Chapter Text
It's not until the third night of no watch that Warriors finally understands what exactly happened. "You guys stole my strategy!" He blurts.
Wind's smile is shamelessly unapologetic. "Does it really count as steeling if you taught it to me?"
"You're not supposed to use it on me!" Warriors argues.
Legend laughs at him, patting him on the back harder than necessary. "And so the student becomes the master."
Warriors elbows him. "Yeah? And what happened to 'I don't listen to brats?'"
"What can I say," he shrugs indifferently. "Kid had a solid plan."
Wind stands up only to bow theatrically. "Thank you, thank you. I accept criticism in the form of purple rupees."
Legend immediately starts heckling him. Wind takes the bait, laughing and making his own jabs in return.
Sprite giggles from Warriors' other side. He watches Legend and Wind with rapt attention. From Legend musing Wind's hair to Wind steeling Legend's hat and stuffing it down his shirt. "I'm liking Windy," Sprite says for the third night in a row. "He's being like Tune."
That immediately catches his attention. Does he not realize that's Tune? Wait. Does Time not realize that's Tune? He goes to correct him, when an idea suddenly strikes him. He tries to smother his smirk when he replies, "Yeah. Maybe they could even be friends."
--
Two short consecutive howls has them all stopping in their tracks. Warriors draws his sword, and hears the others do the same. He shoots Sprite a glance. The kid looks unconcerned.
Twilight's caution warning is probably him finding the portal. "Champion, direction," he calls.
Wild is silent as he makes his way to the front of the group. He leads them off trail into a more sparse part of the forest.
Warriors spots the portal at almost the same time as Wild. Twilight and Four wait a few feet away from it. Four smiles upon seeing them while Twilight remains focused on the portal.
"Everyone ready?" Warriors asks hoping to hide the way his heart suddenly races. Even with the knowledge that they're just weird portals, he can't quite tamp down on the spike of panic. He can't quite smother the terror of what if.
Legend and Sky look around before nodding to him. He checks on Twilight who also nods in response.
He exchanges swords with Sky again. "Just like last time," he says. "Vanguard, thirty, Support, thirty, Rearguard."
"On your mark, Captain," Wild grins.
Warriors leads them through the portal. He immediately raises his shield and pushes forward. It's too dark. He can't see anything.
There's a quiet fwoosh, and suddenly a flame is casting light around. Warriors spares a glance, seeing Twilight clip a lantern to his belt.
They're in a cave. It's decently spacious, thankfully, but they'll still need to be careful about how they walk.
There are footsteps behind him and another fwoosh of light. Legend.
Twilight wanders deeper down the passage but stays close enough for their lights to overlap.
When Rearguard crosses, Warriors plans to spare them a single glance. Instead, his stomach drops.
Can't talk here. Danger. Again. One.
He throws a glance Four's way. The smithy has gone pale.
Legend looks around for what seems is the last time. Warriors quickly raises a finger to his lips before Legend can call clear.
Twilight extinguishes his lantern, soundlessly disappearing into the darkness.
Shit. He probably hears whatever the danger is.
Wild quickly follows after him. Warriors feels a tiny strand of relief. At least whatever it is, Twilight won't have to face it alone.
He throws a glance over his shoulder and immediately spots the portal. Shit he forgot about that. He motions for Legend to start down the same path Twilight and Wild took.
Legend nods, the brightness of his lantern noticeably dimming. He silently motions for the others to follow Legend. Warriors quickly makes his way to the portal.
It's just a strange portal, he reminds himself. It has nothing to do with Cia or the war or Gates of Souls.
The portals collapses under a shower of gold.
It's just a coincidence that he can close them like gates. It has to be.
A piercing shriek breaks through the silence.
Warriors turn on his heel, running as fast as he can. He pushes past the rest of the team towards the source of the sound. If Twilight and Wild get hurt because of him– because he let them go knowing it was dangerous–
He sees movement up ahead. A large mass shrouded in darkness. He readies his sword.
Pain lances through his arm.
Warriors stumbles back a few steps, dropping the sword in the process. The dark mass gets closer.
Wild sags in relief seeing him. "Thank Hylia, it's just you."
Warriors grits his teeth against the burning pain in his hand. He picks up the Master Sword. "Where's Twilight?" He demands.
"Not sure yet," Wild murmurs. He motions for Warriors to follow him. "I was following the scream when I heard something behind me."
They move silently through the dark passages. Warriors silently curses his equipment and chainmail as it clatters with every step.
Another shriek has them sprinting forward.
Warriors nearly trips over his own feet when Wild suddenly turns down a side path. He quickly changes his trajectory and starts following Wild. He keeps track of all the turns they take as Wild seems more concerned in getting to where he's going.
"Captain," Wild alerts.
Warriors spots the glowing eyes and readies himself. Another shock of pain lances through his arm. He sees Wild swing his sword. "Hold!"
Wild stops himself in an instant and backs up.
"Hold yer goats," Twilight grumbles. "Can't even breath in peace out here." A few seconds later, the lantern lights up.
Warriors breathes a sigh of relief seeing him uninjured. "We heard a shriek."
Wild grins, going up to pat him on the shoulder. "Didn't know you could reach that high."
"Wasn' me," Twilight grumbles shrugging Wild's hand off. He moves the lantern to light up a young woman behind him. She's dressed in light leathers and there's a sword on her hip. "Scared the poor gal the first time."
"And the second time?" Warriors asks raising an eyebrow.
The woman shifts in place looking embarrassed. "The skultula scared me."
Twilight tilts his head. "I still ain't gettin' why yer out in a cave if yer scared of skultulas."
"I've been doing better lately!" The woman is quick to argue. Her bluster quickly fades, however. "I thought I could handle it."
Warriors shakes his head. "Come on, let's get back to the others. Let them know it's safe," he says.
"Uh, Captain," Wild starts nervously. "I don't know how to get back."
Warriors give him a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I kept track while following you."
He keeps his attention on the woman as they head back. She holds easy conversation with Wild as they travel. All her questions are harmless, but Warriors is still on edge. Sprite said there was danger. Having to split their attention to protect her could put them all at risk.
"So, Mister Captain," she says speeding up to walk besides him. "You're in charge of your adventuring group right? How many of you guys are there?"
He phrases his answer carefully. "Seven. Nine if you include my little brother and his friend."
She hums in acknowledgement. "What types of jobs do you guys take?"
He raises an eyebrow at her. If she needs help with something, why tiptoe around the issue?
She raises her hands with a smile. "Oh, no I don't need help," she says. Warriors doubts that considering her shriek at a skultula. "It's just– your sword is really nice! Must have cost you a lot of money."
Warriors tries to keep his smile friendly despite the alarm bells going off in his head. "You could say that. Though, it's not for sale if that's what you're wondering." She's an adventurer, maybe she's just looking to upgrade her gear.
She pouts. "Awe come on!" She insists with a flutter of her eyelashes that decidedly makes his skin crawl. "Pretty please!"
He hopes his smile isn't strained. "Sorry, miss–,"
"Nila," she interrupts.
"–Sorry, miss Nila. Worked too hard just to sell h– it."
"Ooh, her. So you're that type of man," she teases. "Can't you at least tell me where to get a sword as pretty as her?"
Warriors is relieved to see light up ahead. "We made it back to the others," he says speeding up.
He doesn't like her. Travelers and townfolk are never that interested in the gear of other travelers or adventures. They usually just noticed that they're armed—or very armed—and move on with their day. Her focus on the Master Sword leaves him with a bad feeling.
Legend raises an eyebrow the closer he gets. Warriors turns around just in time for the woman to walk into him.
She stumbles back with a sputtering, "Sorry! I didn't realize you were going to stop so suddenly!"
"Guys, this is Miss Nila," Warriors introduced. "Twilight ran into her earlier."
"Is that what that scream was?" Hyrule asks.
Wind elbows him. "Dude, sh!"
Nila's face goes red. "We don't usually get travelers in the side tunnels," she argues. "And your friend scared the daylights out of me coming out of the shadows like that!"
Side tunnels.
"I told you guys we were lost," Warriors is quick to say. He prays the others understand what he's going for. "We probably took a wrong turn back there."
He gets a lot of confused looks and his hopes start to sink.
Legend motions to Hyrule. "That's what you get for letting him lead," he says.
"But I didn't–,"
Wind elbows him again, this time harder. If anything, Warriors is glad he can always count of those two.
"Say, Miss Nila," Warriors says before Hyrule can ruin it. "You wouldn't mind leading us out would you? I can make it worth your time."
She turns to him, bright eyes. "Will you tell me where you got that sword if I do?" She asks.
Sky and Legend's attention immediately narrow on her. Good they're suspicious.
"I was thinking more along the lines of rupees," Warriors says.
She pouts, clearly disappointed. "Hmm, if you won't tell me where you got that sword then... Oh! You can take me on a date!"
Warriors has to bite down on his reflexive cringe. Instead, he forces a nonchalant shrug. "I can do that."
"Perfect!" She reaches for his hand and starts leading him in the direction the portal had been. "Right this way!"
He can't quite hold it back this time. Thankfully, she's not looking at him anymore. She's too busy pulling him through the group without a care in the world.
"Oh is that your little brother!" She coos. "He's so cute!"
Sprite immediately hides behind Sky when she gets close. Sky doesn't move out of the way.
Warriors immediately notices the equipment swap. Sprite's no longer using his claymore. He has his Guilded Sword and custom Hylian Shield. It makes sense in tunnels, but these tunnels aren't nearly tight enough to warrant such a swap. Do they get tighter?
"Come on, I don't bite," Nila coos. She tries to shuffle around Sky, but he blocks her.
Warriors pulls her by their still clasped hands. "You'll have to forgive him, he's shy. You said the main tunnel's this way?"
Thankfully, she doesn't continue to insist Sprite greet her. They walk in relative silence and Warriors hates that she won't. Let. Go.
Wind wanders up to them. "Miss Nila?" He asks with the innocent voice of a child. "How come you're in these tunnels?"
Nila coos at him much the same way she did Sprite. She turns to Warriors with a smile. "You didn't tell me you had two brothers!"
"I don't. He's–," his eyes flick to Wind and he nearly loses his facade. Wind's making a face at her that quickly disappears when she turns back to him. "He's my brother's friend."
He completely misses whatever she says next as his thoughts race. Wind doesn't like her. Sprite says there's a chance Wind remembers.
She's the danger.
"Hey, are you listening?"
Shit. He wasn't paying attention.
"Sorry," he's quick to say. It tastes like bile on his tongue. "I– must have gotten lost in your smile."
He hears someone groan behind them. Good, at least it sounded natural. They still don't suspect anything.
"Oh, you're such a charmer!" Nila giggles, waving her free hand at him. "Do it again!"
Wind asks, "So does that mean you have a map?"
"A map?" Warriors can't help repeat.
"Yeah. Like I was telling your brother's little friend," she responds easily. "I'm more of a cartographer than your standard adventure. And as a matter of fact–!"
Warriors is eternally grateful when she drops his hand.
She shifts her bag just enough to start riffling through it. "Oh!" She pauses in her riffling. They all slow as Nila stops to pull out a small pouch. "I have some leftover cookies! Do you guys want them?"
Sprite is immediately pushing past all of them. "Me first!" He calls.
Nila and a couple of the other laugh. She coos at Sprite as she pulls out a small powder covered cookie from the bag.
Warriors doesn't hear a thing. Not Nila's laughter and not the group's teasing remarks.
His attention's on Sprite. He sees it before any of the others can even suspect a thing. Sprite's stance shifts just the slightest bit. He's already pivoting with his hand on his sword. Nila collapses to the floor, blood pooling around her.
There's an immediate commotion behind them. Hyrule and Wild shove past Warriors to the woman. Wild pulls Sprite back while Hyrule tries to tend to the woman. Warriors knows it's useless. She was already dead by the time she hit the ground.
He's yanked around by the shoulder to face Legend. "Hey! Are you even listening?!" Legend demands. "He just killed an innocent woman and–,"
"She's not innocent," he responds automatically. His gaze strays back to Sprite.
"Of course she was!" Legend shouts. "She was helping us!"
Warriors ignores him as he continues to shout. Instead he keeps his attention on Sprite as he struggles against Wild. "Champion, let him go," he orders.
Wild meets his gaze. The uncertainty is plain to see.
Sprite doesn't wait, he throws his head back and headbutts Wild in the mouth. It stuns him long enough for Sprite to twist his arm until it pops, and then he's rushing back to the body. He shoves Hyrule out of the way, and grabs the woman's small pack. He drags it a few feet further, keeping everyone in his line of sight.
Warriors watches with bated breath. He desperately hopes Sprite finds what he's looking for. He desperately hopes it's enough to convince the others. He–
He lets out a grunt as he's roughly shoved against the cave wall. The rock digs into his back as Twilight snarls at him. "Y'taught a child to murder innocent folk," Twilight accuses.
Warriors could tell him the truth. That the Mortal Draw is a Shiekah technique. That Vice General Impa had taught it to Sprite because most people let their guard down around a kid, including traitors. That Sprite had eventually taught it to Warriors so he could defend himself from traitors. So they could dispatch of any traitor who didn't realize their cover was blown.
Even Warriors knows how much that sounds like an excuse. "Yeah," he says instead.
The anger twists at Twilight's expression. He pulls back just enough to throw a punch, and Warriors tries not to flinch in response.
Four latched onto Twilight's retreating fist with a desperate shout. "Whoa whoa! Think for a second!"
Twilight is caught off guard, momentarily losing his footing. Four takes the opportunity to maneuver him away from Warriors.
"Shut up!" Sprite shouts. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
The resulting silence is heavy. Warriors can hear the blood rushing in his ears.
Sprite holds up a white oval mask with a inverted Sheikah Eye on it.
Wild's hiss is deafening in the silence. "Yiga." Wild looks down at the body of the woman. Where there was once concern and pity, there is now disgust and contempt.
"Turncoat scum," Sprite corrects. "All of others in village also."
"Why wait 'till now?" Legend demands. "Why not say something!"
Sprite reaches into the bag and pulls out the small sack of cookies. He launches it at Twilight who reflexively catches it.
Twilight frowns in confusion as he opens the sack. "What's–," he stops, bringing it closer to smell it. His frown deepens. "There's rue and nightshade in this." He pulls out a small cookie. He leans in again to sniff at it and sneezes.
"You're kidding," Legend says trying to snatch it from his hand. "It's just a wedding cookie."
Warriors can almost see it in sickening detail. Legend and Sky. Hyrule and Wind. Wild. By the time it reached Twilight, it would've already been too late.
He feels sick. He wants to throw up.
He takes a deep breath.
"Mask," he barks in hopes that his voice is steadier than he feels, "is there a map in her belongings?"
Sprite's quick to continue digging through her bag. He upends the thing, scattering her belongings on the floor. Some of them roll into the pool of blood. He triumphantly holds up a piece of parchment. "Yes, sir!"
By now, Legend has stopped arguing with Twilight and watches Sprite critically. "You think she has a compass too?"
Sprite continues to dig through her now discarded belongings. He frowns.
Wild makes his way over, kicking the body over until it's not laying in the blood anymore. "What's it look like?" He asks digging through her pockets with his good hand.
"Small and round, almost like a container," Legend responds. He still sounds wary as he watches Wild carelessly toss all her belongings on the ground. "It's magic so your fingers will probably tingle."
Wild finds the compass and tosses it to Legend. Legend grimaces at the blood on it. "Let me see the map," he says to Sprite.
Sprite scowls at him.
"Give him the map," Warriors orders.
Sprite stomps over to Legend and shoves the map at him. He quickly retreats to where he was before.
Warriors motions Wild over. "Come here. Gotta pop your shoulder back into place."
Wild ignores him, going to Legend instead. "Hold on, I want see how this works."
"Wild–," Warriors starts.
Legend shoos him away. "Get your shoulder fixed, then you can gawk."
Wild rolls his eyes but doesn't argue further. Warriors is grateful as he checks Wild's shoulder over. He gives Wild a quick warning before shoving his shoulder back into place.
Wild barely grunts despite how much Warriors knows it hurts. Wild gently rotates his shoulder and moves his arm around. "All good, thanks Cap!" He quickly returns to Legend's side, eager to see how the map works.
From next to Warriors, Wind says, "It's like he's made of rubber."
Warriors doesn't respond as he watches the others gather around Legend. He hopes this doesn't fracture the trust the group has in him, or worse, Sprite. He looks to the kid and sees him watching the others warily. He damn sure hopes Sprite's trust in the others hasn't fractured either.
"Wars!" Legend suddenly shouts shoving through the other. "We have to go! Like now!"
Warriors nods sharply. "Everyone form up!" He calls. "Legend, up front. Mask, get over here."
"Come on, come on! We have to go!" Legend urges, "Wild, you're in the back!"
Legend leads them back the way they came at a near run. He's constant shushing them if their footsteps get too loud.
He suddenly stops and holds an arm out. Hyrule crashes into his back, and a few of the others nearly trip at the sudden stop.
"Why are we–,"
"Shh!" Legend immediately hisses. He extinguishes his lantern, and Twilight quickly follows suit.
They wait with baited breath. Warriors keeps a hand on Sprite's shoulder to keep him in place. Though it seems the kid has no intention of moving.
Wild eventually creeps up towards the front of the group. Legend is quick to clamp on to his arm. Wild throws him a hard look and Legend pulls sharply at his arm. Wild winces in clear pain even as Legend shoves the map in his face. They both suddenly freeze.
Warriors is straining to see through the darkness when he hears footsteps. Multiple footsteps. It feels like they last for forever.
Legend still keeps them there for a while after the footsteps fade. Eventually he puts his hand down and starts leading them through the tunnels again. They move at a similar speed as before, but everyone's more careful to stay quiet.
After several more minutes of travel, Legend brings them to a stop. He keeps his voice low as he turns to them. "Alright, the exit's up ahead, but there's six guards out there." He holds the map out for the others to see.
Warriors takes a look and sees several of those Yiga symbols in several different spots. He sees the exit Legend's talking about, and sure enough, there's six symbols there.
His stomach drops when the symbols scattered across the map suddenly disappear and reappear in different spots. All except one that has a red X over it. That must be Nila, he realizes.
"There's only six of them and nine of us," Hyrule says. "So why don't we just keep going?"
"Because they call backup immediately," Wild frowns. "And they show up fast."
The symbols move again.
Four adds, "Don't forget the village full of them. However many reinforcements you think will show up, it'll probably be double."
Wild's frown quickly turns into a scowl.
"Yeah, about that," Legend says pointedly looking at Sprite. "How the hell do you know there's a village ahead?"
The symbols move closer.
"Wild, Wind," Warriors is quick to snap. "Sneak as close to the exit as you can. Wind, use your telescope to find a suitable rendezvous point far from here. Wild, use that tablet of yours to take a good picto of it. Then return here."
"Rendezvous point?" Sky repeats. "You want us to split up?"
"There's too many unknown variables," Warriors answers. "Our best bet is to immediately scatter and hightail it out of here."
"Just from the map," Legend adds, though he doesn't take his gaze off of Sprite. "There's twenty-four known enemies. If they're as quick to call backup as Wild says, then we'll really be in trouble."
"Then how are we supposed to meet back up?" Hyrule asks. "I mean, if we're going to be overwhelmed, how do we even get past them?"
"By causing sheer chaos," Warriors answers. He's not surprised by the skeptical looks he gets. He's usually more strategic with his plans, but they don't realize that chaos can be controlled and directed. "I'll explain when Wind and Wild gets back. For now, stay alert. Legend, how are we looking?"
Legend fumbles for a second before refocusing on the map. He curses under his breath. "There's four more symbols."
Warriors clenches his jaw. That's bad. They're running out of time. Maybe he should explain the plan in case they get caught before Wind and Wild are back. It'll be more difficult to regroup, but not impossible. Wind and Wild's ability to communicate will be helpful. So will Twilight's ability to track.
"Get your weapons ready," Warriors says after a few minutes of tense silence. "Bombs, fire rods, sand wands, anything that kicks up a lot of dirt and lowers visibility."
"Wars," Sky holds out a hand. "Can I have my sword back."
Warriors shifts his hold on the sword, wincing at the ache in his hand. He holds the hilt out towards Sky. He'd completely forgotten.
Four nudges him. "They're back."
Wind and Wild move soundlessly as they rejoin the group. Wind immediately beelines to Legend and takes the map. He flips it over and starts trying to write on the back despite Legend's protests. Warriors is curious to see what the sailor's planned, but he's distracted by the way Wild is so clearly assessing Sky.
"Have you killed a person before?" Wild asks.
Sky startles. "What."
"A person," Wild repeats. "Have you killed one before? Because they're going to target whoever has that sword."
Warriors frowns. "What makes you so sure of that?"
"The Yiga's goal is to kill the Hero and the Princess so that Ganon has no opposition," Wild explains. "That woman, Nila, stuck to you like tar the moment she noticed you had the sword. Whoever's holding it will be the main target."
Warriors curses under his breath.
"Sky, give me the sword," he and Wild say simultaneously.
Warriors quickly turns to Wild. His hand twitches, wanting to grip a sword he's no longer holding. Immediately he feels the stretch and ache of burns.
Wild squares his shoulders, "Captain," he starts with a hard tone, "I know the Yiga."
Warriors can ignore the pain of the burn, but his arm is still numb. No matter how well he can fight ignoring the pain, the body will still give out at some point. He doesn't want to risk loosing track of the sword. And the Yiga are familiar to Wild. "Okay. I'll trust your judgement," he replies to Wild's startled surprise. "Sky, please switch swords with Wild."
Wild flounders for a second. It's obvious he was prepared for an argument. "Really?"
Warriors nods. "Yes. Now, show us the picto of the rendezvous point."
They all huddle around Wild to look at the image.
Four asks, "How difficult is it to get to?"
"It looks pretty easy," Wild replies. "You just go straight for a bit, then you go left and," he turns his slate to face him and traces a finger over the image, "no, you go right until the that big pillar is on your left then you go straight–,"
Legend interrupts him, "How can you read a map but not give directions?"
Wild responds with a flat glare.
"Both of you shut up," Wind says pushing in between them. He displays the map he'd taken from Legend. On the back is a new, hastily drawn, map. "Here's the entrance of the cave," he says pointing at the bottom of the map. He then points to an X near the top of the map further on the right. "And this is the rounded— rondi—"
"Rendezvous."
"–Yeah that!" Wind continues. "It's about ten miles out if you go straight there, but obviously you don't want to make it obvious that's where you're going." He circles back to what look like trees near the cave entrance. "The treeline's about half a mile—,"
"How far is a mile?" Hyrule asks.
Legend answers quickly. "A little over a kilometer and a half," he points to a specific section further into the forest. "What's that."
"It looks like a dip in the landscape," Wild responds. "Based on the dip in the trees, I'd say it's pretty steep, so careful out there. It might even be the river we saw glimpses of."
Wind adds, "It looks about three miles out."
Twilight shushes them. They hold their breath as he stares further back into the cave. "We have to go," he hisses.
"Guys real quick!" Wind rushes. He rapidly taps on a square on the map. "This is a really big tower. Head towards that. Keep it nearly in front of you, but a little to the left. The rounded-view is to the right of that. If the tower goes too far left or right, you're off course."
"Rendezvous."
"Whatever!" He hisses back.
Warriors is quick to put an end to their argument before it can start. "Champion, on three," he instructs. Wild nods with determination. "The rest of you, wait until we send a signal. One at a time, and move fast. Is that understood?"
Sprite is quick to respond. "Yes, sir!"
He gets a chorus of 'yesses' and 'okays' from the others.
Warriors pulls his sword from his sheath. Wild is at his side almost immediately. "One." He flexes his grip, still feeling the aching numbness. "Two." Wild shifts minutely, reading himself to charge. "Three!"