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This wasn’t the first time Wind had been thrown overboard by a sudden storm. He was a Spirits damned pirate, it happened all the time. But this was the first time without a proper crew, or you know, people left on the ship to pull him back up. That was fine though, he was a strong swimmer. In the churning ocean he managed to get his head above water. The ship was a lot farther from him than he had thought. He gasped for air before the current pulled him under again. The waves were frothy, and even when he could catch a breath above them, rain pounded heavily enough that there wasn’t much difference. Jagged bolts of lightning ripped open the sky every few seconds, and the cracks of thunder that followed were deafening.
Wind was pushed under again, as a wave bowled him over. He went tumbling through the bottomless ocean, unable to tell how deep he was. He couldn’t see at all, and breathing was out of the question entirely. The tiny bit of air he had was clawing at the inside of his lungs. Desperately, he tried to focus. This wasn’t new, he’d done this before. Of course, back then Tetra and her crew were able to pull him up in a few minutes. Get back to the ship. You’ll be fine, just get back to the ship. Except he didn’t know where it was. The tiny glimpses of the surface he got as he was rolled by the waves showed nothing but dark, torrential water in every direction. He couldn’t separate the sea from the horizon. Everything was pitch black.
It was a betrayal, he realized. The ocean was his home, it took care of him, he trusted it. But for the first time in his life, he was scared of the water. It pried at his lips and nostrils, forcing its way into his throat. He tasted salt and bile, as asphyxiation blurred the edges of his vision. He choked. His body, in desperate attempts to get air in and water out, turned on him. His mouth and nose were flooded as he was plunged under the surface again. He hadn’t stopped moving since he was thrown off the ship, but none of it was of his own volition. The current jerked him around, dragging him deeper and deeper. He clawed at his throat, like it would do any good.
He was drowning. Obviously he was, but only now did it hit him. Wind had faced death before, but this was different. The ocean which he so adored was killing him. It didn’t matter much that he was crying, he was surrounded by salt water anyway. I’m going to die here, Wind thought, Fuck, I’m going to die! His vision was going, not that it made much difference. He only noticed it when a flash of pink and blue were marred by stipplings of black.
Suddenly he was yanked to the surface, where he immediately vomited. Salt scratched his throat raw, but he could breathe! The rain made it difficult, as did the water still in his throat and lungs. It didn’t matter, terrified relief flooded his system as he choked on breathes of precious air. Wind clung to his savior, no idea who or what it was. They propelled through the water, hurdling in an unknown direction. Towards the ship maybe? In his moment of respite, the sailor remembered a crucial detail of this idiot expedition. He hadn’t been alone.
“NO!” he screamed, “Go back! My brother’s still out there!”
Legend. Fuck! The vet had insisted on coming with him, because he could smell the storm coming. Well first he insisted that Wind not go at all, but when that had been shut down, he silently followed him to the dock. He’d worked on the boat like he’d lived on the sea, bordering the sailor’s proficiency. And he’d been right about the storm, of course. You would think by now Wind would know to listen to him. But no, he had to go out on the ocean right before the fucking sky opened up and the Ocean King decided to wipe them off the face of Hyrule.
“Let me go!” Wind thrashed in the creature’s— he’d decided it was a creature— arms, trying to free himself, “Vet! Veteran! Link!” Arms tightened around him as the creature held him fast. He caught a glimpse of a powerful tail behind him, the glimmer of blue he’d seen before. So that’s how they were moving… huh. What the hell was this thing? It couldn’t be Joanne, Bannan Island was at least a day’s travel North. And besides, this creature’s hair was pink.
“Goddess above, Sailor,” it said, “Quit struggling, we’re almost–!”
The sentence was cut off as they were dunked underwater, likely from Wind’s kicking. When they reemerged, he could blearily see a small island, making clear where the sky ended and the ocean began. The sailor, exhausted, gave another pathetic twist as his strength ran out.
“But… Link…” he mumbled, water slapping him in the mouth when he tried to speak. He swore the creature sighed fondly (as fondly as one could, lost at sea in the middle of a torrential downpour), right before he passed out.
He woke up on a sandy shore, the sun beating down on him. The roar of the ocean rang in his ears, terrifying him thoroughly. He scrambled up the dune until his back was against a palm tree, as far from the waves as he could get. Horrific sobs racked his body as he choked on sea water and tears. His ocean almost killed him. He almost died. Something that had always meant joy, adventures, family, and fun was dangerous. It was lethal. The ocean didn’t love him, it wasn’t his. What had he been thinking? Naive, stupid, little boy.
Wind curled into himself, mourning his sense of wanderlust. There was a shuffling farther down the surf, groaning and coughing as someone moved about. He was reminded of his brother, who he’d left out at sea, and wrenched open his salty eyes. There was Legend, stretching out his legs as he stumbled up the dunes towards him.
“Man, that always gives me cramps,” the vet muttered as he approached, “Damn thing.”
When the sailor saw him, he cried out and reached, even though they were still maybe ten feet apart. Child, his brain told him. Shut up, he thought back. He’d nearly drowned, thought he’d abandoned Legend at sea, learned the thing he held so dearly it was part of his personhood had no care for him whatsoever, he was so bone-dead exhausted that he couldn’t move, and he wanted his big brother, damnit! The vet hurried to him on wobbly legs, spurred by the pathetic display.
He kneeled next to Wind in the sand, and gathered him in his arms. He moved them so the sailor was in his lap, and his back was supported by the palm tree. Wind clung to him, arms around his neck and face buried in his shoulder. His fingers tangled in and clenched the back of his soaked shirt. The vet smelled like sea water, his skin and hair were damp and gritty with sand. Wind trembled and pulled tighter, molding himself as close to his brother as possible. He cried openly into his shoulder, ugly and childish and utterly terrified.
“Shh, sailor…” Legend murmured, holding him tight against his chest, “You’re okay now. I’ve gotcha, you’re okay.”
A hand raised to comb through Wind’s wet hair. He could feel the vet pulling out clumps of sand, seaweed, and other maritime debrits. He shuddered against his neck, and cried in a way he hadn’t since his very first adventure. It was a full body experience, ringing him out like an old dish rag. He was exhausted, but Legend was warm and strong, holding him steady. He began to rock him, mimicking the rhythm of the sea. Wind hadn’t been rocked like this since he’d left home. It brought him back to gentle waters, a small fishing boat with Grandma and Aryll. The memory only made him cry harder. Because now he knows, the ocean doesn’t care about him. He hated that the calm, metronomic sway comforted him. How could he still love something that was so cruel?
“I thought– I thought–” Wind blubbered, smearing snot on the vet’s neck. Legend grimaced, but didn’t pull away. “I lost you! I thought you were–”
“Hush…” the veteran soothed, and pulled him closer, despite the snot and tears. “I’m right here, kid. You didn’t lose me. I’ve got you, Link. I’m here, we’re safe. Hush…”
The sailor hiccuped, and attempted to scoot farther from the ocean, into Legend’s arms. It didn’t do much, considering there was a palm tree in the way, and the two of them were about as close as they could get already. But it prompted Legend to rub circles into his back, and start humming a comforting tune. Something about the song reminded Wind of sailing. The inner conflict was awful, because his brother’s voice brought so much relief, and thoughts of sailing calm seas, with a crew that he treasured, on the ocean that was his home. But at the same time, all of that had forsaken him. Ships sank, crews fell apart, and the ocean cared for no man. It hurt, more than any battle scar ever had.
Eventually Wind cried himself out, letting exhaustion steamroll anything left in his system. He pulled his legs up to his chest, and curled into his brother’s lap. Legend had stopped humming a few minutes ago, but he continued to rock in that same familiar rhythm. The sun was beginning to set, and he could see the storm to the east, rolling away with the wind. There were no islands that far off the archipelago. Unless it ran into another unlucky sailor, it would hurt no one else. Wind sighed, and let his head loll on the vet’s shoulder. His shirt was still damp and sandy, but by now their skin and hair had dried. It was a well known, nostalgic feeling, like coming home after a long day at the beach. Another bullet point on the list of things Wind couldn’t love anymore.
“Some sunset, huh?”
Wind hummed, squinting at the horizon. The bright yellow sun tinged the sky around it green, which faded into blue, and then indigo, until eventually tiny pinpricks of stars could be seen through the vast fabric. The waves rolled gently, frothing at their lips. There was a lump in his throat that wouldn’t go away, and it tasted like the ocean. Legend sighed, sounding resigned.
“You okay, sailor?”
“M’fine…” the sailor replied. Legend frowned at him, and sighed again.
“All you can do is respect it,” he said, “And be smart. Sailing right into an oncoming storm? Stupid and disrespectful.”
Wind huffed, and shoved his shoulder. Not because he was rude, but because he was right.
“We do dangerous things as our lifework. We love things that hurt us sometimes. It’s okay to be scared, the ocean is scary. But it’s also a giver of life. It’s the mother of so many things, and she’s a tough love kind of parent. You’re a sailor, Link. The sea is your home. But you’ve gotten so comfortable that it had to remind you who’s in charge.”
Wind looked out at the ocean and tried to see it as a mother. Maybe not to Hylians, but it created the Zora, and by association, the Rito. It was Joanne and Jolene’s home, the Fishmen’s too. Legend wasn’t wrong, he rarely was. But still…
“Vet I– I’m scared,” he said into his neck, turning away from the sunset.
“I know, kid. That’s okay. You’ll probably be scared for a while. But don’t let fear steal your love for it.”
Legend kept combing his fingers through his hair, and started up his humming again. Wind hummed along with the parts he remembered, and his brother smiled. They sat there for a while longer, until the green was gone from the sky, and twilight colored the canvas.
“You still have that amulet that connects to the champion’s slate?”
Wind reached up and fingered the cord that was tied snugly around his neck. It was a miracle the thing didn’t get ripped off in the ocean. He nodded, and pulled it from his shirt.
“We should let them know we’re safe, and we need a ride back,” the vet said, hand still skritching at his sandy scalp. The idea of getting on another boat made Wind shiver, and subsequently get held closer to his brother’s chest. He wasn’t about to complain.
“Okay,” said Wind, and he heaved a great sigh. Legend was still here, the ship coming to pick them up would have a full crew, and the storm was well behind them. Respectful and smart, he repeated in his head. When the boat arrived, Sky waved to them from the bow. Wind clutched his brother’s hand, and the vet squeezed back. Together as crew, as family, they went back home.