I awoke quite suddenly as the sun streamed in through the small window on the other side of the room.
Link lay curled into a ball on the opposite side of the bed, eyes still closed, but moving fitfully under her eyelids. She shook with something close to fear, and beads of sweat ran across her forehead. Her mouth was twisted into a grimace, and she spoke quietly.
"Leave me alone..." She groaned. "I won't let you..."
"Link," I put my hand on her cheek, attempting to wake her up, but at the same time trying not to scare her even more. "Link, please wake up."
"G-Go away!" She cried, her breathing growing ragged.
"Link, please wake up!" I whispered urgently in her ear.
"Stop! I don't want to!"
"Link!"
She shot up, her eyes wide open. Link looked around frantically, looking for her pursuer. Her breathing was rapid, and her eyes bloodshot.
I let my hand slide off of her shoulder while my heart rate dropped.
"Dark..." She panted breathlessly.
"Don't ever do that again!" I said exasperatedly, laying back and closing my eyes.
"Oh Goddesses..." She breathed.
"What the hell were you dreaming of?"
"Something terrible." She said vaguely.
I frowned, "Elaborate."
A small crease appeared in her forehead. "I don't want to talk about it Dark."
"Clearly something's bothering you. Please tell me what it is Link." I pushed.
She gave me a sad smile before looking down at her hands. "Maybe later."
I groaned and flipped on to my stomach. "Keeping it all pent up inside you won't help anything."
She ignored me, and went to stand up. She held her blanket around her like a shawl, and walked with it dragging across the hard wooden floor. I watched her lazily out of the corner of my eye as she scurried around the small room, gathering her belongings.
"We need to get moving." Link said as she slid on her boot.
"And why is that?" I asked quickly, hoping to get some answers as to why she was so anxious.
"I'm not going to answer that." She said firmly.
I crossed my arms and opened one eye. "Then I won't be coming with you. It's important to me that I know where we're going; So that I can stop you from making any rash decisions."
"You can do as you please. I won't stop you if you decide not to come." She paused, then added, "Though I do enjoy your company."
The tips of my ears felt hot all of a sudden. "I won't leave you alone Link."
"I appreciate it."
"But," I continued, "I also think it's necessary that both members of our party know what in Hyrule is going on."
"I can't tell you right now." Link stressed, "It would endanger you, as well as I."
"Why?" I pressed.
Link stopped shoving things into her pack, and walked over to me. "Please just trust me Dark."
My eyes dropped to her neck. The smooth skin that had been there last night was split, and the wound that I had inflicted nearly two weeks ago had reopened. My eyes must have been as wide as dinner plates, because Link covered the gash with the blanket, and as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone.
"L-Link!" I gasped.
She sighed. "Yeah, it must have reopened when I was asleep."
I started out of my daze, and nearly flew to my own pack. I dug out my old tunic that I had stuffed in there last night, and tore it into strips.
I dunked them in the wash basin that had been set out, and scrubbed the dirt off of it as well as I could. Once most of the grime had come out of the fabric, I squeezed the water from the strips, and handed them to Link.
She gave a strained laugh, and after knotting several together, wrapped them around the gash. The dark strips made Link look as though she was wearing some sort of morbid choker.
"Thanks Dark, but I won't die from a little cut like that..."
The window opened, and someone crawled inside.
"Link," The person said, walking straight over to her. "Where have you been?" They turned to me and pointed a finger to my forehead. "And who is this guy?"
"Sheik?! W-Where did-" Link sputtered.
"Now is not the time for pleasantries. Now please tell me where you've been. I have been waiting for you for nearly a week!" Sheik exclaimed angrily.
Link sighed. "We got held up."
"We?" Sheik asked quickly. "So you're travelling with your shadow?"
"As a matter of fact-" I began, but the stranger cut me off.
"I don't need an explanation from you. Link, you know that you don't have much time left. If Ganondorf isn't overthrown in the next week..." Sheik sat down on the straw mattress and removed the cloth from around the thin face. My eyes grew wide as I realized just who this person was.
"You-!" I started.
I had two hands over my mouth in no time.
"Do you know how much trouble I would be in if my identity was discovered?!" He whispered frantically.
I nodded.
"Then keep calling him Sheik!" Link said, her brow furrowed.
Sheik took his hands away slowly, still obviously unsure if I could keep my mouth shut.
I laughed inwardly. So now I was tangled up with a pair of very important, powerful people who were both fighting against the man who resurrected my very essence. I wouldn't be surprised if Ganon himself walked in at this moment.
Sheik fanned himself with his hand. "Whew, it's sweltering out there! Got any extra clothes Link?"
My mouth nearly dropped right open. One minute I think a psychopath is climbing into my room, and the next it's the missing prince of Hyrule coming in to lecture Link about being late to dispatch Ganondorf! And in the span of five minutes he decides to get all buddy-buddy with her?! I shook my head in disbelief.
"Nope, sorry." Link replied awkwardly.
"Ah well, guess I'll have to borrow some fabric from the tailors then." He smiled and snapped his fingers. A few small rolls of fabric appeared, and in seconds were transformed into a simple jerkin, shirt and trousers.
Sheik jumped up and grasped the outfit before it fell to the ground. "Takes quite a toll..." He mumbled before stumbling tiredly into the adjoining room and closing the door behind him.
"What was that all about?" I asked incredulously, looking to Link.
"He's a bit crazy isn't he?" Link said thoughtfully. "Don't mind him, Sheik just needs to relax every once in a while. He hasn't had much freedom lately."
A crimson streak on Link's chest caught my attention. "Link, you're still bleeding..."
She wiped away the blood nonchalantly. "It's not too bad. I'll be fine until we can get to the potion shop."
Though concerned for Link, I tried to push it to the back of my mind until something more could be done for her.
"Much better!" Sheik said, closing the door behind him.
He looked more like the prince in his new attire. His long, blonde hair hung straight down to the nape of his neck, nearly touching his shoulders. The informal clothes assured that he wouldn't be recognized, but must have been more comfortable in this heat compared to his earlier outfit.
He walked directly up to Link and gave her a big sweaty hug. Ignoring her complaints of how disgusting he was, Sheik rumpled her hair and held her at arm's-length.
"I didn't really make a very impressive entrance did I?" He chuckled.
Wriggling out of his grip, Link replied, "I was grateful for it."
I wasn't sure if it would be inappropriate to interrupt them, but I was feeling like this reunion could be postponed.
"Hey 'Sheik'," I said, annoyed, "How come you get to be all happy when you just came in uninvited and lectured us about your dumb plan?"
He turned around slowly. "Who asked you?"
"I don't care if you asked me or not. The 'shadow' you ignored earlier wants to know." I spat.
"Dark, stop. There's no reason to be jealous." Link cut in.
I deflated. Jealous? Me? Ridiculous. As if I would be jealous of this stuck up brat. Okay, maybe I was a bit jealous...
Sheik frowned. "Why are you letting him tag along Link?"
"Because he's my companion." Link said simply.
Was that all I was to her?
"But why do you need him?" Sheik pushed.
A traveling companion?
"Just drop it Sheik." Link said angrily.
Sheik threw his hands up in the air defensively. "Fine, fine."
I inched slowly closer to Link.
"Link?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes?" She asked, still a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Could I talk to you for a minute?" After a moment's contemplation, I added, "In the other room?"
She eyed me with a quizzical look, but consented nonetheless.
I shot Sheik a dirty look before closing the door behind us.
"Dark, you know that Sheik will be protective of me if he knows about..." She trailed off, the tips of her ears tinting pink.
"So what, we just act like this until he leaves? What if he doesn't go?" I whispered frantically. I hoped my unspoken fear wasn't shining through.
"We just have to give him time to adjust!" She said quickly, her eyes pleading.
"This is stupid." I huffed angrily.
Link gave me a quirky grin. "Just be patient!" She pecked me on the cheek before opening the door again.
Be patient?