Here is the 9th chapter. I'm so sorry this is taking forever, but I rarely get the amount of time I need to type up these chapters. I get them written fast enough, but typing is my problem.  This chapter is mostly of Sean not getting the idea across that no one is going to tell him about his hair color. XD  I hope you enjoy this next addition to Approaching Darkness.

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White Hair

"Damn it! Get back here!" Dark Link growled, grabbing Sean by his hair and dragging the boy towards him.

Sean yelped in pain when his hair was tugged savagely in the wraith's grasp.

"I won't cut off it all! Just your bangs so no one can see them!"

"You don't need to use your sword!" Sean yelled back, eyes watering up with fear.

"Would you prefer I ripped it out of your scalp?"

"......No..."

"Then come here," Dark Link ordered sternly.

Sean slowly scuffed across the ground and sat down in front of the wraith.

"Why are you cutting my hair?"

"We're going into a village that's down here somewhere. If you're not going to eat anything I kill, I'll get you some food from them instead."

"But why cut my hair?"

Dark Link got down on his knees, holding his drawn sword in his right hand, and got uncomfortably close to Sean's face.

"Let's just say that your hair color won't go well with them."

"Why?"

Dark Link pulled away from Sean's face.

"White hair is not a good color to have around here, more less anywhere for that matter."

"Why?"

"Shut up or I'll take out one of your eyes!"

Sean sucked in his breath and fell silent, but spoke again, causing Dark Link to have the urge to slice off the boy's head.

"Why doesn't anyone like white hair?"

Dark Link's eyes flashed with thought of seeing the boy's blood spill from his slashed throat.

"Not now damn it!" He hissed though clenched teeth.

Sean fell silent.

"I'll tell you some other time, but right now I want you to shut your goddamn mouth!"

Sean gave a slight nod, seeing the wraith's thoughts swirl in the red eyes; blood, pain, and death.

After a slightly entertaining session of Dark Link trying not to stab Sean in the head, Sean's bangs had been trimmed down so that it appeared he had none at all. Dark Link had sheathed his sword and had distanced himself from the boy to cool himself down and vent out his anger at something else. Sean had stood and was pawing at his now missing bangs, missing the long ones badly. Apart from that, thoughts of why people didn't like white hair swirled in his mind. His father and uncles hadn't cared at all and didn't discuss it. Nobody in the camp had. 'Old people have white hair and nobody cares.' Sean thought to himself. 'Why would it be any different for me?' A soft touch on his leg brought him out of his thoughts and he looked down to see Juto pressed up against his pants. He reached down and picked up the Black Boe, petting its head as it purred. Sean smiled a little, but stopped when a certain sound came from his ears from the earth. He dove to the side, and rolled, just as a bleached white, rotting hand shot through the dirt; just missing his leg. Dark Link was on the hand before Sean even knew the wraith had moved.

"Mekoh!" Dark Link yelled, smiling in sick delight and constricting the arm viciously.

A muffled screech sounded from in the ground and Mekoh's full body came forth; cowering in a tight ball. By then, Dark Link had dropped the hand and had grabbed Mekoh's two stubby arms and pulled them as far out as they would go without coming off. He had planted his right black leathered boot onto Mekoh's chest with his knee bent, threatening to extend his leg out its full length and rid Mekoh of its small arms. The Dead Hand's eyeless face seemed ridden over with shock.

"I told you to leave, Mekoh," Dark Link said, his face an expression of delight in another's pain and fear, "but you didn't listen."

Mekoh made a protesting screech and Sean could hear the leather of Dark Link's boots and pants flex as the wraith straightened out his leg slightly. Sean noticed the skin on Mekoh's arms stretch as if it were going to tear.

"Never assume anything I say, you worthless excuse for an UnDead monster! I don't understand why no one has killed you yet."

Mekoh whimpered.

"Don't go begging for mercy! I saw what you were trying to do! You were trying to take Sean again!"

Sean blinked. How did Dark Link know his name when he never had told him?

Mekoh started to say something, but the wraith silenced him.

"Don't tell me you'll be good now! I've given you enough chanced to prove you're trustworthy!"

"Kyuu..."

"Stay out of this Juto!"

The Black Boe shuddered in Sean's arms and buried its face into the boy's shirt.

Dark Link's cold red eyes bored back into Mekoh's eyeless sockets.

"For quite awhile now I've wanted to inflict Nayru forbidden pain on you!" He smiled coldly. "It's not like you'd die from it anyway, but it'll have to wait for another time." In one swift move, Dark Link straightened his leg, sending Mekoh backwards with the loss of its front arms. Dark Link then tossed the dismembered limbs aside and stormed off away from the UnDead creature.

Sean kept his distance from the lifeless limbs, not seeing them bleed like any normal wound. No blood poured from the wrenched apart flesh and that disturbed him somewhat.

Dark Link gave a sigh, breaking the silence that had settled the clearing after Mekoh had left.

"C'mon, kid," He said, motioning for Sean to follow him. "I'm not going to waste anymore time here."

Sean quickly got up and ran over to Dark Link, wanting to be in his safe presence with Mekoh being not too far away. Giving one final glare to where Mekoh had disappeared, Dark Link turned away and continued down the path he wanted to have already walked without Mekoh's interference. The Dead Hand had taken Dark Link's hint and vanished underground to replace its arms in peace.

Sean jumped when Dark Link grabbed him by the arm, pulled him close, and stopped walking. The wraith dug in his pocket until he pulled out a small stretchable band. He then turned Sean around and began gathering all of the long locks of frosty hair behind the boy's head.

"What are you doing?" Sean asked, slightly confused.

"Tying your hair back," Dark Link answered, the band apparently clenched in his fangs. "It'll keep you out of trouble when we're in town."

Sean kept silent, still wondering what was so bad about his white hair. He shook the thought from his mind and allowed Dark Link to finish.

Soon the tugging on his white hair ceased and Dark Link had stepped around to Sean's front, bending down to see him clearer. Dark Link's eyebrows rose in what seemed like amusement and Sean thought he saw the edge of the wraith's mouth twitch up in a small smile, but it faded so quickly that Sean wasn't entirely sure he saw it.

"You look like a little girl," He said, Sean thinking he heard a laugh get caught in the man's throat, fighting to free itself, "not that it's much of an improvement anyway." He concluded he comment by patting Sean on the head and straightened himself.

"Little girl?" Sean repeated, his face twisted in confusion and dislike.

Dark Link said nothing and continued down the path, Sean running to catch up.

"Just what is so wrong with my hair?" The boy asked again once he caught up.

The wraith didn't reply right away.

"You hair color on someone your age is disliked. I'm going to leave it at that."

Sean could tell that Dark Link would say no more and so he didn't pry any further.

A silence settled over them both as the pair traveled down the path. Birds chirped softly in the canopy of the trees, sunlight dotting the shaded ground. The air was cool, comfortable on the skin and pleasant to the lungs. Sean still found it wondrous how a place could be so beautiful compared to the wasteland he had gotten so used to seeing. The wasteland made it seem that there was no longer any beauty left in the world, but Sean had found that to be false. Now he felt that he could never go back to Link's fortress ever again, but then a thought occurred to him that he hadn't thought of since his escape. Suto! Sean cursed himself mentally. How could he forget about his only good friend? The boy glanced up at Dark Link. Wasn't Dark Link his friend? Could he be trusted? Sean wasn't sure yet, since he hadn't been with Dark Link that long. So far the wraith had saved his life three times. Wasn't that enough?

"Damn," Sean muttered under his breath, holding his head in his hands as he walked.

Dark Link looked down at him, looked back up, but said nothing.

'Oh Suto! How am I supposed to save you!?' Sean yelled in his mind, as if his friend could answer him. 'How can I save you when I can't even protect myself!? I promised I'd come back to get you! Oh Farore, I'm sorry!'

Dark Link snorted. Obviously the kid was going through some mental stress and he decided to just stay out of it. 'He's putting himself in pain. No need for my assistance.' He thought to himself.

Silence in the mind soon took both beings over, minds as empty as Link's cursed wasteland. They walked until the passage of time was forgotten and Sean couldn't walk another step.

Seeing that Sean wasn't going to move, Dark Link picked the boy up and set him under a tree off of the road. Juto appeared from the shadows and nestled down in Sean's lap.

"Stay here," The wraith ordered after putting the boy down. "The town isn't too far from here, but I will not let you waltz in there the way you are. By the time I return, you should be rested up." Without another word, he strolled away; his cloak billowing out behind him as he pulled the cowel over his head.

Sean rested his head against the tree trunk, sleepily watching Dark Link go. When the man was out of sight, the boy let his ice blue eyes drift back to look dead ahead of himself; eyelids half closed. He was so exhausted from tying to keep up with the pace Dark Link had set for their travel. The wraith seemed to prefer quick travel and leave those who lagged behind.

Sean's eyelids then became too heavy and he let them drop shut. Quite a bit of things as happened in just one day and they had taken their toll on the young boy. He began to drift off to sleep when a thought of the Wolfos that might be tracking him came to his mind. Sean immediately calmed down and relaxed.

"If they find me," He whispered, "the find me."

He inhaled deeply, something like a half yawn, and his head fell slightly to the side when the strength in his neck muscles vanished. The only other movement he did after that was to move his hand to cradle Juto's soft body when the small creature moved to curl up on the boy's chest.