Hey peeps! Um... I don't know if anyone caught this, but there was a major inconsistency in the prologue or first chapter or something where the voice – who we now know is Sheik – mentions the king along with someone named "Frederick." Yeah, his name is actually Arvid. Oops... If you ever see any inconsistencies, please feel free to review or PM me... Especially since these Roman numerals are mind-boggling. ;)
~~~
"I am Sheik," the figure stated, lifting his hood, revealing a young man of around my stature with wheat-colored hair and piercing red eyes. His voice was gravelly and husky, and he wore a cowl over his mouth, muffling his speech slightly.
Zelda's ocean blue eyes flickered over to mine briefly before she spoke. "My brother," she added, drawing close to Sheik. She passed Nabila to Nabooru, and Sheik pulled her into a hug, and she rested a head on his chest. "Are you OK, big brother?" she asked, lifting her head a bit in order to look up at Sheik.
I wasn't expecting this turn of events, but I supposed it did make sense. I felt a twinge of jealousy pang through my heart but quickly reminded myself that Sheik was her brother, and that they had been parted for quite some time, Zelda being a hostage at a foreign Fortress.
"I'm fine, Zel," Sheik responded, hugging her back closely. He kissed the top of her head and smoothed down her frizzy blonde hair.
I felt sticky from sweat, and little beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead. I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, still watching the scene before me unfold.
"What's going on with everyone at home?" Zelda questioned, her voice cracking slightly. I could tell she was stressed out, as we all were. She pushed strands of sweaty blonde hair away from her face, and her brows furrowed in concern.
"Actually, Father still hasn't noticed that you're gone; Katrin has, however, and is becoming suspicious," Sheik answered.
Zelda sighed slightly in relief. "Have they hurt you at all, Sheik?" Her voice was full of concern and love for her brother.
Sheik shook his head. "I'm unharmed, though Arvid did attempt to chop my head off," he chuckled shallowly.
"Sheik!" Zelda exclaimed, "He almost used a sword against you?" her blue eyes filled with tears. "How could he?"
"The same way he and Father could beat you without any remorse or regret," Sheik responded. "But don't worry, Zelda. I'll always be here to protect you."
"As will I," I added in boldly.
Zelda cast a soft smile my way. "Thank you both so much." She gave Sheik one last hug before turning to face me. She then wrapped her arms around me, and I responded in a similar fashion. She laid her head on my chest like how she had done when with Sheik.
She was engulfed in my arms, and I could feel Sheik looking upon us fondly. "You're Reneer and Kirstin Adema's son, aren't you?" he asked, his red eyes piercing my cobalt ones.
I hesitated for a second then nodded when Zelda nodded inconspicuously against my chest. "I believe so."
"You'll one day meet them, I'm sure," Sheik gave a small smile.
"I hope so," I agreed. "Are you the one in Zelda's room that one night?" I asked curiously.
Sheik threw back his head and laughed. "Yes, I was. I was checking up on my little sister. It had taken some time to find her, but I had. Imagine my surprise when someone comes to the door and starts asking for Zelda."
Zelda giggled a bit. "We were startled, and Sheik spoke up before I could stop him."
"I was very confused over that for a while, so I'm glad that was cleared up," I answered, chuckling as well. I then looked over to where Nabila had curled up with Nabs, both asleep. Aziz was slumped next to them, offering them support, slumbering as well.
Sheik chuckled huskily. "I guess we might as well make camp here and rest for a while. I can take first shift. We can only remain here for a short time, though, because those search parties will be on our trail if we hesitate here for too long."
I nodded in agreement. "Hopefully they won't be able to find our trail because the sand is constantly moving. I'm hoping that the sand will actually work in our favor for once and cover our tracks."
"Agreed," Sheik nodded. "Now get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's your turn to keep watch. We'll only be staying here for a couple of hours."
Zelda huddled against Nabooru and Nabila, while I spread myself out on the burning sand. I wiped some of the sweat off my brow, laying my weapon to the side, to the point where I wouldn't be able to accidentally injure myself while still being able to reach it quickly if we were attacked.
"Good night, Zelda," I stated, ready to drop off into slumber. I received no response, for Zelda was already asleep. I stretched my exhausted limbs once more, knowing that Sheik was somewhere, keeping close vigil over us.
My eyes closed slowly, and before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep.
~~~
"Link," someone whispered into my ear.
I woke up with a start, blinking my eyes blearily. "Sheik?" I asked.
Sheik handed me my crossbow. "Your turn," he passed me a weak smile.
I groaned. "I suffered from a blow to the head, Sheik! Do I have to?"
"I could always have Zelda serve a shift," Sheik shrugged nonchalantly, moving as if to go wake his little sister.
"Wait, Sheik, I'll go," I answered grumpily. I accepted my crossbow and squinted against the sun's brilliant rays.
"OK – If you need any help, just wake me. I'm a light sleeper, unlike you," Sheik chuckled a bit, offering a hand to help me up. The warrior then sprawled on the warm sand, not complaining at his undesirable bed's temperature.
I wiped beads of sweat off my brow and glanced at the sun. From its position, I assumed that it was around 3 PM right now. We would have to leave in a good couple of hours, but, for now at least, it was still the hottest part of the day.
My crossbow remained at my side, and I made a loop walking around our makeshift camp. I was so thirsty, but, in our haste to get away, we hadn't grabbed any sort of water or provisions, which would have come in handy right about now.
I walked around, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. Rolling sand dunes surrounded us, and we were a great distance away from the Fortress by now. There was nothing in sight but sand and the brilliant blue sky.
I licked my lips to give them some form of moisture and narrowed my eyes. This was so boring! How was Sheik able to do this for three hours? My eyes began to droop, but I willed them to remain open. I forced my stiff legs to move forward, urging my body to proceed. I walked, my eyes glazing over.
I kept vigil, while remaining half asleep. I was legitimately trying to stay awake, but sleep seemed so insistent. My head was throbbing, and it was a battle just trying to lift my foot up in order to take another step forward.
My thoughts then drifted to Zelda, of course. She lay there, her blonde hair splayed about, dripping in perspiration, but, to me, she looked beautiful. She truly did have that exotic beauty, similar to the caged bird.
I walked for some time, trying to stay awake. I thought of many things, including Zelda, the ocean, Sheik, the Fortress, Ren, Ganondorf, and even my parents. I was so excited to meet them eventually. I hoped they were both in good health and that we would be able to reunite one day very soon.
On my next round, I noticed a faint dot on the top of a faraway dune. I thought nothing of it, supposing that I was merely seeing things. However, each time I made a round, the dot seemed to get closer and closer.
Before long, I realized that I was seeing things – And those things were very real. I squinted as the dot was no longer just a dot, but a pack of people.
I forced my limbs to quickly run to where Sheik was, sleeping. "Sheik!" I exclaimed.
Sheik was up before I had even said anything; he really was a light sleeper. "What's going on, Link?" his hands were on a set of daggers before I could even say a word.
"There's a group of people somewhere just beyond that dune! What if they're a search party?" I asked, becoming slightly nervous. Half of our group was female, and I, a male, was recovering from an injury!
Nabooru and Aziz were up in an instant as well, hands on their own weapons. "What do you mean, Link?" Nabs questioned; there was an unfamiliar glint in her amber eyes – She almost looked – excited...
Scratch that – The females in our group were capable females. They could probably inflict more harm on others, especially since they were actually well-rested, unlike us poor men. OK, that was my masculinity talking there. Kidding!
"Look, in the distance!" I pointed to the advancing group of people.
Aziz held a compound bow ready, and a full quiver of arrows was slung over his shoulder. "Let's do this," he stated readily.
Zelda stood, as did Nabila, who looked incredibly weary. Zelda's ocean blue eyes questioned me silently.
"Intruders," was all I said, and both Zelda and Nabila understood the gravity of the situation. Everyone grabbed their weapons, all of us still tired and in need of rest.
"Everyone ready?" Sheik questioned, knowing full well that we were all not in any way shape or form ready – except for Sheik himself and Nabs, who looked like she was ready to pounce.
"Need water," Aziz croaked comically. Nabs socked him in the arm, while the rest of us laughed. But we all knew that we were in desperate need of water.
We then sobered as the group approached. We all gave a nod before going in for the attack, keeping Nabila toward the middle, as she really was not ready to fight yet.
"Hey, get your hands off us, you filthy Gerudo!" one of the people screamed.
We limited everything to fists, not actually using our various weapons, which were more for show than actually inflicting damage on people. That's when my brain fully registered what the person had said. They had called us filthy Gerudo, and, while the Gerudo were definitely not filthy, the exclamation made me relax. These people were not Gerudo; therefore they were not part of a search party.
"Everyone!" I commanded. "Hold your fire!"
Everyone froze where they were, and I took a good look at the group we had attacked. My eyes bulged.
"You're that group of Zoras that was wandering near the Fortress!" both Nabs and Aziz exclaimed in realization.
One of the Zoras looked at us like we were dumb. "Uh, yeah," he rolled his eyes, as though Zoras wandering through the Desert was the most common and natural thing in the world.
"What do you want with us?" a female Zora asked, who appeared to be the leader. She had a commanding stance and a loud voice, both key indicators of a woman in control, like Nabs. "I recognize you," she pointed at Nabs. "You're the one that told us to leave! What do you want? We left your Fortress!"
I weighed our options and decided not to lie. They deserved to know the truth; after all, we had been the ones to attack them first. Besides, they might have been able to help us. "We're trying to escape the Gerudo," I finally stated.
The Zora leader watched me skeptically, waiting for me to continue. "And? Why should we believe you?"
"Please, we are in need of your help," Zelda stated boldly. "We don't mean you any harm or ill will."
Another female Zora stepped up; she looked exactly like the Zora leader. "I am hesitant to believe you because of the harm and ill will the Gerudo showed us."
Nabs cleared her throat. "I want to formally apologize for that incident. My adoptive father can be extremely dense, rude, hurtful, and offensive, all traits that my adoptive brother and I have experienced firsthand, which is partially why we're on the run now."
"Couldn't have worded it better myself, Nabs," I responded, nodding my head in agreement.
"We are the Wanderers," the second female Zora stated. "My sister and I are the leaders of this band, appointed by the King of Zoras, King Zane, himself."
"We have chosen this life ourselves, each individually, mostly in pursuit of adventure. We wished to seek haven and shelter at the Gerudo Fortress for one night before we continued our travels; however, we received less than a kind welcome," the first leader continued.
"We understand that," Sheik cut in. "But, look at us. Half of this company is Hylians, not Gerudo. And those that are Gerudo simply wish to get away from the Fortress, the Desert, and Lord Ganondorf, who is a sorry excuse for a king."
The two leaders turned their backs on us and began to talk and converse with the rest of their band, contemplating whether or not they should offer their help and services to us.
It was then that I realized that Sheik had called me a Hylian, not a Gerudo. It both made me happy, yet it also pained me. To know that I could no longer relate to Nabs, Aziz, and Nabila in the same way as before hurt me, and I could only hope that they wouldn't treat me differently, knowing my true identity as a Hylian.
"You OK, Link?" Aziz questioned, noticing my conflicted expression.
I offered him a half smile and nodded in return. "I'm fine. I'll explain when we have time and this ordeal is resolved."
The two Zora leaders turned around to face us once more; the whole band was smiling, and I supposed that was a good thing. "Welcome to the Wanderers," the first female stated, offering to shake Nabooru's hand as a sign that she harbored no ill feelings about Ganondorf's refusal of shelter for them.
"I am Marine, and my sister is Aqua," the second Zora also shook Nabs's hand with a smile.
I grinned at Zelda. Things were finally starting to – kind of, at least – look up.
~~~
We integrated our group with the Wanderers, and things got better by a lot. The Wanderers had provisions and water and everything we had been needing. I let water from a bottle trickle down my face unceremoniously, and a Zora watched in amusement.
"From my guess, I'd probably say that your nasty king is already searching for you. What a disgusting double-crosser!" Aqua exclaimed. She, Nabs, Zelda, and Marine had already become fast friends, all discussing the situation we had narrowly escaped.
"It was a pretty awful," Nabs agreed.
"But I think everything is still so sweet!" Marine gushed. "I mean, you ran away from your evil father, and now you can marry your true love! It's like a fairy tale!" she sighed dreamily.
Aziz flushed slightly from where he was walking on my right side.
Aqua rolled her eyes. "Marine always was the romantic one out of all of us."
"You know," Marine began, striking up a new topic, "There are seven of us in total – all girls."
Aziz groaned softly from beside me. "I feel bad for their father."
I nudged Aziz. "Why are we listening to their conversation? They're girls."
Nabila giggled from beside me. "Silly Link! I'm a girl." She then skipped over to where another little Zora girl was walking, all by herself. I watched as Nabila struck up a conversation with her. "That's my big sister, Zelda!" Nabila stated, pointing to the Hylian Princess blatantly.
I tuned out of that conversation as well, turning to Aziz and Sheik. "So, where are we headed, Sheik?" I asked.
"I think Aqua and Marine wanted to take us to Zora Domain to introduce us to their father and gazillion sisters. She said that their eldest sister, Ruto, might be interested in you, Link," Sheik responded, as a mischievous grin spread across his face.
I groaned. "Oh, please – Be quiet, Sheik! You might hurt yourself if you talk too much!"
Sheik rolled his eyes, unamused. He was much easier to talk to now, and he had opened up to us much quicker than Zelda had. I supposed it was the circumstances surrounding our meeting. We had all met under pain and conflict, causing us to look to each other for support.
"So, when do you plan to become my brother, huh, Aziz?" I asked, half teasingly and half in earnest. I elbowed him slightly.
Aziz flushed slightly again, which I noticed always happened whenever someone mentioned Nabs. "Link, you know as well as I do that we have to get away from Ganondorf before we can even think about the wedding."
"You should get married in the Domain," Sheik suggested jokingly.
"That actually might not be such a bad idea," Zelda stated, popping up from between me and Sheik. "I know that Nabs wants to get married as soon as possible. You should get married once we arrive at the Domain – Great idea, Sheik. Cherish this moment; you know you don't have many like it."
"Zelda," Sheik growled softly, his eyes darkening.
Zelda let out a small squeak and ducked behind me. Sheik caught on and swiftly attempted to lock her in a hug. Zelda laughed and broke free; Sheik then began to chase her around, while still remaining with the group.
Both Zelda and Sheik couldn't stop laughing, and neither could me and Aziz. Seeing Zelda so carefree and happy made me happy, and, soon, I joined in the pursuit. After a while, Aziz and Nabs joined, as did Nabila and her new friend.
Soon, our whole company was reduced to a bunch of people, ranging from preteens to young adults playing tag in the Desert. Thoughts of the Gerudo and those actually pursuing us completely slipped our mind. We were able to be free, and, for a moment, it really felt as though I was flying.
Sheik and I finally succeeded in trapping Zelda in a hug, and we all burst into laughter. That had been so much fun – And who knew that Zelda was that fast?
Aqua, breathless and winded from chasing Marine, whom we'd found out was her identical twin sister, tried to stand up straight once more and appear stern. "Now, what do you think you all are doing? We need to get going!" she exclaimed.
The company merged together once more, and we began walking as we had been before. I noticed we were headed North, where the Domain and Lake Hylia was located.
Well, so much for heading the Castle...
~~~
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed that chapter... Just as a note, I never thought I'd be using Zoras, but as I continued fleshing out my plot and storyline, I figured that finding Zoras in the Gerudo Desert would be too hilarious, and I just couldn't resist. ;P
Also, what do you all think of Sheik? I was kinda trying to figure out the best way to introduce him, and I wanted him to be really serious and over-protective, although you can obviously see otherwise in this chapter. :) I'm also SO predictable everyone probably knew it was going to be Sheik...
Big shoutout and dedication to Batcheler03 for following me recently and being the first person to favorite and follow Scars of a Caged Bird over on FFN. Thanks so much! You're awesome!!! :)
If you have any character requests, feel free to tell me so in a review. ;) I have a lot in mind for this story, and I want you guys to all be a part of it. So, yeah – character requests. Thanks to anyone that has read, voted, and subscribed. You guys are the best!! :D *smiles*
~Elsie
Total Word Count (excluding Author's Notes):
3,139