Authors note: Alright! Thank you all my wonderful fans who have been keeping up with this, this is what keeps me going. Also, i have a few things to say.

First, as someone mentioned, Navi has been very quiet. The reason? Navi does not exist. Sorry if you like Navi for some reason, this is a sad fact of my reality; She is irritating, and therefore will not be dealt with. After all, Link had Dark, what does he need a fairy for? That is actually how i designed it. It's not so much that Navi doesn't exist but Dark is her replacement.

What Lies Beneath

The moon hung low in the sky as Link and his partner (though Dark considered himself to be more like baggage then anything else) finally reached the southwest corner of Hyrule Field, where hopefully they'd find the next temple.

The change in scenery was sudden and drastic. They'd been riding most the day through short-cropped fields of grass and flowers with the occasional stand of trees like the one they'd taken shelter in the night before. The road split off, one path going to the right, seeming to follow a parallel route on a path higher up, while going straight would lead into a canyon. Suddenly the grass was sparse and patchy at best, giving way to a loose sandy soil in the shadows cast by the cliff above. About fifteen feet overhead, the top of the cliff was rimmed by a fence where they would be had they gone to the right. It wasn't even a cliff really, more of just a high overhang. A minute later, another path branched off to the left leading to another, drier area.

The change in terrain was easily noticeable too. Both behind and straight ahead, where the path would lead out of the low canyon and back into the main field had light green grass blowing gently in the breeze. Inside the short stretch of canyon, this loose soil covered the ground and off to the left, up the trail and farther into the canyon, the ground shifted to dry, hard packed earth. Curious, Link hopped down to examine the phenomenon. Dark watched from atop the horse…Link's horse. He had to correct himself as he watched the Hero kneeling in the dirt, poking at the ground. Dark sighed. He didn't see what the big deal about it was; it was just grass after all and if the local plant life wasn't trying to kill them then leave well enough alone.

Suddenly Epona snorted, looking around nervously. Frowning, Dark tightened his grip on the reins, looking around too. A few more second passed in silence and right as he relaxed again, Epona reared up, letting out a high pitched whine. Caught off guard, Dark yelled as he lost his balance and fell out of the saddle to land on his back in the dirt as Epona took off running. Link walked over, looking down curiously at Dark who stared back up, grinning sheepishly.

"What did you do to her?"

" Nothing. She just suddenly-"

Dark cut off as a pale white hand burst out of the ground right next to his head. With a startled cry, Dark rolled to his feet, narrowly avoiding the bone fingers that grabbed blindly at his head. At first it was just a hand, but as soon as Dark was out of attack range, the rest of the bleached white skeleton it belonged to rose out of the earth, leaving jagged chunks of rock sticking up. The thing had a short, squat body made entirely of bones. Its skull was overly large with a crooked jaw and eerie red flames glowing in its eye sockets.

"Stalchildren. I was right. Things are worse then I had anticipated," Link murmured uneasily as he tore his blade from its sheath. Growling, Dark readied his own blade. The Stalchild shambled forward, its movements jerky and awkward as it slashed at Dark with claw-like talons on the ends of its fingers. For something that looked like it had been dead for several years, the thing moved fast but Dark's blade was faster. A quick slash through its arm and the appendage dropped to the ground and disappeared in a burst of blue flames. His next strike was through the neck and the body dropped to the ground and disintegrated in the same magical flames that consumed all monsters at their death.

Dark turned to see Link battling with two Stalchildren of his own. He was about to run over and help with the ground before him broke open and more skeletal constructs crawled out, stumbling towards whoever was closest with a single minded determination.

"Link, behind you!" Dark screamed as three of the monsters from the group moved towards the Hero's unprotected back, but Link didn't turn around. Instead he stopped moving altogether and the Master Sword started to glow; first blue, then orange. Link waited til he was completely surrounded before releasing his technique. In a vicious swing, Link spun his entire body in a full circle, his blade letting off a shockwave of orange energy that consumed the bone creatures around him.

Not only was Link a master swordsman and a talented archer, he was also a skilled spellcaster and could combine the attributes of each, using magic to enhance not only his arrows but sword strikes as well? Dark really couldn't help but be a little envious. Link, the ever graceful Hero of Time in a supreme display of raw power had just killed off five enemies with one blow. Meanwhile Dark just hacked the things to pieces one at a time. One Stalchild raised its arm to slash at Dark when a heel kick of the boy's heavy leather boots snapped off half its ribs and an instant later its head dropped to the ground. Sighing and wiping his forehead on his sleeve, Dark saw Link turn around, having finished all the Stalchildren around him. The Hero looked at Dark, then flicked his eyes to look over the boys shoulder.

Dark snorted. As if he needed Link to tell him there was one more when the clicking sound of bone scraping against bone announced an approaching threat from behind.

Tightening his grip, Dark bared his teeth.

"You bastards…" he snarled, spinning around and dropping to one knee as a clawed hand slashed through the space where his head had been, "can leave us…" He lunged up, stabbing his blade up through the slack jawed skull of the Stalchild, piercing the black sword though to stick out the top, "the fuck alone!" He screamed, using his blade as a lever to haul the thing over his head and smash it brutally into the ground on the other side. The force shattered the skull which he stomped into tiny pieces to ensure it was dead.

"Dark…was that really necessary?" Link asked, quirking an eyebrow after witnessing the emotional outburst.

Flushing, Dark sent his blade back into whatever pocket of space-time it resided in when not in use and shrugged. " I dunno. It made me feel better. That counts for something, right?"

Link chuckled, nodding his head. "Aye, I suppose it does. I-"

But he didn't get to finish whatever he'd been about to say as once again the ground started shaking, much more violently then last time. This time, the Stalchild that emerged from the ground was giant; easily twenty feet high.

Link's eyes narrowed as he focused on the creature before him, his sacred blade thirsting to fulfill its purpose. Dark's eyes widened in panic and the last the Hero saw of him, he was dashing off down the path away from the monster. Link snarled at being so abandoned by his so-called 'partner'.

I should have known. So he was not a traitor… merely a coward, Link thought in disgust as he rolled to the side to avoid a crushing fist descending on him. The force send a small wave of rocks and dirt chunks at him, but Link leapt into it, bringing the Master Sword down hard in a jump slash to cut through the gap in the wrist bones of the giant Stalchild and hopefully detach a hand. Even with all his strength behind it, Link couldn't cut through the bone and his sword, still jammed in the monster's wrist joint was yanked out of his grasp when the creature raised its arm again.

Swearing under his breath, he jumped back out of the way, pulling out his bow and shooting an arrow. As expected, it bounced off the dense bone without doing any damage. Link tried again, but this time he channeled threads of magic through the arrow he fired. It struck into the creature and released a bright ring of fire as the inscribed spell instructed it to do, but though it looked flashy, the fire arrow had little more effect than a normal arrow.

Growling, Link circled the monster as he mentally reviewed his inventory and a second later he was holding a lit bomb, just waiting for the fuse to burn down enough.

"Not yet… not yet… now!" The fuse was almost gone by the time he chucked it up at the creature. The explosion as it just about reached chest height on the Stalchild sent the thing staggering back several steps, but even that powerful blast didn't damage the creature so much as make it angry.

So that hadn't worked…gritting his teeth, Link stared his defiance up into the abysmal flames gazing at him out of skeletal eye sockets. Those were the eyes of Ganon's minions; all they knew was their purpose. Hunger.

That was when another flash of movement caught his eye. The moon cast a shadow of Dark as he leapt off the railing of the cliff above, sword bared to drive down through the colossal skull, driving it to the hilt in bone. The Stalchild reared back in actual pain, letting off a bone-chilling howl as it thrashed around, trying to dislodge the blade in its had. Dark held on, even though the violent shakes of the enraged monster lifted him bodily into the air only to smash into the harsh unyielding bone a second later.

"Link! Toss the-augh!-Hookshot!" Dark screamed while desperately holding onto the hilt of his sword that was the only thing keeping him from getting sent flying across the canyon. Link immediately complied, surprised as he was to watch his friend tossed around like a ragdoll in the jaws of an angry dog. After all, the battlefield was no place for hesitation. It was probably dangerous but Dark had to let go of his sword hilt with one hand to catch the hookshot, and even then he almost missed the thing. As soon as he had it though, he aimed and fired.

The chain rocketed out and its claws latched onto the fence that surrounded the canyon from above, but Dark didn't let go of his sword hilt. The chain of the hookshot caught, trying to retract and pull Dark away who was still attached to the giant undead monster. He stayed there, breaking into a sweat as his muscles strained to hold them both. Slowly, panting for air, he pulled his arms together.

Link stared up from the ground as understanding dawned on him. Dark was using his sword to get leverage to knock the monster over. Even then, he could see it, slowly being forced to bend backwards. Link couldn't even begin to comprehend the kind of insane strength it would take to do that. The Stalchild scrambled around, trying to move forward but with its equilibrium broken, it couldn't move at all. Inch by inch, it bent backwards, one foot going up into the air as the Hookshot struggled to retract its chain, but link by link it did, until gravity stepped in.

Dark released his grip on the blade and let the Hookshot finally carry him up to the top of the cliff as the creature toppled backwards, crashing into the ground. Link was amazed. Where he had been unable to scratch the thing, Dark had knocked this titan flat on his back. Even in such a vulnerable state, he didn't think he could vanquish it.

Back up at the top of the cliff, Dark lay on his back, catching his breath. Goddess, but his arms ached. He suspected the Hero would be dispatching the evil being below, so he was a bit surprised when the Master Sword flew up to land in the soft earth in front of him.

"Heh. Alright, alright, I get the message… bossy," he murmured, stuck somewhere between amusement and irritation as he pulled the blade from the grass and for the second time that night made a flying leap off a twenty foot cliff to drop down and impale an evil skeleton warrior. The sacred blade pierced through the monster's forehead much easier then his own sword had, and his own sword hasn't let off azure flames to cremate the beast. Through it twitched and writhed and howled beneath the cleansing fire, the two ignored its dying antics, too exhausted to give it any attention.

Of course the waited until the giant bone construct had finished disappearing, and it was big so the entire process took several minutes, then the two flopped down next to each other. While Link could have called Epona, the Hylian nights were warm and his tunic and the exertion of fighting monsters was more then enough to keep the both of them warm.

Thinking back on it, Link felt bad for doubting his partner, but then again, he also had no guarantee that Dark hadn't started running and changed his mind half way though. Honestly, Link still had his doubts and he wanted to be certain he could trust his shadow, so he asked, "That was your plan from the beginning? Why did you not tell me?"

Dark rolled over to face Link, propping himself up on an elbow. "Not a whole lot of time for stuff like that in the heat of battle. I guess it was just a…spur of the moment thing. You thought I threw you to the dogs, didn't you?"

Link couldn't deny it. That is what he'd thought after all, and he didn't lie. "Yes. I thought you had abandoned me. To put it bluntly, sometimes I still worry that you might. What proof do I have that you won't?" Link asked quietly. Perhaps it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but Link liked to speak his mind. If he couldn't be honest with his own shadow, he couldn't be honest with anyone. Not to mention that Dark at least deserved the opportunity to defend himself against Link's doubts about his loyalty.

Dark stared impassively as he answered, his voice low and intense " I will not leave you. Ever. I made myself a promise, and now I make it to you. I'll stay with you, follow you wherever you go and whenever you need me, I'll be there. I admire you more then anyone else and I want be useful. I want to be worth something to you, to prove that I can help…that I'm not just a burden to you and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. I swear it."

Link was speechless. Dark had always seemed so…emotionally shallow. He had his bipolar moments but most the time he had this peppy, happy, devil-may-care attitude. It was endearing in its own way, and now those dark red eyes, normally sparkling with his childish grin held depths that Link had no idea even existed, eyes that now stared at him, boring into his soul with a smoldering intensity. He'd never seen this side of Dark before…and now he knew there was so much more to the boy then he'd ever imagined.

He felt like a burden? Link could barely comprehend how that was even remotely possible. He'd never seen anyone with such ferocious strength. When Dark fought, he fought with a brutality that left Link stunned. He knew that when he and Dark sparred, that the shadow held back…a lot. Honestly it made him a little jealous. Sure Link was strong and brave, but all his powers were given to him by others, whether it was a fairy, or a sage or the Goddess Farore herself, and it never left Link's mind that he was fighting on the borrowed strength of others. When he looked at Dark, he knew that all his strength was the result of his own time, and his own effort, bought at the price of his own blood, sweat and tears. Dark's strength belonged to no one but himself, and it was that that Link admired.

The black-haired swordsman waited for Link to say something even though breathing was uncomfortable. He'd actually been serious for once and that pensive look on Link's face was driving him crazy. Dark went through all the effort of overcoming not only his social inhibitions, but it also hurt to breath so he could make this long declaration of eternal friendship and Link had nothing to say! 'What are you thinking!' He was just dying to find out, but all the blond did was take out his Ocarina and call for the horse.

The tension was killing him! Dark was the kind of person who could not deal with unanswered questions. Link had to have something to say, right? Did he not think Dark was being serious? Was he happy? Was he upset? Did he not know what to say? If that was the case and Dark asked, it'd end up being very awkward but he just had to know…

"Uhm… Link?" he began hesitantly.

"Take off your tunic," Link said, head cocked for the sound of hoofbeats approaching.

What! Dark's jaw practically dropped to the ground, "E-excuse me?" Dark shook his head, still a little dazed. Surely he couldn't mean…

"Take off your tunic," the blond repeated patiently.

Dark tried to keep the euphoric look off his face but in his mind he was practically screaming his triumph. Sex! Yes! Finally!

"Don't get your hopes up," Link muttered, standing to go rummaging through Epona's saddlebags when she trotted up.

Shit, I didn't say that out loud, did I! Somehow he was so out of it he couldn't even remember if he was speaking out loud or not. That couldn't be good. Damn, but that would be embarrassing if he did say it out loud.

Biting down on his lip as he tried to remember for sure, Dark dropped his heavy leather belt to the ground and pulled his black tunic over his head to drop in a heap on the ground.

"Lay down." Link ordered and Dark obeyed before he even thought about it.

Wow…maybe I am getting sex…and this means… He gaped as the sudden thought occurred to him.

This means Link is on top! Damn, but I never would have guessed it would happen like this. Who knew he'd take being in charge so well?

Dark's thoughts raced as Link walked towards him with a small bottle of…something green. He felt his pulse quicken further when Link popped the top off the bottle and smeared the green salve on two fingers.

Hmph. No romance or anything. He's just straight to business isn't he? Oh well. I guess beggars can't be choosers.

It turned out to be nothing at all like Dark imagined though as Link sat down next to the shirtless boy, gently rubbing the green paste onto his chest. Slightly confused, Dark looked down and frowned. His entire upper torso was covered in a mass of splotchy yellowing bruises. By the next day, his pale frame would be practically purple. No wonder breathing hurt…

Dark laid his head back and sighed. He wondered how Grandmaster Swordsman Link managed to keep his hands so soft. And he was being so careful about it too, his hands ghosted along, spreading the salve along Dark's bruised ribs. It felt nice, yeah but he'd imagined Link putting those fingers somewhere else entirely. The thought made him blush…

"Wh-what is that stuff?" Dark asked hazily, biting back a moan. Those hands felt so nice…maybe Link would just shrug it off?

"It is a salve for bruises. It seems as though that is all you took away from that fight. No bones are broken and you managed to avoid getting any notable cuts or scrapes. You were…quite impressive. I wish I had that kind of skill," Link murmured wistfully.

Wait, what? Dark couldn't believe what he was hearing. Link liked his strength? No way.

"I dunno why. I'm nothing compared to you," Dark whispered uneasily. This was not the sort of thing he felt comfortable discussing…but on the other hand, there might not be another time. Link might not ever open up again…

Link frowned. He wanted to see exactly where Dark's point of view was coming from that he could possibly see himself as inferior. After all, Link couldn't last more then an hour in a match with his shadow. Link, who fought for days on end in temples, pushing his body to its absolute limit on a regular basis, couldn't handle a fight with Dark. "Explain…I do not…understand why you think that."

Really? Was Link mocking him? Probably not. That really didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd do, but the question was just ridiculous enough that he had to consider the possibility. "What do you mean you don't understand. Just look at you! You're Link, Hero of Time, savior of the entire country! I mean, not only are you strong and courageous, not to mention drop dead sexy, you're also incredibly talented at everything you do. You're a master swordsman, a talented archer, a mage, a musician, you can ride a horse…and not only that, you can use magic with your sword, shoot arrows from horseback, use magic with your arrows, use magic arrows from horseback… while juggling! Need I go on? Compared to all that, I'm… pretty pathet-nnn, that's not fair."

Dark sighed breathily, cut off with a moan. Link had gotten tired of listening to Dark's self-degradation and in a moment of spite decided to silence the boy by stroking a slick finger across one of Dark's nipples, pulling a surprised gasp from the boy.

"I do not want to hear that kind of talk. All I am is a puppet dancing on a string. My strength…is not my own. True, it is needed for me to fulfill my duty but still…how hard do you think it is to stand in front of a fountain, play a song and have a fairy hand your powers to you? As for the sword and bow…I never had to learn."

Link sighed, trying to think how to explain the phenomenon. "I…just instinctively knew how to use them…like I'd done it before in some past life or something. Being the Hero of Time, I suppose it's not inconceivable. Still, it's a sacrifice that has to be made. I just worry that I'm still not…ready to be the Hero on my own. I don't know if I ever will be."

It was strange for Link to talk about it…making him feel even more self-conscious then usual. His self doubt was internalized, not meant to be spoken aloud, and yet here he was doing it… and stranger yet, he didn't even know why. Something inside him just needed to get it out, so, forcing his apprehension down, he continued, though a little shaky with his explanation.

"Then, I see you, and all you've done is practice and train and hone your skills. I watch you fight and see you do things I could never manage. I wish…I were strong like that." Link sighed wistfully while Dark sighed morosely. He'd had no idea that Link had thought things out so clearly. Here he was thinking that his point of view was correct but what he'd just heard made a whole lot of sense. It was the sort of feelings he could relate to since he himself was faced with the same kind of doubts. He felt so stupid to have assumptions like that. He should know better…

"I'm sorry," Dark whispered, reaching up to brush his bangs out of the way. " I had no idea you felt like that. To me, you always seem so confident, so sure of yourself…well, unless I bring up sex," Dark added with a chuckle.

"That…is just one more thing I am not prepared to handle," Link muttered defensively.

"Oh? You seemed to handle yourself well enough back in the Water Temple…though you are a bit loud, you know that?" Dark shot back. He knew it wasn't really the appropriate time to bring such a thing up, but he had to change the subject. Seeing Link so down about himself was tearing holes in Dark's heart. He felt it was his duty to haul his Hero out of depression by any means necessary.

"Th-that… I-I was…c-c-curious," Link stammered, mentally cursing how easily the blood coursed to his face.

Just the way he said it made Dark stop and analyze that statement. "Curious? You mean like that was your first time?" he asked incredulously as the blond gave an abashed nod.

Dark whistled, running a hand through his tangled mess of hair, trying to comprehend that. "How? How on earth did you make it this far without like… going insane?" Being the shallow person that he was and his heavy reliance on that kind of stimulation, Dark was well and truly puzzled.

"Tell me something Dark. How old do you think I am?"

How old? Now he was really confused. He didn't see how this could make a difference, but to see where the answer would lead him, he sized up the other boy and made his guess. "I'd say… probably seventeen or eighteen. But…why?"

Link shook his head. "Eighteen is the literal age of this body, but as for me? I am only eleven years old. Does that explain it?"

Eleven! Dark shot bolt upright, or at least he would have if Link hadn't grabbed his shoulders and pinned him back down into the dirt. The sudden force on his ribs aggravating his bruises made him wince. But jeez… he'd been flirting with a little kid this entire time! Again, Dark found himself struggling to grasp all the implications of the situation. So…Link had gone from being a prepubescent kid whose balls hadn't even dropped yet, to suddenly being a in a full grown adult body? That was like…super-puberty. Dark cringed at the very thought of having to go through that.

Link interpreted this cringe as pain from his injuries. Since he'd finished applying all the salve he had across the bruised expanse of Dark's torso, Link cracked his shoulders as he stood up. "Well…I think that is all for now. We will just remain here 'til morning. Good night Dark. Get some rest."

With that, Link went about finishing up some last minute errands, leaving the shirtless Dark to get as comfortable as reasonably possibly on the uneven path. Though he was tired, Link dutifully brushed his horse, salvaged his ammunition and put his weapons away before laying down. He'd assumed that during all that that Dark would have fallen asleep by then so he was a little surprised when he felt something moving over his waist. Of course, it was only Dark crawling over to cuddle up next to his blue eyed Hero.

Link rolled his eyes but didn't do anything to stop it. After all, he figured that Dark was at least honorable enough to not try to molest him in his sleep after learning that Link was still only a child. Indeed, that was the last thing on Dark's mind. He had something else he wanted to say.

"Hey Link?"

"Hmm?"

"You know…for a little kid, you sure use some stuffy language."