~Chapter Four~

I wake up in an unfamiliar bed. Where am I? And what a weird dream last night. Wait, was it a dream? Oh man, my head hurts.

I remember the dream with the Princess, Ganondorf and Farore. But the dream with the Moblins and the Sheikah seems so much more lifelike... I attempt to sit up, but I'm stopped by a searing pain in my arm. I yelp and glace at my bandaged arm.

So, that last one wasn't a dream.

"Woah there, Hero." Strong hands press on my other shoulder, forcing me to lie back down. "Your shoulder isn't entirely healed yet."

I stare in surprise into the red eyes of my best friend.

"Sheik!" I exclaim. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I live here." He raises his eyebrow.

"Oh... yeah... right."

Sheik chuckles. "I got here just before you and your friends did. Glad I did."

"So am I." I say, attempting to get back up. Sheik helps me. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days. It took a while to get the poison out of you."

"And... did... did Cody..." I can't finish.

Sheik's eyes dim. "I'm sorry Link. We haven't seen him. Some of the others went and checked your house, and he wasn't there. I guess Ganondorf took him prisoner."

"Or killed him." I mutter under my breath. It hurts to say it.

Sheik puts a hand on my shoulder. "He still has a chance. If Ganondorf's looking for you, he won't want to kill someone he can use as bait."

"That makes me feel so much better," I say sarcastically.

"That's my job," He gets more bandages from a drawer in the bedside table. "In all seriousness, Ganondorf will keep him alive. We'll get him back Link, I promise."

I nod and allow him to re-dress my arm. I wince as he ties it tight, pain flashing up my arm. I look around the room. It's pretty simple; a bed, a table, a rug and a wardrobe. Wooden walls and stone floors. Nothing to really identify the room's owner. Except for a shelf next to the door. It has a small Grass Octorok figurine on it, the one that Sheik and I won one year in Castle Town, during their annual carnival. There's also a small leather bracelet on the table. It's crudely made, and you can tell that the owner wears it a lot. I remember that too, I made it. I have one just like it that Sheik made for me.

"This is your room?" I ask Sheik.

He nods. "Yeah. It's not much, but it's home."

"Where have you been staying if I've been in here?"

"Another Sheikah's room, he's gone on some mission or something."

I swing my legs over the bed and start to get up.

"What are you doing?" Sheik tries to make me lie down again. "You're still recovering, you need rest."

I wave him off. "I'm fine. What I need is food, and lots of it."

"You're always hungry," He rolls his eyes.

"You can't blame me, I've been without food for three days." I get to my feet and instantly regret it. The world spins and my stomach churns. I almost fall over, but Sheik catches me.

"I told you you're not ready to get up." He forces me back on the bed. "I'll get some food for you."

I smile weakly at him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He leaves and I lay back on the bed, trying to get a hold of my stomach. I take deep breaths, and eventually the world stops turning. As idiotic as it sounds, I'm going to take another shot at getting up.

I think I went too fast last time, so I slowly and carefully sit up. Then I ease my legs over the side and get to my feet. I feel a little dizzy and my arm throbs, but at least this time I can walk around. I slip out the door and walk down the hall. It's more like a tunnel actually, it's all made of stone. The longer I walk, the stronger I feel, so that's a good sign. I can hear voices in the room around the corner. So I turn into it, and smack into Sheik.

"What the heck, Link!" Sheik exclaims angrily, almost dropping the plate of food he carries.

"Sorry," I pick up a roll and place it on the plate. I try to hide the pain in my arm as I do so, but Sheik notices.

"For Hyrule's sake, go back to that bed." I protest, but he pushes me back towards it.

"Sheik, just let him stay." A deep voice says from in the room. "If he says he's feeling better he's probably okay enough to stay in here."

I turn to see two older Sheikah, maybe in their late 30s. One has his face exposed (which is rare for Sheikah, Impa's the only Sheikah I've ever seen without a scarf), I'm pretty sure he's the one who just spoke. He smiles widely, his brown hair sticking out every which way. He seems friendly and open, (which is also rare for Sheikah).

The other Sheikah is the exact opposite. His scarf covers his face, leaving only his blood-red eyes visible. His unruly blond hair just misses falling into his eyes. He looks surprised and sad at the same time. I shift under his intense gaze. Why is he staring at me like that?

Weird. I feel like I know him...

"Link, this is Jakob and Conner." Sheik says. "Jakob, do you see his arm? He needs to rest."

"He's been in that bed for three days straight. Let him get some exercise." Jakob smiles at me and holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you Link."

I shake his hand with my good arm and smile back.

Conner steps forward and extends his arm as well. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Is that a good thing?" I joke as I shake his hand as well. "I'm sorry, but you look really familiar, do I know you somehow?"

He hesitates, and out of the corner of my eye I can see Jakob raise his eyebrow in expectation. "I... knew your parents before they disappeared. Maybe you remember me from then."

My eyes widen in surprise. He knew Mom and Dad? I've never met anyone but Cody who knew my parents. "You knew my parents?"

He nods. "Taylor was... my best friend, and I was just as good of friends with Marni."

"Taylor and Marni?" Sheik says in surprise. "The castle guard and his wife that disappeared from Castle Town years ago? They're your parents?"

"Castle guard?" I turn to Conner again. "My father was a castle guard? Cody never told me that."

Conner shrugs. "I'm guessing he knew you'd want to go to Castle Town if you knew. He didn't want you going there, right?"

I stare down at my boots. "Yeah."

"And yet you went anyway," His eyes sparkle with amusement. And... pride? "You're just like your dad."

I smile with pleasure at the comparison. "Thanks. It's nice to hear that from someone besides Cody."

A Sheikah a few years older than Sheik and I comes bursting into the room. "Hey Sheik! We just got some news about that kid's uncle! You were right, Ganondorf has him!"