Unity and Apologies :LoZ:

I... I don't know what to say except...

I'm tired.

Wait, what's that? Are you really going to listen to my story? I'd... I'd be more than glad to tell you! Well, it all started when I met Master...

Oh wait, or was it when I met Shadow? Or when I... wait, my mind is scrambled! Let me think it over...

W-wait, what were we talking about again? Ummm... oh, right! My day! I was particularly tired this day, but it was all worth it! What made this day fun was that all of us had a bonding time with each other!

Now, you may think that us "villains" are all bad, and that all we do all day is plot against the heroes!

... You're partially correct, but hey, we also need our quality time for ourselves and forget plotting every once in a while! I must admit even Master Gufuu gets tired of thinking how to get rid of the heroes and take over Hyrule...

So, let me tell you about what happened just earlier today! It all started in the Tower of Winds...

***

As usual, we all went in our "meeting room", where we would meet Master to talk about our plans to conquer Light Hyrule. Yes I know we were talking about that again, but please let me finish! Um, as I was saying, we were talking to Master about what to plot next. He called me over to present my plan in front of everyone, and as I was a new member of the group, I was pretty nervous.

"We're just wasting our time! I know you have a much better plan than what he has in mind!" it was Big Poe. He always liked to pick on me for some reason.

"SHUSH, Big Poe. You're intimidating him." Master, in his human form, defended me as he urged me to continue. "Come on, Dawn, no need to be frightened!"

No need to be frightened, my Master says. How ironic, when Big Poe is right there in front of me! Somehow, he just gives me the chills... but I know that deep inside, he's a wacky, fun person to be with!

"Ummm... so... so here's the plan I present..."

I presented my plan, it was to separate the four Links so that no one will get in our way. They said it was a good idea, but they also asked how we were to execute it.

"S-simple!" I said, trying to calm myself down. "Ummm... you do know that though they are one, they seem to have personalty clashes, right? That's the thing! Eventually they will snap at each other, especially that blue one which is rather... feisty, and will break up at one point!"

"Heh... and then what?" Shadow asked me, with those eyes of his. I can't stare into them... he always scared me.

A lot of things scare me back in my own realm... I am already used to the dark side, but why am I still so scared of certain things? For one, Shadow still scares me... and the fact that dolls can talk in our world... it scares me even more!

"W-well... and then when they do break up, we will have to warp them to different places. That way, they will be really far apart from each other, and we will have an easier time eliminating them, as Master wishes." I said, trying not to be obviously scared of Shadow.

Master gingerly rubbed his chin, being the delicate type. "Very well said. You have yet another brilliant idea there, Dawn."

"I guess this kid has a head on his shoulders, after all!" Big Poe snarled. He went over to me and gave me... a noogie? It felt awkward, but at least I know I'm finally getting their attention in a good way...

The other shadows cheered at Master's approval and soon, the meeting room was lively. Master shushed them all down after a while.

Shadow seemed displeased... I wonder why? I think I feel him staring at me, though I am avoiding any eye contact with him. He cleared his throat after a short while and spoke out...

"Along with that plan, Gufuu..." he said.

"Eh-eh-EEEHHHPPP!!!" Master frowned at him and waggled a finger.

"Oh, I'm sorry... MASTER Gufuu." he rolled his eyes. I swore I heard him whisper under his breath. "Geez, talk about a grumpy little picori. I gave you that nickname, in case you've forgotten."

Nickname? What? I am still confused what he meant by that. He gave Master Gufuu a nickname? Whatever could it be? Hmmm... the only nickname I could think of for Gufuu is "Fuu-chan", but that would be an insult to my own Master. Ah, well.

"Go on." Master seemed content and sat properly as he listened.

"What if I 'befriend' one of them?" he said, with a sly smirk. "One of them is positively brilliant, and I think that we should use him."

"Hmmm... not a bad idea. That is actually pretty good."

Master seemed to like the idea. He then spoke again, "Well, yours and Dawn's minds are, without a doubt, brilliant. Keep up the nice work, you two. I trust that you will carry out the plans flawlessly."

Now I wouldn't want to let Master down, so I gave him an exaggerated nod and smiled at him. Shadow bowed and smiled, happy that his plan was also approved.

"This meeting is dismissed. Go back to your posts, everyone." Master said, and then he transformed into a beastly winged creature with a single eye and flew off.

Honestly? Master always scared me when he did that... but I don't mind, it's his decision to transform into that form, anyway.

***

There were times I wished I had my own room... I shared a BIG room with the other Shadow Link clones, which looked like a big dormitory of some sort. A huge number of double-deckers were there, each of its beds littered with our personal belongings. As usual, the dormitory was fairly dark for shadows to enjoy in, as unlike beings of light, our eyes are adapted to darkness.

"Hey, Dawn!" called out a clone to me.

I'm sure you're all wondering how we clones call each other, eh? Well, Shadow calls us by number, or by nothing at all. Well, among ourselves, only I am the clone with an official name... as for the rest? We give ourselves our own nicknames. Usually, our nicknames are based on our favorite things!

"Oh! What is it, Teddy?" I asked.

Teddy held his usual teddy bear and hugged it as he held a... EEP!

"W-why are you holding that?!" I snatched what he held in his other hand. It..... it was my unmentionables...

"It was on your bed. Were you going to take a shower or did you just forget it there?" he chuckled mischievously as he pinched his teddy bear's ear.

"Ummm.... neither? P-please excuse me..."

Now the other clones loved playing pranks on me as well. I don't know why, but some of them like me, while some others think that I'm a kissup to Master. I'm... I'm just doing my duties as one of Master's personal assistants!

"Hey, Dawn." called out another clone to me, he was sharing a bunk-bed with me and was lying down on the lower bunk which was his bed. He was reading... some sort of a thick pocketbook with pictures of the four Links we were plotting against...

"Oh! What is it, Snow?" I asked.

"Did you hear? Shadow got his hindquarters kicked real good by those four Links. Hah, serves him right." Snow said, flipping through the pages. "He's such a jerk thinking he's the best. I hear that one of the maidens we sealed gave the Links some light power after he sent all these knights to our realm."

"You mean those knights... with Link's father?"

"Yes." he said, after giving a yawn. "Listen, you know how much a lot of us hates Shadow here, right?"

I began to feel uneasy. Yes, I know Snow really REALLY hates Shadow. Yes, I know some other clones also hate him but not as much as I know how Snow hates him. Honestly... I don't know whether to hate him or be afraid of him.

"Y-yes..." I just nodded.

"Dawn, we encourage you to kissup to Master Gufuu. We tried it. Our ways aren't working. But we'll still try."

"Why?"

"Because you deserve the attention. You're too nice."

Now the other clones can morph, unlike me. Can you believe it? When needed, they can turn into those gigantic monster-like thingies that look like giant lizards... or... or lobsters! Or maybe even dragons! That's so cool! But as soon as they need to rest, they turn back into Shadow Links to conserve space and so that they can sleep well in these bunk beds.

B-but... I don't know about this...

"They think I'm kissing up to Shadow. NO." he said, frowning at me.

"Why?"

"Because he orders me around a lot to feed his dragon pet. Hmph."

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO~!!!!!" someone suddenly pointed a flashlight on my face.

I looked at who it could've been. It was Teddy, along with another clone. I saw that the other clones were behind them, sitting on the floor with their blankets with them.

"Now, you shadow!" said Teddy, trying to make his voice scary. "Prepare to be vanquished for I have this LIGHT! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~!"

"Ummmm....." I was speechless. Seriously. I then saw him flash it to Snow.

"Seriously?" Snow just raised a brow and got off the bed. "You wanna see something REALLY scary?"

"Go on. We're all telling ghost stories here~" said Teddy, that mischievous clone.

***

A little flying through the skies sure hits the spot. It is tad relaxing, though I admit I still loathe that beastly monster form of mine. I wish I could have transformed into something with a little more elegance and grace.

What a meeting that was! Dawn was surely quite the planner... how I admire that lad! I wonder what to do next... maybe I should just take a break and have some tea in my garden set near the fountain... or maybe...

EEK!

What was that?! I stopped to listen...

It was the scream of my... my Shadow Link army?? I think it was coming from their dormitory... I had better go see what's going on...

"Gufuu."

I turned to look at who might have called me.

"Shadow." I replied as he came closer.

"You also heard that, huh?"

"Y-Yes... Shadow, what just went on?"

My dear raven merely shook his head and slapped his palm against his forehead.

"I told you it was a bad idea to have a whole army of me."

I merely pouted at him and went on my way across our dusty corridors. Eww, I should really get someone to clean these corridors, they're simply filled with filth! Perhaps I'll get Big Poe to clean it for me, or maybe Shadow? Oh pooh...

I opened the door to their dormitory as Shadow went beside me. I pouted and raised my voice, "What is going ON in here?!"

***

T-that voice... that was Master! We all turned to the direction of the voice and found out that our hunch was right. I merely stared at him as I was on my bed on the upper bunk.

The other clones were either on the upper bunk of their beds or under the lower bunks. Some even tried to go inside the closets where they hid.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"YAAAAAAARGHHHH!!!!!"

I gave myself a facepalm. It was none other than Snow who made that noise, still running around the dormitory's floors wearing a ghostly mask as he still tried to scare us with some sort of a... a sword full of light! We would not want that, it was scary! What if it was powered by the maidens?

He stopped in front of Master Gufuu and flipped his mask. "Oh, hello there, Master."

"Clone number 50! WHAT just went on?" Master demanded an explanation.

Shadow just clicked his tongue and shook his head as he looked at each one of us. He seemed to be really disappointed... well, I cannot blame him... we ARE living reflections of him in a way...

"I'm sorry, Master. You see..." he said, showing the light-filled sword.

"EEK! KEEPITAWAYFROMME." Master hid behind Shadow, who just gave out a sigh.

"I CAN'T believe that you'd fall for my light saber." Shadow said as he snatched the sword from Snow's hands. "It's not piercing light. Honest."

He embraced Master and went out of the room with him. Master seemed so scared... is he that afraid of light?

"What's Master so shaken up about?" asked one of the clones. "He knows that light can't hurt you unless it's from the power of the authorities like the maidens!"

I really felt guilty... Master seemed so scared, Shadow seemed so disappointed; but never mind that. Master got mad at us AND got scared. I wanted to make it up to him somehow.

"Guys!" I called out and immediately they all peeked out from under the beds, from their closets, and from their upper bunks.

They stood still and waited for me to speak as they all just stared at me.

"Guys... I.... let's make it up to Master..." I said, trying to be as strong as I could.

No one protested nor spoke a word. They just stared at me, as if waiting for me to elaborate.

"I mean... isn't there anything we could do to make it up to him? Look, we caused a whole mess of things... and... and..."

The clones whispered among themselves. Unconsciously, I was trying to make it out as it was part of my instinct to know what was going on. I know some of them thought the idea crazy.

"What a kissup."

"We were just having fun!"

"He orders us around too much, it was only right that we do it every once in a while."

"Master Gufuu can be such a jerk."

Snow came to me and patted my back. He smirked and said, "Now see what I mean by, 'Too nice'?"

I gave out a wry smile and nodded. But I couldn't help it! I really didn't want to displease anyone...

"Listen up, people!" Snow said, clapping his hands to get attention. "We REALLY need to make it up to Master."

They all stared at him with those eyes. They seemed to say, "What for? And why should we?"

"You wanna know why?" Snow just chuckled. "Because we'll all die and perish in the Light Realm if we don't, that's why. You must be forgetting that Master Gufuu holds our lives."

They all murmured and began to act scared. Snow winked at me and whispered that it was okay to continue with what I was supposed to tell them.

"Okay, listen up!" I called out, and they gradually became silent. I continued, "I need your ideas. How will we be able to make it up to him?"

They continued murmuring, as if trying to get ideas. True, we're all clones, but somehow, though we do think like Shadow in a way, we still have something different among all of us. We do have unanimous minds, but we have slightly different viewpoints, depending on our situation.

"How's about we decorate his room?" suggested a clone.

"Let's throw a party!" said another clone, after which he blew a party tooter.

"Can it, Party. You just wanna have a party." Snow snarled as he rolled his eyes.

Wait... a party, eh...? That's... that's it!

"That's it!" I called out, feeling very excited. "Here's the plan, we organize a party. Party, you're the supervisor, everyone else, we have to work together to assemble this party and make it the best for Master!"

Everyone seemed to agree, and we all moved out of the room carrying some of our art decorating stuff. Hopefully, no one sees us...

***

What is this I see before my eyes? A parade of my Shadow Link army all filed in a single line with... art materials. I... I need not ask more of this matter. I must attend to my neglected tea time.

***

We finally went to a vacant room where no one usually goes to. Some of us assembled tables and chairs inside it and finally set up the place.

"Now the buffet table goes here... and oh wait! Don't forget the balloons! Black and white would look good!" Party said, getting really excited.

"Master likes purple. Let's add that." I suggested as I blew one of the balloons.

It was quite the experience... I can feel the unity of our group as we all pumped air or blew into each of our own balloons so that we may decorate the room nicely. We also put some tablecloths on the tables so that it would look a bit classy, just the way that Master likes it.

Now that everything was set up...

"Wait, this can't be a party without food." said another clone.

"Then what should we do, Pan?" I asked, as he was the food enthusiast. We all love food, but only he spends so much time studying them whenever he has the free time.

"Let's cook, of course!" he replied.

"Or... or bake a cake!" Party suggested. "It CAN'T be a party without cake!"

We all smiled at this and went out, running to the kitchen. We were all rushing so that no one may see us, pray that no one does. We excitedly rushed to the palace's kitchen, which was way down the first floor.

***

I halted.

…. I just saw a whole battalion of me's racing across the corridors. Moving on...

***

We finally made it to the kitchen, but to our dismay, we saw cuccos flying about in it!

You see, the cuccos' pen was just outside in the tower's lawn... as Master seemed to be quite fond of them! But you know, these cuccos are hardcore... they can also turn into little dragons and charge against the knights of Light Hyrule!

…... Those lucky things.

"Eeeewwww... now it's full of chicken poop!" Teddy said, looking at the place.

"Let's clean it up then." I said, trying to find some cleaning equipment for all of us.

Not long after, everyone was cleaning the place. Some of us slipped as the others mopped the floors clean, but we laughed it off. I was among the unlucky ones who slipped, but it was fine by me. It was all part of the fun, and no one was seriously hurt anyway. We should just be a little more careful.

"There!" we all said and cheered. The place was already clean, and we do feel proud of ourselves!

Now we all decided to bake a cake, and it was tougher than it looked. We all got the ingredients as we sang to ourselves a song to keep us happy while making them.

"Some flour, some candies, some... uhhhh... what's his favourite flavour?" asked Party, who was ready to mix all the ingredients with Pan's help.

"Ummm...... I think it's... vanilla?"

"Let's make Angel's food then!" he said, mixing the ingredients we gathered.

It was fun! We had the chance to bake a cake together for the first time, and for the finishing touch, we had Fountain decorate the cake with his writing. He was nicknamed as so since he has a knack for writing... get it? Fountain pen? Hahaha!

"We're sorry, Master Gufuu!!!

~ Your Shadow Link Army"

I read the writing on the white, fluffy cake in purple icing. It was in beautiful handwriting, and.... it smells REALLY good! Master Gufuu is sure to love this! I just hope he accepts our apology...

"Now all we have to do is.... wait, where's Master Gufuu?" asked one of us to no one in particular.

Now we all murmured and speculated where he could be at this hour... he could be anywhere! He could be watching a theater play that the other creatures (they refuse to be called "monsters") have rehearsed for him, or maybe even call out to the winds to give him a ride... he could also be talking with Shadow, seeing that they are the closest friends...

"Some of us will have to go there and find him." I said, trying to think up of a plan as I spoke. "The rest will have to stay here in case he comes and sees this place. To everyone of us who stays here, that includes me, we'll have to shout 'SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!!!', got it?"

They all agreed, and some of us, including Teddy went out in search of Master.

They narrated me what had happened. Some others went to the theaters only to find it empty... some of us went to the dining hall, only to find drunk henchmen enjoying themselves in their break. Still the others who were in the search went to his room, only to find an empty room with a pen and a paper on the desk which seems to be an unfinished poem of a robin and his detective.

When finally, Teddy's group finally went to the fountain Master and I so loved and saw him relaxing on the garden set's chair. They slowly went behind him and blindfolded him.

"W-what is the meaning of this?!" Master squirmed and tried to take the blindfold off.

"Masterrrr...... MAAASTEEEERRRRR..." Teddy said, trying to calm him down. "Do you trust your army?"

"Of course I do, what the bloody..."

"Then just follow our directions... don't worry, it won't last long, honest!"

Master seemed to be reluctant. I can't blame him, he's our master... maybe he just wasn't in the mood...

When finally, I heard our door creak. When Teddy's groupmates took off the blindfold, Master saw all of us as we yelled...

"SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!!!"

He seemed to be bewildered as we all gathered around him and pushed him near the cake so that he could see it. He stared at it questionably and then looked at us again...

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, without any trace of a smile.

They all fell silent and looked at me, waiting for me to speak up. I... I don't know what to say!

"Ummmm.... Master..." I fidgeted and went to him. "I... W-we're.... we just wanted to say sorry for the mess the we caused a while ago..."

I was really nervous as I felt Master just looking at me. It was really awkward, as everyone else was waiting for what I had to say.

"Dawn..." he gave me a pat on my shoulders. "... I really don't know what to say."

I looked at him and saw that he was smiling.... he was smiling!

"It is really touching for all of you to apologise like this. But mind you, do NOT cause any mayhem again or you shall face the consequences."

"We... we won't, Master!" I cried and hugged him. I heard him squeak as I hugged him; he was probably surprised.

Soon after all the others also gathered around him and hugged him tightly! What could we say? We can't really help it... we all felt the need to have a group hug! A very tight one at that, it felt like we didn't want to ever let go!

Not long, we all settled down to eat the cake, with Master getting the best and the biggest slice. People say that he 's a jerk for getting all that he wanted, but he's not really a jerk. I should know...

"Dawn..." he called out, the others not knowing he did.

"What is it, Master?" I approached him, with a slice of cake on the plate I held.

He got his fork and got his big strawberry and placed it on my cake. "You didn't have a strawberry."

"B-but..."

"No buts!" he waggled his fork.

I simply nodded and smiled at him as my way of saying thanks. See what I mean? He's a really sweet person deep inside... you just need to get on his good side.

I saw him wrapping another good slice in aluminum foil... I guess it was for Shadow, as he wasn't with us at the time. Well, too bad for him... he's missing out all the fun! I hope he likes the slice, though.

So that was it, we had fun... Party even put up some parlor games! Like... "Stab-the-sword-on-the-hero", piñata,  musical chairs, lots of them! Even Master joined in some games except for bobbing for apples... he said that his hair would get ruined. Oh, Master...

***

And that's when I started telling this to you and to my dear diary. I really could not forget this... a little experience I had with the clone army, my friends... when I really felt the unity among us. Everyone was happy...

I wonder when Shadow will be one with us? I just hope he takes time to be with us too... I bet he's a very nice person to be with, as he is Master's right-hand man...

Anyway... goodnight, dear diary. And thank you for listening to my story, dear friend.