Crimson eyes peeked out from behind over long blonde bangs. The small figure looked even smaller standing in front of the massive form that was the Great Deku Tree. Sheik, a member of the Sheikah tribe, who's job was to protect the royal family. He had been training since he could walk and at only eleven was already almost considered a full fledged warrior, though he did have much to learn still.

There were very few Sheikah left, so when Sheik was born, it was decided that in order to protect him, they would send him to the Kokiri forest to live among the Kokiri. His aunt Impa had trained him in secret, usually at night when he could sneak out of the village and into the forest. He had done so the night before as usual, but instead of jumping into training Impa had led him to the Great Deku Tree. There, he was told of his future. About how one day he would be the companion and guide of a hero and was then asked to go retrieve his best friend, Linkle.

Sheik was quiet for a moment. Him, the guide to a hero? But he was supposed to be training to protect Princess Zelda one day. He was confused by all this, and the fact that his aunt seemed to have known about this already. But still, he agreed to go get Linkle. Before Sheik returned to village, Impa gave him the daggers he used during training, saying that he might need them. Sheik tucked the daggers into hiding spots in his clothing, he didn't want the Kokiri to see them.

The Sheikah returned to the village and managed to slip inside unnoticed. From there he went through the village to a familiar house that was built into a tree. He climbed the ladder to the platform quickly and easily. Stepping inside, Sheik started looking around for Linkle, to find her still sleeping. Sheik went over and shook her. "Hey, Linkle, wake up." He said, sighing as she didn't so much as stir. He started shaking her harder. "Come Linkle it's time to get up. The Great Deku Tree wants to see you."

"The Great Deku Tree wants to see you..."

Linkle opened her eyes slowly, seeing the wooden ceiling above and Sheik standing next to her bed with a annoyed expression in his eyes. Linkle pouted slightly, reaching her hands up to rub at her eyes with a small sigh. She tried to remember her dream, for it had been extremely vivid. A giant man on a horse? Prince's Zelda? And did the giant man on the horse blast her with some sort of ball of energy or was that just a part of Linkle's imagination.

Groaning softly to herself, Linkle managed to sit up slowly, still rubbing at her eyes with the palms of her hands."Why does the Great Deku Tree wants to see me? The only thing special about me is that I don't have a fairy" She asked curiously, looking up at Sheik as she sat on her bed, legs hanging over the side. Sheik and her had been friends ever since Linkle could remember, they did everything together. So it didn't surprise Linkle that he was the one to come wake her up and give her the news. But it did surprise her that The Great Deku Tree wanted to see her.

Linkle had always felt out of place in Kokiri Forest, maybe because she was the only one without a fairy and there were certain people--namely Mido, who were always good for making her remember that she would never actually be one of the Kokiri for that very reason. So, she'd never felt like the forest was really her home. But it was also the only home she knew, it was a very odd feeling.

Standing up, Linkle started braiding her hair into two even braids, one behind each ear. The process only took her a spare moment or two, and as Linkle grabbed her green shawl from where it sat folded up on the top of her dresser and pulled it on, leaving her hood down. She then turned to Sheik, placing her hands in her hips and smiling happily."Alright, I'm all ready to go," She said brightly and then smiled brightly.

Sheik nearly breathed a sigh of relief as Linkle began to stir. Sometimes it could take a while to wake her up. All he could do was shrug when she asked why it was her the Great Deku Tree was asking for. "I don't know. He just told me to come get you." Her comment about not being special made Sheik hesitate. He was going to tell her about what the Great Deku Tree had said to him, about one day guiding a hero, but decided not to make her feel bad.

He honestly wasn't sure why Linkle was his best friend. They were so different from each other and liked different things. Maybe it was because neither of them fit in with the Kokiri. Except that Sheik knew exactly why he was different and was okay with it. While Linkle had no idea. That's what had brought them together in the first place, but that couldn't have been what kept them together. Could it?

Sheik waited patiently for Linkle to finish waking up and getting herself ready. It wasn't much longer before she announced that she was ready with a smile. Sheik nodded, "Okay, let's go." Sheik led the way from Linkle's house to the log tunnel that would take them to the Great Deku Tree. Though it wasn't necessary, they both knew the way. Only it didn't look like they would be getting to the Great Deku Tree easily. For standing in front of the tunnel, was none other than Mido, self appointed leader of the Kokiri. "Hold it right there!" Mido said, holding a hand out to stop them. "You two can't go see the Great Deku Tree! You're not even Kokiri, and you don't even have a fairy!"

Linkle crossed her arms over her chest, her green tunic bright against her pale skin. She frowned in irritation, used to dealing with Mido's attitude. It wasn't a secret that Mido didn't like them, he might even be jealous of them because they were so different. Linkle couldn't be sure, but she knew something was going on. No one was simply that mean, right?

"You know Mido, you're not actually the boss of us. But since you seem so set on the idea Grumpy, we'll play it your way," Linkle said with a shake of her head. She placed her hands on her hips, balling them into fists."What do we need to do to get past you? Because the Great Deku Tree specifically asked to see us, so eventually we will have to get past you."

Mido looked shocked, and Linkle smiled wickedly."The Great Deku Tree has summoned YOU?! I don't believe it for a second, why would he summon you?"

"Hey, your guess is as good as mine,"Linkle said with a shrug."So, can we go?

"Be that as it may, I certainly can't let you into the Deku Tree's presence without you first being dressed properly. You have to equip a sword and shield first," Mido said with a serious look.

"... Why? That doesn't make any sense," Linkle said in confusion.

"I will not let you past until you have equipped the proper sword and shield!!"Mido screeched.

"Okay okay, sheesh,"Linkle said and dropped her hands, turning to look at Sheik. "Well now what?"

As Mido wasted their time, Sheik impatiently ran his fingers across one of the daggers hidden on his person. It would be really easy to scare Mido away so they could move on. But aunt Impa had told him that his skills were supposed to used to protect people. Scaring Mido didn't protect anybody. Instead, they'd have to play his stupid game. Last time Sheik had checked, there were no monsters between the the village and the Great Deku Tree, Linkle didn't need a sword and shield. Besides, Sheik could handle any monsters that did show up. He would make sure that she was okay.

Sheik sighed at the annoying task they now had at hand. Gently he grabbed hold of Linkle's arm, and led her a short distance away. He made sure that Mido was out of ear shot before answering her question. "Well, there's a shield at the shop. But it's forty rupees. We'll have to find the money for it. As for the sword." Sheik's gaze went up to the maze of fences that the Kokiri liked to play and climb in. "There's one that I can think of, but we could get in a lot of trouble for it. It's a Kokiri sacred treasure, called the Kokiri Sword."

It sounded like this task was going to be time consuming. The Great Deku Tree had sounded urgent when he had asked Sheik to go get Linkle. He hoped this didn't take too much time. Otherwise the Great Deku Tree might get mad at him. At least aunt Impa wasn't there still waiting, she had probably already returned to the castle and Princess Zelda.

Linkle sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment and then dropping her hand back to her hip. She shook her head,[color=palegreen]"That Mido, one of these days I'm gonna thump him one good time 'round the head," and then walked off in a huff. Her mouth was set in a thin line as she stalked over to one of the houses in the small clearing. It was the triplets' house, and Linkle stomped inside without a second thought.

"Hey, I need to borrow whatever rupees you got. I promise I'll pay you back, but I have to buy a shield so Mido will get off my back," Linkle told two of the three triplets as she walked over to a random pot. She picked it up, throwing it on the ground and watching it smash. The two girls in the house at the moment gasped, looks of shock on their faces.

"Why are you breaking our stuff?!" one of them shouted.

"Blame Mido," Maiyah said angrily and picked up the blue rupee that had been hiding in the pot. She then broke the other pots, collecting one more two green rupees. Sighing in irritation, Linkle stormed out and walked the three feet to Sera's house. She wasn't inside, and Linkle guessed she was hiding in the Lost Forest somewhere as she often did.

Linkle gathered two another blue rupee and another green rupee but nothing more. She stalked out, intent to hit every house in the village if she had to. She would get the stupid shield and the stupid sword, and she'd wave them in Mido's stupid face.

Sheik was startled as Linkle suddenly stormed off, obviously angry at Mido. He caught up with her just in time to see her smashing pots in the triplet's house and stealing their money. "Linkle!" Sheik scolded, but was ignored as she stalked off to Saria's house and continued to smash pots and steal money. On her way out, Sheik grabbed hold of her arm again. "Linkle, you can't go around stealing money from people! I know you're mad, but there are better ways to get it than steal."

The Sheikah thought for a moment before continuing to speak. "Remember when Colin got a blue rupee stuck up really high in that tree with his slingshot? He told me I could have it if I could get it and his brother said he'd give me another blue rupee if I managed to climb up there and get it. That's ten right there. I bet there's something hidden in the area with the Kokiri Sword."

Sheik was a little bit worried. If the Great Deku Tree heard about what Linkle was doing, she could get in a lot of trouble. It seemed weird that the Great Deku Tree wanted to see her, right after telling Sheik about his future as a guide to a hero. Whatever he wanted to talk about was clearly important. Things might change if she got in trouble. He didn't want her to suffer because Mido was a jerk.

Linkle huffed, stuffing the rupees into the deep pockets of her trousers and blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Okay okay, you're right," She said with an irritated look on her face. She knew that Sheik was right, and she shouldn't take her ager out in the other Kokiri just because Mido knew how to push her buttons.

Linkle looked around, her blue eyes curious as she wondered where the sacred sword was hidden. She was sure Sheik knew, as he seemed well versed in the goings on around them. Running her hands lightly over her hair, Linkle closed her eyes for a moment, willing herself to calm down. She needed to think with a clear head, the Great Deku Tree was not to be taken lightly.

"Let's go get that ten and then we can set off for the sword. By then, we should have enough to get the shield like you said, and then we can find out what is going on," Linkle said with a small nod, her face still serious.

There was a reason Sheik hadn't gotten the ten rupees yet. It was stuck in a branch that was a good twenty-five to thirty feet off the ground. It was going to be dangerous. But if it meant Linkle would stop stealing things, then it was a risk he was going to have to take. Sheik led the way over to the tree. Colin noticed and came runnning over. "Are you going to get the rupee?" He asked. Sheik responded with a nod. "Hang on, I'll be right back." Colin said before running off.

He returned a few minutes later with his brother in tow, with a few other Kokiri children as well. Apparently they all wanted to see Sheik climb the tree, or fall out of it. It seemed that it was time for him to start. Sheik took a deep breath, and then before he could talk himself out of it, started to climb. It was easier than he had expected, his Sheikah training him agile. It was only a few minutes before Sheik found himself staring out at the branch where the rupee was stuck. This, was going to be the hard part.

Very carefully, Sheik inched his way out on the branch, until finally he was close enough so that when he stretched out, he could reach the rupee. Now was the matter of getting down. Much more slowly than before, Sheik climbed down from the tree. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when his feet were finally back on the ground. He held his hand out, showing that he had actually gotten the rupee. Wordlessly, for he was shocked that Sheik had even tried to get it, let alone had actually managed to do it, Colin's brother put another blue rupee in his hand.

Linkle stood back and watched as Sheik managed to get the rupee out of the tree. She smiled to herself, grateful that they didn't need too much more money for the shield, as Linkle was too impatient to keep playing Mido's games. Sighing quietly, she uncrowded her arms and walked over to stand next to Sheik.

"Nice job," She said with a soft smile. She reached up, tugging on one of her braids absent-mindedly as she tried to to do the math in her head. She was terrible at math. She was sure they didn't need too many more rupees. Pulling out the ones she'd gathered, Linkle started to count them slowly.

"We almost have enough for the shield." She said with a nod. "I take it you know how to get to wherever this special sword is right? So, lead the way," Linkle said with a small smile, holding her hand out as if gesturing to him to show her where they needed to go.

Sheik handed the two blue rupees to Linkle, before clasping his hands behind his back. He was too proud to show it, but doing something that dangerous had been scary. His hands were shaking slightly, which was why he hid them. He didn't want anybody to see, especially not Mido or Linkle. Though his reasons were very different. Mido was a jerk and Linkle, well Linkle would have been worried and he didn't want to see that.

"About that." Sheik said slightly sheepishly. "I can get us to the area where the sword is, but I don't know exactly where the sword is in that area. We'll have to look for it, and keep an eye out for rupees." Impa had told him about the sword, just in case he had need of it. But she didn't tell him the exact location, since she had never been there herself. Apparently she was passing on knowledge from the Great Deku Tree.

Regardless of that, it shouldn't be too hard to find the sword. Right? Sheik led Linkle to the maze of fences that the Kokiri liked to play in and to the secret tunnel in the back. The small hole would have to be crawled through. "All I know is that the sword is back there somewhere. Beyond here, we're both blind to the dangers that may be there. Be careful."