fleets: Things I am good at - finishing chapters. Things I am not good at - being patient and letting a chapter sit for over 24 hours so I can give it the proofing it deserves.

Just warning you. (and this is why I might eventually rewrite some of my more grievously unproofed stories, like I did with Rend).

Speaking of warnings, this chapter is a little more bloody and stabby than stuff I usually write. That said, it's still fairly tame (I've read hardcore gore before and this is definitely nothing remotely close to hardcore gore). There's violence in here, but I didn't make it super descriptive. Still, I thought I should warn you just in case.

Anyways, Happy Valentines Day! 14th chapter on the 14th day, how's that for being prepared? :P

Chapter 14: Shadow of a Hero

Fuu didn't remember much about what had passed during their journey back to Hyrule. As soon as they'd heard news about the attack on Hyrule, they had all wasted no time to get to their mounts and depart as soon as possible. He vaguely recalled his feet carrying him swiftly to the horses, but his mind had been too occupied with the messenger's words to notice what he was doing. He refused to believe that the princess was dead. That Hyrule had fallen. He wouldn't believe it until he saw it for himself.

The smoke was the first thing they saw as it climbed to the sky like some twisted claw reaching upwards. Dread filled Fuu's chest when he wondered if the orange color that washed over the dark grey of the kingdom was light from the breaking dawn or embers of burning houses.

Sheik leapt off of his horse as soon as they reached the castle gates, and the animal ran in the other direction, spooked by something within the castle walls. Fuu ran after him, followed by Impa and Shadow Link. Broken, charred beams were scattered around the cobblestone paths, still glowing red from embers, and it reeked of something like acid as well as burned meat. Fuu averted his gaze from the occasional limb that reached through the fallen debris around them.

Horrible… displayed on a crucifix… middle of the town.

Fuu ran faster, remembering the words of the Goron messenger. It couldn't be true. He refused to believe it until he saw it for himself, but now that he was actually in a nightmarish Hyrule, he wasn't sure if he could handle seeing whatever it was that awaited them in the center of castle town.

In front of him, Sheik had slowed to a stop in the castle square. The Sheikah was as still as a statue in front of the display that had been propped in the center of the square. Fuu ran over to him, concerned for the blond who suddenly looked ill. However, he, too, had to choke back the taste of bile in his mouth when he noticed just what it was that Sheik was staring at. The fountain in the middle of the square had been filled with the broken beams of the buildings throughout castle town, and severed heads still with horrified expressions were jammed into the splinters. In the center of the pile was a crucifix, crudely constructed by two wooden beams stained with the blood of its victim.

Fuu wanted to look away. He should have looked away, but somehow he couldn't take his eyes off of what had quickly turned into a nightmare. Beside him Sheik wretched, leaning against Impa for support.

Princess Zelda was nailed to the cross, but in an exceptionally brutal manner. Fuu finally wrenched his eyes away, but he couldn't get the image of what he'd just seen out of his head. Nails… dozens and dozens of nails. Across her arms. Her legs. Her torso. Her face.

Goddesses her face was hardly recognizable.

"Victims of crucifixion often die a long and tortuous death, often lasting for several days," Impa said, her voice suddenly hoarse. In her hands was a piece of a broken sign that had been placed in front of the horrific display. "That was not the intention for the princess. This was not a crucifixion for her, but a message for the survivors. A message to instill fear."

At this, Sheik stirred. He'd already known that Dethl had meant this to be a message. Dethl had made it known that they knew who Sheik really was: if they'd really wanted the princess dead then they would have attacked him on Death Mountain. "That's not her," he said quietly. He straightened up, and when he finally looked back at the others, his red eyes that were usually full of fierce fire were empty and lost. "That's not her!" he shouted, and then sprinted away towards the castle.

"Sheik!"

Fuu watched Impa run after Sheik, petrified where he stood. A numbness crawled up his arms through his fingertips, and he felt a lightness in his head. In an attempt to distract himself with something, he absentmindedly picked up the broken sign that Impa had dropped in her hurry after Sheik. He turned over the sign in his hands, not because he expected to find anything there but because he needed something to take his thoughts away from the princess nailed to a cross. To his surprise, words were written on the sign in blood. They read: "where is the real princess?"

"And I thought Master Vaati was scary, but Dethl just took it to a whole new level," Shadow Link whistled, observing the gruesome display before them. He hopped over to Fuu who was staring at the sign quietly. "You okay?"

"Yes," Fuu said, surprising himself. He was surprised because it wasn't a lie, and he was taken aback when the numbness in his hands disappeared abruptly and he was no longer feeling faint. He turned his head back to the bloodied corpse, and was surprised even more when he realized that he could look at it without being overcome with disgust. Suddenly, he dropped the sign on the ground and climbed over some of the wooden beams around the princess's feet to get a closer look at her disfigured face.

"Aw shucks, Fuu, that's kind of gross, yeah?" Shadow called, wrinkling his nose at Fuu who was so close to the dead body that he was almost touching it.

Fuu observed the body a little longer, and then jumped back down on the ground. He tilted his head towards Shadow Link with a curious look on his face. "Do you think that's the real princess?" he asked. He recalled Sheik shouting that the person on the cross wasn't the real princess.

Shadow Link shrugged. "I dunno. Blondie didn't seem to think that she was, but he could just be in denial. Wouldn't blame him for it," he added, raising an eyebrow towards the cross. It wasn't a fate he would wish on anyone. He waved a hand at the disfigured corpse. "Honestly, I can't tell who that thing used to be because of all the uh… nails."

Fuu nodded, and as strange as it was, he seemed more at ease than before. As soon as it had occurred to him that the unfortunate victim may not be the real Princess Zelda, he'd begun to feel better about the situation. Perhaps he should have been disgusted with himself for not being more disturbed by the amount of death that surrounded him, but that was the truth of it. Blood and death didn't seem to bother him so much as the thought that he'd failed his job to protect the princess. Now that there was a possibility that the princess was still alive, he was filled with determination rather than despair. He wasn't going to believe that the princess was really dead until he was confronted with irrefutable proof that the person on the cross was really her.

He took one last glance at the crucifix surrounded by decapitated heads. Once again, he surprised himself when he realized that he was no longer repulsed by it, but rather, intrigued. He wondered, briefly, if he was a horrible person for being interested in the kind of cruelty that had been inflicted here, in a manner similar to a child investigating an ant burning to a crisp under a looking glass in the sun. What Dethl had done here went beyond murder. It was sick. Evil.

Fuu was about to make his way over in the direction where Sheik and Impa had disappeared, towards the castle, but he was stopped by a commotion coming down the street that led further into castle town. "That was a shout!" Shadow Link exclaimed, "Some people survived." Fuu nodded, and the two decided to follow the shouts that were quickly turning into distressed screams. If they didn't hurry, those people wouldn't be "survivors" for long.

The breaking dawn cast eerie shadows along the once bustling streets of castle town, now full of debris and floating sparks from the still-glowing cinders of the burned buildings. There was a clatter as Shadow Link accidentally kicked away a cracked skull. It was much too smooth and polished to have belonged to someone who had recently died; Fuu guessed that Stalfos soldiers had been here as well, although from the emptiness of the town it seemed that they had retreated a while ago.

They continued to run down the street, being careful to avoid any falling debris from the ruined buildings around them. As they approached the screams, Fuu noticed that there was some strange, sticky substance dripping from some of the walls. Eventually, the light green slime coated parts of the street like some kind of giant slug had passed through. While he didn't know what it was, Fuu knew enough not to step on the strange substance. From the noxious fumes that grew more potent with heavier concentrations of slime, it was clear that they should give it space. Unfortunately, the screams seemed to be leading them directly towards the source of the slime.

"What is this stuff?" Fuu muttered aloud, jumping over a larger clump of slime that seemed to be eating through a wooden cart that had toppled over.

Beside him, Shadow Link appeared momentarily surprised that Fuu didn't know, before he remembered that Fuu wasn't Vaati. "Vitreous," he replied.

"Vitreous? What's that?" Fuu began, but his question was answered soon enough when they rounded the corner. Before them, there was a massive pile of slime about the size of a small shack. Inside the slime was a large, veiny eye with clouded green pupils, about six feet wide in diameter. It was surrounded by dozens of smaller eyes. The eyes were all preoccupied by a grate on the ground: screams could be heard from below the drain grate. It didn't look like the creature was doing much other than staring at the grate, until Fuu noticed that it was slowly dripping through it so that it could reach the people on the other side. Oh no you don't.

"To Stone With You!" Fuu shouted, and magic crackled from his fingertips towards the monster called Vitreous. As soon as he'd done so, several of the creature's smaller eyes turned towards him sharply to take a glimpse of the newcomer before they were turned to stone. The magic spread through the slime, turning it into a grey block of solid rock until it simply stopped. Huh? Fuu thought, confused when only a part of Vitreous was turned to stone.

The large eye swiveled towards them, momentarily losing interest in the people screaming from under the grate. The main body of the creature had severed the part that had been hit with Fuu's spell, stopping its spread. Upon seeing Fuu and Shadow Link, it recoiled in surprise, and the air hissing from the bubbles that popped from its slime almost sounded like a distressed exclamation. Its reaction surprised Fuu: It looked powerful enough, and he'd expected it to attack them as soon as it had noticed them. Instead, it almost looked like it was afraid of him. "Hsskkkk!" it gurgled, and then it began to slither away with surprising speed for a gelatinous creature.

"Don't let it get away!" Fuu shouted, throwing some powerful blasts of magic towards the retreating slime. His attacks hit the smaller eyes that jumped up to protect the main eye, and they burst messily into a splatter of acid. Fuu and Shadow were forced to slow down to avoid getting hit with the spray of goo, and Vitreous used the opportunity to squeeze down into a storm drain farther down the road.

Fuu gnawed his teeth in frustration. "Shadow!" he barked, "Can you follow it?"

"Sure thing, boss," Shadow Link nodded. "Want me to kill it?"

"Do everything you can to stop that thing from reaching those people down there. The princess could be with them," Fuu snarled. Then, his eyes glowed red as he summoned two sentry eyes. "I'll try to find my own way down there in the meantime."

Shadow Link flashed a grin at the sight of the sentry eyes. "Aw yeah, Master Vaati's back in town." He cackled when Fuu threw him a glare, "Hahaha, I'm just messing with ya. Don't worry, I'll get the job done. Vitreous will be dead and gone before you know it."

With that, Shadow Link melted into the darkness within the storm drain. Fuu ordered one sentry eye to fly through the thin crack of the drain to follow Shadow, while he used the other to find an entrance large enough for him to follow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nothing personal, Vitreous, Shadow Link thought as he carefully made his way through the drain tunnels beneath the streets of castle town, It's just business. It was pitch black in the tunnels, but it was no issue for Shadow Link who could see in minimal light.

It was kind of a shame that he would have to be the one to destroy that giant booger of a monster, since they had once been on the same side. He liked it marginally better than some of the other monsters because it couldn't really say much other than gurgle and spit, and he'd had some good fun messing with it back in the day. Vitreous was perhaps one of the most gullible monsters he'd ever met, and the reason why it had climbed the ranks to be one of the most powerful monsters in the region wasn't because it was a cunning and terrifying leader, but because it was uncannily good at creating great big swaths of destruction wherever it went. To be fair, it couldn't help it, since its body deteriorated almost any organic material it touched, and its fumes combusted with a hot enough flame.

Needless to say, Vitreous was rarely invited to meetings, and it was often sent to the middle of fucking nowhere so no one would have to deal with it. Well, except maybe the poor sods it was sent to wreak havoc on.

Shadow Link had to stop for the third time when he encountered a split in the path. Vitreous was surprisingly fast when it wanted to be, and he couldn't even trace the slime on the ground or walls to figure out which route it had taken. The screams had since stopped, which suggested that Vitreous was no longer in that direction. However, Shadow decided to go towards where the screams had been anyway, in case the slime decided to come back to finish the job. After all, Fuu's orders had been to prevent Vitreous from reaching the survivors.

After a while, he saw the soft glow of a torch in the path ahead. He saw some figures walking towards him, and he slowed down when they approached him excitedly. It was a sizeable crowd, and they all looked scared out of their wits.

"Link! Link, lad, is that you?" the man leading the crowd asked, waving a torch towards him to get a better look at his face. "By the goddesses, we thought that monster had gotten you when you ran off to distract it. It's gone now. Looks like your plan worked."

Shadow Link stiffened at the mention of his other lookalike's name. He resisted the urge to draw his sword on the other man when he placed his large, tubby baker's hands on his shoulder. "Yeah…" Shadow muttered. He stepped to the side, avoiding the torch's light from shining on his face.

"It was a good thing you knew about these tunnels," the man continued, to which there was a murmur of agreement from the crowd, "we'd all be dead out there if you hadn't helped us find the entrances." Suddenly, the man became aware that 'Link' was scowling something fierce with an expression that could only be described as burning hatred. "Is… is something the matter boy?" He asked hesitantly.

"No," Shadow Link replied, though his expression suggested otherwise. He hadn't expected to hear about 'Link,' right now. He never wanted to hear about Link, his so-called 'real' self. He was always the fake one, just because he would never have existed without Link. He could never be unique, because Link always overshadowed him. Literally.

He had a bitter rivalry with Link, and it angered him even more when Link himself never even acknowledged his existence until Shadow had made an effort to ruin Link's name. Hearing talk about Link always put him in a sour mood, and it was only the fact that Fuu had specifically ordered for the safety of these peons that Shadow Link didn't make them shut up about Link for good.

"Hey, what was that?" Someone asked from the crowd, pointing a finger at something behind Shadow.

Shadow Link turned around, and just barely saw the faint outline of one of Fuu's sentry eyes before It fluttered away into the darkness.

There was an uneasy murmur, and Shadow Link could hear people talking to each other nervously. "Must've been imagining things," he heard someone say quietly, but it was clear that everyone was on edge again. The crowd had realized that perhaps they were no longer as safe as they had wanted to believe.

Shadow Link once again tried to step away from the torch that the first man was waving in his face. However, the crowd seemed insistent to be close to 'the hero' in case something else snuck up on them from the dark. He couldn't inch away from the light as hard as he tried. Eventually, someone finally noticed that 'Link's' hair was a dark purple-black rather than blond. And that he wasn't wearing his usual green tunic but a black one.

"That's not Link. It's that demon!" they cried, causing a ripple of distressed chatter from the crowd, "The one that tricked us into thinking it was the hero!"

Before an uproar could start, a different voice called out from behind Shadow Link. Shadow's ears twitched irritably when he recognized the voice; it was one that was similar to his own, but one that was a little too… righteous. Innocent. Friendly as fuck.

"What's going on? Is everyone all right? I'm not sure why, but that monster ran off and…" Link ran into view with a slight limp in his step, and he slowed to a stop just next to Shadow Link. He jumped back when he noticed Shadow Link standing there with a malicious glare, and he brought his hand towards the hilt of his sword cautiously. "Shadow."

Shadow Link eyed his double, and he seemed to be trying to decide whether or not he should cut Link right then and there. For a second it almost looked like he was going to draw his sword, but instead he flashed a wide, exaggerated grin. "Hah! Well hello Link. Sounds like you're still having fun hero-ing around without me."

"I should have known you were behind all of this!" Link shot. "What you did at the town square…" he grimaced, unable to finish his sentence.

"What, the crucifixion?" Shadow picked at his nails uninterestedly. His blithe demeanor regarding something so horrifying angered Link further, but Shadow only chuckled when Link pointed a sword at his face. "I'm sorry to say I can't take credit for that. Dramatic, wasn't it?"

"I'll stop you."

At this, Shadow Link threw his head back and howled in laughter. "Ahahaha! You?" he cackled. He vanished into the darkness, only to reappear behind Link and kick him in the back, throwing him off balance. He dug his boot into Link's chest, pinning him to the ground. A metallic ringing echoed in the tunnel as Shadow Link drew his sword and pointed it at Link's throat. "Your time is over, buddy. Just look at you, you're broken," he said coldly. His sword slowly traced over the scar across Link's face, and to his hands that could barely grip a sword without shaking.

Shadow Link briefly looked away from his double, only to shoot a warning glare towards the crowd that had inched closer in an attempt to help the hero. Once the crowd backed away, he gave a small shrug and turned back to Link who was still under his boot. "Look, I'm under orders to stop that green slime from killing y'all, got it? Y'all can go ahead and stop me, but then you'd better be prepared to save your sorry hides." He let the message sink in, and then slowly took his foot off of Link, allowing the other boy to sit up with a confused look on his face. He twirled his sword and sheathed it, spreading his arms towards the crowd jovially. "Anyone? Anyone still want to stop me?"

"You're… what?" Link asked, confused. Was Shadow Link offering to help them against the slime monster?

Shadow Link tapped his foot impatiently. "Are you gonna let me do my job and save y'all or what?"

There was another flurry of panicked murmurs through the crowd as they tried to decide what to do about Shadow Link. The discussion became heated, with some people wanting to welcome the help for now and others insisting that Shadow Link was tricking them. The rising voices echoed through the tunnel, and it lured another creature towards them. Vitreous.

The bloodshot eye oozed towards them from the far end of the tunnel.

Shadow Link sighed, and glanced at Link who was still trying to decide if he could trust Shadow Link or not. "Should've accepted my help when I first asked you," he shook his head in mock pity. Without warning, he raised his sword into the air and stabbed Link in the leg. "That's so you won't be a pain in the ass," Shadow said above Link's anguished cries. He ordered someone from the crowd to patch the hero up, but not before he gave a final warning. "Once I get my way then you will be the one sitting in the shadows," he spat. "This is my time now."

Shadow Link twirled his sword one last time, and started walking towards Vitreous on the other end of the tunnel. Just before the slime reached him, the doppelganger grinned, and suddenly tossed a boomerang towards the torches that the crowd of people were holding behind him.

There was a distressed shriek from Vitreous when it lost vision, and it drowned out the panicked voices from the crowd. Only Shadow Link snickered gleefully as he made his move in the place he knew best: Darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good work down there," Fuu nodded towards Shadow Link when they reconvened in the streets above the tunnels, "Looks like I didn't have to join you after all."

Shadow walked over slowly, dragging the blade of his sword along some broken beams to wipe away the sticky slime from Vitreous. "Sure," he said. His usual mockingly cheery demeanor was gone, and he appeared to be scowling at nothing in particular. He looked up momentarily only to shoo away a curious sentry eye that had fluttered too close to his face.

"The princess wasn't with the people down there," Fuu said, dismissing one of the two sentry eyes. The red glow around his eyes dimmed as the creature dematerialized. "Let's split up and search."

"Sure," Shadow Link responded in that same, flat tone, and then began to walk towards a random direction through the streets. Fuu frowned, and then gave a small sigh. He thought he could guess what it was that was bothering him.

"Also, Shadow?" Fuu called after Shadow Link's retreating back.

Shadow Link slowed, and tilted his head in acknowledgement but didn't say anything.

"Next time anyone calls you a demon, I'll beat them up for you and then turn them into a statue."

The frown on Shadow Link's face twitched. The twitch began to curl, until Fuu could see that signature insulting grin again. "Hahahaha, I'd love to see that," Shadow Link laughed.

They gave an affirmative nod, and split up to search for Princess Zelda, who was possibly still alive. Shadow Link ran towards the town with the sentry eye tailing him, and he glanced back at it once, thoughtfully. It was there, that feeling again; the feeling that he was part of a real team for once. People he could count on. Fuu and Sheik actually made him feel like he was somebody. That he was worth something, and that he wasn't just some second-rate copy of the hero or that he could easily be replaced by a new shadow the next day. Wasn't this what he'd always wanted?

Maybe he should tell them the truth. He'll have to think on this for a little, but maybe there was another way to go about this than to betray them all like he'd initially planned. He might not tell them the whole truth, but maybe just enough so they wouldn't get themselves in trouble.

"Good of you to join us, Shadow Link."

Shadow Link nearly tripped over his feet when he heard Dethl's chorused voice in his head.

"Keep running, and pretend you do not hear us. We know Vaati is watching, and we do not want him to be suspicious, do we?"

Shadow Link bit his lip, and continued to run down the street as though he hadn't heard a thing. He glanced once back at the sentry that was following him, and then towards his feet where his shadow was. It flickered unnaturally. Dethl was there.

"We are impressed by what you have done so far. When you get a chance, meet us in the shade of the oak in the cemetery. We must discuss the final details of the next part of the plan."

fleets: Sometimes characters grow on me unexpectedly while I'm writing a story. This time, that character is Vitreous. Poor ol' Vitreous. It was only supposed to be a 'filler' character to take on the role of something scary in town, but I really ended up liking it. It's basically the guy that never gets invited to parties, and if he does miraculously ends up at one, no one wants him there but they never tell him that to his face. It's the guy that means well, but manages to screw up every thing he lays his hands on. RIP Vitreous, you were my awkward party buddy while you lasted.

Also I started using 'They/Them' pronouns for Dethl rather than 'It.' It sounded better when I was writing it that way, so from this chapter onward that's what they'll be referred to (if I'm not feeling lazy I'll go back and fix previous chapters).

I'm also really enjoying everyone's reviews! It seems like a few of you are picking up on some of the little hints here and there about the direction I'll be taking this story, so that's exciting (it's really hard for me to keep my mouth shut about spoilers though ughhh). Thank you so much for your support ahhhh

DestructoKat: Hi there! Hmmm, I have a few guesses as to who you might be haha :) Thank you so much for checking out this story!
I've been trying to keep Shadow Link faithful to his characterization in the FSA manga (let's hope I succeed! He is pretty tricky).
I also decided to tone down the gore from what I could have done with it. I did want some level of shock value, since there's a reason why Dethl did what they did, but I figured it's not necessary to describe every single gruesome detail (I did take your comment into consideration :) thank you for that!)

AquilaMage: Shadow was sooo close to deciding to tell the truth this chapter, too. Oops. The answer to the 'why must you do this' is somewhat evident at the end of this chapter :P
You guys ask good questions! (rhetorical or otherwise). I'm enjoying the challenge of answering them in subsequent chapters ;)

Flufux: Yeah, Darunia and Zelda are both right in their concerns, which makes reaching a compromise that much more difficult D:
You guessed it! Dethl knew what they were doing when they made an awful display out of the decoy. I do have lots to say on that, so it'll come up in future chapters for sure ;)

Vesperupus: I don't think Sheik will have a big enough mop by the end of this XD

Serpent Tailed Angel: Oh rats, you spoiled my story! Now everyone will know what will happen! XD
Hahaha yeah I'm probably going to repeat this a lot for several more chapters but... it gets worse lol
I think Shadow stole the show these last two chapters. Fuu chapters incoming - he's the main character after all, heh.

Ai Star: Definitely a message! Dethl knew the decoy wasn't the real one. This is kind of an important point so it'll come up again in the future :)

Lexik: Pheew again, I really want to thank you for such detailed comments. They were a delight to read, and it really got me thinking about how to present material for the next several chapters! I tried to be more mindful about paragraph breaks this chapter, thank you for the suggestion! (in the past I was really worried about paragraphs that were too short, so I may have overcompensated in my recent stories).
As for your question on Fuu swearing in a foreign tongue - I'm surprised you caught that! :D It was a small nod to him knowing Minish language :)
And that's a great description of Dethl! I don't know if you've played Link's Awakening, but Dethl stuck out to me when they spoke using 'we/us' in game. It was creepy when I first read the dialogue, and I loved that. I'll be taking a few liberties on developing their character, since they hardly got one in the game aside from 'endgame boss.'
And yes! Introverted Zelda. I'm an introvert myself (exactly in the way you described it) so it was easier for me to write her as one. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I've ever written an extroverted character aside from (maybe) Link. Maybe that should be on my writer's bucket list...

Ahhh all those other comments. I'm really, really struggling to say something because nothing escapes your notice, does it? ;) I was especially surprised that someone remembered Vaati's count-keeping of the number of times Sheik was honest with him - hold that thought for a bit :3 (it makes me really happy to hear that people are catching some of the small things I throw in to chapters here and there :D )