Hello.

This is for day eighteen: watched. Also, this isn't connected to the cannon of the other Linktober fics.

TW: a lot of mentions of past death, self-deprecating thoughts

Enjoy!

Four wasn't truly Four. Hell, he wasn't even a Hero. The true Hero of the Four Swords was dead, murdered as he swung the killing blow. He died seconds after Ganon, a smile of satisfaction on all four of his faces before they collapsed to the ground.

All that was left of him was a shadow, a reflection of what he was but not who he was. A shadow could never be a Hero.

Shadow didn't want to be a Hero. But the world needed one—at least in name. And he could look like Link just by simple illusion magic, he already was the same height and size. There was time before anyone would discover the bodies so Shadow made a split-second decision.

He hid the bodies in the shadows and pretended to be Link. Zelda knew something was off, but when she asked him about it later, he simply lied and told her it was the shock and adrenalin. It took a few hours for him to be left alone and Shadow sneaked out of the infirmary.

The location he arrived at was behind Link's forge. There, the bodies laid, waiting for him. He preformed his own funeral for the Links. He apologised, wept for them, and swore to do good by their name and never let their legacy and legend be tarnished. Then, he carved four gravestones and marked their final resting place.

He hid in the smith, having to learn the trade from the notes littered around Link's forge. There was a special style mentioned throughout the notes that Shadow studied to death: the style of the Minish. Alone in the forge of the dead Hero, he could be himself without anyone looking. When he was in the castle, he needed to put on a façade for everyone—to pretend to be someone he wasn't.

It was easy enough; he was enough of a shadow to pass for the true Hero.

Zelda slowly grew worried for him, but felt it rude to discuss her concerns to him. After all, one does not save the world without gaining some trauma. Over the course of the next year or so, Shadow soon got into a familiar pattern of pretending to be Link. Once, he fooled himself into thinking he was the true Hero.

But when he arrived at the forge and looked out the window at the graves, reality struck him.

Then, everything changed when he got pulled into this insane quest. Suddenly, he had no safe spot to be himself—he was always acting 24/7. Even in his sleep he couldn't drop his illusion lest they think he killed or captured the true Four. It grew exhausting.

He couldn't even step into the direct sunlight. No matter how much he pretended, Shadow was always going to be a creature of darkness. But he managed to dim the pain by covering himself in true clothing—if it was created by his illusion then it would be effected by the sun. True Hylian clothing provided a cover for him to hide under.

The dull pain of the sun through the clothing reminded him of what he was. And of what he wasn't. He wasn't a Hero, he didn't slay Ganon or fight Vaati. All he did was fight the Hero and betray the one who made him.

He couldn't even keep anyone alive. Vaati and Ganon, whom he served, dead. Link, whom he tried to help, dead.

And with being consistently watched by the other Links, he couldn't even relax. Anxiety and tension filled his bones with every glance someone sent his way. What if, after years of his fakery, his illusion flickered? What if his magic failed him when he needed it the most?

If they were in his Hyrule, then it would be fine. He could slip away and they would probably leave without him if they thought that Shadow killed Four. And if they thought he was captured, then Shadow could just… show them the graves and make up a dramatic evil story about how he killed the Hero and stole his life.

He'd probably say it was out of jealousy. And not out of respect.

But, when someone would glance at him, they would turn away a second later. None of his illusions dropped. Not a single hair was anything but the bright blond of Link. He didn't blend into the shadows at night, he wasn't a shadow—to them, he was Link. He was Four.

They had no reason to watch him. His mind was just getting overly paranoid. They say that when someone is guilty then they think everyone knows their secret. But, that's impossible. None of the others even know about Shadow, nor do they know about the graves. Whenever they arrived in his Hyrule, he steered clear of his forge for good reason.

How could he explain four graves in the backyard? Well, he couldn't, not without lying or telling the complete truth. And he didn't want to do either.

The only benefit with working with the Links was that they never met Four before, and they never heard stories of him either. Shadow didn't have to put up a fake attitude as well as maintain his illusion, he could act normally and no one would no the difference.

Well, if they went to his Hyrule then people would know the difference. But he could just make up a story about putting on a Heroic front of the people of Hyrule. The others would understand acting differently in front of people who worship you and people who know you. Except, no one knew Shadow—not truly. His personality would show through his Four façade, but he still acted like how Four would act as it became accustomed to him when looking like Four.

He was afraid that if he acted like himself then the illusion would drop. Dropping the illusion was something he never wanted to do. Ever. Not in front of anyone. If his plan went perfectly then no one would know that the Hero was dead. Well, Shadow thought of writing the truth down and so when he died, he could tell someone about it and finally Link would get the burial fit for the Hero.

Shadow would probably get dumped in a hole somewhere. That is, if when he died his body stayed. He was made from darkness; he didn't actually know if he would return to it in death or not. Maybe he would shatter like a mirror, and wouldn't that be ironic.

After all, he was the reflection of the Hero.

"Something on your mind?" Warriors' voice broke Shadow—Four—from his thoughts. "You just seem to be staring off into the shadows."

Four shook his head. "What? No, I was just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"It'll take more than just thinking to hurt myself. Unlike some people, I do this quite regularly."

Warriors jokingly moved to cover his heart as if it ached. "Ouch. Right where it hurts."

A small smile cracked itself onto Four's face. But it wasn't his actual face—it was just a fake image. None of the Links had ever seen Shadow smile before. And no one ever would.

After all, who would want to? He was Shadow Link. Whenever a monster smiled, it was because someone was able to die. No one would want to see him smile. But that was for the better. Seeing him smile would mean that they know that he isn't Four, and that wouldn't be something they'd take lightly.

No matter even if the person they knew was Shadow, none of them would accept that they knew a fake. A Shadow of who the Hero was. Even without them knowing, he was watched enough as it was. They would never blink around him if they knew who he was.

What he was.

Monsters like him should always be watched.

Hope you enjoyed!

I have no idea why my first thought for 'watched' was, what if Four was dead? But hey, I managed to write over 1k words for it, so that's a win.

Anyway, I don't know what else to say…

Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!