The New Chronicles of Hyrule: Shadows Joined

Sheik was back at Gerudo Fortress early the next day, pacing restlessly along the corridors where he'd followed Link previously. When he came to the door of Nabooru's rooms, he paused, pondering whether he really wanted to do this. Then he steeled his resolve; it wasn't a matter of desire, but necessity. Just as he lifted his hand to knock on the door, it opened a crack, allowing the Hero of Time himself to slip out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. Sheik saw, much to his dismay, that Link was very displeased. The Sheikah had forgotten how close the Hylian male was to his pupil. "..Is something the matter, Link?"

Link said nothing. It was a sure sign he was unhappy with something when he didn't speak at all. Instead, the blond male just arched a brow, looking at Sheik as if to say, 'Do you really think I'm that dumb?' Sheik's determination deflated, but his anger rose as he glowered at the other male. "I realize you are quite attached to Elenna, but it is necessary for me to continue her training. Please allow me to speak to her."

Again, Link spoke not a word, but he did shake his head in obvious refusal of Sheik's request. Sheik veritably growled, clenching his hands into fists, before he turned and stalked off. He obviously wasn't going to get anywhere talking to Link. Maybe he could appeal to Zelda's good nature.

--

..This, it turned out, was not an option either. As soon as Sheik melded out of the shadows into Zelda's study, he could just about feel that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the young queen. She stood at one of the large windows looking out onto the gardens, hands clasped behind her back. As he approached, making sure to let his footsteps be heard, sapphire blue eyes landed on him as she turned her head and looked over her shoulder, a single brow arching. "Sheik. How can I help you?"

"It is imperative that I continue Elenna's training, but she has hidden herself away in the Gerudo Fortress, and refuses to see me. She also has Nabooru and Link serving as bodyguards, and they will not even let me speak to her. I request that you persuade Elenna to cease with this foolishness."

Zelda was silent for a moment, before she turned her gaze back out the window. Sheik's shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head; it was as effective a dismissal as she had ever given him. "I am afraid I cannot do that, Sheik. Even if I wanted to, I could not simply order my sister of the heart around like a common servant. Considering what transpired between the two of you, I think you simply need to give Elenna some time. She shall come around eventually."

Sheik bit back a sigh, and turned away, melding effortlessly back into the shadows. He completely missed Zelda's parting comment. "..Although I cannot say I would blame her if she did not. You are a pompous ass, Sheik. I hope she gives you hell."

--

"Elenna, you can't hide here forever." Nabooru slipped through the massive doors and into her private chambers, Link just steps behind her. The couple crossed the room to where Elenna stood at a window, looking out into the distant Desert. It had been two weeks since the incident with Sheik, and Elenna hadn't left Nabooru's quarters in all that time. Now, she looked over her shoulder at her brother of the heart and her closest friend, smiling weakly.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd kick me out. Guess I overstayed my welcome."

Link shook his head, wrapping Elenna in a hug which she gratefully accepted. Nabooru, Link, and Zelda had been her sanity the past fourteen days, drawing her, for the most part, from the depression that had plagued her. Nabooru gently stroked Elenna's hair, smiling faintly. "Never. You're always welcome here, for as long as you'd like. But hiding isn't going to solve anything. And don't deny that's what you're doing! Because it is."

"He hurt you. Get him back." The women blinked, looking up at the Hero of Time as he said those words. He looked completely serious, a sparkle of mischief in his bright blue eyes.

Elenna and Nabooru both burst out laughing.

--

Sheik hadn't left the gravekeeper's shack, except to check Elenna's quarters in the Temple, since she'd hidden herself away at the Gerudo Fortress. He would go in at dawn and sunset to see if she'd returned, and it was the same every time. No sign of her.

On the dawn of the fifteenth day, Sheik stepped into Elenna's quarters, and stopped dead. She was there! ..But that wasn't what made him stare, gaping behind his face covering. It was what she was wearing.

Her slender, muscular form was encased in a bodysuit identical to his own, minus the white cloth draped across his chest and shoulders. She wore sturdy black boots, and had white cloth wrapped around her hands; her long hair was held back in an intricate plait, which swayed behind her as she turned her head and looked at him. He took an involuntary step backwards at the icy determination filling her dark violet eyes, matched by the steely emotionless tone of her voice.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. I wanted to reconnect with my friends. Shall we?"

Sheik could tell by the sheer lack of expression on her face.. that he was in for a lot of trouble.

--

"It is very simple, Elenna. You simply need to focus your mind. Feel it here." A bandaged fingertip tapped against the center of her forehead as Sheik continued his instruction. "And direct it there." That same finger pointed towards one of the people milling about below them. The two Sheikah were crouched atop a building in the Castletown, working on perfecting Elenna's ability to read minds.

"Understood." A brisk nod, and Elenna let all her mental powers congregate in that spot on her forehead. Sheik had called it the third eye; which made an odd sort of sense, now that she thought about it. Ignoring the sensation of pressure that gathered just beneath the skin, she nearly fell backwards as the woman's thoughts suddenly popped in her head, making Elenna's jaw drop. "..By the Goddess, are all people so corrupt?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Now, the average person is easy enough to read, but where you will encounter difficulty is in those who have powers of some sort, or who also have the ability to read others. Come, we will start simple and work our way up. Let us go to Darunia." Sheik extended his hand to Elenna, who simply gave him a bland look and walked away, dropping off the edge of the roof. Sheik sighed, and followed.

The girl was going to be the death of him.

--

Darunia, a challenge? That was a laugh. He was almost as easy to read as the people in the Castletown, Sage or no! Saria was also far from difficult, though she actually attempted to block Elenna's foray into her mind.

Nabooru, however, was another story entirely. Even following the Gerudo woman around, staying back and keeping her presence cloaked in shadow, Elenna only caught glimpses. Her frustration was evident to Sheik, who slid up behind the young Sheikah, murmuring in her ear. "The key is to find a chink in her mental armor. Everyone has one. You must slip in unnoticed, gather the necessary information, and leave."

Elenna nodded, though she was suddenly reluctant. Nabooru was her friend; did she really want to invade her privacy like that? Biting down on her lower lip, Elenna watched as Nabooru instructed her Gerudo in combat drills, concentrating intently and gently probing at Nabooru's mental wall. Almost on accident, she found the spot, and slipped into Nabooru's mind, only to quickly withdraw and bite back a laugh, her face twisted into an odd expression.

"Elenna? What is wrong? What did you see?" Sheik came in front of her, eyes narrowed as he took in the look on her face. He probed her mind, only to snap back, a hidden smile on his lips and amusement dancing in his eyes. "..Well, it seems the Hero and the Sage will have more to celebrate than their nuptials."

"I really didn't need to see that. Link is like a brother to me. Creeeeeeeeepy." She shuddered, sticking her tongue out in an expression of disgust. Sheik chuckled, gently gripping her upper arm and guiding her towards the exit of the Fortress.

"Such are the risks of seeing into the minds of others. But you have yet one more task to complete before the ultimate test is before you."

--

Zelda, it turned out, was like an impenetrable safe. Even distracted, staring out the window of her private study at her courtyard, Elenna couldn't come anywhere near seeing into the young queen's mind. A dull throbbing formed behind her eyes as she peered out of the shadows in which she and Sheik were hiding, thanks to the male's abilities, and those violet hues narrowed irritably. As her full lips curled into a silent snarl, she felt something within her well up in an uncontrollable tide, flying along that invisible connection to Zelda's mind, and effortlessly finding that little chink in the blonde Hylian's mental armor.

Elenna's jaw dropped at what she saw in her sister of the heart's thoughts. After a mere heartbeat of gazing into Zelda's consciousness, she yanked her awareness back and closed her eyes, unconsciously turning and hiding her face against Sheik's muscular chest. Stunned at the reaction from his slender pupil, Sheik frowned slightly as his arms slowly came around her frame, lightly rubbing her back, even as he gazed into her mind, gleaning from her thoughts what she'd seen in Zelda. The images that flashed in his mind made his cheeks color, thankful for the fact that they were hidden behind that sheltering cloth.

Still holding Elenna close, the shadows around them stirred and enveloped them, transporting the silent duo to Elenna's room within the Shadow Temple. Her shuddering form cleaving tightly to his, Sheik sighed and gently pressed his cheek to the top of her head, continuing to lightly rub her back, attempting to soothe her. It was only when her shuddering began to die that she spoke, her voice muffled by the fact that she was still hiding her face against his chest.

"Everyone has love.. love in some way.. Link and Nabooru, Zelda.. even Darunia, and Saria, and.. and I don't doubt someone can love that bitch of a fish... What's so bad about me that no one loves me?" When she looked up at him, her eyes were so sad and empty, tears causing a crystalline sheen to cover those violet depths, that Sheik felt his heart ache. For the first time that he could remember since his first lifetime, countless centuries ago, Sheik felt true agony, pain for another person.

He wanted nothing more than to make that pain go away.

Elenna gasped as she saw something spark in Sheik's one visible eye, the crimson iris darkening to a red so dark it was almost the color of blood. Before she could stop herself, her right hand lifted, pushing away the dirty blond spikes that fell across his other eye. That thin gold ring around his pupil was now a vibrant shade of amber, and the tattoo around that eye absolutely entranced her. It took the young Sheikah woman several moments to realize he wasn't stopping her as her hand ran up into his hair, dislodging the cap of bandages that hid the rest of those unruly locks from view. Emboldened by the fact that he wasn't stopping her, both hands fell to the white material draped over his chest, pushing it up and over his head, revealing the lower half of his face.

Sheik's hands wandered down to rest on Elenna's shapely hips as her gaze fell from his eyes to his lips. Her fingertips came to lightly dance across those lips, which were so full.. and soft, she realized. She went still as he kissed her fingers, moving her hand to join its twin in resting on the back of his neck, her fingers curling into his hair. As her gaze rose and their eyes locked again, time seemed to slow almost to a halt, his head lowering as her face tilted up.

Barely a heartbeat of space separated their lips, when a shock of purple energy arced between the two sets of slightly parted tiers. Sheik's entire body tensed when he saw her eyes go glassy and distant, his arms coiling tightly around her waist when she suddenly slumped in his grasp, almost boneless. Her voice was no more than a whisper, breathed against his lips.

"When shadow joins with shadow, the brightness of two suns will triumph over darkness. Shadow leaving makes the shadow come, suffering begins as suffering ends. The dawning of a new world will set all to rights..."

Sheik stared at Elenna intently as she dragged in a ragged breath, her eyes slowly clearing, only to leave her staring up at him in dazed confusion. Absently licking her lips, she gave him a tremulous smile, and laughed weakly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think.. you should rest. You have done much today.. your mind and body are both tired." In an undeniably protective gesture, Sheik knelt and easily lifted Elenna into his arms, right cradling her back as his left curled beneath her knees. Holding her slender frame close, he moved over to the nest of blankets and pillows, setting her gently on it before he pulled back. She made to protest, but all he did was shake his head, giving her a stern look, though he was inwardly surprised when she nodded and nestled into the blankets, looking up at him with a question in her eyes.

Retrieving the scraps of white cloth from the floor, Sheik left her room without a backwards glance, quickly pulling the covering over his head to hide his lower face, before hurriedly rewinding the bandages around the crown of his skull. Within moments, he melded into the shadows of the antechamber and was gone.

--

"It looks like everything is progressing exactly as planned..." A deep voice rumbled ominously, muscular hand clad in a black gauntlet waved over the surface of a dark mirror, making the image in its surface ripple and fade. Golden eyes peered out of a dark-skinned, regal face as the man slowly turned to gaze at his companion, pristine white fang-like teeth bared in a feral grin, ignoring the vibrant red strands that fell across his face. That hand extended, calloused fingers curling in a beckoning gesture. "Soon, we'll be able to make our move. And it will all belong to us."

Soft laughter echoed as the shorter, more slender individual moved closer to her male companion. A fine-boned, white-fleshed hand was placed within his, a stark contrast to his enveloping darkness. Eagerly sinking against him as he pulled her close, his free hand coming to rest on her hip, the sapphires dangling at ears flashed in the low light, rivaling the sparkle in her violet eyes as the woman smiled up at her lover with a low purr. "We'll rule this wretched land.. and finally have our vengeance on those who wronged us."

Their laughter melded, before his head lowered, sealing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss.