Archive of Our Own

The Links were doing their usual patrol around their newfound campsite. Killing the surrounding monsters, checking to see if they had black blood, and checking to see if there were any towns nearby. So far, there were just regular monsters and no towns. Wild was glad, however, that he got to explore this new Hyrule in relative peace. Except for those stupid Leevers.

“Hyrule!” Wild whined, “Your stupid Leevers are cutting up my boots!”

“At least you’re not up against Peahats!” Hyrule chimed as helped Wild kill the surrounding Leevers, “I don’t you’d do good against them. You need to wait for them to come to a stop before you can hit them.”

“I’m not that impatient!” Wild protested as he struck down a Moblin, “Also your Moblins are weird.”

“His Moblins are the same as most of our Moblins!” Legend yelled as he struck a few down nearby, “You’re the weird one champion!”

“Wha- Twilliiiight !”

“The vet’s correct cub,” Twilight said as he finished off the rest of the Moblins, “But Hyrule, Wild can be patient enough to take down a Peahat. Whether or not he’ll actually be patient is another thing.”

This little chain of the group laughed, even Time who was also there chuckled.

“Yeaaahh, you’re right Twi. Anyways, anybody up for some Hearty Salmon Meunière?”

“Sounds tasty,” Time commented as he walked over to Wild and ruffled his hair, “What effects does it give this time?”

“It’s a full recovery and it gives you four temporary hearts.”

“I love hearts!”

“We all do traveler, obviously. Now let’s get back to that stupid cave so we can eat!”

Taking camp in a cave was the best course of action in the traveler’s Hyrule. The monsters were just crawling everywhere that wasn’t a town. Thankfully, Hyrule knew all the caves that were good to camp in. He said that they probably didn’t need to patrol the area under normal circumstances, but with the black blooded monsters that were hunting them down, it was better to safe then sorry.

The rest of group seemed to enjoy the Hearty Salmon Meunière that Wild made. Granted, they seem to like anything that Wild made that wasn’t dubious, so it wasn’t surprising.

“‘ish ‘s ‘reat!” Wind said through a mouth full of food.

“Can you please talk after you finish your food?” Sky asked, “I don’t think any of us wants you to start choking.”

Wind swallowed his food, “Okay! Wild, this food is great!”

“Thank you,” Wild blushed. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to any sort of complements.

“I always feel a bit bad whenever you have to patrol for the night,” Four commented, “You already do a lot with being our cook.”

“Ehhhh, I’ll be fine,” Wild waved him off, “It’s not like any of you can cook anyways-besides, I couldn’t care less if you all starved or something.”

“You are a terrible liar,” Warrior said before he tried to steal some of Legend’s food-which he failed to do, “None of us could just let each other starve-we’re heroes after all!”

“This dumbass has a point,” Legend added, which Warriors did not like being called.

“Try not to call each other names,” Time sighed, “But they are right-you can’t lie in the slightest.”

“Agreed,” Twilight said, “I know the champion the most, so I know just how bad of a liar he is.”

“ Hey ! I can’t lie-I mean I can lie-oh goddess.”

The group laughed, and all was peaceful. Even if was just for a moment. It was nice one.

Night fell soon enough, and everyone went to sleep. Except Wild, of course. He had to make sure everyone was going to be okay tonight. The fire had been reduced to mere embers and twigs already, and Wild chose to stomp it out. Seeing those little lights being valiantly slain made Wild feel a bit happy. Destruction was nice sometimes.

Wild shook his head, “That was an odd thought,” he muttered quietly so no one would wake up. Destruction wasn’t nice, definitely not. Wild may be a bit crazy, but only a little bit!

He huffed, silently walking over towards the entrance of the cave. There was a light breeze, the sound of wind blowing through the trees acting like music to Wild’s ears. The moon and stars were shining brightly, beautifully. No monsters were outside, just somebody with a weird helmet that looked like Vah Medoh-wait what? Before Wild could react, he was swiftly knocked unconscious. Unconsciousness is a weird thing. You aren’t asleep and you don’t rest, just a blink of darkness. Then you wake up.

“-ild. Wild, wake up!” Wild was shaken awake violently and mumbled something incoherent in response. Then he remembered what happened.

“Guys!” He sat up and looked around. Wind was the one who shook him, with Hyrule and Twilight close to his side. Hyrule must’ve already healed his injured head, as he felt weirdly fantastic. The others were all on guard and Wild could see the light streaming into the cave, the sun having risen recently.

“Guys,” Wild began, “I saw a weird guy with a Vah Medoh helm on! He must’ve knocked me out!”

“None of us know what that is Wild,” Legend groaned. Weird, he was a bit more snappy than usual.

“Vah Medoh is one of the Divine Beasts that Wild mentioned before,” Twilight answered, “It was the Zora’s one, right?”

“Actually it’s the Rito’s.”

“Oh, same difference,” Wind said before he started to jump up and down excitedly, “Oh! Wild, look at this!” Wild handed him…an exact copy of his clothes?

“Where did you-“ Wild began to ask, but stopped to look around at the others. They all had new clothes on, the same as the ones they had before, but they all looked as good as new. All except for Legend, Four, and Warriors. Huh, no wonder Legend was so grumpy.

“Did-did that weird guy give us new clothes?”

“I didn’t get new clothes,” Warriors whined.

“Neither did I dipshit, shut up!” Legend snapped at him.

“Well excuse me princess, at least I’m not acting like a piece of shit like someone here -oh wait! That’s you. You’re the dipshit here.”

“Can you both shut up?” Four groaned, “You both are acting so childish over clothes.”

“He’s right you two,” Time said sternly, “drop it, now.” The two had no choice but to drop it.

“Are you feeling okay champion?” Sky asked.

Wild nodded, “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just confused about who was that guy.”

“I think we all are,” Twilight added, “They must be someone from your time, or around it at least.”

“I hope he isn’t evil, I like getting new clothes,” Wind said with a smile, “Ooo, maybe next time the others will get new clothes too!”

“I would like another scarf,” Warriors muttered.

“Yeah, you would, wouldn’t you?”

“I said drop it.”

“Welp, this is my house. Make yourselves at home, I suppose,” Twilight announced. The portal had dropped them all outside his house after they just finished off a black-blooded Lynel back in Hyrule’s Hyrule. That was only fun for Wild and Wild alone.

“Ooo, this place looks so cozy!” Wind skipped around the house and proceeded to rummage around the drawers. He was not the only one to do so. Literally everyone except Wild did so.

“You know, it’s not exactly respectful to rummage through other’s houses,” Wild of all people said. He knows he was crazy, but he never really bothered to steal directly from somebody’s house especially when the owner was watching him. Maybe he did do that before, but he couldn’t recall doing that at the moment, so he decided he was better than the others in this respect at least.

“It’s fine Wild,” Twilight sighed.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have shit in here!”

“Yeah Twi, you really need more things.”

“I’m fine, it’s fine,” Twilight rubbed his temples, “Anyways, I’ll go get some healing potions-wait, they only sell milk here-I’ll go get some milk, don’t cause any trouble ya hear!”

As he left, the group all knew that they would cause trouble. Wild knew that Twilight knew that they would all cause trouble. At least they all only caused trouble inside Twilight’s house.

Twilight was not at all happy when he came back, holding an obscene amount of milk bottles.

★

“Sooo, can we explore your Hyrule tomorrow?” Hyrule asked from his bedroll. They all were on bedrolls, except for Twilight, who had his own bed on the little loft above.

“Do you think you all deserve to explore it after what you all did today?”

“It wasn’t that bad-” Sky started before he saw the intense glare that Twilight gave him.

“You burned, all of my rugs!”

“Maybe that mysterious Vah also sells rugs,” Time suggested.

“Vah? Is that what we’re calling him now?” Legend asked.

“Got any better ideas vet?” Warriors poked Legend. It was a surprise he still had his finger.

“I wonder if he’ll knock me out again,” Wild mused, “I wonder why he even knocked me out in first place.”

“Maybe we’ll find out tonight,” Four suggested jokingly.

“Maybe…” A few seconds passed. Wild felt-no, he knew that Vah would show up eventually. Maybe now? No, now he would show up.

A minute passed, light conversation was going on between the group. Maybe Wild was wrong. Vah couldn’t possibly show up again so soon right?

Then he heard a noise. It was a faint, deep ‘ shing ’ noise coming from below. Wild sat up immediately, scrambling up to feet.

“Grab your weapons!” He shouted. Everyone else got up for battle as another noise, a faint, crunching sort of noise followed that quickly got louder and louder.

Vah Ruta’s helm came out of the floor with a ‘ hup! ’ Half of the person’s torso was above the floor, including his arms. He was even wearing Zora Armor as well.

“That’s the Zora’s divine beast, Vah Ruta,” Wild said.

“…I see, thank you Wild.”

A moment of silence passed as they all stared Vah. Then he started to giggle, shaking, before cackling as he popped out of the floor. He was wearing Zora Greaves as well.

“What’s so funny?” Wind demanded with a slightly shaky voice. Clearly this Vah guy was a bit off putting. Vah held a hand out to steady himself, his right hand, still laughing as he tried to calm down. That’s when Wild noticed-everyone noticed-that something was off.

Vah’s hand was a dark, blueish green, with gold rings on each of his fingers. There was more golden…bands wrapping around his hand, going under the sleeve and probably all around his arm. His fingernails were sharp, naturally sharp in an un-Hylian-like way. What was this guy?

Vah soon finished laughing, pulling his hand back to himself before moving it under his mask. He let a series of whistles, very familiar whistles. Then he repeated the sequence again.

“What is he doing?” Hyrule asked.

“I think…it’s a coded signal, Wild!” Warriors snapped to catch Wild’s attention, “Focus on his whistles! I think you’ll be able to recognize it.”

“O-okay!” Wild focused on the whistles, noticing a sort of semi-language that he was long accustomed with. Yes, he’d seen it in a memory before-the Royal Knights had a long forgotten coded language of whistles that they hadn’t needed to use for a long time. Then when Wild had taken his vow of silence when he drew the Master Sword one hundred years ago, they had to find a way to communicate. Thus they found the old texts that had held the secret language.

Vah knew this language. Wild and his Zelda had planned to continue to teach the Royal Knights the coded language, so that must mean that Vah would be his successor! Probably. Maybe. What was he saying anyway?

“Vah’s saying, ‘You thought the previous helm was of the Zora?’” Vah nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

“Wait, he was actually saying something?” Sky’s eyes lit up in wonder. His sword was already put away, as was the same with many of the others. Some of them were as excited as Sky, others were still unnerved by Vah, while others were more filled with a sense of worry.

“Yeah, hey Vah-mind if I call you that?” -Vah nodded- “Cool cool, say Vah, are you from the future-like-like my future? The future of my future? You get what I mean?”

Another series of whistles-much, much shorter than the previous ones.

“Y-yes?! You said yes right?!”

The same series of whistles.

“Damn, no wonder you’re crazy.”

They all laughed, Wild included. Vah laughed too, but it was the same menacing, unsettling cackle from before that came from behind his helm. The group’s laughter did not last long because of how scary this guy sounded. Vah seemed disappointed about this. He whistled some more and Wild payed close attention to it.

“He said, ‘Are you all looking for someone?’ Guys are we looking for someone?”

“Yes, the shadow,” Time answered, “Do you happen to know about it newcomer?”

Vah did his ‘yes’ whistle before he moved his hand over himself in a swift motion, it glowing a bright cyan hue. In a blink, his clothes changed into a black tunic that greatly resembled Wild’s hero of the wild tunic. His skin was gray, his hair was a stark white, and his eyes were a piercing, solid red. Gasps could be heard, as well as the sound of swords being unsheathed.

“Wait, guys!” Wild stepped in front Vah, “It’s just an armor set, it’s just an armor set!” Wild let out a sigh of relief as the group began to relax again. He could hear Vah let out a sigh of relief as well.

“How did you do that?” Hyrule asked.

“With his magic arm probably,” Legend answered, “The real question is how he got that arm, which he probably won’t answer, right?” -Vah whistled yes- “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Do you have our new clothes now?” Four asked suddenly.

“Oh, I thought you didn’t care about that,” Legend poked Four. Amazing how anyone still had their fingers in this group.

Four scoffed, “I just thought it was stupid that you two were fighting over it, I still would like fresh, clean clothes. Do you know the last time we had fresh, clean clothes?”

Nobody could answer that. Vah clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention and pulled out something that looked quite similar Wild’s Sheika Slate. Maybe it was a more commercialized version of it that Purah probably developed. With a few taps, he changed back into his Zora Armor and Greaves and Vah Ruta helm. A few more taps and three sets of clothing materialized onto the floor from the slate.

“Woah! He has the same slate as you Wild!” Wind shouted in excitement. Vah shook his head no, letting out a series of whistles as Four, Legend, and Warriors happily grabbed their new clothes.

“What is he…oh wait, he’s spelling something out,” Wild had a harder time figuring out what was being spelled with whistles, but he eventually figured out it was only three letters.

“P…a…d? Pad? It’s a pad?” Vah nodded, “A pad huh? Did Purah make it-wait, does that make it a Purah Pad?” Vah nodded vigorously, making it so they all could see at least a little bit of his tangled mess of hair.

“Dumb name,” Legend commented as he looked over his new clothes, nodding at them in approval.

“Well Vah,” Time began as he stepped over to him, “I don’t really understand your ways, most of us don’t if we’re being honest, but I think we’d all would happy to have another Link to the chain.” Time held his hand out, and Vah looked at it. He started to reach his hand out before sharply taking it back. He stepped away from the group, clutching his right hand.

“Hey, we’re not going to hurt you,” Wild said, “I’ll make sure of it as your predecessor!”

Vah chuckled to himself, looking down and shaking his head. He looked up at Wild and motioned for him to hold his hand out.

“Uh, okay man, pleased to have you with the group!” Vah held his hand up before smacking it down onto Wild’s. He was holding something, a mushroom, which got set off when their hands collided. A puff of smoke-wait no they were definitely spores-exploded from it. Wild started coughing intensely as he fell to the ground. His senses were a mess, all he could see was spores, all he could smell were spores, all he could taste was spores. He focused on the feeling of the wooden floor, so he could be sure of at least one of his senses.

“Everyone, don’t attack!” Someone shouted. Was it him? He couldn’t make out who was talking. “Just try make sure you stay grounded!”

“Okay-ack! Who stepped on my fingers?!”

“That was me, sorry.”

“I can’t even tell who you are! Why the hell did Vah do this?”

“I don’t know!” Wild shouted. He really didn’t know. Why did Vah do that? What was the point of it? The spore cloud eventually faded away, with everyone regaining their senses.

“F-fuck that guy actually,” Legend sputtered put.

“Yeah, why the hell did he do that?” Wind asked, holding his hand. Ah, so his hand got stepped on.

“I don’t know why he did that and I don’t know what he used to do that, other than that it was a mushroom,” Wild said as he got up from the floor.

“He’s crazier than you are, that’s for sure,” Four mumbled, “Also, sorry for stepping on you fingers kid.”

“It’s fine, I guess.”

“Everyone,” Twilight said as he jumped down from the loft, “are you all alright?”

“We’re fine, did you see where Vah went pup?” Time asked.

“He went out the front door. I would’ve followed him if it weren’t for the spore cloud,” Twilight sighed, “Looks like we’ll be exploring my Hyrule. But we won’t be able to rest today.”

The group groaned, but they all understood why they needed to go as soon as possible. Vah could potentially be a threat to others if he wanted to do something like this again. And he might do it again, because they didn’t even know why he did that in the first place. So off they went.

“Do you think Vah will follow us here?” Hyrule asked. They were in a new Hyrule, Wild’s Hyrule, and they couldn’t find Vah while in Twilight’s. No one they met had seen him, but the group could feel themselves being watched.

“He could be here already,” Warriors suggested.

“I’m going to kick his ass when I see him!” Wind shouted.

“Same here,” Four added.

“Wild, do you know where the closest town is?” Sky asked.

“Well we’re in the middle of Hyrule Field, so I’d suggest we’d go to the Riverside Stable if we want to walk.”

“If we teleport?” Time asked.

“Well we could go to Hateno Village, that’s where my house is.”

“I’m just worried about what would happen if Vah followed us there.” Twilight said, “Or just being anywhere here.”

“I mean he’s from my future soooo,” Wild pulled out his slate, preparing to teleport to his house.

“But how far in the future is he from?”

“He can’t be too far in future, he has one of Purah’s future inventions. Unless she figured out immortality already.”

“Immortality-you know what, I don’t want to know,” Legend sighed, “Let’s just go to the stable, I don’t wanna be around too many people right now.”

“When have you wanted to be around people?” Warriors teased.

“Alright, let’s go towards the stable,” Time tapped Wild shoulder.

“Fine, let’s go to the stable,” Wild grumbled. He missed he shoddy little house that cost him way too much money. But he did like the stable beds, they were very comfortable. He’d definitely claim one of them for the night.

Unfortunately night came just before they got to the stable. They were in the small forest just on the other side of the Whistling Hill. If they crossed over or around it, they would reach the stable. But apparently, every else wanted to take a break.

“The stables are just around the hill!” Wild whined.

“We’re tired Wild,” Twilight whined back.

Time sighed, “How about we check the surrounding area for monsters champ, if you have so much energy left.”

“Can I come along?” Hyrule asked.

“Sure! Anybody else want to come?” Wild asked. Nobody answered. “Welp, looks it’s just me, Time, and Hyrule!”

“I never said-oh whatever, it’s better this way. Let’s get this over with.”

“Good luck guys!”

“Don’t die.”

“Don’t set off a fire!”

“Look out for that Vah guy!”

The trio set off, choosing to walk around the forest and kill some monsters for a while before walking up the hill. It wasn’t a long hike, but Wild could hear how tired Time was going up this hill.

“What’s up here anyways?” Time asked, “is there a house up here or one of those wells you rave about?”

“Nah, just a small bunch of trees that had a Korok up here. He went back to the Lost Forest though.”

“Fantastic. Hyrule, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good! This is fun,” Hyrule skipped ahead of the others, taking in the scenery. It reminded Wild of one of the first days after he got off of the Great Plateau. He was sitting upon this very hill, looking upon the starry night sky. It was a beautiful sight, and as he looked up at sky once again, it was still as beautiful as ever.

“Hey guys, I think I hear something up on the hill!” Hyrule shouted from a few feet ahead. The other two rushed ahead to him as the trio walked further up the hill. Somebody was humming.

“It sounds…familiar,” Time spoke in soft voice, “I think I’ve heard this song before while I was traveling Hyrule Field in my time.”

“Then how does someone from my time know about it?” Wild asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should ask whoever’s up there.”

Up upon the hill, they came across a strange sight. It seemed like the hummer was Vah, who had stopped humming right before they got there. He was wearing yet another divine beast helm. He was also wearing black clothing with golden accents, a red piece of cloth wrapped over his shoulder, and a thick wool-like covering around the waist. This was also the first time Wild noticed the odd blue canisters that hung on the right side of his waist. They glowed dimly, the same color that Vah’s weird arm did, it being barely noticeable, even at night.

What Vah was standing in front of was even stranger. He had cut down all the trees, having stuck two logs on top of each other vertically with a third one plastered on the top log horizontally, all stuck together with some sort of weird green glue. Three logs lay in front of him, waiting to be put together in the same fashion. Smaller scraps of wood were dotted about the scene.

“Those…those have got to be crosses!” Hyrule pointed at the structures, “Those are religious symbols from my time! How-why did he…” Hyrule stopped talking as Vah started to turn around to face his visitors.

“That’s Vah Rudania, the Goron’s divine beast,” Wild whispered, “I think that armor has to do something with fire.”

“You don’t say,“ Time took a step forward, “I have some questions for you Vah.” Vah crooked his head sideways, mimicking confusion.

“First of all, why did you run off when we asked you to join us?” Vah stiffened up, probably uncomfortable for some reason, “I know that this whole situation is odd, to say the least. But I want to let you know that you aren’t alone. We were all chosen by the Goddesses, given the Spirit of Courage. We may have many differences, but in the end we are all Link. And we all fight to save and protect Hyrule and her people.

“You don’t have to join us. Just know that it’s easier to fight side by side than stand alone against the world. We can help you, only if you let us, hero.”

Vah stared at Time, probably locking eyes with him if he didn’t have that helm on. Then he snickered. The snickering turned into a full on cackle, similar to the ones before, before it ramped up in intensity. Wild could tell that unlike before, this unnerving laugh held a sense of malice hidden within it.

“Are you kidding me?” Vah spoke, voice being muffled a bit by the helm. Maybe it was just Wild’s wild imagination, but it reminded him of his own voice.

“No, I’m not Vah- Link ,” Time took another step forward, “I know you might have a hard time believing this-“

“I believe it. After all,” Vah looked over at Wild, “The Hero of the Wild is right in front of me. What other proof do I need?”

“How did you get our clothes?” Wild asked suddenly, out of the blue. He just had to know, and based on how Vah was acting, something bad might happen that would close him off from the answer.

“I found them. They were hidden within the Depths, it’s an underground area that’s a very dark and twisted place that’s a mirror to Hyrule,” Vah explained, “They made me even more aware of the heroes of the past. You’re the Hero of Hyrule,” -he pointed at Hyrule- “and you’re the Hero of Time,” -he pointed at Time- “You also seem to have the markings of the Fierce Deity.” Vah pulled out his Purah Pad and changed his appearance into one that seemed similar to Time’s, changing back quickly to his previous outfit as Time made some sort of noise.

“Did you also find that?” Time asked incredulously.

“Yeah I did,” Vah answered as he used the pad to get out a spicy pepper, before hanging the pad back at his side, “Say, Wild, you know about Koroks right? You found one here?”

“Uh, yeah, I do. How did you know I found a Korok here?”

“I also want to know why you built crosses here,” Hyrule added, “I’m one of the few Links in the group who knows about them, Wild doesn’t know about them, so how do you?”

“Well, I’ll answer Hyrule’s question first,” Wild did not like this, “I’ve read about them in a book. They were used in religious ceremonies right?”

“I mean, I guess? They’re a holy item, I use mine against Moas. The symbol’s also on my book of magic and shield.”

“I see…do you know what it was used for beforehand?” Wild could hear something change about Vah’s voice. His voice went up a pitch, sounding syrupy sweet. Wild put his hand onto his slate, readying himself. Time also seemed to subtly ready himself as well.

“I can’t remember if I heard if it was used any other ways…why-why do ask?” Hyrule backed up and stepped slightly behind Time.

“Well, they apparently used to burn people on them,” -he sounded far too happy about that- “Did you also know that spicy peppers could start a strong updraft?” Wild didn’t really know how those two things were related, or how anything he had said that wasn’t about clothes were related, but he quickly found out.

Vah threw the pepper onto the ground, near the unfinished cross. His hand glowed that bright blue-green color as a shield with something on it appeared. It looked like a sculpture of the head of an animal that Wild had never seen before. Vah pointed the head at pepper, flames suddenly erupting from the open mouth. The small, miscellaneous pieces of wood around it burst into flames as a large updraft came forth from the pepper. The fire spread to the other smaller wood pieces, then to the crosses.

Vah cackled as he watched this scene unfold. Wild felt the urge to laugh too, at the oddly beautiful destruction. Vah lifted his hand and it glowed again, a purple 3-dimensional image appeared, the unfinished cross snapping to place. The thing that everyone looked at on the cross was the image of a Korok.

The implications of this hit Wild like a truck. He looked at the other two, they both seemed to come to the same conclusion as he did. Hyrule’s face was full of fear. Wild thinks that this was the angriest he’d ever seen Time.

Vah spun around to face the trio. He posed as he pointed at the Korok-a pose that Wild had done many times before when taking a selfie-as the flames surrounded him.

Then he spoke, looking up at no one, but Wild knew it was directed at him.

“I truly hate you Link. Just you wait.”

He let the purple hue disappear as the logs for the cross collapsed in front of him. And as the flames died, Vah was long gone. An empty bottle lay in his place.

Wild absentmindedly cooked some Hearty Salmon Risotto. They were now in Wind’s Hyrule, on a random, decently sized island with a few trees on it. Above them was a wonderful night sky. Wild, Time, and Hyrule were all still thinking about Vah, and the others could clearly tell as much. Time was angrier than usual, but he clearly didn’t like being so angry, apologizing whenever he had accidentally snapped at one of them. It still was a bit scary. Hyrule seemed fine, but he clearly did not want to talk or even think about Vah at all, trying to change the topic whenever he was brought up. The only thing the others knew was that Vah had started a fire and the three came back looking absolutely terrible.

“Hey cub,” Twilight suddenly appeared beside Wild. Well, he probably just walked up to him and Wild didn’t notice.

“Hey Twi,” Wild didn’t look at him, choosing to just focus on his cooking.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, is the old man less angry?”

“ Yeah , if you think being paranoid isn’t synonymous with being angry,” Twilight pointed over at Time, who was currently pacing around, muttering to himself. Sky, Warriors, and Wind were all trying to get his attention, but to no avail.

“Yeah, Vah will probably appear again soon,” Wild looked up at Twi, that concerned look he was well familiar with on Twi’s face.

“Are you worried he’ll do something?”

“…I think he might try to kill me to be honest. I mean, he said that he ‘truly hates’ me, and, ‘just you wait.’ So I think we’re going to fight. Man, I should’ve asked Four to make me a sword,” Wild pulled out his slate and summoned a Royal Guard's Sword from it, “At least I snatched this thing. I’m sure I’ll be able to take him on with it.”

“But what if it breaks?” Time scurried over to the duo, a crazed sort of look in his eye, “Do you have any more weapons?”

“Uhhh, I have my bow? I have multiple of them in fact.”

“And arrows?”

“Yep, I got a whole bunch of them.”

“Good, good,” Time sighed, “Sorry for being…”

“Paranoid?” Twilight suggested.

“A worry wart?” Wild added.

“Anxious?”

“A cucco?”

“Stark raving mad?”

“Yes, yes all of those,” Time sighed again, “We just have to be prepared. Because we barely know anything about that Link or that weird arm of his. Nor do we know how much he knows about us. But we do know that he knows some songs in my time period. Somehow. Guh.”

“Hmm, he probably knows about our weapons,” Twilight said, “What about our shields? Are our shields in good condition?”

“I got two brand new Hylian Shields! They’re the most durable shields I got.”

“Good. Twilight, how about you? Everyone!” Time turned around to address the group, “Let’s check up on our shields, we might need to use them more than usual against Vah.”

“I can check them!” Both Four and Legend said at the same time. They looked at each other before sharing a quick nod, “We can check them!”

“Alright, champion, how’s the food looking?”

“Looks good, I’m almost done.”

“Special effects?”

“It’s Hearty, so it gives extra hearts.”

“So that’s what Hearty means!” Wind exclaimed excitedly.

“Hey Hyrule,” Sky tapped Hyrule’s shoulder as they both were getting their shields checked, “Do you know anything about Vah?” Hyrule looked like he wanted to run away, but spoke anyways.

“No holy item will work on that monster,” Hyrule said, wide eyed, “He is evil beyond repair.”

“…okay then. That’s nice. Wha-what makes you think that?”

“That fiend implied that he burned a Korok alive.”

“HE WHAT?!” Wind ran over to Hyrule, tugging tightly on the older one’s tunic, “Why would he do that?!?!”

“Because he’s an evil sack of shit who deserves only death,” Time growled, “Uh, well, maybe not if fire doesn’t affect them somehow. Or if he was just trying to scare us.”

“Well I once accidentally set the area around a Korok on fire and they were fine,” Wild shrugged, “But it’s still not a nice way to scare us.”

“I can’t believe there’s a hero crazier than you Wild,” Legend sighed, “Is he even a Link?”

“Probably,” Four answered, “He shares a lot of traits with Wild after all.”

“Yeah, the armor sets and that…Purah Pad? Is that what’s it called?” Warriors looked over at Wild, who nodded, “Yeah, I think he just has some personal problems, in my opinion at least.”

“That could explain why he was so hesitant to join us,” Time murmured, “But everything after that was just… rage inducing.”

“Food’s done!” Wild shouted, “Try not to let your guard’s down while eating.”

The group ate their food, looking around the whole time to see if Vah appeared. They mostly looked over the sea, having checked the little forested area three times over already. But Wild had a feeling that Vah was hiding in the forest. He wasn’t a good swimmer, and he guessed that Vah wouldn’t be either. He didn’t have any proof of this of course, Vah could be a great swimmer, but that’s just what he thought.

Vah could have Stealth Armor. No, he definitely would have stealth armor and stealth elixirs. He could most likely climb just as well as Wild. The set bonus for the armor made him faster at night, and it was definitely night at the moment and when they had arrived.

Wild watched as the others finished their food in silence. He himself had finished his food not too long ago.

“Is everyone done?” Wild asked.

“Almost,” Four answered. A few seconds later, he was done.

“Anyone else?” Everyone else shook their heads. Four and Legend handed back the others’ shields, and they all drew their swords, preparing for battle.

They all faced the various parts of the ocean, scouting the waves. Wild did this too, but he felt the urge to look at the forest. And once he did, he spotted Vah, just standing there at the forest edge, wearing the Vah Naboris helm and Stealth Armor, just like Wild thought. Vah whistled at him and the rest of the group turned around to face him.

“‘Hello Link,’ that’s what Vah Naboris said,” Wild glared at Vah.

“I’m surprised you’re able to remember all the divine beasts’ names,” Vah snickered. His voice wasn’t muffled by this helm, and Wild realized that his voice was remarkably similar to his own, but slightly deeper and more hoarse.

“If you can speak, why did you choose to communicate with whistles when we first met?” Warriors questioned.

“Because I hate you. All of you,” Vah took a step forward as he changed his clothes with a wave of his magic hand, choosing to wear a grey tunic paired with leather knee-high sandals, with a green half-shirt-looking cloth slung over his left arm, his twisted arm fully out in the open. It was covered with golden bands, stopping at a point, odd markings going up the rest of his original arm, going across part of his chest. He kept his helm on, but Wild could feel the intense, hateful glare from underneath it.

“And I especially hate you, Hero of the Wild.”

“But why?!” Wild yelled, almost throwing his sword as he waved his arms, “I don’t know what I did, and whatever I did probably hasn’t even happened yet in my time. And the others! What did they do to deserve your hatred?”

“Well let me tell you this. I don’t hate you for any grandiose reason, or for anything you’ve done or didn’t,” Vah’s voice was filled with absolute malice, “I just don’t think you deserve my kindness-any of you-while you all prance around these different times, together.

“I never had anyone, not a single person who traveled my journey alongside me,” his voice started to shake, and Wild slightly pitied him, “Now, I’m expected to just…go along with this-having to face you, Wild , as you’ve settled down into this happy little group, as you have someone to travel with while I had nothing, nothing at all on either of my so called adventures.”

“I didn’t have anyone for my adventures-at the very least, for my first few adventures either,” Legend said, “My successor over here didn’t either.” Hyrule did a small wave to Vah before returning to a battle ready stance.

“Oh, you’re right. I guess I’m just being petty,” Vah said in that syrupy voice, “You know, I honestly did want to help you all out, I really, really did want to be your friend,” Vah lifted his right arm up, looking at his twisted hand. Wild barely noticed the faint scar that was on his face and neck, and placed his free hand on where his own blast scar was.

“But you know, I guess I’m just evil.”

“You’re not evil,” Sky said, “I don’t think that the Goddesses would’ve chosen you if you were.”

“Oh but I am evil,” Vah looked back to Wild, “I always was, and I know you are too.”

“This guy’s just spouting baloney isn’t he?” Wind asked. Vah cackled, grabbing his helm as he did so.

“I’m not, I’m really, really not. You want to know how I know? The reason might be a bit… shocking.” Vah let his hand down, and with it, his helm. Wild could finally see his face. A face that looked just like his. The same eyes he had, the same nose he had, the same blast scar he had. He looked older than Wild, but only a few years older. A few new scars, and tired eyes.

“You’re me,” Wild whispered, he could barely speak. He could barely understand why and what was happening. But he knew that standing right in front of him was himself, from an uncertain future. But something was off with his story.

“Wait a minute, I had someone with me during my adventure,” Wild briefly looked over at Twilight, whose mouth was agape in shock. He wasn’t the only one who was like this.

“That must be the splitting off point then,” Vah-himself?-spoke as he took a step forward. Everyone went back to being on guard, but Wild put his out in front of the group. If he played his cards right, they wouldn’t have to fight.

“What about the Champions? Did-did you have them, at least?”

“I guess, but they didn’t talk much, and after Calamity Ganon was defeated, they…moved on,” Vah was trying to hide it, but Wild knew there was sadness in his voice, “And after that, I got these Sages’ Vows, but they don’t talk at all.”

Wild was going to say something he was definitely going to regret, but he had to ask anyways, “…Is Zelda okay?”

Vah scoffed, “Well, imagine this-“ Vah took another step forward, “-You’ve just defeated the Calamity, right? Princess Zelda, someone who you barely know about from scattered memories, asks you if you remember her. You want to say you do, barely, might as well be not at all, but you can’t, you can’t speak, you can barely even breathe.

“So you nod your head as you reunite with her at long last. Then you get to know her all over again. It’s awkward, but you both begin to enjoy each other’s company. You work to rebuild Hyrule, making it even better than before. You rest your sword, the Master Sword, against your back for a long, long time. It hates you, you’re sure of it, because you failed before and you barely even remember failing.

“You study engineering to help rebuild the kingdom, you read up on heroes of old, thought to be just myths, but you know that there’s some truth to these stories. You wish you were like them, but you can’t be-they never failed, you did.” Time grimaced at this.

“Then, five, six years later, Zelda gets the idea to explore the lost catacombs underneath Hyrule Castle,” Vah’s voice started to choke up, but he continued, “Murals there tell of an ancient civilization, gods that descended from the sky to build Hyrule,” Sky’s eyes lit up but Vah shook his head, he was talking about something else, “And Zelda’s excited, and so are you, because she’s happy and you’re happy for her and you dive further and further down into that cursed catacomb. You noticed the gods-the Zonai-fight off a powerful evil, the Demon King, the story being told as you walk by. A great war, the Imprisoning War. No not the one you’re thinking of,” Vah pointed at Time, “We figured out later that there’s more than one of those.

“Further down, you find a strange sight. A mummified corpse, held down by a strange, glowing arm,” he held up his right arm, “The arm falls, and a stone on it falls from it too. Zelda picks it up, it glows in her hand. Then the corpse wakes up. Concentrated malice attacks her, and you draw you blade. The malice-the gloom-wraps around your sword and your arm, and you feel your life being sapped away from you, quickly, agonizingly. It infects your arm and infects your sword.

“Another attack, you swing, and you see the Sword that Seals the Darkness, the Master Sword, something that you’ve had to prove yourself worthy for shatter.” The group gasps, and Wild starts to realize just how bad things had been for his alternate self.

“The corpse mocks you, knowing Zelda’s name and knowing your’s. He uses his power to lift the castle up, sending his gloom across the land. The ground begins to fall before you and you can barely feel your arm-pain being the only sensation. Zelda calls out for you, before the ground under her gives away. You try to catch her, but you’re too late. She falls, and the magical stone-a secret stone-sends her away, hundreds of years away, but you don’t know that. You just see her disappear.”

Vah cackled, but Wild can now tell that this is just how he laughs. There is no malice or joy in this laugh-just sadness and misery. Wild can’t blame him, not in the slightest.

“You fall too, but that strange arm saved you. And in a flash of light, you’re somewhere else, laying down in a cave with only the decayed Master Sword with you. A voice calls out to you, the owner of the arm, a spirit of a long dead Zonai king. You have his arm, and you set off.

“An island, floating in the sky, Rauru promises you that you’ll be able to speak to Zelda soon-she’s fine, he tells you. So you set forth, and you gain powers, powers like that of a god!” A manic tone coated his hoarse voice, his eyes crazed with a type of wonder as he looked upon his arm, “You learn about Zelda-who’s trapped in past. The ghost leaves you, just like the last ghost of a long dead king did,” Vah turned and looked at Wild, his tired eyes now filled with sadness.

“So now you’re alone, once again. And once again you’re tasked to save Hyrule-to save Zelda. But now you’re attached. You were civilized, you made friends, but the people of Hyrule don’t recognize you. Your friends recognize you, but they can’t join you. They’re civilized, truly civilized. They have duties they need to attend to, but they’ll come to your aid at Hyrule Castle when you must face Ganon. The real Ganon,” Vah was shaking, shaking badly, and Wild noticed he was shaking too.

“But most of the time, you’re alone. Your engineering skills help you manage your new powers. Soon enough, you create machines that can decimate Bokoblin camps in an instant-weapons that can fell Lynels in mere seconds . That’s when I realized something,” Vah smiled, a sickeningly sweet one, “I love watching things burn. I love hearing monsters scream-watching those creatures as they hopelessly flail around, trying to to run away or to kill me before I kill them . It’s an evil, perverse thought. But I know I’ve always felt it, deep, deep inside. Only after my world fell around me and I actually remembered it happening…did I truly realize that I’m not a good person. I’m evil, and so. Are. YOU.”

“I-it’s not too late,” Wild said, probably responding a bit too soon. But he needed to tell him-to help his other self.

“It’s not too late…me, you don’t have to put every thought you have into action-you can come with us and we can help you.”

“Do you really think you can that?”

Wild looked around at the others, trying to see someone-anyone who agreed with him. But they were all unsure, unsure if they could really help him, help Vah, or if they should just strike him down right down. Eventually, they would come to a conclusion, but Wild didn’t have an eventually.

“Yes, I’m sure. I mean, I am you after all, surely I know how I work best, right?”

“Sure you do bud. Are you done talking now?” Wild readied himself in response, as did the rest of the group, “Cause listen. I’m not like you-Goddess, sometimes I wish I was. I might as well be your shadow.”

“Geez, your edge sure is edgy you hedgehog. Anyways, I’m sorry to say this but-prepare yourself Vah!” Wild ran at Vah, everyone else followed suit.

“Okay. I’ll do that,” Vah summoned a long green spear with a horse head with a long, golden horn attached to the head. Within the second he summoned it, he aimed it at Wild and shot his mark.

Wild was hit in the middle of his chest, causing him to stumble back and trip over his feet, falling straight onto his butt. Wild was in a lot of pain, his chest burning intensely. Tears filled his vision as clutched his chest. It was hard to breathe, even harder to focus on what was going on. He could hear the sounds of battle going on as he tried to regain his focus, yelps and the clashing of swords.

Through Wild’s hazy vision, he saw Vah equip a helm of some kind as he went straight towards Time, who swiftly blocked his attack. Vah spun around with his sword to deflect the others’ attacks towards him. Before he faced Time again, he quickly swapped his sword out for a Chuchu jelly. A yellow one. Vah hit the jelly against the flat of the blade, a dome of electrical power covering them both as well as a few other Links, them all screaming in pain.

As Wild rubbed his eyes, he saw Time, Wind, Twilight, and Warriors fell to the ground, their weapons falling from their hands as Vah stood above them, wearing what looked to be the Thunder Helm. But didn’t Riju have it?

Answer his unsaid question, Vah spoke as he unequipped the helm a flash, “It’s a Yiga knockoff that’s surprisingly works the same as the original. Speaking of the Yiga-“ Vah turned towards Legend, who was running straight at him with his Pegasus Boots activated, sword out, and Vah raised his fist before slamming it into the ground. Part of the ground lifted up as a stream of wind burst up, quickly creating a trail towards Legend. Legend stopped in place and tried to move out of the way, but he was too late. Three rocks jutted out underneath Legend, striking him in the stomach as he was sent flying backwards.

“Legend!” Hyrule rushed over to him, sending out a few sword beams at Vah as he ran. Vah dodged them all as Four and Sky lunged for him.

Vah summoned a shield with a mushroom stuck on it and a Royal Guard sword, parrying Four’s attack with his sword and then parrying Sky’s attack with his shield. Sky’s sword flew out of his hands, likely due to the mushroom on the sword. Vah picked up the Master Sword with his apparent magical telekinesis-man, Wild was so jealous-sticking it onto a tree with this weird, green glue.

“Fi!” Sky shouted, before Vah kicked him in the face, sending him straight onto the grassy floor.

Vah turned his attention towards Four, who used his sword to split. The four of them charged at Vah, who barely ran away from them, his left arm being badly cut by two of the colors. Vah summoned this giant bird looking structure, using his magic to pick it up and swing it around at the colors, hitting all of them, knocking them down. Vah continued this spinning motion, but held the structure directly above him for a few seconds before releasing his magic. Then, he instantly used a different kind of magic, the surrounding area went gray as he paused the structure in midair. It was similar to Wild’s Stasis ability, but he knew it was different.

Vah swiftly switched to another ability, ascending up and through the bird-like structure, pulling out a green bow as he immediately jumped off it. Luckily, the electrified Links had recovered enough to pull out their shields, Hyrule was covering Legend, Sky and the colors had pulled out their shields, and Wild was able to pull out his shield right as an arrow would’ve hit him. Wild heard a bunch of arrows hit a lot of shields, which was soon accompanied with the sound of Vah’s feet hitting the ground. Wild looked at his shield-he’d been struck with regular arrows. Vah definitely had elemental arrows of some kind-if he had used shock arrows, everyone would be electrocuted and Vah would be free to kill everyone. But Wild was sure he didn’t actually want to.

Four had rejoined together, stumbling up as they all saw what Vah’s Stasis-like power did. The motion of the bird-like structure reversed, slamming Four right back down. With a snap, Vah freed the structure before summoning a new shield and fused the structure to it, the structure shrinking down to fit the shield.

Sky ran at Vah, attempting to strike him with his shield. The electrified group started to get up, and Wild decided this would be his time to shine. While Vah was distracted with Sky and the rest of them, Wild would sneak up behind Vah from the trees and bam! Knock him out, easy win. Once Wild got to the trees, he noticed just how far away the group was from it. Damn it. Hyrule and Legend had also retreated the trees.

“Hey ‘Rules.”

“Hey Wild. Do you have a plan?”

“I was planning a sneak strike from the trees, but uh, I think if I try to shoot an arrow from here I might hit one of our guys.”

“Hey, guys,” Legend coughed out, “Vah pulled out a new shield.”

Vah had pulled out a shield with a rocket on it, using it fly far upwards. Wild could see his soft smile as he flipped around in the air, pulling out another shield. This one had a bomb flower on it. Everyone scrambled out of the way, attempting to get out of the blast radius. The trio definitely included this everyone. Wild could hear-and feel the bomb going off behind him. He, Hyrule, and Legend were perfectly fine, as were the trees. Everyone else was down for the count, not burned by explosion, but definitely not doing well.

Vah landed back onto the ground. He turned to face the trio and pulled out his wing shield, which unfortunately for them gave him just enough jump height to shoot at them. The arrow had one of those weird mushrooms that released a bunch of spores on it. Yet again his senses were stolen from him.

“Wild, watch out!” One of the other two shouted at him.

“I can’t watch out for anything!” Wild shouted back. He felt someone grab  him by his tunic collar and drag him out of the spore cloud. It was Vah. Wild was slammed into a tree and thrown onto the ground. Vah summoned a golden, two pronged spear and held it near Wild’s throat.

“Well, it’s been fun, but I think your time to be alive is over,” Vah told him.

“I don’t think so,” Wild forced a sly smile onto his face, “You don’t actually want to kill me.”

Vah scoffed, “Oh really now? What, is it because you ‘know me?’”

“Well, yeah. Duh. You could’ve killed us ages ago! I know you have shock arrows of some kind, we all had our shields out. Just shoot and stun everyone, and then you could’ve killed me then! You shot at me immediately, surely you could’ve used something more deadly! But you don’t want us dead, you don’t want me dead, you’re just an angry, edgy, tiny little piece of-“ Wild was swiftly cut off by Vah stabbing him in the shoulder with the spear. That hurt like hell.

“Shut up you stupid dumbass!” Vah yelled, leaning over him as he sunk the spear in deeper, “You don’t know shit! You don’t know anything, none of you do!”

“You-you do realize how you sound right?”

“Shut up! Just shut up will you?!”

“You could’ve made me shut up forever, but you didn’t,” Wild started to tear up with how much pain he was in. But he knew he was going to be fine. “You just want a friend, you said as much yourself right? Now be a friend and hand me Hearty Elixir.”

Vah looked at him, an expression of disgust mixed with confusion coating his face. Wind made a motion with his free hand to hurry and give him a potion already. Vah blinked a few times, opening and closing his mouth to say something, but he stayed silent.

“I’m bleeding out here man. If you don’t have an elixir you can just cook something up real quick. I’m craving for some Curry Pilaf right now.”

“…Are you serious?”

“More serious than you hedgie.”

Wild was now fighting off unconscious. But he saw Vah look at him incredulously, tightening his grip on his spear. He inhaled sharply, before slowly removing the spear. That was the most painful thing that Wild had ever experienced. How he did not pass out was surely the work of Hylia. After the spear was out Vah tossed him a Hearty Elixir, before walking off, mumbling something to himself. Wild quickly downed the elixir, feeling immediately better. His shoulder ached, but the wound had closed, and other than that he felt perfect. Wild rolled his shoulders, stretching a bit before getting up.

“You alive champion?” Legend asked from behind him. He looked somewhat okay, but he was clutching his stomach and looked like he was about to throw up any minute now. Hyrule was right next to him, looking like he was about to pass out any second now.

“Oh I’m great. Vah’s good now. I-I think so at least,” Wild looked over to where Vah was, who was currently curled up into a ball, laying on his side. His spear lay on the ground next to him. “He gave me a Hearty Elixir so I think he’s mostly over the whole ‘I hate you all and I’m going to kill you!’ thing.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty good act,” Legend mumbled as he looked over at the rest of the group. They were slowly getting up, groaning. Wild needed to cook a lot more food it seemed.

“It was an act? How-how did you know it was an act?”” Hyrule asked.

“He could’ve easily killed us. I’ve seen this freak in battle-“ he pointed at Wild, who nodded, “-we’d be dead in like, two minutes, tops if he really wanted it. At least he didn’t maim us. Yet.”

“Is everyone okay?!” Time shouted. The trio waved at him from where they were, and they slowly went to rejoin the group.

“Vah’s not going to kill us!” Wild cheered. Everyone looked at him like he had three heads, before looking over where Vah was, who was still curled up on his side.

“Why didn’t he do that in the first place?” Wind sighed.

“Personal problems, probably,” Warriors muttered. He started to get up but quickly went back down. “Anyone have some healing items? Not you Hyrule, you’re exhausted.” Hyrule sadly put down his healing hands.

“I got milk,” Time said. He quickly chugged a bottle and pulled out another one. “Alright, who needs this the most?”

“I’ll throw up if I have one, and I think ‘Rulie just needs some rest,” Legend responded, “Four probably has a concussion with how much he got whacked.”

“Yeah…” Four sighed, holding onto his head, which wasn’t bleeding too much, “After me, I think Warriors should have one.”

“You can give your bottle to Four, Time,” Twilight pulled out two milk bottles, “I’ll give one to Wars and Wind.”

“Make sure to take care of yourself pup,” Time gave Four his other milk bottle, “Now, I’m going to make sure that we get a more proper healing.” Time walked over to the ball that was Vah, grabbing him by scruff of his tunic.

“What do you want?” Vah grumbled. Time glared at him and Vah took the hint. “I uh, I mean, you need something?”

“Healing Elixirs. One for each of us now.”

“I think you mean Hearty-“ another glare, “-uh, yeah yeah, elixirs…elixirs,” Vah pulled out his Purah Pad, still being held up by Time as he scrolled through it. He inhaled sharply, looking up at Time with some semblance of guilt.

“Yeah…so I don’t have any more Hearty Elixirs, and I don’t think you would like to drink fairy dust. I do have a lot of cooking ingredients though!”

“Then you’re going to cook for us.”

“Do you have anything to cook with-“

“No. Use your own cooking utensils.”

“I need some help!” Sky shouted from behind everyone. He was trying to pull the Master Sword from where it was stuck on the tree, to no avail. Time looked at Vah and let him down.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll get that stupid sword,” Vah walked a bit closer to the tree, aiming his hand and wiggled his arm at the sword. It popped off and went straight into Vah’s hand.

“I can make this temporarily stronger, if you want,” Vah said as monotonous as possible. Wild didn’t even try to hide his snickering. Sky hesitantly nodded as Vah looked through his pad for something.

“Don’t try anything.”

“I won’t Grandfather Time,” A giant iridescent horn dropped from the pad, shining beautifully in the moonlight. It was also flopping around a bit. Weird. “This is a Light Dragon Horn. It has a life steal property and increases your weapon’s attack by 20.”

“Ooo! 20 more attack and lifesteal?” Wild walked over to the horn to get a better look at it.

“Dragon! Did you fight a dragon for it?” Wind asked excitedly, joining Wild to look at the horn.

“Nah, I got it from Zelda when-a while ago I guess,” Vah tossed the sword to his left hand and pointed his right at the horn. The horn disappeared into blue-green lights, going into the Master Sword. The lights formed into some sort of symbols-or letters-onto the sword. Vah threw the sword at Sky, who yelped as he was nearly hit.

“Now the sword has a total of 50 damage, if it’s the same as my-or our Master Sword,” Vah glanced over at Wild before quickly looking away, “I’ll make some food, you all tell me what you want I guess.” With his pad, he summoned nine different green cooking pots with blue flames. He went to cooking Wild’s Curry Pilaf straight away.

“Everyone,” Time got the group’s attention, “Ask for whatever food you’d like.”

“I liked the Hearty Salmon Risotto Wild made!” Wild shouted as he looked over at the pots.

“Are you sure he won’t poison us?” Warriors asked as he too looked over at the pots, “And I’m not too sure about those odd pots.”

“It’s the only portable pots I have and they’re all one use,” Vah said back, not looking away from his food, “Also, if I wanted to poison you, it wouldn’t be with food.”

“Food’s kinda sacred to us,” Wild said as he poked a pot. It looked super cool and he really wanted one, or one hundred. Maybe more. Definitely more.

Twilight sighed, “This is somehow the weirdest thing that’s happened so far.”

“Eh, I’ve been through weirder,” Legend picked up Vah’s dropped spear, examining it while he was still hunched over.

“Of course you have have vet.”

“Guys!” Sky was holding his sword, eyes wide, “Fi-the spirit of the Master Sword-said something!”

“Let me guess, she hates me?” Vah sighed finished Wild’s Curry Pilaf and began working on Wind’s Hearty Salmon Risotto.

“No, she briefly said that she’s curious about your powers. Oh! And she called you the Hero of Tears.”

“ Fucking -“ Vah looked like he wanted to kill somebody again, “Of course that’s my hero title, dragon tears and all that,” he mumbled.

“Does that mean we get to call you ‘ Tears ’ now?” Warriors asked with a shit eating grin.

“Yeah Tears, how’d you feel about that?” Legend said with the same grin. A few others joined in the teasing, the only thing that seemed to be holding Vah back was his passion for food and Time breathing down his neck.

“ Fine , you can all me Tears or Vah or whatever. Just tell me what you stupid idiots want.”

“That’s redundant Vah Tears. Gourmet Meat Stew please,” Time said.

“Can I have Pumpkin Stew?”

“Apple pie, thank you.”

“Can I have a Honey Crepe?”

“I’d like Meaty Rice Balls cub-uh, Vah.”

“Some Salt-Grilled Prime Meat would be nice.”

“Something small with some carrots would be good enough.”

“God you all are gluttons,” Vah muttered, but did as he was told.

“So are we!” Wild slung his arm over his other self with a smile, “I just wonder if there’s any new recipes you got?” Vah sighed, but Wild could see the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I think you’d like the Dark Cake, it’s made with special clumps of dirt,” Vah suggested before pushing Wild away to continue cooking in relative peace.

“Nice! Say, do you have anymore clothes or-“

“I am going to teach you how to sew. Now shut up and let me cook.”

“Okay,” Wild still felt weird about having this guy in the group, but he was sure he, Vah, and everyone else would come around eventually. How long that eventually would be, he didn’t know. But that time would definitely come. Eventually.