Dark by

Part eleven Fair Play

The horses were still where we'd left them, along with the rest of our gear. But it was still storming outside and the bedrolls were still a little bit damp. I was all dried out now, especially after all the exertion of fighting, but I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in damp blankets.

Link stood by the door, looking out into the storm outside. He was silent. I came up and stood beside him. Thunder still boomed, and the floor of the canyon was completely filled by a torrent of muddy water.

"If this gets much worse, we might have to move deeper in, this chamber could flood," I said.

Link just nodded.

I turned away from the door and paced around the room for a while. There was nothing to do and I felt restless. Every time my pacing brought me near Link I had the urge to attack him, though I knew it would do me little good. He was keeping the damn hammer by his side now, instead of his sword, and I could remember all too clearly how things had gone the last time I'd faced him armed with that.

Finally I went to the far side the room, sat down against the wall, and pulled out my ocarina. I sighed and lifted the ocarina to my lips. Maybe I could find some sort of peace in the music. I played for a time, and perhaps it helped a little, but the fire of hate in me was still there.

Link came and sat next to me. He joined me, harmonizing with the melody, as I had harmonized with him when we first played together. His song provided what mine could not, and the tension slowly went out of me as the hatred seeped away.

After a long time I put down the ocarina. Link too stopped playing.

"Why does my music do nothing, while yours calms me?"

"I don't know."

"Is it because that's the Ocarina of Time?"

Link shrugged. "It could be. I supposed we could test it."

"By swapping, you mean? But you'd have to make me angry again."

"Well, I could probably manage that."

I let out a short, bitter bark of laughter. "Yeah, so far it hasn't been very hard."

"If you don't mind, I admit that now you have me curious." He held out his ocarina to me. I noticed that it had a very faint glow about it. I was curious as well, so I handed him mine, and took the smooth, slightly warm instrument from his hands.

"Okay," I said. "So... now what?"

"Now I have to upset you. And..." he suddenly grinned at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "I have an idea about how to do that." And before I realized what he was doing he'd pulled me close and kissed me. I froze, torn between the urge to shove him away and the urge to kiss back with everything I had. He pulled back before I could make up my mind, and frustrated rage instantly flashed to full life in me.

He gave a little breathless laugh, his cheeks brightly flushed. "Well, part one of the experiment seems to have worked."

I growled at him, wanting to punch the smile off his face, strangle the laughter in his throat.

"Calm down, Dark. We're trying to learn something here. Play a little."

I closed my eyes, shutting out the sight of him, and took several deep breaths. Right. I was supposed to be finding out if the thing that soothed my hatred lay in the ocarina itself, or not. I lifted it to my lips and blew. The first notes were less steady than usual, my anger was too great for me to express myself through music as easily as I had on those calmer occasions. As I went along my mood settled a bit, and I was able to play a coherent melody. But I still felt that hard knot of anger within me. The song did little for it.

Once again Link lifted his ocarina and joined me. We harmonized, and in moments I felt the knot loosening, the anger falling away. I played for a few minutes more, as peace took full hold of me, and then let the ocarina fall to my lap with a sigh.

"So it's not the instrument, it's the player. Interesting."

"I guess. What does it mean though?"

"I have no idea. It seems very strange that it should be me, I'm a warrior and not a mage. I have a little magic, but it's all been given to me, it's not something I understand. And none if it should have anything to do with you. Din's Fire, or Faore's Wind, things like that have nothing to do with this puzzle. And if it's not the ocarina itself... I have no idea. I know too little about magic to even venture a guess."

"And I don't know any more than you. Less, even. You only knew Din's fire when I met you. What's Faore's wind?"

"It's a spell that lets me travel from here to there... a bit like using the ocarina, but I can go anywhere I've been in the past. But only if I set the spell up first while I'm there. There's also Nayru's Love, which creates a protective barrier. I've never really felt comfortable using any of them though. I'm a fighter, not a mage. Using magical items is simple enough, but spells... spells I don't really like much."

"I think I like magic even less than you." Magic had made me, and given me all my problems.

Link nodded and leaned back against the wall, tipping his head back and staring up at the darkened ceiling of the room.

We sat in silence for a long time, and it was surprisingly comfortable. The storm outside eased, rain was still coming down, but the thunder slowly retreated into the distance and the wind slowed, until the rain was a gentle patter rather than a howling gale. I yawned, drowsing. I felt something against my side and looked over to see that Link had slipped sideways, and was now snoring with his head resting on my shoulder. I smiled. For the moment, at least, I was still free from hatred, and seeing him there was pleasant. He was my friend. He'd done so much for me. He was risking his life every moment he was with me, just to try and help me.

I turned my head and kissed his forehead, not quite sure why I'd done it, but wanting to do it all the same. He stirred and looked up at me. I found myself captivated by his gaze. There was something in his eyes that was like his music, something that calmed me. Strange how his gaze had often enraged me before, but didn't now. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand anything anymore. But for the moment, at least, confusion seemed easy to bear.

"It's late," he said softly. I looked out the door, to where the rain was still falling. It was dark, the sun had already set.

"Yeah."

"We should sleep."

"Yeah."

Neither of us moved.

"Or at lest check and see if the bedrolls have dried."

I sighed. "Yeah."

Link got up, and I picked myself up and followed him. The bedrolls unfortunately were still slightly damp. "Great," I muttered, feeling a little bit of hard-won peace leaving me.

"The blanket on the inside is dry, it's just the rest that are still wet on mine," said Link, looking at where his blankets were spread out on the floor.

"Same here."

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

"Feh. I guess. But I can either put a blanket over me and lie on cold stone, or I can put it under me and get chilled by every breeze."

"Such optimism."

"So you're just thrilled to sleep in the cold then?"

Link chuckled. "No, not exactly. Though there is a third option, you know."

"Oh?"

"Put your blanket on the ground, and my blanket on top, and we keep each other warm."

I blinked. My cheeks heated. "Uh..."

"Not that I'm suggesting kissing, mind. I still don't think that's a good way to warm up." He grinned.

I scowled. Somehow Link had turned my own means of discomfiting him against me. He was far too adaptable, in addition to everything else about him that annoyed and aggravated me.

"Calm down, Dark. I shouldn't poke fun at you, I'm sorry." He came over and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'll play again, if that will help. But I am serious about sharing our blankets. It's going to be a cold night."

"It... might help, yeah. And I guess you're right, it's already getting colder." Which was true. But I wondered. Was staying warm all that he wanted? Something else was warring with my anger. It wasn't exactly a comfortable feeling, my stomach felt tied in knots. But I remembered kissing him, and sitting together earlier, and the way he'd fallen asleep on my shoulder... I shook my head, trying to shake off confusion. Why did he have to drive me so mad? I shot a glare at him, and saw he was getting out his ocarina again.

It didn't take as long to soothe away my anger and hate this time, but when I was calm again I still felt a weight of sorrow. It seemed as though the longer we were together, the worse the chaos within me grew. I had no idea what feelings were truly my own and what belongs to Ganondorf's darkness any more, I felt horribly confused.

Link put away the ocarina and spread the blankets on the floor. I removed my boots, sword, and shield, taking extra care to set the Master Sword down gently. I still felt very odd about bearing it. Link laid down and beckoned to me. "Here. You lie in front of me, where I can keep an eye on you, and that way I'm sure we'll both sleep more peacefully."

I felt a tiny flash of irritation at that, but managed to smother it. He was right, that was the best way to do things, for both our sakes. So I curled up next to him, my back to his chest. He spread the second blanket over us both. There wasn't much room, and when we'd both gotten ourselves comfortable beneath it I found he had one arm over me, holding me against him. It ought to have bothered me, I thought. But somehow it didn't. I sighed softly, relaxing. The chill that had seeped into me from sitting against the cold stone walls was warmed by his body against mine, and I found myself drifting off to sleep.

As dreams claimed me I thought I heard a snatch of song, but I didn't know if Link was humming softly or if it was just something from my own mind. But either way I once again slept soundly, with no nightmares to haunt me.