Chapter Text
Sheik looks at Link as he fiddle with the Sheikah Slate. The Calamity ended just a few months ago and everything in Hyrule is looking up. As a son of the Sheikah Clan, Sheik had been assigned to Link just as his grandmother Impa had been assigned to the Princess to help guide him during his lonely journey at helping the Princess trapped in a century long battle with Ganon. Link had quickly been adopted by him as his big brother. Now that he’s turning 13 in a few more months, Sheik can’t wait for the Sheikah Clan’s rite of passage; the Journey of Enlightenment. Every Sheikah child that turns 13 will go on this personal spiritual journey to find their inner peace and to know themselves as well as their role in the world.
Link jolts when the blue bomb rolls into the Bokoblin camp that they had been sent out of to clear and explodes, starting a chain reaction with the stack of bomb. Causing the whole camp to be blown sky high.
Sheik signs, [You’re a pyromaniac, Link]
Link signs back with exasperation, [You know I never meant any of the explosions!]
Sheik huffs, [Whatever you say, Link]
Link rolls his eyes and Sheik grins under his white mask. The two then proceeds to return with a positive report to the Princess waiting at Hateno Village where the still infant operation of reviving Hyrule takes place. Sheik is proud that he’s good enough to be chosen to help Link despite his age. The adventure of helping Link while he travels all over Hyrule to help all the races with their trouble, the out of control Divine Beasts, was certainly an experience. But at the same time, he has a feeling that Impa has had enough of him causing trouble around Kakariko looking for something to do prior to Link’s arrival to their humble settlement.
After reporting to Zelda, the Princess looks at Sheik, “Sheik, Impa had informed me that you will be going on your Journey of Enlightenment soon,”
Sheik nods, “Yes, Princess!”
Zelda sighs, “I will miss you,”
Sheik blinks his big blue eyes before smiling under his mask, “I’ll miss you too, Princess!”
She looks at the papers in her hands, “We had been left behind by the rest of the world for the last 100 years. I would so love to reopen our channel of diplomatic relation with the outside world,”
Sheik nods, “Grandma said that she’s sending me to the Hidden Continent to survey the situation there,”
Zelda frowns, “That continent is always at war. Or at least, that was my memory of the place. Are you sure it is wise to go there for your Journey of Enlightenment?”
Sheik shrugs, “Not sure, Princess. Grandma said since I originated from there, it is only right that I learn more about my birth place, dattebayo,”
Link signs, [You never did tell us how you end up with the Sheikah all the way here in Hyrule]
Sheik hums, “Well, the story goes that when a Yiga member was stranded in the mysterious Hidden Continent for whatever reason, he decided to kidnap me from the street. Apparently I was wandering on the street and no one seemed to care so he just grabbed me and run. I mean, I was 3! I guess he was trying to get me to join the Yiga Clan?” He rubs the back of his neck, “Of course, he hijacked a whole ship to travel back to Hyrule. I don’t really remember much…besides the bananas…but when he landed on the shores of Lurelin Village, a Sheikah caught him and the next thing I know, I’m part of the Sheikah Clan!”
Zelda nods, “I did ask Impa about you. She suspected that he must have chosen you for your ears because you’re the only one on that continent with ears like us Hylians,”
Sheik touches his pointy ears. It’s not as long as the Princess or Link or really anyone in Hyrule, but it is still the shape of a long leaf. He supposed that makes sense. Apparently Hylians are different from humans, the race that lives beyond Hyrule’s border. Humans are also very violent and often wage war. Well, Hylians aren’t all that nice either or they won’t be dealing with Yiga. But humans tended to be worse.
Link signs, [But why is he even looking for a child from the Hidden Continent to bring into the Yiga Clan?]
Zelda hums, “Perhaps because it is known that the people of the Hidden Continent wields a strange kind of ability. They calls it chakra and even though it has some similarity to magic, it isn’t. The Sheikah also trains in chakra but the chakra the Sheikah is familiar with isn’t the same chakra that those of the Hidden Continent wield,” She looks at Sheik, “What do you think, Sheik?”
Sheik nods, “Whenever I train in chakra, it feels starkly different than the ones that Paya and Grandma taught me,” He touches his belly, “Especially with fuzzball here,”
Zelda sighs, “Don’t tease him too much, Sheik,”
Sheik pouts under his mask, “He’s grumpy all the time, dattebayo! I thought a little tease here and there should lighten him up a bit!”
Link signs, [He can’t really be all that bad, can he? I mean, he helps us against Ganon]
Sheik looks at Link with a deadpan, “Think Revali but dial up his sass and entitlement to a hundred,”
Zelda giggles, “I mean…I was stuck in the dark for a very long time too. If it wasn’t because I have a swine to beat back, I think I’ll be just as grumpy as Kurama,”
Sheik throws his hand to the ceiling, “But I did everything to help lighten up the space inside his seal, dattebayo! I even did all that mental exercise to help him feel safe inside me but he’s still grumpy!”
Link signs, “[Maybe it’s his age. Kurama did say that he’s over a thousand years old]
Sheik looks at him, “Should I be worried that you’ll grow grumpy too, Grandpa?”
Link swats at him.
A few days later, Sheik finds himself being hugged tight by Paya as she blubbers into his hair, “I can’t believe you are going on your journey! P-please don’t forget about us, Sheik! Make sure you come b-back, alright?”
Link sighs, “I already went on a journey, Paya! I went with Link! Besides, I always visit, don’t I?”
Paya wails, “But you are leaving Hyrule this time!!”
Link turns to Impa with a pleading look. His Grandmother sighs, “Enough, Paya! This is Sheik’s journey! This is his calling. We don’t have the right to stop him. He has right to find his lost root,”
Paya sniffles, “B-but…the Hidden Continent is so far away a-and…the land there is always at w-war. W-what if Sheik is…? Oh, Hylia, oh, Grandmother, I can’t think!!”
Impa huffs, “Then don’t. Sheik has to take this journey. Hylia has given Her words,”
That is also another reason why Sheik is returning to the land where he was born. Honestly, Sheik could just do his Journey of Enlightenment in Hyrule but he already received a vision from the Goddess that his destiny lies in the Hidden Continent. Kurama grumbles about greedy humans turning him into a weapon of war. Sheik found it funny that his best friend would think that he will let anybody in the Hidden Continent use him like that. He’s a Sheikah of Hyrule. Hyrule is his home. He had almost died several times over trying to save it with Link, obviously he won’t just turn his back on Hyrule just because he return to the land he was born at.
Besides, from the file that Symin had made regarding his psychology when he first arrived in Kakariko, it seems that he had grown severely neglected. His eyes were once sensitive to light, suggesting a long time in the dark. He was also mostly skin and bones, suggesting near starvation. Most of all, he disliked being touched and flinching, expecting violence from anyone around him. He was also a mute, apparently. It was only much later in life did they realize that Sheik had never spoken a word prior coming to Hyrule, suggesting that no one wanted to hear him or even speak to him as a person.
So, no. Sheik won’t be loyal to the village that would allow such treatment on a child as young as 3. Although…Kurama had apologized when he grew close with the nine tailed being inside him during his spiritual training. That had been a big shock. Kurama was aggressive at first, threatening to kill everyone Sheik ever loved. But with Impa’s guidance, and apparently his passive talent at making friends, he slowly befriended the fox. Because of this, during a time of bonding, Kurama admitted to killing his parents.
But Sheik had calmed down and asked him why.
That was how he learned about Konoha, his mother’s role in Kurama’s imprisonment, his father’s role in Kurama’s sealing, and the mysterious man that could control his best friend. After discussing it with Impa, Impa suspects that this mysterious man means evil for the world. But if it wasn’t because of Hylia’s order, Sheik will probably keep Kurama safe from that evil man by staying the Dark World away from the Hidden Continent.
Paya’s blubbering brings him out of his thoughts, “Sheikh~!”
Sheik sighs. He loves his sister. He truly do. But she whines too much when it comes to him. Well, he did almost get squashed by a Hinox when he was 6 right in front of Paya but seriously, she should have gotten over that! He huffs, “Paya~! I have to go!”
Purah finally has had enough of Paya strangle hold on Sheik and kicks her ankle, “Let the poor boy go, Paya! Don’t make me break your ankles!”
Paya finally relents and blubbers elsewhere.
Purah glares at him before handing him something. It reminds Sheik of the Sheikah Slate but…
Purah puffs out her chest, “This is the Purah Pad! I decided to recreate the Sheikah Slate but smaller and more compact. It won’t have some of the special functions that the Sheikah Slate have but it will at least help you stay in contact with us! It is also bio locked! In another word, only you can you use it! Aren’t I a genius? Praise me!”
Sheik blinks at her before patting her head, “You’re smart, Grandma Purah,”
Purah cackles, pointing her nose to the air, “I know I’m smart! Robbie got nothing on me!”
Robbie coughs, “I recreated the Master Cycle Zero to add to that pad so…”
Sheik’s eyes glows, “I have my own Master Cycle Zero?!” He quickly fiddles with the Purah Pad and found the rune for the dirt bike. Pressing it, the familiar blue lights appears and weaves into Link’s Divine Beast. He stares at it, “Oh wow…”
Robbie beams beside a glowering Purah, feeling smug.
Zelda sighs, “Alright, we really shouldn’t delay Sheik from going on his Journey of Enlightenment,” She looks at the horizon, “It is almost sunrise,”
The gathered Sheikah sighs as they look at Sheik. Even though he’s not truly Sheikah, Sheik has shown true loyalty, courage, and wisdom just like a true Sheikah. Sure, his wisdom is sporadic and isn’t clear but…when someone needs the light of hope the most and Link isn’t there, Sheik will step up and show them. The boy has a way of seeing someone’s heart, cutting past the layers of masks and lies that they had built. Especially for Zelda, Sheik has a special place in her heart.
She often wonders if this is what Mipha felt towards Sidon.
Link smiles as he pulls the boy that many mistakes as his little brother if not for the whiskers under his mask into a tight hug. He whispers with his rarely used voice, “I’ll miss you,”
Sheik squeezes the Hero back, “And I you. Remember, you are not at fault. Not you or the Princess, okay? Be there for her, Link. She needs you. Just like a hundred years ago, even without your full memories, you are the only person who understand her pain and burden,”
Link grins and nods before pulling back to sign, [Don’t I know it. You don’t have to lecture me, Sheik]
Link will truly miss his little brother. It had been hard for him to face the consequences of his failure of 100 years ago. But Sheik was there and Sheik won’t let him mope for long. In a way, Sheik had been his pillar for his sanity. Sheik’s purity saved him and when Zelda returns to Hyrule, that same purity had also rescued her battered heart. He isn’t innocent like the other children of Hyrule but he kept an upbeat personality and a positive outlook despite all the grief still clinging to Hyrule.
They will miss this messy and loud Sheikah.
Sheik finally climbs into his boat and waves at them, “I’ll come back! I promise!”
Purah puts in a final tease, “Make sure you come back with a wife!!”
Sheik’s exposed skin turns red, “I’m too young to marry!”
“You won’t be young forever!”
“Lay off me, Grandma Purah!”
Paya calls out, “Please come home, Sheik! Don’t forget us!”
Sheik replies, “Never! Hyrule is my home!”
As the current takes him further and further away from the shores of Hyrule, he noticed Link and Zelda on their Master Cycle Zero riding across the long shore. Sheik can’t help but whisper, “Take care of each other,”
For the next few months, the young Sheikah weathers the ocean the spans between Hyrule and this Hidden Continent. He spends that time reviewing what he knows of the strange continent with Kurama. Kurama isn’t happy about going back. He has terrible memories of that land after all. But he accepts that Sheik will always follow what Hylia tells him to do. The boy is loyal like that. Konoha was a fool to treat him so coldly.
Sheik lies in his boat, looking at the stars above and asks Kurama, “Do you think that the Hidden Continent is as beautiful as Hyrule, Kurama?”
Kurama shifts inside him, “It had been too long since I was last out, Sheik,”
Sheik hums, “But you could have left me, you know? I mean…the seal is already broken and all and you did brawl with the pig Ganon during the final battle,”
Kurama growls, “And we almost lost you, idiot,” He then adds, “You only survive thanks to the Shrine of Resurrection. I refuse to cradle your cold body in my claws again, Sheik,” He sighs, “Such a miracle does not exist in the Hidden Continent, I don’t think. Those fools there are more focused with killing than saving,”
Sheik smiles, “Okay…”
Life on a boat is hard but doable, Sheik find. His biggest concern is water but he knows how to purify water and he always collect rainwater. For food, Link had apparently cooked rations for him enough to last for a full year inside the Purah Pad. But Sheik is still careful. Traveling with the Hero of the Wild had taught a lot of survival skill and one of them is to be careful with food and to not ration water too much.
Even this is not the Gerudo Desert.
After months at sea, he finally sees ships. However, Kurama growls, “I don’t think you should stop in Mizu. Can you smell it?”
Sheik lowers his mask from his nose and quickly cringe, “Ugh! The smell of blood is almost as strong as Hyrule Castle back during the Calamity!”
Kurama hums, “Remember that. Hyrule is not at war but here, you must always remember this smell. This is how war smells like. And if I recall, Mizu’s water are always rampant with pirates,”
Sheik nods, “Alright, let’s sail elsewhere to land,”
Sheik is careful to stay low and moves his boat elsewhere whenever he sees ships. Just like Kurama warned him, there are a lot of suspicious looking ships sailing around the water of Mizu. He is lucky that he knows Sheikah runes for stealth. It basically works like a notice-me-not spell.
After weeks, he finally reach an island that lacks the scent of war. When his boat finally docks, he cannot help but cheers, “LAND HO!!!”
Kurama palms his snout, “You are the loudest Sheikah I have ever known,”
Sheik grins under his mask, “It isn’t like you know much about Sheikah other than that they are familiar to these Shinobi that my parents were supposed to be, dattebayo!”
A pudgy looking elder stares at Sheik like he had lost his mind, “You shouldn’t have dock here,”
Sheik looks at him, taking a moment to understand the language that he had been training with Kurama while sailing from Hyrule, and replies, “Uh…sorry…not good…language…”
Kurama sighs, “You’re hopeless, Sheik. We have been talking in this language whenever you insisted on training with it just to do something while sailing! And you still can’t converse with this man?”
Sheik returns to the Common Tongue of Hyrule, “Can’t help it! Talking to people is daunting!”
Kurama rolls his eyes, “Says the kid that will happily cackle as he takes on two Lynels at once and give the Hero a heart attack while at it,”
Sheik ignores him with an eye roll of his own before noticing the elderly man looking at him with a wary look. Great. This man probably think that he’s crazy. Sheik waves, “I come…far away. Far, far away!”
The man nods, “I can somewhat tell,” He mumbles to himself, “What a weirdo,” Sheik feels his brow twitch as his not Hylian ears can hear the man just fine. The man continues, “Anyway, kid, if you know what is good for you, you will dock somewhere else. Nami is…not a welcoming place. Not anymore,”
Sheik recognize that look in the man’s gaze. It is the same look that those feeling threatened by the rogue Divine Beasts has, fearing the day those mechanical weapon of mass destruction turn on them. He steps off his boat and greets, “Sheik!”
The man stares at him, “What?”
Sheik repeats, “Me…Sheik!”
Man stares at him for a while longer before blinking and scoffs, “Seriously? Well, if you want to start with that. My name’s Tazuna! I’m the super bridge builder of Nami! Now, if you don’t mind…I have a place to go to,” Tazuna then starts to power walk away from Sheik.
Kurama immediately says, “Sheik, no,”
Sheik fidgets, “But…but I smell adventure, dattebayo!”
Kurama grumbles, “No means no. Leave the man alone, Sheik. Also, if you want adventure, why don’t you start investigating Nami? This is a good start to learn about this Sage be damned land as any,”
Sheik sighs, “Kurama, you said that the Sage believes in compassion. Well, so does Hylia. So, be compassionate, yeah?” Sheik is a follower of Hylia but Kurama believes in the Sage. Well, just as the Princess is a blood descendant of the Goddess, Kurama is a child of the Sage. So Sheik compromises between the two believes. He does not think that one religion is above the other. After all, unless they are a cult like the Yiga, then all religion teaches its believers to do good and be compassionate with each other.
It shouldn’t only apply to those of the same belief.
Kurama grumbles something but says nothing more.
Sheik walks around, dressed in his Sheikah Stealth armor that has the Great Fairies blessings to the max thanks to his adventure with Link. And even if it’s defense level isn’t as good as some of the other armors in Link’s collection, Sheik doubts that much can hurt him since he heard that the Hidden Continent has no monsters like Bokoblins and the likes. But they do have big creatures like Kurama but most of these creatures are animals and not true monsters like the ones that haunts Hyrule.
Or rather the Tenjin Continent as he heard the people of this land calls it.
He stops when he sees a group of thugs harassing a woman and her child. Frowning, he do what he does best; help them. Picking up five rocks rolling around on the barren street, he throws it against their back. The thugs turns to him, “What the fuck?! What the hell is a brat playing Shinobi doing here? You want to die kid?!”
Sheik hums, tilting his head to the side before pulling out his Eightfold Blade sheath behind his waist. His blue eyes sharpens like live steel as he takes a stance, a final warning against these low lives. Kurama snorts, “They never take the hint. Look, what did I say?”
The thugs jumps at him…