Four is Four and is Four (what does that mean, idk make something up)

by Violoafforprez

Summary:

Link didn't think they'd be deposited in another world when they went to check on the Four Swords Sanctuary, but here they are. And of course this was the one day Vio didn't leave a note for Shadow.

Notes:

So i've been working on this off and on as a one shot, but I don't like long one-shots (mostly because I want it to be shared quicker than I can write) so I have decided to split this in how many sections it may take.

Chapter 1: Four Learns the Importance of Leaving Notes (AKA AHHHH in my doc)

      He was bored. So utterly, utterly bored.

 

      Vio was gone, set out on another adventure with his brothers - if Shadow was to assume, but he wouldn’t know since they left without him.

 

      When he’d woken up the house was empty, their beds were unmade, and their swords gone. There wasn’t a light on inside the home, the house was completely still.

      He’d scoured the rooms for any sign of life, but there was none. Shadow knew that something was wrong, he could feel it in his… well he didn’t have bones to feel it in, but he knew deep down that he was correct.

      For one; Red doesn’t wake up before noon without someone having to drag him out of his bed (which wakes everyone in the house, Shadow included).

      Second; They usually remember to make their beds, except Blue - he does it no matter what - so if they were all unmade, they were in a rush.

      And Thirdly; Vio didn’t leave him a note.

 

      After having turned the house upside down, to no result, he made his way to the Castle to visit the Princess.

      He threw open the doors to the Throne Room - out of breath and worried - “Princess.” He rasped as the guards reacted.

      “It’s okay,” The Princess called, and the Guards lowered their weapons. “What’s wrong, Shadow?”

      Shadow gave himself a second to breathe and collect his thoughts - before he shouted out nonsense in front of the Princess. “The Links. They’re gone. I’ve looked all over the house, I even checked their forge, and I couldn’t find them. I don’t know where they went and Vio never left me a note. Something probably happened to them!”

      Zelda was now sharing Shadow’s concern - all her life, even after their split - Link had always left a note, even if all they were going was headed to the market in town. “I’ll have the soldiers search the kingdom, and I will keep my eyes and ears open to any news about them.”  And with a wave of her hands, the guards shuffled out of the room ready to do their duties.

      Zelda got off her throne and walked down the steps to meet Shadow, who was floating nervously in place. She placed her hand on his shoulder, “All will be fine, we will find them, they couldn’t have gone far.”

 

---

 

      They’d all woken up around the same time, something innate was calling to them, and they couldn’t ignore it. They’d met up in the kitchen, knowing that they were all feeling and thinking the same thing.

      Vio had checked on Shadow, who was still sleeping peacefully above their bed. He figured they wouldn’t be gone too long, and he didn’t want to wake up his partner for something trivial. He figured no note for once would be fine, and he knew that wherever he went, Shadow would find him.

 

      It was supposed to be a quick check to make sure everything looked how it was supposed to. They hadn’t even bothered to change into their tunics, strapped in their night clothes - well except for Blue who never left his room without changing - and their piece of the Four Sword settled in its scabbard.

      They merged together just in case something happened - so they’d be with each other for whatever reason they’d need to be.

      Red was the first to notice, as they stood in the forest and kept turning to see if anything suddenly shot out at them, that every time they stood in the direction of the Four Swords Sanctuary the same weird feeling that had woken them up got worse.

      Vio had concluded that whatever was exuding the aura they were feeling was hiding out in the Sanctuary.

      Green and Blue both decided that they needed to check it out and make sure that they kicked whoever’s ass was there out.

      And so, they made their way down to the Four Sword Sanctuary.

 

      When they walked in, everything looked the same. Nothing had changed, it was as if the Sanctuary was frozen in time.

      But even though everything looked the same, it did not feel like that.

      Something drew them to the pedestal, where they had drawn the sword many years ago.

      They ventured, almost beyond their control, towards the stand with their sword in hand.

      As they stood before the pedestal they found it harder and harder to resist whatever was pulling them forward. And when their foot raised beyond the grassy terrain, a swirling mass of dark magic opened up before them, sucking them in before they even knew what was happening.

 

-

 

      “Time, Twilight.” Link heard a strange voice call from around them.

      They found themselves on the floor, head spinning, and senses out of whack. They couldn’t find the strength to open their eyes just yet, but they begrudgingly found the strength to make sure their sword was still with them - if anything happened to that… they didn’t want to think about it. Luckily, it seemed that their sword was in one piece in its scabbard.

      Letting out a sigh of relief, they briefly heard some distant conversation coming from seemingly everywhere. “You sure?”

      “Could be”

      “Let’s ask.”

      Three different voices spoke, and Link knew that they were talking about them.

 

      Their head had just finished spinning long enough that they felt safe opening their eyes. Slowly the world came into focus, and one thing was clear - they were not in Hyrule anymore.

      They groaned as they took their time standing up, when they faltered there was a hand on their back stabilizing them. “Take it easy there.” It said, letting go when they could stand on their own.

      “Hylia.” Link let out, joints popping as they stretched. “We swear on Death Mountain, we never want to do whatever that was again.”

      “I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.” A new voice spoke up. Link turned towards it and found a giant of a man. Tall beyond compare and decked out in armor. Eye sliced over and a giant sword strapped to their back.

      “Excuse us.” Link replied, hands on their hips, Blue’s slight anger influencing them, “We don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t make us do anything like that again.”

      The giant looked down at them - not that there was any way else to look at them - but his eyes (eye?) weren’t threatening, instead seemingly understanding. “I’m sorry, but that portal you dropped from has done the same to us.”

      “Us…?” Link trailed off, noticing now that it wasn’t just three or four different Hylian-looking people, but instead eight. “Where are we? Who are you all?”

      A child just a bit taller than him answered cheerfully, “We’re on Outset Island! My home. I’m Link, but everyone calls me Wind now.”

      Link did not know how to respond to any of this. So this random child was named Link, it wasn’t a popular name, but it wasn’t beyond impossible to be named it too. Why he was nicknamed Wind was beyond them, however.

      They noticed the sand beneath their feet, the salty air blowing through, and the sun glaring down on them unbothered. “We take it we’re not in Hyrule?” They asked, kicking at the sand.

      “Nope!” The kid popped the ‘P’ still smiling. “That’s deep in the ocean now.” He shrugged as a couple of the others in the group tried to hide their concern and - well they wouldn’t quite call it hatred or fear, more like sheepishness mixed with the way one feels when they think they haven’t done enough.

      “When are we?” Link asked next to the surprise of everyone.

      “What gave that away?” Another one asked, white sail cloth tied around their shoulders. “Oh, I’m Sky by the way. Also a Link, known as the Chosen Hero.”

      ‘The chosen hero?’ Link thought, ‘ like the ones from the history books?’

      “The same Chosen Hero who banished the Demon King of Evil;  Demise?” Link asked in awe, it was one of their favorite tales, it’s what made half of their adventures tolerable - having someone to look up to.

      Sky beamed, grinning from ear to ear. “Yup. I can’t believe that you’ve heard of Demise though, he’s not mentioned very often, from what I’ve learned.”

      Link could believe that, in all the books Vio read, Demise never was brought up in detail, but they had a bit of insider knowledge. “That’s putting it lightly. Nothing in Hyrule Castle’s Library mentioned him more than as Hylia’s greatest enemy, and as the Hero’s too. But our… friend knows more about the history of the Dark realms, and stuff like that.”

      “Well, that’s interesting.” This time another short-statured ‘Hylian’ spoke, a mess of brown hair sat on top of their head. The way they said ‘interesting’ irked Link just a bit that they wanted to keep an eye and ear on him.

 

      The giant once again spoke, gathering the attention of the group. “I suppose introductions are in order, then Sky will do the naming ceremony.” Each of the group members formed a line, with no discernible pattern to their placement - as far as they could tell.

      Sky started them off. “Like I said, I’m known as Sky. Hylia’s Chosen Hero, and the Hero of the Skies. I’m not from Hyrule, technically.” He looked to the next in line, letting them know he was finished.

      The giant spoke next. “I’ve come to be known as Time. I am the Hero of Time, and more or less the leader of this group. Feel free to come to me when you need it, or any of us - of course.”

      Next, someone decked out with item after item, a fringe of pink hair, a red vest - and more surprisingly, no pants - began. “‘M Legend.” They huffed out, arms crossed, “Hero of Legends obviously, and veteran of the hero business. I’ve been on at least six different adventures, and to who knows how many other lands.”

      After him, the brown-haired boy introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Hyrule, odd I know. But I am just known as the Hero of Hyrule. I am the successor of Legend, we found that out not that long ago actually. We’re still trying to figure out how all of us fit into Hyrule’s History. Sky is the first of us - that much we know - and we think Wild, he’s down there on the end, is one of our more recent selves.”

      Link nodded along, “So then we are all named Link, from different points in time? That would explain the nicknames, and how Wind’s Hyrule could be nonexistent.”

      “You’ve got some brain up there.” Legend teased, messing with some of his items at the same time.

      Link sighed, this group was interesting, to say the least, “We don’t know about that, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the situation is here. We will say, timeline-wise, we’re going to be near the beginning, as we have only heard about the Hero of the Skies, and the legend of our sword - who was just some guy.”

      The introductions continued. “I am Twilight. Hero of Twilight, resident Ranch Hand, and I have the ability to sense darkness.” With that, he stared deeply at Link, and Link did not doubt that he could smell all the magic on them.

      They didn’t back down, they’d done nothing wrong, and it’s not their fault that Shadow was a hugger. “You’re probably smelling my friend. He reeks of darkness no matter what shampoo we throw on him.” They joked, hoping that their slight answer was enough to satiate Twilight.

      It seemed to be when Twilight blinked away from them, adjusting the fluff on his shoulder, patting the shoulder of Wind. “Oh right! I’m the hero of Wind, master of the Windwaker, slayer of Ganondorf, and potential ruler of New Hyrule. Given that we find it, and I beat Tetra at just one game of Barrel Launch - which hasn't happened yet, but will eventually!” Link could enjoy the optimism of Wind, they had no doubt that he would be able to see the Minish if they ever returned to their Hyrule. “Also, why are ye in your pajamas? It’s like way past noon!”

      Legend laughed, “Finally someone brought it up, I’ve been questioning that his whole freaking time!”

      Link rolled their eyes, and crossed their arms. “That’s a story for later. Let’s continue, and maybe we’ll tell you.” They said to the whines of Wind and Legend.

      A lanky gentleman with a large blue scarf took charge, “My name is Warriors, Hero of the War of Eras. I am a captain in my time, and I take great pride in making sure we are battle-ready. Also, if you think about hiding any wounds from me, don’t even try it.”

      Wild was last. “Champion and Hero of the Wild. I cook for everyone, and have infinite bombs.” They said so plainly, and Link was not going to question it, Blue wishes he had infinite bombs, though. “I  joined not too long ago, so I’m still getting used to the weird looks I get when I throw my weapons.”

      That woke something in them. They marched over to Wild, and as best as they could, stared him down. “We did not just hear you say that you throw your weapons, right? Our hearing must be going, or we’re in Crazy Town because we swear to Ganon that you did not say that, so nonchalantly, to our face.”

      Wild shrugged once again, “I did. It’s just how I work. When they’re close to breaking they do more damage when thrown than used.”

      “Brea- they break?! What kind of weapons are you using, where are you buying these pieces of dragonshit?”

      “Oh, I don’t buy them, usually I steal them from Bokoblin camps, sometimes the good ones are hidden in Shrines though.”

      Unfortunately, that made sense to Link, if he didn’t have a good weapon to begin with then, of course, he wouldn’t care too much about caring for it, but it still hurt their little blacksmith heart to think about someone’s hard work being tossed at a random monster just because it could break.

      They ran a hand through their hair as they tried to sigh their feelings out. “Okay. Okaaay.” Their voice shuddered as they still thought about the situation they found themselves in. They released their hair and stood taut. “Okay. We guess it’s our turn to do an introduction. First off, we’re a blacksmith, so hearing Wild oh so casually tell us that he breaks his weapons is giving us an aneurysm and we would love to never see a sword or anything similar be thrown at all. Anyways…” They grabbed their sword - scabbard, and all - and cradled it in their arms. “This is the Four Sword, today we went to check on its pedestal, something was drawing us in towards it, and we found that slightly more important than changing our outfits-”

      Legend cut in, “-Hey, why do you keep referring to yourself as ‘We’? That’s a bit odd, don’t you think?” Link was getting so close to strangling Legend, they didn't doubt that they could figure out a way to kill a Veteran Hero, after all, Shadow taught them well.

      They continued on without answering Legend, “When we found the pedestal a portal of dark energy opened up in front and we were pulled through, then we met all of you and well, you all know how that’s going.”

 

      Sky stepped forward with his sword held loosely in his hand. “I guess it’s time to give you your name.” He held his sword out in front, down at Link’s reach. “Just touch her, and she will tell me your name.”

      It wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d ever done or the most magical thing they’ve seen a sword do. They reached out and carefully placed their hand on the blade of the glowing weapon.

      “Welcome, Hero of the Four Swords, Hero of Men, Hero of the Minish, and Hero of Shadow. I am proud to name you Four.” The sword’s glow pulsed before dimming completely and Sky thanked her before putting her away.

      “Fi has spoken, welcome Four!” Sky cheered as the group clapped, a few hesitantly.

      Link, newly named Four, felt a bit of unease in the air. And they knew they couldn’t let so much be unanswered. “We suppose Legend does deserve an answer to his previous question.”

      Legend and the rest stopped whatever celebrating they were doing to give them their attention, shocked and slightly worried.

      “We aren’t your typical hero. We’ve noticed how Hyrule and Twilight reacted to some of the things we’ve said, and we have found it best to come clean about some of it now before you have gotten to know us and feel betrayed by our past.” The group tensed up, and a few jolted towards their weapons until Time held his hand up and stepped in front of them all.

      They grabbed at the hilt of the Four Sword and swung it up into the air. A bright white light enveloped the group, and once it dissipated the heroes opened their eyes to see their newest member gone.

      No not gone, split.

 

      Jaws were dropped, wigs snatched. “The heck was that?” Wind asked, counting the number of Fours. “Why are there four of ye now?”

      Green was the first to move, stepping up to the group, and keeping his family well behind him. “Easy, the Four Sword is to blame.”

      Vio spoke, hands on the waist, “Green, don’t even attempt to explain, we all know you suck at it. I’m sorry about him.” He addressed the group, “We are Four, and Four is us. When we drew the Four Sword it shattered Link down to his bare personalities, but when we went to reform we found that everything didn’t fit the same anymore. When we reform now, Link is influenced by how we feel - and we happen to feel like we want to be referred to separately instead of as one. That is the reason for the use of ‘We’ and ‘Us’, it’s just how we have come to run.”

      “-Nerd-” Blue coughed from behind them. And Legend and Warriors tried to hide their laughter from Vio’s glare.

      “Hello, I’m Red!” The last of Four smiled so brightly that it was contagious, everyone could feel their nerves calming, and smiles appearing on their own faces. “I like my family, baking, and watching Blue blow up Moblins!” He was bouncing on his feet as he looked at each and everyone in the group. Zeroing in on Wind, he raced over to him and grabbed their hand. “Have you ever heard of the Minish, we have got to introduce you, they’re really nice and tiny!” Red was talking so fast that a few couldn’t understand a single thing he was rattling off.

      Wind didn’t seem to have the same trouble, instead he wrapped his arm around Red’s shoulder. “Have you ever set off a cannon? Or walked a plank, it’s the best thing ever!”

      'This can not end well ,’ Four collectively thought as Wind pulled Red towards a ship docked not too far.

 

---

 

      Shadow was not having the time of his life. He spent all morning and afternoon searching through Hyrule’s Dungeons, looking for his family, only to find nothing. Even Zelda’s Soldiers were having no luck with finding their heroes, and none of the neighboring Kingdoms had any monsters that could’ve lured and killed them.

 

      Shadow had reconvened with Zelda in the throne room, pouting, and laying in the air dejected. All their searches came with no results.

      He took a deep breath and tried to lock in on their essence. He could find familiar things and people within a 100 kilometer radius, given that he had enough energy and concentration. As he searched, the Four Swords Sanctuary lit up like the Minish Festival, the Link’s aura was so concentrated that Shadow knew that at one point they were there, but he’d already checked the sanctuary, and he wasn’t picking up on their actual being - just stagnant magic.

      He cut off the search, crashing down to the floor in exhaustion. Princess Zelda ran up to him and gave him her hand. “Up we go.” She smiled wearily as she walked him to the Throne stairs. “You searched for them, didn’t you? You know how much energy that takes out of you. You’re worried about them, aren’t you?”

      Shadow groaned and shook his head. Knees to his chest, he buried his face. “They’re not in Hyrule. All I could sense is that they were at the Four Swords Sanctuary, but aren’t anymore.”

      Zelda rubbed Shadows back, letting soft shushes roll out, she too was worried about her childhood friend. But as Princess, she did also have to focus on her people.

      “We’ll find them Shadow, even if it takes all year, we will bring them home.”

 

---

 

      Nightfall came upon Outset, and the group followed Wind to his home, greeting his sister and grandmother before passing out on the floor in a mess of gear and limbs.

      Four tossed and turned, Sky’s elbow stuck in their ribs, and Hyrule’s knee in their stomach. It was hard to get comfortable surrounded by unknown people, in a distant land. Not to mention that he was worried about his friends back home. Knowing Zelda and Shadow were exhausting all their resources trying to find them, it made Vio swear to never go anywhere without leaving a note ever again.

      Eventually they passed out, it wasn’t too hard when exhaustion and worry won over and silenced their mind.

Notes:

Hey, hey who's ready for a wind-centric chapter in a Four-centric fic?? I AM!!!!!

Chapter 2: Wind Becomes A Reverse Sky Diver (AKA: ‘Remember Four uses plurall pro(nouns)’ in my notebook

Summary:

Reverse skydivers yum 🦈🪂

Notes:

Yippee

      The morning sun shone through the windows, hitting the heroes in the face and forcing them to wake up regardless of whether or not they wanted to.

      Wind’s sister, Aryll, dragged her brother down from his room, not minding the bumps and bruises that were forming on him as she pulled him down the ladder. She stood near the group of heroes that were groaning and cursing out the sun, jumping up and down, “Wake up! Wake up! C’mon guys, wake up!”

      Legend huffed and pulled Hyrule’s arm over his eyes, “Nu-uh. Wake me when the portal’s back.”

      Time, Warriors, and Twilight begrudgingly sat up, shaking the sleep from their bodies as they began to pack their gear together. Sky and Four turned at the same time, bonking their heads together when they did so. “Goddess dammit.” They both hissed, sitting up and holding their foreheads in pain.

      “Let’s get up guys,” Time commanded, pulling Legend's make-shift blanket off him, and placing Hyrule’s arm back to their side. “Let’s get going, I believe Aryll wants to show us around.”

      Aryll smiled, nodding her head as she bounced on her heels. “Uh huh, Tetra’s in town, and she challenged Link to the Barrel Launch!”

      Wind’s eyes shot open, shaking his sister as he cheered, “Why didn’t you say so! C’mon guys, let's go watch me become a future ruler!”

 

-

 

      The Barrel Launch was exactly what it sounded like, with a slight twist.

      The goal was to launch a Barrel to the top of the Forest of Fairies, with a crewmember placed in the Barrel. There was only one way to win. First, the Barrel had to land on the mountaintop, and second, the person had to still be alive.

      The adults did their best to talk Wind out of the ‘game’ but he was persistent and sneaky. He dodged their grasps, and jumped onto the ship. “Are you ready to lose?” He hollered as he ran along the main deck, climbing up to the crow’s nest. Aryll stood under, circling around the mast as the buzzed with excitement.

      The rest of the Links climbed aboard and found a seat, gathering medical supplies and fairies, just in case.

 

-

 

      Tetra ascended from her cabin, “Avast ye scallywags, let it be known that Link’s losing streak shall continue!” 

      Her crew cheered, following her to surround the main mast, below the nest. “Aye, Tetra’s reign shall live on!”

      Tetra grabbed Aryll and lifted her up onto her shoulders, “Mini-captain, do you think this pipsqueak has a shred of a chance?”

      Aryll hummed loudly, before proudly answering, “I don’t know! I think he’s gonna launch them into the water again.”

      Wind jumped down from the nest, grabbing the main-sail rope and swung down, “Betrayed by my own sister.” He fake whined, pouting as Tetra placed her down.

      As soon as Aryll was safe, Wind pulled out the Phantom Sword and held it to Tetra’s throat. “I’m gonna make you eat your words, I’m winning this time, and I shall be King!” He laughed maniacally as Tetra drew her cutlass, she shed their swords and stepped away while her throat was clear. She lunged and met him head to head, blades clanging and deflecting any attack.

      Wind pivoted, and threw her closer to the forecastle deck. She masterfully maintained her guard while climbing up the deck stairs, each shed of the swords brought her one step closer.

      Wind followed her up the deck, keeping a front guard up as she kept up a flurry of attacks. Wind managed to catch her sword and let it shed off his, turning the tides as he pushed her along the bowsprit, shoving her to the edge. Her heel scuffed off and she looked over her shoulder and saw the shallow waters of Outset lapping beneath her.

      She sighed in defeat as she dropped her sword and spun it back into her scabbard. “Well let’s see if the tides are still in your favor.” She scoffed, which sounded like ‘good luck’ to Wind.

      The group was mildly impressed. Most of them knew of Tetra’s trickery with her sword, and for Wind to manage a checkmate so quickly - it meant that Wind was in top form even this early in the morning.

      Aryll was cheering her heart out as Twilight let her have a piggyback ride.

      Wind and Tetra walked back to the base of the mainsail, reaping in the attention from the crew and the Link’s.  Aryll clambered off Twilight to latch onto Wind as he high-fived Legend and Warriors.

      Aryll took one of his hands as Wind took Four’s hand, yanking them off their seat. Aryll grabbed onto Four as they do si do’d around, twirling Four around. “Isn’t this the best first day of adventure you’ve ever had?” Wind and Aryll laughed out as Four became dizzy, needing to take their seat again before they became sick.

      Four gave a thumbs up while they held a hand over their mouth.

      Tetra was leaned against the mast, arms crossed, waiting for Wind to calm down and shut up. “Link. Get your ass over here, I’m going first.”

      Wind quickly spun her way and bounced to her side. “Who ye be launching today C’ptain?” He asked, still vibrating from his win.

      She looked towards her crew, scanning between Niko, Zuko, and Mako. “Let’s see. Today…” Her  head kept swinging left and right, until she stared over at Link himself. “It’s your turn.” If it was possible, Wind looked more excited at that than at his win.

      Time and Twilight stood up, making their way over to intervene in this murder-game. “Tetra. I do not-” Time tried to proclaim, but was stopped by her and Wind’s swords.

      “You do not get to tell me what I do on my ship. I am Captain and Princess, you are the visitor.” Tetra’s stern glare spoke to what she was willing to do if he did not step down.

      Time looked over to Twilight, then to Wind, who had the same look as Tetra. Time put his hands up and backed down. “Do not hurt him, please.”

      “I have not hurt him yet, he is resilient and strong.”

 

-

 

      The catapult bay was set up, and Wind scampered to climb into the barrel waiting in the loading bay. Warriors grabbed a helmet from his bag, forcing it over Wind’s head. “If you take that off I will have Sky let Crimson crap on your telescope.” He stared down Tetra daring her to tell him that Wind couldn’t have any form of protection. Instead she nodded.

      The crew and Aryll took their places around the catapult and beckoned for the Links to get off their assess and come closer.

      Wind made himself comfortable in the barrel, making sure that the, frankly gigantic, helmet Warriors forced on him wasn’t going anywhere. It didn’t matter if he could see, he trusted that Tetra wasn’t going to launch him into the cliffside on purpose - again.

      The Links stayed back, still keeping their medical supplies at the ready, Wind looked at the group and noticed Four standing languidly. Their arms were tucked behind as they shifted from foot to foot. “Four?” He motioned for them to come over.

      Four looked up, perplexed, pointing at themself before walking towards the sailor.

      “What’s up?” They called, not even reaching the rim of the barrel.

      Wind silently asked for their ear and Four complied as Wind leaned over to whisper, “Hey, since I beat Tetra, I get to choose whoever I want to launch…” He paused, hoping the new recruit was smelling what he was putting down - or however the saying goes.

      Four took those few seconds to finalize their decision. If they were being honest, they’d wanted to partake in this - Red shone through when it came to chaos.

      Four nodded, “You know what? It sounds fun. You might have a better shot at winning, I am aerodynamic.” And they left it at that.

 

-

 

      Everything was set up. The pirates were cheering on Tetra from the quarterdeck just out of the way of the catapult’s arm.

      The Links prayed for Wind’s survival from the side.

      Four watched carefully as Tetra aimed her weapon. Giving the order to launch on her command. She made minor recalculations to her ship, before narrowing her eyes and giving the signal. Senza cut the rope, launching the barrel - and Wind - high into the sky.

      Four calculated the trajectory in their mind. Vio had always been strangely good at physics, able to calculate wind shear, and a whole bunch of other things that went over the other’s heads.

      Four was certain that if he was able to fix the ship in place, and calculate down to the finest detail they would no doubt make it over.

 

-

 

      The barrel successfully landed on the mountain, the pirates cheered and slapped each other on the back. Tetra waited patiently while the Link’s chewed on their nails, waiting.

      Nothing.

      Then, a blond mop of hair could be seen. “Fuck yeah!” Reverberated down the cliff into their ears, and the group erupted. A cacophony of cheers and sighs of relief echoed throughout the ship.

      Wind took a couple over-the-top bows before disappearing back into the treeline. The Link’s were confused as the crew rushed to move the boat.

      “Get us away from the cliff!” Tetra commanded as she pulled out a glowing blue rock. They could hear Wind through it, but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

      The ship shifted enough so that there was space between the sand and the water, directly under the cliff.

      The glowing rock stopped at Tetra yelled for everyone to hold on as she stashed it back in her outfit.

      The wind began to swirl around the ship the group could see as the water circled behind them where the ship had been previously.

      A waterspout formed and began climbing up to meet the mountain top. They all watched as Wind sprinted past the edge and dived into the water tornado.

      (Warriors did not shriek, no matter what anyone tells you - he let out a manly cry.)

      The sprout receded and Wind climbed ashore, shaking off what water he could.

      Tetra climbed the bowsprit, leaning over and yelled down, “You do that everytime! Get your ass aboard, it’s your turn!” 

 

-

 

      Wind boarded the ship and met up with Four. “Alright! Here’s the plan: step 1 - I win; Step 2 - I’m crowned king!”

      Four stood deadpanned, “That is the worst plan I have ever heard. Ok, how about this…” Four grabbed their sword and let themself split. The pirates rubbed their eyes, and a couple poured the drinks out overboard.

      Wind’s eyes lit up as Red stretched their arms. “Finally!” They laughed out.

      “Listen up.” Vio cleared their throat, “Red, you’re being launched.” Red and Wind cheered and paraded around the ship.

      Vio let them have their fun as they brought their attention towards Tetra, “Princess Captain, if you would allow me the honour of positioning your ship?” Tetra nodded giving Vio a brief rundown on how it worked.

      “Remember, you break my ship, I break you.” She warned, and that seemed fair.

      Vio commanded the crew with very precise instructions. Like how many degrees they should be facing, and how many clicks away the cliff should be. They tested the winds, adjusting for it and Red’s height and weight.

      Once they were certain they had it a ‘good enough’ they allowed Red to get into the barrel.

      “Now when I say,” they approached Blue, “Give it a good clean slice.”

 

-

 

      Everyone stood at the ready, the Links were fearing for their newest members life.

      Tetra and her crew couldn’t wait to see Wind’s friend smack into the side of a cliff.

      Aryll was just vibing.

      Vio knew that Red was going to be fine, they were tougher than they looked. Vio was more worried about their calculations being wrong - that would be the worst. (Not that Red being hurt wouldn’t, but come on - math is more important).

      Vio let Blue know on three. They waited a bit, going through the math again in their head. When everything matched, they started the countdown.

      “One…” The crew watched on.

      “Two…” The Links covered their eyes.

      “THREE!” Blue slammed his sword down, cutting the rope with clean precision.

      Four’s Colors watched on, Wind gripping onto Green’s arm, as the barrel soared.

      Up.

      Up.

      And…

      Over the mountain!

      Wind cheered, slinging his arm over Blue, dragging both along as he pranced about.

      Tetra scowled, she knew she shouldn’t’ve allowed some landlubber to command her ship - there was still a chance for this to not be a victory - not that Tetra would wish that over not being the new queen.

      The Link’s uncovered their eyes partway, hoping that the cheering was for good.

      Vio waited with bated breath, until Red popped over the ledge and waved their arms.

      “Ha! In your face!” Wind cried, running up to Tetra and digging into her shawl.

      “Get your grubby hands off me!” She yelled, smacking his hand repeatedly.

      “Not until I get what’s rightfully mine.” He pulled out a small burlap sack before climbing off Tetra and joining the heroes.

      They were all in a group, keeping an eye on the Fourth on the mountain, just in case. “Shouldn’t we get… Red, right? Shouldn’t we go get Red down?” Sky called sounding unsure of his name-remembering skills.

      Green nodded and Vio and Blue followed.

      “Don’t worry about them.” Blue huffed, getting in place, “we’ve got it.”

      They stood in formation - a square Time and Twilight noticed - with the empty spot of the (technically a triangle) pattern directed towards Red.

      The colors raised their swords up, and a bright light enveloped the ship. Then, Four was one.

Notes:

I forgot i put aryll in this . I erote about 1/3 with aryll and then left her out😓 so i had to go through and just sprinkle in artll - so you guys get extra stuff that my noteboon does t have, (sorry bout the crappy spellign her, typing on phone without botherig to look at my keyboard.)

I should not be allowed to write

 

So I’m thinking, either next chapter will be shadow, or more chain shenanigans. I will figure that out when i post the next chapter

Chapter 3: Shadow Has Purple Hair and Pronouns (AKA: 'Self-Love Is Important But I Don't Think This Counts' on my printer paper)

Notes:

It started this while fighting sleep, I finished this while fighting sleep, I'm amazing!

 

I had a long day today, had to pull an open to close solo because mrs boss lady needed to go home early and no one else could come in. I'm eepy.

      If Shadow had to describe his life in one sentence it would be, ‘a waste of dark magic and pronouns.’ Or at least that’s what he felt at this specific moment. He had run out of options to track his family down and was beginning to float and groan around the castle, moping as Princess Zelda handled her duties.

      It had been an entire week since he had last tried tracking them down. The aura around the sanctuary had long since faded, and nothing else had lit up. None of the neighboring kingdoms had come across their hero, either.

      3 more weeks passed by.

      Same info.

      No hint of their aura, no notices from other kingdoms, and no pop-in from Link himself.

      The Princess and Shadow were losing sleep. Zelda pushed meetings off, and let her advisors handle more than she usually did. The staff were worried about her, as the bags under her eyes were growing every day.

      Shadow had hardly ‘slept’ as well, getting up in the middle of the night to check for Link’s aura. That’s if he wasn’t cursed with nightmares of his friend's demise.

      They didn’t want to say they were losing hope, but it was getting harder every day to smile and think that that was the day they would finally be reunited.

-

 

      Four had seen Wind’s Hyrule (obviously) but also Twilight’s, and Time’s. Each one so full of life and mystery. Vio wrote pages upon pages of observations (nerd), learning about the flora and fauna and how they differed from era to era.

      Another swirling portal opened up as they walked the lands of Lon Lon Ranch, and they collectively groaned as they made sure everything and everyone was ready. Time led the pack as they crossed through one by one.

 

      Time started the count off as they all took a chance to observe their new surroundings. They were in a thick forest, 60-foot cedar trees lined the ground, bushes were planted throughout the land, with the occasional wild animals skittering around, and the occasional Deku Scrub chanted “Hip Hip hooray” as they marched on through.

      Everything lined up with Four’s time - a very specific area of his time - but his time regardless.

      “Four-”

      Shit, if this was their time…

      “-Four-”

      …Vio did not doubt that Shadow had been tracking their aura…

      “Four-”

      …If he were to.

      “FOUR!”

      They were shook out of their head. “Yea-yeah?” They asked, startled, and off guard.

      “We’ve been trying to get your attention for like 4 minutes, no one has claimed the place, so either it’s someone new, or it’s yours.” Time caught them up, before giving them a second to do a look around, in case they hadn’t already.

      “I figured out it was mine as soon as I saw that tree.” They pointed at a random tree tucked away - well as much as an 80-foot-tall tree could be in a forest of significantly smaller trees.

      “Did that tree, like, insult your mother or something?” Wind asked with earnest, earning a light punch from Four themself.

      “You rapscallion, of course not, that’s where I me-” Their words were cut off by them being body-slammed onto the ground by a mystery mass. Their breaths were heavy, almost choking, as the air was smushed out of them. 

      Twilight rushed to pull whatever knocked their companion down off. And they all gathered around to help and/or watch. But, to the shock of everyone, Four was lying on their back, with their arms wrapped around whatever it was that had managed to surprise a group of heroes.

      It looked human, with soft purple hair pooling down onto Four’s stomach as he lay between their legs. A mostly black outfit adorned them and more surprisingly, they were sobbing.

      Four had their hand in his hair, tussling it and letting soft shushes roll out of their mouth. “Can you get up?” They heard them whisper to the person.

      The group backed up enough to let them both stand up and situate themselves with the rest of the world. The first thing everyone noticed, was the other looked exactly like Four. Every wrinkle, freckle, and blemish were in the exact same spot. The only difference was the other displayed darker skin, bright blue eyes, and the aforementioned purple hair. 

      It’s not wrong to say that many of the heroes automatically jumped to ‘dark counterpart’ pretty sure a child could come to that same conclusion, what caught them off guard was how chummy Four was being with it, so they chose to let them talk before running it through with a sword.

 

      Four and the other stood side by side, arms linked together as if they were afraid of getting lost.

      “So, as you can probably tell, this is my counterpart.” There was chatter rising from the group, and Four let them talk through it before they took the stage again. “He’s not exactly a dark like Time has talked about, he’s instead.” They turned to their companion and asked, “How would you describe yourself?”

      The other smirked, and they all saw Four start regretting their life choices, “devilishly handsome, and quite a catch?”

      Four gave the other a light shove, “He’s my shadow, just given life. If you’ve ever noticed that I don’t cast a shadow, there it is.” Four presented their counterpart with jazz hands, and he took dramatic bows for a couple of seconds.

      Afterward, he stood up and faced Four, wrapping his arms around their neck, slumping down to let his weight fall onto Four, “Where have you been? Zelda and I have been worried sick for months! I was afraid someone kidnapped you - or stepped on you. You’re so tiny and vulnerable, I thought I lost you.”

      Four rolled their eyes, ignoring the chuckles steaming from the group of heroes. “Stand up. First of all, it’s only been one month, one week, and two days. I’m sorry I didn’t leave you a note, we weren’t expecting anything to happen - just a quick hop to check on the sanctuary, then back home to you. But clearly, that didn’t happen. Second, I knew that you would fight to find me, and I you. We’re meant to rule together, remember?” Four grabbed his hands from their neck and brought them to their face, kissing his knuckles, letting Vio have his moment before the others wanted to start walking.

      Legend fake coughed to get everyone’s attention, “Four, where are we heading from here?”

      Four spun around, making notes in their head, before concluding. “We’re closer to Death Mountain than we are to the house,” Four informed, dropping their friend’s hand to reach for their sword, “but there is a place we can reside in up near the mountain,” they claimed as they pulled the sword out of the scabbard and let the magic split them.

      Red immediately took Wind’s side, Green and Blue stood near the middle of the group, and Vio linked arms with his counterpart. Sensing that they were getting ready to move everyone started gathering up, letting Vio take the lead.

      Vio led them down a dirt path, arms swinging as he almost bounced down the road - there was a jaunt to his steps that wasn’t there before.

      It wasn’t too far a walk, but it was sweltering as Eldin Volcano spewed lava down its mountaintop in the distance. “I haven’t been here in so long,” Vio reminisced, leaning into his friend, sighing contently. “Do you think everything is still the same?”

      “Probably, I mean, I haven’t exactly been back since that night, and I know for sure that the Hinoxes and Vaati haven’t either.” They chuckled, before letting out a heavy breath.

      Now, it may come as a shock, but some of the heroes don’t take well to hearing that monsters used to roam the place they were getting ready to visit. Call it ‘trauma’ or ‘monster-hunting fun’, but they were now counting their weapons and potions.

      “Vio, I don’t mean to bother.” Warriors started, before thinking for a bit, “Actually I do. What does he mean by ‘the Hinoxes and Vaati’ haven’t been back? That sorta implies that they were there at one point, but you too said that you were there - if I am to assume your earlier ‘haven’t been here in so long’ is true.”

      Four’s parts stopped in their tracks, each letting out their own stims of dismay.

      Blue groaned and slapped his forehead, “Vio, you just couldn’t keep your stupid mouth shut could you?”

      Red jolted next to Wind, hiding behind his hair, “Hush up Blue, I thought we agreed we weren’t going to bring it up to them.”

      “Bring what up, Red?” Wind asked in turn, only to be ignored.

      Green laughed nervously, “Warriors, what are you talking about? Haha, nothing’s going on here okay? Okay.” And if anything, that just made them seem more suspicious. Especially since Green was sweating bullets.

      Vio sucked at his teeth, before he turned to face the rest of them, “If I said it was nothing, would you believe me?” He asked, squeezing his friend’s hand.

      Warriors looked at the Fours, he could see it in their faces that it was a difficult topic he breached, but he also knew that he had to protect the rest of the group - should it be a real problem that may come back to bite them in the butt. “Sorry, Vio, but I cannot in good faith let my fears run rampant - not when they could easily be put to rest. The least I can do is swear to hear you out, and to let you explain in your own ways.”

      Vio’s shoulders dropped, a bit relieved that he was given a chance to speak, rather than automatically being assumed the worst of. “I suppose I understand where you are coming from, and the main reason I didn’t allow the others to tell you all at the beginning was because it isn’t just my story to tell. Shadow,” his friend waved, nice to put a name to a face after 40 minutes , “originally fought for the other side. He was created by Ganon to serve the darkness - and create a mess for the hero. Which, gotta say, he did a wonderful job! If we ever get to the castle, I’m sure he would be proud to show you which side he blew up!”

      “You know me so well, Vee.”

      “Now, Link had always believed that he could solve every issue by himself - it didn’t matter that he was part of the royal guard… Son of the captain. He beat bandits with his bare hands and only listened to Princess Zelda - but being childhood friends could do that to you. So when this rat bastard,” Shadow grinned, “showed up out of the blue and kidnapped some very important Shrine Maidens while we were checking on Vaati’s seal, and then took Zelda too, Link took it upon himself to pull the Four Sword out to be ‘multiplied into four times the hero’ - desperate to rescue his only friend.”

      Blue joined the duo, frowning and grumbling, “Stupid sword didn’t multiply the user, rather split. So suddenly, that stubborn kids’ self-sufficiency was applied to four heroes. None of us got along in the beginning - except for Red - and we fought about everything. About who was the leader, about what our names should be, about which way was north. Everything . I think once we fought about who hated the others more - I won that one!”

      Time’s brow raised, and quite a few of the others looked surprised as well, “From the way you guys act now, I would have never guessed. Your teamwork is phenomenal, and you act as one unit - especially with the way you understand one another.”

      “Well, it wasn’t always that way,” Green spoke, “Like Blue said, we didn’t get along with each other - we all had a certain way we wanted to do things. Ultimately that was our downfall.”

      Red let out a small chuckle, “Yeah, we kinda got separated not even halfway through the adventure. So finally, we got stuff done. I managed to get accused of arson!” He cheered, “Some kid was burning down buildings with a Fire Rod, but when I went to explain to the villagers that I was a hero, the kid managed to pin the blame on me by leaving me with the rod, and then my sword got stolen. You know,” Red turned his attention to Vio, “I never did figure out how my sword got to your temple.”

      Shadow began cackling, startling everyone. “Oh, my Ganon! You all never put it together? Vio, I thought you were the smart one?”

      Vio smacked him over the head, “Shut up, you.” Then processed Shadow’s words, “You bastard,” he smiled hanging his head, “why didn’t you say anything?” He asked to the confusion of Red, who had their head cocked to the side.

      “What’s up?” Red called.

      Vio brought his head up and stared his family down, “ He was the kid.” At that Shadow shifted his form, taking on the look of a small child with a striped beanie.

      “That explains how he could disappear and reappear out of nowhere!” Red exclaimed, walking over to Shadow before giving him a friendly punch on the arm. “Thank you for the Fire Rod, though. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to rescue Blue.”

      Blue crossed his arms and hissed, “Of course, you’re gonna bring that up.”

      Before Blue could retaliate, Twilight called for their attention, “Sorry to interrupt story time, but the sun is setting, is it safe to set up camp here, or should we rush to our destination?”

      Shadow answered for his Link. “It’s pretty safe here. It’s still a half-hour walk to the entrance, and then another 15 minutes to get to the room. Besides, if any monsters mosey on down here, I’m still technically in charge of them since the other bosses kinda went ‘ bleagh ’” He played dead to provide more context to his strange noise, “So, they won’t be too much trouble. Other than that, I think I saw one of the others yawning about 3 times in the last hour, so it’s best to rest now because I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to carry anyone.” Vio nudged them, “You don’t count. I would kill the goddess for you.” Vio nodded.

      Time moved himself to the middle of the group, “That settles it. We’ll set up camp here and resume our journey at daybreak. And as much fun as it’s been to hear about your adventure, it will have to wait until morning. I, for sure, have been enjoying every bit of it, but I know that rest would be good for everyone. Warriors?” He looked over to the captain, noticing that Hyrule was nodding off in the background, “Have your nerves been settled enough for a good night's sleep?”

      Warriors had felt safe with most of Four, and could stand just a bit of discomfort for the chance to sleep, “I have.”

      Time smiled in return, “Good, now would you please set up a bedroll for Hyrule before he starts snuggling a boulder again.” And the group began their night-time routines.

Notes:

Did you catch all the Four Swords Manga references? You probably did!

Storytime will continue, starting with Blue and Green, then you know what'll happen (if not, here's your clue - 'Sad Shadow Link' - my favorite chapter)

Chapter 4: Vio Is NOT Totally Bonkers (AKA AHHHH in my doc (again))

Summary:

Shadow’s one heck of a guy

Notes:

I wish this could be longer, but it’ll have to do

Also, screw what I said last note. Forgot about it and set myself up for fun! We jump right into Vio’s story

      Shadow ‘awoke’ with a loud fake yawn. It was pretty tiring to lie down staring up at the cloudy sky all night with nothing else to do. That was one of the downside of being made out of literal shadows - he didn’t exactly have a brain that needed to be meticulously kept alive - he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what kind of day he had.

      And since he wasn’t ‘alive’ he didn’t get the same experience as Hylians, eating being another example. Turns out that whatever food he stuffs into his gullet… it just falls through onto the floor. He doesn’t even get to chew it, and he also hasn’t found anything he could physically taste.

      It truly was a miserable experience, but it wasn’t all bad, he had a family, and he was free to do as he pleased. Still…

 

-

 

      By the time dawn peered over the horizon he was already sitting up on his makeshift bed, silently escaping as he let Vio keep sleeping, same with Blue and Green. Red - who usually doesn’t get up without a fight - was now sitting at the campfire that one of the weirdos started last night.

      A couple of the other guys were sitting with Red, talking in hushed whispers and pulling flaming food out with their bare hands. Shadow slowly approached them just as a burnt apple was crunched on. “Ganon below, how can you eat that? I’ve seen rocks that look tastier!” Shadow claimed, and it wasn’t entirely false - from what Vio told him, burnt food tasted like hate, and rocks tasted slightly better.

      Red turned to look at him, apple in hand, “How would you know that?” he asked between chews, so it came out mostly gibberish - luckily Shadow was used to it. “You can’t even eat food?” Red finished, chuckling as he threw the core into the pit.

      “Yeah, but Vio’s told me a lot about edible food, and that,” He pointed to the second burnt apple Red was munching on, “is not edible.” And he would stand by that until he died (and stayed dead).

      “But it sure is tasty!” Red cheered, and the scarred boy who was poking at the fire nodded in agreement. Red laughed pointedly, “Ha! See, Wild agrees with me!”

      Shadow crossed his arms, floating a couple inches off the ground, “Of course he agrees, he’s the one making them. Besides, he looks unhinged enough to think anything that wasn’t poisonous was food.”

      And you know what? Wild and Red agreed with him.

      “Point taken,” Red said, finishing his demon food. “We should probably start on some breakfast that everyone can eat - Blue’s very particular on what he calls food, same with Hyrule, but for vastly different reasons.” He informed them, it was mostly focused towards Wild, but Red didn’t exactly omit Shadow from helping. So they began creating a multitude of dishes, each suiting everyone’s tastes.

 

      When the rest of the group awoke, they were greeted instantly by the wondrous smell of breakfast. Each hungry hero following the aroma blindly before arriving at the cooking station Wild had set up, meeting Red and Shadow there too.

      Plates piled up with food were passed around as the heroes made seats on the hard rocky ground. Rice balls, skewers, and some burnt apples made their home in the bellies of the once-starving group. Shadow even got to try eating a ‘Monster Cake’ after much persuasion from Wild to give it a shot to see if it’d work with Shadow’s incorporeal body. And to the surprise of Shadow, it tasted like a little slice of home.

 

-

 

      As the group began to pack up Warriors took it upon himself to watch their new dark friend, he kept a loose grip on his sword, a peering gaze bore into the back of Shadow’s head. If Shadow wasn’t already used to nasty looks, he probably would’ve shuddered in fear, but it no longer bothered him visibly - it was just a part of his life at this point.

      Once everyone was packed the Color’s quickly swapped Warriors out of the watch, surrounding Shadow as they began the trek. Wanting to protect him from the other’s and spend time together too.

      The group marched in silence, with only the brief sound of the slash of a sword whenever they needed to cut a brush or tree out of the way rising above the silence. Once they came upon a fork in the road, it became safe to talk.

      They stood before a sign, which Time looked down to read, “Death Mountain is up that way,” he pointed to the left path before moving to the right, “and down there is Hyrule Castle.” Each hero took a quick second to look down both paths, they didn’t look too different, and everyone already knew where they were headed, so it was just for shits and giggles to pause a second to do so.

      Shadow, with his posse of Color’s, took the lead as they meandered up the Death Mountain path.

      Wind was the first to bring the topic of the evening up, “Hey, Four…’s(?) y’all gonna continue your stories? I still wanna hear about this temple/place/thingy that we’re headed to!”

      “As would I.” Warriors surprisingly added, to the confusion of everyone. “Well if this place used to hold monsters, and room our smith… I want to know how, and why.” He explained, noticing the hitch in Vio and Shadow’s breaths.

      The two previously mentioned heroes started whispering to themselves, mostly incomprehensible to the others except for the, “You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to,” that Shadow finished off, grasping his friend’s shaky hand.

      “They deserve to hear it.” And they gave each other a slight nod, tightening their grips.

 

      “I suppose you have the right to know.” Vio started, even-paced. He momentarily released Shadow’s hand to face the group, now trekking the path backwards so he could walk n’ talk, before reaching out to Shadow once more.

      Vio took a deep breath, letting it escape slowly, trying to relax his shoulders and place his trust in his brothers, praying they would help bring humanity to his upcoming explanation. “As Red previously established, we were separated. In fact we were separated about 3 days into our quest due to our inability to read water.”

      A sudden ‘thump’ was heard as Blue’s hammer hit Red, “Remind me again why we let Red direct us?” Earning a small smile from the group as Red pouted.

      “You still wouldn’t talk to us, that’s why!” Red responded, tackling Blue in retaliation.

      As they continued their bicker, with Green dragging them along the route, Vio continued. “During that time the only way we had any sense that the others were okay was by the pulses the Four Swords would briefly send out. But before that, I found that I had awoken in the lost woods, everywhere looked the same, and I could only see so far in front of me. However, I found myself feeling relief - now that I didn’t have to babysit 3 idiots,” Blue pulled his hammer out, gritting his teeth, “but I knew that I would make it very far on my own. I was lost in and over my head, tripping on roots and Deku Scrubs - who were obsessed with ‘Dark Lord Ganon’ as they called him - when Shadow Link made a grand appearance.”

      “Ooo-ooo! Can I help with this story?” Shadow grinned, eyes pleading. To which Vio gently shook his head before reluctantly agreeing.

      Shadow turned to face the group also, floating as to not trip over the unfamiliar road, as he leapt into his tale, “There I was, poor ol’ me, lost, confused, angry. I was tasked with getting rid of those pesky Heroes for the sake of Darkness. Now, I had pestered them briefly before, stalking them throughout the towns, tarnishing their good name by blowing up the castle. You know, the reg. But now was the time for-”

      “-AMBUSH!”

Notes:

Next chapter hopefully has ‘warriors’ in the name.

I hoping the vibes next time will be ‘Warriors needs his weight in alcohol’ but we’ll see.

I’m dreaming that I can fit the forest coversation™️, The other colors reaction to that (i imagine vio didn’t tell them Everything), and the Hinoxes (iykyk). But we’ll see. Okay Byeeeee!

Chapter 5: Warriors Needs A Drink (AKA: Warriors Needs His Weight In Alcohol on last chapter’s end note)

Summary:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Notes:

I had this finished like a week ago. A but of a small breather than hopefully they actually make it to their destination soon

      “AMBUSH!” Warriors called, sword already drawn and aimed toward the closest attacker.

      At his warning the others weren’t far behind with their weapon of choice, unanimously agreeing to surround the Colors and Shadow Link; creating an impenetrable wall in an instant.

 

      The monsters were huge, shoddily clothed creatures; faster than something that size should have been, with one big eye in the middle of their rather ugly faces. They thudded closer to the Links, grunting and groaning almost in confusion. But surely, everyone was just hearing things.

      One dared step closer, only to be met with Warriors jamming his sword into its knee, forcing it to jump back in surprise. It tripped over its feet and fell with a thud.

      The monsters grunted and groaned, their singular eyes half-lidded as if concerned - borderline sad, but surely that couldn’t be the case. Monsters, with feelings? Impossible.

      Regardless, the others were more interested in helping their friend up than going ham on some heroes (A small blessing).

      Their eye(s) would jump from friend to foe, not sparing even a glance long enough to bore into the Hylian’s souls. Until one actually took the time to scan. Eye wide open, peering up and down the path, checking each intruder before stopping suddenly. They blinked (or is it a wink?), shook their head, then looked again.

      It tugged on the next closest monster and stuck a dirty finger at the group of heroes who were still surrounding Shadow. In an instant the other monster’s face lit up, eye wide as can be, and a toothy smile opened up. Next thing they knew everyone was staring with the same weird look.

      One of them bounded closer to the group, using their obnoxiously large hands to part the group of heroes; Time, Wind, Wild, and Hyrule on one side. Legend, Warriors, Twilight, and Sky on the other. Leaving Shadow and the Colors alone in front of the beast.

      The heroes of the Four Swords were cowering in a pile, Shadow wrapped up in their grasp just in case. Granted they’d probably have no trouble beating this thing to a pulp, but there was a small sense of dread that kept them down, because, for one: everyone else had surrounded them - making it nearly impossible to identify what had found them before this point.

      And secondly, whatever found them was huge!

 

      The Links looked on in horror, still blocked by monstrous hands, as their height-challenged friends were then surrounded by all the beasts. Each sat down with a ‘thump’ shaking the ground and the heroes in turn.

      Warrior’s wanted to claw and bite, and maybe even punch his way to his teammate, but there was no way of telling what sort of retribution would return if he left his half of the group. So, he waited.

      He waited, and he waited, and he waited. For what, he’s not entirely sure but, by Hylia did he wait.

      Then. . .

      He watched.

      They all watched as the sitting cyclops’ appointed leader, tapped on Vio’s shoulder. It was calm, calculated, knowing. Vio wasn’t the one on top of the pile, he also wasn’t the easiest to get to, these monsters had to find the little sliver of space between Red’s arm, and Blue’s entire body just to get to him.

      When Vio felt the tap, he shook his brothers off him and pushed out of the pile, ready to approach whoever dared to touch him. With a turn of his head, he came face to face with the monsters that had managed to split a group of 13 mostly well-trained heroes up. And boy was he surprised.

 

      No.

      …Wait…

      …Sorry, I misspoke. Vio was fine. The other’s? Not so much.

 

      Vio all but sighed, shaking his head, “I should have expected this.” Turning back he pulled Shadow to him, dusting off his hair, and motioned for him to take a peek at the intruders, “Look what found us Shad. Or, more appropriately: Who.”

      Shadow took a look himself. Eyes lit up immediately, and his body literally began to float, “Holy Hylia and Ganon below!” He laughed, crunched over, and laughed some more. “What in the Dark World, man?!”

      With the monsters completely occupied, the heroes could finally escape and join their giggling comrades. “I don’t get it.” Hyrule was the first to state his confusion.

      “Red, I think your friend is broken.” Wind supplied, watching as the pieces of Four joined them in looking on in stupor.

      Worryingly, Shadow and Vio walked up to the group of monsters with no hesitation, letting one of them place their hand down before climbing aboard, allowing themselves to be brought closer to the smelly mouths of some bloodthirsty monsters. 

      Vio leaned his forehead against its cheek, Shadow floating around like a little dark bee, grinning. “I missed you too, Tabatha.”

      “TABATHA?!” The group parrotted back, aghast.

 

      “Vio. You mean to tell us that you know these… These things, and that they have names?” Warriors was befuddled, flabbergasted, dumbfounded, just everything. Vio did confuse the group a bunch, always monotonous and guarded, but this? This was a whole new level of weird.

      Vio signaled to be put back on solid ground, then stood in front of Warriors and stared him down, “Kinda rude to call them things; they’re just Hinoxes. And to answer your questions, yes I know them, and yes they have names - Shadow and I gave them proper names after we kept confusing Hinox 1 with Hinox 3. They’re twins,” He shrugged as if that explained everything.

      “Wait, can you usually tell them apart?” Hyrule pondered.

      And both Shadow and Vio looked so perturbed at the thought, “What do you mean? They look so different!” To which the group strained their necks to look up at 5 identical Hinoxes.

      To the surprise of the group, Blue and Red were the next to start pestering. “Why haven’t we ever met them?” Red jumped onto Vio’s back, crashing them onto the ground.

      Blue gruffed, arms crossed together, “Yeah, why’re you so buddy-buddy with some monsters?”

      Vio pushed himself off the ground and helped Red up, once again brushing his tunic free of dirt, “Because these ‘monsters’ were our teammates.”

      And Warriors could not have fainted faster.

Notes:

Poor Warriors

Chapter 6: Twilight and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good- Wait, Wrong Fic 🤦‍♀️ (AKA: Cuckoo Banana in my Notes)

Summary:

Ahh summer break. A time for leisure, recreation, and takin’ ‘er easy. Unless you’re Link!

Notes:

I just love Shadow so much!

      Hyrule was quick to help Warriors sit up and check him for any major injuries, luckily he found none, so it was more handing Warriors some water and telling him to take it easy than anything.

      The rest of the group had varying reactions to the new information. Mostly bug eyes and agape jaws, but, well… 

      Wind was more or less cheering, running over to Vio and Red in an instant. “That is so cool! How long have you been teammates, would you consider yourselves friends, how did you meet?”

     Time grabbed Wind’s tunic and pulled him back, “Let him breathe, Sailor.” Time chidded, noticing how Vio froze briefly.

      Wind grumbled from his hold, “Ugh, fine.” He promised as Time set him down, “But I still wanna know the answers.”

      “We can get answers as we walk. Vio, Shadow Link, would you please alert your companions that we need the road they are blocking?”

      Nodding, Shadow floated back up to meet one of the Hinoxes eye, “Yoohoo!” He gathered their attentions, “Hey, Tabatha, can you get the twins to step aside, we’re kinda in the middle of something.”

      Tabatha looked at her teammates behind her, watching as the twins - Elias and Eliza - were continually hitting each other with trees they’d pulled from the ground a few minutes earlier.

      Sometimes Tabatha hated being the leader.

 

      She turned back to Shadow, pointed at him, the twins, and then made a motion of throwing. Shadow floated there a second, trying to figure out the Hinoxes charades, to no luck.

      He heard Vio sigh below him, then the rustling of a bag. He was yanked down by his leg and then forcefully handed something. Shadow took a look down at his hands, only to be met with a Big Bomb, unlit thankfully. “Ohh, I got you.”

 

      Vio led his brothers and other heroes away from the path a good distance, quick to shut anyone up until they were safely tucked away. He had everyone cover their heads and eyes.

      A grunt was heard, then an explosion.

      Shadow’s voice then called over, “Alright, let’s go!”

 

      The Hinoxes now stood in a row, side by side, two of them - probably the twins - were covered in minor burns.

      “You sure they won’t be mad?” Hyrule asked, ducking under the Hinoxes gazes as he kept a great distance between him and them.

      No answer.

      Twilight continued the train of thought, “What’s up with the bomb?”

      Still nothing.

      “Vio! Dumbass, they’re asking you shit!” Blue yipped, trying to find his brother’s attention. He wasn’t where he last left him, where the hell did he run off to? “Vio, get your ass over here!” He called out, only to be met with the sound of soft discussion coming from the line-up. He motioned for the group to follow him and stay quiet.

      When they got closer they could see that one of the Hinoxes was sitting down as Vio and Shadow talked to it. Blue couldn’t make out many words but one.

      “…Home.”

      It was Shadow who spoke it, and that made sense, he hung around Death Mountain a lot from what Blue remembered.

      It was more surprising what came next.

      “H… oOo mE?” the Hinox spoke. Blue looked at the other’s making sure he wasn’t going crazy and he’d actually heard a monster use Hylian speech. He was met with the same befuddled expressions. Hurrah!

      They returned their attentions back to the matter at hand as Vio spoke, “Yeah, home. Back to the Tower of Flames.”

 

-

      Twilight did not like this, not one bit.

      Weird, he knows - usually it’s Warriors having a cow about who they trust - but there was something different about that Link. He didn’t seem bad - or evil in any sense - but the way dark magic lingered around him worried him. But since most of the colors weren’t fully upset with him, and even Time and Warriors felt safe enough to talk to him, walk in front of him, throw themselves into battle with him. So he had no real purchase to this feeling, he’d just have to deal - he would keep an eye on him, just to be safe.

      Twilight hated this. He really did.

 

-

 

      It took ‘em long enough, but finally, they were back on the road. Shadow Link, Vio, and now the entourage of Hinoxes led the fray, followed by Warriors, Time, Twilight, and then everyone else. It was odd to be willingly following some monsters, but apparently, it was their home they were headed to.

      Speaking of which, “Hey, wait. Where are we headed again?” Sky asked, yawning.

      “The Tower of Flames.” Vio supplied from the front, “Our old base.”

      Silence. Dead silence.

 

      Then, a slap of palm meeting forehead.

      And a loud sigh.

      “Vio, you forgot to finish telling them.” Green complained, dragging his hand off his face in defeat.

      To be fair, they were caught up in a reunion, and no one had bothered to question any of the oddities the Hinoxes piled onto their previously established story.

      Still, Vio knew when he was beaten. “I suppose you’re right.” He nudged Shadow, speaking to his friend. “Finish your story, Shad.”

      Shadow grinned ear to ear, turning to face the heroes, “He’s my Partner in War Crimes.”

      Twilight knew there was a reason he didn’t like this. 

 

 

      No one dared speak up, unsure of what would be acceptable to say in such a strange situation.

 

      A cough.

 

      A cricket.

 

      A snort.

      Full laughter now, “Geez, you guys are funny!” Red cheered, the overall tense atmosphere finally getting to him. “They aren’t gonna bite guys, you can ask ‘em questions, or have them clarify somethin’.” Red’s easygoing attitude lifted a weight off their shoulders.

      A few joined in with his laughter, thinking about the insane things they just went through, and how Shadow Link’s words gave some perspective to not only the whole Hinox thing but also to Vio himself.

      Wind pushed his way to the front, meeting Shadow’s eyes, “Will you guys finally answer my questions now? I’ve been dying to know!”

      A glance spared over to Vio, and a subsequent nod were all Shadow needed, “Sure, what were they? One at a time, if possible.”

      “Okay, first: how long have you two and the Hinoxes been teammates?”

      “For me: Always. I was vwoop* suddenly real, then *swoop suddenly in charge of these bozos. Vio didn’t join us until much later, though.”

      Vio nodded from his position, “I joined about three-quarters the way through the quest. And I wasn’t there for very long, at first. After I met Shadow face to face - which I believe is where we left off on our story - it took a couple of days of bantering and destroying my brother’s morale to be allowed into the tower.

“Beforehand, we would hang around in what is now called the Temple of Darkness, sequestered away in a pocket of the Dark World more easily accessible with a Moon Pearl.”

      Blue huffed, and Red’s lips quivered. “You made us think Green was dead. Twice!” Blue snapped, allowing Red to squeeze his arm to death.

      “Fair point,” Shadow called, “counterpoint, you guys fell for it twice.”

      Vio raised his arm, stopping Blue as they began to pounce towards their shadowy companion. “Behave, both of you.” Vio rubbed at his temple, “It’s because of moments like this that I turned on both of you.

“Wind.” He started, still holding his brother back with one hand, “What were your other questions?”

      Wind stumbled on his words for a second, replaying… well, just everything, “Uhhhh. Oh, yeah! Would you consider the Hinoxes your friends, and how did you meet? Which you kinda answered, I guess.”

      “I’m not good at friends.” Vio admitted, “I’ll tell you that right now. But, seeing how these 5 have treated our reunion, I would believe that we are friends in some sense, and especially after how everything went down - I’m glad they don’t hold a grudge against me for killing their bosses.”

      Briefly and subtly Shadow reached for Vio, taking comfort in whatever minuscule part of his partner he could get, “That wasn’t nice or fun, to tell the truth.” Shadow muttered, still loud enough for the group to understand. “I would not recommend being dragged out of an evil mirror to do evil’s bidding mere seconds after being blasted to shreds by The Light.” Shadow shuddered at the thought of it, that had hurt like hell, more than feeling himself fade out of existence did.

“But, back to the question-” Shadow shook his head clear like an Etch-A-Sketch, and put on a smile “-I certainly consider them my friends, I don’t drink with just anyone, and man can these Hinoxes party!” He dragged Vio away from Blue and threw his arms around Vio’s shoulders, hugging his back and went limp.

      Vio couldn’t walk worth a damn as Shadow let himself be dragged along, but Vio would stand it - especially after the months they’d been alone.

      Before Vio could relish in the comfort and brief quiet they found themself blessed with, Shadow pulled himself over his shoulder, pulling his inhuman shadowy form to twist and let him grab Vio’s face too.

      “We should throw another party!” Shadow cheered at his epiphany, squishing Vio’s cheeks, even as his friend tried to push him off, “This time to celebrate the early retirement of Darkness, who’ll never bother us again!”

      “-Thank The Light for that-” Vio smirked for a second.

      Shadow chuckled in return, sliding off, back to the ground “-You know it! Hey, I think we’ve still got some barrels of Evil Root Beer in the dungeon. What’d’ya say?”

      Vio returned a smile, one that met his eyes, “I would enjoy that very much.”

 

      With a stop, Vio turned towards the group, easily able to tell they had been listening intently to their banter.

      “Welcome to our Temple,” he announced, letting them take in the surroundings before opening ornate metal double doors.

“Please, try not to break anything.”

Notes:

The “Home.” “H… oOo mE?” “Yeah, home. Back to the Tower of Flames.” part has been in my notes app since like Vio’s chapter.
I waited so patiently for the ‘Vio was a bitch traitor to everyone’ - only for it to be overshadowed by Shadow’s Zero braincells and constant need for contact 😔 I always feel bad when every loz fic devolves into Vidow is stupid for each other, but I want Shadow to be happy - he deserves it.

 

As a little treat, here’s something that I tried so hard to fit in.

“I needed to do something while I was here!”
“But embroidery? You chose to sew instead of, oh I don’t know… escaping! You mean to tell me that while i was a popsicle, you were playing house?!”
Vio, unbothered by the grinding of Blue’s teeth, spared a glance over at Shadow and sighed.
“Okay, that’s it!” Blue declared, pouncing without a moments notice.

And yes, this will be the premise of next chapter (hopefully 🤞)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 8 of Violoaf is a slut for Vio/Shadow
• Part 7 of Linked Universe
• Part 4 of Current WIP’s