Fan Fiction ❯ Hymn to the Night-Mare ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Author’s Note: And part 3. Given the characters’ age spread, don’t expect much more than a simple, innocent romance to come out of this. The idea I have is massive, though. I wouldn’t doubt that it could cover a couple years of their lives. But if it doesn’t, there will probably be fun adventures to follow and a more solid romance. However, this story needs to be written first.

Summary: Link and Co. are stranded on the Goddess Isles where Sheik is conveniently located, and eventual grand adventure/save the world stuff, sexual confusion, and cuteness. And, well, angst too… but that’s really a given… and why is there a can of ginger ale in my bed?

Disclaimer: And to the poor, throw the monkeys.

Additional note: Still unbeta-ed… but not from lack of wanting!

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Chapter 3-

Sheik sat up straighter when he noticed Zelda was beginning to wake up. She murmured sleepily and rubbed her eyes, slowly opening them to gaze around the room. When her eyes settled on him, she shot up, a snarl already upon her lips. Except she didn’t quite make it up all the way. Zelda curled in on herself and clutched her head, gritting words between her teeth that should have made the paint peal off the walls as her braids swayed in front of her, hiding her face.

After a couple seconds of shock at hearing his Princess use such language (where in the Goddess’s names did she learn things like that?), Sheik got up from his seat and shuffled over to her side. He rested his hand lightly on her back. “Are you okay, my Lady?â€

She froze underneath his hand. Her head turned slowly towards him, her eyes so wide the blue was a mere speck of an island in an ocean of white. “How can—YOU!†Her eyes narrowed and she clutched the sheets so tightly in her hands her knuckles shone through.

“You remember.â€

“Damn straight I remember,†she growled, and then smirked arrogantly at him. “Who could forget the Goddesses’ little puppet?â€

Sheik frowned. “I’m not their puppet. I’m their avatar. I do what they can’t in this world.†What had gotten into her? Why was she acting so hostile towards him?

During the era of the Hero of Time, she had never been like this towards him. Zelda had been a pleasant companion during those years, always polite and extremely insightful. She had never acted bitter about having to all but give up those years of her life; Zelda had always understood the necessity of her safety at all costs, even if the costs were to herself.

Maybe something had happened afterwards? He knew nothing of what had happened after Zelda had reentered the world. He had died in that moment. That was what had been planned, though. He was not only to be the Hero’s guide, but also the host to Princess Zelda’s entire being. And when she felt the time was right, she would take over and the reestablishment of her form would destroy him.

It was what the Goddesses had meant to be.

Where was his Lady in this jaded young woman?

Zelda flipped her hand nonchalantly. “Puppet, avatar… it all amounts to the same thing. You’re nothing but their mindless servant.â€

The Rito boy coughed from where he was, still at the foot of the bed. He shifted uncomfortably as two sets of eyes turned on him, one the cold blue fire of his Captain’s, the other the eerie color of rubies in the sun. “Captain, ma’am, do you want me to make him leave?â€

She raised a knuckle to her chin in a delicate motion and gazed down in thought, ignoring Sheik’s pleading looks. “No,†she said finally said, tucking a couple of braids behind her ear and causing her earrings to chime melodiously. “I think we need to have a… talk. Stand outside the door, Komali, and make sure no one disturbs us.â€

Komali stood up straight and saluted smartly. “Yes, ma’am!†He left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

Zelda smiled. “Good man. Best Sailing Master I ever had. And he doesn’t ask many questions. Now then,†she gingerly got out of the bed and paced to the far side of the room, facing away from him, “what am I going to do with you?†She glanced coldly over her shoulder at him.

Sheik tilted his head. “My Lady, why are you acting this way? What have I done to you?â€

She slammed her fist into the wall. “Don’t act like you don’t know!  Don’t act like you don’t know what happened,†she growled. She pulled a knife from a sheath on her thigh and stalked towards him. “I should slit your god damned throat and see what your Goddesses think of that. I think it’s a fair trade, their slave for my ship and my men.â€

Sheik couldn’t move, frozen completely in shock, as his Lady rested the point of the dagger on his adam’s apple, drawing a bead of blood that slowly trailed down to the collar of his shirt. But he was not afraid. Sheik had long since lost his fears of death and pain. “Your Highness, Zelda, I don’t know anything! I only know that a ship on fire was sited offshore and what the Wind told me.†He stared up into her eyes, his own begging her to believe him. He didn’t mind death, but this life was one he didn’t want to leave yet.

She looked at him curiously and withdrew the knife an inch, then raised it and rested the flat of the tip on her chin. “The Wind talks to you?†She bit down on the tip of the blade. “And you know nothing of what happened?†She gave him a look that told of dire consequences if he lied to her.

Sheik breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. He made a note to himself never to get her mad.

“And what did the Wind tell you?â€

“It said the Hero was coming and…‘on flame he rides’.†Sheik paused. Why hadn’t he remembered that? And his dream, and the Prophecy…they were ringing inside his head now. The vision of Link’s body on the shore filled his eyes. “What happened?â€

Zelda took a deep breath and seemed to wilt as if a great weight were settling on her. “Things were going so smoothly… it wasn’t too hard to find places to restock our supplies with Komali flying ahead of us to scout.†She glanced over at him. “He spotted these islands two days ago. We had just sited land from our ship when fire started to rain from the sky. It really was like rain, just tiny drops of flame dripping from the sky and hissing on the water.†She let out a bitter laugh. “There was nothing we could do. The sails were the first to set on fire. Thank the Goddes- no, fuck the Goddesses. The sails burned slow, or we probably never would have made it close enough to land.†She sheathed her knife, walked to one of the chairs still at the foot of her bed and sat down heavily. “There was a woman in red dancing in the fire.â€

Sheik started to tremble, fearing what she would say next. “No…â€

The Wind whispered the trailing edge of the Prophecy to him.

“…she will dance in flame

‘til the stars cry halt…â€

She kept talking, not noticing his discomfort. “She landed on the ship and laughed at us. She said we were going to die soon and there was nothing we could do. And then she blew up all the longboats except for one.†Zelda wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “The look she gave us was so dark… she said she left one because she knew that not all of us would fit. It would be fun seeing us fight over who would take it. Then she came up to me and whispered in my ear, ‘If you survive, tell Sheik his mother says hello.’ I think she hit me into the mast.†She shook her head, grimaced, and rubbed her temples. “I can’t remember anything after that.â€

Sheik’s legs gave out from under him and he fell to the floor. His- his- Din had done something so awful? Proud, vivacious Din who in spite of all her bravado was just as gentle-hearted as her sisters… he couldn’t believe it.

When he had first been created, she would take him down to Hyrule to show him the land and the stars at night. He could still see her sitting in the branches of a tall tree looking to the sky. “The stars look so much warmer from down here.†She’d look down at him and smile widely and come help him climb up before he knew how. When he was small enough, Din would sit with him in her lap and they’d watch the stars together. She’d turn Sheik’s face towards her and look at him with such pride. “You got those eyes from me, you know.â€

No, this couldn’t be Din. Not the Din that sang him to sleep, or showed him the correct way to hold a staff. Never.

But, if he thought about it… this life had been strange. He hadn’t been given a mission. And always, a few years before he was reborn, his mothers would wake him up and show him what had changed, and while they got him ready for his new life they doted so much on him that he never doubted that he was loved, even if he was, like Zelda said, more their servant than their son. Not this time. This time when he awakened, he was already in a living body. A two-year-old living body. Why had he never questioned it? Was this the reason why? Was something wrong with his mothers?

And Zelda knew what Din looked like. She would know. She’d never be able to mistake anyone else for Din.

But…

“No.†He clenched his hand so hard his nails drew blood. “I won’t believe it. She would never never-“ His breath hitched in his throat and his eyes itched to shed tears. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried.

“Well, she just did.â€

He heard the sound of her chair scraping the floor when Zelda stood as if from a great distance. The blood rushing past his ears and his heart pounding in his chest were almost all he could hear as he tried to keep his gasping breath from turning into anything more.

Sheik found himself being drawn into a warm embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and clutched the back of her vest desperately. Callused fingered gently raked through his hair as he pressed his face against her stomach. “I won’t believe it,†he whimpered softy, “I can’t- I just can’t...†He wouldn’t cry, he wouldn’t cry…

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Tetra looked down at the shaking child in her arms, the person whose body she had at one time shared, and couldn’t bring herself to hate him quite as much. When he had broken down she couldn’t help but try to comfort him.  A mother’s instinct, no matter from how long ago, never goes away.

Oh, she still hated him. Hated him because she was sure it was his fault Link, the old one, hadn’t stayed safe in the castle with her.

Adventurers die young.

She supposed Sheik couldn’t help but be so…inspirational, for lack of a better word. Bards always were. He taught Link to follow his heart, and he did. Right out of her life.

She had Link back, in a way. He was two years younger than her, and it was obvious he had a crush on her, but it just wasn’t the same. He was a different person now, and so was she. Their chance, if they ever had one, had been a lifetime ago.

Not that she had any intention of deterring Link’s infatuation. It was good for her ego and wasn’t doing either of them any harm.

Tetra felt a wetness slowly seep through her shirt. Her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t thought he’d been that affected. When they’d shared the same body, they hadn’t shared thoughts, but they could talk to each other in a fashion. They’d talked for hours about all sorts of things, and Sheik had usually been calm and collected, sometimes passionate, sometimes a little worried. But even during their darkest moments he had such faith in his Goddesses and he had never come close to despair.

She had just broken his faith.

AN: I wanted to make this longer, but this just seemed like a good ending spot. And I’m lazy.