AN: Back to the normal time this week, and hopefully for all the remaining weeks to come. Thanks to silverheartlugia2000, Wildgirl404 and pokemonfan67 for your reviews! With that in mind, please do review this chapter if you enjoy it, or even if you don't - feedback is really appreciated.
Well, with that out of the way, on with the chapter - enjoy!

Nine – Link

'Thanks for waiting for me,' Link cooed, stroking Epona's neck affectionately. She nickered softly, pushing against his head with her nose. He couldn't have asked for a more loyal friend than her, he was sure. She didn't always wait for him, sure, but she was never far and always answered his calls. Today she'd waited, grazing at the bottom of the path to Kakariko Village until his return.

Hugging her gently Link huffed a small sigh, breathing in her familiar horsey smell as he heard what sounded like a scoff behind him.

'Shut up, Dark,' he said, not looking round as he resumed his petting of Epona. She snorted softly in agreement, and Dark sighed back at them. 'I have to get to the desert, and offending Epona more than you already have is a really bad idea if you want to follow me.' Glancing back at Dark Link raised his eyebrows, waiting for a reply that wasn't a flat glare.

'I haven't even done anything to her,' Dark eventually protested, folding his arms. 'All I've done is tried to kill you.'

'Yeah, well, Epona doesn't like it when people try to kill me,' Link replied. 'Do you?' He looked back to Epona, rubbing her neck again, and she gave a soft huff of agreement. 'See?'

'Right,' Dark said in a sceptical voice, and Link heard his footsteps as he moved closer. Epona's ears flicked back but she didn't do anything else, letting Dark move forward until he was about a metre away from her. Link glanced between his two travelling companions, wondering what to do.

'Let's just get this over with, shall we?' He muttered, reaching out to grab Dark's hand. Dragging him forward and ignoring the protest that followed he pulled Dark closer to Epona, all the while stroking her neck reassuringly.

'It's all right,' he said softly, not sure who he was reassuring exactly. 'It's all right.' Epona shifted slightly but didn't react in any way as Link fished an apple from his bag and handed it to Dark. He surveyed it for a moment before offering it to Epona. She snorted at him once but didn't try to bite or move away from him, which Link took as a good sign. After a moment Epona took the fruit, chewing loudly as Dark touched her neck, rubbing gently. There was a moment of silence before, softly, Dark whistled the very tune Link'd used to gain her trust when they'd first met.

'What…?' Link managed, startled as Epona's ears perked up and she nickered softly. Somehow it felt like a betrayal as the tension left her muscular frame and she pushed against his brother slightly.

'You played it on your ocarina outside the temple yesterday,' Dark explained, glancing round at Link. 'And she ran faster to meet you. I figured it would be something like this.' Flashing him a mocking grin Dark turned back to Epona as Link scrambled for something to say. He came up blank and huffed quietly, moving round to mount his horse without a word. Dark stayed where he was for a moment before climbing up behind him, and while Link was tempted to put him in front he tried to reassure himself that his brother was not going to push him off a horse. He'd probably get thrown off too in the process, and so far Dark'd been pretty sensible so Link didn't think he'd make such a bad decision.

Well, knowing life he probably would.

Tightening his grip on the reins Link coaxed Epona into a gallop, directing her towards the desert. They rode in silence, Link all the while expecting to feel Dark's hands on his shoulders, pushing him off. He hated suspecting his brother but he didn't have a choice. Dark might've saved him earlier, but Link knew it was safer to keep expecting the worst, seeing as that was usually what ended up happening. The goddesses seemed to hate him enough to let it happen.

He was so confused.

He wished he could understand what was going on in Dark's head, but he didn't. He didn't have a clue. And Dark wasn't exactly explaining, which frustrated Link to no end. He just wanted to know why. If Dark would just tell him why! Was it really something so awful that he couldn't?

When everything was said and done, though, he didn't really care about Dark's motives – he just wanted his brother back – but if he was going to make him see differently then Link needed to know why, didn't he? The problem was Dark didn't want to tell him. And the Dark he remembered had been a stubborn kid, maybe even more stubborn than him. And he was pretty stubborn.

Shaking his head slightly Link let out a long breath, realising he wasn't going to get anything from Dark, at least not right now. He should focus on the bigger issue – finding and finishing the next temple. And beating Ganondorf would probably be a sure-fire way to get Dark back, right? Still, he really wasn't looking forward to traipsing around in the desert. It couldn't be avoided though, which was a shame.

In the end it didn't take long to reach the entrance to the desert, but once they were there Link found there was, of course, another obstacle in the way.

The bridge was broken.

The bridge, which as far as he could tell was the only way into the desert, was broken. Completely gone. There was nothing but a pile of splinters and broken planks on either side.

'For the love of the goddesses!' Link yelled – well, screeched – flailing his arms as he stared down at the deep cavern the bridge'd spanned. He'd jumped from Epona as soon as he'd seen the carnage, and hadn't been able to contain himself. His voice rang back at him mockingly as he took a few deep breaths, stepping away from the edge before he did something stupid. Like flung himself over it.

'Calm down, Link, it's all right,' Navi said, voice nervous as she fluttered next to him. Sucking in a deep breath through his nose then holding it Link tipped his head back to look at the sky until his chest began to ache painfully. Exhaling sharply he turned round, finding Dark and Epona stood a little way away watching him. Dark tilted his head slightly and Link curled his hands into fists for a second before letting out a long breath, closing his eyes for a minute and letting the anger go. He just needed to think this through, to find another solution. He was getting good at that lately – it couldn't be that hard.

'Why not just jump across?' A little of his calm crumbled away as Dark spoke but he bit his tongue, opening his eyes slowly to stare at his brother.

'What?' He demanded, not able to bring himself to care about the grump in his voice.

'Why not just jump across?' Dark repeated, tilting his head in Epona's direction. 'On her?' He couldn't see Dark's face but Link was fairly sure he knew what kind of expression his brother was wearing. Sucking in another breath Link glanced over his shoulder at the gap. Would Epona be able to make it? Maybe, but not with both of them riding her.

'One of us'll be stuck over here, though,' he said slowly, looking back to Dark who shrugged slightly.

'Hardly.'

'What's that s'posed to mean?' Link demanded, looking between his brother and the ledge. 'D'you think you can jump it or something?' That would be impressive, but Link was pretty sure it wasn't possible.

'Not at all,' Dark said, offering no explanation as he moved to stand beside Link. Link shuffled away just a little, aware of the exceedingly high drop just a few paces away. Dark gave a little scoff, shaking his head. Scowling Link suddenly found himself resisting the urge to push Dark off the cliff.

'I don't believe you can get across,' Link said after a minute. 'But if I leave you here will you go back to Ganondorf?'

'No,' Dark said simply and Link peered at him with narrow eyes for a moment. Couldn't he answer questions in any other ways?

'Really?'

'Not until you're dead,' Dark explained, almost sounding like he was joking but Link was pretty sure that was just him being stupid.

'But what are you gonna do while I'm over there?' Link pressed, not trusting his brother to not be lying.

'Pray for your demise,' Dark replied blandly, voice flat. 'And I can get across just fine, thank you very much.' Narrowing his eyes further Link peered at his brother, not believing him in the slightest.

'How?'

'You don't need to know that,' Dark said, staring out across the gap. Link opened his mouth, paused, and then let out a long breath because he didn't see himself getting a straight answer any time soon.

'Fine, whatever, be that way,' he grumbled, shaking his head and turning back to Epona. He crossed to her side and pulled himself up into the saddle. 'But seriously, if you're not right behind me then I'm coming back over.'

'Is that supposed to be a threat?' Dark asked, still staring out across the canyon. 'You're the one who actually needs to go over there, remember?'

Link opened his mouth then closed it again. Dark had a point, as much as Link hated to admit it. He would just have to pray that Dark wasn't lying and actually could get across. The goddesses wouldn't screw him over on even that, surely? Plus, why would Dark lie about it? There was no point, unless he was seriously planning to go back to Ganondorf.

Shaking himself Link forced his whirring thoughts aside. There wasn't much point thinking about it, really. Either Dark came across or he didn't – Link'd just have to deal with the consequences. If that meant tying his brother up and catapulting him over the gap then so be it. He'd do it, too.

Wasting no more time dithering Link dug his heels into Epona's sides, and a second later they were galloping straight towards the gap.

'C'mon, girl,' he murmured, gripping the reins tightly as he felt Epona's muscles bunching underneath him.

And then they were in the air, soaring over the endless drop – or at least it looked pretty endless from where Link sat. He would deny it to his last breath if asked but he closed his eyes, scrunching up his face as he waited for the sickening sensation of falling, because there was no way the goddesses would let him jump a chasm without a hitch, but seconds that felt like minutes later Epona's hooves thudded into the ground again and they were over.

Sitting up slowly Link cracked open his eyes as Epona slowed to a walk, letting out a breathless laugh as he found himself coming level with a large tent. There was a person stood in front of it, and they were maybe vaguely familiar but Link couldn't place where he'd seen them before. Either way they were muscly and looked bad-tempered, their arms folded across their chest and a frown on their face.

Taking a few breaths as his heart slowed Link steered Epona towards the person before stopping suddenly to look around for Dark. His eyes jumped to the other side of the canyon, roaming around frantically, but there was no one there. He couldn't've made a break for the castle, could he?

'I'll kill him,' Link hissed to himself, taking a breath. 'D-'

'Looking for someone?' Just as Link opened his mouth to yell his brother's name the familiar flat voice sounded beside him and he spun in the saddle, so quickly he nearly fell straight off Epona. Dark snorted from where he stood with his arms folded beside the mare, annoying hood still up.

'What the…?' Link couldn't find the words. 'How, for the love of Farore, did you get over here?'

'A magician never reveals his secrets,' Dark said blandly, spreading his hands unapologetically. Link spluttered for a moment, irritated and bewildered and relieved all at the same time, before he let it go. He wasn't gonna get any answers, so why even bother?

'I'll bet,' he grumbled eventually, slipping from Epona's back and rubbing her neck. 'Thanks, girl.' She snorted softly, leaning against him as Dark moved round to stand by him. Link watched him from the corner of his eye, resisting the urge to edge away, but didn't say anything. He was just glad Dark hadn't tried to leave, really. The thought of his brother being around Ganondorf made his skin crawl, especially when Dark seemed to want to. That made him feel sick to his stomach.

Cutting off his thoughts before he got angry Link gave Epona's neck one last rub before moving towards the stranger and his tent. The stranger lifted a hand to beckon him as he drew closer, and when he was near enough the man opened his abnormally large, red mouth.

'Hey, you! Are you going to the fortress?' He practically bellowed, and Link cringed back at the sudden loud noise.

'Uh, fortress?' He repeated, confused.

'If you are, would you mind finding out what my workers are doing?' The man continued, not even appearing to hear Link.

'Sure,' Link said after a moment's hesitation. He couldn't say no to a request for help, even if he had no idea what the guy was talking about. The man didn't seem to want to say anything else so Link wandered back to Dark and Epona, thinking. Weird guy.

'Hey, Dark, do you know if there's a fortress round here?' He asked as he approached, and Dark pulled his hood down slowly in thoughtful silence. Link didn't know why he was so glad to be able to actually see his brother's face, but it was unnerving when it was hidden under the hood. He couldn't tell what Dark was thinking at the best of times, so covering his face just made it even more difficult.

'The fortress?' Dark repeated, tilting his head slightly before a grin flashed across his face. Link's stomach dropped as he caught it – it was the same kind of smile he'd given right when he'd led Link into a death trap. 'Yes, I know it. Maybe I won't have to kill you after all.'

That did not sound good.

'What do you mean?' Suddenly Navi was there, asking the question before Link could think to. 'Is it dangerous?'

'Very,' Dark replied airily, running his fingers through his hair slowly. 'I wish you luck, Mr Hero. You're going to need it.'

That definitely didn't sound good. Not at all.

'What? Why?' Link demanded, momentarily forgetting that trying to get answers from Dark was like pulling teeth, only about a hundred times worse.

'It's the Gerudo Fortress,' Dark said, catching Link off-guard when he actually answered a question for once. 'A place no man is allowed to set foot.'

Link was suddenly reminded of all the times Dark'd scared him and the other Kokiri senseless with all kinds of ghost stories when they were younger. He was scarily good at telling scary stories, and right now his tone was just like it'd always been when he'd set the scene for a particularly terrifying one. Link shivered slightly just remembering, however stupid the stories seemed now.

'Have you really never heard of it?' Dark continued, tone going from threatening to condescending.

'I'm not stupid,' Link grouched, scowling when Dark's eyebrows rose. 'I've heard ofit, just not much…' He trailed off into a mumble at the end, not liking the way Dark always seemed to treat him like he was stupid. Not everyone got raised by evil nobility.

'Well, you'd best get your stealth-head on, otherwise you're going to be locked in jail for the rest of your life,' Dark warned and Link's scowl softened to a frown.

'I thought you just said I'd get killed if I went there,' he said, and Dark rolled his eyes.

'Details.' He waved a hand flippantly. 'I said I wouldn't have to kill you – if you're in prison you're hardly going to be a threat to our plans, now are you?'

'That's not so bad,' Link said, shrugging lightly. 'You can escape from prisons. Yeah, actually, that's not scary at all – you got my hopes up for nothing, Dark.'

'I wouldn't underestimate the Gerudo, Link,' Dark said with a slight shrug. 'And I never said they wouldn't kill you, mind. And you do know who their leader is, don't you?'

'Uh…' Link paused, wracking his brains. He was pretty sure he knew, but being put on the spot always left his brain completely empty.

'Ganondorf,' Dark said with a sly smile that widened when he saw that register in Link's brain.

'What?' Link looked in the direction of the desert, finding his heart suddenly beating faster. Was it fear? Or was it anger? 'So then they're evil?' Looking back to Dark Link saw his brother sigh, irritation flashing across his face. At least he didn't seem to be trying to block out all his emotions anymore.

'No, they're not,' he said after a moment, and Link frowned.

'But they work for Ganondorf – isn't that what you said?'

'Ganondorf-' Dark broke off, looking like he was gritting his teeth as he made a slight, harsh noise. 'They're not evil, Link.' He shook his head, lifting his eyes to the sky for a second. 'You know what, they'll probably welcome you with open arms. The great Hylian Hero, come to free them from their terrible Evil King.'

'Why're you being sarcastic?' Link demanded, annoyed now. 'Ganondorf's evil, Dark – why can't you see that?!'

'For all I care, Link, you're the evil one,' Dark replied, which made Link freeze. 'But we could debate this for years. Now are you going to go to the fortress or should I just stab you now?'

Link couldn't speak, shocked by this new revelation. Dark thought he was evil? He was trying to save Hyrule, though! How did that make him evil? Or was it 'cause he'd left Dark alone for ten years? He didn't know why, but the only reason he could think of was Ganondorf. Everything was Ganondorf's fault. He'd got inside Dark's head and messed it up. Link didn't know how, but he knew for sure it'd happened. Goddesses, he hated that man. Absolutely loathed him.

'Link?' Navi suddenly spoke near his ear and he started, blinking.

'Yeah?' He lifted his eyes from the floor, noticing for the first time the sharp pain stabbing through his palms. Looking down at his hands he found deep crescent marks in both of them – he'd been clenching his fists without even noticing.

'Are you all right?' Navi asked, hovering in front of his face.

'Yeah, fine,' Link said, realising he'd been lying to her a lot lately. He couldn't help it. He didn't want her to worry.

'Then can you please get a move on?' Dark sighed from where he'd, as always, been stood quietly observing Link's consternation. Link kinda wished he'd just attack him already, because he hated getting so caught up in his thoughts. It made him vulnerable, and he really couldn't afford that. Though to be fair nothing had happened so far when he'd spaced out, so he seemed to be safe from Dark at least.

'Okay, I'm going,' he sighed, turning back to Epona. 'Let's see how bad these not-at-all-evil-Gerudo are, then.'

'I would go on foot if I were you,' Dark warned suddenly as Link made to hoist himself up into the saddle.

'What? Why?' Link frowned, dropping back down onto the floor.

'When you get caught – it's inevitable, trust me – do you really want your horse caught too? Who knows what will happen to her. You'll be thrown in jail, but what about your most trusted steed?' Link knew he was being wound up, he could just tell, but all the same Dark's words made him nervous. Would he be putting Epona in danger? Did people who lived in the desert eat horses or something? What if they hurt her?

Epona nickered softly, leaning against him again as she turned to look at him. Link huffed out a long breath, pursing his lips.

'All right, fine.' Moving round to stroke her head Link sighed softly. 'Stay here, girl, all right?' He said softly, rubbing her neck gently. She snorted back at him and he smiled. 'Atta girl,' he mumbled, glancing at Dark who was watching with his usual flat expression.

'I don't care if you're winding me up – I'm not risking Epona's safety,' Link grumbled, not sure why he felt like he had to explain himself. Dark could think he was stupid all he liked; he wasn't going to put his beloved companion in harm's way.

'How sweet,' Dark deadpanned, rolling his shoulders slightly. 'It's nice to know you care.'

'Shut up,' Link said, spinning round and ignoring his brother. Without another word he strode away, up the path that curved around a corner into the unknown. He really needed to stop letting his anger get the better of him. Dark kept driving him to run head first into things to escape the constant annoyance and snide comments, and it was really going to get him killed.

That was… kind of the point, wasn't it? Goddesses, Dark was so frustrating!

Quickening his pace Link balled his hands into fists, unable to hide the scowl on his face. Luckily no one was there to see it, but he just couldn't get rid of it. Was this what it meant to have a brother? Constantly arguing and annoying each other? Ten years was a long time, and Link wasn't sure if he remembered anymore. He didn't remember having arguments with Dark when they were younger, but then that might've been it. Kids didn't have fights – well, they did but they lasted for, like, five minutes and then all was right with the world again. But now that they were older… goddesses it was unbearable. Did they really have to argue over everything? Was it necessary for them to annoy each other every time they spoke? He wanted to blame Ganondorf, but he didn't know anymore. Maybe this was just what it was like to have a brother.

Despite everything the thought made Link smile, the scowl fading away as a feeling of elation swelled in his chest. He had a brother again. He'd found Dark. Did the rest really matter? Well, the thing with Ganondorf was kind of a big deal, but other than that, what was there to complain about?

'Why are you wearing such a stupid expression?' Not even Dark's deadpan voice could stop the happiness welling in Link's chest, though it did make him look over to his brother, who was staring at him with a frown.

'I'm happy,' Link said, earning himself a roll of bright red eyes.

'What a surprise,' Dark said flatly, shaking his head slightly. 'Why?'

Did… did Dark actually care about something Link was feeling? Had he really just asked him a question beyond "why haven't you died yet"?

'I just realised that I finally have a brother again,' Link said without hesitation and Dark shot him a bemused, unimpressed look.

'It took you that long to figure out?' He asked, but the mocking didn't annoy Link in the slightest. 'You really are an idiot, aren't you?'

'Mmhm,' Link hummed happily, swinging his arms slightly and walking on until sudden suspicion made him halt. Why, exactly, was Dark suddenly asking him questions? It couldn't be that easy to suddenly make him start caring again so what…?

Feeling his stomach drop Link looked around swiftly, finding himself out in a wide, open space, staring at a tall portcullis that was unmistakeably closed. Probably locked tight too.

A distraction. Dark had been distracting him. Again. Link couldn't believe he'd fallen for it again. Goddesses he was so stupid! How had this happened? Dark had flat-out told him to "get his stealth-head on", hadn't he? And he'd just blindly walked straight into a trap, hadn't he? The happiness vanished, leaving nothing but cold betrayal. He was so stupid. Why did he keep doing this? Why did he keep putting up with this? Dark didn't care – he'd made that clear – and yet Link had still chosen to believe he did?

Why?

Why?!

'You-' Link rounded on Dark, the words on the tip of his tongue, only to find his brother nowhere to be seen.

'Halt! Stay where you are!'

When darkness suddenly covered his vision Link wasn't even surprised. Scratchy fabric covered his eyes and hands grabbed him from all sides, but he didn't resist. All desire to had vanished. Poof. His hands were shaking and he couldn't tell if he was angry, sad or just betrayed. How had he let this happen again?

A few minutes of rough handling and hushed voices later and Link found himself falling into a pit, face planting at the bottom painfully. Groaning softly he rolled onto his back, yanking the fabric off his face and prodding his nose to check it wasn't broken. It wasn't, it just hurt.

Looking round Link stared at the bars in the wall beside him, feeling kinda numb. He wasn't entirely sure what'd just happened, but he knew it wasn't good and he knew it was Dark's fault.

'Stupid kid.' A voice, definitely a girl's, rang out from somewhere and Link looked around, noticing the gaping hole in the ceiling as he did. 'Stay in there and be quiet.'

'Right,' Link muttered, rising to his feet and keeping his eyes fixed on the hole. For some reason his captors – the Gerudo, he guessed – hadn't taken any of his weapons or items, which seemed a little stupid. Even to him. All he had to do was find his hookshot and then he was free.

'What did I tell you?' Red eyes suddenly appeared over the edge of the hole in the ceiling and then Dark was watching him, face once more hidden by his hood. 'Do you even know how to be subtle?'

'Shut up!' Link yelled, glaring up at his brother. 'Whose fault do you think this is?!'

'Yours, for getting distracted,' Dark replied immediately, leaning back slightly. 'Are you thinking of escaping?'

'Of course,' Link growled, rummaging in his pockets for his hookshot. Thank the goddesses for magical storage.

'Well, good luck,' Dark drawled, now reclining along the edge of the hole.

'Gee, thanks,' Link muttered, pulling the object free and gripping it tightly. 'Now move. This'll be a piece of cake.'

'Oh, I wouldn't be so sure,' Dark said, leaning over the edge a little. 'Escape is nigh impossible here.'

'What d'you mean?' Link frowned, suspicious. He caught the flash of teeth as Dark grinned high above him.

'Welcome to the Gerudo Fortress, Hero.'