Aargh, this is late. Sorry!
HUGE THANKS to ultima-owner and grandshadowseal for reviewing!
Disclaimer: If I owned Legend of Zelda, this wouldn't be fanfiction. This would be the next game! Actually, that sounds really cool- switch between playing Link to the redeemed villains, and the player knows who they are even before they do... hm.
Anyway, enjoy! And please let me know what you think so I know what to improve on! It would be really nice to know what you thought of the plot twist you'll get in this chapter in particular. Thanks!
Edit: took out the last couple paragraphs that didn't really fit and moved them to the next chapter. Better ending place this way, I think.
I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that the meeting with the Elders was just about the most convoluted conversation full of tacit subtext and subtle interrogation that I have ever experienced. If it weren't for Midna, who was actually trained and experienced in this sort of thing (good Goddesses, being a princess sounded f***ing hard), we would've been verbally dissected in about ten minutes flat. Tops. Then flayed, salted, and roasted over an open fire while the crows pecked out our eyes for good measure.
(Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But you get the point.)
Honestly, I'd be the first to admit that I don't really have a head for politics. My philosophy is more along the lines of "if it's bothering me and I'm stronger than it, kill it". While this works well for monsters, it's significantly less effective when it comes to other hylians. Or Sheikah, in this case.
Huh. Well, at least I could just let Link handle all that stuff. Honestly, Vio was the patient one, not me. If anything, he'd be the best at all this maneuvering and verbal sparring and political stuff. Vio could actually be surprisingly sneaky when he wanted to be. That, at least, I knew better than anyone else.
After the meeting (which had ended up taking two frikin' hours), Shaide met us while we were coming back down the steps.
"How was it?" he asked, looking distinctly better than he had been earlier. It was clear that he'd changed clothes and freshened up a bit, and I envied him for having the opportunity to scrub the grime of travel and monster dust off his skin.
Link sighed. "Okay, I think. I mean, I think they're gonna help us… hopefully…"
Dark rolled his eyes, stretching out his arms a bit as he loosened up his muscles after such a long time spent stationary. "Oh, relax. We'll be fine. Besides, we could always just kidnap little Shaide here if they don't cooperate," he snickered.
Shaide let out a little huff, crossing his arms. "Don't joke about that," he warned. "There are some people here who could take that very, very, badly."
Vaati shrugged casually, the dust swirling around him just a hint more energetically than was natural. "Eh, don't worry. If all goes well, it won't come to that. And besides, it's not like it'd be painful or anything." He paused for a moment, expression deliberating, then amended, "Well, okay, but not very much."
The Sheikah teen sighed. "And that's so comforting," he muttered to himself. Then, straightening up his shoulders a bit, he asked, "So, want me to show you around? I know a good place to get some food, and you're probably all pretty hungry…"
As if on cue, all our stomachs growled in unison.
Fed, watered, cleaned, and being escorted from place to place a little while later, we were in significantly better spirits than before. We were exploring the village, Shaide at our sides as he helpfully pointed out all the important landmarks and introduced us to all the important people.
I listened with half an ear, more focused on trying to spot our subtle-but-not-subtle-enough guards that were trailing us from the shadows. I couldn't see them, not really, but we'd spent enough time being four-legged, fighting monsters, and surviving the streets to be able to sense when we were being followed. As such, I knew they were there, I just didn't know exactly where.
Which would have been nice, actually, because now I was driving myself crazy trying to pin down a group of people who moved like frikin' wraiths. Or like ghost-form Dark; either description was equally applicable.
"And these are the training grounds," Shaide informed us as he gestured to a massive wooden fence that presumably hid the training grounds behind it. Though we couldn't see in, we could still hear the faint sounds of fighting and the occasional chink-chink-chink of metal rattling. I tilted my head sideways and walked a little closer, curiously unable to place the sound.
Then, after a moment, it hit me- those were chains rattling around out there.
...What?
Link seemed to come to the same conclusion, and asked, "What kind of weapons do you generally use? Because I can hear metal chains or something, and it doesn't sound like anything I'm familiar with."
Shaide gave a little shrug. "Oh, there's a lot of variety. Throwing needles, deku nuts, swords, daggers…"
"And the chains?" Link prodded.
"That's probably a chain whip or grappling chain," the younger teen admitted. "Hard to work with, but tough to fight against."
As if to emphasize his point, there was a sharp crack followed by the sound of something splintering.
"Why is the fence so tall? And thick," Vaati asked as he experimentally tapped the wood. "Seems a bit excessive."
Shaide hummed. "Eh, believe it or not, it is necessary. It's gotta block stray needles, arrows, the occasional chain, experimenting mages, magic gone wrong, that sort of thing. Mostly because of the magic, actually- most of us can use at least some, and we've had far too many close calls with out-of-control firestorms and the like to do anything besides err on the side of caution. Safer to make the fence high. And very, very, thick."
Vaati nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that," he agreed, no doubt remembering all the turf he had destroyed and trees he had all but torn up by the roots when he was working on new techniques. Wind was surprisingly destructive, when used in the right ways.
Then, as we continued along, Shaide caught sight of two men walking the opposite way, towards us. They were talking lowly to each other, seemingly absorbed in their conversation. Their statures were slender but strong, gaits oddly familiar as they bowed their heads close and strolled along.
What struck me the most, however, was their hair.
These two… they were oddities, from we'd seen. Instead of a blond or brown color, their hair was purple. As in, actually, genuinely, purple. One of the men had his in a color barely a shade or two lighter than that of a purple rupee, while the other man's hair contrasted in a deep, almost black, plum purple.
...Well. That was… unusual. We didn't see those colors often outside of mirrors.
Shaide noticed our curious expressions, and proceeded to greet them as they passed by. I actually paid attention to who they were this time, my interest caught by the strange sense of familiarity I felt when I looked at them. Their eyes were red, too, like all Sheikah, but subtly different hues. The darker-haired man's eyes were a vivid blood-red, while the lighter-haired man's eyes were more like colored glass or gemstones, bright and almost… well, I wanted to say sparkling, but I wasn't sure if that was actually possible outside of overly dramatic story books.
Shaide proceeded to introduce us. "Link, Vaati, Dark, Shadow. These are Wardmaster Eklipse and Guard Captain Duske. Wardmaster, Captain, these are our guests, Link, Vaati, Dark, and Shadow."
"We honored to make your acquaintance," they replied in creepy unison. Their eyes flicked over us with calculating gazes, sharp and intelligent.
"Likewise," Link returned as he nodded in respect.
"Wardmaster?" Vaati asked softly, a curious gleam in his eyes. I belatedly remembered the promise we'd made him to get him away from the wards outside the village, and bit back a resigned groan. Oh, great. Now we were going to be here forever.
Dark seemed to realize the same thing, and moved to cut our brother off- but it was too late. The Wind Mage had already pounced.
Firing off questions faster than a bulblin fired flaming arrows, Vaati had already begun to verbally debate and dissect the runic arrays he'd seen, arms gesticulating wildly. Wardmaster Eklipse seemed taken aback at first, blinking in confusion at the short hylian before he hesitantly replied. Soon enough, however, his responses picked up speed, and the two magic-users were both avidly conversing using terms and phrases that went right over my head.
"Oh Farore, there's two of them," Dark groaned softly.
Captain Duske looked as if he wanted to mirror the action, but restrained himself. His shoulders did sag a bit, though, and his expression appeared to gain a hint of long-suffering resignation. "Ah, I apologize for this," he sighed with a wry grin, "but once he gets going, nothing short of an avalanche or a wolfos invasion can shake him out of it."
"Yeah, ours is the same way," I laughed lightly. "Just be glad we're not in his lab. At least this way we won't have to help clean up the inevitable mess that may or may not gain sentience before we finish scraping it off the walls and ceiling."
Vaati broke away from his conversation just long enough to snap back, "That was once!"
The adult Sheikah winced. "Alright," he conceded, "at least my airhead of a brother isn't that bad."
This time, it was Wardmaster Eklipse who retaliated with a sharp retort at his sibling.
"So, where are you all from?" Captain Duske asked as he sat with Dark and I on top of the fence surrounding the training grounds, watching Vaati and Wardmaster Eklipse demonstrate different runes with varying results. Shaide and Link were chatting on the ground, Midna occasionally interjecting her own comment or suggestion. I stared at the two mages drawing runes in the air, wondering why they suddenly seemed so similar all of a sudden…
"Castle Town," Dark replied. "Capital of Hyrule. We grew up there."
"Ah. I've been there a couple times before. It's certainly very… different from the Valley," Captain Duske mused. "What does your family think of all your adventuring?"
At that, Dark threw back his head and let out a bark of laughter. "What do they think? They're on it with me! Shadow's my brother in blood, Vaati's my brother in all but blood, and even Link's all part of the gang by now. If we've got family beyond them, then I don't know 'em."
"Mm," I hummed in agreement, signifying that I was still listening. "We're brothers. We don't need anything else," I added after a second.
The Captain glanced between the four of us. "It is admirable that you hold such loyalty to each other," he commented. "Forgive me for prying, but... if you had no family, did you grow up in an orphanage?"
Dark shook his head. "Not sure why ya wanna know, but nah. If we did, we ran off pretty early on. Shadow, Vaati and I, we're all street rats through and through. Link's the one who actually grew up as an upstanding citizen with adoptive parents and everything, the lucky guy."
I fleetingly entertained the notion of mentioning that I once did have a father, sort of, ish, not really- but that I was actually the shadow of his real son and ended up tricking him into getting mind-controlled. It almost would've been worth it just to see Captain Duske's face. Almost. Common sense won out, though, and I kept my mouth shut. Somehow, I didn't think that tossing around the information that we were actually reborn villains would be such a great idea. Even if it was entirely possible that they already knew.
"So, when were you at Castle Town? And why? I was under the impression that you guys mostly stayed within the mountains," Dark asked.
Captain Duske pursed his lips slightly as he thought. "Oh… almost twenty years ago, now, the first time," he answered. "I went back about five years later, but I haven't gone down since. It's been a pretty long time. As for why, well, that's private."
Down on the ground, something exploded violently. I smoothly tipped backwards to float upside-down and behind the wall to avoid the flying chunks of dirt, while all Dark had to do was turn insubstantial. I caught of glimpse of Link crouching behind his shield, just before Shaide and Captain Duske blurred into visibility a few feet below me. I blinked down at them, momentarily stunned by their speed. For Farore's sake, I hadn't even seen them move!
"D***, you guys have good reflexes," I commented as I twisted around to hover cross-legged so the blood would stop rushing to my head. "That was pretty fast."
In another moment, the pair had once again scaled the wall, Shaide continuing on to drop down on the inside while Captain Duske settled between Dark and I. "We've had practice," he informed us with a shrug. "It's not the first time we've had to dodge quickly in this area."
Dark phased back into existence, smirking as he watched Vaati blow away the dust with a wave of his hand. "Heh, I can believe that. For us, on the other hand, usually when we have to hightail it, it's not because of training accidents," he snickered as he flicked some dirt off the top of the wall.
Captain Duske responded with some witty comment that had my brother chortling with laughter. I tuned them out a bit as they began to talk mostly each other, focusing instead on observing Vaati and Wardmaster Eklipse down on the ground. I still couldn't shake this odd feeling in the back of my mind...
Vaati turned, face to the sun as he sketched out something in the air. Wardmaster Eklipse turned the same direction, mimicking Vaati's position as his fingers moved to draw out a shimmering rune. Then he lifted his head a bit, tossed some hair out of his eyes, and-
My eyes widened as I inhaled sharply. I could've sworn- maybe? Yes. There it was again-
Vaati grinned, the expression mirrored by the taller Sheikah, and I knew that what I had seen was undeniable. Because, for the briefest of moments, as the light angled across the two males' faces... they looked almost exactly identical.
...What?
That couldn't be a coincidence.
But what did it mean?
"...Shadow? Hey, hey- Shadow!"
I blinked, abruptly made aware of the hand Dark was waving in front of my face. "What?"
"You okay?" he asked, looking at me with concern. "You kinda spaced out there for a minute."
"I- yeah, I'm fine," I replied automatically. In truth, though, my mind was anywhere but here. Vaati and Wardmaster Eklipse... that resemblance wasn't just by chance, was it? But, then- huh. Long-lost siblings was possible, but the age gap appeared rather large, so… father and son seemed more likely, especially given those distinctive hair and eye colors. The chances of actually finding Vaati's father, though, right here in the Sheikah village? Those were astronomical. On the other hand, though, if Wardmaster Eklipse and Vaati really were father and son… again, what did it mean? Was Vaati a Sheikah? If so, then…
I felt a sudden chill run down my spine, trickling and cold like water from the ice of Snowpeak. Would- would Vaati leave, then? He may have been Picori first, and hylian next, but in this life… in this life, he could very well be Sheikah. Blood may not have been everything, but if I had gotten a chance to know my father, whether it was in this life or my first… I would have snatched it up in a heartbeat.
(Though, considering what I did to him in my previous life, somehow I don't think he would've been so eager for the same. Whoops.)
No, I told myself, suddenly hating the uncertainty that bubbled up in me. We're brothers. We'll stick together, and that won't change.
Of course, I wasn't the only one to notice.
"Is it just me," Dark murmured quietly in my ear, "or do Vaati and Wardmaster Eklipse look unusually alike?"
I shook my head. "It's not just you," I muttered in reply. "Have you noticed- they have the same expression when they're talking about stuff they like."
"And they tug on their hair the same way when they're thinking," Dark added.
"And their eyes are the same color. Hair, too, even if Vaati's is just a little bit lighter," I commented. "Do you think…?"
My brother frowned. "Maybe," he allowed reluctantly. "But if he is-"
"-Then what does that mean for us?" I asked, finally allowing some of my withheld nervousness to creep into my voice. "If he's Sheikah now-"
"Half, most likely," Dark corrected. "And- now?"
"He was Picori in his first life, remember? Then he turned himself into a hylian later," I reminded him. "Why half?"
Dark raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember who our mothers likely were?"
I blinked, reaching back through the years for memories of my early life- this time around, that was. Then I realized what he meant, and rocked back on my heels with understanding. "Ah. Yes. I see." I shook my head. "Never mind."
He nodded. "Yeah, so probably half. But, then... he's probably illegitimate too, then, huh?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I can't imagine they'd know about it and not do anything. I mean, until we ran into him, he was a loner street kid."
Captain Duske, who had briefly been called away to talk to a couple other Sheikah, reappeared. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, just old memories," Dark lied smoothly.
I looked at Captain Duske. Then I looked at Wardmaster Eklipse, and remembered- they were brothers. Which meant that we were talking to Vaati's uncle.
Alright, now that was starting to feel really weird.
Now, viewing Captain Duske in a new light, I discreetly examined him as I tried to see the similarities that lay between he, his brother, and his maybe-nephew. Oddly enough, now that I was looking for them, I could see them- the barest slant of the eyes that was just enough to be noticeable, skin colored a shade paler than normal, a mouth slightly crooked as it curled into a smirk-
Wait a minute.
Now that I looked- really looked -at him, I realized who Captain Duske looked like, far more than Vaati.
It was Dark.
...Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait. What.
Seriously. What.
My brain seemed to be momentarily stuck, like someone had thrown a rock into the gears to bring everything to a screeching halt. That one thought simply wouldn't stop running through my mind, in endless loops and circles as it repeated itself over and over.
Well, think about it logically, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Vio mused somewhere in the back of my head. That would certainly explain the red eyes and the predilection towards darkness, pun intended.
Yes, but-! I sputtered, some part of me vaguely aware that maybe talking to the voice in my head wasn't such a great idea before another part that felt a bit like Blue smashed it down. But, but-
But what? Yes, that would mean that you're one too. You and Dark are brothers by blood in this life, after all, the Vio-like voice drawled. And, also, remember what he said earlier? He's been to Castle Town at times that would just about match you and Dark's ages.
I- well, yeah, so… oh, d***, wait, so, I'm half- oh, what, I'm so confused right now, I thought, abruptly sent mentally reeling and off-balance. This was nothing like anything that I had anticipated when we had come to the Valley of Shadows. Resistance, yes. Crotchety old elders, yes. Hostile shadow-folk, yes. Those, I could deal with. I'd been dealing with people like them all my life, after all.
But unexpected, possibly long-lost fathers who probably didn't even know we had been conceived? That was completely out of my league.
...Great. And now I had to tell that to Dark, since it didn't look like he'd noticed at all. Probably because he saw a mirror so infrequently that he barely remembered what his own face looked like, and quick glances in ponds and rivers hardly counted. The images there were always blurry and distorted, anyway.
Wonderful.
That night, we stayed in a small guest house that I believe was normally used to shelter lost travelers. The Elders were still deliberating on their decision, and had been for the entire day. When we questioned Shaide on how long he thought it might take, he only shook his head and shrugged helplessly.
"I don't know," he had replied. "This is a big issue. You're asking us to fight and purify a dragon. That's not exactly a nice stroll through the fields. Besides which, we've been hidden in these mountains for a long, long, time. There are people who feel that revealing ourselves to the kingdom would cost us more than it's worth."
"True enough," we had agreed.
Now, the four of us were sitting around a small wooden table, talking about what to do next.
"The Elders want to talk with me again tomorrow," Link told us. Then he amended, "Well, more like with Midna, but they want me there too."
"What about us?" Vaati queried, idly tracing the design of a rune I vaguely recognized as meaning tempest on the table. "Are we supposed to go too?"
Link hesitated. "Not sure, actually," he admitted. "I'd think so, yes, but… earlier today, when that messenger came? He asked for Midna and I specifically. And did you notice? During the meeting, they kept looking at you guys oddly. Like they weren't sure what to think."
I snorted. "Oh, I can guess why. Rule of thumb, Link: assume that the Sheikah know everything. Our past lives as villains included. Besides, Dark and I… well, Dark was originally created through a Sheikah spell, and I was supposed to be like the improved version of him."
Midna, floating by Link's shoulder, looked surprised. "Really? Well, that actually explains a lot."
"How so?" Dark asked.
Midna smirked like the cat that got the cream, the bird, and the fish all at once. I suddenly had a very, very, bad feeling about what she was going to say next. "Might explain why I'm pretty sure we just found you guys' long-lost fathers, for one."
There was a dull thunk as Link fell out of his chair. "Wait, what?!"
