An Ancient Bond.

Travel.

   They awoke in the morning and sat near the cooking pot fire beside the inn. Sheik made breakfast and Link cooked some food for traveling. They needed more supplies before heading to the Goron's so Sheik thought they could head down to Hateno Village and find the tower to activate that portion of the map before heading up to Death Mountain.

   As they were alone Link looked up to Sheik and slowly pressed his lips together before speaking. "Yesterday, your question to the King…"

   "Princess Ruto was one of the Sage's. I was curious if anything changed but it was just as I thought. When the Hero reset time the Sage's were forgotten by those who couldn't remember the other time. So, to fill the blanks in their memories, they were told they died. At least, I assume." He threw another log on the fire. "When I woke up one of the Sheikah, the few that still existed before Ganon killed us all, told me my mother died. Just like that. As if they were suddenly given the information. It was weird, especially since I knew the truth."

   "Is that when you went to her?"

   Sheik shook his head. "The Shadow Temple is usually a rite of passage for our people. It tells a part of our history after all. We train, sometimes even in there, but you need to reach a certain age. Besides, if the Goddesses didn't approve I wouldn't be allowed to do what I did. So I trained first, for a few years, and then I sought her out. I think she knew I was coming for a while."

   If what he understood of the Sage's were true that wouldn't surprise him. "How old were you?"

   "Sixteen." That was still way too young in Link's opinion. "I wanted to do it quickly before the Princess grew too old or before the King demanded I work in the Castle. I went to the Shadow Temple, to the very end of it, sat in the room there and prayed."

   "Prayed?" Link blinked and frowned at Sheik.

   "You can't just enter the Sacred Realm, and you can't just become a sage. You need the approval of the Goddesses." He shrugged and looked to Link. "I fully intended to die there if they ignored me."

   It didn't surprise Link but the direct admission was still startling. "So they answered then, I assume?"

   He nodded slowly and stood from the fire. "And so they answered. What's the quickest place we can get to, to reach Hateno?"

   Link grabbed the Sheikah slate and pulled up the map. "Hmm, Dueling Peaks Stable. From there it's about half a days travel?" Sheik nodded and moved to grasp Link's arm. He pulled the shrine up on the map, clicked it and then let the magic absorb the both of them. They appeared on top of the teleport spot and Sheik stepped away, looking to Link.

   "So, eventually I want to take you somewhere but I don't think you're ready quite yet. Eventually though, we should make a detour somewhere." Link nodded a bit confused but honestly he'd follow Sheik just about anywhere. The amount of trust he had in the man was quite deep. Was this why it was so easy for the Hero of Time to call him his friend and follow his vague directions?

   They walked around the shrine to the edge of the stables, the building being right before the large open field. Link tugged on Sheik's arm to get his attention and pointed to the tower in the distance. They could make their way there and get another map added to the Sheikah slate. "We should be careful though this field has a few active guardians. And not the tiny guardians." Sheik nodded and together they headed toward the stables. "I could get my horse from them, it'll be quicker."

   He was aware of the answer before Sheik even spoke. His expression gave away the great displeasure he had at that idea. "I'm fine with walking." Link would have really liked to look more into that but Sheik was already ten paces ahead of him and walking into the field. Shaking his head he rushed to catch up with Sheik