Chapter Fifteen Conflict of Interests
He was too late, the bird had flown and he hit the wall with a clenched fist. Nabooru watched him until he gained control of his temper; which did not take long, with Dark smirking in the background;
"Stop being ridiculous Link; if you want to speak to the hussy, you know where she lives." At this comment Dark found himself knocked to the ground by the iron fist of his original; who then turned on his heel and marched off towards the entrance to the desert. Nabooru offered a hand to Dark grinning at him and shaking her head, before standing with her hands on her hips;
"You never struck me as stupid before, shadow boy; I'm sorry...Dark." She in turn gasped, as he pulled her really close and kissed her passionately.
"Stop worrying about him; I'll go after him in a bit, give him time to cool off. I know how to play him Nabooru...I know how to play you too; come here." He said lowering his voice seductively and he took her into her chambers and shut the door.
"You could never be mistaken for our Link, could you Dark?" Nabooru whispered huskily to him as he pushed her to her bed gently but firmly.
"I am more like him than you would think Nabooru." Dark said cryptically; "now enough about Link, I'm more than enough for you." Then he joined her on the bed.
Link was crossing the desert and had nearly reached the Colossus by the time Dark was dressed again and slipping out of Nabooru's chambers. He knew where to go however and was soon following in Link's footsteps; picking up on the negative emotions on the way. Link was still angry and obviously wanted a good workout against the traps that still lay hidden and were protection for the Temple. The shadow picked up his pace and was soon not too far behind his objective; who he eventually found slicing away at the Leevers.
By the looks of things, Link hadn't even entered the Temple yet; spending his time in the hot sun practicing his sword techniques. Dark caught hold of Link's wrist as he was about to swing again and it took considerable strength to halt him. He pulled out his own sword and stood straight en guarde; offering to spar with Link silently, but with a cocky grin on his face. It didn't take long before Link launched himself into the fight; which was much more satisfying than chasing the quickly vanishing Leevers.
They sat down when they were both short of breath and panting; then Link decided to bathe in the fairy spring. Thinking that that seemed a good idea, Dark went in as well; but instead of feeling invigorated, the shadow doubled over in pain and started to choke. Link reacted swiftly and pulled him out, lying him over the rock that stood proud of the sand. He should have thought that the spring was a healing one and if Link was healed and refreshed the opposite would be true for Dark; thankfully he'd not been in too long to bear any ill effects.
"I'm sorry Link, I was out of order showing disrespect to her highness." Dark looked askance at his sparring partner for his reaction. Link still looked severe as he turned to answer him;
"No. You are not sorry Dark. You need my anger and aggression and anything else you can get from me. I know you sometimes deliberately try to upset me and I don't blame you. You wish to survive and live not just exist; I understand, I don't like it but I understand." Link turned his face away but now Dark was up and on his feet; angry in his turn.
"I don't like it either, I didn't ask for my life to be this way; to be a leech of your emotions, it's revolting."
"Well, there's nothing to be done about it at the moment; I don't know, perhaps there is someone who can change you so that you absorb my feelings only when I'm happy. Though at the moment you'd not get much." He gave a sheepish grin to his 'twin' and received an identical one back which made them both feel better. Then Dark said that he would show Link all the secret rooms in the Colossus; as in the Water Temple, there were many places that Link hadn't seen when he was cleansing the place.
The boys worked well together as a team, which surprised and at the same time pleased Link; he had always had to do fight on his own before and although he was not really in danger this time, it was nice to have someone who could be relied on to watch his back. They spent a couple of days in the Temple; once again exploring the place, this time while Link filled Dark in on all his adventures as the shadow boy had no knowledge of what had happened after his own defeat.
Dark did remember Koume and Kotake however and he felt his blood get hot and angry when he found out what they had done to Nabooru. Link just raised his eyes and stored away the information for himself; he had seen the looks that had passed between the Gerudo and Dark. He had also been thinking about Dark's existence and hoped that somewhere in the library of the Gerudo would be the solution to changing the nature of Dark's sustenance; after all, it was here that Ganondorf hailed from and probably gave the semblance of life to his dark creation.
When they both finally returned to the Fortress they were welcomed once again by Nabooru and Link asked her if she could find out whether or not Dark could be helped. She put the idea into operation immediately; having several of the girls hunting in the library and archives. Meanwhile she arranged for a swimming party as it was so hot and of course the boys were welcome to join them for not only the swim, but the picnic afterwards.
Everything started off fine with a lot of fun and competitions; Dark was in his element surrounded by the beautiful girls and both boys were up for the water sports. With a huge beach ball and various floating objects the afternoon positively flew by. This time nobody noticed the small figure dressed in dark blue who spied on them all from a high vantage point and who couldn't keep her tears at bay; despair filling her heart before she crept away.
As evening drew in, lanterns were lit and a large bonfire was started to add warmth to the early summer night and to cook the evening meal. Suddenly Link got out from the pool in anger and went to dry off; leaving an astonished girl wondering what she had done. Dark was vastly amused, he had seen the Gerudo clinging like a limpet to Link's back; her arms around his stomach, as they played in the water. But then she had then let her hands wander low; caressing where they shouldn't and the Hero had pushed her off in a very ungentlemanly manner, before he stormed off.
"You made a big mistake there Giya. Link is totally a one girl guy and already caught; hook, line and sinker." Dark laughed at the pout of disappointment on the girl's face. "Never mind, I'll make you feel better if you come over here." But Giya didn't take him up on his offer, she had caught the eye of Nabooru and the look had told her to 'back off' in no uncertain terms. Link eventually re-joined everyone, once he had dried and dressed fully again; he was hungry and wanted to eat and go to bed.
The impromptu party had reminded him of all the fetes on Hyrule field and he was missing Zelda badly; he had decided he really needed to think about what he should do, rather than keep trying to ignore the trouble in his heart. Thinking about Zelda though was very painful for him, but he was not a coward and he knew that she too was uncertain; otherwise why would she have been here talking to Nabooru and not willing to see him?
Link ate his food and watched the interaction between Dark and Nabooru smiling to himself; he listened to the girls singing as the evening wore on and lost himself in the lovely ballads and lilting melodies which sometimes were made more poignant when the deeper tones of Dark were added. Then he crept away and went to the bedroom assigned him in Nabooru's chambers to think about a solution to himself and Zelda.
He thought over all that he'd heard, analysing each word for any other meaning; almost dispassionately. At the moment he seemed to be able to do so calmly, he had to or else he wouldn't be able to think at all. The fact that Tarin had touched his wife made him angry; he didn't know how far that had gone but he'd seen Zelda's reaction to the man the next day, when she had been angry and so he knew she didn't want him. The personal comments that had been said to underate him although spiteful, didn't matter and could be dismissed; he'd heard them all before.
It was the insidious thought that Zelda had married him because she felt she owed him in someway that hurt the most. He didn't know how to fix that, without something causing his death; but if it was true, his life would have no meaning anyway. Whichever way he looked at it he could make the best and worst of scenarios; Link knew that he'd have to speak to Zelda, but he also didn't know what to say to her and had to admit, he was afraid of what she might want to say to him.
While he was thinking and going round in frustrating circles, Dark and Nabooru came back arm in arm and speaking in low tones; Link could hear giggling and was amazed at the sound coming from the normally bossy woman. He smirked when he thought how Nabooru was probably the only one who would be able to tame his former shadow and make him devoted to soley one person.
Dark though was in a bit of trouble, his energy was very low after all the activities of the last couple of days. Even when he'd sparred with Link over his comments about Zelda, Link hadn't been angry for too long. He was torn however, he did not really like it when Link felt bad; they had turned out to be good friends and he had started to feel hurt if Link did. Also without Ganondorf's input, Dark was not evil of himself; he had been mischievous as a child and that characteristic had not left him, but since being around Link he wished to be more.
But if he wanted the strength to prove himself once again to Nabooru that night, he would have to do something drastic; he could already see the tell tale signs of his body fading. Dark however, did not bring it to the attention of Nabooru; he was far too busy pretending nothing was the matter and in making love to her instead. As he was exploring her body and kissing her, he also spoke tender endearments to her; even surprising himself that he actually meant them. Somewhere along the line, between his previous knowledge of her when he was a child and the last couple of days; he found he had started to fall in love.
Dark heard Link in the other room, the one he normally shared with him; tossing and turning. Dark knew why the Hero was unsettled and unable to get comfortable; he and Nabooru were not exactly quiet or inhibited. After hearing the other boy sigh once again, Dark offered up a silent apology to Link before he spoke to his companion again. He was caressing her body still when he said;
"If I'd been Link I would have killed that other guy for touching what was mine and I don't see how she can really love him if she lets someone else touch her so intimately."
"She was under the influence of a lot of alcohol and had been depressed Dark. That rogue took advantage of her loneliness."
"I still don't buy it; our dear Link may be brave and all that but I can't imagine he's the greatest lover in the world and what real woman doesn't want a real man, eh Nabooru?"
"I'm sure that Link satisfies Zelda, Dark; after all they were both innocents when they married."
"Yeah, but I'll bet she knows the difference now; let's hope she doesn't come to regret letting that Prince get away."
"She won't, now have we done talking about them again; I much prefer what you were saying about me." Nabooru said in Dark's ear, but he wasn't listening to her for once; he was getting stronger again rapidly and once again he apologised to Link in his head. Nabooru felt the surge in his strength as he came to completion and being no fool, she recognised what had happened and was angry.
Pushing Dark from off her, she quickly got cleaned up and dressed and turned to face him.
"Get out Dark, you used me and that is something I will not tolerate ever."
"I didn't use you Nabooru, I wouldn't do that."
"You baited me to respond, so that you would get Link upset enough to get your strength back. That's despicable. You knew he was awake and could hear you; didn't you?" Dark's silence was all the answer she required and she left him stormily to go in to Link. He was lying on his back, on the bed staring up at the ceiling not making a sound and in his own little world; but Nabooru was not inexperienced and knew that he was distraught.
"Come on kid, get up; I'll get you a hot drink." There was no reply from the prone boy, so Nabooru pulled him up to rest his head against herself and calmly stroked his hair calling to him softly "come on Link, rouse yourself kid, there's no need for this." To no avail. Link had heard the words spoken by his friends and he was crushed; hearing the same sentiments from people he knew, had just confirmed his worst fears.
He could fight against a physical enemy, but had no strategy against the psychological; having not a dishonest bone in his body, he almost always believed everyone else and had not really lived long enough to distrust a lot of what he heard. Dark came in, creeping around Nabooru like a naughty child and was immediately contrite when he saw the defeated Link.
Out on Hyrule Field an equally miserable Princess was trying to get comfortable lying hidden in some grassy tussocks. She was mildly heartened when Epona came to her and lay down to shield her from the wind; much as she always did for Link. Also as she had done often for Link, she allowed the Princess to curl up against her warmth and cry herself to sleep; leaning on her strong neck.
As Zelda became calmer and started to drift off, she was certain she heard the grass whispering to her; telling her to bring Link to his first home, the first he'd known and where he would always be welcomed and safe. She whispered back that she would do that for him and this time, the scent of the grass helped to give her refreshing and dreamless sleep.