Shadow Link's Lament

by ShadTastic

Washed up into a world he could never hope to understand, Shadow Link faces all of the trials of being human, without actually being one himself. And it is those trials that make him that much more than just a mere "shadow". How could he understand a realm he was never supposed to enter in the first place? Oneshot.

Shadow's Lament

'He smiled at her, his heart fluttered once, twice. More times than I could count, I looked up at him, as he looked at her with such love, and it was all I could do, but watch from afar. Cast away inside his shadow, forgotten, and ignored. His heart flutters, but mine only breaks. This betrayal I feel only fuels the hate I've kept locked away inside, letting but small doses out when he, himself would allow me such privilege. '

'And so, years pass by, he changes on the outside world, his features more toned than that of a child. Yet, I remain faceless, out casted and with no name I can call my own. '

' "Such is fate." I would remind myself again and again. I have no business inside the world of light, as the same as he has no business here, where I reside. This seemed to still my ever-growing hatred for the boy that ignored me, if only slightly. I still feel it there, slowly brewing, as if one small drop would cause the whole to overflow and awash me in a bath of fury and resentment, yet I can do nothing but sit there while he….while HE continues to live on. Casting me out; IGNORING ME. It would be a treat for him to fall ill one of these days, or better yet that princess he seems to be so attached to. '

Oh, how the shadow longed to touch her himself. Not in ways that his doppelganger had, but violent, painful ways the princess has never experienced. She would look at him; blue eyes filled with such a fear that will have overridden the love he had seen in them for Link. He would gently use a clawed hand to touch her reddened cheeks, as the body of the man she loved, and claimed to love her, forced the air out of her lungs and crushed her windpipe. She would stare deeply into his eyes, pleading for forgiveness, mercy, ANYTHING to get him to cease his violent oppressions. But, of course, these pleas would go unheard by Link, but relished in by his shadow. The one that sat behind and waited for this moment for YEARS. His chance to finally have some sort of sick revenge against his light counterpart for ignoring him these past sixteen years.

But death, the dark being sighed, is something that will never befall the princess, at least, from his own hands.

If the shadow never left this accursed place, he wouldn't even hope to have a body of his own to wield. This was the beginning of a new revelation for the shadow. A new light he can use and cling to for as long as it can withstand his tainted grasp. He realized that as long as he remained connected to Link, whether it be a mental, or a physical link, he would forever be cursed to linger in the boy's shadow for as long as the boy should live.

This inspired him to deracinate the connection between himself and his light self. A new kind of determination filled the shadow's entire being as day by day it would destroy each individual similarity it could find within itself and the hero. One by one, he eradicated every look, every feeling he had that was similar to the boy that he could manage to rid himself of. His love for HER, no, he didn't think he'd ever be able to rid himself of a deep affliction as that.

As time marched on, he could fill a coldness seep into his chest. One, he was sure that Link had yet to notice, or ever would. It grew, with each passing day, and at night it would fluctuate from soft to completely unbearable. So much so, the shadow debated on whether the pain of it all was truly worth the distinction. He felt his entire being lurch as it ached to be one with its host once more. The need to belong echoed in dark counterpart's head, his very existence calling out to him in a rage from separating himself from his other half.

At one point, his fingers frosted over and began to turn to ash, his shallowed breathing; he had at once not needed, visible before his eyes. The darkness, that enveloped him at a constant rate, seemed thicker and left his lungs cloudy. Panic stricken, he turned to the only source of light he had left in this life. The pain, and thoughts of fading out from existence too much for the being to bear. His thoughts were a never-ending loop of depression and anxiety. Spells of anger and madness seemed to seep into his very body through the "ground" below him, as thoughts claiming to be his own shake his fragile subconscious.

"In. Out. In. Out. "He repeated softly to himself, ignoring the sight of his breath ghosting out in front of him and once again ignoring the insanity that threatened to take him over.

He was not a sentient being. He had no feelings, no body, and no life. But he saw all his host saw, heard all his host heard, and he loved all his host loved. Despite what everyone outside his little world said, the shadow had witnessed all Link had, therefore, he believed he should be allowed recognition just as his light counterpart gets each day. While he alone...

He alone sits in the darkness waiting for his turn for his own serving of happiness.

All at once he felt his insides curl at the ever-growing darkness that had appeared in his domain. He felt suffocated by it as it swarmed the area he had dwelled in his entire existence. At the center of it all was a voice, deep and cold.

"Do you wish to forever linger here, wallowing away in self-pity-…"

He felt the words slip themselves into his body, his very mind being plagued with the evil thoughts this darkness accompanied itself with. Of course, the shadow himself was much too innocent to know of its intent, just its purpose.

"-or do you want to RULE? Rule which that has casted you aside, shadow being. A BRIEF, unnoticed existence awaits you unless you offer yourself over to ME, your master, and KING, Ganondorf. "

There was something about his voice alone that frightened the dark creature to his core. He shivered under what must have been the gaze of the more powerful man in the room, there wasn't much light to see, after all. He felt a bead of sweat roll down his face as the suffocating darkness in the room seemed to grow impossibly thicker with his silence. OH…Was he to die here? Would this be his punishment for attempting to rid himself of well, himself?

"I offer you FREEDOM, revenge, and LIFE, boy. Do you refuse such a gracious offer from your king?" The voice edged on, a hint of anger threaded into the man's tone. "I can give you ALL of this! All I need is your undying loyalty to my glorious plan. You won't be alone, boy. There are others I have that are awaiting your arrival so you may free them from their prisons as well as mine."

The shadow slowly stood from his spot on the 'floor' and looked up at the ever-growing mass of darkness in the corner of his space and narrowed his eyes. A suspicion he learned from his light counterpart. "You were imprisoned?" He asked softly.

A rumble shook the entire room as the man's anger burst from the cloud of dark matter.

"DON'T TEST ME, BOY. If I wanted you to ask questions, I would have TOLD you to do so! Still, I suppose it would be a bit mean of me to offer you a job and NOT give you any background, eh?"

A dark chuckle echoed throughout the room, placing the shadow hero once more at unease.

"As I told you before, my name is Ganondorf, child. You would do well to remember that. I once came from a tribe known as the Gerudo, which consisted of all female. However, once every one-hundred years a Gerudo MALE is born, and that male is raised up to be their king. "

The dark being sat back on the floor, and stared up at the dark cloud with interest. Link didn't know any of this, ergo; he didn't know any of this.

"But, I wanted to unite to Gerudo tribe and Hyrule, which had long since separated. So I gathered up my courage and tried to persuade the King to allow our two countries to make peace. But the King wanted nothing to do with my peaceful negotiation. He then started a war that had lasted for seven years, and during that time, the king himself had died, and his daughter had spread lies about my actions all over the kingdom of Hyrule. I was defeated, under the assumption I was a malevolent, evil man. Of course, I assure you, dear boy, is far from the truth. Then I banished to wander the Sacred Realm for all eternity, a place where YOU yourself are, my boy."

The boy looked around him, as if he was just placed inside his domain, and saw everything new. With a determined look, he stood from his spot once more and took a stance. His colorless eyes narrowed in grim satisfaction at FINALLY knowing just exactly where he had been his whole existence and a small smirk lit up his white face.

"So…If we're both stuck here… then how exactly do you plan on giving me these things you promised?" The shadow popped his hip out to the side and placed a clawed hand on it, staring defiantly up at the mass of darkness flooding his corner.

"What did I say about questions, boy?" Ganondorf grumbled, trying to maintain his quick temper so as not to frighten the boy.

"I believe I'm given the option of it, yes? So, in a sense, you mean to tell me we're both stuck here, with no means of getting out, but you want me to find a way out, from a place I've NEVER escaped from, so you can try and negotiate with the new king of Hyrule for a treaty?" He topped off each of his fingers as a point made it apparent, and he stared up at the dark mass with a bored expression.

"Ah, NO. See here, boy. I was granted powers from the very goddesses themselves. I bear the mark on my right hand of the Triforce of Power. So, you see, I can get YOU out of here. Then as tribute to my kindness, you will free my servant, Vaati from the Four Sword seal. Understood? I do not care for things such as HOW you do it, but DO IT. We'll discuss trivial matters after he is free. "

"I'll accept no failures, boy. Now, do you accept?"

The shadow looked down at his colorless boots and sighed. On one hand, freedom did sound pretty nice at this point, on the other he had little to no idea who this person was, even from his experiences with his counterpart. Nothing. It was as if the memories he may have had of him were blocked, and THAT worried the dark creature. But, he supposed he couldn't really carry out the rest of his existence in this torturous place. It was madness! He would stay no longer!

With clenched fists, the dark being looked back up at the cloud and growled.

"Where do I start?"

Shadow Link had never intended for things to escalate so far.

"Shadow Link"… the name his light…counterparts had given him. A name, finally. While Ganondorf had given him life, Vaati had given him form and pigment, and the Links had given him what he had truly wanted for the longest time. A name. Because with a name, he had everything the other two had already given him. As long as he had a name, he was infinite.

Currently, the shadow being was taunting them, a hand placed on his jutted hip, and a fake smirk evident on his pale lips, his voice spoke lies one after another as he told them of their father's failure as a knight. Each one weighed heavily on his being.

He didn't want this.

He hadn't wanted any of this.

And as he struck the insensitive Blue Link down with his overflowing power, he felt that emptiness he had felt nearly his whole life, begin to grow once more. He glared at them all, anger built up from his years of loneliness and lack of attention flared up and struck them all with a fiery blast that had come out of his false sword. He spewed more lies at them all, feigning his true feelings for those which he created from scratch, hoping to fool others. He growled out lies stuffed with venom and more mediocrity that he couldn't keep up with it all.

He didn't really even think that anyone was truly clear on where exactly he had come from, what he was, or why he even existed. Shadow himself didn't even know the answer to such questions. But they were questions that he had been asking himself the majority of his time here. He also didn't think he was going to get an answer to them anytime soon. For goddesses' sakes, even his own other half hated his guts at the moment, so it wasn't as if Shadow could ASK HIM such questions.

Did he ever truly exist before Link? Was he his own person as Ganondorf and Vaati try to tell him? They didn't care, Shadow Link knew. Still, they had to keep him sane enough to operate on their plans, so they could necessarily let him dwindle into madness, now could they? Of course, they always could break him down a couple notches. That was always an option. Threaten to return him to the place he hated, where he would never be allowed back out again. Those types of thoughts kept the shadow being in line, and they knew it.

But while it may have kept him in line, that didn't particularly keep him in the proper mindset as it should have.

There would be nights he would lay awake in his cot, staring up at the stone ceiling and cry for a mountain of reasons. He would rarely get enough sleep to move productively around the next day, so often his soft, blue eyes would have dark bags lingering under them. It added to what the light dwellers called his 'evil demeanor'. Though, if Shadow Link could properly sleep at night, they might find his eyes are as innocent as a newborn, and in many ways, they really were. He was curious about the many new, colorful things around him, despite being in the light world for a week as of now; he still got fascinated by it, and each passing day made no difference. In some ways, he was a child, still learning the ways of the world and the way things interact with one another.

The way a person was supposed to communicate with another like them was a foreign concept to the boy.

In reality, this was probably why he and the Links had gotten off on such a bad foot. He had no way of fully comprehending speech with another individual, especially one that looked so similar to him. Of course, this didn't count the lies he told. He had been telling himself lies all of his existence anyway. So truly that wasn't his issue. This also meant, being the child he was, he wasn't aware that lies were BAD. He just knew they seemed to help for a little while from his own experiences, and that was good enough in his opinion.

It was when he started noticing the violet clad hero's eyes lingering on him for longer than he deemed normal that he began to try and learn to interact with another being correctly. It started out, at first, as small glances he would give to the other, meaningless as they were, he would try his hardest to convey real emotion. He felt that the violet hero was studying him. Watching his every move down to the smallest detail. He was, Shadow concluded, the only one of his counterparts to look at him in such a way.

Shadow had learned from spying on them at a random location that they had opted to give each other names as well. They brought up an excellent point, after all. They couldn't all be called Link.

"That certainly WOULD be confusing. " He nodded to himself as he watched, hidden from view in the trees overhead.

Vio. Shadow thought over the name at least a hundred times, but each still kept drawing him to the same conclusion: There wasn't a better name for him than that. It was one of the only times Shadow had ever commended the red hero.

"Vio." He would say to himself over and over while lying awake again in his bed at night. No tears fell on the nights he thought about Vio. He briefly wondered if this was the feelings Link, or "Green" had felt with the fair Princess Zelda. He quickly dismissed the thought; he wasn't attracted to Vio in that way. But he was attracted to him in a curious sort way. Like a moth to an open flame, kind of things. He knew his feelings were strictly platonic, and he would fare well to keep them that way. After all, Shadow had not seen much of this world, but from what his master has told him, there wasn't going to be much left of this one after they were done with it.

This saddened the shadow being. This world, he had thought, was beautiful and so vast he felt as if he'd never even come close to exploring it all. But not many felt the same as he did about this realm. They cared only about themselves and the things they can gain from destroying this world Shadow had come to call his home. This is fueled Shadow's eventual rebellion against the one who had given him all when he had nothing.

His plan was simple, get closer to the Violet Link, invite him into their palace after offering him a 'partnership' and then tell him the secrets he was sworn never to tell to another living being.

He didn't plan on befriending Vio. He didn't plan on becoming so angry when Vio's inevitable betrayal hit him. He didn't plan on how much it truly hurt to be betrayed by the one you have come to love until it had come and gone, leaving Shadow alone in the dark once more. Scared and alone, he sat there in his usual spot, weeping on about days long since passed, and memories that hurt to think of.

It was a day that they called victory, and it was a day that he called failure.

In all his time existing, he had never felt such a pain. It wasn't like before, when he tried to separate from his other half, no, this was different. This was his other half separating themselves from HIM. His entire being screamed from the sheer agony of it all, his teeth gnashed together, his eyes closed tightly as tears seeped through and down his pale cheeks. He couldn't be whole unless the Link's wanted him to. He was now forever stuck in an endless cycle of pain he could never escape from. He felt himself despair over what he had wanted all this time, only to immediately need to be back to the way he was originally.

There wasn't much else left for Shadow, as he lay in the cold darkness that once again surrounded him. Until the voice of his master drew him out of it once more.

"What do you think you're doing?! You are not done, Shadow Link. The heroes have yet to be defeated, and it is YOUR job to do so. So don't waste away just yet."

He felt the familiar pull of his body being forcibly shoved through what felt like slime to the shadow, and eventually he fell out of the mirror that housed his realm and back onto the tower of winds. He rasped and hacked, but no air would come easily to his once again tainted lungs. Seemed as though just that small amount of time he had spent in the darkness had once again being to drain him of his individuality.

"You still have you part to play... Now go! Defeat the heroes!"

Shadow felt his body lurch forward once more at his master's push and dry-heaved on the stone flooring to keep himself from retching. He felt the slime that covered his body slide off and drip from his hair and clothes, and the setting sun providing a small amount of warmth to his shivering frame.

By that time, he had noticed the princess' presence. Her concerned look positively puzzled the shadow creature and he responded with some hurtful lashings he was sure the beautiful girl didn't deserve. It was then that she held out her small, gentle hand towards him, and a kind smile grazed her features as he looked up at her from the ground. Her stunning blue eyes hid no fowl comings and only held beauty known only to those glorious sapphires.

"You are not what they say you are. You are a part of Link. So, that means you're a hero yourself, Shadow Link..." Her voice was velvet, and her skin was so soft when it grazed against his own, rough skin. He knew from Link's experience, why he loved this girl, and now that Shadow had collected his own thoughts and settled down, he can see why he loved her too.

He loved her.

He felt his artificial heart stop for a moment when his only connection to comfort was stolen away from him. Weak as he was, he still fought back to the Dark cloud that had accompanied Ganondorf during his many trips, and even Vaati in some cases. But even the cloud proved to be too much for his weak form at the moment. He felt even his pigments begin to give way, as he form began to shift to that of a twisted, mangled, shadow. What he was before he was taken out. He knew not what he should do, but only what he needed to do, and that was save those he had wronged by stepping over his boundaries.

He knew now that he was never meant to come into this world, to meet Link, Zelda, Vio, any of them. He was never supposed to escape the prison he was held captive in. Crossing the boundaries had caused all of the following events to occur, which Shadow thought was out of control. Because of him the world was going to end. Because of him, the one he loved was going to perish. No, none of this should've happened. He should have never accepted the offer that Ganondorf had presented him, because all it had done was destroy the world he now held so dearly.

So what could he do as no longer strong enough to use his power and now that he was at the complete mercy of those he referred to as himself? What could be done about the impending darkness that loomed over his head at THIS very moment?

Shadow decided the only thing he could do was try and reason with his counterparts about the darkness growing at an alarming rate. But he knew they would only listen if he looked as they did. So he waited for the perfect opportunity to execute his plan. When Vaati had them separated he disguised himself as he beloved Vio and went to work.

To his credit, it worked for a lot longer than he thought it was going to. He managed to tell them of the dark lord's plan, utilize Vaati's weak point, and the princess' fate if they didn't hurry, all before the real Vio had shown up.

Of course, the plan would've have worked better if Vaati had stayed dead.

The dark being then realized his mistake. All of his mistakes, even those prior to coming to this realm, were all at play here. If he gets rid of himself, he gets rid of all the darkness and destruction that had come along with him. If just he alone perished, then that would be a bit of a dilemma. But, it was a chance he was willing to take to try and make up for all his wrong-doings.

With a heavy heart, he stood before the very object that allowed him passage into this world he loved so. Its reflection showed his own, dark, decrepit one. He knew now how weak he had truly become. As pieces after pieces broke apart and littered the floor all around him, he could almost compare them to the stars he had seen glittering in the night skies. A beautiful point of view for his fleeting identity. He felt himself beginning to smile, a real one not seen by the likes of anyone. He felt almost happy that he was doing this for the people he cared about. Was this what Link felt as a hero?

He dully remembered Vaati screaming his complaints at him until he faded away in a steaming puddle of goop. Such, will be his fate, he was sure.

It wasn't until the Link's had shown up and were leaning over him did he realize he had misjudged them all. Their faces were not that of disgust or anger as he had thought they'd be. But they were sad, and concerned. A change Shadow hadn't expected at all. He vaguely remembered Vio placing his head in his lap, telling him not to leave, how he was one of them. He was stroking at his quickly fading hair and rubbing his thumb along his whitening cheeks.

A wetness fell on Shadow's face. Not one from himself, but from the violet clad teen above him. He was crying, begging Shadow not to go, but it was all Shadow could do but keep the smile on his face even as the pain from that action struck his entire body. He could practically shake from the agony if he wasn't so weak.

He had never seen such emotion come from anyone, especially now that it was directed at him. He felt his own blank eyes quickly fill up with the same wetness Vio's and the others now had in their own eyes. He saw only the blurred images of his counterparts, and the mumbled voices of their words to him, but one word in particular stood out louder and more clearly than all the rest.

"Friend."

"Friend."

"Friend."

It repeated over and over again inside Shadow's blackening mind. He felt his artificial heart swell at the word and he felt his smile grow ever so brighter.

They thought of him as a friend.

He was their friend.

HE had FRIENDS.

As quickly as it happened, Shadow outstretched his arm to them all, and the next blink of an eye he was gone. Nothing but a combustion of sparkles that had landed over the remaining four of them in a thin layer of dust. The three other's stood, their hats off, heads bowed. While Vio sat there on his knees staring at what was once his best friend. He felt the dust tickle his nose, as he stared in horror at the small mound of particles that lay in his lap. He could do nothing but stare.

Even as the others placed comforting hands on his shoulders and murmured their words of sympathy, he could do nothing more than sit there staring at the remains of his comrade. The cold, cold wind swept across him, taking a majority of the remains with it, and there Vio sat, eyes wide, mouth agape, and heart broken. He sat, wondering why the one among him who had least had given up the most.

He couldn't believe it.

Even as he eventually stood at the reunitement with Princess Zelda, and the defeat of Ganondorf, he could not stray his thoughts from his shadowed friend. At one point he even felt that it should have been him that had sacrificed everything so that Shadow could live a life he was never given like the rest of them. A life that all four of them had taken for granted at the start of their adventure.

In a way, Shadow was the glue that held their little family together. He was the one who made them a family, by getting Link to draw the Four Sword, taking Zelda away from them so they had more motivation to work together as a team, and, as Vio thought, almost deliberately let him in on darkness' plans so he could find a way to stop them.

He felt that Shadow had planned all of this without realizing it. Obviously, from Vio's time knowing him, he knew the teen had some issues. But those had never stopped Shadow from doing whatever he thought was best, and THAT'S what Vio admired so much about him. He fought for what he believed in, and sacrificed everything so that those he loved would be safe. He was just like them in that respect.

And even when they inevitably formed as one whole Link again, there was always this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a cold feeling in his chest he couldn't seem to get away from, and as time moved on he could feel it getting worse. Link wondered periodically many nights as he would spend awake, staring at his ceiling in pain and upmost confusion, is THIS what it felt like to lose your other half?

And so Link sits, alone in the darkness, as feelings he normally kept to himself arose from within him. A pain like no other that would not go away as he body screamed at him to be whole again.

But that fulfillment would never come for him again.

History always repeats itself.

I have nothing to say about this except I wrote this all in one setting, and mostly off of the top of my head.

There were some moments when I took from the small comic I have going on deviant art for this. -

Of course, I have told you all time and time again, that I am at my best when I speak of depressing things. It's rather frightening, but it's my life.