Ok everyone! So I know this chapter took a while but I'm sure it will be worth it cause I think this is a really great one for being mostly filler! Before I say anything else let me just say that I'm posting this chapter via my new laptop, which is good because from now on posting chapters will be so much easier! XD So, I just wanna give you guys a heads up, this chapter is full of the angsts, which is something that I love writing perhaps more than anything else (except maybe romance...)
Before we move onto the reviews, I'd also like to direct you to take a closer look at the new cover I drew for this story a few weeks ago, which I am SUPER proud of! It features a ton of story elements, like Fi's redesign, Sheik, Veress, Terminus and of course, Link and Zelda. You may find it by going to deviantart and going here: art/Blood-and-Spirit-410112048
anyway thanks to fluentzelink, xX Swimmie Xx, Nikrael and The Three Kings for following or favoriting or both! Now onto the reviews!
Nintendoman01-yeah I'm just gonna go right out there and say that the monster in the last chapter was Bongo Bongo ;) I mean, he had to originate from somewhere, so why not the Dark Interlopers? And yeah, the thing about Veress is her original intent seemed to be noble, but now it had simply become a lust for power. But all the same, she still has a working conscience that will come into play in later chapters mayhaps... And in response to your other review... yeah it was kind of a screw up on Fi's part to reveal the whole corruption thing so Veress could hear it. But for the convenience of the plot and what's going to come along later on, she had to find out in one way or another! :D
ShadowNinja1011-Thanks XD
Nikrael-Hahah your review made me totally LOL the first time I read it! Thanks a lot for the laugh!
fluentzelink-Well your wait it over! The next chapter is here! Thanks a lot for your kind encouragement! XD
And without further audi (or whoever that is spelled), let's get started!
Chapter 15: Seeing Through the Shadows
"Admitting your fears is the first and most difficult step in overcoming them."
-Tenzin, Legend of Korra
"Wrong again," Sheik frowned and crossed her arms as she watched Link unsuccessfully attempt the advanced Sheikah fighting technique that she had just showed him. Seeing as how traveling to the Sealed Temple and their encounter with Veress there had taken up the entire morning, the Sheikah leader and the hero had decided to devote the rest of the afternoon to training, though Fi had initially been opposed to the idea, claiming that her master needed no further instruction in combat. But all the same, both Link and Sheik had insisted on it and so the trio had taken to the portion of the field that bordered Faron Woods and decided to set up camp there, since the close proximity to the forest would offer both concealment and protection from the Interlopers.
"Your form is off," Sheik said with as much patience as she could manage, stepping forward to emulate the correct positioning for the footing and stance of the offensive blade-dueling move. "I've already told you this several times now: these techniques aren't about brute force or sheer power; they're about swiftness and precision. Now try it again and get it right this time. We're burning good daylight."
Link sighed in exasperation, placing his shield aside to rub his sore sword arm. "We've been at this all day," he said tiredly. "Can't we take a break for a while?" Though he had initially been enthusiastic about learning the fighting styles of the Sheikahs, Sheik's firm and unrelenting teaching style had started to ware down on him. With her, there was no margin for error and she had made sure that he knew that very early on through her blunt scoldings and complete lack of encouragement.
Sheik scowled at him, stepping up close to him and gazed up into his face with a piercing look in her scarlet eyes. "You think Veress and the Interlopers are going to let you 'take a break' when you're in the heat of battle against them and they've got you on the ropes and you wanna quit just because you're tired or need to catch your breath?" she asked with challenging seriousness. "If that's the case, you're already dead."
The hero set his jaw, gripping the handle of his sword tighter in determination. He wasn't going to appear weak to her or to anyone else. "Let's keep going then," he said with a small smirk of resolve. Sheik returned it with a nod as she held up her staff to show him another technique.
"Is any of this really necessary?" Fi interrupted with a frown as she sat on a rock several feet away and watched the two of them.
"Of course it is," Sheik snapped back, glaring at the sword spirit. Without further elaboration, she turned back to Link once more and took up a fighting stance. "Now," she said to him. "Practice everything I've taught you so far on me and don't hold back."
The hero nodded and made the first move, a quick slashing motion that the Sheikah had taught him early on in their training. Sheik easily evaded it with a low roll and twisted out of the path of his blade once more as he tried again. Remembering her advice, Link made sure to keep both eyes on his sparring partner, who teased him with a sly grin as she moved with deftness and confidence.
"You know, you won't be able to win if you can't even hit your opponent!" Sheik said as she gracefully leaped backwards out of the path of his sword. The hero growled in frustration as he ignored every skillful that she had taught him and made getting a hit in his top priority. He made a loose, broad swing aimed for her armored midsection, but he was too slow for her fast moves. Before his blade even made it close to her, the Sheikah leader had slipped out of the way and dodged it, moving behind him and before Link could even see it coming, Sheik smashed her staff into his open back with so much force that it knocked him to the ground.
The Sheikah leader stood over the hero with a wide smirk as he sat up to look back at her with a cross glare. "Please, don't gloat," he said, frustrated with both her and his own inability to conquer the difficult moves of the Sheikahs. Using a sword had always come easy to him, even before he had taken up the Goddess's Sword, but for some reason, he just couldn't get the hang of the elusive, flexible, fast-moving techniques that Sheik had shown him and that challenge only made him want to master them even more. "I'm not in the mood and this isn't as easy as you make it look."
Sheik's grin faded somewhat as she placed her staff aside and offered him a hand to help him up, though she still smiled slightly. "You know, you're something of a mystery to me, hero-boy," she said jokingly. "I mean, you're just not getting it. You're all impulse and reaction instead of thought and action. You have potential, but you lack skill... How did you even manage to defeat Demise in the first place?"
Link shrugged as he stood up. "Luck, I guess," he said, getting over his anger with her and replacing it with the same playful grin she was giving him. "That, and a good sword." He nodded over in Fi's direction and the sword spirit gave the Sheikah leader a smug grin, which she returned with a harsh glare.
"Well, a blade won't do you much good if you ever find yourself without it," Sheik said with returned seriousness. "No matter how strong it is..."
"And what exactly are you implying?" Fi asked suspiciously as she stood up and marched over towards the two of them. "If you're saying that I would ever leave my master's side, then you are clearly deluded. Unlike you, I am mindful of the duty entrusted to me by her grace and I intend to carry it out to the fullest."
"What are YOU implying?" Sheik said, narrowing her red eyes at her. "That I failed her grace on purpose? Never. And even though I did falter in my responsibility, at least I'm putting forth an effort to make things right!"
"And your perception of making things right is to simply teach Master Link techniques that he will never use in battle anyway?" Fi challenged as the two of them continued to argue. "What good is that going to do? Why don't I give you an exact calculation: 0%."
"Fi," Link said firmly, interrupting the oncoming feud between his two companions. "Stop it. Sheik's doing her best; we both are. We all are."
"Master, forgive me, but I simply do not comprehend why you insist on taking her side," Fi said in blatant anger.
"Because I trust her," the hero said plainly. As he said this however, Sheik's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat, though she was quick to scold herself for it. "And still I don't understand why you don't." He was silent for a moment as he gave the sword spirit a look of examination before he realized the answer. "Fi, are you... Do you feel... threatened by Sheik?"
Fi pursed her lips and looked away from him. "No," she said tersely and unapologetically, turning away from both the hero and the Sheikah. "You are wrong, Master. I am threatened by no one."
Before anyone could say another word, she flipped high into the air and disappeared back into the Master Sword for the first time since she had changed forms that morning. Link sighed as he looked to the somewhat glowing blade of the sword, knowing that he had upset Fi. It was strange to think that, but he knew that the sword spirit was different now. She was no longer the cold and stoic being that she had been when they first traveled together. She had emotions now and thoughts of her own, despite the fact that she was still fiercely loyal to him. The only thing that bothered the hero though was the fact that there was so much tension between her and Sheik. He knew without a doubt that if he had set out to stop the Interlopers and try to save Zelda on his own, he wouldn't have made it this far without either succumbing to Veress's followers or the threat of corruption already. With the help of both the Sheikah leader and the sword spirit, then maybe, just maybe he'd be able to save Zelda after all. But the only way any of them could hope to do that would be to find cooperation and unity among the three of them, something that their small trio certainly didn't have at the moment.
"Link..." Sheik spoke up, feeling suddenly guilty for starting the rift that seemed to have been torn between him and Fi. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to start any problems..."
"It's not your fault..." he said, taking in a deep breath before a soft, joking grin claimed his face. "You know, I think she was actually easier to deal with before she had emotions."
The Sheikah leader joined him in a brief laugh before looking to the western hills, over which the sun was almost set behind. She frowned for a moment before turning to him once again. "You know, I still think you need a lot of improvement, but you're not going to master it all in one day. Even I'm not that good. So I think we're done fighting for the day."
"Good," Link smiled as he fell back onto the grass, allowing his sore muscles some much-needed relaxation. "I'm exhausted."
"Did I say we were completely done yet?" Sheik said, raising an eyebrow at him. "No, I didn't. I said we were done fighting. But that's not the only thing to know about fighting like a Sheikah. The physical aspect is only the first, most basic part. There's also the mental aspect and the visual aspect. And let's hope for your sake that you're better at those two than you are at the physical aspect."
"But Sheik-" the hero started to protest, but she was quick to cut him off.
"Quit whining," she said sharply as she turned towards the forest. "And come with me."
A warm summer evening's breeze flittered through the green leaves of the outskirts of Faron Woods as Link and Sheik sat cross-legged across from each other within a small clearing. The gentle glow put off by the nearby fireflies provided some light for the two of them as a substitute for the absent moon, while the Sheikah leader started the next portion of her lesson.
"The mental aspect of Sheikah battle training was the hardest one for me to master," she admitted, though she continued to speak in her authoritative tone despite her former setback. "But it is perhaps the most important. If your mind is not focused on your fight, then there is basically no chance that you will win. The key is to achieve complete mental clarity and calm, even when you are surrounded by opponents. When in battle, you must forget about everything except for the battle itself, even the reason why you are fighting it. You can't let your emotions fight for you; if anything, they hinder you by giving you a false sense of power and strength. What we're about to do here may sound like a relatively simple exercise, since it's really the only mental training I can give you at this point, but it's actually quite difficult. Are you sure you're up to this?"
"Well it can't be any harder than all of those fancy sword techniques," Link said with a slight grin.
Sheik did not return his smile but rather shut her eyes, prompting the hero to do the same. "Listen carefully," she commanded in a quiet, calm voice. "There are two main parts to this. First, you must learn to block out all immediate external distractions, such as sight and sound. Anything that is not pertinent to your success in battle is unimportant. So to do this, you must be perfectly still and do not do anything. Do not listen, do not feel, do not think. Only breathe."
Her words faded off in a whisper as she took a deep breath to give him an example. He followed suit, blocking out all of the natural sounds of the forest and the feeling of the forest breeze blowing over him. Though it was a bit harder, he cleared his mind of all current thought, focusing on nothing but breathing, as Sheik had instructed him to.
After several minutes of dense silence, the Sheikah leader opened her eyes to see just how intensely Link was focusing. A small smile crossed her features as she broke through the distilled calm of the night. "Perfect," she said, clearly pleased. The hero opened his eyes and returned her smile as he took another deep breath, letting the sensations of the forest affect him once more. "You've seemed to have mastered momentary concentration, which is the only easy part of this. Next, you must learn to let go of any and all inhibitions and fears. Fear is the most dangerous thing a warrior can encounter in battle. It blocks the better senses and entices panic and recklessness. And no matter how brave you can claim to be, everyone has fears. Courage is simply choosing to acknowledge those fears and act in the face of them. And in battle, courage is more important than wisdom, or even power. And so, this next exercise will require you to look deep inside yourself and let go of your deepest fears. So just like last time, breathe and focus on what you are afraid of, and then, let each of your fears go, one by one..."
Link followed her instructions as he shut his eyes once more and reflected on what he knew he was afraid of, but would never admit to fearing out loud. First, he imagined the worst case scenario of what would happen if the Interlopers really did manage to get their hands on the Triforce, if he failed to carry out Zelda's request for him to protect it. In truth, he was not afraid of Veress or her followers themselves; rather he was afraid of how much death and destruction they could reap across the surface if they obtained that much raw power. But as he tried let that single fear go, it gave way to another one entirely: the very real possibly that the Interlopers could kill Zelda. Or even worse, the chance that he could kill her himself because of the corruption that infected him. And, though he knew it was a selfish thought, he was also afraid of what the corruption would ultimately do to him. As much as he didn't want to lose the girl, the hero didn't want to lose himself either. So far, the corrupting process had been slow and painful, and he was terrified of what the end result would be if he couldn't find a way to stop it, which would be a fate far worse than death. And the chances of that happening were steadily increasing, for Link knew he was quickly running out of time.
As if on cue, the cruel, cold voice of the demon started to ring out inside the hero's mind once more, though thankfully no searing pain or forced movements came with it this time. "What are you afraid of, hero?" Majora asked rhetorically and twistedly. "You are afraid of me... You are afraid of me, what I will do to you, what I will make you do to your beloved goddess and what will happen to everything you hold dear... You are afraid to your very soul... You are more afraid than you have ever been before in your life..."
Link did not try to respond to the demon but instead remembered what Sheik had told him as he took in another deep breath, albeit a somewhat uneven one. He had to overcome his fear of this voice that constantly haunted him in both nightmares and in waking. Of the demon that sought his life and Zelda's without relent.
"You are afraid because you know that there is nothing you can do to stop me..." Majora continued to taunt. "Never before have you encountered an obstacle that you could not overcome, but your complete inability to put an end to this corruption will cost you much more than your life... You are fighting a battle that you cannot win. You never will win, because no one can stand against my power and survive, not even those with the strongest of spirits. What does it feel like to know that soon, so very soon, you will lose every part of yourself, your thoughts, your memories, your free will, to me? What is it like to know that all of your hope has died long ago and that nothing can ever restore it?"
The hero shuddered as a bitter chill ran down his spine. He closed his eyes even tighter as he tried to block the demon's words out, but the malicious force pressed on, despite its inability to currently bring on another spell of corruption thanks to the Master's Sword's protection. "What a pity... You could have had so much more to live for..." Majora said with false sympathy. "Perhaps you thought that you could have lived happily with your dear goddess until the end of both of your days... hm? Well it is simply not to be... The moment that you chose to oppose me was the moment that you sealed your final fate. Your time remaining in this world is not much longer... And it will not be without great suffering, for you must learn that even the unbreakable can be broken with enough force. And then, you will be forever lost to my power, leaving the goddess all alone and heartbroken... What a shame it will be that you will not be able to feel such pain after you are fully corrupted, for by then, your heart will have long since stopped beating..."
As the demon spoke these sadistic words in a voice that was barely above a whisper, Link's resolve to remain calm finally broke and he panicked, his fear of being corrupted finally rushing forth. "No..." he muttered quietly in sorrow, his eyes still shut as he forgot about everything else but this one lone fear. Sheik, who had been watching him intently the entire time, frowned with worry when she heard him, knowing that he must have been encountering one of his worst fears. "No..." the hero moaned again as the demon continued to internally taunt him, trapping him within his own thoughts.
The Sheikah leader leaned forward slightly as she noticed that he was visibly shaking, clearly deeply disturbed by whatever he was facing inside his own mind. "Link?" she whispered, biting her lip nervously. He didn't hear her however, as everything was blocked out by Majora's cruel voice ringing out in his head.
"Take comfort in the fact that you are not just going to die..." the demon cooed wickedly, knowing that the hero was almost on the verge of breaking down from the intense mental stress, fear and grief that was being pressed upon him. "You are going to live forever, sustained by my power, existing only for the purpose of following my every whim and desire... As I said before, this has always been your final destiny... This is the only reason why you live..."
"No!" Link cried out in sheer emotional pain, as the demon's words finally wore him down completely. Never in his life had he felt so weak before, but this was a different kind of weakness than a physical one. He had given into his greatest fear, and it was ultimately going to destroy him. There was no way no change this fact.
Sheik took in a sharp gasp as she heard him shout and this time she did not hesitate to call out to him. "Link!" she shouted loudly, rising to her feet and rushing over to him. She knelt down beside him and put an arm around his shoulder, feeling how tense every muscle was and how he shook continuously in fear. "Link, open your eyes!"
Somehow, the Sheikah's words broke through the mental trance that Majora had been holding the hero under and he did as she said. When his eyes flew open, they were wide and looked at nothing but the ground right in front of him. His breathing was heavy and uneven and even though he was no longer alone with his fears, he was still shivering uncontrollably, as if he was standing in front of the evil demon itself.
Sheik's own heartbeat began to pick up as she watched him with concern. Leaning forward, she looked into his light blue eyes and saw unmistakable traces of terror within them. All at once, she wished that she had not asked him to do this part of the mental training. When she had first done this as part of her own training, she had reacted to her own fears in a similar manner, only with much more tears and screaming. He had handled it better than most people did, but even still, seeing him so shaken up disconcerted her, since she was not used to seeing him in such a tortured, vulnerable state.
After several minutes of trying to regain his focus, Link eventually let out a long, defeated sigh and buried his head in his hands, trying to chase away the lingering, haunting words of the demon out of his memory but failing. Sheik still kept her arm around him until she realized that she had been clinging onto him for quite some time now. She felt her cheeks grow hot, but she did not let go of him, knowing that he needed support and comfort more than anything else right now.
"Link?" the Sheikah leader whispered to the hero after what seemed like ages of silence between the two of them. She had noticed that his breathing had finally leveled out and he had stopped shaking, both of which were good signs that he was calming down. "Are you alright?"
He didn't respond for a long moment but when he did, he simply shook his head without looking up at her. "Please," he said in a quiet, pleading voice that sounded like it was tight with fading sobs. "Don't make me do that again."
"I won't," Sheik reassured him gently. "I'm sorry I ever did in the first place. I... I guess I just assumed that... you being a hero and all..."
"That I didn't have any fears?" Link said, lifting his head but looking away from her so she wouldn't see the fact that his cheeks were stained with tears. "Well you were wrong. I used to think that too, but..."
Sheik remained silent as he trailed off bitterly, looking to the ground with regret. It had been foolish of her to think that even the hero was immune to fear. She had even said it herself: no one was. She could only hope that this exercise that she had pushed upon him without thinking had not damaged him too much. "Do... do you want to quit for the night?" she asked diffidently, finally slipping her arm off his shoulder. "I mean, I would understand if you would. It's been a long day and-"
"No," Link interrupted her dryly as he rose to his feet. For a brief moment he thought of the cold, condescending words of the demon and for the moment, he willed away as much of his fear over being corrupted as he could. He was ashamed of himself for letting Majora scare him into near submission so easily. But despite the fact that he was still shaken up by the lies and threats that had been said to him, he knew one thing to be true: even if he couldn't permanently chase away Majora's influence, there was still enough time left in the short remainder of his life to save the land from eternal darkness and save Zelda from the hands of the Interlopers. "I want to keep going now more than ever," he said with resolved determination, reassuring himself more than anyone else. "If I can't do anything else, then I have to save her."
Sheik frowned as she looked into his eyes again, still lacking the hope and confidence that they had carried when the two of them first met, but finding a certain hardness and coldness in them instead. Whatever had haunted the hero inside of his mind had tortured him enough emotionally to replace his courage with emptiness, something that worried the Sheikah even more. She didn't want to see him loose the very qualities that made him a hero in the first place. But she said nothing as she simply stood up beside him and hung her head in guilty remorse for being the one to send him into the realms of his deepest fears in the first place. "Fine..." she said quietly. "Then we'll keep going..."
"The visual aspect of Sheikah combat is what differentiates our fighting style from any other," Sheik went on with her lesson in a hard tone as her and Link sat within the deepest depths of the forest, far away from the glow of the fading fireflies so there was little light for either of them to see by. "Just because you think you see something does not mean you really see it. In battle, your eyes are your greatest tool aside from your mind. Without them, you are completely in the dark, just as we are right now. My people are often called the 'shadow folk', and it's for a good reason. We take to the shadows because they provide us with protection and concealment from our foes. But at the same time, they can be a dangerous thing. If you can't see through even the darkest shadows, then make no mistake, you will lose yourself within them." She paused for a moment to make sure that the hero was listening to her and sure enough, his focus was fully devoted to her though he didn't pose any questions or comments to her, which she found odd as he had been doing this all day. But considering what had just happened, she could hardly blame him for keeping silent and stoic. With a soft sigh she continued. "Before we go on any further, I want to do a little test, just to check something. Don't worry it's not going to be anything like… well, what we did before…"
Link's expression did not change as he stood up after the Sheikah leader did. "What do you want me to do?" he asked as he watched her crack her knuckles.
"I want you," she began, glancing around at the nearby darkened woods. "To do nothing. Simply stand here, and keep your eyes wide open. Got it?"
The hero nodded, finding this task to be the easiest one she had given him all day. "Okay," he said as the Sheikah gave him a mysterious smile. No more than a second after this, she seamlessly faded into the inky blackness of the forest, completely slipping out of his sight. But nonetheless, Link remained still as she had instructed him and waited, keeping a careful watch out for something, though he didn't know quite what it would be. He discovered what this something was several moments later, when, out of completely nowhere, Sheik pounced on him from the height of a nearby tree and caught the unprepared hero off guard, knocking him off his feet, though not without some resistance. They both tumbled to the ground clumsily, and when they stopped grappling with each other, they ended up in such a position that the Sheikah leader was on top of the hero, both of them still breathing heavily from the suddenness and swiftness of the ambush.
"So," Sheik said in between short breaths. She was silently thankful that the darkness of the surrounding area hid her bright, burning blush from sight. Even though their faces were only inches apart, she did not attempt to move off of him. Rather, she firmly pinned both of his arms down with her hands to restrain him from getting up. Though it made her heart race with millions of different emotions all at once, she liked being this close to him, even though she knew she shouldn't relish the feeling. "Do you understand the point of this lesson?"
"Yeah," Link said, giving her a genuine grin, the first real one since the fear exercise. "The point is that you're clearly insane, Sheik."
The Sheikah leader let out a strong, loud chuckle that rang out across the woods. She had to admit: it felt good to truly laugh again. "Well, yes and no," she said with a sly smile. "The real point is that my suspicions were confirmed. You normal, non-Sheikah humans can't see through the shadows like my people can. You're blinded by the darkness within them, and because of that, you won't be able to see if your enemies are hiding within them."
"Well, I don't know if I can really help being human," the hero said good-naturedly. "So are you going to teach me how to see through the shadows, then?"
"No," Sheik shook her head. "The ability to see through the shadows is something that cannot be taught. Either you are born with innate ability or you're not."
"So… What are we going to do then?"
She was silent for a moment as she mulled over his logical question. "If we were not dealing with enemies like Veress, then I would not bother doing this aspect of Sheikah combat, but since the Interlopers are technically Sheikah, I am almost certain they will stick to at least some of our stealth and fighting techniques, especially using the shadows as both a means of defense and as a weapon. And so… There's really only one thing left that we can do at this point…" As her former boldness faded, she got off of the hero and stood, with him following suit shortly after. "I'm going to give you the vision of a Sheikah."
Link raised an eyebrow at her, somewhat confused by what she meant. "And how are you going to that?" he asked curiously.
The Sheikah leader grinned. "With magic of course," she said matter-of-factly. "But it's not just any kind of simple trick. It takes a special kind of magic that is only taught to our leaders. Impa taught me how to do this, just in case I would ever need it, but… Well, I've never really done this myself before. It should still work though… I think…" She bit her lip when she noticed the hero's hesitant, apprehensive expression.
"So, what if it doesn't work?" Link asked, slightly wary of Sheik's spur of the moment plan. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"The worst that could happen," Sheik said, avoiding eye contact with him. "Is that… there's a small chance that, if I don't do everything exactly right… you could go blind…"
"What?!" the hero exclaimed. "Sheik, we can't do this! I can't afford to lose my vision, especially not now!"
"I know, I know," she said, looking down at the ground. "But you also can't afford to lose your life to the Interlopers either. So you're just going to have to trust me, ok?"
Link sighed as he made up his mind over the matter. He remembered how he had stood up for Sheik to Fi, and how he had said that he trusted her. He hadn't just been saying that to quell the sword spirit's complaints; he had truly meant it. And, despite what she was asking him to do, he still did. "Ok," he said firmly. "I trust you."
Sheik felt her cheeks grow warm once more, but she was quick to suppress it. "Thank you," she said quietly as she started to recall what Impa had taught her. "So, first I need you to kneel down."
The hero didn't protest as he sat in front of the Sheikah leader, who stepped closer to him slowly. "Now," she continued. "Just close your eyes and relax."
"Alright, let me just take one last look at the world in case I really do go blind," he joked, much to her insincere aggravation.
"Oh, be quiet," she laughed, rolling her eyes at him. Once the playful mannerisms between the two of them were put away, Link did as Sheik had told him and closed his eyes, resigning to let her work her strange magic. The Sheikah leader took in a deep breath and uttered a quick prayer that she would not betray the trust the he had given her by failing him. And then, in a slow, gentle movement, she placed her fingertips on his forehead and let the vision changing magic flow from her to him.
Sheik closed her own eyes as she devoted her full concentration to her task, not letting any other thought enter her head. The process went on without interruption for several long minutes of dense silence and by the time she was almost done, the Sheikah was confident that she had made no error in it. However, as she was finishing up, she suddenly heard a strange voice calling out to her from nowhere.
"Young leader of the Sheikahs…" the voice, laced with malice, said quietly to her as an unseen wind blew over her, chilling inside and out. "Open your eyes and look upon the one who is going to destroy the hero that you are going to such great, futile lengths to aid…"
Unable to resist the voice's command, Sheik opened her eyes and instantly her breath was caught in her throat as she froze in fear at what she saw. Floating right above Link's head, mere inches from her own face, was what she immediately knew to be some sort of dark presence, perhaps even a demon. Its form seemed to be rather small, largely obscured by the thick darkness, save for its glowing, piercing yellow eyes, full of hatred and a desire for destruction. The girl's eyes grew wide upon seeing that the mysterious being bore several long, thin tentacle-like appendages. Though she wasn't exactly sure what this thing was or why she was seeing it, Sheik wanted nothing more than for it to disappear and never return.
"Very soon the hero will fall into my control, serving as my slave for all eternity…" the demon said in a quiet, yet treacherous tone. As it spoke, some of its tendrils dropped down and slowly laced themselves around the hero's neck, as if intending to strangle him. The still-faint red and blue marks on his face started to glow, as if illuminated by the demon's influence on him. Link didn't seem to even notice this for some reason as he remained still with his eyes shut, but Sheik certainly did as she let out a silent gasp. In a sudden panic, she tried to slip her fingertips off his forehead, but found that she was completely unable to move at all, almost as if the demon had frozen her somehow. "When he has finally succumbed to my corruption," the demon went on in a tempting voice. "I am certain he will be very lonely… Perhaps you would like to join him, Sheikah? After all… I know of your newfound feelings for him…"
As it said this, the Sheikah leader's mind went unexplainably blank and the only thing she could focus on was the demon's words, calling her to fall into the same darkness that Link was gradually falling into. Sheik found herself staring directly into the demon's shining eyes, captured by their haunting gaze, and she felt completely inclined to do whatever it told her to. "Come, Sheikah…" it called out to her in a voice that was little more than a whisper as some of its tendrils reached out to caress her cheek softly. "Come to me… Your fall will be quick for your spirit, unlike his, is completely breakable… So come to me, and relinquish yourself to the shadows, where your kind belongs…"
Sheik barely even breathed as she began to lean forward towards the demon as it had commanded her. The presence of darkness grew stronger and stronger with each passing second as she slowly grew closer to it, completely wrapped up in the trance it had set upon her. At the same time, Link, who knew nothing about the demon beckoning to Sheik, felt her fingertips grow cold and tense up on his forehead, though he still did what she had told him and kept his eyes shut. However, the moment he felt the telltale chill that would spread throughout his body right before a spell of corruption set on, he knew that something was wrong. Without hesitation, the hero grasped onto the Sheikah leader's arm firmly and ripped her away from him somewhat roughly, pushing her away from him so that she wouldn't suffer in whatever was about to happen. Sheik, still in a daze, fell backwards onto the ground and let out a sharp gasp when she landed, breathing heavily as she blinked and returned to herself. Even though she could no longer hear the demon's voice calling out to her and she could move again, she still felt bitter cold, to the point that she was shivering. With a pounding heart and wide eyes, she stared at the ground for several minutes, trying to make sense of what just happened.
"Sheik?" Link said to her worriedly, breaking through her spell of heavy breathing. "Are you alright?"
The Sheikah leader turned to him to tell him about what had just occurred, but her words became caught up in her throat when she looked up into his face. Despite what had happened with the demon, her magic had clearly been successful. She could tell simply by the color of the hero's eyes; instead of the gentle, light sky blue that they had once naturally been, they were now a sharp, bright shade of red, the signature eye color of the Sheikahs. Sheik knew that this was a mere side-effect of the magic that she had used; after all, only those with the crimson eyes of a Sheikah were able to see through the shadows. But all the same, the change had her taken aback in two different ways. On one hand, it was as though all of the youthful innocence that had once filled his formerly blue eyes had vanished away, and the Sheikah leader knew she would miss that. But on the other hand, his eyes now carried a certain ferocity and allurement to them that she found herself attracted to even more than she had been before.
"Sheik?" Link asked when he noticed that she had been silently staring at him for quite some time now. "What are you looking at?"
The girl felt her cheeks burn hot as the hero extended a hand to help her to her feet. "I… I…" she fumbled, trying to pass off her entrancement with him. "I'm not looking at anything. What are you looking at?" she asked gruffly, glancing away from him quickly, even though she really didn't want to.
Link couldn't help but grin at her since he was now fully able to see her awkward blush thanks to the enhanced vision that Sheik had granted him. "I asked you if you were ok," he said, still worried about her, though he was thankful that another spell of corruption had not set upon him. He wasn't sure how he would be able to handle more of Majora's cruelty after everything that had just happened.
Sheik was silent for a moment, deciding whether or not she could tell him. As she looked at him once more, she noticed that his facial markings were no longer glowing as they had been, but she remembered what he had told her about why they had appeared in the first place. And suddenly, she knew what had almost happened to her mere moments before. The demon had almost trapped her as it already had done to the hero. And even though she was safe from it thanks to him, she knew that he still wasn't and there was a great chance that he never would be. "I'm fine," she said resolutely, coming to the conclusion that there was no need to worry him anymore. "I'm glad to see that it worked. Maybe now that you can see like a Sheikah, you'll start fighting like one."
"We can only hope," Link laughed warmly, sensing that she was joking once more. Despite everything that had happened during this night and the fact that he still harbored fear over being corrupted, he was glad that Sheik was there to support him and help him in his quest to rescue Zelda. At the very least, this was a path that he no longer had to walk alone.
Yay! Another chapter finished! Like i said, this chapter was super angsty, was it not? Hopefully it was in a good way! For the next chapter we're going to go back to Zelda and follow her as she returns to Termina to see Terminus, who I am happy to say will make a reappearance in the next chapter! And then after that... well let's just say we're gonna get heavy with some romance, which we haven't done in a while! So let me know what ya'll (ya'll?) think in a REVIEW! Until Next time!