Chapter Twenty-One
I'm sorry this took so long! I'm sorrrry! Trust me though, this version is WAY better than what you would have gotten a couple weeks ago, and it's fairly long. Thank the lovely RococoSpade, who helped me edit and gave helpful suggestions for improvement.
Also, warning. While there is nothing explicit in this chapter, there is hetero dubcon. You have been warned.
One more thing! Vaati references Nightmare Before Christmas and Dr. Who in here. Anyone who finds the references gets cookies (and I make REALLY good cookies)!
"We need to get you out of here." Sheik murmured, glancing around at the blood-soaked floors and petrified Dead Hand. He lifted Vio gently into his arms, and reached into the pouch at his waist (had he really worn it in the same place for a thousand years?) to withdraw a deku nut. He nodded respectfully to the spirits in the room and shifted Vio to throw the deku nut to the floor.
Light and magic surrounded them, and they reappeared in the first room of the temple. Vio went rigid, then struggled in his grasp. "Sheik, NO!" He yelled, struggling frantically until Sheik released him. The instant his feet touched the floor he ran, tripping and stumbling in his blood-slick boots as he reached for the ever-burning torch, nearly dropping it and burning himself in his haste. "Vaati's still down there! He's still-SHEIK!" Sheik caught him quickly, confiscating the torch before he could hurt himself.
"Vio! Vio Vio Vio wait, wait! What's the matter, now?" Sheik held him tightly, but gently, stroking his hair and holding him close. He'd had generations of experience soothing distraught princesses. Surely this couldn't be more difficult?
"Vaati!" Vio wailed. "I, Sheik I know you sealed him, but he's good now! Whatever you did it worked, I swear it did! And he-he went through the door you came out of and- Sheik, please!" Vio would not be calmed, struggling fruitlessly in the stronger Sheikah's hold until he wore himself out, fists thumping weakly against the Eye on Sheik's chest.
"Shh, it's all right. It's all right. I know he has. Vaati's here, he's right here." There was movement in the many folds of Sheik's cowl, and a little lavender head poked out around the back of his neck, looking a bit dizzy but otherwise unharmed. Tiny red eyes blinked up at Vio's look of surprise and wonder, the Minish giving a little wave before fully extracting himself from the fabric to sit on Sheik's shoulder.
"Vaati?" Vio whispered in disbelief. He reached up with hands coated thickly with dry blood to take him, the purple-garbed Minish climbing onto his palm heedless of it. "What happened to you?" His voice cracked and tears welled again as he lifted Vaati closer to look at him. "Why did you leave me? You said you'd be there when I woke up and you were gone!"
Vaati bowed his head, patting Vio's hand with his much smaller one. "I'm sorry Vio." He said. "Truly I am. But, I didn't want you to be there when I. . ." He sighed and looked back up. "I was dying, Vio. And you did so much for me whether you know it or not that I just. . ."
"You left me so you could die?" Vio asked, voice shaking. He turned his face away and squeezed his eyes shut as more tears dripped down his cheeks, his heart constricting painfully.
Vaati motioned with his hands and winds swirled around him, lifting him so he could place his tiny palms against Vio's cheek, and wipe away a tear as large as his hand. "You must understand, Vio. There was a demon sealed inside of me who could not be released under any circumstances. I had to protect you from him."
". . .But he's gone now, right? And you won't leave me again?" Vio asked, his eyes so sad and tone pleading.
"I will try my very best not to." Vaati assured him, pressing himself gently against Vio's bloody cheek in a hug.
Sheik laid a hand on his arm, frowning when Vio tensed under the touch. "He thought I would be there when you woke. I was late, and I apologize. But it's all right now. He's fine, and he's regained his true form." He moved his hand to stroke Vio's bloodied hair. "I have an idea of what's happened while I was gone. The first thing we need to do is get you both out of here, somewhere safe. I. . ." Sheik's eyes slipped closed, hiding the anguish in them. "I will take care of Dark Link."
Before they left, Sheik made his way to the raised circle of stone in the center of the room, kneeling so that the All-Seeing Eye engraved on the door seemed to gaze down upon him, looking deep into his soul. He bowed his head and there sent his prayers to the God Iblis, thanking him for ensuring their safe passage through the temple, and for watching over his body and those of the other Sheikah for so many years. Vio and Vaati came to stand beside him, mimicking him and bowing their heads to offer their own silent prayers.
When he'd finished, Sheik took Vio's hand to lead the way out of the temple. The sun was setting in a clouded sky, a pale yellow-orange when the weathered stone door bearing the Eye of the Sheikah slid open to let them out. Sheik paused in the exit. A familiar voice drifted up from the graveyard below singing a quiet, melancholy song that spoke of a time past when an evil wizard (who was not so evil anymore) kept parts of Hyrule in perpetual winter.
The Zora snapped from their reverie and turned towards the sound of the door, weapons drawn.
Ralis gasped, dropping into a hasty bow. "The Eternal Shield! We thought you were-!" But Sheik wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixed on the growing shadows of the willow tree, planted over the place where he knew a kind old potions maker, long laid to rest, was buried. The beautiful notes flowed out from between the branches where the shadows were deepest, the singer's eyes closed while he rested against the trunk, looking (for the moment) perfectly at ease in his music.
"Take him." Sheik lowered Vio to the ground by Ralis, never so much as glancing at the Zora. "Take him somewhere safe, away from here." The song stopped. Sheik's living heart ached for it.
Ralis nodded. "It will be done."
Vio frowned, reaching for him. "Sheik, wait," but Ralis scooped him up, his guard holding the lit shadow-disperser high as they leapt from the cliff and picked their way across the ancient graveyard, wary of falling into the collapsing catacombs beneath.
Dark Link jumped to his feet and stood still, frozen as Hyrule of which he sang, his eyes fixed on Sheik. Sheik never broke eye contact when he leaped from the cliff and landed as gracefully as a cat, making his way to Dark Link with unfaltering footsteps despite the terrain. "Dark Link?" Sheik called softly. He had seen the darkness in Vaati's memories, but maybe he could still get through to him. "Dark Link, do you know me?"
Dark Link was breathing far too quickly, uselessly, a sure sign of his rising panic. He shook his head furiously, closing his eyes so he didn't have to look at that cowled face he so longed to see. He lifted his hands to his head, trying to block out that gentle voice he so longed to hear. "No. No no no no. . .I can't. I can't do this again. You're not here. You don't exist."
"Shadow!" Vio tore from Ralis' grip, taking off across the grass and hurtling over headstones. "He's there, he is! Just look, you'll see! We found him! We found him for you! We-" Ralis grabbed him up again, covering his mouth in an attempt to quiet him as he struggled, desperate to help.
"QUIET!" Dark Link screamed. "I won't do this again. I WON'T!" He drew his blade and charged at Sheik, who only just managed to dodge it, drawing his own short blade. Their swords, one black as the growing night, the other shining silver emblazoned with the Eye of Truth, clashed in the light of the rising moon, the clangs of metal meeting metal echoing in ways not heard in the quiet little graveyard for centuries. The poes, drawn by the noise, cackled and chuckled, floating around with their lanterns aglow. They swooped in towards the Zora and Vio, flashing as close as they dared and away again. Vaati hid deep in Vio's tunic, shuddering with fright. How he hated poes!
Sheik held his own well for a body still groggy from a thousand year sleep, but he was no match for the stricken Dark Link, infused as he was with Power's endless darkness. Dark Link's blade slipped under his guard, slashing up and diagonal across Sheik's quickly retreating chest, leaving a long, shallow cut across the Sheikah Eye. Sheik grunted and pressed his bandaged hand to the wound, flipping away from Dark Link. It came away red, instead of the wispy darkness he'd grown so used to seeing.
Dark Link laughed. "You're not Sheik. You can't be Sheik! Sheik. Doesn't. Bleed!" Dark Link was merciless, slashing and hacking at him, driving him back, back across the graveyard while Sheik struggled to keep up with him. His body wasn't listening, he couldn't move the way he wanted to, he wasn't ready for this! And to make it all worse it was Dark Link he had to fight to get the little ones to safety. Desperate, anguished Dark Link. His lover was crying, though he tried not to let anyone see.
His eyes were wild when his blade bit into Sheik's side, bringing him to his knees with a pained cry. "Damn this body!" Sheik hissed, scrambling to stand with a hand pressed to his side to staunch the flow of blood. Dark Link vanished into the shadows to reappear beneath the place where the old gate once stood, grinning insanely at the approaching Zora and Vio. The Zora didn't slow their pace, confident Dark Link would move to avoid the light.
But he didn't. He brought his right arm out from where he'd hidden it behind his back and casually tossed something towards them. The guard gave a shout, pushing them away from the rapidly pulsing bomb flower before it exploded, kicking up a cloud of debris. The shadow-disperser fell from his hands and smashed against an overturned headstone.
"NO!" Ralis fumbled in his bag for a light rock- why oh WHY did he have to throw his at Dark Link earlier? He didn't have another- "RUN!" He grabbed Vio's hand and they took off across the graveyard, a dangerous move in the dark. A Zora in the water was fast and swift, but on land their webbed feet made them clumsy, and much more likely to trip. Ralis stumbled over a hidden stone and Dark Link leapt over it, catching Vio around the waist and vanishing into the shadows with him.
"DARK LINK!" Sheik melted into the shadows after them, and anyone able to see such things would have seen them chase and fight, diving into the shadows of rocks and trees and blinded, hapless Zora. Dark Link knocked Sheik from the shadows and the poes converged on him, dozens and dozens of them to distract him while Dark Link and Vio vanished.
"DAMMIT!"
They appeared in a dark grotto, long ago forgotten by all but time. Shadow slammed Vio to the ground below, pinning his small body against sand and sitting on his back to keep him there. His hands pressed Vio's shoulders down and the boy gave a yell, fighting with all his childish might to keep a scant inch of space between himself and the ground.
Shadow muttered to himself distractedly, barely paying any attention to Vio's struggles at all. "Don't want to do it, don't want to do it, HAVE to do it, she'll be furious if I don't. . .don't want to. . ."
"SHADOW! Shadow, STOP! You're gonna squish him!" Shadow released Vio's shoulders when he shouted, more out of surprise than anything else. His ears twitched at the sound of small, scrabbling hands. He stared down in disbelief as the bloody fabric of Vio's tunic rustled, and a tiny lavender head poked out over Vio's shoulder.
"Vaati?" Shadow whispered, reaching down to gently stroke the tiny Minish. "You're. . . "
"Free."
Shadow jerked his hand away, shaking his head furiously. "No. . . No no no. . ." He stood, turning his back on them and clutching his aching head. Vio stared up at him pleadingly from his place on the ground.
"Shadow. . . Why are you doing this? I brought Sheik back for you. . ."
"NO!" Shadow whirled on him, fists balled at his sides and his body shaking. "That. Whatever that was, it was NOT Sheik! Sheik. Does. Not. Exist! Sheik never existed! He was just a spell, don't you see! A SPELL! Stop trying to trick me!" He snarled and leapt upon Vio again, holding him down to bind his wrists in front of him with a thick length of rope. Vaati yelled, tumbling backwards off Vio's shoulder and grabbing at his hair to keep from plummeting the few inches sure to break his Minish-sized bones.
"Don't be a fool, Shadow Link!"
"Shadow, please!"
"Darkling~" Called a high-pitched, feminine voice from outside the grotto's entrance. The three inside froze, staring at each other with varying degrees of fear and horror. Shadow's eyes darted around, and spotting an old, rotting wooden chest hidden in the back of the grotto, he picked Vio up and ran for it, setting him inside and quietly closing the lid.
"If you value your life, don't make a sound!" He hissed. He scurried back to the sandy place where Vio had lain, hastily kicking dirt and gravel over the bloodstains. A soft whoosh announced Dark Zelda's entrance, and Shadow whirled to face her.
Vio lay still inside the chest, hardly daring to breathe. Sounds floated to him through a small hole near his shoulder where the wood had rotted completely through. Dark Zelda's voice was a terrifying croon, Shadow's breathy and anxious. Their words were inaudible at first, becoming clearer as they moved closer to the back of the grotto.
"I don't want excuses, Darkling. Is the little Hero dead in the temple or not?" Dark Zelda demanded, danger in her tone.
"I-I-no. No, not. . .exactly." Shadow stammered. There was a sharp slap and a shift of lesser shadows through the hole as Shadow fell with a thud near the chest.
"Then you've failed me, and the boy has escaped." Dark Zelda hissed.
"I-I'm sorry!-" Shadow broke off with a pained cry, and Vio felt the crackle of malevolent magic across his skin. "P-Please, Dark Zelda!"
She giggled and hit him again with the dark blast, and though Shadow yelped in pain he didn't try to fight her. She had power over him, and she loved it. Vio hated it, hated her for what she was doing to his Shadow, who just couldn't seem to defend himself against her. He wished he was bigger, stronger, faster so he could- he could- Clothes rustled and Vio froze, fear sapping the fire of anger from him.
Shadow groaned. "Say my name again, Darkling. I want to hear it on your lips." There was something strange in her tone, something that Vio didn't like. A sort of heavy huskiness he thought he'd heard. . .in that place. Vio bit back a whimper.
"Dark Zelda, Dark Zelda...ah!" His fist thumped against the wood of the chest, making Vio jump and bite his lip hard to keep from crying out. "Don't tease, Dark Zelda!" He gasped out, "Goddesses, don't tease!"
Another slap rang out, silencing Shadow. "Don't you dare try to order me about, Darkling!"
"I-I'm sorry!-" He broke off with a grunt that sounded pained, but something more. She giggled, that high-pitched grating laugh.
"Like that did you, Darkling? Then you'll love this. I'll give you what that figment of your imagination never could." His breath caught in his throat and he moaned, incoherent pleas reaching Vio's sensitive ears.
Vio clenched his eyes shut tightly (not that it made a difference) and lay still, biting his lip until he drew blood in his efforts to keep silent while he listened to the pair laying only feet away from him. How he wished he could block out that hated noise! Vio wasn't stupid, he knew what they were doing, and he knew Shadow didn't want it. Didn't want it like he. . . hadn't. . . His breath came faster, panic rising in his chest. He had to get out! Out, out, out! Out of this chest, out of this hole, out of this land of harsh, glaring, too-bright light-!
A tiny hand laid itself on his cheek, and Vio opened panicked eyes to gaze into calm, if saddened red that was neither blood nor ruby, but simply red, simply Vaati. The little Minish stroked his face and nuzzled against him in an effort to calm him, keep him quiet lest they be caught. It worked, but only just, because nothing Vaati did could block those terrible pleasured cries from his ears.
Dark Zelda screamed her release to the keese above, and Vio heard gravel crunch and cloth rustling once more as Shadow gave a wanting groan. "Dark Zelda, please don't!"
"I'll do as I like, Darkling. You failed me. You don't deserve it." She snarled at him, obviously displeased. "I want the boy's blood, Darkling, and you will get it for me." Footfalls echoed and a soft whoosh at the entrance signaled her departure.
Shadow picked himself up off the ground hastily, righting his clothes and brushing dirt and pebbles from his body. He made his way quickly to the chest, flinging open the lid to check on the child he'd left inside. Vio was shaking, trembling, silent tears leaving tracks on his blood-covered cheeks while Vaati attempted to soothe him. Shadow reached in to pull Vio out and those blue eyes flew to his face, looking through him but not seeing him, wide with panic and he screamed, struggling and thrashing with all the strength his little body could muster. Shadow tried to cover his mouth to muffle the sound in case Dark Zelda was nearby, but Vio bit his hand, sinking small, sharp teeth into his flesh and drawing the black wisps that passed for blood in the Dark World.
Shadow swore and dropped him back in the chest with a too-loud thud, glowering at his suddenly-still form and nursing his injured hand. "Fine, then! You can just stay in there!" His eyes locked on Vaati, clinging to Vio's ear after being dislodged from his place near Vio's face, and caught him up in his cupped palm. He slammed the heavy lid back down with a resounding BANG, storming away from the chest.
"Shadow!" Vaati squeaked a protest. "You can't just leave him like that! He'll-"
"He'll be fine." Shadow spat. "I'll know if he isn't." He sat down heavily in the sand, next to one of the pools of clear water often found in these hidden places. He stared into it for several long moments, thinking. "What am I going to do, Vaati?" He ran his free hand over his face tiredly. "She wants him dead, and I can't defy her. It's impossible."
Vaati stared up at him, reading the lines of worry, pain, and. . . loneliness in his face. Whatever he'd inherited from the many Links who had deposited their negativity in that orb, a lot of it must have been simply sadness, bone-deep and aching. "You can always go back to your Sheikah."
Shadow shook his head, setting Vaati on the ground. "Sheik. . . doesn't exist. . ."
"Shadow! You SAW him! You FOUGHT him!" Vaati protested.
Shadow trembled and bowed his head, gripping lank black locks tightly in his shaking fists. "No. No no no no NO!" He screamed, falling to the ground in tight ball. ". . .no. . ." his cries fell to whispers, his dull ruby eyes staring listlessly ahead. Vaati hung back for a moment before approaching him quietly, settling down with his back against Shadow's cheek, his feather-like tail gently brushing a single tear away.
"Let me tell you a story, Shadow Link."
It was a long time ago, longer now than it seems. . .What? Don't interrupt me! Yes, I'm older than you! I moisturize.
Anyway, as I was saying. . .
It was a long time ago, when I still lived as Master Ezlo's apprentice. There was a race of people who called themselves the Sheikah. They served a noble, kind God, Lord Iblis, feared by many, but beloved by them. I've forgotten many of the tales Master Ezlo told me about them, even now much of it slips my mind (being sealed for so long will do that to you. You start to forget things.), but I remember that their God gave them the power to see the Truth, to see past all illusions. . .even those that would have otherwise hidden the Minish from their sight.
I feared them, as all villains do, but especially so, for the magics which kept the other Hylian knights at bay would not stop a Sheikah, even a young one. They. . .came close to defeating me many times throughout my attempts to overthrow Hyrule. Oftentimes I escaped only by the skin of my teeth. . .but I digress.
When I was a very young Minish, before Master Ezlo created that accursed hat, I met a Sheikah. I had only just learned the art of riding the winds, and was caught up in a storm and carried much farther than I intended. I crashed on a mountaintop, hopelessly lost and bitterly cold, for it was snowing there, though I had flown over lush forests and lovely blue lakes not an hour before.
I wandered for hours, too tired to summon the winds again, but unable to find a safe place for shelter. Despairing of ever finding my way home, I plunked myself down on a rock, and there I cried, heartfelt wails the likes of which I'd never produced before.
Well, of course I'd forgotten the second rule of those kinds of situations- the first being stay warm- stay where predators can't get you. Minish are tiny creatures after all, and there are animals out there who would make us into a tasty snack. I heard the growling only moments before the creature pounced- to this day I don't know what it was, a mass of blood-stained teeth, sharp claws, and fierce, glowing yellow eyes. I screamed and ran, blowing snow in its face with the power of the wind.
Still, it was much larger than me and much faster. I couldn't hope to get away. A dagger flashed from seemingly nowhere, piercing it through the heart. I nearly collapsed in relief and exhaustion. A figure well-bundled against the cold (unlike me) trudged through the snow to collect its prize and I froze, afraid I'd been seen. Then I realized that I was looking upon a man, nearly grown, and he probably couldn't see me anyway, so I decided to hitch a ride in his nice, warm pocket, certain he wouldn't notice.
Quicker than I could blink he'd snatched me right out of the air, holding me up near his face. Well I just about fainted! His eyes were as red as a monster's, the color of blood. They were hard and steely, the eyes of a warrior. He lifted me closer to his face and I thought for sure this new monster intended to eat me, but no, he only examined me closer before clucking his tongue and slipping me into his breast pocket, close to his heart.
I suppose I slept on the way, for when I opened my eyes again I was tucked into a bed made from a large dekunut shell, with cotton to cushion it and a cloth napkin for a warm blanket. There was a Minish-sized cup next to me, which looked as if it had been made by forming a small bit of clay to a Hylian pinky finger and baking it. The dekunut bed and cup stood on a plain wooden table (huge to my eyes!) in a house I didn't recognize. There was a fireplace along one wall with a bubbling pot hung over it, and a bed of straw in another corner. Stormy winds rattled the darkened windowpanes.
"So, you're awake little Picori. You were half-frozen when I found you. I was worried." I started, more out of surprise than fear. The man had melted from seemingly nowhere, but he didn't look scary. In fact, I thought he was smiling, but as he covered his face I couldn't be sure. But most surprising of all was that he was grown man and he could see me. Only Hylian children are supposed to be able to see Minish, you know. Well, as I soon found out, the man wasn't Hylian at all, but a Sheikah, a guardian of the princess of Hyrule sent to the mountaintop to train alone.
"A princess? Is she very pretty?" I'd asked him. He smiled then, and I could see a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke of her.
"Oh yes. She's very lovely. Her smile would melt your heart. I'd do anything to see her smile, even travel to the depths of Hell itself. She's wise, and so kind, even to those everyone else fears. In my tribe, we call her the Heart of Hyrule." He loved to talk about her, how sweet and wonderful she was. Even I could see she meant the world to him. I longed to meet this beautiful princess.
The storm raged for several days more. We spent the time talking and laughing, this new friend and I. Sometimes he played his lyre for me, or I showed him the wind tricks I knew. He told me about the world the big people inhabited, while I told him of the world of the very small.
As the storm began to die I spoke of Master Ezlo, of the other Minish who feared me, because of my red eyes. "Like yours."
He sat quiet, and thoughtful for a moment. "No," he said finally. "No, not like mine. Mine are the color of blood, of death. Yours are...just red. Like a rose in the princess' garden, perhaps."
"Are people more accepting of red eyes in the big world?" I'd asked. His expression turned sad, and I sensed that I had hit upon a sensitive subject.
"Our eyes are a gift from our God, Lord Iblis. They are the reason I can see you, was able to rescue you. The Hylians. . .They do not always understand this. Often, they fear it." He heaved a heavy sigh. "The storm will clear soon. When it does, I'll take you back down the mountain."
The trip was quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts. It took three days to reach what he called the Picori Forest. Master Ezlo was waiting for me at the edge, and he thanked the Sheikah profusely for saving me.
Many years passed before I saw my friend again, and I'm sorry to say the circumstances. . .were less than pleasant. I was a fool, mad with the power granted to me by the hat Master Ezlo created. As soon as I laid on the princess, the one my friend had spoken of so fondly, I wanted her, and her power. I wanted her for my own.
My friend tried to stop me. He fought fiercely, bravely, to protect her, all the while those bloody eyes stared at me, suffering, knowing me.
And I. . .
I killed him. I turned him to stone, right there in the throne room. When I possessed the King, I tried to have the soldiers move his statue away, because I couldn't bear to look at it. None could move it, however. It was as though it were made of lead, and would stay there forever to torment me, and remind me of my wicked deeds.
When I was later defeated, the Hero and my Master used the hat to revive all those who fell victim to me, including my friend. He wouldn't look at me. I could only stare at my feet, overwhelmed by shame despite the Hero's assurances that I had been forgiven.
My Master saw the connection between us, and he knew that in spite of it, my friend still fought valiantly against me. He blamed himself for what I'd done, and he vowed never to let it happen again. To this end, he gave my friend a gift.
"Power," he said, "to defeat my apprentice should he or any other ever rise to threaten your Heart again. I give this power to you and those of yours pure enough of soul to safely wield it."
My Master gave my friend the power to utterly destroy me. Master Ezlo left for a moment to speak with the Hero, leaving me alone with my friend.
"And did he hurt you?" Shadow asked.
Vaati shook his head. "No. He placed his hand on my head (my Master and I were Hylian-sized for a time, before we used a portal to go home), and told me that he would forgive me when and if I proved I would not harm another needlessly again."
". . .Did you ever see him again? What happened to the gift your Master gave? Did your friend ever forgive you?" Shadow asked, gazing at the tiny Minish seated against his cheek, gazing up over his little shoulder at him.
Vaati smiled. " One question at a time, please. I did see him again. Many centuries later he stood over me, defeated and dying, and he saved my life. Not because he had to, and not because he thought I deserved it. No, he did it because you asked him to."
Shadow started. "That's impossible!"
Vaati turned to sit on his knees facing Shadow, though he still had to crane his neck back to look at him. "Is it? Funny things, souls. They tend to feel drawn to those that are most familiar to them. Reincarnations will on some level recognize those they knew in the past. That's how I knew Vio when he found me in the fading seal, and that's how I knew my friend when I saw him again."
"I don't know what became of Master Ezlo's gift. You'll have to ask Sheik. As for whether or not he forgave me. . ." Vaati reached out to lay his tiny palm against Shadow's cheek. "Well, someone who doesn't exist couldn't have done that, now could he?"
Shadow closed his eyes and gave a heavy sigh before rising to his feet. He picked Vaati up and placed him on his shoulder, making his way to the chest at the back of the cave. "Dark Zelda wants blood." He murmured, opening the lid and taking in Vio's blood-soaked appearance. "She'll never know the difference." He bent forward farther than he had needed to a short time before- when had his form shifted?- gently lifting Vio's unconscious body from the chest.
Cradling his precious burden he made his way to the small pool (once these had regularly held small fish, though they rarely did anymore), kneeling in the water heedless of his wet clothing. He held out his hand and called a clay bowl into it, one of Sheik's. He carefully peeled off Vio's bloodied tunic, placing it in the bowl, and holding Vio balanced against his chest, cupped a bit of water in his hand and wet Vio's hair, catching the reddened run-off in the clay bowl. He repeated this several times, rinsing the worse of the blood from his hair and arms, using only a small amount of water so as not to dilute the blood too far. He didn't know where it had come from, but he doubted it mattered. It was blood, and that was what she wanted. If it didn't do what she expected. .. well, he'd deal with that when it happened.
He rinsed the palm of Vio's right hand, revealing a deep, bleeding, festering cut. He let out a low whistle. It looked nasty. He'd have to bandage it later, or get him a potion. The problems of the right hand were quickly forgotten, however, when he rinsed the left, exposing a black, burned-looking scar on the back of his hand where the mark of the Triforce should have been. "Oh Vio. . ." he murmured, studying it. The Triforce was gone.
He set the bowl of bloody water aside and lowered Vio fully in the water. Vio shivered from the chill as Shadow carefully washed the rest of the blood from Vio's body, staining the water pink. A small stream supplied the water to the grotto; he figured it would run clear again in no time and nobody would be any the wiser.
He lifted Vio from the water and dried him with his own dark tunic. He held out his hand, and after a moment the lesser shadows brought him Vio's violet tunic and cap, the set he himself had stitched for the boy and the Zora repaired. He dressed him, and laid him on a grassy patch while he wrung out the rags he thought might once have been a blue tunic. He almost tossed it away, but changed his mind, handing it off to the lesser shadows instead. The "blood" was thinner than he would have liked, but good enough, he thought, to fool Dark Zelda, at least for a while. He poured it carefully into a vial, which he handed off to the lesser shadows before turning to face his young light, resting his chin on his fist placed on one bent knee, Vaati perched quietly on his shoulder.
"What are you going to tell her?" Asked Vaati after a moment.
"...I felt him dying, and tracked him to a mountain. A wolfos got him, tore him apart. I'll show her the tunic, and give her the blood I collected from the snow." He gave a shaky sigh. "Hopefully she'll buy it."
"And Vio? What will you do with him?"
". . .I. . ." Shadow fell silent for a moment, a slow smirk making its way over his face. "I'll leave him somewhere Dark Zelda would never think to look, and Sheik is sure to find him."
Thank you to the Chapter Twenty reviewers Rose Starglen, Demonologist666 (I'm not sure how to take that. I think it was a compliment...how did you end up reading it despite the summary's slash warnings, anyway?), RococoSpade (Thank you again for your help! You're awesome! And you have my response already. Too long to repost.), Kick-Aft, Darkwolflink1 (*grins* I'm glad someone appreciated Minish Vaati. Hopefully the Dark content in this chapter made up for the lack of it last chapter.), Alranath (YOU DID FEED MEEE! *happy* I also already responded to you. You can write back when I pm you if you want, you know. Your reviews are so awesome I wish you would.), samalane (Glad to have you! Isn't she awesome? We trade beta services, which oddly enough started when she responded to my review for Static Red.), and BunnySenpai (Glad to hear it! New reviewers make me happy.~)