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As hours stretched into days and Shadow failed to wake, the light in Four’s eyes was starting to die.
Sky wished there was something he could do. He couldn’t even imagine having to watch his beloved Sun like this, unconscious and slowly withering away. However, he was not a healer, not that even Hyrule could do much except make sure he didn’t get any worse. The rest of them just took turns in helping carry their new companion along and keep him out of harm’s way when there were monsters about. Four might have insisted on doing it himself, even with being physically the smallest, if not for Hyrule forbidding him from straining himself needlessly. Someone like Twilight or Time barely even noticed the added weight.
There were murmurs here and there, always when Four was well out of earshot, about what they would do if Shadow never woke up. Sky had no answer to that. He wasn’t sure there was a way to answer it, not without Four breaking as well. Even the ever suspicious Legend had to admit it would be for the best if Shadow woke soon. Not that his occasional grumbles about not trusting the shade carried much weight when he still took a turn carrying him.
Right now, however, it was Wild standing guard over their patient, using his bow to pick any bokoblin unfortunate enough to give him a clear shot. Sky had no time to pay much attention to them from where he was at the other side of the battle, busy with his own opponents. Four was split into his colors, insisting it was for strategic advantage. They all knew that wasn’t the actual reason, but whether he was more concerned with serving as an additional line of defense between Wild and Shadow and the monsters or just wanted to take his frustrations out on the monsters fourfold, Sky wasn’t sure. As long as he was fighting, nobody was going to call him on it.
Not even a Link would be suicidal enough to get in the way of a protective omega, juvenile or not.
Someone shouted, not that Sky could hear what was being said over the chaos of the battle. It must have been a warning, though, as he did see Wild’s head snap up, followed by their cook spinning around to face a lizalfos that had managed to creep up behind him. His bow disappeared in a flash, replaced with a sword, but even with his uncanny ability with time there was no way he could completely block the attack. Even so he was trying, rushing forward to set himself between the enemy and Shadow.
There was a clash of metal that seemed loud even against the cacophony of the battle. It wasn’t Wild’s sword against the lizalfos’s blade, though. A small figure was crouched between the two, on his knees but still holding firm with a sword.
A grin flashed on the pale face, obvious even at a distance. Then Shadow stepped aside, allowing Wild to impale the lizalfos on his own sword.
Sky had no time for watching any further, too busy taking down his own enemies. Thankfully there wasn’t too much fighting left to do; he had a feeling Four would have burst into even more pieces if he’d had to wait. As it was, the last monster had barely fallen when the four copies turned to all run towards where Shadow and Wild were.
“Shadow!” one of the Fours cried out, moments before all of them swamped their dark copy in a desperate embrace. Wild was watching the two with a fond look on his face, rather at odds with the way he was busying himself with gathering up what few pieces remained of the slain enemies.
As Sky grew closer, the rest of the chain all gathering around the point of interest, he heard Shadow weakly protesting at the continued hold. Not weakly just because he didn’t actually want to let go, Sky noted with a worried frown, but also because his voice was barely audible.
“Good to know you’re not cursed to forever sleep or something. Smithy here would’ve been inconsolable.” Wind grinned at the two.
“Oh, fuck you too, Wind.” The four Fours finally let go of Shadow enough to lift their swords, merging into one. As soon as that was done Four was running his hands along Shadow’s arms, checking for any injuries. “You scared me, you idiot.”
“S’rry.” Shadow gave Four a soft smile. “Wasn’t tryin’ to.”
“May I?” Hyrule drew near, no doubt having confirmed that none of the Links had the kind of injuries that required his immediate attention. Shadow looked wary but nodded as Four did. Their healer took his time examining Shadow, then moved on to Four. Finally, he sat back, giving a satisfied nod.
“I think I get it now.” Hyrule hummed to himself. “Why you took so long to wake up, that is. It’ll probably take another while until you’re back to full health, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”
“Makes sense.” Shadow snorted, his voice still rough and quiet. “I’m totally wiped out, and I barely fought.”
“Oh?” Four frowned. As soon as Hyrule had backed away, he’d all but draped himself over Shadow, nuzzling at his jaw in what was likely an unconscious gesture. “What is it? Can we help?”
“Pretty sure you’re helping already.” Hyrule gave them a comforting smile. “Basically, you,” he nodded at Shadow, “are a creature of shadow. Not necessarily of darkness, but dark magic, anyway. However, when Four dragged you out of the dark realm, he did so by anchoring you onto his own magic, which is mostly light.”
“Which is why he’s able to exist in the light world without the mirror,” Four concluded, one hand clutching at Shadow’s tunic. “But then — why’s he so weak? I recovered way faster.”
“Because the change for you is less severe,” Hyrule pointed out. “You deal with dark magic regularly just by going through the portals; most of the time you are in the light world, which suits your natural magic. He got dragged into a world that’s incompatible with his own magic, and while the link to you has allowed him to not only survive but start adapting, it’s a much longer process.”
“Long but necessary, I’m guessing, if he’s supposed to keep living in the light world.” Wars frowned. “And there isn’t much we can do to help the process along.”
“Unless you can siphon dark magic from the monsters?” Twilight asked, looking at Shadow.
“Not easily, and not without getting way too close.” Shadow grimaced. “As much as I’d like to say I can hold my own, right now I can’t.”
At this point everyone started discussing the possibilities, while Hyrule moved on to double-checking everyone for hidden injuries. Legend, Sky noted, was unusually quiet, eyes locked on Four and Shadow.
“There’s one thing we could try.” Legend spoke slowly, clearly weighing each word. “Or, rather, one person we could ask.”
“Oh?” The look Four gave him was so full of desperate hope even Legend’s icy exterior cracked.
“Ravio.” Legend sighed. “His own natural magic is somewhat dark because of where he’s from. However, he’s managed to adjust to living in Hyrule.”
“It definitely sounds like a good lead.” Time nodded. “Better than anything else we can come up with, at least.”
“Might be expensive, though, knowing Ravio.” Wars smirked.
“Ravio’s a good guy at heart. He might claim some debts, but if he can help, he will.” Legend’s eyes turned icy cold as he glared at Shadow. “If you do anything to hurt a hair on his head, though? That’s when you truly will pay.”
“Don’t worry.” Shadow managed a wry grin. “Even if I wanted to risk being thrown back into nothingness, I’m not going to do anything that could upset my own hero.”
Four gave a strangled squeak and hid his flushed face against Shadow’s shoulder, which was endlessly better than the empty look in his eyes before.