Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The simple dirt path lay silently on the outskirts of the village, no travelers walking through this part at this time of day. All who wanted to get in had already done so, long before the sun started slowly setting behind the horizon. Last rays of its light stretched over the ground, leaving a beautiful red and almost pinkish glow on the grass and other greenery. The wind calmly blew back and forth, taking the fallen leaves and pulling them away with an ease. Most of the squirrels, birds and other creatures have already settled in their nests and what not, preparing for the night.

It was a quiet and peaceful evening.

Until it wasn’t.

Ripping the time and space, right in the middle of the road, the portal made its appearance. It promptly swirled around itself, growing in size, before starting spewing bodies out. First two flopped down on the ground with an audible thud.

“Hylia be merciful, was it necessary!!?” Four whined for all and everyone to hear, not rushing to stand up. Next to them Wind seemed to accept his fate as well, staying faceplanted in the sand and dust, mumbling unintelligibly. There were definitely a few curses woven in between words.

“I mean really, how hard it is to-”

“----aaaaaAAAA!” Smith’s complaints got promptly overtaken by the fellow hero’s scream as he literally flew above their heads from the portal. Landing a few meters away, Warriors got up in a sitting position almost instantly, turning head around and shooting daggers in the swirling mass’ direction.

As Twilight exited next it became obvious that the older hero was not in fact simply angry with the portal.

“What do you think you are doing!?” Wars shouted.

Rancher only grinned wider at him. Adopting a mockingly serious expression, he said. “Time clearly stated that we are leaving. I just assumed you didn't hear him so I took it upon myself to help you out.” His ear suddenly twitched and just as Twilight stepped over the still lying on the ground Four and Wind, Legend appeared through the portal, flying directly at the Captain and promptly stopping any preceding complaints the man was ready to spew.

Leaning with his elbows on Warrior’s stomach, and ignoring his annoyed grunts, Legend rose up. “Hyrule, what the actual fuck?”

Hyrule looked totally unbothered as they stepped their foot on the ground, only slightly wincing at the change of magic around them. Acclimatizing rather quickly, they swiped the dust off their hands, moving aside to give space to the remaining heroes to enter the era. “I saw that look on your face. We were not fighting that Gleeok! You were not fighting that Gleeok!” The healer pouted. “And even if you did, I would have not healed you afterwards. Purely out of spite.”

“Thank the Three Goddesses then, that the portal appeared right on time.” Time added, finally the first one to stop and help the boys off the road.

“But did you really have to throw me in? Like this?!” Legend continued, still trapping Wars underneath him.

Hyrule didn’t answer for a hot moment, just staring him down and wearing the expression that did not fit for someone who’s supposed to treat the hurt and wounded. “That's my way of entertainment.”

Everyone froze to stare, yet no one dared to question their methods.

And finally, closing the procession and making the portal at last close, came Wild. He confusedly glanced at the whole scene unfolding in front of him, huffing at the other heroes. He then turned away and inspected the surroundings, grinning to himself upon some realisation.

“Legend?”

The said boy was currently dusting off his tunic, finally back off the ground. He raised a confused glance at Champion, before quickly widening his eyes, looking particularly miserable. “…no. No, don’t tell me-!”

Wild only grinned wider. “We are back in my era!”

—-----------------------

They’ve settled for the camp for the night to not disturb the locals at such a late hour. Wild practically beamed with happiness the whole time, smiling widely and humming some tunes under his nose while cooking for the group.

“What got you so excited?” Hyrule suddenly popped up next to the Champion, soft expression on their face.

Taking another spoonful of Wild’s own diner portion and then placing the bowl on his knees, he signed back. “There's a village right around here. I really wants you guys to see it.”

“Any particular reason?”

Wild hummed thoughtfully for a moment. Weighing his options, he finally settled on actually telling the healer, surprise be damned. Either way, the others already finished their meals and slowly started drifting away to sleep, so barely any of them would even notice him “say” it. “A few, actually.” He checked the slate earlier, so he was pretty certain about the date and the season in his era. “We’ve got dropped here at the right time. Perfect, even.”

“Perfect for what?” Hyrule questioned further.

The distant sound of waves hitting on the rocks along the chore reached Wild’s pointy ears, the salty scent of water drifting around him with the wind. Wild would have really wanted his tail out right now to be able to wriggle it satisfiedly behind him. He grinned.

—----------------

Time, the third on the night watch, let the Chain sleep in for a little longer the next morning. The Champion, who surprisingly woke up earlier than usual, though looked quite impatient to keep going, did not confront the leader’s decision. Not because he was scared to say something, but simply because in their busy lives full of traveling and fighting and healing from wounds, any rest they could get, they should. So, to get his energy somewhere, he busied himself with preparing breakfast instead.

Not long after, some of the other boys started tossing in their sleeping bags, slowly waking up and welcoming the new day ahead of them. Little did they know what Wild was planning for them.

They quickly ate their breakfast, Wild practically needing to spoon feed the Sailor with how sleepy and groggy he was. He tended to be like this after spending a night next to the running body of water. Should be something akin to a habit or routine from living next to the ocean all his life, perhaps. Wild chuckled, leaving a cup of tea in Wind’s waiting hands after he finished his plate of pancakes. The kid might not hear the ocean from behind these giant rock formations, but he definitely could feel it.

“Okay, so what is our next course of action?” Warriors expectantly turned to Wild. They’ve already collected their things, put the fire down and were ready to move out.

“Oh, you’re gonna love it.”

He led them down the road they appeared on just the day prior, refusing to answer any of their questions. He even managed to resist Wind’s sad puppy eyes, which was a fit on its own. There was a unique lightness in his movement, happiness and excitement radiating out of him in every step. Whatever Wild was about to show to the others, it sure was something deeply special to him.

Half an hour or so later they came to a stop before the entrance gate of a village. On a wooden sign atop of it was carved a name: Lurelin village.

“A village? You wanted to show us a village?” Legend, blunt in his honesty as always, asked. His harsh tone did little to sour Wild’s good mood, even though he was thankful for Hyrule fixing Vet’s demeanor with one precise elbow strike to his ribs. Healer’s elbows were extremely gaunt and bony, Wild new firsthand.

“Not just any village. This is where I was raised!” Wild enthusiastically signed back. That got the others' attention.

Not wasting any time at the gates, the Chain stepped into the village.

“You never told us you were from the village by the ocean? Like me!” Wind ran up to the Champion, ears perked up at the opportunity to see where his brother was from. Sailor might have been the closest with Wild out of the whole group, and, because of the Sheikah’s general closedness regarding his past and private life, learning something new about him was always a big win in Wind’s book.

Wild only smiled. “You never asked. And there wasn’t any right or fitting moment to mention it, anyway.” He shrugged. Wind actually pouted at such an explanation. “You know now, don’t you?” The pouting intensified. Wild let him be.

Noone was guarding the entrance gates, to some of the heroes’ surprise and concern, but Wild quickly reassured their worries. Lurelin was a rather peaceful village, located at the furthest corner of the kingdom, hidden in between the labyrinth of tall rock formations and hills. Only recently did the locals start welcoming traders and just regular visitors from the other regions and settlements into their village, preferring to stick to themselves at the times when Hyrule was not yet saved by Link, when everything was still not quite safe. They were pretty self-sufficient too: living on meat and fish that they got from their own livestocks and fishing trips respectively. A few of the villagers had their separate little gardens, the harvest of which they happily shared with the rest.

Wild didn’t remember much of his childhood now, but hearing all of this from his mom and other villagers made it all sound so right, like the most common knowledge in the whole world. An echo of his previously pieceful life that he once had one hundred years ago. This time, Wild will do everything in his power to never forget this again.

“So you are from here? I honestly thought you were raised in Kakariko, or some other Sheikah village.” Time walked next to the Champion. The Old Man questionably looked at him. “The Sheikah are usually a pretty reserved and estranged clan from what I know about their culture.”

“You would not be entirely wrong. They are more open now, but back then, pretty much like all others, they stuck to themselves and stayed within their customs and territory.” Wild dropped his eyes to the ground, a sore expression finding its way over his features. “My family was not really on good terms with the clan at the time.”

A second passed. Time furrowed his brows, waiting a few moments for the boy to elaborate. He didn’t, silently leading the group further down the slope to the village. Time let the topic fade out without a word.

Before they knew it, they were at the central square of the Luralin village. Not a lot of people even noticed them at first, too busy with their morning routines. Laundry will not wash itself alone, breakfast would not get prepared, kids would not wake up on their own without parental nagging. Some of the folk were putting up tents along the sides, the fabric of azure blue with light green swirls patterns on it. A common theme for the village, used widely in clothing and decorations.

On the other side, some group of elders were talking among themselves, while a younger man next to them was cleaning some kind of instrument lying on his laps. It was made of metal bars laid next to each other and attached to a wooden plank, and produced a sound when you hit them with a small hammer.

The village was slowly filling up with life as everyone was waking up and leaving their houses. The Chain hastily looked around, enchanted by the beauty of the place.

The golden sand under Wild’s feet sent a warm feeling through his being, welcoming him back home. The seagulls were slowly flying high above, yelling and screaming their whole souls out. No matter how familiar it was, Wild never quite missed that sound scrapping over his ears constantly. The swishing of the waves foaming against the shore was another story entirely. Wild seemed to never get enough of it! Mother used to tell him that, when he was little, he would stay up really late after the whole village would go to bed, and sit silently at the beach and listen.

Wild might need to try doing this again when he’ll get a chance.

Suddenly, voices of children ranged not so far from the group, calling out the Chain’s shared name. “Link!” All nine heads spinned to the sound.

Along the shore and towards them ran two girls, one visibly a few years older than the other, and a small boy. They waved their hands high, continuously drawing attention, before promptly throwing themselves at the Champion. “Link, you’re back!”

Wild’s smile spread so wide, it started hurting, though he didn’t care much about that. He twirled the older girl in his hands, before grabbing the other two kids as well and holding them all together over the ground as if they weighed nothing to him. The kids giggled at being handled like that. It probably was not a rare occurrence for them.

“Hi there, little demons!” Wild chuckled, hugging the children even tighter, before, at last, dropping them back on their feet. With his hands free again, the hero returned back to signing. “Were you behaving yourself while I was gone?”

The group looked with an undisguised interest as Wild had a sweet little conversation with the local younglings, from time to time switching from signs to voice. The younger ones seemed to still be in the process of learning sign language and needing the guidance of the older girl with some words. Wild patiently waited for her to explain what was unclear, interfering only when asked. She wanted to feel grown up and independent, so he let her.

At last, the conversation ended and Wild shoo-d them away, the kids laughing loudly and waving him and his companions goodbye. As he followed their retrieving forms along the beach his features softened even more. “They are good kids.” He then turned fully to the other heroes. “We should go see the elder. They might need some help with the preparations.”

The group shared a confused look. “…Preparations for what?” Twilight voiced the question shared within the heroes.

—————————————

“The Dancing Dragon Festival!” The Elder clapped their hands together, enlightened. Ali was an older lady, with the sunkissed face and happy wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. She was an Elder of the village for almost half of her life now, inheriting this position right from her own mother before her. She became an honorable leader, deeply respected by the people.

Ali didn’t knew Wild for very long, only a few years, and yet treated him like her own blood family. When he called for her outside of her hut, she opened the door with the expression of pleasant surprise, enlightened to see the boy. She stayed with the group outside, not inviting all of the boys inside only because they would simply not fit in her humble housing.

“Dancing…Dragon festival?” Four tried out the name, brows furrowed in thoughtful expression.

“Oh, I see Link didn’t tell you yet.” In a moment, the elder turned to Wild, who was standing right next to her, and started pulling him by his unscared ear. It would have been an effective scolding, if not for the fact that Ali was a rather short lady and Wild had to purposefully bend down for her to reach his ear. She didn’t pay much attention to this little detail though. “He was always the kind to forget something like this. Always in the clouds, this boy.”

The tugging didn’t sting Wild as much as the rest of the group chuckling at his unfortunate position. His cheeks blushed a little, yet he knew it was all friendly and lighthearted. “Ba, stop it.”

“Oh, let me have it. You didn’t visit us for a while, and then, out of the sudden, you appear right before the festival. Can’t miss it, can’t you?” She teased him just a little more before, just as quickly as she started, she left his ear be. She patted Wild on the back. “Okay enough. You still need this healthy ear of yours to hear the rhythm.”

Barely audible, Champion muttered under his breath something along the lines that both of his ears could hear well actually. She ignored his mumbling entirely, attacking his hair next with her vigorous ruffling. “It has been a long time since I saw you in green. What happened?” She sharpened her gaze, looking the Champion right in the eyes.

The question seemed totally out of left field to any outsider, yet Wild looked like he had to think his answer through. “Couldn’t do it…” He glanced momentarily at the Chain, before just as quickly returning back to the elder. “-not right now.”

She squinted her eyes, nodding slowly. She let go of him in an instant, said nothing more and instead turned to the rest of their audience who watched the scene in front of them with an unconcealed confusion. She clapped her hands together again and started cheerfully. “Well then, do any of you know how to dance?”

A silence fell over the Chain at the sudden change of topic. No one knew how to answer. “Um…well-“

A realisation caught up with the elder soon after. “Oh, Farosh above, I didn’t explain yet, did i? Link might have gotten his forgetfulness from me, I fear.” She waved her hand. Wild would have corrected her that they were not relatives, but he let her be instead. It was a lost battle already. The old woman dearly loved the hero as a grandson she never had. “Here, in Lurelin village, we have this celebration called the Dancing Dragon Festival. It stems from this old tale that my grandma used to tell me.

More than a century ago, the great dragon of Faron Forests had a child of his own. Yet, unlike his parent, the child wasn’t a dragon spirit. Unlike his parent, the child was a hylian. Not being fit to raise the hylian on its own, the dragon bestowed his child upon these lands. The quiet and peaceful village at the corner of the kingdom was chosen by the spirit to take upon themselves to raise the lightning dragon’s youngling. The people did its bidding rightfully and faithfully, and in return were blessed with dragon’s protection upon the village. So when the Calamity shook the reality of everyone and all, the village survived. The village prospered to this day where the others, unfortunately, didn’t get to recover.

And as a show of their deepest gratitude, once every four seasons the people of the village partake in festivities in the name of our protector.”

Ali squared her shoulders, standing slightly taller. Prouder.

“Lurelin was that village. And Farosh was that dragon.” She smiled at the boys. “The Dancing Dragon Festival was the name given to the celebration, after the dragon youngling performing the main role in the festival dance at the time he lived among us. These days, Link takes this role upon himself.” She waved in the Champion’s direction.

All eyes darted straight to Wild. His ears twitched at such sudden attention and surprised murmurs. A few of the locals giggled at the group's reaction along with the Elder. Seemed like her retelling managed to gather some outside audience, locals stopping in their tracks to listen to the old tale that most here knew by heart.

“Oh dear, I've just remembered. Sara would be so upset you’ve returned, actually.” Ali thought out loud. “She thought she'll finally have a chance to take your role for once this year. You know, since you were absent and no one knew where you were.”

Wild rolled his eyes at that. Sara will have to deal with that on her own. She’ll be fine, he was sure.

“So, if Wild is- I mean Link is here for the festival, then why did you ask us about the…um, dancing?” Warriors, voice of reason as always, hesitantly asked.

“Oh, that’s easy, darling. You see, a few of our guys went fishing and disappeared for a week.”

Wind cringed internally. “Do you want us to find them?”

“Farosh above, no!” The elder exclaimed, worried.

“Then-“

“They are fine and already at home, worry not. Though all are on bed rest.” A woman that was passing by with a basket in her hands butted in. She looked slightly annoyed explaining this. After all, one of the fishermans was her husband. “They left without telling anyone, and took some spoiled food with them.” She rolled her eyes. “Now they are paying for their carelessness and stupidity.”

“And because of it,” Another man continued, carrying a drum somewhere. “we are short on dancers, musicians and helping hands for decorating. Not sure what we’re gonna do with that.” He shrugged one shoulder as he kept walking away, not waiting for any response.

The Elder loudly cleared her throat, drawing attention back to her. “Yes, what they said.” She looked up at Wild. “So, I thought, Link, maybe your friends can lend us a hand in the preparations for the festival? Their help would be highly appreciated.”

Wild flicked an ear, turning to the Chain. He mostly wanted them to experience this festival as the spectators. The thing promised to be grand this time around. But he saw it in their eyes the moment he looked at them. The spark! They were there and were not about to sit to the side and do nothing!

The undying hero’s spirit shined the most bright when it got to assist those in need of help, after all.

Right- Wild huffed to himself. Being on the sidelines was never their moto, wasn’t it?

Wild smiled widely at his ba. “Tell us how we can help!”

Chapter Text

A hole in the wall might sound like a terrible thing for a house to have while you’re staying in it. But, after spending countless nights on the road, nothing but the stars over their heads and crickets in the grass, the heroes of time couldn’t have cared less about the conditions they were given.

Was it a result of some bokoblin attack, or just a simple kitchen accident in the past, no one really cared. The hole allowed more light coming inside, salty air freely flying around the room. Wind quickly took a liking to sitting there and staring into the endless ocean before him. The view was rather beautiful from his spot.

All eyes darted to the door as Wild walked inside, waving a slate in his hand. “I brought us some late evening snacks.” He cheered.

“Yey, just about time. What have you got in there?” Wind jumped off the ground where he sat.

“Well, I ran into Gram Ali on my way back, and she was once again really sorry about the accommodations we were provided-“

“We already told her it was fine.” Warriors reminded.

“Yeah, but you know how the elders are usually. Always worrying.” Legend to his right shrugged.

“Yeah, right. So she gave me some fruits to pass to the group.” A few taps on the screen, and a basket appeared in the middle of the room.

Everyone moved quickly to it, picking themselves something for their liking. Apples, bananas, a few sprigs of wildberries, palm fruits and a few slices of hydromelons. As Four was looking for a snack for themselves, another strange fruit caught their attention.

“What is this? I have never seen anything like this.” They hold it high in their palm. It was a color between red and orange with white tips, shaped as if it was formed in petals. It smelled a little bit sour, for Four’s liking, but not to the point where it promised to taste horrible.

It was also the only one in the basket.

Wild instantly perked up at the strangely shaped fruit. “Oh that’s for me!” He grabbed it right from Smith’s hands, taking a big bite. At the other hero’s questioning look, he explained with his mouth full. “It’s a voltfruit. Not a lot of people like to eat it just like that, uncooked. It can, how to say it, um, fight back sometimes…?” He shrugged.

Four raised a brow at such a statement, watching as Champion cheerfully went for another bite. For a split second, they swore that they saw a little spark fly from out of the voltfruit. What an interesting thing…

They ate in silence for a while, before the Captain raised his voice again. “So, how was everyone’s day? Didn’t see much of any of you while me and Twilight were carrying the stuff around.” He grimaced at the memory, flexing his shoulder as if it was still sore from the hard work day. He threw a tired glance at the resident hero. “Just how many drums does one village need?” He groaned.

“For a Dancing Dragon festival?” Wild barely stiffened a snort. “A lot.”

Warriors sighed heavily.

“Well,” Sky decided to fill in the silence. “me and Time were having quite an awesome time with the festival band. They were short on few people, so our help was much appreciated.”

“Didn’t really think you would participate at all in all of this?” Legend smirked at the older hero, yet curiosity welled in his eyes . “Why the music band? You play any instruments?””

“I do, actually. And not just one instrument.” Time smiled, taking an old worn out ocarina out of his bag. “but this one is what I prefer to play.” Legend took the instrument in his hands, turning it around with extreme carefulness, seeing as the thing definitely held a value for his brother with how well cared after it looked. Time appreciated the thoughtfulness. “What about you, boys? Did something fun in the village?”

Legend didn’t even get to open his mouth to give a response, when the youngest of the group piped in excitedly. “The locals taught us the dance for the party!” Wind exclaimed, almost choking on the palmfruit he was eating. Hyrule next to him patted him on the back to ease the discomfort, joining in on the conversation.

“It's more of a ritual, from what I understood.” They’ve corrected. “We’re gonna be a backup dance for the main part, which Storm is gonna perform.” Traveler quickly glanced at Wild. “Am I right?” After getting an affirmative nod, they continued. “After all the locals and visitors enjoy their festivities and dancing around the bonfire, we’re gonna get some kind of a signal, and that’s when the ritual will start.”

“A ritual implies that something is gonna happen as a result of it…” Four was wondering out loud.

“Yeah, and nobody has yet told us what exactly is gonna happen!” Vet remarked. “Everyone just keeps repeating the same phrase: wait till you see for yourself.” The soft huff to the side caught Legend’s attention and he sharply turned to the sound, knowing full well who it was. Pointing his finger, he emphasized. “You too, Wild! Especially you!”

The Champion didn’t falter at the accusations, calmly finishing the last piece of his snack. He wiped his hands clean on his pants, before signing back. “That’s the fun part. Most who come to the festival don’t know a lot about it, so it’s how we locals entertain ourselves.” He leaned slightly forward, smirking.“By watching the reactions of those unprepared for what’s about to happen.”

“That sounds promising.” Sky commented, crinkling his nose.

“Don’t worry. Just wait till you see it for yourself.” Wild’s smile didn’t wavered even as Legend loudly groaned, causing everyone else to laugh.

—----------

The festival was officially about to start in a couple of hours. The group’s sleeping quarters were already empty by the time Wild woke up and got ready for the day. The others decided to let him sleep in, it seemed. Stretching his limbs and hearing the satisfying crack in his bones after a good rest, he didn’t quite mind this decision of theirs.

Sighing contentedly, he walked outside and immediately got taken aback by the sheer amount of people walking around. From the simple visitors getting their late breakfast or just enjoying the sea, to the locals, and everyone else who’s willing to help, preparing the village for the big celebration. A group of kids to the side were excitedly drawing on the sand, showing their works to each other before exclaiming in shock when the drawing was wiped out by the sudden wave while they looked away for a moment. Nonetheless, frustration was usually quickly replaced by determination in mere seconds and the new drawing was already on the way. The market was the thing that worked at all times, supplying the residents and newcomers with all the necessities they could ever require. From clothes to food, even though Wild clearly saw some of the local families around the village happily feeding the visitors themselves, accustoming them to their local cuisine.

The village truly buzzed with life, making Champion simultaneously proud of his home and nervous in front of so many eyes. Tolerating so many faces never really got easier for him.

But seeing the familiar blond locks in the crowd totally made Wild’s worries secondary in his mind, as he rushed forward. He got to the other hero right as one of the drums he was carrying slumped over to the side and started falling, catching it himself. Wild took a few more out of Captain’s hands after that as well.

“Thanks for catching it for me, it was-” Warriors head carefully poked from behind the stack of drums he was carrying. Noticing Campion walking beside him, he beamed. “Wild! Good morning, buddy. Slept well?”

Hands occupied for a time being, Wild replied aloud. “The best sleep I have had in a long time.” He smiled.

“Good to hear.”

They stopped at the main area of the festival, carefully placing down the instruments to one side. Looking around Wild quickly noticed Twilight, already there and helping build the huge bonfire, right in the center of the clearing. It’s gonna be lit at the culmination of the festival later in the evening, Wild recalled. But for now, it’ll simply stay in its place, towering over all and everyone and dutifully wait to play its role.

Turning to get another log for the bonfire, Rancher finally took notice of the younger hero, instantly walking towards him. Wild’s hair got vigorously ruffled by the other hero, earning him an elbow to the side.

“Ow!... I see you rested well-” Twilight smiled through the throbbing in his ribs, slightly bending forward.

Wild ignored the remark, instead glancing once again at the huge wooden construction behind Twi. It was genuinely enormous, standing proudly at the height of four of five meters, give or take. “Having fun with this thing?”

Rancher only shaked his head, absentmindedly and almost tauntingly pointing at Captain. “Anything is better than dealing with all these drums. I mean, be for real-” He gestured at all the instruments lying around them. There were at least twenty or so, different sizes and decorations on them. “Still don’t get it why you need so many?”

“Trust me, “ Wild grinned. “we do.”

“But you still won’t tell us, right?”

Deeply satisfied with the annoyance on his brothers’ faces, Wild nodded. A few rolled eyes were a small price for their later reaction when they’ll see the festival in its full glory. The thought alone brought a smile to his face and a warm happy feeling inside his being.

Seeing as the sun was surely approaching its zenith over their heads and the others were eager to return and finally finish their given tasks, Wild himself got back to his own mission at hand. Run a quick check on the group.

“Do you know where the rest are?” He signed to both Warriors and Twilight. Captain was the first to give an answer.

“I know for a fact that Four is right there, next to that drum that’s bigger than their whole form. “ He smirked, pointing behind Champion. And truly, sitting on the ground and fiddling with some lamp or something was Four. They had some of their own personal instruments out, some were most likely lent to them by the village. It seemed their skilful hands came in handy even here. As if sensing what he was thinking, Wars continued. “As soon as the locals found out that they are a blacksmith and like fixing stuff, they couldn’t get a minute without someone asking for their help. Looks like a lot of decorations from previous year were in need of maintenance check and repair right about now.”

Smith looked serene and extremely focused on his task, so Wild didn’t worry himself with Four being forced into this position. Everyone knew that if the hero didn’t like something, he would say it right into your face. Their personal opinion on the matter would have been heard, wish they to announce it.

“And the others?”

“I believe the dancing party is behind the Elder’s house, practicing out of everyone's eyes. “ Twilight piped in. “Time and Sky should be with them as well.” He smirked, forming quote marks with his hands. “Babysitting.”

Champion snorted. “Amazing! It would be much easier to check on all of them at once, before I head to the kitchen.” Wild’s ears perked up in excitement. In a rush, he turned around and jogged away from the two heroes. “See you around!” he quickly signed, running backwards.

Fast as a lightning, the dragon got to Ali's hut, immediately walking around it and into the sorta backyard. The picture greeting him was one of the funny ones, as it has been the norm for the group, Wild noticed. He himself was usually a catalyst of such scenes.

In the center of it all was Wind, standing upside down on his arms, legs held by Legend. He was smiling down at the kid, encouraging Sailor to try walking on his hands without his support. Didn’t really seem like it was working, but they were having fun. Next to them stood Hyrule, laughing alongside. He was filling the space with his cheerful laughter, enjoying the fun with the other two, yet still keeping that professional attentiveness in his eyes. He was keeping everything under control, that was for sure. To the side, right on the ground leaning against a low fence were sitting the other two heroes. While Time looked like he was adamant to keep ignoring the shenanigans unfolding right in front of his one remaining healthy eye, Sky expressed undisguised curiosity and amazement at the youngest members of the Chain.

As Wild calmly approached them he could see them holding some kind of sheets in their hands, Time being in the process of reading his. Looking closer helped Wild recognize them as the note sheets. But of course, they were rehearsing the music before the performance! Well, one of them was right now.

A muffled thud sounded from the direction of the three heroes, and then a quiet “Ow!” from the youngest. As Wild sat next to the Chosen Hero, Time placed his sheet of paper aside and pointed his infamous disappointed stare at the Wind and the others.

“I told you it will end this way.” He remarked, although not as stern as anyone could have anticipated. He had a gentle smile adorning his features that wiped away any attempts at being harsh with the kid, showing his true intentions. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Wind by this point had already planted his ass comfortably on the ground, Hyrule and Legend following suit next to him. Sailor winced slightly, rubbing the back of his head that he hurt by falling. “I’ll be fine, Old Man. Tetra used to shoot me out of the cannons. A small fall wouldn't be the death of me”

Everyone sighed. Then Hyrule suddenly reached forward and carefully ruffled the kid’s hair. Though it was so gentle and slow that it looked more like they were petting the kid more than anything. The wince almost immediately disappeared from Sailor’s face and Wild instantly caught up to what was happening. He grinned. Clever move.

At the end, Legend was the first to fully turn his attention towards Wild, turning to him. “Haven’t seen your face in a while?” He smirked. “Finally emerged from your pillow castle, sleepy princess?”

Champion could have easily ignored the remark. It wasn’t even that rude, honestly. Yeah, he overslept today. And yeah, he practically slept in a pillow nests, at times when he had resources for that. Legend asked for a friendly banter. And well, although Wild didn’t have much time for that, he could still indulge his snarky brother in at least some reaction.

The middle finger was a classic. Directed at Vet, it brought the loudest laugh from Sailor and a tired huff from Time. Sky simply chuckled at their antics. Sitting the closest to Champion he was the one to bat the hero’s hand away. Killjoy, Wild huffed.

“That’s the sole reason why you came to us right now?” The Old Man questioned tiredly. “To antagonize Vet?” These children would be the death of him.

“Actually, no. Was just checking on everyone.” Looking around the backyard Wild couldn’t spot another person that should have been here. He raised a brow. “Wasn’t Sara supposed to be here with you right now? You know, rehearsing the dance.”

“She gave us a break.” Hyrule piped in, finally letting go of Wind’s head after being satisfied with the good job done.

“Besides, we are almost done with it all. A few repeats and we’ll be unstoppable on the dance floor!” Wind raised his hands triumphantly in the air, his cheerful attitude spreading like a wild fire onto the others.

“Awesome.” Wild simply signed. He then turned to the heroes sitting beside him. “And you?”

Sky looked confident in his answer. “The music seemed easy enough. It will be no problem for us to play! Right, Time?” The Chosen Hero playfully elbowed the older man next to him.

“Truth be told, I knew this song already. A man at the windmill taught me it when I was just a kid.” He said absentmindedly, looking back at the note sheet. When he then lifted his gaze back off the paper, he turned directly to Champion. “I remember you humming it, too. When we were at Zora’s Domain, right?”

“I like this one a lot.” Wild answered, somber but with a soft smile upon his lips. He then added much quieter, as if it was not meant to be heard by anyone except himself at all. “Feels familial…”

Time nodded, saying nothing to that.

A second passed in silence, no one knowing how to tactfully break it. Thankfully, Wild didn’t intend to sit around and chat longer than he already did. Clapping his hands rather loudly, he jumped back on his feet, drawing everyone’s attention right to him.

“Alright, I better be going then, seeing that everything here is fine.”

“Wait, you’re not gonna practice with us?” Legend wondered aloud, leaning back on his hands.

“No need. Sara has everything under control, I'm sure. And I don't really need to rehearse.” Smiling cunningly, Champion started slowly walking away from the group. Although, so his signs were still seen, he walked backwards. “I know this dance like I know these lands! Like second nature.”

The heroes smiled at him, Legend rolling his eyes. He did it affectionately, Wild knew without a doubt. Finally fully turning around, Champion took a course to the hut that will be used as a community kitchen for these few days. There, he would contribute to the festival in the best way he could: cooking something really tasty for all and everyone who would be willing to try.

Champion felt elevated with joy.

The festival was in a few hours. Wild couldn’t wait!

Chapter Text

The window sill creaked under his weight. Calloused fingered tightly gripped to the wooden borders as the boy silently creeped inside the hut. The sun was at its peak outside, so the full conspiracy was out of the question entirely, but no one said he couldn’t at least try.

Eyes jumped around the little space in front of him, searching. One foot after another slowly stepped on the hard floor, careful not to make any unwanted noise. Eyes kept looking. Not on the table, not in the corner either, not on the- Oh , there! There it was!

Further down the room, right next to a really old chair, was a big chest. It was beautifully crafted, on all sides meticulously ornamented with carved images of shells and other sea life and painted in warm colors. Although it was beautiful, the chest was not what the boy was looking for. Walking closer, the boy took what was laying on top of it. Gripping it in his hands he already turned to leave the hut when the nonchalant squeak of the door opening stopped him in his tracks.

“Didn’t I teach you better than to break into other people’s homes?” An elderly voice spoke calmly. “Don’t you think so, Link?”

“You said I was always welcomed here…?” Champion tried uncertainty.

A smile stretched on the woman’s face, followed by a long sigh. It held no heat in it. “Yes, I indeed said so. And I meant it too.” Grandma Ali gracefully moved inside the room, throwing knowing glances at the bundle of fabric held in the hero’s hands. “I prepared your costume for you beforehand. Knew you would forget to take it right before the last second.” The corners of her eyes crinkled with the sly smile on her lips. “Do the front doors not satisfy you anymore?“

Wild just looked at her for a moment, quietly huffed before dropping his gaze at clothes in his possession. His thumb carefully brushed over the green fabric. Almost the same color as his scales. “It was just in and out. Wanted to grab it quickly and not disrupt you from your preparations” The champion finally settled on the answer.

The elder woman only scuffed at him amusingly, waving her hand. “My boy, I've been leading this festival, alongside the whole village, for the last fifty or so years. There is nothing I need to be prepared for. The tales I'm telling are already just as much a part of me as my own life stories”

She smiled softly and cautiously approached Wild, placing her palm on his cheek. He willingly pressed into the contact even more, sighing contently. Grandma’s hands were always so warm. “And besides, I see these people here every day. I don’t get to see you as often, now do i?”

Link said nothing to that, content with just basking in a familial love that he oh so rarely gets these days. Ba Ali was a family to him, even if it was not by blood.

Breaking the contact after some time, the elder took a step back and once again glanced at the neatly folded costume. “You’ll need the head piece as well.” She sharply nodded to herself and walked back to the big chest, opening it with practiced ease. “The people you’re traveling with-” She started while simultaneously rummaging through the insides of the chest. “-they don’t know, do they?”

“Didn’t get to tell them… yet.”

The Elder hummed acknowledgingly. “That’s totally fine.” Now holding the shiny green crystal that served as the headpiece for the attire Wild was gripping in his arms, she returned back to the boy. “But even if they did know about your whole situation, I still doubt we would have seen your pretty scales this time around”

Ears lowered in confusion, Wild let his mind drift for a moment to the weight added to his hold. A kid’s shout suddenly rang loudly from the outside, laughter and some adults yelling in turn followed close by. Just like that, the quiet bubble of a moment that Wild and Ba just shared popped and he got sharply reminded of all the people that traveled here for the festival. All the same people who are gonna watch him perform the dance.

“There are much more people coming for the festival this season.” He voiced, matter of fact.

“Yeah, more and more are finding out that traveling out of their villages is safe now. With the Calamity gone and the roads mostly clean of monsters.” Light steps confidently started leading out of the room, the Elder not even looking back to see if the boy was following after her. He always did. “Although our little celebration is not really that known yet, it already accumulated some of the attention of the other regions.”

They quickly made their way into the kitchen. The thin streak of steam meticulously rose from the teakettle, the water inside of it still boiling hot even after grandma, presumably, left it in order to seek him out. Two cups got placed on the table and the elderly hands steadily started mixing different types of tea leaves in them. The scent of mint and rose petals instantly soothed the dragon.

“With how many people are visiting the festival, and how their numbers are only growing with every season, I’ll not be surprised if you decide to forgo your tradition and stop transforming into the full form for the dance at all.” Ali concluded at last, eyes staying true on her task.

The pause in their conversation rose with every second, none of the two rushing to break it first. Most likely grandma was trying to give Wild the space to think this through. He’d admit he was grateful for that.

Not a lot of people knew about his other side. The Kakariko village and their Elder seemed to know about his dragon lineage even before he himself did. Then there were Zelda and the new Champions, their easy acceptance of him bringing a steady comfort to his nervous and spiraling mind. The Luralin village was a kind of exception in all of this. The people here find out about the dragon’s secret by pure accident, but, honestly, Wild wouldn’t want it any other way. After all, this place was once his hometown too. Even with all the amnesia Wild was experiencing that blocked any memories of that time for him. Making it feel like a different life entirely.

People who knew his other side were a huge help to him through his new life after the Calamity, their support and trust in him empowering more than they’ll ever know and than Wild could ever properly express.

But along with them were also everybody else. The random scavengers and townsfolk who saw his nightly transformations, getting scared of his tailed and horned shadow between the branches of the trees. Or the animals being spooked by his intensified aura of a predator. The Yiga…

Would Hylians, Rito, Gerudo, Zora and Gorons accept their Hylia’s Chosen Champion being some kind of twisted creature?...

Would the Chain?

Feeding the insecurities, his traitorous mind went to the last conversation Wild had with the Yiga commander Scar. “...they thought you chose a monster over them at that moment.” Scar laughed, sound bordering on hysteria. “...And when they find out you are one as well?!”

Wild took a deep breath coming back from the memory, trying to ground himself. Being rejected by the people close to him now, by his own soul from a different time sounded like it would shatter him instantly on the spot. Being able to be his authentic self around the Chain sounded amazing, but now was not the time..

“Maybe someday…?” He replied quietly, voice barely heard over the buzz of the streets even to himself.

The corner of Ali’s mouth went up a bit as she handed the boy his favourite tea. As his hands firmly wrapped around the cup, she nodded to herself and looked Link right in the eyes.

“Maybe someday.” She echoed.

********

The radiant warmth of the late noon was comfortably enveloping the hero as they stood by the water, taking in their environment. People were bustling through the streets, chatting with each other, enjoying their food and in general having a great time at the celebration. The Festival has already started some time ago, each of the Chain leaving in their separate groups: to volunteer their help around the festival or to simply have fun at the local games mattered little.

Slowly walking with all the other visitors, Hyrule couldn’t help but give their respect and adoration to the decorators of the whole thing. Streams and ribbons were hanging and swinging from any surface available, snaking around the stall poles and falling in waterfalls from the roofs. Dark green and yellow of the fabric were complemented nicely by the color of the ocean at the background, the swirls in designs similar to the ones worn by the locals of Lurelin in their clothes.

Only the previous day the village stood barren in preparation, lacking any of the decoration on the streets. But now, it all blossomed in life and colors!

An out of nowhere tap on the shoulder surprised Hyrule, their hold on their treat instinctually getting stronger, as they swiftly turned around.

“Enjoying the celebration?” Storm slowed down to Traveler’s pace after running up to them, recollecting his breath. The grin on his face was undoubtedly pleased. “Even got the snack!”

Hyrule smiled back as a greeting to the fellow hero, before following the other’s gaze down to their hand. They did get a sweet treat for themselves as, matter of fact, the festival was full of them. The air was blossoming with different aromas that were coming from all the stalls around the area. There was food for the taste of any kind: from some light meat skewers and fish sticks to the counters where you can’t see the table behind the variety of fruit tarts, cake slices and apple chips.

In fact, surprisingly, the fruit stalls were in great abundance outnumbering all the other types.

Hyrule swinged the caramelized apple slightly in their hand. “Got it somewhere near the Storytelling Corner. Elder Ali really knows her craft, I have to say.” Traveler chuckled softly to themselves. “I think I was stuck listening to her retelling for like an hour. I heard the same tale two or three times over.” Rulie smiled at the memory. ”Well, me and that one chirpfull Rito kid.”

“Oh, kids love her stories.” Storm added in between munching on yet another voltfruit. Somewhere along the younger hero’s monologue he got it out of his belt bag. Champion took another bite, small electric zips jumping over the fruit’s insides. Wild’s ears twitched happily, seemingly from the delightful taste.

Hyrule huffed lightheartedly at the sight. “That reminds me: Ali was saying that each of the spirit dragons has its own… um, diet? I didn’t really get that part.” They squinted their eyes in slight confusion.

Champion chuckled at his friend’s struggle. “Not really… It's more about the offering they prefer to receive.” He waved his hand in the air, trying to articulate the thought right. “It comes from some old legends. If you want to ask something of the Spirit, you must bring them something of value in return. And each dragon has their own preferences: meat or warm meals for Naidra, rocks and other precious gems for Dinraal and fruits for Farosh.”

“Oh, so that’s why there’s so many fruits at the festival!”

Storm snapped fingers in Rulie’s direction. “That’s right! You might not believe it, but there were times when the festival would have for food only fruits, all day long. It wasn’t always like this, mostly after the Calamity. I personally think it was due to shortage of food at the time, after the disaster and all that.” One of Champion’s shoulders rose in a nonchalant shrug. “We don’t do that anymore, though. With food in abundance once again there is literally no need. The Spirit won’t mind either. He wants us to have fun here, not starve each other to death.”

Moving further down the road, the boys kept passing by more and more stalls of various foods. Among locals and other hylians, different other species were enjoying the festivities as well. The bright colourful plumage of Rito folk contrasted greatly in crowds of people as their flocks shared food with each other and chatted loudly among themself and other visitors. A couple of Zoran parents were standing by the shore and watching their little kids splash in the shallow waters.

There were not many Goron around, Hyrule noticed, but the ones that were present made their presence known, that’s for sure. They cheered the loudest at any game played at the festival, their booming voices carrying their shouts to the farthest areas of the festival. Their boisterous and carefree energy was an astounding sight to behold, and rather infectious on everyone around. Even Hyrule felt like yelling cheers to the players alongside the rocklike giants.

Taking a careful step to the side, Traveler let the young Gerudo girl pass by them, as she was running somewhere in a hurry and in her rush stopped watching where she headed. Even with the younger hero’s effort still her shoulder lightly bumped into theirs, the girl's head instantly swirling at them. Hyrule took a close look at her face, stopping in their tracks in confused interest.

So wrapped up in their reaction, they almost missed the little girl’s words, as she quickly apologised for running into them, before swiftly leaving the two boys in the dust.

Better late than never, Hyrule shyly waved bye to the kid’s retrieving back, and turned their gaze to their friend beside them. “Was that the face paint?”

Hyrule was no stranger to the other race customs. They knew that the desert warriors did not stript themselves of their feminine attributes, instead wearing them alongside their battle scars on their skin and weapons on their person. Makeup and jewelry were just as much a part of their culture as their clothes or harsh battle trainings. But the young Gerudo’s face had more on it than just that.

It was partially colored in green, the careful strokes of paint imitating the bright scales and marking on the girl’s skin. From what Hyrule managed to see, the paint mostly covered her cheeks and the center of her forehead, with the additional stripe of light green going from the bottom lip down the chin.

Raising their head and taking a look around, Traveler started noticing more and more people with the same features to them. And they all were walking from the same direction as the little Gerudo.

“Oh yeah, That’s right!” Storm replied excitedly next to the fellow hero. “We’ll have to get you one before the dance. Oh, you would love it, let’s go find it!” The phrase then led to the wandering hero getting dragged by the hold on their hand deeper into the festival.

They caught the voices of their brothers-in-arms not long before they actually saw them. With paint brushes in hands and talking to one another, Sky and Twilight sat in a circle on the ground, surrounded by a bunch of kids. Facing them was sitting young yellow Zora, happily squirming in place while Twi firmly told him again to stay still. While Sky painstakingly painted the face, Rancher was carefully working the patterns on the kid’s long dolphin tail. With their approach, Storm could see that where the latter might have lacked in technique compared to the Chosen Hero’s, he compensated it tenfold with his knowledge about dealing with kids, arranging and calming them down where Sky was genuinely clueless how to.

They made a pretty good team, all things considered. And really seemed to enjoy spending time together, as the two members of the Chain of the same age.

“I see we’ll have to stop by you some time later. You guys are booked.” Storm called out, absentmindedly ruffling the hair of the standing by kid who he knew from the village. The boy looked up at Champion questionably, before recognizing him and in an instant beaming with a bright smile at the familiar face.

Sky and Twilight sharply raised their heads at their friend’s voice, getting pretty acquainted with it in the past few weeks.

“Wild! Hyrule! Cared to visit us?”

“All the dancers would need their faces painted before the show, and Hyrule was really excited to start as soon as possible.” Storm signed, explaining over the crowd's noise, his eyes scanning the number of kids eagerly waiting for their turn to paint their faces. “Though, I see we’ll have to wait.” He chuckled.

“Yeah. I honestly didn’t expect there to be so many little customers, when I volunteered to help with this.” Sky admitted aloud, even as his eyes stayed solemnly focused on the kid in front of him. With the last stroke of paint, the Chosen Hero smiled brightly at his finished work, leaning slightly back. "Not complaining though.” He cheerfully concluded and, after checking that Twi was done with the tail as well, turned his full attention to the small Zora. “Okay, you’re all done. Have fun at the festival, yeah?!” With the final nod from the kid, Sky turned to the others waiting. “Who's the next two? Come on here!”

As the next two kids took their places before the two older heroes, Hyrule and Wild moved too. Carefully getting through the crowd, they slowly came closer. Now standing beside Twi and Sky, Champion leaned over the rancher’s shoulder to examine his work and teasingly point out some slight inconsistencies. The child Twilight was working on kept letting out bubbling laughs at their bickering, making Twilight’s job only harder and Wild’s opportunities for teasing only easier.

For a moment, Hyrule let them be. “Did you spend the whole festival here?” They asked from behind Sky.

“No, not really. I walked around the vendors for a while before stopping here to help.” The Skyloftian shrugged with one shoulder, attentively reacting to something the child in front of him was saying in between his conversation with Traveler. “Twilight joined me some time after. I think he said he went bullriding before that…?” He scrunched his brows as he tried to remember.

“Yeas, I did!” Twilight exclaimed, successfully interrupting Storm mid sentence. The latter didn’t seem to mind the sudden cut-off, instead quickly getting invested in and excited over the changed topic as well. “Matter of fact, I won that competition!” Rancher proclaimed proudly.

“Oh, I like that one. Haven't participated in it in a while now.” Wild huffed kindheartedly at the memories.

“Your Lurelin bulls are tough, but nothing can compare to the ones we have back in Ordon.” The praises for his home fell easily on Twilight's speech. “Those are the real beasts, stronger than-”

Allowing themselves to filter out Twi’s rambling about his homeland, Hyrule returned back to the other painting hero. “Do you, by chance, know where the others are now? You two are the first ones we’ve encountered with Storm since roaming around here.”

Sky thought it through for a second while refilling the brush with the paint to place the final touches on the girl’s face that sat in front of him. “I’m not sure…” He drew out, starting. “Last thing I remember from any of them was Wind saying that he heard there is a game where he could scam people out of money. I’m sure you’ll find Legend right there with the kid. For others can’t say anything.”

“Oh, they’re having a great time, I'm certain!” Once again Storm slid into their conversation, seemingly done with bothering Twilight. Taking a firm hold on Hyrule’s wrist he started leading them further down the main road of the festivities. “I gotta show you the archer range! You’re gonna love it!” And before fully leaving the earshot of the other two heroes, he also added in a rush. “See you guys at the bonfire!”

Twilight and Sky only snorted at the younger heroes’ antics, returning back to the work at hand as the other two ran further and further out of sight.

*********

The archer range proved to be just as much fun as Wild promised. Him and Hyrule get to show off their techniques to one another in the process, the crowd watching them and cheering loudly as the two heroes and some other contestant were left the last standing in the tournament. Shooting stances taken and arrows drawn at the targets, Wild quickly threw a sly smile at the fellow hero before pulling another two out of his quiver and lining them all together.

Traveler only had time to softly gasp in surprise as the next moment Wild released the string and let the three arrows simultaneously fly towards their target.

A beat passed and the viewers went wild! Yells and laughter filled the space around the arena as the other contestants also rushed to shoot their shots. The points counted and the winner announced, few were surprised that who came out on top at the end was none other than Wild.

“He’s the best archer in the village that I know of. No surprise that he won!” Someone from the crowd supplemented.

“I heard he’s just as skilled in shooting on horseback too.” Another person laughed goodnaturedly. “But that last move with three arrows!? What a show off.”

As the next contestants started lining up for the next play, Champion escorted himself and Hyrule from the celebration of his own victory pretty quickly, taking another route around the village. Another sweet snack in their hands and silly jokes out of their mouths, they found themselves approaching yet another cluster of observers of a festival game. At Hyrule’s confused stare at the gaming table Wild instantly leaned closer to their ear so the latter could hear him clearer over the noise of people around them.

“It’s called Shell Game. You make a money bet before the start and so does the host. Then the game can begin. Host would hide a little pebble under one of the three identical sea shells and spin them around in front of you to dissoriente. The player’s task is to guess where the pebble is after the spinning stops.” Champion playfully nudged Hyrule’s shoulder with his own, smiling. “You guess right, you win!”

The sudden reaction from the people around them brought the heroes back to the game in front of them, which seemed to end once again in favor of a lucky player. Everyone looked happy except for the host, who barely held a forced polite smile on his face as he handed out the victory rupees. The bag, though, was passed not to the player directly, but to the blond standing next to him. Legend’s taunting remarks to the host were hard to mistake for any other’s, and from there guessing who was his partner in crime was an even easier task.

Hyrule and Wild stayed for another game after that, watching how the mischievous duo of Wind and Legend, honest to Dragons, bullied the poor game master with their winning streak.

Were they playing fair? Who knows, honestly. But they were having fun and wasn’t that the main goal of any festival for their visitors to enjoy themselves?

Leaving them to their shenanigans, the wandering heroes then continued their walk down the main festival road, never abandoning the chance to buy another fruit snack from the vendors.

Crunching on another apple chip from the bag, Hyrule suddenly zeroed on the treat, before asking.

“Was this child of a dragon as herbivore as this?”

Not instantly understanding the question, Wild stayed silent for a moment, his ear twitching in confusion. As his brain finally caught up to what Traveler meant, he let out a happy oh! They must have remembered their earlier conversation the two heroes had about offerings to the Dragons.

Chuckling, Wild’s eyes adorned a weirdly playful fervour in them as he answered. “Oh no, believe me, he eats everything.” Hyrule blinked, looking at him weird for the usage of present tense, but said nothing as they continued down the road.

Nothing caught their attention or interrupted their stride for a while after they left the shell game behind. Although, a few resident people from the village approached Wild along the way, engaging in the small conversations before leaving him and Hyrule once again to their own devices.

The sun was steadily lowering over the waters of an endless ocean, the sky and clouds turning soft pastels colors, warm and welcoming from the sun rays. Soon, the main part of the Dancing Dragon Festival will begin, Wild’s mind cheerfully provided.

When they next came across another member of the Chain, the two heroes weren’t even that surprised. No, what shook them more was how they noticed one of their older brothers.

“Was Four always this tall?” Hyrule astonishingly whispered, eyes locked at the sight in front of them.

True to their words, there among another gathering of people and towering over them was Four, happily watching the game over the heads of all the spectators. Now, closer to the whole thing, Wild could clearly see that the shorter boy was actually sitting on someone’s shoulders, making him taller. The deep blue scarf falling from the man’s back easily identified him as Warriors.

Swiftly maneuvering their bodies around Hylians and other races, Wild and Hyrule settled themselves beside Chain-mates, exchanging greetings with them upon the others noticing their appearance. That out of the way, the warrior hero quickly caught them up to speed about what they were watching.

“Dragon racing? Oh, I loved this game when I was little!”

“Are we talking about real dragons or…?” Hyrule scrunched their eyes at Wild.

“No, no. It’s not- Let me show you!” With that Wild walked behind Traveler and without any warning picked him under arms and raised above. Hyrule yelped in surprise while Four and Warriors laughed at the funny face they made after being picked up so unceremoniously.

“Easy one the arms, Champion!” Wars jokes from the side, Four now fully leaning on his head from atop his shoulders, laughing along.

“Storm, what are you…?!”

“Do you see them?” Wild easily ignored both of the remarks, focusing solely on his new task. “They are small, but you should be able to see them like this.”

Glancing one last time at Champion, Hyrule abandoned this futile attempt at scolding the other hero and finally fully focused on what he was supposed to see. Now, though not as high as Smith yet still over the crowd’s heads, Traveler could see what everyone was actually gathered around. The Dragon Race, as Wild said it was called, consisted of a pretty long running track, fenced on both sides of it and being formed in one big circle.

The ones running it, though, were not visitors, but rather small colorful lizards. Hyrule squinted their eyes to be sure that they saw it right. In conclusion, yeah, small lizards were running the marathon. From their backs stuck out little hand crafted decorations. Later Wild would explain that they were made by kids beforehand, specifically for the race, crafted out of different twigs and leaves and bound together by a string or a band. The contestants had to catch each their own pet somewhere else to be able to participate. With the decorations on, the lizards are released on the track and, with nowhere else to go, they run in a circle to see which one would finish the race first.

Where the start and finish was placed were standing the “dragon” owners, who were mostly kids, teenagers and-

“Time?”

“Yeah, he’s playing this round.” Warriors sounded really pleased with this information. When he next looked up to talk to Four, his wide smile didn’t waver even for a second. ”What’s seen from up top? Are we winning?”

The smithy took a moment to assess the situation before throwing their hand in a joking display of a salute. “No, Captain, no! We seem to lose big time on this circle.” They reported in a cut-short voice.

Warriors theatrically hit his fist against the palm. “Damn it!”

Wild couldn’t keep a straight face at their little show, laughing with his whole frame and, in the process, shaking Hyrule who was still held hostage in his arms. After that, together as a group, they cheered for the little blue lizard that Time put in the game. Not having much hope in the little thing’s victory, but having fun with it nonetheless.

When the last lingering rays of sunshine played against the surface of the earth, promising the soon to be twilight to come, the sudden eruption of fire and smoke in the distance was not a big surprise to many people. Wild felt his lips widen into an even bigger smile as he excitedly addressed his companions.

“Who’s ready to shake their limbs and dance?!”

Chapter Text

In the darkened lights of twilight the fire in the center of the village shined the brightest. As the sun dived bit by bit under the cover of the ocean, the people enthusiastically gathered around the bonfire. Cheers echoed through the air, kids’ laughter accompanying it.

By tradition, the Dancing of the Dragon itself would not start before all of the visitors dance around the fire first. The local musicians started playing their bouncy rhythms the moment the daylight of the sun started to dim. The alluring notes of theirs easily drawing attention to themselves, daring anyone around to ignore the music’s call.

As soon as their hands were free of painting brushes and all the kids were satisfied with the results, Sky and Twilight were the first to throw themselves into the dancing sands. Not long after, Captain joined their fun, showing off all what he learnt from his times in the bars around the Hyrule capital. Looking around, no one was following any particular moves, mostly just releasing the last bits of the pent up energy left from the day.

With no limitations and only music playing loud and clear in their ears, all the festival visitors were left to their own devices. The dances varied, differing from region to region. From the swoosh and jumpy moves of Rito to the heavy thuds of Gorrons, or sharp swirls and lunges of the desert warriors. Perhaps the latter were the closest to the moved locals of Lurelin were performing. Raising their legs high before stomping them forcefully back to the beat of the music, their performances were sharp but also had that slight swiftness that was more characteristic for, perhaps, the Zora folk.

Their dancing moves were mesmerizing to watch, the heroes who were not around the fire observed the swirling crowd with an open interest.

With a slightly laboured breathing but wearing the blightingly bright smile on his face Sky nonchalantly swirled his way to the Chain’s leader. Time stood aside from the festivity, watching from afar and not rushing to join in with the others. Four was keeping him company not even ten minutes ago, but then suddenly got called to help fix something that broke at one of the stalls and needed their immediate help. Although his alone time didn’t last long, Time only sighed to himself as he followed the Chosen Hero’s approaching steps.

“Not much of a dancer, huh?” Sky immediately chirped to the older hero as soon as he was in the hearing vicinity.

“Not really.” Time let his eyes return to the dancing masses before him while he tried leaning more comfortably against the palm tree he was standing under. His eyes caught the sight of one Gerudo woman dancing in a circle around the fire, her blazing red hair strongly reminding Time of- “But if Malon was here, then I would have considered it.”

Leaning against the tree next to Time Sky chuckled at the thought. “Oh, she would have loved the dancing and probably just dragged you in herself! No questions asked.” He made a cutting move with his hand.

Time hummed with a soft smile on his lips. “That she would. I guess Sun would have loved it here too.”

At the mention of his beloved girlfriend, Sky’s eyes might just light up brighter than the fire in the center of the village. “Absolutely! She loves festivals more than anyone I know.“

Time smiled even brighter at the lovestruck boy next to him, remembering himself at that age. Was he the same when he started courting Malon? What a cartwreck of a sight he might have been? Oh, the times…

As the musicians picked up a different tempo and started playing a new song, Sky instantaneously swirled to look at the dancing masses. The strong hand of Rancher sticking out of the crowd was waving at the Chosen Hero to return back to them. Limbs itching to rejoin the celebration, Sky bounced in place, quickly talking back to Time. “Okay, sorry, gotta return to the others!” Sky rashly explained, at what the Old Man easily shooed him off to go, watching as the younger hero listened to him without a word. He, although, stopped in his tracks not even a second later, when he remembered something else. “Actually, do you know when the main dance starts? I’ll still need to go get my lira for it.”

“Wild said, and I quote, “We would hear the sign”.“ Time shrugged with his right shoulder. “Don’t know what he meant by that.”

A sudden thud sounded somewhere from the direction of the crowd, heard surprisingly clear over all the noise. Hylian long ares twitch at the new sound, trying to identify where it was coming from. Another heavy thud rang through the air, this time drawing attention of everybody else as well as the hero’s. With the musicians stopping their rhythms and the anticipating silence hanging around the space, the next thud was so much easier identifiable, the flat strong sound emerging from one of the heavy instruments rang around the firepit.

Looking up, the clouds above the village now seemed that much darker than through the rest of the skies. They cuddled around each other, growing in size. With their looks only promising to anyone watching a heavy downpour and fearmongering storm.

And delivering on their promise.

One by one, more raindrops fell from the sky, their impact with the big drums creating that same sound the crowd heard earlier. The small drums added to the beat soon after, scattered around the square they made the sound come from all ends.

The wind didn’t blow the people off their feet, the gust of it being not that strong, yet it still made the shiver run down everyone’s spines. Frozen in place, they watched. Watched as the cold breeze from the ocean and the hot tongues of bonfire danced to their own song together, circling and twisting, listening to no one but themselves.

No one but the low thunder rumbling in the clouds, raindrops against the leather of the drums and the windchimes in the trees. Their soft jingles flew through the air effortlessly, the blue and lime-green ribbons attached to them fluttering in the wind and adding the visual beauty to this little musical show.

With so many separate independent components at play, it was truly magical how all the sounds managed to somehow combine into a whole melody. Slowly, the string instruments of the festival band joined the “song”, quietly accompanying.

The rain was the leading component in this, not them.

No one, especially locals, looked like the bad weather was ruining their night. Instead, they all wore bright smiles on their faces while looking above them, visibly enjoying the feel of rain on their blazed by the sun skin. Slowly, the circle around the firepit started clearing up from people, creating perfect space for the main event of the festival.

“I think that was our sign…” Sky quietly uttered, eyes full of wonder still mesmerized by the beautiful chimes and their sound. Slowly, he ripped his gaze off from the sight and turned to Time. The eldest’s face didn’t show much emotion, and yet the slight shock was still visible in his eyes. His ears kept twitching every time a raindrop landed on them.

Quickly shaking himself out of the trance he found himself in, the Old Man shared a nod with Sky before starting a walk back to their hut. “Yeah, let’s go get your lira.”

Stalling just a step behind, Sky threw one last glance at the chimes before closely following behind Time.

By the time they returned, the space for the dance was clear while the band kept playing some soft tune as the background, relief evident on their faces upon seeing the two heroes finally joining them at the end. Taking their place with other musicians and swiftly looking around, Sky and Time’s gazes quickly found a few recognizable faces standing aside from the main crowd, effectively stretching their limbs.

While Hyrule and Legend seemed to take the preparation more or less seriously, Wind compared to them looked like he could barely contain himself in one spot. He jumped up and down in place, before running in a circle around the two of his named brothers. Traveler might have snuck in a few chuckles at the overly excited kid, saying something to him here and there, and yet Legend barely gleaned at them, continuing with his warm ups. It didn’t really matter what Sailor did, as long as he was stretched out and would not hurt himself during the dance, Sky wondered if that was Vet’s thought process during all this.

When Champion eventually approached the three of them, providing some quick information and giving reassuring pats on the back, it redirected Sky’s attention to the heroes’ attires. They wore loose dark green pants with a lighter fabric wrapped around the hips. The shoulders were covered by the short mantle in the same color as the pants and decorated in golder stitches of different patterns, mostly triangles and zigzags. It also was held in place by the beaded strings going up to the necklet sitting tightly around their necks. The bright ruby gems sat comfortably between their collarbones.

While no one except for Wild wore the special headpiece with their costume, everyone had their face painted for the occasion. Similar to how Sky painted the kids, the dancers had marks and lines painted around their eyes, a green stripe going from their bottom lip and down, some even having it go further down the neck. Obviously, a lot of bracelets and anklets were additionally accompanying the attires, jingling with every move the dancers made and adding to the music of the rain.

The raindrops kept playing the drums and the windchimes continued their melodic swinging when Wild and the others finally took their position in front of the bonfire. Time and Sky followed the musicians lead and started playing.

Locking his eyes for a second with all the performers and giving a reassuring thumbs-up to Sailor, Wild took a deep breath himself, mumbling to no one in particular. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Another roll of thunder flashed from above. The music steadily picked up its volume.

Foot steadily dug in the sand, Wild raised one hand above his head, the other outstretched in front. Moving them in a little arc he simultaneously dragged his foot back, leaving a slight half circle trail in the sand with one leg, then with the other. Dipping in a bow, he swirled in place to face the fire, continuing on with the choreography.

As the music started playing a little faster, gaining a more flashy tone to it, one after another the dancers began to splitstep in circles around the fire, arms raised to the flying flames. A few times it looked like a little bit and Wild would actually put his hand into the fire, much to Time and other heroes’ worries. If the Old Man’s play got stuttered for a moment there, no one thought to mention it.

The fabric swooshed from the dancers’ motions, a little transparent lime cloth swinging from Champion’s hip giving the impression of a tail following behind him.

The dance also involved a lot of hand movement: flexing fingers in smooth and satisfying motion while turning the wrists. Every twirl added another rattle of the dancers' accessories, their bracelets and earrings enchantingly harmonizing with all the music instruments. Little opals and topaz fragments hanging from the belts clanked with each other with every hip thrust, a perfectly timed raised arm or leg producing yet another jiggly sound.

The little hammers played a light rhythm on the metal bars of another instrument. The keys of a xylophone were greatly contrasting against all the drums, adding a much needed lighter sound to the heavy beat thrummed by the rain and the musicians. The rhythm of the dance was also mostly following this instrument’s melody, the xylophone’s chiming dutifully leading Wild and the other’s through the choreography.

Dives followed the twirls, crystals clinking in rhythm, feet dragged through the sand. The music poured through the air, evoking cheers from the spectators. So enchanting was the dance that not many people took notice of the gradually approaching storm, heavy raindrops seemingly not bothering anyone in the slightest. Only when a particularly loud peal of thunder rumbled above their heads did the mass’ eyes raise to the clouds. A few of the younger ceremonial dancers stumbled in their moves, probably also startled by the sound, while the more experienced ones with Wild in the lead went on without so much as a hitch. The little sly smile on Champion’s face told Time that the younger hero pretty much expected such a reaction, yet made no move to prepare his dancemates for it beforehand. Such a little…

The musicians didn’t stop their performance alongside the dancers, instead playing their music only louder. Picking up the speed, they tried to outplay the thunder, forcing their music to be heard even through the rolls of the storm.

And even as the water kept getting in their eyes and the heavy with rain sand stalled their moves, no one dared to stop! Every move was as sharp as the first. Every note was clear and sound as before. It all rose and accelerated in one note! One beat of a long expected crescendo!

And an awaiting silence was of a kind that no one wanted to break…

With the held breaths everyone waited, the performers not even moving from their last held poses, no matter how painful it was becoming to hold their arms outstretched up like that. So they waited.

The thunder rolled right above the village!

Wild broke out into a smile moments before the roar was heard in the skies. A few more lightning bolts danced through the clouds, the only other warning they got before the giant body of a dragon burst out of the clouds. Its long body was elegantly emerging from behind the mountains surrounding the village, six clawed limbs swinging under it as if the creature was running through the air and not flying.

Farosh, the Lightning Dragon and the Guardian of the Spring of Courage, was truly the sight to behold. Was Wild not so enormous with it, he would have definitely snickered at his brothers' totally bewildered faces at the moment as they seemed to not quite believe what they saw. Was the name of the festival not big enough of a hint?

The rain seemed to splash off of the dragon’s body in little sparkles as he made his way closer to the festival. Like on the mark, all the dancers simultaneously sprang into action, turning face to the fire. Quickly unclamping the ruby gems from their neck pieces, all dancers at once threw them into the fire. And as the flames of it grew in size that did not really seem possible, they began chanting.

“The Guardian of our village, may the heat of our hearts warm your soul through the night.” Wild and the other dancers started at once, while the musicians at the back picked up the rhythm of the music again. “Honour us with your presence, while we dance to your name!” They spoke in unison, watching Farosh now being right above all the people. Not losing nor gaining any speed, he circled around the fire, with the air current created by his movement making its flames rise even taller.

The dance was not as complicated as before, cause even the performers couldn’t be blamed for not being able to take their eyes off of the divine creature in their presence. A few bows and some shuffle of feet in the sand, not much of a show but instead a calm closure to it.

Farosh made a loop around the borders of the Lurelin village, a few of his scales falling off of his frame. Later, they would be decorating the entrance gates of the village and some of the houses. As a protection charm, so to speak.

Now flying just mere meters above the surface of the ocean, the light of the dragon’s horn and scales reflected itself off the water, illuminating the space even more and creating a truly magical scene. Dipping one of his paws into the water, Farosh didn’t forget to splash some of the festival visitors on his way back in the sky. As the sound of giggles and laughter evoked from the action, Wild swore he heard the giant beast huff in satisfaction from his antics. Wild chuckled under his breath.

The rain slowly subsidized, only rare heavy drops still thrumming the drums. The breeze that the dragon brought with him ruffled everyone’s hair while sending slight chills from its temperature. All eyes were glued to the leaving form of the creature as the dragon flew higher and higher.

Little did they know that Farosh did not plan on leaving the village just yet. Snaking around the nearest tall mountain, the dragon comfortably laid right on top of it. Hind limbs tightly gripping the rock and the front ones neatly folded in front of him, Farosh perched atop and calmly absurved the village down the hill.

To say the people were stunned by what they saw was to say nothing. At first it was mostly whispers, but they gradually grew in volume, quickly evolving into a full on shouts and cheers. Kids might have been the loudest, excitedly tugging at their parents and pointing at the still visible dragon as if the adults didn’t see him themselves.

They did. And yet they couldn’t believe what they saw.

All the while the locals exchanged hushed chuckles between each other watching the reactions. Every year the same thing! Although…

“Is it safe? For the dragon to be this close?” The slight concern was heard from the words of the young hero as he addressed one of the musicians. Sky started stumbling in his words under the questioning look on the older man’s face. He instantly rushed to correct himself. “I don’t mean to be rude or anythi-”

“You’re fine kid, relax.” The man let out a hoarse chuckle, waving his hand reassuringly at the hero. “Farosh has been our protector for the last hundred winters. I don’t think he changed his mind since last season…” Glancing to the side the local musician suddenly stopped to think something through. Sky patiently waited for him to continue. “Although it’s been a while since he stayed like this to watch over us. Maybe you should ask Link about it?” He looked back at the young man.

Sky let his shoulders drop in slight bewilderness. “Link? How would he-” When the bicolored hair did not pop up in Sky’s vision while he was looking around, the new wave of confusion washed over him. “Wait, actually...where is he?”

Champion was right beside him mere minutes ago! He swore he still saw the green of Wild’s costume lurking around when the dragon flew past them and Sky turned around to ask about what happened. Where did Wild disappear so fast?

The next moment the Elder’s voice barged into the conversation as well, her soft yet confident way of speaking easily bringing attention to her. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about him, young one.” She said while slowly making her way towards the men. Ignoring the raised eyebrows at her statement, Ali pensively turned her gaze in the direction where the dragon watched them from his perch.

After all, he’s with his family right now, she quietly thought to herself.

**************

The air fizzled with the static electricity, not so little balls of energy flying around. Rhythmic breathing of the creature would from time to time get interrupted by the rolls of the calming down storm, the clouds of which slowly but steadily moved away and into the ocean. Among the whistling wind and frantic bird calls, the giant ear suddenly twitched as it picked up on the approaching footsteps.

Moving his gaze away from the village and the little two-legs inhabiting it, Farosh carefully lowered his head closer to the ground, patiently waiting while the small claws climbed up his back. As his guest successfully plopped down on top of the dragon’s head, the creature huffed a cloud of smoke out of his nostrils. The swaying tail of the little being on top of him caused the eyes of Farosh to squint in satisfaction.

The purr, that in actuality sounded more like a rumble of a storm, gradually emerged from within the creature’s core.

The small hand placed itself right between the dragon’s eyes.

“I’m happy to see you too, dad.”