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With Vio and the Althea's...

Vio turned around only to see a giant hand hurling toward him. He didn't have time to dodge as the hand was already wrapping its fingers around him. He was raised and Vio shouted surprised, "A hinox?! What is one doing all the way here?!"

"You betrayed Lord Vaati so you must die!" The hinox boomed and squeezed Vio taking the breath from him. Vio gasped and struggled for air but it was no use as the hinox's grip was too tight. He couldn't breathe.

The Althea's snapped out of their shock as they realized their friend was in real trouble.

"Let him go, you jerk!" Willow shouted at the beast and used her magic to try and wrap roots around its feet. However, it didn't work and the hinox merely had to spread its stance to break the roots. "He's too strong! We need the other Links!" Willow said panicked.

"No, we don't! We've been through worse than this, we can do this if we work together!" John said bravely.

"Alright...Yeah...We can do this..." Anise said nervously but drew her courage.

John told the twins to stay back as they were too young to be in a battle. The three Althea siblings used their nature magic, wrapping roots around all its limbs in an attempt to trap it. The roots worked for a little and loosened the hinox's hand so Vio could breathe again before it broke the roots once more.

"Argh!" Vio grunted and gasped in pain as the hinox squeezed again.

"Hang in there Vio!" Willow called to him.

"Puny beings, you are no match for me!" The hinox shouted.

Asrani giggled happily. This is easy! Why did Lord Vaati have a hard time with this stupid hero?

"That didn't work because of its strength. What should we do now?" Willow asked.

"We should find its weakness. If we can find the weakness we should be able to take it down easily," John answered.

"But what could his weakness be?" Willow wondered.

"I know! His eye! Eyes are a very sensitive part of the body and they're connected to the brain so if we can hit it's eye somehow then it'd be blinded and we could take him down easily from there!" Anise said. "When we do beat it I call getting its bodily ingredients!" She added.

Her siblings looked at her baffled.

"What? I'm the Royal Alchemist. I make potions and potions use disgusting ingredients from monsters," Anise reasoned.

"True..." John replied but still looked unsettled.

"So we need to hit his eye. How?" Willow said moving on from the subject.

"We must be precise. If I had my axe I could hit it. If there's a bow or spear I could probably use that too," John said.

"I can make the stick for it but we need a sharp head," Willow mentioned.

"Here! Use this!" Anise quickly gave Willow her dagger as well as string.

"Thanks, sis!" Willow replied. She focused her magic and made a sturdy wooden stick. From there she placed the dagger at the top and started to wrap the string around the dagger and stick to make the dagger stay.

"Hurry! Vio is turning a little violet, he can't breathe! Not to mention the hinox could crush his bones!" John shouted hurriedly as he was using his magic to distract the hinox so it wouldn't crush Vio completely.

"I almost got it!" Willow said and tied the string tightly. "Here John!" She tossed him the newly made spear.

"Got it!" John caught it and started to aim. He threw it at the hinox eye with all his strength.

"Owie splinter!!" The hinox cried and dropped Vio to the ground. Vio gasped and panted for air but he didn't get up.

"Bullseye!" Anise exclaimed gleefully, "Pun intended."

Willow ran to Vio, picked him up, and got him away from the hinox. She stumbled a little as she wasn't that strong. Vio was still gasping for air, getting oxygen while he could and normal color returned to his face slowly.

Willow opened her mouth to ask if he was okay but someone interrupted her, "VIO! Are you okay?!"

She looked up and it was the other Links. "Guys!" She exclaimed, happy to see them.

"We were looking for the town square as Vio said he'd be here! When we were on our way people were screaming and running away. They told us about the hinox. We'll take it down, just get to safety!" Green said seriously.

"Hey, you're too late for that!" Anise said smugly and pointed at the hinox.

The Links turned their heads and stood there in shock. The rocky being was on the ground bawling about how he couldn't see and was trapped by more roots Anise and John made.

Stupid half-shadows! They should be weakling beings! They are beneath me! How did they beat a hinox?! Asrani thought, enraged by the show of events.

"Good...job..." Vio wheezed with a small smile and his eyes half-lidded, still in Willow's arms.

"Vio! Can you hear us?" Blue questioned.

"Yeah...Just..dizzy.." Vio mumbled.

"We need to take him to a doctor," Green said, worried for his brother.

"Yeah..." Red sniffled.

"Is he gonna be okay big brother?" Jay whimpered to John.

"Is he gonna die?" Birch said his voice breaking.

"He'll be fine. Vio is a part of Link and Link is one of the strongest people I've ever known. It'll be okay," John said softly to the twins.

"Yeah, Vio's a big boy. This won't put him down," Anise said gently.

"Good because he's not allowed to die. No one is," Jay said softly.

"Exactly," Anise answered.

"You guys go on ahead and take him to the doctor. We'll stay to keep an eye on the hinox. Willow, go with them to get some guards to help carry this thing." John told the Links and Willow.

"Alright," Willow agreed.

"Do you mind if I take him?" Green asked.

"Sure, I could barely carry him over here anyway," Willow said and handed Vio to Green.

Asrani quickly jumped into Green's shadow from the shadow of the fountain, unnoticed.

The Links and Willow rushed to the castle's medical wing. There, they found Shadow and Dr. Kayete talking while walking, probably checking on Shadow's physical health once more.

"Doctor! We need your help!" Green shouted and they raced to the two.

Shadow's eyes widened then he clenched his fists and demanded, "Who did this to him?"

"A hinox. A hinox that somehow got into Castle Town and the town square grabbed him and he couldn't breathe for a while. For too long. Can you help him and see if he has any internal injuries?" Willow explained mainly speaking to the doctor.

"Yes, I can. Come along this way! Quickly!" Dr. Kayete said and they all raced to an empty room. Green sat Vio on the bed as a nurse entered the room.

"I need all of you to leave as I examine him. Just wait outside and once I'm finished I'll tell you his state," Dr. Kayete said.

"Yes sir," Willow said and went outside. There, she spoke with a guard about the hinox to go to it with several other guards.

"Do we have to? Why can't we be in here with him?" Red said, his eyes starting to water.

"It can't be helped. We might distract them and we don't want them to focus on anything but Vio," Green replied and put his arm around Red, guiding him out of the room.

"I hate to say it but you're right," Shadow grumbled and followed.

"Now where's that hinox?! I'm going to kill him for trying to kill Vio!!" Shadow hissed his eyes turning red, fangs and claws coming out a bit.

"Already defeated, calm down. And we don't need to kill it unless necessary," Willow folded her arms.

"Necessary?! I thought what was necessary is to not have one of the heroes of your precious Hyrule killed! I'd much rather the hinox be dead than Vio!" Shadow snapped.

"Vio isn't going to die. He was injured but not injured enough to die therefore you don't need to kill the hinox!" Willow argued.

"It's going to be dead anyway or have you forgotten people use monster parts in regular things of everyday lives?! I'd rather kill it than some random guard killing it!" Shadow growled.

"Uh guys this is getting out of hand-" Green tried to stop them but Willow shouted over him,

"Fine then! Be a murderer like you've always been! Killing out of rage instead of helping people! If you're so interested in killing monsters then WHY DON'T YOU KILL YOURSELF!!" Willow's words stunned everyone into silence. She gasped immediately realizing what she said, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that! I'm sorry!" She said, starting to cry.

Shadow's shocked expression turned into a pained and enraged grimace. His pupils shrunk, and his outfit started to flow and curl. "You...You and your family out of anyone should know how I turned out this way. If anything it's your fault. I should never have convinced the royal family to spare you all. I should've begged them to rip you Althea's apart instead," Shadow spat in a low dark tone, towering over her before walking away to his room.

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean....I didn't mean it..." Willow sobbed and fell to the ground but Shadow ignored her and continued on his way.

Green, Red, and Blue stood there confused at Shadow's words. Red was crying with Willow though and Blue got mad.

"Gods I know you don't like him but why would you say that?! Even I wouldn't go that far!" Blue yelled.

"Blue stop. She didn't mean to. It was in the heat of the moment, alright?" Green put his hand up and stopped Blue.

"Oh, so you're on her side?" Blue retorted.

"I'm on both of their sides," Green answered calmly then kneeled to Willow and hugged her. "What just happened? Cause it sounds like you and Shadow knew each other before you came to Hyrule. What happened between you two?"

"W-We did but I can't tell y-you anything," Willow sobbed into Green's shoulder.

"Why not?" Red cried.

"Because then you'll tell Z-Zelda and we can't t-tell her yet," Willow hiccuped.

"Yet? So you will tell her?" Green asked.

Willow nodded.

"Would you be okay with telling us when you tell Zelda?" Green questioned.

Willow nodded once more, "A-As long as y-you c-can keep it a s-secret from everyone e-else."

"Okay, we can do that. But probably when Vio's better so he can join us. We don't even know his condition yet," Green said softly.

"Yeah b-but Vio already knows," Willow said.

"WHAT?!" The Links exclaimed.

"How?! Is that why he was acting so weird?!" Blue said.

"Yes. He figured it out y-yesterday but only b-because he saw me and Anise erm...well, I can't say yet," Willow explained, "He was in the town s-square to help us but... he got hurt instead..."

Hmm...This is interesting despite my failure. Whatever I learn from these creatures about Shadow may be helpful to Lord Vaati. Unlike Aza, I'll prove to be useful. Asrani thought as she continued to watch the events unfold around her.

"Of course, the nerd found out before us! Come on! When are we going to figure out something before him?!" Blue shouted to the sky.

"Ahem."

They turned to the sound. It was Dr. Kayete!

"How is he doc?!" Red asked quickly.

"Luckily he doesn't have any broken bones but he has extreme bruising on his torso and his arms. His breathing is surprisingly okay after not being able to breathe for a while. He'll be fine with rest. He'll be able to walk around but I recommend not letting him run or exert himself and that includes fighting any battles in the near future. Vio did faint however once he wakes up you can take him home," Dr. Kayete explained.

"Oh thank the gods..." All of them, excluding the doctor, said in relief.

"Will it be hard for the nerd to read a book? He'd have to hold it with his arms after all," Blue asked.

"It depends on the size of the book. If it's a big one someone else would have to carry it," Dr. Kayete said.

"Great...We're probably going to have to haul books around now," Blue rolled his eyes.

Hoi! I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! It was fun but difficult to write. At last it is finished and we are moving forward with the story. I put the warning at the top as there may be several potential triggers for anyone and I wanted to be mindful of that. I also decided to wait till after the holidays to post this because of that as well.

I hope everyone is having a good day, evening or night wherever you are! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Feel free to comment your thoughts below if you want.

(The image is not my art, I got it off of google and edited it a bit. I get all of my images from google unless I draw them.)

(2129 words!)