Vio's probably telling Shadow what happened right about now, the boy with blue clothes concluded as he walked through the hallway with his new present in hand. He glanced at the shared room, remembering (as he does every time he passes the purple door) exactly how Shadow Link had come to stay at the other Links' house.
When the mirror had been shattered, a considerable amount of damage forced itself onto the young, newly found hero. However, since the boy's heart proved itself to be filled with a powerful type of courage and kindness that are only shown through self-sacrifice, the mirror's destruction did not necessarily signal the violet-haired one's. The maidens sensed this fact. Through their powers, the women saw the shadow's bravery, and resolved to help the fifth link. The light that Shadow later recounted as his salvation, the other Links knew as the light of a teleporting fairy. However, all eight maidens were forced to send a fairy in order to reach Shadow through the faraway, dark clouds, so naturally the effect of the light was amplified.
The dark-clothed boy's injuries were inflicted through two nodes: being removed from the world that shares his name, and the severance from his home in that very world. Knowing that the boy's survival was endangered through his inability to experience solar energy, the maidens moved the boy to the enclosed altar, and blocked any and all light that entered the room until the Links returned. When the four blond heroes returned to the altar, they were in good spirits, as they deserved. They began to recount their tale to the maidens (a fondness of tales tends to grow in the wise), and up until the Tower of Winds, the story was told with the same invigorating energy that young boys possess. However, when the tale reached the section about the mirror's destruction, the boy's faces grew grave. Dejectedly, the clones (mainly Vio) began to tell the maidens about their fallen comrade, but were quickly interrupted by the maidens, who informed the boys of their recovering friend's whereabouts. The heroes, after learning the news, quickly ran towards what had then been their new teammate with Vio leading (guilt and hope are known to quicken reflexes when the feeling(s) is/are about to end), Green (who couldn't wait to start anew with his new teammate) following Vio, and finishing with Blue and Red (Blue's only cause for ending second-to-last at the time, came in the form of Red, who was wary at approaching Shadow, cowering behind his tunic and slowing him down). When the four had finally reached their fifth, they found him slumped in a corner, covered with cuts, blood, and gore. The hot-headed hero quickly covered the innocent hero's eyes while the leader called for the maidens and the clever hero ran towards their new teammate. The yellow maiden quickly entered the room at the leader's calls, noticed the clever hero's actions, walked towards the collected Link, and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Do not worry, young hero," the yellow maiden informed the aforementioned boy, "the fact that his wounds are now visible only shows that he is recovering. Unfortunately, he cannot stay here for much longer. If the shrine does not receive light, it will lose power." Vio nodded his head. Shadow was afraid of light. To this day, it remains his only fear. The shadow mirror was once the boundary between having Shadow's fear be rational or irrational. When the shadow mirror was intact, the light could not hurt him, and there was no need for the reflection to avoid light, but now that Shadow had shattered the boundary, light could be deadly to the injured, black-garbed hero. If Shadow was going to survive, light must never reach his wounds. However, the altar also serves as a boundary, which keeps Ganon from returning with his demons. The strength of the altar could not be compromised for the sake of the injured boy. Shadow's removal from the altar to a place where he could recover and where light could not reach him would be necessary. Vio had no doubt in his mind when he proposed to share a room with his friend, and his fellow colors had no anxiety about allowing it.
Vio tended to Shadow's wounds after the quintuplet had been moved, but refused to allow the boy out of his room, stating that one could never know when light would try and reach the healing comrade.
Shadow's condition had improved dramatically in the first week, but to this day, he still couldn't handle much stronger than a candle. It didn't seem to faze the black-garbed boy, though. Shadow was used to avoiding the light, and at least now he had a place that would accept him as an equal.
Blue smirked at the memory of being invited to assist in healing the newest member of the household, and recalled watching with awe at Vio's skills in healing. The hot-headed one could not, and never would, deny that Vio had skill in the trade, and, now that he thought about it, was thankful that Vio had been the first to reach Red. Blue would have certainly panicked, and Green would have wasted time by waiting for the group's healer's instructions before acting.
When Blue snapped out of his thoughts, he was standing in an open doorway and looking at the pirate ship playground that Red had worked towards so desperately. He could see his leader swinging on the swing set that had been placed so that the swings ran parallel with the ship. Red said he put the swings there to give the impression that the swinger was a dolphin in the ocean, Blue recollected while watching his green counterpart swing back and forth. The monkey bars (which are found under the main deck, where the sleeping quarters would usually situate) had always been Blue's favorite part of the playground. With monkey bars, you don't have the luxury of momentum, like on Green's swing set, or another person's weight, like on Red's favorite part of the playground, the seesaw. All you have on the monkey bars to propel you forward comes in the form of a person's own brute strength.
Watching his leader brought memories of Red back to the blue one's mind, images of Red begging Blue to be his partner on the seesaw, hassling Vio (who would, more often than not, be found reading in the crows nest at the top of the rope course) for the same reason, and either pushing or being pushed by Green on the swing set. Red loved this playground. He thought it to be a place where the Links could have fun without feeling the need to compete with each other, and, for the most part, it worked well.
Blue thought about joining Green on the swings. Blue thought about helping Vio comfort Shadow. Blue thought about going back to his room and sleeping this horrible day to its end.
After about 15 minutes of thinking, Blue turned, went back in the house, passed Vio's room, passed his own room, and entered Red's room again.
Shadow's legs buckled under the weight of the news, and he felt himself lower to a sitting position on the bed. Vio walked up and sat down next to Shadow.
"You didn't need to give me such a vivid description of Red's dismembered arm, Vio." Shadow critiqued in a voice barely above a whisper, "I think I can imagine an unattached limb just fine without a detailed report." Vio forced himself not to chuckle darkly at the comment. Same old Shadow, always trying to use commentary to deflect his emotions.
"I did warn you that you wouldn't want to stand," the purple-clothed boy retorted, "It was your choice to be a rebel and not listen."
"Yeah, but… how could I have ever guessed that your story would have such a morbid twist?" Shadow asked.
"You probably could have inferred it from-" Vio began, but was cut off by a sharp elbow jabbing into his upper arm.
"Shut up, Smarty. I'm not in the mood for one of your lectures." Shadow interrupted. Vio's frown deepened. Usually, Shadow would be laughing at the probability of another lecture about logic and conclusions.
"What's wrong, Shadow? Red is stable, isn't he? So there's nothing you need to-" Vio, for the second time, was cut off, once again, by something sharp.
"You want to know what's wrong?" Shadow began while standing up, "I'll tell you what's wrong. I have no way to see Red, so I don't know that he's stable. Red's stability is only a possibility until I see it, but even if I wanted to, I couldn't visit Red. It'll be daytime by the time that the hospital opens, and the hospital stops allowing visitors a couple of hours before dark! I'll never get to see Red myself, so how do I know that he's okay‽ I can't, because I'm allergic to the bloody sun!"
Vio was slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst. Shadow might not be as collected as the clone who wore Shadow's hair color, but that's not to say that Vio's roommate had as bad a temper as Blue.
"It's a little more than an allergy, Shadow. You can't help it." Vio tried to console his roommate.
"But it's not just the sun, Vio! It's every type of light greater than 13 lumens! I can't even have a flashlight pointed at me without being hurt. I still have to wait to be fully healed before I can risk getting a midnight snack with more than a candle to light my way, and now Red's in the hospital and Nayru knows how scared he must be, and I can't even go see him!" Shadow shouted at his startled roommate.
As the one-sided argument continued, Blue sat with his back to the purple door and his head resting against it, holding the stress ball in his hand. After cleaning every square inch of Red's room like Red always wanted him to help with, he had started towards the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, but the argument had stopped him.
What really stung about the argument, though, was the fact that Shadow realized how scared Red must be before Blue did. Blue tossed his new toy in the air and caught it, while listening to Shadow rage and Vio counter on the other side of the door, and that's, for the most part, how Vio found him 30 minutes later at about 9:30. When Vio opened the door to leave, a sleeping Blue fell into the room and a stress ball fell from his hand.
Vio and Shadow stood silently staring at Blue. Shadow had run out of steam 3 minutes before, and was apologizing the entire time up until Vio had turned to leave, so the silence was bliss to the purple clothed boy. After about 15 seconds of staring, Shadow and Vio both moved at the same time. Vio took the sleeping one's feet, while Shadow took the sleeping boy's head. Both of the purple-themed boys (the one with purple hair especially) were very careful when taking their sleeping clone to the venetian red fabric-velvet sheets. After Blue was tucked in to Red's bed (and the strange toy that had fallen out of his hand was stationary on the nightstand), both of his movers silently tip-toed out of the room, closed the door, and left to go make dinner by candlelight for all of the conscious Links.
Blue woke up with a start and immediately recognized that it was midnight. Groggily, the boy in blue stood from the bed and made his way to the kitchen. However, the kitchen was completely silent for the boy when he entered it, which was odd. That's when Blue remembered what had happened earlier that day, and with tears in his eyes, the boy left the room to return to his bed alone.
It started two weeks after they had saved Princess Zelda.
Blue woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of an empty stomach. The hungry Link groaned. But the kitchen's so far away… the groggy hero thought to himself with a groan. Blue lay in bed for a few minutes to allow the war between sleepiness and hunger rage. Eventually, hunger won the duel, and Blue forced himself to stand and trudge towards the kitchen, not bothering to unfold his hat or tunic for a simple trip. As Blue entered the kitchen, an average amount of light hit him in the face, however since his eyes were dilated to see through total darkness, the startled hero thought a bright light hit him in the face. After his eyes adjusted, Blue noticed a shape sitting at the table.
A familiar, red shape,
Red sat at the table hugging his legs to his chest. Since the boy's hat was removed, the tousled mess that was Red's blonde hair covered most of his face, but it was obvious to anyone entering the room that the boy was weeping. Blue stood awkwardly in the doorway, still holding the door wide open, when the sitting boy looked up and noticed him.
"Umm… I was just getting… I mean…" Blue sputtered, attempting to come up with an excuse that accurately explained his presence in the dining area. Red sat there for a minute with blonde bangs parting to reveal tear-filled eyes and a face stained in the same manner, not quite sure what to say. The red-clothed hero had learned to be more cautious about his outbursts, especially in front of Blue. Blue sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "What's wrong?" he asked exasperatedly as he moved to sit down next to his ruby-colored teammate. The spirited hero knew better than anyone that Red wore his emotions on his sleeve, to the point where even the smallest of actions could make Red bawl, and usually, the tempered hero didn't care what had upset his short teammate. However, as previously mentioned, Red wore his heart on his sleeve, so to be crying alone, and in the middle of the night no less, was abnormal.
"I-I had a nightmare." Red managed in-between sobs. Blue internally groaned. "I was walking through the house, but a nightmare version of it, like the one we saw in Elne's hometown." Twisted, dark, checker-board streets, houses with walls that bent at odd angles, and dead, mangled trees mark the nightmare known as the shadow world. "Well, there was a shadow monster again, who smelled like smoke and blood despite not having any physical form, chasing me, and Vio tried to protect me from the monster, but the monster just ended up possessing Vio. Then, the Vio-monster-thing started chasing after me, and you tried to stop Vio, but he killed you with your sword, and then I woke up." Blue sat perfectly still and stayed silent using the same level of skill. Red copied Blue.
"…again?" Blue asked.
"This might not be the first time I've had that dream… in fact, this is probably the fourteenth time I've had it." Red cautiously responded, while staring at the floor. After counting how many weeks are in 14 days, the taller clone raised his eyebrow. "Have you been trying to handle it on your own in the kitchen for an entire…" what would Vio say? Blue thought, …I just had it… "fortnight?" That's it.
Red nodded his head slowly as more tears began to fill his eyes. Blue stayed quiet staring at Red, while deciding what to do, and inevitably groaned. Green's too heavy a sleeper, There's no way I'm gonna be the poor sap who tries to wake up Vio, Blue shivered as he re-experienced the horror of Red's last early morning adventure, and there's no way Red will fall back asleep otherwise. Blue's thoughts paused, …dang it.
"You know, if you're not going to be able to sleep otherwise," Blue began, scratching the back of his hatless head in embarrassment and looking away from Red from a similar purpose, "you can try sleeping in my bed tonight."
The little link paused, "…alone?". His taller clone groaned while he closed his eyes, noticed the hopeful tone that the sniffling boy's voice held, and blushed like an idiot.
"Of course not."
Red jumped from his chair, surprising Blue with his speedy recovery, while also effectively sending the boy and his chair in a struggle against gravity, and bolted towards the doorway with the excitement of a small child on Christmas Day. Blue, after getting over his shift in balance and stunned state, chased after Red, while quietly screaming to shut up.
And every night after that day, Red and Blue would fall asleep in separate rooms, wake up at midnight, meet in the kitchen, talk for about 10 minutes, and then fall asleep in Blue's room together. Whether the rest of the team noticed was a mystery, due to the fact that the other Links did not bring up any topic relating to the nightly ritual. If the rest of the team knew, then it certainly did not bother them. If they knew, then they probably supposed as long as the ritual worked in keeping the teammates feeling safe, it was tolerable. The sleeping pattern did work too. The childish teammate's nightmares simply refused to enter sapphire-shaded door.
Now, Blue lie in his bed, staring at the ceiling. What if his nightmares come back while he's in the hospital? Do healing shrouds let patients have dreams? What if he wakes up and can't go back to sleep because he can't follow his routine? The head that is usually above a comfortable temperature was now filled to burst with questions.
A couple of hours earlier (around 10:30pm to be exact), a warrior with lighter eyes than the rest of his almost-identical companions walked towards town. After waiting for his roommate to fall asleep, the hero who favored purple escaped the dark, cold walls of his room. Setting out towards the fairgrounds, the boy carried only his sword and a pouch of rupees, hoping to heal the open wounds he had inflicted, once and for all.