Chapter 4: Time With Green

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.

"hey kid, I think you're missing something."

"What?"

"Aren't you gonna save the girl who fell in the woods?"

"No."

my little sister is playing wind waker and I might just live-blog her considering I have to read what everything is saying for her anyways.

this video does more in 10 seconds than your fave’s entire filmography

wtf is with all the "oppressive and hellish planet called Earth." Bullshit? The only reason it's "oppressive" and "hellish" is because of other human beings who are destroying it. This earth is magical and beautiful and I hate every single prompt or show or anything that says otherwise if not simply for the fact that humans are making it that way!

We need to save the planet not flee it! And if you think otherwise, even as a joke or for a fun story idea, than you're part of the problem, and that is exactly what I would tell those aliens.

I feel like I'm overreacting and maybe too tired to filter my rage isn't the best place to have this rant, it's kinda been a buildup of multiple things boiling over rn.

That's also what I would tell those aliens.

I was struck with inspiration

original under the cut

I'm on a "Through Worlds content" role right now so I'm posting more content for them all at once whether yall like it or not.

so, I've been reblogging the Tag-that-oc oc questions so Imma put a little backstory into the characters.

Luna is an amnesiac arsonist who doesn't fear death because she's died and come back. Her most defining feature is her silver hair despite the fact that she is clearly a teenager. she ranges between 16 to 21 during each dimensional time loop (or DTL as the kids call it).

Kolasi is two people; the spirit of an old conqueror named Magadon who died do to over using his magic, and summoning more monsters than he could control, and a young fire user named Leo, who is from a world that is like this weird mix of Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson, but isn't (trust me, it isn't). His two most defining features are his height (he's very tall , almost has to bend down when he enters a room), and the long scar over his right eye that stretches from his chin to above his hairline. He can still see through his right eye though, just with so much more zoom and clarity that it gives him a headache. he ranges between 18 to 23 during each DTL.

Neggero/Negra is a living shadow, they are gender fluid and can change their appearance depending on the gender they are that day. they are really blunt, and salty, but also kind when they want to be. they're most defining feature is their shadowy grey/chestnut skin-tone. they range between 14 to 19 during each DTL.

Zvezda is a living star, he's really emotional, and very nice. He's kinda like the emotional support of the group, and the medic of the group... He's also the only one who can keep his twin from being rude, Luna likes to quote angry birds with these two; "water is the softest thing, but can penetrate mountains and earth". his most defining feature is he can glow in the dark. He ranges between 14 to 19 during each DTL.

Jack is a human, he had gotten into an argument with his best friend, and ran off. getting in between a dimension travel portal, and a young boy (who eventually dimension travelled anyway) he ended up dimension travelling. His most prominent feature is that he looks both two years older and two years younger than he actually is.

a dimensional time loop is the duration of time a dimension traveller spend in each dimension, DT (dimension travel) ages range from 12 to 20 and DTLs last five years. a woman named Hamarah is in charge of dimension travel, and the mythic games. people normally dimension travel because they give too much magic to the world, throwing it off balance, or take to much magic from the world, again throwing it off balance.

Here's a doodle of what I think cat!Shadow looks like. Inspired by two of my cats.

It's been awhile, and I still can't play the game because I no longer have anything to play it on.

Hoping to fix that soon though.

me: *notices the new season has started*

me: *can’t play sky at the moment because there’s no internet on my ipod*

me:

W h a t? No. Staaap.

13 year old me would be flattered.

you guys should all go take my rtc uquiz right now actually!

wow. 11 notes... impressive?

Warning: Self-pity party ahead

sometimes I envy the group chat fics I read about. Like, I want people who are chatting, and adding to the chat, and keeping in touch even if I'm not there to do so. I want people to call me a dork, or weird, or ask if I'm okay. I want people who don't care if I'm not always there because they know I don't have 24/7 access to the internet, and are happy when I can get online. I want to be able to joke, and poke fun at/with people, and just chat mindlessly. I want friends who are willing to put in as much effort to be friends as I do, even if I can't always be online. I don't want to be the only one in a group chat or dm chat who actually says anything in the chat before someone else does. And I'm really tired that the only friend who was able to do that was only not toxic, and a bully to me.