Julane sighed. "I was so busy competing with who could march better that I forgot what we were doing." She said, tucking her head between her legs. Sheik frowned.

"That makes two of us..." She said, pacing the rapidly darkening plains. Sheik began thinking... What would my moron of a boyfriend do? He usually has clever spur of the moment inspiration when the gray mass of brain he calls his own gets jarred by a kick in the head... So when she ended that thinking, the only person nearby was Julane, and she was related to Dark, in a distant sense, so maybe she was the same way...

"Julane, psssst..." Sheik said, and Julane looked up, and suddenly she was greeted by a boot. In the face. That sent her reeling onto her back, and into the dark ether of her subconscious. As she lay on her back, Sheik looked down at her. "Hmm..." She said, stroking her chin, her crimson eyes surveying her. She shrugged then, with a smile. "No good, I guess..." She said, and suddenly, Julane sat up.

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Julane said, as she stood up. Sheik blinked. Does she remember I kicked her? She thought, and decided to say nothing about it. "If you and Requaem are so close in affinity, figuring you're both related by shadow, can't you track him?" Julane asked, and it struck her. Why didn't she think of that?

"Yes, I can! That's how the Sheikah organize themselves without words, we sense each other's Shadow Threads... the threads of our spirits that linger and leave its mark on the spirit atmosphere." She said, and Julane rubbed her face.

"Why's my head hurt...?" She asked, and Sheik shrugged. "No idea, I think you fell asleep and hit your head on a rock..." She said, turning to hide snickers. "Anyways, though, let's get moving..." Sheik said, silently, as she wrapped her hair up, and her face up to her chin. Julane frowned.

"Why do you cover your face? You have such a pretty face, and hair... why hide it?" She said, tossing her own curly locks of crimson. Sheik glanced at her sideways.

"It's a Sheikah honor code... that's also why I wrap my chest..." She said, "Because if an opponent takes pity because of gender, and you win, it's a victory not won." She said, bluntly. Julane looked away.

"Our races are so different... if we can seduce an opponent and ensure victory... you do what is needed to win." She said, and Sheik looked at her funny. "Even if you have to have sex with them?" And Julane shook her head. "No, I don't, at least... there are a few sluts though, in the Gerudo Stronghold..." She said, shaking her head.

Sheik sighed. "Anyways... let's get going." She said, as she closed her eyes, holding her hands together, in traditional Sheikah fashion, as she began tracing the crying eye in the air, and she opened her eyes, which were completely white. Julane stumbled back.

"What the fuck!?" She said, and Sheik laughed. "Freaky, huh? This is how the Sheikah headhunters hunt bounties... this defies light and dark, and shows spirit traces... and outlines of inanimate objects without spirit, like stone." She said, as she began looking around.

She looked towards the ground. "Here's a trace... but it only vaguely resembles his... it looks warped... but the underlying spirit trace is Ishi's..." She said, and Julane looked at the ground, and saw nothing. "How's it warped?" She asked, and Sheik peered at it closer. "It looks like there's two other spirits entwined and smothering his spirit... it seems that when he was taken, instead of being killed... he was placed into submission, and is being brought somewhere at the combined power of some entity... probably Chaos and Ganon..." Sheik said.

She wrapped her hand around the trace, and lifted it from the dirt, and yanked. To Julane, it looked like she was a mime. "What, wrangling the invisible cattle?" Julane said, comically. Sheik scowled.

"Har har har." She said, as she gave a mighty yank. "No, just unearthing the trace..." She said, as she ran off after the newly unearthed spirit trace.

"Hey!" Julane yelled, running off after her. Shiek began pacing her breaths, and stretching her muscles as she pumped them full of shadow magic, strengthening them, and giving them power. Julane, on the other hand, could only run so fast as her human limits allowed her.

After a while, they found themselves standing at a pulsating ... rip, of some sort, floating in the air. Sheik took one look at it, and then had to close her eyes, and look away. She opened her eyes and they were normal colored. "That portal is resonating a high output of spirit energy... but it's silent... nearly impossible to sense." She said, as Julane looked on in disbelief.

"You don't think I'm jumping into that, do you?" She said, and Sheik smiled, and walked besides her.

"No, I'd never do that to someone like you. I mean, why would I do that to someone as close to me as you? I mean, one day, we'll be family." She said, as she grabbed her by the back of the neck, tripped her, and sent her flying into the portal.

Sheik stood there for a little while, staring at the portal. "Well, apparently she isn't dead... there was no scream of pain, no dust left behind from potential evisceration..." She said, surveying the portal. She then pulled out a knife, and poked it into the portal, and then removed it, whimsically. "Hm... no marks..." She said, looking at the knife thoroughly. Suddenly, an arm shot out of the portal, and clenched it's tan hand around Sheik's throat, and dragged her into the whirling vortex of violet.

Julane stood there, looking rather aggravated.

"Family, huh?" Julane growled, and Sheik laughed.

"But of course! Who else would trust a family member to venture off into the unknown and possibly risk their life?" She asked, and Julane scowled at her, age old prejudice creeping into her expression. Sheik glared back at her.

"What's with those eyes, huh?" Sheik asked, and Julane smiled wickedly, baring her teeth in a way that made Sheik feel... almost unsafe. "What's up with you...?" She asked, staring at Julane's eyes. There was something eerie about them... something malevolent in her topaz eyes.

Suddenly, Julane launched herself at Sheik, throwing a fist at her with speed and force Sheik didn't predict. Sheik immediately ducked, and threw her over herself, and jumped backwards, and surveyed her surroundings. This place...

Dead black trees reached skyward for some form of nourishment from the malevolent skies that boomed in laughter as thunder and lightning skirted the dark violet skies mockingly. This whole new dimension reeked of death, and despair, and even the soil beneath her gave off an unwelcome feeling, as if the soil would churn itself over, yielding it's deathly secrets. This place only hinted at in the tales of elders... was the Shadow Realm.

Looking at Julane who quickly got to her feet, Sheik spotted darkness trailing out of her eyes. Sheik stumbled back. Julane's eyes had been consumed by the twilight of Shadow Realm... consumed by a glowing topaz light as her skin became consumed by darkness.

"Julane, take control of yourself! You aren't trained in the resistance of the darkness! Don't allow it to consume you! Fight the hatred!" Sheik called out, as Julane began laughing hysterically, the darkness creeping over every inch of her body and clothes, leaving no shred of humanity behind.

"Assh, raast karra..." Julane hissed, and Sheik's eyes shot open. She was speaking... the language of darkness? Although it was closely related to Sheikah... it was ancient and arcane... and oft when spoke, brought ill things to those who's mouths uttered the language's fell words.

Sheik didn't understand... normally... the Shadow Realm was dormant... legends of old told that the Realm only churned out demons and blighted souls when true evil was being born... or existed... What was going on...? Sheik asked herself, as Julane gained a devilish grin that bore ebony pointed teeth.

"Hm... what have we here... two... beautiful... women." A mocking voice came from the gathering darkness as the skies darkened above two-fold. Sheik began casting magics of her kind to root out the source of this sound, but to no avail.

"Show yourself, coward." Sheik called out, and Julane crouched, keeping her glowing topaz eyes on Sheik. A mist of black swirled together next to Julane. "Should you desire a very... undesirable and... depreciating death... I'd advise that you hold that pretty tongue of yours, Sheikah." the same voice said, as a pair of dull gray eyes appeared from the black ether.

Then a body formed, wearing a long black cloak covering his body, only showing his snow white hair and his daunting grin. "Hello there, love... I'll please you later..." He said, as Julane purred abd rubbed her face against his leg as she clawed at his torso.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, SCUM!?" Sheik exclaimed, and the man giggled, as he grabbed Julane's hair and tugged her head back, as she yelped in what Sheik couldn't discern between pain or pleasure.

"Oh... her? I just took her as my little prize. Isn't she pretty...?" The man said, as he lifted her by her hair, and began gently kissing her neck. "Gerudo women... always have had a better taste than Hyrulian... but I can't say I've sampled Sheikah..." He said, tilting his head, licking his lips, as he threw Julane backwards, where she lay, whimpering at her master's actions.

"You didn't answer me..." Sheik growled. The man smiled sweetly at Sheik. "Nothing but taking her as my plaything... this darkness belongs to me, and a man within it is attempting to defy my authority. And conviently..." The man said, stepping towards Sheik, running a finger up her neck and to her chin.

"...We share the same interest." He said, inhaling from her collar upwards. Sheik slapped him sharply, and the man's expression changed abruptly, as his eyes shifted from a dull gray to a deep black.

"No woman..." He began, as he placed his hand on her throat, beginning to close his hand around it. Sheik was stunned from the amount of power he resonated it... he couldn't be mortal... there as something surreal about his power, even different from the power of chaos... this power wasn't of this world. It truly inspired fear into her, and she felt paralyzed. She couldn't move.

"Has ever... STRUCK ME!" He roared, as torrents of black energy swirled around the two, as Julane cowered in fear on the dead soil behind the man, and tornadoes and torrents of lightning were shot off in the distance.

Sheik felt as if her soul was being consumed by this show of power so close to her, and she felt the life leaving her eyes as everything darkened and faded... but suddenly life snapped back into her, causing her to gasp for air. The man was smiling.

"I commend you for your bravado." He said, with a twisted laugh. "I would enjoy it whole-heartedly if you were to pool your strength with mine, to fight our pitiful common enemy... who resorts to shortcuts to gain true power." The man said, backing away from Sheik, and sitting, as the soil churned upwards to form a throne of skulls and bones and dark soil, as Julane curled up besides him, rubbing her head against his leg.

"...Like I was saying before..." The man said, stroking Julane as if he was her pet. "I'm merely taking her as my own for the time being... no big deal, truly..." He said, and Sheik cocked a brow at this.

"Why would you need her?" She asked, and the man shrugged.

"Because, you don't have a choice at this point... you entered my domain, and since we're fighting the same fight... we'll be joining up. Either that, or I'll have my way with both of you, and drink deep from your veins." He said bluntly.

"I don't like your vagueness. What're you hiding?" She asked, and the man smiled.

"I like you. You've got the strongest soul I've seen next to that delectable gerudo woman I had spent a handful of years toying with..." He said with a smile. "Alright... since you apparently don't like to guess things, love..." He said, biting on one of his fingertips. "You wish to kill Ganon, to save your little man-toy. I want to kill Ganon, because as my son, he's flouting my authority by trying to harness the power to kill me. So, we're aiming for the same thing. Why not just get along... I'll try not to touch you or your friend... too much." He said, as he bit harder on his finger.

"I'm only holding her as collateral so you don't try anything... because although you won't admit it... you've wanted a sister. One that happens to fit this pretty little girly's persona." He said, playing with her ebony hair, affectionately, as she hissed something in a dark language to him, sounding almost desperate. "I'd love to dear, but I need to hold back... this affair of mine has nothing to do with that... I have a man to kill..." He said, and Sheik growled.

"What's your name, anyways?" She asked, and he smiled devilishly.

"Darac, King of Devils."