To See The Sun Smile - Part 2

[zeffyface]

DISCLAIMER: All of The Legend Of Zelda Characters and Places belong to Nintendo, and maybe some other equally important organizations/people. They are not, nor have ever been mine. I just write silly fics.

Title: To See The Sun Smile - Part 2
Author: Zeffyface
Rating: Dunno, Probably PG
Warnings: AU Male Sheik, Mild Boy/Boy Later
Pairing: Link/Shiek
Note: No Beta, so sorry for mistakes. Heh, sorry for the really long wait. Hopefully chapter three won't take so long.


Part Two

Ballad

“Are you just everywhere I go?”

Sheik turned and looked at the amused patches of sky beneath him. If he was honest with himself, he had not in fact expected to meet the hero at Lake Hylia and just suffered several heart attacks. It was a good thing he was rarely honest in his own head. He turned to look back at the stars from his perch, lyre still softly ringing.

“It is my duty to ensure the tasks are carried out, Hero.”

“My name is Link, you know.”

Red eyes crinkled softly in amusement. “So it is, Hero.”

Link let out a sigh of mock-exasperation, crossing gauntleted arms and regarding the other critically. Sheik ignored him, and finally the blue-clad hero gave up and plunked down in the grass of the small island. “So, I guess there’s some new life-threatening danger just waiting for me to charge in face first?” Link rolled out his neck, popping it several times, and Sheik found his gaze caught with the fluidity of such a simple movement. When the hero moved to stretch the sore muscles of his shoulders the Sheikah realized his staring and turned back, considering the question. The white of his cowl caught the moonlight, shielding the chin shifting in thought. The answer was yes, of course there was. Many dangers, in fact. The stars continued to glimmer and wink.

“Not tonight, I’m afraid.”

“Oh.” A great gaping yawn swallowed the rest of the Hero’s sentence. “Guess I’ll take a nap, then.” He began removing his gloves and equipment, placing the most important within easy reaching distance. He nudged his hat with a finger a few times, and Sheik watched in amusement as a flickering Navi emerged only to float down and curl up on the Hero’s chest. When he flopped back on the grass, Link’s eyes rested again on the lithe form in the tree. “What song are you playing, Sheik? It’s different.”

Sheik turned his attention back to the lyre and was mildly surprised at the path his fingers had taken. He had not meant to play the tune the strings now hummed, but apparently his thoughts had translated to his hands. “It is called ‘The Ballad of the Wind Fish’. A melody passed down by my people from one of our legends.” He paused, and then added softly to the night air “It was not the nicest of tales.”

Link settled farther into the grass, voice fuzzy with promised sleep. “Mm. What happened?”

Sheik watched as the Hero’s valiant efforts to stay awake faltered, eyelids drifting shut. Beneath the mask, he allowed a soft smile. “Perhaps another time, Hero.” He continued to play until the rising and falling of the chest below him slowed before dropping from the tree and stealing away. Of all the songs to play… he shook his head in amused admonishment. He could not afford to slip down such thought trails again. Besides, his back ached from exertion…

…but that didn’t make sense, he had done nothing to cause his back such pain…

“SHEIK!!”

The warrior jerked awake and immediately regretted it as a jolt of pain went straight down his spine. Jaw locking, he turned his head to see Navi frantically waving two inches from his nose.

“Sheik you have to move, there’s wolfos coming!”

The sudden surge of adrenaline chased drowsiness back as the Sheikah pushed himself upright. Keen red eyes scanned the dark grass of the field before him, finding a pair of the wolf-like creatures ambling casually in his direction. Knives appeared in his hands as he calculated. He would need an opening and the element of surprise to manage both of them. He kept his voice low, “Just the two of them, Navi?” That fairy bobbed once in affirmative. He let out a slow breath, tightening his grip on the blades. “Stay hidden, then.”

The wolfos meandered closer, oblivious to the figure blending into the tree line. At ten yards one of them stopped suddenly, sniffing the air, and let out a low growl to the other. Sheik cursed mentally at the shift in wind. It would have to be now.

Reaching up with one hand, he pulled his mask down and let out a sharp, shrieking whistle that resounded several yards higher than his position. One of the shaggy heads went up, revealing a fur-covered neck. The first of Sheik’s knives buried itself in its windpipe, dropping the wolfos like a sack of dirt. The opportunity had been used, however, and the other came barreling forward, head down and teeth bared.

At the final yard Sheik ducked and sidestepped, flinging a deku nut to the ground with a flash of light. The beast reared back and howled in its momentary blindness, claws swiping the air around it. Twisting away, the Sheikah sent the second knife straight through the beast’s exposed ribs, sinking directly into its beating heart. He watched in satisfaction as the body crumpled to the ground, breath coming in gulping gasps.

This relief was short lived, however, as an ear-splitting howl sounded behind him and a white claw swept through the air, aiming to take off his head.

Instinct took over, sending Sheik into a roll before flipping away. His weight hit his injured ankle, forcing another roll before stopping on one knee several yards off. He pulled his dirks from his boots, glaring death at his attacker. Red eyes locked on red eyes. Sensing injury, the white wolfos charged at his weaker left side, forcing another spin and block with his blades, but not before a searing hot pain raked across a blue-clad shoulder. The familiar feel of warm blood seeped through the Sheikah garb as the beast howled in victorious bloodlust.

The howl, it seemed, was its undoing, as Sheik, abandoning all evasion, simply launched himself onto the distracted beast and plunged both blades in its throat.

Panting, Sheik rolled off of reeking body, taking the blood covered dirks with him. He would have to clean them later, he reflected muzzily. He took a shaky step and immediately went to his knees, feeling a familiar sticky wetness as the opened lacerations on his back mixed blood with the new wound on his right shoulder.

“Sheik, Hey, Sheik! Come on, stay awake!” A blue ball was buzzing by his left ear, quite loudly, in fact. He leveled a gaze at it, trying to muster the words to tell it to be quiet.

“Sheik, just hold on, I’m gonna go get Link; he’ll come help, all right?”

It was like someone dumped a bucked of cold water on his warm, fuzzy ponderings, and suddenly the feeling of each and every gash, the horrible pounding of his ankle, and the shock that went to his bones came rocketing back. No, Link could not come here. Link could not know he had been hurt, could not find him torn and blood-soaked, could not know why he couldn’t defend himself properly, could not…

But Navi had already left, zipped off in an orb of blue light to find the Hero of Time, and he would follow her back… Sheik felt himself breathing harder, faster to the point of hyperventilating. His hands blindly felt beneath his tabard, searching numbly for the pouch beneath the cloth. He felt the deku nut between his fingers, gripping it hard enough to bruise.

Link could never know. Could not know he cared. Illusions aren’t supposed to care.

Away…

He let the deku nut drop and watched the world flash. Without a destination, the spell flashed for as far as the magic lasted. His side hit dirt, the front of his body brushing cold stone. A choked whimper crawled from his throat as the Sheikah curled his legs into himself protectively, feeling blackness creep around his mind.