As the flash of light dissipated, Link and Sheik looked around and noticed they were no longer in the Forest Temple. They were now back in Faron Spring. The Twilight had lifted and the sun was filtering through the trees. They looked back at each other and noticed something else was different. They were back in their true form, pointy ears and all. They both looked down at themselves, not believing it and to make sure it wasn't just the other that had changed back. Sheik was wearing his blue body suit with white tabard and bandages. Link was clad in his usual green tunic but for one exception, the new collar around his neck. They looked back up smiling, and closing the space between them, they held each other in the tightest embrace. Tears of joy fell from their eyes as they stared, red to blue, taking the other in. Their lips met in a caress of longing, the soft touch soothing the soul, its warmth spreading through them. When they finally parted, inhaling deeply, a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
The spring glowed in gold, the pool rippling as the Light Spirit rose up from the water. Faron looked like a giant lemur, its long tail curling over him like a hoop. "Link and Sheik, you have lifted the shadow from the land in which I was meant to protect. I wish there was a way to thank you," the Spirit bowed its head graciously. While doing so, he now noticed the object that Link held in his hand. "I see you have found something in the Temple, or rather released it, I should say." Link held up the fragment that he grasped in his hand. "It is a piece of the Fused Shadow, a most powerful relic." Sheik's glance flicked to the fragment when he recognized the reference.
"I have heard that name before, it is spoken of in old Sheikah tales," Sheik said as he began to recount the Legend. "It was said a shadow world, which I can only assume now referred to the Twilight Realm, was once linked to our own. These two worlds, one of Light and the other of Shadow, had a portal that linked them, powered by the magic of each world. After a time, the two worlds erupted in war which was wrought with much death and destruction. Eventually, a truce was called and the Royal Families of both worlds agreed to dismantle their source of magical power, closing the portal. In order to ensure that it would not be used again, the Fused Shadow, which contained the power of the world, was broken into pieces. There were three given to the Light Spirits of our world to protect, which they sealed in the Temples. It is believed there is another that remained in Twilight." Sheik eyed the Lemur, looking for more to the story, that being as much as he knew.
"The Light, of course, had to do the same," Faron explained. "Our world's source of power, the Triforce, was dismantled into three pieces." The two Hylians looked at each other in surprise, for now it made so much more sense. How could this not be known. "One piece stayed with our Royal Family, as you know, and the second was given to the Great Deku Tree. The third went to Twilight, where it was protected by their Shadow Spirit. Since the powers had been dismantled, no longer holding strength, they attracted the attention of the Interlopers. These beings of great power from another realm sought these new powers that were now out there, free to take. One overpowered the Shadow Spirit, taking the Triforce of Power and, bringing it back to our world to find and reunite the other two, inhabited a Gerudo male. The other one inhabited a Twili, which must have been Zant. With his power, he was able to open a portal, exiling the Princess to our world. When the balance of the two worlds tipped, the Goddesses were finally forced to intercede. By the advice of the Great Deku Tree, the Goddesses chose you, Link, to wield the Triforce of Courage." Although Link was aware of the last part, he had not heard how it all started, only that he was chosen to defeat Ganon to stop the evil from spreading.
"So I defeated Ganon, but there is still another out there. Once again, they want to take over, and not just our world, but both." Link had a pained expression all the sudden, pretty sure where this would eventually lead him. Sheik looked over at him, feeling his apprehension at going through it all over again. The warrior looked at Link with his comforting red eyes and took his hand, letting Link know that he was with him. Link felt warm at that, giving Sheik a appreciative nod, the blue eyes softening a bit, then continued on his rant. "Well I have met this Princess already. She helped me escape Hyrule castle after Zelda gave me her power so I could save Sheik." Sheik's look at that moment was absolute devastation. He had not known that and now, looking at the back of his, he saw the glowing triangle. His legs gave out at that, Link quickly grabbing him to hold him up. He could not speak. The Sheikah were the Guardians of the Royal Family and the person he was meant to protect gave up her power to save him, this was not suppose to happen.
"She could not do anything, Sheik. She was trapped in the castle, and she knew it would be the only way to help. You could do so much more than she, from out here. She called Midna, the Princess from Twilight, and she came to help as well. We all need to be rid of Zant to do anything for her people and ours." Sheik felt a little better at that, he could at least stand on his own, if a little slumped and mopey looking. "Midna is taking care of Zelda, holding her close where she can't be harmed. She also knew where to find you and took me through the barrier so I could get to you. She is our only help from the inside. She is powerful, but she can not go up against Zant's magic, it is of a different world. It has frozen are people, as spirits trapped in time, and covered our land in shadow. It is not actually Twilight from her Realm, but a perversion of his own. You will see the creatures he has brought with him, those that took the Light from Faron and the others. But Midna can change their magic to help us once they have been defeated. When we go back into Twilight you will meet her and you will see, although her sense of humor doesn't really help at all. She has been transformed under the shadow as well. She has taken the form of an imp, which I can only imagine was what best suited her, like our forms did us." Sheik appeared a little more reassured with Link's explanation, which in itself was odd that Link's explanations made any sense.
"Well as long as she keeps Zelda safe, then I am bound to help and protect her as well." Sheik said, standing up straighter and more dignified. "If this piece of the Fused Shadow is from her realm, then she would be most powerful again with the whole thing. We are going to free the other Light Spirits, so in the process we will uncover the other two pieces. Although we don't know about the last one, they must be of some help. Each must have some power in itself. This one alone held the shadow over all of Faron when until it was released from the taint. The parasites in the Temple must have been part of Zant's magic trying to infest it, but luckily the Light still held its ground in some way." Link's face quirked a bit at that realization, not thinking of it before, but it not being an issue then.
"Midna was unable to come into the Temple because it still held the Light even though it was under shadow." Link tried to explain yet another thing. "So what will happen when we uncover all the land from the shadow? She is trapped here and if she can't go into the light, where will she go... and what will happen to Zelda." Once again, Sheik was not feeling so good after hearing Link continue to bring up these important things, thanking the Goddesses though that he thought of them. "I can feel the magic in this piece, but I can't seem to affect it in any way. Maybe I just don't know how it works." Link looked at Faron for more. Faron explained that the Fused Shadow could only be used by Royal Blood, being tied to them directly. Much like the Triforce could only be used by Princess Zelda, the Gerudo King Ganon, and yes, Link. He was, in fact, also a Royal Descendant. His mother was the King's sister. Both his parents died serving in the Royal Army during the Gerudo wars. He was taken to the Kokiri Forest when he was still a toddler and raised by Saria for his protection, until one day he would be called upon to claim his rightful place. "Huh?" was all Link could say. He knew all the latter of that story, but not the beginning. He never did find out where he came form, only that he grew up with the Kokiri under the guidance of the Great Deku Tree.
"Well that makes sense, no wonder I am here, to protect you as well." Sheik said and Link gave him an unimpressed look, clearly not needing any protection. Sheik laughed at the naive Hylian, having been with him on the last quest, knowing full well what trouble Link could get into. After a moment, Sheik continued, "Since only Royal Blood can use this, once we have assembled the Fused Shadow, Midna's power is certain to be most powerful, hopefully more so than Zant's. As for Midna, she should be safe from the Light once the shadow is lifted. You have been to the Castle, and it was covered, right? It is not a under the protection of one of the Light Spirits." He looked over at Faron for confirmation, to which Faron nodded. "I mean that doesn't sound good for the castle, but it gives her a chance. I guess Zelda protected it, although she still had the Triforce when it was covered, so that didn't seem to help." He gave a plaintive look, but resigned himself not to be pessimistic. "Don't you find it odd though, that all this happened after you defeated Ganon, albeit a few years later. But whatever did happen to his piece of the Triforce? We never really found out, and he just disappeared. Perhaps it went back to Twilight and this is how Zant got more power. Now that it is only him left, he seems more determined. Do you think there could be any more of them, Faron?" The lemur pondered this for a moment.
"As far as we know there were only the two Interlopers, unless another has not made itself known. I think it is a good a theory as any. Ganon is definitely gone, and yes, his piece went back to Twilight. So that is all Zant could have, unless he somehow got a hold of Midna's Fused Shadow piece? No one knows where it is, or what the whole thing even looked like." Sheik's expression told Faron that he didn't know either. "You will be able to ask Midna once you pass the barrier. I'm sure she will have some more information, now that you have something more useful to her. It would seem if all this were true, then Zant would have a tie to their Royal Family in some way." Faron looked very concerned at that. "Yet another question to ask. She doesn't seem to have told you much, but I'm sure Zelda was aware of the situation before she agreed to help Midna." He paused at looked at the two, wondering why they were still standing here. "Well I guess you better start your search for the other pieces, before Zant has a chance to find them himself." The startled pair said their good-byes to Faron, and hastily departed the spring with his blessing.
It was decided that Link and Sheik would seek out the other Temples to recover the other pieces. The Eldin Province was their first choice since it covered the largest inhabited area. Both the Gorons and the villagers would need their help. Link tucked the mask piece away, amongst all his other gear. The journey to Eldin Spring would take them through two sections of the vast Hyrule Field. A high pass went through the rock walls between them, and another winding up to the Spring from the second field, which it would take about two days to reach. The hike from Eldin Spring to the Fire Temple on Death Mountain wasn't too far, no more than a half day. They could recharge in Kakariko Village before heading for the Goron City. They still weren't sure how long they had spent in the Twilight since there was no real indicator of time. The sun was still in the east where it had been that morning. Although it felt like at least a day had gone by, they were sure that no time went by at all.
They passed through a small meadow with a hut. The man selling oil was sitting outside as always, like nothing had happened. He waved as they passed, holding up a full bottle to sell, but Link still had plenty. They made their way down the path and through the gate, leaving the Faron Woods behind. As they entered the clearing of Hyrule Field, the first thing they saw was the dark orange and black clouds of the Twilight covering the rest of the land ahead. The expanse of field was massive, stretching far into the distance. It was rimmed with either a line of impenetrable trees or sheer rock walls that were unscalable by conventional means. Dappled around the field were tables of rock that had been thrust up several feet, and usually had a little gathering of trees growing on them. This section of the field was divided into north and south by a long rift in the ground. There was some standing water collecting at its base, then the field slowly rose back to level as it continued north. They would stay on the south side and head west to the gap in the rock wall that lead to the lands beyond. They would stick to the roads winding through the grass until they hit the dark wall, not knowing exactly how far it would be.
They hadn't seen any people about, even though to them the Twilight never happened, but there weren't that many travelers in the south anyways. There were a few birds in the sky and some little stilted creatures that zoomed around on two long legs. It became clear why there was not much life out today, when they heard the sound of approaching goblins. Link immediately brought out his sword, a look of pure hatred on his face. He ran at them, Sheik pulling out his daggers as he sprinted after him. There were only three goblins and they were on foot, so they really had no idea what they were running into. Link drove his sword right through the first one as Sheik jumped on the second one. The third one should have turned and ran, but by the time it figured out what was happening, Link had spun around, smashing it over the head with his shield. As Link pulled his sword from the creature, Sheik was already going at the one Link had smashed, having quickly taken care of the first one. Link had forgotten just how quick and deadly the assassin was. Link scoffed at Sheik, who was looking at him with a rather smug smile, then wiped his sword on the goblins clothes.
Link and Sheik continued through the field, keeping up a fast walking pace. They had wondered about each others experiences as their representative animals. At first Link found being a wolf was quite liberating, just running free, jumping far, and springing high. That was until Sheik related the feeling of flying which, to his knowledge, no Hylian had ever done. The Sheikah race had some pretty amazing powers, but that was not one of them. Link looked up into the sky and, seeing the birds soaring on the light breeze, was truly awed by their natural ability. They passed three more goblin hordes before finding a place to rest for a bit. Link was tired because he was trying to outdo Sheik for kill points, but the best he ever did was tie. Link had severed ones head, but then saw the dagger sticking out of its temple, neither knew which happened first.
They had been walking for a few hours, the sun just passing its zenith. Link decided it was time for some rest, stopping at a copse of trees that sat upon the jutting rock next to the road. They climbed up and looked out over the land, making sure they hadn't been spotted and the surrounding area was clear. Link usually got tired easily and liked to be lazy, not having been on a quest for a few years. He laid on his back in the grass and was about to just go to sleep, then propping himself up on his elbows, he looked up at Sheik, who was pacing around looking for something to do. With an exasperated sigh, he threw a stick at him, which he dodged even though he hadn't seen it coming, but it certainly got his attention. He glared back at Link, who was arching his eyebrow and patting the grass next to him. After all, they hadn't been close for a while, at least in Hylian form, and Link wanted to get in as much contact as he could before they had to enter the Twilight again. He had to remind Sheik of this, since he hadn't experienced the barrier yet and seemed to forget what happens when you go through it.
Sheik rolled his eyes and slowly walked over to Link like it was such a drag. Then while Link had his eyes closed in a long, drawn out yawn, Sheik pounced! Link made an "oomph" sound as the air was forced out of his lungs when Sheik landed on him. This wasn't exactly what Link had in mind, but Sheik held him down and he didn't protest. They kissed playfully and rolled around in the grass a bit. Link then found himself where he wanted to be and pinned the Assassin to the ground. Link was a little heavier built, which he though gave him the advantage, not realizing that Sheik, being better trained, could easily take that advantage from him at any time. Sheik smiled and let Link think he had won for the moment, after all, he liked where this was headed.
When they woke up, a little more relaxed and refreshed, it was a few hours past midday so they decided to get going again. They were near the gap in the west wall and hoped to make it through the next field before nightfall. Link knew of a cavern about halfway across the next field where they could take shelter for the night. After another hour, they approached the gap. It was narrow and rose steeply upward, around the hills. They plodded up the hill, nearing the pass. It seemed to get darker all the sudden, and when they turned the next bend they found out why. They were not ready to hit the wall yet but there it was, looming in front of them, absorbing the light around it. They stood in front of it, staring, not quite sure how to get through, hoping Midna was aware of their progress. Uncharacteristically, Sheik took Link in a big hug, squeezing him tight, not knowing how long it would be until he could hold him again. They didn't have to wait long, the familiar snicker being heard on the other side. They tried to part, feeling a little embarrassed, but before they could even react, a giant orange fist shot out of the blackness and yanked them in, still holding each other. This time though, it wasn't Link who had screamed.