AN: It's adventure time! ~
Link probably wishes that he could just go on a normal date, like visit a cafe or something. But Shad is living his best life and nobody is going to stop him.
Chapter 21 - Here, There Be Monsters
Link paced anxiously along the edge of Lake Hylia, which had looked brilliant in the morning sun, some three days after he'd vanished from Kakariko. He took advantage of the long moment that the scholar spent staring over the Sky Cannon in order to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen.
And this time, the delay had been particularly torturous for Shad - who'd thought of nothing but him in the brief window of absence. He'd discovered that writing alone at his desk now completely failed to offer the same escape he once clung to. And, somewhat shamelessly, he'd also caught himself zoning out on several occasions... now frequented by the sensation of those shy lips moving against his, and butterflies that had nowhere else to escape but through the trembling in his hands or in the heat that rolled off of his face.
However, true to his word the hero returned on the afternoon of the second day. And after watching the scholar send off the rest of his belongings to Castle Town on the next carriage, all that were left for him to do was to escort the man himself to Lake Hylia for the perilous voyage ahead.
The night's ride to the lake had been interesting... to say the least.
Shad, who was still thrown by the new dynamic in their relationship - or by horseback riding in general - had beamed at the opportunity to place his arms around his new flame as they rode together. But ultimately, the excitement was rather short-lived, as the rough journey had given him quite the bout of motion sickness.
"Are you feeling alright, Shad?" Link had comforted him during a much-needed break.
"Y-Yes, old boy... I'm quite fine... really..." He'd panted.
"... I uh, should probably let you know that there are Stalhounds in this area of the field at night. I don't mind holding them off for a while though, if you're still feeling unwell...?"
"There are undead out here - in this precise area?" Shad paled. He'd looked at Link twice to ensure that he hadn't been joking before immediately hoisting himself back up onto Epona - thoroughly conscious of the fact that living behind the city walls had made him a prime target for pranks such as these.
"Heavens, let us be on our way, then...!"
Eventually they'd made their way down into the water basin where the Sky Cannon was situated onto an island, fully repaired in all its immense glory. Then, as the sun finally rose over the water, the serene beauty of the lake came alive with shimmering hues of light blue and purple. It seemed almost a shame to leave it all behind.
"Well, this is it." Link laughed nervously. "... I can't promise what it'll be like up there... or even if the cannon's gonna work the way that we planned. But I've put it into the best hands Hyrule has to offer! Just like you with the Dominion Rod. So, I think our chances are pretty good."
This response had elicited a sideways glance from Shad.
"You've... not used this before? Not even on a practice run?"
"Nope! No time!" He said, running a hand through his yellow hair. "So, are you... ready for this?"
The scholar laughed far more heartily than usual, wiping the residual tears from his eyes before he'd patted himself down to check for the essentials. And they were all there; the notebook, the sketchbook, writing supplies, his spare glasses and Ashei's flask... in the event that everything went very wrong and he needed to smooth his transition from the mortal realm.
"Goddesses, Link. May I have your permission to speak freely?"
"Always."
"I think you are completely, and utterly, barking mad. A genius, nonetheless, but... mad. And perhaps... the most exceptional person I have ever had the good fortune of meeting. You've brought us this far. I am... as ready as I'll ever be."
The swordsman smiled as he held out his arm, locking determinately onto Shad's eyes. "Then hold onto me. As much as you can! And, uh... don't let go for the love of Nayru. Seriously, don't. You might end up sort of..."
"Terribly maimed or deceased?" Shad chuckled as he wrapped his own arm around the younger man, gripping fiercely onto his gloved hand. "... I should be so lucky."
"Trust me Shad, that's better than finding out what'll happen to me in town if I head back there alone."
'... Come on, Link.I don't like this at all.' Midna whispered urgently into his ear, feeling rather unnerved by this latest development in their plans. 'How are we supposed to work up there if he can hear me? And how do you know he hasn't been eavesdropping on us the entire time? It's not too late to ditch him, you know-'
"Aww, don't be scared." Link teased, directing this at his shadowy counterpart more so than the anxious man standing shakily at his side.
"I could not be less scared!" The scholar laughed sarcastically. "Flying through the air without so much as a parachute or even an inkling as to where we will land? Why, this is precisely the sort of thrill my research was lacking."
"Great! At least one of us is into it... cause I'm, uh... really not the best with heights."
"You're having second thoughts about this?!"
"We're going in, now. Hold on."
Then suddenly, the hero whipped out a curiously lethal spring-loaded device, that most resembled the talons of a hawk. But before Shad could even ask what it was for, it shot them forward with the speed of an arrow - pulling the pair sharply through the air and straight into the loading core of the Sky Cannon. Link certainly wasn't kidding around when he said that he'd really needed to hold on.
In all but a few seconds the machinery around them came alive and the cannon angled itself up into the air, locking onto its hidden mark - before...
BANG!
They were launched mercilessly into the Sky with such violent and immense force that Shad had found it impossible to scream, let alone get in another breath of air. Adrenaline surged through his body and enlivened him down to the fingertips, causing his lungs to seize and his mind to grip desperately onto consciousness. Some distant part of him knew that if he'd gone under, then there was no guarantee that he'd still be holding onto Link... if and when, he ever woke up.
"AHHHHHH!"
At his side - and unfortunately, the polar opposite - the swordsman clenched his eyes shut and screamed so loudly that it nearly drowned out the deafening sound of the wind in their ears. He'd grabbed wildly onto Shad, with both arms now instead of one, making it even harder for him to breathe and unwittingly sabotaging their likelihood of a safe landing.
There was a tipping point of the journey, in which the scholar absently noted that they were, in fact, falling back down through the clouds from some ungodly height... towards what appeared to be an island floating in the sky below.
Closer.
And closer it came.
Until the last thing he remembered was a sudden, frigid plunge...
Link and Shad crashed loudly into an ancient basin of freshwater that had all but exploded under their fast trajectory - catching them more efficiently than any cloud in the sky. The swordsman felt the air in his lungs squeezed inwards by the immediate pressure of the water, wondering wildly for a moment where it had actually come from, before he'd launched himself off the bottom of the pool and surfaced in one piece...
Functional, though thoroughly shaken.
"... Shad?" He spluttered incoherently, turning himself around as he treaded the water. The shock of flying had made him light-headed, and it was difficult to get his bearings, let alone try to find somebody who was missing.
"Shad! Where are you? SHAD?!"
He'd then looked down and - to his immense relief - spotted the scholar not too far away from where he'd landed, lying listlessly against the carved tiles along the bottom. Link took a deep breath of air and dived under, grabbing one of Shad's loose arms before swimming him over to a row of submerged steps.
After surfacing with the unconscious man, the hero then pulled him onto a patch of grass; upon which the sun shone bore down heavily, unimpeded by any tree or mountain. Next, he'd laid him out on his back and inspected the scholar closely for any signs of bruising or trauma, who - aside from being totally drenched - appeared to be in immaculate condition.
... But this hadn't changed the very alarming fact that he was no longer breathing.
'Your emotional support human appears to be unconscious...' Midna sighed quietly from the shadows. 'Probably from the way you were strangling him all the way up here. Poor guy couldn't catch a single breath!'
"Shad, wake up! ... We made it. We're here in the city, now. SHAD!" Link cried out, shaking him by the shoulder before trying to prop his body upwards. "You have to breathe! ... DAMNIT!"
"Gracious!" Called out a new voice.
The Hylian slowly turned his attention up, utterly bewildered by the fact that someone familiar had addressed him in this moment.
"It looks as though you weren't too far behind us after all, brave adventurer."
"... Ooccoo?" He gasped.
"You won't believe this, but there's a dragon raging outside the city walls! I say we should get this one inside somewhere safe before we try to revive him - or else it just might snatch him up in those terrible claws."
"A dragon?" Link repeated, having already hauled Shad up onto his shoulders. He lumbered forward at a painfully inefficient pace, finding it much harder to support another human when they weren't able to grip or balance onto him in return. Even heavier was the knowledge that he'd just put Shad's life in far greater peril than before.
'... Now, I'm no expert on how Hylians like to do things... but in my world? We don't take our first dates with us into dragon lairs. You've gotta work up to that stuff.' Midna mused.
"Are you gonna help us or what?!" Link hissed at her through gritted teeth.
Looking ahead, he'd noticed a white-bricked building that gleamed in the light where it hadn't been overgrown by vines and grasses. Ooccoo fluttered on eagerly in front of them, directing the group to the heavily reinforced door of what appeared to be a shopfront.
'... Don't tell me I never do anything for you.' Midna objected as the powerful hand from her helmet crept slowly into view, shouldering most of the weight of the unconscious man as Link dragged them faster to safety.
The hero haphazardly combed the skies for any sign of the apparent dragon... but just as he'd given up on the mildly irritating task, a large shadow flickered over the sun. Followed by a blood-curdling screech - unlike any he'd ever heard.
'Silly boy.'
"His eyes are moving!" He'd heard a familiar voice say, accompanied by the vague, rhythmic feeling of pressure against his chest. But from where did were these sounds coming from? He simply couldn't tell.
"Come on! Wake up, wake up... you have to wake up!"
Though, he still couldn't shake the feeling there were somebody extremely important to him on the other side of the dream, through which he could only glimpse at lights and colours...
Until Shad choked suddenly.
He felt water coming up out of his nose and mouth as he turned to the side to expel it, feeling entirely wretched. And then, he noticed the smooth, cold feeling of stone beneath his hands as he took in his first, desperate gasps of air. He'd wondered where on earth he could possibly be... before looking up at the yellow and green shape sitting over him.
"... L... Link?"
"Shad! Goddesses... I thought I'd killed you..." The swordsman laughed, though he were wiping tears out of his eyes as he did so. He'd then collapsed backwards onto the tiles, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the relief that this emergency was over. "I'm so sorry, Shad! I didn't mean for that to happen! It was my fault... I'm sorry."
"... Link, what is going on?" The scholar murmured as he sat up, draping his hand over the other man's shoulders in support. "Are we... dead, per chance?"
Upon adjusting his glasses and glancing around the room, he'd found himself admiring the intricate carvings on the walls, which flowed synchronically into each other like the shape of the wind. Next, he'd seen that base of the building were made of some kind of smooth, polished granite, though curiously light in colour. Beams of gold lined the skeleton of the building and his eyes were drawn to a bench nearby, upon which several familiar items were displayed - such as potions, arrows and bombs...
And then, he shouted in panic.
"WH-WHAT... in all of the realms...?!" Shad gasped, nearly falling onto Link as he lurched backwards.
To their side he'd noticed something that looked almost like a Cuccoo in shape and stature - and totally covered in yellow feathers - if not for its tiny face that nearly resembled that of a human's. The creature's eyes gleamed with red as it stared back at him, tilting its head with an apparent curiosity.
"I say, this one is rather lively for one who was unconscious not so long ago!"
This comment had come from yet another one of those things, which were sitting up on the bench beside the array of goods.
"Link, there are these... strange creatures all around us in this room! Do you not see them?! Why... why aren't you... reacting?"
"If a little bit rude, unfortunately. Although, one could be forgiven if it is their first contact with the Oocca tribe. We haven't seen your kind up here in centuries!"
Shad then stared right into the face of Ooccoo, who regarded the flustered Hylian some metres away from her side... and they blinked at each other in wonderment. Though he were trying hard not lose it, there was something deeply unsettling about that tiny humanesque face on a bird's body.
"Pardon my shouting but...are you... perhaps the surviving members of the Oocca?" The scholar finally enquired, after taking a moment to reign in his emotions. At the very least, the critter before him appeared to be intelligent beyond compare to any of the other animals on the surface. Except, perhaps Louise.
"Indeed, that is what I am!" The fellow being nodded.
"... Goddesses, they... they just seem SO different from the pictures and illustrations! Could this really be true? To put it colloquially, I-I'm... well, I'm rather a fan."
"And I am pleased to see that you are also fluent in the Hylian word. This must be the default language for those who look like you, yes? Could you imagine if this were not the case? What a pain, that would be!"
"...!"
Link watched as something clicked into place in Shad's mind, betrayed by his eyes that had lit up excitedly before he cleared his throat. And then - he began to speak in some incomprehensible language, using strange sounds and inflections that anybody would've struggled to spell. Immediately, Ooccoo flapped her wings and began to mirror the language back to him. The exchange went on - with only minor pauses, in which the scholar considered his next response.
"Uh... wow...!" Link praised.
Even stranger, Shad seemed to have switched dialects halfway through, into something that had sounded much more decipherable and almost familiar. And then the Oocca behind the counter spoke up, eliciting an amused chuckle from the scholar.
Was it traditional Zoran? ... Link could barely tell, as those books had always been a rarity in his village growing up. Though apparently, that had not been the case up here.
"Sarqso." He'd then finalised with a grateful nod, switching languages for a third time. "We are ever so grateful for your assistance!"
'Gotta say, even I'm a little impressed.' Midna hummed. '... Good job on bagging this one, Link. Beauty fades.'
"Shad! What did they say to you?" Link asked him excitedly, after observing their conversations from the side.
"Well first of all, they've agreed to be interviewed once I can find a place to dry my books! Which shouldn't be any problem up here - apparently there are violent gusts of wind due to the presence of a winged dragon. Who knew that the Oocca would be so affable? I wonder how long they've been up here-"
"Wait, so you... know about the dragon, then?" The swordsman clarified, unable to hide the concern on his face. "And you're... alright with that? You're not mad that I brought you up here?"
"Please, Link. There is no use in fretting over such things! Vicious as it may be." Shad smirked. This had come from the same man who'd nearly crumpled over with anguish upon meeting the hero properly for the first time, after he'd quipped at his outfit in the streets.
"These are heavily reinforced buildings that have outlasted time itself! Therefore, we should be safe indoors. The most difficult task will be condensing all of the information I receive into a single book. Blast it, I knew I should've brought more materials with me..."
"... Oh... yeah, haha."
Although Link were feeling thankful to be back on board with Shad's unshakable enthusiasm, this still left one outstanding problem for him to deal with.
Slaying the dragon.
Even worse, slaying a monster that had the power to fly away with him on its back or throw him off into the abyss, giving rise to his worst instinctive fears. And there were little other conceivable evidence to suggest that anything else in the Sky had been corrupted, beyond the emergence of this new, terrifying beast.
All signs pointed to the dragon as being the source of the Mirror Shard.
"Oh, and before we go..." Shad began. He'd already climbed onto his feet and reached out to help Link up off the floor, totally ambivalent to the fact that he'd nearly drowned mere minutes ago. "Apparently there is a Citadel some walking distance away outside, which has been locked in lieu of the attacks. Ooccoo would like to accompany us there."
"I'm afraid that given the circumstances, it won't be much of a tour!" She relayed. "I'm terribly worried about the others. I wonder how many survivors there are?"
"... Is everything alright, old boy? You still seem a little... out of sorts."
Without realising it, Link had been staring intently into the wall, dreaming of all the possible ways that this mission could go wrong.
"Apart from you nearly drowning? ... It's fine." He'd hesitated, before holding out his hat for Ooccoo to jump into and hide, like old times. "It's gonna be wild once we get outside, especially if that thing catches us. Are you ready then, Shad?"
"Of course."
Sensing this trepidation in the younger man, the scholar squeezed Link's hand to reassure him as they departed for the world outside, earning a smile from the mentally exhumed swordsman. And then, they pushed through the heavy metal door, back into the harsh sunlight along the grassy strip.
After looking around for the first time, Shad squeezed onto Link even harder with excitement - basking in the sheer otherworldliness of the picture around them.
They were surrounded by a group of floating islands, which were buffeted heavily in the breeze, turning a variety of panels and fans that seemed to be propelling them into place. The atmosphere was so bright that it forced Shad to squint as he observed the buildings, noticing the same white-bricked motifs and domed architecture throughout the province. Pools of water dotted paths of overgrown grasses and vines, with some of them trickling like rivers, flowing down into the world below.
And the clouds around them burned brightly, like bunches of silver cotton in the sun - diminished only by the endless stretch of azure across the sky. The entire scene would've been flawless if not for the plague numbers of Kargaroks that circled menacingly overhead.
"It's... beautiful." Shad breathed. "Utterly majestic."
Seeing the scholar's reaction to this place compelled the swordsman into a grin, pushing whatever anxieties he still had into the recesses of his mind.
"You really think so?"
"Oh dear, it appears as though I might be having a moment..." The scholar trailed off, facing away to hide the tears in his eyes.
"Sorry but we've gotta keep it moving. It's not safe out here." Link reminded, though he smiled gently as he'd done so. "But Shad... I'm so glad that you're here. This was almost worth the land."
"... Oh no, Link! I had completely forgotten! This place must be awful for you considering how high up we are! I hadn't even considered-"
Interrupting him, one of the violent gales that Shad had warned him about suddenly tore across the strip, causing the swordsman to gasp as he literally clung to the scholar for dear life.
"It's... ALRIGHT! I'll be alright... as long as I can't... see what's down there... but don't move!"
They'd waited an agonising minute for the breeze to die down before continuing on toward the citadel, treading carefully along the grass as they pushed onward. Upon closer inspection, Link had also noticed that the stonewalls which ran along most of the paths in this place were, in fact, decayed in several areas... hitting him with a wave of nausea at the prospect of being blown off the edge.
He then gripped even tighter onto the scholar's arm, feeling horribly embarrassed that Shad - of all people - had to see him panicking in the middle of an assignment. He'd also hoped that the rest of the Resistance wouldn't hear about this later given all of the other, far more favourable stories about him floating around in the bar.
"I daresay that these gusts might not be such a problem with the two of us." Shad chuckled as he delighted in the attention.
... But then, something else obstructed their path.
'LINK - watch where you're going!' Midna shouted abruptly into his ears.
A red and black striped Baba Serpent slithered up and out of the tall grasses in front of them, hissing and snapping its jaws as its blue, forked tongue flickered out through its teeth.
"Get back!" Link warned, his voice jumping as he held the scholar at bay. He'd known just how terrible those needle-sharp dentures felt wrapped around the midsection of his body and followed suit to move backwards. However, the split second delay was all that it took for the Serpent to lurch forward and grab onto his leg.
It imbedded itself hungrily into his shin, piercing easily through the swordsman's clothing with its terrible mouth.
"AGHHH!"
In a clumsy display that betrayed his usual sharpness, the younger man then fell backwards - grabbing desperately onto the grass with his hands as the Serpent dragged him closer. Its teeth were like stubborn hooks and he'd found himself panicking at the very real prospect of being dragged over the edge, more so than having his body crunched again in those jaws.
It was the only thing stopping him from reaching for his sword.
The hero soon found himself losing the battle to keep himself grounded as the bundles of grass slipped further out of his fingers, taunting him with the death he feared most, when suddenly - SMACK - the Clawshot punched straight into the creature's mouth.
Link shook his leg free and then scrambled to his feet, taking advantage of the moment that the monster was stunned to slash it into strips. The Serpent's hissing and clicking subsided as the rest of the plant then burned away, curdling under the steel that had severed its head.
Though he hadn't said a word, the swordsman slowly turned to face his more studious counterpart, wearing the face of a man who was floored.
"You... you shot it."
"I did." Shad swallowed. "It grabbed onto your leg and I just could not bear to watch it, so I... uh..."
"How did you know to do that?"
"... I'd already observed you using this once before at the lake." Shad smirked, holding the Clawshot carefully in both of his hands. "And it just seemed a wasted opportunity not to, while it was distracted. Though I do hope that bite isn't too serious, old boy... it looked dreadfully painful."
"Ah... haha. They don't normally grab me like this. It's cause I was distracted-" He'd immediately cut himself off from continuing, not wanting to offend the beautiful man at his side. Orgive Midna the satisfaction of being right. "Um, what I mean is... thank you, Shad. That was quick thinking."
"Does it hurt?"
"That's nothing, seriously. I've got tonnes of scars already, and a couple of burns... some from the ice." He laughed, stopping himself once again before the questions became too numerous.
'... I was hoping that you'd say yes, so that I could kiss it better...'
Shad bit down onto the side of his mouth, stopping himself before he would ever say something so unprofessional at work. He then went to strap the Clawshot back onto Link's belt, before the younger man pushed it back into his hands.
"Here. Use it for now." He smiled, brimming with confidence. "I can cut down anything if you hit it first. If that wouldn't turn your stomach, that is... some of the monsters can get a bit uh, messy."
"You are really willing to trust me with this?" He'd blinked, wondering when his peers had begun to regard him as a fighter. "I am not much in the way of combat. But I... would be honoured to do so."
"Just keep those glasses on when you fire! It packs a punch." The hero teased.
Soon they'd reached the door of the City itself and the pair breathed a collective sigh of relief. An overwhelming shadow of suspense lingered over the building before them, mostly due to the fact that whatever was in there hadn't been encountered by humans in their era - even for Link, who was no stranger to many of the sacred places of Hyrule.
"Link, everything is going to be fine." The scholar assured, reading the faraway look in his eyes.
"Stay close to me once we're in there, alright? I've made promises to people that you'd come back in one piece-"
But then the winds picked up again, causing the fan structures surrounding them to shudder loudly under their might. And although they were mostly sheltered against the City doors, the two men both failed to escape the ear-splitting shriek that assaulted them through the air.
Suddenly - coming far too close for comfort - the dragon swept across the sky in a fleeting burst of red wings and dark talons that resembled onyx in the light. It swooped only inches over the path they'd only just traversed, and then the dragon then powered itself upward, flapping with such ferocity that the humans below it were buffeted in the blast.
"Ooccoo! Get the door!" Link urged, relinquishing the tiny creature from the protection of his hat.
"Oh, good gracious!" She flapped, scattering yellow feathers in the air around them as she fussed with the City key.
Shad couldn't look away as he witnessed the dragon charging towards the delicate paths that bridged the surrounding islands, failing to clear the grounds as it smashed deliberately through them. These remnant stretches of earth linking the City together were no more, and they tumbled down into the clouds below, forever removed from their homeland.
"That thing! It is... actively destroying this place. How DARE you!"
As the scholar shouted, his voice bounded off the buildings and flew upwards, taunting the terrible creature that circled above them.
"Shad, the door's open! We have to go-"
"... HOW DARE YOU DESTROY THIS CITY?! YOU VILE THING... YOU FIEND!"
"Goddesses, what are you doing?! It's a dragon!"
It suddenly occurred to him that Ashei had warned him about this.
But multiple attempts had already been made upon their lives along this perilous stretch of road, and now, Link was no longer in the mood to mess around. He latched onto Shad's shoulder and pulled him fiercely into the building just as the dragon tilted its head and plummeted down. This conspicuous movement also caught the attention of several Kargaroks, which then began to hover menacingly around the door.
"It heard you!"
"I most sincerely hope that it DID!" Shad argued back passionately as they stumbled in through the entrance to the citadel, drawing the attention of the several Oocca who were gathered about the room. The interruption was short lived before they immediately scattered, hiding behind the various pillars and decaying structures of the building.
Now the dragon was flapping its wings beyond the door, leering in at the two humans with its dark, incongruous eyes. More distracting were the enormous jaws that protruded from its face, with rows of jagged fangs and a forked tongue that curled in the air around it.
Instinctively, Link's eyes darted over it for any areas of weakness, finding only that there were curious flashes of red beneath the dark chassis plating its body - matching the colour of its wings. And, upon closer inspection, he'd also noticed something strange about the tail...
"LEAVE THIS PLACE AT ONCE, YOU MISCREANT...!" Shad warned, momentarily stunning some of the surrounding Kargaroks with the Clawshot. Arrows soon whistled into view from where the hero stood, felling them within the blink of an eye.
"Get DOWN!" Link commanded as the dragon drew its head back.
He'd lunged for the door just as a jet of white-hot flame came pouring out of the dragon's jaws - curtailed only by the wall of impenetrable metal that came crashing down. The swordsman could still feel the heat from the other side as he leaned against it, his eyes locked angrily with the scholar.
"What the hell's gotten into you up here?!" He panted, looking wilder than ever in his frazzled state. Crashing into a bed of water, being thrown around in the wind and then being attacked by a carnivorous plant had definitely taken a toll on his appearance.
"... Shad, you're crazy!"
"I simply HAD to give it a piece of my mind!" The scholar argued back. "Did you not see how much damage it's caused in the short time we've been here? Imagine if such a thing were to be left unchecked! Why, there'd be nothing left..."
"You need to be more careful!"
"We were perfectly safe in here, were we not?"
Shad then picked himself up off of the ground and levelled with the swordsman, their voices echoing in the otherwise quiet chamber. "... Am I to stand idly by while the city is destroyed?!"
"Look, we've only been here for five minutes and EVERYTHING is trying to kill you! You can't go around insulting every dangerous creature we come across!"
The dragon emitted another screech from outside before it finally flew off, its wings thundering in the wind as it passed.
"Well, Link, I did not come all this way to be scared." Shad defended, lowering his voice back down to a reasonable level. The two were now face to face, huddled against the wall in the corner of the room.
Gradually, the sharp glint in the hero's eye dwindled down... his gaze softening as he took in a deep breath of relief.
"... Neither did I." He chastised.
Ending the argument, the scholar held fast onto Link's shoulders and then pulled him onto his lips.
The initial movement was a little too abrupt for Link to have ever thought it really were coming from Shad, but the kiss itself was entirely different. He'd found it equal parts delicate and soothing, and embarrassingly, he'd failed to stifle a moan in response. This had only urged the scholar onward, whose soft lips pried his mouth open just a little more... deepening the encounter in exactly the manner he'd refrained from doing before.
After a couple of minutes of entanglement against the wall, the two finally broke away with Shad catching his breath as he'd done so - the fight now thoroughly drained out of his eyes.
"... Wow, I... I can't believe you did that to shut me up." Link laughed before moving in to ruffle Shad's hair, which had been through a terrible amount of stress for one day. "... Maybe we should fight more often, if that's what it takes to get you going?"
"S-Sorry, Link, I..." He fumbled, turning bright red as he faced away to collect himself. Never in his life had he grabbed onto somebody so possessively and the guilt in doing so had forced him to question his conduct. "... I should have asked. I always ask. Perhaps Iam being too rash up here."
"Hey, it's fine. I mean, you definitely are when it comes to the monsters but there's nothing else to be sorry for. I... really enjoyed that."
After a brief pause, the scholar then turned back around, adjusting his glasses with a coy glint in his eye. "... Well, if we are to die up here then let us have no regrets, yes?" He smirked.
"I can work with that." Link blushed as he caught his bearings once again, now determined to get them through the city so that he could live to remember such a mad encounter.
"Shall we continue on, then? I simply cannot wait to see the rest of this place."
Despite another unfortunate incident - in which Link was horrified to discover that the lower areas of the city were prone to crumbling under the weight of humans and then falling into the void - the pair endeavoured to spend the rest of the journey sticking to the higher reaches of the City.
They'd managed to cover most of the ground safely and efficiently, occasionally taking the time to stop and marvel at how the Oocca defied gravity by walking vertically along the walls. Breaks were also allowed for Shad to scrawl into his notebook, chatting to the various citizens as he went.
"... Remember, they're more than happy to help us out if we get stuck, old boy."
"Even if they lose all their feathers in the process?" Link cringed, having already grabbed one of them in a panic when the floor started to give way.
"Well, we are somewhat famous up here now, if that helps you to feel better about it?" The scholar assured. He'd also found himself laughing at the absurdity of the fact that these creatures were also studying him.
Eventually, they arrived at a spacious hallway with an incredibly high ceiling - which was obviously central to the rest of the ruin. The elaborate room broke off into three directions and held a large metal chandelier, which hung conspicuously overhead. The swordsman peered up at it and considered the four crumbling columns that surrounded it, overgrown with the same thick vines that had claimed much of the City's walls.
"... This must be where we part ways, yes?" Shad smiled, breaking the hero out of his thoughts.
'He reads minds! That's how he's been able to hear me all this time!' Midna gasped dramatically into Link's ear.
"Don't be silly!"
"Silly, am I?" The scholar echoed, curiously. The other man simply laughed in an effort to recover from his slip-up.
'... But seriously Link, I've been trying to get you to ditch him for the past hour. We can't keep on like this and the rest of the dungeon is only going to get harder. You'll be doing both of yourselves a favour.'
"Oh, um... what I meant, was that I wasn't planning on splitting away from you so soon." Link explained. "But this area does look pretty safe. Maybe that would be best for both of us... and you can catch up on your notes? I might be gone for a while but I'll check on you when I can."
The older man seemed to be glowing with endorsement as he took a seat upon the wide staircase that reached up towards the Northern door, admiring the intricate patterns that ran into the stonework.
"Go, on." He beckoned. "I shan't get in the way of what you came here to do. But... Link?"
"Yes, Shad?"
"Please do be careful. More so than an idiot scholar, trying to defend the discovery of their dreams from a fire-breathing beast. I recognise that there is a terrible double-standard at play here but... you will promise me this, won't you?"
"... I promise." He smiled, crouching down to give the scholar a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead before he departed to the Eastern wing. Suddenly, the prospect of traversing over ground that was prone to collapsing or clinging desperately onto the grates didn't seem so unbearable.
Evening soon fell over the clouds, transforming them from pearly white into dark, billowing sails of navy and red, laced with the dying light of the sun. The upper reaches of the atmosphere melted into a deep and flawless indigo and then, the stars burst into view - dusting the horizon with a subdued light that completely submersed the City in the Sky.
With all the hours of the day now gone and his notebook filled to the last page after an interview with Ooccoo, Shad had since taken the time to simply gaze upon the world around him - though, curiously, he'd noted that by some magic the one below were impossible to glimpse from up here. He sat along an edge that opened out into a window and looked upon the celestial expanse with pure ardour.
'I never thought that such a wondrous thing would be possible for me... and yet...'
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the jingling of a chain, which sent his heart fluttering as he searched around the room; wondering where it could possibly be coming from... and whether this were his cue to hide.
"Hey!" Came a familiar voice. "Look up."
The scholar glanced up into the ceiling where he saw the hero, suspended in the air from the chandelier.
"Great Goddesses, Link!" He gasped. "How in the blazes did you get up there?"
And then, watching in awe, he followed as the swordsman in green shot himself with another instrument onto the nearest set of vines, moving from pillar to pillar until he were standing right next to Shad upon the windowsill. The scholar inspected the new Clawshot in his hands, comparing it to the original before he gasped at the fact that it seemed to be identical down to the last very last etching.
"It wasn't easy but I found a way up there to the dragon." The hero smiled. "Fighting it in the dark wouldn't the smartest idea though, so... I'm waiting until morning to deal with it."
"You truly intend on fighting that ungodly creature at sunrise?" Shad reiterated as he blinked with shock. "And you... aren't particularly worried about it? Good heavens Link, were all of your other assignments like this?"
"... This is why I kept everyone at a distance, Shad. It was always too dangerous to anyone else to get involved. There could be a dragon. There could also be an out-of-control snow sorceress... it's been a very unpredictable journey."
The scholar wore a puzzled expression as he mulled the following question over in his head. Of course, he didn't want to seem ungrateful, but the sheer absurdity of being taken along when he was the only member of the Resistance who couldn't fight was fast becoming apparent to him.
"Then, if it would not be too discourteous of me to ask... what makes me so different? I carry no delusions over my capabilities. And I am certain that this was not for the purposes of a date."
"Well, um, dating stuff aside... I know that you've been chasing this place longer than anyone." The younger man replied, keeping it as honest as he could. "Before all the problems even started happening in Hyrule. And then you were there for Ilia, so I... guess I feel like I still owed you. Oh, and I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. In the beginning this would've been impossible but... now?"
Against his usual hesitant nature, Link smiled with an inner confidence that he'd always carried yet was rarely shown.
"And, if I may ask... what of the others who were able to fight alongside you?" Shad found himself wondering. "How did they react to your secretive methods?"
"... Auru and Rusl stepped aside, intentionally, I think. They never asked for an explanation but they definitely knew that there was a lot more going on... and that I'd be better off working alone."
"And our iron lady?"
"Is that an official nickname?" The swordsman smirked. "Yeah, she was... difficult."
Shad chuckled lightly, having made himself all too familiar with Ashei's merciless work ethic. "I recall you two having problems in the beginning. But still, old boy, she's taken a shine to you faster than anyone! It was... rather painful for me to watch."
"That whole thing really was my fault." Link admitted, sheepishly. "I hid the truth from her... like I've been doing to you all this time. And not everyone is happy working under these conditions. But Shad... I wouldn't trade the support you've given me for the world. And um, Ashei, she's... one of a kind. You're... lucky to have her around."
"... Indeed. I could not imagine things otherwise."
Another hour or so passed, in which the two watched the skies together, drinking in the quiet of the evening. But eventually the swordsman began to rub his eyes and he'd failed to stifle a yawn that the scholar also found contagious.
"We've had a really big day." He'd said, as he inspected the slightly run-down leather of his gloves. "... Did you wanna try and find somewhere to rest?"
"Yes, let's." Shad smiled gently as he took his hand, leading Link away from the starry ledge and back to the main floor of the hallway.
"I was also thinking that maybe we could... sleep next to each other, if that'll make roughing it easier on you?" The swordsman offered.
"I would like that. Very much."
Spending the night on the ground without so much as a blanket seemed like an incredibly rough prospect for one that was so accustomed to a bed indoors, and it the irony hadn't been lost on Link that it was now his turn to induct the other man into his sleeping routine. But Shad hadn't seemed bothered by this in the slightest.
He curled up enthusiastically into one of the nooks beside a fallen column and then wrapped his arms around the younger man, as though to cushion him against the stone. Link pressed against his chest in return, nestling his head into the area beneath his neck.
"... Thank you for choosing to trust me, Shad. With this investigation and... all the other stuff, too." He said quietly.
"You don't need to thank me, old boy. I would follow you anywhere to repay your kindness. Always."
Another brief silence followed, in which the two wordlessly enjoyed each others company and the swordsman felt the other man's heart racing stealthily against his head. However, the restless fidgeting of their hands and feet suggested that actually falling asleep was still some hours away.
"... What are you thinking about now?" Shad prompted, smiling at him through the dark.
"... Ilia." He confessed.
"I know she's doing better since we found her memories. But... I still think about her in town, every night that I'm not there."
The scholar knotted his fingers in Link's hair as he held him, considering the much-improved status of the young girl back home. "I've never known a more gentle and courageous soul. To have survived so much, and to still care for others and work as hard she has... it is quite simply put, amazing."
"You think she's cute too, don't you?" Link teased him.
"Indisputably." He agreed.
"... Would it be too venturesome of me to ask for the story of how you two met? I am rather aware that... the circumstances might be rather heavy for you to recount. However, I do find myself curious over such a fated encounter."
"I will... but only if you tell me the story of how you and Ashei met." Link grinned at him through the dark. "I tried to ask her once and she laughed in my face."
"Oh dear. I suppose we are going for total embarrassment here!" Shad laughed. "Very well. Allow me to tell you of the time in which I offered to buy a drink for a mysterious young lady at the bar... only for Telma to turn around and eagerly introduce her as our new associate. I nearly ended up with it thrown over my head for erroneously assuming that we were, in fact, waiting for a man."
The swordsman stifled a laugh of his own, finding his thoughts all but vanishing away from the matter of the dragon.
"She stopped once she realised how handsome you were though, right?"
"Ah... if only that had ever worked." He chuckled.
'Interesting...'
The cold light of the spirits robbed the bedroom of any familiarity, silently chilling the air and freezing even the specs of dust that floated into proximity. Icy fractals began to form along the windowpane, which were unheard of in this part of the world, lulling any who were susceptible to the cold into a deep slumber.
'Very interesting...'
He'd always visited in the brief window that existed before dawn - sensing a stillness in the air unlike any other time of day. And it just so happened that now was quieter than ever before... allowing him to work unfettered, to his heart's content.
'These strange people he keeps around... he runs in and out of here, using every last one of them to further his plans...'
Green burned away into red as she stared forward into the mirror, sitting dutifully upon the floorboards where her knees jutted against the hard ground.
'And you, my pet... you must be so tired of being the scapegoat. The false motivation for his power... surely you realise by now that you could've never belonged in his world? And that this has all been some great accident...'
"Link..." She whimpered.
The lights in her eyes danced with the memories as they came flooding back, flashing through her mind and leaving the body in the form of whispers. She'd seen many things of the orphaned boy who stumbled into their village all those years ago.
There were also times when he'd felt tempted to reach out and touch the face of the sweet girl that had helped him so far... but such things could only ever be fantasies from beyond the glass.
'However, you've proven very useful to me. In all the time you've spent with them, you've seen so much...!'
"Link... please... stop it..." She begged.
Her pale skin was luminous against the void, which began to shrink away as the shadow left her with a departing smile. Her memories slowed and soon everything was dark... as dark as it ought to have been in Castle Town at this hour.
'Shhh. Won't you be a good girl and rest now? Until tomorrow-'
But the yowling of a strange creature from outside of the room interrupted him.
And then, the door burst open to reveal a familiar face, a striking girl who he'd never seen before but who he'd known well, in all her wild fury. Her dark eyes burned with anger as she breathed hard against the cold, staring into the face of the most inexplicable thing she had ever seen.
'... Ah. I was wondering when I might finally meet you, Miss Ashei.'
Before the monster could say anything else, her sword whirled towards the mirror and shattered it into pieces, spraying broken glass all over the room. She was sure that she'd caught the smile on his face as he disintegrated, his unnatural connection to the room now severed in all of the fragments.
A violent crack of lightning and thunder woke Shad the next morning, who then snuck himself out of the citadel, fearing what he might discover once he braved the storm outside.
Without the Clawshot to pull himself across the island, he could only stand upon the precipice and watch as the dragon - now stripped away to nothing but its scaly, crimson hide - struggled in the air with the swordsman clinging onto its back. His sword glinted in the lightning strikes as it came down, again and again, piercing into the most vulnerable area on the creature's back.
Thick jets of flame, which were blue flowing into orange, erupted sporadically out of the dragon's mouth as it let out another screech.And then it flapped violently - higher and higher above the island - in a final act of desperation to kill the hero with its fall.
In a panic, Link immediately hooked himself onto the nearest pillar and out of harm's way before the beast came crashing down from the heavens. The scholar gasped as he heard it slam hard into the island, all but disappearing into a scatter of shadow fragments, which pulled towards some unknown centre of gravity.
Shaking with adrenaline, the hero then climbed back down to receive the last piece of the Twilight Mirror - hoping to finally open the bridge between worlds and put an end to the war.
But before he did so, his eyes combed over the citadel and then locked onto Shad, who stood alone in the rain, some hundreds of metres away.
'Link, we need to hurry to the Mirror Chamber.' Midna reminded him. '... Get your boyfriend out of here safely and then we'll talk. There's... something important I need to tell you.'
"Damnit, I... I really didn't want him to see me like that."
'What - effortlessly slaying a dragon? Even in my world, people go for that kind of thing. You've done well.'
Eventually, once the rain whittled down, he began the descent.
And then he'd found himself in Shad's arms, whose eyes of deep indigo were struck with a profound sadness. Upon closer inspection he'd also noticed that some of the hero's hair and the areas where his forearms met his tunic were burnt in the attack. He'd pressed his lips to Link's forehead before crushing him in the embrace, wondering how he could've fought like this - alone - for so long.
"Does it hurt?" Shad said quietly.
"... Not as much with you here." Link assured him.
AN: And that's a wrap on our latest arc! Things are gonna get a little "darker" as we head towards the end of the game. ;) These chapters might also need some extra time to get right but I promise they are on their way!
Potential spoilers ahead; if you have any concerns about the ending, I will also give notice ahead of time that there are no character deaths but there will be injuries... and that we do end up with poly undertones in the ships (mixture of platonic, romantic and sexual - within the confines of the T rating).
Many thanks and hope you enjoyed! :)