Hello Readers! Look, I'm really sorry I hadn't updated for over a month, okay? And the false alarm I gave you guys two or three days ago. I'm really, really sorry. My plot bunny refused to hop my way, and school has been a reall hassle. But I'm getting better I swear! Not good, but better! And the chapter lengths are vecoming reasonable! Huzzuh!
I'm sorry WactherandReader, I know you're supposed to Beta this first, and I do agree on that, but I just got so impatient... I don't want to be abandoned either by readers, reviewers, or even my baby story! I'm sorry, I really am!
Please read. And review. A review would be very, very nice...
And thank you to those who have added me on their favourites and alerts! Yayzuz!
Adjusting
"(Dacha would be alive if it weren't for you,)" Ganesh snarled, straining against invisible bonds as he struggled to get off of his knees. He stared hatefully at a figure that sat leisurely on a chair, flicking the pages of a history book.
Savir frowned into his book, looking mildly displeased. "(You sneak from camp, run across Hyrule Field, storm the castle and barge into my room just to tell me that. Din, you are really, really stupid. I wasn't the one who killed her, unless you've forgotten.)"
"(You might as well have been!)" The brunette snapped, his hands balled into tight fists, "(Whatever you said to her tore her apart, you bastard! Why else would she… would she… Why the hell would she do that?)"
"(Oh don't tell me you cared for her,)" Sheik groaned, rolling his eyes as he snapped the book closed, "(Because you weren't very high in Dacha's opinion. Always begging for a fight, rude, obnoxious, arrogant…)"
"(Maybe,)" he snarled back, face contorted in rage, "(But I'll never be as slimy a weasel as you.)"
The insulted Sheikah gave a tolerant smile. He stood and stalked over to the freckled boy, the epitome of darkness and confidence. "(Perhaps. But I'm not stupid enough to actually show it, or ignorant enough to talk back to someone that has me under complete, magical control.)"
He kneeled in front of his intruder, cocking his head to the side questioningly. "(Did you know that I could kill you, here and now? All the favours that I owe you, all the torment you put me through… I can pay all them back, just like that. What's more, nobody would know what happened. You'll simply disappear.)"
Sheik allowed a pause where Ganesh turned pale. He smiled at his distressed enemy coldly. "(My, my, I can see you're sweating. Feeling uncomfortable?"
Ganesh struggled even harder, frightened of the childhood adversary that he had thought till then he could take on without breaking a sweat. But the invisible bonds on his wrists would not budge, and the air around him seemed to get heaver and heavier. "(How are you doing this? Since when did you have so much power?)"
Savir grinned smugly. "(Since the day the powers of the Royal Blood finally united, and a man named Ganondorf officially got imprisoned, mate. Not that you'd know him. You died in his first raid.)"
Before Ganesh blacked out, he saw a triangular light burn on the back of Savir's right hand.
About two, maybe three weeks after the coronation of Princess Lynda and the Peace treaties between the Sheikah and the Hylians, the castle guards got a rather nasty shock.
They were minding their business, really, the pages getting their equipment sorted, the knights sharing friendly insults, preparing the squires for training, having friendly spars with their comrades. Just an average morning during mid-dawn, where seemingly nothing could go wrong.
Until somebody tumbled over the fencing, that is.
The entity had been halfway over when somebody had noticed him. He wore an old green tunic and a scarf around his face and hair, obscuring everything except a pair of attentive mud-red eyes that looked somehow fake. He wore boots that looked like they were made out of mismatched leather, a ring of sewing etched around the ankles.
He held a sword with him.
That was what made the soldier who'd spotted this person shout a warning.
"Shoot," the entity replied, scrambling on the lip of the fence. Archers readied their bows and knocked arrows. The entity was up and running.
They gawked at his agility and balance and skill, unable to believe that a solid person could run over a pencil thick planks that easily.
But then he jumped and rolled in the air and landed into the courtyard, breaking their trance.
"Hi."
They fired.
Yelping he rolled away and continued on his path, unsheathing his sword and throwing the sheath away. The soldiers mauled him with brave yells and curses.
The youngster dodged the first tackling and leapt over the second. The third's angry pike was deflected easily with the back of a hand and a sword was parried with his own. He yelled as a ball and chain swung above his head, and he swore in an unknown language. He dived into the crowd of men to avoid the arrows, scrambling up shields and armour in order to stay away from weapons, causing a laud ruckus to fill the entire courtyard. He was through and was running again. He knew how to run, this thing, faster than a dragonfly and deft as a craftsman. He dodged arrows again and again, sometimes wiping them with his sword, or plucking them from the air as they sailed by.
When the ball and chain returned, he froze up and ran again.
Then someone caught him by the scruff of his shirt.
"Gerroff!" The youngster tried driving the sword's pommel into the captor's stomach. Next thing he knew he was on the ground with the said blade pricking a hole on the back of his neck. Not enough to cause bloodshed, but still. Quite uncomfortable.
"Errgh…" being defeated in front of an audience was not a pleasant experience.
"What in the name of all the goddesses are you doing here!"
The youngster froze at the familiar voice. "Erm…"
"You could've been murdered on sight!" the voice spat, black rage in his tone.
"I was bored!" the youngster snapped back as the disapproving soldiers gathered,
"You were-"
"What do you expect!" the youngster rolled and kicked with both his feet, striking the flat of the sword just above the hilt, sending it into the air. He rolled and caught it by the handle, and red eyes glowered at each other. The younger one lunged into attack, and seemingly out of nowhere the older Sheikah brought out a thin blade, and they clashed.
The soldiers could almost taste the bitterness in the air as the boy in the green tunic punctuated painful words with his blows of steel.
"I've been trapped in my room for this whole time listening to stupid people talking about my lack of knowing of the world and ordered around about the way I act around this place and they wouldn't even let me eat and everybody, everybody has been treating me differently since I agreed to this! My apparent sister doesn't talk to me my mother disgusts me I disgust my father and you, you are never around! You bloody promised and you're not even trying!"
It was hard to tell whether the boy was talking about his experiences or the sword fight at hand, because indeed, Sheik wasn't trying. He either just blocked the blows or simply stepped aside from the stabs and lunges, calm as Lake Hylia while his opponent raged like a storm. Metal sang against metal as the two danced around each other, one wild, one collected, both glaring at each other impatiently.
A foot lashed out and glanced against a shoulder. The younger one toppled over with a hiss, clutching the said shoulder as it stung. It was only a graze, but it hurt.
"Get out," Sheik said, but to the crowd around them. "Before I wipe the floor with the rest of you."
The soldiers suppressed their rage at being ordered around by a Sheikah before leaving, muscles tense. He was of higher rank now. He had the right to order them around, but it did not make the job easy for the soldiers who'd just gotten their normal morning ruined.
Sheik crouched beside the disguised 'boy', who was suppressing tears of pain and shame. "Princess…"
"I told you not to call me that!" she snapped behind the scarf, rage and hurt evident in her tone.
Sheik paused before continuing, "What do you mean they won't let you eat?"
"That's not the point!"
"Then what is the point?"
"You promised! You promised to look after me, you did that whole fricken speech on guiding me and all that crap and you haven't done it! And there is nobody to talk to. Nobody. The maids try to talk to me about jewellery Mistress Sarren thinks I'm nuts I don't have Navi I don't have any clue what I'm supposed to do I miss Dacha I… I can't do this."
Sheik sat down and wondered whether it was a good idea holding her hand. Probably not. "Why?"
She seemed to struggle with herself before confiding, "These people are the first I've talked to since… since such a long time… I'm surrounded by people but it's like they're afraid to talk to me because of that coronation."
Sheik blinked slowly, cocking his head to the side, "You're telling me you feel lonely."
Lynda huffed and crossed her legs, looking away sulkily. "It's rich coming from a self-exiled Hero of Time, I know, shut up, I'm not in the mood."
Sheik fought a smile that tried to sneak onto his face, glad again for his cowl. "I've found that ranting helps."
Lynda's gaze flicked his way before letting it rip. She ranted on and on about Mistress Sarren especially, due to the fact that it was her that had ordered most of her tortures. Lynda went on and on and on about how Mistress Sarren had proclaimed that she was a little too fat so she had to cut down on the food but she had to eat meat because that was what wealth was all about, eating meat because poorer people couldn't afford it but Lynda didn't like meat, sure fish and chicken were good but cows were innocent unlike cuccos since they weren't the ones that attacked people unprovoked and gods, she had been forced to wear heels everyday, and it was agony because her ankles had blisters and she had never, ever, ever had suffered from blisters until then and it was such relief wearing boots, oh, thanks for fixing them by the way they feel like heaven, how the talk with the dying queen the other day had made everything else seem nigh intolerable because again she had gone on and on about being rich and jewels and all that crap. Lynda also mentioned about how the King kept making comments around her that made her want to wring his neck because it was his fault that she'd been raised the ways she had been raised and she was perfectly happy with the way she had been brought up, he had no right to discuss her childhood because it was him that sent her away anyway and how Zelda wouldn't talk to her because of the mistake she'd made and it was pretty reasonable since she'd been pretty sure that Link was a guy and not her sister (at this point Lynda realised that Zelda had in fact fallen in love with a sibling unknowingly) but screw it because it wasn't like Lynda liked Zelda much anyway.
At the end of it Sheik was on the ground laughing. The wild hand gestures Lynda had used had helped in breaking him down.
"Stop laughing!"
Sheik ignored her and laughed a tad harder before subsiding. "Alright, now, am I allowed to defend my actions at leaving you alone?"
"And the ball! You said the celebrations would already start the next day after my birthday but it hasn't happened yet! You lied to me."
"If you got the wrong impression on that, I'm sorry. I meant the preparations."
"You know how much it hurts to wear corsets?"
"No, and I'm glad not to. Now, being your guide, I miscalculated; I didn't expect the King to be so generous in giving away titles. I was hoping he'd be a prick and just put me as your bodyguard, but I've been landed with the title of Royal Advisor."
Lynda blinked. "Wow."
Sheik smiled. "So, technically it's not my fault I can't guide you. But, since I do owe you an apology, how about we entertain ourselves?"
"Yeah… but how?"
He gave her a flat look at her suspicion. "We both have weapons in hand. Need I say more?"
Lynda hurriedly scrambled to her feet, eagerly positioning herself in a battle stance. Sheik scoffed. "Your hands are slightly crooked, your feet are… mildly acceptable, and why are you leaning to the left?"
And the long lesson began. Sheik made her change her position, and drilled her in some stabs, swings, especially blocks. He reckoned that she relied too much on her shield (hence the leaning in to the left) and the self learning had put her into bad habits. And he drilled her on attitude.
"You've got to be kidding; I have perfect attitude, thank you very much!"
"I'm inclined to disagree," her replied, as he tapped her wrist to remind her of her grip, "Tell me if I'm wrong, but have you ever fought anything that isn't a monster? Aside from me, that is."
Lynda puffed up proudly as she changed the grip and swung the sword in a clean arc. "I've fought the Gerudo, and they thought I was pretty good."
"You're a fast learner," the Sheikah admitted, as he circled around her, "But when you fought them, did you ever have to worry about their life?"
"…Pardon?" Lynda had completely dropped her stance and sword arm, insulted at his comment.
Sheik raised his arms in gesture of peace. "I'm assuming they fought you and you them with wooden swords for safety's sake." She nodded, "Ah, thought so. So, I'm again assuming I'm right when I say, when you fought me in the temple with the swords you conjured up, it was the first time you sparred with a living being with real swords."
"So?"
"So before then, you never had to worry about hurting anybody seriously."
She shuffled her feet anxiously before saying, "I guess so…"
"Here comes the attitude problem; monsters don't speak."
"Yeah I know tha-"
"Monsters do not jibe, tease, or joke with you when you're fighting. However, I would. If I told you right now, that you suck at sword-fighting, what would you do?"
She pretended to think it over before giving a pleasant smile. "Stab you in the face, I guess."
Sheik nodded tolerantly, unfazed by the threat, "Exactly. That's the attitude problem. You only know how to kill, and even with the greatest skill that can be a really sticky trait, if you see what I mean."
"I guess…"
"So, here's the deal. Your homework is to get to know people and try not to get words under your skin. Once you've done that, I'll teach you how to disarm. Dismissed."
Lynda blinked before saying uncertainly, "What… that's it?"
Sheik nodded resolutely. "Yes. That's it."
"You suck as a mentor."
"Deal with it."
The door slammed shut, and the maids looked up.
It had been really busy these last couple of weeks, working towards the highness's birthdays. It had been hard enough with one Princess, but now two? That meant extra plates, extra guests, extra food, extra cooking, cleaning, butchering, baking, rinsing, hammering, oh, it was such hard work…
Now a Sheikah had to get involved in the mess. And what a horrible green tunic…
"The King trains?" it hissed, red eyes that somehow looked fake wild with indignation, "The King trains?"
The maidservants looked upon the Sheikah suspiciously. "Something wrong?" one of them said.
"It's completely and utterly wrong! He never showed up for the last three weeks! How am I supposed to train when he's around?"
Then the Sheikah seemed to realise what he had said and stuttered, "Uh… just for the record, I'm allowed to be in the castle. Actually I have to be in the castle because I'm uh you see the Princess knows me and she said I could hang about if I wanted but the King doesn't know so I have to stay out of his sight and… is there anything I can do?"
The last bit was blurted out forcefully, and the Sheikah shuffled his feet nervously for a reply.
"What?" a nearby maid blurted back,
"You know, work," the Sheikah mumbled behind his scarf, his gaze flitting from face to floor on several occasions, "Since I… well… I just thought I might as well be useful, because usually I… you know, train with the guys but since the King's there I can't do anything and I've got a couple of hours free now so… how about it? Please?"
They watched him sceptically. "We don't take males."
"I'm not," the Sheikah hastily unwrapped part of her turban to reveal a gently tanned face that clearly belonged to a girl. The maids bristled.
"Then what, are you doing wielding a sword, young lady?"
Lynda briefly thought of murdering Sheik for doing this to her because the hostility didn't seem worth it. "Well, I, I ur, I was raised as a boy, honest. My father thought it'd be better for me because I was apparently in deep, uh, yeah, trouble. Anyway he was kind of right because yeah, my life involved lots of protection… ahaha… you don't believe a single word I'm saying, do you."
There was a silence as the whole kitchen stared at her. Lynda sighed.
"Okay, I'll go. Sorry for bothering you."
The door shut behind her.
Lynda leaned against the said door and sighed again, scraping her nails idly through the grains of the wood. Friends, who needed 'em? She had plenty already, she doesn't have to make friends with them. Lynda bet that all of them would've been falling over themselves to talk to her if they knew it was the Princess, no, the Hero of Time that was assisting help. But no, the Sheikah couldn't be trusted could they? No wonder Sheik never took off that cowl or socialized; there was no point in it whatsoever. Besides, she'd been living in solitude for the last how many years? She could handle loneliness…
"Hey?"
Lynda turned. There she found a girl maybe a year or two older than her, with brown hair and swampy eyes, holding a broomstick out to her. The maid's face was smiling.
"My name's Pell, and word of advice: wear a skirt when you come next time. I think you disappointed some of them for not being a boy."
Lynda started dubiously. "… Do you read minds?"
Pell laughed. "No, and I wouldn't even want to if I got the chance; minds can be so creepy sometimes."
"But it could be useful, like, there was this guy that really puzzled me. He tried to take over the world and he was completely and utterly nuts."
"What kind of nut?" Pell asked as she handed Lynda the broom, "Peanut, walnut…?"
"A nut salad, definitely."
Pell grinned lopsidedly. "Do you even like nuts?"
"No, not really," Lynda replied, shaking her head wryly,
"Wait, what was your name again?"
"Oh, yeah…" Lynda wondered briefly about it before shrugging. "Everybody used to call me Link."
Pell smiled again and said, "Alright, Link, what possessed you to come to the kitchens?"
Lynda stabbed the floor with the broom irritably. "Because a different stupid nut told me to get some friends because I'm a loner and it's 'very important' to get used to talking or else he won't teach me some moves. Not that he's my only teacher. I've made good friends with some of the knights. And uh… they don't know that I'm a girl. Don't tell?"
"Of course! What are friends for?"
Sheik, who was leaning on the wall around the corner, smiled almost proudly.
"Hey Link, the other nut that you just mentioned, what kind of nut is he?"
"A deku nut. Really hard and tastes really bad."
Sheik scowled.
Okay, I'm going to have to agree that nothing really happened in this chapter, so here's the deal: the more reviews, thefaster the next chapter will come. Yes, I know, it's a very lame bargain, but it's going to be easter so I'll have plenty of time to write stuff and hopefully the block of the writers would shift, or I'll break it to pieces. Hopefully.
Please review. I feel depressed because I lost my glasses.