A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story. I appreciate it! There aren't words sufficient enough to express how much I appreciate it. I hope all of you are staying home and staying safe during this hectic time.

Without further ado, enjoy the chapter. :)

~Hylia

Chapter 7

Escape the light. It was a simple enough task. Except it wasn't. Not with all the people scrambling around, shouting with weapons sprouting from their hands as naturally as fingers. Normal people didn't hold weapons like that. Only heroes did. And if there was anything more terrifying than light—more terrifying than death—it was heroes.

Shadow was in more danger than he'd initially thought.

But that was fine. He could handle it. He had been in worse situations before. Heck, he'd died before. The afterlife couldn't be worse than dying, surely. Even if it was, he could get out of it. Trick it. All he had to do was slip away unnoticed to some dark corner. Then he could melt into the shadows, and no one could touch him. No one could hurt him.

Through barely open eyes—because the firelight made them burn—Shadow searched for an exit. Wood, glass glittering on the floorboards, no windows, firelight flickering, blurs of bodies moving too fast for him to follow, a door behind him, blocked by a hero, look elsewhere. A ladder leading up to…darkness? Or more light? A flash. More light. No go, then. Keep looking. That corner was pretty dark. But not dark enough. How about…there!

There was an area practically untouched by the firelight. More importantly, no one was over there. Could it be another exit? Only one way to find out.

He got to his feet, slowly, so as not to alert the men milling around. Fortunately, no one seemed focused on him. They were too preoccupied with the glass on the floor. Had they shattered another Dark Mirror? Hurt another shadow being like him? If so, he was definitely next, and he no longer had a mirror so whatever torture they subjected him to would be worse. So much worse. He had to get away.

Now.

His walk was more of a stumble at first. Then it turned into a light jog. Then a full blown run when a voice called after him. He didn't know how he knew they were addressing him. He barely even heard what they had called. But there was something in the tone, something in the way it was shouted, that made him know he was being addressed. The footsteps behind him let him know he was being chased, and that was all the incentive he needed to move faster.

The darkness wasn't complete enough to lose himself in. He realized it before he was even halfway there but backtracking was suicide.

"Four!" He heard the shout now. Understood it to mean one of the heroes was calling four more to his side. Four more to participate in the hunt. Four more to hurt him. He could take on one. Maybe two. Five was too many.

Fear poured more energy into his legs, made him move faster. It directed his eyes to the left where he found a railing sectioning off a hole in the floor. A dark hole.

Salvation!

Jumping down was hardly a conscious decision. It was more of a leap of self-preservation than anything.

The darkness wrapped around him like a hug—like a welcome home. Shadow allowed himself to bask in its comforting chill for a full millisecond before realizing he had no idea how long a fall this was. If he didn't want to go splat, he should probably go incorporeal now.

Normally turning his body to shadow took little more than a thought. He always felt lighter when he did it, which is why he knew it hadn't worked a split second before he landed.

Of course, by then it was too late to do anything. Bolts of pain shot up into his legs from the balls of his feet, and he stumbled forward into an almost-but-not-quite roll. Shouts from above served as encouragement to keep going.

It was strange that his eyes hadn't adjusted yet, but there was no time to ponder over it. He had to move. Scrambling to standing, Shadow tore deeper into the darkness.

His powers were just sapped. That was all. He needed the darkness to strengthen them. Then he could escape. Humans couldn't see in the dark. Not like he could. Except as he tripped over some unknown object and went sprawling Shadow felt very human. The light from earlier must have messed up his eyes. Annoying but not catastrophic. At least, it wasn't until he ran into a wall.

He pushed at the wood, willing his body to dissipate. When that didn't work, he concentrated on the hands he still couldn't see, intent on working a little at a time. That plan, too, failed.

Panting from exertion, Shadow hugged the wall, scrabbling for any cracks or perhaps a doorway he couldn't see. All he found were corners and, with no options left, he backed himself into one. It was likely the heroes would search for him, but it was less likely they'd venture so far into the darkness. Darkness kept heroes at bay. Shadow was safe here. Safe enough to sit and wait for his powers to come back, so he could escape for real.

Unfortunately, he forgot that heroes were resourceful. He forgot heroes could make light, and the appearance of one bobbing orb, then two, then three, sent something in his chest skittering. Then banging. Desperate pounding over and over. The kind of pounding terrified people subjected to innocent doors, but instead of a door, it was his chest.

He pressed a hand to it, sickened to find that he could feel whatever it was jumping beneath his skin. Something was inside him. Something was inside him, and it was trying to leap out! Tear him open. Except it couldn't quite manage it, so he was left with a throbbing sensation in his chest, in his throat, in his wrists, in his fingertips, in his entire body, really.

It would have been manageable had it not been for the sound. He could hear it, the creature banging around inside him. Thumpthump thumpthump thumpthumpthumpthump!

Too loud! Shadow clapped his hands over his ears but that only made it louder. THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!

Orange light flared, crashing through his vision and ripping away the safety of darkness. He reeled back, hands seeking out the wall behind him, searching for the tiny bit of darkness that existed at his back and willing his body to disappear into it. A drop of darkness was enough. Rather, it should have been enough, but his powers refused to cooperate.

Now that Shadow concentrated, he realized he couldn't feel it. The magic that normally hummed through him was absent. In its place was that noisy, pounding creature, shaking his body like the bars of a cage.

Suddenly he understood. He understood what was going on. Why he was powerless. He was dead and this was the afterlife. Only it wasn't a nice afterlife because he didn't deserve that. He'd hurt so many people, done so many wicked things. One self-sacrificing good deed at the end of it all didn't negate any of the evil he'd committed. The goddesses or the universe or whatever it was that decided what became of souls once they had passed in the mortal realm had condemned him to punishment.

This was his punishment. The afterlife had stripped him of his powers to ensure he couldn't run away from it. All Shadow could do was face it. How he did so, however, was up to him.

Real or fake, Shadow refused to go down without a fight, even if that fight was silent. That was why he raised his head and glared back at the firelight forced into his face even though it made his eyes burn and wetness spring to the corners. Even though it terrified him and made the pounding inside him grow more frantic. Even though he felt like he was dying a second time.

One of his torturers was saying something, but Shadow couldn't hear it over all the throbbing. He simply pressed himself deeper into the corner and glared, baring his fangs to scare them off. Not that anything scared heroes, but it was worth a shot.

Every now and then a word would whisper over the banging. Matter. Storm. Window. Nothing. Little.

Shadow couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. He didn't really want to know how they planned to torture him. He would rather they got it over with. Then maybe he could return to the cave. His waiting room to be punished was much nicer than this torture place.

He had only seen this place briefly once before. Back then the sun had acted as a torture device. It had burned him, and he'd done his best not to scream because Lord Ganon had always punished him more when he screamed. He must have passed because the next thing he knew, he was in the cave with his dragon. He'd never had that before. But it had been nice. If he could pass this one too, maybe he would be rewarded. Maybe he would be allowed to return to his cave.

The issue was figuring out what he had to do to pass this ordeal. Hissing and glaring back at the lights didn't seem to be working so he must be supposed to do something else.

Wrenching his gaze away from the light and blinking away spots of vivid color, Shadow did his best to assess. It was difficult to see much of anything but he could see. Better than before anyway. That was how he found the mirror.

Something was wrong with it, though. It didn't show his reflection. It showed Link's. Blond hair—longer than Shadow remembered it being—blue eyes, and pallid skin.

Shadow shifted slightly to get a better view, and the boy in the mirror shifted with him. Strange.

Or maybe that was the point. Was Link trapped in the mirror? Were these heroes torturing him, too? Condemned him to being nothing more than a reflection of the darkness he coveted? The more Shadow thought about it, the more it made sense. Vio had met up with him in the cave, and that was only possible if Vio was dead too. If Vio was dead, the other three had to be as well.

Besides that, heroes were beings of light. Of purity. Justice. They would never accept one of their own having affiliations with anything remotely dark. The fact that Vio had befriended him, however roundabout and manipulative it had been at first, must infuriate the heroes. Now Link as a whole was paying for it.

Shadow had to help him.

The mirror itself was plain. Rather small with a square, wooden frame. It was, in every way, unassuming. Nothing at all like a Dark Mirror. But maybe that was the point. Light Mirrors weren't supposed to look like Dark Mirrors, least of all Light Mirrors meant to torture.

Despite their differences, Shadow hoped Light Mirrors were just as easy to shatter as Dark Mirrors. Easier, actually, since he couldn't see anything to break it with. No chairs. No hammers. No swords. Just a mess of boxes and shelves set against the wall.

He jerked his attention back to the light-wielding heroes, the creature inside him thumping even louder as if it, too, was appalled that he'd turned away from them for so long. He was lucky they hadn't come closer. Oddly enough, they had set down their tamed fires and were sitting, watching him. Occasionally moving their lips to form words he couldn't hear over his heavy breathing and thudding chest.

That was alright. Their body language was enough to tell Shadow what they wanted. They were waiting. Waiting for him to make a move. To do something. He couldn't disappoint. If he did…

Shadow steeled himself, slowly uncurling his stiff limbs and using the wall to help him stand. His eyes flicked to the mirror. Back to the heroes. The mirror. He locked gazes with the boy. He looked scared, which was uncharacteristic of Link, but Shadow supposed it was only natural. He'd been turned against by his own. Why wouldn't he be scared?

Or maybe he was scared for Shadow? Scared of what the heroes would do to him if he failed. He wouldn't fail. He couldn't.

One step, then two, then three and still hugging the wall, Shadow crept closer to the mirror. Closer to his friend. To save him. Again.

It was the right choice. He knew it was as he stared into Link's haunted eyes. Knew it as he curled his left hand into a fist, and Link mirrored him. Knew it as he reeled it back and threw everything he had into the punch. And as glass shattered and red bloomed and angry shouts erupted behind him, Shadow realized he didn't know anything. He grasped for a hand behind the empty frame, but nothing was there.

Instead, hands found his shoulders, his arm, his waist, dragging him back from all the broken things and into fire. He thrashed and kicked, but the hands only tightened their already too-tight grip. He didn't understand. How could breaking the mirror, freeing Link, not be right?

There must be something he was missing. Had to be because Link wasn't free. Link was nowhere in sight. The glimpses he got of his captors as he struggled was all wrong. Brown hair, pink hair, blue eyes, green eyes. Face markings. None of them familiar. None of them kind. None of them Link.

They screamed at him, pulled him this way and pushed him that way. Shadow remained uncooperative through it all, flinging himself in opposite directions and contorting his body into shapes that would force them to let go.

Unfortunately, he was grossly outnumbered, and just when he managed to escape the grasp of one, another took its place.

The creature inside screamed louder than the heroes, shaking his body so hard that he had to rely on his captors to remain upright. All air seemed to have left his body and refused to renter it, leaving him gasping like a fish out of water.

As if disgusted by this image, the men quickly dropped him, and Shadow found himself on the floor, recoiling from the nearest flickering light source.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP! The creature inside him screeched.

Air! His lungs screamed.

And they received it, barely, but enough to fend off the ebony eating away at the edges of his vision. Enough for him to scramble back to his dark corner, far from the harsh reach of the light.

He ducked his head, trying to shield his face from the light as much as possible while still being able to keep an eye on his three torturers. A strand of blond hair fell into his vision.

A fourth—!?

Shadow whipped his head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the hero that had snuck up on him, but he was too slow. He lingered over Shadow's left shoulder now. Once more, Shadow turned to unmask the rogue hero and once again the hero switched sides.

Frantically, Shadow grabbed the streak of blonde and pulled—only to feel a receiving tug on his own head.

…What?

Confused, he tugged once more, gentler this time, and pressure on his scalp answered back. The hair was his. But that didn't make sense. His hair was deep purple, not blond. Not unless he was using a shade to mask his true appearance, but he didn't remember casting one. In fact, he couldn't have. He didn't have the magic to disguise himself.

Yet here he was, with blond hair and—taking a good look at his hand—pale skin instead of dark. Short, stubby nails replaced his normally wicked sharp claws. He couldn't see his eyes, but he'd bet anything they were bright blue, not red.

He looked like Link.

The revelation gave him pause. If he looked like Link then it was likely the other heroes thought he was Link. Shadow stole a glance at the three men. None of them wielded weapons like he expected. And now that he took the time to look—to really look—he could see that their expressions weren't angry. They were…uncertain? Well, mostly. One of them looked mad, but the anger wasn't directed at him. It was directed at one of the other heroes as they conversed in harsh whispers Shadow had no hope of hearing over the ever-present thumping.

A sharp, stinging pain erupted in his left arm and, deeming it safe enough to take his eyes off the heroes, Shadow redirected his attention to the appendage. It wasn't the pain or even the shards of twinkling glass embedded in his skin that startled him. It was the red blooming around the glass in his sleeve and dripping down his fingers with unexpected warmth.

Blood.

Only it couldn't be because shadow beings didn't bleed. They had no blood to bleed. Could he create the illusion of blood? Perhaps, but he'd never tried it, and it seemed unlikely he could create the illusion now with no magic to speak of in his body. So then…what…was…?

Tentatively, Shadow released his hold on his? hair and reached for one of the larger shards of glass. Just as he pinched it between his too-pale thumb and forefinger and prepared to pull, a shout and a firm grip on his wrist froze him in place. Startled, Shadow looked up. He met the piercing blue eyes of one of the heroes. The one with the face markings.

It took some concentration but eventually Shadow made out what he was saying, "…'t don't don't don't. Let go. Leave it. Please, leave it. It's okay, just leave it alone. We'll take care of it. Just don't touch it for now. Okay? Do you understand?"

Blue eyes bored into his, soft but insistent, and Shadow felt himself nodding, though he didn't actually understand. Why did this hero not want him to pull the glass out? It hurt, and it was stopping the blood from flowing which was what blood was supposed to do. Wasn't it?

Maybe not because the marked hero released a relieved breath at his answer. "Can you let go of it for me?"

Reluctantly, Shadow did as he was told.

"That's it," the man encouraged him, his voice unbelievably soft. Strangely like Vio's had been when he had found him in the cave. The hero gently guided his hand away from the shard of glass when Shadow hesitated to do so himself. "We're going to leave it alone for now."

Shadow frowned down at his arm. It pulsed in time with the frantic thumping inside.

Pressure on his shoulder sent him skittering back, pressing deeper into the wall. Hard bumps and sharp edges dug into his back, but he didn't care. Eyes up, on the threat. No longer anything on his shoulder, but it ached with the reminder. The hero with facial markings had his hands raised where Shadow could see them clearly.

"Blue? Green?" Why was he naming colors?

"Red?" No. Not colors, Shadow realized. Names.

"Vio?" He couldn't contain a gasp at that one. Did this hero know where Vio was? He wanted Vio. Vio could explain what was happening. He could find him a way out of this situation because Demise knew Shadow could not.

"…Where?" he croaked out in a voice so soft he could barely hear it.

But the hero heard it. "We're in my house. In my basement."

That wasn't what Shadow meant, but the man didn't seem to notice. He plowed on. "It's okay. You're safe. I promise."

Safe. What a joke. Safe was not some hero's basement. Safe was a cave that blocked out all light. Safe was his dragon that scared heroes away. Safe was Vio. Safe was not here. Never here.

Yet the hero in front of him was determined to convince him of the lie because he kept repeating it. You're safe. You're safe. You're safe. But he wasn't. He wasn't because he was a shadow being surrounded by beings of light in a world that definitely was made of light despite his dark corner. There were so little dark corners…

But as he stared at his lap, at the two trembling white hands that lay there, he remembered that to the hero before him and the heroes beyond, he did not look like a being of darkness. He looked like a hero.

And heroes were safe in other heroes' homes. That's why the big hero with black painting his forehead and cheekbones kept telling him he was safe. Because he was. As long as he pretended, anyway.

He could do that. He had pretended to be Vio before. He could do it again. Except this time he had to be Link.

Sucking in a breath to prepare himself, Shadow peeked up at the hero before him—only to find his vision wouldn't focus. The world had become a blur. He attempted to correct it by blinking and rubbing at his eyes with his right hand—he tried to use his left, only to find he couldn't. It was probably for the best, since his efforts to clear his vision made it worse. With each blink the world pulled farther and farther away from him. Pressure cupped his ears, blocking out all sound aside for the ka-thumping creature inside him.

Shadow tried to silence it by covering his ears, only to realize he didn't know where his ears were or even his hands. Did he have hands? Ears? A body? He couldn't. He was dead—a ghost. Nothing more than a specter, a spectator, watching from above and below and behind all at once.

A man crouched in front of a scared-looking boy scrunched into a corner. The boy was eerily still, and if Shadow didn't know any better he would say the boy was dead too. Though, that seemed unlikely considering how calmly the man sat there, moving his mouth without a sound.

He reached out a hand. The boy did not react. He clasped the boy's hand in his own, squeezed it. There was no answering squeeze. The man cast a desperate glance behind him at his companions. Both shook their heads and spoke soundless words. One pointed up. Another swiped his hand through his hair.

The hazy world shifted and in its place was an image, overlaid, overlapped, and just as foggy and futile to decipher. He couldn't tell what it was beyond a blur of sun-dappled green and chaotic calm. The image was forgotten in the same instant it winked away.

The boy had been coaxed to standing and the ka-thumping creature ka-thumped even louder. The corner was safe. The boy couldn't leave the corner. And yet, the man was making him. Leading him away from the wall and closer to the pits of light blazing on the floor. He was going to push him in! He was going to hurt the boy, and though he didn't know his connection to him, he knew he could not let the boy burn.

Step back! He willed, and to his astonishment, the boy did so, mechanically and without feeling, banging his back into the wall. The man moved with him, still attached to his hand.

A few words floated in the air around him. Right. To. Take. Okay. Up.

They made as much sense as everything else, which is to say, no sense at all. He strained to listen, to comprehend the words coming from miles away, but each time they slipped past him like a breeze. Intangible and impossible to hold.

Something else was sliding forward, past his consciousness, caressing it like a cat, but cats didn't like to be petted by unfamiliar hands. Shadow conveyed this by wrenching himself in the opposite direction of the other presence.

The new ghost was persistent, however. They wrapped a rope taut around his brain, or rather where his brain would be if he had one, and pulled. The world blinked to black for a second—a millennia—before he managed to reverse the rope, throwing it back at its owner. Now he was the one doing the pulling. Pulling free, that is. Oh, and pushing too. Pushing the other presence down to the nowhere they came from.

No sooner did he accomplish this was he slammed backwards. A violent and stormy ocean of blazing blue hurled waves of scathing hatred at him, and he threw it right back without a second thought. Physical efforts were difficult but detestation was easy. Loathing, scorn, anger, and fury too. It wasn't long until they were a jumbled mass of black and blue negativity. Purple elbowed its way in to split them up but melted into them instead. Then came red. Green next. A perfect bruise.

It was impossible to tell where one of them ended and another began. Who was he? Who were they? They didn't know.

They were a die. No sooner had they settled to display a number, were they taken in a giant's fist, shaken, and rolled again. Each time they landed, they caught a brief glimpse of the world outside.

Pain.

Rolling.

A hand in theirs.

Rolling.

"It's okay."

Rolling.

Standing, legs like Chu Chu jelly.

Rolling.

Fur soft on their cheek.

Rolling.

Bouncing.

Rolling.

"Hold on."

Rolling.

Their arm hurt.

Rolling.

A hand on their back. Steady.

Rolling.

Shouting.

Rolling.

Firelight. Too bright!

Rolling.

Danger!

Rolling.

Sitting.

Rolling.

"You're alright." A lie.

Rolling.

"What's—?"

Rolling.

The sharp tang of iron, sickly sweet.

Rolling

Hands weaving through hair.

Rolling.

Hands cupping their face.

Rolling.

"Look at me."

Rolling.

Wetness tickling a trail down their cheek.

Rolling.

"Four?"

Rolling. And rolling and rolling until—

The die settled, balancing precariously on a corner.

Blue felt like hurling while Vio wished whoever had taken a cleaver to his head would kindly remove it. Shadow simply wanted to curl up in the dark far away from everyone and everything.

None of their wishes were granted.

Instead, orange-white light surged hot in their wavy vision and a curse fell from their mouth courtesy of Blue as Shadow recoiled, scooting them into a corner that was in no way dark enough. He needed to go back to the basement. No, Vio corrected himself. No basement. He had to stay where he was so the other heroes could help.

But Shadow kept stabbing shards of ebony and pitch into his brain which made concentration difficult. Blue didn't seem to have any issue, firing back images of blood and glass and the stinging feeling in their arm that, now that Blue mentioned it, was excruciating.

That could be because they were leaning on it, Vio hazily reasoned, trying to reposition the body and failing. He could tell by the straining of their muscles that Blue was attempting the same with similar results.

There was only one way they could fix this. Calm Shadow down.

How? He's insane!

Scared. Don't care shoulddon't

No use in arguing with Blue over it. Every use. No use. Every—STOP.

Breathe. Vio forced the body's lungs to fill with air, tamping down on the panic when they stuttered. Not fast enough. Shadow latched onto it and their breathing grew even more erratic. No.

Calm down. It's okay. We're not in danger. Vio thought. But his thoughts hit a wall and fell to pieces. Vio wasn't connected to Shadow the same way he was to Blue. He and Blue were a tangle of thoughts and feelings. Vio couldn't hide a thing from Blue if he tried right now and vice versa. But Shadow was different.

Shadow was a kite flying untethered. Blue and Vio had no way of reaching him. Not when they were kites themselves, strings tangled together in the grip of a child who didn't know how to fly them properly. They could barely get off the ground.

The best Vio could do was desperately shove pools of tranquility at Shadow, and even then, he couldn't be sure they were received. While he was typically levelheaded in any situation, being so blended into Blue was making it near impossible to remain calm himself.

Their arm was a bloody mess of screeching nerves, and it only got worse the more Shadow's skittishness drilled them into the corner. Blue didn't understand why he was there in the first place or even how, but one thing was for certain. He wanted Shadow out. Out of their body. Out of the front. Because Shadow being there at all was wrong wrong wrong wrong!

Impossible and wrong and dangerous. The glass embedded in their arm served as proof enough of that.

Not helping he's not helping!

Their vision was spotty and swirling at the same time. The voices that met their ears sounded far off, as if they came from the end of a long tunnel. Each touch felt like soft, downy feathers one second and like cruel punishing stones the next.

And it was all that blasted shadow's fault.

No, Vio rejected the thought for Blue. Not Shadow's fault.

But Blue insisted and insisted and through that insistence and hurling all the feelings of wrongness he could at the intruder, Blue wrestled some control. Enough control to tug his hood up and bury his face in his knees.

Some of the fear constricting his chest abated, then, leaving Blue to wonder if the action had really been his doing or Vio's. Perhaps it had been Vio's idea? In any case, the improvised darkness seemed to help. One less sense exploding in their face, the better.

Never mind the person who had put an arm around them and pulled them into an awkward embrace. Never mind the way their left arm was stretched out instead of smushed into their side. Never mind the stabs of pain pain pain or the warm, sticky wetness that followed. Never mind the rumbling shh shh shh and tuneless hums of a body pressed close to theirs.

It was dark so they were safe. He was safe. And with that realization came a tug and a pop and a flood of sound.

For a second, Vio could hear everything. The erratic beating of his heart and harsh breaths, the slightly elevated breathing of his companions and their pounding hearts, the rain pummeling the roof, Sky murmuring "It's okay. You're okay. Everything's alright." Even the most miniscule of sounds met his ears, chirping crickets and crackles from the fireplace.

Then came the snap, and Vio was flung backwards. His right elbow struck the ground first, and he instinctively curled around it with a hiss before realizing that, aside from a vague tingling sensation, it didn't hurt at all.

Cracking open eyes he didn't recall ever closing, Vio was greeted by the lush greenery of the Four Sword Sanctuary. Inside, then.

A string of expletives from Blue turned Vio's head just in time to catch the tail end of a shadowy wisp shooting out of the clearing.

Shadow!

Vio barely managed to stand before he was knocked over again.

"Viooooo!" Red wailed, clinging to him tightly. "We missed you!"

He smiled wanly, setting a hand atop Red's head. "I wasn't gone that long."

"You were!"

Vio chuckled. Red had a way of exaggerating. "Don't cry. I'm back now."

"Forget that!" Blue exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and stomping over to the pair.

"Nice to see you too, Blue," Vio greeted him with a smirk.

Blue grasped him by his collar and wrenched Vio to his feet. "What the heck was that just now?!"

"Let's see…I believe it was a rapid switch followed by—"

"Not that!" Blue shouted. "How is Shadow here?"

"I don't know."

Blue shook him. "Don't play with me! You know everything!"

"I do not." Vio stressed, trying to pry Blue's fingers off of his tunic with little success. "And even if I did, I wouldn't give you answers when you're manhandling me."

With a growl, Blue released him. "Answers. Now."

Vio took his time straightening and brushing off his tunic. "I already told you, I don't have any." Between finding Shadow in the cave and talking with him, then having Shadow front and struggling to pull him back inside, Vio had had no time to puzzle out how Shadow had materialized in their head in the first place.

"Fine."

Vio paused. He quirked an eyebrow. "Fine?" Giving up so easily was unlike Blue.

"Fine," Blue repeated, heading for the sanctuary's entrance with purposeful strides. "If you don't have answers, I'm going to get them straight from the source."

Quick as a flash of lightening, Vio snagged Blue's wrist and pulled him back. "No! Leave him be."

"Why should I?" Blue demanded, twisting out of Vio's grip and making to continue forward. Vio hurried to block his path. "He's dangerous! He hurt us! Did you see all that glass in our arm? If he's allowed to reign free, he's going to kill us!"

"He won't do anything of the sort. He's just confused."

"Then I'm going to go knock some sense into him," Blue returned as if it was the simplest solution in the world.

"You will do no such thing!"

"Watch me." Blue checked his shoulder on the way past.

Vio wasn't going to let him go so easily. He couldn't. He captured Blue's wrist again, this time making sure his grip was firm. Punishing. "Blue, listen to me. Shadow doesn't know he's sharing a headspace or a body with us. He thinks he's dead."

"Why would he think that?" Red peeped forlornly when Blue didn't respond.

He spared a glance at Red's teary face. "Because the last thing he remembers is dying."

"That's awful!" Red gasped, sympathy refilling his eyes with water.

"He should have stayed dead," Blue grumbled.

Vio felt like he'd been slapped. Heat rushed to his face. "Never. Never say that about anyone."

"Why not? You did! You said as much about me before!"

He grit his teeth. That was true but… "You said things that were uncalled for too! And besides, I apologized already. I didn't mean it. You know I didn't."

"Oh, so you can say it and apologize and get away with it, but when I say it about your little boyfriend then it's suddenly unforgivable!"

"Don't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said."

"It is what you said!"

"I said have some respect!" Vio fired right back, raising his voice over Blue's. "Respect. Do you know what that word means?"

"Don't lecture me like I'm five!"

"Then stop acting like it!"

"Guy, guys, please stop fighting!" Red interjected, hands hovering in the air like he wanted to tear them apart but didn't quite know how.
"Let's all take a deep breath and calm down."

"Stay out of this Red!" Blue barked.

"I won't!" Red refuted. "Fighting is the last thing we need right now. If Shadow's really confused like Vio says, we should concentrate on helping him."

"Don't you get that Shadow's the entire reason why everything's so messed up right now? He's the problem! If he'd just disappear then—"

"He's not disappearing, so stop saying things like that," Vio said, grateful for Red's involvement. He had granted Vio a brief reprieve to reign in his own temper. The vestiges of Blue's anger must have still been influencing him. "I understand why you're mad at him, but it was an accident."

"Oh? Just like trapping you in that cave was an accident?" Blue retorted.

"He didn't trap me. I stayed willingly."

"Well! It was nice of you to let us know!" Blue carped sarcastically.

Vio heaved a sigh. "I apologize for not informing you, but it was only twenty minutes or so. I didn't think that would be long enough to make anyone panic."

"Twenty-!" Blue gaped incredulously. "Try twenty-four hours, moron!"

"It wasn't that long," Vio said, doubt creeping in even as the words passed his lips.

"It was," Red said. "You were almost gone a full day."

It certainly hadn't felt that long, but then again, he supposed time could run differently in the headspace. Could there be a correlation between how fast time passes and how far back in the headspace one is? Vio resolved to experiment with it. In the future, of course. There was no time for experiments at the moment. Shadow had to be protected from Blue's wrath.

"Tell me it's not true." Green's voice startled them all. Not just because it wavered but also because Vio had thought Green was in control of the body. Yet there was the green-clad hero, huddled beside the wind-element pillar. His weary gaze bored intently into Vio. "Tell me Shadow isn't really here."

Vio released Blue and closed the distance between him and Green. Softening his expression, because he sensed Green needed it, he grasped his brother's shoulders, leaned forward, and pressed his forehead to Green's. "Shadow's not here," he whispered. It wasn't a lie. Shadow wasn't here. Not in the sanctuary anyway. If Vio had to guess, he was back in the cave, but Green didn't need to hear that right now. Clearly, Shadow's presence had shaken him just as it had Blue. Only, instead of being angry, Green was afraid.

He pulled back, squeezing Green's shoulders. "Everything will be fine. I'll deal with it, okay?"

A war waged behind Green's eyes, fighting to believe him.

"Yeah! Everything's okay, Green. Vio's back safe and sound, see?" Red chirped, drawing up beside Vio and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Green blinked at him a moment before starting out of Vio's hold. "Wait! Who's in control right now?"

Oh.

Vio glanced around the sanctuary. Green. Red. Blue. None of them were holding the sword. His eyes flicked to the waterfall. The picture was dark and fuzzier than usual. Did the body black out?

Green must have had the same thought because he raced for the sword, only to have his hand bounce away when he tried to touch it.

"Huh?" He reached for the sword once more. Same result.

"W-why can't I-?!" Green flexed his shaking hands and tried to wrap them around the hilt. An invisible barrier stopped him and still he struggled, straining to get even a millimeter closer.

Sensing a full-blown panic attack, Vio stepped forward and pulled Green away from the sword, capturing his brother's hands in his. "Green."

"Vio! Why isn't—I-I why can't I not…?"

"Green, look at me." He waited for Green do so before continuing. "Relax. You're stressed. The body doesn't like when we're stressed, you know that. You remember."

"Y-yeah I know, but I should be able to—"

"Also," Vio said, squeezing Green's hands to get him to concentrate. "We just had a rapid switch, and then we were blended. The body's tired. Our brain's tired. That's likely why you can't be in control right now. Nothing's wrong with you. Nothing's wrong with us. Got it?"

Green's trembling had stopped. He nodded jerkily. "That makes sense," he mumbled. "I'm sorry for panicking."

"Don't worry about it," Vio said, knowing fully well Green would worry about it anyway. It was simply in his nature.

"Just…don't leave again." Green requested, meeting his eyes and struggling to make it sound like an order and not the plea it clearly was.

"I won't. Not without telling you first." Vio promised. "Someone does have to be in the body though…" Green was definitely out. Blue was too angry for his liking. However… "Red."

"Whaaa?! No! I don't wanna," Red cried. "Please don't make me, Vio. I still feel sick from all the switching."

"We all do," Green assured him. "Please, do it for me, Red? I can't."

"B-but it'll hurt," Red whimpered.

Green frowned, torn.

"Never mind, I'll do it," Vio said, releasing Green. Whoever took control of the body would probably end up stuck for a while. There was a chance that enough time had passed that their companions had taken care of their injury. However, it was also possible that it had only been seconds, and they were still in the midst of being treated. Vio had no way of knowing, and if it was the latter, he knew it was bound to be torture. Besides, regardless of the state of their arm, whoever fronted was going to be welcomed by a massive migraine. Vio could already feel the dull ache of it in his head and no doubt the others could too. "Green, stay close. Red, you too."

Red sniffed. "'Kay."

"Blue, I'll talk to him about it later, so please stay out of trouble."

"Don't tell me what to do," Blue huffed, stalking out of the sanctuary. Vio stepped away from the sword, intent on following, but Red stopped him.

"I don't think he can get into any trouble. We couldn't enter the cave no matter what we tried, and then it disappeared so…" Red splayed his hands to convey the rest of his point.

Relief washed the tension from Vio's shoulders. Good. Shadow had definitely reached his cave by now, and if Blue couldn't enter it then that meant Shadow was safe.

With a final nod of thanks at Red and an encouraging smile for Green, Vio faced the pedestal and grasped the Four Sword.

A bolt of excruciating pain stabbed into his head, followed by a thousand red hot knives. The groan that escaped his throat was not by choice.

"You back with us, pumpkin?" Sky's soft voice slapped itself over his ears, and Vio flinched, bringing a hand to his throbbing head. Even leaning against the Chosen Hero, Vio's head felt far too heavy for his shoulders. He wouldn't be surprised if it had turned into an anvil with how impossible it seemed to hold up at the moment.

Peeling apart his eyes was worse. Each eyelash was a deadweight, and he only managed to open them to slits before the scant amount of light in the area became too much.

He had miscalculated. The body wasn't just tired. It was exhausted. Suddenly, Vio was doubly grateful that he'd volunteered to front in Red's place. His most sensitive brother would not be able to handle the state their body was in at the moment.

"Four?"

"Mmm?" The strained hum took all his concentration to utter.

"Are you in any pain?" The question came from his left, and it took Vio a moment to place the voice to a name. Warrior.

Whether he was in pain or not was a joke in itself, and Vio wanted to laugh, but the blades in his skull twisted just then, forcing out a hiss.

That seemed to be enough of an answer, for the next thing Vio knew, the cool rim of a glass bottle met his lips.

"W-wait! Maybe I can heal him some more," Hyrule interjected.

"You've done enough," came Warrior's reply as the bottle was tilted slightly and the bitter, herbal taste of a red potion flooded Vio's mouth. It was unlikely to help, but he accepted it anyway. If it could dull the pain even a little, he would take it. Besides, he didn't have the strength to push it away.

The medicine dulled the already dull ache in his left arm but as the seconds ticked by it became clear he wouldn't be granted any relief from his migraine.

He let his eyes fall shut and curled farther into Sky's side, trembling from the effort not to cry out.

"Can you stand? We'll move closer to the fire," Sky suggested, misinterpreting his pained shaking for a chill.

"N-n-no," Vio gritted out through clenched teeth. "Light…hurts…"

"Light hurts?" Sky repeated, puzzled.

"M-my eyes," he clarified.

"Oh."

The faint red behind his closed eyelids snapped to full black as someone extinguished the lantern nearby. Sky re-adjusted whatever fabric was already draped around his shoulders to cover more of his body.

"Is that better?"

"A little." Vio didn't dare nod. As illogical as it sounded, he was sure that if he did move his head, it would fall off his shoulders and roll away. It was already balanced so precariously on his neck.

"Did the potion help?" Warrior asked.

"No."

"Here, I can—"

"Hyrule, no."

"It's fine. I took a potion."

"That's not going to stop you from passing out if you push yourself too hard, idiot!" Legend called from somewhere else in the house.

Hyrule gently took Vio's left arm in his hands in response.

"Wa-wait." If Hyrule insisted on using magic on him, then the least he could do was direct it at the source of his pain.

"It's okay. I—"

Vio cut him off. "My head."

"Your…head hurts? Not your arm?" Hyrule wondered.

At his sound of confirmation, the traveler hero's light touch left his arm and reappeared at his temples. Vio made certain to keep his eyes closed as Hyrule's golden magic flared. Cool warmth washed over his skull, but ultimately did nothing to alleviate the pressure threatening to burst his head open.

Even before Hyrule deactivated his magic and removed his hands, Vio knew the experiment had failed. Switch headaches could not be healed because, physically, there was nothing wrong. Their brain was simply trying to adjust to the messages of the person up front, and after being so mixed, it was having a tough time.

"How's…how's that?" Hyrule panted.

"Sit down before you fall," Warrior ordered.

Judging by the following thud, Hyrule had obeyed.

"'ts s-still hurts," Vio reported. His body felt like lead.

"I don't understand…" Hyrule lamented.

It was no fault of Hyrule's that his healing spell failed. They had yet to find something that would relieve headaches after switching. Vio longed to say as much, but words proved difficult to form when one was in excruciating pain.

Sky stroked his cheek, and though Vio appreciated the gesture, it didn't have any practical use. The cool, damp cloth someone set on his forehead was more useful, but even it served little purpose.

Vio floated in between sleeping and waking, then, sometimes drifting closer to one than the other but never fully embracing either.

At least, that's what it felt like, but he must have fallen asleep at some point because his eyes were fluttering open now, and they were nowhere near as heavy as before. His head still ached but it was much more manageable. Nothing close to the agonizing migraine it used to be.

His surroundings had changed as well. Instead of sitting crammed into Sky's side, he was laying down. Several sheets and blankets of varying thickness stretched out above him, a canopy of washed out colors. One side was supported by the wooden safety railing near the basement. The other was supported by multiple pillars of pillows. The construction was precarious but well contemplated. Each pillow was positioned with painstaking care. Even the sheets overhead were adjusted so that the thickest blocked out most of the light. Only a single strip of light filtered through a thin sheet at one end, allowing just enough illumination to see by. Whoever had set this up was experienced.

Light flooding in from behind drew Vio's attention. He twisted his head around to see Wind on his knees, swiftly but carefully closing the breach he'd made in the plush walls.

Upon turning and seeing Vio looking back at him, Wind started. The cloth clutched in his hands smacked the floorboards with a wet plop. "You're awake!"

Vio smiled wanly at the observation. "I am."

"Are you okay? How are you feeling? Who's out?" Wind asked, scrambling over to kneel beside him, rag all but forgotten.

After a brief struggle with Sky's arm—the man was practically hugging him to death—Vio sat up. "It's Vio, and I'm feeling much better. Thank you."

"Vio!" Wind exclaimed, surprise blowing his pupils to saucers. "I didn't think…well, the others were saying you were trapped somewhere last night."

"It was a misunderstanding," Vio flicked his hand, dismissing the topic. "If you don't mind, could you tell me what all this is?" He gestured to the fortress of blankets and pillows they currently inhabited.

Wind perked up, throwing out his arms to either side. "It's a pillow fort!"

He chuckled. "I can see that. I meant why."

"Oh." Wind settled back on his heels, still jovial but rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "The others said the light bothered you, but we needed the fire because it was cold so I came up with this. That way we could keep the fireplace going and not disturb you."

Vio gazed around the space with newfound appreciation. "Good idea. Did you make it by yourself?"

"Yup!" Wind confirmed with a proud tilt of his chin. "I used to make a bunch of pillow forts with my sister. This was nothing."

"It's amazing!" Red squealed in awe. "Can we make a bigger one later? Can we? Can we?

"Red likes your pillow fort," Vio relayed.

"I love it!"

Wind beamed. "I'm glad."

"It is neat," Green agreed.

"Who cares?" Blue grouched. Vio was only moderately surprised at his most disagreeable brother's presence. His snappishness, however, was completely expected. He must have discovered the hard way that he could do nothing about Shadow. "Ask him something useful."

Vio did so, but not because Blue had requested it. "Say, Wind. Where is everyone else?"

"Hyrule and Sky are here with us. The others are in the village helping out. There was a huge thunderstorm last night. It was super strong. Knocked a branch right through the window upstairs!" Wind explained, waving his arms dramatically. The sailor continued his tale, talking about broken glass and how his sleep addled brain had been pretty certain a Moblin had breached the house, but Vio was only half listening. His brain was too busy taking this new information and slotting it into place. The puzzle pieces now formed a clear picture of what had transpired the previous night.

When the errant branch crashed through the window, the sound of breaking glass must have triggered Shadow into the body. Confused and afraid, Shadow had panicked, seeking out a dark place, which just so happened to be Twilight's basement. Then Vio had tried to pull him back into the headspace but Shadow had resisted, unaccustomed to the concept of switching. The rest was a haze of colors and pain until they settled. Or rather, until Vio settled.

"Everything's cleaned up now," Wind was saying when Vio tuned back in. "No more glass or leaves on the floor, but Twi is going to have to get that window replaced at some point."

"Is it boarded up at least?" Vio wondered.

"Yes."

"That's good." It was unlikely Twilight would be able to procure a new window before they left. If nothing was covering the window, his house would be left to the elements and the wildlife with no one to take care of it. Then again, it had appeared well-kept ever since they had entered, as if Twilight hadn't left it for an extended period of time, which he most certainly had. One, or several, of the villagers must be taking care of it. In that case, a busted window wasn't such a worry, but it would definitely make the house more difficult to keep clean if it remained open at all hours.

"Um…Vio?"

Vio straightened, suddenly worried he'd wandered too deeply into his own thoughts and zoned out. "Yes, Wind?"

"Can I ask…" Wind fidgeted. "What happened last night?"

Blue surged to the forefront. "No. Nope. Not at all."

"Why not? I say it's okay!" Red objected.

"It is not."

For the sake of not stirring the pot, Vio feigned ignorance. "You just explained it to me. There was a storm and—"

"No, I meant with you," Wind clarified, foiling Vio's plan of playing dumb. "Your arm was hurt and you weren't responding. Or well, maybe it wasn't you. I don't know. But whoever was out wasn't saying anything. They were…catatonic. At least, that's what Legend said. Him and Twi didn't let me get close, but it was still scary."

"It was scary!" Red agreed.

Vio felt his facial features soften. Whether that was because of Red's comment or Wind's, he couldn't be sure. "Sorry for scaring you. We're alright."

Wind's expression informed Vio that he hadn't been convincing enough.

"It's really nothing to worry about." Somewhere inside, Blue scoffed. Green's uncertainty churned Vio's stomach, but Red's tendency to cling to the positive and believe in the best in the worst of times calmed it somewhat. "Everyone is okay. I'll explain later—"

"No, you won't!" Blue objected loudly.

"—When the others are here."

"We should talk about it first," Green said, his voice not nearly as loud as Blue's. Not commanding either, Vio was sure to note. Something told him Green didn't want to discuss anything having to do with last night. Or Shadow, for that matter.

Fortunately for Green, the topic needn't be discussed. Vio had already made his decision. He would inform the other heroes of this new development. They needed to know in case Shadow fronted again. Though Vio intended to talk to Shadow about his behavior, he recognized that Shadow's beliefs were something Shadow himself had to change. Vio could keep telling him the truth until he grew hoarse, but Shadow had to realize it as the truth on his own. There was no telling how long that would take.

Therefore, telling their companions that there was another person that may front sometimes seemed only natural. If Green and Blue chose to despise him in the short term for taking initiative then so be it. They would thank him later.

Unlike some of his head mates, Wind seemed satisfied with Vio's answer.

"Oh!" Suddenly, the sailor leapt to his feet, the crown of his head disrupting the sheets strewn above. "I almost forgot. It's around noon and you haven't eaten a thing! Wait here. I'll get you something."

Wind left the makeshift fortress in a determined whirl leaving Vio to blink, stunned, in his wake.

"Aww! Wind's so nice," Red cooed.

Vio hummed quietly in agreement. However, he was not content to sit around when his limbs worked perfectly fine, so after locating his bag—someone had placed it snugly in one corner of the pillow fort—and exchanging the red headband currently on his head for the purple one, Vio followed.

The world outside the walls of cloth was bright, but not harsh. Not like it had been before. Even so, Vio found himself having to squint and blink several times to get his eyes to adjust.

It was a good thing he did, for if he'd taken a few more steps, he would have tripped over Hyrule. Skirting around the sleeping hero, Vio's gaze drifted to Wind. He was crouched at the cold fireplace, fumbling with the tinderbox.

"Do you need help?" Vio offered.

Wind glanced over his shoulder, pouting mildly at the fact that Vio hadn't stayed in the pillow fort like he'd asked. "No."

Honoring Wind's wishes, Vio slid into a seat at the table. "You don't have to trouble yourself with making something. I can just have fruit." Vio said casually, reaching over and plucking a crimson apple from the bowl on the table.

"Twi already made it," Wind returned in between the sharp clacking of steel striking flint. "Just…just need to heat it up. 'Sides, I'm hungry too."

Vio didn't say anything to that, content to munch on his apple and watch Wind finally strike a spark and fan the tiny flame into a roaring fire.

Once satisfied with the size of the flames, Wind bounded over to the table and plopped into the seat across from Vio.

"The others told me to let them know when you woke up so…" The sailor freed the dull blue stone from where it was tied to his belt and held it up with a flourish. "I'm going to call them."

Fascinated, Vio leaned closer, the apple in his hand momentarily forgotten.

With a twitch of the sailor's hands and a gentle breath that reminded Vio of nursing a flame to life, the stone blazed an electric blue and became weightless, hovering suspended above Wind's cupped palms. Magic, most certainly.

"Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild!" Wind called, bouncing slightly in his seat.

"Wind!" Wild's voice gasped through the stone. His voice sounded warped, but not horribly so. "Is something wrong? Did Four wake up?"

"Yup, he's awake," Wind reported with a bright grin.

Vio took that as his cue and made his way to Wind's side. He peered into the cerulean stone. A tiny, blurry image of Wild's scarred face greeted him. "Hello."

"Hey! How are you feeling…" Wild's head tilted to the right. "Blue?"

"Vio, and I'm right as rain."

"Right as rain," Blue scoffed. "Who says that anymore?"

"Ah! Sorry. It's hard to tell what color your headband is. Everything has a blue tint to it. But it's good to hear you're okay."

"How's the village?" Wind wondered.

"A mess. Lots of tree branches everywhere and damage to a couple windows and roofs, but no one was hurt. The barn at the ranch took a beating. Twi, War, and the old man are working on fixing it up now. The rest of us are helping out around the village.

"There's still a lot to do, though, so we probably won't be back for lunch. You—" Wild's head snapped to the side. Either the Sheikah Slate or Wind's stone must not have been strong enough to pick up noises from outside a certain radius, for they could only hear Wild's reply of, "I'm talking to Wind and Vio."

A few seconds later, Legend's face popped into view. "Vio, huh?"

"Hi, Legend."

"Hi, yourself. Weren't you supposed to be missing or something?"

"I'll explain later," he promised, expertly ignoring the resulting commotion from his headmates.

"I look forward to hearing it." Legend turned to Wild. "If they're fine, hang up and help me over here."

"In a minute. As I was saying, we won't be back for lunch, so if you're hungry, heat up—"

"Way ahead of you," Wind assured him.

"Alright. Good. Hold down the fort 'till we get back?" Wild requested.

Wind gave a sloppy salute. "Aye-aye!"

"Will do," Vio agreed.

"Don't burn the house down," Legend chimed in, his face re-appearing.

Wind stuck his tongue out in response, and Legend laughed.

Mission accomplished, Wind deactivated the stone, and it dropped lifelessly into his palm.

"Why do you suppose it works with Wild's slate?" Vio asked, intrigued by the blue stone, and its magical properties.

Wind shrugged. "Dunno. But it's handy."

"May I see it?"

The rock dropped into Vio's outstretched hand, and he immediately set to exploring its facets with his fingers and lifting it up to the light. It glimmered with a faint translucency.

"Where did you get this?"

"My pirate friends gave it to me. They call it a pirate's charm, but it's really a Gossip Stone."

Vio brought it to eye level. "How does it normally work?"

"The same way it just did with Wild's slate, except another Gossip Stone is usually on the receiving end."

"Curious…" Vio muttered to himself. The concept of Gossip Stones was new to him, but they were clearly tools for communication. Wild's Sheikah Slate seemed to be multipurpose, able to store items and capture real-to-life images. It was also able to act like a Gossip Stone, which led Vio to believe the Gossip Stones themselves were Sheikah in origin. How else would they be able to connect to Sheikah technology?

Were the Gossip Stones Sheikah-made, then? At first glance, he had opted to believe they were magical in nature, but now he wasn't so sure. Wild had called his slate science, not magic. But science didn't necessarily equal man-made. Science could be nature too, so what if Gossip Stones were natural stones in some way? When activated, they glowed much the same way as luminous stones from Wild's era, after all.

Could the Sheikah Slate be constructed of Gossip Stones? That would explain how Wind's Gossip Stone could communicate with Wild's slate. Yet, Vio had held the slate in his own two hands, and it had felt vastly different from the cold, smooth edges of the stone in his palm now. The Sheikah Slate was cold and smooth in a different way, but the screen did glow with a faint blue light. Was the screen made of Gossip Stones? No, that didn't seem right either.

Perhaps the slate was simply fused with the special stones. How they were fused, Vio couldn't be sure. Were they melted down into a liquid and injected into the slate? That seemed wrong. It couldn't be a topical liquid because a liquid would rub right off, and then it would need replacing. A powder then? No, that posed the same problem. Unless it was inside the slate? Or perhaps the Gossip Stones had been melted down and hammered into place until smooth, not unlike the forging of a blade.

Vio could go on and on all day, but he would never achieve a definitive answer. He needed more information about the Sheikah Slate and Gossip Stones in general for that.

Sighing softly, he set the dull blue stone down on the table. Wind was no longer beside him, having grown bored with Vio's silent theorizing. When Vio located him, he found the sailor kneeling in front of Hyrule, shaking the boy awake. He seemed to be having trouble.

"If he's that tired, you should let him sleep," Vio advised.

"It's fine. He skipped breakfast like you did, and I promised Legend I'd get him to eat. Besides, if he's really that tired he can go back to sleep afterwards," Wind said without sparing him a glance. He shook the traveler hero's shoulder once more. "Come on, 'Rule! Food time."

Hyrule groaned, blinking blurrily up at Wind. "Hhhnnn…?"

"Wake up."

Hyrule yawned and levered himself into a half-sitting position with his elbows. "I'm up, I'm up."

"Good!" Wind said, getting to his feet and ignoring the way Hyrule's tone and listless expression made it clear he was anything but awake.

As Hyrule struggled to shake off the grip of sleep, Wind bounded over to the pot bubbling in the fireplace, giving it a cursory stir with a determined expression on his face.

"It's almost done," Wind reported as he strolled over to the table and reclaimed his Gossip Stone. "Did you figure this out yet?"

"Not yet," Vio admitted regretfully. But he wasn't giving up. Oh no. He'd gather more information later.

"V-Vio?!" Hyrule spluttered upon noticing his presence at the table.

Vio smiled. "Hello. Before you ask, I'm completely fine. Thanks for healing our arm last night."

"Oh, um, yeah…of course," Hyrule stammered, his sleepiness seeming to return with each word. He yawned, all but collapsing into one of the chairs. "No problem."

"Here." Wind shoved an apple into the tired healer's hand, likely hoping the sustenance would perk him up. Just how much magic did Hyrule use last night? How bad had their injury been? Vio hadn't checked, but he glanced down now, noting the way his left hand and forearm were wrapped tightly with clean white bandages. Unlike his sleeve which was still rather bloody and torn. That would be fun to wash and mend later.

His gaze darted back to Hyrule, who had just taken a tiny bite of the fruit in his hands. Eyes half-lidded, he looked more asleep than awake. A small, blissful smile stole over his face. "You're a good cook, Wind."

Wind, who had been in the process of ladling what looked like soup into a bowl, promptly dropped the ladle into the pot and doubled over laughing.

An amused smile stretched Vio's lips, and between Wind's chiming laughter outside and Red's endless giggling inside, Vio soon found himself laughing too.

Their raucous laughter snapped Hyrule to full consciousness, and without fully understanding what was funny, Hyrule joined them. Food forgotten, the three of them laughed and laughed and laughed until their sides hurt and they could barely breathe. Under any other circumstances, such pain and lack of air would have been alarming, but in this moment, Vio could only classify it as wonderful.