LADY SEPTIMA HATH RETURNED.
Okay, so here's the scoop:
After I was banned from the computer, I was given an hour time limit during which I could be on the computer…supervised. I had neither time nor opportunity to type this story. However, I now have my own computer, in my room, with zero restrictions, and it has become possible once again for me to post my story.
I have lost several chapters, as they were deleted from our old computer after I had mistakenly thought it was all fully backed up (-_-)' Not to worry. I am in the process of fully refurbishing the story anyhow, so it may actually be to my advantage. In any case, I'm back, and I'm ready to go.
(-_-)
Link gazed about himself. He found, unfortunately, that he was surrounded by a room that appeared as nothing but water and fog and barred doors. The single, distinguishable landmark that stood out against the endless grey was a single, dead, petrified tree. Link approached it, stepping onto the sandbank in which the flora was rooted; it was the only place he could stand without getting more of the frigid water in his boots. He sighed. He could see no way out revealing itself yet; and he was already tired, irritable, and exhausted from the prior incidents in the bloody fucking Water Temple. And how was he to survive long in this room when his provisions were nearly spent? The only upside to this was that somehow, in this room, the almost static buzz in the recesses of his mind had dulled.
But Link wasn't one to sit about and mope, much less one to admit defeat readily. He approached the barred door opposite the entry, and were the door not growing larger with his being nearer to it with each step, he would not have known he was moving; the scenery around him was unchanging, still life as if in a painting. He found this prospect frightening. If he remained in this room, he would…he would surely lose his mind. And with considerable swiftness.
He reached the door, kicked it half-heartedly with the toe of his soggy boot, and felt a deep depression come over him as he began to pout. This was not supposed to happen. There was always a way out, each puzzle seemed as if created for him to solve, if only he found the key to the solution. He bit his bottom lip to prevent frustrated tears from leaving his eyes, and turned back towards the island that harbored the petrified tree.
Someone was standing there.
Whoever it was, they were wearing dark clothes—darker than any pitch black he'd ever seen, as though they were made of the intangible shadows themselves. He could not clearly see the figure, due to the fog, but one feature was prominent and unmistakable.
The figure standing on the island, leaning on the tree as if they were at complete ease in this wretched room, obviously had blood red eyes, which could be seen glowing from within their dark clothes. Their clothes…whatever they were wearing, it was all over them, covering up every patch of skin. Or so he thought, until he was closer on the lone figure. He realized upon approaching that it was naught but their skin which was so far darker than pitch black; in fact, their clothes seemed much more as if he could easily reach out and touch them without them slipping between his fingers as shadow does between rays of light.
But the most striking thing was that the shadowy thing was garbed in a parallel edition of his own clothing, his weapons likewise. The only explaination Link could derive from all this was that Ganondorf had created this…copy, so to speak, and destroying it would be the key to his escape. He approached, his fingers reaching the Master Sword's hilt as he took his battle stance.
The shadow-shrouded thing tilted its head, as if in thought, and then before Link could realize it had ceased this motion, it had its sword drawn and had begun a swing at Link. He dodged, rolling off to the side as was his now-acquired nature, and rose to his feet impressively while simultaneously removing his sword and shield from his back.
But just as they left his back, something else was on it. The shadow-creature had assailed him from behind! How?!? Link's muscles tensed, and he expected to have his throat slit before he could realize himself that he was dead, as things seemed to go without his realizing in this particular battle.
However, he was surprised and more than a little…freaked out…when the creature gleefully exclaimed,
"Piggy back ride! C'mon, carry me around the room or I'll slit your damn throat. If I'm gonna have to kill you anyway, I may as well enjoy m'self first!"
This gave Link no incentive to obey his adversary, and he shook the mad thing from his back before whirling around to strike. The creature was on the ground, legs spread in an awkward position from having been indignantly dropped. Link's sword struck downward, nearly making contact right into the shadow's lower abdomen; it moved, however, seeming insulted (though it was hard to tell due to it's facial features being obscured by shadows).
"Bloody hell! Watch where you stick that fucking thing, there's an appendage right there that I like a lot!"
Link was confused. Ganon's minions weren't supposed to be able to speak, much less make light of a battle situation. He faltered, dropping his guard for only a second, which proved to be a mistake. Again before he could register the action, the thing struck, this time apparently so fast that its shadowy skin-covering was left behind. It jumped Link, pinning him to the ground with a strength he hadn't encountered in all his battles (except perhaps the one with the cuucoo swarm); its legs straddled and pinned his, the creature's hands keeping his wrists unmoving above his head. Not only that, his cap had also come off. Link was in no way pleased, and was certain he was about to die. He gazed up at his attacker, seeing for the first time the actual face—it was an exact copy of his, aside from black hair adorning his head and deep, piercing red eyes gazing into his own, sparkling with triumph and perhaps catty pride.
"Y'know, if you treat all strangers this way, it's no wonder my master wants you dead," the shadow smirked, his eyes shining with jest. "But, actually…you're kinda pretty, know that?"
Link's eyes widened and then became half-lidded with the wry realization that the creature looked exactly like him, and it's latter sentiment could be translated as pure narcissism.
"I can't seem to bring myself to kill someone as pretty as you. Do you know how much that bothers me? I've committed mass genocide personally with the very blade I lashed out at you with, yet I can't bring myself to kill a single boy who happens to have some looks about him. Perhaps I've grown soft, being locked in here all these years…"
Link's expression became slightly questioning, but he was far more concentrated on whether the man's grip on his wrists was slackening than his babbling.
"Lookey here, poppet," the thing purred suddenly in his ear, causing the poor Hero to have a muscle spasm, and then shiver with slight disgust when he realized the shadow had used a slang pet name to address him.
"I want to leave…you want to leave…seems to me, that, for the interest of both of us, it would be better for me to just let you walk out that door—"
Link gasped, in disbelief that a minion of Ganon would let him leave so easily, in one piece, and with his life intact.
The shadow smirked.
"—On a few conditions…"
Link's enthusiasm subsided notably.
"One," and following this single word the shadow's face darkened and fell, and he appeared as more of a lost child who'd seen too many tragedies in a short life than a blood-thirsty servant of evil, "take me with you!" he whined, and his eyes seemed about to brim over with tears. Link nodded hastily, almost without thinking about it, he realized, just to prevent the creature above him from shedding tears (particularly while still pinning him to the ground in a suggestive manner—that would be simply too bizarre)
The shadow's face brightened, and his cocky manner re-asserted itself as he continued:
"Two," he paused as if mentally assembling his next statement, "you have to promise to be my best friend, and never leave me alone, ever."
"…"
"Promise!" This followed with a small but painful jab to his ribs.
"Ugh! I promise to be your best friend, and never leave you alone."
"Ever."
"Ever…"
"Promise?"
"…Promise…"
"Do you promise?"
"I said I promise!"
"That's three times you promised," the shadow grinned playfully, "Now I have justification to kill you if you break it."
Link groaned in exasperation, but it was apparently misinterpreted, because the shadow raised an eyebrow before taking on a catty expression and leaning down to nibble Link's ear.
Link's eyes widened further than any previously known human being's had been thought able to.
"Since you're enjoying this fiasco, why don't we play before I let you go?" The brunette was purring into his ears now, but Link felt himself shivering from the implication. What was the deal with this man? One moment he behaved like a child, the next like a genocidal, psychotic sex kitten.
"I was expressing my exasperation with your idiocrisy, you madman!" Link shouted, pushing the other off and onto his derrierre into the water. He looked like a disappointed child. He soon recovered, however, positioning himself on all fours and crawling through the grey water to the blond, who sat frozen (and feeling slightly molested). He reached the other, looking up at him through his long, dark eyelashes.
"Well, I can understand you not allowing me that…" the shadow's manner mimicked that of a kitten, "but…can I just have one little kiss? You dropped me on my ass twice, and were really mean to me, when I didn't do anything to you at all…isn't that fair?"
Link didn't understand how apology kisses fit under the criteria of 'best friends', but he had a feeling he wouldn't be leaving the blasted room until he gave the shadow what he desired. He grumbled a bit before slowly and embarrassedly (A/N: holy crap, 'embarrassedly' is seriously a word!) bending his head down until his nose was in contact with his shadow's (for he was now certain that the shadow was him in one form or another); the other man leaned his head back, and both their eyes closed before the brunette gently pressed his lips against Link's mouth, and the Hero couldn't deny having a pleasant sensation arise from that contact that he enjoyed (just a little! Well…perhaps quite a lot.). A long period of time seemed to pass with just the gentle contact between them, before Link found himself suddenly pinned (again…not at his best today, it would seem) with the shadow now kissing him with heat and considerably more passion. He squirmed against the unexpected sensuality, but eventually ceased doing so as he felt a queer sensation spreading through his being, as if he was filling something that had been empty before. (A/N: haha, I said 'queer'…okay, no more pointless interruptions now, promise)
After a few seconds that seemed to last for an eternity, the shadow broke away, his pupils dilated larger and his breathing ragged. But Link could, and knew the shadow must as well, feel the sensation of being whole lingering between them. The buzzing in his mind had dissipated entirely.
The shadow grinned before rising, leaving Link feeling a slight draft run across the space where the shadow had been sitting. He felt his lip push into a slight pount at the unpleasant chill.
The shadow offered his hand to the blond, taking him up off the floor into a standing position. Link blushed, the reality that he'd just kissed a man (and enjoyed it) sinking in fully, and his humiliation was contributed to partly by the fact that his darkness seemed to be quite proud of himself. A moment of silence passed.
"…don't…don't harbor the assumption that I will allow that to become a habit," Link commanded, more attempting to convince himself than the brunet, who merely gave him a sultry look and led the way to the now open door.
Link stayed in place for a moment, realizing that by following the shadow out of the room, he was about to make his life far more complicated and dangerous.
He realized he didn't care and strode after the strange man standing in the doorway, waiting.
"For the sake of convenience, and the fact that we are to be friends, perhaps you could grant me a name to know you by?"
The ex-evil minion (or so Link hoped) tilted his head in thought before replying:
"I have none."
"Surely someone has granted you a name! What have others known you by?"
The shadow was in thought again.
"…most folk called me Demon, Infidel, Village Burner, Murderer, Man-Corrupter—"
"Ugh!" Link exclaimed, beginning to wonder if it would be safe to be seen traveling with his new 'best friend' (whom he'd also kissed, in case you forgot). "If it suits your fancy, I would be willing to know you by the name…Ganon…gave you…" Link said, gritting his teeth. The shadow paused in thought again.
"Well, he normally called me Bitch, Wench, Slave, Whore, Dumbass…and numerous other things, and on one occasion he called me Icing, but he was asleep and I can't be sure he was actually talking to—"
The shadow paused, noting an unhealthy twitch seeming to manifest itself in the blond's eye.
"Do you feel all right? Do you want a kiss?"
Link grimaced. That was the last thing he wanted at the moment.
"Shadow…what was…the nature of your relations concerning Ganon?"
The brunet's face lost colour (if that was possible), and his eyes became hard and cold, like a shell had been cast over them to disallow anyone to peer into his soul. He turned his back to the other.
"That isn't important. Now, do you want me to lead you out of here, or would you prefer to stay here for the rest of whatever miserable existence you can live out in this place?"
Link sighed, dropping the subject for the moment, before walking by the shadow's side into the next watery chamber. There was a tense silence between them for a moment, but as Link was bending over to open the chest in the room, his companion squeezed his buttocks while at an advantage, which started them bickering; and Link knew he was forgiven.
|..| (-_-) |..|
...Wow, that sucked remarkably!!!! Anyway, please review, I'll probably have this updated soon since I feel inspired at this time…but I still have homework, so it may not be tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy this landmark of my return…those of you who read the original, tell me what you think of this in comparison…it's what I originally intended, but I'm not certain it's as good…you tell me!
~Lady Septima (Ebony-Thorn)