Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Legend of Zelda, nor do I think I own anything about it... except the work fan fiction that you are about to read. (If I did own it, Dark Link would have had a bigger role in the game) Yes, I wrote this, using my extensive knowledge of the world of 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' that I gained from spending WAY too much time playing it since... well, longer than I care to admit, I did not copy it from any other fan author, this sprang forth from my own fangirl imagination, and it can indeed be found on Deviant Art, I know that, because that's where it was originally posted BY ME.
Author Notes: I bet you had a weird taste in your mouth after that last chapter huh? Thought so, Gannondorf is a jerk. Yeah, this chapter was fun to wright the first part for... but the latter bit was hell. Enjoy!
He emerged from the shadows at the lake, and walked down to the water's edge. He had not seen the lake while it was full before, as Gannondorf had trapped him in that room after the lake had gone dry, but it was a thing of splendid beauty. He squinted his eyes against the rising sun while he stood at the water's edge, and he spied Link out on the island atop the water temple, he was aiming his bow into the sun, and Dark was puzzled as to what was going on. He barely saw the arrow that was shot fall back down on the other tiny island, and Link jumped in, supposedly going to retrieve it. Dark could hardly use his shadow traveling trick to cross the bridge to the island, as there were too few shadows around him, so he ran to the bridge and dashed across, hoping that Link had not decided to swim back to where Dark had just been standing. Dark was in luck, Link had left his horse on the island, and had come back to retrieve it. When Link saw him standing there, he instinctively drew his sword. Dark raised his hands in surrender, then removed his sheathe with his sword from his back, then held them out to Link.
"I'm not here to fight," Dark coughed, his throat still suffering from what Gannondorf had just done to him. "I'm here to make a proposition. Gannondorf thinks I'm here to kill you. I suggest that you go along with that, and lay low for a while, so he believes you are dead, and draw him out to make a move." Dark proposed as Link reached out and took his sword.
"Why? Why would I want to draw him out?" Link asked, still leery of his shadow, despite having the other's weapon in hand.
"There are six temples in Hyrule." Dark said, watching Link as he thought about it. "and six sages."
"Light, Forrest, Fire, Water..." Link's voice trailed off, counting them on his hand, then looked at Dark. "What are the other two? And where do I find them"
"Shadow and Spirit. I don't know where they are, which is why you should let Gannondorf make the next move, and lead you to them." Dark smiled, thinking his proposition was completely logical.
"Why are you helping me?" Link said, narrowing his eyes at his doppelgänger. Dark noticed that his blue tunic matched his eyes very well.
"I can't stand Gannondorf, and you are the one destined to kill him, that's why." Dark stated simply, and he watched Link think it out. Link did not trust him at all, and rightly so, but Dark had made a point that Link could not simply dismiss. Dark started to turn and walk away, despite not having his sword back, but stopped in his tracks when he heard his sword leaving it's sheath.
"What do you suggest I do in the mean time?" Link asked, looking Dark's sword over, no doubt comparing it to his own. Dark shrugged his shoulders as he turned back around to face Link, his arm poised to retrieve his shield. Link didn't trust Dark, and in turn, Dark didn't trust Link to let him leave so freely.
"I don't know, go rest somewhere, get more supplies. What you do with your time is not my problem." Dark said coldly, but he almost wished he could have gone with the young blond hero, wherever he chose to go while he was waiting. "Who knows, Gannondorf might make his move sooner than we think." Dark added, and with that Link put the sword back into it's sheathe and offered for Dark to take it back. He gazed into the rich blue eyes of the hero before reaching out and taking his sword back. Dark turned on his heel and quickly walked away from Link, headed towards the bridge when he was stopped by the sound of Link's voice.
"Do you need a ride?" Link called out. "If I'm laying low, it probably wouldn't be the best idea for me to go galloping around on a horse now would it? Besides, if you killed me you'd probably take my horse to prove it right?" Dark turned around, a sheer look of amazement on his face. Link was standing by his horse, holding the reigns out, offering them to Dark.
"Where are you going?" Dark asked, slowly approaching Link.
"Kakariko Village." Link said plainly.
"That's a long way away, are you sure you don't want to take your horse?" Dark inquired, as he carefully took the reigns in his hands. Link smiled and shook his head.
"No, I don't have to, I have this." Link pulled a shining silvery ocarina out of his tunic and showed it to Dark.
"Is that..." Dark started, but Link cut him off.
"The Ocarina of Time. Yes." Dark stared at the instrument in awe for a moment before Link put it back in it's hiding place. "Take good care of my horse okay? Her name's Epona. Don't push her too hard or I will kill you." Link said, narrowing his eyes at his shadowy dopplegänger as he stroked his horse's flanks and gave her a few pats.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Dark said as he mounted the horse. "While you're in Kakariko you might want to check out the graveyard. If I were to build a monument to shadows, what better place than with the shadows of the past?"
"I thought you didn't know where either temple was." Link remarked, staring at the strange young man on his horse.
"It's a guess, I am a shadow of you, you know. Besides, the Sheikah were known for living in the shadows." With that, Dark flicked the reigns and gave the horse a light spur and directed her cautiously onto the high wooden bridge. Dark faintly heard ocarina music as he reached the small island with a headstone and looked back to the island above the temple as it faded, but could no longer see Link, and marveled at the power of that small instrument.
Author Note: That bit trying to figure out where they were going to look without giving it away was TORTURE to write... hope you enjoyed it... on to the next chapter, which should be a little longer... and we really start to get a sense of Dark as a character. Reviews are nice, I always like hearing what you think of my writing.