Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been two long days. Two long days of no response, two long days with no message or reassurance. They had started travelling towards the Yiga Hideout immediately after it happened, frantically trying to reach their goal before the traitors could do anything irreversible.
It had been a surprise out of nowhere. Wild had been injured a day before, his throbbing leg taking up most of his attention, so his yell of warning came too late. The Yiga had materialised all around them. The chain immediately went to move around the champion, protecting him from the assassins.
It was a hard fight. Four was downed first, his injured arm hindering his movement and the vicious sickle of one of the Yiga digging into his other. After this, their formation broke apart and chaos ensued. No one really knew what was happening, so when the Yiga suddenly declared retreat, the short ecstasy only lasted until Wilds panicked yell sounded through the clearing.

Immediately, they all spun around, yelling, but Wild was standing there, looking perfectly fine apart from the cut in his side he was clutching. He was staring straight ahead though, a look that spelled pure terror on his face.

As Legend had slowly spun around, Time seemingly stretching itself endlessly, he watched as two of the assassins dragged an absolutely terrified Warriors behind them, before they disappeared in a red puff of smoke.

Now, they were camping around a small fire, all of them in a glum mood. They were still two days travel away from Gerudo Desert and Wild was getting restless. IN truth, they were all getting restless, but the champion had no qualms about showing it clearly, much to Legends chagrin.

“Time,” Wild started up again, stopping his nervous pacing to stare at the older hero who just raised a hand and sighed. “We are not discussing this again, Wild. You are not going ahead alone. We can’t have two people stuck there, especially not if you are the only one who could lead us through. We will have to bank on them having a plan up their sleeve.”

“But this is ridiculous!”, Wild moaned scrunching his face up. “All we are doings is waiting, while the Yiga might be doing who knows what to Warriors!”
“Don’t say that.” Legend heard himself speak before he felt he had even thought of the words. “Don’t you say something like this. He’s going to be just fine. I know he will.” By the pitying glances the other heroes threw him he could tell that his voice sounded tired and weak, not just to himself.
“Sit down Wild. Don’t agitate your leg.” Time spoke up, the authority in his voice clearly indicating that he was done arguing for the night. For a second it looked like Wild was going to protest, but then he sighed and carefully sat down, close to the fire.

A somewhat peaceful silence filled their encampment, only interrupted by the quiet scraping of Sky’s carving knife and the clanking of the Ladle in the soup Wild was making. The champion reached for his bag, rummaging through it to look for an ingredient, when he suddenly froze. He tossed aside his bag and in his hands was a rectangular piece of paper, a blood red dot in its centre.

“An envelope?” Time had stood up and strode over to Wild quickly. Legend followed suit as did everyone else, huddling around Wild to get a better look. It was in fact an envelope, the dot being a wax seal, one of the corners bent.

“This… it’s the Yigas sigil.” Wild said breathlessly. “What? But how would they have put this into your bag?” Wild looked considerably paler than usual. “I don’t know… I think I would have noticed, right? It wasn’t in here yesterday evening…”

“There is no way any of them could have gotten this close to you… right?” Wind was biting his lip, his gaze flitting around their small campground.
“Well, open it?” Legend suggested. The others stared at him. “What? You were gonna keep it closed?”

“No.” Wild said before any of the others could interject and quickly ripped the letter open. Inside was a single piece of paper. Four leaned forwards, reading the ugly scrawled letters.

“You know what we want. Bring it to us and the Spare will be released. You have three days.” He looked up worriedly. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
“I am afraid it might,” Time sighed, “But this will hardly affect our plans.”
“What? They called him the spare Time, we need to speed up”
“Three days is so close… There is barely time to make it there, forget about making a plan to get him out of there.”
“Maybe the Gerudo can help?”
“Wild said travelling in between would take an additional day each way. We would lose too much time.”
“Maybe we can get horses?”
“Another full day of detours. We can’t afford it. Maybe we should just keep going. Only nap in-between.”
“Absolutely not. There is no way we will be able to fight against them if we do that.”
“Well but maybe we can take sh-“
“Wild?”

Time had interrupted the others frantic discussions, placing a hand on the Champions shoulders. He had fallen silent, his eyes glued onto the piece of paper in his hand.
“Maybe it is time for a change of plans.”

He slowly got up and turned around to Time. They both stared at each other, and Time slowly furrowed his brow.
“Wild. You better not be suggesting what I think you are.”
“Suggesting what?” Wind asked irritated. “It would be really nice of you to include us too, you know.”

“Like they said I know what they want. We all know it. And it’s not Wars.” Wild laughed and it sounded strangely cold. “I think it’s time you let me go ahead, Time.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re kidding!”
“You are not seriously considering this are you?”

“I am not considering it, I am decided on it honestly. Look, it’s not like it’s a suicide mission. The ritual they would like to perform has to wait until the blood moon, which is in six days. You could go to the Gerudo, get them to help you-“
“And what if they decide they don’t want to do the ritual after all?”
Wild frowned. “That’s highly unlikely.”
“But not impossible.”
“And what are they going to do until then? Just wait?”

Wilds jaw set and he stared in-between them at the tree line. “There is no other way guys. I am going.”
“No. you are not.” Wild reached for his slate as Time talked, but he grabbed his wrist before he could touch the display. “Listen to me Wild. You. Are. Not. Going.”
“And how exactly will you stop me?”

Time paused. There were a few heavy seconds of silence. Then Time spoke slowly: “If you want to go so badly…” he took another breath and the others were about to protest, when he continued, “then you will have to go through me first. I challenge you to a duel, Wild. If you win, you can go. If you lose, you stay.”
Wild stared. Time had never challenged anyone before, not as a joke and definitely not this directly. There had been challenges and duels before, mostly over petty stuff or just for fun when the sparring got boring. But Time had never been involved, limiting himself to the occasional friendly spar, not hesitating to complain about aching bones afterwards.

Wild and Time had sparred before, and the duel had been unsatisfying, ending in a draw after twenty minutes. Their strengths and weaknesses were so opposite each other, that it could have probably drawn out for hours, not least because of both of their determination.

In the state both were in a proper duel would leave neither in a state good enough to fight any Yiga, much less infiltrate the hideout.
Wild finally looked down, replacing his slate at his hip. They all visibly relaxed, slowly sinking back to their positions around the fire. Time patted Wild on his shoulder and they all sat back down, quietly resuming their talking as Wild continued to cook dinner. He poured in spices and Vegetables, all the while not looking up at them. As it was finished, Wild quietly called for them and filled their bowls to the brim. They would all need the strength tomorrow from a nutritious meal and clearly Wild had thought of this and made more than usual. As they sipped their soup, complimenting Wild about its taste, the champion sat there quietly, not eating himself. Legend frowned.

“Are you not eating Wild?” he shook his head, meeting his eyes only for a split second. If Legend didn’t know better, he would think he saw guilt glinting in his eyes.
They were all tired, so they settled down quickly for the night. They lay down, closing their eyes most immediately drifting off to sleep, the one to take first watch leaning against one of the larger trees. Legend watched lazily as Wild cleaned their dishes, throwing tentative glances around their group. He felt a wave a sleepiness wash over him, and he could barely feel surprised at how easy sleep came to him before he was already drifting off.

-

Legend startled awake as someone was shaking him. Time was shaking him worriedly, a look in his eyes that made him immediately sit up straight. Everyone else was still in their bedrolls, slowly sitting up or groaning.

“Who was on first watch? Legend, who was on watch!?” Time shouted shaking him. “I- Jesus stop shaking me! I think it was Twilight?” Suddenly Twilight stood behind Time, looking pale. “I just fell asleep. I couldn’t do anything, I swear.” He sounded tearful. Legend looked around frantically, suddenly realising what the others were fussing about. Wild was gone. His pack and slate vanished with him.
“What happened?” Time looked down at him.
“This happened.” Hyrule had gotten up and was now holding something, looking shocked. He slowly held it up. It was a glass bottle, a light blueish residue sticking to the bottom. He locked his eyes on Time, his expression unreadable. “It’s sleeping potion. He must have mixed it into the soup.”
Twilight stared at Legend. "He's gone."

Chapter Text

They hadn’t wasted another second, immediately starting to pack their bags. Wild must have left hours ago, maybe he had even already reached the desert. They could all feel in the pace Time had set, that the worry was gnawing at his bones.

They were walking much faster than they usually did, Sky and Wind soon panting along. With a pang Legend realised that this would usually have been the moment Warriors would have picked the Sailor up, carrying him for a while before complaining about his Joint pain and trying to pester Legend into taking over, which regrettably usually worked.

Legend tapped Wind on his shoulder. “You want me to carry you for a bit?” By the glassy look that suddenly appeared on the sailor’s face, he must have been reminded of Warriors too.

“You think he will be okay?”
Legend scoffed. “Honestly, I am not worried about the pretty boy anymore. By what Wild has told us of them, the Yiga seem to keep their promises.”
“I find it hard to rely on a bunch of traitors keeping their word.”

They stared at each other for a second, Legend tilting his head slightly. “So you want me to carry you or not?”
-
Night had long fallen when Time finally called Camp. The Gerudo Highlands were almost in reach. They would probably reach their destination tomorrow by midday if they kept their pace, though Legend feared that walking like that again would leave them too exhausted to act.

Exhausted they were now, most of them immediately slumping down when Time signalled to stop. Twilight however looked restless. Legend walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as the others began to set up a campfire.

“It’s useless to keep walking.” Twilight met his eyes for a split second, fear shining in them.
“It’s not like I don’t know that. It’s just-“, He turned towards the snow-capped mountains as if hoping to see their brothers waving to them. “I’m scared we will be too late.”

His words hit Legend hard, knowing that he had been thinking the same thing – most of them probably did – but he also knew that it was no use to lie to Twilight.
“I know. I’m scared too, but we are doing what we can. We should eat something and go to sleep so we can set off early tomorrow, as early as we can.” He sighed, lifting his hand from the others shoulder. “We were relying on them having a plan, and now we just have to trust that Wild suspected the right thing.”

Twilight nodded gravely. Then he suddenly looked at Legend again. “He doesn’t deserve this, Leg. He just… doesn’t.” Legend tried to croak out an answer, but his voice failed him. Instead, he patted Twilight on his back, returning to his pack to set up his bedroll.

It was true of course. Wild didn’t deserve it, none of them did really. It was just as unfair as usual, the goddess playing her tricks on them.
The somewhat dubious smell of what Legend recognized as the only edible soup Hyrule could produce began to waft through the area. Legend sighed deeply and pushed himself to get up, grabbing a bowl of it.

-

Gerudo Desert was much warmer than they had anticipated, but the heat could not stop them. The stony outcropping Wild had described to lead towards the Hideout was in sight and getting closer by the second. When they entered the cool shade, Legend felt he could start sobbing with relief and judging by the others faces they didn’t feel any different. Time tried to call for a short rest, but the protests by the others shortened it to a brief regroup so they wouldn’t just walk into a trap.

They decided to split themselves a little, Wind, Four and Twilight hanging back a little with drawn bows as they snuck further into the ravine.
When the gates of the hideout came into view, they froze for a second. The gates were firmly closed. No Yiga appeared to be outside, none of the posts manned. But there was someone outside, sitting on the floor leaning against the door, looking exhausted.
“Wars!” Wind was the first to sprint forwards, against the warning shouts of the others, but when he reached the clearly surprised and relieved Warriors without any red smoke appearing or arrows flying, they quickly followed suit.

Warriors was staring at them over Winds shoulder, reaching out a Hand towards Legend who took it slightly confused. “You’re really here.” Warriors whispered.
At that Legend frowned and quickly slid to his knees next to him. “Are you hurt? Wars, can you count to 12 for me?” Wars stared at him blankly for a second before suddenly beginning to hysterically laugh. Wind let go of him, a worried look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Warriors was still laughing but was waving with his hands, trying to calm them down. “No, no I’m okay, I just- I just can’t really believe you’re here.” He looked teary eyed. Legend reached out and grabbed his shoulder firmly. He wondered whether he only imagined it feeling a little more skinny than usual.

“Of course we’re here. Why wouldn’t we be?”
“He said you wouldn’t come.”
“Who?”, Time had stepped forward, his eyes still on the entrance to the fortress.
“Wild.”

They all fell silent. Somehow, silently, they all must have held on to the hope that maybe Wild hadn’t come here. That he got the Gerudo to help. But Warriors was out here, which should have proved it to them, and still they had refused to give up hope.

“He came here… he was… exhausted. I don’t know what he did but it looked like he hadn’t slept in forever. Like, he was shaking.” Warriors suddenly reached up and gripped Legends arm tightly. Legend only tightened his grip on his shoulders in response.

“The Yiga brought him in, and he told me to go to the Gerudo, to uh, ask them? He was speaking your Hylian, Time, and I think he got some words mixed up, but- He told me that you didn’t know where we were and that I should run away towards the oasis as fast as I could. Or uh… something like that I think.” Warriors licked his lips. His voice had grown hoarse and Sky wordlessly handed him his waterskin which he gladly took a swig of.

“How long ago was that?” Twilights voice trembled as he spoke. They could all feel the truth that hung in the air heavily. Wild had lied. How much of the story he told them was untrue?
“It was yesterday morning, I think. The sun was still rising when they tossed me out here.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“I couldn’t just leave him! Especially not since I thought you weren’t coming… I couldn’t just leave him behind.”

A tear slid down Warriors cheek and Legend looked up at Time. “We need to go in. We can’t wait.”
“No!” Warriors pushed away from the wall, scrambling and only held back by Legend and Wind holding him. “You can’t go in. You can’t. There is no way we would get through.”
“Well we will have to make it work-“
“You haven’t seen it. When Wild said it was a fortress, he meant it. Besides, we have no idea where he could be in there.”
“Well then what are we supposed to do?”

“Get the Gerudo.” They all looked up as Twilight spoke.

“Warriors is right. It’s no use. Some of us should go and get the Gerudo to help us. Tell them what happened. They all owe him a debt, don’t they? And maybe they would be glad about the chance to hit the Yiga where it hurts the most. Three of us should go while the rest wait here.”
It was silent for a second. For Twilight to suggest such a thing had seemed basically impossible to Legend, but his suggestion sounded like a plan. The first plan that might actually work.

“Sounds like our best shot.” Time said, surveying the others. Murmurs of agreement and nodded heads sealed the deal. “Who will go?”
“’I’ll go,” Legend said. “And Four and me. How does that sound?” Sky spoke up.
“Shouldn’t someone go who has experience with the Gerudo?”
“Wilds stories sound so different, I doubt it. Besides, Sky should definitely go so we could prove our identity should they ask.” Legend eyed the Master Sword. Sky nodded. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Alright.”, Time looked the three of them over, a bit of worry in his eye. “Good luck.”

Chapter Text

The others had retreated away from the entrance a little bit, seeking shelter underneath a small outcropping as the three of them walked away, their pace the same speed they took to get there. Gerudo Town was not hard to spot in the otherwise mostly empty desert.

Their trek was mostly silent, their worries about the others laying heavily on their mind. When they finally reached the small oasis close to the Gerudo Town entrance, the sun was already setting. Still, a few people were milling about the small square, buying things from the Vendors.

“We should rest for a few hours. Get our bearings.” Sky said, sweat pooling on his brow. “We have a little more time, and if we get back half dead it won’t do anyone any good.”
“We can’t wait.” Four said determinedly.
“Oh?” Legend asked, “And why’s that?”

“Because Wild lied to Warriors so he would get him to safety. What do you think he would tell us to keep us there?”
Legend stared at the shorter hero. “You’re not suggesting what I think you are, right?”
Four looked down. “After what Warriors said, who says this ‘Ritual’ wasn’t made up too?”

“Alright”, Sky sighed, his gaze drifting towards the town, “We best be going then. I don’t want to find out what lurks in the desert at night. At least not without a few Gerudo Warriors at our side.”
-
As they approached the town gates, they could see the two warriors flanking it eying them suspiciously. It wasn’t really surprising, dishevelled and exhausted as they looked and clearly not the type to be permitted entrance. As they drew closer the two guards crossed their spears and the right one shouted: “Halt! Who goes there? What do you seek from the warriors of the desert?”

“Help! We need your help, desperately.” Sky called, not trying to hide the desperation in his voice.
The left guard frowned. “You certainly look it. What help are we talking of?”

“The Yiga have kidnapped one of ours. We need your help to get him out of there before they hurt him.”
The right one frowned. “The Yiga you say?”, she glanced at her comrade before continuing, “Why don’t we have a talk about this over some nice cold banana milkshake?”

“No thank you, we’re not Yiga. Besides,” Legend shuddered slightly, “It’s starting to get a little chilly out here.”
“Chilly? It’s not chilly it’s-“
“Stay focused Clef!”, hissed the other guard, interrupting what was clearly turning out to be a full on rant.

“The Yiga never hurt civilians. They are afraid of the might of the newly built Hylian empire – and the vengeance of our tribe!”
Both of the guards made a notion that Legend vaguely recognized as a sign of pride, but couldn’t quite place.

“He’s not a civilian – it’s Link. We’re his friends, we’ve been travelling with him.” Four said surprisingly calmly, his eyes flashing purple.
“What?” The guards looked shocked, Throwing glances in between them.

“Prove it!” One of them suddenly bellowed, her spear now pointed towards Four, newfound anger in her voice.
“I- He told us to come here. To ask for Riju?” Four said nervously, looking to Legend for help.

“Look, we don’t know how to prove that we know him, but we’ve been traveling with him on a mission from Hylia. We’re from the past – The heroes from the past in fact,” he nudged Sky who quickly understood and drew the Mastersword. The Guards eyes grew wide at the sight of the blade.

“We don’t have much time. Please, help us.” Sky and Four shot him a glance, clearly surprised at the pleading tone his voice had taken.
Legend couldn’t help it. He was tired and worried and honestly scared. They couldn’t lose the kid like that, especially not just because they couldn’t make the people that clearly cared about his wellbeing believe them.

The guards looked at each other. Then the right one straightened and sighed. “You wait here. I will get the chief.”
-
Riju was young – that they had known from Wild’s tales – but they had still underestimated just how young she was. Sky had luckily been able to catch himself quick enough, Greeting her with profuse thanks for coming out here to hear them out. She looked at them suspiciously and Legend felt harshly reminded that the World didn’t treat people fair and age didn’t mean anything about experience for these people. Riju might be many things, but naïve was definitely not one of them.

“I hear you carry news about Link. Bad news.”
“I’m afraid so. He has been captured by the Yiga.”
“Impossible.”
“What?” Legend had spoken before thinking, the sharp look with which Riju met his eyes punishing him for it. “I mean, why would it be impossible, chief?”

“He has evaded them all this time with relative ease. I find it improbable that he would’ve been captured against his will.”

“Well, you’re right.” Sky said quietly. She turned towards him, a surprised look on her face immediately replaced by a stern frown. “So, you lied?”
“No. That’s the problem.” Legend bit his lip and tried to hold Rijus gaze. “One of our other brothers got captured. They gave Link three days to turn himself in or- “, His voice broke and Rijus eyes grew wide.

“And you let him?”
“No!” They all protested at the same time. Now Riju looked thoroughly confused.
“He drugged us. We told him he shouldn’t go anywhere, that we would find a different way. He mixed sleeping potion into our soup and by morning he was gone. From what our other brother told us, he had already reached the Hideout by the time we woke up.” Guilt heavily laced Legends words as he spoke, and Rijus Gaze finally softened.

“Oh Link. That does sound like him doesn’t it…” She stared over to the hideout, clearly thinking.
“When was this?”
“He must have arrived yesterday morning.”

Riju frowned. “Two days. That is already a lot of time. And the blood moon is soon… We must hurry.”
“So you’ll help us?” Sky sounded half surprised, half hopeful as Riju who had already turned around towards the Town looked back.
“Of course. This story is too crazy for you to have invented it, and like I said, it’s his stupid type of plan. Besides,” She turned away again, gesturing to one of the guards who hastily hurried inside, “I’ve been waiting for a chance to smoke out the Yigas.”

-

Riju must really have been waiting for this, along with all the other Gerudo Warriors, because the speed with which they readied their army was frightening. It took them two hours, which the three heroes gladly decided to spend on a nap, until they were ready. Then they set out, Sleds drawn by sand seals carrying their supplies and their three exhausted messengers.

The sleds moved with surprising speed, the whole way taking them only two hours instead of five. When they drew near, their group fell silent. The air felt tense and the silence oppressive, until it was suddenly cut down by an excited shout.

“You’re back! Finally!” Wind shouted bounding towards them as the first sand seals came to a stop near where they had left them. His eyes were rimmed red.
“Sorry it took so long”, Legend said, pushing himself out of his seat on the sled and trying not to fall. “What happened?”

“Quiet!” Riju hissed and all of them fell silent and went still. Winds face fell, as though he knew what Riju was talking about. Very quietly, almost so quietly Legend could think he imagined it, a heart-breaking scream echoed through the ravine. It sounded like a dying man’s scream, one of those you didn’t even hear yourself, and wondered who was making all that noise, until you realise it’s you. Legend could feel the blood drain from his face. It sounded like Wild.

“We’ve been listening to this ever since you’ve left.” Time said gravely, his tone quiet. “It’s honestly impressive he hasn’t lost his voice.”
“The whole time?” Legend asked hoarsely. Time shook his head
“No, but I might have preferred it. As long as he screams, he is alive.”

“All the more reason we will get moving now.” Riju said, locking eyes with Time. He nodded, a mixture of thankfulness and respect in his eye. “It’s time to act.”

Chapter Text

Everything hurt. That’s the first thing he registered. He groaned weakly, and he thought he could hear laughter, but it sounded like it was coming through water. Something cold was digging into his wrists, a sharp pain radiating from his neck. He could feel his muscles moving without him controlling them, spasming painfully.

He wasn’t standing, but he was still upright. It took him a few moments to register that he was held up by the bounds around his wrists and a rope, tying him around his waist to what seemed like a tree. He was hanging in his bounds limply, the laughter around him becoming louder by the second. He tried to lift his head, but the pain instantly radiating from his muscles stopped him. He resigned himself that forcing his eyes open had to be enough.

As he weakly blinked them open, barely any light seemed to reach them. He was staring at a rough stone floor, wet with moisture. Was he in a cave? No, that can’t be right. What was the last thing he remembered?

A shadow fell into his line of sight, cast by a figure stepping in front of the flickering torch that must be providing the only light. The strange shape of his head finally tipped him off. The Yiga.

Why was he here? How could the Yiga have caught him? Was it because of Zelda? He… he turned himself in, wasn’t it? Had they managed to capture Zelda? Had he failed to protect her?

The jeering around him got louder and suddenly something cold pressed against his throat. He couldn’t hear the scream that exploded out of him, his ears filled with ringing, his whole body screaming in pain as the electricity radiated through it. When the staff was finally lifted, he was left gasping, desperately trying to stay conscious. He could feel adrenalin coursing through his body, making his appendages tremble. The feeling seemed strangely familiar.

Mipha. The answer came to him with a start, and he wrenched his eyes open, staring at the ground. The Stone floor was wet, but not because of water. A pool of dark red blood had coated it, his blood.

He must have died, only seconds before. The temporal amnesia tended to happen, only one of the uncomfortable side effects. He dug through his brain frantically, hearing the Yiga shout, desperately trying to find his memory of what happened. A flash of a bottle with a blue liquid was enough.

Warriors, the letter. Them wanting to stop him, not understanding that he had a second lease on life, that he could survive what Warriors definitely couldn’t. He remembered standing there, exhausted, barely able to stand after all but sprinting into the desert. He remembered them grabbing his wrists and him not resisting, a terrible sinking feeling in his gut.

He remembered being led into the room with Warriors, frantically spitting out the words he had carefully chosen on his way there, in a language he barely spoke. Warriors looking first confused and then suddenly scared. He remembered the Yiga dragging him away, trying to shut him up which they finally did with a hard kick to his stomach. He remembered Warriors shouting for him as they dragged him out and hopefully brought him outside as they had agreed. He remembered being put into these bounds he was hanging in now, praying that Wars had listened to him and had left for the Gerudo. He no longer cared for his life; He couldn’t find it in himself to care.

How much time had passed since then? It seemed impossible to tell. There was no natural light, no clock, no chiming bell. The Yiga that came and went were all indistinguishable for his clouded mind, seemingly coming and going at random but never leaving him alone.

Was he going insane? It certainly seemed like it to him. His mind seemed to be moving faster than usual, barely grasping onto half formed thoughts.
And then, he had died. Mipha brought him back. He could remember her face, she had looked worried, almost sorry for what she did.

But she must have known that it was his plan. He had known the Yiga would grow impatient and careless. Warriors had looked a little roughed up when he saw him, but not like he was injured. He must have been fast enough then, and that was the only solace he could cling to.

How much longer until the blood moon? Would they try the ritual? Would the others reach them before then? Would they even be able to find him? Would they even go looking?

It would be best they didn’t he decided. Better they stay safe. What good would it do them?
Maybe, if Warriors reached the Gerudo they would help. But the tribe would take a huge risk to outright attack the Yiga. A risk he hoped Riju would not be stupid enough to take.
The rod touched his skin again and pain flooded his mind.

Chapter Text

A loud shout tore Wild from his daze. He lifted his head carefully, his muscles protesting. The Yiga were staring at each other confused, shouting something Wild couldn’t understand. Then, with a sudden, loud bang the door to the little room flew out of its hinges, hitting one of the Yiga straight on and crashing him into the wall.

Wild almost sobbed in relief as he saw a face appear through the doorway. It was Time.

He tried to call his name, but his voice failed him. More of them stepped through, Legend and Hyrule and Four and – Riju. So they had gone to the Gerudo after all. How much time had passed?

As they all filed into the room, the Yiga suddenly jumped into action. The taller one, clutching the sickle still coated with Wild’s blood rammed his Hand into Wild’s throat, pressing his head tightly against the Wall behind him. He groaned as he hit his head, his vision swimming.

“DON’T YOU DARE MOVE AN INCH!” The Yiga screamed and Wild could feel the cold metal of the Sickle pressing into his skin. They were going to use him as bait to get the others, get them to comply and be captured because of him-

“DROP YOUR WEAPONS!” The Yiga sounded frantic, almost afraid. Wild couldn’t let them be hurt, couldn’t let the Yiga get them too. Wild tried move in the traitor’s grasp, but his muscles wouldn’t follow his commands.

“Drop them or he dies!” A few seconds passed, then a clanking sound echoed through the room. Wild strained his eyes to see what had happened. Twilight stood there, fire burning in his eyes and his gaze locked on Wild, his sword at his feet. Legend dropped his next, then Time and all the others. They looked angry, but Wild knew there was fear behind that anger. He had seen that exact look on their faces before.

“You... you’ll do as I say!” The Yiga screeched, and Wilds head hammered. He couldn’t let them be hurt because of him, couldn’t let their pain be his fault. He stared at them desperately, hoping them to understand that he just wanted them to run. He caught Legends gaze, who narrowed his eyes at him ever so slightly.

The Yiga frantically gestured with the sickle, lifting it from Wilds throat, but his nails were still digging into his skin.
“So you think you can just storm in?? Just do whatever you want?! We are the Yiga! None shall strike us down! Ganon shall be reborn again!” He lifted his Sickle skyward and Wild suddenly knew what to do.

He looked at Legend, who met his gaze. A small smile appeared on Wilds lips, not even he understanding where it had come from. Legend must have understood his intentions, because in the next second, he leaped forward, throwing Time to the ground who yelped in surprise.
As the Yiga made to swing his sickle towards Wilds neck, the sudden movement surprising him, Wild called upon the last of his strength. The air filled with the smell of Ozone; the static electricity made his hair stand up as lightning struck the Yiga.

Impossible Lightning, dozens of feet underground, hit the Sickle and quickly travelled through the Yiga, and Wild could see his muscles contract, could feel his grip around his throat tighten and Wild would have screamed if he could, the pain so much more than he had anticipated. It flooded through his body, the electricity coming in waves. He had never been at the receiving end of Urbosa’s fury before, but his suspicion that it was not just regular lightning appeared to be true.

When the pain finally faded after what seemed like an eternity, he barely registered the Yigas grip being gone. All he could see was the stone floor once again, drifting into and out of focus. His ears were ringing, and his throat felt dry. He almost gagged when the distinct smell of burned skin hit his nose.
Suddenly, there were hands around his wrists, and he tried to jerk away, but his muscles only jittered in response. There was warmth on his chest that made his burns itch, but he still sank into it, registering for the first time how cold he felt.

The pressure was relieved from his hands as he was lifted upwards. Someone was whispering something into his ear, and it made his skin crawl, remembering the Yiga doing the very same (Minutes? Hours? Days?) before. What were they doing? What were they trying to achieve?

Wild tried to push away and heard a pathetic whimper escape his throat, but the grip around his middle only tightened, something now pressing against the side of his head.
He could feel something tickle his nose and he forced his eyes to focus on it. A wolf pelt, he realised. Twilight was holding him, his arms slung around his waist and was whispering into his ear, although he still couldn’t make out what he was saying.

He heard a snapping sound and he gasped, but no pain came. Instead, Twilight slowly lowered him down, until they were sitting, Wilds arms falling uselessly at his sides. His shackles must have been broken.
“…Okay. Don’t worry, I… here. Wild, it’s…” Twilight whispers sounded broken in his ears as the ringing slowly began to subside and suddenly Wild could feel that he was shaking. He leaned heavier onto Twilight, the others warmth relieving his muscles at least a little even if it aggravated his skin.

A sob tore through his throat, and he pressed his face into the others shoulder who tightened his grip around him. Wild tried to lift at least one of his arms to return the hug, but his arms wouldn’t answer his commands. Had he lost them? Were the nerves in them too damaged? Could he never swing a sword or draw a bow again?

Another sob escaped him, and another. He was terrified, and tired and hurting. He could do nothing but sit there and wail, not even hearing what Twilight was saying.
His balance shifted and he tried to catch himself but with his useless limbs he didn’t succeed in moving an inch. He stared around confused as the world seemed to blur and unblur rapidly around him, until he realised that Twilight had scooped him up and was now carrying him, sharing his weight with Time.

They were moving, maybe even running? It was hard to tell. The movement was jostling his injuries and Wild gasped as Twilight stumbled and almost dropped him. He could hear him sputter apologies, but before Wild could even attempt to reply, he saw blackness overtaking his vision from the edges. He didn’t have the energy to fight it.

Chapter Text

Wild had been taken in by the medics as soon as they arrived at Gerudo Town, the chain being shooed aside. It took two agonizing hours for the Medic to return with news, declaring Wild to be “stable” which didn’t do much to lift their moods. She proceeded to fret over them, checking them for any injuries, even though they all insisted to be fine.
After not finding anything, she stared at them for a few seconds, before warning them that Wild had been the one and only exception, specifically to save his life. They were not permitted entry to the Town and were to wait for him to have recovered enough to come see them out here. With that declaration came a great deal of protests, but they understood quickly that it was futile, settling down in the tent in front of the entrance.

Waiting was the worst part, even with the medics bringing them steadily improving reports at least twice a day and Riju visiting frequently too. The whole operation had ended surprisingly well for them, but still two Gerudo Warriors had been heavily injured, although they were up in a mere three days, coming out of town to chat.

Waiting around was boring and agonizingly slow. Almost a week had passed, and the medic had yet to tell them that Wild had woken up for more than a few seconds. He hoped desperately that they might just not be telling them the whole truth, but he knew the Gerudo were not cruel and were trying their best.

Legend stared at the entrance to the town, lost in his thoughts. There were loads of people were milling abut the square, buying things from vendors or chatting happily. Legend longed to take a look at the jewellery stand, contemplating to maybe ask them to bring him a few pieces to look at. As he contemplated the request, a hand reached around the wall of the entrance from inside, gripping the stone tightly. Legend frowned. He got up and looked towards the others, closely seated together and playing some sort of game that Time had suggested, mainly to distract all of them from their thoughts. As he turned back, he gasped in shock and quickly rushed forward.

Stumbling through the gate came Wild, white as a sheet and covered in brilliant white bandages that did not nearly contrast with his skin enough. Legends barely managed to prevent the teen from faceplanting, quickly moving to drag the teen into the shade of the tent to get him out of the blistering sun.
“What do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be resting.” He hissed, but he couldn’t help but feel happiness blooming in his chest. Wild was here and breathing and even moving on his own.

“She said s’mthing about you not coming in, so I though-“ He squirmed in Legend grasp and he quickly let go, Wild sitting on the sand, “I’d come out here.” He blinked up at Legend and grinned, the movement lopsided. The others had reached them in the meantime, Hyrule quickly fussing over Wild who tried to push him away, until his eyes found Warriors. Wild suddenly froze and they all hesitated, afraid what his reaction would be.

He carefully lifted an arm and stretched it out towards Warriors, his palm open. Warriors took his hand apprehensively. He yelped surprised as Wild pulled him forward with surprising force, barely able to catch himself and Wild wrapped him in a hug, burying his face in Warriors neck. The Captain reluctantly returned the hug and Legend could hear Wild whisper something that made Wars tense, but he couldn’t hear what he said.

“You shouldn’t be out here Wild,” Time chided, but the relief was evident in his voice too. “I had to come out here to see if guys were okay.” He mumbled, lifting his head from Wars shoulder and staring up at them. “They said you were okay but they don’t know you-“

“You shouldn’t be worrying about us in the state you’re in, you had us worried sick Cub. For days.” Whispered Twilight, his hand carding through Wilds hair.
He huffed. “Worrying about you was the whole point though, wasn’t it?” Legend could feel the others tense up, the topic they had been avoiding so carefully dragged out into the open.

“About that,” Times voice was tense, his mouth pressed into a fine line. “Oh Time, really? Can’t this wait.?” The rancher sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“No. What you did was reckless and stupid. You should not have gone ahead and even more than that, you should not have abused our trust like that-“

“Oh excuse me for keeping us all alive.” The reply was filled with surprising fury and Legend threw a worried glance between the two.
“There would have been other ways. We are supposed to act as a Team.”

“No there were not.” Wild pushed Warriors away from him surprisingly softly for the anger in his tone and pushed himself to his feet. Before the others could protest he growled: “You think I don’t know my own Hyrule? You think I have never dealt with the Yiga before?”

“That is not what I was saying, and you know that.”

“What I know, is that your plans – that you refused to change against my literal begging – would have been a sure-fire way to get Warriors killed. I’ve been in this situation before. It wasn’t this dire, I will admit that, but had I not given myself up back then-“, he choked on his Words and Legend reached out a steadying hand, keeping him on his feet. Wild took a deep breath before continuing.

“This has happened before. Not just once- but twice.”

Silence. None of them knew what to say, especially Legend. Time looked shocked; his one eye opened wide in surprisingly open emotion.
“They kidnapped someone close to me – someone I loved. The king forbade me from going, and we received their head in the mail days later.”
Wild chocked again and pressed one of his hands to his chest but shook his head as Hyrule tried to approach.

“Then – two years later – it happened again. But this time it was Zelda. Now suddenly, the king was fine with it. So I went there alone, and it all turned out fine.” His voice was hard, his eyes far off as he spoke until they suddenly refocused on Time, a newfound anger in his tone.
“So don’t tell me what’s best for dealing with the Yiga. I am well aware.”

None of them dared to speak. Time shook his head slowly, clearly grasping for words. The silence seemed oppressive and Wilds stare didn’t waver.

“You’re bleeding.” Hyrule suddenly said, reaching his hands out. “Let me heal you. I’m more than well rested now.” Sure enough, a small blot of blood had appeared on one of the bandages on Wilds arm.

He hesitated for a second, then sat down where Hyrule tugged him. As he worked his magic, the others slowly seemed to regain their composure and went to sit down too, the Captain shifting around to face them.

He held his head in his hands, staring at the floor. Legend carefully placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. “It’s my fault you know.” He whispered and Legend felt the gooseflesh on his arms. “If they hadn’t dragged me away- “,“Bullshit.” Legend hissed and he saw Warriors look up at him, clearly not believing him.

With a sigh, Legend leaned back. It was going to take a long time, for all of them to properly process this. And he had a feeling that it would not be easy nor pleasant in the slightest. But hey, it would get better and they were all still here. Maybe injured, but alive and breathing and going to get better, together.