Chapter 3

Where the smallest hint of romance appears. Really, it's not important.

Blue kicked some rocks down the mountain side, rubbing his eyes and growling irritably. They had been walking for about three hours and all of them (even Shadow) thought Red would be the first to complain. To everyone's shock however, Blue was the first to give in. Shadow didn't stop climbing. The four Links were on a narrow edge that they had to sidle across. By that time Blue had started to complain verbally, but Shadow still didn't stop moving.

It took another hour for Red to begin breaking down. Instead of appealing to Shadow directly, he appealed to Green who brought it up with the dark Link.

Shadow looked anxiously up at the sky before nodding once.

"Fine," he said, his voice tense, "But only for fifteen minutes,"

The four had managed to get to solid ground where they could set their packs down and take a breather. "I'm goin' to scope out ahead so you three stay here, got it?" He continued up the mountain when Blue yelled at him to stop.

"Why do we hafta listen to you?"

Shadow turned back to the three. "I don't think I have to explain myself to you," by the way Shadow finished his sentence it was obvious he was refraining from insulting Blue. "If no monsters have attacked us for four hours, you'll be fine."

Leaving it at that Shadow continued on his way, this time undisturbed. He left Green to restrain Blue.

~*~*~*~*~

Shadow closed his eyes, focusing his powers again. As usual he felt the drain, but he was prepared this time. He had reasoned that the magic needed to create the mirror wouldn't drain him completely; he'd have plenty for the rest of the night.

He was greeted by the dull sight of the Dark World and by Vio. Huh. To be honest he hadn't thought that Vio would be awake. The purple Link was awake but not facing him.

"You really don't like to take orders from anyone, do you Vio?"

Vio turned to look at Shadow, surprise written on his face. "Shadow! What. . . .? Are you strong enough?"

Shadow cursed himself as well as Vio. He hated the fact that Vio cared and he hated himself for liking it. Shadow clenched his teeth.

"I'm fine. I'm takin' your posse' to the Mirror."

"Oh?" Vio looked to the side of Shadow's head. "There's a path through the mountains?"

Shadow nodded. "You don't remember 'cause you were unconscious." He was, of course, talking about the time when Vio had turned against his friends. Or at least when Shadow thought he had turned against his friends.

"Oh. That would explain it, huh?" Vio chuckled slightly but Shadow didn't share the same amusement at the memory of that time.

He did nod however. "I don't like Blue." He said simply, and this time Vio laughed.

"Hahahahah. Yeah, I know, but thank you for putting up with him."

Shadow grimaced. "I'd knock him out but then I'd probably have to carry him." He looked behind himself to see if there was something to sit on. The dark Link sat on a semi-flat boulder, rested his elbows on his knees, and propped his chin on his hands. "Nothin's happened on that side, right?" Vio nodded. "Good. I'd give you your own sword, but I don't think I could pass it through the mirror. Because it's supposed to be a sword that repels darkness it would react badly with the mirror and probably drain most of my powers. I mean, it might be possible to pass it to you but. . . ." Shadow huffed slightly, looking directly at Vio, "I don't really want to take the risk." His black eyes registered the disappointed look on Vio's face and he found himself apologizing to the purple Link. The disappointment faded as Vio smiled slightly in response but another look replaced itself on Vio's face. Shadow blinked once in confusion.

"Are you alright?"

The question startled both Vio and Shadow. He shouldn't be concerned about Vio; he should still hate Vio for Goddesses sake! But he couldn't anymore.

Shadow opened his mouth to try and fix his mistake, but realized that any attempt he made would only make it worse.

"Well, it's just that I'm getting a bit hungry. There's no food here, is there?"

"No; I don't really eat, and none of the monsters need to either." His black eyes narrowed. "They do it just for sport."

Vio shuddered and Shadow blinked once, then looked down at the rocky ground.

"Hey," he started, hesitating slightly. "It'll cost me a bit of energy . . . but I can try and bring some food through the mirror. I mean the food isn't exactly created to repel evil so it won't destroy the mirror or completely drain me." His eyes were closed as he spoke and only opened them when he was finished.

Vio looked surprised but the look faded as he smiled. "That'd be awesome, Shadow. Thanks."

"Hmph." The shadow turned his face away from Vio as he felt his cheeks beginning to heat up. Thank the Goddesses for the darkness that surrounded them.

"Yeah, yeah." Looking immensely uncomfortable, the shadow stood up and coughed into his fist. "I need to go back to the moron, the child, and Green. Not a lot of time before the sun rises."

Vio grinned and Shadow 'hmphed' again before standing up. "It'll be a few hours yet, but I'll be sure to bring food when I return." He turned his back to the mirror, letting his magic go.

"Thank you again, Shadow," Shadow heard Vio say.

Shadow raised a hand to acknowledge that he had heard. The dark Link lowered his hand the moment the mirror faded completely. He lowered his head, purple bangs falling into his eyes, and he bit his bottom lip hard. He stopped when he tasted the metallic taste of blood and licked his lips, swallowing the crimson liquid. The shadow clenched his fists, commanding his heart to stop beating so fast. He kicked a rock out of his way, watching as it plummeted down into darkness.

"Means nothin'!" He growled angrily. "Absolutely nothin'!"

He was just nervous. Nervous about the plan. Not nervous over Vio. Shadow took a deep breath to calm his nerves and continued down the narrow path that led back to Green, Red, and Blue.

The three had started a campfire and were all eating what looked to be some kind of dried meat. The red Link was the first to notice Shadow's return and he called out to him happily.

"Hey, welcome back, Shadow! Did you talk to Vio?"

"Yeah."

Blue looked up next, eyes not leaving Shadow for an instant even when he had approached them and sat down between Green and Red. The blue-clad Link wasn't sure if it was just because of the fire light, but he spoke up anyway.

"So, uh, you blushing over there Shadow?''

The black-eyed Link twitched slightly but made no other movement. "Not only are you deaf, but you're blind too."

Still, Blue persisted. "Did your talk with Vio make you angry or something?"

A sudden feeling of relief spread through Shadow, and he grasped on to what Blue thought had happened.

"Yeah. You morons are hard to deal with y'know?" Shadow's face lost even more emotion, if that were possible, and looked to his right at Green.

"I need food to take back to Vio when mornin' comes around."

Blue opened his mouth to reject Shadow's request but Green threw a small pebble at him, causing him to close his mouth. Red looked at the dark Link with a smile on his face and reached down for his bag. He pulled out a bit more of the dried meat.

"Will this be enough?"

"Yeah, but put it back for now; we have to get movin'." The black-eyed Link rose and turned his back to the other three. "We've wasted far too much time."

This time they moved quickly; the fire was out in less than a minute. With their packs situated, the four continued their long trek deeper into the mountains.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Despite Shadow's worries that they were moving slowly, they actually made a great deal of progress. The sky gradually began to grow lighter as the sun began its ascent and Shadow stopped suddenly, running the back of his hand over his forehead and turning around to face the other three. His eyes locked onto Red's face.

"The food . . . please . . . Red." Green hid his smile from Shadow, pleased that he was beginning to mature at least a little bit. Green didn't let Shadow see his smile because he didn't think Shadow had matured enough to accept praise. . . . At least not from them.

Red shrugged his pack off and pulled out the dried meat, handing it to Shadow. "Tell Vio we say hi, okay, Shadow?"

The purple-haired Link nodded once before turning to look at Green. "I'll come back the same time I came last time so you guys should get some sleep, though it doesn't really matter to me 'cause I'll make y'all move no matter how tired you are."

He didn't even give them a chance to get a word in edge-wise before his body began to fade, slowly, until he had completely vanished.

Red and Green looked at each other and yawned simultaneously.

"Well," Green said, taking his role as the group leader back again, "let's stop here and try to get some sleep."

"Yeah." Red agreed, his voice weary and slow. "Shadow barely let us rest."

They looked at Blue who had remained silent and noticed he was staring at the place Shadow had been mere seconds before. "I hate the fact we have to rely on that b*****d so much. We don't know if he'll keep his promise not to hurt Vio! What if Vio's under his control again?"

Green placed a hand on Blue's shoulder to try and calm him down. "If he can't be trusted we'll figure it out soon enough, Blue. Just cool down and relax. Don't waste your strength trying to decipher Shadow's intentions." He gave Blue's shoulder a squeeze before moving to help Red set up a small camp. Blue inhaled deeply and followed suit, forcing his worries about Vio and over Shadow's intentions to the back of his mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The shadow's body jerked as his consciousness returned to it. He knew without even opening his eyes that he had been successful in bringing the food over. Groaning slightly, Shadow pushed himself into a sitting position, hissing in pain as his jaw began to throb. He spat out a curse that was slightly slurred and rubbed his jaw. The dark Link finally stood up completely and directed his attention to Vio who was laying a bit to his left, curled up on his side.

Shadow walked until he was standing over Vio, and he knelt down, looking at the purple Links' sleeping face. His black eyes narrowed slightly and he reached out, resting his hand on Vio's cheek gently.

"I hate you," he said softly, his voice shaking as he slowly caressed Vio's cheek. "I hate you for what you do to me, for what you make me feel, for tauntin' me with somethin' I can never have. I'm a shadow and nothin' more." He moved to gently trace Vio's lips and his voice dropped a bit more. "I hate you for makin' me love you."

Shadow clenched his teeth, paying no mind to his still smarting jaw and stood up quickly, needing a moment to himself before he faced Vio again. He removed his cap and placed it on the ground next to Vio, putting the food on top of it. Shadow stood, turned, and walked in the direction of the small cottage.

Purple eyes slowly opened when the shadow's footsteps had faded into silence. Vio sat up slowly and the first thing he did was touch his lips almost in disbelief. Shadow hated him?

More importantly . . . Shadow loved him?

Well that certainly was a surprise. It's not like he had tried to make Shadow develop feelings for him. The purple Link wracked his brain, trying to recall if he had ever said or done anything that would cause the shadow to think that way. Unable to come up with a reason Vio glanced down at the food that Shadow had so graciously provided. He sighed heavily, picking the meat up and taking a bite. It certainly was no feast, but to Vio it tasted like heaven. As he chewed he mulled over what Shadow had said.

"That's not good." Vio muttered, rubbing his temples. "This'll all end badly, won't it?" Vio sighed heavily and finished the small portion of meat with less enthusiasm. Vio supped his hands around his mouth, preparing to call for Shadow, but paused, wondering if it would attract any unwanted attention. He gave it about three seconds of thought before he made his choice.

"Shadow? You here?" The purple Link kept his gaze on the small cottage, even though he was prepared for the shadow to appear from anywhere.

Sure enough, she shadow's voice came from behind Vio, causing the strategist to jump in surprise.

"So you're up?"

"Such a rhetorical question," Vio said, turning to face Shadow and still trying to regain his breath. "If I were still sleeping I wouldn't be talking to you right now, would I?"

"Tch." Shadow folded his arms over his chest, his jaw twitching slightly. "I need to talk to you."

Vio couldn't suppress the sudden jolt his heart gave at those words, and he actually had to focus to keep his face neutral.

"What's up?" He asked, pleased that his voice was completely steady even though his heart wasn't.

"I'm takin' your friends through the mountains 'cause there's a shortcut to the Mirror of Darkness."

Vio nodded, relieved that Shadow wasn't talking about what Vio had thought he was going to talk about. In fact, he recalled that Shadow had mentioned this to him before. Maybe Shadow had just forgotten. . . .? Or maybe Shadow had had lost his courage and hadn't said what he really wanted to say. Vio's heart started up again at the thought and he had to struggle yet again to stay neutral.

"That's fine. You don't really need my approval for that, do you? I mean, you know more about what you're doing and where you're going than I do."

The purple Link looked at the shadow as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit indecisive for a split second.

"Yeah. I'll bring some more food back tomorrow, alright?"

Vio nodded again and looked a bit closer at Shadow, noting that his face was a tad drawn.

"Hey Shadow," the dark Link snapped to attention and looked at Vio in question. "You should rest a bit before night falls; you look beat."

I feel beat. Shadow mused. Out loud, however, he agreed. "Yeah. I need as much power as I can get if I want to continue leadin' those friends of yours. Red and Green aren't that bad, but Blue. . . ." The shadow trailed off as he growled in distaste.

Vio laughed, nodding twice. "I know he's a bit annoying, but thank you again for helping, Shadow."

Shadow abruptly turned away from Vio and spoke in a voice that seemed a bit . . . off . . . to the purple Link.

"Yeah, well, I got nothin' better to do, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life takin' orders." He started away from Vio. "'M gonna go get some rest for tonight. See ya."

With that said, Shadow left Vio alone to muse over the entire situation.

When Shadow was out of sight (which didn't take long at all considering how well he blended in with the Dark World) Vio sighed, rubbing his temples and sinking back to the ground, feeling drained even though he had just woken up.

"This. . . . Where is all of this going? None of this makes any sense!"

Author's Note

So that's chapter three. I personally hate the quality of it, but I'll always accept critique. So, please comment if you would.