VI

It was a fight to convince Blue to go see the sage. He was beyond suspicious. But It was the only lead they had and even the hot-tempered warrior realised that they had to keep moving. To stagnate was to endanger Zelda that much more, which Blue did not want. They ate and packed quickly, soon again on the road. Vio and Shadow still sharing a horse.

"We really should have gotten another horse." Blue grumbled to Green as they started out across the huge field towards where they were going. "I'm sure some of the castle's were captured by those townspeople."
"I don't see Vio or Shadow complaining." Green shrugged, keeping his eyes ahead. "If there's an issue, I can take Red."

Red was riding ahead of the two and Vio behind them. Red's horse, Epona, seemed just as lively as her rider and seemed to hate going slower than a trot. Blue looked at the pair and shook his head. "I don't think you could you could separate them if you tried, the idiot."

Shadow was slumped against Vio on the horse, his arms loosely around the hero's waist. The cloak was helping keep off the burn but the shade felt drained and spoke less and less the longer they traveled. The easiest path for the horses was unfortunately unshaded and only small clusters of trees dotted the field on occasion.

"Vio, give me the reigns."

"No." Weakened though he was, Shadow received no special treatment from the purple Link as his hand was elbowed away from the horse's reins.

Shadow frowned and reached again. "C'mon, Vio."

"No."

"Why not?" Shadow slumped the entirety of his weight onto Vio, earning a small frown of annoyance or concern from Vio, though it was impossible to tell which.

Vio sighed. "You just said a few minutes ago you felt dizzy."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you're not leading anything, let alone the horse we're sharing. Just hold on for a bit and we'll break soon, I'm sure."

"I don't need a break…" The shade murmured.

Vio rolled his eyes. "Then get your weight off me."

Shadow gave a weak attempt to shift into an upright position but soon gave up, remaining silent after that. Vio focused on the tension of Shadow's hand around his waist, trying to make sure the shade didn't pass out and fall off the horse as he urged it to catch up to Green's white steed.

"Green we need to stop." Vio said without greeting. The leader looked at him in surprise. Blue had gone up to travel with Red when he'd called to show him something, leaving Green alone.

The leader took one look at Shadow, his blank eyes barely visible from under the hood Vio had provided(his black cape gone for the moment), and agreed. "Let's find somewhere relatively shaded, at least."

"I'm fine, Vio. We can probably reach that sage by tonight if we keep going." Shadow murmured, barely audible to the ear no more than a foot away.

"I'm sure the others would appreciate a rest." Green assured. "We would have stopped sooner or later either way."

"...okay."

Shadow relenting, Green called the other two back to the group and they made their way to the closest bit of trees they could find. Red immediately laid spread out in the grass in direct sunlight, the sight of him reminiscent of a cat. Blue sat against one of the trees in the shade, looking out over the field they'd traveled and the the castle barely visible in the distance. Green helped support Shadow as Vio slid off their horse and helped Shadow dismount, though it was soon evident that he was incapable of standing. Green carried him to a tree and lowered the shade against it. Vio took a seat on the grass not far away whilst Green dug through the horses' bags to find water.

"Hey, Blue?" Shadow called to the warrior. When the teen looked up Shadow grinned, albeit half-heartedly in his state. "Red looks really hot in that sun, don't you think?"

Blue looked to where Shadow nodded and his gaze lingered longer than he probably meant it to. Vio smirked to match Blue's scowl. "He looks like a stupid person begging for a sunburn." the warrior snapped.

Shadow noticed his face was flushed. "Your cheeks look a bit red, Blue. Maybe you got a sunburn too." Vio, satisfied Shadow was feeling at least a tiny bit better out of the direct sun, left the two to their banter and retrieved the map Cremia had given them. By his estimate they were more than halfway to the cave she had marked and it was only late afternoon, though it was unlikely they could reach the cave by nightfall. "Hey, Green?"

"Yes, Vio?" The Link finally pulled out all of their water skins and set one on top of Red's stomach as he passed to walk to Vio. He tossed one into Blue's lap and handed Shadow and Vio theirs. Shadow drank greedily, some of the liquid dripping down his chin. Vio smirked and made an effort to be more careful as he took a drink, all three of them sitting together on the grass.

"Green," he capped off the skin and turned to the leader. "We're probably four or five hours from the cave, but we've maybe three hours of light left, we should make use of it."

"Shadow, can you handle it?" the Shade was mildly surprised that Green's first concern was over his health rather than making the best possible time or the others' opinions.

"I'll be fine." He said without hesitation, earning a stern look from Vio.

"Shadow, you were half-fainted by the time we got you off that horse." he reminded the shade.

Shadow shrugged. "I was fine."

Green looked at Vio, expecting the purple Link to retort or get angry. Instead there was no reaction between a brief irritated noise towards the shadow before he turned to Green. "I suggest we aim for the cave tonight then." his irritation was evident to Green and Shadow, who could both hear the tense tone beyond his indifferent facade. Vio walked away, toward his and Shadow's horse, and Green sighed.

"Really, are you okay, Shadow? It won't help anyone to lie."

"I'm fine, Green." Shadow smiled at the concern, even if it was partly the commander part of Link shining through to assess his troops. "Really. Being in the shade even this long has helped a lot."

"If you're sure then we'll do as Vio said and try for the cave tonight. Shadow?"

"Yeah?" Drawn by Green's sudden, very serious tone, Shadow focused completely on Green and was glad to hear what he said.

"I want you to know that I trust you, Shadow. And I consider you just as much a part of Link as the rest of us."

Overcome, Shadow could only grin for a few seconds. "Thank you, Green." He finally managed. "It means a lot."

Green nodded and patted the shade's shoulder before standing up and making his way to Blue. Shadow smiled after him and was about to take another, slower drink of water, when a hiss in his mind distracted him.

Good job, Shadow Link. You have gained the leader's trust. Now do away with him at your first chance! They will be nothing without him holding them together. Now, Shadow. Kill Green and come to me. Help me revive Ganon so we can rule this pathetic world!

Shadow, caught off-guard, was unable to fight away the insistent voice and persuasive magic. He was still weak from the sun and Vaati's voice was even more imposing than before, drowning out his other thoughts.

Eyes shut tight he drew his knees to his chest, clutching them there tightly and ignoring the sting as his nails formed to claws and his teeth grew sharp from the effort. No no no. He kept repeating, trying to make sense of his hazing mind.

Kill Green. Your master will rise again more powerful than before…

"Shadow?" He head a voice that was not his own and not Vaati's and clung to it, opening his eyes to a face uncomfortably close to his in his panicked state.

The purple Link carefully pulled Shadow's hands from his knees and held them in place until the shade regained control of himself and the claws shrank away, as well as the fang-like teeth. He took a few breaths and spoke. "Thank you, Vio. It's getting worse. That's why…" He looked at his hands and his knees, which were bleeding from small marks in his skin. "It takes effort to maintain this form, so when my emotions get out of hand I start reverting."

Vio was about to reply but Green yelled something that had them both on their feet in seconds. "Trouble!"

"Wizzrobes" Shadow muttered as he caught sight of the robed figures standing before Green in front of the small cluster of trees. Blue and Red had filed in defensively behind Green, though only Blue had drawn his sword of the three. Vio moved a bit closer, just behind Red, but Shadow stayed beneath the trees where he'd not be in the sun.

The wizzrobes had voices unlike anything Link or the four had ever heard before. Though there were five wizzrobes spread in a semicircle, the hissing of their voices swayed back and forth across the spread of them, disorienting the heroes. The whispers sounded disembodied and only brief snatches of words or phrases could be caught between the fluxing volume and disembodied hiss of their speech. No one moved but the strange collective voices of the wizzrobes distracted Red to the point of looking back and forth, following the sound and trying to understand it,

"Who are you?" Green shouted, addressing the center wizzrobe. The middle one was in a blue robe with a deep hood that concealed the face of the creature within. It held a staff in its right hand and all that could be seen of its face were two glowing, narrowed blue slits of eyes. His four companions were dressed similarly in red robes with matching eyes and short wands in their hands.

As soon as Green spoke the swaying whisper stopped and left the whole area in complete, unnerving silence. No bird or gust of wind could be heard. All at once the five wizzrobes all vanished without a trace.

"What in the- COME OUT AND FIGHT, COWARDS!" Blue yelled, whirling around. Red and Green looked about in confusion but Vio looked to Shadow, who knew more about Vaati and Ganon's dark minions than any of them. Green heard the horses scream nearby and knew immediately what to do,

"Everyone, duck!" Shadow yelled, not noticing as one of the red wizzrobes materialized directly behind him. Vio tried to yell and warn him but Red tackled him to the ground as the woosh and searing of a fireball blew directly over their head, blocking Vio from hearing Shadow's scream of pain.

Hey! Thank you again for reading! I am SOOO sorry, I thought I had this out days ago! Good news? I've almost two more chapters ready to go. I'm glad to have gotten so much positive feedback! That said? I'm greedy and want more! I've had some amazing and wonderful consistent reviewers and it really helps me write more. Please leave a review with thoughts, feelings, rants, whatever! I want any and all feedback to know what I've done right and wrong so I can better my writing!

Thanks~