Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sky was avoiding Warriors. It was subtle, he’ll give Sky that. But to the subject of avoidance, especially to someone in the habit of mentally cataloging the positions of everyone surrounding him, it was obvious. Typically, he placed himself in the rear vanguard, starting at the very front but as the travel wore on Sky would lag to the back. Lagging. But now, everytime Warriors would attempt to keep pace with him Sky would either speed up to reclaim his place or, by the three, slow down more until he was in line with more of the group.

Sure, Warrior’s jabs at his penchant for being late had increased recently, but Warriors didn’t find Sky juvenile enough to avoid the captain for them. Maybe Warriors was simply reviewing his image of the “Chosen Hero”. Stumbling into a monster camp with Hyrule expecting backup from the swordsman only to find him lazing about in camp with the others had really shaken it. It seemed that Sky and Legend had had a moment, seeing as how he now ruthlessly defends Sky against the Captain’s attacks, but that didn’t change the core of the issue: The Chosen is always late.

He rubs the slight scar on his neck that he’d gotten through The Chosen’s tardiness and grimaces. Time watches him out of the corner of his eye, which flicks to the setting sun. As soon as they arrive at a suitable location for camp he calls out for them to set up for the night. They all look relieved, Chosen the most so. He attempts to help Wild with dinner, but he begins nodding off halfway through cutting a carrot, spurring a giggle out of Wild and him being pushed away from the cutting board and into cheerful Twilight who delegates The Chosen to his bed roll. With a sleepy sigh he curls up around his sailcloth, but opens up a bit for Four to use him as a pillow while he cracks open his latest book, eyes a warm purple.

Warriors pauses from where he was making a ring of rocks for a fire circle as he watches The Chosen slumber on. Is he physically incapable of helping the others set up? Warriors let out a tch as he finished placing the stones. Legend, from where he’d been moving logs into place around the fire, stops to glare at Wars.  Wars rolled his eyes as he stood to his full height, situating himself by Time’s side. Some chosen hero he was.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Wars grimaced as he rolled his ankle. The connection points were still stinging as the muscles got used to being connected together. He wasn’t sure what exactly had severed his foot from his leg, all he knew is that one moment he was standing upright and the next he was on the ground while a plume of otherworldly black smoke dispelled revealing none other than The Chosen Hero. Late, once again. 

A fairy was already attending to his leg but he still reached down to wrap a bandage around the ring of open gore that still shone through. A potion, and he’d be good as new. That still didn’t help the anger that was simmering under his lungs. He ignored The Chosen’s offered hand to hoist himself up, stumbling a bit as white hot pain shot through his leg, reminding him that his leg isn’t as connected as it should be. 

“Where were you,” the Captain forces out as the pain flashes with his heartbeat. Chosen rummaged through his bag looking for a potion, wheezing like he’d fought this battle entirely by himself. He didn’t. He was barely involved in the battle, not until right. at. the. End.

Late.

“I’m sorry,” Chosen gasped. “You all-” Gasp “-Took off-” Gasp “-I had to run-” A gasp and a cough, getting creative are we? “-After you all.”

“Save the excuses, Chosen ,” He ground out the word like a curse. At this point it was. “We could have used your divinely protected ass in this one.”

“I did the best I could,” The Chosen huffed out and tried to smile softly. It came out like a grimace. He forced out a strangled laugh and added “You know how slow I am.”

“Yes, we know. There’s no hiding it,” the Captain said sharply, taking a deep breath in while clenching his teeth down. The fighting had already stopped and the others were regrouping away from them. Time was taking stock of the others while glancing in the direction of the two Heros. It seemed there were minimal injuries this time. Except for Wars.

The unfairness of the situation had sunk in far before this battle, but now it seemed this time was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Why was it that Wars was judged to be arrogant so quickly? Why was it that Wars had to rely on everyone else when he was the hero? Why was it that Cia obsessed over him so specifically when there were at least eight other incarnations of the hero in front of him?! Did she see him as corruptible? A disgrace? A failure of a hero?

No- the only failure of a hero Wars saw was in front of him. The captain would take arrogance over laziness any day. The Chosen was peering at him with a look of concern and inexplicably that was what finally made Wars snap.

“Just because you don’t have a Hyrule to care about doesn’t mean we don’t. You babble on about Skyloft all the time but you don’t even seem to realize that as a hero we’re sworn to protect all of Hyrule, not just your precious girlfriend. Is that why she put you on this quest? I get Hylia has you on a leash but I guess even she got sick of you-”

“ Wars .” 

Time.

His younger-now-older brother put a hand on his shoulder, but not in comfort. It was firmer. The Captain snapped his mouth shut, but didn’t look away from the Chosen. The Chosen’s face had gone blank, the smile sliding off his mouth as Wars had lashed at him, but it did nothing to hide the storm going on in his eyes.

The rest of the group had caught up, circling the two warily but not stepping closer. Except for Legend, who was barely holding back his acidic anger. Four, the other closest to Chosen, cycled through expressions rapidly, flashing from stony purple, teary red, shocked green, and, most frequently, enraged blue. A shaky exhale from The Chosen was what spurred Legend to rush in front of him.

“Listen, you fucking-” Legend started, but The Chosen interrupted him with a gentle hand on Legend’s shoulders. His bad hand. It tremorred slightly as he lifted it, and Wars felt a twinge of regret course through him. That was one of the things the quiet Hero had shared with him after a nightmare. They’d bonded over how their hands were adorned with their own battle scars; Wars with his burn scars, and Sky with his electrical. He’d never gotten the reason why lightning burns adorned them.

“Is that what you truly think?” Sky’s soft voice rumbled between the heroes. The pressure of Sky’s gaze was crushing, but Warrior’s stayed strong and held eye contact with him. While he regretted what he said, he knew the words were based in how he felt. Besides, guilt wouldn’t take them back. Sky sighed again, as if he read every thought Warriors tried to hide behind his mask of a captain, and his glare lost some of that pressure that froze everyone in place. He hated how easily Sky could read everyone. He hated- no, not Sky. He hated The Chosen. He hated the pressure of being Chosen. He hated how he didn’t fulfill the noble role of being the Chosen.

“Whatever I say right now won’t change your mind. I suggest you take a walk and clear your mind.” Sky’s eyes flickered towards his leg before landing back on his face. “No matter what you may think of me as a Hero, that is no excuse to question my dedication. While you take some time to yourself, I’d like to remind you: I am the first for a reason.”

With that, he swiftly turned away from Warriors and marched off to the tree line, Legend following him after sending a glare at the captain. Warriors exhaled after reminding himself to breathe, and turned towards the treeline as well. Time’s grip on his shoulder did not abate, and Warriors heard the cadence of Four’s steps behind him as well. He was in for the worst lecture of his life. He deserved it.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“Why don't you stand up for yourself?” Legend asks with a huff as he plops down next to Sky. The easy going hero had pulled out a chunk of wood and was shaving it down in concerningly strong strokes. 

Sky sighed. “I'm not interested in involving myself with someone else's ego issues, I’ve dealt with that before and it is not-” Sky sliced through the wood in a purposeful swipe “-my problem to fix.”

“Yeah,” Legend leans back against the tree in faux nonchalance. “But you're not helping anything by not standing up for yourself. Either you punch him or I do.”

“Are you implying I don't have a spine?” Sky paused his cutting and glared at Legend out the side of his eye. Despite his many years of facing the most horrifying evils Hylia could throw at him, Legend felt a flash of fear jolt down his spine. The air gained a static with the weight of Sky’s gaze, reminding Legend of how the air felt before lightning struck. Sky closed his eyes and sighed. “I'm sorry, I know that wasn't what you were saying…” He paused and held his breath. “It's just... hard being held to the ideal of a hero when you don't have an example... when you are the example set. I guess I’m doing worse than I thought.”

“Really?” Legend squeezed his hands around where they curled around his bent knee to rid them of the phantom buzz running through them. “I think you're doing a great job, better than the fucker who left me with his mess to clean up.”

“Don't say that, you of all people know how unfair that is to say,” Sky chided him with a glare, though not as intense as his previous one. Not even close.

Legend sighed. “I know... but sometimes I still wonder why I have to be the one who fixes everyone's shit.”

“...I'm sorry,” Sky’s morose tone floated between them, reminiscent of a prayer in tone and whether it was dubious if it was meant to be actually acknowledged.

“Don't be, it's not your fault,” Legend acknowledged anyway.

Sky hummed like he always did, neither agreeing or disagreeing, just recognizing that someone had spoken. Legend felt his temper crash into him like a wave.

“Look, I don't need your fucking pity,” Legend snapped.

“It's not pity,” Sky said with an unidentifiable look. Legend felt his anger recede and untensed as he studied the Skyloftian. There was an almost imperceptible furrow in his brow and his jaw was slightly open like he wanted to stick his tongue out while he cut another chunk out of the wood, but without his usual smile he looked… guilty, almost. Legend reminds himself that the people he’s traveling with, the person sitting next to him, are heroes; of course they’d feel guilty over the troubles of others, they’d been forced to fix them for most of their lives.

“Sorry... I shouldn't be saying that,” Legend ran a hand through his hair and crossed his arms. “I, of all people, know how unfair it is to say.”

Sky hummed once again, but didn’t respond. The scrape of the knife against the forming sculpture was the only noise passed between the two, the sound grating on Legend’s nerves with each pass. He squeezed his arms tighter around himself and jiggled his knee slightly with nervous energy before he broke the silence.

“Listen, I- I'm just glad… that I found people who understand. Who truly understand. There's no such curse like being a hero.”

“Seems there's no escaping it,” Sky said with a tired smile, but guilt still clouded his eyes. How much had Legend missed behind the mask that was his smile?

As Legend studied the Skyloftian’s face he was struck with the revelation that they were the same age. They were both 19. The rest of the group tended to forget that fact; Legend, because of his experience, and Sky, because of the maturity that seemed to emanate from him. But as he looked past the smile there was a deep exhaustion. No teenager should have eyebags that dark, nor eyes that old. Eyes that he saw every time he looked in the reflection.

Who else has noticed these things about Sky? Who else was truly paying attention? Sky was thoroughly cemented in the group, of course, but who was actually close to him? There was always that tension in the atmosphere anytime Sky shared anything about his home, grudges bleeding through any civil discussions of what Sky loved. The closest he could think of is Four, the other loner in the group. However, he seemed content in solitude, never truly seeming alone. Sky, however… his loneliness seemed to weigh him down more and more every day their adventure continued.

Sky shouldn’t feel such weight and pain from this adventure. It seemed to crush him, even in the simplest ways like his breathing. Legend’s thoughts echoed to the closing statement of Sky and War’s argument.

“You really mean it when you say you're the first,” Legend stated. It really wasn’t a question.

“That's the one thing I know for sure.” Shit, Sky’s features were growing even heavier.

“Looks like your Hylia's favorite plaything, huh?” Legend threw out, hoping to startle Sky out of his spiraling thoughts. He expected Sky to blush or stammer over the connotations behind the teasing statement, but he’d even take a defense of her holiness over watching Sky crash into himself.

He didn’t expect Sky to agree with a resigned “Yeah…”

Shit. Shit shit shit shit Legend was not equipped for this. Give him a dungeon and he’d figure it out in time for dinner but when faced with a person he was panicking. This is why he left interpersonal issues to, well, Sky , but it had never occurred to him that their beloved head-in-the-clouds hero was dragged down by such baggage. What would Sky do what would Sky do Legend repeated to himself as both the answer and the source of his franticness sat next to him in ignorance of his struggle. His mind flashed to all the times the Skyloftian had comforted him with physical touch, somehow always just what the other needed, and in sheer desperation flopped his head onto Sky’s shoulder, blushing in embarrassment. Sky froze his carving then placed the suspiciously rabbit shaped chunk of wood next to him. Sky shifted Legend to tuck him into his arm and wrapped the sailcloth around both of them. Legend breathed in deeply and the faint scent of Zelda’s perfume filled him with a sense of calm.

“Zelda gave me this sailcloth, you know,” Sky says quietly.

Legend really wants to remark on how hard it is to not know but in a remarkable show of self restraint he refrains. Taking another page out of Sky’s book he hums in affirmation.

“At first, it was given to me as a blessing from the goddess. When I set off for this next adventure, I nearly left it behind.” Legend looks up at Sky in shock. Sky has a sad smile on his face as he reminisced. “Zelda gave it to me once again as a reminder that she's always with me. It's a reminder of home, of course, and everything that I left behind, but it's beginning to feel more and more like a shackle.”

“I didn't realize you and Zelda... had any struggles. You two just seem like…” Legend sought for a word that even began describing how perfectly in love those two seemed.

“Soulmates? Fated?” Sky suggested with a wry chuckle before sighing. “It definitely seems so. Sometimes I wonder if it is.” While those words would typically seem hopeful, Sky says them bitterly. While Legend may struggle with his fate he begins to realize those struggles don’t even compare when the individual in question interacts with the divine on a daily basis. Hylia (it’s weird to use that name as a curse when he’s literally thinking about her, no wonder Sky doesn’t use her name in vain), he’s currently dating a goddess’s incarnation. Legend wonders if Sky ever questions if he actually has free will in his fate, or if it’s all part of Hylia’s plan. He really hopes he doesn’t, but the look in Sky’s eyes says otherwise. And having his legacy thrown in his face certainly wasn’t doing any favors.

“You know, sometimes I wish I could be like Fi.” Fi? Oh yeah, the sword. “She is.. was always so logical, and was able to accept her fate of sleeping forever so easily. Sometimes I wish I could join her.” Legend tenses, but Sky ignored him despite absolutely feeling him. “I'm so tired. I have no idea how the spirit of the hero lasts long enough to have the rest of you on this adventure with me.”

“So you're just going to accept fate, just like that? You of all people know just how unfair that is to say. We're kind of the experts on the whole 'changing fate' shtick.” They both let out strained laughter and Legend wraps his arms around Sky in an awkward hug. “We need you, Sky.”

“You need me for my legacy,” Sky shot back.

“No, we need you because you are our spirit . I'm not sure we could have gotten so far without you…”

Sky hums once again in neither acceptance or denial, but he seems reassured.

“Look, I'm just glad that out of all of us, you're the first. Can you imagine if it was Warriors?! The fucking terror,” Legend snarks. Sky lets out a genuine laugh as he squeezes Legend tighter, curling around him and holding him more like a stuffed animal rather than a goddess damned hero.

“Hey, I didn't sign up for being your pillow, the fuck,” Legend protests from where he’s now shoved against Sky’s chest.

“But you're so cute and cuddly. Like a-”

“Don't. Say. It.”

“Oh well. As it is-” Sky pauses to let out a yawn “-I suppose Warriors is right about how much I sleep.”

“Listen, if he complains I'll fucking bite him.”

“My guard dog, huh? I thought that was Wolfie's job. Perhaps we should invite Twi into this cuddle pile,” Sky teased.

“Fuck no, Rancher smells like dog. Eau de Wolfass,” Legend paused, remembering the elaborate scheme to prevent a certain Skyloftian from finding out in the first place. “I didn't realize he told you about that, either.”

“He didn’t. It's quite easy to figure out, y’know. Even before the... incident, I was waiting for a confirmation.” As Sky murmured his answer he’d began carding his fingers through Legend's still pink hair, working out any knots and generally making Legend blush at the affection.

“Hey. Birdbrain. Stop preening me.”

Sky hummed sleepily in neither refusal or rebuttal to Legend’s protest as he dropped his chin on top of Legend's head. Legend sighs, and resigns himself to his fate.

Chapter Text

Warriors had seen many sides of Time, there was no hiding it during the war no matter how hard Sprite tried. Even with all the masks he owned he never quite perfected turning his face into one. Still, it had pierced through the captain’s heart more painfully than any blade he’d crossed when Sprite had looked at War trying to hide stalwart disappointment in his expression when they’d walked into the woods. Four had flanked him, arms crossed, face painfully blank. There was no point in reading the smith, Wars already struggled monumentally with that task.

Might as well get this over with. Wars turned towards the heroes once they were out of eyesight of the others. “I already know what you’re going to say.”

“Oh, do you?” Sprite’s eyebrow raised. It was the tattooed side. Wars was fucked.

“I acted unprofessionally and baselessly aggressive to my own ally. I let personally grudges affect my rationale and disrupted the peaceful dynamic-”

“You realize this isn’t the army, right?” Sprite cut him off. Wars stood even straighter, stiff arms clasped behind his back.

“I do, yes,” Wars replied curtly.

“Then stop treating everyone like it is.”

Wars sharply exhaled, closing his eyes tightly. “With all due respect, we are fighting battles constantly. It might as well be.” Even without his eyes open, Wars could tell that’d ticked Time off.

“You know that’s not true,” Four interjected before Time could say anything. Ah, the wild card. So that’s how he was going to play.

Wars flexed his jaw slightly before responding. “And what do you mean by that?”

“You know this is different from the army,” Four said simply. Wars opened his eyes to glare at the little fuck. Four studied him as they retained eye contact.

“We are battling nearly constantly, yes,” Sprite said slowly, retaining the hold he had over his temper, “but we’re all heroes, here.”

“What a world of difference,” Warriors replied sarcastically, the edges of his words brittle. Something flickered in the depths of Four’s eyes. Goddess fucking damnit, the Chos- Sky and Four were so similar in the way they could read people. A bit hypocritical of him, of course, seeing as they both were currently having a battle of what subtext could be implied from this conversation and studying every single expression that crossed over the three’s faces.

“What happened in the war was unfair to you but you’re letting it cloud your perception, Link.” Wars refused to look at Sprite.

Goddesses, when did he become the older brother. Wars was supposed to be responsible for him, protect him, steer him into the right direction. And then they got separated by the flow of time itself. It seemed to have turned out for the better. Perhaps Sprite would have been better off if Link wasn’t the one who looked out for him-

“Stop it.”

Link’s gaze flickered towards his younger-older brother before he reminded himself he didn’t want to see the pity surely there. He was supposed to stay strong, by the three.

“I know what you’re doing, Link. You’re not supposed to be perfect.”

Something cracked in Link’s composure. His eye twitched. He hardened his gaze towards nothingness.

“You may be a hero, but you shouldn’t have been placed on that pedestal. You shouldn’t have been pushed and molded until you became someone you didn’t want to be,” Time continued. “You’re still human.”

“But I’m still the hero,” Wars hissed out.

“We all are,” stated Four.

“Exactly!” Exclaimed the captain, composure finally snapping. “Ex-act-ly! I- Goddess, I don’t even compare to you all!”

“That’s not true-”

“Yes! It! Is!” Wars finally looked at his brother as he interrupted him. “I am obviously the weakest link here, or else she wouldn’t have-” His voice broke. Even that wasn’t strong enough.

He squeezed his eyes so tight that they began to throb. They only snapped back open when the sound of footsteps toward him reached his ears. He took a step back from his brother, worry permeating from his entire being. He sucked in a breath, trapping it in his chest as he composed himself. There goes his image of remaining strong.

“Captain,” started Four. His typically flat voice expressed concern. The captain didn’t need concern, he needed this to be over so that they could go back to camp and act like he’d never admitted that out loud. “How old were you when the war started?”

“That doesn’t matter-”

“He was as old as Sky is now,” Sprite answered for him. Warrior’s eyes stung as he delivered a harsh look at his brother.

“Barely an adult,” Four murmured.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Warriors snapped. Four opened his mouth but the look on the captain’s face quickly stamped out the mischief sparking from his eyes. Wisely, Four decided not to flame the argument of his current age, because no fucking way did Wars believe he was 20.

“I’m just saying. You know the pressure he’s under right now. I don’t understand why you would treat him like this.”

Warriors paused as he tried to find the best answer.

“Stop calculating,” Sprite chided.

“Oh, can you shut the-” Wars snapped his mouth shut as his temper burned bright. He could feel a headache descending on him. He rubbed his temples before Four threw him off balance again.

“It sounds like you’re jealous, captain.” Warriors stilled entirely. It felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. His mind blanked before defensiveness filled it entirely.

“Why in Hylia’s name would I be jealous of Sky?!” The captain yelled. His voice cracked in the middle.

“He doesn’t know what a hero should be nor does he want to be it,” Four answered. Like it’s that simple. “He’s free from that burden.”

“That’s not…” Wars croaked, throat impossibly tight. He couldn’t finish the sentence, it was useless to try and refute it. Instead, he sunk to the ground, crouching with his face pressed into his knees and hands wrapped around his legs. He winced as his fingers brushed against the still injured appendage. Once again, footsteps started towards him.

“Please don’t touch me,” Link whispered. Time crouched in front of him, armour clinking as he shifted. A tear escaped.

“You don’t have to be perfect, Link,” His brother murmured soothingly, like he was a timid horse. Wars sniffled at the comparison. If he were just a little more hysterical and a little less depressed he would have laughed. The greatest heroes were Epona shaped.

“I have to be,” Warriors shook his head from where it was still buried in his knees.

“Why?” Four asked, announcing his presence to the right of Link.

“It has to have meant something,” Wars refused to elaborate. He wasn’t sure he could even explain it all. If so many people had been afflicted by a war because a mad sorceress fell in love with the worst version of the hero… He hunched further into himself. Thankfully, Time understood.

“She didn’t choose you because you were corruptible. She chose you because you were alone. And you don’t have to be anymore.” A sob silently shook the captain.

“You don’t have to compete with us, Captain,” Four said kindly. “We love you no matter what.”

A quiet whimper was let out as Warrior silently leaned forward into Time’s chest. He was hesitantly embraced. He felt Time’s armour shift as a silent conversation took place above his head and he felt a small hand pat his back.

“I’ve got you,” Time rumbled out, using Link’s own words from the war, their positions reversed. Link let go of any concerns of his image, and sunk into his embrace.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Wars wiped at his face as he strode out the woods. The others had made camp in the clearing where the battle had happened. “Hey, does it look like I’ve been crying?”

“Don’t even bother, Captain,” Time teased as he walked to his side.

Wars huffed. “Okay, but is that a yes or a no.”

“Does it matter?” Four asked from his other side.

“Don’t get philosophical with me, we've had enough of that shit,” Warriors muttered as multiple of his comrades’ eyes snapped to them.

Warriors could see Twilight visibly sweating and worrying his lips with one of his canines as his gaze flicked between Sky and him, calculating the best way to help out that didn’t include absolutely smothering the two of them. Warriors could tell he wasn’t getting very far. Wild sat in the center of camp, surrounded by food that he’d undoubtedly been stress cooking while they were gone. He brandished a spatula (carved by Sky) as he stabbed at the pot aggressively. Warrior’s eyes flicked to Twilight who had a suspiciously spatula shaped welt on his hand. Seems Twilight had worried too much trying to help Wild cook and faced his wrath.

Hyrule and Wind were sitting on a log, tensely conversing when they snapped to the trio. Hyrule’s eyes flickered to Warrior’s leg, but he didn’t get up. Wind outright glared, and looked to be on the verge of berating him, but was stopped by Hyrule placing a hand on his shoulder and nodding to Sky and Legend. Sky was passed out leaning against a tree, and Legend was trapped in his grip. Legend had a caustic glare as he caught sight of the captain.

“Can I talk to Sky?” Wars asked as he paced past the others, Time and Four falling behind to restore order in the camp.

“I think you’ve talked enough,” Legend hissed as he sat up straighter. Despite him minimizing the movement, Sky still murmured as he was jostled. Legend stilled as Sky buried his face further into the crook of the veterans neck.

“I need to apologize,” Wars tried. Legend bristled.

“Of course you fucking do, dick head. I don’t want an empty apology, though; he doesn’t deserve that,” Legend said, trying to keep his voice low but failing. It was well known that Sky had lost some of his hearing during his adventure (although he never quite explained what from) but it seemed even when entrenched with sleep Legend was too loud for him.

“Legend..?” Sky croaked out as his eyelids fluttered.

“I need to speak with you,” Wars tried again. Sky’s eyelids remained heavy as the words were interpreted before snapping to the captain. Wars tried not to flinch. It reminded him of when the chain was first formed, how Sky studied everyone intensely while talking to them. It wasn’t until saving each other's lives multiple times that Sky allowed his gaze to drift away or his eyes to rest in conversations, no longer needing to calculate his moves. It was his show of trust.

Slowly, Sky nodded. “Yeah, we can talk… um… were you crying?”

Warriors was going to kill the runt. Legend’s eyebrow quirked as if he just now noticed. “That doesn’t matter.”

“Okay…” Sky didn’t press. He didn’t know if he should feel hurt or relieved. When Sky made no moves to get up, Warriors steeled himself to having this be a public ordeal.

“I apologize for my actions. They were hurtful and mislead, as well as…” Warriors stopped. He was being too militant. Legend’s eyes were already darkening with his wrath, while Sky’s face remained carefully blank. He tensed his jaw. “Goddess, I’m just- I’m really sorry Sky. You didn’t deserve that shit.”

Wild gasped dramatically behind him. “He said shit.”

“Shut. Up. Wild, stop eavesdropping,” Twilight hissed at him from where he was also eavesdropping.

“I- uh, I have some issues-” Legend snorted, tensing as Sky finally looked away, if only to glare at the veteran “- That- made me unfairly blame you for-”

“It’s okay,” Sky finally spoke up.

“It’s really not,” Warriors combatted. Legend nodded in agreement with Wars. “None of this was your fault.”

Sky hummed, causing Legend to squint his eyes at him. Apparently, Legend was onto something. There was a code with Sky that the chain had yet to break.

“Warriors, I accept your apology,” Sky smiled at him.

“But what I did isn’t something that-”

“Stop being so hard on yourself,” Time huffed.

Warriors held a breath then exhaled. He needed to stop critisizing everything he did. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that his brothers loved him. He cracked a small smile.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Okay, Wind understood why the others didn’t want him on night watch. He was mature like that, thank you very much. Wind could honestly argue that his rationale and reasoning was on the higher side, compared to the rest of the group. Sorry, Wild, but despite making up creative plans on the fly and being graced with insane technology to enact them, Wind still considered him, well, dumb, sometimes. 

He could empathize with them as well. He could definitely imagine having some reservations about, for example, putting Aryll on night watch, because that was his blessedly innocent (Not actually though, she could be more cut throat than any pirate on the Great Sea. Wind remembered once when Aryll had gotten so mad at Tetra in a card game (that the pirate was admittedly cheating at) that Aryll had began yelling threats so horrific that even Tetra had paled) and cutie patootie little sister, and he’d rather stay up all night then disturb her rest.

That didn’t stop him from thinking the others were full of bullshit. He didn’t care about how much they wanted to protect him, he was probably the only one who’d chosen to become a hero without fate or the goddesses or a tree forcing him. He admired their protectiveness, it was a wonderful trait to have, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying as fuck. 

He could have cried tears of joy (But he would never admit it to that jerk) when Legend had crossed his arms and leaned against a tree, saying that Wind as stupid (take a look in the mirror, dumbass) for willingly interrupting his sleep just to prove himself capable (Wind didn’t need to prove shit to these landlubbers), but to let him try a watch just to get it out of his system. Apparently, Wind was supposed to regret staying up late to let the others sleep safe and sound, and that exhaustion would bog him down in the morning, and that he’d fall asleep in the middle of it. Swear on Nana, Wind vowed to prove him wrong.

And so here Wind was, looking at the stars, twiddling his thumbs, bored out of his mind… kind of maybe agreeing with the Vet. He’d already done a perimeter sweep, like, a billion times, and it didn’t make time go by any faster. He was wide awake by virtue of walking quietly between everyone, but his feet also hurt from a day of walking as well. Whenever he tried to sit down and rest his feet, his eyes would get that annoying burning tired and heavy feel to them. Not ideal conditions for the person trying to prove a point- I mean, protect his wonderful sleeping companions. 

Wind sighed and tapped his fingers on his knee in the tune of his favorite sea shanty, one perfect for belting at the top of his lungs and always filled him with energy, but the biggest part of having the heroes rest easy under his watch was for them to actually rest. Wind was half convinced that one of the reasons that the others didn’t want him staying up was so he didn’t have to witness the others’ abhorrent sleeping habits. Wind wasn’t dumb: despite only traveling with the others for only a week or so, he could tell when the others had a rough night. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Warriors was still awake, just pretending to be asleep. Wind could smell the paranoia on the Captain potently. Smelled like whiskey. That, or that was the Captain’s drinking habit.

The only one who didn’t seem to have any problems with sleeping was Sky. In fact, it seemed he had the opposite problem, being too ready to sleep at the drop of a hat. Just yesterday, he’d watched Sky fall asleep standing up while actively engaged in a conversation with Twilight… and Sky had even kept sleep talking to Twilight. It was kinda freaky.

Sky was interesting to Wind. Despite being an lovable softy hopelessly enamoured with his girlfriend and being an overall genuinely nice guy, Wind could tell there was something a bit more calculating hiding behind his friendly exterior. Wind didn’t mean it in a bad way at all. In fact, Wind related to him in that regard; the way they socially pushed and prodded the others into not biting each others’ heads off was something that only the other recognized, and gave secret grateful smiles to each other when they successfully debarbed a fight brewing before the others, even the instigators, realized what was going to happen.

The only time he thinks the others were even aware of that side of the Skyloftian was a day or two into the journey when Warriors spurred the group into a tournament of sorts to gauge everyone’s capacity to fight. Secretly, Wind knew Warriors also just wanted to see how he stood compared to everyone else. Wind had gotten pretty far into the tournament, only to be defeated by Legend pulling a gimmick out of his ass. He could respect the grind, but turning yourself into a painting so you didn’t get skewered was stupid. 

At the end, it came down to a contest between Sky and Warriors, both knights with formal training. Those beaten by Warriors cheered Sky on, while the others beaten by Sky just… murmured to each other. Something had shifted in Sky when the duels started. Several were embarrassed to say that they hadn’t believed Sky would get far, he just seemed too nice to actively beat or even hurt someone else. Many of the group were scandalized in the first fight against monsters when Sky didn’t hesitate to chop a moblins head right off its neck. 

His stamina was an issue too, with the air seeming to choke Sky whenever he did something strenuous. In the end, Sky had a specific strategy to combat that issue: beat his opponent, quick . Warriors knew that, too. As they approached the center of the clearing they’d been using for their spars, dirt disturbed and grass torn, a static seemed to pass through the heroes, making them shift with anticipation. Sky’s friendly smile dropped as he focused entirely on the Captain, and if Wind didn’t know better he would have said the Captain was sweating. Whenever Sky began analyzing his opponents with his heavy gaze there was a pressure with it, like feeling a storm roll in before looking at the clouds above. Wind couldn’t tell if he was unaware of that, or used it to his advantage.

Twilight counted down, Wild swinging a rubber mallet at a shield (despite the obvious wince from Four) to commence the match. The group collectively took a breath in shock as Sky lunged forward with a flash, Warriors dodging and barely parrying the next swing from Sky, already stuck on the defensive. The Captain was planning on drawing out the fight, but even if he did want to shift to offense he wouldn’t have had the chance with Sky’s onslaught. One wrong move would spell defeat. 

Even with the Captain’s impeccable training, Sky managed to disarm him sleekly only thirty seconds into the fight, sending the sword flying and Sky’s own, a sword borrowed from Wild, to Warriors neck, stopping before it could do any harm. Wind didn’t even think the Chosen blinked during the fight, never taking his eyes off his opponent. 

Warriors had chuckled after a shocked pause, yielding. With that, Sky’s entire demeanor softened, seeming like a new person, hastily sheathing the sword and approaching Warriors to shake his hand and grin at him as bright as the sun, immediately chatting about how fun the fight was. The group let out the breath they were holding and resolved to never get on Sky’s bad side.

Wind sighed again as his tapping paused. The stars told him he had an hour or two until the shift switched to Time, who had a freaky habit of always waking up when he needed to. Wind swore he was part-man, part-clock, part-horse. Don’t ask him about the horse thing, though, he only learned what horses were yesterday. It just seemed right.

He stretched his arms above his head and looked at the sleeping forms of the others, only to jolt in surprise when he saw Sky sitting upright in his bedroll staring directly at him. Barely stopping himself from letting out a screech, he just grasped his chest as he breathed hard. Sky didn’t react at all, just continued staring at him with half lidded eyes. 

After a minute of the impromptu staring contest, Wind unfurled his hand from his chest and waved at Sky. No response. Wind dropped his hand as he watched in confusion. 

“...What are you doing here?” Sky finally said, voice raspy from sleep. His eyes twitched a little from where the irises were obscured halfway. His hand stiffened like he was grabbing something.

“I’m… doing night watch? Like you all finally agreed??” Wind answered, confusion dripping from his words. 

“Who are you?” Sky’s voice dropped a bit lower into an inquiring tone, on the verge of sounding like he was interrogating Wind.

“It’s Wind. As in, the coolest Link here.” Sky’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“But… you can’t be me.”

“You’re right, I’m not you,” Wind replied, still confused. This was honestly really worrying. Wind didn’t know how to deal with spontaneous amnesia. That was Twilight’s thing. Wind studied the Skyloftian’s face in the low lighting. His face seemed to be a little bit sweaty. “Are you sick? You look a bit feverish. With the way you’re sweating you look kinda… gross, sorry not sorry.”

“Why would you tell me this?” Sky face pinched into a stormy grimace. It wasn’t like Sky was restrained at all with showing emotion, but seeing Sky outwardly express distaste was surprising to Wind. He supposed that everyone had their moments, especially if they didn’t seem lucid.

Wind raised his hands up in surrender. “Hey man, I speak the truth.”

“No, you don’t.” Well damn. No need to call Wind out like that. Wind let out a dramatic groan to rival Time’s as he got off the log he was sitting on. Sky’s gaze didn’t follow him. That was very much unlike him. Sky rarely took his eyes off the others when he was talking to people, gauging their responses to everything. Something was definitely wrong. 

“Listen, Sky, I need to check your temperature or something. I don’t know much about sickness but it’s probably a bad thing if you’re not lucid or whatever.” Worry began clawing under Wind’s ribs. Does this normally happen on night shifts? 

“I won’t let you,” Sky leaned back as Wind approached, causing the pirate to pause as he planned his next move. He didn’t know if forcing Sky to be cared for was the best move. He honestly didn’t expect Sky out of all people to refuse care, that seemed like a Wild thing. Wind had seen that man… thing? -Wild told him that he went by everything and Wind was still trying to figure it out- break his toe and lead the others on a chase when they attempted to get him to sit down so they could care for it. In the end, Wolfie had tackled them. Wind didn’t know if he could tackle Sky.

“Dude, I think you’re sick.”

“I don’t care what you say,” Sky’s voice grew even firmer. Wow, Sky was grumpy when he was sick. Wind considered letting Sky just suffer through the night, but he knew Sky wasn’t the most aware right now. He’ll excuse it this once. Maybe this was the exclusive sight of the Skyloftian without any filter? Wind knew Sky was hiding some snark in him. 

“Come on, Sky, don’t make me wake up Time or, goddess forbid, Warriors. You know how he is when he first wakes up,” Wind threatened. It seemed Warriors was actually asleep, for once. Otherwise, the Captain would have faked waking up right there and jumped in to handle this mess. 

Sky remained silent for a bit with a deeply contemplative look on his face. “I do not wish to bring harm upon them.”

“More like harm upon me . I bet he sleeps with a dagger. I kinda don’t want to get stabbed.”

“I… agree.” Sky lifted his face up, expression morphing into one of determination. Wind’s face broke into sheer confusion. What the hell was he hallucinating right now? “I’ll do it.”

“Thank fuck.” Wind walked over and kneeled before Sky, but before he could reach a hand to the other’s forehead, copying the motion he’d seen Nana do a thousand times and that he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for with it, Sky spoke again.

“And you’re sure about this?” Concern dripped from his words.

Wind looked Sky up and down dryly. His eyebags looked like bruises, and his hair was sticking to the side of his face, damp with sweat. “Yeah, I’m definitely sure about this.”

With a sigh, Sky finally blinked and nodded. Slowly, Wind touched his forehead. It was clammy, sticky with sweat, and not hot at all. As soon as Wind’s fingers made contact, Sky gasped and blinked, eyes wide open. His eyes flashed to Wind, finally recognizing the sailor.

“...When did you get here?” Sky asked, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion. Wind finally understood why Nana pinched his cheeks. The innocence in Sky’s face was so cute Wind had to resist booping his nose. 

“Been here the whole time, Mate. You’ve been talking to me for the past couple minutes. I don’t think you were lucid, though.”

“Ah, sorry, I was dreaming,” Sky reached up to rub his neck in embarrassment. His tone, however, sent a pang of recognition through Wind. It reminded Wind of whenever he Saw things. It was the same way of telling the truth without giving away the fact that he could perceive things that others couldn’t, and wouldn’t want to.

“It was a bit more than just dreaming, huh?” Wind fished gently.

Sky’s eyes picked apart his expression, coming to the conclusion that Wind had: he wasn’t alone in whatever ability he had.

“...No, actually, it wasn’t just a dream. It was something like a prophecy. Are you also…?”

“Oh, nah, I’m not prophetic. I just have a bad habit of seeing the dead,” Wind shared, biting his lip. It was scary, revealing that to people. People looked at you differently after knowing you can see Ol’ Meemaw several years after she departed from Hyrule. To be honest, it freaked Wind out too. He didn’t want to see Meemaw as much as any other guy. 

“I see.” Sky’s lips twitched upwards at the pun. “I apologize if I scared you at all with that. I’ve been told it’s kind of freaky.”

“Nah, it’s alright, you couldn’t control it,” Wind sat down next to Sky’s bed roll. The knight initiated a side hug, and unlike with the others Wind didn’t try and fight out of it. Sky got that special privilege, mainly because he knew Sky just liked giving hugs, not treating Wind like a baby. It was awesome. “Do you always have full conversations when you’re prophesying?”

“You’re lucky it wasn’t worse, I’ve been known to wander off while having them,” Sky chuckled a little. He was still sweaty, but since Wind was nice he decided to ignore it. “One time, Zelda found me in the Loft barn saddling up Crimson because I was dreaming I’d do it in the morning.”

“That’s a bit dangerous, isn’t it?” Wind poked him in the side. Sky didn’t even flinch, a wall of solid muscle and a cushion of fat defending him against the attack. Wind scrunched his nose up, annoyed that his assault wasn’t even acknowledged.

“I suppose it is,” Sky sighed. “I wasn’t expecting to get any so soon into this adventure.”

“You should definitely tell Time, if he doesn’t already know. It would suck if you woke up a mile away from camp because of a dream while the watch was taking a piss or something.” Sky pushed the side of Wind’s head for the vulgar analogy, Wind fighting to keep his face in place. 

“Tell me what?”

Wind jumped so hard he thought he could see his soul for a second, no Seeing powers needed. Sky was even worse, swinging a fist behind him, just barely missing Time. Wind could feel Sky’s pulse race concerningly fast, much faster than Wind’s own. Sky put his face into the hand that just swung, muttering something that sounded like addressing Hylia directly, not even like that of a prayer, just like Sky had his own gossip stone with the goddess. Time walked to Wind’s side, grimacing apologetically. With a long exhale, Sky sweeped his hands up his face and pushed his damp bangs back.

“Nothing, sir,” Sky said stiffly. The Chosen was… weird with Time. Time raised an eyebrow, staring down at Sky’s face. Wind knew Time wasn’t actually searching for anything in there, the Old Man was horrendous with social signals. If anything, he relied on his scary face to pressure the weaker willed into spilling whatever secret they were hiding. 

“Sky has a habit of sleepwalking,” Wind snitched. He ignored the glare he got from the knight. There was the scary he was talking about. Wind snuggled into his side more, garnering a click tongue from him but thankfully not his wrath. 

Time raised his eyebrow up even higher, looking a bit ridiculous. “And you didn’t think this was important to tell me, why?”

“Because it wasn’t an issue yet,” Sky replied. His expression didn’t change, but Wind could feel him tense. Wind didn’t know why Sky was so nervous. Wind would’ve thought that of all people Sky would be able to see right through their de facto leader. Time was just some weirdo.

“But it would have been,” Wind shrugged. Sky decided to get revenge by poking him in the side like he attempted earlier. Unfortunately, this attack got through, causing him to try and squirm out of Sky’s grasp, to no avail. The skylubber was like an octorok. 

“Does this happen even when you aren’t adventuring?” Time’s face remained impassive as Wind began trying to claw his way out of Sky’s grip like a cat. 

“It does,” Sky sighed like he wasn’t torturing Wind at the very moment.

“Were there any practices to keep you from wandering somewhere unsafe?”

“Well…” Sky blushed, “At a certain point someone would sleep in the same bed as me so when I got up they noticed.”

“Someone slept with you?!” Wind loudly whispered, mainly to embarrass Sky. The Skyloftian flushed to the tip of his ears and poked Wind in the side again. Wind hissed.

“No! No, we- not like that! You know what I’m trying to say!”

“We should establish the routine here as well,” Time stated. At this, Sky refused to look at any of them, but it couldn’t hide the red covering his neck. 

Wind stopped struggling. This seemed to be a sore point for Sky, despite his love of physical contact. “It’s fine, I don’t think anyone would object.”

“In fact, I think Wind would be a perfect start. You’re already cuddling,” Time said, his eye gleaming with mischief. Wind gasped in horror.

“Hmm… that seems like a good idea.” Sky’s playfulness quickly overrode any embarrassment he was feeling. Asshole. Sky forced them both to lay down and dragged his blanket over them both. Stupid strong arms and how comfy they are. 

“I’ll start the next shift, Wind, you can rest. Sky, get back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.” With that, Time walked over to the log and replaced Wind. The sailor huffed. He supposed he could snuggle up with Sky. He didn’t fight anymore as they shifted to have Wind cradled by Sky, nice and cozy.

After a little bit, Sky whispered to him. “Thank you for not telling him.”

Wind rubbed his face a bit into Sky’s chest. “Don’t worry, I know you’d do it for me.”

They listened to the sound of each other breathing for a bit. 

“So… who were you talking to? In your dream?” Wind asked softly. 

Sky hummed sleepily. “I don’t know yet.”

Wind laughed a little, his eyes sliding shut. Maybe the night shift was more exhausting than he thought. “Makes sense.”

Sky shushed him. “Goodnight, Wind.”

Wind was barely able to mumble out “Goodnight, Sky,” before sleep swept him under. 

Chapter Text

“What the fuck?”

That seemed to be the general consensus of the chain the minute they’d stepped out of a portal, voiced by a very confused Wind, who immediately got shushed by Twilight. Kids these days. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as the remarks Wild’d heard Twilight and Ilia exchange back in Ordon over a couple drinks. Well, to them a couple of drinks, anyone else who attempted to keep pace became utterly gone. Rest in peace, War, you were a brave soul who flew too close to the sun.

As it was, ‘What the fuck’ very much summed up their circumstance. They were stuck on a floating rock in the middle of the sky. The clouds blanketed everything below them, giving the illusion that they weren’t as high up as they were. The air was extremely thin, and he could already see some of the chain struggling to get enough air, gasping harshly. Wild giggled a bit deliriously, absolutely delighted by the prospect of exploring the sky. 

Ah, Sky. Someone needed to check on him, with his lungs. He quickly glanced around the rock, but there wasn’t much ground to cover. A white sailcloth snagged his search. Sky wasn’t struggling at all. His face was turned up to the sun as he breathed in deeply, a wonderfully content expression painted across it. There was a glee barely restrained, something Wild recognized in himself, though Sky’s wasn’t of the unknown; he recognized this place. This… lone rock in the sky. And all its magnificence. 

Twilight was herding the rest of the heroes away from the edge like they were goats, somehow not affected by the atmosphere, and snagged Wild’s arm as he tried to wobble over to the edge and maybe peer over the side. Forced into a sitting position, Wild giggled at the barely audible whine of stress as the rancher saw Sky, who was even closer to the edge. The wind tugged at the hero’s hair as he leaned over to stare at the clouds below. Twilight bit his hand and let out a strained noise before carefully treading over.

“Sky,” Twilight said with an incredibly strained voice, trying to remain calm and not accidentally scare their resident airhead off the rock. Sky’s ear twitched, and his shoulders hitched up slightly as if just now remembering his company.

“Oh! Twilight, this is incredible!” Sky exclaimed, the most enthused anyone’s ever really seen him. It was kinda scary seeing an energetic Sky.

“Mhmm, very, can you come over here Sky?” Twilight’s hysteria began leaking into his voice, although Sky seemed oblivious in his elation. Wild could see some grey hairs forming in real time. Maybe Wild should encourage the others to be more chaotic. Although… Sky was pretty close to the edge. Maybe he should get closer to the others, just a little. He would be surprised if anything else was this high. He could only see the silhouette of a bird high above, probably flying in space. Heh, moon birds. Time would be double scared. Hehe… Wild could feel his thoughts floating away due to the low gravity. Probably. Hehe.

“Twilight, we’re finally in my Hyrule!” Hyrule, propped up by a slightly sick looking Legend, made a confused noise. Legend simply pet his hair and shushed him gently. 

“That’s great! Sky, plea -” 

“I can finally introduce you all to Zelda!” Time chuckled fondly, watching the scene. He murmured something about Malon from where he sat criss cross next to Warriors, both looking perfectly fine. Well, Time was. Wars looked about as stressed as Twilight, and slapped Time’s shoulder and before tightly gripping it, knuckles white and posture perfectly straight.

“Sky,” Four said calmly from where he was restraining Wind, who seemed adamant about tackling Sky before he slipped off the side, “Could you walk towards us before the others have an aneurism-”

A blur swooped into Sky’s form right as Twilight lunged forward. One instance, Sky was there, and the next he’d vanished, leaving behind a cloud of dust and his boots flipping in the air. By reflex, Twilight caught them both, his head and arms barely hanging over the edge. 

Immediately, everyone started yelling. Hyrule straight up passed out. In Four’s shock his hold loosened on Wind, who immediately attempted to throw himself off the edge. War barely caught the scruff of his neck, choking Wind as War immediately threw him back onto the rock, yelling “THAT LEAF IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH DON’T YOU DARE!”

“WILD!” Screamed Legend, trying to juggle the limp body of his friend. Oh, yeah! Wild had a paraglider! Better use that before Sky became a stain on the earth. Wild scrambled to the edge of the island and lurched over the edge. Immediately, gravity called him down. The wind whipped past him as he attempted to slip through the air. 

Where was Sky where was Sky Wild repeated obsessively, scanning the stark white below for any speck of color. The clouds shifted below as if the surface of an ocean, obscuring any shipwrecked passengers in its depths. The clouds reached up to meet Wild in his freefall, wisps of grey and cold condensation. Yet no sign of Sky.

Finally, Wild’s vision was completely obscured as he dove into the cloud’s depths. The wind whistled and his face became cold and wet, yet he didn’t dare close his eyes. He couldn’t lose sight of any bit of color, no matter how much the sky fought against him.

And so he was nearly blinded when he plunged out the bottom of the clouds and was bombarded by an assault of colors on his eyes. Vibrant greens, deep blues, fiery reds, the entire rainbow was being reflected into his vision. Squinting, Wild snapped open his paraglider and held on for dear life as it caught the air, nearly ripping itself out of his hands. The towering trees reached up to meet him, and he expertly dodged the ancient branches, as his descent finally slowed to something manageable. 

He floated silently down to the surface, undergrowth overgrown and seemingly untouched, almost familiar in its state of wildness. As Wild tiptoed through the grass that rose up to his knees, he was under the impression he was the first person to tread here in an incredibly long time. Perhaps even never.

The rush of falling for miles (after teleporting up into the sky, to be fair) to finally settle on solid ground again was catching up with him, making him incredibly woozy, but Wild attempted to keep a grip on his consciousness. Through sheer will (and stubbornness) Wild stopped and picked past the sounds of nature, of the rustling leaves and bugs living their lives for anything hylian.

He heard distant arguing, but any form of privacy abandoned him when he recognized one of the voices. Sky! Sky was actually alive! How the fuck was he alive! Wild rushed through the underbrush, but paused when he realized the arguing had dimmed down. Now, he could only hear the faint sounds of… 

Wild burst out the treeline and was greeted with the sight of his brother, his wonderfully alive and not splatted brother Sky, making out with some woman. He was smiling into the kiss as he cradled her head, twigs sticking into their hair and sailcloth draped over both of them. Sky’s hand meandered from her waist up to- Wild wasn’t watching this. 

“THE FUCK?” Wild screeched eloquently, startling the couple away from each other. Sky immediately flushed a deep crimson while the lady’s ears twitched to attention. 

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you would catch up so quickly,” The lady said, straightening her hair from where some ASSHOLE had run his fingers through it. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, but she set her face into something more business-like. “My impulses got the better of me.”

“Who the fuck are you?!” Wild pointed an accusatory finger at the woman, barely stifling the urge to get in between her and Sky. Someone needed to protect Sky from this evil influence that was trying to steal his innocence. This had to be some sort of witch. 

“Oh, Link, did you not tell them about me?” The woman tilted her head evilly, smiling teasingly at the Chosen. 

“Swear I did,” Sky raised his hands in submission, his eyes also gaining a bit of goading. Oh no, the evil was infectious. “Who else would I be kissing?”

“You could be under her spell or something!” Wild jumped immediately to the conclusion. “I think she’s enchanted you.”

“Well, consider me enchanted,” Sky said as he leaned in for another. Wild gagged. Who would explain this to Sun?! The two broke apart with booming laughter, side hugging each other with a sickeningly sweet display of love. “I’m sorry, Wild, I swear I didn’t know Zelda would tackle me out of the sky.”

Wild froze. He could hear his brain shutter like one of Purah’s projects glitching (and most likely then exploding) and his thoughts skidded to a stop.

Blonde… Hylian… Pink dress… Sucking Sky’s face off… Okay yeah it all added up.

“...Oh.”

Zelda covered her face as she devolved into an uproar of cackles. “Nice to meet you, Hero of the Wilds.”

“Hi… Sun…” Wild glanced to the left to see a previously unnoticed giant purple bird roosting on the ground. That little bit of weirdness was finally what got him to fall on his ass as he put his head in his hands. The purple bird trilled at him in something he could interpret into laughter. “What the fuck?”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

They eventually got the rest of the chain down from the pebble in the sky. Sun made a couple trips up and down ferrying the heroes, and Sky’s own loftwing eventually caught up to them. Turns out, despite the fact that they had stumbled out the portal to appear somewhere in the stratosphere, the starts of Hyrule was a short hike away, once everyone got on solid ground. 

Many of the heroes were now sticking incredibly close to Sky, shaken by the thought of him literally falling to his death. Normally, Sky would have no problem having the others attached to him, but with an fondly exasperated expression he began pointing facts out about the landscape as they trudged on.

Oftentimes, his speech took on an almost mechanical manner, especially when it came to reciting names of the fauna. His tone always switched to something jovial whenever he amended the facts with a short story. Wild wondered if Sky had read up on all the plants of the surface, or if he knew someone who’d told him all of this.

After an hour or so of random trivia, they reached Sun and Sky’s pride and joy that was Skyfall. The architecture was quaint, and reminded Wild of Hateno in a way. There were some structures still under construction, the villagers helping a taller redhead out as he directed the materials around. When the redhead had spotted Sky, he swirled the hero up in a crushing hug and refused to let him go as the group walked deeper into the settlement. Sky didn’t seem to have any complaints about being carried, and patted Groose, as it was revealed, on the shoulder lovingly. 

Sun and Groose chattered excitedly about their achievements while Sky had been out questing, chiding the others for not letting him visit sooner. Time had meekly tried defending himself, as if he had any control in the matter, and Sun had clicked her tongue teasingly. Everywhere they went, Sky seemed intrinsically tied to and loved, and the Chosen loved it fiercely back.

The group finally reached a central pavilion decorated with dining tables under a beautiful wooden awning and the starts of a fountain. Houses ringed the space, obviously new but their inhabitants had begun decorating them with personal touches. It reminded Wild of home and the rebuilding efforts. And looking at the burgeoning structures, it reminded a small, mourning part of Wild of before .

Wild couldn’t exactly remember what he was experiencing grief over as they sat down to eat in the afternoon. Maybe he was missing a home cooked meal, he wondered as he guzzled down the pumpkin soup they sat out in front of them. It was delicious, and Wild could see why Sky craved it so intensely on his travels. Wild would, too. 

Maybe he was missing family. Not saying he didn’t consider his friends he’d made on his travels a form of family, of course, but he wished he had some form of… history to cling to. He only had the past two-ish years of memory to build up his life, and while he was satisfied with that he had, he still felt a yearning for what the hero before once had. Maybe it was unfair to separate Link from Wild, but it made coping a lot easier, that’s for sure. It still didn’t stop that gaping pain in his heart that throbbed when someone from the community greeted Sky and looked at him with familiar care and love, however. 

When a sharp nosed woman caressed Sky’s face in tenderness and joked fondly about him coming over to their new home to help keep it clean Wild decided to slip out of the central square before he could ruin anyone else’s mood with his own. 

Dodging Twilight’s gaze, Wild slipped into an alley and climbed up the rough bricks to sit on an awning. It normally wouldn’t be so easy, but the cozy atmosphere seemed to have lulled his mentor into a less alert state. That very same atmosphere that felt familiar and soothing to everyone else was the very thing that wound Wild up so tight.

It was moments like these where he missed his Zelda the most, Flora. Things had been… rough, to say the least, once the Calamity had been sealed. But once the two of them recognized that they were different people than who they used to know, things became a lot easier. Constantly dancing around with fragmented memories of who you used to know and who was here now had put a monumental strain on their relationship. 

For a while, Wild could tell Flora couldn’t bare to look at him, her grief too painful. Wild made it easier on her by fleeing into the country, too disturbed by his own feelings about her surfacing, that odd mix of resentment from before and from now, as well as the outright confusion of dealing with someone who understood so intimately what he was processing. 

When Wild finally came back, Flora had tackled him with a sob, berating him to never do that again, to not leave her alone like that, and Wild felt enough guilt to rival letting Hyrule fall. She apologized, too, because she felt that she had to, but of course Wild would never blame her. They needed each other. They were each other's pillars, building each other up whenever one began to crumble. He just never learned how to feel comfortable with something like that, before and after.

He could guess what Flora would be feeling if she was here with him. Definitely this feeling of acidic jealousy of having a home and history of people around to love her and a pinch of awe over being able to witness the beginnings of the kingdom, but it would ultimately be drowned out by the immeasurable guilt and dread of letting it all down. He sighed from the rooftop. Or that could be what he was feeling himself, but the two were both sides of a sword. Two halves of a splintered whole.

“Psst!” Wild startled so hard he nearly fell off of the rooftop. While he’d been staring at the congregation in the center he’d failed to notice the bright pink clad figure make her way over to the house he was currently hiding from his feelings lounging on top of. Sun stared up at the explorer as he leaned over the edge to look her in the eye. She simply smiled as she placed her hands on her hips, not swayed. “I would ask you if you mind if I joined you up there, but I don’t got to ask for permission to be on my own roof.”

Wild flushed. “I can come down.”

“Nah,” Sun waved her hand at him. “Link likes being high up too when he’s feeling down.”

She backed up a bit and sprinted to the side of the house, running up the side and grabbing onto the terracotta tiles of the eaves. With a huff, she pulled herself up and shuffled on top. She scooted over to Wild’s side and brushed off her dress. She glanced at him, her eyes reflecting the dying light like glass. Wild could tell she was studying him in a way that reminded him of the chosen, but unlike Sky’s puzzling over someone, Sun just seemed to know what she was looking for, only confirming. Wild gulped, and set his gaze on the horizon.

“It’s surprising how alike you all are,” Sun said brightly. Wild simply nodded. He didn’t really see it. Sun laughed as if she could read his thoughts. “You may not see it, but I do.”

Damn, it was like she could read his mind… could she? Her whole vibe was kinda all knowing. If she could guess he was thinking about the recipe Beedle gave him while moping, his reputation would be over.

“No, I can’t read your mind, I can just guess really well,” Sun answered as Wild squinted at her. “I’d help you make that recipe, by the way. Bug’s really tasty.”

Okay, it didn’t matter if Sun could read his mind, Wild trusted her tastes.

“It’s true, what I said,” Sun played with the ends of her hair, eyeing Wild’s own after Wild forgot to reply. 

“The bugs?” Wild asked as she scooted over to sit behind Wild, starting to brush the gnarls and knots out with her fingers. Normally, he wouldn’t let someone he just met touch his hair, but something about Sun was calming in a way that he couldn’t place.

“That too, but I see a buncha similarities in you all that you guys can’t see in yourselves. I can see you’re feeling awfully guilty over something right now,” Sun hummed. Her fingers danced across his locks, methodically straightening everything out. Wild didn’t use the term often, but she moved so confidently with her movements that it was like she was perfect. She seemed to know as well that if she confronted his feelings bluntly, he wouldn’t run from them. Or into the woods. “I know because Link looks the same, sometimes.”

What would Sky feel guilty over? He didn’t destroy an entire kingdom. He’s actively building it. He didn’t fail his quest, and he saved his loved ones. Wild honestly couldn’t understand what Sun was referring to.

“I know, too, that he didn’t tell you about what.”

“Are you?” Wild asked, concerned. If Sky was feeling the same way as him, then that couldn’t be good at all. What concerned Wild, too, was that he had no idea the Skyloftian had been feeling that way.

“Nah, I’m not going to, I’ll let you figure it out.” Sun had finished brushing his hair out, and had taken out a ribbon from her hair. “A hint, though! It involves you.”

“How does it involve me? I don’t think he’s wronged me in any way?”

Sun nodded casually as she began braiding his hair, weaving the ribbon through the strands. “I know, right! But that isn’t what he thinks.”

Wild played with his nails, trying to figure out this puzzle that Sun had given him. Despite obviously being concerned over Sky, she was speaking in such a lofty way that Wild would struggle to see that she cared if he didn’t know the conviction the two lovebirds had for each other. Her tone stayed bright and even, meant to soothe but it seemed artificial to him. She’d noticed it too, when they met. While she’d obviously been happy then, she still talked in a way that made everything she said seem fake. Was it the stalwart confidence, or just her?

“What do you want me to do about it?” Wild said, happy that the conversation had swayed from him to Sky.

“Well, if you stop feeling guilty that would sure help,” Sun replied with merry. “That’s part of why he’s feeling so guilty.”

Yeowch, coming straight for Wild’s insecurities it seemed. “I’m not sure I see how those are related at all.”

“You will see,” Sun said and didn’t elaborate. Wild was intensely missing his own Zelda in this moment, at least Flora didn’t dance around with her words like this. As it was, he was in no position to get mad at Sun for being indirect. He owed her, afterall. “Ah! That’s exactly what I mean.”

Wild scowled. “Stop reading my mind.”

“I’m not, I swear!” Sun giggled. Wild sighed, not quite believing her. “Let’s just say I’m cursed with a stupidly good intuition.”

Wild supposed it made sense. Flora had been a lot better at piecing together information and guessing things about people after her triforce of wisdom had surfaced. It had distressed her a lot, adjusting to the change in the world and even herself. Thankfully, Wild had practice, and had attempted to help her learn. Apparently, she was just… right about things now. There was no other way to explain it.

Honestly, Sun just seemed as though her powers of the Goddess had awakened to a much higher degree than Flora’s. It made sense, being from the beginning of Hyrule, that Hylia’s influence would be much stronger on Sun. Wild wondered if she liked it, since it didn’t seem like the roles put in place for the hero and the princess had been put in place yet.

“Those roles will be put in place, soon. Not by us, of course, and we’d hate to see it happen while we’re alive. As it is, Sky’s traveled to times where we aren’t, and our legacy lives on. It weighs on him.” Sun patted his head as she finished the braid. People from Sky’s era were so touchy, Wild grouched. “I’d say this whole journey is like a slap in the face for him.”

“I’m sure seeing his legacy get destroyed right in front of him would be a slap in the face too,” Wild muttered. Sun didn’t answer, simply tugging at his shoulder until he turned to face her. He repositioned so that they could be sitting criss cross apart from each other, his knee bouncing with anxious energy. Her face didn’t change, remaining serene as she gazed at him. Wild wondered if they modeled the Hylia statues after her. 

“He wouldn’t care about that. He’d care more about who his legacy was hurting.” Wild glanced away from her eyes, an uncomfortable buzz flooding his limbs. Wild was his legacy, and he’d gotten so many people hurt. 

“Link wouldn’t blame you, by the way.”

Wild scoffed. “He’s too busy blaming himself for it.”

Sun’s voice finally had a hint of sadness to it. It was somehow more devastating than open anguish. “Now you’re getting it.”

The rooftop was silent as the sun finally dipped below the horizon. The chatter from the pavilion rose as celebratory drinks were brought out. Wild could imagine Wind’s scowl from here about being excluded. Lights were being lit, casting a warm glow on everyone. 

“Everything’s so unfair, isn’t it.” Sun broke the silence, bringing Wild’s gaze back to her eyes. He swore they reflected the torchlight more than normal. Wild had to agree though.

“Can I ask you a favour? Not one motivated by guilt or duty, I want you to only accept this if it’s what you truly want.”

Wild tensed. “Depends on the favour.”

It seemed like Sun genuinely smiled at his response. “Can you keep an eye on Link for me? I can tell he’s going to do something. Please, keep him safe.”

Surprising himself, Wild nodded. “I will.” While immediate, he genuinely cared for his brother and wanted no harm to come to him. Maybe it was the bodyguard instincts kicking back in.

“Thank you,” Sun said with gratitude as she got to her feet. She patted his shoulder in a gentle show of comfort, and walked to the center of the roof where there was a trap door built in. She lifted the hatch up and waved as she stepped down. Apparently she didn’t need to scale up the side of her house to get the roof. Weird.

Wild laughed quietly, feeling like a weight had settled off his chest. It was almost as if someone else was sharing it. Wild watched the others as Sun rejoined the gathering, being swung into a crushing hug by Sun. All in all, Sun left Wild more confused than when they started, but Wild could take being confused any day. Wild slipped off the roof, and rejoined everyone.