Geez, y'all, I am sorry for being away for so long. I have no good excuse - time just got right away from me. Life happened while I was making other plans, I guess. Anyway, I'll try to be faster going forward. Without further ado:

Despite having retired immediately after speaking with Sheik, Link nevertheless got very little sleep. He had no shortage of courage, but the Blink was an unknown, and having to travel it with Dark and Sheik together was a bit unsettling. Navi he knew well and trusted better. These two he barely knew, and while he did trust Sheik, he was not yet sure what to make of Dark. As such, what little rest he got was troubled by a vague sense of danger.

He woke before the dawn. Respite was hard to come by in his travels, so even the small amount he had managed was refreshing to him. Dark still slept, and Link was amazed at how very – well, innocent – he looked when he was lost to dreams. He shook his head and packed up their things as quietly as he could before dressing and heading outside.

Though Malon was standing ready by Epona, he was not surprised to see her so early. She had an uncanny ability to wake before he did and always would saddle Epona for him before he ever made it outside. He was momentarily shamed, as he always was, by how good to him she was and how little he could offer her in return. I am far too sentimental this morning, he thought, and smiled in greeting to her.

"I'd say not to get into any trouble, but I know you will, so just… try not to die, eh?" she said. Her tone was light, but he could see she'd been crying.

"None of us is going to die," Link said, taking her shoulder. "You worry too much." She laughed quietly, mindful of those sleeping in the house.

"I worry enough is all," she said. "Your strange friend, the one with the shielded face, is waiting by the gate. Navi is with him."

"Thank you, Malon," he said, kissing her cheek in a gesture of farewell. "Will you send Dark down?"

"There is no need," said Dark, stepping quickly from the doorway. How long he had been there, Link could not say. "You left this upstairs," he continued, holding out a spare glove that Link would typically wear under his gauntlets. Link took it quickly and stuffed it haphazardly into a saddlebag.

"We'll be off, then," Link said, strapping the last of their gear to Epona. Malon whistled sharply and Abrax shuffled sleepily from the open barn.

"You take care, too," she said to the horse, and then returned her attention to the men in front of her. "And you two take care of each other. I want to see you back here before the season is out!"

Link smiled at her as he and Dark mounted their horses, then lifted a hand to wave as they steered their mounts out of the ranch. Just outside the gate, Sheik and Navi waited, the former on a sable mare Link had never seen before. Dark seemed to be defaulting to the position slightly behind Link, and he could guess why. Sheik was a bit unnerving at first, especially when he was as silent as he was now.

"Dark, this is Sheik. He has been an advisor of sorts on my path and he'll be accompanying us during the trials ahead," Link said. Dark and Sheik nodded at one another, but neither spoke. Navi, as if uncomfortable with this, flew to Link's hat and settled upon it.

"We need to get to Gerudo Valley," she said. "The path we seek lies in the Haunted Wasteland."

"Then we ride," Link said, and spurred Epona westward. The others followed.

Clearly none of the three were used to company during travels, as none of them spoke. The hours passed with the sounds of hoof beats and the creaking of leather, occasionally subdued when they slowed their pace to spare their horses. When the light began to fade, Sheik spoke for the first time that day.

"We camp here," he said. The grass so characteristic of Hyrule Field had given way to dry, yellow patches in rust-colored dust, and his raised hand indicated an overhanging outcrop of rock in the same red color.

"Why, though?" Link asked. "Gerudo Valley isn't so far, and I've ridden by night before."

"You have, but Dark has not," Sheik said. He looked at Dark, his expression unreadable. "And in any case, we will have to navigate the canyon, and that's a task best done by daylight. Further, it would be most unwise to venture into the wasteland, and her territory, in the darkness."

"All right," Link said, dismounting Epona and leading her toward the edge of the space Sheik indicated. He could hear the others behind him following suit.

Dark was closest in step, and lowered his voice before asking, "'Her territory'?" Sheik spared Link the trouble of thinking of a suitable response.

"Irulla of the Wastes," he said. "She is a troublesome thing, but she has knowledge of magic that we will need."

Dark remained silent, but frowned, as if trying to recall a distant memory. Link saw this, and turned to Sheik, but his strange eyes were impassive as always. Frustrated, but averse to showing it, Link set about the business of relieving Epona of the bags she carried that she might rest. There was sudden warm light on her flanks – Sheik had made the night's fire behind him.

"I will never understand how you can do that so quickly," Link said, and found that as he walked closer to the fire, Dark followed.

"It is not so difficult, if you know the spell," Sheik said. His eyes lightened, indicative of a smile beneath the cowl. "Sit, though, if you will. We have things to discuss." He paused, waiting for the others to gather before continuing.

"We must go through the Blink to reach Irulla. Neither of you will have travelled it, so be wary: things are not as they appear there. You will likely see people, and they will likely try to convince you to follow them. No matter their reasons, do not go with them. They will purposefully lead you to be lost, and will take you to places I cannot find you. They will be convincing, but know this: whatever their lament, they are already dead, and lost to the Blink themselves. Do not follow." At this last, he cast his eyes to Dark and Link in turn, looking for acknowledgement. When they had each nodded in understanding, he began again.

"I may tell you to do things that seem strange to you, or dangerous. You must trust what I tell you, and follow any instruction exactly and without hesitation. The Blink itself will try to fool you, show you things that aren't real, so that it may keep you. If you cannot trust me, the task is lost. Can you do this?" he asked. He looked to Link first, who nodded, resolve plain on his face. He had counted on that. Link had so far followed any advice he'd given him without question, if with a little confusion.

He looked to Dark and fully expected hesitation. He knew he was asking no small thing, to trust a strange man he'd only just met. Yet Dark nodded his affirmation almost as soon as Sheik's eyes landed upon his face, a face that held no sign of suspicion or reluctance. Whether it was Dark's own Sheikah heritage that led him to such faith or Link's show of trust, Sheik did not know, but it mattered little, so long as Dark followed his instruction.

In truth, Dark had two reasons to believe Sheik would not lead them into danger. He had been a captive of Ganondorf's for seven years, and knew the signs of those who served him too well. Sheik bore none of them. Further, Link trusted him, and so, then, did Dark. It did occur to him that people were not divided into 'good' and 'Ganondorf's minions' and that awful people may well exist outside of Ganondorf's influence, but he himself had broken free, so there must be just as many who were just and kind. Link's unquestioning faith in the Sheikah had simply banished any doubt in Dark's mind that Sheik may not be one of these just and kind people.

"Very well," Sheik said. "Go, then, and prepare as you wish, but do not neglect to sleep. You will need your wits about you. I will take the watch."

"Are you sure?" Link asked, standing. "Don't you need to sleep?"

"Not yet," Sheik said. "And though I will need to, I sleep light enough that Navi can easily wake me." As if to prove the point, Navi fluttered from her usual perch under Link's hat to sit on Sheik's shoulder.

At this, Link merely nodded and set off to an empty portion of the field just outside of the fire's light. The moon was sufficient enough to see by this night – the fire was merely for added warmth. Dark followed him, keeping back a decent distance. He observed Link doing a series of drills for a time before he moved a little closer. Link had taught him to ride, and he both owed a return favor didn't find it fitting to allow the other to go into the Blink unprepared.

"Fight me," he said idly, though his weapon was still sheathed on his back. Link paused, lowering his sword and staring at him incredulously.

"I'm sorry?" Link said questioningly.

"There's nothing wrong with how you handle a sword," Dark said. He unbuckled his own and let it fall to the ground along with his shield. "I bested you because you don't know how to avoid a blow without your shield. You have always practiced with your weapon and shield. It is easy to tell, and it's best to learn how to avoid a blow unarmed first."

Link could feel his face burning and he couldn't help but glare. He, like most people, did not like being told his weaknesses, nor reminded of past defeats. He did, however, know that Dark's assessment was accurate, and so he laid his own sword and shield aside. "Alright, show me," he said.

Dark stepped forward and paused for the barest of seconds before making a wide sweep with his left arm toward Link's shoulder. Link raised his arm and took the open-handed blow to the forearm instead. Dark tilted his head, expression blank. "Perhaps I should actually endeavor to hit you? Pain is a good deterrent." Link had the space of a heartbeat to register horror at how nonchalantly Dark stated this and to wonder again at the atrocities he'd endured before Dark set upon him again.

Sheik and Navi sat watching, forgotten by the dueling pair. They observed in silence as Link dodged again and again, occasionally successful at avoiding a strike, often not.

"This is tragic," Sheik mumbled. "Link should be better than that."

"No," Navi said. "Let him be poorer at it. Better that than what the other pitiful creature has suffered."

Sheik was silent for a moment, regarding the pair with a distant breed of sadness. "The Goddesses can be cruel, can't they?"

"Yes," Navi said, her color darkening towards fuchsia. "You're all children. Link, burdened with the title 'Savior' before he was ever old enough to shoulder it, sealed away for seven years before They'd allow him to take it. Dark, stolen and shattered, and rebuilt by a monster. Zelda, hidden away to watch her Kingdom collapse while she could only watch in silent anguish. And you, torn from the only semblance of peace you've ever known to brave the horrors Ganondorf released into the temples, just to give what little advice you are allowed. You are all blameless, yet you were all forced to bear more than anyone should be made to. That is tragic."

"I am glad I can be of help," Sheik said, but Navi laughed harshly.

"That's the only thing ye're glad for," she said, dropping into the Kokiri accent again. "You weren't but a child of twelve when you were called to Zelda's side, and I know ye've endured more than ye care to say."

Sheik merely looked at her, his face blank. Her light shuddered and returned to a soft pink again.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You never complain. Nor does Link. You put me to shame."

"No, Navi. I think we are just too stupid to know that we should," Sheik said. Navi regarded him sadly for a moment before turning her attention to the watch. There was nothing she could do to lessen the weight of their tasks, no way to appeal to the Goddesses that set them upon their respective paths, and she hated it. So she just peered around the camp, hoping to alert them to any potential threats before they became too real. She could at least allow Sheik some rest.

Link, in the meantime, was slowly improving. He dodged blows to the shoulder, hip, and face, one after the other, and was on the verge of triumph when he realized with dismay what Dark had intended. He tried to step forward to avoid the inevitable, but too late – Dark had closed the distance between them Link had created by dodging backwards, neatly hooking his leg behind Link's to use his own momentum against him. He fell into the dirt.

"How did I beat you?" Dark asked. It wasn't a spiteful question; he was being quite literal, asking Link to point out what had caused him to lose. He stood over Link and offered him a hand up as if to prove he meant no malice. Link sat up and took the offered hand, but rather than using it as leverage to pull himself upright, he reached out quickly with his free hand to grab the back of Dark's knee and pull him forward. A quick push of Dark's opposite shoulder and a swing of Link's leg saw Dark on his back and Link atop him, pinning him there.

"You didn't," Link hissed. It was childish, and somewhere in his mind he knew it, but Dark's impassive responses had sparked some fury in him, and he had pinned him hoping to elicit a reaction other than indifference. It was a behavior Navi had tried her best to teach him out of: everyone in his world reacted to him stoically, so when he found anyone who didn't, he reveled in any kind of emotional response. It was yet another by-product of his fate. He was treated like the Hero of Time and not like a flesh and blood Hylian, the man barely out of adolescence that he was. She hadn't seen him lose his temper nearly as many times as he had since finding Dark, though, and she wasn't sure why. Link could have supplied half the answer, had she asked: Dark was a living reminder of the people he'd failed by being sealed away for seven years. Regardless of the fact his stasis was involuntary, he held himself accountable for the lives destroyed in the interim, including Dark's. From there, Navi could have surmised that Link's temper came from his inability to articulate this properly: rage turned inward and, finding the target already sufficiently shamed, turned outward again.

As such, when Dark's calm demeanor didn't change, despite the enraged Hylian straddling his hips, Link gave a frustrated growl and took Dark's wrists as he attempted to sit up, slamming and holding them to the ground above his head. Dark cast his eyes to the side to see if Navi or Sheik had noticed this turn of events, but Sheik appeared to be dozing and whether or not Navi was watching was anyone's guess. Given that Link's wrath was at Dark's refusal to acknowledge him as something other than a heroic avatar, he had glanced away at the worst possible moment. Link's fingers bit painfully into the flesh of his wrists, and he finally did get his response.

Dark looked back to Link, and though he remained silent, his face told a story his mouth could not. Written there was fear, but blended with it and even more apparent was a stark look of longing. Had Link not been so absorbed in the sentiment behind the expression himself, he might have recognized it: the need to be acknowledged as a living being, poorly translated on a face unused to displaying the thoughts of the person to which is belonged.

It was enough to startle Link out of the red edges of rage, but only just so far as to realize that he had once again placed them into a compromising position. Instead of breaking his focus, though, it served to make it stronger this time. He was suddenly all too aware of the heat of the skin beneath his fingers and the texture of the fabric that served as the only barrier between them. Link could feel Dark's pulse under his thumb and was astonished to find a hunger similar to that portrayed on the shade's face building inside him. He had never in his life formed any kind of enduring affection for anyone, having learned fast that he stood apart from the rest of this world. Was it so odd, then, that he would want so fiercely a connection with a person whose story mirrored his own? His rage, as if cowed, finally subsided.

"We are the same, you and I," he said, loosening his grip but not letting Dark up. "We lose ourselves in the roles demanded of us."

Dark was silent for a moment, seeking the right words, wanting Link to let him loose and fearing it at the same time. He possessed no real concept of connection himself, having lacked any kind of proper teacher, and Link was only slightly better educated that he was. To them it was a glorious, frightening unknown they could just as easily lose themselves in.
"I know who you are," Dark said quietly. You want so badly to be what everyone wants you to be, because it would mean you wouldn't be afraid, and you wouldn't have to carry the weight of your fears, as well as everyone else's. But we're just as lost as everyone else, he thinks. To his immense relief and horrible dismay, Link shifted his grip to hold both of Dark's wrists in one hand and placed the other against his pale cheek, studying him.

"I believe you. And I think I know who you are," Link said. You're just as lost as I am. He opened his mouth again as if he would say more, but was interrupted by the sound of a wolfos howling far too close.

The moment was lost in a flurry of movement as they scrambled to pick up the weapons they'd so carelessly flung aside. They were up, then, back to back and ready to defend, but there was no sign of the wolfos, or any other creature at all.

"Sound travels oddly near the canyon," Sheik called out just as suddenly from the fire. "You should sleep, both of you." If he'd seen any of their interaction, his voice betrayed no feelings on it. Nor did he seem to care too terribly about the potential proximity of the monster.

Dark and Link looked at each other briefly and looked away just as fast, neither acknowledging what just occurred, or caring to explore the implications of their actions, to them or their enigmatic companion who may have been watching all along. Clearly Sheik was unconcerned, and so they relaxed marginally, shuffling in an almost embarrassed manner back to camp. Link, for his own part, was mostly shamed that he'd acted so rashly, though Dark was more troubled by the weight of those actions. He would not say so to Link, though – he could not be certain it was even worth troubling himself over, being so new to interaction, and did not wish to make a further nuisance of himself.

Though they heeded Sheik's advice and retired to their respective bedrolls for the night, it was a long time before either slept, kept awake by their own persistent thoughts.