Work Text:
“Time!” Twilight called and made an aborted motion to run back to him. Time stopped him with a look and a sharp gesture while pointing towards a portal behind Twilight where Wild was standing looking anxiously at them.
“I need you to go through that portal and not look back.”
Twilight looked absolutely crushed at that order but started in that direction.
“Sprite!”
“No, Wars, you go too. I need you. I need to know that you got out safely.”
Time gave each of the others a sharp look, silently commanding them to go to the portal and get to safety. The last of them went through it and the portal winked out. Time sighed in relief and began to dig himself free, he had to hurry before they found some way back to him. It took some time, one hour forty-six minutes, but he managed to free his leg from the rubble of the ceiling. The boys were still in this Hyrule, he knew that, and they were slowly making their way back to him. Resigned to having to make the trek to find them or have them find trouble coming to find him, Time slowly got to his feet and limped along to the exit of the room. It took him about an hour to get back through the temple and to the exit, fortunately there were no monsters left after they had gone through it the first time.
After he got outside, Time looked around hoping to spot a tree branch or something he could use as a crutch while he made his way towards the rest of the Chain. There was nothing to be found. Sighing heavily he weighed his options, quickly excluding the option of staying where he was and waiting for the others to come find him. Limping away from the ruined temple and out into the ruins of a village was not his idea of a relaxing time but he continued, trying to monitor his surroundings. Twilight’s Hyrule had a few places his own did not, but it was similar enough that he knew the others had ended up all the way across Hyrule near the Zora’s Domain so it would take them a day or two in order to get back to this area near the Desert.
After about another hour of walking, Time realized that he was being followed by something. The urge to look behind him was strong but the need to get to some sort of cover was stronger. Unfortunately for him an arrow whizzed past him and hit the ground with a thunk. Turning he raised his shield and prepared for the fight to come. The Lizalfos that had been following him quickly closed the distance and tried to attack him but Time blocked it and managed to hit it with the Gilded Sword. The Lizalfos shrieked at him then backed away in time to avoid being hit by an arrow.
Time cursed himself for forgetting the archer and quickly spotted it. The Lizalfos returned for another attack but Time expected that and swung at it. While Time attacked both the archer and the Lizalfos hit him, one hitting his side while the other sinking into his shoulder. Swearing under his breath Time readied his own bow and fired at the archer quickly taking it down though his shot was nowhere near as precise as Wild’s shots were.
He stumbled away from that spot and somehow ran into another group of Lizalfos, three of them that gave him a hard time. Whenever he managed to force one back the other two would attack trying to break his focus. He managed to take them down without the monsters inflicting any truly bad wounds on him, the wounds from the first battle along his part were the worst. The arrow seemed to be sending fire through his body though fire that seemed to get worse every moment he waited.
Dizzy, he moved back from that spot and staggered towards a nearby tree. Sinking down next to it he broke the arrow shaft and checked to see if it was poisoned. It had a familiar reddish tint but his mind was too hazy to remember what it meant. Dropping the arrow shaft to the side he pressed a hand to his side trying to slow the bleeding from the Lizalfos’ attack.
Time knew he was dying, whatever poison it was assured that without quick help he was done for, and there was very little that could change that now. He gasped for breath, trying to keep his gasps soft so that he would remain unnoticed. His eyes were closed, the white one glowing slightly as he tried to regain energy to move or call one of the boys or something. He was losing the battle with himself though.
Soft steps approached him, padded feet like Twilight’s wolf form. He managed to open his good eye and wondered dazedly about the golden wolf approaching him. It seemed familiar with the gold and white fur that seemed to glow, and the red eye that pierced into him as though the wolf could read his thoughts and feelings. Time reached out towards it, his fingers trembling as he did so. With a flash of light the wolf was replaced by a skeleton in golden armor.
“It is not yet time for you to pass on.” The warrior said, his voice echoing oddly.
Time wondered if he should be afraid of this being but found himself comforted by him instead. It was as though knowing that this person was here meant that he would be safe and would recover somehow. He vaguely grabbed the arrow shaft again, somehow knowing that it was important that he keep it with him.
“Twi… that way.” He managed to point in the direction he’d felt the portal take his boys when he’d pushed for them all to go through it. The warrior looked in the direction and seemed unhappy about something.
“Sleep, I will care for you until we can find them.”
Time didn’t want to sleep, missing even a moment seemed dangerous at this point, but something about the spectre seemed safe. As he drifted off cool fingers touched his cheek, brushing his hair away from his face.
Watching the wounded hero fall asleep was oddly disorienting to him. Still he knew it was for the best since he could use more magic without the other fighting him. Carefully he moved his hand to hover over the worse of the wounds, a golden light seemed to seep into him slowly closing the claw marks. It spread along Time’s chest to mend the other wounds, only the worst of them though. He could do nothing for the poison here but once he got closer to the Woods that would change.
Once he was satisfied with how much had been healed the spectre pulled the Hero onto his back, carefully arranging him before he shifted to his wolf form once more. The urge to give himself a shake was difficult to resist but he managed it and began running towards Faron Woods knowing that he would have the best chance to help there. The Hero on his back whined as he took a jump and landed roughly. He wanted to apologize for it but getting him to safety and healing was more important right then.
It took a short time, fifty-three minutes as opposed to the typical two hours and twenty-nine minutes, to reach the Spring at a full run while using his magic to shorten the trip. He’d discovered that trick after saving his descendant, using small bursts of light magic and walking a greater distance through them was surprisingly difficult to do initially but he’d figured it out and now it would save an important life. Reaching the Spring he lowered the Hero into the sacred water and bowed his head to the projected image of the Great Fairy.
“What have you brought me this time? Another Hero to save?” She asked, her tone almost scornful.
He knew she disliked him for how he survived after his time should have passed and he accepted it. This was not the time for her dislike of him to stop what needed to be done though. So he shifted forms again, this time pushing further to assume a ghostly form that only ones with high magic potential could see.
“He was poisoned, I can fix it but he will not survive until I do so without help.”
“Why should I help?”
“Because if you don’t, the hero that saved us and defeated your trial will never be born.”
The spectre knew that he would have died before any of that would happen and he knew she still didn’t know the truth of who he was or why he was there… she never would if he had any say in it though he suspected sooner or later a certain goddess would speak up about the truth so he would be free to visit her again. Memories of running into a golden wolf in other times lingered even now, though they had faded with time from his death. Still it was strangely satisfying to watch her pale and quickly use her magic to help slow the progress of the poison.
The Great Fairy’s wings fluttered as she moved closer to the Hero and the spectre held up a hand to get her attention.
“You must not move him from this Spring, if you do I will not be able to give him the antidote in time.”
“Very well.” She agreed, reluctant but choosing to trust him about this.
He shifted back to his wolf form and hurried off to gather the herbs and such he needed for the antidote. It took him about sixteen minutes though it felt longer since he knew that every minute counted in a way they hadn’t since his second adventure. Returning to the Spring He sat and began preparing the herbs for the potion he needed to make, glancing at Time and noticing that he seemed less pale but his breathing was still heavy. Soon the poison would be beyond the fairy’s ability to slow.
Moving to the hero he dug through his pack to find a small pot for potion making and he filled that with water from the Spring. A little magic gave him a fire that he could control, and the water was heating quickly to the right temperature. This was the longest part he knew, waiting for the water to heat so he could add the first of the herbs. Once it was bubbling lightly he added the first herb and as soon as the first leaf of it touched to bottom he added the second, the flowers floating for a few moments. The potion turned a light purplish green. Once the flowers began to sink he added the stem of the third herb, carefully tearing it smaller as he added it so that it would mix with the other two quicker. The green turned to a red and the purplish color disappeared.
Stirring it quickly he added roots from the first plant and the second, humming quietly to himself one of the songs that the howling stones projected for Twilight. If the fairy noticed it and asked he would blame the stone for it, he hoped she wouldn’t ask. In the Spring the Hero began to whine and twisted a little in pain. Swearing under his breath the spectre mixed in the last ingredient of the antidote and heated the mixture as much as he could. Once the color changed from the orangy red to a light yellow he moved it off the fire, pouring it through a cheesecloth into a cup. The cup was partially submerged into the Spring so it would cool quicker, he couldn’t control ice magic well enough to cool it that way so instead he had to use what was present. The yellow turned back to a green but a blueish green, and he knew it was ready.
Positioning the Hero so he was resting against his shoulder was surprisingly difficult and right before he set the cup aside so he could move Time out of the Spring the Great Fairy leaned him against her shoulder allowing him to carefully make Time drink the antidote.
“I almost didn’t believe you about what would happen, but I decided to trust you. When the poison affected him worse I felt how things were trying to shift… that’s why you’re still here, isn’t it?”
“I am still here because I have not moved on.”
The Great Fairy seemed to laugh at him as though he confirmed something she thought. He gave her an annoyed look before he looked back at Time. His breathing seemed better, and the antidote only needed to be given once meaning that he would only need time to recover now. The Fairy gently stroked his hair, her fingers sliding through it with affection that the spectre missed. He knew he only had himself to blame for it, his form resembling how he looked in life had too much magic to be easily seen or touched and this form lacked hair or skin and it cost too much for him to maintain a physical form without help.
Sighing he started cleaning up the pot and put the things he used away, scattering the last of the flowers he gathered over the water to help cleanse away the taint from the poison and whatever dark magics lingered after healing Time. Once he finished cleaning up and putting things away he checked on Time, making sure he was breathing okay and that his remaining injuries were not bleeding. As he moved he did his best to ignore the look that the Fairy was giving him now. Seeing her about to say something to him he shifted into a wolf and squirmed so that Time was once again draped over his back.
“I wish to speak with you more later.” She informed him and he simply gave her a wide eyed look of confusion as though he had no idea what she wanted. It clearly failed since she gave him a stern look. “Don’t think I won’t come find you. We need to talk, and this time I would like the truth from you. Do you hear me, Link?”
He grumbled to himself at that, this was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her. Too many questions to answer. Tugging the unconscious hero into a better position on his back he took off, making sure to keep from jostling him too much. He knew that the Hero had stirred while they were there and that he had seen his wolf form as well as the Fairy… it felt odd to know where he needed to be to help but not really know what happened to get there. Time travel always made things interesting to deal with, and this was no exception. Still he did need to get him to Twilight and the rest of the boys, and it would take more than that trip for him to recover from the poison since he did remember having Warriors help him drink some soup.
He felt hands curl into his fur and crooned softly to reassure Time that everything was okay. Time sighed and relaxed again, drifting deeper into sleep. Running across Hyrule as a wolf was far more fun than it had been as a Hylian, he discovered and wondered if this was why Twilight spent so much time traveling in this form. It made sense, also it brought about other indulgences… like the fish he hadn’t needed to grab while racing across a stream but had grabbed anyway. Well if nothing else Twilight or one of the others should appreciate it.
After a few more minutes of travel he heard a howl in the distance and listened for who it was. After a moment it repeated, a familiar tune that he huffed a laugh at. Slowly lowering himself so he could squirm out from under his passenger the spectre howled the same song, echoing it and completing it. Immediately he became aware of where his descendant was and sent to him a strong feeling of needing to stay where he was. Twilight looked confused but bowed his head in agreement. Content he let go of that connection and the between realm.
Once again squirming beneath Time he tugged him up onto his back. Time groaned and curled his arm around him, helping in the limited way he could. Once Time was safely on his back once again he resumed running to meet the boys. Twilight would make sure they stayed there and Time would be fine until they got there. He moved a little slower until he heard Time’s breathing even out into sleep again then he picked up speed again.
As he traveled towards where the others were waiting for them the distance seemed bigger now, perhaps it was knowing that they could have met him part way but he rejected the offer or the knowledge that soon he would have more questions posed to him. Twilight always had questions when things worked out differently from how he expected them to. He glanced back at his passenger and was relieved to see the steady, calm breathing from him. The earlier gasping had felt a little too familiar to him, and he was glad that it was over with.
He stopped once during the trip. Shifting to his more humanoid form he helped Time sit against a rock while he made some tea for him. It was almost a challenge to make Time drink something, but showing him the herbs in the tea convinced him that it would help speed up his recovery a little. While Time was drinking there was a moment he thought about just stopping for the night, he knew that the Hero was exhausted and would need more time to recover from the wounds and the poison. He knew that if he did that then he wouldn’t get him to the boys on time, and that was not something that he was willing to chance. Pausing he noticed that Time was watching him closely as he was returning their supplies to their place.
“You were the one who taught Twi.” Time murmured, voice exhausted.
“I was.” He replied warily.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You-”
“I know, but still thank you.”
“... he called me Shade.”
“If you want I can call you that as well.”
“It does make things easier.”
“Very well. I’m guessing we need to get going?”
“Yes.” Shade shifted back to his wolf form and settled on the ground near the weakened hero.
This time the Hero managed to get onto his back without much help from him and he gave a little grin knowing that he was definitely doing better. Time seemed to know that he was going to be moving quickly and lowered himself to rest along Shade’s back as Shade took off again. Having him awake even only for a little while made it easier to travel quickly, he didn’t have to keep checking to ensure that Time was still on his back this way. It was when the arms around his neck loosened that Shade slowed a little again, checking on Time quickly.
It wasn’t too far to the camp where the boys were when Time had finally lost the battle to stay alert, maybe thirty-two minutes, and Shade slowed to walk instead of run. In fact he slowly lowered Time from his back, careful to avoid jostling his remaining injuries though there were only a couple that would still need checking on. Sitting he howled a specific tune to get the attention of the person he wanted.
Sure enough not long after he stopped and had arranged Time on his back again a certain grey and white wolf appeared out of the bushes and shadows. The wolf gave a whine and trotted closer, nuzzling him and his passenger both. He gave a soft bark and started walking the way the other had come from and he seemed to understand. Twilight shifted back to his Hylian form and started walking, leading the way back to the camp the Links had set up.
“This way, the others thought I was crazy to want to stay here. You asked me to wait though so I did.” Twilight said, sounding and looking uncertain. Shade noted with some mirth that he still rambled when he was uncertain about what was going on. “I think Vet or Traveler has a potion that can finish fixing him up. I used up my last one during the battle. He’s not gonna need more than that, is he?”
Shade shook his head and carefully followed Twilight as he entered the camp. The others immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them.
“Twilight, there is a wolf following you.”
“Yeah.”
“Let me change what he said. Why is there a wolf following you?”
Sky came over and held out a hand for him to sniff. Shade wanted to laugh that they were so worried about him they didn’t notice the person he was carrying.
“He’s glowing.”
“Don’t be silly, he can’t possibly be glowing.”
“What is he carrying?”
Wild approached while Shade indulged Sky and gave a startled cry.
“It’s Time!”
That immediately got the others attention and they all hurried over. Shade simply laid down and watched them flutter and fuss as they got Time off his back and checked him over. As he’d suspected the injuries were not bad enough to need attention sooner but they were treated quickly by Warriors and Hyrule. Sky pet him, something he indulged shamelessly in since unlike his descendant he loved the affection. In fact when Four and Wind came over he allowed them to join in petting him too. The others kept checking on him and on Time until they fell asleep. Twilight resisted going to sleep so Shade walked over and tugged him to lie next to Time. Once Twilight was lying he simply laid on top of him, pinning him in place.
“Shade! Get off.” Twilight tried to squirm out from under him but Shade huffed and shifted a little before closing his eyes and feigning sleep. “This is revenge, isn’t it?”
Near the fire someone, it sounded like Legend, was laughing at Twilight and Shade heard a whispered ‘good boy’. Once Twilight finally went to sleep he got up and went to check the area. It was very tempting to just shift all of them to his Ether Plane and keep them safe that way but his younger self didn’t have enough control for him to do so safely while he slept and he could not keep an eye on someone outside it with so many others inside it. So instead he checked the area and scared off a couple of Bokoblins that were trying to move closer to where the heroes were resting. When he got back from scaring them off he found that Wild was on night watch and wondered before realizing that he spent much longer dealing with the Bokoblins than he meant to and so had missed the middle watch.
“Hey, you’re Twi’s buddy, right?” Wild asked quietly.
Shade tilted his head but nodded. Wild grinned and offered him a piece of meat. While Shade didn’t need to eat it was still nice to do so occasionally so he gently took the meat from Wild and started eating it while settled right next to him.
“You remind me of a wolf I saw during my adventure. I never really got to see him up close at that time but he and Wolfie were my companions for the entire time. Wolfie would keep me company and the other would keep monsters away while I slept or bring us food if I needed it and forgot. I think without them I wouldn’t have survived as long as I did.”
Shade licked his muzzle carefully then rested his head on Wild’s leg. Wild was looking at him seriously.
“If you are him then thank you. I needed you. I still need you. Just you being there was enough… and if you aren’t then that’s okay because I still need you. You saved Twilight and Time and you are here helping us.”
Shade butted his head against Wild’s hand asking for pets and Wild relaxed. He knew that eventually he would get there and that was enough for him.
Waking up was a difficult task, his mind was hazy and he vaguely remembered the wolf and skeletal warrior… Shade, that was the being’s current name. He wanted to giggle as he thought about it and what it said about him. A shade of his former self, it was a little too funny considering that he had been poisoned and expected that he wasn’t going to survive. Hearing shuffling and a soft click from Wild’s camera made him realize that someone was clinging to him.
Opening his eye was surprisingly hard but once he managed that his attention was drawn to whoever was clinging to him. Twilight had his face buried against his chest, someone… probably Sky or the Captain had removed his armor so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Four would need some time to fix it, his mind once more found that funny which said a lot about what state he had been in.
“Awake?” Came a gentle question from his left and Time looked to see Hyrule sitting there with a bowl and a potion. Seeing those he groaned and closed his eye to shake his head. Hyrule chuckled a little but tapped his cheek. “Come on, you need the potion and Wild sweetened the oats extra for you.”
Time weighed his options before sighing and nodding. He allowed Hyrule to help him drink the option without moving Twilight much and then he had to let him feed him the oats too because moving just wasn’t much of an option for him just then. His arms felt like they had the Iron Boots magic set on them and he felt like he’d been rolled over by a couple of Gorons after joining them for one of their parties.
“I think you were poisoned but I couldn’t find any traces of it in you. There was some extra fairy magic and some sort of light magic though.”
“A Great Fairy helped me.” Time answered the unspoken question. He wasn’t about to betray the other who helped him by sharing anything he didn’t want known.
“That explains it.” Hyrule seemed relieved and moved back to the fire.
Time sighed and curled a little, trying to turn on his side so he could curl closer to Twilight because his descendant was warm and he felt cold. A head moved to shift Twilight so he could do so and Time ran a hand through silky golden fur in gratitude. He felt Shade settle close by as well and dozed off, staying somewhat aware because he felt like he would be needed soon. It was because of that he was aware of the wolf leaving and how an hour and a half later Twilight got up and moved away. Sky settling next to him and playing his harp after tucking the edge of his sailcloth around him was what finally allowed Time to go to sleep again.
Later Time felt someone move away from him and woke properly. He blinked a couple of times while he took in his surroundings and noticed the covered bowl near him. Picking it up he noticed that it was some mushroom and rice balls. The food didn’t look that appealing, unlike usual, and Time knew that it was just because of how long it had been since he had eaten a proper meal, not that Wild would agree that this counted. Pulling one out of the bowl he looked around camp, absently starting to eat it, and counted who was where and doing what.
Four was fiddling with his armor, probably checking what he could salvage without needing to use a proper forge. Sky was listening to Wind telling a story and Warriors was adding bits of information to it. Legend was checking his rings, Hyrule was hanging the laundry near him with a golden wolf helping hold the basket. Twilight and Wild were missing, wait… Wild was there by the fire which meant that Twilight was missing. That must have been who he was holding onto that moved. Satisfied with that for the moment Time finished his rice ball and grabbed another one to eat as well. Picking up the bowl he moved over to Wild and handed him the bowl as he took the last of the rice balls.
Wild grinned up at him and handed him a cup which he took and reluctantly drank, knowing that it would be Wind’s ‘special’ tea from the war… that is three quarters tea, some red potion and all of it drowned in honey because he hated drinking the potion laced tea otherwise and he refused to drink watered down potions on their own. Sure enough he caught the hint of red potion and stuck his tongue out a Wind while at an angle that only Warriors could see it.
Leaving Warriors to laugh Time headed off to find Twilight, suspecting that his descendant needed a moment to get some of his worries said before they caused him nightmares. He had seen all of his boys let worries linger too long and end up with horrible nightmares as a result. A little way away, near a small stream, he found Twilight looking sadly into the water.
“You look troubled.”
“Time!” Twilight jumped and scrambled to his feet. Time smiled sadly and sat next to where Twilight had been sitting.
“Please sit.”
“I’m so sorry, I woke you up and-”
“Twi.”
Twilight stopped mid-sentence and looked like he was about to cry. Time gave him a small gesture for him to sit next to him.
“It’s been a rough few days, please sit.”
Twilight did so though he still seemed upset and worried.
“You-”
“I ordered you all to go through that portal.”
“Yes, I thought that… you couldn’t move and…”
“Hey, give me your hand.”
“Huh?”
“Your hand.” Time repeated while holding his own out. Twilight set his hand in Time’s and Time pressed it against his heart so Twilight could feel it beating. “I’m here, pup. I have no plans to go anywhere, but I needed to focus and the thought of any of you being in danger with the ceiling having partially collapsed and possibly collapsing further kept me from doing that. Just imagining any of you getting buried and me not being able to dig you out… I hated it.”
“Oh..”
“I wanted you there but I needed you elsewhere.” Time murmured, leaning his shoulder against Twilight’s as he lowered their hands to rest on his knee.
There was movement behind them and Time glanced over his shoulder to see golden fur that glowed softly in the shadows. He wondered idly if it kept him from hiding well at night or if that was something else. The wolf, Shade he should remember to call him Shade, gave him a mildly annoyed look before circling around to sit next to Twilight. Twilight looked a little shocked when he finally noticed him.
“You’re still here? I… I thought-” Twilight trailed off, his arms wrapping around the golden wolf and Time’s doubts about who it was disappeared. He recognized that almost haunted look on Twilight’s face from his numerous ‘close calls’ and it all finally made sense to him. He smiled faintly and reached out to touch Twilight’s shoulder.
“You wonder why he, why I, stayed?” Time paused to let Twilight nod. He met Shade’s eye and grinned a little. “I want to be with you, it is as simple, and as complicated as that.”
“You…” Twilight gave them both wide eyed looks and Time shrugged while leaning back to rest against his hands so he could look up at the sky easier. This wasn’t really his place to share more, and he suspected that Shade wouldn’t share more for a while either but Shade laying across their laps and howling a song seemed to be enough to calm Twilight. Time would agree… if he wasn’t trying not to glare at Shade for the song he picked. Why did he have to choose the Song of Time? He swore the wolf was laughing at him. Twilight seemed happy to just lean against him and pet Shade though so Time resigned himself to being there for a while, which he was fine with since Twilight and the others had indulged him all day while he slept.