A/N: Okay, I finally got around to the second chapter, I meant to do this on a weekly update, but the past few days have been...well...distracting (I blame dA). Anyway, our two mercenaries make their appearance in this chapter, and Link has a difficult choice to make- Enjoy!

Chapter Two

Link sprinted three steps at a time up the steel, chequer plated steps to the little entrance area, leaving Rusl lagging far behind. His heart was in his throat and his mind already racing with which questions he should ask first.

The small room was dimly lit and only had Telma in it, but the door was open. Link squinted against the darkness as the two figures stepped gingerly inside, one supporting the other by the arm. Both of them was tall, a couple of inches on Link at least, and clad in the same kind of armour plated leather garb that Link often wore outside. One of the figures wore a thick woollen balaclava over their head, revealing only a pair of glinting green eyes, whilst the other wore a black scarf wound tightly round the face, and topped off with a brimmed hat.

The one with the scarf drew Link's attention the most; the green eyed one at least gave off the warmth of humanity and kindness, but the other; Link could only say he'd never seen the colour red appear so cold. The red –eyed individual was the one who was being supported by the other, draping his right arm over the shoulders of his companion. Both carried huge packs, which they dropped to the floor the moment the heavy door slammed shut behind them.

There was a brief moment of hush and unspoken tension in the compact room before Telma broke the silence.

"Glad you could make it" she said, smiling although slightly hesitant, clearly not knowing what to make of the strange new guests. Most newcomers arrived bedraggled, starving and grateful for the food and shelter. This was the first time anyone had simply strolled, or in one case limped into The Sanctuary.

"My name's Telma" the Gerudo woman went on, "and this here's Link." She nodded towards him. "Either of you need anything, come find either one of us"

Neither of the newcomers had barely moved let alone speak since they'd put down their packs, but the green-eyed one now moved an arm up towards their head and whipped off the balaclava, revealing a shining tumble of waist length fiery red head hair.

Link's mouth fell open as his eyes fell upon the woman that was the owner of the striking cascade of locks. Her green eyes glittered like emeralds cast upon the creamy silk that was her face, which lit up with a radiant smile when her gaze met with his.

She quickly extended a hand to shake his, quickly pulling off her glove as she did.

"So pleased to make your acquaintance, the name's Malun" she smiled.

"Mal-un?" Link answered, almost dementedly, his focus lost in her lilting voice and jade eyes.

Malun giggled slightly nervously and withdrew her hand.

"And this here's Diablo" she gestured towards the other figure, who still stood, unmoved from where Link's eyes had last left him.

"Diablo?" Telma chipped in, "rather odd name"

"Diablo Rylan Kane" the crimson-eyed figure finally spoke, pulling down the black scarf and removing the hat. "And since we're on it, what manner of names are Telma and Link?" he spat.

Link stepped back a little bit in surprise at the mild verbal assault, his eyes glaring at the stranger before him. If he'd had a weapon on him, for certain his hands would have been on it.

The stranger had a mane of raven-black hair that flopped down over his forehead and almost covered his blood red eyes, his skin was more pale than his companion's and his frosty temperament seemed to closely match the demeanour of his eyes.

"Now now Dark, settle down" Malun interjected before turning to their hosts, "Sorry about that, please take no notice of him, he's just grouchy cos he hasn't eaten all day and near on broke his ankle with those monsters out there"

"Monsters?" Telma exclaimed, darting a worried look to Link, "what kind exactly?"

"Oh, just some funny looking ones on all fours with some kind of armour plating on their heads. They were a bit stupid really, just charging all over the place, but one of them got lucky and took out his ankle"

Telma and Link sighed in relief.

Just helmasaurs

"Right then, now that we're all acquainted let's get some food into both of you" Telma sighed.

"Oh food won't be necessary for me" Malun replied, "I already ate"

"Oh, very well then, we'll get you something mister…Diablo was it?"

"Dark" the man replied in a low voice, "they just call me Dark"

Telma glanced over at Link, who could only shrug in reply.

"Very well then, Dark" Telma continued, "we'll get you fed then the medic can take a look at that ankle"

Dark managed to get himself down the metal steps with a surprising degree of agility considering he was effectively short of one foot. Even the moments when he did have to actually bear weight on both limbs he appeared to show no pain. For this very reason Link was shocked when he saw the state of the ankle when the man finally sat down and removed his boot.

His skin was purple from bruising, visibly throbbing and the joint itself swollen to at least twice normal size. Link winced just from looking at it, and yet the dark man before him appeared not to be affected at all.

Link pulled up another chair for Dark to rest his foot on whilst they waited for the medic and went to sit down himself, but then shot up again when he noticed that Malun was carrying both bags down the steps herself.

She dumped both bags on the floor at the bottom of the stairs before Link even had time to reach her.

"Ummm…sorry…I should've helped" he began, but was cut off by the fiery haired woman.

"Not to worry honey, they're not all as heavy as they seem"

"Are you sure you won't eat something?" he asked.

"I'm sure" she replied, glancing over Link's shoulder to her companion. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, it looks bad but the doc will be here any minute, he'll have him fixed up in no time"

At that moment Telma arrived, holding a metal bowl of the stew that everyone in the Sanctuary had been served that evening.

"Here we go" she said, handing the bowl to Dark, "The best stewed beef in Hyrule! Sorry it's not much, but should tide you over"

Dark took the bowl and quickly began wolfing down the hot meal, evident to all in the room that he had indeed been starving. It occurred to Link that Dark had gone hungry, whilst Malun insisted she'd been well fed, which implied that Dark had gone without so that his companion could eat.

How very noble of him Link thought a little bitterly.

"So are we gonna stand here gawping at this boy eat or did you have something you wanted to ask them Link?" Telma stated, interrupting Link from his reflections.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Malun, Telma mentioned something about a woman you got the radio frequency from?"

"Oh yeah, Tetra!" Malun cried, "She was a sweet girl"

Link's heart sank even lower than it ever had before, a feeling that was written all over his face.

"What's the matter honey?" Malun asked gently, putting one hand on Link's shoulder and bending her head slightly down to meet his gaze. She was shocked to see the teardrops beginning to prick his cerulean eyes.

"I…it's just…I thought you might've seen….someone else"

Malun lifted her eyes to look questioningly over to Dark who had been listening to the entire exchange and only shrugged slightly in response.

"Link" Malun continued after she returned her gaze to him, "I don't think Tetra was her real name"

Link looked up.

"What? How do you know?"

Dark put down his empty bowl and spoke up.

"No ID, no real background information, and a look of a frightened rabbit when I tried to question her about it" he stated bluntly.

Link felt his hopes rise up inside him again.

"Can you tell me what she looked like?" he asked hopefully.

Malun shrugged and cocked her head to one side.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice smile" she answered, "sorry, that's all I really remember, I guess that could still be just about anyone right?"

"Right" Link replied quietly.

"Of course there was always the locket" Dark added.

Link's face shot back up.

"Locket?" he exclaimed "what did that look like?"

Dark grinned, his gleaming white smile wide enough to reveal the tip of one fang in the corner of his mouth.

"Round and gold, with some weird circular pattern with sapphires, oh and a photo of some kid inside it"

"OH MY GODDESSES, THAT WAS ZELDA, IT WAS ZELDA"

Link was literally leaping up and down in joy. Malun laughed to see the young man so happy and Telma clapped her hands , her own laughter drowned out by Link's ecstatic screaming.

"Yeah, yeah, that's enough of that" Dark shouted at him.

Link calmed down a little, but only slightly. Tears now flowed freely down his cheeks and he clasped his hands together in gratitude to the pair.

"Is there anything else you can tell me? Was she okay? Where did you see her? Did she say where she was going?"

"Yes, North Hyrule Field and Lake Hylia" Dark answered, without missing a beat.

"Dark!" Malun scolded "For the love of Nayru, show some humanity"

Dark just rolled his eyes, not really taking much notice of the chastisement from his travelling companion.

"Sorry about him…er…again" Malun continued, speaking in a soft, gentle tone to Link, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I can see this woman means a lot to you. Your wife I presume?"

Link nodded slowly, every painful moment of the past six months visible in his trembling eyes.

"So young, the pair of you" Malun commented, "Don't worry, she looked to me like she knew what she was doing, I'm certain she's alive…Link"

Malun spoke his name with such sincerity and the slightest degree of hesitation that made Link look up into her emerald eyes. She was smiling. The type of smile that one can see without even looking at the mouth; the type that you cannot help but smile back into. Link couldn't help but wonder what a beautiful and kind hearted woman was doing with the likes of Dark; then again, it didn't appear that they were involved in that way.

But one can never be sure.

A loud cough suddenly echoed through the mess hall, interrupting the slightly syrupy moment as the medic entered the group. He was an ancient, emaciated, hunched fellow with thick, milk bottle glasses perched on the end of his hooked nose. A few tufts of snowy white hair remained on the back of his almost bald head and he carried the standard black doctor's kit which he plonked down on the floor next to Dark.

"Now then" he rattled, "let's take a gander at this foot"

He poked and prodded at it for a few minutes, making Link wince in sympathy for the Dark man. Occasionally, he asked Dark to try stretching it this way and that, with only the tiniest of twitches around his eyes giving the impression he was in any pain at all.

Finally the doctor stood up to his full four and a half feet of height and announced that the ankle was not broken, just a very bad sprain with some heavy bruising.

"You kids these days" the old man grumbled, "more rupees than common sense, and always looking for trouble"

Dark shot the old man a glare that made Link flinch into action; it was a look of a man about to throw a punch, luckily Malun saw it too. She leapt to her feet and put both hands on Dark's left arm.

"DO NOT….even…think about it" she hissed into his ear.

Whatever their situation, it was clear to Link that Malun exerted a good deal of influence and, dare he say, control over Dark.

Malun turned to the old man. "Is there anything else you can do to help things along?" she asked politely.

The old man appeared not to have even noticed the peril he was almost in as he rummaged in his black bag. He pulled out a small bottle with a viscous red liquid inside.

"Drink half now" he ordered "then the rest in the morning, an injury like this would normally take around ten days but you should be fine after three or four"

"Thank-you doctor" Malun smiled, taking the bottle.

The doctor muttered something more about the youth of today and various things not being the way they used to be and the other general kind of stuff that old people complain about as he shuffled away.

"Useless old codger" Dark muttered after the old man.

"Oh do shut up, Dark" Malun rolled her eyes at him, and turned to Link, "We've brought you a little something" she said, smiling.

Link had forgotten all about the huge bags they had each carried into the compound, and was so quite surprised when Malun lead him over to them by the hand and knelt down next to one.

"I can tell you're gonna like this" she grinned.

She unzipped the huge pack and a waterfall of fresh fruits and vegetables tumbled out across the floor. There was lettuce, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, apples, pears, peaches, tomatoes and cherries.

Link's eyes opened wide.

"Oh goddesses Malun this is wonderful" he beamed.

"Well, you know, I can tell how much you care about these people, and Telma mentioned you had a son, so…"

Link threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I don't know how to thank you enough" he whispered into her shoulder.

"Oh goodness" Malun replied, "then perhaps I shouldn't tell you there's milk in the other one"

Link was overwhelmed.

"How did you manage to come by all of this?" he asked.

"Oh, Dark has his ways" she replied slyly.

"Oh" Link said with a note of despondency, making Malun shoot him a quizzical look. "He must make you very happy" Link ventured.

"Happy? I'm not sure I know what you mean"

"You and him…you two are married? Or involved?"

"What? Oh no" Malun laughed, "I mean, we travel together, and he protects me, but that's it, I assure you"

Link breathed a sigh of relief, although he was not entirely sure why. Perhaps so Dark would have no grounds for jealousy that she'd dragged him off alone- he convinced himself.

"That's, umm, kind of him. How exactly did you two meet?" he asked.

"It was about a year ago, I was….in some danger"

Malun grimaced and shut her eyes tightly as what was clearly a painful memory came to her mind.

"I'm sorry Link, I just can't talk about it" she added, "But he saved me, and…well, I owe him my life and he doesn't even remind me about it"

Link was puzzled by Malun's account of Dark. She undoubtedly saw qualities in him that were not apparent on the surface, but according to her, he was evidently the saviour in a storm.

"I'm sorry to be so surprised" he said, "it's just he seems so…."

"Hostile? Distant? Tsundere? I know, but trust me, he's not all bad Link"

Link looked up at her as he heard her say his name again. He couldn't help it, he really liked the way she said it, just the way she was ever-so-slightly hesitant, and the way her tongue lingered over the L and the K. It just made him smile, and turn a little bit red.

Sometime later that night, after the fresh fruits and vegetable had been stored along with the milk, Link sat up talking with Dark, Malun and Telma.

"So you know she was heading to Lake Hylia?" Telma asked.

"Yup" Dark yawned, "She wanted to get there quickly, seems she'd been delayed by some kind of trouble, worse than what I found her in"

"What? I thought you said she was okay" exclaimed Link.

"She was, after I was through with her" Dark said with a smirk and a wink.

Link felt his blood boil and something foul tasting rise into his throat. He shot up to his feet with his fists clenched and a look of murder on his face. Both Telma and Malun leapt up alongside him to hold him back.

"Now Link, don't let him get under your skin" Telma told him.

"That's right, just ignore him" Malun added.

Link growled and slowly sank back down into his chair, never taking his eyes off Dark, who continued to smirk, not even having flinched at Link's threat.

"Zelda told us very little about what she was doing out there" Malun continued in place of Dark, who could obviously not be trusted to open his mouth. "But she said that she was on a mission of great importance, and she said she'd already been delayed by some kind of trouble. That's when we found her in the rocky foothills to the north, she'd already been attacked several times, but she'd always managed to remain unhurt."

Link rubbed his forehead sleepily.

"Right, so I need to go to Lake Hylia to find her then" he mumbled.

There followed a rather long silence, during which Dark and Malun both looked to Telma. They had each suspected Link would want to do something like this, but the responsibility for his safety, and that of The Sanctuary was not theirs.

"Link, " Telma answered presently, "Please think this through, think about Tael, and everyone else here. They all need you too"

Link only shook his head.

"I can't stay here, Telma; knowing Zelda's out there, maybe in trouble. I have to go find her, she'd do the same for me. Besides, I made a promise to my son that I'd find her"

Telma took a step forward and placed a hand gently on Link's arm.

"At least sleep on it, it's very late and we should get these two settled. It's been a long night and we can decide what's best in the morning"

A/N:

Well, tell me what you think. You'll have noticed the spelling of Malon/Malun: there is a reason for it, I promise, and obviously Link and Dark are already at each other's throats. Please leave me a review, and I'll reply, unless you're very very very mean!