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Chapter Text

He stretched out his limbs, shoulder sockets popping as he did so. He rose from his chair in the stable, deciding to see if the stable hand had any requests. He was quite bored, and wanted a better reason to not attend Riju’s sage board meeting. He was only turned into a confirmed sage three weeks ago. 

“Mornin’, Link. Did’ja have a nice sleep?” Embry, the Outskirt stable-hand spoke up. It quickly snapped Link out of his unspoken thoughts.

“Mhm. Nice enough, at least. Better than what’s been presented to me the last year.” Came Link’s honest reply. A snicker from Embry made Link smirk, before his face fell neutral once again. He approached the stable-hand counter, to try to block out peering ears. He knew that nothing would happen if information got out about the meeting between sages, but he’d rather be on the safe side. Not because he wasn’t reckless anymore; no, far from that; he didn’t want to get on Zelda’s bad side. “Do you have any chores that need to be done? I’d rather skip this sage meeting I’m sure you’ve been informed about.” Embry blinked. The stable-hands’ were most likely informed before hand by Zelda, who wanted to invite people’s main guides to understanding the vast Hyrule of the Wild Era, but they all refused. Which, on further examination on Link’s part, was probably for the best if they didn’t want people going mad with confusion and conspiracy.

”Well,” Embry spoke up, clearly in thought. “I have a package to deliver to Piaffe of the Gerudo Canyon Stable, but that may lead you closer to the Bazaar.” Links stomach fell. He understood that the Gerudo Canyon Stable clearly needed improvement, having closed and just reopened, but… no, he would not have selfishness get in the way of helping Hyrule, even if his main job of slaying any darkness that controlled the land was gone. Zelda would strangle him.

”It’s fine; I probably couldn’t escape it anyways, with Zelda and such.” Link replied recounting his previous thoughts. Embry laughed, throwing his head back.

“Oh, haha, ok. Yeah. That’s true.” Embry agreed, shaking his head. “You know, no one in their right mind would ever think that Zelda has such a mean bone sometimes. Though, I’ve only noticed the behavior to people she likes.” Embry winked. Link smirked, then smiled, shaking his head.

“I would know that better than anyone.” He looked at the ceiling, a smile still on his lips. He brought his head down, his smile now gone. “I’ll go tack up Tarantula. I assume she’s out in the back?” Embry nodded his head. “I’ll see you soon, then.” Link, feeling like he fulfilled the conversation walked out of the stable, taking a left once he reached the morning air.

…

He lead the black mare out before the Stable’s Hero’s booth. Embry brought out the harness for lugging around items, such as crates, and her bridle, along with some armor that he had redone. The armor was older than his physical body itself, which was quite a feat, and once it was redone, it was stunning.

Link remembered Purah’s last words to him before he left: “Make sure to stretch the arm, physically and magically! It may help with your condition!” He somewhat agreed, though he knew his fate was set in stone. Oh well. He looked down at his heavily scarred right hand, rolling up his sleeve to get a better look at it. His arm was now, once again, heavily scarred. Ganondorf had done that to him. It was meant to kill, until Rauru was involved. He, unfortunately, only delayed the inevitable.

Flexing his fingers, he could feel the muscles flexing behind his thick skin. He stretched out his arm, his palm outstretched. He felt a tingling in his fingers, he felt the Zonai energy flowing into his palm, before it had a steady flow pulsating out of his palm in small amount. Despite no loner having Rauru’s arm, he could still use Zonai magic. The only person in Hyrule. Controlling it, it concentrated into a ball. He then controlled it into the saddle. Tarantula’s ears perked up in surprise, her head whipping around to face it with a whinny.

“Shhh… girl, it’s alright. Trust me.”  The horse hoofed the ground anxiously, but stood her ground. He gave a soft smile. Slowly, he lifted it around the air, getting a feeling of the magic again. It was pounding more profusely out of his palm, making it easier to control. He wondered if he couldn’t regulate the magic, but closed that thought when it wasn’t getting any stronger. Carefully, not to spook the horse, he placed the saddle on top of her. She shook her mane. “Don’t worry,” he said calmly, patting her, “I’ll put the rest on normally.”

…

The rest of the day seemed uneventful, like most. No monster attacks, no Yiga ambushes, just a few travelers, some coming back from the Bazaar drunken. Once he reached the Gerudo Canyon Stable, he dropped off his supplies along with Tarantula, knowing that they could take care of her and the boxes. Quite frankly, he just wanted to get the meeting out of the way for everyone without being deemed the title “asshole”.

The travel to the Bazaar was just as uneventful, with few travelers coming in and out. He met a stray dog, though, who seemed rabid so he shot it with an arrow and moved the body into a chasm with Ultrahand before washing off his hands with extra canned water. It’s fine; he was about to reach the Bazaar anyways.

He sighed, trying to ready himself for a long day, even when he knew he was possibly going to fall asleep midway through it.

…

”Hylia, damn it, it was two feral animals that had no water for days, of course they had foaming mouths.” One side of the table argued.

”I still want an exterminator team.” Someone growled back.

”Sidon has a point, goro. It’s, uh, the middle of dry season in.. a desert.” Came another reply. Probably Yunobo. Who did he care. He wished he had stayed home, or at Outskirts Stable. To be the hero of Hyrule.

”I can agree with Riju on this one, too. The wolves and dogs everywhere seem to be reproducing, and an outbreak of rabies could be dangerous.” Came a response from an authoritative voice. 
Links head was on the table, in his arms. He was playing with a piece of grass, quite clearly not paying attention. “Link. What do you think?” 

“Huh?” His head shot up, only to receive giggles from around the table. They were silenced by Zelda’s cold look. 

“Do you even care about this issue?” Link looked up at her, straightening his posture, before looking at his fingers which were stained green.

”What, uhm, issue… again?” He squeaked, only to be responded with a groan from across the table. 

“The possibly,” a nasty look was shot at Sidon by Riju, “rabid dogs that may be plaguing the desert.” Riju explained, her fingers intertwined with each other. Sidon, who was just to the left of Link, cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Riju, I don’t think Li-“ Sidon started. Link cleared his throat, which got Sidon to be quiet

“If I may, your Highness,” Link intercepted, and Sidon gave the universal ‘go on’ hand sign. “How long ago did this become an official problem?” Link asked Riju.

”A week.” Came her response. She was across from Sidon, her head slightly curved to look at Link. Her expression was serious.

”I would like to know… what are all the possible sightings, from the Kara Kara Bazaar all the way to Gerudo Town?” Link continued, rubbing his chin.

”From Gerudo Town, twelve. The two official accounts got in and were seen by actual residents. Here it is unknown because no one writes down the reports, but I have heard of five separate cases.” Riju responded. Link took a look around the table, going clockwise to look at the faces of Sidon, Tulin, Zelda, Riju, and then Yunobo.

”In a week, more than eighteen sightings. That’s more than two sightings a day.” Link mumbled to himself.

”I hate to diss on your math, Link, but I got seventeen rabid dog sightings, not eighteen.” Tulin responded, and Link looked to him in the eyes. Confusion enwrapped him, before realization hit.

”Oh! I found one on the way here. I disposed of the body in the Depths.” Link said, rubbing the back of his head. “Anyways, I think Lookout Landing can spare a monster hunting crew for the dogs. We just need a plan to dispose of the bodies so they don’t gather up, or get someone or something sick.” Link explained. Zelda started to rub her temples with a sigh, while Yunobo’s eyes went wide with terror.

”You don’t think… it can spread to humanoids, goro?” Yunobo questioned. Link nodded his head. 

“It can. I remember a case four years ago.” Link looked to Zelda. “I propose that we send a monster hunting crew out here to take care of the dogs, just to make sure they don’t spread. We may be low on the wolves over here for some time, but we can always import the common Hylian species to cross breed if it gets to a bad point.” Zelda, after a minute of consideration, nodded her head. 

“Can everyone abide by these rules?” There was a chorus of ‘yes’ and ‘I agree’. Zelda sighed, and grabbed a notepad at the center of the grand table inside the general store of the Bazaar before writing something down. “Unless someone has something else to say, this meeting has come to a conclusion.” No one spoke up, looking at each other’s faces. Link started to shake his leg impatiently. “Then go.” Zelda sighed again, and most leaders of the separate races spent no time getting up and going. 

“Bye, Link, make sure to visit the Tabantha Region sometime!” Tulin shouted at Links direction, and he gave a smile and a response along the lines of ‘sure!’. Link was more focused on trying to get to Zelda, who seemed so out of it. When he got to her, she let out a small groan.

”You ok?” Link asked over Zelda’s shoulder. She gave a thumbs up, but her head was on the table. Link kneeled down next to her, his arms crossed, laying on the sandstone table as he looked at her. “What’s on your mind?”

”How are you so happy, so normal, about receiving ‘the news?’” She said, sincerely, eyes full of hurt. He scrunched his brows in empathy. 

“I try not to think about it, but…” he stopped, and laid his head on hers. “… it’s hard.” He whispered at her, and she burrowed into his side. “I still got thirty one days left, though. My arm isn’t killing me quite yet, alright?” He said, moving away from her body. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, and merely nodded somberly. 

“We should head back to Lookout Landing. I have the Purah Pad.” Zelda said softly, though she sat up straighter. Link gave her an encouraging smile, following her movements to the exit. The shopkeeper bid them farewell, seemingly happy with what she overheard. 

Zelda took out the intricate device as they neared the center of the Bazaar. Riju and Yunobo were the only sages left, and they were engrossed in a conversation with a Bazaar guard. When they saw Link and Zelda, they waved their goodbye’s. Link frowned a little, somewhat upset that Sidon just left without giving a goodbye. Link shook his head to clear his mind. Of course he had, Sidon was the king of the Zora. He has a whole other life besides being a sage and friend to Link. 

Zelda cleared her throat to get Links attention, which he gave as she started tapping on the slate. She grabbed his hand, and then, they were off, disappearing into the sky in streaks of blue.

…

The “landing,” as he called it, should have been soft; it always was. Not this time. As soon as the landed, Link surged to the left and fought to keep his balance. Zelda grabbed his right arm, and he balanced himself. He still tilted to the left, which was odd. Something is dragging me over there, his mind told him. The feeling was all to familiar. “You alright?” Zelda asked, an eyebrow cocked in question.

”I- uh- well, may-“

”LINK! ZELDA! ITS URGENT!” Screamed Purah, rushing to the sky view tower teleportation pad. Link blinked awkwardly. “That means follow me, dumbasses.” Purah restated, bolting away from the tower. Link was quick to follow Zelda, who had their elbows intertwined. He wondered when she did that. Following Purah to the back exit of Lookout Landing, the one that led to the remains of Castle Town, Link stopped. Fuck you, Hylia, was the most prominent thought as a black, triangular portal hummed in font of the trio.

”What in Hylia’s green world is that?” Zelda asked, clearly astonished. Link was envious of her clear emotion. His stomach was doing cartwheels, his heart beating excitedly, adrenaline rushing through him at the thought of adventure. He swallowed down his rising bile.

He knew what this was.

He knew why it was there. 

He knows what it will do. 

“Link, do you have an idea?” Zelda asked tentatively, seeing how he was tense. 

“Zelda, that’s the portal from that one adventure I never got to finish.” Zelda froze at the words, her eyes wide. She whipped her face over to look at him, who was still staring somberly at the portal.

”You mean..?” 

“I’m getting sent back.”

”How long will it take?” The question no one wanted to ask. Link looked down, refusing to give an answer. “Link,” Zelda tried again, “how far along were you in the eight months you were gone?” 

“Not far enough.” His wispy voice replied, and he faced her. Sorrow was imbedded in her face.

”Purah, get me a notebook and a traveling pack.” Zelda said, turning her attention to the scientist. She scurried away. 

“This will be the last time I see you, won’t it.” Link broke the silence, more stating than questioning as the words rambled out of his mouth. 

“No,” came Zelda’s response as she grabbed his face, and forced him to look at her. “No. No! I won’t allow it.” Link stared numbly into her sorrow filled face. “You have thirty days to fend off Hyrule from the shadow. That, if used well, will be enough time. I know it.” She grabbed him into a hug, trying to cover up her hiccuping sobs that escaped from her frame. Link abided by her action, holding her close and not wanting to let her go. She pulled away as they heard Purah running closer, trying to get their attention. “Promise me,” Zelda began, staring into Links eyes with desperation. “Promise me, that you will come back.” Tears started to stream down her face. Link swallowed a sob, and he gently started to wipe Zelda’s tears off her face. 

“I promise,” he said softly. “I will try.” A singular tear traced down his face, falling onto his Champions Leathers that hid so many more tears, if anyone was willing to go that far. 

“I promise.” He didn’t know if he was trying to convince her or himself.

Chapter Text

Link, or maybe he should start referring to himself as Wild again, wandered the pine forest endlessly. He had no idea where he was. Great. Not to mention he was in a whole different era, too. He didn’t have the Sheikah slate or Purah Pad. All he had were some food reserves, an extra set of clothing, a mat to sleep on, a basic fire starting kit, and a bottle full of clean water. Oh. And the notebook Purah gave him to write down events in. Like there would be many, he thought sourly. May as well just recap the day in it.

Wanting to get a better look at his surroundings, and to not be stuck in thought, he started to climb a tree. It was a rather easy climb, the only distraction were ravens flying off at the quick Hylian that was scrambling up their home. The top was a sight to see; pine trees. Everywhere. There was a river nearby, his best choice for finding civilization. There were some mountains, which peaked him no interest, so he decided the river was his best choice. The river was facing to what he believed was west, so he set off in that direction.

…

He had not found anything interesting. At all. Other than odd rock placements here or there, but he barely spent any time investigating. He was in the same era as his brothers again! Even if it means he would probably have less time back at home with Zelda, he was glad he would have a chance to say goodbye to them before his depart.

He kicked a rock along his path that was littered with pine needles, his boot already crusted with mud from repetitively doing so. Then he heard a barbaric gurgle, followed by an enraged yell. His ears twitched. Goddess, he’d forgotten that monsters came above the Depths in other eras! He ran for the source of the screams, listening for what could possibly be going on. He heard metal clanking against one another, shields parrying. He jogged towards the site, not sure if it were a trap or an actual fighting scene, but whatever the scenario he was eager to barge in and fix it all.

His mind buzzing, he could tell by the tree tops there was a small clearing up ahead. Deciding he would be best off in the trees, he scrambled up a lean, tall pine tree with orange pine needles. Making quick work of the tree with his climbing skills, he pulled out a bow and watched the clearing.

A small boy-like frame in a multicolored tunic came sprinting into the clearing, before whipping around and facing his opponent, which looked like one of Wild’s silver bokoblins. It growled, pulling up its shield as the small boy swung at it. Clearly, the boy had not expected the monster to block, but he got the hint that it would use his stunned posture for the best, as the bokoblin started to swing again. He ducked in time, but stumbled back at how sudden it was, his chest heaving as he hit the woodland floor.

He grabbed an arrow from his quiver that was strung over his back. He recognized that tunic almost immediately. He needed to protect Four.

More hylian frames burst into the clearing. One had a green tunic with a blue piece of fabric following him, another had a similar design but with more of a teal fabric for his tunic and a king white cape or blanket-like thing flowing behind him, along with another child-like frame with a light blue tunic.

Wild pulled at his satchel, choosing a bomb flower to try and scare away the bokoblin. More familiar people. He needed to protect Warriors, Sky, and Wind now, too.

An army of bokoblins, moblins, and lizolfos burst out of the flora, snarling and cackling at the hero’s. The group, distracted by Four on the ground, had little time to react to the surrounding issue.

Wild fused the bomb to the arrow, creating his home-made bomb arrow.

A moblin reared back, ready to swing its club down on an unsuspecting Wind, who was more worried for Four who was panting, but now sitting upright. He must have been winded. ”WIND!” Wild tried to call out, in which the boy in blue head snapped up and faced behind him, but it was much too late. The moblin brought down its club with such force… but then a flash of white. Sky was at the scene, as quick as ever, shield drawn and holding the moblin’s club. It screamed in protest and Sky ripped his shield away, slashing at its stomach. Black ooze came seeping out from the wound; Sky had got a good swing. Blood poured from its nose and mouth as it coughed and fell. 

Wild snapped back to his reality. He drew his bowstring, aiming for even more incoming monsters. He let the drawstring go. I’m almost an instant, the forest was on fire, and the smell of burned flesh was starting to reek as monsters called out desperately. Some fled, calling out for others to do so, and Wild knew that some of the group would have been disappointed in him for letting them go. He just had to get the enemies away from the party for now; they were still outnumbered.

Wild wasted no time climbing down the tree into the clearing to get a better look of the damage. 

Running through the shrubs at a sprint, he neared a rock by the fire he created, which blocked out his view of the clearing. He saw none of his old brothers, which he was worried about originally, but that evolved into pleasure at knowing they were most likely not caught in the flames. If he wanted to present himself now, it would most likely be in the field range of view of his brothers. That was too “show-offy”, as Tulin would recite, for Wild. Plus, there were no more fleeing monsters, therefore, as Wild could not hear over the crackle and pop of enraged flame, the remaining monsters were in probably battle with the others. Plenty of cover time for Wild to take out any archers that pissed off his former colleagues.

He circled around the fire, watching in grow and diminish. He was surprised at the fact that a bomb flower had caused such a flame, which Wild figured he must have been thrown into a dry forest or a dry season in whatever Hyrule he was in. He took note of that mentally, hoping it could be of some use later. Jogging now, he came to the end of the blaze to hear monsters calling out in delight. Wild scrunched up his nose and made an animistic growl (Twilight thought that, being raised by a wolf, he would one day drop the habit he obtained from Wolfie. Wild took pride in his animal-like side, and being part Zonai for around a year did not help with this pleasure), catching their attention. Wild was somewhat astonished at the fact on how strategic the small group of two bokoblins and one lizolfos were. Firstly, their backs were facing the now diminishing fire, preventing attack by most parties with the wall of fire, and that one of the bokoblins had a shield to protect the two archers. 

The lizalfos let out a dry hiss, and Wild pulled at the sword at his back. It was a simple polished royal broadsword from his era, having left the Master Sword behind, and it got the job done. He glared at the oncoming lizalfos; its counterparts more consumed with the other action farther up the clearing. The lizalfos then turned. Wild, also mildly concerned, swung his head to get a better look at the brawl.

Four was out of the picture, most likely somewhere in the woods. Sky, even going off against three bokoblins kept a good distance away from a moblin distracting Wind, who was limping oddly to Warriors, who was in a one on one with a black lizalfos. That meant that their party was handling only five monsters, even if black blood was possible. Wild knew they had been through worse. He let out a hiss as something whipped his side suddenly, and he realized the lizalfos he was fighting, a measly blue skinned, has fooled him into watching his allies. He growled, and the lizalfos swung its nasty tongue once more. Wild dodged the blow, and swung his sword at the makeshift whip, making the monster shriek in agony as it fell back. Wild took his chance, sprinting off a rock. Wild, as he pulled out his bow, watched the world go slow around him with much pleasure. He pulled back his bowstring, watching as it slowly started to make its way to the lizalfos, and he smirked as the lizalfos head went rearing back, a muddled shriek escaping its lips. Head shot, he thought with short lived pride as something pulled him out of slow motion and onto the ground with a thump.

He went limp with a groan, his body shrieking get up! Were in the middle of a fight! Get up! He carefully obeyed, trying not to harm his now sore back and throbbing head, by flopping over onto his back. An ugly, half burned long nosed moblin had its club above its head. Its tongue stuck out to Wild's left, its face burned on that side, too, most likely causing the deformity. Actually, he noted, its whole left side was saggy and somewhat pink, and fire still looked ablaze on its back. Its eye was also no longer to be seen. That's embarrassing Wild mused numbly, halfheartedly accepting his fate, beat to death by a half blind and burned moblin. Suddenly, out of the bushes came a colored blob, and the moblin reared back in a scream. Wild, amused, watched as the blob, which he now reconized to be the colorful tunic worn by Four, slashed his sword across the moblins stomach. The moblin's stance wavered, and its insides came rolling out in blobs as it fell forwards onto its knees, and then it fell to its side, dark blood foaming at its mouth and nose as it drew in its last shaggy breath. 

"I could not believe it until I saw the fire. Wild?" Four whipped around too fast for Wild's groggy brain, as his head started to pound again. Wild gave him a shy grin. 

"You recognized me at the fire?" Wild sat up, and pulled his knees to his chest. Four lent out a hand, which he gladly took. Wild did not expect the tiny hylian to pull him into a hug. Four's head was up to his gut, which was quite an odd angle for a hug, but Four continued to comfortably wrap his arms around his waist. Wild settled for patting him on the shoulders. Four pulled away, his eyes somewhat teary.

"Its been five months, dumbass, where were you?!" Four pouted, and Wild blinked rapidly, his hands still on Fours shoulders. Wild, begging to respond, was cut off by an angry snarl. The two figures whipped around, only to see the two bokoblins from before taunting them with rocks in their hands. 

"We should take care of those," Wild mumbled, his foggy mind starting to clear up, and he could hear an agreeing 'mhm' from beside him. Pulling out his sword once again, he charged lazily, Four beside him doing the same, swatting impateintly at the beasts heads until the monsters bodies fell with a thump. Four manged to behead his, and Wild could tell he was about done with the whole mess. 

"FOUR? WHERE'D YOU GO?" A familiar accent rung out in the clearing. Four and Wild were near the treeline across from the others, so it was no wonder the Skyloftian couldn't locate his lost brother. 

"Coming!" The small hero chimed in a perky manner, looking at Wild before shouting, "AND I FOUND A SURPRISE!" Four smirked, and Wild grinned before they trotted off further into the field. 

…

“Champion!” Came the happy grin from Sky, as Wild started to follow Four. Wind and Warriors were perched on a fallen tree farther along the clearing, treating Winds leg. Wild was barreled into a hug by the Skyloftian suddenly, and he couldn’t hold back a grin.

”It’s that good to see me, huh?” Sky pulled back a little, arms still wrapped around Wild, his eyes glittering with happiness.

"Oh, Hylia, your tall!", came a child like shriek from some distance away. Wind, who was hobbling slightly, came at the trio, barreling into Wild. Sky laughed, burrowing into the hug. Wild let out a huff of pleasure, rubbing his right hand's knuckles across Wind's scalp until he pulled away. Sky pulled away shortly after. "Like, geez, how long has it been for you?" Wild let out a nervous laugh, and Sky smiled along.

"Ah, well, not sure if you want to hear this, but, around six years for me." Sky's and Wind's jaws dropped.

"Six years?! Are you sure?!" Responded Wind.

"What happened?" Sky questioned ghastly. Wild rubbed his right arm, unknowing if he was trying to hint at his newest scar or if it was a response to his nervousness. Four rubbed his chin beside Wild.

"So... time does work differently when we leave separate eras then, huh?" Four claimed more than asked, but it was still a claim to argue. Wild turned his attention to the point.

"Are you claiming that this is my era?" Wild asked, and Four's ears flicked, and his eyes landed on him. "Because its not. And I remember a powerful force taking me out of one era, back into my own, and then to another." He asked further, and Fours gaze fell to the ground.

"We always assumed you ran away, being craved for the outdoors and all." Sky said, and Wild shook his head, a small smirk on his lips.

"That's not the full truth, I did want to do a little more exploring of the surroundings if I can remember correctly, and then I was dropped into a portal." Wind made an 'aaah' sound, nodding along. Sky seemed satisfied with the answer. Suddenly, Wild’s shoulders were grabbed. He made a yelp that was cut off as someone pulled him into yet another hug (which he was going to get bored of soon), and he squirmed to try and escape the grasp of he could only assume of Warriors. Wind, Sky, and even Four giggled slightly. "Goddesses, asshole, get off me," Wild play-taunted, and Warriors let go.

"Damn, you did get taller," Warriors said, reaching for his right arm, grabbing it and inspecting it. Wild froze with horror, the hair on the back of his neck risen as he watched Warriors make his next move. He trusted, or he oonce did trust Warriors wouldn't hurt him, but his right arm was the reason he was being killed. It was infected. Its pain had caused him plenty more. It also caused pain for Zelda, whom he'd failed again. "And more muscular! You may have to arm wrestle the rancher sometime." That snapped Wild out of his thoughts. Wild yanked his arm back, relief flooding through him as it was free again. He kept the arm close to his side.

"I've been... working out a bit." He decided that was as close as he could get to "the news", in which gaining physical strength had been one of Purah's tests to see what would eradicate the gloom that flowed inside his body, poisoning him. It was a help in creating more time for the inevitable. Warriors nodded, his small smirk on his lips as he proudly looked at the former knight. Wild realized he was somewhat taller than Warriors now (due to the Shrine of Resurrection, his growth capabilities had dwindled, but his body decided to release a batch of hormones it had been saving up for who knows how long it was slowly collecting them after his latest adventure.), and blinked in astonishment. "Wheres the rest of the group?" Warriors looked to Sky, Wind, and Four.

"We got separated from them during a portal transfer. Its the first time this has happened.' Sky spoke up silently. Wild was a little upset at the fact he would most likely not get to reunite with his other brothers, his mentor most of all, today, but he was close. And he still had a month to find them.

"Well, there's no time like the present, ey?" Warriors spoke up, and soon, the group was off.

***

Today was exciting, to say the least. Reuniting with four of the heroes of the past lifted my spirits. Even if I almost lit them on fire, or almost had my skull bashed in, today was great. Wind wouldn't stop blabbering on our walk to find a place to camp about everything I had missed, which was an adventure to Hyrule's Hyrule, (that's not a weird sentence at all.), and then to Winds own era next after they visited some unnamed era, which I'm sort of glad I missed to say the least. Four got so pissed he had to snap at Wind to shut up. His 'blue' personality was most definitely showing the most. Oh! You should have seen the froth at their mouths as I made a simple soup for dinner. It was hilarious as they had to explain why they would never eat pumpkins again. 

He paused, looking down at his notes. He created another paragraph.

How do you explain to someone, let alone an entire group of people your close to, you're dying? That you only have a month left, and that you want to spend it with the person you love at home? Purah did all the work telling everyone at home I was fatally ill, so I have no experience. I don't want to scare them, either, so maybe its just best to keep quiet for now, or when I find Time, just tell him. Scratch that, I don't want to put that pressure on him. I'll keep it to myself until need-be, I suppose. Though, I can't wait to show them my newest abilities, like the Zonai and Sage (once I work that out) stuff.

Anyways, that's all, currently. I don't have much to talk about other than seeing Four, Wind, Sky, and Warriors today. Its only been five months for them, so things like Warriors and Four seeming softer or kinder on me, that may just be because I just got back though.

Excited to share further news,

Hero of the Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

His nose scrunched up at the familiar reek of the old, abandoned underground labyrinth. His mind recoiled at being sent back to this horrid place, trying to force his legs to leave, to get her and run, to never let what happened that day happen again, but his body refused, following the woman with the same royal blue color on her outfit, like his own, as they approached it. 

"What is that?" she asked, torch in hand. The corpse, sprawled out in a pose due to holding magic coming from the arm, was what caught her attention. She got closer to it. Suddenly, to break the silence, the hand moved, causing the couple to pause. The woman, eager to discover the secrets of this ancient shrine, picked up the now white tear-shaped stone. It started to glow a faint yellow.

Ba-thump

His attention snapped to the corpse, who's face was snapped right at them. Then its eyes started to glow from what he thought was its empty sockets. He tensed. His mind screamed at him to get to her, don't let her fall again, don't fail her once more, but, once again, his body refused. Then the gloom struck out, and he could hear its hiss as it streamed from the body, towards her. He ran, sword immediately in hand as he let it absorb the gloom.

The gloom ignored the sword, seeping into the already semi weak blade, as it was very aged, and then up his right arm. He hissed at the pain, the way his flesh sizzled and stung and burned, trying to pull away as it seeped his life from him, his knee's bending down, his mind screaming and blurred with thoughts. The gloom broke away suddenly, uninterested in its subject anymore. Even if his arm was surging in pain, his mind still managed to scramble one thought that he knew would be effortless together. Protect her. The gloom, coming back suddenly for round two, tried to surprise him. His eyes caught it moving in time, and he managed to swing his sword swiftly. The Sword that Sealed the darkness. The one unbreakable blade. It shattered.

"Link!" He barely made out the call, gritting his teeth to try and not let out a call in pain. He could see white dots in his vision, but his body refused to give out. A cut appeared on the corpses cheek as it started to speak, its voice dry.

"Was that the Sword that Seals the Darkness? A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me." Came it's sandy hiss. It cracked, rose unsteadily into a semi normal posture. "Zelda..." It snarled, and his mind immediately ignored the pain throbbing in his mind once more. He felt selfish for thinking of himself over her, and his mind was streaming of thoughts to get Zelda out of there, he can't let her fall again, focus through the pain, help her. "You, who carries that fragile sword..." he looked to the monstrosity in front of him, his mind spewing hatred at making him and his weapon of choice feel weak. "...are Link." He barred his teeth in a semi-snarl, his anxiety rolling inside him as he felt put on the spot. "Rauru placed his faith in you... and that was all you could do?" It snarled once again, standing up straighter to stare at the pair. Link's arm was pounding with so much pain he knew that his body could barely take any longer. Zelda took a step back.

"How do you... know our names?" She asked hesitantly. There was no response, only the being gathered energy around its chest, pounding it at the ceiling. The ground beneath it fell, and his mind hoped that that fall had killed it. Deep down, he knew that he was feeding himself a false lie. Get her out of there, Links mind screamed once more, do not fail her again! His mind was swapped back to his arm, as the pain became to unbearable. It was screaming at him, and his surroundings were going fuzzy as his stance softened even more. 

"-ink!" He barely made out the worried call, and he closed his eyes to try and dissolve the pain magically. Make the pain stop, his mind cried, please, it begged. Then he heard rocks falling, and her scream. His consciousness recoiled at being so stupid, and he begged his body to catch her. This time, it seemed to try to obey. He jumped to her, even if she was falling, ruined arm outreached to her. Her hand reached back to Link. Their fingers brushed, and he tried to grab her. He failed. He failed once again.

...

"Hah!' He sat upright, sweat rolling off his face like tears as he panted, chest heaving, and he looked down to his throbbing right arm. It hurt a little, a reaction to the dream was his best guess, as he looked around, confused, at his surroundings. 

Pine forest. There is a dead campfire some ways in front of me. It is almost early morning- the sun is starting to rise. He froze as he heard snoring beside him. Looking to his left, his muscles went even more still as he saw a sleeping body’s arms wrapped around his waist awkwardly. He blinked, recognizing it to be the Skyloftian. His tensed muscles softened, recounting yesterdays events. He stretched his arms, and a yawn escaped his jaws as he slowly escaped Sky's grip, although he wasn't too worried about the heavy sleeper. He bent his kneecaps to where they popped, and decided to get the fire started, along with planning for breaking. He looked for where he left his things, and he picked it up by the others stuff. Warriors traveling bag looked open, like he was just in it, hinting at why there was most likely no guard. He shrugged it off, grabbing his own duffel bag. Scrambling around inside it, he found the cook book where he kept his recipes he had gathered throughout his second journey. He decided to flip through it until he found something that looked appealing.

A curry? No, too early in the morning. Maybe an omelette, though it may be a little simple. Oh, a pizza? What am I thinking, that’s more of a afternoon or dinner meal than anything. Something sweet like honeyed apples maybe? Nah. I’ll just make an omelette with cheese or something. He decided finally, yet undecided on what omelette to make, so he picked slowly through his omelette recipes. 

"Oh goddess; you aren't thinking about putting Goron Spice into our meals, are you?" Wild flinched at the sound behind him, and looked up to Warriors looming down at him.

"Maybe I will to yours," Wild smirked playfully, a snicker escaping his throat as Warriors face went from an easy teasing demeanor to horror. 

"You wouldn't dare." He demanded.

"Would I?"

... 

To Wilds disappoint, he hadn't put the Goron spice in the cheesy omelette Wild had made for everyone, but he couldn't spare a prank on an essential day for travel. He would get him one of these days. The omelette had been a hit, too, and even Sky seemed more energized. After packing up their makeshift camp, they were back on the road again. 

"Oh! You missed this one really cool fight where Twilight transformed into Wolfie in like midair, and killed a moblin. It was so cool!" Wind said to Wild. Wild appreciated someone trying to catch him up on some things that he missed while he was away. Though, Wind got off track a bit. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, yeah, cool." Wild said, letting his gaze catch elsewhere on his surroundings. They had found the river Wild originally intended to follow, and they were now near its bank, still in the treeline. 

"That is not at all what happened. Twilight transformed into Wolfie, on the ground may I remind you, to save your concussed ass." Warriors sneered from the front of the group. Wind scoffed, and mumbled a "did not," before running ahead to argue with Warriors about the occasion. Sky, who was previously talking with Wars, caught up with Wild and Four's pace. 

"He's just excited to have you back, you know." Sky said calmly, a smile on his lips as he matched pace with Wild. Wild nodded.

"The chain was... very odd without you," Four spoke up. "Not without good food and stuff, though I can say for everyone that having a good cook back is defiantly a plus, just... everyone was so... different... I suppose without you causing a ruckus." He said, looking at the ground. Wild stared at the ground in return. He knew that Twilight most likely took the absence the most to the heart, being his mentor and all. He stiffened as he realized, in a months time, he would be doing the same thing once more. He cleared his throat.

"So... were any other weird skills of the others shown off?" Wild asked. Four glanced up excitedly, and Sky looked at Wild with a grin. 

"You should have seen Time's cool mask! He turned into a freaking Zora! It was so cool."

"Wind can talk to spirits apparently, everyone thought he was he was crazy at first until he said, 'what, you can't see them?'"

"You should have seen Sky's weird beetle. I thought it broke when it just plummeted into the ocean." Four shot a giddy grin at Sky who laughed back.

"Yeah, it does that when it loses energy. Definitely one of my favorite dungeon finds." Sky smiled, before smirking deviously. "Remember what gorgeous fur Legend had." Four snickered, his hand flying to cover up his mouth. 

"Don't get me started on the ears," 

"And Twilight said that his stone shows your 'inner self', which, my my, would not have expected that from Legend. I remember the first time I saw him like that." Wild looked at the two, eyebrow cocked in confusion. 

"What did he transform into?" He asked, and Sky and Four blinked.

"You won't believe this, but a rabbit with pink fur. It was, plainly, amazing to see him so pissed." Four answered, and Wild struggled to keep his laughing fit down his throat, which evolved into him having to gasp, tears forming at his eyes.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, no hes not," Sky laughed along, and Four smiled proudly. Wild panted, calming himself down. 

"Oh, is this going to be a long walk, of you explaining how that happened" Wild finally said, and Four and Sky grinned. Sky shrugged.

"Maybe indeed," he said. "Maybe."

...

They had started to see a light smoke trail in the sky by noon, pushing back a lunch that no one (but Wind) had room for because of their anxiousness. Wild had given the boy an apple for a snack, which he accepted gratefully. The group was traveling in silence, with Sky in the back, Wild and Wind in the middle, with Warriors and Four upfront. Wild could hear Sky panting, but Warriors had argued it was best to keep moving, so they did, though Wild was starting to worry and was debating about asking to stop. 

A howl in the distance caught his attention. 

He paused, and Wind along With Sky with him. Four and Warriors continued slightly, before coming to a stop too.

"Whats going on?" Warriors mumbled with a slight growl.

"Hush!" Wild hissed back, flicking his ears. Warriors attention went to the treeline. 

The wolf song sounded again, lost and searching. It floated softly above the treeline, hinting that the animal was some ways away. Wild thought he recognized some of its dreary tunes.

"Sounds somewhat like Wolfie," Four mumbled, reading Wilds thoughts while being the conformation he needed. 

So he whistled in response, cupping his hands to try and carry it just as far, taking in a breath before he did so. Warriors and Sky gave him a scowl. He realized, in making the noise, he had drawn attention to the group, meaning no rest for a while longer. He blushed. "Sorry, its... kind of like a normal response. I used to do it to let him know i'm there. Its kind of like a muscle reflex whenever I hear a wolf howl, now. It keeps em' away. Sometimes." Warriors looked away, his attention back to the bank.

"I'm sure its fine; we need to get closer to the town anyways." Warriors mumbled. Wild, Wind and Four nodded along, and Wild sent a sympathetic glance to a gloomy Sky. 

... 

They had made camp when night began to fall, not wanting to risk getting swept away by the river in the dark due to a misstep. Food had been made, and Wild introduced the Group to pizza, craving it from the morning. It had been a hit for Wind, and Sky and Four enjoyed it as well, while 'Pretty Boy' hated getting the mess on his tunic. He assumed they were a days travel away from what they assumed to be a fishing village, or maybe lumber producing, as there wasn't good soil or any other resource around for other produce. He also assumed they didn't have a big inn to stay at, so even the small group of five would most likely have one pair being doubled up.

Shaking his head, trying to ignore the future, he looked around. He had first watch, and second watch, taken by Four was coming up, where he would sneak away for a little while. Anxious, and wanting to explore the nearby forest, he decided to wake him early, knowing Four wouldn't likely mind. Much. He walked up to the sleeping body, who was curled in a ball like form. His fingers twitched slightly. "Hey, Four, Four," Wild mused, which lulled Four into moaning. 

"Wha' 'ime is ih'?" He slurred sloppily, a yawn forming on his lips. He stretched his arms, squeaking softly as he did so. 

"Mind taking the rest of my watch? I just wanna head out to the woods, to practice fighting skills, that's all." Wild explained, and Four shook his head drearily. 

"Better have not left me half of your watch," Four said, clarity forming in his eyes. Wild smiled and gave him a thumbs up, before trotting off into the woods. 

...

Wild, Sage Stone in hand, could feel the lifeforms souls around him when he focused. It was an odd sensation, knowing where mainly every breathing thing is around you. He wished he had inherited Mineru's ability when she was Spirit Sage; being able to leave his body behind, for some time at least to preserve his spirit. Unfortunately for him, he was struggling to do anything but be able to tell where the closest squirrel was. Annoyed that he most likely couldn't find someone to teach him how to save his spirit from the afterlife when his body decided to decline, he used Ultrahand to pick up a stone and throw it at the nearest tree, shaking it, sending birds crying as they flew away. He found another rock to sit down on. 

"Why'd you have to curse me with this thing, Mineru?" He observed the stone in his hand, looking at the pattern that was on it, how it was shaped like a tear. "Because fuck you. This," He dropped the stone, pointing at it, "This is fucked up. I mean, taunting me with your ability I can't seem to learn?! That's messed up!" He stood up, slowly letting his speech turn into silent shouting, before he sat down again. "Maybe i'm not thinking straight because of this 'new' adventure. Maybe you thought it would help, but it doesn't." He paused, looking at the stone that was still on the woodland floor. He sighed. "Oh, what's yelling going to do to the sky? You’re probably stuck in the Purah Pad, up above the clouds.” He picked up the stone. Four was going to get curious sometime soon, so might as well head back to camp.

***

Today, unlike yesterday, was uneventful. We found what we assume to be a village, as there was a smoke trail fogging up the skies, but, hey, I'll let you know tomorrow. I heard that some more abilities of my brothers were revealed, like Time being able to use one of his masks to turn into a Zora, or Wind being able to talk to spirits. Also, Legend can transform into a rabbit through the Shadow Crystal, which honest to the golden goddesses is absolutely what made my day. I may have heard Wolfie howling today, but I don't know. 

I tried to work on sage stuff in the woods, but its the same as before. I can only feel where the spirits are, unfortunately. I don't think anyone else in the group is a Sage so I can't exactly ask them, but whatever. I've also had one of those nightmares again, but that's not a surprise. Thinking about it, I totally forgot to mention the sky islands in our era to Sky, which would have totally made his day. Sorry that these paragraphs are so short; I'm trying to recall what I've done today, which again wasn’t much.

He paused, and he could feel Fours soft gaze on him. In its own separate line, he wrote in a harsher graphite: 

Feed Warriors Goron spice

Bored,

Hero of the Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

A rotting stench folded his nose, making him recoil in resentment. He was in a murky swamp, and the mud was starting to sneak into his legs and hands; he realized he was sitting. Wanting to get up, he carefully rolled over until he was on his knees, the muck that was swallowing him continued to do so. When he pushed his knees upwards, they just sand, sank, sank until he was down to his hips in the mud.

”Help!” He tried to cry, his voice hoarse. “Someone!” His body sank further. He heard the snap of a twig and he looked over hopefully. His stomach flipped as he saw a rotting corpse, the mummy that had haunted his dreams for a year. He screamed, and struggled against the mud harder. He sank faster then, too. The mummy smiled, a dry laugh lurking in its throat as it faded away into gloom. He looked around, uncertain, before he tried to get his legs out. His stomach was completely entrapped in it, though, so he started to dig away with his hands. He felt something cold run its finger or hand along his back, so he turned to his right. He was met with a jump scare of the corpse, rotting flesh peeling away from its face as it gave way to an unattractive and unnatural grin that evoked into laughter.

"You seem to need help. I insist,"  it said, reaching out with gloom. He struggled harder, his flight sense kicking in at full power.

… 

“NO! No no…” he jumped up from his sleeping mat, and Sky looked over from his watch with mild concern.

”Bad dream?” He sympathized, and Wild shook his head numbly. Sky, the soft soul he is, patted the ground next to him by the dim fire. Wild hesitated, but with Sky’s soft smile directed at him, he knew he didn’t want to disappoint. So he undid his blanket and cracked his knee sockets as he got up, sitting by Sky’s side. The Chosen wrapped his Sailcloth on Wilds shoulders. “I get it. Really, I mean, my whole adventure started with nightmares.” Wild looked at the fire.

”I’ve had it going on for a year, you know.” Wild was still looking at the ground as he said so. He felt Sky’s eyes looking at his downcast head. “I don’t need-“

”Oh, shut up and let me pamper you,” Sky snapped suddenly, and Wild couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Awkwardly, he popped his knuckles. 

“Want something specific to eat for breakfast or something?” Wild asked, trying to break the silence. Sky made a “hmm” sound, rubbing his chin.

”Well… maybe some porridge, or something soft.” Sky said, finally, nodding his head. Wild smiled. He started to get up, and calmly started to hum a tune as he got the fire going stronger. Sky watched intently, but not in a starving "I want that food" kind of way, just fondly and calmly. "You know," Sky said, from his place on the ground as Wild started to scavenge around his pouch for a measly bag of rice. "You sound like you would be good at singing; like, your nice deep voice n' stuff. It has gotten deeper." Wild smiled at Sky's words.

"You may not believe this, but you aren't the first person to tell me that." Wild looked back at Sky, who seemed interested enough. 

"Oh? Who?" He intrigued, and Wild turned back to the pot, grabbing a tin of water out of Warriors pack and pouring it into his portable cooking pot. 

"Someone apart of a band; call themselves the Stable Trotters, or, used to, before I helped with their business and all, in which they renamed the band 'Stable Hero's'." Wild looked to the rapidly brightening sky. "His name is Beetz, he mans the drums." Wild turned back to the pot, and poured the rice in the somewhat boiling water. "I took some lessons from them, actually, and sometimes I sing with em'." He heard the shuffling of blankets and groans of awakening, followed by a yawn.

"Oh. That's cool. You oughta' teach Wind a thing or two sometimes; his sea shanties can break my eardrums by how squeaky they are."

"I can hear you people, you know." Wind came out of the makeshift pile of sleeping mats and blankets where everyone gathered and slept in a sleeping pile to fend off cold nights. Sky chuckled softly.

"I think he is just finally growing mature; his voice is changing." Wild responded, ignoring Wind's comment like he wasn't there, and Sky laughed while Wind scoffed and sat down next to the Skyloftian. 

"Rude," Wind mumbled.

...

After breakfast, Warriors wanted to get moving soon. Though, before moving, half of the group needed to relieve themselves in the woods before hand. Wind and Wild remained in the old campsite, not straying far from the now dead campfire, looking for materials to eat. Wild completely forgot that he didn't have his unlimited supply like in his Purah Pad or Sheikah Slate, and he also forgot how much it took to fed five people, let alone nine.

"Hey, Wild, is this one edible?" Wind said, and Wild scurried over to where he was pointing.

"You've already pointed this one out, and no, it'll give you a bad stomach ache." Wind groaned, annoyed, before flopping on his back and staring at the sky. Wild snorted, before going back to looking in the bushes.

"Woah! What is that?!" Wild ignored. He heard bushes shaking from behind him, and assumed someone returned from the woods. "Sky, look! What is that thing? It looks like a worm."

"I think that's a dragon, Sailor. Don't you have a telescope? Pull it out quickly, and maybe I can identify it." At Sky's words, Wild heard Wind run off, likely to his bag. Wild, eyes still trained on the ground, found a patch of Hylian Mushrooms. He pulled out a pocket knife, cutting at the soft stems.

"Here! Be careful!" Wind chimed as Wild got back to the two's vicinity, putting the mushrooms in his own empty pack. He looked over to the pair to see Sky, telescope to the clouds.

"I don't know that one. Sure is beautiful, though. Hey, Wild!" Sky chimed to the Champion, who left his bag on a nearby rock and turned to the Skyloftian. "You have some dragons in your era, right? Mind helping us identify this one?" Wild nodded, and trotted over. Wind squinted to the sky, and Sky handed Wild the telescope. 

"I, uh, can't see it." Wild said, trying to move the telescope around, but it was moving too fast for him. 

"Here, lemme help." Wind responded, taking the telescope from Wild's hands and peered into its lens with his tongue out. He grinned, and Wild assumed he found what he was looking for. "Here, I'll hold it. These things can be finicky." Wild gave Wind a thumbs up, before kneeling onto the ground to get at Wind's previous level to look into the scope, one eye closed.

His heart basically stopped, yet he could also feel it thumping in his throat as he stared at the lens. The dragon moved gracefully across the sky, white and gold scales glimmering. Her blue spikes were still visible in the early day, and her golden mane was extraordinarily wonderful in the sunlight. Her face, with the aurora pouring off what he knew was the sword, the one he failed-

"Hey, you wanna take it-?"

"No," he spat back sourly, and Wind jumped back. He blinked, and Wild shook his head, and got off the grass, standing on both feet again. "Sorry- really. You keep it, though."

"What was that about?" Sky asked, concern still glinting in his eyes. Wind, wasting no time in Wilds words, went back to finding the dragon in the skies. The lost soul, wandering mindlessly for her lover to reclaim that sword. Zelda, "sleeping" years on end to mend some idiotic mistake they made when they had gotten too curious. Sure, that mistake was leading to his oncoming death, which he knew would just creep up on him someday, but he still felt awful, worse even, for all the time she had wasted repairing that sword for him- "Wild?" Sky cut off his string of thoughts again. Focus at whats on hand. She's fine back at home and you know it, his mind demanded.

"Sorry. I know the dragon, yeah." He paused, wondering what name to settle on. "She's the Light Dragon. I loved looking at the skies from upon her back, so I know her quite well." Not the complete truth, he did know her well (he didn’t mean by studying her draconic form) and liked the views he got on top of her when he was alone on his second journey, but those hours he spent on her were reserved for weeping at what a failure he is. 

"Quite the stoic name." Someone said from behind Wild, and he jumped. 

"I swear to Hylia, how do you sneak up on me so much?" Wild glared at Warriors, who grinned shrugging.

"Four's down by the river already, sight seers, come on. We got a town to get to today." Wild nodded numbly as the rest of the chain cheered and walked away from the clearing. Wild cast one more look at Zelda, and oh, did he wish do be with her at that moment, before walking back to his brothers.

...

Wild, despite trying to keep his mind off the dragon, kept looking in her direction silently. Four got the idea that Wild wasn't really there mentally, and pulled him out of his trance when it was needed, like when the group went around asking questions or when there was a obstacle like a rock in his way that he could trip on. Wild was thankful that Four wanted to walk with him, being the most silent. He also assumed that Sky got the hint he was trying to battle off thoughts, as he was in front of him and Four. Warriors and Wind led the front. They were close to the village now, or closer. Likely an hour or two away, or at least that's what Wild thought the last time he checked. He was too busy looking at the Light Dragon's abnormal pattern of a circle, and sometimes she would cry out. What a somber sound. 

Stay out of this mindset, dumb-ass, he hissed at himself. He closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. 

"When I can't focus, I try to hyper-focus on something else, something that's easy too." Four said, suddenly, quietly to Wild, in which his head snapped down to the tiny man. His eyes were trained on the forest floor. He was to Wild's right. "Like, for example, something easy right now would be Wind, with all that noise he makes." Wild, desperate to escape his somber imagination, tried Fours technique. Wind was talking about his little sister and his grandmother, loudly, may he add. 

"Thanks," He mumbled back to Four who responded with a slight hum. The group kept walking.

And walking. 

Warriors paused the group, therefore everyone came to a halt. They were near the pebbly shore of the river now, to Wilds left, and they could see a wooden bridge up ahead (still some ways ahead, but it was visible). 

"Were almost there, if you couldn't tell. Keep your guard up, we don't know the villagers demeanor." Warriors murmured to the group, his back turned to the bridge. "May as well see what we can stock up on, or prepare for, before we head into the town." Warriors said, and Wild listened somewhat, still focused on Wind who's attention was caught on something on the bank of the river. He was on one oddly wet large rock, peeking down into the water. That looked to be the most shallow part for a while. "Four, Sky, take Wild to go out and scavenge..." Wild no longer payed attention, as Wind slipped, a small yelp escaping his lips as his back hit the water, which willingly pulled him in. 

"WIND!" Wild screamed dropping his things, then running from the group who turned, alarmed, to look for the sailor around their surroundings, stunned at the sudden call. Wild ran along the pebbly shore of the bank, looking desperately to see something of the sailor. 

Suddenly, Winds blonde hair bobbed at the surface before surging back underwater once more, and Wild wasted no time jumping into the water. Goddesses, it was cold; Maybe some sort of mountain runoff, his mind supplied him. He quietly thanked Sidon and Yona for their short swimming lessons, and even with extra knowledge on how to hold his breath or to swim faster, he was a long shot away at an expert at swimming. He heard the others shouts as they ran along the bank, but the current was faster. Wild, not seeing the youngest hero, decided to conduct his search from below the water. 

Water stung his eyes, but he kept them open. His vision was blurry and murky, but he caught sight of a squirming light blue body ahead of him. He dived down deeper to grab a hold of the body, dragging it's small cold hand to his chest before he grabbed the small frame's shoulders, and then he swam up. 

Wind and his own gasps were delighting, but now they needed to get to land before they might get hypothermia; it was not likely, but, hey he'd rather be safe than sorry. The closest bank was to his left, which was on the opposite side than the rest of the chain, but Wild didn't care. he swam harshly against his wet fabric and Wind who was clinging onto him. Once he got to the bank, he trudged through it with a grunt as water flowed from Wind and his own clothing. Wind, once out of the water, fell onto his knees and started to cough up water. Wild knew he had to be tired, but still checked him over, only seeing a few cuts and scraped that needed no real medical attention. Wind panted.

"You oughta' take your clothes off, sailor," he panted, which somewhat surprised him. He studied his own body, realizing he was panting, rather hard, actually, and his heart was pumping fast. Like mentioned, he was not the worlds best swimmer. Wind didn't still move, though. "Just take of the damn shirt, its too cold." Wind looked up at Wild, exhaustion in his pale face, before slowly obeying. 

"You too, then," Wind mumbled lazily, and Wild froze. 

Of course, using too much magic could result in a permanent mark. Like Twilight or Time's markings. Wild had his own newfound ones, too. It started as a black band nearby the top of his upper right arm, before it mimicked what, or where, Rauru's previous arms markings had been. 

Wind looked at Wild expectantly, before he too stripped off his shirt. He saw as Wind's eyes immediately tracked his new scarring, plus his markings. 

"Nice tattoo." Wind replied, eyes blank.

"Thanks." Wild didn't mean it, but he didn't want to get involved with how it wasn't a tattoo, but a magical marking, which just screamed "my second adventure". He was sure the encounter with the Light dragon already proved he had yet more trauma. Speaking of the dragon, he looked up to the sky to search for her. Still in her most recent pattern. She let out a lost call, her melodic voice carried above the clouds.

"HEY! YOU TWO ALRIGHT?!" Warriors screamed from across the bank. 

"YEAH! SHOULD BE FOR NOW!" Wild yelled back, and Four and Sky ran into his field of view. Sky sat down on a nearby rock, his chest working hard to provide him with oxygen. Warriors turned to talk with Four, and after a minute, they both nodded their heads.

"THE BRIDGE IS JUST UP AHEAD! WE’LL REUNITE THERE!" Wild gave a thumbs up, before getting Wind to his feet, and pushing him to the treeline for some more cover. He looked back to the bank to see the others were moving.

"Come on, Wind, we’re almost there. They'll probably have a bed or something," Wild said to Wind, who wasn't shaking or anything (thankfully), he just seemed dreary. Wind nodded his head sluggishly, before stumbling behind Wild. Wild grimaced as he broke a stick when he fumbled about, hoping that they didn't encounter anything. 

...

"Goddesses, Wind, what was so interesting you just had to take a dive in the river?!" Warriors scolded once they had gotten to the wooden bridge on the outskirts of the town. They made it with no major accidents other that Winds previous dip into the river, so that was good. Wild felt somewhat self conscious about his new flesh and magical scar on his right arm, knowing it was visible. Four and Sky's eyes looked it up and down; the captain was too engulfed with Wind to care less.

"You guys do... uh... have my stuff, right?" Wild asked, and Sky blinked. 

"Yeah! Yeah, hold on, sorry, its just that's an, ahem, unique pattern... tattoo... on your right arm?" Sky squeaked, grabbing Wild's sack of items. He snatched it quickly, a scowl on his face.

"Trust me, I'm the last person who wants it," He spat back. Looking through his belongings, he found a simple hylian tunic from his own era and threw it on. It was somewhat small on him, more or less snug, but it was better than his soaking tunic that would defiantly get him sick with something. "Come on, a little someone needs rest from trying to drown themselves." Wind shot him a scowl. He perked up some after the walk, but he still probably needed rest. Sky chuckled and nodded, and Four smirked. Warriors shuffled Wind along, and the group was moving again. 

The town entrance was an arch made of dark pine, with a dusty path leading into the heavily forested town. Wild assumed this village made profit off of lumber, mainly because the houses were made of delicate designs made from the local tree species, and also because of the river, which would be helpful in transporting logs. The villagers gave them odd looks, but they continued on with their day. Suddenly, a man came up to them.

"Hello, travelers! What brings you to our humble little place that should be off the maps!" He said, the ending of his speech being gritted through his teeth. He gave a glare to a small nerdy-looking civilian sitting in a tree, and they squirmed away from the look. 

"Ah- were uhm- we got separated from our group, and were wandering, just to see if we could find a rendezvous place to meet them again, nothing more." Warriors said, clearing his throat at the end. "We don't have any maps." 

The mans glare softened at the young man. "Sorry; little Areman over there makes the headlines in Castle Town sometimes by how idiotic he can be.” The man laughed off, and Warriors awkwardly joined in. 

“Yeah, I know what that can be like,” he gaze to Wind, who scowled. 

“Have you met Wild?” Wind said in with an eyebrow raised, in which then Wild let out his own playful scoff.

“Hey! I’m not the one who fell into the river over a shiny rock!” He chimed back, and Wind pouted slightly a Warriors side. 

“Well… you would get into trouble for something shiny…” Wind mumbled, and Wild snorted. The man laughed at the pair, bringing the groups attention back to him.

”My my, what lively young fellows! Now, what can we do for ya?” The man asked, and Warriors smiled.

”We’d just like directions to the closest inn, please.” Warriors asked in a well mannered tone, and the man led the down the path they were all ready taking. 

“My name is Yopie, by the way. If you have any troubles, continue down this path till’ you see the brightest house on the block; that’s me and my wife’s place.” He said, stopping at one of the larger buildings in the village, and Warriors nodded. Yopie started to walk off.

“Thank you for your help!” Sky shouted, and the man waved at them, not looking. 

"Better get lunch started, eh?" Warriors said, clapping Wild on the back. He raised an eyebrow, also being tired, but shrugged it off. Maybe he'd get a nap after lunch.

...

That nap, did not, in fact, seem to come to him. He was permitted to lay down after he took a few bites off of his sandwich, which was a simple meal in all honesty, but he was drained of energy. It was around an hour past midday, and Warriors, Sky, and Four were all gathering supplies from the citizens. Wild really did try to nap, but his head kept drifting to the window, where the Light Dragon circled endlessly, her bellows becoming more often. He couldn't stand it, knowing she was probably looking for him. So his mind drifted to her over and over again, until a thought snapped in his mind. What if she wants to show me something? He sat up immediately, swinging his legs off the bed, walking to the door. He hoped that his tunic had dried enough on the railing, taking off his current tunic and swapping it for his somewhat moist royal blue one. He attached the buckles and arm guards without much focus, being an already common practice, and headed into town to find someone to tell them where he was going. He spotted Sky and Four bickering over what to buy by a stall.

"We should buy this one, there is more!" Sky exclaimed, a small frown on his lips. Four scowled. 

"Right, but this one is cheaper, and if we buy two it'll be around the same price." Came Four's own argument, and Sky rolled his eyes. 

"Honestly, there is more in this one. You'll be fine if its- oh, hey Wild!" The Skyloftian, originally mumbling softly that turned into pleasure as he saw Wild. The champion hurried to the two figures.

"How was your nap?" Sky asked, and Four took his chance to gather two jars of whatever they had been arguing over and took them to the stall counter. "I wish I could be asleep right now, that sounds nice."

"I, uh, didn't really get sleep, but I did think about that dragon we spotted this morning." Wild mumbled as Four returned with a smart-ass like smirk, and Sky scowled at the tiny hero, before both of there attention turned back to Wild.

"You mean the one that's been following us all day?"

"Uh- sure. I thinks she's trying to get our attention- or, to lead us to something." Wild explained. Sky looked into Wilds face for a moment, before looking like he considered the idea.

"That... somewhat makes sense. Not much we can do about it right now, though, with Wind and all." Sky murmured, and Wild cleared his throat.

"I was... uhm... thinking I'd go out there. Alone." Sky and Four started to protest, but Wild raised a finger, signing for them to wait. They did, but not without furrowed brows. "Look; I trust that dragon with everything I have to offer, and she just; she's got a wider flying pattern, not some small loop around some random woods in the middle of who knows where." Wild explained.

"And how should we trust it, Wild? We know nothing about it." Sky said, emphasizing the "it", which in return made Wild's blood boil, and he clenched his fists to keep himself in check.

"She is someone that I trust more than you, actually. That dragon," Wild said, pointing to the sky, where she was located, "has saved my life multiple times all at the cost of everything." Sky's gaze did not soften but Four's was positioned to the ground.

"I'll go with him, Sky. Its alright; we know where the town is." Four said, handing Sky the jars of whatever he had before. "It doesn't seem to be more than a day's travel there and back; you'll see us again in a jiffy." Sky looked concerned at Four's request, but finally, thankfully, he nodded. 

"I... suppose. Now, get out of here before War's notices." Wild grinned in thanks as he and Four left to the inn to gather supplies.

***

Today was nice, somewhat, to say the least.

I saw the Light Dragon, which hurts knowing that shes in that form because of my idiotic tendencies. I know its much too late to grieve about it now, but I do. I think that she was trying to direct me to someplace, as she kept circling in the same spot over and over. So, Four and I went to follow her. Wind took a swim today; so did I, for that matter, but we made it to a small town, so that he could rest. (I don't know if I have already talked about it; have I?)

Traveling with just Four is nice. We keep up a fast pace. We had to stop early today, though, because of some storm. We found a cave, and I made a fire along with some food, and we’re sleeping there for the night, as the storm isn't breaking yet. That's fine; so be it. 

Four is real easy to get along with, too, by the way. He's so easy going, and smart, its hard not to like him. Not to mention he is quiet.

Some of my brothers also saw my new scars today; magical and physical. I'm wondering how long it will take until someone notices I'm dying. Ah, oh well; it'll come out if I need it too.

I'm just realizing how easy these journal entries can be. No need to over complicate them.

Finally getting some rest, 

Hero of the Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

The light-scaled dragon screamed in pain, its body wiggling and thrashing beneath the jaws of the darker, much, much, larger one. The light dragon bit the darker one in response, and it let go of the other to scream in pain. The Dragon of Light, seeing her escape, flew to the clouds for cover, being absorbed by them. The Dragon of Demons followed, destroying her barrier of clouds. He snarled, and, with a burst of speed caught up to the Light Dragon.

She snarled, and being smaller, escaped his attempts to bring her down. But the Demon Dragon was persistent. He kept snapping and snapping until he no longer shut his jaw, letting it hang in a pant as the smaller dragon flew by in a streak of light. The Light Dragon, having noticed fleeing wasn't an option, started to bite at the larger dragons features, like its hand and claws, its mane, or even its spikes. 

He started to understand her pattern. 

She went for one of his spikes by his lower tail, and he understood that. So, when she gripped the base of his tail with her claws, jaws clamped in a motion that could tear off another one of his spikes, he struck so suddenly she had no time to response. His jaws were wrapped around her tail, and then-

Crack.

The sickening sound was followed by the Light Dragons cry, but the Demon Dragon was not finished yet. He racked his claws into her back, sinking them deep in her flesh as blood streamed from her tail, it bent at an awkward position. She thrashed slightly, trying to wiggle to freedom, but not wanting those claws to sink deeper into her back. The Demon Dragon tried to snap for her mane, but missed, going too slow. The Dragon of Light screamed in agony and surprise, but that cost her. The Demon Dragon snapped his jaws around her mane, her roar being cut off in a sicking gurgle. Another crack filled the air, and the Light Dragon squirmed softly before going limp. The Demon Dragon let go, and the Dragon of Light's body fell through the sky. 

***

Wild's body bolted upright, and shortly after Four's did too. He looked over awkwardly at the sleep driven smith, who glowered at him. "Want. Uh. Breakfast?" Came Wilds question to hopefully uplift the mood. 

"Sure." Four supplied, yawning, stretching. Wild, only having two eggs that were carefully wrapped and a Hylian mushroom, frowned.

"Were gonna have to go foraging at lunch by the looks of it," Wild said, pulling out the two eggs. He set them on the rocky floor, and grabbed flint from his bag to kick up the diminished bundle of charred wood in the center of the cave. Four hummed in agreement, looking through his own supplies. 

"Sky left me some apples in here by the looks of it, and I have some of my own food that I brought with me," Four concluded. Wild had set up his cooking pot and the fire was going. He had just cracked the second egg, throwing some of the shells to the side as he crushed up the specific shells he had saved into basically dust, before it entered the pot. "Is that... uh... healthy?"

"Yeah, if you don't overdo it. It provides extra calcium, my Zelda claims," Four looked somewhat confused still.

"You mean the mineral that helps provide stronger bones..?"

"Yup," Wild said, grabbing the ladle that Sky had given him oh-so long ago (he was quite proud he managed to keep it around for five years), and started to mix the contents in the pot. "It can't be bad to have an extra supplement when your making your own meals; never know when you'll get it again."

...

Four and Wild set out shortly after their plain breakfast, joking and kicking rocks along the way. Wild once got curious about how Four split, which, begrudgingly, Four showed him. He got to know each of the emotions better, before Blue had enough and they reverted back to Four. Wild found their bickering to be fun, even if he had to join in on them at some points. They reversed back to casual conversation, and how Wilds life was going much to his displeasure.

”So… have a someone special back home?” Four asked, likely out of questions to otherwise ask that would be harmful like, ‘gee, what was your most recent adventure like?’. Wild looked to the sky.

”Mm… yeah, sure. We’ve been living together for the past five years,” Wild smiled at the clouds softly, yet he felt a sharp pain in his gut. Will you see her again?, his thoughts tortured. Keep that promise, his thoughts counteracted on itself.

”Damn! They must be one crazy person to stick with you for that long,” Four laughed, and Wild responded with his own.

”Oh, what great care and love for someone can do to them.” Wild said, shaking his head with a slightly somber smile. 

“Yeah,” Four responded with his own matching smile and drifting eyes. They walked in silence, out of speech for the moment. 

Wolf-song sounded in the distance. This time, it was recognizable to Wild. And it was close.

Four could see the smile on Wild's lips, and he smiled along with him. "Do you think that the dragon led us to them?" Four asked, and Wild wondered for a moment, watching Four's legs walk. 

"Probably." Wild agreed, nodding his head. He saw Four looking at his face. 

"That's one smart dragon," Four commented, looking back to the road.

"Yeah," Wild smiled. "Always has been."

...

Wild just finished one of his signature whistles, trying to get Twilight's attention. It didn't seem to be working too well, but it was better than nothing. Maybe he thinks its a trap, thinking I'm out of the picture for good, Wild's mind grumbled, his legs somewhat aching from the walk. Four and him had split up, but they were still in distance so that they could hear each other. They were in a more heavily forested area, with bushes around almost what seemed like every corner. 

Suddenly, Wilds right arm throbbed so harshly he stopped with a hiss, grabbing it. He heard a twig snap. Four must have heard him. It throbbed again. He unrolled his sleeve, and when his arm actually convulsed with the pain he could practically feel a bead of sweat drip off of his forehead in fear. Is this what it does when it pumps extra gloom through my veins? What if I'm dying sooner than expected? That has to be whats happening right? Whats happening to my arm?! What if-

"Wild! You alright?" Four came through a set of bushes, throwing Wild off so harshly that he spun on the tiny frame, as if he were going to attack. Four lifted his arms up in retreat. His arm throbbed again, but much more aggressively, and he let out a sharp yelp of pain, his knees hitting the ground. Four was by him in an instant. "Wild?"

"I'll be fine, just my scarring pulling on my arm weirdly," he mumbled through gritted teeth, covering his arm with his sleeve once again. Four sympathized with his eyebrows, as they scrunched together.

"Do you need a bre-" 

A sharp scream cut Four off, and their heads swiveled to the direction it came from. Angered shouts followed. Wild got up, and followed Four to the angered yells and sharp clashing of metal against metal, a sharp snarl, another lower and angered scream- 

He caught a glance of the horrific sight and paused. It took place in a clearing, with Hyrule on the ground shaking and dizzy by the looks of it, with a battle-weary Legend protecting him. Blood flowed in what looked like a stream out of his nose as he scrunched it up, clearly angered at his enemy. His enraged eyes stuck out against his oddly pale skin. An obvious sign of gloom infection. That lead Wild to look at his other main sight. 

His heart sunk, his insides rolling so harshly he thought he was going to lose breakfast. 

Hands, five to be exact, stuck out of the ground, shrieking at the pair with its glowing yellow eyes as Wilds surroundings started to be bathed in a blood moons light. Its skin swirled in reddish-black mixtures as they convulsed in what looked like an odd heartbeat pattern as it taunted Legend. 

Gloom Hands.

Four, to Wilds relief, had run up to help Legend almost immediately. Wild had no intent to just sit there, even if his arm was throbbing harsher than ever, and let his brothers struggle against a taunt meant for him.

So he whistled.

Its eyes snapped to him with intensity, catching his gaze, before screaming in delight and rushing him. Wild turned around and booked it through the woods. Branches of bushes snapped against his fast form, scrapes surely spawning on his forearms. RUN. GET TO SOMEWHERE HIGH. His mind screamed over and over, natural instincts taking over. 

He was too slow. 

It grabbed his leg, clawing him with its over-grown nails as it stole his life from him temporarily. Wild let out a cry of defiance, struggling until the monstrosity let go. He flew to the ground rather harshly, and it took him a moment to regain his bearings. Just in time, he flew from out of his daze and onto his feet as one of the hands came flying down to the spot he was just at, swatting at the ground. His arm was pounding so fiercely now, probably matching his heart. He grabbed his bow, and newfound anger pulsed through him, shaking off any of the pain he currently had. He had to kill this thing. That was his job.

His satchel, at the bottom, carried some bomb flowers, gibdo bones, an ancient blade, etc., he had smuggled past Purah. It was coming of good use now. He decided to fuse a ruby to the tip of his arrow, pulling back the strings of the Savage Lynel Bow, and watched as it hit one of the Hands in the eye as it screeched, fusing back into the ground. Two more followed its action. Might be weaker in their non-native era, Wild's mind muttered as he pulled back on his strings again, releasing a flurry of keese eyes. The hands screamed again, retreating to the ground. They were all gone for the moment.

Wild paused for a moment, but the blood moon soaked surroundings did not fade. He swapped his bow for a sword and shield. He stood his ground with growing rage. He could practically see its spirit forming into the corpse of the man he had once slaughtered. The man he he spent a whole year of his life wasted away to slaughter it. But that was nothing compared to the time Zelda had spent in her own prison. A primal scream escaped his throat as he rushed the puppet of Ganondorf, and it took it. Then it swung. But Wild was expecting that. His previous attack had meant to be a taunt to get it to attack him back, working quite well in his case. He dodged it as it tried to swing for his legs with a back flip, and the world started to slow for him. His sword, even in midair, was loyally to his side. 

Then he swung. 

And swung.

His strikes were rapid, as he was used to the common move, anger and energy being released with every swipe of his sword at this beast. The flurry rush ended all too soon in his opinion, and he raised his shield as time regained its normal pace. The puppet struck his shield with its blade, and the force sent Wild back with a grunt. He kept his stance, though, and did not wait around for Ganon's puppet to change its weapon to a club. Its hands sunk to the ground with a grunt as the heavier weapon replaced the smaller sword in a plume of gloom. As soon as the phantom was up, Wild swung his sword through its midsection, making it stagger. Gloom seeped from the wound, but it resealed with small tendrils solidifying around each other. The puppet reared back from its original posture on the ground, the giant spiked club behind its head as it swung. Wild, quickly, pulled out his shield and parried the blow in time, sending the phantom rearing to the left. Wild swung one of his legs at one of the puppet's, sending it to the spongy forest floor, before regaining his stance, jumping and stabbing his sword through its stomach. It shrieked and squirmed and screamed as it started to fall silent, disappearing into the ground and then into purple plumbs of smoke. The forest was no longer in the moonlight of the bleeding moon Wild was all too used to.

The throbbing in his arm stopped.

Wild panted, trying, but failing to yank his sword from out of the ground. Retreating for a moment, he looked at what the beast had dropped. Three things of dark clumps, and a Demon King's Bow. He bent over, picking up the dirt-like substances, putting them in his travel bag, before carefully handling the bow. He slung it across his back, retiring the Savage Lynel Bow to the pack also. He could feel the weak gloom infection leaving him in the sunlight, and sweat coating his frame, he turned back to the sword. 

He yanked it out successfully, though he could tell it was worse-for-wear. He sheathed it, and remembered the others. They would have chased after me if they could've! He immediately bolted through the woods to where he thought he came from. He changed directions when he heard an angry snarl, more Hylian than wolf-like, glad he ran in somewhat of the same vicinity. 

He decided to stay in the treeline, being almost useless when it came to his sword. He could see that Hyrule was off the battlefield, and Wild had second thoughts about going to look for him. With the giant Gloom Hands out of the way, Wild could see Twilight and Time back to back, facing off the mob Wild also couldn't spot before. Legend and Four were also back to back, facing off the same mob. 

Wild went looking around the treeline, careful to step lightly. He heard slight coughing somewhere to the left of him, so that was the direction he was heading. He could see the healer through the thick trees, struggling against the gloom infection, his body trying to remove the gloom by hacking it up apparently. 

"Rulie?" He hissed quietly through the trees. Hyrule's head did not perk up, and he kept his rhythmic coughing. "Rule'?" No response. With a salty grumble at having to be louder than he needed to be, he cracked a twig aggressively beneath his feet. Hyrule's head shot up immediately. He made his way through the trees, and Hyrule's muscles only relaxed when he got close.

"Wild? Is that you?" Hyrule's squinted playfully as he gripped his right shoulder, a slash across his cheek that was still bleeding slightly, which stuck out against the paleness of his face. 

"Uh... no. How could you misidentify me." Wild scoffed back, rolling his eyes in the same playful manner. Hyrule giggled, followed by a bought of coughs. Wild took off his bag and began searching for the dark clumps, or more preferably sundelions, to help the healer. Wild let out a heavily relieved sigh to realize someone conveniently left a squished sundelion at the bottom of his bag.

"Do you have any leftover food?" Wild asked, setting the flower to the side. He dug out another ruby, setting it beside the flower as he cast his bag away. He took up his almost broken sword and swung it at the shortest, nearest tree, then again and again, until it started to tumble, in which he attempted to grab it and carefully set it on the ground without much noise. He then struck at the top, cutting it into logs. 

"Uh... don't think so..." Hyrule said, shifting with a hiss to look at his own bag. Wild sighed, finally leaving the rest of the tree alone before creating a makeshift, really crappy, campfire that he knew would draw attention plus not last long with the wood not having time to dry out. He went back to his bag, taking out the Hylian mushroom, and his portable pot. He set it over the not going campfire, throwing the sundelion and Hylian Mushroom into it before throwing the ruby to the ground, starting a fire. Hyrule let out a "ooh" noise as it sparked up. He then started to cough once more, some blood dribbling down his lip as it became more aggressive. Wild fished around his bag for water, talking as he did so.

"Want to add anything to the worlds blandest meal?" 

"I have... oh! I have a fish Twi caught the other day in some lake we passed." Wild found his canister of water.

"Give."

"But... its not dinner yet..." Wild gave Hyrule his canister of water with a small glare. 

"Ruile, come on. I know, trust me. This is more important than lunch."

"But-"

"Rule'." Hyrule begrudgingly gave Wild the fish, who made lazy and quick work of the small trout. "That better hurry," Wild growled, not liking the smoke trail they were leaving.

"I can eat it mostly raw," Hyrule spoke up, and Wild looked over to glare at him. Hyrule coughed. "I've eaten worse." He said with a sigh, and Wild grumbled a growl before he put out the fire with the somewhat done fish, mushrooms, and sundelions. 

"Eat up; save some for Legend." Wild gave Hyrule the mess in the pot of mixed greens and the fish. "Eat some of everything." Hyrule gave him a skeptical look when he poked at the parts of the sundelion stem, but followed his instructions. 

"What is that?! Goddesses, I feel better already!"

...

When Hyrule felt better enough to move, they kept at a steady pace, the sundelion doing its job ever-so-slowly. They found a good spot in the treeline to shoot at the remaining monsters, and the conflict started to die down. Wild was doing most of the shooting, Hyrule's arm still somewhat bothering him, but nothing too noteworthy happened. 

Legend fell to the ground in a panting laugh once the whole thing was done, and Four and Twilight were short to follow. Hyrule ran after them, and Wild was some ways behind him. Four sat up, laughing as Hyrule came over, who was taunting Legend about being overprotective, in which he denied with a red face. Four then started to look around, and then his gaze landed on Wild, and he smiled, getting up to walk over to him. "What the hell was that, dude? That thing was like determined to catch you!" Four smiled, clearly not as hurt as his words claimed to be. Wild smiled shaking his head. 

"Yeah, they were created to taunt me, so I'm their most wanted target, unfortunately." Four's eyebrows scrunched together in sympathy. "And it works quite well," Wild growled under his breath, shooting the ground to the right of him with a sour glare, and he was sure Four picked up on it, but chose to ignore it. 

"That's new, right?" Four asked, trying to change conversations, by looking at his new bow. 

"Oh, yeah." He unsheathed it, and handed it to Four so that he could get a better look. 

"Almost feels... malicious..." Four mumbled, brushing his right hand over its frame. Wild laughed.

"You don't get a name like 'The Demon King's Bow' for nothing." Fours gaze snapped up to Wild, blinking rapidly.

"That's its name?" Four asked, in awe. 

"Yeah. Though, I'd count it to be more of a title." Wild chimed back.

"Do these just get handed out to everyone?" Four asked him again, and Wild laughed.

"Nah, you gotta defeat the Gloom Hands for em'." Wild responded.

"That's what those things are called?" A new, much deeper voice spoke up. Four and Wilds heads snapped over to him, and Wilds face broke out into a smile that was countered with the Old Mans soft one. 

"Time!" Wild exclaimed with a grin, and Time pulled Wild into a hug. "Don't strangle me!" Time let go with a hearty laugh. 

"What happened? All we knew is that you left your Slate and wandered off..." Time said, his jolly mood evolving into something darker. 

"The Slate! Oh, I forgot all about that thing!" Wild burst out, and Four started to giggle a little. Time smiled again, patting Wild on the shoulder. "Purah was about to strangle me when she found out I'd left it somewhere..." Time laughed again, and Four followed in suite.

"Serves you right," came a snap from the right of Time, and Wild smiled at the Vet, and Hyrule who was beside him with a smile for that matter, who looked very unimpressed. He was doing a good job at hiding his excitement, but Wild could see the small smile on his lips beneath his furrowed brows. Wild pulled him into a hug. 

"Good to see you to-" He said, pulling away, only to get tackled by who he assumed Twilight. "For the love of the Goddess, I kind of like my bones!" Twilight pulled away with a wet laugh that followed everyone else, and Wild blinked at the size comparison. Wild was as tall as the rancher. Clearly he noticed this too.

"Goddesses be damned, ya' got tall!" Twilight pulled at his left arm, which he obliged. "AND muscular?! What in the world happened, Cub?" Twilight laughed, rubbing his knuckles through Wild's hair. Wild laughed, lifting Twilight's hand from his head.

"Five years worth of crap, unfortunately." He looked at Twilight's gaping jaw, and laughed. He was in for a long conversation. 

...

"Ugh, I used up all that food to help Hyrule... does anyone have anything?" Wild played at their camps fire with a stick, wanting to make a meal, but having no ingredients was an issue.

"I think Ruile has a fish,"

"Had."

"Time, got anymore apples, then?"

"Nah."

"Uh oh." 

"Oh! Oh! Wait- never mind." Wild leaned onto his back, stomach promptly growling. 

"Did ya' have anythin' in the Slate?" Twilight asked, from the treeline, coming back into camp with a bundle of meat he likely hunted. 

"Why? Do any of you have it?" Wild asked, sitting upright. Twilight handed Wild the meat, and he wandered to his satchel, digging around in it before making an "aha!" noise. He came back to Wild, and Wild looked at him expectantly. He handed him the Slate.

It was dirty, and needed a proper cleaning, knowing how Wild rarely cleaned it before, but it brought back so many memories. He took it gently, like it was a fragile piece of glass, running his fingers along the side, before tapping on the screen. The Sheikah emblem showed up with a familiar twinkle, and he grinned. He was on his weapon page, and he flipped through to the food when-

He passed by the clothing section rather hastily, but he caught sight of what he thought was his archaic tunic, so he flipped back. Lo and behold, the whole set was there. He tapped on the tunic, and it spawned in front of him. He gave a reckless grin to Twilight. 

"Uh oh."

"It has all of my new stuff in it, too."

"I can't tell if that's a good thin'."

***

Four and I found the other half of the chain!

I really should be saying the Light Dragon, or Zelda, because I don't feel like I should refer to her in that way; the other dragons of my, (our?) era all have names, and she does too, found them and was trying to get our attention to find them. Four and I found them in the middle of an ambush, and they were getting attacked by Gloom Hands, and they looked to be doing terribly against it, so I took over. I think I was just fueled by plain rage when that happened, and I'm still going over if that was the best choice; to not fight to stay level-headed, I mean.

Legend apparently did not take my disappearance well, he's sticking by my side like a dog. Same for Twilight, but that's expected of him.

Also, Twilight had the slate this whole time, so HAHAH told you so Purah. All my new items are also included within the slate, at least the clothing items. My Zonai ruins didn't transfer over unfortunately. 

(I only found out that Twilight had the Slate when I was making dinner with no ingredients, having used them up to help Hyrule with some gloom poisoning.)

To get to the more... interesting news, to say the least, my arm can apparently throbs like there is no tomorrow when the Gloom Hands are nearby. Great.

Probably way to giddy to fall asleep early tonight,

The Hero of Wilds and Tears. 

Chapter Text

It was a moonless night. He let his feet carry him across the unlit meadow, grass swaying softly at his feet. He would pause. My dreams aren’t normally like this, his mind murmured.

Then the sky turned red.

A sharp hiss sizzled behind him, and he whipped around. A single, skinny framed gloom hand, its yellow eye watching him tauntingly. He froze.

Then he broke out into a run. His chest heaved with more effort than it should have. His mind screamed for him to find somewhere high to climb to, to wait out this lonely, single gloom hand. 

But he found nothing but tall grass that got deeper and deeper until he tripped. 

A shriek escaped his lips in a retort, but it was no use. He sat up immediately. The gloom hand was gone. His heart rate slowed a little as he got up tentatively, wary. Then something sharp, something stinging pulled him to the ground again, this time his chest was facing the stars. The mummy that had already haunted so many of his dreams laughed over him, and something wet fell on his face. 

That was odd. 

The mummy pressed down on his chest with its dry, withering foot, stomping harder each min-

What was making his face so wet?

He screamed as his rib cage snapped, and the mummy laughed. A wheeze escaped his own throat. But then the mummy tried to speak but it whimpered, like a dog. 

What?

A sharp nip made him jerk. 

...

"...Ow... OW!" Wild growled, pushing at the lump of fluff that stood over him. The wolf wagged it's tail, before it sat down next to him. Wild looked at the stars grumpily, avoiding eye-contact with the canine. It whimpered. "Didn't have to wake me from such a nice dream," He growled back at it. "I can do that myself." The wolf snorted, before it was surrounded by energy that Wild could only assume was Twili-Magic. Then, his mentor sat crouched in front of him, a worried but disapproving glare on his face. 

"You didn't have to wake up everyone from this 'dream', did ya?" He asked. Wild smirked, sitting up. 

"Aw, that's just how I get up now, so you better get used to it."

...

Breakfast was an easy make, just some eggs he found in the slate. He had no idea how much he missed that thing! It didn't carry any of the stuff he previously owned before he left it for six years, unfortunately, but it was just as fine to have most of his items back. Other than his Zonai devices. If he found a way to get those back, the chain was doomed. 

They were currently on the topic of what kept making a weird cry, but Wild knew. It was her. She still hadn't left the party alone. Was she worried? Should he find a way to visit her? Wild was once again trapped in his own mind, wondering how to help his princess...

"Champion, don't walk into that tree-" Someone called to him

"OW-" Too late.

There were two snickers from the front of the group, and he could see Twilight giving Legend and Hyrule a small glare. Four, surprisingly, glared at them too, almost in a protective demeanor. Perhaps it was because they each understood each other better now: they had valuable information about each other. He still knew that Four could split into, well, four, and Four knew something was up with his arm.

”Still stuck in your head?” Four asked Wild, who simply nodded. The tiny hero smiled sympathetically. “We all get that sometimes.” Wild shrugged, feeling bad as Four tried to comfort him. Wild rubbed his forehead, checking for blood, in which he found there was none.

Time stopped to give Wilds forehead his own look over, before looking back to the front of the path with his own way of approval. Twilight came up to Wild and Four, handing Wild a flask of water like that would do anything. Wild appreciated the gesture, at the least. They chit-chatted for a while, mainly about the stupid crap Twilight thought he had seen the chain get into while Wild was gone, like getting stuck in a cave with way to many tunnels, and Hyrule seemed to be the only one totally ok with the whole thing (of course he was).

Suddenly, Time stopped, looking at the sky. 

“Do any of you recognize what that is?” He asked, pointing to something in the sky. Wild was more focused on getting the last bit of water from Twilights flask in a short amount of time, dared by Four. Four looked away from Wild who was inhaling the water, and said,

“oh, that’s just Wilds girlfriend.” Legend snorted, so Hyrule did, too. Wild paused, looking at the sky, rolling his eyes. They, of course, were looking at the Light Dragon who was yet to leave the party alone. Wild went back to drinking the water, to have something else to focus on, slowly.

”Gee. That dragon kinda reminds me of your Zel’, Champ.”

Wild spat out the water harshly, and snapped his gaze onto Twilight, who raised his hands in surrender. Legend, who was in front of Wild, paused, too.

“Thanks… spit that anywhere.” Legend growled, turning on Wild. Wild ignored him.

”Wha’d I do?” Twilight asked, blinking harshly. Four looked at Wild from Twilights side, an awkward frown on his face. Time switched his attention to Wild, too. Actually, everyone’s attention was on Wild.

”Nothing… nothing… just… uh… I was not expecting a response like that…” Wild mumbled, scratching the back of his head. He tried to force his body to regain some control of his even further spiraling thoughts. Legend was still giving him a stink eye, and Wild realized how badly he had gotten in the cross-fire.

His back was soaked in water (he had no idea he spat out so much), and his unhappy frown made Wild cringe. “Sorry, vet,” he mumbled, still scratching the back of his head with his arm. Legend stepped forwards, and snatched Twilights canteen of little water from his other hand.

”I think I’ll be taking this,” the veteran growled, his head held high.

…

The small part of the chain did not get very far after that conversation, some of them still injured from the other day, and Legend complaining the whole way, definitely trying to push Wilds buttons, which made Wild uncomfortable. Thankfully for Wild, though, the Light Dragon decided to descend above the clouds again, though her shadow could still be seen. For the rest of the walk and for the lunch he made with Twilight, he couldn’t stop beating himself up about how he figured out Zelda was a dragon just by looking at her, while I spent days regaining her memory to find out. When lunch was made, he found a small stream to eat alone by, needing the well rounded break.

He made a simple soup; Legend had claimed it was one of his favorite foods a while back. He picked at it plainly, not having much of an appetite. He finnaly set the food aside, and started to fiddle with his Zonai powers that were gifted to him. He focused on one stone and sent it flying into the stream, only to pick it out again, and repeat, not truly entertained, but glad to focus on something else. He liked to listen to the stone plop peacefully into the water only to be ripped out with a sharp splash in contrast. Suddenly, he heard a twig snap, and the stone went flying into a tree. Wild whipped around.

Legend looked at him with amusement, pushing aside a bush as he came to sit by Wild with a smirk. Legend sat down next to him, barely giving Wild time to scoot over.

”Cool magic tricks,” Legend said, picking up his own stone and throwing it into the river. “That some weird sheikah ability?” Wild froze.

”…you saw that..?” He asked tentatively. Legend shrugged. 

“I’ve seen weirder.”

”Huh.”

”So… how’d you do it?”

”Uh…” Wild mumbled, scratching the back of his head once again. He wasn’t expecting to explain much about his second adventure to the chain. He was dreading that he had to explain to them that he was dying, not that he can move things around and glue them together to make different weapons or contraptions. “Well… no, it’s not a Sheikah ability… it’s a magic from a much older race…” Wild began. Legend just nodded along. Wild looked to the sky. “Pretty sure they’re aliens.”

”Really? Why’s that?”

”I mean, old stories about them say they descended from the sky, so…” Wilds eyes drifted back to the stream in front of him. He moved his right arm around, stones floating at a distance, copying its movement. Legend stared in slight awe.

“So… how do you do it?” Legend pried again. Wild shrugged.

”I’ve been able to do it for the past year now… so it’s just natural at this point. Though…” Wild paused, wondering if it was a smart choice to tell the veteran more about it. He already knew, and likely wouldn’t tell anyone if he knew how desperate Wild was to keep it secret, so screw it. “…it’s much weaker now. The magic that is. Likely because I don’t have that arm anymore.” Legend looked at him with slight confusion.

”You just… carried a random arm around with you…?” Legend asked with some concern, an eyebrow raised. Wild snickered.

”Well… uh… no, not like that,” Wild tried to explain, and Legend made a “phew” noise, wiping his forehead in exaggeration. Wild responded by rolling his eyes. “The arm I’m referring to was kind of like a… well, this is awkward… prosthetic..? In a way? My right arm was damaged badly so… it was replaced for like half a year-“ Legend placed a finger up to Wilds mouth to shut him up.

”Hold your horses. You had a prosthetic? Emphasis on had?” Legend asked. Wild shrugged, nodding. 

“It was. Uhm. Someone else’s arm, too.” He added, and Legends jaw fell open. “Yeah, it was originally really weird.” Legend scoffed. Wild looked back to the stream, watching the water. They were silent for a while.

“I’m really glad for the soup today. It was a nice gesture.” Legend finally spoke, and Wild smiled a little bit. If this was the way Legend wanted to apologize to him for snapping, that’s fine.

”I only did it because I spat a whole mouthful of water at you,” Wild said, nudging Legends shoulder. Legend looked to Wild, who was now sitting up. “You know what?”

”Whats up?” Legend asked, following Wilds movements as he stretched.

”I bet I can race you to camp!” Wild abruptly said, streaking into the forest behind where they were originally seated.

”Asshole!” Legend shouted after him, shortly getting up and following him at a trot, as if he was too proper for Wilds game.

…

The party traveled further until they had to stop due to rain and more complaints from the veteran. It was almost dark out anyways, though so it didn’t matter. They stopped at the cave Four and Wild found some time ago. Wild had handed out apples and nuts for snacks, as the hero’s were bored to have their travels cut out short, so no one was too excited for a dinner of roasted fish that Legend and Hyrule (mainly Legend) had helped Wild prepare. Wild lounged in the back, petting Wolfie who slept next to him peacefully. Twilight had middle watch, so he got his sleep in before hand. Wild was skimming through the slate to see what had changed.

He took note that all of his armor from his most recent adventure was there, and that the stuff from his first was not, unless it was things he was able to purchase, such as the Rito set. His Zonai devices (sadly) were not there, and nor were his Zonai batteries. That made logical sense, though. He had donated them after his second adventure. With a sigh, Wild set the slate down. Maybe it was the boredom, or the realization that you may never see your loved ones again, but Wild felt homesick.

Someone chuckled from behind him.

Wilds head whipped back to see Time looking down at him with his one eye, a small smile on his lips.

”Don’t tell me your love sick, too.” Time stated more than asked. Wild groaned.

”It’s not like that…” he argued, and Time rolled his one eye so obviously that someone across the cave snickered. Wild scoffed back. Time patted Wild on the shoulder reassuringly.

”We’ll make sure you see them again,” Time said with a smile, and Wild rolled his eyes.

But oh, did his heart ache at those words. 

Time go up, and initiated to everyone that he was starting first watch, and he walked out of the cave. Twilight lifted his head up with a yawn. Wild focused back to the wolf and started to scratch between its ears.

He should tell Time he can’t make that promise.

He should tell them all that they shouldn’t make any long term promises.

He blinked away the wetness in his eyes, getting up and heading for his bag to journal what occurred during the day. Wolfie stayed in place, snuggling closer to Wild when he returned with the journal and charcoal pencil. 

***

I really need to consider telling someone, Time, specifically, I’m going to die.

He made a promise that’s never going to come true, and I don’t know how to tell him. It would be to random, you know? Just out of the blue, “hey, I’m dying by the way, sorry.” That would make him feel awful.

The Light Dragon still doesn’t get the concept of leave me alone, either, as she is still trying to almost herd this half of the chain to the other half at the town. Like, Twilight even practically guessed that the Light Dragon was Zelda. How??? I know that he knows her, but, still. I’m jealous of him for being able to guess who the dragon was in like one glance.

More AMAZING news is that Legend found out about the Zonai abilities. Not the sage, Zonai. Though, I should consider telling him about the sage abilities, with all those adventures he’s been on, he may be willing to help…

Anyways, wondering what to do as always, 

The Hero of the Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

He stumbled into a tree, hands gripping the harsh bark to stabilize himself. He let himself breathe. A harsh laugh cut through the foggy forest, his head screaming to move but his legs aching to stop. He wobbled forewords, feet tripping on one another, blindly wandering. His foot caught onto a root badly, and he grunted, hands carrying his weight as they crinkled on leaves.

Everything went dead silent.

He could feel the sweat beading down his brow, his chest aching, heartbeat hammering. A awful snarl came from the bushes beside him, and he exhaled as he readied himself. Someone’s foot came crashing down on his back, and he let out an angered grunt. That laugh was back as a choking chuckle. He let out a warning growl, and the laughter stopped as a cold, metal object was pressed on his neck. He flinched. 

He couldn’t see his attacker, and he didn’t want to see it, either. 

Just a dream, he thought to himself. It’s. Just. A. Dream.

He let out a scream.

…

Wolfie was nipping his earlobes again, and the Champion had to shove the wolves chest out of his face.

”Twi, please, I’m fine…” he mumbled into the canines chest, sitting up. He winced slightly at the pain in his right arm. The wolf backed up, whining in concern, which made Wild want to roll his eyes.

Wolfie then licked his lips. 

Wild scoffed, getting out of his bedroll and breathing his first real breath of the crisp, still early morning pine-forest air. He yawned, stretching.

”You know, I’m just going to give you raw meat in wolf form.” Wild snarked, and Wolfie huffed.

…

Twilight was helping Wild cook breakfast in the cave, chopping up bits of spices for some eggs. Another simple recipe, but Wild didn’t have his new cookbook and he didn’t want to risk something hard and ruin it. Even if with the slate, he had a basically infinitely food source.

I mean, if anyone could hold onto almost a thousand apples with no worry or concern, they would, right?

He cracked an egg on the pot, not pausing when Legend came from the back of the cavern with a grumble on how his scars were sore- Hyrule was willing to try and heal him- Legend refused sternly. Twilight snickered as they “talked”.

”Hey, Wild, can I have an apple?” Hyrule said, looking  at him for the first time since fighting with the veteran.

”Ya know, we’re gettin food in a few,” Twilight said, responding for Wild. Legend looked to Twilight with a sharp stare.

”Have you seen what ‘Rulie looks like? He’s skinner than some of the pine needles outside.” Legend growled sourly, responding for the healer, who softly rolled his eyes.

”I’m not that skinny… I’m plenty strong…” Hyrule remarked, with a small pout. Legend threw up his hands.

”I never said that… just saying… you’re skinny.” Legend said, eyes closed and hands slightly up in a dramatic manner.

”Just wait, Hyrule, you can get first dibs,” Wild said with a shake of his head, and Hyrule gasped in delight. Legend and Hyrule soon fell into a teasing match about the honor.

”You’ve always been a problem solver, ya know that?” Twilight said, bringing over the chopped up materials. Wild hummed in acknowledgment, not truly agreeing with the statement but edging Twilight to continue condemning him. “You find an answer that’ll make both parties happy when need be, like ‘n this case. You also have a… interestin’ way with… well… dealin’ with combat.” Twilight said, wincing near the end. Wild gave him a savage grin.

”You’ve seen nothing yet.” He teased, turning back to the food, putting some of the spices and other ingredient into the eggs slowly.

”What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked skeptically, walking away to clean up his area a bit. “Champ…?” Wild just smirked.

Time walked into the cave at that moment, Four following. They looked soaked. Everyone else paused to look at them, then outside, only to see it was raining. Not pouring, but not lightly drizzling, either.

”Make sure to cover up or dress warm; we’re heading out after breakfast.” Time said, and Four’s shoulders sagged slightly. Legend groaned. Twilight patted Wild on the back, before heading over to Time. Four sat by Wild with a plop, the water still clogged in his clothing. Wild sat back from the food.

”Do you want another set of clothing?” He asked the soggy smithy, who snorted.

”That’d be nice.”

…

Wild, to say the least, was in a world of pain.

He was used to this sort of tugging sensation on his left side, which made him limp slightly, but to add onto his right arm now? Yeah, he wished he stayed home and was reading some book on Hyrule’s past.

Four was leading the front, Wild behind him followed by Time and Legend, and then Hyrule and Wolfie in the back. Four looked back at Wild, wearing his rubber armor and underneath that his old Rito set for comfort. He looked rather… silly, as the clothing was much too big for him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Wilds limp was more awkward as he kept up with Four’s pace, wanting to help lead this half of the chain to the other in the small town. Four slowed down to catch up with Wild.

”That arm bothering you?” He asked kindly, and Wild scrunched up his nose, keeping shut until he had a response that contrasted his sour mood.

”You could… say that,” he responded, and Four mumbled an apology. They stayed quiet.

The rain dripped off the trees, drops falling onto the group as they made their way off the pines. Birds shouted and cried in response when they themselves were hit by the small water drops. Water was rushing, likely a sign they were nearby the river.

”So… you must really trust that dragon, huh?” Four asked, and Wild looked at him. Four’s hair was drenched, having declined the hat for his rubber set (who could blame him?), his head set on the path in front of him.

Wild nodded, a small smile on his lips. “You could say that.” He said, looking to the sky as an auto response to see if she was following him, only to be disappointed with the cloudy skies. He looked back to the ground.

”Didn’t know you had a thing for worms,” Four snickered, and Wild, with a small grin, smacked his shoulder lightly with the back of his palm.

…

They didn’t stop for lunch, as even for a rainy day, they were making a good pace. They did decide to stop by the stream, via Legend once again making enough snarky comments.

Wild was filling up the chain’s skins and canteens, noting the differences of everyone’s flasks. He could hear Twilights deep, southern accent-like laughing, and Legends snapping voice as he made sharp growls on being wet.

Wild was humming a tune he had picked up from some time at Lon Lon Ranch. Malon had called it “Epona’s Song”, and he vaguely recognized it, and so did Twilight at the time. He picked up Twilight's leather pelt ones made of some animal hide, dunking it in the river gently. The cold water was a refreshing contrast to his already shivering body, as it was consistent.

A twig snapped.

Wild gripped the fine leather flask,  whipping around in a crouch as he prepared to throw it, only to be met with a low, “Easy, I’m not here to hurt ‘cha.”

Time stepped out of the woods, observing Wild plainly with his one eye, before cracking a small smile. “You’ve always been a bit jumpy, huh? You would think after a few years…” he shook his head, the smile still there.

”In my Hyrule, you have to react fast.” Wild responded, relaxing his shoulders some. He was still in a sour mood due to the weather, but there was no need to disrespect their leader of the chains shenanigans.

”From what I’ve heard, I bet.” Time said, coming over to Wild and resting a hand on his shoulder. Wild forced himself to relax further. “Would you like some help?”

”It’s up to you if you want to do some dirty work.” Wild remarked, looking back to the canteens, and Time snickered, causing Wild to smile slightly, too. Time knelt over by Wild, grabbing one of Wild’s flasks before he dunked it in the lake.

”Remember that time Twilight an’ I tried to go fishing and you ended up jumping in the lake?” Time began, his deep voice rumbling in his throat.

”Yeah. Everyone’s horrified or amused faces is something hard to forget,” Wild responded, finally lowering Twilights leather flask and picking up Hyrule’s bottle. He turned it over in his hands. Time laughed, looking over to Wild.

”I hope you still don’t fish like that.” Time said, shaking his head good-humoredly. Wild grinned deviously.

”You’ve put too much faith into me, you know.” Wild joked back, and Time let out his booming, fatherly-like laugh. Wild joined in with his own soft laughing. Time slowed down into a chuckle, closing Wilds flask and moving onto Legends. Wild put Hyrule’s flask into the stream.

I need to tell him. Now.

No, I shouldn’t, this is such a good moment.

But will I get another one like this? Alone?

Wild cleared his throat. “Hey uh… Time… about that promise you made the other day…” he began awkwardly.

”What promise? The one I’ll get you home alive?” Time asked calmly, eyebrow raised.

”…yeah.” He looked to the ground awkwardly. “…I don’t… know how to say this… but…” he bit his lip, and Time’s gaze shifted from confusion to worry. He paused. “…don’t expect to keep it true.”

”Wild, what’s wrong?” Time asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I get they you’re protective of the chain, and that they get into shenanigans but-“ 

“No no no, you don’t understand. It’s nothing… it’s my health. It’s been… deteriorating after a well… accident.” Wild explained quickly. 

“Nothing’s helped?” Time asked, desperation and concern laced into his brow. Wild shook his head. Time looked down mournfully.

”It’s not your fault. I didn’t know who to tell, and as you’re the designated leader I thought it’d be best…” Wild’s thought trailed off, and he looked to the ground too. “I’m sorry.”

”No, Wild, I am.” 

…

The half of the chain could finally see the town again. Hyrule and Twilight were chatting about who knows what, while Legend and Four were talking about smithing experiences. Time and Wild led the back silently, previous conversation stuck in mind like a stick in a bog.

“SKY! THEY’RE BACK! WITH THE REST!” Came a loud, childlike call that likely was produced from Wind. From out of the bushes near the entrance of the village popped out a very blonde head, followed by a royal blue scarf and grin. Warriors ran over to the group in a jog, patting Legend on the back.

”Well I’ll be damned. I thought Wild and Four ran away on us after some fairytale of a wish, but here we stand.” He told the half of the group who was missing, which was greeted by smiles. Wars went around, greeting the missing members of the chain. Wind and Sky ran from the town, hurling themselves into hugs with different members. People started laughing and joking, before Wind demanded they eat dinner. Everyone laughed and the party migrated to into the town.

Wild wanted to keep the whole chain together for as long as he could.

…

I don’t think that War’s appreciated dinner. 

I may or may not have added some extra Goron spice to his curry.

On a more “important” note (what’s more important than making War’s suffer?), I told Time about the gloom that plagues my body. I should probably practice my Zonai skills a little more, but I can’t find any time other than at night.

I don’t even want to try my secret stone. I’m just confused on why I have it.

Puzzling my reality,

Hero of the Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

A crackle of a laugh filled the air.

Shouldn't that laugh be refreshing? It was her laugh.

Why did it sound so off?

The blonde haired woman sat on an eroded fence, legs swaying with a creak in her knees. Her hair, normally ablaze and alive, was dull and murky. She sat, singing a empty song that had no words, just the change of vowels. If you could call it that.

"Zelda?" He would ask tentatively, approaching her from behind. Her swaying stopped, along with the song. She continued if nothing happened, only singing the awful song louder and louder. He asked again. "Zelda? Are you alright?" The singing- or was it yelling?- only became louder. He approached her blind spot. Her skin was mutilated with a rash and bumps that were growing white at the tips, like they were irritated. Her skin looked raw and flaky, like a minor sunburn. "Zel," He asked, almost terrified as he almost placed a shaky hand on her shoulder. He only paused to look at the rotting, raw, gloom-seared flesh that once was his right arm. He could feel sweat running down his brow; hot, sticky, uncomfortable. He placed his healthy hand on her shoulder. 

She screeched.

Whirling around to face him, her eyes blown open in full glory, to show off that they were contorted, with her eye whites being purple, iris blue, and pupil green with another dot on the inside black. Her teeth were bared in an animal-like snarl, white fangs covering her jaws. He took a step back, but she moved foreword into the empty space between them as if she were intimidating him.

It was working.

Suddenly, she shrieked a higher note, the white-like pimples evolving into scales that could audibly be herd to tare through flesh, hair growing into a mane, nose getting longer. Her nails grew as she clawed out at him, turning the teal of her eyes. A tail emerged from the base of her dress, spikes growing along with it as she screamed and screamed and screamed. He couldn't look any further, covering his eyes. He couldn't hear it any further, so he shut his eyes and moved his hands to his ears. He didn't want this any further, so he sank to his knees, her own cries and shrieks merging with his own scream of horror.

He could feel the metallic tang of vomit rising in his throat.

...

Wild shot out of bed, sweat streaming from his brow and palms, breathing erratic, pale. Wolfie next to him growled, clearly upset about his sudden awakening. Shaky palms greeted him as he lifted them from under the sheets. Right. They were at an inn tonight. Twilight had slept with him to keep guard of his dreams.

How early was it?

Wolfie wasn't shaking him awake, so it must be early. He sat up slowly, grabbing the Shekiah Slate and looking at the time engraved at the corner of the map. 2:34 A.M.

Oh. 

His stomach churned. 

But why? He wasn't afraid. It was just an odd occurrence, nothing more. Just an awful nightmare.

He doesn't think he's missed Zelda so much.

His stomach groaned, and he felt as if he was going to be sick.

He hopped out of bed, stumbling to get out of the sheets in a rush, world swimming slightly. He heard Wolfie grumble something, but his ears couldn’t pick it up quite right. He fumbled to open the door, and once he did, he wasn’t expecting the momentum and went stumbling into the hallway.

His arms had a new shield of sweat as he stumbled like a drunken sailor, eventually finding the exit of the small hotel. No one was out other than the chirping of crickets as Wild made his way down to the river, where his stomach finally let loose.

Doubling over, vomit spewed from his mouth, landing on the yellow and orange needles below him and the flowing river. Maybe it was the spice from last night, his mind supplied him, and eventually the retching ended. He was trembling slightly, and he just tried to take in the sounds of the forest to calm himself down. He could hear animals skittering around, birds squeaking with confusion.

With that slow concentration, his right ring finger started to him and provided him with a cold, almost stinging touch.

He looked down, surprised, to see the stone glowing a radiant purpleish-blue, clear and obviously bustling with some power. 

“Oh, so you’re finally deciding to work?” Wild muttered, voice hoarse with pain. He could still feel his stinging stomach acid in his throat, burning and unwavering. He twisted the ring around- the ring that held the stone- before looking around, sniffing his nose.

A bright blur sprinted across the tree tops, pausing. It must have been a squirrel- he could tell by the size and how far up it was amok the tree tops. A larger spirit was somewhere to his left, listening and cautious. Must be a deer. He pulled out his bow quietly.

He could always do with some more meat. 

Quietly, he made his way from the bank, the spirit sprites slowly creeping away as he put the ability to the side. Knocking an arrow, he attached a ice fruit to the tip with a tiny shink as the Zonai's trademark bluish-green substance stuck it to the arrow. Wild always found magic interesting; it came in many forms and abilities, willing to be warped for the users desire.

Coming close to a clearing, he ascended into a tree viewing a small clearing with another small stream running through. He knew that the animal would likely (more like hopefully) pass through here. He hadn't seen any tracks yet, not that he was planning on it.

After twenty minutes or so of patient waiting and observation from the tree, a doe stuck her head out of the bushes, pushing through into the clearing. She was younger, likely a year old. Careful, overly cautious steps led her to the shallow trial of water. 

Wild pulled on the arrow. The doe's head snapped up at the noise. Her face was delicate, eyes shining with fear; yet she did not move, maybe doubting her senses. Wild knew that was ultimately going to be the reason for her demise. In the wild, doubting your delicate senses is what gets you killed. False calls are better than death. He had to learn the hard way. 

Wild let go of his arrow, overshooting slightly as the doe was staring in his area. She tried to bolt when she saw the arrow, but because of his oversight, the arrow hit, a sharp blasting noise filling the forest as the ice fruit made contact with her hide, stunning her. She fell to the ground, and Wild wasted no time shooting another arrow into her pelt as she screeched in dismay. She tried to get up, but stumbled and fell back onto the ground. He got out of his tree, making his way over to her with haste- no reason to make her suffer more than she had to. 

The doe was breathing heavily, blood spewing from her two wounds. Her hide was frozen in one spot from the fruit- he knew it would thaw. Crouching near her neck, he pulled out a dagger he'd stolen from Legend a while back, placing it up against her strained throat. The animal groaned, unwilling to accept such a fate.

"I'm sorry. But in the long run, thank you." He said, running a gentle hand behind her perfect and undamaged ears, before cutting into her neck. She jerked for a moment, before going still, eyes dull with the release of death. He sighed, and began to cut into her beautiful and still somewhat speckled hide.

…

He came back to the town at around 6:00 in the morning. He had the doe’s pelt and meat inside his slate, his clothes still slightly bloodied, although he had cleaned off his attire and arsenal while he was gone. Warriors and Four were arguing about something in the front of the hotel, and he easily slipped past them. Wandering further into the inn, he got back to his room to see it empty, save for Twilight's pack. Shrugging, he pulled out his casual (as casual as you could get in his Hyrule- everyone was basically was a traveler) Hylian tunic, and swapped it out for his own tunic he had on. It was a struggle to get off- sticky and sweaty, but he got the leathers off with a plop onto the floor. His bare, scar-ridden chest was covered in some blood of the doe, which he quickly washed off in the restroom. Once dry, he shoved the red clothing on, a new set of leathers on top. Shoving his dirty Hylian tunic into his Slate, he wandered back out of the guest room and down into the Inn. Time and Twilight were near the bar, chatting causally. Wind and Legend were arm wrestling on a barrel nearby. Wild merely peeked in before walking out of the inn, down to the river. He met Sky washing his own clothing, and he pulled out his casual tunic beside him, downriver as to not stain his soft cloth with blood, and began to wash. Sky was humming a soft tune, sweet and sounding of that Wild would find in the historians vocal chords. Sky did look down once or twice, as if questioning, but Wild would never catch his glances, too focused on cleaning his red-stained gift. Eventually Sky finished, grabbing his soaked clothing and hanging it in a branch, going to sit on a stump nearby.

“What’d you do this morning? That’s not monster blood, is it?” Sky asked, head cocked in a peacefully curious manner.

“No, not monster blood.” He said with a smirk, although Sky couldn’t see it as his back was to him. “I hunted a deer.”

”Deer?”

”Deer. It kinda looks like a horse, but jumps more than runs.” Wild said, finishing off his own tunic in boredom.

”Hm. You might have to show me one.” Sky said with a soft smile that Wild would return.

…

“I say we leave tomorrow. We’ll purchase food for tonight and pay for the rooms once more. Change your room partners or not, it’s up to you.” Time would acclaim at late midday, which left the rest of the group to internally groan. The group was more than ready to travel- but alas, listening to Time always came first.

Wild had just finished off traversing the town, selling the doe's hide for cheap as a thank-you to the citizens. Of course, they would have to dry it as he didn't get that far along with the pelt; another reason why he wished to sell it. Wild, filled with unending boredom, went around the village and asked if they needed anything done or needed help. One older man had issues with bending over, but also had a carrot patch. Wild gathered the carrots for the man, before an older woman came up to him and asked for help to string up her clothing. Once finished with that, more people started to ask him for help. He felt bad for the citizens; they were rather kind, but skittish and fleeting among his presence. He assumed they were a rather quiet community that normally didn't seek help from others. The only outside contact they did get were from travelers and the people who bought the logs they chopped and sold- at least, that's what a homestead wife told him as he helped prepare her cucco for dinner. He did get to help with their logging business, which he noticed many of the towns folk, unsurprisingly, took apart of. He helped them chop down the trees, lugging them down the river where they would eventually meet up once more at the town to be sold. The head of the logging company tried to pay his wage in rupees, which he profusely denied, which led the two men into a petty and useless bickering. Wild "won", although he heard the good-mannered logger grumble about "paying for his stay".

Wild, decently exhausted around sun fall, wondered back to the logging area and found a prairie of stumps and the faint echo's of men wrapping up their job. With a sigh, he sat in the empty clearing, before laying down in the soft, rather sweet smelling grass, a familiar snake-like figure above him, swimming amok the clouds. He lifted his right hand and measured her draconic form with a sigh. He truly hoped that she enjoyed floating endlessly in the sky, basking in the warm sunlight as her scales sparkled with magic. He hoped she enjoyed the wind, flowing through her mane in strands like gentle fingertips. He hoped that she enjoyed watching the twinkle of stars, as isolating as it could be.

He felt bad about loosing her to that fall.

He looked sourly at his right hand. Returned to him from the accident, scarred and still gloom-sickened, with dampened Zonai abilities. He was glad to have Zelda back; he didn't miss Rauru's arm in that sense. But he wished he never had it in the first place- it was a reminder of his weakness. Of how he couldn't save her. Originally. 

He missed Zelda. 

...

A pumpkin was being softened in water over the fire, the rest of the Link's chatting away as Wild cooked a more fall-oriented meal. He sprinkled on some cinnamon, letting the pumpkin soften. Sky and Twilight were especially eager for the meal, chatting away about pumpkin oriented dishes that they were accustomed to. Warriors, Wind, and Four were bickering about Hylia-knows what, Four siding with War's on the issue. Hyrule and Legend were also chatting among themselves, about different sources of magic (which made Wild fearful- Legend better not spoil secrets). Time was merely watching the boys, while Wild worked on the massive pumpkin that he had bought in town. The thing along couldn't feed them all, so he was serving up some apples along side it, having more than enough in his Slate from his combined adventures.

Sighing from the work being finished, Wild went around collecting silverware from everyone's packs as they seemed busy chatting. Time came over to help silently, handing him the plates and dishes gently, following him back to the fire. Wild took the pot, dumped out the water, before cutting into the baked vegetable and creating portion sizes. Time helped organize the platter, once again quietly, as if he knew Wild was in a working mood. The help from Time made him frustrated. He didn't need help because of his condition, or however he should refer to it. He was fine. Fine fine fine. Wild angrily splat the softened, cinnamon smelling pumpkin with his wooden spoon onto plates before placing a bare apple along side it and handing it to Time, who delivered it to the others. Eventually, when every item was passed out, he sat next to Twilight and listened into the conversation halfheartedly, not trying to participate. He could feel Time's piercing eye on him every once in a while, as if he could read his mind and knew his thoughts.

...

Today was rather boring. 

I had a stomach bug, which will hopefully pass. I didn't get to see Warriors in pain tonight, but that's alright. I'll get him again sometime.

I started to figure out Mineru's- or should I refer to it as my own?- secret stone this morning. It helped me catch a deer.

The village folk of the place we're staying at are nice. The one guy paid for our lodging at the local inn (damn him; I helped with cutting down a few trees and didn't accept payment so this is how he thanks me). Twilight was mildly surprised that I spent the day helping others rather than bombing and setting the forest on fire. I don't quite think he knows what the term "maturity" is quite yet.

The pumpkin I made tonight was rather soggy and unpleasant compared to my usual cooking skills; I felt very distracted tonight. My companions didn't seem to notice otherwise (other than Twilight and Sky. They gave me some recipes that they tried to recall from their home that I could try to recreate).

Anyways, we'll finally be hitting the road again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll find our way out of these woods. 

Trapped within my own mind,

The Hero of Wilds and Tears.

Chapter Text

He could smell the metallic stench that was twisted in the wrong way- like blood and flesh had been airborne for too long.

Taking another step into the squelching swamp, he could feel the stringy muck swarm his ankles and try to bring him down. Unfortunately for the mud, he was resilient. He pursued further into the unnerving environment, dead trees sticking out of the ground like toothpicks, dried despite the semi-aquatic habitat. The moon was unnaturally dulled, and he felt as if eyes were watching him from the trees as he wandered further and further in. He kept his eyes on the treeline, catching small glimpses of figures- they looked like hands- following him before  disappearing. He only paused when he stepped down and something crunched. Looking, for the first time at the mud, he saw it wasn't mud at all- no, it was rotting flesh. He had just stepped on someones skull. He could feel a cold sweat start to break out on his forehead, fingers twitching in shock as he tried to move away faster from this nightmare, but the flesh became animated, forming into hands as it grabbed and pulled at his feet, trying to get him entangled into the heap of rotting flesh himself.

He bolted. 

His feet would pick up the skin crawling tissue and muscle, tossing it away as he ran with momentum, watching his feet for a moment before looking in front of him, only for him to stop in another mild horror. 

Not necessarily at the scenery, but himself.

There was the Light Dragon, coiled around the clearing, body rotting away. The scales of the once impressive monster were dull and flaky, muck akin to dead skin. Her underbelly was torn, showing her massive organ track and bones. Her jaw bone was visible, the fragment of her skeleton skinny and slender like her frame used to be. Her eyes were missing, and instead were empty eye sockets that showed rotting flesh underneath. She swayed closer to the ground, smelling of rotten meat as her corpse like frame sneaked closer, soulless and mindless. Her jaw opened abnormally, cracking as it adjusted, and it let out a horrid sound as it tried to scream into the now blood-red moonlight soaked clearing. It was whisper-like yet loud. Her showing tissue on her underbelly bubbled with use as the vocal chords tried to work.

He froze in fear, allowing himself to sink further and further into the falsely created appendage swamp, hands climbing up his body as he listened to her sad, sad song of despair and betrayal. 

He felt a cold hand go for his neck, evoking him to darkness. 

... 

Wild awoke with a start once more. Panting heavily, his head whipped around the room to see he was... fine. Everything was fine. Like it normally was. Just another nightmare. Another horrible, horrible nightmare. He let his head fall into his head, still shaking slightly. Hylia be damned, he was so sick of these things already. Couldn't he just be left alone? He wanted to go home. Have a better way to say goodbye. No, no. He would get home.

A fuzzy body snuggled up to his upright body, its head laying on his scrunched up knees. Wild's head snapped up to see Wolfie watching him in concern gently, and Wild, with a semi-unsatisfied smile started to run his fingers through the majestic canine's coat.

... 

The band of heroes, albeit sleepily, made their way out of their rooms. Wild swapped out his current tunic for his champions leathers, happy to be back in the familiar material. It was earlier in the morning; fit for a long day of travel. Wild could already hear the sailors complaints to anyone who'd listen.

Time quickly accounted for everyone, before heading to the barely open market in case anyone needed last minute purchases. Wild spent his time talking to some of the townsfolk, some of which were upset to see him leave after yesterdays help. Wild could see Twilight watching him in his peripheral vision, but shrugged it off as his mentor being concerned. He was talking with the old man he first got to help, wondering the best path for travel. He explained that they should head west of the village, as it would get them to the rolling plains and to bigger, more successful, Hylian villages. Wild bought some of the old mans carrots as a thank you, and noticed when he put extras in, but didn't make a comment. He'd much rather get on the road than argue with a kind gentleman. As Wild walked away and back to Time, Twilight caught up to him, his leathers clapping together in a way that Wild would know it was Twilight.

"You needed more carrots? I thought you said you had enough food?" Twilight asked, cocking his head in a dog-like manner.

"Right, but the food doesn't appear out of nowhere; I have to stock up continuously. Plus, wild carrots and domesticated ones have different flavors." Wild responded back, sending the carrots into the slate. They disappeared with a flash of blue, the Shekiah symbol of an eye appearing on the face of technology once it finished. Twilight shrugged.

"I suppose. Do you know what we're having for breakfast, or..?" The ranch-hand asked, still looking over his grown apprentice.

"I'd assume that Time will want to get moving, so we'll be snacking all morning is my guess. I do have some full meals for those who are extra hungry." Wild teased, giving Twilight a smirk. That earned him to have his hair messed up by a heavily calloused hand, and a bellied laugh.

"Hey, be nice! Transforming really works your body, as I'm sure you wouldn't know!" Twilight shot back with his toothy grin.

...

Wind was already complaining about his sore legs, not even two hours into traveling. Legend was ticked off from the complaining, contemplating if he should snap at the youngest Link. 

Time and Warriors took the front, followed by Legend and Hyrule, then Sky and Twilight (Wind was trying to squeeze between the two most compassionate heroes of the chain), ending with Four and Wild at the back. It was idle conversation between the Smith and Champion, such as what had happened to Wild's Hyrule. It wasn't hard for him to talk about, but he mainly focused on the achievements and buildings that had been put up while he was gone, instead of things that may be hard for Four to wrap his head around, such as the sky islands and depths- although, Wild assumed, that if he could admit the state of his world to someone, Four would keep the most level head. 

The bushes snapped.

All heads snapped as an ugly Bokoblin- belonging to Sky's era- came shrieking out of the yellowing bush, his club aiming to ram down on Hyrule's head. Sky was faster, though, the blue sword of the heroes nightmares, or dreams, made an appearance and cut the things head clean off of its spine. The head dropped before the body did, rolling away on the slight incline. 

"Spread out!" Time snapped, taking out his one-handed sword, and making his way away from the group to spy on the bushes. They were lined on either side with the shrubs, tree's covering the landscape thickly around the path; if they were to run, it would not be easy. 

"What the hell... of course we're ambushed... can't have one normal travel day, can we?" Legend snapped, grabbing his own orange tinted sword. Warriors huffed in mild agreement. They all faced the bushes that the Bokoblin first came from. They waited some time; maybe it was just a rogue one? Wild was already planning on how he could possibly cut and use its horn, teeth, and organs for potio-

"Twilight, behind you!" Four snapped next to Wild, sending heads jerking. From the opposite set of bushes, another, blue Bokoblin, snarled and rammed at Twilight, who took the blow to his shield, before jabbing his sword into the things side. It shrieked, not getting off another swing as Wind cut into its neck, which was protected by a rather thin layer skin, blood gushing from the deep cut as it fell to its knees.

"Change of plan! Partner up!" Warriors snapped, standing back to back with Time. Four immediately had Wilds back, but Wild couldn't miss the way Time looked over to see if he was safe and guarded. Rage curdled in his stomach at he glance.

Before anyone could say another word, though, the hedges were crushed as monsters of varying eras came fourth in waves, snapping and snarling, trying to make their way to the front of the ambush.

The heroes started to slash and swing, metal clinking off of metal, snarls both monster-like and human-like clawing from their throats as they clashes.

Wild got a good blow off on a monster he didn't recognize, and it shrieked and crawled away and up a tree- it looked like a giant spider. Someone cried out in pain, another in horror. 

"Legend!" Hyrule cried as the veteran started to get separated from the group, forced back to protect Hyrule; but now his back was exposed. 

"Go protect Hyrule!" Wild snapped at Four, who blinked up at him in understanding, sneaking past the monsters due to his height. Wild made a run for Legend who was being forced back by one of his tricky silver Lizalfos, snarling and taunting the easy-to-anger teen by letting its tongue fly disgustingly when it dodged another blow. Legend swung for it again, frustrated that his attacks were so easily dodged, that the lizard-like monster got a blow off to his side. Legend hissed in pain, blood streaming onto his tunic. The thing was too busy sneering in his face that it didn't realize Wild's blade shooting across its side, and it was sent to the ground where Wild cut its throat. The Lizalfos stumbled back to its feet, snarling, sending its ugly tongue like a whip to snap at him, which he effortlessly cut off. The monster shrieked in pain, once again distracted, and Wild landed a killing blow across its neck, ultimately ending the life of his sword too. 

"Shit." He hissed, taking the spear that was in the Lizalfos' hands as a back up weapon for now, rushing to protect Legends back. The experienced warrior huffed as Wild came to his aid, leaning on him slightly to take away some of the pain of his wound. "We need to end this quickly," Wild hissed under his breath, jabbing his weak spear at the nearest monster. Him and Legend were the farthest away from the groups, which wasn't good, but not awful, either- if Legend wasn't injured, that is.

"Yeah, good job, smart guy. I only wish I could use stronger magic... it's just..." Legend said between gritted teeth, looking around. 

"...it's close. The fighting field." Wild supplied him.

"Yeah." Legend huffed. A small trail of blood escaped his mouth, and Wild hoped it was just because of a split lip. A Moblin suddenly swing in between the two, sending them back. Legend rammed into a tree, while Wild gracefully dodged, and time seemed to slow for him. Wild took his spear, aimed it for the monsters face, and jabbed and jabbed and jabbed for as long as he could with in midair. Once back on the ground, time seemed to resume, and it screeching, clutching its mutilated face, and Legend went in for the killing blow, sword slicing upwards in its stomach. Wild pulled Legend back as its guts split out from its middle body, and it gagged on blood before its body fell suit. "Keep your hands off me, I'm fine," Legend snapped, brushing Wild away. Wild rolled his eyes, before going back to guarding his injured brother. He looked around. The monster population had gone down, but the fighting was still ugly, and they were way over their heads. In a close area, fighting a mixed population of monsters many didn't know how to handle that just kept coming? Where were they even coming from. Wild looked around before his eyes went wide and his stomach clenched. In-between the trees, Wild was at just the right angle where he could see some of those triangular portals set up. That meant, firstly, that the Shadow was here, or is still here; and secondly, that the monsters will just keep coming until there are none left to bring or the Shadow closes the portals. Wild knew, though, that this was wearing them down too much.

They could leave the monsters, right? They were pretty far away from the town...

"Veteran, get out of here. There's portals; the monsters are just going to keep coming," he said in an almost panic. Legend shot him a look, before nodding.

"Makes sense. What about the others?" Legend claimed with a small hiss to his voice from the pain.

"I'll warn 'em. Take this fairy and go heal up. Head back towards the town." Wild said, pulling out his slate quickly, giving Legend the fairy. He nodded, before stumbling off into the woods, back where they came begrudgingly. Wild knew that retreating may not be in some of their natures, but he knew when to give up a fight. Sometimes.

But with his brothers at risk? This was a no-brainier.

Wild charged into the mess, jabbing at any of the monsters until he got back to the group. Warriors was limping on his foot behind Time, so Wild crossed the battlefield and carnage to take his place. 

"Time! The Shadow has portals set up in the woods where we can't see 'em. We got to retreat; we're not winning this in conditions like this," Wild said to the man behind him. Warriors paled. Time let out a warning growl.

"Get Warriors away safely, then." Their leader snapped. Wild looked over at him, astonished.

"No way. You do it; I'm faster and smaller, I can get through the crowd faster." Wild snarled back, jabbing at a tarantula-looking monster that got too close.

"Wild, I have armor-" Time said, trying to argue.

"You also don't have an internal countdown. Go." Wild played, looking over. Time peeked his still functioning eye over at Wild before sighing in defeat, looking at him sadly. 

Wild hated playing that card, because he didn't want to acknowledge it, either. 

Warriors looked at them oddly. 

"Take him back to the town. You'll find Lege' on the way." Wild muttered, going back to jabbing an oncoming monsters, jabbing a one-eyed something in its singular eye. He couldn't tell what they were anymore, but he couldn't say he cared. Time and Warriors limped off the field. 

Three down; five to go.

Wild once again charged into the group of monsters. One clawed at him, a raking pain going down his arm, but... he had to get his brothers out of here, so he chose to ignore it. He just wanted out. He spotted Hyrule and Four next, and he quickly helped Hyrule fend off against a Aerocuda that somehow got into this mess, launching the spear he had on him at the things back. It quickly crumpled to the ground. Hyrule looked at him in worry. 

"Buddy, you're blee-" Hyrule began trying to rush to him, to heal him, but Wild backed up a bit.

"We're retreating- Warriors and Legend need the attention more. Head back to the town; that's the meetup spot." He commanded, almost falling back into old habits that were trained into him when Calamity Gannon was still just a prophecy to look out for. Four glanced at Wild curiously.

"Why's that?" He asked, swinging at a monster behind Wild, as he was weaponless. 

"The Shadow made portals. Its summoning them in. Make due with that." Wild muttered as he watched Four take care of a monster he, once again, didn't recognize behind him. The smithy nodded, and bolted to the woods with Hyrule following in turn. Wild decided to knock an arrow into his bow, wanting to weaponize himself somehow. He made his way to Twilight's party, through the thickening mess of monsters as more and more heroes left, leading to less being killed.

"Cub! Hey! Where's yer' partner?" Twilight claimed when he came into view from the monsters. He shot his bow at a monster behind Twilight, nailing it to the face, where it ran, shrieking, away. 

"Going back to the town! Were retreating! There's too many, and two are injured!" Wild shouted over the snarling beasts, as he tried to get closer, focused on Twilight. The ranch-hand nodded, looking down to Wind and Sky, relaying the information. Wind's eyes widened. 

"WILD!" The sailor screamed, "BEHIND YOU!"

Wild tried to look behind him in time, to see a massive Moblin, club raised above its head. He was too late to react, as it went slamming down onto his skull, and the world went black. 

...

Chapter Text

Everything was dark.

Was it always this dark?

No, he concluded, it was not.

Why was everything so hazy?

He could feel a throbbing sensation coming from his head. His. Who was he, again?

“Link.” Right. That was right. Link seemed right.

Something cold and shocking pressed against his lips, a small groan escaping his throat in a raspy whimper. No, Link didn’t know what that was. He didn’t want it.

Why was the darkness growing fuzzier? Could it do that?

His somewhat stiff muscles relaxed into the frame next to him. Someone was holding him.

They got the bottle’s liquid past his senses. He gagged it up again.

No. Link didn’t want it.

He didn’t want… it.

He didn’t want…

…

…

Link woke up again.

That haziness was still lingering. His eyelids could only crack open. His head hurt like hell itself was crawling out of it. Not quite like gloom, but still an aching headache.

He didn’t know where he was, what had happened, and frankly, he was so lost he didn’t care. He looked around with dead-like eyes, not truly seeing. The fact he was in a tent and couldn’t move a muscle was all his struggling mind could manage.

Were there voices outside?

Yes, he decided, sleep settling around him again. It likely was.

…

He felt a dull ache at the back of his head, a fuzzy feeling surrounding it, along with his thoughts. He tried to peek open his eyes, but the light was too much and he groaned as they slipped shut.

Someone came to his side; he could almost feel their spirit as they hovered, and eventually touched his arm in comfort.

Thats right. He was a sage of spirit.

He traced the spirit as it moved around him, likely reaching for something. He felt as if he could trust the spirit— it sang of wandering and forests, akin to his own.

Hand tipped his head back, and helped him swallow a sweet liquid. It trickled down his throat, and he started to feel drowsy again.

The spirit stayed close by as he started to sleep again. 

…

He knew that the spirits he was tracing were bound by the bodies of the rest of the chain. His brothers. When he has brief moments of consciousness, he tried to identify them. They all called out to him with certain characteristics. 

The few that he recognized first were Hyrule’s and Twilight’s. Time and Four stopped by him more than the rest, but everyone visited.

He didn’t know how long he was immobile and imprisoned in his mind for, but he assumed it was a day or two. Hyrule kept feeding him health potions when he could, and recently, some broth.

He was on the mend; that was for sure.

He wouldn’t die for another 20 days. 

…

When he really woke, it was dark. The moon was bright and blurry in his vision, and as he focused more, he noticed the stars twinkling. He shifted himself up with a small grunt, his head pounding with the effort. He got a glimpse around the stationary camp he was at.

It was not the same forest from before. No, they were in a lush field, the long grass whipping to the side limply as the wind rolled through like a gentle brush. He looked to his right, seeing a campfire sparking and crackling. A frame was slumped against a rock, likely the person who was supposed to be on watch. His blue scarf was wrapped limply around his neck, and Wild could identify him as Warriors.

He noted that the air felt… different. It didn’t smell of the smoke and mountains of his previous surroundings; no, this smelt like the bloom of flowers and the sweet scent of coming rain. Spring contrasting fall. He didn’t think he was out very long for the seasons to change. Maybe he was. Panic set in slightly, causing his need to sit up.

With a hiss, she shakily sat up. He wanted to wake out of this haze that came with oversleeping. There was that throb in his head again, and he let out another groan of pain, but louder.

When he focused back on his surroundings rather than pain, Warriors was now looking sleepily at him, squinting. He gave him a little wave— awkwardly, and in pain, but it got Warriors up as he realized Wild was coherent.

”You feelin’ alright, Champ? You gave us a scare…” he said in a hushed tone, coming across the camp to help Wild sit up in a more stable manner. He tried to give a grin, but it turned to a grimace.

”I mean, it hurts. But I’m sure I’ll live if I have for this long.” Wild said, expecting a laugh, but Warriors gave out none, just looking at him like a concerned father.

”What?”

”You’ve been out for days. I’m just… worried. You weren’t doing too good for a while there.” Warriors mumbled, looking away from his face and at the dead fire. “Do you remember what happened?”

”Uh… we were leaving that one town… were we ambushed…? I dunno, that’s… that’s it. It’s all fuzzy from there.” He muttered. Warriors shook his head.

”Yeah. The shadow ambushed us. You figured it out first, and was telling everyone to get out. You were in the process in warning the last of us out there, but apparently you have no sense of urgency, as you couldn’t tell as a moblin snuck up on you and bashed you in the head. You were lucky it was a bad shot.” Warriors mumbled sourly. Wild blushed awkwardly. “We used up all the health potions and fairies we had to keep you in good health. You should feel the side effects, but you’re technically healthy again.” Warriors finished with a sigh, patting his back gently.

”Sorry.”

”…Don’t worry about it. I’m just giving you a hard time. I’m just glad you’re fine. We don’t need you gone again.” Wars said, looking back at him with a bittersweet smile. “But seriously. We need you, cook. Be glad you don’t have to eat the slop we threw together while you were out.” Wild gave a hushed laugh.

”Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” he said, shrugging it off.

He should probably teach someone to cook. Before… before he had to leave them for good.

…

Wild’s head felt too fuzzy to write anything down, so he recounted information in his head until he remembered it well enough to write it down. He knew it was complicated and likely caused him a greater headache, but he also wanted his handwriting to be somewhat readable and not whatever he would produced with a still somewhat concussed head (according to Hyrule who woke up when Warriors was trying to scrounge something together for Wild to eat).

He had apparently been out for four days. The group, while he was out, had traveled to a new era— maybe even Time’s era. They had made some progress in traveling the giant plain they were on, but couldn’t spot a town yet.

Wild, shrugging off his thoughts, decided to look through his bag that was becoming misused because of his slate. He dug around in it for a little bit, as someone had scoured through it, likely looking for food. Nothing seemed out of ordinary, until he couldn’t find his journal. Shit. Did he leave it at the other town? Did it fall?

Did one of the chain find it?

No, he concluded, settling back down to head back to sleep. Maybe he would look in the morning and see if it was there then. Maybe he was just too tired to see it properly. His brothers wouldn’t disrespected his privacy like that.

He felt sleep wash over his hurting head with ease, and he slipped back into unconsciousness, hoping for no nightmares like his past four days of injury and drug induced sleep had given him.