When we get back to his house, I slouch on the couch that Sheik's been sleeping on, which is sadly warm because it's next to the fire. I need something cold, and I need it now.
So, I jump (or fall, whichever you prefer) off the sofa and onto the cold, wooden floor. I almost groan in pleasure when my cheek squishes against the cool boards, and my bare stomach flinches a bit, but relaxes against it just as quickly.
Sheik looks at me, but with no emotion. He walks to the bed, and sits down, slouching. Surprisingly, he puts his arms behind him to unravel his cowl around his neck, and it falls to the floor. After that, he takes the fabric off his head and it falls next to the other. His dirty blonde hair falls loose, and frames his angular--and admittedly attractive--face. With his head down, he runs his hand through his hair, and lets out a breath.
Is something wrong with him?
My arms go under my body to push myself off the floor and I walk to a bucket of water in the corner that sits there for emergency purposes. Like fires. Because he isn't looking, I take my bandana off when I'm facing away from him; on the other side of the house. I scrub the blood from it, which takes a good ten minutes or so.
Blood is weird. It goes on red, and is permanent; I might add. It goes from red to brown, then brown to a yellowish-color. Yeah, blood's weird like that.
I put my wet Triforce bandana back on, tying it above the bridge of my nose, so all you see is my eyes. Because the cloth is white with yellow, it's nearly transparent and sticks to my face.
But I can't help thinking about Sheik. It's startling to see his face, but that isn't what I'm thinking about. He's so... gloomy.
Even this whole day, he's been really reserved and monotonous, not that he wasn't any other day. But his attitude is still somehow different than usual.
Though Luck would scold me for what I'm doing, I walk to the bed, and stand next to his sitting figure. He doesn't look up, and drops his hands.
"What do you need?" He asks. The tone his voice has is even more depressing.
I sit down next to him, and try to look at his face, but his wild hair blocks it.
"Why're you gloomy? It's not like anyone died," I try to joke. He lets out an irritated breath.
"People die all the time, Karma," he says, and my eyes widen a bit. He's never said my name.
"I know people die. It's the way the world works. What I meant to say was, what's on your mind? You're more lifeless than usual."
His voice gets even more irritated, if possible. "Do you really care? Do you really want to know?"
"Sure."
He looks up, and his red eyes look like a devoid of joy. I almost choke on my own spit in astonishment.
"Today is the anniversary of my parent's death. I never even met them," he replies solemnly. I don't respond, because I don't want to offend him or force him to tell anything; or worse, bring up bad memories.
"See? You don't care," he states.
I shake my head, brought back to land. "No... No, that's not it. I just don't know what to say."
"What is there to say?"
"Not much. Not much that I can say," I whisper.
My parents died too. I know how he feels, but mine died in the Revolution of Hyrule, a huge war that brought protesters and battle, and dropped the economy from all the money being spent on weapons for the war.
I lick my lips, and ask, "If this isn't a bad question, then can I ask how your parents died?"
He looks at me, his crimson eyes hollow. "Sure. It happened a long time ago, about eighteen years ago."
"My parents were both in the army. My mother was eight months pregnant with me, but Hyrule demanded that she still fight. My father was furious with this, obviously. He didn't want to lose my mother or I.
"From what people told me, my mom's name was Lilia. She was a protector, and a good one, too. My dad's name was Farem, and he was a warrior. People also say that I have my mom's looks, but my dad's eyes. Weird, I know, but I can't make that judgement. I never saw them.
"So, they were called to the battlefield during the Hylian Revolution. On the seventh week, people were low on supplies and food. My parents offered to go and find resources, which were unfortunately, near the enemy's area. My parents didn't know that they were being watched though.
"When they found a pond, an arrow shot out of the bushes. It went straight for my mother's abdomen, straight for me. My dad saw it coming though, and he jumped in front. It got him right in the heart. These aren't the normal arrows, though. They aren't the standard foot-and-a-half. These are the arrows of war, full three feet long.
"The arrowhead went right through to the other side of his body, inches away from my mom and I. My mom told everyone that the last thing he said was,
'Name him Sheik, after the Sheikahn deity. He'll be a fine lad, I know it.'
"And that was it. He fell into the pond, and it turned red. The water was useless now, but my mom ran. One thing that a doctor once told me is that stress can actually induce childbirth, and I guess that's what happened.
"When she was running, and tired, and mostly uninjured; she went into labor. People immediately got a cart loaded up to send her back to the village, and they left to come here.
"By the time they made it, I was almost out. She didn't receive the medical attention she needed soon enough, so she ended up giving birth to me when they were taking her from the cart and to the infirmary tent.
"Like I said before, they were low on supplies out on the field. My mother was malnourished and dehydrated, and had already pushed herself past her physical limits on the battlefield. She died giving birth to me.
"After that, the elders took me in. They raised me, so that's why I'm the most trusted Sheikah. That's why Rhia called my name when she found you, and not anyone else's. I'm probably going to become an elder too, when I'm older. Sometimes, I wonder if my parents know how I'm doing, and how good of a Sheikah I've become. Sometimes, I wonder if they think I'm good enough to be their child," Sheik says, and looks up.
"You're good enough," I whisper. What am I doing? Luck would kill me if she saw me now.
He looks at me, his red eyes glassed over. "How would you know? You're still new."
"I just have a feeling," I answer. After a lengthened silence for his parents, I say, "If it makes you feel any better, my parents were killed too."
I gave them the story that I was an orphan in my village that was 'destroyed,' and so I had nothing to return to. I can stick with that lie, and tell the truth at the same time.
"When I was three, my parents were killed." Now he is looking at me with the same intensity that I gave him.
"My parents were also killed in the Revolution of Hyrule; or the Hylian Revolution. I barely remember it, but I remember enough. Before I lived in my recent village as an orphan, I lived in Castle Town.
"Mother and father were trying to get us out of the city, because riots were turning violent. I remember my dad carrying me as we ran through the crowded streets, and I saw glimpses of signs that said, 'There is no future for Hyrule' 'We want to live' 'The Queen and King are dead to me.'
"And others that were worse. But then I remember hitting my head. I think my dad fell, and I fell with him. My mom was on the ground beside me, and I remember her reaching for us, and then the crowd of people swallowed her like a monster.
"I think she was trampled to death. My dad said, 'It's okay, Haven. Mommy's okay, she's in a good place now. Don't cry, Haven.'
"Just so you don't get confused, I did change my name after I wandered to the other village as an orphan. Anyways, my dad got up and kept running. It's a bit blurry from there, but I remember a big wall of metal.
"Like shields, I think. It came closer and closer, and the soldiers started to close in on us. My dad and I were sucked into the group of rioters, when we were really just trying to get away. We were sucked into the group of people we were fleeing from. As you already know, Hyrule kills protesters.
"The metal wall got closer and closer, and the people with signs and the people we were running from were collapsing, with holes through their stomachs and chests from the weapons. The metal wall was soon right in front of us, and my dad was yelling.
"'No, no! We aren't rioters! Let us go, I have a child! I'm not trying to oppose anyone! Don't hurt Mi--' he stopped. I remember falling then, and onto my dad's chest. But when I brought up my face, it was wet. I touched it, and my hand came back sticky, red, and wet. I was scared. Above everything else, I was scared.
"I tried to wake him up, with the childish things kids say. 'Daddy, get up! Daddy, we have to leave! You need to keep us safe. You can't go where mommy went!' Nothing woke him up. The metal wall of shields had passed us, and the soldiers backs faced us.
"Scared, I ran. I ran towards the drawbridge, the only way out of Castle Town, and ran more. When I finally collapsed, I kept telling myself that my mom and dad were coming. They were going to meet me there, and we would start a safer life.
"That's when the villagers found me. I grew up and was bullied the whole while, because I was an orphan," I finish. As you can tell, I made up the last part, but at least I made it believable.
Sheik bends down and grabs his wraps, and puts it back around his shoulders and in front of his face.
"I'm sorry," he says. "I guess we do have something in common."
I brush my eyes lightly, the blurriness almost taking control. I didn't make it up, that is what I remember. That metal wall killed my parents.
What really happened is that after I ran away from my mother and father, I saw Luck walking around town. She's always been two years older than me, and so she was five at the time. Luck could take care of herself, too. She had a small wooden axe, and asked if I needed help. She'd been surviving on the streets for about a year, after her parents were hit by a carriage in a freak accident before the revolution.
I said yes, and she told me that I could starve, and that she didn't care about me. But I followed her, and she even threatened me with her axe. For weeks I followed her in the shadows, and one day when it rained and I was stuck outside, she told me to come into the ruins of an old bakery, where she stayed.
Just a month later, I heard a baby crying. The house was abandoned, and the baby was laying in the dead mother's arms. The mother and father were side by side, completely gone. The bodies showed signs of disease, and when we walked around, we saw rats running around and in the cabinets. It was definite that the rats invaded their food and killed them with disease.
I took the baby, with curly blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and Luck said I should take it.
But at the time, Luck didn't have a name. She robbed people and hurt them to survive, and I said that they must be having bad luck if she came along. From that, we called her Luck. When I decided to take in the baby after such a tragic event, she said that it was like karma turned around for that little baby. So, she called me Karma.
What was really scary was that the mother actually looked at us, her movements creaky and dead. She said,
"We had hope... We had faith that we would get better... She has that hope too..."
And then we ascertained that she died. Because her parents had so much hope that she would get better, we named her Hope. That's how the Sisters of Fate came together. The end.
Sheik finishes putting his wraps back on, and gives me a look that almost apologizes for being so weak in front of me. He walks to the couch, and sits in his lotus position again.
"Training will continue tomorrow. You have a lot to learn," he says. I nod, and tuck myself into the bed.
How did this become such an emotional day?
I dream about my parents, and dream about the metal wall. My mom holding out her hand to me as the stomping feet took her away, and my dad falling. The metal wall got closer.
I wandered to Luck, and we became sisters. I found a baby, who was hope incarnate. And the metal wall got closer.
We wandered and took jobs, and started to act accordingly to our names. We became cold-blooded, and started killing and fighting for our reasons. A powerful man of the desert hired us, and we separated. And the metal wall got closer.
I injured myself, and Rhia found me. I was accepted, and started learning. For the first time in years, I talked about my parents.
And the metal wall gets closer.