Blue Link - Blog Posts

Pov: Blue's dragging [insert ship partner/emotional support idiot of choice here] through the apocalypse. (please ignore the hand it was already too late to change by the time I noticed it lol)

Bloody/grimyrendered version under the cut

Blue head canon that is 100% me projecting:

Blue sometimes gets so viscerally angry that he gets close to passing out. Like; head spinning, nausea, vision fuzzing. He can normally keep people from noticing by storming off or just making himself look as big and angry as possible with a 'barely internal' scream and people will take the sudden quiet the light-headedness causes as him keeping himself from saying something he'll regret.

It got so bad that he actually made the person he was angry at (probably Shadow) very concerned because he actually looked all dizzy and had to sit down to keep from passing out.

Also if he's angry for long enough, particularly active and angry, he ends up spending the rest of the day or week- depending on how long he was angry and active for -really drained both emotionally and physically.

This is deeply concerning to the people who know about it. Which isn't many lol.

I like to think that after the events of the manga he did start to mellow out a bit, which was helped by the week long exhaustion that came with spending the entire journey with a lit fuse. Blowing up at everyone for every reason is bad for his health.

hear me out

bludow:

Behold... this fucking thing

I dunno man. It was too long for tumblr.

halloween's over, I know, but I was too busy to draw this before so shhhhhh /j

got a bit lazy when colouring the boys lol can you guess each costume?

Catdow Revival AU Chapter 7: Epilogue

Okay. I didn’t really have a way I wanted this fic to end. Couldn’t really think of one. But I did think of this sort of… “go wherever you want with it from here” so here’s the outro! Thank you so much for reading!!

Shadow sat in a circle, drawn in the centre of the basement floor, because of course it was the basement they chose to do this in. It’s apparently the perfect place in the house for magic... other than the attic.

Vio had drawn up the magic circle. Though he didn’t seem to fond of the magic he was handling, he had a stony expression as he periodically glanced at his book, double checking what he was doing as he went so as to not mess up.

~~~~~~~

‘Mess up what?’ You may ask. Easy. Mess up the spell that’s gonna give me back my hylian shape.

If I had known Blue figuring out my identity would have led to me getting proper control of my magic back, I would have tried to show her sooner!

I’m glad it’s happening now though.

Vio lays down the last of what is needed for the magic, the only thing remaining now is to actually cast the spell.

~~~~~~~~

There was a long pause after the spell had ended. Shadow being given a moment to look over himself and appreciate the return of his fingers.

The spell hadn’t been perfect, he still had feline attributes. Like his eyes, which could slit like a cat’s and had a similar shine. There was fur along his knuckles, leading up to feline shaped claws. 

Most notably, he had a tail. A very fluffy one, but it was short and easy enough to hide in his pants that he was sure it hadn’t been noticed yet.

Thankfully he had been… humanized? Hylianized? Returned to form? Thankfully the spell had given him clothes after it worked it’s magic. Though they were very very loose, and the same colours as his old fur with a similar pattern.

Finally, the silence was broken by Red: “Does this mean we don’t have a cat anymore?” He sounded disappointed by the idea.

Shadow laughed. “You could say your cat got an upgrade!” And boy was it weird to use his voice again! It felt like he was moving the words around a cat mouth, and probably sounded accented with the rolls and shape of a cat’s meow.

Red’s lips thinned. “Hmmmm, nooo.” He hummed with a light tone and a shake of his head.

Shadow couldn’t help but pout, Blue and Green snickering at his expense.

Vio seemed to be in shock that the spell had even worked, looking at Shadow with furrowed eyebrows and wide eyes, mouth hung open as he looked between the shade and the book still in his hands.

“I thought Blue was wrong.” He mumbled, Shadow being the only one to hear him. He chose to ignore that comment for now.

Overall, everyone seemed happy. Red even more so when Shadow proved he could still turn into a cat.

CRAU chapter 6: intruder

enjoy :)

Shadow was used to staying up at miscellaneous parts of the day and night, even before becoming a cat. He vaguely remembered that cats have more sporadic sleeping habits, and are equally nocturnal and diurnal… was that the word? So all of this wasn’t really knew to him.

Anyways. He was used to staying up. Tonight was no exception.

He padded through the house, looking for something to do. He didn’t really wanna wake anyone, so most of his cat toys were out of the question. 

He had spent most of the night up to this point just laying with one of the four Links in their beds, and then climbing up to a high shelf and watching them sleep. Keeping an eye out for possible threats. 

But that got boring after nothing happened for too long. Besides that, nothing really ever happened. These guys were heroes, they had to have enemies. You mean to tell him that none of their possible enemies think of just offing one or more of them in the middle of the night? Really?

Sure it’d be hard because Vio goes to bed late and Blue wakes up early, so there wouldn’t be much time to. But still!

He found himself bored and bouncing around the halls trying to practice using what of his magic he had left while in cat form.

It wasn’t much, and- like every other time he had attempted in the nights before -the most he could do was cause the shadows around him to writhe a little.

Nowhere near enough magic power to become a hylian again.

But would he even want to at this point? Being a cat rocked, and was way easier than being hylian. Less expectations, less hate. It was nice.

He missed being able to pick things up, and missed being able to make fun of the four Links relentlessly, among other things that he can never really get used to not having anymore. But all around being a cat was nice.

He was still thinking hard on the pros and cons of just, never becoming hylian shaped again, when he heard a sound somewhere downstairs.

~~~~~~~

Of course I went to investigate.

I quietly made my way down the stairs. Pausing right at the bottom and looking around.

There was someone making their way through the house. A mask over their face making it hard to tell what they looked like, and a bag over their shoulder.

I watched them grab anything that looked valuable. Movements quick, precise, and quiet. 

They set the full bag by the window they had crawled in from, and grabbed out a knife while looking towards the stairs.

Oh ho ho. Not fucking happening.

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

Red woke up to the sound of a crash. Hissing and yelling filling the night air as he bolted upright in bed.

What’s happening???? He ran from his room, heart beating frantically.

Blue bolted past him and leapt down the stairs, hammer in hand already. Green hot on his heals. Vio looked like he was still trying to wake up as he stumbled out of his room with his bow in hand.

Red followed his brothers down the stairs. More carefully than the other two had been considering it was awfully dark in the until house and the stairwell was drenched in blackness, and he didn’t want to run into his brothers and trip them up.

The sound of another crash echoed through the house. Sounds of feline vs hylian violence suddenly and quickly stopping all together. Nothing but the low growl of a cat remained.

Clearly someone had someone broken in! Had Shadow tried to fight them? Was the intruder hurting their cat!?

Red was stopped dead in his tracks as he ran into something just beyond the bottom of the stairs. A light following him down as Vio- seeming to have grabbed a lantern from his room -made his way down behind him.

Green had stopped dead in his tracks, looking over at something beyond the counter. Blue having already rounded it, and looking at the same thing with wide and confused eyes, an expression of rage still hidden underneath.

Red peered over Green’s shoulder, trying to figure out what was happening.

Shadow Sandwich Thief Floof Wizard Destroyer of Egos sat licking his paw on top of a heap of bloodied hylian. A man with a mask over his face who had been knocked out (by the crash?) and was now crumpled on the floor in what looked like a very uncomfortable position.

“Shadow!” Red sprung forward past Green, ignoring Blue’s hand to stop him. He lifted the cat into his arms and checked him for injuries.

Shadow shifted to get comfortable in his grip, a look of surprise melting into a very smug one. He didn’t appear to be bleeding, and didn’t act like he had been bruised at all as Red felt along his body.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re okay!” He gave the cat a light hug, relief flooding his veins. 

At least until realization struck, and he pulled the cat away from him a little.

“How are you okay????” He asked, as though the cat could answer.

Shadow looked up at him, wide eyed, and then looked around as if searching for an answer. 

“Red.” Blue was crouched beside him, hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“I think our cat is Shadow.” Blue stated, a seriousness in his face that had Red believing him instantly. Even if he didn’t entirely get what he meant.

“Well yeah, that’s his name-.” Green tried, warily. 

“No. I mean. Our cat is Shadow Link.” Blue corrected.

There was a pause, and then came three voices at once (and a meow):

“WHAT?!?”

catdow revival au chapter 5: Oh… Good for her.

Sorry for how long it took to release this chapter. Wound up sick and then life hit me with a brick (hey that rhymes!). Anyways! Here it is! And the rest of the fic has been finished, now it's just about posting it. Which might be over the course of a few days just so that I can remember to actually do it.

Anyways, please enjoy!

Shadow looked around the house. Boredom begging to be somehow released.

Red and Green were out of the house, likely for a few days. Vio was cooped up in his room with the door only a crack open and his nose buried deep in a book.

Blue was around. But he was a kind of typhoon of activity. Switching from making food to cleaning things around the house to reading to making food again to exercising. Never giving one thing more than 20 minutes of focus.

Shadow watched him for awhile, and then thought it would be fun to try and keep up with him.

~~~~~~

I started when he moved back to his corner. There was a yoga mat with various instructions on it for how to do different stretches, and various doodads around that seemed to be for muscle??? Maybe??? Blue made his way over, and I followed. 

He did a stretch, I did my best to mimic it while still a cat. He lifted one of the doodads, I lifted a book or something else heavy and within reach.

He didn’t really notice at first. Having not paid a single ounce of attention to me for almost the whole day.

He’d reach down and pat my side whenever I walked in front of him, but that was about it.

I didn’t really know what to do while he finished whatever cooking/baking (I don’t really know the difference) project so I just circled for a little while.

He seemed to notice that (and the intense eye contact I made) but didn’t comment on it beyond a grumble of “weird ass cat” and a soft smile.

It was when he went back to cleaning that the problems arose.

Oh mercy be upon the soul who decides to reveal all the dust under the chairs by accidentally becoming a feather duster.

I trotted up to Blue, feeling extremely grumpy because I knew there was no way I was cleaning this up by licking it. No way. I refused before I’ll refuse again!

At least until Blue tried to get me in the bath. 

Which, for 1: No. For 2: No . And for 3: NO !!

Are you kidding? Getting me all soaked and soapy and having to air dry like some rat crawling out of a sewer? No thanks. I’m good.

“Come on! I need to get you cleaned up before I can clean up the dust and dirt everywhere else! I will not stand to have you running around when you're all dirty.. And… UGH!!!” I managed to jump out of his hands, running from the room and up into Vio’s room. Where I hid under his bed.

Vio had a lot of weird stuff under there. Lots of books that I’m pretty sure he had room for on the shelves. Boxes of papers and notebooks and notes. Other boxes with other stuff I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to know about.

Okay, hiding under Vio’s bed was scarier than the bath by a long shot.

Vio seemed to agree with me, because he dragged me out from under the bed with a look of pure horror on his face.

“Blue! What are you doing to the cat??” He asked, sounding a little tight, like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

What the fuck does he have under his bed????

Blue at least looked apologetic as he lifted me out of Vio's grasp, He’s trying to give me a bath, that’s what! “rrrrrrowww.” He gave me a pointed look, I gave him a grumpy one back.

“Sorry! I was trying to give him a bath!” Blue apologized, an awkward smile on his face as he started to pet me.

“Maybe find a different way to do that then? Because I really don’t want him in my room.” Vio at this point had gone back to his usual calm, cool demeanour. Which was annoying. Be real damnit!

“Why? What’s in your room that you don’t want him getting into?” Blue asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes.

Vio froze up, and then glanced at his bed, not answering. 

Alright, setting that aside in my head as another thing for later.

“Vio-” Blue tried to ask again, looking about as suspicious as I felt.

“It’s nothing, okay? Green had it in his had to teach the little rat how to steal my stuff, I really don’t want him making off with my notes or research!” Vio spat out, like he had to get the excuse out before Blue could say anything.

Blue didn’t look impressed. “The research that keeps you cooped up in here more days than it doesn’t? The research that looks a heck of a lot like messing around with shit you shouldn’t be?” Blue accused, then shook his head. “You know what, have fun with that. Just make sure you’re room is clean, I’m deep cleaning the house today.” He ordered, carrying me out of the room. 

“Stupid jerk. I wouldn’t want poor Shadow in there anyways, he would just collect more dust and dirt and bacteria not even known by science in there!” Blue grumbled under his breath, bringing me back into the bathroom.

I was too busy thinking about how I was gonna break in there again to struggle.

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

The rest of Shadow’s day was spent with Blue. Who had stopped being a tornado of doing stuff, and had sat down to read a book.

Shocking turn of events, I know.

At one point he got this frustrated look on his face and set the book down hard beside him. Thankfully on the opposite side of him than Shadow had been snuggled up to.

He folded his arms, staring straight ahead in annoyance.

“Row?” Shadow looked up at him.

Blue glanced down at him. “I don’t need to explain myself to a cat.” He said.

“Mrrrp.” fine, Shadow set his head back down on his pause. Ears perking up as Blue decided he did need to explain himself to a cat.

“The main character is just… ugh??? She just makes me wanna-!” Blue gripped at the air like he could strangle this imaginary character if he believed hard enough.

“In book one, she wasn’t so bad. It was like reading my own thoughts on a page and the only reason I even continued through the book, and she got the cool ass reward for her good deeds with getting to actually have a more feminine- oh uh, she was born male but is a girl -not completely removing her being born male but she still got- and now in the sequel??? It’s like the author forgot everything about her character! He wrote her as being this baddass nuanced woman, and the moment she transitions fully she’s like… half the character she was before and-!” Blue slapped his hands over his forehead and dragged them down.

He nodded, not getting any of what he was saying but still wanting to be supportive.

“I miss the character who gave me my awakening, where did she go?” Blue grumbled.

Shadow paused. Blinking.

Wait what.

“You wouldn’t tell anyone would you? I’m not ready for them to know.” Blue grinned, knowing full well that Shadow couldn’t tell anyone shit.

BLUE’S A GIRL???? Shadow stared dumbly at him… her???

Blue just set, him down and went back to petting him. Seemingly not noticing the poor cat's brain frying.

He shook his head, causing her to flinch.

Blue’s a girl… good for her.

Chapter 4: Time With Green

sorry for the delay of this chapter. My original plan was to give each boy time but I'm gonna scrap the Red and Vio 1-on-1 chapters or else this will never get finished lol. Just know that Red gives Shadow a bath and Vio has suspicious 'trying to resurrect Shadow' stuff under his bed.

Anyways on to the chapter!

Shadow already liked Green. The guy was the first to show him genuine kindness, no strings attached, no expectations. He was kind, and he accepted him in his final moments, so Shadow liked him even if he would never admit it to anyone.

But this? This made him like Green even more.

Green and Shadow had been alone in the house that day. Green doing miscellaneous tasks and Shadow messing around in whatever room he was doing chores in to bug him or just to ease his own boredom.

At one point Green was picking up books and things while Shadow was weaving his way between his legs, tripping him up, and Green dropped one of the books on the ground. Shadow, seizing the opportunity to mess with him and his cleaning, took the book and ran away with it.

Green just huffed out a little “hey! Rude.” and went back to putting the rest of what was in his hands away.

Shadow just sighed and stared down at the book. He was hoping for a chase but didn’t get one and was very disappointed. He’d have to try again later, maybe steal one of the books in Vio’s room. Although the book did have a lot of pictures in it. Maybe a sketchbook? Or a picture one considering the words, though Shadow didn’t know how to read he would have no idea which it actually was.

When Green found him later, Shadow had already flipped through most of the book and was turning the next page to look at more of the pretty art.

“Holy shit.” Green breathed, and then chuckled when Shadow whipped his head up and stared wide-eyed, like a chu chu caught on a train track.

Green then decided to dedicate the rest of the day to teaching Shadow how to read. Most teaching him to pick up the books, sit on the couch or on a counter, and then lay down and flip through them.

He also taught him how to open doors, including the ones with the round handle that you’d think somebody without hands wouldn’t be able to open and yet here we are.

It was a fun day. Green looking like a little kid in a candy shop the whole time, his cleaning and chores forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~

Green ran into the living room and looked around for me. Checking under the couch and in the cat tree before finding me on the rafters above.

“There you are! Quick, they’re coming! Just do what we practiced!” Green giggled and ran back out of the room.

I nodded solemnly after him, and jumped down, running to the book shelf and carefully pulling a book down. Set it on the couch. Grabbed a pair of reading glasses I had seen Vio use, and setting them on the couch as well. Curled up and got in position.

Perfect.

I think the reading glasses were a nice touch on Green’s part. Made me look kinda like an old grandma but I didn’t mind one bit.

Green desperately tried to pretend there wasn’t something funny. I could hear him great everyone in the next room with a tight “hi guys, how was your day!”

Great job selling none-chalance Green, you nailed it! (sarcasm)

“Okay, what did you do?” Blue asked, not entertaining ‘whatever this was’ with Green.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Green fought to keep the grin off his face, tipping his nose down in the hopes they wouldn’t see.

Vio gave him a look and scanned the room. Red had already made eye-contact with me and looked like he was trying not to cry.

Vio noticed Red’s vibrating first somehow, following his line of sight until it landed on me.

The look on his face was priceless!

Something between confusion, betrayal, and shock was written on his face.

I made a show of looking at him over the reading glasses, before looking back down at the book and turning a page.

Red let out a noise that had me fearing for his health before a loud “OH MY GODS IT’S SO CUUUUUUUUTEE!!!!” Tore from his throat.

To my credit, I did not run away this time!

Blue jumped and finally tore his eyes from the staring contest him and Green had started, and stared at me, his expression unreadable before he threw his hands into the air.

“Finally! Somebody to do my paperwork for me!” He exclaimed, then walked over the couch and crouched before me. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to write, do you?” He asked.

I shook my head, hearing a noise come from Vio who was so fucking confused by everything that was happening it was delicious.

Blue nodded sadly, “I knew it was too good to be true.” He put his hand on his chest, bowing his head as if in mourning.

I woulda laughed my fur off if I could have!

“...How?????” Vio asked, pointing at me while looking at Green, who shrugged not at all innocently.

“I have no idea where he learned that from.” To his credit, he did pull off a fake perplexed well.

I felt my tail wrap around me as I went back to reading, very pleased with myself.

Home At Last.

Summary: Shadow finds himself needing a home.

Shadow wasn’t the only cat on the streets, that much was for sure. There were a few strays other than him. Ones that spat and hissed at most strangers and other animals alike. They didn't seem to really care about him, a thing that carried over from his time as Link's shadow.

There were dogs and rodents too. Though most of the dogs had owners. It was a busy city, of course there would be animals in it, pets and strays alike.

But animals were starting to get taken off the streets by people, 'dog catchers' or something? Well they were catching a lot more than dogs that's for sure. Any animal roaming about on the streets all willy nilly was taken by these guys, and if no hylians intervened (like say, to get their dog back, or to adopt or something) then those animals didn't come back.

Shadow wasn't 100 percent sure what was happening to the animals, but there was no way in hell he was finding out. He needed somewhere to stay so that these guys didn't get him. But where? …

The answer almost kicked him in the face as he walked through the busy market, seeming to notice him before he noticed it.

~~~~~~~~~

I heard a yelp and a thump as I ducked around the offending limb. Turning to see fruits and veg spilling out of a fallen basket. Red was standing over top of me with his hands spread out like he was trying to keep his balance, and he looked down at me with wide eyes.

Woops.

"Little buddy!" He chastised, bending over to pick up his stuff. "You should know better than to run under people's feet like that! Hasn't anyone tripped on you before? I know I almost did!" He sounded frustrated, kinda like this was one more thing to add to a long list of things.

Woops. Well they do say black cats are bad luck.

I walked up to him and rubbed up against his arm as an apology. Then started to help him pick up his veg. An action he seemed really shocked by.

"Oh! Thank you!" He pet me on the head (still gotta get used to that) and went back to picking up his stuff.

I didn't feel too bad, because- by the looks of it -none of his stuff was fragile (would've felt really bad if it had been eggs or tomatoes), but he still looked upset, so clearly something was going on.

He picked up the last of his stuff and was making to get up, when he paused. Staring at something over my head.

I looked behind me to where he was looking and...

Animal catcher.

Shit.

Me and Red made eye contact, and I think he was just as worried about me being taken by one of those guys as I was. So I hopped in his basket and layed down, getting comfy in all the produce.

Red seemed a little taken aback by that but didn't protest, which was perfect because I did not want to be kicked out and have to run from a guy who may or may not just end me, I'm not really sure.

~~~~~~~

Red continued on through the market as though he hadn't just been almost knocked over by a cat and lost all his groceries. Trying in vain to not make eye contact with the animal catcher. Though he did shoot glares at the man whenever he thought the guy wasn't looking.

The catcher was, in fact, looking. Said man making his way over to the ruby clad hero as Red tried to just... leave, maybe to get to a secure alley where he could let this oddly trusting cat go about the rest of his day (hopefully) in peace.

"Mr. Red. Sir! I believe we've already discussed this?" The man said brightly and snarkily, catching up to Red and moving to walk in front of him. Walking backwards. "You can't just take a stray of the street acting like it's yours just to let it go later. That's not your cat, you can't save it from the pound." He grinned, "unless of course it is your cat, in which case congrats on becoming a cat dad! Proof of adoption please."  

Red said nothing, just switched directions. "I ow you nothing, and for the record, this is my cat!"

"Just because your a 'hero' doesn't make you above the law." The man stated dryly, like it was a reminder. His hands were still in the air from making airquotes that Red didn't turn to see.

Shadow was starting to really hate this guy.

"I don't care, this is my cat you can't just take him! You are also not above the law!" Red changed directions again, cutting the guy off as he continued to make his way out of the market.

"If he's really your cat, where's his nametag? Why don't you have him properly secured? Why wasn't he there when we had this conversation earlier with the dog?" The man asked, stacking more and more questions on every time Red went to answer, causing the emotional hero to sputter and struggle to keep up.

"W-well... um... you see-"

The guy rolled his eyes, as though his point had been proven, and reached for Shadow.

Shadow hissed and spat at his hand, swatting at it a few times with his claws. The man barely flinched, his gloves protecting him from any damage Shadow tried to inflict. So he switched gears from attacking and jumped from the basket on to Red's shoulders, glaring at the man from half-behind the hero's head.

To his credit, the catcher did stop after that, looking utterly perplexed.

"I got him a collar, but he's outgrown it, so I need to get him a new one, I think you can tell for yourself why he isn't 'properly secured', and he wasn't there earlier with the dog because- last I checked -he was safe at home. I'm not sure how he got out, I'll be sure to ask the other three when I get home. Now, good day sir." Red spun on his heel with a huff and walked off like one of those boujie ladies with their tiny purse dogs.

Nice one Red. Shadow thought, a phantom grin on his face.

He turned to look at the animal catcher, seeing suspicion and bafflement warring with each other on his face. It was a beautiful sight.

Red left the market, walking a few blocks away from it and then into an alley. Which confused Shadow. Was this the way to his house or something? But then Red stopped, and crouched down. Shadow lost balance and jumped off of his shoulders for a moment, turning around and giving him the most confused cat face he could make.

"Well, that's that then. I'm glad I could help!" He stated chipperly, petting Shadow on the head before standing up.

Wait what? No. Shadow thought, jumping into the basket as Red began to walk away.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Red asked, giggling. He picked up Shadow and set him back down on the ground.

Only for Shadow to jump right back into the basket.

"I- uh... oh." Red blinked twice, before realization danced across his features. "Oh!" He was grinning from ear to ear, and started walking off with a slight skip in his step.

"I'm not sure if we can actually keep a cat, but I'm sure I could figure something out. Besides it would probably be a better idea to get you a collar anyways so that Steve- that's the animal catcher's name by the way -doesn't try to take you or something, oh and-!" Red started rambling plans and ideas into the air, but Shadow found himself tuning it out rather quickly.

The dog catcher's name was Steve???? He looked like he would have a dumb generic name, but Steve???

Red made his way to Link's house, though the building seemed to be under renovation. Made sense, considering the apparent switch from one Link to four. The three bedroom house probably wouldn't have been big enough even if they all decided to squeeze into two rooms, which Shadow found the idea laughable considering the four couldn't even share a boat without Blue trying to kill all of them.

Red practically kicked the door open, taking a deep breath that made Shadow wish he could cover his ears before yelling "WE'VE GOT A CAT NOW!!!!!"

Shadow bolted into the house and under the nearest chair. Not because he was scared or anything by the loud noise that made his head pound for a moment. No! He was just really committed to the bit of being a cat! That's all!

"...Woops." Red muttered apologetically, quickly shutting the door and setting his basket down on the counter before running over to Shadow's hiding spot.

"I'm sorry little buddy! I shouldn't have been so loud." He apologized, making a sad face as he layed on his stomach, getting a better view of Shadow.

"Uuuuh, Red? What the fuck?" Blue came into the room, giving Red a look Shadow couldn't see from where he was hiding.

"We got a cat." Red grinned, turning his attention from the feline in question.

"Yeah I heard. Who's 'we'?" Blue walked over and crouched, annoyingly not revealing any more of his face than Shadow could see earlier.

"Me and the cat!" Red informed chipperly, kicking his feet.  

"Right, and the cat definitely decided to come home with you, is that what you're saying?"

"Yup!"

"And how'd he do that?"

"Well it started at the market and-" Red then proceeded to tell Blue the entire story, painting Shadow as this really clever and smart cat- which Shadow was not about to refute in any way.

Blue made a noise when he got to the part about Shadow hopping back into the basket. Twice.

"Oh wow he really said 'I'm your problem now' didn't he?" Shadow could hear the grin in Blue's voice, the azure clad hero now sitting cross legged in front of Red. Shadow meowed out his "yes" in response, causing the heroes to snort and giggle respectively.

"So, what are you gonna name him?" Green asked from somewhere out of sight, though it sounded like he was in the same room.

Red blinked, looking between Shadow and where Shadow guessed Green was standing, a dumb expression on his face.

Blue leaned forward to get a good look at the now-cat and his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh it's Shadow!" He stated, like this was great news.

Shadow had a moment of mild panic- How did he know it was me!? This is only our second meeting! How does he know?! What?!?!-before he was inadvertently drawn from his thoughts by a question.

"How do you know the cat's name is Shadow?" Vio asked, the sound of his voice reverberating through the chair itself. It sounded like he was right above him. Ironic.

Blue sat up, looking up at the purple hero. "You know that cat that snatched you sandwich?" He asked, a laugh to his voice.

Vio grumbled, shifting in the chair. Shadow suddenly felt very proud of himself.

"What about it?" Vio asked, and Shadow could practically hear him crossing his arms, and could perfectly picture the look on his face.

Oh the shade was really proud of himself.

"That's the cat Red brought home. And well, he's a black cat with red eyes and a little shit! Of course I'd call him Shadow!" Blue stated, crossing his arms with a proud look on his face like he was being really clever.

I mean he kind of was but...

Red gasped, hands flying to his face, eyes shining. "That's perfect! We can name his Shadow Sandwich Cat!" He declared.

Wait what? No-. Shadow thought, feeling his cheeks warm in a none-existent blush.

"Yeah we can name his Shadow; Sandwich thief, floof wizard, the destroyer of egos." Green chimed in, clearly joking. Vio scoffing in offence above him.

Red did not take it as a joke.

"YES!!!" He shouted, clapping his hands with a giddy squeal. Blue hand to put his hands up to stop him with a "don't scare Shadow sandwich thief floof wizard- what'd ya say? Oh right -destroyer of egos again" with a half hearted reprimand.

Red covered his mouth with a wince. "Sorry Shadow." He whispered, poking his face under the chair.

Shadow levelled him with an unimpressed look. Not sure how to feel about being named after himself and really just not being impressed with the rest of his new name. Red just grinned at him sheepishly.

fours words pico park au

The sandwich heist.

Shadow spent the next couple of days just vibing. His need to figure out how he got back quickly being exchanged for the pleasant surprise of people not completely hating him!

Sure, there were plenty of people who thought black cats were bad luck, but he had more than just black fur, and a lot of people saw that first.

He got lots of compliments for being pretty, and his ego couldn’t help but soak it all up like a sponge.

Besides that, he would walk in the light now! Sure it was uncomfortably warm and made him feel queasy if he did it for too long, but he still could! He counted that as a win.

Though he did panic a little when he figured it out at first, turns out the bench he had chosen to fall asleep under wasn’t as light proof as he had originally thought.

Hunting was fun too.

~~~~~

Alright, should I go for the obvious option and get the mouse? Or should I go for the fun option and steal the sandwich that guy left sitting beside him so he could read his book? Choices, choices.

Who am I kidding, I have to commit to the bit.

Alright. 

I sit in a bush nearby and watch. He keeps taking a bite every three or so minutes, aka every time he turns a page. Slow ass reader, kinda like Vio…

Anyways.

The guy turns the page, his hand slowly reaching down for his sandwich. I ready myself to lunge. Oh a huge grin would've been on my face if I had a human one!

He takes a bite, crumbs falling on to his book, he sets the sandwich down quickly to dust them off, and-!

I lunge for the sandwich, the movement catching the eye of the teen who barely has time to respond before his sandwich is in my mouth and I am darting off with it.

“HEY, THAT’S MINE!” The guy yells, and holy shit! How did I not recognize him! Of course it was Vio, this makes it even better!!

Somebody laughs behind me as the sound of a very disgruntled person take off after me.

Does he really expect to catch up to a cat? Does he really want this back? Turns out the answer is yes to both because the chase is on!

I dive around people, duck under benches, and eventually manage to drag myself and the half of sandwich up a tree and out of his reach.

At some point the other three had joined the chase, pretty sure Red or Green was trying to get him to stop, Blue just seemed to be enjoying the whole ordeal.

Vio stood at the base of the tree, arms folded over his chest and a light glare on his face. Blue brightened, “hey Red, isn’t that the cat you were trying to make friends with the other night?” He asked, pointing up as though I wasn’t perfectly visible.

Red blinked up at me, clueless, until his eyes widened. “You’re right! It is!” He then looked so upset and betrayed, “you don’t think I taught him taking food from people was okay do you?”

“No, probably not, he looks like a general menace to society anyways. You obviously didn’t help but-” Green assured, and the grabbed Vio’s arm as he seemed to be trying to climb up after me.

“Vio just drop it. Do you really want that thing back at this point?” Oh cool he voiced my thought!

“It’s the principle of the matter, Green.” Vio stated hottily, continuing to try and climb up after me.

At this point I was eating the sandwich like it was popcorn, this is great! Like the good old days where I could watch these four be idiots from the relative safety of behind the dark mirror.

I didn’t actually miss those days, but it still made me nostalgic.

“Vio it’s really not worth it.” Green tried again, reaching out to stop Vio, but Blue put a hand on his arm.

“No, let him try, I have got to see this!” 

Vio glared at him, clearly unimpressed, but then realization of what exactly he was doing dawned on his face. A bright red hue that I really wish I coulda gotten a picture of! He jumped off the tree from where he had barely gotten any height, and crossed his arms again. 

“Never mind, it’s not worth the trouble anyways.” He admitted. Sadly, he would not be trying to recover his sandwich. Such a shame.

“Thank you.” Green looked exasperatedly up at the sky, like Hylia had finally given Vio a little bit of sense.

I gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting Vio to be the type to chase a cat up a tree over a sandwich, but it made sense. Him and Blue seemed to be the most prideful of the rainbow circus, it woulda been either of the two of them to do it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The four walked away, Red shooting a “bye bye kitty!” over his shoulder at him.

Shadow decided to be cheeky and wave back in a ‘bye bye’ motion. Much to Red’s pure joy.

He decided he liked this new life of his.

Catdow revival au chapter 1: A short chapter where Shadow wakes up and meets Red.

Note: This hops in and out of 3rd and 1st person pov for Shadow, generally whichever was easier to write the part in. Not sure if it’s disorienting, sorry if it is!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everything felt fuzzy, and numb. Like I was floating in the air but laying down on the floor but dunked into a pool of water but laying with my body pressed in between two people but.... it was a feeling I just couldn't put a real name to but could put too many names to and thinking too hard on it made my head hurt, so I stopped.

I don't really remember what it was like before I was given sentience, but I don't think it felt quite like this.

It didn't help that I picked up bits of sound, and emotion, and sights that just... weren't heard, felt, or seen by me. Like I was glimpsing into someone else's life.

I felt tired and wide awake at the same time. It was exhausting.

It felt like I had done just good enough to not be, I don't know, sent to wherever hylians think bad people go. But did too much bad stuff to go anywhere nice. So now I was just stuck... wherever I was. Probably in Link's shadow.

Being in Link's shadow sucked. It was really boring and ugh.

Until it wasn't.

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

Shadow woke up curled in on his side. Body feeling all too heavy and light at the same time, mind feeling fuzzy. He lifted his head, the fuzziness turning into dizziness, and forcing him to lay back down.

He layed there like that for a little while, lifting his head every once and awhile to make sure he was still safe where he was. 

He slowly pieced together part of what was going on. For one, he was alive when he was fairly curtain he shouldn’t be, for two he was in an alley somewhere in… possibly castle town? He hadn’t seen the place much from the skies as he razed it, but he had a vague idea of what it looked like from watching Link through the dark mirror before tricking him into drawing the four sword. And for three; he was currently in the body of a cat.

It wasn’t too weird for him, though it was surprising. He could shapeshift at will, and he was pretty sure that applied to animals as well, though he hadn’t really tried it. This kinda just confirmed he could.

Besides, it would be easier to move around without being spotted or identified by people this way. He could figure out why he was even back in the first place. 

Stretching his limbs and forcing himself up, Shadow took a few tentative steps out of his hiding spot into the rest of the alley.

Only to immediately be met with a very familiar gasp from someone nearby.

He jumped and looked over.

Well shit.

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

What? Already?? And Why did it have to be him???

Red looked at me from the bright lights of the city street, eyes shining like he had just spotted the best thing ever.

Oh wait, I'm a cat. Hylians love cats.

Oh no.

I start backing up, hoping I can pretend he didn’t see me, and he’ll get the hint and leave me alone.

No such luck.

Red entered the alley, probably not wanting to scare me off, and crouched down just within eyesight. Extending his hand slowly, there was a sent wafting from it.

“Hey there little guy! I don’t wanna hurt you. Do you want a treat?” He said in a soft tone, smiling like he was speaking to a child. Shadow hated it, but his ears did perk up at the word ‘treat’. 

I could feel my rumble weirdly, kinda like a hylian’s would when hungry, but quieter.

Well that was new.

I mean, what harm was there in a small snack? Besides, it was Red The day he hurt an animal on purpose was the day that pigs flew.

…

Not including Ganon.

Alright fine, I’ll give the treat thing a shot.

~~~~~~~~~

He moved forward slowly, fairly curtain cats don’t just openly trust a person giving them treats. Even if he did know Red pretty well, Red didn’t know that, so why would he act like they’ve been friends forever?

He sniffed at whatever was in Red’s hand. It smelled nice, like a sweet from a bakery. Glancing at his other hand, Red had a basket that he had set down (but still had his hand on) to give Shadow his full attention, and sitting on top was a cinnamon roll with a piece torn off from it.

Huh. How nice of him. It looked like Shadow got the first bite!

He nibbled on the baked good, but noticed Red move his hand away from the basket out of the corner of his eye.

“Don’t you dare.” He growled, though it came out as a low ‘rrrrrrrrrrhh’. 

Red’s and froze, and his hand went back to resting on the basket.

He seemed to be barely containing his excitement that Shadow (or in Red’s point of view, the adorable pretty floofy baby) was giving him the time of day despite clearly not trusting him.

Once the treat was done, Shadow sat down. Not really sure where to go from here.

Now what?

Red turned his rand over so that his knuckles were facing Shadow, and let his hand sit there in the air. He wasn’t really sure what the boy was doing, tilting his head in confusion.

Red made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a choking sound. Shadow looked up at him in confusion and mild concern, what kind of sound was that?

The crimson clad hero’s eyes were wide and bright, his basket hand (right hand) now over his mouth like he was trying to contain that odd sound that had come out of him. He looked like this whole event had made his week.

Eh, what the heck. Shadow did what he saw some cats do and rubbed his face on Red’s still outstretched hand, absolutely revelling in the funny sound of pure joy that escaped the other’s mouth.

“Uh Red, what are you doing?” A voice broke the moment, a voice that he really didn’t want to hear right now, an annoying voice. Blue stood at the entrance of the Alley.

Welp! Treat time with Red is over! Shadow thought as he jumped up and bolted away.

He didn’t at all whatsoever feel even the smidgest feel bad at the sound of disappointment Red made. Though he didn’t really have to as Red turned and chastised Blue for ‘scaring the pretty fluffy cat away when we were in the middle of becoming friends’.

Blue did look like he felt bad, but mostly just looked confused and mildly offended.

It was a funny look on him.

what if there was an au where Shadow is revived as a cat, but he has no idea by who or why he’s a cat all of a sudden. While trying to figure it out he ends up getting found by Red who’s like “aw cute homeless babyyyyy… mine now!” And adopts him, which is of course like “no, wait. fuck. nO. WHY” and he keeps trying to get away from them cause they’re gonna be furious when they figure out there cat is their old enemy and knowing his luck it’s only a matter of time. but Red’s very purrsistent and finally manages to drag him home and is like “HEY GUYS I GOT US A CAT!!” and the only one okay with this immediately is Vio, and Blue takes one look at him and is like “Shadow.” And of course Shadow panics a little because “Fuck I’ve been found out already!” But Red’s like “huh?” And Blue says “a black cat with red eyes and the look of a war criminal? Yeah, I’m naming him Shadow there is no other possible name for him.” And shadows like “rude” but then Vio chimes in with “yeah we can name him Shadow Meowthazar the floof wizard or something” and Red is like “YES” and Shadow already hates his new life.

and you know for a fact that people tell there cats shit they wouldn’t tell anyone else because why go to therapy when you have a cat right there. And Shadow’s mission goes quickly from “find out who brought me back” to “give these people as much aggressive cat therapy as possible ma gawd.”

Green teaches him tricks and stuff to prank the others and Shadow is 1000% down for this because now he has an excuse for knowing how to open doors and read and also gets the added bonus of fucking with everyone, his favourite person to fuck with is surprisingly Vio which is only partially Green’s fault with his subliminal messaging because Vio has all the best responses whereas Red chalks it up to magic floof wizard powers and Blue just gets really excited like “finally someone to do my paperwork” or “oh you helping out Vio” nod “okay good help him get his ass out of his room to participate in society next” salute “thanks bud *gives him a treat and a pat*”

What if someone breaks in one night while everyone’s sleeping (like a monster or something) and they wake up to the sounds of a their cat possibly dying and the intruder in pain and they rush downstairs to save their cat but he’s just sitting on top of his felled opponent seemingly unscathed (because shadow powers and quicker healing) and they’re like “shit I am so glad this cat like us” and Red is like “I hereby knight thee Shadow Meowthazar floof wizard the slayer of intruders lord of Vio’s dark armies” and everyone is like “yes” and except Vio who is like “lord of my what?” Shadow regrets everything in life.

I was struck with inspiration

original under the cut

this is stupid but I love it

I wrote my first ever Vidow fic [unleashes an unholy amount of confetti]

woe, art dump be apon ye.

I've decided that ms paint is what is gonna get me to make art more regularly, and it turns out I was right! Art is fun again [air-horns]!!!!