Hello! Hope this chapter finds everyone healthy and well! Sadly the pandemic had left me with a major writers block, but this past week i got a major kick back into it! Woohoo!
Hope you all enjoy!
On With the Story!
The sky was barely changing in hue when the Links awoke and started to move about. When Blue woke up, Shadow was already up, getting everything he could together and shoving what he could into their bags. Blue could see the dark circles under the shadowlings eyes, and the slight tremors of his hands; those being clear signs that the boy did not have a good night. Walking up to him, Blue gave a tap to his arm, causing Shadow to jump.
"Blue!" Shadow hissed, his eyes having a brief flash of panic and fear cross it. "What the fuck?!"
"Sorry." Blue said in a hushed tone, glancing back to the beds, making sure none of them woke up. The blue clothed boy turned back to Shadow right as he let out a tired sigh, grabbing one of his wrist, to rub it.
"It's not your fault." Shadow said in the same hush tone. "I guess I'm just on edge." Blue nodded in understanding. He watched for a moment as Shadow continued to rub his wrist, if not a bit rough. Blue sighed before reaching out and gently prying the purple haired boy's hand away.
"Rough night?" He asked as he handed an empty bottle that was sitting on the nightstand beside them into Shadow's hand. Shadow sighed again as he took hold of the bottle, simply nodding as he looked down at it.
"Yeah." He said in a breath. "You could say that." Shadow continued to fiddle with the bottle as Blue grabbed his own bag and began to put his own things away.
"Did you wanna talk about it?" Shadow hesitated as he stood there for a moment, before sinking to the ground and placing the bottle in his bag. Blue crouched down as well, placing a hand on the shadowling's shoulder.
"You don't have to." He corrected, "If you're not up to it, I can understand." Something seemed to reignite in Shadow as he shook his head and grabbed a couple things on the floor.
"Not right now." He finally answered, his voice had an edge to it, like he was trying to hold something back. "Maybe later, but we need to go." Blue nodded, standing up and looking out the window. It was still dark out, the sky a dark blue. Towards the east it started to lighten in hue, but the sun wouldn't peak for another hour or so.
"I'll wake the others. We should be able to get out of here before sunrise." Blue informed Shadow, who nodded in agreement. Heading back to the bed, Blue couldn't help but glance back to Shadow and watched as he slowly stood back up to finish collecting things. Blue couldn't help but notice the slight tremors the boy's hands gave, and the look of underlying fear that Blue could clearly see he was trying to hide. He just hoped that his brother would be ok.
)*()*()*(
Once everyone was awake, it was very quick to get everything packed and the room back to how it was. Erune and her mother met them at the door with a satchel full of food and extra medical supplies. Blue and Shelda helped Vio down the stairs to Epona, and helped him mount on, the purple clad boy only speaking up when asked anything. Blue noticed this, but didn't say anything as they left town.
As they climbed the hill that would lead them to Hyrule Field, Red called out to the others;
"Guys," he said quietly, holding his bandaged arm as he stared at where they came from. "Look." Blue turned, and immediately felt his heart drop to his stomach as he saw Blue Maiden Village in the distance; a horde of monsters surrounding it, illuminated by the torches they carried.
"Oh goddesses." Shadow mumbled out as he stood beside Blue, his already pale face going white at the sight.
"There's nothing we can do." Blue heard Green say in a sober tone, "The sooner we move, the sooner we can get rid of them." Blue nodded, repeating what Green said to Shadow and Shelda.
"He's right." Shelda said, "We need to make as much distance as we can. They'll know Hyrule Castle will be our destination." Everyone nodded in agreement before briefly looking back, and then turning away and continuing they're hike towards Hyrule Field.
Blue walked beside Epona on her left while Red walked on the right, and Vio riding the faithful steed. The whole group was quiet, thinking of the innocent people they left behind in the village. Blue glanced to his left when Green came up beside him, a scrunched up look on his face. Raising an eyebrow, Blue watched as Green sniffed the air, and scrunched his face even more so.
"Something wrong, Green?" Blue asked as he watched Green repeat the process, only looking more disgusted each time. His question caught the attention of the others as they all looked over at the wolf boy. Green stayed silent for a moment, before speaking up;
"I don't mean to be rude when I say this..." Green said, trailing off at the end to think of what to say next. Everyone stopped and watched the wolf boy as he looked at them with the most disgusted, disappointing look on his face.
"But everyone here smells horrendous."
"Oh thank goodness, I thought I was imagining it!" Red exclaimed.
"I didn't want to offend anyone by saying something, but I was pretty sure none of us have bathed since the day we left for the shrine!" Blue's eyebrows furrowed together as he thought about it.
"I was submerged in water as a giant worm thing for a few days. Does that count?" he asked, looking over at the others, noticing how dirty and worn they all looked.
"No." Said Vio in a deadpanned voice, before sniffing his own tunic, and immediately grimacing at the smell. Blue watched as Shadow did the same thing, almost gagging at the smell.
"I think a quick wash down is in order." Everyone voiced their agreement to it, and with that, Green took the lead to find a suitable place to bathe.
)*()*()*(
It was about mid morning when they found a good place; one of the many rivers that run along Hyrule Field, leading to the moat surrounding Castle Town. The location they found was secluded, trees and shrubbery surrounding the shorelines, with a hill on the opposite side. The river was clear with smooth rocks coating the bottom and a soft current that would allow easy bathing, with the water coming up just above their knees. As they approached it, Blue and Shadow helped Vio dismount while Shelda discussed plans with Green and Red translated.
"Obviously, it's too dangerous to completely strip to bathe, but it'll be pointless to keep all of our clothes on." Shelda said as she scooped the area, making sure they were alone.
"Whenever we needed to bathe on trips, and couldn't strip, we'd just go down to our undergarments, wash our clothes, and wash ourselves while the clothes dry." Red said happily, tripping over a word or two as he tried to talk alongside Green. Shelda nodded, looking around once more before stating,
"I think that'll be the best bet. Someone will just have to help Red and Vio out of their bandages." Looking over to said Links, Shelda added,
"I'm sure you guys can take care of yourselves once they're removed, and I can reapply them once we're all cleaned up." Both nodded in agreement, Red settling down onto the ground as Shelda came up to carefully remove his bandages.
"Well, while you guys do that," Shadow said, grabbing an extra towel and cutting a piece off their block of soap, "I'm gonna go a bit downriver to bathe, make sure no one tries to sneak up on us." Blue watched as Shelda seemed to pause in her unwrapping, biting her lip to prevent herself from saying anything as Shadow walked through the bushes, and disappearing out of sight.
"He shouldn't be left alone for watch." Green said, directing it towards Blue, "Especially since he looks like he had an… 'eventful night'." Blue nodded in agreement, catching Vio looking they're way in confusion while Shelda helped him unbandage himself and Red began undressing as he headed towards the river.
"I'm gonna head off with Shadow, make sure he doesn't wander too far." Blue said nonchalant as he grabbed a towel for himself, leaving the soap alone since Shadow already had some.
"Alright." Shelda said, a hint of relief in her voice. "Be sure to wash out your eye if you can. Can't be that clean with it always bleeding."
"Right." Blue nodded, and added softly to Green as he passed by, "You watch the bookworm. I think he's PMSing." before turning and walking through the shrubbery and following the path that Shadow made in his trail. As he walked on, he broke through the trees to another clearing. Immediately Blue noticed Shadow standing in the river, already stripped and washing his clothes. Blue was about to call out, but felt the words die on his tongue as he noticed the light pink flowing down the river, and the blisters that slowly oozed with blood from the scars that littered his body.
Blue knew that Shadow was injured at the beginning of their journey, with what he said and remembering how he was both at the shrine and when he saved Blue from his curse, but didn't know it was to such an extent. Shadow was somewhat facing away from him, exposing his back that was almost completely covered in ugly red lines, and what looked like blunt force scars going every which way. His side and arms were somehow worse, with what looked like second degree burns and what looked like blisters covering almost his entire side and underarm. Blue realized his wrists were an ugly red as well, but thankfully did look as bad as the rest.
"Shadow?" Blue couldn't help but call out, concern laced in his voice. Shadow whipped around, his once white shirt now dirty, and bloody being held in a white knuckled grip while he had a deer in the headlights look. Blue watched the shadow stammered and stuttered trying to say something as Blue slowly stepped out of the bushes, placing his towel on the ground beside the shadowling's.
"I… I.." Shadow stammered, as his grip on his shirt tightened. Blue said nothing as he looked at Shadow more closely, the shadowling staring back at him with fear in his crimson eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Shadow said in a shaken voice, causing Blue to let out a sigh before carefully taking off his clothes, ruffling as he removed them. Now in nothing but his undergarments, Blue grabbed the soap that was left on shore, and paddled into the water. Shadow watched his every move, not moving or saying anything, barely breathing as Blue approached him. Once he got to Shadow, Blue tucked his clothes under one arm and gently placed the other on his shoulder, looking him straight in the eyes.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Blue reminded him in a calm voice. Shadow snapped out of it, looking at Blue with a look of appreciation, before it turned into one of guilt as he shook his head, mumbling to Blue;
"It's not that I want to," At this, he looked down to his side, where the blisters started to ooze.
"But I need to." Blue nodded in agreement before kneeling down onto the smooth stones underneath with the water coming to his chest, and dunking his clothes underwater.
"Well, might as well be productive and keep our hands busy while we talk." Blue stated as he gestured for Shadow to do the same. It was at this point Blue noticed the rest of Shadows clothes sat on a boulder that peeked just above the waterline as said shadow placed his soaked shirt onto the pile, and slowly sank down to his knees. The boy let out a pained gasp that turned into a hiss as the water came up to his chest as well and lapped at his sides and back, washing the oozing blood away.
"It'll be a good way to start cleaning those while we work on this." Blue reassured. Shadow shakenly nodded and sat there for a moment trying to adjust, before grabbing his shirt once more and dunking it underwater as well. Blue let the sounds of the river fill their ears for a bit, not saying anything as he started grabbing his own shirt and scrubbing it. He waited for Shadow to speak up, not wanting to rush him; a good few minutes going by before Shadow sighed tiredly and spoke.
"I don't know if Vio told you, but to turn traitor to the Dark Realm is the worst crime someone can commit. They don't like their own people standing against them." Blue nodded at this, grabbing the soap to wash out his pit stains and other dirt marks.
"Vio didn't tell us." He answered as he rinsed the soap off, "I think we all more or less assumed that was how it was, since it's basically the same way around here." Shadow let out a 'yeah' in agreement as he was handed the soap to start scrubbing his own shirt. Blue took a quick look around, remembering they were technically on watch, as Shadow spoke up again.
"I guess it's a bit worse in the Dark Realm. When there's no one trying to take over Hyrule, all the soldiers get restless pretty quickly being stuck there, and, well.." at this, Shadow gently placed a hand to his side, tensing with a small gasp as his hand made contact.
"What better entertainment than to beat the traitor?" Blue shook his head as he placed his clean shirt on the boulder beside Shadow's as he spoke up,
"But I thought Shelda treated your injuries? Why do they look like that?"
"A lot of them are light burns." Shadow explained, getting a snort from Blue at that.
"No, no, not light as in gently, light as in the sunlight." At Blue's pause in washing and confused look, Shadow elaborated.
"There's no natural light like this in the Dark Realm. Because of this, darklings are painfully sensitive to it.-"
"Yeah, I know that dumbshit." Blue piped up, stopping his washing once again, "I'm confused with if you got light burns, how are you able to be out in the sun? You're obviously sensitive to the light."
"It's because of Shelda." He said in a bittersweet voice, "Only few in the Dark Realm can manipulate the Dark Mirrors we're all adjoined to. Shelda was able to convince Twinrova to both bring me with, and connect me to her mirror, which gave immunity to light. However, the wounds that were afflicted by light are still sensitive." Gesturing to the blisters, Shadow added, "That's why they're like this."
"So you're just letting them sit in the sun and get worse?!" Blue couldn't help but exclaim at Shadow as he quickly stood up, grabbing his brother's arm and pulling him up as well.
"Well how else am I supposed to bathe?" Shadow snapped defensively.
"In the damn shade would be my first guess!" Blue snapped back as he dragged Shadow through the water to a shaded spot closer to shore. Grabbing Shadow by both his shoulders, Blue gently pushed him back down into the water. Shadow sat down in the water, it now only coming up to his stomach, with no resistance as guilt masked his face.
"I guess I didn't think of that."
"Obviously. " Blue snorted before going and grabbing their clothes, piling them beside Shadow before sitting down next to him. They were quiet for a few moments as they continued to wash their clothes, until Blue spoke up.
"I got a question for ya." He stated, before looking Shadow straight in the eyes and adding, "And I want your full honesty." He waited until Shadow nodded in agreement, then took a deep breath before asking,
"Are you ok?"
"W-what?" Shadow spluttered, almost dropping the tunic in his hands.
"You heard me!" Blue snapped, and stopped to take a deep breath before finishing.
"We've all been through a lot, Shadow. Me and the others can talk about it to one another, and we do. You've talked to Green and me before about Shelda, but whatever they did to you in the Dark Realm, you won't say much." Turning away from Shadow to try and disregard the guilt that came over his brothers eyes, Blue looked out at the river as he continued;
"I know it's a hard subject, and out of any of us here, I'm not gonna be the one to pry. However, something like that can't be bottled up. I get the feeling you're one that can't help but fixate on things that stress you, which could be why you get night terrors so easily." Blue watched from the corner of his eye as Shadow chuckled, and shifted so he was looking out on the river too.
"You keep claiming you're not turning into Vio, but by this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they swapped your clothes in the beginning and I've been talking with Vio this whole time."
"Oh fuck you!" Blue snapped, causing Shadow to laugh, "I'm trying to be a decent brother, but no! You wanna be difficult! Fine, forget it! This is why I don't do this whole mushy shit!" Fuming, Blue aggressively grabbed one of his last articles of clothing and started to scrub it, causing small chips of soap to break off. Shadow was still chuckling as he spoke up,
"I'm sorry! You have to admit it's kinda true though." Shadow placed a hand on Blue's to stop him from scrubbing so hard.
"I am sorry if that made you mad dude." Shadow stated more calmly this time, but a small smile still on his face. Blue snorted before smiling himself, shaking his head.
"Just because I'm less of an ass now, don't mean I'm turning into that stick in the mud." Shadow gasped in fake offense, placing a hand to his chest.
"I'm going to tell him you said that!"
"Go the fuck ahead," Blue chuckled, "It's true."
"Is this the kind of brotherhood I'm getting myself into? Snarky insults and vulgar language?"
"Oh course! What other kind of family would we be? Boring?" Both broke into a laugh at that, their laughs ringing in the clearing. They calmed for a moment, smiles still on their faces until Shadow sobered up as reality crossed his mind, and spoke,
"I don't think any of us are ok Blue." Sighing, Shadow grabbed his pants and started cleaning again.
"To answer your question; no, I'm not ok. I'm tired, I'm hurting like hell, I can't stop stressing about everything." Sighing, Shadow stopped scrubbing before saying in a quiet voice,
"I just want this all to be over with." Blue nodded in agreement, and gave a gentle pat on Shadow's shoulder, being mindful of the blisters.
"I can agree with that." Blue, done with his clothes, grabbed the soap and started scrubbing his arms, but stopped as a thought crossed his mind. Turning to Shadow, he asked with a lace of worry,
"You said you and Shelda are connected to the same mirror?"
"Uh, Yeah?"
"So Twinrova could shatter it at any moment?" Shadow immediately perked up, and quickly reassured Blue,
"Shelda has it with her! It's a smaller mirror she keeps in a locket on her necklace. As far as we know, Twinrova already tried to shatter the decoy she left in the Dark Realm." Blue didn't realize he was holding his breath until he let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good." He went back to his washing, silence filling the clearing. Blue wadded deeper into the river to finish washing while Shadow rinsed out his pants. Blue dunked his head under for a moment before bringing it back up, shaking his head like a dog to get rid of the excess water. Looking back to Shadow, he could see the blisters had stopped oozing and didn't look as bad anymore as his brother sat in the shade. Going back and grabbing Shadow's clothes to put in the sun with his, he couldn't help but say
"So I gotta know something that's been on my mind for awhile." turning back and sitting beside Shadow, Blue asked,
"Shelda has been able to use her dark magic, but I don't think I've seen you use yours once. Why is that?" A sigh escaped Shadow as he paused his washing. Blue saw a rush of emotions pass over his brother, but stayed silent in respect,
"When…" Shadow started, trailing off for a second before continuing, "When I was taken back to the Dark Realm, I was trailed for treason. My magic was stripped from me as punishment." Blue nodded, letting the words sink in. However, not being able to contain his curiosity, Blue focused on what Shadow said, turning towards the river as he allowed the feeling to pass into his head until he found himself standing in a dim room, black bricks surrounding him. Looking around, Blue quickly caught sight of the people in the room. On one side of the room stood Twinrova, sitting on their respective broomsticks, floating in the air; a shadow of a figure standing in between them. The sound of shouting had Blue turn to the other side, seeing three to four guards holding someone in place as they struggled.
Blue felt his throat close up at the sight of Shadow in chains, blood from an injury somewhere above his hairline trailing down onto his face, mixing with the sweat and causing his hair to cling to his forehead.
"Shadow Link." The figure spoke, their voice echoing throughout the room, and causing Shadow to pause in his struggles,
"You have been caught in an act of treason against your people.-"
"You maniacs are not my people!" Shadow shouted, taking Blue by surprise from the fury in his voice.
The room was silent for a moment, Shadows eyes wide with a flash of fear as one of Twinrova, Koume, Blue thinks her name was, spoke up,
"If that is how you truly feel, then we will gladly take our magic from you." Both witches held up a hand, summoning a Dark Knight that carried a broadsword that pulsed with magic.
"Shadow Link," Blue watched Twinrova speak in unison as the Dark Knight approached Shadow, causing him to start struggling in fear,
"We hereby see you guilty towards your acts of treason. You are sentenced to life on the Prisoner Mirror and your magic permanently removed." As the latter sentence was spoken, Blue watched as the Dark Knight thrust the broadsword right in the center of Shadow's chest. He couldn't help but flinch away as his brother let out a blood curdling scream; a stream of magic escaping him, and entering into the knight until there was no more left. Blue watched as Shadow's eyes, hair, and skin all seemed to lose their hue, becoming a dull, grayish tone of what they once were. Kotake waved her hand for a mirror to appear and cast a spell that caused the glass in the mirror to reach out and seem to grab Shadow, who now layed limp on the floor. As Blue watched the color start to come back, the room faded away and he found himself back at the bank of the river. Looking over, Blue could see Shadow avoiding eye contact and looking out to the river as well. Glancing downwards, he could also see a white line right where he saw the knight stab Shadow. Not easily visible, but there if you looked. He felt a rush of emotions go through him at the thought of everything Twinrova put his brother through, but quickly forced them to the back of his mind.
"No need to dwell on those." He thought. "Save that anger for them." Taking a deep breath, he made sure he calmed himself before speaking,
"I'm sorry." Blue was back to facing the river, but he still saw out of the corner of his eye how Shadow whipped around to face him. Blue turning to do the same as he explained,
"You had to go through all of that because of us. Because we existed, you had to suffer. I know there was nothing we could have done then, but I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't have been there for you." Silence spread between them for a few moments, before Shadow let out a sigh,
"I… I like to think I suffered so you guys didn't have to." He said solemnly, "It doesn't make it better, but it helps whenever I have to think about it." Blue nodded at that, understanding where he was coming from, before taking another glance at the scar on his chest.
"Did it hurt?" He asked, the words slipping out his mouth. Shadow quickly caught on to the question, his crimson eyes flashing in fear as Blue continued to glance at the scar.
"You saw?" Shadow asked in a horrified whisper.
"Yeah. Not the whole thing, I think, but enough."
It went quiet between them for a long enough time, probably a good ten minutes of them continuing their washing, that Blue couldn't help but add,
"I'm sorry if I upset you by doing that. I just felt like I needed to see to understand."
"I get it." Shadow said in a quiet tone, "Its better that way than me trying to explain it." Silence passed by again, both of them continuing their washing as the sounds of nature surrounded them. Blue was wrecking his brain to try and think of something to get their minds off the topic when Shadow spoke up again, causing Blue to pause his washing,
"It was the worst pain I've ever felt. It felt like a piece of me was stabbed and ripped right out. Sometimes when I have nightmares about it, I try to do magic when I wake up, thinking that it was just a dream." Blue watched with what he could only describe as pity as Shadow sighed, reaching up and gently touching the scar.
"This is now a weak spot; an easy access, and damaged spot to the magic that keeps me connected to our Dark Mirror, and keeps me alive. I think… I think that's why I can't hear Green." Taken aback, Blue asked,
"What do you mean?"
"Technically, my magic is what made me Link's dark half. Without it I'm just," Shadow sighed, "I'm just some imp that looks like him." Blue wasn't sure if 'him' was Link, or Shadow himself, but he decided not to ask.
"Is that why you were so surprised when we said you were part of the family?" A nod was Blue's answer. Blue nodded himself as the dots started to connect,
"That's why you were on edge this morning. You were thinking about them." Shadow let out a humorless snort before responding,
"Yeah. Just about." Before he could say anything else, Shadow let out a yawn, suddenly looking like he had no energy left. Blue felt bad for him, and quickly made sure all the clothes were washed before saying,
"Well, if we finish up here quickly, we might be able to catch a couple z's before the others are all done." Rinsing off all the soap, Blue watched as Shadow nodded in agreement before finishing his bathing as well. While Shadow was rinsing off, Blue went ahead and dried himself off before gathering their slightly damp clothes. Hearing someone stepping out of the water, Blue turned and watched as Shadow quickly dried himself off before he draped his towel over his shoulders, keeping the blisters in the shade.
"I'll have to wait in a shaded spot until my clothes dry."
"Will you need Shelda to treat those?" Blue asked as they gathered up everything and made their way back, "I don't know shit about this stuff." This got a genuine laugh from Shadow,
"I don't think so." He answered as he pushed his wet hair out of his face, "I'll let her know, but from what she's told me, blisters heal best when left alone." Blue nodded, filling that info to the back of his mind as they approached their temporary camp. Blue felt Shadow hesitate, and looking around, he could see why. Only Vio and Red seemed to be present, the latter helping the former bathe in the river. Giving his brother a nudge towards a big shaded area, Blue called out to the other two,
"Yo! Where'd the fuck Shelda and Green run off to?" Both Links perked up at the call, before Red casually responded,
"They went upstream to keep watch. Green should be back here soon to see if everyone is ok." Nodding, Blue went ahead and walked over to Epona where they had all the clothes hanging on a wire to dry as his stomach let out a growl. Quickly hanging their wet clothes, Blue went over to dig through the satchel, and he quickly found a loaf of bread and three apples that would suffice for the six of them. Taking his finds, Blue went and settled with a dozing Shadow under a big oak tree that provided a significant amount of shade. Nudging Shadow awake, he tore a piece of bread and handed it to the purple haired boy.
"Eat something before you take a nap." He said softly as he tore off a piece for himself before taking an apple and splitting it in half with his hands, handing the other half to Shadow.
"Thanks." Shadow mumbled in a tired tone. Blue nodding in acknowledgment before taking a bite out of his apple, watching the other two as they finished up. It didn't take long for Red and Vio to dry off and make their way over, and it also didn't take long for Blue to notice the way Vio draped his towel over his shoulder and held it close in the front.
"To hide all the injuries until Shelda can bandage them." Was Blue immediate thought as they settled, Red sitting beside Blue, and Vio beside Shadow. Blue took it as a cue to give the both of them their rations for breakfast.
"Did you guys see anything?" Vio asked as Shadow passed him his piece of bread and apple.
"Nothing but nature." Blue answered, taking another bite of his apple.
"I don't think they will have the idea to stop and look for us now." Shadow added quietly, a yawn escaping him after he spoke while Blue nodded in agreement. A comfortable silence settled on all of them while they ate their food. Blue took this time to look off towards Hyrule Field to see if he could spot anything in the distance. Sitting there in the piece and quiet, Blue was thinking of taking a walk around when a heavy weight fell onto him and had him whip around to see what happened while Vio snapped to attention,
"Shadow!" The purple clad out called out, while Red let out a yip of alarm and Blue noticed it was in fact Shadow, now dead asleep, who's full weight was leaning on him now. Quickly shushing Vio and Red, he shifted Shadow into a more comfortable position of laying his head on the blue clad one's lab, curled up in the space between him and Vio,
"Could you grab him a blanket?" He asked Red softly, so as to not disturb their brother. Nodding with a 'mhm!', Red got up and walked over to Epona to search through their satchels to find the required item. While he did this, Blue carefully watched Shadow as best he could, making sure he showed no signs of nightmares while he noticed Vio watching him from the corner of his eye. By this point, Red was back and actually carried two blankets. Before anyone could ask, he draped one over Shadow, and one over Vio, which covered up more than his towel, and allowed Red to take both his and Shadow's towel and hang them up with their drying clothes. Nodding in satisfaction, Blue settled into his spot, knowing he'll be here for a while. Red seemed to take this as an invitation and grabbed a blanket for himself and happily settled on Blue's other side, ignoring the empty threats Blue gave him. Sighing in defeat, Blue turned to Vio who seemed to watch with bewild interest,
"You wanna join them?" Blue asked the purple clothed Link in a deadpanned voice, who answered with a chuckle and shake of the head,
"I don't think I'd ever see you willingly let someone, much less Red, sleep on your lap." Blue huffed at that, which gained another chuckle out of Vio, and caused Blue to join in.
Silence fell on the two for a while, nothing but the sounds of the river and birds overhead. Blue was highly considering taking a nap himself when Vio spoke up,
"Blue?" In answer, the Link in question merely turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Vio. He could see the hesitation in his brother's eyes, but patiently waited until he spoke up again,
"Are you ok?"
"What?" He couldn't help but ask with a chuckle, confused at what topic Vio was trying to create.
"You're…" Vio hesitated, Blue could see he was trying to think of a way to word it, before deciding to be blunt,
"You're being nice."
"Ok?"
"You're not nice. You're an ass."
"Hey!" Blue couldn't help but loudly exclaim, quickly shutting his mouth and making sure neither Shadow nor Red woke up. Shadow seemed slightly disturbed by the noise, but easily settled back into a deep sleep.
Vio could tell there was a change in Blue. From how he had never once complained during their hike here, to openly volunteering to help keep watch, and now, to allowing both Red and Shadow to curl up on his lap to sleep. He even seemed to look concerned anytime either of them shifted in their sleep, like as if he was worried about them having nightmares.
"He looks like he had an… eventful night." Green voice from just a couple hours ago came back to Vio when he thought of it. It did make Vio concerned for Shadow, however, thinking of the night before and how on edge the purple haired Link seemed to be when he woke up to Vio's laughing. Looking back over to Blue, he could see that even though he was seeing if either Red or Shadow woke up, he was more focused on Shadow than anything. Once they were both sure neither one was waking back up, Blue spoke,
"I know I'm not as much of an ass as before," He started, his voice low, "but there's been a lot that's happened in these last two weeks that have, I guess you could say, made me mature."
"You? Mature?" Vio asked with a snort "Unlikely."
"Hey, when you have constant reminders of how the world could end, and all the shit everyones had to go through, you'd mature too." Was Blues response, which took Vio by surprise.
"Reminders? What are you talking about?" He asked, which caused Blue to simply look at him, and pointed to his scared blind eye in answer.
"Oh." Biting his lip, Vio couldn't help but ask, he had to know,
"Did you see the things everyone has gone through?" meeting Blue's eyes, he watched as his brother's face went stoic and was still for a few moments before suddenly he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned away from Vio as he answered,
"Yeah. I have." Vio could hear nothing but ringing in his ears after that. Goddesses above, he knew. He saw what happened. How could Vio ever look at him in the eyes again? Did he tell the others? Oh goddesses, did they know?
A hand on Vio's shoulder broke him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he felt Blue give him a reassuring squeeze as they made eye contact.
"We'll all be ok." He said, a stone cold serious expression on his face. "We'll just have to get through this last leg together." Vio took a deep breath, nodding to his brother as he grasped the hand on his shoulder, a serious expression came across his face as he confirmed,
"Together."
)*()*()*(
It wasn't long before Shelda and Green returned, and they all found themselves on the road again. Vio was back on Epona, somewhat reluctantly, as the others walked. Shadow and Blue were to his left and right respectively with Red, Shelda and Green in the front. For a few hours, small talk and jokes were exchanged between them all, they're spirits high from being in fresh clean clothes. Vio shifted in the saddle as his back began to hurt from riding for too long, finally asking the 'medic', Shelda,
"I feel up to walking for now. If that's ok." He realized it was more of a statement than a question, but he wasn't going to correct himself. Everyone stopped and looked at Shelda, waiting for her response. With a shrug, she replied,
"Yeah, that's fine, if you feel up for it." With a nod, Vio carefully dismounted Epona, being mindful of how his arms and chest pulsed with pain. Now on his feet, Vio could feel the soreness from his back dissipating as he grabbed Epona's lead to continue walking along with the others. Vio noticed that as Shelda continued to walk in the front, she would make sure to glance over her shoulder from time to time as they went on, making sure he was ok. A part of Vio felt agitated about this, but decided to let it go. There was a reason the others trusted her. He just had to try and get to know her and figure out why. The sun was beginning to dip into the horizon when they started to leave Hyrule Field and enter the woods that surround Castle Town. Vio felt a chill run down his spine as the warm sun disappeared behind the trees.
"Keep your guard up. They could have scouts hiding out looking for us." Green said, Red translating for the shadowlings.
"If we happen to get separated, Lon Lon Ranch will be a good rondevu point. Talon would be ok with it with all we've done for him." Vio added before turning to Shadow to ask,
"Do you two know where that's at?" Nodding, Shadow confirmed,
"Yeah, we ran into the little red head there on our way to try and find Link. Shelda, you remember where its at?"
"Yeah," she called from the front with Green and Red, "I remember."
"Then if anything happens, we meet there." Satisfied, they all went silent as they continued to traverse, keeping their eyes and ears alert for any signs of danger. Vio went ahead and slipped his bow into his hand and knocked an arrow, just in case.
)*()*()*(
They had been walking for a couple more hours by now, the sun had set and the woods were getting too dark for travel. Green was able to find a small clearing off their path to camp at that provided enough cover from any wandering Dark Knights. Vio silently being the happiest to stop for the night; his arms, chest, and lungs being a painful reminder he was the one in the worst condition out of all of them. A part of him knew he should have gone back on Epona in the last hour to prevent it from being so bad, but another part knew that it didn't matter, he would have found himself in this condition nonetheless. His lungs felt constricted, making it hard for Vio to breathe properly, even through his mouth. He couldn't get himself to take deep breaths, it didn't feel like enough to his brain. The coughing hasn't helped at all either. It had settled in sometime around twilight, and hasn't seem to want to dissipate any time soon. When camp was set, Vio was vaguely aware of Shelda, Shadow and Blue being quick to get a fire going and get him settled. He understood why, he probably looked like a mess. As he sat there, he felt guilty as he watched the others going around and gathering anything they might need for the night; firewood, food (Green hunted for it) and water from the river that was about ten minutes east. He should be able to help them, but he knew deep down it was a bad idea as a small coughing fit broke out from his lungs. As his coughing fit came to an end, Vio felt a nudge on his arm, and looked over to see Green had sat down beside him.
"You doing ok?" Green asked him, concern laced in his voice. Rubbing his chest to try and relieve the tightness, Vio shook his head a bit,
"I think I overdid it, but my back and legs hurt too much to try and ride Epona any more." He watched Green nod in understanding before he asked,
"Do you need anything?" Vio thought about it, looking around their camp for a moment before mumbling,
"Some water might be nice." Biting his lip, Vio watched Green nod and get up to leave to retrieve his requested water.
"And," he sighed, knowing it'd be his best option. "If you could ask Shelda if she has anything for a tight chest too." He watched as Green seemed pleased with that request, and trotted off to find the she-shadow. As Vio waited for Green and Shelda to return, he sat and watched while Blue and Shadow got the fire going steady enough to start cooking close by. Red came by and handed him a blanket, which he greatly appreciated, so when Shelda made her way over to him Vio was wrapped up in a blanket watching the fire dance in front of him. Noticing her approach, Vio watched as Shelda sat beside him, handing him a canteen of water while she spoke,
"I heard you ain't feeling too hot right now." Vio nodded in confirmation as he took a sip of water, hoping it would help, but sadly did not, and only caused him to fall into another coughing fit. It was worst than the last and seemed to cause his entire chest and lungs to tighten even more. He was vaguely aware of Shelda rubbing his back, something he was glad for as it helped his chest to loosen up, if only slightly. Once it subsided, he spoke with a wheeze to his voice,
"I was hoping you had anything that could help." Shelda nodded in acceptance,
"Sure, what is exactly? They said you had a tightness in your chest?" Nodding, Vio elaborated,
"It feels like both my lungs and chest, and I got a cough that settled in about an hour ago."
"With it getting cold, I'm not surprised. The tightness might be from your lungs still trying to recover from the poison, so we can try a small amount of the antidote and see if it'll help." Vio thought about it for a minute, and yeah, that made a lot of sense. Nodding in agreement, he watched as Shelda got up and went to Epona to collect her satchel. It wasn't long before she came back, and quickly got to work. Vio had an immense thirst for knowledge, so he couldn't help but ask questions and a better explanation of each step in the process. He watched fascinated as Shelda took some herbs and mashed them into a paste, before adding a small amount of water to thin it. It took him by surprise, however, when she pulled out a knife and poked the tip of her finger, allowing a few drops to fall into the bowl.
"Its to add magic to the antidote." She explained as she mixed it all up into a soup like liquid. Once she was done, Shelda handed the bowl to Vio.
"Bottoms up." She said as he took the bowl from her. Taking as deep of a breath as he could, Vio brought the mixture to his lips and took a swing. It wasn't as bad as it looked, he'll give it that, but it wasn't the most pleasant thing he's had. Finishing the rest, Vio handed back the bowl as he already felt his chest loosen up enough for him to breath properly.
"That helps?" Shelda asked as she set the empty bowl aside, and received a nod as an answer from him.
"Good." She said "It'll probably be a bit before it takes full affect, so just try to relax." Vio nodded and watched as Shelda turned and dug into her satchel as she continued to talk, "Shadow said you were a bookworm, so I thought that to help you relax, you could read this," and as she said that, she pulled out a somewhat thick book from her bag. The cover and spine were made out of a dark leather, black threading expertly weaved throughout to bind the pages. The sides and pages were worn from constant use, but look to be in great condition nonetheless. The front read "Told in Time; The History and Knowledge of The Bearers of The Triforce."
"Where did you get this!?" Vio couldn't help but exclaim in excitement as he took the book from her to examine it closely, holding it in a firm, but gentle grasp. 'Told in Time' was a book Vio knew as a lost relic; disappearing with The Hero of Time many eons ago. The book was a journal of sorts belonging to the Bearer of Wisdom reborn time and time again. He knew Link and Zelda talked of recreating it, but could never find the extent of knowledge that this book had.
"May or may not have stolen it from the Archives in the Dark Realm." Shelda answered with a smirk, "It didn't belong to them anyways." Vio couldn't contain his smile as he opened the book, ready to read all it had to offer when someone across the fire spoke up,
"How do you know?" Shadow called out with a laugh, "You can't read!"
"I'm learning!" Shelda barked back.
"How?!"
"None of your damn business, that's how!" Vio watched as Shadow laughed at her response, then going back to the conversation he was having with Blue. Thinking for a minute, Vio closed 'Told in Time' and asked Red if he could grab his satchel. Once he did, Vio dug through it for a minute or two, fully aware of Shelda watching him with curiosity, until he found what he was looking for; 'The Four Swords; History of the Four Swords'.
"I got a deal for you." Vio said to Shelda as he pulled out the simple orangeish leather book.
"I'll teach you to read, and in return I get to keep 'Told in Time'."
"Realy?" she asked bewilled, "You'll teach me to read?" Nodding in answer, Vio spoke seriously,
"I was wrong to distrust you. I can see how the others have trusted you, and with how you've gone out of your way to help me. I can't say I trust you completely just yet, but i think this will be a good start." Vio watched as Shelda gave a soft smile, grabbing 'Told in Time' and placing it in Vio's satchel.
"I think it's a good start too."
Well that was a long one! 13 pages, most of which was written in the last 3 days.
I have a really good streak going now, cuz the next chapter is going to be a dozy, and i'm so excited! I will try my best to get it finished by the end of the year, but again, no promises.
Again, I hope you all are doing well and healthy, and I hope to see you next time!
Good night/mourning
TELLER OUT!