LOL, here it is at last: chapter 9. Sorry for the delay, but I've been having some problems with fatigue lately, not to mention a TON of school crap.
Go to my user profile page, and you will see a link to a map of Oceana. It might help you to better understand Majora's plan in this chapter.
By the way, sorry about the really cold ending of the chapter... It's really angsty. Poor Dark...
REVIEW SO I KNOW YOU'RE ALIVE!
Chapter 9 -- The Breakup Point
Thunder clapped overhead and lightning illuminated the sky. A dark wind ruffled the long grass of the fields, accompanied by streaking rain. In the midst of the chaotic weather were the dynamic trio: Link, Pike, and Tetra.
"The horses are getting scared! I think we should set up camp; I want to try the new supplies we got in Ipoli!" Tetra called loudly from the back of the threesome's single file line, struggling to be heard over the violent wind.
"I'll have to agree with Tetra," commented Link, pulling at his strange new horse's ears, trying to get it to keep on course. For some reason, the steed kept trying to sneak off west.
"Get on the right path, dipshit!" Link snapped at the animal, smacking it on the ass. The black horse let out an offended snort and jerked his head, trying to rid his ears of his rider's hands.
"We'll stop in a little while. Let's at least find suitable sheltering from the storm," Pike said. She glanced at Link.
"Having trouble?"
"This damn horse keeps trying to spring off in the wrong direction!" Link snarled.
"It's probably just afraid of the storm," said Tetra. "Mine's a little jumpy too..."
"Dammit, I'm soaked and my horse is being a stupid dick! We'd better find shelter fast!" Link growled. His horse made another attempt to go off in a different direction, so Link hit it on the butt again.
A deafening roll of thunder sounded, followed by the biggest crack of lightning yet. Link, Tetra, and Pike watched in horror as the lightning bolt connected with the dark trees that loomed before them, and in moments, those were illuminated with blazing fire.
"FIRE!" screamed Tetra. Her horse reared up, let out a loud, frightened whinny, and dashed off, Tetra barely clinging on.
"TETRA! TETRA, COME BACK!" Pike yelled frantically.
"I CAN'T, THE HORSE --!" That was the last they heard from Tetra before she was swallowed up from view and hearing by the rain, thunder and lightning.
"TETRA!" cried Link. He tried to send his horse after hers, but the steed fled off in the direction it had wanted to go in.
"LINK!" Pike shrieked.
Panicked, she knew she was all alone as her horse ran away with her back where they came...
Prince Komali stared out at the churning water as he stood on the highest cliff in Dragon Roost, the one where Medli the Earth Sage always played her harp. He sighed and leaned against the wooden fence. The weather was so bleak...that's just how he felt.
An event occured that day that had been happening every day for about three months ever since he returned home from his journey: Komali's father nagged him and criticized him about his relationship with Saria, the Forest Sage.
What business did the Rito chieftain have in his son's life anyway, Komali wondered. Who he dated was none of his father's concern. The dick... However, the flame in his relationship with Saria was blowing out. He realized that he was only staying with her to spite his father. Truth be told, Saria was an evil controlling bitch.
"Komali!" called a voice behind the Rito prince. Komali turned to see Saria, the one and only.
Prince Komali smiled weakly.
"Hey Saria..."
Saria frowned.
"Komali...your people were giving me those looks again... They always glare at me whenever I pass them. Weren't you trying to convince your father to let us be together?"
Komali sighed.
"I was trying, honest. But dad kept interrupting me and telling me how I needed to get with another Rito if I ever wanna be chieftain..." He looked back out at the water.
"I have a decision to make, Saria."
Saria looked angry.
"How could you even question your love for me?"
"I..."
"YOU LOVE ME BECAUSE I TOLD YOU TO! REMEMBER! YOU HAVE NO CHOICE, DUMBASS!" Saria snarled evilly.
"Er...yes ma'am..." Komali squeaked.
"Huh. Well, well, well, there's trouble in paradise, is there?" sneered another voice. Komali and Saria looked to see the Earth Sage Medli heading towards them, a sour smirk on her face. She had been cruelest of all to Komali and Saria, for she was still bitter towards the Rito prince after their breakup, though she had been the one who instigated all the problems.
"What do you want, bitch?" hissed Saria.
"Ooh, have I angered the green-haired rat queen?" Medli taunted.
"WHY YOU --"
"Guys, stop fighting!" whimpered Komali. Medli and Saria turned to glare at him so hard he flinched.
"Or...carry on..." he squeaked.
"You don't belong here! You're plagued with infinite youth! Komali will grow, and you will forever be a child! You can't stay with him here on Dragon Roost. Besides, I can see how sick of you he's getting!" snarled Medli.
"You can't tell him or me who we can or can't love!" retorted Saria.
"I'm not telling you that! I'm just saying that you dumbasses are gonna get your hearts broken for being in a pointless relationship, if you even stay together for much longer!"
"CARE TO SAY THAT TO MY FACE?"
"Uh -- I just did..."
The argument would have gone on like that for hours, Komali guessed. But it was cut short by a strange, strange visitor...
Medli and Saria snapped into silence as a puff of purple smoke appeared before them, vanishing almost as quickly as it came to reveal a beautiful young woman with long purple hair worn in two braids, fair skin, purple eyes, and a purple gown; she looked to be about 16 years old. The young woman moaned weakly and fell at Komali's feet. The Rito prince was stunned.
"What the --?"
"Holy shit! It's a purple haired freak!" gasped Medli.
"Please..." uttered the strange woman in a voice that was barely audible.
Komali knelt beside her.
"Saria, fetch some water, would you?" he requested urgently. Saria glared steadily at Komali for a moment before setting off to do her assigned task.
The newcomer said nothing more for a while. Komali, Saria, and Medli took her to Komali's bedroom and set her on the bed. She slept for a while with the three kids hovering nearby until finally she woke up.
"Miss...? Um, are you...like...ok or something?" Komali asked.
The woman sat up abrubtly, but winced.
"You're Prince Komali, right?" she asked with a desperate edge to her voice.
"That'd be me..." Komali answered steadily.
"Excellent. I was hoping I had landed on the right island..."
"Woah, woah, woah...wait...just tell me who you are, how you know who I am, and how you know where I live. I hope you know that I'm not interested in sleeping with stalkers for free," said Komali.
"KOMALI, YOU DICK, I'LL --!" Medli clamped a hand over Saria's mouth to keep her quiet.
The strange purple maiden sighed.
"Well, it's a long story. However, it is one you must hear... My name is Lazerus, and I come from a hidden kingdom called Oceana..." Lazerus told the story of the Four Sword, her and her sisters' purpose, and the Prophecy; she talked about Link, Aryll, Tetra, and Bambi's parentage and all that had been going on with the Majora deal, yaddah yaddah.
"Wow...that took a good half an hour or so out of my life. Thanks," snorted Medli.
"You bitch, why do you want to sleep with Komali?" Saria demanded.
"What? I never said I wanted to sleep with Komali," Lazerus said, frowning.
"Well, you were hinting at it!"
"I wasn't..."
"Don't lie to me, I'm the Forest Sage! I can read minds!"
"Saria, you can't read minds," snapped Medli.
"SARIA, SHUT UP, WOULD YOU! JEEZ...I'M SO SICK OF YOU!" Komali yelled suddenly. The air filled with dead silence.
Saria's expression was unreadable for a time. Then she let out a whimper and fled the room. Medli looked on, both shocked and pleased.
"Oh...that wasn't my fault, was it?" Lazerus asked softly.
Komali sighed, shut his eyes and shook his head.
"No, it was bound to happen sooner or later," he replied.
"Anyway, fuck Saria. What is it you want?" Medli asked.
"A big battle looms ahead of us, one that even the Six heroes of the Prophecy cannot fight alone. I need the help of you, Link's friends. I will also need to see the other sages and the king..."
"Oh, you mean my main man Daphness? He's with his bride-to-be on vacation. The other sages are at Windfall as far as I know," said Komali.
"I don't think this is a good idea..." Medli commented uncertainly.
Lazerus sighed.
"Trust me, it must be done. Now we need to discuss this in detail, and then we must find the king and the other sages..."
"Ok...now this plan... Oceana, as you know, is divided into five sections: northern, southern, eastern, western, and a small middle zone. We can split rule over these areas among us. I alone will rule in Oceana's castle and the northern section. Ganondorf and Ciara will take the southern territory. Agahnim and Vaati get eastern, and Shadow, you and Dark get western. That means that since we are in western territory now, this manor and everything else in this territory are under the rule of you and your brother, so in short, you will be out of the hair of the rest of us. Now, in the middle section lies the Light Shrine -- we are keeping the Dark Mirror there now, and that will be how we can quickly get to eachother's bases. My base will be Oceana Castle, Agahnim's and Vaati's will be Angel Palace, which is in the eastern section; Ciara and Ganondorf will get Serefina's Church in the south, and as I said before, Shadow and Dark will reside here in the Old Manor. Any questions so far?" said Majora in a business-like tone as he stood at a table with Vaati, Ciara, Ganondorf, Agahnim, and Shadow gathered around him.
Shadow raised his hand.
"What, Shadow?"
"Umm, yeah," began Shadow. "Does this have something to do with Capture the Flag?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Uh, no. Why?" Majora asked, annoyance towards the younger foe creeping into his face.
"Well, you know...with the bases you're talking about and stuff. What will we use for the flags?"
"We're not playing Capture the Flag, Shadow," he snapped, towering above Shadow Link. Shadow cowered slightly.
"We're not?" he squeaked.
"No, dumbass!" Ciara hissed.
"Oh...well, you see, I was kind of looking forward to --"
"There must be silence, my pet..." purred Ganondorf, pulling Shadow to him. Shadow always wondered why Ganondorf was so friendly to him. He always figured it was because he was awesome.
"Cough -- pedophile -- cough," fake-coughed Agahnim.
"That's all well and good, but let us continue our conversation," said Majora. "Now we will all keep watch over the middle section, but each pair will have main rule over their area. But of course, I get absolute power simply because I'm me."
"Sounds reasonable," said Agahnim slowly. "But who will take the slave girl?" As if on cue, Bambi peeked in the room, wondering bitterly what they wanted with her now.
"Hmm...we can share her," said Majora.
"Yes, but where will she be imprisoned mainly?" inquired Agahnim.
"I don't want that stupid little thieving rat near me!" snarled Ganondorf.
"I'm too good to have anything to do with such a horrible person," Vaati sniffed, turning his nose up.
Majora sighed. "Well --"
"I'll take her!" Shadow announced loudly. He and Dark were the lowest ranking, least respected members of the Dark Ones, and Shadow Link thought it would be nice to have a lacky for once as he was one to the other evil villains. And besides, Dark seemed to like having her around, and Shadow was happy if his brother was happy.
"Fine," Majora said with some indifference. "Just keep an eye on her, and don't get too soft."
"I won't," Shadow promised.
Bambi watched, not pleased that these decisions were being made for her, but relieved that she would not be at the mercy of angry, dangerous villains like Vaati, Agahnim, and Ganondorf, and happy not to have to stay with the just plain demented likes of Majora or Ciara.
Majora noticed Bambi eavesdropping and he smiled coldly.
"Oh, well, at least we won't have to tell her that she's staying in this manor here in the western territory, seeing as she overheard and everything." The other villains turned to glare at Bambi, but she held their gaze with unspoken defiance.
"Oh, what a spirited little scrap you are," chortled Agahnim, approaching the prisoner, pinching her cheek and shaking it. Then he shoved her to the ground, and the others laughed. Although Bambi was angry, she was smart enough to know that if she valued her life, she would not dare to speak a word in her defense. She concealed her fury, but her cheeks flushed angrily.
"That's enough prisoner fun for the moment. Now we should all go to our separate places. And Shadow, go find Dark at No Man's Bridge so you two can finish the dirty work of killing off Link," said Majora. His followers filed out.
Vaati was the last leaving, and Majora stopped him.
"Oh...yes, Majora?" Vaati asked, avoiding his leader's eyes. The wind mage's red eyes widened a little as Majora lifted his chin to look him in the face.
"I would like to see you over at Oceana Castle later...there are some things I want to talk to you about," he said, smiling sexily as a mischevious light danced in his eyes...
"WOULD YOU SLOW DOWN? JEEZ, YOU TOTALLY WEREN'T WORTH THE -- oh, wait. You were free. Now I see why," grumbled Link.
He was at the mercy of the still dashing horse. Though they were many miles away from the fire now, the strange animal was still running. It didn't slow down at all whatsoever. Link wondered how it could keep going so far so fast even though it was obviously exhausted and out of breath judging by its heaving sides.
Link was beginning to think that there was somewhere specific this horse wanted to go. It had been running alongside a river for a while, and Link finally saw a bridge in the distance, which the horse was keeping an eye on. What was going on?
At last they reached the bride. Wheezing from all the running, the horse stopped and thirstily lapped at the water in the river.
"You stupid thing! Take me back where we came from! Take me back, I say! MUSH!" Link commanded, slapping the horse on the ass again. It snorted but did not budge.
Half an hour or so passed as the horse continued to mill around by the bridge. Link was, of course, on his last nerve, but did not dare dismount for fear of being abandoned by the creature. He wished it would just move somewhere else...
Link's thoughts wandered to the whereabouts of Tetra and Pike. It seemed he was losing everyone: Tetra, Pike, Aryll, and Bambi...well -- he didn't really care about Bambi. But that was beside the point.
A low growl sounded from some tall reeds on the other side of the bridge, jerking Link from his thoughts.
"Uh...is something there?" he called hesitantly. The horse lifted its head and perked its ears.
The growl grew louder and progressed into a snarl. The reeds began to shift as something moved closer... Link was getting quite nervous, and apparently so was the horse. It snorted fearfully, stomped its foot, and paced back a little.
Snarling turned into barking, announcing the emergence of what seemed like a large dog from the reeds.
"Oh, it's just a dog. Big deal," grunted Link. "All it does is snarl and foam at the mouth. Just a silly little dog..."
The horse's eyes widened. It whinnied fearfully, reared up, and began to dash straight ahead, the dog at its heels. As he rode, Link turned in his seat to watch the "dog".
"Hmm...that's a pretty big dog. I wonder what breed it is? I think I know this one...hmm... Is it a beagle? ...Nah. A hound dog? Or a dalmation like Pongo? I don't think so, but I am quite fond of Pongo... Or what about an Irish wolfhound?"
The dog snarled and yapped, biting at the horse's legs.
"Is it a pug?"
"OWOOOOOO!" howled the dog, eyeing Link frustratedly.
"OH! OH! I KNOW! It's a WOLF! It is, isn't it?" Link said. The wolf glared at him maliciously.
"Wait...a wolf... Oh, crap, that's not good." The boy hero turned back around and whacked the horse on the ass again.
"MOVE FASTER YOU STUPID HORSE! CAN'T YA SEE WE'RE BEING CHASED!" Link was beginning to panic.
Horse and rider fled blindly for a bit, the wolf still hot on their heels.
Link stared fearfully back at the savage beast, only to be nearly thrown off the horse due to an abrupt stop.
"Woah!"
Looking forward, Link saw that the horse had nearly run into the river, which now curved in front of them. The frightened animal turned to face the wolf, cowering.
"NO! RUN!" Link screamed.
The wolf seemed to grin with victory. It crouched, bunching its muscles in preparation to spring. The horse ducked down a bit in a cowering pose. Link closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the end...but...instead the animal noises stopped. He felt as though he were sinking downward... And then the next sound that filled his ears was laughter. Utterly confused, Link opened his eyes.
There was no longer any wolf. Where the foul beast had stood was what looked like an evil clone of Link with black hair and laughter-filled red eyes. Dark Link...? No. No, there was something about this boy that differed from Dark. The stranger's laugh rang out, and it was different than Dark Link's.
Then Link noticed that he was no longer high up on a horse. Instead, he was so low to the ground now that his knees rested on the earth. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer on the back of a graceful black horse, but instead on the back of the REAL Dark Link, who was laughing along with the other clone. The danger of the situation dawned on Link, and he screeched and rolled off of Dark Link.
"Hehehe...it feels good to finally have your ass off my back. I swear, my rear is bruised from all the slaps you dealt it," sneered Dark Link who remained on his stomach, propped up by his elbows as he gazed at Link with black humor in his red eyes.
"Wow, how gross!" giggled the other one.
"What the...? Dark Link, you're supposed to be DEAD! And how the fuck did you get cloned! And what happened to the horse and the wolf?" Link blurted out.
Dark Link and the other boy exchanged glances, then both lunged at Link, grabbed a hold of his arms, and held him to the ground. Link cried out and struggled.
"That's so you won't get away from us," explained Dark. "Now let me answer your questions... I was revived by Majora and the Dark Mirror. I am alive once more."
Dark Link nodded to his grinning look-alike.
"And he is no clone. He is my brother Shadow Link."
Link looked from Dark to Shadow. They both were basically twinly, but there were differences. Dark had a voice lower than Link's, and Shadow's voice was higher than Link's. Dark had always been very thin, and still was now, if not more so. His brother was a little plump, but not too much so. Looking at them closer, Link realized how different they really were. The twins both had a different air about them: Dark was his serious self while Shadow seemed more youthful, naive, and...well...stupid.
"You're just some stupid clone of me made out of dark stuff like hate and shadows! How can you have family, huh?" scoffed Link.
Dark twisted Link's wrist as he answered the question he had been given. Link squeaked in pain.
"You see, the thing people fail to understand is that shadows and dark selves are a race of people, just like you humans. We have lives all our own, lives that began in the Dark World. The Dark World has an organized government and everything. It isn't some place where bad souls live. It's an actual community."
"Furthermore, the more darkness a person has in their heart, the more dark selves they create. Usually a person only has one dark self, but you provided enough hate and sadness to have twins!" added Shadow.
"Have twins? You make it sound like I was pregnant or something! I ain't been pregnant," snapped Link.
"Well, whatever. I phrased that wrong. But boys can get pregnant in the Dark World, you know," said Shadow.
"That's gross," Link commented.
"Stop talking about mpreg so I can answer the other questions!" hissed Dark. Link and Shadow fell silent.
"You are such a fool, Link. Shadow and I WERE the horse and wolf. Majora has granted us each the ability to change into an animal."
Link gulped. The enemy was strong, he knew that. But it seemed that the members of the Dark Ones had powers greater than he knew. If they could turn into animals to do various tasks and hide their real identities, then what other things could they do?
Link glared at his opponents, showing great defiance despite his pinned and prone position on the grass.
"I knew that there was something wrong with the horse I was riding. And there was -- no, IS: I was riding a virgin horse, and everyone knows you can't ride a virgin!" he spat icily.
Dark let out an enraged snarl and grabbed Link's neck. Link let out a choked cry of pain as Dark Link's nails dug into his skin.
"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG ABOUT THE FACT THAT I HAVEN'T LOST MY VIRGINITY YET!" Dark screamed, all his rage and hostility contained in that single sentence.
"Yeah! It's ok if he's a virgin!" Shadow added in defense of his brother.
"No it's not! Are YOU a virgin?" Link managed to utter, gazing at Shadow coldly.
"Well, no...Dark is the only virgin here right now," Shadow Link admitted.
"But his sex life doesen't matter! Nothing will matter to you soon, for we have been sent to kill you!" said Shadow.
Link glared at Dark.
"So this whole thing was a trap! How come that beggar in Ipoli didn't know what you truly were?"
Dark chuckled softly.
"Idiot. You thought that Ipoli had not felt the wrath of Majora? It looked normal, but it wasn't. Every single member of the town in under our control! There is no town that we have not harmed!" he declared.
"The evil side is winning and you know it. We're going to kill you and your friends off one by one now that you're separated. Besides, we already have your woman!" said Shadow.
"You bastards took Tetra!" Link asked, outraged.
"No, not her. It was a different one. A blonde one," Shadow replied.
"Tetra IS blonde! Which blonde are you talking about? There are too many blondes in this story."
Dark rolled his eyes.
"Bambi," he said.
"Oh. Why should I care? And she's not my woman, she's my cousin. That would be gross if I was in a relationship with her," snorted Link.
"You have less morals than us if you don't even value family," Dark said sternly.
"How did you know she was my cousin?"
"Well, you just told us, for one," replied Shadow.
"Oh..." said Link.
"You'll never get far if you don't understand the value of family. But it is not nessecary for you to learn that now, seeing as we are about to kill you," growled Dark.
"Stupid insecure virgin! You won't kill me!"
Dark Link raised a brow.
"Oh, we WILL kill you. And not only that, we will humiliate you while doing so." He and Shadow let Link up and drew their swords.
"Fight us!" Shadow spat.
Link tried to hide his fear about taking on two opponents the way he always handled fear: insults.
"Tch. What's the point? I don't need to fight little Mr. Virgin and his brother Fatty-Thunder-Thighs," scoffed Link.
Dark and Shadow exchanged glances, then flashed Link identical smirks.
"You're just scared. Are you afraid we're gonna mess up your hair, pussy?" Dark sneered.
Link swallowed. Truthfully, he WAS afraid for his hair, but knew it was best not to let the enemy know.
"Let's just all stop talking and get on with the bloodshed, ok?" Shadow said impatiently.
"Yes. Let us delay no longer..." Dark said in a low tone, licking his lips as if he could taste what he believed would be an impending victory.
Dark and Shadow lunged at Link. Link squealed and tried to get out of the way, but Shadow tripped him and made to stab him in the back. However, Link threw him off, but was confronted by Dark as he grabbed his hair and shoved his face into the dirt, causing Link to remain on the ground. Link thrashed about wildly and managed to kick Dark hard in the legs, distracting him enough to let go. As quickly as he could, Link got back on his feet.
Damn... If only I knew how to use the Triforce of Courage to my advantage. Maybe I should try focusing. That's what Tetra always told me to do, Link thought.
He tried to focus on courage, but his opponents made that almost impossible. Shadow crashed into his side, knocking Link to the ground. He straddled the prone blonde and sliced Link's chest with his sword. Link let out a cry, but still managed to scratch Shadow hard in the face. Shadow screeched and drew back, freeing Link. Link grabbed his neck and knocked Shadow's sword away before pinning him to the ground and trying to slit him with the Master Sword.
Link would have done so had Dark not come to the aid of his screaming brother. Link gasped as Dark stabbed him in the back but reacted quickly enough so that only the tip went through his flesh. He spun around, grabbed Dark by the belt, and yanked him to the ground and tried to stab him in the chest. Unfortunately, Shadow grabbed Link by the leg and pulled him away from Dark.
Link kicked out at Shadow and freed his leg, and was about to land an attack on him when Shadow dealt him a hard blow to the head with the hilt of his sword. Link felt his mind go blank for a second and he sprawled on the grass. In seconds, both Dark and Shadow were on top of him.
"This is the end for you!" declared Dark. He and Shadow stabbed at Link's chest, but Link kept himself protected by folding his arms across his chest. Sadly, this meant that his arms received the attack, and he cried out loudly in pain.
"Move your arms so we can kill you!" snapped Shadow.
For some reason, in the terror of the moment, Link felt strangely calm. For the first time in the battle, he could focus on that which needed to be focused on most. Before his opponents could react, Link thought hard about courage, and with all his strength, pushed Dark and Shadow back and thrusted the Master Sword at them.
"OW! S-STOP THAT!" screamed Dark as the blade ripped his tunic and cut into his stomach deeply.
"B-BASTARD!" Shadow stuttered. Link slit his arm.
Frightened and wounded by the Master Sword's power-up, Link's enemies began to flee.
"THIS WON'T BE THE LAST YOU SEE OF US!" Dark yelled over his shoulder. In moments he and his brother were out of sight.
Panting, Link dropped his sword as the pain of the stab wounds in his arms washed over him, followed by his other wounds. His body quavering from the adrenaline rush of the battle, Link fell to his knees and hunched forward in pain. He was alone, wounded, without a horse, and without food and water...
"I can't BELIEVE that! We could have killed him for sure! I didn't think he had any tricks up his sleeve!" Dark wheezed, gasping for breath as he and Shadow entered their manor. They had run nearly the entire way.
"I know... But hey, at least we're back here at the manor. It's like I said before -- it's ours now, Dark," said Shadow, wiping a bit of red blood off his cheek.
"Yeah, and that's nice and all, but Majora will have our heads when he finds out we failed. You know that..." Dark sighed.
Shadow frowned.
"Well, it's kind of his fault in a way, right?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"We had so many chances to kill him off easily, and he was all like, 'nooooo, we're gonna be creative and original and come up with overly-elaborate plans'! Why doesen't he ever want to do the easy, sensible thing?"
Dark shrugged.
"You're right. Maybe he has savantism or something. You know, that disease where you can't do simple stuff like put down the toilet seat but you can memorize the whole phone book and stuff like that?" he said.
"Maybe," Shadow agreed.
"Oh...you're injured..." said a voice softly. Dark and Shadow looked up to see Bambi standing there, looking them over, her eyes locking on each of their wounds in turn. Dark felt his cheeks grow hot under her searching silver gaze.
"Yeah...it's not serious..." he mumbled. Shadow looked at him, wondering why his twin was so flustered all of a sudden...
Bambi sighed. She didn't like having to be a slave, but she at least owed Dark something for the times he stood up for her. And besides, doing tasks like healing the wounded was part of her job as a servant.
"Well, let me help you," she offered, coming closer.
"Me first! I'm nearly bleeding to death over here, you know!" Shadow said irritably.
"Fine," Bambi replied simply, leading Shadow into another room to tend to his wounds.
Dark lay upon his bed, staring out at the rain-soaked window. His body throbbed painfully from his battle with Link. Bambi was still tending to Shadow's wounds, and anger burned in his stomach as he heard Shadow shout words of harsh criticizm to the enslaved prisoner.
Dark thought over and over again about why he and Shadow had not defeated Link. He and his twin had all the advantages. How could they have lost? But Dark was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of his bedroom door opening.
"Sorry that took so long," said Bambi, walking in and shutting the door behind her. She was holding bandages and other medical things.
"It's ok..." Dark muttered, glancing over his shoulder at her and quickly looking back at the window so she would not see him blushing.
"Are you badly injured?" Bambi asked, moving up next to the bed.
"No, why?"
"Your face is red. It looks like you're in pain..." Bambi gently grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a sitting position.
"It's nothing serious, I swear," Dark promised, meeting her eyes.
"I'll be the judge of that," Bambi replied as she started to clean out the wound on Dark's stomach.
"I heard my brother yelling at you. Sorry about that... You haven't been treated very well amongst my fellows, have you?" Dark asked.
"I haven't." Bambi looked into his eyes, her expression suspicious. "And I find it strange that you don't join them in hurting me. Why is that?"
Dark hesitated.
"I just don't think that torturing you would help our mission," he said, trying to sound cold in order to cover up the truth.
Bambi straightened up and glared, clearly offended by his tone of voice.
"Am I supposed to be of some use to Majora's plan?" she asked harshly.
"Not that I know of," Dark answered curtly, looking away. He badly wanted to drop the subject.
"Oh, of course...he wants me around just as a prisoner. But he got sick of me and dumped me on you and your brother. I suppose it's never any different for me though. I'm always winding up as someone's slave, tool, or prisoner. You know that too. While I was posessed by Vaati, I was still able to watch all he did in my body. And I know that you knew I was posessed. You were very faithful to Vaati, and I guess that made you a prisoner too in your own way. You were Vaati's pet, and you willingly let him touch you and show disgusting affection. If you have feelings for Vaati, then why are you on opposite sides with him on the subject of how I am treated?"
"I don't have feelings for Vaati. I never did, you...you idiot!" Dark knew that he was messing everything up with his rude defensiveness, but he didn't want to seem weak.
"Then why did you have such a romantic relationship with him while he was in my body?"
Dark was more uncomfortable than ever at this question, but there was no getting around it.
"I was distracted, ok? It didn't seem like him while he was in someone else's body! It just didn't!" he yelled. Dark Link felt guilty about talking to her this way, but he didn't think it was best to get too soft. Majora would get on his case about that and most likely punish him severely.
"So you felt as though I was the one touching you? It sounds to me as though you were using his terrible deed to get naughty treatment from my body!" snapped Bambi. "Is that it!"
"No, I --"
Bambi's eyes blazed with hurt.
"You were using me, using my body to get the affection you lack. Not only am I constantly a prisoner, but I am used too. I was used by my friends as a decoy, and because of that I stand here before you now. I don't think I will ever stop caring about Link, Tetra and the others no matter what they did to me because they are my family. But I have no reason to care about a weak soul like you. I can stand the harsh words and physical abuse of the others, but I can't stand your weakness and your need to be a lowly follower to anyone who asks you. Then you go and satisfy yourself from the wrong doings of others." Bambi dropped the bandages and other supplies on the bed next to Dark.
"Help yourself," she snorted, quickly leaving the room. The door slammed behind her.
Dark sat staring at the door for a moment, completely stunned. Then he sighed and looked down. All the things she had said were true. But maybe her visit just now would not have gone so bitterly if he had said the right things.
Perhaps he should have admitted that he really was a prisoner. He had been like a dog to Vaati, and now to Majora. He served Majora only because he felt he had to do it, sort of like paying off a debt for Majora's ressurecting him. Majora treated all his followers well except for Dark and Shadow. Dark figured it was because they were younger and weaker, and could easily be ganged up on. Majora would hit, slap, or back hand Dark and his brother whenever they did something wrong, but Bambi was never around when he did it. Dark missed his home in the Dark World, and felt bad that Shadow had to leave there to share his fate. He didn't like being treated badly, and that sadness was made worse by the fact that his beloved brother had to be hurt too.
Another thing was that Dark felt that he should have been more clear when he said that Bambi's body had distracted him from the fact that it was really Vaati he was facing. He had known that it was Vaati merely posessing a girl, that was true. But he felt drawn to the presence and feel of the victimized girl, not Vaati. And now Bambi thought that he had merely thought of the posessed Bambi as a way to quench some sexual thirst.
If that were true,Dark thought, then I wouldn't still be a virgin.
But there were truths to the things she had accused him of, Dark knew. As he turned and looked out the window at the bleak sky above, he thought about how he truly was just someone who would bend over backward to please some master like a stupid dog.