He led the girl side of him around the corner to the pump used to bring water to the barn animals. he grabbed the bucket that was there and put it under the tap. Then looked over at the handle and grasped it firmly. he nodded to the girl and then began to pump. slowly at first, then with more strength.

A shadow grew from the other side of the barn...it grew into the shape of a young man. It walked to the barn. The guard had left his post momentarily, and the shadow didn't waste anytime upon the moment. he stole into the barn and climbed to where the other Links slept. Two targets lay in wait. he could only take one now..... The shadow went to the bigger of them.

"Strength...." He whispered.

Shadows seemed to crawl over the man, almost a caress. As they shadows left and returned to the dark boy....The sleeping man was no where to be seen, just a mark in the hay where he had once laid still.

The shadow slunk back out, the quiet unnerving in his silence...soon the sun would rise and the shadows would become weak once more.

((since he has refused to come and play or provide an excuse to his absence I will be suspending his character.....))

(EEK!! You mean that was Sakura's fault?! O.O *dies*)

Sakura suddenly had the odd feeling of being watched. She flicked her head back in the direction she and Raye had come. Her eyes widened. The strange shadow from before?!

"Raye, can you see that?" Sakura whispered, nodding her head at the shadow which was retreating again.

Toan was snoring loudly, drooling slightly from his mouth, he must have been incredibly sleepy, an earthquake couldn't wake him up at this point. When the shadow had entered the barn though and stood in front of them, he let out a grunt and rolled over, facing away from the shadow and snored again. He was unaware of what the shadow did and once it left his now lonely presence, he snorted for a second and slowly sat up, he blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, trying to get them used to light again. Once he realized his face was covered in drool he quickly wiped it off on his arm, he laughed nervously then he turned toward Garreth, "hey Garreth, are you awa-?" He cut himself off when he saw that Garreth was gone.

At first he worried, but he just figured that Garreth must have gone outside for breakfast, he quickly hopped up and slid down the ladder, but when he took a step toward the door, he stopped. He sensed a familiar presence, the shadow from last night! He had a serious look on his face and he jogged over to the door, bursting through and outside, he looked around frantically and spotted the quickly retreating darkness, he then gave chase and jumped in front of its path. He knew it would be of no use, but he did it anyway to at least try and stop it, he wielded the shield that Garreth gave him from his back and held it to defend himself.

"Wheres Garreth?!" Toan shouted, glaring into the shadow's red eyes, gripping onto the shield handle ever tighter, "I know you did something to him, now tell me, where is he?!" He growled slightly.

((uhm...in my post it said the shadow had already faded away into the night or some such....but i guess I'll humor you....))

As Toan faced the shadow it seemed solidify for a moment as it spoke.

"May darkness take all of you......" It smirked and then faded away into nothing.



"there is something?" He looked out in the direction...He wasn't sure if he saw anything but wait there was a bit of dark? Was it some of that black fog from the field? He took a step closer just as Toan barreled out and confronted the shape.

It Seemed to look like a man for a minute it Delivered one chilling line and then was gone.

"Get inside the house...Now!" he told Sakura he led her toward the house keeping his eye on the post the thing once was, and his eyes on Toan.

(If you were talking to me, it was just when it was beginning to fade away, but if you're talking to Link, then never mind xD)

"Huh- but what about Toan?!" Sakura cried desperately. Without waiting for Raye to do anything, Sakura sprinted past him in Toan's direction. "Toan!! Are you alright?!" She cried, and skidded to a stop when she reached him. Sakura glared fearfully around at the pre-dawn, semi-dark moor, searching for the darkness that had threatened her friend. A strange feeling was welling inside her chest; it was a fierce, scorching anger she - or Link - had ever felt, and the burning desire to protect the other parts of her soul. No, her friends. Was this another form of love?

As Sakura couldn't see the darkness anymore, she turned back to Toan, her eyes searching all over for some sign that he'd been harmed in any way by the darkness.

When the darkness faded, Toan's tense body language soon turned back to normal as he calmed down, he put the shield onto his back once more and let out a frustrated sigh. But when Sakura ran over he stood up straight, "I'm fine Sakura, but don't worry about me, I have some bad news..." he looked down at the ground, a sad expression on his face, he sighed once more and looked into her eyes, "Garreth is gone." He waited a little bit, trying to accept it himself before he continued, "I woke up just a short time ago and noticed that Garreth wasn't in the barn, I assumed he went outside for some breakfast and I was about to go after him until I sensed that shadow's presence. I just knew it took Garreth away, perhaps forever... we must tell the others and inform them of this situation."

He looked over Sakura's shoulder, spotting Raye looking over, "I suppose you heard the whole thing Raye, so I don't have to repeat myself" he looked back at Sakura, "come on, lets get inside." He jogged over to the door, opening it and stepping inside, he held it open for Raye and Sakura to enter as well.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Gone? How can he be gone?" She asked in a shocked tone. She followed Toan to the door, and turned and waited for Raye to join then, worry lines showing on her forehead.

"That was no ordinary shadow...did you feel a sort of link to it? It also seemed to have a form like a human....." He followed them inside looking around.

He saw the boy curled up by the fire ((hes still there yes?)).

There was a table over to one side of th room with several chairs. "That would do for a meeting. Sakura why don't you waken our other little self? the others will prob be up and about soon for farm chores, and I'd rather not disturb them on our troubles." He nodded to them and then went to pull over enough chairs around the table.

Toan quickly headed over to the table, sitting in one of the chairs and pushing himself in, "thank you Raye..." he said before he went into dramatic silence, waiting for the others to join him. He held his forehead and closed his eyes, a grim look on his face, all he could think about was Garreth and where he could have been taken, the thought of Garreth possibly getting killed made his heart sink. Toan let out a stressful sigh but went silent again, still waiting for the others.

((oh! THe rp is alive again! :D))
Raito was curled up at the fire place. A terrible dream had left dried tear marks down his face and sad little whimpers in his mouth.

He had seen Garreth get taken in his dream, but he also saw everyone else get taken as well...and there was nothing he could do, nothing at all.
Navi was in shock, she fluttered beside Sakura the whole time, no longer feeling a sense of jealousy, but dread.

If she was there...could she have saved Garreth? Probably not, but she had woken him up...

Oh, her last words to him were so cruel too!

She sat on the table beside Toan and brought her knees to her chest in the fetal position, sulking in silence.

Sakura nodded, her eyes wide with shock and dread. The feeling she had now wasn't the fierce need to protect like before; it was a strange emptiness, and a longing so strong that she was almost being brought to tears. Yet another attribute to being the soul of love?

Sakura knelt beside Raito, and heard his small whimpers. The boy was still scared of the darkness? Sakura hesitated, her hand outstretched to shake him awake, wondering if she should leave him sleeping. But whatever dreams were tormenting the child were hard on him, so Sakura decided to relieve him from the images.

"Raito? Garreth's gone. You need to wake up now," Sakura whispered to the boy, and gently shook his shoulder.

Raito snapped awake and looked at Sakuraka with wide eyes.

"Wh...what?" He lower lip trembled and tears started to fall down his cheeks again.

He felt it, he felt that he was gone...that he took him.

"I..I'm up!" He tried to smile, to calm down and brighten up the group. He wiped his eyes before anyone but Sakura saw his distress and ran to the table, half climbing onto his chair due to his shortness.

"Heya everybody! You can't stop the important meeting without me!" he cheered.
Navi gave a smile to the boy, although it was weak, it was better then her despairing look from before.

Sakura gave a little start when Raito started crying, and was about to say a fwe soothing things to him; maybe she shouldn't have told him about this outright. But then he jumped up and joined the others at the table, and Sakura smiled to herself. He may have been a child, but Raito was definitely a strong one.

Sakura stood up and joined the others at the table. She glanced around at them all. "So does anyone know what actually happened just now?" She asked with a trembling voice. She cleared her throat, not wanting to look or sound weak, and waited for someone to answer.

He sat down at the table and tried to give an encouraging smile to everyone. Specially Raito. This would be the most difficult. He was still a part of them, so it was important to include him, he still hated to see a little boy caught up in all this.

"Well It's all uncertain at this point. Lets start with what we know alright? first off, we are a boy called Link. somehow we were split by an explosion...."

((By the way, are we in the child link or the adult link time if we're based off of ocarina of time?))

"We're pieces of his soul, turned into people who best represent each piece within them..." Toan continued, he placed his arms down on the table and looked around at everyone. "We have no clue how this happened or why... but to be honest I could care less how and why right now, I'm more worried about Garreth. He is a crucial partner to us and a part of Link, without him... Link will cease to exist, we can never bring him back for his loved ones or for himself." He let out a sigh, looking down at his hands, "but, its not like we can just go off looking for Garreth when I feel that we have an even bigger problem on our hands, the dangerous evil that is slowly creeping over this land."

Toan scooted his chair back and stood up, his hands supporting him up upon the table, "we must speak with a higher power, I remember spotting a castle when we were out in the field last, past a market. Perhaps we should head there before we go anywhere else, I have a feeling we'll get some answers there." Toan looked around the house, wondering if Malon and Talon have awakened yet, he certainly didn't want them to leave and not give a proper thank you and farewell.

Malon stirred in her sleep, her eyelids gradually fluttering open as she gave a huge yawn. Were those voices downstairs that she heard? What on earth were Fairy Boy's soul-parts doing up so early?

Well, it was time for her to be up, as well. And her father, too. Pulling on one of her favored simply-cut dresses and running a comb through her hair, she pattered downstairs.

"Hello, there," she greeted the soul-parts gathered around the table, blinking a bit confusedly as she did so. They were ALL awake? It looked like they were having a meeting of some sort. "Breakfast will be ready soon, but first I have to wake Dad and then we've got to do morning chores with the livestock. If you're terribly hungry, you're welcome to help out and make things move faster, but of course that's your choice."

Malon clasped her hands behind her back and smiled at them all, trying to puzzle it out. Why were their faces so glum? Had something happened while she'd been asleep? Throwing them one last, puzzled smile, she went to her father's bedroom door and rapped on it. "Dad! It's time to get up, and don't forget we have guests!"

At the mention of breakfast Raito's stomach grumbled loudly. He smiled sheepishly and hopped off his chair. There was nothing he could do for the discussion anyway.

"I...am gonna help! Can't go traveling on an empty stomach!" he gave another smile to the other parts of him before scampering off.
Beautiful blue sparkles were falling from Navi's eyes without her meaning to let them fall.

The silver blue pixie dust was tears. She was supposed to protect and help Link...oh, what would the great deku sprout(no longer a tree, right?) think of her now? She really was useless...and now she couldn't stop crying. Even thought the smallest, most scared part of link was still smiling, she just kept crying.

Sakura listened saddly to Raye and Toan. She couldn't help feeling that Garreth being taken had been her fault; if she hadn't taken Raye off duty, Garreth wouldn't have been unprotected and he wouldn't have been taken. Sakura could feel guilty tears pricking at her eyes, and she kept her sight on her clasped hands, which were settled in her lap. She felt she had no right to agree or disagree with anyone right now.

Sakura didn't mean to ignore Malon, but the guilt that was clawing in her chest felt like it would tear her into a million pieces; she didn't have the strength to look up and smile.

"I agree...We need to see waht is already being done by the capital. We should head there next. As for Garreth. While not with us, I feel...As if hes still there. We have a link connecting all of us. I also felt that link with that particular shadow. Perhaps we were split more than we first realized." He looked sternly around the table. Seeing if they too had felt theses connections. The connections he had with each and every one of them.

Navi seemed to snap out of her sorrow when he mentioned that.

"R-raito! He seems very sensitive when it comes to all of you. I heard him muttering Garreths name before I left to get fresh air..Remember when he said he feared the dark? He was feeling...oh no, he was feeling another part of you?!" She put a hand to her forehead and her other hand onto Sakuraka's, she could tell the girl was about to break down herself.

"Can darkness really absorb everything...?" she whispered, more to herself then the others.

Sakura supposed that she'd felt connections with the others too, but she'd thought that was the love she felt for her friends. Maybe it was both. She'd also felt something when she'd first seen the shadow on the moor... it hadn't quite been fear, more recognition of sorts. Maybe the strange shadow was a part of them. But then why had it taken Garreth?

Sakura, still feeling she had no right to comment in the conversation due to what she had done, half-closed her eyes on Navi's touch, but didn't move any more than that.

Toan put his hand over his heart, he did feel a connection, a bond between everyone, especially that shadow, "I feel... as if that shadow is a part of Link, all people have a darkness within them, we can let it take over and control us or keep it contained in our hearts. But he was taken out of Link on purpose by someone to keep himself pure, not on accident, like what happened to us, we also have no need to worry about our own darkness, since we don't have it within us. I don't know why the darkness is wandering around out in the open though, but lets not worry about him until we see him next, which will probably be tonight... I can feel it."

Toan left his spot at the table and headed over to the door, since Garreth was gone, he didn't feel very hungry anymore, he held open the door and looked over his shoulder at everyone. "Go ahead and enjoy your breakfast before we leave... I'll be outside waiting for you all..." he stepped out and shut the door behind him. He walked across from the house to the barn, turned around to face the house and he leaned against the barn wall, but, pretty soon he ended up sliding down the wall and sitting on the ground, his legs criss-crossed. He let out a depressed sigh and waited for everyone else to join him.

Sakura wasn't hungry in the slightest; actually, she felt rather nauscious. If Toan thought the shadow would be coming back tonight, did that mean that another soul would be taken into that foreboding darkness? The link she felt with the shadow was strong, even stronger than the one she felt with the others. That soul had never been split; it was half of a soul, not a fifth. Did that make the shadow stronger than them, unless they were combined? But if Garreth had been taken, what would happen to them then?
Sakura found herself walking to the door, her head feeling strangely floaty. "Getting a drink..." She heard herself mutter, and she opened the door, closing it quietly behind her.
She half-smiled at Toan, then walked quickly over to where Raye had shown her the water tap. But she had no intention of drinking.
Sakura fell to her knees beside the water pump, and the tears finally spilled over. She tried to cry quietly, but the sobs that racked her body were too strong to keep concealed. She just hoped Toan would leave her alone to wallow in her guilt...

Toan looked up when he heard the door open, spotting Sakura step outside, he gave her a smile and watched her walk away, but it quickly turned to a frown and he stood up. He peeked over the wall at Sakura in concern, when he heard her cries, he let out a quiet, worried gasp, no matter how much she would hate him, Toan wasted no time in walking over to her. He went down on one knee next to her, a fully apparent look of worry upon his face, "Sakura... tell me whats wrong, please, are you upset about Garreth?" He gave her a small smile to try and help calm her down.

"Er..." Sakura hastily wiped her eyes, and took deep, steadying breaths.
"No, I'm fine... just... Garreth..." Sakura felt herself breaking down again. Damn it, she thought, I bet Link didn't break down like this when something bad happened!
"It's all my fault!" Sakura sobbed, "I was the one who made Raye step off duty, and then the shadow came and took Garreth away, and it's all my fault!"
Sakura curled up, hugging her legs, and she burried her face in her knees, trying her best to calm herself down. She hated being like this in front of someone like Toan; she must have looked utterly pathetic.