"Ow!" A boy's cry rang out in the dense forest, causing a few crows to squawk and fly away.
A girl dressed in a pink dress with long brown hair walked to his side.
"Red, what's wrong? Wait, don't tell me... You hurt your finger on the fishing hook, right?" The red clad hero nodded. His lower lip trembled as he showed the girl his finger. She sighed, pulled a bandage from one of her pockets, and wrapped the finger in it.
"There. Be careful, okay?" Red nodded, restoring to his usual perky self.
"Okay! Thanks a bunch, Alice!" Beside the pair, an identical boy to the one in red, but instead wearing a blue tunic and hat, snorted.
"It's just like you to be such a baby, Red." That made tears pool out of the red Link's eyes again.
"BLUE!" Another identical boy dressed in green scolded his blue counterpart. Blue hit the green clad boy with his mallet, which caused them both to be more infuriated.
Alice walked over and stopped Blue's sword from hitting Green's face.
"Cut it out. If you want to fight, at least use the Four Sword. Then maybe your energy will be transferred to them so we can defeat the darkness and rescue Zelda faster." Green sighed and glared at the aggressive version of himself.
"Yeah, Blue. Why don't you behave?" He said teasingly. Blue growled and pounced at him, knocking Alice to a side.
"OH, I AM SO GETTING YOU FOR THAT! LETS GO RIGHT NOW! WHOEVER WINS GETS TO BE THE MAIN LINK!" Yet another hero, this one dressed in purple, looked up from his book. A fishing pole rested at his side.
He eyed the tussle, then Alice, who reluctantly pulled out her sword and landed it acutely in the middle, splitting the Links apart.
The violet clad hero smirked.
"Can't you two get along, just for one day? This is supposed to be a relaxing fishing trip, not an all out war." Green, who was at Alice's left, regained his composure and dusted himself off.
"Vio's right. You know? I'm going to try and forget about Vaati and Shadow Link and the darkness and just enjoy myself." Blue glared at him.
"Good luck with that." He said sarcastically, before returning to his own pole beside Red. Alice smiled, sheathed her sword, and went to her place at Vio's right.
She looked at him and smiled in relief.
"Well, at least I know somebody's going to catch us dinner. How's it going, Vio?" Vio nodded.
"Good. I already got one. It's over there, by the fireplace." He looked up from his book to point to a bucket behind him, and returned to his reading.
"Great. Thanks." There were a few precious moments of quiet before Red made a cheerful remark.
"You know, I bet it would be easier to catch fish over there!" He pointed to his right, where the river they were sitting at widened out a bit.
Green smiled. "Okay, Red, then why don't you go over there and try to catch one for us?" Red smiled and looked down at his feet a bit sheepishly.
"Well, it would be lonely. Blue," He looked up at the blue hero, who was staring at the water. "Can you go with me? We would have a lot of fun." Blue twitched, but kept his gaze on the water.
"Me? Go with you? Not in a million years." Red bit his lip and looked sorrowfully at the water. His reflection rippled when a tear fell.
Alice stood up and walked over to the crying Red, smacking Blue's head so hard that he fell into the water on the way.
A giant splash sounded, making everybody look up. A few bubbles erupted before a sputtering Blue resurfaced, his fishing rod on his head. The rod tipped over and fell into the water.
Green and Red burst out laughing, and even Vio cracked one of his rare smiles and chuckled a bit. Alice grinned.
"Not funny, guys." Blue sighed, pulled himself onto the river bed, and fished his pole out.
"Feeling better now, Red?" Alice asked. Red nodded, grinned, and bounced up.
"Yup! Alice, you want to go with me? Maybe we'll catch a really big fish!" Alice nodded, and Red grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to the spot.
Vio gazed at the duo as they laughed and swung their poles around, but returned to his book soon after. It was about Force Gems; they might be useful in restoring the Four Sword. They would have to, if they wanted to even stand a chance against Shadow Link and the darkness.
Soon, he was interrupted once more.
"H-hey! BLUE!" Vio, Red, and Alice all looked up in time to see Green disappear into the river, a smirking Blue pulling back his fishing rod.
"See? I'm not the only one who's getting wet today. Not by a long shot." He grinned wildly, his fishing hook landing on the grass. Everybody eyed the piece of green cloth on the hook warily.
Green emerged and swam to shore. Instead of simply getting up, however, the green clad hero smirked himself before pulling on the edge of Blue's sleeve.
Both Links splashed into the river, causing a splash so big that Vio had to close his book and shield it with his hand to keep it from getting wet.
The two Links were soon wrestling in the water, and Alice stood up again.
She walked over to the Links and beckoned to Red. Together, they succeeded in dragging them out of the water. While they were still fighting each other.
Vio gave an irritated sigh before opening his book again. "Don't you two ever stop? Really. I would expect this from Blue, but Green, you're better than that." Green looked up and gave a sheepish grin.
"Sorry. We should probably-!" Green stopped mid sentence and glared at Blue. The blue clad hero had taken advantage of Green's distracted state and had grabbed Green's hat. He now stood a few safe feet away, laughing.
Green lunged at Blue, and the tussle started all over again.
Red and Vio sweat dropped; Alice walked over and grabbed both Links' boots, making them fall to the ground. She released them and glared at Blue.
"Blue, give Green back his hat. Now." Blue stuck his tongue out.
"So what if I don't? Stop acting like you're everybody's mom." Alice snatched Green's hat, tossed it in his general direction and drew her sword.
"Oh yeah? Let's just see about that." Blue smirked and pulled the Four Sword.
"Now that's what I'm talking about! I won't go easy!" Alice smirked too.
"Really? Like you didn't go easy last time? Or the time before that?" Blue's face became flushed, remembering all the times he'd lost to the girl in pink.
"Sh-shut up!" He yelled. Green, Red, and Vio watched the spar with interest. After a few minutes, Vio returned to his book, only to look up again when Alice emerged victorious. She'd pinned Blue to the ground, his sword a few feet away.
"Say uncle before I kill you." She said coolly. Blue yelped a strained "UNCLE!" And he was released, wheezing.
Red returned to his pole, Green continued to try and dry himself and replace his hat, Vio went back to his book, Blue grumbled complaints and went back to get his rod again, and Alice went to go find some fire wood.
When she came back, the place was a mess.
Three fishing poles were in the river, Green's boomerang was on the other side, and Green and Blue were going all out in the midst of it all, cuts and scrapes all over. Not to mention Red was crying again and had a bump on his head.
Alice put the fire wood down and calmly walked over to Vio, who was still reading.
"Let me guess. Red did something, Blue hit him with a mallet, Green got mad, Red started crying, and Green and Blue started up again."
"Mm-hmm." Vio said absentmindedly. He was reading about different varieties of Force Gems. There were rare purple ones-
His thoughts were interrupted when Alice tapped on his book.
He looked up into her brown eyes.
"Help...?" Vio flipped his book shut and put it at his side. He got up and the pair walked over to Green and Blue, who were completely oblivious to anything but their fight.
They proceeded in dragging Blue away, knowing and hoping Green had enough sense to stay where he was.
Fortunately, he just gave an irritated 'Hmph!' and tried to get his boomerang with his sword.
Blue was less cooperative.
"HEY! LET ME GO SO I CAN PUMMEL GREEN TO A PULP!" He screamed. Alice dropped his right arm and sighed.
"Really. I was gone for five minutes, and this happens." She gestured to the mess.
"How are we going to save Zelda and all of Hyrule if our teamwork is this bad?" Vio dropped Blue's other arm, sensing he wouldn't try and pick another fight.
"We'll just have to restore the swords and hope for the best. But it does worry me sometimes."
Turning to Blue, Vio continued. "Please stop making things harder. Picking fights isn't going to get us anywhere." Blue practically exploded. He started to rant.
"Me?! You think I'm the problem here?! Maybe you should spend more time doing something other than burying your nose in a book all day! Maybe you should spar so we can restore the sword faster instead of letting us do all the work! Ever thought of that? Huh?!
"And maybe Red shouldn't be such a crybaby. We always have to save his sorry self from practically all the monsters we face!
"And if you think I fight a lot, just look at Green! He's the one who goes along with it and fights with me! If he just admitted that I'm so obviously the main Link, then we wouldn't be fighting in the first place! And why does Alice have to always act like she's in charge? I mean, she's the same age as us! She doesn't have to act like a mom! Maybe she should just cut the nice act and go home!"
Vio and Alice flinched, Red stopped crying, Green froze. It was almost as if time itself had stopped.
Then Alice broke the silence.
"In case you haven't noticed, Blue, my house and village burned down!" She shouted.
"Just because of that dumb fire monster! That Red defeated because you were sick! And why do you care who the main Link is? I'll try to get this into that tiny brain of yours. You're all Link! Maybe you need to shape up and be a better team player! But if you want me to go, fine! I can see how you wouldn't want a girl in the way when you confront Shadow!"
Alice grabbed her sword from beside the fireplace and ran off into the woods.
Vio gazed after her speechlessly. There was a good three minutes of silence before Green felt that as team leader, he needed to say something.
"Blue... Why did you have to do that?" He groaned. "You know Alice doesn't like it when you tease her about being a girl!"
"Well, what was I supposed to do, Mr. I'm-In-Charge? She was in the way! We're better off without her!"
Red sniffed and fingered his sword.
"But she was nice to us. And she was our friend." Green looked sternly at his blue counterpart.
"Red's right. And you had no reason to say any of those things you said." Blue looked a bit glum. And a little sympathetic, if that was possible.
"Yeah. Sorry, guys. You know I didn't mean any of it? Right?" Red smiled, regaining some of his cheerfulness.
"I know! After all, you love us, right?" Red jumped up and hugged the blue clad hero, not showing any sign of letting go anytime soon. Blue awkwardly patted his head and looked away, blushing.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Lets keep it at that. No hard feelings, right?" Vio nodded and Green smiled.
But the four Links stared at each other in a silent argument.
"Okay, someone has to go find Alice, and it's not going to be me." Blue shook his head.
"She would explode if she saw me. Not going." Red bit his lip.
"I'm afraid she would yell at me to go back. She's dangerous when she's mad." The three turned to the last Link standing with identical looks on their faces.
Vio sighed.
"Do I have to?" He asked mournfully. Blue's lip quirked into a smile.
"Yes. Now get moving!" He practically pushed Vio into the forest. When Vio looked back, Green caught his eye and smiled. Red gave him a thumbs up, and Blue yelled, "Well? Are you gonna stand there gawking all day?"
Vio turned and started to walk. Soon, his counterparts were out of sight, and the only sound was the soft thumping of his boots on the dense forest ground. Vio wished he had his book, but he also paid attention to land marks. He hoped he would be able to find his way back before dark.
Soon, the violet clad hero heard a voice.
"Argh, Blue is so annoying... But should I really leave the Links hanging? I mean, Red would be devastated, Green would be sad... But I doubt Blue would care. He would be ecstatic. And Vio reads his book so much that he wouldn't really notice. I'm going crazy. I'm talking to myself."
Vio stepped off the path and walked towards the voice. But it soon stopped, and he became unsure of where he was going.
I'm sure that was Alice. I just hope she doesn't really leave. She probably knows these woods better than I do... He thought to himself as he steered through the undergrowth.
He was about to start calling her name when he heard a thud.
"Ow!" Not hesitating, Vio ran towards the sudden cry. He soon came to a forlorn Alice, trapped in a net.
"Alice! I'm glad to see you! But why are you in a net?" Alice growled.
"Does it look like I know? Go away." Vio ignored her last sentence and pulled out his sword. He cut the top of the net in a swift motion and put it back.
Alice fell to the ground.
"Vio, go away. I'm serious." He shook his head.
"Think of it this way. That net wasn't natural. It's possible there's somebody out here. You could get hurt." Alice got up and dusted herself off, swatting away Vio's hand.
"You heard Blue. He doesn't want me around ruining everything." She said bitterly. Alice reached to her back and blinked.
"Wait..." She dropped to the ground and started feeling around. Vio looked at her curiously.
"What?" He asked, amused. Alice stood up and glared at him.
"Look, Vio, this isn't a joke. My sword is-"
"This isn't the Four Sword!" An echoing cry stopped the duo right in their tracks.
Vio shivered and swiveled his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. Something dropped in the middle of the pair, making both of them jump.
Alice bent down cautiously and picked it up. Her eyes widened.
"Hey! My sword!" A sneering figure appeared.
"You can have it. It's no use to me anyway." Both Vio and Alice jolted up and glared at the figure.
"Shadow Link." Vio muttered.