The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Desert's Rose ❯ Chasing Shadows ( Chapter 2 )

The Desert's Rose

 

Warnings: Slash, violence, angst, cute little kids

Disclaimer: Zelda, Sheik, and the word Sheikah aren't mine. The ideas, plot, and Sheikah culture ARE.

 

Chapter 2
Chasing Shadows

 

Sheik's first days in the village were spent helping Ze'rin with his shop. He quickly learned the ways of the old man and settled into a peaceful sort of existence. Ze'rin loved to tell stories and often talked until his mouth was dry, but Sheik listened in earnest all the while. He spoke of fairy tales and legends of their people, anecdotes about those he knew in the village, stories of his own past… The man was a well of information about a people Sheik had never known and the young man relished in this first hand knowledge. He desired greatly to understand his origins.

One week after his arrival, Ze'rin took Sheik into the store room to meet with another man. The tall Sheikah was obviously not a warrior, his body the long and thin frame of a scholar. Black hair cascaded down his back and was tied at his nape. His skin was pale and made worse by his hair and clothing, which was in dark browns and black.

“So, this is the traitor,” the man said quietly, his face expressionless. Sheik frowned and glanced down at Ze'rin, but the old man didn't look threatened at all.

“Call him that again and we'll see if I ever discount your supplies again,” he said simply, eyes twinkling. The tall man glanced over the both of them before sighing a little.

“You only have your maturity ring,” he said quietly, “but Ze'rin seems to think you deserve more.”

“Maturity ring?” Sheik wondered with confusion. The man gave him a sharp look.

“You really have no idea of your own people's customs, do you?” Sheik said nothing and the man went on. “We use earrings to denote rank and occupation. The maturity ring is presented upon maturity at seventeen. Upon recognition of a gift, children are immediately apprenticed and given special earrings so that all other Sheikah will know what they are.”

Sheik reached up and touched the silver ring in his ear. He glanced at Ze'rin and studied his earrings before glancing at the black haired man. “Then I am entitled to another?”

“We'll see,” said man sourly. He sat down on a crate. “For now, I know you'll need the jewel mark. Any magical inclination?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

Sheik frowned a little. “I am fully trained.”

“Four rings then.” The man picked up a scroll and jotted something down before looking at him again. “Warrior?”

“Yes.” Another note.

“Craftsman?”

“Carpentry and tailoring.”

The man pursed his lips. “You're not a guildsman, nor a leader… You aren't a council member… And you aren't a caretaker. I'd say we're finished. I'll have the new rings soon.”

“Thank you,” Ze'rin said with a cheery glint. Sheik bowed to him with respect.

“My thanks as well,” he said quietly. The man nodded to both and that was that. The new rings were brought. All of them were silver. One pierced the upper rim of both ears while two went through the bottom rim of each. He also brought bright red beads which he threaded through a lock before each ear. Last was a red jewel that was strung around his neck with silver. They marked him for what he was and Sheik felt strangely honored to be allowed such marking. It made him feel more connected to his people.

A woman came into the shop with children trailing after her. They all had bundles in their arms, except for the littlest who was barely a toddler. There were two boys and three girls besides the toddler. One girl looked extremely familiar to Sheik as she set her impertinent glare on him.

“Good morning, Roëlni,” Ze'rin greeted with a smile. The young woman returned it and set her bundle on his table.

“Didn't I tell you to call me Ro?” she replied. Roëlni was a long woman with lanky limbs. Her crimson hair was pulled back into a bun, wavy bangs framing her face and her skin was a deep tan shades darker than the sand. She looked oddly more like a Gerudo than a Sheikah, but Sheik dismissed this when he spied her blood colored eyes. Roëlni was dressed in loose tan and red cloth, her shirt sleeves bunched at her elbows and skirt hitting the ground with a long, wide wrap around her waist. Her earrings signified her both magic user and caretaker, a combination Sheik found somewhat odd.

“We brought double the supplied, as you asked,” Roëlni went on as each child moved to give up their bundles. She turned to Sheik and looked over him before smiling. “Ah…Halfbreed. I'm glad I'm not the only one now, but you're a little obvious.”

“Am I?” the blonde man asked quietly. He could feel the children's eyes upon him.

“It's the hair. Very obvious,” she replied gently. “Mine as well. Redheads and blondes don't appear in the Sheikah bloodlines.”

The littlest girl tugged at her skirts. Roëlni leaned down and picked the child up, cradling her to her chest. The girl's wide eyes took in Sheik as he did her. She was extremely small, her hair jet black and pulled back into a short tail with bangs over her eyes. Like the rest of them, she was dressed in tan, her dress loose and flowing.

“It's nice to meet you,” Roëlni said gently. “This is Kulyne.”

“And I'm Lae'ern!” shouted a little boy at his feet. His brown hair was messily cut and pulled back at his nape. His stance was defiant and cocky, wide eyes aggressive to any in his path. Sheik looked at the boy with surprise.

“Back down, Lae,” murmured the oldest of the children, a boy who was as tall as Sheik himself. He had a serene look to him, calm and wise with dark brown hair. Beads signaled him warrior, but he fit the rank of caretaker much more.

“But Dan'el-!”

“Lae'ern,” replied the boy sternly. The younger scowled but did as he was told, moving to stand beside the elder and an older girl. She looked around eight with the same dark hair as Dan'el to her waist. Sheik was disturbed at her face, locking onto her pink eyes. They were near white in color, more blinded than Ze'rin's.

“Sorry about the commotion,” Roëlni said with an embarrassed smile. Ze'rin waved it off before stooping down to talk to the last little girl, who's dark hair was pulled into twin braids. Sheik looked over the group with amusement.

His gaze was drawn to the figure in the doorway. Tallic stared back at him defiantly from behind the fall of her black hair. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her expression hostile. Sheik wondered if she treated everyone this way.

Their packages received, the motley bunch departed. Tallic gave a last departing glare, as if to say she would return. Sheik found himself very intrigued by the girl.

“Such a defiant child,” Ze'rin murmured from his seat, placing his hands over his cane. Sheik picked up one of the bundles and began putting away the new stock. The old man watched him then smiled. “Have you ever dealt with children, young one?”

“One. A girl named Star.” He retrieved a second bundle of supplies. “She lives in my home village.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Very much. She is important to me.”

Ze'rin nodded with a soft, sad smile. “Once, there were a great many children at my feet, days when my lovely was alive.”

Sheik paused in putting away the supplies and glanced back at him, listening politely. Ze'rin smiled to his memory as he spoke, his eyes bright with remembered love.

“Twin girls and four boys and my beautiful Maretti,” murmured the old man softly. “The children grew up so very fast, young one, so fast… And then Maretti and I stayed with the shop as they went off to their fortunes…Fortunes…”

His pink eyes dimmed. Sheik was quiet, waiting.

“Then the wars.” Ze'rin sighed ever so softly. “I lost three boys to the fighting. One was a healer, the other two warriors… The other three… My pretty little Jennin married a tailor. She had three before she died. They're all tailors now. Lin'ar decided he didn't want a family and built an inn instead. And last….last, my lovely Roëlni and her wonderful orphanage.”

“She's your daughter?” Sheik asked with a blink. “Then her mother…”

“Yes, Maretti was a Gerudo.” The old man smiled. “She was a merchant, one of the few to weather the trip once a season. Since my father owned this store, we got our supplies directly from the caravans. She and I met up each time and eventually fell for each other.”

“But the Gerudo despise men…” He pursed his lips a little.

“Not all, child…My Maretti decided to simply not go back to the others, but I didn't want her to give up her family.” His eyes held such a loving tint that Sheik thought back to his own love, far away. “I went to the fortress and presented myself to their leader, begging for our union to be blessed. I think it was the fact that I knew I was not superior to them that won me my wife. I was not allowed back in the fortress without her, but they were kind and loved our children. Can you imagine having hundreds of aunts and sisters and mothers-in-law?”

Ze'rin laughed and soon Sheik joined in. Yes, he remembered well what it was like to have so many women worrying about his well being, though most turned around and beat him worse in what was called training. He felt a great fondness for the memories.

“Go to my daughter, Sheik,” the old man murmured after Sheik went back to putting the supplies up and had finished. “You brighten when we talk of children, even if you miss the precious one you left behind.”

“Ze'rin-”

“No, child. You will go.”

Sheik hesitated only a moment longer, then nodded. “All right.”

Three days later, Sheik finally went. The orphanage was near the middle of the city but just far enough from it to look natural among the rest. The outside plaster was chipped and cracked and a few of the supports were visible. The sand yard was carefully kept as clean as it could be, except for the light sprinkling of toys. Dull green shutters were open at the windows and looked as if they had been bright at one time. Sheik slowly approached and summoned his courage to knock.

Dan'el opened it and looked slightly surprised at the older man being there. Never the less, he politely invited Sheik in and shut the door behind them. Inside was homey and lived in, better taken care of than the outside. The living area was open to the front hall and a few children played in there. The floor was covered in woven blankets and pillows and had no furniture. The kitchen was likewise rather bare but had enough to make decent meals.

“Was there something you needed?” Dan'el asked quietly. Sheik glanced at him as he realized he had no excuse for coming. He was quiet a moment, then remembered the damage outside.

“I can repair the plaster,” he said. At Dan'el's slightly confused look, he added, “Outside. It's cracked and broken.”

“Well, it would be appreciated,” the boy murmured. Sheik nodded and spotted one of the younger ones looking at it. Kulyne if he remembered correctly. Her big red eyes peeked out of messy black bangs shyly before she lifted a hand and wiggled a few fingers. Sheik returned the wave and the girl giggled before going back to doting on her doll.

The next day, Sheik returned to begin work on fixing up the orphanage. With every little thing completed, he found new things that needed repair and got to that. Roëlni was amused by him at first, but grew used to his continued presence. She brought him water as he worked, or sent one of the children to do it. Dan'el assisted him with repairs when he wasn't needed by the younger ones and little Lae'ern tried his hardest to do the same. Sheik taught him how to patch cracks so that he had something to do and the boy patched everything within his reach.

When the outside was up to Sheik's standards, he started work inside. The crack in the ceiling, a creak in one of the steps, anything he could fix was repaired and whatever he couldn't, he found someone who could teach him how.

The orphanage was soon enough fixed up the best Sheik could manage. Roëlni thanked him immensely for his help and tried to pay him, but Sheik refused. He was gaining ample payment from her father for his work in the shop.

“Anytime you want a nice meal, you come over, all right?” she told him and didn't let him go until he promised to do so. She smiled beautifully after and he returned to his room above Ze'rin's shop with warmth in his heart.

Evalus refused to look at him when Sheik finally got around to visiting him. He had been very good about doing so every evening, but doing the repairs on the orphanage had taken much of his time. It took bribing with good oats and a carrot to finally get the horse to acknowledge him. Sheik promised to not let working on anything distract him from their rides. He thanked the innkeeper and the two ran for most of the evening until they decided together that it was time to sleep.

“I like it here,” Sheik told his companion quietly. Evalus whinnied softly and butted his head against the blonde man's cheek. Sheik petted him. “It's slowly becoming familiar to me… Slowly becoming home.”

The horse gave him and odd look and he smiled softly.

“Yes, I know Kakariko will always be my home, but….” There was an understanding in Evalus' eyes. “This could be a second home someday.”

With a last pat on his knows and a little extra food to spoil the horse, Sheik left him and went back to Ze'rin's shop.