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: This was a bit painful to write, just trying to get them to continue on with their exploration when Dark's being such a pain in the neck... but that's Dark for you! And to you fangirls, you're welcome for the slight tension in the last chapter...
To his surprise, Link sighed, and began to look around the room again, and for a moment Dark wondered why. However, one look at the large gap between the edge and the small ledge created by the statue on the other side, and Dark knew there had to be more pieces to the puzzle. Feeling Link's eyes on him finally, he looked at the hero to see his large blue eyes staring at him expectantly. Short of making a face like that of a sad puppy, Link's eyes begged Dark to once more help him avoid using his magic. Dark narrowed his eyes at him, getting tired of being Link's personal guide, but when the other nearly began to plead with him, he sighed and looked around.
"So much for illusions, these brick walls hide passages pretty well on their own." Dark remarked, having seen a new way to go. In the far corner he'd noticed a passageway that was so well disguised by the brick of the wall that he'd looked right at it the first time and hadn't even seen it was there. Still with his arms folded across his chest, he pushed himself away from the post he'd been leaning against, and made his way to the passageway. "Say Link, what do you see here?"
"A carving, like the ones on either side of it." Link reported, he'd followed behind Dark, waiting to see what he would do.
"Well, I see a passageway, about as wide as the other wall carvings." Dark explained, then continued into the stone-lined tunnel. Link had no choice but to follow Dark's lead, and Dark looked back slightly to watch him. Link shuddered as he moved into the passage, and Dark knew he was still unsettled by walking through a wall, but at least it wasn't the same reaction as before.
At the end of the passageway, they stepped into an earthen catacomb, with corners headed in the same direction on either side. There were Hylan bones, including skulls sunken into the dirt walls, black sockets staring back emptily. Dark was once again unsettled by the strange vision Hylans seemed to have of shadows. Not sure which way to go, Dark turned to his left, and cautiously looked around the corner. There was another short earthen corridor, turning right at the end, again lined with bones. Link had in turn gone right, the two of them continuing down their respective hallways. Turning the corner at the end they met up again near a door in the middle of the corridor on the far side of where they had entered. It was just a big square.
"I don't get it. What's the point of this room? No enemies, no way forward, just these bones." Link asked, completely baffled. Dark had a thought, had Link just said there was no way forward?
"What do you see here?" Dark asked, pointing to the door.
"Just another wall of bones. I've never seen a room like this in a temple before." The happiness in the blond's voice was fading, and there was confusion in his eyes.
"Another illusion, it's a door." At this the hero perked a bit, a light coming back into his blue eyes. "But wait, first, I have a hunch." With that, Dark walked past Link and down the way the other had come. Sure enough, tucked between the strange identical sections, stood a door. "I knew it! Link! There's a door here!" Dark called out, but as he turned he lowered his voice, realizing Link had followed him.
"You should probably stay behind here. I have a bad feeling about what's beyond here." Link announced, shuddering as he put his hand out to reach for the handle through the illusion. Dark was about to protest when Link quickly opened the door and slipped in, closing it directly behind him.
"Damn it!" Dark growled when he tried the handle and found it had locked behind Link. "Damn it! I'm not going to be just your guide! You idiot!" Dark shouted, pounding on the door, then promptly gave up with a snort. He stood back and folded his arms, waiting for Link to return so he could give him a piece of his mind. Minutes passed, and Dark began to pace, wondering what was taking so long. He glanced at the skulls as he paced, and in the darkness, their eyes almost seemed to glow pale blue, as if watching him in his impatience. Suddenly he heard the door open and whipped around to see Link come out holding a small object.
"You! I am not going to be your guide, then just stand around while you..." Dark's voice trailed off for a moment, there was a cut on Link's cheek, a stream of blood slowly trickling down his skin. "You're bleeding."
"Hm?" Link touched his fingers to his cheek, then looked at the blood on the tips. "Oh, I guess I am..." Link looked back at Dark and smiled. "Don't worry, it's just a scratch. You got me worse than that when we fought."
"Yeah, I suppose I did." Dark mused, forgetting his angry words, and stepped towards the young blond. He knit his eyebrows as he watched the blood slide down Link's neck. "Here, it's going to stain your white shirt." Dark said as he pulled a piece of cloth from a pocket, wiped at the blood, then pressed the cloth to the wound. Link brought his hand up and pressed his fingers to the cloth, taking over as Dark removed his own hand.
"So, what did you find?" Dark asked, gesturing to the small object in Link's hand. Link held it up to examine it himself, then held it out to show Dark. Inside the small blue casing was a red and white needle spinning as Link moved his hand.
"It's a compass, but it's not all that helpful until I find a map. It does help in a room like that one where we fought, when it's it's kinda easy to get turned around and loose track of which door you came in through." Link explained.
"Yeah, that's obvious. So let's find that map. I don't want to be in here any longer than I have to while you wander around in circles." Dark remarked snidely as he started back towards the door to the next area. As he glanced at the skulls again, he shuddered slightly at the thought of spending any length of time in this strange darkness.
"I thought you should be comfortable here, this is the Shadow Temple, and you said you were from the 'shadow realm' right?" Link asked following behind him. Dark stopped at the door, and sighed, dropping his head a moment before looking back at Link.
"Yes, I'm from a realm of shadows, but this place is nothing like it. You Hylans are so confused when it comes to darkness and shadows. Where I come from is a world in the shadows, yes, but I suppose you could say it has a certain beauty to it. Like the last light of day here, that's what my realm is like. This place is just ugly, and downright creepy." Dark turned back to the door and went through, Link staying still for a moment before following him.
"You mean your world is in twilight all the time?" Link asked.
"Yeah. So let's just get through with this temple so I can go back, alright?" Dark said as he quickly found the next door, in a hallway identical to the last one. Stopping with the door directly to his right, he turned to face Link. "Now that I have your attention, I'm not going to show you where the door is until you promise to let me help you with whatever is on the other side of the door. I'm not going to guide you around this temple without getting to see a little bit of action myself." Dark folded his arms and lowered his head a bit, keeping his eyes on Link's.
"I am the 'Hero of Time', this is my task, and I will do it on my own." Link responded bravely, and Dark mused at the words for a moment. It was indeed a courageous sentiment, but a foolish one. Perhaps the sentiment of one who had received little or no help for a very long time. However, Dark knew how to get Link to rethink his words.
"Alright, Mr. 'Hero of Time' if that's the way it is, then you don't need a guide either," Dark walked past Link, on his way out of the temple. "use your looking glass and use up all your magic looking for doors, and just fall in a hole disguised as solid floor for all I care! Rotting in that hole while Gannondorf finally finds this Princess Zelda of yours, and tightens his grip on this world for good! A lot of good courage will do you when you're all alone in the dark!"
"He's not alone! He has me!" A small voice called out as a small light came into the hall. Dark heard the tinkling of fairy wings as the light grew closer behind him, quickly zooming in front of him.
"Oh, yeah, you've been so quiet I forgot about you. And what good are you going to do him? Can you see through the illusions and warn him?" Dark asked the little ball of light with wings. The light the little fairy gave off was indeed too bright to make out anything about her shape besides the wings.
"No, but I can do other things!" The fairy retorted.
"Can you throw him a rope and pull him out of a hole?" Dark sneered, looking back at Link who was staring off, thinking.
"No." She replied.
"Then what use are you? He's all alone, and he knows it. Just look at him!" Dark gestured towards the young hero. "Oh, and I didn't ever get to thank you..."
"For what? I never did anything for you!" She shot back.
"On the contrary, you told me what Link should do to counter my attacks. It was really helpful." Dark laughed as he started back down the hallway.
"Wait! Dark! Don't go!" Link called out, hurrying after him. "You made your point, please, don't go."
"Ah, I thought so. He knows he's alone, and he could use some help. He just has trouble accepting it gracefully." Dark mused to no one in particular. "Alright, since you put it that way, I guess I'll stick around. Just so long as I get to see some action. I haven't even so much as drawn my sword since we fought you know." Dark said, going back to the door.
"Yes you did! Against the deadly Hylan Cuccos, remember?" Link remarked slyly, and Dark froze in his tracks.
"Hey! That doesn't count!" Dark retorted hotly, whipping around holding up a finger in warning.
"Oh yes it does! Right Navi?" Link smiled as the Fairy flew about near his head.
"Right. It counts!" Navi agreed.
"Alright, if you're going to be like that, find another guide!" Dark crossed his arms and took a step towards the exit.
"No, no, alright it doesn't count." Link conceded, putting his hands up to beg Dark not to go. "I should know... it's happened to me too."
"Really, now that is interesting. The great 'Hero of Time' chased off by a flock of cuccos, now that I would like to see." Dark laughed, finally going back to the door for good this time. He let himself calm down a moment before opening it, and stepping in, Link following right behind him.
Author Notes: Hurray for bickering between Link and Dark Link... you all knew it was going to happen sometime!!! You may not have quite gotten it (maybe you did, I don't know... I hope you did, I tried to make it blatantly obvious) but it's there, a hint about Dark. It's mentioned a few times before that he was summoned there from his world by Gannondorf, but I have a huge hint about his world this chapter... One that goes hand in hand with a hint in what Dark said about shadow, and the pendant he offered to Malon as payment. Congrats if you're hating me right now, you've just figured it out! If not, just give it some time. I don't change much usually, but when I do it's big, but still canon (sorta... canon for the series as a whole, maybe not OoT)