Chapter Three: The Sheikah Way
He knew this was a dream, or at least something like a dream. He was sitting on the bench by Misa's house in Kakariko and it was like any usual day, quiet and peaceful. He could see Anju by the pen feeding her Cuccus and Mutoh barking orders at the carpenters to hurry up, but their appearances were all blurred and distant. Link stood up and realized that the pain in his shoulder was gone, and furthermore, found that the wound was not even there! Link looked around and took a couple of steps to the corner of the house when out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure descend from the roof of the Bazaar. He quickly turned to face it and gasped in surprise. Before him stood a familiar figure, but one that Link had not seen in some time. The blond hair covered one eye and its scarf was pulled up to its nose, hiding most of its face. The sleek but strong Sheikah body stood boldly facing him and Link found himself at a loss for words.
"Zelda?" Link said under his breath and the figure laughed. Its voice was deeper than Zelda's, but then again; she had fooled him once.
"No," it chuckled, "I am not Zelda, but now is not the time to go into detail." It stepped forward to Link and took his hand, waving his own palm across it. The Triforce emblem began to glow beneath the skin of Link's hand and the Sheikah smiled happily. "Ah, you truly are the keeper of the Triforce of Courage," it, or he by the looks of it said. Link took his hand back in a hurry.
"Yes, what is this about? This isn't Kakariko is it?" He demanded. The figure smiled again.
"No, merely a representation of it," the man began. "The drug that the arrow was tipped with is designed to manifest a place in which the person feels comfortable and safe, so then we are allowed to enter and speak with them."
"Who is we?" Link replied. "And who are you?"
"Who I am? I should say that you know me already," said the figure, "but as I said before now is not the time, this dream will be over soon and I have not even begun to say what I must." He walked behind Link and took a seat on the bench. Link followed him with his eyes suspiciously until he sat.
"What is this all about?" He asked in a low voice staring intently on the supposed Sheikah. The man leaned forward and stared at Link with just as much intent on Link as Link of him.
"Your friend's life weighs very heavily on your conscious does it not?" Replied the figure. Link knew immediately that he was talking about Loraefin, but how did he know about that?
"Yes," was all Link said. The figure nodded.
"Then perhaps we can do something to help," he got up and took Link's other hand and quicker than Link could react, cut it with a small, sickle shaped knife. Link drew his hand back but found that it had not hurt at all, though he could clearly see the blood flowing out of it. "This," said the Sheikah raising Link's hand, "could be the key to saving her life. You hold the Triforce of Courage within your body and it is very powerful. Use your blood instead of the girl's. If you are willing to risk your life for the sake of hers, then let it be so. The poison from the arrow that struck you down has a powerful barrier in it, which is now apart of your blood. If all goes well, it should have enough power to strike Ganondorf down. May it be so." Link stared at his bleeding hand and then back to the man.
"How do you know all this?" He whispered.
"We are the shadows, the old folk of Hyrule, our wisdom runs deep within the earth and through the passages of time. But none of this is important now, but heed what I have told you here." Link glanced back down at his hand to find it whole again but when he looked up, the man was gone.
***
"Link, Link wake up," Malon soothed, rubbing one of his hands until he had opened his eyes. He looked groggily around and moaned in pain when he tried to sit up. He felt Malon gently push him back to the bed and laid his head on the pillow. Link could see that his shoulder had been tended to with clean bandages and gauss, no doubt the crafty work of Malon he thought. Talon brought in some water, which Malon held up to his lips for him to drink.
"Hey beautiful," he grinned and looked up at the girl. Malon squeezed his hands, relieved that he was awake.
"Oh Link, thank the Goddesses you're okay," she sighed. "You scared us, never do that again!"
"I'll sure try," he chuckled. Rook came up behind Malon and placed a hand on each shoulder, rubbing them up and down her arms affectionately.
"Aye Link, good to see ya up and about," Rook laughed, "Fer awhile there we thought we'd lost ya!" Link's expression was one of surprise and amusement.
"Did I miss something here?" He said, raising a weak hand to point to the two of them. Malon blushed and Rook grinned.
"Aye lad," Rook beamed, "but we'll tell ye later. Do ye want somethin' to eat? You've been out almost three days now, I'm betting yer hungry."
"Three days?" Link's eyes went wide and Malon nodded.
"Yes. They wanted to move you to the Castle Infirmary, but the doctor thought it best if we didn't move you. We're glad you woke up when you did, I thought you would sleep right through your birthday." Rook turned abruptly around.
"It's yer birthday soon Link? I didna' know that," he handed Malon a bowl of warm soup that had been cooking above the fire.
"Yep, don't think I forgot Hero," Malon giggled and Link sighed tiredly.
"I almost forgot," he smiled, "I guess it is soon. How old am I going to be this year again?"
"Nineteen silly, stop being funny," Malon felt his forehead. "Good, your fever has broke."
"Yeah, I feel much better, thank you." He didn't know when his real birthday was, just that it was around the summer months so he had picked out a day in early June for it. June eighth, he didn't know why he picked that one, but it was always a beautiful day no matter what year. Link looking around the room and then back to Malon. "Did I hear you say something about the arrow being poisoned?" Malon seemed to get all excited and leaned further over the bed.
"Oh yes! After the doctor pulled the arrow out he found that it had been tipped with a special type of drug that could kill if shot into the heart. You're lucky the person was a bad shot and hit your shoulder instead."
"Yeah, guess I am."
***
"It has been done," said the man, nodding to his friend. "The Hero of Time believes his blood will now destroy Ganondorf and will stop worrying about the girl."
"Good," the other man nodded in return; "with his guard down now we can assure that the Oracle will be sacrificed, he will no longer feel the need to protect her."
"Are we doing the right thing Orion? Leading him on that he now alone has what it takes to stop Ganondorf? What if---"
"What is more important, the continuation of the world or one man's conscience?" The taller man snapped, but then composed himself again. "Sheik, if the Hero of Time tries to save the girl, then Ganondorf will surely overpower them and destroy everything, we cannot allow that. If he believes that the drug from the arrow is more than a common Sheikah illusion herb, then let him have comfort in that. The girl must be sacrificed and it is up to us as the Old Folk of Hyrule to see it through."
"You're right, forgive me for questioning our mission," replied Sheik, "let him have the false comfort that she is now safe, the Goddesses know that the peace of mind will be a blessing compared to what is coming."
"May the Goddesses have mercy on our souls Sheik."
The young Sheikah gazed out over the field to Hyrule Castle and his heart wrenched at the sight of it. He knew that Zelda was not there, and he had been searching for her ever since she and Impa had left their nomadic tribe deep in the mountains far to the south while in hiding from Ganondorf. They had gotten to know one another, had time to become good friends even, but there had been an accident and he had become seriously wounded, everyone thought he would die...And then she was gone. No doubt she thought he was dead, he had been unconscious for weeks, but how could she have given up on him so easily? He was determined to find her again. Orion turned his dark horse back toward the mountains and Sheik slowly followed. He felt for Link, having to loose someone he was close to, he understood more than most could, but he, like Orion and like the future Sages, knew that it was the only way to defeat Ganondorf again.