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A Terror?
A partner… Link had no idea how to even begin comprehending this new addition, which at the moment was strolling its way down the rope bridges that connected the shore of Lake Hylia to the two small islands out in the middle of the lake. Link sat on the larger island, leaning up against the large tree that dominated most of the island alongside the grey warping platform that was meant for the temple several hundred feet below. Groaning, Link pulled his green cap off to run his fingers distractedly through his hair. " I've failed in my duties as a hero. I've unleashed a terror on the world!"
In his mind, Link could see Dark grinning maniacally as the fields of Hyrule erupted into a roaring inferno that would engulf the entire kingdom leaving naught but ash in its wake. And yet… watching Dark sitting over on the next island, [calmly sitting back] to watch the sun rise… Link couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't getting caught up in his imagination again. Either way, he'd think about it later, and with that the hero got down to find a comfortable spot on the short grassy carpet to take a long and much deserved nap.
Dark was amazed. He'd only ever known that one room in the Water Temple; the room of fog and illusions. Out here, he was finally free to see everything he'd dreamed of seeing! It felt so good to breathe fresh air and see actual light… but as much as he wanted to go running and screaming for the joy of freedom, somehow he felt that Link would not approve, which irritated Dark all the more because he also knew that maintaining some decorum, at least while Link was watching, would be in his best interest. So, with no small amount of effort he curbed his enthusiasm and sat back on his little island, marked only by a single lonely gravestone, and watched as the first few pallid rays of light peeking over the distant hills heralded the arrival of the sun.
The sun… No one else could have understood the importance of the sun, but for Dark, who'd never known anything but being in the cold, humid, and moldy chamber of the Water Temple, this was the first time he'd ever been… warm. He leaned back against the gravestone and smiled contently as a gentle breeze pushed his bangs back. This world, it was so full of new sights and experiences; things Dark had never had a chance to experience. And now, with Link sleeping, he had the opportunity.
A short wooden bridge connected the mainland to Dark's island, and then from Dark's island to Link's island. At the beginning of the bridges, a strange looking building with a watchtower looked out over the lake. The only other building sat on an island tucked off in a corner against the cliff walls. He'd need to swim there.
Finished watching the sunrise, Dark set off across the second bridge to reach the mainland. He took a few moments to admire the series of waterfalls made as the river flowed down from the cliffs into the lake before turning to the right. A wide road lead up through the mountains but Dark didn't want to stray too far away from Link, even though he'd be able to track the boy so long as he held the Water Medallion.
The isolated little building off on the island intrigued Dark and he went running off through the short clipped grass towards the shore nearest the island. Right by the shore, he stopped to investigate a small two tier field with a pair of scarecrows. Curiously, he trotted up to one, about to poke it when the scarecrow spoke, "Hey there! I am Bonooru, the scarecrow musical genius! I hear a song once and I never forget it baby!" The scarecrow leaned forward, waiting expectantly for something.
A scarecrow musician? That sounded kind of dubious, even to Dark, "Uhm… sorry, but I don't know any songs. I was just…. going over there…." Dark replied, glancing over at the island building.
"Oh. The fishing pond? I see. Well, come back if you learn any songs, baby."
Dark felt almost bad for leaving. The scarecrow did sound a little depressed when he left. Being stuck in a field all day must get lonely… It reminded him of himself, stuck for years on end in a single room, unable to do anything but wait. But those days were over, and he pushed all thought of them firmly from his mind as he dove into the water and started swimming his way across to the island. Less then a minute later, Dark was out of the water and reading the sign next to the door.
"Come on in. The fish are really biting today. Tch. What a cheesy line," Dark muttered under his breath but in he went anyways. Dark was moderately surprised to find a small pond here indoors, complete with rocks and reeds and a large fallen log out in the middle. Running forward, Dark dropped to his knees, watching the schools of fish swim lazily around the pond, fascinated. The Angler, who was watching from his counter to the right of the door, thought his new customer was just weird. "Hey. You want to rent a rod and go fishing? Only 20 Rupees."
Dark glanced up at the owner of the pond, a thin, balding man with patchy brown hair and a tacky plaid hat. Rupees? He was drawing a blank. "Uhm… sure. What're rupees?" he asked, feeling stupid. Staring at the newcomer like he was insane, the pond owner held up a single red gemstone. "Oh! I have some of those" Dark piped up happily after seeing it. He'd picked up several twenties after being released from his cell. They sparkled and looked pretty, more than enough reason for Dark to grab a few.
The Angler snatched the red rupee out of Dark's hand and went off into a long explanation of how to use a fishing rod, but Dark was soon lost in all the technical jargon. What in the names of the Three Goddesses was a Rumble pack! Still, eager to get to this "fishing" Dark nodded along like he understood everything then took his fishing rod off to go sit by a patch of reeds. 'So, I have a line with a hook to catch fish. Can't be all that hard,' Dark thought to himself, sitting on the bank of the pond. For a while, he just watched, taking note of the fish and the way they moved and interacted. He started noticing patterns, like how the smaller fish stuck towards the shallows while the larger ones were in the deeper part of the pond. Smaller fish also darted around, keeping to themselves while the larger fish stayed in more or less stationary groups of three or four.
Setting his sights on a three fish group hanging around a small underwater rock formation, Dark flicked the fishing rod and sent his line out to the other end of the pond. At first, he reeled it in quickly but as the hook came up on that rock formation he slowed down, drawing it back a little at a time and using his wrist to make small tugs on the line to make the hook squirm around. He could see the fish eyeing it hungrily but these were the cautious old fish, big and juicy from not taking chances. Still, they watched the hook slowly jerk its way by like a wounded insect until one of the fish finally snapped and lunged at the hook. Dark's lips twisted up in a grin as the fish jumped on his bait. Now it was just a matter of time and patience, giving slack then reeling it in and letting the fish exhaust itself trying to get away. The fish's attempts at escape became slow, and soon Dark was able to pull the fish out of the water, extract his hook, and carry it back to drop it on the front desk with a wet slapping sound as the fish still made his feeble attempts to get away. The Angler meanwhile was staring in slight frustration, "This fish is 19 pounds. That's… a decent catch."
Dark was off to the side of the desk and tilted his head to the side, pointing at a display tank that read "The largest fish caught in this pond weighs 17 pounds. Fisherman: The Angler."
The Angler sighed and took the tank over to the lake and released his prized catch to vacate the spot for the new largest fish ever caught in the pond. "Well kid, I suppose you want some kind of prize. Here," the Angler muttered irritably, holding out a Piece of Heart. Dark's eyebrows shot up to the top of his head. That hadn't even been that hard, and that fish was easily the smallest of the group.
Less then half an hour later, Dark trotted out of the fishing pond with a very smug smile, 100 rupees in prizes, and the new record fish at 24 pounds. Back outside, the sun was up all the way, though it was still early morning, so he dove back into the lake and swam his way over to the first building.
He dragged himself out of the water and walked up, still dripping wet to hesitantly poke his head in the front door.
Inside, it was dark and musty with an acrid smoke in the air and creepy music playing in the back ground. The walls were covered in strange looking instruments and the body parts of dead animals. As Dark looked around with a growing feeling of disgust, he saw a short old man with about half his teeth missing, misty half blind eyes and not so much a face as a sheet of pale leather pulled taut over a grinning skull. Dark almost pulled his sword, thinking the old man was a monster.
"Ho ho ho, just finish swimming, young man?" The thing -- Dark still wasn't sure if it was human -- asked, noting his wet clothes. Dark nodded warily
"Yeah. I just got back from the fishing pond. Caught a 24 pounder," He was truly making every attempt to be polite he could but the aura of the laboratory made the boy uneasy.
"Well, that's quite the impressive catch. If you can swim, you can see mine. It's down in the bottom of that tank over there, along with a little something in a box that you can keep if you can get it."
Dark, being his curious self, trotted down the length of the marine research lab to the pool at the far end. The pool was more of a rectangular opening in the floor and, though it wasn't very large, the water was too murky and deep to see the bottom. If it had been Link, he'd be having flashes of paranoia about the vague shadowy creatures that might lurk down there. It could be some abyssal holding cell for a giant demonic…
Dark didn't worry himself with such nonsense and hopped right in without a second thought. Being a creature of water himself, he didn't actually need to breathe, but he did because it felt uncomfortable not. Letting his breath out, he stopped floating and drifted down towards the bottom of the tank. Link would have been tense as a bowstring, on guard for anything. Dark simply glanced around, humming quietly til his boots hit something solid. At least, mostly solid. He didn't think you could make a tank to hold water out of wood. Spinning in a small circle, Dark's foot slipped off the wooden box he'd been standing on and a large bubble carried his startled swearing up to the surface.
So, this was the box the old man mentioned. Dark climbed down and hit the reassuring solidity of stone, then picked up the crate and grimaced as the bloated corpse of a spider floated out of the box along with a gold skull token. Dark bent down carefully to grab the token, making sure not to touch the body of the spider as it drifted slowly to the surface. The old guy sure kept some creepy stuff in his workshop…
With the stone wall to his left, Dark set off trudging slowly through the murky water. It wasn't long until he came to a wall of corroded iron bars, and what was behind those bars sucked the feeling from the boy's body.
Trapped behind the bars lay the body of a large blue and white shark, crammed into a prison far too small for it to live in. The] bloody welts across its body, the hollow sections where something had sliced it open to remove its organs, the surgical precision of the wounds, and the look of pure agony left lingering in its dead eyes attested to the suffering the beast must have endured while alive. Dark stared, horrified that someone could actually do something so heartless. It made his head spin beneath the crushing weight of water soaked in death, suffocating him.
Dark paddled his way toward the surface as quickly as he could, but for some reason his body didn't want to rise. With the thought of staying down in that abyss of torture, Dark panicked for the first time in his life and with a strength born from desperation, Dark forced himself to the surface and screamed as he found himself staring right at the horribly swollen body of the spider, locked in a wooden box and left to drown down there. Slippery with the water, Dark's wet gloves almost slipped off the edge of the tank to leave him drifting back down to the bottom, but he practically threw himself out of the water. As he pushed himself to the feet, he couldn't help be look again at the grotesque decorations of the marine research laboratory, the severed head of a shark hanging from the wall, mouth open to display its teeth, or the swollen head of some poor creature Dark had never seen.
As he staggered toward the door almost delirious with the stench of the place, his eyes locked onto the last 'research subject' before the door, the corpse of a baby floating in preservation liquid, and with that, his control snapped and he dashed out the door with a scream into the comforting warmth of the early morning sun and dropped to his knees as his stomach emptied itself out onto the grass. He lay there, tears flowing freely down his face as he cried with the horror still fresh in his mind.
Dark looked up as he felt a gentle hand on his back and saw Link kneeling next to him with a worried expression. Dark threw himself into the other boy's arms, sobbing and shivering as the Hero held him tight. It felt so good to be back out in the sun again, and surprisingly it felt even better to be held like this.
"Will you be alright?" he heard Link ask hesitantly, and he nodded but tightened his grip, not ready to let go just yet.
Link had woken up from his nap and immediately realized his mistake. Dark was nowhere to be seen. Mentally kicking himself, Link started walking quickly towards the first calamity he came across. It would be safe to assume Dark was involved. After finding said calamity, then he would start running. His leg was still stiff after that little tussle with the beast in the Water Temple, and remembering what all happened in that fight was not high on his priority list.
Finding Dark and ending whatever reign of mischievous terror the boy had managed to establish over the not so highly populated area of Lake Hylia was a priority. First, he'd stop by the Marine Research Lab and see if Dark was lurking around causing havoc. Already Link's mind was filling with images of Dark burning the place to the ground in a fit of maniacal laughter. "This journey is going to be horrible. I'll need to keep a close eye on him or he'll hurt someone. He's a danger to-"
At that exact minute, Dark burst out of the Marine Research Lab and dropped to his knees, vomiting all over the ground. Link couldn't help but notice that his normally pale skin was now bone white and… he was crying?
Link sighed, taking back all the bad things he'd been thinking about Dark as guilt grabbed his heart and gave it a good squeeze. He also couldn't help but wonder which of the Goddesses it was that insisted on always throwing something like this out there at the perfect moment to prove him wrong. Link pulled off his brown leather gloves and tucked them behind his belt wondering what to do. Certainly, he'd never had to deal with anything like this, and he was afraid that if he perhaps did too much, Dark might take it the wrong way… On the other hand, he knew he'd feel bad if he just stood by and watched, so Link knelt down and gently rubbed his hand over Dark's back to offer what comfort he could. He expected to get ignored or yelled at so he was a little surprised when the boy turned and buried his face in the dark green folds of Link's tunic. For a while, Link held the pale sobbing form of his dark side.
He just didn't understand it. This couldn't be the same merciless killing machine he'd fought down in the temple, Link thought as he scooped Dark up and carried him back across the bridges to the island in the center of the lake. 'For all the muscle it must take to use a sword like he does, Dark doesn't weigh much at all,' Link thought to himself. For all he was opposed to having a partner, seeing Dark vulnerable like that, feeling the fingers clutching at his shirt, and seeing the tear stains still visible on his pale cheeks all made Link feel oddly protective of the boy in his arms.
Arriving back at the island, Link set Dark down on the grass and sat down himself, wincing as he rubbed his sore leg when he caught Dark staring at him. "Morpha do that to you?"
Correctly interpreting that as the boss of the Water Temple, Link nodded. "How did the rest of the battle go?" Dark asked curiously, slightly confused when Link started blushing.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Link shot back defensively. He didn't know what he was expecting Dark to do, but pulling a Heart Piece out of his tunic and handing it over certainly wasn't it. "Wh… where did you get this?" Link asked, staring in shock at the blue crystallized essence of life energy. After all, it wasn't like people left Heart Pieces laying around in barns for others to just waltz by and grab.
"I won it fishing while you were sleeping. Thought you might like it," Dark answered, staring out across the water. He didn't really want to make a big deal out of it, so he just shrugged it off as unimportant. Meanwhile, Link mentally kicked himself some more. While Link expected the boy to be out committing violent acts of terror and raving the countryside with an army of evil monsters in the name of the Dark Lord, he'd been fishing…
They sat in silence for a few more minutes before the ever restless Dark was on his feet and pacing around while Link opted to lay back down. Going through those temples really was rough work, and a whole day of rest after finishing one would not seem unreasonable to anyone who'd actually tackled an entire temple on their own.
"Link, what're we doing now?" Dark whined as the green-clothed boy settled down under the tree and muttered something about rest. Dark was the type that always need to be up, always needed to be doing something, and yet Link wanted to just sleep the day away! It was so frustrating. Dark finally got his freedom, and he still couldn't go anywhere! Sighing, he trotted over to the other side of the island he shared with his snoozing blonde counterpart, where something sticking out of the ground caught his attention. It looked like a plaque of some sort, probably dedicated to whoever was under that gravestone on the first island or something.
But no, the small mahogany plaque read, "When water fills the Lake, shoot for the morning light."
Shoot for the morning light, huh? He could see the bow and quiver of arrows sitting half full on the ground next to Link. Since he technically was Link, too, Dark didn't feel the least bit of remorse about helping himself to the Hero's hard earned arrows. Standing in front of the low wooden pedestal for the plaque, Dark pulled an arrow back, aimed into the rising sun, and fired. Even though he'd never used a bow before, the arrow flew off just as he'd wanted... though that may have been from aiming at a target as big as the sun. Then, for some reason, it stopped and slowly drifted down to float above the water. That perked the boy's curiosity, and since Link was napping and he couldn't leave the area, Dark was in desperate need of entertainment. So, he stripped off his damp black tunic and laid it out in the sun to dry, along with the rest of his clothes. After living in the Water Temple, Dark wasn't as disturbed by wet clothes as Link was.
And so, the boy trotted to the edge of the island completely nude and dove into the shining water of the lake. The cool water felt amazing after the heat of the sun. Dark could already tell that he loved swimming, and he dove deeper into the water, content to stay under for hours. The current flowed over his body, and the water resisted his movements somewhat as he gained speed; it all felt so right. He swam along the entire length of the lake, startling several schools of fish into panicked flight. It was hard to tell how long he was down there, but when he finally surfaced again, it was well into the afternoon. He paddled around on the surface for a few minutes until he found the arrow he'd shot earlier. It had landed on a small strip of land, barely big enough to stand on, that rose only a few scant inches above the water. The arrow itself was wreathed in fire that seemed to coat the smooth shaft of the arrow without consuming it despite the water that lapped at the flames, and when Dark picked it up, the arrow didn't feel hot either.
To be on the safe side, he held the arrow aloft as he swam back to shore, eager to show his partner the discovery. When he got back, Link was awake and leaning against the tree, holding his ocarina as though he were just about to begin playing. "Link! Link, look!" Dark yelled, running up out of the water with his prize. Maybe now he'd get a little respect, but instead of encouragement Link's face turned redder then the flames coating the arrow.
"Dark! What are you doing!" he yelled, clenching his free fist. "What if someone sees! Put some clothes on!"
Dark sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course the prudish hero would notice his state of undress before a powerful new enchantment. "Yeah, Lake Hylia has an enormous population of 2. I just might start a riot like this," Dark muttered sarcastically. "Oh and by the way. What're you staring at? It couldn't be that I've got something that you don't have, could it?" he whispered, his voice dropping into an amused purr. As expected, Link's face practically caught on fire from the blood rushing to his face.
"I-Idiot! What do you mean by that!" Link asked through gritted teeth, but that only made Dark laugh and hold up the flaming arrow. The fire hadn't hurt him so far, so he kept his eyes locked on Link and ran his tongue suggestively along the shaft of the arrow, making the boy blush to the roots of his hair.
"Dark, will you please put some clothes on?" Link asked, straining every syllable so it sounded like he had to force himself to be polite. Of course, Dark didn't think that was the case at all. He had to hand it to the boy though, for all his blushing Link didn't look away… nor did he ever focus on anything about Dark other then his eyes. With a shrug, he handed Link the arrow and strolled over to his pile of clothes.
As soon as Link had the arrow, he turned his back and sat down both to study it and to try and spare his modesty as much as possible, though he could still hear the rustling of cloth in the background as Dark dressed. 'No! Focus on the arrow,' he mentally screamed at himself over the images of the wet, naked Dark. Stupid overactive imagination… of course he could never let Dark know he was thinking about him that way… but what if he did? An idea started formulating in his mind, and Link was honestly curious what would happen if he were the flirtatious one for once. Was it all an act? Would Dark back down if he thought Link would seriously go along with it? Probably. On the other hand, what if it wasn't an act? Cursing the blush spreading across his face again, Link turned all his attention towards the arrow.
Now that he was actually looking at it, the spell was quite a piece of work. His magical sense slowly analyzed the makeup of the spell, magical sense that he'd only received a short while ago. Actually, it was seven years and change, but he'd been frozen in a kind of magical incarceration while his body matured so he would be capable of being the Hero of Time. Still, the carefree days of being an ordinary eight year old kid seemed like only yesterday. Indeed to him, they were only yesterday, or at the very worst, a few months ago. Still… Link couldn't help a sigh of regret remembering how his childhood had been abruptly cut short.
"You ok?" he heard Dark ask from over his shoulder.
"Yes. This spell is just a bit tricky, but I think I can do it with some practice and use fire arrows whenever needed," he said quietly, not really wanting to talk to Dark, or anyone for that matter, about his personal insecurities. The magic Fire Arrow went into his quiver with the rest as he glanced at the setting afternoon sun. "Stay around, Dark. We leave tonight at moonrise." From somewhere behind him, Link heard a snort that sounded suspiciously like 'finally.' Sighing, he dropped back into the grass, staring up at the sky and the wispy clouds drifting along on the breeze. True, it did make him feel slothful, but the Water Temple had been the most physically draining so far. To be honest, he could have done with another day, but he knew Dark was anxious to leave, and so they would.
Finally! At least now that he had a definite time to leave, Dark could know about how long he could be out. But…. What else was there to do in the meantime? Fishing was fun, but he didn't think the Angler would like to see him again so soon after hauling in three record breaking fish in one day, and a direct command from the Goddesses themselves couldn't get him back in the research lab again. So he took a stroll along the edge of the lake, thinking, as the sun started to set and a cold wind blew across the surface of the lake. Walking slowly back towards Link, Dark stared down at the sleeping form of his other half. He looked so… at ease. Maybe Link really did need to sleep more so he wouldn't be so tense when he woke up, although Link was probably just the naturally grumpy type. Though he was anxious to get on the road, Dark settled down to take a nap himself. When Link awoke at moonrise, he woke to find Dark's arm around him; for once, he didn't mind so much..