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Throughout all of Wild’s adventures, the constant warmth of a campfire became a luxury as he explored the far depths of his Hyrule, bracing snowy winters, thunderous storms and heavy rainfalls. So when he was dragged along on an adventure with multiple versions of himself, from a past he had never known, he was grateful that the group themselves had managed to find an area to set up camp mostly every night, a shining bright fire to keep them warm.
Even though the champion was used to sleeping alone, away from fire and hylians themselves, he began to relax even more into the group dynamic that seemed to form, choosing to stay close to the fire or Twilight respectively, often hearing Hyrule’s snarky remarks about him taking up the space around the fire, then hearing his exclaim as Time whacked him gently over the head as a warning to calm down.
Now here they sat, bundled around the fire as they camped in a recently cleared out Bokoblin camp, the blood moon that used to plague Wild’s Hyrule no longer in thought, discussing stories of their childhoods, before they were dragged away by Hylia’s will. As the respective chatter from Sky’s calming voice surrounded the small clearing, Wild leaned into Twilight, struggling to keep his eyes open.
The wolf seemed to notice, smiling slightly but otherwise keeping his feelings to himself. He knew how much time and trust it had taken for Wild to open up, to feel comfortable around men who were once strangers in a destiny he had to fulfil. He also did not want to ruin this moment.
“And then Zelda and I ended up grounded for weeks, our parents were not happy with us sneaking out like that, especially as it was so late.” Sky had tampered off of his story, chuckling as he finished his tale. With that, he turned towards the sleepy Wild, eyes filled with a curious gaze. “And what about you Wild? Surely you have to have had some fun experiences before you became a Knight?”
Wild froze at the question, blue eyes scanning the area as he began to think. Sure, he had gotten some of his memories back, but he still had no recollection of his time spent before Calamity.
“Do you remember your childhood Link?” The question that Princess Zelda had spoken rang in his ears, the young man stiffening up as a memory began to play in his head.
The Princess sat in front of him, blonde hair flowing softly in the wind. It had been several weeks since her rescue at this point, the both of them spending time together to make up for lost time. The question had confused the young champion. Last time he checked, he had restored the memories that were deemed important, the Princess never once mentioning anything about when he was but a child.
At the shake of his head, the Princess continued.
“You joined the guard at a young age, too young for anyone's liking. But alas, your Father thought it was the right decision since it was deemed you were the descendant of the great hero.”
Now that the Princess mentioned it, he recalled the memory of them together as she watched him practice his swings of the Master Sword, bringing up his Father and his job as a knight. It upset the hylian that he could not remember anything about that time, not even his Father’s face or name. Not even his Mother..
“I remember my Father discussing about the new little ankle biter in the ranks, he too was worried for how young you were, a mere four year old taking up a sword, but with the Goddesses wil, he could not risk any mistake. I’m sorry you cannot recall your time spent as a bairn, but in my opinion, it might have been for the best. The only time you seemed happy and of the age you were, was when you and your Father would visit the Zora. You and Mipha used to play for hours.”
The name of his childhood friend sent a tight sadness through his chest, upsetting him further that he could not remember their time together before the Divine Beasts. It was becoming stressful to be told things that people remembered about him, but having no recollection of them at all. He felt his mind begin to fog, the only feeling he felt was immense sadness, of wanting to be held and comforted, to be protected for a change.
As a small whine escaped his lips, he watched as Zelda turned around quickly, her blue eyes filled with worry as she threw her arms around the young knight, letting him cry into the side of her neck.
“Wild!”
A rough shout broke him from his memory, the feeling of rough calloused hands holding onto his shoulders. Focusing his eyes, his vision cleared to reveal the face of a worried Twilight, ear flicking in the way he displayed when he was anxious. Scanning the clearing, he noticed the others hanging around him, thankfully not close enough to overwhelm him. Wind and Four were beside their bed rolls, worrying glances shared between them. Hyrule, Legend and Warriors stood near the outskirts of the camp, keeping an eye out for danger, but sneaking quick looks back to check on their group. Lastly, his eyes landed on Time and Sky, both of them standing just behind Twilight. The eldest of the group seemed to be comforting Sky, the shorter of the two clenching his fists as he tried to slow down his breathing.
“I didn’t mean to Time,” He caught what Sky was saying, “I didn’t know asking that would cause him to go like that, I thought he was okay.”
“Cub, are you back with us? Do you know where you are?” The sound of Twilight’s voice grounded him, blue eyes snapping back towards the older hero.
With a quick nod, and s shaking sign of the word ‘camp’, Twilight repositioned himself to be sitting next to the boy, throwing his arm around his shoulders. Wild was grateful for the comforting weight, slowing his breathing down as he began to relax into Twilight, his mind feeling fuzzy.
“How is he doing, Pup?” The gruff voice of Time caused Wild to slowly look up.
“He’s calming down, I don’t think it was a panic attack to a great extent, just him remembering something. He’s content now, I might get him to bed.” Twilight answered back, Time nodding in confirmation.
Wild’s mind was becoming more foggier, the words being spoken becoming jumbled and less understandable as the two heroes in front of him continued their small conversation. The warmth from the fire tickled his nose as he stayed there, leaning against his mentor. He did little to show he noticed Sky coming to sit in front of him, grey blue eyes shining with sadness.
“I just want to apologize, Wild, I shouldn’t have asked. It was stupid of me, and it would be best if we could - hmphh!” Sky’s apology was interrupted as the Hero of the Wild toppled forward, arms being thrown around the Hero of the Sky’s neck. The young blonde did little to mark his breathless giggling, too young to understand that he was acting extremely out of character for the group around him.
Sky acted quickly, grabbing onto Wild before the boy could fall to the ground, holding him upright as Wild began to mess around with the feathers that coated the other’s cloak. They tickled his fingers as he began to twirl them around, his entire attention just focused on the pretty colours from various birds. Sky watched on in confusion, not wanting to move. He had never seen Wild so relaxed before, as if he was in some sort of trance.
Time and Twilight watched in shared interest, smirks on their faces as the Skyloftian struggled on what to do. The relaxing atmosphere was broken when Wind rounded the side of Time, eyes wide at the sight of the champion acting so childish, Four following behind his footsteps.
“Is Wild alright?? A wizzrobe hasn’t cast anything on him right?” Wind spoke up, turning towards Time for an answer. The elder just chuckled, turning towards the two other Heroes.
“He’s okay, he’s just regressed right now.” Time explained, watching as the two short boys looked at each other.
“What does that mean?” Four piped up, tilting his head slightly.
“It’s a coping mechanism, some of my men in my squad used to use it to cope.” Warriors spoke up as he returned to the group, Hyrule and Legend behind him. “They go back into a younger mindset to cope with stress, and with the way we were told of how Wild’s adventures turned out, I’m not surprised the kid uses it.”
The two boys nodded before heading towards Sky and the little champion. Wind made the first move, sitting down and catching the boy’s attention. Wild turned towards him, waving shyly before going to put his fingers in his mouth. Twilight caught them quickly, softly scolding the boy before hoisting him up on his hip, Sky muttering a quick thank you as he stood back up.
“I think he likes me!” Wind spoke excitedly, giggling as Wild grabbed a hold of the boy’s hand. Blue eyes lit up as Wind tickled his palm, giggling softly, it sounded quiet and broken as the boy rarely used his voice.
“I think he’s around three, aren’t ya cub?” Twilight addressed the others, bouncing the boy slightly. Wild squealed, snuggling into the crook of his mentor's neck, yawning as tiredness dawned on him.
“And I think it’s time for the little Moblin to be put to rest, it’s been a long day for all of us.” Time concluded, chuckling at the groans from the others around him.
“I’ll take the first watch.” Hyrule proclaimed, heading to the mouth of the camp.
The other Link’s began to scamper off, each of them heading towards their respective bedrolls. Once Time was sure everyone was settled, he turned back to Twilight.
“You got him handled Pup? I don’t mind taking over if need be.”
“I can handle him, old man, go get some sleep.” At Twilight’s reassurance, the Hero of Time headed towards his bedroll, hunkering down for the night.
Twilight turned, heading towards the soft bedroll that belonged to the boy in his arms. He chuckled as Wild yawned, eyes fluttering closed as he fell asleep. The wolf took this as his chance to place the boy down, freezing as Wild whined slightly, only moving when the boy settled back down.
Grabbing his own bedroll, he decided to stay close to the boy, not wanting to be too far away if he woke up during the night.
“Night little Cub.” He spoke softly before settling down himself, falling asleep next to the peaceful glows of the campfire.