I followed Link back down stairs at the inn, watching his every move. He seemed to be back to normal, but... I still couldn't shake off what happened. I'd never seen him so upset.
Of course, we haven't been together long, but Link always seemed so upbeat, optimistic.
'I guess even the best break down..'
Ilana glided in front of me, snapping me to reality.
"So..what was that about?" she asked, quietly.
I sighed.
"I'm not sure myself, Ilana. Just... let it go. I'll handle it."
She sighed an "okay", and floated back behind me.
Link returned the key to the woman, thanking her. We walked out into the bright sunlight, it shining down happily on us. I squinted against the brightness, walking out farther.
I glanced to Link, who seemed a little lost in thought.
"What is it?" I asked.
He looked to me suddenly, as if caught off guard.
"Nothing, nothing." he laughed. "Let's go."
He reached over, taking my hand.
I looked up, a bit shocked. He did nothing but smile, and so I returned the favor.
~-~-~-~-
We made our way to Epona, who was still tied outside. As if suddenly remembering, Link gasped and rushed to her.
Her fur was still a bit damp, but she'd taken refuge under a nearby tree.
'Oh, shit.'
Link looked on the verge of tears again, but for different reasons.
"Ohhh, Epona, I'm so sorry.." he whined, reaching into the sack on her flank.
He felt around for something still dry, and then started to shammy her off.
She huffed appreciatively, then stomped a hoof towards me. I walked up to her, petting her muzzle.
"Hey. Sorry we left you in the rain.." I said softly.
Link sighed, putting the cloth back in the sack.
"She seems fine, other than a little damp. We can still go, but I don't want to push her."
Link said, addressing me. "I'm not in that great of a hurry, anyway."
He climbed up onto Epona, and I followed. I'd gotten pretty good at mounting and dismounting in these past days.
I wrapped my arms around Link, as per usual. We set off, towards what seemed to be nowhere.
"Hey, where is this desert anyway?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, it's behind Lon Lon Ranch." Link answered.
"Is that where Epona came from?" I questioned.
"Yes, Dark. You know that." he laughed.
"Just checking." I said, shrugging.
We rode on in silence for awhile, at a nice trot. I was taken in by the scenery, enjoying the view of the grassy hills, the ruined, ugly castle in the distance, and the ever-approaching circle of tall fence.
"Is that Lon Lon Ranch?" I asked.
Link hummed in response. As we got closer, I could make out several buildings through the large opening in the tall fence, and what seemed to be a large field. The view inside got worse as we got closer, as it was all on a hill, and we were approaching the valley between it's hill and the one we were on.
"Link?" I asked quietly, beginning to feel annoying.
"Yes?" Link asked calmly in response, patient with me as always.
"Ah...what do they do at ranches? Why are there so many buildings? It looks like a town..."
I trailed.
"Well..." he began. "They raise animals. Like... farm animals. Cows, horses...cuccos..."
"Cows? ...Cuccos?" I asked, the last thing confusing me most.
He laughed. "Yes. I'd go ahead and say we could stop in real fast and I'd have Malon show you around, but..." he trailed off with a slight worry in his expression.
"But what?" I asked.
"Well, you see..." he trailed off. I waited as he took a breath and found new sentences.
"Okay. So, you know how I have my Ocarina, right? And, how I played that song that one time, and Epona came to us?"
"Aye..?" I replied, questioning.
"Well, Malon taught me that song. It's a song her mother wrote. She sings it a lot."
He looked out to the sky above the ranch, a breeze messing with his hair.
"And?" I asked, not sure if I was supposed to get anything out of that.
"Well, anyway," he laughed, brushing the silence aside. "When I was little, before I pulled the Master Sword, I went to the ranch. I went out to the center, a huge field surrounded by even more fence. There she was, standing in the middle. She was singing that song, and a foal was next to her."
"Wait, interruption." I said.
Link looked back at me, expectantly. "What?" he asked.
"What's a foal?" I asked, totally serious.
He looked a me a moment longer, and I watched him struggle to keep from laughing.
"A baby horse, Dark." he chuckled.
"Don't laugh! I didn't know. You have to tell me these things." I said, matter-of-fact-ly.
He chuckled, and felt the hand I had wrapped around his chest.
"I know." he said quietly, rubbing the back of my hand.
I looked away a bit, a warm feeling in my chest spurring from his simple gesture.
He seemed to take notice, and slowly dropped his hand back to the horn of the saddle.
"Anyway." he said, snapping me out of it. "I had seen her before. When I snuck into the castle to see Zelda."
"Oh, by the way, she's.." he trailed, knowing I didn't know her.
"The princess of Hyrule." I said.
He looked at me in surprise. "I thought you wouldn't know her?"
"I..I don't. Well, I do, but..uhm.." I trailed off, and my head began to ache.
I pressed my hands to my temples, trying to shake the pain.
Link tugged Epona's reins, pulling her to a stop. "Are you okay?" he asked, turning around as much as he could in the saddle.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I said, stopping my thoughts of the Princess. When I did, the pain lifted.
'Why..I..feel like I should know her, like I knew Link..'
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Does your head hurt?"
"It...did. But now that I'm not thinking of her, the pain stopped.." I trailed.
Link looked down, thinking.
"Maybe... maybe it has something to do with your Triforce. Since you're supposed to keep us all in check, maybe the fact the princess is gone, or, more likely in hiding, that it pains you to think of her..the absence of the Triforce of Wisdom." he guessed, tying to explain it away.
I shrugged.
"Mayhap.." I trailed. "Anyway... on with your story?" I asked, smiling.
His face lit up.
"Oh, yes!" he chuckled, whipping the reins.
"Anyway, I had snuck in to talk to Zelda because the Great Deku Tree guided me to. He gave me the Kokiri's Emerald, and said Zelda would know more.."
"So we talked, I found out more information about me, the Triforces, the impending evil, and so on..." he shook his head as if those were unimportant details.
'Hardly. I wish he'd talk more about that..'
I brushed those thoughts aside.
'It pains him to think of childhood. I won't ask.'"Well, before that, I woke up her dad Talon, who was sleeping near the castle. Malon gave me a cucco egg that hatched soon after she gave it to me. She said Talon is a really hard sleeper, and he wont wake up otherwise.."
"She was worried, so even though I thought it odd, I woke him. I talked to Malon a while before that."
He laughed.
"Well, I went to the ranch a while after that. Like I said, she was out in the middle. I went up to her, and she introduced me to the foal. Well, you've probably guessed," he chuckled, looking at me. "But, the foal was Epona, here!" he said, and petted her mane.
I laughed. "I figured. So, then what?"
"She taught me the song she was singing. She said Epona loved it, and came when it was played. She said she'd raised the foal since her mother was gone, and that no one else was able to tame her."
"I played the song, and she just nuzzled up to me like she'd known me since birth." he said, laughing.
"Malon thought that was a sign, and she told me she must trust me."
He paused, and I thought the story was over.
"How does that explain why we couldn't go in the ranch?" I asked, looking back at the ranch that was now a short distance behind us.
"Oh," he said, chuckling. "I almost forgot."
I laughed, wrapping my arms tighter around him and laying my head on his shoulder.
I felt his eyes look to me, and saw the minute blush that lasted for a moment.
"Uh," he said, trying to find his spot, me having distracted him.
"Oh, yeah." he said. "Well, when I came from a temple as an adult, I paid a visit to the ranch. Come to find out, Talon's kind-of-evil brother had taken over the ranch, kicked him out, and made Malon his personal ranch slave of sorts."
He sighed.
"I found her in the barn, milking cows. She seemed surprised to see me, and she almost didn't realize who I was." he said.
"But, after awhile she explained everything to me. I asked where Epona was, and she said that Talon was trying to tame her, as she was the finest horse, to present her as a gift to..."
He trailed then. I looked up in expectation, and he hesitantly continued.
"To Gannondorf."
At the sound of his name, a pain shot straight through my head.
"Ah.."I muttered, burying my head in his neck and pressing my hands to my head.
My vision went blurry, and I thought I was going to black out. I felt a heat on my hand, and I looked down through my hazy vision at the faint glow coming from my sacred mark.
The middle triangle was pulsing with a faint light. I raised up, keeping one hand on my head, and staring at my other.
Link pulled Epona to a stop. He flung himself around in the saddle, sitting backwards.
He put his hands on my head, staring me in the eye.
"Dark!" he said.
His voice was faint, like he was far away.
"Link? Link, why do you sound so far away.." I asked, faintly.
"Dark? Dark, I'm right here!"
His face was contorted with fear and confusion. He looked at my hand, noticing my Triforce.
I saw his face scrunch with more confusion.
My vision got even hazier, and I heard almost silence. The silence felt familiar, but the voice that accompanied it after a few moments certainly wasn't.
"You..why are you there!? What are you doing?!"
It yelled, a low, dark tone, husky and disgusting. My eyes widened, and almost everything went black, save for a small light that broke through the darkness from my Triforce.
"What...is that?!"
The voice growled, lower than before. I couldn't even squeak out a noise, I was petrified.
I clung my vision to my Triforce, glowing brighter and brighter.
"Why do you have that?! What are you doing?!"
It screamed, and I tried to ignore it. I glued my eyes to the Triforce, feeling myself swimming through the familiar darkness towards it, and the faint, soft voice calling my name. The voice so faint, but so calming. I knew this voice. It called me, this darkness is no longer my home. I...belong in the light now. I don't want to live here without that voice..
I know this darkness. It will not beat me. That's my light.
I began swimming faster, the light getting brighter and brighter, the faint voice becoming deafeningly loud, drowning out the other voice as I denied the darkness.
"What? You have no conscience! You will not defy me!"
No, you will not beat me darkness. You don't hold me anymore!
I broke the darkness, and the darkness only screamed at me when I touched my Triforce, snapping me back to reality. My eyes rolled back down in time to see Link's horrified face, and the insane light webs running up my arm from my Triforce recede back into it, and the glow to disappear.
I looked back up, and met Link's face. He was horrified, and confused, as I was. He was holding my hand so tightly I thought he was going to break my fingers.
I laughed, shakily.
"Didn't know you had such a strong grip.." I said, jokingly.
He looked at me, blankly. Then, slowly, loosened his iron grip.
"What...just happened to you?" he asked, still cautious.
I looked down, unsure.
"I...I don't know. I..I went somewhere." I said, slowly looking back to him.
His face twisted in confusion, and carefully asked another question.
"Where did you go?" He grabbed my hand again, pulling me close as he could on the back of a horse.
"I went back to the darkness." I said, a bit nonchalantly.
His gaze quickly snapped back up to my face.
"You what?" he asked, softly.
"The darkness...where I was before I met you. In that room." I said, looking away.
The wind blew my hair in my face, but I was so out of it I didn't even notice.
"But...I...beat it...!" I said softly, realizing slowly. "Link!" I said, looking back to him.
"I beat it! I escaped! It didn't drop me back, I got out myself!" I said, my volume increasing.
"Wait, wait, slow down." Link said, chuckling timidly. "What do you mean, you beat it?"
"Well.." I said, trying to explain. "Before, I was floating in the dark. It was cold and damp. And suddenly, I was in the room. But, this time," I said, excited. "This time, I got out. But, it was different, too." I said, slowly.
"How was it different?" he asked, softly.
"Well, my Triforce was there. It was the only light. It was so small at first."
"Your..Triforce?" he said, confused. "I..don't get it..but, I guess I wouldn't. I don't retreat into darkness, do I?" he asked, laughing.
I chuckled. "Maybe that's a new thing about me."
"Maybe." he said.
"Anyway," I shrugged. "Something..scary..happened though.."
His interest piqued again.
"There...was a voice..and..it was dark. Very..gross.." I said, searching for words.
"But, it was acting like it knew me. I don't know who it was. It was mad I had a Triforce piece, and it was confused. It said I didn't have a soul, a consciousness."
I looked down, saddened by my own words. Link reached out, and held my face.
"Well, it was wrong. We'll figure out who it was." he said, smiling.
I smiled back, looking at him.
"What happened next?" he asked, wanting my explanation to continue.
"Oh.." I said. "That made me mad. I told it it was wrong, it didn't hold me."
"And, I started swimming. And the voice was screaming, but I kept swimming toward my Triforce. And, the closer I got, the bigger it got, and I heard you calling for me.."
I finished, recalling fondly of his voice calling to me in the darkness.
"Your voice became so loud I didn't care, I couldn't even hear the other voice. All I knew is I needed to touch it, and come to your voice."
I smiled up at him.
He sat there, stunned.
"You...wanted to get back to me that badly?" he asked, softly.
"Of course..." I said, fighting back what I really wanted to say.
'I can't. No pushing. I promised him, all to myself. He gets to do it.'
"I'm happy..."he said, suddenly. "That... you'd do that to get back to me."
He struggled with the words, trying to come up with them.
"Why?" I asked.
'Maybe..'
I tried to push it out of my head, but it wouldn't leave.
He looked up at me, silence placating him once again. He stuttered a bit, then clammed up and sighed.
"Well, ah..." he tried, but couldn't. "I.."
I looked up, my eyes soft. I could hear him say it.
"I..suppose.." he had his eyes shut tight.
'Is..'
"I...suppose...I..really.."
"Yes?" I said, mocking impatience.
"I suppose...I really..value our relationship."
My heart sank.
'Why was I expecting anything? What have I told myself!'
I laughed, shakily.
"Yeah, I do too. A lot." I said, smiling despite myself.
He looked up then, face lightly pink.
"I-I'm sorry, Dark." he said.
"No need for sorries here. I should be apologizing." I said, sighing.
"Why?" he asked, genuine as always.
"Well, for one, pushing this. You can figure out what 'this' is, in your head." I laughed. "As well as what just happened."
"Oh, yes," he said. "Are you alright, then?" he asked. "No harm done?"
I shrugged.
"As far as I know I am..I just wonder what that was."
He sighed, looking away.
"I don't know. I hope it doesn't happen again though. It scared me." he said, looking back to me. "Maybe there's more to you, and that Triforce than what we know."
I just shrugged again.
Dammit, Dark. Stop. Everything. Remember your promise. But, now...I want to know what that was...
I shivered.
"Well," I began. "We should probably get going, huh?" I smiled.
Link hesitantly agreed, and we headed off again. We rode in silence for a while, and I tried to process what happened. Who was that voice? Why? How?
I sighed in frustration.
"Stop thinking about it," I heard Link say quietly. "I told you we'd figure it out."
"I can't." I said.
He thought a moment.
"Then, I guess I'll finish my story to get your mind off of it then!" he said, happier.
I chuckled.
"Go for it."
He cleared his throat.
"Alright, I was... oh, yeah,"
"He was raising Epona for him, and Malon was saddened and angry. She asked me to get her out of there."
"Who, Epona or her?" I asked.
He laughed. "Epona, of course."
I laughed. "Oh."
"So, I of course complied. I save Epona, gain a horse, and fulfill Malon's wish. What could be better?" he chuckled.
"But, one problem. How to do it?"
He sighed.
"Talon saw me go out and ride her. He was stunned I'd been able to even get near her. He challenged me to a race."
He chuckled.
"I won."
I wrapped my arms around him tighter, leaning my head back on his shoulder.
"Of course you did." I said.
He paused for a moment, but continued.
"He was so stunned that I won that he challenged me to another race. He said if I won, I kept the horse."
"I won again, and I did. I kept her. But... he locked me in the ranch. He kept his promise, he said."
"What?! What kind of lousy deal is that?" I growled.
"Well, I wasn't having it. I built up speed on Epona, and we jumped the fence."
"You..jumped that fence?" I asked, stunned.
He laughed.
"Aye. Well, that's the end of my story. And, look, we're almost to the bridge."
He pointed in the distance, and I faintly saw a space in the rocks. There was a river, and a waterfall. With a bridge. Or, I assumed there to be one. After that, all was enclosed in rock.
~_~_~_~
We eventually made it to the river. I marveled at the waterfall. Link told me it somehow lead to the Zora's Domain, all the way across the field. I didn't understand, but I believed him. We trotted up to it, before Link hurriedly stopped Epona, and backed her up a bit.
"What's wrong?" I asked. I tried to see, but couldn't.
"The bridge is out." he said, frustratedly.
"What!" I said, annoyed myself.
I looked across the river and it's chasm, and saw a man getting out of his tent.
"Maybe he knows what's up." I suggested.
Link shrugged, figuring it was a better bet than any.
"Hey," he called. "Why is the bridge out?"
The man looked over, and came as close as he could.
"The Gerudo took it down. Said no outsiders were allowed in, and that this would keep everyone out for good. Not that I wasn't already over here. My lousy men ran off, to join them. Hope they're dead!" he huffed the last sentence, then went back inside his tent.
Link sighed. We were at a loss.
"Well, we have to get over there. I think I could Longshot it, but I'm not sure if it could carry both of us. And I don't want to find out it can't the hard way."
He sighed, placing his hands to his temples.
Slowly, very slowly, he looked up, dropping his hands. He stared at the gap for a very long time, then turned around to look at me.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"Of course, why?"
"You were stunned at how high Epona could jump. Let's see how far."
I froze.
"Wait, what? H-Hold on."
Too late.He already had whipped her reigns, and she was happily sprinting towards the gap. I clung to him, scared shitless.
I saw his face, and he was more than confident.
He's so brave..
Before I knew it, Epona took her last step on land and flung herself into the chasm, into the air. I made the mistake of looking down.
Oh, no. Hell no.I was scared she wasn't going to make it. I thought for a moment she wouldn't.
But she did.
Somehow, that horse jumped it, cleared it by a lot, actually, and landed us safely on the other side.
As soon as we landed, Link began laughing in triumph.
Meanwhile, I was frozen, clinging to him in shock and fear of what just happened.
Link looked back at me, and shit eating grin appeared on his face when he saw mine.
"You..bastard." was all I could manage.
He laughed again then, and began sending Epona flying once again down the path to Gerudo Valley.
-end chapter-
Alright, this was going to be a lot longer, but I've decided to split it in two chapters. I'm thinking of starting another story, with Dark and Link, but it wont be a ship of them. It'll be with an OC/Reader. How's that? I want opinions! ~bye
Also, I'm extremely sorry for how late this is. For real, and I have no excuses left. It's summer now, and I have a few more hours at my job, but I should be able to update a lot more often. I'm officially a junior in HS, by the by!