The Council had given him very specific directions not to reveal himself to the Chosen One until the coming of the Dark Lord was upon them, but he had ignored their order. He could not take this child to her death blindly without her at least knowing what was destined for her. If he were to be a murderer, then best let his victim meet death with both eyes open. That was the way he would wish it if their roles were reversed. He only wished they were.
The woman was no more than a babe in the world's eyes, and he had seen much in his five and fifty years. Why did the Goddesses take away the gift of life from the young? The Council had thought it cruel to reveal these things to her, but crueler did Orion think it to hold the truth back until death was at the threshold of the girl's feet.
She had been terribly frightened at first. He was sure that if he let the hold of his mind go from her, she would have bolted as quickly as she could have, running far away from him and the disastrous tidings that he brought. Orion would not have blamed her though, he knew that Loraefin was no coward, but he knew the growing fear in her heart was powerful as well as painful. Had it not been for the vision she witnessed on the night of her rape, nor what the Goddesses had told her, she would not have believed him.
"I…am a…a sacrifice?" she had stuttered, all blood rushing away from her cheeks so that she was ghostly pale. Her large eyes had clouded over and her throat convulsed as if she was choking. Orion simply had nodded. There was a long silence before Loraefin found her voice again, and when she did it was shaking greatly.
"A sacrifice," she said again, as if now she finally understood. "Then the vision was right…and the fire that burned those men…" Loraefin had looked at the revered Sheikah for some kind of response for he had not said a word in some time. Orion was looking at the water of the creek, deep in thought.
"And what is to happen if I don't conform to this…this fate?" Loraefin's voice faltered again. Orion looked up, his eyes deep with wisdom and grief.
"That," he said, "would seal your death anyhow. Do it, and while this life for you will end your families will survive. You are the key, the one chosen by the Three to bear this task."
"But I know nothing of the affairs of Hyrule, or this evil being, Ganondorf, you're talking about, save for what Link has told me. Why would the Goddesses choose---" Loraefin stopped as she witnessed a bleak emotion pass over the Sheikah's eyes. Her heart lurched and felt as if it were breaking. "Link…what is it about Link? Your eyes just clouded over, what is it?" A new sort of terror had run through her now, gripping every part of her body. Orion furrowed his brows and his mouth became even more grim set.
"This I will not tell you, for your mind is already burdened enough, child. The Hero of Time has still yet a part to play, yes, but I will tell you no more." He had held her gaze, saw and felt the racing anxiety and confusion swimming there. He saw fear, but not for herself, for the safety of her friend. No, not a friend, this stark white face with clenched hands and reading eyes spoke of something more…
"This isn't happening, this isn't happening…" Loraefin had pressed her fingers into her eyes as her mouth contorted, willing back a sob of disbelief. Without thinking, she lashed out and grabbed the old Sheikah in a trembling embrace. She needed something, anything, to hold onto. Her face was buried against the curve of his neck, but she did not cry.
Everything was changing so quickly, for the moment she needed reassurance that something was real. Orion was real; Loraefin felt his warmth and his tenseness as she held him. The Sheikah pulled her back, almost so carefully that he appeared he did not know what to do with her, and searched her confused mind with his clear, deep eyes. Loraefin felt herself tremble again as she stared into them and could feel his control melting into her, calming her. She looked down, and then to him again.
"I have to know one thing," she said, her voice but a hoarse whisper, "why tell me this, why not just see to your task and kill me, if that's what's needed. My agreement doesn't make a difference." She watched him, watched his eyes. They did not move, did not blink. Orion's stare was vacant for what seemed like hours until his eyes closed slowly and he let go of a breath neither of them was aware he was holding.
"I tell you this," he began, his voice taking on a sudden fierceness, laced with a deep, guttural misery that choked Loraefin. "I tell you this because I will not take a child blindly into death." Orion's brows furrowed again and his lips pinched in contemplation of how to phrase his answer with some kind of justification. Justification for her or for himself he was not sure.
"Your agreement does matter. I can make you do this, yes, by force, but I had hoped, by telling you this, that it would not come to that. I would venture to think that once all the consequences were known, you would have come to the same answer had I given you no choice."
Loraefin blinked, shocked. Orion was still looking at her, piercing her with his now clouded, duty-bound stare. You would have come to the same answer, she repeated to herself blindly. And in that instance, Loraefin had realized that she had come to just that: the answer. The right answer. The understanding of it had brought a wave of courage and power upon her like she had never known, different from the Ground, different from the terrible fire that had consumed those men, it flowed through her like a great current. Her decision also made her want to turn and vomit from fear.
Their meeting had come to a close and Loraefin was an empty shell of her former self that had stepped along the creek bed in search of her dog. He could not let her go back to her family thus, something would certainly be noticed amiss and this knowledge was for the One chosen by the Goddesses alone. Orion bade her to lie down, for she was weak and pale, and sang softly a song in the Sheikahan tongue she did not understand.
Placing a cool, aged hand against her forehead, he cast the young woman into a slumber where when she woke, the memories of what had come to pass between them was no more than a dream. And it was like this that he left her along the bank among the stones in the fading light, slumbering in a dreamless sleep where her fears would be at ease and she could be in peace, at least for a time.
***
The dark figure slipped along the field like a shadow under the moon. He looked up reluctantly to see that in two days time, the silver orb would be at its fullest and its most brilliant. A cold wind caught up with his horse and bit into his cloths and against his now uncovered face. Sheik wrapped his cloak around himself tighter, fighting off the chill. The scarred portion on his face had been numb to cold for many years now though and the wind had little effect. The dark cliffs rose alongside him as he searched for the obscure, hidden passage that he and Orion had traveled on a few days before into the Eidua Valley. The main tunnel entrance was no good to them, what they needed was concealment.
Sheik turned before disappearing behind the rocks, looking longingly back across the great expanse, where he could barely make out the silhouetted form of Hyrule Castle in the distance. There slept his heart, the other half of his soul, his princess. He had to see her before everything came to its end, for though their task was to only retrieve the Chosen One, not even the Council could see how it all would end. What if this life came and went and he had not beheld the face of his beloved again?
It was anguishing enough to have her so close, and yet could not touch her, hold her, press up against her. But he could only be a shadow to her now, at least, until all had come to pass. To see her, to smell her…it had been so long that those experiences alone left him dizzy. More so when she had spoken to him, using his real name. Orion had known his urgency, allowed him to venture out in search of Zelda, but now that he had, Sheik had to return and face the terrible task with him. So it was that he turned from Hyrule Castle and made his way into the darkened tunnel to do the Will of the Goddesses.
AN: Aw, poor Fin, so much crap…And Sheik, what a tortured young man…I'm not to nice to my characters (not that I own Sheik…) right now. Review me please!