#nink

Capture Gone Wrong Right, Part 2

Wind had expected to return to camp with full canteens for everyone.

He had not expected to return with an armful of sobbing Dark Link. His own Dark Link, to be exact.

But what else was Wind supposed to do? He doubted the poor Dark could fend for himself in the woods, with the way he trembled in Wind’s hold.

These new Darks. Wind shook his head. Dink had denied any connection to them, and Wind could see why. Even miniblins had more dignity than the grey lump in his arms.

Wind’s Dark keened and looked up when Wind pat his back.

Wow, those were tiny eyes. How could this guy see anything?

That explained the complete lack of stealth skills, at least.

“Are you okay now?” Wind asked during a lull in his Dark’s sobs. The little Dark buried his face back in Wind’s tunic and cried harder. “I’ll take that as a no. Why are you so upset, anyway?”

The Dark pointed his shaking finger at the stream where Wind had left the canteens.

“S—scary.” Even this guy’s whisper sounded loud. And young. Why did Wind’s Dark look and act younger than him?

“You’re afraid of the water?” At the ‘W’ word, the Dark screeched and clung tighter to Wind. “Uh, okay. Don’t worry, I’ll get you away from it. Just let me pick these up and we’ll go.”

The Dark kept crying and shrieking as Wind grabbed the canteens from the stream bank. As he walked them both away from the water, Wind realized the guy didn’t weigh much more than the canteens. He could feel ribs through the Dark’s loose tunic. When had the kid last eaten anything?

And why did Wind care so much?

… Aryll. Aryll was oceans tougher than this sniveling pile of sad, but she was still little. Vulnerable. Needing somewhere or someone safe to call home.

Like Wind’s Dark.

Wind groaned to himself. Two minutes in, and he’d already claimed this kid as his little brother. Which meant Wind would somehow have to explain this to his older brothers.

The Dark hiccupped and wiped snot onto his sleeve. He screamed when he saw the liquid and huddled closer to Wind.

At least Wind would have an easy time convincing the others that this guy wasn’t a threat.

“Wanna tell me why you were sneaking up on me?” Wind asked. ‘Sneaking’ was a nice way to put it. Time sprinting in full armor made less noise than this Dark, but Wind decided not to point out that fact. The Dark sniffled and peeled himself back from his death grip to look up at Wind.

“I was gonna capture you,” he said.

Wind bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.

“And, uh, how’s that working out for you?” Wind asked. The Dark glanced at Wind’s arms around him.

“Not good.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Why’d you want to capture me, anyway?” Even if Tetra hadn’t trained Wind for interrogations, getting answers out of this guy was easier than asking for seconds of Grandma’s soup.

“I wanna show my siblings I’m strong and stealthy. They don’t think I can sneak, even though I’m the best ever at it.”

This time, Wind had to bite his lip and take a moment to swallow his laugh.

“And capturing me would be proof you’re sneaky?” Wind asked. His Dark shrugged.

“I guess. You could tell them how sneaky I am, too.”

Wind was an expert liar, but he doubted he could get away with a fib that size.

“So, you and your siblings …” Wind sat them both on a patch of moss under a tree. He expected his Dark to try and escape, but he just stared at Wind with those creepy-small eyes. “My brothers and I have seen a few of you from a distance before, but only a couple of us have met. What are you all trying to do?”

“Evil.”

“Can you be more specific?”

The Dark rested his chin on his fist in thought and hummed.

“No,” he said after a moment. “We’re not sure yet. Leader’s going to show us how to be evil when we’re ready for it. We think. Leader doesn’t talk much. Pants says Leader isn’t even evil, but then Dirt threw a mud pie at Pants. Everyone agreed Dirt won that argument.”

That was a lot of very weird information, but Wind traveled with eight other Heroes. Weird information with no context was one of Wind’s specialties.

“Your leader’s Dink, right?” A smirk crept at the edges of Wind’s mouth. Dink hated that nickname, so the Chain hadn’t referred to him as anything else since he’d revealed his true form.

The Dark shook his head.

“Dink’s a meanie. We stopped following him a long time ago.” The Dark looked away and rubbed at a scar reaching above his collar.

The scar looked like a knife wound that hadn’t healed right—Wind had gotten enough of those to know for himself. Heat rose in Wind’s chest as his Dark hunched in on himself. Sure, the little guy claimed to be evil, but he was a kid. And he wasn’t even good at evil. The next time Wind crossed paths with Dink, Wind would make sure Dink never hurt anyone else.

In the meantime, Wind had a shivering blob of Dark Link to take care of and get answers from.

“So, who’s your leader now?” Wind asked, trying to keep the fury out of his voice.

The Dark stared like Wind had asked if the sky was brown.

“Leader’s our leader,” the Dark said. “We found him doing wise things and he said he’ll teach us his ways when we’re ready. Well. He didn’t say that, but we’re pretty sure it’s what he meant.”

That sounded ominous.

“What ‘wise things’ are you all trying to learn?”

“Setting fire to garbage, dancing in rose bushes, riding horses by clinging to their bellies, randomly appearing and disappearing, licking frozen lampposts, things like that. And the most impressive skill of all: swinging a sword with one finger on the blade without getting cut.” A sparkle—an actual, literal, sparkle—twinkled in the Dark’s itty-bitty eyes. “None of us have been worthy of learning that technique yet. Which is why I need to capture you.”

The Dark lunged forward and hugged Wind. Wind stared.

Wow. Just … wow.

“Uh, what’cha doing there, bud?” Wind asked.

“Capturing you. I win. I’m so stealthy.” The Dark grinned at him. “Would you stand up so I can bring you back to camp?”

Great. Now Wind knew exactly what Legend meant when he said he’d adopted Hyrule.

This was going to take so much explaining.

“Tell you what,” Wind said, hoping this Dark was as seagull-brained as he seemed. “Let’s compromise. I’ll stand up like you want, but then I’ll take you back to my camp instead. Deal?”

The Dark nodded so hard, his eyes looked like bouncing marbles.

“Deal. As long as we don’t go anywhere near … you know.”

“Water?” Wind asked.

The Dark screamed and clung tighter to Wind. Wind sighed as he stood and picked up the Dark again.

“Hey,” Wind yelled over the noise, “what should I call you, anyway?”

“Scream.” Scream didn’t stop for a breath before he started shrieking again.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”