FINISHED: Ice and Warmth

[Ember]

'Dark...I can see why that name would be fitting for him.'

"Well, Dark thank you for what you did...I'm Ember Severin."

Ember felt awkward at this introduction, their first meeting had been far from pleasant with his threats of killing her and the sudden appearence of Giomanach in their midst but looking at him now something seemed different or maybe it was just because she wanted him to seem different. After having no-one to really rely on or even vaguely trust it was something she wished for although it deeply frightened her as well.

[Dark Link]

"Ember, huh?"

Dark continued to look away. He wasn't really sure why. Certainly there was nothing to fear about this girl. No matter how fast she was at healing, the wound would still be taking its toll on her.

He knew that he wasn't afraid of her, but still Dark couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes. This was all so confusing. When you tried to kill someone, they were suppose to fight back or beg for mercy. Rescuing beautiful girls and protecting people from evil was what Link did. How could Dark forgive himself for acting the same way.

Dark traced a circle on the ground, grumbling under his breath.

[Ember]

Ember could sense Dark's confusion and discomfort and by the way he sat, his shoulders hunched forward and tensed and the agitated way he was tracing a circle on the ground in front of him. She didn't understand the sudden change in demeanor, moments ago she had truly wondered if he had brought her here only to finish what he had started in the tomb but for now she doubted that was the case.

"I'm starting to wonder if you have more than one personality...moments ago the way you looked at me made me feel cold but now you can't bring yourself to look me in the eye."

It was more a statement than a real question, it was almost like Ember was thinking aloud.

[Dark Link]

A vein on Dark's forehead began to pulse. He stood up suddenly and shouted his ramblings at Ember's face.

"You're the one with the weird personality since I've been threatening to kill you this whole time and all you can seem to do is feel sorry for me, and if you would go cower in the corner like a normal person or at least try to fight back then maybe I would be able to kill you but as it is I don't know how to deal with a strange person like you!"

Dark breathes heavily now, a bit relieved to get the anger out of his throat.

[Ember]

Dark's sudden verbal assault made Ember jump slightly but she sat there until he had finished, sne did pity him because of how he had described himself back in the tomb, she thought that behind the bloodlust and anger that seemed to constantly rage through his mind and body there was something else...and obviously that scared him. Ember hadn't reacted in the way he was used to, either to fight or beg for mercy, instead she only pitied him.

"I'll admit that when that coldness in your eyes hits me I do feel afraid but I don't want to cower or strike you. How does that make me stranger."

Ember kept her voice an epitome of calm so Dark's anger would have nothing to react against, while wounded she couldn't risk him spiraling out of control while she couldn't effectively defend herself but it wasn't just that...maybe she wanted to see if the feeling was right.

[Dark Link]

Dark wanted to explode again, and for a moment it looked as though he might. However, he found that he suddenly lacked the energy, so he turned away from Ember again and let out a deep sigh.

'If I can just make my voice cold again, then she'll be afraid of me. She admitted it herself. All I have to do is toy with her again and she'll react like everyone else does. Then I won't feel so confused inside.'

Dark took a deep breath to prepare himself, waited a moment, then let it out in defeat, still facing away from Ember. With weary frustration he pounded a fist against a wall.

"Why can't I do this?"

[Ember]

Ember couldn't answer Dark's question but certainly answered her own with his reaction, he couldn't switch back into the cold persona which meant not all things were as they appeared. She understood that when she woken up in his care despite his insistence that he had not taken her from the tomb to save her life in any way...and he believed that Ember's reactions towards him were confusing!

"Perhaps not all things are as they seem."

Was her muttered response as she absently played with one of the heavy silver rings on her fingers and then noticed the small cuts on her palms from where she had dug her nails in earlier, the dried blood was almost black against her fair skin.

[Dark Link]

'This girl is going to drive me crazy. I want to kill her, but I don't want to see her hurt. I want to get her away as soon as possible, but I want to keep her here. What in the world is wrong with me?'

Dark heard Ember mutter something and turned around to see what she was doing. He stared at the dried blood on her hands absently, thinking about how much blood she had lost since he met her.

"You must be in a lot of pain..."

[Ember]

Ember looked up in slight suprise at Dark's comment, barely a moment before he had been shouting in her face and now he worried if she was in pain? Although she still had to be careful moving and there was still the occasionally stab which she had to ride over, it felt almost like the blade of Giomanach's sword was still there although her logical mind told her that wasn't possible.

"I've lived through worse pain than this."

She hooked her finger into the neckline of her shirt and pulled it slightly to the side where a large scar was visible, very close to the heart. The stark white mark looked like it had come from an arrow of some sort. It was true that she had the scars to prove how long she had fought to survive...

[Dark Link]

Dark felt a pang of pain inside of him as he looked at the scar. It seemed as though he could feel a sword piercing his own heart.

Dark looked down at the ground suddenly, and shadows covered his face. His expression was impossible to read, and his voice was toneless as he spoke.

"You've had a lot of pain in your life, haven't you?"

Not waiting for a response, Dark turned and pointed at the door. "If your wings are healed, you can fly across the water outside. There will be another tunnel that will take you out of here."

[Ember]

Ember got to her feet with a slight wince as she put some pressure over her injury until she was standing fairly steadily again. She crossed the room to go to the door but stopped beside Dark, for a moment Ember was motionless before reaching out and gently tilting his chin up with one finger so he would look her in the eye. A half smile flickered on her lips but unlike most of her smiles it actually reached her eyes, making the emerald green gaze slightly warmer than usual.

"Not all things are what they seem are they?"

[Dark Link]

Dark returned her gaze, his face a mask of emotionless calm hiding the strange turmoil within his soul. Ember's face was no mask at all. It was a true reflection of her soul. Even the smile.

"Few things are."

[Ember]

Ember let her hand drop back down to her side and turned away from Dark, she crossed the room and opened the door as she had been instructed so she could leave.
Now the cycle would begin again and Giomanach would be more furious than ever, more relentless in his hunting of the rogue Dreamscaper. Ember knew this but that was how her life was now and it would be that way until the day she died, like all Dreamscapers, Ember would die young unless the curse was lifted she wouldn't live past her 21st birthday.

"Goodbye and...Thank you."

Ember left the room and took flight across the water, gliding across the few air currents that ran through this place. No trace of her being there was left apart from the blood on Dark's tunic and a couple of black feathers.

[Dark Link]

Dark sat down, picking up a black feather and twirling it between his fingers. He watched it spin back and forth in silence. For some reason, he felt terribly alone.

Ever since he had first lost to Link, Dark had felt alone. He had been brought into existence for a single purpose, and he had failed that purpose. He was a shadow of a hero, a part that no one seemed to care for. Dark thought he had put those thoughts and feelings aside. Why now were they crying out at him again?

The black feather slipped from his grasp and fell gently to the floor.