Chapter Text
The air in the woods was thick and heavy with mist. It might have been warm, but after the blazing heat of the Great Sea it was honestly hard to compare. Wild sighed in relief as he smelled the familiar, comfortable scent of a pine forest around him, even though he knew instinctively that the earth and mist and trees surrounding them did not belong to his era.
Twilight stepped through beside him and immediately began to bounce up and down in delight, clapping his hands and stamping his feet. Wild couldn’t help but smile at that. Twilight may not have been able to speak, but he was a loud person. It was a long-standing joke amongst the Chain that he might as well have tied bells to his tunic for how much ambient sound he made. He whistled and stamped and snapped his fingers throughout their conversions and made sure that his feelings were known to everyone around him.
Twilight bumped Wild’s shoulder excitedly, his grin decidedly wolfish as he shook back his hair. He pointed to the woods around them and then to himself, vibrating in excitement. The meaning was clear:
My home my woods my era!!!
Wild laughed and purred in return, lightly headbutting his brother. Somehow he had figured that it was Twilight’s era without being told; the Rancher’s excitement being a bit of a giveaway.
It was obvious that Twilight wanted to set off right away, and as he could see no castle or city in the vicinity he could only presume that his brother’s excitement was because they were near the Rancher’s hometown. Wild purred and managed to convince Twi to sit down and wait for all of their brothers to come through the portal.
By the time they finally set off Wild honestly thought that Twilight was a moment away from turning into wolfie and bolting off on his own. The Champion tried to distract him by pointing out native flowers and plants and tilting his head in question. It worked a little, with Twilight happily showing him a few nuts and berries that tasted bright and sweet and delicious while they waited for Hyrule and Four to recover from their portal-sickness. Wild was glad of his slate’s ability to label anything from any era as he stashed as many treats as he could away for later.
Twilight explained once they started walking that they were about two hours’ walk from his village. The others all reacted with smiles and cheers and immediately began talking about the different things they wanted to do once they got there - Four wanted to use the village forge while Wind wanted to go and see the goats and Legend was hoping to stock up at the local shop.Wild rumbled happily and joined his brother at the head of the group, lightly bumping his shoulder. Personally, he was just eager to finally see the place where his brother had grown up.
He didn’t know much about the circumstances that led to Twilight being adopted by an Ordonian family. Understandably, he didn’t talk much about the attack that had killed his birth family and damaged his throat too much for speech. He did, however, have a wealth of anecdotes about growing up in Ordon, and Wild had spent many evenings laughing to Time’s translations of ‘that one time I let all the goats into Sera’s shop’ or ‘turns out monkeys don’t appreciate it if you steal their food’.
Eight year old Twilight sounded both terrifying and hilarious.
So yeah, Wild was looking forward to meeting the people who had raised his brother. Even if only to congratulate them on resisting the urge to strangle him the first time he put porridge in their shoes.
And yes, he still did that one. The actual gremlin.
Twilight was practically buzzing by the time they passed a set of wooden gates and crossed an old, sturdy rope bridge. It hadn’t been a particularly difficult journey; they’d run into a few stray monsters here and there, but no large packs and none with black blood. Wild’s hair was barely even mussed.
The others were happily talking about how nice it would be to rest once they got to the village. Sky was hoping that Uli - and Wild was pretty sure that was Twilight’s mother - had made honey cakes again, while Warriors began talking about a wrestling rematch with someone called Bo.
From context clues, it sounded like he was the mayor? But why one of the Chain would be sumo wrestling with the mayor was anyone’s guess.
Listening to everyone’s conversations, it sounded nice. Honestly, after the last few weeks spent dashing from island to island and fighting off freaky sea monsters, a few days relaxing with his brothers in a small town sounded idyllic.
They rounded a corner and entered a small clearing with a stout tree to one side. Unusually, there was a small house perched halfway up it.
Okay. Sure. That was normal.
Twilight grabbed Wild’s hand and pulled him towards the ladder, pointing to himself and then up to the house. The animal behaviour was back too, as he gently head butted Wild’s shoulder and then danced towards the house, giddy.
Home home my home here!
Wild rumbled in excitement and followed Twilight up the ladder to his house. He wondered if he could convince Zelda to build a treehouse back in his own era, even a small one for the children of Hateno to play in. Everything about this was just delightful, from the small balcony out the front to the comfortable, light-filled space that Twilight led him into.
The Chain followed them up and inside. It wasn’t exactly the largest home in the world and it was a bit of a squeeze for them all to get inside, but no one seemed to mind. Wild guessed that they were all used to fitting themselves into Twilight’s house. They all began busily stowing their weapons and cloaks on a waiting rack, while Twilight began signing furiously at anyone (Wind and Hyrule) who had not taken their shoes off before they came in.
Literally, he looked furious. He kept breaking off from his tirade to point at his rug, which was now covered in clods of mud.
The two apologised sheepishly and Wind ran to carry their shoes inside while Hyrule went to get the cleaning supplies. Something told Wild that this was not the first time this had happened.
Twilight met Wild’s eyes and shrugged, rolling his eyes in a ‘what are you going to do?’ expression. There was a glimmer of mischief in his look and Wild realised that he wasn’t actually as angry as he was pretending.
Twi grinned and lightly tugged at his arm, leading him up another ladder to a small balcony overlooking the main room. He giddily pointed out a neatly made up futon, a bookcase, and the little window looking out over the clearing they had come from.
This must be where he slept. Wild looked around in appreciation, admiring the pictures on the bookcase and the view from the window. He could only imagine how nice a place this was to fall asleep, especially with the rain hammering on the window and the blankets of the futon pulled around you. It was almost aggressively cosy.
Beside him, Twilight shifted from foot to foot, suddenly looking embarrassed. He signed a quick ‘sorry’ , gesturing to his bed and then down to the Chain.
Wild harrumphed. As if his brother had anything to be sorry for! Wild had been just as excited to see the Rancher’s house, to see where he lived and ate and slept, as Twilight had been to show it off to him. As soon as they got to Wild’s home, after all, you could bet that he was taking the Rancher around every single room in his house and showing off every insignificant piece of furniture.
They were brothers. They were friends . And, to be honest, they were both total dorks. Of course Wild had wanted to see Twilight’s room!
Wild rumbled and gently headbutted Twilight’s shoulder
Silly brother silly home good
Twilight beamed back.
“Hey Twi!” That was Legend shouting from down below, his voice caustic as ever, even when he was being friendly. They both turned to look. “I know you two are having a whole ‘besties moment’ and probably making up a secret handshake and everything, but are we going to head into town or what?”
Okay, first: rude. Second: they should TOTALLY have a secret handshake.
Twilight hesitated, a brief look of uncertainty flickering over his face. He glanced back at Wild and then chewed on his lip.
Uh oh. Wild didn’t like the look of that.
Twilight nodded and signed down to the group, waving them out the door. Then he jumped down the ladder, taking Time’s sleeve and signing what Wild could by now recognise as a request to translate.
Time nodded and turned to the Chain. “You guys head outside, we’ll join you in a minute.”
Warriors frowned. “Something wrong?”
Time brushed him off airily, a smirk crossing his face. “Just a quick chat. BFF stuff. You wouldn’t understand.”
Twilight snorted and Wild took that as a cue not to be too worried. Still, he swallowed heavily and followed Twilight back to the main level, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited.
The Rancher waited until everyone was gone and the door was shut before turning back to them. He seemed uncomfortable, a line of tension running through his shoulders that had not been there a moment before.
Shit. Wild burred in question, trying to keep his voice even. He didn’t like this sudden change in tone.
Twilight glanced at Time, who nodded that he was ready to translate. He took a deep breath and lifted his hands.
“ Everything should be fine! ” he said, and it was probably a good thing that Wild couldn’t talk in that moment, because he probably would have pointed out that when one needed reassurance that everything was fine, things likely were not fine.
Still, Wild nodded in encouragement and Twilight went on.
“My family are good. Ordon is good. But they don’t always respond well to things they don’t understand .” he tried for a smile, still looking vaguely uneasy. “ It’s not just you! The first time Sera saw a goron I thought she was going to faint. And they’ve run Wolfie out of town several times - although I guess that makes sense. Giant wolf and all. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is there shouldn’t be any trouble, I’m sure they’ll love you. But some of them might… give you some looks, at first. Ask weird questions. I promise they mean well, and if it gets too much we can leave whenever you want. ”
Oh. Okay.
That wasn’t so bad.
To be honest, Wild felt oddly touched. He went into pretty much every new town with no small amount of apprehension about how people would react to him, and Ordon was no different. His brothers all knew this and frequently assured him that it would all be fine , that no one would say anything and if they did then the Chain would step in. Which was nice, he appreciated it, he really did. But it wasn’t exactly practical .
But then here was Twilight, taking the time to think about how his village might react and preparing Wild for possible eventualities. Actually going so far as to offer to leave his own home if Wild felt uncomfortable.
Of course, he wouldn’t leave. Things would have to get pretty rough for him to take Twi up on his offer and he was pretty sure it wouldn’t get to that point, but still. It meant a lot.
Wild purred lightly and nodded. He offered a thumbs up.
Twilight grinned. “ They aren’t bad. It’s not like Hyrule’s era. They’re just all gobby and don’t know when to shut up .”
“AHA!” Time laughed. “So that’s where you get it from! Hey, don’t give me that ‘I literally can’t talk’ nonsense, Rancher, you’re the loudest person I’ve ever met.”
Wild laughed, both at Time’s shit-eating grin and because it was true. Twilight looked mildly offended for a moment before joining in, pausing only to briefly flip Time off.
The others were starting to get impatient when they finally came outside. That said, ‘impatient’ was basically their default state, so Wild wasn’t too worried.
Twilight slipped to the front of the group and led the way into the village. Wild walked close by his side, close enough that they were brushing arms while still leaving the Ranchers hands free to sign or to point out different interesting things on their way. And point things out he did - over there was a monkey swinging in the trees! And over there were some of Ordon’s famous pumpkins! The short journey to the village proper took almost twice as long as it should have because of how often the two of them darted from the path, either because Wild had spotted something interesting or with Twilight wanting to show him something.
The rest of the Chain, bless their souls, were extremely patient through the whole process. That said, when Twi began to double back, Time caught him by his pelt and told him in no uncertain terms that they could ‘go to the spring tomorrow, but right now it was time to go into town’. Twilight only sulked a little. Wild hummed in amusement, wondering what was so special about this spring that Twi had almost completely changed course.
Oh well. That could be a Tomorrow adventure.
Their path rounded a corner and all of a sudden they were stepping out into a bustling village. Squat, thatched buildings clustered around the banks of a narrow river, with a lively market square in the middle. People of all ages were bustling about; collecting groceries and chatting with friends and neighbours. A gaggle of children were playing some sort of chasing game, dodging in and around a small herd of goats that a tired looking man was trying to herd out of the market and up a hill.
It wasn’t idyllic. It was a little tattered around the edges. It was slightly ramshackle. The people’s clothes were made of practical, roughspun fabric and were patched and darned where they had been worn thin. The children had scabbed knees and dirty faces from where they had tripped and fallen in their game and gotten up again with a shout and a laugh.
No, it wasn’t idyllic. It was better than that. Ordon felt like a home.
Still, Wild saw the looks he was getting as he stepped into view and couldn’t help but tense, drawing his tail in close to his body. It was a busy enough village square, so they weren’t immediately noticed by everyone when they arrived. They were, however, still a large group of heavily armed men. They drew attention, people turned to look as they walked by. And then their attention turned to Wild. And, understandably enough, their eyes widened and they gasped in shock.
Twilight gently patted Wild’s arm and then stepped forwards, waving to someone he knew. As soon as the people of the town spotted Twilight beside him they just shrugged and went about their day. Probably long-since used to Twilight bringing home various odd and unusual friends from his journeys, Wild supposed. A few people still glanced back to look at him, but he could handle that. There was no malice in their eyes, and after all. He was a giant cat dude. He could understand a bit of curiosity.
A few children stopped in their game and openly stared up at him, their eyes wide. Several embarrassed parents were quick to rush over and scold them that it was rude to stare, but Wild didn’t mind. After all, kids would stare at you for any reason at all and even none if they felt like it. It was just normal kid behaviour. Wild waved at them as he passed and they all waved back, gap-toothed and giggling.
Twi led them through the main square and around a number of streets, waving in greeting as he passed different people and occasionally stopping to chat. Each time the vendor or the child or even once the mayor greeted the rest of the Chain like old friends, even though they’d only been here two or three times before. Twilight introduced each person to Wild, and after an initial flicker of surprise they all smiled and greeted him warmly.
Well. Mostly. The small child who looked like he was barely old enough to walk looked Wild dead in the eyes and told him that if he shopped anywhere other than Malo Mart, he could consider himself a dead cat-man.
What the fuck.
Finally, they ended up approaching a house on the edge of the woods. Outside it a woman with short blonde hair was hanging out a basket of laundry while a toddler played at her feet, happily babbling away.
Twilight’s face split into a grin and he let out a piercing whistle, running up to greet her. She turned, her face lighting up at the sound. She dropped her basket carelessly on the ground and threw her arms open, wrapping him into a fierce hug.
“Oh, Link!” she cried, burying her face into his pelt and holding him close. “I’m so glad you’re home!”
Ah. So this was Uli. This was Twilight’s mother.
Twi hugged her back, grinning for a few moments before pulling away and beginning to sign, gesturing back occasionally to the Chain. His mother started when she saw Wild and her eyes widened with undisguised fear, but she politely schooled it away into a smile as she watched what the Rancher had to say. Twilight jogged over to where Wild was hovering and grabbed his arm, pulling him over to meet her and then signing his name. Wild purred quietly, raising a hand in a small, uncertain wave.
Uli looked up at him and if she had seemed a little unsure at first, any hesitation had now gone. She smiled at him warmly, her eyes twinkling.
“I’m always glad to meet a friend of Link’s.” she said in a thick, honeyed accent. She reached out and rested a friendly hand on his arm. “I hope he’s not getting you into too much trouble!”
Twilight looked deeply offended, signing something in his own defence. His mother rolled her eyes and lightly waved a hand to disregard him “Oh, don’t give me that. You’re a menace and you know it.”
Wild rumbled in agreement and nodded sagely, fixing Twilight with as mournful a gaze as he could.
Twilight gasped in betrayal and shoved Wild. Wild shoved him back. Uli laughed and gently pried them apart, craning her neck to look at the rest of the Chain.
“Well, it’s good to see y’all back here again.” she greeted. “Come on in now, don’t be shy! I’ve just made some honey cakes, they’ll still be warm if you hurry!”
She patted Wild once more on the arm and then scooped the toddler up in her arms, turning and walking towards her house.
The toddler apparently did not see this as an acceptable course of action.
She wriggled and squirmed, clambering up her mother’s shoulder and reaching out towards a deeply confused and somewhat alarmed Wild.
“Kina!” Uli scolded. “Stop that- oh!”
They had been climbing the steps to the front door with Wild close, and the little girl had managed to reach out and get a hold of one of Wild’s braids. She was not for letting go.
Twilight snorted and stepped up to try and unclamp her hand while Uli tried to talk her down.
Nope. Not happening. She had seen Wild’s bright red hair, decided it was hers, and was laying her claim. Wild whined in a mixture of alarm and amusement. How did such small children have such tight grips? She was going to be a warrior someday.
“Wild, I’m so sorry!” Uli was gasping, flushing pink as she tried desperately to get her daughter to release his hair.
Wild waved to say that it was fine. It evidently was not, though, and was more than a little awkward given that Uli was significantly shorter than him and was holding Kina at chest height. Even a few steps below her, Wild had to bend over so as not to hurt the toddler who was determinately clinging to his braid.
Twilight snorted with laughter and stepped away, shaking his head and signing. Whatever he was suggesting made Uli look uncertain, but he made a gesture like crossing his heart. Like a promise. Uli sighed and shook her head fondly.
“Oh, you’re right, of course. Here, Wild.” she turned to him and he gave a short, questioning meow. “Do you know how to hold a toddler?”
Wild blinked. The answer was yes, of course. He had more experience with children of all ages than any of the Chain realised; he was a professor at Hateno School, after all. Not to mention he had been named the godfather to Hudson and Rhondson’s daughter years ago. Carrying toddlers, even energetic ones who laid claim to your hair, was practically in his job description at this point.
Of course, he had no way of explaining all of this, so he gave a thumbs up and carefully took Kina from her mother, taking care to give her proper support and bouncing her a little on his hip. The little girl was delighted by this, squealing something about a pussycat (Wild chose to allow this) and burying her face into his fur.
Wild sighed. He supposed he wasn’t going to lose her until she fell asleep now. He shifted her into one arm so that she balanced better and purred again, looking up at Uli.
She laughed, “Wild, hun, you’re a natural. Come on, let’s get you all a bite to eat.”
-
Twilight’s parent’s house was just like the rest of the town. Not grand or elegant, but well worn and rustic and comfortable. Uli, now that she had gotten over her initial shock at Wild’s appearance, seemed to have decided that he was just another of her sons and was busily feeding him cake and occasionally apologising for the way that baby Kina had seemed to… meld herself to Wild’s torso. He just laughed, waving her off and making sure to avoid the little girl when eating his cake. Wouldn’t do to get crumbs on her. Or honey.
Well. More honey, at least. The kid was sticky .
He was so going to need to bathe after this.
“Wild, you really have a way with children.” Uli remarked when Kina finally drifted into sleep and her iron grip on Wild’s fur relaxed. They had been able to very slowly pry her free and set her down to sleep on the sofa, where she curled up in a blanket and began to suck her thumb. Adorable. Or, it would be, if it wasn’t for the fact that Wild was pretty sure she was just eating the end of the jam smeared across her fingertips.
He loved kids but really. Gross.
“Do you have any of your own?” Uli continued politely.
Behind him he heard several snorts of laughter. He turned around, hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow at whoever it was who thought the idea of him being a parent was so ludicrous. He wasn’t, of course, but still! He’d be a great dad!
Aha, Legend and Wind, of course, but also Warriors? And Sky? And Four? The traitors! He’d make a great parent! He was half tempted to lie and tell them that he was, too, just to see the looks on their faces.
Then again, that might not really be a win for maturity. Dammit.
He grumbled and shook his head, before suddenly having a thought. He looked around and spotted a book bag set on a table to one side. It looked like Twilight’s younger brother - was his name Colin? - had been doing his homework there. Wild pointed to the book bag, to the homework, and then to himself.
The group looked at him blankly. Wild sighed and shook a finger as if he was lecturing people. Really, how hard could it be to get a simple concept across?
Of course, it was Hyrule who got it first. He gasped in understanding and poked Legend’s arm, signing to him. The Veteran frowned.
“Nah, it can’t be that.” he turned to Wild, frowning. “Can it? Wild, you aren’t a teacher , are you?”
“Of course he isn’t!” Warriors cut in as Wild raised his eyebrow again and nodded, giving a thumbs up to Rulie.
Damn that kid was good. He would have to make sure to get the Traveller on his team the next time they played charades.
Twilight was looking at him with surprised delight, and Time looked - well, Time looked proud. It was almost too much to bear, the expression of a Proud Time, so Wild looked away, glad that his fur hid the flush in his cheeks.
“Really?” Uli asked. “Oh that’s lovely! Do you have a specific subject you teach?”
Eh. He taught a bit of everything really, but mostly cooking. And a bit of history. He held up two fingers. If they were going to do this, they might as well do a proper game of charades.
“Oh! Two words!” Warriors guessed. Wild looked at him scathingly.
“No, he teaches two subjects, idiot.” Wind snarked. “Right Wild?”
Wild purred and gave a thumbs up. He held a finger up.
“First subject!” Sky cried.
This was ridiculous. After everything he had been through, saving the world twice and being catapulted on an adventure across time with eight versions of his own soul, here he was in a kitchen, playing charades about what he taught at a school
He wondered if Hylia was laughing at him right now.
He mimed stirring a cookpot. This one would be easy enough.
Twilight signed and Time translated “ Potion making! ”
Or not. Wild gave him a deadpan look as Hyrule waved his hands, getting Legend to translate on his behalf. “ Cooking! ”
Bingo bango, Hyrule, you got it! Wild snapped his fingers and gave another thumbs up.
“I think Hyrule should sit out of the next round.” Wind said sulkily. “He’s too good.”
The others snorted and began making their own teasing remarks. Hyrule held up his hands in a show of magnanimity and bowed out of the next round, grinning all the while.
And these people were all the Chosen Heroes of Hylia.
Wild held up two fingers.
“Second subject!” The Chain chorused.
He hummed, thinking.
History. How did he explain that to them? He knew how he would sign it in his own language, of course, but none of the other heroes understood his sign. They all used their own, stupid, needlessly complicated versions and claimed that it was his that was the difficult one to learn. Which was ridiculous, because his sign was clearly superior.
He was digressing.
Okay, history.
He hummed and gestured vaguely over his shoulder as if he was waving at something behind him.
“Fashion?” Warriors asked, sounding hopeful.
What? No! Wars - how did he even get that? Well, Wild supposed it could sort of look like he was adjusting a scarf. If he ever wore a scarf. Which he didn’t.
Damn, Wars, that was kind of an Out There guess.
He shook his head and tried as best he could to look scornful, while the others laughed at their brother. Really. Fashion! Of all the things.
He tried again, getting more direct with the pointing behind him. He even tried twirling his finger a few times, as if to rewind.
It wasn’t sinking in. At least, not for most of the Chain. Hyrule had perked up to the side and had gleaming eyes, clearly having figured it out ages ago. Bless him. Wild sighed and gestured again, even making his own sign for ‘history’ several times. If any of their signs had been sensible or sane then they would have been able to figure it out from context clues.
“Geography?” Time asked uncertainly. “Are you trying to say places you’ve been?”
Really? This had to be a joke. They couldn’t possibly all be this oblivious. Wild sighed and tried again. Uli had joined Hyrule at the side and was looking on in amusement. He was fairly certain that she had figured it out too and was just enjoying watching the boys squirm.
“Oh!” Wind shouted. “Wait, is it like sport? Are you throwing a ball over your shoulder?”
Wild gave up. He sat down at the kitchen table and slammed his head on the surface with perhaps a little more force than was necessary.
“Or… not?” Wind squeaked.
He despaired. How on earth had he managed to mime to them ‘I was badly injured and lost all my memories, so sometimes I go into trances where I remember something, but it’s mostly harmless’ but not the concept of ‘history’?
Well, he knew the answer to that. Hyrule had figured the first one out. He was pointedly not joining in this time.
Wild looked at the Traveller and whined for help.
“NO!” Legend barked, his competitive nature apparently getting the better of him. “No, don’t, Rulie, we can figure this out! Come on Wild, give us another clue. How many words in the subject name?”
This was hell. Wild had died and gone to actual hell. He sighed, head still on the table, and held up one finger.
“Okay one word, that rules out … uh…”
“Woodworking?”
“That’s one word.”
“Ah, shit.”
“Wild.” It was Sky now. “Is it a science? Or a humanity?”
Wild looked up. Time was looking at the Chosen Hero as if he was speaking another language, but that made sense. The Old Man had, of course, never actually been to a school. Sky had, and had a better understanding of how things worked.
Wild held up two fingers.
“Okay.” Sky nodded. “Is it artistic? Or fact based.”
Two fingers again. Sky looked pensive for a moment. “History?” he asked.
DING DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER!
Wild could not believe that it had taken this long. He sighed and sat back in his chair, giving Sky a double thumbs up. He really didn’t think that it was that big of an achievement, but the Chosen Hero looked so pleased with himself that Wild couldn’t help but laugh.
To the side Uli snorted, shaking her head at them all as she moved back towards the sink and picked up her dish cloth.
“Honestly, boys, I always say that I never know what to expect when you come to visit and once again you’ve proven me right. Really, Link, you’ve been travelling with Wild for how long? And you didn’t know he was a teacher?” she pursed her lips as she smiled teasingly at her oldest son.
Twilight signed something in response and whatever it was mustn’t have been very polite, as Uli lashed at him with her damp tea towel. “You cheeky little so and so!” she laughed as he danced out of the way. “Why I ought to wash off your hands with lye! Honestly!” she shook her head fondly. “Now, Link, will you all be staying for dinner? There’s not quite enough room here but I’m sure Bo wouldn’t mind if we moved over to his place?”
Twilight grinned and looked around at Time in question. Time rolled his eyes and pulled a face.
“Rancher, why in Hylia’s name are you asking me? It’s your home!”
Several of the Chain snorted at that and Twilight flushed red. Still, he turned back to his mother and gave her a big thumbs up. Ulli rolled her eyes
“You boys are all walking disasters. Anyone ever tell you that?.”
-
Dinner with Twilight’s parents and family was not a quiet affair. When Uli said that there was not enough room in their house for them all she was right, and they did have to move to the house across the street in order to find enough space. Which, it turned out, belonged to none other than the mayor.
Mayor Bo very kindly let them move a table into his sumo dojo (and why someone would have a sumo dojo as just a random room in their house was beyond Wild, but no one was questioning it so he just shrugged and went along with it) and set up there.
What no one explained to Wild was that when you had a family dinner in Ordon, the whole family came around. Not just Twilight’s adoptive parents and little brother, but everyone . Blood relations didn’t seem to mean much in a village that had universally taken in their brother, and it seemed that every last shopkeeper and merchant and goat rancher considered themselves an auntie or an uncle or a cousin of some description.
Twilight, of course, knew everyone and did his best to keep up with the introductions as the crowd filtered into the mayor’s house, although even he seemed surprised at how many people had shown up. Uli diplomatically suggested that it was because everyone liked to meet travellers from beyond Ordona Province, given how remote the town was. Rusl, Twi’s father, more gruffly suggested that it was because someone had told someone a half baked rumour about Wild being here and they had all come to nosy.
Wild liked Rusl. The man was tall and lean, strong in the way you only become after a life’s manual work. Twilight had told them before that his father had fought beside him during the war in the Resistance, and that he knew a little more about his adventure than most. Honestly, Wild could understand feeling comfortable enough to share things with Rusl. He was gruff, with a blunt way of speaking, but his eyes were unerringly kind and despite the grumpy facade, it was obvious how much he loved his family.
When Rusl walked into his house after a long day at the ranch and saw Wild sitting on his sofa he just sighed, smiled in greeting, and shouted “Link? That you back then?” as if bringing home giant cat men was a thing his son did on a regular basis.
Actually, knowing Twilight and his love of animals, this reaction kind of made sense.
Still, even if some people did just come initially out of curiosity (or obnoxious nosiness, as Rusl continued to insist), they stayed for the company. Twilight was right: aside from a few initial odd looks and awkward questions, no one did anything to make him feel uncomfortable. If anything, Wild almost felt like they were going out of their way to make him more comfortable, as if making up for any initial misgivings.
Which, Wild wasn’t going to lie, was a little awkward. But it wasn’t the worst problem he could have had.
And besides it was hard to feel irritated when every child in the village had apparently decided that Wild was their new best friend (much to the amusement of the Chain, who began to tease him relentlessly about his apparent secret skill of ‘Child Whisperer’. Wild couldn’t even deny it: first Aryll, then Kina, now this? Apparently there was just something about being a seven foot tall cat that made children immediately drawn to you). By the time darkness fell there was a gaggle of small children clustered around Wild’s seat, playing with his fur and hair, skipping over his tail, and telling each other stories about where they thought he had come from.
(From what Wild could make out, apparently he was the lost prince of a land of cat men (‘Cat Island!’ Wind interjected with glee while Wild shot him a glare and ‘accidentally’ knocked his cup from the table), seeking his true love in the forests of Ordon. As far as stories people had made up about him went, it wasn’t the worst he’d ever heard)
It was well after midnight by the time the dinner finally wound up. Half a dozen sleeping children had to be carefully lifted from where they had curled up around his tail, much to Wild’s amusement. He didn’t even particularly mind when Wind snapped a picture of that one.
Finally, though, they all stumbled out of the mayor’s house and into the cool night air. At some point someone had broken out a cask of Ordon Pumpkin Brandy and everything had gone downhill from there. Or, Wild supposed, uphill, depending on how you looked at things.
As they walked back to Twilight’s house, Wild surveyed the scene around him. Legend was sobbing into Warriors’ shoulder about how much he loved Ravio while Hyrule snorted with laughter. Sky had passed off the Master Sword to Wild, claiming that it was making him dizzy and making it harder to walk straight (he immediately walked into a tree and had to then be guided by an extremely patient Four). Time had spent the evening gossiping with a bunch of Twilight’s ‘aunties’ and was now half-walking, half-skipping at the back of the group, singing an extremely lewd song with Wind.
Wild rumbled happily. He was in no position to pass comment, after all, he was only upright because of how heavily he was leaning on Twilight, and Twilight in return was leaning on him. They all barely made it up the ladder to his house, and when they got in Wild absently wished that they had the forethought to set out their bedrolls earlier.
As it was, the Chain made do with the few blankets and pillows they could be bothered to drag out of their packs before passing out fully clothed on the floor.
Wild, Wind, and Twi left them there, climbing up to the futon in the loft and collapsing into it together. Wild fell asleep first, with Twilight starfishing across him, snoring loudly and drooling, while Wind curled up in his customary position at Wild’s side.
It had been a good day.