Work Text:
Wild knew his Hyrule could be a dangerous place. Whereas the others had flourishing cities and thriving towns, Wild had small villages, where people had to worry about becoming a monster’s dinner as soon as they set foot outside the settlement. The deserts were hotter, the mountains colder, the people hardier and less willing to die without fighting tooth and nail every step.
The scarred Hero wondered how the other Heroes would have dealt with the blood moons. Would they have cowered as he did the first one? He remembered it distinctly. He had just gotten off the plateau and barely made it a few steps, already horribly shaken from trusting the paraglider, when the night sky turned red, thick with malice. The moblin he’d just beaten to death with a club rose once more, skull no longer crushed in, jagged shards of bone poking out through bruised flesh. It snarled, completely unharmed while he stood, frozen with fear, the weapon in his hand still dripping with its blood.
Wild wasn’t afraid to admit he ran. He turned and ran till his lungs could only manage ragged gasps, hot tears falling down his cheeks. He’d heard Zelda’s voice, she called it a blood moon, but he didn’t try to think of any questions. He’d found the smallest little crevice between two slabs of what used to be a wall, and wedged himself in it, knees pulled to his chest as he tried to focus on sucking in enough air so he wouldn’t pass out.
He’d stayed like that all night, sky blue eyes darting around, waiting to be dragged from his hiding spot to only be bludgeoned to death. It never came. Only the sun came to visit him.
Carefully, Wild had crawled out into the open, his grip on his weapon so tight his knuckles turned white. He’d found that moblin once more, napping in the warm morning sun, and killed it again, standing at it corpse for hours, making sure it stayed dead this time.
The next few blood moons were similar, the same panic shooting through his body, sending adrenaline pumping to trembling limbs and only to be used to find a safe place to hide.
By the time he’d met the other Heroes, the blood moon was more of an inconvenience than a paralyzing, fear-inducing event. They were fewer and farther between, and some monsters wouldn’t rise, but occasionally they still occurred after Calamity Ganon was long gone.
Honestly, Wild had forgotten about the blood moon. He’d spent so much time in Hyrules that weren’t his, and it wasn’t till they had landed back in his that he realized what tonight was.
They had shifted Hyrules a few days ago and were currently spending the night at the Dueling Peaks Stable. Time had been keeping everyone on a tighter rein, no doubt paranoid at the sheer amount of monsters Wild’s Hyrule held, but he had loosened his hold as evening fell.
Legend and Four were looking at the remnants of the guardians dotting the field while Wind and Time were trying their best to befriend at least one of the wild horses roaming about. Sky was napping, a cucco resting peacefully in his arms back at the stable, and Warriors was busy seeing how mad he could make some shady treasure hunter twins, with only snide remarks.
Hyrule, Wild, and Twilight were out in the forest, looking for anything they could cook up for dinner. Wild also wanted to introduce Hyrule to the thrilling hobby of bear-riding, though he didn’t think Twilight would allow it.
“Boys, we should hurry up. It’s getting dark out and I bet everyone else is getting hungry too.” Twilight called out, walking back to the younger two with an armful of mushrooms. Wild looked at it, then at the mushrooms Hyrule had gathered.
“Twi, I told you to find some meat...” The scarred Hero groaned, “We can’t have mushroom every night. We need more than just fungi. Hyrule was supposed to get a few, you were supposed to get the meat, that’s what the deal was. You got us fish or bird or something non-mushroomy, and I stay here like you told me to, not riding bears. I filled out my part of the bargain, you didn’t.”
“I said maybe I’d get some fish. But there’s no need to kill anything, because we have plenty of mushrooms.” Twilight countered.
“We’ve had nothing but mushrooms for three days, Twi. There’s only so many ways to cook mushrooms when you don’t give me anything else.” Wild countered, “You broke our deal so..”
“Wild, don’t you dare-“
The younger Hero didn’t wait to hear the rest of his mentor’s statement before he was dragging Hyrule deeper into the woods. He’d promised Twilight to stay away from the wildlife, but if the Hero wasn’t willing to kill even one little crane and keep their deal, his promises be damned.
“Wash the mushrooms, toss them in the pot with some oil and salt, a teeny bit of goron spice, and roast them till they taste good!” He hollered out behind him. Even if he was a bit upset at having mushrooms and nothing but mushrooms for the fourth night in a row, he wouldn’t make the other boys wait for dinner.
Hyrule was really good at riding bears. He wasn’t very good at riding horses, but Wild had watched with glee at the Hero of Hyrule lumbering around on a bear, hooting and hollering at this newfound talent.
Until the bear got upset.
Even after that, Wild wasn’t too bummed.
“You were so good at that,” Wild cackled from where he was perched. Hyrule was giving him a piggyback after his leg had been chewed on a bit. A potion had healed it up pretty nicely, but it was a bit too tender to put weight on just yet.
“Thanks, it was a lot of fun. I see why you like to do it.” Hyrule grinned, heading back to the stable. Dinner should be just about done by now, and Wild knew they’d probably call it an early night after Time and Twilight had lectured them both. It was worth it though. Now Hyrule had a new lifelong skill.
Once they got back, Time seemed to take over the lecturing. Twilight seemed a little off, but there was enough chatter in the stable with nine Heroes in it, that Wild’s worry took a back-burner. Or maybe it was just the side effects of the healing potion making Wild sleepy. Either way, he stomached his mushroom skewer and let Sky and Hyrule tuck him into his scratchy stable bed.
Wild drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours till he felt a familiar gut feeling. Something was wrong. He sat up, glancing around, counting. Wind, Hyrule, Legend, Four, Warriors. That was five. He looked to his other side, Sky, Time, and... where was Twilight?
Wild didn’t know why he was so paranoid, the Heroes wandered off all the time for a minute or two. Maybe he was taking a leak, maybe he needed a snack. The scarred Hero couldn’t shake the eerie feeling as he carefully stood and limped outside.
There he saw it. The blood moon. It was beautiful, in the same way fresh blood bounced on snow and prey took its final terror-stricken breath in the jaws of a predator. It was horrifying, but oh so impossible to look away.
It was almost alluring, but Wild had gazed upon even crueler mistresses than the blood moon. He turned, looking around for any sign of the taller Hero. He didn’t want to wake up any of the others, but he did whisper to single stable hand, still awake if he’d seen his companion leave.
“Yeah, the guy with the wolfskin headed to the woods.” The man replied, pointing to the telltale boot tracks. “He didn’t look well, kiddo. I asked him if he was alright, but he just kept walking.”
Wild mumbled a quick thanks before hobbling in the direction he’d been shown. The moon was rising higher and he really wanted to find Twilight before it reached its peak.
“Twi? Twilight?” He wasn’t scared to raise his voice once he got a ways away from the stable. He could deal with explaining the blood moon to his mentor who took most things in stride and accepted what Wild would say without pushing, but if everyone started asking, they’d ask questions that he wasn’t prepared to answer.
“Hylia damn it.. Twi, where are you? Are you okay?” Wild stepped into a clearing and sucked in a gasp.
“Twilight?”
The Hero stood there, his limbs contorted painfully, fingers flexed as if he would claw off his own face. He made no acknowledgement of his protégé, only managing huffs and pants. His eyes were bright red, unfocused as Wild stepped forward.
Wild knew there were some people affected by the blood moon. There was that odd moon researcher back at the stables who freaked out, running around and ranting when those nights fell. He didn’t know why Twilight would be reacting like this, though.
“Twilight-“ Wild repeated himself, reaching out to touch the taller boy when his stomach sank and suddenly the air seemed a little thicker, the sky redder. The sound Twilight made didn’t sound human. It was a mix between a scream and a snarl, and his back arched painfully. It looked vaguely akin to when Twilight would shift into Wolfie, but even this looked different. And it certainly wasn’t this painful.
“Wild…Run..” He only managed two words before he dropped to the ground, convulsing with more snarls and growls. Wild took one step back, then two.
By the time he hit the edge of the clearing, he couldn’t recognize the creature before him. It was more wolf than man, but it was huge. A hulking mass of muscle, fur, and fangs. Bloodthirsty eyes looking around.
Wild managed to duck behind a tree, not daring to breathe. What had Twilight become? He’d seen those eyes, and there wasn’t a shred of his mentor, the young man he considered his older brother, in there at all.
Twilight’s words came back to him, and he cursed himself. He couldn’t run! He couldn’t run back to the stable, he couldn’t run away; he could barely walk.
He heard something ambling around off to his left and the..thing took after it. There was a panicked cry, a deer, Wild recognized, and then a horrible squelching, crunching noise.
It spurred the boy into hobbling as fast as he could in the opposite direction, still trying to maintain some sort of quiet.
He didn’t know what to do. What had happened to Twilight? Would it wear off once the blood moon ended? Would he be stuck like this forever? What if he got attacked? What if someone else got attacked? Twilight would never forgive himself, Wild knew that much. He didn’t think he could raise a blade against the beast. Twilight was in there, somewhere. He had to be.
Wild didn’t know how much time had passed. He’d gotten lost in the woods hours ago, playing an absolutely terrifying game of hide and seek with the wolf, and thankfully he had yet to be found. It would attack anything it found. So far, if Wild had counted correctly, it was four deer, a bear, and seven hogs. It had gotten distracted pawing at fish in the river with its enormous claws for a bit. Nothing had survived once it had been caught. It wasn’t even killing to eat, it was killing to kill.
Wild’s leg throbbed, beyond upset at him for stumbling around on it. He took breaks when he had the chance, but those were just panicked moments where the beast was close and he couldn’t risk moving.
It was almost dawn, he was telling himself. It would all be over soon. Twilight would be back.
He heard a snuffling nearby and he instinctively took a step back. A stick crunched underfoot, and Wild caught his breath. He counted one second, two, and then the beast was upon him.
He imagined he screamed, claws and teeth digging and ripping into him. He tried to cry out for help, to beat the thing away, but it was throwing him about like a rag doll. It felt like an eternity while only feeling like it had been a few seconds before it stopped.
Wild couldn’t move. Everything was going fuzzy in the early morning light. Oh, it was light? Twilight’s face was in his fading field of vision, looking panicked, saying something. Wild wanted to tell him it was okay, that he wasn’t a scary beast anymore, but only a wet gurgle came out, he could only taste blood on his lips as it bubbled down his chin. Time was there too, on his other side, looking grim and pale-faced. It was odd. Time was grumpy plenty of times, but not this upset. He looked sad.
Wild coughed and wondered idly if he was dying. Again. He’d been fatally wounded before in this very valley, once by guardians and now by whom he considered family.
He wanted to apologize to Twilight, for being mean to him, the last time they talked.
He wanted to hold Twilight’s hand and tell him everything would be alright, to crack a joke and head back to the stable to start breakfast. Sky always wanted pancakes, Legend would drizzle his in enough wildberry sauce that they ended up gross and soggy, but he preferred them that way.
Wild felt tears trickle down his cheeks as Twilight held him, but he knew it could just be blood. He wanted do anything to stop the horrified look on his mentor’s face, but the world was fading to black far faster than he could imagine.
When Wild awoke, he knew he wasn’t dead. Being dead certainly could not hurt this bad. He blinked slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. His mind felt fuzzy and he couldn’t remember where he was. He didn’t know how he got here, why his limbs felt so heavy.
He groaned softly and felt a calloused but impossibly gentle hand rest on his head.
“Hey, don’t move too much. You’ll tear open your wounds.” It was Time, looking gaunt, dark circles under his eyes.
“Cub, I think you sheared at least two decades off my life.” The eldest Hero smiled, brushing Wild’s hair out of his face.
“Wha- what happened?” The scarred Hero asked, his voice rough from not being used.
“I woke up and found you bleeding to death in the Pup’s arms. Out in the forest. I followed your footsteps and heard him calling for help. Thank Hylia we found some fairies willing to help, and our hoard of healing potions.” Time sighed softly, “We really thought we were going to lose you, Cub…”
“Sorry,” Wild whispered before being hushed by Time. He frowned softly and continued, “I am, though. Where’s Twi?”
Time nodded over to the teen’s other side where he was laying in bed. Wild finally realized he was in the stable again, in a bed and tucked securely under a pile of blankets. He didn’t want to think of the sheer number of bandages that must be under those blankets. It was dark out, and on his other side, slumped in a chair, was Twilight.
Wild felt relief flood his system, seeing Twilight as a person again, sleeping in his chair.
“Did he tell you what happened?” he asked, glancing back at Time. “Does he know what happened?”
“He remembers a bit. Not a lot. He wasn’t feeling well and went for a walk. He has some unclear memories of you, and then the next thing he knows, it morning and you’re dying right in front of him.” Time frowned, “I’m guessing you know more than him?”
Wild nodded, averting his gaze to look at a particularly interesting spot on the stable ceiling.
“Yeah. I woke up in the middle of the night and went outside when I noticed Twi was missing. Then I saw it was a blood moon. It’s a phenomenon that happens sometimes in my Hyrule and it… does some stuff.” He didn’t want to talk about that right now, “Anyway, I asked where Twi went and the stable hand said he went to the woods, and I found him. He was freaking out, and I got scared, and then he- he changed. He changed, and it wasn’t like usual. He transformed into some wolfish monster and he started running around, killing anything he found.”
Wild hadn’t noticed his own voice getting shaky as he retold the events of that night.
“It was like he was completely gone, Time. Earlier that night, he had refused to kill anything for dinner because he didn’t see the necessity, and all of a sudden, he was attacking everything. I tried to get away, but my leg was still messed up and he got me.” The boy shivered and Time pulled him into a hug.
“A-And then Twi was back, and you were there.” Wild buried his face in Time’s chest, shoulders shaking as he silently sobbed, “I was so scared, Time. I didn’t want to die, not like that. I didn’t want to do that to Twilight. I tried to apologize, but I couldn’t talk. I tried so hard, and I couldn’t.”
The eldest Hero shushed him softly, rocking him a little. They stayed that way until Wild wasn’t crying anymore and he felt like he could lift his head without bawling again. He didn’t like crying in front of anyone, but if he had to, he’d prefer it be Time.
“What time is it?” Wild asked, still wrapped up in Time’s arms, the other still rocking him just slightly. It felt nice.
“It’s pretty late. You can wake the Pup if you’d like. He wanted to know when you woke up. You’ve been out for two days.” Time replied. “I’ll get you some water, okay?” Wild nodded and watched Time wander off. He turned his attention to the sleeping figure on the chair carefully shook his shoulder.
Twilight started, looking around blindly for a moment before cobalt eyes landed on Wild. Surprise painted his face until suddenly the boy was pulled into a tight hug as if Twilight was afraid if he didn’t hold on for dear life, Wild would slip through his fingers.
“I’m so sorry,” the older Hero whispered, “I told Time I didn’t know what happened, but I know I hurt you. I’m so sorry.”
Wild hugged back just as tight, ignoring the soreness in his arms, so very happy Twilight was back.
“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to. It wasn’t you; you didn’t do this to me. I know you would never lay a finger on me. It was the blood moon that did it. I won’t blame you for what happened.” Wild retorted firmly, “I was so scared I was going to die without apologizing to you for being a total jerk earlier.”
Twilight laughed hoarsely, loosening his hold to look at his protégé, “Really? I nearly kill you by tearing you to shreds and you were scared you wouldn’t get to apologize over kicking up a fuss over eating mushrooms?”
“You think of some weird things when you bleed out, but yeah. I did want to apologize for that.” Wild smiled.
Time came back, handing Wild a cup of water which he sipped carefully. He watched for a moment before pulling both Wild and Twilight into a hug.
“I am so glad you two are going to be alright.” He sighed, “Don’t do that to me again, alright?”
Wild smiled, hugging them back. He knew his Hyrule was a dangerous place, but he felt like he could face anything with his family by his side.