Chapter Text
Legend hissed as the rope slid across his arm, the wet rope made slick with water digging into his wrist and burning as the frayed material broke through the skin of his forearm. He adjusted the rope despite the protest from his wrists, making sure that it stayed taught so that the sail stayed in place. It stung in a way that reminded him too much of the last time he’d been navigating the sea in a storm as bad as this one, which was not a very pleasant thought to have.
At least there wasn’t any lightning this time… for now.
Rain pelted his face, plastering his strawberry colored hair to his face when it wasn’t busy getting in his eyes as the gales of strong, cold air whipped past the little red boat that he and Wind were currently sailing. The Sailor in question had another rope in his hands, pulling it tight to help assist Legend in keeping the sail in the proper position.
Wind looked tired– exhausted even– the skin under his eyes smeared a dark purple, his jaw clenched painfully tight, and his brows furrowed in concentration that mirrored Legend’s own. Despite his tendency to act cold and distant from the rest of the heroes, Legend couldn’t help the inkling of worry that sprung up in his chest at the sight of the young boy drenched in the freezing rain, arms shaking as he pulled on the rope more and more.
Damn. Legend really wished they hadn’t lost their compass ten minutes into the brunt of the storm. Their one saving grace amidst the huge waves and sheets of rain had been flung helplessly into the water with the rest of their supplies and potions they had just bought after a particularly large wave had nearly overturned the boat.
It was supposed to have been a short trip, Legend reminded himself angrily, a scowl pulling at his features. This was supposed to have been a simple day trip to Windfall for medicine that he and the Sailor had to get themselves because Mask and Warriors had caught the flu, and by the way the rest of the group looked dead on their feet, the majority of the team would be out of commission by the time they got back.
But no , nothing was ever easy for the group of heroes, apparently.
So Wind and Legend had been trying to make their way back to Windfall Island in hopes that they could stock up on materials again and wait out the storm, although after the loss of their compass, the main goal was to simply find land .
Legend bit his lip in concentration, the ropes slipping slightly and biting into his hands even more. He let out a small hiss of pain, pulling the ropes tight again, when the Sailor seemed to light up a bit.
Through the howling wind and the rain that pounded upon them, Wind’s voice barely got through to Legend, but his message was clear as he pointed off into the distance.
There was land.
Legend followed the kid’s gaze where, much to his relief, there seemed to be a good sized island in the distance, the steep cliffs and forest of trees creating a blot of dark color in the distance. Legend let out a sigh of relief that was quickly forgotten as the ropes slid across his arm again and caused him to yelp in pain.
The Sailor simply raised a hand, eyes closed in concentration, and Legend felt the air shift. The sail went limp for just a moment before snapping back into place, caught in a new air current that pointed them directly to the island. Legend and the kid resumed their positions working to keep the sail in place, although with a little more relief evident in their stances as they got steadily closer to land.
When they had reached the edge of the sandy beach, Wind jumped out of the boat into the shallow waters, only stumbling a little bit as the water rushed past him. Legend followed suit, helping the Sailor to drag the boat onto land and flip it on its side so that they could tie the sail to the mast to make sure it didn’t get blown away in the storm.
While Wind finished up his work of tying the ropes into place, Legend scanned the area they had found themselves in in search of a shelter.
The island was mostly barren, save for an occasional lump of driftwood half submerged in sand. On both sides of the beach they stood on were two larger land masses that quickly turned into a wall of cliff that were definitely unclimbable in the two of their current positions. It was with a genuine release of tension in his shoulders and a reluctant ‘ thank the gods ’ that Legend spotted a small hole in the side of one of the cliffs, the overhang jutting out just enough so that it would at least provide a bit of cover from the rain.
As soon as Wind had finished, Legend had grabbed his hand and began dragging him along, only minorly concerned that the kid wasn’t actively fighting back and/or cussing him out as he did so. He spared a glance back at the Sailor, the kid’s eyes half closed as he squinted through the wind and the rain, mouth caught in a frown that put his inner thoughts on full display.
Legend’s hands and forearms stung painfully, and each time Legend looked to see why exactly they hurt so much, he was met with thick, red rope burns across his skin. His palms were sticky with blood from where the rope had managed to break open his skin.
When he and the Sailor had finally reached the little crevasse in the side of the cliff, Legend found that he didn’t let go of the kid’s hand, instead opting to pull him as close to him as possible as Legend settled his back against the cold rock as far from the edge of their shelter as he could get. Rain still pelted outside, but luckily barely missed them from where they sat protected by rock overhead.
Wind settled into Legend’s lap, his shivering prompting Legend to pull him close to his chest, wrapping both arms around the kid to try and keep the both of them warm as cold breezes rushed through the little hole they hid in. The boy shuddered particularly hard when another freezing draft of air blew right by them, coughing lightly as Legend rubbed his arms to try and keep the kid warm despite their situation.
They sat in silence for quite a while, the storm raging on furiously. Legend had actually been quite sure that Wind had drifted off, but his attention was brought back to the kid as something brushed lightly along the rope burn on his arm, causing him to wince at the gentle touch.
Wind ran a careful thumb across Legend’s wrist and palm, examining the bruised wounds with a concentrated frown. The Sailor was the most expressive person Legend had ever had the pleasure of meeting, and his frown showed obvious worry about the older man. The kid looked up at Legend with glassy, half lidded eyes, never letting go of Legend’s hand as he did so.
Legend finally noticed the similar rope burns on Wind’s palms as well. He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re bleedin’,” the kid spoke with a slight rasp in his throat, voice slurred with a bone deep exhaustion, although his voice seemed shockingly loud after not having been able to hear him over the volume of the storm outside.
Legend shrugged.
“M’fine. I’ve had worse,” was all Legend said in response. “Ya should worry more about yourself.” He said, tilting his head down at the Sailor’s own hands.
This answer didn’t seem to satisfy Wind. The kid mumbled something soft under his breath, shook his head at Legend’s words, and then tugged the edge of his blue tunic out from under him, using the edge of the soaked fabric to gently wipe the blood smeared on Legend’s hands away.
Legend winced a bit as the blue fabric turned dark with blood, but was relieved to see that it was only a small smear on the corner of the cloth rather than a full soaked stain. It would wash out easily, much to his relief, as he knew Wind loved his blue lobster tunic a whole lot.
He let Wind finish up before taking the kid’s hands in his own, running his own gentle thumb across the wounds left by the ropes on his hands and using Wind’s tunic to dab at the injuries as well. Legend traced the marks down his hands, past the edge of Wind’s white undershirt, where Legend found evidence of previous rope burns on the kid’s forearms in the form of dark, bruised looking scars; a testament to his name. He was a Sailor. This is what he did.
Wind let his eyes slip closed, his raspy breathing finally evening out despite his shivering in Legend’s arms. Legend finally let go of his hands, wrapping his arms around the kid’s chest and relishing in the little warmth the two of them shared amidst the still howling wind and storm just beyond the edge of their little shelter.
The rope burns on his arms stung, but still Legend found himself drifting off before too long.