Chapter 7
It was morning when Link woke up. The sun was just passing over some houses through the east window and the dark blue curtains hanging over it drifted with the passing wind. Link stood from the bed and walked over to the door. He heard voices in the other room. It was Mistress and Mister Kamen talking in the other language.
"Is he asleep?" It was Mr. Kamen's voice.
"Yes, he's asleep in the guestroom," said Mrs. Kamen, "Why?"
"Just wondering where he is," he said, "and Sheik?"
"By the lake."
It was silent for a while before they spoke again.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"About what?"
"About Sheik and the other boy."
"Link?" she asked. He knew they weren't calling him...they were talking about him. He could only make out the names and a few other words, but that was all.
"His name is Link?"
"Yes, just as the man in the legend," she said, "He's so brave, too."
"Or very stupid," he laughed, "but what do you think about the two?"
"How?"
"Liebespaar." (lovers)
Link's heard that word before...Leibespaar...but where? And what did it mean? Well, hell, what did any of what they were saying mean?
"What?"
"You've said it before," he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "they would make the cutest couple."
"Yeah, I did," she laughed, "but I didn't think that you'd agree with me."
"I'm going."
"Tschau, Diur. Viel Spaβ!" (bye, diur. Have fun)
And Link heard the front door open then close. He walked out trying to figure out what they had said, but gave up after realizing that it was useless. He walked into the room where Mrs. Kamen sat, "Good morning, Mrs. Kamen."
She smiled at him, "Guten Morgen, Link," she stood and walked past him to the kitchen, "How are you this beautiful morning? Sleep well?"
"Fine, and yes, ma'am," said Link, "Where is Mr. Kamen."
"He just left. He's a guard down at the east station and they're on their way to Hyrule," She said making Link some fried bread and eggs, "Sheik's down at the lake with the other kids. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever get up today." She chuckled.
"Sorry..." Link started to apologize, but Mrs. Kamen shook her head.
"No, dear. You had a long journey the other night and I'm sure that you're tired. But, Sheik said that you're welcome to join him and the others when you wake up. But, you're going to eat first."
Link did as he was told as fast as he could and Mrs. Kamen told him how to get to Lake Ridär. Link left almost immediately, taking one of the younger horses she let him borrow. She was a chestnut horse with white hair, and one of the fastest, Mrs. Kamen said.
He passed the tall wooden gates of Lake Ridär and could hear laughing. He rode closer to the lake and saw several Sheikah children laughing and speaking their native tongue. There were several other horses that were grazing on the hill next to the lake. Link's colt galloped over to where the others were and halted not far from them.
"Finally," called Sheik, "I thought you'd never wake up."
"I was really tired." Link whined as he dismounted the young mare.
Sheik laughed, "Oh, I know. I was only joking." He said walking over to him, some of the others followed suit while others stayed behind, feeling uncomfortable with a stranger near.
"Come," he took Links hand and started towards his friends, "I'd like you to meet the others, however I'll have to be your translator as only two out of all nine of us know your language."
"Really?" Link sounded a bit astonished. Sheik nodded as they came up to the others.
"Dies ist meiner Freund, Link. Er kommt aus Hyrule." You could tell Sheik was fighting the excitement that was whelming up in him. They looked at him for a while before walking up to him and shake hands, "He doesn't speak our language."
"Really? What language does he speak?"
"The Hylian language. What the hell else?" The other boy shrugged.
Sheik turned to Link, "These are my friends. This is Royo, Kirk, Anya, Zuie, Yoren, Seth and Sin. They're twins. And the only other that understands your language other than me is my cousin, Tayou." Tayou had silky silver locks that glistened in the sun, and do I really need to say what colour eyes he has?
"Hello, Tayou." Link held out his hand, "A pleasure."
"The pleasure is mine." He had a beautiful accent just as Sheik did that rolled on his tongue. Tayou took Link's hand softly in his, not shaking it, but grasping it lightly.
"Seth wants to know if you're any good at swordsmanship." Sheik said. Seth and Sin took out there short, rusty swords and clashed them together playfully. Sin was the first to attack, but in the end, Seth won catching his brother at the neck.
Boos came from everyone and Sin laughed as he stood up saying something cocky to Seth, and Seth threw his sword down and tackled his brother to the ground. As Seth and Sin were identical twins, there was only one way to tell them apart, and it was the scar on Sin that drew downwards from his right ear to the side of his chin. They wrestled there while everyone watched cheering Sin on.
Link, Sheik and Tayou stood away from the group. Link nodded, "Yeah, I used to fight all the time with the other kids in Kokiri Forest. We used wooden swords that we made ourselves, though."
"Don't worry, Link. They won't kill you. Tayou laughed as he shoved the blond forward where Seth was brushing the grass off of his face, the short sword in his hand. Sin shoved the hilt of the other sword in Link's right hand and patted him on the back, "Viel Glück!"
"Good Luck." Sheik translated, and Tayou was still laughing, only a bit harder now. Link walked towards Seth, put the sword in his left hand, and stopped about ten feet away from him.
But Link didn't feel all that lucky anymore. In fact, his stomach was churning with a bit of nervousness.
"Ready?" Sheik called out, and Link reluctantly nodded. Anya, a blond girl with pigtails walked up, "Gut!" She called, "Eins, zwei, drei.... GEH!"
Link thankfully understood that part. Their swords immediately clashed. Their faced merely inched apart. Seth looked to be around his age if not older, and he was also very strong, but no more than Link.
The Hylian flung him back and practically threw his sword at him, but it was struck with the other. It was an impressive display, the way they fought. The trick to fighting was to leave one hand free for balance. Though a double handed swing was stronger, using both hands limited your field of motion. Using it one handed would give him grace, speed and balance, along with more range.
Link also had another advantage, though. He was left handed, which meant that he took his first step with his right foot, and if he was fast enough, he could strike before Seth raised his sword. And he did.
The twelve-year-old Hylian slapped the Sheikah with the width of the sword across the boy's side hard enough to throw him down...and leave a bruise later. Seth was rolling on the ground moaning something that Link didn't understand.
"How hard did you hit him?" Tayou asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I didn't want to hurt him, so I hit him with the wide part of the sword. "
"Well, you must have hit him pretty hard now that he's crying like a big baby." Sheik smiled.
"I'm not!" Seth stood up and walked over to them a little dazed. He stopped in front of Link and reluctantly held out a hand, "There will always be a difference. You as a Hylian, and me as a Sheikah. And I'll always hate the Hylians."
"Hey!" Sheik and some of the others in the group yelled, and Link didn't know whether to take the hand or not, but decided against it when Sheik looked almost murderous, "He hasn't done anything to you."
"He's Hylian! It's enough for me." He smiled with a shrug.
"No, you're just an idiot." Sheik hissed through his teeth.
Idiot? Is that what Sheik said? And what did Seth say to him that was so bad?
"Idiot? Is that what I am to you now?" asked Seth but no one answered. He remained staring at Sheik with a piercing gaze, "Fine. Well, bye..." Seth started walking away. The way Link entered, "...forever."
Sheik was crying and saying that he looked angry was an understatement, "I hate you! I hate you!" He was screaming after the retreating boy, but he never turned around. Sheik started walking towards Seth, but stopped after several steps and fell to the ground still repeating those three words where Link later finds out that it means 'I hate you'. Anya ran to her crying friend and hugged him tight, trying to comfort him.
"I hate him...." Sheik cried on the girl's shoulder where his cries were muffled. Link looked at Tayou who was already pulling him to the side.
He could still hear Sheik's cries, but they were the ones who were out of earshot, "I admire Sheik." Tayou started, "He puts everyone before him. He thinks of others, even when others don't think of him. He's the highest rank out of all the cadets, including myself. He had time to love someone, and to top it all off, he shoves other people's problems upon himself when he has his own to worry about. But, he never gets to his own because he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to even think about them."
Link didn't say anything, but they started walking again, "When Seth walked into his life, he was so happy, but something wasn't right. I could tell. I never could put my finger on it, but now...I finally understand it. They may have loved each other on a certain level, but they were just too different for each other. Seth hated nearly everyone who wasn't a Sheikah, including you. He had planned that sword fight, I see now. He thought that he could show you a thing or two, but he underestimated you. And I'll have to admit that you surprised all of us." He laughed.
"Sheik and Seth were lovers?" Link asked.
Tayou shrugged, "You could say that, I guess. Though, they weren't as close as you would think. I was the only one who saw them when they weren't with the others. They were the complete opposite of each other, and I just knew that it was Sheik who was going to get hurt in the end, but he didn't listen to me. I hate to say that I told him so, but shit happens, I'll never say it to his face though. I'm not heartless."
"Good to know. I'd hate to resort to killing you."
"Kill me?" Tayou laughed, "Just because you can beat Seth doesn't mean that you can beat Sheik or me. We're the best, Sheik above me."
"That doesn't mean that you're invincible." Link smiled.
"No, but it doesn't mean that you can beat me either."
Link shrugged and notice that Sheik had calmed down and so did Tayou.
"C'mon. Let's get back to them, Sheik's taking this all pretty rough, though I think he going a bit over the edge. I hardly think that Seth was anything to row over."
"What did he say to me?"
"Seth?" Link nodded, "Just that he hates Hylians, including yourself. Sheik said that he did nothing to you, but the jerk said that you being a Hylian was enough."
Link remained silent as they walked over to the others.
"When Seth was younger, he lived with his mother in Hyrule. She was killed during a fight that broke out between the Hylians, Gerudos and several other Sheikahs. But, she wasn't in the battle. She was trampled to death by the Hylian guards on horses. A tragedy, but I don't see it a reason to hate you. You seem pretty decent to me."
"I take that as a compliment..." Link said in a monotonous voice, then sighed, "And I guess you're not too bad yourself."
"Well, I'm glad you think so."
"Tayou, can I ask a favour of you?" Link asked.
The silver haired boy shrugged, "That depends."
"Can you teach me how to speak your language?"
"Why?" Tayou asked, "So you can understand what we're saying instead of having Sheik or myself translate for you?"
"Please?"
"Sure, I'm sure that Sheik won't mind either, but could you do something for me in return?"
"Sure, anything."
"Watch over Sheik for me. He's going to need some heavy spirit lifting for a while."
"You don't even have to ask." Link smiled as they approached the Sheikah group.
End of Chapter 7
This was a bit longer than usual, but oh well...I'm sure you all don't mind, do you? But, this has been a pretty eventful day. Last night I stayed up till 6 a.m., and then I drive from Cork to the airport to pick up my annoying little cousin, and to top it all off, I bust my lip on my mother's bedside table chasing after the little devil. Shows you what a day I've had, eh? Well, please review and maybe I'll consider updating...hehe!
It was morning when Link woke up. The sun was just passing over some houses through the east window and the dark blue curtains hanging over it drifted with the passing wind. Link stood from the bed and walked over to the door. He heard voices in the other room. It was Mistress and Mister Kamen talking in the other language.
"Is he asleep?" It was Mr. Kamen's voice.
"Yes, he's asleep in the guestroom," said Mrs. Kamen, "Why?"
"Just wondering where he is," he said, "and Sheik?"
"By the lake."
It was silent for a while before they spoke again.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"About what?"
"About Sheik and the other boy."
"Link?" she asked. He knew they weren't calling him...they were talking about him. He could only make out the names and a few other words, but that was all.
"His name is Link?"
"Yes, just as the man in the legend," she said, "He's so brave, too."
"Or very stupid," he laughed, "but what do you think about the two?"
"How?"
"Liebespaar." (lovers)
Link's heard that word before...Leibespaar...but where? And what did it mean? Well, hell, what did any of what they were saying mean?
"What?"
"You've said it before," he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "they would make the cutest couple."
"Yeah, I did," she laughed, "but I didn't think that you'd agree with me."
"I'm going."
"Tschau, Diur. Viel Spaβ!" (bye, diur. Have fun)
And Link heard the front door open then close. He walked out trying to figure out what they had said, but gave up after realizing that it was useless. He walked into the room where Mrs. Kamen sat, "Good morning, Mrs. Kamen."
She smiled at him, "Guten Morgen, Link," she stood and walked past him to the kitchen, "How are you this beautiful morning? Sleep well?"
"Fine, and yes, ma'am," said Link, "Where is Mr. Kamen."
"He just left. He's a guard down at the east station and they're on their way to Hyrule," She said making Link some fried bread and eggs, "Sheik's down at the lake with the other kids. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever get up today." She chuckled.
"Sorry..." Link started to apologize, but Mrs. Kamen shook her head.
"No, dear. You had a long journey the other night and I'm sure that you're tired. But, Sheik said that you're welcome to join him and the others when you wake up. But, you're going to eat first."
Link did as he was told as fast as he could and Mrs. Kamen told him how to get to Lake Ridär. Link left almost immediately, taking one of the younger horses she let him borrow. She was a chestnut horse with white hair, and one of the fastest, Mrs. Kamen said.
He passed the tall wooden gates of Lake Ridär and could hear laughing. He rode closer to the lake and saw several Sheikah children laughing and speaking their native tongue. There were several other horses that were grazing on the hill next to the lake. Link's colt galloped over to where the others were and halted not far from them.
"Finally," called Sheik, "I thought you'd never wake up."
"I was really tired." Link whined as he dismounted the young mare.
Sheik laughed, "Oh, I know. I was only joking." He said walking over to him, some of the others followed suit while others stayed behind, feeling uncomfortable with a stranger near.
"Come," he took Links hand and started towards his friends, "I'd like you to meet the others, however I'll have to be your translator as only two out of all nine of us know your language."
"Really?" Link sounded a bit astonished. Sheik nodded as they came up to the others.
"Dies ist meiner Freund, Link. Er kommt aus Hyrule." You could tell Sheik was fighting the excitement that was whelming up in him. They looked at him for a while before walking up to him and shake hands, "He doesn't speak our language."
"Really? What language does he speak?"
"The Hylian language. What the hell else?" The other boy shrugged.
Sheik turned to Link, "These are my friends. This is Royo, Kirk, Anya, Zuie, Yoren, Seth and Sin. They're twins. And the only other that understands your language other than me is my cousin, Tayou." Tayou had silky silver locks that glistened in the sun, and do I really need to say what colour eyes he has?
"Hello, Tayou." Link held out his hand, "A pleasure."
"The pleasure is mine." He had a beautiful accent just as Sheik did that rolled on his tongue. Tayou took Link's hand softly in his, not shaking it, but grasping it lightly.
"Seth wants to know if you're any good at swordsmanship." Sheik said. Seth and Sin took out there short, rusty swords and clashed them together playfully. Sin was the first to attack, but in the end, Seth won catching his brother at the neck.
Boos came from everyone and Sin laughed as he stood up saying something cocky to Seth, and Seth threw his sword down and tackled his brother to the ground. As Seth and Sin were identical twins, there was only one way to tell them apart, and it was the scar on Sin that drew downwards from his right ear to the side of his chin. They wrestled there while everyone watched cheering Sin on.
Link, Sheik and Tayou stood away from the group. Link nodded, "Yeah, I used to fight all the time with the other kids in Kokiri Forest. We used wooden swords that we made ourselves, though."
"Don't worry, Link. They won't kill you. Tayou laughed as he shoved the blond forward where Seth was brushing the grass off of his face, the short sword in his hand. Sin shoved the hilt of the other sword in Link's right hand and patted him on the back, "Viel Glück!"
"Good Luck." Sheik translated, and Tayou was still laughing, only a bit harder now. Link walked towards Seth, put the sword in his left hand, and stopped about ten feet away from him.
But Link didn't feel all that lucky anymore. In fact, his stomach was churning with a bit of nervousness.
"Ready?" Sheik called out, and Link reluctantly nodded. Anya, a blond girl with pigtails walked up, "Gut!" She called, "Eins, zwei, drei.... GEH!"
Link thankfully understood that part. Their swords immediately clashed. Their faced merely inched apart. Seth looked to be around his age if not older, and he was also very strong, but no more than Link.
The Hylian flung him back and practically threw his sword at him, but it was struck with the other. It was an impressive display, the way they fought. The trick to fighting was to leave one hand free for balance. Though a double handed swing was stronger, using both hands limited your field of motion. Using it one handed would give him grace, speed and balance, along with more range.
Link also had another advantage, though. He was left handed, which meant that he took his first step with his right foot, and if he was fast enough, he could strike before Seth raised his sword. And he did.
The twelve-year-old Hylian slapped the Sheikah with the width of the sword across the boy's side hard enough to throw him down...and leave a bruise later. Seth was rolling on the ground moaning something that Link didn't understand.
"How hard did you hit him?" Tayou asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I didn't want to hurt him, so I hit him with the wide part of the sword. "
"Well, you must have hit him pretty hard now that he's crying like a big baby." Sheik smiled.
"I'm not!" Seth stood up and walked over to them a little dazed. He stopped in front of Link and reluctantly held out a hand, "There will always be a difference. You as a Hylian, and me as a Sheikah. And I'll always hate the Hylians."
"Hey!" Sheik and some of the others in the group yelled, and Link didn't know whether to take the hand or not, but decided against it when Sheik looked almost murderous, "He hasn't done anything to you."
"He's Hylian! It's enough for me." He smiled with a shrug.
"No, you're just an idiot." Sheik hissed through his teeth.
Idiot? Is that what Sheik said? And what did Seth say to him that was so bad?
"Idiot? Is that what I am to you now?" asked Seth but no one answered. He remained staring at Sheik with a piercing gaze, "Fine. Well, bye..." Seth started walking away. The way Link entered, "...forever."
Sheik was crying and saying that he looked angry was an understatement, "I hate you! I hate you!" He was screaming after the retreating boy, but he never turned around. Sheik started walking towards Seth, but stopped after several steps and fell to the ground still repeating those three words where Link later finds out that it means 'I hate you'. Anya ran to her crying friend and hugged him tight, trying to comfort him.
"I hate him...." Sheik cried on the girl's shoulder where his cries were muffled. Link looked at Tayou who was already pulling him to the side.
He could still hear Sheik's cries, but they were the ones who were out of earshot, "I admire Sheik." Tayou started, "He puts everyone before him. He thinks of others, even when others don't think of him. He's the highest rank out of all the cadets, including myself. He had time to love someone, and to top it all off, he shoves other people's problems upon himself when he has his own to worry about. But, he never gets to his own because he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to even think about them."
Link didn't say anything, but they started walking again, "When Seth walked into his life, he was so happy, but something wasn't right. I could tell. I never could put my finger on it, but now...I finally understand it. They may have loved each other on a certain level, but they were just too different for each other. Seth hated nearly everyone who wasn't a Sheikah, including you. He had planned that sword fight, I see now. He thought that he could show you a thing or two, but he underestimated you. And I'll have to admit that you surprised all of us." He laughed.
"Sheik and Seth were lovers?" Link asked.
Tayou shrugged, "You could say that, I guess. Though, they weren't as close as you would think. I was the only one who saw them when they weren't with the others. They were the complete opposite of each other, and I just knew that it was Sheik who was going to get hurt in the end, but he didn't listen to me. I hate to say that I told him so, but shit happens, I'll never say it to his face though. I'm not heartless."
"Good to know. I'd hate to resort to killing you."
"Kill me?" Tayou laughed, "Just because you can beat Seth doesn't mean that you can beat Sheik or me. We're the best, Sheik above me."
"That doesn't mean that you're invincible." Link smiled.
"No, but it doesn't mean that you can beat me either."
Link shrugged and notice that Sheik had calmed down and so did Tayou.
"C'mon. Let's get back to them, Sheik's taking this all pretty rough, though I think he going a bit over the edge. I hardly think that Seth was anything to row over."
"What did he say to me?"
"Seth?" Link nodded, "Just that he hates Hylians, including yourself. Sheik said that he did nothing to you, but the jerk said that you being a Hylian was enough."
Link remained silent as they walked over to the others.
"When Seth was younger, he lived with his mother in Hyrule. She was killed during a fight that broke out between the Hylians, Gerudos and several other Sheikahs. But, she wasn't in the battle. She was trampled to death by the Hylian guards on horses. A tragedy, but I don't see it a reason to hate you. You seem pretty decent to me."
"I take that as a compliment..." Link said in a monotonous voice, then sighed, "And I guess you're not too bad yourself."
"Well, I'm glad you think so."
"Tayou, can I ask a favour of you?" Link asked.
The silver haired boy shrugged, "That depends."
"Can you teach me how to speak your language?"
"Why?" Tayou asked, "So you can understand what we're saying instead of having Sheik or myself translate for you?"
"Please?"
"Sure, I'm sure that Sheik won't mind either, but could you do something for me in return?"
"Sure, anything."
"Watch over Sheik for me. He's going to need some heavy spirit lifting for a while."
"You don't even have to ask." Link smiled as they approached the Sheikah group.
End of Chapter 7
This was a bit longer than usual, but oh well...I'm sure you all don't mind, do you? But, this has been a pretty eventful day. Last night I stayed up till 6 a.m., and then I drive from Cork to the airport to pick up my annoying little cousin, and to top it all off, I bust my lip on my mother's bedside table chasing after the little devil. Shows you what a day I've had, eh? Well, please review and maybe I'll consider updating...hehe!