The shadows of the past, the present and the future - Chapter 1
A Linked Universe story featuring: The Chain
Ao3 Link Ch.1/Ch.2
Titel: The Story about...
Summary: Campfire dinner, teasing, and questionable storytelling etiquette, just another normal evening for the Chain. But when the group starts discussing their experiences with shadow doubles, the humor shifts into something deeper. Or, almost all Links have a dark/shadow Link. Let's see how they deal with their past and how they can bring it into the present to make a better future
For the Heroes of Courage, sitting around the campfire with a warm stew in hand, listening to the crackling of the wood and the scurrying of small animals in the surrounding fields, has become a familiar scene. Whether on logs or a grassy blanket, each one made themselves comfortable and enjoyed Wild's delicious creation.
What would they do without their amazing cook?
But of course, a pleasant evening isn't complete without a proper story
"So yea, camps between small cliffs are the worst" finished the Champion , nodding with satisfaction as he dug into his food. Opposite him, on the other side of the fire, sat Warriors, staring at him with exhausted eyes.
Wars was seated on a log, while Wild was positioned in front of the log opposite him, leaning most of his weight against Legends' leg. As ever, the veteran responded to the slightest affection with not-so-kind glares at Wild, but slowly came to accept it. This was especially the case after Hyrule, sitting to Legend's right, started a conversation with him. Legend's attempts at discouragement calmed down, and the affection became a mere afterthought between them.
Sitting two spaces away from him with Time partly blocking his view of the rancher, Twilight let out a huff of air, something they had all come to recognise as a sign of hidden fondness.
“Why didn’t you try from the other side of the hill?” Warriors asked, perplexed. Wild gave him a crooked smile and swallowed his spoonful of stew. "Well, I wasn't about to walk around the whole mountain just to find a simpler way. Besides, I did manage to get to the tower." He stopped, swirling the spoon around in his hand. "The last few monsters didn't even notice me."
"By sheer luck, I assume," Hyrule snickered, not even attempting to avoid Wild's hit. Legend, on the other hand, simply leaned back a little and lifted his bowl so that it wasn't in the way of the assault.
Sky hummed happily and placed his empty bowl on the floor beside him, careful not to put it too close to Wind's swinging legs. "Finding a more discreet way is not something our champion would do if there is an obvious way," he stated, tightening his sailcloth around his shoulder. It wasn't a cold evening, far from it, in fact, but having a piece of home by his side always brought comfort.
Wind grinned around his spoon. "If the champion is taking the safe route, we gotta worry about him," he snickered, adding, "It'll be a darker version of him."
"Wouldn't that make me the dark version, then? Doing everything in a non-proper way?" asked Wild, his voice thoughtful. Legend promptly hit him on the back of the head, producing an overdramatic, painful noise. 'What was that for?' he asked, confused but not actually offended. He knew how Legend worried, most of them did. Leaning his head back on the veteran's knee, he looked up into lavender-coloured eyes. They were an interesting sight indeed.
They were actually one of the first Collector's eyes he had seen, at least among his brothers. They were a lavender colour with a golden ring around them, framing them beautifully like the moonlight reflecting on the waves. 'Magic', he explained one quiet evening when neither he nor his brother could sleep.
But Legend wasn't the only one with that mark.
The majority of them had been affected by magic in their lives. Legend and Hyrule's eyes, filled with shimmering gold, were just the most prominent. If the light hits the eyes of Time and Wind just right, they also have a feeling of something unnatural about them. Sky and the Captain were nothing in comparison, but Sky's aura of being blessed and War's beauty made up for that. Four and himself, on the other hand, well, his eyes were now an extraordinary shade of turquoise, while Four's were simply grey. There was nothing special about them. Wild was too afraid of the small man to ask about it.
Returning to the present, Legend didn't even spare him a glance, simply continuing to eat his stew. It really was a good stew, Wild had outdone himself again. Before he could continue thinking about magic and food, Time spoke up from beside Twilight.
"The opposite, huh? I always assumed that dark versions of oneself were just reflections with twisted senses," he mused, looking deeply into the flames in front of him. Wild loved his brother dearly, but if the Old Man didn't want to be an old man, he needed to stop talking like one.
“Did you encounter a Dark version of yourself?” Wind asked excitedly, narrowly missing Skys bowl with his foot. The Chosen should really have put the bowl on the other side of him, next to the smithy. "Yes, I have," answered Time, placing his empty bowl on the floor in front of him. "But I don't remember much about it; it has been a long time." Legend huffed. "Yeah, yeah, we know you're ancient," he said. But from the way he leaned slightly towards Time, Wild figured he was just as interested in the story as everyone else.
A chuckle went around the crowd. Age jokes always got them.
"Well, let me think," said Time, letting his head fall into the palm of his hand. "It was in a water temple where I met him." A groan and a chuckle came from around the majority of the Hero. Wild never understood why others were repulsed by temples associated with water. But those who have them and whose land is not an ocean seem to dislike them to a certain degree.
"The sky was completely blue with no sun. The only things besides the endless water on the floor were a small island and a rotten tree." He started to explain. In their usual fashion, not one retelling could be done without interruption. Wind cocked his head to the side. "An island in a room?" he asked.
Time hummed and turned his gaze from the fire to their youngest. "Not an actual island, I suppose. Just a small patch of land on which two people could stand comfortably," he explained, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Everything was an illusion anyway, and the room transformed into a simple, empty space with an entrance and an exit."
"I walked along the water over the island and didn't realise that my shadow wasn't following me. When I inspected the door, nothing happened, so I turned around." He paused, perhaps for dramatic effect. "And there he stood, in front of the tree. He was bathed in shadows and had brilliant red eyes," he said. Wild felt a wave of something wash over the group.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Hyrule had stopped eating and that a hand had been placed on his side. Twilight also had a tense posture, and he needed to look at him to give Time his attention. Was this a touchy subject for some of them?
Time continued, "We quickly started trading blows. At first, nothing special happened, but slowly, he started to become more tangible and opaque. He copied my every move." Instead of the reaction Wild expected when he retold this somewhat scary story, the Hero seemed rather calm and indifferent. After all, many decades had passed since then. Decades that he actually got to live. Suddenly, Time let out a little huff of amusement. "Can you believe it? He jumped on my sword multiple times and tried to slash me."
"Well, that's...a unique way," the warrior commented. Wild gave him a quick look, but the captain didn't seem completely engrossed in Time's story. That was weird; normally, he enjoyed the story as much as the sailor did. Turning back to Time, he continued, "Well, the battle was quickly over, and I never saw him again."
There was quiet among the heroes for a moment. No one dared to speak a word. But the silence needed to be broken for life to continue. It was broken either by a calm storm or by a very irritated looking Smithy. "Only once, huh?" Four said with a slight furrow between his brows that Wild had only seen before when he broke a weapon on anything other than an enemy. He also tapped his finger slowly on his wooden bowl.
"Did you see a dark version of yourself, then?" Sky asked in a light voice, looking down at the Smith beside him. The young man in question sighed in annoyance and gently placed his bowl on the floor. It was a true act of self-regulation, if Wild had ever seen one.
By this time, the sun had already set, and the previous pink and purple hues had left the sky, which was now coated in dark blue. Tiny, off-white freckles illuminated the sky, and while Wild couldn't see the moon, he knew its gentle light embraced them as well.
Apparently, he did not receive enough of the light's love, as he crossed his arms. "More than one. Honestly, I stopped counting after they kept appearing in all sorts of locations." They're a complete nuisance," he stated. Wild was sure that if their shadows from the campfire were not cast behind them, Four would swiftly kick his own shadow. Should he feel sympathy for it?
"Did it follow you on your quest?" Hyrule asked, his hand never leaving his side. He looked at the Smith, expecting a specific answer. But Four was not in the mood to fulfil expectations and promptly threw them all into a cold lake. "It tried, but I simply got rid of the pest."
"That's...a bit extreme," Legend said, giving the smithy a perplexed look. It's true; normally, the smith was a lot more tame than that. Hyrule cleared his throat, but it sounded more like his voice was escaping him. "I've only met mine once," he said quietly, his fingers curling against his tunic where Wild had seen him clutch before. "And it was probably the hardest fight of my life."
The others did not speak for the moment, not even Wind. The crackle of the fire filled the silence softly and respectfully, as if even the flames knew when to settle down.
Hyrule’s eyes were fixed on the stew in his lap, though Wild doubted he could see anything. "It didn't feel like just a shadow. Its movements were a perfect replica of mine. Like it was me, just-” He paused and shook his head, his hair swaying softly with the motion. "It couldn't mirror my spells, but it didn't give me the chance to cast them anyway..."
Wild felt as if Legend had shifted, as if he wanted to reach out but ultimately decided against it. He wondered if Hyrule had noticed.
"I won, but only barely. And after…well, I had other responsibilities to take care of." He laughed shakily. "Understandable," Twilight murmured, his posture easing slightly now that Hyrule had spoken. Wild suspected Twi’s tension had more to do with worry than the story itself. Warriors blew out a breath and straightened as if finally deciding he could contribute. "Shadows pretending to be you...yes, that makes sense." He lifted a hand and turned it in a circle. “Mine tried to lure me into a trap. A really obvious one. And I still fell for it."
Legend tried to stifle a snort when he heard the soldier. Warriors gave him a flat look. "I was young," he said. "And now you're old," Legend muttered, turning his gaze away from Wars, who gave him an annoyed look.
Warriors ignored him after that. "Anyway, I ended up surrounded by four. Five of them? They all had my face, and they all had those shadows oozing off of them." Warrior clicked his tongue, but continued. "The point is, I fought them off long enough for my companions to bail me out. They didn't let me forget that for a week. Or ten.” Twilight snickered, and Warriors shot him an offended glare. "As if you wouldn't fall for a trap involving a horse," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Twilight considered it. "... Depends on the horse."
A ripple of laughter circled the camp, the warm kind that chased away tension better than any cloak.
Warriors leaned back on his hands and smirked. "At least my shadow didn't follow me around like some of yours apparently," he said, giving the Collector an obvious side-eye. The Collector cocked his head at it. Legend raised an eyebrow. "You implying mine did?" "Oh, please," Warriors sighed dramatically. "Your shadow is probably the scariest thing you've ever faced. I’m surprised you lived to tell the tale.” Legend gave him a very slow blink, utterly unamused. "Actually," he said, adjusting his bowl and looking back into the fire, "they taught me a lot. I still spar with them sometimes.”
Wild froze.
So did the others.
“Come again?” Wind asked in a small voice.
Legend shrugged, shrugged as if this were perfectly normal. "They learned. I learned. It's efficient. They’re predictable now, so it’s not dangerous.” He placed his bowl on top of Wind's head. Wind quickly grabbed the bowl before it fell. Looking into it, he saw that it was empty. "Knowing somewhat their origin and seeing what they did, I doubt mine were ever actually dangerous."
The champion's hand brushed the handle of the ladle before he grabbed it to refill his brother's bowl. Wild knew Legend's tone well enough to sense when something wasn't being said. There was something heavy under that last sentence. Something sharp. Something tired. But Legend didn’t want to talk about it. That much was obvious.
So Wild stayed quiet. Sometimes, the best way to support someone was simply to be there.
Wind swung his legs, blissfully unaware of the tension. "Well, I never had a shadow version. Unless... Do ReDeads count? Those were kind of dark and humanoid, and they were a real pain to deal with.” "It doesn't count," Warriors said instantly. "Harsh," Wind muttered. Sky piped up next, bright as ever. "I never encountered a shadow either. At least, not one shaped like me. I've encountered lots of monsters with blocking habits, but not an actual counterpart.”
"Lucky," Four mumbled, still glaring into the flames as if his own shadow would try to crawl out and start something. Sky placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Four accepted it with only minimal grumbling.
Wild blinked and realized that all eyes had slowly shifted toward him.
"What?" he asked. "I don't have a shadow version." Legend snorted. “You sure? With your luck, it’s probably hiding under a rock, waiting for the right moment to strike.” Wild stuck out his tongue at him. “No, really. I think I’d remember something like that. No dark version, no shadow clone, nothing.”
That is, if he were to ignore a specific set of clothing of his which was somewhere in his closet. To be fair, it gave him enhanced vision in the dark. He didn't use it that often, but it was fun to scare Yiga with. Perhaps he should tell Twilight before he gives the other hero a heart attack.
Wind snorted into his bowl. "Perhaps he is the dark version, and we never actually met him," he said, giving Wild a suspicious glare. Hiding his grin, Hyrule whispered, "That would explain so much."
Four dragged a hand over his face and muttered something about needing a new definition of "pest." Time simply chuckled but remained silent, looking far more knowing than Wild liked. Sky offered a gentle smile. "At least this one didn't show up uninvited." Wild decided he wasn't going to think about any of that tonight, or what it could mean for his future.
Instead, he lifted Legend's bowl, inhaled the comforting scent of herbs and vegetables, leaned a little more heavily against Legend's leg, and gave him the now-full bowl.
Because shadow versions or not, the fire was warm, his brothers were safe, and the stew tasted wonderful.
And really, that was all he needed for now.