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Wild had assured them that this area had no venomous animals when they set out to gather mushrooms. He was wrong. As Hyrule reached out to grab a mushroom tucked in a tuft of grass, a black snake slithered into view. It struck like lightning. He had barely any warning before it had its fangs sunk through the leather of his gloves and into his wrist, then just as quickly, it disappeared into the bushes.
Hyrule stood, stunned for a few seconds. Around his wrist, on the top and bottom were four neat punctures in his leather gloves, leaking blood. The whole attack had gone by too quickly for him to shout, and it seemed a bit redundant to do it after the fact. Though now, squinting at his wrist, he feels like he should have at least gone after the snake. How long until he knew if it was venomous?
“What’s wrong?” Wind asks as he passes by. He is using the bottom half of his tunic to carry an exorbitant amount of mushrooms, and he shuffles awkwardly to get closer. Once his eyes catch on the little punctures, he hisses in sympathetic pain. “Ouch, that looks like it hurts!” he says, leaning over to peer more closely at it.
“Not really,” Hyrule says dazedly. Delayed, he pulls the handkerchief he uses to wipe sweat from his face out of his pocket and presses it firmly to the wound. “Just a little sting,” he says.
“You sure it’s not poisonous?” Wind asks, wrinkling his nose as blood soaks steadily through the well-loved fabric, “That looks like a snake bite.”
Hyrule nods and pulls the handkerchief away to reveal smears of crimson on the off-white fabric. He feels a bit sick looking at it. “Wild said none of the snakes here were venomous,” he defends himself weaky.
“I’m gonna go get Wild, just in case!” Wind says anyway, dropping his mushrooms at Hyrule’s feet and sprinting away. Hyrule watches him go before looking around himself. Where had the snake gone? He would probably need it, so Wild could tell them if it was safe or not.
He turns towards the little tuft of grass, the mushroom still shiny with morning dew twinkling up at him. He takes one step towards it, then the entire forest tilts on its side and sends Hyrule tumbling into the grass. He feels a little dizzy and short of breath as he clutches the cloth to his wrist. Mushrooms lay discarded around him haphazardly. It feels like a waste. He would move to collect them if it wasn't such a monumental task to merely draw breath.
He closes his eyes and pulls in a wheezy gasp. The grass under his face is dewy and cool, a jarring contrast to the heat he feels boiling under his skin. He shivers. The wound on his arm is starting to throb now to the rapid beat of his heart.
Not long after, he hears footsteps in the grass. Pressing his ear to the ground, he hears two pairs of feet thundering towards him. Panicked, stuck prone, and vulnerable on the wet earth, Hyrule struggles to his hands and knees. He manages to crawl a short distance before he tries to support himself on his painful arm, and he goes crashing back down. The black encroaches on him soon after, fading out to the sound of his kingdom’s name called over and over.
When Wind and Wild make it back to Hyrule, the traveler is collapsed in the grass. He clutches a bloody handkerchief to his swelling arm, eyes squeezed shut as he wheezes. Wild falls to his knees beside him, calling his name to no response. When he lifts him from the ground, Hyrule groans, fingers tightening around his wounded arm.
“Hyrule, c’mon, Hyrule,” Wild coaxes, giving him a little shake, “I need you to wake up for a minute and tell me what happened.” Hyrule’s head lulls against his chest, the back of his neck wet with sweat against Wild’s forearm.
Wind crouches beside them, eyes wide and face pale. “What’s wrong with him?!” he cries. Both Wild and Hyrule wince at the volume.
Reaching up to loosen the ties on Hyrule’s tunic, Wild gives him a quick once over. Hyrule is sweaty, pale, and wheezing. He can feel his pulse hammering quickly against the artery in his neck. His wrist and hand where he was bitten are swelling and what skin he can see under Hyrule’s leather sleeves is red and blotchy. The fingers are starting to look more like overfull sausages, than Hyrule’s slender digits. Wild grimaces.
“I think it’s snake venom,” he says, carefully adjusting Hyrule against his chest, “But there aren’t any venomous snakes around here….” He looks up at Wind. “Did you see what bit him?”
“No, I didn’t see him until after he was bitten,” Wind says, distant and wavery, “I know what we have to do! We… We have to suck… the venom out!” He lunges for Hyrule’s arm, and Wild has to kick him away.
“None of that,” Wild barks. He feels a bit out of his depth with their medic being the one down, but he remembers well enough Zelda’s careful instructions regarding snake bites. Sucking on wounds, especially punctures, only risked infection or a second poisoning. The only thing to do at the moment was not to move the victim around too much and loosen any tight clothing around the bite. “Help me get his glove,” he says.
Wind flounders around Hyrule’s hand for a moment, searching for where the glove actually ends. It is laced all the way up his arm, and Wind has to lift both his tunic sleeves up to his shoulder before he can pull the tight knot holding the glove secure. Gently, he slides the thick leather down Hyrule’s arm, wincing at the red mottled skin he finds underneath. Then as he moves lower still, he catches sight of something on Hyrule's left hand and gasps. The mark of the triforce glimmers on the back of his hand, all three triangles glowing softly.
Oblivious to it, Wild takes Hyrule’s hand from Wind and examines the bites on the wrist. They aren’t horribly deep, mostly stopped by the strong leather gloves. Hyrule moans when his fingers skate near the wound, and Wild mutters an apology. Wind captures his hand again, pointing at it.
“Wild, look,” Wind says, sounding as breathless as Hyrule.
“What? Another bite?” Wild asks with agitation, though when he glances at Hyrule’s hand, he pauses. “A tattoo?” he asks.
“Not… not exactly,” Wind says, “You've never seen this?”
Wild frowns. “It’s in the royal family’s crest,” he says after some thought, “If Hyrule is a hero of the royal family, then it would make sense for him to have that kind of tattoo.”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Wind says reluctantly.
Wild huffs. “Whatever it is, we don’t have time for it,” he says impatiently. He squints at the shallow bites leaking blood on Hyrule’s swelling wrist. “This is what’s important right now,” he says showing Wind the bites, “It doesn’t look too deep, so that’s good. But without knowing what snake did it, I can’t tell for sure.”
“Right,” Wind says, shooting to his feet, “Right, I’ll… I’ll just go find it!” He draws a knife from his boot. It looks old and jagged with a wickedly sharp blade. Wild blinks at it.
“No,” he says, “Go and get the others. We can’t move Hyrule too quickly right now, and I don’t want you getting bitten too.”
“But-“ Wind begins to argue, brandishing his knife.
Wild hardens his expression, channeling every iota of Time that he can as he says, “No. Go get the others.”
Wind lowers the knife before nodding once at him and sprinting off through the forest towards their camp.
With Wind gone, Wild carefully sets Hyrule down again, grimacing when all he gets from the slight traveler is a breathy groan. He pulls a rag from his slate, carefully dabbing at the tiny punctures and cleaning the blood from his skin. If they are lucky, Twilight might be able to track the snake using its scent on Hyrule or the soiled rag or handkerchief.
Wild presses a hand to Hyrule's forehead under his sweat-soaked bangs. Hyrule is sweaty, but his skin is clammy and cold. When Wild checks his pulse in his throat, it beats thready and weak, but much too fast. Not good, Wild surmises. He quickly lifts Hyrule’s legs into his lap, pulling the snowquill tunic from his slate.
When he moves to toss it over Hyrule, he finds the tiniest hint of amber staring at him from half-open lids. Hyrule squints at him, panting as if he had just run a marathon. “Hey, Hyrule,” Wild says, relief heavy in his voice, “Thank the goddess. Can you tell me what the snake that got you looked like?”
Hyrule ignores him, gaze sliding away from Wild to focus on his left hand, lying limply over his stomach. He squints at it, and Wild can feel the way his legs kick as he jerks in shock. “Glove,” he bites out hoarsely.
“Had to take it off,” Wild explains, “Your arm is swelling and it would hurt- Hey, whoa!”
Hyrule ignores him, struggling to sit up. His face contorts with the effort, sweat pouring from his hairline as he gasps for air. He barely manages to lift his head all the way before he collapses back, gasping and fidgeting, but too weak to move. Wild sets a hand on his chest, bracing him.
“It’s alright, Hyrule. Just relax,” he assures. Hyrule moans, high and distressed, rather than pained, his chest heaving against Wild’s palm.
“No,” Hyrule gulps, quiet and mournful, “No, no.”
He tries to roll away, but he is too weak and disoriented to fight against Wild’s hand on his chest. His legs push weakly against Wild’s thighs, but only really communicate how uncomfortable he is. “I know it hurts, ‘Rule,” Wild says gently, “But you gotta stay still.”
He writhes like a worm trapped in the sun, accomplishing nothing more than looking miserable. Wild takes to rubbing his chest in gentle circles until Hyrule is pulled into unconsciousness again. With that bout of exertion, Hyrule’s clothes are damp as Wild settles him back down. He grimaces at the way they stick to him.
The rest of the group arrives eventually, sprinting like the dead are on their heels. Wind is at the helm, but as soon as Legend catches sight of Hyrule sprawled on the ground, he is sliding into Wild’s space in a cloud of kicked-up mud and grass in less than a second. “What happened?” he demands, immediately dropping to his knees, “Wind said something about a snake.”
His eyes land on Hyrule’s arm and grimace at the ballooning swelling. The blood has pretty much stopped, but what is left crusted around the punctures has an ugly tinge to it. He hisses, fingers tracing over the wounds before Hyrule groans.
Wild waits for the rest of the group to arrive within earshot, crowding around them in a worried huddle. “I’m pretty sure he got bit by a snake,” Wild begins to the group at large, “It’s shallow, so I think he’ll be okay, but I need to find the snake to be sure.”
Twilight wrestles his way into the center of the tight circle they form, kneeling next to Wild. “What do you got for me?” he asks. Wild offers him both Hyrule’s handkerchief and his rag.
“Think you can find it with this?” Wild asks.
“Don’t know unless we try,” Twilight says, patting Wild on the back reassuringly.
Legend ignores their interaction, his eyes only for Hyrule as he presses a hand to his forehead. “If he’s so sweaty, why is he so cold...?” he asks, sounding small. His face is pale and his hands tremble where they run through Hyrule’s sweat-soaked hair.
“Uh…” Wild is certain alerting Legend to the fact that Hyrule is a bad turn away from slipping into shock would be detrimental to all of them.
Luckily, Time swoops in to save them, parting the group with authority and kneeling next to Wild. We’ll carry him back to camp,” he says, “Wild, you and Twilight go hunt down that snake.”
Nodding, Wild carefully helps Hyrule into his arms. “Move slow,” he says needlessly, as Time secures Hyrule against his chest. He looks fragile, limp against Time's rigid armor.
Standing with Legend trailing not far behind, he looks to others. “Let’s go,” he says.
Wild thinks that ordinarily there would be some arguments about him and Twilight being left to their own devices while the rest of the group clears away, but the situation is so hectic and Time so frantic in his own way that no one thinks to. They set off at a safe, but speedy pace in the opposite direction towards camp.
As soon as they are out of sight amongst the trees, Twilight shifts into Wolfie. He noses the handkerchief and rag for a moment, before setting off the other way through the trees. Silently, Wild follows after him, knife in hand.
Time is fortunate enough not to have experienced a snake bite. His lands are known for their lizards and frogs, but snakes are far and few between. Unfortunately, that means he is, overall, ill-equipped to handle Hyrule’s snake bite.
The traveler’s breathing is ragged, his body horribly sweat-soaked, and his arm swollen and painful looking. Time swears he can feel the kid’s heartbeat pattering against his back, and he keeps twitching and moaning, eyes moving restlessly under their closed lids. Despite being wrapped in Wild’s snowquill tunic, he shivers violently. Time doesn’t know what to look for, how to know when Hyrule is taking a turn for the better or worse. He just knows not to jostle him too badly, just like when someone’s been bit by a skulltula.
Luckily, Warriors takes charge at his side, listing off things they will need when they get back to camp. Four shoots off at a sprint ahead of them to prepare them. Sky hangs back, a grim look on his face as he watches Hyrule like a hawk while Time focuses on not shaking him around. Legend and Wind are clearly rattled, but they keep a brave face as they trail behind the group.
Back at camp, they put Hyrule down on a prepared bedroll, his legs propped on Time's knees. Four already has several red potions set out, a canteen, and several rags made from ruined tunics and undershirts. Time gently frees Hyrule’s arm from the snowquill tunic. Then he freezes when his eyes catch on a familiar mark on the back of Hyrule’s hand. Hyrule has the mark of courage, not only that, but he has two other triangles lit up in faded gold, one on the top and to the right. The whole triforce, blatantly on the back of Hyrule’s left hand.
“Not now,” Warriors snaps, pulling Time away from his thoughts. He props Hyrule up, lightly smacking his cheek. “C’mon traveler, wake up for me,” he says softly.
Four hovers nearby, a bottle of red potion clutched in his shaking fingers. His gaze is trained on Hyrule’s face, but every so often, it drops to the symbol branded on his left hand, uneasy. Legend paces behind them, casting glances out to where Twilight and Wild are likely combing through the woods, muttering curses.
Hyrule’s eyes peel open to slits. His pupils are dilated widely, leaving nothing but a ring of honey around them. He squints through the midafternoon sun at Warriors, heaving in breaths. Warriors gives him a reassuring smile, gently sliding Hyrule’s upper back into the crook of his arm while he reaches for the potion from Four.
“Hey there, ‘Rule,” Warriors says softly, bringing the bottle into Hyrule’s line of sight, “Think you can drink a little of this for me?”
Hyrule stares at him, hazy and uncomprehending. Then his eyes well up with tears and he squeezes them shut, allowing them to mix with the sweat dripping from his hairline. “No,” he whimpers, shifting restlessly, “No. Please.”
“Come on, I know they taste bad, but you really need it,” Warriors says, pressing the bottle to his lower lip. Hyrule turns his head away, grimacing as he continues to shake. When he takes his next wheezy breath, it shudders in his chest, and he hiccups.
“Gotta get out,” Hyrule whines, kicking his feet into Time’s knees. It could hardly be called a kick, more like a kitten-weak tap, “Please help me…”
By this time, Legend has come over. He crouches next to Hyrule, calling his name. When Hyrule opens his eyes, they immediately find him, clearing somewhat. “Hurts,” he says plaintively.
“Yeah, I bet,” Legend says sympathetically, “That red potion will help you out though. Think you can drink some?”
Hyrule’s brow furrows in confusion. “Red potion?” he asks. Then he turns his head back to Warriors. His eyes trace from the bottom of the bottle to Warriors delicate grip at the neck. He swallows thickly, then has to gasp for breath after the fact. He reaches for it with his left hand, slow and shaky, then his eyes focus on the mark on the back of his hand. They widen, and Time watches as the last bit of lucidity leaves Hyrule’s eyes.
He lashes out with his left arm, nearly knocking the red potion from Warriors’s hands. Red liquid sloshes from the lip of the bottle, landing on Hyrule’s tunic. He cries out, squeezing his eyes shut and kicking at Time, trying to roll onto his stomach. “Hold him!” Time snaps and Legend shoots into action, bracing both his hands on Hyrule’s shoulders.
“Let me go!” Hyrule cries, and Time’s heart twists. This is so reminiscent of the first time they met, with Hyrule in near hysterics after overusing his healing magic. “No!” he howls. His back arches sharply as he drags in a desperate breath, squirming under Legend’s arms.
“Calm down, Hyrule!” Legend yells, “We’re trying to help you!”
Hyrule jerks his head to the side, clawing at the dirt with his uninjured hand. Time braces his legs. It is sickeningly easy, as Hyrule is tiring quickly, gasping for breath and sweating profusely. He goes limp, tears trailing from his hazy eyes. “No,” he breathes, “No, no.” He dissolves into muttering. His words are too quiet to be made out properly.
“Wish you’d just trust us, ‘Rule,” Legend mutters, slowly releasing his hold. Hyrule stares at him dazedly, eyes dilated and glazed.
“I’ll just take him drinking a potion, personally,” Warriors says with frustration.
“He’s tired,” Four says, watching Hyrule with a furrowed brow and thinned lips, “Try now.”
Gently, Legend helps Hyrule to sit up. Hyrule trembles against him, from cold or fear, Legend doesn’t know. Warriors lifts the potion again, and Four gently grasps Hyrule’s right hand, rubbing circles on the back of it with his thumb.
“Please just drink this, Roolie,” Warriors coaxes, tipping the bottle against his lips. Hyrule’s muttering is forced to quiet when the liquid hits his lips. He swallows it as it trickles down his throat, eyes not leaving Legend’s face. He coughs after the bottle is finished, but his breathing comes a tad easier, more like heavy pants, no longer strained pulls of air through uncooperative lungs.
At Warriors’s nod, Legend helps lower Hyrule back to his bedroll. Sky approaches with a rolled-up blanket. Time slides out from under Hyrule’s legs to let him slide it underneath them. Four scoots up towards the head of the bedroll near Legend, dousing a rag with one of the canteens and slowly wiping the sweat from Hyrule’s face.
While he does so, Sky carefully pulls the snowquill tunic up around Hyrule's chin and pulls Hyrule’s blanket over top of that. “What now?” Wind says, shaky and sad, standing at the foot of Hyrule’s bedroll and wringing his hands.
Time sighs, looking over the group. “Keep him warm, and get him to drink water or potion when he’ll take it,” he says, “Hopefully Wild and Twilight will be back soon and they can give us a little more information.”
Sighing, he stands to leave Hyrule in Legend and Four’s care.
While Hyrule settles, he is never completely still. His eyes constantly move under fluttering lids, mouth open as he desperately pulls in air through chapping lips. He shifts constantly, stretching his legs, clenching his fists, and shaking his head from side to side. Legend watches anxiously.
An hour later, Wild and Twilight return with a pitch-black snake hanging limp in Wild’s fingers. He tells them it wouldn’t kill Hyrule, especially with how shallow the bite was, but it also means there is nothing to be done for the time being. According to Wild, the best thing for Hyrule now is to be kept comfortable until the venom has run its course.
Legend hates inaction and waiting, so he satisfies his anxieties by constantly whispering reassurances to Hyrule, and warming the frigid fingers of his right hand by rubbing them between his palms. He is afraid to touch the swollen mess that is his left, the limb is pudgy and blotchy from just below Hyrule’s elbow to the tips of his fingers. Despite the swelling, the triforce stays stubbornly stamped against the back of his hand, bright and incriminating. Luckily, none of the group that has floated in and out of their space has said anything. He doubts anyone will. None of them, including Legend, understand the implications of it.
He is dabbing away at Hyrule’s sweat-soaked forehead when the traveler’s eyes squint open at him. Legend feels like a weight has been lifted, peering down at those half-lidded amber eyes. “Hey,” Legend breathes, “Good to see you awake.”
Hyrule stares at him, licking his lips. He grimaces and shifts again, he lets out a small whimper. “Ledge…?” he asks breathlessly, blinking sluggishly. His eyes trail down to his swollen arm, and Legend is quick to cup his face, directing his attention away from it.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Legend says, “Think you can drink some water?”
Hyrule nods and accepts the bottle Legend holds to his lips, sipping at it with clear lethargy. Legend doesn’t worry over much about it though, it is good enough for him that Hyrule is awake.
“Gave us a scare, there, ‘Roolie,” Legend says softly. Hyrule doesn’t respond, but Legend doesn’t expect him to. Hyrule’s eyes fall shut and he takes purposeful breaths through his nose. They are coming much easier now, and when Legend presses his fingers to Hyrule’s pulse, not only is it much slower than before, his skin is also starting to return to normal temperature.
When he returns his gaze to Hyrule’s face, he is greeted by a pair of open eyes again. “Gotta go,” Hyrule slurs, moving to sit up. He tries to lift himself with his left hand before yelping with a wince, Legend quickly supports him as he pulls himself up with the other.
“You sweat so much, I’m surprised you have anything left over,” Legend says with good humor. Still, he helps Hyrule to struggle to his feet. Over Hyrule’s head, he catches Time’s concerned gaze, then gives him a thumbs up, motioning towards the surrounding woods. Nodding in understanding, Time returns his attention to his gauntlets.
Hyrule, surprisingly, leads the way, hobbling as swiftly as he can towards the treeline. “Not gonna argue with me about going with you?” Legend asks, somewhat shocked. Hyrule was the least ashamed about such things, but even would be overcome with some embarrassment at being helped to the toilet.
“Trust you,” Hyrule slurs softly. Legend feels a thrill of elation at the words. He tries not to examine that too closely.
He is distracted enough by it, that he hardly notices they have walked significantly farther than a bathroom break would warrant. “Uh… Hyrule?” Legend asks quietly, even as Hyrule continues to drag him forward.
“Shh,” Hyrule shushes him. He looks over at him with his overly dilated pupils and glossy sheen to his eyes, and the realization hits Legend. “Gotta get away,” Hyrule says, confirming his fears.
Legend digs his feet into the dirt, forcing Hyrule to stumble to a stop. He hangs off of Legend’s shoulders, panting with the effort of staying upright. “Why do we need to get away, Hyrule?” he asks when the traveler turns betrayed eyes on him, “What are we running from?”
With effort, Hyrule brings his swollen arm towards his chest, pressing the triforce against the damp fabric of his tunic. “They saw,” he whispers, eyes wide with fright, “They saw it.”
Legend grimaces. “Yeah, they’ve all seen it,” he agrees. When Hyrule’s face crumples with grief, he is quick to add, “They’ve all seen stuff like that before. We don’t need to run away.”
Hyrule’s expression doesn’t soften, but his knees do give out. Legend goes down with him, sitting in the dirt. Hyrule averts his gaze, devastation painted across his face and in the tears welling at the corners of his eyes. Legend reaches forward and directs his eyes to his own. “They’re not gonna hurt you for it, or try to take it from you,” Legend says, “It’s surprising, but we’ve all got a few surprises up our sleeves.”
“But… but, I shouldn’t have it,” Hyrule mumbles, watery and sad, “They’ll hate me.” He scrubs at his eyes with his right hand, sniffling. Legend isn’t sure if he should thank or curse that snake’s venom for this honest show of emotion. On the one hand, it makes him uncomfortable to just sit there while Hyrule cries softly into his hand, on the other, Hyrule probably would wait to do this alone in any other circumstance.
“I failed,” Hyrule whispers mournfully, “I shouldn’t have it. It should be in the sacred realm, but I can’t fix it.” He takes a deep breath, chest shuddering. “I can’t… I can’t keep it. It’s dangerous. But I can’t get rid of it.”
Legend watches Hyrule cry, thoughts churning. The whole triforce had to be a heavy burden without adding to the fact that Hyrule was the only thing standing between it and the wrong hands. Sighing, Legend carefully guides Hyrule into a loose embrace. When the boy doesn’t try to break free, he tightens his hold a little. “Not your fault,” Legend says, “And I’d say the others will be impressed with you if anything. You’ve just been… carrying that around like it’s nothing. And you kept it a secret to everyone."
Hyrule sobs wetly into Legend’s shoulder, exhausted and stressed. The fingers of his right hand grip Legend’s sleeve tightly. “I-I don’t kn-kno-ow what I’m- I’m gonna do,” he stutters.
Legend bites down on the frantic urge to comfort Hyrule as he begins to sob in earnest. There isn’t much he can say. He does not know how Hyrule’s story ends, and considering how bleak his world is already…
Legend viciously bites down on those thoughts. Instead, he rubs soothing circles into Hyrule’s back. “It’ll be fine,” he says, despite what his brain is cruelly whispering, “You’ll figure something out because you’re smart and resourceful. I have no doubt.”
Hyrule’s sobs begin to peter off, and he leans heavier into Legend’s embrace. “You ready to go back now?” Legend asks, patting his back.
“They’re not mad?” Hyrule asks with a small voice, barely audible to Legend’s ears.
“Amazed, maybe,” Legend says, “But not mad.” He gives Hyrule a firmer pat between the shoulders. Hyrule buries his face into Legend’s tunic, likely spreading tears and snot onto the shoulder and chest. Legend huffs a bit, ruffling his hair.
“Ready?” he asks, already shifting his hands so that he can help Hyrule to stand. Hyrule nods weakly against his shoulder, and together they get him to his feet.
As they hobble back to camp, Hyrule is quiet and thoughtful, the fevered confusion fading from his eyes. “Hey, Legend?” he asks plaintively.
Legend stops, gently this time, so Hyrule doesn’t jerk with the momentum. “Yeah?” he asks.
“I… uh… I actually do have to go,” Hyrule responds, averting his gaze and going pink.
“Ugh!” Legend groans, and Hyrule chuckles.