Sorceress: Gah! TRANSIENTFREEDOM, take Dark Link and kiss him somewhere out of my sight!
Dark Link: o_0 Okay…
Link: Here we go again…
Sorceress: I don't own Zelda. If I did, only I would be able to be Dark Link's fangirl. But, I don't.
Link: She really doesn't. We promise.
o~o0o~o
Termina Fever
Ch 8: Fever Dreams
"You foolish shadow!" Ganondorf rages as Dark Link cringes away from the flogging he is receiving. "You failed to defeat the Hero of Time; you are equal in power to him!"
Dark Link bows his head. "My lord…he fights very well…"
Ganondorf turns on Dark Link, fury etched in every crevice of his face. "Miserable, lowly, copy! My weakest minions are better than you; they, at least, can claim to be unique! You, on the other hand, are just a ridiculous duplicate of a ridiculous boy!"
Dark Link looks away. The words hurt more than the whip does.
Suddenly Ganondorf stops. Turning around, a small, wicked smile on his face, he forces up Dark Link's head. "I suppose that you shan't mind the Water Temple? You must have grown to love it while you waited for the Hero."
"No…" Dark Link turned over.
Dark Link shakes his head. "No…please…don't make me go back there…I tried, my lord…"
"Please…"
"And you failed, Shadow." Ganondorf smirks maliciously. "Good-bye…" Ganondorf raises a hand to teleport Dark Link back to the Water Temple…
"DON'T MAKE ME GO BACK!" Dark Link bolted upright, coated in sweat.
"Hush. You're fine," Saria soothed, hand on Dark Link's arm.
Dark Link propped himself up on his elbows, trying desperately to make sense of the situation. So we were fighting a Stalfos, and then… His mind went blank after that.
"You collapsed after you killed the Stalfos," Saria said, seeing the look of confusion on Dark Link's face. "We managed to get back to the inside of the Clock Tower, but by then you were so weak…" Saria gave Dark Link a compassionate look. "We thought we would stop here. Ruto's buying food right now."
Dark Link massaged his temples. "Wish she'd buy red potion…"
"I don't think it would really help." Saria put a hand on his forehead. "See, you're much too feverish for it to have any kind of effect." She shot him another look. "Sorry your head hurts, though. Maybe I can kiss it better?"
Dark Link laughed, but it turned into a coughing fit that robbed him of whatever strength he'd regained by sleeping. Moaning, he hit the pillow. "I can't…"
"I know. Sleep; I promise you'll feel better when you wake up." Saria stroked his damp hair.
Dark Link's eyes fluttered close and he obeyed her, falling into a shallow, fitful, sleep.
o~o0o~o
"How is he?" Ruto whispered, stealing into the Clock Tower with the ease of a thief, arms full of paper bags.
"Not great. He dozed on and off, but he barely gets anything from it, and his head is so hot…" Saria glanced at Dark Link, who was tossing and turning and muttering something unintelligible. "We need the blue potion as soon as we can get it."
"Oh." Ruto set down her burden gently. "How much farther can he make it, though? Could his body survive the trip to Koume?"
"That's what I'm worried about." Saria peered into the bags. "You did get what we needed, right?"
Ruto nodded. "Blankets are really hard to fit in these tiny little bags…" She complained. "And d'you know how long I searched before I found a shopkeeper who wasn't dying of Termina Fever?"
"Sorry," Saria replied. "But we have to have food."
"'Need food.' Ha," Ruto snorted. "You mean Dark Link needs food, right? Good luck getting him to eat it. He's not going to have that big of an appetite." She turned. "Why are you so worried, anyway? Dark Link's tough. He'll pull through."
Saria shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen a Termina Fever victim live. They've all died, and if Dark Link dies…" She paused. "…I don't know what I'll do."
Ruto dismissed Saria with a wave. "Are you kidding? We've got the cure. I mean, we've got the stuff to make a cure. Dark Link's not going to die. You just wait and see."
o~o0o~o
"No, Morpha, two more minutes," Dark Link groaned, pulling the blanket over his head in response to Saria's shaking him awake. "I'm too tired. The Hero won't be here for another hour."
"Why is he talking about Morpha? It's dead." Ruto stared at Dark Link in annoyance.
"Who's Morpha?" Saria asked quizzically.
"Morpha is a tentacle demon from the Water Temple." Ruto turned her head to face Saria. "So I have no idea as to why Dark Link is mentioning it."
Saria touched Dark Link's forehead for what Ruto saw as the umpteenth time. "I don't know…" Saria murmured. "But he seems pretty hot. Maybe he's delirious?"
"Oh, great. Won't that be helpful." Ruto glared at Dark Link as though it was his fault, which, in a way, it was. "Oh, why must we be plagued with this?"
Saria shrugged. "Why should anyone? Other than the fact that two of us are Sages and one of us is the shadow of the Hero of Time, we're really no better than the rest."
"Oh yeah, we've got no status. Geez, Saria, wake him up so we can get moving." Ruto threw off Dark Link's blanket. "C'mon, Dark Link. Wake up and smell the roses."
Dark Link made a low, "mmmph" noise and rolled over. "I can't… stay…awake…Just another hour, Morpha." He turned his fever-glazed eyes on Saria and Ruto, then began to cough into his hand pitifully; once he finished he mumbled something incoherently.
"What?" Ruto leaned in closer to Dark Link.
She could barely make out Dark Link's reply. "I don't feel well. Now leave me be, Morpha, let me sleep!" Dark Link trembled and huddled deeper into the blanket. More quietly, he added, "I'm so tired…"
Ruto took a step back, backing away from Dark Link. Without his usual temperament, Dark Link was almost a new person. And Ruto wasn't sure if she liked the new one any more than she did the old.
o~o0o~o
"No…! I don't want any!" Dark Link shook his head frantically, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.
"Oh, yeah?" Ruto challenged. "I'll force it in if I have to." As Dark Link opened his mouth to protest, Ruto shoved the spoon she was holding into it, panting triumphantly.
Dark Link's face contorted, and he choked up everything he'd eaten in the past day (almost nothing, in other words.) Gasping for breath, he lay down; Saria took a rag, dipped it in water, and washed his face off.
"Here, this should help," she soothed, before turning to Ruto with a look that plainly asked how soon until we get the cure?
"Goddesses almighty, Saria, take a walk with Navi. Shoo, shoo." Ruto waved Saria away.
Saria looked back a moment, before taking off in the direction of the Swamp.
o~o0o~o
Saria slid to a stop, Navi coming to halt beside her.
"Saria…is there something wrong?" Navi inquired.
Saria fell to her knees, head in hands. "Yes…yes, everything is wrong! Dark Link is delirious, and I can't get through to him, and…" She sighed. "I want him back."
Navi bobbed up and down. "So is that why we're going to the Swamp?"
"Mm-hm," Saria replied, jogging towards her goal, Farore-bound on finding Koume. "And if I don't…" She stopped again. "…My whole world would end."
"I see," Navi agreed sagely, bobbing behind Saria.
Saria sat down wearily, fists clenched around the grass. Looking up, she realized that the telltale tree that guarded the Swamp was looming up ahead of her. Energy renewed, she leapt up and began racing through the passageway. A cure was close and Dark Link was saved.
o~o0o~o
"You were bad enough as it was. Why did you have to go get the stupid fever?" Ruto raged.
Dark Link stared up at her through a mask of pain and terror and delirium; nothing made sense, and did she have to be speaking so loudly? His whole body ached and he felt there was something he had to do, some obligation, but what…
"Dark Link? Are you even listening?" Ruto put her hands on her hips, an angry blush creeping towards her cheeks.
Dark Link shook his head, trying to remember, but it seemed so impossible; he felt so weak and ill…
His arms shot out, and he pulled Ruto towards him. "You…have to tell her…" He muttered. "Tell Saria…I…" A coughing fit interrupted him and he took his hands off her shoulders as his body shook with the effort of forcing the air out. Taking deep breaths, he continued. "L…love."
Ruto nodded, looking down. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she saw a shadow of Dark Link's former self as he gave her a small half-smile.
Her attention shifted as Saria sprinted into the clearing, holding a bottle of light blue liquid in her hand.
"We've got it!" She yelled joyously as she knelt beside Dark Link and uncorked the bottle. "We're saved."
o~o0o~o
Sorceress: NO, I REFUSE TO CALL THIS CHAPTER POINTLESS! IT WAS AWESOME!
Dark Link: Yeah, for you, anyway.
Sorceress: Shut up. Link, would you do the honors?
Link: Hawkelion, cookie…deadaleta…cookie; please don't threaten us…msfcatlover…cookie…TRANSIENTFREEDOM…cookie…Dinosour…cookie…LinkLuver3…cookie.
Sorceress: HOORAY FOR CAPS!
Dark Link: Just back away slowly and grab the insanity prescription…
Link: I don't think she has one…
Dark Link: Oh, no.