No one had thought any of the citizens that were spread out through the courtyard of Hyrule Castle would have been allowed to carry arms.

They would have hoped they weren't, considering the 'threat' they could pose to the Princess, especially coming from travelers just passing through.

The four Links, Green, Blue, Red, and Vio, -and Shadow, which technically made that five- had been given the okay from Princess Zelda herself to stay at the castle.

"There are more than enough rooms, and certainly more than enough cooks to keep you fed," she had explained, when the boy's were not so sure of intruding into her home. Her very large home. She had been quite inviting, insisting that the boys stay, where they were safe, and had room for each to practice their own expertise in weaponry.

That had been more than enough persuasion for Blue, and he was quick to sink into the training fields full of Guardian scouts and punching dummies.

Ever since Calamity Ganon had been beaten by the four light worlded Links, the guardians around Central Hyrule had relearned their peace, and no longer attacked innocent passerbys. Instead, they resumed their duty of assisting Hyrule, and were very eager to do so.

The only flaw that had been noticed of the metal beasts was their inability to tell if someone who seemed to appear an 'enemy', was really an enemy or not. Zelda had had to recruit the help of Robbie, from the Ancient tech lab all the way in Akkala, to add into the guardians' systems that Shadow, was in fact, not a bad guy.

Anymore.

He hadn't been evil in a long, long, time. Occasionally he liked to mess with others, but it was playful, as opposed to villainous. The boys had been a lot younger when Shadow had realized that no fun was coming from being under Ganon's hands, and was ready to opt out of that soon after he met the Links.

Shadow had been quick to become attached to Vio when he was still under oath of Vaati. Even when Vio had cleverly deceived him, and attempted to destroy the mirror that had been Shadow's only way of traveling between light and dark world at the time.

As hurt and swindled as he had felt, both from being played a fool, and that Vio had done such a good job playing evil, he had known Vio had never done it to hurt Shadow. He had done his job of trying to sway Vaati from taking rule of the world. Which Shadow had quickly learned was probably for the best, and determined breaking the mirror himself was his ticket to freedom. And it was.

Shadow had followed and interacted with the Links as a shadow cast across the ground for months after Vaati's demise, and Vio had practically been buried in books and libraries along their travels, trying to find a way to allow Shadow access to the light world. It hadn't taken as long as they had expected for Vio to be able to conduct a sort of 'portal' -with the help of Robbie's equipment- to bind Shadow's being to a large, yet portable, mirror. This allowed Shadow to move freely through both worlds as he felt necessary.

Since Shadow had not had any access to weapons, (nor was it advised he handle a sword or bow,) Green had entrusted him with the Sheikah slate. He intended for it to be used for its fighting attributes, like the magnesis or stasis, but the most Shadow did with it usually was take photos. Green had been less than amused to find many self portraits of Shadow, mostly with the four other boys in the background fighting off enemies of sorts.

On the off chance that Shadow had been ordered to actual use the Sheikah slate for battle, he had been clumsy and nervous, due to lack of practice.

After multiple battles causing Shadow to fumble with the slate, he had become frustrated, and would stay up late at night to practice. Green, Red, and Blue, often found Vio would stay up late with him to teach him more about the other Runes. He taught him about using Stasis on large boulders and slabs of rock, and magnesis to lift metal objects up high enough to cause a good amount of damage to a foe. He even taught him good uses for cryonis, and would practice in whatever river they had chosen to camp by for the night.

To say the least, Vio had disabled the use of the remote bombs, unless someone more… mature, was handling the slate.

Even after all the practice Shadow had been through, he didn't improve very much. Blue would grunt and say it was because Vio was helping him. A hushed rumor had spread between three of the boys that Shadow and Vio had a 'thing' for each other.

They weren't so much teasing about it, as they were just trying to figure out if it were true or not. Red had seemed almost positive that there was some sort of chemistry, considering how tirelessly Vio had researched and worked to be able to bring Shadow back out of the dark world in the first place.

The longer Shadow was present in the light world, the closer he and Vio obviously had become. The two didn't seem to care about it being shown publicly, either.

Little things, like Shadow leaning against Vio when they sat, and Vio leaning back. Shadow's grasp around Vio's upper arm, and 'accidentally' falling asleep next to him after training. They didn't argue these things happening, and neither of them would confirm nor deny there being a relationship more than 'friends'.

Zelda had noticed this immediately, and especially after Ganon had been defeated and she was able to see them in person, and not through subconscious. She had fawned over how well Shadow had done while fighting the scourge of Hyrule Castle, and had noticed how Shadow had used his shadowing powers to help guard the boys as much as he could.

Being a direct outcome of some of Ganon's magic himself, Calamity Ganon had not noticed that Shadow had been fighting against him, instead of for.

Zelda had been extremely supportive of Shadow, and when all five of the boys had moved to the castle grounds, Zelda had took it upon herself personally to inform every single servant, maid, cook, and even residents that lived along the outskirts in Hyrule Castle Town, That Shadow was nothing to be afraid of, nor was he someone to defend against. She knew his appearance may be worrisome to others that were not her, or their close friends. Even though Shadow appeared to be most entirely human, he had an odd aura of him- which was what put some people on edge.

Everyone had taken Zelda's words seriously, and even though they had been frightened of him at first, they were all quite quick to grow fond (or used) to the scamp. He made it a point to play harmless pranks on a few of his more acquainted workers, like stealing a pastry, or moving an object they were just using. It only took them a few weeks to learn his ways.

Zelda had been very pleased with the attention that the heroes had brought back to Hyrule Castle town, and the courtyard. Before the Calamity had struck, the courtyard had always been bustling with nearby residents and travelers, and the castle was always chock full of visitors for monthly festivals that were held.

It had taken quite some time for Hyrule Castle town to be rebuilt; everything had been in ruins after a hundred years of abuse and neglect. All five of the Links had done their best to help, when they had had the free time between traveling to shrines across the country. Each was a valuable help to bringing the Castle back up, and now that it was back up and running just as beautiful as it used to be, Zelda had been preparing for their first festival.

It was quite different in a way she didn't like, which was that her father, King Rhoam, had always been the one to aid in getting festivals planned. But now that he was no longer around, it was up to her. Her heart ached over missing her father, but she would be alright. She still had the Links by her side, along with Impa, and Purah, and other friends she'd made along the way.

She had enlisted the help of Red to to assist her in writing and sending out invitations for the party. Green, Blue, Vio, and Shadow were down waiting in the courtyard, where they were going to help decide which decorations should go where, and what the theme would even be. What kind of theme does a party have to celebrate being taken over by Ganon?

"It's a 'Back from the Dead' party!" Red joked with her, as they made their way down one of the stair cases that twisted in a spiral downwards through one of the towers of the castle. It led to a more secret door out into the main ward.

"Not sure that is very appropriate sounding," she said in thought. "We're not redeads."

Red giggled at that, stepping ahead of her to hold open the door to the outside for her.

"Well, after being asleep for a hundred years, people may think that was the case!"

Zelda laughed him off as they made their way to the center of the courtyard, where the rest of the group, plus a guardian scout, were located. The scout was sitting perfectly still in the center of them, allowing Shadow and Green to balance what seemed to be a tower of small decorative metal cups on its head. The moment Zelda was near, it slowly turned it's head to look at her, being very careful not to knock down the cups. Blue scoffed as neither Green nor Shadow noticed the princess's arrival, and reached forward to roughly knock the cups off of the guardian.

"Guys, princess," he hissed, just as Green was about to shout at him for destroying their work, and both boys jumped to their feet and spun around on their heels to face Zelda.

Zelda raised an eyebrow at them.

"So this is what you guys chose to bide your time with, hm?" She asked, and Vio couldn't help give out a small snicker as the two boys' faces flushed red.

"We just finished sending out rather vague invitations for the festival, but Red and I have been debating over what the festival itself should be about," Zelda said, and Red gave an exaggerated sigh.

"She didn't like my 'Back from the Dead' idea," he said, folding his arms in a mock pout.

"Why not just say it's a Celebration of Hyrule Castle Town being rebuilt?" Vio asked simply, and both Red and Zelda blinked, before shrugging.

"Yeah, that's about what we were looking for. Thanks Vio," Zelda said, and Vio gave a quick, expressionless, nod in response.

Zelda had noticed a few residents, and some travelers that she didn't recognize, beginning to snake their way into the courtyard, and she pulled herself in close towards the boys in a huddle.

'Okay, I know I haven't done this in over a hundred years, but we've got to start figuring this out," she started as the boys nodded, and Blue kneeled down to pick up the fallen cups.

"Blue, the maids are to be setting up tables for hors d'oeuvres, can you bring all those cups over there?" she asked, pointing to the far end of the courtyard, where they were, as Zelda said, setting up tables. Blue nodded, fitting the armful of cups back into the large bag that they had originally been in, and hauled it up over his shoulder before jogging off.

Zelda wave them in closer as Blue left, Shadow propping himself on Vio's shoulder, and wrapping his arm around his neck. Vio didn't seem phased, and Zelda had to bite her tongue to keep herself from gushing over them. She instead took notice of the travelers still coming in, and hoped that they would be able to get the decorations up without the place becoming overrun.

"So, I want there to be a Maypole. Would the best place for that be in the center, or off to the side?" Zelda asked, and Red made a noise.

"What's a maypole?"

Zelda was about to explain when Shadow cut in with a chuckle.

"All I know is that Maypoles involve dancing around them, and unless you want a show, I will not be participating."

Vio had scoffed at this, reaching up to pinch at Shadow's hand, which warranted a jump from him.

It was as if that movement in itself had caused a domino effect of bad events.

All of a sudden, a voice boomed from nearby, "Purple Hero, look out!"

Vio and Shadow hardly had time to turn their heads to look at the traveler who Zelda had seen pull back his bow, and send an arrow flying towards them. Much to everyone's horror, said arrow had been shot directly into the center of Shadow's chest. The action had been so quick and accurate, that Shadow had not been able to make a sound before the life in him was gone. It had been shot with such force that it had pierced completely through his body, and lodged itself into Vio's left shoulder.

Vio fell back at a bad angle, his eyes wide with silent panic, and his free arm twisted around to hold onto Shadow's lifeless body that was practically skewered to his shoulder. Red had let out a strangled cry, and Green was silent, horrified.

The traveler trotted over, lowering his bow as he came up.

"I hope I wasn't too late, that demon was right on top of you by the time I noticed!" He said, then recoiled when Zelda pushed her way past the boys to glare up into his eyes.

"Leave," she snapped, planting her hand on his chest and giving him a hard, but not brute, shove backwards. He looked at her confused, until he saw her eyes welling with heavy tears.

"I'm sorry, I thought-"

Zelda cocked her jaw at him, and he shut his. She turned her attention down to Vio, silently sobbing as he gripped tight to the back of Shadow's shirt, blood from the both of them pooling onto the cobblestone beneath him. His eyes were sealed shut.

"He was not in distress. You are not to use open fire of a weapon on the Castle property. There's a reason we have guards!"

The man swallowed, then bowed his head.

"I understand. My apologies, Princess. I will be on my way," he said quietly, reaching up to hook his bow on his back. Zelda kept her eye on him, feeling slightly relieved as a small group of knights rushed to escort him out further. Red had gotten down on his knees, shaky and crying, but trying his best to calm a panicked Vio. Green had run off to get Blue, and the two of them were rushing back.

Zelda threw herself down onto the ground on the side that that the two of them had been shot, and carefully leaned over to assess the damage done to Vio's shoulder. It had been shot at full power from such a short distance, and unsurprisingly, it had embedded itself deep into Vio's shoulder. Trying to pull it out could result in more damage than Zelda was willing to inflict, but Shadow was still attached, and as much as she wanted to pull him off of Vio, that could end up being worse for Vio in the long run.

Blue had swore aloud when he and Green had rejoined the group, his voice just barely noticeably cracking.

"Why haven't you taken him off yet?" he yelled, and Vio flinched, clenching his eyes tighter as tears spilled down his face even more than they were.

"I can't. The arrow is too deep in Vio's shoulder, and if I hit a nerve recklessly, he could lose use of his arm," Zelda explained, and Blue scoffed. He made his way to sit next to Zelda, and pulled a small blade of out the pocket of his pants.

"Hold onto his shoulder, just in case."

He was moving too quickly for Zelda to argue, so she listened, wrapping her hands carefully around Vio's shoulder. Vio yelled out in both agony and anguish as Blue roughly, yet carefully, sawed at the stem of the arrow, separating Shadow's body from Vio's. As Shadow came free, Blue slipped the remainder of the arrow out of his back.

He was about to pull Shadow away, but Vio's unwounded arm shot forward, grabbing hold of the body and pulling it close to his chest, his lungs finally forcing out a pained cry. It didn't take but a moment before Shadow's body seemed to disappear with a puff of a dark cloud, and Vio was left clutching at nothing.