Chapter Text
Not a day went by on his new and strange adventure that Warriors didn’t appreciate Wild’s cooking. From breakfast to dinner, the meals that they ate were all guaranteed to be luxury. Whether it was the uncommonly sweet desserts that he made or the spicy risottos that he somehow managed to season, whenever Wild had access to a cooking pot, the meals the heroes ate were always cooked to perfection.
“By Hylia, sometimes you act as if Wild’s starved you,” Legend poked fun from his spot across the inn table. Warriors had scarfed down his meal, savouring every bite of the pumpkin stew that Wild had whipped up for them. Warriors simply finished his bite and grinned at the veteran hero, who raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Not everyone had access to food like this every day, Legend. Sometimes I’d find myself living off of rations for weeks during the war,” The captain answered nonchalantly, ignoring the shudders from the heroes that still sat at the table. Warriors, Twilight and Legend had come for dinner later than usual, the three previously engrossed in a game of cards. “Not that you’ve never had to do that, but every once in awhile I’ve got to remember how much of a luxury this is,”
“Luxury, eh? Don’t you eat like this back at your castle? I’m sure the princess would love to cater to a pretty boy such as yourself,” Twilight remarked from where he sat.
“Golden Goddesses, Twi, do you have a rock for a brain? I didn’t suddenly finish my job as a captain after the war was over. I simply got back to work and started undoing the damage that was done,” Warriors said. He finished his stew with a clink as he set his wooden spoon back into the now-empty bowl, pointing a finger at Wild, who had entered the room as the heroes at the table sat in an uncomfortable silence. “That, Wild, was another amazing meal as always,”
“Thanks captain,” Wild said back with a smile, gratefully retrieving Warriors’ empty bowl from his now empty seat. The captain stood, his knees cracking as he stretched, and excused himself from the table. The champion sat down next to his mentor before continuing. “I actually came in to ask if you can ask the Old Man for his bowl back. He, Hyrule and Wind brought their meals to their rooms and I still haven’t seen Time since,”
Warriors nodded and saluted him lazily, bidding goodnight to the three heroes that remained in the dining room. The rest of the inn was silent except for the clicks his boots made against the floor, suspiciously quiet from the room where Sky was sleeping. Warriors grinned to himself, wondering what prank Hyrule and Wind were probably scheming to use against the poor chosen hero when he woke up. Four was nowhere to be found, as per usual for the small smithy, who had politely excused himself after dinner to do Hylia-knows-what. At the end of the back hallway, Warriors knocked twice on the door that led to the room he shared with Time. After the second knock, he opened the door to see Time asleep on the bed, an open book loosely grasped in his hand.
“Hey Old Man?” He said again, but was only answered by Time’s light snoring that confirmed the older hero was still asleep. Warriors wondered for a second if Malon would like a picture of that moment, before dismissing the thought, turning his attention to searching for the champion’s bowl. He found it quickly, for it was sitting on the bedside table, still half full of now-cold pumpkin stew. “Damn, Time, did you eat any of this?” He muttered to himself. The old man rarely showed any weakness, but for a moment Warriors felt his heart flutter in concern for the eldest hero.
The captain grabbed the bowl, and empty its remains into the trash and before setting it back down on the table that it had originally laid on. Warriors quietly slipped the book from Time’s hands, folded the corner of the page and gently placed it down on the bedside table. Time’s ear flicked, and Warriors froze as he waited for any sign of the old man waking up. After he was satisfied, the captain pulled the covers over his friend, before grabbing the bowl once again. With concern eating at his mind, he decided to check on Time in the morning.
It wasn’t that he doubted Time’s ability to take care of himself, but merely the fact that the old man was still one of them, a Link. Warriors himself knew the great lengths that one of them would go to hide their injuries or illness, and the last thing he wanted was a painful reminder that Time still fell under that category as well. With too many thoughts on his mind, Warriors left the room of the inn to return the bowl to Wild.
**********
When Warriors woke that morning, he laid for a moment, before sitting up and stretching his arms high up in the air. He sighed in relief when his back cracked in a particularly satisfying way and stood from the bed silently to prepare himself for the trek that the group of heroes would make that day. The sun had barely risen, a sliver of golden light just barely visible on the top of the trees.
The captain hero turned to the other bed in the room, only to find that Time was still out cold, his chest rising and falling in the same rhythm that it had the night before. Worry blossomed in his chest, as the old man was never one to sleep in, but he pushed down the thought once again to simply let the elder hero sleep in a little longer while the captain readied himself.
He started by cleaning himself up, gladly taking extra time to perfect his hair. As vain as the veteran called him, it was always a boost of confidence for the captain when he knew that he looked in tip-top shape. After changing into his usual armor and tunic, Warriors took a moment to scrub the mud from the previous day’s truck off of his boots before he left the bathroom and entered the inn bedroom again.
With a particularly loud clack of his boots, Time started to stir. The old man huffed and pulled himself up onto his elbows, taking in his surroundings in a half-asleep state.
“Morning, Old Man,” Warriors said with a smile. Time nodded, before pulling himself out from under the covers. He shivered, pulling a blanket from the edge of the bed and wrapping it around his shoulders. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes, I’m just having a bit of trouble waking up this morning, is all,” Time insisted, stifling a yawn. Warriors frowned, the concern he felt earlier bubbling back up in full swing. The captain played it off, however, and made his way over to the old man. He stood there for a moment, taking in the elder hero’s appearance before asking his question once more.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You should tell us if you’re sick,” Warriors pressed. Time’s face held an unnatural pallor to it, and dark circles stained the skin underneath his eyes. “You don’t look too good,”
“As I said, I’m fine,” Time said, standing up. Warriors instinctively lifted his hands, and they hovered in the air as the captain worried himself.
“Hey, take it easy,” He caught himself whispering. Time looked down at him with a frown before moving to grab his bag. It was only by luck that the captain caught the slight shake to the old man’s hands as he picked up his supplies.
“You’re shivering,” He said, not in an accusatory tone nor one of surprise, but just a statement of a fact. He grabbed Time’s hands and motioned for him to head back to bed. “You’re pale and shaking and you’re starting to worry me, please sit down,”
Time looked at Warriors expectantly before sighing and letting the captain drag him back over to one of the two beds in the bedroom. The old man wore an impatient expression while Warriors looked him over with observant eyes. It was only until the captain placed the back of his hand on Time’s forehead that he realized what was wrong.
“You’re burning up, how long have you been feeling this bad? Be honest with me,” Warriors wondered. The nearly unshakable old man seemed to wither under his gaze, and the sight made the captain’s face contort with concern.
“I’ve had a headache since yesterday morning,”
“And?”
“And believe me when I tell you that I didn’t feel bad yesterday,” Time’s attention suddenly turned to the sun rising over the trees before he continued. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? We should’ve all been ready by now,”
Warriors frowned at the comment. He scoffed and grabbed one of the blankets from the edge of the bed to wrap around Time’s shoulders. The old man, who didn’t protest, looked at him in confusion.
“What are you talking about? You can’t travel like this. We’ll stay here for the day and then talk about why the hell you think that you should torture yourself so we can keep walking an a random direction until we find some sort of new information,” He mused, ignoring the way that Time’s eyes widened in surprise. Warriors instead started taking his armor off, not very keen on keeping it on when there was no need for it. When he turned back around, Time was looking up at him with one exhausted eye, trembling slightly under the blanket that he clutched tightly.
“What about the others?” The old man asked, steeling himself and straightening his posture now that the captain was looking at him.
“The others will be fine with a day off. If anything, I’m sure that Sky is still asleep,” Warriors told him, hoping to reassure his leader. “If it’s the others you’re worried about, Twilight is perfectly capable of making sure that none of them do anything too stupid,”
Time averted his eye back to the window, giving Warriors the impression that that wasn’t what the older hero was really thinking about.
“What’s really going on then? You wouldn’t go as far as to try and hide how you were feeling for no reason,” He pressed, crossing his arms now that he was finished un-readying himself. Time attempted to level him with a glare, but Warriors had thrown caution to the wind the minute that the old man said he was going to travel in the state he was in. “Does it have something to do with us?”
“I-“ TIme faltered, and Warriors realized that he had hit the mark. “I don’t like being weak in front of you all,”
“So that’s it,” The captain said, taking a seat next to Time on the bed.
“I’m sure you know how it is. When there’s people that you have to care for, you’ve got to stay strong for them,” The old man explained, running a hand through his hair. That seemed to be a mistake, however, since once the blanket slipped from his shoulders a shiver shook his body, and now that his neck was uncovered Warriors could see the beads of sweat that were forming on the Time’s neck.
“Yeah, I do know more than most. But we’re not just your subordinates, we care for you. The others won’t look down on you if we need to stay here for a day because you’re not feeling like yourself,” Warriors insisted, placing a hand on Time’s shoulder in support. The old man’s lips quirked up into a smile as the captain continued. “And, if you want to think about it in a more practical sense, if you work yourself to the point of exhaustion then we’ll be stationary far longer than we would be for you being sick for a day,”
“I understand the logic of it, Malon made sure of that years ago,” Time paused and shifted his position to lean against the headboard, now facing Warriors head on. “I find it hard to accept that I have people looking to be for leadership. I’ve messed up so many things by just existing…”
The room fell silent as Warriors considered his next few words. Time pulled his knees up to his chest, and Warriors’ heart warmed at the pang of nostalgia that hit him.
“You’re talking to the man who accidentally started a war by simply existing. I had trouble with the same thoughts that you have. Hell, there was even a kid that fought with us, and sometimes I put up a facade for him. An illusion of strength and bravery even when I didn’t feel very strong or very brave. It was until I broke down that he finally made me understand that I didn’t have to pretend to be strong for him,” The captain explained. The sun was now fully risen, the blinding sphere fully visible from the window of the inn. “And you know, they call you Old Man for a reason. You make them feel wanted and understood, like a father to them. After meeting everyone, I can safely say that none of us would have it any other way,”
Time smiled, genuinely, which seemed to be a rare sight for the elder hero. Now that he had finally relaxed, Warriors could see that Time was slumped against the headboard, that he clutched the blanket around his shoulders. There was exhaustion in his one blue eye that made his entire form just seem a little bit weaker.
“Why don’t you stay put while I get you some water and tell the others what’s happening? I’ll make sure that none of them come and bother you so you can get some rest then, too,” Warriors told him before standing and walking to the door of the bedroom. “Oh, and by the way, if you move even an inch I’ll sic Twilight on you later,”
With a satisfied feeling at the small laugh that Time let out, Warriors traveled the short hallway that wrapped around the back of the inn. When he turned the corner he saw the seven other heroes gathered around one of the dining tables with varying levels of concern.
Twilight was the first to notice his arrival, and nearly jumped out of his seat, startling everyone into attention.
“What took you so long? Where’s the old man?” He asked, his voice betraying the somewhat-schooled expression on his face. Legend looked at him expectantly as well, eyeing the way that he was only dressed in his simple shirt and trousers.
“I’m going to preface this by saying that everything is perfectly fine-“ In the middle of his sentence, Warriors received a very pointed glare from Twilight, “-and Time isn’t feeling great this morning,”
“Oh, is he okay?” Hyrule wondered, standing from the chair that he occupied. Warriors nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels.
“He’s fine, just a fever. He needs to rest, that’s all,” The captain, hoping to reassure his comrades. “If you do head in there, though, be sure that you don’t mention it. I get the feeling that he doesn’t like being sick all that much,”
The table seemed to breathe a sigh of relief before resuming a causal chatter as the heroes began to plan what they wanted to do with their day off. Twilight approached Warriors silently as the captain approached the kitchen.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Warriors interrupted the rancher. Twilight huffed, rolling his eyes, but the fur-clad hero didn’t deny the statement. The captain turned to face the rancher after filling the cups. “I promise that he’s fine. He just needs to let himself rest,”
Twilight sighed and nodded, the captain putting a reassuring hand on the rancher’s shoulder before starting to walk back to the bedroom.
“You might want to get going, though,” The captain called back, catching the rancher’s attention as he had started to head to find his protege. “I think I hear Wild talking about exploring,”
Twilight’s ears perked up in concern before he quickly excused himself from the conversation to make sure that the champion wouldn’t get himself into too much trouble.
Back at the room at the end of the hallway, Warriors knocked twice again before opening the door. This time, however, Time appeared to be asleep against the head of the bed, his chin resting on his knees that had been pulled up to his chest.
“Are you actually asleep?” Warriors asked, and Time’s eye cracked open, a small smile gracing his face.
“I’m just resting my eye,” He insisted. The captain handed him a glass of water, letting him take a sip before placing it on the bedside table.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” He commented as he sat back down on Time’s bed. “But, I’ve told the others that we’re staying here for the day, and everything’s fine. I’d imagine that Hyrule will be in here at some point, but other than that, you have the day to yourself, old man,”
“They’re all alright with it?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” The captain said innocently. Instead of responding, TIme stifled a yawn, rubbing at his scarred eye. “You really should consider resting, though,”
Time nodded lazily, before pulling himself under the covers and ending up with his back facing the captain, who was suddenly reminded of all the times during the war when he would reach over and grab the blankets to tuck a certain little hero into bed. Despite the smaller Hero of Time’s adventures, Warriors never imagined that the kid would outgrow him. Yet here he was, older and wiser than he was before. Even though Time was older now and didn’t seem to remember him, Warriors saw nothing but the little boy that he had fought with during the war.
Nostalgia struck him when he remembered the cold nights in the military tents, and all the times that the young hero would be awake, trying to do anything but sleep. Old habits die hard, Warriors decided as he gingerly removed his scarf from his shoulders and placed it around Time, who startled slightly.
“Might as well be comfortable,” Warriors reasoned in a mix of wanting to take care of the elder hero but not wanting to treat him like a child. “Now go to sleep. Captain’s order, old man,”
“Did you just pull rank on me?” Time asked, muffled from beneath the blankets. Warriors didn’t grace the question with a response, merely shrugging it off as he settled against the head of the bed once more.
The captain ended up staying by Time’s side until the older hero’s breaths fell into an even rhythm. Hyrule would want to make sure he was alright at some point, but the old man looked so peaceful in sleep that Warriors didn’t know if he’d have the heart to wake him. Time’s ear flicked in his sleep, and Warriors huffed in gentle amusement. Oh well, he supposed, he’d made sure to wake Time up before dinner.