XIV - Forlorn Skies
When Sheik finally set foot on dry ground again, he was soaked and shivering, and his shoulder and left arm were throbbing violently. The gentle stream had barely offered any resistance. It had safely guided him to the northern shore of the moat, but the area was unfamiliar to him. He allowed his body to rest for as long as possible, stretching out in the tall grass, but he knew that he couldn't linger for long. It was still early morning and he had a long walk ahead. He couldn't go back to Karusa valley, and going west would only bring him back to where he started, so the only option left was east.
He followed the river, but always made sure to avoid walking too close to the riverbank. When he reached a small but dense forest not far from a pond, he judged it safe enough to allow his body to rest. Either way, it would be safer to travel after nightfall. The forest didn't offer much, but Sheik managed to find a few berries and nuts which barely satisfied the worst hunger. His clothes were still wet and he shivered, but with the castle looming in a close distance, he was too afraid to light a fire. He loosened the bandages around his lower left arm and wound them around his shoulder and upper arm as best as he could, keeping one end in place with his teeth until the dressing was tight enough, then tucked the remaining end under. The pressure relieved his pain a little. He sat down against the trunk of a broad tree and let his head rest against it. He knew that if he continued following the river south-east, it would bring him close to Kakariko. Although he dreaded to return to the village, it was the only place he could think of in terms of shelter.
He removed the shawl from his neck and the mask from his face and hung them on a branch to dry, feeling the fresh air on his nose and cheeks. He only allowed himself to doze a little. As part of his training, this was an easy task. His mind wandered off then and an image formed before his inner eye; a face with striking blue eyes framed by wild, blond locks, hidden under a large, dark hood.
Sheik woke from his light slumber when the sun was about to set. His stomach was growling and his mouth dry. Although his clothes had mostly dried by the time he woke, his limbs felt stiff from the cold. He gingerly stretched and moaned as the pain came back and spread into his fingertips.
He knelt beside the pond, using his right hand as a scoop and sniffed the water before taking a sip. He heard a rustling and froze, but it was only a fox who padded through the undergrowth and was soon out of sight. After finding and eating a few more berries, Sheik finally set out. Although the sky was dark and the moon barely a third of its size, he still stayed away from the riverbank, opting to walk through dense groups of trees or behind hills instead, but always staying close to the road.
His shoulder wound slowed him down considerably, and he had to take more breaks than he felt comfortable with, sleeping through almost a whole day accidentally. When he finally reached the mouth of the Zora river after a few days and saw the outlines of the Zora upland and Ploymus Mountain in the distance, he decided to abandon the main road leading east and to go south instead. Before his eyes, the Lanayru Wetlands with their network of small islands, all connected to each other by wooden planks leading over the shallow water, stretched out. The sun was about to rise when he left the mainland and headed south.
Sheik was surprised to stumble upon a small village on the second largest wetland island, but even when he knocked on several doors, no one opened. He saw shapes and heard soft noises behind the windows every now and then, but the villagers seemed weary of outsiders and kept their doors barred.
Sheik grimaced as he took shelter in an abandoned, half burned-down barn. By now, he could barely feel his left arm and had troubles lifting it. He was hungry, cold and hurting, but the barn barely offered enough shelter to keep out the wind. He put his arms around his knees and shivered. Had it always been this cold? Closing his eyes, fatigue overtook. His dreams then were feverish and incoherent, and he woke sweating and panting to a sharp pain in his thigh. When he opened his eyes, a group of people had gathered around him, and a man was poking him with a pitchfork.
The women stood back and eyed him warily, and the man holding the pitchfork barked something at him in a thick, strange Hylian accent which Sheik didn't quite grasp.
"Yiga!," the man said, and spat on the ground. He poked him with the fork once more.
"Fine," Sheik grumbled and lifted his right hand as to show that he didn't mean to hurt them, "I'll leave." Getting up shakily, he stumbled forward and held onto a wooden beam for support. He heard one of the woman say that he seemed hurt, but the man continued to shoo him away. The voices sounded so far away and Sheik felt dizzy. He lifted his eyes to the sky and found that he had been sleeping for longer than he had anticipated; the sun had already started to disappear behind the horizon.
He gritted his teeth as he made his way through the Wetlands. Every step felt like dragging useless weight around and his arm hung down his body like a log of wood. When he finally reached the Sahasra Slope, the sky darkened, the wind picked up and raindrops started to wet the ground. Sheik groaned as the timid drops soon turned into a heavy downpour and he heard a low growling in the distance. And then the sky turned dark purple and lightning struck.
Sheik turned around as the spectacle unfolded. In the far distance, black and red clouds towered over the capital, unloading massive amounts of pink thunderbolts onto the city, and Sheik could have sworn that in the light of the bolts, a dark shape wound around the castle. He tore his eyes away as he felt his strength fade. Kakariko was at the top of the slope. He had to make it before fainting, even if it meant crawling on all four.
"Before you leave, I want to show you something," Paya said, happy to find Link up and moving at such an early hour, while the princess was still sleeping.
Link gave her a tired smile, but nodded. "What is it?"
"Have you ever heard of a fairy fountain?"
They walked down the stairs of the chieftain's house. Link shook his head.
"It's said that a great fairy resides in these fountains. There is one just above Kakariko and..."
"HEY! ONE MORE STEP AND YOU'RE DEAD!"
Link and Paya both turned around and stared at the entrance to the village. Cado, a middle-aged Sheikah guard, pointed a spear at a person standing under the Torii gate. Link gave Paya a look and they both ran up to the gate. Upon seeing the intruder, Paya paled and her eyes became round as saucers.
"Cado," she said, putting her hand on his arm, "please...lower your weapon."
"I know who he is," Cado said through gritted teeth, not moving his spear even an inch.
"What is going on?"
Link saw another man approach, with a thick, white beard and bushy eyebrows, wearing the typical Sheikah garb, a sword attached around his back.
"Dorian, please, let him in," Paya pleaded.
Before Dorian could reply, the intruder sank to their knees and collapsed. Dorian took a deep breath and sighed.
"Bring him to my house," he eventually said.
Link knelt beside the collapsed Sheikah, and carefully lifted him up. He weighed more than he had expected, and felt unnaturally hot. He followed Dorian to his house, with Paya on his heels, and gently lay Sheik down on the couch. "He is hurt and burning up," he said as his eyes met Paya's.
"Paya, get a bowl with water, fresh bandages and the herb paste," Dorian said, "upper and lower cupboard in the kitchen. Hurry up."
Paya did as she was told, and disappeared into the kitchen, while Dorian went to the bathroom to get towels and fresh bedsheets.
Link knelt down next to the couch, putting his hand on Sheik's forehead. The skin was burning hot, and he noticed that the Sheikah had troubles breathing. Grabbing the shawl that was still coiled around his neck and lower face, he carefully unwound it and put it aside, then removed the black face mask. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at Sheik's face, aware that it was the first time he ever saw more of him than just those piercing, yet mesmerising red eyes. A large but old scar ran down from his cheek to the corner of his mouth, and Link wondered if this was the reason why Sheik always covered his face.
"It's hideous...isn't it." His voice came out as a croak.
Link startled. He had been staring at the side of his face so intently, that he had not noticed that the Sheikah had opened his eyes.
"How is it possible that no matter where I go, you are fucking everywhere," he said weakly, coughing.
Link smiled.
"You can't go back to the castle." His red eyes now fixated him with a burning intensity and Link shuddered under his gaze.
"Why? What happened?"
"Don't go back."
"Sheik?"
"He is out," Dorian said as he entered the room, "can you lift him up again so that I can put these bedsheets over the couch?"
Link obeyed and hoisted Sheik up into his arms, his gaze lingering on his face once more.
Fuck. Clearly not what I had expected, he thought. Confused. Swallowing hard.
Paya met Link outside once she was done taking care of Sheik's wounds and had given him medication to lower the fever and fight the infection.
"You two know each other?" she asked, surprised.
"We've ran into each other a couple of times," Link admitted, "Paya, what is going on? Why did he say that we can't go back to the castle?"
"He did?"
"He was pretty intent on it. I have a bad feeling about this."
"You wanted to ride out this morning..." Paya remembered, "perhaps you should stay just a little longer until Sheik comes around and explains what he meant."
"I have a feeling that you know more than you want to admit."
Paya's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink and she looked away. "In time, I will explain everything to you," she said quietly, "but now is not the time. If Sheik warns you not to go, he must have seen something."
"Paya...do you trust him?"
She looked at him and bit her lip. "I don't know."
"So you know that he has joined the Yiga?"
Paya nodded, her cheeks turning from pink to white. How the hell does he know? What on earth has happened between those two?
Link's gaze fell on the chieftain's house. "I will go and tell Zelda. Please let me know when he comes around."
When Sheik woke, he didn't know where he was. His surroundings felt strange to him, yet somewhat familiar. He heard snoring coming from the room next door and he eventually remembered. The spear pointed at him, the strong arms carrying him, the blue eyes on his face, staring at his ugly scar. He cringed at the memory. Why is he even here, he asked himself and groaned. His throat felt as if he had swallowed razorblades and he felt extremely hot under the blankets, sweat trickling down the nape of his neck. He wiped it away with his right hand, and found that he could at least feel his left arm again. The pain was dulled by something that Paya had given him, but he could still feel his shoulder throbbing.
He tried to sit up, but was forced back down on the couch again when his vision started to swim. Sheik couldn't remember the last time he had come down with a fever, much less with something like a common cold, and he felt miserable about it. He reached out to the glass of water standing on a little table next to the couch and chugged its content down, but the razors in his throat remained.
He couldn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke anew, the room was eerily calm apart from a low crackle in the distance. Sheik opened his eyes and perked up his ears. The sound was definitely coming from outside. He pushed the blanket away, and ponderously climbed out of bed, walking over to the window. When he peered outside, he could see flames and houses burning, people running around screaming. He took one step back, his heart hammering, and stared at the window in disbelief. A moment later, someone knocked on the door, loud and heavy, and then they broke through. Sheik groaned when he stumbled backwards and fell on the floor next to the couch. In the orange glow of the fire raging outside, the soldier's bared teeth almost looked like fangs. Sheik reached out to the couch behind him to steady himself while getting up, but the soldier was on him before he could move aside. His teeth flashed as he grinned at him, and he pulled a carving knife out of his belt. "Do you remember?" he whispered as he pressed the tip of the knife against the corner of Sheik's lips.
Sheik closed his eyes and screamed.
"Sheik! Hey!"
When he opened his eyes anew, the room was brightly lit. The curtains were drawn aside, letting in sunlight, and the sound of chirping birds could be heard outside through the open window. Dorian was kneeling next to him, his hand still on his arm.
"W...what happened?" Sheik panted, his eyes searching confusedly for any signs of a fire or intruding Hylian soldiers.
"You fell off the couch," Dorian said, "and you seemed delirious. Your fever is still pretty high."
He helped Sheik back on the couch, and brought him a fresh glass of water. When Sheik put the empty glass back on the table, Dorian removed the bandages from his shoulder, cleaned the wound, applied a dark green herbal paste, and made a new dressing. Sheik stared at the ceiling and was quiet. The dream seemed so real, he could almost still feel the cold metal of the blade against his face.
"Rest now. Your body is fighting the infection. I will wake you for dinner."
"Dorian?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you doing this?"
Dorian sighed. "I don't know," he said, and left the room.
Zelda was sitting on the bed when Link entered the room, struggling with the laces of her boot.
"Just one second," she called as she fiddled with the laces.
"There is a problem," he said.
Zelda dropped her foot and lifted her head to look at him.
"What kind of problem?"
"We...cannot go back yet."
"What do you mean, we can't go back?"
He took a deep breath. "Something has happened at the castle."
She paled. "What? Link, stop the secrecy, tell me what happened!"
"Do you remember the prisoner from the torture chamber?"
"The Yiga?" She shuddered at the memory.
"Yes. And no. He's not exactly a Yiga. He...arrived in Kakariko."
"What? When? How?"
"Half an hour ago."
"He is supposed to be dead. How did he get here?"
"I...I don't know," Link lied, "but the point is, he came here wounded. And warned us not to go back."
Zelda snorted. "So now you believe a criminal? What could he possibly warn us about?"
"I...am not sure." Link fell silent, knowing fully well how stupid he sounded right now. He couldn't even tell her a reason, but the urgency in Sheik's voice when he insisted that they couldn't go back felt real. Threatening.
"This is nonsense. We will leave right away."
"Zelda, please."
"What? I don't want to stay here. I cannot afford to waste time in this village."
"It is my sworn duty to protect you. My gut tells me that it isn't safe."
The princess got up from the bed, walked towards her personal knight, and planted herself in front of him. Her green eyes flashed dangerously.
"Oh, your gut. And do you know what my gut tells me? That you are a liar! No one escapes Hyrule's safest prison without any help. And how would you know that he isn't a real Yiga?"
Link swallowed but remained silent.
"Your silence speaks louder than words. Link, I thought I could trust you. You can stay here if you like, but I will ride back to the castle."
She stomped past him, but he caught her by the wrist.
"Zelda, please."
"I will ask father to dismiss you," she said, her voice as cold as the look in her eyes.
He let go of her wrist and watched her walk out of the house.
"Fuck!" he cursed, hitting the wall with his fist.
Zelda ran down the stairs, tears burning in her eyes. How could Link have betrayed her like that? What game did he play? He was supposed to be her protector, the one person she could entrust her life with. And here he was lying to her. That Yiga was no stranger to him, and she wouldn't be surprised if he had bailed him out of his cell.
On the way to the stable, she ran into Paya, the Sheikah girl who had been making goo-goo eyes at Link from the first moment she saw him.
"Your highness?" the girl asked, bowing courteously.
"Leave me alone," Zelda hissed and tried to walk past her.
"Your highness, please hear me out. It's too dangerous to ride out," she called, hurrying after Zelda.
"I hope you have better arguments than your crush," the princess said angrily, "or your Yiga ally."
Paya stared at her with her mouth slightly open, taken aback by her hostile demeanour. Zelda then disappeared into the stable, and Paya rushed to find Link.
The grassy Sahasra slope stretched out before her, and Zelda could see the outlines of the castle in the distance. Storm neighed unhappily as she pressed on, but soon fell into a light gallop. Her heart felt heavy, and yet, at the same time, she felt strangely free. As if she had freed herself from the shackles that had bound her all her life.
She glanced once more at the castle and snorted.
Dangerous to go back my ass, she thought as she reined Storm.
"Easy boy, the slope is getting steeper, I don't want you to break your legs."
Storm's ears moved back and forth as he carefully put one hoof before the other. The heavy rain from the previous night had made the ground slippery and Zelda couldn't risk to push the stallion to a gallop. She tightened the cape around her neck and shivered. Had it been that cold when they left Castle Town last morning? She didn't think so. One glance at the sky, and she knew that something would come down soon.
Storm stopped so abruptly that Zelda, completely lost in her thoughts, almost lost her balance. She cursed, and then some more when she noticed that a sounder of wild boars had emerged from the bushes and cut off her path. She stroked her stallion's neck and made comforting sounds, waiting for the boars to move on. But they didn't. They kept staring at them from a short distance, and Zelda could have sworn that their eyes had an unnatural pink-red glow. Storm pranced nervously on the spot and neighed, throwing his head back every now and then. "Easy boy," she said, but her heart sunk when the boars began to grunt and screech and move towards them. And then they attacked. Storm reared up and spun around, dashing off into the opposite direction, throwing off his rider in the process. Zelda landed flat on the hard ground, the air knocked out of her lungs.
"Get away from there!" she heard someone shout, and then a bay horse moved in between her and the approaching boars. She scrambled away on all fours, looking for Storm. The stallion was standing at the top of the slope, but didn't budge, even as she called for him. Link moved his horse beside her, held out his hand, and helped her get in the saddle directly behind him.
"Take the reins," he said, and he grabbed the bow from his back, nocking an arrow, "and keep us at a safe distance."
Zelda did as she was told, and the first arrow flew and embedded itself in the first boar's flank. The boar screeched angrily and charged. Link nocked another arrow, and this time, it landed between the animal's eyes. The other three boars slowed down as they saw their companion fall, but this only seemed to enrage them more. Foam was building at their snouts and their eerie eyes glowed dangerously. Only after Link killed another, the remaining two slowly backed down and eventually disappeared down the slope.
Link lowered the bow and released his breath. "Are you okay?"
He felt Zelda's face against his back as she nodded and her arms around his waist gave him a slight squeeze. "I'm sorry, Link," she said quietly.
He sighed inaudibly. "Will you go back to the village with me?"
He felt her nod again, and led his horse back to the village.
Big, fluffy snowflakes began to dance in front of their eyes and cover the ground like a thick, white carpet. The pink-red blood oozing out of the fallen boars' wounds unnoticeably etched an acidic path through the snow-covered grass, seeping into the ground.
I know it's a bit confusing to put all of this in a timeframe that makes sense. Please don't let yourself get too distracted by it. I am giving myself a hard time here ;)
