The shade had brought both of them up near where Link had left her things and Epona. As he holds his gut and whines about the pain she had inflicted, she checks her bags and pulls out her usual clothing before heading for the cover she had used to change before. Going to pull off the top piece of the Zora armor she pauses before looking up at the top of the crumbling stone wall she had sought privacy behind. The shad was lounging there with a lecherous grin as she had been preparing to change.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just your shadow."

The glare she sent him promised death if he didn't remove himself from her presence that instant. The shade gulps before rolling and flipping down on the other side of the wall.

"Spoil sport."

Keeping track of the shade's location Link quickly changes into her usual clothing and comes out around the wall to see the shade lounging back on the other side. He seemed relaxed but she still wasn't sure whether to trust him or not.

"Shall we go then Hero?"

He opens his eyes and looks at her, still grinning, but this time it was less unnerving and more teasing. She nods in answer to his question and heads over to Epona. It takes her a moment to realize she only has the one horse and it was a day's ride back to Castletown from here. Walking was not something she looked forward to but the Shade had nothing to ride, unless. Her thoughts get cut off as arms wrap around her waist and a cool breath blows on the back of her neck.

"Guess we'll be riding double then, won't we?"

She reacts before she can really think about it and her elbow finds his sternum, knocking the wind from him as he stumbles back from her. Her sword is in her hand and at his throat before she has fully recovered from the feel of his arms around her.

"You're not very used to being touched, are you?" The shade puts his hands p defensively to show he is unarmed and waits for her to pull the blade back from his neck.

It takes a long moment but eventually she does, even as she glares at him. She sheathes her sword and mounts Epona, then waits for him to do the same. The shade approaches cautiously, rubbing at his throat before pulling himself up behind Link.

"I will have to hold onto you if I don't want to fall off." The shade hesitates as he waits for her approval, not sure how she will react if he just grabs her again. A nod from her shows that she understands though and he puts his arms around her once more, his hands actually staying in appropriate places while she nudges Epona into a walk.

Link can feel the shade searching around as they go. She realizes that he must have been down in that prison for a very long time and Hyrule had most likely changed quite a bit since then. She sympathized with that though as she herself had woken up to a very different Hyrule than her memories showed her. The few she had at least. She kicks Epona into a trot.

The shade meanwhile was studying the changes to the land, what truly caught him off-guard was the ruin he saw everywhere. It was worse than what things had been like after he first was created. There was evidence of a great battle having been fought and he looked to the Hero before him and realized that this battle was not recent. Had Gonon attacked before she was there to fight him. If so then these men had died to buy her time to be born, because even he could tell the battle had been fought decades ago and she was still not quite twenty. The thought that she may have been fighting her entire life had him thinking on her reaction to his touch and his presence. She was so jumpy, he wondered if she had always had to fight. Even so it angered him slightly. He knew that Hylians cared little for their Hero as a person. It why they felt no guilt in sending a child to fight a war. He doubted things had changed.

It is late in the day when the pair see Castletown coming closer. The shade took in the crumbled walls surrounding the town and realizes that this must have been where the heaviest of the fighting had taken place. How and why were people still living here. The answer became more clear when they enter through the gate, or what had once been the gate, and he saw the abandoned and ruined structures. Many were being rebuilt but the crumbled walls were covered in growth, edges rounded by weathering. The streets were even overgrown, though you could see that some were being worn in once more as people traveled through.

He mentally nudges at Link about what had happened here and the response is the vision of mechanical creatures crawling over the city, burning and destruction all around. The shade was taken aback because that was a memory she had shared, meaning that even though things looked overgrown, she had been there when the war broke out. Now he wanted to know why, but he didn't get a chance as they stopped in the town square and the person he knew had to be Zelda walks up to them.

"Link, you're back. Were you able to find out what was going on at Lake Hylia?"

Link shrugs and nudges the shade with her shoulder so he knows to dismount, which he does, catching the eye of the princess. Link dismounts after him and nods to Zelda.

"And who is your companion then?"

Link looks at him as if trying to figure out how to explain the shade beside her. Knowing that leaving it to her would take far longer than necessary, he just steps forward to answer for her.

"I'm the one that was causing all the problems. Sorry about that. I was just trying to get someone's attention so I could get out."

Zelda looks at the shade with apprehension after learning that he was the cause of the problems at Lake Hylia. "I see, and why did you need help getting out? If you were powerful enough to gain our attention in such a manner, surly you could have gotten out yourself."

The shade rubs the side of his head as he tries think of the best way to answer that. "I was under a seal, I couldn't leave unless someone I was connected to came and got me. Look Princess, it's not really easy to explain. I'm not going to cause you any problems though. You look like you have enough going on already."

The princess narrows her eyes for a brief moment, studying this new being in front of her. She wasn't sure what to think. He had about him a cocky air and it worried her that he said he could only leave his previous prison if someone he was connected to came and released him. That meant that he was somehow connected to Link.

"And what is your connection to our Champion? You also haven't told me your name."

The shade grins wider as he can see the princess's feathers have been ruffled. "I don't really have a name, as for how we're connected. I'm her shadow. Or more precisely, I'm the shadow of one of the Heroes of Hyrule that have long since turned to legend."

"A shadow?" The princess seemed even more weary at the confession from the shade, concern growing in her eyes. He wondered how she would react, what she must be thinking.

"I see, then I suppose you will need to stay near the Champion so she can keep an eye on you and make sure you are not going to turn on us."

The shade spreads a wide smile across his face while internally frowning. He knew the princess must be suspicious of him, but she had to realize that the person he would pose the most threat to if he turned on them would be Link. This knowledge adds to the anger burning in him for the Hylians. None of them cared for their hero. She was just a tool for them to defend themselves with. One look at Link though and the shade knows she at least aware of what he could do to her, even if he isn't aware that the princess knows as well.

The anger burns hot in his chest.