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: Yes, I actually finished the chapter! Yay! that's 8 chapters now! After months of ignoring this, I suddenly finished it... Yay! I had a bit of fun with this one. (of course, i got back to some action and violence, ALRIGHT! Yeah... Enjoy!
"What in the evil realm?" Dark cursed as they stepped into the room, the door closing behind Link, and heavy iron bars slammed down to block it. A veritable forrest of six foot long arms extended up from the ground in a circle around the center of the room. The skin of each was a pale, dead white with red splotches, the hands reaching to the ceiling were tipped by claw-like nails.
"A 'Dead Hand', crap, I thought I'd seen the last of these." Link remarked in a whisper as Navi flew towards the nearest, her glowing light turning yellow. Dark drew his sword and took a step towards it when he felt Link's hand on his shoulder. "Wait, this isn't the whole monster! I have an idea."
"What do you mean 'this isn't the whole monster'?" Dark asked, also using a whisper.
"It's main body doesn't appear until it grabs something with one of those hands. Then it's head and torso pop up out of the ground to attack you." Link explained.
"So I'll be the bait, let it grab me, I can just use a shadow trick to get out of it's grip, and we'll attack it at the same time." Dark suggested, but Link shook his head.
"I'm whispering so it won't realize there's two of us. It might not show it's body if one of us is moving about freely." Link paused for a moment, and Dark opened his mouth to say something when Link continued. "I can take a lot of damage, you use your shadow trick to move towards the center unnoticed while I let it grab me. Once it comes up out of the ground, let it attack me. It'll let go once it's finished with me, then we'll attack it together."
"But Link, I could attack it before it gets to you, and you won't get hurt." Dark pleaded, looking into those large blue eyes. Link stared back at him, his eyes showing a bit of frustration with Dark's stubbornness.
"No, we'll do it my way, it'll be a better opportunity to attack after it lets me go. Believe me, I've fought one of these before. I had to let it grab me twice last time, I'm hoping to take it out in one try this time." Link said cooly, Dark realized he wasn't the only one here who was beyond stubborn. Dark stared into Link's eyes for a moment, then decided to just go along with the plan, no matter how stupid it sounded to him.
"Alright, your way Mr. Hero. But don't come whining to me about how much it hurts later!" Dark whispered as he quickly faded into the shadows and moved to the center of the circle of arms without so much as a stir of air to give away his presence. Once he was in place, he watched as Link took a deep breath to steel himself and calmly walked within reach of one of the arms. Dark watched in silence as the hand quickly took hold of Link by the head, who, in spite of his calm approach a moment ago, began to struggle, and panic in it's grip.
At his feet Dark felt the ground shift, slightly at first, then it heaved up, the soil breaking apart as a horrid, fetid mass erupted out of the ground. Dark remained in his shadow form, but took a step back as he watched the dirt fall from the grotesque thing that emerged. The thing was covered in the same pale, splotchy skin as the arms surrounding it. In it's gaping maw, large teeth told of what was in store for the blond in green. As the monstrosity ambled closer to the other, it's seething body, and small deformed arm-like limbs looming in his terrified blue eyes, a thought entered Dark's mind.
'Do nothing, let it kill him, this is your chance to prove your loyalty.' Dark's eyes went wide, and he shook his head, shoving the thought out. Could it be that Gannondorf still had some measure of control of him? No! Dark would not be controlled any longer, and he would not let Link think for one moment that he would betray him. However, there was the plan to consider, so despite his better judgement, he waited, his sword held at the ready, for the opportune moment as described by Link.
As the rotting creature closed on Link, Dark shut his eyes tight, cringing as he turned his face away, he could not stand and watch such a horrible thing.
"AAAHHHH!!!" Link cried out in pain as the large teeth sunk into his flesh, and Dark instantly went into action, his sword slicing deep into the thing's flesh. It immediately removed it's teeth from the Hero and began to withdraw. Dark managed three more good hits before it retreated back into the dirt.
"What in the evil realm did you do that for?!" Link cursed at him, still firmly in the grasp of the awful hand.
"I couldn't just stand by and let it feed on you like that! You told me it would attack you, you didn't tell me it was going to make you it's main course!" Dark shouted, his face becoming flush with anger.
"I knew you wouldn't go along with it if I told you. And now look, it's a fine mess you've made now! Now you're going to have to let it grab you so we can finish this. I told you it was my burden for a reason." Link shouted at first, but lowered his voice.
"Sorry I screwed it up, I tried, really, I did, but I couldn't..." Dark paused, sheathing his sword and walking towards one of the other ghastly hands. "I couldn't stay my hand when I heard you scream." With that he stepped within range and was instantly seized by the hand. The clawed fingers held him tight, almost threatening to crush his skull. Panic nearly overtook him as he was overwhelmed by the stench, and the claws dug into his skin. He took a deep breath, and tried to calm down, but he could feel himself shaking all over, and his heart was racing as his mind was flooded with thoughts of what he had seen moments before, knowing what was in store for him. There was also the knowledge that he was by no way in top shape. Dark had been at about three quarters of his usual strength after his fight with Link, and he hadn't been able to really recover his strength from Gannondorf's assault on him. Then there was still the encounter with the cuccos, and not to mention falling off of Link's stupid horse, so he was only at about a third of his ideal. In essence, he was freaking out over not only the creature, but that he might let Link down by passing out during it's attack.
Through all the panic driven thoughts, the stink of the creature as it came back up out of the ground, and the fear as it ambled towards him first, one thing came through clear as crystal. That one thing was that one way or another, he could very easily die for Link, and he would happy to know he helped the blond. In fact, he'd probably happily throw himself in the way of Gannondorf's most powerful attack to protect Link. He focused on that thought as the horrible thing grew so close to him he could smell the rot of it's breath, and feel the hot stink on his face. Dark was miles away as the teeth tore into his neck violently, and he didn't even cry out. The sudden shock jolted him back, but he refused to scream, trying to keep his mind off of it, he settled his eyes on Link, who was watching helplessly. His heart began to pound and his breath quickened as he was suddenly focused on the pain. He could feel himself getting weaker, but he still refused to struggle, focusing all his mind on the blond hero.
There was no relief when it's foul maw left him to amble towards Link, Dark just focused his anger on the thing as the clawed hand let go. His hand flew to his sword's hilt, and he quickly drew it as the pressure on his head went away, and he let out a battle cry as he launched himself at the monster. A moment later his face met the dirt after his legs gave way under him. NO! This was not happening! He had to kill that thing! Desperately trying to pull himself up, he got to his knees, and tried to lunge at it, but his strength was gone. Dark hit the ground again, his sword falling out of his hand and out of his reach. Not that it mattered, the world was going dark and hazy, he was exhausted, and taken more damage than his weakened body could handle.
"Dark!" He heard Link shout as the thing grew closer to him, but the world was suddenly black as he passed out, strewn across the dirt floor in what was most certainly a pitiful sight.
Author Note: Look forward to the next chapter... I don't know when it will be out, but reviews certainly help in the speed at which it gets written!