Dark by S. Park

Part six Bonds

I have found that I always know where Link is. How great a distance this bond will operate over I'm not sure. I did lose him for a moment while he was in some mystic other realm after defeating Ganondorf, but since then I've always known in what direction to go to find him.

I followed that tug one morning from the castle towards the market town, expecting to find him assisting in repairs as usual, but the faint sense of him drew me through the town and out into Hyrule field.

I stood on the repaired drawbridge and stared at the empty, grassy expanse for a long time. I had never been in a place this open, and somehow it was frightening. I'd lived most of my life, if it could be called that, in a single room within the Water Temple. I'd used a network of secret passageways linked by Ganondorf's magic to return and report to him after my failure. And then I'd been locked inside his tower. The largest open space I'd ever seen was the rocky plain in front of the new castle, where Link and I sparred. But this was different. The sparring ground had open sky above, yes, but it was also surrounded by hills and cliffs. This was completely open, nothing but grass to the distant horizon. Nothing at all between me and the vast sky above. I swallowed, fear rising in me.

Still, my hated enemy had gone this way, and I must follow. So, taking a deep breath, I stepped off the drawbridge and onto the field itself.

Nothing came out of the vast sky to strike me down, so I gathered what courage I could and set out across the field. I could see no sign of Link, he must be well ahead of me. I jogged a little faster, hoping to catch up with him. But night fell with no sign of him. The vast emptiness of the grassy plain was easier to bear during darkness. I wanted to run on, but weariness forced me to stop and make a sketchy camp. Far in the distance I could see a tiny glowing speck. It was a campfire, probably Link's. He was further ahead of me than I'd thought.

With a sinking sensation I remembered Epona. Of course he was. I'd been walking, he had been riding. I would never catch up with him. But I had to try. I couldn't just let him ride off! He could not be allowed to escape his fate at my hands!

When the morning dawned I set off as swiftly as I could. Link seemed to be headed for Lon Lon Ranch, I might be able to catch him if he stopped there. Or perhaps I could somehow acquire a horse myself. None of their other stock compared with Epona, I knew that, but any horse would be better than none at all.

That day was pure misery. My sword and shield weighed me down, but I didn't want to abandon them, I might need them. The sun baked down on me as I jogged across the grass, and soon I was sweating. My black clothing didn't help, it only added to the misery. And the whole time some small part of my mind was screaming about the distant horizon, the emptiness of the plain around me, and my vulnerability to the open sky. I felt like an ant on a tabletop, and some giant might reach down and crush me at any moment.

Hot, footsore, soaked with sweat, and half crazed with fear, I welcomed the setting sun with exhausted relief. I didn't even make a camp, I just lay in the grass and watched the sky darken with nightfall. I did scan the horizon for a campfire, but I saw none. Instead, just a bit above the horizon, I saw a little cluster of lights. Lon Lon Ranch, and Link had probably reached it by now.

I sighed. I wouldn't get there until tomorrow night, and by then Link would almost certainly have moved on.

The third day in the open was even worse than the previous two, but at last, as the sun sank low, I reached the ranch. Stepping inside the palisade that surrounded it was a profound relief. There was something between me and the sky again.

I plodded up the ramp that led into the ranch proper, feeling at the end of my strength. I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I got to the top. Scout out the situation and try to steal a horse, probably.

At the top I looked over the central paddock, where a scattering of horses grazed. Amid them was one with a rider, cantering across the grassy open space and leaping the practice jumps placed there. I blinked at it, feeling extremely confused. It was Epona, and the rider was Link. What was he doing still here? Several people were watching him, and one of them, a red-haired young woman I recognized from Link's memories as Malon, noticed me and waved cheerfully. "Hello there! You must be Link's friend Dark!"

I gaped at her. "Uh. Yes?"

"Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch. You look tired. Would you like to sleep?"

I tried to shake off my confusion and figure out what the hell was going on, but I was just too exhausted. "Yes, that would be good," I managed. I would sleep, and figure this all out in the morning.

Morning initially brought only more confusion. I emerged from the room where I'd slept to find Link waiting for me. In one hand he held Epona's reins. In the other the reins of a second horse. As I approached he held them out to me. "Her name is Dust," he said.

"What?"

"She's yours."

Hesitantly I reached out to take the reins. I felt like they might bite me. What was going on here?

Link swung easily into the saddle. I followed his example, still completely confused. What the hell was Link up to? He nudged Epona into a walk and I put my heels to my horse as well. Malon and her father waved goodbye to us as we set off down the ramp and out into Hyrule Field once again. But when Link turned as if to ride on along his original course I drew rein. "Hey, hold on a minute."

Link halted Epona and looked over at me mildly. "Yes?"

I snarled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You're very brave," he said.

I blinked at that. "Uh... what?"

"The last three days. I could tell you were afraid, but you followed me anyway."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I growled at him, though I knew perfectly well what he meant. Obviously our bond ran both ways, and as I could sense his infuriating calm, he could sense my feelings, which included knowing how terrified the open space here made me.

He smiled and touched his heels to his horse again. She started off across the grass, and I hastily sent my own animal after her. "Why did you get me a horse?" I asked.

"You'd rather walk?"

"No! But why would you want me to come with you?"

"You obviously wanted to come very badly."

"That's not an answer."

Link just shrugged. I gave up. He didn't want to talk, fine, we wouldn't talk. Whatever crazed reason he had for giving me the horse, he was just playing into my hands. I'd decided I would have to somehow befriend him. It was entirely to my benefit that he had made the first move in that direction.

As we rode I wasn't able to brood on my plans for him the way I might have liked. Awareness of the empty space all around me kept intruding on my thoughts. Being on horseback made it no easier than being on foot, I was still a creeping ant, horribly exposed. There was nowhere to hide. I wanted to fling myself from the horse's back and try to burrow into the ground. But I didn't. I was going to see this through and nothing was going to stop me.

I caught Link looking at me from time to time, and something like sympathy shone in his eyes. I glared at him. I didn't need his sympathy. I kicked my horse into a canter and ran ahead of him. He let me get a little space between us before following. I ignored him and just let the horse run. The wind through my hair was calming, distracting me from my fear.

We were still in the middle of the grasslands when the sun set. Link had taken the lead again, and now he drew rein and dismounted. We set up a simple camp in silence. Link never said anything, of course, but I couldn't think of anything to say either. I wanted to pin him down and force some answers out of him, but so far none of the answers he'd given me had been satisfying at all. Was there any point in trying to make further sense of him? I would have thought, given our shared memories, that I'd understand him easily, but he was completely baffling to me. I knew he'd always been quiet and self-contained, that hadn't changed, but something else had, and I didn't know what.

We sat by the fire, watching the last of the sunset color fade from the sky. Link took out his ocarina and began to play. The first tune I recognized, it was Epona's song, and the mare came over and nuzzled him affectionately as he played. When he finished he patted her cheek and smiled. Then he lifted the instrument again, and this time he played something I'd never heard before. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the music. It was like the song I'd heard him play back at the castle, a wandering, melancholy tune. Something in it relaxed me, loosening the knot of anger and hatred at my core. I should have been afraid of that, afraid of losing my edge, of becoming too much like him. But the song soothed that fear away too, leaving me in peace.

I sighed regretfully when the music stopped. Link opened his eyes and smiled at me. Even in the firelight their blue color was vivid and compelling. "Did you like that?"

I blinked. He'd never spoken to me without prompting before. And I felt strange, the peaceful feeling from his music lingered and I felt oddly lost without my rage. "Yes," I said hesitantly.

"Would you like to play?" He reached into his bag and pulled out a second ocarina. I recognized it, it was the one Saria had given him. I took it and lifted it to my lips. I'd never played before, but like fighting, playing came to me naturally. I soon lost myself in the music, pouring everything within me into the song. It was a sorrowful tune, sadder than the gentle melancholy of Link's playing. There was an ache within me that I had never noticed. The anger and hatred had hidden it from me, but now all the pain and regret I felt spilled out in liquid notes, floating on the still night air. I played until the moon was well above the horizon, before finally letting the ocarina fall from my lips.

I went to hand it back to Link, but he shook his head. "Keep it."

"Thank you." I tucked the instrument into a pocket, still feeling strange.

"We should sleep," said Link.

He rolled himself in his bedroll with his sword still at his side, and that sight brought a flicker of my old anger back to light. He might pretend we were friends, but he obviously didn't trust me.

Well, that was wise of him. I couldn't be trusted. I was going to kill him, just as soon as I caught him with his guard down. Though a little voice reminded me that I myself had lowered my guard only minutes ago, and that thought made me uneasy. I was not becoming Link's friend. I was only pretending, so that he would come to trust me and I would get my chance to kill him, that was all. I repeated that thought and nursed my anger until the familiar, burning flame once more raged within me.

I fell asleep to thoughts of my revenge, and my dreams were once again troubled, full of darkness and fear.