Memories and Moments:LoZ: Ch.4

Chapter 4: An Unknown Friend

After a long discussion about themselves, the three boys decided to call it a night and settle in their tents. Upon entering, they just knew that they wouldn't be able to fall asleep…

"HAAAhahahaha!!! New volume!" sinisterly laughed Dark, holding his newly purchased volume of his favorite ghost story book series, "True Hylian Ghost Stories".

"Aww come on, Dark…" said Vaati, already wrapping himself up in blankets. It appears that he is not really built for ghost stories.

"Yeah, Dark. Maybe we can put that off until we come back home." Link said upon seeing Vaati's reaction.

"Yaright… and ruin the atmosphere? This place suits the feeling of the stories most! And guess what… many stories here in this here book seem to be related to the woods…" Dark said, his last words trailing off in a creepy tone.

The youngest of the three hid under the covers of his sleeping and whimpered. The black-haired youth came closer to him with a menacing smile and slowly unraveled the sheets.

"Yes… the stories will be scary… very scary! VERY, VERY SCARY!!! SILENT HILL SCARYYYYYYY!!!!!" Dark said, from a small tone rising up to a bigger, more threatening tone.

"Well, let's hear it, then." Link said bravely while wrapping his arm around Vaati to comfort the poor Minish.

"Alright. Here goes! This is a story of a poor boy who got lost in the woods… and it was because of his naughtiness! His friends tried to warn him but did he listen? NoooOOOOooooooo… of course not. And that's where the story begins."

Dark began narrating the story. "And now, the boy had nowhere to run… if only he listened… now………... there was something in the trees…... WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!"

Vaati snuggled onto Link even more as he showed signs that he was really scared. The atmosphere, the overall feeling, even the character in the story can really penetrate his mind. He could really relate to the story, especially with Dark trying his best to make it all the more scary and relatable.

"And now, that creature in the tree is…" Dark said, looking like a lion about to pounce on his prey, which in this case is, Vaati. "It's……... A FRIGGIN OWL! Yep, a friggin owl in that friggin old tree with all its friggin whoooooooos, kyaha~"

Dark let out a deep sigh before he continued. "But enough about that. There was something rustling in the bushes. And what was it? It… was… a… GIGANTIC SPIDER!!! But what the heck is this spider so intrigued about…? It looks as if it was crawling onto a… oh, s---. It's… it's……………. a ROTTING CORPSE!!! And it slumped down onto the poor little boy!"

Dark walked like a zombie as he slumped down onto Vaati limply. He purposely made weighed down as much as he could on the little Minish making it hard to move for the poor Minish boy.

"Aaaah! Dark, your butt is CRUSHING me!!! No… LINK!!! HELP!!! Is he… IS HE REALLY DEAD?!"

"No, but he will be." Vaati heard a reply.

"Really now, Link…" Vaati looked up to Link, smiling at the hero's gag.

"What? What are you talking about?" Link said, quite piqued.

"H-Huh? But I thought…" Vaati said, feeling a bit lighter. He saw Dark move slowly away from him. It was a relief having all that weight on him go away.

"Dark?" Link called out.

Now, the shadowy youngster was peering out of the tent, looking to and fro from left to right, then right to left. He looked up and down, and eventually let half of his body out of the tent.

"Dark, what's wrong?" Link asked his shadow, feeling perplexed by its sudden actions. He approached his shadow, but it merely gave him a harsh sign not to come any closer while not giving any eye contact. The shadow stood still as a rock, not moving an inch as he scanned the grounds outside of their tent.

It seemed like forever that they were holding their breaths…

"GUWAAAAH!" Dark screamed as a force snatched him roughly from outside!

"DAAAAAARK!!!" Link shouted, following his friend out. Before he went outside, he caught a glimpse of Vaati…

… the Minish was unconscious, slumped onto his sleeping bag face down.

'Vaati…?' Link then shook his head. 'Sorry, Vaati… but you'll have to wait a while. Dark, I'm coming to save you!'

The hero dashed outside of their tent hoping to save his shadow from any danger it might have gotten itself into. He looked at his surroundings, lit by the shining moon. But even the moon can't aid him find his shadow. He was nowhere to be found.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!!!" he called out once again, and once again there was no response.

"Link…" he heard someone say. He turned his head to see who it was…

"V-Vaati? Hey, you okay?" Link rushed to Vaati standing by the spring's bank.

"Of course."

"But I thought that you were unconscious…"

"I was just toying with you, sweetie."

'Sweetie?' Link looked at Vaati once more. "Vaati… did you just call me 'sweetie'?"

"Of course…" Vaati approached Link… with a gingerly strut.

"V-Vaati… what's gotten into you? WAKE UP!!! You must be sleepwalking!"

"Am not…" the Hylian-Minish came closer and rested his head on the hero's shoulder. "Link… I'm cold and tired… and frightened…"

'THAT explains it…' "… Come on, Vaati." Link accompanied Vaati going to the tent. As they approached the entrance, Vaati complained even more about the cold after the wind chill just passed by them.

It was not long after that they heard noises. Noises… dripping, dropping noises…

"No…" Link said, looking into the dark woods from where they stood. "Stay here, Vaati."

Link got a frilly dark umbrella to protect himself from the rain from Dark's bag near the entrance of the tent, so he needn't actually go inside the tent.

"Don't you dare…" Vaati seemed to be in a bad mood, scowling at Link and staring directly into his eyes. "Stop right where you are and help me get warm here…"

Vaati kept on shivering and knelt down on the entrance of the tent.

"I've got extra pajamas to cover your lower body if you want. It's in my rucksack… for now, I've gotta find Dark!"

"CEASE WITH THE NOISE!!!" shouted Vaati. "I have heard enough…"

The Hylian-Minish stood up and stared directly into the hero's eyes once more. The once-tame ruby eyes have been replaced by fierce, crimson eyes. Though he maintained his poise, he stomped angrily towards the hero and held his collar tight.

"Vaati! What are you…?" Link tried to struggle free from the harsh grasp of his friend. "VAATI!!!"

"You're just going to leave me here?" he replied angrily.

"Vaati… stop being so childish! I mean, come on!!! Dark needs my help, and I'm sure you can take care of yourself!" Link replied angrily as he grabbed the Minish's shoulders, letting go of the umbrella.

"Link… you naughty little brat…" Vaati smirked, trying to shrug off the tightness of Link's grasp. "You win… go ahead… just leave me here… and find Dark…"

Link stared blankly into the Minish's eyes. 'I don't know what's gotten into you… but Vaati would never say things like that.'

He dragged Vaati into the tent and practically pushed him forcefully inside. He then turned away and grabbed the umbrella, blown near the tent's entrance by the wind.

"…Find Dark… if you can…" Vaati giggled, trying to look back at Link after being thrown to the ground.

"I will." Link seriously said with an unusually deep tone, not turning back.

The hero set out to look for his lost friend hurriedly. He didn't care if it was too dark in the woods; he brought out his flashlight that let out a lone gleam in the dark, distorted by the falling tears of the heavens.

"DAAAARK!!! DARK, COME ON, ANSWER MEEEEE!!!" shouted Link with all his might.

He heard a response…

"KRRRGOOOOM!!!" a response from the raging heavens.

"DAAAAARK!!!" Link cried out once more. He was starting to become desperate.

He went further into the woods, getting more desperate as he went deeper. He turned his flashlight in any direction possible just to see either hair or hide of his shadow. But alas, he couldn't find him.

"Ahahahahaha… have you found him yet?"

Link turned his head. The voice was familiar.

"Didn't I tell you to stay put?" Link said blankly, focusing the flashlight on the Minish's face.

"But… it looked… delightful… to see you search about for your companion pointlessly." the lavender-haired youth replied, squinting his eyes with the terrible brightness of the light directed towards his face.

"Vaati… what have you done?!"

"Oh? You're accusing me… of doing something to your friend?"

Link advanced to the Minish and looked at him fiercely. "Tell me. What have you DONE WITH DARK?!"

"Hmph." Vaati simply gave a smile. He tossed his soaked hair and gingerly strutted away.

Link was left alone deep in the woods, left in inexplicable disbelief. He knew it was pointless to search for Dark, but he also knew that he shouldn't give up so easily. His heart wanted to look for his friend, but his mind told him to back away and retreat for the meantime. His body, on the other hand, told him to find shelter in the tent.

As soon as the hero arrived in the tent, he found the ex-sorcerer just sitting there, as if waiting for his return all these times. It was apparent that he changed his clothes and decided to take another bath in the spring just to clean the rainwater from his body. He smiled at the hero as he caressed something lumpy from under the sheets.

"W-What…? Vaati…" Link's mouth was left agape.

"Shhhh…" Vaati gave out another smile. It was seemingly sweet, but not as angelic as his smile before. There was something… different about it somehow.

"Nnnhhh…" the lump from under the sheets moved. "W-What…?"

"Are you alright… Dark?" Vaati asked, ruffling the dark youth's hair.

"I… I think so…" Dark said, a bit confused. He looked from the smiling sorcerer to the angry hero. "What's gotten into you? I mean, the both of you?"

"You… you b------!!!" Link shouted angrily. "You had me worried sick about you! And you…" he turned to Vaati.

Vaati merely smiled.

"I thought you… why have you done this? Why did you act like that awhile ago? Why did you…?" he said, obviously confused over the matter. As confused as he was, he didn't even know what to feel.

"There, there." Vaati smiled. "It is only the behavior of the winds. As their master, I believe that we share the same traits. But of course, I would have to teach them if they have done enough. I do believe that the wind's constant inconsistency is one of its traits that we commonly share, dear hero."

"Vaati…" Link could not believe what words came out from his friend. "I-Is that really you…?"

"Ask him." Vaati responded.

"Huh… what?"

"Link…" Dark tried to speak out. He sat and rubbed his head, as if awakening from a deep slumber.

"Oh, are you alright? I'm so sorry…" the Minish said, looking quite worried.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Hmph, I see." Vaati replied blankly.

"L-Link…?" a tone said, its sentence ending with a long yawn.

"What the heck…" Link looked at who called out his name…

"Link, what's going o… what…?"

Vaati rose up from his sheets, waking from his slumber. He looked around; he found his two friends… and himself… looking at him directly.

"Hmph. You're awake now, aren't you?" said the sorcerer beside Dark.

"T-Two Vaatis?" Link said, all the more confused. He then remembered their previous battle when they tried to save their friend from certain doom.

"Shadow Vaati…" he uttered, looking at the figure beside Dark.

Indeed, the figure beside Dark did look like Vaati; but Link was right about him being different. He looked exactly like Vaati, but he had a certain aura that was hard to shrug off. He had a face just as attractive, but could not have a mellifluous smile as the angelic light self of his. His flowing hair was faded dark violet in tone, velvety to the touch. His skin was noticeably paler, giving off a grayish shade much like the hero's shadow. His eyes were slanted and cat-like and as crimson as ever; unlike his light self's eyes that looked as if they were made out of ruby, precious and tame.

"Yes…?" the sorcerer's shadow replied with a deceivingly sweet tone.

"I thought we already had a truce." Link said, approaching the two shadows.

"Well, was it necessary to bring up that topic again?"

"Well… I… I…"

"Yes, my light self opened it up… but was it necessary to force him on what he had to say? You even had to grab him and force him out of it… that's what led me to do this to you. Remember that, Dark? That little… headache that you had earlier? I believe that you recognised me, and I'm quite delighted that you knew and informed that boorish hero."

"Why I oughta…!"

"Stop, Link. He's got a point." Dark said, trying to stop the hero from hitting the other shadow and trying to help him keep his cool.

"Dearest Dark… you are a shadow truly worthy of my trust. Come, and I will give you another chance…"

"We still have a truce!" Link butted in. He became very furious with Shadow Vaati. "You swore to your light self that you would not do anything drastic ever again!"

"Indeed, and I have no intention of breaking that promise. However…"

"However what?!" Link collared Shadow Vaati, his calm eyes replaced with raging ones.

"Imbecile! Now you're beginning to act like that blue fool!" the sorcerer's shadow tried to struggle.

"I…" Link let go of him. He realized that Blue had taken control of him just a bit back there.

"It's only fair that a simpleton like you realise how much trouble you put me through!"

The dark sorcerer tried to recover from the hero's sudden grasp and once more opened his eyes. He looked around and stared at the hero most especially. His eyes showed mixed emotions, but it was evident that he was still furious from deep inside himself.

"The trouble that the hero and the traitor put me through…"

"SHUT UP!!!" Dark stood up and looked angrily at the other shadow.

"My, my… stung by the bitter truth now, are we?"

"If you'd please stop calling me that…" Dark raised his fist, glaring with his piercing eyes. They were particularly intimidating at the time that even the brave hero Link flinched seeing him so angry.

"Hmph. Alright, how about the betrayer, then?"

"You have no idea how much I went through for you…"

"And stole my Dark Mirror and left me there with those… those animals?!"

"But if it weren't for me, YOU'D BE DEAD, NONEXISTENT, GONE!!! Hear that…? GONE!!!"

The shadow shouted so loud it left the two inhabitants of the light world frozen. They merely watched the verbal argument of the two.

"…I suppose you're right." Shadow Vaati answered.

"Yes… yes, Fuu… I saved you from certain doom…"

"'Fuu'? It's Gufuu, and don't you forget it."

"But, Fuu… isn't that how we agreed to call you? After all…" Dark laid his left hand on Gufuu's shoulder. "…it's been a while since we… talked."

"Nnnngh…" Gufuu, or 'Fuu', calmed down and knelt on Dark's sleeping bag. He closed his eyes and seemed to meditate to calm himself down further.

Now that it seemed like it's finally over, Link decided to see if the two shadows were all right… especially Dark who was his close friend. He gently put his hand on Dark's shoulder, causing the shadow to look back at the hero behind him.

"You okay?" worriedly, the hero asked.

"Of course." smiled the hero's shadow.

"What the heck was that? What were you guys talking about?"

"Well…" Dark looked sheepish and shied away from the hero's stare. "Uh… you see… Fuu-chan and I…"

"'FUU-CHAN'?! DARK, DO SAY YOUR PRAYERS NOW FOR IT WILL BE YOUR LAST!!!" Fuu responded in a fit of rage, being reduced to be called something as horribly cute as "Fuu-chan".

"Fuu-ch…" Link trailed off to held laughter.

"As I was saying, Fuu and I…" Dark looked at his shadow companion. "We WERE something like friends back in the shadow world, after our epic fight with each other. Remember? That was when I toppled the Dark Mirror over…"

"..So we could defeat Fuu-chan the evil wind sorcere… GAH, I mean…!" Link blushed and chuckled, hearing himself call the threatening shadow wind sorcerer a pet name.

"F--- you." was all Fuu could say to Link. He then crossed his arms and turned his back, closing his eyes to fit his snobbish mood.

"So… I'm interested." Link exclaimed. "Tell me; what is your story, Dark? …And Gufuu?"

"Well, Fuu? Should we?"

"So that he'll know what an inferno you two… or you five Links put me into after banishing me into the Shadow World."

"Very well…"

Dark began to narrate their story. Vaati seemed to be totally engrossed in what Dark had to say. After all, he really had no idea what life his shadow had, as he had stated some months back.

***

"GET HIM!!!"

"Aaagh! Please don't!!!"

The scenery was a dark, warped town. It looked a lot like the land of Hyrule; only it's very twisted, sinister, and full of shadows. Its hues are mostly of black, purple, and red… the hues of darkness and despair.

The inhabitants of the said land are chasing a lone young boy; all dressed in a sinister cloak with indigo garbs with red pants and sandals to go along with the dark atmosphere. His skin was very pale and purplish in tone, and his hair was long and dark violet; its length stopping a little below his underarms. The poor boy was obviously terrified of the angry mob.

"N-No… leave me be… please!" pleaded the pale youth as he was cornered along the castle walls.

The villagers, most especially the male, went closer to the young sorcerer holding their weapons. The poor terrified boy could only stare in terror as they attempted to kill him. How do you kill a shadow, you ask? Simple, drive him off to the light world where there exists no darkness to extend it.

"L… Let me go… please!"

They bound the sorcerer with ropes, both arms and legs. They also covered his mouth with a gag to silence his muffled screams, as he struggled to get free from their harsh grasp. Alas, the youth was overpowered and everyone took him inside Hyrule castle.

"Let's see what the King and the Princess has to say for this." one of the men in the noisy crowd said.

The young shadow sorcerer was roughly pushed in front of the king, and he was forced to kneel. The gag from his mouth was harshly taken away, and one of the guards held him by his hair and forced him to look up at the king. It wasn't hard to tell that the poor boy was in tears, practically pleading for mercy through his eyes.

"What will we do with him, Your Majesty?" asked the guard who held him.

"Hmmm… well, we are all witnesses to what he has done. Even me…" the king stated and was left in a deep thought.

"Death sentence!" shouted the majority. The rest of the people just made murmuring and other noises that couldn't be made out anymore.

"B-But…!" the sorcerer's words were cut as one of the guards beside him held his sword and put the cold blade next to his neck. The youth was left speechless and defenseless as he tried to stare at the blade with fear.

"Wait! Let him speak." the king spoke.

By order of the king, the youth spoke out for himself.

"Y-Your Majesty, it would not be fair… after all, I only did this for the betterment of our world! Imagine… the world of light engulfed in our darkness, darkness of which you will reign! All of it! I only did it for your glory, Your Highness!" he defended himself, trembling and tears coming out from his eyes; hoping for the best.

"But this was the second time you misused the dark power." the king debated.

"I… I will not do it again… I promise!"

"No! Don't give him another chance!!!" shouted one from the mob.

"He almost starved us to death!" shouted another.

"Ah, yes… that incident three years ago… when he first used his power to petrify people's bodies." the king recalled the incident.

"And then the second time around, he disturbed the peace by concocting monsters and shadow hero clones alike which never did us any good anyway! Thanks to that, we completely lost contact to the light world and we were banished as 'shadow slaves' of the people of the light world again!" another one protested.

"Hmmm… yes…" the king thought yet again. Giving a sentence to this threatening youth may be a problem. There was no way to give him a life sentence at this rate!

***

"Incidents…" Link interrupted.

"Those incidents when you encountered Vaati. The second was when you faced off with his monster self. First would be when you were with Ezlo…" Dark explained. "The villagers almost starved to death back home since we all depended on you for our nutrition back there."

"Really?" Link wondered.

"Yep. That's why we take after your shape, actually. We depend on you for everything. But the two of us, being materialized shadows living in the light world… I guess we could now morph ourselves however we want to. As shadows, we follow everything you do, but are very flexible since we really almost never have a definitive form. All shadows have the power to morph, just as long as our masters are not facing the light of which we fear."

"For instance, when you people of light are in deep slumber during nightfall… us, your shadows, take any form we want for there will be but little light to harm us." Fuu added.

"Wait a minute… so when you said something about Gufuu not having a definite shape back when you took Vio's form…" Link said, his eyes widened as he remembered his first adventure with his alter egos.

"Yep." Dark smiled. "He doesn't have a definite form because that monster wind mage you fought was indeed Shadow Vaati. Light Vaati here was back home, probably with Ezlo or something. He had total control of himself back then, but now…"

"Please… I want to hear more…" Vaati stared at Dark, hugging his plush cucco.

"Sure thing."

***

"Please… pity this young magician!" the youth once more pleaded.

"I believe that this will be hard." the king declared.

"Papa, should we really?" the shadow princess inquired.

"I guess we are left with no choice."

"I… I… please… please don't…!" the poor boy let tears stream down his cheeks as the guards still held him by his hair.

It seemed hopeless… with a crowd like this and all the evidences and accusations pointed against him, he was sure to get a death sentence.

"Hey! Hey, Kiiiingyyyyy!" shouted a voice.

"Kingy??" the king reacted to this.

"Yeah, Kingy! Imma talking to ya!"

A youth with purple hair and an all-black attire appeared right in front of everyone. His eyes were baby blue and his skin was a bit fairer than most of the shadows gathered in the king's presence. His hat was flowing in a distinct manner such as that of a flame never seeming to run out. He let out a sweet yet devilish smile that made most, if not all, of the people scowl and react.

"I want to be hired as your jester, please!" he said, bowing exaggeratedly.

"I'm sorry but… first, we already have one and he doesn't need a companion. Second, this isn't quite the right time. Third, you're the hero's shadow!" the king spoke.

"Awww…. killjoy. But please, allow me to perform even just one magic trick for you, Your Majesty!" he pleaded with utmost desire. He let out his most innocent eyes gleaming and staring at the king's eyes as he let out an innocent pout.

"Nnnh… very well." the king gave in. "Just one magic trick and off with you!"

"But we should also get him! He's a pawn of the Gufuu guy!" shouted one of the shadow villagers.

"Silence! Go on, young man."

"Here we go!!! Of course, I would need a *ahem* lovely assistant…"

Thinking that it was the shadow princess Zelda, she almost stood up but no… Shadow Link pulled the would-be convict instead!

"And NOW!!! The moment you've all been waiting for, I'm going to make this dude looking like a lady…"

"WATCH IT, IMBECILE!!!" yelled Gufuu.

"…DISAPPEAR!" Shadow continued.

"GAH!" Gufuu disappeared in thin air, leaving only smoke and magical traces behind.

The audience applauded. They were quite entertained by Shadow's little magic show, to think that there would be an entertaining magician of this young age.

"So, where is he?"

"And now… the REAL moment you've been waiting for…" Shadow raised and waved his hands and smirked at the people.

The crowd stared and waited for the best that will be to come…

"Bye-bye~" Shadow Link said quite teasingly and disappeared in front of the people after engulfing himself in a puff of smoke.



There was not a trace of him, not a single one. The guards went on a search around the castle grounds as ordered by the king, but there was no luck. The two youngsters disappeared for good.

'If they disappeared for good; that would be nice. But if they just fled… that would be a problem. Dang, sadly… I don't think any of us know where this shadow hero lives…' thought one of the soldiers on the search.

Meanwhile, in a quaint Victorian house a little far away from the town of Hyrule…

Shadow Link slowly walked over to the wind sorcerer, who sat on the ground still bound by ropes. He just looked at him with a smirk and chuckled.

"What's so funny?!" the annoyed sorcerer angrily asked.

"You just look so… cute, struggling like that. I mean, talk about turnabouts! To think you were in command not too long ago…" Shadow laughed once more.

"CUTE?! If you are trying to humour me; you fail… horribly!" Gufuu struggled even more.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" the hero's shadow laughed yet again. "Tell you what, I'll let you go if you give me a very, very honest answer."

"Go on."

The shadow closed his eyes. In a matter of seconds, his whole body was engulfed in dark aura, a very powerful one at that; that it created some sort of a small black hole, almost sucking in the room's contents including the young shadow magician.

After a few moments, the dark aura dissipated and there stood a different yet similar figure of the hero's shadow. His hair turned white; center-parted, his skin tone turned ashy, and when he opened his eyes, his eyes had turned scarlet.

"Tell me… do you still recognize me as 'Shadow Link', the one that you intended to mass produce?"

"I have never created such a thing."

"Good. Because this will benefit you."

"What? WHOA!!!"

Gufuu's eyes widened as he felt Shadow Link carry him in his arms, as he was still bound and helpless.

"WAIT!!! What in Hyrule's name…?!"

"You entertain me with your screams, Gufuu." laughed the hero's shadow again. "C'mon, as your little 'experimental subject'; rename me, will ya?"

"Rename you? For what if I may ask?" said the magician trying to struggle free, scowling at the other shadow carrying him.

"They know me as Shadow Link… now if you call me another name, they won't recognize me, no? After all, little kid soldier trainees dress up like moi so there's nothing to worry about my attire, just my name."

"Well… let me rename you, 'Dark'" Gufuu raised a brow.

"And Gufuu would be a name standing out like a sore thumb in this world. Let me call you, 'Fuu'."

"Fuu?! How disgustingly cute!" ranted the sorcerer.

"I know~" Dark smiled at him mischievously. "Come on, Fuu-chan… let's go to my room so I could get my sword and free you!"

"FUU-CHAN?!"

And the two went away, going upstairs to Dark's room…

***

"So that's where the nicknames came from!" laughed Link.

"IIYYYYYEAHP~" Dark smiled, closing his eyes in satisfaction.

"But why were you so furious when I renamed you the same thing? F… I mean Gufuu here also named you 'Dark' right?"

"One, you've no originality; two, I didn't ask you to rename me."

"One, I never knew; two, would you like to be called 'Shadow me' for all eternity? Actually, 'Dark Link' is a snazzy name… and it gives you more individuality than 'Shadow Link'… what do you want; be my 'dark side' or be my 'shadow'?"

"…Touché." Dark replied.

"Well, shall we continue? Or should we cease with this pointless fairy-tale?" Gufuu asked, quite irritated.

"OUR pointless fairy tale. Let's continue."

***

"So let me get this straight… I'm in this outfit, and you're taking me out in the open?! Such foolishness!"

"Hey, once you go out; you'll see what I mean."

Gufuu and Dark were caught arguing one day just near the entrance of the quaint Victorian house of the dark anti-hero.

"You're turning me in, aren't you?" scowled the magician.

"Just play along with me and shut up, whydontcha?!" Dark hastily grabbed the sorcerer and hurried to the town square.

Upon arriving, they found out that people were busy with their normal lives. But as the two passed by them…

"I-Isn't that the…"

A male villager, probably in his thirties, grabbed Gufuu by the arm tightly and hurt the young boy, causing him to groan. Dark immediately knew what to do…

"Hey, let go of my friend!"

"Hey, aren't you that Shadow kid?!"

"Heck, no! Does Shadow have white hair?"

"You could easily dye it, you know."

"And my skin? Dang, use your mind, whydontcha?! I can't tan my skin like this overnight… and I can't be using any paint on my skin! Look, it's authentic. AU-THENT-IC!"

The man touched Dark's bared arm and confirmed that the youth was not kidding at all.

"Then what of your 'friend' here?"

"He's a fellow cosplayer! Geez, haven't you heard of them?"

"A cosplayer, huh? Heh…"

The male villager looked intently into Gufuu's eyes. As if in a trance, Gufuu stared back.

"You… your eyes remind me so much of him…" was what the villager had to say, his eyes lighting up a bit, with traces of sorrow seen, although vaguely.

"Huh…?" Gufuu could not comprehend, but he tried to. He felt something odd…

"Alright! Now GIVE HIM TO ME!"

Dark grabbed Gufuu from the man and walked away, pretending to be exaggeratedly angry over the matter.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Dark smirked once they were in a safe place, isolated from the crowd.

"I…" Gufuu bowed down his head. "What was that all about…?"

"Don't tell me you actually took that guy seriously. Fuu-chan, if I were you, I'd forget about that."

"I mean… that thing he said. I remind him so much like who? Who was he talking about?"

"Heck do I care. Listen, Fuu-chan. From now on, we need to avoid any leaks about who we really are, got that? No revealing of true names and absolutely no revealing of further identity!"

"I need not care about that second part. I can go out like this, but obviously you can't be Shadow Link anymore."

"You got me." Dark looked down at Gufuu, being taller than the Hylian-Minish shadow. "What do you say we go hunting in the woods? We just might be able to hunt down something good."

"Heh, I guess you're in charge now, my former pawn." Gufuu smiled wryly.

"Alright!" winked Dark at his companion, smiling and getting all excited for their hunt.

And so, off they went into the highlands…

As Dark trod on the forest trail, he took full advantage of his authority over Gufuu. Of course, who would ever pass this by? After all, it is your former master now right under your power. He would command Gufuu to stay close to him at all times, and if ever there were monsters…

"WHATTHEHECKYOU'REJUSTGOINGTOLEAVEMEHEREYOUSTUPIDSHADOW????!" Gufuu was very enraged as Dark left him amidst a circle of monsters.

"Teeheehee, that'll teach you not to be mean." giggled Dark as he glided away in a fair distance to see how the sorcerer would make his way out. "Come on! Whoop their booties real good! Chyeah~!"

"YOUSTUPIDSHADOWHELPMEOUTHEREORSOHELPMEI'LLPULLYOUREARSSOHARDTHEY'LL
BERIPPEDOFFANDI'LLSHOVETHEMUPYOUR-" Gufuu's words were interrupted as an octorok spat a big stone at him.

"THAT DOES IT!!! You want stones…? I'LL GIVE YOU STONES, FOOL!" Gufuu raised his right hand, pointed at all the enemies and said, "TO STONE WITH YOU!!! EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!"

As the day ended for them, they recalled all the events that took place in their hunting spree. Dark carried a jar full of chu jelly, a basket full of octorok meat, and a cage with a live black chuchu jelly just for the heck of it. Gufuu went ahead of the dark anti-hero, not looking back. He walked in a fast pace, making it tad hard for Dark to keep up with him.

"Hey now, you turn me into stone and this is how you treat me?!" Dark raised his voice after he couldn't take it anymore.

"It was YOUR fault. If only you had helped me back there, I wouldn't resort to using that stone spell. At the very least, be thankful. Be thankful that I was able to bring you back to your normal form." Gufuu walked constantly at a fast pace.

"Hey, come on! Wait up!"

Gufuu refused to listen and practically raced back home, until…

"FUU-CHAN!!!"

The sorcerer stopped in his tracks. The white-haired youth did not notice that he was going straight to where Gufuu suddenly stopped and bumped onto him.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you ignorant fool…"

"Eh?"

Gufuu charged at Dark without any hesitation, but Dark was far too alert. The black-haired youngster quickly dodged sideways, almost taunting the sorcerer's failed attempt to get him. When he turned back to look at Gufuu…

"Huh?" Dark wondered. He wasn't there.

"Get me home… STAT!!!"

It was then that Dark realized that Gufuu was already on his shoulders. Now he knows what that strange feeling was… it was the cold wind aiding its master to ride onto his shoulders. Now that he feels like a slave again, he heeded his "master" and walked back home as fast as he could with the entire load on his body.

After a few minutes, they finally arrived home. Dark let all the packages down on the floor in a small pile. But even after doing that, Gufuu seemed to refuse going down from his shoulders. The sorcerer merely gave him a snobbish pout, crossed his arms, and turned his head away with his eyes closed. Now Dark doesn't want anyone to be a jerk to him, so he got the craziest idea again.

"Alright, Fuu-chan. Let's go up to my room."

"As if calling me 'Fuu-chan' will make me change my mind… I'm already used to that, ignorant fool!"

So Dark indeed went upstairs to his room. He opened the door and entered. Luckily, the doorway was tall enough for the both of them to fit through without getting hit. It was either that, or they were short enough not to get hit by the door's beam.

"Okay, now to take off my boots…" Dark sat on his bed and took off his boots, but Gufuu remained sitting on his shoulders even without his support by holding onto his ears and head tightly.

"And now, to take a rest…" as fast as he could, Dark smacked down his body face up on the bed to squish the Hylian-Minish behind his back.

"UGK!!! DARK!!!" the Minish squirmed under the Hylian's weight.

The Hylian slowly smirked and quickly got a pillow to push Gufuu with on the bed, to make sure he stays pinned down. He looked down on the violet-haired boy and continued pinning him down with a pillow as the Minish struggled to get free.

"Nnnhh… DARK!!! Let go!"

"Lalalalala-la~ Ain't no way you know what I'm doing to you?"

Dark tickled the pinned-down Minish with his free hand and the Minish didn't seem to take it very well. Instead of laughter, he only heard screams and yells from his companion.

"I hate you, Dark…"

"Orly?"