bladespark | Lands of Magic, R4 Challenge 3: Year of the Pig.

2.5k words
Prompts: incense, luck, ritual

Less Than (2604 words) by bladespark
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Link/Sheik (Legend of Zelda)
Characters: Link (Legend of Zelda), Sheik (Legend of Zelda), Zelda | Sheik
Additional Tags: Romance, Kissing, Insecurity, Self-Esteem Issues, Self Confidence Issues
Summary:

During the Festival of Beginning, Sheik watches Link pray to the goddesses for luck and guidance. But he doesn't know why Link would want such a thing. Link is so perfect, destined to always succeed. He doesn't even need the help of one confused no-longer-princess not-quite-sheikah boy, surely.

I stood in the shadows, watching Link as he walked through the light that filtered down from the shrine's high, broken windows.

That seemed to be how it always was. I in shadow, a thing invisible and unseen. Link in the light, shining and bright. My heart wanted to break, looking at him. The legendary hero was so far beyond me. Who was I? What was I? I didn't even know. A confused, muddled mess of a person, no longer a princess, not really a Sheikah, not even really a man or a woman, blundering through all this solely because I knew a little bit about old Sheikah prophecies. It was some kind of terrible cosmic cruelty that I bore the Triforce of Wisdom, I didn't even know enough to know myself, let alone anything else worth knowing.

With the light shining all around him, touching his cool blue eyes to warmth, shining through the shell-like arc of his ears, making his golden hair glow like the metal itself, Link seemed utterly perfect. The subject of those prophecies, goddess-touched, bound to save all Hyrule. And here was I, somehow bound up in his fate, even though I'd failed to do anything of note, failed to gain any power or skill worth having.

I watched as Link walked the length of the shrine to where three niches stood at the far end, one for each goddess. Today was the Festival of Beginning, that marked the turning of the year, and Nayru was the goddess of spring and new birth, so it was to her niche that Link went first.

He knelt before it for a moment in contemplation, head bowed, eyes closed, golden hair falling about his face. Then he took a stick of incense from the holder provided there, lit it, and placed it before the bas relief carving of Nayru. I heard him murmur, "Luck and guidance" into the shrine's silence, observing the tradition that one's wish for the coming year be spoken to the goddess' ears.

He then repeated this action for the niches belonging to Din and Farore, including the soft wish, the same three words each time.

I almost simply stayed in the shadows, where my own shadow magic would keep me hidden. This was not one of the moments when fate and destiny demanded I give him scraps of old prophecy to guide him. I had nothing else to offer him, and so I almost remained out of sight.

Yet every word I'd heard him speak to me seemed precious, and I could not pass up the chance to gather a few more. So as he finished his final wish I stepped out of shadow, allowing my foot to scuff faintly on the stone floor.

Link turned swiftly, gracefully, alert and wary, but not afraid. He saw me and he smiled, and I almost wanted to weep to see it. I didn't know why he should smile at me.

"Sheik."

"Link." I gave him a nod, glad of the mask that covered my face, obscured my expression.

"Do you have any further advice for me?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not this time. I'm only here for the same reason you are." I nodded past him, at the shrine.

His face fell, and I felt a stab of something almost like grief. He cared nothing for me, of course. I was only a means to the end of his quest. I don't know why I'd dared to hope for more than that. His smoothed his features and gave me another, smaller smile. "I'll leave you to your ritual, then, if you want me to go."

"You can stay," I blurted, and felt instantly awkward, stupid. Why had I said that? He had the world to save, why would he spend an extra moment with me?

But he smiled again, warmly. "I'll stay, then."

I walked through the sunlight to the end of the shrine, feeling somehow as if I shouldn't even be passing where he had passed. But I wanted the reassurance of the familiar ritual, the hope of the goddesses' blessing. So I knelt, and prayed my silent prayer, and lit a stick of incense. I hesitated a moment over what to ask for, then said, "Luck and hope." I did it again at the other two niches, then stepped back. Smoke curled from the incense in front of the three carved goddesses, the smoke from my sticks wrapping around and mingling with the smoke from Link's.

"Sheik?"

I turned to him, seeing a strange uncertainty on his face. "Yes?"

"Are you sure you don't have any more advice for me? Some other hint? Some other bit of knowledge?" He looked hopeful, almost pleading.

I turned my head, looking away from the need in his eyes. "No. I'm very sorry."

"You've nothing to be sorry for. I'd just hoped-" His voice cracked, and an odd shudder went through him. I looked at him, and his face was twisting. He seemed to be struggling for calm, and I felt a wash of guilt that I hadn't been able to offer him anything more. "Sorry," he said, and his voice wavered. To my shock I saw tears start to well up in his eyes.

Without even thinking about it I reached out, touching his arm gently. "Link? Are you okay?"

The tears welling in his eyes spilled over, and with another shudder he said, "I don't know. I'm trying. I'm trying so hard, but I don't know what I'm doing! I don't even know why fate chose me, and not you. You have such power and such knowledge, while all I know is how to use a sword. I'm just blundering through everything. I've come so close to messing up completely so many times, and I'm afraid I'm going to fail, and Ganondorf will win, and everyone will die, and it will be all my fault! I'm so afraid. It's a sick joke that I'm the bearer of Courage, I'm afraid all the time." That all had come out in one single rush, but then he halted, another sob escaping him, and said, "I'm so, so sorry." He sniffed, and turned away from me, wiping at his eyes.

I stood looking at him, feeling absolutely stunned. He was blundering around? I had power and knowledge? "Link, I... I'm the one who's sorry. I'm the one who can't do anything. You're the one who's already struck against Ganondorf and saved so many people. You don't need me."

Link turned back to me, shaking his head, tears still staining his cheeks. "No! I do need you! I couldn't possibly have gotten this far without your help and advice. I've gotten so lost, so stuck, so unable to figure out what to do, and every time you've helped. That's..." He sniffled again, and wiped at his eyes. "Sorry, that's why I was hoping so badly that you'd have something for me now. I don't know what to do next. I've tried everything I can think of, but it feels like I'm doing everything wrong. I don't know where to go at all."

"But... This shrine is on the way to the Gerudo lands, where the Temple of Spirit lies. You're nearly half way to your next goal already. I have such tiny scraps to give you, what difference can they make? You've done so perfectly with the bits I've given you, I'm nothing compared to that."

"You're not nothing!" said Link swiftly, fiercely. With a deep sigh he added, "You don't always watch me, obviously, or you'd see the number of times I've done something completely stupid and had to start over solving a puzzle, or fallen off of something, or only survived a battle because of the healing fairies. I'm getting through all this by the skin of my teeth. I'm not doing 'perfectly' at anything. And I had no idea I was near the Gerudo lands, or that that was where I needed to go. So thank you again."

"You're welcome," I said, my mind still reeling. Link, the destined hero, feeling the same kind of inadequacy and guilt that I did?

He sighed again, unhappily, then yawned. "Goddesses, I'm so tired. It's hard to stop to sleep sometimes. What if I'm too late to save someone? What if it all goes wrong because I wasn't where I needed to be in time?"

"Oh, Link." I felt my heart suddenly nearly breaking for him. The perfect hero I'd so admired mere moments ago had shattered, yet the person left in his place seemed to be a person a lot like myself, and I couldn't help but feel compassion for him. "I don't know everything either, unfortunately, and I don't have as much power as you seem to think. But I can tell you that taking a little time to rest won't cause the end of the world."

"I'll camp here, then. It's barely past noon but I think I could sleep for about a week." He yawned again.

I hesitated, then made a bold offer. "If you don't mind, I could stay with you, make sure you're not disturbed."

He blinked at me, then smiled, that same warm smile I'd seen before. His lashes were still wet with tears, but he once again looked the perfect, handsome hero save that one small thing. "Thank you."

Outside the shrine, Hyrule Field stretched out for miles all around the little grove of trees where it nestled. Its remote location was the reason why we two were alone here despite the festival day. It was in ill repair, but had been sturdily built, else it might not be standing at all, for it had barely been tended in years. There was a priest who came out to replace the incense and collect the rupees sometimes left as offerings by travelers, I knew, but that was only once a month or so.

The afternoon sky was clear of clouds, the weather warm and pleasant, and Link set about setting up camp with the swift efficiency of long practice. I pitched in where I could, though there was only so much I could do, given I knew nothing about horses. I got a little fire built while he took of Epona's tack and brushed her down, though. He didn't tether her, and I knew he could summon her swiftly however far she might wander.

Once the fire had developed a good bed of coals, Link put a pan over it and made lunch. Without asking he made enough for two, and when the stew was done I dared to remove my fabric mask in order to eat. He gave my bared face little glances when he thought I wasn't looking, no doubt trying not to be rude. I worried a little that he might recognize me, but thought it unlikely. The spell that made me both Sheikah and male had slightly altered my features, but it was imperfect, and I knew I bore a strong resemblance to the portrait gallery of past royal family women—many of whom had likewise been named Zelda—that had lined one long hall in the now-ruined Hyrule castle. But Link would not have seen that gallery, he would know only the face I'd born as a child, and I thought I looked different enough now for the connection to pass unnoticed. In any case, he was not truly the one I was hiding from. Ganondorf was the one seeking the princess-in-hiding, and the reason why I'd become whatever it was that I now was.

If Link did notice anything, he said nothing of it, he only ate in silence, though he still looked at me often.

The stew was honestly nothing special. Link was a serviceable cook, but no royal chef. I only vaguely remembered the feasts from my childhood, but I found myself, strangely, thinking that I'd rather have uninspired stew here with Link than sit at one of those long tables full of stuffy nobles. I looked at him as he set his bowl down, and even if I was no longer seeing a perfect hero, I was still seeing a young man who was both handsome and courageous.

I set my own bowl down beside his, but didn't move to instantly don my mask again. It would be safe enough for a while, and it felt good to not have to hide for this brief moment.

"You know, it's funny... You said you thought I was basically perfect. I've always thought of myself as being lesser, being inferior to those around me. I was the boy without a fairy, the Kokiri who was bad at being a Kokiri for so long. It's hard to stop thinking of myself that way. I'm still getting used to being a Hylian. Maybe I'm actually good at being a Hylian. I don't know, maybe I'm even doing okay at being a hero. It just doesn't feel like it. It doesn't feel natural. There are days when I feel like I don't even know who I am at all."

I reached out and touched his arm lightly. The sympathy I'd felt before was doubled and redoubled now. "I once was someone, something else too. So I know that feeling exactly. I can't go back to being who I used to be, but I can't feel fully at home with being who I am now, either."

He scooted a little closer to me, where we sat beside the fire, the sun beginning to sink to the horizon. "It seems like we have a lot in common." His hand took mine, squeezing it, and I felt a warm, pleasant shiver go through me. He was smiling again too, that handsome, caring smile. The setting sun cast ruddy light over him, and he looked as good by that light as he had within the dust-specked pillars of sunlight within the shrine before.

"I guess we do," I said, feeling my heart beating a little faster. He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand gently.

"I'm less than perfect," said Link, still smiling. "You're less than perfect too, but you're not less than me. Never think you are. I guess I'm not less than you, either."

"No, you're not," I said, looking into those blue eyes, cool and yet somehow so warm. I swallowed. He'd leaned a little closer, and his hand still held mine. My heart was pounding, and I leaned in too. I felt that drawing close like this was dangerous—almost terrifying—and yet it was also the thing I wanted most in all the world. "You're... You're wonderful," I said, and I felt my cheeks flush as I did. That had been silly. Stupid, even. Why had I said that?

"I think you're wonderful too," he replied, and then he leaned in the last inch between us and kissed me.

His lips were warm, and strangely soft against my own. I felt the touch of them like a jolt of lightning that went through my whole being. He lingered, moving them against mine, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, and I felt a flush of warmth follow the lightning shock.

Then Link pulled back just a little and, smiling at me from inches away, said, "Definitely wonderful."

I could feel that my cheeks were bright red, and my body was full of new, confused feelings, but they were good feelings, and I couldn't resist the impulse at last to lean in again and kiss him warmly back.

(This is probably the Link from one of my Ocarina playthroughs. I'm not very good at the game, I fall off of things a lot. Comments always welcome.)