AN: I realized... i really like writing Authors notes. Today, i have alot to say. First, this chapter is the longest i've done so far and it is DARK. Most of my writing is inherantly light hearted. Not today. Also, i just finished up at 2 in the morning, my Beta abandoned me, said she needed "sleep." Pfft. So, i did the best i could on my own because i'm impatient and want to get my chapters up for you guys ASAP. Love you all. An extra special thank you to you people who reviewed for the first time, thank you so much! Now then, to answer questions. First, While this is the Well chapter, i cut that part out. It happes from Link's point of view, but this is mainly about Dark today. I did this for a few reasons; one it was getting a little too long and two, the well will be revisited later.

Kitsune - Yes, Young Dark is a plan in the working. As for making it longer, i went over the story and i think i can make at least one extra chapter. Beyond that, i can't promise anything.

Koreto - Kudos for getting it. Everyone else, it will be explained why Link is afraid. Soon. Not next chapter, one after that.

Zeldabeast - 3 am and you went through everything? I'm both happy that you enjoyed it that much and feel a little bad that i kept you up to some ungodly hour . So, you want a steamy sex scene huh? Yeah, you and everyone else i'm betting. I know what you guys are waiting for ~ Why do you think i've been so vague about stuff like that? I want you guys chomping at the bit for it. Maybe i'm a horrible person, but it'll be worth the wait, i promise.

One last parting thought. Reviews are important! I started getting into it last chapter, but here i really started taking things into my own hands. Did i go overboard? Should i get more creative? I look forward to your thoughts.

Hopeless

Perhaps it was because of Anju but the people of Kakariko village could never sleep too late in the day; the battalion of Cuckoos that roamed the village would not allow it. By the time the echoes of every chicken in the village greeting the sun with their earsplitting calls reached the underground haven, Link was already awake and already dressed. His breeches had dried and just for kicks he decided to indulge Dark and wear the black tunic. Okay, maybe the fact that his other three outfits were all absolutely filthy had something to do with it. It really irritated him that he made a concerted effort to stay clean but all his clothes were filthy, while Dark, who didn't care at all managed to avoid any kind of noticeable mess. It must be one of those mean cosmic jokes that seemed to plague the Hero on a regular basis…

As for Dark, the incessant crowing woke him up and seeing Link dressed in black is what kept him up.

Both Link and Dark had the well toned bodies of swordsman, but Dark's muscle was more lean in comparison to the slab of rock that Link's abs seemed to be chiseled out of. In short, the blond was taller, wider in the shoulders and a broader of chest so the black tunic, originally meant for Dark and his smaller frame fit snugly over the Hero's body. Not only did it really show off his physique, but Link in black looked dangerous. Just the feel of the heavier fabric changed the way he held himself, changing the righteous blade master into a prowling jungle hunter.

And of course right from their opening, Dark's eyes were glued to the black clad Hero and the quiet whine in the back of his throat made Link turn and snort. His partner sat against the wall, red eyes wide and innocent like a puppy begging for a treat… although exactly what kind of treat he was hoping to get, Link didn't want to know.

"You look nice. Do I get a hug for lending you my clothes?" Dark whined, making every effort to look cute and unimposing to pull off that look of irresistible helplessness. He pulled off the look; Link resisted it. After all, as the Hero of Time, he had to be quick on his feet to learn the battle tactics of his opponents and devise a suitable counter strategy.

Dark was his partner and in this case that was a disadvantage. Not to mention, now that he knew where to go next, the quest took first priority. Poor Dark never stood a chance.

"I am leaving now. I will travel to the Temple of Time and return to the past to find the Eye of Truth. In the meantime, the villagers spoke of a Shadow Beast. The final temple is that of Shadow. It may be somewhere in the area, so if you could search for information about it..."

Dark opened his mouth to agree, his eyes glowing a cheery red.

"Carefully! Do not take unnecessary risks!"

Dark's mouth snapped shut as he crossed his arms with a long suffering sigh. "Jeez, take the fun out of everything." he muttered.

"I do not trust you to act on your own good judgment since you do not seem to have any. I feel the need to leave a detailed list of rules. Among which, Do not kill any humans, do not antagonize the villagers, try to avoid getting into fights and if you find it, do not under any circumstances try going into the temple alone." Link listed off the rules in the order they came to mind rather then organizing by importance. Had they been prioritized, Dark's safety would have been first. The villagers attempting to burn him at the stake was a very real possibility, one that his shadowy counterpart failed to take seriously. Then again, aside from sex, what did Dark take seriously?

"Yes mother. " Dark grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I'll also be sure to feed the horse, practice my music lessons and do all my other chores like a good little boy." he mumbled sarcastically.

Link got down to give his partner a solid cuff on the shoulder but his voice was soft, "For Nayru's sake Dark, why must you be so difficult about everything? I should think you'd be thrilled to death to know I was worrying about you."

Wait a minute… Dark's mind, still fuzzy with sleep struggled to process the implications. Link was worried about him? For that matter, Link was showing emotion! That in itself was unusual. The almighty Hero of Time, great warrior and soon-to-be savior of the country showed about the same emotion as a rock. Ninety percent of the time anyways.

Actually, that wasn't quite right anymore. Dark did have to give credit when credit was due; recently Link had improved to the emotional level of a clay pot. True, it might not seem like a big improvement, but a clay pot at least had the possibility of storing a small sad and lonely heart in its hollows. Or bombs… hopefully not.

Now that Link was admitting to having feelings without needing to be spurred on by some dreary depressing conversation about how messed up his life was, Dark could start to nurture a small flame of hope. Link was making progress, Link was showing improvement, so maybe… just maybe Link the clay pot did indeed have a heart.

As soon as he realized that something important had just happened, all that flashed through Dark's mind in the span of two heartbeats, and on the third he pounced, slipping his arms around Link despite his earlier rejection to have the chance to feel his Hero one last time before they parted ways. "Yeah… You take care too. You're not the only one that worries y'know."

Link sighed, returning the embrace and he had to admit, it was kind of nice. The feel of soft skin over hard muscle, the feel of warm breath ghosting across his skin and the feel of Dark's heartbeat. The Hero had never had a chance to experience this before, never know this kind of affection and having someone warm to hold was definitely pleasant. "I know. I will be careful and return as soon as possible. If I promise that will you agree to what I asked of you?"

Dark nodded, slightly tightening his grip as Link took out the Ocarina of Time to play the Prelude of Light. The song had a bright, cheery feel to it, like rays of the sun. The golden sparkles from the warping spell came down to envelope the boy…

And then he was gone.

-D-A-R-K-

One minute he was laying atop the blond and the next he was collapsed on the ground as the physical presence supporting him vanished. Dark hissed in pain as he landed on the two scabbed over puncture wounds from where the pitchfork tines slipped between his ribs. Since Link was no longer around, there was no longer any need to keep up pretenses, allowing Dark to howl and scream and swear if that were what he wanted to do.

And he did. Truth be told, it didn't hurt all that much, but he just loved the opportunity to be overly dramatic. Sadly though, there wasn't much time for drama. After all, he didn't know how long Link would be gone and he should at least have accomplished something useful, right? So, for now he'd settle with solving the dilemma of what to wear.

Link had left him three tunics of red blue and green, and all were equally dirty. The red one was caked in mud and blood and smelled of stale sweat. Dark considered it for all of three seconds before tossing it aside. Definitely not going to wear that one.

Then there was blue, which was soaked in all the foul, stale water and monster excrement that the Water Temple had to offer. It smelled like home and that was more then enough to disqualify the blue tunic. Dark wrinkled his nose in disgust and threw it in the corner. That left green…. or nothing at all and nothing was starting to sound pretty appealing.

"Gah, why do I even need to wear a tunic at all!" Dark grumbled to himself, looking at his reflection in the pool of water at his feet. "I mean, I don't look all that bad. Actually, I'm pretty damn hot if I do say so myself. It's a travesty, a waste of perfectly good eye candy that the rest of the world is missing out on!" He asked his reflection… sadly though, it didn't answer back.

Sighing, Dark grabbed the forest green Kokiri Tunic and dropped it in the pool, breaking his reflection to scrub it as clean as he could manage. "Damn it Link, this is your fault! Stupid…. I'll be careful if you are. In fact, stupid paranoid backwater hicks and your stupid paranoid intolerant society!" he screamed, taking out his anger on the unsuspecting laundry.

Before too long, the green tunic was… at least moderately cleaner. It would have to do. Once it was more or less dry (again due to beating it) Dark pulled the green tunic over his head. It was a little on the big side, especially around the shoulders… that slightly irritated the boy. He was stronger then Link,that had already been determined so why in Din's name wouldn't he have bigger muscles! It must be another cruel joke of the Goddesses. He really was the taller one but they were messing with reality. Yeah, that must be it…. well, it made Dark feel better anyways.

Maybe it could be fixed with lots of working out in the meantime… but no. Sadly, there was too much work to do so he cinched his belt tighter and got ready to go. He was just about to leave when he noticed one last thing. One thing Link's outfit had that Dark's did not was a hat. For some reason, Link always insisted on wearing that goofy cone shaped hat… but since he was dressing like Link, he might as well do it right, so Dark grabbed his length of hair in the back, piled it up under the cap and stepped into the column of light to go to the surface..

Outside the sun was just starting to set and even though noon gad already come and gone, the ground was still muddy from yesterdays flood. There was only so much mud a person could take, and for Dark who never had to deal with anything more then wet sand, it wasn't very much. So, to avoid slogging through the streets, he instead used his Hookshot to take to the rooftops. Thankfully the roofs were open to much more sunlight and so not only dry but toasty warm.

He stalked, catlike across the rooftops just getting himself more familiar with the layout of the village layout. With the giant windmill to use as a constant reference point, it wasn't all that hard at all. It wasn't all that long before he found himself sitting on Anju's rooftop, or at least he assumed it was hers since that's where the Cuckoo pen was. Sure, why not? Since he was in the neighborhood, might as well pay Anju a visit. She was as good a starting point as anywhere and owed him a favor to boot. So, Dark slipped to the edge of the roof and dropped down to a small ledge over the pen where the chickens were sitting, clucking peacefully.

Dark had assumed that the little overhang was to give the chickens some shade on hot days, but part of the wall had collapsed or been cut out, leaving a small trapezoidal hole that led inside. Curious, Dark crawled through the hole.

The opening was high up, so he expected some dingy rat infested attic, not… a barred in jail cell in someone's kitchen. Looking around, the purpose for the cell was somewhat self explanatory from the cow standing placidly to the side. So, apparently this person really liked milk and didn't want the cow escaping? Understandable in an odd sort of way. What Dark didn't understand was the Heart Piece that also sat in the cage. "Really now? I think someone up there is messing with me" he grumbled, pocketing the Heart Piece to give to Link later.

A sudden scraping upstairs caught his attention. "Did you hear that. It sounds like someone is down there. Go check on the cow."

Shit. Feeling it was more then past time to go, Dark crawled back through the hole and was just out of sight when he heard "The Heart Piece is gone! Call everyone out, the thief can't have gone far!"

Ok, that was a good sign to panic. As soon as he was out, Dark whipped out his Hookshot and launched it at the closest roof. It latched on and hauled him to the next house. He clambered to the opposite side of the roof to make his escape… where the rotten wood of the roof collapsed beneath his weight, sending the boy tumbling into the dark insides of the house.

"Nngh. Ah, jeez, what happened?" he murmured groggily. His whole body was sore and it took a minute to check himself over, gently feeling along his bones and making sure nothing was broken. Lots of cuts and splinters but not breaks.

All around, it was dark and stale and dusty. What little light there was came down through the recently made hole in the ceiling only to be dampened by the huge cloud of dust stirred up by Dark's ungraceful entrance. That was when he heard it; a dry rustling like two of those stalchildren risen from the grave to wrestle. The eerie grating sound of bone scraping against bone bounced against the walls, filling the room. Then suddenly it was everywhere! A whole battalion of skeletons risen to dance to the beat of a necromantic symphony, twirling an spinning in some unholy dance that had Dark spinning in circles, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from or what kind of foul beast could make it. Through the thick clouds of dust and plaster, all he could see was vague silhouettes.

Slowly the dust cleared, showing the room to be full of giant semi human arachnids. Dark might of screamed; he wasn't really sure as he pulled himself backwards as seven of the giant spiders advanced on him. "What the hell am I doing, I have a sword!" Dark yelled, brandishing his weapon. "Back you devil spawn!"

"Wait, wait! Hold a moment. You have the tokens. Please, set us free!" The largest of the spiders asked. For a second, Dark resisted the urge to scream again. "Please! We can feel them on you. All we want are the tokens of the gold spiders of the curse that you've slain."

"Spiders of the curse? But I haven't….. Ohh… right." It suddenly occurred to Dark that Link neglected to empty his pockets before leaving. So, Dark decided to give these… things the benefit of the doubt and search through the voluminous expanse of Link's shirt.

"Let's see here, that's bombs…. Deku sticks… some kind of seeds, I don't even know… Aha!" Hidden back in one of the out of the way pockets was a leather bag full of skull tokens. "So, what do I do with these things?" he asked and the largest of the spiders moved back out of the way.

"One of you boys will go first. Simply take the spider tokens and throw them to someone."

Dark nodded, reached into the back and pulled out a handful of the small, flat skull tokens and tossed them one at a time at the leftmost arachnid. One by one they burst into azure flames, fading away into small puffs of ash, though the place was so dirty no one would notice. On the tenth token the blue flames caught, engulfing the creature with the sickening stench of burning flesh as the fire ripped across its body, consuming it. It's body parts fell off in chunks leaving an ordinary redhead teenage boy standing amidst the ash that was once a monster. "Aha! The curse is broken! Thank you so much. Here is a reward."

And of course, the boy handed him none other then a Heart Piece. Dark accepted the gift, trying very hard not to look ungrateful, but he was getting a little tired of the Goddesses making fun of him like this. Still… If he was gonna get rewarded, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye open for the things. And come to think of it, his bag still had a fair number of tokens left.

"Please save my brothers" The young man pleaded but Dark just shrugged it off, digging out a handful of skulls.

"Yeah yeah, I'm working on it, gimme a second" he muttered then started tossing the skulls to the right most spider. As before, the small burst of magical fire that consumed dead monsters ignited each of the tokens on contact til the tenth one. Dark felt kind of bad to have to be the one to put these guys through this curse breaking thing. Yeah, being turned into a giant butt ugly spider would suck, but from the way it was shrieking and writhing around, magical immolation wasn't the most pleasant thing to go through. Dark could feel the heat from several feet away, and of course the resulting stench of charred flesh had him wrinkling his nose. but soon it was over.

"Thank you stranger, here is my gift!" the second young man said, holding out a small, irregular tan stone pyramid. Dark took the thing, turning it over curiously in his hands. The bottom two layers were rectangles while the top was a square.

"Uhm… Thanks. What does it do?" he asked, feeling kind of dumb.

"The Stone of Agony finds secrets for you"

Stone of Agony? Well… Now wasn't that just a lovely chipper name to give something? Dark tucked the stone into one of his pockets and flopped down on the ground, crossing his legs to stare up the remaining cursed villagers. "Alright guys. Thanks for the gifts but maybe you can help me with something else, yeah? You see, my…"

Dark hesitated, floundering around for a good work to describe Link with. Partner would be a good word to use, so would associate but he really felt like he was making progress with the blond. "… my boyfriend is looking for something called the Eye of Truth and he asked me to find out about the Shadow Temple while I was here. Do you guys know where this Temple thingy is?" he asked.

True, Link wasn't really his boyfriend, but he'd never find out that Dark had described him as such and it made him feel better.

Sadly though, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. As soon as he mentioned the word "boyfriend" all members of the household started squirming around, anxiously whispering to each other. He didn't really know what they were saying, but he caught the word "abomination" a few times.

Great. Even the pathetic cursed spiders couldn't get off propriety. Dark looked down, discreetly counting the tokens left in his bag. Thirty three… that ought to be enough.

"A boyfriend? You know that having such a relationship with a member of your own gender is strictly prohibited. You… are a crime against nature. What are you doing engaging in shameless caste deception?" the, what Dark assumed was the father asked. Right on his heels the two uncursed boys piped up.

"Give us back our treasures!"

"Yeah, we don't need dogs like you getting them dirty."

Dark snorted, dropping the leather pouch back down his shirt. "I'll give you your crap when you give me back my spider tokens."

The boys stared at him, dumbfounded that a member of the lowest caste in their village, no, in the country would dare speak to the children of the richest man in the village in such a disrespectful way. Right now, he should have been on the ground begging and pleading for mercy. While Dark was indeed on the ground, he was just sitting there glaring and not prostrating himself as he should be.

"Listen up. I've had it up to here with you backwater pricks looking down on me. Now, normally I can't do anything about it because Link made me promise not to, but this time I can finally do something about it. You guys haven't learned anything from your punishment, have you? I bet you're still the same closed minded pricks you were and that's what got you cursed in the first place so you can stay that way for all I care. Have a nice life."

Two seconds later Dark was out the door and three seconds after that he was stalking across the roof across the street. And he was not happy. Why could not a single person in this whole damn country learn to see past their ridiculously swollen egos? All he really wanted was a little understanding, and while Link still wasn't quite to that phase yet, at least he was making an effort. Sighing, Dark hopped several more houses to the largest one and flopped down to lay on the sloping roof to stare up at the thick, fluffy white clouds that drifted across the sky.

At least out here it was a little easier to get himself perked back up. Better to be out in fresh air beneath the warm sunlight then in a dusty time ravaged house of the damned. The damned! Yet even they looked down on him…

Dark sniffed, then sniffed again. Something smelled good. Glancing around and sniffing for the source of the smell, he soon found that it came from a small metal pipe coming out of the roof, from which the smell of wood smoke and lunch lazily drifted up into the sky. Lunch both sounded and smelled like a very good idea.

The roof he sat on was actually the village inn. It stayed in business over the years, though all the rooms hadn't been used in a long time. Not many people traveled anymore; not since Ganondorf came to power and it became too dangerous. Dark crawled his way to the edge of the roof and peeked his head over the side, looking for an open window and slowly slid his legs off the edge so he was hanging off the edge. From there a few flexes of his legs and he swung himself through the open second story window. This room didn't seem to be taken by anyone but the innkeepers did come in to clean every week so the rooms didn't get dusty.

Grinning, Dark wondered how long he'd be able to mooch a stay here at the inn before he got caught. The rooms were nice and comfortable. The decorating was practical with nothing fancy. All in all, Dark's kind of place. He got to his knees by the door and pressed his ear to the floor to listen for the sound of footsteps outside. When he was convinced the coast was clear, he eased the door open and slipped out into a long hallway. His room was the second on the right and while an obvious set of stairs to the left lead down into the common room, Dark's nose led him the other way.

He liked the feeling of creeping down the hall, having to move quickly but not make any noise at the same time. It was good swordsman training. Hell, it was just plain fun. Down near the end of the hall was another set of stairs, presumably so the staff of the inn would be able to go about their business without disturbing any guests eating their meals… and speaking of meals, the back stairs seemed to lead down into the kitchens. Now that he was closer, he could also hear voices. At the bottom of the stairs, a door to the kitchen was slightly ajar so Dark could sit back on a step and listen in to the two girls talking in hushed tones over the food.

" Wow… those poor kids. I wonder how it happened." They both sounded young, but Dark couldn't see either of them through the crack.

"Well, the way I heard it, Liam and Kyle were both there and saw that red eyed devil do it, and Liam's father caught them trying it out later that night."

Red eyed devil? Dark blinked. How many other people could there be with red eyes who pissed off that many people? Even he had to admit it was probably safe to assume they were talking about him. But what could he have done to get someone in trouble?

"I wonder what they'll do about it…"

"He said they'll hold the sacrifice tonight at midnight."

"So soon? Well, I guess he does know best. Oh! Soup's done and the bread should be out in a minute. Would you get it for me?"

Dark sat back against the step, chewing his lip thoughtfully. A sacrifice tonight at midnight… He had a bad feeling about this, but it could go either way. Somehow though he just couldn't see these small town villagers as the type to engage in harmless rituals. Hopefully his fear would be unfounded or things would get really ugly really quickly.

It was hard to keep his dark and morbid fears in mind though as he listened to the clinking of glass bowls and small talk about how 'Oh, the soup smells delicious as always' and 'Oh no, I actually didn't have everything I needed' or 'It's been some odd weather we've been having, isn't it?"

It went on that way for several minutes before their talking faded into the distance as the kitchen girls carried trays of food out for everyone in the common room. Everyone out there would get a bowl of soup and a slice of warm bread, fresh out of the oven. Several minutes later, they both returned with empty trays when one of them frowned.

"Hmm? What is it?" her friend asked.

"I just thought we had more bread then this." The two shared a mutual shrug and got started on washing dishes.

Neither of them noticed the missing bowl as Dark slipped down the upstairs hall to the room he'd commandeered with his stolen prizes.

Back up in his room, Dark sat on the floor with a big contented grin on his face. Sure, she was just another superstitious backwater hick, but that girl could cook. He'd hacked off a generous hunk of bread to go with the soup. Thick and hearty with big chunks of beef, it tasted all the better because Dark hadn't had a proper home cooked meal… Ever.

More then just having food in his stomach, just something about the act of eating had a fortifying effect. Laying back on the floor next to him empty bowl and bread crumbs, it was easier to feel like he had a plan firmly established, and he did.

His first order of business was to slip down the hall three doors and unlatch the windows, then down the hall again to the room next to the back stairs and unlatch those windows. The final step in his grand plan was to shut the door, lay down and take a nap. While it may not have seemed to be the most brilliant battle plan of them all, Dark actually had things fairly well thought out. A mysterious ritual at Midnight could involve the Shadow Temple, in which case he'd want to be fully awake to tackle the situation. Plus he needed a nap. Fringe benefit.

Just like Link, Dark also knew how to tap into his internal clock that would allow him to wake up at whatever time he chose. He just normally chose not to. After all, how could he not like sleeping in, especially considering who he was always sleeping on. Since that was the only way he'd ever get Link underneath him, he had to enjoy it while he could.

As expected, when he opened his eyes, moonlight flooded into his room and Dark pushed the window open to clamber back up onto the roof. Sure, being able to bask in the warmth of sunlight was nice, but Dark was always more comfortable being bathed in the light of the moon. Slowly he moved up to the crest of the roof, peering over to look for signs of movement in the streets below. Off to the right, a small group of villagers carrying torches and leading two white hooded figures made a slow procession towards the windmill. At the same time, a single figure casually strolled through the main gates of the village and a single man bearing a pitchfork waited behind the first house in ambush of the approaching traveler.

Seeing this, Dark muttered a few choice swear words and leapt off the roof, rushing off once more to save the day.

-E-N-D-

Link paused next to the large tree at the entrance to Kakariko Village. Traversing the village in the dark was always a little bit unnerving but he really didn't give it any more thought then usual. Perhaps it was his recent victory that had Link's guard down but he didn't notice the single villager lying in wait. That tingling feeling in the back of his neck that normally warned of such things was already going off the same way it always did in towns at night.

Finally Link was in range in the man jumped, holding his pitchfork down to skewer the boy. Link looked up a second to late to block and he would have taken the hit were it not for the dark streak that shot off the roof to barrel into the man. It took a second for all this to register to Link's brain.

"Dark! Stop!" he hissed and not a moment to soon. Dark froze, his teeth already dripping with the man's blood. He'd only punctured the skin but he'd been only half a second from snapping his jaws shut and ending the life of the poor slob beneath him.

"Let him go." Link ordered but even on an order, Dark simply couldn't let the man walk away from this unharmed. He was far too upset for that so he curled his right hand into a fist and smashed his knuckles down into the man's nose, a grim smile gracing his lips as the villager's eyes rolled up into his head.

"Dark!" Link snapped, angry that this was his way of following orders but Dark just flashed his usual cocky grin.

"Alright, I'm done. I feel better now. Gah, Wait! C'mon, we got work to do!" he said, suddenly serious as he grabbed Link's hand and started running. "These villagers are doing some kind of weird ritual sacrifice and we have to get in there and do something!" He explained pulling Link towards the graveyard but he pulled his arm free.

"Wait a moment Dark. As much as you may not like it, we have no place antagonizing them further. Unless this ritual involves some kind of-"

"Kids. Two teenage boys." Dark whispered.

"I see your point. Lets go."

The two swordsman slipped silently through the stone archway near the windmill that lead back into the graveyard. The graveyard was basically a mound with the old gravekeeper's hut and memorial stone on the bottom and lines of small gravestones ascending to the crest of the hill where a large tombstone sat. It was there that the ritual was taking place. Following Link's lead, Dark slipped off to the side to crawl up the hill to approach behind the cover of the gravestones.

They arrived just in time to see the two gagged, bound and hooded boys dropped into a hole in the ground and a large grave stone; the largest one at the top of the hill was pushed by six burly farmers over the top of the hole. That was it. Once the gravestone was back in place, all the villagers present turned and made a slow procession back down to the village.

Dark was literally shaking in anger that these people could be so heartless to their fellow humans, especially in the current times. It was only Link's hand gently gripping his shoulder that kept Dark from blowing their cover. As soon as all the villagers were gone, Dark was up and pushing at the gravestone but the thing was not only huge but extremely heavy. Even with the two of them pushing together, there was still no way it would move but that didn't stop Dark from trying. "Nngh… C'mon Link… I need…. help!" he gasped out, straining against the grave.

Link on the other hand was just standing there with his hand gently resting against the cold smooth stone. Slowly, the golden triangle branded on the back of his hand began to glow with a gentle pulsing light.

"I see… Dark, move out of the way." Link said absently, his voice flat almost as though his speech was an after thought. At first Dark was dubious but he stood aside as instructed while Link took out the Ocarina of Time and brought it to his lips to play the melody of the Royal Family, or what he'd fondly come to know as Zelda's Lullaby. The gentle melody was indeed like a lullaby normally, but as its notes faded off into the distance, the heavy clouds overhead began to flash the fury of the heavens. Bolts of lightning rained down upon dark expanse of the graveyard, lighting it up clearly enough to read the faded inscriptions on the tombstones.

"Captain Riku?" Dark read. "Wonder who that w-ahh!"

A sudden final bolt of lighting struck the top of the hill, the force of its blast was so immense that the gravestone burst asunder. The shockwave threw Link off his feet and he would have made a hard landing had Dark not dove in to catch him. He also held his position, shielding his hero from the rain of stone shrapnel from the grave, wincing as several struck into his side hard enough to draw blood.

"Are you ….. alright?" Link started to ask, but Dark was already up and running to dive down the hole. "I suppose I can take that as a 'yes'" he muttered and climbed to his feet to go drop down the hole.

The crypt of the royal family guarded for years by the people of Kakariko was no longer the sacred place it once was. A narrow hallway lead down to a high ceiling chamber of rough carven black stone. The only signs that anyone had ever been down here was two unlit torches in the middle of the room and carved stone steps with ancient letters inlaid into it with a simple wooded door at the top. All around the chamber skeletons had been haphazardly tossed aside like so much trash. This was the defilement of the Royal Family at its worst. Or so they thought.

The two kids from the village were nowhere to be seen so Link and Dark leapt up the stairs into the next room and there they were, semi visible through the clouds of acrid green smoke that drifted up to burn the lungs of anyone breathing it. The path split left and right to go around a long rectangular pool of what looked like some kind of green acid that was billowing up clouds. Hidden behind the clouds of miasma, the children slowly walked towards what looked like abnormally tall nude men.

A chorus of low eerie moans echoed through the chamber, chilling all who heard it. Link snarled and dashed off to the left, violently shoving his charge out of the way. "Dark, get the other one now!" he screamed drawing his sword. Though he was running he suddenly froze, motionless for a moment as if some invisible force had him in its grip. Then slowly, as if moving through water, Link broke out of whatever was holding him to viciously hack the creature to pieces.

The sheer ferocity of his attacks was completely uncharacteristic of the Hero, who felt that a certain art should be applied to the wielding of a sword. Today however, he just swung as hard and fast as he could, hacking off its hands first, then the knees, head and finally slashing the trunk of its body into manageable pieces. The Hero stared down, panting as foul blue blood dripped off his sword and onto the dismembered zombie on the floor.

On the other side of the room, Dark heard the yell and stepped cautiously through the smoke, wincing as it burned his eyes. Keeping them shut as best he could, he followed his ears toward the sound of that inhuman moaning and what he saw when he got out of the smoke cloud was both shocking and repulsive enough to make him question attack, albeit briefly. The boys shirt had been shredded off and the person, which now that he could see it was less of a person and more of a wooden replica, leaned down over the boy.

Dark didn't know exactly what that thing was going to do to the kid and he didn't plan on finding out. Lunging forward, he grabbed the boy by the wrist and yanked him back out of danger. The kid went sprawling on the floor and when Dark turned back around to dispatch the monster, he understood just how this spell worked.

Terror. Staring up into the black empty soulless voids that were the only eyes this creature possessed reached down into the very center of Dark's being and froze it with sheer overwhelming terror. He wanted to run, to scream, to cry and cower in a corner but his body wouldn't respond at all. All he could do was watch helplessly as that emotionless wooden face slowly came towards him, its fetid breath reeking of mold and grave dirt and rotten flesh. That moaning was blocking out all other sounds, the kid screaming, Link yelling and the sizzling of acid; they all faded to insignificance before the immobilizing fear that gripped his heart and turned his legs to jelly. It was a plea, a cry to Dark to slake its only desire; hunger.

Dark's resolve was on the verge of crumbling when an arrow shot through the acidic air to bury itself in the Redead's shoulder. When the arrow hit it burst into flames along with the rest of the mummified creature. It stumbled back with a wail of pain, leaving an opening for Link to dash in and savage the Redead, impaling it through the chest and rending it limb from limb without the slightest shred of remorse.

"Dark! Dark, are you alright! Answer me!" Link screamed, shaking his partners abnormally pale frame, worry written all over his face.

"Y-yeah… j-j-just… go on ahead an… I'll catch up." Dark tucked himself into a ball in the corner, shivering.

"You just stay here. I will be back in a minute."

With that Link was off through the otherworldy fog of acid, leaving Dark in his corner to mentally berate himself. He was supposed to be the strong one! What happened? Why had he just frozen up like that? How could he be counted on to watch Links back if things like that could happen at any time in battle. He really would be a liability and that was not acceptable.

He kept up with putting himself down the entire time until the echoes of an Ocarina song that he hadn't yet heard reached his ears. Several shafts of sunlight came down from the ceiling, engulfing the Redeads that still waited out in the darkness. The light of the sun paralyzed them while slowly incinerating their magically incarnated bodies.

As soon as they were all gone, Link gathered Dark and the two children who were huddled next to each other in the opposite corner and got them staggering out of the crypt as fast as they could, all desperate to be back in fresh air again. Link was the last one to climb out of the hole and the sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one.

Most the village of Kakariko was up in flames. Several columns of smoke from burning buildings drifted up into the sky, attesting to the number that could be lost. The group of four went running towards the gates of the graveyard where Sheik waited.

"Dark, do you know Epona's Song?" Link asked. Dark nodded slowly. He'd heard Link play it enough times and it didn't sound all that hard. "Good. I want you to get these two out, load them onto Epona and she will take them back to Lonlon Ranch. Malon will take care of them until we come up with a more solid plan. It is no longer safe for them here."

Dark nodded and slipped off, with the two kids to fulfill his assignment. Sheik sat back, watching Link impassively. "He is dangerous, that one. You should be careful who you take assistance from." he murmured.

"I trust Dark, and you must trust me. It is my choice to make." Link replied evenly. "He cannot be any worse then what these villagers have done. Human sacrifice would be enough on its own, but necromancy and the defilement of the tomb of the Royal Family? Who now is more dangerous?"

"The people of the village are weak minded, grasping at anything that gives them hope. I agree with you, this is a problem that needs to be addressed, but… there are larger problems to deal with. The seal on the monster in the well is completely broken and it has escaped out into the world! Ibelieve Impa has gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it again, but...she will be in danger without any help.

Link, Impa is one of the six sages. Destroy the shadow spirit and save Impa!

There is an entrance to the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard behind this village. The only thing I can do for you is teach you the song that will lead you to the Shadow temple.

This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time. Listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow. "

As it had gone every other time, Sheik demonstrated the melody on his harp and they played together until Link had it memorized. He never could tell exactly how long they played but by the time he put his Ocarina away, Dark was leaned up against the wall of the Gravekeepers hut, listening.

"Let me take care of the village. Link, I'm counting on you." Sheik said, much more straight forward then his usual cryptic parting messages. He didn't disappear in a flash of light either, but calmly walked out towards the village. There would be a lot of cleaning up to do and wounded to see to.

Link was about to bring his Ocarina to his lips when Dark stopped him. "It can wait til tomorrow. First, we both need to get some rest and some good food and in know just the place. C'mon!"

To help out the village, Link played the Song of Storms, calling down a fierce rain that smothered that fires on the buildings. Through the dense downpour, no one would see the two as they clambered across the roofs to the Inn where Dark showed Link how to swing down through one of the sets of windows he'd left open. It turns out his foresight in opening a different set of windows was helpful. Since no one wanted to sleep at home, many villagers were rooming at the inn and the rooms filled up in order, so Dark, dropping into the room in the back made sure it was still vacant. Everyone was still eating anyways. Nothing like a supernatural disaster to get the appetite up.

Link sighed, stripping off his wet clothing and laying it out to dry. He climbed naked into the bed and pulled the thick quilt up to his waist when Dark slipped back into the room with two steaming bowls of stew. He set them down then locked and latched the door and frowned as he stripped also.

True, Link knew what a flirt Dark could be in compromising situations, but he also noticed that the boy would only do so under certain circumstances, and these were not it. Back in the cavern beneath the potion shop, he'd respected Link's modesty so the least he could do was return the favor. They ate in silence, neither wanting to mention the horrible things that had gone one since they arrived. Once their dinner was finished, Dark curled up to lay on the floor, still in his wet leggings out of respect for his partner, but Link sighed.

"You should… get out of those wet things. I would not want you getting sick. And…" he took a deep breath "It would also be best if you slept up here." he finished, blushing crimson as Dark just stared. Link was… naked, laying in bed and telling Dark to get in next to him! He knew that it was a fully legitimate suggestion but still.

"It… there are more important things then modesty and bruised pride." Link muttered, scooting over to make room. Dark nodded, kicking off his leggings and drying off as best he could before slipping in next to his partner. Link felt horribly awkward but under the circumstances, had he not allowed it he'd feel worse about himself. Of course he wasn't surprised when Dark insisted on cuddling up next to him. That's just the kind of person he was. And so the two got what sleep they could in preparation for the upcoming battle.