Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragile Web ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

The Fragile Web

Chapter 01

It was pure chance, really.

Or maybe it was fate.

When Link pulled the unconscious boy out of the river he couldn't help noticing the resemblance to Sheik, for all that this boy was five years younger and Link had only seen Sheik unmasked a grand total of twice [1]; the red eyes, when Link checked to see if the pupils dilated only served to bolster his suspicion. Red eyes were almost completely unique to the Sheikah, and blonde hair was rare for them; usually the Sheikah had white, black, or gray hair [2].

Because the boy obviously had a concussion, there wasn't much Link could do but feed him medicine, broth, water, keep him warm, and hope he woke up; which he did, after two days, but with no memories whatsoever.

But this still left Link with a problem; he may well have created a paradox by saving Sheik's life…

~*~

~"Zelda?"

"Hm?" The princess smiled sadly as she leaned back against Link's chest; tomorrow he would be returning to his own time. Yes, she would probably see him again soon, but for him it will have been seven years.

"I was wondering…before I go; could you play your harp for me again?"

"Link…" Zelda sighed, turning in his arms; this was the subject she had been avoiding even thinking about. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him; unsurprised at the lack of passion this time. "It's not the same, is it? It's different than before."

Link nodded, confused.

"I'm sorry," He said. Zelda shook her head, smiling.

"It's the same for me," She replied. "I care for you deeply, but the passion that was there while I was Sheik is completely gone.

"You see," She stepped back, out of his embrace, and clasped her hands behind her back. "I don't play the harp, I don't know how; that was Sheik's skill, as well as many of the others I used then. Now that I am no longer Sheik, I no longer have his skills."

"I don't understand." Link said, eyes wide.

"It was much more than a Glamour that disguised me, Link; to an extent, I was a different person." Zelda's expression saddened. "I wasn't originally supposed to be the one to meet you. There was a boy in the village that I was hiding in, it was Sheik, and he was the one destined to guide you in your quest. One day he saved one of the younger children in the village from drowning, but he was caught by the current and he drowned instead. Still, someone needed to guide you, someone with his knowledge and skills; so the elders called his soul and temporarily merged it with my own, they also tied it to the Glamour, so that it took his form, and also so that once I cast off the Glamour his soul would be released from me."

"So…Sheik was real…" Link looked away, as tears stung his eyes. "But he's dead…"

"I'm sorry, Link," Zelda brushed a tear from his cheek. "Perhaps I should not have told you; you could have gone on your way thinking it was me all along, and by the time we met again, your feelings would have faded, and maybe you would have found someone else..."

"No," Link said. "I'm glad you told me."

"He did love you." Zelda said. "Even if it was only part of him in me, I know his feelings for you were real, because mine aren't the same."~

~*~

It was definitely a good thing that Sheik had lost his memories, that way he didn't know where he came from; there was just the little problem of keeping him from trying to find out.

"Yeah," Link said, in answer to the other boy's question. "I know you; your name's Sheik; we've been traveling together for a while, we're pretty much best friends by now. I guess you've got amnesia from hitting your head; you were out for two days, I was afraid you wouldn't make it."

"Where am I from?"

"I'm not really sure; we just kinda ran into each other out here. You're a Sheikah, that much I know, but you didn't talk a lot about your past; which is fair, since I didn't talk about mine much either."

"I see." Sheik took in his surroundings. "Where are we?"

"A few miles east of the Kingdom of Hyrule."

"Were we going somewhere in particular?"

"Wherever we want." Link smiled mischievously at the other boy. "I'm pretty sure some adventure or another will find us before long. That's kinda the way things are for me." Link noticed that Navi was glaring at him from his shoulder; he'd explain things to her later. "Oh yeah, this is my fairy, Navi."

"A fairy…are you from the Kokiri forest? [3]"

"I was raised there, but I'm Hylian; the Kokiri stay as children, and they'll die if they leave their forest." Sheik nodded.

"Are we going to leave soon?" Sheik asked.

"Jeez, you woke up, what? Five minutes ago? And you already want us to be on our way?" Link rolled his eyes. "I doubt you're up for it. Let's wait a couple days, this area's safe enough, and then we'll take it easy the first few days until your stamina's back up, okay?" The other boy nodded. "Good." Link looked around for a good excuse so that he could talk to Navi alone. "Um, I should probably go find some more firewood; we probably have enough for tonight, but it's better to be sure." Link got up without another word and headed for a clump of trees out of earshot of Sheik.

"What are you doing, Link?!" Navi protested. "I've never heard you tell such a pack of lies!"

"If he is Sheik, and I'm almost positive that he is, he can't go back where he came from! The only way that he won't go looking for his home is if he believes that there's a reason he's out here, and that he's far away from home. You know what Zelda said about paradoxes, and we'd be creating one if we let him go back; assuming we didn't already create one by saving him."

"Who's we?" Navi snapped. "I wasn't the one who went charging into a river!"

"Well, it's not like I could just leave him there!" Link sighed, having developed a sudden headache. "Look, he's here and I've already told him that we're friends; it's not like I'm going to be able to change that now, and I don't particularly want to. So I lied? So what?"

"He'll find out, you know." Navi said. "It may be only a few lies now, but you will have to continue to lie until you've spun a web of deception around him to keep him from seeing what is real. A web of lies is fragile and will eventually be broken, either by contradiction or by truth."

"I know. I just hope that it doesn't happen until we're too far away from Hyrule for him to interfere; and I hope he can forgive me when he does find out."

A/N: So, how did you like my (relatively) un-contradictory explanation? I promise to get to the actual plot by the next chapter or the one after that.

1. Obviously my own contrivance.

2. Okay, this is also entirely my own little thing. What do I know? The only Sheikah I've seen are Impa and Sheik; I could be completely wrong.

3. As will be illustrated further in later chapters, though Sheik doesn't remember his identity or where he is from, his knowledge is intact; this is not unusual for people with amnesia.