Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dark Link watched the Links from the trees, thinking about how he could infiltrate the group. He was listing off ideas under his breath. “I could impersonate one of the heroes. But then they might be suspicious, plus they could easily test if I was real. All they would have to do is try and hit me with the master sword. Or, I could pretend to be a helpless villager. No, then they might think I’m Yiga. The wild one is always suspicious.” He looked down at the Links once again and his eyes darted to Four’s shadow. He smirked. “Perfect.”

Shadow missed Four. He was pretty sure Four didn’t even know he was alive, considering he couldn’t move or speak. He was back to mirroring all of his movements. This time however, he was conscious and very much aware of what was going on around him. He was stuck in a limbo in between life and death, stuck watching someone else’s life for the rest of his existence. Like now, he often pondered his reason for being here. Until, that pondering is interrupted.  
“Guys! Wild found another portal!” Wind shouted.  
“Great, another headache.” Legend grumbled. 
“Cheer up! Maybe we’ll go to your Hyrule next!” Hyrule grinned, putting an arm around his friend. They went into the portal together with Four close behind. 

Once they got to the other side, Shadow recognized where they were.  
“I know where we are! We’re on the north side of Minish Woods!” Four exclaimed. 
“Why are you so happy? We’re still in a forest.” Legend scoffed. 
“These woods are super safe and don’t have many monsters. Not to mention I have a few friends who live around here and might be able to give us some information on the black-blooded monsters.” Four explained. 
“You mean like that dude walking toward us?” Wild asked, pointing at a shadowy figure slowly approaching them. 
“Wait! That’s a dark!” Warriors warned. 
“Woah! Don’t kill me! I come in peace and all that jazz.” The shadow snarked. 
“Shadow!” Four cried. “I missed you! How are you here?” 
“Well, it took me some time to recover from shattering the dark mirror, but when you came back here, I had enough strength to pop out of your shadow again.” Shadow explained with an easy smile. Shadow was shocked. Who was impersonating him? Why were they impersonating him? Were they trying to hurt Link? It had to be another shapeshifter right? All he knew was that he had to warn Link that the imposter was not him.  
“So are we just being nice to every dark we meet or what?” Warriors drawled. 
“Oh yeah! You guys must be really confused. This is Shadow. He used to be evil, but then stuff happened. Long story short, he’s on our side.” Four summarized. 
“If you’re sure he’s good, then I believe you.” Time affirmed. The rest of the Links made similar approvals. 

The rest of the day was spent getting to know Shadow . Legend got along dangerously well with him and soon enough, they were a sarcastic team. Warriors didn’t stand a chance. The others were a bit more skeptical of the new addition. Most of them had bad experiences with darks and didn’t completely trust Shadow . They were waiting for the other shoe to drop. However, they kept these thoughts to themselves for Four’s sake. They had never seen the kid so happy. It was like the dark cloud that was always with him had lifted. He was finally acting like a teenager. So they let their suspicions go, and trusted Shadow. At least, for the time being.

Nighttime had finally arrived. Everyone had eaten dinner and the camp was settling down for bed. Shadow hoped this would be the time he could best connect with Link. Once Four had drifted off, Shadow made his attempt. He went deep into his mind and focused on his connection with Link. The time they spent together, the laughter they shared, the dreams they confessed. Shadow focused on all of those times and then looked at Link. He took a deep breath and sent a few images to him in his dreams. The first was an image of a  jail cell, the second was an image of Ganon, and the third was an image of a chessboard. He tried to send more, but his connection was blocked once again. Shadow hoped that Link was smart enough to figure out his message.

The next morning was bright and cheery. Sunlight shone through the woods creating a storybook atmosphere. Four was thinking about the concerning dream he had last night. Everything was normal until those three images. They stood out and were too vivid not to be a vision. Of what, he didn’t know, but he had his suspicions. Four went over to Shadow , who was sharpening a blade given to him by Wild. “Hey Shads, how are you doing?” He asked innocently.  
“Same old, same old. How are you doing?” He replied. Four grew suspicious of Shadow’s sudden friendliness. 
“I’ve missed chatting with you. Life got really dull without you.” Four smiled. 
“I missed you too, buddy. Glad to be back.” Shadow smiled back. Four grew even more suspicious. Shadow had never called him buddy before. He was either rude and defensive, or affectionate. Four excused himself from the conversation and went to his bag. He was already forming a plan.

Four got the opportunity to begin the plan soon after. Wild claimed he needed firewood so Four said he would go get some. He claimed he should go because he knew the woods best. After the others had agreed, Four set off. Once a decent distance from camp, Four split. “Guys, I’m not sure that’s Shadow.” Vio worried.
“What makes you say that?” Red asked. 
“He’s not being snarky enough. The Shadow I know is either super sarcastic or super affectionate. There’s no in between.” Vio stated the fact like it was obvious. “Don’t worry, I have a plan to check if it’s him. When Shadow and I were planning on overthrowing Ganon. We set up a single question to identify if it was a shapeshifter or not. We’ll get him alone, and then I’ll interrogate him. If he answers correctly, he’s Shadow. If not, he’s an imposter.” Vio suggested. 
“And you're sure this will work?” Green asked. 
“One hundred percent. I think I know what that dream was trying to tell us and if my theory is correct, that Shadow is a fake.” Vio assured.  
“We can get him alone by saying that we want to catch up. The other Links are respectful enough to agree. Then we’ll split and you can ask him.” Blue added. 
“Perfect, since we currently don’t have a destination we’ll let the group have the day off. That way, we have as much time as we need.” Vio continued.  
“Great, let’s merge and we’ll put our plan into action.” Green instructed.

Four walked back into camp with four bundles of firewood in his arms and he dropped them by the cooking pot. “What took you so long?” Wind asked. 
“There are a lot of tiny creatures in Minish Woods so I had to be careful about which trees I chopped.” Four justified. “Today, I think it would be best if we stayed at camp. My friends who I’m going to talk to get scared by strangers so I’ll go talk to them while you guys stay here. Shadow can come with me so I’m not alone.” Four announced. 
“Sounds good.” Time approved. Four quickly ate his breakfast and headed out of camp with Shadow. They walked for about a half a mile before they split. 
“Why the split?” Shadow asked casually. 
“I wanted to talk to you.” Vio responded while taking his hand. The rest of the colors dispersed  
“Okay Vio. What did you want to talk about?” Shadow replied. Vio got even more suspicious because Shadow was trying to distance himself from him. Plus, he only called him Vi, dork, or nerd. He never used his full name. Vio leaned in closer and put his  hand on Shadow’s chest. “Remember that time we were playing chess at the volcano? Do you remember who won?” Vio asked with a small grin, making his face as innocent as possible. Shadow let out a small chuckle. 
“You did obviously. You’re way smarter than me.” He answered. 
“Wrong. It was a stalemate. It was the first time we saw each other as equals.” Vio growled. “That’s not him! It’s a fake!” He shouted. The colors dropped down from the trees and pointed their swords at the fake. Dark Link shifted back to his true form and sighed.
“Such a shame the charade has to end so soon. I was just beginning to have fun. No matter, I got the information I needed.” Dark Link monologued. He sank into his own shadow and disappeared.

Four immediately merged back into one and started sprinting towards the camp. Thankfully, when he got back, the group wasn’t overwhelmed by monsters. “Keep your guard up!” He shouted.
“Woah! What’s going on?” Twilight jumped to his feet, drawing his sword. 
“Shadow wasn’t actually Shadow. He was Dark Link in disguise. Any moment he could be sending monsters our way!” Four warned. The others quickly grabbed their weapons and were ready for battle. After two hours, Time spoke up.  
“I don’t think Dark Link is sending any forces, they would have been here by now.”  
“Yeah, it must have been a false alarm, sorry guys.” Four apologized.  
“It’s better to be safe than sorry. There’s no need to apologize.” Warriors affirmed. 
“So, how did you know it wasn’t Shadow?” Wild asked.  
“When Shadow and I were together, we came up with a question that would check if we were the real us, or a shapeshifter. That question was about the outcome of our first chess match, when we were alone. Then last night in my dreams, I received a vision of a jail cell, Ganon, and a chessboard. I interpreted this to mean that l should ask Shadow the chessboard question. He answered wrong.” Four explained. “What I’m concerned about, is I don’t know who sent me that vision. The only one who knew about the question was Shadow. That means that Shadow is still out there somewhere, trapped and alone.”

Chapter Text

Shadow was overjoyed. Link had gotten his message. He thanked the goddesses that Vio was so smart. Not only that, he figured out that he was still alive. That means that there was hope for him. That he might have a future beyond being a puppet. He knew he couldn’t stop now. Since his first message got through, he wanted to send more messages to give Link clues on how to revive him. Once Four was dreaming once again, Shadow sent more visions. There were four this time. The first, was an image of the shattered dark mirror. The second, was an image of Minish Village. The third, was a picture of Hyrule Castle. The last, was an image of Death Mountain, the same room where Vio and Green had their duel. Shadow hoped this would be enough. He believed in Link, he could do this.

Four woke with a start. Hope filled him with joy. Shadow had sent him more messages! He might be able to bring him back! He looked around camp and found that only Wild was up, getting an early start on breakfast. Four let him be, knowing he would rather work alone. He began to think about the visions he had. The first was the dark mirror, and the rest were locations around Hyrule. What was interesting, was that the dark mirror he saw was shattered, with pieces strewn across the floor. That could mean multiple things, but Four’s strongest guess was that pieces of the dark mirror were in those locations. Accurate or not, he would have to check them out. Which presented a problem, most of the Links were adults, at least by Minish standards. How was he going to explain that?

The rest of the Links woke up slowly and they discussed their plans over breakfast.  
“So, what are we going to do today Four?” Wild asked, faced stuffed.  
“Well, I got more dreams.” Four started slowly. 
“Oh Hylia! Really?” Wind shouted. 
“Yeah, I got four images this time and I think I know what they mean. The first was the shattered dark mirror and the other three were locations across Hyrule. So I think that means that I’ll find pieces of the dark mirror in those locations.” He explained. 
“That makes sense.” Time agreed. 
“Where are these locations?” Twilight questioned.

“The first is Minish Village which is in these woods. The only problem is, that the people who live there are very skittish. If they think you’re a threat, they’ll run away immediately. They know me, so they aren’t afraid of me, but they’ll probably be afraid of you guys. I was thinking that maybe, if I just bring Wind along, they won’t be scared.” Four said reluctantly, hoping that they’d buy it. 
“Are you sure? What if you get attacked?” Warriors fretted. 
“Hey! We’re two of Hylia’s chosen heroes! We can take care of ourselves!” Wind defended. Four had never been so thankful for Wind’s need to prove himself. 
“He’s right you know, they can handle themselves. If Four’s sure this is the best way, then we should trust him. We’re in his Hyrule after all.” Legend added. The rest have their support. 
“Great! We’re going to get going!” Four announced, dragging Wind with him.

They walked until they were out of earshot. “Okay, so most of what I said back there was a lie. We are going to Minish Village, but people don’t live there, the Minish do. The Minish are tiny creatures that are invisible to anyone but children. You barely pass, and I can see them because I befriended them.” Four explained while looking around the woods. 
“Umm, okay. What are you looking for?” Wind asked. 
“Found one!” Four exclaimed. “Get on the tree stump.” He instructed. Wind grew more confused. 
“Okay?” Wind started debating if he should tell the other Links that Four had gone crazy. 
“Now, if I remember the incantation correctly,” Four murmured. “Llams worg!” He shouted. Wind shrieked as he shrunk down. Four cheered before triggering his feather earring and shrinking down. 
“What just happened?!” Wind shrieked.

“The Minish are tiny, so in order to talk to them, you need to be tiny too.” Four explained casually as he started walking away. Wind quickly got on his feet and followed. Four went up to a robin. “Egalliv Hsinim ot edir a su eivg ouy dlouc ris em esucxe.” Four chattered. The robin chirped back happily before extending its wing. “Okay, hop on.” Four ordered. Wind did as he was told, Four right behind him. Just like that, they were on their way to the village.

On the ride there, Four explained a little better. “The Minish are a species of tiny mouse creatures, also called the Picori. They are only visible to children but have been helping out Hylians since the beginning of time. All of the rupees you find in pots and grass? Those were left by the Minish.” 

“Ohh. That’s where they come from. How do you know them?” Wind asked, head tilted sideways.

“On my first adventure, the Minish helped me forge the Picori blade with all four elements. That sword later became the Four Sword, the blade I have strapped to my back.” Four lectured. “I’m pretty sure all the Minish magic I was exposed to stunted my growth. Which is why I’m so small.” He added shamefully, rubbing his hand on the back of his head. Wind cracked up and soon they were both laughing.

They landed and Four thanked the bird. They walked for about five minutes before they were in the village. As soon as they entered,  a bunch of Minish swarmed Four. “Tun rebbaj a dneirf Nailyh ym teg uoy dluoc?” Four asked the Minish next to him. 
“Esruoc fo!” The Minish chattered cheerfully.  
“What are they saying?” Wind wondered, astonished.  
“Wait a minute and you’ll find out.” Four responded with a smirk. The Minish ran back, carrying a nut over his head. He handed it to Four who gave it to Wind. “Eat this.” Four stated. Learning not to question Four, Wind ate it. The effect was immediate, Wind understood what the creatures were saying. 

“What are you doing here?” One asked. 
“Is that another Hylian?” Another guessed. 
“Link! Who’s you’re friend?” A third questioned. 
“Did you bring me something cool?” A different one begged. 
“I would love to stay and chat, but I really have to talk to Ezlo. I’m on important mission.” Four announced, grabbing Wind’s hand and making his way through the crowd. 
“Wow, you’re like a celebrity here.” Wind pointed out. 
“Besides you, I’m the only Hylian they’ve met.” Four explained with a tiny chuckle. 

Four made his way to a large hut in the back of the village. He opened the leaf curtain. “Ezlo? It’s Link!” He called. 
“Kid! I didn’t know you were coming!” Ezlo exclaimed.  
“Sorry, this visit was a surprise to me too. I have a new mission and wanted to ask you some questions.” Four apologized. “And could you stop calling me kid?” 
“Kid,” Four groaned. “I’m an old wizard, you’re still a baby in my eyes.” Ezlo snarked. “Who is this? Fresh blood?” He asked with intrigue. Wind’s face paled. 
“Ezlo, don’t freak him out.” Four sighed. He’s not going to take your blood.” He told Wind. Ezlo snorted. 
“So, what did you want to ask me about?” His face turned serious.

“Monsters have been getting stronger and their blood has turned black. Do you know why this might be happening or how we might stop it?” Four inquired. Ezlo took a minute to think. 
“Well, the monster upgrades are probably from who your fighting. As for how to stop it, you’re probably going to need light force, a lot of it.” Ezlo guessed. “I might be able to do something with a sample, but I’m not sure.” He offered. 
“I’m not sure we have that kind of time.” Four admitted. “I also wanted to ask you, do you know if any pieces of the dark mirror are nearby?”  

“My energy readings have picked up a large amount of dark magic by the forest temple, so I’d say that’s your best bet.” Ezlo explained.  
“That must be it!” Four explained. “Thanks for the help Ezlo!” Four shouted as he rushed out of the hut, dragging Wind with him. Ezlo sighed.  
“Kids these days.”

Four ran through the village once again, his mind set on the forest temple. “Why are we going so fast?” Wind yelled while sprinting to keep up with him. 
“Being small can get dangerous at night, I’d like to finish this before dark.” Four yelled back. They continued running until they got to the temple. “Monsters are much harder to deal with when your small, so be very careful.” Four instructed. He opened the doors and saw nothing but darkness. “As I suspected, it looks like this temple hasn’t been used since I cleared it, good.”  
“How are we supposed to find a piece of black glass in darkness?” 
“We’re not.” Four walked out of the dungeon and started moving back toward the village.

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted to get the shard of glass?” Wind shouted, confused. 
“I do.” Four kept walking but turned off the path and into the woods. He kept walking until he reached a clearing full of mushrooms. “We’re going to need light.” He yanked a mushroom off of its stem and carried it like an umbrella.  
“Woah! That’s like, twice your size! Do you need help?” Wind asked, rushing over to him. 
“I’m a blacksmith, I’m plenty strong.” Four chuckled. “Plus, mushrooms are mostly hollow. Now let’s go back.” Four marched back to the temple.  
“How is a mushroom supposed to help us?” Wind examined the mushroom, poking and prodding on all sides. 

“You’ll see.” Four replied vaguely. He opened the doors to the dungeon once more and went inside. Once in darkness, the mushroom started to glow a vibrant teal. “It’s like Wild’s nightshade. It glows in the dark.” He explained. “Assuming this quest is like all of the others, the shard is probably at the end of the dungeon. Let’s get going.” Four ordered. They walked slowly through the tunnel. They went through each room with caution, only to be met with emptiness. “This is strange, I thought there would be more of a challenge.” Four muttered, squinting at the room around him. 
“Why would Shadow want it to be a challenge? Wouldn’t he want to get his body back as quickly as possible?” Wind asked. 
“Number one, Shadow is super dramatic so it’s a definite possibility that he would have some sort of monster waiting for us. Number two, Shadow probably wasn’t the one who spread the shards, there could be something else involved here.” Four answered, still squinting at the wall in front of him.

They pushed open the doors to the final room to find it once again, empty. “Well, I guess you were right Wind, there is no monster.” As soon as Four said those words, eight darknuts fell from the ceiling. 
“Damn it! Did you have to jinx it?” Wind cried. 
“Yeah, that one was totally my fault.” Four looked guilty before turning serious. “We told the others we could handle ourselves, let’s prove it.” He drew his sword and attacked the three closest to him. Wind was quick to follow and stayed close by his side. They weaved around the darknuts, using their small statue to their advantage. The battle was fine until Wind got hit and was knocked to the other side of the room, separating them. The battle started going downhill and they both were being dealt heavy blows. Out of pure desperation, Four split. Immediately, Red ran to Wind’s side to help him. He pulled out his fire rod and burned all of the darknuts close to him. Green and Blue stayed together and took on three darknuts together. Vio stood back to assess the situation before taking two darknuts on himself. He sped around the darknuts, confusing them before targeting their weak points and stabbing them. He didn’t see the one darknuts sneaking up behind him. Right before he was about to get hit, Green shoved him out of the way and parried the attack. 

“Watch your back!” Green shouted. 
“Shouldn’t I be the one telling you that?” Vio smirked. 
“Quit the chit chat! Red needs help!” Blue yelled. Vio nodded quickly and rushed over, giving pointers on the weak points in between the attacks. 
“Aim for the chinks in the armor, they’re weakest there!” He instructed while sliding under Red’s legs. Blue and Green finished their fights only to see that the other three had just finished as well.

“So, wanna tell me what just happened?” Wind snarked. The colors sighed before turning to Vio. 
“Why is it always me?” Vio whined. “I’m really tired of giving explanations so I’ll keep this one brief. We’re the colors, four different aspects of Four’s personality and a byproduct of the Four Sword. Green represents his determination and focus, Red represents his innocence and compassion, Blue represents his loyalty and impulsiveness. I’m Vio, I represent his logic and knowledge.” He summarized.

“Tell anyone about this and I won’t hesitate to rip your throat out!” Blue growled. 
“Don’t listen to him, he wouldn’t actually do that. If you could keep this a secret though, that would be nice.” Red corrected.  
“Of course I’ll keep it a secret! We all have things we want to hide!” Wind waves his hands in a placating gesture. “But why would you guys want to hide this? This seems like it would be really useful!” 

“For starters, the more information you have, the more powerful you are. Knowledge is a dangerous thing and the more knowledge you have, the more power you possess so our secret is used as a fail safe in case things go wrong. Plus, if everyone knows our secret, they can target that and use it against us. ” Vio explained.

“That’s one reason at least. Since there are four people in his head at all times, Four is not exactly the most mentally stable. You probably wouldn’t notice it unless you were paying very close attention, but we wanted you guys to think we were normal for as long as possible. After all, who would trust a nut job who’s constantly arguing with himself?” Green added.

“Plus, it was nice to have someone who didn’t treat us like we’ve just killed their family all the time. The Minish don’t really care, but the townspeople think we’re some kind of devil.” Red sighed, looking down at his feet.

“Whatever. Our secret was gonna get out eventually. Back to being a freak I guess.” Blue scoffed. Wind stared at the four of them in utter shock.

“Are you kidding me?” He shouted. The colors were startled and looked suspiciously at him. “Those townspeople sound like real douchebags but we’re the heroes of Hyrule for Hylia’s sake! Do you honestly think we would treat you like that? We’ve all got dark pasts and terrible secrets but that doesn’t mean you’re worth any less to us. You were summoned here for a reason, so pull yourself together!” He yelled at them.  “I’m a freak too! I can see and talk to ghosts! That’s weird as hell!” Blue started laughing to himself. 

“He’s right you know. Us heroes are a walking freak show, what’s one more?” He smiled. Wind smiled back in return.  
“I still would like you to keep that secret a little longer. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for another reveal yet.” Vio said guiltily. 
“That’s fine, I don’t mind keeping secrets. Just don’t let me hear that self deprecating talk ever again!” Wind warned, balling up his fist. 
“Okay then, no more of that.” Vio chuckled.

They left the dungeon and rushed through the village, determined to get back to camp before sundown. “Thanks for your help! I’ll visit soon!” Four chittered to the Minish before letting out a shrill whistle. A blue jay flew down from the trees and greeted Four with a chirp. “Could you get us to Pinewood clearing on the north side of the woods?” He chattered politely. 
“Of course! I’ll set you down by the portal.” It chirped back.

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Four responded with a smile. He hopped on the bird and helped Wind sit behind him. The bird flew quickly and landed on a tree stump close to camp. “Thanks for the ride!” Four squeaked to the bird as it flew back to its nest. “Stay on the stump, I’ll grow you back after I get off.” Four directed. He hopped off the ginormous stump. “Grow big!” He chattered. Just like that, Wind was back to normal. Four pinched his earring and was back to normal as well.  
“The animals here are super nice.” Wind observed. 
“I may be the Hero of Men, but I saved them too.” Four replied with a small grin. “Now let's get back to camp, I’m sure the others are worried sick.”

“Hey they’re back!” Wild shouted from his position in the trees. 
“What took you so long?” Warriors asked with a smirk. Wind turned to Four, unsure of how much he wanted to reveal to the rest. 
“Oh you know, cleared a dungeon, fought some monsters, got the glass, the usual hero stuff.” He replied with a shit eating grin. Ah, so nothing then. Wind thought to himself. 

“Well, I hope you boys had fun. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us so get some sleep, I want to leave as soon as possible.” Time ordered. Wind made a fake salute before running to his bedroll. Four rolled his eyes before returning to his. One down, two to go. I’m coming for you Shadow.