Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, etc.

Thank you all for your continuing support. I really do live for reviews; that is the entire reason i got this done so fast is i got some very nive reviews in the last chapter. Please, tell me what you think. I love to hear from you all and it keeps me motivated. Enjoy! ~

A Trek Across the Fields

After riding the rest of the day away, Epona slowed to a canter as she neared a small stand of trees that would be today's campsite. Link dropped to the ground and then offered a hand to help down his black clad doppelganger, whom he knew was still unfamiliar with the art of horseback riding. He didn't bother tethering the horse anywhere; she was better trained than that, and set about setting up a campsite right away.

"Dark, would you start collecting firewood please?" Link called over his shoulder at Dark who was wandering away. Dark's reply was indiscernible but since he started picking sticks off the ground, Link could only assume he'd agreed, so Link busied himself with getting cooking utensils out and ready to use, as well as rubbing down Epona. Along with saddlebags for Link's spare equipment, Epona also carried a bag of oats that she could eat, but out in the verdant Hyrule Field, there would be more then enough grass to sustain her.

In the distance, he could see Dark approaching with an armful of dead tree branches. The trees sat spaced far enough apart to be able to see though for some distance; out until the trees ended. As for Dark, he personally didn't see the need of firewood or a fire. To him 'Dark, go get firewood' was suspiciously close to 'Dark, go clean the forest' but since he was still worried about Link being upset with him, he didn't press the issue.

When he re-entered the clearing that would be their campsite, Dark dropped the bundle of sticks and yawned. "What's this all for anyways?"

"Just drop the firewood off…" Link trailed off, looking up to see that his partner was already way ahead of him. After another minute of staring Link just sighed, shook out his mass of blond hair and continued on. "Now, would you go stomp around in the trees? See if you can scare something this way."

Much as Dark would have liked to have argued, he was more interested to see what would happen, so he did as requested and went stomping through the woods as Link stood back and waited, bow at the ready. Startled by the noise, a group of rabbits burst out of the underbrush to run for safety, but for each one a pair of cold blue eyes locked on to it, followed by a musical twang and that was the end for each of them.

Dark returned in time to see Link retrieving his final arrow from his prey. Three shots, three dead rabbits. Working on his prey with a casual air born from practice, Link missed the twinge of regret in Dark's eyes. Instead, he pulled a small knife out of each of his boots. "Come, Dark. I will teach you how to skin a rabbit."

Skin… a rabbit? Dark stared at the blond, horrified by the suggestion. "Wh-why! Why do we have to do that!" he choked out.

"They are rather difficult to eat with the fur still attached. Are you not hungry?" Link replied, trying not to look as if the answer were obvious. He knew Dark wasn't the most well educated person but still…

"Hungry? Not really…" Dark bit down on his lip, trying to think of a way to avoid mentioning the fact that he'd never actually been hungry before so he wasn't exactly sure what it felt like. Sure, he knew the concept but the desire to eat had never struck him before, but thickheaded as ever, Link failed to note the hesitation.

"Well, I haven't seen you eat since I met you and you need to keep your strength up." And with that, he dragged Dark off to instruct him in the fine art of removing the skin from a dead animal. Dark was both disgusted and oddly fascinated at the same time by the time he finished his first rabbit. Link handed him the last unskinned rabbit and went over to start arranging stones in a circle and situating firewood in the middle. Then an idea occurred to him, and he went over to pick up his bow and aimed an arrow into the center of the pile of wood. He waited for several minutes, staring at the wood, then with a quick twist of his wrist, he released. The arrow shot off the bowstring to ignite in midair, striking into the wood and setting the pyre ablaze.

Dark let out a low whistle seeing the wood spontaneously combust. Honestly, he could admit to himself that he was a bit jealous, yet for some unfathomable reason, Link seemed to feel the same way. Curious.

It wasn't long before the third rabbit was skinned and hanging over the open fire with his brethren. The whole process had been disturbing and nauseating but the end result; the smell of meat cooking had Dark's mouth watering. Goddess above, that's gotta be the best thing I…no, second best thing I ever smelled, he corrected himself, remembering his first horse ride pressed up against Link with a smile.

"Alright Dark, they look to be about done," Link said, handing one of the skewers over to his blatantly drooling partner with a sigh. " And do try to have some-" he cut off as Dark tore into it, ripping off chunks of steaming hot meat, devouring it. Never had Dark looked so content. Never mind the hot grease running down his face and onto his tunic. Link on the other hand was the exact opposite; very slow and careful with his eating, making sure not to make a mess or get any grease on his clothes. They would inevitably get dirty on their own, so no need to help the process out.

They lay on their backs in comfortable silence for a while before Link stood and grabbed his bow. "Dark. Do you-" Link began, but as soon as Dark saw the bow in his hand, he was up and nodding enthusiastically.

Where does he get all that energy? the blond wondered, shaking his head.

"Alright. Hold your bow along the grip, here. One finger out to steady your arrow. Stay relaxed; tension will do nothing to help your aim. Now, what you have to do is…"

Gritting his teeth, Dark knocked another arrow and fired again. Miss. He sighed. He'd paid attention to the explanation of how to allow for wind, arrow weight, distance trajectory and so on, but here in the practical application he was having a decidedly difficult time concentrating. Maybe it had something to do with Link standing right behind him, adjusting his stance and aim. It wouldn't be such a problem but he was right there, putting his hands all over Dark's chest to get him to stand properly. And the worst part was, Link didn't even seem to notice the effect he was having on his partner. Dark finally had the Hero's hands on him and it wasn't the least bit romantic! Sighing, Dark pushed the complaints from his mind and tried focusing on his archery as much as reasonably possible.

Soon though Dark decided it was time to uphold his end of the bargain, so much as he wanted to keep practicing, he set the Fairy Bow down and drew out his shadow blade. Turning, he caught Link giving him an odd look, "What?"

Link shook his head, still looking confused, "I was just wondering where you got that from. You don't carry a sheathe around with you so where did that sword come from?"

Cocking his head to the side, Dark slowly repeated the question, trying to understand what Link was asking, "My sword? Its here when I need it, gone when I don't. That's all that matters, isn't it?" It seemed like a pretty stupid thing to be wondering about, and Dark didn't feel like trying to explain something he didn't understand. "Its like that hammer of yours. Where do you keep that?" he asked, not bothering to mask his satisfaction at the blank stare on Link's face.

"Um… Well…"

"See? They're just there and we don't understand why it works that way, just that it does. So doesn't that make sitting around thinking about it a little pointless?"

Link frowned, thinking that over for a minute before slowly nodding his head, "I suppose. It just seems odd to me." Sighing, he dismissed the thought and pulled the Master Sword; the blade of sacred steel that evil could not touch from it's sheath on his back and waited, muscles tense and ready to react to anything Dark might do.

Dark on the other hand yawned, seemingly not paying attention. His blade pointed towards the ground, held almost negligently.

Link's eyes narrowed down to slits. So Dark wasn't going to take this seriously? Clutching his blade tighter, Link darted forward, slashing in a low wide arc, but at the last minute, Dark's blade spun up, crashing into the Master Sword from the bottom and knocking the Hero off balance. Gasping, Link looked down and watched it happen in slow motion. The ebon blade swinging towards his ribs. He knew there was no way he could dodge or block it. What if this is what Dark was waiting for? The perfect opportunity to dispatch the Hero of Time, leaving no one to get in the way of the Dark Lord and his conquest of the Divine Realm.

Of course not. Dark didn't check his hand but with a twist of his wrist at the last second, it was the flat of the blade that struck across the Hero's chest. Link howled and rubbed at his stinging ribs where the heavy impact left the beginnings of a bruise across his chest. Biting down on his lip to keep from whimpering… out loud at least, Link gently prodded at his ribs. None cracked, none broken.

But Goddesses above, it burns!

Dark stood back, watching impassively as a single of his blows brought the Hero to his knees in a fit of labored panting "You ok? Do we need to stop?"

Shaking his head fiercely, the blond lunged again.

They only battled for an hour or so, mostly because by that time Link's arms were entirely numb from blocking Dark's sword strikes. The sheer power of his attacks blew the Hero's mind. From the few surreptitious glances he snuck over the course of the time he'd been with Dark, he could tell he had the bigger muscles. Link was also slightly taller compared to the leaner form of his counterpart. As he sat there massaging his left arm and dwelling on those questions, he just couldn't help but ask.

"Dark?"

"Hmm?" came the sleepy response from over by the smoldering ashes of the fire pit. He sounded exhausted, but Link just had to know.

"I have just been wondering how you got to be so strong. You certainly don't look it."

From the other side of the fire he heard a snort, followed by Dark snickering under his breath. "Do you trust me? If you do, then you'll believe me when I say you don't want to know."

Even though the moon was covered, Link could see Dark's half lidded red eyes and teeth in the darkness, flashing that same taunting leer that he liked to wear when talking about something dirty. Sighing, Link flopped down on his back, staring up at the dark, cloudy sky through a canopy of leaves. "That does not help my curiosity," he muttered quietly to himself. Or not to himself as Dark rose, gliding silently over to the Hero.

"If you really want to know, I could show you," Dark purred into Link's ear. He heard the blonde's startled gasp, felt him tense up beneath the hot breath on the back of his neck. Link hadn't even noticed Dark move. Much as he disapproved of the uses, he had to admire Dark's physical attributes, and he told the boy as much, earning him another throaty chuckle.

"My 'Physical Attributes' huh? Yeah, they were really handy in my 'training', I guess you could say."

It was hot, a little too hot for Link, and Dark was close enough behind him to feel; it made the blond more then a little uncomfortable. Even in his current mood, Dark didn't want his partner to be uncomfortable, so he returned to his original spot on the other side of the fire pit, laying back on the ground but propped up on one elbow.

"To answer your question, it's just lots of practice. I used to practice for hours because I had nothing better to do with my time. I'd spend all day just swinging that sword around. It's good for more then just building muscle; I had time to learn the physics of it. Your style is solid and powerful, but rigid. Sometimes, you need a little flexibility. The way you move restricts the way you can attack. It makes you moves easy to predict…but then maybe that's just me." Dark yawned, noting that Link had rolled over and was staring at him. Well he deserved to have a little fun, right? "That's it really. Swing a sword around all day and at night, I jerk off," he added casually. Right on cue, Link's mouth dropped open and a second later he looked away to hide his glowing red cheeks.

"I-idiot."

"Well you did ask." Dark pointed out. "Yup, you start masturbating often enough, you'll feel it in muscles you didn't even know you had. It really is a good training technique. You should try it."

Ah, just talking about it put images in his head, images that had Dark licking his lips hungrily. Link however rolled over to face the other way, studiously ignoring Dark and trying very hard not to think about how the boy had been staring at him…like he was something to eat.

Oh…an instant later he understood why those ruby eyes had been watching him so. He was something to eat…in a manner of speaking. Link crossed his arms, blushing furiously and thinking angry thoughts until he slipped off into a dreamless slumber.

Dark lay there, watching and waiting for Link to fall asleep. Once the boy's breathing evened out, Dark rose silently to his feet and approached him. Much as he would have liked to do something to the sleeping Hero, he had work to do. Instead he grabbed the bow the lay next to Link, his quiver of arrows and slipped off to the other end of the stand of trees that they'd made their camp in.

'I will learn. I will be useful to him. I swear it.'

Release. A second later there was the quiet thud of metal burying itself in the tree trunk. Not where he'd wanted it to be, but at least he'd hit the thing.

Draw, Aim, Release.

All on through the night Dark did nothing but fire arrows, and when he ran out, he went and collected them from the tree trunk and the surrounding ground, reloaded his quiver and started all over again.

Draw, aim, release.

He finally decided to call it quits when he stopped hitting the target from not being able to see straight and stumbled back to get some much needed rest.

The light of the early morning sun shining through the trees woke Link up, and the first thing he noticed was the heavy weight on his chest. Dark, again. Scowling, he shoved the boy off him and stalked away, still irritable from the night before. Dark however, suddenly ripped from his nap by an impact with the ground had no idea what was going on.

"Nnh, huh, whazgoinon?" Dark mumbled blearily as his disoriented senses tried to figure out what was going on as a small dust cloud drifted in front of him from his impact. There was no danger, no threats to be neutralized; just a rather irate looking Hero of Time stomping across the ground to put their equipment back into Epona's saddlebags. With another yawn and a mighty stretch that send a series of sharp cracks running down his spine, Dark rubbed the sleep from his eyes, still trying to fully wake up and determine why Link would be so mad.

"Oh, just some people's lack of respect for other people's personal space, not to mention a lack of manners, decorum and appropriate conversation subject matter," Link huffed, trying not to think of what all that entailed. Judging by the red spots glowing on his cheeks, the effort was not entirely successful.

So that's what this was all about. Link just couldn't swallow his self-righteous crap and take some good advice. Sure, Dark maybe could have been a little more tactful with his suggestion but he had ulterior motives to just trying to get the boy's clothes off. Dark just wanted for Link to be able to have some time to himself to relax. Honest.

"That's what you're mad about? Lighten up for once," Dark advised, running a hand though his hair and messing with his bangs so they didn't stick up quite so much. Despite Link's observation that Dark was just a slob, the boy did actually take at least some notice of his appearance. He liked to have his hair look nice if nothing else.

"I simply mean that I cannot condone your actions, your flagrant disregard for personal space, or common decency or-"

"Stop." One single word Dark uttered, and he was somewhat surprised when Link actually listened. "Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath."

Eyeing him somewhat suspiciously at first, Link followed the instructions.

"Now let it go. Let go of everything. Now take another deep breath…and let it go," Dark said, watching Link's chest rise and fall at his command. It made him smile to know that at least Link wasn't totally stubborn. "Feel better?"

Link opened his eyes and slowly nodded, causing Dark to nod as well, satisfied. "Good. You really do need to relax more. You push yourself too hard and if you weren't so busy getting offended you'd see that my advice actually has practical ground. Don't toss it out just yet, eh?"

The blond snorted, blushing indignantly. "You mock me. How is it that you expect me to accomplish this when just one swing of you sword shocks the feeling from my arms? Sparring with you leaves my arms practically useless, so how then am I to take your advice?" Link muttered, glaring at Dark. In truth, he was rather embarrassed to be having the discussion but his question left Dark staring, dumbfounded for several minutes.

"By the Three Golden Goddesses, I didn't know it was possible," Dark whispered incredulously. He stared at Link for several minutes in amazement before bursting out laughing, "I don't believe it! Link has a sense of humor! Who knew!"

He knew Link was glaring at him but he just couldn't help himself. The insane irony had him laughing almost uncontrollably. While Dark rolled around on the ground, clutching at his stomach because it hurt so much to breath, Link finished cleaning up. He really just wanted something to do, something to give him an excuse to ignore the immense affront that he'd just suffered to his dignity.

He'd already packed all their belongings and climbed into the saddle when Dark finally managed some composure. "If you are finished, I think we should be leaving," Link muttered icily, holding out a hand to help Dark into the saddle. Nodding and a little unsteady from the few errant chuckles still floating around in side him, he took the offered help into the saddle, only to hiss as unexpected pain shot through his hand. Wincing, he ignored it long enough to get seated and let Link get moving before gripping the horse like a vice with his legs and pulling his gloves off, then he saw why.

Beneath his gloves, Dark's fingers were cracked open and covered in flaking bits of dried blood. Frowning, he tried to think when this could have happened but only one thing came to mind. Putting the gloves back on, Dark twisted around in the saddle and pawed through the quiver hanging off the side. Sure enough, several arrow shafts bore his bloody fingerprints.

Wow. Guess I must've been practicing harder then I thought… and after I just finished lecturing Link for pushing himself too hard. Great.

It was more his hypocritical speech that bothered Dark, albeit unknowingly but still. The throbbing ache in his fingers was next to inconsequential; only useful since it indicated that his training was indeed having at least some kind of result. True, it wasn't the desired results but still, beggars can't be choosers.

They rode along in silence for several minutes, each lost in his own thoughts when Link suddenly stiffened up and grabbed his bow and a handful of arrows. "Dark, Hang on!" was the only warning he gave before kicking his heels into the horse, sending her leaping into a gallop. The sudden jolt almost knocked Dark out of the saddle, but when he regained his balance he saw what was going on.

Link was in hot pursuit of a floating ghost-like creature with pale yellow eyes and a lantern, fleeing as fast as it could float away from the barrage of arrows. A few of the arrows managed to land lucky hits, piercing into the ghost; each one resulting in a squeal of pain, but in spite of its wounds an instant later the creature vanished, leaving behind nothing but spent arrows and an eerie cackling echoing through the field. Pulling back on the reins, Epona slowed to a halt letting Link hop down to go around pulling out his arrows where they'd stuck in the dirt. Of course, after his mad dash the arrows were scattered along quite the distance, but Link didn't mind. What he did forget however, was Dark still mounted.

Can't be that hard, right? I can do this, Dark thought, somewhat nervously as he scooted forward, slipping his feet into the stirrups and taking a hold of the reins. Amazingly, nothing terrible happened…unless Epona snorting and stamping a hoof could be considered terrible. So, Dark was seated by himself…on a horse. "Now how do I work this thing?" he muttered, flicking the reins around thinking maybe it would do something.

And it did! It made the horse turn her head and stare at him. As he stared into her big, liquid brown eyes, he could just imagine her thinking "What the hell are you doing?" and that that is exactly what her expression said.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm new at this so um… please just bear with me?" Dark said, nervously trying to pacify the already docile horse.

She rolled her eyes and looked away, snorting whatever. Trying something different, Dark tried gently nudging her ribs with his heels and gasped, leaning back when she actually started moving.

"Ok, now how do I steer?" Dark murmured anxiously. Tugging on the reins didn't seem to do anything. Maybe that's how it was supposed to work, but the horse just felt like being spiteful and ignoring him.

"Please try not to kill yourself Dark," Link yelled over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn around as he plucked another arrow from the ground, brushing loose dirt off it. He sounded so unconcerned, too. Insensitive jerk.

That's what Dark thought as he turned in the saddle to Link casually collecting arrows with not a care at all for his partner who could fall and break his neck at any moment. Surprisingly, as he twisted around to look, Epona turned with him, making the boy stop and blink curiously. Leaning to the right, she followed by turning to the right also. Leaning to the left, the same thing happened. "Huh. Well that's convenient…"

"Link! There's some more over here!" Dark yelled, pointing down as he trotted around, swaying a little awkwardly in the saddle. Nodding, Link trotted over to collect his ammunition.

When he'd finished, Link stared up at Dark who was seated proudly on the horse…Link's horse, but still. He could feel a little pride over his accomplishments, right? After all, he'd managed to learn basic movement and not get knocked off. All in all, he was feeling pretty good about himself…so why was Link staring at him like that?

Oh.

"Dark, you are in the back." That's why. Of course Link would have to be the rider; having Dark holding the reins would just be asking for disaster. Still, just the way he phrased it made Dark grin suggestively.

"I'm in back huh? Sure thing, babe."

"Don't even."

Damn. Crushed again. Still, sooner or later he'd get lucky. The Goddesses wouldn't be so cruel as to have him travel as Link's partner without at least giving him a chance…right?

Sighing, Dark knew full well that was probably not the case. Sure, he was a guy and had needs of his own to be fulfilled, but he also had a sneaking suspicion that if, on the off-chance he ever got to talk to Farore, She wouldn't care a whole lot about 'his needs.'

Thinking about it would only get him depressed so he tried distracting himself. "Hey, Link? What was that thing?" Yes, he wanted a distraction but he was also honestly curious about the thing…and how Link had missed that many times with that many arrows.

"Not good," came Link's tense reply. He had a habit of being extremely uninformative when Dark was curious.

"Yeah, obviously. Are you still pissed at me or something or do you just not feel like talking?" Getting brushed off so consistently was starting to get on Dark's nerves, but Link's head snapped up and when he answered he sounded truly apologetic.

"I am sorry. I was…thinking, and I am used to traveling alone," he murmured quietly. "It was a Poe; the spirit of someone who has died but is unable to rest. I have never seen one outside of graveyards. I suspect it must be Ganondorf's doing…and it has me troubled. We may be running out of time."

Dark nodded, feeling a little depressed. 'Used to traveling alone'…it made him feel like a burden, and he was all the more frustrated because he had no way of proving his usefulness other then to sit back and wait patiently for an opportunity to present itself. Dark hated having to be patient. He'd spent…he didn't even know how long. It seemed like eons, locked in that prison cell, waiting for this boy; this green-clad fairy boy with lonely blue eyes to come and rescue him. And now, he was finally free, and yet he had to live with the knowledge that he had absolutely nothing to offer.

He worried about it a lot, and as always, it left him in despair but now this? He was worse then useless. He was a burden, a hindrance, a liability. Shivering, he lay his head against Link's back as he normally did when tired. Link would never know that this time was different. He'd never see the desperate look in Dark's eyes. He'd never feel the hopeless tears running down the back of his tunic. He'd never hear the apology Dark longed to give…only he couldn't for fear of his voice breaking, for fear of not having the right words and even if he did, he couldn't find the heart to try.

'I'll find something. I will have something to offer him. I'll do whatever it takes. I swear it.' The vow echoed in Dark's mind, playing over and over as he grabbed at any idea that would make him more valuable to the Hero. 'Whatever it takes…'