Dark by S. Park

Part nine Stormy Weather

I woke that next morning after an uneasy sleep. Nightmares had plagued me again, as they so often did. I sat up and looked over at Link. He was still sleeping, his eyes closed, and his hand was actually on the Master Sword's hilt where it lay beside him.

The sight sent rage flashing through me. I'd told him I trusted him, and here he was not just keeping the damned sword near, but holding it in his sleep! Well, I'd show him how futile that was. He was still asleep, all I needed to do was swing my own blade before he woke and it wouldn't matter that he had his sword in hand. I got to my feet and picked up my sword. But when I turned back, Link was looked up at me, his calm blue eyes sorrowful.

I bared my teeth in a snarl of frustration and lowered my sword.

Link sat up, still looking sadly at me. "Dark... you know you don't really want to kill me."

I bit back an angry reply and tried to calm myself. He was right, I didn't really want to kill him. And yet I did, I wanted it so badly that my failure to do so was driving me mad with frustration. Why had he woken just then? It could have all been over! But no, no, he was my friend. I didn't want it to be over. I sank down to my knees, conflicting emotions warring in me. I hated him. I hated myself. I was a failure at my purpose, I was a failure as a friend. Bleak despair overcame anger, and I wondered if simply killing myself might not be the easiest solution to this tangle.

The soft song of Link's ocarina worked its way into the darkness around me, and I lifted my head to see him playing, his eyes closed. I relaxed, letting the music wash away despair and hatred both. When he finished I climbed back to my feet with a sigh.

"Thank you," I said. "But you can't keep playing every single time I get upset."

"Perhaps," was all he said, and then he went about packing up the camp and preparing to depart as if nothing had happened. I smothered a flare of annoyance and started to pack up my own things. Soon we were both mounted and on our way, picking a path along the shore of the huge lake. We soon struck a road, somewhat overgrown but still plainly visible. It went in the same general direction we were already headed, so without a word needed we both turned onto it.

The sky above, that yesterday had been clear and bright, was crowded with clouds. The gloom suited my mood. We rode in silence, the road we followed skirting the slate-gray waters that reflected the clouded sky above. A wind began to blow, whipping up waves on the lake. I heard a distant rumble of thunder, and knew that a storm was headed our way.

The wind blew harder, and cold spray from the lake soon had me thoroughly damp and uncomfortable. Then a boom overhead made the horses shy, and a bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. The sky opened up and rain began to pour down, and almost instantly I was not just damp but soaked through. "We should look for shelter," I said, having to raise my voice to be heard over the howling wind.

Link nodded his agreement, but there was nothing but the barren hills, covered in grass and low scrub, and the lake itself. We continued, scanning the hillsides for any sign of somewhere to get out of the storm.

The road ahead of us forked, and Link, in the lead, picked the branch leading away from the lake. I nodded and followed. Perhaps back in the hills we might find a house, or a cave, or something. The path we'd chosen led us into a gap between hills that soon turned into a steep-sided ravine. I started to wonder if this had been a good choice. Dry gullies often flooded when it rained. And indeed the bottom of the ravine was soon awash in muddy water. But the road was raised a bit above this, so we went on. The howl of the wind was less here, at least, though the rain still reached us, and I was still cold and miserable. Link looked like he was as miserable as I felt. The horses plodded with their heads down, though mine shied at every growl of thunder, and I was almost thrown several times.

Then we rounded a corner and ahead of us was a temple.

That's all I could call it. It was definitely kin to the temples of Hyrule, a massive structure carved into the rock wall of the canyon, its door guarded by stone pillars decorated with unknown symbols. Link and I exchanged glances. Who knew what might lie within? But for now we both knew one thing. It would be dry. I kicked my horse into a trot, and Link followed my example. Soon we were dismounting in front of the door. Thankfully it was big enough for us to lead the horses in too.

The first chamber was a simple cube of a room, the walls decorated with more of those symbols. A door led onwards, but exploring would have to come later, for now we set about drying ourselves and the horses.

Link rubbed down Epona and I did the same for Dust. When they were more or less dry Link stripped off his soaked tunic and laid it out to dry, along with the equally soaked undershirt. He pulled out the blue Zora's tunic and shrugged it on. I took off my own shirt, but I had no spare clothing. I shivered. It was dry in here, but also cool, and the occasional damp gust from outside blew in.

Wordlessly Link handed me his red Goron's tunic. I took it gratefully and pulled it on. There was no wood here, so we couldn't build a fire. Even with a dry tunic the rest of me was still wet. I ran my hands through my hair, wringing water from it, and took off my boots. I wasn't going to go so far as to strip my trousers off though, so they still clung damply too me, and I found myself shivering again.

"I have a few deku sticks in my bag," said Link.

The idea of a fire sounded good, but... "No, they won't burn long, and you might need them later."

"The bedrolls got wet."

"I know." I noticed that Link was shivering too. And I noticed too that he was unarmed, but of course so was I. Remembering how our wrestling on the edge of the lake had gone, no doubt if I jumped on him now he'd win again. I scowled.

Though I had gotten the better of him at the end there... I smiled a bit at that thought, and looked over at my shivering twin. Well. I couldn't kill him, but I could at least gain the upper hand again. And warm myself up a bit while I was at it. I walked up to him and put my arms around him.

"Dark?" He looked puzzled.

"You're cold," I said, and pulled him closer.

"Yes, but..."

"Let me warm you up." And then I kissed him.

Link let out a startled squawk and pulled away from me. I laughed. "You're not cold?"

He scowled. "I am cold, but that is not the way to warm up."

"I don't know, it's warmed me up pretty good."

"Let me go," said Link, trying to pull free of my arms.

"You don't like it?"

"Obviously not!"

I grinned. "Well, I'm cold, so I'm not letting you go."

He shot a glare at me. I chuckled. It felt good to get one up on him. And he was warm. And I had enjoyed the kiss...

He sighed, a sound of surrender, and stopped trying to pull free from my grasp. "Well if we're going to behave like idiots we might as well be comfortable." He shrugged out of my embrace and I let him go for now. He went to Epona, and managed to get her to lie down on the floor. Then he sat next to her, his back against her side, and gestured at me, his arms open in invitation. I sat next to him and he put one arm around my shoulders. The floor wasn't too cold, and it was dry, and the horse's warmth against my back was good. As was Link's against my side. Part of me still wanted to hit him, to hurt him somehow. But in this calm moment I knew that part wasn't really me, it was the darkness that Ganondorf had planted in me.

"Why do you keep kissing me?" asked Link.

I turned my head and looked at him, noticing he was still a little bit flushed. "It's better than killing you."

"True." His blush faded and he smiled at me.

I frowned. Already that infuriating calm was returning. "What the hell does it take to upset you anyway?"

"You kissing me, apparently," was his wry reply.

"You're just so... so damn calm all the time! If you're really me, if I'm really you, why does everything upset me, and nothing upset you?"

"We're not quite the same person, Dark." Link looked down at his hand and turned it over. I saw the triforce mark on the back. I had no such mark, of course. "For one thing Ganondorf's magic has given you a burden I don't have to bear. When we free you from it, I expect many of your troubles will cease. For another, you were copied from me in the Water Temple. Some things have happened since then."

"Like what? It's only been a few months."

"Like Ganondorf's defeat, for one." He smiled, though I scowled at the memory. "Doing something like that instils a certain amount of confidence. Growing up I was just the boy without a fairy, the outcast. Then I was a boy with a quest, but I had no confidence in myself. It grew, a little, as I faced the various challenges along my way, but I was still very uncertain, going into that last battle. But I won. Having done that, I know I can do anything." He turned his smile on me and added, "And that includes freeing you from your curse."

I tried to force down another wave of hatred. I wanted to punch that smug smile right off his face. "Yeah, sure."

"I also discovered who I am."

"Who you are? That's ridiculous, you're Link. You've always been Link."

"But who is Link? Nobody in particular, I thought. When Zelda told me I would be sent back to the past though, and promised me peace..." His gaze was far away, remembering.

"You said peace was overrated."

"Yes. If you'd asked me, before that moment, what I wanted from life, I'd have said to complete my quest and return peace to the land, so that I and everybody else could live in peace. But being faced with it, I found myself unexpectedly filled with dismay. I didn't want peace. I was relieved when the spell failed and I was trapped here in the present. That's when I realized who I was. I'm the Hero of Time. That's not some kind of boast, that's just... who I am, plain and simple. And I'm not meant for peace. I have no place in a peaceful kingdom. If that moment hadn't taught me as much the months that followed would have. The only joy I've had in all that time was when I sparred with you. I knew you really would kill me, given the chance, and the danger... that was what I lived for. But of course just fighting with you accomplished nothing. I wanted to have a goal, some greater quest. So I suppose I can thank you for giving me one. And I can thank you for something else as well. You showed me that I can change destiny, that I can influence my own fate."

"Huh?"

"My destiny was to defeat Ganondorf and then be sent back to the past. All the sages thought so. They have all expressed surprise that I'm still here in the present. You are the reason I can't be sent back, I've guessed that much. But you exist because of my own actions. I decided to save you, that was my choice. And in so choosing I changed my fate. So I know now that destiny is not absolute, that fates can be altered."

"You're being verbose again."

Link chuckled. "Words are wasted on most people, they hear what they want to hear, no matter what you say. Speak little and they'll listen harder on those occasions when you do. But I know you actually listen when I speak, unlike most. You're a good friend, Dark."

"Yeah, well... if you're telling me your damned life story, what about the other thing you said, that marriage is overrated?"

"Oh. That." Link sighed.

"What?"

"I don't want to marry somebody and settle down. I was a little too relieved when Ruto gave up her supposed engagement to me in order to be a sage. I suppose you don't remember that, since it was at the end of the Water Temple. And Zelda... she's made a few comments in that direction, and I have to admit that my reaction was something like panic. I don't want to marry. Ever."

"I remember Ruto..."

"She was a strange one."

I shuffled through that stack of secondhand memories. "All the girls seem to like you."

Link flushed a bit. "Yes. But... they liked the Hero of Time. I don't know if any of them ever even noticed Link."

"I've thought that myself... nobody in Hyrule seemed to notice I was your twin. It's like they never actually looked at you."

"Yes." He shrugged. "But that's how it goes. A hero is a symbol, not a person. And I've said that the Hero of Time is who I am, so it's something I just have to live with. That's the way it will always be. I'll fight evil, and those I save will praise me, but they'll only know the Hero, they'll never really know me."

Something strange stirred in me. I was torn between being glad of any ill that might befall him, even one so petty as this, and feeling a strange sympathy. It felt like how I'd felt the night before, when I'd said I trusted him. The strange feeling welled up in me, and I found myself saying "I know you, Link," softly.

He looked up at me, and he smiled. "You do. As only my shadow could. Thank you Dark."

"Don't get too used to it," I muttered. "I still want to kill you."

"Of course you do." He grinned. "I'm feeling much warmer now, are you?"

"I guess."

"Then why don't we explore a bit, see what we've stumbled over. Maybe there will be treasure!"

I smiled wryly at his enthusiasm. "Sure. Let me get my things."

I got up, and Link rose as well. By the time I'd strapped my sword on and settled my shield over it he'd donned all his gear and was obviously eager to go.

"Come on! Let's see what this place has to offer."

I followed him through the door with mixed emotions. He was the hero. I had his memories, but I'd never sought out such adventure myself. And during the heat of battle with some monster or other, I might find a chance to kill him. Part of me leapt in excitement at the very idea, but another part of me was screaming in terror at the thought. And if and when that moment arrived, I didn't know which part would win.