Title: Dark Link

Ch: 7

Written By: Emerald Padparadscha

In the morning, Malon wanted to see Dark Link more than anything. She had only known him for a short amount of time, yet however short that time was, she knew something was forming between her and him. At least, she knew that it was forming inside of her. She stepped into the stable with a lively gait, a smile on her face. She shut the door behind her and looked around the stable. Epoch was gone, but that was far from a surprise. That black stallion rarely stayed inside the stable, anyway. The cow was still there, however. She moved over to the cow and poured the feed inside its feeding trough.

Her gaze shifted over to the corner where Dark Link usually stayed. He was absent from the corner, however. She set the feed bucket down and looked around in search. Nothing... He wasn't there...

Outside, horses were neighing. She set down the feed bucket and walked outside, watching as Talon was loading milk crates onto the back of a wagon cart to carry into town. Yet another delivery. The deliveries were made at least once a week, especially considering that everybody seemed to love Lon Lon mlik more than any other milk out there. Maybe it was how they treated the cows. That could be it.

"Delivery day, Malon." Talon said, sitting down on the wagon seat and taking the reins up in hand. "Wanna come along?"

Malon smiled and nodded, sliding up into the seat beside her father. She loved it when she was able to go to Hyrule Market. There were so many things to do there. Especially keep an eye out for a certain somebody...

Dark Link placed each individual Spiritual Stone on its proper place on the large stone pedestal. The Spiritual Stone of Fire, also known as the Goron's Ruby; The Spiritual Stone of Water, also known as Zora's Sapphire; and the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, also known as the Forest Emerald. Each one looked just as lifeless and powerless as any other gem would, albeit they were quite a bit more polished than any other gem would be. It was easy obtaining them from Kokiri Forest, Death Mountain, and Zora's Domain. The inhabitants in all three places didn't even notice him. To his advantage, no doubt.

Then there was the Ocarina of Time. If it had been specially guarded by Zelda herself he might have had a relatively hard time obtaining it. However, the musical relic was being guarded in a vault by three Hylian guards. The vault was easy to get into, and slipping past the guards had been like a walk in the park at night.

Yet the most easily gained of all the keys was the one that was already implanted inside himself. The Song of Time. Link had known it long before he had come to the Water Temple, and Dark Link had gained the knowledge of it, as were all the songs that he had learned before he had come to the Water Temple to fight. Holding the ocarina up to his lips, he began to play. The song seemed to course through the very walls of the Temple of Time, moving in and out of the Spiritual Stones and lifting them upward. The stones levitated in place, held up by their own power. The large stone Door of Time slid open, revealing the room beyond.

It seemed almost too simple to be true.

The Master Sword was still in the Pedestal of Time, the top of the blade sunk into the stone itself. The blade shone brilliantly in the light that seeped through the windows high above on the walls near the ceiling. Dark Link did not dare touch the light. He walked around them, moving toward the Pedestal of Time and reached out his hand toward the hilt of the mighty sword. This was the key, he knew. The final key to entering the Sacred Realm, and possibly getting into the Spirit Temple. There he would find Rauru, and he would...

Jerking back his hand, he watched as the sword seemed to glow for the moment before dying back down to its original state. His hand was in pain, even if he could not see anything visibly wrong with it! Frowing, he looked at his hand. If he wasn't even able to touch the sword, then how was he able to pull it out? This was probably the reason that Ganondorf hadn't thought to pull the sword on his own, and it wasn't because he wasn't able to gather the Spiritual Stones himself. Ganondorf could have taken the Spiritual Stones as easily as he would have wanted. Maybe he knew that he couldn't have touched the sword.

Dark Link looked up at the Master Sword, an idea forming. He couldn't touch the Master Sword, but there was a blade that he could handle with ease. The Master Sword's direct opposite, just as he was the opposite of the Hero of Time.

Drawing the Dark Master Sword from the scabbard on his back, he pressed the shadow against the sword. The Dark Master Sword wasn't repelled. In fact, it seemed to be engulfed by its other half, and the two swords merged into one, a shadowy glow and a strange shimmer appearing over the Master Sword. Reaching out, Dark Link dared to touch it once again. This time, he was able to close his hand around the hilt firmly, no pain this time.

Suddenly, the light streaming down from the windows shifted, pelting him hard and full-bodied...

Malon walked through the main street of the marketplace, listening to the gossip that she could overhear, watching as the ones around her moved with the usual hustle and bustle that Hyrule Market could never seem to go without. She was glad for this. It wasn't too long ago that this place was almost entirely destroyed, a wasteland for the Redead, with an ominous castle peering over the small marketplace. Now, since Link had saved them all and the Sages had rebuilt what had been destroyed, it was back to the same old way that she remembered it all as a child.

It was as if nothing had changed. Hopefully, things wouldn't turn out the way that they had turned again. Maybe this time things would stay normal. Well, as normal as they could be, she reminded herself.

"Did you hear? I heard someone broke into the castle last night and stole the Ocarina of Time." One woman said to the other one. The two women were in a corner, gossiping. The first woman continued. "I hear that whoever it was also stole the three Spiritual Stones."

Malon stood by, her ears perked and her eyes open with interest at this conversation. Though she hated to admit it to herself, she thought that she knew who had most likely done it. Not many would have the amount of skill to pull such a feat.

"What do you think they want with them?" The second woman asked the first. "It's not like they can use them. Only the Sages or the Hero of Time can use the Master Sword."

The other woman shrugged. "I don't know. Only a Sage or the Hero of Time can even touch the Master Sword."

Malon turned and ran toward the Temple of Time...

Inside the Temple of Time, Link stood by the stone pedestal that held the three Spiritual Stones. They glowed still, floating above their respectful places, a pleasant hum eminating from the three of them. Hearing footsteps coming up behind him, he turned. Malon looked up at the high walls of the Temple of Time, barely noticing that Link was watching her. She felt so small and insignificant when she was in a place like this of such great magnitude. She was sure that if she listened carefully enough she could hear music coming from the very walls themselves.

"Malon." Link said, getting her attention. "What are you doing here?"

Malon looked up at him, then at the floating Spiritual Stones. "I think I know who it was."

Link looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "Dark Link. I know. I told him if he ever caused trouble that I would come after him."

"You mean," Malon looked away from the stones at the floor. "kill him?"

Link nodded. "If it comes to that."

Malon looked up and through to the room beyond the Door of Time. Her eyes grew wide. "The Master Sword's gone!"

"He took it."

"How could he even touch it?" She asked.

"I don't know." Link shrugged. "If he was the one that drew the Master Sword, then he is in the Sacred Realm. He has to come back some time. The Sages won't allow him to stay in the Sacred Realm for long."

"Link," Malon touched Link lightly on the arm, causing him to look down at her with curiosity. "He's not as evil as you think he is."

Link gained realization at that instant. When he had spoken to Malon just a couple of days earlier he had learned why he hadn't been able to find Dark Link at the Water Temple any longer. Dark Link had been staying the entire time in the stable at Lon Lon Ranch. At first he wasn't so sure about such a thing, but Dark Link hadn't caused any harm to come to Malon or Talon. As long as no trouble was caused, then there was no reason for him to fight.

He understood something at that moment, but having it settle with him properly wasn't something that he knew would happen any time soon.

"You like him, don't you?"

Malon's eyes went wide as her gaze hit his like a stone. "What?"

He frowned, then repeated. "You like him. It's obvious."

"I..." She tried to find words, but they wouldn't come, so she didn't attempt any.

Link, however, had words, even if he wasn't sure about the taste of them. "If there is another way, then I won't kill him. I give you my word on that."

"Thank you, Link."