Chapter Text
Link is pretty sure he just made a very stupid decision but he couldn't exactly fault himself for it.
What was he going to do? Not go in the weird glowy purple portal that the Zelda's asked him to check out?
That didn't help the fact that he had no clue where the fuck he was.
Link was in the middle of nowhere, ruins as far as the eye could see.
He was not in Hyrule, nor Calatia for that matter.
Aside from the obvious lack of constant dark magic miasma, Link had never known what it was to breathe clean air before this moment , he was surrounded by empty ruins
It wasn't like Link had never seen ruins before. Of course he had, Hyrule was full of them, but this was not the same.
Ruins were normally recently demolished towns that hadn't had the time to rebuild. These ruins were old and empty. People weren't stubbornly trying to repopulate, they sat empty and lifeless and it creeped Link out.
The people of Hyrule were bullheaded and immoveable. They weren't like vibrant forests, they were dandelions. Growing between stones in spite of whatever had tried to smash them.
They would never abandon their home.
Which means Link was obviously not in Hyrule anymore.
Well... if there was nothing else to do he might as well wander.
He wasn't called the Traveling Hero for nothing.
Link picked a direction and started walking.
--
"Hey! Mister!" A random person called out, making Link sharply turn around.
It was an average man with dark brown hair and wrinkles around his eyes.
Malice pulsed softly around his form.
Link avoided the urge to sigh.
Was there no way to avoid monsters disguised as humans trying to kill him?
"Yes?" Link questioned, not bothering to draw a weapon.
This man posed no real threat to him, even if he was an ache the man was alone, and Link had his magic.
"Do you know about the Hero?" The man's smile took on a too-sharp shape, and yep, this man definitely wanted to kill him.
"Nope." Link said, popping the p.
"Really? But you remind me so much of him!" The man said with fake surprise. "One could even say you have the same spirit!"
"Really?" Link said in a perfect monotone. "That's so crazy."
The man glared at Link, face twisting up into such a hateful look that it nearly made Link flinch.
In a puff of smoke, the man transformed into a large muscular man with a long dual-bladed sword, and luckily he teleported away.
Link instantly reached for his sword but before he could even pull it out, the man collapsed. Arrow planted perfectly in the back of his skull.
Link blinked.
That… was probably a good thing.
"Hello?" Link called out from where the arrow was shot, not taking his hand off his sword.
A figure in blue and black jumped off some craggy rocks they were apparently perched on and began jogging towards Link.
Their aura was muddled with something Link couldn't place, something synthetic that made Link shiver. Utterly contracted by this, nature magic came off of the person in droves.
Whatever the synthetic stuff was, it was seemingly just leftovers from… something. It would probably fade with time, leaving only the magic of Faore left over.
The magic was clear in the way they ran, feet always landing perfectly despite not looking down. Utterly in tune with the land they walked.
It was pretty impressive.
Now that the person was closer, Link could get a good look at them.
He had on a lightweight black cloak, garishly blue tunic, and simple pants and boots. Looking back on the… monster's outfit, maybe the blue wasn't that garish? No one had access to bright dyes where he was from, but he wasn't exactly in Hyrule anymore.
Though the other person's most distinctive trait was the mess of scar tissue that covered his whole left side.
In all of Link's short years, he had seen plenty of scarred people. Scars were a fact of life. People missing limbs, full-body burns, gashes going from their thighs to their neck; Link has seen it all.
The new person's scars were particularly nasty.
Link was impressed by his clear reliance.
Moving with those things wouldn't be easy.
"You!" The man…older teenager...person said when he got close enough to avoid yelling. "What are you doing out here?"
"Um," Link said eloquently. "I was wandering around?"
"Next to the Thyphlo Ruins?!" The other boy sputtered. "Your in the middle of fucking nowhere!"
Link nodded sagely. "My ability to get lost is truly unparalleled."
The boy continued to stare at him and Link's skin suddenly felt too tight.
Sure he tended to get lost a little more… efficiently than other people, but he wasn't that weird!
This guy was staring at him for no reason and Link made a joke! People like jokes don't they?
Link tried not to curl into himself as the stranger kept looking at him, and this is exactly why he never spoke to people! They were all weird and didn't like him no matter how much he'd care about them and—
"Your sense of direction is worse than mine." The other boy said, taking his own sage tone. "Truly an impressive feat."
Link let out a shaky exhale.
That was a joke! A joke meant that he didn't hate Link and Link hadn't fucked up that social situation!
Link smiled and he hoped it wasn't as shaky as he felt.
“Thanks for, uh, saving me from that guy.” Link said politely.
He didn't need the help, not by a long shot, but help was hard to come by in Hyrule so he’d appreciate it properly.
“No problem.” The other boy responded with a big smile, his scarred eye squinting up so much it was practically closed. “I love to help!”
“Though…those fuckers normally don't bother normal travelers.” The boy frowned and his face twisted up and Link tried his best to avoid staring at the scars. “I have no clue why they attacked you.”
Normal travelers .
The boy had answered his own question and didn't even know it.
“Are you the Hero?” Link asked.
The man had said there was another Hero, and if anyone was wandering around helping random people it would probably be the Hero.
Not to mention the weirdly intense aura.
The boy blinked at him.
The boy cursed at himself, smacking himself in the face. “Sorry.” He said scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh. Nice to meet you, I'm the Hero Link.”
“Cool, me too.” Link responded, and by the Golden Power, he was a fucking moron.
“What.” Other Link said, staring at him.
“I’m Link, The Hero Of Hyrule.” Link explained. "I walked through a portal and ended up here and kinda just decided to wander around until I hit something."
Other Link looked at him before taking out a slate thingy and tapping it a couple of times.
"Your sword." He said, looking up from his slate. "What does the inscription say?"
" Never Wander Alone, " Link said awkwardly. "I got it inscribed after the man who gave it to me."
"The Hero of Hyrule's sword has only been seen by me and Zelda for the past 100 years." The boy said, staring at his slate thing before looking back up at Link. "You're definitely the Hero of Hyrule."
Link nodded briefly horrified that his sword had apparently been hidden away with the royal family for so long.
He had hoped to leave it in the care of a Great Mother.
"This is amazing!" Other Link exclaimed, grabbing Link's shoulders. "I was just praying to Hylia to send help for this monster problem and look who she sent me!"
"Hi." Link said, hoping that he would let go of him.
He was not expecting the other Hero to be the religious type, but the only religious people anymore were the Zeldas and Sheikah. Maybe this… Future Hyrule… was just more religious?
"Sorry." The other Link said blushing and retracting his hands. "I get overly excited and touchy."
Link smiled at him and patted his arms. "It's ok! I'm just not used to it."
"You said you needed some help?" Link asked, hoping his attempt to change the topic wasn't obvious.
What monster exactly would another Hero need help with, that would require him to pray for assistance?
"Black-blooded Lynel hoard." The other Link said with blatant exhaustion, and Link visibly cringed.
Fuck .
That'll do it.
"Are you ok?" Link asked, eyeing the old scars.
They could be old, or they could be the result of very advanced healing magic.
"Mostly?" Other Link hummed. "I engaged them, realized their blood was black, and immediately teleported away. Still got a fuck ton of arrows stuck in me."
Link winced with empathy.
"Lynels are the worst ." Link said with pure hatred and disgust.
“Oh yeah, same buddy.” The other Link said nodding and
buddy
?
Were they friends now? Or were they just friendly? Was this Link just friendly, or was everyone this friendly?
Dealing with people trying to kill him was so much easier!
He didn't have to worry about making and keeping a good impression, he didn't have to worry about the other person’s feelings, and he most certainly didn't have to worry about looking rude!
“Where are we anyway?” Link said instead of trying to figure out how to disarm that social landmine.
"We're in the Deplian Badlands, also known as the literal middle of nowhere. There used to be a Lynel here but, well… the hoard." Other Link said frowning. "The closest civilization is a bunch of plant children. I love the plant children but they don't have enough to support two fully grown Hylians for very long. It takes about a week and a half to get there. Nothing else for at least three weeks."
Link sputtered, of course, he’d end up here. Golden Power of Wisdom clearly did not deign to offer even an ounce of its knowledge to him.
Wait a fucking second—
“How are you out here then?” Link did not accuse, he simply asked with a lot of interest.
“I can teleport.” Other Link said, smirking slightly, and yeah that makes sense. “I was trying to see if these were all the Lynels were just organizing or if they were new.”
Ugh, he had a reasonable reason for being out in the middle of nowhere that wasn't just ‘I have a good feeling’ .
Link hated that.
"Our best bet is going past Korok village,” Korok? Like Kokriki? “and heading for the Sheikah tower so we can teleport out of here." Other Link explained.
“Can't we just teleport from here?” Link asked, his recorder allowed him to take people with him.
"Nope! The Sheikah slate only has enough power to teleport me, but if we can get to a Sheikah tower, those babies have enough power to teleport full armies!” Other Link said with a bright smile.
Wow, this guy is really happy and excitable.
Link had no clue how to deal with it.
“That's cool!” Link said horribly awkward.
“Yep!” Other Link said. “Lemme summon my horse and we can get going.”
Link nodded and stepped away as other Link whistled.
In a flash of weird horrible synthetic magic that made Link’s skin crawl, a milky white horse covered in flowers appeared.
Ok then.
That's a thing that can happen.
The horse was covered in the weird mechanical things that Link desperately wanted to rip off the poor thing.
The bridal and staddle’s unnatural magic was horrible but Link would grin and bear it.
He didn't want to be rude to his new… friend ?
Something hopeful and unknown bubbled up in Link's chest that he fiercely stamped down.
No need to count villages before monster season.
Other Link turned to smile at him from on top of the horse. "Hop on! With Hellion here the trip will only be two weeks instead of three!"
Link got into the unnatural saddle.
"Hellion?" Link questioned.
Didn't that have something to do with the realm Demise escaped from? Why would he name his horse after the God of Malice?
"Yeah like a mischievous child." Other Link explained, spurring the house into a light trot. "This little brat was a pain in the ass to catch, and she's so picky. An absolute hellion."
Link hummed in response, the horse certainly sounded like she was a personality, gripping his other waist tightly.
"Have you ever been on a horse before?" Other Link said still looking forward and Link slumped into his other's back.
"Am I that obvious?" Link asked voice muffled.
"Your death grip speaks volumes." Other Link responded with humor.
"Do you want to be tied to me? Or walk?" And Link was never going to get used to this.
"I'm fine." Link said with a normal amount of quickness. "As long as you don't mind my death grip and the inevitable bruises."
Other Link laughed brightly, like fairy chimes, and Link realized that no one but Zelda Beatrix, from before Ganon's rule, laughed like that where he came from.
That kind of free joy… it was beautiful.
Maybe his other and Zelda Beatrix could be friends?
They both smile and laugh a lot… nothing like himself or Zelda Winfred.
" Please ! I'm always covered in bruises," His other snickered. "I don't mind at all!"
"I'm going to speed up now." Other Link said. "I would say hold on tight but…"
Link smacked his other. “Just go bastard.”
And with a loud laugh, they were off.