AU where Shadow's death is not a final death- He's something between dead and alive, trapped in the darkness. He needs Vio's help to get out, before a fate worse than death catches up to him...

Primarily going to be Vio x Shadow-centric; if you don't like it, don't read it! (Might eventually contain hints of Blue and Red, if you look closely ;D )

Shadow stayed by Vio's side even after the blonde had dropped off to sleep, watching with a sort of morbid curiosity for the potential return of the nightmares. Sure as shadows, not half an hour after Vio had dropped off to sleep, he began to toss and turn. His brow furrowed and he went rigid, gritting his teeth as he fought against something in his mind.

The whispered words began soon after. "Stop... please... s-stay away from me..." Vio gave a wordless cry, hardly louder than a whisper. Shadow leaned over him with concern, abruptly straightening up as he heard a noise from outside Vio's room. Casting a glance at the restless boy before standing, Shadow phased through the door and went to check it out.

He followed the sounds of the disturbance, heading to the living room of the house and staring in shock. A whole group of skeletal beasts (he'd dubbed them Bonedogs, after their canine appearance and their skeletal structure showing clearly through their leathery skin) were in the living room of the house, numbering probably six or seven. Uninhibited by the furniture- passing through it like Shadow could- two of them seemed to be locked in combat while the others watched eagerly to fall upon whichever lost the fight.

Shadow shrank back with a worried frown- a whole group of them, escaped from the Rift? How was that possible? He'd had to struggle for a year to achieve this half-exit- how could these beasts have managed it? On the upside, they looked to be only phantoms to this world, just like he was. They could cause no harm to Vio or any of the other Links. To Shadow, though...

One of the Bonedogs lifted its head, sniffing the air with a curious growl. At that the others turned too, facing Shadow's direction with narrowed eye sockets. (Like the one Vio had observed earlier, they did not have eyes. It was a species anomaly.) Knowing that showing fear or running would only prompt attack, Shadow held his ground and stepped towards the pack of canines. "What're you looking at?" He challenged with as much bravado as he could muster, holding out his arms to extend his silhouette. "Scram, ya mutts!"

They flinched back a little as he approached, but did not flee. The ones nearest him barked loudly, the hollow noise echoing all around the house to those who could hear it. Shadow didn't balk, jumping threateningly towards the group. "I said scram! This is my turf, you mangy beasts!" His rapid advance convinced the beasts to leave, and as a pack they turned tail and fled. Where they encountered dark patches of the room they disappeared, all of them fading from view in a matter of seconds.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shadow glanced back towards the upper floor where all the other Links slept. He was sure Vio was still asleep, and wouldn't have heard the barking or Shadow yelling. Blue, however... The uncertainty surrounding the aggressive Link bothered Shadow. He wasn't sure exactly how much Blue was able to perceive- he could feel when Shadow touched him, but he could not see or hear him. He and Vio would have to figure out a good plan to test things with Blue.

Would they be better off letting him into the loop? If he didn't believe them at first, Shadow was sure they could find a way to convince him. But was Blue value-added? While he wasn't stupid, it wasn't exactly as though he added a wealth of brainpower to the party... He never knew. Blue could be unexpectedly useful, as he'd occasionally seen through the months he'd been shadowing the Four Swords. He figured it would be better to have him on their side than to not have him. If for some reason things came down to a question of strength, Blue was definitely someone he wanted as an ally.

Speaking of Blue... He was curious as to what the other Link was like behind closed doors. He frequently acted so gruff- was he like that privately? Shadow's observations of Blue had been surface at the most; he'd never tailed the Link when he broke off from the group. The same went for Red and Green- he had primarily been concerned with Vio, but he had learned a lot about the other three as well.

For example- he knew Blue was ridiculously precise about folding his clothes. It was damn near obsessive. Green had a bad habit of leaving his boots right in front of the door (causing everyone to trip on them, and more often than not drop a few colorful curses.) Red was good at starting fires even without the aid of the Fire Rod, a fact Shadow was not entirely sure he was comfortable with. Green seemed to have no favorites among the Links, Vio tended to internalize his problems and distance himself from the others, and Red and Blue clearly favored the support of each other above any of the two.

Shadow smirked as his train of thought chose to follow that track. That had given him some amusement, watching those two interact. If he had to put his money on one thing about Blue, it would be that he was endlessly protective of the others, especially Red. There was some sort of soft spot that Blue harbored for Red, a tiny chink in his armor that he would occasionally let the other Link in through. It amused Shadow to watch it play out- Red always following along closest to Blue, talking to Blue, talking about Blue in his absence, defending Blue stubbornly if his counterpart should ever fall under criticism... And then there was Blue. Blue was not as obvious about his favoritism, but it showed from time to time. Going out of his way to make something for dinner that he knew Red would enjoy, listening (with however many gruff comments) to Red when he was upset and comforting him as needed, and once in a rare while, when they were walking side by side Shadow would catch them holding hands.

He was hardly an expert at anything concerning romance, but he would wager that there was a little something extra between these two Links. Smirking to himself, Shadow headed back up to the upper floor just in time to see Red's bedroom door shut. Curious as to why Red would be awake at this hour, Shadow was about to trail after him to check before he caught himself. He'd been extremely careful about respecting the four's privacy, and he figured a shut door was a fair signal to not enter. However, he noticed with interest, Blue's door was open a fraction of an inch. Instantly curious and cackling to himself, Shadow took the chance to slip into the room.

Blue's room was very, very neat; his demeanor would normally suggest that he was careless about order, but it was completely the opposite. There were no clothes on the floor, neatly folded tunics and shirts were visible past the open door of his closet, and his boots were settled next to his closet on a small rug to catch dirt and mud. Blue himself was sitting on his bed, clad in a dark blue pajama shirt and loose gray pants. He was cross-legged, elbows resting on his knees and head in his hands. His expression was mostly obscured from Shadow, but from what Shadow could see, he looked preoccupied and somewhat disturbed.

Connecting the dots, Shadow made the guess that Red had been here just moments ago, and Blue's state now was as a result of something to do with the naive Link. "Aw, that's adorable- are you worried for him? Did he come to you cuz he was afraid of the dark?" Shadow mocked, standing at the foot of Blue's bed. Blue couldn't see him, he wasn't worried.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Blue lifted his head from his hands and stared intently at the place where Shadow stood. His expression had changed from worried to guarded, a frown creasing his forehead. This perturbed Shadow a little- the ebony Link took a few steps to the side, feeling a strange sense of dread as Blue's head turned to follow him. "... Can you see me?"

No answer followed that. Blue continued to intently gaze at the spot Shadow stood, a scowl firmly in place. He must have been setting off Blue's sixth sense like crazy, but clearly Blue had no idea what it was that was doing it. Shadow dared to take a step closer, waving his hand in front of Blue's face. "Oi- Bluebird. Bluebell. Blueballs." He grinned as Blue scowled, but gave no other sign he noticed Shadow was there. "Bluuuuuuuuueberry fruitcake!" Shadow laughed. Blue had officially risen to the top of his pester-list; unlike the others, he was able to get a glimmer of a reaction from him.

"So, Blue," Shadow grinned, lounging against the footboard of his bed. "What was goin' on here just now? Red was hanging around with you, wasn't he?" Of course no answer came to him, giving him cause to snicker. "Man, I wish I could see how you'd react to me being here." That thought brought with it an unexpected trace of melancholy feelings. It reminded him of the past year, fruitlessly talking to the Links and trying to get their attention.

This was different, though. He was now for certain linked to the realm of Hyrule, and not just as a phantom. Vio could see him, and he knew at least some part of his being had been transformed in such a way that he was a part of this world. It was far from where he wanted to be at, but any progress was good progress.

"Ya seem a little testy, my man," Shadow snorted as Blue glared silently at the empty air. "What's the matter? Don't like having a specter floating around at the end of your bed?"

Unexpectedly, Shadow stopped talking as Blue snapped, "Whatever you are, either show yourself or get out! I know there's something there..." Shadow grinned widely, taking several steps toward the head of Blue's bed.

"Show myself? Man, if only I could." He shook his head, 'patting' Blue good-naturedly on the shoulder. Of course this brought a muted hiss and a look of surprise from the blonde- he'd felt a sharp tingling sensation where Shadow had touched him.

Blue swiped at the empty air where he thought Shadow was. "Get out of here!" He recoiled again as his hand passed through Shadow, cursing under his breath. Shadow laughed and took a few steps away from Blue, watching with interest as the aggressive hero's gaze followed him with surprising accuracy.

"Fine, fine, fine- catch you later, Blue." Shadow rolled his eyes and cackled, slipping out the door. Sleep was unnecessary for him, seeing as his body was in a somewhat suspended nature at the moment, so he simply returned to Vio's room and for the remainder of the night, he occupied himself by watching the boy battle his nightmares.

Wow, I've been gone for a while x.x Sorry! I've still got lots of the story to go, and am picking it back up after a while of not having any work done on it. Can't wait to get to all the parts I wanna write- thank you to all of you who've been following it this long! Love you guys, and as always any R&R is much appreciated!

-Artimus-Maora