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They never talk about it, but Legend thinks about it sometimes. He’ll stare into the campfire during his watch, and try to concentrate on anything other than the one subject everybody is too afraid to bring up.
They’d been travelling together for over a month now, and Legend had, against his better judgement, grown attached to the eight other heroes. He hadn’t meant to, but somewhere between snarking at the Captain and trying to ensure that Wild’s complete lack of self caution didn’t get everybody killed, he had grown to care for the other Links. Legend would fight and die for them, and they’d do the same for him.
The fact was, all of them had gone their entire lives having nobody who could truly understand them. Sure, there were some who tried, and some who would come extremely close, but nobody else in Hyrule could truly know what it meant to be the Goddess’ chosen Hero. They didn’t know how the pressure of being everyone’s only hope could grow so intense that it became hard to breathe. They didn’t know how it felt to be broken down again and again, to give of himself until there was nothing left, and yet find something else to give, because if he failed, everything and everyone he’d ever known and loved would be destroyed. They didn’t know the despair that came after victory, because even though his body was still standing, the person he’d been before had long since been killed.
Nobody could understand, and yet, now there were eight others who did. Their adventures were different, but they had all faced and defeated the same evil. Scars were greeted with pride and acceptance, and nightmares were met with compassionate understanding. They could talk about their problems with everything that came after the battle, and not have to explain themselves further. After all, they all knew that figuring out how to move on was one of the hardest parts of the adventure.
'And that’, Legend thought to himself, 'is the heart of the problem'. He had been stupid enough to get attached to the others when they all knew that this adventure would come to an end. And in the end, they would all have to go back to their own timelines, and be separated from each other by hundreds, or in some cases, thousands, of years. And it was likely that they’d never see each other again.
They never spoke about it, but Legend knew that he wasn’t the only one who thought about it. He could see it on Twilight’s face sometimes, when the Ordonian thought no one was watching. He’d look at the Old Man, and a horrible look of grief and knowing would come over his face, only to be quickly hidden as he was engaged in conversation. Legend wondered about that look sometimes, wondered what the Ranch Hand knew. He wondered if the knowledge of Time’s fate was as horrifying as the knowledge he carried.
He tried not to be as obvious in his study of the Smithy. It had been a shock to see him carrying the Four Sword when he first joined the group, but he recognized it immediately. And seeing that sword had brought back memories, none of them good, and all of them foreboding.
Legend hadn’t thought too much about the shadowed Links he’d fought in the Palace, but now he couldn’t help but wonder. What was it they had called him? Had it been ‘a legend’, or was it simply 'Legend’? He found himself looking at Four often, searching for signs that his travelling companion would be doomed to a fate worse than death. He imagined that calm, easy smile being replaced by a scowl, imagined those bright and emotive eyes being filled only with anger, narrowed and determined as the shadows try to kill him.
This couldn’t be Four’s fate, could it?
Were they all cursed to never be at peace?
This is why he hadn’t wanted to get attached! Once you got attached, you started caring, and once you started caring, you started worrying!
And Legend worried.
He worried about everyone in the group. After all, who knew the effect adventures could have better than him? He wasn’t called the Veteran for nothing. He worried about the broken heart Twilight tried to play off, he worried about the Sailor’s lost childhood, he worried about Wild’s memories, and he worried about Hyrule.
Hyrule, the Traveler, his successor.
Knowing what was to come hundreds of years after his death hurt him as much as knowing what was to become of Four. He had tried so hard to save his kingdom, to make it a place where children could grow up in peace and safety. However, it quickly became apparent that he had failed, and that another Link had been forced to fix his mess.
They didn’t know all of Hyrule’s adventures yet, but some things were easy to infer. The Traveler was always on guard, even in a village, an area that the others would consider safe. He’d panic if the tiniest drop of blood was spilled, and treated every stranger with suspicion. After visiting Hyrule’s world, his strange behaviors made a worrying amount of sense. They had only spent three days in that kingdom, but everybody would easily agree that three days was more than enough time. The Traveler’s Hyrule was overrun by monsters, and it only took one encounter for the group to learn that these monsters were smarter than the average bokoblin. The first hoard they’d come across had practically ignored the eight other heroes in their attempt to swarm Hyrule. The group had dispatched the creatures with ease, but it had still been unnerving to watch the way they had targeted the young hero. He had shrugged off their concern, but Legend could see that the attack had rattled him as well.
And so, they had wandered the Kingdom, fighting monsters when needed, and only stopping in town to restock on supplies. Hyrule never seemed to have a destination in mind, a change from the other kingdoms they had visited. In Wild’s Hyrule, they had visited Hateno village to meet Purah, Robbie, and Flora. On Outset Island, they had stayed with Wind’s sister and grandmother. Heck, the group had even met Ravio when they’d been transported to Legend’s Hyrule!
But Hyrule had never said anything about seeing somebody while he was home. He’d never mentioned any companion or friend on his adventure, other than the Old Man who had given him his sword. It made Legend wonder. Did the kid have anybody to go back to when the adventure was over? It had been a shock to learn that he’d grown up in a cave, but was he still completely alone?
He couldn’t let Hyrule go back to being alone. Being alone meant being more likely to be killed. It meant having nobody to lean on. It meant having no reason to stay alive. Legend had been alone before, and he refused to let that be Hyrules life. He’d find a way to bring Hyrule back to his time, just like he’d find a way to ensure Four would live his life peacefully without being trapped in a sword.
After all, even though they never spoke of their adventure coming to an end, Legend thought about it often, and he knew others did the same. Hopefully they had enough time to find a solution.