Link walked into the kitchen and Dark Link gave him his sharpest smirk. Even though Link didn't move, Dark saw him flinch in the depths of his eyes. They couldn't hide anything from one another.

"Hungry?" he asked, and dropped a bowl of something in front of Link, this time he visibly recoiled. "There wasn't much in the house, so I went out and killed something. Dun' know what it was, but it smells tasty"

Link sighed and got up.

"I'm not hungry" he said, in the soft, hoarse voice of someone who isn't used to speakin aloud. Not even with himself. "I'll go fish something for dinner."

"Pfft, fishing's boring. Let's go hunting. The people at the village nearby looked meaty," said Dark

Link blinked, squinted, and looked down at the bowl in front of him.

"No, that was some kind of animal," said Dark with a shrug. "I didn't want to walk all the way to the village to get breakfast, and the horse won't let me get on it. I need a horse of my own. A black one…A male one. Or move to the city."

"We're not going to move anywhere if you keep spending all the money on booze," complained Link

Dark Link pouted. "'s better than spending it on arrows"

Link could barely believe him. "We need arrows," he said, as if talking to a child.

"And we need booze, I refuse to live on tea!"

Someone knocked on the door.

Both warriors fell silent

"Hide" whispered Link, turning towards the door.

"Where?" asked Dark, looking around and finding nowhere to hide. The kitchen was tiny enough, and in plain view from the entrance.

"Can't you hide in the shadows or something?" said Link, growing more desperate by the second. He could hear upbeat voices from the other side of the door. Voices he knew too well.

"Do I really have to?" whined Dark.

They heard giggles from the other side of the door and more knocking, then the soft voice of princess Zelda said "Link? Are you there? I brought a present to celebrate you getting a new house!"

"I'm going!" said Link, and Dark hit him on the head

"You idiot! Why did you answer?! She would have left!" whispered Dark.

Link realized what he had done, and facepalmed. "Hide somewhere!"

Dark gritted his teeth and jumped into Link's shadow. He didn't mind the darkness. He was darkness. But the thing that made him edgy was the comfortable feeling of being in Link's shadow. He felt that if he stayed there too long, in the soft ebb and flow of their thoughts and the welcoming darkness, he would lose himself to it.

Link opened the door and found Zelda, Saria and Malon, who gave him three brightly decorated packages. He smiled softly and let them come inside.

"How cute!" said Saria, then sniffed "is something on the stove?"

"Yes" answered Dark, and Link ran to the kitchen.

Dark jumped to the shadow of the table at the center of the living room. The uncomfortable new shadow felt like he was being pressed between stone walls, but the pain and discomfort made him more aware of himself, unlike the comfortable space of Link's shadow, which felt like home; because it was.

Link came back, and indicated for them to sit down.

"I'll bring tea" he said in a voice like a whisper.

"He's getting better" said Zelda, with pride in her voice, and Dark huffed

'As if you had anything to do with it, princess,' he thought.

He was the darkness, asnd as such he knew the hidden depths of the other side of himself. And he knew that he had to get away from all of them to get better. To realize that he wasn't a puppet of destiny.

"Of course," said Saria, looking around at the odd trinkets thrown about that Link had collected in his travels "all he needed was some rest. He'll be fine soon"

Dark wanted to bite her arm off. Link would never be fine. Ever.

And neither would Dark, but between the two of them, they could get better. He rolled his eyes, wanting to jump to the shadows of the stairs and hide in the room But Zelda was too close to him, and would sense him easily. Even the small jump he made to the table had been almost too much. Lucky for him, Zelda had been distracted.

But she had felt something. Dark knew it by seeing the way she inspected with hard eyes every corner of the house. Too bad for the little princess, she thought Link was only at the mercy of darkness. She missed on the things that truly left scars on him.

Link came back with a small wooden tray.

"How has it been going for you Link? Isn't this a bit far from everything?" asked Zelda, waving her hands to signal the tiny old house.

Link smiled and shook his head. From his position, Dark could see the small trembling of his hands. Good acting, but he was still worried that Dark would jump out at any moment and expose both of them. Which he could do, of course. But he was evil, not dumb.

"Are you coming to the city for the carnival of the solstice?" asked Malon, and Link lowered his eyes.

"I'm not sure," he said in a low voice. "I have some things to do, and…"

"You have to go out some times Link!" said Zelda. "I'd wish you reconsidered the idea of living at the castle. My father has said he likes you a lot."

Link stared at his cup and tapped it with a finger.

Dark knew that even if he didn't exist, Link would have refused. The people, the guards, all those faces he knew but who didn't remember what had happened. Only the sages and some members of the council were allowed to remember. And even that, for some, was too much. To remember your own death, to be haunted by your own desperation every night.

It had driven some of them mad.

"I'll try to get to the carnival. I just want to go through all this junk. I won't need it anymore and I'm not sure what to do with it. Even on this bigger house, it still takes a lot of space," said Link, unable to look her in the eyes.

Zelda nodded, and dropped the subject. That promise was more than enough.