I've discovered I really don't like the morning. It's too bright, too happy. Too awake.
I sighed, pulling the blanket over my head. The warmth next to me still laid there asleep, chest rising and falling in a deep, unconscious rhythm.

Can't I just stay like this?

'No,' I thought. 'I can't.'

I cracked my eyes open as much as I dared, focusing on the white of Link's shirt next to my face. Why? Why can't he just have a normal life?

I groaned.

Destiny, as Link had said. A destiny which he dragged me into.

'You dragged yourself into this.' a betraying voice reminded me.

Well, whatever. It meant that I could be with him, and... protect him.
Speaking of which, that probably means that today we'd be moving on to another temple, as he'd explained to me.

Weight immediately fell onto me, an unwelcome feeling I would just have to get used to.

I sat up then, stretching with a yawn. I noticed two little faeries laying next to the near dead fire, also still asleep.

It felt oddly peaceful, compared to the evils I was now aware of in the world.
I glanced over at Link, the light playing on his face in pretty patterns. He looked almost child-like, at peace. I hated to wake him, but if we were going to do this, then I wanted to hurry and get it over with so I could have time with him to myself again.

I gently leaned over to him, my heart pounding for some reason. I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, before gently shaking him.

His face contorted before he softly groaned, rolling his head to face me. His eyes peeped open slowly, one at a time, though my body blocked the sun from his face.

I smiled a little.
"Hey."

He stayed there a moment, silent, staring up at me with a dazed look.
I smirked, one eyebrow raised.

"You awake?"

He closed his eyes, sitting up and nodding.

"Yeah.. yeah."
He rubbed his face, glancing over to Navi and Ilana.
He had a content, peaceful smile on his face.

"Waking up like this, here, I could almost forget..."

He sighed then, the smile fading. He reached over to one of the large packs.

"Let's eat, get this packed up, and head out as soon as possible."

I slid down the ladder after Link, stretching my back lazily in the already-hot sun. I found him tying the bags to Epona's saddle, getting her ready to go. Navi and Ilana fluttered lazily alongside him, Ilana seeming more than relaxed, while Navi had a slight anxiousness to her.

I could imagine why.

I watched as Link wrapped the reins around his hand, turning to me.

"Ready?" he asked, a gentle, encouraging look on his features.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I replied in a sigh.

The forest seemed all to calm compared to the adventure ahead of us, lulling me into a false sense of security. Or, was it more like a "calm before the storm?"

I don't know. I suppose it really doesn't matter.
I watched Link's back as we went along, the light coming in from the canopy casting harsh shadows across him. I couldn't see his face, though I could imagine it being as calm and stoic as it typically is.

'How?' I wondered. 'Does he feel as I do? Or is he just.. used to this by now?'

I sighed a little, crossing my arms over my body. The more I thought of what was to come, the more anxious I got. I noticed Ilana's glances from time to time, though I paid them no mind and continued onward to our fate.

Some time later we emerged from the trees, the brightness of the sun making me squint slightly. Now in the open, we saddled up onto Epona and Link kicked her off in a quick walk.

He didn't exactly seem in a hurry.

'Well, really, can you blame him?'

And for that I was slightly grateful, though by this point I was having a moral battle between "taking my time to adjust" and "hurrying and getting it done and over with."

I looked ahead of us, seeing a dark tower looming far behind stone walls way in the distance, dark clouds surrounding the area. I knew that wasn't where we were headed. But eventually, that would be our destination.

I felt a tiny groan of either annoyance or dread escape my throat.

"Don't think about it so much," I heard from in front of me. "You'll just cause yourself more heartache than what it's all worth."

I looked up then, pulled from my thoughts. I found blue eyes glancing back in my direction.

I scoffed, though my voice wasn't exactly the strongest.
"I'm not thinking about anything."

"Sure, sure." he chuckled, a kind of knowing in his tone.

I huffed a little.
"Well, how can I not? I... I'm not scared, I just..."

"Don't really know how to feel. I understand."

I looked back to him then, though he was facing ahead once more.
I sighed, though I didn't want him to stop talking.

"So, what? Are you just... used to it?" I mumbled, thinking back on previous thoughts.

He laughed, though it contained no humor.
"No. I don't think I'll ever get used to it. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever want to get used to it. Can you imagine? What it would feel like to just live for this. That delving into unknown places and situations that put your life at stake become so normal to you that it no longer phased you?"

He sighed, shaking his head.

"I would think it would be a sad, numb life. And I would pity anyone who ever got used to such misery."

I blinked, a bit dumbfounded.
For one, that was probably the most I'd heard of his thoughts so far. And yet, it filled me with some sort of compassion that sunk and planted itself deep within me, somewhere.

Since I remained silent, he stuttered over himself.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to get so-"

I returned to myself.
"No, no, I.. I'm glad you.." I trailed, smiling a little. "You're right, I just.. didn't know how you felt about all of this."

He relaxed a little a strange look in his eyes.
"To be perfectly honest with you, Dark, I'm not sure I know anymore."

We dismounted Epona outside of the village, the sloping stone steps extending ahead of us.

As we entered the village, I noticed some citizens stared, some waved, and others simply disregarded us, though that was very few. Almost all of them did eye me rather abundantly.
Ilana made a rather infelicitous comment about my appearance attracting all of the attention, to which I flicked her the way she had me.

"The temple is at the back of the graveyard." he commented, pausing to watch a few carpenters who were patching up a... burnt hole in a roof?

Now that I took notice, there was a rather.. charred feel to the place.

"Um, Link?" I asked, softly.
He turned to me, humming in response.

"Maybe it's just me, but does everything look a little... burnt, to you?" I asked, my face contorting.

He sighed, looking around.
"No, it isn't just you. The last time I visited here, well... a shadow daemon escaped from the well and into the temple. Impa went in after it. She, according to Sheik, is the sage we must awaken. And, well, when it escaped... it left a bit of chaos in its wake."

We continued on through the back of the village.
"It seems everyone is doing well though, so I suppose all is good."

I looked down to my feet, sighing.

"Well, then I suppose we should- woah."

I paused mid sentence and mid step, coming into the graveyard.

It wasn't as if he needed to explain to me what a graveyard was; I knew what the damned place was.

What I didn't know was how horrid the sight was, and how it reeked of death.
"Augh," I groaned, my face contorting.

On the outside, I'm sure it really didn't seem that bad. If anything, it was just rows and rows of oddly neat looking stones. But, then to remind yourself of what lies below, then, well...

I already despised graveyards.

"What is it?" Link asked, though he probably already knew.

"This place... is absolutely revolting."

He smiled a hard smile.
"It's a graveyard. The stench of death is mandatory here."

I sighed, mumbling something along the lines of "doesn't make it any less disgusting."

I walked ahead, noticing how a few looked overgrown, a few were plain. Some had bouquets of flowers, and others were much larger and more elaborate.

"What are the reasons why they're all so different? All of these graves are simply placeholders for the dead. Why are some of them more elaborate?"

Link paused in his stride, turning back to look at me rather curiously.
"Well, I suppose it depends on who the person was," he said softly, looking around him. "For instance," he noted, pointing to a large stone angel. "That person, or their family, probably had a fair amount of money. Or, they simply wanted a better representation of the life that person lived."

He shrugged.
"And that one," he said, motioning to one that was nearly flat to the ground, weeds growing up around it. "Either they simply didn't care about what their grave looked like, or they didn't have the ability to have an elaborate stone. And when it comes to how well they're taken care of, well,"

He sighed.
"I suppose it depends on either how well liked they were or if they even have surviving relatives."

He turned then, a hardened look upon his face.
I looked at the sad little grave, covered in grasses.

But...

A life was a life. Whether or not it was a good one or not, the people around to witness the remaining testament to the person's life should at least respect the fact hat the person even lived at all.

Or, mayhap I'm all too naiive. Regardless...

I stood, moving to a patch of wildflowers growing in the corner of the graveyard. I gathered two large handfuls, quickly depositing them to the few graves that were bare of flora.

All the while I felt calm blue eyes observing me, and in his stare I felt a growing smile.
"There," I said, letting the last few fall to the ground in front of a small stone. "Now they're all equal."

Link had come back to stand next to me.
"Equal?" he questioned.

"Mmn," I hummed, my face becoming distant. "Because no matter the life these people lived, they are all now equal; rotting piles of flesh and wandering spirits. Should their monuments not reflect that?"

Link's face softened, his brows furrowed.
"I..."

"And yet again, there should not be made a difference between their importance. They all were lives. At least respect the fact they even lived, because some never get the opportunity."

My mind by this point had roamed into the darker thoughts I had when I floated in darkness, and I'm sure the bitter sadness showed on my face.

Link reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder then, sighing.
"I'm not sure I can fully understand. But," he said, taking my hand to lead me away, beginning to walk again to our gloomy destination. "Regardless, what you did just now was a very kind thing."

I had kind of snapped out of my thoughts by that point, and I chuckled in mild embarrassment.

Link took a running start at the wall at the back of the graveyard, running up it a few steps before grabbing hold of the old wooden fencing atop it to pull himself up. He then turned, reaching through the fence to me. I grabbed his hands, helping myself up as best I could.

We sat there in the grassy patch in front of what looked like a cave entrance for a moment.
I stared down into it, seeing down into the entrance a little further as I focused on what little light from outside revealed of what was below.

It looked like a large room with a bunch of shadowy figures in it, though I couldn't really make out what.

I looked over to Link, always seeming to look his way to find reassurance.

He stood then, brushing grasses from himself with a sigh.
"Well, let's get this over with."

I nodded in agreeance, and followed him down the steep stone steps into deep darkness.

Once down there, my eyes adjusted enough to be able to make out those shadowed figures as being at least a dozen torches. They all circled around some central platform, odd writings and carvings in it I had yet to understand. Ahead, a thick stone door sat silent, like it hadn't moved in goddesses knew how long.

The entire place reeked of stale, wet earth. The smell of earth in and off its self wasn't a horrid smell, no; but there was some sort of odd ripeness mingling in with it that made me crinkle my nose slightly.

'Isn't this lovely?' I thought weakly to myself.

I watched Link as he observed the room, seemingly lost to his thoughts.
Soon enough, he knelt down on the large platform, running his fingers softly over the characters.

He glanced around once more, before standing. I watched him, silently. Even in the dark, his colours seemed oddly bright..

"You'll want to stand back, more towards the entrance.." I heard him mumble, and I broke out of my trace and did as he requested.

I peered at him, curiously. His fingers twitched, moved, in quick little patterns.
I paid even closer attention as a light began to softly flicker between his fingers, and he seemed to concentrate rather hard for a moment before he plunged to his knee, palm out to the ground.

I jumped as a dome of fire erupted from around him, quickly sweeping the room in a bright flash of flame, effectively lighting all of the torches at once.

I blinked a few times, the sudden brightness change making my eyes burn a little.
A grand rumble erupted throughout the room then, and I looked up to see the stone door begin to slide away, leaving a pitch black hole into who knows where in its wake.

I approached Link as he turned to me, rubbing his temples.

"I didn't know you could manifest domes of fire." I chuckled lowly, sending what I'm sure must've looked like a death glare at the gaping passageway.

He laughed a little, beginning to approach the door. I noticed him make a face for a moment, as getting closer to it made that strange, disgusting undertone smell grow stronger.

"Din's fire. I'll have to show you sometime." he said, picking up a torch that had been mounted to the wall and lighting it. "But for now..."

At that, he took a cautious step into the unknown, I following readily on his heels.

Do you know the feeling of being in contact with something you utterly despise?

Whether it be a person, a place, a thing... just being near it either makes your blood boil, your hair stand on end, makes you want to scream?

That was my current state of mind.

'This temple is going to drive me mad!'

I stumbled over what felt like the millionth rotted, half-missing corpse, the stench of death filling my nostrils.

Link didn't particularly seem to be faring much better a state of mind than I was, though I'm sure he was doing a better job of keeping his cool than I was.

Though, we have discovered something about me. That something was my current train of thought, and what was keeping me preoccupied from thinking about how badly I wanted to leave this place.

I watched Link feel around on what, to him, must've looked like a solid wall. To me, he was just rubbing air.

Illusions. There were illusionary walls in this damned place. And floors.

Link had nearly fallen right into one, had I not noticed his brisk walk was not slowing, even though there was a giant gap in his way.

But, for some reason or another, I could see through them, and Link had not fallen to his death.

He sighed.
"What's behind here?" he asked, a near whine in his voice.

I peeped around the corner.

"It's just a door." I muttered, partially relieved. I walked up to it, Link following behind. I noticed him shiver, glancing back behind him.

'Bet that seems odd.'

A stone brick wall, covered in black mold. In it, a thick, rusty metal door stood.

Truthfully, I had no interest in finding out what lay behind it. But, I suppose we must..

I grasped the cold handle, and with great effort it finally gave and turned in my hand.
A long groan sounded out as I pushed it open, leading the way into the room ahead.

Once inside, it slammed shut behind us, making Link jump slightly.

He'd seemed oddly.. on his toes the entire time. Jumpy, almost.
I'd noticed a lot of the creatures we'd fought were all beasts of shadow; turning into this black smoke once fallen, before just evaporating away.

A small, strange little thought popped into my head.
'Is that what would happen to me, if I died?'

But the thought didn't stay long, as my brain finally registered what in the hell I was looking at.

First of all, I could hardly call this a room. It was more a catacomb; the walls and floors were made up of that same stale, packed dirt, only now hundreds of empty eye sockets stared at us from between the dirt.

If that weren't enough, there were hands.

At least, that's what they looked like. Hands, pale white and decaying, stuck out on arms from the ground as tall as us.

"The hell?!" I muttered breathlessly.

I turned to Link, who just stood there, a bit.. frozen?

"Link, wha- what is this?" I asked, stepping closer to him.

A hand twitched.

"I.." he whispered. "I don't know."

His brows furrowed, and for the very first time I saw a ripple of unease move through the calm pools he called eyes.

Seeing that made something switch inside me, and my only instinct was to draw blade and protect.

And so I did, and I cautiously moved towards one of the hands.

Right as I reached to touch it, it slammed down, grasping my head in a death grip that made me cry out in shock.

"Da-"

I barely could see through the rotting fingers over to Link, who had made a move to free me from the hand, but was side tracked as this... thing rose from the dirt, making its way towards me.

It looked like a mound of rotting flesh with a head, resting on a crooked, elongated neck. Slack jawed, the empty sockets burned a memory of real fear into my mind for the first time.

A low moan cried out as I heard the slash of blade ripping through flesh, and it spun towards Link, revealing a large, oozing gash in the "flesh."

It groaned again, disappearing underground once again, and the hand released me.

We backed up away from the circle, all silent again.

I caught my breath, and Link and I looked at each other with uncertainty.

"It's still there somewhere," he muttered. "We have to kill this thing."

I nodded, and made my way back to one of the hands. I swung, and severed it, it falling to the ground in a spasm.

A low groan, and again the grotesque thing reappeared.

This time, we rushed it, both of us swinging and hacking madly at the thing, just wanting it dead.

One final swing and I severed its head, and it fell over in a twitching mess of flesh and coagulated blood.

This one didn't disappear into smoke like the others. It just laid there, a pile of rotten, dead flesh. I saw something poking out from one of the cuts; something solid.

Using my sword, I cut away the surrounding tissue.

A chest.

'Are you serious?!'

I looked up to Link, my face a mix of shock, disgust, and horror.

He ran his hand through his hair, exhaling. He popped open the latch with his sword, opening the lid.

Inside, a pair of boots. Their soles were gold, small little wings off of the heels.

He picked them up, looking at them curiously.

He fumbled, dropping one. But before it hit the ground, a soft glow of light emitted from the bottom, and it floated in air for a moment before softly landing down.

We looked up at each other, grins regrowing on our faces.

"Well," he said. "I'm not sure I ever want to see one of these things again, but I think maybe it was a little worth it."

His eyes widened a little, realizing something.

"And now, you wont have to constantly watch out for me." he noted. "If I step onto a hole, I'll know and have enough time to get back.."

I sheathed my sword, humming in agreeance.

He sighed then, switching out his normal boots for the new ones.
"But in all seriousness,"

I looked up at him, meeting his eyes.
"I have no idea what I would've done without you. I... I can't see through these illusions. There's no way I would've even made it this far." he finished, his voice hard.

He stood inches from me, arms crossed over his stomach.
"So.."

He took a step forward.
"Thank you."

He hugged me then, causing me to take a step back in surprise before I returned it with a small laugh.

"Yeah, it's... it's nothing."

He pulled back, a small smile on his face and in his eyes.

"Well," he began, looking to the door. "I don't know about you, but I'm eager to continue and get the hell out of this place."

I laughed, leading the way.

"Let's get this over with."

-end chapter-

holy butt fuck! I've been m.i.a. for so long I apple-o-gize lolol

but life's kinda kicked me in the ass lately, as well as another giant writer's block. but things are clearing up pretty fast, so this should be the last of my big.. uh.. disappearances? yeah. Disappearances.

next chapter tho... I don't really know how much it's gonna change. it's so bad I don't know if I want to change the whole plot of it or nah. it's really just kinda filler so meh I probably will; it's so cringy you have no idea lolol