Chapter Text
Shadow was having a bad day.
Granted, it had been a bad day before the weird evil portal showed up, but being flinged into a (probably?) different dimension didn’t make it any better. So now he was wandering around some random forest with no sense of where he was.
Oh, and did he mention that he was disguised as Link?
So yeah, he was having a bad day.
He’d been trying to get back at the colors for a prank (Vio claimed to not have anything to do with it but Shadow knew better) they had pulled on him earlier, so naturally impersonating them was the mature thing to do.
It’s not like he expected to get ambushed by weird monsters. But that’s what had happened. He’d been a little preoccupied not dying to think about changing back to his preferred form.
The fight had been strange. Although Shadow didn’t know how strong the monsters were normally, they felt stronger. And they had black blood. He would assume that they would have red blood like most monsters he knew but instead it was this blood–one that reeked of dark magic.
Maybe the black blood is giving them a boost, he mused. It’s obviously dark magic. It’s kinda like my own… expect mine is more misty and, well, shadowy.
If it weren’t for the fact that Shadow himself knew dark magic he likely wouldn’t have been able to take them down. He’d probably have been forced to make a, ah, tactical retreat.
However it was still shameful that it was so difficult for him to take down the two monsters. He was Shadow Link the (almost) destroyer of Hyrule! Simple monsters were no challenge. Yet despite his amazingness these creatures had managed to slice his wrist and hit his head hard enough that he gained a pounding headache. The cut wasn’t deep but it was still bleeding a good amount. Dark blood wisped away from the injury–it was more solid than normal in his current form–but still clearly his; a shadow’s.
He was grateful Blue wasn’t here. Blue would be teasing him relentlessly. In fact, Vio would probably do so as well. Either that or argue with Blue for the fun of it. You never knew with those two.
As Shadow cleaned off his sword (which wasn’t hard; it was made of magic) he heard a rustle in the bushes. He immediately stood at guard. Was it more monsters? That would be annoying.
The area stilled. Whatever was hiding clearly didn’t want to be found. Shadow cautiously approached it.
You idiot! he scolded himself. This is exactly how those dumb characters die in those horror stories Vio reads to me or Red makes us act out!
Yet Shadow still checked. He swiped at the bushes and was surprised to see a dazed blond haired, blue eyed boy. He looked startlingly similar to Link and by extension himself at the moment.
“Who are you?” Shadow questioned.
“Uh… I’m, I’m,” they stuttered, “I’m Link!”
Shadow’s mind proceeded to explode.
(Okay not really. Shadow already knew other versions of Link, himself included. A new version was unexpected but not that surprising.)
“How can that be true? I’m Link.” he lied. Although it may not be true, he certainly looked the part and that was enough. He didn’t need extra Links running around. (Nevermind the fact that people could have the same name.)
“Nuh- No you’re not!”
“What? Yuh uh!”
“Nuh uh!”
“Yuh uh!”
“Nuh uh!”
Shadow growled and bared his fangs. Except there were two problems with that. One; he was supposed to be Link. Link didn’t bare his fangs (although Blue had done it a couple of times). Two; he didn’t have any fangs to bare.
Nevertheless, it seemed to have the intended effect. ‘Link’ scampered back. And then proceeded to growl and bare his nonexistent fangs back.
“I’m Link!” he squeaked, “The Hero of the Wind!”
Shadow paused. The hero of what? Rainbow was the hero of a lot of things but not the wind. It was more of the opposite. Vaati had that power–hence the Palace of the Winds–and he was their enemy. Shadow supposed that air was Green’s element but they never had that as a title.
“Never heard of you,” Shadow spat in spite. (He was getting way too worked up over a child.)
‘Link’ crossed his arms. “I’m not from around here. I’m from Hyrule.”
“I’m from Hyrule too.”
They stared at each other suspiciously for a moment. Then something clicked in Shadow’s mind. He started to laugh. ‘Link’ scampered back, again, as Shadow wheezed.
“I get it now. You’re one of the Links of the past or something. With all the stories I’ve heard I should have figured that out sooner.” Shadow reached out to grab Link’s left arm. “Show me your triforce.”
Link quickly swept back his hand. “I’m not showing you my triforce.”
Shadow rolled his eyes. “Fine. Point is we’re both Link, just from different points in time. Or perhaps separate universes…” he mused.
“That’s the weirdest shit I’ve ever heard.” A beat. “Okay not really but it’s still pretty far up there.”
Shadow grinned. “Nice to meet you, Link. We’re now companions on the wonderful journey of whatever the heck is going on.” He offered a hand to Link like the gentleman he was.
Link slapped it away. “I don’t need your help. I’m not a little kid.”
Shadow rolled his eyes. “Let's just figure out where we are.” He sheathed his sword and jumped up, preparing to float–his preferred way to get around–when he remembered he was supposed to be Link, Hero of the Minish, the Hero Four Sword, and whatever other titles the heroes had gained on their adventures. So instead he just awkwardly landed on the ground.
“That was stupid.”
“Oh shut up Mister I was sooo scared I was stuttering.”
Link glowered at him. “I only did so, like, once. Besides, I’ll have you know that was not my fault.”
“Oh? Then whose was it?”
“Li-” he cut himself off and then said in a begrudging tone, “Nobody’s.”
“Whatever you say.”
The two finally got moving and walked in a random direction. It didn’t take long for them to find another person. He had brownish hair and a quiet demeanor.
“Who are you?” Link demanded.
The person said nothing. Instead he studied them closely.
“I’m speaking to you. If you tell us, maybe we’ll tell you our’s”
The person’s eyes darted across Shadow and Link. “I’m Link,” they said softly.
The Hero of the Wind let out a string of curses much more colorful than a normal kid should know (although he was proving himself to be far from normal). “Another?”
The person looked confused. Shadow stepped forward to clear things up because he was just that generous. “We’re both named Link. I assume you’re also some hero.”
They slowly nodded.
“Great. Now come on, as far as we know we’ve been dropped in some different time. We’re trying to figure out what the heck is going on.”
The three of them awkwardly set off together. It was strange how they went along with strangers so easily, but then again Rainbow had always met and then imminently trusted all sorts of people. After a while they heard the clashing of metal and rude words. It was clear two people were fighting; both with words and with swords.
“What idiots are fighting now?” muttered the Hero of the Wind (despite there not being any previous idiots fighting).
Shadow just shrugged and continued to walk towards the fighting. He had a feeling that those idiots were other heroes because for some reason the heroes across eras were just getting together, and Shadow was caught in the middle of it. Just his luck. The brown haired hero followed, unfazed.
“You’re a fake! Back off!” cried one of the fighters.
“No! You’re the liar!” the other yelled back.
Their swords clashed as the trio walked into the small clearing.
“Shut up!” the boy hollered at them, easily overpowering the others. (Was this boy ever quiet?) “Are you idiots Links?”
They paused but still stood at guard against each other. “Who’s asking?” spat one.
“Link.”
“You’re another liar!”
This was giving him a headache.
“Boys, boys.” Shadow stepped forward and spread his hand in the universal sign for peace. “Calm down. We’re all Links here.”
Apparently it wasn’t universal enough because everyone glared at him.
“Look. We’re all named Link and are the mighty hero, holder of the triforce of courage or whatever. We’ve been brought together by who knows what and now have to stick together.” Shadow told them. “Maybe someone needs help or something,” he added. If these Links were anything like his, then they would feel the need to help. (Red, Green, and surprisingly Blue—specifically Red–had gotten them into trouble multiple times because of this urge.)
“Fine,” said one although he didn’t seem too happy about it. He had strawberry blonde hair that faded into pink, a blue hat (the same one Link had used throughout his adventures), and a red tunic. The other grumbled in agreement.
Goddesses. These Links are very rude. I thought they’d been more like Rainbow. They might be annoying but at least they’re better than these guys.
So once again the growing group walked off.
One of the fighters–this one with a wolf pelt and strange markings on their face–spoke,“I’m not calling you all Link. Shouldn’t we get nicknames or something?”
That was probably a good idea. Until he remembered Red’s… unique naming skills. He prayed that these Links were more creative. Hopefully bad naming wasn’t part of the hero’s spirit.
“Call me Wind,” said the first Link. “as a shortened version of my hero title.”
They weren’t.
“Li- I’m the hero of Hyrule. That’s the only title I’ve been called,” said the quiet Link.
“Twilight,” the fighter said, a grin on his face. He was obviously proud he’d come up with the ideas of nicknames.
“They call me the Hero of Legend so I guess call me Legend,” Legend said grumpily.
The four looked at Shadow expectantly. Shadow’s mind raced. What title did he use? Rainbow had multiple. (He wasn’t even sure he knew them all.) Should he just go with his own name?
“Four,” he blurted out.
Why did I say that? I’m just as bad as Red!
“You’re the Hero of Four?”
Shadow glared. (He was going to blame his terrible naming skills on Red.) “No. The Four Sword.”
“Whatever.”
Shadow was not liking these Links.
After ten minutes of wandering aimlessly and arguing amongst themselves a man made his way towards them. He wore heavy armor, had one eye shut with an iconic scar running down it, and also had strange colorful symbols on his forehead and one temple. He was being followed by another man dressed in armor with a blue scarf and a young man with long blond hair and a blue tunic, similar to Wind’s.
Their group immediately assessed the newcomers for danger. The leader spread his arms apart to signal peace.
“Please calm down. I just want to ask you all a question.” His eyes glittered like he knew something they didn’t. “Are you all Link?”
“Are you Links as well?” asked Legend, still a grump. “Because we are.”
The man nodded. Wind responded by swearing again. (Wind was going to give Shadow a headache.)
Does that boy go even an hour without swearing?
“These are my companions,” the man said, ignoring the swearing boy. “We met not too long ago and have been searching for others. I suppose we found them.” He smiled deviously.
“You need nicknames.” Twilight folded his arms and lifted his chin. “I came up with the idea. I’m Twilight, that’s Wind”–he pointed at Wind who was still throwing his little tantrum–“Legend, Hyrule, and Four.”
“We’ve been using our hero titles,” put in Shadow.
“I will go by Time then.”
“And you two?”
“You can call me Warrior. People have called me the Hero of Warriors,” said Scarfy stiffly.
“So plural?” asked Shadow playfully.
“Er, I suppose so.”
Shadow was kinda disappointed he didn’t get to tease him more, but he won so whatever. Scarfy was now Warriors.
Everyone turned to the remaining man.
“So what’s your name?” demanded Legend.
They said nothing. They just continued to stare, blank faced, at them. Slowly they raised their hands and made a gesture with their hands. Shadow assumed it was Hylian sign but he couldn’t recognize it. (He’d learned it in order to communicate easily when in Rainbow’s shadow.)
“Yeah, nobody understands that.” Legend said.
Warriors squinted at it. “I think I might faintly recognize some of the signs. Soldiers sometimes use it when we can’t talk.”
“Then what is it?”
“Uh… Hero..? Chaos?”
‘Hero Chaos’ betrayed no emotion.
Legend rolled their eyes. “Doubt that’s their name.”
Slowly ‘Hero Chaos’ nodded, a hint of annoyance on their face.
“No way your name is Hero Chaos,” Wind said.
They said nothing in response. Legend dragged his hands over his face. Shadow agreed with the sentiment.
“Ugghh. Hero Chaos it is.”
Shadow snickered inside. What a ridiculous name. But then again all their names were ridiculous. (Link was already a strange name. Why name someone after a noun/verb?)
“I believe I can get us out of this forest,” Time said. “I think I spotted a path at some point. I can try and bring us back.”
“Better than nothing.” Twilight shrugged.
The group of eight heroes followed Time as he led them through the woods. Tensions were high. No one trusted each other and for good reason. (Although Link had never shared the same apprehensiveness during their journey.) No one knew if the other was lying. There could even be another shadow. The concept made Shadow eternally roll his eyes. There wasn’t going to be some other shadow Link pretending to be another hero.
“I feel like someone is watching us,” muttered Hyrule. His eyes had been skittering around the forest. Shadow scanned their surroundings. He saw something move in the brush but brushed it off. He was probably being paranoid. Time stopped however, his strange knowing smile on his face.
“Why’d you stop, old man?” asked Legend.
Shadow heard a twig loudly snap and shuffling. It was so loud that he couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard it earlier. He’d blame it on Twilight and Wind who had been arguing about some random thing. He turned towards the noise and his hand went to his sword.
A man stumbled out of the brush. Then tripped over a tree root. Several Links pulled out their swords. Time, however, simply calmly approached him.
“Hello there. I have a feeling your name is Link. Am I correct?” he asked.
“I- What? Um, yes?” they stammered as they brushed off their clothes.
“These men and I are all called Link as well. We’re heroes pulled across time for a… reason,” he paused. “I invite you to join us.
Legend groaned. “Another one?”
At least Wind didn’t burst out swearing again.
The new Link paled and scanned the group cautiously. Finally he came to a conclusion. “I will.”
Twilight wrapped an arm around the new Link’s shoulder. “Great to have another Link in the gang,” he said sarcastically.
“You’ll need a nickname,” Legend told him. “We’re all called Link so we’re going by nicknames.”
“What are yours?”
Wind took a deep breath. “Wind. Hyrule. Warriors. Four. Legend. Time. Twilight and…”—he pointed at the respective Link—”Hero Chaos!” Wind giggled.
The new Link looked very confused at the name. “Hero Chaos? Where’d you get that from?”
“He made some weird hand signals and Warriors said they meant hero chaos so that’s his name.” Shadow explained with a straight face as if someone being named Hero Chaos was a normal occurrence.
The new Link blinked. “Well I’m not quite sure what you should call me. Most refer to me as the Chosen Hero… don’t think Chosen is a great name.”
“Better than Hero Chaos,” grumbled Legend.
“Hero Chaos is a great name!” said Wind cheerfully.
The new Link brightened as an idea hit him. “I know! I’m the Hero of Skyloft!”
“Where?”
Shadow suddenly realized which hero this was: a hero before his Link. He’d heard his story many times. Vio would read him all sorts of legends and the legend of the first hero was an interesting one.
He also recalled Red learning a song about the hero, Red wouldn’t stop singing and humming that damn song for days. Shadow had hated the song. Red only stopped when Blue and Vio–in a rare alliance–teamed up to stop Red. It hadn’t ended well. Blue, Vio, Red, and Shadow had been grounded. (Which had been unfair. Shadow only attempted to smother Red in shadows a little bit.)
“I’ve heard of you,” he said, biting his tongue to stop his hate for that wretched song from spilling over. “You came from the skies and established Hyrule.”
The hero nodded slowly. “I guess so? We’re in the middle of settling the surface.” He paused as he thought. “I could be called Sky since I am from the sky.”
It’s official, thought Shadow groggily. Links are terrible at naming things. Next thing I know one of the Links have a dog they named Doggie.
“Nice to meet you Sky,” Time said kindly.
So Sky formally joined their group. (Hooray. More Links.) He still watched the group carefully as if sensing something off. Shadow shrugged it off. Not every Link was accustomed with meeting clones (incarnations, whatever) of themselves.
Time found the path quickly after. He seemed to follow it in a random direction. As they walked Shadow came to the realization that he’ll have to lie to the group for a long time. He’d have to lie to Link for a long time. His stomach churned. He didn’t like lying about his identity or loyalties, especially loyalties. Vio’s betrayal had affected him in ways he didn’t let the colors know.
So he was stuck pretending to be Link; Four. It probably was for the best–a creature created by Ganon wouldn’t bode well with a hero of Hylia–but it still stung him. Thankfully these heroes didn’t know anything about Rainbow so faking his personality would be much easier. There apparently were also plenty of rude Links so his snarky attitude wouldn’t stand out.
“What are you humming?” asked Hyrule, snapping Shadow out of his thoughts.
Shadow blinked. He hadn’t even realized he’d been humming. As soon as he paid closer attention to his song he knew immediately what he was humming.
It was that blasted hero song.
Curse you Red.