fleets: Well I'm still somehow chugging along with these chapters (miracle?). I hope you guys are enjoying the fast updates! It's been a really long time since I've been able to keep a schedule like this... (this is abnormal and this speed should not be expected for future updates hahaha)

Chapter 7: Shadow Link

"Master Vaati."

Fuu almost dropped the dagger in his hand as he stared at Shadow Link grinning at him from his bed. What? He turned over his shoulder, wondering if the infamous Sorcerer of Winds had risen from the grave and was standing behind him. There was no one there.

Shadow Link rolled over and then rested his chin on his hands, arching an eyebrow at the puzzled Fuu. "I expected more of uh… I don't know, a more excited reaction than that, Master."

Fuu turned back to Shadow, and then slowly pointed a finger at himself. "Me?" he asked incredulously.

Shadow Link stared back, looking surprised. After a few seconds, he slapped his hand over his face and shook his head in aggravation. "Wow. Wow. Master Vaati I know you think I'm an idiot but sometimes I feel like you belittle me a little too much. So can you please," Shadow bounced on the bed, making himself comfortable, "let me in on your plans? You clearly have an amazing plan rolling with an amazing disguise, and I hate that you're leaving me out of it."

"Get off my bed," Fuu snapped, getting irritated by Shadow Link hopping around on his bed. He could see a mud splotch on the blanket from where some dirt from Shadow Link's boots had rubbed on. Shadow Link didn't seem to mind in the least about getting nagged at, and in fact seemed to have expected the reaction from the way he snickered and flipped off the bed. The doppelganger then hovered in midair, reclining against an invisible wall.

"Seriously though. You somehow got those Sheikahs to trust you so much that you can walk around anywhere in Hyrule Castle without any trouble. I always did like your grandstanding, flashy style, but this new, manipulative tactic is fantastic," Shadow flashed a thumbs-up.

"Were you always this big of an ass-kisser?" Fuu asked. He'd always imagined Vaati's minions to be more… quiet. At the same time, he imagined that ordering someone like Shadow Link to shut up wasn't going to be all that effective. At this point, Fuu didn't really know what to think. Vaati's former minion was in his house, and had mistaken him as wind mage himself. His first thought was that he should probably capture him and then report him to Impa. He was also intrigued as to why Shadow Link had mistaken him for Vaati. After all, Vaati was dead, wasn't he? Had the news never reached Shadow Link?

As strange as Fuu found Shadow Link, Shadow Link's cheery grin was beginning to disappear as he, too, became suspicious about the situation. "… Huh. I expected some kind of speech about how great you are," he said slowly, sitting upright. He gradually floated back down to the floor so that he was no longer hovering in midair. He took a closer step towards Fuu, leaning forward and scrunching his nose as he got a better look at the Sheikah apprentice.

Fuu, worried that Shadow Link was going to find out eventually that he wasn't actually Vaati, threw out his leg for a swift leg-sweep, knocking Shadow Link over. For good measure, he also fired a powerful gust of magic, causing the windows to shatter from the force and sending Shadow Link crashing into the wall on the other side. Before Shadow could recover, Fuu dashed over and pinned him down under his knee, and then quickly tied his hands behind his back with a belt that had tumbled out of the closet. Fuu had been quick to pick up on the leg-sweep knockdown after Sheik had used it on him repeatedly a few days ago.

"Ow!" Shadow yelped, his cheeks pressed against the wood floor. He'd been about to complain some more, until he came face to face with the blade of a sharp dagger. His eyes followed the blade that then slowly pressed against his neck.

"A shame for you that you didn't realize sooner that you'd mistaken me for someone else," Fuu said coolly, "Sounds like you didn't get the news that Vaati is dead."

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. He tried to wiggle out of his binds, but Fuu kept him pinned down with a knee in his ribs. "But… but that's impossible! You're him. You have to be-"

"Why?" Fuu demanded.

"What do you mean, 'Why,' you look exactly like him!" Shadow Link shot. He winced when Fuu pressed the dagger against his neck a little deeper.

"How dare you compare me to the one who tried to destroy Hyrule," Fuu growled, "I live to serve the royal family, I am nothing like him. I've been a Sheikah all my life: you have the wrong person."

"But you have to be him! You have to be because you have… you…" Shadow Link trailed off, his eyes widening as though he'd realized something important. He stopped struggling, and he stilled as he became lost in his thoughts for a few seconds. A million possibilities ran through Shadow Link's head. Then, that smile that had vanished earlier reappeared again, small at first but gradually widening until it was like a sinister crescent. "Huh," he murmured, "Oh I get it. Hehehe I see what's going on."

Kneeling above him, Fuu clenched the dagger tighter, wondering what Shadow Link was up to.

"Vaati's dead, huh?" Shadow Link chuckled. His blue eyes swerved up to look at Fuu. Still grinning, he began to speak in a way that didn't sound entirely trustworthy. "Look, I made a mistake," he began, grimacing only slightly when Fuu "accidentally" jabbed him a little with the dagger, "I am really, really sorry, and I know you're not just going to let me go but can you at least hear me out?"

"I don't know," Fuu drawled lazily, though his expression was frigidly calculating, "I was thinking about killing you right here since you're a former agent of Vaati."

At this Shadow Link glowered unhappily. "Holy Farore, can you just chill the fuck out please? I was going to offer you some inside information on how to defeat Dethl and I can't do that if I'm dead!"

At Shadow Link's mention of aid against Dethl, Fuu hesitated. However, he eventually decided that he wasn't having any of his nonsense. "And why would you do that?" he asked, "You used to work for Vaati and Dethl, why would you betray them now?"

At this, Shadow Link gave a heavy sigh, turning his gaze back to the floor boards inches away from his nose. "Look, I was Vaati's servant okay? To be more accurate, he summoned me to this world, which technically makes him something like my dad but that's weird so I was his servant, okay? I had no choice but to listen to everything he told me to do." Fuu wasn't sure if Shadow Link was being genuine or not, but it was a fairly convincing act. The mysterious Link-lookalike actually sounded ashamed, almost, from the way his shoulders drooped a little. "It sucked!" Shadow exclaimed, "I can't tell you how much I wanted to be rid of him. He always had this awful temper and he got angry over everything. But apparently he's dead, which means that I'm free and I can do whatever I want now."

Fuu contemplated Shadow Link's words, trying to determine if he was being honest or not. "Why did you bother looking for Vaati? Couldn't you just leave?" he asked, pointing out how Shadow Link had come to him, first. At this, Shadow Link laughed bitterly.

"You can't be serious," he snorted, "You can't run from Vaati. No one can. If I don't report to him first, he would get angry, angrier than usual and…" he stopped, and then he scowled, snapping angrily, "The point is, I couldn't 'just leave.'"

"But why would you betray Dethl? You could still be working with him," Fuu argued. He couldn't shake the feeling that Shadow was trying to appeal to his pity, to make him feel sorry for him so he would let him go. Or was he being too paranoid, and missing the truth? What if Shadow Link really was willing to turn against his former Masters?

"Fine, I get why you would be paranoid," Shadow Link grumbled, and then flashed a bright smile, "The reason is simple: I like you."

"Now I definitely know you're lying."

"It's the truth!" the doppelganger asserted. "I've been watching you since you came to the desert temple: you're like… the cooler version of Vaati. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Vaati's summoning spell inevitably links me to him, and that you and Vaati have a similar aura or something I don't know. I find you interesting, and I feel compelled to help you," he shrugged. Or, tried to shrug, since Fuu had him pinned to the floor quite well. "I also don't give a damned about Dethl because they give me the creeps and they yelled at me for listening to music too loudly. Give me a chance, yeah?"

Fuu scoffed. He'd had enough of Shadow Link's story, which was most likely twenty percent truth and eighty percent bullshit. There was no need to complicate things when the easiest answer was to get rid of him. "Nope. You're lying. I'm going to kill you and tell Impa that you were dead when I found yo-"

"Go to Lake Hylia. Down at the bottom of the lake you'll find the first of what you'll need to beat Dethl. Without it, y'all don't stand a chance against him."

Fuu fell silent as he processed what Shadow Link had just said. He lifted the dagger away from Shadow Link's neck a little, but he still kept it close as a warning. Besides, he didn't really like that knowing grin on the other's face, as though he'd picked the winning slip in the Treasure Chest lottery. "What's down there?" Fuu asked, trying not to sound too interested.

The way Shadow Link chuckled suggested that he knew he'd caught Fuu's interest. "I promise to tell you, as well as help you collect the rest of the pieces that you will need to defeat Dethl, but only after you let me go."

"Or maybe we'll send you over to the Dark Temple for some quality interrogation," Fuu shot.

"Or maybe you'll let me help you get all of the pieces to beat Dethl because tick tock," Shadow Link tutted, pointing at the broken heap of gears and cogs that had once been Fuu's clock, "ya'll are running out of time, aren'tcha? Trust me, it'll be faster if I help you."

All was still in the house except for the faint noise of breathing and the light patter of water dripping from the faucet in the washroom. Fuu's hands shook slightly, and for a few brief seconds it almost seemed as though he was going to plunge the dagger into Shadow Link's neck. However, he eventually placed the weapon back in its hilt and slowly released pressure off of Shadow Link's back. He still kept the belt tied tightly around the doppelganger's wrist, just in case. Wordlessly, Fuu found some more rope and tied Shadow Link to a chair.

"Hey, I appreciate how you decided not to kill me Master Va- I mean… what is your name again?" Shadow Link asked, happy that he was no longer trapped against the uncomfortably hard floor and that Fuu had decided not to kill him.

"Gufuu. Fuu for short," Fuu muttered under his breath, pulling on the ropes to make sure the knots were extra tight.

"Gotcha, pal."

"I can still make you quiet in a permanent kind of way, you know."

At this Shadow rolled his eyes, mumbling out of earshot, "And I thought you were the 'cooler' Vaati."

Fuu stood up after he'd finished tying Shadow Link to the chair. With his wrists wrapped together with a belt and his entire body roped completely together with the chair, there was little probability that Vaati's former servant was going to get out any time soon. Fuu shook his head tiredly, wondering what he'd done to deserve this mess, and then made for the door. "I'll be back soon," he said with toned that warned Shadow Link to stay put.

Shadow Link watched the door close shut after Fuu. The chuckle that he'd been suppressing finally broke free, and he wheezed and coughed from laughter. His form melted away into a black cloud, and the ropes that had held him to the chair fell loosely to the floor. The cloud melted into the shadow by the foot of the chair so that there was a large black shadow on the floor. It scooted away before it rematerialized into Shadow Link, now completely free of his binds. "Hahahahaha! I love it when they think they can restrain a shadow with ropes," he laughed. He took a few seconds to find a piece of paper and quill, and then quickly jotted down a few parting letters to Fuu for when he returned. He wished he could see the look on Fuu's face when he realized he'd left. "I'll see you at Lake Hylia, Fuu," the shadow snickered, "Don't be late."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fuu needed to find Sheik. Or Impa. He preferred Sheik over Impa because he'd just gotten in trouble with Impa and he'd rather speak with Sheik. He vaguely remembered Impa telling Sheik to meet her back at the castle, so he figured he would be able to find either of them inside. As he made his way to the greater courtyard to the front gates of the main castle structure, he couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious about what he was wearing: he was still dressed in his casual outfit, the plain weathered brown tunic rather than his Sheikah uniform, and he had never set foot inside the actual royal castle before as far as he could remember.

As he approached the gates, the two guards keeping watch blocked his path with their pikes. "What business do you have?" one of them asked, looking at the teen with an unimpressed expression. The guard wondered how a commoner like him had gotten through past the guards at the main gate of the outer wall.

"I need to speak with Sheik. Or Impa," Fuu said hurriedly.

The guards exchanged glances with each other. "Never heard of Sheik," the first one said, and the second one nodded in affirmation. "And it looked like Impa was busy at the moment. She was trying to find the princess earlier and she hasn't come through here in a while."

Fuu groaned. No doubt Sheik and Impa had decided not to use the main doors. "Ok, well I'm pretty sure they're back at the castle and I really need to speak to them. It's an emergency."

The guard shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry kid, we can't let you in unless you have an official appointment here. We can pass word along to Impa the next time we see her, though? What's the emergency?"

Fuu bit his lip, frustrated. He couldn't just tell these guards that Shadow Link had mistaken him for Vaati and was currently sitting tied up in his house. These guards were flighty: there was a high risk that they would misunderstand what he was saying and think it would be a good idea to keep him temporarily detained as well. No, he needed to tell Sheik or Impa directly. "Just tell her or Sheik that I was looking for them, and that it's urgent," he said. Then, he ran off to find a way to reach Sheik on his own.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour later, Princess Zelda was in her room, still somewhat upset that she'd been caught by Impa. Her guardian had given her a short lecture, but thankfully she'd been allowed to skip the meeting she'd been supposed to attend. She would have been much too late to attend it by the time she'd returned to the castle, and the best course of action had been to tell the nobles that she'd been feeling unwell and needed to rest: to be fair, that explanation wasn't too far from the truth. Not even two weeks had passed since the final battle against Vaati, and since then she'd been on edge trying to keep Fuu under a tight watch. She picked up a book she'd been reading and walked over to sit by the window. She glanced at the door, feeling somewhat guilty that Impa was now tasked with doing damage control for her irresponsible escape from her duties. When Impa came back, she would be sure to thank her repeatedly, and perhaps send in a special order to Smith for a new set of daggers made specifically for Impa, since the daggers she owned were beginning to age.

Zelda turned the pages of her book, noting briefly how nice it was to have clean, untapped fingers again. As fun as it could be to run around as Sheik, she also enjoyed a quiet afternoon in her own room, undisturbed by anyone and with a good book and hot tea to keep her company.

She reached for the tea that the castle servants had set aside for her. As she did so, something out the window caught her eye. She nearly spilled the tea all over the floor when she saw what it was.

It was Fuu. He had made his way up to the roofs of the main castle building. He appeared extremely suspicious, from the way he went from one window to the next, peeking in as though looking for something.

"Oh for Din's sake… Doesn't he have anything better to do?" Zelda sighed, standing up again and casting a disappointed look towards the tea and her book. It didn't seem like she could have that relaxing afternoon after all, even after all of the effort Impa had gone to after giving her a scolding. She opened the little drawer in her desk and picked up one of a dozen or so stones inside. The stone was a light, crystal pink, and it glowed when she tapped it. "Agnes, I need you to take my place again. If you see Impa, let her know that I had to leave but that I will be back briefly," she said, and then she put it back in the drawer before locking it with a key. Then, with a bright flash of magic, Sheik took the place of Princess Zelda. He peered out the window again, shaking his head at Fuu who was determinedly making his way from one window to the next as though on a mission.

Sheik flicked open the lock and pushed his window open. He jumped gracefully down onto the roof below, the tiles chipped and cracked indicating that he'd done this many times before, and then he jumped across to the next set of blue roofs. He teleported a short distance towards the area where Fuu was, and he eventually managed to sneak up on the other Sheikah who was too busy looking into windows to notice. "Trying to get a look at the ladies?" He asked when he finally reached Fuu. Fuu, startled, nearly fell from the wall that he'd been climbing below.

Fuu looked above where Sheik was crouching on a perch, and he shook a fist angrily. "What? No! I was looking for you." He let go of the wall, and then he vanished before he reappeared next to Sheik with a swirl of magic. Without explaining what was going on, he grabbed Sheik's wrist. "Come on, we need to go."

"Go where?" Sheik had been about to ask, but before he knew what was happening he found himself not on the Hyrule Castle rooftops but back in front of Fuu's house. Phew, Fuu's getting better at teleporting: I barely noticed that he'd cast a spell... Catching his balance, he rounded on Fuu. "Fuu, what's going on?" However, Fuu had already disappeared into his house. He followed after him, and once inside he saw Fuu standing frozen in the middle of the room as though petrified. Sheik observed that there was something funny going on, especially the chair next to Fuu's bed with a lot of rope pooled around its feet as though someone had once been tied up but had escaped. He had a bad feeling about this. "What happened here after we parted?" Fuu had found a note on top of the chair, and was muttering curses under his breath.

"Goddesses damned it how could he have escaped?" Fuu scowled, crumpling up the note and tossing it aside.

"Who?" Sheik asked, picking up the note that Fuu had tossed away and opening it up. The note itself was not frightening in the least, and all it said was the following: Come to Lake Hylia, alone, before I change my mind. However, the signature below it caused a sinking feeling in Sheik's chest. He recognized the name, and he remembered all of the terrible things it was associated with. "Shadow Link," he murmured, reading the name aloud. Allegedly Vaati's closest henchman, the shadow had been responsible for blowing up dozens of bridges and trade routes to cut off remote villages, starving them slowly to death. His actions caused the blame to fall on Link for several weeks before they could finally figure out what was going on, but by then the damage had been done: the villages far from the central kingdom had been targeted as they were more likely to pick up on any falsified rumors that the hero was sabotaging them. Mistrust of Hyrule Proper was still high in some of these targeted villages thanks to Shadow Link.

And then there was that one close encounter, when Shadow Link had encountered Princess Zelda while she'd been travelling out on the road. They'd gotten into a fight, which she'd eventually won with the help of Impa… In fact, that was when they'd first confirmed that Link had a doppelganger running about causing trouble.

"We need to let Impa know what happened," Sheik said, alarmed.

"No," Fuu took Sheik by the wrist again and led them out the door. "We'll lose too much time if we do that. We need to find him."

Sheik's voice rose, and he became slightly panicked. He didn't know what kind of conversation Fuu had with Shadow Link, but he couldn't let the two of them come in contact any more. There was a dangerously high risk that Shadow Link would figure out Fuu's real identity (if he hadn't figured it out already), which would potentially lead to Fuu figuring out what had really happened to his memories. "This is too dangerous for you. I'll handle it with Impa-"

"No," Fuu cut him short as he narrowed his eyes. "I'm tired of being left out of things. You go find Impa if you want to, but I'm going after Shadow Link."

Sheik wavered. While he could try to immobilize and stop Fuu like he had done at the desert temple, doing so would only break the still-fragile trust that had begun to grow over the past few days. It didn't help that, logically, Fuu was right: going after Shadow Link was top priority, and if Sheik wanted to find Impa then someone else (Fuu) should be going after Shadow. Sheik gritted his teeth, and then pushed past Fuu, making a run towards Lake Hylia. Between the choices he had, leaving Fuu alone with Shadow Link was the most dangerous option: he had no other choice than to follow Fuu to the lake. "Let's go."

fleets: As exciting as it would have been for Fuu to suddenly realize he's really mega terror sorcerer, that would have accelerated the story so much that it would have been boring. As it stands, this story will probably be... oh i don't know, maybe around 20+ chapters or so. We have a lot more crazies to cover first.
I realized that a few readers weren't familiar with FSA manga Shadow Link. If you're curious as to what he's like as a character, you'll probably get a good impression of him by googling 'shadow link manga' and looking at the images.
So what's Shadow Link up to, huh? Wish I could say more but that would be oh so many spoilers and I do like my twists to stay extra twisty.

Also while I was getting a grip on the characters for this story, I really ended up liking the idea that Dethl hates music of any kind (because of what happens in Link's Awakening, for those of you who aren't familiar with that game) while Shadow likes listening to a good tune every now and then.

Well not much else to say. Thank you again for checking this out! :D

Scarlet Firesong: Hahaha things are going to get a little rough now, that's for sure XD

SubZeroChimera: Glad you liked it :D Aaaand the shit just keeps getting shittier. Poor Impa. FFffff I have so much to say about Shadow Link but he's such a walking talking spoiler machine D:

Serpent Tailed Angel: I'm glad you said that, since one of my worries was that this story was going to be too similar in concept to either Rend or AI. Now that I'm writing more of him, though, Fuu does feel very different to write than Gale. He's a little more heroic and innocent-ish? And yesss Shadow Link! I enjoyed writing him way back when he appeared in TU oh so oh so long ago. Thank you so much for your comments!

Cattycheeno: Haha yeah I did sneak in an teeny tiny VaaZel there :P And Shadow is great! He's not very interesting in the games (aside from the mischievous laugh followed by some kind of epic bomb threat), but I liked his personality that was depicted in the FSA manga. Hopefully I can represent it accurately here :)

Flufux: Shadow Link is one of my favorite characters, especially how he was represented in the FSA manga. And hahaha that's fantastic XD I always thought of him with a bit of a drawl (in the manga he says y'all) but I kind of like the british version now that you bring it up.
And yes for trouble! It wasn't quite complicated enough yet, so we needed Shadow Link to fix that :P

Lord Siravant: You got that right for sure XD

AquilaMage: The "see magic" thing will come into play again later :) And yup, he still wants to be the best haha. I'm pretty excited about Shadow Link's role too!

Sorceress V: Shadow Link is here to bring in a whole new set of trouble :D Thank you!

Vesperupus: Hahaha you predicted it right, the answer is they both got confused XD The question now is how much Shadow Link figured out regarding what happened :3
And thanks! This iteration of Zelda is slightly different than the Zelda I wrote in WIR and FaV (the WIR Zelda took her duties a little more seriously than Demonbound Zellie).