#maybe I should tag us as Vaati’s revenge since it kinda is related to that lol

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 7- alternate prompt, shaking

Shadow has a bad time :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emptiness.

It was all he knew, all he could feel, all he could see. Time didn’t seem to exist in this place, everything was stagnant and still. But it didn’t bother him, nothing did. In fact, he didn’t feel anything. There was nothing. Just… emptiness.

That was until something disturbed the stillness of the place, a voice, a light, and a hand reaching out to him. He was grabbed and pulled towards the bright light, causing him to feel something.

Fear.

He hated the light.

Pain shot through him as he got closer, and he couldn’t hold back the scream as it touched every part of his body. His eyes stung, his throat burned, and his skin ached, but the light did not let up. He wanted nothing more than the pain to go away. Tears streamed down his face as the pain became unbearable, and suddenly, it was gone. The light was gone, the burning agony through his body left, and he felt… himself.

“… dow… adow…”

His eyes fluttered open when he heard the muffled voice. Was it calling out to him? His vision was blurry, but he could barely make out a color.

Violet.

“Shadow.”

Shadow’s eyes cleared and he saw his old friend cradling him in his arms.

“V-V-Vio?” His voice shook, and Shadow was almost embarrassed at how weak he sounded. Vio smiled at him and gave him a tight hug, which Shadow tried to reciprocate, but found no strength.

“Shadow… you’re here, you’re ok,” Vio whispered soothingly— well, as soothingly as he could. Vio sounded just as shaken up as Shadow.

“V-vio what—what am I d-doing here?” Shadow asked, remembering the mirror being destroyed, with him being gone as well. He shouldn’t be here. Why was here?

Vio sat him up so he was leaning against his side, and Shadow noticed something tucked away in his own hand. He opened it and saw a circular glass pendant, the glass feeling like it belonged to the dark mirror.

“Vio… what—“

“I couldn’t leave you in there… not again,” Vio finally said, not looking at him.

Shadow stared at him. He looked exhausted, and he seemed to have been shaking as well. What did he do?

“You— you brought me to… your world?”

“Yes.”

“Why? W-why did you even bother with me?”

Vio looked up, but still refused to look at Shadow.

“Because that’s what brothers do.”

Shadow sucked in a breath, clutching the glass pendant. “I’m not your brother, Vio,” he said quietly.

“Yes you are.”

“No, I’m not. I—I don’t deserve to be called your brother.”

“You’re a part of Link just like I am. Just like the others are. You’re my brother.”

Shadow shook his head and tried to pull away, but he didn’t have the strength. He stared at Vio’s tunic for a moment, realizing something.

“Are you… split?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I thought—I thought that you guys merged back together right? Or… or maybe—“

“It’s a long story. We decided to permanently split.”

Shadow gasped and whipped his head up at Vio, who was staring at him now, his light pink eyes staring into him, but he quickly looked away, almost looking defeated.

“Look, Shadow, we… never fully merged back together. Mentally we were still split.”

“What?”

“Basically Link was four people trapped in one body. We would take turns controlling Link, but sometimes we would argue about what we were doing and… ugh… it was hard. Something happened and we got the four sword back, so we decided to stay split. It also gave me the freedom to try to bring you back.”

Shadow shook his head again. “I don’t deserve this.”

“You sacrificed yourself for us. You do deserve it.”

Shadow sighed and stared at the pendant in his hands again. He frowned.

“What is this?”

“That is what will keep you here safely. It’s like… a mini dark mirror.”

“You made a mini dark mirror?”

Vio nodded, and Shadow understood the bags under his eyes.

“Goddesses Vio… you did all that for me… I just… I don’t—“

“Can you please shut up about not deserving this?” Vio said bluntly. “A ‘thank you’ would suffice.”

Shadow pursed his lips and looked across the messy room. It was dark in there, perhaps to have no light infect the dark mirror. He sighed, Vio did deserve his gratitude. He pulled him out of… wherever he was.

“Well… thank you.”

Vio smiled slightly and pulled him into another hug.

“I’m glad you’re ok Shadow,” he muttered, and Shadow melted a little into the hug. He was glad he was ok too.