Shadows cannot exist without a master. They are bound to the original, and are often an ignored existence. Most people tend to think shadows aren't alive, but that is very far from the truth. One shadow in particular had been loved by their master. They could not exist without their master, but likewise, their master could not exist without their shadow.
He was a kind and gentle soul. All the villagers loved him, even though he was somewhat of a recluse. The shadow was an exact copy of their master. Although it could not display the beautiful features of the man's long, auburn hair that flowed ever so gently in the wind, or his brown eyes that seemed to reflect copper, not even his delicate pale skin that one might mistake as pure white, if not for the slightest tint of red underneath. The shadow still seemed to be the perfect copy of their master.
In their small cabin by the bottom of the mountain near the village, the master and shadow would often take care of the wild animals that would sometimes wander by. On the days where the two were alone in their little cabin, they would spend their time together. Usually it would just be the master telling stories to the shadow, while the shadow would just listen, only because it did not have vocal chords. It was only a shadow after all. Other times, the shadow would portray a play. A story through their actions. Their master loved nothing more than the shadow's little play. The villagers never knew the shadow, they tended to ignore it, as if it didn't exist, but that was fine. The shadow had their master after all. Until one day, they were suddenly ripped apart from their master.
The two could not live without each other, not because they were bound to one another, but because they loved each other greatly. So the master did something beyond impossible. He ripped his shadow apart from it, hoping that it would save the shadow from their imminent death. The shadow desperately tried to convince their master otherwise, but to no avail.
For years, upon years, upon years, the shadow layed on the grave of their deceased master. Although they were now forever apart, the shadow did not want to be separated even more. Eventually, the world changed. There were buildings that reached the skies, strange pathways made of what the shadow could only assume to be melted rock, animals that were not animals moving along the strange new pathways, but the shadow didn't mind. It only wanted to remain with their master.
One day, while the shadow was laying on the grave of their master as usual, hidden by the kind shadow of the tree that grew nearby out of worry for the poor lost shadow, a girl came by and left half-dead flowers by a grave next to their master. The shadow did not know when more graves had appeared, nor did he ever notice other people and shadows often coming by to visit those other graves. However, something about this girl had caught the shadow's attention. The tree that witnessed this sudden change in the lost shadow thought, perhaps it is because the girl resembles his master? But that couldn't be far from the truth. The girl was petite, not like his tall master. She had short, wavy, dirty blond hair, and although she was pale, she was not even close to being as pale as his master. But perhaps it were her eyes that caught his attention. They were a deep, but gentle blue, resembling the ocean that reflected the sky. Or perhaps the other way around. It was nothing like his master's copper eyes, but at the same time, something hidden deep beneath her eyes seemed to attract the lost shadow, and for the first time in centuries, the shadow had left their master's grave.
They followed the girl to find out more about her. What exactly was it about her that attracted him? Over the course of a few days, the shadow learned that she was learning in a building called a school, and she was about to advance her studies. She had a loving family that consisted of her mother, father and younger brother. She had friends she spent time with. She was nothing like his master who was a recluse, but she carried a gentle aura around her. The shadow very much enjoyed spending time watching over the girl and learning about the new world. He would've liked to watch her from within her own shadow, but felt that it wouldn't be fair to her shadow. At one point, the shadow could've sworn that the girl had noticed him, and thought that they might finally have a chance to get closer to her, but he was wrong. The girl had felt the shadow watching her for a while now, but never knew from whom or what it was. As time continued to move forward, the girl ended up ignoring the feeling of being watched, as she felt that whomever it was, or whatever it was, held no ill intent. Perhaps it was just a cat?
The girl continued living her life happily, and the shadow was content just watching over her, making sure that nothing bad happened to her. He had asked the owners of several different shadows to help keep her safe, to which they mostly all obliged.
Up until one fateful day.
The girl was out again with her friends having fun, the shadow close behind her watching over her. They were crossing the road to go to karaoke, when the girl had run up ahead teasing her friends like she normally did. Suddenly, time slowed down, the shadow saw nothing else but her, it was as if the world had gone silent and it was just the two of them. Until it was just the shadow again.
A truck driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel and was continuing to accelerate. As it got faster and faster, it hit a pothole causing the driver to wake up. But not in time. The shadow had tried to run after the girl, hoping to push her out of the way, but even though he wasn't fast enough to reach her, there was no hope anyways. It was impossible for a shadow to interact with the original. The truck had hit the girl, ran over her body, and the shadow could only watch helplessly as someone he loved had died before their eyes once again. Powerless, the shadow stood there at the scene of the crime, at the scene where she had died. Years had gone by, and at one point, people began to notice the figure of a lone shadow standing in that one spot. At first people were terrified, but eventually they all began to ignore it once again. The shadow didn't mind. All the shadow could think about was how he was all alone once again. Perhaps that is just the fate of shadows. Perhaps, even though they are never alone, forever connected to their masters, their owners, their originals, they will still always be alone, unable to communicate and interact with their counterparts.