Chapter 4- Pain in body and Mind


Link and Sheik were waiting by the entrance when they saw a figure walking towards them with a sandy, beige horse. They only saw the horse when it was about 100 yards away.

‘Perfect Camouflage.’ Thought Sheik. ‘No wonder they rarely get caught.’

“Are you ready?” Asked Nabooru

The two of them nodded. Silently, they all mounted their horses, and rode into the desert. They were silent pretty much the whole ride. The wind whipped at Sheik’s eyes. He was thankful that he had something protecting his nose and mouth, but his eyes stung like hell. He looked round at Link. One hand was on his reins, the other over his mouth. Sheik looked in the pack for his spare mask. He found it and rode up right next to him. Link looked at him quizzically and Sheik handed him the mask. He pointed at his own, then at him, Link nodded to say he understood and put it on. Sheik then heard his name over the wind. He turned to see Nabooru next to him.

“It looks like there’s a sand storm picking up!!” She managed to scream. “Follow me!!!”

They followed her until a rock formation loomed ahead. They rode into the heart of it and into one of the huge rocks. They had to dismount to get through but that didn’t mean anything to Sheik. He needed to stretch his legs, but as he got off, a sharp pain came to his chest. He clutched it in pain.

“Sheik!” Cried Link. Link said something, but he wasn’t listening. The pain was too great. And then his world blacked out.

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Link was dismounting when he heard a cry of pain. He look over and he saw Sheik doubled over in pain.

“Sheik!” he cried out, and rushed over. “Nabooru!” he shouted at her, “Get the horses into the cave, I’ll help Sheik!”

But when he looked down Sheik’s face was still. Link would have thought him dead if he didn’t hear his breathing. He stood up, hoisted him on his shoulder and walked in the cave. Nabooru was settling the horses in, when she saw Link enter with Sheik.

“What happened?” Concern suddenly flooded her eyes, something Link had never seen.

“I don’t know.” He said. “ It must be one of his injuries he sustained before Impa found him. I’m guessing it’s in his chest because that was the thing he was clutching before he blacked out.” He put him gently on the floor and reached into his medicine bag, pulling out a red potion. He drank a little bit to cleanse his lungs and gave some to Nabooru. The potion made them fall asleep quite quickly.
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You are close! You will find her! Said one voice
Find her! Said another
Yes find her soon! Said a final
He then felt sad. He didn’t know why, and the sadness wasn’t normal. It felt painful. Like he had lost something dear to him. No not something…Someone.

Sheik opened his eyes to see colours floating above him. He thought it was a dream until he heard a snore, which ‘woke’ him again. He turned his head to see Link and Nabooru lying on the floor sleeping. He sat up wincing.

‘Stupid ribs. Why can’t they mend quicker?’ He thought. He saw a bottle of red potion sitting next to him. He reached out, grabbed it and looked round. He made sure they were both sleeping before taking off his mask. He took a long gulp of the liquid, set it down and tied his mask. It wasn’t long before he was falling asleep as well.
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Nabooru was the first to rise because she had the least bit of potion. She looked at Link’s sleeping form and the Sheik’s. She thought he hadn’t woken since they had, but when she saw the ¼ empty potion bottle, she knew he had and had a drink. Link then woke up and moaned.

“Well good morning, sunshine!” she said, voice heaving with sarcasm.

Link just glared at her. He then looked at the sleeping frame of Sheik.

“He did wake up.” He looked at her. “He had a drink of the potion and fell asleep.” And just as she said that, Sheik’s eyes twitched, then opened. He sat up.

“Could you stop looking at me please? It’s kind of freaking me out.” Sheik said bluntly

“Sorry.” Link and Nabooru muttered, and they both looked away. Nabooru then stood and went to look outside.

“Nights fallen and the storm’s gone.” She said as she entered the cave. Then she looked back a Sheik. “Are you OK? You scared me a bit earlier.”

“Yeah. Must have been my ribs. They still haven’t healed yet.” He stood, wobbled a bit, but put his hand on the wall to steady himself. Once he got his bearings, he slowly walked to his horse, which Nabooru had put outside, patted her and got ready to mount. He got on Ok, saw the others on theirs and said,

“I had another dream last night. Nothing much, they just said that we’re close.”

Link nodded and they started to canter. Sheik noticed Link putting on the mask he had given him. They rode for many hours, pausing only to rest and eat. They reached the tower by midday. It was slowly crumbling but sturdy.

“How’d we get in?” asked Link, when they found a place to hide, “And when we do, how do we find her?”

“Simple.” Sheik said, with a glint in his red eyes. “We get caught.”