Sheik woke up in his room hours latter tucked snugly under the covers of his bed. Groaning, he sat up putting a hand to his throbbing head; he'd woken to the sound of water. He couldn't tell were it was coming from but it sounded close by.
Deciding to investigate he slid out of bed painfully and followed the noise. At first it was a soft whisper of sound, but as he walked towards his door and out in to the corridors it grew louder.
Stumbling down the half lit hallways he kept up his search. When he finally reached a window his search ended. The sound was rain. It fell from the pregnant grey clouds in frozen drops hitting the widow with little tinks as they broke apart and fell the rest of the way down to earth.
Satisfied with his findings Sheik stood there and watched the event for a long time, lost in thought. He thought of Link and his mother, and of the day he'd been charged with the task of guiding the Hylian through his quest to greatness.
It had been raining the day he'd been called on by the royal guards. He'd been in the study with Lady Impa pouring over history books and trying to solve some riddle that'd help a village not far from theirs get their well working again.
The heavy pounding on the door had alerted the two to the visitors and Lady Impa had been the one to answer their call.
"We're here on orders of Queen Zelda to bring a Sheikah by the name of Sheik in," said the guard who'd knocked on the door. "Has my son done something wrong?" Lady Impa questioned, shielding the four guards' view of Sheik who had snuck up to the hallway to listen.
"We don't have an answer for you ma'am, you know as much as we do," another guard said. Lady Impa looked back at Sheik who had ventured a bit closer with a questioning look. Sheik shrugged his shoulders and mouthed I'll be okay to her. Giving him a small nod she opened the door further and let him out.
The five rode back to the castle on horse back, Sheik riding with the head guard. When they reached the gates the portcullis was raised and they were let in. Dismounting the steeds Sheik followed the others inside.
Maids were already in the front hall with towels for the wet men and boy to dry themselves. Quickly towel drying his hair and patting down his damp clothing Sheik looked around the lavishly furnished hall. Carpets and tapestries hung on the walls depicting tales of great battles and of coronations. Along with them an ornate stair case was off to the side leading up to the second floor.
"You must be Sheik," a deep voice sounded from their right. Looking over the boy saw very large man dressed in eloquent armor the colors of bronze and sliver. As he approached Sheik also noted that he had a greenish tint to his skin and fire red hair that was slicked back. When the man smiled he exposed long sharp canines.
"Ah, yes sir." Shiek said as he straitened up, "May I ask your name?" The man gave a small quiet laugh. "Such a polite boy, I'm Ganondorf," he offered his hand to Sheik, who shook it.
"Come with me, I too an going to see the new queen." Looking up at the man Sheik followed him after being flashed a reassuring smile. They climbed the stair case up to the second floor then walked down a corridor filled with pictures of past rulers and large picture windows that showed the rain outside. As Sheik walked he looked up at the pictures on the walls, pulling up facts from books he'd read on each of the kings and queens.
All too soon they came to the throne room forcing Sheik to come back to reality. Taking a deep breath and pulling his shoulders back Sheik walked in to the room.
He and Ganondorf walked side by side up to the three stone steps that led to the dais where the throne in which Queen Zelda sat. Bending their knees the two bowed deeply waiting to be told the could move.
"Sheik," the sound of a girl's voice floated through the air, "stand and come here." Sheik stood and climbed the three steps to the throne, stopping once he was in front of the queen.
He noticed as he stood that the queen couldn't have been much older than he himself was; she beckoned him to follow. Queen Zelda lead them behind the throne and through a door that was hidden behind a tapestry.
"This is my personal study," Queen Zelda said as she lovingly caressed a book's spine. Sheik looked around his mouth open in awe, but hidden by the scarf like mask he wore. "It's lovely," he commented. Zelda smiled a little at the younger boy who stood by the door unsure of where to go. "Here, sit. I have a lot to tell you."
Sheik walked over to the chair that sat opposite of the one the queen had seated herself in. "Are you familiar with the legend of the Hero of Time?" she asked looking him dead in the eye. "Yes, Your Majesty," Sheik quickly replied. "Well, you know all about the Triforce, and the hero who will come to save us all?" Sheik gave her a small nod to show he was still listening. "I have seen evil in the man out there called Ganondorf, his evil intentions are what will set the legend in to motion. He will try to use the Triforce and the power that comes with it to take over this land and all others. But, there is hope.
"A boy will be able to stop him, though he is small and unable to at the moment he will grow up in to an unstoppable soldier." Queen Zelda stopped for a moment to take in another breath and let Sheik process what was being said.
"My apologies, Your Highness, but what does this have to do with me?" Sheik asked leaning forward in his chair a bit. A gentle smile graced the queen's mouth as she looked at the other. "You are being charged with the duty of being the Hero's guide and guardian," Zelda told him. Sheik's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open in utter disbelief.
"You're joking me?" he asked quietly. "No, you are going to be the hero's guide. You are in the legend, though a small part you play, you will have a greater effect on the outcome of the legend's end." Queen Zelda stood up and Sheik followed suite, catching up with her as she exited the study. "Your training begins today when you get home, your mother has been informed of this news." Zelda sat down on her throne again, smiling at the boy who looked ecstatic. "Okay, thank you Your Majesty! Thank you so much!" with a quick bow and a quick descent down the stairs he raced off towards his home.
It had only been half a year later when Zelda's prophecy came true.
The queen had been spirited away to Shiek's village when Ganondorf had attacked, her royal guards having to trust that their queen would get to the safety of the Sheikah on her own while they stayed and tried to keep Ganondorf at bay.
Sheik's mother had stowed him away in their house under her bed while she went to meet the queen halfway in to her voyage after the village went in to a panic as Ganondorf's minions marched in. Sheik had pushed himself up against the wall the bed was pushed against, clutching the dagger his mother had given him for protection just in case. He could hear the screams of the villagers outside as people were slain and homes were raided, families torn apart for each other as unspeakable things happened in homes.
As the violence outside escalated Sheik prayed to the three goddesses that he wouldn't be found and that it would stop, but he soon found out that, like all children, these were only wishes and nobody was safe from the rages of war. He had been lucky enough that nobody had bothered his home for most of the raid, but about an hour in some of the soldiers saw the untouched home.
The door to his safe haven was kicked open and Sheik could do nothing but listen as his home was ripped apart. He watched as shadows passed in front of the closed door of his room going down the hall to investigate the back of the house. He held his breath as two shadows stopped in front of his door, conversing on whether or not anything of value would be in the room.
"It never hurts to look," one of the soldiers said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, come on."
The knob on the door began to turn, too fast for Sheik's liking and soon enough they were in the room looking for anything that they'd like. Holding his breath and scrunching his eyes closed as one of them stopped in front of the bed he waited. Fear claimed his mind as he opened his eyes and saw that one of the soldiers was kneeling down to look under the bed.
"Ah, look! A stowaway, and," the soldiers drew the last word out as he quickly grabbed the dagger from the small boy and hauled him out from underneath the bed by the scruff of his neck. "a little baby Sheikah." The other laughed as he saw the scared child sitting in the other man's grip.
Sheik looked at them with his big, red eyes fearing what would happen to him. He'd never been in any situation like this and hadn't been trained enough in hand-to-hand combat to take on the two before him.
"Bet he'll be fun," said the soldier that wasn't holding Sheik. "Only one way to find out," the other said. He threw Sheik back on the bed watching him with some unknown emotion in his eye that Sheik latter learned was lust. The soldier startled Sheik, making sure to sit on the boy's knees so that there was no chance of him kicking or flailing around. Bending over the soldier bit Sheik's long pointed ear making the young boy bleat in pain.
Laughing in to Sheik's ear he bit down again on the sore flesh and continued downward, holding the boy's lashing arms to the bed. Sheik cried as the unwanted touching began to go farther south and then he was screaming. Calling for his mother as the man above him started palming him.
"Will you shut him up?" the other soldier asked as Sheik screamed louder. Huffing as he stopped touching the child beneath him the soldier brought a hand back and hit Sheik across the face, effectively silencing the child.
Laying there in stunned silence all Sheik could do was stare straight ahead at the door to the room. It wasn't long before he felt his clothing being tugged at, but that's where it stopped because at that moment Lady Impa had come back for her child.
The second Impa saw her child where he was she went all mama bear on the two in her house. Swiftly killing the soldier that stood off to the side with a knife to the neck, she pulled the other off of Sheik. With fire in her eyes Impa snapped the last man's neck and threw his body off to the side.
Scooping up the still stunned boy Impa raced off to where she had the queen waiting, just outside of town.
With a jolt Sheik remembered where he was and he banished the memories of the two soldiers. That day had been traumatic, but it had also made Zelda and himself close friends, because after they had gotten away from the village and in to hiding the two had spent a lot of time together.
Walking back to his room Sheik was a little surprised to see Anju there with the baby kitten in her hands.
"Oh! Were in the world have you been?" Anju asked.
Sheik gave her a small sheepish smile, "Sorry, I was just out taking a short stroll."
Anju sighed as she set the kitten down on the bed, "Get in bed, you had a rough time with Ganondorf and are probably still a bit shaken from it."
Sheik smiled as went over to the bed being mindful of the kitten. As Anju sat down next to Sheik she made him lie down and asked, "Have you named the kitten yet?" Sheik shook his head as he began to stoke the kittens head delighted that the small animal was purring. "No, I should name him shouldn't I?" The kitten, now able to walk short distances, came up to Sheik and licked the tip of his.
"Hm, you seem like a Monty. What do you think?" Sheik asked Anju as she got up. "That seems like a very fitting name. Now go to sleep, you've got bags under your eyes." Anju said as she pulled the blankets up and extinguished the lamp's light.
It didn't take long before Sheik was asleep with Monty curled up next to his face.
xXx
Link and Impa rode on Epona silently through the dark night on their way to the Shadow temple. The night air was crisp and the sky had some straggling clouds in it and as Link looked up at the full moon he felt the first drops of rain begin to fall. Looking back down at the path ahead of them he sighed. He wanted this ordeal to be over and done with. And honestly he'd rather be at his home reading. But such is life.
They rode for a while longer reaching the end of the path and at this time Link dismounted Epona and took her by the reins leading her through the tall grasses making sure she didn't step in a hole or trip over a hidden log.
It was silent between the two as they continued on in the direction of the next temple, but Link wanted to get to know the woman he was traveling with better so he quietly asked, "Would you mind telling me about yourself?" Impa was silent for a time before she gave a small sigh and saw no reason why the boy couldn't know a little about her.
"Alright what would you like to know?" She asked petting Epona's long mane.
"Any thing's fine, but I am interested in how you became the mother of the Dragon's Flame," Link answered as he guided Epona around a particularly deep hole.
"Sheik came in to my possession when he was a few weeks old, his parents leaving him on my door step in the middle of the night," Impa said.
"Oh, that's a bit unusual, but I guess I can't really say anything. I was brought to the Great Deku tree and raised by him . . ." Link trailed off as he finished speaking.
They kept moving falling in to a silence again, but Link was determined to learn more about Impa and Sheik. Not turning around as he asked the question Link kept looking ahead. "Sheik told me when he was little he got bullied a lot, do you know why the village kids didn't like him?" Impa sighed quietly as she looked down at the eighteen year old in front of her. Hearing the sigh Link quickly apologized for what he had said.
"It's okay Link," Impa told him. "It's kinda a sore subject for me. The village kids didn't like him because he was smarter than the rest of them and the fact that he was Sheikah didn't help either. He also kept to himself most of the time so he was somewhat like a stranger to the children too." Link nodded in understanding and kept quite the rest of their trip.
After a few more hours of walking the two decided to call it a night and stopped next to a small bunch of trees. Tethering Epona up to one of the trees and starting a fire they settled in for the rest of the night. "You can go to sleep Link, I'm going to take the first watch. I'll wake you in a few hours." Impa told the blond as she stoke the fire. "Alright, good night Impa," Link laid down near the fire and quickly drifted off to sleep.