Warm breath against his lips...The thin muscular body hanging over his own...He was so close to kissing Link. To let him take the innocence from his own lips. It wasn't like he had been able to get a first kiss being locked up in a dungeon.

Shadow's heart raced rapidly in his chest, his crimson eyes widening as the hero grew closer and closer to his own face, causing him to tremble slightly from anticipation.

"Link..." he mumbled as he felt the soft brush of the others lips against his own. Warm...soft...wet...

"LINK! Open this door right this instant!" a shrill female voice shrieked on the other side of the door. The voice was followed by sudden banging of a delicate fist.

Link held in a gasp and leapt off of Shadow, cheeks bright red and fear shining in those gorgeous blue eyes of his. Was it because someone was on the other side of the door? Or was it for the fact that he had just kissed a boy whom happened to be his former enemy? He wasn't about to get his answer right away.

"Hide. Quickly." Link whispered quickly to him, throwing the blanket that had fallen onto the floor over Shadow. Shadow scrambled off of the bed half blind with the blanket and hid in the corner near a basket with clean clothing that had been brought in by the maids days before Shadow's arrival. He threw himself on it covering his body and tried his best to resemble a pile of clothing and not a body trying to hide under a large blanket. He left a small opening for himself to breathe of course, knowing it would open more chances to be found if he was starting to panic from the lack of air he would be getting from the fabric.

The door was opened then and a pair of high heels clacked against the stone floor. Shadow shivered a bit at the wave of energy that was radiating off of her and pulsating in the room. He forced himself to stay calm. It was no wonder some of Ganondorf's minions trembled when they sensed her power. She was very strong.

A slapping sound caused him to come out of his own thoughts, glad that he hadn't jumped much when he heard it. Whom had hit who? Had Link hit Zelda? Or had she hit him? It was most likely Zelda who had swung. She was the one who sounded mad.

"How dare you leave the table while I'm still speaking with you," she hissed. That was simple to figure out then. Zelda had been the one to hit Link. There was a strange urge to reveal himself and scold her for hitting such a great man.

Wait...great man?

Link was silent. All Shadow could hear was the heavy breathing of the angry woman before Link. But soon it slowed and then a soft sob came and the sound of those clacking heels retreated from the room, followed by the sound of a slamming door.

"You can come out now..." Link said after a few moments. He didn't sound angry. He sounded...indifferent of what had just happened.

Shadow immediately tugged the blanket off of his head, staring up at Link. His eyes were showing the pain he was feeling but his face stayed neutral. A large red hand print marked his beautiful face where Zelda had slapped him.

"Are you ok...?" he asked him, a bit shaken up himself from the situation that had just reared its ugly head at them. Link nodded his head to him but he knew it was not true at all. Link was upset but he was trying to hide it from him. It was like he was trying his best to make sure that he didn't show any signs of weakness.

Shadow opened his mouth to protest his answer, obviously knowing that he was lying to him but he quickly closed it at Link's next actions. The blonde was pulling out a small bag, setting a few important items into the bag, one of which being a familiar blue instrument that Shadow had seen Link playing in the Water Temple.

"We're leaving the castle for a few days. It'll give you a chance to get some fresh air," the blonde hero said to him. Shadow gaped at him. Every fiber of him wanted to jump on the chance to get out of this castle. It was very boring just sitting in one room in a bed all day. But a part of him wanted to stay so Link had a roof over his head.

Little did he know that Link would always have a roof over his head no matter where they went, given his status in the world.

"Wear this. It'll keep you out of sight till we get outside."

Link placed a stone mask into his hands along with one of his darker tunics, a navy blue which almost looked black when not in the light of the sun peeking in through the window. A large black strap lay in the back of the mask for him to place it on himself. The only problem that he saw with this mask: there were no holes in it for him to see.

"Link, how am I supposed to see with this thing on?" Shadow asked with a frown.

A vague smile crossed the hero's lips as he held his hand out for him. "I'll walk you out of here. All you have to worry about is if we cross Zelda's path. She's able to see through the mask's magic...you know...with her being a sage and all..."

"Oh...right..." Shadow said softly, feeling rather stupid for having forgotten that the Princess of Destiny was indeed the seventh sage.

"Come now, put it on," Link urged him, tying off the bag once he was sure he had everything inside of it. Shadow still felt a bit uneasy about the mask. But he pulled the stone mask over his face, instantly having his vision blackened out, and a sigh pass through his lips.

Link's warm hand wrapped around his own a second later, almost having grabbed something else as he tried to take his hand.

"Sorry," Link whispered, starting to pull him along with him out of the room. Shadow just remained silent, his cheeks bright red underneath the mask. Why was just a simple hand holding make him red in the face this much?

"There. Now we won't have to worry," Link said in a soft voice. The mask was slowly removed from his face, his body coming back into full view.

Shadow blinked his eyes a bit when the sudden light came to him. The room was small compared to Link's bedchamber, a single bed sitting in the corner of the room. The walls were a soft cream color, paintings of horses sitting on them.

This was Malon's room. Malon's room in Lon Lon Ranch. But what in the world were they doing there?

"There's a storm coming in again so this is the first place I picked that was safe enough." Link said, unintentionally answering his Shadow's thoughts. To think that half the day was gone by now from not going by horseback. Hadn't he realized that would have been an easier way to get there?

Obviously the hero really hadn't.

"Why are you acting this way to me...?" Shadow asked softly, obviously having many mixed feelings of what was going on. "I tried to kill you."

He had been ordered to hate him. To kill him. But his heart that he always thought to be black deep within his chest was telling him to love him. To adore him.

"I well..."

"Link? Did my father give you blankets?" a soft female voice said from the other side of the door. Link's face paled and he looked to Shadow. The look of uncertainty was clear in his eyes.

But before Shadow could even recommend of the things that he could do, Link was at the door and opening it wide, making it clear he didn't care if Malon knew about his shadow staying with him. Shadow gaped at his actions, Malon mimicking the very same face of surprise when her blue eyes rest on him.

"L-Link who is-"

"Thanks for the blankets," Link stated quickly and took the blankets that she had in her arms just in case. He then closed the door, pressing his back against it in order to try to keep the girl on the other side of it at bay if she tried to get in.

"This isn't good..." Link mumbled.

Shadow frowned and took a seat on the bed, kicking the boots off of his feet. "I thought I was supposed to stay a secret."

"You were...I don't know what came over me. Stay here...I need to go talk to her. She's like this with Zelda," Link said, crossing his fingers to make his point clear that the two women were friends.

The shadow was left in the room, confused as to what was going on. Link had almost kissed him this morning but then had told him he had to stay a secret. Then he had just as clear as day let him be seen by the ranch girl.

Just what was he to Link?

What Shadow thought to be a few minutes turned out to be about an hour. Link hadn't returned yet and Shadow wasn't sure what he should do. It wasn't like he was able to get up and go looking for the other. He was a wanted person at the moment and he couldn't walk around in the open. Someone was bound to tell the princess of his existence. Then where would he be? Back in another dungeon wishing that he was dead.

A soft sigh passed through his lips and he pulled himself up from the bed, staring out the small window on the other side of the room. The ranch was quiet, no people walking about like he thought there would be. But then again it was a small ranch so there weren't many people about. From what he remembered there were only three people at his ranch.

Malon was tending to the chickens, throwing handfuls of feed to the animals with a small smile on his face. And off in the paddock Link brushed Epona, his tunic off and draped over one of the jumping fences for the horses.

A light blush crossed Shadow's cheeks. Why was he watching him? He didn't understand it that well. Was he attracted to him sexually? He had been hoping earlier that day that he would be kissed fully on the mouth. But that was just in the moment...right?

Sneaking out of the small house was easy. There was no one in there and Malon had her back turned to him when he snuck himself outside since she was still feeding her animals while humming a gentle song that he swore he had heard before somewhere. It was getting to the paddock without Link seeing him that was the hard part. He didn't want him to know that he was staring at him.

Closer up he could see the sweat on his muscled chest, glistening in the sunlight that was left in the sky of the day. His horse Epona was there with him, how she had gotten there he wasn't too sure, and she made a soft noise of discomfort as her eyes laid on Shadow. He still had evil within him. Of course animals like her could pick up on something like him. She would be rearing if he was something closer to Ganondorf. Her tail flicked up and down lightly and her front hooves clocked into the dirt before her. She didn't seem all that happy to see Shadow at all.

"What is it girl?" Link asked gently, a naked hand stroking her snout. She nickered lightly and closed her eyes, ignoring Shadow for the time being.

Link certainly had a way with animals didn't he? Or was it just his horse?

Blue eyes finally came to land on him and Shadow jumped a bit as he realized he had been caught staring at him. How was he supposed to hide the fact that he had been staring at him in this state of undress?

"I-I-I-" he stumbled over his words, his legs hinting to him that he should just run back to the room before he did anything embarrassing. Link only smiled a bit and stepped held his hand out for his shadow.

"You can pet her. She's just a bit tense." he said to him. He wasn't even going to mention that he had been watching?

Shadow hesitantly moved forward, laying his hand in Link's. Link took the slightly smaller hand and brought it to Epona's snout, guiding his hand up and down gently on the fur. "Just like that. Nice and soft. She won't forgive you if you hurt her." Link explained.

Shadow nodded his head and continued to gently run his hand over her snout. His hair seemed to flash a light silver again, this time staying the color. Just showing his own gentle side was taking the evil right out of his body.

Link pulled his hand away from Shadow's. Shadow knew that he was watching him. It was kind of nice. Though he wouldn't know of the way he looked when he stood there with the horse, his hair shining silver and the sun peering behind him.