Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fire light lit up the clearing. Around the campfire sat the chain. They were in high spirits, having successfully cleared out a monster camp. There were very few injuries, a stab wound obtained by Wild being the worst.

Time smiled as his boys were recounting their sides of the battle. Wind told a grand tale, Legend boasted about having an item for every possible scenario, Four praised the group’s teamwork today, Warriors and Twilight were complaining about the difficult to wash out monster blood in their clothes, Wild and Hyrule were discussing their more reckless actions during battle with joy, Sky laughed when a joke was told and shared in excitement how he took out a large group of monsters with a single skyward strike. It was a moment of peace.

“What about you, old man? Anything interesting happen to you during the fight?” Legend asked. Time shook his head.

“It wasn’t an unusual battle for me. I am however quite proud of you all for getting this done mostly unscathed. That Mighty Darknut could’ve been a real issue. It was smart to distract it while Sky got skyward strikes in from a distance.” He said. The boys seemed happy with the compliment as the conversation immediately shifted to talk about the fight with the Mighty Darknut. Time listened for a few minutes more before he interrupted them.

“Any volunteers for night watch?” Time asked. Some made sure to avoid eye contact while others (Like Wind and Twilight) quickly volunteered.

“Wind, you haven’t had watch in a while. You can have first watch.”

“Aye, aye, old man” Wind responded cheerily with a salute. Time gave the sailor a smile and then turned to Twilight.

“Pup, you already had watch two nights in a row. You need sleep too. Wild. Are you ok with last watch?”

“Fine by me.” Wild said with a shrug. Time nodded.

“I’ll have middle watch tonight. So now that that’s decided, to bed with the rest of you. We have another day of travel tomorrow.” He said.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was 53 minutes into Time’s watch. The old man looked up at the moon looming overhead. Never able to shake the feeling that it was going to fall any moment now. He counted every second.

54 minutes into his watch… 55 minutes into his watch…

He shouldn’t be looking up. He should be looking at the shadows moving between the trees to make sure they’re just plants and not a monster waiting to strike. So he tore his eyes away from the moon that seemed all too close and watched the darkness beyond the fire’s reach.

The sound of crickets scared away the silence. A comforting noise that reminded him of his old home in the Kokiri forest. It put his mind at ease.

But this didn’t seem to be the case for all of his boys. Time heard shuffling and murmuring. He turned around to see Sky clutching onto his sailcloth with a death grip. His eyes screwed shut as tightly as they could. He seemed to be having a really bad nightmare.

Time glanced at the darkness all around them one last time to ensure they were safe before heading to Sky. Carefully he got closer before touching the knight’s shoulder, making sure to do it from as far away as possible in case the skyloftian woke up lashing out. But there wasn’t really any response at all.

Sky was murmuring a lot. Time couldn’t make sense out of most of what he said. Most of it seemed to be gibberish anyways. Sometimes he heard ‘no’ and ‘help’ but other than that just random murmurs.

He poked Sky’s shoulder again. No response. Getting a bit closer he grabbed Sky’s shoulder and shook roughly.

“Sky? Hey, Sky. Wake up.” Still no response. Time frowned. Sky may fall asleep easily but waking him up usually wasn’t this difficult. He shook Sky’s shoulder a bit rougher but Sky still kept sleeping and murmuring nonsense.

Maybe he has a fever? Time carefully put his hand on Sky’s forehead, still making sure he can move away if Sky woke up scared. No fever. Why wasn’t Sky waking up?

He was about to wake Warriors to ask if he knew anything when Sky gasped. His eyes flew open and he was sitting in less than a second. He seemed shook. It must’ve been a bad nightmare.

“Hey, Sky. Are you ok? Do you want to talk-” Time started. But Sky interrupted him.

“Talk, yes, NOW.” He said, immediately standing up and moving towards the campfire. The urgency in Sky’s voice worried Time so he quickly sat next to Sky near the fire.

“Alright so-”

“Sky, We’re not going to talk before you take a breath and calm yourself. Deep breaths and then tell me what’s wrong.” Time said. Sky sighed, took a deep breath in and breathed out slowly.

“Can I talk now?” He asked a bit annoyed. Time nodded.

“Ok. Something bad is going to happen.” He said, immediately making Time worried.

“How so? What’s going to happen?” He asked. But Sky shrugged.

“I have prophetic dreams on rare occasions. I had one just now. It was… very unclear. I just know something bad will happen. I saw a portal, I saw monsters, and I saw blood. I had a constant feeling of dread but that was all the dream was before I woke up.” He explained. Time thought for a moment before responding.

“And you’re sure this dream was prophetic and not just a nightmare? I’m not judging. I just want to be sure.” He said. Sky nodded.

“Prophetic dreams are rare but they feel more… real? It’s hard to explain but there’s a clear difference.” He explained, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“We should probably inform the others. Do you think it can wait for tomorrow or should I wake them now?” Time asked. Sky looked at the others and shook his head.

“There’s usually a bit of time before whatever happens in my dreams happens. We should be able to wait until tomorrow. Just… Please keep extra good watch tonight. We should be careful just to be sure. If anything happens to them because I couldn’t make sense of a dream-” Time interrupted him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing happens tonight. And I’ll inform Wild when he takes over watch too. Whatever is going to happen it won’t stop us, ok? So go to sleep a bit more. You’ll need your energy.” He reassured. Sky seemed to contemplate staying awake a bit longer before ultimately deciding to do as told and sleep. He was the one with the least energy out of all of them. If he had even less energy he might not be able to help at all when whatever is going to happen happens. It was best if he rested a bit more.

When he was sure Sky was asleep again Time sighed. Prophetic dreams were a useful ability but it would be nice if they were a bit clearer. No matter. What they knew now was more than what they knew before. He just hoped they were ready for whatever was to come.

- - - - - - - - - -

”Everyone’s attention, please!” Time called out. Everyone immediately turned to their leader.

“It appears that we won’t be traveling in peace for a lot longer. Sky, if you would.” He said, handing everyone’s attention to Sky.

“Ah, uh… ok… So I have prophetic dreams and I had one last night. I know something bad will happen soon but the dream was very unclear so I don’t really know what…” He said. Legend immediately pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Something bad always happens sooner or later, featherhead. Do you really have nothing more than ‘I don’t know what will happen’?” He asked, tapping his foot on the ground.

“Well. I saw a portal and then monsters. Then I saw blood. So my guess is that either when we find the next portal or when we go through the next portal we’ll be attacked and someone will be badly hurt.” Sky replied. Warriors, ever the strategist, thought for a moment.

“Hmmm… Alright. So we need to make sure everyone has a healing potion on them at all times so everyone can heal if needed. And the moment we see a portal we need to be on the defensive. Stay close together and keep an eye on everyone.” He said before immediately looking in his bags for his potions to distribute them evenly. The others quickly did the same.

“Sky.” Twilight started.

“What did the monsters look like? Any you did not know?”

“I recognized what looked like a moblin and a few different types of bokoblin. There was also this bird-like monster in blue armor. No wings” Sky said. Hyrule looked worried at the mention of the bird-like monster.

“Sounds like a fokka. They are incredibly tough. Usually they don’t leave the great palace. Were you in what looked like a palace in your dream?” Hyrule asked. Sky shrugged.

“I couldn’t make out the surrounding area. Like I said, these dreams are unclear. Sorry.” He replied. Hyrule nodded.

“Ok. So fokka are one of the toughest enemies I’ve ever faced. They don’t die easily. They are incredibly fast and can shoot sword beams as well. If we come face to face with a fokka taking it down should be our first priority.” He explained.

“Alright.” Time said.

“So we might end up in this Great palace of your time, Hyrule. Any other information we need if that is the case?” He asked. Hyrule went on to tell what he knew of the great palace.

With as much information and supplies shared as possible Both Time and Sky felt a lot more at ease. Sky made clear that this would probably not stop the bad event from happening but it might help them deal with the event. And if everyone got out alive then they did enough.

Soon the group was on the move again. Their guard was up at all times and the occasional stray monster was killed quickly just in case it would call for backup.

Despite them having a short battle with a black blooded moblin at one point there wasn’t anything of note during this day. They went to bed with at least two people keeping watch at all times.

The next day Sky was tense. He was sure whatever was going to happen was getting closer. Time put a reassuring hand on the knight’s shoulder.

“We’ll be fine.” The old man said.

“There’s nine of us. And we’ve already prepared thanks to you. This won’t take us down. So try to relax.” He reassured.

“Thanks. I just don’t want anything to go wrong is all.” Sky replied, scratching the back of his head. A nervous tick.

“I understand. But it’ll be alright. No other dreams last night?” Time asked. Sky shook his head. That meant no other details of whatever will happen. No matter. They’ll handle it with what they got.

“Weapons ready! There’s a portal!” Warriors called from the front. Everyone drew their sword and shield and gathered close together in a defensive position. Their eyes darted to the trees. Their ears perked for any noise. But there was nothing. No sign of danger. Only the swirling dark gate standing ominously between two trees. Time looked at the portal for a few seconds.

“Whatever your dream alluded to might be on the other side of that thing.” He said. Sky nodded.

“We should go through in groups. Weapons ready.” He replied. The others nodded in agreement.

With weapons drawn Legend and Hyrule went through. Quickly followed by Twilight and Wild, Then Time and Sky went through with Warriors, Wind and Four going through last.

~~~~~~~~~~

From the dark swirling haze of the portal Time emerged. He quickly recollected himself and took a battle stance. The forest he was in seemed to be healing from some sort of sickness. This might be a bit after Hyrule’s time. A time where the world is starting to heal from Ganon’s influence

But… there were no monsters. No battle. No danger…

No Sky…

Shit. The portal separated them. Looking around Time hoped to catch at least a glimpse of one of his boys but there was nothing.

He wasn’t sure if calling out for them would be dangerous here. He can’t accidentally call upon a monster horde. Especially not while on his own.

But… one of them if not more might be in danger. So he called out anyways.

“Sky? Legend? Wild? Pup?” He called. No response.

“Hyrule? Wind? Four? Warriors?” Still nothing. Not good. He had to find the others as quickly as possible. But where to go?

He listened closely. He could faintly hear the sound of moving water. So he headed there as quickly as he could. When he reached the river he followed it downstream. And to his luck he soon found Wind doing the same.

“Old man!” The sailor called out.

“Where is Sky?” He asked worriedly. Time shook his head.

“I don’t know. But we need to find the others quickly. Have you contacted Wild yet with your necklace?” He asked. Wind nodded.

“He’s by a lake, so likely downstream. He isn’t in any danger.” He replied.

“Let’s try to hurry there anyways. That safety might not last forever.” Time said. The two quickly resumed their path.

A bit later they were able to hear Wild’s loud whistle in the distance. Making a bit more haste the two soon arrived at the lake. They could see Wild on the other side of it. He was joined by Legend and Warriors. Time and Wind quickly joined up with them.

While trying to decide if they should go further downstream or stay put Four and Hyrule emerged from the forest. A howl alerted them to Twilight being nearby. Wild whistled and got another howl In response. Soon Twilight’s wolf form appeared as well before he turned back to normal. The rancher looked around, Worry in his eyes.

“Are we only missing Sky?” He asked. The others nodded.

“I didn’t pick up his scent here either.” He then said. Worrying the others.

“We need to look for him.” Warriors said immediately. But before he could run off to do just that Hyrule stopped him.

“We need to stay together. This time may be healing but if monsters from my time really are running around here splitting up might be a death sentence. We’ll look for him together.” The traveler said sternly. And despite his shorter stature he could be quite intimidating if he wanted to be. He just doesn’t want to be most of the time. Warriors murmured some annoyed things but he had to admit that Hyrule was right.

Twilight turned back into a wolf, hoping it’d help make tracking Sky easier. They talked about what areas they came from, hoping to pinpoint the locations Sky may have appeared. Then they quickly rushed back into the forest looking for their brother.

Not here…

Not there…

Nowhere…

They just couldn’t find him. Twilight didn’t even pick up his scent anywhere. They might be looking in the complete wrong location.

Time was worried sick. He’d been the one reassuring Sky they’d be alright but now they weren’t even there if he needed help. He couldn’t let anything bad happen to his boys. He had to keep looking. Even as the sun set the group tried to keep searching until they were far too exhausted. They had no choice but to set up camp and rest.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Everyone up! We need to keep looking for Sky. We’ll eat breakfast while on the go.” Time said. The others were tired but agreed. One of them might be in danger and there was no time to waste. So off they went again.

They called out for him. Looked everywhere they could. Occasionally their calls would attract monsters. They were indeed similar to the ones in Hyrule’s time. Tough but thankfully not black-blooded. Eventually they returned to the river and followed it downstream again hoping Sky had done the same. But as the sun reached its highest point there was still no sign of him.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t split up?” Warriors asked.

“We looked almost everywhere but still found no sign of him. If we split up-”

“No.” Time interrupted.

“I’m sure you realized how tough the monsters here are. If we split up and one of the groups comes across black-blooded monsters we’ll have more people in trouble than we already have. We’re sticking together. End of conversation.”

“But-”

“I said end of conversation!”

The group was tense. Worried sick, unsure of where they were exactly, and only knowing something bad will happen if it hadn’t happened already. They just wanted to find Sky and make sure he was alright.

Time let out a bone deep sigh. Thoughts of what might have happened to Sky were raging through his head. He was worried that if they did find him they’d be finding a corpse. Thankfully he didn’t get to think about it for too long.

Twilight froze suddenly, raising his hand to signal to the others to stop. Quickly shifting to his wolf form he sniffed the air. A whine and a bark. Wind was first to realize what the rancher meant.

“Do you smell Sky?” He asked hopefully. Twilight nodded. With another bark he took off. Making sure the others could keep up with him.

They rushed back into the forest. Following the wolf’s path they ran as fast as they could. Soon the smell of blood hit their nostrils as well. Time felt his stomach twist as his worry spiked. Ahead of them they saw Twilight shift back to hylian while still running.

“Sky!” He yelled. Fear in his voice.

The forest floor was damp with blood. Hylian blood. Sky lay on the ground unmoving. Twilight was first at his side, shaking the skyloftian’s shoulders hoping he’d wake up.

When Time reached the two his blood ran cold. There was a deep cut on Sky’s throat. Blood was all over his neck. Thinking quick Time pulled Twilight back, since the rancher was too shocked to notice the actual injury, and tried to keep the wound closed.

“Hyrule! Can you heal him?” Time asked hurriedly. Hyrule rushed to their side and pushed Time’s hands aside, covering the wound with his own hands. Healing magic glowed warmly. But Hyrule seemed stressed.

“It doesn’t feel like my magic can get a hold of the wound.” He stammered. But when he pulled his hands away the wound did seem to heal. So he covered the wound again and kept trying to heal.

The others stood around watching, unsure of what to do. The wound was being healed by magic so he’s alive. But will they be able to save him? Everyone held their breath. Time was holding Sky’s wrist, fingers at his pulse point. He could feel it thrum softly beneath the skin.

“Come on, Sky. Wake up.” Time spoke softly. Hyrule pulled his hands away from Sky’s now healed neck, an angry scar where the wound was. Warriors was about to move in to help when Sky gasped suddenly. His breaths were rough but deep. Eyelids fluttering, he seemed to struggle to get a hold of consciousness.

“Hey, Sky. Take it slow. You’re alright.” Time said. Sky looked around confused for a bit. Eyes landing on Hyrule for a moment. Hyrule smiled and waved with a blood covered hand. Sky then turned to Time, seemingly taking in the current situation. Warriors gave Sky’s shoulder a light tap to get his attention.

“Hey. You good? Any pain?” He asked. Sky shook his head before trying to sit up. Everyone’s hands immediately hovering around him to help if needed. Sky put up his hand, waving them off. He looked around, looking at everyone for a moment before looking down at his blood-covered clothes.

“We need to check you for injuries.” Warriors said. Sky opened his mouth to respond but… No noise came out. The skyloftian looked confused for a second before trying again. Nothing. He tried again and again but every time it was silent. A cold realization came over the group.

He can’t talk.

Chapter Text

“You can’t talk?” Time asked. Sky shook his head. He kept trying to speak but the most that came out was a rough, raspy noise.

“Don’t strain yourself. We still have potions. Maybe one will help?” Time tried to reassure. Sky nodded and was handed a potion. He drank it, tried to speak, but still nothing. Warriors paced back and forth in thought for a bit.

“Maybe there was too much damage? Or maybe the wound healed wrong? We don’t know how long he was out so maybe it took too long before it was healed.” He theorized. But why it didn’t heal fully wasn’t important to Time. The important thing was the fact that it didn’t. Sky couldn’t talk.

“Do you know sign language?” Time asked. Sky shook his head. Not great. That meant that some lessons were in order soon.

“Umm… Guys?” Wild started.

“Where is the Master sword?” Immediately everyone looked around. Time scanned the area. Sky’s bag lay a bit further away, items had fallen out. There was glass on the ground from two smashed potion vials, likely why Sky didn’t heal himself. His shield lay near a tree. But no sword anywhere.

“Do you know, Sky?” Time asked. Sky shook his head. He seemed a bit confused and dazed so Time guided him to lay back down. The others checked the area but none found the sword. Wild was scratching the back of his head confused.

“How’d that happen? I thought monsters couldn’t wield that sword.” He said. The others shrugged. Time thought for a moment.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there are monsters that can. With black blood going around we can never be certain that what we know still holds true.” He said.

“Sky, did you see any monsters grab your sword?” But Sky shook his head. Warriors did another quick scan of the area, still finding nothing.

“Did they leave before you passed out?” He asked. Sky shook his head.

“Ok, so they might have grabbed the sword while you were out. Twilight, can you track the monsters?”

“I can but we should make sure Sky is feeling well first.” Twilight insisted. Sky still looked a bit confused but seemed to get his bearings again. He got up, standing a bit shaky at first before managing to stabilize himself, and gave a thumbs up to Twilight. A bit too quickly for Hyrule’s liking.

“Are you sure you’re good?” The traveler asked. Sky nodded insistently.

“Ok.” Warriors said, gathering Sky’s gear, stuffing it back in Sky’s bag, and tossing it to the knight.

“Then we can look for that sword. If monsters really do have it then who knows what they’re planning to do with it.” He grabbed Sky’s shield and pushed it in Sky’s hands, almost pushing the knight over. Time gave the captain a judgmental glare.

“If Sky says he’s fine then we’ll travel but we’ll be taking it slow for his own wellbeing. We barely slept last night too and pushing everyone to the limit will help no one. Why are you so hurried anyways?” Time asked. Warriors let out a huff. He knew Time was right but still…

“Look, I just don’t want to be unprepared if the monsters are planning something. Even the ones with normal blood in this time are tough. What if they’re taking that sword to that shadow? We don’t know how that… thing works. And maybe the sword will make it stronger somehow. I’d rather get the blade back before we have to find out whether that’s the case or not.” He explained. Time nodded in understanding but stayed by his decision to take it slow. They can’t fight if they’re all too exhausted.

Wild handed one of his spare swords to Sky. It may not be the master sword but it was far better than going around unarmed. Sky accepted the blade with a nod. Wild asked Sky once again if he was ok and Sky smiled and nodded.

Twilight checked the area for any traces of where the monsters might have headed. He figured they headed south. Hyrule checked Sky over for any other injuries but found none. His life spell from earlier probably healed them already. Sky signaled that he was good by giving another thumbs up and so they started following the tracks Twilight found.

Time made sure to walk close to Sky. He felt guilty since he had been so confident that they had the situation handled. But now Sky couldn’t talk. They hadn’t even been there to help. He could have died.

‘But he’s not dead. He’s alive.’ Time thought. Though when he looked at Sky his eyes immediately drifted to the new scar on Sky’s neck. Guilt gripped him tightly so he forced himself to look away. Feeling bad about it won’t help.

- - - - - - - - - -

They had been walking for a while. The sun had moved quite a bit from where it was when they started.

“Sky?” Legend asked as he walked up to Sky’s side.

“The monsters that attacked you, where they the same ones from that dream you had?” Sky looked confused at Legend.

“…You know… Because if that’s the case that ‘bad thing that will happen’ will have passed.” Legend clarified. Sky looked at him confused for a second more before he seemed to realize what Legend meant and nodded.

“So they were the same monsters?” Another nod.

“Ok, good! Then that’s dealt with. Could have been dealt with better but you’re not dead so I count that as a win.”

“Showing your caring side again, vet?” Warriors asked. Legend turned to him with a raised brow.

“What do you mean, pretty boy?” He questioned. Warriors gave Legend’s shoulder a light push to annoy him.

“mentioning you’re glad someone’s not dead! Usually you wish death upon us!” He replied. Legend huffed, fixing his hat.

“That’s because you’re all idiots that will take years off of my life with your antics. Sky’s at least the most sane.” Legend said. Four gasped.

“I’m not that bad!” The tiny smith defended. Legend scoffed at this.

“You gave me a two hour lecture about weapon maintenance!” He said.

“That’s because none of you do it right!” Four shot back.

“Ahem.” Time replied.

“Me and Sky keep up with it quite well I’d say.”

“Ok, no one except you two.” Four admitted. Warriors seemed insulted that he wasn’t included. But he did have the tendency to do attacks with his weapons that, though very effective at defeating enemies, definitely wouldn’t be good for said weapons. How he hasn’t broken any is a mystery.

Time sighed as the group started bickering. At least it put everyone’s mind off today’s events.

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok to travel?” Time asked Sky. Sky nodded.

“Let me know if you need rest, alright? Like I said before, we shouldn’t push ourselves too much.” Time said. Sky responded to this with a thumbs up. Sky did seem to be doing well. Hyrule’s magic was very effective at healing so perhaps Time shouldn’t be surprised.

“I’m… I’m sorry.” He said, softly so only Sky could hear. Sky looked at him confused.

“I thought we were prepared. But we weren’t. And now you lost your voice and might not get it back. So, sorry.” Time said again. Sky put his hand on Time’s shoulder, making the man look at him, and gave a smile and two thumbs up. Time smiled back, feeling a bit more at ease. Though the feeling faded quickly as Sky looked away and his face turned neutral almost immediately. It gave Time the feeling that Sky’s reply wasn’t honest. Was Sky mad at him but didn’t want to admit it?

“Sky…”

“Can we rest yet?” Wind shouted.

“I’m tiiireeed!!”

“I offered you a piggyback ride several times.” Twilight said. Wind crossed his arms annoyed.

“I don’t need to be carried like a baby!” He huffed. Legend rolled his eyes.

“If you’re going to whine about being tired then you do need to be carried.” The veteran shot back. Almost immediately he and Wind started a shouting match.

“Quiet!” Time said firmly. The two shut up immediately.

“We don’t want to attract more monsters. We’ll find a place to rest. But no shouting.” He looked around for a place that might be a good resting spot. Hyrule, knowing what to look for, quickly spotted a cave they could use. Time decided that they might as well set up to stay the night. If they were to pack up later and travel further they’d only have about an hour more to walk. And an early night might do everyone good.

Twilight and Warriors dragged in a few logs to sit on. Those with no tasks immediately sat down. Sky sat next to Hyrule before Legend got the chance to sit there. Slightly annoyed but not about to shout at the injured guy Legend went to sit down next to Time.

“Guess I’m stuck with you.” Legend huffed. Time chuckled.

“You can’t always expect to have the same spot. Hyrule did heal him. Maybe he’s just thankful and wants to spend some time with him. I’d say ask him but…” Time felt guilt creep up again. Legend sighed.

“We should get started on sign language lessons soon. Not being able to communicate can’t be good for him.” He said. Time nodded.

“I think he’s mad at me. He said- well he gave two thumbs up so I think he said everything that happened was fine but it didn’t seem genuine.” He sighed.

“Can’t imagine being fine with becoming mute in such a short period of time. Aren’t there a few other phases before acceptance? Scrap that there definitely are.” Legend replied.

“I hope sign language hasn’t changed too much over time. Otherwise we all need to learn.”

“Not all of us speak sign in the first place. I know only a little bit so I could use some lessons.” Time said. Legend groaned annoyed.

“Great. Our adventure is going to have a school break.” He huffed.

“Ugh, fine. As long as it helps featherhead.”

“It’ll be useful in general. Communicating while sneaking up on monsters for example.” Time said. And Legend had to admit that was a good point.

After a while Wild made a small fire to cook dinner on while preventing as much smoke as possible so they wouldn’t attract monsters. Since they weren’t sure how much this place had healed from Ganon’s influence exactly and thus didn’t know how much food would be forageable they decided to be sparing with food as well. Simple grilled fish would do for tonight.

Sky seemed to be eating fine. A bit faster than usual in fact. Hyrule asked if eating hurt at all and Sky shook his head. That was good to know. Dinner conversation was pleasant and it didn’t go unnoticed to Time that whenever someone asked a question to the group they made sure it was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question so Sky could answer too. Not that he did. But Time was happy the group was so mindful of the knight’s current situation.

“We do need to decide watch.” Time said.

“I want two people on watch at all times. Any volunteers?” He asked. Twilight raised his hand.

“I’ll keep last watch with Wild. You good with that, cub?” He asked as he looked at Wild. Wild nodded. Time looked around at the others. Wind was basically asleep already so he’d sit this one out.

“Four? Are you alright taking watch with someone tonight?” The old man asked. Four nodded.

“Is first watch with Legend alright?” He asked.

“Why me?” Legend asked confused.

“We haven’t had watch together in a while. You always stick with Hyrule so I thought I’d annoy you a bit.” Four replied. Hyrule let out a short laugh as Legend looked pissed.

“He’s right about that.” The traveler said, annoying Legend further.

“Fine. But if you lecture me about weapon maintenance I’m going to bed immediately.” Legend huffed. Time looked at the man sternly.

“You will stay awake for your watch whether you are being lectured or not. Anyways, Hyrule, are you good taking middle watch or do you need to rest more? You did use a lot of magic today so I won’t blame you if you need more rest.” Time said. But Hyrule shook his head with a smile.

“I’m fine to take middle watch. Anyone want to join me?” He asked. To his surprise Sky raised his hand. But Warriors shook his head immediately.

“No, Sky. You need to rest tonight. I know you’re eager to help out but you’ve been through a lot and sleep will be good for you.” He said. Sky looked lightly annoyed at this but backed down anyways.

“I’ll join you on middle watch, Hyrule.” The captain said with a smile. Hyrule nodded. Sky didn’t seem too happy. But he really did need rest.

Later the bedrolls were placed down and everyone who didn’t have watch at the time went to bed. But Sky didn’t seem eager to rest. He stood by the cave entrance looking at the shadows of the forest. Time wondered if Sky was afraid they’d be attacked again. Maybe that’s why he volunteered for watch as well. Time was about to go to him and tell him to go to bed but Legend got there before him.

“We’ll make sure nothing happens tonight. But go to bed. Roolie and pretty boy will have your head otherwise.” The veteran said. Sky looked back, first at the captain and then at Hyrule, and reluctantly waked back inside. Time watched as the knight lied down on his bedroll. He must be tired since he forgot to take his boots off. Yet still he wanted to take watch. Legend walked up to Time, getting the old man’s attention.

“If Sky’s mad at you it’s better if you’re not the one to tell him what to do. It might only make him more annoyed at you.” He said. Time sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Thanks. I just feel bad about it. I was so sure we’d be fine. That he’d be fine. He can’t talk, he doesn’t know sign language yet so communicating will be difficult, not to mention the master sword is missing. You know how attached he is to that thing.” He replied. Legend nodded in understanding.

“I’m sure he’s more stressed than he’s letting on. See how he is tomorrow and if he’s good try talking to him then. Maybe he’ll have processed today a bit more and he’ll be able to forgive you. I don’t think you’re to blame, though. And I’m sure that once he calms down he’ll think the same. You know how Sky is. But he needs to cool down first.” He said. Time let out a breathy laugh.

“You sure know how to handle someone in a bad mood, huh?”

“I speak from personal experience.” Legend replied with a smile, pointing at himself.

“But I’m going to bed. I have the worst watch and a lecture ahead of me.” And with that he was off.

Legend was right. A lot happened to Sky and Time was too quick apologizing. He’ll try again tomorrow if Sky seems to be doing better. But for now he’ll sleep too.

- - - - - - - - - -

Time awoke when daylight entered the cave and landed right on his eyes. He stretched and yawned. The smell of breakfast was already filling the cave. Pancakes. He turned to the spot they made their campfire and saw Twilight, Wild and… Sky. He’s up early.

Twilight was trying to teach Sky some basic sign language but Sky didn’t seem too interested. Time got up and the three turned to him quickly. Wild and Twilight smiled as they saw who was awake.

“Good morning.” Wild said cheerily but quietly as to not wake the others.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did, You three had a good night?” Time asked, specifically looking at Sky. Sky gave a thumbs up.

“I slept fine.” Twilight said.

“But we did have to wake early.” Wild added.

“Had to keep watch or something like that.” He joked. Twilight rolled his eyes. But Time was too focused on Sky to catch the joke.

“You’re up early.” He said. Sky nodded.

“We’ll have to travel today. Are you well rested enough to travel?” Another nod. But Time was skeptical. Sky doesn’t get up early. So he bet the Skyloftian barely slept at all. Maybe he was still too stressed from the day before to rest? But he didn’t want to make Sky more annoyed with him so he dropped it for now. But he’d mention it to Warriors and Hyrule later.

“I saw you started sign language practice?” Time mentioned. Twilight nodded.

“I’m sure that once we get everyone to learn we’ll be talking properly again in no time.” The rancher said.

“Sky’s having a bit of a hard time getting his hands to move the right way but I’m sure he’ll get it with a bit of practice. Right, Sky?” Sky nodded and made a motion with his hand, a closed horizontal fist moved up and down by the wrist, meaning ‘yes’. Looks like despite not seeming too interested in the lesson he did pick up some of the basics.

“That’s good. I hope the sign language you, Legend and Warriors speak isn’t too different. We’ll need to have everyone speaking the same one otherwise we won’t get anywhere. I doubt Four’s Jabber nuts will translate physical movements.” Time said. A yawn was heard from behind as Legend awoke, also waking Hyrule who was sleeping nearby.

“*yawn* Morning.” Legend said as he rubbed his eyes, immediately getting his hand slapped by Hyrule.

“Don’t rub your eyes!” He scolded. Legend pushed him away.

“Oh, shut up. You do it too.” He said. The two got up and made their way to the others. Hyrule immediately asked Sky if he was feeling alright, rested well, or had any pain in his throat. Sky confirmed he was fine through nods and basic sign. Though Legend immediately got confused at several of the signs. Turns out that, just as Time had feared, his sign for things such as ‘yes’ was completely different. With only the thumb and pinky finger extended and lightly flicking the wrist toward himself. But since Legend said Twilight’s sign for ‘yes’ made more sense they decided to stick with his version of sign language. When Warriors awoke he agreed to this too. And since those three were the only three fluent in sign it was settled.

The others awoke to the smell of breakfast and joined around the small campfire. Everyone seemed a bit more at ease but there were definitely still glances shot at the scar on Sky’s neck. At one point Wind asked Sky a question that the skyloftian wasn’t able to answer. Wind apologized and Sky just shrugged.

It was a bit… concerning to Time. Sky really didn’t seem too bothered by not being able to talk. He expected that, now that they’d had some rest, Sky would realize that he basically needed to learn to talk again and be a bit more distressed. But he seemed completely fine. Had it not dawned on him yet or was he really just fine with it? Time hoped it was the latter for Sky’s sake but he was worried it was the former.

Then again it wasn’t Time in this situation. He has no idea of knowing what it is like. He’ll just wait and see. If Sky needs help he’ll surely let them know.

“It was raining during our watch.” The captain said.

“I hope it didn’t wash away the monster tracks. We can’t let them get away with the master sword.” But Twilight didn’t seem too concerned.

“I have tracked through worse conditions. A little rain will not stop us from finding them. We’ll get the master sword back.” He said that last part looking at Sky with a smile. Sky nodded and returned his focus to breakfast, seemingly avoiding the topic. Twilight gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before deciding to switch the topic.

“We decided to stick with the sign language from my time. I’ll be teaching whenever we have some time. Hopefully we’ll be able to have normal conversations using it relatively soon.” He said, making sure to sign what he said at the same time. Wind was trying to replicate the hand movements and was confused in less than a second.

“I’ll move my hands slower during lessons. But using them while I talk will help you get familiar with them.” Twilight said with a smile. Wind nodded, eager to learn a language he’ll definitely use to talk behind people’s backs.

Breakfast was finished relatively quickly. Camp was cleaned up, they made sure it looked like they were never there, and the group got ready to travel again. Twilight shifted to his wolf form and looked for the tracks again. He found them soon after. The group followed.

Through this healing forest they traveled. Sky was sticking by Hyrule’s side, away from Time. The old man was pretty sure Sky wasn’t ready to talk with him yet since he seemed to be actively avoiding him. He’ll give him some more time before trying to make amends. Maybe finding the master sword first will help put the skyloftian more at ease. He cares a lot for that blade, even if Time didn’t agree. For now spending time with Hyrule seemed to cheer him up so Time wasn’t about to interrupt.

They might have a lot of travel ahead of them. Not to mention fights with monsters. Time would watch the forest as they traveled, keeping his boys safe. He wasn’t going to let anyone else get injured like that.

He just wished Sky never got hurt.

Chapter Text

A few days had passed. The monsters the group were following had clearly tried to lose them. Paths were taken through rivers and rough terrain. But Twilight found their tracks through all of it.

Whenever the group took a break or rested for the night Twilight would give sign language lessons. The group was doing their best to learn quickly. Wind was especially good at it once it started making a little more sense to him. He was already trying to have conversations with Twilight during travels. Warriors and Legend picked up very quickly as well. They already had a lot of experience with different sign language after all.

But Sky? He was learning pretty slow. Which wasn’t convenient since it was his only way of communicating other than writing. And since his written language differed greatly from everyone else’s it wasn’t a viable communication option. But whenever they were trying to teach sign he just seemed… uninterested. Like he didn’t even want to learn sign. Maybe he was still hoping his voice would return?

He also tended to stick by Hyrule’s side, often trying to join him on foraging trips or during watch. He also seemed annoyed when someone else joined as well. It’s not Sky’s fault he can’t call out for help if anything happens to the other but it did seem to annoy him a lot.

There was also doubt whether Sky slept well. He stayed up late and was up early most of the time. Time was worried Sky still didn’t trust he was safe, even with everyone around him.

Speaking of, he seemed to avoid Time. Whenever Time tried to talk to him Sky tried to end the conversation quickly, glancing at the biggoron sword on his back. Was he afraid of him? Did he see something in his dreams again? Or was he just still mad and felt that Time should have been there to help like he had promised? Either way it concerned the old man whenever Sky sped walked away towards Hyrule, the person who saved his life.

Time sighed. Guilt still gripped him about the whole situation. He was unsure what he could do to make things right.

When he called for a break he once again joined the sign language lessons. He was starting to get a feel for it. He was pretty sure that, despite the gap in time, the sign from his time was very similar, if not the same, as Twilight’s time. It was nice of Twilight to put so much time into giving these lessons.

But Sky wasn’t even paying attention. He was seemingly lost in thought as he looked at the forest ahead.

“Sky?” Twilight asked. And  then a bit more firmly the second time before Sky reacted.

“I know you’ve been through a lot but I’m teaching this for you. Can you at least try to pay attention?” He asked a bit annoyed. And Sky? He rolled his eyes! But he also straightened up nonetheless. This behavior annoyed several of the group but at least he was joining the lesson again.

When the lessons were done for the day Time sat by Warriors, a bit irritated.

“Why is he being like this? It’s been a few days yet he’s still not acting like himself. He’s not even trying to participate in Twilight’s lessons!” Time huffed. Warriors sighed, looking at Sky who was now resting by a tree.

“even after a few days the fact that he lost his voice like that still stands. Maybe… we’re just too fast. If the memory of the events is still too recent then maybe he’s just not ready to sit down and learn a completely new language.

I know you feel guilty about what happened but he needs some more time. But I’ll try to talk with him tonight.” He said. Time nodded. Being the chosen leader of the group did not make him immune to getting annoyed or stressed about situations. Luckily he had Warriors to fall back on if needed. The captain was always ready to take over as leader whenever Time needed a break.

In the meantime the skyloftian had moved from his spot under the tree to sit by Hyrule. For some reason he wasn’t acting annoyed to Hyrule at all. Likely because Hyrule is the one who healed him, saved his life. Hyrule did scold Sky for his behavior, though. And Sky seemed to accept this.

Time gave the group a few more minutes to relax, (and himself some minutes to collect himself again.), before announcing that they’d have to continue on their travels. With groans of annoyance the group got up from their spots and picked up what they had put down.

They traveled in silence for a while. They had been traveling and traveling after these monsters. The terrain getting increasingly difficult.

“Really?!” Legend shouted as they reached a mountain. The monsters’ trail leading up one of its steepest slopes. Only Wild was excited. With sighs they all strapped their gear tightly to their backs and started trekking, almost climbing, up the slope. Wild was far ahead, calmly sitting down and waiting for the others to reach him while shouting less than encouraging encouragement. By the time the group reached the top they were sweating bullets.

“Can we get another break?” Four asked. The tiny smith didn’t wait for Time to answer before sitting down on a rock. Time was about to respond when the rock Four was sitting on shook slightly. Before the smith could react an octorok sprung up from the ground, flinging him off the decoy rock and launching him partially down the slope. Weapons were drawn and the octorok didn’t stand a chance. Wild went to help Four back up the slope. The smith  had a nasty scar on his arm but thankfully it wasn’t dangerous. They were about to clean the wound when footsteps approached. Climbing up from the opposite slope was a monster horde.

The group immediately drew their weapons again as the monsters got closer. Three moblins approached wielding spiked clubs. A group of different types of bokoblin charged ahead. Wild and Twilight used their bows to snipe down as many approaching monsters as they could before they could reach the top. The others sliced through any monsters that were too close already to effectively attack with the bow. But the horde soon pushed the group back and they were now fighting on even ground.

Time and Warriors were trying to keep the horde under control by attacking in wide sweeps, cutting down a lot of monsters before they could reach the others. Any that managed to pass by them were quickly attacked by the rest of the group. Yet they were still slowly pushed back. Not by the monsters’ relentless attack but by the bodies of the fallen beasts that were making it hard to move.

Time sliced through a lizalfos, narrowly avoiding getting its blood in his good eye, and tried not to walk too far back as the next moblin approached. He heard Hyrule make a noise of surprise behind him but had to focus on the moblin so he couldn’t check on him. The moblin, a big one from Sky’s time, charged with its spear. Time blocked with the flat of his biggoron sword and pushed the monster back. It stumbled over its dead comrades and fell to the ground with a loud crash. Time took his chance to bring his sword down on the beast’s exposed belly. It roared in pain before falling still. It’s massive body was now stopping other monsters from coming from this angle. So Time moved around to close another opening. He got a chance to glance at the rest of the group. Most were standing their ground pretty well, only a few having a nasty cut or bruise. Sky was standing a bit in the back. Time quickly noticed there was barely any monster blood on his blade. The skyloftian poked his blade rather sloppily at any monster that broke through far enough to reach him until one of the others took it out. It wasn’t anything like his usual fighting style.

And where was Hyrule? He couldn’t see him anywhere. Time was about to ask when a spiked club collided with his armor. It wasn’t strong enough to break through and break skin but Time could feel a nasty bruise forming. He turned to the monster, a black moblin from Wild’s time, and prepared to fight it off. The beast roared and raised its club high, ready to strike Time down. But Time took the opening to slice through the monster’s chest. It let out a pained cry but didn’t stop its planned attack. The moblin swung the club down fast. Time stepped aside quickly enough for the club to only graze his shoulder. Time quickly sliced the beast’s head off before it could lift its club again.

The flow of monsters started to slow. Soon the last lizalfos fell. Time looked around checking on everyone when he noticed he still couldn’t see Hyrule.

“Where is the traveler?” He asked. Everyone looked around for a bit when they heard a shout.

“I’m down here!” Hyrule’s voice shouted. He was laying on the steep mountainside with what looked like a broken ankle and several bleeding cuts over his body. He had rolled quite far down. And he looked pissed. Legend immediately rushed to his best friend’s side.

“Shit! Are you alright? Oh, nope. That’s broken.” He said, looking at Hyrule’s ankle twisted at an unnatural angle.

“I’ll set it.” Warriors said, handing Hyrule a potion to take for when he was done.

“What happened? Did you trip?”

“No! Sky wasn’t paying attention and pushed me down!” Hyrule shouted annoyed. All eyes turned to Sky who looked away sheepishly. He signed ‘didn’t notice’ while avoiding eye contact.

Hyrule huffed and took the potion Warriors had given him. Then he healed the last little bit the potion didn’t get with his magic. He’d still have to try and avoid putting too much weight on the ankle for a bit. Legend allowed Hyrule to lean on him as they made their way back up.

“Pay better attention next time.” The veteran hissed as he passed Sky. Time sighed. He did not need everyone to get mad at each other.

“We’ll climb down the other side of the mountain and find a place to rest once we’re at the bottom.” Time decided. Several of the chain cursed under their breath. But they couldn’t stay up here with the monster corpses and Time’s decision was final.

- - - - - - - - - -

“You’re still mad at him.” Time said as he approached Hyrule. Hyrule nodded, checking his still swollen ankle.

“He’s been clinging to me for days and pushing everyone else away. Then he barely pays attention during a battle! He pushed me off the damned mountain! I’m sorry, I know he’s been through a lot but I just want some distance from him.”

“It’s alright.” Time sighed.

“He’s been… difficult as of late. I think he’s mad at me but that’s no excuse to behave like this. I’ll tell him to leave you alone for a bit.” He said. Hyrule thanked him and returned to caring for his ankle.

Sky did not take it well. He looked pissed. His hands clenched in fists held so tight they shook.

“Sorry, but you’ve been getting on his nerves and he needs some time apart from you.” Time tried to explain. With a rough huff Sky stepped away, roughly sitting down under a tree. Time rubbed his temples. This was a mess. The group was going to tear itself apart at this rate.

It’s fine. Twilight said the monster traces were getting fresher. They were getting close. Surely getting the master sword will calm Sky. It’ll be fine.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Of course it’s a damned dungeon!” Legend shouted as he looked at the massive closed doors inside the side of a mountain. Twilight (still in wolf form) sniffed the door. He turned around and barked before turning back to normal.

“This is definitely where they are. It reeks of monsters but I can still sense the ones we’ve been following.” He said, placing his hand on the giant door.

“Help me open it.” The chain moved forward, everyone placing their hands on the doors. Together they pushed the massive door open. A few keese and aches flew out of the darkness, quickly shot down by Wild.

The first room was easy. There was a puzzle that was clearly designed for one person. There were three buttons and some heavy objects that you probably had to move with some magic item. But the buttons could be pushed in by people as well so they just stood on them and the lock fell off the next door. Easy.

Too bad there were four blue goriya in the next room. Boomerangs were immediately thrown at the chain who raised their shields quickly. Wind and Four decided to throw their own boomerangs, first hitting them through a torch’s fire and having it hit two of the monsters, setting them on fire. With two of the four distracted Warriors and Time moved forwards, making quick work of the burning two. Red blood flowed from the beasts. Wild and Twilight shot the other two, distracting them long enough for Hyrule and Legend to get the final blow. This went pretty well, raising the group’s confidence.

Now there was another problem. Two different doors.

“So, split up?” Four asked. Time thought for a moment. The monsters in this time could be dangerous but splitting in just two groups left each with four to five people. And with all of them capable fighters that should be fine. Dungeons don’t tend to house a lot of hordes anyways.

“Alright. Who’s going with who?” He asked.

“I’ll join Time.” Hyrule said. Sky was about to move towards Hyrule but was leveled by a glare from Legend, causing Sky to reluctantly step away again. Wind grabbed his pirate’s charm from his bag and hung it around his neck.

“Me and Wild should stay apart.” He said.

“This way we can keep contact via the charm and slate.”

“Good thinking.” Warriors praised.

“I’ll be going with Sky. It’s best if each group has a medic.” He said. Four stood next to Wild

“I’ll be in whatever group Wild is. Otherwise he’ll break all of his weapons in two minutes.” He glared at Wild but his eyes held no malice. Wild shrugged.

“I’m going in Sky’s group. If we find the master sword he can immediately give my sword back so he doesn’t have to carry it.” He said. Twilight joined Wild, as per usual.

That made the other group consist of Time, Wind, Hyrule and Legend. Time decided to go through the right door because Wind insisted it was the ‘right’ way while giggling. The two groups wished each other success as they went through their chosen doors.

And this dungeon? It was a hard one.

The first few rooms were easy. Most puzzles were easy to solve with a group and monsters were slain pretty easily as long as they watched each other’s backs. But once these monsters started to bleed black it was a different story. Time suffered a nasty cut, Wind’s right arm was bruised black and blue, Hyrule’s ankle was causing him pain again and Legend was lucky the hit to his head didn’t give him a concussion.

They left another monster corpse filled room, carefully observing the next room. It was a small room that seemed more like a guard post for the next door. A large stone door with a heavy looking lock. Yet it didn’t seem to be a boss door. It wasn’t extravagant enough for that.

“Look for a key.” Time said. With a nod they all split up in the small room, checking for hidden buttons, corridors and chests. Time used his lens of truth to scan the room and found an odd looking gap in the wall. Searching around it with his arm he found a button. Pressing it revealed a chest. In it was the key.

“That was easy.” Legend said.

“Not going to complain, though.” He put the key in the door and pushed it open.

They entered a long corridor. Jailcells on each side. Many were empty, some held old corpses. Some of these corpses had since turned into stalfos. Most were still stuck behind bars but some roamed the halls. There weren’t that many and the group of four was able to take them out with relative ease.

Then a sword beam stabbed through Legend’s shoulder. He cried out in surprise and pain as blood started to flow.

Three fokka approached. Two red and one blue with a scar on its face. Wind quickly shot an arrow at the blue armored bird-like monster. It hit its mark but the beast bled black. Not good.

“These are Fokka.” Hyrule said nervously.

“A normal fokka is already incredibly strong. But black blood? This is bad news.”

“Got good news too. The other two bleed normal.” Wind said after he shot two more arrows. Legend scoffed, stuffing the bottle of the potion he just drank back in his bag.

“Great. So we have one extremely dangerous monster and two slightly less extremely dangerous monsters. We’re saved!” He raised his shield just in time to block another sword beam. The three fokka charged at the group, weapons raised.

The group charged forwards as well. Time, Legend and Hyrule clashed their swords with their opponents, Wind took the chance to stab one of the distracted red fokka in the side. The monster pushed its opponent, Legend, back and used the opening to stab at Wind. The sailor jumped away just in time to avoid getting hurt.

Legend charged forwards with his shield. He rammed into the fokka’s side and knocked it to the ground. Before either Legend or Wind could land another hit it jumped up from its prone position and then jumped over the two, landing behind them. It thrusted its sword forwards and into Legend’s back. He shouted in pain. The blade being pulled form his flesh as quick as it went in, leaving a bleeding wound.

“Legend!” Wind shouted, quickly raising his shield to defend the veteran while he got his bearings.

Meanwhile Time was struggling to land even a single hit on his opponent. The red fokka he was facing jumped left and right, moving around far faster than Time could in his heavy armor. At least that heavy armor made sure that any hit the fokka got in hurt a lot less.

Time swung his sword, it missed the fokka and landed in the ground. Time acted like his sword was stuck in the ground, making the fokka approach. Once it was close enough Time swung his sword at the monster, creating a large gash through its armor and into its flesh. It screamed in pain but charged at Time again nonetheless.

Hyrule was facing the black blooded blue fokka. The monster was strong. Mutated with black blood to be even stronger. But Hyrule was experienced. The fokka tried jumping around to disorient its prey, trying to get a hit in on his back. But Hyrule anticipated every attack. He twisted and turned in time with the fokka, blocking every hit and using any opening he got to get a hit in himself.

Hyrule had spells, sure, but he was waiting to use his thunder spell. Once the others had sufficiently weakened their targets he’d cast it, hopefully taking the red ones out and leaving the four of them to gang up on the blue one. Until then he’d have to make sure this one doesn’t bother the others.

A grunt of pain from Time. The fokka had gotten another hit in. It hurt but a potion would be able to fix this. They didn’t have that many, one just being used on Legend again, but it was best to avoid using Hyrule’s healing ability if possible. That was for emergencies.

Time charged at the fokka. It no longer fell for Time’s ‘my sword is stuck’ trick. Time didn’t care. He’ll find another way to hurt it. The monster kept jumping around. Time tried to figure out the monster’s pattern. He realized the fokka could only jump so far, landing relatively close behind him. So when the fokka jumped over him again Time simply extended his leg backwards, kicking the fokka as it landed and knocking it to the ground. Time took his chance and stabbed the beast through its chest. It screamed and tried to fire another sword beam but from its grounded position its aim was off and Time dodged with ease.

He heard the other Fokka scream in pain as well, Legend and Wind having gotten multiple good hits in. The air became charged as Hyrule shouted.

“Get away from your opponent!” He said. Everyone did as told. The air felt even more charged when suddenly out of thin air lighting struck the fokka. The two red ones fell and the blue one staggered, weakened by both Hyrule’s attacks and the lightning strike.

“Now charge!” The traveler shouted. The four heroes immediately jumped the blue fokka. It tried to defend itself but, black blooded as it was, in its weakened state it could not fight the four heroes for long. Soon it fell, a pool of black blood painting the stone floor around it.

“That wasn’t too bad.” Legend sighed, kicking the dead fokka. Both Wind and Hyrule gave Legend a deadpanned stare.

“You just used two potions in a matter of minutes.” Hyrule said, poking the veteran in the chest. Legend scoffed and pushed the traveler away, only to be poked in the back by Wind.

“Alright, fine. I may have not have had the best fight of my life but it could have been much worse. And it’s not my fault those birds hit so hard!” He defended, looking away from Hyrule’s judgmental stare.

“I warned you that they were very strong! You could have had your defense up a little bit more!” Hyrule shouted with a bit of annoyance. Time sighed and got in between the two. A glare from his good eye shutting them up.

“In Legend’s defense the first hit was a surprise attack. And getting hurt happens. I know you’re a bit on edge facing those fokka things, Hyrule. But we’re all alright. Take a breath.” Time looked around the prison hall. Forward led to a dead end but there was a path to the side as well. He motioned for the group to follow. They were a lot more careful this time now that they knew fokka roamed these halls.

Their footsteps echoed through the halls despite them trying to be quiet. The fact that Time was in heavy armor didn’t help. The noise once again attracted the occasional foe but nothing difficult like the fokka. Then, suddenly, Wind raised his hand motioning for the group to stop.

“Do you guys hear that?” The sailor asked. Everyone quieted down and listened. They could hear something familiar. A soft chiming in the distance. The group looked at each other surprised

“Sounds like the master sword.” Legend said. The group quickly moved forward, chasing after the noise. The chiming became louder as they got closer, as if it was calling for them.

They turned the corner, finally reaching the source of the chiming. In a cell lay the master sword,  seemingly having been thrown to the ground. It chimed once more before falling quiet.

But it wasn’t the sword that got their attention. No it was who was in the cell.

There, with wrists shackled, metal chains connected to the wall, dried blood staining his clothes…

Was Sky.

Chapter Text

Sky was nervous when he went through the portal. Something bad was about to happen, he was sure of it. But Time was by his side and he had promised him everything would be fine. He’d be fine.

But when he emerged from the other side of the portal he was alone. No Time there to help him.

He didn’t get a chance to react before a blade embedded itself in his back. He screamed in pain as he was pushed forwards and to the ground. He tried to turn around to defend himself but the blade was still in his back and holding him there.

He managed to look up from his prone position and felt panic seizing his heart. Several types of bokoblin, a moblin holding down the sword in his back, and a fokka.

His dream… It had been about these monsters…

Shit, shit, SHIT. He was on his own and had already been overpowered. No one was there to help him. He tried to struggle but each movement made the blade in his back hurt him more. The fokka then grabbed his face. The sword was pulled from his back, leaving a bleeding wound, and the fokka lifted Sky up by the head. But this meant Sky’s hands were still free. He quickly used the master sword to slice at the fokka. It barely flinched as the new cut on its face bled black. Not good.

With a huff of slight annoyance the fokka slammed Sky’s head into the ground. Sky kept a desperate hold on the master sword. He tried to get up despite the pain but the fokka placed a clawed foot on Sky’s shoulder. Talons digging into Sky’s flesh. He hissed in pain but tried to push himself up still. If he could just get a skyward strike in he might be able to push his enemies back and win enough time to escape. But he has to get up.

It appeared that the monsters knew this because the moblin approached and placed its full wight on Sky’s left leg. It broke with a loud snap. It hurt. But he had to get up. He had to get away.

The monsters seemed to be having some kind of conversation above him. He couldn’t understand so he didn’t bother to listen. All he knew is that a clawed hand found its way to the back of his head and before he knew it his head was slammed into the ground over and over again. It would probably hurt a lot if it hadn’t left him so dazed. Fi chimed worriedly in his grasp. He refused to let go of her.

He was rolled over to his back, looking up at the tree canopy above him. The fokka grabbed his left arm and held some kind of medallion. Even Sky could sense magic coming off of it. It felt very similar to the dark portals they traveled through. The fokka seemed to squeeze the medallion and Sky suddenly felt as if he was being dragged through a portal all over again. When his vision cleared they were in a cell. The medallion turned to dust in the fokka’s grasp. A one way teleportation device.

Two red fokka appeared by the door of the cell. There seemed to be some kind of conversation happening between them. One fokka left while the other helped the blue fokka restrain the still dazed Sky. The blue fokka dug its claws into Sky’s right wrist. It was trying to get him to let go of the master sword. Sky didn’t want to let go of her but his wrist burned with agony as blood spilled. He tried to hold on to the hilt of the blade but he couldn’t. When the claws dug into his wrist just a bit more he dropped her. The red fokka quickly grabbed her but immediately tossed her away as she burned it. It looked at its hand and made a series of noises that Sky was sure were curses.

With a huff the blue fokka said something to the other, likely scolding it. The other fokka seemed to complain but went to assist  the blue fokka again. They grabbed some shackles connected to chains that emerged from a bit higher on the wall and restrained Sky’s wrists. Sky tried to kick and fight back but he was still dazed and found that he didn’t have much strength. He wondered if he was concussed.

Once Sky’s wrists were properly shackled, leaving his arms above his head unless he managed to stand, the fokka stood back and seemed to wait for something. Sky gave his bindings a few experimental tugs, his injured wrist quickly complaining, but found they were pretty strong. At least too strong for him to escape in his current state.

Soon he heard footsteps approach. The other red fokka appeared holding a serrated knife and a vial. Upon its shoulder sat a large bat. The bat had a purple/ blueish hue to it, a sense of dark magic emanating from it. Definitely not a keese.

The vial and the blade were handed to the blue fokka. It approached Sky and before the dazed knight could react the blade was plunged into his side. He screamed from the sudden burning pain, trying to kick the fokka away with his good leg. The vial was pressed to his side, catching his blood. The fokka almost completely ignored Sky’s attempt at fighting back, more focused on twisting the knife so more blood would flow and fill the vial.

Once the vial was finally full the fokka stepped back. It seemed to say something to the others, making room for someone. The bat flew down from the red fokka’s shoulder. Once it landed on the ground it transformed into some kind of humanoid bat. Sharp claws on its long fingers and a toothy, far too sharp grin. It fluttered its wings a bit before bending down, it’s face right in front of Sky’s it seemed to observe what he looked like. It’s breath smelled horrible and Sky cringed and tried to look away, only for the bat like beast to grab his face and turn him back.

It stared, scanning his features like it was studying something. Then it finally stepped back. It fluttered it wings a few times before seeming to transform once again. Sky could feel the blood he had left drain from his face as he saw what now stood before him.

It was he himself. A perfect replica of him. Even the sailcloth was hanging from the copy’s shoulders.

The copy turned to the other monsters and said something. Clearly his voice was something it couldn’t replicate. The monsters seemed to be talking about something, one fokka pointing to its neck while speaking. The copy moved its hand over its own neck, transforming that part of his neck to look like a hyper realistic cut throat. It then seemed to act like it couldn’t speak before laughing.

Sky may not understand what they were saying but he could put two and two together. They were going to infiltrate the chain, acting like that thing was him. He had to do something.

As subtly as he could he tried to stretch his good leg in an attempt to hook the master sword with his foot to drag it closer. Sadly this didn’t go unnoticed as a fokka spotted his attempt. Now being wise of Fi’s tendency to burn any unworthy wielder it grabbed its own sword to push her further away from him. Not that she had been in reach in the first place.

A red fokka pulled Sky’s bag and shield away from him, handing it to the Sky copy.

The blue fokka said something to the Sky copy, producing another one of those one way medallions. It grabbed the copy’s wrist, the copy grabbed the blood filled bottle, and with a poof they had teleported away to who knows where, leaving Sky with the two red fokka. The red fokka murmured something before walking away, locking the cell door behind them.

Sky let out a trembling breath. He hoped the others would not fall for the monster’s trick.

~~~~~~~~~~

The fokka helped the Sky copy cover itself in Sky’s blood, thus also covering it in Sky’s scent to trick the wolf. They tossed Sky’s Shield and bag and broke the potion vials to make it look like a struggle had happened here. They knew they were close to the path the heroes were taking. Once done the fokka quickly left, making its way back to the dungeon on foot as it had no medallions left from the shadow.

It was up to the copy to trick the heroes and to take down their target.

They’d get rid of the hero of Hyrule once and for all.

- - - - - - - - - - -

How long had Sky been stuck here? He didn’t know. All he knew was that this friends, his brothers, might be in danger. Yet he was stuck here in this cell. The master sword just out of his reach.

His body burned and ached from the several wounds that hadn’t been cared for. He was lucky that the bleeding stopped by itself.

He was hungry. He didn’t know how long had passed but he hadn’t gotten any food since being chained to this wall. Water was sometimes given to him but it hadn’t been enough to quench his thirst. Especially since he’d vomited a few times. He was certain he was concussed at least somewhat.

He felt like shit. His arms were numb from being chained above his head, breathing hurt because it pulled at his barely healed wounds, his broken leg throbbed with a feeling between numbness and pain.

He was tired. At least he didn’t feel pain when he was sleeping. So he tried to sleep throughout the day. It was all he could do.

Sometimes he’d dream of the chain, of his brothers. They’d greet him, welcome him to sit near the fire as they told tales. He’d lie in a bedroll surrounded by the ones he cared about. One always keeping watch to ensure they were safe.

But as he fell asleep in his dream he’d wake up to real life. He sighed. Waited to see if anything new was happening, if he’d be given food, and if not he’d try to sleep again.

Zelda, his sun, was holding his hand. She smiled and placed her head on his shoulder. He’d lean his head on her soft hair. The air of Skyloft blowing wind past them both. It was peaceful.

But then he heard the clashing of blades. He looked to one of the islands and saw his friends, Groose and his gang, Pipit, Karane and Fledge fighting off a bunch of monsters. He wanted to go to them. He wanted to help them. But Zelda didn’t let go of him, not allowing him to move.

Fi appeared from the sword, She looked at him and spoke loudly.

“Masters! He’s here, masters! He’s here! He’s here! Masters, he’s here!” Over and over again. Who is where? Why does she say masters instead of master? What’s going on?

“You need to wake up, Link.” Zelda said, she stood and grabbed Sky’s arm. Then she pushed him off the island.

Sky woke up.

He willed his heavy eyes to open. His sword lay on the ground still out of reach. She was chiming loudly.

He heard footsteps approach rapidly. Something was coming his way and Sky wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what. The chiming was maddeningly loud. It made Sky’s head pound and nausea rise in his gut. But he willed himself not to throw up.

Four figures came to a stop in front of his cell. He tried to focus. Heavy armor, pink in the hair, a blue lobster shirt, an aura of magic…

His brothers.

He heard them gasp when they saw him. Time placed his hand on the cell’s bars.

“Sky?”

Chapter Text

This couldn’t be right. Sky was with the others. Why was he here in this cell? Were the others hurt as well? Or was this…

“Wind, call Wild. Ask if Sky is with them.” Time said. Wind nodded and grabbed his pirate’s charm, calling for Wild to pick up.

“Wild? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, sailor. I can hear you. What do you need?” Wild’s voice said.

“Is… Is Sky with you guys?” Wind asked. The group waited quietly for Wild’s response.

“Yes, he’s with us. He seems a bit on edge, though. I don’t know why. Why do you ask?” Wild said. The color drained from the group’s faces as they looked at the chained up Sky in the cell.

“Wild.” Time said.

“We need to talk to everyone in the group except for Sky. Can you tell him to stay back while we talk?”

“Uh… Sure? Hey, guys. Time wants to talk to us. Well, everyone but Sky. Sorry, Sky. I don’t know why either.” They waited a bit until wild confirmed that he and the group were out of Sky’s hearing range.

“Ok, so what’s up?” Wild asked.

“We found Sky.” Time said. It was quiet on the other side for a bit.

“But he’s with us.” Twilight’s voice said confused.

“What do you mean ‘You found Sky’?”

“It’s… Another Sky? Chained up in a cell. The master sword is here too.” Time explained. There was some murmuring on the other side. Then Warriors’s voice came through the charm.

“Which Sky do you think is fake?” He asked. Time shrugged. Legend thought for a moment before responding.

“This one has the master sword. The other one doesn’t and has been acting strange for a while now. It might be the fake but we can’t be certain until we-” He was interrupted when shouting was heard through the charm.

“Holy Hylia! This is the fake! This is the fake!” Wild shouted. The connection then broke. The group looked at each other nervously before looking back at Sky. The real Sky? Either way they had to release him and get to the others as soon as possible.

“Sky? Can you hear me?” Time asked. They got a weak nod in response. Fi chimed again, a lot softer than before now that she wasn’t calling for her masters. Even such a simple noise managed to sound worried.

Time grabbed the door of the cell and tried to open it but it was locked. Wind tugged at his sleeve, gaining his attention.

“I can open the cell.” He said while holding a lockpick. Right, pirate.

Time nodded and Wind got to work. In only a few seconds he had the door open. Hyrule and Time were the first to rush inside. Hyrule winced as he saw the barely healed wound in Sky’s side. It wasn’t a clean cut. Thankfully it wasn’t bleeding either. His leg was also broken. The flesh swollen an angry red and blue around the break.

“I’m going to have to set your leg before we give you a potion, ok, Sky?” Hyrule said. Another weak nod. Hyrule took that as an ok and went to set the broken bone. He worked carefully but quickly. Sky hissed in pain as the bone was moved to a normal position but didn’t try to fight Hyrule off.

Meanwhile Wind was undoing the bindings on Sky’s wrists. The sailor managed to quickly release the skyloftian. Time slowly guided Sky’s arms to his side, making sure not to hurt him. Who knows how long his arms had been in that position.

They checked for other wounds and found a large wound on his back and smaller wounds on his wrist and shoulder. His head had several healing wounds as well. Time helped Sky sit up straight and moved their last potion to his lips.

“Here, drink this. It won’t heal you fully but it’ll help a lot.” He said, tipping the potion into Sky’s mouth. Sky winced as the potion made its way through his dry throat but did not stop drinking it. Feeling his wounds knit themselves together after so long of them just being open felt amazing.

“Th..anks…” He murmured. Time froze for a second before smiling.

“You’re welcome.” He said. He felt so relieved to hear Sky’s voice again. Even  if it was as rough as it was.

“But we need to get to the others. do you think you can stand?” He asked. Sky thought for a moment before trying to push himself up. It was difficult and made him nauseous all over again but with help from the others he managed. Time made sure Sky was leaning on him as they walked, allowing Sky to put less pressure on his newly healed leg. Legend handed Sky his sword and it chimed happily as Sky’s fingers wrapped around the hilt, not burning him.

They moved as fast as they could, making their way back through the dungeon and going through the door the others went through. It was pretty easy to follow the path of the others. Just follow the destruction. Soon they heard the sounds of battle. Only one door between them and the others.

Legend opened the door and was immediately knocked to the ground as Four was thrown into his chest. They got up quickly and rushed into the room for the fight.

Time entered the room and stared at their foe. It was a massive bat-like humanoid. It was already covered in the blood of the other Links yet the group still stood their ground against it.

“It’s an acheman!” Hyrule shouted as he entered the room.

“Or.. ache acheman hybrid? Achemen can’t disguise themselves but aches can’t transorm into this. It looks mutated too.” He said as he aimed his bow and shot several arrows at the beast. The monster turned to Hyrule and a toothy grin appeared on its face. It had found its target again. It then glanced at Time, annoyed. That man had been keeping an eye on it for days now, never giving it a chance to sneakily kill the hero of Hyrule.

Time helped Sky lean against a wall before drawing his blade and joining the battle. Wind stayed by Sky’s side to protect him if needed.

The unusual acheman opened its maw, a ball of flame forming within. As it spat out the ball of fire it was hit by an arrow in the back. Twilight was holding his bow, Wild stood beside him, left arm hanging limp from his side, his shoulder dislocated.

The fireball was aimed towards Hyrule but the traveler dodged it with ease. He had years of experience dealing with these types of creatures. Sure, this one was black blooded, able to both transform into an acheman and to take hylian form, and Hyrule was sure its strength would be nothing to laugh at, but the fireball was easy to dodge.

Four and Legend reached the monster at the same time. They both stabbed their swords towards its abdomen, neither hero tall enough to reach the monster’s neck, but the acheman quickly transformed into an ache and flew up. In the air it transformed back to an acheman and dropped. It clawed at the shoulders of the two heroes as it landed, the force of the fall helping its long and deceptively strong claws dig deep into Four and Legend’s skin. The two jumped back, their new wounds staining their clothes red with blood. Four’s left shoulder had been hit, leaving him unable to wield his sword properly.

“I have to fall back!” the smith shouted.

“We’re out of potions! I’ll ready my shield in case I have to defend someone!” And with that he took his position closer to the injured Sky. Sky was trying to push himself up, ignoring Wind telling him to ‘stay the fuck down you can’t fight like that you idiot!’

Time quickly took Four’s place. He swung the biggoron sword at the monster. The acheman jumped back but was intercepted by Warriors from behind. The captain was limping but he was still surprisingly fast. The captain stabbed his sword through the creature, black, tar-like blood flowed from the wound.

Hyrule arrived next. He was almost out of magic from using the thunder spell earlier but he didn’t need his jump spell with Time standing there.

“Time! Give me a boost!” Hyrule called. Time quickly bent down, allowing Hyrule to use his back to jump off of. Hyrule didn’t aim his sword down at the monster, though. Aiming down was what the monster expected. It turned into an ache and tried to fly off before Hyrule could land but Hyrule cut it out of the air. The monster was tossed to the side, a splattering of black blood in its wake, and transformed back into an acheman as it landed.

Wild rushed towards it. He stabbed its sword through the monster’s head and kept it there until it stopped twitching.

“Is it dead?” Wind asked from his position next to Sky. The skyloftian had since managed to stand even though he had to lean against the wall for support. Wild kicked the monster.

“I think so.” He said, pulling his blade free from the monster’s head. But the moment he did a searing heat emerged from the beast. Black blood spurted out of its wounds like tendrils and wrapped themselves around the monster. Everyone quickly stepped back.

“That’s not normal!” Hyrule shouted. The black blood swirled around the monster’s body as it took an upright position again. The beast, now covered in black, snarled. Opening its maw it readied another fireball. But this one was glowing purple and seemed far larger than the first one.

“Take cover!” Time shouted. Everyone jumped to get away from the blast zone. The fireball was spat out, engulfing almost the whole room in flame. Time heard Twilight and Wild scream in pain. He himself felt flames lick at his shoulders but the biggoron sword and his armor defended him from the worst of it. Sky, Wind and Four were thankfully out of reach.

As the flames dissipated Time quickly looked around the room. Hyrule had used the last of his magic to cast a shield spell over the nearby Legend and Warriors and only suffered minor damage from the flames but Wild and Twilight had been badly hit.

“Pup! Cub!” Time shouted. He rushed towards the two who were laying still on the ground but was intercepted by the monster digging it’s long claws in his side. He hissed in pain but didn’t let it slow him down. He simply kept rushing forwards. The acheman mutant was unable to keep up, claws being pulled from Time’s side and leaving a large bleeding wound.

Hyrule was exhausted from using so much magic. Legend stood to defend him while the traveler recovered from a dizzy spell.

Warriors, despite his limp, rushed towards the acheman mutant. The monster clawed at him but Warriors blocked with his shield. He stabbed his sword towards the beast’s chest but the monster jumped away quickly. Before he could register what happened the monster landed on his shoulders and started relentlessly slashing at him with its claws. It almost managed to get his neck when a bright blue beam cut through the monster, cutting off a wing.

Sky, despite standing on trembling legs, managed to do a skyward strike. The powerful sword beam having done some serious damage to the monster while keeping the heroes unharmed.

The monster fell off Warriors’s shoulders with a screech. Warriors turned quickly and stabbed the monster through the chest. But to his shock the blood started trailing up his blade. He tried to pull his sword free but it was stuck.

“Uhh. Uhhhh. What?” He said as he hopelessly tried to get his sword back. The black blood shot up fast, almost grabbing Warriors’s wrist. He was forced to let go of his sword to avoid it.

The monster got up, Warriors’s sword still imbedded in its chest. It rushed towards Hyrule. Legend had since grabbed his ice rod and attempted to freeze his foe before it could reach him and the traveler. The beast seemed to transform again. Legend expected an ache to appear so aimed higher. But instead a goopy, black-blood form of Sky appeared. It grabbed the sword in its chest and pulled it out. Now that it didn’t have long claws it was able to effectively wield the blade. And unlike the times it ’fought’ against monsters on their way here it was actually trying to do harm now.

It slashed Warriors’s sword down, cutting the unprepared Legend from right shoulder to left hip. After Legend fell it kept rushing forwards. Time rushed after it hoping to stop it before it could reach Hyrule.

Hyrule had since recovered a bit form his magic exhaustion and quickly dodged to the side as the monster slashed where he just stood. But the beast saw this coming and a tendril of black blood grabbed onto Hyrule’s ankle causing him to fall. He hit his head hard on the stone floor and fell still.

Before the monster could attack again Time tackled it. He was about to stab through the monster’s head when he froze.

It still looked like Sky and Time felt a shiver run up his spine at the thought of stabbing one of his own boys. A clone of himself? Sure. But this was disturbing.

He took a breath and stabbed down. The biggoron sword pierced through the monster’s skull and it stopped moving.

Then the blood started rushing up the biggoron sword’s blade just like it did with Warriors’s sword. Shit. Time was stubborn, though, and kept trying to pry the sword free even as his hands were caught by the black blood.

And then he realized he couldn’t pull his hands free.

“I need some help here!” He shouted. Wind, the only one still able to fight, rushed away from Sky’s side to see if he could help. The blood was quickly snaking its way up Time’s arms.

“Sailor! Do something!” Time shouted

“What do you want me to do?! Cut your arms off?!” Wind shouted back, his arms trembling.

“Move!” Sky’s hoarse voice came from behind. Wind quickly did as told. Sky raised the master sword, it lit up with holy light, and aimed his skyward strike towards Time’s arms.

The blue light slashed through Time’s arms but only cut away the blood and left the old man uninjured and free. Were the sword had hit its mark the blood sputtered and sizzled as it shriveled up. No new tendrils attempted to snake up the biggoron sword.

“Sky! I think the master sword is the only thing that can damage it!” Time shouted. Sky nodded and made his way towards them as quickly as he could. But he was still badly hurt and very slow.

The monster pushed itself up again. The biggoron sword was stuck in its head and was apparently blocking its vision. It swung Warriors’s sword around wildly hoping to hit someone.

Sky raised the master sword again and aimed his strike at the monster’s legs. As the blue light connected to the monster’s ankles it sliced straight through it. The beast fell to the ground as its feet were no longer connected to its body. Time quickly placed his foot on the monster’s arm so it couldn’t slash its sword at any of them. Finally, Sky had managed to drag himself to their side. He raised the master sword and brought it down on the beast’s chest.

There was loud hissing as the black blood was cleansed by the holy blade. It shriveled up completely leaving behind the beaten corpse of the hybrid acheman which was still in the form of Sky. An exact copy of the skyloftian, only as a corpse. Everyone froze.

Then Sky stumbled back and vomited. Whether it was from the sight of his own broken body or the concussion no one knew. Time gave the knight a sympathetic pat on the shoulders.

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?” He said. The ones still awake nodded, avoiding looking at the corpse.

- - - - - - - - - -

“This spot should be safe for now.” Legend said as he looked around the alcove. He was clutching his injured and hastily bandaged chest. The others quickly made themselves comfortable. Warriors rushed around to give proper wound care to everyone. The unconscious Twilight and Wild were first since they suffered some pretty bad burns. Legend was watching over Hyrule and Wind was helping Warriors treat the wounded. Four was grumbling about this blood being hard to wash off as he was taking care of Warriors’s and Time’s swords.

Time was sitting next to Sky. The skyloftian was absentmindedly rubbing at the wounds on his wrists. The two sat in silence for a while, only talking to Wind and Warriors as they came to check on their injuries. Warriors ruffled Sky’s hair before leaving to check on Four.

Time looked at Sky. There was no angry red scar on his neck. He could talk. He was injured, sure, but a lot better than the speechless fake they’d been trusting.

They trusted a fake.

What if this fake had lured them away from the dungeon? Sky would have been left to rot in that cell. Time shuddered at the thought.

“You good?” Sky asked. His voice was rough from dehydration but he had a voice. Time sighed.

“I’m sorry.” He said, looking away. Sky raised a brow.

“Sorry for what?” He asked confused.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I trusted a fake.” Time said, annoyed at himself.

“I promised you’d be alright but you were stuck in a cell and we were traveling with a fake thinking it was you. If it had been smarter and lured us away from the dungeon we would have never known you were there! I’m sorry.”

“You kept your promise, though?” Sky said with a smile.

“As you said, You promised I’d be alright. And I’m going to be alright now.” Time looked at him dumbfounded before letting out a sad chuckle.

“Sky, you do know you’re allowed to be mad at others, right? I messed up. You shouldn’t just be ok with everything.” He said. Sky rolled his eyes and punched Time in the shoulder, though it was weak since Sky’s strength wasn’t back yet.

“I am mad.” Sky said. Time nodded with a somber but understanding look.

“At the acheman.” Sky continued.

“…what? But..?” Time asked. Sky ignored him.

“And the fokka too. They were the ones who hurt me. The acheman was the one who secretly took my place. Not you. So quit dragging yourself down. Seriously. As much as you like to act like nothing ever bothers you I know you’re just as much of a self-destructing idiot as the rest of us.”

“I’m not-”

“Yes, you are. You don’t have to say sorry.” Sky insisted. He smiled, the smile extending to his eyes. A genuine smile that was never shown by the fake. Time sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I think I understand why you’re not afraid of cuccos” Time chuckled. Sky looked immediately confused.

“Uhhm… ok? Why?” He asked.

“You’re a mother cucco.” Time said with a stupid grin.

“If your side wasn’t injured you’d be hugging me like a cucco trying to hatch her eggs” Now Sky got a stupid grin.

“Oh? You want a hug?” Sky asked with a mischievous smile. Time immediately inched away from the skyloftian.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Does the old grump need a hug?” Sky asked again in a very annoying voice, inching closer.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Come here!” Sky lunged forwards, well, as much as he could in his current state, and wrapped his arms around Time’s shoulders, hugging tightly. Time sighed but returned the hug.

“Ok, you got your hug. Now let go of me.” Time then said, trying to push Sky away but he held on. Wind noticed the two and whispered something to Warriors. Before Time could escape Sky’s grasp Wind and Warriors joined the hug as well, trapping him.

“Guys…” Time sighed.

“Shh. You’re stuck in a hug.” Sky said, smile clear in his voice. Time decided that it was best to just give up. he had to admit he was pretty comfortable.

“Sky?” Wind asked quietly. The sailor’s voice betraying that he was falling asleep.

“You’re not going to turn into a bat and kill us in our sleep, are you?”

“No promises.” Sky said, his voice also sounding sleepy. Warriors chuckled and ruffled the hair of the two sleepyheads.

“Get some shut-eye, you two. I’ll keep the old man trapped here.”

“Hey!” Time said in protest. But he went ignored.

In the far away shadows, hidden behind rocks, stood a figure, barely visible. It’s red eyes the only thing giving it away.

The shadow looked annoyed. All nine targets were still breathing. He should have known better than to let a stupid monster do his job. Even if he mutated it. The next time they got the chance to infiltrate the chain he’d do it himself.

He grinned. His face reforming itself to Sky’s. Then Time’s, Warriors’s, Wind’s, Twilight’s, Wild’s, Four’s, Hyrule’s and lastly,  Legend’s.

Yes.

Next time.

At least one will stop breathing forever.