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Chapter Text

“Three spicy peppers, please.”

Legend glanced over the rows of pictures, trying to look for the box with the requested ingredient. “How do you find anything in here?” he mumbled, swiping the screen to browse the next set.

“Same way you find anything in that house of yours,” Wild teased, smirking into the pan. “I need those diced, by the way. Can you do that while I watch this?”

“If I can even find them,” Legend muttered. “You act like none of us know how to cook.”

“Cooking to survive and cooking to eat are two very different things,” he retorted. “And they should’ve been on the first page.”

“Of course they were.” Legend swiped the screen quickly, but when he stopped, the images didn’t show the ingredients like he’d expected. “Wild, your Slate is broken again.”

“Again!?” Wild looked up in alarm, eyes wide in worry.

“I’m sure you’ve broken it before,” Legend waved his hand, eyes scanning the rows of items. It looked like he’d found the Champion’s wardrobe, something he didn’t think actually existed. “You don’t strike me as a jewelry kind of guy,” he commented, noticing the line of images of earrings and circlets along the bottom.

“Huh?” Wild reached over, plucking the Sheikah Slate from his hands. He ignored Legend’s protest, glancing down at the screen. “You swiped too far,” he said, tapping it a few times. Three spicy peppers appeared in his hands, and he handed them to Legend. “Dice these, please.”

“Only if you tell me about those accessories,” Legend said, grabbing the knife off the rock he had set it down on. “Are they enchanted?”

“Yeah,” Wild nodded. “I have a friend in Gerudo Town that makes jewelry.” He tapped the Slate and a silver circlet materialized in his hands. He held it out to Legend, who leaned over to get a better look at it. “This is a sapphire circlet. It has a cooling property, so I usually wear it when I’m in the desert or around Death Mountain.”

Legend set down his knife, wiping his hands on his tunic. “Can I see it?” he asked, holding his hands out. Wild set it in his palms, and Legend brought it up to his face to inspect it better. The silver band was bent out of a few coils of silver, lightly braided and soldered together. In the centerpiece was the sapphire, and as Legend ran his fingers over it, he could feel the hum of the magic in the gem, cool to the touch. “How did she enchant it?” he asked, handing it back to Wild after a moment. 

He shrugged. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “But it works.”

Legend frowned. “My enchanted rings have magic throughout the whole piece,” he said, fiddling with one on his right hand. “The band, the gem, all of it. But that circlet, it’s just the sapphire that’s magic. The rest of it is just plain silver.”

Wild tilted his head as put away the circlet in a flash of blue. “Does that matter?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” Legend shrugged, picking up the knife to continue dicing the peppers. “But it’d be interesting to know how she did it. I thought you said you don’t really have magic in your Hyrule.”

“I don’t,” Wild nodded, stirring the sizzling contents of the pan. “I mean, the Great Fairies can upgrade my armor, so that’s magic. And the jewelry is too, but that’s about it.”

“But no one practices magic?” Wild shook his head and Legend frowned in thought. “Interesting. That would mean the gems have a natural magic to them. I wonder where she gets them from.”

“Oh, I get them for her,” Wild said. “I bring the gems, pay her for the work, and she makes the jewelry for me.”

Legend blinked, pausing mid-slice. “You provide the gems for her?” he asked, turning to look at the Champion. “Where did you get them, then? Dungeon loot?”

Wild shook his head. “I mined them.”

“...you mined them?”

Wild laughed sheepishly, fidgeting with the spatula in his hand. “Is that so weird?” he asked. “There are ore deposits all over my Hyrule.”

“And they just… have magic gems in them?” Legend asked incredulously. Wild nodded, and he shook his head. “You wouldn’t happen to have any of them on you now, would you?”

Wild tilted his head in thought, shaking his head after a moment. “I don’t think so. I usually sell most of them.” Legend hummed in disappointment, and Wild continued. “But, if you want, next time we’re in my Hyrule, I could take you mining.”

Legend looked up at Wild in surprise. “Really?”

Wild nodded. “Sure. Realistically, I should probably keep some on me just in case. I can take you with me so Time doesn’t get all huffy about us splitting up.”

Legend snorted. “That Old Man needs a vacation. Here, are these diced enough for you?”

Wild leaned over and inspected the spicy peppers. “Yeah, those are good. Thanks.” Legend handed the cutting board over to Wild who scraped the peppers into the pan, the contents sizzling as the added moisture mixed in. 

“Where do you go for mining?” Legend asked, watching as Wild mixed the contents of the pan. “Didn’t you say ore deposits are everywhere.”

“Well yeah,” Wild nodded. “But I usually go to Death Mountain when I need gems. There are a lot of deposits there and it’s pretty easy to find gems there.”

“Death Mountain?” Legend echoed skeptically. “Sounds like your kind of place.” His eyes widened immediately. “Shit wait. I didn’t mean–”

Wild’s laugh cut him off. “It’s fine,” he waved him off. “I love Death Mountain. The Gorons live up there, and they’ve been like brothers to me since before everything happened.” He smiled softly for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. “But anyway. The rock up there is good for finding gems, so I usually just go there to mine.” He shrugged. “I usually mine whatever ore deposits I run across, but if you want to try and find those gems, we should probably go there.”

Legend nodded, but didn’t say anything. He hadn’t really expected Wild to want to take him mining, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t sound fun. At least, the prospect of finding naturally enchanted gems was certainly appealing. “The biggest problem is going to get Time’s permission.”

“Ha, but you’re one of the responsible ones,” Wild said, pointing his spatula at him. “Just tell him you’re going to make sure I don’t blow up the mountain and he’ll be fine with it.”

Legend raised an eyebrow. “You sound confident in this plan,” he noted, narrowing his eyes. “You aren’t just inviting me as a pass to get around Time are you?”

Wild raised his hands in a surrender motion. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I wasn’t planning on going to Death Mountain anyway. At least, not until now.”

Legend frowned, but didn’t think Wild was lying. The Champion was a terrible liar, and Legend liked to think he knew everyone’s signs by now. “If you say so,” he said. 

“So, you’ll go mining with me?” Wild asked.

“Sure. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

----

“Is it called Death Mountain because we’re doomed to die on it?” 

“Only if you’re not prepared,” Wild waved off Legend’s complaint, handing him a vial. “Here’s an extra fireproof elixir. I doubt we’ll be up high enough for you to burst into flames, but it should help with the heat.”

“Burst into flames, he says,” Legend muttered, slipping the vial into his pouch. 

“We’ll be staying around the base,” Wild said, ignoring his complaints. He unclipped his Sheikah Slate, tapping a few times before showing him the screen. Legend glanced over his shoulder, staring at the map that meant next to nothing to him. “We’re here,” Wild said, pointing to a yellow arrow. “And this is around where it gets uncomfortable.” He trailed his finger further up the screen, gesturing around a blue point that Legend thinks he said symbolizes one of the Sheikah buildings. “There’s a better chance of finding rare gems up past there, but there’s still plenty of them down here.”

Legend shrugged, stepping back as Wild lowered his Slate. “Lead the way, then.”

Wild nodded, and the pair headed down from the shrine towards the stable. But instead of following the path up the mountain, Wild led him past it to one of the cliff faces nearby. “It’s a bit steep,” he turned to Legend. “But this one should be a shallow enough slope where you shouldn’t have to climb up any walls.”

Legend sighed, briefly wondering if it was too late to turn back. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in finding some of these enchanted gems. He’d dealt with magic accessories and weapons before, but usually the magic had to be added to them. He never thought the magic could already be embedded into the materials, let alone retained well enough to allow a piece to act as if it had been enchanted. His curiosity had him in its grasp, and he found himself nodding and following Wild up the mountain before he realized it.

The climb wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. True to his word, the route they were taking was steep, but not so much that Legend was forced to push himself more than he needed. The sapphire circlet perched on his head cooled him enough where he wasn’t more than just a little warmer than normal. Wild had his hair tied back in his climber’s bandana, his usual champion tunic swapped out with the Gerudo voe top. He had loaned the climber’s boots to Legend, and before long, they stopped at the top of the first ridge.

“There should be a few ore deposits around here,” Wild said, taking a quick swig from his canteen. “I figured we’ll just clear them out as we go up and head back whenever we’re ready.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Legend nodded, looking around. The rock around here was an orange-red color, most likely a different stone from the other mountains they had seen so far in Wild’s Hyrule. “How do you know where to find a deposit?” he asked, glancing sideways at him. “As fun as it would be, I hope your plan isn’t to bomb everything until you find what you need.”

Wild laughed. “No, that’s the Korok strategy.” He waved his hand, motioning for Legend to follow him. “Ore deposits are really easy to find. Just look for a patch of dark stone, might be shining a bit in the sunlight.”

Legend hummed, glancing around as they walked. As they approached the next cliff upwards, Legend realized what he thought were shadows were actually ore deposits, if Wild’s description was correct. He glanced to Wild, who had noticed his gaze and nodded. “We’ll start with these ones.”

As they approached, Wild unhooked his Slate, tapping it a few times as they stopped in front of a pair of ore deposits. “Here.” A large sledgehammer materialized in his hands in a flash of blue and he held it out to Legend. “You’ll need this to break open the ore deposits.”

Legend took the tool with two hands, hefting it to test its weight. “I thought most people used picks to mine ores,” he commented.

Wild smirked. “Since when did I count as most people?”

Legend snorted. “Fair enough.” He watched as Wild tapped the slate again, and the other Hero pulled out a tool he didn’t recognize. “What’s that one?”

“Cobble Crusher,” he answered, holding it with one hand as he clipped the Sheikah Slate back on his hip. “Pretty common with the Gorons. They can use it as a weapon and for mining.”

“Won’t these break the gems?” Legend asked, eyeing his sledgehammer skeptically as he leaned it against the cliff.

“Nah,” Wild waved his hand. “These are strong enough to smash the rock, but the gems are actually pretty durable.” He hefted up his Cobble Crusher and faced the ore deposit. “I’d suggest swinging horizontally though. Like this.” He winded up, holding the handle with two hands as he swung the weapon to his side. With a grunt, he pushed his strength into his swing, crashing through the ore deposit and following through.

“Nice swing,” Legend commented, looking at the broken pieces of rock at Wild’s feel. “And those have the gems in them?”

“Only a few,” Wild said, crouching down to get a better look at them. “With the way the rock smashes, they’re pretty easy to spot.” Legend leaned over his shoulder, peering at the rocks as he shifted through them. As he picked one up, the corner caught the sunlight and shone a deep red.

“That’s one?” Legend asked, looking at the stone as Wild handed it up to him. He flipped it over in his palm, noting that the gem didn’t seem damaged at all.

“Yeah, that one’s a ruby,” Wild said. “And it looks like I got some flint here too.” He held up a chunk that seemed to be a lighter grey than the stone from the deposit. “Ruby will give you a heat boost in cold weather when it’s made into an accessory.” Legend nodded, handing the gem back to Wild, who stored it in his Slate. He motioned over to the second ore deposit. “Your turn.”

Legend eyed the dark patch of rock, grabbing the handle of the loaned sledgehammer. With a grunt, he lifted it and got into position in front of the deposit. “Hylia above, why is this so heavy?”

“It is an iron sledgehammer,” Wild grinned. “And don’t you have your power bracelet on? It shouldn’t be that heavy.”

“Tell that to my arms,” Legend grunted, lining up his swing. He adjusted his feet into a wider stance, digging his toes into the soles of his boots, and with all the might he could muster, drove the sledgehammer into the deposit. The stone shattered at the impact, surprising him as he almost lost his balance from the momentum. Wild laughed as he righted himself and Legend shoved his shoulder as he bent down to inspect the shattered stone fragments. Most of the stones were dull and gemless, but one he picked up shone a clouded orange in the sun.

“Oh, that’s amber,” Wild said as Legend inspected it. “It’s pretty common, but I have a pair of earrings made of it. Good for defensive protection.” Legend nodded, finding another piece of amber in the pile. He handed them off to Wild, who stored them away and looked around. “Alright,” the Champion said. “Let’s continue further up and find some more ore deposits.”

----

“Do I want to ask what happened on the mountain?” Time asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. Legend shared an uncharacteristically feral grin with Wild at their leader’s disappointed look. The pair had wandered back to the campsite later than they had planned, hair smouldering and reeking of burnt flesh, which had given the Rancher a mini panic attack until he was assured they were fine. 

“I do!” Wind exclaimed, grinning. “What happened, and why didn’t you invite me?”

“Wild was showing me how to mine for ores,” Legend shrugged, a cloud of ash poofing off his shoulders and head at the movement. “That sledgehammer weighs a ton, I don’t think you could lift it, kid.”

Wild laughed as Wind sputtered. “You couldn’t lift that, but you punted me like it was nothing.”

“You weigh nothing.”

“Even with all that flamebreaker armor on? That’s all metal.”

“I have my power bracelet on,” Legend smirked, holding up his wrist.

“You had that on when you could barely lift the sledgehammer!” Wild exclaimed, shoving the hair that had been hanging haphazardly into his face back, smudging the ash on his cheek and forehead as he did so. “How can it not help you lift a tool, but let’s you pick me up over your head and throw me!?”

“Magic has limitations,” Legend shrugged.

“Hold on,” Twilight stepped between the bickering pair, arms raised. “What did you two do?”

“We went mining,” Wild said. “Keep up.”

“Yes, but why did Legend pick you up and throw you?”

“We had to get to the weak spot somehow,” Legend said, crossing his arms with an air of faux annoyance. He turned to Wild. “What did you say it was called?”

“Talus,” Wild said. “That one was an Igneo Talus, specifically.” He grinned, a crazed look flashing in his eyes. “I never thought about launching myself onto it to hit that weak spot though. Climbing is such a pain.”

Twilight blinked, mouth agape as Time ran his hands over his face. “Legend,” the Old Man sighed. “Please tell me you didn’t throw Wild at a monster while you two were exploring an active volcano.”

“Uh… I didn’t throw Wild at a monster while we were exploring an active volcano?”

Wind and Wild snickered and Legend shot them a smirk. Before Time and Twilight could think of a proper response, Warriors and Hyrule returned to the camp, bundles of wood in their arms. “We have returned!” the Captain announced, setting his bundle down. He blinked, noticing the severely disheveled appearances of Wild and Legend, and he grinned. “Vet, you look like you got tossed into the volcano. Wild have enough of your complaining?”

“As it turns out, Wild was the one who got tossed,” Time sighed. 

“And we are banning the mining trips,” Twilight added. “Wild I can understand, but I didn’t think you’d be an instigator.”

“Your disappointed brother look doesn’t work on me,” Legend said, matching Twilight’s deadpan stare with one of his own. “And you didn’t even bother to ask why we fought a Talus in the first place.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Well too bad,” Wild smirked, grabbing Twilight’s arm and manhandling him into sitting on one of the rocks near their campsite. “So, it started when we decided to climb Eldin Tower to get a better view of the area…”

Chapter Text

“Do you think this is enough?” Sky asked, balancing the last piece of wood on the stack in Legend’s arms.

“I would hope so,” the Veteran said. “I don’t think we can carry much more than this back to the camp.” His stack was up to his chin, and he watched as Sky struggled to gather all the wood he had found into his arms. “You need any help?”

“No, no, I should be alright,” Sky said distractedly, tucking a stack of wood under his chin to try and free his hand enough to grab the last piece. He fumbled as they threatened to fall, but managed to finagle them into his arms, if in an awkward-looking grasp. “Alright, let’s go.”

Legend snorted. “You’re going to drop those at least twice before we get back,” he betted.

Sky laughed, the movement causing one of the pieces of wood to slip from under his arm, and Legend cackled louder. Sky looked down at the piece of wood and sighed, laughing lightly at his misfortune. “I guess that’s one down,” he said, glancing up at Legend as he bent down to pick it up. “Do I win the bet if I drop it more than twice?”

“Not a chance,” Legend shook his head. “My prize money doubles each time over two drops.”

“It’s not my rupees you’ll be getting,” Sky said. “I’m broke.”

“Aren’t we all.”

Sky chuckled, managing to get all the wood into his arms once again, but as he got up, he stopped. “Oh.” 

Legend looked at the Chosen Hero in confusion as he bent down again. “Drop another?” he asked.

“No, no, not yet,” Sky said. “I just saw…” he trailed off, readjusting his hold as he reached down to grab something off the ground.

“Saw what?” Legend prompted, stepping closer to Sky just in time to see what he had in his hands. “Another piece of wood?” he asked. It was a small branch that was stripped of its leaves, about the length of his forearm. “I think we have enough.”

“This one isn’t for the fire,” Sky shook his head. “It looks like it’d be good for an arrow shaft.”

“Arrow shaft?” Legend echoed, looking it over again. “I mean, sure, it looks straight enough, but don’t we have enough arrows?”

“Wild’s been going through them pretty fast. And we’re broke, remember,” Sky grinned. “Pretty soon we won’t have enough money to buy enough arrows for him.”

“That was a joke and you know it.”

Sky chuckled. “Sure, but we might as well save as many rupees as we can.”

Legend nodded seriously, holding the solemn look for only a second before it fell back into a smirk. He watched as Sky let the stick fall back to the ground, confused as he left it behind. “You’re not taking it?” he asked.

“I’ll come back and get it after we drop these off at camp,” he said, slowing so Legend could join him as they headed back in the direction they had come from. “There might be some more around here that would be good to make into arrows too, so I might as well wait until I have free hands to get some.”

“Wait, you actually know how to make arrows?” Legend asked. “I thought you only carved.”

Sky smiled sheepishly. “Well, not really. I’ve got much more practice at carving, but it’s not too difficult to whittle a stick into the right shape for an arrow shaft. The hardest part is figuring out the arrowhead, but you can usually just sharpen the end into a point.”

“I bet the smithy knows how to make metal arrowheads,” Legend said. “If not, it's not too hard to make a mold, especially since we already have some arrowheads we can use for reference.”

Sky blinked, tilting his head for a moment before nodding. “Oh, right. You did say you have experience with blacksmithing.”

“Not a ton,” Legend denied. “Not nearly as much as Four, but I like to think I know my way around a forge.”

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t. I think out of all of us, you probably have picked up the most practical skills during your adventures.”

“A blessing and a curse,” Legend mumbled, speaking up again. “But most doesn’t mean all. I never got around to woodworking like you do, and Hylia knows I could never follow those social rules of the upper class even if I wanted to.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how Warriors stands it.”

“You haven’t done woodworking?” Sky asked, surprised. “Not even whittling?”

Legend shook his head. “Not really. I mean, maybe I did a little? But not enough that I’d even think of considering it a skill.”

“Would you like to learn?” Legend blinked, surprised at the question that practically tumbled out of Sky’s mouth. He turned to look at the other Hero, who was looking at him expectantly. “I could show you how to make arrows,” he offered. “If you want.”

Legend frowned, considering the offer. He couldn’t really see an immediate downside to learning, and although they had been joking, it would be convenient to be able to make at least some of their own arrows. And Sky was by no means unpleasant company. He met the Heroes eyes, and the earnest look had him nodding his head before he even registered it. “Sure,” he agreed.

Sky’s face lit up. “Great! We can start working on them when we make camp tonight.”

----

After dinner, everyone began to settle down for the evening, and Legend crossed over to sit next to Sky. The Chosen Hero had gone out again to gather wood to use for their project, the fruits of his labor stacked next to him. “Here,” Sky said, holding out a sheathed knife for him as he sat down. “This is my newer one, so the blade will be a bit easier to work with.”

Legend blinked at the blade in surprise. “You’re sure?” he asked, taking it from his hands delicately. “Wouldn’t you rather use the new one?”

Sky shook his head. “Haven’t quite gotten used to that one, and this older one is still plenty good.” 

“If you say so,” Legend said skeptically. As he got comfortable, Sky grabbed a pair of sticks from the pile, holding one out to Legend, who took it and inspected it in his hands. There were a few rough spots from where a knot had formed on the stick, but overall, the ones Sky had collected were very straight. “Where did you find these?”

“Same place I found the first one,” Sky said. “Most of them are from oak trees, but I did manage to find a couple pines as well.”

“Which one is better?”

Sky shrugged. “Really they’re about the same, but pine is usually straighter to begin with, so it can be a bit easier to shape correctly.” He tapped Legend’s stick with his own. “Yours is pine. Figured we could start with it.”

Legend shrugged. “Your call.” He waved his stick in the air, grinning. “Teach me your ways, so we may save our rupees from Wild’s arrow addiction.” Sky laughed, scooting back closer to the tree and leaning forward closer to Legend.

“So, the first rule for any sort of knife work is to make sure you have a proper hold on the knife,” Sky said, picking up his knife. “Always cut with the blade facing away from you. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes the blade will skid on the surface mid-cut, and if you cut towards yourself, you could accidentally stab yourself.”

“You’re not speaking from experience, are you?” Legend teased, but at Sky’s nervous chuckle he looked at him with wide eyes. “What? The great Chosen Hero stabbed himself with a whittling knife?”

“It didn’t bleed that much,” Sky mumbled. 

Legend laughed as he grabbed the borrowed knife, adjusting his grip on the handle to match Sky’s. “Okay, is this right?”

Sky looked at his grip and nodded. “Yeah, that’s good. Now for the other hand.” He grabbed the branch and held it in his nondominant hand. “You’ll want to keep it angled down for whittling,” he said, holding it down for demonstration. “Make sure your grip is firm, so it doesn’t slip out of your hands as you use the knife, but you’ll want to watch where your fingers are.”

“More lessons learned from experience?” 

“Just want to make sure you know what mistakes to avoid.” Sky smiled, shifting so he began slowly slicing off the bark of one side. “Make sure your cuts are long, so it’ll be easier to smooth when you finish.”

Legend watched his movements for a moment before placing his knife’s blade on the closer end of his stick. Angling it to dig into the bark, he pushed the knife down, surprised at the amount of resistance he got from the wood. “Huh,” he said, finishing his first pass. 

“Not what you thought it’d be?”

“Not really,” Legend admitted, looking over at Sky’s work before starting another cut. “I know wood’s hard, but it snaps so easily.”

“Only if you bend it a certain way,” Sky shrugged. “I’d say it’s similar to metals in that there are proper ways to find its strengths and weaknesses, but I’m not nearly as knowledgeable in that as Four is.”

Legend snorted. “Careful or you’ll start to sound like the Old Man if you keep talking like that.”

“I think I’d have to age a few more years to fill that role.”

“I don’t know, you’re easily a few thousand years old at least from my perspective.”

“Almost halfway to Time’s age, then,” Sky nodded solemnly. He glanced at Legend and as soon as he made eye contact, the two burst out into laughter, causing a few of the other Heroes in the camp to glance over at them curiously. 

The pair went back to their work, an occasional laugh breaking the silence between them, and after a few more minutes, Sky looked up from his stripped stick to look at Legend’s progress. “You almost done with that part?” he asked. Legend held out his stick for him to examine, and he nodded in approval. “Looks good,” he complimented. “I’ll show you the next steps. Since we don’t have proper arrowheads, we’ll want to sharpen one end into a point,” he explained. “To do that, you’ll just want to dig the knife deeper into the wood as you go towards the bottom. Start lower down the stick, and make sure to keep rotating it each pass so it points at the center.” As he spoke, his hands continued to move, cuts clean and quick as he whittled down the end into a point. 

Legend tried his hand at a few passes and paused once his stick was starting to come to a recognizable point. “Does this look right?” he asked. 

Sky looked up from the next arrow he had started and inspected his work. “You’ll want it sharper, but it looks like you’re on the right track.” He set down the stick and picked up the first one he had worked on. “One more thing we’re going to want to do is cut a notch into the flat end of the arrow,” he said. “That way it won’t slip off the bowstring.”

“I know what the notch is for,” Legend mumbled, matching Sky’s grip to properly begin marking the notch. “I’ve used a bow before.” He began his cuts, adjusting slightly as Sky advised, and once the notch had been deemed satisfactory he finished sharpening the end of the stick. 

By the time he finished the first arrow, Sky was well onto his third, but the Hero didn’t comment on his slower pace. Instead, he handed a new stick over to the Veteran. “We’ve got a lot more to go.”

Legend sighed, but it wasn’t one of annoyance. He could understand why Sky enjoyed carving in the evenings. The monotonous motions of it were calming and once he got the hang of it, required very little effort. But at the same time, he had something to show for it, something that would be useful. Legend always felt the need to do something, to prepare, to plan, to act. Usually that would mean running himself ragged, but this was relaxing.

The sun had already sunk below the horizon by the time they had finished whittling the sticks down into usable shafts. “It’s a bit late to start on the feathers,” Sky said, looking up at the stars beginning to peek out of the night sky. “We can probably do those in the morning.”

“Do we even have feathers?” Legend asked, sheathing his knife and holding it out to Sky. 

“You can hold onto it for now,” Sky said, pushing the knife back towards Legend. “And honestly, I have no idea, but between all of us, we’re bound to have feathers somewhere.”

Legend blinked, holding the knife for a moment longer before carefully taking it back and placing it in his bag. “Out of everyone here, Wild would probably be our best bet for having feathers,” he said, glancing at Sky with a smirk. “Aside from you, of course.”

“Hey, I only have three feathers in my bag,” Sky retorted good-naturedly. “We’ll ask Wild in the morning, and if he has some, we’ll finish up these arrows tomorrow evening.” Sky slipped his pile of finished arrow shafts into his bag, holding his hand out for Legend’s stack as well. 

“And if he doesn’t?”

Sky paused and shrugged. “We’re bound to find some eventually,” he said. “These aren’t going to take up too much space if we have to carry them around for a bit.”

“Perks of enchanted bags,” Legend smirked, pushing himself up and stretching as he stood. His back popped and he yawned, causing Sky to yawn a moment later.

“Thanks for helping me,” Sky said, shifting around in his bag to get his bedroll out. 

“Don’t thank me until we’re done,” Legend waved him off. “See you in the morning.”

----

Legend was writing in his notebook when Sky joined him the next evening, sailcloth slung over his shoulder like a sack. He looked up with a raised eyebrow as Sky grinned above him. “Okay, these are all the feathers Wild had in his Slate,” Sky said, setting down his sailcloth to reveal the pile.

“Do I even want to know why he had this many feathers?”

“Probably not,” Sky admitted, taking a seat next to the sailcloth so the pile sat between them. “But that’s not our problem. Now.” He handed one of the sticks over to Legend and pulled a spool of small twine out of his satchel, unwrapping part of it as he spoke. “We’ll need three feathers per arrow, spaced equally apart from each other on the dull end of the shaft.”

Legend picked out three feathers while Sky took out his knife, using it to cut off a short piece of twine. “It would probably be easiest if you hold the feathers in place while I tie?” Sky said, holding the string up towards the arrow. Legend nodded, holding it closer so he could tie it without reaching too far. It took them a second of adjusting before Sky was able to pull the twine tight, holding the feathers securely in place.

Legend took the arrow into his hands, inspecting the first finished product. He wasn’t sure if it was one he had whittled the day before or if it was Sky’s, but he had to admit, it was pretty good for a homemade arrow. Since the tip had been sharpened from the wood of the shaft, he doubted it would inflict as much damage as the arrows they bought, but with Wild’s shooting skills, he could easily take out an eye and significantly handicap them even with something like this.

“One down,” Legend said, handing it back to Sky who set it aside. The pair glanced down at the pile of feathers and sticks. “How many more to go?” Sky laughed, unrolling the next piece of twine as Legend started collecting a handful of feathers.

Chapter Text

“You never wielded the Master Sword?” Legend asked. Four startled out of his thoughts at the question, and he looked up at the Veteran.

“Uh, no, I didn’t,” he said. “I’d never heard of it until I met you guys.”

“Hm,” Legend nodded. 

Four waited, unsure why the Veteran had brought that up out of the blue. They had been walking for most of the morning, and the fiasco with Four’s height compared to the blade had been weeks ago. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. “Was there a reason why you were asking?”

“Oh,” Legend blinked out of his thoughts, glancing back at Four. “I was just wondering. You have your own magic sword, right? The Four Sword is to you what the Master Sword is to Sky.”

“Yeah,” Four said slowly. He frowned at Legend. “But I never said my sword was magic.”

“I know a magic sword when I see one.” Four blinked in confusion at the comment, and Legend must have noticed as he elaborated. “I’ve had plenty of magical items, they feel different from normal ones. Plus, didn’t you say you had to use your sword as a seal for that mage you fought? Only magical items can seal away magic users.”

 “Technically, this one is just a replica,” he said, unsheathing his sword. Legend looked the blade over as he spoke. “I forged it after we had to use the original to seal Vaati away. It felt weird not using the Four Sword in combat, so it made sense to just make another.”

Legend nodded. “It looks very well made,” he complimented. “You said you’d been a blacksmith apprentice before your adventure?”

“And after too,” Four nodded. “Grandpa Smith makes swords for the castle guards, so he’s been teaching me the trade for as long as I can remember.” He sheathed the sword, glancing up at Legend. “You said you’d taken an apprenticeship at some point too, right?”

“Yeah,” Legend shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. “That was before I got pulled into all of Hylia’s quests for me. Never got the chance to finish, so I’m a bit rusty.”

“You know more than most of these guys,” Four pointed out. “I’m honestly surprised more of them don’t regularly break their weapons based on some of the ‘maintenance’ they’ve been doing.” He held up his hands in air quotes as he spoke and Legend snickered, remembering Four’s helpless expression when Twilight had tried to give Wild some pointers in cleaning his blades. They lost an entire day of travel just so the smithy could make sure everyone knew the proper care for their weapons.

“That was a mess,” Legend agreed, wincing as he remembered the particularly harsh scolding Wind had gotten about the salt damage on his blades. 

“I’m just glad I wasn’t the only sensible person.”

“There’s a reason we’re not the champions of Nayru.”

Four laughed, caught off guard by the joke. “That doesn’t mean we have to lose all sensibility,” he said between laughs.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“I tend to have more fun when people don’t abuse their weapons.”

“Then you picked the wrong group to travel with,” Legend rolled his eyes. “Wild did not need to teach Hyrule how to launch himself with a tree.”

“Technically that Sheikah Slate is supposed to be a tool,” Four pointed out. 

“Yeah, and my hookshot is supposed to be a tool,” Legend retorted. “It’s all about functionality. Thinking outside the box.”

Four scoffed. “I’ve done plenty of that,” he said. “Practically forced to.” He laughed, unsheathing his sword again. “The original had an enchantment that was much stronger than this one’s,” he explained. “This one I can control, but the other affected me as soon as I touched it.”

Legend frowned eyes taking in the blade. “But if your sword is a replica, how did you get the magic into the blade?” he asked. “I mean, if you only recently forged it, the enchantment wouldn’t have had much time to settle into the metal, but yours is absolutely seeped in it as if it’s been enchanted for centuries. If you hadn’t told me, I would’ve assumed this was the original.”

Four blinked, again surprised by Legend’s insight. And stumped by his question. “I’m not actually sure,” he admitted. “I mean, it wasn’t meant to be magic when we made it. But after it was done, it was like the magical properties had just transferred over.” Four frowned at Legend. “And this one is the replica. The real one is keeping Vaati sealed away.”

“I wasn’t accusing you,” Legend held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m just saying, the magic on your sword is weird.”

“Magic itself is weird.”

“Says the one who forged a magic sword.”

“I didn’t think it would end up magic,” Four retorted. He paused, processing what Legend had said. “Wait, you haven’t forged a magic sword?”

Legend shrugged. “Eh, no. I mean, Hyrule seems to think I’m the one who did it, but I mostly just got the right materials for it. It wasn’t even forged from scratch, we just enchanted over top the sword I already had.” He waved his hand. “Or I just found an enchanted sword in a dungeon somewhere, there’s a mix of both.”

“I…” Four blinked, shaking his head. “Huh. Sorry, I just figured with your experience with magic that you would’ve forged at least some of your magical items. Not even your rings?”

“Nope, those would be dungeon loot.”

“...that’s a lot of dungeons.”

“You’re telling me,” Legend snorted. “But anyway, I didn’t get much break between my adventures, so I never really got the chance to get back into blacksmithing.” He shrugged. “And since I already had plenty of magic items, it wasn’t like I really needed to learn about making them, just upkeep.”

“You didn’t get any breaks?” Four asked, surprised. “I had a decent break after my first adventure, and at least a year between the last two.”

“Nah,” Legend waved his hand. “Set out the first time, and just jumped from one problem to the next until you all came along.”

“That sounds horrible,” Four said sadly. “I don’t think I could’ve done that. I had a hard enough time recovering from my second journey. I needed all the time I could get.” He shook his head, and Legend didn’t comment as he pushed aside the memories. “But anyway, I know a couple things about forging enchanted items. Obviously I hadn’t intended to make this one magic, but I did learn a few things from other guild members.”

“You’re in a guild?”

“Of course,” Four nodded. “I was inducted when I finished my apprenticeship, but I had been an honorary member for a while before.” He tilted his head, eyes widening. “Oh, you said you never finished your apprenticeship.” Legend shrugged, spreading his arms out in a vague gesture, and Four frowned. “Alright, you’re my apprentice now.”

Legend blinked, taking a second to process the declaration. “Huh?”

“You’re my apprentice,” Four repeated. “Since you never got to finish your apprenticeship, I’m going to finish teaching you. And since I’m a certified guild member,” he grinned, “I’m qualified to teach you.”

“I…” Legend gaped, his struggle to find words amusing the smithy. “But don’t you need to get a certification to teach?”

“Not in my time,” Four shrugged. 

“But you’re younger than me!”

Four laughed. “Age means nothing in the trade,” he countered. “It’s all about experience, and I have more than you. Therefore, I can take you as my apprentice.”

Legend frowned. “That’s really not how it works in my time.”

“Well too bad,” Four said with a smile. “Because we can go by the rules of either time, and I choose mine.”

“I really don’t think that’s how it–”

“Now, magic swords,” Four began, ignoring Legend’s protests. “We’d need some special material in order for them to enchant properly. Hyrule probably knows a spell or two that would work as the enchantment, but that still brings up the issue of the sword itself.” He sighed. “And I don’t have my forge with me, so that could be an issue.”

“We’re bound to show up in your Hyrule eventually,” Legend said, sighing in acceptance. “And even if we don’t you still borrow forges in towns when they let you.” He rolled his eyes. “And it’s not like a few more weeks is going to put me back anytime soon, Mentor.” He said the name sarcastically, and Four grinned.

“Well, Apprentice–” 

Legend snorted, cutting off Four. “No, no, that was sarcasm,” he said. “We are not doing the Cub, Pup thing.”

“Fine then,” Four rolled his eyes. “And here I was going to teach you how to forge a magic sword.”

“You’re going to do it anyway,” Legend challenged. 

“I’m going to do it anyway,” Four nodded. “Now, the biggest issue is going to be getting the material. We could try the normal mixture for swords, but it isn’t the best for retaining spells,” he frowned. “We’d have to check with Hyrule and see what he could do and figure out where to go from there.”

“Hyrule’s spells work best with silver,” Legend supplied. “But most swords are made with an iron compound, which would actually repel his spells.”

“His spells are fae based?”

Legend nodded absently, frowning in thought. “Although…” he trailed off. “We could ask Wild.”

“Wild knows magic?” Four asked, surprised. “I thought the only magic he had was that Sheikah Slate.”

Legend waved his hand. “No, no, he doesn’t do magic. But remember when we went out mining.”

“How could I forget? I’d never seen Twilight look so pale.”

Legend snorted at the memory. The rancher had refused to let Wild near him for a whole week, afraid he’d try to launch the Champion at whatever enemies they came across. “To be fair, we weren’t planning on fighting that Talus.” He waved his hand. “What we did go there for were gems. The gems in Wild’s Hyrule have a natural magic to them.”

“Oh?” Four asked, curious. “How does that work?”

Legend shrugged. “I’m not sure. But what I do know is that all his enchanted accessories? They’re not actually enchanted.” Four’s eyes widened as he explained. “The natural magic from the gemstone is enough to enchant the whole piece. We went up there to find some so I could try and figure out how they work, but I haven’t done anything with them yet.” 

“Do you have any of them with you?”

“Just the one,” Legend said, swinging his bag around so he could dig through it. “Wild stored most of them in his slate, but I held on to this one to take a look at.” After a moment, he pulled out a large stone with red crystals embedded in it and held it out for Four to see.

“What’s this one then?” he asked, taking the gem from Legend’s hands. 

“That’s the ruby.”

“I know that,” Four rolled his eyes. “I meant, what’s the enchantment it’s supposed to have on it?”

“Wild uses his ruby circlet to warm up in cold weather,” Legend explained. “Which would imply that it has some heat enchantment.”

Four frowned, studying the gem carefully, twisting it around in his hands. After a moment, he looked up at Legend, face breaking into an uncharacteristically feral grin. “Heat usually means fire,” he said, eyes flashing blue as they caught the light. “Want to try and make a flameblade?”

Legend gaped at Four’s sudden change in demeanor, but he smirked at the idea. “Do I want to?” he asked. “Do you even need to ask?”

----

Legend wiped his arm across his forehead, trying to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes. The blade on the anvil in front of him glowed red in the heat, malleable as he struck it with the hammer. He glanced up at Four, who was inspecting the blade in the brief moment of rest.

“Looks good so far,” he said, reaching up to tighten his headband. “And you thought you didn’t remember anything.”

“It’s been years since I’ve worked in a forge,” Legend reminded him, taking the cool end of the blade in his gloved hands and carrying it back to the furnace to heat the metal some more. “I never even thought about it until we met you.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t have known you’d been out of the practice if you hadn’t told me,” Four said, taking a seat at the workstation he had set up at. While Legend was hammering out the blade, Four had taken up the more intricate work of the hilt. They had decided to keep the design simple, modeling that piece after the one on the Four Sword, embedding the Ruby into the base of the grip. He picked up his tools as he continued. “Whoever taught you did a fine job.”

Legend froze, hand hovering over the blade he had just set down. “Uh... yeah,” he stuttered. His hand clenched as he took a breath, eyes sliding closed. “Yeah... he was a great teacher.”

Four looked up at the tone in his voice. He knew what that tone meant. Legend was facing away from him, but even from his perspective, he could see how tense he was. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. 

“It’s alright,” Legend said, though it was clearly a lie. “It’s… been a while, anyway.”

Four titled his head, smiling sadly. His eyes flashed, a flickering rainbow of colors cycling through his irises for a moment, the silence stretching as he debated. His eyes dulled back to a grey and he sighed, placing a hand at the center of his chest lightly. “It’s been a while for me too,” he said softly.

Legend sucked in a gasp, turning to stare at him with wide eyes. “You…?”

“A friend,” Four clarified. “He… well, helped isn’t the right word,” he chuckled fondly. “He was a big part of my second adventure, and for all of his faults, I still miss him.” He looked at Legend with a small smile. “I’m sure it’s not the same, but for what it counts…”

 Legend nodded, silent as his eyes glassed over for a moment. Four was worried he’d made the wrong decision to share, but Legend spoke up, breaking the silence. “My uncle,” he said. He swallowed, taking a breath as he met Four’s eyes. “It was my uncle who taught me.”

“Was?” Four asked quietly. He already knew the answer, of course, but he couldn’t help but feel the need to confirm.

And sure enough, Legend nodded. “Yeah…” he breathed. “Yeah, he…” Legend gave a hollow chuckle. “I’d seen him die… before. It was his death that pushed me into my first adventure.” He brought a hand to his eye, and Four realized that he was crying. Legend was crying. 

“Legend?” Four got up from his stool and moved to comfort the Hero, but stopped just in front of him, arms outstretched uncertainly. Legend wasn’t one for touch, and Four didn’t want to make the situation any worse. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to…”

Legend shook his head, cutting Four off. “No, I’m alright.” He wiped his face, failing at convincing Four of his statement. “I’m alright. He… I wished for him to come back, and he did. It wasn’t for long but… I could… I could…” He took a deep breath, and Four couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. Legend nodded at his look of concern, taking a breath before continuing. “I was able to say goodbye… this time.”

Four rubbed his arm as he wiped his face. Legend started an apology, but Four cut him off. “No, no, don’t apologize,” he admonished softly. “You don’t need to apologize.” His eyes flickered to red as he held Legend’s arms lightly. “Don’t apologize for having emotions.”

Legend nodded, leaning forward to rest his head on Four’s shoulder. It was a bit awkward, but Four didn’t mind, taking the invitation to wrap his arms around his waist. Legend was silent as he held him, the only giveaway being the occasional gasps he took. 

Legend’s breathing eventually leveled out, and the gasps became less frequent. But Four didn’t let go, continuing to rub circles on his back. He’d let Legend choose when he was ready to let go, and until then, he was going to be there for him.

It didn’t take much longer for Legend to pull away. He opened his mouth to speak, but Four cut him off. “Ah, what did I say about apologizing?”

Legend sighed. “Don’t,” he muttered weakly. He wiped his eyes and offered Four a watery smile. “I’m... “ he sighed, shaking his head. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Four said softly. “I’m just sorry I pushed you like that.”

“I thought you said no apologies,” Legend said with a wet laugh. 

“No apologies for being emotionally vulnerable,” Four corrected. “But I’m allowed to apologize for pushing you to be emotionally vulnerable. I know that’s not usually something you’re comfortable with, and I shouldn’t have pushed you to it.” His red-violet eyes looked up at Legend sadly. “So I’m sorry. For bringing up a sensitive topic for you.”

Legend shook his head, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes as he straightened. “You didn’t know,” he said. He took a deep breath, wiping away any traces of grief from his face. His eyes were still a bit red, but besides that, there was no obvious sign he had been crying moments earlier. 

Four still held his hands outstretched, a bit unsure about how quickly Legend seemed to bounce back. “Are you… do you need a moment?” he asked hesitantly.

“No, no, I’m good,” Legend said, turning to take the sword back into his gloved hands. “We have a project to finish.” He took the blade back to his anvil with confidence, but when he passed Four, he could hear the deep, even breaths the Veteran was still taking.

Four didn’t comment, not wanting to push any more than he did, so he shrugged to himself and went back to his workstation. Legend’s hammer swings were a bit harder than before, but no less precise. Four felt bad about bringing up the Veteran’s former Mentor, but he meant what he’d said. Legend had certainly been trained well, if he’s still able to work with such precision despite being in what must be an awful headspace.

The silence continued to drag between them, and Four couldn’t help the restless feeling that started to creep into his bones. The urge to fix it was building, despite the fact that there wasn’t really anything he could fix. He knew that, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying. “How’s the blade coming?” he asked, pushing himself out of his seat to join Legend.

“Good,” he nodded, pausing his hammering so Four could take a look. “This side should be flat enough now. I’ll have to put this back in the furnace for a bit before finishing up the other edge.”

“Going double-edged?” Four asked. “Any reason?”

“Sky and Wild are right-handed,” Legend said. “And Twilight and Warriors might be ambidextrous.” He waved his free hand as he set down the hammer. “Figured making it double-edged would be best so any of us could use it.”

Four nodded. “That’s probably a good plan.” He looked up at Legend. “I take it you’ve had experience with making this style weapon.”

“Yeah.” Legend took the blade over to the furnace, continuing. “That was what my uncle specialized in,” he shook his head. “So that’s what I learned first.” 

Four’s expression fell, mentally kicking himself for getting back on that topic, but Legend must have sensed it even with his back turned because he waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t,” he said, turning around to face the smithy. “Just, don’t. Listen,” he shook his head, running a hand through his hair. He groaned in frustration. “Hylia, why is this so hard,” he muttered. 

“Legend–”

“Don’t think this changes anything,” Legend snapped, crossing his arms. “This little heart-to-heart sob story? Didn’t happen.”

Four blinked, surprised at the sudden switch in demeanor, but smiled in realization. “I won’t say a thing,” he promised. 

“You better not,” Legend grumbled. 

“Promise,” Four placed a hand on his heart, grinning. 

“If any of them find out,” Legend stressed, “you’re dead.”

“You can even kill me with the sword you’re making right now,” Four offered, lightly elbowing him as he went to fan the flames in the furnace. “But you’ll have to finish it first.”

Legend smirked. “Challenge accepted.”

----

“The metal still hasn’t cooled yet?” Four asked incredulously, hands on his hips as he stared at the sword. “It’s been well over an hour.”

Legend shrugged, carefully touching the flat of the blade. It was indeed warm to the touch, not uncomfortably so to start off with, but the longer he held his hand, the hotter it seemed to become. After a moment, he pulled away, shaking his hand a bit as he did so. “Still hot,” he reported. 

“I guess… it worked then?” 

“I guess so.” Legend looked at the smithy. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Four sighed, wiping his forehead with his arm. “I’ve just never heard of making an enchanted sword like that.”

“Me neither,” Legend admitted. “Wild’s only been using the gems for enchanted accessories, so I don’t think his elemental weapons were created this way.”

Four hummed. “Think he’ll let me borrow a few more gems?” he asked. 

Legend snorted. “Probably. Especially if you let him use one. The big question is as to whether or not Hylia will let us stay here long enough to make them.”

Four smirked. “Well I think we’re in luck,” he said, walking past Legend to fling open the door to the storage closet. “Hylia’s agenda will have no power over us, as long as I have this.” With as much of a flourish he could muster, Four spun out of the closet with a large bag.

“And this is?” Legend prompted.

Four lugged the bag to the table, setting it down with a solid thunk. “My travelling forge.” Opening the bag, Legend leaned over his shoulder to peek inside. True to his word, it was filled with hammers, tongs, gloves, files, and other tools they’d been using around the forge during the day. “You have fire and ice rods, right?”

“Of course I do,” Legend scoffed. “Do you even need to ask?”

“Of course I do,” Four retorted, matching his tone with a grin. “This is what I bring with me if I’m travelling, but I don’t have a way to move the actual furnace. But if you use those rods, we could make our own.”

“A magic furnace to forge a magic blade,” Legend grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

“I wonder if we could make other types of weapons with these gems,” Four said. “Like, I would assume the properties would extend to a spear, but do you think the enchantment would be less powerful, considering there’s more area to cover.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it would work,” Legend said. “The circlet was smaller than this sword, but this is definitely hotter than that.”

“Then how would it work?” Four muttered. “And how far would it go?”

“Only one way to find out,” Legend said, grabbing the bag off the table and slinging it over his shoulder. “Let’s go see how many of those gems we can get our hands on.”

Chapter Text

As the group feasted on homemade cooking, they planned their next course of action. “So, Outset doesn’t have a lot of monsters,” Wind said as they sat gathered around the tiny dining table. “We can check up the mountain in the woods, but I doubt we’ll find much up there.”

“I’ve been patrolling!” Aryll exclaimed proudly. “I took care of ‘em all!”

“Aryll!” Wind gasped, spinning towards his sister in shock. “I told you not to go picking fights. What if you got hurt?”

“Tetra’s been teaching me,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “She said I’m better at fighting than you.”

Wind’s grandma placed a hand on his shoulder, chuckling. “Don’t you worry yourself. Tetra’s been keeping an eye on us while you’ve been out. She hasn’t let a thing happen to Aryll.”

Wind frowned, crossing his arms as he flopped back into his chair. “Tell her that I’ll throw her off her ship if anything happens to Aryll.”

His sister giggled. “She’d throw you off the ship first.”

Wind groaned and Warriors laughed. “Malon wasn’t kidding when she said sass, huh Sailor?”

“Shut up,” Wind reached over and shoved the Captain’s shoulder. 

“Has Tetra mentioned any more monsters than normal around here?” Time asked Wind’s grandma, letting the boys continue to shove each other. “Any unusual or strong ones?”

The woman thought for a moment, but shook her head. “Tetra’s been good at keeping them in check. The Great Sea has been a quiet place since Link and Aryll came home.”

Time nodded, smiling sadly. “I’m sorry your grandson couldn’t stay home for long.”

She waved him off. “Oh, I know he’d be finding his own trouble if he were here. I’m just glad he’s got you boys watching out for him.”

“I can take care of myself!” Wind exclaimed, jumping back into the conversation. 

“No one said you couldn’t,” Time chuckled. “But working with a group is much better than alone, wouldn’t you think so?” Wind huffed, but nodded in acknowledgement.

“So,” Twilight said, bringing the focus of the group back to the matter at hand. “If we don’t have any monsters that need killing on this island, why would Hylia send us here?”

“There could be some on nearby islands?” Sky offered.

“Wouldn’t Hylia just drop us there if that’s where we needed to be?” Legend asked.

“Maybe we’re on vacation,” Wind suggested. “Like when we went to Lon Lon Ranch for a week and left without any issues.”

“You’re sure there aren’t any monsters around here?” Time asked Wind’s grandma. At her nod, he sighed contemplatively. “We have been needing a rest.”

“Vacation!” Wind cheered, high-fiving Wild. “I want to show you guys everything!”

“I want to see that cabana you were talking about. Or does it even exist?” Warriors teased.

“Of course it exists!” Wind exclaimed, offended. “How dare you think I’d lie about that!”

“You are a pirate,” Wild pointed out.

“An honorable one!”

“But still a pirate.”

“Isn’t ‘honorable pirate’ an oxymoron?” Four muttered.

“No, that’s Wild.”

“No, that’s a moron, you moron.” Laughter burst out from around the table as several voices continued to overlap each other. 

Time watched as his hopes for planning slipped out the window, but was pulled from his thoughts by a chuckle from Wind’s grandma. “Such a lively bunch,” she commented. 

“Aren’t they?” Time sighed. He looked around at the table for a moment longer before rapping his knuckles against the table. “Alright, alright,” he said loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention again. “Since we don’t have any clear problems that need to be attended to, Wind is in charge as to what our next course of action is.” He looked at the Hero in question. “So, this is your Hyrule, what’s our move?”

Wind frowned. “Well, there are a lot of islands in the Great Sea. It would take too long to search every single one for infected monsters.”

“Is your ship here?” Twilight asked. 

“Yeah,” Wind nodded. “So we could in theory head to a different island and check, but we probably shouldn’t go too far from Outset.”

Legend snorted, but it went ignored as Sky spoke up. “Hylia sends us where we need to go, so if there are infected monsters in the Great Sea, they wouldn’t be far from here.”

“If Tetra’s been keeping an eye on things and hasn’t seen any,” Time started, “there’s a good chance that there aren’t any.”

“Not any that she found,” Legend pointed out. “If she’s been out patrolling the whole Great Sea, there could be a camp hanging out right in that forest that she missed.”

“But someone would’ve noticed if there were more monsters on Outset,” Wind frowned.

“These infected monsters have been much more dangerous,” Legend said, pointing at Wind. “And smarter. They could be hiding and waiting to strike rather than bumbling around like they usually do.”

“Hey, don’t scare the kid,” Warriors jabbed Legend with his elbow. “If he thinks Outset is safe, then it’s safe.”

Wind and Legend both glared at the Captain. “I’m not a kid,” Wind muttered. “But he’s right. Someone would’ve noticed if there were monsters on Outset. If they haven’t seen any, then there aren’t any. At least not around here,” Wind amended. “There could be more further out, but if Tetra’s been patrolling, I doubt it.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Warriors asked, ignoring Legend’s grumbling. “Should we just wait around here for something to happen?”

“We could,” Wind said, grinning. “Or we can go out to my cabana, since you seem to think it’s not real.”

“I vote cabana!” Wild exclaimed, slapping the table.

“Seconded,” Sky raised his hand, much more subdued than Wild. 

Agreement rang out around the table, and Time nodded. “Alright, then it’s settled. We can leave in the morning, if we’ll be ready by then?”

Wind nodded. “Yup! My ship will be all ready to go!”

“Then I suggest we all get some sleep,” Time said, glancing around the room. “We’ll be leaving early.” He turned to Wind’s grandma. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“You dears are always welcome here,” she smiled kindly. “Now, let me see what we can do about getting more space for you upstairs.”

----

“Here she is!” Wind exclaimed, gesturing to the ship. Ship was a bit of an exaggeration, dingy might’ve been a better term. It was a red, single sail sailboat with an ornamental dragon head on the front bow. “I can probably only fit a couple at a time,” he admitted, “but it’s not too far from here, so it won’t take long at all.”

“Alright. Twilight, Four? Are you two up for going first?” Time asked. The pair nodded, and he looked down the line of Heroes. “Next can be Warriors and Hyrule. Sky and Wild can go after them. And Legend, you’ll be with me last.”

“Just you,” Legend shook his head. “I’ll stay here and double check the forest up top.”

“But the forest’s clear,” Wind said, confused.

“We didn’t check it, did we?” Legend snipped. “I’m just going to make sure it is clear, you go have fun on your outing.”

“We shouldn’t split up,” Time said. “Especially if we don’t know why we’re here yet.”

“Or, we can split up and cover more ground,” Legend pushed, crossing his arms. “I sincerely doubt Hylia would give us a break, and she seems to love to drop us right in the middle of the problem.”

“Not always,” Time countered, frown deepening. “If we’re going so far off course, we’ll be corrected. But as long as we don’t have a clear lead, we follow whoever’s world we’re in. If Wind wants us to go to a different island, we’ll go.”

“You’ll go,” Legend corrected. “I’m staying here.”

“Legend, we are not splitting up,” Time said sternly. 

“And I’m not getting on that boat.”

“But why not?” Wind asked, eyes wide as he stood in the shallow water. “It’s not that far to the cabana.”

“I don’t care how long it’ll take,” Legend retorted, turning his glare to the youngest Hero. “Any time spent on that ship will be too much time.” Time’s eyes widened slightly at his words, a flicker of understanding flashing on his face for just a moment. 

“And what’s wrong with my ship?” Wind huffed, hands on his hips. “I’ll have you know that this ship has sailed the Great Sea hundreds of times.”

“Great. Still doesn’t change my mind.”

“Come on, Legend,” Warriors butted in. “You’ve been dying to have a vacation, and now that we have one you’re getting all huffy about it?”

Legend’s glare shifted to the Captain. “And you’re not the slightest bit suspicious about this vacation?”

Warriors shrugged his arms broadly. “What do you want me to say? It’s pretty obvious we’re getting a break for once.” Legend huffed, but didn’t have a retort, so Warriors continued. “Come on, it’s just a quick trip to Wind’s cabana. There’s no need to get all upset about it.”

Legend scoffed. “I’m not upset.”

“Well you sure seem that way,” Twilight said hotly. Legend flinched slightly, eyes darting between the Heroes gathered on the beach as Twilight spoke. “We got to hang around your house for a week, and Wind’s been wanting to take us to his cabana for a while now.”

“Then by all means, go!” Legend snapped, taking a step back. “If I’m such a downer and drag, then you’d all have more fun on your little joyride without me anyway.” He turned on his heels, ignoring the other’s calls as he stormed away. 

Wind blinked, clutching the rope tighter as he wondered just what he’d done wrong.

----

“Legend?”

“I thought you were shuttling everyone to that island,” Legend mumbled, not turning from his spot. He had gotten up to one of the cliff faces overlooking the village and the ocean. Wind himself had gone to this particular spot plenty of times when he was younger and needed to get away from everything. It seemed the Veteran had been camped out at that spot all day, and Wind mentally kicked himself for not checking up there sooner. He slowly moved towards the older Hero and sat down next to him. 

“We’re not going,” he said. “Time didn’t want us to split up.”

“So he said.” 

Wind frowned. Legend was in his non-talkative moods, and he had never been good at knowing what to say when he was. But he couldn’t understand why the Veteran had been so opposed to going with them. Part of him was worried it was his fault, that he had done something wrong that offended him. As the silence continued to stretch between them, he started to fiddle with the hem of his tunic nervously.

“I don’t get why you don’t want to go with us,” he blurted. He cringed at the way Legend’s shoulders tensed at the outburst, but he found he couldn’t stop once the words started tumbling out. “I mean, there aren’t any infected monsters here. Tetra would’ve found them or we would’ve heard of them if there were any. And you’ve been saying how we need a break.” He waved his hands frantically as he stumbled over his words. “Not that I’m saying you’ve been complaining. I just meant that I… well, I thought you would’ve wanted a break, but you’re just pushing it away and trying to find something to do to get out of it. And I just–” He cut himself off, closing his eyes tightly. “Is it because of me?” he asked quickly. “Is it because you don’t like me?”

He felt Legend’s eyes on him, but he didn’t dare look up. The silence stretched between them, and Wind felt his breathing quicken. But before he could blurt out more apologies, Legend spoke up. “Kid, where the fuck did you get that idea?” 

Wind looked up in shock, wide eyes staring at Legend’s mildly confused expression. “What?” He blinked. “I thought… since you don’t want to go sailing with us to visit my cabana, that you don’t…”

“Don’t like you?” Legend scoffed, shaking his head. He breathed in as if he were going to continue, but cut himself last minute, huffing a sigh instead.

Wind blinked, frowning. “Then why don’t you want to go with us?” he asked. 

“I’m not getting on a ship again,” Legend grumbled, turning away from Wind. “Not after last time.”

“You’ve gone sailing before!?” Wind exclaimed, jumping up in shock. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“I don’t go sailing anymore,” Legend glared at him. 

“Why not?” Legend crossed his arms, pointedly not looking at him, and the action only served to make Wind more upset. “Come on! You can’t do this to me!” he whined. 

“I can and I am,” Legend said. “I’m not going on your little boat.”

“It’s a ship,” Wind huffed, hands on his hips. “And how can you just not go sailing? It’s like, the best thing in the whole world.”

“No it’s not!” Legend snapped, whipping his head to glare at the Sailor. Wind jumped back in shock at the ferocity on Legend’s face, eyes widening as the older Hero continued. “It’s not the best thing in the whole world. In fact, it’s probably about the worst thing in the whole world. It’s dangerous, stupid, reckless, and completely not worth the risk.”

“The risk?” Wind echoed. “You mean like drowning? But don’t you know how to swim?”

“There are worse things to happen than drowning, kid.”

 Wind’s mouth snapped shut. He blinked for a moment, trying to think of what could possibly be worse than drowning. He had grown up on an island, and as such, had been warned about drowning his whole life. It sounded like the worst way to die, in his opinion. He wasn’t afraid of the ocean, not at all, but sometimes, on particularly windy days or stormy nights, the warnings engraved in his memories resurfaced.

He gave a silent gasp, looking at Legend with wide eyes. “You…?”

Legend nodded, looking away. “Lightning struck the mast,” he said softly. 

For a second, Wind wasn’t even sure he heard it correctly, but he knew he had. Images raced through his mind of what was probably the worst case of the worst case. A raging storm, waves towering and tossing the ship around like a leaf in the wind. Sheets of rain pouring down, and thunder rumbling between flashes. They were visions from his childhood nightmares, though Wind would never admit to having ever been afraid of the sea.

“How did you…” Wind trailed off, almost not wanting to finish the question. After a moment of silence, though, he floundered with his hands. “How did you survive?” He winced, rushing through his words to try and make up for the harshness the question carried. “I mean, storms are really bad, like really bad. And if you were out at sea and struck by lightning–” Wind cut himself off, sucking in a gasp of air as he fiddled with the hem of his tunic. It sounded horrible, awful, and he couldn’t get the image of Legend–of his brother–alone at sea getting struck by lightning and drowning and how was he even still here?

Wind looked up at Legend pleadingly, and the Veteran, who had been watching him ramble out of the corner of his eye, sighed. He shifted, tucking his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knee as he looked at Wind. His eyes misted over with a sadness Wind had never seen from him before. “I don’t remember much after the ship was…” Legend trailed off, waving a hand vaguely. “But I somehow drifted to an island.” 

Wind sucked in a breath, relief flooding through him. He knew Legend survived, he was right there in front of him. But hearing him confirm it somehow, it helped even more than just seeing him. But he couldn’t help but frown as he thought back to how Legend had been acting on the beach earlier that day. All that attitude, all those words, it was just a front. Legend was afraid of sailing again, but was too prideful to admit it to them.

Wind looked out over the horizon. The sun had begun to sink lower, and the sky was beginning to glow with the colors of the sunset. As he watched the waves distorting the reflection of the sky below, Wind had an idea. It was probably a horrible idea, and he wouldn’t blame Legend if he punted him off the cliff if he said it out loud, but he couldn’t help but consider it. Despite what Legend had been through, he couldn’t help but want the Veteran to try sailing again. Despite the dangers of the sea, and the warnings he’d been told as a child, Wind didn’t think anything would be able to deter him from sailing.

He took a deep breath, leaning back onto his palms in an attempt at casualness. “Did you know,” he started, not looking at Legend, “that a red sunset means the next day is supposed to be good weather for sailing?”

Wind bit his lip as he waited for Legend to respond. For a moment, he thought maybe he hadn’t understood what he was trying to say, but Legend sighed, shifting in the corner of his eye. “Kid,” he started, sounding almost exasperated. “I’m not going sailing again.”

“But–”

“You want me to voluntarily get on a ship that looks almost exactly like the one I almost died in?” Legend cut him off. His tone wasn’t nearly as snappy as it had been. He sounded more tired than anything else, and it somehow made Wind flinch more than he had at the Veteran’s retorts earlier in the day. Wind was about to stutter out an apology, but Legend’s soft words made him pause. “But maybe I should.”

“Huh?” Wind did a double-take, eyes wide.

“I haven’t…” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I haven’t been on a ship since then.” His eyes were distant as he stared out at the ocean. Wind had the feeling there was more to Legend’s story than just washing up on an island. But he bit his lip, letting the older Hero sort through his thoughts. After a moment, Legend groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “They all hate me,” he said, voice muffled slightly.

“Who?” Wind asked. Legend groaned vaguely and Wind frowned. “I don’t hate you,” he offered, looking down at his hands. “And I get it. The not wanting to go sailing again.”

“It’s stupid,” Legend ground out. “I lived. I don’t even really remember anything past getting…” he trailed off, shifting to fist his hair in frustration. “I’m the fucking Hero of Legend! I should be better than this!”

“You don’t have to be!” Wind’s eyes had snapped back to the Veteran, surprised at his outburst. He knew the older Hero took his title seriously, they all did, but even Wind knew being a Hero didn’t mean you had to be invincible. “You’re allowed to be afraid of something. Even if you think no one else is.”

“Sailing,” Legend groaned angrily.

Wind bit his lip. “I’m afraid of big birds,” he said quietly. “Like, really, really big ones.” His fists tightened around the hem of his tunic when Legend looked up at him. “My sister was taken by one,” he explained. “First time I tried to fight it, it threw me out into the Sea and I almost drowned.” He closed his eyes at the memory. He had been practically shaking in his boots when he faced it the second time. He didn’t even know how he managed to win. But he pushed those thoughts aside. “But you don’t hate me, or think I’m a bad hero because I’m scared of birds, do you?”

Legend sighed. “No,” he admitted. 

“So you’re not a bad hero because you don’t like sailing,” Wind said firmly. He risked another glance over at the Hero. “And sorry, for trying to get you to sail when you didn’t want to.”

Legend didn’t respond for a long moment, and Wind felt the anxiety starting to bubble in his stomach the longer the silence dragged on. Why wasn’t Legend saying anything? Did he not accept his apology? Maybe he should have left Legend alone. 

Just as Wind was about to stutter out yet another apology, Legend finally spoke, voice soft but full of conviction. “I want to.” He glared at his hands, lifting his head to glare out at the ocean itself. 

Wind blinked at the sudden shift in his demeanor. “Huh?”

“I want to go sailing,” Legend repeated. He turned to look at Wind, and he could see the conviction in his eyes, but he could still see the fear underneath it. “If you want to take me sailing tomorrow, then let’s go.”

Wind opened and closed his mouth for a moment, trying to understand what had changed. He was torn. He really wanted to take Legend sailing, show him how fun it is and help him get over his fear. But he knew if Sky had offered to take Wind on his Loftwing, he’d be terrified. But maybe it would get better once he got used to it?

“Okay,” Wind agreed. “If you’re okay getting up early tomorrow, we can just sail around Outset for the morning.” They’d be close to the shore instead of on open waters, which would help Legend feel more grounded. And by getting up early, they wouldn’t have to deal with any questions from the rest of their party. Wind grinned internally, proud of himself for coming up with such a great plan to help Legend.

Legend nodded, expression unusually serious, and the pair shook hands just as the last sliver of sunshine slipped below the horizon. Still gripping his hand, Legend got up, pulling Wind to his feet as well, and after taking a deep breath, they headed back down to the village.

----

“Kid, it is still too early o’clock in the morning. Why do we need to be out here now?”

Wind ignored Legend’s grumbling, instead wading out to his ship to get it ready. “Because I want to show you how to sail both at night and during the day,” he explained, hefting the anchor into the bow of the ship. It bobbed at the motion, threatening to float further out into the ocean, but Wind hadn’t untied the rope around the tree on shore, so it stayed in the shallow waters. 

He sloshed back to shore, holding his hand out to Legend. “Can you pass me that lantern please?” Legend wordlessly held the lantern out to him, Wind sighing as he took the extra two steps to get it, and carried it back out to the ship. “I keep the rest of my supplies on the ship,” he said, pushing himself into the ship to hang the lantern on the mast. “We should be all ready to go.”

Wind leaned out the side of the boat, looking back at Legend on the shore. “Do you want to get in and I untie?”

“Is there any way I can still get out of this?”

“Do you want to?” Wind asked nervously. “I… it’s okay if you change your mind.”

Legend’s gaze shifted between the ship and the beach. It was too dark for Wind to really make out his face, so he couldn’t really tell what the Veteran was thinking. After a moment, Legend took a deep breath and started sloshing his way towards the ship.

Wind blinked, but leapt out of the ship and headed back up to the shore to where the ship was tied to a palm tree. He fumbled in the darkness for a moment, but found the knot and loosened it, wrapping the rope around his hand a couple times. He glanced back to the ship, seeing Legend getting situated on deck, and he started wading back out, wrapping the rope up as he did so.

“Before we set sail, we have one more thing to do,” Wind said, tossing the rope into the ship and hauling himself aboard. “So, lesson number one!” He picked the rope up from off the wooden boards and tied a section of it around his waist. “If you fall off the ship, there’s a good chance it’ll keep going without you. So in order to not end up stranded at sea, you’ll want to tie yourself to the ship.” He rummaged around for a moment before handing another piece of rope to the Veteran. “Here, use this.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Legend took the rope and tied it around his waist while Wind tied the other end to the mast. “Alright,” Wind said, tugging it to make sure it was secure before turning back to Legend. “Do you know how to raise the sail?”

The Veteran looked up at the mast, eyes calculating in the dim light of the lantern. After a moment he sighed, shaking his head. “I think your sail is different from the one I used,” he admitted.

Wind nodded. “Alright then, allow me to show you!” He opened a hatch just beneath the mast, taking a bundle out and handing it to Legend. “This is the sail. Can you hold it while I get the mast ready?” Legend nodded, taking the sail with a curious glance, and Wind turned back to the mast. 

Grabbing one of the ropes connected to the main mast, he untied it and pulled, the pulley at the top squeaking slightly as he did so. He grabbed the new section of rope and turned back to Legend. “There should be some holes along one of the edges,” he said, using one hand to help him unfold it slightly. Sure enough, they found a couple holes in the fabric, reinforced with metal disks to prevent tearing. “This one should be the top,” Wind said, taking the fabric and hooking it onto the clip that was on the rope. “And now we just connect the rest here.”

Wind pulled the rope back up a little, grabbing the next clip. The pair worked quickly, getting the rest of the sail connected to the mast. Wind tied off the rope, tugging it to make sure it was secure, and turned to see Legend looking at the sail in confusion. “That’s not going to get us anywhere,” he said, placing his hands on his hips as he observed the limp fabric. 

“We still need to attach it to the boom,” Wind explained. He made a shooing motion at Legend. “Stand to the side, we need more room.” Legend snorted at the unintentional rhyme, but took a step back regardless, placing a steadying hand against the side of the ship. Wind nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the mast. There was a knob at about the same height as his head, and he started turning it to the left. As it loosened, he slid it out, pulling it to reveal what appeared to be a collapsible pole. After it reached the length of the ship, it stopped, and he turned the pole in the opposite direction to tighten it again. 

“What’s that?” Legend asked, looking at the horizontal beam that was right in his face. 

“It’s what we’re going to use to get the sail functional!” Wind explained, grabbing the cloth and pulling it out. “We can just loop the end down here. If you want to get that clip in the middle…?” Legend took a step forward, resting his hand against the beam as he connected the sail. But he gasped in surprise as the beam began to pivot away from him.
“Huh? Oh,” Wind glanced at Legend and lightly pushed the beam back towards him. “Yeah, it moves. I’ll get to that in a second. But is that clipped on alright?” Legend nodded and Wind grinned. “Alright, you can take a seat, and I’ll get us ready to go.”

Legend almost immediately plopped himself down, grabbing onto the side of the ship for support, and Wind slipped his Wind Waker off his belt. Glancing around for a moment to gauge which direction he should call the wind from, he nodded his head and held the baton up. With precise movements he conducted in 3/4 time, and a wind began to pick up around them, catching into the sails of the ship. With a satisfied nod, he turned back to Legend.

“Lesson number three,” Wind said, slipping his Wind Waker back onto his belt. “I don’t know how your ship was steered, but this one uses a rudder.” He slipped past Legend towards the very back of the ship and rested his hand on the lever. “This is the tiller, and it helps adjust the rudder to change your course a bit. The sails catch the wind to take you in a general direction, but precise steering has to be done back here.” He looked at Legend not-quite pleadingly, but very close to it. “Do you want to steer for a bit?”

Legend looked over at the tiller, frowning. “Mine didn’t have that,” he said slowly, “so you’d have to show me how to use it.”

Wind grinned, grabbing Legend’s arm. “Alright then!” He pulled Legend further to the stern, sitting him down next to the cockpit where he sat. “Since the wind is coming from this direction, we’re going to sit on the same side.” He pointed up to the sail, hand sweeping to gesture to the long, horizontal beam the base of the sail was connected to. “That’s called the boom. It swings around depending on which way the wind is coming from, so we sit on the opposite side of where it is so we don’t get hit. When we turn, we’re going to have to duck and switch sides again.”

Legend frowned up at the boom. “That seems a bit dangerous,” he said.

Wind waved a hand. “It’ll be fine. We’re tied to the ship, remember? So even if you don’t duck in time, you won’t get stranded without the ship.” He winced, hastily continuing. “I mean, don’t worry about it. We’re not doing anything crazy and I’ll give you warning before we need to worry about the boom.”

Legend nodded slowly after a moment, and Wind tried to give him a reassuring smile. He wasn’t sure how reassuring it was, but he hoped Legend wasn’t too worried. He’d make sure Legend had a great time sailing, and maybe he’d even be willing to sail to his cabana later!

“Alright!” Wind exclaimed. “Now, for steering. You want to push this in the opposite direction you want to go,” he explained, hand on the tiller as he spoke. “See, I’ll push this forward like this, and we’re going to turn towards where my back is facing.” He did the motion as he spoke, and sure enough, the boom shifted ever so slightly as the ship changed course. It wasn’t a big adjustment, as the wind was doing most of the steering, but it was enough to see a change. “Like I said, big changes need to be done with the sails and wind, but you can still move a bit with this.” He leaned forward a bit, looking up at Legend hopefully. “Do you want to try?”

Legend eyed the tiller for a moment, glancing up at the boom briefly before shaking his head slowly. “Not yet,” he mumbled.

Wind deflated a little bit, but tried to not let it show. “Okay, that’s alright,” he said. “If you do want to try, just let me know.” Legend nodded hesitantly, and Wind was struck suddenly by how vulnerable the Veteran was being with him. He was so used to the older Hero being fearless and loud, shoving any sign of weakness away. And yet here he was, quieter, smaller, and Wind realized just how bad Legend’s last experience with sailing must have been, for him to be retreating into himself like this.

“I can show you the next thing though,” Wind offered, trying to pull Legend back. “Do you want to get the lantern for me?”

Legend blinked, glancing over to where the lantern was hanging on the hook on the mast, and nodded. As he got up, the ship rocked a little, and he paused, arms held out to balance himself. Once the movement settled, he slowly reached over to grab the lantern. As soon as it was in his grasp, he collapsed back down into his seat, rocking the boat once more. “Got it,” he breathed, holding it out to Wind.

“Great!” Wind nodded, taking it from the Veteran. He smiled encouragingly, hoping to coax him further out of his shell. “So, the lantern is good to help you read maps and your compass and stuff at night, but it’s also good for signalling other ships,” he explained. He held the lantern between them, showing Legend as he spoke. “This lantern has shutters on the sides, right here. If we close them, we can get a beam of light, like this.”

He twisted the knobs on three of the sides, closing the shutters. The glow of the flame only escaped out one side, and Wind positioned the lantern’s light to shine onto the sail. As he did so, the sail seemed to take on a glow of its own, lighting up against the darkness of night.

“This is a trick to signal other ships,” Wind explained. “It helps everyone know if there’s another ship nearby, so you don’t crash, but you can also signal for help this way.” He moved the lantern back and opened the shutters again. “I won’t show you now, but there’s a whole code to signal for help and warn other ships of dangers. We’re close enough to shore where it shouldn’t be an issue, but just in case.”

Legend nodded, taking the lantern from Wind’s outstretched hand. He got up again to return it to its hook, this time without rocking the boat nearly as much, and he sat back down with a shaky grin. Wind smiled in return, leaning back into his seat as he let the wind pull their ship along around the island. “You want to try and steer yet?”

Legend eyed the tiller for a moment before steeling his expression. He nodded, and Wind couldn’t dampen the smile on his face even if he wanted to. Carefully, so as not to rock the boat, he got up from his spot to make room for Legend, who scooted over to take the now-empty seat. The Veteran hesitantly placed his hand on the tiller, and Wind sat down next to him, ready to help at a moment’s notice.

----

Wind guided the ship through easy loops around the island, the sun just starting to peek out from over the horizon. He adjusted the breeze as he went with his Wind Waker, keeping their pace steady. Legend’s sour face had softened over the hour they had been out, and Wind couldn’t help but internally cheer at the win. He even spent some time steering for them! 

Checking to make sure they won’t veer off course, Wind adjusted the main sail slightly before turning to Legend. “Alright, ready to learn the next thing?”

Legend raised an eyebrow, lifting his chin from where it was resting on his palm. “You have an actual lesson plan?” he asked. 

“Of course I do!” Wind exclaimed. “Knowing sailing safety will help you feel more comfortable when you sail.”

“I thought you were just going to keep me hostage on your ship all day.”

Wind’s expression fell slightly. It seemed the Veteran wasn’t as comfortable as he thought. He shook his head, grabbing the bag he had stashed in the compartment on the bow. He still had plenty planned, something was bound to work. “I taught you how to signal for help at night,” he started, dropping the bag between them as he sat back down in the cockpit. “But the lantern won’t help much during the day. So I always have this with me too.” He rummaged through the bag, pulling out a cloth-covered object.

“A parcel,” Legend said, raising an eyebrow at the cloth in his hands.

“No,” Wind whined. “Please, I can’t teach you sailing techniques if you don’t let me.” He cut off whatever retort Legend had planned. “You woke up with me this morning and got on the ship with me. You signed up for this, so let me show you things.”

Legend sighed, leaning back against the side of the ship. “Alright,” he said, waving his hand. “What’s in the magical parcel?”

Wind grinned, holding it out for Legend to take. “It’s a mirror!” he exclaimed as Legend unwrapped the fabric. It wasn’t anything fancy, the mirror didn’t even have a proper frame. A better way to describe it would be to call it a broken shard of glass, but that didn’t quite have the same ring to it.

“You use this to signal to other ships?” Legend asked, turning the mirror over in his hand.

“Yup!” Wind nodded. “See, a lantern wouldn’t stand out in the daytime, so you need a different way to signal other ships for help. So, I use a mirror to reflect the sun in the direction of the ship.”

“Like the mirror shield?” 

“Like the mirror shield!” Wind exclaimed. “See, you get it. But you should probably wrap it back up, since we’re not trying to flag down any other ships right now.” Legend nodded, folding the mirror back into the fabric and handing the parcel back to the Sailor. 

“What else do you have in the bag?” Legend asked. 

Wind waved his hand. “The usual stuff. Extra potions and rations. A notebook. My old maps and star charts, though I don’t really need them much anymore. But,” he held up a hand, “those are still very important to have when sailing. Always make sure to know where you’re going and that you have enough supplies to last three times the length of your journey.”

Legend nodded. “That’s the same as the rule for travelling on land.”

Wind grinned. “See, sailing isn’t all that different! Now, one more thing to show you.” He got up again, rocking the boat a bit with his motions, but he didn’t notice Legend’s discomfort with the movement. Instead, he reached over and grabbed something out from under the railing, turning around triumphantly.

“Now, this isn’t a problem for me,” he started, “but I always have a spare oar on the ship.” He held the paddle out towards Legend, who released one hand from it’s grip on the side to take the oar from him. “If the wind stops blowing, you’re stuck out at sea. So, it’s good to have another way to move the ship in case the wind doesn’t cooperate.” Wind twirled his Wind Waker in his hand, grinning. “But like I said, that’s never a problem for me.”

Legend frowned at the oar. “Seems like it’d take a while to paddle to shore.”

Wind waved a hand. “Usually the wind will pick back up before long, so you won’t be paddling the whole way. But if your sail rips, you’ll definitely need the oar to get anywhere.”

Legend flinched ever so slightly, grip tightening around the oar, and Wind realized he must have hit a sore subject. Again. Before he could even think of how to apologize or move to a different topic, Legend shoved the oar back into his hands. “Here,” he mumbled. 

Wind fumbled, taking it back with wide eyes. He looked up at Legend, but the Veteran’s gaze was out towards Outset Island. Wind followed his gaze, spotting a couple shapes on the beach by his house. He stared for a moment before shoving the oar back into its proper spot and unhooking the spyglass from his belt.

The shapes on the island revealed themselves to be Time, Twilight, Warriors, and Four. It looked like Time was saying something to the others, but what caught his eye more was Twilight and Warriors. Both Heroes were waving in their direction, and Twilight’s mouth was moving as he yelled something, but they were still too far out to hear. They didn’t look particularly panicked, so Wind didn’t think it was too serious, but he recognized what they wanted.

“Alright, it looks like we’re ready to head back,” Wind said after a moment, lowering his spyglass. His hand fell to his hip, resting on his Wind Waker, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he turned to Legend, hoping to get back on a better note. “One final lesson!” he announced. “Since you won’t have the Wind Waker when you sail, we’re going to get back to Outset without using it.”

He grinned, getting ready to adjust their course, but Legend frowned as he looked off towards the island. “Isn’t that the direction the wind is coming from?” Legend asked as he ducked under the boom. “Sailing ships are meant to be pushed by the wind. Wouldn’t we just be pushed back?”

“You can still sail into the wind,” he explained, adjusting the sail as he talked. “It takes a lot longer though, so I usually just change the direction of the wind, but you can’t do that.” He tied down the rope and turned to Legend. “The trick is to never actually go dead into the wind.”

Legend raised an eyebrow. “You just said you can sail into the wind.”

Wind waved his hand, glaring at the Veteran. “No. You can sail in the direction the wind is coming from. Look.” He shooed Legend out of the cockpit, taking up steering. “The wind is coming from that direction,” he pointed off the port side. “So we’re going to sail this way, on a diagonal to the wind. I’ve adjusted the sail to be at a different angle so we’ll catch the wind.”

“This isn’t the direction the wind is coming from,” Legend deadpanned. 

Wind growled, rising to the bait. “Listen,” he said sternly, slamming the tiller in the opposite direction, ducking down as the boom swept across the deck. “I have sailed all around the Great Sea in all kinds of weather. I know how to fucking get home.” He straightened out the ship, turning to Legend. “When you need to get somewhere and the wind is against you, you travel in a zig zag. So you still get the wind to help you, and you will eventually get there. But it takes longer, which is why I don’t usually do it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do it.”

Wind was glaring at Legend, and it took him a long second to register the Veteran’s wide eyes, and the vice grip he had on the side of the ship. His eyes widened in guilt as he realized just how harshly he had turned the ship. “Shit, shit I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” His grip tightened on the tiller as he bit his lip. Before he really began to register it, Wind felt a couple tears start to slip down his face.

“Wind?” Legend asked, and it was so hesitant and quiet that Wind choked on his breath, more tears beginning to fall.

“I’m sorry!” he cried, words beginning to tumble out of his mouth as quickly as the tears. “I’m sorry! I just wanted to help, but I keep fucking it up. I shouldn’t have pushed you to come sailing with me, I’m just making it worse for you but I just wanted to help!” He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, trying to stop the tears. It wasn’t fair, he shouldn’t be crying. It was his idea to take Legend out, he was the one that pushed him to come. He was the one who kept messing up and making it worse.

He gasped a breath when he felt something touch his elbow, and he jerked his head up to see Legend staring at him hesitantly, arm outstretched. He was a bit blurry to see between his tears, but Wind could’ve sworn Legend looked like he was about to cry too. “Wind?”

Wind didn’t realize he was shaking until Legend gently grabbed his hands. Wind’s breathing picked up a bit, and after a moment, Legend shifted to wrap his arms around him. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I’m not mad.”

“But I…” Wind choked on his words, burying his face into Legend’s shoulder. “You didn’t want to–”

“Yes I did,” Legend cut him off. “I wanted…” he trailed off for a moment, taking a breath. “I thought I could just… get over it. One trip out and I’ll be fine.” He shook his head, shifting away from Wind, wiping his face with his sleeve. “But I guess not.”

“I’m sorry,” Wind whispered. His brain was filled to the brim with apologies and encouragement and more apologies, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. He just wanted to help Legend, but he made it worse, or at the very least he didn’t make anything better. 

“Don’t apologize,” Legend said. He managed a watery smile at Wind, and despite the sadness and fear in his eyes, Wind could see it was a genuine smile. “Thank you for taking me out. You’re a good instructor.”

Wind swallowed thickly. “Any time,” he managed. 

Despite his iron grip on the side of the ship, Legend let go with one hand to reach over and ruffle Wind’s hair slightly. The action startled a giggle out of the younger Hero, and Legend snorted at his surprised face. Wind reached up to fix his hair, a grin hesitantly growing on his face. He couldn’t help Legend get over his fear, but they both tried, and maybe that was good enough.

Chapter Text

Legend danced out of the way of the Darknut’s blade. His pegasus boots, boosted by the roc’s cape he’d flung on, allowed him to easily jump out of reach of the monster, swiftly ducking to its back to land a hit.

The Darknut’s howl of rage echoed through its helmet, and it swiped its sword in an arc as it spun around. Legend easily ducked under the swing, but he didn’t anticipate the kick. The Darknut’s boot slammed into his chest, his lungs emptying at the impact, and he was flung to his back by the force. He lost his grip on his sword, and it clattered away from him as he hit the ground. 

Legend barely had a moment to raise his head to see the Darknut raise its weapon for the fatal blow. By the time he registered it, the blade had begun its descent towards him. But before he could even think to react, the blade clattered against a sheer orange wall, which appeared seemingly from nowhere.

“Legend!” Hyrule’s voice reached the Veteran, and he glanced back to where the voice had come from. The Traveller had come up behind him, holding his sword up in a horizontal block, the blade glowing the same orange as the shield. “Grab your sword!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Legend rolled to his feet, picking up his blade. Hyrule dropped his spell, taking a step back as Legend parried the Darknut’s next strike. The hit jolted his whole body, but his power bracelet’s magic surged through his arm, giving him the strength to match the attacks. 

As he kept the Darknut occupied, he spotted Hyrule creeping around its back. The Traveller’s steps were silent, and Legend smirked as he raised his sword. Mustering as much strength as he could, Legend shoved the Darknut back, and it stumbled straight into Hyrule’s blade. With an echoing shriek, the monster flailed its weapon in a futile attempt to take the duo down with it, but Legend jumped clear of its reach. Hyrule sliced his sword upwards and stepped back, and the Darknut faded into a puff of smoke. 

Legend sighed, shaking his head as he sheathed his sword. “What a pain,” he muttered, walking towards the chest that had materialized in the corner. “Everyone else doing alright?” he asked Hyrule.

The younger Hero nodded. “Yeah, they’ve got the other room covered,” he said. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “They were worried when they realized you weren’t with us.”

Legend paused for a moment, small key in hand, but he jammed it into the lock, turning it with only a little more force than necessary. “Yeah? Well, they shouldn’t be,” he muttered. “Hylia knows I’ve been through enough dungeons already.” He knew that excuse was weak, even as he said it. There was no way he could’ve avoided that hit had Hyrule not jumped in, but there was no way he’d admit it out loud.

Luckily for him, Hyrule didn’t comment, instead crossing the room to peer over his shoulder into the chest. “A green potion?” he asked, though it was obvious enough that it should’ve been a statement.

“Here,” Legend said, grabbing the potion and shoving it into Hyrule’s hands.

The boy blinked, looking down at the bottle in his hands. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Legend waved his hand dismissively. “You used your magic for that spell, you need the potion more than me.” It wasn’t quite a thank you, but Legend could tell Hyrule got that message as he smiled softly, slipping the vial onto his belt. 

Having finished what needed to be done in that room, the pair left back into the hallway they had come through. “Alright, which way did everyone else go?” Legend asked, glancing down at the various rooms and turns. Hyrule didn’t respond, and the Veteran turned to look at him. “You did check to see which way they were going, right?”

“Uh…” Hyrule chuckled, scratching his cheek. 

Legend stared at him for a moment incredulously, but sighed. “Alright then. Let’s go find them.” 

“Sorry,” Hyrule mumbled, following behind the Veteran as he picked a path at random. As they walked down the corridor, Legend glanced into the doorways, trying to determine if the rooms had been cleared out yet, and if there were any signs of the rest of their companions. But as they continued through the maze of a dungeon, it was almost as if the others had never even set foot in there with them.

“Uh,” Hyrule’s voice snapped him out of his dulled thoughts, and he turned back to see him staring into a doorway.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, backtracking to join the Traveller and see what he was looking at.

“Isn’t that the room we just fought the Darknut in?” Hyrule asked, pointing into the doorway. Legend followed his gaze and, sure enough, the opened chest sat in the same corner.

“Shit,” Legend muttered. “So we’ve gone in a circle.” He glanced back down the hallway. “Guess we just need to pick a room.” He sighed, trudging down the hallway once again. Hyrule followed behind him, face still tinged red in embarrassment.

After walking past a few doors, Legend stopped in front of an open doorway, peeking in. “Might as well start here,” he shrugged. Hyrule poked his head in, but neither crossed the threshold just yet. The room itself was empty, no signs of their lost companions or treasure, but the closed door on the other side of the room looked promising.  

“Maybe they went through that–”

Legend tapped the flat of his blade against Hyrule’s chest, blocking him from entering the room. “Watch out,” he said, eyes scanning the floor. “Those tiles look a bit too nice to be just for decoration.” Indeed, the flooring had changed in this room, stone giving way to elaborately decorated tiles, each one had a different design on them.

“There’s magic on them,” Hyrule muttered, eyes darting across the floor. They flashed a bright blue for a moment, and Legend almost thought he had missed it, had it not been for the lingering magic residue that hung in the air a moment longer. “Traps,” Hyrule reported.

Legend nodded, looking back out towards the tiles. “I’ll assume the decorated ones are the ones we need to avoid?” Hyrule nodded, and Legend sighed. “Alright then.”

He glanced around at the tiles closest to them. It wasn’t too hard to pick out which tiles were clear, but as he tried connecting them in his mind to form a path, he realized that the real trick to the room still needed to be solved. “The clear ones don’t make a path,” he said with a groan. “There’s no way we can get through without tripping something.” Legend shook his head. “The others probably didn’t go this way then.”

He turned to go back into the hallway, but Hyrule placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “Wait. They might’ve gone a different way, but there’s got to be something important on the other side of this room if it’s got all these traps.”

Legend sighed. “The boss key.” He frowned, eyes scanning over the tiles again before shaking his head. “There’s probably a tool or item somewhere down here that would make getting over these tiles a hell of a lot easier. We should poke around in some of the other rooms around here first.” Legend’s frown turned from thoughtful to annoyed when he noticed Hyrule’s attention still solely on the tiles. “Hey, are you even listening to me?”

Hyrule was indeed not listening, or at least didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, he unsheathed his sword, taking a step back as he held it at arm’s length. Slowly, he lowered the tip of the blade to tap on one of the decorated tiles, and both he and Legend jumped back as a column of magic exploded upwards at the contact. Both stood in shocked silence as the magic slowly dwindled, sinking back into the tile, and after a moment, Legend glanced at Hyrule.

“Like I said,” he stuttered. “Find an item first?”

“I think…” Hyrule trailed off, looking back at the tiles. “Let me try one more thing.”

“Or we could just continue along,” Legend suggested, gesturing broadly out to the hallway. “Perhaps away from the death columns of magic?”

Hyrule ignored him, bringing his sword in front of him, tip down in a relaxed position. He closed his eyes, and after a brief moment, the blade lit with the orange glow of before, the light surrounding the Traveller as he activated his shield spell.

“Hyrule…” Legend’s eyes widened as he took a step forwards, into the room, straight onto one of the decorated tiles. “Hyrule!”

Magic erupted from the tile, engulfing Hyrule. Legend took a step back in shock, arm raised in an instinctive motion to block. He stared in horror as the magic raged, breath caught in his throat. A million panicked thoughts raced through his mind, but before he could discern any of them, let alone act upon them, the magical trap faded, revealing a completely unharmed Hyrule.

“Huh.” The Traveller stepped back off the tiles, flexing his fingers as he shifted his sword to his other hand. He smiled apologetically at Legend, who was openly staring at him in shock. “I think we can get across if I use the shield spell,” he said. 

Legend blinked, shaking his head as he processed what happened. “Nope. No, no, no, absolutely not.” He grabbed Hyrule’s arm, practically dragging him back into the corridor. “We are not walking through the Doom Tile room with your spell.”

“But it blocked the magic,” Hyrule protested. “The Doom Tile room won’t be able to hurt us.”

“And how long can you hold that spell up?” Legend asked pointedly. “You’ve already used it at least twice today, and I’ve seen how tired you can get if you overuse your magic.”

“I’ll be fine.” Hyrule finally got out of Legend’s grasp, raising his hands in surrender. “Look, we even found a green potion, I can drink it if I get too tired.”

“And what if you get tired in the middle of the room?”

“It’s not that far to the other side,” Hyrule frowned. “It’s not like I’m going to be holding the spell for hours.”

“We don’t even know what’s going to be on the other side of the doorway.”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Hyrule grabbed Legend’s arm, the Veteran shocked enough at the surge of assertiveness from the Traveller that he let himself get dragged back to the doorway. “Stay close to me.” Hyrule lifted his sword in the guard position, allowing the orange shield to extend to protect both himself and Legend, and stepped forwards onto the first tile. 

Legend most definitely did not shriek as the column of magic blasted against the shield. He latched onto the arm Hyrule was holding him with, drawing closer to the source of the shield, squinting against the bright light of the magic. It roared outside, completely obstructing their view of the room.

Hyrule nudged Legend with his elbow. “We should keep moving!” he yelled, trying to speak over the sound of the magic. “It should just be straight ahead!”

Legend nodded, face slightly pale, and took a step forward. The shield was extended far enough outwards so they could see the tile’s patterns, or lack thereof, on the ones just in front of them. It also ensured that they would walk in a straight line, so they wouldn’t get turned around and stuck in the room for too long.

Slowly, they crept forward, taking their time to stay together and stay on the path. Perhaps it only took a minute or two tops for them to traverse the room, but by the time they reached the doorway, both Legend and Hyrule were breathing hard, slouching against the doorway in relief as Hyrule finally let the shield down. 

“We are not doing that again,” Legend said after a moment, head in his hands as he tried to clear his vision of the imprints of blinding light they had been surrounded by.

“We’re gonna have to in order to get out,” Hyrule said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

Legend groaned, a few choice words slurring together, but Hyrule didn’t pay attention, turning his head towards the room they had finally reached. The lack of tiles on the floor was the first thing he noted, sighing in relief. The second thing he saw was the lonesome chest sitting right in the middle of the room. Aside from that, it was entirely unassuming. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his magic to feel for any more traps, but found none.

“I don’t think there’s anything else in here,” he said, glancing over to Legend to see him glancing around the room.

“You’re sure?”

Hyrule shrugged. “I don’t feel anything. I think we got past the challenge.”

Legend frowned, drawing his sword. “Keep that out,” he said, nodding to Hyrule’s as he took a cautious step into the room. When nothing happened, he took another. Hyrule slowly followed him, eyes glancing around observantly, but there truly didn’t seem to be anything in the room. The pair reached the chest without incident, and Legend sighed, looking down at the wooden box. “Moment of truth,” he muttered, kneeling down to open the lid. Hyrule stood facing the room, but glanced a peek down at the contents of the chest.

Legend leaned into the chest for a moment before righting, holding out his palm to show Hyrule their reward. In his hand was a gold key with three jagged prongs, the handle decorated with a gaudy red gem. It was comically large in his hand, one prong almost the length of his finger.

“Boss key,” Hyrule grinned, eyes flicking up to Legend’s face. “Told you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Legend rolled his eyes, shoving the key into his pouch. “We’ll still need to find that item before we can fight it.”

“And we need to find the others,” Hyrule nodded. He held his hand out to pull Legend up, and turned to face the doorway they had come through. “Let’s head back and start looking through those other rooms.”

“Not yet,” Legend put a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder, stopping him from going ahead. “Drink that green potion first.” He cut Hyrule’s counter off with a glare. “No arguing. I can see how tired that shield spell made you.”

“I’ll have you know that I could make it just fine.”

Legend scoffed. “I didn’t realize passing out as soon as you drop the spell counts as just fine.”

Hyrule frowned at him for a moment before sighing and reaching for his belt. He gave Legend a look, but when his glare didn’t let up, he brought the potion up to his lips and took a couple sips.

“The full thing,” Legend prompted when Hyrule started to cork the half full bottle.

“I’m not going to pass out,” Hyrule said flatly. At Legend’s raised eyebrow, he waved his hand dismissively. “What if I need to use my magic later?”

“I know for a fact you have at least three more green potions in your bag.”

Hyrule threw his hands up in exasperation. “Then why are you so worried about me? I’m the one who actually uses his magic, I know my limits.”

“You’re the only one who can do magic,” Legend retorted. “If you tire out, then we’re out of magic, and I’d like to get back through that room in one piece.”

Hyrule blinked, frowning in confusion. “Huh?”

Legend snorted, mildly confused at Hyrule’s look. “What? Is it really that surprising that I don’t want to be blasted to dust by magic traps?”

“What? No, no,” Hyrule waved his hand. “I just… you don’t use magic?”

“No?” Legend frowned. “I use magic items, but I don’t have any magic. Not like you and your spells.”

“But you… I thought…”

“Think later. You’re drinking the rest of the potion first.”

Hyrule frowned, too lost in his thoughts to really register that he was drinking the whole green potion until it was gone. He stared at the empty vial for a moment before sighing and slipping it back onto his belt, raising an eyebrow at Legend. “Happy now?”

Legend scoffed. “I’ll be happy once we’re out of this dungeon.” He gestured to the doorway. “Lead the way.”

The pair stepped up to the doorway, and Hyrule unsheathed his sword once more. He started to hold it up, but paused, turning to Legend. “You’re sure you can’t use magic?” Legend raised an eyebrow and Hyrule fumbled, to raise his sword up to the guard position. “Right, right, later.”

The orange shield encircled them once again, and the duo made their way back through the room. They moved a bit quicker this time, knowing what to expect, and when they made it to the other side, Hyrule turned to Legend expectantly as he dropped his shield spell. 

But he could say a word, a loud clattering crash followed by an explosion echoed through the hallway, and the pair whipped their heads towards the noise. A few doors down, smoke billowed from a room to the right, and a figure came running out, revealing itself to be Warriors. He was looking back into the room with a grin, laughing heartily. 

“Captain!” Wild’s voice echoed down the corridor, and the man came sprinting after Warriors, looking as if he were the cause of the explosion, which was a real possibility.

“Nice work!” Warriors slowed, high-fiving the Champion. They stopped and looked up, spotting Legend and Hyrule staring at them, and Warriors waved. “There they are!”

“Guess we found them,” Hyrule grinned.

“Guess we found them,” Legend sighed.

----

“Time, I’m stealing Legend for the evening.”

Hyrule’s announcement once they had finished setting up camp drew the attention of more than just Time and Legend, the activity around the clearing silencing as eyes turned toward the surprisingly assertive Traveller.

Time raised an eyebrow. “And you need my permission?”

Hyrule gestured to the treeline. “We’re going away from camp, so I’m just telling you that we’ll be that way if you need us.”

Time held Hyrule’s gaze for a moment, ignoring Legend’s confused outburst. Hyrule didn’t back down, and after a moment, Time nodded. 

Hyrule smiled. “Thanks!” He reached down and grabbed the Veteran’s arm, yanking him to his feet and dragging him off towards the woods.

“Hey, wait!” Legend exclaimed over the laughter that rang throughout the clearing at his expense. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

“Nope!” Hyrule chirped, far too cheerful for Legend’s liking. He didn’t think the Traveller would be the one to drag him into the woods to murder him, but he had no idea what he wanted with him.

“At least tell me why you’re dragging me to my doom,” he grumbled, getting his feet under him. He tried to wrestle his arm out of Hyrule’s grip, but the younger Hero kept the sleeve of his tunic firmly in his hand. 

The pair walked into a different clearing, and Hyrule finally let Legend go, shoving him forward slightly. Legend stumbled, whipping around to see possibly the largest grin he had ever seen on the boy’s face. “I’m going to teach you to use magic!”

Legend stared at him for a long moment. “You’re going to… what?”

“Teach you magic,” Hyrule repeated. “You said you can’t use your natural magic, but you’re wrong. You just haven’t been trained, so I’m going to train you.”

Legend blinked, and Hyrule waited patiently for him to respond. “My… huh? Natural magic?” 

“Everyone has natural magic,” Hyrule explained. “But it’s stronger in some people than in others. I have a strong natural magic, so I can perform spells without magical items.” He smiled. “And you have a strong natural magic too!”

“But I use magic items,” Legend countered. “Not my own magic.”

“That’s just because you haven’t been taught to use your natural magic,” Hyrule waved his hand. “But luckily for you, I can teach you how to use it.” He shrugged. “The shield spell I used in the dungeon isn’t that complicated, so we can start there.”

“You’re sure?” Legend asked, frowning. “How do you even know I can do it?”

“I can sense it.” Hyrule laughed. “No offense, but you absolutely reek of magic. I’m surprised you haven’t accidentally used your natural magic. It’s really strong, you’ll have no trouble at all.”

Legend regarded Hyrule for a moment, trying to process what the other Hero was offering to him. He thought Legend could do magic like he could, and was even willing to teach him how. “Why?” he asked. “Why do you want to teach me?”

“Why not?” Hyrule countered. “Do I need a reason to help a friend?”

Legend snorted, but shook his head. “I suppose not,” he said. “Alright, show me some magic, then.”

Hyrule grinned, stepping forward to grab Legend’s arm. “Great!” he explained. “Then let’s start!”

“Now?” 

“Now!”

Legend sighed, but allowed Hyrule to pull him further into the clearing before spinning to face him again. “Form isn’t that important once you get the hang of it,” Hyrule said. “But to start off, you’ll want to try and keep this stance to help boost the spell.” He planted his feet firmly shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. His shoulders were forward slightly, rounding out the obviously defensive stance. “When blocking with magic, the force could push both your magical and physical presences, so it’s good to keep both as steady as possible.”

Legend looked over Hyrule’s form for a minute before copying the stance. After a few adjustments, Hyrule deemed him ready. “Alright, now you’ll want your sword out,” he said.

“My sword?” Legend repeated. “Isn’t the point of magic not having to rely on a physical weapon?”

Hyrule grimaced, shaking his hand in a so-so gesture. “It can be, but it’s a lot easier to do if you have a focus object.”

“Focus object?”

“Like your items,” Hyrule explained. “You can use your magical items as if they were normal items because they channel your natural magic abilities. That’s why they work when you use them.” He pulled his sword out and got back into the stance, holding it as he had when he did the shield spell earlier. “If you push your magic through an object, it helps you focus your magic better, so you’ll waste less and have a better chance of the spell holding up.”

Legend nodded. “Makes sense, I guess,” he unsheathed his sword, slipping into the defensive block easily. “But how do I actually channel my magic?” he asked. “I don’t exactly do anything special to get my magic items to work.”

“That’s because your magic items are designed to do the hard part for you,” Hyrule said. “Here.” He stepped up next to Legend, motioning for him to keep his stance, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I can channel my magic into you and guide your magic out to do the spell,” he explained. “You should be able to feel it, so you should have a better idea of what you're supposed to do.”

Legend gave Hyrule a side-eyed stare. “You know I only understood about half of what you said, right?” he asked. “You’re going to manipulate my magic? Is that even safe?”

“Do you trust me?” Hyrule asked. “I promise it’s safe, but it’s easier when you aren’t so tense.”

“I’m not tense,” Legend mumbled.

“Yes you are,” Hyrule retorted. “It’s like you shoved your magic down into the toes of your boots. I can’t show you how to do this spell if you won’t even let me access your magic.”

Legend grumbled, but took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm his nerves. He didn’t quite understand why he was so… apprehensive about it. He trusted Hyrule, of course he did. How could he not? But maybe that’s where the apprehension came from in the first place. Trust was not something given freely, especially not by the Veteran. Since when did Hyrule, and the rest of the boys for that matter, gain his trust?

“Breathe,” Hyrule mumbled, hands smoothing down the shoulders of his tunic. “Hylia above, you’re so tense.”

Legend closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, willing himself to listen. He focused his attention on the pressure Hyrule’s hand exerted as it laid on his shoulder. Nothing happened for a long moment, but just before he was going to open his eyes and say some snarky comment about how he knew he couldn’t do magic, he felt… something. 

Underneath where Hyrule’s hand was resting on his shoulder, he felt what he could only describe as a heartbeat. It was a pulse, vibrating deep into his muscle and bones, and somehow even deeper than that, and it radiated out from that point, each pulse reaching further and further. The waves left smaller, buzzing ripples in their wake, and Legend almost panicked when that tingling feeling began to lift off his body. His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes flung open to see that he was glowing.

“What…?” he breathed, watching with wide eyes as the glow shifted towards his sword. It was so surreal. He could feel the glow as if it were any other part of his body, and felt it attach to the sword. It built up pressure for a moment before suddenly bursting outwards, creating a bubble around himself and Hyrule. 

The shield he had created wasn’t the same orange as Hyrule’s had been. It was lighter, tinged pink around the edges, and felt a bit softer. Legend didn’t quite know how to describe it, but where Hyrule’s shield had been sharp and solid, this one felt more malleable, like a bubble more than a box.

After holding it for a moment, Hyrule pulled his hand back. Legend felt the pulse cut off from his shoulder, but the buzzing feeling stayed for a moment longer, and the shield flickered out. Legend gaped as the tingling feeling sank back into his body, and he turned back to Hyrule with wide eyes. “That was…” he trailed off, unable to put his feelings into words, but Hyrule smiled in understanding.

“Think you can do it on your own?” he asked. Legend hesitated, but Hyrule reached over to lift the other’s sword arm up again. “Just focus on how that felt. Try and pull the magic out and towards the sword.”

Legend frowned. “Just focus on that feeling?” he clarified. Hyrule nodded encouragingly and he sighed, closing his eyes as he slipped back into the defensive stance.

The pulse from Hyrule’s hand must have been his own magic. Legend knew what foreign magic felt like when he used it, and could tell that wasn’t his natural magic. So he ignored that feeling, instead trying to focus on the tingling feeling Hyrule’s magic had brought up. 

It had started fuzzy, near his bones. Deeper than his bones, but he focused there first. He didn’t really know what he was doing, but he focused on trying to get his bones to vibrate. His face scrunched up as he concentrated, and after a moment, something shifted. It was as if everything aligned, flipping from wrong to right in less than a second.

His limbs alighted with the tingling feeling from before, and it took almost no effort to let them drift up and away from his bones. He felt them pass through his skin, jittering around his body like a thin cloak of chiffon covering him. 

But they didn’t move past that. They didn’t collect on his sword like they had when Hyrule had helped him, and he realized that was a task he had to force on his own. So he breathed deeply, focusing once again, trying to direct the magic towards his sword.

“Good,” Hyrule murmured next to him. So he was doing something right, that was a good sign. 

Legend returned his focus to the sword. He didn’t really know how to move the buzzing particles, considering how flighty they seemed to be. After a moment of trying to mentally rope them towards the sword, he growled softly, deciding to change tactics. Focusing on the sword, he tried to imagine it like a magnet, trying to force the magic to pull itself towards it, rather than trying to push it.

Apparently that was the right thought process, because the tingling feeling seemed to shoot towards the sword after a moment of concentration. As they gathered on the blade, the pressure began to build up both on the blade but also in Legend’s head. He grimaced, trying to figure out how Hyrule had released it into the shield. 

His hand started to shake at the power building on the sword, but he tried to not panic. He could do this. Just let it go, make a shield. Let it go… let it go… make a shield. The magic was too tight where it was, it needed to spread out, but it had already been like that before it attached to the sword. So how could he use the sword to control them to surround him.

He thought for a moment before tensing. Since the magic was gathered on the blade, he focused his attention on the surface and tried to imagine extending it. Since the magic was attached to the surface, it should move with it, so all he had to do was focus on a surface of the right size and shape, even though it wasn’t really there.

“There you go,” Hyrule said, and Legend finally opened his eyes to see what he’d accomplished. Like before, a bubble of magic surrounded him, though instead of the orange-pink it was before, it was solely pink. It was much lighter than before, and if Legend hadn’t felt it, he wouldn’t have even noticed it.

Hyrule stood in front of him, smiling. He lifted a hand and poked at the bubble, and Legend gasped as it burst, the magic rushing back into him with a surprising amount of force. He stumbled back a step, and Hyrule laughed. 

“That was great!” he beamed.

“It burst,” Legend gasped, surprised at how out of breath he was.

Hyrule shrugged. “You just need practice to help build up its strength,” he said. “But you got it made on the first try! It took me at least five before it was even visible.”

Legend blinked in surprise. “Really?” 

Hyrule nodded, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, it took me a long time to figure out how to use my magic.” He shook his head. “But you’ve used magic a lot already, and you have a ton of natural magic, so it makes sense that you’ll be a quick learner.”

Legend stared at Hyrule for a moment, before blinking and looking down at his feet. He had never really considered the possibility of him being able to actually perform magic like Hyrule, but the younger Hero was so completely confident in his abilities. 

“Want to try again?” Hyrule asked. “It’ll probably still be a while before Wild’s ready with dinner.”

Legend looked up to see Hyrule’s smiling face, and found he couldn’t say no to him even if he wanted to. Sighing lightly, he shook his head with a smirk, shifting his sword back up to the guard position.

Chapter Text

“No magic items,” Warriors said, adjusting the straps on his arm guard. 

Legend scoffed from his spot by the fence, stretching his sword arm. “You’re just scared you’ll lose to me,” he said. The group was back at Lon Lon Ranch, and Warriors had taken the downtime as an invitation to finally spar with Legend. They were out in the back, just beyond the fence. Close enough where Time wouldn’t be nagging them about wandering off but far enough for some sense of privacy.

“It’s meant to be a fair spar.”

“I thought it was meant to be a test of our strength,” Legend retorted. “To see how prepared we are for fights. If I can’t use all my magic items, then you wouldn’t get a good gauge of my true abilities.”

“I have other items besides my sword, but you don’t see me using them against the others in spar. The sword is the one weapon we all share. A spar using a common weapon will reveal our strengths.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, if you say so.” He picked up his blade off the ground, unsheathing it and tossing the scabbard to the side. “Just don’t be all pissy when I beat you at your own game.”

Warriors grinned, drawing his own weapon. “Funny, I was just about to say the same to you.” 

Legend snorted. “In your dreams.” He raised his sword, holding it in front of him.

Warriors slid into a guard position, flexing his grip as he stared Legend down. He could see in his opponent’s posture that Legend wasn’t formally trained in the blade. He had no doubt in his ability, Warriors had seen Legend hold his own better than most of his subordinates had in the War, but there was a reason some of the most skilled fighters in the kingdom had spent years training. Legend fought to survive, Warriors fought to live. While Legend had learned as he went, besting his opponents through sheer force and grit, Warriors learned in the training ground, getting instruction and tips and techniques. Legend had learned from doing and making his own mistakes, and Warriors had learned from instruction sculpted by the experiences of others. 

Warriors grinned, adrenaline beginning to seep into his bones. He was ready for this spar, had been waiting for it for so long. They were all competitive, but nothing rivaled the near constant back and forth between the Captain and the Veteran. And yet despite all their bets and banter, the two had never had a proper spar, just two heroes and their swords. Until today.

Warriors footsteps mirrored Legend, and the two slipped into the dance. A step to the left for a step to the left, Warriors’ anticipation building as they waited for the first card to be played. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to wait much longer.

It was Legend who broke the standoff first. With what Warriors could only describe as a growl, the Veteran charged forwards, sword raised in preparation for the first strike. 

Warriors raised his sword to cross in front of the incoming blade. Legend’s blow hit harder than he expected, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He pushed his sword forward, pushing Legend back a step, and he followed through with a sweeping arc the Veteran dodged. Legend ducked in, trying to land a hit while he was overextended, but he pivoted on his heel, bringing his blade forwards once again in a second block.

“Quick on your feet,” Legend commented, pulling back.

“Could say the same to you.” Warriors shifted his grip to two hands, pushing forward with a series of tight, controlled swings. At each attempt to get around his block, Warriors found his blade being caught by Legend’s sword, but the Veteran didn’t make any attempt to fight back. He stayed on the defensive, taking a few steps back as he blocked every blow Warriors sent him.

Legend’s face morphed into a snarl, and that was the only warning Warriors got before the Veteran dropped into a roll to the side as he swung his sword downwards. Having expected another block to the swing, Warriors was pulled forwards, caught off balance. Allowing the momentum to pull him, he tucked into a roll, Legend’s sword swishing just over his head as he did so. He pushed himself onto his knees, twisting back to try and get a hit on Legend, but the Veteran had already jumped to his feet and out of the way. 

Warriors scrambled to his feet, and held his sword out defensively in front of him as the pair began to slowly circle each other again. He observed his opponent, and found himself almost startled by the ferocity Legend was fighting him with. He had seen how creative the Veteran could get with his items on the battlefield, but he realized he had never really seen him use just his sword. It seems even when he’s limited on tools, he’s just as ingenuitive. 

Warriors took the offensive, rushing the few steps to clash blades with the other Hero once more. It was a quick set of exchanges, each of his blows being met by Legend’s, blocking him from gaining any more ground. He grunted as he pushed more force into his blows, but despite his efforts, he found himself unable to gain any more advantage. He moved to disengage and place more distance between the pair, and that was when things went horribly wrong.

As he stepped back, his sword slid slightly along Legend’s blade. It wasn’t much, but the Veteran pounced on the slight weakening of his defense. He pushed his blade forward, forcing Warriors’ blade down, and flicked his sword. Warriors gasped at the awkward angle his wrist was forced to, and before he could fully register what had happened, his sword was spinning through the air, out of his grasp. 

Legend gave out a yell and kicked a leg out, slamming his foot into Warriors’ chest. The air was forced out of his lungs as he stumbled back a step, and that was all Legend needed for the final blow. He pushed forwards and swung the hilt of his sword forwards, connecting it with Warriors’ shoulder. The force pushed him further into unbalance, and Warriors’ fell to the ground, looking up to see Legend standing over him, sword pointed inches away from his face.

“I win,” the Veteran huffed, breathing heavily. Warriors stared at him for a moment longer before slowly nodding, and Legend took that as his cue to back away. Warriors stayed on the ground for a moment longer before slowly getting himself back to his feet. 

“You move quick,” Warriors complimented. “You’re self-taught, right?”

“Self-taught and still beat your ass.”

Warriors held his hands up in a laugh. “No judgement here. Just noting. You fight like you learned it to survive, not because it was drilled into you. Makes you quick and go for more critical hits.” 

Legend pursed his lips, brow furrowed as he searched Warriors words for any hidden jabs, but couldn’t find any. “That is how most of my adventures went,” he said after a moment. “I didn’t really have time to get any formal training, and I really didn’t need it after saving the kingdom for the fifth time in a row.”

“Still,” Warriors shook his head. “You’re quick.” He tilted his head in thought. “Have you been watching some of the other spars? You were really quick at deflecting my attacks.”

“You all fight the same.”

Warriors frowned in confusion. “No we don’t? Wind’s got a completely different style from Time, even you can see that.”

“No,” Legend shook his head. “You soldiers. Knights, army men, whatever you call yourselves.” He waved a hand dismissively. “You’re trained to fight, and your training makes you all the same. You know how to beat one Hylian, you learn to beat them all. And apparently that holds in any time.” He mumbled the last part, but Warriors was too busy trying to figure out what Legend meant to pay attention.

“You’ve fought Hylian knights before?” he asked.

Legend rolled his eyes. “Of course I have.”

The response only threw Warriors even more off balance, his expression giving away the questions that were running through his head. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times as he tried to figure out which one to ask first. “Why?”

Legend raised an eyebrow. “They wanted to kill me?”

“What!?” Warriors exclaimed. “Geez, Vet, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do it,” Legend muttered, crossing his arms. “But Aghanim brainwashed them all into thinking I had kidnapped the Princess. I mean, I did, but it was to stop her from being sacrificed.” He waved his hand. “Anyway, that’s not important.”

“Not important?” Warriors echoed. “You had the entirety of the Hyrulean army chasing after you because they were brainwashed?”

Legend shrugged. “I mean, the army wasn’t that big. And I was in a different world for half the time anyway. The brainwashing was mostly reversed after I beat him anyway.”

“That doesn’t–” Warriors cut himself off, growling in frustration, and Legend’s nonchalant attitude further added to his confusion. “So you’ve just been fighting trained soldiers? When did this even happen?”

“First adventure. They were under his spell for just over a year, but it took a while for the instinct to wear off.”

“So you…” Warriors trailed off, placing a hand on his head. “Hylia,” he breathed. “You really learned to fight to survive, didn’t you?” Legend shrugged, and Warriors couldn’t help the bubble of anger in his chest. Not at Legend, of course not, despite their bickering, he loved the Hero as a brother. But to think that he had to defend himself from all of Hyrule’s knights, and as a child no less. 

He had been raised to view the Hyrulean military as a force of good. The might of the Kingdom trained to protect its citizens from any threats. And in his time in service, he had worked hard to continue that role to protect both civilians and his men from the dangers of their enemy. Even the turncoats, trained militiamen themselves, only targeted him, never innocent people. 

To think the morals of the army of Legend’s Hyrule were so easily swayed by a spell, all of them. And that they’d so willingly try and kill a child. He wondered, then, how Legend must have first viewed him. A soldier who probably looked so much like those that had tried to kill him not that long ago. It sickened him, but then again, it was no wonder Legend was able to take him in that spar so easily. 

 He had no doubts the Veteran could hold his own, but it still sat wrong in his stomach knowing how he had learned to fight. He had no formal training, a stark contrast to all of the training Warriors was required to go through before he was even allowed in the line of combat. To imagine Legend thrown into combat alone without any training went against everything he was taught.

“Do you want me to teach you?” Warriors asked, only half realizing he was voicing the idea beginning to surface in his head.

Legend blinked. “Teach me?”

“Combat drills,” Warriors said, gaining a bit more confidence in his plan. “If you haven’t had any formal combat training, then there might be some things I can teach you to help optimize your fighting style.”

“Optimize my style,” Legend smirked in amusement. “Last I checked, I’m the one who beat you, Pretty Boy.”

Warriors rolled his eyes. “You fight defensively. Some of the drills I learned in the army might help you a bit more on the offensive.”

Legend frowned, realizing Warriors offer was genuine. After a moment of studying his face, he grinned. “Only if you let me spar with you using all my weapons.”

“Deal,” Warriors said without any hesitation. He blinked, finding himself mirroring Legend’s look at surprise, both of them taken aback by his immediate answer.

“You’re sure?” Legend asked, raising an eyebrow. “I beat you at your own game already, you won’t stand a chance if I’m at my full potential.”

Warriors didn’t like the look in Legend’s eyes, but he found himself to be actually quite sure. He knew this mission was dangerous, but he hadn’t quite expected just how important these fellow Heroes would become. They were his brothers, his family, and he’d be damned if he didn’t do everything he could to make sure they’d make it home. And knowing how many of them hadn’t had any formal training, well, perhaps that was one skill he could help them grow. 

Besides, he had wanted to spar to get an idea of their strengths. And Legend was right, there was much more to him than just a sword. Perhaps an all-out spar wouldn’t be the worst thing. His pride would certainly take a hit, but maybe this training would prevent Legend from taking a hit later on.

“I’m sure,” Warriors said with a firm nod. “You’re not getting out of training with me that easily. We can spar again once I say you’ve learned enough.”

Legend groaned, clearly not expecting the Captain to have agreed to his condition. But before he could figure out how to take it back, Warriors had grabbed his shoulders, guiding him back away from the fence. 

“Okay, we’ll start with sword grip,” Warriors started, shoving Legend forward slightly and unsheathing his blade.

Legend spluttered. “I know how to hold my sword!”

----

Warriors arm was numb to the vibrations along his sword, the clangs of metal nothing but background noise to their training session. Warriors huffed, pushing forward relentlessly, each swing meeting Legend’s blade as the Hero blocked. “Now attack!”

Legend yelled out in a combination of frustration and focus, taking a step forward as he swung his sword in a series of attacks. His combinations weren’t nearly as fluid as Warriors’ were, but what he lacked in grace he made up for in ruthlessness. Warriors blocked the attacks, keeping one eye on his form.

Legend took another step forward, overextending slightly and Warriors took the opportunity. Pushing back onto the offensive, Legend had to scramble to block the next couple attacks before falling back into his rhythm. But the damage was already done. 

“Back to center!” Warriors called, pulling back slightly, giving Legend a respite. 

“I am!” Legend huffed, but shifted his sword back to the center position. “Why do I need to keep going back to center? The sword isn’t hitting anything there.”

“Form is everything,” Warriors said, repeating the phrase that had been drilled into him for years. “From center, you can easily attack at any angle. So getting into the habit of pausing there will make it easier for you to shift between attacks quicker.”

“I didn’t see you going to center when we sparred,” Legend retorted.

“I did, but not like you are,” Warriors lowered his weapon, accepting that they’d be taking a quick break while he explained it. Legend followed suit, grabbing his waterskin as Warriors spoke. “Right now, I’m just trying to get you into the habit of it, but I’m already in that habit,” Warriors explained. “Once you start getting into the habit, your swings are naturally going to be a lot more connected.”

“So you’re training me to be flowy like you?” Legend deadpanned.

“Hey, flowy got me through a war!”

“And I evaded your entire army just the way I am.”

“Not my army,” Warriors mumbled. He shook his head. “Fine, think of it this way. I’m teaching you more techniques for you to use. Expanding your arsenal. If anyone would appreciate more weapons and ways to beat enemies, I thought it’d be you.”

“I don’t know, have you seen the Champion?” Legend retorted. But he sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, fine. Bring my sword back to center before each strike. What else do I need to know, Captain?”

Warriors frowned, counting off the lessons on his hand. “We talked about sword grip, talked about defensive lines, talked about center…” He hummed as he thought. “We can do footwork next.”

Legend sighed. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Warriors laughed, setting his hand on the other Hero’s shoulder. “Oh come on, I’m not that bad.”

“We’ve been at this for four hours.”

“Hardly any time at all,” Warriors waved his comment away. “Training days started at five in the morning and we didn’t get our first break until eleven.”

“Oh please,” Legend rolled his eyes. “You signed up for it.”

“I didn’t, actually,” Warriors said, not really realizing he said it out loud until he noticed Legend’s stare. “What?”

“You got drafted?” Legend asked, voice rising on the last word. 

“Drafted?” Warriors echoed, shaking his head with a laugh. “Hylia, no! I mean, sort of? If you squint.”

“What does that mean?”

“I…” Warriors sighed, shaking his head. “It’s complicated. The short story is that my father sent me away to the military academy when I was younger.”

Legend blinked, clearly shifting through the various retorts he could make to that statement. It only took a split second to make his decision, face falling into a smirk. “So Pretty Boy was a problem child?”

Warriors snorted. “Second-to-last child, more like.” His face fell slightly. “I had four older brothers. By the time I came around, it was practically a guarantee that I would get nothing from my family, and they treated me as such for as long as I could remember. So as soon as I was old enough, I was sent off to the academy.” He shrugged. “From there, it wasn’t that much of a question as to what I would do. So I joined the new recruits, trained for a while, and then the War happened.”

Legend frowned, lips pursed in an expression Warriors could only describe as thoughtful annoyance. “Full offense to him, but your father sounds like shit.”

Warriors barked out a laugh. “He was! The man disowned me after I left for the academy, but tried to ‘reconcile’ after the War.” He held his hands up in quotation marks, expression unusually bitter. “I didn’t have worth to him until he found out I was the Hero.”

Legend raised an eyebrow. “I take it that family reunion didn’t go well?”

Warriors shook his head. “I practically yelled them out of the castle. Proxi actually did.” He chuckled fondly. “But enough about my tragic backstory! You’re not going to distract me from teaching you proper footwork.” Legend groaned and Warriors barked out a laugh, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Unless you want to spill your tragic childhood as well?”

“Please,” Legend rolled his eyes. “The real tragedy is the rest of my life.”

Warriors laughed. “Such is the life of a Hero.” He drew his sword, holding it in a readied position. “Now, footwork. First rule is to be light on your feet, second rule is to be ready to change direction at any moment.”

Legend raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the fence where his pile of items lay. “Pegasus boots.”

“That’s an item,” Warriors countered. “I’m talking natural skill here. Now come on, we’re going to bounce on the balls of our feet here.”

“I’m not a fucking bunny!”

----

Warriors lunged forward, opening himself up to a side strike. Legend dodged the frankly obvious blow with ease, going for the opening just as Warriors had planned. Using the forward momentum, Warriors stepped into a spin, leaning back as he turned to allow Legend’s blade to pass through air where he had just been. 

Legend’s right foot skidded outwards slightly as he pushed himself back into a returning strike, blade meeting Warriors’ as he completed his turn. “Good,” Warriors complemented. He pushed forward, stepping into his attacks. Legend shuffled backwards, allowing the momentum of Warriors’ blows to guide the pair back, but his footwork was significantly cleaner in Warriors’ eyes. 

Blocking a downwards strike, Legend took his chance, throwing much more weight into his block in an attempt to open an opportunity to retaliate. He grunted as he shoved Warriors back, stepping into the push, and Warriors was forced to step back. Legend followed his steps, darting to the side to try and get in a clearer shot, and Warriors was forced on his toes with blocks as Legend attempted to blindside him.

The Veteran growled as he darted away from Warriors’ counterattacks, taking a step back as his sword shifted back to center guard. Warriors dutifully stepped back, taking Legend’s signal for a break. “You’ve got better form,” Warriors said between breaths. 

“Better to beat your ass with,” Legend snarked, rushing forward. He kept his sword in center as he approached, not giving away his strike until the last second, and Warriors barely had the time to block it. Despite being pushed back a step, Warriors grinned. He swung his sword into an upwards block, pushing Legend’s sword away and retaliating with a swipe to his open side.

Legend took a step back, pivoting slightly to knock Warriors’ sword off course. He grunted as he twisted his sword upwards to block Warriors’ next move, and the pair locked into a series of quick exchanges. Swings met with blocks and any attempt for counters were met with the same. The clang of metal bounced around the pair as Legend began to push more ferociously. His heavy breathing turned into a growl as he pushed his weight into his next swings, Warriors moving back at an equal pace.

Warriors’ heel scuffed in the dirt, and he spotted Legend preparing for the strike he used to disarm him last time. Pushing more force into his swing, Warriors met Legend’s blade, pushing the tip down towards the Veteran’s shoulder to prevent him from sliding the blades. Legend growled as he disengaged, quickly jumping back into the series of exchanges once again. 

 As he pushed, Legend put more force into each swing, not quite to the point of overextending, but Warriors was watching for a slip-up. But as he watched the follow-throughs of his swings, he missed a feint and blocked at the wrong angle. As Legend’s sword hit his along a diagonal, the jolt sent up his arm loosened his grip just enough for Legend to wrench the sword out of his grasp. 

“Ha!” Legend breathed, grinning madly. “Beat you at your own game again.”

Despite the blade mere inches from his face, Warriors laughed. “Maybe you should’ve been the one teaching me,” he joked. Legend lowered his sword as Warriors grabbed his off the ground. “But that was great! Did it feel much different fighting this time? Your footwork was much cleaner, and your swings were much more precise.”

“It was different,” Legend admitted, flexing his left hand slightly. Warriors smiled at him, wiping his sword on his tunic before sheathing the blade. “But I was promised to beat your ass with all my items,” Legend huffed, sheathing his sword. 

“Tomorrow,” Warriors said. “Time’d have our heads if we stay out too late. Or if we destroy his ranch.”

Legend snorted, walking back over to the fence to collect his pile of discarded items. “Fine, but you better not cucco out when I get everyone to come watch our spar.” Warriors groaned and Legend laughed, hopping up onto the fence to put his boots back on. 

Warriors joined him by the fence. He leaned against the railing, sighing, and he hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Thank you.”

Legend paused, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you thanking me for beating you up before I’ve even done it?”

Warriors laughed. “No, no, it’s just…” he shook his head. “Thank you for sparring with me today, and letting me teach you. I just…” he shrugged, faltering for the right words.

Legend frowned at the boot he had half pulled on for a second before jamming his foot the rest of the way in. “You’ve been sparring with everyone else,” he said. “Figured you’d eventually want to spar with me.”

“You could’ve said no.”

“And miss out on besting you?” Legend scoffed. “Besides, you’re not the only one who wanted to gauge everyone’s strengths.” 

Warriors blinked at the comment, turning to look at the Veteran fully. Legend wasn’t looking at him, attention solely on tightening his boots, but Warriors could see the effort he took not to look back. Once again, Warriors felt his stomach twist at the thought of Legend being forced to fight off the knights of Hyrule. There was no question to him, the Veteran had not trusted him when they first met up. 

“And what do you think?” Warriors asked. “Learn anything from our spar?”

Legend snorted. “More than I thought I would.” He hopped off the fence on the other side, scuffing his boots into the dirt before grabbing his bag. He squinted back at the house as Warriors jumped the fence, turning to him as they start to walk back. “How much you want to bet Sky is harassing Wind with the cuccos?”

“Sky’s harassing Twi with them,” Warriors countered. “And Wild’s laughing his ass off from a safe distance.”

“50 rupees?”

Warriors held his hand out. “50 rupees.”

Legend smirked, shaking his hand. Maybe his grip was a bit tighter than usual, but neither mentioned it. Instead, they walked back in uncharacteristic silence, each mulling over what they had learned from the other. Despite Legend’s past, Warriors was determined to do what he could to prove to the Veteran that he could be trusted to have his back.

Chapter Text

“Shit!” Legend exclaimed, throwing his weight against the boulder. “Come on, move!” In the dark, he heard Twilight come up beside him, grunting as he helped try and push the block aside. But even with their combined strength, it wouldn’t budge. With a gasp for air, Legend pulled back, growling in frustration.

“Can you hear us?” Twilight called, pausing for an answer.

“Barely!” came a muffled response on the other side. Legend couldn’t tell who had spoken, and he could feel the tension radiating off of Twilight. Whatever had happened, they were thoroughly trapped, if they could barely hear the people on the other side. 

The voice spoke up again, and Legend couldn’t make out any of the words, but Twilight must have heard at least some of it. “Don’t use bombs!” he yelled, startling Legend slightly. “You could collapse the cave even worse!”

“Hylia above,” he muttered. He glanced around the darkened cave, trying to see if there was any other way out. The group had been travelling through the cave system to try and cut back on travel time, but a sudden cave-in had left him and Twilight separated from the group. But try as he might, his eyes wouldn’t adjust to the pitch black, and he had given his lantern to Sky.

Twilight sighed beside him, the sound of his boots scraping the floor echoing through the cavern as he leaned against the walls beside him. Legend tilted his head back to rest it against the rock, turning to face the Rancher’s direction. “Well?”

“We’ll have to find another way out,” Twilight sighed. “This cave is too unstable for us to get this passage unblocked. They’re going to find another way through the system, and we’ll meet them on the other side of the mountains.”

Legend frowned. “I thought Four said this was the only way through the system.”

“Fastest way,” Twilight corrected. “These caves are big enough there’s bound to be more than one way out. They’ll be fine.”

“And we won’t be?” Legend raised an eyebrow at the implication in Twilight’s tone.
“I never said that,” he defended. “I think I remember what Four had said the route out of the cave system would be, but since it’s so big, there’s a chance it’ll take a while for us to get out.”

“Then we better get moving,” Legend grumbled, pushing himself off the rock. “Here.” He reached into his pouch and pulled out his fire rod, the ruby glow allowing him to see a bit more. Twilight was no longer a voice in the darkness, but a Hylian shape discernable in the dim light. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything that lights up, would you?”

“No, I gave my lantern to Warriors.”

Legend sighed. “Alright then, let’s go.” He turned away from the blocked off section of the cave, venturing further into the depths, Twilight’s footsteps following close behind.

----

Twilight frowned, lifting a hand to run along the stone walls of the cave. The pair had been walking for a while, Twilight leading to the best of his abilities, but something felt wrong. He couldn’t quite place it, but the cave was starting to feel suffocating. 

He glanced over to Legend, who was holding the fire rod in front of him to light the way, but realized the Veteran’s face looked harder to make out than it had before. “Legend?” he asked quietly.

“Are we lost?” Legend asked, equally quiet.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight shook his head. “But is that fire rod… getting dimmer?”

Legend stopped walking, looking down at the fire rod in his hands for a moment before groaning in frustration. “Fuck.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Fuck?”

“Fuck!”

“What’s the reason for fuck?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

Legend waved the fire rod, Twilight momentarily flinching, but relaxed slightly when nothing happened. “This thing,” Legend explained, “runs on magic.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay. So why is it dimming?”

“It’s running out of magic,” Legend gritted, annoyance seeping into his tone. “Hyrule explained it to me earlier, my magic items work because they use part of my magic, but I guess my magic has been getting drained, so it’s running out of fuel.”

“That’s not good.” Twilight side-eyed Legend. “You’re not going to pass out on me like Hyrule does when his magic gets low, are you?”

“I shouldn’t,” Legend shook his head. “I swear I’ve used more magic than this before without any problems. I’m not even using it as a weapon for Hylia’s sake!”

“Shouldn’t,” Twilight repeated. He glanced around the cavern they were in. All the walls and passageways looked the same to him, but he remembered overhearing Four explaining the turns they’d have to make to get out. If he felt along the walls, they should still be able to find their way out. “Okay, hold my hand,” Twilight said.

Legend blinked, looking down at his outstretched hand. “What?”

“We’ll hold hands and feel along the walls,” Twilight explained, grabbing the Veteran’s free hand when he didn’t make a move. “You can put away the fire rod to conserve your magic energy or whatever, and we can feel along the walls to find the right turns.”

Legend gaped at him. “You’re crazy.”

Twilight scoffed. “This is nowhere near the craziest thing I’ve done. Now go on, put that fire rod away before you burn any more of your magic.”

Legend grumbled, but caved after a moment at Twilight’s deadpan stare. “You’re not nearly as intimidating as the Old Man,” he muttered.

Twilight laughed lightly before tugging Legend forward. He ran his hands along the cave wall for a few steps, turning to Legend. “You can reach the wall, right?”

“Yeah, I would hope so.”

“Alright, let me know when you can’t,” Twilight said. “Next turn is going to be a right, so you’ll have to guide us to it.”

“Will it be the first passageway to the right?”

“Yeah, it should be.”

“Should be?” Legend muttered. “I hope you know where you’re leading us, Rancher.”

“Of course I do,” Twilight retorted. “Now come on, we should keep moving.”

----

The pair of Heroes had been walking for what felt like hours. Twilight knew that was an exaggeration, but with how dark it was and how many twists the cave had, he had no way of knowing for sure how long they had been down there. He sorely wished the cave-in hadn’t happened, he couldn’t stand not knowing where the rest of their group was. Time called him overprotective, but he couldn’t help it. Not when their group had become so much like a second family to him.

Twilight’s hand suddenly slipped from its track along the wall, the loss of support startling him out of his thoughts. “There’s a doorway here, I think,” he said, but as he spoke, his voice echoed back through the cave differently. He frowned, tilting his head for a moment. “Maybe not?”

“Sounds more like a cavern,” Legend commented, tugging Twilight’s hand closer to his side of the corridor. They shuffled forward a few steps before Legend stopped. “Drops off on my end too,” he said. 

“I don’t remember Four mentioning the cave opening up at all,” Twilight muttered. 

“He was probably counting on us being able to see when giving us directions.”

“I guess so,” Twilight sighed. He shuffled closer to Legend, nudging him back towards the wall. “Lead us around the edge, I’m assuming the pathway is just on the other side, but it’d be safer to go around.”

“I can get out the fire rod again.”

“Only if we need it.”

Legend sighed, and Twilight could practically hear his eye roll. “This is the kind of situation that we would need it in.”

A sudden, invisible force slammed into the pair, cutting off whatever retort Twilight might’ve had. Twilight felt Legend’s hand get ripped from his grasp as he was shoved away from his fellow Hero. he slammed against one of the cave walls, crumbling to the stone floor in a heap when he felt the air around him change.

  Twilight couldn’t breathe as his entire body began to buzz. His limbs trembled as the magic in the air rushed into his body, taking control and forcing the all-too-familiar feeling to push through his bones and muscles. With a scream, Twilight felt his body twist and contort, limbs snapping and shifting at unnatural angles as he was engulfed in the dark magic. He distantly noted Legend screaming, but it sounded so far away compared to the pain and magic.

After a moment, he slumped forward, his paws giving out beneath him. His head throbbed and for a moment, he couldn’t see anything. His ears rang as he tried to pull himself back to reality. A noise cut through the fog, a distorted screech halfway between a laugh and a shriek, and he forced himself back to his feet.

Wolfie shook his head, trying to clear his mind and body from the aftereffects of the sudden transformation. He huffed, the heavy weight of dark magic in the air feeling like a suffocating blanket. The magic felt different from what he’d grown used to. Whatever had forced the transformation was not Twili in origin. 

He scanned his surroundings, trying to spot Legend. If he’d been forcibly transformed, no doubt the Veteran had been too. The pink fluff of fur was easily noticeable despite the darkness, but Wolfie frowned in concern at its lack of movement. He pushed himself to his paws, but before he could make his way towards his friend, a shadow moved in the corner of his eye.

He turned, hackles raised as he let out a warning snarl. He had no idea what had transformed them, but if he had to guess, it was probably whatever was lurking just out of sight. And Wolfie doubted it was friendly. 

A giggle echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the cave walls. Out of the corner of his eye, Wolfie saw Legend’s ear twitch. He growled a warning at the shadow, trying to keep its attention on him. If Legend was still out of it, he didn’t want that thing anywhere near him, especially if it was going to be hostile.

The shadowy figure moved towards him, and it coalesced into a vaguely Hylian shape. It’s two eyes, one red and one purple, glinted from the void, boring into his soul. A gap formed below its eyes revealing pristine white teeth, sharpened to a point. Wolfie bared his own teeth at the clear threat, crouching lower to the ground, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

Legend groaned, drawing both of their attention away from their standoff as the bunny pushed himself to his feet. He shook his head, blinking when he looked up. “Wolfie?”

Before Twilight could even call out to him, the shadow’s head whipped around, neck bending at an unnatural angle to look at the Hero. Legend’s ears shot up, eyes wide as he froze under the gaze of the other figure in the room. It bared its fangs in a twisted grin and before Wolfie could even yell out a warning, the shadow swept its arm in an arc, a wave of pure magical force flinging straight at the bunny, tossing him like a ragdoll.

Legend screeched, the sound cutting off with a sickening crunch as he hit the wall. The pink bunny fell limply to the ground, laying unmoving. Wolfie growled, the sound bursting from his chest as rage flooded through his mind. The shadowy figure laughed, the voice echoing mockingly, grating into Wolfie’s ears.  

“Poor little bunny,” a voice cooed, words distorting and jumbling to the point they were barely discernible. “Let me put you out of your misery.” The figure moved towards Legend, slightly-too-long limbs contorting as it moved.

Wolfie snarled, baring his teeth in rage as he charged at the shadow. He leapt at it, going for the throat, but it moved much quicker than he anticipated. It ducked out of his path, and he skidded on the stone as he landed, twisting around to snarl at it.

“And the Pup too,” the shadow giggled. It raised a spindly arm, palm open facing him. “Down, boy.” Wolfie yelped as a solid force of dark magic slammed into him, throwing him against the wall. For a second, he felt as if time slowed, his vision blurring as his head hit the stone. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, the gleeful laughter of the shadow fading out for a moment. Wolfie pushed himself up, shaking the ringing out of his ears with a snarl. Legend still hadn’t moved, and he’d be damned if he let that shadow get anywhere near his friend.

He leapt forward, pushing all his energy into his paws. He was quicker this time, managing to snag the shadow’s arm in his mouth and he bit down as hard as he could. The howl of pain that came from it made his blood run cold, but he pushed that down as he shook with all his might.

The shadow flung him off, but he skidded to a stop right in front of Legend, planting himself firmly between them with a snarl. “How sweet,” the shadow cooed mockingly. It shot forward, batting Wolfie away with a swipe of its hand before he could even register what happened. Twisting mid-air, Wolfie landed on his paws, running right back at the shadow. He leapt forward, latching onto its hand right as it tried to touch Legend. Shaking with all his might, Wolfie clamped down and tore the limb off with one jerk.

The shadow screamed in pain, backing away as Wolfie flung the severed hand away. Wolfie howled, pushing forward with bared teeth. In three swift bounds he was latching on to the shadow once more, tearing into anything and everything he could. Every time the shadow managed to fling him off, he was right back on it with a vengeance. He wasn’t going to let that monster anywhere near Legend.

Wolfie leapt at its neck, and as he bit down, something cracked. All at once, the shadow went limp, sinking into the floor of the cave. Wolfie backed away with a growl, eyes darting around the room. Keeping a lookout, he trotted back over to Legend, standing over him protectively. But when the shadow didn’t show itself again, he leaned down, nudging the bunny gently with his snout.

When Legend didn’t move or react, Wolfie knelt down, picking the bunny up by his tunic and settling him on his back. When he was sure he wouldn’t slip, Wolfie scanned the room one more time before pushing onwards through the cave. 

----

“Ugh,” Legend groaned, head flopping limply on Wolfie’s back once he finally slowed. His head was pounding, and the swaying movement of Wolfie’s gait was not helping one bit. “Let me down,” he slurred, weakly patting Wolfie’s side.

Wolfie stopped, twisting his neck to look back at him. “You’re awake,” he sighed in relief, not bothering to hide his concern. “Thank Hylia. How are you feeling?” 

“I’m going to vomit all over your back.”

Wolfie glanced around quickly before trotting ahead for a bit, the motion sending Legend lurching into vertigo once again. He groaned at the pain as his vision blurred, and he tried to focus all his attention on breathing. Luckily, Wolfie stopped behind a rock, hiding them from view should the shadow come looking for them. He knelt down, and Legend all but melted off his back, curling into a heap on the hard ground.

“Are you okay?” Wolfie asked, nudging the pink blob gently with his snout. Legend only groaned in response, cracking his eye open just enough to see the concern shining in the wolf’s eyes. “I can’t access any of my items in this form,” Wolfie said softly. “I’d offer you a potion if I could, you’ve probably got an awful concussion.”

“Of course,” he grumbled, shoving at Wolfie’s nose weakly. “Get off.”

Wolfie whimpered, taking a step back to give Legend some space. He turned around, pacing slightly as he kept an eye out for that shadow.

“What was that thing?” Legend asked. Wolfie glanced back at him to see the bunny slowly staggering to his feet.

“I don’t know,” Wolfie whispered, growling slightly at the thought of it. 

“Hope it didn’t follow us.”

Wolfie scanned the area around them. “I don’t think it did,” he said after a moment. He turned back to Legend, scanning over him for any external injuries. “Are you alright?”

“I will be,” the Veteran admitted. He reached into a pocket of his tunic, pulling out a red potion. “Luckily one of us can access their items,” he said, uncorking the vial and taking a swig. He raised an eyebrow at the wolf. “You need any of this?”

Wolfie shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. I may have been out of it for most of that encounter, but I doubt you came out of it completely fine.” He shoved the other half of the potion into Wolfie’s face. “Drink, I’m not wasting a perfectly good potion.”

“You could just drink the whole thing.”

“Or I could give you half so we’re both partially healed,” Legend snipped back. 

Wolfie sighed. He carefully took the top of the bottle in his teeth, tipping his head back to let the rest of the potion trickle down his throat. Almost immediately he felt the soreness in his muscles let up, the pounding he hadn’t even noticed in his head dull slightly. He huffed, setting the vial carefully onto the floor. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Legend waved his hand, shoving the empty bottle back into his pocket. “Now, change us back.”

Wolfie blinked. “Huh?”

“You have your magic cursed amulet thingy,” Legend said. “Use it and change us back.”

Wolfie frowned. “I don’t know if it’ll work,” he admitted. “The magic that changed us felt different from the magic I use. And besides, even if I could, you wouldn’t have a way to change back anyway.”

Legend growled in annoyance. “Fine then,” he huffed. “Then how do you suggest we change back?”

Wolfie lowered his ears, whining softly. “We’ll probably have to use the Master Sword,” he said softly. “That’s the only item I can think of that would be powerful enough to change us back.”

“Of course it is!” Legend yelled in annoyance. “And of course that’s going to be a pain in the ass to get, just like last time!”

“At least Sky knows now,” Wolfie offered.

“Oh yeah, that makes it a whole lot better.”

Wolfie sighed, turning to face the cave. “I guess we should get moving. I don’t know how long their detour is going to take, but we should at least try to get there before they do.”

Legend sighed, following the wolf down the path. They trudged slowly through the cave, neither Hero particularly pleased at the new complication. Wolfie continued to lead, taking them through the next couple turns, but Legend could feel the wolf’s eyes on him when he thought he wasn’t looking.

“What’s your problem?” Legend snapped finally. “Do you have to keep staring at me like that?”

“Why do you walk like that?” Wolfie asked.

“Like what?” Legend snapped. “Normal?”

“Yeah. You’re walking like a Hylian. You know that form isn’t really made for walking, right?”

“Oh, like you would know,” Legend sassed. “Mister Wolfos over here has so much experience in walking as a rabbit.” Wolfie’s ears flattened as a soft whimper escaped his throat. Legend’s ear twitched and he sighed, looking down at the ground. “Sorry,” he mumbled. Of course he forgot, Twilight had literally told him when he first found out about his dark world form and he forgot. 

“It’s alright,” Wolfie said softly, but Legend could tell it wasn’t alright. The bunny glared at the floor as they continued along in silence. Wolfie’s paws clicked against the stone floor as they walked, the chain around his paw chinking in time. Legend’s steps were silent, but after Wolfie’s comment, he couldn’t help but feel suddenly self conscious about them.

“What did you mean?” Legend blurted suddenly, still not looking at the other. “About my walking?”

“Huh?” Wolfie blinked, turning to look at him. “Oh, I just meant that I expected you to be hopping, not walking.”

“Hopping?” Legend scoffed. 

“You are a bunny,” Wolfie pointed out. “Any they do usually hop. And you’d probably be able to move a lot faster that way too.”

“I’m moving just fine, thank you.”

“Come on,” Wolfie groaned. “Just try it. We could get through this cave system a lot faster if you weren’t tripping over your feet trying to walk like a Hylian.”

Legend growled at the wolf, but it wasn’t very effective in dissuading Wolfie, who leaned down to nudge Legend forward. Legend turned to snap at the wolf’s nose, but got down on all fours anyway. Wolfie stopped, looking away to give Legend a moment to figure out the different way of moving, but after a few moments, a pink bunny hopped into view with a very sour expression on his face.

“Not a word,” Legend grit out, hopping forward ahead of Wolfie, who grinned, trotting to keep up.

----

“You need a new name,” Wolfie said, breaking the silence that had grown between the pair as they navigated the tunnels.

Legend sputtered, looking up to glare at him. “A new name?” he repeated. “You have a problem with my name? We have the same one.”

Wolfie huffed a laugh. “No, like a name for this form.” He tilted his head, gesturing with his snout towards Legend. “How about Bunny?”

“No,” Legend snapped, ears pulling back in annoyance. “Absolutely not.”

Wolfie’s ear twitched. “Well I got stuck with Wolfie, and I figured Bunny would be better than Bun.”

“Both those options are horrendous. I don’t need a new name, I’m perfectly happy with Legend.”

“Oh, come on,” Wolfie teased, wagging his tail lightly. “How will we be able to differentiate between Bunny Legend and Hylian Legend? Unless you want this form to be Legend and I start calling you Hylian Legend when you’re transformed back.”

Legend growled. “I will not hesitate to bite you.”

Wolfie tilted his head. “Is that how you’ve been fighting in that form?” he asked. “That doesn’t seem like the best way for a rabbit to fight.”

“I take it you’ve never been bitten by a rabbit,” Legend threatened. “I can change that real quick for you.”

“No,” Wolfie shook his head. “I mean, rabbits aren’t known for sharp teeth. They’re known for strong legs.” He looked down, eyeing Legend in a way that made his ears twitch. Objectively he knew Wolfie wouldn’t maul him to death, but being in this form while the other was in his, the prey animal instinct was a bit more prominent.

“So you want me to kick you then?” Legend snarked, trying to push down the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

“Sure.” Wolfie stopped, and Legend paused, gaping at him in surprise. 

“You’re serious?” Legend asked, eyeing the wolf warily. 

“You’re so worried about being defenseless,” Wolfie pointed out. “You never know when you’re going to get stuck in this form, you might as well learn to properly fight in it.” He grinned, baring his teeth in what was most likely meant to be a friendly manner, but looked nothing of the sort. “Come on, let’s see a good kick.”

Every instinct in his tiny body was telling him that suggestion was probably the worst option he had, but Legend didn’t bolt away like he wanted to. Tilting his ears flat against his back, he instead crouched low to the ground, facing the patiently-waiting Wolfie. 

After a moment to mentally prepare himself, Legend leapt into the air at Wolfie. He twisted his body mid-jump to aim his feet at the wolf’s side, tucking them close to his body. As soon as he felt his feet begin to brush his side, Legend kicked his legs outwards, pushing against Wolfie’s side as hard as he could. 

Legend was surprised at how quickly he was launched backwards, but Wolfie’s yelp of pain had him running up to him as soon as he landed. “Shit, shit, are you alright?” he asked frantically.

Legend glared when Wolfie had the audacity to laugh. “I was right!” he grinned, shaking himself as he stood up. “That was great!”

Legend blinked at him, gaping slightly before throwing his paws in the air in frustration. “I can’t believe you!” he yelled, voice echoing down the corridor. “Hylia, and you think Wild is bad?”

“What does this have to do with Wild?”

Legend growled but didn’t respond, turning to continue along through the cave. Wolfie trotted up alongside him, smiling only a little smugly, but Legend ignored his look. 

“And you said you were helpless in this form,” Wolfie grinned. “But you’re fast. And that was a good kick. You just need to get used to using your body a bit differently.”

“I suppose this is when you say ‘I told you so’?” Legend grumbled. “You’re really being too smug about all this.” He turned to glare at him. “I swear to Hylia if you planned this…”

“Planned this?” Wolfie echoed. “Oh, sure, I definitely recruited the local shadow demon to block off the cave and force us into our animal forms just so you could kick me in the side as hard as you could.”

“Just saying,” Legend muttered, rolling his eyes. 

Wolfie snorted but didn’t respond. The pair continued through the tunnels in relative silence once again, Wolfie leading the way through the winding paths. Legend frowned at the wolf, wondering how he could possibly remember all the twists and turns through the cave network. This was supposed to be a shortcut, for Hylia’s sake. This felt like when they first tried to get to Wild’s Kakariko Village, not a shortcut in Four’s Hyrule.

“Begend,” Wolfie said out of nowhere, startling Legend off from voicing his half-baked snip.

“Huh?”

“Begend,” Wolfie grinned, glancing down at the pink bunny. “That’s what this form is called for you.”

Begend spluttered at the declaration, Wolfie huffing a laugh at his reaction. “Excuse me, what?” Begend?”  

“Bunny and Legend,” Wolfie explained. “Begend.”

“Absolutely not!” Begend yelled, voice echoing through the tunnels. “That’s even worse than Bunny!”

“Well, can’t change it now,” Wolfie said with a grin. “You’re stuck with Begend.”

“I can’t believe you,” Begend growled. “I’m going to kick you so hard you’re going to end up back in your own–”

Begend cut off with a yell as the ground gave way beneath the pair’s feet. Wolfie yelped as he lost his footing, tumbling down the steep incline. The stones were jagged and cut into his sides, and he tried to tuck in his head as best he could. They were tumbling head over heels, and Wolfie had just enough time to wonder how much father they’d fall when he splashed into some sort of body of water.

He cried out in shock, losing the air in his lungs, and he flailed momentarily. He quickly managed to right himself, spluttering as he found that the water wasn’t deep at all. Coughing for a moment, he didn’t notice the slight glowing around his body, healing the cuts from the tumble.

“A spring?” Twilight asked, groaning as he sat up, finally breathing correctly. He put a hand to his forehead, pausing when he realized he was no longer in his wolf form. 

“A magic spring,” Legend corrected, looking around with the same confused wonder that was probably on Twilight’s face. “So much for the Master Sword being the only thing to change us back,” he muttered. “What is this, a Fairy Fountain? I don’t recognize the magic.” He turned to Twilight. “Did Four tell you this was going to be here?”

“No,” Twilight shook his head. “We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.”

“Ha!” Legend shouted, outburst echoing loudly. “I knew it! You got us lost!”

“It’s not my fault!” Twilight retorted hotly. “If we hadn’t been jumped like that we probably wouldn’t been just fine.”

“But we’re not!”

“We’re not dead, are we?”

“Not yet!”

“I can’t believe you,” Twilight shook his head, pushing himself up to stand in the shallow water. “At least we’re back to being Hylian again.”

“Finally,” Legend groaned, sloshing loudly as he stood. He glanced around, blinking in confusion. “Hey, why can I see?”

Twilight blinked, turning to the Veteran in confusion. “Because you have eyes?”

“No duh. I mean why can I see in this very dark cave that we needed a flame rod to see in?”

Twilight paused, realizing what Legend was saying. They could see fine in the dark when they were in their animal forms, but now that they were back in their Hylian forms, they should be back to being essentially blind, but he had no problem making out Legend’s shape. “Huh.”

“Where’s the light coming from?” Legend asked, turning around to look over the room. “It’s not a lot, but we might be able to… there!”

Twilight followed his point, spotting the light source. Along a far wall was a pile of boulders and at the top, a tiny sliver of light was peeking through. “That must be an exit,” he said. “Not the same one we were heading to, but that’s definitely sunlight. “ He turned to the Veteran. “Do you have anything to break through?”

Legend smirked, face illuminated in red as he slipped the fire rod out of his pouch. “Do I ever. Now stand back, Rancher. Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Text

Time ran the rag down his blade one more time, watching the flames that reflected in the newly-shined steel. His eyes scanned down the sword, looking for any more imperfections, but finding none, he set the cloth aside and slid the sword back into its sheath. With nothing to occupy his attention, he turned his gaze out towards the campsite, taking count as always.

All his boys were there, as they should be. He had been on first watch for only twenty seven minutes when Legend rolled out of his bedroll, not saying a word to Time as he settled in to join him for watch. He didn’t ask, only nodded when they had made eye contact, and politely averted his gaze when the younger Hero began polishing an ocarina with a faraway look in his eyes.

That had been one hour and sixteen minutes ago, and in that time, the rest of his boys had slept peacefully. Or, as well as they could, given their circumstances. They were all tired, he could see just how much they needed a break. He could only hope their journey would lead them to respite soon. They were in his Hyrule, but instead of heading for the comfort of Lon Lon Ranch, they were on their way to Castletown to meet with Princess Zelda. Hopefully they would have time to visit Malon after they completed whatever quest Zelda requested of them. 

Legend tensed beside him, snapping his attention back to the camp. He tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword, eyes darting around the edge of the camp for any signs of attacks. These woods were usually safe, only a few stray monsters bumbling around, but he supposed with all the portal activity there could be anything now.

After a moment, Legend got up, gripping his ocarina tightly, and made his way over to Hyrule. “‘Rule?” he whispered softly. Time frowned, taking one more quick sweep of the area before joining the Veteran. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Legend soothed as Time knelt down beside him. Hyrule’s eyes were wide, gaze flicking between Legend and something to the boy’s left, but Time didn’t see anything over there.

“Sleep paralysis?” Time asked softly. Legend growled in frustration, and Time gently started running his hand through Hyrule’s hair. “It’s alright,” he said softly. “It’s just us here, whatever you’re seeing over there isn’t real. You’re safe, we’ve got you.”

Hyrule locked eyes with Time, breathing sporadically through his nose. It pained him to see one of his boys like this, but there wasn’t anything you could do for sleep paralysis except wait for it to be over. 

“Just focus on me,” Time murmured softly. “We’re safe.”

“Fuck this,” Legend growled, gripping the ocarina in his hands tightly. Time glanced over to the Veteran, but before he could question him, Legend brought the ocarina up to his lips.

A soft melody floated through the air around them as Legend played. The melody was simple, just a few ascending notes, but Time could feel the magic in them. It wasn’t just a random song, Legend knew a song that was infused with magic.

Hyrule gasped, and Time’s eyes darted from the Veteran to the Traveller. Hyrule was blinking rapidly, taking in gasps of air through his mouth as he looked back over to where he must have seen something. Time reached down to hold his hand, but he blinked in surprise when Hyrule gripped his hand back. Hyrule pushed himself up slightly, leaning closer to Time but not taking his eyes off the spot.

Legend lowered his ocarina, notes fading away as he looked at Hyrule. “Are you back with us?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Hyrule breathed, blinking. He took a deep breath, glancing back at Time. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay.”

“You’re sure?” Time asked hesitantly. 

“Yeah. I just thought I saw…” Hyrule shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Time frowned, but Legend shot him a look not to push it, so he didn’t comment. Hyrule’s eyes slipped shut as he got his breathing to level out. He looked over to Legend, smiling shyly at him. “Thank you.”

Legend rolled his eyes, but Time could see the worry still shining in them. “It’s nothing,” the Veteran waved him off. “Consider it a pay-back for teaching me that spell.”

Hyrule smiled. “Then we’ll call it even.” He broke off into a yawn, stretching his shoulders back as he did so. 

“You alright to try and get some more sleep?” Time asked. “You’ll need it if we’re to make it to Castletown by sundown tomorrow.”

Hyrule nodded, shifting to sit further down in his bedroll. “Yeah, I’ll try. It’s getting…” he paused, mulling over his words. “Well, it’s not getting better, but easier, if that makes sense?”

Time nodded in understanding. “Of course.” He smiled sadly. “I’m afraid that’s all we can hope for.”

Hyrule smiled apologetically, shuffling back under his blanket. “Good night,” he murmured, curling up onto his side, back facing Time.

“Sleep well.”

Time stood, glancing around the edge of the camp again before settling into his spot for watch once again. He kept glancing over at the younger Hero, watching as his breathing slowly began to level out over the next several minutes. Time breathed a soft sigh of relief when it was obvious he was finally back asleep. The last time Hyrule had woken like that, it had taken hours for him to calm enough to sleep again. But it seemed it was getting better, if a little bit. He glanced over to the ocarina in Legend’s hands, curiosity bubbling up once again. 

“What song was that?” Time asked. 

Legend startled, his eyes snapping to Time. He fidgeted with the ocarina in his hands, frowning. As the silence began to drag, Time thought he wouldn’t answer his question, that perhaps it was too personal, but before he could tell him he didn’t have to, Legend spoke. “It’s the Ballad of the Windfish,” he mumbled. “Or at least the part for the ocarina.” His eyes dropped back down to the instrument, shielding himself from Time’s curious gaze. “Wasn’t sure it would work.”

“I’m glad it did,” Time said. “And I’m sure Hyrule is too. But I was wondering what exactly it does.” Time knew a magical song when he heard one, and he hadn’t realized Legend knew any, much less one he didn’t know.

“It’s the song to wake the dreamer,” Legend mumbled. Time could see the faraway look in his eyes and knew it was more than just a melody to him. They had all been through their fair share of divine-driven quests, but it seemed the Veteran had drawn a particularly bad hand. Time knew he hadn’t given them the full story of his journeys, but then again, neither had he.

Legend shook his head, drawing Time’s attention back to him. “You said sleep paralysis happens when you’re still caught in a dream.” He shrugged, still staring at the ocarina. “Figured it would be worth a shot.”

“Good thinking,” Time agreed. “There’s not much you can do about sleep paralysis, but that seemed to work pretty well.”

“Good.” Legend’s response was short, direct, and much heavier than it should’ve been. It sat in the air between them, tension pulling on Time, daring him to ask the question he knows he probably shouldn’t.

“You hadn’t heard of sleep paralysis before Hyrule,” Time noted slowly, carefully watching Legend’s facial expression. “Yet you know a magic song that can break someone out of it.”

The unspoken question hung heavy in the air between them. Legend’s expression gave nothing away, and as the silence dragged on, Time worried he had overstepped. It was always difficult to find everyone’s boundaries, but Time tried his best not to test them too much. But then again, a fellow Hero with magic songs naturally brought his curiosity forward, especially knowing the origins of his own. 

But the silence dragged on, and Time began to think he should apologize and back off. The fire popped and all at once, the tenseness in Legend’s posture crumbled, and he buried his face in his hands. 

“It wasn’t sleep paralysis,” Legend started, voice distant. “But it was a dream. I didn’t realize it at first, but…” he trailed off. Time didn’t push, not wanting to break the delicate air between them. Legend sighed, dragging his hands down his face as he sat up. “I had to go home.” he said, staring into the fire. “And I used that…” he stopped, shaking his head. “I used her song to wake the Windfish.”

Her song. Time did not miss the way Legend’s voice seemed to drop at the word. He may not be blessed with the Triforce of Wisdom, but Time didn’t need it to know that whoever she was, Legend would not be seeing her again any time soon. 

It broke his heart to know his boys continued to suffer. Twilight had spoken to him about Midna, and he’d seen firsthand the impact Cia’s actions had on Warriors. He knew he was lucky to have Malon, but didn’t they all deserve to have someone? 

Time sighed, shaking his head. “How cruel the gods may be,” he muttered softly. He spoke without really thinking, not expecting Legend to have heard, but the younger Hero snorted.

“Cruel indeed,” he said bitterly, eyes glancing back over to Hyrule’s sleeping form. 

Time glanced up, studying Legend’s face. Taking a chance, he sighed, reaching into his pouch to pull out his own ocarina. Legend eyed the blue instrument curiously as Time brought it to his lips. 

Despite the appearance, the ocarina Time carried with him wasn’t the Ocarina of Time. That one was being stored in a safe location that only he and Lullaby knew of. The one he carried was merely a replica, made to be an almost exact copy of the Ocarina of Time. The only difference was that this one didn’t have any magic properties, so he was safe to play the songs from his journey without accidentally complicating things. The Triforce of Courage could still power them if needed, but it was at his control now.

So when he played her song, it didn’t call upon her for help. The melody was just that, an upbeat tune that bounced around for a moment, and Time glanced over at Legend when he finished. “She was more of an older sister to me,” he said softly, voice a stark contrast to the music he had just played. “But I had to leave her behind when I left for my journey.” 

“Was?” Legend asked after a moment.

Time smiled sadly. “Kokiri die if they leave the forest. I was never really one to begin with, but now that I know, I’ll never truly be able to go back.” He sighed. “I’m too Hylian to be Kokiri, but some days I feel I am too Kokiri to be Hylian.”

Legend frowned, and Time suddenly felt very small, as if he were still a child trapped in an adult body. He didn’t talk about his past with the Kokiri, even to Malon. It just made him feel wrong, like he didn’t really belong. Not that he regretted his past or disliked his present, but the feeling of not quite belonging to either life hurt. So he ignored it, for the most part.

“I can’t go back either,” Legend offered quietly. “The island…” he trailed off, running his thumb over the ocarina. He sighed, letting his hands drop limply into his lap. “It doesn’t exist anymore. Never really did to begin with but…” A place only he remembered, people that existed only in his memory. Legend had learned to not mention the island to anyone, hadn’t even played her song in what felt like ages.

“The Lost Woods is avoided by Hylians for a reason,” Time said. “No one knows of the Kokiri living there because Hylians who go into the Woods don’t come back.” Malon believed him, and Zelda did, but anyone else? It was brushed off when he was a child, calling him a kid with an overactive imagination. But now that he was an adult again, he had no doubt the reception would be less than ideal.

“No one knows about the island,” Legend said. “But that’s because it was created by a dreaming god, so…” he shrugged, but Time could hear the hurt beneath his nonchalant attitude. His boys really had been through too much. He had hoped, when he first met them, that perhaps the other Heroes had come out of their struggles better than he had, but it seems they had met with equally terrible fates.

“How cruel the gods may be,” he sighed, shaking his head. He glanced around the campsite, taking in the sleeping forms of his boys. They deserved so much more than what they dealt with, and it frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t do more to help them. 

Legend sighed. “At least we know the song can help Hyrule.” 

Time’s eye landed on the Traveller, relieved to see the boy sleeping peacefully. “I’m glad it worked.” He glanced to the side, gauging Legend’s facial expression. “Would you be willing to teach me that song? I understand it’s personal to you, but if more of us know how to play it, perhaps we will be able to make sure Hyrule gets help sooner.” Legend didn’t react right away and Time quickly continued. “I could teach you Saria’s Song, in exchange.”

“Saria?” Legend repeated, glancing over at Time. “Was that her name?”

“Yeah,” Time stuttered. “I know her song doesn’t help us much, but…”

“Her name was Marin,” Legend said, cutting off Time. He met the older Hero’s gaze, eyes shining in a mix of sadness and determination. “And I think… she’d be happy knowing she could help.”

Time gave him a bittersweet smile. “Saria was the same,” he said softly. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before shaking his head. He looked over to Legend expectantly.

“I won’t play it now,” Legend said, gesturing with his head to the sleeping Heroes. “It might wake everyone up. But I can show you the notes.” Time nodded and Legend scooted closer, holding his ocarina out in front of him to catch the light of the fire. Time held his ocarina up, resting the mouthpiece on his chin as he watched Legend.

“The first three notes repeat,” the Veteran said, moving his fingers to show Time the fingerings. Time followed along, repeating the pattern a few times to get a feel for it. “Not so fast,” Legend said. “Slower. It’s a ballad, not a song.”

“Right,” Time nodded, slowing his repetition of the fingerings to match Legend’s pace a bit more. 

The Veteran nodded approvingly. “Next part starts higher here.” He showed Time the first note. “The next few notes skip down a few steps like this.” He went slower this time, giving Time a chance to figure out the newer pattern. “And then it repeats back up to the second note here.”

“Hmm,” Time frowned, following along. “Are they all the same length?”

“First two sets are slightly longer on the last note,” Legend said. “This one is a little longer on the last two.”

“So, it would be like this then?” Time combined the two sets of notes to finger through the song, pausing on the notes Legend had said would be longer. 

“That’s it,” Legend nodded approvingly. “Technically there’s more to it, but it seemed that I only needed that first verse to snap Hyrule out of it, so that should be enough for you to help.”

Time hummed in agreement. “I’ll play it for you in the morning, just so we can be sure it sounds correct.” He lowered his ocarina, scanning the camp’s perimeter for a moment before continuing. “Would you like to learn Saria’s Song now or wait until the morning?”

“I’m not sleeping tonight, Old Man,” Legend said. “And you still have some time left on your shift, so we might as well learn it now.”

Time chuckled despite the concern for Legend. The boy needed sleep, but he wasn’t going to push any more than he had tonight. “Alright then, I’ll show you Saria’s Song.” He held his ocarina out in a similar manner to how Legend had, letting the younger Hero see the fingerings. “It has a few more notes than the Ballad of the Windfish, but the pattern is actually pretty similar.”

“You’re not playing it?” Legend asked.

“It’s a bit jaunty for this hour,” Time chuckled. “It may not have its magical properties anymore, but it could still wake the others.”

Legend raised a brow at the mention of magic, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, he nodded, holding up his ocarina in a similar manner to how Time had, and watched as the older Hero showed him the notes.

“First three notes go up like this,” Time said. “And repeat once, just like the ballad you played.” Legend copied his motions, fingers moving faster as the notes changed quicker. He was a quick learner, Time noted, though it really wasn’t a surprise.

“The next part starts out with the same notes, but continues up two more,” Time explained. “And then goes back down.” 

“Is that a jump in there?” Legend asked, watching Time’s fingerings. “Down two, up one, back down?”

“Yeah,” Time nodded. “Got it so far?”

“I think so,” Legend frowned, fingering through what he had shown so far. “Like this?”

Time watched his fingers, motioning for him to loop them again. “Yes, that looks right. The next part is similar, starts with the same repetition. But after the third pass up, it goes higher instead of back down, like this.” Time ran through the first set of fingerings faster, but slowed to show Legend the change. “And the last bit jumps down and back up, rather than up then down.”

“Hm,” Legend frowned, following along slowly as Time showed the new notes on loop. After a few tries, he was able to move his fingers in time with the older Hero, and Time nodded.

“There you go,” he said. “It’s still pretty repetitive, but it is faster than the Ballad of the Windfish.”

“Yeah,” Legend nodded, still cycling through the fingerings. “And it holds a bit longer on the highest and lowest notes?”

“Mhm,” Time affirmed. “But it’s not a long pause. The notes move quickly.”

Legend hummed, leaning back against the log as he continued to fiddle with his ocarina. Time watched him go through the fingerings a few more passes before nodding. He turned his attention back out to the group, letting his eye linger over each of his boys briefly. It was a peaceful night and after assuring himself none of them were having any more nightmares, Time pushed himself to his feet, twisting to pop his spine as he stretched. 

“I’m going to get a bit more firewood,” he told Legend. “Hold down fort while I’m gone?”

Legend smirked, giving him a mocking salute. “Don’t break anything while you’re out, Old Man. It sounds like your spine’s gonna give out at any moment.”

Time rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “No promises.”

Legend cackled, covering his mouth to stifle his laughs when Twilight mumbled in his sleep, shifting to roll onto his side. Time watched him for a moment to make sure he was still asleep before sending a fake glare at Legend. The Veteran met the glare with one equally ridiculous and they held the standoff for a moment before both of their expressions melted into grins.

“Have fun, Old Man,” Legend waved him off. Time sent him a thumbs up, turning and disappearing into the treeline. Legend stared at the spot Time had disappeared from view for a moment longer before dropping his gaze to the instrument in his lap. He sighed, feeling lighter than he had before. He ran his thumb around the edge of the instrument, a soft smile making its way onto his lips.