Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Legends.

Heroes.

Monsters.

Ganon.

All have faded to mere myth, tales passed down only by the few who recalled their parents telling them the stories of the Heroes old.

Meanwhile, the world had moved on. New knowledge, discoveries, and technology flowed from the minds of young discoverers like spring streams through a meadow. The current age, the age of information, was one of wonder.

One thing that puzzled these young discoverers was a mysterious phenomenon that appeared in everyone, known as a quirk.

Quirk. Originally defined as “a peculiar behavioral habit,” the word had since grown to encompass this new phenomenon. Essentially, the word ‘quirk’ was now synonymous with the word ‘superpower.’

Everyone had a superpower.

Flying, shapeshifting, command over water, all hylians saw endless possibilities open up with these newfound abilities. As famous heroes rose to power, being a ‘hero’ became a profession, with its own pay, legal rules, and system. ‘Heroes’ faded to myth, and modern superheroes became commonplace. Around the world, schools for teaching people to become heroes started appearing.

The modern world was truly a place of wonder. 

Afternoon sunlight poured through the paned window like honey, bathing everything in a warm glow. Outside, trees rustled in a gentle breeze, casting shade over a quaint pond surrounded by greenery. A family of chipmunks skittered up a tree and dove one by one into a hole in the trunk, away from the prying eyes of a hawk flying overhead. Birds cheerfully sang and fluttered about.

The liveliness of the wildlife outside, however, did nothing to sweeten Impa’s sour mood. 

She sat, hunched over, at her desk, which was covered with piles upon piles of paper. Her office was a mess; bunches of paper lay scattered about on the floor, boxes full of random articles stood stacked beside her desk, and the trash can in the corner of the room was overflowing with food wrappings, pieces of paper, and used pencils.

Impa glared at the new sheet of paper in front of her. Really, now the officials were telling her to find the Heroes. Just what did they think she had been doing this entire time? Taking a 3 year long nap?

Of course she was searching for the Heroes. How else were they going to overthrow the current Governor of Hyrule, Ganondorf?

She growled in frustration and pulled at her hair, a nervous habit of hers, then grabbed her phone and typed out a quick angry email to the Council. They had only discovered three of the Heroes, and they didn’t even know the true identity of one of them.

It was surprisingly difficult to find these so-called ‘Heroes.’ You’d think that they would all be in one place based on the old legends. After all, they had a connection with each other, and triforce pieces were naturally attracted to each other, whether the wielders knew it or not.

Her hand froze over the send button.

Wow, they were stupid. 

She resisted the urge to smack her face and defenestrate her phone.

Of course! Of course they would all be in one place. The mistake they were making was looking away from where the Heroes they had found were; Sky Knights Academy, one of the most famous schools for teaching younglings to become superheroes.

Impa erased her angry email, then quickly typed out a new one. After scanning the email for mistakes and sending it, she hurriedly opened her computer and opened a new document.

After typing for a couple moments, her hands flying wildly over the keyboard, Impa stopped and smiled at the title of the doc.

‘Operation: Sword and Shield’

‘Step one: Assemble’

One year later.

Wind groaned inwardly. The cool wood of his desk felt nice against his forehead, and he wished he could just take a nap like this.

“Wind! Get your head off your desk or it’s a trip to the Principal’s office.”

Link Waker did not want to get up. No sir, he was perfectly fine as he was. But another trip to the Principal's office didn’t sound particularly appealing either.

So what if he was tired? It took a lot to take care of both Grandma and Aryll at the same time. With a final grumbled noise of complaint, he peeled his forehead off of his desk and blearily looked up.

His math teacher stared disapprovingly down at him. His classmates giggled around him, which was understandable; he probably didn’t look too great with how tired he was.

“Listen, Wind. This is the last time I’ll say this. Pay attention in class, or I’ll give you an extra sheet of homework to do. Hylia knows, you need the practice anyway.”

Wind just nodded at his teacher. He wasn’t in the mood to talk right now.

The teacher gave him a look.

“Perhaps you’d like to demonstrate the next problem in front of the class?”

Wind yawned and stumbled over to the whiteboard, grabbing a dry-erase marker. This was going to be a long day.

It was a long day.

His math class didn’t go well; he was too tired to think straight. Actually, all his classes didn’t go well. The worst was when he accidentally fell asleep in Physics and got sent to the Principal’s office. Again. This was the third time this week.

At least he got to hang out with his friends during lunch.

His friend group was a bit strange, actually. They normally had lunch outside if they could, yet they did nothing but goof around instead of play sports like the other students did.

If someone saw them, they might not think they were strange at first. Just four teenagers of varying ages doing normal teenager stuff, nothing too out of the norm.

But if they looked closer, they would see that one of them had strange, terrible scars covering half of his face, and that another had eyes that shifted colors in the light.

Anyone who knew them well would know another strange thing about them: all of them were named Link.

Obviously, this was a bit awkward in and of itself. In fact, there were a lot of people named Link at their school; nine people in total, including teachers and mentors. For this reason, all the Links went by nicknames.

Link Waker went by ‘Wind’ because of his quirk, which was, well, controlling his namesake. Anyone who saw him would first notice his sandy-blond hair and cheerful, mischievous smile, lit up by ocean-blue eyes.

The Link with the scars went by ‘Wild,’ due to his penchant for squirreling himself up trees and running off into the forest surrounding the school at random times. He looked pretty normal except for the large scars that covered the side of his face. Wind was still trying to get him to open up about how he got them.

‘Hyrule’ was the only one of them with brown hair. Fluffy, brown locks curled around his green eyes and slightly tan, freckled face. Besides Wind, he was probably the most plain-looking out of all of them. He got his nickname because his last name was Hyrule, which the others teased him mercilessly about.

Finally, most likely the strangest in their unusual friend group, was the Link whose eyes changed color. No one was sure how he got the nickname ‘Four,’ only that his grandfather called him that when he visited.

Needless to say, they stood out from the rest of the students in Sky Knights Academy. Right now, they were all sitting in their favorite spot on the school campus: a grassy hill with a magnificent oak tree, far away from where other people normally gathered.

“I bet I could shoot an arrow farther than you!” Wind boasted. “You haven’t even used a bow before!”

Wild just shook his head.

“What, you mean you have?” Wind asked. He was curious now.

“Army training,” Wild answered. He did nothing to clarify.

“You were in the army?! But you’re 17!” Wind exclaimed, surprised.

Wild shut his mouth and leaned against the tree, folding his hands behind his head. This was a sign that he wasn’t going to say anything further on the matter.

“Aww,” Wind complained.

“Come on, leave him alone,” Four said from where he was perched in the tree, a book on physics (boring!) in his hand. His eyes glinted violet in the light.

Hyrule nodded. “He obviously doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Wind pouted, but let it be. He did see that Wild was starting to look uncomfortable.

A shout of greeting drew their attention to a couple figures who were waving at them from the school.

“Is that Time? And Twilight?” Hyrule asked. “What are they doing here?”

Four squinted at the figures from his higher vantage point in the tree, then nodded, confirming Hyrule’s thoughts.

Time and Twilight approached the group, both easily recognizable by the strange markings on their faces. Time had his usual stoic expression, and Twilight wore an easy grin.

“Hey! Hi Wild,” Twilight greeted with his slight country drawl. “Good to see that you’re hanging out with friends.”

Wild nodded and gave a slight smile. He was very stoic and quiet when they first met, but slowly Wind had been getting him to open up. To his delight, Wild was actually a huge trouble-maker like Wind, and was very talkative once he was comfortable. He still went through phases every now and then where he spoke little though. He got so serious sometimes, staring off into the distance with a contemplative frown on his face. 

Twilight sat next to Wild and leaned against the tree as well. Time stood in front of the group with his arms crossed. It looked like he had something important to say.

“Everyone,” Time started, “it’s nice to see you all having fun. Unfortunately, there’s a meeting that you’re all required to attend at the end of school today. Be at my office at 3:45 pm, sharp.” He abruptly turned and hurried away. 

Wind was left confused and slightly disgruntled. Looking towards his friends, he could tell they all felt the same. What was that all about?

Twilight looked no different. His midnight blue eyes followed Time as he walked away.

“Do you know what that was about?” Wild asked.

Twilight shook his head. “He only said that he wanted to talk to you guys, and I followed him because I wanted to hang out with you.”

Huh. That was weird.

“I heard that he asked Sky, Warriors, and Legend to join the meeting as well,” Twilight added. “I was also asked to come.”

Wind exchanged looks with everyone. There was no way this was a coincidence.

There was a mentor program here at Sky Knight’s Academy. Professional heroes could volunteer to mentor a student and guide them until graduation. The program was optional, yet more than half of their group was in it.

Warriors was Wind’s mentor. Wind teasingly called him ‘captain’ sometimes because he was a good leader, and his fancy blue scarf matched the ones worn by the old army generals. He always had a fond smile and a tease ready for Wind.

Legend was Hyrule’s mentor. He was always grumpy, and snapped at people easily. Nevertheless, Wind could tell he was secretly very fond of Hyrule, as much as he tried to hide it. Warriors teased Legend constantly about his pink hair, and Legend returned the teases just as readily, with twice the snark.

Twilight was Wild’s mentor. Wind thought that there couldn’t have been a better match between the two. Twilight was kind and empathetic, and encouraged Wild to open up. Around Twilight, Wild smiled easier and was far more open and expressive.

Sky wasn’t a mentor, but he was a highly respected graduate who visited the school often.

Warriors’, Legend’s, Twilight’s, and Sky’s names were all Link as well. The fact that everyone named Link in the school was being called to a meeting couldn’t be a coincidence.

Wind voiced his thoughts, and the rest of the group nodded.

“It’s odd,” Four agreed.

“Definitely strange,” Hyrule concurred.

They all fell into companionable silence.

“I also heard that people named ‘Link’ and ‘Zelda’ were starting to go missing around the country,” Wild eventually said. “Maybe this has something to do with the meeting?”

“That’s a weird rumor,” Four said. “It sounds very outlandish.”

“No, I’ve heard of it too. This can’t be a coincidence,” Twilight argued.

Wind thought it through, and had to agree. There was no one named ‘Zelda’ at this school, yet there were nine people named Link. Maybe Time was going to warn them about the disappearances and tell them to take precautions?

Whatever it was, it could wait until the end of school. 

Chapter Text

Twilight was confused; he couldn’t tell why Time was calling this meeting. 

First of all, his mentor’s expression today told him nothing. For all of Twilight’s bragging about being the only person besides Malon who could read Time, right now his face could have been carved of stone. 

Second of all, why would Time be the one to call the meeting? Logically, it would be the Principal or someone of the like who gathered them to warn them about the disappearances, not a random teacher like Time. 

Finally, he was confused as to why Time hadn’t told him about this meeting beforehand. Time and Malon were the only people he trusted with everything, and them likewise. They often sat together, a single, unified family, and talked with each other for hours upon end, discussing anything they thought the others should know. 

Time and Malon were the only people who knew about his nature, his curse. When he manifested super-strength as a quirk, they all thought that would be it. No one had more than one quirk after all; it was impossible, it was unheard of. When Twilight had woken up one day as a wolf, a giant, dark gray wolf with silver markings, they had all panicked. But slowly, with their support and reassurance, he’d managed to shift back and control his powers. 

Sometimes, his identity as a freak of nature haunted him. He knew that if he told anyone about his second quirk, they would turn their backs on him. Or worse, he would end up in a lab, studied and experimented on for his strange ability. Only Midna and his parents were there to reassure them. 

But when Midna was arrested, thrown in jail for a crime she didn’t commit, he nearly had broke. Time and Malon, his family, saved him. They showed him love and compassion, and helped him recover from the heartbreak. 

He trusted Time, beyond a doubt. So why was Time keeping this a secret from him? 

He had a sneaking suspicion that the purpose of the meeting wasn’t about the missing people named Link in the first place. The school could have just sent them emails or messages to warn them; an in-person meeting would be unnecessary unless they had something more to tell them. 

He would find out soon though. School was just about over. 

Twilight was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of clashing swords. He looked up and remembered that the current class was sparring practice. Students were fighting in pairs all over the school gym, with everyone using a different assortment of weapons. Their mentors watched on from the chairs that lined the sides of the gym, intermittently shouting tips and encouragement. 

He turned to his own student, Wild, who was sparring with Hyrule. 

Both were stuck in swordlock, pressing against each other to no avail. Suddenly, Wild gave a great shove and overpowered Hyrule, who stumbled backwards. Pressing his advantage, he stabbed forwards with his sparring sword. Hyrule dodged nimbly to the side, and in a whirl of blades leaped above Wild, who had overextended himself and was in a crouch with his sword thrust out. He slashed his sword at Wild’s face, but Wild ducked, blade passing inches from his head, most likely using his quirk to move at the last moment. Tucking into a roll, Wild dodged away from Hyrule and leaped to his feet, sword at the ready. 

Both stared at each other, chests heaving for breath. 

Legend clapped his hands from where he sat in the seats at the side of the gym with Twilight. 

“Alright! Good job guys. I think that’s enough sparring for today.” Legend got up and stretched, yawning tiredly. 

Both Wild and Hyrule sheathed their sparring swords. They walked up to the side of the gym and clasped hands, a sign of respect for each other and acknowledgment of the end of the practice round. 

Legend immediately walked up to Hyrule and started berating him on his mistakes during the spar. He sounded harsh, but Twilight could see a gleam of pride in his eyes on how far his student had come. Hyrule listened attentively, nodding along and making sounds of agreement. 

Around the gym, other students started finishing up their spars, the mentors calling out and talking with their pupils. 

Twilight did the same. 

“You did well overall, but you overextended yourself at one point during a jab. The recovery was good, nice use of your quirk, but we should work to make sure you don’t leave yourself vulnerable in the first place.” 

Wild nodded. “I think I’m starting to get a better hold on the timing of my quirk.” 

“Nice job, Wild,” Twilight nodded, chest swelling with pride for his student. Wild had come so far. He was a natural in sword fighting, but was terrible at using his quirk due to how finicky it was. Now though, Wild could activate it much more often than he used to be able to. 

Wild smiled at him, most likely seeing the pride on his face. 

The school bell rang. 

He and Wild turned to look at each other; they knew what the end of school meant. The meeting with Time was in a couple minutes now. 

Hyrule and Legend came over. 

“That’s the bell,” Legend said. “Wow, I could use a snack.” 

“Me too,” Wild agreed. 

“Wild, you’re always hungry,” Hyrule reprimanded. 

“So I could always use a snack,” Wild responded, smiling. Hyrule and Legend both rolled their eyes. 

Twilight gave Wild a gentle shove on the shoulder. 

“Come on, you don’t need any more food. I saw you eat three slices of pizza during lunch,” he chided. 

“And an apple,” Wild added, which was not helping his case at all. 

Someone cleared their throat behind him, and Twilight turned around to see Warriors, Wind, and Four. 

“Are we ready to head out?” Warriors asked, “The meeting is in a couple minutes.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Legend said, “We’ll be there in time, don’t worry.” 

They did not get there in time. 

While walking through the hallways, Wind decided to steal Warriors’ scarf off his shoulders. Then Wild joined in and decided to take Twilight’s necklace, which he was not going to tolerate. 

Rounds of giggling and yelling ensued as the two mentors chased their students around the school. By the time they both retrieved their items and gave their pupils a stern talking to, the start of the meeting had already elapsed. 

“Well, we’re certainly not going to be on time,” Four commented. Legend glared at him. 

Time’s office was a small, simple room on the west side of the school. It was plainly furnished, with a wooden desk, shelves full of books, and a couple chairs for guests to sit on. The room smelled of pine and old paper, with lights casting a warm glow and creating a homey atmosphere. It certainly did not fit all nine of the Links, so some of them resorted to standing awkwardly around the room. 

When they got there, Time was sitting at his desk, with Sky and Warriors resting in chairs and looking at their phones. 

Sky was wearing his favorite white cape. He was never without it, even though it sometimes drew odd looks from others. He claimed it was from his girlfriend, Sun, who’d moved out of Hyrule a couple years ago. 

Legend immediately shoved Warriors off of his chair, then claimed it as his own. 

“Hey!” Warriors yelped, standing up and shooting Legend a glare. “I was here first.” 

Legend only smiled and reclined against his new seat, crossing his arms behind his head. 

Sky looked up from his phone and smiled in greeting. 

Wind claimed the last chair for himself before Warriors could get to it, sticking his tongue out at the betrayed look on the other’s face. 

Time looked around the room before standing up. He clasped his hands behind him. 

“You’re five minutes late,” he stated, wearing his signature Disappointed Face. 

“Blame it on Wind and Wild,” Four said immediately, eyes flashing blue. 

“Hey! No fair!” Wind interjected. “You were laughing the whole time I had Warriors’ scarf!” 

“Yeah!” Wild exclaimed, “You didn’t do anything to help the situation, you just sat and watched!” 

“Guys,” Twilight interrupted, waving his arms. “Let’s not get into a fight right now.” 

“Yes,” Sky said, putting his phone away, “let’s not. Yelling at each other won’t do anything to help.” 

Wind opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but Twilight cut him off with a look. He didn’t want to delay any further, and by the looks of it Time’s Disappointed Face was starting to graduate from Disappointed to Annoyed, and he did not want to deal with an annoyed Time. 

“No more talking for now. Let’s listen to what Time has to say.” 

Time nodded in thanks to Sky and Twilight, then pulled out some papers from his desk’s drawer, brushing used eraser bits off of them before laying them out facedown. 

“What I’m about to tell you,” he began, “might change your life, for the better or the worse. This knowledge might put you in danger. If you want to live normally, I recommend you step out right now. You will not be judged for doing so.” 

Twilight blinked, confused. This was definitely not what he had been expecting. He turned to look, and everyone else wore similar expressions. Wind’s mouth twitched upwards in a slight smile. Perhaps he thought this was some sort of joke. 

Time scowled. “You might think I’m not serious. I am serious. This is real. Know that I will not judge if you choose to step out of this room and save yourself from potential harm. Once you hear this information, you won’t be able to go back.” 

Wind’s smile disappeared. The others now wore various expressions of concern and thought. 

This wasn’t the kind of prank Time would play on them. Twilight was sure of it, he had seen his pranks before (and had been on the receiving end of them). He knew that Time wouldn’t be wearing that solemn of an expression while playing a joke. 

Twilight didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that if he stepped out, he would never forgive himself. Curiosity burned within him. What could be so important to cause Time to act like this? 

Next to him, Wild’s gaze hardened. He drew his chin up and stared resolutely at Time. Twilight turned and saw the others’ gazes fill with solemness and determination. 

Time met all of their gazes before smiling, although his expression still felt a bit tense. A flash of pride glinted in his singular eye, then was gone. 

“I knew you would all stay.” He admitted. “If there’s anything I know about my protegee and his friends, it’s your unrelenting courage.” 

Time gestured for everyone to sit down. 

“Come now,” he said, “this will be a long talk, and you might as well get comfortable, even if there’s no chairs left.” 

Sounds of shuffling echoed around the room as everyone sat on the floor and settled themselves down. 

Time took a deep breath before sitting down at his desk and placing his hand on the paper in front of him. 

“First of all,” he started, “what do any of you know of the old legends? The legends of the Hero?” 

Twilight blinked in surprise. It was against the law to speak or read about the old legends, let alone talk about it in school. Time was breaking regulation by bringing them up. 

“Um,” Hyrule stammered, “I know a bit. I’ve read it mostly in books.” 

Twilight tilted his head, not unlike a confused dog. How did Hyrule come across books with the old myths? Any books detailing the past Heroes of Old had been banned by the current Governor. 

Time nodded. “Can you explain what you know?” 

Hyrule blinked in surprise, then ducked his head sheepishly before nodding. 

“The old legends come from many, many years ago, before our nation was this advanced. The tales speak of an ancient evil being that was reborn time and time again, although the name of them has been lost. Supposedly, every time they appeared, a Hero and a Princess would be born to face them and seal them away.” 

“In fact,” Hyrule continued, “rumors say that a Hero was born 100 years ago, however no one knows the details. He saved Hyrule, although from what nobody knows, before mysteriously disappearing. 

“Legends also speak of the mythical object known as the Triforce, which had the power to grant a single wish to its wielder. Normally, the Triforce would be split into three pieces: Power, Wisdom, and Courage, which were wielded by the evil being, the Princess, and the Hero. One would need to find all pieces and reunite them in order to gain access to a wish.” 

Twilight was impressed by Hyrule’s knowledge of the legends; it far surpassed his own. No one was supposed to know much about the past these days. He wondered, again, how Hyrule could have stumbled across this information. 

Time seemed surprised by how much Hyrule knew as well. 

“Very good,” he said, “that was a lot. You must have done quite a lot of studying on your own.” 

Hyrule flicked his eyes down and nodded. 

Warriors shifted in his place on the floor, a look of skepticism on his face. Twilight had to agree. It made no sense for Time to bring up the old myths. They didn’t have any importance, and were unreliable anyways. If there was anything he knew about history, it was that details became fuzzy with time, and the legends of the Hero detailed events thousands upon thousands of years ago. 

“You may be wondering why I’m explaining this,” Time stated. The others’ attention sharpened, where it had previously been wandering before. Some of them had also already known about the legends, it seemed. 

Time held up his gloved left hand, showing the back of it to all of them. Slowly, he reached over and started to pull the glove off. 

The school alarms went off. 

Time stopped, glove midway off of his hand. 

Hyrule, Wind, Legend, and Warriors all leaped to their feet, hands reaching for weapons that weren’t there. 

Next to Twilight, Wild flinched violently, his eyes widening in surprise. His hands flew up to cover his ears, and Twilight winced sympathetically. Wild did have sensitive hearing, comparable to his wolf senses, actually. He wrapped his arm around Wild’s shoulders and squeezed, hoping it would at least ease his discomfort a little. 

Four frowned at the ceiling, a pensive frown on his face. 

“Was there supposed to be a drill today?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Sky responded, brow furrowing. He checked his phone. “Besides, students wouldn’t be here at this time; school’s ended. It wouldn’t make sense to have a drill after school.” 

“Then that means something triggered the alarm,” Twilight thought out loud. It didn’t make sense for it to be a drill, that he agreed with. But the alarm only triggered when someone crossed the campus without a pass, and no one in their right mind would do that, not even someone looking to cause trouble. Sky Knight’s Academy had some of the highest security in Hyrule, even when compared with government buildings.  

The school alarms abruptly stopped. 

Four’s eyes flickered, before changing to a thoughtful violet. 

“This can only mean one thing,” he stated, standing up and calmly fishing something out of his pocket. “This is an actual attack on the school.” 

“Hold up, hold up,” Warriors interrupted, waving his hands. “Let’s not overreact. What’s the likelihood that someone would even attempt to attack Sky Knights Academy? Our defenses are far too strong for most people to even consider breaking through.” 

“Exactly,” Four growled, fiddling with whatever it was that he had taken out of his pocket. Something made a clicking noise, and suddenly a golden shortsword extended out from his hand. He gripped the sword and lowered it carefully. 

Four continued on as if he hadn’t just magically pulled out a weapon from his pocket. “No one would just wander in. Everyone knows about our defenses. The school’s alarms haven’t gone off once except during drills in the time that I’ve been here. So the only person who’d actually attempt to come in without permission would be someone who was serious about attacking. And, assuming they’re in their right mind, they’d have a good reason to believe they’d be able to get past our system.” 

Everyone went silent as they processed Four’s words. They made sense. Frighteningly so. 

“We need to get out of here,” Time spoke. 

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

A couple moments later, they were all dashing out of the room. Four still wielded his shortsword, and Legend produced a small knife from his sleeve. Twilight was pretty sure they weren’t allowed to have unregistered weapons in this school, so the fact that Legend was carrying one probably broke a couple rules, but whatever. They had more important things to worry about. 

The group followed Time, who walked quickly through the hallways, brow furrowed in worry. Suddenly, all of them froze. They could hear voices up ahead. 

The Links rushed forward, charging down the hallway and taking a sharp turn before coming to the cafeteria. 

Twilight skidded to a halt and froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. 

The cafeteria was empty; no one was around after school, and it was Friday, so there wouldn’t be any club meetings. But the thing that drew his attention the most was what was in the middle of the area. 

Five men in red, wearing white masks, and wielding sickles stood nonchalantly around the center. The symbol on their masks was unmistakable; the upside-down Eye of the Yiga, the terrorist group that was well known around Hyrule. They appeared to be chatting with each other, although Twilight only heard the word “Heroes” and something that started with “Ko” before the voices stopped and the Yiga turned toward them. 

In the middle of the Yiga, surrounded on all sides, a humanoid creature stood. Its strange, pig-like snout twitched every so often, and floppy scarred ears swiveled slightly on its head. It stood hunched over, its ribs visible from malnourishment, but muscles bulged visibly on its arms, legs, and shoulders. In its hand it carried a plain metal sword. Glowing, beady red eyes stared maliciously out of its face, orange-red skin wrinkling as it snarled at them. 

It leveled its club at them and let out an ear splitting screech. The Yiga readied their weapons. 

“What the fuck?!” Legend squawked. Twilight thought that statement summed up all their feelings perfectly. 

The creature (monster?) growled and leaped towards them, swinging its sword above its head. Unfortunately, Twilight happened to be at the front of their congregation, and so it swung towards him first. 

Twilight quickly rolled out of the way, years of combat training taking over. The monster skidded past him, flailing clumsily. The other Links leaped out of the way as it stumbled through their group. 

The Yiga took this moment to strike. All five of them raced forwards. One charged towards Twilight, sickle flashing for his face. 

Twilight ducked at the last moment, feeling the woosh of the blade as it sliced the air above his head. He gritted his teeth and shoved forwards, slamming his shoulder into the Yiga’s gut. He heard a surprised grunt from his attacker, then the Yiga went careening backwards from the force of his blow, sickle flying out of their hand. They slammed into a lunch table about 15 feet away from them, then slumped on the ground. They would probably be out for a while. 

Twilight grabbed the sickle the Yiga had dropped on the ground, then turned towards the others. It looked like Wild and Legend were working together on a Yiga, with Legend phasing through the Yiga’s blows and Wild jumping in to land a punch every now and then. Time was wrestling with another Yiga on the ground, teeth gritted as he held his enemy down. Wind and Hyrule were fighting another, and Sky was dueling one on his own, although he looked to be doing well. He had caught his enemy’s blade between his hands, then held on as golden electricity raced up his arms, shocking the Yiga and causing them to drop their weapon with a clatter on the ground. 

Twilight turned and saw Warriors and Four fighting the… whatever it was. The monster was swinging with viscous strength at Four, who ducked and weaved away from its blows. He looked to be tiring though, and couldn’t seem to land a hit; its sword had much longer reach than his. Warriors was trying to yell commands at it, but it seemed his quirk wasn’t working on it. 

Twilight charged over, slamming into the thing’s side and catching it unawares. It let out a squeal not unlike a shocked pig, and tumbled over. At times like these, Twilight was really grateful that his quirk was super strength. 

Four stopped and gasped for breath, shooting Twilight a thankful glance. Warriors leaped at the monster before it could recover and slammed an elbow into its chest, causing it to let out a startled grunt. He wrestled its sword out of its hand, then with a quick slash, slit the thing’s neck. 

Black blood oozed out of the wound, spilling onto the ground like liquid tar. The monster let out a final wheeze, then suddenly disappeared in a burst of purple smoke. 

When the cloud of smoke cleared, there was nothing left of its presence but a small pool of blood. 

The sounds of fighting from the others slowled, then stopped completely. Twilight turned to see everyone done with their fights, and the Yiga in various states of unconsciousness or injury. 

Time huffed for breath, shoulders rising up and down. He stared at the place the monster had been with a foreboding look on his face. 

Worry gnawed at Twilight. He knew that look. It was the look Time had when he had been informed that his horse, Epona, had caught illness and died in her sleep. It was a look of horror, sadness, but also one of knowing; he had figured something like this would happen, expected it even. Epona had been old at the time, after all. It had just been her time to go. 

“What,” Warriors started, flicking the blood of his new blade, “the hell was that.” 

“What the hell indeed,” Wild agreed. 

Four slowly recovered his breath, standing up and staring warily at the blood on the ground. 

“I don’t know,” he responded. “It wasn’t like anything that I’ve seen before.” 

He pursed his lips, sheathing his sword and narrowing his eyes in thought. Several colors, most notably violet, flickered through his eyes. 

“It looked like … like a monster,” Hyrule thought out loud. 

“No shit,” Wind snapped, rolling his eyes. He looked shaken, though. 

“No, I’m being serious,” Hyrule responded. “It matches the description of bokoblins, a species of monster, from the old legends.” 

Twilight frowned at where the creature had been. Bokoblins, or anything related to their kind, were just myths, just legend. They weren’t actually real, were they? 

The blood sitting innocently on the ground was evidence of otherwise. He felt his hands clench. That creature, that monster, it stood as an anomaly of everything natural. If word of this were to get out to the people, there would be mass confusion and panic. 

“How could that be?” Sky wondered. “They haven’t been seen for thousands of years. I didn’t even believe that they existed up until now.” 

Time’s face was grim. He seemed to know something. Warriors noticed this. 

“Old man? Do you know something about this?” 

“I,” Time started, “have a suspicion on what’s going on, but I pray it’s not what I think.” 

Wild frowned at Time. 

“Could you tell us, then?” he asked. 

Time closed his eye, before taking a deep breath and opening it again. 

“I-” 

His statement was cut off by a shout from the hallway that they came from. Twilight whirled around to see a stream of Yiga pouring into the room. 

“Din’s fire,” Time cursed instead of what he was about to say. 

“Oh, hell,” Wind cursed along with Time. “Shit, fu-” 

“Language,” Twilight chided, almost automatically. 

“We’re fucking surrounded, Twi!” Wind screeched back. 

They were indeed now surrounded. Dozens upon dozens of Yiga entered through all the doorways in the cafeteria. Twilight spotted several monsters, no, bokoblins , in their midst. 

Warrior’s hands gripped his new sword so hard that his knuckles turned white. Four’s eyes flickered before settling on a determined blue. 

“Well, shoot,” Legend growled. 

Twilight stepped closer to Wild, sending him a reassuring glance before tensing up, readying for battle. He would protect his protegee no matter what. 

Wild smiled at him, determination sparking in his eyes. Twilight’s chest swelled with pride. His brave (and sometimes foolhardy) apprentice would never back down in the face of danger. He had seen him jump off cliffs, laughing all the while, before catching himself on that paraglider of his at the last moment. Twilight probably had gray hair from the amount of heart attacks that Wild had given him, but now, more than ever, he was grateful for his fearlessness. 

The Yiga parted, moving out of the way as another person came sauntering through the crowd. Twilight could immediately tell this was their leader. His red suit was far too tight, especially for his giant pot belly, and his mask had added flame-like extensions at the top. 

“Kohga,” Legend snarled, recognizing the leader of the Yiga. 

“It’s Master Kohga, to you,” Kohga corrected cheerfully, striding up to the Links. 

Legend’s glare could have burned through stone. 

“I should have killed you when I got the chance,” he hissed. 

Twilight startled. Wait, wait, Legend knew Kohga? How?  

Hyrule was seemingly thinking the same thing, staring at his mentor in surprise and confusion. 

“Ah, but you didn’t, did you?” Kohga chortled. “You Heroes, always too kind and law-abiding for your own good.” 

Something about the way Kohga said ‘hero’ made Twilight think that there was a deeper meaning behind it. He put a strange emphasis on the word. 

Legend scowled, clenching his fist around his pocket knife and grinding his teeth. He looked beyond frustrated. Twilight understood. Only three of them were armed, compared to dozens of enemies wielding various weapons. They couldn’t attack; it would be too risky. 

“Ah, you’re in a tight spot, aren’t you?” Kohga exclaimed, seeming to sense their unease. “Well, you’re in luck, Heroes. We aren’t planning to kill you. Unfortunately for us, our master wants you all alive, so if you would drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads, that would be much appreciated. Not like you have much of a choice anyways.” 

Instantly, all Yiga near them raised their sickles. Twilight found himself standing back to back with the others in a small circle, blades pointing at their faces from all sides. 

“Don’t worry,” Kohga said. “We won’t hurt you if you submit without any dispute.” 

Twilight’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. He felt desperation start to overtake him, felt his muscles twitch with a nearly overwhelming compulsion to move and get out of there. 

Beside him, Wild’s breaths were coming faster, although he otherwise gave no hint of fear or nervousness. 

The others exchanged glances. No one seemed to know what to do. Twilight opened and closed his fist, thinking rapidly. He could shift into a wolf. He would do it if it allowed him to protect his friends. But right now, it wouldn’t help with their situation. Teeth and claws were good weapons, but they wouldn’t do much against the mass of enemies in front of them. And a small part of Twilight’s brain still didn’t want to expose himself. He trusted his friends, yes, but what if they rejected him anyways? He was a freak, an anomaly in nature. The thought of any one of them turning away from him because of his cursed ability tore at his heart. 

So he stayed, still and unsure, glancing to and fro from the Yiga and the others like the panicked animal that he was. 

Time broke him out of his stupor by crossing his arms, glancing at Kohga, and narrowing his eye at him. He still managed to look quite intimidating, despite being held at swordpoint from all sides. 

“I don’t know what you want,” Time started, “but I’ll give you one chance to run. If any of you drop your weapons and leave, right now, we’ll spare you.” 

The Yiga and the Links were both silent, staring at Time in surprise. 

Then Kohga burst out laughing. 

“Oh!” he cried, hunching over and wheezing. “You really think you have any authority here? Or any ability to intimidate us? Ha! Ha, ha, you must be insane!” 

He continued to laugh, slapping his hands on his knees. Time stared calmly at him, then glanced at the rest of the Yiga, waiting. 

“Well?” he said. “This is your last chance. Run, while you can.” 

None of the Yiga moved. 

This made Kohga howl with more laughter, nearly causing him to fall on the ground with the force of it. 

The other Links looked at Time, wondering what he was planning. Twilight moved closer to Wild, shoulders nearly touching. It was more of a comfort for him at this point than for Wild. 

Time sighed, looking disappointed but not surprised. 

“So be it,” he decided. 

And then he lunged forward, fast as a lion leaping for its prey, before grabbing one of the Yiga’s sickles and stabbing Kohga in the gut. 

Kohga’s laughs cut off with a choked gasp. Blood dripped to the floor from his wound, and he stumbled backward, away from Time. He let out a slight gurgle, probably attempting to say something, before slowly collapsing backwards and falling to the ground, sickle still embedded in his gut. 

There was a shocked silence as the Yiga, and the Links, processed what had just happened. 

And then all hell broke loose. 

The Yiga collectively roared, raising their sickles and charging towards the group blade first. Time leaped away from Kohga, shouting something. Twilight couldn’t make it out over the noise the Yiga were making, but he thought he heard him say ‘wind’. 

Wind’s eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. As the Yiga got closer, he suddenly thrust out his hands on either side of him. A giant gust of wind swirled around them, ruffling their clothes and making their hair whip around from the force of it. 

The wind surrounded them, buffeting the Yiga back and away from the group, causing some of them to fall over. Stray currents snagged some of the blades from their hands and sent them flying towards the Links. Twilight caught one of the blades out of the air, sending a thankful glance towards Wind. 

He had no idea that Wind’s quirk was this powerful. 

It looked like Wind was faltering though. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his arms started to shake. The gusts grew weaker, and the Yiga started to recover. He waited a couple more seconds for the rest of the group to arm themselves, before shuddering and slumping forwards. The wind stopped. 

The Yiga had fully recovered now, but the Links were ready. They had weapons now, and a fighting chance. 

Twilight had barely a couple seconds to think before he was nearly swept off his feet from the tide of enemies that came for him. In a couple seconds, he was cut off from Wild, despite his attempts to stay with him. A sea of red bodies blocked his view of his protegee. 

A Yiga slashed for his shoulder, sickle flashing dangerously. Twilight barely parried it in time, but he managed to lock their swords and pushed his attacker backwards with all his strength, shoving them so hard they flew across the room and slammed into a far wall. Another came for him, and Twilight was ready. Lightning fast, he kicked their knee, feeling the crack of bone as their leg broke. The Yiga collapsed, and Twilight was already moving on. 

He caught flashes from the others as they fought. Lightning coursed down Sky’s blade as he danced around enemies. Four leaped through the fray, slashing ankles and using his short height to his advantage. Wild was with Time, both defending Wind while Hyrule healed him as he recovered from overuse of his quirk. Legend was back to back with Warriors, both ducking and weaving together with frightening coordination. It almost looked as if they’d been fighting together their whole life. 

Twilight turned his attention back to his own battle. He belatedly realized that he was a little far away from the others, cut off from them by a knot of enemies. He turned to make his way towards them, but was stopped by two bokoblins that stepped into his path. 

The bokoblins snarled at him. One had mottled blue skin, the other had black. Twilight snarled back, raising his blade. 

The blue one attacked first, swinging its club wildly towards his head. Twilight blocked the blow, knocking it aside easily before kicking the monster in the chest, sending it careening backwards. The other bokoblin was smarter; it watched him warily before raising its weapon, a spear, and stabbing toward him after he had kicked its brethren away. 

Twilight barely had enough time to dodge, and he gritted his teeth as the spear skimmed by him, slicing a small cut on his shoulder. He let out a wolf-like growl, civility momentarily forgotten in the thick of combat. 

Twilight swept his sickle towards the bokoblin’s feet. It yelped and leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding it, but Twilight wasn’t done yet. He sliced again, this time cleaving upwards, and felt a surge of triumph as the blade cut a vertical line through the monster’s chest. Black blood spilled out of the wound, and the bokoblin backed off, hissing in pain. 

Twilight advanced, prowling forwards, only to stop as pain ricocheted through his head. 

The world swayed, colors blending and melting together like watercolor on wet canvas. He turned his head to see the blue bokoblin from before, a club in its hand as it swung towards his face a second time. 

He was too disoriented to dodge. 

Pain exploded across the side of his head, worse than the first time. The world tilted underneath him, darkness clouding his vision like storm clouds. 

As the ground rushed to meet him, he caught one last glimpse of Wild. He seemed far away and slightly blurry, as if he was looking at him from the other side of a long, dark tunnel. But Twilight could clearly make out the look of surprise and fear on Wild’s face. His apprentice’s mouth was wide open, shouting something, hand reaching towards him. 

And then Twilight’s head hit the ground, and the world went black. 

Chapter Text

Early morning mist floated through the air. The street was dark, illuminated only by lamps that flickered weakly, casting rays of fluorescent, artificial light. 

He walked purposefully forward through the night. The mists seemed to part around him, curling and billowing around in a white, muting blanket. Around his neck hung a silver pendant with an upside-down eye; the symbol of the Yiga. A dark hood hid his face, but for a moment, he glanced up, glimpsing around with flashing blue eyes. 

He couldn’t be seen here. He knew that. After ensuring that no unwanted strangers were present, he quickly turned and hurried down a dark alley. 

A figure stood at the end of the alley. The darkness cast shadows across their face, but the mark of the Yiga was unmistakable, emblazoned in dark red on their vest. 

“You certainly took your time,” the Yiga said, amused. 

He glared at them and felt slight anger stir in his chest. They should know that in any mission, it was important to ensure secrecy. A little lost time wouldn’t hurt anyone. Although the Yiga couldn’t see his face, he was sure they could feel his annoyance as they shifted uncomfortably and cleared their throat. 

“Ahem. Well, I assume you have the information?” they asked. 

“Of course,” he responded, letting go of his irritation in favor of concentration on the mission. “We need to act soon. Time will probably have his meeting in a couple of days, and if he tells the other Heroes of their identity then our mission will fail. We cannot allow the Sheikah to assemble them. 

He pulled out a small flash drive and tossed it to the Yiga, who caught it and nodded. 

“Stay on your mission,” the Yiga said. “Your intel is key to our success. Keep up the work.” 

He nodded. The Yiga took that as their signal to leave, disappearing in a burst of red light and papers, which disintegrated before they hit the ground. 

He left the alleyway, hands in his pockets, mist surrounding him once again. A steady, determined light flickered in his eyes. 

He would do whatever it took to save his country. 

ΔΔΔ 

Hyrule had just finished healing Wind when he heard Wild scream. 

“Twilight!” 

The sound ripped its way across the battlefield, making several people pause in their movements. Time froze in the process of hurriedly typing something on his phone, before finishing and quickly stuffing it in his pocket. He turned and looked across the battlefield with horror in his eyes. 

Hyrule whirled around from Wind, who had stood up and was grabbing a discarded Yiga sickle off the floor. 

He saw Twilight, reeling from a blow from a blue bokoblin. Before Hyrule could do anything, another bokoblin, a black one, smashed the side of its spear into Twilight’s head. 

And then Twilight collapsed on the ground, unmoving. 

Wild let out a guttural shout, leaping away from guarding Wind and Hyrule and slashing his way towards where Twilight lay. He was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, dodging blades by a hair’s breadth and spinning around attacks with inhuman speed. 

Hyrule, after making sure Wind was fully recovered, also ran towards where Twilight lay. Worry made his heart hammer in his chest. 

He and Wild weren’t fast enough. As they watched, a Yiga noticed Twilight. With a triumphant laugh, they ran over to Twilight and clasped their fingers together in a sign. 

The Yiga and Twilight disappeared in a flash of flying papers and red light. 

“No!” Wild roared. He raced to the spot where Twilight and the Yiga used to be, a look of pure anger crossing his face when he realized there was nothing left. 

Hyrule screeched to a halt beside Wild, panic starting to spike. Twilight was gone. The Yiga just took him and teleported away. And now they didn’t have a clue where he could be, whether he was in danger or not, or how bad his head injury was after the bokoblins hit him. 

Hyrule suddenly jerked to a halt, revisiting that line of thought. The bokoblins. Shit. 

He turned to see the black and blue bokoblins leaping at Wild from behind, Wild still staring at where Twilight used to be, his hands clenched tightly around his blade. 

“Wild!” Hyrule called in warning. 

His worry turned out to be unfounded, however when Sky leaped between Wild and the bokoblins, electricity crackling down his blade. 

He blocked both strikes, then kicked the blue bokoblin backwards, shocking it on contact. The bokoblin squealed, falling backwards and dropping its club. It disappeared a couple seconds later in a burst of purple smoke. 

The black bokoblin reared backwards, eyeing them warily. Wild, having realized what happened, shot a thankful smile at Sky before leveling his sickle and charging toward the bokoblin. 

Hyrule nodded at Sky before joining him, the two standing side by side as they attacked. The bokoblin was forced to draw back to avoid blows from the two of them. 

Wild bared his teeth in a snarl as he sliced with his sword. Hyrule felt a shiver run down his spine. Really, Twilight and Wild would sometimes act really similarly on the battlefield; in the heat of the fight, both seemed to display slightly animalistic tendencies. It was ever so slightly terrifying. 

Like mentor, like protegee, he guessed. 

Hyrule took a brave step forwards, slashing and catching the shaft of the bokoblin’s spear. The spear snapped, giving out after so much damage inflicted by the two of them. 

The bokoblin snarled at the loss of its weapon. Without a proper item to arm itself with, it slashed with its bare claws at Wild’s face. Wild ducked, likely using his quirk, before stabbing several times with his sword at a blistering speed. 

The bokoblin, torso suddenly riddled with wounds, stumbled away, clutching at its chest. It let out a small burble before falling over and dispersing into purple smoke. 

“ That’s for messing with Twilight,” Wild growled. 

Hyrule decided that pissing off Wild was a terrible idea, and resolved not to do so in the future. 

He moved next to Wild, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Wild turned and nodded at him, although his eyes still promised revenge to those who had wronged his mentor. 

“You two alright?” Sky asked, coming over to stand next to them, hands still sparking intermittently. 

“As best that I could be, considering my mentor just got kidnapped,” Wild tried to joke. Hyrule could only smile grimly, while Sky gave a half-hearted laugh. 

“Well, shall we?” Sky asked, gesturing to the battle with the Yiga still raging around him. Hyrule nodded, and readied a stance to plunge back into the fray. 

They were interrupted by the sudden and strange poofing sound, not unlike the sound a Yiga made when teleporting. 

Hyrule whirled around to see several explosions of smoke appearing around the battlefield. At first he panicked, thinking that Yiga reinforcements had arrived. Instead, several dark blue shadows leaped out of the clearing smoke. 

A throwing star flew across the battlefield, skimming right by Hyrule’s face and hitting a Yiga square in the neck. The Yiga dropped their weapon, clutching at their neck before falling over. 

One of the new arrivals landed in front of Hyrule, Sky, and Wild. Dark blue clothes stretched tightly over a lithe, elegant form. Although they had their face covered with a mask, the red, eye-like symbol embroidered on their clothing was unmistakable. 

These were Sheikah, come to rescue them. 

The Sheikah were a secret fighting force well known all around Hyrule. Although no one knew much about them, rumors whispered between friends and family hinted that they were a rebel force, fighting against Ganondorf’s rule. They were unlike the Yiga, however, in the fact that they fought for justice and rarely killed. 

Hyrule felt a surge of relief as more Sheikah appeared in bursts of smoke around the battlefield. Several Yiga yelled in alarm, and the Sheikah wasted no time in capitalizing on their advantage. 

The tides had turned. The Yiga were forced backwards, away from the blades of the Sheikah and Hyrule’s friends. Hyrule himself stayed back, as Four had gotten a shallow but nasty cut on his arm, and he needed healing. 

The Yiga seemed to realize the sudden turn of events. One of them shouted a couple commands, and all the Yiga clasped their hands and disappeared in red bursts of light and fluttering paper. 

The battlefield was empty, silent except for faint, heavy breathing. 

Time spoke first. 

“Thank you, Impa,” he started. “I apologize for the suddenness of my message.” 

“It’s no problem,” one of the Sheikah said. Hyrule noticed that she had a long, white braid and fancier attire than the other Sheikah; there was more embroidery on her clothes, and leather armor plates covered her shoulders. “We came as soon as we received it. It should be me apologizing for how long it took to gather a group and travel here.” 

To Hyrule’s surprise, all the Sheikah clasped their hands and bowed towards Time. Time just nodded, smiling at Impa. He walked over to her, pulling her into a hug when he got close enough. 

“It’s good to see you,” Time said warmly. 

“And you,” Impa agreed. She pulled out of the embrace, seeming to suddenly remember the other people here. She turned and stared intently at the Links. 

Wind waved awkwardly. 

“Are they…them?” Impa asked. Time nodded, and the two made eye contact for a long moment. Something passed between the two, and Impa seemed to realize something because she nodded, clearing her throat. 

“Ahem, anyways,” she continued. “You all did well to hold off the Yiga until we came. Unfortunately, they seemed to be after you in particular, although we don’t know why. I recommend staying at a safe, hidden area and laying low for a while. The Yiga are not a force to be messed with, and it’d be best to avoid them.” 

She turned away from Time, suddenly all business. 

“It was a pleasure meeting you again, but I must leave.” She and the other Sheikah started filing out of the room. “I trust that you’ll be responsible for the other He… I mean, the others.” 

With that, the Sheikah all left, teleporting away.  

Hyrule was dumbfounded. They just teleported in, saved them, then went up and left without a word. And it looked like Time knew Impa. Just what was going on? 

The obvious answer would be that Time had worked with the Sheikah before, but that was impossible. Hyrule knew Time, and had known him all his life. There was no way that Time could have had a secret this big and have kept it from them… right? 

A glance at the others showed him that the other Links were just as confused. 

Time stood there for a couple seconds, then shook his head and sighed. 

“Let’s head out,” he said. “We should get to a safe area.” 

ΔΔΔ 

They drove to Time’s house in silence. It was dark out; the Sun had already set a couple hours earlier. Hyrule sat in the back row of the car, elbow on the windowsill, face pressed against the cold glass as he watched the lights of the night city pass by. 

After the battle, they all decided to leave. With the Yiga attack, Time had been worried that another might occur, so they left together immediately. Time’s car was too small for all of them, so Wild, Warriors, Wind, and Sky were taking Sky’s car instead. Except for a quick stop at a fast food place for food, which none of them ate, they had been driving constantly for the past couple of hours. Time’s place was at the edge of the city, and although it wouldn’t normally take that long to drive there, Time was insisting on taking a roundabout path to ensure no one was following them. 

Hyrule knew that Time knew something. From when he had called the meeting, to when they had first seen the bokoblin, to when the Sheikah had intervened, it was clear that something was up. He had acted like he’d recognized the bokoblin, and he hadn’t been surprised when the Sheikah showed up. Not only that, but Hyrule saw Time typing something on his phone in the middle of battle, and Impa, or whoever that Sheikah was, had referenced some sort of ‘message’ that Time had sent her. 

There was clearly a connection here. 

Additionally, there was that thing with Legend and Kohga. What the heck had that been about? His mentor had apparently known Kohga from before, which should have been impossible. Hyrule thought he knew Legend, knew his past. But thinking back on it, Legend had never really said anything about what he’d done before joining the mentor program for Sky Knight’s Academy. It was making Hyrule question his mentor. He, of course, had full faith in Legend. Legend was a good person, warm and kind hearted underneath all that sass. But if he was hiding something, it could cause the rest of the group harm, depending on what it was. 

The Yiga had clearly been out for them in particular. Maybe they were aiming for Legend, and had decided to try to capture the people he was with as well. But if this was just about Legend, then why was Time acting like he knew something? 

Hyrule sighed, causing his breath to fog the window. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by the feeling of the car slowing. Warm light filtered through his vision, and he turned to see Time’s house crawling into view. 

Orange light lit up red brick walls, a gravel path wove through a large lawn covered in overgrowth and stopped at a bright yellow door. Moths flew around a lantern, the source of the light, hanging in front of the door. Time drove up a driveway next to the house, then pulled the car to a stop and threw the parking brake. He opened his door and gestured for everyone else to come out. 

“We’re here,” he said tiredly. 

Hyrule saw Sky’s car pulling over as well. It stopped in the driveway beside Time’s car and Sky came out of it, weariness making his head sag. 

Hyrule shoved the car door open and came out. Four and Legend followed soon after, along with Wild, Wind, and Warriors. 

They all gathered in silence at the front of the house before Wind cleared his throat. 

“So, Old Man,” Wind started, “are you sure you’re alright with us staying over? We don’t want to bother you.” 

“No, it’s quite alright,” Time responded, waving his hand, walking towards the door. Keys clinked as he fiddled with the lock, and soon the door slid open. “Malon would be happy to see you all, I’m sure.” 

They filed into the house one by one until all were standing awkwardly in the living room. Time excused himself to get Malon. 

The Links were left behind. They resorted to staring at the floor, their hands, their shoes, any place that wasn’t each other. 

Hyrule grew tired of the silence. 

“Um,” he said. All eyes instantly turned to him, and he quailed for a moment. He wasn’t very talkative, he knew that, and it was unusual for him to be the one to start conversations. “I’m sure we all know that something’s up. Time’s acting weird, there were monsters from myth, and then the Sheikah showed up.” 

“Definitely,” Wind agreed. “I might’ve been seeing things, but I swear the Old Man recognized that boko…boko-what-now? Boko thingy.” 

“Bokoblin,” Hyrule corrected. He was now glad that his old parents made sure to teach him the stories of the Heroes, although he never thought that they’d come in handy like this. 

“It looked like the bokoblins and the Yiga were allied with each other,” Wild commented. “Did your stories say anything about that, Hyrule?” 

“No, nothing,” Hyrule sighed. He found one of the couches in the living room and sat on it, leaning back. The other Links did the same, with Legend taking a seat next to him. “There’s no stories on the Yiga. Besides, the only stuff I know about the myths of old were from my parents. They didn’t tell me much.” 

Everyone fell quiet again. They all knew that Hyrule’s birth parent’s were a tough subject for him. After all, when both died in a car crash, he had been mute for weeks afterward. He still wasn’t quite over the grief of losing them. 

Luckily, they were interrupted by the sounds of someone coming down a flight of stairs, then Malon entered the room.
“...Boys?” 

Long, messy strands of red hair floated around Malon’s tired sapphire-blue eyes. She wore a crinkled nightgown, likely having just gotten out of bed. Although she looked tired, her face lit up when she saw them. 

“Oh my!” she exclaimed. “You’re really all here!” 

Hyrule was suddenly pulled off the couch wrapped up in a bone-cracking hug. He yelped a little as he felt the air squeezed out of him, then coughed when Malon let go to hug the other Links. He snickered when he saw Legend’s face turn red from Malon squeezing him too hard. 

Time had arrived as well at this point, and was watching the scene with amusement. 

Once Malon had finished hugging all of them individually, she looked around and frowned. 

“Where’s Twilight?” 

Instandly, the mood darkened. Hyrule felt the smile fall off his face, and the cheerfulness from before vanished like smoke. He saw Wild growl and clench his fists, saw Legend frown at the ground, saw Wind watch everyone else with sadness and worry in his eyes. 

Malon seemed to catch on, and her smile slowly faded.
“What? What happened?” she asked. Then her face turned serious, and she whirled to Time. “Did something happen to Twilight?!” 

Time only nodded, grim faced. Malon’s hands flew up and covered her mouth. 

“W-what happened…” Malon seemed to notice the terrible state that all the Links were in; they were all roughed up and covered with dirt and dried sweat. Some had small scratches, and all of them had tired bags under their eyes. “Tell me everything.” 

They did. 

ΔΔΔ 

Twilight groaned. The ground seemed to sway beneath him. Groggily, he opened his eyes. 

The first thing he registered was darkness; there was almost no light. Soon though, his eyes adjusted, and he was able to make out the gray outlines of objects in the dark. 

Memories rushed back to him, and he sat up straight in the dark. Twilight instantly regretted it, as blood rushed to his head and his vision filled with stars. His stomach swirled with nausea, which did not help the new headache that was now pounding behind his eyes. 

He slowly lay back down, although that seemed to help little. 

Twilight closed his eyes again. 

It appeared that he was in some sort of cell, empty except for a hard wooden bed that he was currently laying on. It could barely be called a bed though; it was more of a wooden slab that was extremely uncomfortable to sit on. 

The area was musty and covered with dust. Twilight wrinkled his nose as he smelled a faint whiff of urine. 

The only light in the room filtered through a set of iron bars in a small window on his door. Outside, he could hear the faint whistling of a guard. 

… A guard? Where even was he? 

Twilight took deep breaths, attempting to calm his raging headache. It worked, slightly, and he was able to clear his head enough to think. 

He remembered Time’s meeting, the Yiga attack, and the bokoblins. He remembered being knocked out by a blow from a bokoblin’s spear. 

Twilight grit his teeth. How could he have gone from being attacked by Yiga to ending up in a cell? This didn’t make any sense. 

He sat up again, this time slowly to make sure he didn’t make his headache worse. He padded slowly over to the cell door in the darkness and peaked through the bars. 

Outside, a single ceiling light provided a pale, artificial glow. He couldn’t see anything more except for a gray, concrete wall a couple feet ahead of him. The area looked narrow. Maybe it was part of a hallway. 

As he watched, a guard passed by, still whistling a tune. 

He froze, and his eyes widened in shock at the sight. The guard was wearing the uniform for the knights of Hyrule. That meant … that meant that he was in a royal prison. 

“Help!” he cried suddenly, reaching out to shake the bars. “Help! Where am I?” 

The guard’s whistling stopped, and they came over to stand outside the bars. Twilight could see their face under the helmet. He could make out pale skin and a sharp, pointed chin. 

“You’re in a royal prison,” the guard said, amused. Her voice was clearly feminine. “Where else would you be?” 

“I …” Twilight said, confused. “I didn’t do anything, I swear. My friends and I got attacked by Yiga at our school and I got knocked out. That’s the last thing I remember. Please, I need to go find them and make sure they’re okay.” 

The guard stayed silent for a moment, then laughed. 

“Oh, I recognize you,” she said. “Don’t worry, you’re not fooling anyone.” 

Twilight drew back from the bars a little, surprise filling his face. How did she know him? He wasn’t famous. 

The guard seemed to sense his confusion. 

“Oh, you wouldn’t know,” she realized. “That’s right, you were out for a while. Here, I’ll show you.” 

Rustling sounds came from the other side of the door; the guard was probably searching for something. After a moment, a lit phone was pressed to the iron bars. The light nearly blinded Twilight for a moment, but soon he adjusted. 

He squinted at the phone, and gasped. 

An article was displayed on the phone, from the Castletown Times. It read: 

‘Nine Teens Worked With Yiga To Attack Sky Knights Academy; One Was Caught And Apprehended’ 

Twilight’s stomach twisted. Below the title, a picture of all nine of the Link’s faces was shown. He could make out Wind’s cheerful smile, Time’s stoic frown, Warriors’ cocky grin. 

Below the picture was a warning to call the police if any of them were seen. 

“Now the world knows what you’ve done,” the guard said. “It won’t be long till you’re all caught and punished for your crimes.” 

Chapter Text

He finished typing out the message, then read it once over before clicking the send button. It was encrypted, so there was no way any of the others could track it, even Wind with his amazing hacking skills. 

Time and the others were all sleeping. He felt exhaustion grip his muscles, and he figured he should rest soon, too. 

He put down his phone and tapped nervously on his arms. The information would reach the Yiga soon. He didn’t need to worry about it. So why was he so anxious? 

He sighed and threw back his head, leaning back in his chair. He knew why. It was Twilight. 

He had been genuinely concerned for his friend when the bokoblin had hit him. And when the black bokoblin had hit him upside the head, when Twilight had crumpled like a house of cards, he had felt real fear shoot through his chest. 

Fear like he’d never felt before. Real worry, real concern. It was a relief to him when he’d been sent an update from the Yiga that Twilight was alive and had been sent to a prison. 

… Although that wasn’t a great place to be either. 

He sighed, fiddling with the silver Yiga pendant that hung around his neck. The cold metal was calming for him. 

If Ghirahim saw him now, he’d laugh at him for getting too attached. He’d always said that emotions were the key to a warrior’s downfall. If a warrior let themselves feel pity or got attached to a target, they were compromised. 

If he told Ghirahim about this, he’d certainly get removed from his job. He knew he should report himself; it could threaten their mission otherwise. But something in him hesitated. He didn’t want to stop spending time with the other Links. They were … the first real friends he’d had. They made him laugh, encouraged him to be himself and not some emotionless robot of a person. And Malon was so kind and understanding. She’d taken Twilight’s kidnapping well, and hadn’t blamed it on them. 

It was a pity that the other Links and Malon were a threat to the country. 

He squeezed his pendant so hard the metal dug into his skin. These thoughts, these conflictions, weren’t helping. He sat up and resolved not to think on this issue again. 

ΔΔΔ 

It was a lovely day outside; morning sunlight cheerfully shone through the treetops and cast beautiful shadows on a flower-covered lawn. Birds twittered outside, and a blue jay could be seen hopping through the grass, pecking the ground every now and then. 

Four sat on his borrowed bed in Time’s attic, watching the birds from a round window. Tired eyes drooped with exhaustion; they hadn’t slept. 

We should have tried to sleep more , Green commented into their headspace. 

But it’s understandable, Vio commented, based on the excitement we had yesterday. 

It’s too bad , Red lamented. Malon was so insistent that we should get some sleep. 

Malon had taken the news of her and Time’s son’s kidnapping surprisingly well. She had insisted that at the moment they were too tired to think straight and had ordered them off to bed. 

Four had tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. Worry for their friend consumed their thoughts. But there was nothing they could do about it at the moment. 

They had also heard Malon and Time discussing something through the night. It was muted, so they couldn’t make out the words, but it was still there. Malon had sounded quite heated sometimes in their discussion. 

Now, as they stared out the window and watched the birds, Blue cursed suddenly in their head. 

Fuck! he snarled. We should be doing something, not sitting here. Twilight could be severely injured! Who knows what the Yiga could be doing to him. 

We can’t do anything, Blue , Green said sadly. We don’t know his location. Wind is probably up already and trying to figure out a way to track his phone. Until he finds something out, all we can do is wait. 

Blue grumbled, but his anger slowly subsided. 

Clanking noises started coming from below them, along with the sound of a stove being turned on. 

That’s probably Wild , Vio said. Should we head down? 

Naw , Blue said , let’s wait here. He’ll probably make us help out in the kitchen, and I’m not in the mood for that. 

I think we should help , Red argued. He’s taken Twilight’s kidnapping harder than all of us, we should let him know that we’re there for him. Also, if he’s baking cookies, we could eat some of the cookie dough. 

I agree, Vio said. Let’s head down . 

Green mentally nodded. Alright, let’s go. 

Four got up and stretched before grabbing their bracelet and heading down. They never went without their bracelet; it could turn into a variety of weapons, and they disliked going anywhere unarmed. 

They padded down the stairs, wincing every now and then at a particularly loud creak; they didn’t want to wake any of the others up. But Time’s house was old and wooden, so there was only so much they could do. 

They glimpsed Wind through an open doorway for a moment. Computer screens surrounded him, and his hair was disheveled. Although he looked tired, he was intensely focused on whatever he was doing. 

A heavenly smell started filling the air as they descended, and they felt their mouth water. Something was being fried on a pan, and they could smell cinnamon and cooking sausages in the air. Surprisingly, the two didn’t smell bad together. 

Four peaked his head downstairs to see Wild in the kitchen and Legend in the living room. Wild was bustling around, flipping pancakes and sausages on the stove and mixing vinegar and something else for salad dressing. Legend was drinking a cup of coffee on a couch. 

The kitchen and the living room were technically the same room, with one side serving as a kitchen, complete with a stove and several cupboards, and the other side serving as a living room with a couple couches arranged around a TV on the wall. A fireplace crackled in the farside of the living room, and several pictures were displayed on shelves on the walls. Overall, it was very homey. 

Wild didn’t seem surprised by Four, likely having heard their creaky descent down the stairs. Legend barely glanced up from his cup of coffee. 

“Morning,” Four said. 

“Morning,” Wild nodded. He looked quite busy, as now he was cutting up strawberries, as well as intermittently pausing to flip a pancake or sausage. 

“Need some help?” Four offered. Wild glanced at them and smiled. Four could see large eye bags under his eyes. 

“Sure! Thanks, Four.” 

Four took Wild’s knife and started cutting the strawberries, but not before washing their hands. 

They worked in silence for a while. 

“So…” Four started. “How are you feeling, Wild?” 

Wild paused while flipping a pancake. His hand shook for a moment before continuing to flip it over. 

“I’m… fine,” Wild said. “Really. There’s nothing I can do, after all.” 

He turned toward Four and gave a half-hearted smile. 

Four wasn’t fooled for a moment. 

Knowing Wild, Red sympathized, he would be somehow blaming himself for Twilight’s kidnapping. 

“It’s not your fault,” Four said. “Don’t blame yourself, you did nothing wrong.” 

Wild flinched, surprised. “If I had been just a little faster, I could have saved him.” 

He was too far away already, and the Yiga too close , Vio stated matter-of-factly. It would have been impossible for him to get to Twilight in time. 

“You were far away, and the Yiga were close,” Four argued. “There was no way you could have reached him in time, and that’s not your fault.” 

It’s the damn Yiga’s fault, not his, Blue scowled. 

“The Yiga were the ones who attacked. They were the ones who took him. If anything, it’s their fault. You shouldn’t blame yourself for something that was out of your control.” 

Wild ducked his head, clenching his spatula. 

Blaming himself like this will just make the situation worse, Green added. It’s not what Twilight would have wanted. He wouldn’t have wanted us to be kicking ourselves for a failure that wasn’t ours. 

“Twilight wouldn’t want you to blame yourself,” Four continued. “He wouldn’t want you to be kicking yourself over something that wasn’t your fault.” 

Wild stayed silent, squeezing the spatula. When Four started to get worried though, he relaxed, looking up and giving Four a real, genuine smile, although it was still tinged with sadness. 

“Thanks, Four,” Wild said. 

“Don’t mention it.” Four smiled back at him. 

Out of the corner of their eye, Four saw Legend look up and give them a thumbs up. ‘ Nice work ,’ he seemed to mouth. 

Four gave Legend a tiny nod, then continued cooking with Wild in silence. 

The smell of the food started bringing down the other Links. 

First was Time, who nodded at them and sat down on the couch next to Legend, who now was looking at his phone. Next was Hyrule and Malon. Malon smiled at them and immediately started helping with cooking as well. Her eyes were tired, but she still smiled warmly at Wild and Four. 

Hyrule offered to help, but he was quickly turned down by both of them. Four didn’t miss the way Time and Legend exchanged alarmed looks when Hyrule asked to cook. Their reactions made sense based on what happened last time. They had been making cereal , and yet Hyrule had still managed to turn the milk purple and add some strange, short, hair-like bits of something in there that, on closer inspection, turned out to be insect legs. 

They didn’t let Hyrule touch the kitchen after that. 

Hyrule looked disappointed and sat on a couch. 

Aww, Red said, he just wants to help. Why shouldn’t we let him? 

Uh, Blue responded, I’m sorry, but did you see the food that he made the first and the last time we let him into the kitchen? I wouldn’t let him touch a buttering knife again. 

It’s fascinating though , Vio said thoughtfully, that he managed to put insect legs in the food and turn it purple, even when there was no source of insects or food dye in the vicinity at the time. 

Next came Warriors with a towel around his neck from just taking a shower. He plopped down next to Hyrule. 

Sky came last, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he stumbled tiredly down the stairs, all but falling face-first next to Legend on the couch. He started snoring a couple seconds later. 

Four giggled as Legend pulled a goose feather from one of the pillows and tickled Sky’s nose with it, resulting in a loud sneeze and Sky waking up again, blinking blearily. 

“Wake up, sleepy head,” Legend scowled. “You just woke up, and it’s 8:30 already.” 

“Breakfast is ready!” Wild called, bringing plates over. There was no table to eat on, so they all just ate on the couch or sat on the ground. 

The food was divine; steaming, fluffy pancakes drenched in maple syrup and strawberries, fresh green salad covered in vinaigrette, perfectly cooked sausages that were crispy on the outside and exploded in juice when you bit into them. 

Everyone spent a couple minutes complimenting Wild on his cooking and enjoying the food. 

“Why don’t you have tables here, Old Man?” Warriors suddenly asked curiously. 

Time and Malon suddenly laughed. 

“It was Twilight,” Malon responded. “About a week ago he was trying to demonstrate a new combat move he’d learned. He executed it, but then tripped and accidentally elbowed our table. I’m sure you all know that terrifying strength of his; he snapped the table like it was glass.” 

The others laughed. Twilight hadn’t told them this before, but Four could definitely see him doing it. 

“A new table will arrive in a couple days,” Malon said, laughing. 

“That clumsy oaf,” Legend snorted. 

They continued to eat, the mood lightened somewhat. 

“Where’s Wind?” Hyrule asked suddenly. 

“He’s upstairs,” Time responded. “He’s trying to find a way to hack Twilight’s phone and track its location.” 

Four nodded. “I saw him, he looked very focused. One of us should probably bring up some food for him so he can eat.” 

“I’ll do it,” Sky volunteered. After a couple sips of coffee, he now looked much more awake. He grabbed a plate, piled some food on it, and left upstairs. 

To their surprise, Sky came down a couple moments later with Wind, who was holding his food. He smiled at the others, sat down on the ground next to Four, and started voraciously eating. 

Time set down his plate, his expression now serious. 

“I’m sure,” he began, “that you all have a lot of questions. Now that we’re all together, I’d like to answer some of them.” 

All the Links immediately turned to Time, interested to hear what he had to say. Wind had sausage grease smeared on his cheeks, Four noticed with a slight smile. 

“I’ll start at the beginning,” Time said. “This’ll take a while, so get comfortable.” 

The Links shuffled around a bit. Time cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. Malon nodded at Time in encouragement. 

“When I was young,” Time started, “I joined a secret military force. This force was called the Sheikah.” 

Four blinked in surprise. The Sheikah were once part of the Hyrulian government? That was new. 

“The Sheikah were like spies and agents; they assassinated those who posed a threat to our country and gathered intel. While I was there, I befriended other members of the Sheikah: Impa and Sheik. We were all very close. 

“Unfortunately, it didn’t last. When Ganondorf was elected Governor of Hyrule, things started changing. At first, we didn’t notice anything, but soon we all saw signs of corruption within the ranks of our leadership. Ganondorf kept lengthening the term limit for Governors, therefore extending the term limit for himself. The other people in power would instantly agree with whatever Ganondorf had to say. It was almost as if Hyrule had become a monarchy.” 

Four frowned, and they noticed the other Links doing the same. They’d known about slight controversies about Ganondorf in the early stages of his rule, but those had faded away with time. 

The history books never said anything about this , Vio commented. 

Shut up, nerd, I’m trying to listen , Blue said. 

Listening? You? That’s a first, Vio smirked. 

Guys, stop , Red interrupted. He didn’t want their argument to escalate further while Time was still talking. 

“This did not go unnoticed among the Sheikah,” Time continued. “However, we were split; some supported the Governor and some did not. Eventually, this led to a point where we became two factions: those who supported Ganondorf and those who opposed him. These factions became the Yiga and the Sheikah you know today.” 

The Yiga were part of the Sheikah?! Vio exclaimed. But our records say nothing of this! 

For the last time, shush! Green hushed. 

“I sided with the Sheikah. With my friends, Impa and Sheik, we decided to take things into our own hands. With the other Sheikah, we entered the capital building and demanded Ganondorf to explain himself. Unfortunately, he didn’t take that very well. 

“Ganondorf’s minions attacked us. It was a massacre. Half our forces were slaughtered by Yiga. It was in that battle that I received my scar,” Time said, tracing the vertical cut on his eye. “But that’s not the end of it. During the battle, I was separated from the others. As I tried to find a way back through the winding halls of Hyrule Castle, I ran into a strange figure.” 

The Links leaned forward in their seats. Time’s face grew haunted. 

“It was a shadow, unlike anything I’d ever seen. It looked like a person at first, but as I got closer I could see that it was anything but. It had void black skin and piercing, red eyes. As I realized this, I tried to run, but the shadow saw me. It summoned a strange glowing portal, and creatures not of this time poured out of it. That’s how I recognized the bokoblins; they were the same type of monster that attacked me that day. I barely escaped with my life.” 

Time took a deep breath, as if relieved by letting it all out. The others looked shocked. Malon wore a sympathetic look on her face, and Four realized that she’d probably been told this before. He wondered if Twilight knew. 

“After the battle, we lost half our forces and barely escaped. We were declared enemies of Hyrule by the government. Together, we decided to lay low, recover, and find a way to overthrow Ganondorf. And that leads me to you. 

“Do you all remember our meeting where I asked you all about the Heroes of old? It was for a reason.” 

Time held up his left hand and pulled his glove, his glove that he always wore, off. 

A bright, shining symbol illuminated the back of his hand and the other Links’ faces. 

Four could only say one thing. 

“ What. ” 

By the looks on the others’ faces, they were all thinking about the same thing. 

“The Heroes of old were real,” Time began, “and I’m one of them. So are you, although you might not know it yet.” 

Shock illuminated the others’ faces. Wind was staring at Time, frozen in the middle of wiping food grease off his face. Warriors, Sky, and Hyrule were silent, listening to Time with rapt attention. Legend had a frown on his face, and Wild… Wild looked almost scared. 

Four was confused. A Hero of old? How was that even possible? 

“The Hero’s Spirit,” Time said, “has been reincarnated through the generations. Whenever Hyrule was in danger, the Hero would be reborn. Now, it seems that multiple Heroes have been reincarnated.

“This is the Sheikah’s plan: assemble the Heroes. You are all the key to overthrowing the Governor of Hyrule. If you choose to join us, together we can defeat Ganondorf once and for all. Ganondorf also knows of your existence, and for this reason, he sent the Yiga after you. More enemies will undoubtedly appear the longer we survive.” 

The Links stared at Time in shock. Only Malon and Legend didn't look surprised. 

“You don’t look surprised, Legend,” Time noticed. 

Legend, to Four’s surprise, ducked his head. “Unfortunately, yes,” he said. 

Legend looked up again, met everyone’s eyes. 

“I’m the Hero of Legend,” he revealed. 

There was an immediate uproar from both the Links and the colors in Four’s head. 

“You’re the Hero of LEGEND?!” Wind shrieked. 

That’s impossible! Blue shouted. 

“The person who saved, like, five of the lands around Hyrule?!” Wild asked, shocked. “The guy who evaded authorities and is technically a criminal in Hyrule?” 

“The famous guy?” Warriors asked. 

Legend… oh, that name makes so much more sense now, Green groaned. 

Hyrule was staring at his mentor, shock and confusion written on his face. 

Oh no, Red realized, he’s probably wondering why Legend didn’t tell him this before. 

The colors collectively winced. Hyrule and Legend were some of the closest out of all of them, like two peas in a pod. Legend had practically raised Hyrule after his parents died, and the kid looked up to him like an older brother. It must be a shock for him to realize that Legend had kept such a big secret from him all this time. 

Legend himself looked guilty. 

“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t know how to tell you all. I wanted to at some point, but it’s been a secret that I’ve kept for so long that I didn’t know how to talk about it.” 

He turned to Hyrule, imploring. “Hyrule, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I should have. Please, I don’t want you to see me any differently.” 

Hyrule stared at Legend for a couple of seconds. Four saw shock light up the others’ faces, and they felt the same. Getting Legend to apologize was like getting a cat to do a handstand while balancing a ball on its back legs. The fact that Legend was freely apologizing showed just how much he meant it. 

Hyrule closed his eyes and let out a huff before smiling. “So that’s what it was,” he said. “That’s a relief, I was worried it was something worse.” 

Legend opened his mouth, then closed it, confusion written clearly on his face. “What?” 

“I knew something was up,” Hyrule revealed. “You and Kohga recognized each other, so I figured you must have had some sort of history.” 

He smiled warmly at Legend. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. I understand that you don’t want the public attention of being the Hero of Legend. I’m not angry that you’ve kept it from me until now.” 

Legend’s confused expression changed to one of relief. “Thanks, Hyrule,” he said. 

The two smiled warmly at each other for a couple moments. 

“Wow, that was really sappy.” Wind suddenly broke the silence. 

The others burst into laughter at the random interruption. 

After the chuckles started slowing, Time spoke up. 

“Well, I know that you’re probably still digesting the new information, but I’d like to add something more. 

“You have a choice; once we rescue Twilight, and we will rescue Twilight, I’m going to travel out of this country and to the Sheikah. It’s no longer safe here; the Yiga who serve Ganondorf will be hunting us down, and we need to move. I recommend that you tell any family or friends of yours to leave as well, because the Yiga might go after them too. If any of you want to join me, once we make it to the Sheikah, we’ll start planning on fighting against Ganondorf’s rule from there.” 

“Um,” Sky said, “can any family or friends come with us if we chose to travel with you?” 

Time shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The Yiga are after us in particular because we’re the Heroes. Taking anyone else with us might put them in needless danger.” 

“I see,” Sky nodded, although he looked disappointed. “Does that mean Malon won’t be coming with you?” 

Time nodded sadly. “Yes, I’m afraid so. She will be traveling out of the country separately. 

“In the meantime, while Wind’s finding a way to track Twilight, I suggest that we formulate plans,” Time said. “Although we may not be able to do it properly until we know Twilight’s status, we can still put together ideas.” 

The others nodded determinedly. They would get Twilight. There was no way any of them would give up, and therefore there was no way they would fail. 

ΔΔΔ 

Twilight was bored. 

And not just bored. Insanely bored. So bored that he was considering banging his head on the wall, just for something to do. 

He’d already exhausted all manner of things to do in his cell, from whistling to reciting part of a math textbook he remembered to scratching on the cell wall with a rock he found. He couldn’t really draw; it was too dark for that. 

He’d thought about just breaking down the door. He could easily do so, given his strength. But since he was in a royal prison, dozens of guards would probably be on him in seconds. The security here was top notch, after all. 

So he resolved to just sit and stare bored out of his mind at the ceiling. 

He heard his guard pass by again. It seemed that she was making constant rounds. That must be boring for her too. 

A sudden idea came to him. 

He went over to his door. His headache was much better now, and he could sit up quickly without it getting worse. 

He peaked out the bars. 

“Hey!” he called. “How’re you doing?” 

The guard stopped outside. 

“What do you mean?” she called back. 

“I said how’re you doing?” 

There was an awkward beat, and then the guard was walking over to his cell door. 

“Just what do you think you’re planning?” the guard asked, confused. “I’m not gonna let you out, if that’s what you’re wondering.” 

“No,” Twilight responded. “I’m just bored. Bored out of my mind. And I’m sure you are too, with all that walking you’ve been doing. So I thought we could do each other a favor. Talking would help take my mind off things, and I’m sure it would for you too.” 

The guard sighed. “Fine,” she said after a moment, before continuing to make her rounds. “Although I don’t see what it is you’d want to talk about.” 

Twilight shrugged, then realized that the guard couldn't see him. “Uh… what’s your favorite color?” 

The sounds of the guard walking suddenly stopped, and she barked a laugh. “That’s what you ask?” 

“Well, what else am I supposed to say?” Twilight asked defensively. 

The guard snorted. “It’s red.” 

“Green, for me.” 

The guard passed by his cell, one round having been made. 

“What’s your favorite animal?” he asked. 

“These are stupid questions,” she said, but he could tell she was amused. “Do mythical animals count?” 

“Uh, sure.” 

“I like yetis.” 

“I like wolves.” 

They continued like this for a while. Twilight found it enjoyable to have someone to talk to instead of just rotting in his cell. 

The guard’s name was Ashei, he discovered. He introduced himself as Link. 

They talked for hours about random things. Siblings, hobbies, favorite plants, least favorite movies. Twilight found himself growing to like Ashei. She was kind hearted and loved helping others. She had an insane amount of volunteer hours, with most of them spent working at homeless shelters or cleaning trash. She loved kids and had a side job of being a fencing instructor for middle and highschoolers. The two of them had a lot in common. 

But one thing didn’t make sense to him. 

“Hey, Ashei?” Twilight asked suddenly after a couple minutes of silence. There was a pause before she responded. 

“Yes?” 

“Why’d you become a guard?” 

Ashei paused in her rounds. Twilight could hear her footsteps stop from the other side of his door. 

The footsteps resumed again, and Ashei sighed. “I don’t know.” 

Twilight tilted his head, confused. “What do you mean? Did your family want you to join the guard? Did it just feel like the right choice?” 

“No, I mean it,” Ashei responded. “I don’t actually know.” 

This only served to increase Twilight’s confusion. “Huh?” 

Ashei paused just outside of Twilight’s door. 

“Listen,” she said, “I’m only telling you this because I think you’re a good man. I normally wouldn’t be allowed to talk about this. I woke up one day in the guard’s barracks. There was a man with black hair and really pale skin. When I woke, I had no memories.”

Twilight felt his eyes widen in surprise. 

“The man introduced himself as Agahnim. He said that I had suffered a bad concussion during a fight, and apologized for not being able to heal my memories completely. He also told me that I wasn’t allowed to speak about the fact that I lost my memories to anyone, or else I’d lose my job. He said that I’d been a guard for most of my life, and offered me to take the job again. I accepted, because what else was I supposed to do?” 

“Do you remember anything about your past?” Twilight asked. 

“No, nothing,” Ashei said sadly. “I don’t remember my family, my childhood, anything. Actually, you’re the first person I’ve told this to, so please don’t tell anyone else.” 

Twilight leaned back against the wall of his cell, turning the new information over in his mind. “Don’t worry, I won’t. You can count on me.” 

ΔΔΔ 

Four sat in a circle with the other Links on the floor, papers and markers scattered around in front of them. Legend, who was the Hero of Legend , Four was still getting over that, looked bored and was tapping away on his phone again. Warriors scowled at Legend and nudged him, but he ignored him. 

“I know that we all know most of each other’s quirks already,” Time was saying, “ but it might be beneficial to recite them so we get a general idea of our abilities. If you can, also list the things you can do with your quirk. I’ll go first.” 

Time picked up a marker and a piece of paper. 

Should we tell them, guys? Red asked. About us? 

We shouldn’t! Blue exclaimed. Grandpa told us not to tell anyone. And besides, they would hate us and think we’re crazy. 

That’s not true , Green argued. We don’t know what they would think. Besides, we haven’t told anyone except for Grandpa before, and he didn’t think we were crazy. 

It’d be best to tell them , Vio agreed. They should know our quirk. Every tactician needs to know all the cards they have up their sleeve, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to formulate proper plans. 

No one has a second quirk! Blue snarled. We didn’t even tell Dot! If we didn’t trust her, then how can we trust the others? Let’s just tell them our first quirk and be done with it. 

I…I don’t want them to think we’re crazy, Red mumbled. What if they turn their backs on us? We’ll lose our only friends. 

Or worse , Blue said, what if they turn us in to the government and we get locked up for being the crazy freak that we are? 

No! Red cried. We’re not getting locked up, we’re not crazy! 

They wouldn’t turn us in! Green exclaimed. We all know that Time wouldn’t do that. 

We thought we knew Time before , Blue countered harshly, but turns out he was still keeping secrets from us. He could be hiding more. Do we even know the real him? 

Stop being ridiculous, Blue! Vio glared. I agree with Green, Time wouldn’t do that. You’re just making the situation worse, like you always do. 

Say that to my face, you asshole! Blue snarled. 

GUYS! Green interrupted. We’re not helping anything arguing like this. Let’s just compromise. We won’t tell them for now, but if anything comes up where our second quirk would be helpful, we split. Alright? 

The colors’ arguing subsided into grumbles, and all of them eventually came to a reluctant agreement. 

“–I can rewind time,” Time was saying, “although I can only rewind it up to three minutes.” He scribbled down his quirk on the paper with his marker. 

 “I’ll go next!” Wind said cheerfully. “I can control the wind and use it to boost my movements, allowing me to jump higher, slow my fall, et cetera. My quirk also lets me feel the air currents around me, allowing me to sense movement in about a 10 foot radius.” 

Time scribbled on the paper with the marker. 

“My quirk allows me to slow time for myself,” Wild said, “although it only works when I’m in danger, like when I’m about to get hit by an attack or when I’m falling. I also have this.” 

Wild pulled out a strange tablet from his pocket that Four had never seen before. It glowed softly with blue light. 

“This allows me to store objects. It freezes them in time while storing it, meaning any food in here will last forever.” 

Huh, that’s new , Vio commented. I wonder where he got a powerful artifact like that. 

“That’s so cool!” Sky exclaimed. “Can I see it?” 

Wild chuckled. “Maybe later, when we aren’t so busy.” 

Legend cleared his throat. “I can phase,” he stated. “While phasing, I can walk through anything and any attacks go through me, and I don’t fall through the ground. Any small objects or clothes on me also phase with me, and I’m invisible while I phase.”  

A look of confusion crossed Wind’s face. “You turn invisible? I thought you just turned really smoky and stuff.” 

Legend turned to Wind, confused as well. “No? Light doesn’t hit me while I phase, so you shouldn’t be able to see me.” 

“Huh,” was all Wind said. 

An awkward moment passed, silent except for the scratching of Time’s marker on paper. 

“I can give people Commands that they are forced to obey,” Warriors broke the silence. “Although I can only give simple, short Commands. Also, people with a lot of willpower can resist it.” 

“Can you give us an example?” Hyrule asked curiously. 

“Uh, sure,” Warriors shrugged. “Who’s willing to volunteer?” 

A moment passed. Four shrugged and nodded. “I’ll volunteer.”

“Thanks, Four,” Warriors said. “Alright. Raise your hand .” 

The Command reverberated through Four’s consciousness. It was powerful, overwhelming. Four’s mind focused on Warrior’s words without their consent, and before they knew it they realized they already had their hand raised above their head. 

They dropped their hand down, staring at it. 

Wow , Blue commented. That’s a powerful quirk. 

Legend had his eyebrows raised. “That’s a useful quirk,” he said. 

Warriors shrugged. 

“I’ll go next,” Sky said. “I can emit electricity and cause powerful shocks. However, it only works if I touch someone. My electricity can also conduct through metal and reach people that way.” 

“I can heal people,” Hyrule said. “I can heal broken bones and any organic tissue. My quirk also gives people energy, so I can heal exhaustion caused by quirk overuse.” 

We have to go now, Vio said. We’re the only person who hasn’t said our quirk. 

“I can create enchanted objects,” Four said aloud. “I need to craft the object myself to do so, but given time and materials I can create powerful artifacts.” 

“Could you give us a list of the enchanted objects you have?” Time asked. “They could give us an edge.” 

“Let’s see…I have four bracelets that can transform into a bow, a hammer, a boomerang, and a fire rod. I have the Four Sword, which normally looks like a small golden rupee, but if I press a button on it it transforms into a shortsword. It’s what I used earlier at Sky Knight’s Academy. The sword can also split up into four copies of itself. I also have these small bombs that look like marbles that can shatter easily and blow up into elemental explosions. The rest of my stuff is at home though.” 

“That’ll do,” Time nodded. “Heading home would be too risky right now. Right, thank you all for responding. Warriors and I will work together to formulate a plan while Wind tries to find Twilight’s location–”

“Holy shit!” Legend screeched suddenly. He was staring in shock at his phone. 

“What is it, Legend?” Time asked. 

Legend said nothing, only held up his phone for them to look at. On it was an article from the Castletown Times. 

Four read the headline, then drew back in shock. 

“ Is that us?! ” 

It was. In the article, a headline described how nine teens worked with the Yiga to attack Sky Knight’s Academy. A picture below showed the faces of all the Links, along with warnings to call the police if they were seen. 

Four and the Links stared at the article in shock. No one seemed to know what to say. 

“Legend,” Time suddenly said, “does the article say anything else?” 

Legend looked back at his phone, scrolling down. His face twisted into a scowl as he read the false accusations listed there. Suddenly, he jerked forward, reading a couple lines with concentrated intensity. 

“There’s news on Twilight!” he exclaimed. “It says, and I quote: ‘One of the teenagers was caught and apprehended on the scene. Local authorities have already held an emergency trial and declared him guilty. He has been sentenced to a lifetime of captivity in a royal prison.’” 

Legend looked up from his phone. “Twilight is alive! He’s being held captive.” 

Four felt a wave of relief wash over him. Twilight was alive. He was alive and hopefully unhurt, and now they had a clue to where he was. 

There’s only one royal prison in the area, Vio said. That means that there’s only one place he could have been taken to. 

Heck yeah! We know where he is! Blue cheered. We’re coming for you, Twilight. 

I hope he’s unhurt , Red worried. The royal prisons aren’t exactly known for treating their captives well. 

It’s okay, Green assured. He won’t be in there long. We’re going to get him out. 

Four felt determination solidify in their chest. Now they had a chance. Twilight was going to be with them again in no time. 

Chapter Text

Okay. So.

First off, my sincere apologies for not updating this fic for so long. It's been years without a peep. 

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed this fic. Everything--kudos, comments--has been greatly appreciated. 

Just know, the ideas in this fic have not left my brain at all these past years. In fact, they've only marinated and multiplied. I'm sorry to say that I'll never finish this exact story, but I'm currently writing another with the same concepts (I hesitate to call it a rewrite because it's changed so much). 

If you're interested, you can find it on my account or here: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66086773/chapters/170308069

Again, thank you so much for reading. I wish you all the best.