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Chapter Text

“Get out, get out! GET OUT, RUN!”

Wild’s frantic instructions instantly cut through the chaos of the battle, the sound echoing around the cave the group were fighting within. Eight heads snapped to stare at Wild, some with swords aloft or mid swing, eyes immediately widening at the sight that had the champion in a state of panic -

- the lone bokoblin standing on a rocky ledge at the far end of the cave, with a bomb arrow drawn and pointed at the stack of hoarded bomb barrels.

Shit.

The arrow flew.

The next three seconds were a deafening and terrifying blur of explosions, screams - both Hylian and monster - and panicked movement.

At the sound of Wild’s shout, Time abandoned his post as protector over the unconscious Four and Wind, turning to scoop them into his arms in one swift motion before beginning to sprint to the mouth of the cave. Warriors and Twilight, having been fighting back to back against six lizalfos, took advantage of the ensuing chaos to simultaneously shove their way through the lizalfos in front of them to join Time’s sprint to the exit.

Sky turned to follow, Fi in hand while counting the rapidly moving heads in front of him - Time, carrying two, then Wars, Twilight - 

But where were Wild and Legend?

Sky’s heart dropped to his stomach, scanning the smoke-filled cave as he ran towards the exit. The explosions from the bomb barrels were causing trembles throughout the cave, adding to the dust, noise, and panic making it difficult to see what was happening.  

Where were they? 

Sky’s eyes frantically scanned his surroundings as he moved closer to the mouth of the cave, arm covering his mouth as he coughed at the dust billowing around him. The panicked shouts from his teammates told him that the majority had at least made it to the exit, and the clash of steel on steel told him that those still standing were taking out the last of the monsters.

He was a handful of metres away from the exit and the bright sunlight when a flash of orange in his periphery had him spinning around, sword aloft and ready - 

“WILD!”

And there was Wild, fists together and holding an orange shield around him and an injured Legend, protecting them both from the boulders bearing down on them. Wild was staring up at the rocks through the shield, teeth gritted and visibly shaking with exertion in his effort to stop them being crushed. Sky could see Legend clutching a bloody arm to his chest, shouting at Wild and making motions towards the opening of the cave.

The shield flickered and Sky’s heart almost stopped.

With a cry of rage and pain, Wild was forced to his knees while the shield bent above him, straining and creaking as the boulders inched ever closer to the two below.

It wasn’t going to last much longer.

Sky’s eyes darted to the mouth of the cave, only a handful of steps away, and to Wild and Legend, who were across the cavern and too far, too far to reach in time -

Sky might not be able to reach them, but just maybe -

Without sparing another second to see how much more Wild could handle, Sky had sheathed his sword and grabbed his clawshot, aiming at the two and steadying his stance.

“Legend! Wild! Drop the shield!”

Legend’s eyes, though pain-filled and terrified, widened in understanding. He immediately knelt, wrapped an arm around Wild, and shouted in the champion’s ear. And in the next instant, Sky’s clawshot was hurtling towards the flickering shield. Wild dropped the barrier just as the clawshot snagged his tunic, and Sky pulled.

It took a mere second for the two to come hurtling out of the dust cloud, yanked out of the way of the falling boulders by the clawshot and sent crashing into Sky. The three were thrown backwards, clearing the mouth of the cave with the momentum and hitting the ground with enough force to knock the breath out of Sky’s lungs.

And not a moment too soon. Sky, Wild, and Legend had barely hit the floor when the mouth of the cave shuddered, vanishing from view as rocks and boulders finally caved in and buried the opening from their sights.

Too close.

Coughing and dazed, Sky took a few seconds to lay on the ground and evaluate what in Hylia’s name had just occurred in the last thirty seconds. 

Legend and Wild were safe .

“Din’s tits, Wild, you saved our asses - what was that?”

Ah. Speaking of…

Sky rolled onto his side, wincing at the aches and bruises he could feel forming all over him. Legend was sitting up, not too far from him, still clutching his clearly broken arm as he looked at Wild. 

Wild, who was being propped up by Twilight and practically being force fed a magic potion. He was pale and looked to be barely conscious, head lolling on Twilight’s arm and eyes barely open. Thankfully, Sky couldn’t see any physical injuries on him at all.

“That,” Twilight said, slowly tipping the potion into Wild’s open mouth, “was Daruk’s Protection. I have no idea how he held the shield for that long - Daruk’s shield was normally only there to take a hit, so maybe for half a second. I had no idea Wild could do that - cub, drink the potion for Hylia’s sake - and I don’t think he did either. It’s never affected him like this before.”

Legend exhaled, watching as Wild swallowed the potion. Sky followed his gaze, and was relieved to see Wild taking steady sips.

“I’ll have to ask him about that when he’s not passing out on you,” Legend said, brow quirked in obvious curiosity. “You saved us there, champion. And so did you, Sky.”

Sky’s small smile was relieved, and he finally allowed the last of the tension to leave his body. Reaching into his bag, he retrieved a bottle of red potion, handing it to Legend before standing and ruffling his hair.

“Glad I was there to help. Now let’s never go into a cave again.”

Chapter Text

Four paced, irritated and seething.

Kid, they’d called him. His kidnappers, whoever they were, had hardly thrown him in this cell before announcing to another that they had managed to grab “the kid”.

It was humiliating enough that they had managed to catch him unawares, but to think they viewed him as a mere child?

The audacity.

It was hard to believe that this time a couple of hours ago, he had been perusing a busy marketplace in Warriors’ Hyrule, content and relaxed for the first time in days. The past couple of weeks had blurred into back-to-back battles, injuries, and portals, leaving little time for respite or recovery.

But today, the sun was shining, and Four was admiring a very well crafted dagger being sold by a local blacksmith.

“Easy there kiddo, those things’re sharp,” the blacksmith said with a kind smile, leaning across the stall to peer at Four more closely. “I can see you’ve been travelling with Captain Link - he your guardian or summin’? He’s a dab hand with daggers, that one. I’ll get him to give you a demonstration!”

Four’s content mood was instantly soured.

Tamping down the rising blue tide of irritation and anger within him, Four suppressed a sigh while carefully placing the dagger back on the blacksmith’s table. He could tell he wouldn’t be convincing this blacksmith to sell to him; most blacksmiths didn’t sell daggers to children, after all.

“Thank you sir, I’ll bear that in mind,” he answers curtly, bidding the smiling blacksmith a goodbye and stepping away from the stall.

He sighed, making his way through the crowds and heading back towards the group’s designated meeting point - the bakery adjacent to the front end of the market stalls.

At least the trip hadn’t been a total waste, he mused, picking his way through a group of schoolchildren and deftly avoiding a couple of puddles. At least he now had a reason to challenge the Captain to a proper fight and knock him on his ass. He’d been too smug recently.

With that in mind, Four turned the corner past a stall selling fishing bait and headed down an alley, mind focused on the myriad of ways he could beat Warriors with just a dagger in hand.

He didn’t notice the figures tailing him until it was far, far too late.

A sack over his head and an indeterminate amount of time later, and Four was now stuck inside this blasted cell, with no idea where he was or what these people wanted from him.

He took the opportunity to take stock of his surroundings, breathing deeply in an attempt to dampen the irritation bubbling away inside him. He was locked within a metal cage, with only a couple of metres to pace around in. As far as he could tell, the room his cage was in didn’t have a single window. Only a couple of torches lit up the space, and judging by the dim light, they weren’t doing a great job.

The room was barren, nothing to adorn the stone walls or floor. With nothing but a closed door ahead of him and the two torches to light the sparse room, Four sat cross legged on the floor of the cage to await the return of his captors.

Not like he could do much, anyway, what with his gear and outermost tunic having been stripped away during his capture.

He wasn’t waiting long.

Without Time’s impeccable time tracking, he was left guessing, but it had to have been around half an hour.

The sound of a lock turning had Four’s head snapping up, and he watched as two men entered the room. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them; nothing to suggest they had just kidnapped what they believed to be a child. They were dressed plainly, in nondescript brown tunics, giving nothing away and leaving Four with no information to go on from their appearances alone.

One of the men lingered by the door, watching Four and returning Four’s cool stare with one of indifference. The other man crossed the bare room in several unhurried, relaxed strides, stopping in front of the cage to crouch in front of Four.

“Hey kid,” he began in a calm tone, tilting his head and looking through the bars at Four’s scowling expression. “I’ve got some questions for you. If you answer them for me, I’ll get you a tasty snack and we’ll be dropping you off home before supper. But you have to work with me, bud. Do you understand?”

Four said nothing, remaining in his seated position and scowling at the man in front of him. The man rolled his eyes, shifting to a more comfortable position to address Four again.

“Kid, I don’t want to hurt you-”

“Not a kid, dipshit,” Four snapped, and wow Blue was clearly more than fed up with this nonsense.

The man blinked.

“Well,” he said, matter-of-factly and considering Four with a careful expression. “We all like to think we’re grown ups, kid, but you’re not exactly-”

“I’m a trained knight and master blacksmith,” Four answered smoothly, ignoring how the man’s expression slipped into slight surprise. “I suggest you explain to me what you want with me, why you decided to abduct me, and who you are. I don’t suggest taking long. When my brothers find out I’m missing, all Demise is going to rain down on you. So start talking.”

The man in front of him laughed, turning to address the other man still standing resolutely by the door.

“Hear that, Jor? We’ve hit the jackpot.”

He turned back to face the cage, and Four’s stomach dropped slightly at the sight of his expression. He was positively gleeful.

“We only wanted you to tell us where Captain Link was, and how to best get him isolated. But now that you’re a knight, well,” he straightened, and reached into his tunic to extract a key. “Now, we can have some fun with you and send a message to Captain Link, all in one.”

Ah, shit.

They didn’t waste time. 

Of course, he put up a fight as soon as they unlocked the cell door. He kicked, punched, hell, he even bit, in an attempt to stop them laying a hand on him.

But two burly men, twice his size, with no weapons on him, no means of escape, and no allies?

Well. He was chained to the floor soon enough.

The beatings didn’t take long to start. At first, Jor and his still-unnamed accomplice took turns laying into him with punches, slaps, and kicks to his prone form. They questioned him, pressing him for answers that he kept resolutely locked away. He refused to answer. Refused to endanger the Captain and the others.

After another failed attempt at asking him for Warriors’ location, the men decided the violence wasn’t quite up to standard. Before long, a rod was brought out in an attempt to coax the answers out of him. Jor knelt in front of him, the electrified rod at his side and already sparking with residual electricity.

“Where is the hero?” Jor growled, holding the rod closer to Four’s face. He could do nothing to move away, chained as he was to the floor and held in a kneeling position by the chains that bound him. 

Four said nothing.

“I’ll ask you one more time,” Jor said, moving the rod within a couple of inches of Four’s neck. He could feel the heat and the occasional spark and suppressed the urge to swallow, staring stubbornly back at Jor. “Where is he?”

Silence.

Jor sighed.

“I tried to play nice with you,” Jor said.

Four had no time to prepare himself for the pain as the rod was pressed into his neck.

He could feel the static rolling across his skin, making his body jerk involuntarily and aggravating the injuries he had already sustained at their hands. The pain kept coming, limbs spasming with the agony of the electricity coursing through him. His ears rang, his vision was swimming, his neck was on fire, his throat was hoarse from the screaming - 

He didn’t last much longer before he blacked out.

Chapter Text

Twilight panted, desperately trying to regulate his breathing in an attempt to keep from hyperventilating. The pain was like fire, rippling up his front leg with horrible and persistent ferocity. Small canine whimpers escaped him as he lay on the forest floor, in absolute agony.

He hadn’t seen the trap as he was scouting, nose locked onto the unmistakably pungent scent of bokoblins south of their campsite. The scent had become steadily more overpowering, to the point where he hadn’t thought twice before stepping on a pile of leaves - only for the trap to spring and clamp around his front leg.

Twilight lay his head on the ground, the agony clouding his senses and his ability to think rationally. The trap was unfortunately very well made, with serrated edges that had ripped cleanly through his fur and skin.

He chanced a glance down and immediately regretted it.

Blood lay splattered on the leaves surrounding him, staining the forest floor a sickening crimson. It oozed out of his leg, sending rivulets down the metal trap and spreading in a growing puddle around his limbs. The leg itself was horrific; the jagged edges of metal, clearly sharpened to maim and kill, were clamped so strongly around his leg that he was sure he could feel the scrape on his bone.

He could barely think. He knew he needed to escape, get back to camp, back to safety - but he was struggling to form a plan.

Shifting back to his Hylian form was out of the question. The transformation process in itself was mildly uncomfortable at the best of times, what with bones shifting and rearranging from Hylian to wolf. But combining that with a mangled leg and potentially broken bone? That would be a recipe for disaster.

And anyway, he thought while he panted, I’d still be trapped.

But maybe, if the trap wasn’t attached to anything… could he potentially drag himself back to camp, or at least close enough to grab the group’s attention and signal for help? It would be excruciating, but it appeared to be his only option.

Huffing, Twilight steeled himself, and looked down at the trap. There were too many leaves and other forest debris to make out the trap completely, and no way to tell if it was chained to the ground.

Only one thing for it, then.

With a pained yelp, Twilight repositioned himself and rolled on to his front, letting his uninjured leg take the weight and doing his best not to jostle the trap. Despite his best efforts, the wound still burned and the pain made him lightheaded. He was pretty sure he was losing a little too much blood to be safe.

Maybe he was going into shock.

Could wolves go into shock?

Someone clever would know. Maybe Legend, maybe Four. They were a bit smart.

With a stagger and another whine, he was upright and on three legs, wobbly and in agony, but ready to move.

Where was camp again?

Twilight huffed, blinking dazedly and struggling to recall which direction he had travelled from. The pain was all-encompassing and deeply distracting.

Maybe north-west?

Either way, he had to move. He needed help, and he wasn’t going to get it by staying here, uncomfortably close to those smelly bokoblins.

Steeling himself, Twilight made to step forward -

- and promptly collapsed onto his muzzle with an agonised screech.

That, he thought dazedly, went a bit shit.

He couldn’t move. His leg was spasming, blood spurting around the metal and burning. Staring up at the canopy of leaves above him through half lidded and exhausted eyes, Twilight wondered how he would get himself out of this one.

Please, he thought desperately. Help me.

There was nothing else for it. As black spots danced across his vision and pins and needles invaded his paws, he took in a deep breath and howled.

Chapter Text

Wind wiped the sweat off his brow, frowning up at the sun. 

It wasn’t supposed to be this hot. As soon as they had stepped out of the most recent portal, Legend had claimed the era as his and declared they were lucky to have arrived on a mild spring day. By all accounts, the air had been crisp, the sky mostly clear save for a few stray clouds, and the group had started their walk to Legend’s house with a relaxed air about them.

So why was it so damn hot ?

Wind sighed, trudging along behind Warriors and watching as the captain’s scarf fluttered behind him. How he wasn’t roasting in his outfit was lost on Wind, but to each their own.

“Rest break!” called Time, having slowed to a stop next to a copse of trees at the edge of the forest they were walking next to. The rest of the group sighed in relief, placing packs and swords down before swigging from water skins and digging out snacks from pockets and bags. Wind joined them, plopping himself down on a nearby log. “We’ll stop for about half an hour and then finish up the final stretch to Legend’s house. How long until we reach your house, Vet?”

Legend straightened, squinting into the distance and then glancing up at the sun.

“Hmm…” he considered, glancing around at the group. “If we keep up a steady pace, we should be there in about two and a half, maybe three hours. Maybe slightly less if we make it a brisk walk. We’ll definitely make it to mine before the sun sets, anyway.”

“Perfect,” said Time, nodding at Legend as he drew his own water from his bag. “We’ll head off soon, then.”

Wind settled back against the bark of the tree he was sitting on as the group’s chatter gradually rose up again, feeling oddly uncomfortable and far too warm. Maybe he was dehydrated… he hadn’t had much water today.

“You ok, sailor?” Warriors asked suddenly, peering at him and munching on an apple. “You look a bit red. Is the cold getting to you?”

“Cold?” Wind asked incredulously. “I’m roasting . What’s up with you? Getting chilly in your old age?”

Warriors barked out a laugh, ruffling Wind’s hair despite his protests.

“Yeah, yeah, maybe I am,” Warriors laughed, taking another bite of his apple and lounging next to Wind. “Practically catching up with the Old Man at this point. I’m surprised he’s not gone grey considering how ancient he is.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Time called from across their makeshift camp. “My ears work perfectly fine in my old age .”

“You’d better hope so,” Wind said sagely. “They need to make up for that shitty eye of yours.”

Warriors choked, and Wind cackled at Time’s open mouthed expression.

They set off for Legend’s house shortly afterwards. Despite the refreshing break and the jokes he had shared with the others, Wind began to feel steadily more off as the walk progressed. It was confusing; he hadn’t eaten anything questionable, he’d slept pretty well the night before, and he’d come out of their most recent battles with no serious injuries. 

Well. Maybe he just needed a day off. This hero business was hard work, after all.

“ Ambush !”

Fucking hell, Link , Wind thought to himself as he drew his sword. Way to jinx yourself .

The ambush consisted of a few moblins - five, maybe six, possibly from Wild’s era. Wind darted over to the nearest monster, taking the opportunity to slash at its side before it could raise its club to swipe at him. The cut spurted out red blood, and Wind grinned.

Not even infected.

Easy.

The moblin, outraged by the small Hylian in front of it, let out a roar and swung again - but Wind was ready and leapt to the left with a short “whoop!” of excitement. Another swing from Wind’s sword and the monster had a sizeable gash on its back, and was clearly outmatched.

With a grin, Wind leapt back towards it, sword raised to finish the fight for good - but the moblin brought up its other arm to punch him. Sword mid swing and momentum already in action, Wind’s eyes widened and he pivoted with all his might -

- the blow glanced off his side, and agony exploded across his vision.

With a pained shout, he was down, sword clattering to the ground next to him as he clutched at his side.

Had he been stabbed ? 

Alarmed shouts and a bellow of “Help him!” sounded around him, but Wind couldn’t focus. His vision was swimming and he felt sick, shivering on the ground and struggling to make sense of what he was feeling.

It took precious seconds for someone to finally put an end to the moblin that had injured him, and seconds more for running feet to come towards him.

“Wind!” cried Hyrule, crashing to his knees next to where Wind lay clutching his throbbing side. “Can you hear me? What did it hit you with?”

Wind only groaned, the urge to be sick increasing as Hyrule gently tilted him on to his back.

“Get his tunic up, looks like he might have been stabbed,” Warriors ordered, kneeling next to Wind’s head and gently placing his hand on his hair. “Bud, open your eyes for me if you can hear me.”

Wind complied, opening his eyes and moaning when Hyrule’s hands ghosted his injury.

“Great job,” Warriors encouraged, smiling down at him. “Just relax, yeah? We’ll get you fixed up.”

“Here, potion!” Four called, jogging over and offering Hyrule the bottle. Hyrule took it, looking distracted, but nodded at Four.

“There’s no blood,” Hyrule said with a frown. “He wasn’t stabbed…”

“That moblin didn’t have a sword or spear,” Wild called, looking up from where he was crouched next to the moblin’s discarded weapons. “Just this club, but Wind wasn’t hit with that.”

Warriors frowned, watching Wind’s face as Hyrule got to work moving his tunic out of the way.

“Wind,” came Hyrule’s sudden, sharp voice. “Why were you hiding this injury?”

Wind blinked blearily, meeting Warriors’ alarmed gaze with his own confused one.

“What… what injury?” he muttered, wincing as another sharp stab of pain shot through his side. Warriors shot Hyrule a look before meeting Wind’s gaze again.

“Buddy,” he said calmly, still resting his hand on Wind’s head. “You’ve got a cut of some kind on there, and it’s seriously infected. The moblin must have got a lucky hit in and got you right on that spot. We need to get you to Legend’s now, you’re running a fever too.”

Wind blinked.

“Oh,” he said with a small frown. “I, uh… I guess I was feeling a little shitty.”

Warriors sighed, and Hyrule moved forward with the potion.

“You need to have a sip,” Hyrule explained, uncorking the bottle and putting it to Wind’s lips. “It won’t cure the infection you’ve got but it’ll take a bit of the pain from that hit away.”

“You’re getting a ride with me to Legend’s,” Warriors said, standing to prepare to pick Wind up. At Wind’s scandalised look, he quickly brought a hand up to stop any incoming protests. “No arguing. You haven’t seen it, Wind, but it’s not looking healthy. No idea how you managed to miss that, but you’re doing as little as possible until we can get that treated properly.”

“He’s right,” Hyrule said, offering a sympathetic smile as he corked the bottle. “You don’t look fit enough to travel right now. I think that hit really was unlucky.”

Wind sighed, but groaned again as the pain made his side burn. There wasn’t much he could do to stop Warriors picking him up, aside from wince and try to hide just how much the pain was bothering him.

“I didn’t mean to hide it,” Wind mumbled, head resting on Warriors’ shoulder as they began walking again.

The captain sighed, looking down at him with a small smile and an annoyingly fond expression.

“I know, buddy. I know.”

Chapter Text

Twilight let his head flop back down onto the ground, the leaves crunching uncomfortably loud beneath his wolf ears. The howl had sapped the last of his strength; there was nothing else for it but to wait. He was too weak and spent to try anything else. He just had to hope that was enough for his brothers to hear him.

He could feel the blood pooling around his front legs, pouring out of his wound with even more fervour now that his escape attempt had jostled it. Panting, he tried to distract himself with something, anything, to keep his mind off the pain and the stickiness around his paws.

Twilight knew he was bleeding too much, too quickly. He was losing too much blood to be safe. The light headedness was telling him that, but despite being perfectly aware of his situation, there was nothing he could do to staunch the bleeding.

Damn the lack of opposable thumbs.

And the trap, he supposed.

An involuntary whine escaped him as he shivered, feeling a chill come over him as he lay there. A fog was gradually settling over his mind, turning his vision of the trees and bushes hazy and blurry as he tried to stay focused.

He wasn’t sure how much longer he could cling on to consciousness.

A sudden sound of snapping branches and hurried footfalls had his eyes opening a fraction (had he fallen asleep?) and searching for the sound. His heart jumped, hopeful that one of the others had heard him and had finally come to rescue him -

The thoughts were cut short when blinding pain shot through his leg again, the trap jostled as he could suddenly feel hands on him. He was sure he must have passed out for a couple of seconds; the next thing he knew, he was blinking awake and whining as the pain returned in full force.

Twilight was being held in the air by the scruff of his neck. His legs - and by proxy, the trap - dangled as he was examined by a snuffling creature. A snout poked his head, but he couldn’t quite focus enough to work out what kind of creature held him in its grip. A blurry outline in front of him showed something large, and burly - but that didn’t help him narrow down the potential options.

His head lolled, and the creature grunted in apparent satisfaction.

Was it friendly? Was it going to put him down again?

Before he could get another thought in, the creature’s grip shifted - and Twilight suddenly felt crushing pressure on his throat from both of the creature’s hands.

He immediately bucked, agony whipping through his body but secondary to the sudden shock of having his air supply abruptly cut off.

There was absolutely no leeway for him to draw breath, and he could already feel the oxygen deprivation slowing his panic to a halt. Black spots were encroaching on his vision and quickly overtook his blurry image of the forest around him.

His tongue lolled out of his mouth and his jaw was parted wide, desperately trying to suck in any amount of air - but the pressure didn’t stop, and his lungs continued to scream.

He was going to die.

And just like that, the fight left him, and the last thing he saw was a vague impression of a clear blue sky above him.

Feet pounded the ground, sprinting for the source of the howl, and his heart pounded a painful rhythm in his chest.

Both he and Time had instantly known that Twilight was in danger. The howl had been pained, desperate, and too loud . They had barely glanced at each other before they were off, racing towards the sound of the wolf they knew needed help.

Wild skidded to a stop, grabbing Time’s arm as his eyes darted to the wolf tracks on the forest floor.

“This way!” he called, continuing his sprint and following the disturbed leaves. Twilight knew how to cover his tracks, and moved stealthily, but Wild knew what to look for. He had been travelling with Wolfie for so long that he was sure he may as well have an in-built Wolfie Sensor plugged into his brain.

He hoped it would be enough to find him.

Time’s agonised cry had his head whipping up, and his blood ran cold.

Twilight, in wolf form, limp and quite possibly dead and being throttled by a moblin.

“NO!”

Time had evidently startled the moblin - Sky’s - into dropping Twilight’s prone form onto the floor with a painful smack. It roared, and picked up its spear before turning to confront Time with an outraged expression distorting its pudgy face.

Twilight didn’t move.

“Wild, go!” Time shouted, lunging forward and knocking the spear aside. “Get him!”

Wild didn’t need to be told twice.

He threw himself forward, completely ignoring the battle in favour of collapsing next to his brother. Twilight still hadn’t moved, laying sprawled amongst the leaves and staining the ground further with his blood. Wild almost gagged at the sight of the trap, with the mangled flesh and fur - but he swallowed down his horror and focused on the main problem.

Was Twilight breathing?

The grunts of the moblin and sounds of the fight faded to nothing as Wild shoved his head next to Twilight’s muzzle, desperately listening for any signs of -

- there.

It was wheezy, and it sounded awful and strained, but he was breathing. He was still alive, if only barely.

Wild choked on his cry of relief, bringing an elixir out of the slate as quickly as he could. Twilight was in no condition to drink it, so how..?

With his jaw set and mind racing, Wild ripped a strip from his own under-tunic and doused it in the hearty elixir before setting the fabric on Twilight’s neck. As gently as he could given his shaking hands and lack of time, he brought a hand under Twilight’s jaw and tilted the wolf’s head towards him.

With his other hand, he dipped a finger into the elixir and hovered this over Twilight’s open mouth, and shook his hand slightly to loosen the drop of elixir from his fingertip.

It settled on Twilight’s tongue before rolling back into his throat.

Good, he thought, breathing out a shaky sigh of relief before repeating the motion. Please, please, this has to work.

“Is he breathing?” Time suddenly asked, sheathing his sword and stepping away from the dissolving monster’s corpse. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of Twilight’s mangled limb. “Hylia, we need to get his leg treated.”

“T-Time, he’s too - I can’t lift -” Wild was stuttering, and it took him a moment to realise how badly his hands were shaking. Pleadingly, he looked up at Time, who instantly understood.

“I’ll carry him,” he said firmly. He stooped to gather Twilight into his arms, minding the trap as much as possible and grimacing when the wolf didn’t so much as flinch. “I hate to say it, but we have to run. He needs Hyrule. We can get this cursed thing off when we’re with the others.”

Wild could only nod, bringing out his sword with shaking hands and leading the way, determined not to let another monster stop them getting Twilight back to camp.

They had no time to waste.

Chapter Text

Everyone was despondent.

It had been days since Four’s disappearance. Today marked the fifth day he had gone, and they were no closer to finding him. Every clue, every lead, and every hint of Four’s whereabouts had been thoroughly exhausted. 

Four’s movements in the time leading up to his disappearance had been investigated and reconstructed. They had spoken to the librarian he had conversed with when discussing books on recent history, interviewed the blacksmith running the market stall, and collected statements from just about every person who claimed to have seen a short and colourfully dressed boy in the town centre that day.

But nothing had come of it. They still had no inkling whether Four had left willingly, perhaps on an adventure of his own, or whether he had been taken against his will. The rest of the group’s frantic search efforts had gradually become more desperate as time went by, and the exhaustion was showing. No one had slept well and they were running on fumes, barely able to cope with the idea that their smithy could be held captive and all alone.

Upon learning of Four’s disappearance, Zelda had insisted that Warriors and the group be given rooms within the castle, as well as a unit of soldiers to assist in the search. Watches had been placed on the rest of the heroes at Impa’s command, in case this was the work of enemies or traitors.

The room that had been designated for meetings and strategy planning was where Warriors had spent the majority of the last several days, pouring over maps and scouring reports from soldiers for the slightest hint of where Four could be.

But nothing had helped.

Warriors let out a sigh of frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose as he willed an incumbent headache away. Setting aside the most recent report he had received, he locked eyes with Legend across the table.

“Nothing,” he said with a shake of his head. “Absolutely nothing. There’s been no trace of him on the north-eastern side of town - the soldier who gave me this report checked in all the known areas where the remaining turncoats currently live.”

“The known ones,” Legend said sharply. “Is there any way to get access to more turncoats? Get an undercover soldier in or something?”

“We’ve tried,” Warriors answered, the option having already occurred to him some days previously. “They’ve tightened up their security and it’s virtually impossible to get a spy in. It hasn’t been a priority for the army, anyway, not since the end of the war - there’s not enough of them to be a concern. They’re essentially just glorified protesters -”

The rest of his sentence was abruptly cut off as the door to the meeting room slammed open, hitting the opposite wall with such sudden force that Legend jumped and slipped off his stool with a startled oath. Wind stood in the doorway, breathing heavily with wide, panicked eyes.

“Guys, you’ve got to come to the barracks! They’ve - oh shit, I can’t - Four -”

“Has Four been found?” Warriors asked sharply, already ushering Wind out of the room and striding quickly to the direction of the barracks. Legend followed, looking hopeful.

But to their dismay, Wind shook his head quickly.

“No, it’s…” he swallowed, looking haunted as he jogged to keep up with Warriors’ and Legend’s long strides. “I think they’re sending a message.”

Legend and Warriors shared a look. This… wasn’t the news they wanted to hear.

Only a couple of minutes later, courtesy of their hurried pace, they arrived at the barracks to see the rest of their fellow heroes looking panicked.

Warriors met Time’s eye, and the older man only set his jaw and swallowed before motioning for the captain to follow.

It didn’t take long to see what had the heroes so riled up.

There, nailed to a post with an arrow, was Four’s colourful tunic. It was filthy, covered in grime, blood splatters, and burnt in places. The threading between the coloured sections had been cut in some areas, leaving the tunic in dire need of repair. It was a stark contrast to how impeccably clean Four usually kept it, and the sight of what was most likely Four’s blood sent Warriors’ stomach rolling.

“A note was stuck to it,” Time informed him, handing him a folded piece of parchment sealed with crudely applied red wax. “It’s addressed to you.”

And indeed it was.

Captain Link

You’re next.

Elsewhere in the town, a small body shivered in the too-big shirt he had been carelessly thrown, chained to a dirty and blood-stained floor. 

He missed his tunic.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long to track down where the letter had come from. Although horrifying, the letter had finally given them their much needed lead, and they were closing in on Four and his kidnappers.

The soldiers had been mobilised instantly to scour for any potential witnesses, in case someone had seen a figure close to the barracks around the time the tunic had been left. It only took a handful of interviews before a castle maid confirmed seeing two odd figures lingering around the gates to the barracks; however, given they held a parcel, she had simply assumed they were searching for the correct delivery address before going on her way.

From there, Warriors and his soldiers followed the trail, interviewing more witnesses and shopkeepers in the area. Over the course of a mere hour, they had successfully mapped the route the two unknown people had taken, with the first confirmed sighting placing the two at the southern end of Castle Town.

Although this did not give the group Four’s exact location, the search area was narrowed down considerably with this new information. If Four was still within the city walls, he would likely be in one of the turncoat locations in southern Castle Town.

This narrowed their search to five locations. 

Two cottages had been reported as abandoned by Warriors’ soldiers, while another two had been searched from top to bottom for any trace of hidden rooms which could have housed Four. Nothing had been found.

That left one location; a tavern well known to the crown for its turncoat activity and black market trading. And this is where the group of eight heroes were about to infiltrate, alongside six soldiers.

“I’ll go over the plan one more time,” Warriors said in a low voice, looking at the heroes paying him rapt attention. They were sequestered within a horse-drawn carriage, with the exterior of the carriage disguised as that of a travelling family and laden with suitcases. It had been a tight squeeze, but all eight of them had managed to cram inside, with the soldiers scattered outside in plain clothes.

“It’s highly likely Four will be here,” Warriors continued. “So we need to be careful and stick to the plan. The soldiers are surrounding the tavern and all exits within a twenty foot radius are being watched. Our focus is on the fight inside. Wild, Legend, and Sky will hold the main bar area.”

He pointed to the corresponding area on the floorplan of the tavern he held on his lap, and the three heroes nodded.

“Twilight and Wind will hold the upper floor.”

Another nod from a determined Wind and a steely Twilight.

“Time, Hyrule, and I will move freely to investigate the area and hopefully find Four.”

A serious nod of assent from Time, and a nervous bob of the head from Hyrule.

“Remember, no destructive attacks unless we’re in an absolutely dire situation,” Warriors continued. “Hyrule - no magic attacks if you can help it. I hate to say it, but we need all your magic ready in case Four needs help.”

Hyrule bit his lip and nodded, dropping his gaze.

“Wars…” Wind spoke up, hesitantly. Warriors locked eyes with him, and smiled encouragingly for him to continue. “What if… what if he’s - gone, by the time we find him?”

The group stilled. No one needed Wind to explain what he meant. Warriors took in a breath, reaching forward to hold Wind’s arm.

“I wish I could give you a definite answer,” he said, regretting the honesty he had to address Wind with. “But you know damn well we’re going to fight for him. We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.”

Four dragged in a ragged breath, shivering violently against the cold stone floor and shuddering when he felt more tears escaping to roll down his face. He was laying on his side, chained to the floor, and was once more being subject to his captor’s attacks.

Jor and his companion - Tadc, he had learned on day two of his captivity - hadn’t let up on their vicious assault since they had abducted him. Learning he was in fact a knight instead of a child had seemingly given them all the permission they needed to beat him to a pulp. Their methods varied; their fists were a favourite, as well as beating him with what appeared to be a leather crop. If they got bored of their staple tools, they would instead bring out the electric baton, an ice rod, or even a small carving knife.

Today, they’d gone for electricity.

“Aw look, he’s crying again,” Jor said with a smirk, wiping his face with his forearm. Evidently, torture was a good workout for building up a sweat.

“Don’t they teach you this shit in army school, little knight?” sneered Tadc, idly swinging the baton in front of him. “Can’t take a little beating?”

Four said nothing. He was too spent and injured to even try. He could barely draw in a breath without a stab of pain; he was sure he had at least fractured some ribs and he was willing to bet an irresponsible number of rupees that there wasn’t a square inch left on his body without some kind of bruise.

So instead, he lay there, doing his best to catch his breath before the next inevitable wave of pain would come. His eyes drifted closed, unconsciousness beckoning…

ZAP!

Four’s eyes snapped open with a tortured scream, his body convulsing on the floor as electricity coursed through his body. Bucking and writhing, the fire in his blood was unbearable, he couldn’t stop screaming, he was going to die he was going to die - 

The rod was moved away from his body, and Four lay gasping and choking on a pained moan. He could barely think anymore, his head was swimming and he could feel nausea and dizziness swirling together in an uncomfortable combination. The floor was cool, but not cool enough for Four’s burning skin.

“Want to answer this time?” Jor asked, kneeling and grabbing a fistful of Four’s hair. He yanked upwards, forcing Four’s half lidded gaze to meet his and completely ignoring the pained yelp that was wrung from Four’s sore throat. “Give me the easiest way to get the hero on his own.”

Four took in a shallow breath, his limbs still spasming from the residual electricity. His voice was barely more than a quiet whisper when he finally opened his mouth to speak.

“G-go fuck y’self.”

Jor’s eye twitched, but he said nothing.

He broke his eye contact with Four to hand the baton to Tadc, who received it with a satisfied smirk.

“I’ll hold his hair this time,” Jor said as Tadc approached, tightening his grip on Four’s scalp and grinning when he winced at the rough treatment. “I want to be right here when he starts screaming again.”

Tadc grinned, and, with a nod, lowered the rod back to Four’s chest. 

Four closed his eyes, bracing himself for the incoming pain -

- and instead wrenched his eyes back open at the sound of the door crashing open.

They’d found him.

Warriors stood in the doorway, staring into the grimy dungeon with a level of anger that neither Time nor Hyrule had ever seen.

All three held their swords aloft, but Warriors was the one who took the first step into the room.

Into the torture chamber.

Because that’s what it was, he realised with horror. There was no other way to accurately describe the crude metal cage at one of the room, surrounded by splatters of blood, the remains of rope bindings, and -

Four.

Alive, breathing, staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. Chained to the floor and looking as though he had been beaten to within an inch of his life, yes, but alive.

“Let him go,” Warriors growled, daring to take one more step into the room. “Unhand him and you may just walk out of here with both your arms still attached to you.”

But one man simply wrenched Four’s head closer to himself, heedless at the pained cry Four let out. He pressed a rod into Four’s neck, and met the captain’s gaze again.

“Shut the fuck up,” he said calmly, pressing the rod a little further into Four’s neck. “You say another word and I’ll turn the voltage up so high you’ll have to scrape his melted body off my boots.”

No one dared move.

Four kept staring at Warriors, shivering and maintaining his gaze as though he could scarcely believe Warriors was real.

The other man, who until this point had remained still, slowly withdrew a dagger from his tunic and pointed it at Four.

“Put down your weapons,” he said lowly, resting the point of the dagger against Four’s chest. “All of you, put them down and get your hands up.”

Warriors let his eyes dart to Time, who had his mouth set in an angry line.

“Just let him go,” Warriors said calmly. “He has nothing to do with this. If it’s me you want, we can sort this out but you have to let him-”

And all hell broke loose.

The man holding the baton to Four’s neck turned it on, and Four started screaming.

“No!” cried Hyrule, lunging forwards and tackling the man still holding the knife. A wrestling match ensued, with each trying to get the upper hand on the knife, and Time darted to the pair in an attempt to help Hyrule disarm the man.

Warriors raised his blade in a wave of fury, gritting his teeth and swinging while Four continued to spasm and scream in agony.

The man holding the baton to Four’s neck held his devious smile even as Warriors’ sword sank into his chest, coughing and letting a trickle of blood slip past his lips. His grip on the electric baton didn’t loosen until Warriors planted a strong kick to the man’s shoulder, sending him sprawling to the floor to rest a few feet away from Four’s twitching form.

“We’ll… we’ll get you,” the man gasped, baring his blood-stained teeth in a feral smile as he watched Warriors kneel next to Four. “You… you won’t…”

But Warriors paid no attention as the man breathed his last.

His focus was solely on Four, who lay on the floor with chains at his wrists and ankles. He was gasping, jerking as the residual electricity wreaked havoc on his body. Warriors brought his hand to Four’s face, staring into his eyes and offering a small smile.

“We’ve got you now,” he said, stroking his thumb across Four’s face as Hyrule hurried to his side. Looking up, he could see Time had restrained the remaining man with a knee to his back and rope around the man’s wrists. "Shh, smithy. We're here and we've got you."

“H-Hi,” Four managed to gasp out, looking back up at Warriors and shuddering again.

Hyrule shushed him, his hands already glowing slightly as they moved over Four’s form. Warriors held him as best he could, continuing to caress Four’s cheek in an attempt to offer some form of comfort.

“Wars, those keys might unlock the chains,” Hyrule murmured, jerking his head at the keys Warriors hadn’t noticed on the floor beside them. With his free hand, he inserted a metal key into the locks close to Four’s wrists, frowning as the chains fell away but the metal cuffs remained.

“We’ll have to sort this back at the castle,” he informed Hyrule, after unlocking all four chains from the cuffs. “Is it safe to move him yet?”

“Give me a minute,” Hyrule said quietly, focusing as his hands roved over Four’s head. Four let out a low moan, shutting his eyes at the clear pain he was experiencing. 

Hyrule frowned, and Warriors narrowed his eyes at him.

“Hyrule? What’s-”

“Four,” Hyrule said urgently, resting a glowing hand on his fellow hero’s forehead. Four opened his eyes a fraction, panting as he did his best to meet Hyrule’s urgent gaze. “Four, I need you to tell me - do you feel sick? Dizzy? Headache?”

Four hummed in agreement, but let out a breathy gasp as his limbs once again spasmed.

“Wars, scarf under his head now,” Hyrule said sharply, and Warriors didn’t even stop to question him before complying. He quickly yanked the scarf off his neck, folding it as best he could before slipping it under Four’s head to support him.

A moment later, Four’s eyes rolled back into his head and he lay still.

Alarmed, Warriors met Hyrule’s gaze, but Hyrule completely ignored him.

“Rule, what-”

“Time, start counting!”

Four began jerking violently, back arching as his muscles tensed and relaxed involuntarily. His arms flailed, spasming of their own accord, and suddenly Warriors understood.

A seizure. And a severe one at that.

“Shit,” Warriors cursed, placing his hands close to Four’s head to stop him involuntarily hitting it on the stone floor. “As soon as he stops, we’ve got to get him out of here.”

Hyrule nodded, biting his lip as he watched Four continue to seize in front of him. There was nothing they could do but wait.

It seemed like an age before Four finally fell limp, head lolling on Warriors’ scarf as his body’s violent jerks subsided.

“Six minutes, fourteen seconds,” Time called.

Hyrule swore under his breath.

“Wars, get him out, now,” he said, removing his glowing hands from Four and wiping his sweaty face on his sleeve. “He needs more than I can give him right now.”

Warriors nodded, carefully gathering Four in his arms and cradling him close to his chest.

Four was too still, and his breaths came with too much exertion.

“Time, I’ll send soldiers in to take care of - that ,” he said, standing, lip curling distastefully as he glanced at the bound man on the floor. “Gather up the boys and join us at the castle as soon as everything’s under control here.”

Time nodded grimly, watching their backs as Hyrule and Warriors hurried out of the room with a deeply unconscious Four in their arms.

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe a pie is what finally offs you,” Legend said mildly, observing the scene before him with a raised eyebrow.

“Legend,” Sky said scandalously, from his position on the floor. “Don’t say things like that! He’s sick .”

Legend simply sighed, standing to pass Sky a waterskin.

“He’s right,” Wild said with a moan, curling even further around his stomach. He was definitely a sorry sight, collapsed on his bedroll and only dressed in a thin undershirt to help keep his temperature down. “At least when I last died, I was facing down guardians and monsters. I can’t believe a stupid pie is going to kill me this time. It’s humiliating .”

“Cub, I warned you,” Twilight said exasperatedly. “I told you to stay away from those pies because they’re awful. Everyone knows that.”

“But I had to know why! For science, Twi!”

“And?” Time prompted, his voice carrying from the fire where he was preparing a mug of tea for Wild. “What did your experiment tell you?”

Wild paused.

“That… I shouldn’t try to recreate the pie?”

“Holy Hylia, Wild,” Legend muttered, facepalming. “All this fuss and you didn’t find out what made it terrible?”

“The meat looks like the rations we’d get on the front line,” Warriors said with a grimace, peering at the remains of the pie the champion had abandoned.

“Does it matter?” Wild moaned again, looking up at them all from his position on the floor. “I’m dying!”

“Wild’s dying?” came Wind’s upbeat voice, emerging from the treeline with his arms full of firewood and an amused Four trailing behind him. “Pirate dibs on his slate!”

“If you can lift up the old man with magnesis, you can have it when I die,” came Wild’s muffled reply.

Wind’s eyes widened with glee as he dived for the slate, before turning to set his eyes on Time -

“If you press that button you’re getting dunked in the river head first,” Time said seriously.

Wind didn’t hesitate.

Chapter Text

They should have known not to let their guard down.

The latest portal drop had left them on the outskirts of the Lanayru Wetlands, and, as Wild excitedly told them, close to Zora’s Domain. It would only take a few hours to reach the domain, and the prospect of sleeping in comfortable waterbeds and relaxing for a little while had the entire group up and walking within minutes of the portal opening up.

It was this jovial mood and the bright sunny weather that ultimately led to them being a little too relaxed as they walked to their destination.

Wild was in the process of telling the group about Prince Sidon and how the royalty of the domain had known him from one hundred years ago, recounting his first meeting with the Prince.

The serenity was shattered by a sudden rustle of paper and the unmistakable sound of laughter.

“Yiga!” Wild shouted, already standing ready with his sword drawn and prompting everyone to do the same.

Sky and Warriors immediately flanked the champion, covering him in a more protective stance. They knew what the group wanted, and they weren’t going to get it.

But the laughter and the rustling of paper kept coming.

Twilight’s eyes widened as he flicked his gaze to each puff of red smoke around them, watching in dismay as more and more Yiga soldiers appeared. His grip on his sword tightened as he realised the ambush had completely surrounded the group, with some Yiga soldiers wielding bows taking advantage of some higher rock ledges above their heads.

He had never seen so many at once while out in the wilds. This… this wasn’t normal.

A quick glance at Wild told him the champion had realised this too. Although his stance was battle ready, the shock on his face was unmistakable.

Wild hadn’t been surprised by the Yiga for a very long time.

Twilight sucked in a breath, steeling his nerves as he edged closer to Wild. The entire group now formed a loose circle, with their swords and weapons pointed outwards at the Yiga soldiers surrounding them.

Twilight hadn’t seen a group of assassins this large outside of the Yiga Clan Hideout.

Why in Hylia’s name had they resurfaced now? And why so close to Zora’s Domain, a known location allied with the champion and heavily armed?

Twilight’s uneasy thoughts were cut short when a voice called down to the group from one of the rocky ledges above them.

“Come quietly, hero,” a blademaster called down, addressing Wild calmly and paying no heed to any of the other heroes. “Your allies may still be saved if you lay down your weapon.”

“That’s going to be a solid fuck no from us,” Legend called back, twirling his fire rod and glaring back up at the blademaster.

The other heroes tensed and tightened their grips on their blades, clearly in agreement and in no rush to put their weapons down. Wild glanced around, looking conflicted, but then resolutely brought his sword up with narrowed eyes.

“Very well.”

And with a snap of the blademaster’s fingers, the attack began.

Almost instantly, the heroes were forced on the defensive as arrows rained down on them from above. A swipe of Legend’s fire rod in between a volley of arrows had two footsoldiers disappearing with a shriek and puff of red smoke, but they were almost instantaneously replaced with more archers. Similarly, vicious hits from Time’s Biggoron sword sent a smattering of Yiga soldiers flying back and breaking their advancing circle, but the gap was filled almost as quickly as it had been created.

Twilight snarled, stabbing a Yiga clean through as they tried to dart past him towards where Wild also fought. The soldier gasped, bringing their hands up to magic themselves away, and Twilight was forced to bring up his shield to deflect incoming arrows as he watched another two replace the soldier he had just injured.

Everyone fought hard, but inch by inch, they lost ground and were forced into a smaller circle. Even Warriors, who was accustomed to fighting large numbers and unfavourable odds, was clearly having trouble finding the right window to attack. Between defending Wild and himself from attacks from multiple sources, he was struggling to launch a counter attack.

And Wild himself, Twilight could see, was also fighting hard and was not taking kindly to the ambush attempt. After travelling with him for so long, he knew Wild was more than capable of handling himself against the Yiga - but now, Twilight was worried. They had never faced such a severe attack.

But their close fighting quarters and loss of ground eventually cost them.

A pained cry from Four had Time shouting “he’s hit!” from somewhere behind Twilight’s back, and his stomach dropped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Wind dart to the side to defend Warriors as the captain crashed to his knees beside Four, shielding them both while Four’s injuries were assessed.

“Stable!” Warriors shouted after a few seconds “Just defend him for - augh !”

Twilight’s head whipped round, just in time for Warriors to sink to his knees, an arrow sticking out of the forearm which moments before had held his sword.

Everything went wrong from there.

Hyrule and Wind were tossed aside within moments of each other, both having been caught up in a blademaster’s attack and thrown back by the force of the resulting explosion. Legend, meanwhile, rushed to their aid, only to be struck in the side by a lucky swipe from a demon carver. As he stood over the two, bleeding much too heavily from the gash, Twilight heard Time let out an anguished cry.

“No! WILD!”

Twilight’s gaze snapped to Wild, just in time to see him being overcome by the Yiga soldiers. He was tackled, his head held securely in a headlock by a blademaster while other footsoldiers grabbed his arms -

Twilight flung himself towards Wild, arm outstretched and reaching out to grasp Wild’s hand - 

Wild met Twilight’s eyes with a terrified look, doing his best to reach up with his restrained hands to meet Twilight’s searching fingers.

He was teleported away in a puff of red paper and smoke, Twilight hitting the floor in the very same spot a second too late and almost landing on top of the discarded Sheikah Slate.

Wild was gone.

Chapter Text

“This is deeply disturbing news,” King Dorephan said gravely, addressing the group of eight heroes in front of him. The throne room was silent, a solemn quiet blanketing the room as King Dorephan spoke. “Link is a dear friend to all of us here in Zora’s Domain, and to hear this has befallen him… I am troubled.”

“The Yiga’s return is most… surprising,” Prince Sidon said with a shake of his head, from where he stood next to his father. “The timing, as well, is confusing. I assume Link informed you of their defeat?”

“I was there,” Twilight said suddenly, lifting his head up to meet Prince Sidon’s surprised gaze. He had been completely silent until that point, only staring miserably at the ground in front of him. Now, however, he spoke, his agitated tone carrying across the room. “I was there when he defeated Kohga and blew up the Yiga base. I saw the remainder of the Yiga Clan scatter. The numbers we just saw… this isn’t right -”

“You claim you were there and yet this is the first time we have ever seen you,” another Zora cut in, glaring at Twilight distrustfully. He turned to King Dorephan and lowered his voice. “Sire, what is to say that this group are not Yiga themselves? They have never been seen before and the one person who can verify their claims is conveniently not present…”

King Dorephan frowned.

“Thank you, Muzu,” he said, gravely. “Your concerns are noted. Hylians, how can you prove you are who you say you are? How are we to know you are not indeed Link’s enemies, and not his allies?”

The group glanced at one another, frowning and unsure how to placate the Zora - until Sky gave a sudden gasp.

“The Sheikah Slate!”

Twilight jolted in realisation, and brought Wild’s slate out of his bag.

“He dropped it when the Yiga abducted him,” Twilight explained, feeling a pang of something as Prince Sidon stooped to delicately take the slate from his hands.

He examined it for several seconds, turning it this way and that, as King Dorephan and his advisors watched the Prince with narrowed eyes.

Sidon’s expression grew sad.

“It is the very same,” he said regretfully, handing the slate back to Twilight. “As much as I wish it were not so, I have to believe that what you say is true. My dear friend is indeed in the hands of the Yiga.”

A ripple of unease and something akin to resentment seemed to flow through the room at the Prince’s words, with several Zora sharing disbelieving looks.

“We come to you asking for any information you may have that could aid us in finding Link,” Time said, addressing King Dorephan. “From what we already know, the old hideout in the Gerudo Highlands was completely destroyed and rendered unusable. Is there any information you could provide us which could help us pinpoint their new location?”

King Dorephan nodded thoughtfully.

“We have regular scouting missions in the areas surrounding Zora’s Domain, to maintain our knowledge of various monster camps and other territories,” he said. “With the increase of monster activity in the last several weeks, these patrols have increased. I have not heard any news of locations that could be used as the Yiga’s new base, but I will speak with my advisors to draw up plans. The scouting areas can be expanded, particularly along routes close to rivers.”

“If I may, my King,” a black and white Zora spoke up, from somewhere behind Time and the other heroes. He stepped forward, wielding a trident and holding his head up in angry determination. “As you well know, Link is a dear friend of mine and I cannot stand idly by after hearing this news. I was due to lead a small group of Zora upstream tomorrow morning as part of a routine scouting mission, but I would ask your permission to plan a more strategic route to allow us to cover as much ground as possible.”

King Dorephan nodded approvingly, and offered a sympathetic smile.

“Of course, Bazz,” he answered, and Bazz gratefully bowed to his King. “We must do all we can. In the meantime, please alert the courier to send urgent word to Chief Riju in Gerudo Town; it is imperative we share this information with them."

“But for now,” King Dorephan continued, turning to rest his gaze on the group of eight forlorn, injured, and exhausted heroes in front of him. “You clearly have wounded in your party, and your ordeal was long. Please rest in the Domain and our healers will attend to your injuries.”

“But, Your Majesty -” Twilight started, frowning and opening his mouth to object.

But the King merely held up an arm.

“I understand your concerns, and I share them,” he said, not unkindly. “But we will need tonight to prepare our strategy for tomorrow morning, and you all clearly need rest. We cannot aid Link if we are injured or outplanned.”

Twilight dropped his gaze, swallowing, and the only comfort Time could offer was a squeeze of his arm.

The whip whistled through the air, landing again on skin with a painful smack.

Wild grunted, the pain shooting through his back. The whip left behind a horrible burning sensation and aggravated his scars, but there was nowhere to go.

He was on his knees in a cell, with his arms stretched out in either direction and chained to opposite walls. Wild’s position was open and vulnerable, and there was nothing he could do to shield himself. His tunic and shirt had been removed, and he knelt on the damp ground in only his trousers and boots. His hair tie, too, had long since snapped, leaving his hair to hang limply around his head as his head tipped forward to gasp for air.

But there was no reprieve. A mere second after the first hit, the whip cracked down again, and this time Wild couldn’t help the full body shudder that resulted from the pain. There was nothing he could do to stop this.

The Yiga didn’t want information. They just sought to hurt him.

The Yiga footsoldier holding the whip prowled around him, flexing his wrist as he took in the sight of Wild’s injuries.

“Want me to stop, hero?”

Wild said nothing.

“You could just ask.”

Silence.

The whip cracked down on him anyway, sending lancing pain through Wild’s shoulder blades and making him gasp at the pain. He was convinced that he could feel blood trickling down his back, now. It wouldn’t surprise him.

“Too bad,” the footsoldier drawled. “I wouldn’t have stopped. I just wanted to hear you beg.”

The whip was raised again, and this time Wild lost count of the hits as he was whipped in quick succession. The burning was unbearable, so strong that it almost felt as if his very blood was on fire - he couldn’t think, couldn’t hear anything aside from the cruel sounds of the whip hitting his flesh over and over and over - 

All of a sudden, his hair was being yanked up, and he was staring into the mask of a blademaster.

When did he arrive? Wild thought dazedly. He hadn’t heard the cell door opening…

The blademaster knelt in front of him, and Wild could feel the hatred aimed at him without even looking at his facial expression.

“We’re going to have a little chat,” the blademaster said mildly, placing his hand around Wild’s throat with deliberate slowness. “We’re not going to kill you. But maybe, by the time we’re done with you, you’ll wish you actually did die one hundred years ago.”

He leaned forward, tightening his grip on Wild’s throat.

“Let’s have a chat about the Triforce.”

Chapter Text

Wild’s hands shook, both in pain and exhaustion, as he tried to apply the bandages the Yiga had thrown at him to the wounds he had sustained. Apparently, they didn’t want him dead, so had begrudgingly thrown him a meagre roll of bandages and an extra portion of water to clean his wounds.

He tied off one bandage around his hand, where a Yiga sickle had cut deeply next to his thumb, and tried to make sense of the conversation he had just had with the blademaster.

“You’re going to tell me how you access your Triforce of Courage.”

And Wild had been confused, taken aback by the unexpected question. He knew about the Triforce, had heard all about it and its three parts from the other heroes, and had even seen some of them with the mark on their hand. But him? He didn’t have a mark like that. He hadn’t even been aware of its existence until Twilight had told him about it, after he had removed his gloves and Wild had seen his mark.

“I don’t have that,” he had said, bewildered and irritated.

The blademaster hadn’t believed him.

The beatings continued as Wild steadfastly stuck to his answers - that he didn’t have the Triforce of Courage, knew very little about it, and sure as hell didn’t know how to use it.

Footsoldiers had then taken it in turns drawing lines in his skin with their blades, relishing the sight of his blood flowing freely as he knelt there restrained.

But his answers, though interspersed with gasps and grunts of pain, didn’t change.

They had eventually left him, bleeding and in pain, throwing bandages at him and loosening the chains from the wall slightly to enable him to dress his own wounds.

Wild was beyond confused. 

This was even more confusing than the concept of using a fishing rod to get fish.

Throughout his journey, the Yiga Clan had done nothing but try their best to kill him, employing all sorts of tactics and disguises to try to trick him and get him to lower his guard. So what was this all about? Why hadn’t they just shot him with an arrow during the ambush, instead of abducting him?

Wild poured some water over a deep gash on his thigh, hissing as the sting. Pressing a wad of the precious bandages to the wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, he wondered what in Hylia’s name could be going on here.

Why wasn’t he dead? Where even was he? And would the others be able to find him, with how expansive his Hyrule was? Granted, Twilight was familiar with Wild’s world, and was the best at tracking, but even he couldn’t sniff out Wild’s scent from across the continent and through teleportation.

He sighed, wrapping another bandage over his thigh and gingerly laying on his side.

He really wasn’t looking forward to whatever the Yiga had planned for him next.

Chapter Text

So, the Yiga definitely didn’t want to kill him. No, their new objective was insane.

Just bananas.

Wild would have laughed if the motion wouldn’t jostle his broken and bruised body.

They wanted information about the Triforce, and of Wild’s supposed Triforce of Courage in particular. 

Even if he did know the answers to the questions they asked him, he sure as shit wasn't going to tell them what they wanted to know. Although they hadn't explained the exact reasoning behind their interrogations, it wasn't a stretch to conclude that whatever they wanted to do with the information wasn't good.

Wild let out a shuddery sigh, blinking back tears of pain when his ribs gave another sharp stab in his chest.

It had been several days since his capture and yet the beatings were showing no signs of stopping. The Yiga seemed thrilled that he was there at their mercy, and hadn't hesitated to take turns torturing him in revenge for their master. 

It had been miserable, and he missed his friends so much that it hurt. What he wouldn't give to be sat round a fire with them now, trading scary stories and plying his friends with warm drinks and enjoying their company. But whether they would find him was doubtful. He knew his Hyrule was vast, much more expansive than the other heroes were used to, and that only he really had a hope of being able to navigate it effectively. 

He also knew that he wasn’t being held in the Yiga hideout in Gerudo Valley. The colder temperature and lack of sand told him that they weren’t anywhere near the desert. And if Wild himself didn’t know where he was, how would the other heroes be able to find him?

He sighed dejectedly, letting his head fall back against the wall with a thud.

And his head snapped back from the wall.

Ow.

What was that?

He craned his head round, searching for whatever sharp object had just poked him in the back of the head. 

There, sticking out from the wall, was a rusty nail. He stared at it incredulously, blinking, wondering why he hadn’t noticed it earlier - and grinned.

That was his ticket out of here.

Although he couldn’t saw through his chains with a nail, a trick Wind had taught him might come in handy. If he could get the right leverage, he might be able to snap the chains at a weak point, and make his way out. 

Shifting, he brought his cuffed hands up and poked the nail through one of the links. Furrowing his brow, he gripped each side of the chain and gave a sharp tug - and the chain snapped, leaving the cuff around his wrist with some chain dangling from his now free wrist.

He grinned, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. Now, he’d just need to get through the other three chains quickly and then make his escape -

A key rattling in his cell door dashed those hopes.

Wild could have cried. He had been so close, his means of escape within reach. 

Yiga soldiers had entered his cell before he had the chance to break any more of his chains , unlocking his restraints and dragging him from his cell and through several dimly lit corridors. None of them had said a word to him, pulling him between them and ignoring his gasps of pain whenever their grips became too rough on his existing injuries.

Eventually, the stone corridors he was being dragged through opened up to reveal a wide cavern, decorated with Yiga sigils and banners and housing countless soldiers, all pressed up against the walls. His gaze was drawn to three Blademasters seated in ornate chairs at the far wall, who watched him silently as he was dragged to the centre of the cave and dumped on the ground unceremoniously. 

Wild shuddered. The gazes of the soldiers around the walls of the cavern felt predatory, and he felt particularly vulnerable where he knelt - at the centre of their attention and completely defenceless. The sheer number of Yiga surrounding him also made him uneasy; upon his defeat of Master Kohga and his destruction of the Yiga base, only a smattering of members had remained and managed to escape the explosions. 

That number had definitely not been as many as the sheer volume of soldiers he could see surrounding him now. 

One of the Blademasters stood, making his way over to where Wild had been left on the ground. His movement prompted the other soldiers to quieten, and he could feel the air shift with a definite tone of excitement and hunger.

The Blademaster stood in front of him, looking down at him with a small tilt of his head. Wild could feel the contempt radiating from him even through the mask, and he stared back defiantly.

“You have refused to answer our questions regarding the Triforce and your piece of it,” the Blademaster said calmly. “I am granting you one last chance to tell me how you utilise the Triforce of Courage.”

Wild’s expression screwed up in disgust and he resisted the temptation to roll his eyes.

“I keep telling you I have no idea what you’re talking about, I don’t have the -”

A swift kick to his stomach had him stopping mid sentence, breath abruptly cut off as he choked through the pain and doubled over. He gritted his teeth, staring at the ground as he wheezed.

“You had your chance.”

A thud from in front of him had him glancing up, and his eyes fell on a Yiga sickle in front of him. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he couldn’t help but look up at the Blademaster still standing in front of him.

“Fight, little Hero,” the Blademaster said with contempt, readying his own blade as several other soldiers crept forward from the wall. “Fight, or die.”

The Blademaster lunged.

With a short gasp, Wild rolled to the side and swept up the sickle as he went, springing to his feet and doing his best to ignore the stabbing pains throughout his battered body.

How he managed to dodge the next two swings from the Blademaster was completely lost on him, but he wasn't going to question it. He parried the next strike, gritting his teeth at the agony that shot down what he was sure was a sprained shoulder.

The next downward swipe from the Blademaster came quickly afterwards and Wild threw himself to his left, rolling out of the way and choking back a pained breath as he came to a stop on one knee with his free hand gripping it. The sickle’s point rested on the floor, trembling as he held it tightly in his grasp.

The Blademaster tutted, shaking his head slowly as he watched Wild struggle to his feet.

“So weak, hero,” he said in disgust, tossing aside his Windcleaver and smoothly unsheathing two shorter blades from behind his back. Another Yiga soldier deftly caught the blade, twirling it idly as he watched his fellow soldier advance on Wild once more. “And here I thought you’d be more of a challenge!”

The Blademaster threw himself forward, blades swinging straight at Wild’s head in a move that would slice his head clean off his shoulders -

Time slowed down as Wild desperately flipped backwards, and he knew this was his chance. A flurry rush, and then maybe he could make a break for it…

He had taken a single step forward, raising his sickle to unleash a flurry of attacks - and then the agony hit him.

All of a sudden, he was brought to his knees, the sickle clattering to the floor as he gasped and clawed at his chest. Eyes darting down, he was alarmed to see red electricity crackling over his body, sending spasming shocks of pain through every inch of him.

“Finally. Took long enough to get that out of him.”

Shuddering, Wild forced his head up to look at the Blademaster who had spoken - it was the one who had attacked him, and he sheathed his blades as he glanced to the other Blademasters who had risen from their seats.

Wait. What…?

Wild, still on his knees and trembling with the pain, couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

The Blademasters were moving, and walking towards him… but the other Yiga soldiers surrounding the fight were moving in slow motion, movements flowing at a snail’s pace. It was almost as though he was still using his flurry rush, but that couldn’t be possible. How were the Blademasters moving? Why couldn’t he get up?

What was going on?

“I gave you a final chance to tell me about your use of the Triforce of Courage,” he said, gripping Wild’s hair and forcing his gaze to stare up at his white mask. Wild’s eyes fluttered as he fought to stay conscious, but he was cognizant enough to feel confused at the statement.

His expression must have shown clearly on his face, for the Blademaster laughed as he shoved Wild away from him and left him to sprawl on the floor. Wild didn’t have the strength to rise, and could do nothing but lay on his back and stare up at the stone ceiling with barely open eyes as the red electricity continued to course over him.

“We may have had to force it out, but we’ve got the information we need. I think we’re ready…”

Wild heard no more. Awareness slipped away.

Chapter Text

Legend was having a shit day.

A very shit day.

He had slept horribly the night before. Their current camp, located in some nameless tropical jungle, was wreaking havoc on his joints and had made sleep near enough impossible. He was sore, exhausted, and he ached so much.

Wild, with an arm in a splint and an eye swollen shut from a fight the day before, had been in no position to make breakfast. Wind had confidently declared he could take over cooking duties while Wild recovered, and although Wind’s cooking wasn’t as bad as Hyrule’s…

Well. It was bearable.

Running on very little sleep and a just about passable meal sitting in his stomach like a stone, Legend was in a bad mood.

And that was before the monsters dropped out of the trees around them.

“Bunch of fucking cretins,” Legend muttered viciously, angrily slicing a bokoblin’s arm off before finishing the fight with a well-placed lunge. Another two took its place almost instantly, but the clubs they wielded didn’t scare him.

Nope. He was just pissed off.

“Fuck off,” he spat, swiping at the two of them and snarling as they leapt out of reach. One of them wasn’t quite lucky enough to dodge his next slash, but Legend narrowed his eyes when it didn’t dissolve into dust as he was expecting - no, instead it merely jumped back to its feet and fixed its beady eyes on him once again.

“Just fucking die!”

“With a mouth like that, I’m surprised they haven’t wilted away,” Warriors quipped from somewhere behind him, and Legend could hear the clash of the captain’s blade. “Shame they’re not weak against expletives!”

Legend resisted snapping back at the captain, feeling the irritation surging in his chest, but he forced himself to finish off the two bokoblins in front of him.

But the two kept dancing out of reach, forcing him to take steps forward in an attempt to close the distance once again. It was infuriating.

“Cowards,” Legend muttered, lifting his sword again to end this once and for all.

And maybe it was his exhaustion, or maybe the dull ache in his bones was slowing his reflexes down. But Legend didn’t see the moblin until it was much, much too late - only registering it as a large meaty hand yanked his sword arm up by the wrist and only belatedly hearing the shouts of alarm from his brothers as he was lifted clean off his feet.

And maybe on an ordinary day, on a full night’s sleep and without the residual pain, his shoulder would have stayed put.

But Legend was having a shit day.

The moblin’s violent yank of his arm had him dangling in front of a stinking black snout, kicking and fighting to free himself - 

- and it only took a couple more seconds for his shoulder to give way with a sickening crack.

A dislocated shoulder, on top of everything else?

This really was a shitty day.

Chapter Text

Twilight angrily wiped at his face, stooping to splash more water in an attempt to scrub away the remnants of his tears. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he gripped the sides of the basin in front of him and watched as droplets fell from his nose and into the water below.

He couldn’t quite tell which drops were tears. Not like it mattered, anyway.

Wild was still missing. Patrols from the Zora had been established and carried out in earnest, and groups of soldiers were rotating throughout the day and into the night. The search had been relentless, beginning only hours after the group had arrived in Zora’s Domain and had their audience with the King.

But still, after days of relentless and thorough searches by the heroes and the Zora - many of whom had fiercely taken up arms to search for their friend - nothing had been found. Hints of the Yiga had been reported throughout the Lanayru and Necluda regions; paper talismans, shards of broken masks left over from fights, eyewitness sightings… but nothing concrete. No hint of Wild, no trace of a hideout, and no leads.

They had worked themselves to the bone for days and had nothing to show for it.

Twilight gritted his teeth and blinked back more tears. This wasn’t helping. Crying wasn’t going to find Wild. Emotions weren’t going to help him do a damn thing.

A knock on his bedroom door startled him out of his thoughts, and he wiped at his face again before turning away from the basin.

It took a couple more steadying breaths before he could bring himself to open the door.

Time stood on the other side, dressed casually in a loose shirt and lacking his usual armour. He regarded Twilight with a frown.

“Are you coming to eat?” he asked, turning to motion down the hallway towards the dining hall. “I haven’t seen much of you today.”

Twilight shook his head and dropped his gaze to the floor.

“I’m not hungry,” he muttered, already turning away from Time. “I’m going out again in a bit.”

Time sighed, but did not seem surprised. 

“Twilight,” he began, stepping into the room and closing the door softly behind him. “You’ve got to rest. You can’t run yourself into the ground.”

“What else am I supposed to do, Time?” Twilight answered, shoulders slumping as he stepped slowly towards his bedroom window. “I’ve got to keep looking. I can’t stop.”

He shuddered, swallowing.

“I see him, every time I sleep,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against the glass and letting his eyes fall closed. “Every single time. Sometimes, he’s… sometimes he’s alive. Sometimes he’s not. But he’s always hurt, and bleeding, and crying out for help. I can’t stand it. I can’t stand not even knowing if he’s - if he’s even still alive, for fuck’s sake-”

And suddenly, there it was.

The tears came back with a vengeance and he felt them slide down his cheeks, his breath started stuttering, and he couldn’t hold back the pained noise he made -

“I’ve protected him for so long ,” he gasped out, bringing up his hands to grip his arms. “I was there when the Yiga first found him, and I’ve been there for him throughout everything. I protected him from people who wanted to kill him, who wanted to gut him without a second thought, but why couldn’t I…? Why was I so fucking useless when he really needed me, Time? He was so close, I nearly had him-”

The dam broke.

The sobs came thick and fast, and he gave up trying to hold them in. His chest hurt, and he felt an awful grief inside him the likes of which he hadn’t felt for a long time. His knees weak, he let himself slowly fall to kneel on the ground, and let the pain he was feeling finally course through him.

Twilight barely registered the sound of Time stepping towards him, but felt Time’s arms encircling him to hold him tightly. Twilight was held, rocked against Time’s chest, as his cries continued and his heart continued to break.

“We’ll find him, Twi,” Time murmured, resting his cheek on Twilight’s head. “I promise you that. We will find him, and they’ll pay for what they’ve done.”

And Twilight, through his tears and his sobs, prayed that Time was right.

He couldn’t bear to think of the alternative.

Chapter Text

A new day, and a new plan.

The group had gathered within the expansive meeting room in the palace as soon as light broke, ready to hear of the latest developments from the guards out patrolling and scouring the area during the night. Warriors had initially protested at this proposal from the Zora guards, insisting that three of the remaining eight heroes be assigned to join the night patrols to help search for Wild. The debate had not ended well, however; several older Zora commanders united in their agreement that the remaining heroes needed to be kept together, and any of the group’s protests were ignored.

“The Yiga are behaving extremely unpredictably,” Trello had countered gravely to Warriors’ arguments. “We have discussed this at length with the King and have agreed that the safest course of action would be to have you all carry out daytime patrols, in the same group. We cannot risk your group being further split - your strength lies in your numbers, and we fear the Yiga will take any opportunity to further split this advantage you have.”

The rest of the heroes were forced to comply.

“They have all the information we need about the area,” Warriors had said reluctantly. He raised a hand just as Wind opened his mouth to retort. “Sailor, listen to me. We can’t go fighting with the only allies we’ve currently got. We’ve got to work with them if we want any chance of finding Wild, and soon.”

And that was how they found themselves in their current situation - waiting impatiently for any news the night patrol could bring, fidgeting in their seats at the massive table. King Dorephan had also joined the heroes shortly after the sun rose, solemnly taking his seat at the head of the table and waiting for the patrol to return with their reports.

Warriors took a moment to check his companions, and frowned sadly at what he saw.

Twilight, of course, was inconsolable and had been extremely difficult to speak to. His bond with Wild was well known throughout the group, and they all knew he was taking Wild’s abduction hard. Warriors glanced over at him, watching at the way the rancher sat slumped in his chair with a blank and fatigued look on his face. His eyes were fixed on the table in front of him, but he clearly wasn’t focusing; the anxious bouncing of his left leg obviously portrayed his anxiety and restlessness. 

A quick glance at Time told him that the old man was also aware of Twilight’s anxiety and was watching him carefully.

Warriors then chanced glances at the remaining members of the group.

Wind and Hyrule had both been more withdrawn over the last few days, hiding their nerves behind quieter masks - but Warriors knew the two had been just as determined and vigilant as the rest of them during their scouting missions with the Zora. Sky, on the other hand, had been more open about his worry, but had been expelling this nervous energy into concern for the rest of the group, particularly their youngest members. Wind, Hyrule, and Four had all been staying a lot closer to Sky in the last few days, sleeping closer to him and quietly welcoming his frequent hugs.

Legend, comparatively, had been his usual prickly self, with the occasional irritated retort slipping out whenever the stress built to become too much. Other Zora they patrolled with usually received the brunt of this - Warriors could recall one particular instance when a curious Zora guard had questioned Legend about his pink hair. Legend had not reacted kindly, and had instead told her to focus on finding the Yiga instead of fretting over his hair.

Well. He hadn’t said it as diplomatically as that.

Warriors suppressed a sigh, bringing up a hand to rub at his forehead as he turned to face the map on the table in front of him. He may as well cast another look at the map of Hyrule in front of him in case any other strategies leapt out at him.

They weren’t waiting much longer.

The group sat up straighter when the sound of feet against the tiled floors reached them, and soon enough the night patrol squad were walking into the room alongside Prince Sidon, who had evidently met the party at the entrance to the Domain.

“Your Majesty,” one Zora said, bowing to King Dorephan before inclining his head at the group of heroes. This one was Rivan, if Warriors remembered correctly. “We have our report, as well as suggestions for our next patrols.”

“Speak, Rivan,” King Dorephan acknowledged, leaning forwards. Prince Sidon lowered himself to sit next to his father, watching Rivan.

Rivan gave a sharp nod and continued.

“As agreed, our patrols moved further west past the Wetlands. A group travelled to Hylia Lake and explored the area around the Bridge of Hylia, but nothing was found. This group then continued back up river to meet with the others further north in Hylia River, close to Crenel Hills. Bazz led this division.”

“My group scouted the north end of Hylia River, with some soldiers travelling to Regencia River for further exploration,” Bazz explained, standing next to Rivan. “We found that there were traces of Yiga activity towards the north end of Hylia River, but nothing concrete. The signs were pointing us towards central Hyrule, perhaps to the Lost Woods, but the exact direction is hard to determine for sure. Again, no one has located Link so far.”

“What do you advise as our next course of action?” King Dorephan questioned.

But it was Prince Sidon who interjected.

“If I may, Father,” he said, and both Bazz and Rivan nodded their consent when the Prince glanced at them before turning to address his father. “From what the scouts have informed me, I believe it may be in our best interests to explore Hyrule Castle.”

King Dorephan frowned, and looked at his son in mild surprise.

“As you know, Sidon, Hyrule Castle is not in our jurisdiction,” he replied, looking down at the prince. “Not to mention the last time we sent patrols there, it was overrun with monsters. Why do you make this suggestion?”

“Hyrule Castle may not be in our jurisdiction, Father,” Sidon said hesitantly, “but is there any Hylian who would protest our exploration of it? With all due respect to the Hylians present, there is no monarchy to refuse our entry. The castle is also well placed for Zora to explore, given its moat and various entryways via the water. It could also make strategic sense for the Yiga to retreat to a defensible place such as that.”

“Any Yiga activity we located pointed towards that area, or potentially further north of the castle,” Rivan added, pointing out the castle’s location on the map in front of the King. “It would be tactically sound of us to explore this before we disregard it and head north towards Mount Drena, or further west towards Mount Satori.”

King Dorephan nodded slowly, studying the map intently before turning his gaze to Warriors.

“Your opinion, Captain?” the King asked, motioning to the small inked version of Hyrule Castle. “You mentioned you have experience commanding armies and taking keeps.”

Warriors straightened, and the gazes of the other seven heroes flitted to him.

“I agree, King Dorephan,” he answered, and leant forward to point at the moat around Hyrule Castle. “It would indeed make sense to eliminate the castle from our scouting before expanding the search outwards. With our numbers, our group would be able to comb the castle in a relatively short amount of time.”

The King nodded, satisfied.

“I assumed as much,” he said, giving a small approving smile to Warriors. “I agree with this plan - the next group will set out for the castle shortly.”

He looked at Bazz, who stood to attention.

“And what of the messengers?”

“The messengers are still en route to Gerudo Town and Rito Village,” Bazz replied. “The messenger sent to Kakariko Village in search of the Princess and Sheikah aid is due to arrive any hour now, should she have kept to her schedule and as long as monsters have not given her any trouble. I would then estimate the arrival of the Princess and Sheikah to be this evening, or very early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, I can imagine they will travel with haste,” the King mused. “Once this aid is received, we will know more on how the Yiga operate…”

“And hopefully we’ll get Wild back quickly,” Sky said quietly, fiddling with his sailcloth. The King nodded sympathetically.

“Yes, the Sheikah’s aid will give us an advantage,” King Dorephan said. “The messengers to the other races may take longer, but as we have discussed, there is little doubt these allies will also lend us their aid and support.”

“Link is a true friend of the Zora, as well as the rest of Hyrule,” Prince Sidon said decisively. “His friends from across the continent will come through for him!”

Warriors managed a small smile at that, pushing down the worried feelings that threatened to bubble up inside him.

“Thank you for the information, soldiers,” King Dorephan said, addressing Bazz, Rivan, and the other scouts. “We will proceed to the castle today, please ready the next group and take Link’s friends with you to-”

The King was abruptly silenced, and it didn’t take long to figure out why.

Shouting had erupted outside the palace, unintelligible but unmistakably urgent , and the entire room stood as the clamours increased and more voices joined in with the shouting.

“What’s going on out there?” the King asked, moving towards the door with purpose. The other Zora and heroes followed quickly, with Prince Sidon jogging ahead of his father to get to the source of the commotion.

Following the sounds led them outside the palace doors and down the steps, towards Mipha’s fountain and towards -

“Prince Sidon! It’s Link - he’s here!”

And there, in the middle of the crowd and being supported by Seggin -

“WILD!”

“Oh sweet Hylia, it’s really him-”

“Holy fuck it’s Wild!”

There Wild stood, head shooting up at the sound of his friend’s voices from where he stood with his arm thrown over Seggin’s shoulder.

The grin that split his face was joyous, and borderline manic, as he attempted to take a step forward on wobbly legs towards his friends -

- the excitement was quickly muted when Wild fell flat on his face in a dead faint.

The next few minutes were frantic.

Wild had quickly been picked up by Prince Sidon, who had turned to run back into the palace to take Wild to the Zora healers. The rest of the heroes had followed quickly after, looking at each other in complete shock and utter disbelief that Wild was alive and here after so many days trapped by the Yiga.

But it was clear he had suffered. 

The healers had no trouble removing his champion’s tunic or the rest of his clothes, for that matter, due to the way they almost deteriorated straight off him. They were filthy, ripped, and in a poor state, covered in blood and dirt.

His injuries were substantial. Bruising covered Wild’s chest and neck, and he had clearly been punched in the face if the black eye was any indication.

But he was alive.

Wild had then been laid on one of the healing beds, with his consciousness returning slowly. The rest of the group huddled around his bedside, watching as his eyelids flickered and he struggled to fully wake.

“He’s exhausted and a bit bruised, but other than that there are no major injuries,” a Zora informed them as she finished examining Wild. “He’s in much better shape than I was expecting - such a lucky boy.”

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Twilight took Wild’s hand in his own, gripping it tightly and swallowing as his eyes filled with tears. Time laid a hand on Twilight’s arm, and offered him a slightly watery smile of his own.

“He’s alive, Twi. He’s back home.”

Across the plains and fields, a Yiga soldier cackled, locking a cell door behind him.

Chapter Text

Birdsong drifted through the windows of the infirmary.

The room was quiet. 

Only the sound of breaths from nine heroes could be heard, breaking the oppressing and sombre silence. Six of these breaths were deep and restful, but three belonged to heroes very much awake and alert.

Twilight stood closest to the infirmary door, leaning against the wall and staring off into the middle distance - but the telltale twitch of his ears gave him away. He had voluntarily taken up the post closest to the door, utilising his superior hearing to listen out for any suspicious noises that could arise in the castle corridor.

Not that this was strictly needed. Zelda had assigned guards to keep watch at the infirmary doors, as well as in all the connected corridors. Security had also been tightened on the castle grounds.

So Twilight’s vigilance wasn’t completely necessary, but no one had challenged him on it.

Time and Warriors sat together in armchairs that had been placed next to Four’s bedside. It was the morning after they had rescued Four from his kidnappers, and the subsequent hours had been frantic and stressful.

Warriors and Hyrule had rushed to return to the castle, Hyrule doing his best to keep a steady trickle of healing magic flowing into Four in an effort to prevent another seizure. After the six-minute long seizure down in that awful basement, there was no telling what kind of catastrophic brain injuries another seizure could do to Four.

Medics had quickly ushered the trio into the infirmary, taking Four from them and laying him down before attending to his most serious injuries.

They were too numerous to count. The healer tallying up Four’s individual injuries was still working when the other heroes arrived.

That was yesterday afternoon.

Now, in the early morning light, Four’s injuries didn’t look much better. There was so much bruising, patches of it on all visible skin and in varying shades of yellow, purple, and black. Cuts had been cleaned, sanitised, and stitched where necessary. A pain-killing potion had been slowly administered to Four to help with his clearly broken ribs, while stiff bandages had been wrapped around a fracture on his left arm. 

“Hyrule wants to work on Four’s ribs after breakfast,” Time murmured to Warriors, gazing at Four in front of him and breaking the silence for the first time in hours.

Warriors started, blinking and straightening in his seat.

“He’s already done so much,” Warriors sighed quietly, with a shake of his head. Time nodded in agreement. “Four’s out of the worst of it, which is all down to him. We can’t let him drain his magic too far.”

“I agree,” Time answered, looking at the deeply asleep Hyrule curled up on a sofa on the other side of the room. “But it’ll be tough to convince him. We may have to settle for letting him use a little magic to heal some of the more minor injuries.”

“That might be the only compromise,” Warriors muttered. “Hylia knows he’s as stubborn as the rest of us.”

There was a slight pause as Time leaned forward to tuck the blanket around Four a little more with a delicate touch, mindful of his injuries.

“Any news on the rest of them?” he murmured to Warriors, finally glancing up to meet his eyes.

Twilight’s ear twitched in their direction.

“The one we took in isn’t talking yet, but I can’t imagine it’ll be long. I’ve dealt with his kind before,” Warriors answered bitterly. “Some soldiers have reportedly gone to check out another tavern a little north from the one we found Four in - apparently it could have more people who were involved in Four’s… abduction.”

“They better,” Twilight growled suddenly, low and dangerous. He still hadn’t moved from his position by the door. “Or I’ll find them myself.”

“I wouldn’t stop you,” Warriors murmured, gazing down at Four. “Not after this.”

Waking was difficult.

Holy Hylia, had he been drinking? Did he get knocked on the head by a moblin? 

And his eyes. Ugh, they hurt. It was almost tempting to keep them closed and go back to sleep, and let all these pains drift away…

But, he supposed, it would be rather helpful to know where he was.

Four cracked his eyes open slowly, a sliver of light hitting his eyes that he struggled to acclimate to. 

Blinking, he tried to clear his blurry vision, willing the fuzzy outlines to grow sharper - but they stayed stubbornly blurry.

“Wut…?” Four mumbled, lethargically tilting his head slightly to try looking around the room.

A sudden sharp intake of breath beside him drew his attention, and he felt his hand be held by another.

“Four? Are you awake?”

Ah. He knew that voice.

“T’m?”

A sigh of relief from more than one person, and a hand was carding through his hair with unbelievable gentleness.

“Yes, it’s me,” Time said softly from somewhere beside him. 

Four blinked again, trying to clear his vision to get a good look at Time.

“Ah, the medic said you may have a problem with your eyes for a few hours… don’t worry, if you’ve got blurry vision it will only be temporary,” Time said gently. “I can imagine you’ve got a killer headache too.”

Four hummed in agreement.

“Just take it easy, kiddo,” came another soft voice - Warriors. “You’ve been through hell and back - you don’t need to do anything except rest and get better.”

Four’s eyebrows scrunched a little in confusion. What did he mean-?

And suddenly, the memories hit him like a hammer.

The men, the torture, the freezing cell and feeling trapped. Jor laughing as he cried. Tadc seemingly relishing in the pained noises he made. The knife cutting into skin, the feeling of fists hitting his stomach, the cold floor, the chain around his wrists and the sound of the cell door slamming again and again and again as they came back and the sound of the electricity and the feeling of fire and screams and he knew he was going to die he was alone and he was about to DIE -

“-in, out. Copy me. Breathe with me. In, out. In, out.”

He had felt death creeping up on him, ready to grab him and take him away. And alone, with no brothers and no colours. Alone and crying as he was hurt and tortured.

“Shhhh. There we go. Take it easy bud. You’re sitting with me in the infirmary. You’re in bed. You’ve got my scarf in your hands. We’re in Hyrule Castle, and everyone’s here in the room. Twilight’s by the door. Time and I are sitting next to you. Hyrule is asleep on the sofa with Wind. Wild’s having a nap in the bed on your left. Legend has the one on your right.”

This feeling was softer. This wasn’t a cell. This was a mattress.

“Sky’s sleeping in the bed opposite you, all wrapped up in that sailcloth of his. We’re all here. Can you tell me one thing you can hear?”

A little gasp of air.

“B-Birds.”

“There we go,” Warriors said, and Four realised Warriors was holding his hands, having placed them on top of his scarf, which rested on his stomach. “There we go bud. Just take a nice deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, and then let it out. Like this.”

Four copied, feeling a shudder pass through him.

“You’re safe,” Time murmured next to him, his deep voice a comforting presence. “We’re here for you, and we’ll protect you.”

Four nodded shakily, letting his eyes fall closed. 

He still gripped the scarf and the hands tightly from where they rested on his stomach.

“You won’t be feeling one hundred percent yet,” Warriors said gently. “But give it time. The healers said it was almost guaranteed that you’d have some blurry vision, headaches, difficulty speaking, and general soreness on top of all your other injuries. All you need to do now is rest.”

“We won’t leave,” Time added quietly. “We’ll be right here.”

“Th’nk you,” Four murmured, too tired now to ask for more details about what was wrong with him. 

He could deal with that later. For now… sleep sounded appealing.

“Rest, little one. We’ve got you.”

Chapter Text

“Four! Hyrule!”

The panicked gasp coming from the tree line, accompanied by heavy, pounding footsteps, had all six heads at camp whipping up to stare as Wild came crashing through the bushes. Skidding to a stop, he doubled over, panting, and alarmingly, was shaking profusely.

“Four - your tools - they’re coming!”

And immediately, everyone was at attention. Hands drifted to swords and several heroes sprang upright, scanning the tree line for any incoming threats. Four immediately grabbed his bag, rifling through for the smithing tools he knew Wild was referring to.

“Who? Who’s coming?” Warriors asked sharply, sword held aloft as he paced the perimeter of their camp. “Black blooded?”

“No,” Wild gasped, still wheezing for breath. “Time - we found Twi. They’re coming. Twi - needs help. Stuck in - a trap. No monsters.”

“Ok,” Warriors said, sheathing his sword and immediately turning to the other heroes. “Four - get those tools ready. Hyrule - grab a green potion, get ready to heal. Wind - water, we may need to clean a wound. Sky, get blankets ready to work on. Legend - patrol, in case they’re being followed. Everyone, go!”

Everyone scrambled to their respective positions - Wind dove for the pile of waterskins, deftly avoiding Sky rifling for clean blankets, while Hyrule frantically dug for a green potion. Legend began pacing the wider perimeter of their camp, sword held ready at his side as his head swiveled from side to side. Warriors took a deep breath, mentally steeling himself for Time’s imminent arrival.

“What about - what about me?”

Wild’s stuttering question made Warriors turn, and he frowned. The champion was still breathing heavily, and clearly in some form of shock from the way he trembled where he stood. More alarmingly, however, was the blood splattering his hands and patches of his tunic.

“I want you to sit down, breathe, and drink some water,” Warriors said, to which Wild immediately made a face at, and opened his mouth to protest. “Nope, not going to argue with you - you look like you’re about to keel over. If you want to be any help to Twilight and Time when they get here, I need you a bit calmer. Take a minute to compose yourself so you don’t properly go into shock.”

“But I-”

“Wild,” Warriors said firmly, and Wild’s mouth snapped closed. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can guess it wasn’t pleasant to witness. I’ll debrief with you later, once we’ve got everything under control. I can’t have you running yourself into the ground. Got it?”

“Yessir,” Wild muttered, and Warriors blinked, silently cursing at himself for involuntarily slipping back into army captain mode. 

He sighed, bringing Wild in for a quick hug.

“Just breathe, champ. He’ll be ok.”

“They’re here!”

Legend’s call came from beyond the treeline. Within seconds, the sounds of plate armour came into earshot - and seconds after that, Time burst through the foliage in much the same manner Wild had. By contrast, however, Time’s arm was full of wolf fur, blood, and the sight of a horrible metal trap -

“Holy fucking Hylia, his leg!”

No one bothered chastising Wind’s expletive as Time lowered the unconscious Twilight on the blankets Sky had laid out, carefully placing the injured leg and the attached trap on the soft material.

Warriors knelt next to Hyrule and Time, scanning the wolf’s body.

“Any other major injuries, apart from the trap?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at the awful sight of serrated metal embedded in Twilight’s fur.

Time nodded, still getting his breath back.

“He was being strangled,” Time replied lowly.

Everyone froze.

“I - excuse me?”

“The moblin was throttling him,” Time exhaled, closing his eyes with an expression of pain. “Wild got a bit of potion in him but not enough - that might be what we need to deal with first.”

“Din’s sake,” Warriors muttered, leaning closer so his ear was hovering over Twilight’s muzzle. Sure enough, a very unhealthy wheeze could be heard now he was searching for it - this was definitely the most pressing issue. “Roolie, I need you to focus on his windpipe first. Can you heal while he’s in wolf form?”

Hyrule frowned, pursing his lips together and holding his hands close to the wolf’s neck.

“I…” he paused, his hands glowing slightly. “It’ll take a bit longer, but I can do my best. His magic is a lot stronger right now, it’s harder for me to get through…”

“Should we change him back?” Sky asked, kneeling next to the blankets and gesturing in the direction of the Master Sword on his back.

Warriors considered, but Four beat him to it.

“No, absolutely not right now,” the smithy said sharply, having just finished his examination of the metal contraption on Twilight’s leg. “Not with the trap still on. We don’t know what that will do to shifting bones when he transforms - there’s a risk it could sever the leg entirely. Let me get the trap off first and change him back as soon as that’s done.”

“Ok - smithy, get to work, and Sky, stay there in case he needs a hand,” Warriors ordered, nodding once as he saw Four pick up his tools and focus on the trap. “We’re changing him back as soon as that trap’s off.”

It was a disgusting contraption really, and the sight of it made something in Warriors cringe in discomfort and displeasure. It was clearly some form of bear trap, semicircle in shape now that the large serrated teeth had snapped closed around Twilight’s leg. The rust smattered over the metal showed it had not been maintained for a considerable amount of time, and Warriors found himself hoping that infection wouldn’t add to their problems.

And what a problem they had.

Twilight was blessedly still unconscious, and Warriors was extremely grateful for that fact. The pain he would be in if he were awake and aware would undoubtedly be unbearable. Several of the rusted metal teeth on the trap were embedded into Twilight’s leg, with blood coating the other spikes. The trap had penetrated so far into the leg that Warriors could see the trap wasn’t far off closing. He shuddered. Potions, fairies, and Hyrule’s healing could do a lot - but he wasn’t sure if they could bring back a severed limb. He wasn’t eager to find that out today.

Taking a deep breath, he kneeled next to where Hyrule was doing his best to work on Twilight’s throat.

“I’ll carry on trying to get some potion down his throat,” he told Hyrule, who only nodded tersely in his direction without taking his eyes off Twilight’s form. Before uncorking the bottle of red potion, he paused and looked up at Time.

“I need you to get your armour off, and sit with Wild for a few minutes,” he said quietly, trying not to draw attention to how pale and shaken Time was. “Have some water, and I’ll come grab you in a bit. He needs you, and we can take this from here.”

He was only mildly surprised when Time jerkily nodded, hands fumbling for the straps in his armour.

Warriors only looked away when he saw Time drop down next to Wild, still unhooking and removing plate armour and chainmail.

“Ok,” he muttered, cautiously dripping the first dregs of red potion into Twilight’s muzzle. “We’ve got you, Twi.”

“He’s breathing better,” Hyrule finally said, several long minutes later. However, he didn’t stop his outpour of healing, still holding his glowing hands over Twilight’s fur. “I can’t completely heal him in this form, but he’s not in any danger for now. I’ll carry on once he’s changed back.”

Warriors nodded, smiling slightly and motioning for Hyrule to sit back. He did, wiping his forehead and pushing his curls back with one hand.

“Thanks, Roolie,” Warriors said quietly, stopping his own work and corking the potion bottle. He glanced over at Four and Sky.

Four was fixated on the trap in front of him, alternating between three tools Sky held for him. It appeared to Warriors as though he was attempting to remove some sort of spring-loaded mechanism from the hinge of the trap, if the bits of removed metal around him were any indication.

“Any luck?” Warriors asked.

Four pursed his lips, tutting quietly.

“I’m nearly there, but I can’t rush,” he murmured, leaning a touch closer to his work. “If I set something else off, it could tighten even more. I just need to get this one bit off, and it should come apart. Give me a couple more minutes, it should be - aha!”

Four’s triumphant noise prompted the other heroes to shuffle closer, and a breath of relief echoed as the trap was carefully slid away by Sky. Warriors immediately moved forwards, dragging the trap away by the short chain and cautiously avoided the metal teeth.

“No one go anywhere near that,” he ordered, placing large sticks in a circle around the trap. He eyed it with disgust, lip curling as he walked back towards the injured Twilight. “I’ll deal with that later.”

“We can change him back now,” Sky said, bringing the Master Sword out in front of him. “I got his bedroll ready over there - let’s bring it over once we’ve got him changed back and he’s bandaged up.”

“Got it,” Warriors replied, bringing out the bandages and readying himself next to Twilight’s side. “Let’s change him back.”

Consciousness came with pain.

Twilight moaned softly, refusing to open his eyes and acknowledge the discomfort he was feeling. Why couldn’t he just stay asleep..?

Wait. Hadn’t he been in the woods? Hadn’t he been stuck in a trap..?

What was going on?

“Twi?” came a soft voice from somewhere to his left. “Are you awake?”

“Shit, is he up?”

“Shh, keep your voice down-”

Twilight cracked his eyes open.

The canopy of leaves above him were blurry and softly lit by gentle rays of sunlight. Birdsong and the quiet calls of woodland animals could also be heard over the crackle of a campfire. It would have been pretty, if the pain he was in wasn’t so distracting. He could feel a distinct tenderness around his throat, but the main pulsing pain came from his left arm. There was something wrapped around it, holding it firmly in place - maybe a sling? Whatever it was, it wasn’t quite enough to keep his arm completely flush against his chest, and he sucked in a sharp breath when he jostled it and received a stab of pain for his efforts.

He groaned again, tilting his head and squinting in an attempt to focus on the figures peering at him. Things were still blurry, but he was sure he could make out Wild, Sky, and possibly Warriors.

“What happened?” he croaked out, immediately wincing as his throat flared in pain.

Someone moved closer to him, tilting a waterskin towards his lips and letting him drink.

“You got caught in a bear trap, Twi,” came Wild’s quiet voice. Twilight could feel Wild’s thumb stroking the back of his hand. “We fixed up your throat and arm as much as we could, but your arm’s still broken. Roolie’s sleeping for now, but he said he’d finish fixing you up once he’s awake.”

“'m ok,” Twilight rasped, doing his best to sit up and blink the sleepiness away.

Immediately, several hands supported his shoulders and neck, gently easing him back down to his blankets with quiet protests.

“You really shouldn’t move right now,” Time rumbled from in front of him. Twilight was sure he’d be getting a mildly disapproving look right now, but luckily still couldn’t quite see well enough to view it. “You lost a fair amount of blood and were well on your way to shock when we got you back. Best thing for you to do right now is go back to sleep.”

“'m fine,” he protested croakily, even as he was lowered back onto the blankets below him.

“And stop talking, dumbass,” came Legend’s quietly exasperated voice from somewhere to his right. “You’ll mess up all of Hyrule’s hard work.”

“Ok,” Twilight replied, smiling sleepily as Legend threw his hands up in surrender and rolled his eyes. 

His brow furrowed as he blinked blearily at his arm, squinting at the bandages. There was so much white on there that he couldn’t actually see his own arm.

That was a little alarming.

“Uh…” he muttered, trying to make sense of the bundle of bandages and cloth resting on his chest. “Did m’ arm fall off?”

Someone snorted.

“No, you’ve still got your arm,” Warriors said with a slight smile and sigh. “If you feel a bit scrambled, it’s the blood loss. Don’t stress. Just rest, and we’ll chat more when you’re a bit more with it.”

“And don’t worry, your arm will still be there when you wake up,” he added, gently ruffling Twilight’s hair and ignoring his sleepy protests.

“Sleep well Twi,” came Wild’s soft voice.

“G’night cub,” Twilight replied, finally resigning himself to relax. 

He sank into sleep.

Chapter Text

Recovery was slow and difficult.

Healing magic could only do so much for this type of injury. As he had been told countless times, the best thing for him was simply to rest and let time heal him. Hyrule still trickled healing magic into his injuries a couple of times a day, doing what he could to help his body to heal, but he couldn't heal everything all at once. His body could be helped along, but the healing process couldn't be done for him. Rationally, Four knew this was logical. It made perfect sense.

But by Hylia if it wasn't irritating.

He stared at the spoon in his hand, watching as it tremored and shook. Ever since he'd been rescued, his hands had been unsteady. Twitching fingers had caused him to drop utensils, had caused him to spill food on the clean sheets of his bed. He was barely able to feed himself cleanly; he dreaded to think what would happen if he tried to swing a sword in his current state. He would be completely hopeless and totally defenceless if a battle were to take place right now.

Dizziness was also a prevalent problem. In the days following his rescue, he regularly became so dizzy that he struggled to stay upright. A wave of dizziness had hit him so strongly and suddenly during one of his rare tentative walks around the castle's medical wing that he had toppled right into a suit of armour, sending it and him crashing to the floor. Warriors had had to carry him back after he threw up and couldn't stand up by himself.

It had been humiliating. He was a Hero, for Hylia's sake. He had beaten countless enemies, bested ancient foes and come out alive. No matter how many times he'd been injured, battered, or challenged, he'd always succeeded.

But this was torture. Not the kind that Jor and Tadc had inflicted upon him, oh no; but it was torture nonetheless. Feeling useless and helpless wasn't something he was used to.

The others, of course, were doing their best to keep his spirits up. There was always someone nearby to keep him company. Four knew that part of the reason he hadn't been left alone was that they didn't want him to be taken again, and they wanted to be sure he was safe. Even though he knew that one of his captors (he couldn't even remember which one, and hadn't bothered to ask) had been killed, and the other taken into custody, he was secretly glad the others hadn't left him alone. A part of him was still terrified he'd be snatched away again and tortured all over again.

The nightmares didn't help, either. Every night since his return, he'd been woken at least three times by the vivid nightmares. He often awoke crying, gasping for air, limbs twitching and spasming as though he was still there, still waiting for Jor or Tadc to strike him, to electrocute him again. Every time, someone had been there to soothe him; sometimes he couldn't tell who exactly the hands and voice belonged to, but as his hair was carded back and his head stroked, he knew this person was safe. He would settle back into a doze as his companion hummed and held him. Sometimes he was rocked, sometimes he was cuddled. But every time, he would be soothed back to sleep until the next nightmare inevitably woke him.

Four blinked at the spoon in his hand again, watching through exhausted and blurry eyes as it wobbled in his grasp.

His vision was another aspect of his recovery. Apparently, the seizure he had suffered once the others had arrived had been so severe that some of the palace healers had warned the other Links that he may not even wake up. He'd learned a few days later that even Legend had teared up when Four regained consciousness. He'd felt particularly bad about that. 

The seizure itself had apparently affected his vision, and it would take a few weeks for it to be fully restored. Potentially sooner, if Hyrule kept drip feeding him magic. Nonetheless, it was depressing when his vision suddenly blurred, or when one of his eyes was clouded with hazy patches. Although the others had been quick to rebut him when he mentioned it, he still felt like a burden. They obviously couldn't leave the castle in his current state, and mercifully no portals had appeared while he was in such a vulnerable condition.

Four put the spoon down in his bowl, huffing out an irritated breath as it clanked against the crockery. He was fed up.

"Not hungry?" Sky asked softly, looking up from his book. It was Sky's turn to sit with him this afternoon, and Four was glad for the quiet and calming company.

Sky had been a dependable companion whlie Four was stuck in bed. Not that the others weren't, but Sky didn't pry or attempt to fill the numerous silences with inane chatter or false platitudes meant to keep him hopeful and positive. He simply took up his post next to Four's bedside, quietly asked what was on his mind, and offered Four a choice of activity. More often than not, Four chose the more tranquil activity - often reading or simply watching Sky carve something of Four's choosing. Last time, he had enjoyed watching Sky attempt to carve a Minish from Four's verbal description alone. It had made for a pleasantly meditative way to pass the time, watching as the wood shavings fell with hushed swipes of the knife and eventually forming into somewhat of a resemblance to a Minish.

Now, though, Four wanted anything to fill the silence and distract him from the anger he could feel brewing.

"I'm fed up of the spoon," he muttered, glaring at his bowl. "I can't hold it properly. I'm so sick of this."

Sky smiled sadly.

"I know," he said, moving to pick up Four's hands and gently massaging them. "I'm really sorry you're going through this right now."

He paused, looking back up at Four's face.

"Did I tell you I could barely move my fingers after I finished my journey?"

Four raised an eyebrow in response. "No?"

Sky continued to massage his hands, moving delicately from one finger to the next. "Yeah. I used a pretty unhealthy amount of lightning towards the very end of it, and it pretty much fried my arms. Not fun at all, and it took me weeks to even pick up a sword again. Took even longer to regain my full grip strength as well."

He huffed a laugh as he started soothing massages on Four's wrists.

"I ended up scaring some friends so badly a few weeks after I got back from my journey. We went back to Skyloft for a visit, and I wanted to go for a fly around the islands to clear my head. I got on Crimson, started flying, and felt amazing. Everything felt normal, for just a little while. I flew back to Skyloft, and shifted my weight a bit so I could drop down to the ground like I always did. Completely forgot that I couldn't hold my weight for shit, so I could barely grip the reins and ended up falling off Crimson completely."

"Oh Hylia, don't tell me you broke something in the fall," Four muttered, grimacing.

"No, no," Sky laughed. "Crimson managed to grab me just before I hit the ground, but Zelda was terrified and I think Pipit might have had an accident."

"You could give Wild a run for his rupees, dropping from heights like that," Four said, grinning slightly. His smile faltered slightly as he glanced at Sky's hands. "I hope I'll recover like you. I can't help but feel like this is going to last forever. I hate feeling so... so useless. Like I'm just sitting here doing nothing while everyone else is looking after me and keeping busy. And I can't even hold my spoon properly."

"Four," Sky said gently, meeting his eyes. He stopped massaging his hands, simply holding them in his own palms. "I know. I felt exactly the same way when I couldn't use my hands or arms. It was awful, and I feel for you so much because I remember how frustrated I felt. How many times I cried and how much I wished it hadn't happened. It's a horrible feeling, it really is."

Four dropped his gaze to his own hands, watching as little tremors continued to pass through his fingers.

"Please know when I tell you that this will pass," Sky continued softly. "It's only been a few days, and you're already doing so much. You nearly died, and you're already feeding yourself and getting out of bed by yourself. Give yourself some credit; you've made a lot of progress. I know it's hard to see, when you compare it to what your best looks like. But please know that you'll get back to that. You're strong. You wouldn't have survived what you went through in that place if you weren't."

"And besides," Sky continued, glancing over at some of the group's weapons propped neatly against the wall. "I don't think you'd let someone else touch our weapons, would you? I just know you're itching to get back to being our smith."

"Well," Four sniffed, trying to suppress another grin. "I'll happily take credit for being the only smith who hasn't ever made a mistake on any of our blades. I don't think I can trust any other smiths after the way they handled the Captain's sword."

"Goodness, no," Sky replied, blanching as he remembered. The Captain had been distraught when he had collected his blade from an unfamiliar smith to find the edge angle inconsistent and that burrs hadn't been removed. As he didn't have any alternatives to hand, he'd had to fight with his subpar sword, and the group had been subjected to the Captain's endless melodramatic complaining about how he should have been able to finish the moblin in a single strike, but instead had been "left to hack at the thing with this glorified toothpick".

"Nope, I'm never letting that happen again," Four said with a small laugh. "I just hope you all won't be waiting too long for me."

"Four, you know that we'll wait for however long we need to," Sky said earnestly. "And not just for your smithing skills! We're here for however long it takes you to recover. There's no rush. You've made much more progress than I did in the same amount of time, so I really do have faith you'll be back on your feet sooner than you think. But please, give yourself some grace. We're not angry at you, and none of us have any issue waiting for you while you recover. We're just happy you're alive and still with us."

"Thank you, Sky," Four said quietly. He squeezed Sky's fingers with his own, as best he could. "I appreciate it. I'm trying to be patient... It's just so hard."

"I don't think us Links are known for being patient, to be perfectly honest with you," Sky said drily, eyes crinkling as Four giggled. "But you're doing your best. That's what matters."

He smiled down at Four, squeezing back.

"Now," he said with a grin. "What'll it be this afternoon? Want to stay here, or fancy finding the others and seeing what they're up to?"

Later, as they walked slowly out of the castle and towards the gardens, Four took a moment to ponder on Sky's words. It was no mean feat to try combatting the negative thoughts swirling around his head, but maybe he could try to take some of Sky's words to heart. After all, he hadn't begrudged Twilight when he had been deathly injured and stuck in the inn; he supposed he could try to apply some of that to himself.

As the sun hit him and began to warm him, he let a small smile slip onto his face. Things would be hard, for sure; but walking in the bright sunlight with Sky at his side, arm looped through his to support him and hold him close, made some of the bitterness he felt fade slightly. He'd been through close calls before and had his fair share of recoveries from injuries. In this very moment, as they walked towards the sounds of their friends chattering and laughing, something thawed.

He'd survive. They always did.