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Throughout the history of Hyrule, one thing that never changed was the deafening silence that loomed across the land following a hero and princess’ victory against evil. It was a welcome silence, of course, given what it signified, but it never seemed to ease the uncertainty remaining within the hearts of those who had fought so hard for it.
It was another one of these periods of silence when nine heroes were once again reunited without explanation. This time, they found themselves in an era of peace that followed the victories of both Hero and Princess of the Wild, who had faced multiple battles since the last time the others had seen them. Though their reunion was quite sudden, it was not without the pure joy of seeing old friends once more.
A few days passed where they spent much of their time catching up as Wild took them all around the kingdom, proudly showing them the progress of restoring the land. Whether he was proud for himself or for his Zelda, they would never dare ask him, but they knew the answer.
After much exploration, they eventually landed in Necluda, first paying a visit to the Sheikah tribe before Wild expressed his intent to take them to his home in Hateno. Before that, however, he insisted they take a detour. When the others asked him what he meant, he simply replied that there were some people he wanted them to meet.
Wild had never really talked to the other boys about his past. The truth of it was that he couldn’t really tell them even if he’d wanted to, since he’d still hardly remembered anything of his life before he woke up.
They all knew his memories had been coming back to him gradually, but a few years had passed since, and as they made their way from Kakariko Village with the sun slowly descending behind the hills, it would become clearer just how much he remembered now.
They had just passed under the remains of Fort Hateno when they reached a fork in the path. To the right was the way to the village, but Wild directed them to the left, where he and his horse disappeared behind the hillside.
The others immediately followed, urging their own horses on, but they did not have to go far. Their horses trotted through the narrow passage filled with uneven ground and bunches of trees, before they came to a clearing.
At the edge of a large field was Wild’s horse, grazing in the tall grass without a care in the world and her master no longer atop the saddle. Instead, he was ahead of them, standing in the middle of the field, watching them as if patiently waiting.
Stones of varying sizes were scattered across the field, encompassed by the cliff sides that shielded them from the rays of the sun.
The others each slowly dismounted their own saddles, coming to join Wild in the field and watching him with curiosity.
“Sooooo…” Legend was the one to speak first. “Where are they?” He sounded less annoyed than he usually did, more confused than anything else.
Wild responded with a small smile, raising his hand to gesture behind him.
A group of three stones stood out from the rest; two were rather tall - up to about Wild’s shoulder - while the smaller one barely reached his knee. There were lines of Hylian text carved into them, but the modern language of Wild’s Hyrule was different and the others couldn’t quite make out the letters from such a distance.
“I remember this place!” Wind exclaimed. “This is that place where those creepy statues used to be, right?”
“Oh yeah,” Sky agreed. “They had those eyes that kept staring at us the whole time, didn’t they?” He yawned; the gentle ambience of the wind and the crickets must have been making him drowsy.
“Didn’t there used to be a Shrine here?” Four piped up beside Sky, startling the poor lad.
A few of the others murmured their concurrence, also confused by the absence of the mysterious Shrine they had seen on their last visit.
Wild surprised them by laughing to himself, shaking his head. “A lot has happened since you guys were here.”
“Apparently,” Warriors retorted from the back of the group. “What is this I hear about another split in the timeline?"
Time shot him a warning look.
Legend groaned. “Can we not go into that right now?”
Warriors shrugged, holding his hands up defensively, but not saying anything else.
Twilight’s curiosity must have gotten the better of him; he walked over to stand beside Wild, peering down at the stones inquisitively. It took only a few moments of examination before it dawned on him what exactly he was looking at.
These stones were not just for decor. They were headstones, and this place was a graveyard.
He turned his head to meet Wild’s eyes. “Your family,” he said gently, not even needing to ask.
Wild nodded.
“You remember them?” Twilight asked, though it wasn’t a question that really needed clarification.
“Yes,” Wild replied, his voice having grown quiet all of a sudden.
“Really?” Wind asked, eyes wide in surprise. “Since when?”
Wild shrugged. “About a year ago,” he said, his eyes returning to the smallest of the gravestones. “It’s kind of a long story.”
Legend scoffed. “No kidding.”
They all certainly had their own stories that were far too long to tell in one go, didn’t they?
Hyrule was next to brave approaching the gravestones, coming up on Wild’s other side with his arms crossed around himself. “So… they were just here, all this time?”
Wild nodded again, and there was a small glint of sadness in his eyes.
“Wow, I’m so sorry, man.”
“No, it’s…” he trailed off. “I mean, it’s weird to think about, but I’m okay, really.” He tried to smile again. “Though, I am glad I know now.”
“Does Zelda know?” Twilight asked.
“Oh yeah,” Wild replied. “She was with me when we found out.”
“Found out ?” Twilight furrowed his brow. “Found out what?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story.”
“Hm,” was all Twilight said, not quite satisfied with Wild’s answer, but accepting it nonetheless.
“So…” Wind spoke up again, hesitating. “I guess those two there,” he pointed at the taller pair of stones beside one another, “are your parents, right?”
Wild nodded, the smile returning but the sadness in his eyes remaining.
“Who is the smaller one?” Legend interjected, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Warriors. It wasn’t particularly rude - he’d merely said what they all must be thinking - but he still regretted asking the moment he did.
Wild did not answer immediately, turning away from the rest of them so they couldn’t see his face. He stared down at the smallest stone as he took a slow and deep breath, blinking away the moisture that pricked at his eyes.
“Wild,” Legend said, attempting to correct himself, “you don’t have to…”
“No, it’s okay,” Wild insisted, turning around to smile at him. “That’s my sister.”
Wind’s head snapped to look at him, eyes wide once more. “You had a sister, too?”
Wild hummed his affirmation.
The others stayed silent, none of them daring to ask any names - none of them daring to pry any farther than what Wild was willing to reveal to them.
Wind stepped closer, reaching a hand out toward Wild, but then seemed to think better of it and instead brought the hand behind his back.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what this has been like for you, Wild,” Twilight said.
“I’m alright.”
“We’re sure you are,” Four said, “but losing them and not remembering…”
“It’s almost like losing them twice, isn’t it?” Sky finished for him.
Wild did not reply. Instead, he took a step back toward the gravestones of his parents, before turning his back on the gang again. “I know I’m not the only one here who has lost people,” he said quietly, “lost loved ones; all of us have at some point.”
“Yes, but that should not minimize the grief that you yourself feel.”
Wild tensed at the firmness in Time’s voice. He hadn’t seen the old man in a few years, but he could distinctly remember that tone that always suggested he needed a lecture (or a pep talk; sometimes they were interchangeable.)
Time approached Wild, reaching out and placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. He was somewhat surprised when Wild didn’t wince, like he would have the last time they’d seen each other, but he tried to take it as a good sign of the boy’s comfort zone. “Wild, look at me.”
Wild knew exactly what Time was going to say, knew he was about to go all sentimental on him. The boy he was a few years ago would have ran for the hills when it came to such conversations, but he was a different person now - he himself was older now. Slowly, he looked up to meet Time’s piercing gaze.
“You have lost many of those from the life you had before,” he said, “but I can assure you that you are most certainly not without family.”
Wild felt his heart squeeze in his chest, but he could not think of what to say.
“We all share the same spirit of the Hero, and we all carry the same burden,” Time continued. “Some would say we are practically the same, but we are all individuals who have our own stories.”
“Of course we’re family!” Wind declared. “We look out for each other, and not just because we share the same name and the same destiny!”
“I could easily consider all of you my siblings,” Legend said, trying so hard to make his crooked smile look more like a smirk, “given how annoying you are sometimes.”
That earned a laugh from the rest of the gang, immediately dissolving the tension that had been looming above them.
“Thank you, everyone,” Wild said, turning away to hide his face as he attempted to blink the moisture out of his eyes.
“For what?” Wind asked.
Wild reached up to scratch behind his neck. “I don’t know, for coming here with me today - for being… the weirdest kind of family I could ask for.”
Warriors snickered. “I mean, you didn’t say we were the worst , so I’ll take it.”
Wild tried and failed to hide his grin.
“We will always be here,” Twilight told him. “Even when we’re not face-to-face.”
There was a deeper meaning behind his words than what the others would notice, but Wild knew what he was saying, and he nodded with a warm smile. “I know. I will be, too.”
They decided to resume their trek to Hateno shortly after that, the possibility of reaching the village before dark now long gone, but no one dared to make a complaint.
The rest of the gang was already mounting their horses at the edge of the field; Twilight was about to make his way to join them, but Wild stopped him.
Twilight was expecting him to say something, so it was rather unanticipated when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug. He stood, his arms flailing briefly, but he recovered quickly before his own arms came around Wild’s shoulders.
They stood like that for a short time, and if the others noticed them, they didn’t say anything. They all knew that Wild and Twilight had already known each other before they all had met, but they would never understand everything the two had been through together.
“You really have always been there for me,” Wild whispered so only Twilight could hear. “I will never be able to repay you for that.”
Twilight breathed out a small laugh, tightening his hold on the other boy. “You never need to, cub,” he said. “You’ve already done so much just by being the Hero none of us ever had to be.”
Neither of them said anything when they separated, but they gave each other a knowing look before they turned to join the others and begin their trek to their final destination.
Home.