Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

The Voice
1 - What the F*** is a Link?!

It was dark, and he was wet. Water (or what hoped to the Goddess was water) dripped off him as he wrenched himself out of the strange tub he'd woken up in, bathed in pale blue light shining from dozens of little eye-like holes in the ceiling surrounded by glowing veins.

Legs shaking, he needed a long moment to compose himself, fighting his body's desire to simply fold in on itself as every muscle in his body gave a spasm, each movement slow and deliberate, his jaw clenching from the aches and pains unlike any he had ever felt before.

At least as far as he could remember, which wasn't very far at all. He closed his eyes, trying to remember something, anything, from before waking up in this strange chamber. Nothing came to mind, save for a name. Link. Was it even a name? It felt familiar, so he assumed it had to be. His name.

I am Link, he thought. It made him feel a little better, having a name to hold on to, even if he didn't remember anything else.

He shivered, finally obeying his body as it demanded a little rest, sinking to his knees beside the tub, his eyes roaming the room.

Where was he?

The air smelled stale and of the water-like substance he'd been...bathing in? Swimming in? Submerged in, at the very least, based on how utterly soaked he was. Sweet, almost.

The temperature was low, leaving him shivering, rubbing his hands against each other to maintain some semblance of feeling, doing the same to his upper arms.

Groaning, he forced himself to stand up again. Remaining stationary while freezing was a bad idea—he knew that much. He took a step forward...and paused. Was that a voice? He held his breath, listening carefully.

...the slate...pick...slate...

It was a strange sensation. The words were there, but they were not filtered through his ears. It was as if they were already in his head, and he just had to focus.

However, it was gone as soon as it had appeared, leaving him alone once more, not even remembering what it had sounded like.

"He...Hello?" he tried, his voice little more than a croak, rough and hoarse from disuse. How long had he been asleep? "Is there anyone...are you still there?"

No response. Just the sound of water dripping somewhere, and his own shaky breathing. A feeling of loneliness came over him, clenching around his heart like an icy fist. Why was he alone? Whatever this place was, surely someone else would be around? He'd clearly been asleep for a while, and not in a normal way—surely he hadn't been abandoned?

No, he told himself. Can't stop now. Have to keep going.

The voice had mentioned a slate. He had no idea what that was, but he could only assume it was the strange object on the pedestal at the other end of the room, shining faintly in the dark. Taking his time and letting his muscles get used to the idea of moving again—they protested with each movement; how long had he been asleep?—Link padded over to the pedestal, reaching out for the rectangular object rising from its slot.

It had a convenient handle to hold it by, the majority of the surface coated in some sort of glass, smooth to the touch. In the top right corner, a round piece of dark blue frame rose slightly from the surface. He pressed a thumb to it, and it gave a little, sinking into the frame...and the glass part of it lit up, a strange, blue symbol appearing in the middle of it.

It looked like an eye, with a large, solid teardrop hanging from the lower lid. The light pulsated, slowly fading and increasing in brightness, like it was waiting for something. Fascinated, he touched a finger to the glass surface, in the middle of the symbol's pupil. The screen lit up in blinding white, causing him to gasp and nearly drop the slate to the floor. Sighing in relief and feeling clumsy, he nearly dropped it again when a very real, very clear, very confused voice spoke.

"Wha...what is...where am I?"

Link looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded like it came from the slate itself, but not directly, like it came through a very thin wall...but that wasn't possible. Confused as he was, Link was damn sure he hadn't gone insane. Not yet, at least.

"Hey."

He kept looking around the room, clearing his throat and hoping to spot whoever was speaking to him. The sheer relief of hearing someone else, knowing that he wasn't alone, nearly had his knees buckling again.

"I asked you a question," the voice said insistently. "Are you deaf?"

"N-No, I-I'm n-n-not," Link said haltingly, hating the sound of his voice and the way his words came out in stuttered clips.

"Oh, good," the voice said, the pitch suggesting its owner was male. "Then perhaps you could stop gaping like a fish and answer my question? And maybe look at me when I'm talking to you?"

The tone was impatient, frustrated. Link felt a budding frustration himself when the owner refused to reveal themselves.

"I'm t-trying," he said, head swivelling around. There was literally nothing else in the chamber save for himself, the pedestal, the tub and the...the...oh... His eyes slid to the glass surface of the slate, where the eye symbol was glowing steadily now, rather than pulsating. "Are...are y-you in-inside the s-slate?" he asked carefully.

"Slate? What slate?" the voice asked. "You're standing just above me, looking down. It's a little condescending, actually. What're you...I...oh..."

The voice trailed off and fell silent for a minute. The glass dimmed a little, then lit up in random patterns. Link wished they would speak again. Partly to combat the oppressive loneliness this room was filling him with, and partly because...well, he liked the sound of them. They had a strange accent, their Rs rolling a little.

"Who are you?" the voice asked after a long moment of utter nothing.

"I'm L-Link," Link replied, cursing his voice for refusing to cooperate, his words barely louder than a whisper.

"What the fuck is a Link?" the voice asked, rather rudely, before cutting Link off as he began to answer. "Never mind, I don't care. Look, I have no idea what is happening, or how I've apparently ended up in a Sheikah slate...or why you're naked."

Link blushed, crossing his arms after placing the slate back on the pedestal, hoping to cover up just a little. At least he had smallclothes on.

"W-W-What's a Sh-Sheikah slate?" Link asked.

"Are you kidding me?" the voice asked incredulously. "You're looking right at it—me! You turned it on!"

Link frowned, feeling a little defensive. He couldn't help that his memories were more or less gone. Besides, it's not like the voice in the slate—whatever it was—seemed to have any better of a grip on the situation than him. "S-Sorry, b-b-but I've n-no idea wh-what that is-s."

"Is something wrong with you? Why are you stuttering?"

Link didn't answer. He simply glared at the slate until whatever was inside it gave a sigh.

"My apologies," it said quietly. "That was uncalled for. Clearly, you're as confused as I am about this, and mocking your speech won't accomplish anything."

Going against what he assumed was common sense, Link gave the slate a little smile. "Ap-Apology accepted."

"Right," the voice said slowly. Nothing else seemed to be forthcoming.

"L-Let's st-start over," Link said, still smiling. "M-My n-name is L-Link. Wh-What's yours?"

There was another long pause before a surprisingly quiet answer came. "...Sheik. My name is Sheik. I think."

"Y-You think?" Link said, not unkindly.

"I'm not sure, all right? It's the only one I can think of, so clearly it must be mine. Why do you care, anyway?"

Surprised at how quickly Sheik went on the defensive, Link shook his head. "J-Just c-curious," he said. Gesturing around the room, he gave Sheik what he hoped was an encouraging look. "D-Do you know wh-where we are?"

That was good, he thought. Only stuttered twice in that one.

"No, I don't," Sheik replied curtly. His tone was still hostile, but Link had a feeling it was less about him and more about the situation in general, which was surely less-than-pleasant for either of them. "But I know we can't stay here—your core body temperature is dropping rapidly, and..." he trailed off again. "Er...you're cold. I can open the door to the next room. It might be warmer in there."

He didn't wait for Link to answer. With a loud click, the door by the pedestal slid open with a loud groan and the shriek of metal grinding against metal. The air that flowed in from outside was much warmer, and Link sighed with relief. Torches burned brightly on the walls outside, which appeared to be more of a cave than the carefully sculptured chamber he'd woken up in.

"Hey!"

Sheik's voice broke him out of his reverie, one foot outside already.

"Take me with you!"

Link stared at the slate, where the eye symbol dimmed considerably.

"Please?" Sheik added. "I can't move around on my own, and...well, you're as lost as I am, right? Perhaps we can...find out what's going on together?"

Rude as he was, Link didn't have the heart to leave Sheik behind. Aside from the fact that the mysterious voice in his head had told him to take the slate, he also had a feeling that Sheik was just as confused by this unknown place as he himself was...and it was nice to have someone to talk to...or listen to, at least, if his stutter didn't resolve itself.

Reaching it, Link grabbed the slate by the handle and carefully carried it out of the chamber.

"Thank you," Sheik said, sounding a little more sincere.

"N-No problem," Link replied. "How d-did you open th-the d-door?"

"I'm not sure. I just...knew I could, and did it. Just thought about it, really—hey, you should check those chests."

Link paused, having almost stepped right past the rusty, dust-covered metal chests that were shoved against the cave wall. He'd been distracted by Sheik's voice, which was far more pleasant than it had any right to be.

"Maybe there's something you can wear in them. Unless you're one of those weird people with an aversion to clothing?"

Link shook his head quickly, another blush coming to his cheeks. He definitely wasn't! "N-No," he added when he realised Sheik might not be able to see the gesture. Carefully placing the slate on a broken crate next to the chests, he examined their contents.

A tattered shirt and trousers, cracked leather boots, and a belt that was clearly more decorative than anything else. Better than nothing, he supposed, and definitely warmer than just running around in his smallclothes. Less likely to upset anyone outside, too.

"Well?" Sheik asked impatiently. "Anything useful—ah, yes, that is definitely better." He was quiet for a moment. "No weapons?"

Link shook his head.

"Pity—never know when you'll need one."

Almost in response, Link's right fist clenched around...well, nothing, but it definitely felt like something was missing from there. He picked up the slate again, trying to forget the empty feeling, and found that the device had a clip on the back, allowing him to attach it to his belt.

"Hm, handy," Sheik said with approval. "Right, the cave exit is straight ahead. Shall we explore?"

"L-Let's," Link said, nodding.

This is why you don't leave Andy with nothing to do at work. He comes up with stupid ideas like this!

This'll likely be a series of vignettes than one coherent story...though I've said something similar before and it turned into something else entirely. Let's just see where this goes, eh?