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Day 4. It was officially Day 4 since they got their most recent member, and he had not spoken a single word. He signed occasionally, but just like after his fight with the Lynel, only when asked a question or to help them understand his land. They were still in Wild’s Hyrule, and they didn’t want to admit how tired of it they were.
It was so large, and so dangerous and so… wild, for lack of a better word. It was different from what Time saw of Hyrule’s. Hyrule’s land was untamed, but Wild’s was teeming with creatures and plants, far more so than Hylians. It was as if everything around them breathed, as if nature itself was watching them and judging their worth. It was as breathtaking as it was overwhelming.
Their new member himself was also overwhelming. Time felt some guilt creep in at the thought. It wasn’t the boy’s fault it was exhausting to interact with him, but it was. It was like that with every new hero. Every Link had traits that were so painfully different and yet so hauntingly similar. It was no one’s fault, it just took getting used to for everyone. And they all got used to each other after some struggling for dynamics and normalcy because they talked it out. Talking it out was the key to that. Sure some pieces just naturally fell into place, but others were talked about over a campfire, or while traveling.
Wild couldn’t do that. Time had no idea why he couldn’t or didn’t talk. Based on the small amount of harmless stories told to each other, many of the Links were quiet during their journeys, but had opened up more after them. Wild never spoke a single word, some suspected the scars on his neck. It wasn’t irritating per say, it was just hard to understand him in genral. His hood was always drawn up, but he didn’t seem overly sensitive about his scars. Time simply didn’t understand, and it was frustrating.
Twilight knew something, Time knew he did. He asked what had happened in private this morning after he woke up to Wild and Wolfie curled up together. Twilight looked hesitant to say anything, just explaining a simple nightmare, and that Wild hadn’t slept the other two nights he had been with the group. Time grimaced at that. He too had gone days and nights without sleep, but it wasn’t pleasant. Why was Wild still doing it outside his quest? None of it made sense. Perhaps it related to how dangerous his Hyrule seemed.
“Did he say anything to you?” Time had asked his protege. Perhaps Wild simply had trouble speaking with a large group. Sky seemed to have trouble with that sometimes. Twilight looked conflicted, then simply shook his head. He was hiding something, and Time understood he was doing it to not break Wild’s trust. Still, Time just wanted to understand their new Link.
Based on the way this quest was going, they would be together for a while. They had next to nothing about what was happening to monsters and why they were brought together, there was no clear end in sight. Better they all get along, they were in for the long haul.
Time let Twilight stumble out an excuse before going to talk to the others. There was absolutely something going on.
~
There was something going on and Wild didn’t quite know how to confront it. Twilight could turn into an actual fucking wolf. It really shouldn’t surprise Wild. He assumed different worlds had different rules. No what surprised him the most was that the others didn’t seem to know. Wild guessed Twilight hid it well enough, but based on what he had heard in a casual discussion this morning, Twilight came back to camp after the wolf, or ‘Wolfie’ as his wolf form was apparently called, had left. Wild wondered how mad that name made Twilight. Hylia, he wanted to know what was going on! Twilight had the same marks as the wolf, he was never in the same place as the wolf from what he had heard, why was Twilight keeping it a secret? If he was ashamed, it made no sense that he would help Wild of all people. He was new, they didn’t even know him.
Twilight was probably too good of a person to leave someone hanging during a nightmare. Wild felt a sad pang at the thought that perhaps Twilight was scared to wake him as a Hylian. Wild didn’t mean to be standoffish. Based on what little memories he had, he always had been. But he was a different person now. Or maybe he wasn’t. If he ever got all his memories back, would he combine? It was all so confusing to him. But one confusing moment at a time.
Wild knew next to nothing about all of them. Time was intimidating, but he seemed nice enough. Sky seemed almost too nice. Legend had a sarcastic exterior. Wild wanted to talk more to Hyrule. The other boy seemed to have an odd amount of hesitance and experience, and Wild thought maybe that’s what others saw when they looked at Wild himself. Wind was animated. Wild didn’t know what else to say about him quite yet. Warriors was a strategist. He reminded Wild of someone he couldn’t remember, probably a knight he knew once. He knew nothing about Four, but the boy seemed knowledgeable and fun. He almost seemed indifferent, but that wasn’t the right word. He just seemed accepting of everything that was thrown at him, including Wild himself. Twilight overall, just seemed honest and good. They all did, but Twilight was simple, in the best way possible, and also impossibly complicated at the same time. Something about the man was just… comforting? Something he only ever felt with Zelda. Wild felt a rush of guilt at the thought of Zelda. He just got her back…
Wild shook himself out of those thoughts. Twilight obviously wanted the wolf to be kept a secret, so Wild would be sure to do that. But he really wanted to know why he comforted him. He could have just woken Wild up and ran off into the woods, by the time Wild had calmed down the wolf would be gone. Wild just wanted to ask, but he was terrified that would be a horrible mistake.
~
The group had been traveling for a while now. Wild was near the front guiding them along a path none of them recognized from their own Hyrules.
“Wild? Is there a good place to rest for lunch ahead?” Time asked their companion. Wild nodded.
‘Safe path.’ Wild wanted everyone to understand without translations all the time, so he had stuck to signing simple things when the whole group was looking at him, ignoring the itch in his skin.
“Okay, here then?” Time asked. It took Wild a second to realize he was still being addressed. He nodded hastily. Wild saw an opportunity to take a break from his new group. They seemed nice, but he was desperate for alone time. Except… he wanted to talk to Twilight.
‘I’m going to go get materials for lunch real fast.’ Wild signed at the nearest Link, who happened to be Warriors, signing a few more times slower before time understood.
“Oh, alright. Call if you need anythi- oh.” Warriors face turned slightly red when he realized his mistake, trying to think if he should apologize or just keep moving. Wild waved him off and gave a small smile. He wasn’t offended. Warriors tried to cover his sigh of relief before awkwardly going to talk to Four. Wild took a deep breath, before going to the outskirts of their little patch of rest area. Wild knew his land like the back of his hand. They were in the forests to the left of the Faron region. Apparently the group was looking for a portal or something. Sky apparently felt the sword guiding him sometimes. Wild understood it enough, but also didn’t quite feel comfortable asking questions about it yet. So far he was content to keep his guard up and go where the group needed.
Wild approached Twilight at the edge of the area. The man seemed happy to watch his friends and go where he was needed.
“Hey Wild.” Twilight greeted with a warm smile that made Wild freeze slightly.
‘Do you… want to come?’ Wild signed before pointing to the woods he was about to scavenge. The others didn’t need to know he had hundreds of mushrooms in his slate.
“Oh! Um, with you to look for food?” Twilight couldn’t help his excited smile when Wild nodded. “Do you need help? Hyrule and Legend are really good at scavenging, I can get them to-” Twilight stopped when Wild shook his head quickly.
‘Just you?’ Wild looked nervous from under his hood. He had worn it higher since the first day he joined them, but still kept it up constantly.
“Oh yeah! Did you tell Time? Just so he doesn’t think we’re missing.” Twilight joked with a nervous smile.
‘Warriors.’ Wild finger spelled. Maybe they should figure out some signs for Wild in the long run.
“Oh okay. He’ll let everyone know.” Twilight got up and reached out to put his hand on Wild’s shoulder to lead him in the direction of the tree line, before freezing. Wild didn’t like being touched. At all. Twilight felt better at Wild’s appreciative look when he pulled his hand away. The two walked quietly into the woods. Once they were out of sight of the others, Wild stopped. Twilight was about to ask what they were looking for, but closed his lips when Wild raised his hands.
Twilight recognized the words ‘you’ and ‘wolf’. His blood went cold, he could actually feel his face being drained of color.
“Oh yeah, I like wolves almost as much as I like goats.” Twilight chuckled, having experience covering his secret. His face further drained when Wild shook his head, signing slower this time.
‘You are a wolf. After my nightmare?’ Wild looked nervous even bringing it up. Well, no point in denying it now.
“How did you know?” Twilight sighed, cutting straight to the point. Wild pointed to his forehead and Twilight almost hit himself. Of course! The marks had grown darker over the years. Twilight expected when someone besides Time found out, it would be more, excitable? This was just anticlimactic. “Look I’m not, not telling them to lie and be deceitful, I’m just not ready to explain it ye-” Wild cut off the rant he had practiced in his head a million times by raising his hands. Twilight instantly quieted.
‘I won’t tell. You don’t need to explain it to me.’ Twilight felt immense relief at the slow signs Wild was making. ‘Thank you.’ Wild signed hesitantly, biting his lip. Twilight realized he was talking about the comfort for the nightmare.
“Of course. Sorry for deceiving you, I didn’t mean to. I just know you like animals and I know you don’t like us touching you at all. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just didn’t want to leave you alone with it. In the future, I could just wake you up? Or you can pretend the wolf is a different being, I don’t mind at all.” Twilight didn’t know how to help Wild while the boy knew it was really a human trying to comfort him.
‘Thank you. But I’m used to them.’ Wild signed, genuinely trying to reassure Twilight.
“That doesn’t make it okay.” Twilight softened. “Listen, we all have them. If you want someone to talk to, none of the other Links would mind. And if you want to be closer to someone, or further away, you can just let me know. We’ll figure something out.” Wild looked genuinely surprised and embarrassed by Twilight’s words.
‘Thank you.’ Wild signed simply once again. Something about Wild made his instincts scream, but not in a painful way. He reminded Twilight of the little fox cubs he saw in one of Wild’s fields. Independent, mischievous, and not very quick to accept support from the other foxes. They would nip at their brothers and sisters if they felt they were being too overprotective. Twilight smiled at the image.
“We should probably get searching for food before they think something happened.” Twilight reasoned, surprised when Wild shook his head.
The boy took out his slate and gave a few taps, turning it around to show Twilight. There were endless stacks of food that Twilight read most as having 20 or more, some like mushrooms having 100 or more.
“You had those the entire time!?”