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Link was no longer in the material realm. Link wasn’t exactly sure where he was, or even how he could get there. All he knew was that it happened, and that it seemed to be the only realm that was truly safe from Ganondorf. (Ganon, Demon King, whatever his name and title was.)
Just barely a few inches from the sand, Sheik floated. His hair a golden halo around him, his eyes shut. Hands clasped over his heart, fingers laced together, he almost seemed asleep in the foggy, green tinted space the world had become. No skies, no canyon walls, no formerly-thought-to-be-bottomless pit. Only a vast expanse of clouds and rolling sands, spurred on by an unfelt breeze.
He looked different than how Link last saw him. Ancient symbols painted over every inch of exposed skin save for his face, draping sleeves that almost fell over his fingertips, a shawl closed with an eye clasp over his chest. He was dressed a bit like Rauru, if only in part with the shawl. He seemed at peace. Calm and tranquil, despite how he’d gotten there.
Sheik hadn’t aged a single day in the hundreds of thousands of years he’d waited.
Link hesitated only briefly before stepping closer.
Sheik, his eyes never opening, unlaced his hands and extended one to him. Waiting. Link carefully clasped it, like they were going to shake hands. That didn’t happen, instead Sheik turned their hands over, revealing the as of yet final and unknown metal disk remaining in his gauntlet. The one at his wrist, just below the gift he’d received from Zelda.
Indigo light traveled from the Sheikah’s wrist to Link’s arm, engulfing and coalescing into the disk. It turned the same color as the rings on his fingers, a symbol etching itself on the metal in the same color as the light. In the same instant, his own shadow fluctuated, becoming fuzzy and solid. It creeped out before him like a dark, oozing puddle of darkness, and a snap of his fingers to test it revealed the trap of solid shadow spikes shooting out to stab violently.
When all was said and done, Sheik pulled his hand from Link’s. Hands once more laced over his heart, he returned to his original rest. Where he would remain.
Forever.
Sunlight poked through the empty sky, the green tint faded, and the clouds dispersed. Link was left standing back in the canyon, surrounded by sand, high walls, and clattering wooden charms strung up on ropes. Alone, with only the hissing of the breeze coming down from the Gerudo Highlands for company.
He had once wondered why Sheik hadn’t had a temple to wander through, to claim the secret stone he’d possessed before vanishing. But now he thought he might understand. Easily reachable, a place they both knew, and from what he understood, where Sheik’s own entire journey had begun.
He turned his hand over to look at the symbol curiously. He thought it might mean shadow if the previous display was any sign. Fitting, for the guy who practically vanished into them whenever Link looked away. Sometimes, it made him wonder if Sheik was just hanging out in Link’s actual shadow, just waiting for the right time to show up and give him advice.
Why did that feel familiar? And in so many different ways?
He shook the thought from his head, turning his back on the pit. Somewhere far below, deep within the earth, a dragon mournfully rumbled out the first couple notes of a long forgotten tune.
One it would never remember the rest of.