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Chapter Text

An ancient young man sat upon the hardwood roof of the Lon Lon Ranch barn, holding a dozing cuccoo between his arms. He tasked himself with the thoughtless task of watching over his fellow travelers as they playfully sparred in the fields below. It was easier to focus on their movements when the air was easier to breathe. Currently, Four and Warriors were going at it, both having ditched their tunics in the early morning for light undershirts. The shorter of the two had no qualms with fighting dirtier than the knight. Barely coming up to his opponent’s waist was a benefit, giving Four ample room to dive under his legs, delivering a punctual kick behind the knight’s kneecaps. Flailing about like a ragdoll, Warriors tumbled over forwards with a shout of “ That’s not tournament legal! ”

Everyone laughed below as Warriors dusted the dirt from his pants, ignoring the cheeky look Four plastered on. Wind, who was coated in enough dirt that he looked like the second coming of Wild, turned from the group up to his predecessor on the roof.

“Hey, Sky! Come play with us!” The child shouted.

“We aren’t playing.” Warriors said, slicking a hand through his dirt ridden hair. “We’re sparring.”

Wind turned to stare Warriors in the eyes, and whipping his head back up to Sky, he shouted, “We’re playing!”

Sky chuckled, bringing his feet under him and cradling the cuccoo to his chest. The roof wasn’t too far off of the ground, and much shorter than thousands of feet.

“There’s a ladder to the left,” Twilight, ever helpful and only wearing one sleeve, walked from his place in the circle of heroes to a wall of the barn.

Leaning over the edge, Sky could see his sailcloth bundled on the ground, along with his other two tunics and chainmail, all a layer of cloth between Fi and the dirt. So, he didn’t have as many layers on as usual, he’ll be fine. Much to the, very vocal, shock of the others, he tipped over the edge headfirst.

Curling into a roll as he hit the ground, the forward momentum helped in the efficiency of springing back onto his feet. The ball of feathers in his arms chirped in displeasure, and suddenly everyone else was either frozen with horror on their face, or slowly backing up. He still doesn’t understand why they’re all afraid of the lovely little birds, something all of the rest of them share.

“Oh, relax.” He said to the rest of the group. With one hand, he smoothed the ruffled feathers of the cuccoo. He placed the poor thing back into it’s fenced-in coop, and a few of the other birds came to meet him. He lent over the wooden fence to graze his hands through their feathers.

Turning back to the others, he pressed a knuckle to his lips to prevent any laughter from spilling out. There they stood, the Heroes of Courage, looked dead terrified of a couple of small avians. 

"Alright boys," His light, white shirt rustled in the soft breeze as he took a place within the circle. "I'm going to need a sword."

Time was the first to scoop his jaw from the floor.

"I think I have something you can use, one of Malon’s." The eldest stepped into the house for a brief second where Malon and Wild were both working to make a meal for ten. 

In the corner of his eye, he could see Twilight walking his way back to the group to stand next to him. It wasn't hard to tell the rancher wanted to say something, his feet kicked up dirt as he shuffled and he was practically drilling a hole into the side of his head. 

As conversation arose in the field, the house door reopened.

The thin blade Time returned with piqued Sky's interest.

"Here," He tossed the sword over once he was back in the circle.

The blade was much lighter than the Master Sword. With a flick, the air whistled as it parted by a swipe of the blade. He twisted the handle in his palm, fingers just brushing underneath the ornate knuckle guard.

Turning his head back up to Time, he was greeted with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Time. "

Sky stepped forward into the ring, stepping onto the edge of a dirt circle. Quickly, Four scrambled out of the circle, Warriors two steps behind.

"Any takers?"

Legend, sitting on a log he had dragged from the nearby woods, scoffed. “And get my shit wrecked? I’ll pass, thanks.”

Both Wars and Time tried to get a word in, maybe say something about ‘Being a team player’ or ‘ Don’t be an ass’ . However, Twilight stepped up to the ring before either could speak with a “I’m down.”

Wind, the boundless ball of energy he is, decided to be Twilight’s hype-man, dragging him to the otherside of the circle. The youngest practically ripped the practice sword used in previous rounds from Wars’s grasp and threw it hilt-first into Twilight.

“Now I wanna see good work out there, rancher!” 

Wind started circling Twilight like a vulture, or an eager coach with too much on the line to lose. “We have money on the line for your victory!”

Twilight turned to stare at Wind with nothing less than shock on his face.

“You- You do?”

“Of course not, dumbass, we just started.”

Hyrule walked to the center of the circle, elected to play referee. “Are you two ready?”

Sky nodded, Twi slowly doing the same as the two walked into the ring. The circle itself couldn’t be called large, but there was more than enough room to fit two opponents. He could stuff eight other fighters in the ring, swing, and miss by a longshot. With the thin sword at his side, he stood little more than two steps away from the center, with Twilight an imperfect mirror.

“Okay,” Hyrule started. “Do I need to go over the rules, Sky?”

“No need, I could hear Wars scream the rules from the roof.” Twilight and Hyrule both laughed from that. Warriors, heel in the dirt, let out an indignant shriek.

“Then, let’s get ready.” Hyrule stepped backwards outside the ring. And, without further instruction, Sky lifted his blade to cross in air with Twilight’s own broadsword.

“I’m not goin’ easy on you.” Twilight smirked, they both took two steps further back.

“Fine by me.” Sky lowered his sword. The twitching of Twilight’s fingers against his blade caught his eye. The other was getting impatient The air was thicker, smothering from the dying light of the sun as it straddled the horizon line. As all his incarnations watched every slight move he made, breathing the air became a weighted task on his lungs.

“Begin!”

The first rule to sword fighting is one everyone has heard of. You circle your opponent like prey. Be patient, and soon they’ll make the first move. Whether out of recklessness or impatience, your opponent will come running in. So, Sky put his age-old lessons to test. The first step he took to begin his stalk, Twilight followed in parallel. He took another, and Twilight followed. Perfect. 

With deft footing, he continued to walk around in the circular pathing, schooling his face to a mere smile. It didn’t take much longer for Twilight to start showing brief, fleeting signs of restlessness. Though he would never admit it, Twilight has yet to perfect a poker face. It was much too easy to predict the first swing

Twilight dashed in once his impatience had reached his limit, going in for a few, brief strikes with his strength following through each swing. Each was more difficult to dodge than the last, blocking with the blade was out of the question. He wasn’t sure if the thin silver would shatter under the force of Twilight’s swing.

Defensive it was.

With a duck, the broadsword swung over his head, leaving a wide opening on the rancher’s side. It was easy to rush in and flick the light blade right against his ear. However, Twilight managed to stumble across the uneven dirt backwards.

Sky lifted his head, settling back on his heels, giving the other a few seconds to readjust his footing. From the sidelines, the audience cheered and murmured amongst themselves. Some trying to be ' helpful ' and throwing well-known advice into the ring.

"Knock him down while he's unsteady!" Thanks for the advice, Warriors, but Sky wasn't going for cheap shots.

Twilight rushed in again, whipping the blade to slice near Sky's abdomen. With only a second to spare, Sky bent backwards to press his free hand into the dirt, and with a fluid motion, managed to give a kick to Twilight’s jaw as he pulled off a back handspring.

This time, Twilight was quicker to recover. Then came the onslaught of strikes. Sky had to dodge each with backwards steps or full-body movements. His heel passed the dirt-drawn line and he tensed, awaiting the call from Hyrule for a penalty, or to declare a winner.

When nothing came from the traveler, and with a quick glance to ensure nothing would, Sky took another step out of the ring. He was backing up towards the forest, gaining towards the trees with every swing from the rancher.

He went for a jab with the sole goal of possibly gaining more ground. The parry that followed almost knocked the blade from his hands.

Twilight stopped, too kind for his own good, and asked "You alright?"

In all honesty, no. He was tired, the air was far too dense to breathe, and he was starting to get hungry. Even so, he grinned something fierce with his teeth on display. The slight heaving of his chest did little to help the appearance of power.

"Better than you'll be." With nothing more than his speed and blade, he rushed back in. It took Twilight too long to bring his blade back up, leaving him mostly defenseless. Sky managed a strike, resulting in a shallow nick just below the eye in a laughable mimicry to Time’s markings.

At that moment, the flat of a blade threw him off balance. Right, Twilight must have taken advantage of the opening during his strike. In a real fight, he'd most likely be bleeding out on the ground for that lapse in thinking.

Twilight approached, and Sky almost rolled his ankle on a tree root as he stepped backwards. With his back against a tree, he waited. The rancher came running, sword arm reared back as if he was hoisting a javelin.

The sword hit with a thunk , Twilight’s hand frozen on the handle as cold metal rested on the forehead. Sky stood above him, smiling with bared teeth as he held the attenuate blade. He stood atop the broadsword struck into the tree.

"Sky wins!" Hyrule called.

"How did you-?" Twilight let go of the sword, and Sky had to jump off before he slid off.

"It's easy, with a strike to the center, your options to get out of the way are limited. So, I chose up." 

"Huh," Twilight yanked the broadsword from the tree following behind as they walked back to the circle of heroes. Hyrule meets the rancher halfway with glowing hands, already set on healing the small gash on his cheekbone.

Wind, the wondrous child he is, bounded to Sky's side with a million questions falling from his lips.

"What kind of sword is that anyway?" Made him pause. He didn't really know. The only type of sword ever created on Skyloft were broadswords. There wasn't exactly a forge on small islands in the sky to make more. Even his woodcarving knives had to be specially ordered from Gondo's scrap shop.

"I don't know, but Time might. He did say-"

"He said it was Malon’s favorite!" Wind gasped, and stepped in front of him with a look in his eye. The kind of look that spelled mischief. "We should go ask her!"

"Whoa, hey-" Without a care, Wind practically hauled Sky through the field until they were bursting through the door to Time and Malon’s cozy ranch house. The large noise startled the two cooks inside, Wild ducking to catch a falling glass jar.

"Sorry about that," Sky gently closed the door behind him.

"Wind, the pies won't be done for another twenty minutes-"

"That's not what I came in here for! Miss Malon!" Wind turned on his heel, holding his hand out. Sky dropped the blade's handle into his palm. With a turn, Wind walked into the kitchen area with the blade pointed to the floor, Sky walking a few steps behind.

"What kinda sword is this?"

"First off," Malon placed her hand on the hilt, and Wind let go. "It's my sword, and not very well made at that." She walked into the living area, reaching to place the sword back in the small holders atop the fireplace. "For what it lacks in strength, it makes up well for in speed. They say the quicker draw always wins."

"Easier to get more hits in, too." Wild said from where he sat himself on top of the counter next to the sink.

"If you wouldn't mind getting skewered, lad." Malon laughed.

"Sounds eventful." Wild picked a loose apple from the decorative basket on the counter and tossed it over to Sky. And, because Sky was watching Malon at the time, got an apple tossed at his temple.

"Shit, Sky, I'm sorry-"

"No no, it's all good."

While Wind decided to berate Malon with more questions, none of which she looked sure on the answers for, a few of the others walked in, with Time and Warriors at the lead. Time went straight for his wife, while nestling a hand in Wind's absolutely wild hair. Meanwhile, Warriors sprawled against the sofa, trying to trip Legend with an outstretched heel as he walked by.

Picking the apple from the floor, Sky stood up to the sink and dunked it under the running faucet. Wild, still sat cross-legged on the counter stared down to him.

"Really though, I think you should sit down for a bit."

"If this is about my health again, really. I'm alright." Being one of the less… well built members of the group brought out frequent concerns. He was tired of hearing them, but on the other hand, it was pleasant to know they cared enough to mention it.

"Well, yes but no. Hold up, it's easier if you-" Wild turned, taking the odd slate from his hip and pressing his fingers against the surface. When he turned the screen over, Sky could see a perfect mirrored copy of himself.

"You have some gray hairs, just about here." Wild leaned over and tugged a few strands of hair from where they rested beside his face. Sure enough, they were discolored from the rest. Though, the strands weren't gray. From what he could tell in the lighting, the strands were white.

The apple dropped into the sink, rolling around the metal basin. A piercing throb built in his brain, an unseeable dagger slowly chipping away at his skull. It grew to rolling thunder in his mind, a pressure stormed behind the sockets of his eyes. 

A hand was on his shoulder. He had to tear his white knuckles from the edges of the basin.

“Are you alright, Sky?” The worry on Wild’s face made something in his stomach drop. His throat tightened, and his already terrible breathing suddenly became unbreakable to attempt. Sky pressed his eyes shut, he needed to calm down.

The laugh he gave was more akin to a breath. He coughed, then cleared out his uncooperative throat. "I think I'll sit down."

He waved off the concern of Malon as she walked back around. Instead, his eyes slipped shut as he focused on the growing conversations; listening to the voices themselves and not bothering to pay attention to the words. He hesitated to ask for something cold to press against his forehead, to ask Hyrule if there was anything he could heal in his head.

A small bump to the side brought his attention to the rancher. Frankly, he looked sheepish, but his arms were full of Sky's gear with Fi nestled on top.

He could punch himself- he left her outside.

"Hey, I didn't know if you'd be coming back outside to get all this or not." Twilight maneuvered his way into the seat beside him. 

"I'm sorry, I can't believe I-"

"Hey, no worries about it. Nothing happened to the sword." Twilight lifted the Master Sword from the pile and Sky laid her across his lap, one hand on the hilt and the other on the middle of the scabbard. If she could speak, if she wasn't eternally asleep within the blade, she'd probably run the calculations of the possibility of being taken right from under the nose of nine well-fought heroes. Then she'd tell him not to worry, she was never at risk.

He rested the sword against his knees, keeping one hand wrapped around the blade, as dinner was placed around him bit by bit. The others took their seats and chatted around the table. The drums playing relentlessly against his brain made it difficult to follow any of the conversations.

After the bountiful dinner, of which he picked at, Sky declined an offer to sleep in a crowded guest bedroom. There was a perfectly free cucco coop with a heap of hay in the barn.

The layers were easy to throw back on. The chainmail might be stiff, but the weight it brought made putting it on worth it.

As he laid on the scratchy pile, a few of the more curious and adventurous cucco decided to make him their new bed. One of the more comfortable birds made his hair into a nest. The small, heavy breathing of the fat birds lulled him into a blissful moment of nothingness.

He didn’t expect to be awoken in the middle of a night by hissing cuccos and hushed, frantic whispers. As his muddled mind began to work, the ache in his head had decreased to a slow thrum in his rest, he slipped an eye open.

Both WIld and Twilight stood in the small clearing in the barn, with Wild hiding partly behind a very apprehensive Twilight. The two heroes looked ready to dart at any slight movement, even if they were fully armed with their swords strapped to their backs. It was hilarious how afraid all his companions were over the birds. Frankly, they’re harmless.

The cucco on his head had latched onto his hair with its beak as he sat up.

“Hey Sky!” Wild peaked from behind Twilight, hood pulled over his hair.

“Wild, Twilight, what’s-” Another one of the cuccos, the one resting on his hip, began hissing, feathers puffed to make itself look bigger than it already is. With a few strokes, the bird was already calming. "Sorry, what did you…"

Twilight had backed up a fair amount, Wild was outside peeking through the barn door. Sky had to stifle a laugh as Wild asked "Is it all clear?"

"They're not going to harm you, they're just birds."

Twilight chucked, Wild walking back in with a serious facade with a finger pointing to Sky's nose.

"That's what they want you to think. Second you turn your back, they pick off your skin with their teeth!"

"Cub," Twilight looked exhausted, pulling Wild back with a hand to his shoulder. "We've talked about this. Cuccos don't have teeth."

"And that's weird, right!"

The rancher, choosing to bypass that conversation, turned his attention back to the chosen hero.

"We wanted to know how you were doing. It looked like you were a little rattled today, so we wanted to check in."

"I still think he's stressed. You see the white hairs?" Wild walked over to sit beside his knee, dragging Twilight along. Having to brush a few of the birds away first, the two drew in closer. Wild, tactless as ever, dug his fingers into Sky's hair to bring out the white strands. The cucco in his hair looked mildly offended at the intrusion.

"You might be right. The old man doesn't even have white hair yet." With knitted brows, Twilight then cocked his head like a dog.

Dropping his hand from Sky's hair, Wild not-so-subtly, leaned over to whisper to Twilight, "You'd think it'd be Time or Legend who would go gray first."

Twilight bent at the waist trying to hold in his laughter, a snort bypassing his hands. 

Sky chuckled through his words. "Thank you both for coming. I'll admit, there's been a pain in my head, along with my other issues. However, I do want to know why you two are up at this hour. I'd thought you'd be dead to the world in your beds." Sky watched on, Twilight scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish look, trying to give Wild a nondescript nudge to explain. The cook gave him an unimpressed stare before taking a second to think.

"I didn't manage to fall asleep in the first place. I guess Twilight hadn't either, only because he caught me sneaking out of the room." He nudged the rancher with an elbow, and Twilight responded in kind.

"If there was anyone else in our room, you would've woken them. It didn't seem like you were too worried on being quiet to me. And yeah, I was already skimping on sleep, so don't worry too much on it." Twilight stood, brushing the clinging hay from his pants as he went. "We won't disturb your sleep any more, I reckon we woke you, didn't we?"

"Don't worry too much about it, I believe I've gotten more than the both of you combined. Thank you both for your company.”

“I’ll see if Roolie has anything for headaches in the morning. He’s like, a whole walking clinic, he’s gotta have something .” Wild stretched, and in a swift movement, was standing next to Twilight.

The first step the two made towards the door was interrupted by a distant, familiar chiming noise. And then the pull.

A blinding, searing light grew from the space between the three, nothing like the dark portals the heroes had been traversing through. The wind picked up in the dusty barn, flinging dust and hay around the three. Sky stumbled to his feet, discharging the squealing birds from his person as the light grew to reach out into the air.

The presence felt suffocating, like an otherworldly creature was smothering him with their existence alone. His companions choked on the air, falling to their knees as he just barely managed to kneel.

Something within the light reached out, if his sight was not a blur, he could almost make out the shape of a hand. The ringing, like a screaming choir in his head, raised to a deafening song. A heated, heavy pressure laid against his head, erasing the existence of thought, as his mind was blanketed in white.

Then, like a slice in the air, everything went black.

Chapter Text

It was the relentless rays of sunlight berating his eyelids which brought his mind back to the waking world. Though it was the feeling of mud caked in his hair that finally had his mind churning. With hazy, unfocused sight, his eyes grazed over the empty, barren land around him. Unfamiliar, shattered wooden walls were caved in around him. The scent of long-settled dust clung to the air, leaving a heavy presence in his lungs as he tried to breathe. In his frantic state, his mind almost didn’t register the other two sleeping bodies.

Almost.

Twilight and Wild both laid in the mud, Wild half flung over his mentor’s legs. Though it was a sight to see, Sky needed the both of them awake. He had no idea where they were.

Managing to get to his feet, he stumbled to where the two laid. To his astonishment, it was frighteningly easy for the two heroes to wake; just a simple tap did the trick.

Wild was the first of the two to peel his eyes open, and not a second after was he scrambling to his feet and pulling on Twilight’s shoulders. The sudden jolt had Sky on-edge, almost falling back at the sudden switch in his mood.

“Wild-”

“We need to get out here.” Twilight’s eyes flung open at his words, getting back on his two feet like he had been shocked awake.

“What’s… what do you mean?” The rancher's voice was groggy with sleep, almost like he decided to swallow rocks in his sleep.

Sky had to jump back as Wild sprang to his feet, ducking under the wooden frame of a long-gone window. Twilight had moved next to him, crouching in the soft layer of mud as they peered out the window. Sky hunched over, balling the end of his sailcloth in his arms as he kneeled down into the dirt. Before Sky could formulate another question, Wild pointed out of the window into the sunny field outside the ruined walls. A giant pink-laced spidery figure the cook had been pointing out was looping the fields, almost like it was on patrol. Another question died on his tongue as it began to walk closer to where the three sat. Sky had an amazing view of it’s red, pulsating eye, before it turned meters from the wall and continued its mindless circling.

“It’s a guardian, corrupted by the Calamity itself. It’s fast, doesn’t feel pain, and can shoot beams of death from its eye.” Wild turned from the window, pulling out his slate. For the first time, Sky could see how it worked. Wild dragged his fingers against the slate’s surface until a small, yellow arrow was shown in an empty grass plain. Pinching his fingers, the details on the map became smaller, showing more of the surrounding area full of blue shapes and dull yellow stickers.

“Hyrule Castle is full of guardians,” Wild pointed to the large island with five leaning towers all pointing to the spires of the great castle. “Our current problem is that we are too close to the castle .”

The hulking form of the mechanical spider became much more of an issue than Sky had originally thought.

"So what do we have to do?" 

Twilight ducked back under the windowsill, a certain anger tied up his brows as he looked toward the cook.

"Let me see your slate."

Wild handed over the device, screen still displaying the map. Twilight raked his fingers over the surface, settling the map on one spot, and turning it so the other two could see the surface.

"South, at the bend of the road here, is a group of trees we can vanish into. We just need to continue heading that direction until we hit Whistling Hill. We'll be able to stay at the Riverside stable, and we can grab your horses there, cub." Twilight handed the slate back. 

Wild quickly changed into something more suitable for running, his hood disappearing in a blue light to be changed out with a dull red bandanna.

Sky didn't know how he would be able to make it. His health problems aside, if his sailcloth got caught on anything,  he'd have a greater issue on his hands. He unclasped the blue diamond, letting the clip rest in his tangled and mud-ridden hair, as the rest of the sailcloth fell into his arms.

"Sky, what are you doing with that?" Twilight, voiced hushed as the guardian passed by their window once more. That really was the question of the hour, what could he do with the sailcloth. The easiest option would be letting Wild enter it into his slate, and let it disappear into the folds of Wild’s extensive inventory written in a language he couldn't read. It wasn’t a bad idea, but…

"Sky?"

He's had better ones. The cloth draped heavily against his shoulders, the beautiful stylized loftwing centered between his shoulder blades. As he looped it around his arms, the excess was tied at the small of his back. The sailcloth appeared just as it had the first time he had seen it, a wrap bundled around Zelda’s arms.

He nodded his head towards the other two in ready, and in turn, he was handed a bottle full of murky green liquid by Wild. Whatever it was composed of, it made the liquid much more… viscous than any of the potions he had seen before.

“It’s a stamina elixir, we’ll be running past at least three guardians on our way to the stable. Hopefully they won’t spot us as we pass by.” Sky wanted to hand the potion back, build up his case on why he didn't need handouts. He had to admit, however, if the elixir worked the same as a stamina fruit, he would most likely need it if he had to run. He took the elixir with a "Thank you," and slipped it in his right-side adventure pouch.

Wild turned, slowly making his way through one of the holes in the wall. Glancing at the slate’s map every few seconds, he slipped outside and pressed his back to the musty, corroded wall. Twilight was a step behind. 

As Sky saddled up next to them, Wild clipped the slate back to his hip. The Cook pointed towards a mound laced with tall trees before turning his head around the wall’s corner to look back at the circling guardian. It wasn’t before long before he whispered directions. 

“Twi, go” Wild whispered. Without fanfare, Twilight launched himself towards the hill at a breakneck speed. Sky moved closer, shoulder to shoulder with Wild as he waited for his cue.

A metal, clawed leg pierced the dirt just in front of their boots. If Sky hadn’t been through Hell itself before, killing the God of Hatred and malice, he might’ve screamed. He assumed Wild felt the same, the cook’s hand had wrapped itself tightly onto Sky’s wrist. The two hardly breathed as the shiny metal leg of the guardian lifted, dirt trailing from the crevices between its plates. Sky could hear the harsh, electric whizzing noises that didn't sound unlike a beamos. The one, circular glowing eye passing over their heads held the same level of fear as well.

The second the guardian stalked away, the murderous, mindless machine strayed back to its circular path on the ranch fields, Wild let go. His hand had started to tingle from the lack of blood flow.

As he looked back, Wild wasn't staring at the guardian anymore. Instead, Sky caught the cook quickly looking back to the trees. Twilight was hardly hidden, but the guardian couldn't tell the difference between a Hylain and an oddly-shaped bush. The rancher peaked his head over one of the twig-like trees, giving a "thumbs-up", or whatever it's called.

"Sky, go." He almost forgot about this part, the one where he runs for his life. Without much hindrance, Sky darts across the green field, the faint whirring of the guardian growing quieter by the second. As his boots reached the patch of dirt Twilight was ducked behind, he was dragged behind the bush by his elbow. 

An indignant squawk left his vocal cords without permission as he almost slammed into Twilight. The rancher covered both of their mouths with his palms as Sky laid bodily in the dirt and high grass. Lifting Twi's hand from his mouth, slightly unimpressed, he tried to speak, resulting in Twilight making a shushing gesture.

He must have looked confused, or Twilight is taking initiative like always, and points to a particularly budding monster camp just further down the trail. 

It was tiered, with bokoblins and moblins unlike any he had seen before. They all somehow looked more piglike than the creatures infesting his surface. Along with all the variety in color, he could partially smell the difference, even from their current distance. The monsters here carried a foul scent, strong enough for any adventurer to sniff from miles away.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Wild’s sudden voice made him jolt, and Twilight ducked his head back below the line of bushes. 

"There's a camp just further down, well up , on that hill." Twilight pulled Wild to show him the fresh, shoddy construction of the bokos.

"Oh, that's new." Bringing his slate to his eye, Wild studied the camp, clicking a few invisible buttons on the device. He sat back down, turning the screen of the slate to show the other two.

"We'll also have to go around. They've got horns, and just up that hill is both a guardian and a hinox. If the bokoblin guard sees us, he's going to blow a horn, and if he blows the horn, he's going to wake the Hinox. I don't want to fight a hinox, and I don't think you all really want to fight a hinox either." Turning the slate back to himself, he pulled a thin stick from the edge of the slate. The stick itself was too thin to hold any sort of ink inside. However, it traced a light teal line along the map despite holding nothing within. 

Twilight snorted, arms crossed with a smirk. "C'mon can, I think we can take a hinox ."

Wild dropped the slate in his lap, shooting a look at his mentor. "Have you ever seen a hinox before?"

Twilight shrugged, and Wild rolled his eyes. Instead of gracing Twi with any sort of remark, he beckoned the two to come closer. Flipping the slate around, Sky and Twilight could see the teal lines wrapping around the mound ahead of them.

"We have a few options, but most of them are bad. Any that require us moving closer to the castle," Wild drew an 'X' through the lines leading back towards the ranch ruins. "are bad. Going down this road?" Wild struck through more of the teal lines. "Unless you're in for the fight of your life tonight, bad idea."

"Then what are our feasible options?" Sky asked, and Wild smirked.

"We wait till nightfall, then we-"

"No, pass. Your field is covered in stals. We'll have just as rough of a fight if we go out their flailin' our arms about now." Twilight cut him off, with a glare Sky considered soft on his face. Twilight, like the rest of them, is a stubborn hero. There would be no budging on any sort of life-or-fight-or-death scenario.

Grumbling, Wild knocked off another few paths from the slate.

"Alright, the only few things we cannot do is 'let the guardian or bokos see us' and 'wake the hinox'. Other than that, it's incredibly easy."

Shifting the small stick back into the slate, Wild pinched the map. The glowing blue diamond of the shrine became visible, as well as the small label of a horse head, which Wild declared a "stable".

"The hinox is between the stalker guardian and the boko's outpost. Since going near the guardian is almost certain death and or injury, we'll go between the camp and the hinox. If we stray in the small patch of trees closer to the hinox, then I don't think the camp will see us." After tracing a path with his finger, Wild pressed something on the slate to clear the lines from his map. After clipping the device back to his hip, he steadily walked towards the edge of the patch of trees.

"Cub, are you certain this is a good idea? If we are seen-"

"I'm not too worried about it." He waved to two heroes over, and Sky almost tripped over a stray root in the ground. "If we end up needing to make a run for it, then I think we'll be able to outrun them."

Sky hoped they could, he hoped he could. Even with the stamina elixir resting heavily in his front pouch, the wilds of this Hyrule looked to stretch on for miles. Nothing on the surface in his time could match the sheer scale of the vast lands of Wild's time. Everything here was just so much… more.  

The light touch of pain rippled throughout his brain as he managed to stand next to Wild. The headache, it appears, hadn't decided to leave him be just yet.

There was a hand on his shoulder, Twilight's by the heaviness of it.

"Are you okay?" The question echoed, and his brain couldn't discern if Wild had also asked, or he was hearing Twilight twice. Sky ran a hand through his hair, pressing his palm against the dull, growing pain.

"I'll be fine, I think I just need to rest. We just need to get to the stable for now." Lifting his hand, he shook out the small flecks of dirt and crusted mud from his hair. He really needed a shower. 

"Alright, we'll go up this hill here, don't stray, we'll go through the woods, around the bottomless swamp, and follow the Hylia River down to the Riverside Stable, go it?" Twilight and Sky nodded, Wild grinned like the manic he was.

"Cool, follow me." The cook took the first step through the path, and when none of the bokos in the camp turned to him, he ducked across the road into a small spatter of trees. Twilight followed him, and Sky was trailing slightly behind with his eyes trained on Twilight’s fur pelt.

As they swiftly scaled the hill, it became apparent that the bokoblins weren't the ones with the absolutely fatal smell.

The hinox was large and strangely blue, wearing nothing more than a loincloth, a bone-based knee brace, and a thread of gold, shining weapons along its neck. They rounded his head, where the hill began to descend, as the giant monster scored on. Sky debated on whether or not untying the sailcloth to cover his nose would be worth it. Instead, he settled with digging his nose into the crook of his elbow, and Twilight shared the same sentiment. Wild, however, looked as if he could not be bothered.

Something snapped, Sky thought at first one of his bones had miraculously broken. Wild whipped his head to glare at Twi, who almost looked ashamed. The rancher moved his foot, revealing a small broken twig underneath his boot. 

Everything would have been fine if the beast had continued to rest. All hopes were dashed as the deep snoring had hitched and halted, a single, bleary eye slipped open to stare at the open sky above.

No one moved. No one made a sound. Sky had barely dared to breathe as the hinox blinked and grumbled. He stood, frozen midstep with every single nerve in his body alight with terror. He could hear the blood sloshing in his ears, the faint ringing in his head. The piercing ache decided to be more apparent. Sky had to stop any vocalations coming from his throat, had to stop himself from tearing the cloth of his tunic where it was caught in a deathgrip.

The hinox, unperturbed, unaware of the three terror struck Hylians, closed its single eye. And waiting for what felt like centuries, the hinox began to snore once more.

Sky could feel the air grace his lungs and his body decided to work. The slow movings of both Wild and Twilight persuaded his feet to begin moving as well. This time, they were all staring at the ground as they stumbled down the hill.

The ground rounded out as they stopped by the lake. A sandbar with a blue, glowing shrine stood atop was slightly to their left in the river. Wild, who glowed with the technological magic of the sheikah as his boots were replaced by sandals, waded in the lake with his bow drawn. 

Twilight stood by Sky's shoulder along the grassy shore of the lake. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, and Sky was confused about the brief stop.

A blue creature, it almost looked like an octorok burst its head above the surface of the water. Its cheeks puffed as if it was going to spit out something, and Sky had an innate feeling to duck. Before the thing could do so much as to scream, an arrow pierced its fat head. It burst into a mass of purple smoke and Wild didn't waste a single second throwing himself into the water to grab whatever dropped from its body.

The cook came back drenched with a green, flailing fish in one hand and a flaccid, spiked purple sack in the other. Both objects disappeared with a blue light into the slate.

"C'mon, I just caught some dinner!" Wild began to walk with the river downstream. Tugging him along, Twilight steadily walked alongside him.

They reached the stable nestled between two bridges as the sun finally fell behind the horizon line. The entire structure was circular and massive, adorned with a patchwork roof and the giant, stylized head of a horse. Wild had already taken to the cooking pot, chatting with a man with a blue horse-patterned vest as he threw more than just one fish into the cooking pot.

"I'm going to get us some beds," Twilight said, and he appreciated the rancher’s soft tone as he left Sky with Wild and the other Hylian.

"Sky! This is Gotter, I helped him get some recipes from the castle this one time, and now he helps me cook whenever I ask him to."

The other Hylian waved, and Sky could barely get out a generic "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Sky." before Twilight arrived back at the cooking pot.

"Hey, if you want to rest before we get dinner ready, we have the three beds closest to the left entrance. I'll bring you your playe once it's ready." 

Sky could not be more grateful for help from the two. As Twilight gave him a hand to help him stand, he wished Hyrule had been sucked into the portal with them. Who knows if the healer had some kind of magic to get the pain out of his head.

He stepped into the stable with Twilight at his back. Once his feet were off the wooden floor, he could feel the wave of exhaustion flood through his veins. It took much more than he had in himself to thank Twilight as the man disappeared back into the darkened night sky. He didn't bother shedding his boots or the layers of cloth and chainmail before he was asleep on the soft bed, listening to the waves buffer the grassy shore of Hylia river.

He awakened many hours later, the light blanketing every surface outside the archway of the stable. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forefinger and thumb against his eyelids. He missed dinner. Sky was almost upset by it, the two believed his rest was more necessary than a meal.

Even if they were right, and he felt much better than he had since before they arrived at Lon Lon Ranch, he was still hungry. Sleeping had done wonders for his body, especially his mind. The dull throb and blurry vision had faded away into something insignificant.

He threw his legs over the side of the bed, and with a look back, he could see neither one of his companions. Though, the scent steadily flowing in from the outside clued him in to where one of them was. And since the two of them were glued at the hip, he was sure to find Twilight at the cooking pot as well.

The early sun was bright, but nothing could compare to the early mornings of Skyloft. Every morning was the perfect warmth to settle the cold of the night with how close the island was to the sun. The rising sun, always in full view plastered against the light blue sky could never stop being beautiful.

Growing laughter caught his attention and, sure enough, both the cook and the rancher were side-by-side at the cooking pot. As Sky made his way over to the pot, Twilight and Wild both shot him a smile.

"You're looking better, good to see you up this early." Wild called, stirring a pot full of yellow fluff they called ' eggs' .

"I do have to admit, nothing gets anyone out of bed faster than the smell of food. That or the scream of a bird." Sky took a seat on one of the few stools. 

"Yeah, we're so lucky at least one of us knows how to cook proper meals." Twilight dug his fingers into Wild’s greasy, dirt ridden hair, and ruffled it like an older brother would.

Wild threw his arms up with a feral screech, dislodging Twi from his hair.

"That could've gotten in the food, Twi! And I don't want to start over!" Twilight laughed at the protectiveness Wild had over the cooking pot, but he stopped nonetheless. After all, he didn't want dirt in his food either.

"After we eat," Sky started as Wild began to portion the breakfast into separate plates. "What do you say we all head down to the river and, um, be rid of all the dirt."

The two agreed, and began to shovel down the eggs. Sky almost laughed at the small clump of eggs hanging on the edge of Twilight’s lips.

Sky took his time eating as the two began to clean up. The fluffy, airy food did wonders for dispelling his hunger. He might ask how Wild had made these some time in the future, and about whatever the cook sprinkled on top. 

It wasn't until Wild had the pot cleaned out and the dishes laid to dry, when the three of them went down to the small running river. The first to shed his clothes was Wild, who was also the quickest. Everything the cook was wearing disappeared into the slate, which would come back out later good as new.

Twilight and Sky didn't bother folding any of their clothes. All of it needed a good run through the waves, and would benefit from a little bit of Malon's secret "clothes soap".

It was all thrown against a certain large rock to be buffeted by the waves as Sky and Twilight settled down. All except for Twi's wolf pelt and Sky's sailcloth and the blue diamond broach. Close by, Wild had rid himself of his hair tie, ducking his head beneath the water and running his hands through his hair.

Sky had a hard time watching the boy, especially with all of the scars he bore on full display. It was a sort of deep-set sorrow in his bones, a view that made his heart ache. Wild wasn't that much younger than he was, as far as he could tell, they only had a few years of age separating them. He could understand why Twilight was so overprotective of Wild. No one wished those kinds of scars on anyone.

He could feel his right hand twitching at the thought.

"Hey," Twilight brought the attention of both his companions. It was the pinched, downcast look on the rancher's face that made Sky feel slightly apprehensive, foregoing a response. Wild, next to him, stopped splashing in the water and sat next to them to create a circle.

"What's up, Twi?" Wild bundled his hair up on the top of his head with the blue band.

"Do you think the others fell through with us?" Twilight looked up, and Sky could see something akin to loss in his eyes.

"We were separated from them," Wild began, "And the portal looked… different than usual."

"Different?" Twilight chucked a laugh. "Damn thing wasn't even close to normal. It opened on the floor and was bright as Hell. "

The more Sky thought about it, the more his brain started picking up the differences. It didn't appear to open the same and looked more… divine than the normal black abyss of a gate they all had gone through before. There was also the suffocating pressure of the light. It was much brighter, and he's not sure how he went through, but the entire thing felt more right than the archway of swirling black they had previously been utilizing.

As the other two heroes continued to discuss the strangeness they've been subjected to for the travels thus far, Sky dunked his head into the water. The water was cool against his face as he raked out the dirt and mud that made itself home in his hair. Still, he found himself wishing for the hair soap in a bottle from the knights academy, or a similar product Wars carried around called ' shampoo' . 

Sky brought his head from the water as the last of the gunk and mud was dislodged and carried downstream. As the water trailed from his ears, he turned back to the other two. Then, promptly froze. Both Wild and Twilight were staring, slack jawed.

"What?" Sky, without thought, covered his face with his left hand. "Is there something…?"

"Your hair…" Twilight's sentence dropped off as soon as he started, though it looked as if he hadn't started speaking at all.

Wild, instead, finished for the rancher. "It's more… white than before." 

Sky launched from the water, hardly bothering to pull on some sort of clothes as he rushed back to shore. Over where he stashed his sailcloth, the sword of Evil's Bane rested against a rock. Without the usual fanfare, he pulled the Master Sword from its sheath and brought the blade up to his face.

Sure enough, more of the strands of hair had turned white, the color spreading like a poor dye job. Sky almost dropped the blade from the subtle shake and not-quite-firm grip of high right hand. The existence of his toes would not appreciate being chopped off, however. In the end, he managed to lower the blade back into her scabbard and rest her back against the rock.

Why was his hair going white ? Normally, it's the older Skylofians who have to deal with this type of issue, or overworked young adults who manage the few shops in Skyloft. It shouldn't be spreading like it is, or how fast it is, no matter if he was stressed or old.

He didn't know what was spreading through his hair, and since Wild or Twilight shared the same astonishment, he assumed they wouldn't know how to fix it either.

The touch to his shoulder jolted him from his thoughts. Wild stood in front of him, mostly clothed, hand trailing back to his side as he looked up to Sky.

"Twilight’s drying the clothes, so we should be able to get out of here soon." When Sky didn't respond, Wild took ahold of both of Sky's hands, bringing the two down to sit. They stayed like this until Twilight returned, with Wild rubbing circled into Sky's hands, and Sky himself, lost in his frantic, racing thoughts with his eyes fallen on the grass.

Soon, Wild's hands disappeared, replaced with the several layers of clothes he usually wore. He dressed in absent thought to what he was doing with his hands, his mind screaming " Am I cursed, well of course I'm cursed, I didn't get out of the fight with Demise without a gift. Am I dying? Is this what dying feels like?"

It's only when he failed to clasp the broach on the two ends of the sailcloth did his mind jolt back to now. He wasn't in his time right now, and he wasn't with his entire group in the second most dangerous Hyrule they know. First place went to Hyrule himself.

He sighed once the clasp didn't go through once again. Throwing the diamond into his hair, the sailcloth went back to the form of a wrap as he tied it with shaking hands.

A pair of hovering hands drifted into his line of sight. Something made him raise his head, he didn't know if it was respect or some form of hope, until his eyes locked with the rancher's.

"Hey," the voice sounded muddled, almost like he hadn't gotten all the water out of his ears. "I know we've kind of asked you this a lot recently, but are you really okay?"

Sky hesitated, like he's always done, wondering if he should tell the blatant lie. It would be pointless, they know something is going on with him, something Sky doesn't know about himself.

Well, he was never really too prideful. That was left up for Groose, and more recently, Warriors.

"I don't know. Well, wait, no. I know I'm not okay right now, but I don't know what's going on. I've-" The air caught in his throat, hitching a breath before he could begin to cough it out. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Twilight paused, and soon enough there were two grounding hands on his shoulders. There must have been something wrong with his breathing, because Twilight was taking in large, deep breaths, like he wanted Sky to follow along. It worked, for the most part, and the familiar feel of something wrapping itself harshly around his throat loosened into light, blessed butterflies brushing their wings against his skin.

"We'll figure something out, maybe we can get Wild's Zelda to channel her divineness and give us some Goddess insight." Twilight gave what he supposed was a comforting smile, but Sky could only hold back a small bout of laughter at the statement. He knows Hylia doesn't work like that. He knows Hylia more than he knows about any of his future reincarnations. Contrary to popular belief, that would be saying a lot. The heroes tend to overshare. 

"Where-" Sky cut himself off, trying to ignore the feeling of something rising in his throat.

Twilight, the smart boy he is, caught on at least. "Wild's on his way back, he went to grab the horses we need from the stable."

Twilight stopped, if only to stare at Sky funny for a few seconds before blurting, "Have you ever rode a horse before?"

All of his current and previous thought processes came to a screeching halt. He had seen a horse before, they were dotted all around Lon Lon Ranch, but had he ever been on one…?

In the end, he managed to say, "Can't be too different from a Loftwing."

"We'll, can't dispute that if I'd never seen one before." Twilight finally removed his hands from Sky's shoulders just as Wild rounded the bend, tugging along three horses.

"Hi guys! So, Twilight, you get Soup." He passed the lead for the light brown mare to the rancher, who immediately began to run his hand up her snout.

"Sky, you get Monsieur Pierre." The stallion he was handed was a dark grey color, but with strange green braided hair. He held his hand out for the horse, the same as one would do to get familiar with a loftwing. Soon enough, Twilight had displayed the motion of getting on a horse, which was much easier than trying to avoid the wings of his giant bird. Once he was actually up on the horse, he realized just how much he had missed riding on his crimson loftwing. 

"Well, are we all ready to go?" Wild asked, hopping right on top of his white, golden maned horse. 

"Uh, not quite. Where exactly are we heading, cub?" Twilight strode over, the image of the rancher he was.

"Oh, so, our goal is to get to Hateno, but we're going to stop by Kakariko Village on the way. Impa might have something weird and mildly prophetic to say about our situation. And if she doesn't, Zelda probably will." As Wild had begun to lead his horse off, Twilight had to quickly show Sky how to get his horse moving. Then they were following right behind the cook, who was tracing lines around on his map again.

"We're gonna pass through the East Post Ruins to get to Proxim bridge. Then we just need to pass through Dueling Peaks, go up the Big Twin Bridge, and make a little lunch break at the Dueling Peaks Stable. After, we just go up Kakariko bridge and follow the path until we get there. Simple!" Wild urged the stallion for a faster pace, while Twilight kept in pace with Sky.

"Hey, quick question Twilight."

"Yeah, what's goin on?"

"Was any of that actual words to you?" The two laughed, Twilight showing him how to spur the horse onwards to catch up with Wild, who was already thrusting a spear through the gut of a moblin as he passed through the ruins.

"It would truly be a great day if people could begin to understand him."

Chapter Text

In order to reach the Proxim Bridge, as Wild had so briefly explained, they needed to pass through the remains of the East Post. The few standing stone walls they passed through had hidden them from sight as they threaded through old, weathered stone bricks. The only incident they had encountered was when a stray moblin had caught them a few steps onto the Proxim bridge. Wild, ever the astounder, had spun backwards on his horse with his bow drawn. 

The moblin didn't survive the arrow plunged through its skull.

"I probably should have mentioned this beforehand, but a lot of the bridges in my Hyrule are a bit… uhh, dilapidated . So watch your step as you go." Wild had slowed their pace, setting the speed as they crossed the wide stone bridge.

Sky could see the river below as they passed, trying not to think of what would happen if he lost control of Monsieur Pierre. He did have Twilight riding alongside him, so he supposed that was a thread of luck.

Speaking of, the rancher appeared lost in his thoughts, absently spreading his hand along the horse's neck.

"Hey, Twi." When Twilight looked over, he seemed far too alert.

"What's goin on?" Twilight subtly looked around for a brief second before leaning over to Sky. "Did Wild get into trouble again?"

Sky loosed a hand from the reins to cover a chuckle. It was amazing how well the two knew about each other, especially with how the entire group had been brought together only a few months ago. It was almost as if the two grew to be close brothers overnight.

"No, no, you just looked," Sky chewed on a word. "Pensive. Mind a rupee for your thoughts?"

Twilight gave a playful scoff. "If only you can pay the fee. I've been running low on funds as of late."

They both laughed at that. Only Hylia knows how much the heroes have spent on repairs, replacements, and potions. They would be much, much wealthier if they all just happened to be invincible.

"I've been thinking… mostly about the others. If they fell through a portal too, are we ever gonna know? We could run around Cub's Hyrule for ages without ever finding them again and it just makes me…" Twilight trailed off, squeezing the leather reins in his hands. Sky could absolutely see where he was coming from. This land was massive, with fields empty of anything but grass to stretch on for miles and miles. There's no promise they'll find the six other estranged heroes during their time here.

"What if we've somehow already solved whatever plans the Goddesses had for us without us knowin'? What if this is the first step in their plans on putting us back?" 

Sky reached over the gap between the two horses, with only his fingertips reaching Twilight’s shoulder. Legend has once before called him the "Feelings Manager" of the group. Which, in turn, led to the others opening up more to him than the other members of the group. It was fine, they were people he could help while they were traveling and slaying the black-blooded monsters.

"Hey, I don't know if I missed anything, but I'm sure we haven't taken down any big-bad recently. Unless you all decided to take down Ganon while I was asleep." He paused for a second, trying to have his borrowed horse take a few more steps to the right. Sky managed a few inches before the stallion began to disagree with his tugging.

"I'm sure the Goddesses aren't done with us all quite yet. Maybe we've been thrown separately to cover more ground for them, or there's a lesser threat to take down here. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll see the others again soon. Just hang on for a while before we get there."

"Also," Sky had forgotten Wild was so close, but he turned to the cook. He dropped his hand from Twilight's shoulder as Wild flung the slate around. "The slate can pick up whatever Wind sends from the little stone he wears as a necklace. If they do end up here, Wind will probably send a message or two."

"You think Wind'll remember to send a message through?" Twilight asked, looking into the cook's eyes who, once again, sat backwards in the saddle.

"Bold of you to assume he forgot." Wild smirked as he clipped the slate back on his hip.

Twilight turned to look at Sky. For once, Sky couldn't manage any heartfelt words of encouragement. Thankfully Twilight could understand the meaning behind a nod.

They sped up after the clacking of the horseshoes softened on the grass, leaving the empty, lifeless husk of a guardian's shell laying in the dirt at the edge of the bridge. From the distance the three were at, Sky could understand why the mountain had been dubbed "Dueling Peaks."

It was as if a large, jagged knife had cut through the mountain, one built for the Goddesses. Like a bolt of lightning held by Farore herself had split the mountain for simply being in her way. Though winds were her specialty, legends declare her rule over the fierce shocks of lightning as well. The mountain simply seemed as if it shouldn't really exist as it is now.

Sky noted the ruins they passed by as they approached the base of the mountain. Massive, old logs you could walk through rested against the hillside, surrounded by smaller, dead and bare trees all around. The gathered camp of bokoblins they passed on the shore of Squabble River hadn't paid them any mind as they passed. Wild had not called it out as they passed by, more focused on pointing at different landmarks with funny names attached to them. Sky hadn’t noticed the camp until they had already long since passed.

Through small conversation and extremely large rocks, they arrived at the crack in the rock of the mountain. Instead of following through, Wild led them off the path to a tall structure adorned with skulls and red barbarian banners. It appeared to be slightly more advanced than the makings of the gatherings of monsters, but definitely didn't look entirely Hylian made.

The cook brought his three horses under the shade of the abandoned structure.

"I'll get started on lunch, you can both just chill here or something." Wild took one of the stray torches on the ground, holding it over a burning skull post till it caught flame. The cook brought the flame to the lone cooking pot halfway in the sun to burn the wood underneath. The torch was thrown into the lake, displacing a few fish on impact with the water.

Both Twilight and Sky sat beside the fire as Wild, who stood, started pulling bits of food from the slate and throwing them into the pot. They watched as he threw in white, fluffy rice, covering it with the inside of some of the "egg" things.

Then, a small, snapping white creature appeared from the blue-string lights. Wild barely gave it a second glance before throwing it in the pot as well.

Even if Sky himself wasn't sure if it was a proper cooking method, Twilight's slight recoil at the action was the only answer he needed.

"Wild?" Really, they've never questioned his cooking methods before, mostly for the reason of Wild being the only one amongst the able to cook in the slightest. But actually having the time to watch him concoct his meals…

"Yeah, what's up Sky?" Wild had already taken out the hand carved ladle Sky had crafted more than a few weeks ago while the group was winding down for bed. Seeing Wild use it, especially with how often he is known for breaking his equipment, felt… nice.

"Well, I wanted to know a little more about your cooking. I can't do anything more… frivolous than the pumpkin soup from Pumm's island." Dropping his hands into his lap, Sky continued. "I was wondering how you do it."

"I definitely couldn't have done it alone, that's for sure. Especially with my whole 'memory loss' deal." Wild twisted the pot, stirring up the collective ingredients inside. "I did a lot of learning, really really quickly, and I have the old king of Hyrule to thank for most of it. For the most part, I was running around stables, getting their specialty recipes off the walls and having one of the locals help me make it. You saw it while we were at Riverside, right? The recipe for crab stir-fry?"

Sky couldn't tell him what color the bedsheets were if he had asked. 

Instead of blatantly lying, ' oh yes, of course I do Wild. In fact, here are the main ingredients, crab and stir and fry.' Sky shook his head a bit and gave a shrug.

Wild mumbled a little "Fair enough." Before turning back to the searing pot.

"I do have a question too, cub." Twilight leaned back on his elbows. When Wild nodded towards him, a sign that the cook was listening, Twilight vaguely gestured to the surrounding tower.

"What's with this place? It looks just like most of the monster-built towers 'round here, but there's no sign of 'em. There's also things that only Hylians would use here, especially that cooking pot."

Wild stopped, placing the ladle against the rim of the cooking pot. He leaned over the still very much on fire pot to stare into his mentor’s eyes.

"Here's the thing, Twi. I have come here seconds after every blood moon and not once have I ever seen a single monster here. I would say it belongs to the few lizalfos in the river, but those guys only build oversized podiums in Eldin. " Wild flung his hands into the sky, looking more exasperated than he had ever seen Wild before. "Its the wrong location and the wrong structure! I think the bokos who built it moved out a while ago, died, and made a camp somewhere else after a blood moon hit."

"At least it's a pit stop for adventurers now." Sky added.

"Well, yeah. It's a safe spot, and that's what really matters in the end." Wild leaned back, taking the ladle and stirring the pot one more time before announcing that lunch had been finished.

"There's also no way up onto the platform." Twilight said, which made Wild pause from scooping out portions to stare at the tower.

After a few minutes, Wild whispered "How did I not notice that?"

What Wild called ' Crab Omelets' had been delicious, a common outcome by their amazing cook. Wild always adored the praise, but it was typically overcome by the fear of the others having to eventually make their own food.

As Wild took the plates and the pot over to the riverbed to clean out, Twilight brought him over to the horses.

"Now Sky, you want to approach your steed from the left or front, whichever works better for you, and keep out the back of your hand — oh, and remove your gloves — for them to acknowledge and all. Once Monsieur Pierre accepts you — and you'll know when — you can stroke the bridge here to get well acquainted." Standing next to Soup, Twilight then proceeded to display proper greetings towards the horse as they waited. A little further away, Sky attempted to recite the game steps. He was a little startled at first, horses were still a new concept, and all the steps he took towards the huffing beast were hesitant. Compared to the natural way Twilight took to his steed, Sky could not be doing worse.

He managed to get close enough to gain the horse's attention, and he almost flinched away when Monsieur Pierre's cold nose touched the back of his palm. The sky child waited a few tense seconds, which felt longer under the horse's scrutiny, until the equine finally nudged its snout against his knuckles. Sky gave a little gasp, then he was drifting his knuckles up the bridge of the horse's snout with feather-light touches. 

"Once we hit the next stable," Twilight called down from atop Soup. "I'm going to teach you how to actually ride a horse."

Sky held back a snort. "I guess it is a bit different from riding a loftwing, thank you."

"Hey," Sky turned to meet his eyes, a bit shocked by the sincerity he saw in the rancher's eyes. "It really is no problem. I'll do whatever I can to help."

Sky had a feeling that Twilight was talking about something more than the quick horse riding lessons. As he managed to get atop his ride without much difficulty, he sent a smile over to Twi with a soft "Thank you." He tried not to linger on the dark crystal hanging atop the rancher’s tunic.

Wild had returned with the plates already in the slate, logging the cooking pot to where it had been resting above the fire. Without fanfare, Wild throws himself onto the white stallion. With slight coercion, the cook leads them into the dark cavern of Dueling Peaks.

The inside of the mountain didn't feel anything like the heats of Eldin, nor the cramped tunnels of the Mogma. A slight fog was drifting along the floor, the horses wading through the fog as if they were drifting on clouds. The only thing to break the illusion was the harsh clicks of the hooves against stone and the lack of overhead light.

Sky was tempted to turn back, grab a torch or two, but resisted. If Wild wasn't too worried about it, then it mustn't be an issue. Besides, he was boxed in between Wild and Twilight with no space to turn back. He couldn't if he wanted to.

"We're safe on this side." Wild said, unprompted. Or maybe Twilight had said something about the grumbling and gurgling of monsters from the other side of the river. "No monsters besides lizalfos can swim, and lizalfos have shitty night vision. Unless we, like, scream bloody murder or something, we'll be fine."

The trek was mostly quiet, with only a few missteps breaking the lull of silence.

Monsieur Pierre had, once or twice, brought his hoof down on particularly slanted and slippery rocks. In brief seconds of fear, Sky had overcorrected by tugging on the lead and almost shouldered the wall of the mountain.

The sun had begun its trip to the horizon line by the time they came out the other end of Dueling Peaks. Wild had them turn left, directing them to an extremely shoddy bridge.

"This is the Big Twin Bridge," Wild had turned around on his saddle again to face the two. "We're crossing one at a time, and please watch your step. The water from the river tends to splash up onto the dock, so be prepared to slip a little."

"Cub, your entire world is a safety hazard." Twilight remarked as he passed the two, directing Soup over the creaking bridge. Wild reeled back around, using the stirrups to stand, placing one hand on the horse's head for balance while he pointed the other at his mentor.

"You shut your mouth, rug man!"

"Rug man?" Sky got Monsieur Pierre to stand at the edge of the bridge as Twilight safely crossed.

"Yeah, he wears a rug." At Sky's confused and slightly alarmed face, he clarified. "The wolf pelt thing."

"Ah," Sky pretended to know whatever Wild was talking about. With light movements, he led Monsieur Pierre into a trot, stepping over the first few planks of rotting wood. The stallion appeared to be comfortable enough treading over the water, much to Sky's dismay. 

It's only when they were safely on the other side, waiting next to Twilight, that Sky let the deathgrip he held on the reins go. The breath he didn't realize he was holding came out in a huff

He's never going to get used to horses. Sky wished he had his Loftwing to traverse the lands, but even if they were in his time, the birds don't fly below the cloud barrier.

Speaking of… 

He'd have to ask Wild about it later. If the clouds above still formed a barrier between the surface and the sky, there could possibly still be some remains of Skyloft above. Maybe he could try the song carved into every bird statue in his time later. It was always able to send in a rush of air to throw him into the clouds.

"Right," Wild's voice jolted him from his tempting, half-baked plans. "Dueling Peaks Stable is right up ahead. You two can frolic around Ash Swamp or whatever while I'll go make us dinner to go!" 

They make it to the stable in record time, an excited Wild setting the pace. He's sure the sudden burst of speed from the cook has him more winded than the horse.

After he dismounts, which is much harder than simply falling off, Wild takes the horses over to the man behind the counter and puts all three of them in for boarding.

"We'll be in Kakariko by nightfall, but we should make it right before." The horses are gone, Wild has already claimed his monopoly over the cooking pot.

"You said something about an 'Ash Swamp'?" Twilight had dropped all of his items and an overabundant amount of pouches at the cook's feet. Sky loosened the Master Sword, unclipping the baldric to hand her over to Wild. All of his pack dropped soon after.

"Yeah, it's that field right behind the stable. There's some stray horses you can teach him riding with and whatnot." Wild flicked through his slate, materializing a pot lid onto his lap, then throwing a slab of raw meat on top. Sky hardly suppressed a gag.

Twilight grabbed one of his shoulders, turning them to the field slotted between hills and mountains. An unsettling feeling seeped into his bones. There was something… wrong about the land. Sky wasn't so sure he wanted to find out why.

The rancher began to direct them away from the bloody meat pile that was to be their dinner. As they reached the top of the hill, with a full view of the grassy plain. Sky felt vindicated, and also wanted nothing more than to run back over to Wild, grab him by the face, and demand an answer. Or several.

The field was covered in demolished, rusting guardians. All in various forms, climbing burned wooden frames, buried half deep in the dirt, they were all empty husks.

If fighting one alone was a fool's errand, then he doesn't want to know what happened to the people who lived here during their devastation.

He feared more of what wiped them out. 

Sky didn't notice Twilight tensing beside him, nor did he turn to see the scowl on his face, but the rancher led them on into the field. Wild had been right though, there was a spattering of horses around the ruins, lazing about amongst the stone walls and frequent puddles dotting the land.

They manage to corner a mare, and Sky almost wants to call her Blueberry from her strange colorings alone. Twilight spent a few minutes alone with the mare, letting her get used to a Hylian rider before Sky was brought into the picture. Hopping onto an animal that's back was higher than himself was difficult to say the least. Twilight had to hold onto the mare's head as Sky tried to raise one leg over her back for three minutes straight. The stirrups on the saddles were godsend.

Twilight gave him a brief overview of what trained horses knew. The lesson is only as helpful as Sky can make it, so he tries his best. The ruins make for wonderful obstacles.

Eventually, when Sky finally thinks he's getting the hang of riding something other than a loftwing, Twilight's instructions come few and far between. Sky manages a glance over to the rancher after another successful leap over a heap of rocks.

The rancher looks lost in thought again, like his troubles from earlier that morning had never truly faded. He'll admit, he wasn't really sold on the slate-to-rock communication either, but if it is one of their few options…

He stopped Blueberry next to Twilight, the rancher not looking up from the stone he was uncovering with his shoe. 

Sky hopped off the mare, trying not to wrap his arms around her neck as his feet dangled above the ground. He dropped like a stone, and it took most of his brain power to manage to stand on his feet. The second he was off, the mare dashed into the field, rejoining the herd she was stolen from.

The other hero didn't seem to notice, but there was now a small crater where his boot dug into the dirt.

"Twilight-" Sky was cut off by the sharp turn, stumbling away from the silver blade that was suddenly settling on his neck. Though, quick as it appeared, the short blade was hidden beneath the folds of Twilight’s tunic. Who, in turn, looked more frantic about his actions than Sky himself had.

"Oh- Goddesses Sky," Twilight's voice pitched, then cracked. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I-"

Sky moved before he fully thought out the action. He was close, holding both of the rancher's hands in one hand, while threading through spiky hair with his other. Twilight was shaking, he could tell by the shiver in his hands alone. Whatever thoughts he had been lost in before… Sky wasn't sure he wanted to ask.

"I know getting lost in your own head isn't the greatest thing in the world." He gave Twilight a few seconds, if only to help his breathing settle. "If you need to talk about it…"

He led them both to sit on a half ruined platform, and, slowly, he let go of Twilight as the words began to spew.

"I'm… worried about the old man- Time." His voice shook on the name. "In my… When I got the Master Sword, he was there to train me. Not as he is now, but… as a Stal, and far into the future. There's only a few ways a normal Hylian can become a Stalfos and its… its not the kindest way to go."

"Twi, I-"

"He's," Twilight's chuckle was spotty. "He's actually wearing the same armor now."

"I'm sorry, Twi." Sky wracked his brain for something, anything to say. Damn it- he was supposed to be the one that's good with emotions. "You shouldn't have to keep your worries about Time to yourself."

"I don't know how not to be worried about him ever since I learned I am his successor." Twilight hurried his arms within the space between his knees, hunching over to rest his forehead against his pants. "I'm terrified he's going to die on our journey, but I can't help being even more terrified when he doesn't."

Sky didn't know what to respond with. He's sure a simple "Don't worry, Twilight! He's alive anyway and that's all that matters!" would suffice. Sky draped an arm over Twilight’s shoulders, muttering in his own mind until the words came to him. In situations like these, it's best to get their mind off the topic, right? How better than Sky's own ridiculous stories.

"You know, I met an old woman once. She was the first person I had ever met outside of Skyloft, and one of the few who didn't immediately make an attempt on my life." He paused, thinking back to the death glare her younger self had sent. "Actually, scratch that. Gorko was the first, and only one, who didn't try and kill me or hide from me. It was nice, he's my favorite."

Twilight heaved a stuttering breath. "You have low standards."

"Well, when there has been an entire word underneath your feet you had been told hadn't existed, you learn to adapt or get hurt. If it doesn't kill you, make it your best friend."

Twilight turned his head over, and Sky was nice enough to not mention the red, fading marks around his eyes.

"I've," a sniffle. "I haven't actually heard you talk about your journey much before."

Right. Lie.

"Not for the lack of trying. Everyone else just has much better stories than I do. From whatever tale Wind regales, from the snipits of adventure we can whiddle from Legend, it all sounds much more interesting than anything I've done." 

From the look Twilight gave, Sky knew the rancher didn't buy into it. Twilight turned back away, and Sky thought, for a brief second, that Twi was going to tell him to ' shut up' or ' stop lying'.

Instead, the rancher leaned back into his side, one hand playing with the slowly fraying edges of the sailcloth.

"Tell me a few."

Sky closed his eyes, threading through his blotches out mind for anything that stuck out. His right hand twitched, because of course it it , and the memory played back in his mind as few would.

"I had just gotten Zelda back." He could feel Twilight jump slightly against his shoulder. Maybe he thought Sky wouldn't spill? However, throughout his entire journey, the significant parts he could actually remember, this was the one they all had the right to know. 

The story of his failure.

"I had used the power of the Triforce to rid the present of a beast called The Imprisoned, sealed away at the bottom of a pit since Skyloft had been raised to the sky. We thought we had won, that we had eradicated the Demon King known as Demise from the face of the world." Sky sighed. "If only we were that lucky."

"The Demon King had help in his revival, the Demon known as Ghirahim. I was barely a match for him, hardly a knight, and he stole Zelda right out from under me and fled into the past with the Gate of Time."

"Sorry, wait, Gate of Time? I know the Temple of Time has-"

"I had a small thought about that when we arrived right outside the Temple of Time a few weeks ago. You see, I believe my Sealed Temple, and the building you know as the Temple of Time to be one in the same." Sky smiled at the thoughtful look on the rancher's face. He might not like the story himself, but at least he was helping Twilight get his mind off things.

"Anyways, I dove after him, and my… umm, best friend Groose was there to help as well, but I didn't know he would also jump in after me. I arrived thousands of years in the past, to a time when Demise was still sealed away as the Imprisoned. Ghirahim had taken Zelda down to the bottom of the pit, where the sealing spike lay. In order to complete the ritual to bring back his God, Ghirahim needed time. More specifically, he needed to delay me ."

Twilight chuckled at that.

"He threw waves of bokoblins at me, and I kinda felt like Wars. All heroic and brave, the hero they needed. I tore through every monster without batting an eye, I didn't have the time to look back. I managed to catch him before the ritual was completed, only for him to throw Zelda high in the air to hover. He showed me his true form, and it took me until I had defeated him to realize he was a sword spirit, the same as Fi. I will admit, I spent the few seconds he took trying to get up looking for the sword he was bound to, until he told me it was too late. Which was great, I hadn't heard that phrase enough on this adventure. The one point I needed to be on time for the most, I'm late, go figure." Sky huffed, running a hand through his bangs. He could hear Twilight muttering something to him, but the noise was completely missed by his ears.

As the seconds passed, and he finally registered the weight on his arm, he gathered up his remaining dignity to continue.

"Ghirahim had brought back Demise, who didn't seem to care much about the soul within the sword. Demise had ripped the blade from Ghirahim's diamond, shattering the form of the sword spirit as well. The Demon pledged to wage his hatred throughout the lands, but I was there. And, with Fi in my hand, I challenged him."

"You did wHAT?" Twilight almost jumped up, but that didn't prevent him from grabbing Sky's shoulders and shaking him "You saw the Demon King rise, pledge to destroy the world, and you just challenged him?"

"Twilight, please." With a huff, the rancher went back to laying beside him, though the weight was heavier than last time.

"Yes, I challenged Demise, and he brought us to a cloudy plain to have our duel. I had to be careful against his hulking form, he easily was taller than me twice over. Not even mentioning the protective scales against most of his exposed skin. I believe it's when I gouged one of his eyes out did he start taking me seriously. The clouds around us darkened, and Demise harnessed the lightning around us to strike me."

He could feel Twilight take in a sharp breath. The rancher turned, and Sky just barely kept himself from looking over. 

"Sky, you got electrocuted?"

"Ha! I got more than just electrocuted. " He pulled his right hand out, sliding off both the bracer and the glove before turning his palm over to Twilight.

Most of his palm was ashen, like he had been trying to hold a fire for hours. A peachy-red burn mark the same pattern as the handle of the Master Sword spread diagonally across his hand, reaching past his forefinger and thumb. Rolling up his sleeve brought forth the faint lines of lichtenberg figures, only to disappear far above his sleeve. 

"I…" Twilight reached for his hand. Controlling every nerve that wanted to flinch away at the touch, he returned to speaking instead of thinking. 

"You don't have to say anything about it. I harnessed the power of the lightning through the Master Sword, though it took me a few tries to get it right. When I had finally felled him, with his last, dying breath, he…"

'You fight like no man or Demon I have ever known, though this is not the end.' The words huffed by the dying God rang through his skull. ' My hate… never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! Those like you… Those who share the blood of the Goddess and the spirit of the hero… they are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!'

Of course… "He cursed me."

With a thumb around the string, Twilight twisted the necklace around his neck. The dark crystal reflected an orange light and looked more ornate than a normal charm.

"I know what it's like to be cursed…" The rancher didn't continue, instead glaring down at the sharp, jagged crystal.

Twilight… was cursed? Maybe it was something to do with the crystal-

'It's an item of mine he shouldn't have touched." 

Right, when Sky had been separated from Wars and Hyrule when they were walking through the forest a few weeks before their arrival at Lon Lon Ranch, he had stumbled upon Legend in the form of a rabbit. When he touched the blade of the Master Sword, he was brought back to his normal form, and the shard was given back to Twilight.

Sky turned over, using his free hand to turn Twilight's face over by the chin.

A crystal that can change someone's form…

A magic wolf with a disappearing act to rival the Goddesses…

Of course- of course . Twilight would "go on patrol" around their campsite, and Wolfie would show up minutes later, curling around whichever hero had been going through night terrors. Oh, Hylia even the markings on his forehead were the same.

"Sky-?"

"You're Wolfie."

Twilight jumped back with his eyes blown wide, dropping Sky's hand.

"I'm, Sky that's absu-"

The hero reached forward. If his theory was right, then he would-

A finger tapped against the dark crystal, and the instant pain that wracked his body was electrifying. Every bone in his body turned to mud, sloshing around in the abyss that was his body, and reformed sharper and smaller. His skin was burning, the hair throughout his entire body stood on end.

When his eyes peeled open, Twilight was staring down at him. Which is odd, because the two were almost the same height. Sky felt… fluffy , and his fireshield earrings felt heavier than before.

He lifted his hand- paw? It was definitely a paw, with cream fur and pink pads. He turned and- wow, the stripped tail was definitely a new addition.

"Sky? Are you still with me?"

Chapter Text

Twilight was kneeling on the grass, arms outstretched as if he was going to hold Sky's entire body in the palm of his hands. He probably could, now that Sky was…

He was a remlit. 

Twilight was a hulking wolf, Legend was a rabbit, and Sky is a remlit.

"I'm still here." Is what he wanted to say. What came out was the mewl of a remlit, which Twilight couldn't translate in his current form. Instead he nodded his head as Twilight picked him up off the ground, holding him under his arms.

"Sky, I really don't know whether to be angry or scared with you right now, because binding your form with the crystal is dangerous. But also, you're adorable now, and I have no idea what you are." 

Sky snickered, and what came out was short noises. It almost sounded like an amused, feral remlit after it got its claws in you at night. Sky used his, now extremely sharp, claws to start climbing up Twilight’s left arm.

"Ow, ow, hey- I took my chainmail off, could you please-"

Sky settled his arms on the rancher's shoulder, resting the last of his bodyweight, which isn't much, on the fur pelt. Twilight couldn’t turn his head far enough, but Sky saw the curious glance in his eyes.

"I don't know how I forget sometimes, but you really are jus' like the cub, aren't you?" Twilight reached his other hand over, scratching the fur on the top of his head.

He didn't respond, but he didn't expect the soft thrumming in his chest. Remlits purr, don't they?

With Sky relaxing his arm's over the rancher, Twilight snagged the bracer and glove left on the stones,, and walked them back over to the stable. Sky had trouble resisting the urge to bat at Twilight’s pointed ears, or even his own, significantly rounder and larger.

They slid down the hill and arrived back at the stable, where Wild had been roasting skewers over the small fire.

"Thank Hylia your back, I've been trying to keep these warm without burning them and- what the fuck." Wild made eye contact with Sky, who smiled and mewled. 

Wild almost dropped the skewers into the fire.

"Did he-" Wild cut himself off. The skewers disappeared into blue lines as he stood to step around the fire.

"He figured it out, but I let it slip that I was cursed." Sky jumped from his shoulder, using his massive, thin ears to slow his fall as he dropped to the dirt.

Wild kneeled, picking Sky up in the same way Twilight had.

"Oh my Goddess, he's adorable." Wild turned to his mentor, clutching Sky to his chest like a rich man would his wallet in a bar of thieves. "What is he?"

"I don't know, cub." Standing next to the fire, Twilight grabbed the Master Sword from where she lay above the pile. With a flick, a sliver of the blade is shown, just enough for the world to see the symbol of the Triforce carved into the blade. He rested the blade on the ground between them.

"I was hoping Sky would be able to tell us himself."

Sky squirmed until Wild let him go. Though the small form was fun, he had to turn back eventually. Besides, the fireshield earrings weren't meant for remlits to wear, they were too heavy for the thin ears to handle.

His paw rested over the sword, looking back up to Twilight for less than a second before pressing on the cool blade.

It was instant, excruciating, and rejuvenating. Nothing in the world feels better than when you have access to thumbs.

He felt blessed for one, small moment.

Only until the wave of nausea swam through his mind. His feet, feet, he has those again, stumbled back until he felt a hard force against his back. The ground?

Twilight was instantly hovering in record speed, with Wild just on his other side.

It took him a moment to register the returning pain, there was hardly a moment without it ever since it began. He almost felt foolish believing that changing his form would-

No, no, Twilight's saying something. Does he need a smile to be appeased? Should he be looking ashamed? Should everything be hurting as terribly as it is?

Breathing became a task all on its own, and the thriving, white searing pain completely burned through all through processes before they could begin.

There were hands in his hair, though the action felt better when he was smaller. A warm, bubbling feeling grew from his scalp, and something was plucked from his head. They were yelling, frantic. Some fluid was quickly crusting over his eyelid. Wild disappeared from his sight for a second before uncorking a pink bottle. Cold glass pressed against his mouth, and something slipped past his lips. The sickeningly sweet, bubbling taste could only be one of Wild's fairy tonics.

Twilight’s hand drifted into his vision- was that blood? - before the cold blade of the Master Sword was laid against his chest.

He didn't know what was to be expected, he had no idea what they were going for. However, in the thoughtless delirium his mind succumbed to, he could hear her voice. It was a cruel trick his own mind played with himself. Hylia, none of the faint words made any sense .

The handle of the blade laid perfectly in the mirror scars in his own hand. His mind must have concocted some sort of audible illusion, perhaps in an attempt to quell the registry of agony. There was no way in which the forever sleeping soul of his blade was singing to him, directly into his mind.

I might’ve been her voice that finally blotted out the searing affliction throttling his mental processes, or it was the fairy tonic making its way through his system.

Sky managed to sit up, not without the help of Twilight at his back. His hand moved to rub at his eyelid, he preferred to see with both eyes, thank you. What had fallen onto the side of his hand were small flecks of blood, and everything that came through his left eye was tinted a faint pink. Turning up, Wild had been about to grab his arm with something akin to horror on his face.

"I…?" His voice came out faint,  something closer to a whisper. 

"When you changed back," Twilight assisted Sky in placing the Master Sword back into her scabbard. She wasn't singing anymore. "You still had claws from your transformation when the headache came back. You ended up tearing off some of your scalp and Cub here gave you an elixir to patch it back up."

Wild was still staring at his face, though his eyes had drifted up onto his hairline and-

"Did it happen again?" The exhaustion in his own voice was unexpected, but telling. Everything, every bone and square inch of flesh felt numb.

"Yeah, you're a bit more white now-" 

Twilight slapped Wild's mouth.

"Your hair is a bit more white." Removing his hand with a grimace, Twilight rubbed his hand on Wild's tunic. "Did you really have to kick me, cub?"

"Fuck you." Wild smiled, turning back to Sky. "Yeah, you've got a patch in your bangs now."

Sky sighed, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Everything in his mind still felt like slush, and every sound felt like another stick in his brain. He tried to stand, Twilight standing right behind him with a steadying arm.

"Well, at least we know the headaches are connected to the hair thing." Twilight must have caught him slipping. One second, the ground was slowly coming closer, the next, there was an arm around his shoulders and Wild was staring into his eyes.

The cook glanced over to his mentor. "I thought we already had that figured out?"

Twilight gave a half shrug, and Sky was shuffled along with the movement.

"Eh. We still need to make a trek up to Kakariko to talk to Impa. She's got, like, old lady wisdom and stuff." Wild looked Sky over once, and twice, before grabbing everything in the haphazard heap by the dying fire. Sky watched as all the rest of his and Twilight’s gear turned into thin blue lines. Turning back, Wild's growing smile shifted. "If you think you're able to make it up there, Sky."

Testing the waters, he dragged his foot through the grass. It didn't hurt to lean his weight on it, it just felt numb . Someone could come up and wack his ankle with a stick and he probably wouldn't feel it. Walking without feeling was not a good idea, a few of the other knights at the academy could attest. If he let Twilight drag him, however, they could most likely make it to Kakariko Village by nightfall. 

"I'll need a little assistance until I can feel my legs again, but we should be good to leave now."

He could feel Twilight nod beside him, and Wild was going to stand on his other side just in case. The rancher set a slow pace as they trudged through the dirt path. Sky could feel his boots dragging against the dirt and stray rocks. He was already figuring out the price for new boots when he got back home to Skyloft.

"Alright!" Wild stopped them at the bottom of another bridge. Sky was hesitant to ask how many of the structures littered his Hyrule. "This is Kakariko bridge, set right over Lake Siela! We go over this, up a little hill, and then we're there!"

"Cub, one sec." Twilight shifted his grip, solidly holding onto Sky's arm as he took his other hand back. Wild stopped two steps up the bridge, but the cook's twitching legs couldn't stop moving. "Sky, I'm gonna try somethin' different. You can still feel your arms, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sky twitched his fingers. "Yeah I can still feel them."

"Alright, then this will be easier. Hold on, and please don't tug my hair." Twilight crouched to the ground in front of him.

It took him a few seconds, but it wasn't until Twilight had looped his arms behind Sky's knees when Sky realized what was going on. With a push and a shriek, he was suddenly in the air, far higher than he should be. His hands grasped for purchase, digging into the ranchers, very spiky, hair.

"Yeah, that'll work." Wild was staring up at him as if he was the one doing something absurd.

Sky lightly tugged on the rancher's hair, and he responded with a noncommittal humm.

"Why am I up here?" Even if he couldn't see Twilight's face, he could feel the smirk from the tone of his voice alone.

"It'll help us get to Kakariko faster. Plus, you won't have to be physically dragged all the way up a mountain."

"Its the little bonuses." If Sky could see Twilight’s face, he believes it would have the same exact smirk plastered on the cook's face.

Honestly, he couldn't barely believe the two sometimes.

He leaned both of his forearms against the rancher's head, and he could feel Twilight adjusting his grip on his legs.

They managed to cross the bridge in aminable chatter, with Wild doing most of the talking. He pointed out the small ridges where creatures called Koroks supposedly sat around, there were about three of them around the bridge alone.

As they reached the other side, Wild led them up a smooth path through two hills. He would stop a few times, at entrances or holes in the wall, and say something that was barely comprehensive.

Things like, "This is where I met Hetsu! He's a giant korok and he uses little seeds to upgrade my item slots!"

Or,

"This is where I fought a few silver bokos for Hetsu's maracas! I just kinda blew them off the edge with a giant korok leaf, kinda like the one Wind uses for gliding, and blew them all off the edge without having to draw a blade! It was great, you should've been there."

The hill got steeper as they arose, a few particularly uneven steps by the rancher had Sky trying not to grab him by the ears.

Wild presented a few random spots as they trudged through the tall grasses. Like the pond full of frogs, or the two, identical sets of metal boxes.

They passed through a gate, with Wild making a passing remark about "always shoot the eye". Sky had to duck under the copious amounts of banners and streamers strung from tree to tree. There was a symbol of a crying eye plastered everywhere, not unlike the one Impa has worn on her clothes.

Wild led them across a smaller, wooden bridge, and down the path into the village. Even as the night was slow approaching, there were children playing on the road, chasing each other with smiles on their faces.

Stopping in what appeared to be a courtyard in front of a pond, Wild turned to the two guards standing before a smaller gate.

They were both white-haired men, but Sky couldn't tell if it was natural or because of their age.

"Dorian! Cado! Nice to see you both again! Now if you'll just excuse me-" Wild tried to squeeze himself between the small gap between the two guards. Neither looked impressed, or startled.

"Link," One of the guards forcibly moved Wild from between them. Sky had to give himself a second to realize neither of the guards were talking to him. With the way he could feel Twilight’s shoulders tense, he believed the rancher had the same momentary lapse in remembrance. They were in Wild's Hyrule, of course the locals were going to refer to him by name.

"You know we're not meant to let anyone else up to see Lady Impa."

"Pleaaaase?!" Wild hopped back, practically squishing Twilight’s cheeks in his hands. "They're harmless! They don't bite old ladies!"

Sky had to stop himself from laughing at the unimpressed scowl on the right guard's face. The other just looked exasperated, like he had done this song and dance several times before, and had never won.

"Link, we can't-"

"I'm mighty sorry sir," Twilight walked a bit closer to the other two, and Sky wasn't sure if he liked being taller than the two guards. He could see a bald spot right-

"We need to talk to Lady Impa, we have a few questions to ask her, along with a message from the princess."

Sky drew back, straightening his spine. A message from the princess? They hadn't even seen the princess yet.

Oh right. He's lying.

One of the guards seemed convinced, and though the other one was still glaring at Wild, they parted from the front of the gate. Wild took no idea in bounding up the flight of stairs.

Twilight turned his head up as far as he could, tapping Sky's knees for his attention.

"Are you able to walk?"

Sky leaned over, and with a quick strike, he hit his calf with his fist. Oh yes, he could definitely feel his legs now. 

"I think I can." Sky wiggled his toes, feeling them scrape against the inside of his boots. 

"Here," Twilight crouched down, and Sky could feel his own feet touching the ground again. As he stood, the inside of his thighs felt hard and sore, not unlike when he had been riding Monsieur Pierre earlier that day. A hand on his shoulder kept him steady as he shook out the stiff feeling in his legs. "Are you good to go?"

Sky nodded, and the rancher's hand moved to his wrist to drag him along. 

They slipped between the two guards, trying to ignore the suspicious glances which were shot their way.

Wild had been waiting for them by the wooden doors of the large, dark wooden house. He was chatting with a girl, whose face was as red as Sky's bird, but stunned into silence. The rag in her hand fell to the floor, and neither the girl nor Wild noticed it go.

"And then there were the monsters, and wow were they a pain to deal with. Especially with, like, eight other people who just had no idea what they were capable of doing. Like, Legend? The guy has so many weapons and items that I don't think I could find all of them even if I stole his-"

"Cub," Wild turned to Twilight, slightly miffed about the interruption. "We should go see Impa before the guards throw us out."

"Right, right." Wild waves to the young lady, who promptly fell to the wooden floorboards, and turned to knock on the door.

Someone called from the inside of the room. Wild, with glee, threw the door open without a second thought.

"Impa! How are you-AAGH"

A large, stone-made spherical ball flew through the door, hitting Wild squarely in the face. The cook was flung back with a yell, soaring down the stairs to land right at the gate again. The two guards stared at Wild, who tried to wave off their attention as he ran back up.

"Where have you been, Link?!" A shrill, old voice called from the inside.

"Good to see you too, Impa." Wild slipped into the house, Twilight and Sky following closely behind. 

The house, on the inside, looked like a historian's dream. Old banners with stories older than time lined the walls, and red cushions covered the floor in lines.

Sky wanted to kick one, just to see if it was completely covered in dust.

"It took you far too long to get here." The old lady, who sat in the center of a raised platform on a cushion of her own, said. Something about those words were familiar… "Link, I expected your arrival months ago!"

"Sorry Impa!" Wild looked nervous, like a child being chewed out for not visiting their mother more often. "I got dragged into this whole mess. Time travel, -eugh- it sucks!"

Twilight slightly shoved Wild, and when the cook turned to him, Twi fixed him with an unimpressed glare. Wild shrugged, and Twi rolled his eyes.

"Miss, we wanted to know if you knew how we got here, or why we are here." At the old lady's raised eyebrow, Twilight stammered on. "I-I mean, If there had been any reports of dangerous monsters near, or some that have black blood in 'em."

"Dear, if you hadn't noticed, I'm quite old. I don't get around as much as I used to. You'd be better off asking a resident at a stable these questions rather than me." Old Impa lowered the large brim of her hat as her voice fell into a whisper. Her tone shifted to one not unlike the mystic's sharing of secrets. "However, I do believe you all came here of unusual methods."

Wild dramatically gasped in awe, waving a hand in front of Twilight’s face. Twilight, unimpressed, pushed the hand away.

"How do you know?" Wild asked, which gained him another unimpressed look, but from Impa.

"You're asking about it, moron."

Wild groaned in exasperation, pacing in a circle around one of the floor cushions.

"Is there anything else you wanted to bother an old woman about?" She said it as a dismissal, but Twilight took it as an opportunity for more information.

"Do you know what's happening to Sky?"

Impa turned to Sky, who had been leaning on a support beam for the entire conversation thus far. She looked him over once, twice, and he had to force himself to meet her eyes as she scanned his face.

"Young man," She sounded much older, like her voice was echoing from a gravestone. "You have been blessed by the Goddesses."

"Yeah," Sky sighed, letting himself fall onto one of the cushions. Twilight was by his side in a second, hands hovering over his arm, while Wild began dragging over a few more red cushions. "I get that a lot, but I believe my current ailment to be of other origin."

Impa folded her hands together. "Then tell me your symptoms, boy."

" His name's Sky ." Wild's whisper wasn't as quiet as a whisper should be.

Sky sat up against the wall as best he could. "I have… headaches. Every time one occurs," he picked at the white spot in his bangs with his fingertips. "More of my hair turns white. It has been happening for two, maybe three days now, and the headaches have only grown more painful as it goes on."

Lost in thought, Impa tapped her nails against the wooden platform beneath her. They all spent the next few seconds in a dragging silence and Impa collected her words. From beside Sky's ear, something crunched, something loud .

He turned, only slightly, to see Wild gnawing at a kebab of meats and vegetables Sky had never heard of before. Wild turned his head down to meet Sky's eyes.

"What," The cook's mouth was full of meat. "Want some?"

Sky physically recoiled at the sight. 

Twilight smacked Wild's jaw shut with a, "Chew with your mouth closed, Cub."

Impa cleared her throat, driving the hero's attention back to her.

"There is an old, ancient tale that has mostly been lost by time. It's only known now through its survival by stories parents use to drive their children to sleep."

"Ah, oral tradition." Sky smiled to himself, like there was a joke only he knew. "One of the least reliable methods of information retention and transmission."

"Truly. There was once tales of a God with hair as white as snow, one of the only few male God's to ever appear in Hyrule's historical documents long ago. They say he is marked with the war paint of old, and the blade he wields to be all powerful. A God, who cares for the lives of mortals, and willing to strike down any beast or creature in his path. They called him the Fierce Deity."

"Sounds cool." Wild waved the kebab stick around as he talked. "But that doesn't really help us much-"

"I'm getting there, Link!" A book came flying towards the cook's head, who shrieked and dove out of the way, right into his mentor’s lap.

"Impa! The fuck-?" Wild was silenced with a look from the old lady. Instead of moving back to where he sat, Wild got comfortable on top of Twi, grumbling.

"Now, if you'll let me continue, the Fierce Deity wasn't only labeled 'Fierce' for his skills with a sword, but how desperately he protected the people he loved and fought for their security. He was praised for his skills, and in turn, he gave everyone his love." Stopping for a second, Impa sighed. "No one has heard of the Deity in millenia, most don't know of his existence anymore."

"Its not hard to imagine. Most of all our religious documents were stored in the castle, and that's just in shambles now." Wild said, and the certainty in his voice made Sky aware how much Wild had lost in his time. So much information and knowledge built up between the Era of the Skies and Wild's modern Hyrule. To have all of it lost… it felt as if all of the kingdom's progress had been reset time and time again.

"Sky, if I am not mistaken, I believe you might be blessed by the Fierce Deity."

"What?!" That wasn't his voice- 

Twilight had practically jumped out of his own skin with eyes wide. He had jostled both Sky and Wild with the movement, sending Wild straight to the floor while Sky's back smacked against the wooden walls. The rancher had the gall to look nervous under the glares he was sent, a nervous flush rising on the small, visible portion of neck. 

"Sorry, I-I jus' don't have too much experience with deities and such." He shuffled back, Wild wasted no time in throwing his legs back over his mentor.

"In all honesty, Lady Impa." His fingers traced over the dark, ugly lines along his forearm. If he stopped, if he let his mind rest for even a second, he could feel sparks emanating from every channeled lightning strike. "This somehow feels more like a curse than a blessing."

They had left shortly after.

While they had been inside, gaining information from Impa, the sky had begun to cry. It didn't take long for everything in the valley to flood. With both Twilight and Wild at his side, he made it down the slick staircase.

Once they passed the fairly drenched guards at the arch, Wild began to run towards one of the buildings in the square.

"C'mon! I hate being wet!"

With rain water completely soaked through his clothes, he walked into the inn behind Twilight. The room felt… cozy … and warm, especially against his now-freezing skin.

Rupees were exchanged, and Wild led them over to a set of two beds. Sky was sat down on a separate bed while Wild and Twilight took a seat on the next one over to the left. Wild began fiddling with his slate, and Twilight was talking about something or another. Sky was too exhausted to Wade through his words to find any meaning.

Something was pushed into his hands, a mostly cooled kebab. The meat was chewy, and he found himself taking longer to eat than he should. His eyes stung as he forced himself awake enough to finish what Wild had made.

In the end, he didn't manage to finish half of it before his eyes sank shut, mind drifting off into slumber.

As the sun rose, the three Heroes had already left Kakariko Village. Far on the trail back to the Dueling Peaks Stable, Wild created their pathing for their next destination.

"We have to go through the Ash Swamp, sucks, I know. But after we get through Fort Hateno, it's easy riding all the way up-"

"Cub," Twilight would look much happier in a bed, under eight blankets, and a mountain of pillows. "Its still 5am, keep it down."

Chapter Text

The three arrive back at the Dueling Peaks Stable at the early hours of morning, having split some slate-sealed onigiri for an early breakfast. As they stepped up to the booth, a barely awake Tasseren had mumbled to Wild about horses.

"Yeah, can I take out Soup, Monsieur Pierre, and Brigg?"

The stable master had just stared at Wild for a moment. After a few passing seconds, he motioned over to the stable hand, yelling something along the lines of "Get Link's three." before nodding off back to sleep on the counter.

Another, tired man came around with the three horses. Sky could see the man walk back into the stable and fling himself under the covers of a stable bed after Wild too the reins.

"They all seem… tired ." Twilight said as he already began to board Soup without pretense.

"Yeah," Wild passed the lead to Monsieur Pierre over to Sky. He laid the back of his hand out for the horse, who practically ignored it to brush its nose against the side of Sky's head. "Awwe, he likes you!"

"I'd hope so." 

After they're all settled, Wild takes the lead down the path back North towards Kakariko. Before they hit the bridge, however, Wild veers onto a path to the right, leading directly into the Ash Swamp.

The grassy field, littered with the broken down remains of guardians, didn't feel any different in the early dregs of morning. The cool wave of discomfort settled in his mind, and the distinct feeling of unease tempted to turn and run in the opposite direction. 

Twilight and Wild only rode slightly ahead, if he could just-

"Sky," Twilight's words almost made him jump. "I wanted to ask you about something- about what the old lady said."

The rancher slowed down to meet him, and he had to resist the urge to have Monsieur Pierre speed up. He did not want to talk about whatever Impa had believed to be happening to him, and he couldn’t stand the thought of another Deity trying to worm its way into his life. He fought one, saved another. Frankly, he's done messing around with "higher beings".

"What's bugging you?"

"Do you really think whatever's going on with you is caused by a God?" Twilight asked, and Sky had to refrain himself from sighing.

"I don't believe so, or at least, it's not a blessing of any sort. Impa says the Fierce Deity is a protector, so I believe it to be odd for their gift to cause pain." Sky turned back forward, only to see Wild, backwards again, leaning into the conversation.

"Cub?" Twilight shifted over, Soup veering closer to the two as they continued on.

"I was waiting until you were done but," Wild pulled out the slate, dragging his finger against the surface until Twilight’s sword appeared on his back. He pulled it off, passing it over to the Rancher. "I'd thought you would want this. There's a few bokoblins on the path to Hateno after we pass through the Fort Gate up ahead, and you're the best swordsman on horseback."

Twilight slipped off the wolf pelt, setting the leather strap atop his tunic before throwing the fur back on.

As they made it to Fort Hateno, Sky could see the crumbling, deteriorating wall of the fort, settled between two cliffs. There were several sections where the stone gave way to the wooden support underneath.

"Fort Hateno is one of the safest places in all of Hyrule." Wild stopped alongside the road, letting Twilight surpass him. "There won't be any more guardian carcasses beyond here, from Faron to Lanayru."

Lanayru? Was the desert close by?

He passed under the Fort gate, with Wild right beside him, and was welcomed to a small patch of woods, shade from the sun, and the songs of the tiny surface birds. Sky noticed the world at this time wasn't as vibrant as it had been back home, millennia in the past. Though it hadn't proved to be as colorful, the entire world was beautiful in its own right.

"Hey, Cub." Wild, from where he was riding alongside Sky, turned his attention from a still-burning fire to his mentor.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"There's a split in the road ahead, which way?" Twilight, atop Soup, stood between a fork in the dirt path. One looked certainly less traveled than the other, following the river ahead, while the other split into the cliffside. Sky could barely see the several small stone statues which littered the following clearing.

"That ways a dead end." Wild pointed towards the cliff, then he moved to the well worn path and said, "We want to follow the Fir River up the hill and stay on the path. There'll be a few more forks, but we just need to stay on this road all the way up."

Twilight nodded, and without waiting for the other two, spurred Soup up the hill until they both vanished from sight.

"So…" Wild set the pace with Brigg, Sky only slightly behind. "Do you wanna know something funny? Okay, well, it's not really funny, but I didn't want to say scary because it isn't really all that scary either-"

"Wild, breathe." Sky chuckled, watching as Wild paused his movements to fix his tunic and inhale. "Now, go ahead and tell me your story."

"Well, you know how I had to do, sometimes weird things, in order to unveil shrines?"

"Mhmm."

"I had this guy named Calip help me with one, he's a doctor, and it took place in that clearing we passed with the tiny stone statues. I think they're gravestones, but I'm not sure. Well, we sat in the field all day with a book that had a riddle in it or something, I don't know, I wasn't really paying any attention."

"Hmm."

"And since it really wasn't doing anything for the entire day, we were about to give up when it hit about… 9pm? Around that time, one of the statue's eyes started glowing!"

"Oh?"

"So I pulled out my bow and shot both of its eyes, because Doctor Calip said something about eyes at one point, and then the shrine just popped out of the ground!"

"That seems rather… odd." Glowing statues? Maybe there was a switch on the inside of one of the eyes..?

"That's what I thought! I still don't really understand it, but the Sheikah are weird like that."

"It reminds me of a gravestone back home, on Skyloft. I had to strike it with my blade at night, then move the headstone, to unlock the way down to a Demon named Batreaux." Maybe the statue during this time was also some sort of magical lock?

Suddenly a foul scent stung his nose. The cause wasn't what anyone would call a beautiful sight. A bokoblin laid sliced clean through on the grass with, thankfully not black, blood seeping into the greenery. The body was already turning to smoke, a terrified screech plastered on its dead muzzle.

Up further ahead, Sky could see a few more turning to dust on the grass.

"C'mon," Sky hadn't noticed they stopped. "Twi's probably waiting for us at the gate."

Wild moved on ahead, Sky taking a moment to thread his fingers though the rough hair of Monsieur Pierre.

Twilight really was brutal and efficient.

He spurred on Monsieur Pierre up the steep hill. Even if the steed of his speed was nothing compared to the majestic beast Wild was on, they had both made it to Twilight at the same moment.

The rancher was off his horse, holding Soup by the reins, while a pitchfork was poking at his chest. The man on the other end looked angry and determined.

"Thadd!" Wild yelled, hopping off his horse before it had stopped running. "We've talked about this!"

"Link-" The man, Thadd, had begun to respond, but was cut off by Wild tearing the tool out of the man's hands and throwing it through a nearby tree.

"No threatening the travelers!"

"Yes yes, sorry, we just have a very… important visitor in the village." The man nodded towards a raised hill in the village, and Wild audibly groaned.

"I thought she was trying to lay low. C'mon, boys." Wild walked ahead, Brigg trailing behind of his own accord.

Twilight looks up to Sky, who only gives him a shrug. They both sidestep past Thadd, who tries to pull the pitchfork from the bark of the tree, and walk into the village.

Its… bustling.

There were several people stepping from shop to shop, children yelling and playing I'm the road, adults tilling their backyard farms. In the brilliant light of the sun, there seemed to be no one left inside.

"This way," Wild tugs at his heel, and Sky had to turn away from the lively village. "We can go look around when there's less traffic, promise."

He was led towards the right path, marked out by old, skinny logs and carelessly tossed pebbles.They walked through oddly square houses and to, yet another, bride.

“Wild,” The first steps were unstable, and Sky wasn’t sure if the wooden planks spanning the wide cavernous split would be able to manage the weight of the horse. He supposes, with Twilight sitting on the other side with both Brigg and Soup, that it'llhold up for now. "How many bridges are in your time?"

"Oh, an obscene amount. I think there's about 43 that are named and used in exchange routes. The rest, which are a lot, don't really have names. I should go around and name them sometime." Wild looked like he was considering doing such a thing, but a scoffing laugh from Twilight stopped him as they reached the grass on the other side. 

"Oh please Cub, You wouldn't make it out of the Faron region without getting distracted by something or another."

"Oh shut it!" Wild threw the nearest object he had a Twi, which just so happened to be his slate. Twilight caught it, held it for a second as Wild stood frozen, and handed the slate back.

"So, where do these lovelies go?" Twilight asked, and Sky decided now was a good time to get off of Monsieur Pierre. Wild catches him as he flings his legs over too fast.

"There's a small-scale stable for two on the side, you can let Brigg roam in the backyard." With a nod, Twi grabbed onto the three leads and disappeared around the side of the house with the horses. 

The house itself was much larger than any located on Skyloft, even more so than the temporary shacks they managed to develop on the surface. There was light flowing through the large window at the front, not towntion the cracks in the door emitting light.

"So she is here…" Wild looked mildly irritated, squinting at the door as if he could look through it.

Sky rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to give a reassuring smile that looked real enough. It must have passed in Wild's books, because he readied himself, glaring at the door, and marched up to it. The cook managed to knock twice, hard, when the door flew open and something flew out.

A shield, yellow and green, whizzes through the doorway. If Wild hadn't taken that second to jump into the arms of a fast-approaching Twilight, then he might as well have said goodbye to a finger, or two, or his whole arm.

"ZELDA?!" Wild screeched, scaling his mentor like he was a tree to stand on his fur-covered shoulders.

A young, blond woman with short, chopped hair left through the door with blasphemy in her eyes.

"WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN." She passed Sky without acknowledging him, barely giving Twilight a passing glance, before she lunged at Wild. Both of the blondes screamed, and Wild used Twilight as a springboard to get a headscarf as the two ran around the side of the house.

Sky and Twilight only stood in the small field before the drop-off into the river below. As they heard distant screaming, Twilight gestured to the door.

"Shall we go in while Wild's… occupied?"

Sky chuckled, this Zelda didn't seem too unlike his own. As far as he could tell, she was playful, and too worried for her hero for her own good. 

"After you." 

Twilight stepped through the still-open front door, with Sky at his heels. After softly shutting the door, Sky marveled at the amount of space inside. The beds weren't cramped two feet away from the fireplace, and there were more than two dining room chairs. This was the kind of space Luv and Bertie needed, like Kukiel's family needed.

He'd have to get some of the design plans for the houses. Maybe Groose could help him build larger houses on the surface when he returns. He sat down at the dining room table, on the opposite side than the massive clutter of pages, inkwells and writing quills.

The two residents of this time period return into the house, with Wild clutching the tossed shield close to his chest. Zelda, who looks vaguely unbothered as she takes her seat, watched as Wild places the shield back on a wall mount.

"We have made new advancements with out knowledge of the Sheikah technology while you were away." Zelda began, leaning against the table, as Wild took the seat across from her. "Currently, Purah and I are researching the properties of the Data Water to find its limits. After which, we are going to build another Slate from scratch."

"I'm sorry, but I'm a little out of the loop. Data Water?" To Sky's question, Wild pulled out the slate. Sky needed to get the rest of his gear from him eventually.

"Its what powers the slate and a lot of Sheikah tech. It runs orange when there's no information in it, but once it's got code, it goes blue!" Zelda, for his explanation, rolled her eyes and grumbled.

"That is an extremely basic way of putting it, but essentially, yes. It's a self-sufficient energy source that holds information within. We are still trying to discover its origins and how to develop more. Perhaps we could build something greater than the Divine Beasts, like carpenter robots! Or motorized transportation like the Master Cycle!" Her excitement was palpable as she began sorting the papers into different stacks.

"Cool, cool, but have you started the rebuilding of the castle yet?"

Zelda sighed and rolled her eyes at Wild's Cheshire grin.

"Regretfully, we have not. With the presence of Malice and the frequent Blood Moon, rewriting or destroying the guardians prove to be a fruitless venture."

Twilight moves from where he was looking over the weapons to the table, sliding into the seat next to Zelda as the conversation lulled.

"What about Si- uh, the- the new Champions? How are they doing?"

With a knowing smile from Zelda, she handed him a paper from the top of a stack. The cook's eyes, in turn, visibly lightened.

"Teba has shown great skill in commanding Vah Medoh, who is currently trying to conquer the beasts on the Hebra Mountains. We still don't really know what he is talking about, but we wish him the best of luck. Yonobo is still working up the courage to make it up Eldin Volcano," Oh, and Sky knows where that is. If it's anything like how it was in his time, then this 'Yonobo' character's fear isn't unfounded.

"Once he's in Vah Rudania, we'll have him bring it down to Goron City for ease of access. I'm afraid Prince Sidon is having trouble developing a bond and communicating with Vah Ruto, and I can't blame him for it."

Wild looked solem at the news, but not surprised. "Figures," he says, throwing the page back to the clutter-covered table. "It killed his sister. And Riju?"

"Makeela Riju," Zelda smiled. "wants her helm back."

"Uggggh," Wild runs the hand not pressed against the table through his bangs. "Do I have to? The Helm is so useful!"

"Which is why I assume they would like it returned at the earliest convenience. I have been stalling for the months you've been away, and Riju wanted it back last year ."

"Fiiiine." Wild got up from his chair, stretching out his arms before regarding everyone. "I was planning for us to stay here until we got whisked away again, but I have something I need to return. For now, I'm gonna start up lunch."

"One moment," Zelda stopped him, and turned to the other  two at the table. "You haven't introduced me to your companions yet."

Sky took a second to realize he was being stared at by the young Princess, mostly because he was staring at Twilight’s confused, shocked face. The rancher was staring, in turn, at Wild, who looked as if he was trying to keep in a laugh.

"Zelda, this is Twilight. He's a ranch hand and a good swordsman on horseback. He's from the past." Twilight waved, and Zelda waved back. 

"That one's Sky. He was the one who forged the Master Sword, and," Wild leaned over to Zelda, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, but not actually lowering his volume. "I'm pretty sure he's the first of us, but shush."

"Hello!" Sky grinned. "I also live in the clouds."

"Huh." Zelda stared at him for a moment, and Sky felt a little too scrutinized under her eyes.

"Oh, by-the-by! Sky, the backyard looks nice once we get past noon, and Brigg is also an attention seeker, so-"

"You brought Brigg? And didn't tell me?" Zelda jumped up in excitement, grabbing Sky's wrist and practically dragging him out the front door and around the entire house before he could protest. He could hear Wild's laughing and Twilight’s shouts as he was dragged through the grass.

The small, fenced in area looked gorgeous. The two apple trees and the small pond on the other side of the gate, simmering from the light of the sun, was perfect. Nothing was better than being this far up into the mountains, it does wonders for his lungs.

Brigg was grazing by the apple tree, and Zelda ran up to the stallion within five seconds of seeing him. She laughed, running her fingers through the horse's hair and whispering into its ear. Instead of hovering or overhearing, Sky took a seat underneath the shade of the apple tree. The silence and whispers was the only noise to keep him company, and, what can he say, he likes a good song?

He pulled the Goddess Harp -why did Zelda let him keep it?- and after closing his eyes, he began to strum. 

The Ballad of the Goddess came easy. After having to play it several times, nearly perfectly, in order to continue on his journey, he had to admit he's pretty good at playing the song by now. If he thinks back to when Zelda had happily played the song for him, twirled in her fancy hand-stitched costume for the day. She would beam brighter than the sun, and he might remember how Zelda appeared without the limited, overbearing power of Hylia.

He struck the wrong cord. Wild's Zelda didn't notice or mention the sour note.

Hylia. The Goddess created to protect the Triforce had reincarnated herself into Zelda, his best friend for years. As he had chased her, with hope diminishing at every step forward, she continued unlocking her divine memories with Impa at her side. With every different memory she regained, it was almost as if…

He set the harp against his stomach. Sky wasn't sure if he felt like carrying a sweet melody anymore.

It was like she started to forget me .

"Pardon me, but what's with the hair?" She caught Sky off guard, and he almost bashed his head into the tree as he whipped around to her.

"Oh whoa, I'm sorry for startling you, but that might be a bit… excessive." Zelda held her hands out in a placating gesture, bearing her open, unarmed palms. He doesn't know what she means. Excessive? He hasn't done-

Sky's fingertips graze the handle of the Master Sword. He pulls away from her like the shock she is to his system, and clasps his hands together.

"Sorry, it's a… habit?"

Zelda laughed, and Brigg snorted beside her. "That sounds about right, what with how you 'heroic types' never relax."

"Wish I had the time to relax. It feels like I can't sit down for ten seconds without being caught in another dilemma of the Goddesses."

"You're telling me." Zelda strode over, sitting in the grass beside him. "I was stuck fighting the Calamity for a hundred years with a pass-poor excuse for sealing powers. I used to pray to Hylia for advice, how to unlock the power locked within the blood of the Goddess, but it never worked."

"Well, maybe…" The divine harp was heavy against his clothes. "Maybe the Gods or Goddesses aren't people who we should be praying to."

Zelda, in her infinite wisdom, only swiveled her neck, wide eyes bearing into his skull. Right, he forgot some people might believe that statement blasphemous.

"I beg your pardon-"

"Sorry, Sorry, I just- I have a weird relationship with the divine. I mean, I killed Demise twice, who I believe reincarnates as your 'Ganon' person. And my best friend is Zelda, who is the mortal reincarnation of Hylia. It's hard to think of them as higher beings when she knits you sweaters for your Found Day."

"That's… Yes, I think that would change anyone's opinions on higher entities." She shook her head before plastering a smile back on her face. "Now, about my earlier question, the hair?"

"Oh that." Sky reached up, brushing a few fingers through his botched bangs. "Its not voluntary . I think it's tied to the headaches I've been having recently, which I think is tied to the strange portal used to get here in the first place. Other than that, I really don't know why it's happening."

"Well, I think it looks-" she stopped- why did she stop talking?- and after a few seconds of nothing, he brought his hand down from his head and glanced over to her.

Zelda's eyes are glowing… that's not usual. At least, he'd have to ask Wild if it was natural or not. The only time he had seen something like this before was the few seconds before… before Zelda sealed herself away in a crystal of amber. When she was channeling the memories of Hylia.

"Hylia?" He asked, to no response. Her features were royally blank, and she seemed to care less about personal space. If he could move any further back, he would, but he was sure Wild wouldn't appreciate him cutting down his tree just to avoid an interaction with the divine.

"Your soul," Zelda, or maybe whatever was using her voice to speak, whispered hoarsely. "It's just as old as mine."

Something caught in his throat. It was either his lungs or his heart, but whichever one was the cause, it only prevented his next breath. As he stared into the glowing, golden eyes, of the same shine that once had glowed on the back of his hand, creating an indentation of three triangles, his mind went fearfully blank.

Sky hardly knew what to say. He was tempted to shove her away and make a run for the tallest, coldest mountain he could find and stay there until loftwings re-evolve from cuccos.

"Excuse me?" The light went out like a snuffed candle, and Zelda was back where she was sitting in seconds.

"What do you mean 'excuse me'? I said I think it looks cool, I thought that was self explanatory." She looked as normal as she had been before. And, unless she was playing tricks on him, she wasn't… there for the very brief exchange.

He elects to put the interaction on a backburner for now, there were a few more important things he needed to attend to before messing with them again. Instead, he tries to look sheepish- awkward smile, scratch your neck, nervous chuckle- and draws back from the tree. The golden harp presses against his thighs as he shifts forward.

"Sorry, I must not have heard you the first time. Thank you, though. I have yet to find the appeal in the new color."

"I'd say white suits you." Zelda pauses, then cranes her head. "Is that a hairclip?"

He drew his fingers two where the heavy stone laid. A sudden spark of  'don't let her know, they can't know, no one can know ' rang throughout his mind. His hand clasped over the almost-purple stone, dragging it from his hair to hide it in his palms. His fear is unfounded, he knows this. The only thing that can activate the stone is a strike from the Master Sword, anything else just glances of the surface or slides right through. 

"It's," Say something, lie , quickly. "An engagement gift."

That was probably the worst thing you could've said .

Zelda brightened considerably, looking excited at the prospect of being able to ask questions and learn something new about her ancestors. Sky, however, wished he had said anything else. He was almost ashamed to say he had forgotten what Wild had told them all about his Princess Zelda; " probably the most inquisitive person in all of Hyrule, give her an inch and she'll take a mile! "

While he has no idea what "inches" or "miles" are, he thinks he understands the basics of the statement.

The younger, but older, but younger lady let in a sharp inhale, smiling so hard she would probably feel it for days in her cheeks. 

"Are you-" A loud crash came from inside the house, and Sky held in a sigh of relief. However, the sound of tussling that followed brought concern.

"Should we go check that out?" Zelda asked, already standing on the roots of the tree before Sky could begin moving.

"Yes, just in case." Zelda nodded to him, acknowledging the fact he spoke before breaking off into a dash to the door.

Sky hates running.

He slowed as he rounded the house, hearing Zelda's soft chucking as she stood in the doorway. Being slightly taller than her, he was able to see the, frankly hilarious, sight within.

The loud crash had been the table, flipped over on its side with everything atop thrown all over the floor. The culprits? Wild and Twi- Wolfie, he was right , in which Wolfie had the handle of the Slate clamped between his teeth, while Wild was trying anything within his power to get it back.

"Drop it! I'll tell her about you! I'll tell everyone about you! Give me the fuc- GIVE ME THE SLATE BACK!" Wild screamed, pitching himself back while trying to yank the slate from the maw of Wolfie. If Sky didn't know any better, he would be concerned that the wolf could smirk. Wolfie suddenly let go of the slate, causing the cook to fall flat on his back.

Sky chuckled through the back of his hand and Wolfie dropped his entire weight on Wild's chest, who groaned, but didn't try to shove him off.

Zelda, who strangely doesn't seem surprised or concerned that there is a wolf in the house, laughs. "What did you do to upset him this time?"

Wild sighed, poking Wolfie on the nose with the edge of the slate. "I tried feeding him raw meat."

"Let me guess, the good boy only eats real-people food?"

The good boy? Sky cocked his head, he thought wolves were wild predators, ferocious beasts that hunt and maul. At least, that's what Time had described them as a few weeks ago.

Maybe since Wolfie was actually Twilight, he was an exemption? Which brings the question, how does Wild's Zelda know-

"Look at his fluffy ears!" Oh, she had knelt on the wood, petting Twil- Wolfie. The wolf didn't try to pull away, which went against most of what he knew about the animal.

"C'mon Zel," Wild wiped the slobber and drool from his slate before scrolling through the options. "Help me set up lunch real quick."

They both moved to righten and set the table, which gave Sky a few free seconds to stare into the eyes of Wolfie and- yeah, that is definitely Twilight. From the color of their eyes to their surprisingly similar body language, Sky didn't know how he couldn't connect the two earlier. He felt… a little miffed. 

He knelt as Zelda had seconds prior, taking the fluffy cheeks into his palms. He met the very familiar eyes of the rancher, brushing his thumbs along the fur coated jaw. The wolf whined, which sounded an awful lot like the humm of concern from Twilight.

"In retrospect," Sky brushed a few fingers against the markings in the space between Wolfie's eyes. "Its so obvious. I have no idea how I didn't figure it out earlier, especially with the whole fiasco with Legend."

"Alright, I think we're all ready." The table had been cleared, though Sky had no idea where all the pages had disappeared to. Instead, there were three plates set of, what looked to be, different types of fruits. Sky stood, leaving behind a particularly wolf-shaped Twilight to pad along.

"Pardon me," Zelda said, looking around the room in fervor. "Where's Twilight gone to?"

Chapter Text

Sky looked to Wild, who was looking back with confusion written all over his face. All it took was a finger in the direction of the wolf for Wild's confusion to turn to realization, then apprehension. 

"He's uhh," Wild turned back over to Zelda, with a terrible cover of nonchalance on his face. "He went out- right before Wolfie showed up- something about safety or dinner or whatever. Anyways, let's eat!"

Before she could protest, Wild ducked down and  swiped Zelda's feet out from underneath her with his leg. She collapsed into the chair with a screech, smacking Wild in the face on her way down.

As Wild turned back to Sky with a wide smirk, Sky waved him off. "I think I can sit down on my own, thank you."

"Suit yourself!" Wild jumped into the seat in front of Zelda and Sky took the seat next to him. "Its hearty simmered fruit! It's got durians and apples and a few different types of berries! I usually make it for dessert, but it also makes a good late lunch dish."

Late lunch? How long had he been outside- how long did it take to get to Hateno ? He had to admit at this point, traveling by horse is much slower than riding through the clouds on a loftwing. 

"It looks…" He didn't want to point out the obvious. Of course it looks good, Wild made it. "Fruity?"

Zelda dropped her fork, clattering against the plate as her cheeks grew red. Sky turned to Wild instead, but the cook had closed his eyes, pressing both of his hands against his nose.

"I thought you- is it fruit?" He asked hesitantly, poking one of the floating berries with a fork.

"Yeah," Wild stifled a bubbling laugh, ignoring a small whine from the lunch-less wolf padding over to the table. "We just-" 

He looked over to Zelda, who just smiled and shook her head.

"'Fruity' just isn't really an adjective we use to describe actual fruit." Wild moved a hand to start tapping on the table, while Zelda started shoveling the food in her mouth whilst trying not to laugh. 

Sky wasn't sure what they were talking about. The fruit wasn't fruity? Maybe it's one of those words with another meaning, but what else could 'Fruity' describe? Wild seemed embarrassed, as did Zelda, so he decided to table the questions for later. Instead he just nodded, just like a person who understands would, and tended back to the dish. The fruits were sweet and savory and extremely squishy. The sauce they were submerged in tasted just like the sugar from the canes near the Bamboo Island.

Zelda stood abruptly , h er empty plate clattering against the table. She made a beeline to the door and grabbed her bag from the hooks near the door.

"I'm heading up to the lab for the day." She nabbed the bundle of pages and stuffed them in the bag. "Purah is still trying to unravel the components of the Data Water, but she's not going to get far without someone who can read ancient Hylian."

"Try not to stay up all night." Wild said between bites.

"Don't tell me what to do, I'm still your Princess." She opened the door, and slid out. Before it fully closed, however, she said, "But thank you… for your concern."

The door shut behind her, and silence rang throughout the house for a few moments.

"She's like that sometimes, don't worry about her." Wild picked up the plates from the table, tossing them on the counter.

"Now, I do believe I promised you a tour of the village?" At Wild's words, Sky was instantly out of the chair and readjusting his shoes. He almost had forgotten that he had wanted to go visit the bustling village! 

"Yeah, yes! Yes, let's go!"

"Whoa whoa, hold up a second."

Sky stopped. What? Had he forgotten something else? Did he look terrible? Would he be ostracized immediately? Did he still have the fruit sauce on his mouth?

"I don't think it's a good idea to bring the sword around the village." Oh right, of course. The sword. "Its peaceful around here, so people don't usually carry swords around in the square."

"Right, right." He unlatched the baldric, the sheath swinging around into his hands. It still felt harrowing to leave her behind. With how much time he spent running around the surface, saving people, with her by his side…

He left her resting against the staircase. He turned, Wild, and Wolfie at his heels, were standing by the door.

"You ready to go?"

Sky dropped his hands to his sides. He wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept hoping she would speak to him again. Though, wasting away by a pond in conversation with Fi sounded like a wonderful way to go.

Wolfie whined, he must be taking too long.

"Yes, I'm ready." Of course he had his wallet, along with the whip, the beedle, the gust bellows, and the clawshots on him at all times, just in case of course.

"Alrighty, first I wanna show you the dye shop!" Wild was through the door in an instant. Wolfie sighed as best as a wolf could. Sky watched as he jumped up onto the table, trotting around in a circle, before reaching down and grabbing the Sheikah Slate between his teeth.

"He's not going to remember that until he has to pay for something, is he?" Sky asked, reaching down to grab the slate after the wolf hopped down. He gave a woof in response, and since Sky isn't very fluent in barks, he takes it as a yes.

The cook was already halfway across the bridge when they left the house. With a short, terrible jog, the three were walking down the wood-lined path back to the main street of Hateno.

"Don't be too disgusted by the amount of puns they use in there. Kochi might freak you out a little, man just does not want to put on a shirt, which makes sense if he works in the dye shop, really."

They had first stopped by the open entrance to what Wild had called the Dye Shop. The inside was dim and large, with a high platform to the left covering three large vats of… something? Maybe it was the dyes?

“Speaking of,” Wild walked into the store, leaving Sky and Wolfie to stand at the large opening.

The cook walked up to a man wearing only an apron, holding vials of different colored liquids in his gloved hands. Wild passes the man a red rupee then rushes up the flight of stairs to stand over one of the vats. Wolfie seems a little too excited about it as Wild flicks through the slate, changing into a very different variety of clothes, including a warm, feathered tunic, some sort of armored helm, and silk trousers covered in gold linings and adornments. As a group of apples appeared in his arms, he shouted over to the owner.

"Alright, I'm ready!" 

Sky didn't know what he could be ready for. He wasn't all too familiar with the process of dying clothes, or anything for that matter, but he was pretty sure you had to remove the articles you wanted to color first. Maybe it was some sort of extravagant pass-off system?

The shop owner walked over to the vat Wild was standing above, pulling the curtain over the archway before holding onto a rope alongside the wall.

"Three." The man's nasally voice reached the street, and now Sky was very confused. It didn't… look like a pass off system. How did…?

"Two." Wild's stance changed, going from relaxed to rigid in a fraction of a second. An apple fell out of his hands.

"One!" The string was pulled, and Wild fell through the door with a short, cut off scream as he plummeted into the covered vat below. A splatter against stone and fabric was heard, and seconds later the shop owner pulled back the curtain before returning to his place at the desk.

Sky was already five steps in when Wild started crawling his way out of the tank, absolutely bathed in crimson. Sky wouldn't say it aloud, but the hero looked as if he had just crawled out of a bloodbath.

Neither the hero himself nor Wolfie seemed to care, with Wild dragging his finger through the dripping crimson on his cheek and tasting it. 

"Oh, gross, Wild- ."

"Its just apple dye! And it tastes so sweet!" Wild shook out the loose dye from his clothes like a remlit after a rainstorm. The cook's hair was much more red than Legend's had been pink after the encounter with Twilight’s cursed shard.

"Come on, you absolute remlit. We need to get that washed out before you start looking like a knockoff Legend." Sky was about to reach out and drag Wild along, but the other was still absolutely coated in red dye. Instead, he turned and beckoned the other to follow.

Wolfie took the lead as they left the shop, bringing them around to a lake running through most of the village. Without any pretense, Wild had stripped himself of the newly dyed gear, all disappearing into the slate, as he was left in nothing but his boxers.

Sky took a seat on the edge of the doc, his leather boots just barely skimming the surface of the clear waters. Leaving the slate by his side, Wild threw himself in the lake, resulting in Sky getting splashed with lake water and Wolfie giving out a howling laugh.

Sky couldn't help the small chuckle as Wild popped back above the surface. The water all around him was red, but the dye was finicky.

"Wild, come over here." He picked up the slate, and very quickly realized how useful the images on the slate were when he couldn't read whatever language the device was set in. "All I have to do is tap an item, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Wild sat in the shallow waters right in front of his boots. "And then you double tap an item against the face of it to put it back in."

He scrolled through the pages, looking through the random array of items- Oh, there's the rest of his gear. He forgot his chainmail and outer tunic were still in there- to find a stray bowl. He tapped the glass-like screen, and the dish appeared in light blue, silvery whisps directly in his open palm.

"Face the waterfall for me, please." As Wild turned away, he set the slate aside and dipped the bowl into the cool water. Then, he reached around to bring up Wild's face up by tilting his chin. The cook complied with a soft "Up."

He started threading his fingers through Wild's tangled and messy hair, taking out clumps of dirt and leaves and twigs as he forced his fingers through the strands. After most of the clumps were removed, Sky grabbed the bowl of water, setting the rim against Wild's hairline, and letting the water flow through his discolored hair. Wild shivered as the cold water poured down his back and the pinkish-red color drained away into the lake.

"Did the water get colder?" Wild laughed, rubbing a hand through his hair as Sky bent over to scoop up more lake water.

"Its the same water, Wild." With another pour from the hairline and running his fingers through Wild's hair, he got as much of the dye as he could out. "I think that's as good as it's going to get. Go ahead and swim around to see if you can get the rest of it out."

"Alright. Thank you, Sky!!" And with that, Wild disappeared back into the water.

Sky leaned back, and was almost surprised to meet something soft against his back. He turned, only slightly, to find Wolfie had pressed himself up against his back, laying in a crescent with his eyes closed. He almost looked as if he was sleeping, if it wasn't for his constantly twitching ears. Sky sighed, and followed the wolf's lead.

He laid back as much as he was willing to and let his eyelids close, basking in the few rays of sunlight that shone between the leaves and the buildings. The serene melody of birds and crickets lulled his mind into a peaceful nothing, though the laughs and screams of excitement coming from Wild only helped the smile on his lips grow.

The world was peaceful for once and there was nothing he needed to do. There was no reason for him to dart across a desert, swim through a minefield of froaks, or burn alive in the deep recesses of the volcano. All there was is him, a fluffy wolf, a wild child, and a lake.

Wolfie perked up suddenly — jumping to his paws as Sky almost fell back onto the wooden deck.

A shrill scream wracked the square, piercing the air like an arrow being shot through glass. Sky dropped the bowl he hadn't returned to the slate into the water. He was back up on his feet and running back up the deck in seconds, followed closely behind by a snarling Wolfie and a still-dripping Wild. 

People were fluttering through stalls, darting across the patches of stones to hide inside their homes. Someone shoved past him as they plunged into a house, doors slamming sounded all around like a half-assed echo.

And there he was forcing himself to run in the direction that every other sensible person is running from. His breaths became shorter, firing up his lungs and— Oh Goddesses he's going to feel that in a second.

"How the fuck–" He turned back to the only Hylian around, Wild, who was starring wide-eyed at the wooden Hateno gate.

There stood a tall, lanky monster, one of Wild's Moblins if he was remembering correctly. It was silver, covered in inky purple markings, and striding right through the gate. Abnormally long fingers wrapped around a giant club; some sort of dark wood covered by shards of bone.

His breaths came out short, but a growl from Wild brought his gaze. The cook was swiping through the slate, and with a few quick presses brought in his usual, dry attire and a chipped sword he was using the other day during the friendly duel between heroes.

The monster--moblin, right-clawed its way through the gate, crushing it's mindless head against and under the wooden boards. The monster growed, snarled, and the carved planks flew into the air, scattering around the village.

"Sky, stand back!" He stumbled as Wild had placed himself between Sky and the monster, with Wolfie growling at his heels. Which is absurd, he's fine. Sky’s head might be screaming, his lungs might be burning up his throat, but he's fine. He's fought worse than moblins in worse conditions, even if he only has-

His sword hand grasped nothing but air.

He left her, the Master Sword, Fi , at Wild's home. Why did he leave her at Wild's home? It's the sacred blade, the most divine blade in existence, and he left it behind .

Stupid, stupid — that was completely irresponsible. Now because of his stupid, reckless, idiotic mistake, he's left weaponless against a monster and Wild, with Wolfie growling and snarling by his side, have to defend him while—

Well, no, that's not exactly true. There were a few items you never leave home without.

He took a few steps back, which the two must have mistook for compliance. Wild was the first to dash ahead, rushing along the street while pulling a pin out from the bottom of the slate. In his hands formed a circular, glowing, blue bomb. 

Wolfie went for one of the moblin's skinny wrapped ankles. A hideous scream to tear from the throat of the monster. Wolfie jumped back as Wild pitched the circular bomb high in the air, the small notch in the hole resting neatly on the tip of the monster's horn. The blood dripping from Wolfie's teeth was black.

The blue explosion of light brought his eyes back to the creature's head, just as his hand wrapped around the— Wild had detonated the bomb, forcing the creature to reel back, crashing into the remains of the ruined gate, squealing like a beast of the surface.

Wild's chipped blade sliced through the air, but even with all the strength behind it, the blade glanced off the silver skin. The cook let out a frustrated growl, going in for another strike that did no more injury to the moblin than before.

Both Wolfie and Wild were measly batted away, being flung into the nearby trees. As the creature snarled, raising its ugly head, Sky raised his right arm and swung, unlatching the mechanics within in the process.

A clawshot wrapped its chain around the moblin's neck, latching onto itself after a few loops. He yanked the handle with brute strength and the moblin came toppling down, being dragged through the dirt before Sky could stop the mechanism from reeling in completely. The creature was suffocating through the chains. Sky couldn't care less. 

An arrow whizzed through the air, finding place deep within the something of the moblin's eye socket. An effort from Wild to stay in the fight, he assumes. However, Wolfie had gone quiet, which is something to be worried about in a few moments.

The left clawshot disappears, and in its place is the whip. With the monster still lying on the ground, he strikes the beast once – twice – and the following strike returns with a monster horn on the sticky blue end. It wasn't doing as much damage to the beast as he had wanted it too. Quickly, the whip disappeared as well.

The chain of the clawshot slacked, to prevent the monster from escaping Sky pulled the chain in. He pulled his arm back, while a swing of his heel connected to the moblins head. He pressed his heel into its snout. It growled heavily, and it took all of Sky's strength to keep it in place when a flying, clipped sword connected and shattered against its back. He barely managed to cover his face before the small shards of metal exploded everywhere, a few finding purchase in his forearm.

He barely heard the yell of "Sorry!" as his mind tried to register the stinging pain of jagged metal piercing through his skin. The moblin got much of the same treatment, so it wasn't a terrible move by the cook. If he had to be collateral, so be it. He's fine, he would be completely fine, as long as this monster dies.

In place of the whip, the beedle emerged, the long pincers sharp enough to pierce through flesh of any sort. He let the chain reel in further, bending his arm to let the chain rest against his shoulder as he brought the mobin up to meet his face.

He was fine. Completely fine.

His fist connected with the grotesque features of the moblins face, but more importantly, the blades of the beedle's pincers slid right through the skin.

He's fine. He's breathing. His heart is beating. He's fine.

The pincers slid out just as easily as they went in, with the gold plating covered in the viscous black blood. His knuckles hurt from the impact, but he didn't care. Sky delivered another blow.

He's ran through forests, climbed a volcano, and ran through a desert.

He's fine.

This is nothing.

A headache isn't going to kill him.

He fought the incarnation of Hatred, the Demon God Demise, more times than he can care to remember. 

Something wet splattered on his face as his fist connected.

He watched as his best friend slowly forgot him, encasing herself in amber on the final dregs of her memories of their childhood together.

He's fine.

This is nothing.

He was there, after the Triforce bound itself to his soul, as the statue fell from the heavens to obliterate Demise. And he was there when everything went wrong. Ghirahim stole the Goddess Reincarnate.

A hit.

Ghirahim failed to stall him with an army of monsters.

Another hit. Someone was trying to speak to him, but nothing was understood.

He went through the excruciating pain of being struck by malice-controlled lightning in a realm of clouds and ash. He remembered finally controlling the storm,  redirecting the thunder back at the God, and with a final strike he—

The next blow only hit smoke.

He didn't remember.

The chain of the clawshot fell limp to the dirt path. There were two sets of hands on him, removing his items and bringing him to sit. Sky didn't notice, he wasn't focusing on anything– not the words being said to him, or the frantic movements of the two beside him. No, he was trying to decipher the gap in his mind where his memories were supposed to be. One second, he had Fi plunged through the body of Demise, and the next he was being laid to rest by Groose in his bed, his actual bed for once, back up in Skyloft.

A face appeared in his eyeline, Twilight . Wasn't he… didn't he get hurt? Two calloused hands were placed on his cheeks, and it took everything within his own power to listen to what the rancher was saying. 

"----, --lease are you---? -- ----- ----- if he can ----." Maybe the spotty hearing is something to be worried about, but Twilight wasn't looking in his eyes anymore. Instead Sky was dropped into his chest as stones settled in his throat.

It was almost sad that it took him a few moments to notice the wet tears staining his cheek.

"---- --- a min---." That was Wild's voice, but all that followed was the silence of the square. As awareness slowly wracked his mind, he became regretfully aware of his actions. He really could've just walked back and grabbed the sword. Then he could have also prevented being absolutely covered in black monster blood.

"---ess who nee-- - bath now!" Okay the boys were becoming more decipherable, and yes , any sort of monster residue smelled like absolute trash. He managed to bring his hands up to his eyes, rubbing both up the bridge of his nose to then press against his eyelids until all he could see were dark spots.

"I want to go check on the shops.”

And, to his right, Twilight was thrown against a wall in his wolf form.

"Hey," Twilight stopped trying to drag him along. "Are you okay?"

Sky swallowed whatever had settled in his throat. "Ye- yeah, I'm all good now." He lied. He tried standing up on his own, mostly successful before his knees gave out and Twilight had caught him by the forearms.

"Are you sure?" Twilight laughed before helping Sky steady himself on his feet. 

Sky nodded, staring down at his blurry, unfocused legs as he willed them into working order. He knows his body never had followed his orders before, and he doubts it ever will. But just this once, Sky wanted his legs to work again.

He pushed away from Twilight, almost hitting Wild behind him, before he was able to lock his knees in place. Wild had managed to hold on to one of his shoulders right before he began to tip forward.

"So, I was thinking about checking out a few of the nearby shops real quick just to make sure no one was injured." Wild's voice— right in his ear. Sky wanted to slam his hands over his ears because of how loud he was. However, he showed an immense amount of self restraint, slowly moving one foot in front of the other to turn.

"That sounds great, just–" Sky pitched his head forward when he tried to move his arm, the only reason the rest of him didn't follow was from the efforts of Twilight to keep him upright. "I just need a second."

"Take the time you need." Twilight murmured, lightly pressing on his shoulder. For assurance? To keep him from falling back to the floor? Sky didn't know, but he appreciated the touch nonetheless.

Slowly, he got a grasp over his body and his mind. The air once again returned to its natural heaviness, but at least it wasn't scorching his windpipe anymore. Both the other heroes moved back a few steps, and the sudden slight drifts of wind made Sky realize how much the sun was beating down and how stuffy the few layers he was wearing had become. He imagined Twilight wasn't faring much better since he was no longer in the shape of a wolf, wearing chainmail, and at least two tunic under a wolf pelt.

"Okay," Sky took in a breath, remembering how to breathe on the surface. "I think I'm ready to walk."

"Alright, great! I think we should check in with East Wind first, then when we know they’re fine, we–"

"Cub, go slow." Twilight cut him off, rubbing his knuckles against Wild's forehead and messing up his bangs. "We can check everything later. For now, we should check in with one, and then leave for the night."

Wild stared back, unimpressed, before fixing his bangs in one, fluent motion. 

"All right, all right. We'll go check up on East Wind, then we'll head back home." Wild jumped up to Sky, wrapping a hand around his forearm. "To East Wind!"

Being dragged around an eerily silent Hateno wasn't particularly how Sky wanted to spend the rest of the day, but he had wanted to see the town, so he'll take whatever he can get. 

An otherworldly tone sounded behind him, a sound he couldn't place but was oddly familiar. He turned his head, and the goal was to ask Twilight about whatever he had heard, but in the rancher's place was a striding Wolfie. Sky looked down to the wolf, who stared back with a smile on its snout.

He was pulled back around by Wild.

"–don't always have what I want, but they get cool bits in there sometimes. I think Pruce got a new shipment of produce because I can definitely smell it from here! It's also a really good place to get these arrows I like to use a lot! Plus," Wild stopped right under an awning, in front of a door to a building covered in the imagery of pots. "It's about ten feet away from the house!"

Wild pushed the door open and Sky was led right in.

It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the minimal light of the room, but within seconds he could see the few cowering civilians hiding under tables and behind counters.

"Is everyone alright in here?" Wild raised his voice as he addressed everyone else, slowly shuffling the two of them and the wolf into the crowded building.

"Link!" A small woman in red crawled from under a table. "Oh thank Hylia you were here. I didn't know those monsters could get so close to the village."

"Which's weird." The man behind the counter piped up, wearing the smallest mustache Sky had ever seen. "I've never seen one enter a village before."

Resting against the wooden floorboards, Wolfie whined. If he was Hylian, perhaps, he would have a comment on the situation.

Sky looked over to Wild, who shrugged at the comment. "I haven't seen them enter villages before now either. I thought the shrines, like, repelled them or something. Which, yeah, thinking about it now was kinda dumb."

"Don't worry Link," the woman in red said, moving more towards a wall. "I'm pretty sure we all thought we were safe here."

Turning away from the slightly upsetting conversation, Sky took a gander around the store, eyes drifting through the merchandise and food being sold. His eyes caught on the overgrown fruit, and he was running to it before he could even process the fact that he wanted it.

It was a pumpkin, not unlike the thousands that grew like weeds around Skyloft, even if the one was slightly tougher than the many back home.

"Wild!" He turned to the cook with the giant fruit in his hands. "Can we get one?"

Wild strode over with a smile on his face, knocked on the pumpkin, and turned to the man with the tiny mustache. "How much for the fortified pumpkin?"

"S'only 20 rupees." The man said, already holding out a hand seconds before Wild threw down a red rupee in it.  "Thanks for yer business."

"I'm guessing there's a reason you want a pumpkin?" Wild asked, bringing them away from the corner and back towards the front door. 

"Yeah, I was hoping I could help with dinner tonight!" Sky raised the pumpkin, and Wild brightened immensely at the prospect.

"Whoo!! Then let's get going!" Wild dashed through the cracked door, and Sky followed briskly behind. It wasn't until they heard barking that they realized they had left Wolfie behind.

"So," Wild slowed down once they started climbing the dirt path back to his house. "Pumpkins?"

"There's not much variety in food on Skyloft, and less that people can normally prepare, but pumpkins are something everyone knows how to cook! Even as bad as I am at cooking, I could make a good pumpkin soup. I learned a variety of recipes while I was working off my debt in the Lumpy Pumpkin."

"Wait, what?" Wild turned, mouth slightly agape. "Your… debt?"

"Well, yeah. It's a long story, but I broke their chandelier. It was so worth it ." Sky remembered how much shaking it took to bring the thing down, and then the immediate scolding from Pumm right after it crashed to the ground.

"The more I actually get to know you," Wild began softly, scraping his shoes against the bridge as they passed over the lake. "The less you feel like Time, and the more you sound like me."

If they hadn't been in the middle of the bridge overlooking a rapid lake, Sky would've stopped in his place. Wild had thought him like Time? He was under the impression that everyone had thought time to be a relentless leader, hardened by his adventures through time and spiteful to the Goddesses for ripping away his childhood. Has Sky really been…?

He let the thoughts fall from his mind, instead focusing on the latter half of that statement. He supposes, with how… creative they are with what they were given and their general passiveness to the wilds reclaiming the ruins upon their lands, the two of them could be quite similar.

If it didn't take both of his arms to hold the pumpkin, he would be ruffling his fingers through Wild's hair, just as he's seen Twilight do several times before. Instead, as Wild turned over to face him with a sheepish look, he gave the slightly younger knight a smile.

"I'm glad." He said as they both sat at the still-burning fire underneath a cooking pot, and he tried his best to feel as such.

Wolfie laid behind him as Wild passed him a knife in silence, the wolf pressing his back and neck against Sky's spine.

Sky gave the cook the list of ingredients which Pumm usually threw into the cooking pot, while focusing on scooping out the pumpkin guts. He peeled off the rough, outside skin and sliced the meat of the pumpkin into slices, handing the crescent portions one at a time to Wild, who slipped them into the boiling pot. When Sky wasn't relaying the information, the three sat in companionable silence, only broken by the soft winds of being this high in the mountains, and bringing in the salty ocean breeze, as well as the soft crackling of fire and the boiling of broth.

Wild spooned portions into bowls with the ladle Sky had carved for him weeks ago while they were still wandering around the wilderness. It was heartwarming knowing the cook had taken extra care in keeping the hand-carved ladle from shattering. The famous Pumm's Pumpkin Soup came out amazing, even if it wasn't exactly like the product that came from the sky, it tasted just as good. Sky smiled, it tasted better than good, it tasted like home.

After setting down a bowl of soup down in front of Wolfie, Sky suddenly had an idea. He silently pulled out the Master Sword just as Wolfie had begun sniffing the soup laid before him.

After adjusting his grip, he pressed the blade against the leg of the wolf, who was suddenly swarmed in flecks of darkness as his form changed to a Hylian once again.

"No wolves at dinner." Sky smiled, putting Fi back in her scabbard.

Twilight was not impressed.

It wasn't long after the three had finished, and Wild was dragging Sky upstairs into the loft with Twilight chuckling behind them.

"We're gonna have a slumber party! But without the rest of the fun things, and just the rest ." Wild snickered as he began bringing out another comforter, but Sky's eyes were locked on the photograph resting innocently upon the wall.

It always came as a shock to him that Wild had clear, unmarred skin before, even if it was obvious. Hylians aren't born with deadly burns and torn flesh. But the image of a young, unscathed Wild amidst his fellow deceased Champions didn't look like it could possibly be real.

A slight push from Twilight brought him back to now, worrying about somebody else's past isn't going to help anything, and he was slowly escorted to the large bed.

"So we can all pile on and sleep!" Wild gave a grand gesture to the bed at large, and the idea of sleeping on an actual plush mattress brought attention to the building waves of exhaustion to the forefront of his mind. He doesn't know if he thanked Wild– or said anything at all– before he was falling onto the bed, shoes and all, with his mind blanking peacefully as he impacted with one of the fluffy pillows. 

The rest that followed wasn't peaceful in the slightest, he doesn't remember the last time it was.

Brief flashes flooded his mind as his exhausted body rested, images of what's to come, of the future he has to uphold.

A waterfall swirling past a landmass of glass.

Rocks scattered amongst a sea of molten lava.

Snow christening the wooden roofs of birdhouses.

A castle of sand bathed in the fiery rays of the sun.

A flash of somewhere new. Purple robes. A rod of green leaves. A familiar face bathed in shadow—

Something hit his shoulder, and his eyes slowly peeled open as his mind was brought back from the dream. The first thing he noticed was the cold air flowing in from the window, then came the realization that the only other person in the large bed was Twilight.

It wasn't until after he dove out of the window with arms slacking, that he realized most of his layers were removed again, and he was in the cold of night in only his embroidered undershirt and slightly muddy trousers.

He hooked his fingers against the bridge of the roof and with tired limbs, he managed to pull himself up on the roof as well.

As he thought, Wild was sitting, curled in a ball as he looked over the grandeur of Hateno Village at night. Sky's bare feet padded against the tiles as he stumbled across the roof, settling beside Wild as the other barely acknowledged him. Which was fine, honestly, the shadows under Wild’s eyes said enough.

The night was loud, with crickets and the slow thrum of waterfalls, but the two heroes were silent. Without thinking too much about it, Sky drew closer, pressing his side against the curled form of Wild and throwing his legs over the drape against the house. He waited, seconds or minutes or hours, it didn't matter, until Wild slowly pushed back.

"Is there...anything you wish to talk about?" Sky began, giving into the temptation to run his fingers through Wilds hair. "Even if I've been having my own issues recently, you know I'll always be here for you guys, right?"

Wild closes his eyes with a sigh and a smile. "You know that you're literally the best ever, right?"

Sky reigned in a snort. "I've been told."

"Making sure." Wild murmured, turning his face into Sky's shoulder. The silence-but-not reigns supreme over the night for a few delicate moments, before Wild's voice breaks the natural sounds once again.

"I've been thinking about what Twi said a few days ago, about how we've been separated from everyone else."

Before Sky could cut in, Wild continued. "And I know, we've been through that conversation before. But… I'm not so much as worried about them surviving on their own, or if we'll be able to meet up again, I'm…"

Sky's had stilled, taking in a breath of the heavy air as he waited.

"We disappeared, and none of them have a great track record of dealing with missing people."

Sky let the words sink in, but couldn't help himself from saying, "None of us do, remlit."

"I just," Wild picked at the tiles with a free hand. "I want to know how they're doing."

-0-0-0-

Time wasn't doing too well.

He stood, pacing along the edge of the table as his fellow remaining adventurers sat at the table with an equally terrified and apprehensive look.

It had been a full day since the six had been missing.

Wild.

Twilight.

Legend.

Sky.

Wind.

Warriors.

At first Time had thought they had started an elaborate prank, something the young pranksters usually pulled whenever they had a free chance. But once it hit sunset, none of the six had made so much as an appearance. He figured that something else was at play, or something had gone very, very wrong.

There were only three of them left at the ranch, Hyrule, Four, and himself, along with his beautiful, lovely wife.

"And there haven't been any clues in the rooms?" Four asked, eyes seemingly glowing an inquisitive purple hue.

"All their stuff was missing, like they were getting ready to travel." Hyrule said, scratching at the table with a nail.

"We also found Cub and pup's-"

"Ah, no nicknames." Four cut in, elbows resting against the table as he stared into Time’s eye.

"Twilight and Wild's footsteps leading from the front door to the barn." Time said, stilling behind the chair at the head of the table. Instead of sitting, he grasped the back of the chair in an iron-knuckle grip as he recalled the facts. "It looks like they left the house to see Sky, but there's no tracks leading out."

"Not to mention the fact that there are no tracks inside the barn either." Hyrule added, and Time and Four looked over to him, staring incredulously. "What?"

"There's no tracks in the barn?" Four screeched, half rising from his feet. "But there has to be tracks in the barn! Not only did Sky definitely go to sleep in there, but we have more tracks leading in there, and there are animals in the barn."

"I've looked through it," their resident survivalist said, almost glaring at Four. "I know how tracks get weathered over time, and there was nothing in there past this morning, like a gust came in and brushed everything away."

Time pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ward away the upcoming headache. He thought Warriors and Legend being missing would make the place quieter—  

No, no. He shouldn't think like that. Six heroes were missing without a trace, he shouldn't be wishing for switch outs.

"I'm only slightly worried about this," Four grabbed a sword from underneath the table, and placed his Four Sw—

No.

That's the Phantom Sword. Wind's sword.

"I can only assume that, in a rush, Wind had accidentally grabbed my sword instead of his own. Which would be fine if everyone's blades weren't imbued with magic." Time knew what he was specifically referencing, their quiet moment alone in the woods as Four split into four, and Time was let in on another secret that wasn't his to tell.

Hyrule nodded along, even if he didn't know the exact reasoning behind Four's distress.

"We'll get them back, and we'll get your sword too." Time promised.

He just wanted to know where his boys were.

Chapter Text

"So, I think we should be fine with hitting Zora's Domain first, then rounding around the mountain to visit Goron City. After that, it's a bit of a trek to Rito Village, especially with all the guardians between the two points, and then we can stop by Gerudo Town." Wild was gesturing with his slate as they began to walk down the main path of Hateno Village. They hadn't stayed there long, but Sky had grown fond of the Hylian settlement while they were there.

Spinning on his heel to face his fellow heroes, Wild smiled. "You got all of that?"

"Yeah," Twilight hesitated, and looked over to Sky, who shrugged. "We- uh, we hit the Gorons first-"

"Zora's first." Wild corrected as his smile fell.

"Right, he hit the Zoras first, then the… uh the? The Vito?"

"Rito." Wild sighed. "You haven't been paying attention to a word I said, have you?"

"Not really, no."

Wild groaned, pressing the hand with the sheikah slate against his forehead, knocking the device into his nose in the process.

"To be fair," Sky began. "You did wake us up at 5 in the morning."

Twilight raised his hand with a smile, and Sky took no hesitation in slapping it and shining the rancher a returning grin.

"Its not my fault you both like to sleep in." Wild grumbled.

"Cub, no one else is awake."

Wild removed his hands, and upon taking a quick look around the village, he found it completely barren of any other waking life.

"You might have a point there."

Sky brought them back to the task at hand. "Wild, how long would it take for us to reach the Zoras?" He's never heard of such creatures before, nor the Rito. The only creatures he knew were the vagabond race of the Gorons. He can only remember ever hearing the name of the Gerudo was on the colonies of dragonflies in the Lanayru Desert.

"Well, if we do a straight shot there," Wild pulled out his map, and both Sky and Twilight scooted in to view it as well. "It would probably take 'bout two days. But if we take the paths, it would probably take closer to a week."

"A week?!" Twilight screeched, pulling the map from Wild to flick through the map himself. "Why is your Hyrule so big?"

"Hey! It's not like I made it big! It just came big!" Wild wrenched his slate back, glaring at the older hero. "No touchy!"

Sky patted Twilight’s shoulder as the cook turned back to the slate. Center screen was a bright, light blue diamond, and an idea started to spread in his mind, a picturesque look of remembrance spreading across his face.

"Holy shit, I'm a dumbass!"

Sky was going to ask what he was talking about, or even tell the cook that he definitely wasn't a dumbass, before Wild had latched onto the front of Twilight’s tunic, and tapped the bright blue diamond on the screen.

A sudden light wave of nausea coursed through Sky's veins, as the chill of being torn apart vein by vein filled the empty spaces in his skin. He felt light, he felt heavy, he felt as if his existence had just been wiped from the face of the planet as his thoughts were lost to the stratosphere. The freeing sensation of flying reigned over what was left of his existence, shaping his mind to ash as he passed through familiar clouds as strings of light.

Suddenly he felt real again, his toes forming over water as the rest of his existence hung in the damp air. He hung, forming inches over a platform made of glass, until he dropped like a stone into the shallow puddle of water.

If he wasn't sure he had gotten rid of all of the monster gunk on him before, it was definitely all washed away now. Sky lifted his head, spitting out salty water as two other voices rang in his ears.

“-in the domain, we might be able to relax here for a bit before we have to go report to the other chiefs and the like.” That was Wild, whose voice slowly passed by until the soft echoing faded into the outer sounds of running water and conversations.

The salt laid on his tongue, and he fought the urge to spit into the water again. Instead, he squeezed the water from his eyes, blinking away the horrid sting the water left behind.
As he raised his head, Sky saw Twilight halfway up the blue-tinged stairs, staring back with ever- present concern in his eyes. Sky was starting to get slightly annoyed, he had barely seen anything else from the rancher other than concern in the past few days. It was beginning to get… bothersome. And belittling.

“Are you-” He cut Twilight off before he could even begin that line of questioning.

“Yes, I’m fine. I wasn’t prepared to be teleported.” Sky straightened his back, walking up to the foot of the stairs. “Has Wild said anything about this place?”

To that, the concern dropped from Twilight’s face, replaced by a small smile.

“He said this place is called the Zora’s Domain,” Twilight gestured for him to follow, and together they both stepped out into humid air and warm sunlight. They looked to be in the middle of a lake, being flooded with several waterfalls surrounding the large, blue structure they stood upon. With anything more than a glance, Sky could tell whatever the domain was built of, it wasn't glass like he had thought, but a blue, glassy stone.

“All those people walkin’ around? Way taller than they should be? A bit fishy? Those are the Zoras, who are essentially bipedal fish with a strong sense of royalty and culture. And sometimes, they hate Hylians, and other times, they couldn’t care less about us.”

Sky watched red-splotched children with fins run past, kicking up the shallow water and giggling as they dived into another part of the domain. There were others, of all different colors and shapes, shuffling around a sapphire-colored statue, never minding the several Hylians spattered around the walkways.

“I’m assuming the Zora in Wild’s time couldn’t care less?”

“Yeah, actually.” Twilight turned to the massive carp-like fish, in the same stone as everything else around them, laying on the pinnacle of the entire structure. “If I’m not mistaken, Wild is trying to get them to form an official peace treaty with Zelda, the Hylain royalty, to officially put an end to the feud.”

Sky tried not to wonder about his future too much, but it was hard to avoid when he was flung face-first into the world that lay ahead, which he should have never been able to see. If he thought too much about the relations his descendants would form with the other races occupying the land. Or if he thinks, just for a second, that something about these times needs to change, then everything would be liable to crumble beneath his fingertips. He can’t let anything he learns of the future affect the decisions he and Zelda are going to make on the surface together. He can’t let the future presented to him change anything he would do in his time. He can't mess anything up, not anything this important.

He didn't let any of his rampaging thoughts spill past his lips, only giving a shallow nod to Twilight, who nodded, and began to lead them up the wide, ornate stairs to the throne room above. On their way they passed a statue of the Goddess Hylia. Seeing her here, now, made a helpless smile across his face as he passed by. After the millennia of her mortal reincarnation, Hylia was still remembered to this era, throughout the ruin and destruction of the kingdom multiple times over. Her legend stood, and his by proxy alongside.

Sky wondered, briefly, about the other Gods and Goddesses of the land. The Fierce Deity and the Goddess of the Sands were a mystery to him, even with the bits of information he received from Impa and Time.

Brought out of his thoughts by almost tripping into a suddenly halting Twilight, he blinked back into the present, then took a step to the side to see whatever they had stopped before.

It wasn't easy to miss the massive, hulking figure of the massive Zora. The huge fish-man's skin was as blue as the coral down in Lake Floria, and he didn't seem much taller than the dragon that laid in its depths.

For some odd reason, Twilight began to kneel before the giant, and Sky almost began to follow, until the fish-man who sat on a water throne just waved away the action with one giant webbed, clawed hand and deep chuckles.

"No need for that here, heroes." The deep, old voice boomed. It wasn't until the giant had waved towards a smaller, but still incredibly tall, red Zora coated in jewelry and sharp teeth, that Sky noticed that Wild had been standing there alongside them. He wondered, briefly, how long the hero of the wilds had been standing there. "This may be official business, but there's no need for formalities. Tell me, Link, what errand has the small sunsprout sent this time?"

Wild gave a short laugh. "I have been tasked to go around and check on the Divine Beasts and their new Champions. Keep it on the down low, but I'm also stalling, so."

The red Zora visibly froze, looking to Sky as if the guy had only now remembered something important he didn’t do, and now his caretaker had found out it wasn’t done. The blue massive figure leaning back into a soft waterfall turned his head to peer down at the red- and now flushing- Zora.

"Pray tell," The blue Zora began with a smirk on his face. "How is my son doing on taming the beast?"

"The beast is well tamed, father. We just have a very… strained relationship. I don’t-”

"The Zora prince," an old-looking flat-headed green Zora cut him off, voice submerged in snark. "Bested by a machine."

Everyone else seemed to ignore him, as the flat-headed fish was silenced by a raised finger from the largest in the room. Sky glared at the guy the best he could through the brief blurs in his vision.

"I have been trying to mend my relationship with the beast Vah Ruta, it wasn't my intention to drag out the prerequisite for my training this long. It is more than difficult trying to make amends with the beast that had my sister trapped."

The silence rang, longer than anyone was comfortable with, and the massive blue aquatic leader soon dismissed them all from the large hall of the throne room. Sky broke off from Twilight, who immediately bounded up to Wild after they had made it through the large archway.

Sky didn’t wait long at all to make it back down the glassy-stone stairs. That was probably the most tense few seconds of conversation he’s ever heard in which he hasn’t understood a single word anyone else had said the entire time. Frankly, Sky thinks it should be a record, and he would write it down or something if the entire world would stop spinning for a second, or if he had paper.

Slipping almost every second step, Sky finds himself back in front of the statue of the lady, and he wonders if its the entire structure that is swaying side-to-side or if it’s just him. And, well.

Leaning against the pillar underneath the statue, Sky lets his eyes fall shut with a small huff, reaching shaky hands up to press into his temples. He doesn’t let himself think much of anything, especially not of how well he was doing before now, how there wasn’t a lick of pain in his entire skull until now. There is something churning in his gut, a feeling so rare it stands out immediately and breaks whatever concentration he wants to pretend he had. At least, he laughs in his own head, it isn’t another headache.

His stomach tells his nerves which tells his brain that he’s going to be sick. Sky clenches his jaw shut so quickly he can hear his teeth clink together. A hand slips from his temple to rub at his throat, trying to rub the acid which he can feel begin to rise back down.

There’s a hand on his shoulder, and something cool is pressed to his lips. He only barely has to open his eyes before he can barely make out the shape of the rancher pressing something glass up to Sky’s lips. Carefully, he tries to take the bottle into his own hands -almost drops it twice due to his sweaty palms- and drinks.

The nausea is only hardly comparable to his brief venture on the dinghy and the Sandship, oh Hylia-

The water, potion, whatever Twilight poured down his throat dissipates the disgusting feeling crawling up his throat in seconds. His gut is still churning and his head is beginning to swim, then he does drop the glass bottle. Sky thinks the rancher caught it, or maybe he didn’t hear the clattering shatter of glass.

Twilight begins moving them to sit, and if he wasn’t drenched in sweat already, all of his many layers were definitely soaked through now. Sky stopped himself from hissing as the cold water bit at his age-old scars, he can feel his scarred skin being pulled and his muscles seize periodically. He sneezes, the world is cold, his eyes are clamped shut, his mind is swimming back in the sand sea, being pulled under by pits of loose sand and the grains are filling whatever remains of his lungs and he can’t see-

“Sky!” The shove on his shoulder is harsh, his head knocks into the statue’s pillar behind him. “Are you still with me?”

Sky doesn’t think he was with Twi in the first place.

He swallows back whatever was left in his mouth, spit or bile or whatever he drank. Sky opens his eyes.

Twilight is staring down at him from the crouch he dropped into. There’s worry and fear lacing his eyes and furrowing his brow. The pout set on the rancher’s face almost makes him look like- well, yeah. A wolf. Of course.

He splays his hands across his lap for a moment, clenching them and unfurling over and over again just to make sure he can, before he gives Twilight a measly thumbs up and a very unconvincing smile.

The weight of the rancher’s huff spreads warm air across Sky’s face, and he suddenly realizes, wading through incoherent thoughts, how sticky his skin is, how his clothes weigh him down like thousands of pounds of Kina’s finest Lumpy Pumpkin’s pumpkins.

Suddenly, he’s on his feet, being hoisted up by Twilight with one arm slung over the rancher’s shoulders. Sky does not protest, doesn’t even pretend to say “I’m alright, let me go, I can walk on my own.” but he can’t. He stumbles along with Twilight mostly dragging him across the smooth blue glassy stone. His vision begins to peter out, he doesn’t know if he has simply closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift away, or if he had actually fallen asleep at that moment. The next thing he knows, both himself and Twilight are leaning against a tree on a small grassy pillar of stone jutting out from the ocean of water below. From his bleary vision, Sky can just hardly see the large blue gates which adorn the long, glittering bridge to the Domain.

It’s barely been any time at all, the giant yellow dot in the sky is still on the rise.

There’s a familiar sound, the shuck of wood being peeled from the base and Sky shifts his head over to the right. With the movement, he can feel the wolf pelt be displaced from where it was pinned by his head to the trunk of the tree. The fur, warmed by the sunlight, brushes against his cheek.

Twilight is sitting cross legged next to him, muttering under his breath as he runs a blunt dagger across the length of a misshapen wooden block. He watches as the rancher shaves off a long strip of pliant wood, shuffles it around in his hands as if the structure of the entire object has changed, before making another thin slice. Sky has to stop himself before he laughs. Muttering some swears he wouldn’t be caught thinking about around Time, he drops both the half-shaven stick and the knife into his lap.

“You really wanted that stick to suffer slowly, huh?” Sky jabs, shifting his upper body up to look into Twilight’s eyes as the rancher whips his head around at the sound of his voice.

“Welcome back,” Twilight brushed the shavings from his lap, shoved the knife in a spare pouch, and almost completely threw away the small stick he had been working on. “I don’t understand how you make so many of those wood carvings, it’s…”

“Difficult?” Sky offers, one hand reaching up to rub against the space between his eye and the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah.” Twilight bats the stick further under a bush with the back of his hand.

“It’s all about patience.” Sky lets his hand fall back to where it lay before, rubbing the fabric of his pants between his fingers. The cloth was warm. “And visualization.”

Shoving gently at his fingers, Twilight loosens Sky’s grip to his pants. With only a second of hesitation, the rancher decides upon something, a sort of turmoil boiling deep within his eyes, and he grabs Sky’s hand with both of his own.

“I’m worried.”

Sky hardly lets out a huff through the pit that forms in his stomach at those words.

“I know, Twi. But the others are good adventurers and survivors. I’m sure they can handle without-”

“No, Sky.” Twilight gives off a short huff, strengthening his grip on Sky’s hand until it becomes painful. Moving his head in a swift movement, Twilight leans forward and his face forms the beginning of a glare.

“I’m worried about you.”

Sky chokes down the words ‘I’m fine’.

“What do you- about what?” There has been so much going on recently, Sky doesn’t know what could be the worst thing that has happened. Or, perhaps, what Twilight thinks was the most dastardly event which has taken place that he feels the need to confront Sky about it.

“About what happened yesterday in Hateno, with that moblin.”

Ah. Right.

Sky can still feel the blood of the thing underneath his fingernails.

“Sky, I don’t think that was normal, even for-” Twilight stopped, reconsidering what he was going to say by the look Sky was giving him. “I’ve never seen you fight like that, with only your items and so… brutal.”

“I didn’t have my blade, I improvised.” Sky said, as if that simple statement sums up the entirety of what he had done back in the middle of that village.

Twilight didn’t hold back his exasperated glare, which didn’t take longer than seconds to completely diminish into a grimace. Slowly, the rancher's hand moves into Sky’s hair, lacing his rough, calloused fingers through the almost-brown and ashen white strands.

“I’m also still worried about what’s happening to you. The hair, the headaches…” Twilight paused, eyes hooked on the new patches of white, and hesitated.

“Sky, it looks like a curse.”

Sky’s breath hitched- was he dying? It sure felt like he was dying, like something in his mind shattered and fell apart, gracing his shoes with whatever hope remains in his heart.

“What-”

“No, wait, I… I don’t think that came out right. Or just, I don’t mean-” The words stop, and then there are two hands on his shoulders, and quiet calls for his name. Sky tears his eyes from the grassy stone underneath him, he doesn’t remember when he tore his eyes off the rancher.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight rubs at his shoulders, jostling the sailcloth and the long forgotten wolf pelt.

Rubbing at his eyes and dragging his hands through his hair, Sky tries his best to begin looking like a normal functioning hylian. He sniffs, huffs, gets his breathing in check, and doesn’t realize Wild has found them until he has half a lapful of the cook.

Wild is splayed on his back, golden hair falling into the grass as he lays back on both Twilight and Sky’s knees to scrutinize both of the taller heroes.

“You guys were having a moment without me, weren’t you?”

Twilight huffs out a breath. Sky tries to breathe.

“We left the domain because I think Sky got a little seasick. Brought him out here for some better air.” Twilight responds, dodging the initial question like a pro. “How’d you find us, anyways?”

“You’re currently the only other two Hylians in the domain besides me.” Wild deadpanned, waving one of his wrists around in circles as he spoke. “I asked around.”

Batting at Wild’s head quickly turned into a play fight between the rancher and the cook. Watching the two lunge and jab eachother while rolling around in the grass brought a certain lightness to Sky’s heart. His descendants, burdened with the weight of the Hero’s Spirit, were all just kids.

They were all just kids.

“Alright boys,” Sky tried his best for a lighthearted laugh. He doesn’t know how it comes across as both boys turn to face him with diminishing laughs on their face. “If I remember correctly, checking in with the Zonu-”

“Zora.” Both Wild and Twilight chimed in.

“Right, the Zora.” Sky doesn’t know how he keeps forgetting. It’s a name, he’s never been bad with names. “If that’s what we came here for, should we be moving on to the next location?”

“Oh right!” Wild jumps up, shoving Twilight off of him as he pulls out the slate. “I forgot, official knightly duties, right.”

Moving from the grass, Twilight stands next to where Sky still sits. The rancher offers his hand, and with slight reluctance, Sky is pulled to his feet.

He pitches forward by the strength of the rancher’s pull, Twilight holds him by the bicep to keep his face from meeting the grass.

“Now, our next stop is going to be Goron City. It’s on a volcano, so its going to be a bit warm.” Wild held the slate’s map out, zoomed in on a plethora of brown lines and circles in a sea of red and tan. “So if you guys got anything for heat resistance, now’s the time.”

Twilight peels off both his tunic and the golden chainmail underneath, grabs his wolf pelt from where it lay in the grass, and hands all three pieces to Wild to store in the slate. Once they’ve dissolved in pools and to strings of blue light, Wild flips through the menus before two bottles with a gray liquid forms between his fingers, and he’s holding them out for the two heroes to take. The rancher takes one and, with haste, starts pouring the stuff onto his arms and face and rubs it against his neck. Taking the other bottle, Sky drops it into one of his pouches.

His earrings will protect him just fine. They haven’t failed him yet.

Wild turns back to them, and Sky stops to marvel at whatever kind of armor is plastered over his descendant. The armor is clunky, red and brown, and appears to have metal bands over every five inches or so. Sky can barely see the champion’s face under the metal bars which makes up the faceplate of the helmet.

“Hold on.” Wild pulls the map back up, zooming into the blue square northeast of all the brown lines. “It’s gonna get hot!”

Jabbing a finger onto the slate, the feeling of being split apart vein by vein returns, overpowering the sudden feel of high air breezing through his brain like the airhead everyone calls him.

His nerves return at full force, and he’s stumbling on ash and dust until Twilight grabs a flailing arm and brings him close to his chest.

The heat is stifling, like the flecks of ash are trying to burrow their way into his lungs with every breath. Sky coughs and half-heartedly bats away both Wild and Twilight.

Goron City is an amazement, the volcano itself is beautiful. It barely looks like it had back in his era, both the Earth Temple and the Fire Sanctuary are nowhere to be seen as the previously nomadic Gorons roll around on steel bridges. Lava rolls underneath his feet, smoke curls in his lungs. Eldin Volcano is heartbreakingly familiar, and yet nothing is how he remembers it.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Twilight calls, “Who do we have to talk to here?”

“Yonobu, he’s the new Goron champion. It might take a bit for me to find him, and the leader for that matter. It’s impossible to stop them rolling for a conversation!”

“Do you wann’ borrow my iron boots?” Twilight asked, and Sky turned. Iron boots? Has the rancher just been carrying around iron boots this entire time? Wouldn’t they be… heavy?

“No?” Wild scrutinizes Twilight with a small hint of apprehension on his face. “What…? The fuck?”

“Y’know, when you gotta-” Twilight pauses, bending his knees and holding out his arms like he’s about to grab at something. “Make ‘em stop.”

“Why would you do that?” Sky asks. “They’re just rolling!”

“To get them to stop rolling!” Twilight responds, flinging his hand against his forehead to dispel the sweat again.

“Well, I don’t think I’m going to need them. I’m just gonna have a quick chat with Yonobu and Bludo, so don’t wander off.” Wild pointed a finger back at them as he stepped onto a short, metal bridge, shoes clinking against the panels. “Don’t wander! It’s too hot up here for that!”

It doesn’t take longer than a minute for Wild to disappear entirely from view as Sky and Twilight stand just on the edge of the shrine’s platform. They share a look.

“Which way do you wanna go?” Twilight asks.

“I think,” Sky begins to step over to the bridge Wild had just passed over. “We should see where this path comes from.” Sky leads, walking away from the bridge and up the path and around the bend of rocks, Twilight following right after. Twilight basks in the shade the tall rocks bring and Sky is almost scared to lose one of the fireshield earrings.

They reach a vast pool of lava and Twilight’s already panting like the dog he can be. He pats Twilight on the back as the rancher rests his hands on his knees, stopping them both before a large gap between crooked, metal fences. Sky passes over the other potion and Twilight raises his head with such utter confusion laced all over his face.

“I think you should double up.” Sky pushes the bottle into his hands.

“How are you not on fire right now? Like, wholly and entirely not on fire?” Twilight quickly downs half the bottle before gagging.

“Fireshield earrings, they're a gift from the Goddess Din for going through the Silent Trials." Sky pokes at one of the things. Even under the heat of being atop a volcano, standing next to a pool of lava, the earrings were cool to the touch.

Twilight looked like he had thousands of questions running through his mind at once, but wisely decided against asking any of them as he began to stride towards the drooping fences.
Two steps behind, Sky saw the metal contraptions seconds after Twilight had stopped at the edge of a lava bank.

“Are those-”

“Groosenators!?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight whipped around. “What in tarnation did you just call them?”

“The- They’re Groosenators! The big metal things!” Sky pointed to one of the giant things, they were not that hard to spot! They’re huge!

“Sky.” Twilight took in a breath. “Those are called cannons.”

“I’ve never heard of a cannon in my entire life. They look just like Groosenators!" Sky cocked his head, stepping up further to the one right in front of the lava pit. "Well, these look like Groosenator version 2.0, the kind he brought up to the mogmas to assist with their ore mining in Eldin Volcano a week or so before I left."

Twilight only had one thing to say to this.

"What's a mogma?"

“YOU TWO!”

Both Twilight and Sky hunched in on themselves at the sound of Wild’s shout, and ever-so-slowly turned towards the metal fences to see a fuming champion.

“Uh oh.” Twilight whispered.

“Ditto.” Sky whispered back.

“Run?” Twilight offered.

“To where?” Sky whispered harshly. “We are surrounded by lava! I don’t know about you, but I can’t swim in lava! I very much cannot swim in lava, Twi!”

“I can’t either.”

“Oh who would’ve known.”

“GUYS!” Wild started marching forward, glaring at his ancestors. “I only asked for one thing! For you to not wander just this once, JUST THIS ONCE! I didn’t think that would be too hard considering we are on a volcano, surrounded by lava, everywhere. There is lava everywhere, there is nowhere here where there isn’t lava! Just once!”

“Sorry cub-” Wild cut Twilight off by walking over to the rancher, grabbing both his shoulders, and bodily shaking him for a few seconds.

“I think I now get how Time feels whenever me and Roolie go exploring.” Wild said, letting go of one of Twilight’s arms to grab onto Sky. “Now c’mon, we’re done here.”

“Already?” Twilight looked over to Sky, surely they haven’t been walking for a while, have they?

“Yeah, Bludo and Yonobu were waiting for me. A quick three sentence conversation later, and now we can go.”

“Oh.” Sky stumbles as they are pulled past the bridge and back towards the shrine.

“Our next destination is Rito Village, and since the place is pretty big and there’s no real potential danger, like lava everywhere, it’s a place we can wander around for a bit. Hylia knows back-to-back-to-back teleporting really takes it out of you.” Wild held onto both of their sleeves with one hand before the now familiar feeling of teleporting washed over him and left everything numb and searing and weightless for a long few seconds, leaving him stumbling off another shrine platform.

The first breath he takes reminds him of home. Its blissfully cold, sharp where it plunges down his throat. It takes all of his willpower to blink back the tears which threaten to spring forth. There’s no point getting too excited, he’s still below the cloud barrier, still oh so far away from his home by not only space, but time as well. Its hard to imagine what could be above the clouds in this era, millennia since his own time.

Wild quickly shoves a pile of clothes into his hands, a pile of white and light blue fabrics which are warm a fluffy against his hands. It isn’t until he begins to think ‘These are for me, right.’ that his ears begin working again.

“Can I borrow the Master Sword for a bit?” Wild asks, and Sky tries to not let the feeling of a pit dropping in his stomach reflect onto his face. “I’m not gonna use it, I swear! It’s just- people around here see the sword and the slate as proof that I am actually Link around here and not just some dumbass blonde that solves problems with an absurd amount of bombs and chuchu jelly.”

Sky scrutinizes Wild for just a second. He trusts Wild, he really does, and yet the feeling of losing Fi again, of not having her when he needs her, makes his stomach roil.

Its for Wild, he tells himself as he undoes the baldric.

Its for Wild, he tells himself as he grabs the Master Sword by the sheath in one hand and hands her over.

Its for Wild, he tells himself, as the humming of the Master Sword goes silent to his ears, as the golden glow slowly diminishes, as the power of the sacred blade grows old and withers away.

Wild now holds the Master Sword he’s more accustomed to, old and silent and cold, and straps her to his back.

“Thanks, Sky. Now, let's get changed before we freeze to death, yeah?”

Chapter Text

The three of them take turns changing in the small cove of the shrine. Once the Snowquill armor is on, and his sailcloth is back over his shoulders and tied behind his back, he can feel the cold air on his cheeks and the warmth trapped in the layers of fabric. Up here, so close to the clouds, Sky can almost believe that Skyloft still exists somewhere above the clouds, even if the barrier never really appears to exist.

Once Twilight pops up, in relatively darker green layers and one sleeve bathed in red drapes, ordained in gold patterns and symbols. The rancher half-heartedly glares at his descendant as he tips his head.

"Are the drapes necessary?" The rancher moves his left arm around, displacing the fabric, and yet it clings onto his arm like a burr.

"Yes. Yes they absolutely are." Wild says, finishing up a ribbon-laced braid as he stumbles out of the shrine’s alcove. His burgundy colored tunic almost matches the fabric draped over Twilight’s arm.

Sky takes a few steps past the shrine, taking in the view of the surface below. Large spires of rock emerging from a vast, still lake submerged far below the canyon. Far, far in the distance, he can see red mountains climbing high into the clouds, topped in something white, shining in the afternoon sunlight. Deceptively close, he can see one of the champion's blue light towers. Sky thinks he sees something- black spines and congealed cursed water at the base of the structure before he's turned around by the calls of the champion and the rancher. 

Everything around him is covered in shadow, and he steps closer to the other two heroes to bask in the sunlight. He looks up, and there's what looks like loftwing nests with circular, pointed roofs hanging by chains to the rock. Further, up and up and up the stone tower, he can see something marvelously large. A wing carved out of stone, an ornate plume of tail-feathers made out of rock, and blue lines tracing all the way through the beast.

He smacks Wild's arm and points to the sky with his other hand.

"What on the surface is that?"

"That," Wild pulls down his arm. "Is Divine Beast Vah Medoh. It's a big bird that protects this place and the rest of Hyrule from the Calamity."

"No, Wild. I've seen big birds , I've ridden , big birds. That is not a big bird. That? Up there? That is a huge bird, a giant bird, made out of rocks. That's amazing." Sky chuckles. "I need to go see it."

"Well, we're going to be here for a couple of hours, and there's plenty of holds on the way up there. Have at, get lunch, talk to the locals, all that jazz." Wild stepped onto a wooden bridge connecting the main pillar to the small island they stand on. "Just don't leave the tower."

With that, Wild walked off with the Master Sword strapped to his back, cutting a more opposing figure than having Twilight at his heels could ever be. 

Sky's first look at a Rito gives him pause as a soft melody is carried on the wind. Deep red feathers and crimson cloth, chirping a song as they look out to the side of their nest, waving at passers-by. He could feel it, an emptiness settling in the space next to his heart. He couldn’t feel the connection to his loftwing so many eras in the future. Its strange. He puts a hand to his chest and thinks this is what it feels like when the connection between loftwing and rider is severed. How a Hylian feels when their bird never returns. How a loftwing feels when it returns to Skyloft, screaming and crying, lashing out at anyone who gets close to their grief. When he was held back by Zelda’s father and told, “Don’t get close. Don’t look. Your parents didn’t return. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

A sound he’s never heard before splatters across the wind, coating the winds in a melody he doesn’t recognize.

Choking back the hole in his heart and forcing away the stinging in his eyes through pure force of will, Sky breathes. He holds onto the wooden railings, and just.

Breathes.

He’s fine. He’s here now, in another time so far away from his own. There is nothing wrong. Breathe. You’re fine, link. Everything’s fine. 

As soon as his mind is clear again, he’s walking down the wooden paths in search of whatever could be making that noise.

He stops before a large wooden landing, halfway jutting into the open air. To himself, the platform looks like an amazing skydiving spot. Five little Rito surround themselves in a half-circle around a taller, more broad and blue figure. The taller bird is just as imposingly tall as Groose, and yet, the bird gazes upon the children before him with such tender love he has never seen from his classmate.

The small Rito are all chirping out a tune, and the strange sound of high-pitched compressed air comes from the instrument the tall blue Rito is holding. It’s such a beautiful sound. He leans against one of the fence posts and almost completely misses a small, white Rito fledgeling in a teal apron-like shirt who is half-hiding behind the other fence post. 

Sky takes one look between the small child with a longing look in their eyes and the beautiful song before them. Before he realizes what he’s doing, he has already slumped against the fence like a sudden dead weight has fallen upon his legs with a great sigh he doesn’t actually feel. At this height, the small white fledgeling is just tall enough to pass his nose. He let his gaze drift on the small bird, patiently waiting for the small child to look back. 

The child jumped when he met Sky’s gaze, feathers fluffing up like a startled loftwing.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the small child relaxed when he realized Sky was doing nothing else but smiling at him. The chosen hero patted the space beside him, turning back to the group of singing Rito and the much larger instrument-playing one. He forced every muscle in his body to settle down once the child finally sat beside him.

“You look a lot like Mr. Link.” The child chirps, and Sky almost laughs at that. No matter how much time has passed, all of his descendants will, and do look so much like himself. He saw it in the heroes, in their courage, their strength, their will to live on and help the rest of the world in the most selfless way they can. He saw it in the Zeldas, the few he’s met so far. They look uncannily like his best friend, and that hurts so much .

“I’d imagine. We’re family, of sorts.” And wasn’t that a stretch.

The little bird stared at him for a few seconds before asking, “Are you good at helping other people like he is?”

And Sky paused, shuffling around to press lightly against the feathers on the child’s head.

“I’d like to believe I am.”

The bird didn’t say anything for a long moment, digging its beak into Sky’s tunic.

“I wanna sing with the rest of Mr. Kass' daughters. I can hear their warbling sometimes from the flight range. It's really good, and… I think I wanna be a part of it."

Sky smiles, picks up the bird– no heavier than a pumpkin– and strides over to the rest of the small birds.

He talks.

When the young bird's name, " Tulin " was called a small while later, it was to the sight of Sky being preened and fussed over by six small birds. The large form of Kass continued on with his strange instrument, and the Hylian had been plucking an almost similar tune with his harp. Sky tapped the small bird just under his eyes, drawing his attention before pointing out the larger, white bird calling for him. Based on the colors of their feathers alone, and much like loftwings, this must be the child’s father. The child leaves behind a small trail of loose white fur.

The child, Tulin, leaps into the arms of his father. Sky stands from where he was sat in the middle of the landing, leaving behind the daughters of the musician as they try to put more ribbons, feathers and braids into his hair. He must admit, as he settles down the young yellow bird so he can stand, that the pain in his head has vanished. 

Tulin’s father stares at him in shock as Sky walks closer, and he recognizes that blatant confusion on any bird’s face. He smiles, reaching out a hand as an excuse to touch some of the man’s hand feathers.

“Hello,” He introduces, and the feathers are much more firm than he was expecting. “I’m a relative of Link,” And the rito’s face sparks in recognition. “My name is Sky.”

The man almost laughs.

“I’m Teba, the Rito Champion. I had no idea the Hylian Champion was visiting us today.” Teba lets his child down with a small instruction to find his mother, before drawing back up and facing Sky.

“Nor was I aware that Link had any living relatives left after his hundred years of sleep.”

The odd, groaning cords of Mr. Kass' instrument halted. He could feel eyes digging into his neck. Sky quietly grasped on the edges of his sailcloth with one hand, countless ideas to get out of this situation running through his head. They had always gone with the distant relative excuse for most of their travels. It’s always worked in the other eras of Hyrule, but, he supposes, it makes sense it would fall flat by Wild’s era, especially to anyone who knows the champion. Sky himself isn’t physically centuries old, and Wild doesn’t remember his family, if he had one before the Calamity at all.

“So, if I can ask, who really are you?”

Sighing, Sky takes a hold of those arm feathers and starts dragging the Rito champion up the wooden stairs and platforms. To his own utter delight, the Rito makes a few squawking noises that sound oh so familiar.

“Where’s the highest point of the tower?” Sky asks instead of answering.

“That’ll be the roost,” oh the roost , Sky loves it here more and more every second. “Vah Medoh is currently perched up there so there might not be much… room.”

Sky must have the stupidest grin in existence, but he doesn't care. There’s nothing in him that cares because this is a place that he can understand, that feels so familiar. A village that is full of things that are so important to him after so long. Birds, even if they’re not loftwings, live on.
It takes almost everything in him to stop himself from dropping off the edge of the tower and whistling for his bird.

They reach the top, and Sky has to exert most of his energy on the climb up when Teba does not offer a ride. Sky so absolutely wants to ask for a ride, but he doesn’t know if it would be disrespectful or not. Or if the man would just grab him in his talons like the knights do during night patrol.

This high, the wind tousled his hair, and maybe, just maybe, if he reaches his hand towards the clouds he could just-

Teba clears this throat, crossing his feathers when Sky whips back into the present.

“So, you look a lot like Link, I can give you that much.” Teba’s talons clack against the stone of the roost. “But his family has been dead since the Calamity a hundred years ago. If you are who you claim to be, you should be ancient.”

The Rito tried for a scowl. Sky tried not to snort in his face.

This Teba and Legend would get along together like a Kikwi in Eldin.

“I am. Ancient, that is. In this time, I will be dead for a millenia or so with so many children who have lived and died.” Sky looked back up to the marvelous monstrosity that is Vah Medoh. “The future is so beautiful.”

Teba let out an indignant huff, feathers around his neck ruffling. This time, Sky couldn’t keep in the chuckle. Oh, these Rito expressed just like loftwings .

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“No, I suppose time travel would be a bit too outlandish for most sentient creatures.” Raising a hand to the diamond clip in his hair, Sky smiled. “Rito don’t exist in my time, neither does Zora or Gerudo.”

“This might be the most absurd ramblings I’ve ever heard. I only wanted to know why you are lying about who you are, not a fictitious story about a time traveling-”

Sky tapped the dark purplish-blue stone, and the cool breeze of the ancient past swept around the roost. The stone glowed a fantastic diamond blue, and Sky walked through white-capped grass to where Teba stood awe-struck.

In the past, Vah Medoh fell over the edge of a thin canyon in a heap of stone, ores, and orange gleaming liquid. The world turned into something a bit more recognizable to the chosen hero. Faron Woods bustling with vivid plants and colorful fruit. Eldin smoking with heat, on the brink of pouring out more lava. Lanayru Desert, covered in amphilus and electric spume, sifting through sink sand under the haze of the sun.

And there, close to where Hyrule Castle once was, stood the Statue of the Goddess.

“What have you…” The Rito drifted off, eyes wide at the Surface.

“This is what your Hyrule looked like back in my day, or close to it. Can’t get too specific with Timeshift Stones. The robots always say, ‘the larger the stone, the more accuracy you can get with the travel.’” Sky smiled, resting a hand on Teba’s shoulder.

The Rito whipped his neck around to stare, eyes bulging as he asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Link.” He could hear the distant cries of a loftwing, and a very familiar whistle of a rider from above the clouds. “I purified the Goddess Sword into what is known as the Master Sword. I was the first Hylian to reform and use the sacred relic of the Goddesses, the Triforce.”

Two loftwings dipped below the cloud barrier around the Faron region, one as crimson as blood, and the other an ashen blue. The soul-fulfilling feeling of a loftwing’s bond filled his heart.

The chosen hero of the Goddess Hylia turned away from the sky. Closing his eyes, he tapped the Timeshift Stone in his hair. 

The familiar rush of the stone’s time field flowing back into the rock filled him with the nostalgia of heat waves and sand in his boots. The entire journey felt as if he had taken on the trials of the Goddesses years ago. 

Sky blinked, dusting faux sand from his tunic. It hasn’t been four months since he had killed Demise.

“Hylians used to live above the clouds during my time. The Goddess sent us up there to protect us from the monsters and demons on the surface.” Sky took in a breath of ice-cold thin air. “It’s easier to breathe up there, and, well, easier in general. Everyone knows everyone, there’s not enough space in the sky to not know everything about everyone.”

After a few, long seconds, Teba says, “It sounds like the village.”

“Oh shit, there you are.”

Both Sky and Teba turn to the Hylian who just reached the top of the roost, Wild. After the few seconds it takes for Wild to stand, dust himself off, and walk over, it becomes apparent that Twilight hadn’t come up with him.

“I wondered where you were,” Wild loosely gestured to Teba, and the rito’s feathers began to lower. “I wanted to ask you about your bond with Vah Medoh while I was here. And, speaking of-”

Suddenly, Wild slings an arm over Sky’s shoulders.

“I figured you’d find your way up here.” Wild points to the Divine Beast with the same arm that’s wrapped around his shoulders. “Vah Medoh is the biggest bird I’ve ever seen, real or not, and I think that’d be right up your alley. Well, if we were going to get him flying, that might be a bigger up your alley thing, but the new champions aren’t quite pilots yet.”

Sky lets the rest of the conversation wash over him, unheard, as he finally begins to study the beast in full.

He stands in its shadow as Wild and Teba walk closer to the perching talons. Large wings splayed to the skies, he can see large fans just under the stone primary feathers, and under the neck, its ribcage. Its… almost beautiful.

Below, Teba raises a wing to the Divine Beast.

A shrill, avian cry pierces through the land, and Sky cannot help the smile that spreads across his face. 

His stomach reminds him of the prospect of lunch. Glancing over at the cook shows that he and Teba are still in deep conversation over the new champion’s bond with the Divine Beast. With deft fingers, Sky undoes the knot of the sailcloth as he walks back over to the edge of the roost. Wrapping two corners around each hand, he takes one last longing look at the Divine Beast before plummeting over the edge.

Wind rushes past his ears in a roar, rustling his clothes and the cold stinging his eyes and nose. Within seconds, the wind catches the sailcloth with a snap , forcefully yanking his arms towards the sky. 

He slows, the light breeze dragging him closer to the stairway. Boots clicking lightly against the wooden pathway, Sky throws the sailcloth back over his shoulders, around his arms, before tying the ends back behind his shoulder blades. It's much easier to manage than a cape, not swishing around behind him as a tripping hazard, easier to keep the ends clean, avoiding fraying ends. It's worlds more manageable.

Sky steps down the pathway, marveling at all the different Rito he comes across on his way to the kitchen.

Lunch was a quiet affair, cobbling together enough materials to make something resembling a skewer before burning most of the meat and mushrooms in the middle when he let it roast over the flame. Resigned to eating a charred mess, he moved to eat on the edge of a landing platform, kicking his feet in the air as he spit ash into the waters far down below.

"Hello there," The large shadow of a Rito fell over him. Turning, the figure of the big blue bird from earlier, Kass, blotted out the bright sun. Between his feathers was the large brown and yellow instrument which wheezed whenever Kass moved.

Sky waved with the hand not holding the kebab, and the Rito took that as a good enough sign to sit beside the Hylian. Moving his eyes between the apprehensive looking Kass and the waters below, Sky waited for the man to speak. The instrument wheezed and groaned a bit more, jostled by the rito’s small movements, before he actually began to speak.

"You are oddly comfortable with the Rito for a Hylian. I have traveled across most of this land and not once have I seen such a person who looks as relaxed as you within our nests."

Sky chuckled with a sheepish grin, letting his free hand run through the getting-too-long hair at the nape of his neck. 

"We ride birds, a little larger than most Rito I assume, back in my time." He could tell by the twist of his head and slight opening of his beak, Kass has no idea what he's talking about. "They're called Loftwings. We all have distinct whistles to call for them, like–"

Sky took in a breath, stuck two fingers into his mouth, and let out a shrill, two-note whistle. 

Kass immediately jumped back, almost causing the Rito to slip off the edge of the landing platform, hanging on by talons and willpower. All other Rito in the village startled, as did the variety of birds which proceeded to fly wildly out of the Tabantha fields below.

“That’s a loud whistle you have there, friend.”

Sky laughed at the startled bird, and when he fumbled and dropped the rest of the skewer in the lake below, his breaths started to become more harsh. He patted Kass’ shoulder as he began to take in more air, conversation soft and quiet until a rustle of fabric knocked Sky back into awareness of his surroundings. 

He turned, and Wild stood smiling with a mildly disgruntled Twilight, who was draped in a few more fabrics than when Sky had seen him last.

“We’re both ready to head to our last stop! It’ll be a bit of a weather change, so you might want to spend a second getting prepared for the heat.” Wild paused for a second, one hand on his slate as he turned to Kass. “Hi Kass! Bye Kass!”

Kass chuckled, apparently not too fazed by the abrupt end in conversation, waving one wing as Sky took his leave with a simple “Goodbye.”

The next teleport ends up a much smoother ride than the three former trips, dumping the three Heroes into the overbearing heatwaves of the desert. Wild quickly pulls both of his other companions into the shrine.

“It’s stupid hot, which means light clothes and all, but we have another issue.” Wild pulls out a collection of silks and wraps, sitting against the interior stone wall, motioning both Sky and Twilight to sit with him.

“The Gerudo mostly consists of women, and technically speaking, only women are allowed into Gerudo Town. Time mentioned how he had to fight to gain access into his era’s Gerudo Town, but I’ll be real with you, I’ve just been crossdressing and it’s so much easier than fighting so many super strong ladies to get in.” Wild bundles up some of the fabrics in one hand and holds them up to Sky. “If you’re comfortable with more than slightly revealing feminine clothing, you can come with.”

Sky hesitates for a second, then takes the fabrics anyway. If he remembers correctly, the Gerudo are all about strength and pride. He’s sure they would appreciate scars more than anyone else.

Besides, if he’s going to be in a desert again for more than five minutes, he’s going to want clothes he can breathe in.

Most of his former clothes return back to Wild’s sale in thin lines of blue, leaving him just slightly overdressed for the desert. Twilight shuffles over to help him untangle the ribbons and small gems from his hair, filling one of Sky’s empty pouches full of the things the tiny Rito has threaded through his hair. He does, however, take one of the ribbons to tie up hair covering his neck.

The light blue and green fabric remind him of grass patches full of wildflowers on Skyloft.

He pulls on the silks.

He’s never felt more exposed in his life.

Twilight helps adjust the gold gem-inlaid fasteners, and when they click in place, he can begin to feel his body temperature lower. The veil rests against the bridge of his nose and flutters against his chin when he replies to Twilight's soft corrections. His midriff has never been bare in public settings and Sky begins to fear he’ll never get rid of the embarrassed flush to his face.

He settles his sailcloth higher on his shoulders to form a hood, clipping the small timeshift stone brooch in place to form a shorter cape. It isn’t until he’s finished shifting everything in place, turning to Wild, that he realizes Twilight hasn’t changed. Well, he’s removed most of the extra layers of fabric draped around him, down to his base layer of coat.

Wild snaps his fingers, looking as if he had a minor epiphany.

“Right! Before I forget again,” Wild pulls his slate up, scrolling, before something appears on his back in a short burst of light. The champion holds out the Master Sword and her scabbard.

Sky almost sighs in relief as she settles back into his palms.

“You might want to hide it in case they mistake you for the hero- well, i mean you are the hero, it’s just-”

“He gets whatcha’ mean, cub.” Twilight pats Wild on the shoulder before fixing the back of his headdress. 

After hiding Fi beneath the sailcloth, and Wild draping another silk across her scabbard, two Hylians and a wolf step out of the shrine.

In front of them is a stable, full to maximum capacity with both occupants and horses. Several merchants are trying to sell their wares as the trio of heroes begin to pass, but one merchant in particular makes Sky stop dead in his tracks.

The seller is a perfect copy of Beedle. The man who sold him most of his adventure pouches and items and medallions, sitting right here, in Wild’s Hyrule. He’s got the same annoyingly high-pitched voice and everything. 

Sky buries his head in his hands.

Nothing makes sense.

He doesn’t start moving again until Wild starts dragging him into the large gateway formed naturally by the rock formations on either side of the path.

Once they step out into the desert proper, Sky wants to turn around. His own desert was bad, how did it get worse? He silently curses the world and both Lanayru and Eldin in particular. Lanayru, for letting the province turn into a desert, and Eldin, for making fireshield earrings that didn’t cover the sun as a fire. 

Wild silently passes him a waterskin. Sky drinks half of it in one go.

It’s an hour or so through the scorching sand before they make a stop at the Bazaar. Sky laughs, slightly delirious. Lanayru Province used to be an export of goods, mainly timeshift stones. And now, a millenia later, it still almost is.

Sky wonders, if he got a big enough shovel, could he dig down underneath enough sand and find the old mining facility. He snorts, maybe he could find Lanayru’s bones down there.

“What are you laughing at?” Wild bumps his shoulder, displacing Wolfie who was striding in between them.

“Dragon bones.” Sky summarizes.

“Okay,” Wild inhales. “I’m shoving you in the pond.”

Much to Sky’s disappointment, Wild doesn’t actually shove him in the pond. Instead, he uses some of the slate’s magic-technology and creates an enormous block of ice on the surface of the water and jumps on top. Neither Sky or the Wolf-shaped Twilight are too fond of climbing up the block, so they settle with splashing eachother near the edge of the pond to cool down. 

Eventually, Wild takes pity on them and buys something called a hydromelon from one of the vendors and splits it between the three of them. The inside is red, sweet, and feels almost the exact same as biting into a stamina fruit.

They go through about four of them, ditching the rinds in the sand, before they make it up to the guarded gate of Gerudo Town. The two large women stand vigil at the gate, but do not prevent them from entering. Sky gives himself a little mental cheer for not freaking out as they stand in the plaza of the town.

Given the time it took to cross the desert, the sun is just beginning to set as Wild draws both Sky and Wolfie in. 

“If we get this done quickly, we’ll be able to get home before it gets too dark.” Wild flips through his slate before settling it back on its clip. “So let’s have a quick chat with the Chief and then go get some dinner. I’m feeling souffles.”

Wild brings them further into town, up a flight of stairs leading almost directly into the smallest throne room Sky has seen yet. Given that he’s only seen two total doesn’t count for much.

“Link,” A young voice jolts all three heroes as they step into the throne room. There’s a small girl on the throne covered in jewels. In her hair is a massive headpiece which could only be ceremonial with how intricate it looks. “You’re late.”

“Sorry Chief, I got caught up in something that took up most of my attention.” Wild pops out a hip, Sky’s pretty sure they should be bowing. Wolfie huffs, as close to a laugh as he can get.

The young Chief stares at both Sky and Wolfie. 

“You’re late, and you bring more voe inside Gerudo walls?” She tuts, shaking her head with a fond smile. “Hero, you’ll have to follow the rules eventually.”

“You see, here’s the thing. I don’t.” Wild puts his hands on his hips. Sky can feel his smug aura, and is almost sure the Champion is causing a different kind of headache.

Even the guard next to the chief gives a slight groan.

“Hero-”

“Okay, okay,” Wild pulls out the slate again, hardly glancing at it as he taps the front of it and produces a large golden helm which shines in the light of the dying sun. “They’re just other heroes I’m giving the grand tour to.”

The guard steps forwards and takes the proffered helm.

“Even the dog?” The Chief asks.

“Especially the dog.” Wild leans down to scratch Wolfie between the ears. Sky only feels mildly offended. He’s distracted from the rest of the conversation by the sun hitting his eyes from behind the sandstone throne.

The longer he stands there, as Wild banters with the Chief, the quicker he can begin to feel another dull throb start hammering away at the space behind his eyes. He slowly shifts to the side and- Oh that really didn’t help.

It isn’t until the room is quiet, with everyone staring at him, that he realizes he had stumbled into a vase.

“Apologies, Chief-” Sky then remembers he never got her name, so he clamps his mouth shut and turns back to Wild, who is already looking back at him with eyes full of… pity. 

Sky almost bites his tongue trying to keep in the sudden urge to scream.

All of his life people had been coddling him, pitying him for his… less than stellar health. That look in their eye as they tell him to take it slow, relax, recover, you’ll never get anywhere by pushing yourself.

You’ve done a good job. You can head on home. Big Groose will handle the search for Zelda from here.

Link- Sky shuffles into a quick bow before stepping out of the throne room and down the flight of stairs. He needs a second away from all of… that.  

He sits, almost crumples, on one of the bottom steps, hand pressed against his forehead to try and press back against the needles trying to dig their way out of his brain. It hurts. On the edge of his attention, he can hear Wolfie pad down the stone stairs to sit beside him. He doesn’t know if the soft whines his brain is processing is coming from himself or from Twilight. 

He’s sunk his teeth into his lip. He doesn’t notice until he can taste blood.

His breaths are coming out ragged and Sky feels so monumentally stupid for freaking out like this. 

Wolfie starts nosing at the hand he hadn’t realized he’d been digging into the sirwal. It takes a few seconds trying to relax his hand enough to release the silk. From there, its just the continuous movement of brushing his fingers through soft fur until he no longer feels like he’s going to scream.

His eyes sting, Sky’s sure he swallows blood.

Wild- when did he get here?- presses a hand against his shoulder, slowly draping the sailcloth to cover more of his front.

“Let’s get you out of these clothes and get back.” Slowly dragging him up, Wild keeps a hand on his arm as they walk back to the gates. Wolfie brushes against his bare calves every other step.

When Sky opens his eyes next, the sun is gone and he can’t recognize a single constellation. 

He closes his eyes.

They manage back to the Bazaar, in which Wild sets them up for a single bed at the inn. After shuffling for a while, Sky has his clothes back, all of them this time, Wild’s wearing something soft, and Twilight is still a wolf, curled up at the bottom of the bed.

With Fi still pressed against his side, Wild curled somewhere above his head, and Wolfie slowly rolling over them both, Sky lets himself fall asleep.

Which he doesn’t manage for another hour or so.

When he wakes up, it’s to the odd sensation of all the tiny hairs on his arms and legs standing on end. His body wants to shiver. His head is still pounding. Sky pulls on his chainmail and tunic, drains the rest of the waterskin Wild had given him, and works on belting his sash and tying the sailcloth behind his arms at the same time.

He’s almost back to normal as he steps out of the building. It isn’t until he’s walking over to a Hylian Twilight and Wild that he remembers they were supposed to be back in Hateno last night.

Guilt churns in his stomach as he sits down beside the cook. Of course he’s made them late.

They’re silent, all three of them, as Wild serves the dish into bowls, all through breakfast, and through Wild collecting the empty bowls. 

It isn’t until they’re walking through the sand, baking under the light of the sun, that Sky attempts to say anything.

“I’d like to-” He immediately gets cut off by the smell of the world above the clouds and the pinprick of static filling the air. It’s sudden, all his nerves start firing, as if he was struck by lightning again. It’s painful, it hurts, dear Hylia it fucking hurts. 

He can feel the familiar sensation of sand falling away from beneath his feet as he tries to grab onto Wild- or Twilight- whoever is next to him- for dear life. 

There’s a bright white light sucking the sand away under his feet. Sky only gets the brief glance of ethereal white hands pulling him under before the feeling of something chiseling into his brain turns his vision black.

Chapter Text

Sky crumples to the dirt the second he passes through whatever Hellish portal that was. His vision is hazy, there's a taste of iron on his tongue from biting something in his mouth on the way down. There's a sharp ringing in his ears as he tries to pry dusty-dirt covered arms underneath himself. The ringing turns into shouts and the striking noise of metal against metal all around him, and the god awful feeling of electricity spiking through his nerves has yet to let up. 

He blinks and blinks until the haze around him sharpens, and he finds that he is sprawled between a soft grassy patch and a well-worn dirt road. 

His eyes catch the movement of several figures in front of him, and as the haze clears, Sky can see Wild and Twilight. And also several armed suits of armor. 

The two swing at the walking metal armor, which rings dully and hollow with every hit. One of the cook's swings slices right through a hip plate and the entire top half of the suit of armor comes flying off, wriggled on the floor, before both halves go still, empty.

Sky should help them. He needs to help them.

The Master Sword lay unsheathed on the ground before him, pommel just inches from his fingertips. If he can grab it, if he can get up , he can help.

An empty steel helmet is knocked into the dirt beside him.

He huffs, leveraging most of his weight to his elbow. His head starts to spin as he gets one knee underneath his hip. Sky pulls the other one in, dragging the limb, even though he can't feel anything below the thigh. He'll just have to deal with it. He can deal with it. 

The Chosen Hero of the Goddess Hylia attempts to stand on his own two feet.

He barely gets the weight on his left leg before he's crumpling back into the dirt. Jaw stinging from the impact and head ringing, Sky tries to pry his eyes open and—

Oh, fuck, half of his leg is the wrong way- it's just. It's fully facing the wrong way. Sky looks back to the suits of armor towering over Wild and Twilight and tries so hard not to vomit or cry. He's squeezing his hands so tightly that he's afraid he might tear through the leather holding the gloves together.

In all his years, on land or in air, he's never broken a bone in his life. Somehow, to his surprise, it's not the worst pain he's felt. 

He pries his fingers open and he can hear the bones creaking in his ears. As he reaches for his sword, fingers blurring from his hazy eyesight or the trembling he doesn't know , the cacophony of the fight he's just outside of grows stronger. 

Sky thought he'd be getting a break. He thought he was done after all that adventuring, after Demise.

Somehow, everything is just getting worse. The Golden Three above hate him or something. That's the only excuse for why it feels like an ice pick is being jammed into his brain, using his eye socket as the path of least resistance. The only reason he can come up with for why his body is either in pain or numb. 

He reaches the pommel, fingers just barely glancing over the handle, when a new opponent enters the ring.

Or, well, a new Hero enters the clearing.

With his still balled-up fist, Sky smears around the dirt and salt and water on his face until it’s either soaked into his glove or gone. 

Out from the trees, with a scowl on his face and a magical rod in his hand, Legend jumps into the fray.

“About time you all show up. And right into the middle of the woods too, how nostalgic.” The Veteran takes out a single Soldier with ease and familiarity while Twilight decides to rip his last enemy apart with his bare wolf-Hylian-teeth. Wild drops a bomb down the helmet hatch of the last one standing. It blows up from the inside out with a blue misty explosion and ear-splitting BANG.  

Sky reverts to his natural state as a Pyrup and covers his entire head beneath his arms. As he breathes in dirt, he regrets sticking his nose into the ground.

“What the fuck happened to him?” 

Legend, the Veteran, the one who had every magic item known throughout Hyrule and then some, who was here now, was kneeling beside him in the dirt.

Legend poked him in the side.

Sky brought his head up from where he was smothering himself in the ground.

“I'm in pain.” Sky admits, for the first time in a long while.

“I can tell, your leg is facing the wrong way.” Legend huffs, then goes to pry the Fi out of his hands and like Hell is he letting anyone take her away from–

“Relax, Chosen.” 

Sky's on his knees. Sorta. The tip of the Master Sword is digging into the grass and the handle is leaving indents in his gloves from how hard he's gripping her. Legend is looking at him with something close to fear and apprehension in his eyes, though it's all covered by a mask of playful indifference the Veteran is skilled with wielding.

“We don’t know!” Wild flung his arms around like a flustered bird. “Everything just keeps happening and- when did he break his leg?!”

Sky sheaths the Master Sword. Silence rings heavy for a few moments.

“Legend, do you…?” Twilight coughed into his hand, sniffed into his knuckles. He also has dirt smeared on his nose. “Do you have any health potions or something?”

Wild sits down at Twilight’s feet and starts rifling through the slate. 

“No potions, no. If he doesn't come up with something,” Legend points to Wild, “I'll do the next best thing we've got for him.”

After a huff and a dejected groan, Wild comes up empty on potions. Sky also groans, but because he's in pain. Then, Legend slaps a hand against his forehead, and at first there's static and pain and everything fades for just a second. Then, there is this chilly wave which quells everything it touches. Sky slumps back to the ground with a sigh. It feels like the rush of a stamina fruit, like the rushing cold of the Goddess Springs. It tastes like Home, Adventure, Devotion, and Sky tries not to give Legend the side-eye too hard.

“My magic isn't as potent as Roolie's, but it does refuel quicker, without potions too.” The Veteran peels his hand away from Sky's face and wipes it on Sky's own shirt to get the muck off. “I can't do much for the leg though. That-” He points to Sky's left leg which, yeah, no, it's still kinda absolutely wrong, “is something we're going to have to get a real healer for. Or someone with better magic.”

With haste, Wild pulls sticks and a tangled mess of rope.

“Put his leg back in place for now, we can splint it-”

“Hey now- do we- here?” Sky could feel something like incredulous fear shoot up his throat and sting his face. This doesn't seem at all like the place to perform proper medical assistance! They're in the middle of the road!

Legend grabs his hands to squeeze, or maybe to prevent him from grabbing his sword. Twilight, on the other hand, moves to his left leg and starts to gently press against the top of his knee as he gets a look at the damage site.

Wild continues untangling the rope in the corner while grumbling something about wishing for a magic arm with magic glue, whatever that's supposed to mean. And-

“ SHIT-” Sky can feel every muscle in his body get cold, and then the flush to his face as water springs from his eyes. He resists the urge to use his teeth to bite something, and instead takes Legends hands closer to his sternum to squeeze the sense of burning pain away.

Legend gives an undignified yelp but doesn't let go. Maybe he can't. Twilight's rushing out a string of apologies as Wild shoves him out of the way to start tying the logs around his leg with rope. 

Sky breathes. Everyone stops moving for a second.

“We good?” Legend asks, jostling their hands about. Twilight nods and Wild gives a short laugh that trails off quickly.

Sky gives it a minute, or maybe two he can't really figure out the progression of time right now. And finally, he lets go of Legend, brushing his hands against his pants. It does nothing for the pool of sweat soaking into the inside of his gloves.

“Yeah,” his voice chokes. He breathes in the air and coughs it out. “Yeah we should start getting somewhere safe.”

“Alright kid, you do have a point.” Legend looks to the other two who try so hard to school their own expressions. “I might have defeated Yuga, but painted soldiers still appear in these woods all the time, especially with the black blood incidents.”

Sky watches as the other three begin to stand. He can tell, just on how Wild and Twilight glance at eachother with something alert in their eyes, that they've forgotten all about the black blood pandemic they've been chasing. Sky didn't forget, he just never very much cared in the first place.

“We should head to my house, down the road and to the left.” Legend then takes a second, and like he's remembering, starts looking around the open, empty road. “And where the fuck did the rabbit go?”

…

The what?

Legend huffs, kicks at the dirt, and starts grumbling to himself.

Twilight rolls his eyes and steps over to Sky's side. The rancher is gentle as he begins to worm one arm under his knees and rests the other against his back as he fully picks Hylia's Chosen Hero up from the ground. His head rushes as he's heated through the air and he has to blink away the stars and sudden darkness crowding his vision as Twilight gets a better hold of him.

“Ah. Memories.” Wild playfully sighs. Then he swoons. Sky still has one good foot to kick him with.

“Alright, let's get going. There's a rabbit hiding around who needs to come with us.” Legend starts pointing them ahead with a handful of magic rod.

 The walk isn't long. Soon enough they can hear more soldiers and fighting and Legend takes off like a man on a mission.

Ahead, there's a man in a long purple robe attempting to fight off two of the soldiers on his own. He's doing a good job, given that he's not already dead, but the guy does look like he's having trouble holding up the massive hammer he's throwing around.

“Ravio!” Legend shouts as he stomps over to where the man in purple– Ravio– has swung his hammer fully into the ground. They make eye contact. Wild has to shoot one of the soldiers who begin winding up for an attack.

All the fighters– which quickly boiled down to just Legend and Wild– make quick work of the two painted soldiers. Ravio dips from the fight to stand on the outskirts next to Sky and Twilight, and Sky knows the Rancher would have absolutely jumped into the fight himself if he wasn't holding Sky. He could practically hear the moral dilemma with how the Rancher was shifting on his feet, shooting nervous glances around everywhere.

The rest of the way to Legend's house, the man himself and the newcomer are wrapped in their own conversation until they walk all the way up to the small house on a lonely hill.

And then Warriors is there and he's pulling all three of them in a hug with the broadest smile they've ever seen on his face. 

“Oh, my knight buddies!” Warriors is smiling with every muscle in his face, eyes alight with glee. “Oh you too, Rancher. Pleasure to see you again.” Warriors punctuated this statement by pulling Wild in for the tightest hug in his life and smothering him in his scarf.

“Hi Wars.” Sky waves from where he's almost slipping from Twilight’s hold in the Rancher's distraction.

“Oh you look a little fucked up, Skylark.” Sky can tell the soldier's Field Medic training stealing the glimmer from his eyes, instead his eyes flick about, even tugging against cloth and rope to peer at the injury.

“Thanks Wars.” Sky hisses as a particularly careless tug brushes a little too close to the break.

Wars is quiet for a second, then glancing to meet Sky's eyeline, he says, “They've done a good job in resetting the break, but magic and potions will need to hold off until we can get it in a clay-bandage brace so it heals correctly.” 

Legend nods beside Wars with as much seriousness as he can manage. Twilight scoots his arm back down Sky's back to hold him better.

“Right,” Legend brushes past all of them, Ravio on his heels as they walk to the front door. He presses two fingers against the lock, and with a jolt, the door clicks open. Ravio pushes past him to be the first one in the house.

“C'mon. We have plans to make, shit to do, all of that.”

The three newcomers peer through the doorway as Wars pushes them to walk on in. 

They all settle in the small living room. Ravio is already disappearing through another archway as they stumble to take off their boots. Sky is exempt because no one is allowing him to move, and instead, Legend and Twilight work in tandem to settle him down on a pull-out cot from the wall.

While Warriors and Legend both huddle around his leg, Sky catches Wild running up the stairs two at a time. He doesn't know if there's anyone else here, and the champion may be figuring that out for himself.

He hisses and tenses as a shock of pain jolts through his leg, all the way up to his scalp. The other two have his leg fully unwrapped from the horrid splint it was in before, and now the jostling of the cot is like a strike of ice coming from inside his calf.

Twilight moved around from where he started to hover to slip in behind Sky on the cot. The rancher takes a breath and moves his hands to where Sky can see them, and gestures for him to lean back.

Releasing the tension from his abdomen is so much better. He no longer feels as if he's about to throw up or start cramping. 

But now his leg feels kinda worse.

Sky tries not to writhe, knocking his head back against Twilight's shoulder. This feels nothing like his old medical visits, so it shouldn't be reminding him of them. Ravio comes back with a pitcher in one hand, cups in his elbow, and the medical kit falling from his fingertips. The man sets the glassware and pitcher down to also hover over Sky's broken leg, but with the potions required to do something about it.

Ravio waves away the other two. He asks Sky in polite, whispered tones to take deeper breaths and to sip down this potion and to please keep breathing as he stabilizes and wraps his leg. There was some magic cast in between the breathing and the more breathing and the pain, but Sky doesn't know enough about other kinds of magic– any magic, really– to tell what the spells were for.

“These will give you a nasty fever for a few days, but you'll be right as rain afterwards.” Ravio packs up the leftovers of his treatment. Then, the man grimaces and starts adjusting Sky's hair. “We'll have to get you a bath soon, but first, the cast!”

Legend slams a solid brick of gray-ish clay on the side table, where it proceeds to deform at the bottom and cover most of the surface in patchy clay spatter. Wars, next to him, pulls out a roll of bandages, and then a second one after that.

“Alright, you'll want a numbing agent for this-” Ravio jumps up and away, rifling through what Sky thought was a decorative wall shelf full of potions.

It was decorative, but also storage. Sky approved.

The purple bottle on the bottom-most shelf was shaken, uncorked, and left in his hands for him to drink. Sky looked in the bottle through the neck of the glass, watching dark liquid slosh as he pulled it to his chest. 

He looked back up to Ravio, and he doesn't know if he's assured by the man's approving hand gesture and vigorous nods. 

Downing the entire bottle like a gulp of mead he used to steal from the Lumpy Pumpkin after his late shifts, Sky almost spat it all back out once the slimey, coagulated mixture hit his tongue. He gagged, and started slapping Twilight's leg where it fell laid out beside him.

Coughing and sputtering, Sky dropped the bottle. He only realized he didn't hear it clatter after spending a few seconds in the meantime shaking and waving his hands about, as if he could shake the taste away.

Twilight had, of course, caught the bottle and set it aside.

After gulping down some proffered clean, delicious water, Sky fully forwent keeping himself standing and toppled onto Twilight. The Rancher took the full force of the both of them slamming into the wall. Sky tried to apologize, and he thinks the words left his mouth, but the taste of the potions are fading from his tongue and everything feels heavier and heavier by the second. There's something tugging on his leg, or his ankle, or something, and he can feel something like ribbons tying themselves around his body.

He can hear the Rancher murmuring to him, but he isn't sure if he's understanding what the other is saying. Sky tries to tell him he can't understand the Rancher, but he can't feel his teeth and his throat feels like it's vibrating and forcing sound out. 

All he can hear is ringing. Everything is dark. Did the lights go out? Where is Twilight? 

He hears metallic singing, then there's the emptiness of sleep. The nothing.

Then he stands up.

The World is a chilled blue, and there's clouds under his feet. He's wading in water that only ripples but doesn't let him break the surface, and it's so, so cold.

He looks down, and he remembers the face that he sees. He's younger than he can really remember being. Not tall enough to reach a countertop, but too old for the rattler toys. His hands are small, too small to grab a sword. Too small for a bow.

He starts walking along the blue plane, stepping on visions of clouds and leaving ripples in his wake.

Fuzzy hallucinations of people that he used to know start fading into existence all around the sky. Some people he's known for years, the people he's met recently. Then the few who've been gone for longer than he's known them. He doesn't remember any of their names. Their faces are a blur.

There's a familiar apron on a figure that he remembers clutching at. There's another one who has long, long blonde hair under a Knight's Cap he has tucked away in a box in a drawer in a house he doesn't go into.

He runs to them.

The World fades.

His little hands catch smoke.

He wakes up later. He doesn't know if he feels better or worse.

The first thing he notices when he peels his eyes open is the lack of sound anywhere. His eyes feel crusty and his hair feels gross, and there's no one around to make fun of him for it.

The second thing he spots is a pair of sticks woven together that he believes are supposed to be make-shift crutches so he can get around the house on his own. He hops off the cot so he can test his movement with them and stops short. There's an art project on his leg. At least, he thinks it's an art project. Its molded into a kind of cylinder shape, almost covering his knee to his toes and adding an extra inch or two beneath his heel. The entire thing was warped with indentations of handprints. Then there was different paints smeared all across the hardened clay. Sky couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a beach house, or a bird above the clouds.

On second thought, those are probably wings.

Yeah, alright, totally a bird.

“What are you doing up?!” Says Warriors in the kitchen. He can see the window in the kitchen from the cot, and everything is dark outside. 

“Oh, he's not up already, is he?” is Ravio's worried voice.

“You, our dear chosen hero, have successfully fought Ravi's sleeping drought instead of the illness you have.” Legend remarked, standing from his seat between the other two and striding towards the doorway between the two rooms with a sort of scowl on his face.

“Am I sick?” Sky doesn't feel ill, at least, not his normal type of ill. It's… cold maybe?

“Sorry, sorry, I misspoke.” Legend tapped his chest with a hand while giving Sky a stupid slimey grin. “Your illnesses. The many that you have right now, and that you probably should sleep through.”

Sky stood in the middle of the living room, woven crutches under his arms, and in his underclothes.

Sky looked at the stairs leading to a higher floor.

Sky looked back to Legend, who in turn raised one single confused eyebrow.

“I stink, though.” Sky tilted towards the stairs.

Legend gave him the longest groan of exasperation on this side of the hemisphere. He even slapped a hand against the doorframe a few times.

“Fine, fine, go take a shower, stinky. Just don't expect to get any help.”

“Alright. Will do.”

He settles upstairs in the bath, alone and way too warm. He has to stick his giant, heavy cast on the rim of the tub as he leans back into the spray of water.  Washing out all the muck and sweat and dirt from his hair, he finds himself wishing for Groose's company. That man was always there during his adventure on the surface. All the times he came stumbling through the sealed temple, Groose was there with the old keeper, Impa , to bring him back from near death. Groose always fixed him, maybe he could do it again.

He'd take Pipt, or Karane, or the Zelda he knew last year.

When he gets out of the tub, Legend turns him right around because he didn't bathe well enough.

“You know,” Legend starts up, taking a small pitcher and dousing Sky's head with it. “Wind showed up here as well. He's currently on bedrest for magic depletion, Ravio's orders.”

Sky hums in acknowledgement.

“The three of us thought this was an ‘us’ scenario when we got dropped here, but it's still an ‘all-of-us' scenario, who knew. Well, we should have known. It'll always be an ‘all-of-us’ scenario.” Legend huffed. “Once Wind wakes up, he's going to be incorrigible. Warriors might be his favorite among us, you see, but the Rancher always has Wolfie following wherever he goes.”

Sky couldn't resist laughing, and as Legend joined him, well. Everything will be okay, you just have to wait for that day to come.

The aforementioned fever struck hard right after he dressed in his soft underclothes. He tries to settle on the cot. Instead, he completely loses all control of the crutches which go flying into the living room, and Sky lays completely wrong on the mattress. As in, only one leg managed to make it on there, and it wasn't the one without a giant clump of clay on it.

Twilight skids into the room, then has to beat down his laughter with a neutral face. Sky gives him an A for effort, even if it doesn't work.

He decides it's time to sleep after that, and when he wakes up for Wild's breakfast several hours later, he's correctly settled on the cot. Everyone takes a seat into the living area so Sky doesn't have to get up, and when Sky goes down again, they all shuffle away and everything's quiet for a long while.

His first bout of wakefulness, he can hear Legend and Warriors arguing in the living room. Nothing unusual, besides how hushed they are. Sky blinks open bleary eyes for just a moment to see Legend throw his arms around in a flurry, before his eyes close.

Then he's gone again.

Somewhere along the line of the haze, he awakens once more. This time, there is gentle humming and ambient noises of clutter being moved around the house.

He's thirsty, and everything is hot and warm , so Sky decides to get up and move around to the kitchen. Putting a bit of weight on his leg, it hurts, sure, but it feels… simple. As if it's on the brink of full mend.

He walks, with both legs, to the kitchen, where there is only Ravio, dishes, and a large sink full of soapy water.

“You heroes are all so terrible at taking medical advice.” Ravio mutters after a few seconds of nothing but the sound of plates being scrubbed and set aside. “I swear, I tell Link he needs to take two days of bedrest, and he’s out the door two hours later.” Ravio chuckles, then does a half-turn to gesture Sky over. 

“If you're going to be up anyhow, might as well make you productive.” 

The man with purple hair throws over a dry dish rag and gestures to the dishes on the drying rack. Sky picks up a cup and starts getting to work.

He spends a few minutes opening random cabinets and drawers because Ravio refuses to tell him where things go, to his own amusement. After five minutes of this, Sky realizes that he hasn't heard a single argument or term of brotherly endearment while he's been awake.

“So,” Sky settles a plate down where the bowels are supposed to go just for his own amusement. “Where has everyone gone?”

“Oh, well.” Ravio, out of dishes, flings his hands about for a second before using a slightly damp hand towel. Leaning against the counter, “They're all out and about. Slaying a monster camp nearby I think it was. Some administrator came straight from the castle this morning to ask Link to clear it out. And since there are now six of you in this house, of course they all went.”

“You didn't go with?” Sky asks, putting in a bowel upside-down.

“Oh, I'm not that good of a fighter, see.” The man fumbles with his fingers, twisting his rag between his hands. “I was never properly trained in sword combat so, that skill of mine is particularly… lacking.” 

Sky doesn't believe that for a second. He can almost remember the man taking on three-or-so painted soldiers on his own for a while.

Instead, he offers, 

“I can give you some swordmanship lessons while we're here if you believe yourself lacking.” And follows it up with a light smile.

Ravio fumbles the rag, almost dropping it twice before he throws it on the counter, only for it to fall in the soapy dish water. He sighs, and pretends it didn't happen. When he turns back, Sky is still smiling.

“That–” The man huffs and shakes his head before looking back to Sky. “That sounds pleasant, thank you.”

Then, Ravio laughs. It's not cute, or sweet. Sky thinks it's almost hysterical.

“S-sorry,” He hiccups through the word. “These past few days could not have been more insane if Mr. Hero made an effort.”

Sky, out of dishes, stands next to Ravio as the man tries to cover most of his face with one hand. 

“He just dissappears one day without a word, then three months later, shows up with a soldier who is also Link, and a child who is also Link! Then the child messed around with a magic sword and Legend had the–”

“Ravio,” Sky places a hand on his shoulder, just for a second, before it slides back down to the counter. Ravio takes his second to breathe, sigh, and stare at the closed front door. Sky could only guess what the man was trying to see, and he has a feeling he might be able to guess well.

After a few seconds, Ravio huffs into his fist, then gives his fingertips and airy chuckle as his hand slides back down to clasp his other wrist.

"You know, Mr. First-Hero-Link Sky, the only reason I met Mr. Hero was because he was doing something stupid and foolhardy."

"That is a horrible nickname, but go on."

"Hah, he was slumped in a church after trying to fight the greatest sorcerer in Lorule. Without any of my magic items, mind-you. He then goes on and on of how he must save the people from Yuga's imprisonment, then Lorule from the wreched Ganon." He then takes a large breath, as if he's figured out his point.

"When I moved in here, fully as a resident in his house, my Link had promised me that he would no longer do anything foolish which would endanger his life. And now he's on the grand venture with you– you hero lot, I just have to wait in our house until he comes back. I can't–” He huffs, as if his throat can't really form the words. “I want to…”

Sky wastes no time in bundling up Ravio between his arms, and he knew Legend was shorter than him but how does Ravio seem even smaller?

He's good at this, he remembers. He's good at comforting his friends. And Sky believes in the short time he's been awake and the conversations they've been having, this has made them friends.

“You want to go with him. To keep him safe.” Sky starts to king them gently and places his chin atop Ravio's ever-messy hair. “Because you love him.”

“N-No I,” Ravio pushes slightly, but doesn't go much of anywhere. “I am loyal to her Highness. Every-” He takes in a breath that he doesn't seem to be getting. “Everything I am is in the name of Her Highness. I am her personal knight, her guard, I can't be–”

“Wait I thought…” Sky then takes a half step back to squint at Ravio.

Is this guy the bearer of the Hero's Spirit during this time, or is it Legend? Is there one?

“Oh, I forgot most don't know of the Dark World.”

“What.”

Chapter Text

“You’ve seen the little bunny form he takes?” Ravio’s giggling, halfway into the sink with drenched sleeves and not a care in the world about them.

“Y-yeah,” Sky is sitting atop the counter, letting his bad leg swing as the other is crossed ankle-over-knee. “I was- I found him with Twilight after chasing this… rock thing and, it was so-”

“Fluffy?” Ravio asked with a smile.

“Adorable!” Sky laughed. “He was so tiny and pink and I could cradle him in one arm like a remlit.”

“A wha-”

“And I’ve never seen something so fluffy before! I mean, there’s the baby loftwings, but those are rare to see- the freshly blessed ones- but they’re also already bigger than rabbits by the time they can fly.”

“What do you mean ‘Blessed’?” Ravio uncorks the basin and all the soapy water drains from the bottom. “Aren’t Loftwings just big birds?”

“Yes! And like all birds, Loftwings were once leaves who wanted to fly! So Hylia blessed them with her tears and they grew wings and a beak and became birds!”

“Is that how all birds are made?” Ravio turned to where Sky sat on the counter. “Every bird?”

Sky nodded with a smile.

“Sky, do you know what eggs are?”

“Wild showed me once when he was making food for us on the road, it had some weird goop in it.” Sky then thought about it for a second. “It was good goop.”

Ravio looked as if he wanted to say something, then he scrunched his nose and turned away. 

The front door creaked open a few seconds later, bumping against the wall as legend made his way into his own house. There was a small calamity at the front door as Heroes tried to make their way inside. 

Both Ravio and himself turned to eachother before sighing. Ravio got to the other room first, calling out a “Welcome home, Mr. Hero,” as Sky got to his feet- foot and reached for his crutches.

Legend and warriors were both trying to get in through the door at the same time, Legend practically crawling over Warriors with the other sprawling his limbs in any way he could to be the first in the house.

Behind them, standing normally, was Wild and Twilight.

“Hey Sky!” Wild called with a wave. Sky shares the gesture.

“Get off of me, rat!”

“Learn how to use a door, dickhead!” Legend scrambles over him with flailing limbs until they both fall to the floor in a comical dust cloud.

After a few seconds of watching them squirm on the floor like a couple of fighting toddlers, he glances over at Ravio who… Oh how he can see it. That look on his face that Link was teased for all his teen years. Raised eyebrows, softened eyes, that small, gentle smile. Link knows what is going on here, even if Ravio can’t say it himself.

Eventually, Twilight gets fed up with standing in the doorway that he just picks up Legend and sets the squirming hero sprawling indignantly onto the sofa. Legend, fuming, scowls.

“Count your days, Rancher.”

“Sorry,” Says Twilight, moving past him and over to where Sky and Ravio are standing in front of the kitchen doorway, “I forgot how to count past seven.”

“OH MY GODDESSES!” Warriors groans with his face on the floor mat, keeping the door propped open with his entire body. “I SAID I WAS SORRY.”

“Don’t make it any less funny.” Twilight smirks.

Sky feels like he’s missing out… on a lot right now. He smiles along with everyone, and chuckles with Ravio who begins looking a little put-off after a few minutes of the other Heroes flinging words at eachother.

He scratches along the back of his neck, waiting for a new topic in which he can jump in.

They go on and on about the monster camp raid, their mistakes and their victories. They talk about dinner last night, breakfast this morning. 

Sky swallows the sinking feeling in his throat, and smiles.

“Well, now that I’m up, I’d like to talk for a bit.”

Every one of the boys goes silent around him, and it’s times like these that he remembers the importance of who he is. These people, who have done incredible things so many times over, who will fight evil time and time again until it is dispelled, respect his words, his name.

All just for being the first.

It’s baffling sometimes.

“The floor is yours, Chosen.” Twilight says, sitting on the edge of the couch.

He remains standing, tilting on his crutches, as everyone else slowly falls into a seat.

“Let's mark down what we know about our situation right now.” Sky says as he brings his free hand around to scratch at the budding hairs around his chin. Hylia he hasn’t shaved in-

“We have… weird portals?” Wild says.

“Alright, that’s a start.” Legend says, pulling out a pad of loose leaf paper from his living room table and a pencil from his side bag as he begins to write. “Weird portals, what else?”

“There was only three of us a’ first.” Twilight says, leaning back into the couch.

“True…” Legend scribbles.

“Does that- I wonder if Time, Hyroolie and Four are all together then…” Wild says softly.

“At some point, we’d have to assume so.” Warriors replied. “If we all have been in groups of three, then it only stands to reason.”

“I hope they’re okay.” Says Wild.

“They all can handle themselves, even if Four doesn’t have his sword, I’m sure he can make do with his other equipment.” Warriors commented as he adjusted himself in a rickety chair nearest the fireplace.

“Wait, what about Four’s sword?” Sky doesn’t remember it going missing while they were at the Ranch with Malon. Did he miss something?

“Wind grabbed it by accident while we were being teleported to My-rule. Little did we know it was a magic sword, so Wind’s still on magic bedrest right now.” Legend commented.

“So, hold with me for a second here,” Sky took in a breath, and the room looked to him.

“So Wind and Four were rooming together in the same room at Lonlon, correct?” Sky asked.

“Yes.” Warriors replied. “We were two to a room, Twilight and Wild, Legend and I were in the same room together-”

“Wind bunked with Four in the smaller guest room, and you were supposed to be with Hyrule, Sky.” Legend finished.

“Yeah, but Sky slept out in the barn with the cuccos that night, Twilight and I went to go see him right before we were grabbed by the portal.” Wild added.

“Which I cannot fathom being around those malicious birds for longer than a moment.” Warriors huffed, shaking out his hair from its prior state of being a mess.

“So, what are you getting at, Sky?” asks Legend. “What's your point?”

“We were picked.”

At the generally confused glances he received back from everyone, Sky guesses he needs to explain a little better.

“I mean- uhh, we- The white portal picked three heroes each, deliberately. It might be proximity or chance, but whatever had split us into three groups, split us deliberately, then brought us back together for some reason.” Sky picked at the splintering wood on his crutch as he tied his thoughts together.

“So you’re saying… there’s sentience behind whoever’s moving us around.” Legend realized, to which Sky affirmed with a nod.

“So we’re in the middle of someone else’s big plan again, big whoop.” Wild sighed.

“Average tuesday.” Warriors agreed.

“Except it's not a big ‘ whoop’ because we have no idea what this thing wants from us!” Legend shouted while flailing his arms about.

“It's somethin’ powerful, and it wants us dead.” Twilight said ominously.

This sentence emitted interested noises from the rest of the group, including Ravio, who stepped around the side of the sofa and said,

“How do you think so?” 

“The first time we fell through a portal, we landed in ruins while being stalked by a Guardian!” Twilight said.

Sky shivered.

“Then the second time, we appear in a field, surrounded by painting-soliders, and Sky broke his leg!” Wild added, to which Sky is thankful.

Sky sighs and staves off the want to beg the Goddess for mercy.

A rapid knocking at the door interrupted their dispute. The suddenness and sheer harshness of the knocking caused most of the heroes to still, glancing towards eachother until their eyes landed upon Legend.

The veteran huffed.

“ It's your Hyrule.” Warriors whispered.

“ I wish your head explodes.” Legend shot back before standing, throwing the papers and pencil over to Twilight who scrambled to catch them, and strode to the door with purpose.

He peered through a small circle near the top of the door before pulling back with a groan.

“We just fuckin-” Legend huffed as he pulled open to door to-

A Hylian Knight. A Hylian Knight who is just standing there nervously. Sky thinks he can hear the man's armor plates clacking together.

“At ease,” Warriors calls from inside the house, to which Legend nods. The man visibly slumps onto his heels and Sky can hear the shaky sigh from the other side of the living room.

“What's your report.” Legend demanded from the man.

“Th-There is a message from Her Highness that I've been t-tasked with-” 

Warriors stood up.

“Yeah, yeah, cut to the chase man, we don't have all day.” Legend leaned against the door, and Warriors started lightly stepping over to the doorframe. Sky himself peeled a little away from the wall so he could peer between the two, and so did everyone else.

Wild was climbing over Twilight to see past Legend's shoulder, and Ravio was practically pasted behind Legend, acting as if he were his shadow.

The armored man swallowed.

The armored man spoke.

“There is a hoard of Moblins said to be posted outside of the castle, and a few Painted Knight's are causing havoc in Castle Town proper. She requests your immediate assistance.”

Legend hangs his head for a second, catching his nose between pinched fingers. He makes a few noises that Sky thinks are nonsensical before shutting the door in the face of the guard.

“Y-you need to-” Warriors started.

“Agh- he knows where he can go.” Legend spat as he marched over to where his traveling equipment lay hooked over nails in the wall. He starts pulling it on before Ravio steps over to him.

“W-wait, Mr. Hero. You just got back a few minutes ago-” Ravio stuttered while trying to stand in front of him, scooting his way between the hero and the bag he wants. “You can't leave just yet!”

“Bunny, I have to go.” He reaches easily around his head and plucks the strap from the strand as he's talking to Ravio.

“You just got back-”

“And it sucks, but this is a very important summons I'd be avoiding, Bunny.”

“I'm- I'm going to give a talking to that princess! She can't keep overworking you all of the ti-” Ravio is stopped by a hand placed over his mouth and another one holding his hands together in a gentle grip.

“It's like if Hilda calls, right?” Legend asks, to which Ravio's furrowed expression does not change. “If they call, we follow. It's what we do, royal knights.”

And Ravios expression does not change as Legend let's go and flings on his bag.

“Alright soldiers Dumb, Dumb, and Dumbest, we're gonna go investigate that and see to it that the Princess is safe and no one in Castle Town is dead or dying.” Legend stated, addressing the other three Heroes in the room. Sky watched as the other four all started shuffling towards the doorway.

He's a little mad at everything when he goes to rest his weight on his leg and it still spikes searing pain all through his leg and up his hip bones.

He sucks in a breath and asks,

“So, me?”

“ We’re going to Investigate, Sky. You need to stay put .” Legend pointed to where he was still leaning against the wall.

Sky scowled and batted the hand away from his face. He wasn't about to be patronized by someone younger than him, even if he was more experienced. 

“I can still support my own body weight. I'd be fine on Epona as a Ranger.” Sky rebutted.

“Do you even know how to ride a horse?”

“Yes.” Said Wild and Twilight in unison.

“That's- no, Sky. We need som- You need to stay here and keep healing. Activity is not inductive to healing.” His eyes flickered away, “And we need someone in the house to protect everyone else.”

“Are you-?” Sky started to raise his voice when Warriors moved in front of Legend's scowling face.

“Chosen, please. We are only trying to keep you safe.”

Those words, he's heard them before from people who didn't know what he could do. The people who prevented him from looking for his parents. The people who ordered him to bedrest for weeks for something so simple as a cough.

Keeping him safe, what a joke.

He lays against the wall for a second, continuously testing his leg to see if he can move the limb against the floor. It hurts. He could manage.

He thinks, mostly about how much has gone wrong for him on this stupid mission so far. Then, how much he has been hurt in just the past few days.

“ Stay put, Link.” Said Owlan. “ You need your rest.”

Sky feels like he's lived this life before.

He takes too long to say anything, just sitting there trying not to sneer at his friend's for keeping his safety in mind. It's ridiculous. It hurts. The other heroes all leave through the door and he's left with Ravio. 

He rejects Ravio's offer for help, and he turns back to his cot.

After all, he has to stay put.

-0-0-0-

Legend closes the door behind him. Goddess, it looked like Sky wanted to burn his fucking eyeballs out of his skull. He doesn't think Firsty there knows how to hide his anger. He takes a breath and shuffles back to the other Links.

Twilight and Wild looked guilty, as if they're doing something to hurt Sky, which is absurd.

“He's gonna hate us for a bit, but he's healing, so that's something we're just going to have to deal with until he can walk again.” Legend said.

“That's not all I'm worried about.” Warriors said, which, the guy looked as if he were standing in front of a war map, all contemplative.

“The monsters?” Wild asked with a shrug.

“Na’ na’, Wind.” Twilight said pointedly.

Warriors looked at them as if they both left their brains two dimensions away.

“No, sk- Guys, Sky is being deliberately targeted.” Warriors shouted, almost slapping the door as he gestured to where Sky was standing earlier. Well, standing is a nice word for what he was doing.

“Sky's- He's not being targeted.” Legend scoffed. “He's way too nice to.. to be-”

“I feel like we should know Sky better by now tha to say that he's just nice, Legend.” Wars hissed. 

Legend settled back on his heels. Of course he knows Sky better- they're all complex people with different facets of their personalities and whatnot. It just… it's hard sometimes not to see Sky as just a kind person. Somedays, that's the only facade he puts up. The anger in his eyes… 

“I know that, stalbreath. It's- The real question is ‘ Who would target Sky?’”

The four of them stood in front of Legends house for a few minutes, all with pinched, scared expressions. 

Wild coughed into his arm.

“We can talk ‘bout that later, but right now we really gotta go do… that thing?” Wild pointed over the grassy hill Legend's house sits upon, pointing over to the Castle in the distance. Despite how far they are from the capital, Legend could still see the pricks and dots at the gates which must be the attacking force.

“Alright alright, we'll deal with whatever is after Sky later- if it's even after him specifically.” He shoots a look towards Warriors, who's rolling his eyes as he takes out his magic fire rod.

Warriors whispers “I'm telling you.” 

They take off for the castle gates.

Legend feels like he's stepping into pools of dread with every step he takes.

-0-0-0-

Ravio doesn't really know what to say in these situations. The Link in his living room, Sky, is mad, angry, and he doesn't know what he can say to help. He's not really a social person after all, that why he's on temporary leave as sentenced by Hilda, her majesty.

He could, well, Sky was interested earlier when Ravio spoke of his Kingdom of Lorule and the Hierarchy. Maybe Ravio can tell him more of the Matriarch! 

Or maybe this Link doesn't want to talk at all. He was pretty upset earlier when the others ditched them to go fight more monsters for Her Highness.

Well, Ravio knows what he and Mr. Hero enjoy when they don't feel like talking.

Sheerow flutters from his hiding spot beneath his cloak to settle against Ravio's scarf, brushing against his cheek with his soft, wooden wings. Ravio smiles as he waves his purple-coated nails and the cooktop ignites itself. A kettle fills itself up under some running water that Link managed to set up using the well out back, and settles over the burning coils with a small tink. He gestures for the box of tea leaves meet him at the counter as he pulls two infusers from a drawer. Scooping the right amount of leaves is a hassle for someone you don't know, so he low-balls the average and closes the infusers.

The kettle whistles as the water reaches a boil. Two mugs fall gently from their shelf and waddle over a circular wooden tray as Ravio is still moving it into the counter. They plop down wherever they please, and the steaming kettle fills them up. Then, the infusers stuffed with leaves jump into the water, as if reading in a warm bath. 

He blows over the top of the mugs, and the infusers stop moving. The kettle wobbles over a cold coil, and the tea leaves look as if they've never been moved. 

Sheerow twitters, and the kitchen is clear of dust.

Ravio brings the two mugs of steaming tea out on a circular wooden tray. Sheerow nestles into his scarf, his plump little body sitting cozy within the striped folds.

Ravio quietly sits beside the Link sitting on his living room med-cot, who is trying hard to appear as if he wasn't scowling at the floor seconds ago.

He appears polite, asks kindly for the tea, and sips the mug with his little finger pointing high.

“Its wonderful.” The guy says politely, as if Ravio hadn't handed him water that tastes more like soil than tea.

“Your Welcome,” says Ravio, as they both sit together in a calm silence.

Ravio can play this part of the game. He's been playing it for years with Hilda. He always wins. 

“Exciting, isn't it.” Ravio speaks over his mug. He always speaks first.

“Ah,” The Link laughs with a high cadence, before his head falls between his knees. Deadpan, he admits, “Isn't it always.”

“You were upsetted when they left you behind again.” Ravio said. 

“Story of my life…” Link exhales, and pulls himself back up. “But, you were too, right?” And he look over to Ravio with those eyes that almost completely look like-

“We might share something, Mr. Sky.” Ravio sips at his tea, then places it on the small side table beside the headboard. He slowly realizes the conversation has flipped.

“Well, I too want to be out there, fighting alongside him, and yet I'm here.You all are on these silly adventures with high stakes that affect our very existence most of the time… I do…  I want to be there, with you all…” Ravio trails off.

Sky sits in silence with him for a second, taking in the Lorulian's slumped shoulders and far away gaze.

“You want to be there with him, Legend. Link.” 

The way Ravio hunches further over the small wooden plate he has in his lap only confirms whatever is going on in Sky's head, as he starts relaxing his shoulders, and bleeding his face into a real smile.

“We'll you're here now. In this story we're all walking through, your path crosses all of our stories right now. You're just like the rest of us, with ridiculous nicknames and stupid hats.” And Ravio laughs, and he smiles.

“Can I have one of those?” 

“On- one of what?” Sky turns to see if he has collected anything, before turning back to Ravio who cannot stop the need to laugh harder.

“The- the ridiculous nicknames? Can I have one of my own?” Ravio asks as Sheerow flutters his wings against Ravio's neck as he's being jostled.

“Well, what do you want to be called?” Sky asked with a smile on his face and-

“Oh, I didn't think this far ahead.” Ravio tried to think back to anytime he ever thought of another name for himself, and drew a blank.

“Well, you all call him ‘Legend’, right?”

“Yes, we also call your Zelda ‘ Fable ’, if that helps.” Link said happily.

Ravio didn't know what to feel as he called Zelda, ‘his’ Zelda. It's not as if he dislikes the princess, but she is the exact opposite, of his ‘ Zelda’. His Zelda actually cares for his well-being.

“We'll, if there's already a pattern…” Ravio churns it around his brain for a second, before declaring “Mythos.”

“That… that's an amazing name.” Sky replies, and Ravio doesn't know if that's sincere or not, but goes with it anyway.

“That's what I want to be called, I think. While you all are here for this story, for my lines, I'll be Mythos.”

Sky smiles.

Ravio takes in a breath.

There's a crashing at the door. Like before, but not at all. The crash sounds like the wood is blistering and splintering. The whole house shakes with it.

Ravio stands from his seat quickly, as does Mr. Sky, who still holds onto the wall as he leans there.

The door rattles again and it bulges where it is struck. Ravio doesn't like the way his feet feel frozen.

Link dives to where the others have left this one's gear, dangled against the footboard of the cot. He only spends the time to sling his sword across his chest as a third pounding causes wood to audibly splinter, and the metal keeping the door together creaks .

“Go upstairs.” Ravio demands.

“Wha- Ravi-” Link is cut off by the door shattering into shreds. Little pieces of purple-painted bark fly by his head and Ravio stamps his eyes shut to keep it from flying into his eyes.

“Link, go. Protect the child upstairs.” And as he begins to hear the scampering of flesh and hardened clay up the stairs, he realizes what he has to do.

He needs to protect his house. His Link asked it of him before he left.

“Sheerow…” The bird flutters from his scarf and flutters above Ravio's hand before becoming completely still. And from his statue-like rigidity and glossy veneer, shoots a long pole from between the clawed toes of the bird.

The staff glows a vibrant purple hue and Ravio gets to see who's invading his house.

Its a painted Soldier, one of the kind that's popped off of the wall and ready to kill. 

Twirling the staff around his hands, he dips the top and flings one of the mugs into the faceplate of the faux soldier. Ravio backs away from the stairs, swinging through gathering magic to sling around discarded crates and sturdy stools, until Ravio is backed against the wall by an approaching Soldier. The Soldier's helmet is made of green paint and metal, but the mugs shatter against the steel all the same. The crates shatter. A stool loses a leg.

Ravio growls. He hears his buddy chirp from the tip of the staff. 

‘ Okay,’ He thinks pointedly, as if Sheerow could read his mind. ‘ You wanted this.’

Ravio twists the staff right in the middle, and the pole shrinks by a few inches. 

The head of the staff grows like a bubble, until it to forms a cylinder of bright-orange wood and becomes several hundred times heavier than normal. Ravio loves this hammer. He has once sold Link a copy of it, which was very good at bashing in the heads of enemies.

Especially the enemies in your own house.

The start of the swing is the hardest, you have to pull it with your own weight, you'd have to aim, blah blah blah. Ravio's favorite part is the second hit. It's always easier after the first hit.

The third hit lands straight into the chest of the Soldier, causing the entire suit of armor to crash against the main door frame. The retaliation is swift, a green painted sword sliced towards his face, then threatens his arm clean off. Ravio yanks the handle of the hammer above his head, straining to hold it still.

Then, he bashes the hammerhead against the chest plate of the Soldier, creaking metal filling his ears as the metal warps.

He takes a breath as the Soldier lays there. And another. He feels overjoyed, elected for a few seconds.

Then it starts to creak, the metal starts to whistle. Steel fingers begin to scramble at the floor like spiders not-yet dead.

Ravio twists the small notches along the staff, and the hammerhead once again looks like an unpainted, frozen Sheerow. Quickly, he jumps over the banister railing and checks up the stairs. There's Sky, just through the doorway at the top of the stairs, holding a still-sleeping Wind on the guest room bed. He looks scared. He looks determined.

Ravio wants that determination, that courage.

He wasn't born with that, with courage.

He got something else.

Ravio threads his staff through the weave of magic all-round, and blasts a wave of force down the stairwell. The Soldier stumbles, but doesn't knock down. 

Ravio hisses.

He tries again, the wave of force energy, a blinding light, a shock of lightning to the plate armor. He's backpedaling up the stairs now, with useless spell after useless spell, he almost knocks into the wooden frame of the door.

“Get down!”

Ravio stumbles, Sheerow falls from his perch as they fall into the doorway and-

A blast of ice-cold light slices over his head.

Ravio blinks as the crashing sound of armor resonates from the small stairway. He braces himself up from where his face fell into his own purple-dyed rugs.

Sky is sitting on the bed with his fellow compatriot settled in his lap. His sword, that Ravio has seen his Link wield, which looked slightly different from the one this man holds, is glowing a glimmering blue. And- yes, right. The sword can shoot beams of glittering light, Link just doesn't feel like showing Ravio all he can do.

Down the stairs, the Soldier rattles again, and Ravio quickly stands from where he's splattered against the floor. He draws his hands in circles as he gathers up some spell- or, or a-

The spell blasts down the stairs, flinging up dust clouds in its wake, turning the house into a drifting lake of smog. Metal creaks and shifts the dust as Ravio and Sky bat away the smog with flailing hands.

The dust settles.

Half of the stairs are shattered, a few of the potion bottles from the shelves are spread across the stairway and floor, turning dust into gas.

The Soldier lays on the floor, crumpled into a mess of metal. The paint is boiling off of the armor, turning the creature into a smear of green paint in his floor and rugs.

Ravio breathes. 

Sheerow chirps in his ear.

Sky asks “What was that?”

Ravio only blurts what comes to mind first, “It was magic.”

The Link almost falls off of the bed with the younger one.

“Magic?” He asks, “Is that a thing Hylians can do in this era?”

“Only some,” Ravio admits. “Only if you have the capability too.”

This Link seems dazzled by the possibility. “That's… amazing, Mythos.”

Ravio starts to love the name.

The other four Links, including his own, return a few hours afterwards, to which they see little magicked mushrooms dancing in a line atop the mangled remains of a Painted Soldier. Which Ravio is making the little mushrooms dance, and Sky is sipping a mug of tea, expertly doused with healing potions. They sit right inside the shattered front door.

“Link, do you think this could be a new lawn ornament?” Ravio asks as all the mushrooms begin to line dance.

Legend huffed. “Get inside, weirdo.” To which, Ravio heard no bite.

“That's Mythos to you, Legend. ” Ravio smiled. Sky laughs. Warriors almost busts a lung.

Chapter Text

There are four things that make up the ocean;

First, the salty water itself, being pushed and pulled across the world as it floods everything in sight. The Ocean Water dehydrates, like poison to Hylians, and drowns them in its unforgiving tides.

Then, there's the breeze above, toiling with sailor's sails. It takes the silly little people on the water wherever it wants to go.

Next, the shores and the trenches, all covered in drifting sand, for what is a home without a floor?

Finally, there's the moon and its rays, pushing and pulling at the tides, doing all of the unseen work. 

This is what the crew decides to call eachother.

You see, Link was having a perfectly fine morning, and an even better afternoon, and a wonderful evening at Lon Lon Ranch with the rest of the Heroes. Dinner from the team of Wild and Mrs Malon was delicious and the bed they had him set up in was cozy.

Everything after that…? It's kinda a blur.

The only thing Link remembers is a frightening white light laughing at him, trying to grab his sword- 

Then he was here.

They're on Tetra's ship, in the middle of a lake of sand, with no ocean nor grassy plain in sight. The sun doesn't feel as unbearable as it should in these conditions.

Link doesn't know if he's ever seen these conditions before now.

“Well, we're definitely nowhere real. ”

He also has to deal with himself.

Link turns around from where he was looking over starboard rails, and watches as the other three versions of himself climb around on the ship. They all look the same in this nowhere that they are.

They've been here for a while now, and Link doesn't really know for how long. The sun doesn't move, the sky doesn't change, the clouds have never moved an inch since he's been watching them.

They've come up with names for eachother, as if they're all not Link. But with what they've been doing with the larger group of Links, it only felt right.

That and they're all the same 12 year old kid, and nicknames are cool.

Breeze is hanging from the ropes keeping the sails tied shut. In here, this nothing place, he's wearing the clothes he's always worn all his life, his favorite lobster shirt and hand-me-down orange pants. He's a little more carefree than the rest of him, as if he's unburdened by the rest of his life, his adventures.

Shore is standing on the deck with the Master Sword in his hands, facing off against an enemy made of hay with a target on its shirt. Shore's in those Hero Clothes, that gift from Grandma. It's silly, hour focused he is on killing something that isn't real. 

Moon is at the helm, wearing Linebeck's clothes and absently steering a wheel that doesn't move. Link hasn't heard a single sentence out of him that wasn't full of swears.

Waves is what they're calling him and, well, he feels more mellow… no, no, more tired than he used to. He feels like all of his determination, all his courage and youthful playfulness has been sucked out of him, leaving him with… well… whatever he has left, really. Morose drifting through memories? Dreadful realizations? Whatever.

The four of them have stopped trying to talk after the first three conversations left them angrier with eachother every time. Shore and Breeze are the friendliest, while Moon hasn’t stopped insulting someone every other sentence. 

Waves thinks he knows the way out of here, the magic of friendship and whatnot. The issue is that the others are continuously infuriating, and he can’t stand them either.

But that’s the puzzle. That’s how they leave. They were all one Link before, and now they have to be one Link again. They were fine when they were one, but now split up like this…

Waves knows what he has to do here.

The question is how he’s gonna make it happen.

Chapter Text

Ravio thinks he has a cure.

He announces this at dinner with half of a textbook in his fried rice, which he hasn’t touched since Wild had handed it to him half an hour ago.

“For what?” Legend snarks, “Male pattern baldness?”

“No, no, for our friend upstairs.” Ravio says, placing the plate aside and thumbing through the pages of his book. Ravio has been reading through several of these “Magic Textbooks” during their afternoon tea sessions they’ve been having over the past few days. Sky still doesn’t understand how the tea could be so bitter, yet so tasteless, but he’s come to accept it. Especially when he’s throwing an entire Ravio Brand Health Potion in it.

“Whoa, like, something to help Wind wake up?” Wild asks, setting aside his empty plate as everyone begins standing up, previous worthless conversation abandoned.

“What do you- lemme see that.” Legend swipes up the book Ravio had dangling in his hands with little resistance.

Legend hmms and haws over the book for a few seconds before shutting the book with a firm click , handing it back to Ravio.

“What does ‘ Magical Swords Throughout the History of Hyrule’ have anything to do with this?” Legend asks and was that what Ravio’s been reading ? Sky thinks the cover looks different from what Ravio was reading a few hours ago. And the other one a few hours before that.

“I’ve been reading up on the recorded properties of The Four Sword, priorly known as the Picori Blade .” Ravio flipped the book back open, pilfering through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

“The most magical part of you all coming from the past, is that there are now recorded history books of what you’ve done and what you’ve used.” Ravio smiled.

“Yeah, and you’ve been using history books to scam people since I met you.” Legend recounted.

“Since before that. Which is why I’m banned from most markets in Lorule. Anyways,” Ravio pulls the book over his head, “now that I know what the sword itself has actually done to our sleeping friend, I can fix it, Mr. Hero.”

“And just like that, you can fix it?” Warriors asks from where he’s standing by the staircase, skepticism lacing his words as they all watch Ravio gather a few potions from his shelves. 

“Of course I can.” Ravio says as he holds a glimmering ring in his other hand. “I am a great witch.”

“Is that-” Legend yowls like a cat, “My ring!”

“You shouldn’t leave things lying around, Mr. Hero.”

“I was wearing that!” And the two take flight up the stairs, the rest slowly falling behind.

Sky attempts to stand up. He fails, and is caught by Twilight as he begins to crumple back into the armchair he’d claimed for the evening.

“I got ya’.” Twilight pulls an arm over his shoulders and hesitates as Sky doesn't start walking forward.

“I hate this.” Sky whispers.

“I… I figured, after all of that excitement over in Cub’s Hyrule. This must be…” Twilight trailed off, looking for a good word.

“Stifling?” Sky threw in.

“Yeah, I couldn’t think o’ the word, so yeah, that.” Twilight turned a little, as best as he could when they’re still linked by the shoulders and said, “You’ve gone through the wringer during this whole mess, by sweet Ordon, no one else has broken a bone yet, Sky. We just wanna be here for you when you need us, even if you don’t want us around, really.”

Sky couldn't help the chuckles, Twi’s almost right on the rupee with those words. Sure, he’s been hurt, he’s broken a bone, and a very important one, but no one else has. Not on this little adventure, not in their chase of the Black Blooded Monsters and the Dark Archways. Sky hasn’t broken a bone since he dropped in Faron because of Groose.

So, sure, but what does that mean? Is he more fragile than everyone else? Is he searching for danger? Is the danger finding him?

Sky asks Twilight.

Twilight is nervous as he replies “I dunno.”

He drops the line of inquiry.

With Twilight’s help, they get upstairs far after everyone else. Ravio has already set up some sort of circle in chalk on the floor surrounding Wind’s sleeping body with circles and glyphs. There’s potion bottles uncorked, sitting in circles along the shapes and lines of whatever spell Ravio had put together. 

Settled on Wind’s shirt is one, glimmering ring.

It all looks like some ritual that Sky had never seen before. They don’t have intricate magic like this in Skyloft, or back in his era at all. The only real witch they have is Luv, who is the only one who knows how to mix potions. And, well, her husband, who can make them a little stronger with materials found on the surface. He doesn’t want to know how many dragonflies he’s drunk…

That’s all to say Link doesn’t know what he’s looking at. Not at all.

“Alright you heroes. If you want to help, then come sit down in a circle around Mr. Wind.” Ravio beckons.

All of them sit down in the circle.

Besides legend.

“What?” Legend asks as everyone else stares up to him. “Someone has to stay on the outside in case it goes wrong.”

Legend crosses his arms. Ravio sighs.

“Well yes, I suppose if something goes wrong with the spell, you can then pull us out or whatnot. Just-” He whips around to point a finger in Legend’s face. “Just don’t cross any line, or spill any bottle!”

“Relax, bunny,” Legend says in hushed tones. Sky still thinks it’s the cutest nickname ever.

Ravio gestures for everyone to hold hands, which leaves Sky holding onto Twilight’s left, and Warrior’s right. Connected, something changes in the air. The taste of it sparks. It smells like home.

Candles go out one by one til there’s nothing left giving light, nothing besides the shine of the moon from behind an open curtain.

Ravio glows purple and black.

“ Lorulian magic.” Sky remembers, as he watched a staff turn into a bird and a perch. “ Much stronger than what you Hylians have. ”

From his hands, the light of the magic flows from Ravio to the rest of the sitting heroes, until everyone is bathed in a hue of purple magic. Slowly, that color starts to fade, and everyone in the circle emits a different hue than the others.

Sky looks at Legend, standing a few feet away from everything with crossed arms, and a small smile on his face.

The world flashed, big, bright and dark, dark purple.

Sky closed his eyes.

He opens his eyes again when the air tastes different, like salt.

He’s standing on a ship. They’re all standing on a ship in the middle of a Sandsea. 

This brings back memories.

He’s dressed in more of his adventuring gear than he’s worn since they’ve arrived at Lon Lon Ranch, his sailcloth a cape and his bright red sash. He brushed an unscarred hand through plain, dirty blonde hair.  No cast.

And it wasn’t just him that looked just a few weeks younger, so did, well, everyone else.

Warriors looked pristine, as if he didn’t come back two days ago with massive bruising on the side of his face from a lucky Moblin.

Wild was standing there in his cloak that absolutely drowned him, his hair pulled back in a low ponytail it hadn’t been in for weeks now.

“Oh, I thought I lost this thing.” Wild commented, brushing the hood from his eyes.

“You probably did, Cub.” Twilight looked… the same but… Sky can’t find the word, sharper? Hair spikier, teeth glittering, framed eyes. 

Ravio looked the same, still drenched in robes and drapes, long striped scarf, and an absurdly large hat with two, drooping rabbit ears.

“Look everyone!” shouted a voice emitting from the sails. “They’ve made it!”

Down from the sails, sliding down a length of rope, was Wind. Even dressed in his favorite blue shirt. He bounded up to the group of them and didn’t hesitate to jump into Warriors’ open arms.

“Wind!” Warriors spun them in a circle, stumbling closer to the middle of the ship. “Oh you’re here! You haven’t woken up in a while and we’re all so… nervous…?”

“Thanks, Wars!” Said someone else. Said a different Wind, bundled up in what kinda looks like Sky’s knight uniform if it were pajamas for kids.

“I really started to miss you guys.” Said another Wind, sitting on the railing of the ship. He was wearing something darker, an outfit that looks like actual pajamas.

“Aye did as well.” Said a fourth, trailing up stairs to the helm of the ship, all dressed up like those pirate robots from Lanayru Desert.

“What… is going on?” Warriors askes in befuddlement as four versions of his friend trounced around the sail-ship.

“This” Ravio pointed around, “is what happens when you don’t have enough magic to use a magic device. It split him up into four as the sword wants, but he doesn’t have enough magic by himself to power the sword enough to take effect in the real world.”

“So that’s…” Thats all Wind, all four of those kids is just Wind…

“Yes,” Ravio says beneath a breath.

“Well, what ye’ landlubbers wain’ fer?” The Pirate Wind asks, “Git yer slim arses o’er here an’ greet our frien’s.”

The three Winds come closer, standing next to eachother with the same silly smile on their faces.

“Alright!” Ravio claps his hands together. “What are your names?”

“Link,” They all said in unison.

“Right…ah..” Ravio hesitated, flicking his fingers against his exposed chin before turning to the rest of the group. “Help?”

Warriors asks the Wind he has in his arms, “What do you guys call eachother.”

That causes a spark to ignite in those blue eyes as he says, “Oh! I’m Breeze! The gloomy one is Waves, the one in the hero fit is Shore, and the pirate is Moon.”

Sky hadn’t noticed before, but one of the Winds, Shore, has the Master Sword. Sky has her too, strapped to his back. He wonders, in this mindscape, do they look alike? Would both of them look as if they’re the Master Sword from Wind’s era, or do they appear differently. Sky almost reaches up to unsheathe her before Ravio starts speaking.

“Well, we’re here to help you all merge back together so you can wake up in the real world.” He says to the plethora of Winds.

“How’re we supposta’ do that?” Breeze asks as he makes Wars put him down.

“Like Chuchu?.” Asks Waves, who started to lean against one of the others, Shore.

“Like this?” Shore took his fingers and tried to wave them through Waves’ head. Instead, the hand just smacked the poor kid in the face. “I’m just hitting him in the face.”

“I don’t think it’s working, you can stop now.” Waves says, and Shore shrugs.

“Oh, that’ should’ve…” Ravio pauses, then moves to a thinking position that almost absolutely reflects Legend’s own Pondering faces.

“Do you…” Sky hesitates, knowing there is something wrong here. “Do you have anything else?”

“Any other magic solutions?” Warriors comments, just a bit haughtily.

“Is there’s nothin’ we can do to fix you up?” Twilight asks, leaning down to pat Shore on the head, maybe to test his tangibility.

“Prolly nothing we ‘aven’t trie’ already.” Moon replied, swinging around a fake hook for emphasis. Breeze almost crashes into the pirate, with the imaginary Master Sword in his hands.

“Ravio,” Warriors turns back to face Ravio. “Do you know another way to fix this?”

Sky suddenly feels like a background character.

“I.. I do but…” Ravio turns over the concept in his mind, churning some kind of magical science that Sky could never make tails of, the pauses in his stance.

Then, as if he’s running out of time, he dashes over to Sky, who had been feeling a bit displaced but is now primarily shocked. 

“I need you to make sure he sleeps.” Ravio says quickly.

“What, Ravi-”

“I’ll be using up more magic than I should, just tell him that and he-” 

“Ravio, what are you saying?” Sky tries to grab back at the hands grabbing him, but the silky robes he layers reject his hold.

“He can manage without me for a few days, he’s done it before, he can do it again.” Ravio almost shakes him. His eyes are frantic beasts as he darts his eyes across the unmoving sun and frozen clouds. Sky can’t find any words for this sudden, drastic route change.

“Make sure he knows it’s not like before.” Then he darts over to Wars, tells the man something Sky can’t hear, then runs to the center of the ship.

“Link,” Ravio placed a hand against his mouth, as if he were speaking to someone else. “I need you to pull them out.”

“What?!” Wild shrieked, almost jumping higher than Twilight is tall.

“Can he do that?” Breeze asks.

Shores just shrugs.

“Ravio-” He says nothing as Sky watches Twilight get pulled from the ship as if pulled by a monster who got their clawshot into his spine. 

Everything feels heavy, then everything is light. The universe is pulling at his head, a knife in his eyes that wants him blinded. “Mytho-”

The last thing he can see in the mindscape is Ravio, sitting in a circle of four individual Winds.

He blinks, just for a second, and the world changes again.

Sky's sitting on the floor again, the floor of Legend's house. The man himself still is holding Sky by the shoulders, having physically dragged him away from the circle.

Legend moves on to the next person, Warriors, and also grabs him by the shoulders.

Sky has an idea. He starts crawling back over to the chalk lines on the floor when-

“DON'T- Sky don't touch that.” Legend almost screams, and Sky dutifully flops back around to a more comfortable position. “I don't know what his plan is yet, but we are NOT going to defy it, okay?” 

Sky nods. His tongue sticks to his teeth.

“We do not deliberately divert a Ravio Plan.” Legend says, as if it's a life skill he's intent on memorizing, then making everyone else memorize too.

Wild is then pulled out of the circle, and the little scatterbrain takes no time to start running around the room.

Sky doesn't really know what is going on inside Wind anymore, as if he knew in the first place. He does know, however, that constant headaches don't exist in someone else's mindscape. He misses the person he was before the headache, and also from three minutes ago.

Sky turns back to Ravio after a few seconds of general commotion going on with the others, he's gotten very used to tuning them out when they get too excited over doing anything. The man is hardly breathing, still as a statue, and sitting like he's praying. To whom? To Hylia? No one worships her here, and no one from Lorule would as well.

It's not like Sky's been particularly religious himself after his whole adventure.

Legend has been pacing around the room, Sky doesn't know for how long, and nor does he care. 

“Legend?” Sky calls.

“What, Birdbrain? Can't you see I'm in the middle of-” Before he can get to far, Sky cuts in with,

“He wants you to know that it's not going to be like before.” Whatever that means. “And that he'll be using more magic than he should.” Whatever that means. Sky starts to stand up and, thankfully, Twilight almost springs up to grab his arm to become a crutch.

“He'll need more magic replenishers.” Legend hisses to himself. Perking up, he frantically turns to Wild, who is frantically going through a box of old, small junk.

“What?” Wild asks.

“Do you know how to make magic replenishing potions?” Legend asks slowly.

“No?” Wild says back.

“Then let's go figure it out! Come on!” And very, very quickly, the two are gone.

The three remaining awake Link's watch the doorway as the other two stumble and fall down the stairs.

“We were normal, once.” Wars sighs wistfully.

“Sure ya’ were.” Twilight says.

Sky glances at Ravio again. He's too…. still, like all of the life and energy in him has been drained, turning him into a statue. It's almost horrifying, given how lively and rambunctious Ravio is normally. It feels wrong.

Its two days later, and five health potions, when there’s finally some good news.

Legend looks a little more than just a bit bedraggled as he stands lazily, and is holding a pair of leather gloves in his hands. As far as Sky can tell, they look like normal gloves.

They’d never just be normal gloves, it’s Legend they’re talking about.

He hands the gloves over to Twilight, who are both standing over his clay-casted leg as he sits on the living room cot. Legend keeps saying things like ‘ Don’t pull too hard,’ and ‘Don’t jostle it.’

Sky thinks it’s a little funny. He stops laughing when Twilight grabs ahold of each side of the cast. His gloved fingers squish into the clay as if it were still dry and not this hardened lump on his leg. The structure crumbles af if it were unstable and breaks into dust in his grasp.

Sky doesn’t know what would happen if Twilight touched someone while wearing those, but he’s sure they wouldn’t survive.

The cast is gone.

Relieved, Sky sighs, then starts scratching at patches of skin.

Legend extracts the Power Gloves from Twilight like he’s conducting an operation. Twilight isn’t allowed to move. The gloves are carefully peeled off his fingers by legend and Warriors, then placed lightly in a small wooden box. Legend takes no time in running away with the box, back to a storage room.

He tests his leg for a few seconds, pressing the limb against the hardwood floor, then he moves to stand. Thankfully, Twilight is there to catch him when he trips over his own leg.

“Whoa, whoa. You alrigh’ there?” Twilight asks, helping righten Sky.

“Yeah, yes.” Sky takes a few steps in place, looking down to see his feet move as he wants them too. “I’m alright.”

Sky moves to where his things have been piled at the end of the living room cot. His chainmail, adventure pouches, everything he’s been carrying on him in one small pile. He grabs freshly laundered socks and rejoices.

“Finally.” He whispers to himself, “Clean socks.” He slips them on then softly treads up the stairs, and through the half-open door at the top.

The room itself is kept dark, windows and curtains shut, with only a few candles lighting the chalk circle still encasing two people.

Ravio and Wind hadn’t moved an inch from before. Wind, still asleep on the floor, and Ravio still kneeling before him.

Wild is in the room, carefully sitting outside the chalk ring with a bottle of some sort of goop in his hands. The Champion digs out a glob of the stuff with two fingers, then proceeds to spread it across Ravio’s face. Which, well, Ravio’s face looks… waxen. He looks sick…

“Hey, Sky.” Wild says. Sky jumps.

Wild’s drawing stick figures on Ravio’s face with the goop.

“Apparently, potions can be used topically instead of drinking, did you know that? I didn’t know that.” Wild says, giving the stitch figure short legs and a long… fin? On its head? Wild starts on a smaller stick figure on Ravio’s forehead before Sky responds.

“Yeah, that’s what we do in Skyloft. We have a lot of people but not a lot of potion makers, so we’ve had to find a way to elongate the effects. Most of the potions can be used topically, at least, the ones we know how to make back in my era.” Sky takes a look at the bottle of goop again. It looks like a stamina potion to Sky. In fact, it almost looks like the one WIld handed him almost a week ago he hasn’t used yet.

“So, like facepaint?” Wild says, corking the jar and setting it back outside the chalk circle.

“Yeah. Y’know, my professor used to tell us about ceremonial potions, like for battle or for a celebration. We still do some of them, like for milestone birthdays, someone will get a dollop of Healing Potion on the inside of their wrists, and guardian potion on their lips.” Sky recalls his sixteenth birthday, just a few years ago. He had no mother to bless his life, and no father to guard him.

That day he spent alone in the Knight’s Academy. He barred himself in his room. Fledge stole food for him that day, certainly a milestone for someone.

“Was there any, like..” Wild had to think for a second, shifting how he sat. “Soldier markings? I guess?”

“Like, if we were to go to battle?” Sky asked, drawing his brows together as he thought.

“Yeah.”

“I know there was… something like that, mostly health potions. I don’t think I remember what it would have looked like anymore, but I’m sure it was written down somewhere.”

“Maybe there’s like, a whole picture book of different face paintings somewhere.” Wild offered, gesturing with his hands as if he was opening a book. Sky thinks he recalls that sign. It’s a new one, to him.

“It wouldn’t be that hard to find, honestly., Sky laughs. “There’s only around four bookshelves throughout our entire island. There are only so many places.”

They laugh, they chuckle.

They both slowly realize they’re sitting in a dark room with two others who won’t be waking up any time soon.

Wild says, “Why don’t I start on dinner?”

Sky nods, “I’ll help.”

Wild starts on a Crab stir fry in the kitchen, and initially leaves Sky with the task of cracking the legs to get the meat out. It takes around two minutes for Wild to assign him to stirring the vegetables instead. Warriors had walked in to help and was quickly assigned to watch the rice.

The only one having fun was Wild.

Dinner didn’t take much longer than it took Wild to finish up with the legs. It was… delicious. Sky will have to tell that to the people running that one stable back in Wild’s Hyrule. It’s good.

The ambiance of dinner is as it’s been the last two days.

Legend is quiet, poking at his food as he flips through some book on the table. It looks like the book Ravio had been reading before. It’s the same rusty-brown leather, and the same text Sky can’t read. 

Wars’ face is looking better, but he’s still nursing some bruising on his face. He’s been quiet, quieter than normal. He’s worried, they’re all worried.

Twilight and Wild chat amongst themselves quietly. Somehow, they always find something to talk about with eachother.

Twilight cleans up the table afterwards, letting Legend help Sky make a place for himself upstairs in the guest bedroom.

The bedroom itself is on the smaller side, covered wall to wall in purple paint, purple drapes, and purple rugs. The wardrobe in the corner is engraved with small bunnies and birds. Sky wants it so bad. 

“Twilight and Wars have been sleeping on the floor, and I think Wild has the bed, but I’m sure there’s some space for you in here.” Legend kicks aside a few strewn pillows on the floor, and there’s some space for Sky’s things there, on the floor.

There’s dog hair on the bed. Twilight has not been sleeping on the floor.

“Thanks, Legend.” Sky says as the other begins to exit the room. Then, he thinks.

“Get some sleep tonight.”

Legend pauses in the doorway, only to shoot a glare over his shoulder.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Chosen.” He spits.

Sky doesn’t say anything, not a word. All he does is watch Legend’s guarded, tired eyes drift from eye contact. Legend gazes around the room.

He huffs when he sees Sky looking back to him expectantly. He wants something out of Legend, a confession, a declaration, anything to ease his mind. 

Legend leaves the room.

Sky quietly gets ready for bed.

There’s someone waiting for him, in his dreams. 

He stands there, in a white void, of nothing all around him. He wears the garb of a Knight of Skyloft, but he isn’t anywhere close to home.

The grass fades in gently, like each blade unfurls from nothing, into soft green foliage. Surrounding him are looming trees waving as they become painted against the sky, leaves beginning to shroud his path as he walks forward. With each step, the trees and bushes surrounding him start filling in the empty space of the forest. The vines begin to latch onto his marching feet, large voluptuous leaves block his sight.

He breaks the clearing. He turns to see the massively growing forest behind him.

There’s about five trees behind him on an empty plane of white. One of them is loaded with apples.

A small dirt path is laid out in front of him, leading beckoning stones up a small hill, through a pond, and to a tower.

Sky draws his sword as he begins his way up the path.

He doesn’t know where he is supposed to be. He’s never seen his place before in his life, of which he can remember.

A white plaine of-

A white-

The doors to the tower fly open. A familiar mass of white hands and bright light darts out. Sky swings Fi, her blade ringing in the air as the hand is severed, right through the finger, splitting down the palm.

Inside, there is insanity.

The white appearance fades as crazy colors bleed from the inside of the magic hands. They grow nails, they assimilate the Master Sword into its warping form. It shudders, it grabs him by the chest- by the waist- by the neck.

The clawed hands, rippling with color and stripped with madness, pull him down, down into the portal. Two large, bulbous yellow eyes stare down at him as he sinks into the sludgy embrace of this madness.

He wakes up choking.

He doesn’t know if he’s smothered himself in his bedroll or what but he just can’t fucking breathe.

He’s erratically breathing for no reason . It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream

He likes to say this to himself sometimes, as if his dreams had never meant anything before. Never once.

A massive force crashes into his back, jolting him out of whatever  loop he was in. Fluff tickles his nose, and clawed paws start batting at his arms. It takes a few seconds of regular breathing for him to notice that the wolf in front of him has been whining.

“Sorry, Twi.” Sky says, leaning against a scratched-up wooden bed frame. There’s time in which the wolf allows him to regain his breath, before pawing at his arm again.

He looks out the window to see the brightly shining moon. From this angle of the house, he thinks he can see the front wall of Hyrule Castle. Still, it’s dark outside, and he should go back to sleep for the night…

Twilight- Wolfie , relents on the pawing, and instead decides to curl around Sky’s back.

Sky doesn’t get any more sleep.

He tells them about his dream in the morning, at breakfast. 

It’s livelier than usual.

Two seconds is all it takes for Sky to realize both Ravio and Wind are at the table.

“Ravio!” Sky dives across the (currently barren) table to tackle the Lorulian in a hug. Not a second later has Ravio hugging back as he realizes who he is.

“Sky! Oh your cast came off!” Ravio remarks as SKy slowly climbs off of the table and settles into a chair.

Over Ravio’s shoulder, like an overprotective dad, is Legend. He looks like he got some sleep last night.

Through the arcways of the kitchen, Sky can see Wild, Wars and Wind all bouncing around the kitchen like the brothers they all try to be. It’s adorable. They look like they’re trying to make pancakes for breakfast. Emphasis on trying, Sky can smell badder burning from his seat.

“When did you get Wind fused back together?” Sky asks.

“Late last night, or, well, early this morning. Before the sun rose, and whatnot. I finally had enough stored magic between myself and Wind’s body and his spirit in order to get the proper spell working. Don’t even ask about how many spells I had to chain together, hoo wee.” Ravio fakes wiping his brow as he ends.

“And how’s-?”

“The kid?” Legend cuts in. “Starving from what we can tell.”

“He’ll be on magic replenishers which I’ll teach Wild how to brew correctly, for, say about a week.” Ravio says as he reaches for his glass.

“As requested by the Magic Doctor?” Sky jests.

“Oh, you don’t want to know how many magic textbooks I’ve read about the Lorulian body and what system of magic effects what.” Ravio said, and given that Sky has no idea what that means,

“You’re the expert.” Sky comments.

“I deserve to be the expert from all that I’ve researched.” Ravio says between sips of his.. Orange juice?

Theres a few more minutes of menial chatter and warm greetings when Twilight walks down the stairs and almost tackles Wind, and lifts him into the air.

It’s cute.

The pancakes are soon finished, and Wild with his trusty sidekick, Warriors, starts setting out different plates full of different toppings and jams and syrups. 

After setting the largest plate of pancakes Sky has ever seen before in the middle of the buffet, the chefs of the morning allow them to dig in.

The cakes are fluffy, if a little burnt on one side, and some are a little undercooked, but they’re great. Delicious. The best thing Sky has ever ate.

Afterwards, Sky decides to command the floor.

“I had a dream last night.”

“Most of us did, birdbrain.” Legend snarks.

“Give ‘im a sec, Vet.” Twilight responds with just a bit of a bite to his words.

Sky hesitates, waits for a comeback from Legend, or something. When it never comes he starts,

“I only bring this up because of prior occurrence, and I know what I see. I see the future. Sometimes it’s the past. Sometimes my dreams show me whatever some other God or Goddess above wants me to see…” He trails off. Get to the topic, Link.

“I have visions. Of the future.”

Chapter Text

This was not helping his migraine in the slightest. Sky wished he could block out the rest of them by burying his face in his hands. His eyes stung in embarrassment, his hands were clammy, and everyone else was complaining so loudly .

“No- shut up, Cook. You said it was a what?” Legend hissed.

“A prophetic dream.” Sky droned. He could hear his words muffle against his palms.

“Right, a prophetic dream . Of what, exactly?” Legend continued.

“A trap, maybe.” Sky murmured. He was regretting bringing this up.

“Let him be, Vet. He barely got out two words before ya’ started pickin’ on him.” Twilight said from around his mouthful of drowned pancakes.

“Plus, its probably not a trap!” Wild added. Sky knows that he thinks he's helping. “Hylia speaks to me in my head all the time, so it might be her telling us of a trap!”

Legend does not look convinced or swayed by this notion. If anything, his face has gone a few shades redder.

Sky misses the person who he was before bringing this topic up. He starts wishing he could go back in time to prevent himself from saying anything at all.

“So it's still a trap ?” Legend bites out.

It’s getting a little hard to breathe. He drops his hands from his face and looks at his remaining breakfast. He’s jealous. The pancakes don’t have to deal with people’s opinions. Sky shovels a bit of his sad, sopping pancakes into his mouth and letting the fork clank against the plate. He decidedly should not have brought this up.

Warriors decides then was a beautiful moment to antagonize Legend by indulging Sky in the mysterious dream . 

“And what did this trap detail? Did you get anything other than it appearing like an ambush?”

Or maybe Warriors was actually intrigued by the idea of a forewarning to an ambush. Army training and all.

Sky exhaled, he could try to recall what he saw last night. Most of it is lost to the fog, as happens to all dreams.

He closed his eyes, and-

Bright colors, the kind you only see in paint, blurred by the tears in his eyes as he chokes-

It stands out against the fog. It's the strange sense of dying in your dreams when you have never felt something like it before. Of course, Sky has been choked out several times, most by Groose, but that could not compare to how the colorful lights were pulling his skin apart like thread. It was less like suffocating, and more of not having the ability to breathe at all.

But that doesn't quite help them plan for an ambush.

“It was a-a house or something, surrounded by a lake. It- I don't think there was a bridge, I didn't pass one to get inside, but I wasn't dripping either.” Sky scratches at his scalp, pressing his eyes together to see if the darkness can help him see his dream better.

“We're you the only one in it?” Wind asked from his left.

“I didn't see anyone else, but I don't think I was alone.” Whether that's counting the others or whatever was waiting for him there, he doesn't quite know.

“Great, problem solved.” Legend smacks his hands against the table, “just don't go anywhere alone.” He swipes his half-empty plate from the table, gently plucks Ravio's completely barren plate, and heads towards the kitchen with a grimace.

Everyone stares at Legend's retreating back as he disappears into the kitchen. 

Sky takes in a breath, and swallows.

He really should not have brought this up. Now Legend is going to be a pain to deal with, and they're not going to get any closer to solving any of the twelve ongoing mysteries. If he wasn't-

A deep thunk shakes Sky from his trailing thoughts. Ravio had slumped over the table. He's groaning. 

After a few seconds of muffled groaning and general whining, Ravio moves to place his chin on the table instead.

“I'll go have a discussion with Mr. Grumpy Guss over there who better actually be doing the dishes rather than hiding away like a coward. ”

Shockingly, Sky can hear the sink turn on.

“I'll talk to him,” Ravio sighs. “You lot can have your super-important hero-business talk in the meantime.” He pushes away from the table, wooden chair legs screeching against the floor as he moves to follow his Link.

It’s silent in the dining room for a few seconds. They can hear low murmurs coming from the kitchen over the sound of the sink and moving cutlery. 

They hear a sharp “ Link-” and most of the table jumps.

“So…” Wild drums his fingers against the table. He smiles as if he forgot what he had wanted to say.

“If Sky is being told of an ambush, I would like to know when to expect it so we cannot be caught off-guard.” Warriors states. He places his plate in the space Legend had sat, and works the crumbs off of his own table area.

“Could you tell us what the building looked like?” Wind asked.

“Uhh,” Sky said.
“From the outside.” He clarified.

Sky’s teeth clicked together.

He wasn’t sure how well he would go about describing the place. It was made of rock, and it had a fan or something. 

“I could sketch it?”

“Do you remember the building well enough to draw it?” Twilight asks.

“Yes,” Sky confirms. These dreams always stick in his brain, like someone had carved out a spot in his memory for them.

There’s a sudden flurry of action when he speaks. The others start digging through their pockets to find any material he can draw a house on.

“I have a feather, but I don’t have any ink.” Wind says, fishing a single, bent quill from his pouch.

“Wait, hold on, I think I have some charcoal in here.” Wild produces his slate and begins tapping through menus.

Warriors sighs, Twilight looks disappointed.

Taking the title of most prepared, Warriors slides out a few rolls of scratch paper and a stick of charcoal from his sidebag. He slides both across the table to Sky, bumping against his breakfast plate.

As he takes the charcoal stick and spreads out the paper, he is struck with the distinct nostalgia of being back in the academy, having to take notes on Loftwing Care and proper sword technique.

He shuffles it from his mind as he brushes the stick against the paper, leaving a thick, black line across the bottom. Carefully, so it doesn’t smudge against his hand, Sky shapes out a lumpy three story building with circle-rocks scattered across the front. He makes rectangles for windows, and an archway for an opening. 

Finally, as his finishing touch, he added two propellers to the front. They looked like giant, lopsided Keese instead of a propeller, but it’s the idea that matters.

When he set the stick of charcoal down, he leaned back into his chair, almost knocking over Wind in the process. Actually, they were all standing behind him, and he cannot remember when they had all gotten up. They were all crowding around his chair and staring at his paper with varying degrees of confusion and concern.

“And… that’s the place?” Twilight asked.

Sky looked back to the paper. 

…

He never said he was a good artist.

“From the dream, yes. Whatever is waiting for us, it’s going to be in this building.” Sky set the stick down, and started dusting off the leftover charcoal dust on his hand.

Wind leaned over him to take a good look at the paper.

“I don’t recognize this,” he states, crossing his arms. “There’s only one windmill in my Hyrule, and it’s actually a ferris wheel you can ride on.”

“Is that what this is?” Wild points to Sky’s attempt at a propeller.

“...Yes.” Sky did not have to deal with Scrapper for two hours for this kind of slander towards his propeller-drawing capabilities.

“So, it’s a two-story-”

“Three.” Sky cuts off Twilight. There’s clearly a third mound at the top of the second propeller.

“Right,” Twilight clears his throat. “So there’s a three-story building with two windmills on the front we should be on the look-out for.”

Warriors shoots up like he got zapped by a spume.

“Didn’t we- I think there’s a building like that here.” He says. Warriors gathers up the drawing and breaks away from the group huddling around Sky’s chair to disappear into the kitchen.

Sky blinks. “That was quick.”

They are all staring at the archway Warriors had disappeared into when Legend shoots out of the kitchen with the paper in his hands. An exasperated Ravio and an irritated looking Warriors follows right behind.

“That’s the House of Gales.” Legend slaps the paper against the table. 

Wild sits against the table. That’s the only movement anyone makes for a solid minute.

“... Right.” Twilight says, as if he knows what that means.

Legend stabs at the page while staring down at Sky. It’s uncomfortable.

“This is the place you saw? In your dream or whatever?” He asks.

Sky breathes. He suddenly feels like he’s about to get yelled at for doing poorly in the academy.

It’s not a fun feeling. There’s a lump in his throat he has to swallow down.

“Yes…?” Sky is hesitant.

Legend whips around, almost running into Ravio, who yelps. Legend sticks his hand down the back of Ravio’s neck, digging under his hood until he pulls out a well-worn wad of paper.

Ravio protests, but Legend pretends to not hear him as he unravels the paper across the table, knocking plates and forks out of his way.

“Here.” Legend slaps Sky’s drawing right above a random building on his- map? “You dreamt of the House of Gales, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s about a half-days walk from here.”

“So this is in your Hyrule?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, the ambush or whatever you saw in your Dream,” Sky accidentally made eye contact with Legend while he was speaking. He wanted to shrink into remlit again. If only he could steal the crystal…

“It’s going to happen here, and soon, given the teleporting-bull.” Legend hissed.

“Does this mean we’re going to head there?” Wild asked, eyeing the map from the far-end of the table.

“Could we?” Warriors asks. He looks to Sky as if he’s expecting something. After a few seconds, he elaborates with “would it be possible to ignore one of your dreams?”

“No.” It’s not. Nothing he could ever do could avoid what he is shown of the future. Knowing the future didn’t help his parents, it didn’t help Zelda, and it certainly never helped him. He can remember begging his parents to stay on Skyloft that night. It’s a clear night , they had said. It will be a smooth flight, we’ll be back in the morning. Sky can’t remember their faces anymore.

“If we don’t go ourselves, something will draw us there anyways.” Like missing people, or begging travelers. “It’s better to go before any innocent people get hurt because of this.”

Legend scoffs. “This is why I hate dealing with goddesses."

“ Link .” Ravio warns.

“Fuck, I know.” Legend tugs the back of his head, and his hat comes fluttering off. He looks at the thing as if it has scorned him. He turns to pass it off to Ravio.

“We’ll need a way to get multiple people through there at once.” Legend says. “If we have to go any further than the entrance, then we’ll all need a way to glide and- shit.”

Legend looked to Ravio, and Ravio raised an eyebrow at him.

“They can’t turn into paintings.” Legend said.
“What?” Wild asked.

“That would be an issue.” Ravio said, as if that had made any sense.

Then, as if an idea has struck, Legend runs over to his bag which hangs by the front door. He rifles around through the contents for a few seconds before pulling out a kind of golden bracelet, inlaid with a swirling amethyst-looking gem.

“If I use this,” he rounds back to the table. “Could I turn them all into a painting with me?”

Sky has no idea what he’s talking about, but Ravio takes this as a possibility as he lifts up the bracelet to inspect it.

He hums.

“No, no you wouldn’t.”

Legend Immediately deflates. “There’s not even a chance?”

“No matter how much magic we would need to charge into this thing, it would never be able to transform more than one person at once.” Ravio says and he softly places the bracelet onto the table in front of them.

“Why not?” Wild asks.

“That’s just how it was written.” Ravio says, adjusting the bracelet so Wild would be able to see the inside of its curve. “There’s several runes all giving the magic instructions. The engravings on the inside tell the magic what to do, where to go, and how to activate. All that fun stuff. It would take me months, or maybe years to figure out what I can add onto the runes to expand the effect without blowing the entire thing up!”

Wild and Twilight grimace. 

Sky frowns.

Wind says “Aww, damnit.” Just like your average Link.

“I’m guessing you don’t have that much time?” Ravio asks.

“Bunny,” Legend hesitates, fingers curling around the magical bracelet still resting on the table. “I don’t know if we even have two days left in this Hyrule. We could get portaled away at any moment.”

“I know…” Ravio huffs. Then, he perks.

“Give me that.” He swipes the bracelet from Legend’s hands quickly, like a true thief, before Legend can realize he’s gone.

“Bunny?”

“Where’s your non-magical jewelry collection?” Ravio becomes muffled as he walks through another doorway on the other side of the kitchen.

“Ravio, don’t you dare." Legend runs after him.

They can hear feet pounding around the house as Legend gives chase.

Once they’re gone, Wild finally hops off of the end of the table. He collects the remaining plates from breakfast, and Sky has enough energy in himself to get up and follow Wild around with the trashcan. The others migrate towards the couch, and Sky can hear something pertaining to a rematch coming from Wind. 

Sky almost laughs at the muttering excuses they start spluttering to avoid another one of Wind’s sparring tourneys .

He helps Wild finish off the rest of the dishes from breakfast. Sky felt good, helping like this. Drying off the dishes and putting them away after Wild was done scrubbing an entire layer off the top of the plates. 

He was looking for the drawer for the silverware when Ravio came back through the kitchen with a box full of jewelry and chains, with Legend silently weeping behind him.

Sky smiles as he peeks between them. They’re holding hands.

Ravio has one arm fully wrapped around the box as he marches them all out of the kitchen and into the living room. Behind him, Legend still sulks.

“Everyone, pick out a bracelet, or necklace. Anything with a visible gem for conduit.” Ravio places the jewelry box on the table, and everything inside clicks together.

Warriors is the first to grab something from the box, pulling out a silver necklace of a drop-shaped lapis. He has to wrestle the chain out of other necklaces, and pick out a few earrings from where the chain cinches, but eventually it is dangling from his hand.

Twilight, who doesn’t quite know how magic works, picks out a sturdy circular ruby bracelet inlaid in a leather braided band.

Wild picks out two pairs of earrings, taking one from an elaborate, decorative set with orbs of amber cased in fine silver stands, and another of simple silver strands. “They look like they could go together.” He says.

Sky sets out on a necklace he can wear around his neck while his sailcloth is still wrapped around his arms and shoulders. There’s something that looks like sapphire, like the endless sea. There are three spheres, the largest in the middle, and cased in rings of silver and gold. Sky plucks the blue velvet band which slides easily from the box.

Something feels weird about the necklace, but Legend and Ravio said this was the box with no magic jewelry. It was probably fine.

As Wind settles on a diadem of aquamarine, Ravio collects the jewelry, and Legend snatches the box away before Warriors has the chance to snatch anything else. Wild, however, has five new rings. 

“I’ll be replicating the same runes from the first bracelet into these so you all will be able to navigate that place.” The jewels disappear into a pocket in his robes. “It will take me some time, but at least it won’t take days. Maybe a few hours.”

Ravio flashes a bright amethyst rock from around his wrist, smiling with his teeth. 

“It will be easy, I have a cheatsheet to work off of.”

Ravio disappears into the house to work on his new project, and Legend doesn’t look back to the group until they hear a door shut from deeper within the house.

Legend sighs, dropping the jewelry box back onto the table. He rubs at his face and his eyes until it’s all slightly red.

“If he’s not out by dinner, we drag him out.” Legend says, a cold tone lacing his words as he points down the hallway Ravio had flitted down. 

They spent the next few hours outside as downtime. 

The air was nice and crisp, an amazing change from the last few days of stale house-air he hadn't been able to escape from. It takes a few deep breaths to get accustomed, but Sky has been dealing with air pressure and density changes for several months now. It's almost seamless for him.

Sky, who wasn't too keen on moving too much on his newly healed leg, chose to sit-out and play referee. Wild got to choose the game, which immediately caused a bit of backlash from everyone. Except Wind.

“YES!” Wind shouted as he dashed into a circle of dry dirt. “You can never escape the sparring competition!”

“Are you sure there isn't anything else you wanna do, cub?” Twilight asked, eyes pleading like the dog he sometimes is.

“I wanna get some training in.” Wild says as he pulls out his traveler's blade. “A good spar will keep our skills sharp. Plus, we gotta make sure the kid doesn't get left behind.” And that gets Wind going.

“WHOA WHAT?! I'M A BETTER SWORDSMAN THAN, LIKE, HALFA’ Y'ALL!” Wind screeched.

“You have been in a magically-induced coma for the past few days.” Warriors comments with a smirk.

As Twilight sighs and reluctantly agrees to participate in the sparring matches, Legend splits himself from the small group to walk over to the bench with Sky.

“You're sitting out again?” He asks.

Sky slips, landing hard on the bench. He pretends it didn't happen as Legend looks at him like he's being studied.

“There's- well, I wasn't too fond of the idea last time. And now-” Sky kicks his leg out.

“Your leg is still hurting?” Legend asks as he stands by the bench. He looks more concerned than Sky thought possible.

“No, not really. Only when-” he walks on it. “Only when I think about it too hard. It's just a little sore.” 

“If you need another helping of that healing potion Ravio makes, I know where he stores the potent stuff.” Legend says as he rounds the other end of the bench

Sky nods.

They sit in relative silence for the first few rounds of sparring between the rest of the boys. Two with actual training, and two fighting with their instincts.

Wind wipes the floor with the Knights the first two rounds. Twilight appears to know when he needs to back away from the fight.

Legend jeers at Warriors for being taken down by someone only half his size. 

While Wind rolls in laughter and prepares another round, Legend turns to Sky.

“He's a good fighter for his age. It almost makes me mad, knowing he had to go through the same thing as the rest of us so young.”

Sky looks to Wind, taking down his opponents who are almost twice his size. He's too young to know to fight. He shouldn't have to know how to use his size against his taller, broader opponents.

Sky remembers begging to be let into the Knight Academy when he was Wind’s age. Now that he's been through it, he knows why he wasn't allowed in so young. 

It's unnerving for a young child to have to know how to fight for his life.

“Sometimes, when I'm running around trying to fix everyone's problems, I forget that I'm still 18. I only graduated from the Knight's Academy the day before I started this whole mess with Monsters and Demons. I feel like I should still be trying to wrap my head around it all, you know?” Sky blurts.

“You- Wait, are you…” Legend looks at him as if he grew a Keese eye on his forehead. “You're only 18?”

“Well… yes?” Sky said.

“Wh- I-” Legend seems to be at a loss of words. Despite this, he continued in a shrill voice. “I thought you were in your twenties like me n’ Wars!”

“...No?” Sky's not sure where he got that idea. 

“Oh Lolia, you're barely older than the Champion, aren't you?” He gasped.

Sky's never heard of Lolia before.

“Just by a year, give or take.”

Legend buried his face in his hands. “Why are you all so young?”

“Oh, come off it. We're all too young to deal with most of the situations we're dealt. I'm more concerned with Wind than I am of myself.” Sky points out, gesturing to where the young hero is-

Well, he's taken down Warriors again.

“I'm not too worried about him.” Legend deadpanned. “He still has his Grandma and Aryll to come home to. But I haven't heard you talk about anyone. Do you have someone back home waiting for you?” 

His tone is gentle, as if he realized this might be a sensitive topic for some people.

Home. Sky considers what home could be for him. As his mind lands on vibrant red hair, he decides to stop thinking about this.

“I do.” He says, and thinks of Batreaux and Kukiel. He thinks of babysitting for Luv and Bertie. He thinks of taking up extra shifts for Pumm when the Lumpy Pumpkin is busy to repay his debt to the family. He thinks of Pipit, who used to tutor him when he was a grumpy child. 

He thinks of Zelda, who used to wake him up when he dozed off in class. He thinks of Zelda, who used to knit with him in the dorms while he carved out another Loftwing made of wood. He thinks of Zelda-

I… I used you.

Legend sighs as if he didn't get what he wanted from Sky.

“Whatever, it's good to know you at least have someone.” Then, without much of a segway, he growls. “This is why all the praise to the Goddess pisses me off. They pick a child every time to go fix the latest catastrophe! Like we wouldn't be worthwhile if we didn't risk our lives saving Hyrule over and over and over again. They turn us into something we don't have to be, soldiers, warriors. I wanted to be a blacksmith, Sky!”

Did Sky say something wrong?

“I'm… sorry?”

“It's- fuck you don't have to apologize to me Sky, it's not like you cursed me or anything.” Legend huffs.

Sky finds it hard to say anything after that. He swallows, and Legend turns back to the sparring match.

“Whatever, it's not as if they can be defied. The Gods and Goddesses will live on forever, and be free to choose their favorite meatsack to play hero every once in a while.” Legend deflates into the bench, and Sky doesn't know whether to pity him or himself.

I…I used you.

Himself, he decides.

“Y'know, I haven't heard of Hylia before you lot came around and dragged me out of my retirement. The Golden Three, sure. Hylia is just the name of a bridge to me.” Legend says.

“That does make sense. She wouldn't have gone by that for a long time once it gets to your era.” Sky comments.

“What?” Legend asks. He turns back to Sky and looks utterly confused. “Does the Goddess get a different name in your time?”

“She died.” Sky says. He's embellishing a little, but that is mostly what happened. ‘ Abandoning my divine form’ could only mean so much. “She was reborn as a mortal Hylian, and she's not really much of a Divine Goddess anymore.” 

Legend stares at him again. He almost wants to check a mirror for the Keese eye Legend is looking for.

“One of these days you'll actually tell us what happened in your time. Then everything will make sense again.” 

“I wouldn't wait for that.” Sky says. The last thing he wants to discuss is his many sleepless nights trying to save someone who was doing what she needed to. It wasn't fun in the river with Twilight, and it wasn't fun when he had to spill everything he had missed to Groose.

 …

His leg felt stiff.

He leaned over to push his palm into the meat of his thigh where it ached. Maybe he should have taken an extra day off of it.

At least his headache is gone so he doesn't have to deal with both at once.

Good to know the cure to a terrible migraine was a two day long coma and a trip into someone else's mind.

They stayed out well after lunchtime, watching the four take turns disarming and taking eachother down. It was entertaining to watch, and Sky will admit that it is always good to know what techniques the people he have watching his back are capable of. For all the differences in their eras, Warriors and Wild had similar strikes and guarding stances. Wind used his grappling hook to his advantage, grabbing items from people who aren't paying enough attention to their surroundings, as Sky does. 

As obvious as it is that Twilight has never gone through formal training, his strength and adaptability more than makes up for it. 

Legend gets harassed into joining a round.

Wild has him on the floor in seconds. 

“You know what,” Legend growls, surrounded by giggling Links. He points to Wild, “ you have food to make and I need to dig someone out of his burrow.” 

Legend huffs and swipes at the dirt he's covered in.

He grumbles all the way through his front door. 

It's hardly close to dinner time when the rest of the Heroes come barreling through the front door, smelling worse than Groose's dormitory in the academy. Warriors leads the rest of the sparring group to the showers, taking the wafting scent with them. 

As they disappear up the stairs, Sky lingers around the edge of the staircase. He didn't… exercise really. It's not like he needs…

He shakes his head and follows up after the rest of the boys.

It’s later, when Wild starts on dinner, that they start worrying about Ravio.

“He said it was going to be easy, right?” Wind was pacing around the door to the "workshop" as Legend had called it. Legend himself, along with Ravio, were inside, which was their conundrum.

They weren't sure if they were technically allowed in the Workshop. Legend let them in his and Ravio's house, but the man is closed off to most and isn't too fond of sharing anything about himself. Sky doesn't know how Legend would react towards this “ breach of privacy.”

Wild, a man immune to most social cues, opens the door.

Sky is shocked it wasn't locked.

Immediately, they can see Ravio sitting at a desk on the far wall of the room. Scattered around him are little tools, some of which Sky can recognize as carving instruments. Ravio seems unbothered by the sound of the door opening, and continues to fiddle with whatever is in front of him.

A few of them step into the room. Twilight, brave Twilight, stays right in the doorframe, not daring to take a step inside the Workshop.

They find Legend leaning on the wall, right next to the doorframe. He's got a scowl on for show, but Sky can see the pull of worry on his eyebrows, fingers fluttering against his sleeve like he doesn't know how to hide his rising nerves. 

Sparks fly from Ravio's hands, a harsh whirring following a few seconds later.

“Wild's starting on lunch.” Warriors reports to Legend. 

Legend's scowling deepens.

“Ravio's almost done.” He says in a whisper. He looks like he has something else to say, before stopping himself. “He's- We'll be out in a couple of moments. You can wait for us at the table or start without us. Now get out of here before you distract him, it's a delicate process I can't have you fools screwing up!”

“Link.” Ravio says. Legend freezes in his spot of ushering them out. Ravio doesn't look away from his project. Something across the table from him glows purple, and it flies into his workspace. “We've talked about this. Be nice to your friends.” 

Something sparks. There's sounds Sky can only recall coming from Gondo's metalworking shop.

They are quickly ushered into the hallways without many further words as Legend shut himself back up in the Workshop.

Wind scowls. Warriors drops a hand on his shoulder and starts steering everyone back into the kitchen.

They don't end up waiting for Legend and Ravio. You would have to be some sort of monster to have the ability to pass up Wild's cooking. Once the chef has finished cooking, in which Sky is concerned how quickly the man made so much, the meal is spread out between different plates and small bowls.

“It's a hotpot but without the actual hotpot because Legend doesn't really have a kitchen or dining room that supports it.” He explains. “Everything's already fully cooked, and everyone gets a portion of the broth in your own bowl. Bon appetite.”

Sky has no idea how to use chopsticks. It's the first obstacle he has to overcome with dinner. The second is figuring out what is in front of him right now.

Warriors eventually takes pity on him as the person sitting next to him who has been watching him fumble with chopsticks for three minutes straight. A few moments later, he is presented with a fork and tips on how to eat the beef and rice .

Twilight tells him to dip it in the egg and it's the best thing Sky has ever eaten in his life . He starts combing a few of the vegetables into his bites, and tests a few of the other meat options. He can say with confidence that Wild is the best cook he's ever met. Somehow.

They start considering wrapping everything up after almost an hour of eating and waiting for the other two, when they finally appear. Legend has Ravio's arm slung across his shoulders, and purple hair brushes his chin where Ravio leans in. As someone who doesn't quite work with magic, Sky forgets how draining it can be to be working with magic materials and objects.

With the sudden eyebags and new limp Ravio is sporting, Sky can only figure it takes much more magical energy to be creating magical objects than to just use them.

Legend settles his partner at the head of the table before taking a seat for himself. Wild is quick to leap from his chair and set up their dining spaces.

“Are you okay? You look like you were bowled over by an ox or two.” Twilight says, gesturing to Ravio with his chopsticks.

“I’ll be fine, uhh- whichever one you are.” Ravio’s eyes droop.

“Twiligh’.” Legend supplies, mouth full of rice.

“Right, yes, you.” Ravio sets his elbows on the table. Even from the other end of the table, Sky can see the horrid dark circles and redness rimming his eyes. He isn’t sure how creating magical objects work, but it looks as if Ravio was depleted of his life , his energy .

“Now that those things are embedded with the same runes and force of the original bracelet, they should be able to do the same thing. If not, then I give up.” Ravio starts shoveling his meal down.

“Then we’ll test them now.” Warriors says as he begins to stand.
“Not without supervision.” Legend growls. “We have time before the sun sets. You can wait until we’re done eating, and then we can test them out on the wall outside.”

“Okay, mom.” Wind laughs.

“You little maiamai .” Legend launches a sticky clump of rice across the table. 

As Wind gasps, Wild cracks an egg over Legend’s head. 

Sky, whose last food war was in the Academy, beats a hasty retreat from the table. As great as the meal was, he doesn’t want to be wearing it.

He spies his bag hanging from a hook by the front door, and quickly decides on what we would rather be doing.

“I’ll be right outside.” He calls back to the others. He isn’t sure they hear him over the shouting and yelling, but he doesn’t mind too much. They’ll be coming out here anyways once they’ve finished making their messes, and are ready to start testing the new items.

The door shuts behind him, and their rising volume almost completely vanishes.

He starts walking down the hill to the small forest by the house, following the sound of the nearby river and tweeting birds. If he closes his eyes, it almost feels like home. Skyloft…

…

He misses Skyloft. He does more and more as each day passes. He's also terrified to return. To face some of the people he's let down during the worst few weeks of his life, it sounds like a nightmare.

Sky shakes his head. He won't have to- he won't be getting to go back anytime soon. He might as well live in the moment. He can dread the future later.

He plucks a particularly thick branch from the skirts of the forest. It's a bit too long and gnarled for what he wants, but he can make do. There was an axe he spotted back by the house he can use to chop off then end to make a good starting brick.

They must take a while on the clean-up, because Sky already has the shapings of a beak by the time the other Heroes start filtering out of the house. They hadn't done a very good job, Warriors still has a clump of rice sticking to his hair.

Sky is a little surprised to see Legend walk through the door alone, and before he has the opportunity to ask, Ravio steps out with a cane in one hand, and their assortment of jewelry in another. 

Legend must see something on his face anyway, because he says “he wanted to walk on his own.”

“Okay,” Sky agreed. “Where did the cane come from?” Call him curious.

Legend seemed just a little indulgent. Or maybe he wanted to talk about Ravio. Needless, he explained, “It used to be mine when I had a really bad hip injury in Holodrum. It survived the trip back to Hyrule, and now Ravio uses it on his off days. He got a similar injury a while back, but because Lorule wasn't… in good condition , he didn't receive the proper care for it. So, it lingers.”

Ravio starts to pass out the newly magical artifacts, and Sky feels like he should be as close as he can to make less trouble. He's almost standing on the man's foot when he is handed his jeweled necklace.

“Yours had three,” Ravio starts, resting the necklace in Sky's awaiting hands. “When we get to it, just focus on the middle gem, that's the one I engraved and set the rune under.”

“Yes, of course.” Sky starts to think he shouldn't have gotten one with three gems.

He's got the necklace clasped around his neck as Ravio pulls the group down the hill, to a flat, bare-faced wall of stone. 

“This smells like a wet dog.” Warriors grimaces as he pulls the necklace away from his throat.

“Deal.” Says Ravio.

Warriors pouts.

“We'll be testing on this wall one at a time. It's important that you keeth- keep in mind that the magic will drain you, so you cannot stay as a painting for longer than a minute. Those who are adept at managing and using their internal magic will be able to stay for longer, but we'll only be testing out seconds for now.” Ravio says as he knocks at the stone wall.

“Now, Mr. Hero, would you mind demonstrating for the class?” He smiles.

Legend groans, but catches the amethyst bracelet as it's tossed to him.

“Now, please observe how Mr. Hero merges with the wall.”

Legend huffs, but does as is expected. Sliding the bracelet onto the wall, he leads with the magical artifact. He places his hand against the stone wall and Sky thinks he can see his fingers start to melt into the rock before a sudden cloud of smoke bursts from the bracelet. 

As it clears, Legend is gone. In his place is a painting on the stone wall that looks exactly as he had. 

The painting blinks.

Wild screeches.

“And once you have successfully merged with the wall, you will be able to slide back into the third dimension by pushing outwards.” Ravio continues. The painting of Legend sticks out his tongue, then disappears in another cloud of smoke.

“Thank you for the demonstration, Mr. Hero!” Ravio calls as Legend steps back through the cloud. Despite everything he can guess about Legends reactions, the veteran just shrugs it off with a mutter of something he cannot hear, and goes to stand beside his partner again.

When they are told to start testing it on their own, it's unsurprising that Wind is the first one to fully merge into the wall on his own. Warriors gets it soon after, but not without a few issues of his own.

Twilight is stuck halfway merged between the wall for a couple of minutes before Ravio has to pull him out. And when he can't on his own, Legend merges to the wall again to push him out from the flat side of things.

Sky and Wild are still both stuck on the connecting with the magic artifact part.

Once Ravio noticed Wind was trying to explain the process of merging into the wall with them, and comparing it to three separate children's games, he pushed Legend over to them for assistance. 

“Okay, so, whatever the kid said, you might want to ignore that for now. C'mon.” Legend brought them a little ways away from the commotion, and the ongoing group effort of releasing Twilight from the grasps of the wall.

“To connect with the magic item, it's easier if you start by concentrating on the rune itself, and what it can do. Read the rune on the metal, understanding what it does is the first step to doing.” He says.

Sky unfastened the necklace and flipped it over.

“Sorry, I really don't know what this is supposed to say.” Sky says. He tries to flip it around to see if he's just holding it the wrong way. Still nonsense on the other side.

“I can't either. Is this supposed to be Hylian?” Wild asks.

Legend furrows his eyebrows. Sky thinks he looks like Professor Owlan whenever Crawlin asks a question in class.

“It's- well…No, not really, but its just mirrored. It's Lorulian.” Legend looks at both of them carefully. “You really can't read it?”

Sky's lips pull tight.

Wild shrugs.

Legend stares. He doesn't move for a solid minute before he shakes off his… bafflement.

“Well alright.” He uses the back of Sky's amulet, holding it to where they both are able to see the rune carved in the silver. He traces around a few certain symbols as he speaks. “These are the words and shortened phrases for ‘ Wall Portrait’, ‘Living’, ‘Merge’, ‘Self’, and the big one, ‘ Transform ’. A lot of magical artifacts have that one. The entire rune tells the magic source-” Legend taps the glowing gem in the middle- “what to do.”

Legend then exhales as if he's deflating. “It's so much more complicated than that, but I don't care to

“Okay, so if I just keep thinking about what it does, while trying to do it, it should work?” Wild asks.

Legend hesitates. “Yes, but there's more to it than that. You also have to connect with it, usually by wear or hand contact, and allow the artifact to pull from your own source of magic, your life.”

He stops there. “Have you two ever used magical artifacts before?” 

Wild's face scrunched as he thinks. “I used a fire rod once, but it was really weak so I just threw it out.”

“Yeah, that is usually what happens when you don't know what magic you're supposed to be doing. And, well, if it was made poorly, but that's besides the point.” What about you, Sky?.”

“I'm not sure if they were magical items, or if they were machines, really.” Sky takes a mental note of everything he's got stored in his pouches. Gust bellows , it's an oddly shaped fan, but Sky can hear the mechanism whirring inside when he blows away sand. The Beedle is a detachable drone , the robots in Lanayru mines had said. Another machine.

He can't really think of anything that was inherently magical and not a gift blessed by the Gods.

“Your earrings aren't magic? You were on a volcano and didn't explode into flames.” Wild looks at Sky as if he just told a bold-faced lie. No, in fact, he did not.

“I wouldn't call them magical. They are a gift from the Goddesses by conquering the Spirit Realms. They have abilities, but I don't think they're magic. ” Sky says.

“Can I take a look?” Legend asks. His hand is out.

It's unreasonable, he knows. But Sky really doesn't want to pass them over.

“Yeah,” he means to say more, but his head gets stuck in a loop, telling him over and over to not let them go , don't just give them away .

He'll get them back. He knows this.

The earrings sting as he pulls them from his ears. They click together as he sets them in Legend’s awaiting palm. He takes one of the earrings and thumbs it around his palm. Legend hums as if he had heard something interesting, then waves both Sky and Wild to follow him  back to the group at large.

Twilight has managed to separate himself from the wall, which is nice to see.

“Ravs,” Legend calls, and the called upon man pretends like he hadn't had an eye on the three of them the entire time. Ravio starts to hobble over to meet them somewhere in the middle, but he is quickly stopped by Legend rushing forward in the fastest not-a-run Sky has seen in a while.

Stritch might have him beat.

“Yes, what?” Ravio asks as an earring is shoved in his hands. Sky's heart rate elevates a little bit more to see his earrings passed so flippantly. 

“Do you sense any magic in these things? ‘Cus I can't feel anything, but Sky says they protect him from fire, and Wild's backing him.” Legend states.

Ravio pokes at it.

“It's empty. There's no rune or conduit, unless you consider the ruby itself-” He takes in a breath like he's been struck. “No, it's empty to me.”

“Huh…” Legend keeps them in his palms for a few seconds before passing them back over to Sky.

“Either the Goddesses love you, or you can manifest properties into inert objects just by believing hard enough.” 

“I'm not sure it's either of those, actually.” Sky mutters as he takes them back.

“Well, now that we know you both are shit at using magic, this makes everything a lot harder.” Legend says, taking up a pose oddly reminiscent of Time with his hands on his hips like that. 

Wind chuckles from the side. “Twilight only going half-in the wall should help if there's any parkour.”

“Hey now, I figured it ou’!” Twilight cried.

“We'll need to slip through cracks in the walls.” Legend says.

“Damn,” says Wind. “I thought I had something.”

As the sun starts to set on the horizon, Legend tells everyone else to get to rest. They all have a very long day ahead of them.

As everyone else heads in, Legend makes Sky and Wild sit.

“We're gonna meditate, focusing on the energy of the amulet and the earring, until it feels familiar. We're not sleeping until you two can get this.”

Wild groans, flopping over into the dirt, while Sky traces the crevices of the engraved rune. 

Sure. He could do this all night.