Chapter Text
The Hero of Time awoke with a splitting headache. The earthy scent of grass tickled his nose as he inhaled. He forced his eyes to open, only to be assaulted with the blinding sunlight above him. He shielded his eyes with the back of his hand as he sat up. An assortment of grassy hills stretched out around him. He could vaguely make out the silhouette of a forest in the distance. A single dirt road cut through the grass, creating a trail in either direction. There wasn’t a person in sight.
“Hello? Anybody?” he called out. No response.
The young man pulled himself up to his feet. He didn’t recognize this place. He’d traveled across every inch of Hyrule during his adventures. If this was a place he’d been to before, surely he would have recognized it. This was somewhere unfamiliar. So that begged the question: where was he?
Or maybe it was “when?” After traversing through time for so long, he’d developed something like a sixth sense. He could feel the natural flow of time around him. He could tell when its course had been tampered with. If he concentrated hard enough, sometimes he could even see the memories soaked into the land around him. Right now, his Time Senses were clanging bells in the back of his head. Yeah, this was definitely a “when.”
He had so many questions. How did he get here? Usually when he ended up in a strange time, it was because he’d been messing around with the Ocarina. But he didn’t have it anymore. Hell, he hadn’t even seen the thing in years. He’d given it back to Princess Zelda after he returned from Termina. He couldn't stand it anymore; living out entire years while his body hardly aged. Physically, his body was in his early twenties or so. How old he was on the inside is anybody’s guess. He’d never bothered to do the math.
Well, he wouldn’t be able to get home by just standing around here thinking. He stared at the path in front of him, debating which way to go. Hm, he could head into the forest and hope it led somewhere. Or, he could climb over those hills and hope they led somewhere. What truly great options. Forest, then.
Forests always reminded him of his childhood home.This was a much smaller forest, but still a good one. Strong trees created a thick canopy of green overhead. Little squirrels darted between the bushes. He spent a while just walking, identifying the bird calls in the distance. A bit of wind rustled through his hair, and he stopped to fix his cap. He still wore the Kokiri colors even after all this time. What can he say? He’s still a fairy boy at heart.
The peaceful nature walk was shortly interrupted. He wasn’t sure what tipped him off first. Maybe it was the fact that the birds stopped singing. Or maybe it was how the leaves whipped restlessly in the wind. Whatever it was, it had him reaching for his sword. He waited for something to happen. Now, he could definitely hear something up ahead. There was a lot of scuffling and growling going on. He went to investigate.
He found the source of the commotion pretty quickly. A gang of four Lizalfos were chasing a large gray wolf. That’s not something you see everyday. The monsters had their prey surrounded and outnumbered. The wolf looked tired, and Link could see a bit of blood in its fur. One of the monsters struck the wolf with its spiked tail. The blow sent the poor animal yelping and skittering across the dirt. Link winced, all too familiar with that feeling.
“Hey!” He shouted loudly. “Look over here!”
He could handle four of these things even with the non-magical sword he carried now. One reptilian charged at him with its crude spear raised. Lizalfos were fast, but not very precise. He sidestepped the spear and watched the confused monster stumble by him. He wasted no time slicing through its back. The monster let out a loud shriek, but it didn’t faze him. That was nothing compared to the ear-piercing scream of a ReDead. Goddess, he hated ReDeads.
One down, three to go. He made the first move this time. Better to keep these things guessing. His sword clashed with the wicked blade of an ax. He shifted his balance to push the creature backwards. It jumped back just as another one came barreling in with outstretched claws. Link hefted his shield to deflect. While his shield hand was raised, his sword hand went back to work fending off the ax. He caught movement in the corner of his eye: the third creature getting ready to charge. Oh no.
Thinking quickly, he gave one final push and ducked. The two monsters weren’t fast enough to stop themselves from impaling each other. He barely had a second before the final creature rushed at him. Just as he lifted his sword, the wolf came to his rescue. It launched itself into the beast and sunk its teeth into the reptile’s flesh. Both wolf and lizard tumbled into the dirt. Link watched as the wolf ruthlessly tore out the monster’s throat. The wolf stood up and shook itself off.
“Thanks, little buddy.” Link knelt down to pet the furry animal.
He stopped short. Something was strange about the wolf’s eyes. They were too blue, too bright, too aware. Those sapphire eyes stared back at him with blazing intensity. It blinked quizzically for a moment. Then, it started barking.
“Woah, woah.” Link raised his hands defensively. “It’s okay, I'm not gonna hurt you.”
But the wolf didn’t seem scared. The sounds it was making were even and steady, almost like words in a sentence. Was it… trying to talk to him? He’d seen weirder things in his lifetime. The wolf stopped suddenly and looked down at its own paws. It looked up at him again, with its eyes glowing brighter than before. A strange dark mist started to rise from its fur. Link backed away in uncertainty. Now what was going to happen? He didn’t know what to expect. He certainly wasn’t expecting to watch its form morph into a Hylian.
He looked barely older than nineteen. Unkempt brown hair framed a tanned face. Worn leather armor rested over a fraying green tunic and a black undershirt. Despite his age, he had quite a collection of scars. One large slice spilled across his forehead. Smaller nicks were scattered around his face. A series of jagged claw-marks disappeared under the collar of his shirt. Link wondered what could have done that to someone so young.
A familiar soft heat began to pulse on the back of Link’s left hand. He looked down to notice that his Mark of Courage was glowing. But why? The young man in front of him was looking at his own hand as well. Link spotted the same golden mark on him. What in Nayru’s name was going on here? That was when he finally noticed the purple hilt of a very familiar blade.
Wait a minute.
“Are you… a Chosen Hero of the Goddesses?” Link asked.
That had to be it. He had the mark of the Triforce of Courage, so he had to be a Chosen Hero. Link knew that there had been other Heroes before him, and there were probably more in the future by that logic. He’d never met another Hero in his adventures so far. No time like the present, he supposed. Not much surprised him anymore.
The young man crossed his arms suspiciously. He spoke with a gruff accent that reminded Link of a rancher. “Maybe. Who’s askin’?”
Link chuckled and held up his own left hand. “Someone who’s been in the same boat.”
“Yeah right--” He studied Link’s hand for a moment. “Damn, that’s the mark alright. But I thought one of us had to die for another one to be born. Isn’t that how this whole ‘reincarnation’ thing works?”
Link chuckled. “You’re not wrong. I’m a time traveler.”
“Huh.” The younger Hero nodded.
“You don’t look very surprised.”
“Not really. I’ve never traveled through time, but I’ve got some experience hopping to different worlds. If somethin’ like that was possible, I figured time travel could be, too.”
A dimension-traveler, huh? That was interesting. Link wasn’t as experienced with that as he was with time. But he was familiar enough with the concept. As much as he wanted to satisfy his curiosity, he really had better questions he should be asking. He was still confused as to how he ended up in this Hero’s time. Whenever this was.
“So what’d ya fuck up?” This guy sure was blunt.
“Excuse me?”
“I woke up in a random forest with a man claiming to be a time traveler. So I’ll ask again: what’d you fuck up?”
Link was a little taken aback. “Why do you assume this is my fault? I woke up here too. For all we know, your dimension-jumping could have done this.”
He just shook his head. “Nah, it doesn't just snatch up random people. And it only takes me to this creepy place called the Twilight Realm, not… wherever the hell this is.” He gestured to the forest around them.
“So you’re positive you didn’t do this?” Link confirmed out loud. “And I know I didn’t do this. So that begs the question: how did we get here?”
“Beats me.”
Perfect. They had no idea where they were or how they got here. They might not have a way out, either. Link didn’t have the Ocarina of Time to transport them somewhere more familiar. And he didn’t really want to go to whatever the Twilight Realm was. This was not good at all. But since they were stuck together, he might as well get to know this other Hero.
“What’s your name, by the way?”
The boy looked up from his thoughtful brooding. “Link.”
Oh no. Don’t tell him they all share the same name too. Why?! And why ‘Link’ of all names? The Hero of Time was so stunned that he actually started laughing. “Pft, ha ha ha!”
The other Link scowled. “I know it’s kinda odd but ya don’t have to laugh, jackass.”
He had to stifle his laughter enough to talk properly. “No, no that’s not it. I’m laughing because my name is Link.”
The dimension traveler blinked slowly. Then, he cracked a big smirk. “Aw hell, that is funny! Which deity came up with that one?”
They laughed together at the absolute absurdity of their lives.
“So how did you do that back there? Turning into a wolf, I mean. You obviously didn’t use an enchanted mask. Is it some other kind of magic?”
He reached under the collar of his tunic and produced some kind of amulet. A strange black crystal with gold markings was tied around his neck. Dark magic seemed to radiate from the object.
“The Twilight Realm isn’t fond of outsiders. Its magic transforms you with a powerful curse. It’s supposed to mimic your ‘true self’ or what have you. It must’ve gotten a bad impression of me, considering it turned me into a beast. The light of the Master Sword was able to seal the curse into this crystal. I can shift between forms at will now.”
“I see.” So the Hero’s Spirit is a wolf, huh? They certainly did enough fighting for that. “So what should I call you? Wolfie?”
“Don’t you dare.” The wolf hero grumped. “Hm… well, a lotta people have started calling me the Hero of the Twilight Realm. I guess it’s fine if you wanna call me Twilight.”
“If that’s how we’re doing this, it’s only fair that you call me Time.” He stuck out one hand. “It’s good to meet you, Hero of Twilight.”
Twilight gripped his hand with a firm nod. “Likewise, Hero of Time.”
“Ow.”
“You missed one.” Proxi pointed out.
The little fairy hovered around the Hero of the Ages as he picked thorns out of his tunic. Getting dropped into random eras was kind of their thing, but did it have to put them on the edge of a cliff? He’d fallen off the damned side and landed right into a thorn bush. The shoulder he’d landed on might’ve gotten sprained.
“You’re-- ow-- helpful as ever, firefly.” Link ground his teeth as he yanked yet another thorn out of his skin. He dragged himself out of the bush, only to be yanked back down when his blue scarf got tangled. “Argh, for the love of Din--”
“A knight really shouldn’t curse like that.” She commented.
“Forgive me, oh Lady of Esteemed Insects.” Link finally managed to get himself free. He kicked the offending bush in exasperation.
“Can we go now?”
“Hold on.”
He dusted himself off indignantly and adjusted his clothing. The Hero took pride in his station as a royal knight. It wouldn’t do for anyone to see him looking like some forest bumpkin. The man had a great reputation to uphold, after all! He took off his cap and started smoothing down his hair, careful not to mess up the small braid that framed the left side of his face.
“Gods, you’re so vain.” Proxi muttered.
“You’re just jealous of my stunning good looks.”
The sprite didn’t dignify that with a response. “So where do you think we ended up this time?”
Link finally stopped grooming himself and looked around. The terrain was rocky. Little blades of grass peaked out from in between thick stone slabs. A few dry trees decorated the area. Off in the distance, he could see a large mountain cutting into the sky.
“I think that’s Death Mountain over there. Judging by how far off it is, I’d say we’re probably close to central Hyrule. What era we’re in is really anybody’s guess.”
“I wonder why we’re here?” Proxi questioned out loud. “Do you think there’s trouble?”
“That’s usually why portals open up for us. But how do we find the source? Maybe we should try to find a village and ask around? If there’s trouble nearby, the locals would be able to point us in the right direction.”
“Let’s do that.” Proxi agreed.
The duo set off on yet another adventure. As they walked, Link started to get increasingly confused. The landscape here didn’t look like any of the eras they’d traveled to before. Hyrule didn’t always look the same in every era, but this was different. Hills stood where rivers should have been. Dense forests resided in the wrong places. Nothing was right here. There were only two options he could think of. One was that they were either in a very early past or distant future. The other was that they’d crossed into an alternate timeline again. Neither of those options were particularly appealing.
“Hey glitter bug.” Link started.
“Yes, annoying mortal?”
“Do you think coming here was a bad idea? You know, with the situation back home?”
Proxi bounced slightly as she fluttered. “Oh, you mean the ‘situation’ where Queen Zelda asked you to move into the castle and you took off without giving her an answer? Yeah, I’d say this is pretty bad timing.”
“Sheesh, tell me how you really feel.”
“What exactly is the problem?” His fairy friend asked. “You’d be surrounded by all those fancy lords and ladies, heaping titles and riches at your feet. Not to mention the soldiers who sing your praises day and night. You’re such an egomaniac, I thought you would’ve jumped at the chance.”
Link’s smile twitched just for a second. “Yeah. Being in the castle is great, but I just don’t think it’s the right time. I still want to be out here with the adventures, the fighting, the daring rescues. I’m not ready to let that go yet.”
Proxi was quiet for a moment, then she sighed. “I get it. Doing what we do is a rush unlike anything else in the world. The excitement is almost addictive. But it’s been five years, Link. Eventually, we’re gonna have to stop.”
“Do we? Why can’t it just stay like this? We’ll keep traveling the ages together. We could go to the past, the future, and everywhere in between. We can stop to visit Zelda and the others whenever we want.”
“And what about when Zelda asks you to marry her, huh?” Proxi asked in a somber tone. “Don’t try to deny it, we both know it’s been a long time coming. Are you gonna turn her down because it’s ‘not the right time’?”
The fairy flew in front of his face to make her point. Link stopped without a word. He was uncharacteristically silent.
“Go on, tell me I’m wrong.” She prompted. “Tell me you don’t see it. You’d just be fooling yourself. It bothers her how you always rush off. You’ve asked her to wait for you, and she has. But she’s not going to wait around forever. Eventually, she’s going to take the initiative.”
“Quiet.” was all he said.
“Don’t ‘quiet’ me, you know it’s true! Burying your head in the sand won’t--”
“No Prox, be quiet !” He hushed her with more urgency this time.
She landed on his shoulder to listen without her wingbeats in the way. She heard the footsteps that she’d missed before. They weren’t far off, and were getting closer.
“How many?” She whispered.
Link strained his ears. “Ten. Maybe eleven?”
“People or monsters?”
“Too quiet to be monsters, but they could be hostile. Get ready to fly just in case.”
“Okay.”
He reigned his mind into the military focus that had gotten him through the War. There were potential enemies incoming. Ten of them, maybe more: intentions unknown. He’s outnumbered. The terrain is unfamiliar. He’s at a disadvantage. Conclusion: he should hide.
He looked around him for cover. There were a few dead trees and rocks, but nothing big enough to hide him. He could head back up the path and try to find something. No, he wouldn’t get anywhere before being spotted. He could strike first-- no. No, he doesn’t know for sure they’re a threat. He can’t risk it. Don’t be impulsive, he scolded himself.
“Stop there, Hylian.” One of them connanded.
He complied. Every single one of them was wearing the Yiga Clan crest. That didn't sit well in his stomach. It’s fine , he repeated to himself like a mantra. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine. It wasn’t working. The ten Yiga warriors approached him. He sized them up quickly. Two archers. Two dagger-wielders. Six swordsmen. If this turned ugly, he was screwed.
They were speaking to each other in Sheikah. Link suddenly regretted not paying attention when Impa had tried to teach him the language before. He had no idea what they were saying. One of them approached him silently. He took a calculated step back. He could play this off.
“Uh, hey. I’m a traveler who’s gotten a little turned around. Do you think you could--”
His body reacted before his mind really processed what was happening. Suddenly, his sword was in his hand, it was fending off the short blade that had been thrust at him. Not good! His fairy friend sprang from his shoulder and launched herself high above. There wasn’t much she could do to help in a fight, so she’d learned how to be his eyes in the sky. The ten Yiga fighters attacked all at once. He ducked under an arrow, dodged an incoming dagger, and blocked a sword strike. Proxi shouted warnings and directions at him from the air.
Link was confused. He was vaguely familiar with the Yiga Clan. They were a group of radical Shiekahs who split from the tribe. Sure, they descended from the warrior clan, but they acted more like a creepy cult than a fighting force. He'd never heard of them attacking people at random. At least, not in his own time. What in the world was going on in this era?
He’d cut their numbers in half by the time he caught a slice to his leg. It wasn’t deep, thank the Goddesses, but it still took him off-balance. The Hero went down to one knee. The fighters left standing surrounded him. Their leader raised up his blade and readied to bring it down.
“Link!” Proxi descended from the sky. She buzzed around the clansman’s blade and flapped her wings in front of his face. It was foolish, but it was all she could do.
“Annoying little pest.” The clansman smacked her aside with the back of his hand.
“Proxi, no--”
Something slammed into the back of his head, and his vision went dark.