaw set.
"I want to know what happened. Now."
"Link had some explosives. Found a blocked off tunnel. Decided to clear the rubble. Happened to be in an area Ralis liked swimming in, and caused a pretty strong current. I dove in after Ralis, and we got swept away. When I woke up we were on the shores of Lake Hylia, and Auru had scared the shit out of Ralis. He thought I was going to kill Link. I told him I wasn't, he continued making threats, I made Ralis leave, and he happened to attack. Pissed off something lying in wait and it managed to knock him out. I don't know if he fell and hit his head or what." Shad was quiet for a moment, silent and gaze locked on the ground. Then he nodded his head, just slightly, and spoke.
"And?"
"Link showed up, and then Ralis came back with some guards he'd managed to find. They took Auru straight to the Domain from there." Another small nod. Then Shad's head snapped up as he took a small step forward, eyes narrow.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Zora hate outsiders. Why are they being so protective over you?"
Sheik stared at him steadily, expression blank as he filtered through what he could say.
"They don't hate outsiders. They hate Hylians. After what you've done to them, they have every reason to. Link saved them—he's an exception. I was with him, he made it clear he trusted me, I'd saved their Prince's life, and the kid seems to like me, for whatever stupid-ass reason. Not to mention Auru had threatened Ralis's safety."
"That still doesn't add up."
Fine. Sheik pulled his last card.
It wasn't the smartest decision, but he was still exhausted and tired and his head was beginning to throb.
"…You don't know?"
"Know what?" Shad snapped, suddenly very much on edge.
"Ralis is half-blooded. His father wasn't Zora."
And Shad's eyes widened, his protests dying.
Sheik turned and walked back inside the hotel. He still needed information from Shad, but he'd leave that up to Link.
After all, the Hero had to do some work too.
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"…We found Kakariko."
"Old Kakariko, yeah."
"…And…there were….you were looking through my eyes." Well, Sheik most definitely didn't sound happy about that. Again.
"Yeah. And you slapped me. And I said I was sorry. Then we entered Old Kakariko." Link said carefully, glancing at Sheik as he rummaged though his bag. Sheik kept his head down, eyes glued on the floor. His elbows were propped on his knees, but his hands were flexing in some random pattern Link had never seen before, and he watched with half a curious eye.
"…There were…the monsters. That…they shouldn't have been there. Wards would have kept them out, whether we were dead or not. How did they get in?"
"…I don't think you're going to like it." Link said softly. Sheik was on his feet immediately, one hand raking through his hair and the other jerking up in the air, angry and helpless.
"Am I going to even remember if you tell me? My head is a fucking mess and I can barely remember anything that we're talking about now. Is this going to go out one ear as soon as you tell me? I can't—fucking—I hate this!"
Link shifted uncomfortably, watching Sheik pace.
Things had changed so radically so fast, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing. He hated seeing Sheik so upset, and he wanted to—he didn't know, hug him or something—but Sheik wouldn't let him, and trying would only cause issues.
"I…You can't remember anything because Beth was in your head when I was. We panicked, and I forgot about her, and she forgot about me, and we told you to run. You were a mess before then, but not that big of a mess. That—that's what's keeping you from remembering." Link said slowly, closing the bag and sitting down on the bed.
Sheik whirled on him immediately, eyes hard as metal.
"You did what?"
"Before you freak out—sit." Link grabbed his wrist and tugged him down beside him, ignoring the shot of anger that sparked from Sheik's mind.
"There was somebody there. And you stayed outside and I went to talk to her."
Sheik went still as stone.
"She...I think she let the monsters in. She was—shit, tell me when you need me to shut up. But she was a Sheikah, just really old, and she uh…said she'd been waiting for me for a long time. Said that there was an evil beyond Zant—'cept she didn't know Zant's name, just said the shadow—in Hyrule, and asked if I'd heard of the Sheikah."
Sheik's hand landed on his knee, grip so tight it would probably leave bruises behind later. Link's heart damn near leapt out of his chest, and he was very fucking grateful he wasn't talking because he didn't want Sheik to know.
Though he probably did. The whole head-thing sorta made privacy nonexistent.
"You're telling me there—"
"No, look, there's more. You're gonna want to hear it before you talk."
Sheik did not look at all happy.
"She…I think…uh, she said the Sheikah were evil and that they had been destroyed once, saving Hyrule, and I had to finish the job. And I kinda didn't go along with it and told her to fuck off, that I knew who the Sheikah were and they weren't psychos. And she got pissed off at me, but you walked in. She—"
Sheik's mouth was on his, so suddenly Link couldn't help but making a small noise of shock, surprise. Sheik took advantage of that, kissed him so deeply and so hard Link saw stars. Link's hands rose, one arm pulling Sheik closer as the other touched his cheek.
"Hey! Dammit, I'm still here!"
Sheik was not wearing a shirt. He'd been binding his bandages up before he'd begun asking Link about what had happened, though, and Link started tugging at his bandages immediately, unwinding them as quickly as he could.
Sheik's hand grabbed his chin, jerking his head up as he pulled back a fraction. Link's tugging stopped a moment, fingers stilling against Sheik's back.
"I hate you." Sheik growled. He pulled Sheik hard against him, falling on his side and rolling over, pushing Sheik under him.
"Can't—not—can't talk, shut up." Link huffed, finally giving up on the bandages and reaching down Sheik's thigh. Sheik let out a cry of shock, hand falling from Link's throat.
He kissed Sheik hard, unable to hide the smile on his lips, as Sheik's hands trailed down his torso.
It took a great deal of fumbling, not all of which was accidental, to free Sheik's blade. Link damn near forgot what he was doing, until he actually had the thing in his hand. He pressed it flat, so it wouldn't cut Sheik, against his side and pushed it beneath his bandages—
And then Sheik's hand was on his, and he slipped free of him easy as fuck, standing somewhat unsteadily.
"Sheik—"
"No, no—I'm—no, don't. I'm good."
Link cursed, long and loud as he buried his face in his hands, rolling against the wall and away from Sheik. The blade lay abandoned on the bed between them.
"I fucking—dammit, Sheik, I can't—"
There was a hand on his hip almost immediately, warm breath against his ear. A shiver rolled down his spine, slow and hot.
"This is your mess, mutt, and you'll take care of it whether you want to or not." Sheik's voice was soft, deadly, even more so as his thumb ran along Link's hip bone.
It took every ounce of control he had to not turn around and grab Sheik, to kiss him until he shut the fuck up and stopped complaining.
There was a long moment of silence after Sheik pulled away, during which Midna huffed angrily—and Link realized with no small degree of horror that she'd seen everything.
"So I came in. And what then?" He took a small amount of satisfaction in the fact that Sheik's voice was unsteady, raspy. He had enough intelligence to stay away, though, and Link glared at the wood in front of his face as if he could burn a hole through the boards for a long minute before responding.
"She knew you."
Sheik didn't hit him hard, but it still shocked him out of his funk. Mostly. He let out a whine and pushed himself up, but any other complaint died on his tongue when he met Sheik's fiery orbs.
"She—she knew me? Who was she?" The urgency in Sheik's eyes, in his voice—Link frowned, agitated. He had no idea how much of this Sheik could handle, when Sheik's hands were already fisted around the blanket so tightly his knuckles where white.
"…She—Sheik, she was going to kill me. Before you walked in. She was lying about the Sheikah and said she wanted me to stop them—rid Hyrule of them—and I—I don't….Just…Just listen, okay?"
Anger flashed in Sheik's mind, and his mouth pressed into a thin line.
"You're my concern, Sheik. If it's gonna hurt you, I'm going to stop talking. So…take it easy. We've got time."
"Not when I hear what you have to say. That's why you're stalling."
"Obviously."
"Go away, Midna." Link groaned. She propped her hands on her hips and glared at him, Zelda flashing behind her eyes.
"Start talking, mutt." Sheik ordered, jabbing him in the side with his elbow. That drew a grunt from both of them—Sheik had used his bad arm.
"Useless." Midna huffed, shaking her head as she disappeared.
"…So let me get this straight, first. There was a Sheikah there. And she wanted you to finish us off."
"And I told her to fuck off because I knew a Sheikah."
"And she was going to kill you."
Link nodded, and Sheik stayed quiet for a long time.
"Ilia was taken on purpose, then." Sheik finally said and Link's head snapped around to face him, body tense.
"What?"
"…The Ninth is a…it's like the Seventh. A Distortion. If there was a Sheikah there powerful enough to manipulate the bindings—this would make sense. Somebody's been destroying the wards on the Ninth. So if there was a Sheikah there, plotting to finish the job, she would have waited for you for…ages. And when Zant struck, she would have moved independently. She couldn't let Zant kill everyone—she would die too. You wouldn't find her unless she set you on that path, so she ensured you'd come to Kakariko, and stole Ilia's memories to hold something over you. If you never met me, Link, she could very easily mess with your head. Bind you to her, if she could, and you'd be her lapdog."
"Sheik—" Sheik shook his head, cutting Link off, and swallowed, looking ill.
"So she…that's why I don't remember anything. Not you two in my head alone, but she was…she was my mother."
"Sheik—"
"Go."
Link didn't move, and touched his shoulder gently, concerned. Sheik shrugged away from him, eyes flashing angrily.
"Now."
There was something final in Sheik's voice, in his ruby orbs, in his mind.
Link did as he asked.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Colin glanced over his shoulder at Link, and Link forced a smile. That seemed to relax the boy, if only a little, and Colin tugged open the door to Renado's home. Link caught it and held it open for the two of them.
Renado was with Luda and Ilia gathering herbs or something—thank the Three. Link wasn't prepared to have the 'talk' he'd promised, not now. He was exhausted and hungry and so was Sheik and Sheik was upset—but he had to get shit done before they got kicked out of Kakariko for good.
Because they would. Midna had said to get prepared for it, and she knew more than Nayru herself. So it was going to happen.
So Link had lined his priorities up. Talk to Shad, eat, sleep, and then talk to Ilia—and keep Sheik resting the entire time. After he'd eaten, of course.
Link hadn't had a chance to tell Sheik, but the old woman had given him some things before she'd said she was gonna kill him.
Something of Ilia's, to restore her memory, and a small, old brown book to help him on his quest. Said they were a gift of good faith, before he'd gone and blown that out of the water.
Shad knew all about the sky. One of the Mirror shards was up there, so he was the one to ask. And the book the woman had given him—the Traitor—looked ancient, covered in words Link couldn't understand. Hopefully Shad could make sense of it.
Colin led him into the basement, and Link looked around curiously. It wasn't as messy as the last time he'd been there, and when they emerged into the main room, the changes were clear.
There was a rickety table set up against the far wall, covered in paper and books. The floor had been swept free of most of the debris that had previously covered it, and the owl statue in the wall had been meticulously cleaned. Lanterns hung from the wall, and two crates rested within the basement, one by the statue and the other by the table. Shad was standing over the table, looking frustrated as he flipped aimlessly through a book.
"Thanks, Colin." Link said quietly, alerting Shad to his presence. Colin nodded and left, though Link didn't miss the look Colin gave him.
Colin didn't understand him anymore. And it killed the kid. It killed Link, too. Colin was his little brother in every sense of the word but blood.
When this was over, before they left Hyrule, Link hoped he got the chance to set things straight.
"What do you want?" Shad's voice was curt, cold.
"Sheik talked to you earlier, didn't he?"
"And?" Link let out a slow breath, walking over to Shad and leaning against the wall beside him.
"So, he's in really bad shape. I just want to let you know that if you get pissed or want to fight him or whatever—I will stop you. Sheik didn't hurt anybody. If I'd been there sooner, I would have. That's how out of line Auru was." He kept his tone even, if hard.
"You're full of shit, Link." Shad snapped, pushing away from the table and turning to glare at him.
"Ever since Sheik came up you're full of shit. You keep doing all this shit and not giving us any explanation—I'm sick of dire warnings and threats. We all are. You're trusting a fucking stranger over your friends! Over your family! And he's given nothing—"
"You get we're in a war, Shad? That he's fighting for us? He's—" Link demanded harshly, pushing off the wall.
"No, do you get it?! People have died, Link! People are still dying! And running off with—"
"I've done nothing but try to save everybody for over a fucking year! I know what this is doing to Hyrule and us more than any of you!" Link shouted back, fury pulsating so hotly his mind was slipping. Not his body, thank Farore. Sheik had an iron-hard grasp on the shadow crystal—that wasn't slipping anytime soon.
"Like fuck you do!" Shad snarled, slamming his hands into Link's chest. His back hit the earthen wall behind him, and his vision went pure red for half an instant.
"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Have you seen Hyrule in Twilight? Seen kids screaming in terror, frozen in the moment they watched their friends and family get torn down and ripped a-fucking-part by monsters they've never seen before? Seen soldiers screaming, staring right into the eyes of the monster waiting for me to save them so it can kill them? Ran right up to people you know and love and tried so fucking hard to get them to hear you even though they can't?! Been chased the fuck down by family because they only see a monster when they look at you? Have you seen Ralis' mother begging you to find her kid, save her people, because she was murdered in front of all of them and can't do shit but watch people ignore her son dying on the side of the fucking road and her people waste away in a frozen wasteland? Have you watched people you care about being ripped from their homes and seen them as they watched loved ones be taken? Watched your fucking brains lying on the floor because you got sloppy when you were fighting and something got the better of you? Seen good people try to protect their families and watch that son of a bitch fuck them over and turn them into the very things that murder them in cold blood—and then had to stick a blade through their gut over and over again to stop them? Woken up screaming because you don't know where your loved ones are of if they're even alive? Heard a Light Spirit fucking roaring in pain because Hyrule is dying and seen your guts and seen your bone sticking out of your flesh? Fought until you can't move and kept fighting because if you pass out everyone will fall, not just you? Because I have, you bastard. I've seen everything and more and I can't fucking—you son of a bitch, don't you dare tell me you know what's happening to Hyrule better than I do. Don't you dare tell me I'm wasting time and killing more people. Don't you fucking dare."
Shad was frozen, stiff with shock and eyes wide. Link had gotten closer as he's spoken, and they'd moved across the room until Shad's back had hit the opposite wall.
But Link wasn't done yet—he was far too pissed for that.
"And to fucking blame Sheik for that? To blame it on him? You—you better fucking learn, Shad, because the next person to do that—I can't—I'm fucking sick of it. He's risking his life for you bastards and all you do is talk shit and think he's fucking evil?" Link's voice cracked, and he felt the backs of his eyes stinging harshly. He turned away sharply, moved to the other side of the room, and sank down to the ground.
"You're...fuck. I came down here to ask for your help. I can't even…" His laughter was bitter, dry.
"I hate you all, sometimes. You trusted me when I showed up. I expected all of you to show Sheik the same courtesy." The anger was gone from his voice, and Link squeezed his eyes shut, raking a hand through his hair as he tilted his head back against the wall.
"Things changed. Link, you have the Master Sword now." Shad's voice was very quiet.
"Fat lot of fucking good that does me, if it pisses all of you off."
"You don't get it, do you? You show up ready to help—that's one thing. But you show up again with the Master Sword and a hostile stranger? Link, that means you're the Hero. That means what's going on in Hyrule is bigger than a bunch of people in a bar theorizing. That means there are lives at stake—that the whole of fucking Hyrule is at stake. That means your life is the most important thing in Hyrule, that we have to protect you above all else, or everyone dies. You think the enemy isn't above sending an agent after you?"
Link's laughter cut anything else Shad was going to add off.
"You think Zant? No, no, that's—ha, no. He couldn't give two shits about me. Midna's his concern, and maybe Zelda. For fuck's sake, he'd be more focused on catching Sheik than he would me, if he was sane enough to do that. He thinks I'm Midna's mutt."
Shad sank down beside him slowly.
"So—the cause of this is…this Zant?" Link opened his eyes, realizing what he'd said—but there was nothing else he could do. Ashei would tell Shad about Midna, of that he had no doubt. Better now than later, he guessed.
"Yeah. I suppose. He…uh, well…so, there's another realm next to ours. Midna lives there. And Zant—so you know how Zelda has a council and all that jazz? Zant was like, Midna's advisor or something. They were engaged. And then he overthrew her, cursed her, threw her into this realm, and invaded. So I'm kind of excited for when they get to have a showdown because Midna is going to tear him limb from limb and I want to see that. Uh, 'cause Midna was the Queen. Is the Queen. Zant's crazy, insane and all that. Just…so you know. And he told Zelda she had a choice—kill everyone in Hyrule, or turn everything into Twilight. That's why the Palace is off limits. Zant's up in there, with Zelda. Or, her body, anyway."
"What?! Princess Zelda is—"
"No, she's alive. She's with Midna. Just not in her body. I'd introduce you to Midna, but I told her to stay with Sheik 'cause he's mad at me and I don't want him to be alone." Shad didn't respond immediately, and they lapsed into a silence. Not the uncomfortable kind, but heavy nonetheless.
"…Colin said he was covered in blood when you brought him here."
"…Yeah. Got…ha, well, fuck. I can't even...so much shit has gone down. It wasn't his shoulder that was the problem. His mind's…I just…" The stinging returned, but this time Link couldn't keep the tears at bay. He slumped over, resting his head in his arms.
"I don't know what I'd have done if he'd have stayed broken. I can't…I can't lose him, Shad, and...Midna's gonna leave, and I can't…I can't handle…"
A cold thread of shock ran down his spine, and he sat up slowly. The tears ceased, and he let out a slow, shaky breath.
"Link? Are you okay?"
Nayru had said—she'd said that Sheik had saved him. And he hadn't understood what that meant, then. But—if—
"Holy shit." He breathed, shock rippling through him.
"Link?" Shad asked, warily, looking concerned.
"Shad—fuck, can you do me a favor? Find out what you can about this book? I've gotta—holy shit, I'm so fucking stupid—"
Nayru had told him Sheik had saved him. That he'd have died, alone with Midna. Because Midna would leave, when this was over with, when Zant was dead. Sheik wouldn't—or, at least, not without Link.
Because before Sheik, losing Midna would have killed him.
"Yeah, sure, but what the fuck—"
"Thanks!" And Link was scrambling out of the basement as fast as he could, leaving the book in Shad's care.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Sheik was sprawled out on the bed, facedown, when Link burst into the room and tackled him.
Not the most comfortable of positions, especially when a fat ass Hylian decided to pounce on him.
"I fucking—I figured it out, Sheik!"
"Figured what out?" Sheik snarled, huffing the words out as he tried to keep breathing. Link slipped his arms under Sheik's stomach, pulling him tight against him as he buried his head in Sheik's shoulder.
At least he had the sense to pick the one without a gaping wound.
"Nayru! She said that when you showed up you saved me and I thought she was nuts, but she wasn't kidding!" Link's voice was muffled and his words were rushed, almost frantic. Sheik shrugged, trying to get him to move, but Link only held him tighter.
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember? In the desert?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sheik snapped, pushing Link off of him and growling irritably when Link whined in protest. The thought of Link speaking to Lanaryu—oh by the Three, that made him uncomfortable. More uncomfortable than Link touching him. Which said a lot.
"I figured it out!"
"I'm not asking again."
"What Nayru meant. Sheik, you're—"
Link fell onto him again, hugging him as tightly as he could without jostling Sheik's wound. That startled him, shocked him so much that didn't even tell the overly-affectionate asshole to get off of him.
Link didn't say anything for a moment, just let out a very heavy sigh. Content. Sheik lifted a hand, hesitantly, and rested it atop Link's head. As long as the idiot wasn't trying to stick his tongue down his throat, Sheik was fine.
"'Love you." For a moment, Sheik didn't realize what Link had said.
Then it registered.
"Oh like fuck you do. Get the fuck off of me—Lanayru fucking—get out!"
He could feel Link's smile in his mind, wicked as it was, but the kiss caught him off guard—one moment Link's head was on his shoulder and the next—
Well.
Link was out the door before Sheik could recover, closing it with a laugh.
"I hate him so much." Sheik hissed, throwing a blade at the door. It bounced off harmlessly, to his horror. His blades were very dull.
"He's a mutt."
"That doesn't excuse his behavior." Sheik snapped, glaring up at Midna.
"He gets…affectionate." She said slowly, shrugging.
"He needs to stop."
"Y'know, I was as opposed to it as you at first. But he just doesn't stop. You get used to it."
"I don't care."
"He'd do a lot of shit for you, Sheik, but this isn't gonna be one of them."
And that helped tremendously. She smirked at him, amused as he glared.
"So seeing as how you're sulking and not doing anything productive anymore, you can sort through Link's shit. It's getting way too cramped in there."
"Midna, it's a shadow."
"You try hiding in there, and then you can lecture me." She retorted, snapping her fingers. The floor was immediately covered in sparks of Twilit magic, and Sheik rolled his eyes as she vanished, all of their things appearing in her place.
They had a lot, though. And picking through it would probably keep him occupied, stop him from trying so hard to think back, to remember.
It hurt, so much.
Not how fragile he was, not how easily he was breaking, though that hurt as well. But that she was still alive, still there—his mother—and the Ninth—the monsters—Link.
He'd taken so much solace in the fact his blood parents were dead. And his father wasn't—technically.
And neither was his mother, as it turned out. And that killed, because after everything—everything he was doing—any Sheikah he found would kill him outright. Because they were both still alive, and he was their son.
Veran had always told him that Hylians were the only ones to sink so low as torture. That it was beneath Sheikah. They'd suffered enough of it to know it was something unthinkable, that t stoop that low meant one was no better than a Hylian. Maybe it was beneath others. But Sheik would make the Traitor regret ever drawing breath—ever giving birth to him. And damn it if he wasn't looking forward to that.
He slid off of the bed with a sigh, hooking his fingers through the straps of one of Link's bag. It was far heavier than it should have been.
Not that that surprised him. Link had a tendency to collect things, and it had been a while since he'd last gone through Link's shit.
Though, upon opening the bag, he most definitely wasn't expecting to find as much sand in it as he did. What had to be an entire dune dumped out onto his lap, spilling across the floor and bleeding through the cracks in the wood.
They should have taken a room on the first floor.
"The fuck? Midna, this shit was in his shadow. How in Lanayru's name did this much get into—"
She wasn't answering him. Or materializing, for that matter.
That sparked his irritation. And discomfort. Scorpions were a very large possibility. If Link could get sand in his shadow…
Did Sheik have any in his? Was one supposed to wash their shadow? Maybe it was a Hylian thing. Veran would have told him if it was something Sheik needed to worry about.
Sheik stood up, brushing as much sand off of himself as he could, and then forced the window open. It had been nailed shut at one point, and though the nails had been removed—none too gently, if the chips missing from the window frame were any indication—it didn't want to open. Sheik almost broke the window before the thing slammed open—and it was a pain in the ass to sweep as much sand as he could out the window.
No scorpions though, which was a good thing.
He was distracting himself still, and his thoughts kept returning to that—the fact he was avoiding the issues at hand. A slow sigh escaped him, and he grabbed the next satchel.
He let the work calm his mind, busied himself with it so intensely that when he reached for another bag and encountered nothing but air, it shocked him.
The door opened behind him, and he snapped out of it.
"For the last time you fucking asshole, I'm not going to drop dead so get the fuck out—" He stopped cold.
Link wasn't standing in the doorway. The girl was—Ilia.
Shit.
"You're not Link." Sheik finally said, dumbly. She reddened, and nodded hesitantly.
"I—I'm sorry if I'm—"
"No, no, thank fucking Lanayru." Sheik sighed, tossing Link's bag onto the floor and dropping onto the bed.
"…I…um, I was wondering if you had a moment?"
"As long as you're not Link."
She sat down carefully on the bed beside him, gingerly. Sheik studied the ceiling, though he watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye.
He didn't trust her, but he didn't mind her presence. At least she wasn't trying to stick her tongue down his throat.
Fucking Hylians.
"…Link said he found something that…could restore my memories." She began, after a long silence.
Oh.
Oh.
Sheik pushed himself up slowly, letting out a low hum.
"You get it, then?"
"Get what?" She asked, eyes widening as she looked at him.
"That you'll die?"
He realized as soon as the words left his mouth that they were the wrong thing to say.
"Shit—sorry—I didn't mean it like—fuck, Link's gonna fucking kill me. I didn't mean like, it'll—fucking Lanayru. I'm sorry." He tried to articulate his apology as best he could, scrambling upright.
"What—why would you say that, then!?" She demanded, hands fluttering over her mouth in horror. Sheik winced.
"I meant—ah, fucking Hylians. You, as you are now, will not be the same when you remember. The experiences that have shaped you thus far—gone. The other you won't be the same either. So…you need to consider this carefully before you do anything rash."
"…You make it sound so final." She whispered, fingers knotting in her lap. Sheik blinked slowly.
He was being very confrontational about it. He had no fucking idea why, but…well. For whatever reason, the issue hit home.
If he hadn't been raised as he had, if the things he'd survived hadn't happened…
Dear Lanayru. He didn't even want to think about how fucked up he'd be. Or…not fucked up. Either option unsettled him.
"…You can't undo it. Isn't that the definition of final?" That drew his thoughts to Link's dumbass decision—and he visibly flinched. It was hard trying not to think of things, but he wasn't willing to see Link at that moment. That could wait.
"You…um, do you know from experience?"
He snorted.
"No." Trauma made him remember things more clearly. Besides the current problem, in any case.
"…Is…traveling with the H—…with Link… hard?" His eyes narrowed. It was a different question than he'd been expecting—it didn't match her previous line of questioning.
"Why?"
"There's something wrong with him." Ilia's voice didn't stutter this time, and she glanced at him quickly, gaze holding his.
"What do you mean?" Sheik asked slowly, a slow chill working its way down his spine.
"Doesn't—can't you feel it? Whenever he comes here, it's like he's…like he's not even Hylian. I understand that he expects things from me—that he knew me or whatever—but…" She hesitated a moment, looking down into her lap.
"His eyes are…he's not…He volunteered to take us to Kakariko, to get Ralis to a healer. But on the way here we were attacked and—he—….I've never seen someone so cold before. He killed all of them—the monsters. And…even when he's with the children, his eyes…" She broke off, hunching into herself.
"…You realize that those monsters were trying to kill people he cared—cares—very deeply about? He would die to protect you, or the brats. If he has to spill blood to do that, so be it. He's not a danger to any of you."
"Would you?" That drew a laugh from him before he knew it.
"Would I kill them? Eventually. Anyone stupid enough to harm my family would suffer for it first, though."
She studied him for a moment, and Sheik stretched his arms above his head, before he realized what he'd said. And his face paled.
Had he just called Link family?
Well. He just couldn't stop digging his hole even deeper. The Sheikah might have tried to kill him for being bound to Link. Just that alone. No relationship, no fucking, no parents still alive, nothing else.
He'd be lucky if he got three words out before they gutted him.
"Is that why you're traveling with him?"
"What? Because of my family?" She nodded.
"I'm traveling with him to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. If he dies everything in Hyrule goes with him." It was said stiffly. Sheik wasn't offended, but he wished things were as simple as his response.
"You're very brave." A smile twitched across his lips, and their gazes met.
"Not so much brave as stupid."
"To save Ralis like you did, though, and to protect the Hero. So few would do something like that."
And then she was leaning forward.
He blamed Link for his lack of reaction. Link would kill him, resurrect him, and then kill him again if he hit her, so his normal reaction was out of the picture. By the time that train of thought had finished, her lips were already pressing against his.
He froze—what the fuck was he supposed to do?!
Before he could pull away, the door swung open. Ilia pulled away quickly, as if burned.
Link stood there, one hand on the doorframe and another on the doorknob. Sheik could feel the grin in his mind, almost as wide as the Dead Hand's had been.
"Whatcha doing?" He asked slowly, eyes glittering.
Ilia fled, ducking past his arm, before Sheik could say anything.
"I don't—what the fuck is wrong with you Hylians?!"
"So you don't like me touching you but you're fine with—"
Sheik threw the closest object at Link.
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Whaaaat?Lol no, don't worry, it's plot.
And, by the way, SHAME! I had such a huge ass plot thing in the other chapter and NOBODY CAUGHT IT. *sigh*Chapters are too long, that's why. And I'm so not helping matters LOL. This chapter actually got split in half. Kinda figured a chapter the size of two Withhelds wasn't a good thing. So…:D I promise I'm trying to update How to Live. Hopefully sometime in August you'll get a new chapter. Um, A Route's gonna start moving fast. So, yay :D
In other news: Skybridged Sword is up on Youtube now! At https(:)(/)(/)youtube DOT watch(?)v(=)jXlOIWGL894
Just get rid of the parenthesis and spaces and you'll be fine!