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Legend scowled as the portal appeared during the second shift watch he’d been sharing with Time. He stood from the log he was on, and walked a few steps towards Warriors. He kicked the captain, still upset at their argument from earlier. He, the newcomer, had felt unsafe around the captain and had triggered the fight in his fight or flight response.
“What the hell, man?” Warriors asked. “I already apologized.”
Legend shrugged. “Portal. It was a fun way to wake you anyways.” Together, they woke the other five members, Sky – or The King of Naps, as Wind had affectionately nicknamed him – being the hardest to wake. It took several tries, with Wind and Four getting snuggled in their attempts to wake him, but they finally got Sky up. The eight heroes collected their items and put out the campfire and walked through the portal.
To say the place where they landed was bleak and barren would be an understatement. What should have been thick, healthy trees were peeling bark and wire-thin. There were no dead leaves to speak of. Ash and smoke hung thick and cloudy in the air, turning the sky a murky, depressing sight. What might have been the sun was the same color of blood freshly spilt, and there was no sign of any wildlife. The bushes were empty and barren. Wild looked horrified, he was a nature boy at heart and to see such a dead landscape wrecked his morale.
The heroes prodded forward until they came to a wrecked house. A silhouette of the castle was faintly visible through the smog. Legend’s eyes found a piece of wood that had once belonged to a sign. In bright purple paint resided a lower-case ‘I’ with the dot containing two bunny ears. He knew this style of lettering about as well as he knew himself. Legend’s heart hammered in his chest as his mental gears worked through what the sign meant.
“It’s sometime after mine.” Legend told the group, his voice breaking. “This sign, it’s from Ravio’s shop.” Legend’s eyes landed on a stone shrouded in shadows. He knew he really shouldn’t have gone over to it, but curiosity got the better of him. He knelt and read the inscription of two sentences. Ravio, I am glad you passed first and do not have to suffer my loss. May Hylia let you rest in peace. Next to it, sat a mirrored stone in a mockery of his sister’s handwriting, reading, Link, may you finally find rest after so many long years of service.
Time came up to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. Legend leaned into the touch. It was then that they heard the protests from what used to be a forest. “Let me go!” the voice yelled. Its pitch was similar to Wind’s. Eight warriors were armed and sprinting to the noise. “I swear, you won’t get my blood! Your plan won’t work!”
A monster grunted, and the chain broke through the dead trees to watch a moblin take the hostage on his shoulder and slam him into the trunk. The hostage stayed still, stunned silent, and slumped against the moblin’s hand. Eight heroes rushed into action, but more monsters blocked the path. Metal met club, and the moblin with the hostage began to run. “Cover me!” Legend yelled, activating his Pegasus boots and sprinting after the moblin. The moblin realized this and drew the dagger from its belt, holding it at the neck of its hostage.
“Stand down or I kill boy.” The moblin threatened. An arrow pierced the moblin’s forehead, courtesy of Wild, and the hostage fell to his knees, shaking. A gentle touch was going to be necessary, and Sky was still up against his own moblin. Legend picked up the dagger and the boy flinched as far as he could, his hands and feet bound together.
“I’m going to come over and cut that rope. Is that okay?” Legend asked, taking sight of the ragged, threadbare green tunic. Was he the hero of this time? The boy held his hands out and went utterly still. If he’d been covered in a stone-grey paint, Legend could have mistaken him for a statue, and that was saying something. Legend sliced the ropes in one quick motion. “Halfway there. May I see your feet?” The boy shifted, and Legend easily freed the boy from these ropes as well. He tossed the knife aside. Legend stood and offered a hand to the boy, who scooted back and stood on his own. “Do you have any parents we can take you to?”
The boy shook his head. “Nobody in the group has living parents,” Wild added from the edge of the dead clearing. “Time and Malon have practically adopted us, though.”
Speaking of Time, he stepped into view with a shield, a sword with rubies in the handle, and a bag with a magical signature similar to the ones each Link had. “The moblins dropped these. Do they belong to you?”
The boy nodded and moved to collect his things, cautiously looking around like a spooked animal. He stumbled a bit, and Legend moved beside him as the boy righted himself. Then, only a few seconds later, those innocent, fear-blown, forest-green eyes rolled back into their owner’s head, and the boy fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Legend was grateful he’d moved closer as the boy fainted right into Legend’s arms. It was with a pang of sadness that Legend realized the figure in his arms hardly weighed anything. Time was by Legend’s side before the veteran hero had even knelt. “Do you think getting slammed into a tree caught up with him?” Legend asked fearfully. Emotions he’d thought he’d buried deep enough to never return swelled within him. Care. Love. Concern. Warriors came up behind them both.
“Let’s remove his clothing so we can see the full extent of his injuries.” The medic suggested. Off came the tunic, equal parts holes and fabric, and it was shortly followed by his undertunic. The three heroes tending the boy came across an armored crop top of sorts. Legend untied the knots in the back, while Time tackled the left hand and Warriors worked on the right. When Time freed the hand he was working on, he gasped.
Legend turned towards Time, who answered, “I think we can safely say he’s one of us.”
Legend noticed what had made Time gasp. “No wonder the moblins wanted him. Question is why he’s got the full thing.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Time answered.
Warriors let Link’s eyes close from where he’d opened them to check for a concussion and stood, brushing his hands on his pants to remove the dirt. “No sign of injuries or head trauma. I think it’s malnourishment or starvation at this point.” The rest of the heroes gathered nearby.
“Wild, is there anything nourishing he can drink?” Time asked.
The hero in question shuffled his toe in the ashy dirt. “I can make broth if we get a fire going.”
“How long?” Time questioned.
Wild smiled. “30 minutes?”
“Do it. The quicker the better. If he’s fainted from hunger, he might not be able to hold on much longer.” Warriors interrupted.
Wind came up next to Legend. “Do you think he’s close to my age?” the young teen asked.
“I think so. He might even be younger.” Legend murmured sadly. The wait for the broth passed in unbearable nonchalant chatter for Legend, the unconscious hero set up in someone else’s bed roll after the clothes had been put back on. Sky wasted no time in setting up his own and going back to sleep. Legend sat near who he realized was his prodigy, watching for any change. After 30 minutes, Wild had a bowl of broth. Legend pulled his successor into his arms, wincing when he was brutally reminded of why they were in this position. Legend held the boy in a sitting position, as Time came over to help feed their newest member.
Warriors brought over a flask of water. “He’ll need to drink, too.”
Broth and water were poured down Link’s throat in small, spread-out sips. Wind was falling asleep on Four, who in turn was already out cold in Twilight’s lap, murmuring softly to himself. Wild set up two more bedrolls. Wind barely dragged himself over before falling asleep, and Twilight lifted Four with ease. Twilight set Four down and sat next to Wild by the fire.
The water and broth finally disappeared, and Warriors declared that there was no more they could do unless they wanted everything to come back up. Wild set his bedroll and Legend’s next to each other. “He can borrow mine.” Wild said. “I wanna take watch with Twi.”
Legend lifted the new Link with concerning ease, and they were settled in bedrolls relatively soon. Legend tried, he really did, but sleep evaded him. Over on the log, Wild and Twilight were looking at pictures on the slate. The next second, they both toppled over with muffled laughter, and Twilight whisper-yelled, “You’re dead, Wild!”
Said hero responded with, “Worth it!” as they both fell further into giggles.
“You’re supposed to be on watch.” Legend grumbled, sitting up.
Twilight at least had the decency to look ashamed as he apologized and told Wild to put the slate away. “Do I have to?” Wild whined, not unlike a child.
“Yes, cub. Let’s let Legend get back to sleep.” Twilight answered.
Legend rolled his eyes and flopped onto his back. “I was never asleep in the first place.”
A small groan came from Link. Any plans Legend had of sleeping were discarded and the veteran sat up. “Hey, how are you doing?” Legend asked gently, helping the hero beside him sit.
Link blinked. “Sore. Tired. And when did I end up on a cot with a blanket?”
“You… fainted,” Legend started, “And you’re on a bedroll because it wouldn’t be practical for me to hold you all night.”
Link looked around. “What happened to the monsters?”
“We killed ‘em.” Twilight answered from the log.
Legend looked Link in the eyes. “Do you not remember us rescuing you?”
“You cut my bonds,” Link told Legend, “and the guy in the blue tunic shot the arrow that killed the moblin holding me. Some guy in armor had my stuff. I don’t remember anything else besides that.”
Legend smiled sadly. “Yeah, that’s when you passed out.”
“Did I hit my head? Did I bleed?” Link panicked.
“No, thankfully. I caught you before that could happen.” Legend answered.
“You should probably sleep and let your body rest. A moblin slammed you into a tree. I’m surprised you don’t have a concussion.” Time added, sitting up.
“Dammit, old man, you should be sleeping not eavesdropping.” Legend complained.
“I cannot. It is a full moon. Or I think that is a moon, at least. It is rather hard to tell with the smoke and ashy air.”
Legend snorted. “What, are you a werewolf or something?”
“I prefer not to answer.” Time said. Link yawned and stood up. He walked a few paces to his supplies, grabbed them, and climbed a tree. He tied himself to its trunk with a rope.
“We’ve got a bedroll if you want it.” Legend called.
“Put the fire out if you don’t want to attract monsters,” Link called back, pulling a familiar green cap out of his bag and pulling over his eyes. Legend had similar mannerisms, each one meaning I’m done talking, leave me alone.
Legend laid down and sleep finally took him. It was light and dreamless. He preferred deep and dreamless, but that was only possible with Ravio’s specially prepared tea. And maybe his peaceful snores flowing into his ear. Morning arrived, and Legend awoke to a glaring sun that sent needles into his brain. Warriors and Wind were now on watch, and Wild was cooking breakfast. Twi was stirring and Time was doing a convincing job pretending he was stirring from sleep as well. Sky was still out, and Four was effectively trapped in the larger hero’s arms. Link was still asleep up in his tree. Wild called out to the entire camp, “Breakfast’s done!”
Legend could hear the muffled shriek as Link nearly fell out of the tree, the only thing keeping him from doing so being the rope around his waist. Legend watched as Link fixed his position and came down from the tree. He strapped his things to his back and the hero turned to leave, but Legend stopped him. “Eat with us, please.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t.” Link answered, sidestepping Legend. “I don’t wanna take your food.”
Legend gaped. “You fainted from hunger, kid. It’s the least we can do for you. And there’s something we need to talk to you about.”
“Oh,” Link said, body taking on all the mannerisms of cornered animal. Legend knew those mannerisms all too well.
Wind waved. “You can sit with me if you want!”
Link tensed beside Legend. “It’s okay to say no.” Legend whispered. Appreciation bloomed in Link’s eyes. “Maybe later, Wind.”
“Thanks,” Link said quietly, “But what do you mean by later? I’m only staying for breakfast at your insistence.”
Legend filled a plate for Link and thrust it into the hero’s arms. It was a small portion, which made it more likely to stay down. Legend knew Link wouldn’t even take a partial serving for himself if left to his own devices, they were all self-sacrificing idiots and this new one was no different. Legend heaped food onto his own plate and told Link, “That’s what we need to talk about.”
Link and Legend sat on a log a fair distance from the remains of the fire. “Okay, what do you need to talk to me about?”
“All eight of us are named Link as well,” Legend answered, “And we’re all heroes chosen by the goddesses. We think you might be one of us.”
Link dropped his half-cleared dish and bolted. Legend and Wild abandoned their food and went after him, the latter grabbing his slate as he went. Legend watched as Wild downed some strange elixir while running and rushed ahead to keep pace with Link. When Legend caught up, Wild was sheepishly standing off to the side and Link was suspended mid-step in a glowing yellow light. “What did you do to him?” Legend demanded.
“I’ll explain later, just grab him around the waist before it wears off.” Wild answered. Legend did as he was told as Link went from being frozen to flailing on Legend’s shoulder.
“Set me down!” Link yelled.
Wild began to run again, calling, “I’ll get the others!”
Link continued to thrash, but Legend held tight. “It’s not gonna work!”
“Are you talking about the Triforce? It works plenty well. It just causes a lot of trouble,” Legend told Link. “All of my companions can attest to that. Besides, only three of us saw it.”
“That’s three people too many.” Link answered, a slight slur to his voice now. His fighting slowed. Legend paused to think. Was he acting? Or was the blood rushing to his head from being held upside down getting to him, only aided by the malnourishment his body had been under? Legend lifted Link from his shoulder, noting his lack of weight once again. The hero put up no fight and instead staggered straight into Legend’s chest. Legend pulled Link in close and got them both into a sitting position. “Your ‘air’s pink, jus’ like Hero of L’g’nds,”
“What would you say if I told you I was the Hero of Legend?” Legend asked.
Link snorted, “Not b’lieve you,” Legend snapped his fingers in Link’s face, getting himself a few seconds of focus from the weakened hero.
“What about this?” Legend asked, showing Link the faded scar of the Triforce.
Link’s eyes went wide. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Actually, I get why you wouldn’t do that.”
“Do you believe me now?” Legend questioned, looking Link in the eyes.
Link nodded. “If you guys are all named Link, doesn’t that get confusing?”
“Yes, it does. We all have nicknames. The guy with the scar is Time, and he’s our leader. The one with the scarf is Warriors. Sky is the sleepyhead in the cape. Wind is the one who invited you to eat breakfast with him and Wild is the cook. Twilight is the one in the wolf pelt and Four is the one in the rainbow tunic. I’m Legend.”
“Do I have to go?” Link asked.
“Oh, I tried. Six adventures for the witch, but no, it still wasn’t good enough.” Legend answered, helping Link up. “Would you like to finish the food, at least?”
Link nodded, just as the rest of the chain burst through the branches that used to be lush foliage. “Oh, he’s calm now, of course. We jog over here for absolutely nothing.” Warriors complained.
Link blushed all the way to the tips of his pointy ears. “Sorry, Sky.”
Legend burst out laughing as Sky asked, bewildered, “What did you do to me that you need to apologize for?”
“He… got you… and Warriors… mixed up!” Legend wheezed. Link was so red by now that the color of his face resembled the color of one of Legend’s apples.
“They both have things around their necks.” Link defended.
Sky scootched closer. “Did nobody teach you the difference between a scarf and a cape?”
“There’s not really anyone to teach me. I’m dangerous, and people don’t want me around.” Link said.
Sky opened his arms for a hug. “We want you around, if you want to be.”
“What’s that thing you’re doing with your arms?” Link asked. Sky looked utterly hurt.
Luckily, Wind stepped into Sky’s arms to demonstrate. “It’s called a hug. It’s a sign of affection. Sky’s real good at giving ‘em.”
“You want one?” Sky questioned.
Link looked extra skittish. “It seems like I’d be trapped in your arms.”
“I don’t like hugs for that reason, just like you.” Legend admitted.
“How about just one arm around you?” Sky offered.
An embarrassed look passed over Link’s face. “I don’t want to make you do something just for me.”
“I love giving hugs.” Sky said. Link nodded and stood very still, his hand still clutching Legend’s. Slowly, cautiously, Sky’s arm snaked over Link’s shoulders, and stayed there, soft and gentle.
The heroes went back to camp, with Sky’s arm around Link the entire way. “We need a nickname for you!” Wind realized along the way. “Do you have a hero title?”
“I’m not a hero. I’m just a traveler who was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Link answered.
“But you still took up the quest or quests. That is heroic,” Time said, his tone almost making the two sentences sound like an order.
Link slouched under Time’s gaze. “I’m not a hero. I just protect the land when times call for it.”
“That’s heroic,” Legend argued, “You won’t change our minds.”
Wind pushed his face into Link’s. “And you’ve given us a name! We can call you Hyrule, for your dedication to the country!”
“Assuming you like that name,” Sky said, “We can always figure out something else.”
Link thought for a moment. Then he looked at Legend. “My princesses called me the Hero of Hyrule, just like Wind just did. What do you think?”
“I think it suits you. But this is what we’re calling you until the end of the adventure. You seriously want to leave it up to me?” Legend clarified.
Hyrule shrank in on himself and mumbled, “I like it. I also don’t have anything else.”
The heroes arrived at camp again and went back to their food. They had just finished eating and had began packing when a portal appeared. When packing was finished, they went through and landed in a new era. The sun was beginning to set, all golds and pinks streaking across the sky.
“Ugh, I hate when the portals do that!” Warriors groaned. An animalistic cry broke through the trees. “Monsters. Lovely.”
The monsters broke through the trees, an entire horde of them. Each member of the chain was quickly occupied with at least three monsters each, with more slowly cutting Hyrule off from the group and pushing him back.
“Vet!” Time called over the chaos, “Leave your monsters and help him! We’ll get them!”
Legend didn’t have to be told twice as he backflipped away from an attack. He incinerated his three monsters with a reckless blast from his best fire rod and ran after Hyrule. By the time he made it through the bushes, his successor’s sword was stuck in a tree trunk. Legend watched in horror as the shield was knocked from Hyrule’s hands.
That was obviously the last straw. Hyrule lifted his other hand into the air with a murderous gleam in his eyes. Hyrule’s eyes began to emit a teal light that matched the light his hands had. That light became lightning and flashed across the little clearing, killing all the monsters except one. Legend shrieked at the lightning, and lost all sense to a horrendous pain in his left thigh. Something warm and liquid-y oozed out as Legend’s legs gave out. He hit the ground with a thump and groan. Darkness encroached his vision.
Hyrule POV
Lightning erupted from his hands and killed almost all the monsters. The last one, a moblin with a spear, heard Legend shriek, and changed its focus from Hyrule to Legend, who looked frozen with fear and oh-so-vulnerable. The moblin threw its spear at Legend, who did nothing to block it, and merely collapsed when it embedded itself in his thigh. The moblin didn’t stand a chance against Hyrule’s fury. The mage lit his sword on fire, Jumped, and stabbed the moblin right through the neck. Hyrule turned to where Legend lay losing consciousness on the ground. The spear was still there. Hyrule broke it towards the neck and knelt by Legend. Hyrule yanked the spearhead out of Legend’s thigh and called on his Life spell. A pink glow enveloped his hands and Legend’s wound, and the injury knit itself closed, bit by bit. Hyrule swayed as Legend sat up a few seconds after his healing.
Legend POV
The world came back slowly. First a blur of colors. A soft, tired sigh. Hyrule’s face. Birdsong. Legend sat up slowly.
“Thanks for the fairy, ‘Rule.” Legend said.
Hyrule’s eyes fluttered. “Fairy?” he slurred. “Didn’ ‘ave one.”
Then why does my wound feel like it was blessed by fairy magic? Legend wondered. Legend was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t realize Hyrule was falling asleep next to him until the teen’s head rested on his shoulders. Legend pulled Hyrule’s right arm around his neck and raised the teen slightly. “Rule, don’t fall asleep. We need to walk back to camp.”
Legend received no answer. “Rule, wake up. We gotta get back to camp.” Hyrule didn’t stir. Had the monsters hurt him? Legend looked over Hyrule and saw no blood. Legend reached out with his small magic reserves and found the issue. Hyrule’s own reserves were completely empty. Legend could also tell that his successor was deeply intwined in magic. At least Hyrule just needed to sleep off the magic exhaustion instead of being injured. It took some shuffling around, but Legend finally managed to get Hyrule on his back. He tied the teen’s hands around his neck with his hat. He took step after step back the way he came, grabbing Hyrule's sword and shield as he went.
“Ledge?” Hyrule mumbled from his back.
Legend could have jumped for joy. If Hyrule was waking up, maybe his reserves filled quickly. “I’m here, Rulie.”
“M tired.” Hyrule whispered.
Legend winced. “I know,” he said, “Magic exhaustion, remember?”
“Sorry.” Hyrule murmured.
“It’s okay, ‘Rule. I’ve got you.” Legend told the tired teen. Hyrule laid his head back down on Legend’s neck and fell back asleep quickly.
Sweat fell down Legend's face as he made his trek back towards the others. The getting back was taking longer then the run to aid did. Right as Legend thought maybe he'd got turned around somehow Twilight crashed through the foliage.
"Legend," Twilight came up to them seeing Hyrule unconscious. "How’s he doing? He hurt anywhere?”
“Nope, just magic exhaustion.” Legend answered, as he untied his hat and allowed Twilight to carry ‘Rule the rest of the way to camp. Wind was the first one there, but Warriors had to push him away to check on Hyrule. Wild brought over a snack of honeyed apples and left them near the cot that had been set up for his unconscious teammate.
“Legend.” Time said. Legend’s heart immediately went into bunny mode. “Walk with me.”
Legend winced and said, “Yes, sir.”
“I appreciate the respect, but there’s no need to call me sir, Legend.”
“Oh.” Legend breathed.
“I want to know your side of the story of what happened with Hyrule, if you don’t mind.” Time said.
“He used this lightning spell, which triggered a past trauma – no you are not getting any more detail than that, old man -, I took a spear to my thigh because of that, and the next thing I know, he’s all but fainted from magic exhaustion. I think he has some sort of fairy blessing, because I come back to awareness with a healed thigh. He said he had no fairy when I thanked him for using one.”
“That sounds useful, but I’ll need his side of the story too.” Time said.
When they returned to camp, they found Sky stroking Hyrule’s hair. Legend growled – honestly growled – and whisper-yelled, “He’s my successor! It’s my job to stroke his hair as he sleeps.”
Sky didn’t even look scared as he answered, “I came first, so technically he’s mine, you’re mine, everyone here is mine.”
Wind laughed as Sky moved over for Legend to sit next to Hyrule. Legend reached into his pack and laid his finest blanket over Hyrule and whispered, although not quietly, “Sleep well, ‘Rule.”