Chapter Text
Warriors watches their defacto leader carefully. He's unreasonably tense as the group splits off to wander around the town. Something's definitely wrong, and the Old Man's not telling anyone. Not even Twilight who he's taken a special liking to.
He makes sure to shake the unease before he approaches. If there's anything he knows about the Old Man, it's that to get him to tell the truth, he has to be caught off guard. Come in too serious, and he'll instantly know to be careful with his words. Come in casually, however, and he'll slip up.
"Man, you gotta learn to relax," he throws an arm around the man's shoulders. "You look like you're waiting for the world to end."
He gets a huff in response. Too amused to be a sigh, but too morose to be a laugh.
"Come on, what's got you so grumpy?" He pushes. "Do you need a nap?"
This time, he does snort in amusement. "Nothing like that."
"But?"
"I think today's when it happens, but I can't remember exactly."
"When what happens?" Wars instantly kicks himself for sounding so serious.
As predicted, Time closes off. "It's nothing, just talking to myself."
Wars glances around. He wants to be sure none of the others are around before he rounds on Time. He uses his Leader voice, something he hasn't had to do in a while. "No, you're going to tell me what's going on," he practically orders.
"Captain."
"Sprite."
To his surprise, Time winces. Up until now, the only reaction he's gotten is an unimpressed look and an occasional grimace.
He sighs, trying to make it look like he's taking a different approach. "Look, you asked me to take lead out of nowhere. You've split us all up with the vaguest regroup time imaginable." Time scowls, but Wars sees the doubt in his stance. He stresses the next point. "And now, you're telling me something's going to happen, but refuse to tell me what?"
"It's not that simple," he insists.
"So instead of giving us a fighting chance, you decided to send us in blind?" He asks incredulously. "That's cold, Old Man. Even for you."
Time scowls. He faces Wars fully and squares is shoulders. Wars almost wants to back down. Time's mastered the art of disappointed looks and serious authority. He'd gotten that exact same look from Vice General Impa a few times during the war.
He stands his ground and glares back.
"Something's going to happen to me. I need you to be in charge and keep everyone safe until I'm back," Time sates plainly.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Old Man?!" He shouts drawing strange looks from the people around them. "Why not tell Twilight? He's practically your shadow! Or the Vet! He's not the friendliest, but he's experienced! He can help you out!"
Time places a hand on his shoulder, his expression deathly serious. "Captain, you're the only one I know who can handle it. I need you to trust me."
He grits his teeth. He hates how vague Sprite is about everything. "Can't give me any more information?" He asks through grit teeth.
"Don't let me touch any of my stuff until I'm back to normal," he adds.
Wars runs a hand over his face with a tired groan. He almost wants to say he was being rhetorical, except he wanted clearer information. "Okay, fine," he eventually snaps. "But I'm sticking by your side." When it looks like Sprite's going to argue, Wars sticks a finger in his face. "That is non-negotiable, Sprite."
The Old Man scowls, "Fine."
--
Time wanders the town aimlessly. He doesn't stop by any shops, doesn't stop to rest, barely stops long enough to grab a bite to eat. He just walks randomly.
Wars tries to find a pattern to it. Market, central square, inn, central square, inn, tavern, western entrance, market, inn, blacksmith, north entrance, inn, market, blacksmith, south entrance.
He feels like he's loosing his mind! There has to be a pattern! There just has to!
The town bell tolls for the evening as they're coming up to the northern entrance.
"Times up, Old Man," he says. "Let's start heading back."
Time stands at the entrance looking out into the woods for a few seconds longer. With a nod, he turns around and starts following Wars back.
Wars makes sure to keep an eye on him as they walk.
The bell tolls again, and he glances at the tower in confusion. It didn't toll twice yesterday, so why now?
"Tell everyone I'm sorry in advance."
He spins around to find nothing. He quickly turns again, but still nothing. He runs back to the northern entrance, but there's still no sign of the Old Man. He curses angrily. It was a second! He looked away for a single second!
He turns on his heal and sprints to their meeting place. He bumps into several people on the way there. They all shout after him, but he doesn't care.
Eventually, he finds the others.
"Look who finally–,"
"The Old Man's gone!" He blurts.
Twilight rushes forward, anxiety in every line of his body. "What d'you mean he's gone?"
"I mean he's gone!" Wars shouts between gasps of breath. "We were coming back, and I looked away for just a second– and he was gone!"
Legend snorts. "You sound like you lost your kid. The Old Man's a grown–,"
Warriors snarls at him. "This isn't a fucking joke, Vet!" He barks. The others startle at the ferocity of his tone. "He said something was going to happen to him, and now he's gone!"
Twilight steps between them, pushing for the Warriors' attention again. "What's he saying?"
He has to keep himself from rushing through the explanation. Time was already vague, so if he leaves something out the others will think he's the one hiding something.
Eventually he's able to get through it. The others are annoyed he didn't get more information, and he's one more sarcastic quip away from breaking the damn Vet's nose. He bites back the anger and annoyance with a deep breath. Take this one step at a time.
"I get it," he eventually snaps. "More information would be helpful, but we can't just sit here crying about it. We have to work with what we have." It's almost unsettling how easily he falls back into his crisis-borne-leader role. He thought he'd moved past the callousness and jitters it comes with.
"We were up by the northern entrance when the town bell sounded," he continues. "We barely started back when it sounded again and he was gone."
"The bell only rung once," Twilight frowns. The others agree.
Warriors nods. "So whatever took him either mimics sounds or alters perception. Does anyone have monsters like that?"
There's a chorus of no's and shaking heads.
Wind whispers to Four, and Four raises a hand. "The north entrance is the one leading to the forest right?" He asks.
"Yes."
Four glances over at Wind before steeling himself. "Wind and I heard a rumor of something laughing from the forest."
Warriors frowns. This is the second day they're in the town. How have none of them heard of this before.
"I haven't heard any rumors," Hyrule mumbles.
Legend crosses his arms. "I haven't either."
Wind shifts nervously, pink dusting his cheeks. "I heard it while playing with some of the kids around town," he admits.
Wars resists the urge to smile. For as grown up as Wind desperately wants to present himself as, he's still just a kid.
"Apparently some kid went missing a few days ago," he continues. "The other kids say they hear laughing from the forest sometimes. I heard it too."
"I didn't hear anything," Four quickly adds. "But then neither did any of the other adults. They don't wanna talk about it either."
Warriors nods. Whether it's related to what happened to Time or not, some information is better than no information. "Does anyone need to pick up their gear from the inn, or are we set to move out?"
"Yer kidding!" Twilight snaps. "We gotta get goin' now!"
"We need to be prepared," he growls. His insistence does the trick and a couple of the boys raise their hands.
He's careful about the pace he keeps them at. Fast enough to be considered rushing, but also slow enough to ensure they don't expend too much energy.
As the others work to gather their needed supplies, Warriors starts laying out their plan. Twilight immediately wants to shut it down. He doesn't want Wind in the front when they don't know what they're fighting.
Four is quick to come to his defense. Wind was the only one who heard the laughter. They need him at the front with Warriors to guide the group.
Twilight still doesn't agree, but he does relent at least. He spends the remainder of the time pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
Warriors finally starts leading them out. As they start to filter out of the room, he nudges Four and throws a meaningful look the rancher's way.
Four nods and makes his way to Twilight and Sky. Hopefully with two level headed heroes at his side, Twilight won't do anything stupid.
That of course doesn't stop him from trying to slip away from the group. Warriors grits his teeth and pushes the annoyance to the side. He doesn't have time for this. And he can't bench Twilight either. The bastard will just run off on his own. Better to have him in his sights than have him fuck up the plan.
The moment the group steps into the treeline, Wind tenses. "Did you hear that?" He whispers.
The breeze sends a shiver down his back. He swears he hear a bell in the distance. "What'd you hear?"
"I... I'm not sure. It sounds like a man laughing, or... a bell tower?" Wind says leading them further into the forest. He weaves through the trees with ease, following an unseen path.
The further they get, the more oppressive the atmosphere gets. Warriors reaches for his sword. This place is giving him the creeps. Why does everything always have to go wrong after sundown? Why can it never be the middle of the day?
The sounds of rattling bones and a cackle leaves them all on edge.
"I definitely heard that," Legend says.
Wind frowns. "That's not–,"
The sound of metal striking metal cuts through the air.
Twilight rushes forward.
"Damnit, Twilight!" Warriors shouts after him. "Everyone stay close!" He calls over his shoulder.
They all rush forward through the trees. The sound of fighting and rattling bones increases.
They stumble into a grotto flooded with stal monsters. In the center of it all is the Old Man. He stands before a mass of robes. He alternates between beating back the stal monsters and attacking the mass.
Twilight's stuck by a tree surrounded by monsters. He presses his back against the trunk to keep from getting attacked from behind.
"Four, go help Twilight!" Warriors barks. "Legend, Champion, hang back and provide support with your bows." The two nod, instantly switching out their weapons. "Wind, you're with me. Hyrule, Sky, stick with each other."
Hyrule and Sky rush forward into the mass of monsters. Warriors guides Wind around the grotto to the other side. They push into the crowd of monsters.
The closer they get, the more distinct the mass of robes becomes. Warriors almost thinks it's his Wizzro. Except the thing's movements are stuttering. Like there's two of it overlapping each other. It will move, and then a second later, it will move in that exact way again. Sometimes the second movement will be different, but that leads to a third ghosting of the image following the second movement.
Looking at it too long makes him feel sick.
He's not the only one as he blocks a hit aimed at Wind. The poor kid doubles over and pukes. "Ugh, what is that thing?"
He works to shield Wind as the kid gets ahold of himself. "Conglomeration of souls a cursed ring ate," he grunts.
Wind dashes past him. He keeps his head down as he stabs at the monsters. "What's a congo-mansion?"
Warriors stumbles back a step as too many stal monsters ram into his shield. "A–," he grunts, "mishmash." He braces his stance and heaves. The pile of monsters stumble long enough for Wind to cut them down.
"Creepy."
He uses the opening Wind left to push forward. He's less focused on stopping the monsters than he is on reaching Time.
Thankfully Wind seems to pick up on that. He cuts down monsters enough for Warriors to push forward and not have to worry about his back.
Time jumps back, ducks, and raises his shield as the phantom images of the wizzro's attacks reach out to him.
For a second, it looks like all the movements happen at the same time.
"You boys got here faster than I was expecting," Time says by way of greeting.
Wars lunges past him and swipes at a monster that was aiming at Time. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
Time grunts as he blocks another swipe from the wizzro. "I admit," he manages against the force of the attack. "I didn't think it'd be this bad."
Wars swipes at the mass of robes. The image flickers as it dodges his attack. He has to fight the dizziness it causes.
"You need to get back," Time orders.
"Like hell I do!"
Time throws him a harsh glare.
Warriors glares right back.
Wind shoves them both aside. The monster hits him square in the chest. He's thrown back hard enough to shatter the stal monsters he crashes into.
"Wind!" Wars shouts already running towards him. The monster shrieks behind him. He hopes it's because Time landed a hit and not because it's laughing at them.
He wants to drop to the ground next to Wind, but there's reforming stal monsters surrounding them. Wind wheezes from where he lays.
"Wind!" Warriors shouts. "Wind, say something."
The wheezing changes pitch. Warriors looks down. Wind blinks blearily at the sky. "Fu– uck," he wheezes.
Time's at his side a second later. "How is he?" He asks, the worry clear in his voice.
Wind tries to sit up with a painful wheeze. He fall back on his back with a pitiful and agonized sound. "Brok–," the rest of the word is lost behind a bloody gurgle.
Time growls, sheathing his sword angrily. "I'm done trying to figure this out." He reaches for Wind's sword.
The air around them ripples and Time disappears. The monster shrieks in clear pain. It's color drains to white as it's inky blood drips all over Time. The space around them pulses in rhythm with it's screams.
Time rips the sword out and swings again. The blade shines white with magic. The thing lunges at him.
They disappeared in a flash of light. Wind's sword lays discarded on the ground.
"NO!" Twilight roars.
"Someone grab him!" Warriors shouts.
Sky and Four are able to reach Twilight before he can get to the strange portal. They struggle to pull the kicking and screaming rancher away.
Legend and Wild emerge from the trees and jump into the fray. They work with Hyrule to cut down the remaining monsters. With the wizzro gone, the destroyed stal monsters remain in pieces.
Warriors works on destroying the monsters around him and Wind. He throws his sword down in favor of digging through one of his belt pouches. He bites back the pain of the swipe to his shoulder and back. He swings the shield at the monsters.
After pushing another few monsters back, he drops to a knee and changes the hold on his shield. He extends over Wind to protect the kid with both his body and his shield. His hold is steady as he turns to Wind.
Wind's eyes are glassy and unfocused when Warriors meets them. He's still thankfully wheezing meaning the punctured lung hasn't drowned him yet.
"Blue potion. Open up."
Wind chokes on the first sip. He whines in pain as his body tries to force him to cough it up. His chest spasms at the action.
Warriors ignores the swiping monsters and curls over Wind to shield him better. He grits his teeth against the pain. "I know, I know. But you have to try."
Wind screws his eyes shut in pain. His breath bubbles as he tries to force a word out "–ts."
Careful to tip the bottle between hits, Warriors tries again. Wind's chest spasms as it tries to reject the liquid once more. The pain is clear on his face as he forces himself to swallow. Wind's breathing starts to sound smoother as he continues to lay unmoving.
Wars drops the empty bottle, shifting his grip on his shield. The movement is rough, it lacks power, but he's able to push them back enough to stand. "Hyrule! Switch with me!"
Hyrule glances his way in confusion. It quickly morphs into understanding when he spots Wind. "On it!" He calls already carving a path towards them. He takes a few hits on his way over; more worried about getting through the monsters than killing them.
When Hyrule drops next to Wind, Warriors takes a second to scan the battlefield. Sky and Four struggle to hold an inconsolable Twilight back. Legend and Wild work tirelessly to thin the hoard of monsters on their own.
He glances down at Hyrule as the traveler works to heal Wind. "Are you good if I leave you here?"
Hyrule pulls one hand away from Wind and lets electricity crackle over his fingers. "Go."
Warriors grips his sword as he falls into a familiar rhythm. He works his way to Legend and Wild. He directs them with practiced ease and moves around them with fluid precision. Under his direction, the three make efficient work of the remaining monsters.
With the monsters fully cleared, Twilight redoubles his effort. Wars desperately wants to take a second to regain his breath, but he can't. He stalks up to Twilight, sword still drawn. "You need to get ahold of yourself."
Twilight snarls at him. "You left him!" He accuses. "You fucken left him!"
Warriors drops his shield to snatch the front of Twilight's tunic and forces him back. Twilight stumbles in surprise, and they end up on the floor. Warriors puts his weight into holding him down.
Twilight snarls up at him. The sound is so gutteral and borderline inhuman, he almost reflexively lets go.
Instead he tightens his hold. "Would you rather I left Wind to die instead?" He uses his sword to motion to the still downed hero. "Look at him and tell me I should've left him to fucking die!"
Twilight's eyes flick towards Wind and he falters.
Warriors shakes him, lifting him up enough to slam him back down. "Either you get ahold of yourself, or I drop you."
"Captain, something's happening!" Legend shouts.
Warriors whips around, hand still firmly on Twilight's tunic. Legend and Four stand a ways away, clearly putting themselves between Hyrule and the strange portal. Wild and Sky mirrors them by shielding him and Twilight from it.
The portal pulses, condensing into something more stable. It doesn't quite match the shape of the portals they've been using to travel, but it bares a startling resemblance.
"Oh shit," Warriors pushes himself off Twilight, trusting Sky to keep an eye on him.
The portal continues to convulse. It's shape changes again, becoming all too familiar too him. He readies his sword and takes a step closer. If he's the closest one, maybe whatever comes out will charge at him instead of the others.
Warriors nearly drops his sword at who steps through the portal. He's met with icy blues eyes and a mop of messy golden hair. Even the yellow mask is the same. "You– how..." he trails off, words failing at the sight before him.
The portal closes with a quiet fizzle.
The boy crosses his arms with a faint smirk. "I should be guessing it has being a setting up," he snickers. His gaze darts around, pausing briefly on each member of the chain.
Wars can only stare absolutely dumbfounded. Damned Old Man couldn't give him more of a warning?!
Legend stalks up next to him. "Who the fuck are you?"
His entire demeanor changes. He pushes back the sharpness of his expression, shifts his stance, and drops his arms. Even his tone shifts to take a more youthful and childlike quality as he turns back to Wars. With a glint in his eyes he points at Wars. "I'm being little brother to Captain Link."
Wars groans. He rubs a hand over his face as Legend sputters in surprise. This is about to get a whole lot harder, he realizes.
Sky makes his way over, also intrigued by the kid. "Awe, well hello there," he coos. "What's your name?"
Wars winces at the way the kid's jaw momentarily clenches.
"Mask."
Sky hesitates. "That's a... unique name."
Sprite smiles up at him, all round cheeks and faux innocence. "We both don't be being Link," he says like it should be the most obvious thing in the universe. "That's too much confusing."
Legend and Sky are both stunned into silence. Wars takes the opportunity to get them back on track. "Sprite, shut up for a few minutes," he says. The kid stick his tongue out at him. "Hyrule! Injury report!"
"Wind'll live, but he's in rough shape," Hyrule calls back.
Wars gives Sprite a meaningful look before jogging over to them. Wind looks more alert, but he still hasn't moved. "Can we move him?"
"I can hear you."
Hyrule shakes his head. "No. He's still got too many broken bones, and I don't wanna risk permanent injury."
Wars glances over his shoulder. Before he can call to the others, he's face to face with Sprite. He startles, not having noticed or heard the kid walk over.
"What has happening to him?" Sprite asks.
"He got hurt saving our asses," Wars replies. "You wouldn't happen to have a healing fairy on you, would you?"
Sprite digs through the pouch on his belt and produces a bottle. Wars takes it with a quiet thanks and pops the cork. The fairy immediately goes to Wind.
Wind hisses out a breath as his body unclenches. "Shit." Wars and Hyrule help him sit up. "I'm kicking the Old Man's ass when we find him."
Warriors winces. Finish injury report first, regroup second. "Hyrule, injury report."
"Just a couple scapes and some magic exhaustion."
He nods turning back to the others. They've surrounded a still tense Twilight. With a deep breath he makes his way over while Hyrule helps Wind to his feet. "Injury report," he prompts.
"Four's got some bruised ribs and Legend's got a concussion," Sky is quick to supply. He earns a dirty look from the Vet.
"Twi's having a panic attack," Wild says quietly.
His attention quickly snaps to Twilight, and sure enough the rancher's an absolute mess. His head is bowed between his knees and he's taking short gasping breaths. He's shaking so bad all his equipment audibly clatters. Wild's kneeling at his side, a helpless look on his face.
Warriors kneels down in front of him and places a hand on his shoulder. Twilight's head snaps up. His eyes are filled with hazy, unfocused, fear. The shaking seems more pronounced. "We left 'im," he whimpers, "'n now he's dead."
Warriors frowns. "Hey, no," he says softly. He nudges Twilight's chin until he's looking at him again. "Listen. Remember he said he was gonna be back."
Twilight's breath stutters, eyes shining. "But he–,"
Warriors shush him lightly. He takes Twilight's free hand and brings it close to his mouth. "I need you to breathe," he says calmly. He's careful about keeping his breath even as he lets it ghost over Twilight's clenched fist. "I want you to breathe whenever you feel my breath. Can you try that for me?"
Wild presses closer to Twilight and reaches for their joined hands. "I'll breath with you, Twi." He shoots Warriors a nervous look, almost like he's asking permission.
Warriors gives him a grateful nod. Apart from Time, Wild's the next closest to Twilight. He's grateful for the help.
He runs them through carefully counted breathing exercises.
Twilight leans more against Wild as his breathing finally starts to settle. His eyes close and a few tears fall down his cheeks.
Warriors tries not to visibility cringe. He's absolutely tearing the Old Man a new one when he gets back.
After a few minutes, he stops counting. He gives Twilight's hand a firm squeeze. "You with us, farm boy?"
Twilight pulls his hand free to wipe at his face. "Yessir," he croaks.
Warriors nods. He goes to stand only to be yanked back down by his scarf.
Sprite, completely unnoticed, had wrapped himself in his scarf. He stands at his back, watching the group warily as the rest of the group starse at him with open curiosity—and mild suspicion on Legend's part.
Oh boy. This is gonna be fun.
Wars nudges Sprite slightly. The kid's eyes flick up to his for only a moment. Thankfully, he understands and moves with Wars so they can face the entire group.
He's thankful to see Wind on his feet, even if he has to lean heavily on Sky. Four, leaning against Sky's other side, follows along. Hyrule has picked up Wind's discarded sword.
"Right," he sighs to himself. "Guys," he says despite the fact everyone's already looking at him. "Meet Link, the uh–," he trails off, suddenly unsure.
He wishes he had time to catch Sprite up to speed. The kid hasn't ever admitted to being a hero, much less the Hero of Time. He only found that out from the Old Man. He honestly wouldn't have even suspected anything had this new quest not started.
He doesn't know why Sprite never said anything, but he probably has his reasons.
"Are you sure that's another Link?" Legend interrupts. "Seems kind of suspicious to find another one just as the Old Man vanishes."
"It has been a few weeks..." Hyrule adds.
Wars winces, glancing at Sprite. He puts his hands on the kid's shoulders, more to comfort himself than anyone else. He honestly feels bad for having to air his little brother's secret without warning him. "Meet Link," he says with a sterner tone. "The Hero of Time."
He's immediately yanks down by his scarf. "How you are knowing!" Sprite shouts. He sounds almost panicked to Wars' ears.
"Sprite, calm down," he snaps fighting to get his scarf out Sprite's grasp. What is it with everyone screaming at him today?!
"No! Who has telling you!"
"You did!"
Sprite pauses, eyes narrowed as he stares at Wars. He doesn't let go of the scarf, but his grip does loosen.
"We've been traveling with an older version of you," Wars continues.
"Older me or later me?" Sprite asks.
Four mutters a quiet, "Is there a difference?"
Sprite doesn't bother looking at him. "Yes."
Legend scoffs loudly. "You really expect us to believe that brat's the Hero of Time?"
Sprite finally lets go to glare at Legend. His gaze slides over to Hyrule. "I can be proving it," he says pointing at Wind's sword. "Let me be showing with that sword."
Hyrule looks around frantically for a second. "Uhh..."
"Sprite," Wars warns.
That earns him a scoff. "This is not for fighting all them," he states like it should be obvious.
Legend stalks up to Sprite and grabs him by the arm, yanking him harshly away from Wars. Sprite shouts in protest. "I'm done playing around," Legend growls. "Whatever this is, it's clearly a trick from that monster."
"Sprite!" Warriors shouts lunging after them.
With an angry cry, Sprite kicks Legend's knee. The veteran falls with a pained shout and the audible snapping of bone. Sprite darts past him. He rushes Hyrule who fumbles with the sword in his hand as he reaches for his own.
Sprite's hand closes over Hyrule's, and suddenly he and the sword are gone. Hyrule lifts himself from the ground looking thoroughly confused.
Legend picks himself up with a growl. He keeps his weight mostly off his broken knee as he unsheathes his sword. "I fucking knew it," he growls. He scans the area, gaze eventually settling behind Warriors.
Warriors stops and looks over his shoulder. Sprite stands behind him, Wind's sword held firmly in his right hand. His left is clamped tightly in Warriors' scarf.
Legend shifts, grimacing in pain. "Warriors," he says through clenched teeth. "Move."
He moves to shield Sprite better. "Legend, put the sword away. Sprite, stand down."
"No!" Legend shouts raising his sword. "That monster did something to the Old Man, and now it's using you!"
"Then why wait till now!?" Warriors shoots back. "We've been vulnerable this entire time! He could've gone for Wind or Twilight– hell he could've gone for you or Hyrule just now! But he didn't! Instead he helped heal Wind!"
Legend falters briefly. He quickly shakes it off. "We only just saw through it's plan," he counters.
"For the love of– Sprite, when you defeated Ganondorf, what'd you do after?"
Sprite's grip on his scarf tightens.
"What happened after?" He pushes.
Sprite still doesn't respond.
"Answer me!" He barks.
"I has going back," Sprite finally says. "I has going back to before Sword and Triforce and has warning the King. He's don't getting hands on it."
Legend falters again. Though he doesn't quite shake it off this time.
"What's your horse's name?" Warriors continues.
"Epona."
"Who'd you get her from?"
"Lon Lon Ranch."
Warriors' glare intensifies as he addresses Legend. "That good enough for you?"
Legend lowers his sword slightly. "Why grab Wind's sword, then?" He challenges.
Warriors purses his lips. He doesn't have an explanation for that. Wind says he got it on his second adventure, and this is only the second time he's seen the Old Man use it. Third, if he counts Sprite. Yet he still doesn't understand what happened.
"Sword is being in time," Sprite responds. "It's not being forward or back moving, but it's being stopping it."
Legend snorts derisively. "You really expect me to believe something like that?"
Sprite steps out from behind Wars. He holds up Legend's cap in his left hand. "Yeah."
"Wha–," Legend's hand flies up to his head. "Give that back!"
Sprite points in Twilight's direction, cap suddenly absent from his hand. "He is having it."
Wild pulls the thing off his head with a worried look.
"He's not lying!" Wind calls, wincing from his new spot on Sky's back. "The sword helped me stop time in certain places."
Legend sheathes his sword with a growl. "You broke my knee, you brat."
"And you–,"
Wars presses down on Sprite's head causing him to stumble. "Okay, now that that's settled, let's get back to town."
Legend grumbles as he waits for Hyrule to help him hobble along. Hyrule apologizes for not being able to help more. He's still drained from healing Wind. Legend waves the apology off.
The walk back is silent and tense.
Wars walks up front with Sprite at his side. He can practically feel Twilight boring holes into his back. No doubt he's doing the same to the kid.
He's just waiting for the questions to start. There's no way the others don't have a million of them. Wind's gonna have to wait in line to kick Time's ass when he gets back.
"Stop doing that!" Legend shouts.
Wars glances over his shoulder. Legend's awkwardly holding a red potion, like he almost dropped it. Sprite's wearing his Keaton mask hiding any reaction he may have as he just keeps walking. The sword is inconspicuously gone. He glances at Wind next, and sure enough the sword is safely in his scabbard.
Sky nervously clears his throat. "So, uhm... Sprite–,"
"My name is Mask!" He interrupts.
"Er, Mask... What did you mean by older you or later you?"
Sprite turns around to walk backwards. He swings his arms with a shrug. "Time is weird moving. It's not working always the same for everyone."
Sky looks even more confused by that explanation.
Wars knows Sprite won't give a direct answer. "The you we travel with recognized me when we met."
"Later me." Sprite hums. "What age he is being?"
Wars shrugs. "Dunno. He won't tell us."
Sprite stops dead in his tracks. "What?"
Wars is instantly on alert. Sprite voice sounds small. Sprite doesn't do weakness if he can help it. Especially not around strangers.
He turns around to find Sprite standing stock still. His face is hidden behind his mask, but there's a minute tremble to his hands. Wars is at his side immediately. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"You– you has asking?" Sprite whispers.
Wars drops to a knee. Sprite's voice is thin with fear. "Yes," he replies slowly. He glances up at the others who watch with varying amounts of worry. "Why?"
Sprite's breath hitches for a second, and Wars is worried he's going to cry. Just as quickly as he'd stopped, he starts walking again.
Wars chases after him. "Sprite?"
"Being forgetting it," he bites out. "This is no more mattering." Sprite is still tense, but the shaking is gone. Instead he's completely closed off. There's a determined set to his shoulders as he continues to follow the path into town.
Wars frowns. He recognizes that response. Even all these years later, he can't forget it. It's the same closed off response Sprite always got the day after a particularly bad nightmare.
"But what's the difference between older and later?" Wind asks.
Sprite doesn't respond. He clenches his jaw and his movements become stiffer.
"That's enough questions for now," Wars says.
"But–,"
"That's enough," he snaps.
The group falls silent. Wars hardly snaps at Wind. The tension is palpable as they continue. It doesn't lessen when they reach the inn.
There's an awkward rearrangement of rooms when Sprite refuses to leave Wars' side. Twilight looks absolutely stricken to not be rooming with the kid.
"I know they're close," Legend mutters to Hyrule, "but I swear, he's like a dog with separation anxiety."
Wild throws him a vicious glare. Four snorts only to quickly pretend to find something interesting about his sleeves when the glare gets turned on him.
Sky ends up having to switch rooms too when Sprite refused to let him near. Legend also refuses to sleep in the same room as the kid after getting his knee kicked in.
In the end, Sky moves his stuff into Twilight and Wild's room. Four volunteers to take his old spot with Wars so Wind could share with Legend and Hyrule instead. That way they're still three to a room and no one gets stuck overcrowded.
Wars has to move Time's stuff out of Twilight's room. Sprite watches him the entire time. He doesn't approach the stuff, no matter how much he stares at it.
Eventually, he gets board of watching. "Why you're being so small?" He asks.
Four looks up in surprise. "I'm sorry?"
Wars holds back a sigh. "Sprite, don't be rude."
"You're don't being kid," Sprite continues completely unfazed. "Why you're being sized of one?"
Four seems more intrigued than insulted by the question. "I'm surprise you could tell. Everyone assumed I was Wind's age when we met."
"Wind is blond kid? The kid having the sword I has using before?"
Four nods.
"Why you are being sized of kid when you are being older than some of all others?" Sprite asks again.
Four grins. "My first adventure had me using a very particular type of magic," he explains. "I didn't realize at the time, but it left its mark on me. I haven't grown a single inch since I was twelve."
Sprite nods solemnly. He accepts the response without further question.