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Chapter Text

An ominous feeling hung in the air, putting all nine heroes on edge, especially Wild.

The group had just shifted to Wild's Hyrule, but instead of feeling happy to be home, he immediately felt a sense of dread.

"Something's wrong," fretted Wild as he looked around. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he glanced around nervously, expecting something to jump out from the treeline and attack.

The group stayed close together, their eyes scanning the surrounding area for any signs of an ambush.

Hyrule leaned towards Legend as he continued to scan the area. "Do you sense that?" he asked nervously.

Legend nodded slowly as the rest of the group glanced at them curiously.

"It's magic, but it feels...wrong," the vet said, his voice faltering slightly.

"This is dark magic," Hyrule added. "Powerful, dark magic."

Twilight saw Time glance his way, and he knew the older hero was wondering if he recognized this magic.

Twilight shrugged. This was no magic that he had ever sensed before. All he knew is, whatever it was, it made the air feel heavy.

A flash of red caught the heroes' attention, and they all drew their weapons as they turned to see a hooded figure step out from the treeline.

The figure wore tattered, dark purple sorcerors robes with a dark purple cloak with yellow detailing. The stranger kept his head low, his hood obscuring his face.

Wild gasped. This person had what looked to be a great ancient core in his hand; only this one looked like it was infected with malice.

Warriors glanced over at Wild and could tell that, whoever this person was, he was not an ally of the champion.

"Who are you?" Time demanded, his grip on his sword tightening.

The figure slowly raised his head, his yellow eyes looking towards the core in his hand.

"I am a seer, hero of Time," the man sneered as he glanced at the older hero. "My name is Astor."

Time's eye widened in shock. How did this person know who he was?

"I had a vision of a great Calamity befalling the land of Hyrule," he began, and Wild felt his breath catch in his throat.

"I did all that was in my power to make sure that the vision would come to pass, but no matter what I did, YOU were always in the way," he growled and pointed towards Wild.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Wild demanded, the confusion apparent in his voice. He might not have all of his memories, but he was confident he never encountered this person before.

Astor looked around for a moment before his eyes went wide, and he turned back to Wild.

"This is the Hyrule from my vision," he stated. "This is the Hyrule that fell to the Calamity!"

"What do you mean 'this is the Hyrule from your vision'?" Wild demanded, his voice sounding more distressed as the seer spoke.

Astor ignored Wild's question. "This can't be right," he said almost to himself. "If the Calamity was successful, why can't I sense his presence?'

"If you're talking about Ganon, I killed him!" jeered Wild.

The seer's eyes flashed dangerously as he stared at Wild.

"So it would seem," Astor said dangerously.

"I must admit, when I attempted to travel back through time, I didn't expect to end up in a completely different timeline," the seer mused.

"I might not be able to take my revenge out on the hero of my time, but I will take satisfaction in knowing that not only did I kill you," he gloated as he pointed at Wild, "but that I will use you to take out all the heroes of Hyrule's history!"

Before anyone could fully comprehend what the seer had said, Astor raised the corrupted core into the air.

The core began pulsing brightly before a beam shot out and hit Wild directly.

Wild let out a pained cry as he dropped hard to his knees, his whole body consumed by the bright red energy from the corrupted core.

Twilight immediately ran to Wild to help him, but as soon as he reached out to touch him, the red aura surrounding the champion flashed brightly and knocked him back.

Warriors and Legend made a beeline straight for Astor, but suddenly a small, black mechanical device crawled out from behind the trees. If Legend didn't know any better, he would say it looked like a tiny version of a guardian.

The mechanical device quickly emitted a red, glowing pulse that swept across the field, knocking the heroes off their feet.

Astor laughed maniacally as the group struggled to get back on their feet.

"You might have defeated Ganon, but I take great pleasure in knowing that you will bring the demise of all the heroes that came before you. Farewell, Hero of Hyrule."

Suddenly the black, mini guardian began playing a song, and Time felt his heart skip. Suddenly, a portal appeared, and Astor and the little guardian quickly stepped through it, disappearing as the portal vanished.

Sky stared in disbelief. The portal reminded him so much of the Timeshift Stones of his era.

Twilight's distressed shouts snapped him from his daze.

"Wild, are you ok?" he yelled, careful not to touch him.

Wild was on all fours, his hands gripping the ground desperately as he tried to fight off whatever magical attack the seer unleased.

He knew what this was, and he knew he could not let it infect him.

Twilight looked up desperately at Time. "What do we do?" he pleaded.

Time stared at Wild. He had no idea what was happening or how to stop it. "I don't know," he finally answered.

He turned to Hyrule. "Have you ever seen magic like this before?"

Hyrule shook his head. "Never. I can try to see if I can repel it."

Legend quickly grabbed Hyrule's arm. "Don't be stupid. We have no fucking clue what kind of magic that is. For all we know, it will attack you if you try to mess with it."

Wild let out another distressed cry as he continued to fight against the aura surrounding him, sweat beginning to drip from his forehead.

Hyrule quickly pulled his arm away from Legend. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!" he yelled.

He quickly dropped next to Wild. The evil energy pouring off the champion made Hyrule hesitate. He swallowed thickly and slowly raised his hands so that they were hovering just over Wild.

Hyrule closed his eyes and concentrated. The others held their breath as they looked on.

Suddenly, Hyrule yelped and pulled his hands away as if he had been burned.

He stumbled back into Legend, who let out a low curse as he reached out to catch him.

"What happened?!" Time demanded, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

"This is Ganon's magic," Hyrule finally said after a moment.

"You mean like malice?" Sky asked.

Hyrule nodded. "We can't touch him; we can only hope he can fight it off."

Just then, the red aura that had surrounded Wild faded away, leaving Wild panting on the ground.

Hyrule scooted towards Wild again and carefully placed his hand on his shoulder.

When nothing happened, he quickly put his other hand on Wild's shoulder, pink light emitting from his hands as he tried to heal whatever damage the malice had done to him.

He could feel Wild tense up, but he was so focused on healing him he didn't notice the champion's hand grasped his sword.

The movement caught Legend's attention. The vet lunged for Hyrule and pulled him away just as Wild swung out with his sword.

The blade sliced across Legend's arm but he didn't' dare release Hyrule.

The others froze where they stood, unable to process what they had just seen.

Slowly, Wild stood up; his sword gripped tightly in his hand.

Wild looked up at them, his normally teal blue eyes glowing a dangerous red.

"Shit..." Time breathed.

"Wild...?" Twilight called out hesitantly as he stood behind his protégé.

Time saw Wild tense up.

"Twi, get back!!" Time shouted just as Wild spun on his heels, his sword arcing up towards his mentor.

Twilight barely got his sword up in time to parry the attack.

Wild began feverishly slashing at Twilight, pushing the older hero back on his heels as he tried desperately to block the assault.

Twilight stumbled on a branch and momentarily lost his balance. It was all the time Wild needed to deliver a fatal strike.

Twilight watched helplessly as Wild prepared to strike him.

He was sure the look in Wild's eyes would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Just then, Time came out of nowhere and tacked Wild to the ground.

Wild was able to roll away the second his body hit the floor and get some distance between him and the older hero.

Time was already up in a crouched position, waiting for Wild to make his move.

"Wild, you have to fight this!" he pleaded as the two stared each other down.

"I know you are in there. You are stronger than Ganon. Fight this!"

Wild growled ferally and rushed Time, but not before something snagged his legs, causing him to crash into the ground.

Time looked up and saw Sky, whip in hand.

Wild recovered quickly, a bow materializing in his hands as he turned to face Sky.

Sky lunged out of the way, the arrow barely missing him.

"What the hell do we do?" Wind yelled in frustration. He's gonna kill one of us at this rate!"

Wild loosed another arrow, causing Four to almost crash into Twilight as he dove for cover.

Four looked at Twilight as an idea suddenly hit him.

"How were you able to lift the twili curse?" Four asked quickly.

"The Master Sword broke the curse," Twilight answered, noting how Four's eyes looked almost purple in color.

"If the Master Sword can banish dark magic, it should be able to work on Wild," Four offered.

"We don't know that for sure," Twilight doubted.

"We have to try. It's the only option we have."

Twilight growled. Four wasn't wrong. They had to try.

Twilight waited for an opening before he took off towards Sky.

Four saw Wild turn towards Twilight, so he stepped out and threw his boomerang towards him.

It was enough to distract Wild, who easily dodged the weapon before firing an arrow back at Four, catching him in the shoulder.

The force of the arrow knocked Four off balance, but before Wild could get off another shot, Time appeared, shield at the ready, and blocked the volley of arrows as they took cover.

"Are you ok?!" Time asked anxiously.

"I'll live," Four grunted. He reached up to grab the arrow but Time grabbed his hand. If Time noticed the flash of vibrant blue in Four's eyes, he didn't say anything.

"I don't have any potions, and we are not in a safe area for me to wrap that," Time pointed out. "We have to get this situation under control first."

"We have a plan," Four suggested.

Time narrowed his eye. "What plan?"
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Twilight was able to reach Sky before Wild realized where he had gone.

Twilight looked at Sky. "Four thinks we should use the Mast Sword."

Sky furrowed his brow. "Use it how? I can't attack him with it. Possessed or not, Fi will not let me attack him."

"Remember when we had to help Legend that one time?" Twilight noted.

How could Sky forget? It wasn't every day one of your friends transforms into a pink bunny.

"We are dealing with malice. Even if it works, it's not going to be as simple as it was with Legend."

"We have to do something, and I can't think of a better idea," Twilight argued.

Sky nervously ran his hand through his hair. "Alright, but how are we going to get close enough to him?"

"I'll distract him; you make sure you stay out of his sight. When I get an opening, I'll grab him."

Sky shook his head. He did not like this plan, but Twilight was right; they had to at least try.

"Be careful," Sky cautioned. "Malice is powerful, and right now that is not Wild..."

Twilight nodded. He took a steady breath, pulled out his shield, and started to advance towards his protégé.

Legend saw Twilight step out into the open, his shield at the ready. He also noticed Sky start creeping around through the treeline as if positioning himself to come at Wild from behind, Master Sword in hand.

Legend cursed, drawing Hyrule's attention.

Hyrule narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I think I know what those idiots are planning," Legend declared.

"What are you talking about," Hyrule began, but Legend stopped him.

"We need to keep Wild distracted at all costs. Keep his attention away from Sky!"

Hyrule wasn't sure what was going on, but he trusted the vet. He nodded, and the two split up.
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Twilight took about four steps before Wild turned towards him, an arrow already notched, but he didn't release it.

Twilight noticed the hesitation. "You're stronger than this Wild!" he shouted as he continued to walk forward slowly. "You have to fight it!"

Wild didn't react, and for a second, Twilight thought he was getting through to him, but then he saw Wild's eyes flash, the red intensifying as it did.

Twilight saw Wild reach for his slate, his arrow replaced with one crackling with electricity.

"Damnit," Twilight growled, realizing his metallic shield wasn't going to protect him.

Just then, a fireball hit the ground directly in front of Wild, making him jump back.

Twilight turned and saw Legend, fire rod in hand.

The second Wild recovered and went to aim at Legend, another fireball shot towards him, putting Wild on the defensive again.

Twilight turned to the other side and saw Hyrule, his sword engulfed in magical flames.

"Move, ranch boy!" he heard Legend shout as the vet fired off another fireball. "We've got this!"

Between Hyrulel and Legend's attacks, Wild couldn't get a shot off. He growled in frustration as he was forced to stay on the defensive.

Legend started to think that maybe this would work, but that was before he saw a very familiar blue bomb soaring through the air right in his direction.

He barely got behind a bolder before the bomb exploded, causing dirt and debris to rain down on him.

"That's dirty fuckin' pool, Wild!" Legend snarled as he popped back out from the bolder and shot another fireball his way.

Twilight knew this was his chance. Wild was currently unarmed and wouldn't be able to use his sheikah ruins for a while.

He changed at Wild while he was distracted by Legend's attack and managed to get up behind him and grab him from under his arms, making it so Wild couldn't move his arms.

Wild yelled as he fought against his hold, and Twilight found it hard to keep his grip.

Just then, Wild froze, and Twilight looked up to see Sky in front of them holding Master Sword.

He could feel Wild's body tense up at the sight of the sword. Maybe this could work. The malice inside Wild was clearly reacting to the sword's presence. It could be enough to force it out of him.

Twilight was knocked out of his thoughts, literally, when Wild flung his head back and head-butted him.

Twilight cursed as he tried to shake off the pain radiating from his face. He felt Wild pull free from his grasp, and suddenly he found himself falling towards the ground.

Wild had dropped down and kicked out Twilight's legs, sending the older hero falling hard to the ground.

Sky went to grab Wild but noticed the last bits of blue fade away as Wild spun on him with a sword in hand.

Sky tried to spin out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough, and the blade Wild had sliced through his side.

Sky hissed as he stumbled backward, holding his side.

Wild took a threatening step towards him but paused when his eyes saw the red seeping through Sky's tunic.

Wild looked Sky right in the eyes, and for a second, the chosen hero thought he saw a look of concern flash across the champion's face.

Sky seized the opportunity and dashed towards Wild, but the malice quickly took back control, and suddenly the air felt heavy.

Sky had experienced this feeling before.

Before Sky could even register the implications of what he was sensing, he found himself flat on his back, the Master Sword no longer in his hand. He gasped as the laceration on his side flared in pain.

Wild had managed to dodge at precisely the right moment, slowing time down as he did. He spun under Sky's outstretched arm, knocking the Master Sword from his hand and sweeping his leg to knock him to the ground.

He stood above Sky, an Eightfold blade in his hand.

Sky looked up at Wild, his eyes wide. He could see the malice coursing brightly through Wild's eyes. Whatever control the champion had over it earlier was gone.

Sky's breath caught in his throat. Was this really how Hylia was going to let this end?

A figure suddenly appeared behind Wild. Sky saw him tense, and he knew he could sense whoever was behind him.

Wild spun, blade already arcing out, but Twilight anticipated the move. He quickly dodged the blade before bringing the Master Sword up, piercing Wild through the shoulder.

Twilight hissed as the pommel immediately burned his hand, but he didn't dare let go.

"Forgive me cub," he muttered as he gripped the Master Sword tighter.

Wild let his weapon drop as he tried to grab the blade, but the Master Sword flashed brightly, illuminating the whole area.

Wild cried out and dropped to his knees, but the Master Sword continued to shine brightly.

Sky could only watch, too stunned to do anything else. He suddenly noticed red flakes begin to float out from where the blade had pierced Wild.

Twilight noticed too, and he kept his resolve as he watched the malice being forced out Wild, the red flakes disintegrating in the air like ash.

As soon as Twilight saw the last remnants of malice disappear into the air, he pulled back the Master Sword and tossed it to the ground.

Wild immediately collapsed, but Twilight managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

He slowly lowered himself down, careful not to jostle Wild's shoulder as he did.

He pressed his hand on the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

He only looked up when he could sense the others around him.

Sky was half propped up off the ground, his arm still clutching his side.

Time, Wind, and Four were quickly making their way over to them just as Legend and Hyrule got there.

Hyrule's eyes darted to the three injured heroes. Four looked like he would be ok with just a potion, but Sky and Wild were another story.

"I'll be fine," Sky assured. "Help Wild,"
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Time had the other's set up camp and gather supplies while Hyrule tended to Wild and Sky.

Despite Sky's protests, Hyrule insisted he heal him, explaining that the quicker they could get the wound to close, the better the chance that it didn't become infected.

By the time evening arrived, both heroes were patched up. Sky was sitting up, the combination of Hyrule's healing and a health potion healing his wound to the point that it was only slightly tender to the touch.

Wild's shoulder had also healed nicely, but he had yet to wake up.

As soon as Hyrule assured the group that Wild was physically ok, Twilight got up. He made a quick mention of patrolling before disappearing into the treeline.

Legend gave Time a worried glance. Normally, when Wild was injured, they had to pry Twilight away from him.

Time seemed to share the same concern because he got up almost immediately after Twilight left.

"I'll talk to him; just let us know when Wild wakes up," he said before walking in the direction he saw Twilight heading.

Time didn't have to go far. He found Twilight sitting against a tree, staring off across a small stream.

"Everything ok, pup?" Time asked cautiously.

When Twilight didn't answer, he walked up and took a seat next to him.

Time didn't need to be a mind-reader to know what was bothering his protégé.

"You did the right thing," Time finally offered. That seemed to get Twilight's attention.

"Yeah?! Doesn't feel like it," Twilight snapped.

"No? Ok, then what do you think Wild would rather us do?" Time countered. "Do you think he would want us to allow him to continue to attack and possibly kill us, or do you think he would want us to stop him and release him from the control the malice had over him?"

Twilight didn't answer at first.

"I thought...I thought I could get through to him, Twilight muttered. "There were moments where it looked like he was trying to fight it, maybe if I had given it more time..."

"If you had waited any longer, Sky would probably be dead," Time declared, causing Twilight to look up at him.

"Malice is powerful magic," Time continued. "Honestly, I think Wild fought it the whole time. He is a fierce fighter, and with malice granting him more power, I'm surprised we walked away from that fight."

Time's expression darkened. "I know that if it were me that got possessed, I would hope you would put an end to it as quickly as possible, with whatever means possible."

Twilight looked away, briefly flexing his hand as if it were uncomfortable.

Time furrowed his brow. "Let me see your hand."

Twilight startled slightly at the request. "It's fine," he said dismissively, but Time just reached over and grabbed his hand, causing Twilight to hiss painfully.

"Why didn't you tell us you were injured?" Time demanded when he saw the burns on Twilight's hand.

Twilight quickly pulled his hand back. "It's nothing," he said.

Time sighed. "Even though he was possessed, she still burned you?"

"It's the price for using her against one of her wielders," Twilight stated.

"You need to let Hyrule look at that. It's going to get infected."

"You either tell Hyrule to look at your hand, or I will tell him, and then I will tell Wild that you tried to hide it because you feel that you somehow deserve it as punishment for saving him.".

Twilight shot Time a dirty look, feeling a bit betrayed by his mentor, but he knew better than to argue with him.

The two heard footsteps quickly coming up from behind them.

"Wild's awake," they heard Legend say.
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Wild was sitting up, bookended by Wind and Sky. Besides his shoulder being sore and suffering from a pretty intense headache, Wild seemed to escape his possession relatively unscathed.

The last thing he remembered was seeing a stranged, cloaked man approach them.

It was decided that Sky would be the one to recount what had happened that day.

Sky was careful with the details, purposely omitting the parts where Wild shot Four and stabbed him, but Wild wasn't dumb. He could see the bandages that Four and Sky had, and the somber looks they were giving him.

"I hurt you guys, didn't I" Wild finally said when the realization hit him.

"It wasn't you," Four insisted. "Nothing about today was your fault."

"I can't believe I let myself be used like that," Wild blurted.

"Stop that," Legend scolded. "Didn't you tell us that one of the dragon spirits got possessed by malice? If a damn spirit dragon couldn't fight that stuff, what makes you think you could?"

Wild scoffed and shook his head. As much as he wanted to argue, he couldn't think of a way to counter Legend's point.

"How did you all stop me?" Wild finally asked. He didn't miss the way the others seemed to look away as he asked.

"I stabbed you with the Master Sword," Twilight confessed.

Everyone's eyes landed on Twilight, who was starting at Wild, bracing himself for whatever response was going to be thrown his way.

Wild stared, unblinking, at Twilight for a moment, his fingers unconsciously ghosting over his now healed shoulder.

"H-How did you know that would work?" he finally asked.

"We didn't," Twilight stated. "All we knew was the Master Sword could ward off dark magic, and we knew that she was powerful against malice...it was the only option we had."

Wild suddenly stood up, pausing for a second to let the dizziness subside.

Twilight watched, wide-eyed, as his protégé walked up towards him.

Wild got right in front of Twilight before dropping to his knees and wrapping the older hero in a tight hug.

Twilight froze in place, unsure what was happening.

"Thank you," Wild said.

Twilight stayed frozen in place for a moment longer before slowly returning the hug.

He understood why Wild was thanking him. It was for the same reasons Time gave him earlier, and for the same reasons, Twilight would be thanking Wild had the roles been reversed.

Twilight knew that he would rather die than hurt any of his brothers, and he knew that's precisely how Wild felt too; how they all felt.

Chapter Text

Admittedly, it wasn't one of Wild's brightest ideas.

The group had landed in Twilight's Hyrule, where they quickly dispatched a small cluster of bokoblins that were lurking a little too close to Ordon Villiage.

Most of the heroes were content relaxing in the village, but Wild was getting antsy.

Sure, playing with the kids from the village was fun, but Wild was itching to go out and explore. 

He noticed Wind sitting off to the side, mindlessly fidgeting with his telescope. 

Normally, Wind would be chasing around the children in the village and dazzling them with pirate stories, not sitting off to the side by himself. 

Wild suddenly realized that it had been well over a month since they were last at Outset Island. 

Wild frowned. It wasn't often that Wild felt homesick, but occasionally he found himself missing the openness of his Hyrule, and the company of his friends. 

He could only imagine how it was for Wind, who was still a kid and who had a family waiting for him.

An idea suddenly struck Wild. He smirked as he made his way towards the sailor.

"Oh, hey Wild, what's up" Wind greeted when he saw the champion approach him.

Wild leaned over slightly. "Have you ever heard of shield surfing?"

Wind gave Wild a puzzled look before an impish smile started to form.

"No...but it sounds fucking awesome," he chirped.

Wild chuckled. He turned to see who was around. The only one nearest them was Sky.

Wild gave a quick whistle to get his attention.

"Wind and I are going to go for a walk," Wild said as he gestured to just outside the village.

Sky narrowed his eyes slightly, and Wild was worried that maybe he would 'pull a Twilight' and tell him they couldn't go.

"Just don't get into too much trouble," Sky said with a grin.

"Yes!!" Wind cheered as he jumped up from where he was sitting. 

Sky immediately regretted his decision when he saw Wild's mischievous smile, but the two were already running out towards the forest before he could protest. 

"So, what exactly is shield surfing?" Wind asked when they were out of sight of the village.

"Well, basically, you take a shield, stand on top of it, and ride it down a hill."

"You ride your shield down hills?" Wind blurted.

"I mostly do it on mountains. The snow makes me go faster, and it doesn't damage my shield as quickly, but I have done it going down grassy hills."

Wind laughed. "Hylia above, you're fuckin' crazier than me," 

Wild tilted his head slightly, "Language..." he ribbed.

Wind just scoffed. "Yeah, ok, old man," he jibed.

After walking for about 20 minutes, Wild found a suitable hill to shield surf down. 

Wind was about to ask where they would find a pair of shields but stopped when he saw Wild reach for his sheikah slate. 

Sometimes he forgot that Wild could carry nearly limitless amounts of items in that slate. 

Wild tapped the slate, and two knight's shields materialized in glowing, blue tendrils. 

"Those shields look nice. Are you sure you want to use them?" Wind questioned.

Wild just waved him off. "I have better shields. Besides, these are longer, so it should make it easier for you to balance on."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Unsurprising to Wild, Wind was a quick learner. It only took a couple of tries before the sailor had shield surfing down. 

It didn't take Wind long to set his sights on something more challenging.

"Let's ride down that hill!" Wind grinned as he pointed to a much larger, steeper hill in the distance.

Wild hummed, uncertain if he should give in. The hill in question was probably another 30 minutes walk from where they were, and Wild wasn't sure he should let Wind tackle such a steep hill right off the bat. 

"Awe, come on Wild!" Wind pleaded. "Please! We won't stay long."

Wild sighed. Goddesses, he was a softie.

Wind let out a celebratory cheer, and he started jogging towards their new destination. 

----------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know about this," Wild cautioned. Not only was the hill steeper than he first thought, but the grass was almost knee-high, making it harder to spot logs and rocks.

"Just let me try once," Wind pleaded. 

Wild sighed again. This must be what Twilight feels like whenever Wild decided to go do something reckless.

The hill did look like it could be a lot of fun...

"Ok, one time. Just be careful. There's no telling what's hiding underneath the grass."

"This is gonna be awesome!" Wind cheered as he started running up the hill.

Once at the top Wild looked around to find what looked like the safest area to surf down. 

After settling on a spot, Wild got on his shield. "I'll go first," he insisted. He would much rather test the path first to see if there was any debris hiding in the grass. 

"What difference does it make if you hit a rock or if I hit a rock?" Wind groaned, slightly annoyed that Wild was babying him. 

"The difference is I have done this countless times and know how to react when I hit something," Wild countered. "You haven't. The guys would kill me if I let you get hurt."

Wind scoffed but decided not to push the issue further.

Wild jumped on his shield and took off down the hill. 

Wind watched at how effortlessly Wild cut through the long grass, amazed at how fast he was traveling.

Once Wild made it to the bottom of the hill, he turned around and gave Wind the thumbs up.

Wind stood carefully on the shield and slowly leaned forward, letting gravity do the work. 

He quickly began to pick up speed, and for a brief second Wind almost lost his balance, but he recovered and crouched a little lower.

He felt a sudden flare of joy as he continued to pick up speed. 

Wind thought this must be what it feels like to fly as he continued to race down the hill.

Wind decided to test his luck and leaned a little to the right to see if he could get the shield to turn. 

Sure enough, he started veering towards the right. 

What he failed to realize was that he had created a new path, one that Wild did not test out first. 

It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that he ended up crashing into a rock. 

The collision caused the back of the shield to flip up, launching Wind into the air. 

Wind wasn't sure which was up. All he knew is he was tumbling through the air at an alarming rate of speed.

His limbs flailed as he sailed through the air. He felt his right foot collide with the ground and felt a sickening snap as the rest of his weight came crashing down on his ankle.

Wild cursed when he saw Wind get launched off the shield. He started running towards the kid before he even hit the ground.

Wind tucked in on himself as he tumbled the rest of the way down the hill. 

He didn't even realize when he stopped because his head was still spinning. It wasn't until he heard Wild shout his name that he dared to open his eyes.

Wild dropped hard to his knees when he reached Wind, his hands ghosting over the sailor, afraid to touch him.

"Are you ok?!" Wild fretted.

"That fucking sucked," Wind groaned, and Wild let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. At least the kid was conscious. 

"I bet it did," Wild scoffed, trying desperately to calm down. "Where are you hurt?"

"Other than my pride," Wind began, which did earn a nervous chuckle from Wild. If he was joking around, he couldn't be that injured.

"I'm pretty sure I broke my ankle." Wind finally admitted.

Wild cursed. "I am so sorry Wind," he began.

"What are  you  sorry for? This was my fucking idea," Wind argued. 

"But I knew this wasn't a good idea," Wild countered as he started searching through his slate.

"It was my fault. I was screwing around on the shield," Wind countered as he slowly sat himself up.

Wild cursed again, and Wind furrowed his brow.

"I'm out of healing elixirs," 

Wind couldn't help but laugh. Of fucking course they wouldn't have any healing potions. 

Wild hit a few more buttons on his slate and cursed for the third time.

"What?!" Wind asked.

"I forgot we aren't in my Hyrule," he admitted.

"So we can't teleport," Wind concluded.

Wild nodded. "Are you sure your ankle is the only thing injured? You didn't hit your head or anything?"

"I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of cuts and bruises, but the ankle is the only part injured," Wind assured.

Wild went to pick Wind up when he saw a flash of light reflect off something to his left. 

He managed to summon a sword from his slate just in time to turn and block the blade of a dynalfos.

"What the fuck is that?" Wind shouted as he tried (and failed) to stand.

Wild grunted under the monster's strength but managed to push the beast off of him.

He jumped back towards Wind. "I don't know. It almost looks like a lizalfo,"

The monster started to advance towards them.

"You need to hide!" Wild shouted as he prepared to take on the spiked beast.

Wind wanted to protest, but he knew he would only be a distraction to Wild if he stayed where he was. 

Wild charged at the oversized lizalfo, slashing at it feverishly with his scimitar. 

The monster was well armored and quick, easily blocking Wild's attacks with its shield. 

The second it had an opening, it began to swing at Wild with its ax. Wild tried to backflip out of the way, but the dynalfos suddenly spun around, his bladed tail whipping around and slashing Wild across the chest.

Wind felt his heart stop when he saw Wild hit the ground. He promised himself he would never be useless again, but here he was, unable to protect his brother.

He was screaming Wild's name as the dynalfos started walking towards the fallen hero, ax in hand. He attempted to stand, but his leg immediately gave out the second he put pressure on it.

Wild slowly pulled himself up, his one hand clutching at his now bleeding chest.

He rolled over just as the dynalfos readied what would most likely be a fatal attack. 

Suddenly, there was a flash of white, and the dynalfos was sent flying through the air.

Wind's eyes went wide. He had no idea where Sky came from, but he was sure he had never been as happy to see him as he was at that moment.

Sky stepped in front of Wild protectively, the Master Sword glowing dangerously in his hand. 

Wild and Wind watched as Sky lifted the Master Sword towards the sky, the blade now crackling with accumulating energy.

The second the dynalfos stood, Sky swung the sword down, expelling a slash of energy at the monster, knocking it clean off its feet.

Then, with a quickness Wind rarely saw, Sky dashed towards the fallen monster and lept into the air. He brought the Master Sword down violently, the blade finding a gap in the dynalfos' armor.

The monster let out a howl before it disintegrated into black smoke.  

Wind would have cheered at the brilliantly executed attack had he not been completely stunned Sky's sudden appearance.

Sky sheathed the Master Sword as he turned back towards Wild.

He knelt down next to the champion as he took out a red potion from his bag.

"I told you not to get into too much trouble," Sky chided as he helped Wild sit up.

Wild shoved the potion away. "Give it to Wind; he broke his ankle."

Sky gave a worried glance over at Wind, who was still getting over the shock of what he just saw.

Sky pushed the bottle back at Wild, "Lucky for you, I have extras." 

Wind finally snapped out of his stupor. "Where...when....how the hell are you even here right now?" Wind sputtered.

Sky scoffed humorously. Once he was satisfied that Wild would be ok, he stood up and made his way towards Wind.

"I had a change of heart," Sky stated as he crouched down and handed Wind a potion. 

"Maybe Twilight is rubbing off on me, but I wasn't comfortable leaving you two gremlins out here unsupervised. Turns out I was right."

"I'm not a gremlin," Wild protested as he slowly stood up.

"You're the worst of the bunch!" Sky declared. 

Wind rotated his ankle a few times, testing to see if the potion worked. 

With Sky's help, he stood up. Even though the bone had healed, his ankle was still tender. 

Still, he protested when Sky insisted he climb up on his back, but the chosen hero shot him a look that rivaled even Time's 'dad stares'. 

Once he was comfortably situated on Sky's back, the trio slowly made their way back to Oridon.

"What are you going to tell the others?" Wind finally asked.

"That you sprained your ankle looking for herbs with Wild." Sky deadpanned. 

"Seriously?!" Wind complained. "That's going to make me sound so fucking lame!" 

"Language!" Sky chastised, causing Wind to laugh.

"Seriously though," Sky continued. "Do  you want to tell the others what really happened?"

Wild groaned. "Twilight wouldn't let out of his sight ever again."

Wind huffed in frustration. The story Sky came up with was embarrassing enough. Still, he'd rather deal with the embarrassment than deal with Twilight's over-protectiveness or the dad-lecture he would undoubtedly get from Time.

Despite the obvious shit-show the day turned into, Wind genuinely had a great time. 

"Hey Wild," he called out. When Wild looked up Wind smiled. "Thanks for cheering me up."

Chapter Text

It started as a tip of a possible camp of infected bokoblins.

The group had landed in Wild's Hyrule the night before. Thankfully, the goddess decided to drop them just outside Dueling Peaks Stable.

The stable didn't have anyone staying the night, so the boys were able to spread out.

The owner didn't mind. He was always happy to see Link and his friends show up because that meant business, and Link often paid more than was asked.

Two Hylians were sitting at one of the tables, quietly conversing.

It didn't escape any of their attention that the two kept glancing back towards them.

Finally, one of the Hylians stood up and approached the group.

"You guys look like fighters," one stated somewhat nervously.

"Whatever gave you that idea," Legend mocked under his breath, earning a chuckle from Wind.

Wild sighed at Legend's lack of tact.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Wild asked.

"My friend over there said that he saw a large monster camp just off the path leading to Hateno Village," the stranger explained, wringing his hands nervously. "He said they have been terrorizing travelers for weeks now."

"Did your friend happen to say were along the path they were?" Wild asked, glanced back at the timid-looking man at the table.

"He said they are in the wooded area just before you get to the Quince pass."

Wild silently groaned. Of course there would be a monster camp outside that pass.

There was no way to get to Hateno without going through that narrow pass.

"We'll head that way first thing tomorrow," Wild assured.

"Thank you," the man said quickly, not meeting Wild's eyes.

He turned and walked towards the exit, his companion quickly following behind.

Wild turned back where a few of his friends were watching the exchange curiously.

"They seemed a little skittish," Four observed.

"Maybe the run-in with the monsters shook them up a bit," Hyrule suggested.

"Still, that was weird, right?" Four asked.

"They definitely seemed to be on edge," Twilight agreed.

Wild nodded. "They definitely looked nervous, but we are a pretty intimidating looking group."

Four shrugged, conceding the fact. It would make sense for an ordinary traveler to be nervous if they saw 9 strangers, armed to the teeth.

"We have to head to Hateno anyway," Wild continued. "At least now we know there is a monster camp on the way."

As the group settled in for the night, Wild found that he couldn't sleep.

Four was right; there was something strange about that exchange.

It wasn't anything the man said, more the behavior that both strangers displayed.

Wild learned long ago to trust his gut. He wasn't sure what was off about those two, but he made a note to keep a lookout for them when they were back on the road.

------------------------------------

The group was on the road shortly after sunrise.

A few of them...Legend and Sky...were not happy to get up so early, but Wild wanted to make sure they made it to Hateno before nightfall.

The first few hours of the journey was uneventful. The nine heroes naturally split off into smaller groups as they walked, engaged in their own conversations.

Wild stayed up front, unable to fully relax. Something didn't feel right; he just couldn't put his finger on why.

Twilight had joined him early into the walk.

His mentor talked about something Colin did that he found amusing, but Wild was having difficulty concentrating on the details.

Twilight must have noticed because he stopped halfway through his story and looked at Wild curiously.

"Are you even listening," he asked jokingly.

Wild startled, "Sorry...I was listening. I must have spaced out for a moment."

Twilight furrowed his brow. "Is everything alright?"

"It's those two men from last night." Wild explained. "I don't know...there's just something about them that keeps eating at me."

"They did seem very uncomfortable to be around us. But perhaps it's like Hyrule said, maybe they were just a little shaken up, Maybe they have trust issues,"

Wild nodded. There were several logical reasons to explain their behavior, but that didn't quell the little voice in the back of his head telling him something was wrong.

Suddenly, the group heard a maniacal laugh echoing all around them.

Wild spun around just in time to see an arrow flying right for them.

He shoved Twilight down and spun to deflect the attack, but the arrow managed to graze Wild across his bicep.

He hissed in pain as he grabbed his arm, looking up just in time to see a Yiga footsoldier disappear into a cloud of smoke.

"Yiga!" Wild shouted as the rest of the group were already pulling out their weapons.

Wild had his bow out in a flash. He looked around frantically, waiting to see where the Yiga soldier would appear next.

Wild heard two familiar puffs cut through the air. He turned and saw two Yiga soldiers materialize, one behind Four and one behind Wind.

The Yiga grabbed Wind and Four before they could react and held their demon carvers to their throats.

Both Wind and Four slowly raised their hands in surrender. The Yigas' eyes were locked on Wild.

"I knew it!" Wild yelled, gripping his bow tighter. "You are the two from last night!"

A third puff of smoke appeared, revealing a Yiga blade master.

The blade master laughed, "Those fools? They were just two pathetic travels we captured. We told them we would let them live if they passed along a message to the scared 'hero' of this land."

"Cowards!" Twilight growled. It didn't escape his attention that the Yiga intentionally targeted the two smallest of the group.

Twilight readied his blade, his eyes locked on the Yiga who had Four.

Wild glared dangerously at the Yiga soldier who had Wind, an arrow nocked and pointed at the soldier's head.

"Let them go!" Wild snarled as he took a threatening step closer to his target.

The Yiga soldier tightened his grip around Wind, pressing his rounded blade into the young hero's neck.

Wild's eyes briefly flashed with concern when he saw blood slowly trickle down the sailor's neck.

"Master Koga warned you!" the blade master spat. "He told you we would track you to the ends of Hyrule!"

"To what end?!" Wild snapped. "You have no masters left to serve!"

The Yiga holding onto Four laughed. "Foolish hero. Ganon's hatred lives on. Surely you feel it; choose one!"

Wild felt his stomach drop.

"You lie!" Wild spat back. "I killed Ganon!"

The blade master laughed. "To kill a snake, you must first cut off its head."

Wild dropped his bow slightly, his brain grappling with that statement.

"Ganon will return again...” the blade master threatened. “...and this time he won't fail!"

Twilight saw Four’s eyes flash blue. The older hero smirked.

He recognized that look.

These Yiga were about to realize they targeted the wrong Hylians.

The Yiga soldier holding Four dropped his guard slightly as he listened to his leader's monologue.

That was all Four needed.

Four quickly grabbed the Yiga's blade hand with both of his. He twisted the footsoldier's wrist and pulled it down and away from him.

Four quickly slipped under the Yiga's arm and twisted it, locking the arm behind the soldier's back. The Yiga struggled to grab Four with his free hand but couldn't.

The Yiga holding Wind turned at the sudden disturbance, giving Wind an opening to pull off a similar move.

The only difference was, instead of twisting the Yiga's arm behind his back, Wind bit the footsoldier's hand...hard.

The Yiga yelped in pain as he dropped his blade. He pivoted and went to kick Wind in the stomach, but the young hero anticipated the move and rolled out of the way.

Wind stood up, sword in hand, and drove the blade deep into the Yiga's exposed side.

Almost immediately after, Wind heard a sickening thunk, and he knew Wild had fired his arrow.

The Yiga soldier crumpled where he stood, an arrow protruding from between his eyes.

The Yiga blade master took advantage of the chaos.

He slammed his hand into the ground, red magic pouring from him into the earth.

A stone pillar appeared and started heading straight for Wild.

At the same moment, Twilight dashed towards the Yiga struggling with Four.

He brought his sword up diagonally, slashing the footsoldier across his chest and face.

The Yiga howled in pain as he stumbled out of Four's grasp.

The Yiga immediately locked eyes with Twilight, his mask marred with a deep gash. Before Four could unleash an attack, the Yiga vanished in a puff of smoke.

Warriors noticed that Wild was in the direct path of the column that the blade master unleased.

He charged at the champion and tackled him to the ground before the column slammed into him.

The blade master was suddenly on top of the two, his speed surprising the captain.

Warriors saw the blade master's sword heading towards him. He brought his sword up to parry the blow, but this Yiga was powerful, and the captain wasn't able to keep the wicked blade from piercing through his side.

Warriors couldn't bite back the cry of pain as the blade master slowly pulled his sword out.

Wild felt his blood run cold when he saw the blood dripping off the windcleaver.

His hand instinctively went to his slate. He jumped up and was already in the motion of swinging when his scimitar materialized in his hand.

The blade master was agile for his size, and he backflipped just out of Wild's reach, leaving Wild standing defensively over Warriors.

"Pathetic!" the blade master taunted. "I am going to send you all straight to hell!"

Just then, the blade master stumbled forward. He let out a wet cough as a large blade burst out from his chest.

Time tightened his grip on his biggoron's sword as he leaned closer to the blade master.

"You first," he growled as he twisted the blade, drawing a cry of agony from the Yiga.

He pulled his sword out, and the blade master collapsed where he stood.

Wild abandoned his sword and dropped next to Warriors.

He let out a curse when he saw how pale the captain looked. Not only that, but his breathing was shallow and quick.

Time appeared next to Wild, worry written all over his face. He saw Wild frantically swiping through his slate.

"I know it's in here..." Wild said tensely to himself. Time grabbed Warriors scarf, balled it up, and pushed it against the wound.

Warriors groaned painfully and tried to push Time's hands away.

"Don't," Legend said sharply, appearing next to them, unable to mask the worry in his voice. "You're only going to make it worse."

He carefully pulled Warriors' hands away from Time's.

"Move!" Hyrule barked as he squeezed in between Wild and Time, his hands starting to glow.

"Wait!" Wild shouted.

Hyrule paused when he saw a fairy materialize from Wild's slate.

The little fairy went to work, allowing her healing magic to flow into Warriors' wound.

By the time the fairy was finished, the wound was much smaller and shallower, and Warriors' breathing had stabilized.

"Don't," Warriors ground when Hyrule started to channel his healing magic. The captain attempted to sit up, but a hand shot out and pushed him back to the ground.

"Quit being a stubborn ass and let Hyrule heal you," Legend exasperated.

Once Wild was satisfied that Warriors would be alright, he stood up and scanned the area.

He saw Sky and Four trying to talk to a very agitated Wind.

The sailor pressed his hand to his neck, and Wild could see where the blood had trickled down.

When he thought back to when the Yiga had pressed the demon carver into Wind's neck, Wild heart sank.

"I said I'm fine," Wind protested as Sky gently directed him to sit on the ground.

"I know," Sky said calmly. "But even small wounds can get infected. Let me treat it, and it will be healed come nightfall."

Wind grumbled under his breath but didn't protest further.

Four understood Wind's mood. He knew the younger hero's pride hurt more than anything.

Being caught off guard and used as a temporary hostage did not sit well with Four either.

Being the smallest of the group was never easy. Four found that enemies usually pegged him as an easy target. He always made sure those enemies paid for their misjudgment.

Wind had it worse out of the two of them. He was the youngest, which caused the others to treat him differently at times.

It wasn't done purposely. They all respected Wind and knew he had gone through his own journey and defeated Ganondorf. Still, the older members of the group couldn't help but be more protective of him.

Wind usually shrugged it off with a witty comment, but there were times where it got under his skin.

In this instance, Four was sure Wind was angry because the Yiga had pegged him as an 'easy' target and got the jump on him. The fact that Warriors had gotten hurt definitely made the whole situation worse.

The sailor had quite a temper, but thankfully Sky always seemed to be able to calm him down.

Wild wanted to check on Wind, but he hesitated. He didn't want Wind to think he was fussing over him, but he still felt incredibly guilty about what happened.

Before Wild could decide what to do, he felt a hand grab his wrist.
He glanced up to where Twilight was standing.

"If you want to talk to Wind, do it later, "he said quietly as if he could read Wild's thoughts.

"Besides..." Twilight continued as he twisted Wild's arm to get a better look at the gash across his bicep. "...I need to wrap your arm."

Wild couldn't help the small hiss that escaped his lips at the sudden motion. He also knew there was no point in protesting. He sat down as Twilight rummaged through his bag.

Thankfully, neither Wind's nor Wild's wounds were serious. Both Sky and Twilight applied a small amount of red potion to the bandages before wrapping the wounds.

Four looked over and saw that Warriors was sitting up with Legend's assistance as Hyrule wrapped his injury.

Time made the executive decision to set up camp early. Unsurprisingly, no one protested.

As everyone was unpacking, Wind approached Wild.

"I just wanted to say thanks...for saving me back there," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Were we watching the same fight because I distinctly remember you getting out of that situation all on your own?" Wild asked in mocked confusion.

"Only because Four distracted him," Wind countered.

"So? You took advantage of an opportunity. All good fighters do that."

Wind didn't look convinced.

"Wind, you bit the guy's hand so hard he dropped his blade. Not only that, but you dodged his kick and used the opening to stab him in the ribs. You didn't need me. I only shot him because I was pissed."

Wild wasn't lying. Sure he shot the Yiga to keep him from lashing out at Wind, but he was sure Wind would have finished the job if he didn't.
And he was pissed.

Wind smirked. "It was a good shot."

"How's your neck?" Wild asked as he eyed the bandage.

"Fine," Wind said. "Sky made a bigger deal out of it than it had to be. He's such a mother cucco."

Wild glanced down at the ground. "I'm sorry,"

Wind crinkled his eyebrows. "For what? Sky being a mother cuccu?"

Wind smirked again but dropped it when Wild's frowned.

"I let my anger get the better of me. I advanced on that Yiga instead of staying back. Had I not done that, he wouldn't have cut you. Besides, I am the reason you and Four were targeted. They went after you to get to me."

Wind didn't know how to respond. He started the whole conversation with the intent of thanking Wild for saving him, and somehow it turned into Wild apologizing to him.

"Are you seriously apologizing for having a psycho cult chasing after you?"

Wild tried to give Wind a stern look.

"That look only works when Time does it," Wind quipped. Wild held the look anyway.

"I must have missed it when you snuck off and told the Yiga to take us hostage." Wind continued sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," Wild protested.

"No, I really don't. You didn't tell those assholes to attack us. Hylia above Wild, here I was trying to thank you for saving me, and you're over here thinking the whole damn thing was your fault."

Now it was Wild's turn to feel embarrassed. When Wind put it that way, it did seem silly.

This had been the longest the group had spent in Wild's Hyrule, and he found it nearly impossible to stop himself from feeling guilty anytime one of them was in danger.

The reality was they were always in danger. It didn't matter whose Hyrule they were in.

He shifted uncomfortably when he noticed Wind was still staring at him.
Wild sighed (again). "Fine, you made your point," he mumbled. Then he smirked. "So long as you admit you're a badass, and you didn't need my help back there."

Wind laughed. "Maybe they'll think twice before they pick on the little guy."

"Or maybe you and Four will be our secret weapons," Wild smirked.

Wind chuckled at the idea. When he looked up at Wild he saw that the champion's smiled had dropped, his gaze locked onto Warriors.

"You know, what happened to Warriors wasn't your fault," Wind offered.

Wild shook his head. "I allowed myself to get distracted," Wild argued.

Wind cocked an eyebrow. "I see. So it wasn't my fault that I wasn't paying attention and let that asshole capture me, but it's totally your fault for not noticing a sneak attack sent your way while you were killing the very asshole who took me hostage,"

Wild shot him a dirty glare, but Wind was unphased.

"Not so good at taking your own advice, are ya?" Wind mocked. "If I'm not allowed to blame myself, you sure as shit aren't allowed to blame yourself,"

Wild opened his mouth to argue but knew he wasn't going to win.

Instead, he just signed. "Point taken."

Chapter Text

The sparring match had been Legend's idea.

The group was enjoying a much-needed break in Warriors' Hyrule.

Legend and Warriors were tasked with collecting firewood. Wild volunteered to go with them since he needed to catch some fish and gather some extra ingredients.

Legend and Warriors started their usual bickering about 30 minutes into their little excursion, something having to do with training.

Wild wasn't paying attention, opting instead to walk the river bank looking for fish.

"You know it wouldn't hurt you to get a little extra training now and again," Wild heard Warriors claim.

"Not all of us are as obsessed with having perfect fighting form, pretty boy," Legend argued.

"That's because most of you haven't had any formal training," Warriors countered.

"Please. Both Sky and Wild have had 'formal training,' and you don't see them obsessing over it like you do. I bet if you sparred with Wild right now, he would do just as well as you."

Wild cringed.

"Hey Wild, do me a favor and knock this pretty boy down a few pegs," Legend implored.

Wils slowly turned around, his annoyance on full display. "Don't drag me into your little squabble."

"Come on! I'm tired of this prick continually going on about how we should all train more. Prove him wrong, and I'll lend you my fire rod for a week."

Wild's eyebrow shot up. He glanced at Warriors, who just shrugged. "I'm down for a sparring session," he offered.

Normally Wild made a point to stay out of any bets Warriors and Legend made with each other, but the vet's offer proved to be too tempting to pass up.

Wild sighed and grabbed his slate. After a few swipes, a royal guard's sword and a soldier's shield materialized in his hands.

Wild discovered after his first sparring session with Warriors that, while he didn't remember his days as a royal knight, the training he received had stayed with him.

He stunned the entire group when he was able to go blow to blow with the captain.

It wasn't that they didn't think Wild was a capable fighter; they just were shocked to see that the kid had formal training in sword fighting.

Warriors and Wild got into position.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you," the captain ribbed.

Wild smirked. "Like I would let you."

With that, the two charged each other, the clanging sound of their blades cutting through the air.

Legend always got a kick at watching Wild spar, especially when it was with Warriors and Sky.

The kid had some goddess-given talent when it came to fighting, something that seemed to clash with his gremlin nature.

The kid was terrifying in a fight, and it was because of the unconventional methods he used while fighting.

Who would have known that buried underneath that insane pyromaniac was a trained royal soldier?

Wild fell into the familiar dance quickly, his footwork and sword skills matching Warriors effortlessly.

Wild managed to land a couple of solid hits, putting Warriors on the defensive.

Growling in frustration, the captain upped his game, his strikes coming quicker and with more force than before.

Neither realized just how close they had gotten to the riverbank.

Wild smiled as a familiar feeling washed over him. He knew, deep down, the old him enjoyed the thrill of sparring with someone his equal.

As he lunged forward with his sword, he suddenly found himself recalling a moment long ago, his hair cut short, his face unscarred as he fought a fellow soldier along the same riverbank.

It was rare that Wild recalled a memory during a fight, but maybe because this wasn't a life or death battle, his brain decided it was a good time to drift to a time long before the Calamity struck.

The flashback only lasted a few seconds, but it was plenty of time for him to drop his guard.

Warriors had side-stepped away from Wild's attack. He brought up his shield and swung it towards Wild, fully expecting the champion to dodge or block the familiar move.

Instead, Wild just stood there, allowing his sword to drop slightly. By the time Warriors realized something was wrong, it was too late.

His shield collided with the side of Wild's head, the momentum sending Wild careening over the riverbank and into the rushing waters.

Legend cursed as he took off towards the riverbank, totally confused at what he just witnessed.

By the time Warriors wrapped his head around what just happened, Legend had appeared to his side.

"What the fuck was that?" Legend barked as he scanned the water for any sign of their fallen friend.

Warriors was too stunned to answer. Wild had countered that attack easily in the past.

Legend yelled Wild's name, shaking the captain out of his thoughts.

Suddenly Legend was in the water, his attention locked on the familiar blue bobbing in the water.

Warriors ran down the shoreline, keeping pace with Legend.

Legend reached out desperately, snagging Wild's tunic. He pulled the champion close to him, biting back the paralyzing worry when he realized Wild was out cold.

Legend struggled to keep his grip on Wild as he attempted to swim towards shore.

Thankfully, a strong hand reached out and grabbed him, and he felt himself being dragged towards the shore.

The second they could stand, both Legend and Warriors pulled Wild out of the river and laid him on his back on the rocky shore.

Warriors ran a hand through his wet hair, still trying to process what just happened as Legend checked to see if Wild was breathing.

"I swear Legend...I didn't mean to hit him that hard," Warriors stammered. "I thought....he normally..."

"Now's not the fucking time," Legend barked as he tried desperately to hear if the champion was breathing.

Wild almost immediately started coughing up the water he inhaled to Legend's relief, and the vet quickly rolled him on his side.

Now that Wild was out of the water, Legend could see blood start to run down the side of his face.

"Go grab a potion from your pack" Legend ordered.

"...I don't have my pack," Warriors gasped, suddenly realizing he left it at camp.

"What the fuck, Wars!" Legend spat.

"Well, did you bring yours?!" Warriors yelled.

Legend's eyes went wide when he realized he didn't have his with him either.

Legend cursed under his breath as he unhooked Wild's slate from his belt.

"He HAS to have a freaking potion or something in this damn slate," Legend growled as he frantically tried to figure out how to get to the champion's inventory.

He finally found where Wild usually kept his potions and fairy's but saw that he was out.

Warriors had pulled off his scarf and wrapped Wild's head with it, temporarily stopping the bleeding.

"What the hell do we do? Is it safe to carry him back to camp?" Warriors finally asked.

"How the fuck should I know. I'm not Hyrule," Legend snapped. "Did you really need to hit him that hard??"

Warriors shot him a seething look. "This was your idea to begin with," he scolded.

"Don't you put this on me," Legend argued back. "I didn't realize you were going to bash your shield into his head!"

Warriors felt his anger fizzle out as his face dropped.

Legend mumbled another curse under his breath when he realized his words hit below the belt. He knew damn well Warriors didn't go out to hurt Wild intentionally.

"Sorry," the vet mumbled. "That was a shitty thing to say."

Warriors looked away from the vet for a second before his eyes went wide.

He turned back to Legend. "There's a shrine next to the camp!" he declared.

Legend narrowed his eyes. "Yeah...so?"

"Warriors quickly snatched the slate out of Legend's hands. "Wild can teleport to the shrines using the slate. That's how we are getting him back to camp.

Legend's eyes went wide. "Fuck that. I don't trust that damn thing!"

"Do you have a better idea?!" Warriors demanded. "Cause I don't."

Legend growled in frustration. He hated to admit it, but it was their best option.

Before Legend could say anything, Warriors was already tapping the slate.

Warriors was so grateful he had Wild show him how the slate worked early into their travels.

He placed his hand on Wild's shoulder as he looked towards Legend.

"Grab my arm," he ordered.

Legend reluctantly complied. Before he knew it, he felt himself levitate slightly as the world around them disappeared into a flash of blue.
------------------------------------
Their sudden appearance at the shrine sent the whole camp into a frenzy.

Thankfully, a red potion and some much-needed healing from Hyrule all but healed Wild's injury.

The champion had yet to wake up, but Hyrule assured them he would be fine.

To Legend and Warriors' surprised, Time didn't seem angry about the impromptu sparring match. He was more concerned about Wild spacing out in the middle of the fight.

"I wonder if he had a flashback," Twilight offered after hearing the whole story.

"Maybe, but he's never had one before while he was fighting. I wonder what made today so different."

Twilight shrugged. They would have to ask Wild when he woke up IF he even remembered what happened.
-------------------------------------
Wild woke up just before sunset.

Thankfully, outside a headache, he seemed to be fine.

Legend looked up while everyone was getting ready for bed to see that Warriors had disappeared.

Sighing, he stood up and looked at Time, who simply nodded as if he already knew what Legend was going to do.

He started walking towards the treeline. It didn't take him long to find Warriors sitting against a fallen tree, lost in thought.

Legend took a deep breath. He was never good at comforting people.

Warriors glanced back towards him slightly, letting Legend know the captain was well aware of his presence.

"You didn't strike me as the type to sulk around," Legend began.

Warriors didn't say anything, which only made Legend angry. Maybe it was because it made the vet feel guilty. It had been his birdbrain idea, after all.

"Listen, how long are you going to sit out here feeling sorry for yourself?" he finally said.

Warriors tensed up but didn't look back. "As long as I fucking want..."

Legend groaned in frustration. He walked the rest of the way to Warriors and sat next to him.

"Look, shit happen," Legend offered. "No one blames you for what happened. It was a freak accident, nothing more."

"Doesn't make me feel any less of an asshole," Warriors countered.

"Hey, as you said, it was my stupid idea. If anyone gets to feel guilty about today, its me."

"Goddesses, you two will literally argue about anything."

Both Warriors and Legend spun around to see Wild standing behind them.

"What the hell are you doing up?" Legend questioned as Wild took a seat next to them.

"I told the others I needed to get some air," Wild answered. "I know they mean well, but sometimes the attention gets to be a little too much to deal with."

Before Legend or Warriors could respond, Wild kept talking.

"Look, what happened today was NOT your fault," Wild said, directing the comment at both of them.

"While we were sparring, I had a flashback," Wild continued. "As far as I know, I have never had a flashback while I was fighting. Maybe it was because it was just a simple sparring match, but there was no way either of you would have known that would happen, so please, stop trying to take the blame for something you two had no control over."

Warriors shook his head. "No, I took it too far. I didn't need to go at you as hard as I did."

Wild scoffed. "I went at you just as hard. Would you blame me if the role would have been reversed?"

Warriors didn't answer, and Wild knew he made his point.

The champion turned his attention to Legend.

"And you...last I checked, both Wars and I had free will. Either of us could have told you to piss off, but deep down, we both were itching to spar."

Legend mumbled something unintelligible under his breath, reluctantly conceding Wild's point.

"I can't believe you managed to teleport me back to camp," Wild continued.

"That was all his idea," Legend said as he pointed at Warriors. "He's the one who knew how."

"I also heard you went with," Wild continued, smirking at Legend. "I thought you said you would never use that "magic teleporting bullshit."

Legend felt himself get flustered. "It wasn't like we had much of a choice."

Wild's smirk widened. "And it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"It was fucking horrible," Legend complained. "I don't understand how you can tolerate it."

Wild shrugged, "Maybe I'm made of tougher stuff."

Legend finally cracked and shoved Wild.

"Careful now, I'm injured, remember?" Wild laughed

"Too bad Warriors didn't knock some sense into you," Legend snarked, causing both Warriors and Wild to chuckle.

"Come on," Wild coaxed. "If we don't get back to camp soon, Twilight is going to sick Wolfie on us."

Chapter Text

Four was beginning to understand why Legend hated Hylia so much.

Not only did she decide to materialize a portal underneath them as they were setting up camp, but she also separated them when they came tumbling out the other side.

The first the Four noticed after the dizziness dissipated was that Twilight was sprawled out next to him, cursing under his breath as he struggled to sit up.

The second thing Four noticed was that they were dropped next to a group of angry lizalfos.

The lizalfos let out an angry growl when they noticed the two heroes.

Sometimes Four questioned if Hylia wasn't secretly trying to kill them.

Twilight and Four quickly jumped up, swords and shields in hand. There were 4 of the freakish-looking lizards.

It wouldn't be an easy fight, but if they were careful, they could pull it off.

Despite their different fighting styles, Twilight and Four made a good team.

Twilight was physically one of the strongest fighters in the group, while Four was quick and agile.

Together, they could quickly overtake enemies. Twilight would use his strength to either distract or overpower an enemy, giving Four the chance to dash in and deliver quick, precise attacks.

The fight started in their favor, Four managing to distract one of the lizalfo long enough so Twilight could deliver a fatal blow from behind.

That was where their advantage ended. No sooner did Twilight pull his sword out of the dead lizalfo's body than the pair heard a roar come from the tree line.

Twilight spun around just in time to see a moblin come charging out from behind the trees.

This moblin wasn't the biggest he'd seen (that honor goes to the monstrosities in Wild's Hyrule), but it was definitely larger than the ones he was accustomed to fighting.

Suddenly, Four was shouting his name. Twilight spun around just in time to deflect a spear from one of the remaining lizalfos.

Suddenly the odds weren't looking good.

Twilight pushed the lizalfo off of him and slashed it across the chest before directing his attention towards the bulky beast.

Almost immediately, Twilight was put on the defensive. He brought his shield up just in time to block the heavy club that the moblin was wielding.

Closeby, Four was struggling to take on the three remaining lizalfos.

The best he could do was keep them distracted while Twilight faced off with the moblin.

This plan lasted until a lizalfo got the jump on Four, using its tail to knock the feet out from under him.

Four managed to roll out of the way of an incoming spear when he got a look at Twilight.

He was still struggling with the oversized moblin, which kept him from noticing a lizalfo approaching from behind.

"Behind you!" Four managed to shout right before he was forced to roll out of the way of a second attack.

Twilight tried to lunge to the side to avoid the pending attack, but the lizalfo's spear managed to slice him across his side.

Twilight let out a hiss as he stumbled. He barely had time to recover before the moblin was on top of him, its club swinging right for him.

Twilight barely got his shield up in time to block the attack, but he wasn't able to brace himself properly before the heavy club crashed into him, sending him crashing to the ground, the force of the blow causing his vision to blur.

Four began to panic. He knew Twilight wouldn't be able to shake off that last hit quick enough to defend himself.

Four managed to jump back to his feet and gain some distance between himself and the lizalfos. He took a deep breath. There was no other choice.

Meanwhile, Twilight was struggling to get to his feet. That last attack hit him hard enough where his equilibrium was off.

He tried to blink through the dizziness, but it wasn't working. He could see the lizalfo ahead of him, growling as it readied itself for another attack.

He could also sense the moblin coming up from behind him.

Twilight managed to get up onto one knee. That was when the lizalfo lunged towards him.

He tried to bring his sword up to block the attack but stopped when Four appeared in front of him, parrying the attack before launching an attack of his own.

Twilight squinted his eyes. There was something off about Four. He didn't remember the smith wearing all red before the fight began.

A growl from behind snapped Twilight out of his fog.

He spun around, but the movement caused his head to swim, and he staggered.

Suddenly Four was at his side again. Did he already kill the lizalfo?

This time, Four looked to be dressed in all blue. How hard did that moblin hit him?

The smith shouted angrily as he charged at the moblin.

Twilight brought up his sword and shield and readied himself to help, but Four appeared next to him.

Wait...

Twilight was looking at Four, but this time he was dressed in all purple. Twilight looked up at the moblin and could see Four fighting it.

"You need to sit down," purple Four said as he steadied Twilight. "You got your bell rung pretty good,"

Twilight must have looked confused because purple Four pointed towards his head. "Your head's bleeding."

Twilight reached up and touched the side of his head, wincing at how tender it was before he brought his hand down and saw the red on his fingers.

"Just sit here," purple Four said before he ran off to join...blue Four?

Twilight squinted as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. There were three versions of Four currently fighting.

Twilight jumped when he heard one of the lizalfo screech, and when he turned, he saw Four, now dressed in green, pulling his sword out of the now-dead creature.

Twilight ran his hand through his hair. What in Hylia's name was going on.

He looked up and saw that blue Four and purple Four were struggling with the moblin.

Both Four's were barely able to jump out of the way of the moblin's club. With reflexes not common in moblins, the creature managed to turn and kick red Four, sending him skitting across the ground.

Blue Four cursed loudly and tried to jump up, but the moblin was quicker, and it quickly grabbed blue Four by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

Blue Four desperately tried to free himself from the monster's grip, but the moblin tightened his grip, cutting off the smith's air supply.

The edges of his vision began to darken as he felt his strength quickly fade.

Suddenly the moblin released him, and the blue-clad hero crashed into the ground, coughing as he struggled to control his breathing.

He looked up and saw Twilight standing to the moblin's side, his sword buried in the monster's side, black blood oozing from the wound.

Twilight pulled his sword out as the moblin began to disintegrate into a cloud of black smoke.

No sooner had Twilight pulled his sword out of the monster than he dropped hard to one knee.

"You're an idiot," blue Four rasped as he staggered to his feet and made his way over to Twilight.

"You were being choked," Twilight defended, the world still spinning.

"Blue, are you ok?"

Twilight managed to glance over his shoulder to see three copies of Four running up towards them. He saw no signs of the remaining lizalfos.

"I'm fine," the blue one barked.

Twilight slowly sat down in the grass, his confusion on full display.

"Is he ok?" He heard one ask.

"He took a nasty hit from that moblin," he heard another add.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," he heard the blue one snark.

"Will one of you find something to wrap his head with,"

Twilight finally looked up. In front of him stood four copies of Four.

He squinted. "How hard did I get hit?"

The one in all green knelt in front of him.

"Hard," he said as he pressed a piece of cloth against his head.

"... I see four of you," Twilight muttered.

"Yeah...that's a long story. Promise not to freak out,"

Twilight cocked his head slightly.

"He turns into a wolf...I doubt this is going to freak him out,"

Green Four signed. "Remember when I told you about Vaati...that when I pulled the Four Sword, I broke the seal that was holding him? That wasn't the only thing that happened."

Twilight nodded.

"When I pulled the sword, it split me into four versions of myself. After our adventure was over, we fused back together, but mentally the four versions of myself stayed separated. So even though we were back in one body, we still all existed."

Twilight struggled to process what he just heard. He looked at each version of Four carefully. Outwardly they all looked the same, minus the different color outfits, but Twilight could see the slight differences in how they carried themselves.

Right now, they all looked nervous.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Twilight finally asked.

The purple one raised his eyebrows slightly. "For the same reason you continue to keep your secret."

"We were afraid of how you all would react," the red one said.

Twilight nodded slightly. He could definitely relate to that.

"So, do you all go by Four?" Twilight asked.

The green one smiled. "No, we go by our colors. Obviously, I'm called Green, and back there is Red, Blue, and Vio."

Twilight smirked, "Well, that makes things a lot easier."

"So you're not...freaked out by all of this?" Red asked.

Twilight scoffed. "As you said, I turn into a wolf; there isn't a lot that freaks me out anymore."

"You can't tell the others," Blue said sternly. "We didn't exactly want to tell you, but the situation didn't leave us with many options."

Twilight glanced at the ground. "I'm sorry I put you in that situation,"

"Don't apologize," Vio said as he shot Blue a stern look. "It wasn't your fault we were outnumbered."

"And besides," Red added, "we know your secret; it's only fair that you know ours."

"Twilight! Four!"

The five jumped slightly as they heard their names being called from a distance.

"That sounds like Warriors," Vio stated.

"Guess it's time for us to join back up," Green said.

Twilight watched as they formed a small circle and readied their swords.

"Wait," Twilight said suddenly, causing the others to pause.

"Thank you for saving me,"

Chapter Text

The group was excited when they first landed in Time's Hyrule. They had heard all about his wife, and now they were finally going to meet her.

As they approached the house, a woman stepped through the door—her long, flowing red hair billowing in the breeze, and Legend froze.

He could feel his heart begin to race as the woman stepped out onto the porch.

...it can't be...

He watched as Time strolled up to her. Her face lit up as she ran towards him, practically leaping into his arms as the two embraced each other.

Suddenly, Legend was back on a familiar beach, the warm breeze blowing through his hair.

Her back was towards him, her red hair dancing in the wind.

She turns, her dark eyes glistening like the sea, a red hibiscus tucked in her hair.

Suddenly he felt a hand clasp his shoulder, snapping him out of his daydream.

He jerked his shoulder away, nearly stumbling in the process.

Hyrule instinctively raised his hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"What do you want," Legend barked.

Hyrule nervously glanced up at Warriors, who was standing nearby. The look on the captain's face matching his own confusion.

"I...well...everyone was walking inside, and I noticed you hadn't moved, so I wanted to make sure you were ok," Hyrule stammered.

Legend briefly watched as the others were being introduced to Time's wife. It was then that he started to notice the differences between the two girls. Time's wife was taller, had lighter skin, and had bright blue eyes.

This wasn't her.

"I'm fine," Legend mumbled. He tried desperately to compose himself as he slowly walked up to the others, Hyrule, and Warriors in tow.

When Time noticed the three approaching, he smiled, and Legend was painfully aware that this was probably the first genuine smile he has seen from the old man.

With one arm still wrapped around his wife, Time gestured to them. "There they are. Legend, Hyrule, Warriors, I would like you to meet my wife, Malon."

Goddesses...even their names were similar.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Malon greeted, her smile bright and welcoming.

Legend felt something inside him snap. He had buried the memories of that island deep within him, but now that he was standing in front of Malon (not Marin), all of the emotions he fought so hard to hide came rushing to the surface.

"I need to get some air," he said hastily as he turned and quickly began to walk away.

Hyrule reached out to grab his wrist, but Legend shook him off instantly and continued walking.

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the group. Hyrule glanced up at Time, who looked just as surprised as he was.

Malon was the first to break the silence. "Come on boys, let's get you all settled in."

That was four days ago. Usually, the group would have switched by now, but Legend was convinced Hylia kept them there longer to torture him.

The others were loving their little break. Malon had quickly won all of them over, and they were eager to help out around the ranch.

Legend knew it was because it gave them all a sense of normalcy in their otherwise fucked up lives. It was during this time that their true personalities began to shine.

Legend could very much see the rancher in Twilight as he helped take care of the cows and horses.

***Sky had been the only one stupid brave enough to volunteer to take care of the cuccos.

Four and Warriors helped Time with various repairs around the ranch, while Hyrule and Wind went out exploring to gather firewood and forage for some extra ingredients.

Malon was relieved when she learned Wild could cook. The two often hung out in the kitchen, trading recipes and preparing meals.

Legend did everything in his power to stay away from the others. His mood only got worse as the days dragged on.

It didn't help that he hadn't slept properly since arriving. The first night he dreamt of being caught in a violent storm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He could hear her voice, but he couldn't find her. He strained to see through the curtains of rain, only to spot her on top of Mount. Tamaranch.

Above her hovered the Wind Fish, its voice booming through his head.

"Come Link, let us awaken...together!!"

Before Legend could react, a lightning bolt, bright and deadly, struck the top of the mountain, and he heard her scream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legend awoke with a start. His hands shakenly clung to his chest as he struggled to steady his breathing.

He didn't dare sleep after that.

On the fourth day, Legend had been roped into foraging with Hyrule and Wind. He didn't complain; it gave him a reason to get away from the ranch.

Of course, it didn't help that he was struggling to concentrate.

He found a cluster of mushrooms, but he couldn't recall if they were poisonous or not.

He didn't realize how long he was staring at the mushrooms until Wind interrupted.

"Hey! Anyone home?" Wind teased as he waved his hand in front of Legend's face.

Legend blinked in surprise before he felt a flush of embarrassment.

"What the hell do you want?" he snapped.

"First off, chill the fuck out," Wind snapped back. "Second, what the hell has gotten into you? You've been behaving like a dick since we got here."

"Maybe I don't like it when some kid waves his damn hand in my face," Legend retorted.

Wind's eyes went wide for a second before he narrowed them angrily.

"Do you enjoy being a miserable prick?" Wind seethed. "It's like you're purposely going out of your way to be an asshole."

"Just leave me the fuck alone," Legend threatened as he stormed away.

Wind went to chase after him, but Hyrule grabbed him by the arm.

"Go back to the house," Hyrule said sternly.

"You can't possibly be siding with him," Wind scowled.

"No," Hyrule affirmed, "but no good is going to come of you chasing after him. You both need to calm down."

"He went off on me for no damn reason," Wind argued.

"I know," Hyrule agreed. "He was out of line, but right now, you both need to stay away from each other. You go back to the house. I will try to talk to him."

Wind huffed in frustration before turning back towards the ranch.

Hyrule didn't have to walk far to find Legend. The vet was leaning up against a tree, staring off into the distance.

"What the hell was that about?" Hyrule chastised, causing Legend to bristle.

"Don't you fucking start," Legend scoffed.

"You might fool the others with this attitude," Hyrule scolded, "but you don't fool me. What the hell is going on with you?"

"Nothing," Legend said flatly.

"Bullshit," shot Hyrule, surprising the vet. "You've been acting strange since the moment we got here. Either tell me what's wrong or get over yourself."

Legend shot up and spun on Hyrule but stumbled when his vision tilted.

Hyrule's arms shot out and caught the vet before he fell.

"I knew it; there is something wrong with you," Hyrule guessed.

"I'm fine," Legend grumbled, trying desperately to blink away the dizziness.

"Are you sick?" Hyrule asked as he placed his hand against Legend's forehead.

"No!" Legend insisted as he jerked his head out of the way, but that only made his dizziness worse.

Hyrule grabbed Legend by the shoulders and studied him. He could see the dark circles under his eyes and the slight paleness of his skin.

Hyrule narrowed his eyes, "When was the last time you got any sleep?"

Legend jerked himself free of his successor. "Please, just leave me alone,"

Hyrule furrowed his brow. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Legend wanted to protest, but a sudden, distressing shout followed by metal clanging against each other drew his attention.

"That's Wind," fretted Hyrule.

The two of them sprinted as fast as they could through the trees until they found Wind surrounded by four lizalfos.

Wind managed to perry two of the monster's blows, but one of them managed to whip its tail, crashing into the sailor's chest. The impact sent him flying into a nearby tree, knocking him out as he crumpled to the ground.

Legend saw red. He unsheathed his sword and charged straight for the bastard who knocked Wind out.

All four lizalfos turned from the unconscious Wind, their attention fully on the two newcomers.

One of the creatures growled before leaping into the air, its sword arching down towards Legend, but the vet slid under it at the last second, causing the blade to bury itself into the ground.

Legend hopped up and stuck his sword into the monster's exposed back. He gave the blade a good twist before pulling it out, cementing the creature's fate.

Off to his side, he saw Hyrule frantically trying to fight off two of the approaching lizalfos, who had set their sights back on their fallen comrade.

Legend frantically started searching his pack.

"Get down!" he yelled as his hands wrapped around his fire wand.

Hyrule dove over the top of Wind just as both lizalfos erupted in flames.

One jumped away, flailing as it attempted to put itself out. The other stumbled in front of the two heroes, and Hyrule didn't miss the opportunity to thrust his sword through the creature's neck.

Legend spun around, looking for the last lizalfo, but his adrenaline was starting to fade, and he had to shake his head to get his eyes to focus.

Suddenly, the creature was on top of the vet. Legend barely had time to bring his fire rod up to block the monster's blade.

He could barely make out Hyrule's cries from behind him.

Legend turned, fearing that one of the creatures had attacked them, but as he turned, he felt something slam just below his shoulder, causing him to drop his fire rod.

Suddenly he felt an intense tingling sensation radiate from where he was hit.

Legend looked up and saw the lizalfo he had lit on fire minutes before standing before him; its sword buried just below his shoulder.

Legend gasped as the creature pulled out the blade. He grasped at the wound as the sudden, intense burning overtook his senses.

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. He felt himself drop to his knees. He tried to reach for his fire rod, but the lizalfo kicked it away.

Legend sluggishly tried to think of a way to get out of the situation alive, but he couldn't think straight.

Just as he surrendered to his fate, the creature let out a piercing howl.

As it turned, Legend caught sight of Hyrule, his sword consumed in magical flame. The weakened creature didn't stand a chance.

Just as the lizalfo dropped to the ground, Legend saw Hyrule throw out his other arm, the fire rod gripped tightly in his hand, and fire somewhere behind the vet.

Legend assumed it was the last lizalfo. Judging by the screeches, Hyrule didn't miss.

Legend felt his grip on consciousness starting to slip. The lack of sleep, sudden adrenaline spike, and pain proved to be too much for him to fight through, and he suddenly found himself pitching to the side.

Thankfully, Hyrule was able to catch Legend before he slammed into the dirt.

He felt Hyrule slowly lower him to the ground. He could see Hyrule's mouth moving, but he couldn't make out what he was saying.

Legend felt his eyes slip closed. He could already feel the warm, comforting sensation of Hyrule's healing magic flowing into him.

Suddenly, sleep didn't sound like such a bad idea, and everything went dark.
------------------------------------
Legend was sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"You remembered our secret place."

He turned and saw her, sitting next to him, her red hair flowing like ocean waves.

"Marin!" he gasped. She turned to him and smiled, taking his hand in hers.

She turned back towards the ocean and watched as a seagull soared overhead.

"If I were a seagull, I would fly as far as I could! I would fly to faraway places and sing for so many people! If I wish to the Wind Fish, I wonder if my dream will come true..."

Legend felt his heart sink. "Stay. Please. Stay with me on this island. We don't ever have to leave. We will have each other. We can be happy..."

She looked back to Legend, her smile unable to hide her sadness.

"Link, someday you will leave this island...I just know it in my heart..."

"No!" Legend pleaded. "Please...I don't want to leave. I want to stay here with you."

Marin brought Legend's hand up and kissed it gently.

"You know you can't," she lamented. "You need to wake up."

Legend choked back a sob. "I don't want to. I want to stay with you."

She gently squeezed his hand, and Legend began to feel the familiar tug of being pulled away from his dream.

"Don't ever forget me...if you do, I'll never forgive you."

She gave him a mischievous smirk before everything started to fade away.

Legend tried to yell for her, tried to fight to stay, but found he couldn't. As his consciousness slowly began to creep back, he heard her sing.

Suddenly, Legend wasn't on the beach. He was lying in a bed. He could still hear Marin singing.

He pried his eyes open. He could barely make out someone sitting next to him, someone humming a calming tune, someone with red hair.

"...Marin..." he gasped.

The girl stopped humming and leaned in closer.

"It's Malon. How are you feeling?"

Legend opened his eyes a little wider. Sure enough, the woman in front of him wasn't Marin. He was in Time's house. She was Time's wife.

Marin was gone.

Legend suddenly felt a mixture of guilt and despair. He turned away, afraid that he would not be able to hide his emotions if she continued to look at him.

Malon sat back, fully aware that her presence was making him upset.

"I'm sorry sweety, let me go get Link..."

As she went to stand, Legend felt an overwhelming amount of shame.

"Wait," he gasped, causing Malon to freeze in place.

Legend turned his head and finally looked at her.

"I'm sorry..."

Malon tilted her head curiously. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Legend shook his head, ignoring the way it made him light-headed.

"I've been nothing but rude to you this whole time. You have been nothing but kind to me. There is no excuse for my behavior. I'm sorry."

Malon gave him a sad smile (her smile).

"I've known Link for a long time, long enough to know when someone's behavior is due to trauma."

Legend swallowed thickly, afraid of what she was going to say next.

"You have nothing to apologize for," she repeated. "I don't need to know what's troubling you; I only pray that, in time, our home will become a place where you can feel safe."

She went to brush the bangs away from Legend's face but stopped herself.

"You remind me so much of Link when he was your age," she sighed. "He had to endure so much at such a young age; it breaks my heart to think that you boys had to go through something similar."

With that, Malon got up and carefully made her way to the door.

Once she was gone, Legend slowly propped himself up. It was then that he noticed Hyrule curled up next to him.

He also saw Sky and Warriors propped up against the bed, sleeping, with Wind sandwiched between them, a bandage wrapped around his head.

Legend felt a pang of guilt when he saw Wind. He wasn't sure how he would be able to apologize for how he treated him that day.

Across the room, he spotted Four, Twilight, and Wild, all leaning up against each other as they slept.

"They were worried about you,"

Legend jumped despite himself.

Time carefully made his way across the room to the chair that Malon had been sitting.

"How are you feeling?"

It was then that Legend realized the extent of what happened that day.

He looked down and saw his tunic and undershirt had been removed, and heavy bandages were wrapped across his shoulder.

Time could see the confusion in Legend's eyes.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I was stabbed..." Legend recalled.

Time nodded.

Legend looked back at Hyrule and Wind.

"They're fine," Time reassured.

"How did we get out of there?" Legend asked.

"Twilight heard Hyrule yelling for help."

Legend sat back in the bed, wincing as he shifted his arm.

Time sighed. "Look, I'm not going to force you to tell me what's been bothering you, but I need you to tell me what I can do to help you."

Legend's gaze dropped to the bedsheet. "Look...I'm sorr..."

"Stop," Time interrupted. "You don't need to apologize,"

"Yes, I do!" Legend argued, trying to keep his voice low. "All you did was open your home to me, and I acted like a jerk ."

Time sighed again. "When I came back from my second journey, I had nowhere to go. I couldn't return to my home."

Legend sat, unmoving as Time spoke. The old man never talked about his past.

"Malon was the only one who took pity on me. She convinced her father to open up their home to me."

Time scoffed. "I was a real pain in the ass back then. Every time I felt vulnerable, I lashed out. Honestly, I don't know how Malon tolerated me."

Time ran his hand through his hair slowly. "She stuck by me, though. Through all the outbursts, the nightmares, the flashbacks, she never once gave up on me."

He dropped his hand back in his lap before he continued.

"We all have our issues, Legend. Every single one of us. We all deal with those issues in our own unique way. We might not always deal with our problems in a healthy way, but who can blame us? It's not like we had normal lives."

Legend chuckled humorlessly.

"You don't have to apologize to us because we know, deep down, you were hurting, and you didn't know how to show it."

Legend felt his cheeks flush.

"If you want to apologize to Wind for the argument you had, so be it, but just know that he might beat you to it."

Legend eyebrows raised. "Beat me to what?"

Time smirked. "If you think you're the only one who feels guilty about that argument, you're wrong."

"Why on earth would Wind feel guilty? I was the one who snapped at him."

Time shrugged. "He feels like he instigated it. That he knew you were going through some 'shit', but he ran his mouth anyway."

Legend shook his head. "That's stupid,"

"I agree, but it's just as stupid for you to apologize for things outside your control."

"How did you do it?" Legend finally asked. "How were you able to get past all of it?"

Time chuckled softly. "I got older. It took time for me to learn how to handle my demons. You're still young; it's going to take time for you to come to terms with everything you have experienced."

Legend let his head drop back into his pillow, not completely satisfied with the answer.

"But, since you asked, I would suggest opening up to some of the guys. I think you would be surprised to learn that you might not be the only one dealing with heartache."

Legend's eyes went wide. Did he know? Did Legend say something while he was unconscious?

"Oh, and don't think you get away without sleeping for days at a time anymore. I'm pretty sure Hyrule is going to start spiking your drinks to make sure you fall asleep."

Legend chuckled. He was thoroughly prepared for Hyrule to chew him out come morning.

Legend felt his eyes get heavy.

"Get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow."

"Time?" Legend mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"...I miss her..."

Time sighed and rested his hand on Legend's head. "I know kid...I know"

Chapter Text

The group was in the process of finishing off a relatively large group of blue bokoblins when the ground began to tremble.

"What the hell is that?" Legend shouted as a cluster of boulders began to shift and rise from the earth.

Wild cursed. "It's a stone talus!"

The others watched as the boulders assembled into a giant golem-like being.

"Fucking figures," Legend growled as he dodged a swing from a bokoblin's club.

"What do you want us to do?" Four yelled as he fended off one of the many bokoblins surrounding them.

"Stay away from it and keep your eyes open," Wild ordered. "These bastards like to throw their arms at you."

As if on queue, the talus dropped its arm back before heaving it towards the group.

Legend lept out of the way of the incoming boulder and watched with a satisfying smirk when a couple of bokoblins were taken out.

Wild instinctively went for his slate, and after a few taps, a knight's claymore materialized in his hands.

He did a quick scan and saw that Sky was standing closest to him.

Wild ran up and grabbed him by the arm. "Follow me!" he instructed.

He turned to Legend, who was standing nearby. "Have everyone finish off the 'blins and make sure they stay away from the talus!"

Legend did not like the idea of Wild taking on that stone monstrosity. He quickly turned to Sky. "Make sure that idiot doesn't do anything stupid!"

Wild narrowed his eyes at the vet while Sky nodded with a smirk. Then the two turned and made their way towards the talus.

"How do we fight this thing?" Sky asked.

Wild gestured towards the top of the talus. "See that black ore deposit? I need you to hit it with an arrow, and when it stumbles, I am going to climb on top of it and attack it."

Sky's eyebrows raised slightly. "Is that the only way to defeat it?"

"Pretty much," Wild shrugged. "If I get tossed to the ground, I need you to shoot the deposit again. So long as we keep its attention on us, it won't go after the others."

Sky sighed as he sheathed the Master Sword and unhooked his bow. He was convinced that Legend would consider this an insane idea, but he never encountered this monster before, so he had to trust that Wild knew what he was doing.

The two readied themselves. Wild gave a quick nod, and Sky took aim.

The talus was preparing to launch his other arm at the heroes when Sky loosed his arrow.

The effect was immediate. The stone giant stumbled to the ground before it had a chance to attack, allowing Wild to climb upon it.

Sky watched anxiously, arrow nocked, as Wild gripped the claymore tightly and began his assault on the ore deposit.

Wild gritted his teeth as he swung the heavy blade, slowly chipping away at the ore.

The talus quickly regained its footing and began shaking its body violently. Wild tried to steady himself for another swing, but as he brought down the blade, he lost his footing and was flung to the ground.

Sky was by his side in a flash. He loosed his arrow before the talus could take a swing at them.

Skys went to unsheathed his sword when he heard it, a pop of displaced air.

It was the only warning they got.

By the time Sky turned, the Yiga had loosed an arrow aimed for Wild's back.

Sky didn't have time to think. He lunged at Wild, tackling him to the ground.

He let out a hiss when the arrowhead sliced across his arm.

He heard the Yiga laugh methodically before disappearing in a cloud of red miasma.

Wild cursed angrily as he scrambled to his feet.

Off in the distance, they could hear the shouts of the others.

Sky turned and saw Legend and Twilight running towards them.

"Move!" Wild shouted as he grabbed Sky by his tunic. The two lept out of the way as the arm of the stoned talus came crashing to the ground.

Wild jumped back on his feet, scanning the area.

When Sky tried to scramble to his feet, he instantly knew something was wrong.

He looked at his arm. The laceration, which wasn't very deep, started tingling painfully. It was unlike any sensation Sky had felt before.

"Hey, get your head out of the clouds, bird boy!"

Sky jerked to the side as Legend approached. He could hear Wild shouting something to Twilight, but he found it hard to concentrate on what was said.

He shook his arm out, trying to ignore the increasing discomfort setting in, and reached for another arrow.

Legend eyed Sky suspiciously, his gaze narrowing in on the wound on his arm.

"It's nothing," Sky tried to assure.

When he turned back to the fight, he noticed that Twilight was on top of the talus, furiously slashing at its weak spot.

"Coward!" Wild shouted as he continued to search for the Yiga. "Come out and fight me face to face!"

Sky could see Legend scanning the area too, so he kept his aim on the talus, waiting to shoot the deposit the moment Twilight needed assistance.

As Sky aimed his bow, he suddenly found it difficult to concentrate. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it wasn't working.

"Sky..." Legend prodded as he continued to scan the area.

Sky squeezed his eyes shut.

What was going on?

Why couldn't he focus on the fight?

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Twilight had slipped and was dangling off the side of the talus.

Sky cursed quietly and aimed his bow. He could feel the sweat beading on his head as he put all his energy into focusing on his target.

He loosed his arrow and was relieved when it found its mark. It was all Twilight needed to regain his footing and deliver the final blow to the talus.

Sky barely had time to lower his bow when he felt a burst of pain radiating from his wound.

He gripped his arm and let out a choked cry as he dropped hard to his knees.

"Shit!" Legend gasped as he ran to Sky's side. He dropped down so he could look the chosen hero in the face.

Wild spun around, suddenly aware of Sky's condition.

That's when they heard another cruel laugh cut through the air.

"What a foolish boy, taking an arrow intended for you."

"What the fuck did you do to him?!" Wild yelled as he whipped his head around in search of the hidden Yiga.

"Doesn't matter though," the Yiga continued, ignoring Wild. "One dead hero is victory enough."

Wild's eyes went wide with panic. He barely heard a slight disturbance in a cluster of trees off to the side.

Before anyone could react, a bow materialized in Wild's hand, and he took quick aim and fired an arrow into a nearby tree.

A chocked cry alerted the group that Wild had found his mark. He could faintly hear the others approaching as he sprinted towards the treeline.

Twilight and Legend watched as Wild ran to a nearby tree and dragged the now injured Yiga from the tall grass.

Sky could barely keep up with what was happening. It felt as if hot pokers were being stabbed into his arm. The pain made his head spin, and a sudden wave of nausea hit him, causing him to double over on himself.

Twilight was instantly at his side, along with Legend.

"Sky, you have to tell us what's wrong!" Twilight pleaded.

Sky gritted his teeth and tried to steady his breathing.
"......hurts...." Sky groaned, sweat now dripping from his head into the dirt below as shooting pain rippled through his body.

Wild sucked in an anxious breath before turning and slamming the Yiga against a tree with enough force to knock the wind out of him

"What the fuck did you do to him?!" Wild snarled.

The Yiga managed to laugh as he tried to catch his breath.

"Poor hero, yet another innocent soul lost, because of you,"

Wild growled and punched the Yiga right in the face.

"What did you do!!" the champion shouted again.

By this time, the others had arrived, all with a mixture of confusion and fear on their faces.

Hyrule rushed up and quickly examined Sky's arm.

"Help me take his tunic off!" he ordered.

Once they had his tunic off, they were able to get a better look at the wound.

The shallow laceration he had morphed into an ugly, oozing wound. The skin around the injury was deep purple, with purplish lines tracking down his arm and up towards his shoulders.

Hyrule placed his hand on Sky's forehead and cursed when he felt the heat radiating from his skin.

His hand quickly dropped, and he pushed two fingers into the side of Sky's neck. He cursed again when he noticed that Sky's heart rate was way too high.

"What's wrong with him?" Time asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice when Sky let out another painful groan.

"I think he was poisoned," Hyrule croaked.

Wild's eyes went wide. He turned back to the Yiga and slammed him hard into the tree.

"How do we cure him?!" Wild snarled.

The Yiga coughed, trying to steady his breathing.

"You don't," the Yiga boasted, and somehow Wild knew the smug bastard was smiling behind the mask.

Wild grabbed the Yiga's mask and ripped it from his head.

There, standing before him, was a Hylian no older than himself (not counting the extra 100 years), blood dripping from his nose and the edge of his mouth.

Wild felt himself falter for just a moment. He never fought an unmasked Yiga before. Somehow he felt his anger intensify at the realization that this was a fellow Hylian and not some mindless monster of Ganon's.

Sky suddenly pitched to the side as he tried to choke back another painful cry, unable to keep himself up.

Thankfully there were plenty of hands that made sure he didn't slam into the ground.

Once Sky was lowered to the ground, Hyrule noticed how labored his breathing had become.

"This isn't good!" Hyrule fretted. He placed one hand on Sky's chest and the other on his arm, causing the older hero to cry out in pain. He tried to pull away, but both Warriors and Four were there to hold him still.

"I'm sorry," apologized Hyrule as he began pouring his healing magic into Sky.

Wild slammed the Yiga against the tree again, causing his head to slam into the trunk.

"How do we cure him!" he snarled again.

"You don't, you fool," The Yiga laughed between gasps of pain. "There is no antidote."

The other's heads shot up at the revelation, their eyes wide with worry.

"Bullshit!" Wild seethed as he pushed his forearm against the Yiga's neck. "I know you have an antidote. Give it to me, or I will choke the life out of you!".

Twilight's head shot up towards his protégé. He had never seen Wild look so angry. It was like he was looking at a complete stranger.

Wild leaned into the Yiga's neck, making it harder for the man to breathe.

"I won't ask again! Tell me how to cure him!"

It was unnerving how devoted this Yiga member was to his cult.

"Go ahead and kill me. I'll die a hero! And you'll have to live with the fact that you let another one of your friends die!"

Out of nowhere, a dagger materialized in Wild's hand. He quickly pushed it up against the Yiga's throat.

"Wild, stop!" Twilight shouted. Wild turned and shot Twilight a dangerous glare.

"No! He's going to tell us how to fix this!"

"...st-op..."

Wild's eyes went wide as he shifted his gaze to Sky.

"...Don...don't...kill..." Sky choked out. "th...this...isn't....you.....no-not a...killer."

The Yiga soldier choked out a laugh. "Awe...didn't you tell your friends you're already a murderer? How you allowed half the kingdom to perish?"

Wild let out a feral growl and pushed the dagger deeper into the Yiga's throat, piercing the skin and drawing a small line of blood.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Wild by the shoulder. He turned around and saw Twilight standing behind him.

"Stop!" his mentor said evenly. "Don't let him turn you into something you're not."

"Like hell I'm not," Wild shot back, jerking his arm free of his mentor. "I've killed hundreds of monsters," He turned back and leaned closer to the Yiga. "What makes him any different?"

Sky coughed weakly and strained to look at Wild. "...please...don't"

Wild's hand was trembling with rage. He gripped the dagger so tight his knuckles were white.

He looked at the Yiga again. "Tell me how to cure him, or I'll send you to meet your dark lord!"

Something in Wild's eyes had changed, and the Yiga wasn't confident that the hero wouldn't stand true to his words.

"I told you...there is no cure. His fate is up to your false goddesses now."

Wild growled and tensed his arm. All he had to do was push the blade into his neck, and it would all be over.

Instead, he dropped the knife, dropped his hand back, and punched the Yiga so hard the young man crumple to the ground, unconscious but alive.

Wild flinched when he felt someone grab his shoulder.

"It' over, cub. He isn't worth it."

Twilight coaxed Wild away from the fallen Yiga and back towards the other.

The champion felt his stomach sink.

Sky was on the ground; eyes pinched in pain. Beads of sweat lined his brow as he struggled to breathe.

Four was attempting to feed Sky a red potion, but it didn't seem to be working.

Wild started quietly hyperventilating. He hadn't felt this helpless in a long time. He dropped to his knees and took Sky's hand into his, flinching when he noticed how cold and clammy his skin felt.

He watched Hyrule as he continued to pour his healing magic into Sky, sweat already starting to form on the traveler's forehead.

Wild quickly turned to Legend. "Can he heal him?"

Legend's eyes never left Sky's. "I don't know...the red potion didn't work. Depending on how strong the poison is..."

Legend was cut off when Wild suddenly jumped up and grabbed Twilight by his hand.

The champion dragged his mentor down so he was kneeling next to Sky.

"Don't stop," Wild told Hyrule before turning to Twilight. "Hold onto Sky," he ordered.

"Wild, what are you doing?" Time questioned.

"Taking him to the Zora domain," he declared.

Before anyone could think to question him, Wild was already tapping his slate.

"Stay here! I'll come back for you," he ordered as he, Sky, Hyrule, and Twilight slowly dissipated into wisps of blue tendrils.
---------------------
The four slowly materialized on the platform of the Ne'ez Yohma shrine.

Hyrule felt a wave of dizziness wash over him the second he landed on the platform. He sensed himself start to list to the side, but Wild quickly steadied him.

Wild turned to Twilight. "Help me carry him!"

Together, the two knelt, each placing one of Sky's arms across their shoulders.

Wild desperately tried not to aggravate Sky's injury, but he felt Sky tense and whimper as he maneuvered his arm into position and lifted him up.

Hyrule was still finding it difficult to find his balance. He had used up a considerable amount of magic in just a short amount of time, and it left him physically drained.

Twilight glanced down at him. "Grab my arm," he offered.

Hyrule obeyed. He grabbed Twilight's arm and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

Once they were all situated, Wild lead them through the water surrounding the shrine and up the incline.

The moment they were out in the open, Wild spotted a familiar face.

"Bazz!" he shouted, causing the Zora guard to startle.

"Link!" Bazz greeted a with a grin, but it quickly dropped when he realized something was wrong.

He ran up to Wild, noting that three other Hylians were with him, one that appeared to be in rough shape.

"Please!" Wild begged as Bazz approached. "He needs a healer!"

Bazz did not recognize the newcomers, but the way Wild's voice broke caused him to act immediately.

"Give him to me," he offered, and he carefully picked up the now unconscious Hylian into his arms.

He winced when he felt the heat radiating off the young man.

"Follow me," Bazz ordered as he took off towards the direction the healers resided.

Twilight bent down and ushered Hyrule on his back, knowing the kid had pushed himself to his limit already.

He took a few steps forward but paused when he realized Wild wasn't following.

He turned and furrowed his brow. "Aren't you coming?"

Wild shook his head as he started swiping through his slate.

"Go! I'm going to get the others."

Before Twilight could think of a response, Wild tapped his slate and teleported away.
---------------------------
The rest of the heroes waited around nervously.

Legend kept glancing back and the still unconscious Yiga. He would be lying to himself if he said he was happy the traitor was still breathing.

The sudden, familiar rustling of fabric snapped the vet out of his dark thoughts.

The group turned and saw Wild gliding down towards them. Legend spotted one of the blue towers in the distance and assumed that had to be where Wild had returned.

The second Wild's legs hit the ground, he stored his glider and ordered everyone to him.

"How's Sky?" Wind fretted as they approached.

Wild shook his head, unwilling to verbally answer.

"Grab onto me," Wild ordered. Usually, the idea of teleporting with Wild's slate would rouse up a few complaints, but not this time.

Everyone grabbed onto Wild without protest and allowed themselves to be teleported, anxious to get to their fallen brother.
----------------------------------
When the group appeared on the platform of the Zora shrine, they were surprised to see a tall, regal-looking Zora waiting for them.

"Sidon!" Wild exclaimed as he stumbled slightly. "Where are they?"

"Your friends are with our healer," Sidon reassured. "Come, I will take you there."

Sidon quickly escorted the group through the halls of the domain. Had the circumstances been different, the group would have been struck by how beautiful the Zora city was.

The iridescent array of blues perfectly reflected the element of the Zora, with ceruleans and ultramarines set against turquoise, cornflower, and lapis.

Wind couldn't help but be reminded of shallows of the ocean from his world.

They headed for a corridor that branched out into various rooms, which served as one of the Zora's healing wings.

Sidon brought them into a room, where the group was reunited with Twilight and Hyrule, the latter sitting propped up against the wall.

Towards the back of the room, the group spotted a Hylian-sized bed where Sky laid.

Wind wanted to rush to his side, but Twilight caught him by the arm and just shook his head. "The healer will let us know when we can see him."

Wind frowned and looked back towards Sky. Next to his bed stood two Zora, one who was younger and dressed in armor, the other significantly older wearing elaborate jewelry atop her head and around her neck.

The older Zora had her arms held out over Sky as a soft, pure white glow radiated from her hands to Sky's body.

The young guard looked up as the group entered and made his way over to them.

"How is he, Bazz?" Sidon asked.

"The healer confirmed he was poisoned," Bazz answered. "Unfortunately, there is no known antidote."

"What does that mean?!" Wind fretted. "Is Sky going to be ok?!"

Bazz smiled softly at the sailor.

"Our healer is confident your friend will survive. He was luckily the arrow only grazed his arm. While she can't cure the poison, she can treat the symptoms. Had the arrow gone deeper, he most likely would not have survived."

Twilight didn't miss the way Wild tensed visibly at that revelation.

Bazz glanced down at Hyrule. "She also said that whoever attempted to heal him managed to slow the effects of the poison, which bought him precious time. Even with such a shallow wound, the poison still could have proved fatal."

"That is promising news," Sidon affirmed. "Thank you for your help. Could you please update my father on what has transpired?"

Bazz bowed slightly, "Yes, your highness." He gave Wild a sympathetic smile before excusing himself.

"Your highness?" Legend questioned.

"My apologies," Sidon answered. "I did not properly introduce myself. My name is Sidon, son of King Dorephan."

"You're the prince of the Zora?" Warriors marveled.

"I am, but as Link can attest to, you do not need to address me formally."

"Are you sure Sky will be alright?" Wind fretted again, glancing anxiously at the bed.

Sidon smiled. "I am. We have the best healers in all of Hyrule. If she says your friend will recover, then he will."

Sidon turned towards Wild and smiled warmly. "You did the right thing by bringing him here."

If Wild heard the prince, he didn't show it. His gaze never left Sky. Sidon's smile dropped slightly.

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable in here, but do not approach your friend until the healer says you can. You may explore the domain if you do not wish to wait in this room. You are my guests. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Time said sincerely. "We are in your debt."

Sidon waved him off. "Nonsense, any friend of Link's is a friend of the Zora. I fear our kingdom would not be here today had it not been for his bravery."

Wild suddenly turned towards the door. "I need a moment," he mumbled as he quickly left the room.

Wild's abrupt departure stunned everyone in the room.

"I'll go talk to him," Twilight offered as he made his way towards the door, Sidon following closely behind.

Time sighed. The day had been emotionally draining, and it was clear it was starting to get to them.

He walked up to Warriors. "I'm going to step out for a while. Please let me know when Sky wakes up?"

Warriors furrowed his brow slightly but nodded.

When Time stepped out of the corridor, he saw Sidon standing off to the side, looking out towards the domain.

Sidon turned to acknowledge Time and gestured for him to approach.

"I forget that Link doesn't see himself in the same way as his friends do," Sidon remarked before looking down at Time. "If I may ask, how long have you known Link? The last I saw him, he was still traveling alone."

"We met a few months back," Time answered. "Hylia assembled us so we could discover the cause behind the unusual monsters that have been popping up across Hyrule."

Sidon frowned. "It wasn't that long ago that Link defeated Calamity Ganon. He deserved more time to rest."

"I agree," Time nodded.

"How much has Link told you of his last journey?" Sidon questioned.

"Only bits and pieces," Time admitted. "We know he suffers from amnesia, we know of his battle to defeat Ganon and free the Devine Beasts, and we know that he fell in battle 100 years ago."

Sidon hummed curiously. "Did he ever mention his time with the Zora before the Calamity struck?"

Time nodded. "He has mentioned being friends with a Zora pri..."

Time looked up at Sidon with sudden realization. "...princess..."

Sidon smiled sadly. "My sister...Mipha. Yes, they were close friends. Link visited the domain quite a bit when I was a child. I was what you Hylian's would consider a toddler. I looked up to Link like an older brother. He was kind, honest, and brave, all things I aimed to be."

Sidon smirked fondly. "He had a reckless side too. There were many times the two of us would get caught doing something dangerous. My sister would always find and scold us, but deep down, I knew she was secretly happy Link and I were bonding."

He still has a reckless side." Time added.

Sidon chucked. "He is the reason we have a Hylian-sized bed in the Domain. He got injured frequently, and my sister demanded we have a bed suitable for him so he could rest comfortably as she healed him."

Sidon stared out into the domain. "The day the calamity struck is a day I will never forget. Not only did I lose my dear sister, but I also lost a brother. The pain from their loss was something I didn't think I would recover from."

Time looked at Sidon sympathetically. "I am sorry. No child should ever have to go through that."

Sidon nodded. "Thank you."

"How did you and Wi...Link reunite?" Time asked

Sidon smiled. "Strangely enough, I found him while I was searching for someone to help the domain. I had witnessed him fight a few monsters and knew right away that he was a skilled fighter. He didn't hesitate when I asked if he would help my people, even though the domain's path was overrun with monsters. I had no idea who he was at first. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't figure out how. My father was the one to recognize him."

Sidon laughed, "Funny how fate works. What were the odds that young fighter I found on the road would be the same person I knew as a child, the same person who I considered a brother, the same person my sister fell in love with..."

Sidon sighed. "It all made sense after that; his eagerness to help, his bravery. He didn't remember who we were, but his spirit was still the same. He ended up rescuing the domain and freeing my sister's spirit from Vah Ruta."

Time's eye went wide. He looked up at Sidon. "Could you repeat that name?"

"Vah Ruta?" Sidon questioned. "That is the name of the divine beast my sister piloted."

"Is there a story behind that name?" Time questioned again.

Sidon thought for a moment. "Vah Ruta was named centuries before we unearthed her. A teacher once told me that the divine beast was named after an ancient Zora sage."

Time swallowed thickly as he tried to keep his emotions in check. Could it really be the same Zora? Did that mean that Wild was also a descendant of his and a direct descendant of Twilights?

"Is everything alright?" Sidon asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Yes...sorry, just got lost in thought," Time dismissed.

"Time!"

Both Time and Sidon's head snapped behind them to where Four was standing.

"Sky's waking up,"
----------------------------
Twilight found Wild sitting under a statue of a beautiful Zora female. He didn't have to ask to understand who this was. Wild had confided in Twilight about Mipha, usually when he was unable to sleep.

"Hey cub, everything alright?"

Wild said nothing, keeping his gaze locked on the ground.

Twilight took a seat next to him.

"This wasn't your fault," Twilight started.

"Don't!" Wild warned.

Twilight narrowed his eyes. "Don't what?" Twilight challenged. "Tell you the truth? Sorry cub, but I'm not going to let you sit here and blame yourself for what happened today."

"You weren't there!" Wild snapped. "That arrow was meant for me. The only reason Sky got hit was that he pushed me out of the way."

"So?" Twilight countered. "So...what...you'd rather Sky do nothing while some asshole Yiga shot you with a poisoned arrow that would have killed you?"

"Yes!" Wild admitted.

Twilight let out a frustrated groan as he ran his hands through his hair.

"So you'd rather have died and left Sky to blame himself because he couldn't do anything to save you, is that what you're saying?"

Wild opened his mouth to respond, only to shut it.

"Because that's what would have happened. If you had been killed by that Yiga, Sky would never forgive himself. He did what any one of us would have done in that situation, you included."

Wild stared down at the ground, unwilling to look his mentor in the eyes.

"The only one at fault here was that damned Yiga soldier," Twilight continued.

"Then why didn't you let me kill him?!" Wild shot back.

Now it was Twilight's turn to be speechless. He wrinkled his brow.

"He was as good as dead! He tried to kill me. He almost killed Sky. He is a danger to everyone in my Hyrule, but you wouldn't let me kill him...why?"

"Because you're not a murderer," Twilight tried to reason, but Wild only scoffed.

"Seriously? Do you know how many monsters I have killed? How many Yiga I have killed?! How many all of us have been forced to kill?"

"That's not the same thing," Twilight countered.

"Why?!" Wild interrupted. "Why was this not the same thing as me killing dozens of Yiga in the past?"

"Were any of those Yiga defenseless?" Twilight challenged.

Wild didn't respond, but he refused to break eye contact.

"When you killed those Yiga, were they unarmed? Were they already injured? Or were they trying to kill you, and you had to kill them to defend yourself?"

Wild finally looked away. "I don't see how that makes a difference."

"No? I don't believe you," Twilight countered. "I think you know exactly what I'm getting at."

Wild rested his head against his hands. "I wanted to kill him..."

"I know," Twilight acknowledged. He put his arm across Wild's shoulders. "We all did. But this wasn't some mindless monster; he was Hylian. The kid couldn't have been older than Legend. He was injured and disarmed."

Twilight sighed. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have let you kill him. But I've seen what anger can do to people, how it destroys people's lives. I didn't want to see you get consumed by yours."

Wild squeezed his eyes shut, his emotions starting to get the better of him.

"He almost killed Sky," he grumbled.

"But he didn't," Twilight countered. "Everyone walked away from that fight with their lives. That's all that matters."

"Your friend is right,"

Wild's head shot up. Standing to the side of him was Sidon.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but your friend is right. Everyone survived, and that is what's important."

Wild just dropped his head back in his hands.

"It pains me to see you torment yourself, Link," Sidon sighed. "I have known you for a long time. You have overcome so much, have brought happiness to so many people. When will you finally start seeing yourself the way your friends do? When will you stop blaming yourself for things outside your control?"

Twilight felt Wild sigh, and he knew that Sidon's words had reached him.

"I apologize if I crossed a line," Sidon added. "I just couldn't stay silent, knowing these are the thoughts running through your head."

Wild signed again. "It's fine, Sidon. You don't have to apologize."

Sidon smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot! The reason I came here was to tell you that your friend is awake."
------------------------------------
Wild and Twilight raced back to the room as quickly as they could, slowing down only when they got to the door.

When they walked in, they saw that the Zora healer was gone. The others had spread themselves around Sky's bed/

Wild froze as his mind began to spiral, but Twilight gently took him by the arm and led him inside.

Sky was propped up on a few pillows, sleeping peacefully. He was still pale, but he looked a lot better than he did hours before.

The others seemed to had fallen asleep where they sat. Wind was curled up next to Warriors, propped up against the wall. Four was on the other side of the captain, leaning against him as he slept.

Legend, too, was sleeping sitting up against the bed with Hyrule curled on the floor next to him, his head resting in the vet's lap.

"He just fell back asleep," Time explained. "The healer said he should be fully recovered in a few days."

"How was he?" Twilight asked.

"Confused," Time answered. "He doesn't seem to remember much."

Wild winced, catching the older hero's attention.

"It's probably for the best," Time added, glancing at Wild. "He was asking for you.

Wild's head shot up, his brow furrowed.

"Apparently, he remembers you were upset," Time continued. "He wanted to make sure you were alright."

Wild glanced uncomfortably at the floor. A familiar, heavy feeling began to spread throughout his chest, threatening to suffocate him.

He wasn't the one that almost died.

"What a foolish boy, taking an arrow intended for you."

He didn't deserve Sky's sympathy.

Time frowned. He could almost feel the shame radiating off Wild.

It was a trait that they all shared in one way or another, but Wild seemed to struggle with it the most.

Time could sympathize. He understood what it felt like to unwillingly be put to sleep for years, only to wake up and find that evil had overtaken the land. The guild that, somehow, it was all your fault, even though it wasn't.

He also understood that Wild's amnesia only made it worse. Not only did he feel responsible for what happened, but he couldn't even remember most of it.

Good or bad, at least Time remembered his life, remembered his friends, remembered those he considered family.

He wasn't sure what was worse, the pain that came with those memories or the pain of being robbed of them completely.

"It's late," Time declared. "The healer said there were rooms down the hall with open beds, but as you can see, no one was willing to leave."

Time glanced around the room. "We rarely get a chance to sleep in such a well-guarded area. I know today was rough, but we really should take advantage of the security and get some much-needed rest."

Twilight nodded in agreement. He took Wild by the arm and led him to an area of the room where they could stretch out comfortably.

Wild played along, but he knew he wouldn't be sleeping that night.
-------------------------
Sky was surrounded in darkness; pure, oppressive, disorienting darkness.

He didn't know where he was. He didn't know which way to go. He felt his heart rate begin to race.

Why was he here?

Why was he alone?

Was Zelda in trouble?

Suddenly a bright flash of red enveloped his surroundings.

Sky's eyes protested at the sudden brightness, but they adjusted after a moment, and Sky gasped.

Two glowing red eyes looked down at him, surrounded in a mane of flames.

Sky instinctively reached for his sword. His heart dropped when he didn't feel the familiar hilt, grasping only at the air.

Suddenly, a booming, demonic voice filled his head.

"They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!"

Sky covered his ears; his eyes slammed shut as he tried to shut out the demon lord's curse.

"Their suffering, their loss, all because you failed to protect them." Demise continued.

"Their blood is on your hands, hero!"

Sky awoke with a start, his hand clutching his chest as he gasped for air.

He looked around, wide-eyed, as he desperately tried to calm himself.

He saw the shadows of his friends scattered around the room.

Demise wasn't here.

His friends were.

They were safe.

He was safe.

Sky took a deep breath and tried to slow his racing heart. Thankfully his little panic attack didn't seem to wake anyone.

As his adrenaline began to dissipate, he was reminded why he was lying in bed in the first place.

He pressed his hand against his throbbing head. Goddesses, it felt like one of Wild's moblins hit him with a club.

Slowly, his brain started to catch up. He reached up and gently touched the bandage on his arm.

He remembered something about an arrow and poison. He remembered seeing Wild there, but someone else was there with him. Someone with a white mask.

A Yiga soldier...

Sky rubbed his face with his hand and glanced around the room. He only counted seven sleeping forms; someone was missing.

It didn't take long for Sky to realize who it was.

In a move that he was sure would earn him a lecture later, Sky slowly sat up and swung his legs over the bed, careful not to disturb Legend and Hyrule.

He swallowed thickly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. After a few careful breaths, he was able to stand.

Once he was satisfied he wouldn't fall over, he slowly made his way towards the door.

Sky didn't have to look far to find Wild. He was sitting on the stairs just outside the corridor, looking out into the domain.

Wild glanced up haphazardly when he heard footsteps behind him, fully expecting to see Twilight or Time. He was already looking away before his fatigued brain realized who was there.

His eyes widened as he whipped his head back around.

"Sky!" he exclaimed. "Why are you...you shouldn't be up!"

Wild had already jumped to his feet when Sky held out his hand.

"Relax," he assured. "I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air."

It wasn't a complete lie.

Sky slowly took a seat next to Wild, who was still staring wide-eyed.

"Time told me we are in the Zora domain," Sky began as he stared out into the aquatic city. "It's beautiful."

Wild looked nervously at the ground. He felt his throat constrict as his anxiety picked up.

Sky sighed. "Time told me what happened."

Wild flinched slightly. He desperately wanted to apologize, but he couldn't find the words.

Sky turned to Wild. It broke his heart to see how distressed he was.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Wild's head snapped up, his voice suddenly returning.

"You're sorry?" Wild sputtered. "Sky...you almost died. You're the last person who needs to apologize."

Sky looked back out to the domain. "I know, but I still feel bad," he admitted. "I only can recall bits and pieces of what happened, but the one memory that stands out the most is seeing you. I don't think I have ever seen you look so angry before."

Wild turned away, afraid that if he kept looking at Sky, his emotions would get the better of him.

"I've been that angry before," Sky continued. Wild glanced at him briefly.

"The funny thing about anger is that it is a secondary emotion," Sky explained. "Another emotion has to exist first before anger can manifest. For me, that emotion was fear."

Wild inhaled nervously.

"I can only imagine the fear you were feeling in that moment," Sky sympathized. "I hate that I was the cause of it."

"Don't," Wild mumbled. "You keep talking like it was your fault. We both know that arrow wasn't meant for you."

Sky sighed.

"You're right," he agreed. "It was meant for you."

Sky didn't miss the way Wild's body tensed at the thought.

"At that moment, I didn't know the arrow was poisoned. All I knew was that it was aimed right at you."

Sky wrapped his arm around Wild's back and tried not to feel guilty when he felt him flinch slightly.

"I thank Hylia that I was able to spot the threat in time, that I was able to push you out of the way,"

"You almost died," Wild choked.

"Almost...but you most certainly would have died had I not acted," Sky countered. "The fact that arrow would have guaranteed your death terrifies me, and the fact that you have to live with these kinds of threats day in and day out..."

Sky took a deep breath. He could feel his body starting to tire.

"You want to talk about feeling responsible...try being the one who started this cursed existence..."

Wild looked up at Sky, genuinely confused.

Sky shrugged. "It all started with me...I was the one tasked to defeat Demise. I wasn't quick enough, and now all of you have been made to suffer because of it."

Wild just stared wide-eyed at Sky. "What are you talking about?"

Sky sighed. "Before I sealed him away, he cursed my and Zelda's descendants. He said an incarnation of his hatred would forever follow our kind. Turns out the curse was real."

"Sky...you can't possibly think this is your fault?" Wild doubted. "You're not psychic! You had no way of knowing what his plan was!"

Sky smiled softly. "The rational side of me agrees, but there is another part of me that will always blame myself. The more I see your worlds, the more I learn of your struggles, the greater this guilt becomes. You're not wrong, but there are times where the guilt is hard to overcome."

Wild ran a hand through his hair. He never realized Sky felt that way. He would never have guessed, judging by how lighthearted and happy he always appeared.

"But I also know, had the roles been reversed, you would have done the same. Any one of us would gladly give our lives for the other. Self-sacrifice seems to be a common trait amongst Hylia's chosen heroes."

Wild scoffed. Sky wasn't wrong.

When Wild looked back at Sky, he could see how exhausted he looked.

Wild stood and stuck out his hand. Sky reached up and took it, allowing Wild to help him up slowly.

He felt his grip tighten in Wild's hand as the world tilted slightly.

"You really should have stayed in bed," Wild worried when he felt how warm Sky still felt.

Sky just smirked. "Probably, but I'm glad I didn't."

Wild rolled his eyes. "Apparently, stubbornness seems to be another shared trait."

Sky just chuckled and nodded in agreement. He allowed Wild to take his arm and drape it around his shoulders. In all honestly, Sky wasn't sure he would be able to make it back to bed unassisted.

As the two slowly made their way back, Sky heard Wild quietly clear his throat.

"Thank you...for saving me..."

Sky smiled, "You're welcome."