Bring me to Light

A.N: Chapter added in as a sort of filler to make the time scale more realisitc. Still important to the plot though...

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Time to Rest

Link sighed heavily as he lay on what was once Sheik’s bed, staring out the small paned window at the lake outside. Epona was standing on the lakeside, grazing, whilst her admirer, Thara, crept ever closer under the guise of trying to get to the hay she was standing near.

Love was in the air in horse-land it seemed.

They weren’t the only ones who were creeping towards that emotion, Link reflected, turning his gaze to the curtain that hung in the doorway between kitchen and bedroom. Sheik was currently in there doing…something. What is was, Link wasn’t sure, but it was keeping the Sheikah well occupied whatever it was.

The Hylian wished he could say the same for himself. He was bored to tears, lying in this bed staring out the window and wishing he was riding Epona through Hyrule field, Sheik on Thara at his side.

That wouldn’t be happening for a while though. Not whilst the bones in his leg were still cracked from the fall from Volvagia’s back…and not while his shoulder was still healing from the burns, though that was a far lesser problem. He could save the world with a burnt, slightly painful, shoulder. He couldn’t save the world on what was essentially a broken leg.

Chewing his lower lip, he looked to the newly acquired cabinet that stood beside the bed, letting his hand wander across the items on top. A large, red scale and three medallions.

Link picked the disks up carefully in his right hand, bringing them into the small stream of light that entered the room from the window. Yellow, green, red – light, forest, fire.

The medallions were heavy in his hand and somehow glowing faintly with the inner light of their respective sages, though they periodically dulled and then began to glow again.

He had to wonder how the races were coping with their losses so far. The Kokiri had lost Saria. She may not have been a hugely important figure but in a community that small, one person was a huge percentage.

The Gorons had recently lost Darunia, their leader, and Link –his son – was far too young to take on the role of leader yet.

The next temple would be water and Link could imagine all too clearly who was going to be the sage of that temple…although, he wasn’t quite sure that she would cut it as a sage.

He brushed a strand of hair out of his face as he replaced the medallions on the cabinet. The races would find a way to cope no doubt…

His shoulder twinged as he stretched to the cabinet, hissing through his teeth as the burnt flesh was pulled upon by his muscles.

“You should really try not to move that shoulder,” Sheik informed him as he stood in the doorway, two mugs in hand.

“Sheik, I’ve been doing absolutely nothing for a week. I am bored to tears, you can at least let me roll slightly to get something to occupy myself with for a second.”

“I could…but then your wounds would take longer to heal and you’d be confined to that bed for a longer period,” he stated, walking over to the bedside and handing Link one of the mugs. Hot steam floated from the tea, creating swirled patterns in the air as it cooled.

“Thanks…” he took the mug into his left hand, sniffing slightly at the tea before sipping at it.

“It’s not going to be poisoned.”

“I didn’t think it would be a Sheik, c’mon I trust you…”

Sheik nodded. “I know. I thank you for it…not many people would trust a Sheikah in these times.” He sank onto the bed to sit beside the Hylian, one leg tucked underneath him, the other trailing onto the floor/

“Because you’re a race that we don’t know a lot about?”

He nodded again “Anything that is different and not understood is not to be trusted.”

“That’s hardly fair!” Link protested, jerking up from his reclined position.

“It is the way of the world. Anything that is not ‘normal’ is spurned and eventually, destroyed.”

Link’s hand was on Sheik’s knee in a split second at the words, applying a light comforting pressure to reassure the Sheikah that he wasn’t alone. The hand retracted a second later as Sheik looked down to it and moved slowly upwards, cupping the Sheikah’s jaw and cheek through the white cloth.

“I won’t let that happen to you, Sheik, I promise.”

Long, tanned fingers wrapped gently around Link’s, pulling his hand from his face and laying it gently back down on the sheets…but not without giving it a grateful squeeze, letting it linger for longer than necessary.

“It’s not for you to worry about, Link. You need to focus on saving Hyrule.”

“How can I hope to save Hyrule if I can’t save the person sitting beside me?”

“…I don’t need saving Link…not yet.”

Link smiled gently at the other man “Ok. I’ll believe you. For now anyway.”

He pulled himself up in the bed as he took a sip of tea from the mug, staring distractedly through the window, unsure of what to make of the conversation and events that had just taken place.

He cleared his throat hesitantly to break the silence. “When d’you think I’ll be ready to get going again?”

“Your leg will likely take at least another 2 weeks to heal enough to allow you to move. Your shoulder…hard to say, but it is a considerably smaller concern than your leg.”

Link rolled his torso to the right stretching his left arm to place the mug on the cabinet, gasping when pain shot through his right shoulder, the muscle complaining about the added pressure onto it.

“As I said,” Sheik started, standing up to rest a hand on the injured shoulder “you really shouldn’t move it.”

“Yeah thanks for that,” Link muttered through clenched teeth.

“Take the dressings off the wound. I’ll see if there is any potion remaining to help speed up the healing.” Sheik stated, disappearing into the kitchen.

Link grimaced as he looked at his shoulder, shrugging his arm out of the sleeve of the loose shirt he was wearing and finding the knot securing the bandages. Gingerly, he unwrapped them from his shoulder and upper arm, frowning at the slightly wet layers of bandage lying directly on his skin.

Sheik chose that opportune moment to walk in, and Link couldn’t miss the flinch that the other blonde gave at the sight of the burnt flesh as he walked over to him, a half-empty bottle of red potion in his hand.

He sat down beside Link silently, taking his upper arm in his hand and resting it across his lap so that he could access the wound more easily, spreading a damp cloth over the area while he pulled out the stopper on the bottle.

A hard, black eschar had formed at crest of the ball of the shoulder and Sheik pulled away the cloth and tapped it lightly, frowning when there was no response from Link. The area was completely dead. The rest of the wound, radiating out from the black centre was a largely a deep angry red and still wet, despite being cleaned and aired regularly. Clear liquid was oozing from it slowly, preventing it from healing and the Sheikah gently wiped it away before soaking a spare cloth in the red potion and wrapping it around the limb. He handed the remaining potion to the injured Hylian, silently gesturing for him to drink it.

“You know this stuff tastes terrible, right?” Link commented, almost gagging once he’d swallowed the liquid.

“I’m aware of that, yes. Most things that are good for you aren’t actually pleasant.”

“Hnnn.”

Sheik chuckled lightly behind the mask “I’ll leave you to rest…”

“No way! C’mon, I’ve been doing nothing but sitting here for the past week and usually on my own give me some company.”

“Link…I mean you need to sleep.”

“Oh yeah ‘cos that’s gonna happen.”

Rolling his eyes, Sheik stood and approached Link, bending slightly and placing his hand over the Hylian’s forehead and eyes.

“W…what are you doing?”

“Shh. Just relax and trust me.”

“I’ve already told you that I do…”

“Then relax…”

Sighing Link gave in, closing his eyes beneath the Sheikah’s palm, listening to him whisper words from an ancient language into his ear. They seemed to wrap around him, enveloping him and within a few moments he relaxed into the pillows, blissfully unconscious.

Sheik waited a moment before removing his hand from the young hero’s brow, brushing that strand of blonde that constantly fell into his face out of the way as he did so.

Collecting the soiled bandages and empty bottle, he took a last look at the Hylian, sleeping deeply and whispered words of serenity, feeling a sudden need to protect him rush through his heart. Stooping, he pulled a blanket over the boy’s broad shoulders before turning and quietly leaving the room…but not without that one last glance.

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Hope you enjoyed it. Not sure when the next chapter will be up. A few weeks most likely because I don't know when I'm going home next or how busy I'm gonna be when I do.
Review please.