Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo, I'm merely borrowing them. (Though Ayla, Kaiza, Anaruteir and Terra are mine)

Warning: This story contains yaoi, shounen-ai, slash, whatever you call two guys falling in love.


Soul Mates

Chapter 38


"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," said Speil gruffly and seized Sheik by the arm, tugging him away from Terra. "You told me that you would properly explain everything, yet you keep trying to steer the conversation away from the explanation, tell us that you have no idea why you're here, and you still need Sheik's help?!"

"Shadow, this is none of your concern," said Terra in an even voice. "I suggest you stay out of it."

"Stay out of it? How can I when you keep confusing him like this?" asked Speil, undoubtedly pointing at Sheik, who was beginning to feel like a rag doll in a tug-of-war. "Now, unless you're going to properly answer the following three questions, then we're leaving!"

Terra sighed, an incredibly tired sound that seemed much older than the one who uttered it appeared to be. "Fine, ask."

Sheik tried to say something, to protest, but Speil cut him off.

"Number one: Who are you?"

"I have already told you this, my name is—"

"I don't want to know your name," interrupted Speil. "I want to know what you are, and why you have such an interest in Sheik."

Sheik heard Terra pace around. "I am…what you could call a collective."

Collective? thought Sheik. What's he on about?

"Explain," demanded Speil.

"It's hard to do so, but I will try," said Terra and took a deep breath. "I am not just one person who goes by the name of Terra. I am every single Sheikah who has ever lived and died unburied. I am you, your family and the entire clan. When a Sheikah dies and is not entombed in your House of the Dead, their spirit is not shackled to your realm and is free to wander. The greatest freedom after a lifetime of servitude, some might say."

"So," said Sheik, trying to understand. "You're not…real?"

"I am just as real as you, Sheik," said Terra, his voice coming closer. A hand found its way to Sheik's shoulder. He could hear Speil growling at the back of his throat, but the shadow remained remarkably civil. "Othewise I would not have been able to touch you like this."

"Spare us the emotional blabber," said Speil.

"Fine," said Terra and removed his hand from Sheik's shoulder. "After some time, the spirit grows weary and tired of your realm and is invariably drawn here, to the Realm of Twilight, our first and true home. As more and more spirits found each other, it was decided that uniting into one being would be more…beneficial in the longer run. Plus, with our added powers, we were able to create this physical shell. We named it Terra."

Sheik was unsure if Speil had noticed, but within a heartbeat, Terra had gone on to describe himself in plural. "So when we speak to you, we are actually speaking to many?" he asked.

"Indeed you are," replied Terra.

Emotional impact was something that did not come to Sheik, who could only settle for silence. If Terra was being truthful, then he was now in the presence of a large part of the Sheikah population. His ancestors, not more than a few feet away, were speaking to him from beyond the proverbial grave. It felt…oddly anticlimactic.

"I know what you are thinking right now, Sheik," said Terra. "You are disappointed."

"Could you, please, settle on saying 'I' or 'we'?" asked Speil in a drawl. "Not to be a mood-breaker, but it's really annoying."

"I merely said those things to prove a point," said Terra. "Right now, I am a single person. The others are…locked away so I can think clearly."

"So which one of them are you?" asked Sheik.

"None," answered Terra.

Speil growled. "That's it, we're done with you. Come on, Sheik, we'll find our own way out of here," he said and jerked Sheik after him. The blond-haired Sheikah tried to resist, pulling away from the shadow, who only tightened his hold on his arm. "This guy, or these guys, are obviously insane."

"You never allowed me to continue my explanation," Terra called after them. "And there are still two more questions you wanted to ask!"

"To hell with the questions!" Speil shouted back.

"Speil, wait," said Sheik, tugging at the other's hold. "I want to hear this."

"Pet, this is—"

It was easy enough to hit Speil by aiming for his voice. The fist collided with his face with a smack, and the shadow finally let go of Sheik and stumbled away. Sheik huffed. "Let's get two things straight: I am not your damn pet, and I definitely won't be ordered around by you, of all people!" He turned around and did his best to go back the way they came, easier said than done when all but a small twig could be a deadly adversary at this point.

"I am glad you don't allow the shadow to control you," said Terra as he came closer. "We Sheikah are the masters of shadows, not the other way around."

"In his words: spare me the emotional blabber and continue," growled Sheik, not in the mood for pleasantries, only answers. "You have explained what you are, but who are you? Which Sheikah is currently in control?"

"Terra, naturally," said Terra. "When this shell, or body, was created, it became obvious that there could never be more than one spirit in control as it confused the body. As you can probably imagine, the spirits started arguing about who should be in control. They could not come to an agreement, and eventually settled on creating a separate identity for the body: me."

"So you are your own person, yet play host to the many others?" asked Sheik. "You are not a true Sheikah?"

"I play host to them, yes," replied Terra. "But I must insist on being a true Sheikah as I was created in their ideal image of what a Sheikah should be. And I have the final say in discussions." Terra sighed and apparently leaned against a tree. "The spirits are old, Sheik. They are growing weaker by the day, and will eventually disappear."

"And you will cease to exist," said Sheik.

"Yes," said Terra. "Without the sustaining magic of the Shadow Temple, they will dissipate…as will I. But I do not intend to let this happen without doing one last service to this land."

"Which is?"

"Remove the corrupting influence that is killing the Realm slowly but steadily. These woods were once filled with life, yet right now it is empty."

Didn't he just tell me ten minutes ago that he did not know why he was here? Sheik thought.

"And you need my help to do this?"

"Yes," confirmed Terra. "Will you help me?"

I cannot trust this figure, Sheik thought. It's hard to believe everything he has told me, yet our bond as Sheikah cannot be denied. And why has he watched over me? He has avoided that question as well. I must be careful around this one…

"I suppose I don't have any choice," said Sheik. "But on one condition: send us back once it is done."

"Of course," said Terra. "Hyrule needs you and the shadow. I would not dream of depriving the land of its only hope of salvation."

It was all too much to take in at once, Sheik decided. Here he was, in Twilight, where time ran slower than in Hyrule, where at least a week had already passed since that day in the Spirit Temple. He was currently talking with deceased Sheikah spirits whose bodies had not been entombed in the Shadow Temple. The spirits had migrated to this realm, which they claimed to be their original homeland. That explanation was something Sheik did not wish to hear, but what other choice did he have?

Link…

He was unable to think of anything but the Hero of Time. What was he doing at this moment? Was he looking for Sheik? Or was he on his way to defeat Ganondorf, which was apparently an exercise in futility as long as Speil was still alive? He wanted to go back to Hyrule so much, yet he could not reject a plead for help from his own people.

"Can you…tell me…the origin of our people?" he finally asked. If he was going to help save this realm, then he truly wanted to know if the legend was true.

A spot of light had appeared in the corner of his vision.

"Why didn't he tell you?" asked Zelda, again walking round in circles. "Why didn't he tell me? This…shadow could have compromised the entire quest!"

"Ayla said he didn't want us to worry about him," said Link. He had been forced to sit down while telling the princess about the unwelcome passenger that had accompanied Sheik in the past few weeks.

Zelda stopped and stared at Link. "Why wouldn't he want us to? I'm his friend, Link, and you're his lover. Of all the people in the world, he should have told you!"

What she said rang true in Link's head, he had to admit. He wondered why Sheik hadn't told him. If it had been any other creature, he was sure the Sheikah would have let him known immediately. He felt…betrayed. But then it occurred to him that maybe the shadow had threatened him, or anyone he knew, if he told someone about it. It was hard to imagine Sheik being cowed by anyone, but Link's shadow was probably something that could.

Zelda was taking his relationship with Sheik surprisingly well, he realised. He had forgotten to leave out this detail in his story, but when he had gotten to the desert part of the story, she hadn't even raised an eyebrow. Had Sheik told her about it before?

Zelda sighed and sank down in her own chair. "This is a disaster," she said. "We have a Hero of Time without a Triforce piece, a Sheikah spy with the Hero of Time's shadow possessing him, both of whom are lost somewhere…and Ganondorf is purging Hyrule of all who oppose him." Her brow suddenly creased as she began thinking again. Link felt for her, he truly did. Nothing had worked out as the princess had planned, and he was not exactly helping matters by revealing more and more crushing information. She fixed him with a stare. "I know where the Triforce of Courage is," she said slowly.

"The shadow," said Link, having worked this out seconds before she had said it. "He stole it."

"I don't know if he did so on purpose or not," said Zelda. "But yes, he is the best candidate for possessing it."

"What can we do?" asked Link.

"Until Kaiza finds Sheik, we can do nothing apart from waiting," said Zelda. Night had fallen, and a silence had spread over the Kokiri Village as the soldiers and Kokiri had gone to sleep. "But time is not a luxury we can afford at the moment. The Gorons managed to escape from Death Mountain through the hidden tunnel to the Lost Woods, the Zora likewise. The only places that have not been sacked yet by Ganondorf's armies are the villages around Lake Hylia..."

"And his army is marching there right now," said Link.

"If only Father hadn't welcomed that man into his court," said Zelda. "If only he had believed me when I told him of my dream, then none of this would have happened." She looked at Link with tired eyes. "It's late, and I'm sure we could both use some sleep. Your old house has remained untouched since you left seven years ago, apparently."

Taking the hint, Link stood up. "I just hope the bed isn't too small," he said, smiling when Zelda giggled slightly. Before he knew it, he was being hugged again, a gesture he returned. Zelda looked up at him.

"It's good to see you again, Link," she said.

He nodded and went outside, noting the silence. The rain had silenced all the forest critters, and the only sounds he could hear was the slight clinking of the armour of the sentries and the wind blowing through the woods around them. The princess' personal guards nodded to him as he went off, taking a right instead of a left at the first junction. He had something else in mind than bed.

The small corridor hadn't changed, and neither had the large field in which the mighty Deku Tree had once stood proud and tall. The ashen trunk and falling leaves were invisible in the dark. A torch had been set up next to the Deku Sprout, and he slowly approached it, wondering if trees actually slept slept.

"Link, my boy," said the smiling sprout, its facial features creaking as its mouth moved into a smile and eyes went up. "How good it is to see you again. It has been too long since we spoke last."

Link smiled back, finding it hard to be in any other mood around the Deku Sprout. He still remembered the jolt he'd gotten when it had first sprung out of the ground after he had conquered the Forest Temple. "It really has, sir," he said.

"Why are you calling me 'sir', Link?" asked the sprout. "You never bothered with such titles before."

"I don't know," admitted the Hero. "It just feels…proper."

"I won't have any of that," said the sprout. "I want you to call me Sprout, or Deku Sprout…that is all. None of this silly 'Sir' business."

Link found himself smiling wider. The sprout's predecessor had been stiff and dry in his speech, but the Deku Sprout was all but. Perhaps it was because it was still young. "Fine, Sprout," he said.

"There we go," said Sprout. His smile faded a little. "Something troubles you, Link. What is it?"

"It's…uh…" said Link, unable to come up with anything to say.

"You're worried about your lover, aren't you?" asked Sprout, his voice taking on a concerned tone.

"Yeah," said Link. "I just…I can't get it out of my head that he's wounded or injured somewhere, screaming for help with Navi's murderer skulking around in his head." He sat down in the wet grass, his face level with Sprout's.

"You shouldn't worry," said Sprout. "I'm sure he is well. I have met this young man once before, and he did not seem like the type to give up easily."

"You've talked to Sheik?" asked Link incredulously. "When?"

"After you left my grove, of course," said Sprout. "He appeared in a flash and wondered if there was anything he could do to help. I told him no, of course. The forest will heal on its own time. But I could see what kind of person he is, and he is strong. I don't think he will let a small matter such as a dimensional barrier stop him."

Link's eyes widened. "Dimensional barrier?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

Sprout stared at him for a second. "Oh dear, I said that, didn't I?" it asked, his smile twitching.

"You know where he is?" asked Link, suddenly on his knees in front of the Sprout, gripping the small twigs that grew on its sides. "Tell me!"

To be continued…


A slip of tongue can do so much. And what the hell is up with Terra, really? And just what is going on in Twilight? Find out more in the next chapter!

Review replies:

Foolish Chimera – Cliffhangers are my lifeblood, don't you know?

Lone Keaton – The Twilight in this story shares many similar qualities with the one in Twilight Princess, but mixing OoT and TP would be impossible considering the time difference. But yes, it is somewhat the same Twilight, yet not at all. Good luck with your exams, I hope you ace 'em all!

Yuffie – I don't think Sheik would be willing to do your math, actually. He'd probably smack you upside the head and tell you to do it yourself. Heh, all in good fun, of course.

tails dolls curse – I am truly sorry. The previous chapter was—in retrospect—really vague and difficult to understand, even for me, and I wrote the friggin' thing. Hopefully this one made more sense. Things will be explained further on, of course.

Icy Sapphire – Rusl and Colin were two of my favourite characters in TP, so I needed them in this story. Just because. And someone finally noticed the reference, congratulations! Python rules! As for Terra…well, he's a bit of everything, so jump him all you'd like, heehee.

Katrina – Who knows what that Speil is thinking? How he will react to Link after all this time? Heh, it'll be interesting, that's for sure.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Please leave one if you like the story!