Chapter Text
He can’t remember the last time he was this hot.
Warriors honestly should’ve expected the portal to split them up at this point. It wasn’t like the last three portals had been any different.
Although, none of them had dropped him in the middle of the desert without any of his supplies after a battle, either.
He adjusted his scarf again, heaving pulled it over his head to keep at least some of the sun off of him. He hated the grimy feeling sweat left, but at least he was still sweating. He knew it would be bad if he stopped.
Wars topped yet another dune, yet again seeing only more dunes, yet again feeling hopelessness sink it’s claws in just that bit deeper. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Either his brothers would find him, or he’d find an oasis.
He’d be fine.
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Logically, Warriors knew that the hotter he got, the more he would sweat, and the more water he would need to drink.
Somehow, he hadn’t quite anticipated that he would feel this thirsty.
He’d been dehydrated before. Honestly, he probably was constantly dehydrated, with how much he got caught up in other things and forgot to eat or drink until someone pulled him out of his own head. But somehow he had never been this thirsty before. It was all consuming, this thirst, taking over every thought, yet magnifying every other ache and pain and thought all at once.
Din’s Flames, why was it so blasted hot?
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He… He had been going somewhere, right? He hadn’t just been walked in circles?
He was half convince he was walking in circles. He kept seeing things, kept seeing water and shade and bleak nothingness, but he forced himself to ignore it. He’d dealt with Cia’s illusions, after all.
But a shade of doubt crept in. What if they had been real? What if he’d missed his chance? And then he would swing around wildly, desperately searching, but there was never anything there.
At least he had stopped sweating. There was one thing to be glad about.
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When had he been facing sand?
When had the world become yellow?
W h e n . . .
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. . .
?
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“...reful, h…”
“Nee… wa… ol… offfff…”
“H..s… asy!... eye… erature…”
Ice
“Oo… old…”
“Sh...k…”
“...reful…”
Bands around his chest and legs, stoping him from thrashing
“...’s…rking…”
“...lder?”
“N… ad…dea…nee…”
Frozen solid ice encasing him, the bands never moving, never moving
“...urnt… adly… loti…”
“Make… ome up…”
He was only losing bits of words, now
“...king…up…”
“...ter…”
Something cool and wet in his mouth
“Not… llowing…”
A hand gently rubbing his throat
“...ere…oes,,,”
An Ice chu freezing his throat
“...ild… old eli…”
“Here…”
Something like slime slipping past his teeth
“...oming…own…”
“Sti… oo hot…”
“...et shee…”
Why couldn’t he hear them
“...sy, you… right…”
Why couldn’t he wake up?
Wake up
Wake Up
WAKE UP
WAKE UP
W A K E U P
“Please, Wars… Just wake up…”
Wind.
That was Wind.
Warriors opened his eyes.
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Almost immediately, he slammed them shut with a soft groan. The light was too bright, every inch of his skin burned .
The other sound in the room stopped.
“Nayru’s Isles. Wars? You awake?” A voice entirely devoid of it’s normal sarcasm asked.
Legend.
“ ‘n the’ry…” Wars rasped, throat dry as sand.
Sand.
Sand .
“ ‘t h’ppned t’ th’ d’s’rt?” He asked, flinching when a hand snaked around his shoulders and helped him into a sitting position. But he was infinitely grateful for the cup of water that was almost immediately placed into his hand.
“Let’s put it this way, I’ve never seen you fail so badly to defeat an enemy before,” Twilight teased. Mentally, Warriors snorted, but he didn’t have the energy to make it a reality.
“It nearly killed ya, that’s what!” Wind called, bouncing onto the bed, “Dontcha know better than to wear armor in the desert?”
“Didn’t have my bag,” Warriors mumbled, though it was less slurred now that he’d had water.
“So? We can get another set of mail!” Legend protested.
Actually, no. This one had been blessed by so many that Warriors knew it couldn’t be replaced.
But he didn’t have the energy to say that to them right now. Instead, he tiredly settled back into the pillows, just glad to be alive.