A/N: Hi! Thank you all so much for reading this far! I really appreciate the feedback I've gotten from you all, and I have tried to reply to individual reviewers, but if I missed you, here is your personal THANK YOU! Reviews, favorites, follows and all that are huge encouragement to keep writing.
Hope you enjoy this chapter, and have a fabulous day!
"There," Sheik whispered, pointing through the trees at a small light that had just flickered to life. In the gathering gloom, it was like a beacon through the dark woods.
Zelda gripped the dagger at her belt tighter, and frowned in concentration. It was still a ways off. More lights flickered into existence. Four in total.
Sheik motioned for Zelda to follow and they crept forward. Sheik made no sound. Zelda was less adept, but did her best. The dress she had run away in had been destroyed days ago. She had cut the skirt off just above the knees, torn off the decorations and emblem, and removed all of her jewelry. Not for the first time during the journey, Zelda was thankful she had been wearing one of her simple, day dresses and not one of her official royal wardrobe.
Once they got within sight of the camp itself, Sheik stopped them again.
"Wait here," they hissed.
Zelda obeyed, staying low to the ground, hidden in the darkest of shadows.
Sheik crept to the edge of the clearing and lay still, counting how many their enemy was. They counted twenty in all. A rather sizable bunch. They didn't look to be anything special. To Sheik's trained eye they looked decidedly average. A bunch of thugs who had set their sights big. Sheik wondered briefly what their greater mission was, and if this was truly what it appeared to be. But they did not pursue that line of questioning. It did not matter. Sheik would free the prince, then find a way to kill him later after Zelda was certain not to reveal Sheik's whereabouts to the guards. After Link was dead, Sheik could leave, and never return to Hyrule. If it's royal line was destroyed and the kingdom thrown into war, well, that wasn't Sheik's problem.
Sheik motioned for Zelda to come closer.
She did. Though she moved as carefully as she could, she still cringed at every snapped stick, sure that Sheik was judging her for it. When she got to where the Sheikah was lying, she lay down next to them, leaning close to hear Sheik's whispered instructions.
"I'll take the guys. You find Link and free him. Meet me by the horses."
"Understood," Zelda said, eyes hard.
Sheik nodded, and closed their eyes for a heartbeat. With their focus centered on the task ahead, Sheik slid from the cover of the woods, knife in hand, and crept through the shadows past the group of men around the nearest fire.
Their rowdy laugher irritated Sheik, but they were thankful the men were not paying attention. Even their lookouts were scarce and seemed uninterested. Clearly not of a very high caliber.
Sheik snuck up to the nearest lookout, and, when the man turned to scan the other direction, Sheik stepped out of the shadows and slit his throat.
Covering his mouth to muffle the pained choke the man emitted, Sheik lowered the body slowly to the ground, hiding it behind the rock the sentry had been standing by. Next, Sheik moved towards the group of men themselves. It would not be long before one of them noticed the sentry was missing. But Sheik could use this small window to launch a surprise attack and hopefully take out five of the nineteen remaining men before they gathered arms.
With practiced ease, Sheik dashed up to the first man and stabbed him through a small gap in the back of his armor, right beneath the shoulder blade. Sheik drove the blade deep, ensuring the man's death.
Confused shouts of alarm began as Sheik pulled the knife from their victim and descended upon the remaining men like an angel of death.
Sheik didn't notice as Zelda finally broke from her trance of morbid fascination and made stealthy haste around the camp in search of Link.
The princess skirted the chaos Sheik had caused, and made her way to the other side of the camp. Men rushed from the remaining fires towards the sound of the struggle, making her job much easier. As she peeked around the edge of one tent, she noticed the wagon in the center of camp. It seemed incredibly out of place. There was a guard assigned to it, who stood gripping his weapon nervously and looking in the direction of the battle. There were no tents nor fires near this wagon, and it was locked with heavy chains.
"I bet he's in there," Zelda whispered to herself. She looked down at the dagger she clutched in her hand, and then back at the soldier. He looked as terrified as she felt.
Back in the direction she had come from Zelda could hear the chaotic sounds of fighting. Someone screamed about a demon before his voice was cut off, no doubt by Sheik's keen blade. And then Zelda was struck with an idea. She sheathed her blade, and began chanting in Ancient Hylian.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
From the shadows, a woman in tattered clothes emerged, arms spread wide, eyes laser focused, voice rising and falling in a chant that promised death. The soldier guarding Link's prison took one look, and fled, shouting for help.
Zelda dropped her arms and hurried to the wagon, silently commending herself for her intelligence and thanking the Goddesses that her ruse had worked.
"Link! Link are you in there?" she called, hammering her fists on the wooden walls.
"Zelda?!" his shocked voice came from inside.
"Oh thank the Three! Yes, it's me! I'm going to get you out." That said, Zelda wasn't quite sure how to get her brother out. She could not break the chains, nor did she have a key. She looked around desperately, racking her brain for what she knew about picking locks.
Her gaze landed upon the chopping block where the axe was still embedded, piles of split firewood beside it. "Maybe..." she murmured. She ran over and yanked the heavy tool free.
"Stand back, Link," she commanded.
"Wait, why? What are you-" Link didn't get to finish his query, as there was a loud thunk and the sound of splintering wood. He pressed himself harder against the farthest wall.
Zelda took another swing, breaking through the plank this time. She pressed her advantage and hacked off another piece. Soon she was sweating and her hands ached, but there was a hole in the side of the wooden prison large enough for Link to climb through.
Zelda leaned on the handle of her axe as Link struggled through the hole and collapsed on the grass.
"You look terrible," she observed. She couldn't stop the relieved smile that tugged at the edges of her lips.
"So do you," Link snapped back, though his voice sounded tired and lacked any real ire.
Zelda dropped the axe and hauled her brother to his feet. "Come on, Sheik is probably waiting for us." She couldn't hear the sound of battle anymore; the night was unsettlingly quiet.
The two staggered back towards the woods, Link leaning heavily on Zelda as the world spun and his body tried to adjust to moving, and Zelda struggling to support her larger brother. They hadn't gotten far when Zelda heard a subdued hisss. She had barely registered the sound when an arrow shaft sprouted from the ground not a foot away.
"Run!" Zelda shouted, dragging Link as fast as she could.
Link dug into the last vestiges of his strength and ran. Having not eaten in three days and being severely dehydrated took its toll. His limbs felt heavy, his head swam and ached, his vision blurred. But he ran.
Unfortunately, they did not run fast enough. The third arrow pierced Zelda's thigh, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Zel!" Link yelped, as he too was pulled down.
It was by sheer luck that the next arrow did not hit either of them as they struggled to regain their feet.
And then there were no more arrows. The archer tumbled from his perch in a nearby tree, dead before he hit the ground.
Sheik emerged from the woods, and walked over to the body. They pulled a throwing needle from the archer's neck, wiping it off on the edge of their tunic. It seemed a futile action though as blood dripped from Sheik's hand, dirtying the metal once again. Sheik didn't seem to notice as the needle was tucked away into a pouch on their forearm and they strode quickly towards the siblings.
Sheik knelt next to Zelda, examining the wound.
She whimpered as the Sheikah wiped away the blood to get a better look.
"It's not lethal," they decided. "We need to move. We can deal with it when we are away from this place."
Zelda was in shock. Her face was pale, her skin damp with sweat, her breathing uneven and shallow. Link answered for her.
"She can't walk!" he shouted. "She needs treatment, now!"
"I can treat her when we are safe," Sheik hissed. They did not wait for Link to agree. Instead, Sheik snapped the shaft off near the entrance wound and hefted Zelda onto their back, eliciting further pained sounds.
Thankfully, Link didn't protest further, simply following Sheik through the silent woods as the moon sank below the horizon.
Once they had ridden far enough away that Sheik deemed them safe, they slid from the saddle, carefully lifting Zelda down after. She had passed out during their ride, and her condition had only worsened.
"Start a fire, quickly," Sheik commanded.
"I don't take orders from you!" Link snapped, dismounting as well and rushing to Zelda's side.
"Do you want her to die?" Sheik asked, anger lacing their carefully controlled tone.
Link glared, but moved away to start a fire.
Sheik lay Zelda down on the grass, and hastily lit a lantern so they could better examine the wound. It wasn't terrible. The arrow had gone in at an angle, missing the bone entirely and damaging only flesh and muscle. Sheik thanked the Three that it hadn't touched any of the major arteries either.
Hastily, Sheik laid out medical supplies. Red potion would be enough to fix this. Sheik just had to make sure the wound was clean, and the arrow was removed.
"Link, boil some water," Sheik requested, eyeing the arrow with displeasure.
Link grumbled, but did as he was asked. Sheik tore strips of clean cloth into rags for cleaning the injury, and prepared a few as bandages to slow the bleeding while Sheik disinfected the wound.
"Here," Link said, bringing over a pot of boiling water.
Sheik muttered a thank you, and first washed their hands with the hot water before they soaked a rag and began to clean the outside of the wound.
Link sat nervously across from Sheik, watching them work. He rocked up on the balls of his feet, then back on his heels, wringing his hands and tearing up grass. He felt useless. His sister was hurt and all he could do was watch as the person he hated cared for her.
At last, Sheik raised their red eyes to meet Link's. "I'm going to push the arrow the rest of the way through," Sheik informed Link. "It will hurt her. Immensely. Hold her still, or she might worsen the wound."
With a grimace, Link obeyed.
Sheik took a breath, and then pushed the arrow through Zelda's leg, pulling the barbed arrowhead out of the other side.
Zelda thrashed and screamed, eyes flying open, filled with tears. Link set his jaw and held her as still as possible, muttering calming phrases under his breath.
Zelda screamed more as Sheik took more rags and washed the exit wound, and as much of the space between as they could without causing more damage. Then, Sheik handed the bottle of red potion to Link and returned to pressing strips of cloth tightly to Zelda's leg to slow the bleeding.
"Make her drink," Sheik commanded.
Link hugged Zelda and spoke softly. "You need to drink this, Zel. It'll make you feel better. Come on…" He pressed the bottle to her lips as tears streamed down her face. But she drank, and Sheik silently sighed in relief as the bleeding slowed, then stopped, and Zelda's body relaxed. Sheik removed the dressings, wiped away the blood, and began packing up the medical supplies as Zelda clung to Link and cried.
"Shh," he whispered, hugging her tightly, "You're okay now. It's okay."
Sheik left them like that, slipping off into the shadows to tend to their own injuries.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
At sunrise the next morning, Link was awake. He sat up slowly, trying not to disturb Zelda who was wrapped up in the blankets next to him.
Sheik had refused to lend Link any of their gear, and there were only two bedrolls, and so the siblings had bundled up together against the pre-dawn chill, and gone to sleep. That was mere hours ago, and the exhaustion weighed heavily on Link. But he was worried about his sister, and very hungry.
With some effort, Link untangled himself from the blankets, leaving Zelda asleep, and went in search of food.
It was while he was rummaging through Sheik's saddle bags that the devil himself appeared.
"Get out of my stuff," Sheik snapped, striding over to Link.
"I'm hungry," Link all but whined as Sheik snatched the bags away from him.
"Find your own food. Or starve to death," Sheik said. "It would save me trouble."
Link glared, his anger flaring up again, hotter than ever in his irritable state.
"I should kill you and save the world trouble," Link growled.
Sheik stiffened. "What did you say?" they asked, turning back to fix Link in his murderous gaze.
Link grinned maliciously, knowing he had hit on something sensitive. "I said, you deserve to die. You're just a problem for everyone."
"I deserve to die? For what?" Sheik hissed. "For wanting my freedom?!" Their eyes flashed dangerously and a blade appeared in their hand.
Link hesitated for a moment, but his anger got the better of him. "You're nothing but a criminal, a murderer. You don't even deserve freedom."
"You're wrong!" Sheik yelled. "I deserve freedom as much as anyone else! I don't deserve to suffer because of you!"
"You're just a selfish murderer, trying to justify your actions!" Link claimed.
Sheik looked like they'd been punched in the gut. "I. Deserve. A. Choice!" Sheik shouted, and pounced on Link, knife poised to kill.
Predictably, Sheik's blade bounced off of Link's chest as if there were an invisible shield. The two wrestled on the ground, Link horribly outmatched in speed and strength in the state he was in, but Sheik was injured, and all Link needed was a tiny opening and some luck.
Link kneed Sheik in the side, sending Sheik rolling off of him across the uneven uneven ground. They glared, clutching at their side in pain. Blood oozed from beneath Sheik's fingers, spreading across their tunic like spilled ink.
Sheik stood up slowly, murder in their eyes, and walked slowly over to retrieve their bags.
Link watched as Sheik dug out the medical bag, and then walked away into the woods. He did not follow. "Good riddance," he grumbled, but a frown creased his brow as he watched the Sheikah leave.
He was about to continue rifling through Sheik's bags when a whimper from Zelda caught his attention. Rushing to her side, he dropped to his knees next to her bedroll.
"Zelda?" he asked gently.
Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and a layer of sweat coated her forehead.
Concerned, Link pressed his hand to her forehead, and then her cheeks. "You're burning up," he muttered. With dread filling his heart, he pulled the blankets off of Zelda to get a look at her leg. There was no sign of the initial injury, but the skin around the place where the arrow had been was turning a sickly shade of blue, spreading up and down her leg along the veins.
"Oh no," Link said. Though he hated himself for doing it, Link got up and ran into the woods, shouting for Sheik.