FicWad

He crouched in a corner of Hyrule Castle's gardens, rolling up the cuffs on his pants. Even though he was nine years of age and deserving of his apprentice outfit, the boy couldn't fill out Impa's hand me downs. She had reluctantly given him the clothes that morning, eyeing his small form critically.
"You'll be learning stealth until your body can handle weapons training. Agreed, Sheik?" Her cool voice hadn't betrayed the curl of her lips when he began to bounce excitedly.
"Yes Impa!" Sheik had all but slammed into her body under the guise of a thankful hug.
That had been this morning and the sun was now high above the castle, shining into the gardens. He had already tripped twice on the pants and nearly strangled himself when the cloak caught on a hedge.
He stood, checking over his new clothes. The white and blue banding made his arms and legs stick out from his body, folds rippling where the extra material bunched. The symbol etched onto his cloak was the Sheikah Eye, bright red to show his newcoming to the teachings. He couldn't wait to show off to Zelda his new status as a Sheikah apprentice. It wasn't as grand as being Hyrule's Princess, but it was still something he decided.
Moving silently away from the corner, the boy hurried down the stone path to the courtyard. He had been on his way to visit Zelda in the first place, until the over-long pants had slowed him. Sheik paused in shock at the courtyard's entrance.
Somebody had gotten by the guards and him as well!
He snuck closer to Zelda, staring at the boy while listening to them talk. The boy was small, small as he was and dressed from hat to shorts in green clothes. Sheik eyed the shield and tiny sword on the boy's back with a bit of envy. All he was ever allowed to use were dumb deku nuts.
A glowing ball caught his attention. Zelda's happy squeal informed him that it was a faery. Sheik watched with some confusion as Zelda led the boy to the window, then quickly scribble him a letter. What was she playing at now? He frowned after the boy and his faery, then laughed as Impa dragged him out of the courtyard by his shield strap.
"What do you think of our Hero of Time?" Zelda's soft voice questioned. Sheik felt his mouth drop open.
"That pipsqueak is the Hero of Time?" He blurted, wanting to drag the boy back to look him over more closely.
"He will be. For now, he is the faery boy from my dreams, the one to collect the three Spiritual Stones and save Hyrule from that Gerudo thief!" Zelda practically spat out the last words, glaring back at the window. She startled when Sheik began to laugh.
"Him? Faery boy? He's just a kid like us. Nobody would give us the Stones, even if we were to save Hyrule. He won't get them Zelda." He declared, his chuckles dying off at the determined look on her face.
"Then you're going to have to follow him and make sure he gets the Stones." She ordered, looking every inch Hyrule's Princess. Sheik frowned at her momentarily, knowing she was right...but he was a Sheikah apprentice now, not a dumb babysitter!
"We can't afford to fail in this Sheik, or should I ask Impa?" Zelda was the only Hylian he knew that could smile so sweetly and threaten obedience at the same time. Impa had obviously taught her.
Sheik tugged on his hood, muttering about dumb faery boys and bossy princesses as he hurried out of the courtyard.

***

Sheik hummed the tune quietly, ignoring Impa's 'hurry up' gestures. He barely had the songs memorized and already she was after him to teleport across Hyrule. Either that or to kill him off. Maybe that was the reason for the small number of Sheikah. He eyed Impa, who glared right back.
"Get going Sheik or have you forgotten the song already?" She called out.
"No! I didn't forget!" He spluttered a bit.
"Then sing the blasted prelude," Impa ordered.
The last syllable had past his lips when Sheik felt his stomach drop and disappear half way to his knees. He couldn't see anything, couldn't even hear his heartbeat or feel his cloak brush against his neck. Nothing.
Impa found him on the floor of the Temple of Time, fingers digging into the plush carpet. Tears tracked on his face. He murmured something, eyes finally pulling away from the carpet to Impa.
"What was that?" Sheik sniffled, rubbed his nose on a sleeve before repeating himself.
"I don't like the nothing. Do...do I have to do that again?" He asked nervously, plucking at the carpet strands. Impa nodded and squatted down beside her apprentice.
"I usually countdown from ten while in the void." She admitted, helping the boy to his feet. Impa didn't say anything as Sheik wiped the tears from his face and straightened his tunic.
"We best get back to the castle. Princess Zelda wished for you to have lunch with her today. Would you like that?" Sheik nodded, grasping at Impa's hand.
"I'll try counting next time Impa," He told her outside the Temple. Impa gave his hand a squeeze.

***

Sheik regretted eating that third cupcake the moment he finished the teleportation and left the void. Impa had given him the afternoon to practice on his own the teleport songs and to get used to the void. She had been right, counting did help with the nothing. The cupcakes Zelda had given him during lunch were a bribe to keep him going on his task of stalking faery boy.
Breathing slowly to keep the cupcakes in his stomach, Sheik wrinkled his nose at the smell of molten lava and burning rocks.
"Impa did say the arrival point was Death Mountain, but the crater?" He grumbled, looking around the deadly place. Hylians rarely came into the crater, something about the heat and the air destroyed their bodies. Sheikahs were a much sturdier race, Sheik thought proudly even as he held one hand to his rebelling stomach.
"Faery boy or no, he's not coming down here." He declared to nobody, heading out of the crater.
"Who isn't?" Sheik stared up at the owl, reached for a deku nut incase of attack while part of him wondered if he could touch the soft-looking feathers.
"A boy, dressed in green with a faery. Have you seen him?" He asked.
"Link and Navi entered the Dodongo's cavern nearly two days ago. I fear they are trapped or injured or dead." The owl answered solemnly.
"Dead?" The boy squeaked. "He can't be dead! Zelda wants me to keep him safe. How can I do that if he's dead?" Sheik demanded to know from the owl, who hooted amusedly.
"Link will not be killed so easily Sheikah. If you hurry, you may keep him safe for Hyrule's princess." Sheik didn't wait for the owl to finish, but sprinted down the mountain, cloak flying behind him. "You may one day keep him safe for your own sake Sheikah." The owl settled down on his perch, smiling knowingly.

***

The Sheikah apprenticed hopped, no it was more that he fell down the shaft into the lowest level of Dogondo's Cavern. It had taken him all night to search the upper levels for Faery boy, a little worried he would find him chopped to little pieces by monsters. Zelda would be very angry with him if he brought back her Hero in a bottle. Impa wouldn't protect him from the princess, something about training her apprentice probably.
He stumbled on the rocky ground, getting more dirt on his clothes. He muttered a word Zelda had taught him during lunch, had that been only yesterday? A loud roar made Sheik jump and throw himself against the wall as a monster rolled past him. An overgrown Dogondo, he identified, remembering Impa's lectures badly disguised as war stories.
"What has it all mad..." His voice trailed off, his eyes locking onto the green blur running towards the Dogondo.
Running...towards the monster?
Sheik's cry of "Are you crazy!" was lost in the Dogondo's enraged scream. The faery's comments were clearly heard as the monster began to open its mouth.
Bombs? He got to use bombs? Sheik perked up, watching the Faery boy pull out a goron explosive and throw it at the Dogondo. He smirked as the creature swallowed it. The muffled boom was a bit disappointing, but no less interesting to the Sheikah.
The rest of the battle fell into a pattern. The monster would roll, nearly squishing him, then try to blast Faery boy with fire only to receive a bomb in its gut. It would've been fun to watch, had the threat of Zelda squishing him like a bug for letting her hero get killed not been hanging over Sheik's little blond head.
Sheik watched with wide eyes as the Dogondo rolled into the lava, defeated. He looked over to where Faery boy stood, leaning heavily on his sword. His faery was whirling, performing healing magic. Sheik knew magic couldn't fix everything, but the boy didn't look any better after the faery was finished. Faery boy limped towards the Dogondo's body.
Sheik crept closer, avoiding the faery's sometimes watchful eyes. The boy was trying to open the creature's chest, pushing his sword at the scales uselessly. His nose crinkled in thought, wondering what Zelda's hero was doing now. It looked like he was going after the Dogondo's heart.
"When fighting monsters, it is important to not destroy their bodies after defeating them. While their bodies are inedible, their hearts often contain a liquid that increases endurance and has various healing effects." Impa had sighed then.
"Sheik, don't make that face. The fluid is tasteless." Another pause. "No, it's not their blood. Monster blood, blood of any sort, is used only in casting magic." A deep throated chuckle from the Sheikah bodyguard. "No, you can't kill a monster in the princess' room. She isn't learning blood casting yet. No, I'm not telling you when she will learn it." He had the talent of making Impa do those long, deep sighs, it seemed. "Just shush, Sheik."
Faery boy knew about monster hearts, just like he did, and he wasn't even a Sheikah apprentice! Sheik peered over a haunch of Dogondo and sighed. At the rate he was cutting, Death Mountain would erupt again before the boy ever touched the heart. He frowned at the hard scales, tapping them with a finger.
Yes, it would take Faery boy forever to get through them.
"Come on, just slip under the scales and grab the heart," Sheik whispered, cheering on the boy's slow hacking at the Dogondo's hide. He almost shot to his feet to cheer when the sword did just that, dropping the heart into the exhausted boy's hands.
Grimacing while the boy licked his fingers clean of the liquid, Sheik still swore to himself he wouldn't dig out a monster heart even if he was half dead. The idea of it was still too gross.
He blinked in surprise at the disappearing blue light. It had just appeared! Right over Faery boy! He stood and walked around the spot, tilting his head back to peering suspiciously at the ceiling of the cavern. There was no Faery boy, not even his little faery was left behind.
"What about me?" Sheik questioned aloud. No blue light came to rescue him from the lower level. He kicked at the Dogondo's corpse. "Fine, I'll get out of here by myself." He huffed and began to climb.

-end chapter one.