Fan Fiction ❯ Hymn to the Night-Mare ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Author’s Note: …oh boy. Part 2. This now officially makes it my first multi-part fanfic. I’ve got a couple ideas on how I want this to go, a few scenes in my head, but I’m mostly writing by the seat of my pants. I hope that I don’t write myself into a corner. -.-;;

Title: Hymn to the Night-Mare

Author: Yona-chan Foxwind

Part: 2?

Timeline: Post-Wind Waker

Rating: PG-13 (for now. I’m sure apocalyptic and psychological goodness will raise it)

Pairings: Link/Sheik, Link/Link (aka DID!Link), Link+Zelda/Tetra

Summary: Our band of Pirates + Hero get shipwrecked on the Goddess Isles, where Sheik has taken up residence, and lots of weird stuff involving the end of the world that I haven’t completely thought through yet.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don’t sue. You’ll get a pretzel, and a stale one at that.

Additional Note: Still looking for beta. Desperately.

- 0 -

Chapter 2-

Sheik couldn’t help but be amused as he walked onto the scene. Apparently Lady Ira and one of the women from the village had carried someone, who could only be Link, up from the beach on a stretcher. And now Lady Ira was sitting on him, only barely managing to keep him from throwing her off.

“Sheik, be a good lad and sit here with me.â€

Sheik laughed. “I’ll take the legs.†He walked over and sat down on Link’s shins. He peered around Lady Ira to look at Link, who was red-faced with frustration. Link looked exactly as he remembered, albeit a couple years younger. He had the same vast blue eyes and gold hair and skin that refused to tan like Sheik’s own. However, he was missing the Kokiri garb, though he was wearing something similar, still the familiar green and white. “How did you even get him up here?â€

“He was unconscious ‘til about halfway up the stairs. And then he woke up. And now,†she gestured behind her to Link’s head, “he’s being a hellion.â€

The village woman was struggling to keep Link’s arms pinned. “Aye, and he’s a strong one at that.â€

“A strong one that’ll make his injuries worse if he gets up and runs around like an idiot.â€

Sheik tilted his head. “What injuries?†There was nothing he could see, and Link certainly didn’t look like he was in any pain.

Lady Ira shifted back a little and pulled aside her robe to reveal a thick square of cloth pressed against Link’s stomach. She pealed it up carefully, revealing a gaping wound. “He almost impaled himself on a piece of wood.â€

Sheik hissed in sympathy. He looked over at Link again, who was trying to glare a hole in Lady Ira’s back. “With a nasty wound like that, why are you trying to get up?â€

“Finally someone tries to talk to me!â€

Lady Ira swiveled around on his chest to face him and poked his shoulder emphatically. “You weren’t giving us much choice, thrashing around like that.â€

Link groaned and thumped his head on the ground in frustration and defeat. “Just tell me, did you find a girl down there?â€

The village woman let go of his arms, nodded, and gestured towards her head casually. “She got a nasty bump on her head, but nothing serious. She was still unconscious when we brought you up here. The bird-man’s watching her.†She stood up. “I should go back.† She looked at Sheik.  “You can help with the rest here, right?†she asked, and trotted down the stairs without waiting for an answer.

Lady Ira looked down at him. “If I get up, will you start acting up again?â€

Link looked back up and shook his head resignedly.

“Good.†She got off him. Sheik stood up as well. “Sheik, help me carry him in.â€

=-=-=-=

Sheik walked quietly down to the village’s inn, The Gilded Fish, and adjusted the cloth sack on his shoulder. He had gone down to the beach to see if anyone was still there, and all he saw were a couple of men lifting what looked to be, to his delight, a Biggoron Sword from the battered wreckage of the single remaining longboat. They’d told him that everyone who’d survived the shipwreck without serious injuries was staying in the inn, that being the only place that could comfortably hold them all, whilst those who needed careful treatment had been carried to the Temple.

He was very curious to see how the Princess had changed in this life.

Sheik pushed open the worn imported mahogany door and stepped inside. He spotted the innkeeper and weaved through the dockworkers who were enjoying their mid-day break with a cool drink in the Fish’s tavern.

He tugged lightly on the man’s sleeve. “Could you tell me what rooms the people from the ship are in?â€

The innkeeper looked down at him, annoyed. The man was one of the many in the village who didn’t have a fondness for him. “Upstairs. Doors on the left,†he grunted. “If I ‘ear any complaints, yer not comin’ back, ‘ear?â€

Sheik nodded and ran up the stairs. The Wind trilled around him and lightly rattled the left-hand door at the end of the narrow hallway. Sitting by the door was a boy about his age who had… a beak? A Rito, then, like the Earth Sage the Wind had told him of. This was the first time he’d ever seen one. They were such a new race.

The boy looked up and glared at him as he walked closer. “What do you want?â€

“I’m here to check on her.†He motioned to the door with his head. “I’m from the Temple of Farore on behalf of Lady Ira.†He lifted the cloth sack he was carrying. “And I have food I’m certain your Lady will like more than the inn’s fare.â€

The boy gave him a measuring look. “You’re not telling me everything,†he said after a moment. A statement, not a question.

Sheik smiled a little sheepishly. “No. There’s things I need to talk to her about, if she’s who I think she is. I can’t say more.â€

The boy stood up and gazed at the floor in thought. “I’ll let you in, but I’m coming too. If Captain Tetra doesn’t want me there, she’ll say. She’s probably still asleep, so if you wake her up I’ll take it out of your hide myself.â€

Sheik paused. ‘Tetra’? But the Wind had led him to this door. It would be foolish of him to start doubting it now over a name, no matter how meaningful names could be.

The Rito boy quietly opened the door and they stepped inside. Aside from a desk and a couple of chairs, there was only one small bed in the room.  The light coming in from the window brightly illuminated the girl who was still slumbering in it.

Sheik got the shock of his life when he padded closer to get a better look at her. Though the face remained the same, this was nothing like any of the Princess Zelda’s he had known. Her skin was tanned and weathered and her long hair, done up in a plethora of small braids, was darker too, though it had been bleached by the sun. And though she looked to be no older than eighteen, tiny crow’s feet already marred the corners of her eyes even in slumber.

But even asleep, there was such a vitality hanging about her. This Zelda didn’t sit quietly in her position of power. She wore her authority like a mantle, and he was sure everyone around her was attracted by its magnetism. The Wind was singing her praises to him.

He pulled up one of the chairs, sat it at the end of her bed and watched her sleep, waiting for her to wake. The Rito boy did the same.

There were many things to talk about when she woke.

=-=-=-=

Link awoke in unfamiliar surroundings. He tried to sit up to better see what was around him, but a sharp bite of pain from his stomach stopped him from raising more than a couple inches. Now that the excitement was over and the adrenaline gone, he hurt! After he caught his breath, Link looked around the room as best he could.

The small room was made of golden oak wood that was glowing from the sunshine pouring in from a window framed with shabby, blue curtains. Aside from a chest sitting beneath the window, the only other piece of furniture in the room was the bed that lay beside his and a nightstand between them. He saw a patched keaton resting on its pillow. Rugs were scattered haphazardly on the floor and- wait, were those throwing knives on the chest? He blinked with surprise. Judging from the stuffed animal, he’d thought this was a child’s room.

But then, only three years earlier, a child himself, he’d been traveling the Great Sea on his own and slaying fiends with the Master Sword. He was really not the person to ask what kids that age should be like.

He wondered if this was the room of the kid that had sat on his legs. He couldn’t remember much of him other than bright vermillion eyes that were somehow familiar, a memory just out of reach.

The door opened and Lady Ira stepped in carrying a tray of food and bandages. “I see you’re awake. It’s your own fault you passed out again, you know. You shouldn’t have tried to get in the bed on your own.â€

Link snorted and flashed a smile at the priestess. “Forgive me for underestimating the strength of a small boy and an old woman.â€

Lady Ira set the tray on the nightstand and swatted at his head with a bark of a laugh. “Speak for yourself, boy. You’re only a couple of years older than him.†She smiled warmly, deepening the lines around her mouth and eyes. “Sheik’s a strong lad for his age. And a bit old for his age too if you ask me,†she added ruefully.

Link tilted his head. “What do you mean?â€

She smiled at him. “You’ll find out soon enough, I expect. Since this is his room, you’ll be spending plenty of time with him. Now let’s take a look at that little scrape of yours.†She yanked down the sheets with a single swift jerk and Link let out a yelp from the sudden chill.

AN: That’s a bit short, but I’ll be damned if I can write long things. :makes a face: I’ll try better next time. ADHD and college got to me. -;;