XXII – Scars Of The Past

"I can't," Link whined, sat back down on the ground and looked miserable.

Sheik crossed his arms and looked down at the Hylian knight who refused to move. "Will I have to face that creature all by myself?"

Link looked up and grimaced. "Can I get a hug?"

Sheik sighed. "Will it help?"

Link nodded and slowly stood up, knees still wobbly. He didn't dare look down and fixated his gaze on Sheik, moving closer. Sheik suppressed the urge to back down and walk away, and hesitantly opened his arms, presuming that Link would take the hint and make the first move, but the Hylian just stood there and looked at him expectantly.

"Why do you look so uneasy? Do I make you feel uncomfortable?"

"No...it's just..." Sheik sighed but didn't finish his sentence. Instead he awkwardly put his arms around Link and wondered since when it felt so good to be physically close to someone.

"Lady Impa!" The young soldier who came running up the stairs to the main tower of Akkala citadel was panting, his face red from exhaustion. "We have a situation," he wheezed.

Impa turned around in her chair, putting down her reading glasses.

"What is it?"

"A sickness is spreading out."

"What are the symptoms? Quick, speak!"

"Fever, coughing, slurred speech, my lady," the soldier stuttered.

"People from the castle?"

The soldier nodded. "It started with a handmaid and a kitchen boy."

"Were any of the handmaids in contact with princess Zelda?" she asked sharply.

"I don't know," he said, "I am only delivering a message."

"Then don't stand idly around! They need to be quarantined! Take the necessary precautions. I will inform the king about the situation."

Impa cursed inwardly. They had been way too careless after having escaped the castle and having settled in Akkala citadel, and Impa had been too sure that symptoms would show early if anyone was infected. She left her study and strode through the corridor and down the stairs until she reached the king's study, knocking hesitantly on the door. Rhoam Bosphoramus sat at his desk, chin resting on the back of his hand when his counsellor opened the door and bade her in. Rhoam lifted his head.

"Do you come with more ill tidings?" he asked.

"Ill tidings indeed," she answered, "I have been informed of several cases of an infectious disease, spreading among our people here in Akkala."

Rhoam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Take the necessary precautions. Put them in quarantine and everyone who had been in contact with them lately, and don't allow anyone to go near."

"Your Grace, with all due respect, the people need medical attention."

"What for? They are doomed anyway and I need my men healthy and combat-ready. Hateno village has been overrun by the enemy and they are marching towards Akkala," the king said gravely.

"Then send your men south," she said between gritted teeth, "and we don't know yet what kind of virus we are dealing with. You can't just leave these people to die!"

Rhoam stood up so abruptly that he knocked over the chair. "Prince Sidon is holding off the forces marching north. I can't afford to lose my men to a mob of guardians and monsters. As soon as the third divine beast is back under our control, we will march forward and reclaim my home", he boomed, "as for the infected, I believe my orders were clear. I did not ask for your opinion, Sheikah woman. You can leave."

Impa left the study with a bitter taste on her tongue, and slammed the door. You foolish, selfish man, she thought, you throw Prince Sidon's life away so carelessly. Do you think the divine beasts are impenetrable? Do you think the Zora will come to your aid after they bury their prince's body?

Her footsteps echoed angrily through the corridor as she rushed to minimise the damage of the Hylian warfare.

Sheik put the slate into the slot of the pedestal and activated the main control unit, logging into Medoh's internal system. Link sank down against the unit, resting his head against the cold metal.

"Are you injured?" Sheik asked after having gained control of the machine.

"I don't know. My whole body hurts and I can't breathe," he said, and coughed.

"The air is thinner up here," Sheik answered, "and it was a tough fight. Shall I give you a check-up?"

"No. Not yet. I feel like I am going to freeze to death if I take even one thin layer off," Link muttered. "Also, my ears are ringing from the explosions."

The Sheikah nodded. "Let's get down to safer heights."

"Do you even know how to pilot that thing?"

Sheik's eyes smiled. "I'll figure it out. You might want to hold on to something."

"Oh no. This is a fucking nightmare," Link groaned.

Sheik landed Medoh on the only spot that he could land on – the strange rock formation atop Rito Village. With its claws holding onto the tube-shaped ending of the formation, Medoh perched on the rock like a hungry falcon.

"Great. We landed. Now, how are gonna get down? I am so sick of these heights. And I am cold," Link grumbled.

Sheik laughed. "And here I thought I was the grumpy one."

"Well, you are, but I really want to be on firm ground again."

"Sooner or later, Harth and the others will see Medoh and come pick us up," Sheik said and walked to the edge of the bird's wing, peering down at the destroyed and burnt village. The sight stirred an old fear up inside of him. An image of fire, destruction and death. The smell of the flames threatening to suffocate him, the screams of agony echoing in his ears. He felt his chest tighten, his breath coming out shallowly. He sunk to his knees, feeling the hands groping at him, ripping off his clothes, touching him. The cold steel against the edge of his mouth as he began to kick and bite. The agonising pain as the sharp blade cut his cheek open from lips to ear. Tears stung his eyes as he gasped for air and he fell into the dark, dark abyss.

When he came to himself again, he was lying on the ground and a worried Link was bent over him.

"Sheik? What happened?" Link asked, "are you hurt?"

Sheik sat up and shook his head. He bit his lip, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to break the dam once and for all.

Link sighed softly. "If you feel like crying, then cry. Stop holding yourself back. Nothing good will come of it."

"I am sorry," Sheik said and cried, burying his face into his hands. Although he hated himself for being so weak at that moment, he was thankful for Link's presence, his reassurance and his warm hand on his shoulder. They sat like that for a while until Sheik's tears had dried up and his breathing had normalised. He felt strangely calm, as if part of the burden he always carried around with himself had been taken off him.

"Feeling better?" Link asked.

Sheik nodded and wiped his wet cheeks with the back of his gloved hand. "I am sorry that you had to witness this. I think...I am just exhausted."

"Don't be sorry," Link answered, "there is no need to feel guilty about your emotions. Letting the pain out is better than bottling it up forever."

"I...don't like being vulnerable around people," Sheik said.

"Sheik," Link began, "you don't always have to be strong. We are all just human beings, with all these needs and emotions. You don't have to wear a mask in front of me - literally and figuratively. I just want you to be yourself."

"That's not the way of the Sheikah..."

"Then screw the way of the Sheikah," Link exclaimed, "when you want to cry, cry. When you want to scream, scream. And when you need to be with someone, just ask. You know...like when you asked me to hold you."

Sheik blushed. "I...was drunk and confused."

Link smiled. "Do you want to talk?"

"About what?"

"About why you keep breaking down," Link answered.

Sheik took a deep breath. Months ago he would have never even considered talking about his past to anyone, and yet that one Hylian knight had managed to knock down a part of his carefully constructed wall.

"Do you know how the Yiga came into existence?"

"Aren't they criminal Sheikah?"

Sheik shook his head. "Every Sheikah that did not bend the knee to the royal family was sentenced to become an outlaw. The king hates and fears us. The rebellious faction was sent into exile and forced to live on the borders of Hyrule under harsh conditions. I was but an infant when my mother was compelled to leave Hyrule and settle down in the mountains. Food was scarce, the climate rough, but we somehow got by. Built a new life, lived on what we had and found. Until the Hylians began to hunt us down. During the purge, royal soldiers burned one primitive Sheikah village after the other to the ground, raped the women and killed my kindred. The only ones who didn't fall victim to the purge were the Sheikah who were put on a leash and forced to water down the pure bloodline by marrying Hylians and having children with them."

"Yet you survived the purge."

Sheik nodded. "My mother was killed, but Valen and I survived. Yes, I know the Yiga leader very well. He was once like a brother to me. We found refuge in Kakariko later, but I was too young to understand why the village was so privileged while ours was destroyed."

Link took Sheik's hand in his own, running his thumb over his knuckles, eyes searching for his. The air between them felt suddenly very heavy.

"Link...I killed someone that night."

Link's eyes widened. "But you were only a child?!"

Sheik nodded, tears burning anew in the corner of his eyes.

"Did...this," Link began hesitantly and brushed his thumb over the old scar on Sheik's cheek, "happen that night, too?"

Sheik sucked in a deep breath and fought once more against his tears, and Link realised just how many horrors were buried deep inside this boy's memories.

"I killed him before he could rape me," Sheik said, "but not before he cut my cheek open."

"Sheik...I am so sorry..."

"This scar is a reminder of my gruesome past. Do you understand why I joined the Yiga? Why I want the king dead?"

Link lowered his eyes and nodded. He couldn't endure to look at those red eyes now, feeling the guilt of his own people and his title weighing heavy on him. How Sheik could even bear to be around him - a royal knight - he couldn't fathom.

"You must hate all Hylians. Especially those serving the royal family. Hylians like me," he said quietly.

Sheik laughed softly. "I just poured my heart out to you. Don't take my trust lightly. I have barely told anyone about this."

"How can you even stand to look at me, wearing that damn crest? Not only am I a Hylian, but also a knight in the service of the royal family."

Sheik sighed. "And yet you are the first and only Hylian who has ever shown me kindness and never judged me for my ethnicity. You spared my life when I wanted to end yours. You put yourself at risk when you bailed me out of prison. You saved me when I was beaten up by those soldiers."

Link lifted his eyes again and looked at Sheik, trying to swallow the tight knot in his throat and ignore his hammering heart. "Because I hate to see you suffer. Because I want to be there for you. Protect you. I guess you know this by now, but...I like you, Sheik. No," he paused, "I lo..."

"LINK! SHEIK!" Harth shouted as he approached Vah Medoh. He circled the machine, motioned his fellow Rito warrior to follow him and landed next to the tired and cold pair. Sheik never heard the end of Link's confession and Link groaned, cursing Harth for choosing the worst possible moment to make his appearance.

"You must be out of your mind," Robbie said while unwrapping the bundle he had brought from his lab on the hill, "you know this might mean the end of your – our peace treaty with the Hylians?"

"I care more about prince Sidon's safety. The king sent him into battle with no backup from his own ranks – if the Zora prince falls, it will be the end of their alliance as well."

"So you defied the king's orders and sent aid instead?"

"I did," Impa answered, and counted the items on the table, "care to explain what these are?"

"Weapons," Robbie explained and divided the items into three different sections, "arrows, swords and spears, all crafted after ancient Sheikah technology using the old furnace from my lab."

"They look like simple hilts without blades. What's the catch?"

"Grab one and wield it, but make sure to not touch anything. Especially not me," Robbie answered and stepped away. Impa grabbed one of the hilts and swung it. The sword gave off a buzzing sound and a large, light blue blade appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She whistled appreciatively and put it back on the table after the blade had retracted.

"Make sure no one gets their hands on these," Robbie said cautiously, "they are not only highly affective against Guardians, but can pulverise a human in seconds, too."

"I will guard it like gold," Impa said and wrapped the weapons up into a bundle, tucking it under her arm. "Robbie, promise not to tell anyone about this. Anyone except Sheik."

Robbie nodded. "Is it true then?"

"Yes. Sheik is my grandson. And he was right about many things, even if I don't always agree with him. Robbie, Akkala is no longer safe. Open war is upon us, and we must be prepared. Oh, and see if you can contact your former assistant for the blood and tissue samples. We must know how the infection works and if it can be reversed. See if they have come up with an antidote yet."

"What will you do now?"

"I will finally take care of things," Impa said, and sat down at her desk, reaching out for the quill and a piece of paper.

Warmth returned to Link's body as he sat next to the fire inside the old lodge, removing his gloves, scarf and thick coat. Saki, a female Rito with a striking lilac feathering, and the wife of Teba, brought two bowls filled to the rim with fish stew which she placed before their human guests. "It's not much but it's the best I can give you," she said apologetically, "if you need more, please let me know."

Link gratefully took the bowl and dipped the spoon into it, tasting the stew. It was hot and a little bland, but filled his stomach and warmed him up from inside. He glanced at Sheik who had taken down his mask and was quietly eating his stew, wondering what was going on in his mind after hearing Link's interrupted confession. He was dying to know how Sheik felt, but it didn't seem like the Sheikah would bring it up anytime soon.

"Do you want me to give you a check-up?" Sheik suddenly asked, perturbing Link's thoughts.

Link flexed his arms and legs. "I don't think that's necessary," he answered, "how about you?"

Sheik shook his head. "I'm fine. Just still a bit cold and tired."

Link let his eye wander over the cramped space in the lodge and the injured Rito who had been accommodated in the main lodge.

"Let's sleep close to the fire as long as it burns," he suggested, and put more wood on the fire to keep the flames alive for a while longer. He brought the only blanket he could find and carried their warm coats over to where Sheik was sitting, handing him both the coat and the blanket. "Use that to cover yourself," he said, and sat down beside him.

"What about you?" Sheik asked while putting the warm coat back on and spreading the blanket over his legs.

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

Sheik cocked an eyebrow. "Acting shy all of a sudden doesn't suit you," he grinned and moved closer, draping the blanket over Link's legs as well. Link rested his head on the wall behind him and closed his eyes, yawning.

Sheik watched him nod off, head lolling from one side to the other side until it finally chose a direction and sunk against Sheik's shoulder. Sheik put his arm around him and gently moved him into a more comfortable position, looking at his face in the light of the fire.

He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, he thought as he reached out to brush a strand of hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear. He could feel his warm breath against his neck and sighed, wondering since when Link made him feel so comfortable when he was around him. So secure that Sheik had put down his guard and told him all about the worst part of his messed-up past.

His eyes lingered on the Hylian's handsome face, on his strong jaw, his relaxed, slightly parted lips. He quickly scanned the room to find that everyone except him was sleeping, then gently moved Link's head on his shoulder so that his chin pointed slightly up. Something was burning inside him, something that he could no longer ignore, and he lowered his head, tilting it slightly to avoid bumping into Link's nose. His lips found their way to Link's and he softly pressed them together. A second later, he pulled away and rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of his wildly beating heart. Link moved ever so slightly, his hand falling into Sheik's lap, but his eyes remained closed and his breathing unchanged. When Sheik finally fell asleep hours later, the fire had already burned down.

Sheik woke to a screeching sound and a bad feeling in his stomach. The cabin was still dark, and he could hear the sleeping Rito snoring softly. Link was slouched against his form, head against his chest and arm draped around him, drooling on him. Sheik gently pushed him away and flexed his legs and arms that had become numb from the cold and the pressure of Link's weight, put the blanket over the Hylian and quietly stole out of the cabin. His boots crunched in the fresh snow. Another screech resounded in the air and he lifted his head to look up. Not far from the cabin, a rare Gerudo hawk was circling in the sky, its eyes scanning the landscape for anything that moved. Sheik held out his arm and let out a sharp whistle. The hawk immediately changed direction and landed on his arm, its sharp talons digging into his skin. Sheik ruffled the feathers on the back of its head and removed the scroll of paper from its leg. Then he gave it a light shove and the hawk flapped its wings and soared high up into the sky. Before long, it was nothing but a small point on the horizon. Sheik shivered as he unrolled the paper and began to read what was written on it.

When he entered the main lodge later, Link was sitting on a wooden box next to Teba and Harth, studying a map. His face looked grave when he lifted his head after hearing Sheik approach.

"Sheik! Where were you? We've got a problem."

"I know," he answered, "what's more?"

"This," Link said and handed him a scroll of paper. Sheik unrolled it and skimmed the neat handwriting. It was obviously belonging to the royal scribe.

"I see," he said when he finished reading and handed the scroll back to Link, "you shouldn't delay then."

Link frowned. "You're not...coming with me?"

"Can we talk outside?" Sheik asked, glancing at Teba and Harth, "gather your things and meet me at the tower."

Sheik was already standing on the top of the tower, fumbling around with the slate, when Link made it to the top, panting and cursing.

"Couldn't you have found a better spot to talk?" Link moaned.

"You needed to come here anyway," Sheik answered, "Link, I'll keep this short. There is something I must do, that's why I cannot go back to Akkala with you. I will, however, warp you back. Matters are pressing."

"Sheik, what's going on?" Link crossed his arms.

"This morning, a desert hawk arrived and carried a letter. The Gerudo need my help. The divine beast is destroying their homes. And their chief might have a clue about their missing king."

"I would have gone with you," Link began, "but..."

"I know," Sheik cut him off, "you are the princess' personal knight. I understand, but this can't wait. I have been putting my help off for far too long. Link, the Hylians may have declared the Gerudo their enemies, but I can't help but sympathise with them. There is so much more than meets the eye."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I've seen and heard enough to know that not everything is black or white, good or bad. I just wish I could be there with you."

"I have Urbosa to watch my back. The Gerudo are formidable warriors after all, but they cannot claim the beast on their own."

Link nodded, looking concerned. "Just promise me to take care of yourself, will you?"

Sheik smiled, small wrinkles forming around his eyes. "Well, there is only so much I can do, but I will try. Now, are you ready? I have already set everything up."

"Good," Link said, "Sheik, can I ask you something first?"

Sheik returned his look, feeling a little unsure all of a sudden. "What is it?"

"Did you...kiss me last night?"

"Eh?" Sheik's eyes widened in a sorry attempt to look shocked. "You are imagining things. You were supposed to be fast asleep," he muttered.

"Oh, I was," Link answered, laughing, "maybe do it again when I am wide awake? Like...now?"

Sheik sighed. "Alright. Close your eyes, then."

Link did as he was told, surprised by Sheik's reaction. He heard Sheik move closer and felt his body warmth as he wrapped his arms around his neck. Link tilted his head in anticipation, but the kiss never came. Sheik's body pressed into him as he felt himself being drawn into an endless, pitch black void, nausea washing over him. When he managed to open his eyes again despite the pain behind them, the sight of Akkala's signature red maple trees greeted him.

"That was foul play! I hate you for deceiving me in such an evil manner," Link whined as he tried to fight back the nausea.

Sheik laughed. "You'll survive. Link, I am leaving now. We'll meet again," he said, changing the warping destination to the Wasteland tower. Before long, his body disappeared once more in a glowing blue light. Link sighed as he collected himself and began to climb down the tower, the old citadel below him bustling with life.

I admit, I was lazy to write yet another blight ganon scene, in case you wondered what happened between Link refusing to get up and Sheik claiming Medoh - they did of course beat him with good old bomb arrows.