Blood Red Sandman
Chapter 6
Marked
After floating in the stream for what must have been hours, the rising shadows of dusk crept upon the resting form of the Blue Link, languidly floating in a shallow bay of the river. He didn't wind up moving far in the river as his eyes creaked up wearily after a moment, not even alarmed in the slightest to find him submerged in the cold and frigid liquid around him. This, to the hero, was a common place for his napping needs. The group specifically camps as close to the river as possible for not just fresh water, but to allow their brawn to ease his weary soul and muscle in the flowing cold of the river. As Blue slowly shifted his weight onto his bottom, he found his feet unable to touch the base of the stream. He grew the slightest bit grumpy at that, swimming skillfully upstream in an attempt to fight the lazy, yet still rushing waterway. He wasn't in the mood to be working out for the first time in forever, yet as he made his way back to the shore he realized we was still in his boots and gear. Oh great, that was exactly what he needed right now.
As he exited the water, boots sloshing uncomfortably, he also realized he brought no change of clothes. To him, that was the strangest part of his clothed river escapade. Normally when deciding to relax in the water, he would remove his tunic and boots and neatly fold them before arranging his possessions in the perfect manner. Clothes folded properly and placed ever so on the edge of the river bank; Left boot on the left of the folded items and right boot on the right. His hat was placed folded upside down above the tunic, and his item pouch was placed on top of the hat. Yet he skipped the entire process that day apparently, and that set off an OCD red flag as his eye twitches, removing all of his clothed before folding them. Left boot on left, right on right. Hat folded upside down. Item pouch on top of the hat. Pulling back with a pleased sigh, he gazed at his items before gathering them again, putting his hat and tunic on again before going back into his boots.
After he realized he wasted another waning beam of daylight, he quickly scurried through the brush, spirits and nerves calmed. In fact, he had completely ceased his worries and much less forgotten about the calamity taking place among their group. As the final minutes of light disappeared behind the horizon, and the soft glow of a campfire came into view, Blue burst through the brush with a grin on his features. "What's up guys? Sorry I'm late and all, apparently took a nap in the steam. But get this, I didn't take off any of my gear-." before he got a chance to finish his sentence, he felt a weight of pure depression fall onto his shoulders, the air sour and bitter with defeat as he gazed at the group, or at least the shells of them.
Green was huddled up near the fire on the opposite side of Vio. The moment Blue made his appearance into the group once again, he rose up and all but threw himself into the arms of the bookworm, looking at Blue in a fearful alarm before hiding his face in the shadows of his hair, not saying a word to Blue afterwards. Vio made move to wrap his arm around Green, the toll of Red's sickness weighing heavily onto his chest more than the others. The stress of it all was taking its toll onto the youth, his hair looking straw like and pale, his skin pulled back into faint wrinkles already as he comforted his leader, not showing even the faintest emotion in his dull eyes now. Blue gazed at the group in confusion, and not the good kind. This was the kind of confusion one has when their mother is telling them they were never wanted, or when you're told your dog was just hit by a car, much less your own car stolen by your little sister. It was not a good feeling at all, one that left you cold and angry inside.
As Blue continued to gaze over his group in that confusion, his ears twitched up as the frail coughing echoed throughout the camp of the weak and possibly dying hero. Vio noticeably cringed as he heard the cough, wishing to help Red desperately yet he has done all he can for the frail youth, and now he simply needed rest from the exhaustion he put himself through. Instantly Blue remembered the exact turn of events in an instant, mood turning foul once again as he gave Green a secluded glare before moving towards his tent, opening the flap before turning back to the two huddled at the campfire. "I hate this. I don't even know you guys anymore." With that, he turned his back towards the impassive teens and ducked his way into the tent, discarding his clothes and folding them up neatly, placing them to dry.
Green turned to Vio slowly as Blue retreated into the folds of his tent, face filled with regret and fear, the words once again striking him deep as he clutches his chest before sighing in sadness, lowering his hand. "Blue's right, Vio, I don't know who we are anymore." He simply said, unable to find any other means of words to describe exactly how he was feeling to the other link. Vio barely even acknowledged Green, only giving a curt nod of his head before going back to being absorbed in his thoughts, mind racing a mile a minute with no destination in mind. Green waited for a response after that, eyes showing any hopes for a response, any ideas from the brains of the group, all being destroyed at the sight of the simple nod. These volatile times weren't going to be pretty, and Green knew that even if all becomes fixed, nothing will ever be the same between the small band of heroes. The wounds being dug in by the knife of reality will haunt them for the rest of their life and the times to come afterwards, never to heal and never to be hidden from each other.
Green simply silenced himself, thoughts entertained by what they were before they became these unrecognizable husks of their former self. His thought train was only interrupted by the sickly cough of Red, which sent a displeased shiver up his spine as he thought of the utter misery and suffering contained in that one simple action. Green moved slowly away from Vio to give him some space after Blue left for an acceptable amount of time, just staring at the fire and imaging that his cheerful teammate was fanning the fire or simply talking about nothing to hear himself talk. He wished nothing more than to be able to blabber back to him, their useless topics spanning until either Vio or Blue had to leave the camp for silence. But sometimes all four of them would chatter on and on until morning approached, and as all were tired and unprepared for the rest of the journey, they would simply laugh at their own stupidity before sleeping the day away.
These thoughts grew more and more depressing as he wished no more for him to be able to speak to at least someone now, even if it was the quiet and secluded Vio. But every time he started a small topic, Green received no more than a nod or the occasional, "Mhm.", even if the topic required more than such an answer. Finally Green gave up and left Vio to his thoughts, rising from his spot and easing his way into his own tent. When left alone, Vio finally closed his eyes and let the silent tears roll down his cheeks, knowing Red wouldn't live much longer if his health continued to deteriorate at such a rapid pace. He couldn't even bear to look at the fire his lover was once so cheerfully poking and prodding a few days before, let alone feel warmth at all. If Red couldn't, why should he? Rising up from his spot, Vio glanced from side to side before making his way into the darkness of the woods, bow and arrow in tow as he did so.
As the atmosphere grew darker and darker, the haze in Vio's head began to ease and settle into calm again, his troubles being absorbed into the surrounding air as the sounds of crickets and the occasional owl echoed in the background. Sitting down onto a fallen tree stump, he closed his eyes and just relaxed as the sounds echoed all around him in a perfect harmony, interrupted by the occasional monster howl which snapped him out of his thoughts, only to be eased back into them as the sounds echoed around him into a null again.
He listened as the frogs croaked and echoed around him, the occasional monster or animal rustling the bushes and scurrying around, the buzz of the insects around him and the chirping of a night bird. All of this was calming to the hero, as total silence would bring a feeling of dread to his heart. The rushing of the water in the background, the howl of wolves or wolfoes; it honestly didn't matter which one at this point, and the lulling sound of boots creeping through the crunching leaves was soothing as well.
Wait, what?
Vio's eyes snapped open as this new sound greeted his ears, head snapping to the side as it was already too late to stop. A hand clamped over his mouth with great force, claws digging into the skin as he tried to scream, thrashing and throwing his head desperately from side to side as his scream came out muffled from his lips being blocked by the hand. Breath ghosted over his neck, a whisper of a very familiar voice whispering into his ear. "Fancy meeting you here, old friend." Shadow hissed into his ear before his tongue moved up the surface of his neck, filling Vio with such unimaginable dread as he tried to pry and claw the hand off from his mouth. He only earned a bite to his sensitive ear, eliciting a pained moan from his lips as he held his breath, reaching for his arrows which were sent skidding away from him with a simple move of the shadow's hand.
With no options of self defense, Vio turned to Shadow and tried to bash his head into the other's, only earning him a ruthless claw to the face, drawing blood and another pained groan from the hero's lips. With a great rush of desperation, he slammed himself on top of Shadow, elbow moving back and driving into the villain's gut which earned him a loud hiss. However, Shadow was a changed being, now not caring in the slightest about class as he fought. He wrapped his legs around the base of Vio, efficiently trapping his prey as his legs slammed down repeatedly onto his gut, another gagged scream escaping Vio as well as he tried to escape the kicks, elbowing Shadow in the same desperate and violent fit Shadow was throwing upon him. The two quickly became bruised and battered under the force of each other, Vio trying to bite the hand restricting him as Shadow wailed on his stomach with his feet, breath quickly leaving the violet hero with each kick.
Finally, Shadow was done toying with his prey. He knocked Vio off of him with a great heave, leaving the battered hero on the ground to cough and try to keep up, failing to scurry to his feat in time to avoid a powerful kick to the stomach. He curled up around himself in defense, not yet down yet needing to regain his thoughts. Shadow mockingly watched him as he curled up; ceasing his attacks as if to taunt Vio with his thoughts, as if he had no worries that Vio was a threat to him. Vio made to look up to Shadow, eyes narrowed as he stood up rapidly and moved over to his arrows, grabbing them and stringing the bow, yet refused to take aim. He knew that despite the blind eye, Shadow would be able to see each arrow in front of him with precision. Yet that eye could be his savior, Vio thought as he gazed at the glazed over and scarred eye, making his way around Shadow carefully, Shadow not even moving an inch besides his good eye, bad eye also following him, yet the motion was useless as Shadow could see no details through that eye. Vio watched Shadow carefully as he moved a pebble out from his palm where it was lodged in the earlier attack, skidding it quickly across the ground onto Shadow's blind side as the demon's ear twitched towards the sound, Shadow turning to face Vio in an instant.
Vio studied that reaction in interest, his theory being confirmed that Shadow had trained his ear to detect the faintest of sounds. Vio knew that enhanced hearing was a dangerous skill to him, as his attacks could be heard before ever seen. With his blind eye, it seemed as if Shadow had an even greater danger level than ever before. And with a thirst for vengeance and bloodshed, Vio was truly worried as to if fighting alone and winning was even an option. But he drew back an arrow anyways, levelheaded even as Shadow grinned at him and challenged his actions, knowing that Shadow would simply see the arrow even before hearing it. Ducking and rolling to his blind side, he fired an arrow past Shadow's head, causing Shadow to duck to the side. Taking his chance, Vio fired another directly at Shadow when the first whirled by, trying to catch him off guard from the first. But the shadow's form simply shifted and allowed the arrow to effortlessly float through him, returning down when the arrow safely passed. "Nice try." Shadow said in utter mockery, feeling pretty confident in his ability now.
Vio watched Shadow's movements as he winced the slightest bit, his first plan failing. However he wouldn't run or back down, nor would he be the one to let this danger run amok through Hyrule. No, he would stay and he would fight, even if it killed him. That was the way of the hero. He traced Shadow's lazy movements, the other not doing so much as lifting a finger on the offensive towards the calculating hero. Vio grew frustrated at the Shadow's constant taunting, yet remained levelheaded even under the spite. Shadow's confidence would be his downfall, and Vio would relish in finally wiping that smug look off his face. Ducking into his blind side again, he grabbed a few rocks, throwing them directly at Shadow before rolling again, the clatter of the rocks matching the time of his roll. With a start, Shadow turned to the rocks only to find no Vio, and quickly he grew serious as he turned back just in time to avoid an arrow, the tip grazing his ear.
Shadow went from playful to stern in a manner of seconds, floating upright before landing all together onto the ground, eyeing Vio carefully now. Vio was close, so close he almost tasted the impending victory. Yet Shadow has grown quite a considerable amount, but Vio soon noticed that as the fight wore on, his chance of at least stunning and hitting the shadow once was growing. But now that Shadow's eye was trained onto him, and he turned with every movement the violet hero made, that this battle was far from over. His old tactic wouldn't work, and he had to think of something quick from the way Shadow was eyeing him. If he could just sneak around one more time, escape his vision for a measly moment, he could try to distract him again. But Vio knew that both of them were far too clever to fall for such a trick again. Jumping back for a moment just to escape the increased chance of attack from the shadow, he checked his bag for anything of use. A small cutting knife and potions were all that met his gaze.
Glancing at the knife, Vio knew he at least had something worthwhile for a plan. Approaching his way back to the weary shadow, he took aim with an empty bow, strumming the string and watching Shadow's ears twitch to the sound, even as his eyes gazed at Vio. Shadow narrowed his eyes in question, wondering if Vio had already lost it from that simple action. "What kind of attack were you trying to pull?" Shadow asked with a hint of malice in his tone, only growing more infuriated as Vio simply curved his lip into a smirk, refusing to reply as he pulled the string back and let it go, the "thum" echoing around Shadow's ears. Shadow instinctively tensed for the potential of an oncoming arrow, even as his eyes confirmed that there was nothing loaded. As Vio continued this pattern for several more strums, Shadow grew more and more angry, eye slowing a faint red as he snarled to Vio, "You're mocking me, aren't you. I know you are, and it isn't clever or funny at all, m'lady."
When given no reply other than a simple strum of the bow again as reply, Shadow finally couldn't stand stationary any longer. With a pissed off roar towards the tense hero, he charged towards him, claws and fangs bore towards attack. Jumping to the side, Vio continued the false strumming, avoiding and ducking under each swipe of Shadow's claws and rolling to the side on occasion to strum the string right into the other's ear. When Shadow was nearly seeing red, he turned around to face Vio, charging again before pausing. Something was in the bow this time, something shiny and drawn back, and he nearly screamed as the twang echoed out through the area, ears streaming danger before the dagger knife was stabbed right into his chest, recoiling back from the shock before collapsing down onto his backside, pain overriding his senses again as he turns wide eyed to Vio, unable to believe he was able to hit him even with his training.
Vio was currently celebrating a silent victory of his own, gazing down at Shadow with the determined look back into his eyes, the deep blue hue once again presenting itself as he felt what it was like to be a hero again; the pride, the power, the honor, the courage to do what was right, and the wisdom to think ahead. He drew his long dormant sword and pointed it towards Shadow, the holy light spilling from the blade and near Shadow, panic drawn in the villains eyes as he hissed away from the light, only to scoot back before having the blade shoved closer to him, screeching in pain before it was inched away. He lay on the floor in a hissing and glaring mess; sweat beading from his forehead from the heat of the light radiating off the sword. Both the mirror images looked at each other, and for a moment a look of remembrance of their past flashed through their eyes, the times they shared even if they were one of act and fantasy. A pretend game to Vio, yet the fun times they did have were all too real for the purple youth.
His once almost friend and now psychopath was trapped under his blade, sweating and hissing almost feral like as his claws dug into the ground, eyes downcast and his purple locks blocking his bad eye from view as if in shame of what he's done. Vio continued to gaze at the pitiful mess Shadow has been and always will be, his heart twanging as Shadow's eyes widened and flinched with every movement his arm made, as if knowing his plans to end his life. Vio couldn't look as he turns his head to the side, raising the sword high before bringing it down, the blade digging into…nothing. No gut wrenching scream, no blast of light, no force gems, just nothing. In a panic, Vio withdrew his sword and glanced at the indent into the ground where the demon used to be before looking around in a hurried manner, trying to locate any out of place shadows or a form in the trees, only to find no trace of the presence of the clever shadow.
Vio swore loudly as Shadow got away, regretting his sensitive heart for preventing him from keeping his eye on the captive as he planned on taking his life. With a worn out and tired sigh, he moved back and wiped his brow, sweat and blood beading down it before he tensed up as he felt razor sharp claws brush against his arm, then side, ear twitching as a hiss echoed into his ear. "You got a lucky hit today hero, may have even killed me if your heart wasn't weary," the voice traveled to his neck, ghosting over it before cold lips were placed onto the surface, Vio frozen as a shiver ran down his spine. "I'll let you live for now, yet remember me by this, babe." Vio let out a pained hiss as sharp teeth tug into his neck, trying to summon the power to ward off his attacker as the fangs stayed deep into his neck, tears welling in his eyes before going limp in the shadow's hold, energy almost drained from that one motion. Left helpless in the arms of his once friend, his eyes hazed and tired, he felt his blood slide down his neck before everything drew to a blank.
Shadow, finally satisfied with his work, lowered the half unconscious teen onto the wood, satisfied with the mark he left. That should ward off any other creatures wanting to make a slave out of him, Shadow thought with a devious grin. He would kill Vio slower than any of the others, break his arms and then his legs before- wait, he already thought of all this. Shadow shook his head to ward away the thoughts plaguing his mind, not wishing to go a repeat that was really long to type out since he already thought what he would do in the last chapter, and simply recalled those thoughts before stroking Vio's bleeding cheek pleasantly. "Soon," he mumbled to himself, a grin spreading from ear to ear, "Soon you will be mine, and I will be free to do whatever I so want with you. I could beat you senseless, throw you into a chamber of leeches till you're sucked dry, throw you to rats that will eat you alive, limb from limb. Oh the fun we will have my dear hero, but for now I must make my way back to my awaiting minions. Did I mention that I have gathered 3 more now? Oh Vio, thanks to you I have to suffer through this horrendous nightmare. All because of you I'm dealing with this. I hope you are happy with yourself, Vio. Soon though, I will have a castle that reaches the heavens. I will have maidens throwing themselves at my feet, and minions that will have any way they want with you as long as you come out in nearly one piece. Don't you dare cry though, as I will feed you a 3 course meal of maggots, worms, and dirty dish water every day. I can be a generous master, and will only allow myself 3 rapes after your three meals, and you better not vomit when I shove my dick down your throat." Shadow purred to him as his finger traced the wounds he left over the beaten hero's skin, making small little mocking hearts before rising up as he realized he ranted again, but honestly who was there to hear him. Vio was out cold and marked by him, like he should have been from the start.
Glancing down to the knife still lodged into his chest, he knew that it needed almost immediate medical treatment yet couldn't force himself to care much as he traced his finger over the surface of the handle, wincing from the pain before growling low in his throat and kicking Vio's head hard in revenge for the wound he suffered. "Little bitch." He muttered before leaving the hero's unconscious form where it lay, making his way towards the small shelter he had housing the 12 Hinox and now one Darknut; it was about time one of those lumbering armored buffoons joined his side and recognized his power. It took a lot of convincing of his power to have one of them join, and even a bribe of one Hinox ear. Let's just say that the unlucky of the 12 is not happy with him now, yet still remained loyal towards him. Even with the challenge of keeping their loyalty, Shadow felt as if he could do anything towards his small group of minions and still have them remain on his side. The more he showed his dominance and power over them, future minions will require less and less persuasion to join. Shadow grinned as he thought of how eventually, just eventually, the minions will be flocking and begging HIM to join his elite army.
As he approached his shelter, a trail of red following him as he went, he saw subtle signs of a brawl from the indents of the trees and the broken and cracked ground. He let out an annoyed growl as he quickened his pace, knowing that more than likely the Hinox were once again getting territorial with each other again. it was always a pain breaking them up, and Shadow definitely didn't want any of them to clobber any other to death; too little minions for that as of now. As he approached the camp, he noticed that not only two of them were fighting, but all of them were. Clubs smacking and breaking bones, claws ripping into flesh, and snarls and howls echoing into the night air. The Darknut simply sat in its tent, sword at its side as it meditated and ignored the anger of the Hinox. Shadow took one look at the mess before feeling a vicious migraine coming on, rubbing his temples before letting loose a vicious snarl, throwing his hands out and disrupting the shadows in a fury of madness, the manipulated and frantic tendrils whipping out every which way, alerting and startling the brawling Hinox. As the shadows scurried back to their original places, the Hinox lay trembling at the sight of their master, one eye glowing red and the other dull and lifeless, both fixed upon their form in a glare of malice and anger.
Shadow approached the monsters with a confidence, narrowing his eyes more with each step until they were mere slits of their former selves, wild and feral with all his rage directed to the trembling giants before him. As he grew closer, the Hinox grew more fearful, one even having the nerve to try to scurry away only to be grabbed by a large shadow hand, and the next moment he was slammed against the tree as his scream echoed across the campsite. All of the others just watched in horror, then to their master's extended hand, the surface of it being cloaked in a fine veil of shadows to manipulate the hand. Shadow, growing more and more tired from his wound and using so much of his power, simply dropped the Hinox and watched it scurry to his feet, kissing his dirty and grimy boots. Shadow smirked down at this in a pleased manner, raising his boot to slam it into the already injured jaw of the beast. With a snarl of pain, the Hinox recoiled back with his jaw leaking blood, scurrying back to its comrades to gave attentively to Shadow.
Wiping his boot onto the ground to clean it off himself, Shadow just gazed at the Hinox, raising his hand and growing gleeful as they all winced and bowed their heads, wishing not to suffer the same fate as the first. Once he had his fun, Shadow began to stalk around the campsite, examining the damage to various wooden surfaces. He was satisfied however to see that his tent remained untouched from the damage, finding joy that the Hinox were at least wise enough to not disrupt their Master's belongings. As he continued to stalk around the campsite, occasionally giving a glare to the guilty, he approached them again as he heard questionable grumbles and grunts. He watched their eyesight, trained onto the knife protruding from his chest in such a manner. Snarling at them in anger and not enjoying having brainless monsters talk behind his back, he gripped the knife and ripped it out in one motion, blood splattering across the nearest Hinox's face as he chucked the knife at another, the blade sinking into the arm of the beast as it roared and screeched in pain, the others backing up in fear of another weapon being launched at them.
With blood flowing down his chest and a glare that could kill, Shadow stormed up dangerously close to the Hinox with the knife lodged into his arm, grinning like a maniac as he ripped the knife out only to point it at his neck in a threatening motion. "Not so fun on your end, huh? Having the surface of this blade plunged deep into your skin," Shadow knew that he struck a nerve with the other Hinox, as they were all tense and worried as their companion was shaking from the pain, head tilting back in a desperate attempt to escape the blade grazing it's neck. "I walked around with that in my chest as if it were no big deal, and here you are on the verge of tears as it stabs into your mere arm," Turning to the Hinox to address them, he held his hand high, the blood of both his and the black ooze of the Hinox covering the blade, he announced, "If anyone else wishes to question my strength or why I had this in my chest, feel free to step up and I'll let you feel for yourself the pain one must endure. And I, your Master and leader, have endured it while feeling little to nothing as it was lodged into my chest," as he continued to address them, he noticed the fear in their eyes, the recognition of just who was their superior and their higher up, shouting a bit louder towards them which made them recoil in pure fear, "Your strong skin and tough muscles should protect you from pain, yet here is one of your own, screeching and wailing from pain of a simple stab to the arm," Looking back to the Hinox he stabbed, his eyes narrowed in disgust at the way he was clutching his bleeding arm, eye filled with obvious pain, "And here he is, clutching his arm in pain and sniffling like the weakling he is. If any of you want to question me, meet me in my tent tonight." Looking around at the different expressions of the Hinox, he stepped back in satisfaction, sitting heavily down onto a log with an exhausted sigh.
Being responsible for 12 Hinox and planning the downfall of the heroes was hard work. Work he was now starting to feel the stress from. As he laid back and watched the clouds moving slowly and languidly, he let his chest slowly drip and bleed without care, his arms resting behind his head as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest.
Alright that ends another chapter! Sorry for taking so long, again! This time I gave you guys two chapters, so I hope that makes up for the time it took to make!
And for those of you wondering why Vaati and Green were added to the characters, it's because they will be key parts to the story!
