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Shadow teleported the moment he felt Link’s presence.
Link had disappeared a couple of weeks ago, and when Shadow said disappeared, he meant disappeared. He had always had a keen sense for where the hero was at all times, something about a soul connection. Shadow had gotten distracted during that particular Vio-rant.
So, when Link suddenly appeared back on his radar, he wasted no time in slinking into the shadows. He reappeared next to a small clearing and decided to stay in the shadows as he heard a myriad of voices.
A group of heavily armed men, around 8 or 9, wandered around the clearing completing various chores. The sun was just dipping behind the horizon, and it seemed that they had just finished dinner. So these were the men who kidnapped his boyfriend. Shadow’s eyes narrowed.
Scanning the group, Shadow spotted Link near the middle of the camp. He was laying in a familiar multicolored bedroll, arm thrown over his eyes. He seemed to be in pain, and Shadow wanted nothing more than to bolt to his side and hold him until the pain was gone. However, it was still bright enough to hurt him and he didn't want to take any chances with 8 clearly capable men.
A couple of them he was sure he could take on, like the scrawny one with freckles or the kid in a lobster tunic, but others he wasn't so sure. The tallest of the bunch, a man with a permanent scowl and weird markings on his face, put Shadow on edge. Another one, with fluffy brown hair and a carefree smile, sent a shiver down Shadow’s spine. On the outside, he seemed harmless, but something about him spoke of a hidden power.
So, Shadow decided to wait until they were all asleep. Or, he would have, if one of them hadn't stayed awake, presumably to keep watch. Shadow cursed his luck. At least it was the smiley one and not the scary guy with one eye.
Thankfully, Smiley has decided to sit opposite the camp from Shadow, and a decent distance away from Link. Just in case, Shadow whispered a sleeping spell into the shadows around him. Within a couple seconds, the man's eyes had shut and his hands stilled from where they were carving. Shadow grinned. Perfect.
Carefully, Shadow slinked through the darkness until he was by his boyfriend’s side.
“Hey, Rainbow. You there, stupid?” Shadow whispered, poking Link’s cheek. Link twitched away and cracked an eye open, blinking dazedly at him. He opened his mouth to speak-
The holiest sword Shadow had ever felt in his life impaled the air where his head was just a moment before. Shadow reappeared behind the man, hissing in annoyance. The man whipped around to face him, sword steady in his grip. Their eyes met, and Shadow instantly regretted underestimating Smiley.
“Don't you fucking touch him,” Smiley spat, furious gaze piercing right into Shadow’s soul.
Shadow opened his mouth to retort, only for an arrow to implant in his leg. Shit. He quickly teleported to the edge of the clearing, watching in horror as the entire camp sprung into action. The one responsible for the arrow in his leg, the twink cook, was now loading five arrows onto one bow.
Shadow cursed and summoned a shield just in time to block a sword going straight for his neck. The pink haired one was snarling at him, sword locked against his shield, and Shadow snarled right back. Shadow desperately looked over to Link, only to see him struggling to escape from Smiley’s grasp on his forearm. Shadow needed to get over there, now.
He summoned his strength and pushed back on the shield, hard . Pinky didn't go sailing like he thought he would, but he still fell down onto the ground. A blink later and Shadow was right behind Smiley.
He ducked under a swipe from that terrifying sword, running towards Link.
“It's going for Four!” someone shouted, and Shadow scoffed. Who the hell was Four?
He almost reached Link when a massive claymore slammed down inches in front of his face. Looking up, he met the determined gaze of One-eye. Shadow simply bared his teeth at him and leaped over the claymore, reaching out for Link. Link reached back, he was almost there-
A searing pain erupted across his back, and he screamed. He crashed into Link, but barely felt the impact as he writhed on the ground. Goddesses, that hurt. Unfortunately, he still had a fight to win.
Shadow staggered to his feet, ignoring the shouting match happening over his head. He bared his teeth, summoning his sword to face off against Smiley. He glanced at his blood dripping off the holy blade, and he shivered. He would do anything for Link, but he would love to not be hit by that sword again.
He did his best to keep Link behind him, stomach dropping as a circle formed around them. He didn't think he could escape this. Not with Link, at least. There wasn't enough shadow in the middle of the clearing to teleport both of them. He could sense Link getting angrier behind him, shouting at the men surrounding them. They shouted back, but Shadow was too tired to listen. Did the world always spin like that?
Suddenly, a hand wrapped around his waist, careful to avoid the slice on his back. Shadow squeaked as he was pulled into a dip, sword and shield dissipating. Link’s lips met his and holy Hylia, had he missed this. The fight and pain faded away for a second as he relished in the contact, wrapping his arms around Link’s neck.
When Link finally pulled away, they were both out of breath. The men around them stood still, jaws dropped to the floor in shock.
“So,” Link panted, staring out towards the group, “this is my boyfriend, Shadow. Shadow, these are the heroes of courage.”
Various statements of “what the fuck?!” echoed throughout the group, including from Shadow's own mouth.