Prompt #5: Games

"It's over Shadow. You're finished."

Vio hardened his glare when his opponent laughed. It wasn't gentle or soft - it wasn't him laughing at his own defeat. The shadow grinned like a cat that decided it wanted to play with a little mouse. His eyes hid nothing, their impish gleam seemed like a warning to the violet hero. Vio wondered what Shadow had planned. He'd seen what happened when Shadow decided to get cunning, both as his ally and enemy. Shadow was not one to be underestimated.

"You don't realize it, hero" Shadow leaned forward, "But you clearly failed to do research on your rival kingdom. While yours may submit to the rule of a king, my kingdom is a matriarchy. My king is just a figure head, the queen is handling everything."

Vio fought against the corner of his lip that wanted to twist up, "That's not how the game works, Shadow."

"Oh? Are you saying that my kingdom must conform to your bigoted ways of thinking? I bet Her Majesty, Queen Zelda, wouldn't like that attitude coming from one of her most trusted knights" Shadow grinned.

The hero in purple shook his head. He couldn't tell if it was at his partner's antics, or if it was an attempt to remove the smile that refused to leave his face. Either way, he should have expected this. Shadow was easily bored by these kind of games, so Vio was just glad that he found a way to keep himself engaged.

To his surprise, it had been Shadow that had offered to play the game. Vio had merely been reading in his room beforehand, engaged in a novel based on the legends told by Sheikah. Each of the stories were different. His favorite had been about a goddess that had taken mortal form, she was wise and powerful, forcing her champion to sharpen his mind as well as his blade. The stories were merely to pass the time; if he wanted to learn more about the Sheikah tribe he could have just asked one in person.

So, when Shadow entered the room, Vio was more than happy to give him his attention. Shadow merely asked if he had been doing something important, before he mentioned the idea of chess. It took a moment for Vio to reply. That had been another moment he couldn't help his smile.

"Are there any other changes to the rules I should know about?" he asked.

"Well, my pawns are on the brink of a revolution" Shadow answered.

"I thought you said they weren't 'bigoted'."

"I never said that the current queen was a good one."

"So I won't need to use my secret weapon then?" Vio almost laughed at Shadow's bemused expression.

"Secret weapon?"

"I think we both know how wrong it would be to use your opponent's weakness against them" Vio leaned forward and rested his chin of his hands, "It would be a really dirty way to win. Especially when one of us is easier to distract than the other."

Shadow's expression, the way his lips tilted and the shine in his eyes, was enough to let Vio know that he was enjoying this more, "I knew you really were evil."

"Yes, I have a long-term plan to take over Hyrule. And it does involve me beating you at chess" that got him a laugh.

"Unfortunately for you, Vi, I know your weakness. You find me too attractive, and amusing, to beat" Shadow winked.

Vio made his move. Not on the chessboard, but towards his partner.