Chapter 8: Let's see how you like it…
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Disclaimer: Nope…not mine…
Did Rae seem a bit wimpy for missing the whole water temple thing? Well now she's better, and it's Link who has to chill out at Anju's for a while! What am I talking about? Well, here's something…READ THE STORY!
It's a little bit different than the usual…
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On their first outing together since Link had returned from the Water Temple, he and Rae spent the day mingling in the village and then going out to Hyrule Field for a light picnic lunch. Rae vented a bit about how she felt about being left behind, and Link countered with a little 'I was worried about you' that made her mellow out. Link taught her a few songs to play on the ocarina and as it began to rain, the two friends decided to return to Kakariko. Link and Rae meandered into Kakariko's gates with an easy air, but when they took in their surroundings that changed. Smoke was rising from the windmill, and a sick feeling filled the village. It was now raining heavily, finishing the scene of disaster.
Link pointed. "Hey! There's Sheik!" The two heroes ran up to their comrade, stopping a few paces behind. "Sheik, what hap—"
"Get back." Sheik said in a low voice, staring into the well. The wood poles around the well burst into splinters, and a low whispering could be heard. "Link, Rae—get out of here!"
Without warning, Sheik was picked up by an unseen force. He was batted around in mid-air for a moment and then slammed to the ground. Link was at Sheik's side in an instant, checking his pulse. As if sensing the presence of the enemy, he drew his sword. The haunting whispering of hundreds of voices reached Link's ears, and he was picked up. Tossed around like Sheik had been, Link was hurtled into a house. He sank to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Rae watched this from the shadows of an alleyway, hugging the wall as not to be seen. The whispering entity lingered by its victims for a second, and then went away. Rae knew that it had retreated to the Shadow Temple. Stepping into the open, Rae went to Link. He was still breathing fine. Dragging him off of the wall, Rae was surprised to hear a voice call her name. Rae spun, wet hair sending drops flying. It was Anju, coming her way with an umbrella.
"What happened?" The woman cried.
"I'll explain after." Rae said hurriedly. "But right now, I need to ask your hospitality once more."
Anju waved an arm. "Think nothing of it! Let's get them inside."
~*~*~*~
Impa faced off against the evil darkness that was looming over her. With a trained and strengthened mind, she ignored the low and shadowy whispering that beckoned to the dark thoughts within her that lived within all people.
"I will not submit to you!" Impa yelled in defiance, taking a battle stance that also doubled as a meditative pose to focus her energy.
You are filled with much doubt and fear… The entity hissed inside of her head. Let it free…let it out of you…let it lead you… Impa shook the influence off, thinking of happy thoughts.
"Go back to the abyss from whence you came!" Impa cried. "I will not let the darkness consume me!"
Big words for such a tainted creature…you are MINE!
Unprepared for such a large onslaught, Impa was thrown back by the force of the attack. Hands clutching her head, the Sheikah fell to the floor.
You are mine…leader of the shadow people…mine…
~*~*~*~
Sheik suddenly shivered and pulled the wool blanket up around his shoulders. Something was amiss; he could feel it in his bones. Pulling the blanket even tighter, he winced as a muscle in his chest pulled on his recent wound. The young man carefully peered down his shirt, and saw a dark purple scar that stretched across his chest and around his waist. It was what the shadow creature had left on him; a wound that could feed on his dark worries and survives on evil thoughts.
A low groan to his left drew his attention. Sheik pushed the sheets aside and went to the bed next to him. Link was asleep, a bandage across his forehead, and a long violet welt across his upper torso. It seemed that whatever had happened after Sheik had passed out, Link had also sustained an injury due to the dark creature. The Hylian breathed raggedly, fingers digging into the cot he lay on.
But where was Rae? It seemed that she hadn't returned to the room for quiet a while. Sheik glimpsed her leaving just as he woke up, but he had not the voice to call her back. Sheik staggered to the windowsill, peering outside. It was daylight at least, and from the looks of it, he was in the attic room of Anju's house. Good. Anju was one that he knew he could trust in these dark times.
With acute hearing, Sheik knew someone was approaching the door. The floorboards in the hall outside were creaking. The door opened a measly crack, and Rae stepped in to see Sheik, awake, but sitting upright in his bed.
"Oh! How are you feeling?" The black-blue haired girl asked. There was a dish of water and two towels on a tray in one hand, and a platter of food in the other.
"Fine, thank-you." Sheik said, feeling his heart beat faster as she sat down next to him on the bed. He could keep his face from revealing anything that he wanted, and right now it was concealing everything. She asked him a few more questions as she dipped the towel into the steaming water, but Sheik only nodded, too busy staring at her. Those bright green eyes, and tinted hair spoke of a uniqueness that only very few possessed. There was something in the way that she walked, the way that she moved and talked that drew him to her…and why was she so familiar to him?
"Sheik? Hello?"
Sheik shook his head, scrambling for a hold on reality. "What?"
"Have you tried to heal your wound yet?" She indicated the lavender streak that was now showing at his neck. "I think that it's spreading and growing larger, for some reason."
Sheik nodded. "It is no ordinary abrasion. It feeds on darkness and shadow. If I am not careful, it will devour me."
Rae's eyes grew wide, and she glanced over to where Link was in bed. "And Link—?"
Sheik nodded silently. The way that she could be so concerned for a person, even one whom she thought was a fictional character, touched him deeply. A tiniest part of him wished that she would be concerned for him too.
"Well, I guess that washing the gash isn't going to help, will it?" Rae looked down at the cloth and dish that she held. Sheik followed her gaze, temped to say that it would, if not so that he could have her touch him.
Sheik shook his head. "No, it wouldn't."
Rae put the tray aside, handing him a sandwich. "No meat."
She remembered!
They both watched each other for a moment. Sheik considered telling her how he felt about her. How would she react?
"Sheik, I need your help." She spoke suddenly, disrupting his train of thought.
"With what?"
"I need to go to the Shadow Temple and defeat the evil that escaped from the well."
Startled by her bluntness, Sheik almost forgot how it was possible for her to know about the temple. "It's too dangerous. You should wait to take Link with you."
"Link has a shadow wound. What do you think will happen if he goes into the depths of the shadows with it? And what do you think will happen if we wait any longer?" Rae's eyes flared with a sudden fire. "Anju told me that Impa went to the Shadow Temple a good three weeks ago; she hasn't returned or even sent word back."
The Sheikah felt his stomach drop at the implication. If Impa hadn't returned, then there was a chance that the Dark Beast captured her. Rae stood and moved to the foot of Link's bed, digging into his equipment bag.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to go back in time to get the Lens of Truth." She said.
Again Sheik was startled at her announcement. He knew that she knew everything that was going to happen in this quest, but it was unnerving to have her saying everything outright. "I assume that you know where and how to get it?"
"It's under the well, which I will enter after I play the Song of Storms in the windmill to empty the well of the water."
Sheik watched her with a miserable expression. "If you are sure that you really want to do this…" He sighed. "I do not think that I can stop you." Dipping to pick up his harp, he pointed to the ocarina in Rae's hands. "Can you play that?"
Rae nodded. "I've been practicing."
Sheik thought for a moment, fingers brushing the strings of his harp, absently. Then he plucked three of the strings in the form of a melody. "Now you try."
Rae copied the tune, getting it right on the first try. At Sheik's insistence, she played through a few times more. Afterwards, she pawed through Link's equipment, taking out several items and putting them into her own bag.
Sheik lifted the pack-strap onto Rae's shoulder, carefully brushing her blue-black hair out of the way. "Be careful."
Rae patted him on the head like he was a puppy dog. "No worries, fire-eyes. I'll be fine. Just make sure that Link doesn't follow me, alright?"
Sheik nodded, withdrawing from her. "Uh, how do you plan to go back in time?"
Rae picked up the master sword. "By putting this in the stone, of course."
"And how are you going to get back here?"
"I – " Rae stopped. "Huh. How am I going to get back? Only the Hero of Time can pull the sword." She set the weapon back down. "Damn…"
"Let me teach you another song, Rae, one that'll send you back in Time." He was starting to recall something…from a long time ago…
Rae pulled out the Ocarina of Time. "You're not talking about the Song of Time, are you?"
Sheik looked at her sharply. "You know of the Song of Time?" Rae nodded. "Hm." He grunted. "The Goddess of Time knows that you'll need to go back seven years; she'll hear it when you play the ocarina. If you play the notes forward, than you will go forward in time, but if you play them backwards, than you will be sent back in time."
"All right, teach them to me."
Sheik nodded. "There is one thing that you should remember, however. When you go back in time, you will be sent back seven years. You will return seven years, exactly, into the future, but it must be from the same spot that you left. Do you understand?"
"So I can't return unless I'm in the same spot that I left from."
"Yes. That is very important."
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Okay, now I realize that in MM, when you play the song of time in reverse, time slows down. As the author of this story, I have decided to ignore that because it doesn't apply to what I'm writing. So in this fic, playing the song of time backwards will only result in sending you backwards in time seven years. Forwards will send you forwards. Also, you are probably wondering why I made it so that you have to return and leave from the same spot…well, actually, I 'm setting up for future story stuff, that's all.
And what's this? Is there a little tenderness passing between these two heroes? Wasn't Rae falling for Link? Wasn't she? And what about Link? Doesn't he like her back…in some small way? Will Sheik ruin everything?!?
OF COURSE NOT!!! My precious Sheikie would NEVER ruin ANYthing!! (Ganon's evil plans do not count!!)
*OracleVortex*
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