Chapter Text
Everything was red. His own blood pounded in his ear, his body felt...hot. He looked down, eyes wide as he saw a valley carved into his left side and around his back, blood oozing like rivers out of it. Wait, his ear? He moved his hand to rest where his left ear should be. Only to come away with blood dripping copiously from it. No ear.
All of these things he observed as if outside himself, until now. As if pulled into himself from somewhere else, like lightning, the pain, oh gods the pain. He couldn’t see, his vision blurred as he dropped to his knees, realizing now that his leg contained a gaping hole, spanning most of his calf and thigh. Oh gods what is happening? The pain the painthepainthe-
He became aware of a hand on his shoulder....a voice? “Link, save yourself! I’ll be fine!”, the intonation betrayed it as female. Link raised his eyes, recognition written across his pupils. He knew what he would see when he raised his head. No, not again.
The guardian bore down upon them, stepping over its dead allies with ease as it trained it’s cold, red eye on his chest. The beeping quickened, he knew what came next.
The pain was unbearable, but he put his weight on his right leg, which wasn’t faring better despite the non-injury, and somehow raised to a standing position. He swayed, raising the sword that seals the darkness, knowing this would be his final stand. He felt regret. He felt fear, so much fear... He felt tears, tears of disappointment, of anger.
He felt her hand...he couldn’t protect her. He failed. His head swam. Self-loathing overtook his mind, I hate this, I hate...me
He felt a tug at his shoulder, pulling him back. His legs were weak, he didn’t expect anything different when he hit the ground, head hitting the ground with force. His vision was fading, mostly due to the large amounts of blood loss occurring from his dire injuries.
He lay on the muddy ground, blood pooling around him, leaking from his side and his leg. The rain that he only just noticed kissed his face as it fell, reflecting an unbelievably bright light that enveloped him. ...feels so warm... he thought, consciousness fading away.
Far away he heard wet footsteps, and felt an arm behind his head, supporting him. “No, no Link! You’re going to be fine!”, she said through tears. Zelda. He didn’t think he would be fine.
“I-...hurts...” It only just slipped past his lips as a wet cough forced its way out of his throat. Breathing was becoming difficult. He opened his eyes, seeing her emerald pools staring down at him. What was she saying? His remaining ear wasn’t betraying the words leaving her lips, he wished it would. He would like to hear her voice...one last time...
He didn’t want to leave. There’s so much he had left to do, so much to do...with her? His wish of wishes, but why would she want him. She’s probably glad to be rid of a useless knight, he thought.
His chest barely moved, lungs only accepting shallow breaths of air. He stared into her eyes, how dare he blink when he knew any second would be the last he looked upon her face. She turned her head to the side slightly, giving him just the ghost of a smile, probably trying to reassure him, he thought. And that was the last he saw of his princess, the black entangling him, dragging him into the abyss.
~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight couldn’t sleep. He had tried for probably half an hour now. It was still early in the night, first watch. He had second. He thought he might as well join Wild, company never hurt anyone.
He got out of his bedroll, hiking up his pelt to ward off the chill of the night. Hopefully cub wore something warmer tonight, there’s a chill in the air. He walked away from the group, all of them sleeping soundly. Time was drooling onto Four’s hand, it having been trapped beneath his head. He made a mental note to tease the old man about it later.
The moon was rising, high, but not midnight just yet. Twilight cleared the brush, the cliff where Wild presided coming into view.
But instead of finding Wild keeping watch, he saw a lump on the ground, writhing in discomfort. His heart dropping to his stomach, as he sprinted to his charge.
“Wild?! Wild!”, he yelled as he knelt beside him, taking in the sight before him.
Wild was laying on his side, curled into as tight a ball as he could manage, fists pressed to his eyes, so hard it looked painful. He was shivering, trembling, his long hair damp with sweat.
“Oh gods cub, are you hurt? What is it?”, he said half to himself, pretty certain that Wild wasn’t listening. He rolled his charge to his back, cradling his form, bringing him into his chest.
And only then did he hear the sounds. So quiet, it was no wonder he didn’t at first.
Whimpers. Cries. Agony.
Twilight looked down on him in horror, his stomach twisting in knots. He didn’t know what to do. He needed more information, was he injured? He could be in shock from some untreated wound, goodness knows it had happened before.
He decided the first thing was to remove his hands from his face. He thought it would be easy, but he was wrong. Wild fought against him as he pulled with all his might, so much so that Twi thought he would hurt him. But eventually, he relaxed enough for Twi to place them in his lap.
The face that was revealed wasn’t any better. Pain was written in every feature, his mouth twisted into a grimace, eyebrows drawn together in agony, his cheeks soaked with tears...
“Oh cub what is happening to you...”, he trailed off, moving his free hand to rest on the side of Wild’s face, bringing his head firm against Twi’s chest.
Suddenly he heard a new noise, a different one than had been constantly escaping Wild’s form. “...elda...”, he said. Twi looked down on his face, only to see electric blue iris’s staring blankly ahead.
“...stupid...” he continued. “Failed.” His voice was stronger now. Twi was about to respond when Wild’s eyes lit up with something new. Terror. A stuttering intake of air, as his eyes roved up towards the heavens, directly above them. He should have seen Twilight at this angle, but he seemed to look straight through him. Twilight followed his eyes, expecting to see nothing but stars.
Instead he saw red.
The blood moon. Twi had experienced this before. He had been on a few travels with Wild previously after all. But this entire experience was new. What was happening to his cub...was this because of the blood moon?
He looked back down when, after a second passed, Wild’s shaking began anew followed by screaming. His eyes were shut again, hands brought back up, but instead they rested on his head, as if battling whatever was happening inside.
Twilight grasped his convulsing form firmly to his chest, repeating “Cub I’m here, it’s ok.” over and over as the peak of the blood moon came to pass.
At last, it was done. The moon turned white, clean, as if nothing had happened.
Twilights only way of knowing this was when Wild’s form went limp, head lolling back to rest on his forearm, face finally relaxed and at peace.
Twilight quickly put his fingers to the hollow of his neck, checking for a pulse. There certainly was one, rapid and irregular, as if adrenaline was still being pumped through his veins.
He shifted Wild’s limp body and stood, turning to head back to camp. Time won’t like this he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~
He entered camp to an entirely awake group. Most half-dressed and completing the task as he walked towards the fire, limp Wild in his arms. Their eyes all turned to observe the shocking scene, rushing to his side.
“Is he dead?!” yelled Wind, worry coloring his features. “We heard a scream, it sounded...terrified,” Legend added.
“What’s happened?”, Time uttered quietly, taking Wild’s legs from Twi and lowering him to his bedroll by the fire. Wild stayed entirely still, head lolling to the side in his unconscious state.
“I really have no idea, but it had to do with the blood moon. He looked...tortured Time. I don’t know if it was a memory or some kind of magic Ganon casts during the blood moon but...”, he trailed off as he shuddered.
A sound broke him from his reverie, the same stuttering gasp he had heard earlier. He looked down only to see Wild shoot up to a sitting position, his icy blue eyes filled with panic, chest heaving in fear.
Twi immediately fell to his knees, grabbing Wild’s hands in his own and bringing them to an eye level.
“Cub, it’s me. You’re safe. It’s not real.” Wild’s eyes roamed everywhere but his face, seemingly still not aware of where he was, or even that he had any physical contact.
His chest was heaving, at a rate that could only lead to hyperventilation. Twilight dropped his left hand, only to bring his own to Wild’s chest, applying pressure in specific intervals.
“Breathe, cub. Follow me...” Wild blinked rapidly, seemingly becoming aware of his surroundings. His chest followed the direction of his hand. His eyes steadied, and finally, landed on his mentors face.
“Oh thank gods,” Twi said, relief absolutely dripping from his voice.
“...Twi...it...hurt...”, he said weakly, grabbing at his left side suddenly, where of course they all knew about the scars. Twilight let go of his other hand. “I know cub...but that’s done now. There’s no hurt here. We’re here.”
Wild took his eyes off of Twilight to look around him. The other 7 of their brothers were circled around, relief mixed with still a twinge of worry etched across their faces.
Wild smiled, his small one-sided smile he was known for, before grabbing his head and swaying ever so slightly.
“Come now cub, you went through it tonight, time to rest.”, Time said firmly but kindly, supporting Wild’s shoulders as he lay down. The second his head found the soft pelt Twilight had placed there moments before, he was out cold.
Time returned to Twi to discuss the night. So many questions were raised about what had happened. Why? And how? What had he seen? And most importantly...blood moons happen regularly. Did...Wild suffer through this during every one?
Sadness gripped Twi as he fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning. “Oh, cub...what have you been through?”