Legend of Zelda ~ Sealed Away

Believe Me

The crunch of dry leaves beneath the soft sounding thud of heavy leather boots echoed in the dark, dense forest, which was empty save for a single lone traveler with a purpose. Searching blue eyes glowed ominously in the darkness of the trees, and the young man stopped for a brief moment to make sure he wasn't being followed by any unwanted guests before continuing on his way.

Shadow Link crept stealthily through the forest, but the deeper he journeyed in the less cautious he became. Who would bother following him this deep into the woods at this time of night? If Vaati or anyone else of importance had decided to follow him they surely would have revealed themselves by now, so Shadow decided to drop the act.

He also decided to slow his pace. Now that he was nearing the hidden temple at the heart of the forest where Ganon had made his hideout, Shadow wasn't so keen on arriving there any sooner then he had to. Maybe on a better day, if he had some good news to bear... But today wasn't one of those good days, and Shadow was in no hurry to break the bad news and experience Ganon's unforgiving wrath.

The news that Vaati was going to keep up all his redemption nonsense was not going to sit well with the easily angered gerudo man, and Shadow knew that he would be on the recieving end of Ganon's upset wrath when he told him this, even though it hadn't been him who had done anything to upset his Master.

As Shadow walked through the forest, many thoughts swam through his mind. What if I didn't go back? He couldn't help but wonder. Anyone, anyplace is better then seeing Ganon. At least when Vaati was my Master he showed me some mercy...

Enraged by the path his train of thought had taken, Shadow kicked at a tree trunk angrily, cursing under his breath when he stubbed a toe in the process. He blinked away angry tears that had come to his eyes not out of pain, but of sadness and depression.

He was always underneath everyone, never anything more important than an old toy a child had long since forgotten about. He was used by everyone for their schemes, and was never allowed to voice his own opinion about situations. Just expected to listen, obey, and follow orders perfectly, or else severe punishment would ensue.

This never ending cycle had always been the basis of Shadows admittedly pathetic life. It had been okay under Vaati, though he had still never been treated as anything more then a servant, but Ganon was a different story altogether and it tore the small bit of pride Shadow had into pieces to have to follow orders from that ugly piece of gerudo scum.

Shadow absolutely despised having to work for Ganon. He despised having to work for anyone at all, actually. Why did he always have to be second best to everyone? He was always forced into doing the higher ranking villains dirty work for them; all the traps, spying, and carrying out the master plan fell to his tired shoulders, as did the consequence of the failure that always came along with being the villain. He was sick of it.

He didn't hate being a villain, no, he just preferred to have some fun with it. Shadow let out a chuckle as he realized that he didn't really care what he was, and wasn't rooting for any side. Oh, how mad Ganon would be if he ever found that one out.

All he wanted was freedom, so in this case he was against Ganon and prayed for his death, because the only way he would become a free person was if his current Master - how he hated referring to anyone with that title - died before passing off poor Shadow's ownership onto another person.

"I will escape someday," Shadow muttered to the empty air, his heart beating slightly faster as the dreaded temple came into view. "Believe me, I will."

Summoning some much needed courage, Shadow nervously made his way into the temple, drawing in a shaky breath. Why did he have to be the bearer of bad news? It wasn't fair, life was never fair.