Disclaimers are in Chapter 1.
Here we are again! Didn't expect to see Sheik around again, didja? Its amazing who pops up in this story at odd times. Sheik, a pirate who's *rumored* to be the child of a Gerudo, the Cuckoo Lady's brother, the *sons* of *Majora*... Well well well.
Ch. 27
There was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he looked upon,
that object he became...
-Walt Whitman
"Steady, as you eat," The farmer warned. Koji looked up at him blankly, and then to Sheik. Sheik had gotten the gist of the statement.
"Too much food after so long a time. Please eat slowly, my friend. You will gain your strength soon enough."
Koji dropped the food obediently, and slumped back in his chair, looking chastened. The farmer's wife, a simple, kind woman, would have none of it, however.
"Oh hush, my husband, in your statement!" She chided. Bringing around a hot platter, she placed another small bread loaf on the ex-slave's plate. "Do enjoy the food, which I have placed in front of you, as much as you please!" Koji looked at Sheik in confusion. Sheik shook his head.
"Do not look to me for permission, Koji. You are again your own master."
The ex-slave stared at him for several seconds, his expression disbelieving. Then, suddenly, he relaxed, his thin shoulders drooping, as though a great burden had been lifted. Shakily, he reached a pale, bony hand forward, and picked up the fresh loaf.
The farmer's daughter, S'Lora, who had been sneaking glances at Sheik every once in awhile, finally spoke up.
"Where, when you came, did you journey from?" She bravely addressed the stranger. Sheik's eyes flicked over to her, and she felt herself blush slightly under the handsome stranger's red eyes.
He couldn't understand the question, and shook his head to show this. She looked at her father, and frowned.
"He doesn't speak our language, that is of our land, da. He, as he sits, must be an outsider." The farmer nodded soberly.
"It's no small wonder, as I see it, that the horsemen came, across the land, looking for them. The sons of Majora, powerful and mysterious, live up to the name of their father greatly." He turned to his left, and swore an oath: tradition when a man was speaking of the infamous Majora.
Sheik had caught the name Majora, and he now watched the farmer's movements closely. Majora. It was the title he'd heard associated with the two boys he'd only recently escaped from. It seemed they were not favored.
"Majora," He said softly, catching their attention. "Kafka and Juno."
"That's right, as you speak it," The farmer nodded. "Kafka and Juno, both, are the sons of Majora."
"They're evil, as they breathe," The farmer's daughter blurted out. She fidgeted weakly under her father's stern gaze.
"Watch, as you speak, what you say," Her father said curtly. "Though the names, Kafka and Juno, are not revered, neither, as you say them, are they defaced." S'Lora nodded, casting her gaze to the table. He turned to Sheik.
"My name, as I was titled, is Ru'Tl." He tapped his chest as he said it, and looked at Sheik expectantly.
Sheik understood the meaning. "Sheik," He said clearly. Koji looked between them, and then spoke up in a quavering voice.
"K...Koji."
"Sh'k and K'jee." He said, nodding. "Foreign, as I sit here." He stated matter-of-factly.
"I, as I was titled, am S'Lora." The girl across from Sheik said suddenly. Sheik and Koji turned to her, and the red-eyed man nodded. She smiled weakly at him, and then turned to her father.
"Should I, as the meal is ended, find a place for them?" Her father turned in surprise, but his wife was quicker.
"Of course they will stay, as you spoke, daughter! Neither, since they came, have offered us harm. And they, as they sit, are of poor health, the dears!" The farmer heaved a sigh, and glanced at his cheery wife.
"They, though you speak true, will bring the forces of Majora, to the north, down on our heads."
"Nonsense, as you speak it!" His wife tsked. "To the north, as you said, there is no Majora! Now come, from your seat, and help me with these dishes!"
The farmer huffed, but rose from his seat, good-naturedly helping his wife. "To the guest room, for them, I say!" He told his daughter, giving her a stern look. "And be careful, as you go!"
"Yes, da!" She answered in an unusual shortening of sentence. Her father gave her a look, but she had already risen to bade Sheik and Koji follow her.
*************
The horsemen returned at sunset to the keep, stepping into the main chamber to make their report.
"Neither the female, in dress and blue eyed, nor the slave, of skeletal frame and white skin, have been reported by the farmers."
"The farmers," Kafka murmured angrily to himself. He dismissed the hunters, except for the leader, and shifted restlessly. As if the farmers would be eager to tell them anything. He looked moodily to Juno, who was pacing back and forth on the thread-bare carpet making up the only decoration in the stone-walled room. "The farmers would like to see us squirm."
Juno looked up, and met his gaze. "Perhaps they're being harbored in a farmhouse. A princess and a slave would be able to get anyone's sympathy, I bet."
Kafka sighed, and collapsed into his newly polished throne. "So true, brother. This means, of course, that we'll have to raid every single farmstead from here to the Lak'nod river."
Juno shrugged. "They can't have gotten past there on foot." Kafka nodded, his thoughts far away. The golden haired brother turned to the waiting leader of the hunting party. "Take a brigade to every farmhouse and search them. Leave no building, no matter how small it is, unchecked."
"My lord," The horseman bowed.
After he had left, Kafka rose to join his brother in a restless walk.
"Word of this can't reach that bastard in K'Gar," He growled. "We have to make him think we're still in the damn game."
"K'Gar is a big city," Juno said, stopping in the middle of the chamber. "We always have some sort of traveler from there coming here."
"Then we have to keep this tight under wraps," Kafka snapped. "Gossip will be our downfall."
"How many people know about the Princess?" Juno asked, turning to look at him. Kafka stopped, and shook his head.
"Too many. The servants, the slaves, the horsemen." He folded his arms over his chest, and tipped his head forward in furious thinking. Juno sighed, and made his way towards the throne, where he had laid the blade of Domination. He took it up, and laid the heavy flat of the blade against his shoulder, walking back over to his brother. Kafka, who had kept the sword of Command at his side, looked up. "What? You have an idea?"
Juno nodded. "But... It doesn't have anything to do with getting them back."
Kafka's shoulders slumped. "Then what the hell is it for?"
Juno shrugged. "I think its time we went along with our plans. You said yourself you thought someone would try and rescue the princess. If they came by ship, they should be pretty close by now."
His brother looked at him in surprise. "Damn, I had forgotten... You're right. We have to proceed as if nothing has happened. There are, however, several port cities." He frowned. "Which one would they come in at?"
"That's easy," Juno smiled. "We just go and see some of the Captains in each port. One of them has probably reported seeing a strange, unidentified ship, right?"
Kafka let his features twist into a smirk. He slowly nodded. "That, my brother, is why there are two of us. We are the ultimate weapon."
*************
The first streaks of dawn graced the sky in shades of orange and pink. It transformed the gray sea into a myriad of dancing colors, and Link, shooken awake to take watch, was able to admire it.
It was the only thing he could admire about sleeping in a keel boat. The space was always crowded, and the rock of the water had nothing to take the shock of it but his body. Link sat up stiffly, and yawned, stretching his arms out. Ichiro ducked his left arm, and narrowed his eyes.
"Watch where you swing your arms, kid. Somebody may take offense."
Link blinked, and looked over at him. "Sorry," He said sheepishly. "Its so packed, my shoulders are stiff."
Ichiro frowned, not having expected an apology, and shrugged. "We're all stiff. Live with it."
Link nodded, not bothering to argue, and let his gaze drift out over the water. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he straightened up quickly.
"Ichiro," He murmured, "Is that...?"
"A mountain of a ship," Ichiro responded in wry amusement. "And we're still a good few leagues off from it."
What had been a smudge on the horizon at sunset was now a looming shape in the morning light. They could make out the form well now. It was a massive ship, without sails, or masts. Link looked on in wonder.
"It looks like it's the size of Death Mountain," He commented. Ichiro raised an eyebrow.
"What would you know about Death Mountain?" He scoffed.
"I went there, I told you."
"Oh yeah, the Goron sword," Ichiro muttered. There was disbelief in his tone. Link sighed, but didn't bother to defend himself. Instead, he scrambled forward in the boat, and took a seat at the prow, letting the icy sea-spray wake him up as his excitement rose. Slightly ahead of their own boats, the two medium size keel crafts moved steadily on. The forms of their rescue crew were all wrapped in dark capes, despite the warm sun. Link was curious about what sort of people they were. He hadn't had a good look at them since the foggy night they had first met. They mostly stayed aboard their own boats, and he hadn't been invited to come across. The only one who had met with them was Ichiro, who kept all information between himself and the captain.
Link was interrupted from his train of thought at a loud cry from ahead, and he looked up to see a form standing up in the first boat ahead. The figure stood still, his cape whipping back in the misty sea-wind, gazing out. Another cry answered his, in the same way, and Link finally saw the third boat, a good distance off, coming to meet them.
"Get out of the way."
Link looked back, and made room for Ichiro, who leapt across the boats to the one in front of them.
The young Hylian made a sound of frustration, and then stood shakily to make the same jump. He crashed into Ichiro, who whipped around in anger. "What the hell are you doing?" He hissed.
"What I was sent to do," Link said hotly. "I'm coming with you."
Ichiro glared at him, but as they were being watched, he said nothing more. The two moved up the boat, careful not to step on any feet or hands. Link peered straight ahead, trying not to stare at the crew in curiosity. They jumped to the next boat, and met with the man who had been standing at the prow. He turned around, and Link recognized him as the one who had boarded their boat. He eyed both of them, and then nodded.
"Shhhh'p." He said, pointing out at the looming form on the horizon. Link and Ichiro gazed out over the water.
"That's a helluva ship," Ichiro muttered to himself for the eighth time that day. Link had to nod in agreement.
"How does it get around?" He wondered out loud. The cloaked man looked at him, and Link was aware of at least one difference in their eyes. The irises were a bright, pure green, with no hint blue, or even gray-blue mingled in. The man didn't seem to notice his surprise, however, and only looked at him in bafflement, not understanding his question. Link pointed out at the massive vessel, and mimicked a boat with his cupped left hand, holding his right hand above vertically. The man looked confused, and turned to Ichiro. Ichiro sighed.
"This language barrier is going to get us killed."
"You try," Link suggested. Ichiro threw a quick frown at him. "C'mon, it won't hurt. The sooner we understand each other, the sooner we can find the princess."
Ichiro turned to the waiting man, and impatiently pointed at the ship. "Ship," He said curtly. He pointed at the boat below them, and then to the men who were paddling.
"Uhn," Their guest said at last. He produced a grin under his dark, neatly trimmed beard, perhaps feeling heartened at the understanding. Then, putting his hands in front of him, he made several quick motions, at one time pointing back behind them repeatedly until they realized he was pointing at Tappor three boats back.
"Tappor powers their ship?" Link joked. "Wouldn't have thought of that."
Ichiro looked aggravated. "He means something..." He snapped his fingers. "Magic."
"What?"
"He means magic. Tappor sent that message to them, so he knows he's a magic user. That damn things powered by magic! Powerful magic, by the size of it."
The man looked between them curiously. "M'gc?" He asked, having heard it repeated several times.
Link nodded. He turned and pointed back to Tappor, and then cupped his hands, holding them up. "Magic."
"Uhn," The man grinned. "M'gc. Te."
"Tay?" Link asked, turning to Ichiro. The Chief shrugged.
"Magic. Now look smart and try to not screw up; we should reach the third boat in a few hours, and by tomorrow afternoon, our rendezvous."
Link nodded, and let his hand stray to the ocarinas clipped to his belt. Just a little longer now, and they'd be able to get help to find Saria. He felt his resolve strengthen, and bit of jumpiness settle in his stomach.
"Nervous?" He asked Ichiro. Ichiro's face was unreadable.
"It doesn't matter. A soldier never shows his fears. Toughen up now, the worst is ahead."
Link felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the words.
*************
Link strained his eyes forward to see the three boats meeting in the waxing light. A member of the third boat crossed onto one of the medium size keel boats, and knelt to speak with the members aboard. Ichiro sat stiffly at the prow, his long-sword resting against his leg. The Guard had hunched up in the boat behind him, ready for the slightest command from their chief. The sailors, curious and wary, inhabited the last two boats, along with Tappor.
A sharp wave hit their boats, and Link rocked forward slightly. He looked to the Captain.
"Wer' in 'er wake," He said simply. The waves had steadily become rougher, though Link hadn't noticed them, un-akin to seafaring as he was. Now, as they came in harsh, sudden intervals, jerking him from his seat, he began to feel the change. None were higher than the sides of one of their boats, yet they were strong waves, backlashes from the massive frame of the moving, strange, sail-less ship.
"Where's that damned scholar?" Ichiro asked, looking to the nearest soldier. The man looked back over his shoulder.
"He's in the second boat, sir, sitting between two sailors-"
"Well, get him up here. He's our foreign culture expert, isn't he?" The Chief said impatiently. "No, I don't care if he is unarmed. If there's going to be a battle, then we'll all die anyway. We're outnumbered five to one."
Link secretly decided that telling everyone they were going to die wasn't a good way to boost morale. The Guard shifted uncomfortably. One called back to the second boat, and Tappor was hauled across to take a seat at the front. He gave Ichiro a look of mock surprise.
"Why, my good Chief, I presumed you didn't like me-"
"Shut up," Ichiro growled. "You'll come in handy for something."
"Ichiro," Link said in a hushed tone.
"What?" The Chief snapped, having been interrupted from his squabble with the scholar. He turned his eyes in the direction the younger Hylian had been gazing, and suddenly tensed. "Everyone, shut up."
All conversation died instantly at the low-spoken command. The crew turned to follow Link and Ichiro's gaze. Across the water, in the late afternoon sun, a shimmer had started out across the sea, almost as if it had poured out from the incredible ship. Indeed, the lower hull, those sides directly above the water, were glowing a strange yellowish tint, unlike anything the crew of the New Dawn had seen before.
"What is..." Link breathed.
"Magic," Tappor said simply. "And for a vessel of that capacity, I could observe why. This ship is no doubt a civilian type. Perhaps, even... a sea colony!"
"A sea colony?" Several voices piped up.
"Thought those wer' just seafolk tales." The Captain muttered. " 'Yrule never 'ad the means o' a magic ship ter begin with."
"Pardon me, my fine, nautical Captain, but Hyrule did indeed have the means to support and build both a sea colony, and a magic-powered water vessel. However, around the time period that such things could have been accomplished, the land broke out in a civil war, and all plans for sea travel were lost."
"I never heard anything about that," Ichiro interrupted. "The Kingdom of Hyrule based most of its power on building a sizable army, not on sea-faring tools. And I never heard about any colonies."
"Perhaps if you would take interest in anything beyond warfare, you would have known, my good Chief." Tappor answered stiffly. "In earlier records... Hmm," He seemed to remember suddenly that all of the records were gone. He shook himself, and continued. "In earlier records, before the war, and inner skirmish, there were many voyages made into the uncharted waters, several of them bringing back information to begin the trade with other lands. However, there were also several that resulted in the formation of colonies on small land formations some distance from the mainland of Hyrule. The idea of a 'sea colony', or a ship or vessel which a community of people could live and prosper on at sea, soon became on the tip of every scholar and sea mariner's tongue."
Tappor finished the narrative with a flourish of his hand.
"So why didn't they ever try to do it again, and why doesn't anyone talk about those colonies?" Link asked.
Tappor buffed his spectacles on his sleeve with pride, and smiled at the eager student.
Ichiro snorted. "Because its a load of shit. There are no colonies, and if a bunch of featherbrained scholars and sailors talked about it, thats all it was, just talk."
Tappor donned his glasses, and gave Ichiro a patient, if slightly aggravated look. "The colonies were known about by the people of the time. However, with all of the warfare breaking out across the land it was soon cast to the back of minds, and as time went on, and the ship industry crumbled, the young grew old, and the new youth could not have known there was ever such a thing. As our good Chief said, Hyrule's newest priority became the production and maintenance of an invincible army, to control all of the land and prevent further war."
"What happened to the colonies?" A member of the Guard asked. Ichiro shot him a look, and he snapped back to attention.
"That, I am not sure of." Tappor said regretfully. "They seemed to have disappeared, and all contact was lost without able voyaging ships. Who knows what may have become of the colonized islands of Hyrule?"
"Ar'right," The Captain muttered. "Stow the gab, me 'earties, our guests are settin' off, full pace."
Link grabbed a paddle enthusiastically, and put his back into the rowing, his mind filled to the brim with the thoughts of lost colonies and dark blue eyes- the color of a fair night sky.
************
By morning, the message had spread like wildfire across the lone farmhouses, spread out across the endless Northern fields: the swordsmen were coming.
Unlike a horseman, whose main task was to deliver messages and goods, a swordsman was a trained soldier, used by noblemen for their dirty work. Five set out from Majora's keep, each leading a platoon of soldiers. The warning passed from farmer to farmer was simple: each house and premises would be searched thoroughly for the escaped prisoners. Any attempt to avoid or repulse this search would end in imprisonment or death.
Ru'Tl, the farmer who had taken Sheik and Koji in, went around the house with a grim air, resituating everything as he prepared for the oncoming search. A man from the farmhouse twenty recs over had ridden by horseback to send word, and had gone on without drink or rest to continue warning the civilians. Ru'Tl stopped in the middle of the kitchen, looking at all of his family's belongings. Hot bread, fresh from the large, clay oven behind the house, rested on the window 'sill, cooling for the next morning's breakfast. Dishes, cleaned and stacked, sat quietly in their cabinet, along with the tableware and specially made tablecloths folded neatly. Odd knickknacks hung on the walls; old, rusty weapons from some forgotten battle, looms and dreamcatchers, and several worn, scribbled pictures on papyrus: S'Lora's childhood meanderings.
The farmer closed his eyes, remembering the peace of his life. The good crops, blessed by the Gods', the daughter and wife he had spent the best part of his life with. He heaved a sigh, and made a sign for the Fates across his face. His wife, back from helping her daughter situate their guests' room, came in to stand beside him.
"They, the riders, will be here soon." She said softly, watching her husband's calm face. He opened his eyes, and turned to her.
"What would you, in your good woman wisdom, have me do?"
She smiled sadly.
"What, in decision, could we do, husband? Too long, suppressed, have we stood in the shadow, to the north."
"We could hide," He said shortly, his voice thick with emotion.
"Not forever, with every hiding place, husband." The farmer's wife said gently, taking her husbands hands in her own. "Only, as I stand here, do I regret the loss of happiness. It, the feeling, will come again, in time, though."
"Wife, whom I bonded to," He whispered. "What, as I breathe, can I do?"
"You, as you stand, know what must be done." His wife responded. He looked down at her, so aged since the day he had bonded with her. Yet the spark of fire in her eyes had not diminished with time, and he loved her as he did so long ago. Now, gray headed, the both of them, it was time to step out of the dark shadow of slavery, and into the new day of freedom.
*************
S'Lora folded a quilt neatly, humming to herself as she did. Across the small guest house, Koji had taken a seat on one of the two small cots, and sat with his head lowered between his knees, hands resting on his neck.
S'Lora had been afraid of him at first sight- his sickly pale skin and sunken features enough to alarm anyone- but once she realized the cruelty done to him, she only now felt a kind of outrage. S'Lora was a hot spirited young Majjorian, her flaming red hair and bright green eyes enough to communicate the message of a wild soul to anyone who met her. As any teenager must be, she was overwhelmed with the romanticism of the high seas and the idea of soldiers and warriors. Life on her father's farmed land had not done much to suppress her free spirit, and now, as she saw wonders of the outside world for the first time in the form of two strangers, the danger of the night could not reach her.
The second stranger, who was called Sh'k, suddenly appeared to her right, and she dropped the quilt, startled at his quiet entry. His eyes flicked to the fallen material, and he bowed an apology. When he spoke, his voice was soft and rich, and she wished she knew what he was saying.
"No need, as you bow, for an apology!" She said breathily, kneeling to pick it up. When she straightened again, he was gone, and she looked around in bewilderment. The pale-skinned man sitting on the cot had not moved from his position, and S'Lora walked over to him to set the quilt down by his side. He jerked out of his reverie, and looked up, startling her with his dark, sunken eyes. The pointed ears, jutting out from either side of his skull, gave him the effect of a ghoul, and she swallowed. "I... That quilt, folded there, is for you." She pointed to it. Koji turned slowly, and eyed it. He turned back to her, and said something softly. S'Lora nodded back quickly, and stepped back suddenly, almost running into Sheik. She whirled around in surprise. Sheik looked at her quietly, and turned to look at Koji. Koji had slumped forward again, though, and did not look up.
"Thank you for the room," Sheik said, bowing to her again. S'Lora, recognizing the strange action for what it was, nodded back, and retreated quickly from the one-room building.
Sheik closed the old wooden door behind her as she left, and let his eyes flick across the interior of the room, checking the windows and the small chimney built rather newly into the adjacent wall. All were available escapes, if it ever came to that, and the door could easily be barred. Appeased, he walked forward to take a seat on the second cot. On the whole, the room was neatly kept. The floor was freshly swept, the blankets clean, and the fire kindled to a low burn. The Sheikan youth sighed, and allowed himself to relax for the moment. No doubt the enemy would have men sent out to find them, but for now there was nothing to be done.
Sheik leaned back on the cot, removing the compact bag that had hung under the clothing on his back. Inside was the Sacred Harp, and the ten tiny blades wrapped up in a soft cloth. He checked them thoroughly, each string of the harp especially, before slipping the bag, with its sound contents, under the cot's meager pillow.
*************
The ship was made of metal. The eastern hull side towered high above them into the sky, glinting dully with the fading sun's light. From the prow to the aft, it stretched more than thrice the length of the New Dawn. They could not spot the deck.
As far as Link could see, there was no way into it. The only openings seemed to be the small, dark, looking portholes, high up above them.
"'Ow many floors do yer think it 'as, cully?" A sailor muttered to his companion nearby. There was no telling. Even the most weathered Hylian sailor could not make heads nor tails of the massive craft. It was alien to anything they had ever known.
Soon, one of their questions was appeased, as each of them in turn caught sight of a yawning door, seemingly cut out of the bottom side, standing out sharply from the rest of the metallic hull. Ahead of them, the first of the three keel boats disappeared inside.
"Damn," Ichiro said simply. "It docks boats."
The waves had become rough now, the aftershocks of the mighty ships wake. As they came up towards the side of the ship, Link felt the great craft's shadow engulf them. He felt suddenly very small. Tappor chuckled.
"It's very intimidating, is it not? All of my life I have read scrolls describing palatial, ocean colonies, and now I have seen one. I never thought I should live to see the day..." He trailed off as the sun disappeared behind the ship's form, silhouetting the juggernaut, and they were thrown into a deeper shadow. Ahead, the second medium keel boat slipped abruptly into the dark docking bay inside the ship, and the rowers began to steer into its general direction.